Chapter I
"You believe that your father made the wrong decision?" asked Eva.
"I believe that he made it with the wrong intentions," said Stephen. "He only wanted the prestige of having a son who was Astartes. Truthfully, as heretical as it might sound, I would have rather been a Guardsman."
Eva recoiled, was she hearing that correctly? He was one of the blessed Emperor's holy warriors, a Black Templar, the bane of heretics, witches and xenos. Yet, he would trade it all away to join the Astra Militarum? While she had great respect for the Imperial Guard, she had far more for Space Marines. Astartes were a cut above by a long, long way. And this man, whom had been her friend, and more, since childhood, would willingly cast it off? What possible reason could he have?
"Why?" demanded Eva.
"Why do you think?" said Stephen, giving her a knowing look.
Eva knew the answer at once. It was so obvious that she hated herself for even questioning his logic. The answer was… her.
It had been when they were thirteen. Stephen was a bright-eyed, motivated young man who saw the universe as his oyster. Eva, by contrast, was a shy, studious young woman who hoped to one day be employed by the Administorum. They were already friends then, though they secretly desired far more. It was she who made the first move.
The local Confessor had taken a group of youths on a trip into the mountains. During a hike, the two separated from the group and sought out a well-known landmark known as 'Lover's Leap". She had chosen this sight for a very special reason, while he had followed purely out of curiosity.
It turned out to be a twelve-meter-high waterfall. Glacial waters, still as cold as the ice that birthed it cascaded over boulders worn smooth by eons of the rushing flow. Freefalling into a mountain pool in a curtain of foam and mist.
When they arrived, Stephen could hardly pull his gaze away from the scene. That is, until Eva uttered the word. The one they had both wanted to say, but that she had gathered up the courage to do so, first. It drew his attention away from the scenery and towards the lovely young woman who had accompanied him there.
He had asked her to repeat it. However, she had feared that this meant he did not feel the same. Fortunately, her fears were quickly put to rest when, as she turned to leave, he took her by the hand and assured her otherwise. After a lengthy silence, which wasn't long at all, their lips met and the world was a brighter and more incorruptible place.
Even the sudden arrival of an annoyed, but laughing Confessor could not spoil it.
Tragically, their joy would soon die.
Three weeks later, the Templars had made planetfall and Stephen's father, whose name he had long since forgotten, demanded that he apply.
He had hoped that the Marshals and Castellans would look through him and deem him unsuitable. To his sorrow, the opposite had occurred. He had been deemed as an "above satisfactory" aspirant.
He had been allowed one day to bid his farewells. Though his father had attempted to lavish praise on him, Stephen had vehemently ignored him. He had gathered only a few scant personal items and departed without a word.
He had first gone to his mother's grave to wish her soul farewell. Then, had spent the remainder of his time with Eva. Her father had perished in the Emperor's service long before and her mother was on her death-bed.
They both wept, but tried to find comfort. They spent that night sharing Eva's bed, consummating their love for the first and the last time. As it ended and Stephen departed, they both vowed that if they could not be with one another, they could not be with anyone.
Once he left, she began making preparations for her future. Her mother perished a month later and not long after a representative of the Schola Progenium arrived for her. She had devoted the next five years to piety and faith. It was no surprise, then, when the Canoness arrived looking for her.
For the next two decades, both of them devoted themselves utterly to their respective orders. He fought multiple crusades against mankind's foes, xenos and heretic alike. She served on various battlefields, slaying both Ork and Eldar.
When they finally met again, the two barely recognized one another. By then, Stephen was over seven-feet-tall and had several scars covering his face. Meanwhile, Eva's hair had begun to take on a greyish tint. The only visible sign she had aged.
It had been during the Cruxis Crusade upon Cadia. Word had come through that a fighting company of Templars were in need of reinforcements. Two regiments of Mordian Iron Guards and one preceptory of the Ebon Chalice were sent to do so. In the midst of the fighting, Stephen spotted a young Legatine that he was certain he knew. But it was only after she turned to shoot a World Eater coming at him did he place her.
When he called her name, Eva could not understand how an Astartes could possibly know her name. It wasn't until she got a good look at his face did she recognize the profile of her oldest friend.
Without thinking, the two embraced much to the surprise of all the others gathered. The other Astartes and Sororitas stared wordlessly, bewildered. The remaining Mordians looked on with a mixture of bewilderment, amusement and admiration. That two members of such monastic orders would show affection, chaste as it was, so blatantly was quite amusing. Unfortunately, they had been dragged before their respective commanders, for "heresy". However, both the Sword Brother and Canoness decided that an embrace between friends was not heresy.
While the two had enjoyed catching up, Eva was eventually called away to other warzones. Stephen remained on Cadia until its destruction. He was then called upon to aide Arch Magos Belisarius Cawl and participate in the Terran Crusade. He fought from Macragge to Holy Terra, travelling through the xenos webway and witnessing Primarch Guilliman in all his glory. However, it was a conversation with the Living Saint that had stuck with him above all.
Though the Saint had mostly kept to the inner circle, conversing almost exclusively with the Primarch and the other leaders, she did occasionally speak to members of the fighting line. It was during the period of calm after the battle on Luna, whilst the Primarch was in conference with the Emperor, that she came to speak to him.
At first, he had almost mistaken her for Eva, their resemblance was uncanny. But he was both disappointed and elated upon discovering her true identity. She had greeted him by name. This should have surprised him, but strangely it did not. What she had said next, however, was surprising.
"You miss her?" asked the Saint.
"Who?" responded Stephen, not understanding the question.
"You know of whom I speak."
He did now that she had said so. "I do."
"As you should."
The statement confused him. "I should?"
"Of course, for it is to her that your heart belongs."
Stephen was almost offended by the statement. "What are you saying? I am a servant of the Emperor! My heart belongs to HIM!" He regretted saying it at once. The Saint had meant no offense.
She had looked at him the same way his mother had when he was little and had lied to her. Stephen knew that he had been found out.
"Yes, it's true," he confessed. "My heart has belonged to her since we were children." He looked away shamefully.
The Saint put a hand to his cheek and turned his face back. "That is nothing to be ashamed of," she assured him.
"But I serve the Emperor. SHE serves the Emperor. It's…it's…HERESY!" insisted Stephen.
"Love is never heresy. In fact, it could one day save your life."
"Truly?"
"Absolutely. In fact, I will amend my previous statement and say that it will one day save your life."
"How can you be certain?"
"I have seen it."
Stephen stared at her with concern. He had always believed that Celestine was a being touched by the light of the Emperor. But now he feared that she was tainted by the Warp. However, she quickly put his fears to rest.
"The Emperor granted me a vision," said the Saint. "I saw you and her embracing at the feet of the Golden Throne. And saw Dorn himself embracing the both of you and blessing your love."
"But why would he do such a thing?" asked Stephen. "And how would Eva even be alive by then? She is not Astartes and no one knows when Dorn will be found again. And that's if he is even still alive."
"Dear Stephen, I'm not the Emperor," said the Saint. "I don't know everything. But what I do know is that the both of you are destined to be."
Stephen wasn't certain of that. Though they were still human and could act on their desires, should they wish, it was unlikely that he and Eva ever would. It was even less likely that they were truly "destined to be". They were both committed to lives of service and that left little room for anything else.
However, Stephen was loathe to doubt the Saint and simply nodded his acceptance. However, the Saint was not finished.
"Believe me, your destinies are intertwined," she assured. "Not only that, but the both of you will light the way for Dorn's return."
"I beg your pardon?" he asked, not knowing if he had heard her correctly. It sounded as though she was implying that he and Eva were actually going to locate the long missing Primarch. Saying that he would approve of a romance between a Sororitas and Astartes was one thing. But saying that that self-same relationship would lead to his return was too much. However, the Saint was not forthcoming with more details.
"When you meet her again," said the Saint. "The time will come."
With that, she departed and Stephen never saw her again.
That had been over three centuries ago. Since that day, Stephen had served in both the Shrine Worlds and Talledus Crusades as well as crossing the Rubicon Primaris. It was after the War of Beasts that Eva learned of Stephen's service in the campaign. It was also during that campaign that she discovered a certain "defect" in her own biology. It first came to her attention during the opening battle of the war on Vigilus.
She and her sisters had been defending a hivesprawl against the forces of Speedboss Krooldakka, when a xenos round punched into her breastplate and caused her entire chest cavity to burst. She was placed with the rest of the dead and what was left of her armor was removed.
The very next day, to the shock of her sisters, she returned to their camp, alive and wearing a soiled burial cloth. The canoness had declared it a miracle and, at the time, Eva had believed it was. Mostly because, she had seen a vision of the Emperor telling her that her time had not yet come. However, as the campaign had progressed, this type of situation became far too common.
As she had continued to fight against greenskins, Genestealers, Eldar and traitors alike, she would find her life ended at multiple turns. Each time it would be restored to her. It happened so often that she began to fear that she was warp-tainted.
Hoping to make penance for it, she volunteered to become a Sister Repentia. However, this too proved ineffective. Over the next several decades, she died over three hundred times and was restored to life each time. Eventually, her Prioress believed that she had repented enough and restored her to the ranks of the Battle Sisters. In time, she became a Canoness herself. Though she still kept her hair cut short as a reminder of her time as a Repentia.
Meanwhile, Stephen had fought in further crusades on Mephistari and Krostein. Now, here he was on a world whose name he did not know.
Not long before arriving, he and his fellow Battle Brothers had knelt in the chapel aboard their vessel as Chaplain Dunstel led them in prayer. In the midst of their invocation, Stephen had been granted a vision. In it, he saw the Blessed Emperor himself battling an army of Traitors and Daemons. After slaying an enemy champion, the Emperor had turned to him and held out a hand to him.
"Come Stephen, son of Albert," said the Emperor, though Albert was actually his uncle's name. "Stand beside me, crush my enemies and claim glory in my name."
When he awoke from the vision, the Chaplain stood before him. Though Stephen could not see the man's face through the skull-faced helmet, he knew that he knew. Two veterans helped him to his feet and the Chaplain led him from the room.
He was escorted to the bowels of the ship where Veteran Chaplain Jeremias scrutinized the vision. After an hour, he confirmed the vision and Stephen was taken to the Wayshrine, further inside the ship. Here, his old arms and armor were ceremonially removed and replaced with the chapter's legendary relics, the Armor of Faith and the mighty Black Sword. When he emerged into the presence of his Battle Brothers, he was no longer just Stephen. He was now Stephen, son of Albert, Emperor's Champion.
Upon arriving planetside, he had led an attack on the Traitor forces. Slaying multiple cult leaders and five Traitor captains in single combat. The most difficult of which being a particularly vicious Night Lord named Shan Nightcleaver. The man's corpse was not even cold, when Stephen's company was set upon by the green tide. And soon thereafter had met up with Eva's commandry.
"That's…heresy!" said Eva, with hesitation.
"Is it, though?" asked Stephen.
"Look at us! You are a Champion of the Emperor. I am a Canoness of the Ebon Chalice. You are Astartes, I am Sororitas. You are sworn to the Emperor's Crusade. I am sworn to the Ecclesiarchy."
"I am still a man," interrupted Stephen. "And you are still a woman. That much has not changed. And unless I am mistaken, nothing in the texts of either of our orders condemns such feelings."
Eva's eyebrows arched until her forehead nearly disappeared. What was he saying? Was he still in love with her? Worse, could she still be in love with him? Maybe, but the thought made her shudder. Both of them had been trained for years to suppress such feelings. And the thought that any could survive such conditioning was… disquieting.
"That's heresy," whispered Eva, as if trying to convince someone of the fact.
"I disagree," whispered Stephen, with an unshakeable conviction. "To deny how one feels is to deny what the Emperor gave you as no more than a flaw of humanity. THAT is heresy."
"What are you saying?"
He looked directly into her eyes and she had her answer. After all these years, he was still in love with her. It had been nearly three centuries since she had made an oath of devotion and he had returned it. Their families and friends were long since dead. Their homeworld had been overrun by greenskins, then traitor forces, then Eldar before being consumed by a Tyranid hive fleet. Alone, they remained the sole living natives of their world. And yet, through it all, Stephen still bore a candle for her.
It made Eva feel… unworthy. What had she done to deserve such adoration? For anyone to hold onto such feelings for even a decade was admirable and Eva had known many in her unnaturally long life. However, to hold onto them for three centuries defied belief.
Had Stephen been a simple mortal man, Eva might have expected him to find another source for his affection. But Stephen was Astartes and she had expected him to forget about her and what they had shared those long years ago. Devoting every iota of his being to training and service. To the utter annihilation of the Imperium's foes and the preservation of its people. Above all, to the never-ending Crusade and the Will of the Emperor. And thereby completely and utterly banishing any thought of her or what they may have had. But it had not been so.
His desire for her had endured all of that. No amount of training, nor devotion had crushed it. No sermon, no scripture, no revelation had snuffed it out. Not even the heavy shell of ceramite and steel covering his body, nor the two-handed blade at his side could hold it down.
Eva could not bear it. "This is wrong," she blurted, in desperation. "We are above such things."
"Above such things?" laughed Stephen. "What are you saying?"
In truth, she wasn't sure. She believed that she had given up her feelings for him. But his presence on this world had brought all of those long-buried feelings back to the surface.
"I don't know!" she declared, turning to hide her pained expression.
Stephen was at a loss. He understood Eva's conflict, he had experienced it once as well. But how could he help her? She wanted to tell him how she truly felt, that was obvious. However, she could not find a way to express it that did not make her feel guilty. He needed to help her and an idea took shape in his mind.
It was mad and would likely force both of them to perform penance should it become known. But as his uncle had once told him, "A thousand words can say far less than one action."
"Eva?" asked Stephen.
"Yes?" she responded, not turning to face him.
"I need you to do something."
"Do what exactly?" She turned to face him, slowly.
"I need you to stop me."
"Stop you from doing what, exactly?" What was he about to do? Her answer would not be long in coming.
He took her hand and pulled her close. Before she could react, he leaned in and she knew exactly what he was about to do. But despite what he had said, she didn't try to stop him and didn't want to. Unbeknownst to her, Stephen was overjoyed that she didn't. Before they knew it, their lips met and the bleakness surrounding them faded away for the brightest of moments. As it ended, Stephen felt Eva tremble in his arms.
"We're damned," she sobbed.
"No, we're not," said Stephen, trying to sooth her. Then he heard something. A clomping, crushing sound of heavy footfalls. A bestial growling breath through a mouthful of fangs and the clank of old, mismatched bits of armament. "At least not like that."
"What do you mean?" She looked up at him and he nodded over his left shoulder. She couldn't see it but she could certainly hear it and his meaning was clear. Stephen stood stock still as Eva undid the clasp on his holster and drew the, far too large for her hand, bolt pistol. She hoisted it onto his shoulder and aimed at thin air. Until, the interloper finally revealed itself.
"Oy!" was all the greenskin got out before a mass reactive round rocketed from the barrel of the firearm and detonated inside its skull.
Stephen held Eva upright against the recoil. She felt the shockwave through her entire body. Astartes bolters were far stronger than Sororitas bolters and she had not been prepared for it. She shook her arm to get the feeling back in it, handing the weapon back to Stephen.
"Now that that's settled," said Stephen, removing the helmet from his belt. "We had best get back to business."
"Indeed," agreed Eva, hoisting her own helmet and locking it into place. "Death to the alien, the mutant…"
"The heretic," finished Stephen, drawing his sword and bolt pistol.
Eva also drew her blade and plasma pistol. Both thumbed the activation runes and the blades hummed to life. Together, they climbed up the side of the crater and over the top straight into an onrushing hoard of Orks.
"Oy! Luck 'ere boyz! Iz too humies readee fer crumpin'!" shouted a massive greenskin armed with a large crude axe made of scrap metal. "Lez get 'em!"
Around the beast stood an endless tide of its kin. Many bore bladed weapons, mostly axes, swords and crude spears. Many carried firearm-like weapons. They were only firearms in the sense that they fired projectiles. All were clad in crude armor of varying bright colors, mostly reds, yellows and blues. Though Stephen knew little of Ork Kultur (as they called it) he knew that each color had a meaning and purpose. Red meant speed and those wearing it believed that it would grant them the gift of "Goin' fasta!" Many of those were mounted and had their vehicles painted with the same shade with the idea that it would give the machines the same gift of speed.
Blue was considered lucky, and most who wore it were looters, taking discarded vehicles and weapons from Imperial and greenskin alike. Stephen scowled as he saw many of those draped in blue carrying heavy bolters and stubbers built for Astartes hands. One or two even held looted power axes or swords "modified" with slapped on bits of scrap. Several wore bits of ceramite, splattered with blue paint. He vowed to make them pay.
He wasn't certain what yellow's significance was. All that he did know was that it had something to do with their "teef". Though what that could be he had no clue.
He had also heard that they believed wearing purple made them invisible. However, he couldn't see any of them wearing the color. Maybe the idea was true. But Stephen quickly discarded such heresy.
As one the green tide charged forward roaring, "Waaagh!"