Hive Bastion Omega, Imperial Command Center
Sergeant Dain stood at full attention, his face an iron mask as he faced the towering figure before him. The Inquisitor's presence was suffocating, not due to his physical stature—though he was tall, draped in a flowing black-and-crimson greatcoat lined with purity seals—but because of the sheer weight of authority that radiated from him. The man's cold, piercing eyes studied Dain as if peeling back his flesh to see what secrets lay beneath.
Inquisitor Malkior Dresch of the Ordo Xenos was not a man to be deceived lightly.
Dain knew this. And yet, he had to deceive him.
Behind Malkior, a retinue of Stormtroopers stood at the ready, their carapace armor gleaming under the harsh glow of the command chamber's lumen-strips. Servo-skulls floated through the air, their red optics scanning every detail of the room, every movement Dain made. The Inquisitor's gloved fingers drummed against the pommel of an ornate power sword at his hip.
One wrong word, one wrong twitch, and I'll be dead before I even know it.
The holo-display beside them flickered with data. Footage from the battlefield—Tau forces retreating, Imperial soldiers regrouping, the Archivist looming in the distance like a silent god of war. Every image sent a shiver down Dain's spine, but he refused to let it show.
Malkior's voice was as smooth as it was edged. "Sergeant Dain. You were among the last survivors of the engagement. You saw what happened."
Dain gave a curt nod. "Yes, Lord Inquisitor."
"You are aware of what the official reports say?"
Dain kept his voice even. "That the Tau suffered an overwhelming psychological collapse in the wake of an unidentified battlefield anomaly, leading to their retreat."
Malkior tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing. "A rather clean explanation, wouldn't you say?"
Dain didn't take the bait. "I do not claim to understand the xenos mind, my lord. But the Emperor granted us victory."
The Inquisitor stared at him for a long moment, the silence stretching between them like a blade. Then, he leaned in ever so slightly.
"Tell me, Sergeant," he said, voice low and cold. "What did you see?"
Dain felt something claw at the back of his mind. The Archivist's gift was still there, lingering like an unshakable stain. His gaze flickered, for the briefest moment, toward the text that only he could see.
---
[Deception Roll: Success]
---
His gut twisted at the sight of it, but his expression remained unreadable. He met the Inquisitor's gaze with the hardened steel of a soldier.
"I saw a miracle, my lord."
Another beat of silence. Malkior's lips pressed into a thin line. Then, to Dain's surprise, the Inquisitor gave a slow nod.
"The Emperor protects," he murmured.
Dain saluted. "Always."
The Discovery
Hours later, after enduring more scrutiny from the Inquisition's analysts and being reassigned to barracks duty, Dain found himself alone in the shadowed halls of Hive Bastion Omega's lower levels.
His thoughts were a storm.
The Inquisition knew. They didn't have the full picture—if they did, he'd be nothing more than a pile of ash by now—but they suspected. Malkior wasn't a fool. He would watch, wait for any crack in Dain's story.
I need to be careful.
As he walked through the dimly lit corridors, his eyes flicked toward the damned text once more. It had been appearing more frequently, as if responding to his actions.
---
[New Objective: Follow the Path]
---
Dain gritted his teeth. I refuse to be your puppet, Archivist.
But his feet kept moving, his instincts leading him deeper into the bowels of the command structure. It was quiet—too quiet. These levels were for high-ranking personnel only, officers and strategists. He shouldn't have been able to walk this far unnoticed.
Yet, the deeper he went, the more he felt something wrong.
Then, he heard voices.
Dain pressed himself against the cold metal of a bulkhead, listening. The voices were muffled, but he recognized one immediately.
Malkior.
And the other—
Dain's heart stopped.
The planetary governor.
He risked a glance through the barely-opened door, peering into the dimly lit chamber beyond. The two figures stood near a data-slate, their expressions grim. He focused, straining to hear.
"…we are compromised, Inquisitor." The governor's voice was hushed but urgent. "You understand what that thing means, don't you?"
Malkior's voice was calm, but edged with something dangerous. "Of course I do. Which is why the Imperium cannot afford to let this escalate beyond our control."
A pause. Then—
"You've sent the signal?"
The governor exhaled. "Yes. The Adeptus Custodes are en route."
Dain's blood ran cold.
The Custodes?
He had expected the Inquisition to be wary, but the fact that the Emperor's own personal warriors were being called to this world meant something far worse. This was not just about investigating a battlefield anomaly.
They're preparing for extermination.
A cleansing. A purge. The kind of action taken only when the highest levels of the Imperium deemed a world beyond saving.
And then—
---
[New Objective Unlocked: Unravel the Lie]
---
Dain sucked in a sharp breath.
The Imperium was hiding something. Something deeper than just the Archivist's arrival. The planet wasn't just a war zone—it was a secret.
And if the Custodes were coming, then there was only one undeniable conclusion.
They weren't just coming for the Tau.
They were coming for him.