Chapter 1698 Eye of Endymion
Since its establishment, the Inquisition has built a large number of secret strongholds in many worlds of the Empire, some of which are prisons containing mysterious technology, just to imprison some extremely powerful and powerful people. Dangerous existences, some contain powerful seals, just to seal the terrible subspace creations and demonic instruments, and some are libraries buried deep underground, used to hide the history and history that cannot be mentioned unless it is absolutely necessary. In the past, others were simply bases of operations, providing a place for Inquisitors operating in dangerous areas to refresh and communicate with each other.
But without exception, there are very few strongholds that provide operational assistance to the three branches of the Tribunal at the same time. Because of the estrangement and hostility between them, it is difficult for the Inquisitors of different factions to work together in one place. .
The same is true for this secret shelter beneath Tranquility 2. It has existed for more than ten centuries since it was built. It was originally used as a secret archives and library to preserve those memories over the years. A lot of information, intelligence, and even ancient legends have been collected about the mysterious area of the Maelstrom.
But as time goes by, its original function is gradually forgotten, just like it is buried in the basement of a huge library with countless books and documents.
After the Age of Apostasy, it was renamed the Eye of Endymion and became known as the stronghold of the Order of the Hammer. There's a reason for this - after all, it's right next to the center of the Maelstrom, which means if anything comes from the Maelstrom, The trial center will become an early warning post.
This place has also been used as a military base for the Gray Knights more than once, as an outpost to launch attacks on Chaos. When the Huron Rebellion broke out in the Badab War, it also became a very critical front for the Inquisition. The stronghold has received great attention, but its ownership has also triggered a turmoil within the Inquisition, because the Order of the Foreigners claimed that the sanctuary was first established by them, but it was stolen by the Order of the Holy Hammer. They asked the other party to return it, but the Holy Hammer Order refuted that what they got was just a ruined archive, and there was no stronghold at all. It was the Foreign Order that abandoned it.
After a quarrel, this problem has not been resolved. Now it is managed by a more neutral sect, but the Inquisitors rarely come here unless necessary, because several Inquisition factions surround this place. Several bloody clashes have broken out.
But today, a large number of judges from different sects gathered here.
It was unusual for so many members of the different factions of the Inquisition to be in the same place, and Marcus could hardly imagine them sitting in the same room.
Because of this, managers dispatch a special team of attendants to prepare for meetings before they begin.
After the busy squad of Cleansing Squires left, a group of cloaked psykers were dispatched around the hall, where they knelt and began chanting a continuous prayer of purification.
In a few minutes, the hall was filled with the loud, piercing voices of psykers and the thick smoke of soothing incense.
There are three huge arches in the hall. The huge arches are cut into the steel structure on each side of the triangular hall. On the stone in the center of each arch is carved the symbol of a branch of the Imperial Inquisition. The carvings are so small and delicate that they are barely noticeable to casual observers.
In the center of the dome ceiling of the triangular hall, there is a huge relief sculpture of the symbol of the Imperial Tribunal, occupying the entire roof of the room. There are three vestibules with the same structure outside the arch, and three identical doors at the entrance. door.
At the same moment, the three entrances opened simultaneously, and the Inquisitor's entourage walked into the antechamber in small steps, taking a stand around the circular wall and ensuring the safety of the interior space.
In principle, only the Inquisitors themselves can enter the main hall through the arch, and their entourage must wait in the front hall. However, anyone who has been cheating on each other in the Inquisition for decades will not be naive enough not to target each person first. A possible contingency was planned before the other servants of the Emperor. This triangular room is the most common hall structure in the Tribunal, and is modeled after the Holy Hall of the Tribunal in Terra's headquarters, because it provides exactly equal space and location for each branch, and is a flexible building. A masterpiece, and the exquisite arch is covered with various alarm devices and sensors known to the Empire, all disguised as decorations or tributes to pay tribute to the adults who may pass through it.
Readings from various sensors can be read from monitors in three antechambers - thus, each Inquisitor's followers can keep a constant eye on the others.
The only problem with this design is timing: if any minion enters before the others, a stealthy and lightweight Assassin or Death Cultist could theoretically slip through the arch and kill the main Hide yourself in the hall, and other followers cannot be detected from the monitor.
Therefore, according to the past practice of joint meetings of the Tribunal, all attendants must enter the front hall at the same time, thereby solving this problem together. If the practice is broken, the party with injured interests will have indisputable reasons to cancel the meeting.
The psykers on both sides of the main hall were specially selected and each underwent cycles of malicious hypnosis. Their thoughts were carefully selected by interrogators and observers in an effort to ensure that The psionic powers of espers remain strong, but their creativity and urge to use their psionic abilities has been eradicated.
When they were allowed into the meeting hall, they were nothing more than humble spiritual servants, creating a constant atmosphere of purity and calm, effectively blocking the powerful psychic power of some of the Inquisitors.
Inquisitor Marcus stood at the door of the circular antechamber of the Order of the Rebellion, watching his pitiful followers spread out against the wall with practiced efficiency, while the followers of other Inquisitors He kept looking at them with distrustful eyes, twenty or thirty meters apart from each other.
Marcus shook his head slightly frustrated, once again disappointed by the apparent distrust between his colleagues.
The Inquisition was a large and complex institution, and it was certainly not monolithic, but it saddened him that even on such occasions there was such strong distrust among the Emperor's agents.
After gathering his mood, he strode through the arch, not paying attention to the beeping and flashing alarm device on the wall.
Alarm devices and sensors are really pointless: if the alarm goes off, then the threat is too cumbersome to worry about, and if the alarm doesn't go off, it's all over.
For a moment, he wondered whether his colleagues from the Order of the Foreign and the Order of the Hammer were actually reassured by the presence of the alarm system.
He suspected they didn't.
(End of this chapter)