Shadow of a Doubt
Chapter 7
Laneth woke up, feeling groggy with her head aching. Where the hell am I? She thought to herself and got up from the bed she was laying on. It was a plain simple room, just white walls and a small monitor on the wall which showed her vitals it appears. She recognized the screen for a heartbeat monitor and looked down at her hands. Her left hand had a white plastic clip attached to her wrist and she would take it off; the screen showing flat lines now that her vitals were no longer being read. She steeled her mind and reached down for the needle pistol she always carried only for her hand to find nothing there except the empty holster. Her rings were all gone and so was her necklace. She cursed whoever had searched her, realising that the digital las weapons concealed in her rings were gone as well. Someone had done a rather thorough job. Only her Inquisitorial rosette remained in place which made her wonder just who had put her here.
"Your weapons have been taken from you. There is no need to search for them." A deep male voice said from behind her. She spun around to see an eight foot tall Astartes in full black power armour standing there. She had checked the room, no one was there a second ago. "Where am I? What happened?" She asked as she began to move slowly towards one of the walls near the bed. "You are on board our strike cruiser, Daughter of Malcador." She frowned slightly at that response. "Which chapter do you belong to then, space marine?" She would ask as she crossed her arms. The power armoured figure chuckled for a moment and considered her question. "What makes you think I belong to any chapter? Do I not wear the colours of the blackshield?" The space marine retorted.
"Blackshield or not, you belong to a chapter at one point, did you not?" The Marine laughed again. "Ah yes, the Codex Astartes. Laid down by Lord Gulliman himself to divide up the Legions Astartes into one thousand Astartes Chapters. No Lady Inquisitor, I have never been part of an Astartes Chapter." The inquisitor clenched her jaws for a moment. "That makes you a traitor then." The Astarte snorted at her comment. "You simplify things. Have you ever been on Terra?" The Inquisitor shook her head.
"Let me tell you a story Inquisitor. The Emperor of Man, he was a great man. He was no god, and he abhorred gods. The Imperial Truth was what he fought for. That it was destiny for mankind to rule the stars, that xenos had no right to rule the stars above but that the galaxy belonged to humanity. And that humanity could not progress until the last church had been burned and the last priest on Terra had been cast into the grave. He first had the Thunder Warriors, powerful warriors who fought his will and united Terra. After them came the Astartes. More stable than the Thunder Warriors but not as physical large or powerful. In secret he developed the Primarchs and then the geneseeds from each Primarch, making twenty legions. Two of them, we will never know what has happened. Only the Primarchs, the Emperor and the Sigilite will ever know the truth of what had happened then. But the eighteen that were left, their geneseeds were used to produce the first Legionnaires, the Legion Astartes. A grand army of superhuman soldiers that will take the stars back from the aliens."
"Yes, I know the history of the Space Marine legions." Laneth would respond with a slight tick of impatience in her voice. The Astartes look at her and chuckled again. "No, you don't know the true history of the Space Marine Legions. You are but a child. The real truth of the Space Marine Legion would not even be known to the High Lords of Terra." He paused briefly before continuing.
"Out of the eighteen legions that were left, three legions were put aside. Separate. The others all had a distinct purpose, a distinct way of war. You might not realise it but even the Sons of Dorn and the Sons of Perturabo were different. The golden ones were always the Praetorians of the Emperor, while the Iron clad were always the Emperors fortress breakers. But these three Legions, they were distinctly different. They had roles beyond simply taking back the stars through silent mass drop assaults, or smashing through an enemy with spittle and chainaxes covered with gore. No, one was always the Emperors executioners. The loyal wolves. The second were the Emperors humanists. They could relate to humanity. The most human of us all. The Salamanders were always the kindest of the Emperors warriors. The last one, the last one was not the kind to wage a silent war, or a fast one. Nor were they the first to humble the genewrights of Luna. They were the Emperors assassins. They fought the secret wars."
He looked off for a moment while the Inquisitor tilted her head at his words. She could not imagine the Space Wolves as the Emperors executioners when they butted heads so often with the Inquisition. The Salamanders, she had never met any of them but she knew they had a good reputation amongst the Imperial Guard as being more concerned for the Guards welfare than other Chapters. The last legion, she did not know who he spoke of.
"Your progenitor, I had met him before. I was born on Terra after the Emperor had united all of Terra under his command, I was a young boy from the Caucus regions, from the Kingdom of Ursh ruled by a tyrant and I was taken from my village to be recruited. When I first donned the battle plate of the Legion Astartes, I was first sent to be trained by the Sixteenth, the legion of his favoured son. And after spending time on campaigns and learning the true savagery of war, I was returned to Terra and given missions. Sometimes alone, sometimes with others of my Legion, we killed enemies hiding on Terra. Those who had not truly bent the knee to the Emperor in their hearts, and those who still sought to undermine him. That was when I met Malcador. He was an unassuming man although standing next to him, I could feel just how great his power was. A fraction of the Emperors greatness but he was one of the few humans I had ever met that could stand next to Rogal Dorn, and you would be unsure who was greater. He assigned us missions, masquerading as other Legions, going across the stars to kill off enemies of man. We killed those who surrendered to compliance, but still sought to breed dissidence. The enemies of the Imperium within themselves and those without, those enemies that would have taken hundreds of thousands of lives both mortal and Astartes, we killed."
The Space Marine reached onto his breastplate and removed a few pieces of magnetic bits of steel and walked over to the bed, placing them on it. "Take a look Inquisitor. Tell me what you see."
Laneth would turn her head and look at the metal pieces on the bed. One of them was a small iron skull on a gold backing. Another was a round plating the size of a coin made up of an extremely heavy metal with laurels on it. The last few pieces were all of similar winged skull motif. "What are they? I recognise a few of them but.."
"Those a keep sake for myself. A memory of the Great Crusades. You are touching what the Legions used to have as decorations. Many of those were given to me by the Sigilite for the missions I completed under his command. And some of those were given by the Emperor himself."
The Inquisitor blanched at his last comment. "The Emperor awarded medals to the legions?" The Legionnaire nodded and sighed softly through his helmet. "The most heavily decorated were always those of Cthonia and of the Phalanx. The Emperors Wolves have always been those of the Sixteenth. Those of Fenris have always been his executioners. But there are many across the legion of every legion who were awarded by the Emperor. You see the Custodes have always been there to protect him but in battle, there were always companies assigned to the Emperors command. Even on Terra itself, a son from every Legion stood guard at some point before the Heresy. The golden Aquila with the lightning through it was given to me by the Emperor for carrying out that duty. For my participation in the Custodes blood games, as they were called. The reason I tell you this, is because Inquisitor, is because this story ends with the treason of the Warmaster. For someone to have never stood beside the Warmaster, or the Emperor, or even any of the Primarchs to call me traitor.. well I refuse to acknowledge that at all."
The Inquisitor gasped as the legionnaire took off his helmet and the hologram field around him dissipated. The space marine wore a dusk blue set of power armour, older than she was or her ancestors. The left pauldron was covered in a series of chains and scales, while the right had a large image of a chain wrapped around a large Delta insignia. Serpent scales covered his armoured greaves, while a tabard hanging from his belt showed the image of a hydra.
"You're. You're Alpha Legion." The Inquisitor hissed as she clenched her fists. "Yes, I am. And I would like for you to calm down Inquisitor. Tell me, do you think that every member of the fallen legions all followed their genefather to damnation?" The legionnaire asked as he clamped his helmet at his belt. "I'm not going to answer any of your questions, hydra." The Inquisitor clenched her jaws as she replied. "I will answer for you. The Eisenhorn, a retreat from Istavaan by a crew of loyalist members of the fallen legions. Those their own genefather tried to sentence to death. As well, there are the Knights Errant, the legionnaires who stood before Malcador the Sigilite and swore an oath to fight the threat of Chaos and serve the Imperium. Look at all the Chapters that descend from the geneseed of the fallen legions."
"There are none. It has been forbidden to-." "You are of the Inquisition and you know so very little. Of course geneseeds from the traitor legions have been used. On Terra, the research to create new geneseeds have been lost with the undeath of the Emperor. You think aside from the main depositories, all the various collections left have not been used? There are chapters that fight the exact same way certain legions used to. Is that coincidence? Do not be naïve Inquisitor. Shut up and listen. You are here because we require your assistance before the Angels Evermore turn this planet into a daemon world. Or worse. I am sure you saw the death of their battle barge but that will not stop them for long. After all, this is only the first ship that came to this planet."
The Inquisitor looked at him suspiciously. The Alpha Legion was one of the biggest enemies of the Inquisition yet he knew so much. Too much to simply be a fallen Astartes. "Why should I trust any words you say, hydra?" He laughed and looked right back at her. "What use are you to me? Your position, yes. Your persona, yes. But I can have your face transplanted onto the face of a human operative and assume the position of every person on your team and dump your bodies into a furnace. If I am a monster of Chaos, then there is absolutely no reason for me to keep you alive. I should sacrifice you to the dark gods."
The Inquisitor stiffened at such a casual mention of such blasphemy. "Don't look so terrified Inquisitor. It is unbecoming. But luckily for you, I do not believe in gods. There are no daemons in the maelstrom and there are those who are foolish enough to seek their attention. I am loyal to the Emperor. I am loyal to Him because I have fought for him. I have bled for him. I have fought as part of his vanguard during the early days of the crusade, and I have bent my knee when he required me to kill a man who was put in power by his very own command because of hubris. I understand the nature of my Legion."
"Every word your Legion speaks is a word of lies." The Inquisitor retorted, her features hardened. "You want my help to fight a rival warband, and when that is done you will have damned me to heresy."
"There is no such thing as heresy you foolish woman." The Astarte snarled at her use of the word so casually. "The Emperor is not a god. Do you know who wrote the Lectitio Divinitatus?" She stared at him with contempt in her eyes. "Lorgar the Urizen wrote it. He penned that book after meeting the Emperor and was utterly convinced of his divinity. Do you know what that got him? It got his perfect city razed to ashes as Guillimans sons descended from the skies following the Emperor and his Custodes. The Emperor made the entire legion kneel to him while the Ultramarines stood by to execute every member of the Word Bearers. And my legion, the 8th Harrow legion reconnaissance squads were hidden in the dust with sniper rifles aimed at the heads of every Word Bearer officer there. We awaited a single signal, for the Captain of the Custodians to raise his right index finger. That was all it would have taken for blood to be shed that day if Lorgar did not acknowledge that he was wrong. Instead, we received a raised pinkie on his left hand, and we disappeared back into the ashes. So tell me this. Who is the traitor here?" Kyreg roared his disapproval of the Imperial Cult at her. She jumped back, Inquisitor or not the contempt in his voice was still something to be beheld.
"If the Emperor was here right now, what do you think he would do? For him to have put down the last Church on Terra and broken the faith of the last priest who cast himself willingly into a pyre, only to see churches dedicated to worshipping him. The Custodians of the Emperor would go to war again, Inquisitor. And they would kill every member of the High Lords of Terra and every member of your Inquisition." Kyreg took a deep breath and glared at her. "Think on that Inquisitor." With that, he left the room. Laneth looked around the prison in panic knowing that she must find a way out. She did not know how she had ended up like this, and just hoped that someone noticed her disappearance and could send a message for help.
Lorhenge
"Lord Consul, we have located the artifact. We are currently dispatching forces to retrieve it." His Equerry bowed before him as he announced the fact. Viprus nodded although with annoyance still on his face. Some loyalist scums had managed to destroy the only starport he could have used, and taken down his battle barge by suicide. He admired their stubbornness but the destruction of his battle barge annoyed him. He had eased his humours earlier by drinking from the offerings to him, and practiced the exquisite arts on others but it had not made his mood that much better. "Excellent Aristotle.. make sure there are Angels Evermore warriors with the Bloodsworn, I will not tolerate anymore setbacks." His Equerry bowed again. "By your will, Lord." Aristotle turned and left to make the arrangements while Viprus stewed.
"We have started purging the loyalist elements my Lord. Those who will not swear allegiance to the young prince are being sacrificed as we speak." His First Captain announced to him, Persedeus having entered with the Equerry. "Once we hold the artifact, we can begin the rituals." Viprus nodded and sighed again. "What ails you my Lord? Perhaps more spirits are called for?" The traitor commander shook his head and stood up from his throne. "No, it is much worse my old friend. I am bored. I am melancholic. I require amusement. Substantial amusement." The First Captain nodded at the Consuls words. "Perhaps then, some sport. Perhaps you would like to join the Flayed Circle in their attack of loyalist positions?" Viprus shook his head again. "No Persedeus, it is this waiting. I simply am impatient. I… I long for this Persedeus. The piece of a craftworld lost on this planet.. no it is simply too exquisite a treasure to be tarnished by amusing myself with lesser things." Persedeus nodded, the former Emperors Children legionnaire merely gesturing towards a data slate he held in his hand. "The Sons of the Void are heading out with a large force of Bloodsworn troops towards the artifact. It should be in your hands in a matter of hours." Viprus nodded and sighed before sinking back down into his throne.
Sueshenge
Towards the southern polar axis of the planet, a large force of chimeras defaced with various symbols of Slaanesh raced towards a massive forest there. A few days ago, the sorcerers had finally cracked the Eldars psychic defences left to hide the location of the craftworld piece. And now the Angels Evermore were finally heading towards what they had come for. Behind the Chimeras rode Rhinos, painted all white with symbols painted on in bright purple and gold. "My Lord, the wyches have determined that just east of the center of the forest is where the piece has been buried. We are unsure of possible enemies but the Bloodsworn are advancing steadily." His vox had erupted with the report from one of his Sergeants. Captain Ophelius, formerly of the Blood Angels 14th Chapter now the Captain of the Sons of the Void; a group of Slaaneshi devoted Astartes who now served the Consul eagerly.
"Excellent. Once we have entered the forest, send the Scoparius in with the Bloodsworn, they will ensure that the mortals do not fall behind or falter." He ordered as he caressed the sword in his hand. "As you command Lord." He grinned a little as he ran an unarmoured hand over the edge of the powersword, hissing with delight as he made a razorthin cut on his palm. "Well then we will soon have our prize won't we." He licked the blood from his palm as the sword pulsed approval into his brain. He looked at the squad of armoured space marines around him, his loyal command squad. Each was a void assault veteran, carrying a combination of blades and axes along with phobos pattern bolters.
The lead chimera travelled into the edge of the forest and the other chimeras all followed and formed a laager as the Bloodsworn troops as well as Scoparius reavers dismounted. The three Rhinos stopped as well while the three squads of Angel Evermore chaos marines disamounted and begin to enter the treeline. That was when the first cultist died.
A burst of plasti-crystal shredded the flak jacket of the Bloodsworn soldier as he went down wordlessly, the two dozen shards of shuriken rounds shredding the soldiers insides and reducing his body to a little more than a blood sack. His squadmates reacted quickly and began firing their auto rifles in long bursts, shredding branches and leaves as well as bushes in reaction to the sudden ambush. Then the entire squad was turned into shred by multiple bursts of razor sharp plasti-crystal discs from above which pulped skulls and bone, turning the soft flesh underneath into bloody pulp barely held together by the skin.
"Lord, we have engaged." Ophelius nodded and swung his blade upwards pointing it towards the jungle. "Advance then you dogs, charge!" Some of the Bloodsworn troops looked uneasily at the jungle where bursts of auto rifle fire had been reduced to silence. However the Scorparius advanced with their bolters held up and auto-targeters tracking the treeline. Seeing the three squads of chaos space marines ready their bolters, the human cultist troops charged into the treeline. Before they could reach the tree line however, the sky was filled with small armour piercing missiles that would detonate into the group of charging cultist troops. Limbs were sent flying while bodies were reduced to bloodied smears on the grassy fields around the treeline.
"Where is the enemy? Someone find them!" Ophelius screamed as he advanced with the marines under his command who began firing into the treeline. The damned Astartes Captain snarled and charged, his command squad loyally following him with their melee weapons drawn as well until the armoured form of Ophelius stumbled onto the ground and laid still. Only a single small hole can be seen right above his optic lense oozing blood. Seeing their leader killed, the squad sergeant snarled into his vox and ordered the chimeras and the rhinos to fill the treeline with fire. Multilasers and mounted stormbolters began shredding and pulping the treeline, turning wood and leaves into smouldering piles of tinder and fibrous pulp. However blasts of concentrated laser bolts from the treeline soon had the armoured vehicles smouldering in oily black smoke. Just as he was about to give another order, the command squad Sergeant suddenly found himself unable to move, looking down out of his chest and seeing a large vicious looking chainblade appearing out of his chest before he coughed up blood and saw only the ground for a few seconds before he expired. The armoured warriors had ambushed the Astartes from behind, chainswords revving and cutting through ceramite even as the traitor marines fought back with blade and bayonet. The initial surprise soon wore off and the remaining Astartes fought back steadily until the green armoured warriors retreated. The reason for the retreat soon came into being as the Astartes gave chase only to be cut down by precisely aimed sniper fire and armour piercing missiles which lanced through the power armour.
"Form a defensive circle! We will break them like water upon rocks." One of the last few remaining Sergeants roared right before a blast of precision laser into his forehead crumpled him onto the ground. As the Astartes formed a circle, the Scoparius were cut down brutally as more of the green armoured warriors appeared with chainswords that cut through their power armour, razor sharp revving teeth shredded organs and flesh alike. The Bloodsworn tried to retreat only to see armoured figures exit the woods and fire at them, magnetically charged shuriken rounds cutting through them. The only thing that seemed to have any effect were the bolters carried by the Astartes and the fallen Sororitas, the mass reactive rounds detonating against the enemy infantrys armoured suits and turning their guts into a massive crater as bursts of bolter fire caught them. However with no cover in sight, the last Scoparius reaver fell to the ground howling with ecstasy while armour piercing missiles detonated against her power armour and rending her internal organs into a fine spray of red against the grass.
The Astartes who still remained began to retreat in an orderly fashion, one half firing while the other half moved but even this method provided little protection against the rain of missiles exploding amongst their ranks. As the squad havoc opened up with a powerful autocannon loaded with explosive rounds that blew off limbs and blew apart the torsos of the armoured warriors that had ambushed them, more precise blasts of laser would pick them off. The Command squad havoc fired his heavy bolter with great effect, the large thumb sized explosive rounds punched through several of the armoured warriors before a blast of melta ashed his torso. Suddenly amongst the Astartes, several orange armoured warriors fired multiple blasts of melta at almost point blank range and soon the chaos sworn force was reduced to a field of corpses.
The Mon'keigh have been crushed. One of the green armoured warriors would project his thought as the Seer in the woods expressed a psychic sigh of relief. It was a great victory Wyndilel. Although not without cost. My sorrow to the ones that have fallen. You as well Yiliea, I fear that before this is over many of our kin will be part of the Infinity Circuit. The one the Seer had addressed nodded as well, a red armoured figure standing with the other Dire Avengers amidst the cover of the treeline. We go to war once more Seer, what is at stake can only be secured by the price of our blood. The Seer sighed again, it has been too long for Seer Lilithfeon to once again leader a strike force but not long enough.
The great enemy comes at us in force once again brothers and sisters. A black armoured sinisterly masked figure chimed in, the Dark Reaper Exarch stated even as his brethren began reloading their reaper launchers. I thank all of you in placing faith in my readings. There will be great darkness for us all no matter the Craftworld if the great enemy achieves victory here. The Seer leaned on her wychblade for a moment, the exhilaration from the battle fading away into a sense of fatigue. We still have much to prepare for. I foresee many more attempts in the future.
Kilo Zeta
"We have detected an unusual amount of psychic resonance on the planet. At a specific point section near the southern axis." Centurion Maygis announced over the vox to Kyreg. Kyreg nodded before continuing on towards the room the Inquisitor was kept in. She had been moved to an actual cell of sorts containing a bathroom and chairs. He opened the door to see Laneth sitting down and glaring at him as he entered. Outside of the door were twelve members of Gamma 6-7 in grey carapace armour wielding a mixture of hellguns and volleyguns.
"Glare at me all you want Inquisitor, but come with me. I have something to show you." He would say to her as he stepped into the hallway and looked at her expectantly. Laneth glared at him for a few more seconds before getting up. He would lead her to the bridge and gesture for Maygis to put the findings on the screen. "Tell me Inquisitor. Why is there a dense concentration of psychic readings in that section of the planet?" The Inquisitor looked at him and defiantly looked away. "Very well then. You are a member of the Sigilites last gift to humanity, but you will not even use your talents even when you know that the ruinous powers are looking for something that will threaten the Imperium? Perhaps you are the one that should be named traitor." Kyreg looked back at the screen and tapped a finger against his armoured legs.
"Where are my people?" She asked while defiantly looking away from him. "They are safe and unharmed. Disarmed and kept secured in another cell." She took a deep breath and finally looked at the display screen, noting over the psychic readings displayed. "That's not chaos. But neither is it human. It's much too high and consistent for human psykers." She finally answered in a deep exhale. Kyreg nodded and thought about it for a moment. "Aeldari." She looked at him in surprise as he spoke. "The Angels Evermore are worshippers of Slaanesh. They don't stay on a planet for blood sport, I can assure you. It has been long enough that should they wanted to, the entire planet would have been sacrificed in a bloody orgy of excess in order to bring upon the blessings of their dark patron. However they seem to been looking for something and now it seems the Aeldari are involved. I can assure you Inquisitor in the ten millennia that I have served the Emperor, the Aeldari are the favourite targets of those who worship the dark prince." The Inquisitor had a mild look of surprise on her face even as he said this. "Don't look so shocked Inquisitor. The Inquisitorial Archives are schola study notes compared to the intelligence networks of the Legion." Laneth chewed on her tongue for a moment. "Then this planet will need to be purged fully of both Chaos and xenos." The tech marine at the bridge snorted slightly, while Kyreg chuckled in amusement.
"This is why the Inquisitorial Archives are barely competent as study notes. You seek to purge without finding out what it is the traitors want and why it is that the Aeldari are risking their small populace on such an insignificant world to them. For the Imperium, it is the last bastion of supply near these regions of space. For the xenos, it is only a dust ball barely worth their attention. If it was important to them, the planet would already be a battlefield." Kyreg answered. "Xenos must be purged, they do not have a place in the Emperors galaxy. Of course for traitor scum like you, I'm quite sure you simply wish to sacrifice the planet to your patron." The Inquisitor spat out while Kyreg looked on with amusement. "You have never served the Emperor Inquisitor. You serve the High Lords of Terra, mortals who have become corrupt with power since the very first days after Ullanor. You have never even met the Emperor, never even been in front of the Golden Throne while I have bled for him since before the first expeditionary fleets travelled to the void to bring the Imperial Truth to the stars. Do not tell me of what is serving the Emperor and what is not." He retorted while glancing back at the screen. "I will release you Inquisitor. In a few days time. I will tell you this however. This galaxy belongs to the Emperor, and I will ensure that."
Inquisitor Laneth looked at him with barely concealed contempt and turned her head again. At the same time her mind raced at his words. He was right, she had never met the Emperor nor had she ever been stood in front of the Golden Throne. The first schisms of doubt began to form in her mind.
"The Aeldari must be stopped but so do the traitors. I assure you Inquisitor, before their fall the Angels Evermore were members of the Blood Angels. There are no finer assault troops in the galaxy then the Blood Angels. Even the baying butchers of the Angron do not possess the martial strategium that the Blood Angels practice. Even if you brought in another Astartes Chapter, don't forget that the Imperiums Space Marines are but still milk fed whelps compared to the Legionnaires that have survived the Warmasters betrayal." With that Kyreg turned and walked out of the bridge while the Gamma 6-7 troops would escort Laneth back into her cell.
As she walked back towards her cell, her mind raced. For all intents and purposes, the Alpha Legion Commander acted just like a loyalist but as a member of the hated XX Legion, he could not be trusted. Yet it could not be denied that his words spoke of truth. Truth that were verified by facts. As she sat down in a chair in her cell, she had the nagging feeling that the legionnaire was right about all of this. That proved to be more disquieting than even her imprisonment aboard an Alpha Legion cruiser.
Kyreg thought about the new development. He had dealt with the Aeldari before, and even fought alongside them when it was necessary. But Tyven V belonged to the Emperors rule and he would not allow them to act so brazenly on an Imperium planet. However, the Inquisitor being here may throw some wrenches into the plan and it was something which he had to account for now. This had been a simple retrieval operation but the geneseeds had found to be stable and still pure with Alpha Legion markers on them. Of course some of them had to be destroyed due to tissue decay but the rest was enough to perhaps form an entire company again. If they can find the recruits. And then to train an entire company of Initiates? And to equip them? The armoury was still turning out the modified suits of Maximus power armour that the 8th favoured but it was slow progress. It was something which fell to his shoulder now that he was the senior officer of the 8th. The previous Harrowmaster had his life snuffed by Kyreg himself when the officer had finally snapped and begin to look towards pirating and looting. No, service was its own reward, and Kyreg was determined that the 8th will not become a Chaos warband.
"Maygis. Those power suits for Sergeant Yingrs initiates. Are they ready?" He would vox the tech marine Centurion. "They will be in two days time my Lord. You cannot rush these things, especially as each suit requires modifications that assist us in our tasks." Kyreg sighed and thought about his next order carefully. "Once they are ready, the Initiates are to warplated." "Understood Commander. The new stalker bolters are also being completed as we speak." Kyreg acknowledged this with a blip of his vox before standing up.
As he laid down on his large cot, he allowed his eyes to close and his mind to wander for the first time in days, as new plans began to form in his head. Yes, for the next part he will require the new Initiates. The squads had to be rebuilt bit by bit, an no matter how difficult it might be, the 8th had to expand and he knew it. After all, the Emperor expects.