“Do not fuck with the Omnissiah!”
— Sanctus Machina
Lachryma the Fifth and the acolytes mutually order one another to surrender. At first, Lachryma thinks that they serve the Omnissiah, like the Skitarii; she has never heard of the Inquisition. She hasn't heard of the Ruinous Powers, xenos, or even mutants. She doesn't know what a planetary governor is, and thinks the Council of Barons rules. She was raised to worship the Omnissiah, but recently was taught differently and now thinks he's a false god.
They hide from the Skitarii reinforcements then trade oaths on the aquila. She says Baron Vaxl, who is the head of the Council of Barons, kept Queen Lachryma the Fourth isolated. Technomagos Fall is adviser to the Council of Barons on matters technomagical and chief supervisor of technomagical operations on the planet.
The acolytes need to climb outside the tower in order to reach the top floor and open the barred door. Sanctus Machina offers to go along with Aenid and Princess Lachryma, while Rollando and Calpurnia will meet them at the door. Sanctus uses his maglev power to fly up to the top level and drops a rope to help Aenid and Lachryma to climb.
They make their way inside, and find the place much more like the environment Sanctus Machina was used to on Mars. He finds a terminal and plugs in, immediately retrieving the schematics and a force assessment. There are about sixty Queen's Scourges and twenty Skitarii guarding this flor which contains the controls for communications, the turbo laser, and the void shield, as well as a section which Sanctus cannot access. Meanwhile, Aenid sneaks to open the door for the rest of the team.
They decide to head for the void shield generator but Aenid and Calpurnia are spotted and two Skitarii start moving in on the group. The Penal Legion opens with a volley of fire. Aenid discharges her shotgun but fails to hurt anyone, and Calpurnia's shot goes wild. The Skitarii open up with flamers, and Calpurnia and several troopers are wounded. Rollando grazes one the Skitarii, and Sanctus Machina follows suit with a shot of his plasma pistol, sending the enemy down. Everybody fails to wound the second Skitarii, then Sanctus shoots it dead too.
The Queen's Scourges rally towards the source of the commotion, but Calpurnia commands them to stand down in the name of the Emperor and Queen Lachryma the Fifth, and they fall in line as a new escort. They make their way to the shield command room, and Sanctus Machina discovers that his plan to lock the shield controls under a private litany has already been used, but he has little trouble discerning which litany, and takes control.
Penal troops start teleporting from the Pugnus Iustica but the turbo laser starts firing. The acolytes race over to the turbo laser control room. The Queen's Scourges here are milling about in confusion – the turbo laser is firing by itself. Sanctus Machina queries the machine spirits, and discover that an incantation has blocked them from controlling from this location.
The acolytes report to the Inquisitor via vox box. The two remaining human bombs are used to blow up a good number of them but seven are still standing and guarding an imposing door at the far end of the corridor. Sanctus Machina addresses them in Tech Tongue; although he does not convince them to join him, the stand down. The acolytes go into what looks like a chapel to the Omnissiah; Sanctus Machina recognizes it as a minerals analysis laboratory.
The Technomagos walks into sight, in splendid robes over his power armour and force shield. “Hail the Omnissiah,” he greets them. Sanctus greets him in kind, and everybody bows cautiously. Sanctus asks why he is firing on the Inquisitor's vessel; Technomagos Fall says it is because it serves a false god. He shows Sanctus another room which looks like the control deck of a ship. He says they will be leaving this planet soon to spread the true word of the Omnissiah.
Calpurnia barks reproach at the Technomagus, stunning him with her audacity. Sanctus Machina spots very ancient code around, and in Tech Tongue he asks about this ancient script. Technomagus Fall proudly answers that it pre-dates the agreement with “the false god.” He wants the acolytes to disarm, saying will let them go if they stop interfering with his plans. He blames the false emperor and the corrupt Imperium, including nobles, the Sector Governor and the Inquisition, for everything that is wrong on Sepheris Secundus.
Sanctus turns to the acolytes and asks Calpurnia to trust him. Reluctantly, on the strength of their past adventures together, Calpurnia agrees but tells him that if he makes her regret it, the best he can hope for is that she will be wearing an explosive collar when she comes him.
Technomagos Fall asks Sanctus Machina to plug in so that he can contemplate the code for himself. Sanctus acquiesces and examines the code; he becomes entirely convinced that this is real, ancient code that proves that the Omnissiah predates all agreements with the Imperium and shows that the Omnissiah is not in fact the same as the Emperor. He agrees that the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars must see this code. Technomagos Fall wants him to continue working for the Inquisition and keep him informed of its secrets.
Fall also wants to keep the acolytes prisoners to keep them from interfering, but Sanctus convinces him that this would raise alarms. Instead, they agree that Sanctus will pretend to refuse Fall's offer, and they will all be imprisoned. Then the Technomagos will let them escape and return to the Inquisition, where Sanctus will keep him informed. For his part, he plans on leaving the Calixis Sector and travel through the Koronus Expanse, then make his roundabout way to Mars in stealth.
Sanctus unplugs from the terminal and tells the Technomagos that he follows a false god. Technomagos Fall orders Lachryma to escort them to a holding cell. Skin peels off her arm and reveals a plasma weapon, which she points sternly at the acolytes.