01x05 - One For the Road

[bunniefuu]

Time was when I’d have simply
walked into a place like this.

There aren't many who’d get
in the way of an Inquisitorial sigil.

But it’s been a long time
since I carried the badge of my office,

longer still since anyone on this
sh*thole feared it the way they used to.

That’s a lot of guards for a place
that’s supposed to be abandoned.

It’s a lot of guards for anywhere

in a festering stinkhole like this.

-Makes you wonder...
-What?

What this place
might have been like before we...

before Bellona...

k*lled the governor
and set the world on fire?

Yeah. That.

No.

This place was always a crudhole,
even before Bellona,

before that damn rift,

-before any of this.
-Maybe.

I just keep thinking
about what Malen said.

That we didn’t really know her,
not like we thought.

We never really know anyone, do we?

I know you better than you think.

Spit it out, Jurgen.

I know what you did on Hykkus III.

About the people who died.

That guy died a long time ago.

-We all did.
-No, Jurgen.

You’re the same
annoying b*stard you’ve always been.

Come on.

And the guards?

I'm going to charm them
with my pretty face.

b*stard rain.

Can you believe we’re stuck here
guarding this tomb?

Quit whining. The creds good, ain’t it?

Yeah, well, beating up on vagrants
looking for scraps to eat is getting old.

You weren’t complaining the other night

when you liberated that ring
from one of them, were you?

Eh, what’s this then?

Piss off. This isn’t the night to test me.

Come back tomorrow
if you still want your teeth removing.

You’re a funny guy.

I don’t think this grox-hide
is listening, Mers.

No, I heard you.

It’s just...

I’m on a tight schedule.

You’re going to be late...

I doubt it.

I thought
we were going to charm them?

I smiled.

And laughed.

Finished already?

Throne. That means it’s our turn, Gilith.

Let’s get it over with then.

Mers, where do you think you’re going?

You’re supposed to be
back on here with us.

To dry off.

Another minute in this f*cking rain

and I’ll be wetter
than the pair of you idiots.

Lighten up, Mers.

All that brooding’ll be the death of you.

We don’t have long before the other guards
realise there’s something up.

Since when did you start taking trophies?

Surveillance drone.

I repurposed it after a little incident
with a couple of enforcers...

What is this place?

-You don’t think...
-That Malen’s sent us into a trap?

I wouldn’t put it past him.

I’m going to take a look around.

Malen.

That shifty little b*stard
was never forthcoming.

He’d wrap a riddle in a cypher
and scatter the pieces just to be sure.

It must have chewed him up that Bellona
played that game better than anyone else.

Still, b*stards taught me
everything I know.

Doesn’t look like this place
was used to make sucrose rations.

It’s distillation equipment.

For refining chems.

And you know this how?

I’ve seen the inside
of a few drug factories in my time.

What was Bellona doing here?

Whatever it was, she wasn’t finished.

Looks to me like no one fired this up
to complete the refining process.

Probably because she wasn’t around
any more to give the order.

What are you doing?

Finding out what she was up to here.

This one’s dead.

Its null-inhibitor will be inactive.

Maybe I can get a read off it.

Jurgen. Over here.

Astropaths.

sh*t.

Shame for it to have ended like this.

I can’t say I’ve encountered
many worlds ruled by a scholar.

Vicious little b*stards.

Sit down before you bleed out.

Just try to keep the scarring
to a minimum this time.

Still, waste not, want not.

The amount of forbidden lore
stacked in this place,

we shouldn’t have been
surprised he was a psyker.

He’s already dead.

A bit here.

A piece there.

The other houses
will be a lot less reluctant

when we turn up at their doors.

You’re a f*cking psychopath.

No.

He’s right.

Everyone has their use.

Even in death.

Throne, Jurgen.

Baldur.

I’m a psyker.

Would Bellona have put me in there
if it had suited her?

I... I don’t know.

He knows. We both do.

Are you sure you want to do that?

Of course I don’t want to do it.

But what choice do we have?

Okay.

Just make sure
you vomit over there this time.

I’ll do my best.

Sanctus.

Well? What did you see?

Are you kidding?

At least give me a minute
to remember how to breathe.

We don’t have a minute.

Get your sh*t together.

We’ve got company.

It’s a psychoactive drug.

Like the filth
you’ve been jamming down your throat?

No. Different.

More concentrated.

sh*t, Baldur.

She was ripping the living
nightmares out of Astropaths’ heads,

merging them somehow with Aedo’s drugs.

-What would Bellona wa–
-Later.

-Time to leave.
-Hold on.

Jurgen. We have to go. Now!

Almost...

Jurgen!

Two more minutes in there
and we’d have been dead.

We’ve gambled on worse.

Yeah, and look at us stood here
in our finery and riches.

We needed to know
what Bellona was doing there.

We needed answers.

What good are answers
if you’ve got a b*llet in your head?

I’m not on a suicide mission
with you here, Jurgen.

Besides, all we’ve got now
are more questions.

What was she making this for?

And on such a scale.

That factory was built
to make vats of this stuff.

A weapon?

Whatever it is, I’d wager my life

it’s connected to why Heroth k*lled her.

Maybe if we knew what it did,

we’d be closer to understanding
why she died.

f*ck, my head hurts.

And more than usual.

Come on.

We’re not going to figure this out
standing in the sodding rain.

And I don’t know about you,
but I could damn well use a drink.

Hmm.

sh*t.

Duke Klore’s men.

And civilians.

This is very far from ideal, Jurgen.

Throne.

Sortha?

Alive.

As far as I can tell.

What are you doing?

Having that drink.

We don’t have time for this.

We need to find Sortha.

Sit down, Baldur.

You should really
have taken him up on that drink.

You never know
when you’ll get another chance.

Duke Klore will see you now.

One for the road?