+ inload: Grovesnor +

+ Timeline: Grovsenor II, M41 +

+ Forty days previously +

Zelial laid down his force rod as he knelt besides the shattered houseman. Pale and blood-spattered, the injured man’s eyes wheeled, unseeing.

Gently cradling the man’s head, Zelial leaned his heavily-armoured mask closer to the figure, as though to hear a final whispered confession. The Enforcers nearby shuffled uneasily, their eyes darting around the shadows of the warehouse as the Inquisitor and injured man formed a tableau, tense and still. The inlay of the dull black staff gleamed as the Inquisitor exerted his will on the houseman, who moaned as if bereft as Zelial pried apart his memories.

After a few moments, Zelial gently lowered the bleeding figure back to the floor. The blinded man writhed, weakly, his mouth opening and shutting. Slowly, almost tenderly, the Inquisitor placed his hands over the figure’s chest and face, the gauntlets of his Tactical Dreadnought Armour easily engulfing the man’s head and nearly covering his torso.

With a creak of heavy servos, Zelial slowly began to press downwards. The monstrous pauldrons of his armour shifted as his arms stiffened. The Enforcers shuffled as the houseman’s ribcage gave an audible creak. The houseman’s writhing became more urgent as the pressure built until, with a series of dull pops, the houseman’s flailing was ended.

Grabbing his rod in blood-washed hands as he rose to his feet.
‘Little time, little time…’ he muttered to himself.
‘My lord?’ asked the Enforcer Sergeant, nervously. The Inquisitor turned towards the questioner, the round black lenses of his helm glistening in the half-light.

‘Genethieves, Sergeant. Genethieves once more in the underhive… and these ones are rather more circumspect than before.’

He gestured to the ruined body next to him. ‘Burn this. Burn it to atoms; and let this be a symbol. I will set this whole world afire if it means rooting them out once and for all…’

+++

+ Today +

+ My lords,

It is regret that I pen this missive to inform you that the world of Grovsenor II is a burning warzone. The hives of Lorysia, Port Swould and Wellspeck have been revealed as infested with genestealers, and doubtless the taint runs further than we have yet found. 

From the Buried Shafts Mineheads to the reclaimocemetaries of Bells' Graves, the workers have thrown off their shackles and poured out as an army of hybrids and so-called 'brood brothers'. A number – perhaps two-thirds – of the local PDF regiments have been infiltrated and subverted; and those seemingly loyal forces have been stymied from acting as the High Administrator demands mandatory decimation to restore morale in the regiments.

Perhaps worse still, there are rumours circulating that a small splinterfleet of Hivefleet Dagon has appeared in the Anton Antecedent subsector. How this has come to be is currently unclear – xenologicians have suggested that the fleet has dropped from above the galactic plane – but the potential of the genestealers to draw the eye of the hivefleet to the capital system must not be underestimated. Even an orphan splinter like this could potentially decimate the system.

There are a few points of hope. The regiments of the other planets in the Grovsenor system are preparing arms, the splinterfleet still seems dormant, and the Ambitine Fleet is even now racing back to its berths around Anchorpoint. In addition, a celebrating regiment of the veteran Aldebaran Nomads is in-sector. They have been pulled from their leave and are being drilled into active duty. Forces loyal to the Adeptus Mechanicus and more than one Knight Household have already answered their ancient call to duty, in case of the war's escalation.

Of course, full-scale counter-invasion by the brave men and women of the sector must be weighed against the matter at hand. While potentially calamitous, the genestealers seem divided, and it is possible that the scalpel may be preferable to the hammer. Watch-Commander Eo of the Deathwatch has pledged a force from the Watch Station on Closter, and a conclave of Inquisitors have revealed themselves in the system – a number are already actively engaged in hunting down the genestealers on Grovsenor II, and they have brought a variety of exotic forces to combat the threat. 

Whether these cults will compete with one another or will unite remains to be seen. Certainly a number of competing factions seem to have emerged, including the Church of the Immaculate Fecundation; which, far from its origins as a law-abding Imperial Cult, has revealed itself to be riddled with xenos. They are known to have publically excruciated a number of members of a rival cabal which has since also been revealed to by cultists, so the Inquisition is hopeful that discord can be formented amongst the interloping Xenos. 

The Inquisitorial conclave includes the notable (or infamous, if you will permit a little editorialising) Inquisitors Intentius, Vo, Veck, Josiah Maltheus and Zelial. Zelial has stated that the division of the genestealers may have been due to his execution of the Patriarch some years previously. He suspects that some scattered hybrids survived and built sub-cults. The difficulty of organising inter-hive transit on Grovsenor II meant that the cults grew separately from one anther. 

I will keep you appraised of events as the Inquisitors' reports are sent to me. 

Sub-judiciary Stanton, Arbitrator-General +