Dark Imperium Episode 3: With Angel Wings

by menofwarhide

Arriving at Baal Alistravia attempts to assuage her guilt over not being close with Sanguinius while Velar discovers the 9th has information about the legion it shouldn't have and Kalia runs into a mysterious figure.

Dark Imperium Episode 3:

"such a shame" Gerik said as he stared at the blasted landscape of Baal "it may not of had the great green forests of Caliban or the golden deserts of Prospero but it contained it's own beauty"

"you speak as if the planet had charm, it was and always will be a blasted waste land of nothing brother"

"make sure you don't say that to the angels Nev" Gerik said chuckling "I don't think being chief apothecary well save you from getting beaten up"

Nev grunted in derision.

"the angel was a stuck up fool, frankly I don't know why were here... mother and he never really got along"

"I think that's the answer to that question" Gerik responded not turning from the view port

They had arrived in the system a few days before, the chapter-master of the blood angels insisted Alistravia give him time to prepare a full honour guard to welcome her and she had agreed to wait a few more days in orbit while this was arranged.

The scars of the Tyranid attack were still visible although efforts had clearly been made to undo the damage but like all wars the imperium faced it had left a long deep scar not just on the world and it's moons but on the tribes that roamed the deserts from where the angels took their recruits and not to mention the angels themselves.

As with all legion home systems it was a busy area with ships coming and going, in orbit a large blood angels fleet sat along side the five Estrellan warships as they lay in high anchor.

"what do you mean by that?"

"I mean" Gerik started to say as he turned away from the view of Baal "they did not leave on the best of terms and mother probably feels reconciling with the legion by paying her respects is a way to bury the hatchet"

Nev waved a hand dismissively.

"bah, mother is a primarch and empress so they should owe her their fealty"

"I don't think that's in question brother, mother is just being …..polite" Gerik responded as a vox signal came through

It was Alistravia.

"Nev come to my quarters please"

"on my way" he responded before looking at Gerik "I tell you now this visit is folly"

And with that he left, Gerik looked out over the planet again, was this trip folly... maybe but as he watched the planet turn Gerik knew one thing. The arguments of the past should not be used to mar the future...

With Angel Wings...

Kalia had received the summons from the primarch and was making her way down the main corridor along the spine of the ship towards the primary deck lifts. It was a fairly busy morning as people and astartes went back and forth along the central corridor. Some in discussion with other crew and others minding their own business but one thing had become apparent since Kalia had come on board, Estrellan's would always greet you pleasantly no matter what position they held on the ship.

"Good morning"

"Morning captain"

"how are you today"

And many other expressions of welcome echoed down the corridor as people moved about their business. One of their favourite greetings was,

"How progresses your research?"

As they were all scientists this did not seam unusual but when you were the only crew member from an imperial world it became a frustration and Kalia swore everyday if she heard it one more time she would scream.

All this was stark contrast to her time on the Theadras IV, a lowly moon orbiting a fairly inconsequential strategically unimportant world where the most exciting thing was when she travelled from the moon to the planet with the high priest to attend some fairly boring meeting and record it but at least it was a chance to see something other than the temple walls.

On the moon in her little hovel she spent all of her time recording prayers and sermons while making her daily requisite prayers to the emperor and going to the mess hall, the politest thing she heard there was usually from the servitors but otherwise apart from her two friends, Narria and Esleen no one really spoke to her.

She had only seen an astartes once before when a Black Templar stopped off on a pilgrimage to resupply. That had been the biggest event since they received what the high priest believed to be personal correspondence from Guilliman himself... of course later it was discovered that it was an imperial wide message of reassurance but the high priest, a rather self indulged man, believed his was worded different and the primarch was indeed privately communicating with him.

On the Pequad astartes were everywhere and the human crew did not give them the reverence that non Estrellan's would according to their position, to the human crew of any Estrellan ship if the astartes was a "Knight Of Estrella" they were just another person to be greeted and to space marines of other chapters, while they would bow to them, the idea of complete subservience was alien.

It was as she was approaching the lifts Kalia realized she had forgotten to give her morning prayers to the emperor, unlike the monastery on the moon there were no prayer rooms or designated places for worship because the Estrellan's did not believe in gods and demons, the entity's that lived in the warp were simply a powerful malevolent xenos race that took the forms of the old tales of demonic monsters used to scare humans before the age of enlightenment.

So Kalia had to set up a prayer station in her quarters and stopped carrying a copy of the Lectito Divinitatus with her as she walked around the ship as she felt it would be uncomfortable to be starred at by the rest of the crew who, while never refusing to greet or work with her, seemed accommodating enough. She knew enough to convince herself that there had been sideways glances at times and whispered conversations.

She understood in a way, long ago before even Alistravia had been found by the emperor an alien race had attempted to conquer them through the means of religious conversion but Alistravia had fought back and wiped out the Xenos from their world and put them back on the path of science and technology.

So she began muttering a short prayer under her breath with her head slightly bowed as she approached the doors of one of the lifts that carried people throughout the ship. It was still busy with people coming out of the lifts but hardly anyone was waiting to depart this deck as, apart from the more secure areas, it connected to every part of the ship in some fashion.

The doors in front slid open and without thinking, or looking, she stepped forward still muttering the short prayer. A bump and the sound of data slates falling to the ground snapped her head up and she found her self looking directly into the eyes of of an Estrellan man she had not seen before but with the crew being so large it made sense.

He was young and handsome with traditional golden blonde hair Estrellan's were know for.

"Oh I am sorry I did not see you" he said as he bent down to pick up the slates

Kalia bent down and picked up a few of the slates for him.

"No it was my fault I wasn't looking

"too engrossed in research?" he asked as he stood and the moved around so Kalia was now stood in the lift doorway and he was on the deck

"What!? ….. Oh yes..." she responded shyly not wanting to admit to praying and embarrass her self

"I am Phillep, a med-tech in the bio-labs" he said

Kalia understood why she had not met him before now, the bio labs were two floors down but damage from the battle with the Necrontyr was still being repaired so some crew had to pass through the upper decks to get to their destination.

"Kalia... I work for the primarch..." she said indicating herself

There was silence for a long time or at least it felt like a long time and Kalia took a step back into the lift and pushed the rune for the floor she needed.

"If your free another evening perhaps we can eat together"

Kalia did not know how to respond and as the doors quickly began to shut she said.

"sure"

Alistravia was looking at some old pictures of Sanguinius when Velar and Nev entered her quarters, she shut the imager off and turned to face them.

"I have tasks for both of you" she said walking over to them "the damage suffered from the Tyranid attack is still in effect and the mechanicus woeful attempt at repairs is laughable so we will be assisting in repairs and updating the defences, drone teams will be sent out to deal with the more hazardous situations whilst 12th and 14th company will assist in restoring infrastructure and other systems..." She turned to Velar first "Velar, Dante has agreed to allow us to copy their entire library of information and historical records so you and Kalia will accompany me to the Arx Angelicum where you will proceed to their library and start the process of documentation..." She then turned to the chief apothecary "Nev you will go meet their chief apothecary and assist the blood angels in supplying medical help to the tribes that still roam the lands on Baal and it's moons... I doubt they have the anti-radiation medicines we have, not to mention the sanitary condition are likely not at the highest quality and I will not have citizens of a legion home world living in such squallier"

"Mother" Nev started "perhaps someone else could deal with this task..."

"why?"

"I just think that our previous experience with the angels has taught us they can not be trusted and my place would be better being at your side in case of any... problems that might arise" Nev responded

"I agree with Nev, we know from past experience they can be dangerous and I think it would be better to take a larger escort with you to the surface... maybe even wake Kelsey" velar responded as Kalia entered the room and stood quietly to the side

"exactly..." Nev continued the thought "whose to say they won't try and push you to provide them with more supplies and who knows how much more blood thirsty they have become..."

"If they discover what happened on Skarn they may take it as a slight to theirs and Sanguinius's honour and choose to seek some kind of revenge" Velar said interrupting Alistravia before she could speak then instantly regretting it when he saw Alistravia's face change

Silence fell and Alistravia looked at both of them clearly unhappy at being interrupted.

"are you both finished!" Alistravia said

"Well mother I..."

"IT WASN'T A QUESTION!" Alistravia shouted cutting Nev off and causing the whole room to shake, Kalia swore later her heart had stopped for a few seconds at the shouts force

"The past is the past and we are not here to relive moments from it but I swear if I find out anyone, and this includes the two of you, has caused upset then you will spend the next six months cleaning every deck forward to aft" She stormed off towards the middle of the room and then stopped and turned back to face them "I know our previous relationship with the 9th has not been the best but I will not allow the past to sour a future relationship"

She sighed and stepped back closer to the two astartes.

"My brother is dead... my relationship with him may of been strained but I still cared for him and right now I don't need your advice, just your support and for you to do your jobs"

There was quiet again for a few minutes then Nev spoke.

"forgivingness mother, it is easy to forget you were family... I know I would be inconsolable if anything happened to Gerik... I can not imagine how you must feel"

"my apologise too mother" velar said "it was rather unfeeling of me to speak as I did"

Alistravia nodded and gave a slight smile.

"It is done now and I do understand your concerns but I did not come here to start a fight which is why I won't wake Kelsey, he would be bored anyway just escorting me around"

She looked at Kalia.

"you and Velar will be copying information from the blood angels library so I suggest you go gather any equipment you need and meet us in bay twelve in a an hour... dismissed"

Alistravia's personal drop ship was sat on it's launch pad, engines humming as as a few drones floated around it doing last minute checks. Velar was stood by the assault ramp as Kalia entered the bay with a backpack of equipment and a data slate in hand.

She approached quietly and stood to the space marines side as she watched a few drones go by.

"so we are both early" Velar said

"I didn't want to upset the primarch anymore than she already was so I decided it was better to be much earlier than bang on time"

"A wise decision" Velar responded

They stood quiet for a few minutes as the sounds and smells of the bay filled their senses. In the cockpit the pilots could be heard talking as they continued their final checks. Kalia had a question on her mind and she studied velar to see what kind of mood he was in after the telling off he had received.

"Velar?"

"yes?"

"why does the legion not get along with the blood angels?"

Velar looked down and studied her back as she studied him.

"there was an incident, three of our warriors died and the blood angels were involved that is all you need to understand"

"What kind of incident?" Kalia asked without thinking

"as I said, you know all you need to know"

The main doors to the bay opened and Alistravia marched out escorted by the maidens shield whilst talk to the admiral.

"I have agreed to meet with Cawl on one of the near by forge worlds, apparently he has something special to show me..."

Alistravia did not seam impressed by the idea of this special item and the disdain for the meeting could be heard in her voice.

"... it will likely be nothing of consequence and after we will resume course to Medusa assuming there is nothing else more important the high lords want me to attend to"

The admiral nodded and headed back to the bridge whilst Alistravia approached the drop ship.

"I assume we are prepared?"

"I have everything I need but won't a lot of their history tally with what we already have in our data core?" Kalia asked

"true but there will be some information we don't have plus we will be updating their records as well" Alistravia responded

"but that could take weeks" Kalia protested

Alistravia loomed over her and gave her an annoyed look.

"Is there some where else you would rather be?"

"No I just... didn't think we would be here that long"

Alistravia sighed.

"don't lie to me Kalia I am not in the mood!"

"a member of the crew asked if would have dinner with him and I was hoping we would only be a couple of days so he doesn't lose interest"

Alistravia said nothing in response, she just smiled and walked up the assault ramp with the maidens shield in tow.

Kalia turned to Velar.

"wow I expected her to yell at me"

He said nothing in return and walked into the drop ship.

The drop ship entered the atmosphere and the turbulence hit as they crossed the air pockets while descending.

Alistravia looked at Kalia.

"so are you... interested in this crew member you met?"

"what..." Kalia said taken by surprise "I don't know I only spoke to him after I bumped into him at the lift"

Alistravia let out a little chuckle and smiled.

"doesn't matter he won't mate with you anyway"

Kalia couldn't believe Alistravia had jumped straight to the mating, she hadn't even gotten to know the man yet but was shocked at how the primarch looked to be laughing at her with her eyes.

"until I got taken from the monastery I had several suitors approach the high priest about marrying me when my service was complete"

Alistravia looked to Velar.

"explain it too her"

Velar looked down on her and sighed.

"Kalia you are not Estrellan or a scientist"

"so?"

"are you trying to tell us all this time you have spent going through data slates you never once bothered to read up on Estrellan society and courting rituals?" Alistravia asked

"I didn't think they would be any different apart from the no religion thing"

"Kalia they are vastly different, Estrellan's do not mate with outsiders on principal as they can cause an imbalance in the gene pool causing the average intelligence level to drop. On occasion exceptions have been made but only to those who are focused on science and have achieved a level of research proving their IQ is above the minimum accepted level" Velar said and Kalia felt the hope within her drain away to nothing

"Also while the Estrellan's will not shun you for your beliefs they will never accept you into their society through marriage, it would pollute it" Velar finished killing the last of her joy

"It sounds a little closed off" Kalia said under her breath

"perhaps it is" Alistravia started as the drop ship descended on it's final approach to the blood angels fortress monastery "but it has served us well and has provided us with some of the most advanced technology known to man"

As the ship cleared the last of the cloud cover the monastery appeared atop the grand mountain with the apt name of seraph. It was built out of what looked like some kind of sand stone although it's actual foundations looked like they were the mountain it's self and the monastery was just the nesting place of some giant bird. The closer the drop ship got the more detail was seen, statues of heroes were built into the walls. Massive spires stretched into the sky and flocks of native birds could be seen nesting atop them undisturbed by the sounds and smells of the fortress, and it was a fortress.

Beside the statues massive guns and battery's of artillery sat silent now, most seamed intact but a few still looked damaged and as they banked towards the final approach the damage to the fortress from the tyranids was very visible as massive scars stretched along it's surface and the remains of spires where they had been ripped off during the battle were still being repaired. At the very bottom a group of young men in robes were being escorted in to the fortress by a group of marines. The men looked weak and wounded in some cases but they were ignoring their injuries and enamoured by the sight of the Arx Angelicum and the honour of surviving the trials and being accepted to be ascended into the ranks of the angels.

The drop ship approached the landing pad on the main concourse, it was busy and a supply hauler sat purring on a nearby pad, like all other vessels it had been grounded on the basis of security until Alistravia had arrived and was safely within the monastery. The drop ship spun round and the assault ramp opened allowing it's passengers to view the arranged welcome. A line of blood angels on either side of the path that led up to the large fortress doors where a golden armoured blood angel stood staring down at the now lowered assault ramp.

Alistravia turned and looked at everyone in the hold.

"Best behaviour" she said sternly and stepped down the ramp

Only four warriors of the Maidens shield had joined her a fact that annoyed those sons who had voiced concern about her safety but Alistravia had stuck to her word and not wanting to appear aggressive brought a small escort. Velar and Kalia formed up behind the escort and they started the slow procession down the concourse, Kalia couldn't help glancing left and right at the angels that lined the route. All were quiet and stern like most astartes, a few held banners that fluttered in the cold mountain air, others simply held their bolters to their chest in salute while from the parapets above the birds that nested there had stopped squawking as if to pay some respect to Alistravia's presence.

As they got close Kalia could see more of the blood angels chapter master and his aides. The Golden armoured image of Luis Dante was awe inspiring. He was oddly smaller that she had expected but he was no less imposing and the wings that adorned his armour were reminiscent of images Kalia had seen of the blood angels primarch himself.

He carried no weapon other than a small pistol locked to his waste and he stood as if a god himself amongst those who were inferior, perhaps this is why the two legions did not get along... one was pompous, self focused and arrogant and the other was the Blood Angels.

To Dante's left stood Mephiston the lord of death, Kalia had read the story about how after being trapped under a collapsed building for seven days the chief librarian had been reborn, some would say resurrected, in his current form. He was older looking than Dante and his head had shaven skull that sneered perhaps by accident at the approaching group. He wore his librarian rank with no subtlety, choosing to hold his staff of office high as if in defiance of the approaching primarch although Kalia could see he was being careful not to look directly at Alistravia, his armour was typical and while showed the skill of a master craftsman was nothing that stood out unlike the chapter master whose armour reflected the sunlight of the distant star.

To Dante's right stood the other senior officer, the blood angels Chief Apothecary... or as they called them Sanguinary priests. Corbulo was clad in blood red with a traditional white shoulder guard marking him as a medic.

Alistravia had somewhat dressed down for the occasion wearing a red and dress that carefully showed off her features while leaving much hidden at the same time. She had let her jet black hair fall back and it was half way down her back as she walked swinging back and forth refusing to stay still as if excited by the surroundings.

The final approach to the three warriors was made and Alistravia stopped just short of Dante who dropped to one knee followed by his two fellows and then the rest of the procession.

"honoured primarch" he started "welcome to Baal and the Arx Angelicum, as sister to our father you do us a great service with your visit and I hope we can further strengthen the ties between our legion so it would be as it was during the crusades"

Velar felt uncomfortable at the chapter masters greeting, the legions couldn't of been further apart in the crusades, even the Death Guard and Night Lords had been closer allies and their primarchs were not the most sociable. He glanced around and caught Mephiston glancing up at him, as if picking up on his thoughts about the legions.

Alistravia bowed in response and then bid them to stand, as they did she spoke.

"Thank you for your welcome Chapter master, the 9th has always been a legion of great strength and triumph and I am deeply sorry for the loss of your father at the hands of Horus, I am here to mourn for my brother but also to forge a new alliance between us so that we can with your brothers and your cousins in the other chapters rebuild the imperium and return it to glory"

Both Velar and Kalia saw Mephiston sneer in hatred at the mention of the arch-traitors name.

"This is chief librarian Mephiston" Dante said indicating the psyker as he bowed

Alistravia gave him a curt nod back as Dante turned to the other member of his senior staff.

"... and this is our sanguinary high priest Corbulo"

Alistravia gave him another curt nod before motioning Velar and Kalia forward.

"this is one of my oldest son's, Velar. He has been around since the earliest days and has become one of my most valuable advisors"

Dante nodded to him.

"a great feat to of lived this long, I imagine you have seen much that could be used to guide young warriors forward, perhaps if you have time you would impart some of that knowledge to some of our newest warriors..."

Velar made a curt bow, he would rather not be spending time with such apprentices, his knowledge was far too valuable to be wasted on them but he did not need to even look in his primarchs direction to know she would angry if he refused.

"I will make it a priority once my initial role here is done"

"Thank you" Dante said before Alistravia turned to Kalia

"This is Kalia my personal assistant, she will be assisting Velar with his task"

Dante said nothing to her and just nodded before swinging his arm out indicating the door.

"Let us go inside, I am sure you are eager to get out of the cold wind"

To the astartes and Alistravia the cold air was nothing but to Kalia it was punishing and as they stepped through the arch of the open doors into the warmth of the monastery she felt the numbness in her fingers slowly subside.

The entrance hall was stunning with a mosaic floor depicting a great battle and grand paintings and statues decorating the walls, the centre piece was a grand statue of Sanguinius in all his glory.

Dante turned back to the group.

"Welcome to our home"

Alistravia moved forward from her escort to look upon the stature of her brother which depicted him with wings spread and his sword held high as if in greeting to all who entered.

"this is good work, it looks perfect"

She turned back to face Dante.

"as we have much work to do I would like to get Velar and Kalia started on documenting the information you have and updating it with our records"

"Actually honoured primarch I was hoping you would all do me the honour of joining me in a great feast this evening to celebrate your arrival and our friendship... I would hope you would invite the rest of your senior staff to join us... we won't bite"

Velar clenched his teeth at the last remark and was about to growl when he noticed Kalia had seen his reaction and quickly muffled any further emotion, Alistravia smiled and nodded.

"A wonderful idea!... but it would be wise for them to take the equipment they brought down with them to save time"

"agreed, Mephiston why don't you take Velar and Kalia to the library and I will give the primarch a private tour"

The psyker bowed to his chapter master and beckoned the two to follow him just as Corbulo made his excuses.

"if you will excuse me I must attended to the analysis of the new adepts"

The door closed behind Mephiston as he led Kalia and Velar away and after a few moments only Alistravia, Dante and the maidens shield were left in the entrance hall.

"If you will follow me my lady I will show you around this fortress we call home with a tour of the Arx Angelicum"

"I would very much like that" Alistravia responded before turning to the four terminators that made up her escort "follow but at a distance"

The warriors didn't respond but as Dante led Alistravia forward they stood still until a certain distance had been reached then they began to follow.

Mephiston had led Kalia and velar down a series of corridors, they had passed astartes, servitors and serfs going about their business and Kalia realized the difference in how the legions reacted. Had an astartes and a human officer of Dante's retinue gone aboard the Pequad they would have been greeted by both the astartes and human crew but here there was only silence, that was until Mephiston spoke.

"I was hoping to meet with your Chief librarian" he said casually as if talking to himself

"He has remained on Terra to act as my mothers voice, I am unsure when he will be returning to the Pequad" Velar responded

There was silence again as they turned a corner and headed down a rather dark corridor with swinging lamps of incense and low lit lumens. On the Pequad the idea of having incense or any kind of smell no matter how sweet being allowed to linger was not allowed and if a corridor was poorly lit then it meant either repairs were underway or something needed repairs. All this was helping Kalia to grow an understanding not just of the technological but the cultural differences between the 2nd and the other chapters.

"why do you wish to speak to him... if it is important my mother might allow you to use the Pequad's comms systems to communicate with him"

"He is in possession of a secret library or so I am led to believe by what little information we have on your legion, that holds great knowledge and I would like to have access to it"

It was many steps before Mephiston and Kalia realized that Velar was no longer walking beside them, they stopped and looked back at the old warrior who had stopped and starred sternly at the Chief Librarian.

"I know of what you speak but you will not be allowed access too it"

"why?"

"Only three people are allowed to access that library, and each of them swore an oath to allow no one else to enter it... so far they have kept to that promise"

The blood angel seemed offended and almost spat out his response.

"then I will ask your primarch for permission"

Velar shook his head.

"that will do you no good as mother has never set foot inside the library and someone with far greater wisdom on these matters than her deemed no one but himself and the two others who entered should ever have access, she agreed to his suggestion"

"the emperor?" Mephiston asked

"no" Velar said starting to walk again "someone else"

Alistravia and Dante were half way down the long entranceway corridor before the chapter-master spoke.

"I was hoping you would also say something to the newly ascended, I am sure they would feel great pride if you could tell them something uplifting about their gene father"

Alistravia was looking a portrait of a former chapter-master when she responded.

"I didn't spend that much time with your father, something I regret now but I will speak with them gladly"

Dante looked at the primarch with a puzzled expression.

"I thought you had? When Lord Guilliman was here he spoke highly of our father"

"Roboute spent a lot more time with him than I did, they got a long a lot better" Alistravia responded moving over to the next portrait

"Interesting, I was under the assumption you were close?"

Alistravia looked over at Dante as she moved across the hall to look at some of the portraits on the other wall as they made their way down the corridor.

"as much as it pains me to say it... no we were not close"

Alistravia moved up the line of portraits till she found one depicting Sanguinius, it was old but in good shape which was likely due to the low level stasis field that had been erected around it. It showed the angel surrounded by his sons with his sword raised in triumph in front of an imperial flag.

"Ah now this has to be the work of one of Fulgrim's sons..."

"How can you tell?" the chapter-master asked coming over

Alistravia pointed to the two suns hanging over a green mountain in the background of the painting.

"I remember Fulgrim telling me about this campaign and how he had made a bet with Sanguinius that if he could slay the planets warlord before him he would have to pose for a commemorative painting... he did it with all of us"

Dante starred at the painting for an age before responding.

"then I shall have it taken down"

"why?" Alistravia asked and before the chapter-master could speak continued talking "This is your father, everything that he was... his loyalty to the emperor, his pride in his legion"

"but it was painted by a traitor!" Dante exclaimed

"when this was done the person who painted it was no traitor, you think Fulgrim did these paintings for himself?... they were for us, to show us at our best because for all Fulgrim's faults he had a genuine desire to paint all of us in the best light"

Dante cocked his head slightly.

"I understand what you say" he started before looking over at the primarch "do you still have your portrait?"

"oh yes, it hangs above one of my fish tanks along with the other paintings and holo images taken of my brothers" Alistravia responded

"does it pain you to look at them"

Alistravia gave a shallow nod in response

"sometimes but they remind me we are capable of falling and I use that reminder so as not to fall myself"

Dante inhaled deeply and held his breath for a minute before exhaling slowly as if the inhale had been to steady himself for what he was about to say.

"then I will leave the painting to hang... but only to honour my father, no one must know it's origins"

They made their way down the rest of the corridor and turned into a hall area where astartes and human serfs were passing through, many astartes stopped and dropped to one knee while the few humans threw them selves to the ground either laughing or crying as if the very presence of Alistravia was pain and joy.

"I will show you our reliquary first, it holds many artefacts from our past though we have lost a few"

"Lost?" Alistravia queried curiously

"Lost is a strong word... we know where some are but can not recover them"

"Have you tried?"

"it is not that easy, there are complications" Dante said as they passed through the end of the hall and turned on to a corridor with huge stained glass windows depicting warriors of the legion, blood red banners hung the full length of the hallway and portraits of great warriors hung along the stone wrought walls.

Alistravia tried not to pull a face at the over zealous decorations but found her self sighing, Dante looked at with a curious face. She glanced back up at him and smiled before moving the conversation along.

"Complications are not a reason not to try Dante, in fact your father would of done all he could to recover those artefacts and so should you"

Dante felt scolded a little by the remark, in his military well disciplined mind he wanted to take it as an order from a superior which Alistravia was but the other logical part of his mind told him no, this was not an order just a point of logic and he decided to answer the statement with another point of logic.

"You believe in diplomacy yes?"

Alistravia rolled her shoulders and made a quizzical face as she thought about the question.

"I believe it has a place within the imperium and sometimes we must put aside the past to forge a new future, sometimes that means talking rather than fighting... a great dramaturge once said the principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy... give one and take ten"

"Interesting, so we must give up something to get back what is ours?"

"well that depends, where are these artefacts and why seek diplomacy to get them?" Alistravia said as they continued to walk down the hallway with the sun light casting gold and red reflections on the floor from the stained glass

"In the hands of another chapter, the Blood Ravens, they have many artefacts from many different legions and chapters... they are in possession of an artefact called the pistol of Baal, they claim it was part of an exchange but our records do not support that"

Alistravia gave a short nod of understanding.

"I see your problem then, you do not wish to insult other sons of Sanguinius"

Dante stopped in his tracks as they reached to doors to the reliquary.

"they are not related to us"

"Oh I see" Alistravia responded "So whose legion did they succeed from?"

"that..." Dante said as he pushed open the doors "is the great mystery surrounding them"

Inside another blood angel stood musing over a relic.

"Honoured Primarch allow me to introduce you to Astorath our high chaplain"

The dark haired blood angel walked from where he was standing and bowed to Alistravia, she gave a curt nod.

"A pleasure, do you visit the reliquary often?"

Astorath looked around the room before laying his eyes back on the primarch.

"you could say I find this room a good place to think and reflect on my actions, it comforts me"

"perhaps you could show her a few of the more unique relics brother?" Dante said

Astorath returned the comment with a sour look as if to say this is not worth my time but the look from Dante said that this was not a question or polite request, none of this went unnoticed by Alistravia who suppressed a smile. It reminded her of the awkward way she and Sanguinius sometimes dealt with each other, she knew the angels of this time likely knew nothing of their falling out but that stubbornness of arrogant irritation still lay within the chapter.

"of course brother... it would be an honour" Astorath responded trying not to sound annoyed

The Blood angel nodded to Alistravia and she followed him to a glass case, inside it a rather odd looking plasma pistol lay at rest on the blood red velvet cushion.

"This is the fury of Baal, it's plasma chambers were finely crafted so it would never over heat and engulf the user. This weapon is a reminder of our need to focus are anger so it does not consume us"

Alistravia smiled as she looked at the weapon, she knew the design because she had been it's creator during the early days of the crusades she improved the design of the plasma weapons so they would not overheat and kill the user. No one else had initially used this design but she had shared it with many of her brothers including Sanguinius.

"something we all need to be reminded of from time to time" she responded as the high chaplain moved to another glass stand that contained a spear she instantly recognized

"Sanguinius's spear, it survived this long"

"It is one of our most treasured possessions" Astorath said

"It must stir great memories for you honoured primarch" Dante said

He had remained stead fast close to the door where the maidens shield stood just on it's edge keeping their distance as ordered.

"yes it does and I..." she started to say

"Aliss..."

Alistravia heard the voice, at first she thought it but a memory but then she heard it again.

"Alis..."

She looked around trying to see if someone had entered the room without her noticing but no one had cross the threshold and they would have had to pass her terminator guard first, Dante noticed her sudden distraction.

"Is everything ok my lady?

Alistravia didn't respond, she looked around the large room until towards the centre of the room she spotted an iron chest and began moving towards it, Astorath followed her and began to say something but the heavy beating of her own hearts drowned him out and she looked inside the box, a piece of cloth covered in blood lay still with a small energy field keeping it in stasis, she heard some warning of Dante as she reached in and grazed the cloth with her fingers.

"ALISTRAVIA!"

Sanguinius's shout cut through her but she was no longer in the reliquary of the Arx Angelicum but back on the bridge of the "Red Tear" facing an angry looking Sanguinius and the sanguinary guard, her own maidens shield and Gigas stood behind her.

"Are you even listening to me sister, you have committed an act of defilement against my legion and simply write it off as science"

Alistravia wanted to walk forward and embrace him, to tell him she was sorry for all that had ever happened between them but she couldn't and events played out as they had before.

"Was it not an act of defilement when your son killed three of mine because of this flaw in your gene seed that you failed to disclose to me"

Sanguinius pointed angrily at her.

"You did not need to know about this flaw as does no one else, now your whole legion has knowledge they should not have"

"and how long do you think it will be before someone else discovers this flaw? If I take my findings to father together we can find away to fix this and then your sons will be free" Alistravia responded keeping a tight grip on her Trident

"Father need not know about this"

"Why?" Demanded Alistravia

Sanguinius looked her directly in eyes.

"because if he did know... you might be sent to kill me"

A rage hit Alistravia and she flung her trident towards the angel but he was no longer there, the whole room was empty except for her, at least she believed it was until she looked up to see a glowing golden angel descending on white wings.

"Alis..." it said before it touched her and when it did she felt reality snap back into place

She looked around and everyone was now stood in the room, the maidens shield had moved into the centre as if they sensed some danger to her, Dante was stood close and Astorath was looking at her with narrowed eyes.

"I tried to warn you my lady, that is a piece of the banner the emperor used to cover our fathers body after Horus slew him... it has been known to cause psychic events but usually only to Blood Angels... are you ok?"

Alistravia stayed silent for a moment, she could still hear Sanguinius's last words to her and was struggling to keep herself from lashing out at the Blood Angels, eventually she took a deep breath and spoke.

"yes I am fine, it stirred an old but powerful memory of your father..."

"May I ask what that memory was?" Astorath asked

Alistravia looked to him and smiled.

"it's very personal and something that would upset me to talk about right now"

Astorath was clearly somewhat upset at this news but still gave a polite response.

"I understand"

The tension was high and Dante coughed to clear the air a little.

"perhaps we should move on with our tour my lady?

"yes that would be a good idea" She said turning to Astorath "It was a pleasure to meet you"

Astorath said nothing but bowed as she left the room with Dante.

They walked down another few corridors before either one of them spoke.

"I think I may of offended Astorath by not telling him about what I remembered"

Dante chuckled a little in response.

"he will get over it, to be honest I should apologise for his demeanour... his task can be a grim one at times"

"what is that task?" Alistravia asked as they found themselves in another hall way filled with portraits

Dante looked over at a portrait of one of his predecessors.

"Do you know of the red thirst"

Alistravia didn't know how to respond so she kept it simple.

"I witnessed it first hand once"

"Then you know the rage that can consume us?"

"yes, it is something Sanguinius saw as a stain upon the legion, he would mercifully kill those afflicted" Alistravia spoke hoping not to spark any curiosity within the chapter-master

"Astorath hunts those afflicted, those that are not completely gone are folded into death company and I am sure you can understand what happens to those who are completely consumed"

"I see" Alistravia responded "I am sure your father would be pleased to see you giving those not completely consumed a purpose"

Dante smiled and they moved on, Alistravia felt a sigh of relief as Dante did not pursue any further her knowledge of the red thirst

"I would show you our chapel but I know you do not believe in the god-emperor"

Alistravia laughed a little.

"That does not mean I do not wish to see it, if your faith is important to you then by all means show me your chapel"

Dante nodded as they turned a corner.

"may I ask how your relationship with the other primarchs was?"

"why so curious?" Alistravia asked curious at his curiosity

"something lord Guilliman said which I initially put aside as I was not completely unaware of it but now I find myself wondering how much I truly know about my father and his relationship with his siblings"

Alistravia nodded.

"I can understand that, what exactly did Roboute say?"

"he spoke of how my father truly believed in Horus and felt that had blinded him to what Horus became but it is odd to me as I believed all those who remained loyal were close to each other as it was with those who turned traitor"

Alistravia sighed and looked at the chapter-master as they walked, she had respect for him in how he carried himself and in a way she did not want to sully his image of those he saw as loyal or disloyal but perhaps by telling him about her relationships with the others she could get him to understand why his beliefs were false without saying as much.

"Family is complicated especially large ones and relationships can be difficult when you have to manage so many, I suppose it was difficult for me in ways it wasn't to them"

"How so?"

"being the only woman in the family I was seen as an asset to protect something which was further exaggerated by the fact I was the ambassador for the imperium, a few of them, mainly Angron and Perturabo, were over zealous in their protection" Alistravia responded

"And that soured your relationships with them?"

"oh no" Alistravia said as they entered another vast hall "I had a good relationship with both of them and as much as I disliked their over protective attitudes it was comforting knowing they were there"

"was my father similar in his attitude?"

Alistravia smiled in response.

"no, he understood my feelings on the matter and allowed me to work without interference but like him I had a close relationship with Horus so I can understand when Roboute said he may of felt blinded... Horus was that kind of man you felt you could always trust but... everyone is capable of losing their way... and he did"

"It must be upsetting knowing people you cared about turned against all you believed" Dante said as the passed through an arch way wrought with angelic statues

"It is upsetting that they have turned traitor but they are still my brothers and as much as family can be a pain at times..." Alistravia trailed off as they reached the entrance to the chapel she stopped and gave a faint smile "they are all still my brothers and still deserve respect no matter what they have become"

"I suppose the difficulty for you is accepting the reality of the imperium as it is now" Dante stated

"you are correct" Alistravia started to say as they passed into the chapel "but I am adaptable"

Nev had made his way down to the fortress monastery shortly after Alistravia had arrived, he made his way escorted by a servitor towards the apothacarum to meet with Corbulo, the Blood Angels Chief apothecary.

He sneered at the thing walking in strides on mechanical legs in front of him, heavy pistons hissed while gears whined and clicked as it shifted it's inelegant form down the corridor. The brain inside it was likely unable to remember it's former self, it could have been a criminal or a failed aspirant but either way sick minds had erased it's memory and malformed it's body to act in servitude until it's death.

The medical drone that followed behind Nev was by comparison a thousand times more advanced than the machine the the Mechanicum had butchered a human to create, it had no legs, it simply floated on it's anti gravity tracts and like the large Estrellan fish it's shape was taken from it seemed to swim through the air but noiseless and discreet. It had a rudimentary artificial inelegance and was capable of synthesizing up to one trillion known medicines as well as providing medical knowledge from before the legion existed.

Blood angels nodded to Nev and some gave a short salute as he passed, serfs bowed to him and refused to look him in the eye yet both astartes and human starred at the drone like it was some kind of mythical being.

Eventually they arrived at door with an apothacarum symbol careful carved into the stone work above the door of course Nev did not need the symbol to tell him they had arrived, he could smell the chemicals associated with a medical facility along with the strange smells of incense.

The servitor turned around and moved off on it's hissing pistons as Nev pushed open the doors.

Inside was an over indulgence in religious symbology, everything from the swinging incense lanterns to the golden imagery of the emperor and on occasion portraits of Sanguinius clearly done after his death and clearly exaggerating his features, but under those layers was a functioning medical laboratory.

"You must be Nev" A Blood angel walked over to him with his hand held out

Nev took his hand and shook it.

"and you are Corbulo?"

"Indeed" The blood angel said "let me find the pad that I was looking for then I will show you around"

The angel began moving a few items on a heavy wooden desk that was also beset by religious iconography and pots of burning incense.

"Perhaps if you were to remove some of the clutter cousin?"

Corbulo was too busy moving stuff about the desk to realise Nev was throwing a criticism his way and simply chuckled.

"it may look like chaos but it's organized chaos... ah ha" He said picking up a data slate "here we go, right let me show you around..." Corbulo started to say then he saw the drone and walked over to it

As he moved close the drone floated up a little and scanned him.

"curious..."

"he is programmed to check for any possible contaminants on you, an automated response to your approach" Nev said responding to Corbulo's curiosity on the drone

The Blood Angel rubbed his chin as he studied the drone.

"It is like a servitor then?"

Nev hated the comparison but it was correct in some ways, the drone served him just as a medical servitor would so he nodded in response.

"An impressive device... well I should show you the rest of the apothacarum, follow me"

They made their way past the cluttered lab desks and into the main section of the apothacarum, some serfs moved out of the way as the two space marines moved out and into the wards where a few junior apothecary's were dealing with men in white robes who appeared malnourished, dehydrated and exhausted.

"Aspirants who survived the trials" Corbulo started to say as Nev watched their examination "I did their initial checks but they look promising"

"if they survive the surgery's" Nev said in response looking at the five young men "still only a one in four success rate?"

"most of the time yes but such is the way of things, I imagine you have a similar success rate?"

"ours is better, three out of every four survive to become a full astartes but we use more advanced methods so it is understandable" Nev replied

Corbulo nodded and they moved off towards another area of the apothacarum.

"so are these methods better implantation techniques?"

Nev shook his head.

"No, we implant the organs in an undeveloped form then place the aspirant in a bio-contaminant pod wile their mind revives the hypnotic information as their bodies enlarge and their implants grow into full organs... it takes time but removes the need for a scout phase and there is less chance of failure"

"impressive" Corbulo started "but what about the psychological testing?"

"The aspirants are dropped in the great trench that winds it's way around Estrella where the most dangerous aquatic life forms live... before that they are injected with the blood of the blue ringed octopus which causes hallucinations among other things, if they can make it to the end of the trench with limited oxygen and not get eaten then they are worthy of being part of the legion"

Corbulo was fascinated and seamed quite interested in how the two legions differed in their recruitment. Nev was quite surprised by this and as they talked more found himself liking the blood angel more and more despite the past, something he had not expected.

The two talked until they found themselves stood in front of a window to a room where a young scout marine lay on a medical bed surrounded by machines clinging to life. He had been stripped to the waist and much of his upper torso was covered in bloody bandages. Corbulo sighed as he looked at the half dead warrior.

"this one was foolish enough to think he could kill a whole nest of fire scorpions on his own, he abandoned his brothers and dove into the nest alone... he managed to get away but stumbled and fell off the plateau that the nest resided on"

"yet you have allowed him to live on like this?"

"I am waiting for the Mechanicum to take him, his brain is still functioning and would make a useful servitor" Corbulo said and Nev sneered

"might I offer a different solution?"

Corbulo looked at him with some concern.

"what is your thinking?"

"that I might provide a second opinion, his brain still functions and his limbs are intact so there may be a way to recover him"

Corbulo let his shoulders dropped and looked quite defeated for a moment before he looked back up at Nev.

"I promised the Mechanicum his body"

"Cousin" Nev said putting his hand on the blood angels shoulder "They will butcher him and a promising warrior will become nothing more that a cargo hauler or a mindless machine doomed to sit at a console and input numbers... I promise you he will live and if I fail then at least you can hand his body over knowing you did your best"

Corbulo smiled.

"you have a way with words cousin... very well I'll let you in to take a look but I want your honest opinion before I let you do anything, if you think it's not going to work then I would rather leave his body unmarked than further operate to no avail"

Nev gave a nod in return.

"that is acceptable"

The blood angel opened the door to the room and the two stepped in, the drone hovered above the table and scanned the marine before projecting holo images in the air in front of it.

Nev rubbed his beard and mused for a few moments as more images were fed back from the drones scans.

"Ahhh I see the problem now, the wounds to his body are insignificant but the multiple haematoma on his brain stem along with a severely cracked skull has put too much pressure on his brain but..."

Nev said as he magnified one of the brain scans "I can heal him"

"you are sure?" Corbulo asked as if disavowing Nev's claim

"absolutely, his injuries would be fairly basic if it was not for the head trauma... may I?

The blood angel nodded.

"please I am eager to see how it can be done"

Nev looked to the drone.

"one hundred mils of nanites"

The drone floated away from the body and then on the table close by it materialized a small syringe with a luminous blue liquid, Nev picked up syringe and checked the dose.

"we will see how one dose goes and then try another if it's not enough but one should be" he said before pushing the needle into the brain stem area and injecting the liquid

Corbulo watched with detached amusement thinking the strange medicine would not do anything, then one of the monitoring machines bleeped along with several others.

"his vitals are picking up and brain function is increasing" he said with amazement

The drone had resumed scanning and Nev was looking at the new images.

"good, good" he said "the nanites are repairing the skull fracture and breaking up the haematoma... he should regain normal brain function in a few hours and then you can lecture him on the dangers of being a lone wolf"

"cousin what was that you gave him?" Corbulo said watching the scouts vitals become better and better

"A dose of nanites, they are tiny robots that are used to repair severe injuries" Nev responded as he looked over even newer brain scans

"How long will they stay in his system?"

Nev was lost in one of the pictures and it took him a moment to respond.

"what?... Oh they will disintegrate the moment they have finished their repairs but don't tell the Mechanicum I use them"

"why not?"

"they don't or didn't like it in the past when we used our superior technology, they considered it an affront to the machine god"

The blood angel made a confused face.

"I suppose they saw you as heathens?"

"yes, so much so they tried to assassinate our primarch"

"fascinating" The blood angel responded as he opened the door for them to leave "You must tell me more about your advanced medicines cousin and this attempted assassination... and then I suppose we should organise our schedule for the rest of your time here"

Kalia was starring off into the distance watching one of the blood angels serfs fixing a cogitator, his dark red clothes were quite well maintained and he looked rather healthy for a man who lived in a maze of a habitat with the hundreds of other serfs who helped maintain the fortress monastery.

"Kalia?"

Velar's voice made her jump a little.

"yes?"

The old marine sighed.

"Maybe if you helped get these data categories set up then you can waste time starring at the serfs later" he responded looking over at the human now sealing up the panel he had taken off to repair the cogitator "he is more likely to mate with you than the Estrellan you met in the lift but you could do better"

"wow that was almost a compliment" she said dismissively as she handed him a data slate "and I finished the categorisation twenty minutes ago"

Velar started looking through the information on the data slate as Kalia slumped forward with her chin resting on her hands, Velar noticed and put the pad down.

"you seam distracted?"

"well since I have no future with the guy I met in the lift because I am not good enough I am stuck knowing I might have to live with no one and nothing"

Velar starred at her and then went back to reading the pad.

"are we not good enough for you then?"

"you don't get it, since coming aboard the Pequad I have made no friends, everyone looks at me weird and I can't even worship the same way because I am afraid the rest of the crew will shun me plus my chances of finding any kind of romance have been shot down by you and Alistravia... Estrellan's are so insular"

Velar lent forward holding the pad towards her.

"This is good work"

"is that all you have to say?" she responded which made Velar raise his voice

"KALIA..." He quickly lowered his voice again and bit his tongue changing what he was about to say from a scolding remark to something more tactful "you say you have no friends among the crew but what efforts have you made to go out and introduce yourself to them plus I believe Rebus would consider you a friend and no one is stopping you from your worship, Estrellan's respect individualism and being who you are would make you more interesting to them so if anything it's you who are being insular... also does it really matter if you do all those things like get married and have a family... do try not to forget that on some genetic level your related to every space marine in the legion"

"like that means anything!"

Velar sighed.

"think what you like but instead of wallowing in self pity and acting like your not welcome try being a part of the legion you serve" Velar pointed to the serfs who were passing through as they went about their duties "these humans are given barley a fraction of the comfort you have been given as part of our legion yet they serve without question and do their duty because they are proud of the role they serve so why can't you be?"

"all I do is record meetings and document files, not exactly the pride of the legion" Kalia responded "and your one to talk, you have been distracted since Mephiston mentioned that library"

Velar looked around the library to see if anyone was in ear shot.

"if you do want to do more for the legion then you can start today" he said in a hushed tone

"how?"

"We need to find out how Mephiston got that information about Sankara's library"

Kalia nodded in agreement.

"he did say it was already in their data banks"

"yes he did but why was such a specific piece of information given to the blood angels and does only Mephiston know about this or the whole legion"

"well there should be logs on when it was entered and by whom"

Velar nodded and leaned in closer.

"which is what you need to find out and then I want you to delete the data now I don't know how your going to do this but..."

Kalia stood up.

"I am going to the chapel!"

"Kalia your..."

She lent into him and whispered as if she was showing him something on one of the pads.

"I can't do it from here there's too many people about but chapels have private rooms..."

Velar nodded in understanding but quickly grabbed her arm as she turned to leave.

"don't get caught"

Kalia turned back for a second.

"I won't... but if I succeed I want to know what the mystery is with this library"

"fair enough" Velar responded "good luck"

Dante's tour was almost complete and for his last destination he took Alistravia to a high pavilion that watched over the mountain side and the land below, the sun was setting and a blood red colour fell over the balustrade that Alistravia now lent against. A bottle of whine was waiting along with two large glasses, Dante poured the blood red liquid into the glasses and handed the primarch one.

"you know I don't think this pavilion existed the last time I was here" Alistravia mused as she looked out at the land below

"I imagine the Arx Angelicum has gone through quite a few changes since the crusades but it's core remains the same"

A few lights from descending space craft could be seen where the sky was darkest.

"the master of the refectorium assures me this will be a feast to remember"

Alistravia smiled and took a breath.

"a one night feast I assume?"

"of course... why would it go longer"

Alistravia laughed.

"after one campaign Leaman and the wolves hosted a week long feast"

Dante raised an eyebrow.

"that must have been... interesting"

"I'd like to pretend I found it tiresome but the wolves are fun when they want to be"

Dante chuckled and drank his wine.

"They seam so sullen"

Alistravia nodded, she knew how the legions viewed the wolves from outside. They seamed so withdrawn and quiet but once you got to know them they were your greatest friends... especially if the wolf king himself had personally lauded you and both you and he had committed an act of fratricide together and for that reason were eternally linked.

"they are a proud legion and can be obnoxious at times but it never hurts to have them watching your back"

"So you got along with the wolf king then?"

Alistravia's first thought was to that day on the planet of storms but that was something very few knew the truth of and would not serve here here.

"Oh yes we were close, Leaman was honest and I loved that about him, even if he could be overly brutish at times...I wish he was here" She looked over at Dante who seamed a bit despondent at that "I am sorry, it is not that I do not wish to see Sanguinius again but Leaman and I had an understanding"

Dante lent against the balustrade and took a deep inhale of the evenings air.

"I understand you were close to some of your other brothers, to be honest I do not feel hurt that you were not close to our father..."

"I do wish we had of been and maybe part of coming here first was a way for me to try assuage my guilt by making peace with you"

Dante turned to her and looked at Alistravia, she was lent over the balustrade swirling the wine around in the glass. She looked lost in a thought and although he had no way to truly tell she seamed full of sorrow to him.

"you should not feel guilty"

"I let him down... I let them all down" she said without looking across to him

"I am not my father but I imagine if he were here he would tell you to stop wallowing in grief and move forward... you can not change the past but you can forge a new future, guilt will weigh you down until it cripples you... then how will you live?"

"your a wise man chapter-master..." she said as she turned to him "... and your lucky Leaman isn't here or he would order the feast to go for at least six months in mourning of Sanguinius"

Dante chuckled and put his glass down on the nearby table and filled it.

"I don't know about wise but I do not think you should feel guilty... we all make decisions that cause changes to those around us be they good or bad, you did not cause the heresy nor did you kill my father... in fact I would imagine he was glad you were safe else where"

Alistravia looked at him and raised her glass.

"to Sanguinius... and the future"

Dante raised his glass in return.

"To you honoured primarch and a new friendship between our legions"

They both drank and then Dante refilled their glasses.

"So what other brothers do you want to hear about?"

The blood angel thought for a moment as he topped up his glass.

"Lord Guilliman told me the night haunter was not well liked?"

"Konrad..." Alistravia sighed and then shrugged "I liked him fine, he was a reliable ally and our legions skill sets complimented each other in some ways"

"I see" Dante said taking another sip of the wine

"To be honest" Alistravia continued "Konrad was misunderstood by the others... they refused to see past his dark exterior and misrepresented his need for justice on his home-world as being too horrific and his legions tactics as barbaric... and yet the wolves got away with murder"

"They say he was a monster" Dante said as he listened to Alistravia

"was he?" Alistravia said looking at the chapter-master with a puzzled expression "... How would you define a monster?... to all those races we wiped from the galaxy were not we all monsters?, you think some alien somewhere did not see your father and the angels then as monsters as they slaughtered those who stood in the way of the imperium... none of us are angels and I would never say we were monsters... but we are human and maybe that's bad enough..."

Dante nodded in understanding

"I suppose that's true but forgive me if I say it almost sounds like you got along with those who became traitors more"

Alistravia shrugged.

"I won't lie and say I wasn't close to the likes Horus and Magnus but I was also close to Roboute, Jaghattai, the lion and despite a minor falling out once even Rogal... in truth even though I wasn't close with all of them there was only one I hated and that was Lorgar..., I never met Corvus or Alpharius so can't say what my relationship would have been like with them... anyway enough about my past" she said switching the conversation as talking about her brothers was getting awkward "tell me about yourself, what glories have you achieved..."

The two of them continued to talk as the sky grew darker and it became apparent to Alistravia that her anxiety's about coming here were swept away with the promise of a new dawn between the legions but as there was still the feast to contended with and hope that her sons in such close quarters with the angels would simply dine and drink... and yet still even that bothered her less than the memory that she had relived and the that piece of bloody death shroud lingered in the back of her mind...

Kalia had followed a servitor down a few hallways past multiple legionaries both Primaris and regular astartes and she noticed the distance between them as she went, it wasn't that they did not speak to each other but she couldn't help but think that on some level the astartes resented the Primaris, maybe because the question of weather they were their reinforcements or replacements had not yet been answered.

She finally came to the entrance for the chapel for the serfs, it was an old wooden door that had clearly taken a beating over the centuries but was still standing no doubt due to the care and time given too it by the serfs who looked after the monastery.

She pushed open the doors and the smells of a well maintained chapel washed over her, banners of the 9th legion hung as proud as ever from the ceilings and portraits of heroes hung in unison, every great holy warrior was depicted there including the living saint her self. A great stature of the emperor lay at the far end and in front of lay hundreds of flowers and a portrait of Sanguinius with candles laid before it, a few people were sat on the pews with their heads bowed in silent prayer unmoving even to look at who had entered.

Kalia made her way to the front and bowed before the statue of the emperor before lowering herself to on knee.

"Holy God emperor give me strength to complete my task" she whispered to the statue

Her statement to Velar had been bold and brash and said with more confidence than she truly had. She had said yes to her self and convinced her own mind she could preform this task but now she was here and with out any astartes to watch her back it filled her with dread but Velar was right, if she wanted to be part of the legion and serve just as any Estrellan would do she had to do tasks that would require great resolve.

At her hip was a small phase pistol and that was all she had if things went belly up and it wouldn't be very effective against an astartes but if she was careful she wouldn't have to use it. Tucked under her left arm was a data slate of prayers, she had used the drop-ships comms device to download what she needed along with borrowing a small drone the size of a tiny spider that would get her into the system hopefully undetected.

She heard footsteps behind her and stood up as she turned around to face a middle aged priest with his arms wide open, he wore a blood red robe and was well groomed for a man of his age. He smiled and took a few steps more towards her.

"welcome child I have not seen you before?"

Kalia often forgot she was wearing an Estrellan uniform and she must of looked extremely out of place with the white tunic and it's gold etchings, the turquoise pants had a simple black trim but fit her perfectly.

"I am Kalia I was a junior documenter on Theadras IV but now I serve the lady Alistravia as her personal assistant"

The priest's face lit up with joy.

"A holy servant to a demi-god, the emperor must have great things planned for you child for him to allow you to serve one of his children directly"

And there it was, only for a moment, doubt. Doubt because the emperor had not guided her to Alistravia, the ecclesiarchy had simply discovered that she was a descendant of Carin and the they had hoped used her to convince Alistravia to return... then the doubt fled and she once again convinced herself it was all part of the god-emperors grand plan.

"Indeed... and I was wondering if I may use one of the private worship rooms, my life assisting the primarch means sometimes I am unable to administer my prayers and..." She held the data slate out in front of her "I have a slate of personal prayers that mean much to me and would like to be able to spend a few hours sitting and reading without distraction"

"of course of course..." he said beckoning her to follow "you may use my personal chambers and I hope after you will give me a little insight into what it is like to serve a demi-god"

"it would be my pleasure" she responded trying not to let the nervousness show

The Feast had gotten underway very quickly in the great meeting hall made of solid stone walls and framed with wooden pillars which reminded Alistravia of Leaman's meeting room except here there was no roaring fire place with two sleeping wolves beside it. Banners of both legions hung from the rafters and massive barrels of wine and other drinks were laid out along with massive plates of the finest meats on a row of tables that ran along the outer walls. The noise level had escalated quickly going from a few conversations between warriors introducing themselves to hearty conversations about great deeds.

"So then I punched the Eldar so hard his whole body exploded..."

For some reason this was met with around of laughter from the Knights and Angels listening in which was similarly repeated throughout the hall as more warriors of each legion conversed and Alistravia was glad that any animosity had all but faded over the centuries and now it was how it was in the beginning, two legions together united as warriors.

The admiral was busy conversing with several of the blood angels human fleet commanders while Rebus was entertaining a few of the 9th with the story of an old campaign during the crusades that involved giant insects and the death guard, he was clearly making it sound like the whole campaign had rested on his shoulders but that was ok, at least it wasn't going to cause any friction and Gerik would likely correct his telling of the story later.

Corbulo and Nev were talking when Gerik entered the hall.

"Brother over here!" Nev shouted over the ruckus laughter

Gerik made his way through the crowd and came to stand with his sibling.

"This is my biological brother Gerik" he said slapping him on the back hard

"I see some resemblance but you don't look took much alike" Corbulo responded

"Thank goodness" Nev said laughing "Brother this is Corbulo the chief apothecary for the blood angels"

Gerik reached out his hand and Corbulo took it.

"A pleasure to meet you Gerik, let me get you a drink"

As the blood angel moved off Gerik Turned to his brother.

"well you seam to be ok with our cousins now"

Nev waved a hand dismissively.

"oh their not so bad once you get to know them"

"really!? Might I remind you eighteen hours ago you said you didn't know why we were wasting our time coming here and what did you call Sanguinius... a stuck up fool"

Nev quickly pulled his brother away from nearby angel who was tearing into what appeared to be a whole roast bird of some kind.

"yes I did say that" he responded in a whisper "I am happy to say I was wrong... well not about Sanguinius... but coming here was a good thing"

Corbulo approached them with drinks in hand.

"I got us all a fresh drink to toast" he said handing out the large pewter looking mugs and raising his in the air "To both our primarchs and our brothers... forever united"

Nev and Gerik raised their glasses before all there of them downed their drink in one.

"so Gerik Nev tells me your quite the swordsman..."

Alistravia had just finished being introduced to company captains and senior officers when she noticed Velar without Kalia enter the room. She slowly approached making to greet every astartes as she passed.

"where is Kalia?"

"She went to the chapel..." Velar carefully looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear what he had to say next "mother we must talk the blood angels have acquired information they should not have and..."

She put her hand on his chest plate and smiled.

"Later Velar... go enjoy yourself now as this is not the time or place for such discussions"

Alistravia moved off as quickly as she had come to him, Velar knew she was right and moved off towards the food and drink where he was greeted by Dante himself and the two fell into a deep conversation that lasted several hours...

The drone had done a quick job in finding the relevant data and recovering it but deleting it without it looking suspicious was the longer job. Kalia did not understand the science but the drone had some how made it look as if the information was never really there and had simply been a corrupted file that given the impression that this library existed but really it didn't. The priest had been waiting for her when she left the private room and she made sure to tell him it was such an honour to work for Alistravia and that every day she felt blessed to be in her holy presence, this seemed to satisfy him and claimed he would use her as an example of where loyalty to the god emperor can get you if you simply commit yourself to his word.

She decided not to request a servitor to guide her back from the chapel and had simply asked directions from one of the tech-adepts who was busy repairing a lighting conduit, he gave her brief but detailed enough guidance and she made her way down the quiet corridors, very few people were about and she turned down a dark barley lit hallway that gave her a feeling of being watched but no one else appeared to be in the space. As she reached the halfway point to the next corridor which would lead her back to the main hall the feeling of being watched grew stronger and she stopped, she could tell someone was behind her and how they had moved so quietly without her hearing concerned her. She carefully lowered her right hand to her pistol grasping it firmly and flicking the safety off, a low hum emitted from it as its particle accelerator spooled up and fed power to it's firing chamber. Kalia spun round as quickly as she could and aimed the pistol in the direction of her stealthy follower, a dark robe covered it's features and Kalia could barley make out two eyes in the darkness of it's hood. It seamed to be staring at her but did not look as if it was breathing but it was then she noticed the larger figure stood in the corner of the hall, the size of a space marine it too wore a long robe but it's face appeared to be obscured by something she could not make out.

"who are you!" she said sternly

The robed creature closest to her said nothing in response but instead pulled out something from under it's robe and laid it on the floor, it was a small sphere which simply rested on the ground before it stepped back from the item as if retreating.

"Hey! I want to talk to you" she said

The larger figure in the dark shifted it's gaze to her as if watching over the robed creature and she was becoming a threat but now she could see it a little more clearly and it was a marine but she could not see any iconography for the darkness and the robe that covered it's body but she could it's bulk clearly outlined with a blue glow at it's waste from what looked to be a plasma pistol.

A bout of laughter made her turn to see two Blood angels rounding the corner and she looked back hoping the marine in the corner would have to reveal himself in order to escape them but there was no one there apart from the sphere left on the floor.

"are you alright little one?"

The two blood angels looked down at her with curiosity and some concern as she was still aiming her pistol down the hallway.

"there was someone there but..."

"probably some vermin casting a large shadow" the first angel said

"you should be careful aiming that little pistol of yours you might hurt someone" the second joked

Kalia placed her pistol back in it's holster.

"I am part of the primarchs delegation, which way is the hall where the feast is taking place please my lord?"

The space marine pointed to where they had come from.

"go that way take a left then keep straight and you will eventually find it"

She was about to walk off then she remembered these were blood angels so she bowed.

"Thank you my lord"

She started to walk off.

"hey!" one of the marines shouted as he walked up to her "you dropped this"

The marine held his hand out with the little sphere, she was about to explain it was left by the robed figure but it sounded just as stupid in her head as it would of out loud so she took the sphere and bowed again.

"Thank you again my lord"

When she got round the corner she quickly examined the object, it appeared to be a solid sphere apart from some etchings around the edge but other than that it seamed to serve no purpose but the mystery of the robed figure and the space marine that accompanied him was a greater issue, she felt like alerting the blood angels to a possible invader would be a waste of time but she could show Velar it when they were somewhere private.

It wasn't hard to find the hall with the blood angels directions and she entered carefully so as not to disturb the merriment, group of marines from both legions were singing some kind of marching song in the corner and Rebus was arm wrestling a blood angel on a nearby table.

Velar spotted her and made her way over to her acting like he was bringing her a drink.

"Kalia! here drink and enjoy yourself" he said before lowering his voice as he stood beside her "is it done"

"yes" she said smiling and taking a sip of the bitter wine "but something else happened there was a..."

"we can talk later just go out and mingle..."

"with the blood angels!... I am not a military officer they will just see me a some lowly serf"

Velar laughed very hard like she had just told him some funny joke.

"Good one Kalia..." he switched back to a quiet whisper "Just stay close to to our warriors and if anyone asks you have been at the chapel"

"what about Alistravia?"

"you accomplished your task so we can talk to mother later, for now just have fun" Velar said as a few human officers of the blood angels approached "Ah lord admiral let me introduce you to Kalia she is my mothers personal assistant"

After a brief introduction Velar moved off and Kalia was left explaining her whole role to the admiral and his officer core.

Alistravia was was talking with a blood angels captain who claimed he had kill more traitors than anyone in the room which was of course disputed by several other blood angels and a debate started about how many dead traitors is enough dead traitors until another shouted that you can never have enough dead traitors and then they all started making toasts to the brothers who had died recently at the hands of traitor marines.

"Aliss..."

At first she pretended that she hadn't heard it and continued talking.

"Aliss"

This time she acted like someone else had called her name and excused her self from the current conversation.

"Alistravia..."

This time she couldn't ignore it, she looked around and everyone was busy including her maidens shield who were busy conversing. She carefully made her exit through one of the side entrances while everyone was distracted by their own conversations and made her way back to the reliquary.

No one was inside not even any of the serfs who would normally attend to the relics care, she made her way over to the box that held the last strip of Sanguinius's death shroud.

"Alis..." came one last whisper

Then she carefully pushed her fingers though the stasis field and touched the bloody cloth one more time.

"Well" A familiar voice said "we can stay here all day until one of you talks to the other"

Alistravia looked over to Horus, he was stood between her and Sanguinius as they faced each other in Horus's meeting room on the "vengeful spirit".

The lord of the Luna Wolves was stood with an annoyed look on his face although it did not look as annoyed as Sanguinius's face that said it all as he turned and spoke to Horus.

"Brother you played a cruel trick here luring us together and I don't know what your expecting to happen"

"I expect you both to stop acting like children and shake hands" he responded indicating both Sanguinius and Alistravia "for ten years now the two of you have refused to work together for some reason and it's pathetic, you are leaders of two great legions and should not be on opposite sides"

Alistravia was annoyed at Horus as well and showed it in her response.

"Horus what occurred on Skarn..."

"I don't care Alistravia... the two of you are my closest allies and friends and whatever occurred in the past is not relevant now no matter what happened you are family... it is time to move on from whatever this is"

And there it was, although she was viewing it through her own eyes and could not speak her own mind she knew herself how right Horus was on this day, as usual his want for everyone to get along forced him to bring her and Sanguinius together so they couldn't avoid each other and would be forced to talk.

"Alis..." Sanguinius started "As pushy as our brother is being he is correct... we should not of let what happened split us so, we both made mistakes and rash judgements but we should be better than this, for what it's worth I am sorry about what occurred between us"

"well said brother" Horus turned to Alistravia "well Alis?"

Alistravia wanted to apologise for more than just the defilement of her brothers son, she looked at Horus and part of her wanted to strike him down now but the part that knew him then could not conceive him as a traitor and once again the memory played out as it did all those years ago.

"I am sorry too brother, things were said that were not meant... we have been apart far too long"

Alistravia and Sanguinius walked into the centre of the room and placed their hands on top of each other giving a small shake.

"FINALY!" Horus shouted throwing his hands up in the air

However when Alistravia looked up their was only her self and once again the golden angel descending.

"Aliss..."

When reality snapped back she looked up from the box to see Dante stood with folded arms and a look of annoyance on his face.

"you left the feast..." he grunted

"That's not the reason your mad though..." Alistravia responded

Dante took a deep breath.

"at first I though you simply left for a break from the noise but then I found you in another trance here... you witnessed another memory I assume?"

Alistravia nodded.

"I wanted to see him again and it was talking to me"

"Many have told similar stories but I can tell there is something else, you have spoke of this rift between you and Sanguinius like it was a minor thing yet I sense that is not the whole truth and if we are to go forward we should be honest with each other"

Alistravia took a deep breath and looked over the spear in the glass case.

"You are right, I thought my sons would be unable to work with your blood angels yet they drink and eat like they were long lost siblings finding each other... all the fears I had were misguided because in a way I did not trust them but I should of..."

Dante looked over her as she moved from the spear to another relic.

"Why would they be unable to work with us... you act as if our legions hated each other!"

"they did... for a time, then a wise man told us the past is irrelevant and we should move on"

Dante thought for a second then hunched his shoulders as if not wanting to say his name.

"Horus"

"yes" Alistravia responded "he brought us together for a campaign... of course he did not tell either of us the other one would be there but he always know how to get people talking and he hated us not being friends"

Dante continued to watch as she walked around the relics, stopping every so often to admire one.

"so what exactly happened"

Alistravia looked directly at him.

"are you sure you want to know... ignorance is bliss"

Dante sighed.

"Honoured primarch I..."

"Alistravia" She said interrupting

"I should not..."

Alistravia held her hand up stopping him.

"my brothers called me by my name and while you are not Sanguinius you are lord of the blood angels now and have that right"

Dante nodded before continuing.

"ignorance may be bliss sometimes but in this case I believe ignorance obstructs us from being truly united"

"I told you were wise" She responded smiling at the chapter-master "It happened back when the legion was know as the Sea Devils, the planet was called Skarn, highly militaristic with a strong army, Sanguinius hoped to make them part of the imperium as their warriors were hardy men and women who fought with an undying zeal as we would find out later..."

"I have arranged a meeting with their leader aboard one of there orbital stations, my hope is with your skill in diplomacy we can bring them into compliance and add their strength to the imperium"

Alistravia stared at the hololith with the readouts on on the planet and it's population, it was fairly average terran class planet with gravity equal to that of Terra and typical set of mixed biospheres including polar ice caps and deserts.

"It is without a doubt that we should bring them into compliance brother but it has been my experience that planets like this rarely bend a knee to a greater power... we should be prepared for an assault if necessary"

The lord of the angels came over and handed her a glass of wine.

"I have already made plans for such a contingency Alis but it is my hope you can do this without firing a shot..."

"but that didn't happened, the space station was a trap and they snuck three of their cruisers into low orbit and while I waited for their leader they prepared to blow it out of the sky but they had no cloaking technology and one of my ships picked up their signature's as they prepared to fire... they were the first to feel the wrath of the imperium's guns"

"go on" Dante said

"we surrounded the planet and begun our assault and that was when we discovered just how well trained they were, from an early age they trained their children to fight and it showed, warriors of nearly all ages fought back, veterans would charge our lines with little fear of astartes guns, children barley able to lift a rifle preformed hit and run attacks on imperial guard units and they would fake retreats only to come at us from another side with a larger flanking force, it was impressive and they made us pay for every inch of that planet in blood" Alistravia stopped to admire a power-fist

"Their last stand came at their largest city, I assaulted them from the sea and Sanguinius rained hell down upon them from the sky, drop pods crashed down as imperial guard Valkyries brought in elite storm troopers while titans rained down heavy support from afar"

"It sounds glorious" Dante mused

"Oh many warriors earned their stripes on that planet" Alistravia responded before continuing her story

"Close to where we were assaulting from was a massive library that contained much of their records and schematics on the weapons they wielded as well as other things that could prove useful, as you can imagine the Mechanicum wanted first crack at the information stored there but Sanguinius conveniently arranged for them to be too busy supporting the imperial guards main thrust from the south... they were not happy but he was the lead primarch in that campaign so they could not refuse..." she stopped as she admired a sword that lay next to the power-fist

"Because we had yet to reveal our amphibious assault capabilities they were unprepared from an attack beneath the sea so getting past their naval defences proved little challenge and we soon found ourselves on approach to the library...".

Alistravia's personal tank barley felt the shell that was shot into it's side as they approached the library and it swung it's gun round quickly ending the life of the anti tank gun hidden under some collapsed rubble.

"Mother we can't go any further they have placed too many tank traps" Kyros said from his forward position outside

"we will proceed on foot" Alistravia said as she punched the controls for the assault ramp

Gigas was the first to step out checking the area but nothing was close by apart from the escort that had followed Alistravia's tank which was several several rhinos filled with astartes from 1st company.

"it's clear he grunted"

Kyros was already ordering the marines out of the transports and forward when a burst of machine gun fire peppered them from the library ahead.

The astartes were quick to react back taking out the machine gun nest as more enemy soldiers appeared at the windows and behind the heavy tank traps that had been set up to halt any armoured advance.

"there can't be more than a few hundred" Kyros shouted over the roaring exchange of fire

"we need to get in their before the guard break through and the Mechanicum are able to get their grubby mitts on what's stored in there" Alistravia responded as a few rounds bounced harmlessly off her armour

"we can charge them" Gigas said as Sankara exited the tank

"sounds like a plan, Gigas will clear myself and Sankara a path while Kyros you draw their fire" Alistravia said

"yes mother" Kyros responded as the maidens shield formed up around Alistravia

"after you Gigas" Alistravia indicated

Gigas was a one man wrecking ball and as Kyros had the marines move as if they were flanking to draw fire he smashed aside several of the tank traps, the few soldiers who weren't fooled were trampled to death if they were lucky, if they were unlucky and some how survived the charging hulk of Gigas then they had to face Alistravia, Sankara and the maidens shield who showed them even less mercy as they cut through the defenders.

Gigas was crushing the life out of an enemy soldier when Alistravia reached the entrance, the hole Gigas had created in the tank traps allowed the tanks to move up and now the last of the defenders were being slowly eliminated.

"Kyros when you have finished with the defending garrison secure the perimeter, no one else enters until I am done"

"Yes mother" he responded on the vox

"Gigas take the maidens shield and check the other rooms for any survivors... and get rid of them, Sankara see if you can get a drop ship down here with some drones to begin cataloguing this material, I am going to have private peruse myself"

"mother I insist you have some escort let me grab three warriors to go ahead of you and check the rooms" Gigas said annoyed at her suggestion of her going in alone

"very well" She responded

Three marines went ahead of her checking every corner and room as they went until they reach a room that was almost pristine apart from some marble that had shaken lose with the tremors of artillery. The room was end to end and wall to wall covered with books and Alistravia's eyes lit up in excitement.

"I am going to see what I can find here, check the outer rooms"

The three marines moved off and were about to turn back when they heard the sound of movement coming from an area with a glass roof, it had been smashed open and below it was a burning blood red drop pod along with a blood angel who seamed confused and disorientated. The drop pod had clearly been hit by some kind of anti air round and bodies of several other angels lay on the floor.

Coves was a veteran of many campaigns so was not unused to the site of a burning drop pod and dead astartes.

The blood angel was pulling at the corpses with a knife, at first Coves thought he might be an apothecary but he had no white shoulder guard or helm not to mention the device that they used to recover gene seed from fallen warriors.

"cousin are you alright?" he shouted as the there approached him with their guns aimed down at the floor not worried about an attack from an ally

The blood angel stopped and looked at them, blood was seen dripping from his mouth which at first thought was a wound but when he bared his teeth they could see flesh hanging from his incisors.

"what the..." One of the other marines started but he didn't get chance to finish his sentence

The blood angel leapt at the first sea devil and plunged the knife deep into his head before pulling it out and slitting the throat of the second sea devil as he attempted to intervene, Corves did not get chance to fire his bother as the blood angel jumped him last...

Alistravia threw another of the books on to the ground, most of what she read was the history of the planet but it could be be catalogued so the history of this world would not be lost in it's reforging as an imperial planet. It was then she realized she had not heard back from Coves for a while.

"Coves where are you?" only static greeted her

"Gigas"

"yes mother?"

"have you run into Coves?" she asked

"negative"

Alistravia activated her holo screen and looked for his suit tracker, he was still alive but life signs were weak.

"He's close by but his life signs are not looking good, I am going to get him"

"Mother you should wait for us in case it's a trap" Gigas said trying not to shout at his primarch

"Gigas I am not going to let him die... meet me at his location if you like but I am going... end of discussion" she responded sternly

"understood"

Alistravia followed the beacon in quick succession and finally turned the corner to find a ugly site, a blood angel feasting on the half dead body of Coves. After a few seconds the blood angel noticed her and stood up before charging at her.

Alistravia swatted him aside and he bounced off the close by wall, before he could recover Alistravia knocked him unconscious as Gigas came round the corner who was confused by the scene.

"what happened"

"I am unsure" Alistravia said as she examined the marine "he was literally drinking the blood from coves... could be some kind of chemical weapon they used to try and deter the angels when they landed... being in the water might of protected us from any effects, I am gonna take this one back to the ship and examine him to be safe but put a message out warning everyone to keep an eye on the angels in case"

"what about lord Sanguinius?" Sankara asked as he looked upon the scene

"I am not going to worry him right now..."

"Perhaps you should of informed my father about this"

"perhaps... but I had never seen this before and it could have been anything but we soon discovered what it was once we got him back to the ship but before we could do any research into how to correct the flaw Sanguinius found out and was not happy.

"Are you even listening to me sister, you have committed an act of defilement against my legion and simply write it off as science"

"Was it not an act of defilement when your son killed three of mine because of this flaw in your gene seed that you failed to disclose to me!?" Alistravia asked

Sanguinius pointed angrily at her.

"You did not need to know about this flaw as does no one else, now your whole legion has knowledge they should not have"

"and how long do you think it will be before someone else discovers this flaw? If I take my findings to father together we can find away to fix this and then your sons will be free" Alistravia responded keeping a tight grip on her Trident

"Father need not know about this"

"Why?" Demanded Alistravia

Sanguinius looked her directly in eyes.

"because if he did know... you might be sent to kill me"

A rage hit Alistravia and she flung her trident towards the angel who side stepped it and drew his sword as he lunged at Alistravia who slid under his swing and used her recall system to pull her trident back to her, she swung around just as Sanguinius was bringing his sword down and the two held their weapons inches away from each others throats as their respective escorts began to move towards each other ready to engage but they stopped just as their primarchs did.

"you and the guard can finish bringing this world into compliance now brother"

Sanguinius sneered at her.

"I agree, it would be best if you left the area before things become... heated"

Alistravia recoiled from her position and motioned to Gigas, she stopped at the door and looked back.

"One day this flaw will come back to haunt you brother... then you will regret turning my offer of help down"

Dante stayed quiet for a few moments as Alistravia finished her tale, he seamed to be in some train of thought but eventually spoke.

"I understand now why your relationship was so strained, even after you made up it must have been difficult but why would my father suggest you would be sent to kill him"

"that doesn't matter" Alistravia said steering the conversation away from an even darker discussion "what matters is that was in the past but ever since coming here it has felt like only yesterday and I put that on my sons thinking they would hold a grudge or if you knew it would sour any chance of us forging a strong alliance"

Dante shrugged.

"I am not my father and I do not know how he would view our treatment of those afflicted by the rage today... you said he would be pleased and that would be my hope but what I do know is that I can not see any reason why we would become foes over this... too much time as past and while it burns my tongue to say it, Horus was right in saying the past should be let go..."

Alistravia smiled at the chapter-master motioned towards the door.

"I imagine they are missing us at the feast" he said

Alistravia nodded.

"we should return before Gerik starts going his primarch impressions and kills the mood"

"that sounds... interesting" Dante said as they moved out into the corridor

"you should see his Magnus..."

After a few hours more of merriment Dante stood up and stood in the centre of the hall banging a spoon against a glass mug, everyone fell silent and he motioned for Alistravia to join him at the centre of the circle of marines from both legions.

"We are all gathered here today as warriors and proud legionaries, we have drunk"

A cheer.

"We have eaten"

Another cheer.

"and we have seen Gerik's primarch impressions..."

A round of groans emitted from the crowd.

"but most importantly we have forged a deep bond betweens us that will not be broken"

A massive roar of acknowledgement came from both sets of marines who banged on tables and smashed their mugs together.

Dante raised his hand and silence fell again.

"our father would be proud to see us stood together as one" he said as he looked at Alistravia

"hear hear" came a shout from the crowd and Alistravia was surprised and pleased to see it came from a knight of Estrella

"Now I would like to ask the primarch to say a few words"

"speech" she heard Rebus shout who was then joined in calling for a speech by many others of both legions

Alistravia made her way to the dead centre of the ring as Dante stood back.

"This is a glorious sight to see, both legions stood side by side... I have lost many of my brothers in this war and all of them mean much to me and to be here stood amongst you all fills me with joy, I came here to mourn and while I am saddened my brother is gone it is a great gift to see his sons still fighting to honour him so let us not mourn tonight let us celebrate and make sure every traitor we strike down we do it in the names of those we lost be they primarch, astartes or the trillions who we strive to protect...so" she said raising her glass to the sky followed by everyone else in the room "we are united as warriors and as brothers for Sanguinius! and FOR THE EMPEROR!"

The crowd roared and cheered and was dying down a little when Dante stepped forward and raised his hand towards Alistravia.

"and for you..." he started to say as he dropped to one knee along with everyone else in the room "Daughter of the emperor... may you bring doom to our enemies"

Alistravia looked over the kneeling crowd and smiled to herself, of all the worries she had none had been correct and her mind flittered back to what Horus had said. Of all the things he had done wrong he had before he turned his back on the imperium he truly had been the greatest of them all.

"Well" she said after a few minutes had passed "are you going to stay there kneeling all night or are going to feast!"

The next few weeks were filled with much work, Alistravia spent time talking with Dante about her brothers and giving him little insights in to how they acted. At one point he raised the issue of Sanguinius's suggestion about her being sent to kill him but she quickly moved the conversation on though in her mind she knew at some point the imperium would need the truth less that come back to haunt her.

Nev and Corbulo made their way across both moons along with a whole host of medical staff taking care of the citizens that lived there and providing them with as much resources as they needed. The marine that Nev healed was given a stern lecture about his little escapade and he vowed he would use his second life to become a great warrior however the Mechanicum were unhappy at losing a potential servitor and even more so when they realised during their examination of the marine, advanced technology that incorporated a form of artificial inelegance might of been used and though they were unaware of the nanites the drone was pointed out as an affront to the machine-god and the Martians promised to lodge a formal complaint with the fabricator general and the high lords.

Kalia explained the whole event with the strange robbed man and marine and while Velar did not respond to the story she had grown accustom to the subtle tells he made letting her know that he knew more than he let on and he promised as soon as they were underway they would go to Alistravia. Mephiston could not understand why the file he read was suddenly marked as being error ridden and was actually several files that had some how come together in an error, he was sure of what he read and demanded an investigation by the tech-priest who found nothing wrong with the systems although Velar suspected Mephiston knew they had done something to the system but without any proof he was stuck admitting the file may have been a mistake even though Velar had admitted to the library's existence.

As the last day dawned A hall full of blood angels, newly ascended, scouts, and even some aspirants along with their veteran brothers stood and listened to Dante as he gave a heroic speech about brotherhood and and Sanguinius, then Velar stood and spoke to them all about his centuries of war and his experiences in all things.

Then Alistravia took the podium and every eye locked to her and they stood in silence as she looked over the crowd.

"Over the past few weeks I have told many tales to you of my brother that I am sure you will share forever with those who come after you, it has been an honour and a privilege to be with you all but now I am lost for what more I can say about my brother so instead I will read a poem for a long dead dramaturge who captured your fathers essence and my feelings for him without ever knowing"

Alistravia looked out at the crowd and whispered her own thoughts to the wind before she spoke.

"With angel wings you flew into my life and covered me like a blanket in the night, in your angel wings I felt secure"

She took a moment to collect her thoughts and watched a flock of white feathered birds fly past in the distance and from the direction of the sun she saw the golden angel once again, hovering as if watching.

"With angel wings I watched you fly far away with the clouds, your angel wings I will always remember like the mounds of snow that fall on Fenris, I'll always remember you angel wings for my caring for you will never die..."

The crowd was silent for what seamed like an age then one of the scouts started to clap then another until everyone was clapping, then roaring and shouting praises to the emperor and cheering Alistravia.

A day later and Alistravia was still smiling, the trip to Baal had worried her and she had been ready to defend her actions to Dante but this had never happened and she found herself looking at an old picture of Sanguinius as he stood next to their father.

"You would be proud of them brother" she whispered to the picture as the doors opened and Velar and Kalia entered and she stood to acknowledge them "ok what is this important information you had to tell me, I know you mentioned something to me on Baal but it was a busy few weeks and I felt it best to wait until we left"

"The blood angels had a file that spoke of Sankara's private library, from the information Kalia got from it nothing much was revealed except that great power lay within it"

Alistravia narrowed her eyes.

"you hacked their systems?"

Kalia nodded.

"they won't ever know"

Alistravia sighed and turned off the holo projector showing the image of Sanguinius.

"Kalia while I appreciate that, it is not the point, one of you should of spoke to me about this first but I appreciate things were initially strained after how our journey started at Baal... so what did you find"

"nothing"

Alistravia raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean nothing?"

"Like Velar said the file was a bare bones explanation about a secret library holding a great power but there was no indication of who entered the information into the cogitators but it looks like it was done shortly after the wormhole gate was discovered similar to how the records of my linage to Carin suddenly appeared"

"tell her about the other thing" Velar said

"what other thing?" Alistravia asked

Kalia pulled out the solid round silver sphere and held it out and both Alistravia and Velar took a breath as their eyes widened.

"where did you get that! Alistravia said moving slowly towards her

"from a robed man, I tried to show Velar it but he told me to wait until we could see you"

Alistravia took the sphere from her and held it in her hands and looked to Velar who was looking at the orb with some disdain now.

"I haven't seen one of these since..."

"that day" velar finished

"the robed man was accompanied by a space marine who was also robed but it was dark and I couldn't see anything... what is it"

"a mapping sphere... one of my brothers sent these out into the galaxy as probes to catalogue distant systems but I was sure we destroyed them all" Alistravia said as she placed the sphere on the hololith

The sphere shot a beam of light into the air and series of star systems along with an incomplete set of navigation co-ordinates was displayed. Alistravia looked them over with Velar.

"I don't recognise any of these systems" velar said

"the navigation data is not complete... which would mean there are other spheres still in existence" Alistravia responded as she removed the Sphere and placed it in a secure safe

"what do we do about the robed men and that marine?" Kalia asked

Alistravia smiled.

"Oh I guarantee you we will see him again at some point, he can't run forever... but for now we shall continue on as before but tell no one outside our legion about the sphere or the man who gave you it"

"I understand" Kalia said although she truly didn't but one doesn't argue with a primarch

Kalia and Velar left the primarch's chambers and into the main lift, as it started moving Kalia halted the lift and turned to Velar.

"You promised to tell me about the library"

"I did" He responded with a sigh "Sankara had the library imprinted on him psychically by a powerful Eldar before she died"

"imprinted?" Kalia asked

"the library can only be opened by the person who controls it, I do not know what lays inside but Sankara only ever entered twice, the first time alone but when he came back his power had magnified... but what he had seen in there disturbed him greatly so he entered again with two others he could trust"

"you said it wasn't the emperor so who?" Kalia asked her mouth almost watering at the though of a tantalising piece of information that would be denied to many others

"Lord Magnus and Ahzek Ahriman... when they all returned Magnus spoke with mother and Sankara and told them no one must ever enter apart from those three, he did attempt to seal the door but found that the door would move with Sankara as he travelled" Velar said

"But how could the door travel with Sankara that makes no sense?"

"I can not answer that question but Sankara may be able to... however Magnus did find away to create barriers that require three keys each given to a different individual" Velar continued

"who?"

"The key had to resonate with the entrance and only people who stepped through the door could hold one and each would have to be a powerful psyker, Magnus took one, Sankara another and the third..."

"Ahriman!"

Velar nodded.

"so they could force Sankara to go in with them to open it and... then who knows what power they could obtain!" Kalia exclaimed in shock

"Given how powerful Lord Magnus is supposed to be now he may of out grown what was in there but I got the feeling whatever knowledge it contained was far beyond what man is meant to know"

"well thanks for the nightmares" Kalia said punching the rune to resume the lift

"you asked" velar said as the lift stopped and he stepped out

Before the door close he turned around and spoke

"You did good work Kalia, you are an asset to the legion" then the doors shut

Kalia hit the rune for her floor but the lift stopped a few floors before and the handsome Estrellan man got in.

"oh hello again" he said "I was just heading down to the refectory if you want to join me?"

Kalia shyly looked down at her feet before looking up at him.

"you know I am not Estrellan right? I am an imperial citizen and I have certain beliefs that you might find uncomfortable"

Phillep shrugged and then smiled at her.

"well that's ok" pressing the rune for the refectory floor "it will make for interesting dinner conversation"

end