Simone walked the long empty corridors of the transport ship of the Ecclesiarchy. She was naked from head to foot save for a shimmery light that pulsed and shifted around her. But she felt no shame at her undress: it was ultimately unimportant. The gun metal gray hallways were as familiar as her own rooms. She knew right where she was going, right where the problem was.
The airlock was small as far as egresses from the ship went. It was only big enough to admit a person in battle armor. Nothing bigger then a Space marine could use it. But something vast was trying to get in. Simone stood before it.
The locks and seals rattled and the door itself bulged with the forces it was keeping out. Simone hurried, there was little time left. She pressed her hands on the door as if that alone could brace it. The metal of the bulkhead shivered under her thin hands. The door boomed and the metal shrieked as the force outside redoubled its efforts to break it down. No, she said, her calm beginning to strain, I won't allow it. I have people to protect. The Emperor himself does not allow this.
Light, white and icy cold began to leak around the edges of the door. It crackled and smelled like ozone. Like lightning. Simone slapped one hand over the seal of the door, trying to block the light. The ship swayed under her feet and she knew this was a losing battle. The power on the outside was going to win. It was going to break down her defenses and overtake her. The door suddenly bucked and bulged into the hallway with a huge roar of thunder. The light from outside poured in and washed over her.
Simone sat up from the cot with a shout. The thunder she had heard in her dream boomed around her. Not from the dream but from the walls. She bolted off the cot and grabbed her black Arbites replacement armor. She wasn't familiar with the straps and buckles of the armor but she still had most of it on when her door burst open and Lukas, still wrapped in bandages under his armor rushed in. "The Dark Eldar, Lady." He gasped and quickly laid his Hellgun against the wall to help her finish strapping the armor in place. "They have broken the siege. We have to fall back. I don't know where Mal…"
"I'm here." Malachi appeared in the doorway as if summoned. He glanced over the armor on his Inquisitor and nodded briefly to Lukas. " We are falling back, Lady. The Dark Eldar have Titans." He saw the look on Simone's face but went on. "There is nothing we can do here now. Not against Titans. If we fall back we can regroup."
"And the Sororitas?" Simone questioned as she gathered up the beat up leather satchel she had filled with maps and plans from the Cathedrals Librarium. "They and the remaining Arbites will be covering the corridors." His face was carefully neutral. But Simone knew the Sisters were getting very few in number. Very few indeed. Malachi checked her bolter and handed it to her. Simone looked up at him, "Have you found Delphias?" her voice held the worry she felt for the third and newest member of her retinue. Malachi shook his head, "No, Lady. I can only hope he has made it to safety and will find us at some point."
The three of them began making their way from the living quarters and towards where Malachi believed the Sister would be fortifying their stand. As they came around to the west side of the building, Lukas let out a short cry. They skidded to a halt. One of the wide and as yet unbroken windows framed the on coming aircraft perfectly. It was an Aquila orbital lander. Still some distance away, it was obviously headed straight for the building. And it wasn't alone; it was being joined by several Argus crafts as well. But really made the day brighter was the Thunderbolt that roared overhead and unleashed its weapons on the attacking Dark Eldar.
The sound of the battle intensified as the Thunderbolts joined in. "The roof." Malachi said suddenly. "They have to be going for the roof." He whirled to Simone, "We need to get you to the roof. They will be able to take you out of here from there." Simone frowned, "They need every one of us who can hold a bolter here, Malachi." She protested. She knew she wasn't a great fighter, or really even a good fighter but she was telling the truth.
Malachi took her arm, his large hand very gentle. It was the first time he had touched her since the Cathedral. "I will not have that…monster so much as catch sight of you again, Lady. I will not allow it." He growled his voice deadly and cold. She saw him then for just a moment with her mind. Saw his heart and his determination. She made no further argument, simply nodded.
They found a stair well and fought their way up as several units of Arbites made their way down. The roof was crowded with Sisters, Arbites and some of the non combatants. A Sister, painfully young as so many of them were now, saw them and waved them over."Here Inquisitor!" she called.
After a brief exchange the Sister brought them over to one of the Aquila crafts. The pilot, one of the Imperial Navy, hadn't even unstrapped from his place in the cockpit but was ready to fly again. Simone shot a look back over her shoulder. An explosion rocked the building to its core and sent chips of ferrocrete flying. Malachi practically picked her up and threw her in the transport. She barely had time to find a seat and pull a safety harness around her when the young Sister who had helped them brought two of the higher ranked Hospitallers to the door. Malachi assited the women into the transport and then pulled the heavy door shut. Lukas helped the others strap in and Malachi quickly joined them in the back.
The Aquila lurched up as quickly as it could from the roof. The roar of its engines muffled the sounds of the fight but the load booms and the screaming whine of power weapons still cut through. "Where are we going?" she asked as Malachi settled beside her.
"The Sororitas have a rendezvous point outside the city, Lady."
Simone nodded but heard the words he left unspoken. If they survive.
The Aquila made quick time to the small valley southeast of the crumbling city. The pilot knew his job and kept them out of the way of the worst of the aerial fighting. The Sisters had already established a beachhead there and secured the area. Their Aquila set down near the edge of the secured area with a rush of thrusters and a cloud of dust. Malachi and Lukas got the door open and helped the Hospitallers out first then Malachi handed Simone out of the ship.
Delphias staggered out of the Thunderhawk, truly exhausted. It had not been an easy trip over, and he had been running on adrenaline for some time. Now, he just wanted to fall asleep, fall asleep and not have to face the awful truth of the situation. Nice as that sounded, he had to report in. He pulled himself together and headed towards the nearest arbitrator, a shorter woman with a bandaged wrist. "Trooper, have you heard anything from command?" he called as he approached.
Simone waited while Malachi gave quick instructions to the pilot. When she heard Delphias' familiar voice. She looked up at him and arched an eyebrow. "From our command or the Arbites command, Delphias?"
Delphias was taken aback, to say the least. "Godschilde, I'm..." he trailed off. Glad you're alive, was what he had been about to say. "You made it then? I was...looking for anyone, I guess. I don't think that many arbites made it out."
Malachi returned to where they both now stood. "Delphias. Good" he said briskly. "We were afraid you had been caught outside." He motioned to Lukas then turned back to them, "We need to find whomever is in charge here and get some sort of set up."
"I think you and your inquisitor are in charge Mal. Who else is there?" Delphias said, his eye darkening. "As for set up, what do we have left?" His voice began to rise as he continued. "We lost most of our armed forces in the City, the Arbites at the Hall, and the Soritas are using armed children to fight daemons! We have thrown everything at Gaius and he has won- what else do you hope to achieve here?"
Simone paled visibly at the mention of Gaius. Malachi stepped forward as if he were protecting the Inquisitor from Del himself. "What we are accomplishing here now is the safety of our Inquisitor here at the rendezvous point while the Soritas regroup." He leaned in, his eye full of fire, "Do you have a problem with this plan?"
Delphias didn't back down, although the part of him thinking clearly knew that his anger was not at Malachi or Godschilde. "No problem at all, since your other plans have landed us in such rosy situations!"
"Why are you being such a child?" Malchi thundered at Delphias. "Is the situation not hazardous enough that you need to add to the confusion and stress?"
The arbitrator fell silent, rubbing his temples. "You are right of course," he murmured, "but by the Emperor I'll be damned if I know what it is I need to do."
Simone moved between them and said cooly, "Gentlemen, lets leave this behind us." She turned to Lukas, "Lukas, please go and locate whomever is in command here. Malachi please.." But she was cut off as a tall Sorita strode up to them with a dozen Celestians in full battle gear and weaponry. "Lady Inquisitor, I'm Palatine Rhoda, Katherine has contacted me as to your arrival."
Simone regarded the Palatine, "Palatine,"
The other woman gave the men a hard look. "If you will come with me, Lady. I have a headquarters set up for you and a Celestine guard awaiting you."
Simone looked over at Malachi as he seethed. "Of course, Sister. Lukas, if you would come with me." She figured Malachi might need a moment.
Malachi watched her move off with something hard and unreadable in his eyes. He gripped the satchel as if he would like to choke the life out of something. He motioned for Del to follow him and he found them a spot several meters away. Someone had stacked several crates of supplies beside a row of transports and Malachi used these as a table. He dropped the satchel to the ground and brought out a rolled up set of plans.
Delphias eyed Malachi, ignoring the maps. "Hang on a moment, Mal. We need to talk."
The older man slapped the maps, still rolled onto the crate. "What?" he growled, some of the weariness he felt slipping into his voice. "What more can you possibly have to talk about?"
"Don't give me that," Delphias cut back, not wanting to be put off, "you may be a Crusader but that doesn't explain why you're so damned protective of your Inquisitor all of a sudden."
Malachi took a deep breath, "Right, you weren't there." He knew soldiers were worse then washerwomen when it came to gossip. "I assume then that you haven't had a chance to hear." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "The Lady Simone…she has power."
Delphias stared for a moment, then spat on the ground. "You mean that woman walking around freely in our camp is warp touched?" He stepped back, glancing left and right. "Does no one remember that we have been hounded by daemons and witches since this whole thing started?"
"That woman is our Inquisitor as I have had to remind you from the moment I met you. She still our commander." Malachi regarded the rolled maps with dark eyes. "The Mother Superior has tested her, she is…pure. Uncorrupted."
"What worries me, Malachi, is that 'our Inquisitor' was not a psyker when we first met!" Delphias hissed. "What changed?"
Malachi took a moment to look around. He waited as a group from the Imperial Navy trotted past headed for the landing zone. "Gaius happened." He spat.
This took the Arbitrator a moment to digest. "He...can do that?"
"I don't know." He paused. "I left her in the Cathedral. Left her with three of your fellow Arbites and Lukas so I could find a way through the fighting." He looked up towards the distance. "Gaius found her. He tore through the Arbites and Lukas." He stopped again, his voice grew cold and remote. "He tore her apart, Delphais. Violated her body … and soul."
"Gaius has killed or tortured many of our best, Mal. He has done horrible things to most of the people I consider friends." Delphias was quiet now, his voice softer. He could see the pain that Malachi felt when Godschilde suffered. "I mourn for those men who died trying to protect her as much as I regret that she had to go through what she did."
He looked Mal in the eye. "My concern is not simple hostility towards her. I worry, and you should to, that the man who turned a Convent of sisters and orchestrated the downfall of an entire city may have been able to plant the seeds of corruption deeper than the Soritas can know. How can any of us be sure or feel safe considering what has gone before?"
Malachi stepped closer to Delphias and spoke soft and deadly, "She. Is. Uncorrupted." Then he stepped back. "I would know."
Delphias spoke plaintively. "If that is true I will rejoice but I must ask you how. We cannot take any more chances with our future."
"And what do you propose? An Inquisitor?"
"Don't be coy with me you over-promoted guardsman, come to your senses!" Delphias barked.
Malachi had a brief, but pleasant, daydream of putting his fist entirely through Del's head. "What, " he said slowly and carefully, "would you like to do about it?"
This last part left Delphias at something of a loss for words. He realized that he had no real answer for his own questions. There was only the most obvious option- and that was something Malachi would probably kill him for uttering. "I...I guess I don't know. This seems like a unique situation."
"The Lady is uncorrupted. Her devotion to the Emperor is as strong as ever." Malachi knew it, knew it like he knew his own mind. "Gaius wants her. He has some…fixation on her. Lukas said he called her 'his bride' while he…" He faltered, his disgust evident. "She and the Mother Superior have a plan of some sort. The Lady is to be the lure."
He began to make some joke about plans made by Sisters, but cut it off. "To attract Gaius to us...that is interesting. Then we will need the Soritas and that Space Marine, but what role will we mortals play?"
Malachi shook himself making his armor rattle. "She will be alright. I will make sure of it." He said almost to himself. He unrolled the old maps with a snap, tearing one of the corners. "Here. Make yourself useful: look at these. The lady thinks you may see something we haven't."
For once, Delphias felt no urge to make a snappy retort, although several occurred to him. Without another word he looked over at the maps before him. These were old maps, alright. Delphias barely recognized the numbering system, which had been outdated for generations. "You see this line here? It's the old Ortog Promethium pipeline. Laid down back when the city was founded and discontinued once some leaks developed- not a happy story." he sighed.
"Over time, Imperial Promethium and Standard Fuels grafted their own networks onto this central line, since it was cheaper and easier. The water lines were planted around these areas too, since all the excavations were taking place." Delphias traced his finger along several darker lines. "Eventually the promethium companies consolidated and created a network of pipelines for Byzantium Nova, all feeding back into the Main Line laid down by Ortog."
Malachi nodded, "If there were pipes then there were maintenance corridors." The Crusader rubbed his chin. "Corridors wide enough for men… and equipment?"
"Oh yes, certainly wide enough...but also able to be flooded with promethium at a moments notice."
"No help then." he flipped several wide sheets of parchment up to some even older plans of the under-city.
"Ah! Now this, this is interesting." Delphias leaned over the maps eagerly. "I may have to keep these for my collection. These tunnels are quarry tunnels, back when Byzantium was a mining world. As far as I can tell, they blasted these channels through the granite beneath the city to lay tracks for an underground transit-system...but the project was halted when the Imperium re-contacted the planet. Those tunnels are old beyond belief, but they were built with a planned city above them- Byzantium Nova."
"This may be how he got into the Cathedral. If these are all over the city." Malachi nodded vigorously, almost smiling. "Wait…I saw…" He rifled through the satchel. He found what he was looking for and dropped it on the crate on top of the maps. It was a small hand sized leather covered book. More then half of the pages were ripped and many were completely gone. The faded writing on the cover though was still plane enough. It was a diary log of Vitaius Vespen, the overseer of the first mining operation on Byzantium. "Hah. Maybe he can tell us a few things." Malachi laughed and tapped the cover of the little book.
Having taken the map and notebook, relevant pages marked, Delphias headed over to where Godschilde stood, overseeing the unloading of various other survivors. Nervously he walked up behind her. Perhaps the tunnels he'd found would make her forget his earlier rudeness. "Inquisitor Godschilde, could I speak to you?"
Simone turned to see Delphias with his arms full of rolled maps. The Celestain closest to her eyed Del but relaxed marginally when she saw Simone step over and greet him. "Good, you've had a chance to look over the maps. Did you find anything?"
"Yes actually, quite a lot. I think you'll be pleased." Del said as he deposited his cargo onto a nearby table and unfurled one of the older ones. "These are the planned tunnels for a magno-train that would have run beneath the city, but was never built."
Simone looked at the plans he had spread out. "All right. Go on."
Delphias traced a line along the rotting canvas with a pencil. "This terminal is about three klicks outside of the city limits. It runs straight towards the merchentile district, then feeds into a large line that runs beneath the Imperial palace itself. That was where the main station was planned."
Delphias paused, clearing his throat. "However, the project was canceled by the Imperial governor once he arrived in-system. They didn't fill in the tunnels, just caved in the entrances. At first, I didn't think we could get in that way, but this mining diary proved helpful." He flipped open the ancient book to a page filled with archaic Gothic. "It's a bit hard to understand, but this overseer describes an escape tunnel left by the workers who planted the demo charges. This account is over a thousand years old, but it's worth a shot." he put the book down and looked up expectantly.
The Inquisitor absently rubbed the cast on her wrist as she studied the old map. It was amazing that Byzantium Nova even stayed above ground with the hundreds of old earthworks underneath it. "Do you believe this is how Gaius," she swallowed when she said his name but quickly recovered. "How Gaius got to the Cathedral? How he has been moving around?"
"It would not surprise me, Inquisitor. Those tunnels go everywhere, and you could move battle tanks though them."
"So, if he could we could."
"That is my hope." Delphias said, nodding. "We may have to blast our way out, but the tunnels should take us where we need to go without Gaius realizing until we come within psyker-range-" Delphias stopped, blinked, and went on. "Until he is able to detect us."
She nodded. "But this escape tunnel in the book. Its not on the map, right?"
Delphias shook his head. "I don't think that tunnel is supposed to exist. This overseer wrote it down in his diary, but he would have been executed if he were found out. Those tunnels were recognized as a security risk instantly. The only reason the Arbites don't search them is that they are supposed to have been sealed."
Simone smiled, "Then we have something he doesn't. The plans he would have access to wouldn't have the escape tunnel on it. He can't know about it." She raised her good hand and clapped Del on the shoulder. "Good work, Del. Excellent work."
Delphias gave a weak grin, not even minding the informal use of his name. He was not, in all honesty, use to this whole praise business. "Thank you, Inquisitor." He said, since nothing else came to mind.
"Now how to use this advantage." She said chewing on her lip. "I doubt it would be wise to simple go charging down under the city. I would hate to have to fight them down there."
"I'm afraid I don't know what else we could do, unless we caved in some of the tunnels around it. That could throw them into confusion long enough to cut their throats." Delphias suggested nonchalantly.
She nodded and continued to stare at the map. "Maybe we could bait him...them down to a place where it was to our advantage."
He studied the map carefully. "You could do almost anything down here- the tunnels are incredibly extensive and with a bit of equitement we could make new ones easily."
"I doubt we have that kind of time." She shook her head, "I need to show this to Katherine." Simone looked back up to Delphias, "You may have saved us all Del. Emperor bless you, you may have."
Delphias blushed. "It's all in the maps, Inquisitor. I just hope we can use this knowledge."
"Of course." Simone rolled the maps up and put the small log book into the same pouch she carried her HandHeld in. "Go and find yourself some food, Del. Take a moment to recover." She arched one pale eyebrow, "The Celestains are more then enough guard."
Delphias turned away, starting to leave, and then stopped. Sheepishly he looked back at Godschilde. "There was something else, Inquisitor. I wanted to apologize...for how I've been acting lately."
The eyebrow climbed again, "Lately?"
"Alright, always." He shook his head. "I haven't been treating you with the respect you deserve."
The tall Celestian behind Simone rolled her eyes but wisely said nothing. Simone nodded, "Thats true enough. But I know this has been a difficult reassignment for you. But I am glad you have decided you can be a part of this retinue."
"There are things more important than either of us at stake, Inquisitor." Delphias said, shooting a glare at the sorita listening in. "We all need to work together- I need to be more cooperative, the Sisters need to be more rational in their actions..."
"Yes, yes" Simone said quickly."All that matters now is defeating Gaius."
He nodded. "Yes, Godschilde. I look forward to it."