Timestamp: 5.041.997.M41

Location: Administratum Division, Hive Central, Metropolitan Area, Hive Sibellus, Scintilla, Golgenna Reach

Situation: First assignment received

Body: New Year's Eve came and went with a minimum of fuss. The Arbites never made a big deal out of it, and the Hand certainly didn't. Same with Jax and Eiron. There was a party of course, and trade was brisk in preparation, but nothing memorable.

Not long after the call finally came down from the top. Encrypted message received separately by Haxtes and Maxi. Meet up at a certain Administratum building at so and so time, wearing so and so, and offering a certain passphrase when prompted. You were not exactly surprised to meet one another. Perhaps yours is not the happiest marriage out there, but at least its a known factor.

Aerial view of Administratum Division, Hive Central, Metropolitan Area, Hive Sibellus. The circular structure seen in the distance is the Triumph Gate built to honor the victorious Drusus following his appointment as Sector Governor.

Following a pre-set path you were perhaps more surprised to see Interrogator Sand. In full surgical kit in a medicae theater. He presented you with the body of Saul Arbest a laid-off worker, formerly of the Tantalus Combine, found dead not too long ago. There are many like him every day in Metropolitan Sibellus. But not all of them have a xenos bio-tech graft attached to their spines. So that attracted the attention of the Inquisition in general - and Sand in particular, seeing as he is one his age's finest neuro-chirurgeons.

Soon you were on your way to a rented safe-house, where you would assume another set of identities. That of two operatives of the Coblast Assay. The Coblast is a security outfit  (meaning they do a variety of work - bounty hunting, bodyguard service, investigation, mercenaries, and other 'security' related venues) working in Hive Sibellus, both Metropolitan and other sectors. Not a very large operation, about 6.000 permanent retainers and about ten times that in terms of auxiliary manpower. A veritable drop in the ocean of people that make up Sibellus. Yet just big enough to provide the Inquisition with both resources and a plausible cover for some of its operations. Such as this one. So you don't just pretend to work for the Coblast...you actually do...just a little added to your dossiers and some new names, but otherwise legit.