"Inquisitor?"
Benjamin opened his eyes to a blissful feeling of peace and calm.
"Am I with the Emperor?" he mumbled deliriously.
"Lord Inquisitor it is not yet your time for that. You are in the infirmary."
The word moved like sludge through Benjamin's consciousness, slowly worming its way into actual understanding. Fighting, pain, surprise, death, hadn't he died?
"You are stable mi'lord but the wound you sustained nearly killed you. You must rest now."
DeSade's eyes came into focus on a nameless medical officer, who the cretin was he could not say.
"It is my honest appraisal that you should not have logically survived the wound at all Mi'lord, your servitor certainly saved your life." babbled the idiotic servant.
Benjamin scowled inwardly at having to tolerate such pitiful gushing sentiment. He would have to have this fool punished once he was able, not until he got out of this damn medi-crib though.
He looked around the room. Standing impassively in the corner was the servitor Milissa, next to his bed was this sycophantic twit of a medico and in the hatch doorway was an communications officer who looked vaguely familiar.
"Mi'lord, the bridge is asking for orders, should we move the ship further away from the planet?" he asked with obvious nervousness.
For the second time in minutes Benjamin realised he was surrounded by fools and miscreants.
"Why in the name of the Holy Emperor would we want to do such a thing?" Benjamin tried to shout but his voice came out weak and tired, how embarrassing.
"Mi'lord, if we remain in our current position it will not be long before both the Tau fleet and the approaching Ultramarine cruisers will spot us with short range scanners, our cloaking shields cannot hide our presence at such a short distance."
Benjamin opened his mouth to deliver a verbal tirade and then stopped. His revenge could still be achieved and the arrival of the Ultramarines had made it possible. They could simply teleport onto the planet's surface and like the apes they were simply eradicate everything in their path! Genius!
"Get me a vox link to that closest astartes ship." he snapped, his voice already sounding stronger.
Weets was hunched over a control panel explaining the buttons and knobs to a trio of earth caste tau who were analyzing the imperial technology.
His vision was lost in a paralysing flare of light, in his gut Weets knew what it was, he dropped to the floor immediately, it saved his life.
Captain Reynard's terminator squad opened up with their assault cannon and storm bolters. The tau technicians were near vaporised by the close range explosive bolts and the communications panels exploded in sparks, painted with tau blood.
The communications room door burst open as the pair of fire warriors guarding leapt though with their pulse rifles ready but they too were cut down by a fusillade of stormbolter fire.
Captain Reynard looked down at the prone Weets, scowling in disdain.
"You are a traitor the Imperium of man, the price of consorting with xenos scum is death. Do you understand these charges?"
Weets did not expect even a word from the marines before he would be exterminated and the question took away his tongue. He nodded dumbly, unsure what he could do to save his own life.
Reynard pivoted to aim his stormbolter at the traitorous soldier but paused as he heard the whine of jump jets close by, a shimmer of light alerted him to their predicament.
"Ultramarines, defensive positions!"
The stealth suits opened fire with burst cannons through the communication tower windows. Glass shattered as the terminators were peppered with thousands of shards and pulse fire. The marines fired back but the stealth suits were already jumping away, to land higher on the tower as a tau piranha swept into view from the west, accompanied by half a dozen shield and marker drones.
Reynard fired calmly at the piranha but his storm bolter shells stopped mid air as the shield drones moved to intercept. The other terminators added their fire to the storm of bolts and first one, then a second shield drone overloaded and fell away to the distant ground. Only one remained.
Reynard noticed the tiny red dot painted on Brother Agremon's chest as his assault cannon roared and spat. A faint, distant flash of light blinked from a far away tower and then Agremon's chest caved in and his back blew out as an ultra sonic magnetic shell blazed through the room like a comet and continued through the opposite wall.
Agremon fell like a broken oak, his cannon spluttering into silence.
Reynard would have knelt to find cover but the massive terminator plate offered no such movement. A dot appeared on the chest of Sergeant Greves, the blink of light and then he lost his head and shoulders in a misty cloud of his vitals.
"Teleport retrival, now!" ordered Reynard as Brother Hadris was blown asunder as well.
The remaining marines were surrounded by a nimbus of light, crackling of ozone and then they disappeared from the room, the mocking laughter of the piranha pilot ringing in their ears as the distant broadside teams continued to track for markerlit targets.
Crouched under a ruined control panel in the disintergrating tower, Weets soiled himself as he prayed to anything that would listen to save his miserable hide.
It was minutes later that he heard the tramp of armoured feet accompanied by the more gentle click, click of comfortable moccasins. He looked towards the bullet gouged doors as the Ethereal entered flanked by four fire warriors. He surveyed the room calmly, Weets thought he could see a tiny smile creasing the edge of his mouth.
"Ah, Mr. Weets, you have survived the little encounter with the Imperials, this is a good thing, a good thing indeed."
Weets looked at Aun Shi Que suspiciously.
"You speak as though you expected this to happen, did you know they would attack here?" he asked, turning green as he imagined the answer.
"We have been analysing Imperial battle techniques for some time now, we understand that the astartes specialize in warfare that "removes the head", to borrow a metaphor. As a result we believed it would be highly likely they would attempt a strike on the communications tower. What we were unsure of was whether they would do so by their drop pods or by the teleport attack we just witnessed."
"You knew I could die, I was used like bait." Weets said, mostly to himself.
"We understand your consternation at this turn of events Mr. Weets, however; you must admit that you have not been the model of loyalty to the Greater Good as yet, we hope that this will be the final test you are required to endure of course. At this current time in any case. The Imperials now know that they cannot expect to take this planet easily or simply, brute force will not work against the Tau Empire, we are simply beyond such warfare."
Weets opened and closed his mouth as he struggled to find words fit to describe his emotional response. He failed and simply remained on the floor as the Tau Ethereal and his guards swept out of the room past half a dozen earth caste waiting in the corridor to begin replacing the remaining Imperial communications equipment with their own.
Captain Reynard blinked the teleport haze away from his eyes as chapter helots moved to assist him. The tau defense had been entirely unexpected and his best men had paid the price for his lack of foresight. Reynard cursed inwardly, his desire for righteous vengeance had walked him into what must have been a prior arranged trap. No force, not even the astartes, could respond so quickly to an attack.
He calmed himself to think as his terminator armour plates were removed and medi-helots checked his body for wounds. They would find none, only the stain to his honour which they could not see.
Reyanard needed a plan to redeem himself in the eyes of his brothers and The Emperor. Throne knew it had to be a good one.
Sister Amiin and her squad slowed as they drew closer to the edge of the city. The gates they had left freely were now held by fire warriors along with some kind of hover tank. Amiin knew the Emperor would protect them but the weapon on the tank turret looked like it would make short work of the rhino if it drove into range. Amiin had no doubt the tau had seen the cloud of dust kicked up by their transport so their chances of a surprise assault were low. She had tried to reach the canoness but there was still no luck in that department. Whatever had happened, it did not bode well for Lepidus III.
"Sisters, our path us unclear, we shall pray for guidance and hope that the Emperor hears our call."
The sisters knelt and bowed their heads and began a prayer to the Emperor.
"Have you reached them yet?" snapped Benjamin as the communications officer reappeared at the door.
"Yes, mi'lord, we have. I have brought a vox transmitter so you can speak with the Ultramarine Captain."
DeSade held out his hand impatiently, the communications officer passed him a com bead and then began to fiddle with the signal controls on a lumpy transmitter. What sort of imbeciles did Benjamin have to tolerate? An inquisitor using field grunt technology to speak with the astartes themselves, oh the ignominy of the situation was almost unbearable.
"This is Lord Inquisitor Benjamin DeSade requesting the assistance of all loyal Imperial forces, do you hear me?" barked Benjamin over the com bead with as much authority as his condition allowed.
"This is Captain Reynard of the Ultramarines Lord Inquisitor, speak your request." Came the gravelly reply.
Benjamin was shocked at first, the grotesque warrior had not immediately acquiesced to Benjamin's totally reasonable order, he supposed it was all the hormones and chemicals their bodies were saturated with, while excellent fighters they were without a doubt almost as uncouth as ogryns.
"Captain Reynard, the planet which we are now circling has become occupied by foul xenos as you are no doubt aware. What you may not know is that they were willingly invited by a traitor to the Imperium, an apostate preacher and a rogue canoness of the sisters soritas."
"A rogue canoness?" the disbelief was tangible over the vox link. "Are you sure Inquisitor as an attack on the soritas would provoke retaliation from the ministorum if they were not satisfied of heresy."
"I am sure Captain, I know because it is my very own sister who has led this treachery, I curse the day she was born for her turning from the light of the Emperor, and may I remind you, it is Lord Inquisitor." Benjamin chided.
A pregnant pause ensured, Benjamin was not sure if the link had been broken.
"Is this thing still on?" he snarled at the Communications officer.
"It is...Lord Inquisitor." Came Reynard's reply, I was simply conferring with my command squad. We thirst for vengeance and if a traitor to the Imperium your sister is, then she will die this day for her treachery, as will the apostate preacher and their tau allies."
Benjamin felt a flush of excitement as his plans for vengeance were rekindled.
"Excellent, this is the information I have that will enable you to destroy this heinous threat to the Imperium of man."