'Why don't you tell it, Lucius?' asked Tarvitz. 'I don't think I build your part up enough for your liking anyway,’
'That's true,’ smiled Lucius. 'Very well, I'll tell
the tale,’
'Lord commander,’ said Tarvitz, bowing to
Eidolon and then turning to make his way through the golden door of the banquet hall. Appealing to Lucius's vanity was the surest way of deflecting his attention. Tarvitz would miss the camaraderie of the celebration, but he had other matters pressing on his thoughts.
He closed the door to the banqueting hall as Lucius began the tale of their ill-fated expedition to Murder, though its horrifying beginnings had somehow become a great triumph, largely thanks to Lucius, if past retellings were anything to go by.
The magnificent processional at the heart of the Andronius was quiet, the droning hum of the vessel reassuring in its constancy. The ship, like many in the Emperor's Children fleet, resembled some ancient palace of Terra, reflecting the Legion's desire to infuse everything with regal majesty.
Tarvitz made his way through the ship, passing wondrous spaces that would make the shipwrights of Jupiter weep with awe, until he reached the Hall of Rites, the circular chamber where the Emperor's Children underwent the oaths and ceremonies that tied them to their Legion. Compared to the rest of the ship, the hall was dark, but it was no less magВnificent: marble columns supporting a distant domed ceiling, and ritual altars of marble glittering in pools of shadow at its edges.
Fulgrim's Chosen had pledged themselves to the primarch's personal charge here, and he had accepted his appointment as captain before the
Altar of Service. The Hall of Rites replaced opulence with gravity, and seemed designed to intimidate with the promise of knowledge hidden from all but the Legion's most exalted officers.
Tarvitz paused on the threshold, seeing the unmistakable shape of Ancient Rylanor, his dreadВnought body standing before the Altar of Devotion.
'Enter,’ said Rylanor in his artificial voice.
Tarvitz cautiously approached the Ancient, his blocky outline resolving into a tank-like square sarВcophagus supported on powerful piston legs. The dreadnought's wide shoulders mounted an assault cannon on one arm and a huge hydraulic fist on the other. Rylanor's body rotated slowly on its central axis to face Tarvitz, turning from the Book of CereВmonies that lay open on the altar.
'Captain Tarvitz, why are you not with your warВriors?' asked Rylanor. The vision slit that housed his ocular circuits regarded Tarvitz without emotion.
They can celebrate well enough without me,’ said Tarvitz. 'Besides, I have sat through one too many renditions of Lucius's tales to think I'll miss much.'
'It is not to my taste either,’ said Rylanor, a grating bark of electronic noise sounding from the dreadВnought's vox-unit. At first Tarvitz thought the Ancient had developed a fault, until he realised that the sound was Rylanor's laughter.
Rylanor was the Legion's Ancient of Rites, and when not on the battlefield he oversaw the cereВmonies that marked the gradual ascent of an Astartes from novice to Chosen of Fulgrim.
Decades before, Rylanor had been wounded beyond the skill of the Legion's apothecaries while fighting the duplicitous eldar, and had been interred in a dreadnought war machine that he might continue to serve. Along with Lucius and Tarvitz, Rylanor was one of the senior officers being sent down to take the Choral City's palace complex.
'I wish to speak with you, revered Ancient,’ said Tarvitz, 'about the drop,’
The drop is in a few hours,’ replied Rylanor. There is little time,’
Yes, I have left it too late and for that I apologise, but it concerns Captain Odovocar,’
'Captain Odovocar is dead, killed on Isstvan Extremis,’
'And the Legion lost a great warrior that day,’ nodВded Tarvitz. 'Not only that, but he was to function as Eidolon's senior staff officer aboard the Andro-nius, relaying the commander's orders to the surface. With his death there is no one to fulfil that role,’
'Eidolon is aware of Odovocar's loss. He will have an alternative in place,’
'I request the honour of fulfilling that role,’ said Tarvitz solemnly. 'I knew Odovocar well and would consider it a fitting tribute to finish the work he began on this campaign,’
The dreadnought leaned close to Tarvitz, the cold metallic machine unreadable, as the crippled warВrior within decided Tarvitz's fate.
'You would renounce the honour of your place in the speartip to take over his duties?'
Tarvitz looked into Rylanor's vision slit, strugВgling to keep his expression neutral. Rylanor had seen everything the Legion had gone through since the beginning of the Great Crusade and was said to be able to perceive a lie the instant it was told.
His request to remain aboard the Andronius was highly unusual and Rylanor would surely be suspiВcious of his motives for not wanting to go into the fight. But when Tarvitz had learned that Eidolon was not leading the speartip personally, he knew there had to be a reason. The lord commander never passed up the opportunity to flaunt his marВtial prowess and for him to appoint another in his stead was unheard of.
Not only that, but the deployment orders Eidolon had issued made no sense.
Instead of the normal, rigorously regimented order of battle that was typical of an Emperor's Children assault, the units chosen to make the first attack appeared to have been picked at random. The only thing they had in common was that none were from Chapters led by Eidolon's favoured lord commanders. For Eidolon to sanction a drop withВout any of the warriors belonging to those lord commanders was unheard of and grossly insulting.
Something felt very wrong about this drop and Tarvitz couldn't shake the feeling that there was some grim purpose behind the selection of these units. He had to know what it was.
Rylanor straightened and said, 'I shall see to it that you are replaced. This is a great sacrifice you make, Captain Tarvitz. You do the memory of Odovocar much honour with it,’
Tarvitz fought to hide his relief, knowing that he had taken an unthinkable risk in lying to Rylanor. He nodded and said, 'My thanks, Ancient,’
'I shall join the troops of the speartip,’ said the dreadnought. Their feasting will soon be complete and I must ensure that they are ready for battle,’
'Bring perfection to the Choral City,’ said Tarvitz.
'Guide us well,’ replied Rylanor, his voice loaded with unspoken meaning. Tarvitz was suddenly cerВtain that the dreadnought wanted Tarvitz to remain on the ship.
'Do the Emperor's work, Captain Tarvitz,’ ordered Rylanor.
Tarvitz saluted and said, 'I will,’ as Rylanor set off across the Hall of Rites towards the banquet, his every step heavy and pounding.
Tarvitz watched him go, wondering if he would ever see the Ancient again.
The dormitories tucked into the thick walls running the length of the gantry were dark and hot, and from the doorway Mersadie could see down into the engine compartment where the crew were indistinguishable, sweating figures who worked in the infernal heat and ruddy glow of the plasma reactors. They hurried across gangways that stretched between the titanic reactors and
clambered along massive conduits that hung like spider webs in the hellish gloom.
She dabbed sweat from her brow at the heat and close confines of the engine space, unused to the searing air that stole away her breath and left her faint.
'Mersadie,’ said Sindermann coming to meet her along the gantry. The iterator had lost weight, his dirty robes hanging from his already spare frame, but his face was alight with the relief and joy of seeВing her. The two embraced in a heartfelt hug, both grateful beyond words to see each other. She felt tears pricking her eyes at the sight of the old man, unaware until this moment of how much she had missed him.