---o---
Click.
The sound of bolt rounds being chambered rang out — sharp, immediate, final.
Then came a silence like death itself.
The situation here was worse than any of them had appreciated. The corruption of the Four Chaos Gods each manifested differently, and right now, not a single soul in the entire Hive could be trusted without question.
Of them all, Khorne and Nurgle's corruption was arguably the least dangerous to detect — both were simply too obvious about it.
Slaanesh's rot was somewhat more subtle, but still manageable to identify.
The real nightmare was Tzeentch. That one you genuinely couldn't guard against.
In fact, that the Imperium hadn't collapsed entirely yet was, in no small part, a tribute to Tzeentch's own handiwork. Chaos, after all, did not merely destroy — it complicated.
But the gifts of Chaos had always come with a price tag that made the purchase look insane in retrospect. What you gained and what you paid bore absolutely no resemblance to each other.
And so, as things stood: the Ecclesiarchy, the Planetary Governor, even the Planetary General — none of them could be trusted.
"Omega-Priest, come with me. I'll ask that you keep everything you're about to hear to yourself."
"I smell a secret." Zhou Ye's eyes flickered briefly. I smell a secret — White Scars. Pity it's not the Dark Angels. Oh well.
---o---
The group wound their way through a tangle of disordered streets, turning left and right well over a hundred times. Just as Zhou Ye was beginning to wonder if they were going in circles on purpose—
They arrived.
And there, standing before him, was an Inquisitor.
Zhou Ye took one look and felt the entire event become deeply anticlimactic.
Just an Inquisitor. Though — can an Inquisitor even command the White Scars?
"I am an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos. You may call me Chris."
"...Pardon?"
Zhou Ye stared at the Inquisitor for a moment. Then he looked back at the assembled White Scars behind him. Something clicked.
"You're Deathwatch?"
"Correct. These are two Kill Teams operating under Deathwatch authority, currently wearing their parent chapter's colors as cover."
"And your objective?"
"I arrived at Aestia following a prophecy. To avoid drawing attention, I took passage on a wandering Rogue Trader's vessel rather than my own ship, which was meant to follow behind. We ran into Warp turbulence — it cut my ship off entirely."
"Why not announce yourself and invoke your authority?"
After hearing Ordo Xenos, Zhou Ye had visibly relaxed. As long as it wasn't one of the Ordo Malleus fanatics, he could work with this. And frankly, one Inquisitor and a handful of White Scars wasn't enough firepower to give him a moment's concern.
"Because we lack the numbers. My Inquisitorial Storm Troopers are trapped on the other side of the Warp rift. We have to keep a low profile. This situation is more complex than it looks. The corruption is already endemic — my plan was to wait for reinforcement before declaring myself."
"I believe the Deathwatch has a rule," Zhou Ye said, almost conversationally. "Kill Teams aren't supposed to have members from the same chapter..."
"They're all from different White Scars successor chapters. I needed a rapid reconnaissance force. My main strength is a full Chapter operating in the nearby sector."
"Operating nearby?"
Zhou Ye's brow twitched. A specific possibility was forming in his mind.
"The Blood Ravens. There's a Blood Ravens company active in this region."
"...Mm."
Zhou Ye fell silent.
He had crossed paths with the Blood Ravens. He was completely certain they had flown off in the other direction. Which meant there was a solid chance they were never going to arrive at all.
"It seems the Navigator's Court has been compromised as well. Our reinforcements probably aren't coming."
The Blood Ravens, who by any reasonable calculation should have arrived here long ago, had yet to show so much as a shadow. The Navigator's Court — if corrupted — would have misdirected them through the Warp with ease. And with the local Warp unstable on top of that, even if they eventually figured it out, it would take a very long time.
"So then, Inquisitor," Zhou Ye said, his tone almost cheerful. "What's the plan?"
He looked at the man with genuine curiosity.
Outside: Iron Warriors and traitor Mechanicus forces. Inside: a nest of Thousand Sons operatives. The only people in this entire situation he could actually trust were the ones standing in this room.
This was getting interesting.
---o---
"Tonight, the Governor is hosting a banquet. The front lines have been pushed back, and he's organizing a final decisive battle. This dinner is almost certainly a pre-battle rally. I say we use the occasion to assess which members of the upper echelon have been turned."
"I thought you'd just round them all up," Zhou Ye said. "Apparently you're not quite that unhinged. So — how do you plan to get inside, Inquisitor Chris?"
"Don't I have you?"
"...Mm?"
"A Mechanicus Priest bringing a Servitor as an attendant — perfectly ordinary, isn't it? I've brought something special for this. Something that can identify corrupted individuals directly."
"What is it?"
"A book. A Chaos tome."
Chris produced the book and set it in front of Zhou Ye.
Zhou Ye looked at the text on the cover.
"...Hm? Oh."
He went quiet. Then he took a deliberate step backward.
He couldn't help it.
The thing was enormous — and somewhere inside those pages, a Nurgle Daemon had taken up residence.
Of the Four Ruinous Powers, Zhou Ye held Nurgle in the lowest possible regard. Just barely edging out Slaanesh for the bottom spot, but it was close.
"It was deceived by a Tzeentch daemon and ended up trapped in the book. In matters concerning other daemons, its word is worthless — but where Tzeentch is involved, you can provisionally trust it. Partially."
"It reeks. Keep it away from me."
"..."
This Priest is clearly someone who doesn't exactly play by the rules. Chris studied him. No wonder he ended up cast out as an eccentric.
---o---
Evening descended as the hive world's star sank slowly below the horizon.
In the upper hive, the Governor's palace blazed with light.
Down in the under-hive, Junkers scraped by on food that would have killed a person from the 2nd Millennium on first bite. Up here, fine wines and exquisite cuisine flowed without limit.
Only a select few had the standing to attend.
The Planetary General and his senior officers. Space Marines of the White Scars. A mysterious Mechanicus Priest. The local Ecclesiarchy Bishop. A scattering of political figures.
Somewhere around thirty people in all, gathered in that magnificent, extravagant palace.
This was the first time Zhou Ye had actually seen the Planetary Governor in person. He'd been expecting the usual type — soft, bloated, dripping with excess. What he found instead was a lean, sharp-looking man who carried himself with the bearing of a former soldier.
As far as Zhou Ye knew, the man had been a retired Imperial Guard regimental commander. He looked the part, at least.
Whether he'd been corrupted was another question entirely.
As for the others—
The Bishop didn't even require investigation.
The fangs were visible. The robes that draped his frame were covered in them, crawling with markings that needed no expert to identify. The man had clearly been corrupted — he just hadn't fully mutated yet.