Alpha Legion: Background 2 - Rumors, Lies, and Deception

+++ ACCESS: Heretic Astartes Legions
+++ //: CLEARANCE REQUIREMENT: VERMILLION
+++ <CREDENTIALS ENTERED> - Welcome Inquisitor...
+++ File: XX_Legion // Report: Covert Cell XX-71-HYDRA
+++ Author: Inquisitor Joruus Malkin
+++ Date: 997.M41

+++ FOR THE EYES OF LORD INQUISITOR ALLEUS VINKOR, IXANIAD SECTOR HIGH INQUISITOR, ORDO HERETICUS, ONLY +++

Imperial Alias designation: The Mobius Cadre
> Other aliases: The Abyssal Set, The Mandelbrot Host, The Omega Iteration

Operational area: Ultima Segmentum - 45% sightings
> When percent sightings adjusted against number of systems per segmentum, distribution is nearly uniform across the Imperium. Random attacks? Misdirection? More disturbing implications if this is just one group: multiple sub-cells with distributed bases of operation? Ultra-stable, ultra-reliable Warp travel?



History:
Information I have gained access to gives no clear history as to the Mobius Cadre's origin, despite writing this report after a five decade sabbatical from field work. This would seem hardly surprising given their established parent legion, the infamous 20th. However, I would venture that some malfeasance is afoot as none of the extensive resources of the Imperial Archives on Horol nor the far-reaching histories of the Scholarius Primus on Finxhan held very much information at all. These are collections of extensive heritage, and have never failed me before.

As to the information I was able to uncover, it seems patchy at best and contradictory at worst. There are several accounts from before the Heresy that place them in different locations at the same time. This seems to be in line with their current modes of operation, as they have been reportedly seen at both Cadia and Armageddon during 999.M41. Before you reply to this letter admonishing me for a fool, let me tell you that I am aware of the typical Alpha Legion trickery, mocking up units to appear the same. No my lord, these accounts come from reliable sources specifically tasked to surveil the 20th, and mark key features that confirm the identity of the individuals in the unit. Either the Alpha Legion are even better at disguising themselves than we thought, or this is the result of some even more sinister mechanism they employ.

Notable Actions:
The list of possible events that are rumored to be attributed to the Mobius Cadre is long, but I suspected that one cell such as this could not achieve so much. I believe I have managed to narrow the list down to their most significant actions cross-referenced with those most likely to have been carried out by the Cadre.

422.M36 - Ten Alpha Legionnaires flawlessly impersonate a squad of Mortifactors marines assigned as advisers to the 716th DeKere Rifles. General MacBeth of the 716th is convinced over the course of his campaign that the insurgents he is fighting are being supplied from the nearby world of Duncan. MacBeth orders an attack on the world, believing that the only way to defeat the insurgents is to utterly crush the world. This attack also turns into a drawn-out struggle, only for both sides to ultimately realize that they have been tricked into fighting each other and that neither one is actually the enemy. The true insurgents then strike Duncan, wiping out both sides, weakened from fighting each other. The squad of Mortifactors advisers are reported to have died on Duncan before the two Imperial sides realized they were fighting each other, but no bodies are recovered.

847.M41 - Apparently under the command of Alpha Legion Arch-Lord Quetzel Carthach, the leader of the Mobius Cadre, reference code Nihdoch, infiltrated the fortress-monastery of the Vindicators chapter. Whispers tell that he slaughtered every Astartes in the fortress. Though many have taken this to mean one heretical Astartes killed an entire chapter's worth of Space Marines on his own, I have determined this story to be wildly exaggerated, as there were estimated to be but twenty Vindicators marines in the fortress at the time. However, it should be noted that the demise of the Vindicators came soon after when they were apparently lured back to their fortress to ascertain why nothing had been heard from their brothers, and the entire chapter was destroyed when a fault in the fusion core went super-critical.

014.M31 - One of the very oldest sources I have found implies that a squad of Alpha Legion infiltrators entered the Throne Room on Terra in the midst of the First Siege of Terra during the Horus Heresy. How they could possibly have managed this feat is impossible to guess but what I first took as wild speculation has been corroborated, to the extent such things can be, by a number of disparate but reliable sources. None give much detail, however. I cannot ascertain whether this is because the attack struck so very deep into what was surely seen as sacred and inviolable territory, or perhaps because of the secrecy that has often shrouded the Imperial Dungeons.

Conclusions:
The Mobius Cadre seems to be both prolific in their efforts, and far-reaching. As I contemplate the myriad of rumors but lack of verifiable facts, I cannot help but wonder if all the information I have read has been cultivated just so: a deliberate sense of looming menace purposely lacking in description to terrify the reader as well as obfuscate the true capabilities of the Mobius Cadre. The implications here are most perturbatory.


+++ REPORT ENDS +++