|3rd POV|
The situation in Tertium Hive is getting worse. After the all-out rebellion, something sinister began to take hold in the hive city. At first, it was just a rumor—a plague spreading in the underhive and along the city's outskirts. A plague that turns humans into cannibals who crave fresh human flesh, not corpse starch.
A situation like this should have been reported to the nearest Astra Militarum regiment or the Officio Medicae. Sadly, the nobles of Tertium chose to bury the truth, and now the plague is spreading unchecked.
It spreads rapidly, and the people of the underhive are the first to suffer. The first symptom is an extreme, insatiable thirst. As a result, the Water Cartel achieves its best profits in history. They happily sell the water for a profit, and the people are willing to buy it even with the markup.
People line up, desperate to spend what little they have just to slake their thirst. And they keep coming back.
Unfortunately, the cartel has already been infiltrated by a cult. They poisoned the water, spreading the corrupted disease through it. Instead of healing, the infection becomes worse. Once they reach a certain stage, the thirst stops.
Sounds good, right? Wrong.
The thirst mutates into a hunger—for fresh meat. At first, they turn to buying live animals from traders—rats, insects, anything they can get. But it isn't enough. Soon, the hunger shifts toward fresh human flesh.
Right under the noses of the nobles, cannibalistic groups form and feast on the unfortunate souls of Tertium.
These groups are later approached by the Cult of Admonition—a cult unknown to the nobles. They refer to them as the Dregs, partly because they don't care enough to know better and partly because a hidden force within the Inquisition ensures the cult's true name remains concealed. No name means no threat of discovery. If they are not known, the Chaos Gods will not receive worship — or so the logic goes.
The cult continues to thrive.
In the original timeline, this cult eventually overtakes the entire hive city, suppressing resistance and sparking a full-scale rebellion.
That rebellion is still happening — but this time, the timeline has diverged.
A clean mark now exists on the map: the Sanctuary. A fortified bastion governed by Kael — a faction strong enough to be noticed.
His group grows so quickly that some of the nobles grow wary. Some see him as a threat to their rule. Others see him as an opportunity — a pawn to help them seize control over the Moebian Domain. They'd grant Kael nobility if it meant rising to power themselves.
This is why the ruling Margrave House ordered a purge. Lord Margrave believed that a purge would make his house and its allies seem strong and buy time to maintain control of the domain.
It backfired. Horrifically.
The purge only fueled the rebellion. The lives of the people—already miserable—became ten times worse.
So when a cult suddenly offers "salvation," they take it. After all, how could life get any worse?
Now Tertium Hive is a powder keg—except it's not filled with gunpowder. It's a failing fusion reactor ready to wipe out the planet.
Some factions are trying to intervene before the point of no return. Inquisitors don't resort to Exterminatus lightly—but they are the only force allowed to decide a world's fate. There is a reason why they are feared. Their power might come from their reputation, but it is a foolish errant to antagonize an Inquisitor.
They have the power. However, before they push the button, they must attempt to resolve the problem. That's why a massive vessel orbits the planet, filled with Inquisitorial personnel. This vessel is the Mourningstar.
The leader of this warband is Iven Rannick, or Interrogator Rannick, while Inquisitor Grendyl remains planetside.
He surveys the people gathered before him and says with a hum:
"Welcome to the War Room. Our mission is singular: purge the heretic. Unfortunately, things have gotten complicated."
He sighs theatrically and glares at a noble's servant, who trembles under the gaze.
"It seems some people do not follow orders directly from the Inquisitor."
"I—I'm sorry, My Lord! However—"
"Ah! Ah!" Rannick cuts him off sharply, his glare intensifying. "No excuses. Don't push me further. You won't like me angry."
The man falls silent, nodding quickly. Rannick smirks and continues.
"Now. This meeting concerns the rising number of issues, and how we intend to address them. First…" He turns to the newest and youngest member present—Orgustine Zola. "Inquisitor Grendyl authorized me to accept the prisoners from Tertium. Yes. We will follow your plan, Orgustine. We'll call them Rejects. Until they prove themselves—to me and the Inquisition—they remain prisoners. If they do, they'll gain freedom and join our warband permanently."
Rannick notices the discontent in the room, though they keep it silent. He shares the sentiment. If not for the Margrave's disastrous purge, they could have hired proper mercenaries or taken some of the squads of the PDF. Sadly, the Overlord of the planet decides to take a foolish action, and now they can no longer use the PDF or hire mercenaries, as they are busy fighting the rebels.
Even his spy network struggles in the chaos engulfing the planet.
That leaves them no choice but to enlist criminals.
"I understand, sir. I'll make preparations."
"Ah, before you go…" Rannick pauses. "Because of your experience, I want you to head to the Torrent. One of my agents has gone silent. I need you to investigate their last known location. You'll have your briefing in an hour. Be at my office."
"Of course, sir."
Zola leaves, and Rannick turns to Sergeant Major Vincent Morrow.
"Sergeant-Major. Do you have a suitable zone for deploying a small detachment to secure a landing site for the Rejects?"
Morrow taps the table, loading a hologram with highlighted points.
"Ten potential zones, sir. The easiest to secure is Chasm Station — located near a VTOL pad, with tunnel access leading uphill to the inner Hive. Clear out the heretics, and it's easily fortified. Also, if we secure the train station, we'll gain a stable supply line."
Rannick studies the hologram. "And the other options?"
"Two others stand out. First, Habzone JI–12–87. We secure air superiority and clear the zone; we're set. Second, Habzone GA–34–51. The landing site is a few hundred meters from ideal cover. Risky — the area was empty days ago, but we received footage of movement. If it's still empty? Great. If not? A slog to take."
Rannick nods, weighing the options.
"Which do you recommend?"
"The first, sir. Chasm Station is easy to secure with air support."
"Then we'll proceed. It's yours to handle, Sergeant-Major. Use whatever forces needed — just make it hold."
"Yes, sir."
Rannick then turns to Sire Melk, his Spymaster.
"Sire Melk. Any updates? We need intel."
"Nothing concrete, sir. But an interesting rumor came from the edge of Tertium Hive."
"Oh? Go on."
Melk looks to the leading Mechanicus aboard before looking back at Rannick.
"Do you recall the Heretek signal, sir?"
"Ah, yes. The one that Enginseer Kayex-8 managed to catch by luck."
"Yes. The rumor originates from that blackout district."
"I'm aware of the blackout. Get to the point."
"Apologies, sir. The rumor started when PDF Squad 1152-B was rescued—by a group calling themselves the Sanctuary."
"Sanctuary…"
"Yes, sir. According to Squad Captain Taro, they actively fight the local Water Cartel — specifically the Gnashing Rat Cartel."
"I know them. Weakest cartel, but they make up for it in numbers. Little machinery, many bodies."
"Indeed. Yet Sanctuary assisted the PDF in repelling the Dregs. Captain Taro said they use Lasgun and Autogun in the battle against the Dregs. With their help, the squad was able to hold the line and ring a rare victory for House Margrave."
"And what are they? Another cartel?"
"We don't know. The blackout prevents detailed scans, and after the purge, we've struggled sending agents in."
Rannick shoots another glare at the shivering Margrave servant, then turns to Hadron Omega-7-7.
"Can power be restored to that district, Hadron?"
"Possible," replies the 'woman' next to Melk. "But we'd need to purge the malevolent spirit the Heretek left, and manually reset the generator. It would require resources and continued monitoring to soothe the machine spirit. Enginseer Kayex-8 should be assigned. It is his job as Enginseer."
Rannick hums in thought, then nods. He turns to Melk and says.
"We'll send agents into the area. We need to know more about this so-called Sanctuary."
"I'll arrange it, sir."
"Good. Now—let's discuss how we deal with… unruly nobles."
The only sound left in the room is the servant's quiet whimper.
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