V3 Chapter 103: The First Target
The mission had failed.
In a quiet, circular room, a figure stood before a black metal table, watching a holographic map hovering above its surface. A calm voice came through the comm from the Vindicare assassin, reporting everything that had happened before the mission's failure.
The target had begun moving before the round even arrived, avoiding precisely what should have been a certain hit. He had then picked Agent Seven out from among the Administratum officials, and in an extremely short span of time, destroyed her phase sword and severed both her arms.
The thirteen Astartes of unidentified origin surrounding the target had also shown reaction speeds far beyond projection. The entire attempt had lasted only a short time, yet both assassins assigned to the operation had been exposed in succession.
"Did the target begin moving before the round fired, or after?" the man standing before the metal table asked.
"At the same instant I pulled the trigger, my lord," the Vindicare answered. "The target was not looking toward my firing position at the time, and the surrounding communications were under our monitoring throughout. No warning to him was detected at the scene."
The man fell silent, his gaze resting on the marker representing the target on the holographic map.
Duvette Erdmann's reactions had already gone beyond anything simple physical capability could explain. Limited precognition, a sense for danger, some unknown detection ability, even the possibility of a leak within the Assassinorum itself, any of these could account for the failure.
What troubled him more was Agent Seven's exposure. The Callidus's disguise had passed the convoy's identity verification; her appearance, body temperature, and behavioural patterns had all matched a genuinely existing Administratum official, and yet Duvette had picked her out directly from the crowd.
"Terminate the on-site execution protocol. Execute grey extraction." the man said at last. "Destroy the firing position. Complete three rounds of counter-tracking checks. Return the original record core to the Seventh Silent House."
A brief mission report could be sent through an encrypted channel, but the complete imagery recorded by the scope, the refractor field's energy readings, and Agent Seven's physiological data before death were all held within an isolated record core.
To keep the enemy from intercepting it, this material couldn't be uploaded remotely; it had to be carried back by the Vindicare in person.
"Order confirmed." the Vindicare replied.
The transmission cut off, the man's voice swallowed quickly by the sound-absorbing material lining the room's walls. He studied the map a moment longer, then opened a separate operational channel.
"Recover Agent Seven's remains and all her equipment. If recovery isn't possible, execute purification."
The team responsible for the scene moved at once. Agent Seven's body, the broken phase sword, and the identity implant still not fully self-destructed within her could all serve as evidence pointing back to the Assassinorum.
The man next reached the third assassin involved in the operation, one from the Vanus Temple, who had remained hidden the whole time within the Outer Palace's vast information network, responsible for controlling the convoy's route and monitoring the on-site communications.
"Reclassify the target as a high-risk anomalous individual." the man said. "Record that the target took two Lord Inquisitors hostage, and led Astartes of unconfirmed identity in an attack on an Administratum convoy. Mark both Inquisitors' autonomy status as unconfirmed. Issue an isolation order to the nearby defence units."
"Altering the records will take time." the Vanus assassin replied.
"How much time you have depends on when the target decides to act."
The transmission ended again. The man walked slowly around the edge of the circular room, finally stopping before a separate, encrypted comm device.
He reached out and opened an emergency channel. After several rounds of identity verification, a processed, blurred figure appeared on the screen.
"The first execution attempt did not complete." the man said, looking at the figure. "The target is currently operating alongside two Lord Inquisitors. Proceeding further may result in casualties among the Inquisition's leadership. Please confirm whether to expand the scope of the execution."
The figure on the screen didn't answer right away. After a long wait, a short line of text appeared before him.
[Until the Emperor's son leaves the Eternity Gate, the target must not make contact with any organ of Imperial power. The specific method is left to the Assassinorum's discretion.]
Looking at an order that pushed all responsibility onto the Assassinorum, the man gave a cold snort. He didn't press for anything further, and simply sealed the transmission record away in his private files.
***
Duvette hadn't launched a pursuit right away.
He stood in a blind corner of a building not far from the torn-open convoy, all his attention fixed on the strategic map.
The red dot marking the Vindicare assassin was moving fast away from the scene, threading continuously through the Outer Palace's tangled buildings and transit passages.
That dot changed direction more than once, pausing at different points along the way, clearly running counter-tracking checks.
Unfortunately, none of those measures had any effect on the strategic map. Duvette could still see the man's position, speed, and route with perfect clarity.
What surprised Duvette a little was that this Vindicare seemed to have given up on finding another shot.
The man was withdrawing in a fixed direction, his speed staying consistently high the whole way.
Duvette left the Callidus assassin's remains for Juno to handle, and waited patiently for the man to return to his hiding place.
Markus and the rest of the Shadow Wolves of Luna spread out nearby, sealing off every passage that might lead toward their position.
Neither Lord Inquisitor questioned Duvette standing there, staring at what looked like empty air. Having travelled this far together, they'd already grown used to the occasional strangeness that came with this Marshal-Commissar.
The Administratum officials crouched by the roadside, hands clasped over their heads per Duvette's order. The thirteen black-cloaked Shadow Wolves stood guard around them, and every so often a cold glance sweeping over them was enough to make the officials hold their breath.
Time passed slowly, the red dot on the map drawing farther and farther away. After several more pauses, it finally settled in an area to the northwest.
Duvette studied it a moment, confirming the red dot had entered a fixed building, then turned to the officials crouched on the ground.
"Northwest of here, about fifteen kilometres out. What's there?"
The officials exchanged glances; no one spoke up right away. Duvette swept his expressionless gaze across them, one hand resting lightly on the Blade of Glory at his waist.
"Which of you knows?" His voice was calm. "Otherwise, I'll just have to deal with each of you in turn."
Before he'd even finished, the senior Administratum official jerked his head up in a panic. He pulled a data-slate from inside his coat, fingers trembling as he called up a traffic map of the Outer Palace's administrative district.
"My lord, that area sits at the boundary between the administrative district and the Ecclesiarchy's pilgrimage district." the senior official stammered. "It falls within the 79th Administrative Management Zone; many of the roads there are under the joint jurisdiction of the Administratum and the Ecclesiarchy."
Duvette narrowed his eyes and walked up to him.
"What large structures are there?"
The senior official looked down at the map, quickly finding the coordinates Duvette had given. His finger stopped over the spot, his voice growing more nervous still.
"There are two Administratum archive towers, and a black chapel."
"A black chapel?" Duvette asked.
"Yes, my lord." The senior official didn't dare meet his eyes. "It's called the Shrine of the Unnamed Martyrs, built to commemorate officials who died in the Imperium's service but whose names couldn't be made public, given the confidential nature of their posts. It rarely receives ordinary pilgrims; only certain Administratum personnel are permitted inside."
Duvette looked back at the strategic map. The Vindicare's red dot now sat directly beneath the black chapel's coordinates, and several faint structures extending underground had appeared nearby as well.
"Seems I know where the rats are hiding now."
"I've confirmed the same from my end."
Juno's voice came from behind him. Duvette turned and saw her standing beside the Callidus assassin's severed head, her right eye still uncovered, a faint golden psychic light still lingering deep within the pupil.
To read whatever memories remained in the dead woman, Juno had opened the skull at the back of her head and, glove removed, pushed her bare right hand deep into the not-yet-fully-cooled brain tissue.
The self-destruct device inside the Callidus had stopped her heart, but hadn't managed to destroy her brain outright; fragments of broken memory still lingered within the dying neural tissue.
Those memories were badly fragmented, and the psychological conditioning the Assassinorum imposed made reading them even harder.
All Juno had managed to see was a quiet, circular room, a black metal table, and the final execution order, delivered out of dim light.
She took a white cloth from nearby, wiping the blood and grey-white brain matter from her hand, then put her glove and eye patch back on.
"The final order came directly from the Grand Master of the Assassinorum, Fidicus." Juno looked at Duvette. "This assassin had no access to anything above her in the plan. I couldn't read the specific reasoning out of what's left of her memory."
"Good."
Duvette's mouth split into a grin, the kind that sent a chill through every Administratum official still watching. He looked at the red dot resting fifteen kilometres out on the strategic map, and slowly closed his hand around the Blade of Glory.
"At least now we know who our first target is."
"The rest should be easy from here."
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