Siege of Vraks - A Room of Secrets: The colonnaded forum before the council chamber was a bustle of people and servitors. Hundreds of scribes, servants, menials and acolytes had gathered before the ornate vaulted brass doorway that led into the council chamber beyond. They were all awaiting admittance to the viewing balconies that surrounded the debating floor. Today the great Lord-Inquisitors of the Conclave of Scarus would sit in full session, and many items were listed upon the agenda. From the indictment of numerous failing Admmistratum Principles and Adepts on minor charges, to those accused of the most heinous crimes of blasphemy and heresy against the Emperor and facing the ultimate punishment of excommunication. Top of the agenda was the motion brought by the Proctor General himself, Inquisitor Lord Hector Rex, for the induction of the entire 88th Imperial Guard siege army into his service.Lord Hector Rex was seeking the conclave's approval for an order to take command of the war on Vraks. So far the siege of the Apostate-Cardinal Xaphan's fortress on the former Departmento Munitorum armoury world of Vraks had dragged on for fourteen years. At best estimates over six million Imperial Guardsmen of the Krieg siege regiments had been sacrificed in an unrelenting war of attrition, other figures reached as high as eight million. The Cardinal's heretical army had offered stern resistance from its strong defenses, and each yard gained had been bought at a bloody price in loyal lives. Such slaughter would have concerned the Inquisitor Lord little had it not been for two further factors; first the intervention on Vraks of warbands of the Traitor Legions of Chaos, and second the subsequent prophesy of the renowned and honoured hunch backed Warp-seer Malphius -- whose mastery of the predictive power of the Emperor's Tarot was second to none Malphius' readings had made grim and worrying news.Lord Rex believed the aged, misshapen seer had seen the future for Vraks, and based upon his experience of a lifetime as a daemon-hunter of the Ordo Malleus, Lord Hector Rex was now certain that Vraks was about to become the site of a major daemonic incursion. The ground had been well prepared by fourteen Terran years of bitter warfare. Now the vile servants of the Chaos Gods were ready to unleash their worst allies, dark powers from the Warp made flesh and bone in the material universe -- daemons -- the true children of Chaos daemons were malevolent spirits that could not be defeated by conventional means.There were few forces in the universe able to repel such an assault, which would be both physically and morally corrupting. But the Ordo Malleus had been founded for just such demanding work. Theirs was the sacred task to protect Mankind from terrible powers that the common man should never know about. In order to take command, the Inquisitor-Lord wanted the authority of his conclave behind him. With it he could take overall command of the war on Vraks and deploy all the resources available to the Ordo Malleus to counter the threat. If needs be he could always invoke his inquisitorial Mandate and proceed without his conclave's full backing, but to do so would seriously weaken his power within the chamber and, should his mission fail, open him up to accusations and indictments from his enemies, especially in the Ordo Hereticus.Those enemies were already gathered here in number. The Ordo Hereticus, the Witch Hunters, was the arm of the Inquisition founded to police the threat to the Imperium from within its own organisations. It was the single largest and most powerful faction within the byzantine structure of the Emperor's Inquisition. Their sacred task was to route out heresy, incompetence and criminality from the ranks of the Emperor's own servants. The powers they wielded in searching out those that failed in their duties to the Emperor were unparalleled and virtually unlimited. Even an Inquisitor-Lord of the Onto Malleus was not beyond their reach Lord Rex knew that the Witch Hunters would seize any opportunity they could to take control of the war on Vraks. They had already assisted the Ecclesiarchy in lobbying hard to be granted command of the siege army fighting on Vraks. Their argument was that as the Apostate-Cardinal was a renegade from within the Adeptus Ministorum. He should face justice at their hands and no other. Crimes had also been committed against the Adeptus Sororitas, the holy Sisters of Battle who served alongside the Witch Hunters as their chamber militant. Lord Hector Rex expected that today's debate on Vraks would be hard fought, and failure in the council chamber might see him forced to act alone, and risk the ire of the Ordo Hereticus. Before he could win any battles on Vraks he must first win the political battle here.Despite the enemy factions entrenched against him, Inquisitor Rex also knew that the conclave would have to act. Failure to do so against the threat of daemonic incursion on Vraks could have terrible consequences, not just in defeat for the Imperial Guard forces but the surrounding systems would be next. Perhaps Vraks might become a Daemon World, where the barriers between the Warp and realspace have been broken down completely, and daemons roam at will. Defeat would mean that the Chaos gods would have gained a foothold m the Scarus sector and more attacks and raids would then follow, perhaps becoming a Black Crusade. Who knew how many worlds would be lost and how many souls would be damned to the service of the dark powers before an incursion was halted?All had been prepared. Seer Malphius had been summoned to appear before the conclave, and other evidence had been gathered and prepared. Hector Rex's agents had sounded out the other members of the conclave, and knew that those who supported his motion and those that stood against it were evenly split. As the Inquisitor-Lord donned his luxurious ceremonial robes and the many symbols of his offices he had his opening speech memorized. He joined the procession of the other conclave members as they moved across the forum and the great doors swung slowly open.The debating chamber was an ancient hall, used by the conclave for the past 2,000 standard years, its marbled floor was worn and scuffed, its granite chairs and benches smoothed and polished with age and wear. Servo-skulls hovered overhead carrying lanterns to light the chamber, but It was still dark and gloomy, except in the centre of the circular debating floor, where a spotlight fell upon each Inquisitor who took his turn to address the conclave. Down the years many criminals and malcontents had been named and excommunicated from within this hall, many Inquisitors and their agents dispatched upon missions to hunt down those that sought to threaten or overthrow the righteous rule of the High Lords of Terra. The upper tier of the chamber was surrounded by viewing balconies, from where scribes and secretaries could record the debates and motions placed before the conclave. Higher still, in the intricate ironwork rafters overhead where gargoyles and saintly statues held up the arching roof, plump cherubim creatures perched and fluttered on feathered wings, carrying parchments and messages for those below.Access to the chamber was through the single gleaming brass doorway, huge and heavy, carved with images of the Emperor battling mythic beasts with many heads, symbolic of the many enemies that Mankind must vanquish if the Emperor's divine rule was to be maintained across the galaxy. Through that door now came in procession the Inquisitor-Lords of the Conclave of Scarus. Each resplendent in his or her finest ceremonial robes. Here were the great and powerful lords that could determine the fate of all within the Scarus sector, planets as well as mere citizens, from menial Admimstratum workers to planetary governors, army generals and even, should occasion and law demand it, fellow Inquisitors.The procession entered in solemn silence to the chanted words of the Inquisitorial oath, to serve loyally and faithfully the only true ruler of Mankind and maintain his divine order against all threats. They were led in by the venerable Lord Thor Malkin, once Proctor-General of the conclave himself until terribly wounded in battle. Now he was ancient and bent with age his body rebuilt with bionics. Once Thor Malkin had travelled the galaxy with the famous Rogue Trader Joff Zuckerman, and their adventures were the stuff of legend amongst the Acolytes that followed them, including victory in the infamous Kynbaex Genocide. Behind him followed lords of the Ordo Hereticus, Ordo Xenos, Ordo Malleus, and the other lesser orders. Those lords that could not be present due to circumstance or duties far away, had sent representatives in their place, to vote by proxy and report back on the developments and the decisions of the conclave.By custom the last to enter would be Lord Hector Rex himself and he would seat himself in the large ornate granite throne at the head of the chamber. When all were seated, the litany readings complete and the viewing galleries above full, Lord Rex rose from his throne and strode to the centre of the debating floor, long robes trailing behind him. He placed himself firmly at the top of the twin-headed eagle engraved m gold into the worn marbled slabs and addressed the council."Worthy Lords. I have come before you today to offer my life in the service of our Emperor. The choice before you is a simple one. To act now, decisively to support my actions on Vraks, or to prevaricate and delay and risk greater harms in the future. Given the evidence I shall place before the conclave the course of action that I recommend is. I believe the only course that can see us safeguard this sector from future disasters and damnations. There is no other. Support my motion and I shall promise you victory, even at the cost of my own life. Defeat my motion and we all shall have failed. Failed in our holy duty to the Emperor and all Mankind."The last line brought outrage and uproar to the chamber as Inquisitors rose to castigate the Proctor-General for his harsh words and assertions of failure. Others rose to raise their voices in support of him, and for minutes the furious arguments created a tumult over which none could make himself heard over any other. In the galleries above scribes and secretaries frantically scribbled down what they could but it was not until the calls for order in the chamber were heeded that the motion could be properly debated and the evidence heard.Many had their say as the Proctor- General now returned to his seat sat. Watched and listened and added nothing more to the debate. After Maiphius the Seer had addressed the chamber and been cross-examined, further evidence from Vraks was presented. Others took the floor to argue for or against the motion, and order had to be called several times when Lord Thor Malkin took the Hoot and addressed the crowd, supporting his former Acolyte's plan and condemning those that would block his motion.After the debate, the motion was put to the vote. It would be dose Lord Rex had known it must be, but he could sway just a few of his rivals, then he would win. It turned on the Ordo Hereticus. Although of one order its Inquisitors were not of one faction, each had his own ideas and independence of action ultimately, each Inquisitor had to be his own man - their missions required it. The hard liners would not be turned. But in the end Lord Inquisitor Balzac abstained, and took three fellow Radicals with him. It was enough to pass the motion by just two votes. Lord Rex had won.But, if the conclave's Proctor General had hoped to forge an alliance of the factions to fight together, or at least support him on Vraks, he had failed. The council chamber emptied in an acrimonious atmosphere of discontent and distrust. The hard-liners had failed to be convinced of anything, except that the Proctor-General was exceeding his jurisdiction in inducting the 88th Siege Army into a war that was clearly theirs to be fought. Bringing an Apostate Cardinal and his allies to justice should be their task, and theirs alone.There was no sense of brotherhood or unity of purpose in the Conclave of Scarus as the arguments and recriminations continued out into the forum. But for Hector Rex his narrow victory in the council chamber would now have to be followed up with victory on the artillery-shredded battlefields of Vraks. Now the battle to save Vraks from daemonic incursion would begin in earnest and that would require many more sacrifices, endurance, single-mindedness of purpose and obdurate will on the Inquisitor's behalf. Waver now and only catastrophe could follow.