vehicle and his crew, of course – had just accomplished something special, something bigger than he had ever accomplished before.
It was a heady realisation, enough to make him forget the discomfort – the mild itch of claustrophobia – that had lurked on the periphery of his awareness all day.
There was only one thought on the tank commander’s mind at that moment, and he clenched his teeth in a grim smile as he voiced it, ‘…and one to go!’
Two of Galenus’s battle-brothers were down.
A Plague Marine planted his foot on the chest of one of them, and plunged his infected knife through a crack in his bright blue armour. He leered across the battlefield at Galenus, with his blackened stumps of teeth, as he twisted his blade in his enemy’s guts.
A Plague Marine had fallen too, and, at that moment, Terserus drove his power fist through the stomach of another, splintering his armour and his spine.
Two casualties apiece, then. With their greater starting numbers, that meant the Ultramarines were gaining the advantage.
Sergeant Thalorus and Brother Filion came to their captain’s assistance, giving him a welcome respite from his relentless, skull-headed opponent. He used it to converse with the orbiting Quintillus , specifically, with Captain Fabian’s epistolary, who had taken charge of the Librarians of all three companies.
‘I need answers now,’ he barked. ‘Why do we have two Chaos transports – one carrying, we have to assume, a Plague Champion – headed for the second Great Seal?’
‘We have been trying to divine the answer to that question, and–’
‘Don’t tell me what you’ve been doing. Just tell me what you know.’
The Librarian drew a breath before he answered. ‘No doubt remains that those ships are en route to Fort Garm to destroy the Great Seal there. This may be good news for us.’
Galenus raised a cynical eyebrow. ‘How so?’
‘It could be that our assumptions were… incorrect.’ The word was spoken reluctantly. ‘It could be that, in order to unleash the warp rift fully, both Great Seals must be broken.’
‘Because why else would the Death Guard divide their forces this way,’ Galenus mused, ‘when they’re so close to unearthing and destroying the Kerberos Seal?’
‘The problem, captain, is that the eldars’ ancient technomancy is still beyond our–’
Galenus tuned out the Librarian’s voice. The skull-headed Plague Marine was holding off his two attackers; they couldn’t seem to penetrate his defences. Galenus, however, had spotted that a patch of the armour between his ribs had rusted away, and that there was a fresh-looking, suppurating wound behind it.
He holstered his boltgun and drew his gladius. Like Terserus’s power fist, the short sword’s blade fizzed with energy. Of course, it was smaller and less powerful than the fist. However, at close quarters and in skilled hands – like the captain’s – it was a highly effective weapon.
With a forward lunge, he thrust his gladius into the Plague Marine’s side.
He was pleased to elicit a grunt from the traitor’s throat – the first sign of pain or weakness that he had displayed. Galenus stepped back and left the rest to his battle-brothers. He was thinking about what the Librarian had told him.
It was certainly an appealing notion, he thought, if they were to achieve their evil goal, the Death Guard had to win on two fronts, while the Ultramarines had only to beat them on one. It would mean he could forget about the southbound enemy forces. An appealing notion indeed…
‘But what if it’s the Death Guard who have made the wrong assumptions?’
‘Captain?’
‘What if we were right before and wrong now?’ Galenus asked. ‘We could win the battle here but lose the war. Can you guarantee that won’t happen? That, if we allow the Garm Seal to be destroyed, it won’t mean the end of everything?’
‘I have a team of Codicers consulting the Emperor’s Tarot as we speak to
It was a heady realisation, enough to make him forget the discomfort – the mild itch of claustrophobia – that had lurked on the periphery of his awareness all day.
There was only one thought on the tank commander’s mind at that moment, and he clenched his teeth in a grim smile as he voiced it, ‘…and one to go!’
Two of Galenus’s battle-brothers were down.
A Plague Marine planted his foot on the chest of one of them, and plunged his infected knife through a crack in his bright blue armour. He leered across the battlefield at Galenus, with his blackened stumps of teeth, as he twisted his blade in his enemy’s guts.
A Plague Marine had fallen too, and, at that moment, Terserus drove his power fist through the stomach of another, splintering his armour and his spine.
Two casualties apiece, then. With their greater starting numbers, that meant the Ultramarines were gaining the advantage.
Sergeant Thalorus and Brother Filion came to their captain’s assistance, giving him a welcome respite from his relentless, skull-headed opponent. He used it to converse with the orbiting Quintillus , specifically, with Captain Fabian’s epistolary, who had taken charge of the Librarians of all three companies.
‘I need answers now,’ he barked. ‘Why do we have two Chaos transports – one carrying, we have to assume, a Plague Champion – headed for the second Great Seal?’
‘We have been trying to divine the answer to that question, and–’
‘Don’t tell me what you’ve been doing. Just tell me what you know.’
The Librarian drew a breath before he answered. ‘No doubt remains that those ships are en route to Fort Garm to destroy the Great Seal there. This may be good news for us.’
Galenus raised a cynical eyebrow. ‘How so?’
‘It could be that our assumptions were… incorrect.’ The word was spoken reluctantly. ‘It could be that, in order to unleash the warp rift fully, both Great Seals must be broken.’
‘Because why else would the Death Guard divide their forces this way,’ Galenus mused, ‘when they’re so close to unearthing and destroying the Kerberos Seal?’
‘The problem, captain, is that the eldars’ ancient technomancy is still beyond our–’
Galenus tuned out the Librarian’s voice. The skull-headed Plague Marine was holding off his two attackers; they couldn’t seem to penetrate his defences. Galenus, however, had spotted that a patch of the armour between his ribs had rusted away, and that there was a fresh-looking, suppurating wound behind it.
He holstered his boltgun and drew his gladius. Like Terserus’s power fist, the short sword’s blade fizzed with energy. Of course, it was smaller and less powerful than the fist. However, at close quarters and in skilled hands – like the captain’s – it was a highly effective weapon.
With a forward lunge, he thrust his gladius into the Plague Marine’s side.
He was pleased to elicit a grunt from the traitor’s throat – the first sign of pain or weakness that he had displayed. Galenus stepped back and left the rest to his battle-brothers. He was thinking about what the Librarian had told him.
It was certainly an appealing notion, he thought, if they were to achieve their evil goal, the Death Guard had to win on two fronts, while the Ultramarines had only to beat them on one. It would mean he could forget about the southbound enemy forces. An appealing notion indeed…
‘But what if it’s the Death Guard who have made the wrong assumptions?’
‘Captain?’
‘What if we were right before and wrong now?’ Galenus asked. ‘We could win the battle here but lose the war. Can you guarantee that won’t happen? That, if we allow the Garm Seal to be destroyed, it won’t mean the end of everything?’
‘I have a team of Codicers consulting the Emperor’s Tarot as we speak to
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