Dramatis Personae: Quæsitor Maka'ala of the Silver Stars
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| [//james_t/@tangential_contrivances+] |
'You tell me boldly that 'the Silver Stars do not have a Librarium,' and yet I find reports of figures in their abominable armour whose exploits are indisputably psychic. Indeed, you tell me lots about what they do not have, and little of what they do. Of their origins I care not a jot, for those without a future should not be afforded the luxury of a past, either. Of their operations, on the other hand, I am extremely interested. Bring me more on that – and bring me no more contradictions or riddles. At the risk of sounding seditious, I want to know.'
[//Withinlookman Senior Uisheagh of the Adeptus Terra+]
+The following unredacted report was returned by Inquisitor Hasdrel Dieldra on behalf of His Majesty’s Inquisition, Sector Heliopolis. On arrival to Terra, Dieldra's message was intercepted by agents of the Estate Imperium.+
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| [//The desk of High Lord Umbwald Oreangelo+] [//matthew_n/@hobbyguy3+] |
The few kernels of information I can glean of the Silver Stars Astartes known as Maka’ala are largely drawn from the sifting of archival material and necro-cortical transcripts relating to the Myrean League conflict, and the messy conflict involving the misled Storm Tyrants and Jade Talons against the Red Talons.
The scant references refer to the figure as 'Quæsitor', an extremely archaic term; and one that I assumed had no meaning beyond the pseudolegion's notoriously non-standard ranks. However, one of my ink-executors unturned a lone reference in one obscure tome. If the account of The Host of Pentacles – itself related only in the M31 work of an author known only as ‘A.K.’, and entitled The Horus Heresy. Vol IX – is indeed accurate, then Maka’ala’s rank and role within the Silver Stars can be considered to be broadly analogous to that of a Librarian in contemporary Astartes chapters; suggesting that he is possessed of considerable psychic ability.
I have, alas, thus far been unable to confirm in which particular psionic disciplines his strengths lay, though there are hints that he may he may have been learned in geomancy, telekinesis, divination, technomancy and fulmination – which my sources inform me continue to be studied by the battle-witches of the Astartes to this day. Of course, given the egregious nature of this troublesome pseudo-legion, it is possible that Maka'ala – and by extension other 'Quæsitors' pursue none of the above-named disciplines. Infuriating.
As an aside, I feel it is worth noting that the usage of the nomenclature ‘Quæsitor’ would seem to lend some measure of credence to the belief held in some quarters that the Silver Stars were nothing less than a mythically-exiled Legion Astartes returned, with one of the Emperor’s son's at their head – though personally as well as officially, I remain sceptical of such notions. Even in a galaxy as strange as that I have found over my career, such a theory beggars belief.
***
On Coldforge
That he was an influential figure of some rank with the pseudolegion and Partisan forces as a whole was apparent from the First War of Coldforge. Maka'ala was present during the initial invasion of the Forgeworld Coldforge, leading the fourth Silver Stars expedition. He led nearly three thousand Silver Stars against the defenders, and it is from their accounts that I have been able to draw most of the following material.
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| [//Silver Stars enter the Furnace Square of Lode Principal 010 during the First Invasion of Coldforge+] [//christoph_t/@farnessbeta+] |
Upon his head, he wore a leather arming cap laced with cables and interfaces of iron and copper – this detail was picked up by an Orthodox Magos on Coldforge in a battlefield scan. Magos Deforge's analysis was that this particular necro-cortical transcript suggests the arming cap is a primitive form of the ‘psychic hood’ with which contemporary Astartes Librarians are issued – no doubt engineered for the physical and spiritual protection of the wearer. That it is so ancient pushes the case back towards Maka'ala indeed being a Silver Star rather than a Jade Talon member of the 'Kapihe' – and provides some circumstantial corroboration that there are others within the Legion like him.
The soon-to-be-suppressed To Walk Among Demi-Gods. A Treatise Upon the Nature of the Argyntum Stellae by Cassar Illiatauriu, which provides an intriguing – though possibly largely fraudulent or delusional – insight into the pseudolegion mentions Maka'ala by name. Whether the ‘hood’ and it’s protective mechanisms was removable or not has never been ascertained – Illiatauriu makes no mention of Maka’ala not wearing it and no casualties wearing similar devices have ever been recovered for examination. I might postulate that there were relatively few Quæsitors within the Legion; but I would not like to base strategy upon that. Regardless of whether the ‘hood’ was permanently affixed or not, there remains an uncomfortably close parallel between such technology and the heretek cranial hyper-aggression implants of the XIIth Treacherlegion, and their so-called ‘Butcher's Nails’.
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| [//james_t/@tangential_contrivances+] |
Also of note was the sword borne by Maka’ala – appearing to be crystalline in nature, the sable-viridian blade was reported by the (unusally verbose) Magi of Coldforge to 'drink in light' from its surroundings. From such battlefield reports, I am fairly confident that Maka’ala was able to invest the blade with psychic charge through some means. Certainly the reports of 'significantly increasing the keenness of its edge' and ability to 'kill instantly' are suggestive that this weapon is similar in type to the rare but conventional force weaponry. However, similarities to the so called ‘Paragon Blades’ wielded by the Legiones of old and the ‘Halo Blades’ possessed of some ‘Blackshield’ Lords should not be ignored.
Cassar Illiatauri's reportage possibly mentions the pictured blade in two places: in the first having Maka'ala call his blade the 'Mors Animarum'; but elsewhere referring to it as the 'Gladius ab Astris'. That both are High Gothic terms is not wholly consistent with what little we know of the Silver Stars, but it is the inconsistency that more concerns me. Wholesale fantasy on Cassar's part? A misunderstanding or poor translation? Perhaps the Quæsitor simply owned two blade?
***
Whatever his nature or origin, that Maka'ala was loyal to Volnoscere and the pseduo-legion is beyond doubt. He is one of the few Silver Stars for whom vox-records exist. This is likely a result of the narrow-banding of his armour's vox-broadcast system, which had none of the unfamiliarity and age of his brethren's equipment. As a result, Maka'ala's seditious and traitorous opinions on the High Lords as a whole were intercepted by the Magi of Coldforge, and – in his words – the 'corrupt and malign orthodoxy that they have cast about humanity like a death shroud' were in need of being cast off in favour of 'the rulership of the Primarch beneath his father, the Emperor Enthroned'. It is this statement, in the view of the Inquisition in toto, that provides the High Lords with the necessary evidence to vindicate their sentence of excoriation and vituperation upon all secessionist Partisan forces.
Other than the Coldforge campaign, I find few combat dispatches that make mention of Maka’ala. This could be attributable to the lack of survivors/collateral damage so often the result of Astartes-on-Astartes conflict, though given his psychic abilities a rather more sinister alternative presents itself: that he was able to scour the memories of his presence from those who witnessed him upon the field of battle.
Other than the Coldforge campaign, I find few combat dispatches that make mention of Maka’ala. This could be attributable to the lack of survivors/collateral damage so often the result of Astartes-on-Astartes conflict, though given his psychic abilities a rather more sinister alternative presents itself: that he was able to scour the memories of his presence from those who witnessed him upon the field of battle.
I leave the final decisions to you, my honoured Lords.'
+End report+
***
'amissa oblivione'
[//attr. incerto+]