Part 6 (1/2)
a”My orders were to reinforce the Ja.n.u.s 6th at dawn and hold the monastery if we could. The Ja.n.u.sians were annihilated before we arrived, despite my men making for the monastery in the middle of the night.a” Thade narrowed his eyes, feeling his muscles tense. He didna't mention the idiotic vainglory that sent the Ja.n.u.s 6th so far ahead of the main force. The lord generala's pursed lips twisted into a thin frown.
a”Your orders, warden-captain, were to hold the Reclamationa's most promising incursion point into Solthane. You lost our forward base.a”
a”The Ja.n.u.s 6th lost it when they were slaughtered.a”
a”You were present after that event.a”
Osiron shook his head slightly, setting his crimson hood rustling in a soft hiss of silken material. It wasna't a disagreement with the lord general; it was a warning to Thade not to lose his temper.
a”With the greatest respect, Overseer,a” Thade met the older mana's gaze, a”I am Cadian Shock. We dona't forget our orders. My men were to reinforce the monastery if such a defence was viable.a”
a”It was viable. You said so yourself.a”
Thade detested this petty conversational thrusting and parrying. It wasna't in his blood to argue with an officer like this, but then again, he wasna't used to serving under such a pathetic excuse for a lord general.
No, that wasna't quite true. Maggrig wasna't pathetic. This was what Osiron was warning against. Dona't disrespect the lord general purely for his variant approach to command. In arrogance, lay self-deception. Now focus.
Yet he wasna't going to allow his men to take a mark of cowardice on their records just because the lord general needed someone to blame for overextending his forces.
a”Not at all, lord general. I said quite clearly the only way my available forces could have remained in the Shrine of the Emperora's Undying Majesty would be if they sealed themselves in the undercroft network and awaited reinforcement.a”
a”That would be holding, Thade.a”
a”Hardly, sir,a” the captain laughed. It instantly set the lord generala's glare aflame.
a”Explain yourself.a”
a”It would be a few survivors languis.h.i.+ng in the dark and voxing for rescue.a”
a”I had requested aid from Cadia in the belief its units were valorous. You disappoint me, warden-captain.a”
The three Cadians fell silent. Vertain swallowed, clenching his teeth to prevent saying something hea'd be executed for. Even Osirona's mechanical breathing slowed and quieted. Thade leaned on the table, knuckles down, and faced the ageing general.
a”I will follow my orders to the best of my ability at all times. If the lord general of the Reclamation deems it necessary to send a fraction of my regiment into an engagement that the a.s.signed campaign tacticians argued against, then so be it. If the lord general appoints a mechanised infantry company to lock itself within a siege situation, then Ia'll do all I can to make sure those orders are carried out. But Ia've been fighting the Archenemy since my recruitment into the Cadian Youth legion at fourteen years of age. Every single man in a Cadian uniform was raised to a.s.semble and fire a standard-issue lasgun before he could read and write. If the 88th falls back, ita's because in the considered opinion of every veteran officer among our number, we had to fall back.a”
a”I see,a” the lord general said simply. It was almost a sneer.
a”I confirmed the Ja.n.u.sians were dead a- just as Ia'd said they would be when their initial a.s.sault was planned. My Sentinels have remapped over half of the eastern district, updating the data readouts with post-plague geographical a.n.a.lysis. Ia've confirmed the presence of the XIV Traitor Legion.a”
At this point, Thade gestured with a bloodstained glove to the pict slate hea'd placed on the table. Its surface display was still auto-cycling through images of the Death Guard Astartes confronted by Thadea's squad. The final three picts showed the hulking creature dead, its armour blackened from las-fire and cracked open from bolt rounds. Maggots and black organic filth had spilled from the wounds.
a”And my men killed several hundred Remnant as we fell back from the monastery,a” Thade finished.
a”They came for the vehicles,a” Osirona's snake voice hissed mechanically. a”They struck in a horde of plague-slain as we readied to draw back.a”
a”We killed another three Death Guard as we fought off the Remnant and made ready to withdraw,a” Vertain added. a”Confirmed kills, verified by the gun cameras of Dead Mana's Hand.a”
a”By what?a” asked Maggrig.
a”Sentinel Squadron C-Eighty-Eight Alpha,a” Thade said. Vertain made an apologetic salute to the general. Hea'd not meant to fall into regimental slang.
Overseer Maggrig leaned back in his arch-backed wooden chair, gazing around the empty command tent with its unrolled maps hanging from the walls and his ornamental weapons on racks. His eyes fell upon Thadea's chainsword. The captain had cleaned most of the filth from it on the drive back to base, but he was keen to tend to it properly. The weapona's spirit would balk at such disrespect soon.
a”That is a beautiful sword, warden-captain.a”
Thade inclined his head slightly in a look that coulda've said a”thank youa” as easily as it said a”what in the h.e.l.ls are you talking about?a” Ultimately, his voice went with the former.
a”My thanks, lord general.a”
a”Where did you acquire it? You may have noticed Ia'm something of a collector.a”
Thade had noticed. For all his faults, the lord general had a wonderful collection of blades and pistols. The captain doubted theya'd been used even once by Maggrig personally, but what surprised him was the fact each piece of the displayed collection was an admirable and apparently fully-functional weapon. No one blade stood out as purely decorative. Not one pistol did Thade recognise as ornamental. They were tools of war, from the plainest sector standard Kantrael-forged bolt pistol similar to Thadea's own, to the double-edged power sabre fit for a hive n.o.ble on Thracian Prime.
This one aspect of the lord general was the only facet Thade warmed to in his commandera's personality. Of course, the Cadians had been joking for weeks the only way Maggrig could have acquired real weapons was to pilfer them from the corpses of men his orders had killed. But Thade doubted bringing up that little joke would crack a smile across the generala's wizened features.
a”Ia'd noticed, sir. Your collection is impressive.a”
a”And your blade, warden-captain?a”
a”It was a gift, lord general.a”
a”Of course, but from whom? Dispense with the modesty. It doesna't suit one with such silver on his helm.a”
Was this the lord generala's attempt at bonding with one of his men? Or just a deflection? Was this a friendly divergence from the conversation, knowing that Thade had been in the right? A clumsy attempt, if it was, but the captain was wrong-footed for a moment. The Overseera's voice remained pinched between a clipped reprimand and a sneer, but the captain had quickly grown used to that.
a”It was a gift from Lord Castellan Creed.a”
a”Ah,a” Maggrig smiled a honey-laden smirk. Apparently Thadea's answer clarified something in his mind, though the captain couldna't guess what. a”In recognition for your brave efforts during the days before your world fell to the Archenemy.a”
The Cadians stiffened for the second time. Vertain drew breath to speak but Thade cut him off with a brisk wave.
a”Dismissed, lieutenant,a” the captain said.
Chafing, almost shaking in anger, the Sentinel pilot made the sign of the aquila and stalked from the tent.
a”Home has not fallen, lord general.a” Thadea's voice was measured and precise. a”We fight on, even now.a”
Maggrig did so love to see the much-vaunted Cadian pride take a bruising. Superior b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, every one of them.
a”Ia've seen the reports, warden-captain. Months into this new crusade, and over half the planet still in the grip of the Despoilera's forces. A shame, truly. Rather an important world to lose like that.a”
Thadea's reply was long in coming. He took several breaths in silence, pointedly moved his hands away from his weapon belt, picked up the data-slate hea'd brought in with him, and handed it to Osiron.