Recent Inquisitorial probes had yielded discrepancies in tithe payments from the planet and the possibility of Heresy had been postulated. It was his mission to discover the truth behind this veil of deceit. A few days after his arrival he soon discovered the true nature of the discrepancies.

A chaos cult had risen on the world and had corrupted the governor – the discrepancies in the tithe payments were part of a plot to divert resources toward the building of foul chaos temples so that they would serve to attract the attentions of their Dark Masters.

After infiltrating the governor's staff, Inquisitor Maul slew the corrupt governor and his bodyguard and recovered documents hinting toward an ancient relic, pre-dating even the Horus Heresy on Thallus Prime. This relic, the 'Concordat Chaosium' is what he now sought.

He could do nothing to stop the chaos uprising however and soon, Hives all over the planet were being overrun by hordes of fanatical cultists, minor daemons summoned from the Warp and corrupt Planetary Guard. He had sent a distress call to the local imperial garrison a few systems away by mind controlling a corrupt astropath and a regiment of Cadian Shock troops was on its way to pacify the planet. Now however, his main goal is to find and retrieve the Concordat.

Another shot rang off the metal wall close to his ear – the noise nearly deafening him. Gathering his mental energies about him, Maul sought the soul-flame of his enemy. Sensing his high and above him in a ruined hab-bloc, Maul sidestepped out of cover and snapped off several precise shots at the sniper.

With his enemy distracted, he ran across the alley toward a rusting fire escape. The distraction only worked for a few seconds as return fire from the sniper pinged around him, a few punching neat holes in his billowing robes just as reached the ladder. He holstered his pistol and with near superhuman speed he ascended the ladder, the sniper partially hidden from view by some crumbling masonry.

As he reached the top he could feel the sniper's warp-presence nearby. As he ducked through the shattered window, a volley of lasfire smashed into the wall next to him. Quickly sliding behind a low wall he reached out with his mind's-eye to search for his enemy again. The lasfire ceased and he heard the faint whine as its powercells recharged. In two quick strides he slid around the wall and halved the distance between him and his assailant.

A metallic objected flashed in his hand as he covered the remaining distance, a snap-hiss sound escaped from it as a scarlet blade grew from the metal cylinder. Maul briefly registered the terrified look of his opponent as he desperately tried to bring his laspistol to bear – the strong smell of faeces as his opponent lost his bowel control told Maul what a coward he was. With a quick flick of his wrist his enemy fell in two in a burst of crimson gore.

The brief warp jump between Rynn's World and Thallus Prime had made Corporal Franke uneasy. Though he had spent much of his life travelling through the immaterium between campaigns the thought of only a warp stasis field separating him from the untold horrors beyond chilled him to the core.

He once thought he could hear whispers in his mind during a particularly long warp voyage but was mocked by his fellow Cadian's as a telepathic wannabe. He had also told Commissar Holtz – his platoon's commissar – about the whispers and could still remember his words:

'Do not stray from the Emperor's light corporal, for once you start down the path of damnation there is no redemption.'

Since that day voyages through the warp became a little more uneasy…

Commissar Junkus Holtz sat in his spartan quarters studying his latest orders. A distress call had been received only a few short days ago from an Inquisitor on Thallus Prime regarding a mass chaos uprising. Shortly afterward all communications with the world was lost. Now he was part of a strike force sent to crush the rebellion and restore the Emperor's rule. Soon they would commence orbital bombardment of the landing zone on Thallus Prime before descending in massive troop transports to establish a forward base.

As usual Holtz was eager to serve the Emperor, especially against the foul spawn of chaos. His right arm twitched involuntarily as he thought about his enemy. He had lost that arm battling the daemon hordes on the fortified world of Cadia's Gate decades ago and had replaced it with a bionic one.

Though his new arm is stronger and tougher than his old arm he still looked forward to the opportunity to vent his hatred against the forces of chaos. He would however, have to ensure that the men under his command were equally willing to battle those forces. Suddenly he heard the whistle of the ship's internal vox-caster.

'All hands, prepare for orbital bombardment – all troops proceed to your transports for planetary descent'
'And so it begins' he said quietly to himself. He jumped to his feet, grabbed his stubgun and headed down to the armoury.