Chapter II

A white armoured Space Marine was surrounded by his brothers in blue. The room was silent, apart from occasional beeps and slurps. The apothecary set out to perform a miracle that would impress even Fabius Bile himself. On a surgery table in front of him, a decapitated head was placed in some sort of experimental machinery. It should be dead by all means, but a bundle of tubes and wires that were connected to it seemed to make it twitch and spasm.
»What is your prognosis, apothecary? «
»I am confident in our success, battle brother. Captain Chadius seems to be as determined in this procedure as we are. I just need more time. And space! «
With that, he looked over his shoulder, signalling the fellow Ultramarines to back off.
»Take your time, son of McCragge. But tread carefully. What you are trying to achieve is dangerously close to heresy. «

The group of Space Marines turned back and instantly formed a line to the debodied Chadius. The voice came from another Astartes in the back of the hall. His armour of deep black did a poor job hiding battle damage with several layers of repaints. A thick red trim and a cross on his shoulder pads indicated that he was a veteran of the Black Templars. A velvet cape of deep scarlet flew over his back, fixed with a pair of skull shaped golden cuffs. As he passed the silent Ultramarines, his power claws crackled with blue static in the silence of the apothecarion.
The blue armoured group chattered internally through their vox link, but even though he couldn't hear them, the Templar knew what they were all saying.
»The Mangler! «

The veteran's ruthless reputation preceded him and caused his peers and enemies alike to respect and fear him. The local stories said that he stayed behind without his chapter to look after and defend this world with cruel efficiency. Rarely was he seen outside of battle and when he was, he mostly kept to himself. The mysterious Templar approached the head and inspected it.
»We would not want to deal with the Inquisition, now, would we? «
The apothecary, visibly nervous stuttered the answer back at him.
»N...no of course not. I am just going through the standard procedure, with some minor adjustments, due to our special situation. «
»Good. Good. I look forward to his... upgraded... condition. «
They exchanged nods and the man in the black armour turned and left the room as ominously as he arrived.
»The only damn Black Templar on the damn planet, and I have to suffer him. « The apothecary grumbled to himself, then addressed the rest of the Ultramarines.
»All right, brothers, leave me to my work. I do not want to fail this procedure, especially with the clawed crusader now breathing down my neck. I shall send a servitor to inform you when I am finished. «

The group of blue armoured Space Marines nodded and turned in unison, slowly leaving the hall. After he was left alone, he looked at the twitching head in front of him. He placed his hand on its top as if trying to calm it down.
»Trust me, Captain. I shall not fail you. You shall walk again. «
For a brief moment, he could have sworn that a grin appeared on Chadius's face.

The Mangler was sitting on his throne, contemplating the events when a servitor approached him. The half mechanical creature stumbled slowly towards the Templar, while waving sacred incense on his way. With the free hand, he reached for a parchment scroll and offered it to the sitting crusader. The black armoured veteran grabbed it and dismissed the almost mindless drone. He unrolled the note and read it. Before the servitor left, Mangler stood up and yelled »Send him in! « And just as the servant exited the premises, he added »And I told you, I hate lavender incense!«
Then he sat down again and waited, the power claw talons interlocked on his lap. After a short while, a loud knock echoed from the doorway. The Black Templar called the newcomer inside and an Ultramarine carefully walked in.
»You asked for me? «

»Indeed. You see, I have some questions. You are the guard that accompanied your Captain Chadius at the scandalous parade, yes? «
The newcomer understood where this conversation was going and got notably anxious.
»I am, yes. «
»Good. I am going to need some help understanding what happened there. I hope for both our sakes, you can do that. «
The Black Templar stood up and walked slowly up to the blue Space Marine and started circling him like a predator stalking a prey.
»Please. Tell me what happened in those moments before the... accident. I suggest that you don't forget any important details. «
His voice was cold and threatening, making the seriousness of the situation clear.
»Yes, es of course. Everything went as planned and normal up to just brief moment before the fall. I saw the captain distracted by something in the sky, and then he tripped over a partly closed manhole. I did not hesitate and rushed to help him, but the sun reflected from his golden cape and overloaded my lenses like a flashbang grenade. All it took was that heartbeat of weakness, and I got shamefully taken down by slipping on the said cape. Before I could react, my weapon beheaded Chadius and that was it. «
The Mangler stopped for a second, then continued circling the blue guard.

»So you are telling me that your Captain, one of the finest battle brothers of your legendary chapter was taken out by absurd incompetence of someone in charge of protecting his back? To me, this sounds like a very pathetic attempt at lying. Are you touched by Chaos, Marine? What has Tzeentch, the Lord of lies promised you for this heresy? «
»What? No! I- «
A power claw talon sliced through his neck with a hiss as the Templar removed his head from his shoulders. Both parts of the Ultramarine clanked to the floor, the lifeless body collapsing like a pile of armour. Looking at the corpse with disgust, he muttered to himself.
»Emperor's finest, my crusading ass. «
Raising his voice towards the exit gateway, he yelled for his drone. «
»Patricius! Get in here and remove this heretical waste out of my sight! «
The servitor returned and started dragging the Ultra remains from the room, leaving a red smear behind it.

»And send in the next one. Hopefully, this heresy doesn't get much deeper. «
A newcomer passed Patricius and stared at his dead battle brother that was being dragged away. Enraged, he stormed towards the Black Templar.
»What is the meaning of this? What has happened to him? «
»During my questioning, he got nervous and lost his head. Sadly, I have deduced that he has been corrupted and as such did not deserve the God Emperor's gift of life. «
»You? « He looked at him in disbelief. »You killed him?«
»What I did was decreased the heresy presence within your honourable chapter, Marine. You should be thanking me. «
»You are not the Inquisition, Templar! How dare you? «
»It is starting to sound awfully like you might be trying to weasel out of here. Are you sure that you want to go down that path? «
There was a short period of silence, as the Ultramarine chose his next words carefully.
»Ask what you wanted to ask, Mangler. But I promise you, there will be consequences. «
The Mangler didn't even flinch at the provocation, convinced in his right doing.
»Threats will not get you far here. Tell me, what has happened to Chadius?«

The furious Marine in blue armour replied as calmly as he was able to.
»Fine. My answer might not be what you are looking for. The truth of the matter is, I was not that close to the accident. So, what I saw was the captain tripping on something, an open manhole I think, and then the fall of a halberd and that was all. Right after that, chaos ensued«
»Interesting choice of words. You must think of me as much a fool as your now deceased friend did. «
»I don't understand. «
»The heretic told me the same absurd lie. You cannot expect me to believe that he had died by tripping on a manhole? «
He got so close to the other Marine that the glow of his red eye lenses reflected on the blue helmet.
»But... that is what happened. «
»HERETIC! «

Both power claws sank deep in the less protected abdomen and tore it in half. The Space Marine's upper part tried to crawl away in a desperate attempt to save himself, but the Mangler followed him with ease and finished him off by piercing the Ultramarines hearts. Frustrated, he called for the upcoming witness.
»Next! Bring me the guardsman! «
As soon as he had entered the room, he noticed the dead Space Marine on the ground and a red track leading out of the chamber. The sight made him pause for a few moments in alarm, but he carefully headed towards the veteran Templar who acted like there wasn't anything unusual happening. His demeanour however betrayed his frustration.

»Come here, soldier. It is your turn to help me with our situation. Before we waste my time, were you present at the parade? My sources tell me that you were seen calling for attention. Am I correct? «
»Yes, that did happen, but it ended being unimportant, so I stopped. «
The Mangler looked at him with sarcastic interest.
»What do you mean by that? How can something stop being important? «
He needed to be cautious about his answer, not to reveal his run in with the sewer Orks.
»Ah nothing, just a stupid little detail, I don't even know why I have mentioned it. «
»Spit it out, we do not have all day for this. «
»You will laugh at this, but I assumed that I saw a manhole open a bit, and figured that the captain tripped against that. Heh, see, I really am wasting your time. «
It was the best response that he could have think of on the spot, without causing any need for further attention on the matter. Or so he had hoped at least.
»HERESY! « Just before he ended the soldier's life, the Templars clawed gauntlet stopped in mid-air.
»No. Wait a moment. You could not have known. Did you have any contact with the Ultramarines? «
»No, no of course not. I am a nobody, just a regular grunt. «

The veterans angered posture appeared to be suddenly less aggressive.
»Hm. Curious. «
»But I am sure that it can't be anything right, sir? Did the... deceased ones here not mention the manhole cover? «
He pointed at the dead Marine that lied on the floor next to the puddle of blood that he was standing in.
»Uhm... no, no they did not. I had to terminate them for... completely unrelated heresy. You are dismissed, soldier. Carry on. And do not mention what happened here to anyone. It could... impact my investigation negatively. «

Aprillien left and allowed himself a sigh of relief. The Mangler looked from the exit door, back to the Marine that he had killed.
»Shit. «
Then, the servitor returned with news.
»Sir. The Ultramarines chapter requested your presence at their apothecarion. «
The Black Templar looked at him and stormed out of the hall.
»SHIT! «
Patricius waited for his master to leave, then proceeded to clean the rest of the mess.