ASumatranTiger
Why wasn't the chicken able to cross the road?
- Location
- In a house
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah shit, that fat general's most likely useless at leading the PDF.
Interrogator (40k)
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
He does fit the stereotype of the useless REMF in need of some blam, but it's best to find some specific, intolerable failing before applying the blam.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
Agreed .gif here
That level of paranoia though, shooting him is going to require being able to prove that either his been taken over, or is complicit in something that caused this.
That level of paranoia though, shooting him is going to require being able to prove that either his been taken over, or is complicit in something that caused this.
17
Lord-General Hauxely XXIV walked up next to me, looking up at the hololith of the planet, "It started when the Orks arrived," he said and raised a fat hand, pointing at a section of the planet marked with several orkish symbols I had not seen at first glance, "They landed here and still have significant forces on the planet. Or so we think, they are cut off from us by the rebels."
"Rebels?"
He looked grim as he nodded, "Soon after the Orks landed, the population seemed to panic. But soon it was revealed it was anything but a panic. Entire cities of the peasants rose up. Hertics, all of them!"
I raised one eyebrow, "According to reports, the local population doesn't have anything more advanced than steam power. How exactly did they overthrow imperial enclaves armed with artillery and lasguns?"
Hauxely made a disgusted sound, "Because several of those same enclaves joined the rebels!"
I nodded. That sounded like genestealers to me.
Which was not a good thing. At all.
"Continue."
He nodded, "Soon after the heretics rose up, we lost contact with the rest of the sector, none of the astropaths could get through. A warpstorm is surrounding our system."
Which explains why Dorian died. But genestealers don't cause warpstorms, they can call in a fleet and cause a shadow in the warp, but they didn't cause warpstorms.
If it was a chaos cult which it sounded like… if they were deep and entrenched enough to have psykers able to do rituals to cause a warpstorm, that was bad.
Very, very bad. As in call in the Space Marines level of bad.
Which we couldn't do because of the warpstorm. Fuck.
"Have you tried sending ships?"
He nodded, "Two. Neither has returned. But I assumed they got through as you have arrived. Are reinforcements coming?"
I shook my head, "Not to my knowledge. My master sent me to investigate why you have gone quiet. When I fail to report back, I suspect he may call in reinforcements, but that's months if not years away. How bad is the situation?"
He looked grimmly at the hololith of the planet, "We're holding them back, but have so far been unable to push them back either but the planetary governor has given me full authority on this matter. We are in the process of planning a major offensive here," he said and pointed towards a place on the southern continent, "If successful it will retake this enclave and half their production ability."
"I want full access to all your information."
"Of course, Interrogator."
I looked up towards the hololith before I frowned and spotted another symbol about four hundred kilometers north from our current position, "Lord-General," I asked mildly, "Why is there a Tau symbol on this map?"
"That's the Tau enclave," he said after a moment, "They have a trade station here, the Planetary Governor has approved them trading with the local nobility."
"I see," I said, crossing my arms as I regarded the map.
Not too unexpected, we were somewhat close to the area of space claimed by the Tau. Not a good thing and this place would need a purge, but right now we had more important things to worry about.
Priorities.
Because quite frankly, if we can't get ships here or out, neither can the Tau.
They were as cut off as we were.
Tau. Orks. Heretics.
Motherfuck.
"Me and my team are going to need somewhere to work," I said, turning to look at him, "And I'm going to need complete cooperation from you and your men. If the heretics have spread as far as they have, there are going to be spies and saboteurs in the loyalist PDF as well. And in the civilian population."
The Lord-General looked grim but nodded, "Of course, Interrogator."
I looked up at the map again. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Orks would have been bad enough, but with a full heretical uprising as well…
At least the Orks seemed to be involved with the heretics. That likely kept both sides distracted and their forces split.
But they were still not focused on the PDF, but still not only holding us back but taken a third of the planet. If they were still busy with the Orks…
The moment they won, we'd be overrun. Or just as bad, if the Orks managed to defeat them, then we'd be dealing with the green tide.
First thing however, I needed to get somewhere to work set up and get my team gathered. The best and most important thing I could do right now would be to vet the PDF leadership and then work my way down.
Rooting out spies and traitors was part of my job after all.
I turned and looked towards Zhivko, "Zhivko, would you mind going to get the rest?"
"Of course, Interrogator," he said and saluted before turning to walk out.
"Let's see where we can set up shop," I told Darien before I looked at the Lord-General, "Unless there is something else I can assist you with, Lord-General?"
The Lord-General nodded, "As a matter of fact, Interrogator, we do have some heretic prisoners. I assume you would like access to them as well?"
"That might be most helpful," I agreed before I turned and headed towards the exit.
"Rebels?"
He looked grim as he nodded, "Soon after the Orks landed, the population seemed to panic. But soon it was revealed it was anything but a panic. Entire cities of the peasants rose up. Hertics, all of them!"
I raised one eyebrow, "According to reports, the local population doesn't have anything more advanced than steam power. How exactly did they overthrow imperial enclaves armed with artillery and lasguns?"
Hauxely made a disgusted sound, "Because several of those same enclaves joined the rebels!"
I nodded. That sounded like genestealers to me.
Which was not a good thing. At all.
"Continue."
He nodded, "Soon after the heretics rose up, we lost contact with the rest of the sector, none of the astropaths could get through. A warpstorm is surrounding our system."
Which explains why Dorian died. But genestealers don't cause warpstorms, they can call in a fleet and cause a shadow in the warp, but they didn't cause warpstorms.
If it was a chaos cult which it sounded like… if they were deep and entrenched enough to have psykers able to do rituals to cause a warpstorm, that was bad.
Very, very bad. As in call in the Space Marines level of bad.
Which we couldn't do because of the warpstorm. Fuck.
"Have you tried sending ships?"
He nodded, "Two. Neither has returned. But I assumed they got through as you have arrived. Are reinforcements coming?"
I shook my head, "Not to my knowledge. My master sent me to investigate why you have gone quiet. When I fail to report back, I suspect he may call in reinforcements, but that's months if not years away. How bad is the situation?"
He looked grimmly at the hololith of the planet, "We're holding them back, but have so far been unable to push them back either but the planetary governor has given me full authority on this matter. We are in the process of planning a major offensive here," he said and pointed towards a place on the southern continent, "If successful it will retake this enclave and half their production ability."
"I want full access to all your information."
"Of course, Interrogator."
I looked up towards the hololith before I frowned and spotted another symbol about four hundred kilometers north from our current position, "Lord-General," I asked mildly, "Why is there a Tau symbol on this map?"
"That's the Tau enclave," he said after a moment, "They have a trade station here, the Planetary Governor has approved them trading with the local nobility."
"I see," I said, crossing my arms as I regarded the map.
Not too unexpected, we were somewhat close to the area of space claimed by the Tau. Not a good thing and this place would need a purge, but right now we had more important things to worry about.
Priorities.
Because quite frankly, if we can't get ships here or out, neither can the Tau.
They were as cut off as we were.
Tau. Orks. Heretics.
Motherfuck.
"Me and my team are going to need somewhere to work," I said, turning to look at him, "And I'm going to need complete cooperation from you and your men. If the heretics have spread as far as they have, there are going to be spies and saboteurs in the loyalist PDF as well. And in the civilian population."
The Lord-General looked grim but nodded, "Of course, Interrogator."
I looked up at the map again. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Orks would have been bad enough, but with a full heretical uprising as well…
At least the Orks seemed to be involved with the heretics. That likely kept both sides distracted and their forces split.
But they were still not focused on the PDF, but still not only holding us back but taken a third of the planet. If they were still busy with the Orks…
The moment they won, we'd be overrun. Or just as bad, if the Orks managed to defeat them, then we'd be dealing with the green tide.
First thing however, I needed to get somewhere to work set up and get my team gathered. The best and most important thing I could do right now would be to vet the PDF leadership and then work my way down.
Rooting out spies and traitors was part of my job after all.
I turned and looked towards Zhivko, "Zhivko, would you mind going to get the rest?"
"Of course, Interrogator," he said and saluted before turning to walk out.
"Let's see where we can set up shop," I told Darien before I looked at the Lord-General, "Unless there is something else I can assist you with, Lord-General?"
The Lord-General nodded, "As a matter of fact, Interrogator, we do have some heretic prisoners. I assume you would like access to them as well?"
"That might be most helpful," I agreed before I turned and headed towards the exit.
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
So that's three kinds of enemy in this clusterfuck, do I hear four?
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
So Orks and Tau confirmed. Possible Chaos or Tyranid... or maybe both and the loyalists just haven't noticed the 'rebels' fighting each other as well. All that's needed now is some Eldar and/or Dark Eldar popping up from some hidey-hole to do their usual respective actions, and then the planet to end up being a Necron Tomb World that's about to awaken.
Last edited:
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
Yeah, was just wondering what exactly the name of the system was again myself...
People were speculating that the weapons being used in the first snippet sounded like Necron weapons...
"It's named 'AHHHHHGGGH!' "
"Huh?"
"That's all we got back from the first survey team. A bad sign in retrospect."
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
Hypothetical: Tzeench is paying attention to the SI, and set this up as a test of some sort (and probably a way to move several other 'pieces' for other plans).
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
That's... terrifyingly plausible. Tzeentch is hope and all that.
18
"-Interviewer Interrogator Tezzeret, Ordo Xenos. Subject is Captain Wilk Abraiah, 12th armor brigade, Saigel Prime PDF. The time is.." I pulled a clock from my pocket, checking it before continuing in voice sounding as bored as I felt, "18:52 local."
We were in a rockcrete box, empty but for a pair of chairs and a table. It was slightly cold, the airconditioning humming with a small clicking sound every few seconds. I didn't wear my goon clothes this time, my more regularly worn 'mid level administratum' clothes was a much better fit.
Across the desk from me was my twelfth interview today, Captain Abraiah. He was equally tall as any of the locals. Pale with blue eyes and a shaved head and a scar on his cheek shaped like a crescent moon. Looked like he had burned himself on something.
"Please confirm your name for the records."
He swallowed, "Captain Wilk Abraiah, 12th armor brigade, Saigel Prime PDF, sir."
"Subject has confirmed his identity," I continued and looked at the dataslate again before I glanced at him, "43 years of age, no registered partner, mother and father lives at Habsection Twenty Three, manufactorum workers. One older sister, Tabina Abraiah-"
"Two, sir."
I raised my eyebrow and looked at him, "Excuse me?"
"Two sisters, sir. I have a younger sister too, Riga."
"Hmm, I see," I said and made a note. I knew that of course, it was in his files. I needed to get him engaged for this to work the best way it could and it was almost impossible for somebody to not correct you about things like that. If he hadn't that would actually been a soviet sized red flag.
I finally set the dataslate down as I met his eyes, my augmented eye zooming in on his face, "Do you know why you are here, Captain?" I asked after a long moment.
"No, sir."
I tapped my finger on the dataslate, "You visited the Shavalla Enclave four days before hostility broke out. May I ask why?"
He tensed slightly and nodded, "I was visiting a friend, sir."
"A friend?" I asked and checked the dataslate, "The same reason for your other seven visits to that Enclave? Each time you have weekend leave?"
"Yes, sir."
"May I ask their name?"
"Adam Luset, sir."
I nodded and picked up the dataslate, tapping in the information, "You must be worried," I commented.
"Yes, sir."
I glanced at him, "You hope he's safe?"
There.
I rewinded and played it again, slower this time. There was a slight twitch at the corner of his eye when he sensed the trap. Excellent. Same as when I mentioned the sister.
Wilk took a slow breath, "I… like to think he's not involved. If he's not, I wish for him to stay safe. If not, Warp takes him."
Nodding slowly, I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms, "We all want our loved ones to stay safe," I told him quietly, "It's perfectly natural. It must be difficult for you."
"...Yes, sir."
"Well, you're hardly the only one to have loved ones stuck on the other side of the frontline," I said and looked at the dataslate again, "But I have to check in on everyone in critical positions. By the time I'm done, the war will be long over."
Not a single lie there. Two weeks in and I was ready to shoot somebody.
Possibly myself.
He relaxed slightly, "I can see how that must be an impossible task."
I smiled tiredly at him before I leaned back, rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands, "You have no idea. A dozen or more interviews a day, every day for… well, so far the list is growing faster than I can work through it. Join the Inquisition they said, it will be exciting they said…"
That drew a small grin from him, "Sounds like the PDF."
"More than you think," I agreed, "So let's just get through this with the least trouble for everybody possible, okay? I just want to call it a day and have a drink and I still have like four hours of paperwork after we're done here. I have been doing this for fourteen hours today and I haven't even had lunch yet."
He nodded, "Sounds like a fair thing, sir. What do you want to know?"
I smiled and picked up the dataslate, "Well, we can start with…"
That continued for another thirty minutes with more or less standard questions about how he grew up, his career in the PDF, his training and his duties now.
"-and which platform did you land on on your last trip to the Shavalla Enclave?" I asked, "Third or forth?"
Twitch.
"Fourth I believe, sir, but I'm not sure."
I nodded and tapped the note down, "I see. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter," I said and he relaxed slightly.
He was definitely hiding something. All transports between here and Shavalla Enclave went to their second and forth landing platforms via landtrains. Was the twitch because he didn't remember or because he didn't go there? Or because he went there but stopped somewhere on the way?
I reviewed the footage from my eye again.
I glanced through his file on the dataslate before I nodded, "I think that's all for today. Thank you for your cooperation Captain. I know it's a bother, but we all have our duties."
Sometimes I wished I had the gift of a psyker. This is why I brought Dorian damn it! Then something like what happened to Dorian happens. Damn it, he didn't deserve to die like that. I really wish he had been here for this, having a telepath you can trust along makes these things a lot easier.
"Thank you, sir. Please, let me know if there is anything else I can do to help."
I smiled at him, "Of course," I agreed, putting him on the shortlist for surveillance.
We were in a rockcrete box, empty but for a pair of chairs and a table. It was slightly cold, the airconditioning humming with a small clicking sound every few seconds. I didn't wear my goon clothes this time, my more regularly worn 'mid level administratum' clothes was a much better fit.
Across the desk from me was my twelfth interview today, Captain Abraiah. He was equally tall as any of the locals. Pale with blue eyes and a shaved head and a scar on his cheek shaped like a crescent moon. Looked like he had burned himself on something.
"Please confirm your name for the records."
He swallowed, "Captain Wilk Abraiah, 12th armor brigade, Saigel Prime PDF, sir."
"Subject has confirmed his identity," I continued and looked at the dataslate again before I glanced at him, "43 years of age, no registered partner, mother and father lives at Habsection Twenty Three, manufactorum workers. One older sister, Tabina Abraiah-"
"Two, sir."
I raised my eyebrow and looked at him, "Excuse me?"
"Two sisters, sir. I have a younger sister too, Riga."
"Hmm, I see," I said and made a note. I knew that of course, it was in his files. I needed to get him engaged for this to work the best way it could and it was almost impossible for somebody to not correct you about things like that. If he hadn't that would actually been a soviet sized red flag.
I finally set the dataslate down as I met his eyes, my augmented eye zooming in on his face, "Do you know why you are here, Captain?" I asked after a long moment.
"No, sir."
I tapped my finger on the dataslate, "You visited the Shavalla Enclave four days before hostility broke out. May I ask why?"
He tensed slightly and nodded, "I was visiting a friend, sir."
"A friend?" I asked and checked the dataslate, "The same reason for your other seven visits to that Enclave? Each time you have weekend leave?"
"Yes, sir."
"May I ask their name?"
"Adam Luset, sir."
I nodded and picked up the dataslate, tapping in the information, "You must be worried," I commented.
"Yes, sir."
I glanced at him, "You hope he's safe?"
There.
I rewinded and played it again, slower this time. There was a slight twitch at the corner of his eye when he sensed the trap. Excellent. Same as when I mentioned the sister.
Wilk took a slow breath, "I… like to think he's not involved. If he's not, I wish for him to stay safe. If not, Warp takes him."
Nodding slowly, I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms, "We all want our loved ones to stay safe," I told him quietly, "It's perfectly natural. It must be difficult for you."
"...Yes, sir."
"Well, you're hardly the only one to have loved ones stuck on the other side of the frontline," I said and looked at the dataslate again, "But I have to check in on everyone in critical positions. By the time I'm done, the war will be long over."
Not a single lie there. Two weeks in and I was ready to shoot somebody.
Possibly myself.
He relaxed slightly, "I can see how that must be an impossible task."
I smiled tiredly at him before I leaned back, rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands, "You have no idea. A dozen or more interviews a day, every day for… well, so far the list is growing faster than I can work through it. Join the Inquisition they said, it will be exciting they said…"
That drew a small grin from him, "Sounds like the PDF."
"More than you think," I agreed, "So let's just get through this with the least trouble for everybody possible, okay? I just want to call it a day and have a drink and I still have like four hours of paperwork after we're done here. I have been doing this for fourteen hours today and I haven't even had lunch yet."
He nodded, "Sounds like a fair thing, sir. What do you want to know?"
I smiled and picked up the dataslate, "Well, we can start with…"
That continued for another thirty minutes with more or less standard questions about how he grew up, his career in the PDF, his training and his duties now.
"-and which platform did you land on on your last trip to the Shavalla Enclave?" I asked, "Third or forth?"
Twitch.
"Fourth I believe, sir, but I'm not sure."
I nodded and tapped the note down, "I see. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter," I said and he relaxed slightly.
He was definitely hiding something. All transports between here and Shavalla Enclave went to their second and forth landing platforms via landtrains. Was the twitch because he didn't remember or because he didn't go there? Or because he went there but stopped somewhere on the way?
I reviewed the footage from my eye again.
I glanced through his file on the dataslate before I nodded, "I think that's all for today. Thank you for your cooperation Captain. I know it's a bother, but we all have our duties."
Sometimes I wished I had the gift of a psyker. This is why I brought Dorian damn it! Then something like what happened to Dorian happens. Damn it, he didn't deserve to die like that. I really wish he had been here for this, having a telepath you can trust along makes these things a lot easier.
"Thank you, sir. Please, let me know if there is anything else I can do to help."
I smiled at him, "Of course," I agreed, putting him on the shortlist for surveillance.
- Location
- Washington DC
One of the things I like about this is that Tezzeret is able to make people (especially those who should fear the Inquisition with blood curdling terror) feel like he is just like them. That takes skill.
Tranquil Zebra
Equid of Peerless Tranquility
- Location
- Norway
I think one of the most potent intoxicants in an interrogator's arsenal is the relief of having a nice chat with a friendly punchclock worker instead of getting tortured by a sadistic maniac. This is absolutely how interrogations should be done in real life, being friendly and disarming until the story comes spilling out. If you just want an admission of guilt, you'll get one regardless of actual guilt if you just torment someone. There are loads of stories of how people have been interrogated until they start believing the interrogator's accusations over their own recollections. In real life, someone gets sent to prison while the real culprit goes free, which is horrible but of little personal consequence to the interrogator. In WH40k, something nasty comes cravling out of the Warp while you're looking in the wrong places, and you're all sorry.
19
The cells in the arbiters compound where the prisoners were being held was a hole in the ground. Literally.
Five stories beneath ground of grey rockcrete of cell after cell just big enough for a bunk and a toilet and little else.
The prisoners could stand up and stretch out, but that was about as far as amenities went. There wasn't any dripping water or anything, but it was chill and moist, feeling like a basement.
I had been down here multiple times since I got started with my work here and every time I interviewed one of the prisoners… it distubed me.
So far, I had not interacted a lot with the followers of the ruinous powers. I served the Ordo Xeno, I dealt with aliens.
But these… These worried me in their madness.
I stopped and pointed at one of the cells, "This one," I said. The two arbites that had come with me and Darien walked past and moved to open the door.
"Stand back! Stand back from the door!"
"FUCK YOU!" echoed muffled through the door.
"Imaginative," Darien commented, his hand resting on his empty laspistol holster. Nobody in the prison was to be armed. Even the guards only had shock mauls.
If a prisoner managed to get their hands on one, there was a limit on how much damage they could do.
Technically I could have overridden it as a servant of the Inquisition, but I happened to agree with this rule.
"Stand back, Heretic!" The right guard yelled through the door, "or you'll regret it!"
The answer was somewhat rude about the guards mother and her involvement with grox.
"I need him alive and talking," I reminded the guards before they got any ideas.
"Understood Interrogator," the one I had mentally assigned as Guard A said with a nod, "Ready?" he asked his partner.
"Ready."
With that, they unlocked the door and charged inside. The man inside met their charge with a roar and I got my first look at him. Tall and muscular like the rest of the locals, his head was shaved and heavily scared across one side. A symbol was branded on his other cheek and he was dressed in what remained of a bright red jumpsuit. He had torn it away from his upper body, having torn the fabric into strips and wrapped around his hands.
The first guard met him head on, swinging in with his shock maul. The man ducked in, causing him to miss as he slammed his meaty fist into the guard's chin, sending the guard spinning to the ground.
The second guard's shock maul hit him in the side, the discharge sending him tumbling against the wall. He basically rebounded off it, throwing himself onto the second guard, tackling him to the floor.
"Oh by the cogs," I muttered with a sigh, "Darien, would you mind?"
"My pleasure, Interrogator," Sergeant Weller said and rushed into the cell, snatching up the fallen shock maul before jabbing it at the back of the neck of the heretic before he could finish beating the guard to death.
He dropped like somebody had cut his strings.
Walking into the cell as Darien rolled him off the bleeding guard, I quickly checked on the two guards. Both were alive, one bleeding after his beating but already climbing to his feet and the first one unconscious.
Holding up a hand to stop the bleeding guard from doing something dumb like retaliating against the prisoner, I crouched down to look down into the heretics face as he struggled to breath, "What you're feeling is the remains of the shock maul going through your system," I told him, "Don't worry, you'll start regain your ability to move and feel in a couple of minutes. Please, allow me to introduce myself, I am Interrogator Tezzeret of His Imperial Majesty's Holy Inquisition, Ordo Xenos.I have some questions I need you to answer for me."
He glared up at me.
"I'll take that as an agreement," I said, "Now, what is your name?"
Apparently the effects of the shock maul had subsided a bit already as he managed to gain enough control to spit at me.
I pulled a napkin from my pocket, drying it off my cheek, "Thank you," I said and handed it over to Darien, "Please run a genescan on this, we should be able to find him in the archives if he's an Enclave inhabitant or an offworlder."
Of course, I already knew who he was.
Jaren Cornek. A mill worker from Regnesh Enclave. He had been a supervisor even and had been captured during one of the assaults on the PDF lines after he got stuck beneath some fallen debri in a collapsed building.
But theater and misdirection was my primary method for these things. Pain had its place, but people would say anything to make it stop. You could never trust any of it unless you already had corroborating evidence and by then you didn't need to torture them in the first place.
Only real use for it was if there was something extremely urgent you needed to know. Because at least there was some chance of getting what you need. And even then there were… options.
"Now," I continued and slowly stood up as a full squad of guards reached the cell, "Please convey the prisoner to the interrogation room," I told them, "Unharmed if you please."
Of course, not to say that there wasn't a use for enhanced interrogation instead.
And that room had been prepared already. The uncomfortable chair with ever so slightly uneven legs. The cool and very dry air. The clock that ticked slightly unevenly. The soft hum of the illuminators.
I'd join him there in five or six hours.
Five stories beneath ground of grey rockcrete of cell after cell just big enough for a bunk and a toilet and little else.
The prisoners could stand up and stretch out, but that was about as far as amenities went. There wasn't any dripping water or anything, but it was chill and moist, feeling like a basement.
I had been down here multiple times since I got started with my work here and every time I interviewed one of the prisoners… it distubed me.
So far, I had not interacted a lot with the followers of the ruinous powers. I served the Ordo Xeno, I dealt with aliens.
But these… These worried me in their madness.
I stopped and pointed at one of the cells, "This one," I said. The two arbites that had come with me and Darien walked past and moved to open the door.
"Stand back! Stand back from the door!"
"FUCK YOU!" echoed muffled through the door.
"Imaginative," Darien commented, his hand resting on his empty laspistol holster. Nobody in the prison was to be armed. Even the guards only had shock mauls.
If a prisoner managed to get their hands on one, there was a limit on how much damage they could do.
Technically I could have overridden it as a servant of the Inquisition, but I happened to agree with this rule.
"Stand back, Heretic!" The right guard yelled through the door, "or you'll regret it!"
The answer was somewhat rude about the guards mother and her involvement with grox.
"I need him alive and talking," I reminded the guards before they got any ideas.
"Understood Interrogator," the one I had mentally assigned as Guard A said with a nod, "Ready?" he asked his partner.
"Ready."
With that, they unlocked the door and charged inside. The man inside met their charge with a roar and I got my first look at him. Tall and muscular like the rest of the locals, his head was shaved and heavily scared across one side. A symbol was branded on his other cheek and he was dressed in what remained of a bright red jumpsuit. He had torn it away from his upper body, having torn the fabric into strips and wrapped around his hands.
The first guard met him head on, swinging in with his shock maul. The man ducked in, causing him to miss as he slammed his meaty fist into the guard's chin, sending the guard spinning to the ground.
The second guard's shock maul hit him in the side, the discharge sending him tumbling against the wall. He basically rebounded off it, throwing himself onto the second guard, tackling him to the floor.
"Oh by the cogs," I muttered with a sigh, "Darien, would you mind?"
"My pleasure, Interrogator," Sergeant Weller said and rushed into the cell, snatching up the fallen shock maul before jabbing it at the back of the neck of the heretic before he could finish beating the guard to death.
He dropped like somebody had cut his strings.
Walking into the cell as Darien rolled him off the bleeding guard, I quickly checked on the two guards. Both were alive, one bleeding after his beating but already climbing to his feet and the first one unconscious.
Holding up a hand to stop the bleeding guard from doing something dumb like retaliating against the prisoner, I crouched down to look down into the heretics face as he struggled to breath, "What you're feeling is the remains of the shock maul going through your system," I told him, "Don't worry, you'll start regain your ability to move and feel in a couple of minutes. Please, allow me to introduce myself, I am Interrogator Tezzeret of His Imperial Majesty's Holy Inquisition, Ordo Xenos.I have some questions I need you to answer for me."
He glared up at me.
"I'll take that as an agreement," I said, "Now, what is your name?"
Apparently the effects of the shock maul had subsided a bit already as he managed to gain enough control to spit at me.
I pulled a napkin from my pocket, drying it off my cheek, "Thank you," I said and handed it over to Darien, "Please run a genescan on this, we should be able to find him in the archives if he's an Enclave inhabitant or an offworlder."
Of course, I already knew who he was.
Jaren Cornek. A mill worker from Regnesh Enclave. He had been a supervisor even and had been captured during one of the assaults on the PDF lines after he got stuck beneath some fallen debri in a collapsed building.
But theater and misdirection was my primary method for these things. Pain had its place, but people would say anything to make it stop. You could never trust any of it unless you already had corroborating evidence and by then you didn't need to torture them in the first place.
Only real use for it was if there was something extremely urgent you needed to know. Because at least there was some chance of getting what you need. And even then there were… options.
"Now," I continued and slowly stood up as a full squad of guards reached the cell, "Please convey the prisoner to the interrogation room," I told them, "Unharmed if you please."
Of course, not to say that there wasn't a use for enhanced interrogation instead.
And that room had been prepared already. The uncomfortable chair with ever so slightly uneven legs. The cool and very dry air. The clock that ticked slightly unevenly. The soft hum of the illuminators.
I'd join him there in five or six hours.
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
How very Vetinari of you.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
20
"Keep an eye on it," I said to Naria, "See if you can find any other records about it. If not, we may have to check it out."
She nodded, "I agree, Interrogator. The Mechanicus expedition to the site may be of importance to the defense of this world."
She had found an anomaly. A couple of weeks before the Orks arrived, the Mechanicus had sent an expedition out to what looked like a locally operated and constructed mining operation. Digging iron of all things.
Right now it was still on our side of the lines, but it was relatively close to the Tau enclave and the front was moving in that direction. If we needed to check it out in person, we needed to do it fast.
For all we know, somebody stumbled upon a particularly nice glowing fungus and some mangos-biologis got his gears all lubed up about it, but it could also be a star destroying dark age of technology uber weapon.
No way of knowing. So unless any of the local Mechanicus felt like sharing, we had to check it out.
I nodded to her before I turned and continued down the corridor towards the interview room. The guard outside opened the door and allowed me inside.
This time I was dressed for effect. Full on Inquisitorial goon, including the long leather coat with Skull pauldrons, carapace body armor beneath it and a smirk at my lips.
"Mister Cornek," I said as I closed the door behind myself before turning to face him. He was sitting in the uncomfortable metal chair on the other side of the table, heavy metal shackles holding his hands to the chair, the chair itself bolted to the rockcrete floor, "You is in quite a lot of trouble," I told him as I walked to sit down across from him before putting my feet onto the corner of the table.
He tugged at his shackles, "Fuck you."
"You're not my type, I'm afraid," I answered as I regarded him, "You had a pretty good life once. Mill supervisor, wife and children. Why did you throw in with the chaos worshiping lunatics?"
Cornek tugged at his shackles again, "You have no idea what it's like! The Imperium… What have you bastards ever done for us!? He showed us the Truth!"
"Well," I said and held my gloved hand up, counting on my fingers, "Keep you safe from xenos, safe from heretics… build a lot of bridges, I saw an aqueduct on the way here. Education centers. Set a standard for sausages. A lot of things."
"Fuck you and your Imperium! We won't be your slaves anymore! The Prophet of Truth will free us and the rest of the galaxy from your tyranny!"
I sighed and shook my head, "Mister Cornek, you already know your fate, You're going to die for your crimes against the Imperium. I won't insult your intelligence and say you will be alright. I'm not going to threaten you, I'm not going to torture you. Quite frankly I have too much work to do and too little time. So I'm going to give you a choice about your fate, possibly your last and most important choice. Cooperate and at worst and you will die quickly and cleanly to a firing squad or if I can pull it, be able to join a penal legion. Don't and you will be turned into a servitor to serve the Imperium in a way you wouldn't in life."
"Monster."
"That's a matter of perspective," I said and reached into my pocket to pull out a small flask of amasec, taking a sip, "Want some? It's pretty good."
He just glared at me.
"Oh well," I said and set my feet back onto the table as I put my flask back in my pocket as I stood up, "Let the guards know if you want to talk, you have until tomorrow to think about it, I'm going to want your answer then. If not, well, I'm afraid I'd have to move on with one of your friends instead. Sooner or later I'll get what I want," I said before I shrugged, "And if not, we get servitors. Win-win I'd say."
I closed the door behind me, leaving him in the mostly silent concrete box to the clicking of the clock on the wall.
The door locked and I looked to the guard, "If he hasn't asked for me by sunrise tomorrow, take him outside and shoot him in the head. If he does, let me know and take him back to his cell until I return."
If he talked, awesome. It would give me datapoints. If not, there was no use keeping him around to potentially cause trouble.
The guard saluted, "Yes, sir."
I nodded and headed out. I needed to get to the literal mountain of reports from the commissars of the local PDF. Or rather, the one Commissar that had the very unfortunate timing of visiting the planet when the entire thing went down. Normally he was the Commissar assigned to this system's PDF and the PDF of the thirteen more systems in the sector.
I'm surprised he didn't spend most of his time drinking to be honest, I would if I had this job. But he was doing a remarkable job in correlating and sorting all the reports from the officers of all the PDF units, sending me anything that might be related to my work.
That and I had six more normal interviews today.
Some that I may have executed if they couldn't account for some discrepancies in their paperwork. Executed because of errors in paperwork.
And the worst thing about it? In this case it was absolutely the right thing to do. Some of them were members of the PDF. Some were members of the Administratum.
If they really were traitors… the damage some of them could do if they really were traitors were horrific.
There were times I absolutely hated having accepted the Inquisitor's offer of a job. And it was never when running from some xenos monstrosity or getting shot at.
It was when doing things like this. But before now… before now I had never been in charge. It had always been Inquisitor Aurelius' call what to do.
Now? Now it was all on me. If I fucked up, somebody innocent died. Somebody with loved ones, family. If I fucked up the other direction, possibly a lot of innocents would die.
Maybe everybody on the planet.
Then there was whatever bullshit was causing the warpstorm around the planet, if it was the heretic psykers that caused it, what were they doing with it? Just keeping reinforcements from showing up? Or preparing for something even worse?
Stopping before exiting the underground maze of cells and rooms, I pulled my prop flask from my pocket and took a long swig of the burning amber liquid inside.
There were times I wished I believed in the Emperor.
It would have made things so much easier.
She nodded, "I agree, Interrogator. The Mechanicus expedition to the site may be of importance to the defense of this world."
She had found an anomaly. A couple of weeks before the Orks arrived, the Mechanicus had sent an expedition out to what looked like a locally operated and constructed mining operation. Digging iron of all things.
Right now it was still on our side of the lines, but it was relatively close to the Tau enclave and the front was moving in that direction. If we needed to check it out in person, we needed to do it fast.
For all we know, somebody stumbled upon a particularly nice glowing fungus and some mangos-biologis got his gears all lubed up about it, but it could also be a star destroying dark age of technology uber weapon.
No way of knowing. So unless any of the local Mechanicus felt like sharing, we had to check it out.
I nodded to her before I turned and continued down the corridor towards the interview room. The guard outside opened the door and allowed me inside.
This time I was dressed for effect. Full on Inquisitorial goon, including the long leather coat with Skull pauldrons, carapace body armor beneath it and a smirk at my lips.
"Mister Cornek," I said as I closed the door behind myself before turning to face him. He was sitting in the uncomfortable metal chair on the other side of the table, heavy metal shackles holding his hands to the chair, the chair itself bolted to the rockcrete floor, "You is in quite a lot of trouble," I told him as I walked to sit down across from him before putting my feet onto the corner of the table.
He tugged at his shackles, "Fuck you."
"You're not my type, I'm afraid," I answered as I regarded him, "You had a pretty good life once. Mill supervisor, wife and children. Why did you throw in with the chaos worshiping lunatics?"
Cornek tugged at his shackles again, "You have no idea what it's like! The Imperium… What have you bastards ever done for us!? He showed us the Truth!"
"Well," I said and held my gloved hand up, counting on my fingers, "Keep you safe from xenos, safe from heretics… build a lot of bridges, I saw an aqueduct on the way here. Education centers. Set a standard for sausages. A lot of things."
"Fuck you and your Imperium! We won't be your slaves anymore! The Prophet of Truth will free us and the rest of the galaxy from your tyranny!"
I sighed and shook my head, "Mister Cornek, you already know your fate, You're going to die for your crimes against the Imperium. I won't insult your intelligence and say you will be alright. I'm not going to threaten you, I'm not going to torture you. Quite frankly I have too much work to do and too little time. So I'm going to give you a choice about your fate, possibly your last and most important choice. Cooperate and at worst and you will die quickly and cleanly to a firing squad or if I can pull it, be able to join a penal legion. Don't and you will be turned into a servitor to serve the Imperium in a way you wouldn't in life."
"Monster."
"That's a matter of perspective," I said and reached into my pocket to pull out a small flask of amasec, taking a sip, "Want some? It's pretty good."
He just glared at me.
"Oh well," I said and set my feet back onto the table as I put my flask back in my pocket as I stood up, "Let the guards know if you want to talk, you have until tomorrow to think about it, I'm going to want your answer then. If not, well, I'm afraid I'd have to move on with one of your friends instead. Sooner or later I'll get what I want," I said before I shrugged, "And if not, we get servitors. Win-win I'd say."
I closed the door behind me, leaving him in the mostly silent concrete box to the clicking of the clock on the wall.
The door locked and I looked to the guard, "If he hasn't asked for me by sunrise tomorrow, take him outside and shoot him in the head. If he does, let me know and take him back to his cell until I return."
If he talked, awesome. It would give me datapoints. If not, there was no use keeping him around to potentially cause trouble.
The guard saluted, "Yes, sir."
I nodded and headed out. I needed to get to the literal mountain of reports from the commissars of the local PDF. Or rather, the one Commissar that had the very unfortunate timing of visiting the planet when the entire thing went down. Normally he was the Commissar assigned to this system's PDF and the PDF of the thirteen more systems in the sector.
I'm surprised he didn't spend most of his time drinking to be honest, I would if I had this job. But he was doing a remarkable job in correlating and sorting all the reports from the officers of all the PDF units, sending me anything that might be related to my work.
That and I had six more normal interviews today.
Some that I may have executed if they couldn't account for some discrepancies in their paperwork. Executed because of errors in paperwork.
And the worst thing about it? In this case it was absolutely the right thing to do. Some of them were members of the PDF. Some were members of the Administratum.
If they really were traitors… the damage some of them could do if they really were traitors were horrific.
There were times I absolutely hated having accepted the Inquisitor's offer of a job. And it was never when running from some xenos monstrosity or getting shot at.
It was when doing things like this. But before now… before now I had never been in charge. It had always been Inquisitor Aurelius' call what to do.
Now? Now it was all on me. If I fucked up, somebody innocent died. Somebody with loved ones, family. If I fucked up the other direction, possibly a lot of innocents would die.
Maybe everybody on the planet.
Then there was whatever bullshit was causing the warpstorm around the planet, if it was the heretic psykers that caused it, what were they doing with it? Just keeping reinforcements from showing up? Or preparing for something even worse?
Stopping before exiting the underground maze of cells and rooms, I pulled my prop flask from my pocket and took a long swig of the burning amber liquid inside.
There were times I wished I believed in the Emperor.
It would have made things so much easier.
- Location
- Australia
He's started drinking? Well that isn't good.
- Location
- france
Do you mean as a real god since you know the truth of his current state?
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- It/Them
Even knowing something is a God doesn't mean one believes in it, otherwise he would also believe in the Chaos gods. His lack of believe in the Emperor was an Angst point in the first part of the story.