Kali Ephese groaned as the chrono roused her from slumber with its staccato beep. Sliding from her bunk, she stretched and glanced out the window. The Adeptus Arbites Dormatorium was located just to the west of the marketplace. Kali’s room was on the seventh floor giving her a commanding view of the market slowly coming to life as the sun rose over the horizon. She smiled, her roommate hated it. Kali had lost count of the times her roommate had complained, moaning how she wished she could be in a room on the other side of the building, giving her a view of River Drusine and the forest beyond instead. Kali, on the other hand wouldn’t swap this view for anything, but then, she wasn’t the one on the night shift, she chuckled.
Snapping herself out of her reverie, she quickly washed and dressed into uniform. Stopping only to pick up breakfast, she made her way to the Stationhouse.
“Boss wants to see you as soon as you’re punched in” Trooper Dain called to her from behind the front desk as she walked though the door.
“God-Emperor! Please tell me it’s not another one!” Kali bemoaned. Ecclesiarchy members had been disappearing. To start of with it was just the new initiates. Nothing major, that kind of stuff happened all the time, granted, not with such frequency Scared little boys and girls not used to the strict discipline and harsh punishment enforced by the church running away in the might. Half the time the families would cover it up, ship them to off world business ventures to save the embarrassment. Then higher ranked members started disappearing, most of them completely with out a trace with no sign of struggle. The count now was fourteen in four months and the Arbites were no closer to solving the case. It was embarrassing and the Marshal was not taking it well.
“Nah, no one called one in,” Dain replied. He smiled sympathetically, “Though I wouldn’t get your hopes up, He seems mighty pissed about something!”
“Thanks for the warning, Dain. Better get my Recaff first then!”
Kali liked Dain, he was one of the good ones. Like her, doing the job because he believed in the Law, because by enforcing His Word he made his life mean something, because he gained great satisfaction from doing His Works. About as far removed from the meatheads that did not give a frak about the Law, couldn’t care less about His Word, who were in job almost solely for the great satisfaction they gained from being paid to be as violent as they liked. Too bad the meatheads made up the majority of the Arbites force. Two years ago, Dain had had one of his legs blown off by a tube charge in a raid that went south. The Mechanicus had supplied an augmetic but he could not get on with it, he said he preferred to be “All natural, baby!”
The route to the Recaff machine took Kali perilously close to the Marshal’s office.
“Ephese! My office! NOW!”
Cursing silently Kali entered the eight by ten refuse dump Marshal McKregger liked to refer to as his office. Marshal McKregger was a purely repugnant toad of a man. Kali was of the firm belief that all the meatheads at the precinct got together and appointed the fattest, ugliest and most chauvinistic of them to be their leader. Long ago McKregger had propositioned Kali, as he had done with almost all of the female Arbites, in exchange for promotion and better cases. However, unlike most of the others, Kali had kicked him in a soft spot and he had held it against here ever since.
“As I’m sure you know, Ephese, this Ecclesiarchy case is not going… well. The Ecclesiarchs are getting anxious and want it finished with, successfully. As a result I have a task for you.”
The pompous wind bag must be desperate if he is finally giving the case to me, Kali mused.
“They are sending in one of their own. Some “Special Investigator” from off world. I am ordering you to be chaperone.” His grubby little face erupted into a grin. Kali could only imagine the sick glee he was getting from building her hopes up and then dashing them away.
“Let me make myself clear, Ephese,” McKregger continued. “We, the Arbites, are cracking this case. It. Is. Ours! Now, he makes planet fall in an hour you are to meet him at the Port and accompany him to the Hyperion Inn where he has apparently already made a reservation. After which you are to ‘assist’ him in his investigation to the best of your meagre abilities. Feel free to be your usual, charming self, but keep him out of our way. You are dismissed”
“What’s his name, Sir?”
“Hmmm..? Oh Investigator Vrow….Vow…something or other Gaede or was it Caede, just ask him when you see him! Now frak off, I’m sick of looking at you!”
Slamming the door behind her Kali become lost in her own rage. Meagre! Who the frak does he think he is talking too! Kali was incensed, she could solve this with her eyes shut and he has her babysitting some off-worlder! Maybe she should just sleep with the lard arse. The sudden feeling of bile rising to her throat ended that line of thought rather abruptly.
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This is the beginging to the novelisation of the intro handout I gave to the Arbitrator (called Kali Ephese, if you hadn't guessed
) in the campaign I'm running.
I haven't done any real creative writing (adventures don't count) since school, so please any criticism is greatly sought after. Despite my Ego enjoying a good stroke everynow and again I would probably benefit more from negative (constructive though please) than from positive.
Cheers and I hope you enjoyed it so far.
EDIT- Imaging baked treats for the first to work out who the "Special Investigator" is
