Officio Assassinorum Callidus

Story below, read on and enjoy!

Required Disclaimer: I am unaffiliated with Games Workshop and Warhammer 40'000, the distribution of this work is public and a non-monetized fan passion-project.

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'Of all the places...' A shrouded figure grumbled as he looked away from the beating rain that covered the horizon in an almost ever-present mist. The alternative before him didn't seem any more inviting.

Twisted metal, the crumbling reliefs of the hive's forsaken lower levels and a dark, looming sense of hopelessness. 'One has supplied these people with everythingthey could need and they base their operation here? Emperor help me!' He cursed, his ornate clothing flapping in the wind.

'Sir, I believe your associate claimed he wanted to avoid raising suspicion.' A second figure responded; she too was dressed in the finest fabrics Imperial Thrones could buy. The well-spoken man turned to half look at his companion as their shuttle's engine whirred down on the dilapidated landing pad behind them.

'Of course; forgive my uncouth language, dear Ysabiela.' He eased his expression as if to put his aide at ease but she seemed as put-together as always. 'I don't know what I'd do without you, my dear.' He flattered in a particularly oily, well-bred manner.

Naturally this was a world away from what he knew. From his literal ivory tower at the pinnacle of the hive he'd never even seenthe underhive miles below yet here he was. This rusting, techno-nightmare filled the nobelman with the urge to be out of here as soon as possible.

'Think nothing of it, Mr. Garius.' The women offered a faint, appreciative smile suited to her gentle and steady manner. Meeting that soft smile he really did wonder what he would do if she were ever taken from his side by this often cruel world.

'Right. Best to get this over with; shall we enter?' The pompous Mr. Garius raised an arm to offer the way forwards.

'I'll be with you in one moment, sir. I shall instruct the pilot to be prepared for your departure.' And without another word in confirmation his long-time confidante turned away and breezed across the launchpad.

'Hmph.' Her well-to-do employer huffed to himself and stood straight. He was stalling, this place couldn't beany less his scene and yet he had to keep up appearances and the time had finally come to get a glimpse at his investment.

Puffing out his chest and throwing back his shoulders the cleanly-shaved and well-dressed dignitary strode across the muck-lined gantry with all the glamour he would lend to entering a smart dinner hall.

As he approached a short flight of rusting metal stairs, the door at their peak swung open loudly; with an unbecoming yelp of fright he leapt back only to recognise the face looking down on him.

'Bannon!' The scruffy, yet affable man at the door bellowed. At odds with the noble's neat and tidy appearance this man wore a coat of what could be the dirtiest white linen in the Imperium. He capped it off with hair and a beard that wouldn't have looked out of place in a cave on some primordial world.

'You finally made it! Welcome, welcome!' The scruffy individual gestured him to climb the steps and turned to bark some orders at someone under his breath. Feeling more unsure about his investments with every passing minute, Bannon tentatively climbed the rickety steps.

'Mr. Garius!' Ysabiela cried as her footsteps approached at speed. 'I heard your -oof!' The heel of one utterly unsuitable shoe slipped through the gantry and made the hurrying assistant stumble. 'Is everything alright?' She continued as she staggered on, more worried about her boss than herself.

'Quite alright, my dear. Quite alright.' He responded calmly, finally reaching his host's eyeline while expressing his disgust at the surroundings with a silent glare. 'Tito, your choice of location is... interesting.'

His conclusion was strictly based on the exterior but one glance past the other man said it was at least partially a smokescreen. 'Oh but of course, your grace. Anything to keep prying eyes away from our endeavour!' For a man of what may once have been called “science” he certainly had a way with words. 'Please, come in.'

With a proud nod Bannon did exactly that, 'Thankyou.' He graciously accepted and breezed into the covert facility. 'Hmm...' He pondered as he heard his aide climb the noisy steps behind him. 'Alright, Tito; consider me moreimpressed.'

He had no idea what he was looking at yet the surroundings spoke to a busy environment: cogitators blinked away usually manned by numerous staff all currently stood to greet him.

The walls, floors and ceiling spoke to the true age of the large room; flaking rust seemed almost ready to feel off every external surface. Yet within those ruined walls, the gleaming metal of new equipment glinted back in the faintly orange light oppressively drowning the room.

'Welcome, welcome.' The haggard looking man repeated for Ysabiela's sake as the dutiful yet clumsy woman entered the room breathing rather heavily.

'Apologies, Mr. Garius!' She panted as she tried to maintain some semblance of decorum only to realise she had captivated a wall of eyes. She blushed and tried to shy away a little behind her boss as the chief researcher slammed the door and swept by her with his shredded clothes flapping behind.

'Think nothing of it, my dear. Nobodyhere will judge you.' He was used to this, for all of his assistant's skills and good graces she – like anyone – had her shortcomings. If anything he'd come to appreciate that inimitable clumsiness over the decade she'd been in his employ.

'Allow me to introduce you to the team who have made our dream a reality, Mr. Garius!' The  effusive yet unclean project leader gushed, 'The best and most flexible minds in the entire hive, perhaps the sub-sectorif I do say so myself!'

The nobleman cast his eyes over the assembled operators who to a man and woman seemed unsettled by his presence as if they'd been put up to something truly uncomfortable.

'I see. Naturally the logistics and particulars are entirely your purview, but- I say!'A figure in the back caught Bannon's eye and he broke into an elegant stride to approach the man in the back.

Ysabiela followed along behind dutifully; the man who had caught her boss' eye was difficult to miss as his proportions were what could only be described as unbelievable:as broad as an ox in the shoulders and likely 7 feet in height!

'This chap is positively ginormous!'The articulate noble exclaimed, 'Is heone of our...' He side-glanced at the scurrying “scientist” as if to let him finish the question.

'Yes, yes of course! One of our latest batch in fact! The size and strength of an Astartes without the brain-rot endemic to the Ogryns!' Tito proudly proclaimed, 'He's kindly working as one of our five-strong security force during his adaptation period.' Bannon raised a hand and bare chin.

'The strength of an Astartes you say? I dare say you maybe over-exaggerating, sir!' The deeply proud dignitary countered but his eyes danced over the truly superhuman proportions of the enhanced man.

Beneath his standard issue Imperial Guard uniform the male's sheer bulk could be seen for all its impressive qualities; Bannon's mind felt more at ease seeing the fruits of his investment's labours.

'I say, what do youmake of all this? Are you... satisfiedwith the results?' Sir Garius addressed the hulking guard who seemed to be the most at-ease of everyone here in his presence. The large man looked down while maintaining his attentive stance, comically under-sized lasgun firmly in hand.

'Yessir! I fink it's a pretty gud deal, not gunna lie.' The man spoke brashly but with a manner of speech that didn't seem to match his almost comically deep voice.

'I say! An underhiver?!'Bannon exclaimed as if he'd just met an undiscovered Xenos species.

'Y-Yeees... I felt it was best if we stuck to the less represented elements of society to begin with... in case of uh... unforeseencomplications.' Tito replied nervously, carefully wording his answer in such a way that the enhanced but uneducated man hopefully couldn't fully understand.

Bannon rolled his shoulders a little, his hands staying firmly clasped behind his back 'Very well.' He eventually concluded and turned away.

Ysebiela watched him stride proudly on and turned her attention back to the huge man; he was undoubtedly inhuman in proportions but she could tell he didn't yet feel natural in his new body.

It wasn't her job to judge what they were doing here, but she nonetheless had her opinions. The large man seemed to notice her glaring and his cautious look back confirmed her opinion.

'And the artefact I supplied you with?' Bannon asked, gliding towards a large reinforced window overlooking a large cylindrical construct in the room beyond. A second example of Tito's handiwork stood guard looking meticulously through the glass alongside the nobleman.

He watched numerous people buzzing around the strange object housed at the centre of the second room and spotted another of these immense figures in a fluid-filled tank to one side.

'Safe and sound in its housing where we can make the most of this dark age wonder!' Tito enthused as he arrived beside his benefactor. 'To think that such an object would have survived for so long only to be uncovered now!'

'The Emperor provides in times of need, my good man!' Mr. Garius proudly replied and rocked on his heels as he watched what seemed like flies buzzing around inside the central container.

'That may be, but if we were to be discovered by an Imperial Agent I doubt they would see things that way.' Tito tentatively responded, acutely aware of the risks he and everyone else here were taking by simply being involved.

'How right you are!' Spoke a voice Tito didn't know and as if to punctuate those words something flew through his eye-line and on into the nape of Bannon's neck.

'GAARK!'For a moment the scientist simply blinked, staring in disbelief. His eyes set upon a small, almost spherical nub showing out of the back of the noble's neck as he collapsed onto a cogitator, spasming and clawing at the air.

He realised as his benefactor landed that the nub was in fact a tiny white skull attached to the base of a foot-long poisoned needle. He knew it was poisoned because almost before he'd even landed blood had begun seeping out of every one of the dignitary's facial orifaces.

Snapping out of his momentary daze that had him seeing in slow-motion, Tito swung his head around to see what had happened. There, where the late noble's faithful assistant should be, stood a woman who wasn'ther!

She was and yet she wasn't; the clothing was half hers, the body was half hers but bothwere changing! Something like a tightly woven black silk web, slick and tight was swiftly knitting itself together from writhing feelers as it crawled across her skin.

Beneath the spreading blackness she grew and grew, her body bulking up while every inch of her bubbled with sheer definition. Tito knew this material as “Synskin”, a bio-reactive form of skin-hugging armour though he'd never heard of it working this way!

Within moments she stood in all her frightening grace caked in glistening blackness; her imposing figure nearly matched the height of Tito's hyper-enhanced guard yet the aura she projected was one of threat that made the scientist feel almost sick with apprehension.

It all took a matter of moments but the shock of it froze both the scientist and the guard stood staring at her. She wasn't here for the show however and that much was evident to Tito by her presence alone; he knew what was to come! He wasn't sure if it was fear or acceptance of his death but something uncomfortable rose up within him like bile.

Tito flinched as she moved like a bolt of lightning: a sword, attached to her wrist like a punch-dagger swept to the side and up. In that moment he watched one of his creations die instantly, the hulking guard's head cleanly severed and sent spinning off the wall as he fell at her feet!

'A-A-A-' He could almostget the word out, almostgive her the name she had earned but shedidn't stammer, shedidn't pause! With the tiniest of wind-ups she pounced towards Tito and his second enhanced guard; he tried to flail at and warn the big man but in his fright all he could do was throw himself backwards.

'ASSASSIN!'He finally shouted as his back collided with the machinery but it was too little, too late! Seemingly out of nowhere the midnight-clad killer had drawn a gun unlike anythingthe scientist had ever seen and she collided feet-first with the second guard.

The hewn woman pinned the trans-human guard down against a console with her feet and brought her glowing green weapon to the top of the shocked male's skull. Without even looking her other hand swept down to her thigh and smoothly drew another of those deadly needles she'd killed the nobleman with.

Tito had heard of agents like this: merciless killers trained and bionically enhanced to be the perfect killing machines. Stories and hearsay were one thing but to see her up close and to watch her execute someone without blinking was a world away from anything he had known!

Her right arm flicked out in the blink of an eye as if she simply sensed the right moment and her dart met a fleeing operator's skull to deadly effect. Tito's eyes were elsewhere, instead set on the glowing green goo that burst from his guard's eyes, ears, nose and mouth the instant the murderess pulled the trigger:'BLEAAAARGH!' his project shrieked.

He had no words for the horror of watching a man's brain turn to jelly and leap out of his skull but the word he would pick for the sound that escaped the Assassin's mouth would be... “moan!”

In terror he looked into the featureless red lenses of her skin-hugging mask. She was... Enjoying this?!With cat-like agility she dismounted her kill and slammed her right palm into Tito's chest, pressing him against the cogitator as she landed in a squat atop him and the workstation. 'You're last. Watch!'She demanded only to flip off him, grabbing the dead guard's lasgun as she flew.

Tito couldn't look away, he daren't!He was somewhatthankful that the others staff had realised the situation but in a way that made things worse: them knowing she was there simply meant they knew who was about to deliver their deaths!

The assassin landed in front of the nearest operator, a terrified man by the name of Javius until he wasn't. She'd turned the weapon up to full and at point blank range the high-powered laser turned the man to ash in an instant!

'Hmhmhm.' She chuckled; while Tito clung to anything in sight trying not to wet himself she was laughing! Why? How?He couldn't understand how anyonecould even dowhat she was doing, but to enjoy itso much she was taking genuine gleein murder?! Her sadistic laughter cut through him as easily as her blades could.

She span on her heel and looked over the frozen, unthreatening operators; the killer's hips swung gently to one side into a slouch as if she was sizing up each for how to deal with them.

A tense silence fell over the room as the half dozen victims in her sight shivered and clung on to hope for mercy; their position as hostages - if not cattle for the slaughter - dawned on each in turn!

Tito was in no doubt: nothingthey did, nothingthey said would save them. He, they... everyonein this room was a victim-to-be and it seemed this Synskin-clad killing machine sought to revelin that!

'Hmhmhaha.' Casually she tossed the lasgun aside and with a flourish from each hand she supped her sword into its sheath and flicked her mysterious gun away; the latter snaked back along the tendril attaching it to her backpack like it had a mind of its own.

With her hands free she shot to her right and thrust her closer fist faster than the eye could follow at the closest chest. The sickening crunch of a shattered sternum filled the air but the sound that followed added new depths of disgust to her quivering viewers.

Throwing all her weight and strength behind it the super-human weapon of the Imperium thrust her other hand clean through her victim and a split-second later withdrew their still-beating heart! 'Hmhmhaha!' She laughed and closed her hand in a squelching, spluttering cacophony of gore 'HAHAHA!'

She belly laughed in glee and that alone cleared the shock and disbelief all around; the general panic she wanted erupted all around. Tito watched as his scrambling co-workers ran in every angle like headless chickens: it was all in vain!

They were to be hunted down at will, this contract killer so far beyond merely humanit was like being locked in a cage with a Catachan Devil! Tito had never known fear, not if thiswas what fear truly felt like, the sense of impending doom crippled his ability to even think.

“I understand!” He thought as he watched the assassin hop up to head-scissor Chyriya before flicking her slick, synskin-glazed hips with indescribable force; the sound of imploding vertebrae reverberated through Tito like he were crunching dry granola between his teeth.

“I know why she laughs!” Just as soon as she had snapped the latest foe's neck the almost fluid movements of the darkly clad woman had her pouncing off the lifeless ragdoll to land on a cogitator, another operator's head in-hand!

Her movements were so fluid that this almost seemed like a choreographed routine; it was a dance of death performed with such speed and power his mere human eyes could barely follow her movements let alone make sense of how she could move like that.

“I know why she moans!” Tito thought as the gleaming killer used her irresistible strength to give the wall a new paintjob, lumpy red splurting up the rusty ironwork as the cat-like killer squashed her prey's head against it like a cantaloup!

The more she slaughtered and the more she flaunted it the deeper his soul-rending sense of dread cut, the more his will to resist crumbled...

She cartwheeled over the consoles with superhuman agility, her movements barely human in their precision and fluidity; yet despite her actions' perhaps playful expression this was a keenly honed ritual of murder.

Vaulting off her hands the tall, muscular death-dealer very briefly grasped the ceiling before launching herself straight down, feet-first onto Tyrus' head, stomping the helpless man into paste!

'Fear tactics!' He uttered out loud, tooloud because she heard him! Her head on a swivel she levelled him with those menacing red eyes and watched him watch her snatch Resi by the collar.

Without even pausing to consider it, the curvaceous yet brutally potent woman pushed her bionically-enhanced fingers into the panicking man's adam's apple and let out one more chuckling moan of delight as she tore the throat out of her last victim!

Knowing that she was employing fear tactics to keep her enemies panicking was one thing, but doing anything about it was something completelydifferent! He seized up, it was his turn... but maybe... maybe she'd-

His thought was interrupted as the door made the most welcome sound he'd ever heard: a simple bleep to indicate its intent to open! His relief was shortlived however as the huntress moved before he could even catch his breath: she pounced to the top of the door-frame like a flash and awaited her prey.

'LOOK OUT, SHE'S-' He couldn't get the words out fast enough; she barely even allowed the first enhanced guard to enter before she plunged her wrist-mounted blade through the top of his head!

Flipping down with still unbelievable agility she used her victim's body as a makeshift shield against incoming laser fire from behind and planted her feet in his chest; with a thrust she kicked his limp body into his companion.

Tito watched the assassin artfully flip out of her attack, land and pounce atop the second guard in one slick movement; he realised in that moment that his guys' size and power didn't mean a damned thing against such skill and technique.

The rogue scientist watched her pin the big guard's arms down beneath her boots and bend at the hip, her pointed fingers jabbed easily into the big man's eye-sockets. He screamed, ohhow he screamed but even as she withdrew his sloppy eyeballs and tossed them aside like nothing more than rubbish the slaughteress' laughter never abated!

She didn't kill him though, Tito still heard his wailing and shuffling while the assassin slowly stood tall, the light bouncing off her every inch of rock-hard musculature. He wasn't sure why the killer let his guard live, she could kill him so easily yet she looked down on her prey and let her last living target see her long hair braid and gleaming hips sway to the side in an almost provocative show of control.

Light danced across the smooth second skin of the merciless woman as she raised a foot and stomped down on the unfortunate guard's hand, the sounds of cracking and smushing said she'd broken his fingers as much as she'd smashed the grip of his gun!

Another stomp and anotherfinally let her kick the worthless lasgun free of the mess of goop and tendons. Maybe this was why she was taking her time: the screams and hollers of the helpless big man carefully enhanced to beyond peak human efficiency... It was the psychological effect all over again, she was toyingwith Tito!

Tito realised his careless utterance had – if anything – enraged the assassin so now she was taking her time, truly getting her kicks and making his soul beg to leave his body before she extended to him the honour of that release! She was taking it slow, showing her final prey-thing how bad he would have it as the architect of this mission.

He watched her hewn body squat so she could grab the broken, sobbing superman by his short hair. She stood, her movements like water, and turned towards Tito; her still living victim dragged a trail of blood behind her as she drew nearer to the boss once again.

It was all too much: the fear, the smells, the sounds! He was watching the source of his inevitable demise strut towards him, effortlessly dragging his prized creation behind as she did. He just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry!

'Now then...' She pondered with a sultry, almost seductive tone as she lifted the flailing guard, leering menacingly over him. 'That deals with the interruptions!' She concluded and slowly pushed the unstoppable tip of her wide, wrist-mounted sword into the front of her captive's throat.

He gargled at first and Tito looked away as her slow, intentional drive let the breadth of her sword slice a wider and wider cleave through his dear work of art's broad neck! Her blade slowly, smoothly pushed so deep that the killer could slide her slick, gloved fingers into the crevasse she'd carved; with a tight hold she yanked on his head and slowly peeled away the last few strands of skin holding him together!

The woman in her luscious synskin turned her attention back to him, one decapitated head now dangling from her hand and only one witness left to silence. Those cold, fearful red eyes glared straight through Tito as she swayed her hips on approach, strutting like a catwalk model until she arrived at the cogitator station and lifted a knee onto it to perch over him.

'Please... Please...' He begged, knowing it was all useless but he couldn't just give up on life! Even in the face of such impossible odds his body and mind simply wouldn't allow it!

It wasn't justfear though, the utterly unpredictable reaction of his manhood said that the faultlessly smooth second skin and idealised form of his soon to be killer was arousing such contradictory emotions in him that he didn't even know what to believe any more!

'Yourhandiwork...' The hit-woman lifted her prize and let him stare into the empty holes where his guard's eyes used to be '-has become myhandiwork!' She dropped it with an equally disgusting yet satisfying thud.

'Wait-wait-wait-wait!' He thought, he struggled for answers, for anything!

'Begging will not save you. I am but the Emperor's blade and his willis for you to die!' She definitively silenced his protests, making it crystal clear that while her hand may commit the deed the will was another's.

Despite her response he still held onto one last shred of hope! In the momentary pause she'd allowed him it all clicked: of coursehe'd heard of not just assassins like this, but this exacttemple of assassins: The Officio Assassinorum's Callidus Temple!

He'd studied them as part of his work on the project, that gave him a bargaining chip, no-matter how small. The femme fatale wasn't about to wait any longer to complete her mission and pressed herself down on top of him, raising that armour-slicing weapon towards him!

Even as he felt the irresistible firmness of her obscenely honed body pressing him into submission he squinted and shied away as she plunged her weapon towards his chest.

'POLYMORPHINE!'He shrieked, half expecting it to be his last word except the kiss of death didn't come. Cautiously opening his tear-filled eyes he found the assassin's inhuman red lenses staring at him from almost point-blank range!

'P-P-' She grabbed him by the scruff and an instant later she was dangling him in the air by one hand! Looking down he watched her glowing punch-blade raise until he felt the prick of its tip under his chin.

'What about it?!'She demanded, he wasn't about to try sweet talking her but he'd earned his reprieve!

'Th-the d-drug you – the Callidus Temple- use to shapeshift into other people!' Despite her face being fully clad in an almost featureless hood he could tell she furrowed her brow in anger.

'Yes, I knowwhat it is.' Her tone despite her apparent mood was level and measured; this atop the fact she didn't even seem to be short of breath after her bloodbath sent a chill down Tito's spine. None of this meant anything of note to this bloodthirsty assassin, it was just a job, just life.

'N-no, no you don't!'He might have chosen his words better, a fact brought home by the assassin ball-busting him, her knee viciously driven up between his legs; her truly abnormal strength left him feeling like she'd left him with nothing more down there. 'GAKH! Aaah-ha-haaa!' He whinged and squirmed in pain where he dangled.

'It-it's a hold-over,just a remnantfrom a superior technology!' He struggled to soothe the throbbing pain but realised he'd caught her interest when the Callidus assassin tilted her head to the side as if reading him.

'Lies!Filthy lies from a traitorto the Imperium trying to save his worthless hide from being peeled off!' Her tone had become bitter, cruel and her threat was very, very pointed.

'I-I promise! It's at the heart of my research!' He wasn't lying, though he honestly didn't know why he was spilling so much since there was little to no chance of her sparing him. 'P-Polymorphine is a by-productof a dark age nano-tech that we never even knew aboutuntil recently!'

She said nothing, her senses were undoubtedly keen and Tito knew of the in-depth educations the assassin temples delivered so he was trifling with no average imperial citizen.

'And why should I care?We can makeas much as we need!' She countered, though clearly she was open to dialogue; that was more than Tito had even hoped for. 'Technology like that led to the age of strife, it would have destroyedhumanity had the Emperor - in his grace - not saved us all!'

'Yes, yes, but this one-' Tito's head snapped back like he'd been hit by a truck; the throbbing, stabbing pain across his forehead said she'd headbutted him, cracking his skull open in the process.

'Get to the point, traitor!' The sister of the Callidus temple demanded. He'd taken his reprieve too lightly, his life still hung by a thread that was solely hers to cut! He didn't know where he was going with any of it, he had no end-game to his meanderings.

'It-it-' His head was spinning even as he tried to figure out what he could try and do from here, '-the artefact...' He raised a hand to thumb towards the room behind him '-it was designed to allow anything its nanites interact with to shape-shift and camouflage! It could revolutionisehow your order works!'

'So...' The fatal woman's tone had eased, now smooth and almost like a purr once again. '-that's how you created these...' She seemed to search for a word for it, perhaps this particular assassin wasn't entirely abhorred by the idea he'd worked to!

'Yes! Yes!'He was gaining confidence again, a feeling of relief and hope welling up within him. 'I could teach you how to use it! I've done all the-' That was the last word he spoke.

She hadn't done anything special, no flamboyant kill-strike or secret technique... She just dropped him, her irresistible C'Tan phase sword did the rest! His body crumpled between her legs first, then his face landed next to it with a sloppy splat, what remained of his eyes stuck forever open staring up at her.

'Fear tactics... Hmhmhm!'She chuckled, looking down into the cranium she'd opened with all the effort it would take to slice through a waterlogged potato. Sure, the fear was a part of it; a part that helped make her prey more docile and predictable.

The truthhowever, the thing nobodyever lived to tell the tale of... was that she loved it!All her life she'd trained to impart death on her enemies and through it all a sense had grown to an irresistible cry of nature: that to kill was the most carnally satisfying act in the world!

These were the unspoken truths of her temple, these the intangibles which separated the initiates who were dropped from those who would go on to excel: those who can not only engage with death but thrivein it and become one with it... theywere the living weapons the Assassinorum craved!

She raised her slick, synskin armoured foot over his open skull and through its tactile feedback felt the ridges of his mind beneath her sole. It's true that she laughed to instill fear, yes... but she moaned because nothing elsein the world could give her the pleasure of a decisive, dominantkill!

'Mmmmm!' She moaned and felt the pleasure wash over her body as the pointed toe of her boot pressed into his brain like pushing her thumb through an overripe pear. 'Hmhmhmhm!' She couldn't help but laugh and bite her lip beneath the all-obscuring shroud of her death mask, jobs this straightforward were to be savoured, the spoils to be relished!

Done with desecrating her latest victim the unstoppable killer gathered herself and looked up through the window to find eyes staring back at her; she was met with the terrified expressions of another two would-be victims prepared and armed with laspistols.

'How amusing...you're trappedin there and your angry flashlights can't break the glass!' she said and flicked her left wrist to call her neural shredder. “How deliciously fitting.” The assassin mused as her neural implants did the calculations and artfully brought her mysterious brain-melting weapon into her palm.

She leant forwards until her face was almost touching the glass and after just a moment to savour their terror squared her weapon at them through the safety glass.

A lick of green lightning ignored the presumably bullet and heat-proof solid, passing clean through to form a chaotic nebula of verdant electricity that followed her aim to lick across the pair just briefly.

The effects kicked in almost immediately, their immediate shock replaced by a throbbing headache that grew and grew. The effects of even a glancing blow from this most lethal Callidus-exclusive weapon would be fatal in time.

She didn't even need to watch, she'd seen a hundred men die that way and her job still wasn't done. The killer pushed back off the desk and felt her tight, slick synskin ripple across her body with the sort of sensory feedback that made her body and mind sing with deadly intent.

She slammed her fist down on a large button to release the door's locking mechanism as she passed. Before she had even arrived at the hatch, one of the shredded operators collapsed out of it flailing and clawing at the metal floor.

The green goo pouring out of his eyes and nose said his brain was already half-disintegrated but his murderess fixed that with a deft stomp on his softened cranium as she walked over him. The feedback from her millimetre-thin yet diamond-hard bodysuit as her foot caved in anotherskull made her swing her hips just a little more flamboyantly!

'HAHAHA!Emperor be praised, this is the life!' She joyously exclaimed as she entered the segregated room; her hit-jobwas now complete save for her temple's customary flourish which only left the question of this artefact.

The woman wrapped in glossy darkness took her time to consider the options but did so as she paced around the cylinder in the second room's centre. She levelled her neural shredder at one last enhanced man in a tube arrayed around the walls and liquefied his brain on passing.

'Let's thinkabout this...' She pondered out loud and slid her right hand into a belt pouch. '-dark age technology caused the age of strife... so I should destroy this!'She considered and withdrew a single card between two fingers.

'But...'She exclaimed, watching what seemed like almost microscopic flies buzz around inside the containment field. The heart of the swarm was like an ever-shifting cloud, a chaotic shifting mass writhing against its containment.

Despite being held in place by ancient technology there seemed to be some intelligence drawing the swarm closer to her as she circled, a curious phenomena indeed.

She squatted down and showed the flat of the card to the other victim. He was still clawing at the ground and gargling as his stuck-wide eyes stared blankly into space, swimming in a soup of his own mind.

The card, decorated with the symbol of the Callidus order's symbol recorded her victim's death rattle as his grey matter became grey goo. 'On the other hand-'

'-the Imperium could do with all the weapons it can get its hands on... So I should retrieve it!' She countered her own argument and with a smirk to herself she slid the now prepared Death Card between the satisfyingly broad gap between her kill's front teeth.

'Hmm...' She considered and stood up with slow, methodical intent before turning back towards the large cylinder. 'Curious.' She tilted her head, the microscopic things within had formed into something more like a liquid plastered against the containment cylinder on the closest side.

'Perhaps the last of the polymorphine in my body is attracting them, but how could they sense that through such a forcefield?' It really got the inquisitive side of her mind buzzing, a mystery she'd not expected!

'Or perhaps – if the late traitor was to be believed – this really wasbuilt to give enhanced shape-shifting abilities to its user and my resistance to polymorphine is attracting them as a natural host.'

Taking a half pace forwards, eyes locked on the mass of nanites, she placed her left hand tentatively against the near pane of the stasis field. Of course she couldn't reach out and touch these curious technological marvels, such a thing was built to be impenetrable.

'I am but the Emperor's blade when it comes to my mission, but this-?' The killer felt something warm against her palm but only after a moment did she react; she tentatively pulled her hand away and saw a small swarm of the black specks buzzing around her hand.

Where she'd touched the glass, a hole barely visible to the naked eye had opened up; she tasted the filtered air through her protective suit as she gasped and realised her predicament. 'I think...'

By the time she could even come up with a plan the stasis vessel had emptied and she found herself swarmed by a cloud of specks that she knew must have entered her suit by sensation alone. '-I'm in trouble!'

The tingling in her hand had spread down her arm, now she was feeling that same sensation across her entire body. She looked about, hoping for something to buy her some time but already the swarm had all but vanished inside her!

'Whuh-?' She looked at her fingers, the sensation she felt there like only one thingshe knew: the effects of polymorphine! She watched her fingers begin to wobble and sway like reeds in an undersea current but she called upon her focus to reform her fingers into their usual shape.

Her entire body was beginning to waver as if trying to transform, but she knew this sensation too well to lose her cool. She was almost uniquely prepared thanks to her training and knew that the shape-altering drug she'd adapted to couldn't do what she didn't want; with a forceful tense she stopped the transformation in its tracks.

'OK...' She sighed heavily, she'd been infected with a mysterious technology that didn't come with an instruction manual; she'd have to wing it. 'Can I-?' She tensed a fist and focused on altering her shape, specifically on folding her synskin into itself to reveal her skin.

To her relief her order was followed and the change began; to her surprise it took a matter of moments rather than minutes! 'Wow!' She exclaimed, that was actually betterthan ideal! 'So-' Focusing again she shifted her body glove to smother her hand once again, this time even quicker.

'How about something more... exotic?' And almost as the Callidus agent imagined it her fist turned to liquid, washing together into a dark blob atop her forearm 'Ahaha-' She nervously laughed as the transformation she imagined took place: her new stump stretched out into a vicious, seemingly razor-sharp spike!

'By the Emperor!'She muttered under her breath as she twirled the new, glossy black weapon where her hand used to be; she could feel it like it were a slightly more numb version of her own hand, reasoning that her nerves must have spread across its length.

Curious, she swung around and swiped her new weapon at some consoles; unsure how it would feel or what to expect the sparking fissure left in her wake said this was every bita viable weapon!

'OK... OK... Enough fucking around!I need-' She gulped, knowing what it might mean '-to report this to the Inquisition!' She concluded and regrew her hand.

Swallowing her pride she set off back to her shuttle; the pilot was dead, slain by her own hand when Bannon Garius - her unsuspecting nobleman mule - had turned away.

That at least gave her some quiet time to pray for the Emperor's forgiveness on the return journey; the Emperor may forgive her but she wasn't so naive to believe an agent of the Holy Ordo would extend to her such a mercy.

Three hours later...

The room the Callidus assassin now found herself in was much more welcoming, though she couldn't call it cozy. The towering arches of such an impressive personal Inquisitorial Fortress were designed for awe rather than comfort after all.

With her mission complete, the volatile concoction of both natural and augmentative drugs had subsided leaving her a new clarity of thought. These echoing chambers were of little comfort at this moment.

The connotations of what had happened ran through her head over and over. Death didn't scare her, not half as much as explaining herself to an agent of the Holy Inquisition did at least.

An hour must have passed since she arrived, here in this echoing hall with all the comforts she could ask for with only the absent Inquisitor's doting Servo-skull for company. Undoubtedly the hovering remains of this late Imperial asset had been fitted with a pict feed to watch her, perhaps it was even telepathically linked to its owner.

The assassin knew she should be careful regardless of her seemingly inevitable fate. With this in mind she'd carefully peeled off the tight seal of her skintight mask, resisting the temptation to flex her new abilities.

'Another drink, M'lady?' Pried the ever busy Servo-skull, the voice of its meagre machine spirit coarse and to the point. She spared it a side-long glance that she hoped portrayed her exasperation, it seemed to do the trick. 'As you wish.' The hovering assistant's somewhat feminine voice sounded almost sheepish in its response.

She sat back in the big, comfortable chair across the desk from the Inquisitor's own... throne, for lack of a better word. It certainly seemed that life within the Holy Ordos had benefits; she was only a little jealous given her own position offered her much to be grateful for.

Something appeared in the corner of her eye, the Callidus' eyes honing in on what appeared to be a skull on the floor behind the desk. One after another more appeared forming a roughly metre-wide ring; when complete a tell-tale low drone and glowing wall of blue light followed.

When the sight and sound blinked away she found herself looking at the figure she'd presumably been waiting for. For a moment she wondered if this figure was indeed an Inquisitor though the myriad purity seals dotting the woman's armour said she must be.

'Greetings.' The Inquisitor met eyes with the Assassin, surprising warmth in her face given at odds with the Inquisition's reputation. The reclined assassin hadn't expected either that tone or what appeared to be the armour of an Arbitrator; a timely reminder of the Inquisition's independence.

'Greetings, Inquisitor.' The visiting Callidus responded, fluidly rising to her feet how her natural lissomeness instructed. 'I apologise for drawing you away from doing the Emperor's work.' She bowed her head slightly in respect.

'Ah, don't be!' The Inquisitor smirked, resting her shotgun over one shoulder; her guest looked up sharply, a little shocked. 'You're Sister Cybixx, right? The Planetary Governor gave me a quick run-down.' The Inquisitor continued.

'You know he sounded verydesperate to speak to me when he reported your visit. Seems having you appear out of thin air how your temple are known to do really gave him a shock!' Her tone suggested something like respect for her visitor.

'An opportunity to remind those who hold power of how fragile their rule is should be taken advantage of.' The Assassin simply responded with a faint smirk, not a hint of regret in having scared the planet's top politician half-to-death.

The unconventional Inquisitor strode forwards and perched on the edge of her desk, her eyes scanning up and down the agent in Synskin. 'Quite right!' The Inquisitor smiled faintly, no argument with that logic.

'So, a Callidus Assassin, huh? Haven't met anyone from your temple in decades.' She really was charming to an almost disarming degree.

'Yes, Inquisitor.' The Assassin couldn't help but maintain some airs and graces. 'I'll try not to take up much of your time...'

'Tssh, relax!'Came the by now predictable response. 'I'm Inquisitor Astrid Skane, Ordo Hereticus.' The law-enforcer turned supremelaw-enforcer introduced herself casually.

'A-Alright...' The look on Astrid's face said she found some amusement in her guest's expression and confusion. 'I appreciate your hospitality.' Sister Cybixx offered in trying to break the ice.

'Very welcome.' Inquisitor Skane casually tossed her shock mace down, now armed with only one very refined but worn shotgun still slung across her broad shoulder-pads.

'So let's see here...' Casually sweeping up a data slate, Astrid tilted her head as if to encourage the assassin to sit.

'Idriella Cybixx, Epsilon-dan of the Officio Assassinorum's Callidus Temple...' She casually read out the kind of information that the assassin half expected to be hidden from all eyes outside of the temple. 'Origin Planet... Xenes Major...' Something seemed to click with the Inquisitor at naming Idriella's home world.

'Makes sense...' She tossed the slate aside and stood up, 'I've heard of your world, of the certain protectedstatus your people enjoy.' She slowly paced around the desk towards the now seated assassin 'On account of your service to the Callidus temple unsuprisingly.'She now perched on the edge of the desk directly in front of the assassin.

'Yes, Inquisitor-'

'Call me Astrid, I insist.' She interrupted the large Assassin before her.

'Alright... Well we're proud of our service, Lady Skane! It's an essential part of our social structure.' Idriella explained with gusto, losing track of her reason for being here in the excitement of it all.

'I can see why you're of such interest to the Temple.' Astrid's eyes were wandering, truly this assassin was one of the most physically formidable women she had ever met; the synskin really left nothing to the imagination either.

'Then again I've also heard about what you do to your men-folk...' Inquisitor Skane seemed rather less impressed by that idea. 'But I suppose slavery isn't a, explicit crime in this universe of war...' That didn't mean she had to be happy about it however.

'It was deemed necessary.' The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow at this, surely she wouldn't try and explain this away?

'The very particular biosphere and conditions on Xeres Major proved particularly hard on the immune system, those who couldn't flourish in that situation withered....' She knew she wasn't getting through despite the pride she felt in her home world.

'I'm sure it was for their own protection. Can't breed without breeding stock?' Astrid pried, her face spoke to a severe displeasure in the contents of this conversation.

'It would seem the benefits of producing such potent candidates for the Callidus Temple trump the freedoms of one planet's men.' Idriella could tell the Inquisitor was rather unhappy about it, but she couldn't change the facts.

'Y-Yes.' The assassin didn't show remorse or shame, though the pressure of this potent individual was testing her. The gleaming black power armour the Inquisitor wore held a powerful aura of intimidation atop Astrid's natural gravitas.

'Welp. If it works for you I guess...' Inquisitor Skane stood and finally peeled her eyes off the truly spectacular example of womankind in her quarters. 'Care for another drink?' She asked, an overt admission to having watched her guest that the assassin sharply picked up on.

'No, thankyou. I only just finished the last one.' Idriella couldn't see the impressed smirk on Astrid's face as she took a drink from her Servo-skull. 'Inquisi- Astrid... I have an admission to make!'

'Oh?' Astrid asked as she took a sip of expensive Amasec. 'As this is coming from a blade of the Assassinorum I expect I might not like where this goes... Especially since it happened on a world under my personal protection!' Her shotgun slumped to her side in a casually threatening gesture.

'I...' Idriella decided to stand and face the Inquisitor; impressive though Inquisitor Skane was the assassin towered over her, a particular quirk of the harsh world her people had further evolved on.

'I was assigned to infiltrate the machinations of a particular nobleman-' She began, ready to spill all and give her life in repentance if it came to that.

'Who?'Astrid demanded sharply.

'A Sir Bannon Garius.'

'Bannon Garius.' Inquisitor Skane left it at two words and sipped her drink from a shaky hand.

'Yes, he was involved in funding abhuman research and I was tasked with purging him and everyone under his employ.' Idriella heard the creak of the Inquisitor's fingers clenching tight around the grip of her hallowed shotgun.

'And you did... Naturally.An agent of a holy temple would never fail in such a task.' Astrid looked up at the ceiling and exhaled heavily through something like frustration, her reaction mysterious to the assassin.

'But at the heart of that abhuman research was an... artefact.' She thought how to describe it as Astrid sipped her drink with all the calm she could muster. 'Some kind of nano-technology intended to allow shapeshifting through-'

'What...happened to that artefact, agent?' Astrid's tone had warped from warm and welcoming to cold and threatening. She looked over the top of her glass into the assassin's dark eyes.

'I...' Idriella did what felt right and threw herself down onto her knees, head lowered. 'I have become infectedwith the machinations of that same dark age technology, Inquisitor!' She exclaimed. 'I understand that I am become anathema, a mutant, an abhuman... And I gladlygive my life to cleanse this stain from the Emperor's sight!'

She was braced on hands and knees, calm and ready to gladly accept Astrid's Inquisitorial judgement. She'd introduced herself as part of Ordo Hereticus, the Witch Hunters, those who stamp out heresy and mutation in all its forms. That made this the worst case scenario for Idriella!

'I see.' Was all Astrid spoke before a long, ominous pause filled the air. Idriella watched the Inquisitor's armoured boots move in front of her and heard Astrid's glass set down on the desk.

'Show me.' The stern woman decked out in power armour instructed.

'Show-?' Before the assassin could even finish her question she watched the wide barrel of Astrid's shotgun press against the back of her planted hand.

'Show me.' She repeated sternly. 'Your order is familiar with shape-shifting meaning you know a thing or two about it. If you need help we'll see if you can regrow a hand.' Her threat was so very thinly veiled.

Idriella was confident in her synskin's ability to resist most incoming fire, but a point-blank shotgun blast might be pushing it. Her response drew an audible gasp from the Inquisitor.

Black, glossy fingers liquefied beneath her gun and slithered like creeping vines up and around her weapon in a truly unsettling yet impressive manner. She pulled her weapon away and watched Idriella's hand slosh back together like molten plastic flowing into a mould.

'Ordo Hereticus is dedicated to eradicating heresy in all its forms.' Astrid spoke firmly as the kneeling assassin closed her eyes. Her shotgun barrel now pressed against the back of Idriella's head, the source of her impressive ponytail.

'There are puritans within the Ordo Hereticus who would kill you without asking a single question...' This was it, Idriella all but sensed the Emperor's hand reaching out through the immaterium to take her.

'I am notone of those Inquisitors.' The killer on all fours opened her eyes in shock, was this a test? A trick?! 'The fact that you would step forwards, actively reach out to the Inquisition to confess and willinglyoffer your life speaks volumes, Idriella.'

Astrid pushed her weapon under the assassin's chin and raised her eyes to look up at her. Just as she expected the Callidus agent's gaze was one of both shock and commitment to her cause.

'In carrying out your orders... You, as an Assassin, did your duty. A duty that led you to destroy an endeavour of my ownmachinations.' Now Idriella's expression turned to pure surprise.

'Y-You mean...?' She was gobsmacked, the Holy Ordo did this kind of thing?! 'Then whywas I sent to purge them?' Astrid smirked at that and turned away; she calmly planted her shotgun on the desk and visibly shrugged.

'The mysterious ways of the Inquisition, my dear girl.' She sounded almost amused by all this, 'No need to stay down there; Servo-skull, get my friend a stiff drink. I think she needs one!' She chuckled at the idea.

For a few moments Idriella stayed on her knees, taking all this in. 'Let me properly introduce myself!' She snapped out of it to Astrid's words and effortlessly rose with just a tense of her thighs.

The Inquisitor was already sat back in the massive, ornate chair across the desk with a new drink in hand. 'As far as the conclave is concerned I am a member of the Ordo Hereticus, but I wonder... Have you heard of the Recongregatormovement?'

The assassin took an offered drink and swiftly necked the drink, she'd genuinely come back to life and it was a strange experience indeed. She savoured it then resumed eye-contact with a shake of her head.

'Good. We like to keep things that way...' She paused to sip her drink 'We're a radical faction who believe in one thingabove all else...' She offered Idriella a seat with a motion. 'That the Imperium is dying!'She enthused, her tone serious with this subject on her mind.

'For ten thousand years we have withered! Once we created incredible machines like that which now, presumably, pumps through your veins!' Astrid spoke with a fervour that filled her guest with awe, her tone a display of the famed Inquisitorial passion. 'The blood of our nobles has become so corrupted through millennia of in-breeding that not a single oneof them is pure orcapable!'

Idriella could feel the passion in every single one of Astrid's words, she believed wholeheartedly in everything she said. 'Our obsession with pomp and ceremony will end us all! We cling to the past in the hope that it will somehow keep us safe from harm.'

The Inquisitor seemed to mull the gravity of her thoughts 'Instead those exact ideas are leading us down a narrowing path into the undergrowth of ultimate destruction.'

'So...' The assassin processed this as best she could, but it was a torrent of ideas at odds with what she'd heard of the Ordos. 'The super soldiers they were creating...'

'They got that far, huh? Well, it had promise I guess...' Astrid contemplated the progress made but shrugged it off. 'It was an attempt to find the use in the artefact but it seems the Emperor has provided us with the answer we were looking for!' She smiled.

'Inquisitor Skane... Is this a test?' She bluntly asked, the creeping suspicion of Ordo manipulation clawing away at her mind.

'Ha! I like that!' The relaxed holy agent laughed in a brash, infectious way. 'You're a clever girl, sharp to possible tricks! I definitelylike that!' She sipped on her drink again.

'No, it's no trick, Idriella...' She smirked, 'It's an induction!'She let that sink in for a moment.

'You're now part of my inquisitorial cadre.' Astrid smiled, her mind made up. 'I already know you'll make a spectacular addition to my entourage!' This... was unexpected! Idriella had expected to leave this room in a body bag, but now she was to leave it as part of the Inquisition?!

'I... You know more about this artefact than anyone... and you spared my life...' Idriella ran over the details then bowed her head. 'I swear an oath to you, Inquisitor. As much as I am the Emperor's blade I am yoursto wield!'

'Glad to hear it, but honestly... Chill. Respect me and I'll respect you, that'show I operate!' Inquisitor Skane brushed off Idriella's pomp as if it was somehow disgusting.

'Right... Well, I'll do my best.' Astrid smiled an indecipherable smile in response, a clear sense of how to use her new operative already forming.

'Welcome to the Inquisition, Initiate.' She turned away slightly to talk on a private vox channel. 'Teleportorium... I'm bringing a friend.'

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