Ashes

by Martin Allen

  A figure in black armour strode from the westerly tower directly towards the squad, poised, efficient and above all confident. It was as though the figure held no fear and could stand alone against the fury of the Universe without breaking sweat. The sheer power of the self assured, balanced movements were enough to make a man’s blood run cold, for it spoke unerringly of a weapon forged in cold and unyielding violence. It reached the squad and waited for the salute it knew was coming. The wait was not expectant, as though needing the salute, just that each action required a certain order to proceed. Lieutenant Gratius moved in front of the black armoured figure, paused for a brief stationary moment and snapped off a crisp salute.

  Chapter 3

  “I would have thought they would have tried to hold the bunker,” Hostilius Corvus exclaimed as a bright rose of flame rose into the air from his previous position so hastily evacuated.” It may have been breeched from the compound side but the defences to this side would have been sound.”

  “Which is why, of course, I had to take certain precautions General Hostilius,” came the explanation from the doorway. The black clad figure practically glided into the new headquarters.

  “That was you? How did you have time to plant the explosives?” demanded Corvus.

  “There was plenty of time to do so, after all I was in that position for several days prior to the abandonment of Imperial property to the rebels,” the cool reply came.

  “But we could have been blown to pieces!” exclaimed Corvus, horrified that anyone could so cavalierly gamble his life by planting explosives in his command bunker while he was in it and it was a target for enemy artillery.

  “Sol Invictus evidently had other designs General. Given your performance I would find that heartening. Especially heartening, for at present it is all that keeps you from a trial for dereliction of duty.”

  “Lieutenant, I trust that your men and yourself are well and ready to serve the Empire?” A brief gaze at the men brought a wry smile to face of the woman in black armour. “Even if they are somewhat… dishevelled. Please dismiss your men for they will not be allocated to duties until tomorrow. I would impress upon them that any further rest and relaxation excursions should be conducted in a more responsible manner tonight. Once your men are dismissed you may join me in the vice-commissars office, 3rd level of block 6 in the Imperial Compound.” The black figure turned crisply, as though demonstrating to the squad exactly how a career soldier would execute the manoeuvre, and strode off, her cloak seeming to crack in his slipstream.

  “You heard the Investigator, men,” said Lieutenant Gratius “moderation is the watchword for tonight, for the Inquisition is watching. Dismissed.”

  Lieutenant Gratius was stunned; he was to be placed under the auspices of the Inquisition itself. The prospect filled him with dread, for these were the elite of the elite of the Imperial forces. They lived outside of the normal rules of the Empire. The sum total of their remit was to pursue their tasks with all the resources they deemed necessary to complete their task. They were the guardians of the souls of the Empire. While the Patriarchal Guard would provide the bodies to hold crowds and contain rebellions it was the Inquisition that investigated and commanded severe cases that could jeopardise the Empire itself. It was widely believed that the Investigators were so well trained that just one could take out several squads without breaking a sweat. The prospect of a nice, safe Hell-World seemed never so far away. There would be a definite course of action if the squad were to be under Inquisition control. The Inquisition would rarely call upon the Patriarchal Guard unless there was a specific purpose to the exercise and rarely was this purpose to the advantage of the guard. As was inherent in the actions of the First World War, the guard was often used as cannon fodder or to cover distasteful tasks that the Investigators could hardly be used to complete. Due to the amount of training required to produce a fully functioning Investigator there were relatively few Investigators per head of the populous and so they were only assigned to the most important of tasks within the Empire. Such an important resource would never be squandered on the mutinae but only be utilised in the grander schemes of the Empire or in the defence from within of a major threat. The scope could also prove to be somewhat distasteful as it was not for nothing that the Inquisition ran the Internment camps and pyres for the ungodly.

  As he watched the men disperse, Lieutenant Gratius wondered onto what world he had been pitched this time. It was certainly an ill-fated world if the Inquisition was so interested in it. The men scurried straight to the barracks and to a man Lieutenant Gratius knew that his squad would attend the service to Sol Invictus that evening. The barely concealed warning of the Investigator would remind them that they had been less than devout in their previous posting. It was less likely that any particular file or surveillance had been created than a general air of warning to remind the squad of the state of their immortal souls. After all the use of R&R time by a squad of Patriarchal Guard would hardly justify the expense required, however the outcome could be predicted to a great degree of certainty. Thus a simple nod in the direction of probability and a veiled threat and the man-hours required to keep track of an entire squad was saved with the same outcome. The Empire would be proud of such an efficient use of resources. Lieutenant Gratius did not stop to remind his men of the effect of the veiled warning of the Investigator as he knew that any naïve or stupid enough not to have got the inference would be “reminded” by Sergeant Curtius in no uncertain terms when both he and the Investigator were out of earshot. He made his way to the Officers Block to store his equipment and head to the briefing with the Investigator.

  “Halberdier Amatius and Halberdier Servilius front and centre. The rest of you are dismissed to barracks until the assignment is ready for dissemination.” All but three of the remaining squad immediately ran back to the barracks to clean their uniforms and stow their equipment and uniforms according to regulations for most of them knew that they had some making up to do, given their appearance at parade. “Servilius, we both know as well as each other that you aren’t the greatest thinker in the squad. Amatius, well I don’t know what your deal is, but the truth is you are greener than a jungle world in the growing season. I don’t want any of my little lads getting roasted on the pyres, so listen up. That was an Investigator and they don’t get much deadlier than them. You, as part of this squad, have been warned about getting up to any shenanigans tonight. Short and sweet of it is, don’t. If you were planning on leaving the barracks for any reason other than to attend the service at the Temple, then you aren’t anymore. In fact you are now planning to attend the service; there won’t be a more represented squad on whatever planet they have Transed us out to tonight, and for the rest of this tour, duties allowing. No booze, no women, no fighting and no crime of any sort. That Investigator is watching us and no matter how green or stupid you are you know what the Inquisition does for a living. End of speech. Get your stuff stored and cleaned up to regulation. DISMISSED!” Curtius yelled as an internal way of cursing his own bad luck at being posted to a tour with an Investigator.

  Sergeant Curtius stormed after the scurrying squad, for although his behaviour could not be reproached on the battlefield, at any point prior to a real action posting his sloth could see him run foul of the Investigator. While it was true that the Investigator would have much bigger fish to fry, it was also equally true that technically any infringement of the somewhat Byzantine regulations of the Guard could theoretically have him stood before the tribunals again. While in the service of Sol Invictus himself the failure to abide by the regulations could be seen as blasphemy. This was admittedly unlikely, but an Investigator often had another agenda and would utilise any and all means at his disposal to achieve his mission. If this involved sacrificing a Sergeant to the pyres for a missing button for an ephemeral outcome, this would not concern an Investigator one iota. He now had a religious service to attend and a large amount of laundry and repairs to attend to prior to parade
tomorrow, he also had to cast a cursory eye over the preparations of the men to make sure that they too were taking this as seriously as he was.

  After stowing his gear as quickly as possible, by the simple expedient of placing his pack still containing its contents in the wardrobe, Lieutenant Gratius made his way towards Block 6 of the Imperial Compound. While not part of the transportation hub, the Imperial Compound was also subject to the rigorous uniformity that affected all major Imperial buildings. In order to maintain efficiency it was decided that, when it came to personnel that were likely to move around, having a common layout would eliminate the problem of getting lost. This uniformity also enabled the military personnel to storm or defend any Imperial Building with little preparation as to the specifics of the exact building itself. As part of basic training all scenarios that could take place around or within Imperial transportation hubs and compounds were drilled ruthlessly into the Patriarchal Guard. Thus emergency reinforcements could with minimal briefing be deployed as soon as possible into an Imperial emergency. Due to the importance of Transportation Hubs in the supply of re-enforcements and supplies to a world the most rigorous training took place in specially constructed training hubs, without the actual mechanisms required for transportation, but identical in every other way to a transportation hub. Gratius could have found his way to Block 6 with his eyes closed and simulated artillery shells going off around him.

  Lieutenant Gratius arrived outside the vice-commissars office, which was tastefully designed to accommodate a receptionist/secretary, who bade him be seated. The wood panelled walls were specifically old-world style, but the warm hues of brown made the room seem both welcoming and official at the same time. Although the layout and function of every part of the Transportation Hubs were identical, the décor was, in cosmetic aspects, allowed to be under the discretion of those operating it. The red leather seats and rich green carpeting spoke of a sense of style and restraint that Lieutenant Gratius had not seen in the office of a vice-commissar of the State Section before. Usually they were filled with grotesque examples of modern art, which served only to show the office holders opulence and lack of restraint. Lieutenant Gratius wondered which world he had been Transed to; either the office holder was remarkably self-effacing or was powerful enough not to need to show off his good fortune to intimidate those who came to his seat of power. The window offered a view of a sprawling metropolis. This was unusual in itself as the Transportation hubs were customarily arranged on the outskirts of a city or at least some distance away, to avoid the possibility of rebels from said city seeking to control the hub. The proximity indicated a very stable colony. Gratius shivered involuntarily as this would mean his squad would inevitably end up doing ceremonial duties. Lieutenant Gratius dismissed that conclusion almost as soon as it arrived, for it did not tie in with the involvement of an Investigator. There was no way the Empire would waste an Investigator on a simple ceremonial duty when said Investigator could be utilised in other duties against the ungodly. This would be infinitely worse than ceremonial duties - this would mean action and his squad would be right in the middle of it.

  “The Investigator will see you now.” came the cheery, yet well practiced chirrup of the receptionist.

  Lieutenant Gratius made his way into the main office. The Investigator was reclined in the vice-commissar’s chair, with her feet up on the mahogany desk - her boots were sure to leave a mark on the softwood finish. Gratius doubted that the vice-commissar would ever complain officially, and only unofficially, under his breath

  “Understated, and yet still a demonstration of opulence don’t you think?” The Investigator threw the rhetorical question into the room. “This shows a remarkable depth of character for a man of this office. I think that the mere fact that the vice-commissar can show such restraint and seem weak to the weak-minded means this man may have hidden depths for the Empire to exploit. He is unafraid of those he deems beneath him and is wise enough to seek to intimidate those who are more powerful.”

  “Lieutenant Gratius Aquilinus, reporting for duty.” Gratius intoned, determined to try and keep to protocol.

  “Yes of course, at ease Lieutenant.” The Investigator motioned to the opposite chair for Lieutenant Gratius to sit down. “I am Investigator Celeris Furius. I am taking the time to brief each squad officer individually for the coming assignment. Yours is the last squad to arrive. I understand this was due to the march to extricate yourselves from Albina 7. You should brief your men prior to moving out at 10:00 tomorrow. This assignment is unusual in that it has been deemed extremely classified; however the existence of the assignment will be hard to keep under wraps. The purpose itself will remain secret, even to you, for security reasons.”

  Lieutenant Gratius nodded; the prospect of a large-scale mission that could not be kept secret but was deemed so highly classified worried him.

  “You are currently on Sol Invictus. At 10:00 tomorrow your men, with a number of other forces, will meet at the Sol Invictus Shuttle port and board a sub-orbital flyer designation 2952. The total number of troops shall number 10,000; some of which will be members of the Black Guard. It is to one of these that you shall be ultimately reporting, and whom this will be will be made known to you when you arrive at your destination. Your destination will be the Pyramids at Al-qaahira in MiSra, once known as Cairo in Egypt. You will form part of a guard detail and transport several hundred thousand ungodly to Rome, via Jerusalem in Issra-il. At Jerusalem you will remove a strategic target or control the prisoners. You will receive further orders at Rome. You now understand why the existence of the operation cannot be kept fully secret. The identity of the target will be made available to you at Jerusalem. Are there any questions?”

  The Investigator stood up, swinging her boots off the desk and standing in a single fluid motion. Lieutenant Gratius noticed the athletic figure that belied extreme speed born of conditioning that even the most highly trained trooper could not hope to match. She did have a scar that ran down the left side of her face from within her hair. The hair around the scar had turned white but, as she had blonde hair, this was barely noticeable. The scar itself was a fine line and had not affected her eye, nor the line of her brows, thus meaning it had been but a shallow wound. Lieutenant Gratius wondered what could possibly have come close to a blinding injury on one such as her. As she turned to look out of the window Gratius was drawn to the curve of her perfectly formed buttocks, accentuated by the tight hugging fit of her body armour. He attempted to hold down the feeling of attraction. While she was physically perfect, she was also the most deadly human being he had ever encountered and openly lusting after an Imperial killing machine was the closest thing to stupidity he could think of.

  “Normal operation procedure specifies that I be informed of any specific equipment requirements for the mission so that my squad can be outfitted appropriately.” replied Lieutenant Gratius.

  “Of course. You will essentially be crowd control, but unlike most assignments of such, the Empire is not particularly concerned about the survival rate and so you should use discretion. Those who are merely troublesome can be dealt with on a non-lethal basis, but those who attempt to leave the convoy are to be eliminated. Your squad should therefore be armed with both lethal and non-lethal weapons. I would use the normal guard template, with cattleprods, tazers and riot batons. I would also take precautions for insurgent activity to free the prisoners and so a long range and heavy option should also be catered for in your preparation. I can ready a list of suggested equipment but I assume you know the weapon proficiencies within your squad Lieutenant and so I leave much to your own judgement in this. Of course, should your squad fail in its duty due to inappropriate equipment then you as its officer will be held liable for the failure.”

  “I was referring to the target in Issra-il. While I know the target is classified is there a specific weapons solution I should be drawing, for heavy armour, surgical strike, or area detonation?” Lieutenant Gratius asked.

/>   “The method of the target’s elimination is in the hands of the Black Guard. You will not be required to cater for it. However, I would suggest taking, as a contingency, remote detonated demolitions explosives, as much as each man can carry after the equipment you assign to your men, whilst still remaining combat effective.”

  Lieutenant Gratius had no doubt that the same advice had been given to each Lieutenant; and so the amount of demolitions explosive being taken to eliminate one target was phenomenal. Either the Empire really wanted this target eliminated or it was a structure of such size that the only other methods capable of destroying would be aerial or orbital bombardment or a nuclear warhead.

  “Thank you for taking the time to brief me, if I may be excused to prepare?”