Part 19 (1/2)
a”Ah, now we come to the crux of the matter. I could disobey this order and never suffer punishment, as being dead in the coming battle would leave me far from harma's way. So let me be clear, lord. Ia'm charged with leading my men into battle and ensuring above all that they fight and die for the Golden Throne. So convince me. Convince me that one last charge against the enemy and killing a horde of them isna't the best way to serve the Throne. Convince me the G.o.d-Emperor wants more from us, or we die in battle for Him tonight.a”
Caius smiled. a”This is an amusing little blackmail, is it not? But I take your point. You will obey because I demand it, but I will throw you the bone you and your men need in order to be motivated.a”
a”Youa've a generous soul, lord.a” Thade grinned back.
a”You ask much of me. I already gave you permission to recover your regimental banner, did I not?a”
a”That coin spins two ways. Ita's tactically sound to seek out the survivors of the 88th. I am, after all, the current commanding officer. But leta's cut to the point. What is it I should know, inquisitor?a”
a”And what if I say that what I know for certain is little more than what I already told you?a”
a”Then I would ask you to guess whata's going on, because the educated a.s.sumptions of a servant of the Ordo Sepulturum are more than good enough for me.a”
a”Very well. I am tasked with visiting the various shrines of true merit within Solthane, seeking the source of the taint.a”
a”That much I know.a”
a”Unlike any other outbreak in recorded Scarus history, no Archenemy vessel brought the disease from orbit, no sightings of the Heralda's flags.h.i.+p were registered before the plague struck, nothing of the conventional kind occurred here. We reasoned that something already present on the planet was responsible.a”
a”This is still not news to anyone, lord.a”
a”The Ordo Sepulturum has its suspicions of what caused this plague.a” That caught Thadea's attention. a”We have a theory. It matches the records I have of a cultist interrogation before the Curse of Unbelief struck. And now, with hindsight, it matches the sudden appearance of the Terminus Est and the Heralda's fleet.a”
a”Tell me.a”
a”First you tell me, captain. What do you know of Kathura's achievements before his glorious ascension to sainthood?a”
Thade shrugged. a”Nothing. Just whata's stated in the shrineworlda's scrolls. A file of them was attached to our initial briefing reports on planetfall.a”
a”And what glorious picture of sainthood did these holy texts paint?a”
a”He was a crusader. An Imperial Army commander thousands of years ago. He worked with the old Astartes Legions to reclaim the lost worlds of mankind.a”
Inquisitor Bastian Caius smiled. The patronising curve of his lips made Thadea's skin crawl.
a”So, he was a leader within the fledgling Imperium, allegedly during the Great Crusade. And how did he die?a”
a”He was killed in battle on this world, the last planet his armies brought into compliance with the Imperium. Ia've heard it said even the Raven Guard primarch honoured him by speaking at his funeral.a”
a”And what of his remains? Where do the bones of this great hero rest?a”
a”They are interred across Solthane in various shrines.a”
a”A perfect recital of common knowledge, captain. And almost entirely incorrect.a”
Thade shrugged again. He wasna't surprised. a”So enlighten me,a” he said.
a”Kathur did not die in the Great Crusade. He died in the Horus Heresy itself. And his bones, may the G.o.d-Emperor bless them, do not rest on this world. This shrineworld does not honour his final resting place. It honours his memory.a”
a”So where did he die?a”
a”Thata's not the vital question, but Ia'll answer it.a” Caius slowly raised a finger. At first Thade thought the inquisitor wanted silence. Then he realised the other man was pointing. Pointing up.
a”He died in s.p.a.ce?a”
a”In orbit. Aboard the flags.h.i.+p of his fleet, the Emperor-cla.s.s battles.h.i.+p In Purity Protected. The vessel was lost with all hands, and the wreckage rained down to the planet below.
a”What destroyed his s.h.i.+p?a”
a”Now that, captain, is the vital question. The truth is a strange beast. It appears differently to each soul seeing it. The mists of time will shroud any truth, because truth changes with age. Events become memories, memories become history, and history becomes legend.a”
a”I see,a” said Thade. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, guiltily hoping the inquisitor hadna't picked up on that thought.
a”Ten thousand years before this Reclamation, when our newborn Imperium almost tore itself apart in the Horus Heresy, the galaxy burned in countless battles across countless systems. Unknowable numbers of stories from this era are no longer recounted in their entirety. But this one This one we know is the truth. An enduring core of truth behind a lie that has grown around it like a pleasant sh.e.l.l.a”
a”So what destroyed Kathura's s.h.i.+p? Was it the Terminus Est? My sanctioned psyker has learned that the Heralda's vessel destroyed the flags.h.i.+p of the Raven Guard in the Horus Heresy.a”
a”No, captain,a” Caius smiled. a”The grudge held by the Raven Guard is their own weight to bear a- though I am not blind to the fact Fate seems to have brought us all together against the XIV Legion on this world.a”
a”Throne, just answer the b.l.o.o.d.y question. What destroyed Kathura's s.h.i.+p? What was he fighting here?a”
a”The Death Guard battles.h.i.+p Aggrieved. After the failed Siege of Terra, when the Traitor Legions turned tail and fled to the warp, not all of them made it to the blossoming Occularis Terribus here in Scarus Sector. Many were damaged from the a.s.sault on Holy Terra, and their warp drives threw them back into reals.p.a.ce far short of their daemonic haven. Lord Admiral Kathur and his vessel, In Purity Protected, chased the Aggrieved here and engaged it above the world that would one day be named for him.a”
a”So your theory is that the Aggrieved left something here after it destroyed Kathura's s.h.i.+p? Something that has lain silent until now?a”
a”That is a possibility. But I believe otherwise.a”
a”The Aggrieved never left.a” Thade said, swallowing as it all fell into place. a”The Aggrieved remained here, hidden somewhere on the planet.a”
a”That is what I believe. In Purity Protected was the cream of the Imperial Navy, even were it damaged in the h.e.l.l of Terraa's Siege. The Death Guard vessel would have suffered under its a.s.sault. I suspect the Aggrieved was forced into a crash landing. It struck the surface and remained undiscovered since the days of the Heresy. Ever since I came to this world, Ia've heard a voice calling out, screaming into the warp, pleading for aid. Your sanctioned psyker has heard it, too. Ia've read his mind several times to be sure. I believe he even tried to tell you once. The voice is weak, but the screamer was at least strong enough to leave a beacon for its brethren to find.a”
a”The Curse of Unbelief.a”
a”Yes, the plague. All the suffering, all the disease, all the death. A sickening sign that lights up in the unseen world, saying: a'I am here. Come to mea'.a”
The thought staggered Thade. To consider such pain reaching out into the warp, acting as a beacon. All those lives lost, just to send a message. It was blasphemy on a scale he couldna't fully comprehend.
a”But why now?a” he asked. a”If youa're right, the Aggrieved has been here for a hundred centuries, silent as a tomb. Why now?a”
a”Because something aboard the s.h.i.+pa's wreckage has finally woken up. Something powerful enough to cause the plague that killed this world, and so important to the Death Guard that the Herald himself has come to meet it.a”
a”Where is it? Throne, what is it?a”