BY ORDER OF HIS MOST HOLY MAJESTY THE GOD-EMPEROR OF TERRA INQUISITOR GRAMEN SAND’S PERSONAL LOGS- AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY

• Log Number 327:22V:TT3:Hex
• Work Station Location: Jade21

Please enter your authority code> * * * * * * * * * * * *
Validating…
Thank you, Inquisitor Sand.

You may proceed…

• Date: 815.M41
• Transcription: Adept Thodinna, Ordo Xenos, Adeptus Mechanicus Battle Cruiser Machinations of Man, Hippocrasian Agglomeration
• Subject: Recovery of Stolen Exterminatus Weapon

It has been four months since Interrogator Quint informed me that he had obtained, through his cover identity as a Logician agent, information regarding the exterminatus weapon (a single Scythe-pattern barrage torpedo fitted with a chem-viral warhead) that the Logicians had stolen almost a decade ago from the Imperial battle cruiser the Bastion (see mission file #Bastion2398XENOS), and which was subsequently stolen from them by the rogue Inquisitor Forlorn Gaul (see mission file #WANDERLUST879XENOS) who I have since terminated on the planet of Tranch (see mission file #GAUL98118XENOS); Gaul’s intentions with the exterminatus weapon was never revealed. Apparently, the Logicians had never-given up on their efforts to recover the stolen weapon and they were able to obtain credible information from sources that the torpedo’s warhead had been disassembled and transported to the small city of Fallcrest, which is located on the remote jungle planet of Faldon Kise in the Malfian sub-sector of the Calixis Sector.

I immediately dispatched Interrogator Quint to act upon this information and he was able to secure a place to accompany the Logician agents on the mission to secure the weapon’s components with his ultimate objective being to ensure that the warhead was returned to Imperial hands once located. To assist him in facilitating this, acolytes Pullo and Rylak were dispatched under Quint’s authority. The mission was expected to be difficult as Faldon Kise has little official oversight by Imperial authorities and it was decided that any large show of nearby Imperial presence may tip off the Logicians, as well as those holding the exterminatus weapon, to a possible investigation. In addition, communications with the planet are very difficult as there is no official astropathic presence and normal communication methods are hindered by the planet’s remote location and low-tech level; it was assumed that Quint would try to establish communication after an assessment of the situation using whatever communication resources were available. Since his group’s departure, I have yet to receive any communication from the team with the exception of a breach alarm three weeks after their expected arrival on planet coming from the Sand Box that I had established in Fallcrest, which I presume the group was using as a safe house. The alarm continued for several minutes until it abruptly stopped transmitting. I immediately dispatched Raptor Cell to investigate but they were still days out of position and by the time they arrived on scene, and saw the state of the city (described below), there was nothing they could do.

Concerns about the mission have grown since Quint has still failed to establish communication. Six weeks ago I read an Adeptus Mechanicus report complied from various augur and sensorium data from locations on Faldon Kise and nearby space assets, reporting a large-scale chemical dispersal and viral outbreak simultaneously striking Fallcrest and nearby areas (this took place just before Raptor Cell’s arrival). Casualty rates in the hot zone are estimated to be close to 100,000 with additional causalities of 20,000 in the outlaying areas. Initial analysis shows that the destruction caused by this incident is equivalent to weapon-grade compounds and virions that would be present in the stolen exterminatus weapon. I immediately dispatched the remaining members of Romulus Cell (minus myself and Red) to Faldon Kise to assist Raptor Cell to investigate with other authorities.

With this event, there were more questions than answers, but fortunately most were answered a day ago when I received a secure communique from Inquisitor Hejete, the Ordo Sicarius Calixis Liaison. His message contained a transcript from selected de-briefings of a Callidus assassin operative from the Officio Assassinorum named Syndalla who was on Faldon Kise prosecuting an unrelated mission to shift the powerbase of Fallcrest’s government into one that recognized Imperial authority. Apparently, due to her cover as a high-ranking government official, Quint sought her assistance on his investigation when it was suspected that the exterminatus weapon was in the possession of a popular, but unsanctioned, Imperial Cult called the Church of the Golden Father. Unlike the Imperial cults of the Ecclessiarchy, this cult welcomed unsanctioned psykers and mutants (both which were present in abundance on Faldon Kise due to its remote location and closeness to the edge of the sector). Under the leadership of its leader, the Golden Father, and its high cleric, a man named Terion, the membership of the Church of the Golden Father included the majority of the population of Fallcrest and surrounding areas and was spreading to the planet’s other major metropolitan areas.

Syndalla joined Quint’s investigation team, which had been augmented by some locals led by a squat named Kelson and a well-equipped self-proclaimed Moritat assassin named Lotus whose allegiances were never revealed. Coincidentally, the onset of their investigation into the Church of the Golden Father started at the same time that the Church initiated a coup that, due to the loyal worshippers that had infiltrated all of the city’s security and utility infra-structure, only took a day to defeat loyalist forces and take control of the city.

Using the coup as a distraction, Quint’s team located a series of underground tunnels under the main cathedral dedicated to the Church of the Golden Father, and it was in these tunnels that the true nature, and the real extent, of the threat that lurked in Fallcrest became known- the Church of the Golden Father was in fact a Genestealer Cult, and apparently one that had been in place for at least forty years. In the tunnels, Quint’s group fought Genestealer hybrids and Genestealers losing some of their party in the process.

The tunnels is where the group eventually discovered the location of the exterminatus weapon- having been converted into an above-ground dispersal doomsday weapon. Recognizing that the Genestealer infestation was the larger threat, it was decided that the exterminatus weapon would be activated in hopes of killing enough of the infestation to a manageable level so that Imperial authorities could quarantine and terminate the rest of the infected population. Syndalla stated that the activation codes were secured after terminating Terion (the cult Magnus) but Quint confirmed that the Golden Father (the Cult’s Patriarch Genestealer) was still alive prior to the weapon being deployed. To prevent the escape of the Patriarch, and other infected, plans were made to deploy the weapon as soon as possible. An Imperial Chartist vessel had just reached orbit and the team would try to obtain passage on the ship to avoid the destruction, but unfortunately, activation of the exterminatus weapon could only be done manually and Rylak and Lotus bravely chose to remain behind to do so.

Quint, Pullo, Kelson and Syndalla made their way out of the tunnels and back onto the surface and they were able to successfully hail the orbiting chartist vessel using Syndalla’s vox. Unfortunately, the group’s bad luck would continue because after being teleported onto the chartist vessel, it was discovered that the ship was actually a Dark Eldar cruiser, under the command of Archon Salaine Morn, using technology to mimic its engine signature to that of an Imperial vessel. Syndalla was able to escape and hide in the ship’s interior but Quint and the rest of his party were taken prisoner (I dread the fate that awaits them for the Dark Eldar are known for their cruel torments and the pleasure they get from killing). Syndalla reported that she was able to escape the various hunting parties for days and managed to slip off ship when the Dark Eldar docked at a remote pirate way station just inside the Halo Stars. Using her special abilities, she was able to gain employment and passage back to the Calixis Sector and get word to her superiors.

The information that Syndalla has provided has given me a lead for use in an attempt to locate Quint and Pullo. While ultimately their chances for survival in the custody of the Dark Eldar are minuscule, I will conduct inquires with sources knowledgeable in these Xenos’ operations in this sector in the hopes for an avenue to formulate a rescue. Perhaps it is not too late…

* GM’s Note: This mission was created by the GM.*

In the underhive of Scintilla, Quint is almost assassinated by snipers from the Pressure Point mercenary group, after he purchases a data-stick containing critical information for his master. There is no doubt that their target was the Interrogator, but further investigation is stalled when it is revealed that the contract was anonymous and the individual responsible for providing the contract information to Pressure Point was just a patsy who was later found dead in a sewer gutter.

While Quint and other Inquisition agents look further into the matter, Inquisitor Sand takes several of his junior acolytes, under Hadrian’s supervision, to his newest project- the Arcadia, a restored Imperial Naval Sword-class frigate turned Rogue Trader vessel under the command of fledgling captain Rogue Trader Du’landra Melua. Inquisitor Sand briefs them that for the past several years, since the reemergence of Eramus Haarlock, he has been busy petitioning the High Lords of Terra to award Melua a Warrant of Trade. With the assistance of powerful allies from inside and outside of the Inquisition, Sand’s petition was granted.

Sand explains to his acolytes and Melua that this a mutual partnership with both entities providing a useful resource. Sand plans to expand his investigations into the Kronus Expanse and Melua hopes to gain additional power and wealth. But first, the Arcadia must be checked out to ensure all is working properly in a trial run of sorts, hence Hadrian’s presence. On the data-stick that almost cost Quint his life are a set of coordinates that lie in the forbidden Threnos Zone that will reportedly lead to the site of the long lost Imperial Olympic-class liner ship the Niveus Astrum, which disappeared over a millennia ago while enroute to Lord Militant Angevin with a valuable gift.

Under the guidance of Navigator Godwin, the Arcadia makes transit using the Warp without incident and upon arrival in the Threnos Zone, the ship’s Astropath, Kessa Silinus, is able to locate and follow the Niveus Astrum’s astropathic mayday chorus in the Warp. Their route takes them to an uncharted planet that they later learn is called Calamitus. Scans show that a large human population inhabits the planet around the wreck of the Niveus Astrum, which has crashed into the planet prow first and miraculously came to rest embedded in the ground like a spike into a board with its rear thrusters pointing skyward.

Taking one of the Arcadia’s landers, Hadrian, Jak, Jez, Bishop, Rylak and Lupus are dispatched to investigate. Despite sustaining some minor damage, the shuttle navigates the rough weather to land on one of the precarious makeshift landing platforms on the top (rear) of the ship. Immediately upon landing, the party is greeted by a welcome party lead by Arcpenny, a dignitary from the Ascendency, which the acolytes find out is one of the ship’s three controlling factions. Arcpenny is friendly and explains to the acolytes that the community on the ship is made up of descendants from the original crew of the Niveus Astrum. He also tells the acolytes that the community of the Niveus Astrum are an Emperor-fearing people but enjoy their autonomy from the Imperium and prefer to remain a secret. They are far from lost though, and Arcpenny tells the acolytes how their location is known to many traders, pirates and seafarers who come to Calamitus to buy and trade goods- this arrangement is beneficial to all.

The acolytes are taken to meet Montess Quess, the Chanteline (or Queen) of the Ascendancy and she welcomes them to her throne room, which has been converted from the bridge of the Niveus Astrum. Amongst the consoles, the acolytes note a large cubical shape among them that Quess tells them is the Vault of Beowulf, which is said to house a valuable treasure- the gift to Lord Militant Angevin. She also tells them that the Vault has never been opened and that it is sealed with a special locking mechanism that requires three special keys called Clavuses, which each leader of the three factions possesses as a symbol of their office. No one knows what the vault contains, or if it still contains anything because to date, the faction leaders could never come to an agreement over a claim of ownership of its contents.

The acolytes decide to explore the ship further; Hadrian is interested in acquiring knowledge of the ship from the days when it first crashed and Quess directs them to the lower levels of the ship where Director Vaunt, the Tech-Priest in charge of the manufactorum facilities on the ship runs his faction, the Vexillum. With Arcpenny as a guide, the party makes their way to the bottom (front) of the ship and find Vaunt’s compound surrounded by large angry group of labor protesters. While Hadrian attempts to negotiate with the protesters, Jez, Rylak and Bishop are able to sneak their way past the picket lines and to Vaunt’s control tower where they attempt to open a line of communication with Vaunt.

Meanwhile, Hadrian’s negotiations soon falter with the anti-Mechanicus protesters and the mob becomes frenzied for violence when Lupus unwittingly attempts to quell the crowd by singing a hymn to the Emperor, which only raises the crowd’s religious fervor and hardens their resolve. Ultimately this leads to a large number of the crowd meeting their deaths from the massive firepower possesses by Vaunt’s automated sentries and combat servitors when they charge the control tower and attempt a siege.

With the uprising suppressed for the time being, Vaunt welcomes the acolytes and Arcpenny into his tower for conversation and talk of opening Beowulf’s vault. An agreement of sorts is reached with Vaunt stating his intentions of joining the other faction members in opening the Vault but he believes that his faction should have majority claim over what lies inside. This outrages Arcpenny, who believes that the contents of the Vault should be shared equally amongst the factions for the benefit of the population of the Niveus Atrum, and he leaves with Bishop and Rylak to brief the Chanteline on what’s taking place.

The rest of the acolytes make their way to the holdings of the final faction, the Basilican Church lead by Reverent Laudius. Lupus speaks with the leader and convinces him to agree to participate in opening the vault but finds out that Laudius’ Clavus was stolen by Ratclip, one of the local gang leaders. Seeking Ratclip in the gang controlled slums of the Shank-Hill Platforms, the acolytes find the gang leader in heated negotiations with another gang leader inside a bar. Soon the argument becomes an armed standoff with the acolytes in the middle as members from both sides draw their weapons.

Past the point where talking would be of assistance, the bar erupts in gunfire from all sides, including the acolytes who shoot at both parties. In a matter of seconds it is over with only the acolytes and a wounded Ratclip emerging as survivors. Getting the Clavus, and sending Ratclip on his way, the acolytes make their way back to the top (rear) of the ship where they tell the Chanteline of their success with getting all the faction leaders to agree to open the vault.

It is decided that the unlocking of the vault will take place the following day during a grand ball. All of the faction leaders show-up as promised with armed escorts and a myriad of heavy weaponry. Many suspect that things will not go as friendly as originally thought. The moment comes when the vault is unlocked but unopened and before anyone can see its contents, each of the faction lay claim to the contents resulting in a tense heated debate emphasized by the display of weapons from all sides. Each of the factions make their arguments, but Bishop finally convinces all parties to agree on common ownership.

Without further delay, the vault is opened and to the delight and disappointment of various faction members, it is found to contain a data archive of cogitators, tomes and treaties of rare works of literature, poetry and social and religious discourse. Gathering their share of the vault’s contents, the acolytes decide to inform their master on what they found when they located the Niveus Astrum and let him decide the fate of its people.

* GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from “The Glass Key" adventure by James R. Burrows. It can be found on the Fantasy Flight Games website “here”

“When the people forget their duty they are no longer human and become something less than beasts. They have no place in the bosom of humanity nor in the heart of the Emperor. Let them die and be forever forgotten.”

-From Prime Edicts of the Holy Synod of the Adeptus Ministorum

Interested in secretly acquiring an Ecclessiarchy prisoner known only as “Subject Four,” Inquisitor Sand has set in motion a plan to have the Ecclessiarchy transport Subject Four from one secure location to another and plans to abduct the prisoner enroute. In order to do this, one of Sand’s acolytes, Pullo, has gone undercover as a crewmember on the Ecclessiarchy prisoner transport ship, the “Sanctus Light”, which is responsible for transporting Subject Four to his destination, and plans on sabotaging the vessel so that it can be boarded. Pullo was successful in sabotaging the engines of the Sanctus Light and setting the ship adrift. A breakout of subsequent prison riots are keeping the crew occupied until assets from the Imperial Navy can respond to the ship’s distress call.

With this window of opportunity, Sand has requisitioned the use of a prowler-class Inquisition Black Ship called “Darkness Falls” to shadow the Sanctus Light and deploy a team of his most trusted acolytes to extract both Subject Four and Pullo. Upon arriving at the disabled prison ship, Inquisitor Sand is worried when he finds the Sanctus Light floating under emergency power amongst a debris field of ship wreckage and escape pods with no answer to communications attempts.

Retrieval operations of the escape pods commence and all but one of them contains bodies of deceased prisoners and crewmen. The one survivor that they do retrieve has mortal injuries and makes a cryptic statement thanking the Emperor that he got away clean before dying in the medicae bay. Sand notes that the man’s body has some unidentified physical anomalies and begins an autopsy in hopes to find answers to what is going on aboard the Sanctus Light.

With the responding Imperial Naval ships only six hours away, Sand sends Romulus Cell, under the command of Red and Quint, and a squad of Inquisition Storm Troopers led by Sufal, to proceed to the ship via two Arvus Landers. The Lander pilots easily navigate their way through the debris field and use Inquisition override codes to open the Sanctus Light’s hanger doors and land inside.

Immediately upon exiting their Landers, the Inquisition forces come under attack by a large force of prisoners attempting to steal their transports. A fierce firefight breaks out and the more heavily armed and armored Inquisition agents kill a large number of their attackers with only the loss of one Storm Trooper before the surviving prisoners flee back into the depths of the ship.

After a brief moment of pause to get their bearings, heal their wounded, and order Sufal and his men to hold the Landers at all costs till their return, Romulus Cell proceeds deeper into the interior of the ship. While passing through a maze of small personnel corridors, they discover that the ship is still very much under guard when a group of acro-flagellants attacks the party. A deadly dance of melee and point-blank gun play commences. Quint’s gun-slinging prowess easily places bolt and inferno rounds into their attackers while Red’s power sword carves a path through the enemy. Even Hadrian lends his axe to dispatch several of the wounded arco-flagellants. Despite being surrounded by multiple arco-flagellants, Jak seriously wounds several of them before he himself is seriously wounded and knocked unconscious. The rest of the team quickly dispatch the last of their foes and tend to their wounded comrades.

Arriving at the main ship junction, Romulus Cell decides to split into two groups to ensure there is enough time to accomplish both of their mission objectives before the Imperial flotilla arrives. Quint will lead Hadrian and Jak on the mission to recover Pullo and Red will take Uriel, Rylak and one of the Inquisitorial Storm Troopers to operate the vox-caster and provide support in the search for Subject Four. Aided by ship schematics provided by their Inquisitor, both teams are able to negotiate the dark twisted passageways of the ship despite the makeshift barricades and damaged and blocked corridors they encounter that are most likely a result of the prisoner riots. Both parties encounter enemies on their respective paths and while the freed prisoners pose a minor hindrance to their progress, they quickly realize that there are far worst dangers on the ship in the form of Nurgle daemons and Plague Zombies.

Inquisitor Sand’s autopsy tests confirm that the Sanctus Light is contaminated by a Nurgle Plague virus, and as more of its ship population becomes infected and turned into Plague Zombies, the barrier between the Warp and Materium becomes weaker, which allows the daemons of Nurgle, who are drawn to the plague infected ship like a beacon, to manifest into reality and bring yet more death and infection.

Quint’s team witnesses the spread of the Nurgle plague first hand when one of their number, Jak starts vomiting blood and complaining of fatigue. Hadrian conducts a medical examination and confirms that Jak does indeed appear to be suffering from a strange malady- the most concerning of his symptoms appears to be his left hand, which is covered in green pustules. Jak notes that this is the location of a bite that he received from one of the Plague Zombies in the chapel. Because it appears that the infection is rapidly spreading, Hadrian recommends the immediate amputation of the hand. Sad, but in agreement, Jak allows Hadrian to amputate his left hand (which proceeds without complications) and the severed hand is secured inside of a nearby container for transport.

Red’s team reaches the maximum security detention area of the ship, and after killing several uninfected crewmembers to preserve the secrecy of their mission, they proceed to Subject Four’s holding area which is guarded by two massive Penitent Engines. Surrounded by the chopped and burnt bodies of others who had attempted to pass this way, Red’s team and the Penitent Engines become engrossed in a desperate fight. Promethium-fueled flames burn the acolytes while massive whirring blades of death dig into flesh. The fiery weapons of the Penitent Engines brings Red’s team on the verge of death as they struggle to hurt the massive constructs. Despite his injuries, Red pushes on and with a storm of blows from his power sword he dismantles both Penitent Engines with only the loss of the Storm Trooper accompanying his team. Past the destroyed Penitent Engines, Red’s team quickly locates and secures Subject Four- a naked man whose body is covered in a tattooed mass of blasphemous runes and secured in a hexagramatically-warded stasis capsule. Using the suspensors fitted to the capsule, the team quickly brings their charge back to the landing bay for departure.

On the other end of the ship, Quint’s team locates Pullo in a safe room in the Engineering section and receives new orders from Inquisitor Sand to destroy the ship to cover up their operation to take Subject Four, but also to prevent any survivors from escaping and spreading the disease and to prevent the personnel from the incoming Imperial flotilla to become exposed should they board the ship. It is decided that the best way to destroy the ship with the limited time available is to set-up a catastrophic failure of the Warp and Plasma drives, thus creating a massive explosion that will destroy the ship and the surrounding debris area. Braving a crowd of Plague Zombies and daemons of Nurgle, Quint and his team are able to escort Hadrian to one of the plasma/Warp drives control rooms so he can set-up this failure.

The operation is a success. The Sanctus Light’s plasma and Warp drives overload and cause a catastrophic explosion removing all trace of the Sand’s mission and destroying the vectors of the Plague virus. Subject Four is secretly in Inquisitor Sand’s custody, but who is Subject Four and for what purpose does he serve remains to be seen.

• GM’s Note: This mission was created by the GM and inspired from the Warhammer 40,000 novel “Crossfire” by Matthew Farrer and the Halo short Story “The Mona Lisa” by Jeff VanderMeer and Tessa Kum.

Upper Spire of Hive Sibellus two months following the failed assassination/capture of Magos Caerivus

Inquisitor Sand sat in the private open air booth looking out at the layer of greyish white clouds below. Even this high, the pollution was starting to have its toll and it would not be long before even these clouds were permanently black and foul smelling. The booth was elegant and richly decorated, as was expected from an establishment that catered to the rich and elite. The rose-colored marble surfaced table with rare Teek chairs, small finely-crafted reliefs of various Imperial iconography and a richly colorful painting depicting Saint Drusus marching in victory amongst a cheering crowd of millions following the pacification of the Calixis Sector were just some of the expensive decorations that pleasured the eyes. Sand took another sip from his glass of wine as his visitor entered the booth and took a seat.

“I see you’re drinking Golden Tokay,” Inquisitor Srax-Rhame said nodding with approval at the bottle of Quaddis-made vintage sitting on Sand’s table. “You know that it’s said that some vintages from Quaddis are so perfect that their mere taste…”

“Is enough to kill a man with pleasure" Sand cut off Srax-Rhame by finishing the saying. “Yes, yes, we’ve all heard that by now and its getting a little old.”

“Just cause the saying is old doesn’t mean it’s not true,” Srax-Rhame replied as he pored himself a glass of the vintage.

Nearby, his bodyguard, the Moritat assassin Esme Blackheart, stepped back toward the booth’s wall and almost seemed to blend in inconspicuously with the surroundings. A technique used no doubt to avoid detection but still be within range to defend her master. A dark-colored armored bodyglove covered her small lithe body and from her matching mask, her black eyes studied Sand’s bodyguard, Red, whose appearance and stance was in direct contrast to Esme. The massive armored Crusader made no attempt to hide out of sight, but prominently stood near his master to defend him if necessary.

“I heard the assassination of Caerivus was a failure. My sources tell me your Interrogator, Quint, was on scene but he allowed Caerivus to escape.” Srax-Rhame cocked an eyebrow, “Is this true?”

“Your sources are correct. Caerivus did escape, with the assistance of Quint and some of my acolytes but they were able to recover some of Redole’s lost research, as well as find out what Caerivus is doing for the Logicians.”

“Gramen, I can’t help but voice my disappointment. You and I both know the danger that the Logicians pose. Whatever intentions they have with Redole’s research will not have the Imperium’s best interests in mind. And to allow a traitor, a heretic like Caerivus, with access to Inquisition secrets go free is unacceptable. How many do we now have to silence because of Caerivus’ operation on Spectoris? How many has he involved- these mercenaries that he hired- the Steel Savages? The Organicists from the Adeptus Mechanicus?”

“The Steel Savages are not a concern. I have credible information from my sources that their operation with Caerivus and the ensuing firefight they had with the Organicist forces sent to intercept Caerivus’ salvage operation has sealed their fate. The Organicists don’t know what, if anything, was brought up from Redole’s underwater lab but they do know that Captain Liam and his Steel Savages were responsible for defying their authority and that alone will ensure their termination and cease their operations on Spectoris.”

“That may be true, but regardless, I have sent resources to deal with any surviving Steel Savages and to pick up Caerivus’ trail- a trail that should have ended with the hands of your men strangling the life out of that traitor.”

“Quint chose a proper course of action given the circumstances. Caerivus is alive yes, but now we have an opportunity- an avenue of investigation that until now has been closed for some time. How long has it been since we’ve had a potential path to an Iron Techtrarch? Ten, twenty, years? Aren’t you tired of eating little fish in the pond Srax-Rhame?”

Srax-Rhame did not immediately reply but took a drink from his glass and pondered as he enjoyed the taste of the wine. “You know, my sources also tell me that your man Quint is a Logician agent- a double agent like Caerivus.”

“He is indeed, but this was done with my approval to work towards my…our goals.”

“I’m sure by now, Caerivus has told his superiors of Quint’s allegiance to the Inquisition.”

“Let him. They may think that Quint is a traitor to their organization or perhaps they may think they have someone they can exploit in ours. In any case, I will have Quint take precautions. He understands the danger and has accepted the potential consequences.”

“Has he now? There are not many outside of the Ecclessiarchy and the Adeptus Astartes so eager to throw their lives to the winds of fate.”

Sand did not respond immediately, but stared at a passing cherub flying past spraying a pleasant-scented fragrance from a dangling incense orb. “All of us choose to make sacrifices of a sort for what we believe in” he said momentarily lost in thought.

Srax-Rhame continued, “So the specimen recovered from Redole’s lab, it’s like the others we know of?”

“My preliminary research of the documents recovered by my team and their descriptions of the specimen appear to indicate yes.”

“And now they have another specimen. That makes at least two that we know of in their possession. We have only been able to retrieve the one after all these years. Speaking of our specimen, what has your and Faust’s research on it uncovered?”

Sand again did not respond immediately but drank the last of the wine in his glass.

• GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from “The Eternal Tide" adventure by Andrea Gausman. It can be found on the Fantasy Flight Games website “here”

Ref: Inq/9345818821/RT
Subject: Verbal Transcript of Pict-Recorded Document
Date: 815.M41
Location: Chambliss Estate House, Cyrus Vupla (Agri-World)
Sector: Calixis Sector (Golgenna Reach Sub-Sector)
Original Transcription: Adept Thodinna, Ordo Xenos

+EXTRACTED FROM THE MEMORY OF PERSONAL SERVO-SKULL IN SERVICE TO INQUISITOR GRAMEN SAND+

>[RECORDING STARTS]

[Stationary Pict-Source] Wide angle view of a large living area with extravagant, but old and ill-kept, décor made up of subdued-colored and faded couches, chairs, and tables, with wall paintings depicting mainly Grox-ranching themes and country landscapes. Standing near a large picture window that looks out onto an interior garden of cacti and other desert-thriving plants stands an extremely elderly male [Subject I] heavily augmented by archaic bionics and cybernetics. A combustion-style power plant attached to the man’s back belches a cloud of black exhaust smoke into the air and the lower half of his body has been replaced by a carriage platform with four piston-driven steel legs- positively identified as Lord Cryrl Chambliss, Patriarch of the Chambliss Ranch House. [verified]

Standing across from [Subject I] [Chambliss] is a handsome man [Subject II] with Scintillan noble features wearing a white and red robe with an Inquisitorial Rosette hanging on his neck from a silver chain- positively identified as Inquisitor Gramen Sand, Ordo Xenos. [verified]. Standing next to [Subject II] [Sand] is a massive man [Subject III] clad in carapace armor wielding a tower shield bearing the symbol of the Inquisition and armed with a sheathed power sword- positively identified as Crusader Red, [Subject II] [Sand’s] personal bodyguard. [verified]

VOICE (1) [CHAMBLISS]: Greetings Inquisitor Sand…Ahhhh. I hope that your investigation fares well and nears closure….Ahhhh. I assure you that placing me on house arrest for the duration of your investigation is not necessary as I normally do not go much farther than the estate grounds…Ahhhh. But there are some occasions when I do enjoy a stroll through the family ranch lands….Ahhhhh.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: Lord Chambliss, you are indeed correct that my investigation is near closing. Just a few loose ends to tie up and me, and my team, will be on our way, and you will be back to running family operations. I do hope that the absence of the twenty-four family members, including your favorite nephew and two of your grandchildren, that I am taking with me to Scintilla for sentencing, will not be too much of a burden on your family business, especially with the increase in the amount of contracts that your Ranch House is now responsible for fulfilling. You understand that many of these family members will most likely be executed for their crimes- dealings with Kroot Mercenaries, or Xenos of any kind is strictly prohibited and punishable by death.
VOICE (1) [CHAMBLISS]: Ahhhhh…I understand fully the seriousness of their crimes and am sadden that it had to turn out this way…Ahhhh. But I fully obey and support the laws of our Imperium and God-Emperor…..Ahhhh. If death be the punishment, then unfortunately death it shall be…Ahhhh.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: Surely you must have some guilt about the massive numbers of deaths and disappearances with the other ranch house families that your family’s Kroot agents are responsible for. All of this of course, according to your now-incarcerated family members, was orchestrated only to further the wealth and power of the Chambliss House.
VOICE (1) [CHAMBLISS]: Ahhhhhh.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: From the results of their crimes, it has appeared that your house will indeed prosper. My agents tell me that the manpower losses and disruptions caused to your competitors from the Kroot will take years to recover from to get back to normal operational efficiency. It appears that House Chambliss is now one of the ten most powerful ranch houses on the planet and will be secured in that position for many years to come since there is a reliance on its fulfillment of the existing contracts it had recently acquired.
VOICE (1) [CHAMBLISS]: Ahhhh…It is most unfortunate that my House’s success had to come at the cost of others, my family and my competitors, but the sector needs the exporting Grox-meat that this planet provides…Ahhhhh. I am but a humble cog in the machinations of the sector’s massive support apparatus…Ahhhhh. Inquisitor Sand, I take it that you are satisfied with your results?….Ahhhh. You have revealed the existence of foul Xenos hiding in the sector, brought to justice those who would consort with the alien and ensured that the Sector’s supply of Grox-meat, and other subsidies, is fulfilled…Ahhh.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: Indeed. With the exception of the Kroot having escaped my attempts to locate them, it seems that the Emperor’s law has been upheld and justice meted out. Though I must admit Lord Chambliss that I was positive, and I am rarely wrong, that you had a hand in devising this heinous activity that we stopped. My research on your family and household members show me that only a few of them have had any dealings with off-world organizations and interests, and of those that did, none of them appear to have been with entities with Kroot connections. I did note that in your youth, you spent some time as a crewmember aboard a Rogue Trader ship operating in the Kronus Expanse, the Fel Hand under the command of Rogue Trader Hadarak Fel. I think you served as one of his seneschals?
VOICE (1) [CHAMBLISS]: Ahhhh…Yes, a most wondrous and interesting time…Ahhhh. The sights I saw….Ahhhh. One of my most fond memories Inquisitor…Ahhhh.
VOICE (2) [SAND]: I can imagine. The Expanse has many sights, including several Xenos species never seen by the majority of humanity. My research revealed that the Kroot are known to operate there, but you already know that Lord Chambliss.
VOICE (1) [CHAMBLISS]: Ahhh…
VOICE (2) [SAND]: Good evening Lord Chambliss, and good luck on your future business success. Before I go, I would like to tell you that my agents have heard mutterings from some of your rivals, especially Ranch House Laurel. It seems that some of them have some understood misgivings about your recent rise to power and the methods used.
VOICE (1) [CHAMBLISS]: Ahhh….
VOICE (2) [SAND]: But I’ve taken up too much of your time Lord Chambliss. You are officially free of House Arrest and I have closed my investigation for now. [Subject II] [Sand] turns to [Subject III] [Red] [says in hushed tone] Red, let us go back to the Arbites Precinct and review the evidence again on Lazarus’ escape. A daemonhost loose in the hive city is something far more deadlier than what we have here…

>[RECORDING ENDS]

• GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from Hebanon Games’ “The Red Tower" adventure by Caleb Stokes. It can be found here:

Acolytes Godwin, Rylak and Lupus are dispatched to the frontier planet of Ganf Magna, where they have been assigned to assist one of Inquisitor Sand’s senior acolytes, Comptroller Thodinna, with renovating a remote hunting manor that Sand has recently purchased for use as a recreation locale and safe house. Despite augmenting the existing manor staff with employees from Sand, the renovations have been plagued by delays from sporadic Ork attacks, accidents and general laziness from the staff. Thodinna is not sure how to explain the rash of delays on what should be a simple project. The acolytes do not know much about the manor, or its previous owners, the Bruner noble family from Scintilla, but Lupus does recall hearing that the manor’s former resident, Andreas Bruner, was considered somewhat of an outcast of the family and mysteriously disappeared five years ago.

Arriving at the small shuttle port village of Ubersreik, the acolytes make contact with Thodinna’s assistant, Vern Hendrick, who briefs them on a recent devastating attack by the Orks and yet more delays. The following morning, the party departs to the remote manor, which will take three hours of driving time to reach. The trip is long and uneventful but when they reach a couple miles from the manor itself, the woods surrounding the road seems to come alive with half-seen figures darting into the cover of trees and foliage. Ever paranoid of an Ork attack, Hendrick makes haste to the manor, resulting in a bumpy and dangerous ride that nearly ends in a crash when he loses control of their vehicle just outside the manor gates.

Wasting no time, Orks emerge from the forest and assault the vehicle. The acolytes and Hendrick fight for survival and are perplexed as they watch the manor’s guards observe the attack but offer no assistance. Some of the supplies in the truck are damaged during a melee between Rylak, Lupus and an Ork, and Hendrick is critically wounded. Eventually, the guards are motivated into action by the appearance of their captain and an effective counterattack takes place which leaves Hendrick in critical condition, kills some of the Orks and sends the rest fleeing back into the forest.

Safely inside the walls of the manor compound, the acolytes find the place rundown and in desperate need of repair- the walls of the compound are crumbling, plants have overgrown the yard, unconnected rolls of power and signal cabling lay exposed, and most of the staff do not appear to be interested in doing much more than sitting around. While Hendrick is taken to the hospice, and the truck is unloaded, the acolytes meet with Thodinna. She can shed no light on the reason for the delays other than explaining that problems with the staff and Orks started a week after her arrival. She also explains that some of the manor staff were employed by the Bruner family and came with the manor when Sand purchased it. She has not had time to investigate their backgrounds and vet them into their master’s organization yet, electing to finish renovating the manor first.

With several hours before dinner is served, the acolytes begin their investigation. They walk the manor grounds and talk to several of the staff members- including Gand (manor huntsman and ex-Catachan Guardsman who raises massive manhounds), Gregor, Piersson (manor’s Steward), Sister Sonja (a blind Hospitaller of the Adeptus Soroitas), Otto Geizhals (manor librarian) and Cpt. Blucher (head of the House Guard). Some of the staff are helpful, others are not and others are just strange. No one seems to have a concrete explanation for the recent delays, but the acolytes do start to notice that some of the staff do indeed seem to be afflicted with an attitude of laziness and appear physically tired.

There are several items of interests that the acolytes do find- one is a heretical text called A Disquieting Proposal in the manor library and the other is a Warp-tainted painting of a large eye in the sitting room. Lupus and Rylak lose some of their nerve in the presence of the painting, but Godwin (used to viewing the horrors of the Warp) maintains his composure and inspects the painting. Believing that its taint may be related to the recent calamities happening at the manor, he reports to Thodinna the immediate need to report to Inquisitor Sand about the painting so that a specialist team can be sent as soon as possible. Sadly, Thodinna informs Godwin that the ability to send out an astropathic message to their master is days away. In the meantime, Thodinna orders that the sitting room be secured from entry.

Suspending their investigation for the time being, Godwin and Rylak proceed to join the rest of the manor’s upper echelon staff for dinner while Lupus meets one of the servant women to hear her confession at the manor’s shrine. Unbeknownst to his comrades, Lupus is drugged unconscious by drinking spiked wine provided by the servant, in addition, many of the manor’s dinner attendees become very tired and lethargic after eating the main course. Suspecting poisoned food as responsible, Rylak (who did not eat) searches the manor grounds for Lupus and finds that many of the manor’s staff are sleeping or no where to be found, which the exception of Gand, who Rylak spots outside the manor’s undefended damaged walls facing off with his manhounds against a group of attacking Orks. The Orks are a serious threat to the now mostly undefended manor and Rylak dispatches one of the Orks from afar before continuing his search- hoping Gand and his hounds can hold the Orks off until reinforcements are found.

Thodinna and Godwin and awakened by an injection of de-tox and kick from Sister Sonja who warns them that the manor is under attack and all of the staff are either sleeping or missing. She also reports that she can hear some strange chanting coming from the library. With Thodinna and Sister Sonja gathering manor staff for a defense, Godwin voxes Rylak to meet him in the library.

There is indeed chanting heard in the empty library, and after locating a trapdoor hidden beneath a rug, Godwin and Rylak enter a basement chamber set up for a Chaos ceremony. One of the manor’s servants already lies dead on an altar topped with the painting of the eye. Gregor stands over the dead man wielding a knife and chants from a tome; one of his eyes is a black orb of Warp darkness. Nearby other manor staff, including Otto, chant while one of the manor’s house guards attempts to bring Lupus to the altar. Godwin wastes no time in confronting the cultists by exposing them to his third-eye and several of them collapse dead from the Navigator’s gaze. Gregor flees the basement with the blood-soaked painting while Godwin, Lupus and Rylak take on the remaining cultists.

After dispatching the last of the cultists, the acolytes head back upstairs and run into Thodinna and Sister Sonja. Sister Sonja tells them that Gregor is on the roof and has summoned a daemon from the Warp. She also states that some of the Orks have gotten past Gand and are inside the manor compound. She gives Lupus her Catechist Stake-crossbow and quarrels since her blindness prevents her from using them.

While Thodinna, Sister Sonja and their small group of staff raid the manor’s armory, Rylak, Godwin and Lupus head outside to confront Gregor and the evil he has brought forth. In the light of the blood red moon, they can see what Gregor has summoned- a Screamer of Tzeentch. The daemonic flying beast, under the control of Gregor, rips through acolytes and Orks alike. A fierce battle breaks out between Godwin, Rylak and Gregor on the rooftop. They manage to kill Gregor but both are heavily wounded. Meanwhile, Lupus is able to place a devastating bolt shot in the Screamer but it still takes one more precision shot from Rylak’s rifle to send the creature back to the Warp.

The Orks are repelled but at the cost of many manor staff being wounded or killed. Lupus, Rylak, Godwin and Thodinna secure the Chaos artifacts (the two books and the painting) and make arrangements to send word to their master as soon as possible for additional manpower to see if the cultist threat has indeed been neutralized.

• GM’s Note: This mission was modified for Dark Heresy from the adventure of the same name in the Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Ed. Tome of Adventure; it can be found here at “Fantasy Flight Games.”

While in the process of carrying out sensitive courier duties within the Orpheus Salient, Kill-Team Kronus is suddenly diverted to the Vanir System by orders of the Inquisition. It appears that Hive Fleet Dagon is on the move and its tendrils are branching out toward nearby areas containing various Imperial holdings- one of these is an Adeptus Mechanicus research orbital called the Perihelion. Mainly a research station, the Perihelion does house advanced medicae facilities and a section dedicated for use by the Inquisition. Lead elements of Hive Fleet Dagon are approaching the facility, with a larger force in tow, and Imperial command had ordered the evacuation of the station.

These evacuees are being shuttled to a responding Imperial Naval cruiser, the Stoic Judgment, and it is here that the Kill-Team will proceed to pick up a secret Inquisition prisoner that was being held on the Perihelion for medical treatment. This prisoner, Namor Tarinten (designated under the codename Subject Atlas), officially listed as executed, was one of the Monarchs of the Kingdom of Vanir and responsible for many atrocities against the Imperium and his people, including the deaths of over 3.5 million citizens. Not known to many, in addition to be a tyrant, Tarinten is a Chaos-worshipper and powerful champion of Khorne. He was being held by the Inquisition and recently was critically wounded during an escape attempt. Additionally, the Inquisition never received the final transmission from the Interrogator in charge of Tarinten and the Kill-Team is ordered to recover this data.

With a proven record, Brother G’heirnat is again selected as leader for this mission and the Kill-Team arms up from the limited armory aboard their frigate, the Mark of Honor. By chance, the frigate was in the process of delivering the famed Deathwatch relic, the Cruciform of the Crusade, back to Watch Fortress Erioch and Brother Angelos decides to arm himself with its destructive power.

Arriving at the location of the Stoic Judgment the Kill-Team proceeds to the naval cruiser for what should be a simple prisoner pick-up. They find the docking bays a bustle of activity as personnel from the Perihelion are accounted for and arrangements are made to house the additional people. With assistance, the Kill-Team discovers that Tarinten never made it to the Stoic Judgment despite all of the shuttles responsible for his section having returned. Further interviews of the shuttle pilots responsible for that area finds that one of them, pilot Vaush, admits that he did not proceed with docking for his final evacuation run due to sighting several Tyranid spacecraft in the area as well as creatures infesting the orbital itself. He claimed that it was not cowardice that caused his decision to terminate his mission but a logical course based on the circumstances.

The lead elements of the Tyranid fleet vanguard are five to six hours out and Imperial high command has ordered that all Imperial forces be out of the area before the fleet arrives. With the mission clock counting down, time is of the essence as the Kill-Team must get to the orbital to retrieve or confirm Tarinten’s status before the Tyranids overrun the place. The Kill-Team goes to work preparing for departure to the Perihelion. Floor plans of the orbital are obtained and the team comes up with a plan to approach the Perihelion using their servitor-piloted Aquila shuttle as a decoy while they take one of the medically-modified Arvus Landers (volunteered to be piloted by Vaush on Brother G’heirnat’s orders) and use the distraction caused by the Aquila shuttle to sneak in and dock with the orbital.

Upon arrival at the Perihelion, everything goes as planned and despite the destruction of the Aquila shuttle, the Kill-Team is able to dock with the Perihelion. Exiting their lander in a zero-gee bay, Brother Dante notices that Tyranid Termagants are attempting to conceal themselves amongst the floating debris to ambush the Kill-Team. Passing warning to his teammates, this launches a firefight between the opposing forces and the Kill-Team is easily able to destroy and rout the enemy with minimal injury.

After successfully docking with the Perihelion, Kill-Team Kronus proceeds to the prisoner’s location. As they navigate the twisted, and sometimes damaged, corridors of the orbital they find the facility abandoned and operating only on emergency power with minimal life-support systems functional. Arriving at the quarters of the prisoner, they find him hooked up to several experimental medicae life-support machines and under the care of a Chirurgeon; he is also under the guard of two Crusaders, which, as can be seen from several bodies, have been busy dispatching probing Genestealers.

Brother G’heirnat provides the Crusaders with the proper authorization code and the Kill-Team is briefed on the current situation. Interrogator Gavin went to the comm tower several hours ago during the evacuation but has not been heard from since. The prisoner is in poor health and requires constant care from the experimental machines he is hooked up to sustain life functions. His health is deteriorating due to the fluctuation of power on the orbital and he needs to be taken to stable facilities as soon as possible.

Brother G’heirnat immediately orders everyone to prep the prisoner for immediate transport to their shuttle. With the additional people, and the prisoner’s life-support machines, the shuttle is going to be over capacity by one and Brother G’heirnat decides to wait till departure time to figure out this dilemma. Locating the Interrogator and the data will wait until after the prisoner is secure.

While enroute to shuttle with the prisoner and Inquisition Agents, the team receives word from Palatine Ruby (who is with their shuttle) that the shuttle is under attack by Tyranids. Brothers Dante and Vectis are immediately dispatched to respond while the rest of the kill team escorts the prisoner. Pushing their genetically enhanced bodies to reach the shuttle in time, the Space Marines speed through the corridors to the docking bay and find the shuttle besieged by a horde of hormagaunts and two Raveners. No stranger to the Tyranid menace, Vectis’ confidence and presence strengthens Dante’s resolve and the two Space Marines open fire on the Xenos. The Hormagaunts respond by charging and swarming the two Space Marines and nearly overwhelm them by sheer numbers before the two Space Marines are able to affect a counter-attack that decimates the horde. Turning their attention to the Raveners, each Space Marine takes on a Ravener in single-combat. Despite their wounds, each Space Marine is able to dispatch their foe- Vectis smashing his Ravener with a mighty blow from his servo-arm and Dante splitting his in half in a shower of gore from his chainsword.

Still proceeding to the shuttle bay, Tariten tells G’heirnat that the Inquisition plans to re-instate him in power on Vanir so that he might use the power of Chaos to slow down, and maybe even stop, the Tyranid advance in that system. G’heirnat disregards the prisoner’s words as blasphemy and has him sedated. Shortly afterward, the Kill-Team is ambushed by two Lictors. The Crusaders and Space Marines have no problem fending off this attack and terminate the Tyranids with the loss of only one Crusader. Arriving at the shuttle, Brother Vectis informs the team that the shuttle has sustained some damage from the Tyranids that will need to be repair prior to departure- a task that will take at least an hour. With the mission clock ticking away, Vectis secures the help of Ruby and Vaush and the three of them begin the repair work.

With the prisoner secure in the shuttle under the guard of the remaining Crusader and two of the Kill-team, G’heirnat, Angelos and Dante proceed to the comm tower to locate the Interrogator and his last transmission data. They are easily able to locate the comm tower and find the Interrogator’s body laying at one of the comm consoles apparently killed just prior to transmitting the data. Brother G’heirnat sends the transmission and secures the data-fax just before the team is ambushed by Genestealers.

The Genestealer assault is quick and deadly and soon Brother Angelos is wounded and unconscious and Brother G’heirnat and Brother Dante are on the verge of being incapacitated. Relief comes in the form of some hospital patients that assist the Kill-team in dispatching the Genestealers. Greeting the three patients, the Kill-team finds that they are war heroes from various units of the Imperial Guard that are known for the acts of valor they accomplished fighting the Tyranids in the Orpheus Salient. They were left behind during the evacuation. Recognizing the value of these individuals, the Kill-Team decides to evacuate them as well- making them over capacity by three.

The repairs to the lander are finished just as Brother G’heirnat and his team returns with the war heroes in tow. Over capacity by three, Brother G’heirnat assess the importance of personnel and surprises the Kill-team and evacuees by dispatching the Chirurgeon by breaking her neck. Many of the Kill-team do not approve of G’heirnat’s actions while Tarinten looks on with glee. A heated debate breaks out between the Team, evacuees and the remaining Crusader over who stays. Veiled threats are exchanged, posturing, and even a duel between the older and more experienced Brother G’heirnat and younger and ambitious Brother Angelos, which G’heirnat wins, before it is decided that G’heirnat and Angelos will remain on the Perihelion. Relinquishing the Cruciform of the Crusade to the care of Brother Vectis so that the relic may be returned, Brother Vectis passes his signature power axe to Angelos so that he may be armed against the massive Tyranid force about to descend on the orbital.

With the Tyranid vanguard minutes away, the lander takes off to rendezvous with the Stoic Judgment before it departs. The Kill-team is two members short and the odds of survival for Brother G’heirnat and Brother Angelos are slim to none. Against an overwhelming enemy force in a failing space orbital it would be a miracle if the two Space Marines are ever again seen alive.

• GM’s Note: This mission was created by the GM and inspired by The Unit television episode “Force Majuere.”

“The future is no more or less than the hell we fashion for ourselves in the present and gift to our children.”

-Inquisitor Arnulf Gentry, Notes on the Ninth Adrantian Trade War

Red Cell and Inquisitor Herrod and his retinue seem to fall for an eternity before finding themselves in a large thirteen-sided chamber enclosed with walls covered in closed archways that are filled with elaborately carved images. The massive ceiling is covered in huge glass windows showing a strange star and nebula-filled night sky and the center of the room is dominated by a strange mechanical contraption with a realistic statue of a young robed woman at its base.

After Mir places the keystone into one of the statue’s outstretched hands, the mechanical contraption goes into operation and the statue appears to come to life and speaks to the party. The statue confirms that the machine is indeed the Blind Tesseract and that she is the Iron Daughter (once a stepchild of the Haarlocks named Epiphany Belasco now enslaved to the Blind Tesseract). The Iron Daughter relays information and answers questions in a cryptic fashion, but the Inquisition Agents are able to gather that Eramus Haarlock built the Blind Tesseract to manipulate time. It provides an intersection where the paths of times past, future and present can be walked. The party must walk on these paths to see what did and may happen. Completing the path will allow them the chance to keep contained or free Eramus Haarlock, but they must make haste if they want a chance to decide because two people (Miss Book and Master Nonesuch) have already passed through the portal. Two of the thirteen archways become mirrored-doorways and Red Cell is directed to one while Herrod and his retinue are directed to the other.

Stepping through their portal leads Red Cell through a series of mirrored portals- each portal a scene from the past or possible future. While some of the scenes have the Acolytes acting as mere observers that cannot interact or be interacted with by their environment, others are very real indeed with pain and the possibility of death being all too real.

The Acolytes see many things of interest and cause for concern. Some are tragic, such as witnessing the murders of Eramus Haarlock’s wife and daughter and the betrayal he suffered at the hands of his family, while others are horrific and puzzling. There are two episodes in which the Acolytes witness the destruction of a large Calixis battle fleet from the Imperial Navy and accompanying Adeptus Mechancius ships over the world of Lathe Het by the Spear of Destiny and another showing a desperate boarding action by Inquisitor Herrod and Inquisitor Sand, with accompanying Acolytes, against a superior armed force in an effort to stop something that was set in motion after Haarlock was freed on Mara.

The scenes of destruction related to freeing Haarlock are equally offset by scenes showing the death and destruction caused for not freeing Haarlock. One of these shows the planet of Sinophia infested and under the control of a Genestealer Cult with no hope for salvation; a looming darkness has blocked out half the stars in the night sky. Another shows the war-blasted city of Hive Sibellus and the ruins of the Tricorn. Here the Acolytes are shocked to find the deceased body of Inquisitor Quint and a partial audio recording where he explains how not freeing Haarlock plunged the Calixis Sector into civil war and complacency and vulnerable to threats within and without. Just as the recording finishes, the Acolytes are attacked by a group of the city’s invaders- unknown humanoids that look like metallic skeletons armed with strange weapons that fire powerful beams of sickly green energy.

Disembarking from a skimmer transport, these metal abominations unleash massive amounts of firepower and many of the Acolytes are severely wounded. Mir cuts down several of the enemy and is horrified to see some of them repair themselves and rise again to attack. The Acolytes decide that the enemy is too powerful to fight and flee to the mirror doorway that leads out. They are assisted in their retreat by the convenient arrival of Inquisitor Herrod and his retinue on the opposite side of the battlefield and the enemy becomes distracted by this new threat. With the exception of Lazarus (who Mir forces through the mirror door), the members of Red Cell decide to leave Inquisitor Herrod and his acolytes to face the mysterious foes on their own.

Passing through the mirrored doorway brings the Acolytes to their strangest encounter of all- a battle against an opposing team of themselves. This opposing team is not evil or good, but merely the alternate timeline of the Acolytes making the opposing choice of whether to free Haarlock or not. In order to prevent this from happening, the opposing acolytes must be stopped. This results in an intense battle in which fellow acolytes face each other and themselves with deadly consequences. Every Acolyte will die in a matter of speaking and one of them, Lysandros will not survive the encounter at all- one of the Lysandros falls to his inner daemons and kills himself after losing all hope, while the other Lysandros finally finds hope only to be killed by the opposing Uriel.

The victorious team passes through the mirrored doorway at the completion of the battle and finds their team leader, Inquisitor Herrod, waiting for them. The Red Cell from the alternate timeline won and this changes some of the background for the mission. This Red Cell serves the Tyrantine Cabal in secret and were dispatched to Mara by the Cabal under Inquisitor Herrod’s command to locate the Blind Tesseract and Haarlock, and investigate their connection with the Tyrant Star. Arriving with a unit of elite Maccabean Janissaries, the group arrived over Mara and became involved in a massive ship battle with the Spear of Destiny and ships from other Factions. In a haste to make it to the planet’s surface, the group teleported into the station and proceeded to the Blind Tesseract facing enemies and the horrors of Mara along the way.

Passing through the final mirrored doorway brings the team, and their sole surviving Janissary, Cpl. Sufal, back to the present time on a feral swamp world that they later find out is Dusk. The mirrored doorway is still present- a standing doorframe on a shallow hill with the image of the Blind Tesseract and a weeping Iron Daughter seen through the doorway. Above in the sky, an eclipse is starting as Komus, the Tyrant Star, begins to block out the native sun and shed its dark corrupting light on the planet.

A group of the planet’s natives, accompanied by a powerful rogue psyker, approaches the group and leads them to the Dusk Hag- an ancient and powerful being that resides on the planet. The Dusk Hag tells the Acolytes and Herrod about how Eramus Haarlock came to her looking for answers and how he paid her the ultimate price for the answer, which could be found in the Tyrant Star. For hundreds of years Eramus was trapped in the Black Sun’s corrupting influence and he needed those on the outside to light the way out so he could come back to the here and now. The trials and murdering that the Acolytes and other faction members have done has lit the way and before the eclipse reaches its apex, the group must decide whether to allow Eramus release or keep him trapped. There are consequences for either choice with the future of the Calixis Sector, and possibly the Imperium, at stake. Has Haarlock been corrupted by Komus’ power of has his iron will bent the Star to his service? Will he bring death and destruction or will peace and prosperity be a possibility?

Though their personal reasons may differ, Herrod and the Acolytes unanimously agree to free Eramus Haarlock and with no fanfare or awe-inspiring display of power, Eramus descends from the Tyrant Star at the apex of the eclipse and walks through the doorway into being. With only a small gesture of acknowledgment, Eramus walks back through the doorway to Mara and the door goes inert. Standing on the surface of Dusk in the black light of Komus, Herrod and Red Cell ponder whether they have made the right choice.

• GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from Fantasy Flight’s “Dead Stars” book by Alan Bligh and John French. It can be found here:

“To our eyes, human existence is filled with hopes, desires, nobility and weakness. To see mankind through their eyes is to see the corn waiting for the reaper’s scythe.”

-Inquisitor Herrod, A Discourse on the Enemy Beyond.

The Acolytes explore some of the Mara Arbites surface complex, which consists of a tall fortified wall surrounding three structures- the towering command fortress, a hanger/defense laser housing, and a landing pad/control center. They inspect a well-maintained lander on the landing pad (that the team suspects belongs to one of the competing factions) and Hadrian (with Quint’s assistance) is able to bypass a booby-trapped security lock and reprogram it with their own code in the hopes of keeping the lander for a later escape from the planet. They also explore one of the surface structures and are puzzled to find evidence of recent occupation, but no one can be found.

There is definitely a strong malignant Warp presence on the planet and the feeling grows stronger by the moment. Lazarus and Kessa inform the others that the Warp is bleeding into reality and there is even some visual manifestation of this when the party observes strange near-transparent eel-like creatures flying in and out of the walls, ceiling and floor; they appeared to be surrounding the group and Mir orders everyone to exit the area by taking a stairwell to the sub-surface levels of the prison complex and closer to their goal.

The complex’s sub-surface levels are a dark maze of corridors and rooms lit only by the occasional faint or flickering lumen globe. Ice covers everything and damage from past conflicts and deterioration from ill-maintenance is visible in the abundance of hanging wires, ducting and damaged panels. All is not as it seems- the corridors and rooms seem to be constantly shifting after the group passes through and they often catch glimpses of things in the corner of their eyes moving away. The veil between the Warp and reality grows thinner the deeper they travel. No map could navigate this twisted hell and Arbitrator Lysandros’ experience with being stationed at similar facilities proves valuable in general navigation to lead them in the right direction.

After a time, the party enters an octagonal room containing nine bodies of people that appeared to have died of self-inflicted gunshots. At this moment, the madness of Mara finally takes one of the Janissaries and he starts using his flamer to douse members of the party- setting Red, Hadrian and one of the Janissaries on fire before being dispatched by a headshot from Quint’s dueling pistol. Only Red and Hadrian survive the promethium inferno and despite being exhausted from the intense heat and smoke, the group wisely decides to continue on deeper into the complex without rest. Only a little over half of the original group remains at this time.

Continuing still deeper in the dark twisting ice and frost-covered corridors, they arrive at a area that appears to be the scene of a recent firefight- shell casings litter the ground and las strikes and bullet impacts can be seen in abundance. Present are two bodies- one is a powered armored tech-priest that appears to have suffered from a teleport mishap that partially merged his body with a piece of machinery and the other is a decapitated adept in the high-ranking robes of an Administratum official. There is a strong sense of predatory Warp-taint in the area but Mir decides that gathering information is vital and orders the group to remain alert while Hadrian attempts to decrypt the contents of several data-slates found on the adept’s body.

Mir’s order to have the party wait until Hadrian de-crypts the data-slates proves to be potentially deadly when two powerful daemons materialize into reality and attack the party. Kessa is seriously wounded in the fight and one of the daemons even comes close to slaying the daemon-hunting Crusader Mir before it is dispatched. While a few remain to fight and banish the daemons back to the warp, most of the group flees in terror- their minds slowly breaking from what they have witnessed thus far on Mara.

At the conclusion of the battle, all the members of the party re-group and Lazarus uses his psychic healing to augment the medicae treatments of Hadrian and Uriel. Hadrian also finishes decrypting the data-slates and their contents contain information they already possess (planetary information on the planet and the complex) but there are several notes addressing someone named Herrod.

Continuing deeper into the sub-levels of the prison complex, the group continues to hear and see strange things. Mir notices that Kessa appears to go into a trance periodically and upon questioning, she relates that she is astropathically keeping their masters updated on their progress. One of these trances appears to be taxing to Kessa when she is seen with blood weeping from her empty eye sockets. Not trusting Kessa, Mir accepts the psyker’s explanation for the moment but orders Lysandros to keep an eye on her.

The horror of Mara suddenly takes an unexpected twist when the group passes by one of the prison’s underground Imperial Chapels. This long abandon place of worship has new occupants- ones that are very interested in the Acolytes and have a vendetta with some of them. Standing at the befouled altar with the severed head of Rasar, Tomas of Shale, Priest of the Crow Father (who the Acolytes believe was killed at the House of Dust and Ash) confronts the party- telling them that his master told him where they would be and he has been waiting for them so he may take their souls.

A fierce battle breaks out between the Acolytes’ group and Tomas and his cultists. Psychic and sorcery powers, and their accompanying phenomena powered by Mara’s close proximity to the Warp, prove to be the main factor in this battle. Tomas uses his power to transfix Mir to a state of helpless daydreaming while the cultists attempt to shoot to death the seemingly impervious Crusader. The rest of the cultists engage the rest of the Acolytes backed by Tomas’ sorcery and while the cultists prove little match for the Acolytes, it is the psychic phenomena that is manifested with the use of warp-fueled powers that causes the most danger. Both parties are battered against the ceiling and floor as strange back-to-back reverses in gravity affect the area. Many are seriously wounded and unconscious. Even Mir lays against the ceiling transfixed as the life is slowly taken from him.

On the brink of defeat, the Acolytes and their Janissaries are able to launch a desperate counter-assault that terminates Tomas and the rest of his cultists. But with the battle over, the team is surprised to find that there is no sign of Tomas and his minions, and the only evidence of a battle even taking place are the wounds that the team bares and the shell casings and damage caused by their own weapons.

A few hours after this battle, the group hears the sounds of an intense firefight taking place and when Quint scouts ahead to investigate, he finds a large group from the Amaranthine Syndicate in battle against a rag-tag mob of black-robed individuals supported by minor daemonhosts called Dybuks. Quint is surprised to see that the Amaranthine Syndicate group is being led by a man and woman and he recognizes that the man is a person he met a few years ago named Master Nonesuch during the auction of Haarlock items at the House of Dust and Ash. Not wanting to get involved in the conflict, Quint merely observes and sees the Amaranthine Syndicate annihilate their opponents before continuing deeper into the complex. Quint decides not to follow and goes back to the group to report.

The group finally makes it to the Panopticon section of the prison and amongst the rows and tiers of empty cellblocks they observe a lone man disappear into one of the cells. Interested in locating the man, the group gives pursuit only to be attacked by mobs of ghostly inmates. Lysandros again brings the Emperor’s judgment on some these figures before he is knocked unconscious in the ensuing melee. Red single-handedly stands firm against a large majority of one of the mobs, sustaining several injuries before dispatching his foes. The rest of the group does their part dispatching the rest of the apparitions but sadly Sgt. Makrade is torn apart by the ghosts and only Cpl. Sufal remains as the last surviving Maccabean Janissary.

After tending to their wounded, the party locates the mysterious figure in a makeshift living space in one of the prison cells. The man introduces himself as, Eramus Haarlock’s Navigator, Nostromo, and he tells the Acolytes that by order of his master, he has been waiting specifically for the Acolytes for the past several months (though he gives the Acolytes a current date that is several hundred years past) so that he may act as their guide to the Blind Tesseract. He also tells the Acolytes about the campaign of fratricide that Eramus committed against his relatives in response for their killing of his wife and child, which resulted in him being the surviving heir to the Haarlock’s powerful Warrant of Trade. Eramus used his vast power and wealth to learn of the Blind Tesseract and entered it in an attempt to bring back “what he desires the most” but he has not returned. Nostromo is clearly insane, but Red believes that the man truly intends to help them so he accepts the Navigator’s help.

Nostromo explains that in order to navigate through the ever-changing and twisting corridors of the Mara prison complex, and open the “Door of Darkness” of the Blind Tesseract, the Acolytes need three elements- a Guide (which Nostromo will act as), a Pattern (which the Acolytes do not possess but believe that the Greyskin Psalter that is in the possession of one of the rival groups is a possibility) and a Talisman (which the Acolytes possess in the form of the Keystone from the Steel Clock). The Acolytes decide that they must seek out these rival factions and see if they can obtain from them the elements that they are missing- most likely these rivals will be seeking the same from the Acolytes. Indeed, Nostromo confirms that he has seen some of these rival groups navigating the corridors of Mara.

Nostromo takes over the task of guiding the party deeper into the complex and the veil between the Warp gets noticeably thinner and thinner. Voices and screams echo through the corridors and a strange buzzing noise of unknown origin starts to fill the cold silence. Kessa’s mental state is deteriorating the further down they go. What started as the occasional lapse in composure has escalated to fits of screaming terror, babbling about the buzzing and a weeping helplessness. Lazerus has chosen to comfort Kessa as much as he can to no avail and he and Cpl. Sufal take turns carrying Kessa when she no longer walks on her own.

Hours after traversing the constantly changing corridors, rooms and stairwells, the Acolytes find a mercenary reclaimator named Kort Luther (who they free from a collapsed beam that has him trapped). He tells the party that he was hired by merchants from the Amaranthine Syndicate and that the group’s leaders, a man named Master Nonesuch and a woman named Miss Book, are utterly ruthless and he does not believe they are human. Not interested in working for suspected Xenos and their quest to locate ancient technology, Kort fled and was trapped by the collapsing beam and left for dead. While he tries to convince the Acolytes to return to Mara’s surface to flee the planet, Mir displays his Inquisition Sigil of Inquiry and uses his authority to “convince” Kort to stay with the group in service.

Near the complex’s Generatoria, the party finds that someone has set-up a defensive perimeter in the area, complete with Chaos runes scribed in blood to ward off Warp predators. Further investigation proves that the stronghold is the base of a sect of the Chaos cult, the Pilgrims of Hayte, and they soon attack the party in response for the intrusion. The cultists have a strong defensive position and are supported by three daemonhosts. Their leaders were also present and both are powerful sorcerers that wear the face masks of animals- one wears a heron mask and the other a brass mask of a hound. Some of the party fought with Heron Mask over a year ago on the planet of Quaddis during the Festival of Tattered Fates but he escaped with the remains of a servant of Haarlock called the Widower.

Again, Heron Mask flees the battle with two of his minions while the other sorcerer remains to fight. The fighting was a brutal affair and many of the team are taken out by the Hound’s pyromacy spells. Quint, Hadrian, Mir, Uriel, and Lazarus were all unconscious by the end of the battle and the rest were heavily wounded. Interestingly, the savior of the party ended up being Cpl. Sufal, who was finally able to kill the hound masked sorcerer with a volley of Hellgun fire. His faith in the Emperor has been holding strong throughout this endeavor, despite the loss of his comrades.

Continuing deeper underground, the group comes face to face with another faction seeking the Blind Tesseract- Inquisitor Herrod and his retinue from the Tyrantine Cabal. A noted swordsman, who was thought to have perished at the hands of deadly Nurgle daemons called the Vile Savants, Herrod is very much alive, though his reconstructed body is now more machine than human.

Displaying their Inquisition credentials, the two parties decide to parley and come to an agreement to assist each other in their investigations. Both are seeking the Blind Tesseract and information on Eramus Haarlock, though the Tyrantine Cabal’s interests concern the links to the Tyrant Star. Herrod possess a Pattern (one of the daemon mirror fragments that his acolytes took from Red Cell on Sinophia, which is a point of contention between both parties) and added to Red Cell’s elements, the way to the Door of Darkness can be opened.

Together, the teams proceed deeper underground and it appears that, due to the sporadic mix of rough cut tunnels and partially completed construction, they are far below the planet’s surface and nearing the mines. The barrier between the Warp and reality grows yet thinner with sections of the complex phasing in and out during the Acolytes’ passage. With Nostromo as their guide, the parties are able to navigate the way and avoid potentially treacherous unstable Warp-terrain (though the Acolytes are horrified at one point to see Kort age in seconds before their eyes and turn to dust) and fight more Warp-horrors; though the combined power of the two Inquisition teams is more than adequate to dispatch these foes. Additionally, Nostromo leads them to a strange device built by Haarlock called the Clockwork Augur, which Hadrian and Uriel are able to analyze its data to get an idea where the “Door to Darkness” is located.

After Hadrian restores power to a cargo elevator, the two parties descend deeper into the mines and hours of travel finally bring them into contact with the band from the Amaranthine Syndicate. From positions of cover with covering lanes of fire, Master Nonesuch attempts to negotiate with the Acolytes- explaining that they want to take Nostromo and will return him when they are finished. Both Mir and Inquisitor Herrod are not willing to give up their guide and, since the Amaranthine Syndicate is not interested in surrendering, negotiations break down and battle commences.

This would prove to be the toughest battle yet on Mara as the Amaranthine Syndicate’s men are well-trained and equipped and both Master Nonesuch and Miss Book are armed with deadly anti-mater weaponry. Both Herrod and Mir carve a trail a death with their power swords but the Amaranthine Syndicate provides equal response- slaying and wounding acolytes. Master Nonesuch manages to slay Nostromo and the Acolytes watch horrified as Nonesuch uses a tendril to suck up all of the Navigator’s brain matter before fleeing by stretching his body into an air vent. The Acolytes soon find that Miss Book and Nonesuch are not human because they can sustain tremendous amounts of damage and their bodies appear to be made up of an intertwined collection of worm-like creatures.

During the battle Kessa’s mind finally breaks and she dies by ripping her face off and releasing three of the dreaded Warp Predators, the Psycheneuin, which stalk the parties but are hindered due to the presence of the Untouchables amongst them. Miss Book ends up fleeing by escaping through a vent and the Acolytes take the last surviving enemy prisoner.

Without their guide, the parties are left with using their skills and the data collected from the Clockwork Augur to locate the “Door to Darkness.” The path is a treacherous one without their guide and their minds are exposed to yet more horrors that threaten to take all of their sanity. Hours pass before they arrive at their location- a steel gantry spanning a shaft descending into darkness. Surprisingly, Nostromo is waiting for the Acolytes and states that he was not killed but has been waiting for them here since he fled the battle. He tells the group they must make haste because Nonesuch and Book have already gone through. Unsure of what to make of the Navigator’s appearance, the Acolytes listen to him as he explains that the Door lies below in the shaft and that he can proceed no further. He gives them more cryptic advice before fading from view.

Unsure of what awaits them, one by one the Acolytes leap into the shaft and plunge into darkness…

• GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from Fantasy Flight’s “Dead Stars” book by Alan Bligh and John French. It can be found here:

“There are dark pitted corners of our universe that have bred the most unfathomable horrors and blasphemies that would burn and blind the sanest man. Fortunately sanity has never been a prerequisite of membership in the Holy Ordos.”

-Inquisitor Silas Marr

After their battle with daemons of Khorne on the planet of Tranch, Inquisitor Sand and his Acolytes found themselves in the hospitality of the Ordo Malleus at a secret base called the “First Cloister” debriefing Malleus officials on the daemonic incursion and undergoing screenings for Chaos-taint. Found to be within acceptable parameters, Inquisitor Sand and his Acolytes are released with the thanks of the Ordo Malleus for their victorious actions against the Chaos forces and are gifted with Sanctified weapons from the Ordo Malleus armory.

Returning home, the party has a few months to recuperate and carry out some of their more mundane Inquisitorial duties before their master summons them to accompany him to Scintilla by order of Lord Inquisitor Caidin. Reporting to the Inquisition headquarters of the Tricorn, the party again meets the shadowy Inquisitor Marr and learns that Marr has again used his official connections to take charge of Sand’s Acolytes to further explore the
Haarlock Legacy. Marr’s research shows that activity around Haarlock holdings throughout the sector, and beyond, started up approximately three years ago, after being dormant for several hundred years since the infamous Rogue Trader’s disappearance. This sudden activity started when the Acolytes of Red Cell conducted their investigation on the planet of Sinophia and confronted a daemon in a tower-like structure called Haarlock’s Folly. Using extensive divination and further research into prophecy, Marr believes that this recent activity means that Eramus Haarlock is returning and that doom for the Calixis Sector and Humanity will follow.

Marr does not believe that the Acolytes’ past involvement with elements of the Haarlock Legacy to be mere coincidences and believes that the destinies of Red Cell and the Haarlock Legacy are somehow intertwined, which makes them the ideal candidates to proceed with the next step of the investigation- locating the Blind Tesseract. The Blind Tesseract is a device believed to somehow be related to the door that Erasmus Haarlock disappeared through hundreds of years ago and Marr’s research has located the Blind Tesseract deep in the subterranean caverns located below the abandoned Adeptus Arbites prison on the forbidden planet of Mara. Abandoned for hundreds of years, Mara is avoided due to its history as a place of death. It is rumored to be a place where the border between the Warp and reality is thin and Warp predators prey on those who walk the planet’s surface. Believed to be such a dangerous place, by order of the Inquisition, there is a standing Quarantine Zone around the planet that is enforced by the Imperial Navy.

The potential threat of the Rogue Trader’s return is too important to ignore and Marr has convinced Lord Inquisitor Caidin to reactivate Red Cell and grant Mir the Lord Inquisitor’s personal Sigil of Question to investigate the matter. Marr has also secured the use of one of Battlefleet Calixis’ fastest ships, the Sigillite’s Word, to transport the team to Mara with haste and Marr has also requisitioned a unit of elite Maccabean Janissaries to accompany them on the planet’s surface. Additionally, Marr is providing two of his own Acolytes to accompany Red Cell- an elderly Astropath named Kessa Silinus and a Battle-Psyker named Calium Samiel. Marr believes that this additional manpower will be needed because he suspects other factions, including an Inquisition Faction called the Tyrantine Cabal, are interested in acquiring the Blind Tesseract and the technology of the Haarlocks to further their own agendas.

Taking with them the Keystone from the Steel Clock, the team makes haste to Mara. The journey takes four days of Warp travel and when the Sigillite’s Word transitions from Warp space near the planet of Mara it finds itself in the middle of a large free-for-all space battle between the Battlefleet Calixis Security Monitors enforcing the Quarantine Zone and several ships of unknown allegiance. A shock comes to all when Eramus Haarlock’s personal ship, the Spear of Destiny, appears from nowhere and begins wrecking destruction on all sides. Braving the traffic of intertwining ships and the massive exchange of ship to ship bombardment, the Sigillite’s Word is able to punch through close enough to get the Acolytes’ guncutter in range to make planet fall, but the maneuver would be a costly one as the ship takes a massive pounding in the process resulting in its destruction as the Acolyte’s launch. Calium doesn’t make it to the guncutter in time as he is seeming possessed seconds away from getting aboard and burns in the dying ship’s fires after giving the Acolytes’ a cryptic message about Haarlock’s return.

Soon after entering Mara’s atmosphere, the Acolytes’ guncutter is targeted and shot down by an unknown force and Mir manages to gain control of the craft and save everyone from death by crash landing on the ice and snow-covered surface. Recovering in the ruins of their wrecked transport, Red Cell and their two squads of Maccabean Janissaries start taking hostile fire. Due to the blizzard-like conditions hampering their efforts to locate their attackers, the majority of Red Cell becomes pinned down and seeks shelter in the wreck of their guncutter while outside several of the Janissaries are wounded and killed while forming up to advance in the direction of the enemy, which Sgt. Childres is able to locate three-hundred meters away taking cover in the ramparts of the wall that surrounds the abandoned Arbites Prison Complex. Fearless in the face of the imminent danger, Astropath Kessa uses her psychic power to inspire the Acolytes in the guncutter with the divine light of the Emperor and they join the rest of their party and the Janissaries in a mad dash to close distance with the enemy.

With only the cover of the blizzard to protect them, the dash to the Complex proves to be a costly endeavor as nearly everyone is wounded to some degree and several Janissaries are killed. Quint activates his heretical-tech grav-flux harness and is able to sprint far ahead of the group and ascends the prison wall to bring the fight to the enemy. Despite dispatching a couple of foes, Quint is quickly overwhelmed in melee and knocked unconscious. His surviving comrades are eventually able to reach the complex and assault the wall where they are able to kill all of their attackers, except one that they take prisoner.

An interrogation of the prisoner reveals that their attackers are mercenaries hired by two merchants from the Amaranthine Syndicate who are seeking a valuable tech device that is deep under the Mara Complex. Part of the group accompanied the merchants into the complex while the rest remained to guard the merchants’ lander, which is parked on one of the complex’s landing pads, and to dispatch any other competing forces approaching the complex. Satisfied with the prisoner’s answers, Lysandros delivers the Emperor’s judgment.

• GM’s Note: This mission was ran with modifications from Fantasy Flight’s “Dead Stars” book by Alan Bligh and John French. It can be found here: