Chapter One
Briefing
The ship arrived in-system earlier than Jonah expected, by almost twenty-four hours. It seemed all that boasting from the Khan was not unfounded. Six hours later and the strike cruiser had come to a geostationary orbit over the primary forge of Stygies VIII. With the White Scars' deployment imminent, Jonah checked over his battle-gear once more to make sure everything was in place; his power glaive, his boltgun, his plasma pistol, his grenades and scrolls. Everything was as it should be, just as it was the last thirteen times he had checked.
His clavis however, was not.
The clavis is a very unique device, and only a certain few, those who are elevated to the esteemed rank of Keeper within the Deathwatch, are permitted to wear one. When a Space Marine is elevated to the rank of Keeper, he takes many oaths to fulfil whatever single task he may have been given until it is complete, or his life is ended, and to protect the many secrets of the Deathwatch for which the Keepers are responsible. The clavis serves to symbolically bind the Keeper to his duties and provides total access to the Watch Fortress to which he has been assigned, allowing him to perform his lifelong vigil unhindered. When a Keeper is assigned to a kill-team and despatched on a mission, however, his clavis is removed and entrusted to the Watch Fortress' Forge Master until the Keeper's return. As such, Jonah did not like to be without his clavis, just as many Space Marines do not like to be without their boltguns.
"Are you nervous, Keeper?" Jonah looked up from his equipment to see who had delivered that remark. As expected it was Hektor; a Deathwatch Champion hailing from the Carcharodons chapter. "Do the Scimitar Guard fear the Mechanicus?"
"I do not fear them, brother; I simply do not trust them." This was not only true of Jonah, but of all Space Marines of the Scimitar Guard. During the Moirae Schism, their homeworld of Paxus Primaris came under heavy siege from multiple Skitarii legions in service of the traitor sects of the Cult Mechanicus. During the siege an entire Scimitar Guard battle company was destroyed when they were unexpectedly turned on by the Imperial Knights from House Proventus, who also called Paxus Primaris their home. Only the intervention of three Iron Hands Clans and two companies of Blood Angels prevented the complete destruction of the Scimitar Guard, but for the rest of the planet the help came too late. Almost the entire civilian population had been wiped out by the Skitarii, and many large areas of the planet had been left heavily irradiated and utterly inimical to life thanks to the rad-weapons of the Skitarii Vanguard units. "And I especially do not trust Tech-priests who idolise xenos technology."
"Nor I, Brother Keeper," it was Mu'shan, a Sergeant from the Salamanders chapter, who spoke this time. Mu'shan had spoken little during the journey from Chogoris, the White Scars' homeworld, to Stygies VIII, the eighth moon of a large gas giant within the Stygian system.. "I have fought against both renegade Tech-priests and Eldar alike, and each time I have been thankful they did not have the technology of the other. We must be cautious in facing our new foe now that these 'xenarites' have obtained Eldar technology."
Mu'shan was about to say something more when the door to their small cargo-hold opened and Librarian Mikael of the Blood Ravens, the leader of the Kill-team, entered and addressed the eight Space Marines within. "Brothers! The time has come at last for battle. Tenjin Khan has informed me that he and his company shall be deploying within two hours exactly. As planned, we shall deploy within the hour by drop-pod and attempt to make contact with Fabricator Malok of Talus Forge. We have two goals: firstly, and most importantly, we must discern the location of the xenarite base of operations and secure a vital piece of xenos technology. Keeper Arteon Jonah, I believe now is the time for you to enlighten us as to just what it is we are searching for."
All attention shifted to Jonah as he removed one of the many scrolls he had hung from his belt and carefully spread the ancient vellum about the table in the centre of the room. The entire Kill-team, all clad in the pitch-black armour of the Deathwatch, gathered around and placed their helmets upon the table. Before beginning, Jonah looked each of them in the eyes to make sure they were ready to hear what he had to say. Hektor Ákos of the Carcharodons Astra, Mu'shan of the Salamanders, Gravin Septimus of the Ultramarines, Temujin of the White Scars, Razkiel of the Dark Angels, Andros Mikael of the Blood Ravens, Jurgen Greymane of the Space Wolves, and the Black Shield Toramar. Aside from Toramar, who never removed his helmet, he could see in the eyes of his Battle-Brothers that they were ready for this information.
"During my last meeting with Inquisitor Shi I learned of a device so horrifying, so destructive in its nature that if one were ever to fall into the hands of the Imperium's enemies, all of mankind would be put at risk. The device is known as a Black Cube," he indicated to a black square in the centre of the vellum, surrounded by circles of writing in a language of Old Earth. "These devices are thought to predate both humanity and the Eldar alike."
"I thought they had acquired Eldar weapons of some kind, but you say this predates them?" Interrupted Hektor.
"Aye, they have acquired Eldar weapons also, but the Black Cube is of greater concern. Black Cubes are so rare that only once in history has the location of one ever been confirmed. During the Great Crusade, an expedition fleet was despatched to the planet Nurth to end a rebellion by the local populace. Once activated, the Black Cube converted the planet's atmosphere into toxic gas ad created storms so violent that they destroyed everything organic and inorganic. Only with the intervention of an unspecified Legion did the soldiers of the Imperial Army manage to escape. The Cube destroyed everything in an exterminatus-level event, and Nurth is now a dead world. The process took no more than three days."
"If the xenarites activate the device…" began Septimus.
"Then Stygies is lost," finished Temujin.
"No, the xenarites will not activate the Black Cube," stated Mu'shan. "They may be traitors, but they are still Tech-priests. First they will seek to understand it, then they will seek to replicate it. Only as a last resort will they seek to activate it."
"Then we have some time, at least," said Razkiel as Jonah put the vellum scroll back in its tube.
Jurgen stroked his braided beard thoughtfully as he spoke up next. "Brother Librarian, am I correct in thinking our second objective is to rescue Brother-Sergeant Kell and his Kill-team?"
Mikael nodded. "You are. Reports show that shortly after the xenarites captured Forge Yolstus, all contact with Sergeant Andronicus Kell was lost. It is believed that he and his team may be within Forge Yolstus, and that they may have information regarding the whereabouts of the Black Cube. If Fabricator Malok cannot provide any information for us, then we must make straight for Yolstus." The Librarian picked up his helmet, "we deploy immediately."