We when last left our intrepid Acolytes they were trying to evacuate the Cathedral of Stern Hope. Intios was dragging the limp form of the half-dead Lexxicon over the bodies of WarChief Kos’ke‘s men and out the huge front doors. Eugertes Doson was grasping the ankles of the equally comatose Lydia Ya with one hand and a rope that was secured to their truck with the other. Crucius Magnus, thinking all on the team were onboard the truck, floored it, pulling his two crew members out of the cathedral, down the steps and along the main road of Stern Hope. Eugertes soon lost his grip & Crucius soon discovered he’d left Intios & Lexxicon behind…but the team successfully made their escape.

Through what could only be called the sheer blessing of the Emperor, both Lexxicon & Lydia, despite being on the edge of death, survived their grievous wounds. Lydia survived being dragged at high speed down the stairs of the cathedral. They both survived a long two day car ride back to Port Suffering. The Cell finally made it back to the warm embraces of Scintilla, where Lexxicon & Lydia disappeared for emergency medical treatment and augmentation. The rest of the party went through an extensive debriefing & training in various skills and abilities.

Eugertes Doson was detained after suspicious information came to light that he suggested he was a member of the proscribed death cult The Astral Knives.

The Mechanicus augmented Lexxicon with mechanical respiratory system, several vat-grown organs & a metal spine. Lydia Ya was outfitted with a prosthetic arm. After they had recovered the Cell was brought together for a briefing by Scalprum Mazion, a Prime that answered to Interrogator Gaiseric.

Scalprum Mazion updated the characters that the Daemon they had failed to dispel back to the ether was now running rampant on Iocanthos and the planet was now at risk. Its Daemonhost was now Aristarchus the Seer & this unbound Daemonhost was now immensely powerful. It had gathered local forces & mounted a quick surprise attack on Port Suffering, felling it quickly. A counterattack force consisting of Imperial Guard, Adeptus Sororitas from the fort on the planet & Inquisitorial personnel was being assembled. The warp entity had left with quite a few of its forces as quickly as it came, however, leaving an opening for special operations.

The Acolyte cell was ordered to infiltrate the undermanned Port Suffering. Their orders were to 1) Kill whomever the Daemon left in charge 2) Find information on a list of individuals they were provided 3) provide reconnaissance of the Daemon’s remaining forces there. They were to rendezvous with another Acolyte already in the Port awaiting their arrival, Arion, an assassin who would assist with dispatching the enemy commander at the Port. A small team of Seraphim, jump-pack equipped Battle Sisters, would also be dispatched to rescue Adept-Interlocutor Sabetha Kosloff, the ranking Imperial Adept on the planet, as soon as they had any idea of her status and whereabouts.

The Acolytes succeeded in obtaining entry to the Port, rendezvousing with Arion and set up in The Refectory, where they had stayed with Aristarchus. They found ingress into the Port and wandering around it significantly easier than they had anticipated. Tight control had not yet been established by the Daemon’s forces and the inhabitants of Port Suffering made it difficult for enemy forces to identify the Acolytes, even though the residents stayed mainly indoors at this point.

The Cell reconned around the Port trying to identify the leader & obtain information on any of those on the list in their orders. Crucius soon went back to their hideout to personally guard the rope the Cell had. They found quite a few on the list dead in various locations, including the ranking Arbitrator on Iocanthos & the Adeptus Sororitas Hospitaller that ran the infirmary.

They witnessed enemy forces torturing and interrogating quite a few individuals that were staked to the ground. Lexxicon tried to get the dozen or so forces away by planting ideas in various warrior’s minds that one of their number was the Daemon. This caused some chaos & eventually shots to be fired among them, but they did not flee like she’d hoped.

Eventually, Arion approached the Administratum building, spoke to the guards there and found out who was likely in charge – Warlord Cynewulf.

The Acolytes saw a truck pull up to The Counting House, the first vehicle they’d seen while there. After the occupants went into the building Lexxicon snuck into the back of the covered truck to discover Zeities Dyreson, the Rogue Trader on their list, practically unconscious & strapped to a board. She freed him and they carried him back to their hideout in The Refectory. In the process of carrying Dyreson from the truck into The Refectory, Intios noticed a two-man patrol about two hundred meters off walking in their direction.