Intendant Recusant

The Imperial worlds that border the edge of the Hazeroth
Abyss tell stories of the “worm that walks,” a nightmare that
comes from the depths of the Abyss to slay the living and feast
on the corpses of the dead. It is often dismissed as a myth by
those in power, but the Inquisition knows differently. They
know that the legends speak of a vile xenos race known as the
Slaugth, carrion eaters who prize the recently dead flesh of
intelligent beings above all other sustenance. They particularly
delight in consuming cranial matter, from which they derive
an almost narcotic—and quite addictive—pleasure.
With the abundance of humanity in the Calixis Sector, they
have rapidly become the Slaugth’s chosen prey. However, for
their own unfathomable reasons, the Slaugth prefer to use
infiltration and human cats-paws to hunt them. Theirs is an
inscrutable and incomprehensible plan, completely mysterious
to those few within the Holy Ordos who know of them. It is,
however, a plan that the Slaugth have adhered to without fail
or dissent from their ranks, until now.
Intendant Recusant was a leader amongst the Slaugth,
and for decades was in charge of certain portions of the
Amaranthine Syndicate. However, Recusant has developed
a taste for the narcotic pleasures of necrotic cranial matter.
Over time that taste became an addiction, then an obsession.
The Slaugth’s racial hubris has never considered restraint a
virtue, and now Recusant finds himself driven by his hungers.
That selfsame hubris will not allow him to admit that his
cold, vast, and alien intellect—a hallmark of his species—has
become tainted with his fixation. Now, he has broken from his
dark masters, taking a small cadre of warrior constructs and
Slaugh infiltrators with him, as well as a splinter group of the
Amaranthine Syndicate. These luckless humans do not know
that they have broken from the Syndicate as a whole, or that
their master is a renegade. In their ignorance, they are loyal.
==Nightmare Tactics==
Recusant’s plans are short-term and self-centred. He is
continuing the raids and terror tactics the Slaugth employ
against isolated human outposts and starships. However, his
actions are driving deeper into Imperial space, and his masters
are not pleased at the actions of this ‘loose cannon.’
The Throne Agents may come across Recusant and his
minions in several ways. They may have been assigned to
investigate a trail of dead, drifting starships and deserted
outposts, and come across Recusant as the hunters (although
they may not realise the danger of the ‘game’ they have
tracked!). In this situation, an interesting twist might occur.
If Recusant’s masters learn of the Throne Agents’ activities,
they may covertly aid them through the main Amaranthine
Syndicate—providing them information as to Recusant’s
possible future targets or even some small details about his
true danger. The Slaugth won’t divulge their identity, of
course, nor will they give up any information that could hurt
them later. However, they would be pleased to see a problem
like Recusant eliminated without their direct involvement.
Alternatively, the Throne Agents may be present on an
outpost or starship when it is attacked by Recusant’s forces,
and be forced to fight for their very survival.
In either case, Recusant’s forces use terror tactics in their
attacks, deadly hit-and-fades to lure and bait the opposition
while fraying their nerves and exhausting them before
moving into the kill. Deadly ambushes that leave none alive,
‘disappearances’ in areas thought safe, and cutting astropathic
or vox communications with the outside are all proven tactics
that Recusant will employ.
To defeat Recusant, the Throne Agents will have one
advantage. Recusant’s innate hubris, coupled with the
addiction that clouds his judgement, means he is not an
adversary to lead from the rear. Should the Throne Agents be
able to confront him, he will be more than willing to engage in
direct combat. Should he be slain, his small renegade faction
will quickly splinter and disperse, the remaining Slaugth
scattering and vanishing and the Warrior Vassals unable to
operate independently and going into uncontrolled berserk
frenzies. The humans under his control will either flee and
hide, or be easy prey for the Inquisition.