It is a point of contention between the Ecclesiarchy and the Adeptus Astartes about the true nature of the Emperor of man-kind. Those Inquisitors and Battle Sisters who serve the church of the Ecclesiarchy believe whole heartedly that the Emperor is a god. A holy being of divinity whose power shows no bounds to those who place their faith in him...

The Adeptus Astartes however believe differently. To them, the Emperor is their greatest living human leader. The most brilliant, powerful and intelligent man ever to walk the universe - but nevertheless, just that... a man.

However, neither side is in doubt as to the awesome power of the Emperor. And despite the Astartes belief that the Emperor is the true embodiment of humanity, they do not deny that faith in him has caused miracles...

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None of the Imperial Guard security officers or maintenance mechanics could work out what had caused the Baneblade to lose control and begin its thunderous rampage through the streets. By order of the planetary governor, the tank could not be allowed to cause extensive infrastructural damage to the city or its people, but at the same time it had to be brought to a halt without sustaining heavy damage itself.

From what the scans of the mechanics could determine, the tanks auto-guidance systems had kicked in, and that was the only thing stopping the behemoth from simply rolling through the city blocks.

Mako hadn't even completely left the ramp of her transport shuttle before she saw regiments of armed guardsmen pouring away down the street, at the same time as units of mechanics charged back the way the guardsmen had come.

She watched from beneath the hood of her cloak as a sergeant from one of the squads ordered his men to go on ahead and approached her, clearing his throat.

"I'm sorry madame but all civilians are to report to their designated shelters at once. I see you've only just arrived, so I'll give you the directions to the closest and a pass so you can enter. There is a high level emergency taking place nearby and we -"

He stopped talking as the hulking figure descended the ramp behind Mako, halting one foot behind her. The implacable figure of Chaplain Morchen stared down at the guardsman, whose face paled.

"My apologies. I did not know that,"

"Be on your way soldier." Came Mako's quiet voice. "You have places to be."

A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek and he saluted, turning to make haste after his men.

The cloaked woman and the silent chaplain began to walk calmly down the street after the technicians. Her cloak hung right down to the grimy street, completely concealing her from view. However, to any guardsmen who passed, attention was entirely drawn to the chaplain and his death mask.

Morchen waited until the guardsmen were out of earshot before he spoke frankly.

"Why do we follow the technicians and not the Guard?"

"There is no las-fire to be heard. The emergency taking place is of a mechanical nature, and no doubt the mechanics are on their way to attempt to take care of it."

The chaplain nodded. This sounded reasonable enough... He didn't bother asking Mako why she was interested. Mako was always interested. Such was the nature of her position...

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The Commissar who was taking charge of the situation had never seen anything like it before. Normally whenever a vehicle moved on its own, it was a smaller model like a Chimera, and usually they moved very simply in one direction until it hit something it couldn't run over.

To see the most powerful vehicle in their service moving so fluently of its own accord shook him to the core, and his stern features were etched with unease.

Long years in the service of the Emperor had taught him that nothing was ever as simple as it appeared, and this so called 'weapons malfunction' was another example.

He opened his shoulder mounted vox communicator and spoke a summoning order.

Barely a minute later as the Baneblade carved its way up the street towards him, the tank traps being steadily crushed beneath its armored treads, the sanctioned psycher he had called for arrived under armed escort. His face was slightly contorted and a vein bulged in his forehead.

"Tell me clairvoyant. Is this tank running of its own accord? Is it merely the machine spirit having a fit? Or is there something more sinister at work here."

He turned and looked full into the face of the psycher as the aged man turned his gray-eyed gaze at the lumbering battle tank. He closed his eyes and the holy symbol of the Inquisition on his forehead glowed as it amplified the psychic energy pouring forth as he mentally scanned the vehicle...

His eyes snapped open.

"The machine spirit is not the only ethereal mass within that shell... but the two are in conflict, and I cannot identify the other... whatever it is however must be powerful indeed to grapple with the might of the machine..."

The Commissar grimaced as his suspicions were confirmed.

"I want the assassin temple to send out a unit to combat this threat. We cannot risk damage either to the tank or to the city..."

The sanctioned psycher looked horrified at this news, and he lunged with wild terror for the Guardsman as he spoke into his communicator, but the other burly soldier caught hold of him and held him tight as he kicked the air and pleaded.

"Take him away." Said the Commissar coldly, ignoring the shrieks as the psycher was dragged away.

"PLEASE!" The man was screaming, audible even over the thundering engine of the Baneblade. "DON'T BRING THEM HERE!"

But the word was sent... the order was done.

"Sir?" Said the communications officer as he closed the channel.

"Yes soldier?"

"When the assassin attacks... the machine spirit will flee wont it?"

"Yes. It has no wish for oblivion."

"Then... won't the Baneblade be completely under the control of the other spirit?"

"Yes."

"What then will there be to stop it destroying the assassin and going about its rampage?"

"We must trust in the assassins temple... presumably the only way we can assist the assassin from being obliterated is to present a more suitable target." He turned to the Guardsman. "But I do not think we shall need to worry about that."

And with those words escaping his mouth, the battle tank ground to a halt...

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Mako and Morchen stood stock still in the center of the street, their eyes drawn to the behemoth staring them down.

They had heard it from some distance away, but hadn't realized how close it was until they were in the same street... the acoustic effects of the buildings around them had muffled the sound and made it hard to pin down.

And now there it sat, the eleven barrels all aimed directly at them, as though it had been waiting for them...

Further down the street, the surprised commissar watched with shock as a member of the Adeptus Astartes stepped in gleaming armor before the tank.

He had called for an assassin and been given a space marine... a chaplain no less!

But who was the second, far smaller figure beside him... The Space Marines did not consort with assassins as far as he knew, much less their spiritual leaders.

"Honored Space Marine!" He spoke into his vox projector, his voice filling the ears of the Chaplain through his helmet mounted radio.

"That Baneblade is not under our control. The machine spirit does battle with a demon within, and it has yet to gain complete control - an assassin of the cult Culexus is en route to this location to deal with the demon, so I respectfully suggest you take cover immediately."

The advice seemed solid... but unfortunately for the pair in the street, the Culexus assassins were known for their unnerving ability to appear at the right place at the wrong time... and now was that time.

The Animus Speculum on the assassins head opened as the black hooded figure stood on top of the two story building above the baneblade...

A shudder passed through Mako and Morchen as they felt the fleeting presence of the machine spirit passing through them as it fled from the pariah assassin...

And in that moment, complete control of the legendary tank fell to the demon within.

Though they did not know this, the demon knew full well of the threat that the assassin posed to it. It only had time to fire one shot before it would be forced to flee... and it only had one target in mind.

As the Psyk-out grenade primed in the assassins hand, the long barrel of the Baneblade cannon pivoted downwards, its entire length aiming directly at the cloaked figure of Mako.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" The commissar roared over the radio...

There was a deafening explosion and the entire street section went up in a cloud of smoke and fire.

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The Commissar could only watch in awe, almost in slow motion as the hulking chaplain stepped between the cloaked human and the oncoming shell of the Baneblade.

The shell was enough to rip a battle tank to shreds, and the Commissar gritted his teeth as the detonation erupted across the Chaplains chest...

The searing fire of the round blasted around him like a boulder in a stream, and the cloak around Mako's shoulders evaporated, drowning the pair in incandescent light.

It took nearly a full minute for the smoke and debris to clear, but the scene that was revealed was worth the wait...

His boots crunching on the gravel, the Commissar sprinted for the crater before the now motionless baneblade.

Skidding to a halt meters before, he was shocked to see, not the mangled corpses of two Imperial servants - but the truly heroic visage of Chaplain Morchen, still upright, with the smaller but still equally inspiring figure of Inquisitor Mako standing inches behind him, both having been protected from the shell by the simple pendant around the Chaplains neck...

"Emperor be praised!" The Commissar said breathlessly as he closed the last few feet and addressed the pair directly.

"Never before in all my years of service have I see anyone take a direct shot from a ny superheavy tank and live to tell the tale."

Mako turned and looked at the dark haired Commissar, her lips pursed.

"It was the lax eye of the local clairvoyants that allowed the shot to be fired. I expect a full investigation on how such a demon was allowed to take command of that vehicle."

The commissar nodded. He could see the Inquisitorial Seal... he didn't need telling twice.

"Might I inquire as to the name of your venerable self, Inquisitor?"

"Inquisitor Mako. This is Chaplain Morchen..." She addressed the mighty marine, who was still reverently wiping charred ash from his Rosarius.

"And who pray tell are you, who would dare to enlist the aid of a Culexus assassin?"

The Commissar suddenly recalled the black clad figure, and turned to look up at the building where it had stood... but it was gone.

With his gaze returning to the Inquisitor, he removed his officers cap respectfully and bowed.

"Commissar Sebastien Rythmear, at your service."