Celestial Lions - Khattar Insurrection: The Inquisition is a highly secretive organisation, bound by no Imperial law or authority save its own and that of the God-Emperor. Its only mission is seeing to the protection of humanity. Acting as the secret police force of the Imperium, the Inquisitors hunt down any and all of the myriad threats to the stability of the Emperor's realm, from the corruption caused by the forces of Chaos, Heretics, mutants and rebels, to assaults from vicious alien species like the Tyranids, Orks or Drukhari.But the Inquisition does not exist in the sense most Imperial citizens believe -- as a cohesive, interlinked cobweb of organised power. It is made up of individual men and women with wildly different ideologies, tactics and goals, invested with ultimate authority and immunity from all persecution and autonomy from all law. Everything else comes down to what they achieve, and what personal power they amass. Even their precious Ordos are simply lines of alignment, philosophies of specialisation and intent, not armies of organised allegiance. Their power is both utterly real and a cunning illusion, all at once.The Inquisition is, in all ways, the exact opposite of the Adeptus Astartes, whose temporal authority has been decreased since the Horus Heresy, yet these genetically enhanced transhuman warriors play an essential role in the defence of the Imperium, needing no illusion of commanding great power. Their Chapter fleets and brotherhoods speak for themselves.But Inquisitors are granted that most nebulous of virtues: authority. When an Inquisitor calls upon Imperial resources, he or she relies on the threat of authority, rather than any real organisation lending support to their needs.This was the case when the Inquisition called upon the Celestial Lions in 948.M41, to come to its aid to help put down a planet-wide revolt on the Shrine World of Khattar. Few Chapters knew of what happened on Khattar, and even fewer spoke of it. Of those that were aware of the planet's annihilation, most likely did not regard it as a true threat to the autonomy of the Adeptus Astartes, preferring to focus on their own concerns and their own wars.What little people knew of Khattar came down to a conflict of pride and duty between the Lions and their Inquisitorial allies -- the kind of conflict that takes place a thousand times each Terran year across the Imperium's vast spread of worlds. Many of these disagreements turn to bloodshed; what made the Lions' situation so galling was that they had reacted with a measure of composure and reason, when they had every right to draw their Bolters and finish it in a blunter, more efficient matter.Khattar was a world of priests and preachers, of followers and the faithful -- an Ecclesiarchy world in thrall to the ivory tower priests of the Imperial Creed. The priesthood had secretly fallen into deviancy, and as so many do, they prayed to the Ruinous Powers, and their dark untruths carried the faithful masses away from the Emperor's light, spreading to the highest echelons and furthest reaches. The apostates had corrupted the people of Khattar through blasphemy and lies, compelling enough to sound like truth to a society weary of their prayers going unanswered. Though the Emperor was immortal and mighty beyond reckoning, he was in truth no god. But Mankind, in its blessed ignorance, worshipped him as one.Yet false gods cannot answer prayers. How tempting it must seem to those sects and societies far from Terra to seek other answers when pleading with the Emperor who brought only silence. The Planetary Defence Forces of Khattar did not rise up to purge the revolt, they joined it. And soon more were still to come: Astra Militarum regiments in nearby systems did the same, such was the ferocity of Khattar's blasphemy.It was Inquisitor Apollyon who pleaded for the support of the Celestial Lions, for his efforts to crush the faithless lies had met with failure after failure. The Inquisitor possessed an Imperial Navy blockade, but nothing in the way of surface troops. So in the wake of his failure, the Lions made planetfall in full force. Hundreds of Astartes rained holy fire, sacred iron and true faith on a world that had forgotten the taste of all three.Slaughter soon followed, as the rebel forces were comprised of mere men and women, following the lies of false prophets. The Lions utterly destroyed them -- all of them -- every man and woman with a weapon in their hands. The Chapter quenched the rebellion in a matter of weeks. No armies existed once they were finished with Khattar, not even a town militia. Nowhere on that world did a single priest still draw breath. With the armed resistance annihilated, the Celestial Lions returned to their ships in orbit. Whatever heresy lingered among the defenceless population was under the eyes of others then -- no longer a matter for bolter and blades. Such misplaced faith the Lions had in their allies on that day.As with any cleansing, the Lions expected preachers of the Imperial Creed to take over, shepherding the lost populace back to enlightenment. It took several solar days for the Chapter to recover their war material, honour their dead, and prepare to leave. Meanwhile, Apollyon's underlings worked on the world below, assessing the population of eight billion for signs of further deviancy.As the Lions departed, their warships scarcely out of orbit, Apollyon's warship opened fire on the world below. The rest of the Imperial Navy blockade fired with him, targeting cities and population centres. As the Lions watched the Imperial warships carry out Apollyon's orders for Exterminatus, spitting fire onto the world they had just bled to cleanse of corruption, they became enraged as they witnessed their honour burn with those cities. Every shot they had fired was betrayed as a waste in an instant.The Celestial Lions' lords demanded the blockade to cease fire and answer for its actions. Apollyon refused, claiming that he had determined the entire population tainted beyond salvation. He even thanked the Lions for their worthy efforts, though they were in vain. A solar hour later, Khattar's cities were dust.It was possible that the Inquisitor was astute in his observations. Heresy had clearly taken root throughout Khattar's society. Perhaps it had wormed as deep as Apollyon claimed. Inquisitors were capable of determining the corruption in the minds of men in the space of a heartbeat, and a man in Apollyon's position could afford no chances. The Inquisitor had acted within the rights granted by his rank; he did as many of his Inquisitorial kindred would do. He also did as many Chapter Masters would have done.But that did not make it right, or virtuous. It merely made it real. Perhaps Apollyon was merely a hasty fool to whom human life meant little. This mournful truth was one that those who witnessed the Inquisitor's heinous actions would have to live with. He was hardly the first man of exalted rank to have his morals decay in a position of power.Despite their ire, instead of violence, the Lions' Chapter command sent word throughout the sub-sector, warning all Imperial outposts and regional governors about what had occurred and decrying the actions of the Inquisition. Word was sent directly to Terra -- a delegation of Deathspeakers and Warleaders chosen for the task, to show the gravity of the situation.They would never set foot on the holy Throneworld. Their vessel was found two Terran years later, dead in the void, deep in Ork-controlled space. All damage was indicative of a ruinous Warp flight. There were no signs of weapons fire on the hull. It was a common-enough occurrence. The interior of such unfortunate vessels had all life torn into genetic scrap; all metal mutated and poisoned beyond salvage.Over the coming solar decades, the Celestial Lions kept demanding an investigation into the Khattar Massacre. They sent word to any Imperial officials who would listen, from planetary regents to the priest-kings of Ecclesiarchy Shrine Worlds. If any such investigation took place, it remained a mystery to the Lions. The Chapter's highly vocal denouncement of the Inquisition and demand for investigation raised the ire of many important people within the Imperium's most senior circles. This may have contributed to the recent misfortune which nearly destroyed the Chapter.