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Tanis
02-19-2007, 4:04 PM
The Dark before Dawn

As composed by Tanis


WARNING! The following story has been rated R for vivid descriptions of graphic violence, language, alcohol use, drug use, and scenes of horror. Reader discretion is advised, this is not suitable for all audiences. Adeptus Arbites and all Warhammer 40,000 elements are the property of their respective owners.

Chapter One


“Oh you gotta be shitting me…” Spoke the portly man, a Badab Police Department badge on his chest.

The Adeptus Arbites detective slowly got out of the hover car, an Iho-stick clutched in his free hand. He dropped the butt to the ground and smashed it into the asphalt of the Hive road before shutting the door behind him. He cracked his neck quickly, and took several steps forward. He had short brown hair, with just a little curl at the end, brown eyes to match, and look of dedication on his face. He was wearing dark pants and a dark shirt, with a long and flowing coat about him. His Adeptus Arbites badge hung from a chain around his neck.

“I’m Detective Markus Demidus with the Adeptus Aribtes, and you are?” He asked politely, holding out his hand.

“Police Chief Henrickson, Third Precinct, Capital Hive here on Badad.” The portly man replied, ignoring the outstretched hand.

Markus seemed unconcerned, and looked about. They were in the slums of the Capital Hive, that was given judging by the decrepit state of the buildings surrounding them, and the amount of homeless littered on the side of the street. There were several Police vehicles in front of the building, their red and blue lights flashing, even though the sirens were silent. About a dozen or so officers were going in and out of the building, always sick looks on their faces when they came out. One even threw up onto the street.

“What’ve we got?” Asked Markus.

“The question is what have I got, Mr. Demidus. This is a Badab matter, we appreciate that you want to help, buts it’s our turf and our problem, so why don’t you just hop back in your vehicle and clear out?” Asked Henrickson, venom in his voice and hate in his eyes.

Markus was starting to get annoyed.

“Because, Mr. Henrickson, you’ve had three Ecclesiarchy Priests brutally murdered in the last month and you don’t have a single suspect or a shred of evidence as to who might’ve done it. As far as I can tell you don’t wouldn’t know a clue from your fat ass or a suspect from the poor woman you call your wife, so you can put up and shut up. I’ve been assigned by the Adeptus Arbites, and that means I have the jurisdiction here. Which means you have to do what I tell you to, whether or not you think you can handle it yourself, which you obviously can’t.” Markus replied, a stern look on his face.

Henrickson shook his head, and motioned towards the door into the building. It appeared to be an old storage warehouse. Two stories tall, one wide open space on the bottom floor, with windows every ten feet or so around the outside, rusting metal walls and old piles of rubbish dotted it. Markus walked through, taking note of all the surroundings. The pair walked through the bottom floor, all the way to the back where a staircase was that lead up to the second floor. Markus could smell something…death? Most certainly.

The second floor was a collection of what used to be old offices, and a lounge. Henrickson lead Markus through a series of old hallways to the main office, where the head of the warehouse would’ve spent a lot of his time. There was yellow crime scene tape across the open door way, where the portal was ajar a bit, one officer standing off to the side holding a rag over his nose. The stench was overpowering now. Markus choose to ignore it for the time being, and took an audio recorder out of one of the pouches on his belt.

“This is Detective Demidus, Hive Capital of Badab, 651.M41. Entering scene of third Ecclesiarchy Priest murder.”

Markus tore off the tape and entered the room. The scene was truly disturbing, even to Markus, who had seen scores of violent crimes, murders, dismemberments, and the like. Even so, they never got easer for Markus to bear. Blood covered the room, splashed on to the walls, the floor, and the lone desk in the room, which was covered in the grisly entrails of the unfortunate Priest. Blood dripped from the ceiling on to Markus’ shoulder. Markus swallowed and began to record his findings.

“Door comes into room from the south. Room of the killing approximately five feet by ten feet, one desk directly in front of door, large stiff backed chair behind it. No decorations, one window on north wall, three by two feet. Victim is male, approximately forty years of age, and pale skinned. Unable to positively identify at this time. He is seated in chair behind desk, bound at the wrists behind chair, bound at the ankles to legs of the chair. Naked to the waist. Incision made along gaps between ribs, cutting through the skin and muscle to the internal organs. Ten slashes all together on the chest, five on the right side of the sternum, five to the left of the sternum. All approximately six inches long. Cuts had to be made with a serrated knife or other weapon given by the tearing of the skin. Two diagonal cuts, appear to be made by same weapon, on the lower abdomen. Victim was disemboweled pre-mortem by the amount of bleeding. Stomach, intestines, liver, spleen, and bladder removed through abdominal cuts and placed on to the desk. There appears to be bite marks on all of them…” Markus said as he moved about the room, only to be interrupted.

“Who the fuck would do this?” Asked Henrickson.

“I’ll find out sooner if you don’t interrupt me.” Replied Marks stoically. He took a few deep breaths, and continued. He moved from the chest and abdomen to the head, perhaps the most shocking part of the whole scene.

“Victim’s head has been flayed pre-mortem. Skin and muscle tissue were excised and…dear Emperor…forced down the victim’s throat. Eyes removed, I am unable to locate them at this time. Scalp also removed and missing. Cause of death: throat slashed with serrated knife under extreme force. The head was nearly severed from the body. Lungs and heart removed through the cuts in the chest post-mortem. Victim’s body effectively bled dry, and the blood was splashed on to the walls, the ceiling, the door, and the window as if from a pail of some sort.” Markus concluded his investigation of the scene, and exited out through the door.

He gagged for a second, and then exited the building at a brisk pace, Henrickson in tow. When they finally reached the streets, Henrickson waved several other officers, all holding cameras and vid-capture equipment into the building. Markus pulled an Iho-stick out of his pocket, followed by his lighter from another, and light it, taking a deep drag on it. He really should stop, he thought, but at times like this he needed a good smoke. Markus turned to Henrickson.

“I need all your files and crime scene photos from the other two murders as soon as possible.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. We’ve got a computer and office set up for you back at the precinct.” Replied Henrickson.

“Then lets go.” Said Markus as he headed for his vehicle.

Tanis
02-19-2007, 8:54 PM
Chapter Two


Markus’ hand came to rest on the handle to his vehicle when a sound off to the left of the building, an alley of some sort through the towering structures of the Capital Hive. Markus instinctively reached for his Autopistol, but he stopped an inch or so from drawing it. The locals around here might’ve seen something, and the last thing he wanted was to scare off any eyewitnesses. He inched over towards Henrickson.

“Henrickson, when your boys get done at the scene, I am going to stick around.”

“Mr. Demidus, you are in one of the most violent slums of the Capital Hive.” Replied Henrickson.

“I know that, and your cops are scaring off all the possible witnesses. So when they are done in there, I want you all to head back to the precinct. I’ll do some investigating and see if I can find a witness or two. That’s an order.”

Henrickson slowly nodded, and after another ten minutes or so, waved the rest of the cops to their vehicles. Henrickson handed him a vox unit, and nodded before the police units slowly pulled away. Markus activated the vox transmitter and receiver, before attaching the main unit to his belt. He switched the frequency till he heard police chatter from the dispatch. He noticed the call sign on the unit was Echo-One-One.

“Echo-One-One to dispatch, vox test.”

“Echo-One-One, we read you loud and clear. What’s your location?” Replied Dispatch.

“Echo-One-One, location Slum District 9, proceeding with investigation on foot.”

“Dispatch to Echo-One-One, advise caution. There are a lot of Spook addicts there.”

“Echo-One-One, copy and clear dispatch.”

Markus moved to the trunk of his vehicle and popped it, pulling out a Flak Jacket and a web belt and bandolier. He took off his long coat and laid it aside, quickly pulling the Flak Jacket over his head and buckling it around his waist. It wasn’t much, and sure as hell wouldn’t do anything for a knife stab from the dark, but he needed to be cautious. Next, he pulled and strapped the bandolier over his chest. He slipped two extra magazines for his Autopistol into the strap, as well as his backup combat knife. He had three magazines, a knife, a vox, a small med kit, a flashlight, and an audio recorder. Not the greatest set of equipment, but it was all he had.

He slipped his coat back on, buttoning up the front to hide his vest and bandolier, and headed towards where he had heard the noises before. It was incredibly dark , even during high noon, because of the fact The Slums were at the very bottom of the Hive. Now, at five in the afternoon, it was already almost pitch black. Markus pulled out his flashlight, shining it down the alley. There was a homeless man, clutching a bottle of alcohol, hidden under a pile of blankets. Markus moved towards the man, who coughed several times.

“Hey, old man, Adeptus Arbites. You see anything or hear anyone here earlier today?” Markus asked.

“I hear a lot of things, a lot of voices, and see what you are to blind to realize…” He replied, in a phlegm filled voice.

“What do you mean?”

“You walk with Demons…work with them, do their bidding…”

“Who are you, old man?”

The homeless man cackled for a second, before entering another coughing fit. Markus reached out a hand to help the man, but he threw the bottle at Markus. He quickly dodged, but when he looked back to the old homeless man, he was dead, blood dripping out of his nose and mouth, his eyes wide. Markus sighed, another body on his watch. He turned about, heading for the street and his vehicle. He stopped dead in his tracks right before coming around the corner. Three thugs were trying to get into his car. Pulling his Autopistol free, Markus stepped out, walking towards them at a steady pace.

“Hold it! Step away from the vehicle!” Markus ordered.

“Hey, fuck you asshole!” Replied the apparent leader, who pulled a shank from his belt. The other two followed suit. Before Markus could respond, the three were charging Markus.

Markus took careful aim, and squeezed the trigger, sending a round right into the chest of the leading thug, barely slowing him down. Markus fired twice more into the lead before he finally fell to the ground, blood pooling around him. One of the thugs lost heart and turned to flee, but the other came on. Markus pulled his knife from its sheath and dodged the incoming thrust, the shank nicking his vest as Markus moved to the left. He brought the Autopistol down on the head of the attacker, stunning him. Markus kicked the knife out of the man’s hand, grabbing hold of the man and pulling him to his feet. Markus threw the thug against the wall and pistol whipped him again.

“Tell me what happened at the Fifth street warehouse.”

The thug spat on Markus, who promptly pistol whipped the man a third time, knocking teeth on to the ground and spilling blood everywhere.

“Tell me what I want to know, you sick fuck head.” Markus commanded.

But the thug wasn’t giving it up. He just feel to his knees, blood dripping from his mouth. He fell into unconsciousness from the beating.

Damnit, Markus thought.

“Echo-One-One to dispatch, come on dispatch.” He spoke into the vox.

“Dispatch reads Echo-One-One.”

“Get Chief Henrickson to report to me on the three murders. Cross reference everything, let me know what they have in common. Out.”

“Copy and clear Echo-One-One”



((Comments so far?))

kongurous
02-19-2007, 9:52 PM
The language isn't family friendly, but I guess that's what I should expect from something about police. Good writing, I think.

Tanis
01-24-2008, 8:10 PM
((Thought I might actually finish this one. Maybe.))

Demidus was sitting in his vehicle for perhaps ten minutes before Henrickson at the Precinct could start sending the files to his data-pad. The Arbite detective started with names, dates, places, parishes...there weren't any obvious links. He cursed slightly as he scrolled down. If only he had a Savant, like the Inquisitors from all the stories. Of course, the Inquisition didn't officially exist.

That didn't stop everyone from knowing the stories were more often true than not.

"Victim one, Deacon Phastus Gutra, Badab Capital Hive, Five Parish. That's an awfully affluent part of the Hive, Henrickson."

"Yes, we are aware of that. It got passed to our hands when the other two killings fell into our jurisdiction of the Hive slums on your level."

Markus skimmed the preliminary report.

"Killed in almost the same way, without the, uh...without the removal of the eyes, Mr. Demidus." Henrickson said.

"I worked that out. What about the second?"

"Also without the eyes. We're going to wait to do full autopsies on the three until you get to the Mortuary."

"I'm on the way. Keep cross-checking. There has to be some sort of link."

Markus fired up the vehicle and headed through the slums toward the precinct house.

Galiant
01-26-2008, 8:47 AM
OMG! This is kewl!

+rep

Tanis
01-27-2008, 11:57 AM
Markus stopped the vehicle and exited, making sure to bring the data-pad with him. He almost swore as the smell of the Mortuary beside the precinct house assailed his nostrils. Every Arbite and cop knew that smell, and loathed it. It was a smell that often accompanied the work of police. It was the smell of decaying flesh. He shook his head a moment and entered the building. A local cop nodded as he entered and followed Markus in.

There was a servitor at a small reception desk.

"Markus Demidus, Arbite Detective, badge number 3146-417-8015. I'm here for the autopsies."

"One moment, sir." The servitor responded as it tapped a few keys on the computer system before him.

"Come on down, Detective." Called a voice from the stairwell which lead downstairs to the mortuary chambers.

Without waiting for the servitor to clear him, Markus proceded down the stairs and stopped about four steps from the bottom, turning around to face the local cop who had been on his heels since he entered the place. Markus appraised the man for a second.

"And you are?"

"Sergeant Valtus Cald."

"Why in the name of the Emperor are you following me?"

"Procedure, sir."

Markus didn't even bother asking what that was supposed to mean and walked into the first mortuary chamber. On two stone plinths were laid the first two victims of the unknown murder, cloth sheets covering them. The examiner was in one corner calibrating some equipment, his hands replaced with mechanical appendages bearing scalpels and other such metallic instruments.

"You're the examiner?" Markus asked.

"Yes I am, Calidus. Was just about to start on the first victim."

"Good, any guess as to the cause of death?"

"I'd say it was the bleeding. Most of the excised flesh looks like it was done post-mortem...it's hard to say now. We'll know more in a bit." Calidus said as he handed Markus a rebreather.

"Let's do it, then." Markus said.

Galiant
01-28-2008, 4:55 AM
MOAR!!!!!!

OMFG!!! This thrills me!!!!