ak-73 said:

They wouldn't need to - the mere fact that such a significant infrastructure exists for the Deathwatch within the Jericho Reach suggests and allows for a larger-than-average concentration of Deathwatch Killteams, which means that those Killteams will be present in a variety of warzones across the Reach, where their presence will be noted by other Imperial forces - Killteams spotted by/interacting with Guard, Sororitas and conventional Astartes forces on the ground, Deathwatch vessels spotted by Navy squadrons, and so forth.

Whether or not the infrastructure is known about by the crusade forces is irrelevant - the fact that the infrastructure exists and allows so comparatively large a number of Deathwatch Marines to be present means that their presence is much less likely to go unnoticed and unremarked-upon. It's more difficult to hide hundreds of men than it is to hide a dozen, no matter how carefully and subtly you deploy them.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

That wasn't so much my point though.

“I am Fleet Captain Arast Cobb and I am honoured to by your presence, my lords. It is not often my vessel has been graced by warriors of the legendary Deathwatch.”'

"Your wording hints at a disturbing degree of insight into the nature of the organization we're serving, Fleet Captain. Rest assured that your name will be passed on to Inquisitor Quist for further investigation. For the rest of our journey, I strongly suggest you to exercise proper care in conduct, speech and thought, Captain. Purify yourself or you will be purified."

These aren't just Astartes after all. They are Astartes with a large =I= on their armour.

Alex

ak-73 said:

If that takes their fancy, of course the alternative train of thought is that Caplain Arast has been commisioned by the Inquisition to transport the Deathwatch before and been enrolled again to limit other captains exposure.

After all, space marines travelling in small numbers would be suspicious and well being space marines once you know what one lots armour looks like...

Face Eater said:

For what it's worth, some quotes that kind of frame what I think the authors were proposing:

P319 of DW: "It is only at the highest echelons of the Imperium's military machine that there exists any awareness of the existence and mission of the Deathwatch...It is almost, though not entirely, impossible for a common general, even a Lord Militant to simply 'request' the aid of the Deathwatch."

P332 of DW: "...or they [the Deathwatch] may respond favorably to a request for assistance from its high command, or even to the distress calls of memebers of the Crusade forces"

and "This autonomy has, on occasion, led to friction between the Deathwatch and those involved in the Achilus Crusade, particularly those who command the Crusade and therefore know something of the Deathwatch's presence in the Jericho Reach."

@FaceEater, Honn: You guys have a good point, you're not going to see a single guy sent down, and long term partnerships are less likely due to the divergent goals and insular nature of the two groups. But I can totally see an adventure or two- in the brain spasm of an Idea I posted earlier, I could totally see the DW winning the argument and taking on one, maybe two, of the GKs to 'watch over' them while they go find their brother. That said, I can't see the partnership leaving the watch station in tact- maybe resepct, or a "hope to have you at my back next time I'm surrounded by Chaos" kind of thing but a long term (read: campaign length) partnership is harder to construct. If I mange to come up with another convoluted scenario that could do that, aside form chaos/xenos hybrids, I'll post it

Charmander said:

Reading what you wrote I have to say I can't believe that the GK won't use the DW as eyes and ears. Looking at the Reach's map, I have to note how many Watch Stations are near the Hadex anomaly. Now I don't know if the GK had any presence there throughout the millenia but it seems to me very unlikely that the Watch Commander of Erioch wouldn't have the ability to pass on information to the GK.

Alex

ak-73 said:

It's a good point that the DW would be ideally placed to pass along information to the Grey Knights but it need not be direct. Remember, the Inquisition has a permanent presence in Watch Station Erioch. If they spot anything that smells of "serious daemonry" they can send word to the specialists in Ordo Malleus. What the Malleus do with this information need never be witnessed by DW until after the fact.

Decessor said:

Yeah I would imagine that Inquisition would act as the go between's between the forces on the ground and the Gk's. Pressumable ranking Ordo Malleus =I= have a red phone under an hour glass for just such an occasion. And normally they would probably send units of their own (like =I= Stormtroopers) but on larger battlefields they might have to call in assistance from everywhere.