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"Ahh Lachanal. The answer to that question is simple. I have a few sanctioned psykers in my keep. Your very thoughts betrayed you."

"But those thoughts of yours...those doubts about Governor Louisy were of interest to me because they were valid. And it's also why I knew I chose correctly when I selected you to join my warband."

"You see although I have no need to depose Louisy at the current moment, something indeed is very wrong with the current Governor. He has embarked on a very dangerous path you see. His final solution comes down to..."

At that moment, Parsen interrupted the old bald man with his tirade.

In response, the bald man immediately drew his bolt pistol and leveled it at Parsen.

"You on the other hand were selected for one reason and one reason only."

"For some inexplicable reason EVERY projectile shot at you...every blade that stabs out at you has a tendency to bypass all the critical organs of the human body. In short. You get shot, you get stabbed...repeatedly, but you still don't die. As far as I can tell it's some matter of bizarre luck. Do you want to test that theory today Parson?"

After a moment the bald man holstered the bolt pistol once more though he really did seem to be mulling over taking a shot at the old gangster just to see what would happen.

"If not, then shut your mouth for a few minutes and let me finish talking."

"Know that I am indeed an Inquisitor. If you can shut up for a moment longer, you might even come to know my name, just like I already know yours...and maybe, just maybe, you'll gain a better understanding of the 'deal' you are being offered today."

Lachanal lets out a dissatisfied groan as Parsen stopped the Inquisitor in his tracks. He almost, almost had his all answer and was a avidly waiting for the full truth of what he had been living lastly...
The NCO was in shock. Was that all so simple? Sanctioned psykers... Lachanal was making a list of people who might be psykers in his former Entourage, but quickly abandoned, as it could have been anyone. That was almost disappointing that it was all so plain. But the real deal, the one that was about to make Lachanal burst into tears, was to hear, yet again, that the governor he has served and loved all this time was on the brink of destroying his own creation. Tears of pain, and tears of joy, that maybe, he succeeded in stopping him and preserving his legacy? Maybe that at long last, somehow, the inquisition would set the old man aside to the rest he deserved before madness and ignominious death claimed him?


He raised a hand towards Parsen and said in a voice full of emotions he was now sick of hiding : "Pal. Wait before rebelling. You don't even know the full terms. And we surely don't know yet what was bound to happen if we hadn't succeeded. You may have your doubts and I'm okay with that, you've been hit hard in this adventure. But I have answers I've been waiting for a lifetime and fought these last days, risking my life, for. Now, stay still an instant more... And Inquisitor, I plea to you, tell us what was the Vermilion plan about?"

Lachanal was eager to know. Even more so that he did see this file and had been seconds away from actually reading it but lacking time to make up any good covering up of his traces he ultimately changed his mind.

H's ears perked up, even if he kept his body language submissive and his eyes downcast.

Hearing no further objection, the strange man continued speaking.

"Now where was I? Yes the Governor Louisy. It was just a few years ago, when the tithes were being worked out for this world to contribute to the counter attack against Leviathan. When the tithes were finalizes, Louisy realized that he was being deprived of the resources that he needed to utterly crush the traitorous cults running amock. It was an acceptable risk, he was told by the bureaucrats of the Adeptus Terra, that the cults had been so weakened already that they could never seriously threaten the planet and the fight against Leviathan had to take precedence."

"It was then that Louisy realized that he would never have his perfect world, that it all had been ruined not only by the taint of the genestealer, the mutant, the heretic, but by the ineptitude of the Imperium itself. And so he lost hope."

"Of course, he covered it all up very well. Attacking the Cardinal was an easy ploy to shift attention toward an old rival, and for a while it worked. But eventually....the threads of the conspiracy came back to me."

"You see, the Governor is convinced that sooner or later Leviathan will come and the world will fall. And so he has turned to some of the more eccentric Tech Priests and seeks to acquire ultimate victory through technology. Indeed, at this very moment Loisy is sending men to scour the system to search for an ancient artifact of terrible power."

"It is referred to in ancient scrolls as the Signal-Arity. By all accounts it appears to have been a monstrous creation dating back to the Dark Age of Technology and if the legends are true, the artifact could destroy EVERYTHING within an entire stellar system, perhaps even within a light year of the system's core star."

"If Louisy acquires it, I don't know what he would use it for. Perhaps it is simply a safeguard for if the system falls. Perhaps he just wants to end it all now? Whatever his intentions though, needless to say, acquiring and wielding such a weapon is outside the scope of any Governor's authority. Only the Holy Inquisition can be trusted to safeguard such a relic."

"Which...for those of you who choose to join me, will be our next mission. We are to seek out the Signal-Arity and find it before anyone else does. Once we find it, we will ensure it is turned over to the Ordo Xenos for safekeeping."

"Of course Parson, if you wish to decline you're welcome to go back to your old life. You'll be administered a memory virus and will wake up having forgotten the last few days of your life, but with a few extra gold bars to show for it. Of course, the PDF may be looking to apprehend you...and also Strausberg may not be happy that his coup failed. That's a lot of enemies to contend with, but it's your choice."

H did not lift his head, but glanced sideways at the old man. He could hear his breath rattling in his chest, his injuries were severe.

He had no idea if anything the Inquisitor said was true, and in truth it did not matter. The fact he thought it was true was enough. H had little say in the matter, and knew that he needed to flow through the river of time. It was not the moment to fight the current.

After having fallen straight on his chair minutes earlier, Parsen manages to get back up to once again speak. His voice was slow yet purposefuly kept steady. He put out his cigar, stashing it away in an inside pocket of his now battered raincoat. He straightens his posture as much as physically possible and engages in one final gambit:

"I see you're willing to put the price to get my services. I am going to accept, but under three separate conditions. Or, truth be told, two mandatory ones, and an optional one.

First, I do not need gold. I need strength. If you're willing to turn these "gold bars" into Juvenat... Then count me in. Think of it as an improvement to what you are looking from me: some kind a mystic machine who can survive blows. Sure, I can. But for how much longer? A clear body is sure to be able to withstand more injuries, and recover quicker than this husk I am now inhabiting.

Second: the truth of my role. You seem fascinated by my resilience. If you can tell me exactly what you intend to do with me and it seems acceptable to me, count me in. That is, being used as a lab rat to reverse-engineer my body is not a fate I'd choose willingly.

Third, just for fun: Get Markov's head. I don't care how. I know that scrub is plotting against me, but I won't be able to crush his head to a pulp if I'm following you, am I?

If this deal fulfills what you want... You know what to do." He then extends his maimed left hand out in the direction of the Inquisitor, waiting for him to shake it.

The Inquisitor nodded his head and grinned ever so slightly. "It is as you say. A deal then. And offers his hand a shake."

"By the way, the name is Erickson. Inquisitor Erickson."

"As I said, your job is to help me find the artifact. There will likely be other missions after that. However, I don't anticipate needing to perform an autopsy on your body, unless of course you die in the course of duty."