by Marc
‘Chaos so twists these rebels that they accuse us of heresy, of being servants of the Darkness ourselves.’ Something close. The thought intruded abruptly.
‘I heard their blaspheming too.’ Aeorum shrugged. ‘But we must hold true and must not be swayed.’
Close. Aeorum’s voice faded as Levi felt a large presence looming. He fought to pinpoint it. The clamour of human minds, beyond the rise towards the city walls. He opened a channel on his helmet-com. ‘Brother-captain, we are coming under attack, six hundred paces due north-west. A large force, repeat, a large force.’
‘Acknowledged, brother.’ The rest of Captain Estrus’s reply was drowned out by a booming barrage of bolters as the Black Consuls opened fire on the seething mass of rebels appearing over the rise. Aeorum raced to join the first squad, firing with deadly accuracy as he closed with the attackers. As the standard moved through their midst, a great roar rose from the ranks of the Black Consuls. Levi, powering up his chainsword, began to follow. The air was suddenly alive with sheets of electricity. Levi’s helmet visors darkened instantly. Teleport! Raw discharges of energy crackled wildly as a new presence materialised amongst the rebels.
It seemed to Levi as if a gateway to his darkest nightmares had opened up on Suracto. A squad of Space Marines had materialised in the midst of the rebel force, but to call them by that name would be a blasphemy. Their archaic armour sported all manner of grisly and morbid decorations, borne of Chaos-twisted imaginations and depraved urges: belts made of skulls hung around one waist, a rotting long-haired scalp adorned another’s helmet, razor-sharp spikes encrusted most shoulder pads. But on every suit of ancient armour there was a common symbol, the hateful many-headed hydra of the Alpha Legion. It was worse than even the inquisitor had suspected. The rebels were under the sway of these foul Tzeentchian warriors.
Levi and his brother Black Consuls took all this in at a glance before turning their firepower on the new arrivals. A deadly hail of bolter shells rained on the Alpha Legionaries but though the human rebels around them were ripped to shreds, only two of the Chaos Space Marines fell before they opened fire with their own weapons. The crest of the rise was consumed in primeval savagery as the Black Consuls vented their long-suppressed anger on the twisted representations of the Emperor’s warriors that stood before them.
Levi hacked his way towards the Alpha Legion squad, a cold hatred coursing through his veins. He barely gave a second thought to the rebels he despatched to the Emperor’s mercies… until the slow, terrifying realisation dawned upon him. The rebels were turning away from the Black Consuls and were also training their weapons on the Legionaries. Soon, both Black Consul and rebel alike were fighting a common enemy, the Alpha Legion. Levi tried to ignore his confusion as he fought to get closer to the middle of the fray but abruptly the fighting stopped. Only the rebels and the Black Consuls still stood.
Estrus stood amidst the carnage, a dying Alpha Legionary at his feet. The foul warrior’s chest-plate had been torn open, exposing a tangled mess of charred flesh and ruined machinery. His hand twitched. Estrus calmly pointed his bolt pistol at the armoured head. As the shot rang out, Levi reached his captain’s side. He looked at the grisly remains of the Legionary’s head, made waste by the bolter shell.
‘Captain, we have been misled.’ Levi looked around, at the drawn, sallow faces of the rebels, at the Black Consuls, already beginning to round up the ragged bands, their anger spent. The harsh noise of battle sounded from beyond the city walls. ‘Brother-captain, the rebel prisoners—’
Estrus raised a hand. ‘I hear you, librarian. And I understand. We have been made unwitting pawns in a dark and disturbing game. I must signal the Fourth. I fear that Planetary Lord Koln’s forces may be a graver danger to them than the rebels.’ He signalled to a nearby Space Marine. ‘Brother-sergeant, give me a casualty report and find me a representative from these rebels that I can speak to.’
‘This is treachery!’ Levi and Estrus span to see Administrator Niall striding towards them. The administrator flapped a hand at the stunned rebel force. ‘They must be executed, every last man and woman. You heard what the inquisitor said!’ His voice cracked as he shrieked the words.
Estrus’s helmeted head turned smoothly towards the administrator. ‘You saw for yourself what happened here, Administrator Niall?’ Niall hesitated, then nodded briefly. ‘Then you know the scourge of Chaos is upon your planet—’
‘But can’t you see what’s going on?’ Niall interrupted, exasperated. ‘The rebels have conspired with the Alpha Legion—’
‘But the Chaos scum fought rebel and Marine alike.’ interrupted Levi.
‘Yes, that’s what I meant. I…’ He rubbed a hand across his face.
He seemed suddenly older, somehow, thought Levi.
‘You know your Codex, Space Marine.’ said Niall. ‘All those who stand with Chaos must be shown the Emperor’s mercies.’
‘All those who stand by Chaos must be given the opportunity to seek the Emperor’s light or be shown the just and swift mercies of those who do His work. That is what the codex says.’ So saying, Levi strode nearer to the administrator. Visibly shaken, Niall backed off a few paces. ‘Administrator, how is it that you have knowledge of our blessed book?’
‘It is simply something that I heard…’ Niall backed further away, his voice faltering. ‘Your duty is clear. You, you must—’ The left side of Niall’s head erupted outwards in a shower of blood and tissue.
The rebel holstered his autopistol and spat on the administrator’s still-twitching body. ‘I am Mitago.’ he said, his sunken eyes burning in his ashen, unshaven face. ‘I am leader of this detachment of my people. And I have heard enough lies and cant from this verminous servant of Chaos.’
As the rebel leader hurried over to talk further with Captain Estrus, Levi looked down on Administrator Niall’s corpse and mused on another verse of the Codex. Swift unthinking justice profits you nothing. It shall bring only misery and the tears of the wronged.
He went to find Aeorum.
AS THE THIRD Company approached the city walls, a cold and grim determination had descended upon the Black Consuls. The fourth squad had been lost completely, and but two men remained of the sixth. The loss weighed heavily on their surviving brother Consuls. Mitago, whose men now brought up the rear behind the company’s Rhinos, had revealed the unthinkable truth.
‘We had endured enough.’ he had told Estrus. ‘Koln simply asked too much. We worked hard, filled with a joyful love for the Emperor. But Koln would make speeches demanding more, telling us mat the Imperium would be angry if we did not increase our planetary tithe.’
‘Then.’ he said, ‘the purges began. Loyal citizens disappeared as Koln’s arbitrators terrorised the planet. Criminals were executed for any crime, often on nothing more than an Arbitrator’s whim. “Heresy” was found everywhere, heretics were rooted out of every house and home.
‘And we knew it was wrong.’ continued Mitago. ‘The Emperor’s law is hard, but in its harshness it is just. There was no justice left on Suracto and in our hearts, we knew that Koln was not doing the Emperor’s work. It left us no choice.’ He indicated the dead Alpha Legionaries. ‘We had no idea that the taint on his soul was this abominable.’
Mitago’s words had stunned the listening Black Consuls into silence. Each one knew what the implications were, but Levi knew that each Space Marine would be true to his training and his order: there would be no regrets, no accusations, no guilt. They had done nothing other than follow the Codex, however misguidedly. With their customary discipline and self control, they would shift their attention to the true enemy, and the blessed book would surely guide them along the path of righteousness.
All such thoughts quickly faded as the Third Company approached Thuram City. The Second had lost over thirty men and their armoured vehicles had borne the brunt of rebel artillery before their own Whirlwinds had eliminated that threat. Both captains had agreed that the Second should remain where
they were to protect against any threat from outside the city.
Levi had joined Aeorum and the first squad as they crossed the field of rubble which marked where the city wall had been. Months of fighting had made jagged, burnt-out skeletons of the city’s fine architecture. Hundreds of bodies lay strewn, blackened, bloodied and forgotten, along the pockmarked streets.
‘They’ve made their own pretty hell here.’ Aeorum muttered as they advanced up Thuram’s central avenue, the valley floor of a blasted concrete canyon that stretched upwards to a sliver of skyline a kilometre above.
Levi merely nodded silently as he listened to the reports that streamed in. Things changed dramatically with each passing minute. Captain Estrus had signalled to Captain Vanem of the Fourth Company, who had made efforts to contact the rebels’ leaders. They in turn had spoken to Vanem and had welcomed the new understanding – but not so the until-now loyal forces opposed to the rebellion. As soon as they had heard what was going on, they had turned on the Fourth Company.
As Levi calmly took in all that was happening, he realised that he had not seen Inquisitor Parax since the prisoners’ interrogation. Parax’s over-zealous fanaticism meant that he had his own part in the Tzeentchian machinations that had entrapped them all. Were it not for the seal of the Inquisition, Levi would have suspected a darker motive for Parax’s actions, Holy Throne forgive the thought-
Levi’s train of thought was shattered as they drew near to a scene of horrific carnage. Hundreds of rebels and Suractan loyalist forces clashed in a sprawling street skirmish; the Fourth Company, an uneasy presence between both sides, fought stoically against the red-uniformed Suractans, but were being hampered by the berserk zeal of the rebels. Unarmed rebels leapt over their dead comrades to tear at the Suractans’ faces with their bare hands.
‘Codex preserve us!’ Estrus barked. ‘We must restore some order here!’ He bellowed some orders and his squads went smoothly into action. The first and second squads broke off to attack a detachment of Suractan autoriflemen. Dozens of red uniforms were mown down as the Consuls’ bolters took their toll. Levi felled two men with a single chainsword stroke as, all around him, fellow Black Consuls fought with a refreshed, vigorous spirit. This was more than battle. This was atonement.
‘Librarian, they retreat!’ At Aeroum’s call, Levi looked over his shoulder to see several dozen Suractans breaking away.
‘Second squad, hold!’ ordered Levi. ‘First squad, standard bearer, with me!’ The first squad broke away in pursuit. A dark shape in his mind’s eye. The vision disappeared from Levi’s mind, but its meaning was clear enough. ‘First squad, slow down. We must be vigilant.’ The Consuls obediently slowed to a walk, the Suractans retreating from view. Advancing through the twilit streets, Levi noticed a change in the architecture around him. He turned to the sergeant. ‘Brother, where are we?’
There was a pause as the Sergeant searched for the right information. ‘In Planetary Lord Koln’s palace complex, brother-librarian.’
‘Then we have another purpose here.’ said Levi. ‘Squad, halt!’
Aeorum approached Levi. ‘We have lost the loyalists. What’s your plan, brother?’
Levi gave no answer but bowed his head as he sent his mind out into the dark buildings beyond. A dark cancerous presence remained. They had not left.
‘The Alpha Legion is still here.’
A murmur ran through the Space Marines at the codicier’s words and grips tightened instinctively around weapons. Levi focused on the presence, found a direction. ‘This way, my brothers.’
The Consuls made their way, in silence save for the whirring of servomotors and the echoes of their footsteps, into the labyrinth of corridors that ran within Koln’s palace, allowing themselves to be guided by the codicier’s psychic powers. Levi felt an icy rage rising within him, the rage he had felt when he first saw the Alpha Legionaries. He strove to control his feelings, even though he knew that his brother Consuls must also be feeling the same anger. He felt the presence of Chaos draw near: nothing must now dull his purpose.
‘Librarian! Your arrival is timely.’
Levi signalled to his brother Marines to lower their weapons as Inquisitor Parax emerged from the shadows, accompanied by his ever-present retinue. ‘What are you doing here?’ Levi asked, uncomfortable that he had not sensed the inquisitor’s presence.
‘I fear that Lord Koln is held hostage by the Alpha Legion.’
‘Hostage?’ Levi asked. ‘But Koln is himself a servant of Chaos.’
‘Not so, librarian—’
‘Brother-librarian, shuttle craft powering up.’ The sergeant checked his scanners. ‘Six hundred metres north-east.’
Levi glanced at his own readouts. ‘I have it. First squad, standard bearer, with me. Inquisitor, do not impede us.’ Parax nodded slowly and allowed the Black Consuls to pass. The Space Marines broke into a run, armoured feet pounding the floor as they strove to cover the distance. Levi checked his scans again: shuttle craft preparing for lift-off, twenty metres and closing.
The tunnels opened into a landing bay. The high-pitched whine of the shuttle craft’s engines, bearing the Suractan standard, filled the cavernous room. At the foot of the shuttle’s entry gantry a red-cloaked human argued vehemently with the two Alpha Legionaries that loomed over him. As Levi took aim with his bolter, one of the Legionaries lifted his hand and placed a large gun against the human’s head. The plasma pistol flashed and the human was torn apart by a glowing ball of super-heated flame.
The Legionary seemed to look at the Black Consuls for an infinity.
You have failed, Consul.
Levi heard the words clearly over the clamour of the squad’s firing. Aeorum had already covered half the distance between the entrance and the shuttle but the Alpha Legionaries turned and fled up the gantry, the shuttle already lifting off the ground, its engines screaming.
‘Get down!’ Levi shoulder charged the standard bearer, throwing him to the floor, pinning him down as a white-hot stream of plasma poured from the shuttle’s engines, incinerating the spot where Aeorum had been a second earlier. Helmet screens darkened as the landing bay was bathed in a brilliant light. With a monstrous thunderclap the shuttle took off.
Levi got to his feet. ‘Brother-sergeant, contact the Chapter ship. That shuttle must be intercepted!’ He glanced at the faint human outline scorched into the landing bay’s floor as Inquisitor Parax strode over. His psychic discomfort was reaching the level of pain. ‘Lord Koln?’ he asked the inquisitor.
The inquisitor nodded. ‘Yes. Another dupe in this Tzeentchian horror.’ He paused, staring at the remains of the planetary overlord. ‘This is a grave matter, Consul. When heresy runs this deep, it must remain a matter for the Inquisition.’
‘But what if this has happened on other planets, in other systems?’ Aeorum asked, removing his helmet. The Codex binds us; we must seek out such heresy.’
‘We cannot smoke them out too early,’ Parax said. ‘Swift unthinking justice shall profit you nothing, Consul.’
‘Too… too early?’ Levi asked, unnerved by the inquisitor’s use of that particular Codex verse. He gave himself a moment to collect his thoughts, checking a report. The shuttle had outrun the Consuls’ ship and jumped into the warp on Suracto’s dark side. ‘Do you have evidence of other plots like this?’
Parax glared at him. ‘As I said, librarian, this is a matter for the Inquisition. Cross me at your peril.’ Parax spun on his heels and walked away. Levi started to follow when an armoured hand came to rest on his shoulder. The librarian turned to face Aeorum. He released his helmet and looked around at his fellow Black Consuls, methodically checking and securing the landing bay.
‘Brother Levi, we have done all we can. For now.’ Aeorum indicated Koln’s final resting place. ‘It does seem that Koln may have been tricked, as we were. It may be the time for you to let the Inquisition do what it does best. We have freed Suracto, which is prize enough. And Captain Estrus will require a full r
eport.’ Aeorum gave a half-hearted smile.
‘The Codex tells us to be vigilant, to actively seek out all manifestations of Chaos, wherever they may be. As codicier of the Imperial Order of Black Consuls, it is my solemn duty.’ Levi looked up at the standard in his brother Consul’s hand. ‘I am not best pleased at this decision.’ He sighed, conceding. ‘But you may be right. We have done all we can, for now.’
As he made ready to signal Captain Estrus, Codicier Levi remembered the verse he had read that morning.
And those dedicated to the Emperor’s work will be beset upon all sides by enemies. Be vigilant for they are everywhere and you may depend on none but your brothers in arms to carry out His blessed work.
Levi signalled the captain.
AS THE DOOR of his cabin aboard the Inquisition ship closed silently behind him, Parax wearily began to take off his armour. This time, he had narrowly succeeded in doing his master’s work, though he was long used to the arduous nature of his blessed task. But if the extent to which Chaos had pervaded Suracto were to have become more widely known … He sighed as he put his armour away. Perhaps the Exterminatus would have been his only remaining option.
He reached for his robe. For now, the Black Consuls had played their part, and order had been restored. The other planets in the system were safe. Absently, he rubbed the Tzeentchian tattoo on the inside of his forearm. Their time was yet to come.
BATTLE OF THE ARCHAEOSAURS
Barrington J Bayley
WITHIN ITS OVAL frame of enamelled copper, the holo-plate displayed the nearly perfect sphere of a planet fringed with cloud and shining seas. Fleet Captain Karlache slapped a knob, causing the image of the world to rotate at a faster rate.
‘The mapping is incomplete, having been carried out from orbit by the first surveyor ship to arrive,’ Karlache explained. He struck the knob again, making the image halt and then move around in small jerks until a pear-shaped continent became visible. He positioned an arrow in the middle of it. ‘This is where the first landing was made, on the sole inhabited continent. The initial survey had reported a sparse human population which, like many settlements dating from the Dark Age of Technology, had lost the technical arts and degenerated to the Stone Age. As you know, Imperial policy in such circumstances is to land amid the populated area and take control immediately. A single battalion, lightly armed, was deemed more than sufficient to subdue a primitive people, establish a military base, and secure the planet for the Imperium. As you also know by now, it was wiped out almost immediately, without a single survivor.’