'Then it's true,’ sighed Sindermann. 'The naysayers are being silenced,’
'There are still a few of us left,’ said Loken, quiet steel in his voice.
Then we do something about it, Garviel,’ said Sindermann. 'We must find out what has been brought into the Legion and stop it. We can fight it, Loken. We have you, we have the truth and there is no reason why we cannot-'
The sound that cut off Sindermann's voice was the door to the practice deck slamming open, folВlowed by heavy metal-on-metal footsteps. Mersadie knew it was an Astartes even before the impossibly huge shadow fell over her. She turned to see the cursive form of Maloghurst behind her, robed in a cream tunic edged in sea green trim. The Warmas-ter's equerry, Maloghurst was known as 'the Twisted', as much for his labyrinthine mind as the horrible injuries that had broken his body and left him grotesquely malformed.
His face was thunder and anger seemed to bleed from him.
'Loken,' he said, 'these are civilians.'
'Kyril Sindermann and Mersadie Oliton are offiВcial rememberers of the Great Crusade and I can vouch for them,' said Loken, standing to face MalВoghurst as an equal.
Maloghurst spoke with Horus's authority and Mersadie marvelled at what it must take to stand up to such a man.
'Perhaps you are unaware of the Warmaster's edict, captain,’ said Maloghurst, the pleasant neuВtrality of his tone completely at odds with the tension that crackled between the two Astartes. 'These clerks and notaries have caused enough
trouble; you of all people should understand that. There are to be no distractions, Loken, and no exceptions,’
Loken stood face-to-face with Maloghurst and for one sickening moment, Mersadie thought he was about to strike the equerry.
'We are all doing the work of the Great Crusade, Mai,’ said Loken tightly. 'Without these men and women, it cannot be completed,’
'Civilians do not fight, captain, they only quesВtion and complain. They can record everything they desire once the war has been won and they can spread the Imperial Truth once we have conquered a population that needs to hear it. Until then, they are not a part of this Crusade,’
'No, Maloghurst,’ said Loken. You're wrong and you know it. The Emperor did not create the pri-marchs and the Legions so they could fight on in ignorance. He did not set out to conquer the galaxy just for it to become another dictatorship,’
The Emperor,’ said Maloghurst, gesturing towards the door, 'is a long way from here,’
A dozen soldiers marched into the training halls and Mersadie recognised uniforms of the Imperial Army, but saw that their badges of unit and rank had been removed. With a start, she also recognised one face – the icy, golden-eyed features of Petronella Vivar's bodyguard. She recalled that his name was Maggard, and was amazed at the sheer size of the man, his physique bulky and muscled beyond that of the army soldiers who accompanied
him. The exposed flesh of his muscles bore freshly healing scars and his face displayed a nascent giganВtism similar to Loken's. He stood out amongst the uniformed Army soldiers, and his presence only lent credence to Sindermann's wild theory that Petronella Vivar's disappearance had nothing to do with her returning to Terra.
'Take the iterator and the remembrancer back to their quarters,’ said Maloghurst. 'Post guards and ensure that there are no more breaches.'
Maggard nodded and stepped forwards. Mersadie tried to avoid him, but he was quick and strong, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and hauling her towards the door. Sindermann stood of his own accord and allowed himself to be led away by the other soldiers.
Maloghurst stood between Loken and the door. If Loken wanted to stop Maggard and his men, he would have to go through Maloghurst.
'Captain Loken,’ called Sindermann as he was marched off the practice deck, 'if you wish to understand more, read the Chronicles of Ursh again. There you will find illumination,’
Mersadie tried to look back. She could see Loken beyond Maloghurst's robed form, looking like a caged animal ready to attack.
The door slammed shut, and Mersadie stopped struggling as Maggard led her and Sindermann back towards their quarters.
TWO
Perfection
Iterator
What we do best
Perfection. The dead greenskins were a testament to it. Deep Orbital DS191 had been conquered in a matchless display of combat, fields of fire overlapВping like dancers' fans, squads charging in to slaughter the orks that the guns could not finish. Squad by squad, room by room, the Emperor's Children had killed their way through the xenos holding the space station with all the handsome perfection of combat that Fulgrim had taught his Legion.
As the warriors of his company despatched any surviving greenskins, Saul Tarvitz removed his helВmet and immediately recoiled at the stench. The greenskins had inhabited the orbital for some time and it showed. Fungal growths pulsed on the dark metal struts of the main control centre and crude
shrines of weapons, armour and tribal fetishes were piled against the command posts. Above him, the transparent dome of the control centre looked onto the void of space.
The Callinedes system, a collection of Imperial worlds under attack by the greenskins was visible amid the froth of stars. Capturing the orbital back from the orks was the first stage in the Imperial relief of Callinedes, and the Emperor's Children and Iron Hands Legions would soon be storming into the enemy strongholds on Callinedes IV.
"What a stink,’ said a voice behind Tarvitz, and he turned to see Captain Lucius, the finest swordsman of the Emperor's Children. His compatriot's armour was spattered black and his elegant sword still crackled with the blood sizzling on its blue-hot blade. 'Damned animals, they don't have the sense to roll over and die when you kill them.'
Lucius's face had once been perfectly flawless, an echo of Fulgrim's Legion itself, but now, after one too many jibes about how he looked more like a pampered boy than a warrior and the influence of Serena d'Angelus, Lucius had started to acquire scars, each one uniform and straight in a perfect grid across his face. No enemy blade had etched them into his face, for Lucius was far too sublime a warrior to allow a mere enemy to mark his features.
They're tough, I'll give them that,’ agreed Tarvitz.
They may be tough, but there's no elegance to their fighting,’ said Lucius. There's no sport in killing them,’
You sound disappointed,’
'Well of course I am. Aren't you?' asked Lucius, jabbing his sword through a dead greenskin and carving a curved pattern on its back. 'How can we achieve ultimate perfection with such poor speciВmens to better ourselves against?'
'Don't underestimate the greenskins,’ said Tarvitz. These animals invaded a compliant world and slaughtered all the troops we left to defend it. They have spaceships and weapons we don't understand, and they attack as if war is some kind of religion to them,’
He turned over the closest corpse – a massive brute with skin as tough as gnarled bark, its violent red eyes open and its undershot maw still grimacВing with rage. Only the spread of entrails beneath suggested it was dead at all. Tarvitz could almost feel the jarring of his broadsword as he had plunged it through the creature's midriff and its tremendous strength as it had tried to force him onto his knees.
You talk about them as if we need to understand them before we can kill them. They're just animals,’ said Lucius with a sardonic laugh. You think about things too much. That's always been your problem, Saul, and it's why you'll never reach the dizzying heights I will achieve. Come on, just revel in the kill,’
Tarvitz opened his mouth to respond, but he kept his thoughts to himself as Lord Commander Eidolon strode into the control centre