There was a large crack as the Terminators vanished form sight. Atrius used the distraction to dive behind a low pipe. He looked out at the Inquisitor's party stood some thirty metres away, but pulled back in time to avoid a volley of shots from the bodyguard. Reaching under his cloak he once again returned his cloak to the colours of his surroundings, but this time he released a small catch before withdrawing his hand.  He caught the three-piece sniper rifle as it dropped from his slim backpack. Still the fire pummelled into the pipe he was sat against. He put his pistol down beside him and started coolly screwing the barrel into the firing mechanism. A frag grenade flew into the pipe, shaking the very ground beneath him, but he carried on, unflinching. The barrel was fitted, now his hand reached for the stock.  In the corner of his vision he saw one member of the Inquisitor's retinue move around to the right to out flank him. His hand picked up his pistol instead, and in the few moments it took the law enforcer to identify him in the shadows; Atrius fired a single silenced shot into the man's forehead. He swung his aim across to his left, knowing exactly where the second man would be.  He suffered the same fate as his ally. Atrius continued putting together his rifle, heard the order to fall back from the Inquisitor; the firing at Atrius' position became sporadic.  He couldn't let them escape. If the Imperium found out about the Dark Angel's shame then they would be doomed, hunted down by the other chapters and completely destroyed as heretics.  What Atrius did was right, he kept telling himself.  Without the Dark Angels and their sister Chapters, humanity would suffer.  It was good what he did now. Is that what the Traitor I just captured once told himself? No hesitation.  The chapter was all that mattered. Atrius popped up from behind the pipe with lightning speed between pulses of gunfire.  Through the scope he sighted the firer running back, and released a shot from his rifle. The bullet struck the man squarely in the chest as he turned to fire another volley, knocking him back several feet and punching a large hole out of his back, red mist dispersing outwards. Only the Inquisitor remained, but he was close to leaving the hangar.  Atrius pulled back the manual bolt action of his rifle, chambering another round.  He targeted the Inquisitor's head perfectly in his sights despite man's dodging run, but perhaps the man had a protective field  many Inquisitors did. Atrius raised his aim to the entrance. A single shot left the muzzle of his rifle with a huge crack, and hurtled into the shadows above the opening.  Before the Inquisitor could reach the doorway, a huge metal gate crashed down in front of him.  The gate passed especially close to the Inquisitor, and in doing so caused a flash of white light from activating the Inquisitor's refractor field. The Inquisitor recovered gracefully, rolling away sideways behind some crates, while simultaneously drawing his force sword and bolt pistol. Atrius ducked back behind the cover of the pipe before he had a chance to see where the Inquisitor had gone. He cursed loudly at the shield worn by the Inquisitor, and then ran low to another piece of cover. Atrius could hear the man's footsteps at the other side of the hangar; he could see the occasional change in light tone where the man walked through the shadows. The Inquisitor was not enhanced in the same way as a space marine, he stood little chance. Quietly, stealthily, Atrius hunted the Inquisitor. His patience was obviously greater than that of his quarry, for before long the inquisitor began cursing loudly, evidently he now realised the skill that had allowed Atrius to specialise in assassination, 'I might have known a traitorous fool like you would have no soul!'  There was silence, and then the Inquisitor's voice took on a much more serious, calculated tone. 'So there is one more traitor legion we have not known about!  All this time and the dark powers were destroying us from within.' Atrius struggled to remain silent; he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that the Dark Angels were not traitors. That they were rightly regarded as one of the greatest space marine chapters. 'Heretic!'  The Inquisitor's taunts returned, he knew that there was no way out for him. He stood with his back to a wall, sword ready, preparing to fight Atrius. He didn't see the shadow moving along that wall towards him. Atrius stood behind the Inquisitor, only a few feet away. His blade was drawn, the badge of office of any member of the Deathwing. Slowly, he pushed the blade into the area surrounding the Inquisitor that the shield protected. The device did not protect against slow moving objects. With a swift movement the blade was against the Inquisitor's throat. But Atrius did not complete the stroke, not yet. He only pressed hard enough to stop the man talking. 'What I do is for the good of the Imperium. I am deeply sorry it has come to this, but I cannot allow you to cut off one of humanities strongest arms.'  The Inquisitor tried to speak, but the movement of his throat only began to draw blood against the blade. 'I do this for the good of the Imperium.'  He drew his blade slowly, deliberately, across the Inquisitor's larynx, and then held the body until he felt the life drain completely from it. As the lifeless husk dropped to floor, Atrius whispered to himself, 'for the good of the Imperium.' Atrius turned around as he felt the wash of air from Uriel's teleport. 'It is done, Brother.' His voice carried more guilt than he thought possible. Uriel examined the pile of corpses mounded before him. Turning to face Atrius he said, 'It was for the good of the Imperium.' He raised his heavy flamer and sent a torrent of searing flames over the bodies. Within minutes they were reduced to ash. As Atrius watched the bodies burn, he toyed with the golden amulet in his hand.  'Brother, you should teleport back, I have a small errand to run to prevent any further complications.' 'Very well, Brother, I will see you soon.' Two days later, Brother Atrius walked out onto landing pad four of the spaceport at the planet's surface, hidden beneath his bone white cloak, and boarded the passenger ship that would take him to another spaceport where the Dark Angels could be seen to collect him. As far as anyone was concerned the Dark Angels had never set foot on this planet. As he walked across the baking plascrete, he toyed with the golden amulet beneath his cloak, repeating over and over in his mind; 'It was for the good of the Imperium. It was for the good of the Imperium.' Yet still the question burned in his subconscious like the flames from Uriel's weapon; Was that how it had started with Him? THE END

THE HUNTER By Peter Falkingham

FABLES OF THE UNFORGIVEN

Editor's Note: It is a well known fact that a rare mutation within the human genome causes a few individuals to emit no sign of their soul. They have no psychic representation within the realms of the warp. Most of such individuals are sought out by the Officio Assassinorum for their culexus temple and by the Inquisition as they are potent adversaries against psykers. Occasionally such an individual may be enlisted within the ranks of the space marine chapters. This is an extremely rare opportunity for the chapter and these marines are most valued within the ranks of the Unforgiven in their hunt for the fallen

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****Rank Delta eyes only**** Inquisitor Valeck's report from Devlan six. Subject:  Disappearance of Inquisitor Achilleos Recipient(s): Archivists of the Ordos Xenos. Preliminary investigations both on and off planet reveal no eyewitnesses even seeing the Inquisitor. Even the alien he was searching for was unheard of by anyone in the area he was supposed to have been operating in. My first thoughts were that perhaps he had turned heretic and fled, but I was to be proved wrong.  My sincerest apologies at doubting our late colleague. It had come to my attention that recently the Dark Angels had sent a party through a nearby system. I asked them if they had heard anything from our friend, but was met with the Dark Angel's renowned stubbornness in dealing with 'outsiders' as they term us. I tried for several days, unsure if they were even listening, I even asked if they would send down a party to look for Inquisitor Achilleos but heard nothing. Three days after giving up with them, a parcel arrived by courier. It was the amulet of the Inquisition wrapped in a single piece of paper. The paper read simply: We found this.  We have no use for it; perhaps you can use it, for the good of the Imperium. With the parcel was a holo-image taken presumably from the cameras mounted on Power Armour. I was disturbed by an image of Inquisitor Achilleos' cloak beside the corpse of an alien. Upon inspection of the site, we found that the Dark Angels had incinerated the corpse of the alien, and with it the remains of Inquisitor Achilleos, it seemed that the Dark Angels had sent a party at my request after all.  In summary, it would seem that the mission we sent Inquisitor Achilleos on was too great for someone as inexperienced as him. Once more the Dark Angels have lived up to their reputation of being stubborn, closed, secretive, and amongst the very greatest and most loyal of the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. The investigation into the disappearance of Inquisitor Achilleos is now closed. Thought for the day:  'For the good of the Imperium, a man can do no wrong.' In the name of the God Emperor, Inquisitor Valeck.