+++++++++++++++++RECEIVED: [REDACTED]
+++++++++++++++++DATE: 3 819 013.M42
+++++++++++++++++REF: [REDACTED]
+++++++++++++++++AUTHOR: IQST/236470931618711591290568030/ZT
+++++++++++++++++SUBJECT: Dossier – Vaktez Quartet – VLTH – CODE BLACK
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This dossier is solely for the eyes of [REDACTED], and any that he deems appropriate for viewing.
Violators will see themselves declared Excommunicate and Extremis Diabolus, and punished under the full might of the Inquisition.
You have been warned.
~*~
In our report of MDFR, we had classified the crimson monster as a threat to entire Sectors, perhaps even a Segmentum.
VLTH is worse. Infinitely, incomprehensibly worse.
VLTH represents the nearest thing to a ‘dark god’ that freely strides between planes immaterial and material. VLTH is a threat to everything in the galaxy, not merely the Imperium. All humans, all Xenos, and anything in-between—VLTH would kill it all if given the opportunity, and she has a strategic acumen and knowledge of reality that can match even the best and brightest of the Emperor’s sons, if not—Throne forbid it—the Emperor Himself.
Dropping any pretense of my Imperial Faith: If the Imperium can find Xenos allies capable of opposing VLTH, it is my personal judgment, on my life as Inquisitor, that we must forge such alliances—even if temporarily—while VLTH’s plans continue to threaten our very existence. For so long, I had convinced myself that CRNS was the greatest, most terrible thing imaginable, and that may well still be the case. But VLTH is a prime contender for that deplorable honor. The two are horrors to match one another.
It is our belief that VLTH has been engineering disasters throughout the galaxy since before the Heresy, all toward her ultimate goal of becoming a goddess that would fully unite our plane with the Warp. I should not need to explain that there would be no survivors of such a catastrophe. And the worst thing about VLTH is that her plans have advanced so far as to now only require that we kill her to move her final pieces into place. Indeed, she must never die at our hands. We must keep her, and the great terrors she conjures into being, close at hand. We must suffer her existence forever more. She wins if we deny ourselves that suffering.
VLTH possesses an unparalleled control over Warp-magics; immaculate reflexes and combat acuity; and the apparent knowledge of goings’-on across the galaxy. She is the ultimate leader of the Vaktez Quartet, and her power and abilities emasculate her brothers in comparison. VLTH has an intimate grasp on the physics of Chaos; farseeing-capabilities that would rival, if not exceed, the best of the Aeldari; and the patience and strategic wit to plot her victories millennia in advance.
She is an enemy the likes of which The Despoiler or VSHTR could barely dream to be. Her existence demands a response—if we do not have one, our time in the universe will not be long.
Prior to meeting and understanding VLTH, I had had nightmares of CRNS, to whom she is, at least, an enemy of. Now, I twist in my sleep to thoughts of VLTH, and dream of a day in which we have outwitted and destroyed her for good. CRNS is a threat to our Imperium. VLTH is a threat to our existence. To argue one is worse than the other is folly—I will not advocate for the grading of evils.
But I implore anyone that reads this: never bet against VLTH. She will make you pay dearly for it. There is no Inquisitorial designation or sanction I am aware of adequate enough for the danger VLTH poses. Use your best judgment for handling her, and by the Throne, assume you will need more than you have. Bury her in our deepest, darkest prisons, and melt the key into another lock. Then pray you never hear her voice or mention of her name again.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I know I shall.
- ZT
THE EMPEROR PROTECTS
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+++++++++++++++++TRANSMITTED: [REDACTED]
+++++++++++++++++RECEIVED: Coldbreed
+++++++++++++++++DATE: 1 844 013.M42
+++++++++++++++++REF: [REDACTED]
+++++++++++++++++AUTHOR: [REDACTED]
+++++++++++++++++SUBJECT: RE: Dossier – Vaktez Quartet – VLTH – CODE BLACK
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Reports received.
Thank you, Inquisitor Trantos. In light of your revelations and your efforts in containing the situations around VLTH and CRNS, I formally request your presence on Terra for review and consideration of promotion to the honorable rank of Lord Inquisitor.
Be sure to bring the Knight pilot with you as well.
Make haste.
- [REDACTED]
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS TERRA
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***
>>Official Orders: OPERATION DOMINATOR
>>Issuer: M of O
>>Method of Conveyance: Physical, with pre-Screening
>>Date: [REDACTED]
>>Location: Holy Terra
>>Clearance Level: Stygian
>>DO NOT TRANSMIT<<
>>DO NOT DUPLICATE<<
>>DESTROY AFTER READING<<
SANCTIONED TARGET(s):
Any in the way, regardless of rank or title.
OPERATIONAL GOAL:
Bringing the High Heresies of Archmagos Belisarius Cawl and his underlings to bear, thus undermining the position of the Tyrant-Regent Guilliman and jamming the resource-sink that is his Indomitus Crusade.
It may seem that this Goal runs counter to the initiatives put forth by Grandmaster Fadix, or that this might appear to be a means of avenging the Hexarchy. Neither is the case. OPERATION DOMINATOR serves primarily as a means of righting resource allocation within the Imperium and its most capable Agents.
SECURITY THREAT LEVEL:
Terminus.
Cawl and his agents may already be on thin-ice with the rest of the Mechanicus, but he is afforded no shortage of resources by the Tyrant-Regent. Many of these resources will have trickled down to those reporting to him.
The Office’s recommendation is a low kinetic-yield infiltration of the security detail that oversees Cawl’s personnel.
With an undisclosed number of our best Operatives already dispatched to address the Dominion situation (see briefing on OPERATION KINGMAKER, Magenta-level access required for declassification) and the tech-viruses infecting Pacificus, our viable candidates for this operation prove limited. Thus, PARAMETER ALPHA.
MISSION OBJECTIVES AND PARAMETERS:
PARAMETER ALPHA:
The recall and recruitment of high-yield Operatives for reassignment has been deemed a high priority for the Office’s infrastructural stability. In light of The Despoiler’s desperate victory at Cadia and the formation of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Office must adapt to meet the needs of a changing galaxy to keep the Imperium intact. Those Operatives, they of particular note, thought lost to time yet believed to be alive must be recovered, reexamined, and reassigned to Operations of Import—such as DOMINATOR.
A roster of theoretical candidates is attached to this document (REF: Attach.Secundus) along with their last-known whereabouts. The information can be assumed to be credible and as up-to-date as the Office’s recordkeeping allows.
OBJECTIVE PRIMUS:
The infiltration of Archmagos Belisarius Cawl’s stations, scattered across the Imperium Sanctus. A number of such stations have been identified and attached to this document (REF: Attach.Primus) and many are believed to harbor heresies of unknown identification and scope. These heresies must be identified, classified, and unleashed—the Senatorum Imperialis authorizes their momentary, controlled continuation, until they can be laid bare at the Tyrant-Regent’s feet. Only then can they be destroyed.
OBJECTIVE SECUNDUS:
The continued resupply of Office resources, primarily manpower. Recovery of preexisting resources is a priority to minimize time and energy spent on induction into Office formats.
OBJECTIVE TERTIUM:
The elimination of whatever environ resources recovered from OBJECTIVE SECUNDUS originated from. Evidence of Office neglect and subsequent involvement cannot survive.
EXITUS ACTA PROBAT: THE OUTCOME JUSTIFIES THE DEED
>>ORDERS END, DESTROY AT ONCE<<
Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath and/or The Regent's Shadow by Chris Wraight.
Cronos releases this Wednesday, 07/14/2025, at 1PM EST.