Tarvitz descended into the lower reaches of the ship, far from where the Emperor's Children dwelt in the most magnificent parts of the Andronius. The rest of the ship, inhabited by servitors and menials, was more functional and Tarvitz knew he would pass without challenge here.
The darkness closed around Tarvitz and the yawnВing chasms of the engine structures opened out many hundreds of metres below the gantry on which he stood. Above the engine spaces were the reeking gun decks, where mighty cannons, weapons that could level cities, were housed in massive, armoured revetments.
'Stand by for ordnance,’ chimed an automated, metallic voice. Tarvitz felt the ship shift again, and this time he could hear the creak of the hull as the planet's upper atmosphere raised the temperature of the outer hull.
Tarvitz descended an iron staircase at the end of the dark gantry and the vast expanse of the gun deck sprawled before him, a titanic vault that ran the length of the vessel. Huge, hissing cranes fed the guns, lifting tank-sized shells from the magazine decks through blast proof doors. Gunners and loaders sweated with their riggers, each gun
serviced by a hundred men who hauled on thick chains and levers in preparation for their firing. Servitors distributed water to the gun crews and Mechanicum adepts maintained vigil on the weapons to ensure they were properly calibrated.
Tarvitz felt his resolve harden and his anger grow at the sight of the guns being made ready. Who were they planning to fire on? With thousands of Astartes on the planet's surface, bombarding the Choral City was absurd, yet here the guns were, loaded and ready to unleash hell.
He doubted that the men crewing these weapons knew which planet they were in orbit over or even who they would be shooting at. Entire communiВties flourished below the decks of a starship and it was perfectly possible that these men had no idea who they were about to destroy.
He reached the end of the staircase and set foot on the deck, its high ceiling soaring above him like a mighty cathedral to destructive power. Tarvitz heard footsteps approaching and turned to see a robed adept in the livery of the Mechanicum.
'Captain,’ inquired the adept, 'is there something amiss?'
'No,’ said Tarvitz. 'I am just here to ensure that everything is proceeding normally,’
'I can assure you, lord, that preparations for the bombardment are proceeding exactly as planned. The warheads will be launched prior to the deployВment of the second wave,’
Warheads?' asked Tarvitz.
'Yes, captain,’ said the adept. 'All bombardment cannons are loaded with airbursting warheads loaded with virus bombs as specified in our order of battle,’
Virus bombs,’ said Tarvitz, fighting to hold back his revulsion at what the adept was telling him.
'Is everything all right, captain?' asked the adept, noticing the change in his expression.
'I'm fine,’ Tarvitz lied, feeling as if his legs would give way any second. 'You can return to your duties,’
The adept nodded and set off towards one of the guns.
Virus bombs…
Weapons so terrible and forbidden that only the Warmaster himself, and the Emperor before him, could ever sanction their use.
Each warhead would unleash the life eater virus, a rampant organism that destroyed life in all its forms and wiped out every shred of organic matter on the surface of a planet within hours. The magniВtude of this new knowledge, and its implications, staggered Tarvitz and he felt his breath coming in short, painful gasps as he attempted to reconcile what he knew with what he had just learned.
His Legion was preparing to kill the planet below and he knew with sudden clarity that it could not be alone in this. To saturate a planet with enough virus warheads to destroy all life would take many ships and with a sick jolt of horВror, he knew that such an order could only have come from the Warmaster.
For reasons Tarvitz could not even begin to guess at the Warmaster had chosen to betray fully a third of his warriors, exterminating them in one fell swoop.
'I have to warn them,’ he hissed, turning and runВning for the embarkation deck.
NINE
The power of a god
Regrouping
Honour brothers
The strategium was dark, lit only by braziers that burned with a flickering green flame. Where once the banners of the Legion's battle companies had hung from its walls, they were now replaced with those of the warrior lodge. The company banners had been taken down shortly after the speartip had been deployed and the message was clear: the lodge now had primacy within the Sons of Horus. The platform from which the Warmaster had addressed the officers of his fleet now held a lectern upon which rested the Book of Lorgar.
The Warmaster sat on the strategium throne, watching reports coming in from Isstvan III on the battery of pict-screens before him.
The emerald light picked out the edges of his armour and reflected from the amber gemstone
forming the eye upon his breastplate. Reams of combat statistics streamed past and pict-relays showed the unfolding battles in the Choral City. The World Eaters were in the centre of an epic strugВgle. Thousands of people were swarming into the plaza before the Precentor's Palace, and the streets flowed with rivers of blood as the Astartes slaughВtered wave after wave of Isstvanians that charged into their guns and chainblades.
The palace itself was intact, only a few palls of smoke indicating the battle raging through it as the Emperor's Children fought their way through its guards.
Vardus Praal would be dead soon, though Horus cared nothing for the fate of Isstvan Ill's rogue governor. His rebellion had simply given Horus the chance to rid himself of those he knew would never follow him on his great march to Terra.
Horus looked up as Erebus approached.
'First chaplain,' said Horus sternly. 'Matters are delicate. Do not disturb me needlessly'
'There is news from Prospero,’ said Erebus, unperВturbed. The shadow whisperers clung to him, darting around his feet and the crozius he wore at his waist.
'Magnus?' asked Horus, suddenly interested.
'He lives yet,’ said Erebus, 'but not for the lack of effort on the part of the Wolves of Fenris,’
'Magnus lives,’ snarled Horus. Then he may yet be a danger,’
'No,’ assured Erebus. 'The spires of Prospero have fallen and the warp echoes with the powerful sorВcery Magnus used to save his warriors and escape,’
'Always sorcery,’ said Horus. 'Where did he escape to?'
'I do not know yet,’ said Erebus, 'but wherever he goes, the Emperor's dogs will hunt him down,’
'And he will either join us or die alone in the wilderness,’ said Horus, thoughtfully. 'To think that so much depends on the personalities of so few. Magnus was nearly my deadliest enemy, perhaps as dangerous as the Emperor himself. Now he has no choice but to follow us until the very end. If Ful-grim brings Ferrus Magnus into the fold then we have as good as won,’
Horus waved dismissively at the viewscreens depicting the battle in the Choral City. 'The IsstvaВnians believe the gods have come to destroy them and in a way they are right. Life and death are mine to dispense. What is that if not the power of a god?'
'Captain Loken. Sergeant Vipus. It is good to see you both,’ said Sergeant Lachost, hunkered down in the shattered shell of a shrine to one of Isstvan Ill's ancestors. We've been trying to raise all the squads. They're all over the place. The speartip's shattered,’
Then we'll re-forge it here,’ replied Loken.
Sporadic fire rattled through the valley, so he took cover beside Lachost. The sergeant's command squad was arrayed around the shrine ruin, bolters trained and occasionally snapping off shots at the