Chaliced Commissariat

“They have nothing to fear---unless they have something to fear.”
— Common saying amongst the Chaliced Commissariat
Those who move close to those circles of power at the Lucid Palace on Scintilla, or with enough resource to pay to hear
the talk of the court, know that Lord Sector Marius Hax is
a savagely ambitious and paranoid figure. He despises rebels
with a malice and a hatred that borders on outright madness.
His determination to maintain the glorious and obedient
dominion of the Emperor in the Calixis Sector---under his
name of course---is worth to him any bloodshed or terror. As
a man, subtle and clever, as well as brutal, since attaining his
high rank, he has forged many tools to tighten his control
over the sector and some have been more successful than
others. One of those tools, whose success has been mixed, is
the Chaliced Commissariat.
This special military unit is a direct political and military
extension of the Lord Sector’s will and was created to maintain
direct control over locally raised regiments and PDF forces
within the Calixis Sector. Feared and hated in equal measure
across the sector, the mere sight of the laurel-wreathed
chalice badge and deep red rank insignia are enough cause
for a defense trooper to blanch and consider whether their
life has come to an end.
Though Hax can see many ways in which rebellion might
occur in his domain, what most concerns him is corruption
among local PDF units, or worse an organized and armed
secession on the part of a local planetary government,
supported by its planetary defense force. The Imperium’s
history is littered with such revolts and Hax is not willing
to let the Imperial governance in Calixis, or his personal
reputation, be muddied by such occurrences. To this end,
he commissioned the raising of a special military formation,
modelled on the Imperial Commissariat that would draw
suitable recruits from across the sector, selected for their
loyalty, ambition and willingness to use any means necessary
to ensure order. They would be charged with maintaining the
morale and loyalty of PDF units across the sector, rooting out
criminality and corruption, and ensuring that whatever local
loyalties might exist, fear would override them if need be.
Such “internal security commissariats” are far from unknown
in the Imperium, particularly on larger hive worlds where
the PDF may maintain potentially millions of men at arms,
but the powers, remit and sheer brutality of Hax’s force is
certainly unusual, and has caused controversy and dispute
among the sector’s powerful elites.
Lord Marshal Gorman of the Adeptus Arbites has made
no secret of his dislike for Hax’s “specially selected scum”,
seeing them as bordering on being an unlawful agency, and
therefore one step away from an instrument of rebellion
themselves. The powers of the Malfian sub-sector and the
notoriously independent Fenksworld always managed to
keep their own PDF forces largely free of involvement
through means both fair and foul. The greatest conflict,
however, has come from the true Commissariat, the arm of
the Adeptus Munitorium charged with maintaining morale
and order in the Imperial Guard, and whose contempt for
the Chaliced forces has never been disguised. This dislike
blossomed into open conflict during the Tranch Uprising
when a Chaliced Commissariat unit executed an Imperial
Guard detachment that retreated from their post. The
senior Imperial Commissar in-theatre decreed that the
Chaliced Commissariat had no authority over Imperial
Guard units, and in executing the “deserters”, they had
committed traitorous mass-murder against the Emperor’s
lawful forces. On the basis of this judgment, he had every
member of the Chaliced Commissariat on Tranch shot.
Since the affair on Tranch, the true Commissariat have
kept the Chaliced forces from operating in active war zones
to any extent---much to Hax’s displeasure. To avoid further
embarrassment, the Chaliced Commissariat has confined
itself largely to operations within the garrisons of the Calixis
Sector’s core worlds and lending themselves to “policing
actions” against Hax’s political enemies or brutal crackdowns
at the slightest provocation. It is not unknown for a PDF base
to be isolated, its officers interrogated and executed and all
lower ranks to be shipped off to the Ghostfire-fuelled penal
legions on the basis of the merest rumor of sedition.
==Alternate Career Rank==
Members of the Chaliced Commissariat are not only soldiers,
but ruthless figures of authority and fear within the Calixis
Sector, particular on the core worlds surrounding Scintilla.
This alone may make the recruitment of a member of the
Commissariat attractive to an Inquisitor in need of a ruthless
military-trained Acolyte. Members of the Commissariat also
move freely around the sector in the execution of their duties
and have access to intelligence sources regarding political and
military matters, making them excellently placed to act as
hidden agents of the Ordos Calixis. Equally, having an Acolyte
placed within an extension of Hax’s power base may also suit
an Inquisitor who suspects the Chaliced Commissariat and
those in the Lord Sector’s inner circle.
Required Career: Guardsman
Alternate Rank: Rank 3 or higher (1,000 XP)
Special: A character who becomes part of the Chaliced Commissariat
automatically gains the Feared and Loathed trait:
Members of the Chaliced Commissariat act with a brutal autonomy thanks to the indulgence of Lord Sector Hax. Their elimination of seditious elements within PDF units and pitiless reputation means that members of PDF units or Imperial Guard units raised within Calixis respond with fear and deep-seated loathing to a member of the Chaliced Commissariat.
As a member of this organisation, you gain a +10 bonus on Inquiry and Intimidate Tests when used against members of the Imperial Guard or PDF. You take a –10 penalty, however, when Testing Charm or Command on the same groups.
Note: This Trait depends as much on the uniform, manner and bearing as anything else, and if the character is otherwise dressed, unrecognized or disguised its effects do not apply.