Chapter 8
Ramses relaxed back into the command seat of the viper-class scout sloop 'Wayfare'. The accommodations were rather camped within the bridge and though a command chair capable of accommodating the size of the Astartes had been installed before their voyage from Caspia, Ramses was comically out of place sitting among the naval officers of the Caspian scout auxilia. He had elected to wear a simple, but comfortable, tunic while inhabiting the ship. His hopes were that this would somewhat ease the tensions of the bridge crew who were now being overseen by something of a demigod, rather than their usual commander. His attempts had proven nearly fruitless as though his stature was somewhat diminished with the lack of his powered armor, he still towered over the bridge crew as an adult would tower over children. The ship's crew compliment did little to hide their fear. Years of indoctrination had conditioned them to respect, but moreover fear their superiors. A commisar alone could command respect by the end of a laspistol, but a commissar was only a man. Ramses was more, and thus the fear was multiplied exponentially.
He stretched his neck from side to side. The quarters provided in this ship were satisfactory, but far from ideal. None of the Nova Seekers had complained, of course, but he could feel the confined quarters beginning to irritate him, and he could only assume that the others were feeling similarly. He understood that traveling in an imperial navy ship as opposed to one from the Nova Seekers' fleet did grant some advantages in regards to maintaining a low profile. However, it did leave them vulnerable if they were attacked by a pirate looking for easy prey. How unfortunate for them would it be to discover seven astartes as part of the ship's complement. Woe indeed.
Of the seven space marines deemed worthy Ramses was pleased to know that two members of his fourth company would be joining him. He was somewhat unsurprised that Ramos was 'deemed worthy' of this mission as his unusual personality gave him the natural inclination towards the strange and unorthodox. However, it was the other member of the company that surprised him. Brother Cavill.
Ramses could not deny that Cavill had a rather impressive combat record. During the several operations he had taken part in those around him had reported that he was a natural soldier, no, a natural warrior with a proclivity towards leadership. Brother Cavill carried himself with a certain sense of nobility not seen since The Great Crusade. He held the Codex Astartes close, and yet he understood his limits. If he did not have the dark, ashen skin, and deep eyes of ember, he may have been mistaken for an Ultramarine or an Imperial Fist. However, fate would deem him most fit for the Nova Seekers, and perhaps that was for the best. Cavill's enthusiasm for this operation shocked Ramses. Though Ramses was able to follow the chapter master's reasoning for sending their detachment on what he felt was a wild galavant across the Imperium in search of what he could only describe as 'buried treasure', he could not process why Cavill seemed so enthused to join him. Ramses was loyal to Xerxes, he trusted Xerxes, but this endeavor was lunacy. Surly Cavill knew this, but yet here he was.
"All warfare is based on deception, sir". Cavill's words repeated in his head. "The asymmetry of information is what determines whether a battle is won or lost, no matter how small. Should you conceal a knife in your cloak, then I will conceal a sword, and should you conceal an axe behind your back, then I will hide a grenade behind mine. Ultimately, neither of us have any way of knowing what we hid within our cloaks or behind our backs, but the victor will be he who assumes that he conceals the greater weapon regardless, the victor will always strike with the confidence that they know something their opponent does not. However, it does help if one does, in fact, carry a deadly weapon. What is more unexpected? The bluff that is a lie or the bluff that is true? There is no greater misdirection than the truth. Asymmetry allows for infinite possibility."
His thoughts then shifted again to Ramos as he began to mull over the display marking worlds that the weapon's cache were likely to be located. Ramos had given a rather similar answer, but in a starkly different tone. "The unknown? You mean in regards to the Death Guard Warband?" Ever so literal. "Or just as a principle? How to combat the unknown. I am unsure. A moment to think on this, if it pleases you." He recalled that Ramos had taken a long pause before speaking again, there was a look in his eyes that he was exploring every possible outcome, as if he could see every pathway through a hypothetical and purely hyperbolic question. After a few seconds his eyes sparked with discovery as he provided his answer. "If faced with the unknown, I would make myself much the same. Act without knowing, act solely on instinct and betray my natural inclinations. Such is the most probable way to find success in such a situation."
Such curious answers indeed. He assumed this was how the Chapter Master felt when he asked the same to Ramses. "Navigator, how long until we reach our first destination?" The navigator winced under the weight of Ramses' powerful bark.
"Another day, or so," the navigator replied, shrinking within his seat.
"Or so?" Ramses raised an eyebrow. "Why would you say that with such uncertainty? Is there a complication causing the delay? Explain." The navigator nervously swiveled in his seat to face Ramses, but he did not look him in the eye as he spoke.
"Are you familiar with this sector, sire?" He asked sheepishly. Ramses did not respond,but shook his head while continuing to glare down on the navigator. "The-erm-Moab Prime, has a reputation for- um- piracy. I thought it best to take a more conservative route." Ramses stood from his chair and approached the navigator's station, his hulking figure only inches from the ceiling. The navigator inhaled, anticipating a scolding as he looked up at the displeased expression carved into Ramses' face. "I can adjust the course if you-" Ramses cut him off with a swift, cutting, hand gesture as he began to look over the navigator's screen.
"You will make no such adjustments. Helmsman, stay our current course." Ramses drew in for a closer look at the navigator's display. "Our assignment requires a certain degree of discretion and expertise in navigation. You have chosen our course wisely, navigator." The navigator relaxed and color began to return to his face. Ramses gave the navigator a sincere, but somewhat awkward smile as a symbol of a job well done. The navigator nodded in recognition, though there were still notes of fear in his disposition. Ramses pulled back from the station and looked out to the rest of the bridge, immediately silencing the room and halting all activity. "Contact me should anything arise," he said, "I am retiring to my quarters." The bridge crew snapped a quick salute before returning to their duties. "Keep up the good work."
The crew hesitated for a second before giving a surprised, but grateful, "thank you sir." He turned towards the door, gesturing for a servator to come to his side.
"Fetch me information on Moab Prime, I wish to know as much as possible before we make landfall. I want maps, recent transactions, financial reports, mining operations, everything you can find within reason."
"As you command." The servitor replied in a metallic, non-emotive tone.
"Excellent. Now, off with you." The servitor hurried away as Ramses continued down the corridor to his quarters. He keyed on his vox-caster, "Scout Sergeant Vulpes, I wish to speak with you about our upcoming operation on Moab Prime. Meet me in my quarters immediately." There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. "Scout Sergeant Vulpes, do you copy?" A few seconds passed before the sound of clattering metal and rushed shuffling
"My apologies, Lieutenant, I was performing maintenance on the bikes. Nearly dropped the engine block when you beckoned me." Ramses rolled his eyes at the scout's reply. "Regardless, I can be there momentarily.
"See that you are."
"Yes, affirmative sir." The sound cut out as Ramses reached his quarters. Much like the bridge there had been hasty refits to accommodate the ship's new commander, though they weren't entirely necessary, aside from the chairs surrounding a rectangular table which to a standard human would have been rather large, but for Ramses was just small enough to require him to hunch over should he need to inspect something placed on the table. He took a seat and began to thumb through the book that the chapter master had given to him. It was a history book detailing the Chapter's accomplishments and heraldry, but more importantly it included clues as to where the ancient weapons may be located.
Moab Prime was the only hive world located in the Betelguese sector, and though it had a high population, it was rather small, only half as massive as holy Terra. As a hive world it seemed to be stricken with all of the common ailments plaguing nearly all of the hive worlds in the imperium. Gangers, piracy, poverty, and diseases were rampant, however the planetary governor had found a most perplexing solution to the dilemma, which seemed to be working at least superficially. On the southern hemisphere of the planet was a massive crater, nearly 50 miles in diameter that she had declared 'Zone Zero'. Inside this area no law enforcement are present, and without the watchful eye of the Arbites crime is effectively legal. Curiously this crater was not always a part of this world's topography, appearing nearly 1,200 years ago after a comet came crashing through the warp and wiped out an industrial zone. A comet indeed.
The door opened as scout sergeant Vulpes stepped through offering a quick salute after crossing the threshold. His hands and face were covered in grease, no doubt as a result of his mechanical tinkering. "Sir,"he said with casual respect.
"Have a seat, sergeant." Vulpes complied and began eyeing up the room around him. "I will be brief, once we reach our destination I will be deploying you to begin reconnaissance operations. You will have to go alone, you will be lightly armed, and you will need to be in disguise. Your goal is to infiltrate Zone Zero, and gather information as to the whereabouts of our weapons cache." Vulpes inhaled through his teeth. "Do you see a problem with this directive?"
"Permission to speak freely sir?"
Ramses gave a dismissive wave with his hand. "Granted."
"I'm not certain how I can articulate this, but I will do my best." He paused for a moment and tapped his fingertips together in a pensive gesture. "I- hmmm-we are not- no." He gave a deep sigh. "I think you overestimate my ability to 'blend in' as it may be said. Certainly at a glance no one would think anything of my appearance. However, I am too sensible of my defects to what I am not capable of."
"Get to the point sergeant." Ramses scowled, though he had a feeling what Vulpes might be getting at.
"I'm-" he paused to collect himself, "we are not the same as them." He gestured in the direction of the ship's bridge. "I may look like them, I may sound like them, but ultimately I am not. I have lived a different life, totally divorced from common people of the Imperium. If you wish for me to infiltrate their cities, their lives, their culture; you will find that they will see me for what I am."
"And that is?"
"An imposter." Ramses leaned forward in his chair, propping his arms on the table in front of him, fingers laced.
"You think you would be discovered?"
"Most certainly. Furthermore, if I were to deploy 'lightly armed' as you put it, you will find that I will not return alive." Vulpes shook his head. "I do not fear death, sir, but I do fear a pointless death. Were I to not return from this assignment it would be for nothing." Ramses gaze did not break. He did not blink. He only gave a long exhalation through his nose in displeasure. "I am merely being realistic and honest. When you recruited me to this assignment, I researched this planet. I know what we are going to face, and with all due respect, I can assure you that I know a great deal more about it then you do. There will be no intelligence gathering." Ramses nodded with disappointment, he was aware that this could be a possible outcome, but he did not expect Vulpes to be so blunt.
"Then what would you suggest, sergeant?" Ramses rose to his full height in his chair and gestured with an open palm to Vulpes. "Share what you have learned." Vulpes stood from his seat and began to pace for a brief moment before stopping just to the right of the table.
"If there is a weapons cache from a crashed ship it is most certainly in Zone Zero, that much we likely agree on. However, given the wealth that may come from such relics' existence it is likely that this is a closely guarded secret known only to the most powerful forces within the zone. Any attempt to garner information from the common rabble would be a waste of time and energy." Ramses nodded his head in affirmation.
"I see."
"Furthermore, even if I were to blend in with the commoners, which I assure you I would not, what good out that be? I may be able to get the location of a ganger hideout, or something of that nature, but then I must gain their trust. What then? Do I work my way up the ranks of a hive gang and become some sort of capo or enforcer or do I start my own gang? I could spend a lifetime here in search of these answers, only to fail. Sir, we are both aware that time is of the essence. Such an operation would be fruitless, I assure you that as for our initial planetfall we are capable of knowing everything we will need to know for the time being." The room hung silent for a moment as Ramses processed this information. Vulpes was right, and his experience in the Deathwatch had proven valuable, as he knew it would. Ramses stood and approached Vulpes before placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Keep talking, but accompany me for a moment." He led Vulpes back into the main corridor and the pair began walking towards the rear of the ship.
"Of course sir," he replied, but before he could continue the two were intercepted by a servitor carrying a datapad. It handed the pad off to Ramses who scanned it as the two continued down the hall.
"Keep speaking, I am listening," Ramses said.
"Yes. Like I was saying, I understand that we need to have a certain degree of discretion while on this assignment. Even the few resources we are dedicating to this operation are precious when we have the greater war effort on Caspia to consider. However, we are The Emperor's chosen few, the Astartes, discretion is not exactly something we are capable of in this situation."
"Are you suggesting that we should ignore subtlety?"
"No, not in the slightest. Blasting the zone from orbit or deploying an invasion force would be too blunt a strategy even if we had the capability to do as much. My point is that we need to utilize what we know to be our most valuable assets. We are warriors, so we should approach this as warriors."
"Interesting." Ramses grunted. "I think I may have an idea." He turned the datapad around so that Vulpes could read it. "Take a look." Vulpes' nodded with affirmation as he began to read through the information.
"It appears the Governor is a collector of ancient artifice. Most peculiar." He continued to read through the information provided. "Do you think she has been purchasing from the gangers living in the zone."
"No, not necessarily." Ramses replied. "I do not think she would be so reckless. She is probably buying them from a third party. However, I believe she is aware of the origins. No one un-lobotomised could be so ignorant as to not know that they have a massive supply of valuable weapons on their planet. What better way to hide this than to make the zone totally absent of the prying eyes of Imperial law?" The two crossed a threshold to the ship's cargo hold. Inside contained a line of three, raider pattern bikes, a scout bike, a rack of chainswords and bolt rifles, and at the end the sleeping dreadnaut carapace of the venerable Brother Dormine. "I think she discovered a way to solve two problems at once. The gangers get to battle it out in their own lawless land and make some extra coin. Meanwhile, she gets to purchase whatever they find for a fraction of what it would normally be worth."
"Assuming that one can put a value on something so precious," Vulpes grimaced. "She knows not how carelessly she has crossed us." Vulpes was getting angry, but Ramses placed a gentle hand on his shoulder once again.
"Patience brother, there will be time to deal with the Governor. The war for Caspia is far more pressing than the selfish misappropriation of our holy relics." "Do you think it would stand to reason that any excavation operations would be at the center of the crater?" Vulpes smiled a sly grin.
"Oh, most certainly." Ramses gestured for Vulpes to return the data pad to him and he keyed in another command. This time several images taken from orbit of the zone appeared. At a glance it appeared no different than how any other hive city may look from orbit. But as Ramses zoomed closer to the center of the image he and Vulpes could see that there was a massive complex of some kind, blanketed in thick, black, smog. Vulpes spoke again after dissecting the pictures. "These images nearly settle the matter. There is some kind of operation going on at the crater's center." Vulpes paused again as he considered this information. "So how do you think we should proceed?" Ramses gestured to the line of bikes and smiled.
"With speed."