Chapter 2

After what seemed like hours, but could just as well have been minutes or days because Zeruel had lost all sense of time, Sachiel awoke. "Zeruel, you're tiny." The Dreadnought spoke and a pulsed screeching noise came from its vox. As soon as Sachiel realized what hideous noise her giggle produced she abruptly stopped. Zeruel had taken his helmet off somewhere during the time he stared at the armor clad girl and now forced a smile to his scarred face. It's not that he was shocked, or even just surprised, he had been with the Dreadnoughts for years as a Techmarine, and he tended to take a liking to them even before that. It's just that a Space Marine smiled only rarely, if at all, in Zeruel's experience. Perhaps there were Chapters where it was more common, but he did not know them. "It must be disturbing to hear yourself speak with that new voice, or vox I should say, isn't it?" The Tech-marine said. The Dreadnought remained silent until Sachiel realized she could no longer silently nod, and had to reply "Yes". She also thanked the Emperor he could not see her embarrassed face anymore. "There's no reason to be so shy, for a Dreadnought you have a surprisingly... " Zeruel looked for the right words. "... gentle and, well, girlish voice. Although I guess it may not seem like that to you." It was silent in the chamber for the longest time, until Sachiel finally decided to speak again. "Zeruel, what.. what happened to your face?" It was the first time she had seen it during their time together. "It's what happens when you do the Emperor's work." He replied simply. Sachiel wanted to get closer, and take his face into her hands, but when she heard the clang of her first step, she once more became aware of what her body had become. She had been reaching out with her close combat weapons, but now they hung down uselessly. She had been built into one of the Imperium's most powerful war machines, but the power to show anyone she cared about them was one she no longer possessed. Zeruel had long forgotten what it was like to be cared for, so he pretended he hadn't noticed.

"Say, Zeruel, what will we do now? Are we going to stay here alone?" Sachiel asked a few days later. Zeruel sighed. he had given the issue a lot of thought. Mostly, he had been trying to come up with ways to restore his Chapter, but he had no means of extracting the Gene-seed from his fallen brothers on Zestra III, and even if he did now, their bodies would be mostly decomposed by now, it had been months after all. He could not extract it from himself either, since one had to be either dead or heavily sedated to have the Progenoid gland removed. If one was neither, he would bleed to death in the process. "I don't know." He replied honestly. After a pause Sachiel spoke again. "You told me you were the only one from a different world. Why don't you go home?" The Marine looked up at the Dreadnought, now painted in the Chapter's colors. She said she would be honored to wear the colors of those who died to protect her, even if they could not save anyone else, and she would wear them with pride. "Are you not coming?" He replied. "I.. I will if you'd let me. I just meant... It's not my home." Zeruel stared at her, contemplating her plan. "Don't you miss your home?" She added. "Because, I.. I really miss mine." She did not know if she could still cry, but she did not want to produce another sound like she did when she laughed so she tried to hold it either way. "We might as well do as you say." He finally answered, but even if I could find a ship with a working Warp drive and Geller-field, we have no Navigator." He stood up, having realized something, and made for the Librarium with haste. Sachiel, no longer needing air, followed him in a more gentle pace, and found him there with a dusty old tome in his hands, and another held open by each of his servo-arms. It was technically possible to travel trough the Warp without a Navigator, although only short jumps could be made due to greatly reduced accuracy. The last thing Zeruel wanted was to emerge from the Warp inside of a planet. For the next few days, Sachiel watched him cross-reference many of the leather-bound tomes, making notes in them, without saying anything to him, except when she brought him supplies from the shuttle on which they came. He had told her a Space Marine can go without water and food much longer than a normal man, but she still wanted to make sure he ate enough. She said it would be easier for him to concentrate. She would've made him proper meals, but she hadn't had the hands to do so for nearly half a year now. Zeruel had learned many things during that time he otherwise wouldn't even have thought of, but now there was nobody else to rely on.

When Zeruel finally got the Battle Barge's scanners working, he had quickly found a ship with the necessary equipment in near-working order. Nothing he could not fix, given enough time. It took him three more months to get the ship ready for travel, during which he often thanked the Emperor, or just as often the Omnissiah, being a Techmarine meant worshipping both after all, for the massive strength of his young companion. Sachiel was happy when she could finally do something to help, too. They had renamed the Hunter class Destroyer, a signature warship of the Unforgiven, the "Heritage of Zestra III". Hoping to find an Imperial world where they could find a Navigator, Zeruel and Sachiel started their journey from one end of Segmentum Pacificus to the other.