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Governor defo would. Or at least tell half truths. Unless infected. When he absolutely would tell porkie pies, on account he’d have no choice in the matter.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
In which case no Cult is ever discovered or eradicated before its Day of Ascension. Which we know simply isn’t the case.

I don't believe there is any example of a Cult being discovered by a random Arbite somehow overpowering a Genestealer.
Ultimately it is just a normal human in carapace armor, if a Genestealer has the chance it will take it.

In Cult of the Spiral Dawn a Patriarch successfully mentally influences a Sister of Battle to lower the defenses of the local Sister convent (and thus slaughter the Sisters).
Compared to that an Arbite is easy prey.

Which isn’t my argument. I specifically noted it’s very unlikely an Arbite would survive an attack by a Purestrain. But unlikely is not the same as impossible.

And, should that occur? The Arbite is going to blow the whistle as soon as possible.

Ok what is exactly your argument? that a Genestealer would not try to infect an Arbite on the blue moon chance it may fail?

That is silly, the very argument acknowledges the Genestealer has very good odds at taking the Arbite.

A high risk scenario is one where the risk is actually a likely issue. If the chance of failure is "very unlikely" then it is not a high risk scenario. Specially as the Cult can further stack the odds by sending a second Genestealer.

My argument is self evident.

Attacking the Arbites is a risk. Not because the chances of success are super low, but because the consequences of failure are dire.

The Cult operates in secrecy. Its whole thing is patience, and slowly expanding its reach into every social strata. It doesn’t have a particular need to rush its growth.

If you attack most Imperial Citizens and the attack goes wrong? The consequences are super limited. If they do tell people, there are plenty of non “oh no, not Genestealer” rationales for what happened after all. And your average Imperial Citizens doesn’t have a direct line to anyone of real importance.

But, the higher up the pecking order you go? The price of failure begins to increase.

When you go after Arbites, Inquisitor or other external Imperial Agency/Agent? The price of failure can be absolute,

Sure. But if the Arbites are after you, what’s the other option?

If the Arbites are after you? You need to take them all out. If even a single Arbite remains behind? They’re doing so in case the rest don’t return, so the alarm can be raised off-world.

That sort of situation is why the Cult takes pains to maintain a low profile. Being discovered isn’t desirable at any point. The whole shtick is to remain hidden, infiltrate wherever you can and, when the time is right and presumably the cult is of sufficient size? Start pre-chewing the encroaching Hive Fleet’s dinner.

Part of the insidious nature is that as someone comes under the Cult’s sway? Their knowledge is added to the whole. I don’t think it’s instantaneous like The Borg. But once in the fold? They’ve Psykers that can have a root around in your noggin to better understand what you bring to the cult, what doors you can open, and ever more about the society it’s in the process of taking over.

Exactly where in Imperial Society true knowledge of who and what the Arbites specifically are? I honestly couldn’t say. Big Wigs? Most definitely, even if it’s only “whatever you do, do not attract their attention” level knowledge. And to workers and drudges they may be a semi-mythical boogeyman.But again, as the cult’s influence spreads? It’s only going to gain an ever better understanding of the power structures in play, and from that, those which might be best left alone as long as possible.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Attacking the Arbites is a risk. Not because the chances of success are super low, but because the consequences of failure are dire.

The Cult operates in secrecy. Its whole thing is patience, and slowly expanding its reach into every social strata. It doesn’t have a particular need to rush its growth.

Attacking the Arbites is a must. The more a Cult grows, the harder it is to hide through secrecy, and the Arbites themselves aren't exactly sitting on their asses doing nothing, they are an intelligence organization doing intelligence work. Patience and secrecy are tool to an end, not an end on itself.

Because Arbites cannot be infiltrated the slow way, that means violence is required. All the expansion and infiltration is done with the objective of gaining power, and once a Cult has gained the means to deal with the Arbites, then it will do so. And because we are talking about worlds that fell to Genestealers, we are talking about worlds in which every Arbiter is either dead or infected.

Which, again, isn’t my argument at all. And never has been.

Attempting to infiltrate and induct Arbites into the Cult would bring significant advantage. At the very, very least you then control another of the surprisingly limited off-world communications hubs.

But the fact it’s incredibly risky remains. If anything goes wrong? Unlike other victims, they stand the best of chance of at least firing a distress and warning call off. And due to their position within the overall Imperial Pecking Order? It’s likely to be taken seriously, and would be less likely to be written off as a false alarm.

They may even have regular genescanning going on, precisely because of the risk of Cult Infestation. Whilst I’m not going to be boring and claim that would be universal across all precincts? If they do, any infected Arbites stand to be rooted out and destroyed. And again, the jig is up.

How a given Cult might approach that risk? I’m gonna argue it’ll vary.

Arbite presence can be a single dude overseeing a star system, possibly based off-world on a private orbital. Others may be there in force, such as a major Hive World.

If your Cult is still young? If opportunity presents, there’s some wisdom in taking that opportunity. But again you’d need to weigh up the risk of it going wrong and your still young Cult being exposed way before it can mount a proper defence.

If your Cult is strong, and already heavily enmeshed in all other strata of the world’s society? Then your options are opened up. And if the Patriarch knows a Hive Fleet is on its way? Taking over or killing all the Arbites may well become paramount. Not only to deny the smelly hoomans some well trained warriors, but again to help close off another avenue a call for reinforcements might be sent.