It was a strange little procession, thought Shere idly. The Lord Inquisitor in his crimson and gold armour followed by the three 'civilian' figures in their furs and cloaks, and finally the four black-armoured space marines with weapons easily carried at the ready. Anyone watching would assume the three of them were under guard, and that was perhaps Gustavus' intention.
They walked up the ramp; the door opened silently to Sara's command wand. Ignatius paused as they walked through the beautifully gilded and decorated doorway. Interesting; he didn't recognise the strange raptor-like birds that stood wreathed in flames on either side of the Emperor's two-headed eagle.
He followed, last, as the group entered a long processional. A long, empty processional, gleaming metal and occasionally a polished wood-faced door, the aquila a repeated presence in gold opposite a winged talon device, also in gold, that he didn't recognise but that was vaguely familiar. The Inquisitor's light tenor came back to him above the quiet hum of machinery.
"Where is the rest of your crew, captain Tarken?"
Her reply was astonishing. "There is no 'rest', Inquisitor. Just the three of us, and the ship. She was fully automated a long long time ago. Phoenix's machine spirit keeps us safe. The ship is very protective."
"Indeed? I do not recognise the insignia." He indicated the golden winged talons.
She chuckled. "Unsurprising, Inquisitor. The codex insignia of the Third Legion has not been a common sight since the Emperor's Children joined the arch-heretic in his rebellion against His Imperial Majesty. Phoenix is a living reminder of what the Imperium should have been, but for the Heresy."
Gustavus paused in mid-stride at that bald statement, then kept walking. Beside Ignatius the other Deathwatch marines drew sharp breaths, but their discipline held and they waited on the Inquisitor's signal. Gustavus merely asked, "And Lord Calgar was aware of the origins of this vessel?"
"Indeed, Inquisitor. As is Lord Commander Dante, of course, and also Lord Commander Mattheus of the Black Templars, since one of his captains was our guest on board for a while. I have no doubt that brother-captain Mendez of the Grey Knights has likewise informed his Lord Commander of the origins of this ship. He and his Terminator squad manned the gunnery stations on the bridge during a brief action in the Plett system."
Gustavus nodded. "That explains why you and your daughter are so familiar with space marines. Did you too train with the Blood Angels?"
She inclined her head, pressing the button for the lift. "I used the combat trainer under the instruction of brother-captain Sandros. He felt my bladeplay was not as good as it should be." She smiled slightly. "He is a hard taskmaster."
Ignatius pondered that for a moment. He had fought alongside Sandros on one memorable occasion. The man commanded the Blood Angels' assault company and was exceptionally skilled in hand-to-hand combat. For him to deign to even watch a non-astartes training, let alone to actually train her, was unheard of.
They all filed into the lift, Tarken and her daughter both shrugging off their outer clothes. The big marine – and Emperor, he was big, taller than any of them for all they were armoured and he was not – had folded his over his arm before they had even boarded. Gustavus looked at the tall handsome man.
"And you, brother-sergeant Sedreth. Does it not bother you to be aboard a vessel belonging to traitors and heretics?"
"Not in the least, Lord Inquisitor Gustavus. It is no longer the preserve of such and I have no doubts of captain Tarken's loyalty and devotion to the Emperor. Nor of her daughter. I have seen them fight His enemies." He smiled briefly. "Janey here killed a Word Bearer before she was seven, and her mother saved my life in combat with Night Lord raptor marines before we had properly met. Whatever the Emperor's purpose in bringing us together, I have no quarrel with it."
Meleriex looked down at the child. "You killed a Word Bearer, child?"
She shook her head, blushing slightly. "Mummy killed him. I just dropped some grenades at his feet and blew his legs off."
The lift stopped before anyone else could speak again, and Tarken led them along a short corridor to an empty bridge, its stations on stand-by. Ignatius looked questioningly at the Lord Inquisitor who gave the minutest shake of the head. Ignatius contented himself with a quiet inspection of the bridge. It was not laid out quite the same as other vessels he had been on. For one thing the command throne was much less decorative, and sized for an astartes rather than a normal human, and for another the room was almost devoid of embellishments, being instead sleekly functional. The large padded chairs showed signs of faint wear, but were as sleek and gleaming as every other surface, the consoles likewise. In the centre, just in front of the command throne, lay a golden plate, engraved with the aquila; the dedication plate of the vessel.
The girl, Janey, moved quickly to one of the chairs and brought the station live, then turned. "Lord Inquisitor, I'll need the co-ordinates of the teleport, as close as you can get. And any other information you have, if possible. Was the signal captured?"
Gustavus shook his head. "I do not know. Brother Shere is not a techmarine." He spoke into his vox. "Shere, we need details on that signal, co-ordinates if possible and any capture you managed."
The girl smiled. "Lord Gustavus, can you patch me in? It would be easier if I spoke to him myself."
The Inquisitor nodded.
Tarken looked at him. "Brother-captain, might I enquire who it is you think you are hunting?"
Ignatius met her polite gaze but did not immediately reply. After a second he said. "Why would you wish to know, captain?"
"The Inquisition would not waste a Deathwatch team on a minor matter. If we are potentially dealing with more than minor cultists, then Sedreth and I should be prepared for it, and we should don armour."
Lord Gustavus gave her a dismissive glance. "I doubt there is much likelihood of you needing such, captain. However, you have my permission to arm yourselves if you wish."
"Thank you, Lord Gustavus. Morgan would you bring up a bolter for each of us?"
"Of course, captain." The big man left without another word. A gesture from Ignatius sent Meleriex with him; the Raven Guard was more than capable of dealing with any unarmoured warrior, no matter how proficient. Sedreth made no comment, barely even glancing at the other sergeant as he turned out of the door and along the corridor.
The two of them were nearing the entrance to what was obviously an auxiliary armoury when the girl's light voice came over the speakers.
"Mr Morgan, would you go to the aux lock on level eight starboard? Brother Shere is flying over a dataspool of the signals he's picked up over the last few days. Lord Gustavus wants you and brother-sergeant Meleriex to meet him."
The big man spoke into the air. "Acknowledged, Janey. On our way."
He gestured politely for Meleriex to go with him and the black-eyed Raven Guard did so without a word, suspicion still in his movements. They took the lift in silence and walked together along the processional until Sedreth turned right and led them along a series of cross-passages and past what appeared to be the ship's main batteries. Down a broad flight of metal stairs there was a heavily armoured hatchway, then another, and finally an outer hatchway that was at least three metres thick and slid upwards to expose the dock. Shere's Thunderhawk was coming in to land on the nearby platform and they waited for the Tigers Argent marine just outside the hatchway.
Klair Shere walked easily towards the two marines waiting at the hatchway. As he approached he inspected the unarmoured Sedreth with the expertise of a three-century veteran. Impressive. Taller unarmoured even than Meleriex in full battle-plate, he was also broad of shoulder and well-balanced. His close cut hair was blonde, almost white, and his eyes were a cool piercing blue-grey. And those eyes held the self-confidence of a warrior who had been through many many battles and knew to a nicety just how good he was. A dangerous warrior. A warrior you would prefer to be alongside than to face. Yet there was something else, something indefinable. A serenity of purpose, as he had seen sometimes on marines, and even guardsmen, who knew they were entering their last fight and had nothing more to do than fight until they fell. A warrior who after a long long time was finally at peace with himself.
The bolter he carried was a superbly decorative example of the sickle pattern, chased in gilts and bronzes but nonetheless functionally deadly. It looked, thought Shere, very old. So, for that matter, did Sedreth. Unless killed in action, space marines were for all practical purposes immortal, and Sedreth's gaze held that measurement that came only to true veterans.
Shere caught himself comparing the stranger marine against his long-time comrade. Meleriex had a justifiably deadly reputation; he was a lethal killer, but a highly intelligent and focussed one. His balance was superlative and his reflexes, even by astartes standards, blinding. Shere had seen the Raven Guard in action many times and had rarely failed to be impressed, but somehow he got the impression that the Deathwatch sergeant wouldn't last five minutes against the man beside him. It was an unusual impression; and an unwelcome one. Sedreth was so utterly self-confident as to be unbothered by the proximity to a marine to whom even other marines instinctively gave a certain wary respect.
He wondered just where Sedreth had gained such confidence and skill. He had already reviewed the record; the tactical replay of the action an hour ago recorded automatically via the helmet inputs of the team. It showed that the marine had fired only four shots; the entire action had barely taken three seconds. Each shot had been precise; each had instantly killed its target. In almost pitch darkness, into cover, without the autosenses of power armour, that was quite a feat, even for the enhanced senses of a space marine.
And his companions were also very very good. Outside the assault companies, few astartes were so good with blades as to cleanly kill two simultaneous opponents in two strikes, as the woman had done. The girl's strike too had been precise and lethal, so accurate that the man she'd killed had barely bled, and had almost certainly not known what hit him. If Sedreth had indeed trained them, it said a lot for his own close combat abilities.
He walked beside the two of them along the broad processional.
"I do not recognise the insignia, brother-sergeant Sedreth?" he said in a quietly questioning tone.
"It is the codex device of the Emperor's Children Legion, brother-astartes Shere," came the polite reply.
Shere paused for a second to take a long look at the man. "That joke is in poor taste, Sedreth."
"It is not a joke. This ship was part of the battle-fleet of the Third Legion. It carried the 79th battle company during the Great Crusade."
Meleriex's soft voice was pointed. "How do you know that?"
"It is there for anyone to read, if they know how. The ship's registration plate states 'gamma-79'. The letter indicates the Third Legion – the Emperor's Children – the number, the company within that legion. Modern warships, of course, do not have a number beyond ten, as there are no longer such huge formations permitted by the codex. However, some of the oldest vessels of the First Founding chapter fleets no doubt will have similar registrations. Such a vessel of the Raven Guard would use the letter tau, of course, as it is the nineteenth letter of that alphabet, matching the XIX Legion."
Meleriex nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Indeed? That explains the registration of one of our older strike cruisers, on which I had the honour of serving."
Sedreth resumed walking. "Old enough registrations are understandably rare. Over the millennia, most such vessels will have been lost in combat, or simply scrapped as obsolete, or damaged beyond repair."
Shere walked alongside the man. "You know much of registrations, Sedreth?"
"I know a bit about lots of things," he smiled faintly. "Why?"
"The registrations of my Chapter's ships are not an alphanumeric pair, but have three numbers."
"Indeed. The Tigers Argent are a fourth founding chapter, I believe?"
"That is correct." Shere knew his voice was slightly stiff.
"Descendant of the Ultramarines?"
Shere shook his head. "Not directly, our precedent chapter is the Sons of Guilleman, actually."
Sedreth nodded. "That explains it. Your registration letter is nu, the thirteenth letter of the ancient Greek alphabet, for the Ultramarines, the Thirteenth Legion. The first numeric will indicate the Sons of Guilleman. The second numeric indicates your relation to them – the first, second and so on chapter founded from their geneseed – and the last number which company your vessel is assigned to."
Shere thought. That made sense. "A simple and elegant system. That is why our vessels are all nu-13-2-something?"
"Yes. The Sons of Guilleman must be the thirteenth chapter founded direct from the Ultramarines, and you, the Tigers Argent, are the second chapter founded from them. The Black Templars vessels are all epsilon-2-something, as the second chapter founded from the Imperial Fists. The Raven Guard's fleet have only tau, because they are a First Founding chapter."
Meleriex nodded gravely. "A day when you learn something is not wasted. I was unaware of the details of the registration system, Sedreth."
"I sort of had to learn. This ship's registration has given pause to a few people over the past few years."
"I can imagine," said Shere drily. "Are her armaments intact?"
"They are now. The Blood Angels were good enough to have their techmarines refit the lances after we aided them against that hulk. It cleared their inventory of lance crystals that no longer fitted any vessel in service."
"Your captain Tarken must have made a good impression."
"Sara tends to do that. Brother-captain Esceriel and his company were our honoured guests on the trip to Baal; I think Lord Commander Dante had in mind to arrest us all and take the ship."
"What changed his mind?"
"I have no idea. But we did not argue. He is a fine man."
Meleriex nodded. "He is a Blood Angel. I have yet to meet a Blood Angel who was not a fine man."
"You've fought beside them, then?"
"Four times. They are not perhaps as subtle as we Raven Guard, but they are all of them extremely formidable warriors."
"They are indeed." He stepped aside to allow the two armoured marines into the lift, then came in beside them. "Have you ever met them, Shere?"
He shook his head. "No. Our Chapter is based a long way from Baal. I have met the Flesh Tearers though, of their lineage. They are most ferocious, even more than Space Wolves."
"You had better not let Sigurd hear you say that."
The three of them smiled briefly at each other. Then Meleriex spoke again. "We are astartes. We are all of us proud of our heritages and our service. Whatever our differences, they are minor compared to our shared brotherhood."
"Very true," said Sedreth. "It is why above all enemies our anger is greatest for the traitor legions."
"Indeed. There is great satisfaction is defeating such heretics," said Shere. "However dangerous they may be."
Meleriex nodded. "A perk of service in the Deathwatch. We get the opportunity to confront the traitors more often than most chapters do."
The lift doors opened and they trooped out and headed for the bridge.
Janey turned as Sedreth and his two companions came back on to the bridge. The big marine introduced Shere briefly. "Shere, this is captain Tarken's daughter Janey. She is also the ship's scan and comms officer. Janey, this is brother-astartes Shere of the Tigers Argent, attached to Lord Gustavus' Deathwatch team."
Janey smiled. "Honoured, brother-astartes Shere. Are you familiar with this type of scan system?"
Shere nodded. "To a degree, though I am not a techmarine."
Janey nodded acknowledgement, and started showing him the system. Within a few moments they were deep in a technical discussion about teleport signatures which Sedreth knew from the expressions of the rest that only he, and to a lesser degree Sara, could genuinely follow. He looked to the woman in the pilot's chair.
"Captain, with your permission, I'll re-check the alignment of those lance crystals. We haven't had cause to use them since they were fitted, and I'd like to be absolutely certain they're correct in case we need to go to full power."
She nodded. "Do that. And put your armour on. The Lord Inquisitor mentioned that he suspects traitor marines, and I'll feel a lot more comfortable if you're fully armed and armoured. No point in taking chances, but in the unlikely event they're Children, they'll want this ship as a priority."
"Yes, captain." He saluted formally, the traditional astartes salute, fist to chest, and headed for the armoury.
Gustavus watched the man go and turned back to Sara Tarken. "You disagree with my command, captain?"
She nodded. "Yes, Lord Inquisitor. In fact, I'll be putting my own armour on, if you don't mind. I've faced traitor marines before and I'd much rather do so in power armour than not."
He looked directly at her, not quite amused by her defiance. "As it happens, captain, I do mind. I may need you to play a part for me, and you cannot do so in power armour. Incidentally, where did you get such armour in the first place?"
"Here," she answered. "We found more than thirty brand-new sets of marks IV, V and VI astartes battle-plate in one of the auxiliary armouries. Sedreth was skilled enough to adapt a set for me, although we didn't alter the colour scheme. The late and unlamented captain Marius and his men were very angry to see me wearing it."
"Marius?" said Ignatius. "That is an infamous name."
She smiled briefly. "A dead name. Sedreth killed him on Plett IV."
"Indeed? That is good to know, captain. Were there witnesses?"
"Brother-captain Mendez of the Grey Knights, and his Terminator squad. It was a great honour to fight alongside such warriors."
"You actually fought beside Grey Knight Terminators?" Gustavus could hear the disbelief in his own voice. The Grey Knights were legend, even amongst the astartes.
Tarken nodded. "On Plett IV. Some cultists were attempting a summoning. Lord Daemonhunter Carline and his Grey Kights tried to stop them. Sedreth and I assisted. Lord carline lost his arm fighting a Keeper of Secrets."
Gustavus found himself nodding; he had met Carline less than a year before. the man had indeed lost an arm to a Slaaneshi daemon.
"Ha! Low polar anchor. You were correct." The exclamation came from behind them. He turned to see Shere look round bearing the tiny upturn to the corners of his mouth that was his equivalent of a wide grin. "We have them. Lord Gustavus, we have a trace. A cloaked vessel in orbit."
He gave a grim smile in return. "Well done, Shere. How did you trace it to a vessel?"
Shere chuckled. "They were good enough to teleport someone a few moments ago, Lord Gustavus. But there is more."
"Oh?"
He nodded and indicated to the child that she should speak. She nodded and went on, "The trace is the same general signature – set of frequencies – as we recorded from Haura. It must be the same Legion. They're Word Bearers."
"Word Bearers?" Gustavus knew his voice was flat with hatred but didn't care. "You are certain?"
Shere nodded. "The ship's archives are extensive, Lord Gustavus. There are many recorded teleport signals. We ran a comparison against those also. Each traitor Legion tends to the same overall set of frequencies; there is variation within that set, for each teleport machine is unique. But it is a fairly precise match."
"Have they detected you?"
"Unlikely, Lord Gustavus. We were not using active scans, merely analysing a recorded signal. They are likely aware of our presence on this vessel – we were not exactly discreet – but our purpose is not obvious."
"You have a suggestion, Shere?"
"Indeed," said the veteran with what only long experience allowed his commander to recognise as a slight smile. "I suggest we 'arrest' captain Tarken and her crew, and inform the station to clear a channel out of system. We calculate that lane seven-tau-zeta will take us past their position with the required angle and range for a lance strike and also a follow-up barrage, if necessary."
"We calculate?"
Shere looked at the girl. "I have to admit that was originally her suggestion, Lord Gustavus. But I consider it a good one."
He looked at the child sitting calmly in her chair, then at her mother who was smiling quietly to herself. "Captain Tarken?"
"It is the obvious solution, Lord Inquisitor. It both explains your presence on this ship and provides an excuse to leave the dock. Seven tau zeta is a natural exit lane from our current docking."
He nodded slowly. "Captain Ignatius, if you would?"
The hard-bitten marine nodded once and reached for Tarken, lifting her out of her pilot's chair none too gently. A bolt pistol under the chin straightened her further, and a gauntleted hand pulled her head painfully backwards.
"Open a channel to the station."
Shere did so, and he spoke directly into the pickup without bothering with pleasantries. "This is Lord Inquisitor Gustavus aboard the rogue trader vessel Eyes of the Phoenix. The captain and crew of this ship are under arrest and I am commandeering the vessel for the Holy Inquisition. You will clear a route out of system, immediately." He glanced aside with a questioning look. "Correction. You will clear lane seven tau zeta and adjoining lanes to system ecliptic. In the Emperor's name."
A stunned controller appeared on the vid and gave a hasty acknowledgement. "At once, Lord Inquisitor. Lane seven tau zeta."
He nodded into the vid. "We will undock immediately. My own staff will release the umbilicals."
"Yes, Lord Inquistor. Shutting them down now." The man was reaching for controls as he spoke, reflexively obeying without question.
Gustavus cut the connection. "Jeremiah, Shere, get down there and release umbilicals. Captain Tarken, bring the ship to ready." There was a flurry of movement as his people moved to their assigned tasks. Ignatius released the captain and moved to the scan console.
"Child, can you show me where the teleport trace originated?" he asked.
She nodded, pointing out positions on the holoscreens. Tarken started running through undock and power-up procedures in a business-like and highly proficient manner, apparently unaffected by Ignatius' forceful versimilitude. Gustavus found his opinion of the woman going up another notch.
"Lord Inquisitor, we have two options, depending on how you want to handle the cloaked ship," she said in a calm tone.
"Oh?"
She brought up a large holo-display of the immediate system with two red course plots on it and one green intercept, gesturing as she spoke.
"The cloaked ship is at low anchor here; it's hard to be absolutely precise, but they are within this area, which is more than covered by a standard lance strike. As you can see their course options from their current orbit are limited. If we take this course in the lane, we can fire from this point here after a slightly non-standard but still fairly normal course adjustment. We may not hit anything vital, depending on what class of ship it is, but we will hit it. The follow-up broadside should cripple anything short of a battle-barge; they will not have time to raise shields, which will perforce be down while it's cloaked. The question is, do you want it destroyed, or do you want to board? A full-power strike from Phoenix will destroy most vessels quite easily."
Ignatius looked round. "It must be destroyed. We have a location on the surface where the heretics teleported to. The kill-team should take that place, whatever it is. Eliminating any surface cultists is as important as taking the traitor ship. In any case, we do not want to give them any chance to teleport to the surface or to this ship."
Gustavus nodded. "I agree. How close can you put us to the enemy's surface location?"
The girl looked up. "Anything up to twenty metres, but not closer. There's a lot of rock; I'll have to put your team as close to the entrance as I can. Mummy can send an orbital strike just before you go down; that should remove any guards. Or booby traps."
"It will also eliminate any evidence, child."
She looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Alright. I better put you down further away then. Brother-captain, do you want me to put you down in any specific formation?"
Ignatius nodded. "If you can, put Meleriex on point about thirty metres from the entrance, about here. The rest of us will come in from sixty metres up that valley." He pointed to the display.
"Right. Can you synch to my tacscan?"
The captain looked carefully at the console. "It seems standard. Try synching to my armour. Codex protocol eight-flame."
She flipped switches. "Tactical scan online. Have you read-outs, brother-captain?"
Ignatius nodded. "Yes. Clean signal. You are aware of standard tactical designations?"
A smile. "I run tacscan for mummy and Mr Morgan all the time. You use only codex protocols?"
"Yes, series seven delta on this mission."
"That's fine. I've used those before. Loading tactical databases now; you should be getting full schematics."
Gustavus watched the two of them, all business, for a second, and turned back to the pilot.
"Umbilicals released. All green. Morgan, how are those lances?"
"They're fine, Sara. Focussing should be nominal. How does it show?" came the deep voice from the overhead.
She looked across at some read-outs on the neighbouring station. "Yes, all nominal, Morgan. You better get out of there; I'm going to warm them up."
There was a brief pause, then, "I'm clear." She started flicking switches, glancing briefly up at him.
"If I warm the lances up with minimal power, it won't be obvious, but it will allow us to charge them faster. The main batteries can be ready behind the shutters."
He nodded, impressed despite himself. "You are very professional, captain."
"We practice a lot. You never know when you'll need to defend yourselves."
Shere and Jeremiah reappeared. He let Ignatius brief the squad; although he often fought beside them, Gustavus was not a space marine, and he knew it. Once down, he took orders where necessary, trusting Ignatius' judgement from long experience. Only if a daemon appeared would he take more direct command; he alone had the psycannon necessary to deal speedily with such entities. Not that warp entities were invulnerable to the marines' weaponry, but normal bolts and mêlée weapons tended to take time to kill daemons, and they didn't usually have time to spare.
"Lord Gustavus, I suggest that the team go in first; you remain on board until we are clear."
He shook his head. "No, captain. I will go in with the team."
Ignatius nodded. "As you command. Standard deployment gamma three, then. Captain Tarken, we will want 'porting down as soon as you open fire. Can you handle that?"
The girl nodded and smiled. "I have the coordinates locked already, brother-captain. As soon as we open fire, I'll put your team down."
Tarken spoke into the pickup. "Morgan, we're en route. Ship weaponry is shifted to your station. I'll handle nav and manoeuvre. Janey has the kill-team's tacscan."
"I'm on my way, Sara. This armour was never designed for tight spaces."
She laughed. "Two minutes, Morgan. We'll be in range in three."
"Two minutes," came back the acknowledgement.