Part two. I'm aware that this won't gel with the first story but hope you can enjoy it none the less. As before, read and plant a review if it pleases. I won't hold back further sections if I don't get reviews, but I'd apreciate the feedback. Enjoy.
The Calm after the Storm
Deep in the Eye of Terror, the daemon world of Sicarus was host to one of the greatest gatherings of Word Bearers since the Siege of Terra. Ancient and baroque warships plied the nearby void as the chaos marines aboard them joined in prayer to those glorious saviors of mankind: the gods of chaos. They patiently awaited the return of their Dark Apostles from the world below them. Sicarus was the crux of the Word Bearers' legion: home of their primarch and the place where worthy chaos acolytes were transformed into chaos space marines to carry out the long war against the False Emperor. It was on this world that the seeds of many dooms would be planted and nursed toward fulfillment by hatred, madness, and faith.
In one of the highest towers of Sicarus, a council of Dark Apostles was in session. They met in an immense chamber which could have housed a titan and was illuminated by fitful balefires and the glow of ominous chaos runes. Tiers of black metal pews now bore three score of the most feared figures in the imperium. They varied in stature, visage, and wargear. Some were mostly human and others bore the marks of daemonhood. They all however wielded the Accursed Crozius. An ancient weapon and symbol of faith in the loyalist chapters, they represented faith of a different but no less dedicated order to these rebellious marines. The Dark Apostles of chaos had gathered to praise those who had brought the legion glory, admonish those who had failed in their efforts, and plan future acts in their eternal crusade.
Lord Medreon rose and moved towards the speakers' podium. His massive suit of daemon armor pulsed in time to his footfalls and seemed to settle gelatinously as Medreon took his place at the podium. "Fellow scions of the great Lorgar! Chaos is victorious at the Cadian gate! Thus we are free to assault the realm of the False Emperor and seek converts among the ignorant sheep that dwell there. Can any say that the chosen of Lorgar are not ascendant in the universe?" Medreon paused in his oration, his pale blue eyes sliding over the attendant marines swiftly, clearly not expecting an answer. Suddenly a voice among the pews quietly and certainly spoke a single word in the rising silence, "Aye."
Medreon tensed, his eyes narrowing, and spoke again, "How can you say this brother Mikaihel? What possible reason would you have to dispute this truth?" All eyes turned as Mikaihel rose to his feet: the daemonic figure's lean brown form wrapped in a rippling off-white robe. "I speak only the truth. Matters are less certain in Cadia than they seem and there are complex issues to be worked out before the gate will lie open to us." "Do you call my vision simplistic? Can you say that chaos does not favor us by merely letting us do its work? Do you challenge faith?" Medreon's tone grew steadily more contemptuous as his armor sprouted spines in response to its masters anger.
Mikaihel too grew incensed and allowed his robe to partially unfurl and reveal his harsh narrow face with his yellow glowing eyes. "I am not an agnostic nor am I a mercenary Night Lord or black legionary. I serve chaos as it directs me and will continue to do so as long as I am allowed. The problems I speak of reflect not ascendance but relative ascendance! I speak of the Warmaster of Chaos: Abaddon the Despoiler!" Mikaihel visibly calmed himself as Dark Apostles around the chamber took in this statement. Before they could respond he spoke again, "I doubt not that the gods have chosen him as one of their champions. But does that give him leave to disrupt the glorious work of other champions of chaos? To demand action which lessons the service of others? Our glorious father, Lorgar the Everchosen, himself does not act so unthinkingly!" He whipped his hand around the room, finally locking gazes with Lord Medreon standing at the podium. "Brother Herklen is not here! He was dispatched to Manzita III to guide its' inhabitants to our light when the despoiler demanded my immediate service in his war. Herklen's Host was not strong enough to defend that claim when the imperium found and attacked Manzanita! Abaddon might as well have fired the torpedoes which destroyed Herklen's vessel himself..." "Enough!" barked Medreon as he strode from the podium toward the defiant figure. His eyes blazed with psychic fire as his barbed form moved to deal with the upstart.
Lord Medereon's voice hummed with controlled anger as he gazed upwards into Mikaihel's face, "Your accusations are inflammatory and dangerous, Brother Dark Apostle. Given that your statements hold true, what would you have us do? Challenge the Warmaster? Such unthinking assaults are more worthy of a blood mad World Eater. Were you a member of my Host, I would strike you down where you stand. Medreon finished his tirade in a low tone intended only for Mikaihel's ears. Mikaihel stood shaking under this censure a moment, then resolve hardened his features and he locked glares with the senior Word Bearer. "I do not claim your degree of mastery over the warp and I may lack your perceptive on this matter," his voice rose as his temper was piqued, "but I do not propose that we strike out against Abaddon in his hour of triumph. I merely suggest that it is time for Lorgar's children to start acting in a matter that will increase the value of our service to chaos not diminish it.. If there was any time for us to break away from Abaddon's service now is that time! He is committed to Cadia and our debts to him are the most fulfilled that they've been in centuries! Now is the moment! If we let it pass, we may be as tightly bound to him as those fawning supplicants of his Black Legion." He paused a moment to take in the admiring looks of his peers but Medreon responded with a fierce comment and he had to respond.
The argument continued for hours, the two Dark Apostles slashing and stabbing at one another with their words. The eloquence normally turned toward the conversion of multitudes was a fierce weapon in a debate and could be only turned aside by a blind stubbornness born of millennia of devotion, a trait common in this legion of zealots. In such a contest their physical weapons were forgotten by the duo as they verbally assaulted one another. The observing Apostles were silent, their support being caught between Medreon's rank and Mikaihel's fervor. The argument was halted suddenly by a resonant voice that emanated from the empty air.
"Hold your tongues my most quarrelsome children.", the booming voice chided gently as Dark Apostles knelt and lowered their heads out of respect, "It is time for your divine primarch to settle this matter that you may move on to other issues of import to the beneficent gods of chaos.". Medreon and Mikaihel dropped to their knees as well, their strife forgotten in the instinctive obedience Lorgar inspired in all wordbearers. "Ready yourselves for the coming of your primarch.", the voice commanded. Dark Apostles dropped their eyes to the ground, not even the mightiest daemon prince daring to look upon their divine father.
Light glared into the chamber as a massive set of engraved doors opened at the northern end of the chamber opposite the podium. The light silhouetted the terminator armor clad retinue surrounding Lorgar whose form could not have been discerned had anyone been bold enough to look. Lorgar's massive footfalls moved down the central aisle toward the prostrate duo halting mere yards from Mikaihel's robe wrapped body. The center of the light seemed to focus on the daemonic figure below it before speaking again.
"Mikaihel, your fervor does yourself credit." Mikaihel's down turned eyes lit up with pleasure but dimmed as he digested what was said next, "However, your lack of experience requires that you listen to the advice of your superiors. I have deemed that Medreon is one such being and thus has authority over you." Medreom grinned inside his helmet as Mikaihel murmured, "Forgive my transgressions, father. Your will is the way of the legion." "Quite. Medreon- calling a fellow Word Bearer's faith into question is not worthy behavior of my children. See that it does not occur again." Lorgar's voice rumbled with displeasure as the armored figure shrank back from this condemnation. Lorgar moved back toward the open doors with his retinue before speaking one last time, "Let this council continue its' sacred business uninterrupted hence forth. Such displays as I have just witnessed shall not mar this most dedicated of legions. Chaos guide you toward the correct path in its service." "As chaos wills." replied the gathered Dark Apostles while the doors sealed Lorgar's light from the cavernous chamber.
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40k in any way, shape, or form. That honor belongs to Games Workshop and I'm not contesting that. I don't intend to make a profit off this and hope that this doesn't get me sued! Please...