Ghosts of Scintilla

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:20 pm

Sebastian did not know what is a "Charlie Foxtrot", but he did notice the man's reaction to the mention of the commissar.

"Do not worry," he said to the savage softly, after he was finished with his ritual."You are now an agent of the Inquisition, chosen by Him on Earth to be his instrument. A commissar has no power over you."

Having said that, he stepped out of the shuttle. The heat made his breath catch in his throat- they were much closer to the surface than he was used to being, especially after four frozen years on Maccabeus Quintus. He adjusted the sword again and hurried to the nearest building, praying silently that it be climate-controlled.

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 9:25 pm

Exitting from the furnace heat of the exterior into the shaded interior of the building reduced the heat from blistering to merely sweltering, numerous fans stirring the turgid air, trying to get the feeble chill from the air conditioning units to mix with the dessicating heat. The lighting was kept low, low enough that several of the soldiers seemed to already have their night vision equipment on despite the sun not yet having set. The smell of human sweat was acute, but not quite overpowering in the way an abandoned hav block full of squatters might be. The scent was still fresh, still trying to be excised by the inhabitants rather than being let to sit and soak into the building like mould.

Clearly expected, the acolytes were quickly guided to a small, private conference room and told to wait. They did not have long to settle in though, for soon a weedy looking man hunched over some strange set of technology strapped to his chest entered the room and began to wave an auspex around, examining the room. A few moments behind him the man who had to be Commissar Tagen Yalt arrived.

His uniform half off in deference to the heat, the man was still unmistakably a commissar. For one, most military men would retire after getting mauled the number of times Yalt had. He seemed to have more metal in him than some tech-priests, the parts still exposed often bearing scars of battles past. His left eye had been removed, replaced with a glowing red optic, while the top of his head was covered in close cropped hair excepting the areas that had been burned and the claw marks that ran from the crown of his skull down to his ruined eye socket. He seemed almost amused upon seeing Kyona's artificial eyes, as if someone who was missing both eyes was funny to him. Tucked beneath one arm was his peaked cap, while beneath the other, the arm clear artificial, was a solid, heavy looking case with a disconcertingly large Inquisition symbol and a warning that read in both Low and High Gothic "Unauthorized opening of this container will result in immediate death".

Whether that death would come from the Inquisition or the contents of the case was left up to the imagination.

Placing the heavy case on the table at the fore of the room with a loud thump that confirmed the impression of massive weight, Yalt turned to the assembled group and placed his peaked cap back on his head after giving a pass of his hand through his scalp to scrape off some of the accumulated sweat, spraying it out into the air as a fine mist.

Looking over the acolytes, he began. "As you have probably already guessed, I am Commissar Tagen Yalt. You may call me Commissar Yalt, or sir if you prefer less formality." He grinned cruelly at that last bit. "I have been assigned as your liason while the Inquisitor is out hunting witches off world. That means that between the Emperor and I there are two men, Inquisitor Kaede and his Lord. I might not be at the Emperor's right hand, but I'm definitely somewhere around His foot, which if you get out of line I will shove so far up your arses you will be scraping boot leather off your remaining teeth for the remainder of your short, miserable lives.

"Now, I am sure all of you can't have helped but notice that your little group is both rather small and contains not one but two psykers, a complication to my plans as I will have to make sure to have two rounds in reserve for Vera," Yalt then patted the butt of the bolter at his hip affectionately, "which means one less heretic, traitor, or xenos I can kill before I have to use my teeth, and those scum taste terrible, so if you think you're about to be overwhelmed, do me a favour and shoot yourselves.

"But I digress. The reason for the high concentration of psykers in your cell has to do with the fact that you were originally to be a witch hunting team, helping to scour Scintilla for the latent and unsanctioned psykers that are inevitably running loose in the Hives, and the best way to find a witch is to send another witch. However, you were recalled early before the complete list of candidates could be assembled, because of this," Yalt explained before he pulled out some sort of auspex from within his coat.

Taking a moment to examine it, fiddling with a few knobs, he then said, "This goes by a couple of different names, but the shortest one approved by the cogboys is 'Gellar auspex' even if they insist that isn't quite right. It detects contamination of real space by the Warp." He moved up to Kyona and waved it a few feet away from her, eliciting some chatter from the device, and then he went to Nihilous and got a bit more chatter from the machine. Returning to the front of the room, he explained, "Normally this is used on star ships in the Warp to try and sniff out any leaks in their Gellar field or other things that could lead to horrific things happening to the crew. A few months back, by our reckoning anyway, one ship was rather surprised when one of their auspexes started to pick up contamination deep inside the ship."

Going to the case, Yalt motioned for the silent adept watching over the meeting to perform a few rituals before he pressed his real thumb to a spot on the case, causing the interior of the case to click repeatedly with numerous locks coming undone. Opening up the lid with a rush of fog quickly forming and disappearing from the chilled air within colliding with the sweaty air without, he reached in and pulled out a small, transparent vial containing a few white crystals.

"This, lady and gentlemen, is what the arbites thought was just another obscura derivative called blackout that has been popping up in Tarsus for the past year. Surprise, surprise when it turns out..." Yalt scanned the auspex over the sample and the machine went crazy with frantic chatter, "...that this stuff is massively warp contaminated, as I'm sure the psykers could have told you once I opened the case. This stuff is still pretty rare, but with the new information sent back to us, the Inquisition suddenly took an interest in things. Especially since the outer hive, the place where this abomination shows up the most often, has been suffering a rash of ghost sightings over the past two years. The arbites thought it just superstition or possibly a few active witches they hadn't caught yet. Well... now we suspect differently. Every Inquisitor has got a team or two searching, and more come in offworld like yourselves every month or so, but they like to keep things quiet. Its no good to let the heretics know that we're onto their game. At least not until the damned Monodominants show up in force... bastards couldn't set up an ambush to save their lives," Yalt says, muttering the last part.

Placing the sample back into the case and sealing it back up, Yalt says, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it and not be shot by me, is two-fold. The first is to determine the origin of the ghost sightings on the Hiveskin. I recommend you go at night unless you enjoy third degree sun burns. We need to know if the ghost sightings are linked to this blackout shit. Should it turn out to be witches, well, you are under general orders to apprehend them, killing them if necessary. Inquisitor Kaede prefers to get use out of the freaks, insult intended to you two, rather than just kill them outright, so remember that. Your second and more important mission is to determine the origin of blackout so we can stomp out this moral hazard before it corrupts the whole hive."

Looking out over the group, Yalt asks, "Any questions?"

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:06 pm

Sebastian did his best to hide his annoyance from his companions. The Commmissar's brusque manner grated on him immensely, and the thought that a base creature such as he could order a true noble around made his blood boil. Still, he maintained his practiced smile, keeping his face well-meaning and unreadable.

Finally, the man had finished talking and Sebastian almost breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I have heard that obscura puts its users to sleep where they see strange dreams. But these ghosts, they were seen by people who were awake? What are the effects of this blackout?"

-----------------------------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:20 pm

Smirking, Yalt says, "While obviously not all of the sightings were done by those in their right mind, there are enough stories coming from multiple sources and people who clearly were awake and sober at the time that we're not dealing with the ravings of obscura junkies. Also, from interrogations of users, blackout does exactly that, it causes you to quickly drift into a dreamless sleep, and awake a few hours later feeling refreshed. While it started in the Hiveskin, it is quickly working its way into the middlehive where the Goldenhand workers are starting to abuse it to work longer. In fact, users report that after extended use if they try and sleep without using the drug their dreams are haunted by nightmares. The arbites thought it was just a withdrawal side effect... now though... well, there is a reason we're executing known users as moral threats," Yalt finishes with a shrug.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:25 pm

"Why would one take a drug that just makes you go to sleep? Is it cheap enough to use as a sleep aid? For hiveskin scum? "And," he paused for a moment, "what makes you think is is connected to the sightings?"

--------------------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Soontir948 · Post by **Soontir948** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:40 pm

"What is the range of these "gellar auspex" and how many are we to be equipped with?"

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:56 pm

"I've heard stories of dregs who could have eaten for a year for the price the obscura clutched in their overdosed hands, spending every last throne they stole by butchering a family to forget things for a few hours. Those who have fallen from the Light of the Emperor will do insane things," Yalt says with a shrug. He then points to his aide and says, "However, when I said that they wake up feeling refreshed, I meant it. Jonas, explain."

Clearing his throat, the scribe says, "The energy they possess upon awakening is... well, frankly with the information we now have, unnatural is the correct word. For several hours after awakening a user will appear to not get fatigued, and terminal abusers seem to cease feeling pain as well. I have been told that physiologically they are still tired, their bodies filled with fatigue poisons, they just don't notice while under the influence. This means that after one or two doses normal sleep will not be adequate to actually get them enough rest for several days. Once the nightmares start they are hooked for life as they will no longer be capable of sleeping without suffering catastrophic dreams that will interrupt their sleep cycle."

Nodding, Yalt says, "Thank you Jonas. Now, about your question on why we think it is related... well, while I should not have to say that this conversation does not leave this room, let me reiterate it for this next bit or I will let Vera do the talking from now on. We caught one man who had been abusing it and while he manifested all of the normal signs, we also later discovered that he was a latent psyker due to the fact that his powers were running out of control in a manner similar to terminal spook abuse. If you don't know what spook is, it is a highly proscribed drug that increases psychic activity. Combined with the warp taint... we could be looking at a drug that causes people to start manifesting psychic powers while unconscious." Yalt grimaced, an ugly gesture to be sure on his face. "Kaede has made it clear to me that if the blackout cannot be contained, we are looking at a best case scenario of having to lock down the whole hive to stop its spread. Best case scenario. Let your imaginations go wild with the worst case scenario, because it will probably only be a fraction of how bad it could get."

Upon hearing Arl's question, Yalt says, "The range of detection for blackout is quite short as its effects seem concentrated. Psykers will probably notice it before you do, but if you can get within say ten metres you will probably start to pick it up. And one will be issued to your team along with a briefing session with an enginseer on the proper rituals for use and maintenance. Lose or break it without a damn good excuse and you will be paying for it via spare body parts if necessary."

Cpl Kendall · Post by **Cpl Kendall** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:20 am

"If it comes to it, how much harder will the users be to kill?" Atellus inquires.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:42 am

Raising his remaining eyebrow at Atellus' question, Yalt says, "I like you already. While the arbites, and probably the Inquisition, has the exact files, most users will go down just the same as anyone else. Long term abusers... well, they might not feel pain, but hack off a limb or shoot them in the head and they will still notice that."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:04 pm

The commissar was an agent of the Inquisition and thus could not be terminated while his existence was a net asset. That was annoying.

"Has analysis of addict's body chemistry for traces yielded any results?" asked Nihilous.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:44 pm

Yalt looked over at the scribe once more and said, "Jonas?"

Nodding, the man presses a few keys on the contraption on his chest, peers down at something, and then nods. "Studies done show initial traces similar to the metabolites of obscura, hence why the arbites treated it as simply another obscura derivative or imitator. With more prolonged use, fatigue toxins and stress hormones overwhelm the spirits of the analytical cogitators and they cannot discern anything more interesting in the background. However, with the new information we have available, studies have shown the presence of certain indicators found in the bloodstreams of guardsmen working to liberate worlds long held by heretical forces. Before it was thought simply another aspect of the biological contamination caused by abuse of a pharmacuetical agent, but now we suspect these are indicators of Warp corruption. That we have yet to see more mutation is probably simply due to the fact that the drug has not been present for long and various gangs are warring over distribution rights and to protect their existing drug trades, slowing introduction and use."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:53 pm

"The biological traces are consistent with warp tainted human material? That makes a xenos origin of the drug unlikely."

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:58 pm

Jonas considers for a moment before nodding and saying, "Well, we are certainly hopeful that the origin is offworld as the amount of warp contamination in the drug would require prolonged exposure to something along the lines of a warp storm or a ship running with its Gellar field down. If there were such a breach on Scintilla..."

Picking up from the blanching scribe, Yalt says, "As I said before, we don't want a worst case scenario, because that is worse than you can imagine."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:03 pm

"Has a Magus Biologis or Psykanna Biomancy Scholar been consulted in regards to this drug?" Nihilous continued.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:19 pm

"Yes and no. We have had multiple Magus Biologis and Biomancy Scholars look into the matter, but the issue is that we are still waiting for the arrival of the true specialists from off-world. Not only that, but we are still trying to find compatible personalites of both disciplines. There have been... disagreements in interpretation of both the biochemical structure and the nature of the warp contamination. Because the contamination was unknown until a few months ago, earlier investigations were chasing their tails, and so far we have not had sufficient time to perform full and complete analysis. So far we have had disagreements over whether this is an obscura, somna, spook, or even rarer derivative, or if this is a wholy unique compound altogether. There has even been the suggestion that it is a melange of pharmacuetical agents with the warp contamination acting as the active component and the physical part merely being fluff," Jonas explains.

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:19 pm

Sebastian glanced at the psyker. The man was clearly an acolyte for some time- much of the words he said meant nothing to him, and he received the finest education a Scintillan noble could hope for. The words he DID understand, however, filled him with a sense of dread. He felt a trickle of cold sweat making its way down his back, and for the first time, he questioned his choice of joining this expedition.

It took some effort to get his emotions under control, but he managed. He was not going to lose face before this thuggish martinet, and if he could always ask Nihilous to explain things to him in private.

"Have you any idea of which gangs are distributing it, and of their suppliers?"

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:29 pm

"The Inquisition has preliminary reports on gang activity in the upper parts of the hive and distribution of blackout there, but you are recommended to see an Arbites office for more up to date information on local criminal activity, the situation tends to be fluid enough that only those on the scene have useful knowledge. As to suppliers, that is why you are here, along with a dozen other teams for various Inquisitors spread across the hive," Yalt explains. "Incidentally, that reminds me that you need to be issued Inquisition codewords to covertly identify yourselves as acolytes to arbites to gain their cooperation. And after the meeting you are to report to the quartermaster on base to be issued with standard gear, namely a microbead, lamp pack, and chrono each.

"Any further questions?"

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:33 pm

"Your joke isn't funny," said Nihilous. "What kind of gear and operating funds can we expect as support?"

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:36 pm

"Oh, plenty," Sebastian shrugged. "How deep is the drug's penetration into the hive? Has it been spotted in other hives? Oh, and you never answered my question. What makes you think it is connected to the ghost sightings?"

---------------------
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:54 pm

Glaring at the impertinent psyker, Yalt says, "I may derive mirth from things, but I rarely joke. That is all I was ordered to supply for you from this base. I do however believe that there is an Inquisition dispension for gear, bribes, and the like. And while I don't think it was explicitly stated, I will certainly pull so strings so that the quartermaster can get you plenty of ammunition for your weapons. Armour... maybe if you can con it out of him, this is primarily a PDF base so all of the second rate gear they get will have already been issued, so you're looking at the third rate scraps." A derisive look for the PDF crosses the commissar's scarred face for a moment.

"As for drug penetration, as already mentioned it is primarily in the Hiveskin but starting to penetrate into the middle hive. If you really want you can try the Goldenhand, everything that can be traded is done so there, but again, you'll probably want to check with some arbites first to find out who might be dealing with proscribed gear in the first place or you will be on a wild Grox chase for quite some time," Yalt says with a shrug. "As for the ghost sightings, if you didn't understand me the first time: the timelines between the emergence of blackout and the upswing of ghost sightings are sufficiently close that we now thing that the citizens maybe reporting psychic phenomenon related to the drug causing the eruption of latent psychic abilities."

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:35 pm

"Take us to the base so we may commence immediately," said Nihilous.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:41 pm

"Very well then, if there are no further questions this briefing is over. Report to the quartermaster for your gear and I will authorize the issuance of additional ammunition, and you may attempt to weedle anything else out of him. You also have a section of the barracks assigned to you, a currently unoccupied section normally reserved for tithe periods when this base is more than just a PDF section. When you are ready there will be a Munitorum transport waiting. While normally I am not one for dallying, I would suggest you wait an additional hour for the sun to go down. The areas of interest are more active at night in any case," Yalt says.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:44 pm

Kyona had little knowledge of pharmecuticals, so she sat quietly, listening to the questions her companions were asking, learning from both the questions asked, and the answers given. But that was in the background, as she was also taking the time to learn to recognize the taint the drug had on the senses.

It was not a pleasant one to her mind. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a simple deck of cards, no different than any used in various games of chance. She shuffled them as the Commissar and her teammates spoke, before pausing and drawing the top three cards.

"Three of Spades. Ace of Diamonds. Five of Diamonds," she said softly, looking at the cards in turn. "Carefully consider the future plans, and the Emperor's Luck will guide. Conflicts may come from different opinions, let not your temper best you."

The young woman's face rose from the cards, looking to the men around her, and flipped over one more card -- The Jack of Spades. "The Arbiters have the knowledge of the local gangs, and should be our first lead."

fgalkin · Post by **fgalkin** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:57 pm

Sebastian stared at the man for a moment, before he realized that his offer was sincere and that he really expected them to stay in the base's barracks.

"I would have thought that the power of His holy Inquisition would be sufficient to secure us at least officer's quarters," he muttered under his breath.

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Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Soontir948 · Post by **Soontir948** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 5:04 pm

"One last from me, given Obscura is smoked, is it potent enough to warrant breathing equipment?"

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Ghosts of Scintilla

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