Chapter 20

000 M42

Journal of Severus Ullmar

Entry 5

The forty second millennia has dawned on us, and yet I find little to celebrate. For four weeks that pompous idiot Gagarin would have had us separated from Bromsson. It has taken that long for Codicier Caesar, Techmarine Vicinius, and me to find the camp where Bromsson is located. It is frustrating, to say the least, to be obstructed in such a manner, especially by one of the Emperor's fellow servants. Yet finally, we arrive only to see that another chapter has laid claim on him.

I am aware to some degree of the curse that besets the Blood Angels and their descendents, the Angels Encarmine. I know not the details of this ailment, but no Astartes can claim to not know of it at all. The Angels Encarmine claim that while one of their number was in the throes of this curse Bromsson worked a miracle and absolved him of it. I cannot say how this was done, but done it is, and now the sons of Sanginius are adamant in their ownership of him.

I receive this news with mixed feelings. Surely it is a sign that the mark is true, for such a miracle is almost unheard of. Yet I cannot help but wish that Bromsson had proved his Blessed status in another way, one that would not involve another chapter claiming ownership of him.

I go now to make the case for his release back into the custody of the Ultramarines. I do not anticipate an easy argument.

…

Eragon sat in his tent, unsure of where he stood currently. It had taken another three days for the Angels Encarmine to make their way back to the camp where he had started from. Since then, he was barred from any activities outside of the perimeter. Apparently these Astartes had just laid claim to him and wished him out of danger's way. Eragon idly wished he actually was as he swatted a huge fly with nasty looking jaws out of the air.

Eragon wondered to himself why he had not taken advantage of the Astartes' surprise and killed his opponent. Because he wasn't a threat he thought to himself. He had just healed him of that unnatural anger that had possessed him, and the space marine had been grateful for it. Despite his crimes he couldn't bring himself to kill a man who was not a danger. Besides, it might have been the Black Rage that had driven him to the terrible slaughter he had inflicted. Eragon found himself hoping that that was the reason.

His new custodians had informed him of the Black Rage, the terrible mental illness that could seize one of them at any moment. Eragon had never heard of a people being so afflicted. The closest analogy he could think of was what Nar Garzhvog had told of the Urgals and their warlike nature. But even that fell short. And now Eragon had revealed a cure, just like he had the Urgals.

Eragon again found himself hoping that it had been the Black Rage that had driven those Astartes to the great slaughter that they had inflicted. He did not think he could bear serving a chapter comprised of such monsters if it were otherwise. The thought struck him that maybe if the Black Rage wasn't to blame then perhaps the Ultramarines were the same. He found himself wishing that he could talk to Dreadnought Ullmar about this, but at the same time, he was afraid of what he might say.

His thoughts continued on. Perhaps, he mused, the whole of the Imperium was like this. He quickly shook his head. No, he thought, they couldn't all be monsters. At least, he hoped that was the case.

He looked outside to see an Angel Encarmine stride past the opening to his tent. Ever since he had returned to the camp five of the Astartes had been assigned as his bodyguard. They accompanied him everywhere, always insisting that Eragon allow them to scan for any threats before he entered an area. Eragon sighed again.

Despite the fact that he was mostly out of harm's way the specter of serving these possible monsters was not an attractive one. Eragon again hoped that something would extract him from this situation.

He regretted that wish a minute later, for as soon as he had thought it he heard a strange crackling sound outside his tent. At the same time five minds suddenly appeared out of nowhere. One moment it was like they hadn't existed, the next they were simply there. Eragon then heard a strange humming noise followed by the agonized shouts of four of his bodyguards. Eragon felt their pain keenly, and he jumped to his feet as he heard the roar of bolter fire as the last Astartes standing retaliated against these strange attackers. One of the new minds disappeared in a burst of pain.

Eragon tried to launch a mental assault against one of the attackers. His efforts were in vain however, for the newcomers possessed iron hard defenses that he could not breach. As the last Astartes fell, Eragon grabbed his chainsword and prepared to make his stand.

They came into his tent then. They wore helmets that tapered into conical ends over red armor. What the armor was made out of Eragon did not know, but it resembled the armor he had seen on the elves that he had seen attacking the orks, albeit with more armor plating. Within the chest plate were several gem like objects, the function of which Eragon did not know or care about. Moving swiftly, they ran toward Eragon.

Eragon yelled and tried to slash one with his chainsword. The weapon bit deep into the attacker's armor, but did not kill it. Another of the attackers promptly bashed Eragon over the head in a sharp, disciplined blow. Eragon collapsed, his sight blackening.

…

Severus Ullmar and his small entourage were with the captain of the Angels Encarmine's fourth company, an Astartes called Captain Celadus. As soon as the captain had arrived they had insisted on meeting with him and arguing the case that Bromsson should be released back into the Ultramarines' custody. It was proving difficult, not because of the good captain's belief, but because of his skepticism.

"And you saw this…miracle with your own eyes?" the captain was asking.

"Yes" Severus said adamantly. "I was there to see it when the Emperor marked him with His own countenance. He had just fought a daemonhost and has done nothing but the Emperor's will since then"

"So you say, and yet he attacked one of my men"

"By all accounts your soldier was in the throes of the…" Severus paused, wondering how to best phrase this without offending the captain. He settled for the term gene curse. "…of the gene curse when he mistook Bromsson for an enemy. It was an honest mistake brought about by the affliction you suffer from. What was Bromsson supposed to do other than defend himself?"

"What about healing him immediately instead of attacking?"

Severus hesitated. In truth he did not know why Bromsson had chosen to try and fight the enraged Astartes instead of healing him straight off.

The captain, seeing the Ultramarine's hesitation, pressed on. "If he is marked like you say he is then why did he not heal immediately or inform us of his gift? I can think of many others in need of a cure"

"Perhaps he was unaware of his gift until he was attacked" Severus retorted. "Despite his station he is still a psyker in training"

Celadus' lip curled. "A psyker you say. To me it stinks of sorcery"

"Are you calling my chapter one of liars?" Severus asked, restraining the anger he felt at the notion. "I witnessed the miracle with my own senses. He has been examined by the codicier here" he said, motioning to Caesar. The librarian affirmed this statement with a nod.

"He has…" Captain Celadus trailed off, and he stopped walking forward. Severus stopped also and moved his sight forward. They had just heard the unmistakable sound of bolter fire. Worse, it came from the same direction as Bromsson's tent. The party of Astartes broke into a run, barreling through the camp. They soon arrived at Bromsson's tent. There was nothing truly conspicuous about it other than the corpses that surrounded it. Celadus ran forward, cursing whoever had done this. The other Astartes were quick to follow.

Severus did a scan on the nearest body. He had been ambushed, that much was clear. Who did the ambushing was soon answered as he continued his search. Then he saw the red clad figure by the first Astartes body. If he could, he would have nodded.

"Eldar" Celadus hissed out. He put his helmet on and spoke into his vox. "Angels Encarmine" he said, barely repressing his rage, "Five of our number have been killed by Eldar forces. Begin your search for them"

"There is no point in doing so" Caesar said bluntly. "The attackers were warp spiders. They could be on the other side of the planet by now"

"Sir!" a voice from inside the tent shouted. The assembled space marines turned to see Techmarine Vicinius emerge from the tent holding a guardsman sized chainsword. "They have taken Bromsson. His transponder confirms it"

"Transponder?" Celadus questioned.

Severus heard Vicinius explain how he had placed a beacon on Bromsson's armor in order to keep track of him. Severus himself was too numb with horror to speak. He couldn't believe it. The blasted Eldar had stolen Bromsson. Truly, he snarled to himself, this was proof that nothing good could ever come from the xeno.

As the dreadnought focused back on the conversation he heard the Angel Encarmine captain ask the whereabouts of Bromsson's beacon, and Vicinius answering. Hope began to flare in him. The Eldar had not taken the beacon off of the Marked Man. There was still hope.

"Then to the southern ruins we go" Celadus was grating out. He started to turn, but Severus stopped him.

"Captain, do we have your permission to fight alongside you against these duplicitous xenos?" the dreadnought asked.

The captain appeared to consider this, then nodded. "Permission granted" he responded.

…

Eragon's world swam into focus. The first thing he saw was the overcast sky. The next was the ring of figures standing around him. They were all tall, with conical helmets and form fitting armor colored white and red. Their emotionless gazes bore into Eragon as he lay there. Eragon reached out with his mind to feel those of the figures that stood around him. Their defenses were iron hard and thrumming with power. Behind them Eragon sensed alien thoughts and strange, blurred images accompanied by a sort of…music. It was all he could describe it as. They were akin to the minds of the elves from Alageasia, except these were even more alien.

Two of the figures parted to amid a third into the circle. Eragon looked at the newcomer, and his eyes widened. She was female, that much was clear. She was beautiful, beyond anything Eragon had ever seen. She wore elaborately worked robes and clasped a strange spear that seemed to shiver with potent energies. Eragon reached out to her, only to be struck by a powerful mental jab that sent him reeling back. Along with the jab Eragon felt something else, a power building in the newcomer's mind with undoubtedly hostile intent.

"Wait" Eragon cried out in the Ancient Language. "I am a Rider and a friend"

There was no reaction from any of the figures, except a strengthening of the power in the newcomer's mind. Eragon belatedly realized that they must not have understood him. Again, Eragon cried out, trying to raise himself to his feet. He found his limbs locked into place by an invisible force, and he could only watch helplessly as the power continued to build.

"Why?" he asked in the common tongue, "Why do you wish to kill me?"

This finally got a reaction from the watching strangers. The newcomer spoke. "I need not explain to a mon'kiegh why his deserved death must come" she said in a voice full of arrogance and power. Her voice was also strangely distorted, with an alien quality that Eragon couldn't describe. He watched as light began to build in her eyes. He heard a strange roaring noise in the distance that started to get louder. Eragon, too busy in his attempts to deflect the elf's attack, did not sense the newcomers and so was as surprised as the elves were when ten, no, twenty Angels Encarmine came out of nowhere, falling from the heavens like divine warriors sent to do combat.

The Angels Encarmine were quick to take advantage of their surprise. Chainswords revving, they cut down seven of the circle of elves, who were finally galvanized into action by the slaughter of their comrades. They lunged forward, their spear and swords aimed directly at the Astartes who dared attack them so. Eragon looked around and saw more elves charging forward with blades or shooting at the Astartes with their strange rifles. Looking the other way he saw Angels Encarmine emerging from the jungle, bolters leveled and roaring. Among the red clad figures strode a larger one painted in blue and gold. Eragon recognized Severus Ullmar and his retinue, all of whom were charging out alongside the Angels Encarmine.

Ullmar turned to Eragon and shouted "Run Bromsson! These foes are beyond your ability!" Eragon, happy to oblige, got to his feet as fast as he could and started sprinting toward the jungle. Pouring on all of his strength he drove his legs to their limits as he fled the area. Just as he was about to reach the cover of the foliage pain seared across his left thigh. His legs collapsed beneath him, and Eragon would have fallen, hard, had not an Angel Encarmine grabbed him. Cradling the Rider in his massive arms the Astartes, accompanied by his fellows, ran for all they were worth, carrying their precious burden away from the fight.

…

Severus Ullmar watched with relief as the squad of Angels Encarmine left with Bromsson. He could worry about reclaiming him later, for now he was focused on eliminating the Eldar who had threatened one who was chosen by the Emperor Himself. Growling, Severus turned the fury of his lascannons on the Eldar ranger who had hit Bromsson. The purple tinged beams completely incinerated the Eldar, as well as those around him. Pouring out ammunition through his storm bolter, Severus watched as Angels Encarmine drop pods crashed to the ground from their strike cruiser. Dreadnoughts and Baal Predator tanks rolled out, turning the fury of their assault cannons on the upstart xenos. If he could have, Severus would have frowned. Such an action with tanks was not sanctioned by the Codex Astartes. On the other hand, the sons of Sanginius had never been known for their adherence to the Codex, and Severus decided it would be counterproductive to bring the issue up now.

Watching, he saw the Eldar start to counter charge, the ones known as the howling banshees first. The rangers were little more than ash in the breeze, but the dark reapers had fended off the armored assault and were now concentrating their fire at a single point in the Astartes' battle line.

They were still after Bromsson, Severus realized. Their strategy was working too, as the middle of the Astartes battle line collapsed under the barrage the dark reapers sent at them. Occupied as they were with the dark reapers, the combat squads would fare poorly against the howling banshees once they were in melee range. Something had to be done.

That something took the form of a drop pod that crashed directly into the squad of dark reapers. Those who weren't killed by the impact of the pod were torn apart by the furioso dreadnought that emerged from the pod.

Freed from the menace of the dark reapers, the combat and devastator squads turned their firepower on the charging howling banshees. The rapid fire bolter barrage took a terrible toll on the melee equipped Eldar, who fell like tall grass before a gale. Satisfied, Severus turned to see how the fight against the farseer went.

Her surrounding warlocks were dead, and now she was dueling Codicier Caesar, singing spear to force staff. The assault squads who had first assaulted the warlocks were either fighting other opponents or participating in the fight against the witch. Even so, it was a close fight. Five Astartes against one farseer, and still she had not died. Severus snarled. It was time to end this fight.

He charged forward, knocking aside the few howling banshees who had made it to his position, and swung his powerfist at the Eldar farseer. With incredible grace, she ducked the blow, but was hit in the leg by another Astartes' chainsword. Screaming in pain, she collapsed. Severus grasped the alien in his fist, and prepared to crush her to a pulp. He then felt a presence in his mind, and judging by the surprised movements of his fellow space marines they felt it too.

Wait the farseer said, despite the terrible pain she felt. You know not what you are dealing with. The half breed, he will doom us all!

I have seen it. He will be tempted by Chaos, he will be exposed to the Changer of Ways. The galaxy will see the rise of a sorcerer equal to Ahriman himself! You must…

"The words of the xeno are naught but lies" Severus growled, and he clenched his fist.