Lord of the Night

Pec: Congresium Xenos

Dis: Inq. Palinus

Conduit Path: Tarith-Maneus-Pirras-J'ho

Ref: lNQ5#23-33

Sub: Disappearance' Kaustus

Incident At Equixus

My lords,

I have set foot upon Equixus, and I believe it is a memory that shall haunt me until my death.

You will recall that I was dispatched some weeks ago to investigate the disappearance of Inquisitor Ipoqr Kaustus.

At the point of my departure he had failed to engage the ordo in routine report for three consecutive years. Whilst hardly an exceptional hiatus, given the clandestine nature of his work, this was considered uncharacteristic. Kaustus's record indicates a level of assidiousness in such matters that rendered his silence troubling and, in the name of our blessed organisation, I set out to follow his trail in earnest.

My lords, I shall not burden you with the oblique course upon which the subject had meandered. Of most relevance are surely his final movements: a brief (and indeed unofficial) visitation aboard the Pervigilium Oculus, and an even more contrite stay at the Inquisitorial fortress-world Safaur-Inquis (also unrecorded). His rendezvous with the former, as chance would dictate, coincided with its commission by Munitorum officials as a sanctioned surveillance craft, tasked with maintaining a discreet watch over the eldar craftworld ''Iyanden''. His presence on Safaur Inquis is less opaque, although it is known that he recruited a new interrogator — a woman named Ashyn — during his visit.

From there the trail takes the erstwhile inquisitor to the hive-world Equixus, and here my investigation bore fruit. It is impossible to state with any certainty why Kaustus and his retinue travelled here (although, given the high incidence of Tauist cells amongst worlds in this region, perhaps we may speculate?), but we can be very clear on a single point:

Equixus is where Inquisitor Kaustus died.

Approximately one month before my arrival upon this world, the Night Lords Chaos Marine Legion descended upon the planet — for reasons of their own — and in the course of a single day brought unimaginable carnage to its people. I have spent two weeks with my retinue in the anarchic wasteland that remains, witnessing the deaths of hundreds from exposure and hunger, attempting in vain to uncover some reason for the Traitors' attack. I have found none.

My lords, the sheer enormity of the slaughter at Equixus would seem to draw a veil across the investigation. Certainly Kaustus did not leave the planet — my Magos Biologis identified what little remained of his body from gene-records shortly before our departure — and it is tempting to think of that, therefore, as the end to the whole affair.

There is, however, a single troubling enigma that continues to allude my logic:

Telemetry from the aforemention Pervigilium Oculus indicates that a sizeable flotilla of renegade vessels — notably including the Vastitas Victris (long suspected of harbouring the Night Lords' highest commanders) — was gathering near to the Iyanden craftworld at the time of Kaustus's visit. Cogitator matrices had indicated a 93.2% probability that the Chaos fleet planned to attack the craft-world itself.

The assault never occurred: for whatever reason the Night Lords diverted their attentions towards Equixus, sparing the eldar from harm.

It would be remiss of me to suggest that Kaustus in some way precipitated the genocide upon Equixus. The Night Lords have a reputation for impulsive, arbitrary movements, and it is indeed unlikely — even if he were involved somehow — that the presence of a single inquisitor would have swayed their plans. Nonetheless, it is a curious coincidence that Kaustus was present in each locale that the renegades selected for their muster: a coincidence that is ultimately of benefit to nobody except the eldar.

Did they have a hand in this? Had they somehow anticipated an attack upon their fragile craftworld, from some distant point in the past, and sought — somehow — to divert it elsewhere? My lords, it is unlikely we shall ever know.

Kaustus is dead. Equixus has become a morgue. There is nothing else to say.

In Service to the Holy Emperor of Man,

Inquisitor Palinus, Ordo Xenos

Addendum:

My lords, forgive this brief postscript. I was on the verge of dispatching the above report when I encountered a further, tantalising, nugget of information.

Two days' travel from the Equixus system is the colony world Baih'Rus. As we passed by, preparing to enter the warp, my crew exchanged routine recognition codes with the long-obsolete clipper that comprises the entirety of ''that worlds'' orbital security. Upon receipt of Inquisitorial codes the clipper's captain indicated surprise, questioning aloud why there should be such a strong Inquisitorial presence in the region. Perplexed, I demanded to know what he meant. It transpires that a week ago another vessel passed near Baih'Rus: a small shuttlecraft formerly registered to the merchant starport on Equixus. When hailed the pilot — a woman — produced Inquisitorial recognition codes only slightly inferior to my own. As is his habit, the captain of the clipper ordered his sanctioned astropath to conduct a ''head-count'', a psychic sweep to indicate crew numbers. This command was duly obeyed.

Shortly before dying (''screaming and bleeding like someone took a piss in his brain'' as the captain so delicately put it), the astropath indicated the presence of two souls aboard — one male, one female.

Whether relevant to the disappearance of Kaustus or not, or whether merely a part of a greater picture than I am presently unable to determine, I felt it wise to bring this curious incident to your attention. It seems that whatever truly occurred upon Equixus, solutions to its mysteries shall continue to elude us a while longer.

Palinus