Adeptus Arbites

"We determine the guilty. We decide the punishment."

- Codex Imperialis

The Adeptus Arbites is the Imperial Adepta that serves as the galactic police force of the Imperium of Man, responsible for enforcing Imperial Law ( the Lex Imperialis) on all Imperial-controlled worlds. They have been granted the right by the High Lords of Terra to serve as judge, jury and executioner to any Imperial citizen they discover having broken Imperial law and the concept of due process is not one that generally applies in the Imperium. However, in those cases where Imperial law is unclear or the law breaker has committed a truly heinous deed or is of unusually high-ranking stature, the offended will be taken back to an Arbites Precinct House for judgement by an Arbites Judge, the sentence to be carried out immediately. Imperial justice is swift and sure, but not always just.

History
Throughout the millions of worlds of the Imperium, crime is rife. Not just the petty crimes of individuals for personal gain, but organised crime on a scale never even considered in humanity's past. Entire sub-sectors and planets have been in the thrall of illegal cartels and criminal organisations. There are even wayward Planetary Governors who shun the Imperium and treat the dominion as their own paltry fiefdom, claiming the planet's natural resources, labour and riches for their own. In these dire situations it falls to the Adeptus Arbites to defend the Imperium's rights and prevent whole sub-sectors going rogue for generations, or even permanently. The Adeptus Arbites is not a galactic police force; it has little interest in petty crimes such as theft, murder or tax evasion, for these fall under the responsibility of the local planetary forces. The Adeptus Arbites is there to keep order on a far greater scale, to root out corruption, maintain the Imperial tithe and to guard against witchery.

From the Adeptus Arbites come the fearsome Arbitrators. Also sometimes incorrectly known as Judges amongst the general populace of the Imperium (this term actually refers to a specific Arbites rank), these men and women are stoic in their duty and unquestionably loyal to the Imperium. Inquisitors often go to the Adeptes Arbites when in need of a trustworthy Acolyte who is trained to think on their feet, combat-hardened and beyond reproach in their faith. Arbitrators are infamous for their prodigious stamina and zeal, and their ability to survive all manner of wounds and punishment in the quest to catch their quarry. Arbitrators are resolute and fearless. They demand utter obedience from the citizens they come into contact with. Where civil unrest and crime threaten the stability of a world, the Arbitrators are in the field: unflinching, ordering the local enforcers, and hunting down the rabble-rousers to restore law and order.

The Judges' methods are varied, not unlike the way Inquisitors go about their work. The means used can be different depending on their mentors, what Schola Progenium the individual attended and other such factors. However, unlike Inquisitors who have their own private agendas, all members of the Adeptes Arbites have the same goal and responsibility -- to uphold the Emperor's justice. Some Arbitrators openly investigate and make no secret who their quarry is, even if he is of noble birth or high rank. This can often lead to overt hostility between the Judge and his subject, although there is no question who off-world forces of the Imperium would side with should they be requested to attend. This is by no means the only mode of investigation; other officers of the Adeptes Arbites are quite methodical in their approach, meticulously sourcing evidence and questioning contacts and witnesses.

The relationship between the Inquisition and the Adeptes Arbites is often one of the more cordial within the Adeptus Terra. Arbitrators often see working with Inquisitors as a way of further enforcing justice. However, such arrangements have not always worked so well. It has been known for Judges to turn on the Inquisitors they have been seconded to serve if they perceive the Inquisitor to have broken sacrosanct Imperial laws. This means Inquisitors of the more Radical factions must be wary when recruiting members of the Adeptus Arbites to become their Acolytes.

Notable Arbites Actions

 * Pavonis (Unknown Date.M41) - During the workers' riots on Pavonis, the entire Adeptus Arbites force stationed at the Planetary Governor's palace was destroyed (save one who had been tasked by Inquisitor Ario Barzano with the personal protection of the governor), but only after holding out for several hours and fighting a rearguard action in the secret palace tunnels. They succeeded in destroying Pavonis' largest weaponry and munitions cache, denying its supplies to the traitorous planetary defense force legions.
 * Ichar IV (ca.992.M41) - During the beginning of Hive Fleet Kraken's approach, rioting began to consume planets near the southeastern fringe of the Imperium. Inquisitor Agmar investigated these strange riots for signs of treasonous thoughts or heretical influence. On Ichar IV, a religious fundamentalist group called the Brotherhood was the cause of the rioting. Although they preached a faith like that of the Imperial Cult, they refused to obey Imperial commands or pay their tithe. Soon after this act of defiance they started instigating riots among the masses. While trying to break up one such riot, the Arbitrators of the planet were quickly surrounded by what seemed to be mobs organized from the complete population of the planet. When the local Planetary Defence Force Regiment was called to help, it was quickly made apparent that they, too, had sided with the rebel mobs. After the assassination of the Planetary Governor, the Brotherhood established itself as the sole controlling force on Ichar IV. Inquisitor Agmar arrived on Ichar a few weeks after the outbreak of rebellion and on the same day that the Arbites precinct fortress in the capital, Lomas, was finally overrun. The Arbitrators were not defeated and most of their number escaped along a secret tunnel and captured the city's four main power generators. Inquisitor Agmar led assaults on the capital, but he was unable to rescue the Arbitrators who were overrun just six days after his arrival. With their final act, they destroyed the city's power generators. Because of the destruction of the city's power grid, the Ultramarines (who arrived just 39 days later) were able to retake the planet. It was later revealed that the Brotherhood was controlled by Genestealers.

Role
While every advanced Imperial planet has its own local planetary police forces and its own local laws, the Arbites are responsible for enforcing the broader laws of the Imperium, the Lex Imperia, ensuring Imperial Planetary Governors do not plot against Imperial rule, and that all Imperial laws and decrees are followed. The enforcement of a planet's local laws is not the concern of the Adeptus Arbites. These are left to the local law enforcement agencies. The Adeptus Arbites also serves to keep Planetary Governors in check; if an Imperial governor decides to skip his tithes for a year or ignore requests for troops from an embattled neighbour or the Administratum itself, one glance at the armoured fortress-precinct house of the Adeptus Arbites is usually more than enough to make him reconsider.

Duties and Powers
"You have been accused, in the Emperor's Name, of the crime of Piracy. You have the right to confess to your crime and seek absolution for your sins. Pleas for leniency will not be heard."

- Master Chastener Grigor Cardainn

Although the Adepta's headquarters is the Hall of Judgement on Terra, the Arbitrators are stationed on almost every advanced Imperial world in fortified fortress-precincts. Arbitrators are recruited from the Adeptus Ministorum's Schola Progenium facilities (the Ecclesiarchy's schools for the orphans of Imperial servants who have given their lives in the Emperor's service) across the Imperium.

In the event of a planet-wide collapse of Imperial control, the Arbites can decree martial law and take control until a suitable command can be established, generally under an Imperial Guard force. Even in circumstances that are not as extreme, Arbitrators have legal power over most of the people in the Imperium. They are authorized to arrest, interrogate, and execute Planetary, Sub-Sector, or even Sector Governors should the occasion warrant it, and can do the same to officers of the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy (although custom dictates that they must seek permission from the Commissariat, the organisation responsible for military law in the Imperial Guard). Only the very highest-ranking individuals and Imperial institutions are above the dictates of Imperial Law (the Imperial Inquisition, the Adeptus Astartes, the Navis Nobilite, etc), something that reflects powerfully on the mutual awe and terror in which the Arbitrators are held across the galaxy.

Commanded by the Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites, who is one of the High Lords of Terra, the Arbites maintains an uncompromising attitude towards crime and hands out harsh sentences for violations, including summary execution, helping to make its officers in their dreaded black uniforms into symbols of fear across the Imperium. The Arbites is, for all intents and purposes, the practical militant arm of the Adeptus Terra. It presents a united legal front across the galaxy - it is concerned only with citizens following Imperial Law, and remains separate from enforcing local (planetary) laws. Arbitrators go to great lengths to remain aloof and separate from the populations they police, often only appearing to patrol and drag some poor unfortunate back to their terrifying fortress-precincts.

Precinct Fortresses
The Arbitrators operate out of massive Precinct Fortresses, located within capital cities in close proximity to the Planetary Governor of major Imperial worlds. Sprawling hive cities may also have their own Courthouse Precinct to aid in large scale monitoring. Remote planets of little importance may have just a single fortified Precinct House for the single Arbitrator stationed there. Whatever their number on a world, or relative size and importance, every Precinct Fortress is broadly similar. They are severe, utilitarian buildings with black armoured walls as thick as a military bunker. Their towering shapes exude an air of menace, frowning down on the other buildings nearby and the citizens who hurry fearfully past. Though each Precinct varies based on the needs of the world it is built on, many include the same basic elements: billets for the Arbitrators, an extensive armoury to ensure they are well-equipped for the job at hand, secure cells in which to detain suspects ready for questioning or trial, and a court of judgement where guilt and punishment is determined.

These resources can vary greatly, as a Precinct with only a single Arbitrator may have limited ability to hold the guilty until the time of their punishment, and summary execution may be the Arbitrator's only viable course of action. Monitoring arrays allow the users to listen in on local communications and heavy calibre automated weapon turrets track passing vehicles. Larger precincts may contain additional facilities at the discretion of the High Marshal or Judge such as specialised interrogation rooms fitted out with all manner of devices for extracting information from those who find themselves strapped to the table, medicae centres containing automated equipment and Surgeon-Servitors to treat the wounds of injured agents, and Astropathica shrines where pleas for aid can be transmitted to other planets and incoming messages painstakingly decoded.

Planetary Governors often resent the Imperial oversight represented by the Precinct Fortresses on their world. However, in the event of widespread civil unrest and rebellion, they can provide sanctuary from the raging mobs and form the base from which the uprising will be crushed. In the case of a hostile invasion, the Arbites may well be the only ones with the means to send for Imperial reinforcements, and their armoured fortresses often become a rallying point and central hub of the resistance. Assistance rarely arrives quickly enough to save the population, but behind their thick walls and heavy doors, it is the Arbitrators' duty to hold out for as long as possible, until the last scrap of food is gone and the last round of ammunition has been fired.

Imperial Law
Unlike the members of the Inquisition, the Arbitrators (also sometimes called Arbiters) of the Adeptus Arbites are unable to freely judge or sentence other Imperial citizens at-will. The only mandate an Arbitrator is sworn to uphold and enforce to the letter, is formally known as the Dictates Imperialis, the laws of the Imperium as set by the Adeptus Terra; local laws are not the Arbitrators' concern, nor do they fall under their jurisdiction, and those are left to be enforced by local law enforcement agencies. Likewise, they owe no allegiance to any local Imperial Commander or Planetary Governor and are themselves above any local law. The Lex Imperialis is a collection of laws, rules, precedents, and other legal protocols collected from the decrees of the Emperor of Mankind in ancient times and the High Lords of Terra over the last ten millennia. An Arbitrator could spend decades researching and studying the law for one case. The Imperial law that the Arbites enforce is thousands of Terran years old and, in some cases, is potentially irrational and oppressive. It could be as much a crime to be kidnapped under certain circumstances as it is to kidnap an individual. Any crime which concerns the Arbites is already severe, and the usual punishment is death, either through immediate execution or the delayed death sentence of conscription into a Penal Legion of the Imperial Guard. The common Imperial citizen has no legal right to a trial beyond the judgment of an Arbitrator once the Arbites are called in to deal with a crime. Other punishments include public lashings, death by burning in the case of certain heresies. With the permission of the Ecclesiarchy, for crimes of heresy or crimes conducted by an Adeptus Ministorum priest who has abused his office, the sentence is usually that of Arco-flagellation.

The Lex Imperialis and the Book of Judgement
"I can also correct you on a point of formal law. We are the Adeptus Arbites. The vessel by which the Emperor's laws have travelled down the ages. We light and keep the beacon of the Emperor’s Law so that all His Imperium can guide their lives by it, and we see to it that those who turn away from that beacon and cause themselves and others to stumble are made to pay. We determine the guilty, we decide the punishment. I have witnessed judgments of officers of the Navy and of the Imperial Guard and of planetary and system governors. I have twice helped to pass sentence on men and women of both those organizations, some of them more highly ranked than you, gate-captain."

- Attributed to Arbitor Senioris Calpurnia The Lex Imperialis, the code of Imperial law, is written down in the Book of Judgement kept by the Adeptus Arbites. The Book of Judgement has been painstakingly collected, annotated and collated over millennia and embodies every decree ever passed by the Emperor Himself or the High Lords of Terra. In fact, the Book of Judgement has long-since grown beyond the confines of a single tome, no matter how large, and comprises countless records, books, and legal decrees. The most ancient articles are written on crumbling parchments, enscribed in unknown human tongues by the nameless functionaries of a forgotten age. However, every day new volumes of parchment, data-records, and encoded holoscript are added to the Book of Judgement, and interred within the reinforced confines of the Hall of Judgement on Terra. Shelves of tomes rise hundreds of metres towards the vaulted ceilings above canyons of marble and iron. Over the ages, the Hall has been expanded and extended many times, so that it is now an entire complex covering many acres, with miles of corridors, levels, and rooms. Scholars, scribes, and law lords pace the time-worn marble floors, while above their heads, on the narrow gantries and ladders that cover the shelf stacks like a spider's web, crawl legal assistants and low-ranking functionaries, searching through the detritus of judgement for weeks and months at a time to find just a single reference.

Sectors ruled by the Imperium follow the precepts of the Lex Imperialis and the Book of Judgement. Over the centuries, of course, the interpretation of the Lex Imperialis by various Sector Lords and Judges became more and more bloated and unwieldy from numerous additions, amendments, exceptions, and clauses, the result of interpreting Imperial law to the needs of specific locales. There exists a veritable army of thousands of clerks, litigants, and barristers toiling away on a sector's capital world just to interpret its ever evolving decrees and dicta. Indeed, the most astute Rogue Traders, trade houses, and merchant interests keep their own teams of legal scholars in their employ, both to keep them abreast of the current state of law in a given sector where they do business as well as to give them protection and guidance should they become embroiled in legal proceedings. Rogue Traders often send one of their cargo vessels to a sector's capital world once a decade to obtain the most up-to-date records of the Lex Imperialis as interpreted by that sector's law.

Every Adeptus Arbites Judge, at some point in his career, attempts a pilgrimage to the Hall of Judgement on Terra, there to study the full intricacies of Imperial law. Many spend long years there, for the most heinous, subtle, or far-reaching crimes often require a lengthy process of research to pass judgement. While the Dictates Imperialis are extensive, the huge volume of prior cases and sometimes contradictory rulings can make it difficult to determine the correct decision. In especially complex cases, it may take centuries to reach an outcome -- a Judge may spend his entire life deliberating, scrutinising, and trying to fathom out the issues, only to pass his work on, unfinished, for others to continue. Millennia later, though the accused are long dead, a ruling is finally made and justice must be meted out upon the distant descendants and those obscurely associated with the original transgressor.

The Lex Imperialis and the Calixis Sector
The codified Lex Imperialis is a labyrinth of laws and ordinances that govern the Imperium's scattered worlds. Imperial law is, for the most part, brutal and unyielding, yet understanding every nuance of its breadth and scope is an impossible task. In addition, the Lex Imperialis can be interpreted with a myriad of minute differences across the galaxy, which are as many as the innumerable different human cultures that comprise the Imperium itself. More importantly, the Lex Imperialis does not deal with the laws of specific planets. Instead, it deals with the rule of the Imperium: in other words, the Imperial Tithe and the legal workings of the Imperium as a whole, the law codes that bind the human-settled galaxy together within a single, if feudal, interstellar government.

Within the Calixis Sector, the Adeptus Arbites and other Imperial agents tend towards a fairly "average" interpretation of the Lex Imperialis, if such an interpretation can be said to exist. Of course, even then each Judge and Arbitrator has their own interpretation of the finer points of Imperial law, and each one's view of the Lex Imperialis is different.

Investigations
In special cases, Arbitrators may be granted a considerable degree of independence and latitude in pursuing transgressors of the law. This may take them away from their regular duties for extended periods and even necessitate travel off-planet, if that is where the trail leads. It is hardly surprising then, if their inquiries bring them to the notice of an Inquisitor, who may request their ongoing services as an Acolyte. This is usually a harmonious relationship, as both are implacable servants of the Imperium and are dedicated to rooting out those that would see it fall, and many Inquisitors count Arbitrators among their most trusted servants. Of course, Inquisitors are invested with completely discretionary powers to determine a course of action and punishment, in stark contrast to the iron dictates of the law that the Arbitrators must follow.

Any bending of the rules or leniency granted to wrongdoers by the Inquisition in return for information and favours may well cause friction. As such, members of the Adeptus Arbites are better suited as the Acolytes of Puritan Inquisitors. It is not unheard of for Arbitrator Acolytes to turn upon Radical Inquisitors if they perceive an unforgivable law has been broken. The sponsorship of an Inquisitor can provide a considerable boost to the career of an Arbitrator. The word of a senior member of the Ordos goes a long way to improving the chances of an Arbitrator in being elevated to the high rank of Judge. Of course, the Inquisitor will then expect the Judge to serve him as well as the Arbites, gaining by extension the Judge's sweeping power and Imperial authority at a level few other Inquisitorial agents possess. In fact, given a Judge's great standing and responsibility, his relationship with an Inquisitor is often something close to an equal partnership. Facing such a combination, the enemies of the Imperium will surely fall.

Adepta Organisation
The overall leader of the Adeptus Arbites is the Grand Provost Marshal, who represents the Arbitrators on the Senatorum Imperialis as one of the High Lords of Terra. Below the Grand Provost Marshal are the senior Arbites officers known as the Marshals of the Court who oversee sector-spanning administrative jurisdictions that are called Precincts. Below the Marshals of the Court, the Arbites are internally divided into two primary divisions; the Judges, who deal with actual legal matters and the application of ten thousand Terran years of Imperial law to criminal and civil cases, and Arbitrators, the paramilitary law enforcement arm of the Arbites who perform the work necessary to apprehend and punish those who break the dictates of the Lex Imperia.

Arbitrators and Judges operate in parallel organisations within the Adeptus Arbites, though the two separate organisations joining at the highest ranks when senior Judges and Arbitrators are raised to become Marshals of the Court. Senior Arbites fulfill both roles, with Judges getting their hands dirty apprehending criminals in the field, and Arbitrators learning to preside over lengthy court trials.

There are numerous ranks and roles within each of the Arbites divisions, such as the squads of Verispex technicians who provide forensic evidence drawn from a crime scene to the Judges and Arbitrators, the Chaplains who provide the spiritual sustenance of the Imperial Cult to the Arbitrators and the Chasteners who are experts in the psychological and physical interrogation of prisoners. For their part, the Arbitrators are divided into many different functional roles, each trained and equipped accordingly. Patrol Groups of Arbitrators prowl the dangerous Underhives of hive cities, Shock Troops break up the vicious queue wars which often develop outside Imperial government buildings belonging to the bureaucrats of the Administratum, Execution Teams hound the guilty through barren wastes and labyrinthine tunnels, and Snatch Squads apprehend targets for interrogation by the Chasteners. Other kinds of Arbitrators include cyber-warfare specialists who apprehend cyber-criminals through the Cogitator matrices of the Administratum and specialists who carry out more long-term investigations who are known as Arbitrator Detectives. Senior Arbitrators are often awarded the rank of Proctor and placed in command of the different types of Arbitrator squad.

Arbites installations are maintained on almost every Imperial world and are known as precinct courthouses. Each precinct courthouse includes an armoured installation that serves as an armoury, training ground, barracks, prison and judgment hall. In order to remain fully aloof and separate from the populations they patrol, Precincts are as close to fully-enclosed and fortified cities as they can be, and include dungeons, barracks, firing ranges, scriptories, archives, warehouses, kitchens, gymnasia and garages. They include all possible resources that the Arbitrators require -- including their own Astropath facilities and access to orbital docks. These courthouses are intended to be self-sufficient and to support a complete Arbites army and they are equipped as such.

Amongst the most highly trained and disciplined individuals in the Imperium, Arbitrators may find themselves commissioned to join the retinue of an Inquisitor as an Inquisitorial Acolyte. The Arbites has strong ties with the Ordo Hereticus, and the two can often be found working towards common goals. Arbitrators in these retinues are often known as "Enforcers", having been released from their single-world jurisdiction, and free to punish law-breakers wherever they may be.

Recruitment and Promotion
Arbitrators are recruited from exceptional members of the Schola Progenium from all over the Imperium. This organisation fosters the orphaned children of high-ranking Imperial servants (whether they are scholars, scribes, or soldiers) and grooms them for their own life of dedicated service. Those chosen for service in the Adeptus Arbites are selected for a variety of reasons. Such candidates could be those who dominated their fellow progenia though force of will, or those who show an attention to detail and an analytical mind. Ultimately, any candidate must be exceptional if they are to serve within the Adeptus Arbites. It is ensured that new Arbitrators have no ties or connections whatsoever to the world on which they are to be stationed, so there is no weakness for blackmail or coercion to exploit -- Arbitrators are famously incorruptible.

Though the term "Arbitrator," is often used to indicate the members of the Adeptus Arbites as a whole, there are in fact many ranks within a given sector that may be bestowed upon such individuals. These titles are selected for each world or sub-sector to instil fear in the local culture. In a sector rife with heresy (such as the Calixis Sector) it is crucial that an Adeptus Arbites officer is instantly obeyed. Therefore, a Lord Marshal might allow individual precincts to title their officers as they best see fit, and these titles often deviate greatly from precinct to precinct. Furthermore, specialists found within a sector often find their titles altered, even from one locale to another.

Once trained and deployed on-world, the lowest ranks are most commonly seen patrolling the streets in small squads, discouraging trouble by their menacing presence. This is especially true in many of the hive cities of a highly populated Hive World, which serve as a proving and burial ground for many fledgling Arbitrators. Those novice Arbitrators who prove themselves may be promoted to the ranks of Investigator, a title chosen to strike fear into the nobles of an Imperial world, who have many secrets. Some may show themselves to be highly capable in the field, even in high pressure, life-threatening situations, and be tasked with guiding field operations. Others are tireless at rooting out evidence and leads, as well as having an excellent command of Imperial law and how to apply it, and they may be promoted to even higher ranks.

Many Lord Marshals value skill, tenacity, and faith, and to that end, higher and more specialised appointments are awarded to those officers with exceptional talents in particular areas. Those who truly excel in the detection of crime may become the ultimate spymasters, tacticians, and forensic experts. No wrongdoer is too well-hidden to escape their notice or evade their cunningly laid traps. Those who specialise in trial and prosecution, who boast an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Lex Imperialis and a gift for oratory and incisive accusation, may be tasked with presiding over glorious show-trials and passing judgement upon those great individuals who have failed in their duties to the Emperor.

Arbitrators whose particular skills lie in the application of extreme brutality and military force or the command of men in battle, and who have proven time and again that they are nigh impossible to kill, may be promoted to the level of Proctor or Marshal. Proctors derive their name from ancient military traditions in the underhive of Gunmetal city, a term that carries with it an air of divine justice. They specialise in crushing riots and insurrection in the most hostile of districts deep within a hive city's steel and iron caverns. Arbites High Marshals are the commanders who control the deployment of resources across the precincts of an entire planet or even multiple planetary systems. They serve at the direct appointment of the Lord Marshal, and there is no higher Imperial legal authority on a planet, unless an Inquisitor decides to "open a dialogue" on the subject. It is they who bear the heavy burden of allocating men and equipment, trusting to their own judgement and the Emperor's will that their forces will be in the right place at the right time. A few remarkable individuals may, after a long and illustrious career, be elevated to the rank of Judge. Judges are iron-willed lords of justice, who have far-reaching powers, an extraordinary mandate, and influence not far below that of an Inquisitor. They investigate and sit in judgement over those who commit the most heinous crimes, and will go to any lengths to pursue and capture or destroy a perpetrator.

All Arbitrators of high rank will readily deliver their sentence personally, through the barrel of a gun, and have the power to deploy the uncompromising force of the Arbitrators when it is necessary. Should the need arise, perhaps if an entire planet has fallen to civil unrest, they even have the influence to request, and receive, the full might of the Imperial Guard to restore the Pax Imperialis (though in such cases, the population of the planet is often substantially reduced). It should be noted that while the Adeptus Arbites enforce galaxy-wide Imperial law, every world and star system will have its own laws, inherited through tradition or imposed by autocratic ruling families and severe Planetary Governors. Each world's rulers will maintain their own policing force, recruited locally, and often outnumbering the Arbitrators a thousand to one -- these local law enforcement officers are commonly known in Imperial jargon simply as Enforcers, though they are each called by their own title on each world they serve. These native Enforcers often mimic the Arbites in appearance, but their local ties and often less rigorous standards mean that they are far more susceptible to corruption. The objectives of local Enforcers and Imperial Arbitrators often overlap, and the two work in conjunction when it is mutually beneficial. However, there are also occasions when they come into direct conflict.

In practice, the Arbitrators are tasked to punish criminal activity, root out cultists and illegal gatherings, eliminate organised gangs, and are often unleashed en masse to quell riots. They must be as willing to dispense justice as they are to pronounce it. Often the punishment will be a swift bullet to the brain (or the perpetrator will have expired during the process of apprehension and interrogation). Other sentences, amongst the hundreds of thousands available in Imperial law, include flogging, limb amputation, exile to a prison world, condemnation to a Penal Legion, public execution, or conversion into a Servitor. Arbitrators have the power to commandeer local enforcers and other resources such as ground vehicles or air transportation, the services of freelance bounty hunters if their own manpower is lacking, and in dire circumstances can summon Imperial military assistance. Their authority supersedes even that of the local Planetary Governor, who will be closely scrutinized if there is any suspicion that his duties are not being undertaken with all due diligence.

If the governor is late in the payment of tithes, is less than thorough in enforcing the population's proper worship of the God-Emperor, or is tempted to decline sending troops to the aid of an embattled neighbour, the Arbites will be watching. In times of crisis and conflict, it is possible that a Planetary Governor may be assassinated, deposed, incapacitated, or even implicated in one of the Arbites' investigations. If this should happen, then the highest-ranking member of the Adeptus Arbites available on the world has the authority to temporarily take over rulership of the world, until a suitable replacement can be put in place. This duty generally falls to an Arbitrator with the rank of Judge or Marshal, but where an isolated world has only a token Imperial presence, even the lowest ranked Arbitrators have, on rare occasion, stepped in to fill the breach.

Arbitrator Ranks

 * Grand Provost Marshal - The Grand Provost Marshal is the leader of the Adeptus Arbites and sets its overall policy from the Hall of Judgement on Terra. The Grand Provost Marshal also is considered a High Lord of Terra and sits on the Senatorum Imperialis, the collective ruling body of the Imperium.
 * Lord Marshal - As the Imperium is mighty so too is the Lord Marshal. His will is not blunted by the petty whims of circumstance. The cold rule of law is his only measure, and woe betide those that fall short. A Lord Marshal commands the Arbites presence of an entire Imperial sector.
 * Justicar - The Justicar is a senior and highly decorated Marshal who brings the light of the Emperor's judgement to decadent nobles, corrupt officials of the Adeptus Terra and local planetary administrations and worlds brought low by dark worship. Justicars are rare individuals within the Arbities hierarchy, but where they can be found they normally command the Arbites presence on an entire Imperial world or across several star systems. Justicars are powerful officials within the Arbites hierarchy who may be tasked by their Lord Marshal or even the Grand Provost Marshal himself with troubleshooting duties spanning an entire sector or even several regions of the Imperium where the Emperor's justice has dimmed.
 * Marshal - A high administrative rank, comparable to a Magistrate but with increased seniority, Marshals take the rule of law to the darkest dens of scum and depravity, dispensing Imperial justice in a bright arc of muzzle flare. Marshals normally command the Arbites presence on an entire Imperial world or even several star systems.
 * Magistrate - A Magistrate is a senior and highly experienced Judge who rules upon intricate cases of heresy and sedition. By dispensing death, they keep the soul of the Imperium alive. Magistrates hear and decide the most difficult of cases to come before the Arbites.
 * Judge - A Judge is a senior Arbitrator whose experience and knowledge of the law has given him the right to hear the more difficult cases that come before the Arbites and to command his fellow Arbitrators in the field and in the precinct House. Judges are often the highest-ranking Arbitrator in a given Precinct if there is more than one Arbites Precinct on a world. Judges often work closely with the Arbites' Chasteners and pronounce sentences over any prisoners held within their Precinct courthouse, though any Arbitrator also has the authority to proclaim sentences and execute those sentences in the field. Most Judges deal with crimes of a more high-profile nature or where the correct sentence under Imperial law is unclear to the arresting Arbitrator. Most Judges were originally Arbitrators themselves who were promoted upwards in the organisation.
 * Proctor - A lateral rank, comparable to an Intelligencer, Proctors lead Adeptes Arbites riot squads and suppression forces against highly armed, and highly foolish, criminals.
 * Intelligencer - Intelligencers are those Arbitrators who serve as the Arbites' spymasters, tacticians and forensic experts. Their powerful intellect is matched only by their dedication to the Imperium.
 * Investigator - Investigators are skilled and experienced Arbitrators who learn the arts of inquiry, using contacts, charm and dirty tactics to uncover the truth. Investigators are usually veteran Arbitrators who are the Imperial equivalent of real world police detectives.
 * Arbitrator - Arbitrators are guardians of order and the rule of law within the Imperium. Implacable, unrelenting, and nigh-on impossible to kill; they are the Emperor's justice manifest. They are the most common rank of Arbitrator an ordinary Imperial citizen will come into contact with, usually to his or her misfortune if they have broken the law.
 * Regulator - Regulators take the law to the underworld, holding their own against any who challenge the Emperor's law.
 * Enforcer - An Enforcer is taught how to keep order in the most desperate situations, standing shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Arbitrators.
 * Trooper - The most junior rank within the Adeptus Arbites hierarchy, a Trooper is drilled in combat and his duties to the Imperium. He is stout of heart and eager to enforce the Emperor's law.

Arbitrator Squads
A standard Arbites Patrol Group or Squad will either consist of five, ten, fifteen or twenty Arbitrators, led by a squad leader (included in the number of the squad, and usually called a "Proctor") and armed with Shotguns, Suppression Shields and Power Mauls, as well as an array of grenades (Frag, Krak, Smoke, Blind, and several other types, depending on the situation). Arbitrators are trained to intermingle with other squads in the event of casualties, meaning that even if one squad loses several members, it can easily disperse to fill the gaps in nearby units, or fall back for reinforcements and resupply before plunging back into the fighting once more.

Traditionally, larger squads of fifteen to twenty Arbitrators are only used in extended combat actions; where greater numbers are needed for tougher jobs such as storming a gatehouse or defending a vital area. In serious attacks, Shock Troop Squads (Arbitrators trained in paramilitary techniques to break enemy positions), organised into units of ten, will lead the way. Although these grim-faced men and women are equipped in exactly the same way as the standard Arbites Patrol Squads (albeit with larger grenade and ammunition stores, since they cannot be expected to fall back and restock as frequently as their more mundane counterparts) they probably receive extra training, as they are considered the elite troops of an Arbites Precinct, similar to real-world SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams.

Accordingly, both the Adeptus Arbites and many local Enforcer cadres have need of hardened men and women whose talent lies in dealing death and summary execution rather than upholding the law or maintaining order. These troopers make up the infamous Kill Squads under the direct jurisdiction of the local Imperial Commander and are used to guarantee their power; they also form the feared Arbites Castigation Detachments tasked to deliver the Emperor's wrath on the recidivist and those who would contravene high Imperial law without fear or favour.

Other Arbites Specialists

 * Arbitrator Detectives - Arbitrator Detectives spend the most time in the field of any of the Arbites, usually under deep cover as they seek to root out particularly egregious criminal conspiracies or even heretical taint. A rare few Detectives may be psykers.
 * Chasteners - A Chastener is a specialised Arbites agent found in the Calixian Precincts. The task of the Chastener is to interrogate prisoners in the Arbites Precinct House by any means they see as necessary, including mental and physical torture. Treatment at the hands of these men and women usually ends in death, although a death in which one is absolved of one's sins against the God-Emperor, provided one confesses.
 * Chaplains - The Chaplains of the Arbites are the spiritual overseers of the Adeptus Arbites who are also considered members of the Ecclesiarchy as well as the Arbites, like other clergy of the Imperial Cult. A number of Chaplains are always to be found in Arbites installations.
 * Cyber-Mastiff Handler - Cyber-Mastiffs are the sniffer dogs of the Adeptus Arbites. These animals form their own squads, consisting of a paired Cyber-Mastiff and its handler, but there are no specifics as to how many pairs form a squad. Cyber-Mastiffs are often employed to sniff out any hostiles that might have hidden themselves in the wake of an Arbites advance, but are still fully capable of defending themselves and their handlers. They are controlled by verbal commands from whoever is paired up with them, and are keyed to their owners' voices/smells to prevent enemies from giving them counter-acting commands. Cyber-Mastiffs can be biological animals or purely mechanical creations, though many are actually normal canines who have received some form of cybernetic upgrade from the Adeptus Mechanicus.
 * Enforcers -  Arbitrators are not, typically, concerned with everyday crimes, such as murder or theft. These are the purview of the colloquially named Enforcers (known locally by as many names are there are planets in the Imperium). These native Enforcers often mimic the Arbites in appearance, but their local ties and often less rigorous standards mean that they are far more susceptible to corruption. The objectives of local Enforcers and Imperial Arbitrators often overlap, and the two work in conjunction when it is mutually beneficial. However, there are also occasions when they come into direct conflict. While the effort put into maintaining this justice varies greatly between one planet and another, the individual Planetary Governors are charged with keeping the peace. The justice (or lack thereof) on a planet falls to the Enforcers of that planet's law, who may find themselves working under the Arbitrators during an investigation, or indeed being trained by them. Of course, these lines occasionally blur. When powerful men and women, such as Ecclesiarchical leaders, Inquisitors, or even Rogue Traders, pull strings or demand the services of particularly skilled Arbitrators or Enforcers, the distinction can become hazy or non-existent.
 * Mortiurge - A Mortiurge is an Arbitrator that takes on the role of a sanctioned killer rather than a servant of the law, but their presence within the Adeptus Arbites is considered by most a necessary evil. These specialised agents stand out from the ranks of the cold-blooded killers of the feared Arbites Castigation Detachments due to their particular skill and callous dedication to their lethal duty. These individuals are specially trained to operate independently both as snipers and close-quarter gunfighters. A Mortiurge operates alone, singled out from his fellows by his differences in purpose and the blood on his hands. In truth little more than judicially-recognised assassins, Mortiurges are often also employed to keep other law-enforcers in check when the need arises. As such, these singular killers are often shunned by their colleagues and quickly learn to keep their distance, lest one day they be called on to slaughter a friend and ally.
 * Suffering Marshal - An Arbitrator rank found only on the harsh and brutal world of Iocanthos, a Suffering Marshal is a stalwart and resourceful agent of the Arbites assigned to track down skilled fugitives who flee to Iocanthos to escape Imperial law. These lone operatives must remain resolute in their duties, whose dedication to the Imperium and its laws drive them on, alone, for as long as it takes to catch those who would jeopardise the planet's chief export of Ghostfire, a crop used to make combat drugs. Suffering Marshals are given a great deal of personal discretion in so far as how they go about their duties, a necessity of their work, but one that many more traditional Arbites consider to be dangerous. While each Marshal is called upon sooner or later to track down specific fugitives and deliver righteous punishment, it is also their duty to know intimately the frontiers in which these criminals will eventually try to hide. They are free to travel the planet, with massive banners to signal their position and to the locals. Called "Flags" by many, local settlements and tribes will flock to the Marshal for judgement in tribal affairs. In this way, these solitary agents of the Adeptus Arbites become experts on the customs, environments, and populations of dozens of frontier outposts and locales, and are adept at learning new mores and cultures quickly.
 * Verispex Adept - A Verispex Adept is an agent of the Adeptus Arbites on the world of Scintilla, trained by the Inquisition in a variety of detection arts. It is the Verispex who uses his own immense knowledge, both learned and implanted, to follow the minute traces of physical evidence left by even the most careful suspect who has transgressed Imperial law. Due to the extreme investment the Adeptus Arbites and Ordos of the Inquisition must make in order to train a single Verispex, these scholarly agents are highly valued and often kept far from the front line of Imperial law-keeping. This is, however, not always a possibility. Whenever a Verispex Adept is sent into the field, they are accompanied by an Inquisitor or Judge's most capable retainers. Arbites Verispex Squads are the Imperium's equivalent to real world police forensic crime scene investigation teams.

Wargear
The closest real life equivalent of the Adeptus Arbites -- disregarding the Arbitrator's right in Imperial law to suspend habeas corpus and serve as judge, jury and executioner -- is an American police SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team or a national paramilitary force such as the Spanish GEO or French GIGN, and their equipment reflects this homage. Often operating in dense urban environments, Arbites are equipped with Combat Shotguns and Bolters with Executioner rounds; this is a type of special ammunition with homing capabilities. They are also generally armed with Shock Mauls for melee combat, Electro-Net launchers and pulse-charged bolas for capturing perpetrators alive, grapplehooks and stingers, and escorted by cybernetically-enhanced Cyber-Mastiffs for hunting hidden lawbreakers. For protection, Arbitrators wear black Carapace Armour with their signature jaw-exposing helmets. Arbites make use of Combat Bikes for patrols and Repressor armoured personnel carriers, a variant of the Space Marines' Rhino, for riot response and patrols in violent urban areas, as well as heavier tanks such as the Leman Russ in true combat situations such as a rebellion or uprising. However, in such extreme circumstances the Arbitrators are almost always required to call in true Imperial military forces like the Imperial Guard or the Space Marines.

Commonly utilised wargear for the Adeptus Arbites includes the following:

Shock Mauls
Shock Weapons are designed to be generally non-lethal, assaulting the victim with incapacitating force through electrical shocks released on impact. As Shock Weapons have little or no destructive impact on flesh other than minor electrical burn marks, they are useful for crowd control and "encouraging" workers such as shipboard press gangs or other forced labour. A Shock Maul (or Power Maul) resembles a club surrounded in an electrical energy field which disrupts the surface of solid matter. The depth of the field can be adjusted to bash a hole through a wall or merely administer an irresistible knock-out blow to subdue a victim. Common variants utilised by Adeptus Arbites include:
 * Agni Pattern Power Maul - A relatively small and inexpensively manufactured model of Power Maul, this weapon is weighted towards the hilt, and as such is regarded by some Power Weapon connoisseurs as somewhat graceless. It is common in "second line" precincts (as they are locally known) where trouble is not particularly expected, or among vehicle crews who value its handy proportions. Like all true Power Mauls, it has energy settings which can be adjusted to the circumstances.
 * Cyclopea Pattern Power Maul - A huge and intimidating two-handed weapon unique to the Calixis Sector, this Power Maul contains a monstrously overcharged disruption field which actively shatters the bonds between the molecules contained within items it strikes. Resembling a feudal mace, this maul has only one power setting: maximal. Potent enough to crush groundcars or send shattered opponents flying dozens of feet with a single stroke, this weapon is reserved for the most intense riots. It is designed to awe and terrorise the enemies of the Adeptus Arbites, and to send entire mobs cowering before the user.
 * Lathe Pattern Power Maul - A light, slender, and elegant model of Power Maul, this unusual weapon (crafted only on demand in the Calixis Sector) has a spiked handguard and a long, straight, un-weighted haft. It must be handled more like a sword than a club, which some users find frustrating, and critics have labelled the weapon fussy and difficult to master. However, the Arbitrators manning the Precinct Fortresses of the Lathe Worlds find that the slender profile is highly effective in the dense corridors of the manufactoria. Those who take the time to familiarise themselves with the pattern's idiosyncrasies declare it one of the finest examples of a Power Maul ever made. The apparent fragility of the design is misleading, and the versatile power field is more than capable of inflicting the same damage against opponents as models with a more brutal heft.
 * Ultima Pattern Arbites Power Maul - This pattern of Power Maul is a versatile, one-handed weapon with two power settings. At its low setting, the maul's head delivers an electrical shock powerful enough to stun (and sometimes kill) its targets, just like a regular Shock Maul. At the high setting however, the energy forms a crackling power field that can sunder steel, armour, and flesh. The Power Maul of the Adeptus Arbites is as much a symbol of Imperial authority as it is a weapon, and one that is seared into the minds of petty criminals and serious recidivists alike. While rank-and-file Arbitrators make do with simple Shock Mauls, veteran Proctors or the feared Judges prefer to wield the far more impressive Ultima Pattern Power Maul.

Shotguns
The Shotgun is an ancient Imperial weapon, much the same as the Heavy Stubber, which fires solid slugs that burst into submunitions to spread out over a wider area. The Adeptus Arbites utilise the shotgun for crowd control and urban conditions and have developed special "Executioner" shells for them:
 * Vox Legi-Pattern Arbites Combat Shotgun - The primary weapon of the Adeptus Arbites is the Combat Shotgun. It is valued for its stopping power, simplicity, reliability, and for its ability to intimidate. Even the most dusty, ancient Judge haunting the Halls of Judgement on Terra will have cut his teeth on the brutally effective shotgun drills which form the foundation of all Arbites combat training. A large variety of different shotgun patterns are used in different Arbites Precinct Fortresses across the galaxy, depending upon the proximity of the local Forge Worlds. The Vox Legi-Pattern is particularly widespread amongst the Arbitrators of the Periphery Sub-sector, and is broadly typical of the weapons favoured by the Arbitrators of the Calixis Sector. Effectively a large-bore, locally manufactured version of the Shotgun designs used by many planetary Enforcers, the Vox Legi is a devastating and adaptable weapon that fires shotgun shells nearly the size of those employed by the Adeptus Astartes. The increased size of the weapon reduces its ammunition capacity compared to that of other shotguns, but it still remains more powerful and adaptable than a standard shotgun. Most patrolling Arbitrators take advantage of this flexibility by carrying a variety of shotgun shell types so that they can employ different tactical options. Over-engineered by a considerable margin, the weapon is also perfectly capable of being used as a large club -- indeed, it is expressly designed with this secondary purpose in mind. It is also designed for maximum psychological impact, with a very audible pump action (standard Arbites riot training makes use of this). The sound of a hundred Arbitrators simultaneously chambering their weapons has ended countless riots in a single instant over the millennia.
 * Executioner Shotgun Shells - These rare and specialised shells (whose use is often limited to the upper echelons such as Judges and important  Castigators and Mortiurges of the Adeptus Arbites) contain miniaturised propulsion and stabilisation systems allowing the shell to lock on and track its target. The mechanisms that achieve this are little understood and extremely hard to replicate, and so remain within the purview of those Magos-Munitorium that provide the Arbites with their sanctioned and ordained arms.

Armour

 * Adeptus Arbites Carapace Armour - The appearance of the Adeptus Arbites strikes fear into the hearts of criminals and the lawless. The task of crafting the signature Carapace Armour of the Adeptus Arbites falls to a variety of worlds within various sectors of the galaxy. A given sector's Adeptus Arbites sees to the manufacturing of equipment for its Fortress Precincts on many different Forge Worlds, so that it would require a sector-wide revolt to jeopardise the supply lines. Arbitrator Carapace Armour is constructed from dense plasteel plates overlaying a synthetic polyplastic fibre weave that must be produced in an orbital null-gravity manufactorum. Arbites Carapace Armour is designed to be clipped together and worn over a light, breathable bodyglove, the armour carefully constructed and tailor-made to the proportions of the Arbitrator concerned. Given that the armour must be worn for hours at a time, often during periods of extreme physical exertion, it must be light and comfortable, and it succeeds surprisingly well on these fronts. The armour is completely unpowered, though it is often equipped with a number of mag-strips which permit weapons and other equipment to be attached directly to the armour without the need for clumsy straps and external clips. The Carapace Helm is equipped with a micro-bead (or "Vox-torc") and is open at the mouth to allow easier verbal communication. The helm is, however, capable of being hermetically sealed in seconds; and has mountings for a rebreather, which is usually magnetised to the belt when not in use. It also contains polarising lenses which react instantly to light over a certain lumen level, and which have the effect of negating photonic Flash Grenades completely. A beneficial side effect of this approach is that it makes it impossible to see which direction an Arbitrator is looking. The armoured gloves are cunningly wrought devices colloquially known as "lock gloves" in Low Gothic terminology, which count as Recoil Gloves. The armour has a number of magnetised attachment strips that are capable of carrying the Arbitrator's weapons and equipment. Typically, an Arbitrator in the field will be equipped with a holstered Ius automatic pistol, three clips of ammunition, a rebreather, a Vox-torc, a lamp pack that can be handheld or swiftly attached to any Arbites weapon, a Power Maul, two grenades (of any type), and two pairs of magnacles in addition to a basic weapon and ammunition. The armour has a very large mag-strip on the back which is capable of mounting a single basic weapon of up to 10 kilograms in weight.
 * Arbites Riot Armour - The Arbites are often called to break up riots. Whatever the nature of the disturbance, whether it be a queue war involving disparate packs of petitioners outside Administratum scriptoria, or desperate food riots aimed at snatching resources from tithe shuttles, the Arbites will not falter before the mob. When facing large, ill-disciplined multitudes armed with cobblestones, planks, or staves, the Arbites will attach panels of protective cushioned wadding over parts of their Carapace Armour to protect against impact damage. These pads are often brightly coloured, and are designed not only to protect the Arbitrator, but to signal to rioters that they are about to be routed. Riot Armour is a simple, but encumbering, collection of cushioned pads that are attached to vulnerable parts of standard Arbitrator Carapace Armour when facing riots.
 * Judge Armour - Judges have the authority to requisition whatever equipment is held within the armouries or Cold Vaults of their planet's Precincts, and as such will wear whatever they want in the field. Some pride themselves on wearing the same battered Carapace Armour they wore when patrolling decades before as a humble Arbitrator; however, most accept that their superior station as a lord of the Emperor's justice demands more spectacular and intimidating garb. Judges will typically wear the finest examples of Carapace Armour available, constructed by master artisans, together with antique flowing robes and elaborate headdresses from different periods of humanity's judicial history. A Judge's armour will vary from world to world, as he or she seeks to refine their appearance so that it causes the most awe and fear in an individual planetary population. Judge Armour is broadly similar to normal Arbites Carapace Armour in terms of its level of protection, but it incorporates theatrical and gaudy elements which suggest (in local historical terms) the power and majesty of the Arbites.
 * Hydraphur Pattern Judge's Carapace Armour - The distinctive matte-black and red light Carapace Armour of the Arbites is as distinctive as it is intimidating, and the armour of an Arbites Judge is only more so. The armour of a Judge is designed to reflect his authority as the Lex Imperialis made manifest, and to sow terror in the criminal and malcontent. It shares the same basic pattern as Arbites Carapace Armour, but incorporates a storm coat and helm topped with a massive golden eagle. Judge's Carapace Armour has a helmet equipped with an integral encrypted micro-bead, good quality photo-visor (granting him Dark Sight and allowing him to ignore photonic Flash Grenades), and a Vox-amplifier (allowing the user to amplify his voice to near-deafening levels). A small stab-light can also be attached to the shoulder plates. These systems are powered by a small Charge Pack (equivalent in size and cost to a Lasgun Charge Pack) that must be replaced after a week of continuous use.

Suppression Shield

 * Hydraphur Pattern Suppression Shield - Suppression Shields are common equipment for the Adeptus Arbites, although upon seeing their effectiveness, many other organisations and individuals have moved to obtain them. The Suppression Shield is both a bulwark and a weapon, a heavy slab of ceramite large enough for the wielder to take cover behind. Each has a built-in arc-lumin at the top, and a powerful shock-plate in the shield's centre. If the wielder strikes with the shield, he can discharge the shock-plate on impact, delivering a powerful electrical blow. Suppression Shields have the Recharge quality, since the shock-plate takes time to build to dangerous levels. It can still be used as a weapon while it is still recharging. Arbites Suppression Shields are also designed with lockgrips on the upper corners. Crusader Suppression Shields are designed for combating the malefic and Warp-spawned powers, and are inscribed with hexagrammic wards.
 * Synford Pattern "Lockshield" - The Arbites commonly make use of heavy ceramite shields during operations of all types. These are rectangular plates, worn on one arm, which are typically equipped with a heavily armoured viewport that offers protection to the operator. The Synford "Lockshield" is a relatively standard example of the type, but with one unusual and defining feature. The Lockshield, like most Arbites shields, is designed with an armourglass viewport and a firing port through which a basic or pistol weapon can be fired without penalty. It also contains a powered Vox-hailer linked to the Vox-torc of the most senior Arbitrator present, allowing that officer to rebuke and remonstrate over even the most deafening racket. It contains mag-strips on both sides, which enable prisoners to be secured directly to the shield by magnacles. Its most unusual feature is its ability to lock solidly with adjacent Lockshields to create an armoured wall behind which Arbitrators can advance as a unit, thus giving the shield its common name. The shield can be locked using mag-strips to shields adjacent to it; the Arbites use this to create walled "Lockshield" formations during particularly lethal riots, or to advance large groups of Arbites down wide, fire-swept corridors.

Servitors
The Arbites will, on occasion, make use of Servitors, but generally not to the same extent as other branches of the Adeptus Terra. The Arbites pride themselves on being a disciplined and self-reliant force, and there is an unspoken belief in many Precinct Fortresses that excessive reliance upon Servitors fosters a spirit of dependence far removed from the proper, spartan ethic of the organisation. Despite this, some Servitors do serve to the best of their limited abilities within the Arbites, typically performing duties which can free Arbitrators to carry out their law enforcement roles. For example, emplaced Gun Servitors are used extensively within Precincts for sentry duty, and a handful of other heavily modified designs are used for other more specialist roles. The Arbites also have in their service cyber-constructs such as Cyber-Mastiffs, cyborgs that incorporate the instincts of animals. Both canids and avians are employed for this purpose. Such animals are usually crafted in special Adeptus Mechanicus facilities, such as Hive Subrique, which provides the vast majority of such constructs for the Calixian Arbites.

Notable Arbitrators

 * Lord Marshal Luthir Veremonn Goreman - Arbiter Luthir Veremonn Goreman is the Lord Marshal of the Calixian Great Precinct, located in the Calixis Sector on the sector capital world of Scintilla. Born into a family of butchers and flesh-thieves upon the world of Sinophia, he came into contact with a wandering Confessor who had once been a former Enforcer from Scintilla who had left her post following a religious awakening. Listening to her holy words, Luthir's soul was stirred to zealous conviction in the benevolent Emperor. Of all the expressions of the God-Emperor's will that she was able to teach him, her experience as an Enforcer was the one that resonated with him the most. Departing his world, he struck out on his own and became a part of the local enforcement militia of the Horst-Kosada hive city. Following a cull by the local Arbites, he had gone from being a suspect to being a recruit. His reputation was cemented over many long, dedicated standard years of service. His iron will, the force of his personality, and the constant, simmering anger that blunted his undeniable charisma marked him for Arbites command. Goreman's vigour for his job is not born out of a positive inspiration to bring order but by his smouldering hatred of those who disrupt it.
 * Kae Drusil - Senior Arbitrator Kae Drusil is Marshal-in-Chief of the Divisio Immoralis within the Calixis Sector. She was recruited into the Arbites following the assassination of her Great-Aunt and the rest of her noble household at the Universitariate she was attending at the age of fifteen. She remembered the Universitariate Enforcers and the interrogation by an unknown Judge. The Judge, whose name she never learned (and never sought), saw Kae's faith in the law, and her anger. He believed that these two traits would make her a fine recruit for the Arbites, and he was correct. As far as Kae Drusil could tell, the interrogation was her recruitment examination. Her belief in the incorruptibility of the Arbites and the inevitability of a future rule of perfect law had been demolished beyond repair by the things she was forced to do during a mission that was conducted under the auspices of the Inquisition. Approached by Lord Marshal Goreman, Drusil agreed to command the Divisio Immoralis, the Lord Marshal's new experiment in Imperial law enforcement.
 * Naxander Durantis - A man with nearly two decades of experience in the Calixis Sector, Arbitrator Primus Durantis is the commander of the voidship Intervention, a unique "Castigator" patrol cruiser. Now in his late fifties (and with limited access to rejuvenat drugs), Durantis views his rank with a mixture of honour and resentment, eager to bring justice to the stars but also struggling with the fact that he can no longer so readily lead his men in combat as he did earlier in his career. Unwilling to let all his old duties fall away in place of newer ones, Durantis still interrogates many suspects personally, his scarred visage serving to intimidate the weaker-willed of his captives. He is a shrewd interrogator, having learned a great deal working alongside many skilled Chasteners over the years, and his eye for detail is sharper than ever.
 * Citro Envedine - Judge Envendine is an ambitious and politically astute agent of the Calixian Arbites. The Precinct Astra is the brainchild of Judge Envendine as a means of prosecuting the habitual lawbreaking of several Rogue Trader Houses around the Calixian entrance to the Koronus Passage into the Koronus Expanse. He bought two salvaged voidships that had been pried from a Space Hulk's embrace. Utilising these two vessels, the Calixian Judges were able to prosecute the Emperor's laws, bringing Renegade members of Rogue Trader houses and pirates to justice.
 * Orrik Von Darnus - Orrik Von Darnus was a very senior Judge of the Calixis Sector almost a millennia ago, and had turned to intellectual pursuits late in his career, devoting nearly a century to research and analysis of the Pax Imperialis and how it is implemented in the Calixis Sector. Though he wrote many books and treatises, his seminal work in the late 40th Millennium was The Promise of the Pax Imperialis, a volume so large that a printed copy requires two cargo-hauler Servitors to move. Later scholars argue whether Von Darnus wrote The Promise in an attempt to simplify the application of Imperial law in the Calixis Sector, or simply because the old man derived far too much pleasure worrying away at thorny issues of legal precedent. Von Darnus's primary arguments focused on the idea that the Calixian Arbites' attentions should focus on crimes of sedition, treason, and actions that undermined the Adeptus Terra, while leaving most "lesser" crimes to a planet's local Enforcers. He went on to say that as isolated as the sector was from the rest of the Imperium, such crimes posed the greatest threat to Imperial rule, and should be prosecuted aggressively. Even now, a thousand standard years later, many senior Calixian Arbitrators regard Von Darnus's writings as something of an authority on the implementation of Imperial law. Currently, Lord Marshal Goreman's opinions cemented the high regard with which many Calixian Arbites hold Von Darnus's works. The Lord Marshal has a habit of quoting The Promise of the Pax Imperialis when pronouncing rulings, and is said to keep a near-complete collection of Von Darnus' books in his personal offices on Scintilla.
 * Jeremiah Pavo - Judge Pavo gained his place among the Adeptus Arbites after revealing a plot to corrupt fellow members of his Schola Progenium on Avellorn. After containing the Bureau of Standard Measures Queue Wars and detaining over 10,000 participants, he was asked to join the retinue of Inquisitor Tannenburg of the Ordo Hereticus. He has proven to be a valuable asset to the Inquisition and an example of the skill and determination of all Arbitrators.
 * Captain Virgil Ortega - Wielding a Shock Maul and Combat Shotgun, Captain Virgil Ortega commanded the Adeptus Arbites on the planet of Pavonis during a time of great riots and disorder against the Planetary Governor and her cartel. When the situation led to the arrival of a company of Ultramarines and an Inquisitor's investigation, the Planetary Defence Force openly attacked the capital city, starting with the bombing of the precinct house. Ortega led his fellow Judges into battle, charging from the ruins into the city square, in front of a statue of the Emperor himself. The battle that followed was the stuff of legend, the few and faithful fighting against those who would betray the Emperor, however the sheer number of tanks and soldiers of the traitor Planetary Defence Force legions slowly began to whittle away at the Arbites' numbers. Holding his few remaining men together, Captain Ortega slowly fell back to the weapons cache located beneath the Precinct house. They were able to hold back their pursuers for a while there, having an almost limitless supply of heavy weapons and ammunition, but when it became apparent that they were fighting a losing battle, Captain Ortega and his loyal Arbites came to the decision that the precious store of weapons and ammunition could not fall into the hands of the enemy. Fighting back waves of planetary defense force troops, Captain Ortega and his remaining Arbites wired and readied all of the explosives in the cache. They came very close to failure as their position was nearly overrun, but with his remaining Judge, Sergeant Collix, covering his advance, he ran into enemy fire and as his life slipped away he detonated the munitions, dying with the rest of his men.
 * Sergeant Collix - Collix served on Pavonis fresh from the academy until the day of his death. When Pavonis could not produce tithe taxes to the Imperium, a force of Ultramarines led by Uriel Ventris traveled to the planet, accompanied by a young adept by the name of Ario Barzano, who in turn was actually a high ranking Inquisitor investigating heresy and the presence of Necrons on the world. The planet's separate factions rebelled against the governor and the Arbites, striking hard in the city square and the Arbites Precinct house. Some two hundred Judges survived the initial attack, and fought the renegade Planetary Defence Force troopers in a bloody battle. Together with his comrades, Sergeant Collix held a weapons cache and defended it to the last man. Never yielding in his faith, though mortally wounded, Sergeant Collix continued firing a Heavy Stubber into charging masses of traitors and heretics as he lay dying, buying time for Captain Ortega to detonate the munitions stores, leveling the cache, along with the entire renegade force in the city.
 * Judge Jenna Sharben - Jenna Sharben served alongside Captain Virgil Ortega and Sergeant Collix on Pavonis. She was kidnapped along with the planetary governor and an Inquisitor. She was the only member of the Adeptus Arbites team on Pavonis to survive after the rebellion. She was later killed in a Tau invasion of Pavonis.
 * Marshal Primus Jamahl Byzantane - Marshal Primus Jamahl Byzantane was a long-serving Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites who was assigned to service on the world of Belatis shortly before the start of the Gothic War in the early 41st Millennium. Byzantane fought a losing battle for the control of Belatis with already present and active Chaos Cult cells, and ultimately had to abandon the planet altogether when it became the next target of Abaddon the Despoiler's Planet Killer.
 * Shira Lucina Calpurnia - An Arbites Senioris, Shira Calpurnia was born on the world of Iax in the Realms of Ultramar. Shira's family, the Calpurnii, are one of the oldest and most prominent of Iax, and like many such families in Ultramar, has an illustrious pedigree and long history of service to the Imperium; there have been other Arbitrators within her family, as well as senior commanders of the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy, and at least two Battle-Brothers that served in the Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter, including a 1st Company Veteran who died during the Battle of Macragge fighting against the Tyranids. After being recruited into the Adeptus Arbites, Shira trained on Machiun. Her career then took her to postings across the Ultima Segmentum including; Drade-73, MG-Dyel, Hazhim, Don-Croix and Epheada before reaching the rank of Arbiter Senioris and being posted to the world of Hydraphur in the Segmentum Pacificus.

Game History
Borrowing heavily from the British comic book Judge Dredd's imagery, the Adeptus Arbites were first mentioned in Rogue Trader, but were introduced as a playable force in the 2nd Edition of Warhammer 40,000, and have since appeared in the spin-off games Necromunda and Inquisitor. They appear as "play-as" equivalents to Inquisitorial Storm Troopers (although armed with Shotguns) in the Witch Hunters supplement. Also, the organization is the focus of three novels by Matthew Farrer, Cross Fire (Farrer, 2003) Legacy (Farrer, 2004) and Blind (Farrer, 2006).

Gallery
Adeptus Arbites [[Category:A]]