IC:
Exitus Acta Probat:
The Outcome Justifies The Deed.
¬ Motto of the Vindicare Temple
The lies of our enemies are manifold. All of them designed for one, unremitting objective: to justify and legitimize their crimes. ¬ Alexander Blaken-Kazansky, Emperor of Greater Prussia and King of Allanea, Lecture at the Freemen's War College
Subsector Protractis, the Bastion
It did not approach the Bastion at all. It lurked, instead, in the system's outer asteroid field. Its arrival produced no warp distortion, since its owners did not make use of the Immaterium for travel. Their means were different – perhaps superior, perhaps heretical.
From the ship, a single smallcraft detached – somewhat like a Thunderhawk, and indeed it would appear like a Thunderhawk – unless it underwent close inspection. One interested in sniffing around the craft would discover it was not armed like a Thunderhawk, equipped with engines unlike a Thunderhawk, and indeed the angles between its armor-plates were subtly different, in a manner that would disturb a techpriest – just ever so slightly slicker and more rounded than a Thunderhawk's.
Aboard it were five men and a woman in black military uniforms awaited. In the rear compartment, a squad of infantry, lightly armed and armored, waited.
"So, run this by me again," – said one of the men – "Why are we doing this? These people would just as well kill us all as talk to us – and we, them, to be fair. Everything about their culture is loathsome in every aspect – and I do not doubt they think the same of us."
"There are two reasons. One minor, and the other major." – the woman spoke. "The small one is that the enemy of my enemy dies next – or at least this is how the people here are fond of putting it. These people are nasty. The people they fight? They are nastier. You have not been in the First Freemen's Crusade. I have."
The First Freemen's Crusade. Allanea's first confrontation with the forces that had been dubbed, sometimes, as Chaos. The Allaneans planned and executed a vast, simultaneous war on multiple fronts. The war began with a scam – defrauding the warlords of Chronosia of vast resources, which were used, then, to wage a war against the Chronosians themselves. The Allanean forces shot, killed, and fought across dozens of worlds, losing millions of troops and butchering heretics both in battle and with orbital strikes. Some of the population of the world had been purged, others put in stasis and only gradually let forth as it was possible to become assured they were redeemable to some extent.
"I needn't be reminded that Chaosites are bad people, Natalia." - the officer replied testily. "What is the larger reason?"
"The larger reason is that – as they say here, knowledge is power and should be well-guarded. We desire their knowledge. Do you know that the Imperium hides most of its history from its own subjects, even from its officials?"
"This sounds… oh I understand now."
"Exactly. If they hide it, we wish to know it."
"How would we know they are giving us the truth? It's possible that even the ones who we speak to do not know."
"We have our ways, and they have theirs." – Natalia smiled as she spoke those words. It was not a kind smile.
+++ To: Imperial Authorities on Bastion
Encryption status: Vermilion
Content: We are the representatives of a civilization vastly distinct from your own. We recognize that this may cause a degree of alarm. Do not open fire on our vessels. We offer a negotiation and a cooperation against your most dire enemies. We appreciate the need to negotiate such items in a confidential manner away from the public eye. It would be ideal if you allowed us to meet with an inquisitorial representative of sufficient authority, at the inquisitorial fortress on this world. We will send a group of 16 individuals, including our negotiator and her retinue, to discuss matters.
Our choice to meet at the most secure location on your planet is a gesture of respect towards you. We hope that you appreciate and understand our desire to work out a cooperation.
Yours, Colonel Natalia Strelkina