Hellsreach - Aaron Dembski-Bowden [72]
‘Your father?’
‘Rogal Dorn, the Emperor’s son.’
‘The primarch. I see.’
‘It is a tale of a once-strong brotherhood, broken by Horus the Betrayer. Rogal Dorn and Horus were close before the Great Heresy. None of the Emperor’s sons were bonded as truly in the years before the malignant darkness took hold of Horus and his kin.’
‘I am listening,’ she smiled, knowing how rare this moment was. To hear a warrior of the Adeptus Astartes speak of their gene-sire’s life outside of their Chapter’s secret rituals.
‘It has always been told among the Black Templars that when the two brothers crusaded together, they would compete for the greater glory. Horus was legendarily hungry for triumph, while my father was – it is told – a more reserved and quiet soul. Each time they made war together, they were said to have made an oath in blood. Clasping hands, they would each swear that they would stand until the final day dawned. “Until the end”, they would say.’
‘That is a touching legend.’
‘More than that, princeps. Tradition. It is our most binding oath, spoken only between brothers who know they will never see another war. When a Templar knows he will die, it is the promise he gives to his brothers that he will stand with honour until he can no longer stand at all.’
She said nothing, but she smiled.
‘Yes, I called you back to this war.’ He nodded, his gentle eyes fixed upon her bionic replacements. ‘Because you made a similar oath to me. Promises like that – they matter more than anything else in life. I could not let you die in shame.’
‘Until the end, then.’
‘Until the end, Zarha.’
PART TWO
Knightfall
CHAPTER XIII
The Thirty-Sixth Day
DARGRAVIAN.
The 5th day. Meritorious defence of the Torshav refuelling complex.
Gene-seed: Recovered.
FARUS.
The 7th day. Discovered in the Kurule Junction surrounded by no fewer than twelve of the slain enemy.
Gene-seed: Recovered.
THALIAR.
The 10th day. Lost in the petrochemical explosions at White Star Point.
Gene-seed: Unfound / Unrecovered.
KORITH.
The 10th day. Lost in the petrochemical explosions at White Star Point.
Gene-seed: Unfound / Unrecovered.
TORAVAN.
The 10th day. Lost in the petrochemical explosions at White Star Point.
Gene-seed: Unfound / Unrecovered.
AMARDES.
The 11th day. Unable to survive 83% body tissue immolation suffered at White Star Point. Granted the Emperor’s Peace.
Gene-seed: Ruined / Unrecovered.
HALRIK.
The 13th day. Eyewitness reports from Armageddon 101st Steel Legion relate intense personal courage and heroism in the face of overwhelming odds. Awarded posthumous Crusade Mark of Valiant Conduct for rallying Guard forces at the fall of Cargo Bridge Thirty.
Gene-seed: Recovered.
ANGRAD.
The 18th day. Single-handedly destroyed five enemy tanks at the Breach of the Amalas Concourse. Brought down by alien treachery and lost beneath enemy tank treads.
Gene-seed: Ruined / Unrecovered.
VORENTHAR.
The 18th day. Fought at the Breach of the Amalas Concourse.
Gene-seed: Recovered.
ERIAS.
The 18th day. Fought at the Breach of the Amalas Concourse.
Gene-seed: Recovered.
MARKOSIAN.
The 18th day. Fought at the Breach of the Amalas Concourse. Notably slew an enemy warlord in single combat, atop the alien’s command tank. Awarded posthumous Crusade Mark of Unbroken Courage. Body was incinerated by the enemy in wrathful response.
Gene-seed: Ruined / Unrecovered.
It was always going to happen.
That did not make the reality any easier to bear, or the defeat any less bitter. But preparations were in place. When it happened, the Imperials were ready.
It happened first on the eighteenth day, at the Amalas Concourse, Junction Omega-9b-34. That was its assigned identifier according to the Imperial hololithic displays.
Colonel Sarren was watching through heavy, fatigue-dulled eyes as the flickering holo-images moved silently back from the location of their barricade. It was such a small thing – no more than a few marking runes blinking back a few centimetres, moving away from the point of the map marked Amalas Concourse,