Timestamp: 5.322.997.M41

Location: Airborne over the fringes of Sibellus' eastern urban spawl

Situation: Aboard a chartered lighter, heading for the Walking City of Ambulon; Maxi, Haxtes, Jarra, Vern, the replacement pilot and tech-priest - and Globus Vaarak, Inquisitor.

Body: No sooner than the situation over at the Alabaster Court had been resolved and Haxtes had arrived back the the House of Strophes did you set out for Ambulon, the fable Walking City. No time for rest or recovery. No time for Vern's brief. Everything would have to wait. Theodosia's head was still unaccounted for, and old Globus seemed convinced that this meant time was of the essence. Time - with a secondary clause for secrecy.

Soon you were headed for a chartered lighter - a huge flier with powerful contra-gravs. One of the few craft that could both move enough cargo to be worthwhile and actually dock with the Walking City. That's right - the Walking City actually does walk. Constantly. Some sort of mobile resource extraction platform left over from the Dark Age - according to Vern that is. Like the offshore drilling platforms you had on Protasia...only the Scintillan version has like a hundred legs or something. At any rate there had been hundreds of the things back in the day - their stripped skeletons could still be found across Scintilla - but now only one remained. Ambulon. The city that they claimed would die the day it stopped. So it never did stop, just kept on moving. Left the resource extraction to others, just picked up and deposited using these lighters - and other craft. A walking city filled with artisans and specialist craftsmen. That's Ambulon today. Walking skill. More than a hundred million pairs of skilled hands - crammed together in a space that should never have held more than a million at the very best.

Because of the distance it would be dawn again before you reached the city, so better get some rest while you can. eat, sleep...a precious few hours before battered bodies much once again go into the breech.

---

Sleep - and for some of you that means dreams. Psyker dreams made from farcosia and madness...in the dream you stand upon a great mountain...

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and unto the guardian was given the key of the bottomless pit.

And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was blotted out and and the air turned foul and dark by reason of the smoke of the pit.

And there came out of the smoke creatures, like locusts upon the earth they were: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power over mortal flesh.

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God upon their souls.

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto knights prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men.

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name among men is Abaddon, but in the company of angels his name is Apollo.

One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

They find Haxtes on the floor after the rest period is over - he is naked and the walls of his cabin are covered by writings in archaich High Gothic - the very words above. He has written it using his own blood - his right hand has been cut seven times and the wounds will not stop bleeding.