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RESTRICTED TO SECURITY CLEARANCE MALLEUS-01
REPORT BY CAPTAIN ADRESTUS TUARUA, UNIT XVII, EMPEROR'S LIFEGUARDS
REGARDING EMERGENCY RETRIEVAL MISSION - LYCTORAL PILGRIMAGE, THE FIRST HOUSE
Following the receipt of a distress call from Captain Judith Deuteros (Dead Fleet, Dve Territorials 12th Necromancer's Unit), scion of the Second House, the unit was deployed to the planet surface by express request of the Emperor.
We made landfall to discover the building in a ruinous state, with evidence of recent combat. Amidst the debris on entering the main atrium of the building, we discovered the remains of the Seventh Saint to serve the King Undying (may she rest lightly in the River as she awaits our Lord's touch at the Second Resurrection). The primary presenting cause of death was impalement upon a standard Cohort infantry sword, of unknown origin [since requested by the Emperor]. She had suffered what appeared to be considerable fire damage: she was wearing a bed sheet as an improvised garment, most of her hair had been burned away, and burns and abrasions were visible on her skin. A number of other marks, consistent with late stage Heptenary cancer, were also identified in the field.
Several feet away, Princess Ianthe Tridentarius was found, missing her right arm from above the elbow but otherwise apparently uninjured. The princess was able to identify herself, and inform us that she had successfully ascended to Lyctorhood (may the Emperor be praised!), but struggled to remain coherent. Field Medic Siete noted that her eye colour did not remain consistent, but flickered between purple and blue, and although the princess' arm, in all appearances recently severed, was later found in the atrium, the stump was cleanly healed over, beyond what would be expected of even advanced necromantic healing.
In the remains of an enclosure of osseous material, The Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus was discovered. There was a considerable quanity of human blood present on the fence behind her, and across the adjacent paving, but no injuries were visible on the Reverend Daughter, who presented in a state of catatonia and was not at that time able to inform us that she too had successfully ascended to Lyctorhood (may the Emperor be praised!).
Leaving the two new Lyctors and the body of the Seventh Saint in the care of the field medic team and Lieutenant-Chaplain Ottanta, the unit proceeded inside to locate the room from which the distress transmission was made. En route through the building, which was in some state of disrepair, we encountered the collapsed remains of many skeleton servitors, some evidently mid-task at their point of failure. We did not encounter any active servitors during the mission.
On reaching the room previously identified as belonging to the chief cleric of the First House, there was no sign of Captain Deuteros. However, outside of the room were a large number of collapsed skeleton constructs and the remains of an ancillary cleric with no observable cause of death. On entering the room, we identified the body of the chief cleric, collapsed beside a chair with a stab wound to the chest and a Cohort-issue dagger buried in his neck. This dagger was consistent with those issued to the officers of necromancers’ units, and therefore possibly the property of Captain Deuteros. The wounds appeared to be the result of dispatching blows, but neither had produced any blood, although there was a great deal of blood on the sleeves of the chief cleric's vestments. Several feet away, the body of Lieutenant Dyas, Cavalier Primary of the Second House, was discovered, bearing severe injuries consistent with a tremendous and sudden application of necromantic power: her eye was blown out, and she had suffered skeletal trauma, with a number of bones visible through the skin. A search of the room revealed the device on which the initial distress call was made, but no further target personnel. The location of the bodies was conveyed to the rest of the unit, and we continued in clearing the building.
Further down the same corridor, we discovered a room in which a substantial explosion had occurred, evidently with casualties, as, in addition to singing and masonry damage from the explosion, the room was covered with fragmentary human remains. There were smears and trails through the blood made by human (?) hands, as if someone had been moving or searching through the remains. This suggests either that there was a survivor or survivors of the explosion, or that the room had subsequently been interfered with. By this point, Medical Auxiliary Hexad had reached our position, and was able to make use of psychometry to identify that the remains belonged to a single Sixth House necromancer, whose death had been the result of massive thanergy ignition. Medical Auxiliary Hexad is not a psychometric specialist, and was not able to provide full identification in the field, but the remains were presumed to belong to the necromancer of the Sixth House.
Continuing to search the main areas, we discovered the kitchens partially flooded as a result of the deployment of the fire suppression system, with further collapsed skeleton constructs evident throughout. Beyond the kitchen and its cooling and freezing rooms, the unit discovered a small mortuary. One of the drawers was open and the body of a woman who had suffered catastrophic bodily trauma, including multiple broken bones and abrasions, lay exposed on the tray. Although otherwise well laid out, the woman’s blouse had been rolled up to her ribs, and there was a fist-sized hole in her abdomen that appeared to have been made post-mortem. Sub-lieutenant Panca provided a tentative identification as the necromancer of the Fifth House, although the extent of her facial trauma made this identification uncertain.
Adjacent to the mortuary drawers was a bowl containing cremains, set out in some state with a number of wilting roses placed beside it. Medical Auxiliary Hexad made a psychometric identification of the remains of two individuals, an older man and a younger woman, both of whom had spent time on an atmospheric planet during their formative years. These remains were tentatively contextually identified as the necromancer and cavalier primary of the Seventh House.
On investigation of the other mortuary drawers, three further bodies were discovered, along with the severed head of a man approaching middle age. Medical Auxiliary Hexad was able to identify the head as belonging to the same individual represented in the cremains (therefore likely the cavalier of the Seventh House) before experiencing aptitude exertion pre-syncope and being led out to the cooling room. The unit, for the first time, displayed disquiet at the uncovering of the first body, a very young woman who appeared to have been deliberately and precisely impaled through the chest, shoulders, and legs. The body adjacent to hers had also suffered impalement injuries, to the extent that it was difficult to make any immediate identification as to the age or sex of the individual. They were tentatively identified on the basis of the heraldry on the rapier laid at the feet of the first individual as the cavalier and necromancer of the Fourth House. The third body was similar in appearance to the woman whose body had been removed from the drawer, having suffered extensive trauma, with multiple shattered bones. Identification was again made on the basis of weaponry as the cavalier of the Fifth House. Sub-lieutenant Panca was able to tentatively confirm this identification before being struck with nausea.
We remained in the room long enough for Lieutenant-Chaplain Ottanta to finish getting the Lyctors safely on board a transport shuttle, and she led prayers for the dead before we continued clearing the building.
For some time, the investigation proceeded uneventfully, encountering primarily long-abandoned rooms and collapsed skeleton constructs. Several rooms were identified as having been recently inhabited by participants in the Lyctor pilgrimage, but no target personnel were located, living or dead.
On exploration of an upper corridor, we discovered a room standing open which appeared to be a laboratory or study. Daubed in large letters across the back wall were the words “████████████████████████████”. The whole room was wet and sticky with blood and human fat, and it was impossible for the unit to enter without either substance dripping on them from above.
In the centre of the room, two bodies were found in a large pool of blood, one lying on top of the other. After moving the top body, it became necessary to restore order to the unit. These remains, identified immediately by Lieutenant-Chaplain Ottanta as the Cavalier Primary of the Eighth House, were of a particularly disquieting aspect: both his eyes were missing and the sockets seemed misshapen, while his tongue was discoloured and distended beyond his lips. His neck and wrist were both obviously broken. The body beneath him, identified by L-C Ottanta as the Master Templar, presented an immediate cause of death: his throat had been slit, resulting in the rapid exsanguination in which both bodies were found. L-C Ottanta, who does not have extensive experience of field operations, became very distressed and had to be removed from the room.
To the side of a large chaise lounge, another body was discovered, belonging to a young man in Third House livery who had been run through from behind with what appeared to be his own rapier. This body was identified as that of the Cavalier Primary of the Third House.
The site was explored extensively, revealing a large number of collapsed skeleton servitors but no further target personnel. Captain Judith Deuteros, Crown Princess Coronabeth Tridentarius, Warden's Hand Camilla Hect, and Brother Ortus Nigenad remain unaccounted for. The flight data for the on planet security scanners was found to be corrupted, but records indicate that no shuttlecraft were kept on the First House, and thus the remains were assumed to have been lost in the sea surrounding the Tower.
Supplementary:
Unit XVII were granted commendations by the Emperor, to Whom all honour and glory is due, for their efforts recovering his newest Fingers and Gestures.
Regrettably, it was not possible for the Bureau to gather additional testimony to supplement this report as Unit XVII was personally assigned by the Emperor to respond to the tragic insurgent attack on the ISS Archon, ISS Charybdis, and ISS Nephthys, and their ship was lost to enemy fire. May they rest lightly in the River.