Broken, The - Into the Heart of Darkness: In the wake of this encounter, Marneus Calgar realised that the oppressive atmosphere of the space hulk was beginning to affect him. He and his warriors were on edge, their words often harsher than intended, as if the darkness surrounding them was slowly creeping in, nurturing the embers of hate and sharpening the pangs of desperation.Perhaps the Viridian Consuls been brought low in this same way, affected by the Warp-tainted essence of the hulk. The intensive training and psychological programming of Calgar's Space Marines and Inquisitor Drake's retinue kept the whispers of darkness at bay, whilst Magos Fane's soldiers and Adepts were too far from human to be affected. But if the fate of the Viridian Consuls was a lesson, it would not take long for one of their number to fall prey to it.While Inquisitor Drake and the Lord of Ultramar were planning the expedition's next move, Magos Fane had other preoccupations. His trusted right-hand, Alt Seven, had returned. Though Calgar noticed that the little party was one Skitarii short, he did not press the matter when Alt Seven explained that the cyborg had fallen through the deck plating.Secretly contacting his superior by means only open to the Adepts of the Machine God, Alt Seven informed Magos Fane that he had established contact with the Adeptus Mechanicus faction present on the Fury.Magos Fane was thus the first to learn the true identity of the Fury, its purpose, its long history and its importance to the far-off lords of Mars. Although motivated by their own agenda, the goals of the Mechanicus and the Ultramarines were aligned: to seize control of the Fury’s main reactor and steer it back into the Imperium. Yet now Magos Fane had become a spy for the Renegade members of the Adeptus Mechancius living on the space hulk.Whilst the wounded Space Marines were treated by Apothecary Philo of 5th Company, Calgar and Drake discussed their options. With the Ultramarines trapped between two enemy forces and in hostile territory, establishing a base at what they were already referring to as the "Lost Cathedral" made little sense. Although the location was easily defensible, it was also too far from their true objective.The only alternative was to press on, venturing deeper into the heart of the space hulk. Calgar conceded the point to Drake that his retinue were far better employed as scouts than his own troops. The Chapter Master allowed the Inquisitor and his Acolytes to lead the way, taking point for the Imperial column. As the Inquisition forces departed, the Ultramarines burned their dead and held a commemorative service under the guidance of Chaplain Murtorius.As the Inquisitor and his small retinue of Astra Militarum and Adeptus Arbites veterans ventured further into the darkness, they moved forward with caution, for each chamber of the titanic space hulk seemed to possess its own ecosystem. After leaving behind the Lost Cathedral, the temperature began to steadily rise as did radiation levels.In some parts of the labyrinth network of corridors and halls, an unaugmented man would have been irradiated to death in only a matter of solar minutes. Calgar's Space Marines could easily ignore this threat with their transhuman physiologies, but Inquisitor Drake's Acolytes could not. Several times, the insistent pings of the Imperials' Auspex indicating lethal ambient radiation levels would force them to double-back and seek an alternative route.The small party was attacked twice by the creatures that dwelt in the dark bowels of the Fury, great slug-like beasts of slime and filth whose bodies were coated in the same highly concentrated acid as the tentacles of the fallen Viridian Consuls. Bolters proved next to useless against the beasts, so the Inquisitor's retinue had to rely on their Frag Grenades and their sole Flamer to defeat the hungry abominations.Each of these encounters led to the death of more Acolytes, but Drake would not relent. The Inquisitor maintained regular communication with the Ultramarines Chapter Master over the Vox as the Mechanicus Tech-priests continued to establish communications relays through the hulk's depths to guarantee a modicum of coordination between the Imperial forces.With the inquisitorial retinue roaming ahead, the main column was advancing slowly. Distrusting the Mechanicus-faction within their ranks, Marneus Calgar covertly ordered Captain Galenus to watch over them. Although the short Vox-exchange was held on an encrypted channel, the looming presence of Space Marines in cobalt-blue Power Armour at the end of the column was an obvious reminder of who truly commanded this expedition.Perhaps surprisingly after his former rebuke, Magos Explorator Fane proved far more conciliatory than anticipated. When his adepts detected a new power-surge in the Fury's sytems, the Magos immediately approached the Chapter Master to warn him of this unexpected development: the space hulk's Geller Field-generators and engines were powering up to full power, the tell-tale sign of an imminent realspace-translation.As the Fury emerged from the Warp, the Imperial expedition bent all their resources to finding out where the space hulk's erratic course had taken them. Consulting with Brother Ulfius, the Librarian attached to 5th Company, Calgar wanted to know if his psychic talents could tell them more about their location.Despite his best efforts, Brother Ulfius was unsuccessful, the reality so permeated with the taint of the Warp that his psychic screening was inconclusive. Drawing upon his considerable experience, Magos Fane knew of only two locations where this was the case. Given the time spent in the Warp, only one of them could be considered. His expertise was categorical. The Fury had taken them within the Eye of Terror.