Sunday, July 27, 2014

Chronicles: Bane of the Dark!


The following information was retrieved from a classified document, transmitted by an undercover agent to the top-ranking commanders of the Capitol War Machine. The content disseminated herein is considered confidential.

In my last transmission, I detailed the difficulties Algeroth's forces were having with the Capitol Rangers, and offered some suggestions as to how those rangers could stay one step ahead of Alakhai's cunning and evolving tactics. Since that report, Alakhai has grown more and more appreciative of my alien (to him) mind and its understanding of the ways in which humans fight, and he has asked me to review the entirety of the Citadel's intelligence on their human foe.

While the Capitol Rangers have indeed been a nuisance, a thorn in Alakhai's side, the real bane of the Dark Legion, it turns out, are the Brotherhood. Is it heresy to suggest we have something in common?

Perhaps I should amend that. I understand as well as the next citizen that the Brotherhood are mankind's greatest hope, our single brightest flame against the dark. At the same time, their ways are strict, their laws severe, and their punishments swift and unforgiving. And they are just as likely to turn their judgment upon the so-called "unclean" souls of their fellow human beings as they are upon the demoniac souls of the Dark Legion. I sometimes wonder if the Brotherhood are our salvation from the darkness, or if the hordes of the Dark Legion are a balm against the blinding light of the Brotherhood's uncompromising faith.


With the rise of the Dark Legion, the Brotherhood has made every effort to unite the megacorporations of the Solar System against the invaders. Their insistence upon such cooperation, sometimes with a rod of iron, goes against many of the beliefs that make the Capitol megacorporation what it is. We are a free people, and we will not serve an outside master. This has led to a number of unpleasant and violent exchanges with the Inquisitors and Mortificators of the Brotherhood. Because of these confrontations, we (I was trained for the team as an alternate, and would not be here today had I joined the mission) put together a covert ops team that was designed specifically with the intent of infiltrating the Brotherhood, and reporting back any vital information that could be of use in our inevitable future confrontations with our "brothers" of the faith. Every last member of this team was sniffed out and executed within the first week of the mission, and the idea of infiltrating the Brotherhood was deemed a bad one. Their ways, it would appear, would remain mysterious, forever.

You can imagine my surprise when I found, among Alakhai's intelligence reports, an extensive file detailing a number of the Brotherhood's secrets. Most interesting, to me, was the amount of information on one of the Brotherhood's most powerful leaders, a man who has constantly remained an enigma to the rest of humanity, Archinquisitor Salvatore Nikodemus.

Nikodemus was born the youngest son of a common Bauhaus family. Showing signs of talent in The Art, his family turned him over to The Brotherhood for training and discipline. Nikodemus rose rapidly through their ranks, displaying both efficiency and virtuosic skill with the mystic powers of The Art, proving himself time and again on the battlefield. His most shining moment came when the Dark Legion attacked the Venusian city of Kanark, and Nikodemus lead 96 Brotherhood warriors against a horde of more than 2000 undead legionnaires and 500 necromutants. This victory cemented the Archinquisitor's legendary status for all of time, and he now exists as something of a demi-god among men.

For years, the sudden appearance of Archinquisitor Nikodemus among the people of the Capitol megacorporation has meant that one of us was about to be put to the question, and judged before the light of the Archinquisitor's faith. We did not know when, or how he appeared, but Alakhai's files make it clear that it is by a rare channeling of the powers of The Art that Nikodemus is able to teleport himself across the gulfs of space. With the force of a mighty proclamation, Nikodemus can bring any enemy to his knees, and the holy powers of his Book of Law can bring the Hammer of Judgement down upon that enemy's head. In all recorded instances, this Hammer has never missed its target; its aim is pure, almost as if guided by the hand of God. Some would say that the warriors who fight in the name of the Brotherhood have an abnormal amount of luck, I believe it is something more, something approaching the realm of divine intervention. Alakhai's reports, while skirting around the issue of a "real" divine presence, support this conjecture.

I am sending Alakhai's complete file on the vital data of Archinquisitor Salvatore Nikodemus, in the hopes that the next time he intimidates the citizens of the Capitol megacorporation with his presence, we are ready to meet him and make it known, with force if necessary, that we can govern ourselves without his interference. I will continue to scour the intelligence of the Citadel, and transmit when and what I can. Until then, I remain your faithful informer, Agent Rose.

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