The Inquisition.
There are a large number of overt threats against the imperium of mankind in warhammer
40k, countless hordes of orks, tyranids, necrons, and so on, and the imperium is well equipped
to war across the galaxy.
In addition to these very loud and obvious conflicts however, there are of course far
more subtle and insidious threats.
Secretive plots, dark machinations, daemonic corruption, and the list goes on.
These threats are present both outside of the imperium, as well as in it, and where
the hammer of the imperium's armies won't work, the scalpel has to come in, in the form
of the inquisition.
Combining elements of an investigative agency, a state police, and of course the Spanish
Inquisition, the imperial inquisition operate across the galaxy with very little oversight,
viewed by the rest of the imperium with both fear and respect.
This video will provide an overview of the inquisition as a whole, and go into some detail
about the various branches of operatives.
The Inquisition was born, like many other things, in the wake of the horus heresy, when
the primarch horus became corrupted by the gods of chaos and turned against the emperor,
along with half of the imperium.
After hearing of horus' betrayal, the emperor of mankind charged his long-time advisor Malcador
with gathering a group of individuals whose loyalty, courage, and strength of mind was
unquestionable.
Malcador chose 8 space marines and 4 imperial lords and administrators, and they were brought
before the emperor to form the inquisition in secrecy.
The space marines would form the grey knights, the first militant branch of the inquisition,
and the lords and administrators would form the rest of the foundation of the inquisition.
Beyond this though, much of the history of the inquisition is shrouded in mystery, to
the point that there is a minor branch of the inquisition devoted to uncovering the
true history of the organization.
The fact that there is a separate branch devoted to deliberately obscuring information about
the organization's founding should tell you quite a bit about the Inquisition.
What is known is that after the horus heresy ended, and the imperium reestablished itself,
two of the first inquisitors made themselves known to the high lords of terra, and began
recruiting individuals to join them.
Although the inquisition is officially a part of the imperium, they do stand apart as far
as the structure of authority is concerned.
Inquisitors answer only to the emperor, and hold jurisdiction over every other member
of the imperium, including the high lords of terra.
They are also officially allowed, by decree of the emperor, to requisition any servant
of the imperium to aid their mission, from common citizens, to space marines, to entire
battlefleets.
Ultimately, the only ones capable of reigning in an inquisitor are other inquisitors, and
they hold no special loyalty to one another if an inquisitor has become compromised.
Indeed, the overall structure of the inquisition is unlike the rest of the imperium, as there
is no official leader of the inquisition.
Each inquisitor is tasked with ensuring the continued survival of mankind, and different
inquisitors carry out this task in different ways.
There are different internal ranks of inquisitors, but these ranks don't mean different agents
carry different levels of authority, as the authority of all inquisitors is absolute.
Instead, a higher ranking inquisitor would carry more influence among other agents, generally
due to experience.
There are three main branches of the inquisition, known as Ordos, as well as a nummber of lesser
ones.
Again, these are not officially decreed by any sort of governing bodies, but groups of
inquisitors working towards a common goal tend to be a part of the same ordo.
No inquisitor is bound to a single ordo, capable of switching at will, and at times new ordos
will pop up as others fade away.
Each ordo is concerned with a specific threat against the imperium, with some being never-ending
threats, and others being only temporary, as well as being of different magnitudes.
The ordo machinum for example oversees the adeptus mechanicus to watch out for the integration
of alien technology and STCs, the ordo astartes oversees the space marines for any aberrations,
and the ordo excorium oversees the specific practice of exterminatus, during which an
entire planet is obliterated.
The ordo chronos was established to investigate time anomalies within the warp, although they
suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Some ordos purpose is completely unknown, such as the small ordo necros, who itself
is overseen by the ordo vigilus.
Generally however, when discussing the inquisition, you're referring to one of the main three
ordos, as they are the largest groups dealing with the largest threats to the imperium.
The smallest of the main three, the Ordo Malleus deal with all daemonic threats and manifestations
of chaos.
The Ordo Xenos is dedicated to countering the threat of all alien species.
Finally, the largest ordo in the inquisition, the Ordo Hereticus, exists to protect humanity
from itself by combating treason, mutation, heresy, and psykers.
As any inquisitor is not bound in their jurisdictions or purviews, it is up to each inquisitor to
determine whether something is a threat to the survival of the imperium, and the inquisition
is known for its zealotry in pursuing this goal.
Entire planets can be torched based on the single command of an inquisitor, and no one
in the imperium save for the emperor, and perhaps the emperor's guards, are exempt from
an inquisitor's interrogation.
That is not to say that everyone within the imperium will always jump to assist an inquisitor,
and good inquisitors understand the concept of discretion.
Inquisitors undoubtedly carry one of the most dangerous jobs within the imperium, tasked
with diving into daemonic corruption, monstrous aliens, rogue psykers, and murderous traitors
that won't hesitate to kill a nosy inquisitor.
The Ordo Malleus carry out perhaps the most difficult of tasks, dealing with manifestations
of chaos across the galaxy.
This includes both the forces of chaos, daemons, that occasionally make an appearance, as well
as the corrupting nature of chaos amidst humanity.
The Ordo Malleus is considered the most ancient branch of the inquisition, formed in the wake
of the horus heresy, and its loyal agents haven't rested since.
The daemon hunters of the ordo malleus are heavily trained, in hand-to-hand combat, ranged
weapons, psychic abilities, and in resisting the temptations of chaos.
They will generally carry weapons specifically designed to kill daemons, but they are also
bolstered by as many grey knights available to them.
The Grey Knights are a unique space marine chapter founded by the first space marines
that joined the inquisition.
One of the most unique features of the grey knights is that every space marine in the
chapter is a capable psyker, and the chapter recruits newcomers from the black ships that
cruise the galaxy looking for psykers.
Recruits under hundreds of different rituals designed to test their mental fortitude against
the horrors of chaos, and if successful, their memories and personalities are wiped clean.
The grey knights handle much of the actual combat with daemons that the inquisitor uproots,
and they make for certainly fearsome fighters, utilizing advanced technology even by space
marine standards and weapons bolstered by their psychic talents.
Both the ordo malleus and the existence of the grey knights is largely kept a secret
from the general population, with many space marine chapters believing the grey knights
to be a myth.
The Ordo Xenos was formed in the aftermath of the war of the beast in the 32nd millenium,
the greatest gathering of orks in imperium history.
In order to prevent another such war from occuring, the inquisitors of the ordo xenos
are determined to investigate and classify all alien species, eliminating any that are
deemed a threat.
This also includes any members of the imperium that deal with said aliens, including those
that trade with them or seek to protect them.
As you might expect, the ordo xenos get a lot of blood on their hands, as there's no
shortage of alien species in the milky way, and the inquisition views pretty much all
of them as threats to the imperium.
Whether tracking down lone aliens, sending entire regiments of imperial guard or space
marines into a war, or issuing exterminatus commands to obliterate an alien planet, the
ordo xenos carry out their tasks with relentless bloodthirst.
Joining them is their own dedicated space marine chapter, the Deathwatch.
The Deatwatch differ from other space marine chapters as they don't recruit and train youth,
but instead take veteren space marines from all of the other chapters, who vow to loyally
serve the ordo xenos for a specified amount of time.
This is generally seen as a great honour, and thus makes the deathwatch a chapter filled
with the most capable and deadly space marines, each dedicated to slaughtering every last
alien that the inquisition points them at.
The Ordo Hereticus are the largest and perhaps darkest of the ordos, focused on ripping out
not the hordes of threats from outside of the imperium, but instead the hordes of threats
within it.
This ordo was formed much later than the other two major ones, in the 36th millenium, after
the age of apostasy destabilized the imperium.
This was a conflict between the administrative body of the imperium and the state church,
when the head of the administratum took control of the ecclesiarchy and began purging any
dissenters.
The Ordo Hereticus was founded afterwards to both police the ecclesiarchy and protect
the purity of its teachings, although their role would of course expand to cover any sort
of heretical behavior within the imperium.
They consist of the most feared agents of the inquisition as far as humanity is concerned,
and their arrival on a planet is generally met with trepidation and awe by all, as no
one knows where their gaze might fall.
The militant arm of the ordo hereticus is not a space marine chapter like the other
major ordos, but instead they utilize the sisters of battle, an all-female group of
warriors that serve the ecclesiarchy.
The sisters are amongt the most capable of human warriors, trained from infancy to wield
their faith in the god-emperor as a weapon against all who would oppose him.
They are generally equipped with smaller versions of space marine power armor and bolters, and
although they lack the genetic augmentations of the space marines, they still make up a
fearsome force.
The inquisition ultimately serves a good purpose for the imperium, but their autonomy, zealotry,
and authority do make them a worrisome orginization.
They are after all, human, and thus make errors like anyone else, but their errors can result
in countless innocent deaths.
That being said, a group like the inquisition is a perfect fit for an empire like the imperium
of mankind, hellbent on ripping out and slaughtering every last threat to humanity with a religious
fervency.
The fact that the inquisition is inspired by real life groups adds that nice extra tinge
of horror to the entire organization.
While the average citizen might believe they have nothing to hide from the inquisition
and thus nothing to fear, perhaps they just haven't gotten to them yet.