The Vigilant Sword

“A shield is not always the right instrument of defence. Sometimes you give a man a shield and show him how to
stand true. However, it is the Adeptus Astartes’ duty to protect mankind by taking the sword to that which man
cannot stand against.”

Vulkan He’stan of the Salamanders Chapter

Communique from Inquisition HQ.

With the destruction of the Caelas Station, we believe that the supply of Volkite Weapons to the Torment has been
stopped. The information you retrieved from the Station indicate that the Torment had found a rich deposit of
Antisonate Ore, which they had traded for the weapons. The source of the weapons and the buyers of the Ore is our
old enemy, Samech.

Specifically a group calling itself the Vinculum Proselytes. These Hereteks rule an area on Samech known as the
Irradial Forge. They have allied themselves with the Chaos Sorcerer Dahzak, whom you fought in the Underwater
City on Karlack. From your findings on the planet of Aurum, it is possible this alliance has been going on for
decades. The evidence from Aurum suggests they were mining the powerful Decavane Energy Crystals on Aurum.
While fighting the Torment, the schematics you found on Aurum were deciphered. They are for a device called a
"Thaumagramm Diode". It took the combined efforts of a Mechanicus Magos and one of your Ordo Malleus
colleagues to decipher these plans as they combined sorcery and technology together. The conclusion your learned
colleagues have come up with is that these Diodes can induce or alter the flow of Warp Energy, possibly corrupting
the technology towards Chaos. The schematics you found date back more than 10 years, suggesting this Unholy
Alliance (Dahzak and the Hereteks) has gone on for some time.

Finally, your rescue of the Irradial Forge Slave Castus helped fill in the pieces of the puzzle. His information leads
us to believe that the Irradial Forge and Dahzak are building a ship. Normally Antisonate can cloak a small ship
only, due to power/size limitations. However with the Decavane Crystals, a much larger ship could be cloaked. The
eventual target can only be speculated. We are increasing patrols around some of the likely targets including the
Warp Gate, Karlack and Watch Station Erioch. The Hereteks have apparently named this ship the "Ruin Bringer".

According to Castus, the ship was still under construction when he was taken from Samech. He also heard rumours
it incorporated Xenos technology never before seen, technology we fear was taken by Dahzak from the Underwater
Necron City. Again, we can only speculate as to this technology but fear it would outmatch any ships we may field.

And so, we get to point of this communique.

After discussion with High Command and the Warmaster, the Inquisition has a task for you, if you are willing to
take it on. We propose a raid on the planet of Samech itself. The purpose of this raid would be to infiltrate the
Irradial Forge, and destroy the "Ruin Bringer". If possible, secondary objectives would be to kill Dahzak and destroy
any Xenos or aberrant technology (such as the Diodes or Necron technology) you can, so that they cannot build
another like it.

To get to Samech, we are suggesting a somewhat radical option. The Deathwatch have a stealth ship of their own,
The Thunder's Word. It is small, fast and has passed through enemy lines more than once. Once in orbit around
Samech, a Marine Drop Pod would be able to land you just outside the Forge, near the area known as The Slums.
We hope that you will be seen as just one more set of Raiders rather than an invasion force. Castus also raised to
possibility of using the Resistance Movement in the Slums to help you (and of course, you them).

We hope this is not a one way mission, as the Marines will equip each of you with a Teleport Homer. While they
cannot teleport you down through Samech's defenses, they are fairly certain they can get you out. The only issue will
be keeping themselves unseen while you are about your mission.

We realize the odds on this mission are low, and so we understand if you wish to decline.

Attached:

Info on Samech
Info from Castus the slave
 Message from Prince-Prefect Allewis of Karlack

Esteemed Friends,
I cannot have you believing that my boasts of helpful ears were idle, particularly now that I owe you my
life. As you can imagine, we have spent a good deal of time trying to crush the remnants of the onspiracy
you uncovered.

During this time, Lord General Iacton encountered a stray member of the apostate Tech-Priests who had
a hand in recent events. Our prisoner knew precious little that you did not already uncover as to the
events on Karlack. However, we did persuade him to share somethings as to their plans.

According to the Heretek Mechanicus, he belongs to a group calling itself "The Vinculum Proselytes".
Apparently they are developing a new warship that will bring the Crusade to its knees. The Mage Dahzak
was on this planet to recover some technology from the Sunken City to finish building this warship. What
that technology was he would not say or did not know. He did tell us the Proselytes are based at the
"Irradial Forge" on Samech. Finally we were able to interrogate him regarding the Irradial Forge for some
time. Our Lexographers have sketched a map based on that intelligence and there is additional
information below. May it benefit your illustrious organisation.

Your faithful servant, Prince-Prefect Allewis LXXXIII

(attached is a map and info which I will send later)