THE TRUTH

"Do you know, Dreavil, why so many of the Emperor's finest turn away from his light? Because there are so many reasons to give in, and only one reason to resist. Do you know what that reason is?"

The Space Marine lay motionless on the ground and said nothing.

"The reason is ignorance. They spend their lives fighting in ignorance for their beloved Emperor, not knowing the worthlessness of their actions."

The fallen Space marine stayed silent.

"And once they see the truth, Dreavil, that one reason no longer applies, and they give in to the truth. They give in to darkness."

Silence.

"You see, Dreavil, the Imperium is slowly dying, and for every soul that perishes for the Emperor, the darkness grows stronger. All that you hold dear and believe to be true is slowly deteriorating. Eventually, the worlds will all be in darkness, and Chaos will rule.

"There are two ways mankind can deal with this. The first is to blind itself in lies and false truths, fighting for things that mean nothing. They will never accept the truth, and so will perish.

The other way is the easiest and most logical action to take. The universe will eventually fall to darkness, and the only sane thing to do is to embrace it, and be one with Chaos. Only then can mankind prosper, when it has been consumed by darkness and Chaos left to rule.

So I will say this once, brother. Cast away your ignorance, and see the truth! See that we must not resist mankind's demise, and that to do so would be in vain. Embrace the Chaos, Dreavil, and join me, join me in eternal darkness and in the favour of the dark gods!"

There was silence. Then, Dreavil lifted his head, and rasped in a parched voice,

"You are mistaken, dear brother. You claim to hold the truth, and think my truth as false and my reason as ignorance. But you know not the truth."

Painfully, Dreavil got up on his weary feet.

"For the truth you think as lies is not my truth. My truth is clean of ignorance and is the one ruling truth."

Marveil's smile had gone. "Your truth, Dreavil?" he asked, "Tell me your truth. Enlighten me."

"My truth is that I am well learned in the lore of darkness. I have walked the libraries of Titan itself and gazed at it's faded grimoires. There I learned the truth. The truth is, Marveil, that Chaos is a reflection of mankind's dreams, it's desires…it's sins. You say the Imperium is dying, and you may be true on that account, but the fact is that without mankind, there is no sin. And if there is no sin, there is no darkness. No sinner, no sin."

Dreavil paused.

"And so the truth is, brother, that if mankind were to truly die, so would it's sins, so would darkness and with it Chaos. You strive to flood the galaxy in darkness, but as you slowly chip away at the mountain of mankind, you are carving your doom. Chaos can never rule. That is the truth. There can be no eternal darkness. And what does that mean for us?"

Dreavil walked up close to Marveil's face.

"It means, brother that if I am truly going to hell…"

He flicked the switch on his Orbital Bombardment Receiver, and the countdown began.

"…then you're coming with me."