Revelations - Rise of the Inquisitor

by R. E. Graham

  After he wiped his forehead clear from the beads of sweat that had formed he noticed the charm bracelet his daughter had given him laid next to him. He stretched it out with his right hand and reached his left hand through it. Delicately, Varius tucked it beneath his left sleeve.

  After receiving the secret orders from Director Seneca of the Bureau of Central Intelligence, Varius boarded a private vessel that was set to make a delivery to Eden. This mission was anything but typical. Normally, an inquisitor would be transported by a government freighter at the very least, but the need for secrecy meant he had to travel more incognito.

  Before falling asleep, he was passing the time reading up on Eva Primus and her Eden’s Forgotten Legion. There wasn’t much about the woman, other than some reports which indicated that she had been arrested after her group was in the middle of purchasing illegal firearms. Many generations ago the Prefect Major, the most powerful person in the Corre Republic, passed a law making it illegal to own weapons of any kind except under certain conditions.

  Worlds that bordered other nations typically were given the most firearms freedom, while citizens of a world like Eden had very little. The idea was that invaders wouldn’t be so keen to take a world whose people were armed, and not just the military forces that garrisoned them.

  With little grace he slung his boots off the bunk and slouched on his knees. He checked the gauntlet on his left forearm to see the time. Most citizens liked to wear a hora if they were in need of timekeeping, but the inquisitors issued left gauntlet had all sorts of tools and applications built into it to assist them on missions. Varius liked to keep his time display on a dual setting. The primary was for time back on Foundation to know what time it was for the Bureau of Central Intelligence in case he needed to contact them and the other for time of the world he was being sent to.

  He rubbed his eyes with his left hand trying to clear his mind from the nightmare.

  These dreams seem to be happening more often.

  A beeping signal emitted from a speaker built into the wall of the small room. “This is the Captain, we are about to enter the atmosphere of Eden. All passengers should buckle in and hang tight. We will be planetside shortly.”

  Varius stood up from his bunk and sat down in a cushioned chair to his right. He reached behind him to grab the left side half of the harness and slid his arm through. After doing the same with his right arm he buckled the harness together and closed his eyes to further ease his mind. The shuttle began to shake as it made its descent towards the planet below.

  Several minutes passed and the ship entered the gravity of Eden just before an incredible explosion rocked the vessel, violently thrashing all the passengers and crew.

  Again, the intercom beeped. “This is Captain Harris. Abandon ship. I repeat, abandon ship. Get to the nearest…”

  Varius didn’t even finish listening to the Captain’s orders. He unbuckled himself, grabbed his bag that he had kept in a steel locker along the wall and did his best to stumble down the hallway. Bright red alarm lights flashed and a loud warning blared through the speakers throughout the ship.

  Several crew members scrambled passed the Inquisitor as he found the ladder leading down to the hangar. He shouldered his bag before the shuttle began to spiral intensely slamming him into the wall and pinning him there from the inertia.

  With all his might he fought to slide across the wall until he could grip the ladder with his right hand. He pulled himself towards the ladder just as the ship eased out of the tumble.

  Varius took advantage of the respite in the ships violent fall and slid down the ladder. His boots loud boom echoed off the hangar as he hit the deck.

  The hangar was nothing like it was when he was here hours before. Crates, tools and other miscellaneous items looked as if a violent windstorm just blew through. Parts and debris laid about all over the place. Thankfully his massive Spade WarMech remained anchored in place in a kneeling position, cockpit left open.

  He ran in full sprint towards the all black colored Spade. As he reached its left knee he grabbed hold of the chain ladder extending down from the cockpit. After getting several steps up the shuttle began tilting to the side causing Varius to float weightlessly into the air.

  “Raaaah…” he growled angrily while he alternated with his hands as he climbed forward on sheer grip strength. Ironically the shuttle righted itself again and caused the ladder to slam downwards. The Inquisitor barely grazed the torso of the Spade, narrowly avoiding a serious injury.

  He quickly climbed the rest of the way up. As Varius hopped into the cockpit it began to shut behind him and the ladder began to be recalled into the mech. His hands moved quickly from muscle memory as he secured his harness locking him safely into the massive WarMech’s command chair. He instinctively began initiating the startup process and warming the Spade’s large engine beneath his feet. Varius could feel a slight pressurized sensation in his ears as the cockpit hatch closed and became airtight.

  As the machine came to life the various screens forming the pilot’s battle view activated.

  “Welcome back Inquisitor. I am synchronizing with myself and will be operational in a moment” a synthetic female voice said over the internal speakers.

  “Make it fast Marth” Varius said as he finished securing himself into the command chair.

  “Synchronization complete.”

  The smaller secondary monitors began to display the technical readouts of the Spade including ammo, armor and condition of the machine. Varius was able to see the hangar as the primary three monitors displayed the live feed from the various cameras mounted to the outer hull of the WarMech.

  He keyed a video connection to the bridge as he could feel his body slightly tilt to the side as the shuttle rocked hard.

  “Captain Harris, I need the hangar door opened” the Inquisitor said as he used the Spade’s massive right hand to clear cables and equipment situated around the machine.

  As the Spade stood to its full height, nearly hitting the ceiling of the hangar bay, the Captain responded. “Inquisitor…I ordered everyone to get to escape pods!”

  Varius scoffed loudly and killed the communication. He activated the Spade’s weapons and took two steps towards the blast door at the end of the hangar.

  Debris began to float into the air weightlessly. The Inquisitor could feel his stomach drop as the Spade briefly lifted off the hangar floor and pressed up against the ceiling. With expert care, he used the right hand of the Spade to brace itself against the ceiling as he took aim to the side of the blast doors.

  Varius then aimed his WarMech’s main weapon, a tremendously large Titan Killer Mk II scattergun that could fire various loads of ammunition built into the left arm instead of a hand. He toggled the ammo to switch from scatterfire to slug and fired five times which blasted huge holes through the ship’s outer hull in a rough circular shape.

  The Inquisitor aggressively pressed the right pedal with his foot making the WarMech charge forward. He fired one more shot from the Titan Killer creating a larger opening. Varius used his control sticks to bring up the Spade’s right arm to shield the center torso where he sat as it burst through the hull and into the night sky as it descended to the planet below.

  Alarms sounded as the WarMech tumbled end over end. Varius used small positioning jets on the outside of the WarMech to ease it out of the tumble and position itself to see the shuttle as it began to break up into chunks. Smoke trailed behind the shuttle and one of its two engines was entirely missing.

  Varius slammed down on both the right and left pedals which ignited the jumper pack built into the Spade’s back sending it away from the falling vessel and clear of the trail of debris.

  “I confirm both escape pods have detached from the shuttle” Marth said matter-of-factly.

  “How many life signs?” the Inquisitor asked as he fought to maintain the orient of the Spade in its downward fall.

  “I count twelve. One remains aboard the shuttle.” />
  “What?!” Varius shouted as he connected to the shuttle’s communication array.

  “Captain Harris? What are you doing still on the ship?”

  The older grizzled man grit his teeth as he struggled against the manual controls of the shuttle. “I couldn’t just abandon ship and let this crash into an apartment complex or something. I am aiming for the lake just outside of downtown.”

  Varius clenched his jaw and swallowed. “Good luck Paul.”

  Captain Harris looked at the screen to his right and somberly gulped. He reached over and killed the connection to the Inquisitor.

  As the Spade continued to fall towards Eden and its very tall skyscrapers, Varius watched the shuttle drift further and further away as it headed for the body of water below.

  “Impact in ninety seconds” Marth alerted its pilot.

  The Inquisitor looked to his right at the fuel indicator for his WarMech’s jumper pack. It read 97%. WarMechs often were outfitted with jumper packs or the equivalent of to assist operations in space or to allow commanders to hot drop their WarMech forces into combat. Varius chose the Spade on purpose when he graduated the pilot program from the BCI because it was a heavier design equipped with jump capability.

  While the illuminated streets below grew closer and closer, Varius angled his mech straight up and fired his jumper pack again, but this time to help decelerate his speed. Even though the WarMech itself could withstand a very hard impact, his gooey innards could not.

  A crowd of citizens on the streets of the city began pointing up at the Spade until they finally realized it was coming down where they were. The onlookers panicked and ran in every direction. In a situation like this, the Inquisitor could very easily be mistaken for a raiding pirate pilot.

  Large flames pushed loose debris from the streets into the air as the WarMech neared the busy streets. An expensive silver hovercar spotted the Spade and slammed on his brakes nearly getting rear ended from the distracted driver behind him.

  With expert precision the Inquisitor pulled the legs of the Spade up at the last moment to ease into the landing. The jumper pack cut off and the WarMech dropped to the ground making a very loud thud!

  Varius tracked the falling shuttle’s trajectory on his HUD as it crashed into the lake and vanished from his view.

  “Local authorities are en route to the shuttle” the AI said coldly.

  Just then Varius noticed the lights and sirens as Keepers of Peace armored cars and WarMech forces approached. Marth identified an entire team of WarMechs comprised of three Sierras and one Sentry as they began to surround the Spade.

  “Pilot of the unidentified WarMech, power down and exit with your hands up!” the pilot of an all-white Sierra said to Varius’ right as it aimed its 14D Cannon that formed its right forearm at him.

  All the other KoP mechs took aim as well. Varius keyed an open channel to the Sierra and the other Keepers of Peace forces. “This is Inquisitor Varius, my shuttle had an accident and I had to make an emergency hot drop.”

  The KoP pilot did not acknowledge the Inquisitor’s response. “Pilot of the unidentified WarMech, power down and exit with your hands up!”

  “Unidentified?! I just told you who I was!” Varius growled through his external speakers. He twisted his mech’s torso looking around at the different “friendly” WarMechs. Dozens of infantry exited the armored cars and targeted the Spade as well with their rifles.

  Varius saw the lead Sierra take a step forward and was just about to trigger his Titan Killer and open fire when his external microphone picked up a very loud, “Whoa! Whoa!”

  Marth automatically focused on and enhanced the live feed of a tall man dressed in all black jog out into the open waving his arms back and forth.

  “What are you doing? That is an inquisitor dammit!” the man shouted at the KoP forces. Reluctantly, they slowly lowered their weapons and Varius let out the deep breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

  Chapter 8

  Cycle: 412 Month: 7 Rotation: 11

  Prefecture: Siimon

  Planet: Eden

  Location: In the Garden district of Eden’s capital, Lucifer

  Trails of steam from the Spade’s landing still lifted into the night air as the street beneath cooled. Inquisitor Varius put his Spade into a crouch and popped the cockpit. He climbed the rest of the way down with the help of several handholds that would retract when the mech was in combat status.

  “I’m sorry about that Varius, the Koppers here on Eden are a little itchy from all of the riots that have been going on lately” the same man called out from behind him as he touched down on the ground.

  Varius’ angry face was accentuated by the flashing red and green lights from the armored patrol cars nearby. He recognized the other man immediately. “Inquisitor Alexander Titus, thank you for intervening. I thought I was about to have to fight my way out.”

  Titus extended his large right hand to his fellow inquisitor. “And I am sure you would have too.”

  Varius shook the other inquisitor’s hand firmly as he noted that Alexander still maintained his appearance avidly. His silver hair was groomed exceptionally well, his boots polished to the point that every strobe of the lights reflected brightly from them, even the grip of his sidearm was well cleaned. He wore the upgraded uniform available for inquisitor’s that allowed a cybernetic link to be implanted into the brain giving an inquisitor constant access to the stream, a centralized and monitored access of knowledge and information throughout the Corre Republic, at any point as long as they were in range of a communications tower. Even a specially constructed receiver was built into the back-chest plate to help extend the range of access the wearer would have.

  “What happened on your arrival?” Titus asked as he folded his arms in a non-aggressive way.

  Inquisitor Varius shook his head in confusion. “There was an explosion just after we entered the atmosphere. When I exited the ship with my ride I could see that the entire left engine was missing. Regretfully, the Captain guided the shuttle in.”

  “Sounds like sabotage. Thankfully however, it landed in the lake outside of downtown. No other casualties confirmed at the moment, although there is minor damage from the debris falling on buildings and some vehicles” the other inquisitor said as he rocked back on his heels.

  Varius didn’t want to show it, but he felt a twinge of regret for the Captain. He didn’t know him personally, but he commended the sacrifice he made.

  “The Keepers of Peace are already beginning recovery efforts” Titus said as he watched a duo of KoPs down the road wave their hands angrily at a commuter who honked their horn at them.

  “I want to be notified as soon as they discover what happened to the engine” Varius said sternly.

  Titus smiled and said, “Absolutely. In the meantime, I didn’t know that you had been dispatched to Eden.”

  “I’m not here to interfere with your assignment Titus. I am following up on a possible lead. Could be nothing.”

  “You bring your WarMech along with you on “possible” leads?” Alexander chuckled lightly.

  Varius’ demeanor stiffened. “Better to have it and not need it, then find myself wishing I brought it along.”

  Titus laughed to himself. “You see, that right there is why you are the poster boy for the Bureau. You are always ready for anything.”

  “As ready as I can be.”

  Doors began to slam shut as the some of the Keepers of Peace infantry left the area. Several vehicles remained to create a perimeter until road crews could get out to check for damage from the landing. Varius could hear the dull thump of heavy stomps in the distance as the team of white WarMechs returned to their hangar.

  Varius became distracted as he saw another inquisitor who appeared to be much younger than the other two speaking to one of the KoP officers that had responded to the scene.

  Alexander noticed and smiled widely. “Oh, you probably haven’t met my partner before. Vega!” he ca
lled out.

  The other inquisitor continued his conversation as if he didn’t hear Titus. “Vega! VEGA!”

  Finally, Inquisitor Vega perked up and looked around. He saw Titus waving him down and decided to jog over.

  “Varius, this is Inquisitor Lucas Vega” Alexander said proudly.

  The young inquisitor made eye contact with Varius and extended his hand confidently. “Sir.”

  Varius shook his hand but noticed that Vega’s grip was very strong. Lucas held the handshake a little too long all while maintaining intense eye contact.

  “He graduated the cadet program several months ago and has been along with me ever since” Titus said with a grin.

  Taking the initiative back Varius broke the handshake and stared at Vega until he finally looked away.

  “Oh, I’m sorry Varius, I totally forgot about Inquisitor Kopen. I heard about what happened on Assembly” Titus said as he covered his mouth from the partial smirk that formed on his face.

  Varius missed Alexander’s face as he looked down, his mind flooded with memories from his last mission. “It is regrettable what happened to him. He would have been a great addition to the order.”

  As Varius shook himself from being consumed by his mind his head shot up. “If you’ll excuse me I need to get my WarMech out of the street so traffic can resume.”

  “I cleared a spot for your Spade at the KoP hangar in the main compound” Vega said.

  “That’s alright, I will take care of my own arrangements. Thanks again Titus for the help.” With that Varius turned away and began to climb back up the rungs leading to his mech’s cockpit.

  “My pleasure” Alexander replied happily. “Let me know if you need any help with your investigation.”

  Varius pretended he didn’t hear anything and closed the hatch of his Spade. He powered his machine back up and followed two armored KoP cars as they led the way out of the backed-up streets then went off on his own path.

  Chapter 9