Inquisitor Stella found herself pinned to the wall. Her investigation into a rumoured enemy sympathiser aboard the Rogue Trader’s voidship had come to an end. The web of lies and deceit had run deep, with some people putting their life on the line, even spitting in the face of Imperium life. Now it made sense.

“Found you.” Stella sputtered.

“You did,” the helmeted attacker’s disguised voice said, with a tinge of malice.

The helmet of her aggressor closely resembled a xeno breacher helmet. The sword at her throat was of Imperium make and the armour was patch-work.

Whoever they were, they had zero psyker footprint, which boggled Stella’s mind. That meant they were a blank or something worse.

“May I look into the eyes of my killer?” Stella asked, wondering who had got the jump on her – possibly a remnant of the genestealer cult who should have been eradicated months earlier?

The attacker pulled off their helmet. Blue skin. The enemy sympathiser wasn’t a Genestealer, they were Tau.

“What will you do now, Inquisitor?” the Tau assassin asked.

Stella fruitlessly tried to free her arm, which was pinned to the wall with a blade. “I was just going to die at your hands. Unless you had any other promising ideas.”

“Tell me your name, Imperial dog,” the Tau assassin asked.

“Inquisitor Stella.”

“Inquisitor Stella,” the assassin said, rolling her name around in her mouth. “Stella, Stella… Stella. You try your best to put your zealous Imperium of Mankind first, but you Inquisitors are all the same. You don’t see the bigger picture, you just want to carve out your own little corner of the galaxy – you want some sense of control in this chaotic universe, it’s understandable. For what it’s worth, I am sorry your name was on my list.

Stella struggled some more – her attacker had an unnatural strength. “You’re a lunatic. But indulge me – I’m dead anyway. Who are you? What’s your angle? What do all these assassinations build up to?”

“Nothing. I am a scalpel. Nothing but a tool.”

The assassin let go, taking a step back. “Aun’Ui P’thun Vior’yo.”

“Huh?”

“My name. And I am the Prelate Quickstone of the P’thun Sept, I am-”

“Your mistake,” Stella interrupted, doing the craziest 1080 degree flip around the assassin and throwing her over the railing into some moving machinery below. If only there were any witnesses, she might get a smidge of respect. Regardless, this caused a horrifying crunching sound from down below.

The Inquisitor quickly made her way to the trapped and barely conscious assassin.

“You’re right, Vior’yo. You would make a good tool,” Stella grinned. “Oh, the Lord Captain is going to love this.”

*

There is absolutely no reason why Imperium propaganda would work on a xeno assassin, but the Inquisitor had her ways. Brainwashing, psychic torture, augments and stimulants. Stella had no access to the Officio Assassinorum this far out – however she could do something else. She could make her own. This particular Tau has a psyker footprint resembling a blank: a psychic null who generated no psychic presence in the immaterium. A soulless one. This could be abused.

*

“What’s this?” Emberlyn asked from her golden chair, looking the new Culexus Assassin up and down. “Am I supposed to be impressed? How much is this costing anyway, I saw the expenses you submitted. An entire Officio Assassinorum Clade? I think we need to talk weekly budgets for you, Inquisitor.”

“Lord Captain… Emberlyn. I present to you: a Xeno assassin for your personal use,” Stella said.

“A Xeno assassin? I already have one of those,” Emberlyn replied, pointing to her Aeldari bodyguard, who shook her head at her ‘replacement’.

Stella sighed. “Yes, but this one is better.”

Emberlyn petted the Kroot pup in her lap. “Prove it.”

Stella stood, mouth agape at the suggestion, before replying, “I will!”

“Good!”

“Okay then! I’ll show you!” Stella huffed before storming away. Vior’yo followed her silently.

“Vior’yo – to gain the Rogue Trader’s trust, you must fulfill your duty. Don’t let me down,” Stella said to the new Culexus Assassin.

The assassin nodded.