Magnolia: Briefing II

'The Magnolia Disappearance'

Lucien surveyed the scene for the final time in order to make sure that he'd missed nothing of importance. The documentation on the corpse confirmed it's identity as one Jericus Thrax which was apparently one of half a dozen covers that had been provided for Cell 118 operatives in this sector. The body had obvious signs of torture who's amateurish nature offended Lucien on a professional level due to the obviously shoddy way the interrogation had been carried out. Too many cuts near major blood vessels and organs had caused the victim to expire far to quickly for any useful information to have been extracted...amateurs...

The amateurish nature of the assault was further confirmed by the way the room had been torn apart by the perpetrators in their search for whatever it was they were looking for and the fact that they had failed to find it. Anybody incapable of finding a dataslate concealed in a false draw bottom shouldn't really be given search missions...Of course the fact that Lucien had four different Auspex equipped Cyber Constructs and an Optical Mechadendrite hadn't exactly hindered the process.

The dataslate itself contained an alphabetised list of locations and a selection of tracking codes used to identify transfer locations for warehouse crates. The fact that this information was worth killing over was apparent though the 'why' was somewhat less obvious.

"Are you done yet?"

The girl standing watch was a 'project' of Sands who was to all intents and purposes a test-bed for various chemical and biological enhancements that the Magos had been working on over the years. Much of Luciens Medicae and Chymistry training had utilised her in one way or another but she seemed none the worse for any of it...exactly the opposite in fact as she was more than capable of ripping off a persons head with her bare hands should she so desire as a direct result of the various enhancements she'd been subject to over the last few months...not that the scenario was very likely as unquestioning loyalty was apparently the very first thing she had been programmed with....

 "Yes I'm done. Lets inform Wroth that his agent is dead and see what he wants done about it, shall we?"

..... .... ... .. .

Personal Briefing Ref –4RTVGRF777HBE574
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Interrogator Crow.  

It seems that this cult is more of a threat than my operatives from cell 118 led me to believe. Thrax was an extremely capable infiltrator and if this corpse that Lucien has discovered is indeed his then they are far more capable or fortunate than I had been informed (despite Luciens scorn for the amateurish nature of the torture and subsequent search) and such threats need to be eliminated...Of course the whole thing could be a simple coincidence but you know how I feel about those. The information recovered from the corpse's location will be given to you on your arrival.  

I have given Lucien temporary access to the resources he needs to facilitate your covert investigation of this group as well as continued access to Sands little pet.....'87' is I believe his designation for her though Lucien has taken to calling her 'Rebekah' as the name '87' was drawing some curious attention. Anyway...Lucien has arranged passes for you as a merchant from Malfi with plans to expand her operations onto this world. This should justify your presence in a variety of planetary areas as well as explaining why most of your retinue consists of armed guards...any one of importance on Malfi is notoriously paranoid. Having a familiarity with Malfi, Atellus should be able to compliment this cover identity with ease. You have passes for all the areas your likely to require access to as well as those required for the local transport system and appropriate authorisation for the carrying of weaponry. Transportation should be provided by Lucien as well as your accommodation and necessary funds in addition to several pieces of equipment that he has deemed useful. He seems to have embraced the 'quartermaster' role that you have allocated him with only minimal complaint though it could hardly be considered the best use of his talents in my opinion.  

As for Lucien...He is there in an 'official' capacity as both an Arbite and an agent of the Inquisition (they believe he is looking into a possible smuggling operation) so he should be able to requisition you any information that needs legitimate channels to acquire. I have several tasks for him to perform that should compliment your overall goals which you don't need to know about at this time...just don't expect to have access to him after dusk. Obviously if he's needed during the day then he is at your disposal as long as this doesn’t compromise either his (or your) cover identities and also unless he's doing something for me of course.

  Additionally I have dispatched a replacement for Litila. None of my personal choices were local enough so I've given you Hector Grummand from your short-list and he should be there when you arrive. Hopefully this is a better thought out candidate than Litila was...or I may have to start making these choices for you....  

To Summarise.  Covertly ascertain if the threat is real and eliminate it if it is. If the elimination is also covert then that would be preferable though not necessarily required.

Signed,

 Inquisitor Wroth.