Editing Grimdark Tarzan (section)

== Chapter 3 ==

"The magos would like to know if you wish to see the specimen that he just collected"

"What? No, I-", but it was too late. A metallic hand pushed a container against Inquisitor Callen's face, and he heard an outpouring of binary.

"Magos Archimede finds this specimen particularly fascinating as, from what he had been able to observe, it lays its eggs in the eyes of other animals, which are then devoured by the larvae, who will use the blinded animal as a host for them to grow up in."

The toothed, winged insect inside chittered at him, and hurriedly Callen pushed the hand away from his face. "I'll have to look at it some other time. I must see to my... inquisitorial duties and whatnot. No time to chat!" As he walked away from the magos (was the thing ''smiling''? No that was anatomically impossible ), he swore at the day that had seen him saddled with the only magos that delighted in going on jungle "excursions" for no other reason than to collect samples of the flora and fauna. What was even worse was that he only communicated in binary and that damn assistant had to translate it every time. He half suspected it was done simply to upset him.

As he looked around for something to do, he saw that the contingent of Battle Sisters had returned from looking for their sister. To his surprise, rather than come back with a piece of armor to bury, the lost sister was included in the retinue. That was a small piece of good luck, one more asset to find the ''Greystoke''.

Portia called out to him, "Inquisitor, sister Janna has something to report. Magos Archimede should also be present to hear this."

Something that both he and that buffoon needed to hear? This must be important, and perhaps it would be better if he was the only one who knew about it. He was about to tell Portia that there was no need to call over the Magos, when he heard the telltale creak of artificial limbs. The old bastard must have overheard Portia and decided to come over. Eccentric as he might have been, his mechanical upgrades were for more than just show.

"Give your report, Sister"

The Sororitas stepped forward and removed her helmet to better address the two, "I was pursuing the xenos to deliver unto them the Emperor's wrath, when I was ambushed by a greater number of them." As she described what had happened, the rush of memories quickened her speech, "I managed to slay several more of them when I was knocked down and my helm removed due to the xenos finding a catch in my armor."

The magos clicked at this. "Managed to rip off your helmet you say? The magos says that this will have to be looked at.", the assistant translated

"Yes, so my helmet was off of my head, and I thought this was my last stand, when out of the forest a spear flew out of the forest and killed one of xenos menacing me"

"A spear?" questioned Callen

"Yes, a spear!" Janna mimed throwing a spear, "It sent the beasts into flight. And then a man came out of the forest. A very tall man. He called himself 'Tarzan'. And then my sisters found me, but he took that moment to escape."
"Is there any truth to this, Sister-Superior?" Callen asked Portia.

"Yes. We examined the bodies, and as Sister Janna described, one possessed a wound inconsistent to her weaponry."

"Intriguing... If there is indeed a human civilization on this cesspit of a planet, they could very well prove to be the key to finding what we seek. But the scans revealed no such presence. We shall have to hope that they find us again." Inquisitor Callen thought for a moment, "Contact the Illuminator and have them send down Sister Brigitte. Her skills will no doubt come in handy."

Portia snapped to attention at this, and made to requisition the Dialogous as the inquisitor had asked.

Archimede, on the other hand, began emitting a seemingly unending stream of binary that the assistant was having trouble translating. "The magos would like to ask-... that is to say-... if you would describe-..." before giving up and settling on asking for Janna's time so that the questions could be answered to the magos's satisfaction.

----

No sooner had the last hammock been pitched, did Tarzan leave the confines of the settlement to go and look for the one who looked like him. He had told Terk to say that he was scouting the area if anyone asked where he had left to. It was true, in a way. He just left out exactly what he was scouting for. Pausing only to take his spear in case the Lepris had returned, he set out into the jungle.

It did not take him long to return to the clearing that he had seen his tribesman being threatened by the Lepris, and it took even less time to discover which way they had come from. There was a trail of destroyed foliage and matted grasses where some party had come through. Common sense indicated that it was the one who looked like him, as nothing else in the forest tended to leave such a trail.

Advancing cautiously through the trees, he soon came to another clearing, but this one was much larger than any that he was used to. There were strange structures all over the place, and odd creatures lumbering around the clearing, absorbed in tasks that made no sense.

Then his heart skipped a beat. Here and there, he saw figures wearing the same sort of shell that his tribesman had been clad in. Not only that, he noticed more of those that looked like him. One of them was even more similar than the one he had seen earlier, and had the same type of features that he possessed.

He mulled over what his choices were. He could just drop down, but he remembered that they did not speak the same language as him, so they might get into a fight. But slowly observing them was also not an option. What if they left? He did not want his one chance to learn more about himself slip away.

Luckily, it seemed that he would have ample time to consider his choices. His tribesmen did not seem to be aware of how they should properly survey the jungle, they did not look up nearly enough. Not only that, but he was adept at concealing himself. They would not find him hiding in the trees unless he wished for them to do so.

Thoughts of caution versus curiosity battled it out in his head. Both had their points, and both had their downsides. But eventually, curiosity won out. Dropping into the center of the camp would likely be bad form, so he decided to make himself known to one of the sentries.

Tarzan dropped from his perch and landed in front of one of the shelled figures. Startled, it shouted a word of alarm and pointed a tube at him. He did not know what it intended to do, but his instincts kicked in and told him that whatever the tube was, it was a threat.

Reaching out with his free hand faster than anyone his size had any right to do, he grabbed the side of the tube that was closest to him and shoved it into the air. No sooner had he done this, than he heard a loud sound ring out from the end of the tube and a profound sense of force and heat seared into his palm.

The shelled figure dropped the tube, and instead lunged for him with a knife, although it was bigger and shinier than any that he was used to. He sprung backwards, out of reach, and noticed that more of the shelled ones were approaching. They were holding similar tubes in many of their hands, and were shouting in a strange language. By this time, the one that he had appeared in front of him had recovered their tube, and was pointing at him once more. As they surrounded him, Tarzan was forced to admit to himself that this might not have been the best idea.

----

At the sound of a bolter shell breaking through the air, Sister Janna quickly redressed herself in her armor and headed for the source of the disturbance. She had disrobed to receive scourging for her failure to maintain position, but this new threat superseded any such punishment.

It did not take her long to find the source of the disturbance. The man who had saved her earlier was surrounded by half a dozen of her sisters, all of whom had weapons raised at him. He was doubled over in a manner that seemed quite bestial and was clutching his spear close to his body.

"STOP! He's the one that I was talking about. The one who killed the xenos that threatened me!"

At this, several of her sisters turned to face her, but in credit to their training, the remainder did not stop covering the man. As she wondered how to diffuse the situation, the Inquisitor approached from his dwelling.

"Well, it seems we did not have to wait long after all. Portia, do tell them to hurry it up, will you? The need for a Dialogous has quite suddenly become quite urgent."