Chapter: 5.6

Chapter: Landfall

Part: 6

Departmento Munitorum: Imperial Transport 'Gauntlet'

The Command Room

"So,"

Captain Hox turned to look at Calenharn, one of her oldest subordinates playing the role of a 'Handler' or the one responsible for the Navigator's safety and the granting of the Emperor's mercy.

"We picked up an escape pod?"

She asked while simultaneously bringing her recaf mug to her lips,

*Siiiipppp~*

"Not one... three. Three escape pods... or their remains at least."

Answered Calenharn, his arm twitching nervously to his sidearm, an old habit of a life that he had long left behind. A former commissar who lost his entire charge to a Drukhari raid and fell to the vice of pleasure roots, had it not been for the woman standing before her, he would have died in a ditch somewhere or perhaps even been executed by the commissariat.

Hox nodded, her fingers dancing across the battered old dataslate connected to her command throne,

"Ah, yes. The wreckage of one, one intact but empty, and one with the survivors of the Inquisitor Greybrand's retinue. Is that correct?" 

"Yes, Captain. That's correct,"

Confirmed Calenharn, his gaze fixed on the captain's face, gauging her reaction.

Hox leaned back in her command throne, her expression unreadable as she processed the information. The news of survivors from Greybrand's retinue was unexpected, to say the least. She had presumed they had met their demise along with the Inquisitor herself, and honestly, that was what she had sorely been wishing for too... well, winds can't always flow in her favor can they?

"Any sign of Greybrand?"

She inquired, her voice steady, betraying no signs of her inner expectations.

Calenharn shook his head, a grimace crossing his features.

"Some, Captain. If you can count patches of blood as signs then yes, plenty in the deserted escape pod. Otherwise, none. It appears she was not among the survivors."

Hox's lips formed thin lines, her mind already racing with possibilities and scenarios that might have resulted in a large amount of bloodshed but no corpse out in the void. Even if Greybrand was alive, the question remained, where was she? Had she perished in the chaos? Unlikely, her subordinates reported that they saw her pod launch through the ejection vents.

*Groan*

Throne of terra! Greybrand didn't even know that the Escape pod would eject automatically when a person or persons, in this case, enter it in times of emergency. She had tried using it as a temporary bunker! And for the first time in her life, Hox began to doubt the Inquisitorial Schola Cadet's education.

*Sigh*

Still, even if she did survive the Re-entry and subsequent crash of the Space Station, then what could have killed her inside her pod? Again the Retinue confirmed that she boarded it alone.

And if she was still alive, what was she doing now?

The situation was turning into more of a mess with each passing minute! 

"Notify the Sororitas," 

Hox turned and addressed the second-in-command of the starship. The 'Starship' and not her retinue... that would be Calenharn.

"Inform them of the survivors and respectfully request their assistance in securing them. We cannot afford to let any of Greybrand's retinue run loose, especially not those three heavily armored ones, I have a bad feeling about them."

Sarus, the second-in-command, nodded and got busy with her fresh task with as much vigor as he had on his first day on the 'Gauntlet.' Now, the Starship was as much a home to him as the hive city he grew up in... probably more so.

Meanwhile, Hox continued to contemplate their next course of action. She could either spend a major part of her time searching for the missing inquisitor or... she could get on with establishing a foothold on the mudball below.

A difficult decision? Hardly!

It was quite obvious that the latter was the appropriate course of action but, she felt uneasy, especially after having a look at the survivors of Greybrand's retinue. 

Truth be told, she had been uneasy since finding out that Greybrand had a retinue. 

Two groups, if the files were correct, a squad of combatants that just had half its numbers culled and a squad of intelligence operatives that were loose on HER ship, a total of twenty-five men and women, seventeen if she didn't count in the dead combatants.

Who were they? Not the members of Tempest Scions or the Vat-grown Abhumans, of that she was sure.

Heck, forget about the combatants, it was those spooks that caused her the most headache!

The entire squad was missing!

They went missing from under her eyes!

In her own Fraking ship!

The very first step to be taken having a rival Inquisitor on board one's ship was to set up a surveillance profile for every member of the said Rival's retinue. It was the first lesson in 'The Inquisitorial Guide on How Not to Get Backstabbing by Your Allies: Dummies Edition.'

...

..

.

Anyway, she had sent a contingent of third-generation voidsmen-at-arms after them and they still managed to give them the slip. Three generations of their family lived on her ship and she was sure no one knew its structure better than them and yet Greybrand's people were able to hide from her eyes.

Anger gave way to envy and envy gave way to admiration, perhaps she would be able to recruit one or two of the survivors once she confirmed Greybrand's death and began the purging of her subordinates.

Still, she was getting sidetracked from the main issue... what would be her next course of action? 

"Calenharn, contact Colonels Issalos Pantar and Romoron Cortai and tell them to prepare their troops for landfall. First, we secure the planet, then we will look for the missing Inquisitor."

Calenharn acknowledged the order with a nod and quickly proceeded to send messages to the colonels in charge of the Imperial Guard regiments on board.

While he was busy conveying orders, Captain Hox pulled up the holographic map of the Planet below. Accazius II was the perfect place to establish a paradise world on, except it was at too great a distance to maintain, and garrisoning it would have been a waste of time and resources that the Imperium did not have.

So, it instead became an agri-world, providing the fuel for the mighty meat... *COUGH**COUGH* the mighty Imperium of Man!

The planet's unique geography made it possible for the establishment of widespread farms that were visible from the orbit in the form of yellowish patches, alongside the vast expanse of greenery that were orchids... and grapeyards planted over several kilometers long stripes of land. 

Departmento Munitorum set the planet's tithe at 4/10th of its total production for a very simple reason, they sold the 4/10th tithe to various hive-cities in the region and used the profit to purchase the remaining of Accazius II's products at a far lower rate then they sold it at. 

Of course, the Inquisition was not oblivious to the scam but... the bribes were good and it was not like they were involved in any Heretical activities. The quill-pushers got to fill their pockets and the Inquisition's hands were greased sufficiently to let it slide.

Now though, the Mechanicus struck gold, and the scam was coming to an end. A pity really, the bribes have been a steady source of income for several inquisitors for several centuries now... a real pity indeed.

Hox returned her attention to the holographic display, reading through the tactical map of the planet. She studied the terrain, potential landing zines, and the entrance to the tomb. The display proved several of her worst premonitions to be true, the planet was... difficult to maintain but easy to defend.

Except for the capital city, the density of population all over its surface was a meager ten or twenty per square kilometer, which in turn meant that bombardment of any kind, except for on the Capital, would be a waste of ammunition and the Capital city would be heavily defended.

It made no sense to deploy the guardsmen anywhere other than the absolute heart of the enemy territory, around the capital, but doing so would be neigh impossible due to the presence of those throne damned Lance-batteries.

"Captain,"

Calenharn spoke up, bringing her attention back to the immediate matters at hand.

"Colonels Pantar and Cortai confirm their readiness. Troops are standing by for deployment."

"Good,"

Hox replied, her gaze was still fixed on the holographic display.

"Prepare the drop pods, tell them it is going to be a prolonged siege. We'll deploy a company of Mechanized Infantry along with the Sisters and Greybrand's Retinue to secure a landing zone and move to establish a command center planetside."

The man acknowledged her orders and conveyed them to the relevant personnel. In fact, there was a certain chance that the Colonels might not obey her orders since she, as an Inquisitor, was a Civilian officer... technically, and as the Captain of the ship, a member of the Navis Imperialis. But she wasn't worried, there was precious little someone could argue with when an Inquisitor puts a bolt through their head.

Still, she added a couple more words... for good measure.

"I want a perimeter established, and I want it yesterday."

"Aye Captain."

=*=