Avernite Security Forces

Avernus has a complex multilayered security and law enforcement system set up by Chief Arbiter Jane Oakheart. It can generally be divided into four separate categories, the Police who handle general Law Enforcement and information gathering, the Adeptus Arbites who handle the more challenging aspect of Law Enforcement and basic intelligence matters, the Security Forces who handle most intelligence issues and the Psyker Hunting Forces, who deal with Rogue Psykers.

## Police

The Police are the most numerous and most visible of the Avernite Security Forces, and the group tasked with handling all routine law enforcement matters. They are split into five separate branches each with their own role and duties.

### Police Constables

The largest group within your Law Enforcement system are the Police Constables. These officers man stations throughout the hives of Avernus and mount regular patrols through most areas. They are generally the group to which any crimes are reported, and are often the first respondents to trouble. Police Constables have the authority to arrest citizens, issue fines for certain minor volition's and to rally the militia against foes of the Imperial Trust, though the final power should only be used in the most clear cut of situations as every use is subject to Arbites review. While Police Constables are highly trained combatants who have usually served a tour in the PDF their training focuses more on other skills. All Police Constables are expected to be highly observant, good leaders and skilled at talking down people whose emotions are leading them into danger. The Police Constables are expected to be highly involved in their local community, both to support the community and to put them into a position to detect cults and other illegal activity. The Police are generally highly respected members of their local community.

### Police Detectives

Next are the Police Detectives, a branch of the Police expected to investigate criminal activity. Generally Police Detectives will be called to the scene of a crime, or potential crime, by the Police Constables and will then conduct a thorough investigation. This investigation may include questioning witnesses, examining various digital information and conducting a forensic analysis of the crime scene. Different detectives have different skill sets and training, and a team of detectives will be formed to investigate a crime that contains all skills that are needed for the case. Unlike Constables Detectives are not required to have any exceptional combat training or people skills, and are instead selected for reliability and their primary skillsets. Police Detectives are often respected for this skills but disliked, in large part due to the fact that they are only met if something has gone majority wrong.

### Police Intelligence

The third branch of the Police is the only secretive branch, and while their existence is well know their membership is kept classified, with most members having a cover job. Police Intelligence members are trained agents expected to gather information for the Police, and through the Police for the Security Services. The level of training that Police Intelligence members have received, and their duties varies massively. On one end are Informants who have a few months training and are mostly expected to report information that they would otherwise encounter in the course of their lives while on the other end are Police Infiltrators, highly trained and experienced agents who are expected to infiltrate the criminal underworld and other groups of interest and uncover secrets. Police Intelligence is the largest spy network on Avernus, though also the worst trained and provides a good deal of the data that other groups make use of. Many Security Service members have covers as Police Infiltrators, especially members of organisations whose existence is classified. There are countless fictional tales about the activities of Police Intelligence, both lionising them and putting them in a bad light. These tales help hide the actual, far less obvious, actions of Police Intelligence.

### Police Magistrates

Fourth are the Police Magistrates, whose duty it is to sit in judgement on criminal cases. Magistrates are expected to be highly educated legal scholars, possessed of sound judgement and be scrupulously fair. They are aided in their duties by a variety of aides, some of whom will go on to be Magistrates themselves given time. Magistrates are well respected by the majority of the people of Avernus for their fairness, though there are always those who have had rulings go against them or those close to them who claim that they are corrupt.

### Police Analysts

The final branch of the Police are almost never seen by the general public, though their membership is in no way secret. The Police Analysts job is the gather the reports of the other branches of the police, analyse it for trends and attempt to detect any better hidden organisations. Both the data and the analysis will then be sent to the Security Services before being returned to the Police. The Police Analysts are a little known group on Avernus, not due to secrecy but because their job is considered to be uninteresting.

## Adeptus Arbites

While the Police are the most numerous of the Law Enforcement groups on Avernus they are in no way the only one. Above the Police are the Adeptus Arbites, who are deployed when the police are insufficient for the task at hand. Like the Police the Arbites are divided into several different branches each with their own role. No matter their role each member of the Arbites will be a highly trained warrior who is considered to be near incorruptible and has a good knowledge of the laws of Avernus.

### Arbites Enforcers

First are the Arbites Enforcers, who are tasked with capturing or killing those criminals that the Police can not handle and cultists. Every Hive has several Precinct-Fortresses containing multiple squads of Arbites Enforcers ready to be deployed at a moments notice. When Enforcers find themselves insufficient for their foes they are authorised to call on aid from any of the military forces of Avernus, though they will not have command over said aid. Enforcers are feared among the criminals of Avernus, and many give up upon finding out that one has been deployed against them. The view of Enforcers among the populace as a whole is split, with some admiring their skill and dedication or knowing that their duties need to be fulfilled while others have issues with how willing they are to do anything to bring down their targets.

### Arbites Kill-Squads

Next are Arbites Kill-Squads, who are tasked with hunting down the most dangerous criminals and cultists. These are some of the most deadly members of the Adeptus Arbites and are usually deployed against rogue Helguard, rampaging cavers, cult leaders and the like. This one of of the most dangerous positions within the Arbites, and those who survive for long in this roll are universally terrifying warriors. The Arbites Kill-Squads are one of the main sources of recruits for the Psyker Hunters of Avernus, which says a lot about them. Kill-Squads are looked up to by the people of Avernus, who respect their skill in battle and the fact that they take down some of the most dangerous foes within the hives.

### Arbites Judges

Third are Arbites Judges who sit in judgement for High Crimes. It is the Judges who make the call on who to sentence for being members of cults, treason, desertion and every other crime with a mandatory death sentence. Judges are usually elder members of the Adeptus Arbites and are required to posses both a will of iron and great judgement to be considered for the role. Judges are highly respected by the people of Avernus for their ability to judge fairly on the evidence no matter the situation.

### Arbites Agents

Finally come Arbites Agents, the Adeptus Arbites intelligence arm. Agents are highly trained spies, operatives and assassins who are tasked with rooting out corruption of all forms within the Law Enforcement establishment as a whole as well as finding cults, Psykers and other hidden targets. Agents are more a matter of rumour then fact to the people of Avernus, with everything about them other then their existence and primary tasks being classified.

## Security Forces

Jane has set up several dozen spy organisations who are tasked with watching over segments of society for corruption or rooting out hostile agents. From what you are told the majority of these groups are actually tasked with watching each other, as a corrupted spy group can cause massive damage if undetected, and knows how to avoided detection.

## Psyker Hunting Forces

Avernus's most skilled, and best equipped, forces are definitely the Psyker Hunting Forces. These elite groups are tasked with hunting down and killing the Rogue Psykers of incredible power that regularly appear out of the population of Avernus, and are incredibly efficient at this task. There are over a dozen different groups that make up the Psyker Hunting Forces, mostly Avernite but also including three orders of Blanks from Niflheim, Astartes from several different Chapters and Lizardmen from both Saurus Empire.

### Psyker Hunters

Psyker Hunters are highly trained and experienced conventional soldiers selected from among the best of the Helguard and Arbites and given a half decade long intensive training regime on killing psykers. These disciplined soldiers prefer to kill their foes by stealth and range, though they are also deadly melee combatants. Psyker Hunters are generally deployed in small Kill-Teams and often try to take advantage of the chaos that most major psykers cause to get into position. Usually a Psyker Hunter Kill-Team is the first responder to a rogue psyker.

### Witch Hunters

Witch Hunters are selected from among those soldiers who show incredible strength of will as well as combat powers. They training focuses as much on honing their will as their bodies, and includes a good deal of tepepathic resistance training conducted by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Witch Hunters are equipped with heavily warded armour and deployed in large units to fight against the hordes of daemons and mind controlled slaves that many rogue psykers unleash. Witch Hunters are kept in central locations so are often some of the last to be deployed against a rogue psyker.

### Thunder Hunters

The Thunder Hunters are an order of Psyker Hunters selected from gifted young Avernites and put though the Thunder Warrior process. Thunder Hunters will be based in every city on Avernus and act as the spearhead for assaults on the most powerful rogue Psykers, a task in which their greater strength and toughness will be tested to its limits.

### Last Hunters

The Last Hunters are elite sniper assassins trained by the Avernite Security forces both as assassins and as part of their Psyker Hunting Forces. Their Operatives are giving extensive augmentations from the womb and are put though an extensive training regimes with only the best ending up as Last Hunters. Many of those who fail end up joining the Avernite military in other roles, and several of the best Psyker Hunters were once Last Hunter Candidates.

### Psy Hunters

The Psy-Hunter Order is an elite order devoted to combating Psykers and Deamons in all their forms. Its members are recruited from among those Elite Battle Psykers and Veteran Primaris Psykers who have proven gifted in psychic combat, most often from the Division of Strike Teams. Psy-Hunters are trained to combat their foes in all situations, but they are most often deployed in independent kill teams of under twenty men. While all disciplines are represented among the Psy-Hunters Daemonologists are the most common, especially those who specialise in Banishing or Negation.

### Primaris Execution Forces

Primaris Execution Forces are kill teams of four dozen of your most powerful psykers. Each of these kill teams would be made up of a mix of Elite Battle Psykers of at least Delta-level and Primaris Psykers and one would be on duty at any time. They are rushed to the site of suspected Alpha-level Psykers using a mix of teleportation and the fastest aircraft available to Avernus where their combination of skill, discipline and sheer power is usually enough to deal with even Rogue Alphas. Usually.

### Blank Orders

There are three Warrior Orders on Niflheim which consist entirely of comparatively powerful Blanks. The members of these Orders are identified at a young age and trained intensively for their roles and given access to some of the best augmentations and equipment available to the Imperial Trust. The Blank Orders of Niflheim are a highly secretive group that is mostly unknown to even the majority of the High Council, and works closely with the Inquisition to counter Chaotic threats. The main exception to their secrecy is the Psyker Hunters of Avernus, who they work with to help put down Rogue Psykers as part of their training.

### Astartes

At any given time there are at least two companies of the Varangian Guard and a Company of Crimson Crusaders working with the anti-psyker forces. These Astartes function both as elite strike forces and command the local military forces against psykers.

### Azure Bay Sirens

Several Courts of Sirens of the Azure Bay are working in the Psyker Hunting Forces. They are deployed as Choirs to help counteract the massive psychic powers that Alpha-levels bring to bear, making use of their far greater skills at songweaving to create massive choirs. This requires splitting the Sirens into only a handful of groups, which need to be able to be rapidly moved to cities where there is a problem. They are deployed via a series of modified Hercules transports with flooded interiors set up for Sirens in which the Sirens can live, and be rapidly shuttled to cities where Alpha-level Psykers are detected.

### Lizardmen

The Saurus Empire have agreed to assist you in the hunt for Rogue Psykers by deploying Lizardmen Hunting packs and the Oldblood Zuxoch-Qa. These forces const of a mix of Saurus Warriors of varying ages, whose combat powers and Warp resistance allows them to charge into situations where any human forces would die, Chameleon Hunting Packs whose combination of physical and psychic stealth andthe utterly deadly venom's that they make use of has slain many psykers without them having a hint of danger, and Zuxoch-Qa himself, an ancient Saurus Oldblood who can almost match Jane when it comes to hunting down psykers.

### Cavers

Cavers are by far the most dangerous and flexible human combatants on Avernus, and possibility in the galaxy. Jane has hired enough of them on short term contracts to provide her with a formidable force to send after Alphas.

### All-Seeing Owls

Thanks to a network of monitors and a new division within the Security Forces jane has taken full advantage of the spread of All-Seeing Owls. She tells you that between their ability to detect awakening psykers and nascent cults that they are one of the greatest boons that Avernus has given her forces. Cheap too.

### Deep Sea Sirens

Three separate groups of Deep Sea Sirens have been tasked to aid your Psyker Hunters. The first is five Cohorts of Unblooded, who are the youngest Warriors of the Deep Sea allowed out of their home cities, and are by the standards of their people inexperienced and unskilled. The Dis 1st are the only Avernite military formation that would agree.

Next are two Cohorts of Blooded, who are the those Deep Sea Sirens considered to be proper soldiers and are the heart of their military. Terrifying warriors with decades of experience in the Undersea Caverns that surround their home, there are few forces that can stand against these warriors.

Finally is a single team of Hunters, who are those Deep Sea Sirens that are tasked with hunting down and killing dangerous wildlife that does not warrant the deployment of full warhosts but can not be dealt with by regulars. Given where they live and what a regular can deal with you are not surprised to hear that the Hunters will consider hunting down Rogue Alpha level Psykers to be R&R.