Shadow of a Doubt

Chapter 26

"What this means, Captain is that you may not know what my origin is. Or what my former colours are. But you can be assured that you are being lead upon a path that was sanctioned by a Primarch.. and ordered by the Emperor." Kyreg looked at the man who seemed to pale slightly before pouring another measure of amasec into his glass. "And how do I know that you tell the truth?" Kyreg drew his bolter pistol, the Rogue Trader flinching slightly at the gesture. Kyreg raised his other hand up and ejected the magazine before racking back the slide and ejecting out the round chambered in, catching it neatly and topping it back into the magazine. With the magazine clamped against his breastplate, he would set the bolt pistol down in the Rogue Traders lap. The Rogue Trader looked at it questioningly, reaching out and touching it gently. "That. Do you know what that is?" Albert shook his head. "That is a symbol of trust. Over thirty millennia ago, this humble bolt pistol was forged on Terra itself. It was made according to the designs of the Emperor, to his wishes that he would forge a group of warriors, his chosen genetically enhanced warriors that would take the stars at his command. He ordered this forged, and personally fashioned out the receiver itself. In those days, he was just a warlord. A warlord of greatness, destined to unite mankind under his rule. He enjoyed the humble tasks when he had the time for it, he sought to relive those moments where he watched from the shadows, at the greatness that humanity was able to bring forth but also the darkness that lurked in the hearts of men. He wished to become, if even for a moment, a humble machinist. And thus he fashioned many weapons, there are unspoken legendary arms that exist across the galaxy that had the Emperors hand in them. A trigger here, a receiver there. Sometimes a barrel, and sometimes the breech. With his hands, he was able to bring out the most in simple machinery, just like this pistol. These weapons he made, they were entrusted to the first Legionnaire Astartes that he created, the very first of them past the Alpha stage. Where they were brought to true life, their life after augmentation being purposed for humanity and to bring forth His will."

Kyreg looked into the fake fireplace, and watched the low temperature flames coil around the wood like pieces of steel in the middle. "The weapons he touched, they all had uniqueness amongst them. No ordinary man would be able to craft a bolter that could place shells on top of each other, nor could they create a chainsword with no equal. These weapons are worshipped as relics today by the Astartes but even they do not know where they truly came from. The weapons of the Primarchs, they were all forged by Primarchs, or they came from His hands. They were not just ordinary tools of war; they were his will made manifest into steel and ceramite, just as we were. In each Astarte is a single ray of hope for humanity, because even if in the world there was only one Astarte still standing with his weapon ready, humanity has hope. Until it all came crashing down, until dreams became nightmares and hope turned into despair. Brotherhood dissolved, the great shield of mankind became its noose and threatened to strangle what it once sought to protect. No matter how great the Astarte, they still held in them the spark of humanity, where the deadly sins still dwell. And when angels fall, they fall down to the depth of hell. But that bolt pistol, that is a sign of trust, of a greater purpose than simple personal power. So let me ask you this Rogue Trader. Do you truly wish to know? Because after this, you will have no way to turn back."

Albert sat up, invigorated by his words and looked down at the weapon in his lap. He would place his hands on it, feeling almost what felt like a warmth to the weapon that was missing in his exotic collection. "I have had no way to turn back the moment that Writ of Trade was printed to my name." He replied, holding his head up high for the first time that night.

Kyreg looked at the man for a moment and commanded the holograph to vanish. Dusk was revealed out of blackness, silver from the dark. Kyreg stood there in all the splendor of a XX Legion Harrow Commander, the symbols of the snakes entwined around his armour, the Aquila proudly displayed on the top left side of his breastplate. Even amongst his eyes glinted hints of amber with the pride and fierce cunning that once served the Emperor with intelligence that rivalled even those of the Emperors most worshipped sons; a strategic mind that was held on par with those of Guilliman as well as Dorn. Albert gasped as he looked at the legion symbols that adorned the Astarte in front of him, his hands clenching shut all of a sudden with shock. "You're.. you're .."

"Yes. I am Alpharius. Or rather what Alpharius should have been. A loyal son no matter the state of the universe, the coiling serpent of vengeance that should have been waiting at the Emperors side to strike out at his foes. The shadow blackened fangs dripping with venom that appeared from nowhere and everywhere at once, and be the operatives that the Emperor forged us to be." Kyreg picked up the bolt pistol from the Rogue Traders lap and looked at it carefully. "I was gifted this pistol on the day I donned my dusk blue, the day cameoline draped my shoulders; the day where my fangs grew in and enriched with venom. And I refuse to simply forget what the Legios Astartes were forged to be." He would look at the Rogue Trader, awaiting a response from the man.

Albert thought about his dreams, he thought about his visions that had been haunting him ever since the Astarte came on board. Pieces began to fit together and he saw the nightmares for what they truly were; they were mirages of future glory. Of service in the Emperors name once more. He stood up in front of the Astarte and went down on one knee. "From the day you entered my ship, I saw images in my sleep. Nightmares that haunted my rest, nightmares in pieces that did not fit together, that held no consequence to what I knew at the time. But now I understand them for what they are. They were a call Lord, a call for me to serve you, and help you achieve your goals, to serve the Emperor once more in a purpose that has been missing from this vessel."

Kyreg nodded and reached down to gently lift the man up. "I have been thinking as well, of your family name. Hinrich. That is a name that is familiar to me, and I finally recall why." Kyreg stood back up and nodded a few times in recollection. "Your family name is familiar to me because of an Imperial Auxilia officer, Stephan Hinrich. He served the XX Legion not as a warrior, although he lead mortal men with the bravery of lions that followed the Emperors demands into the stars. No, he served us as an agent. In moments of crucial need, we asked him to perform tasks for us that would only make sense when battle was finally joined. He had a family, which I recall. Who they were, I do not remember but I do remember how he died. He died a god of war, holding the section of a fortress wall against orks, more than ten thousand their numbers and he died standing, holding the battle standard of the 1st Kaiserich Shocktroops high."

Albert listened to those words and nodded. "He is an ancestor in my family, sir. The 1st Kaiserich Shocktroops were the ones to settle Dnieper, and in that is how my family and I came to be." Kyreg smiled for a moment. "It seems Captain that fate has brought us together again." He would remove a small tool from his belt and gestured for the man to lift up his shirt. Albert did so with puzzlement on his face, before Kyreg activated a small stud on the thin tool and pressed the end against Albert's skin, just underneath his rib cage. Albert felt a sharp pressure before the Astarte removed it. He looked at the Commander questioningly, before Kyreg smiled and would flash a specific frequency light at his ribcage. Albert could see, where the tool had been a tiny symbol of a Hydra and nodded. "We try to be subtle about those that are in our employ. It could be rather disastrous if they were so easily discovered.." Albert nodded with understanding.

The news was revealed to the crew bit by bit, in batches. Albert stood there and informed them of their new direction, of how they will serve the Emperor truly. Some were suspicious, as what they had known of the XX Legion had been of agents that sought to destroy the Imperium in every which way possible. However, they listened to Kyreg's words. He spoke to them of the Emperors dream, of why he must continue to fight and why he must strike down those of the Legions that still stood, their treasonous paths all leading to disaster for humanity and why they must be stopped. Not just for the Imperium, as Kyreg owed no loyalty to the High Lords of Terra. Truth be told, neither did any of the crew who had all seen the rampant nepotism and corruption that ran through the ranks. It was of no small significance when Kyreg told them that his loyalty has been and always will be to the Emperor. The High Lords of Terra had become what the Emperor had tried to destroy most, the weakness in the hearts of men. However it was not simply that the corruption had leaked into every faucet of mortal rule in the Imperium, it was that the Emperor was no longer there to guide them and so it could not be blamed for mortal men to stray. He told them the truths of things that they had always wondered about. He told them of how the Astartes had been forged by the Emperors own hands, how the most hated traitors had once been the favoured spear tip of the Emperor. How each Legion had a role that was envisioned for them, a fractal of the Emperors blade that was made to complement each other and create a blade with no dull edges. Of how the greatest betrayal had become, and he spoke on length about the Emperor himself.

"Meeting the Emperor is .. something that I cannot describe. It is not simply because of his majesty that radiated from him as the righteous ruler of mankind. In fact, it was not just the Emperor, but the Emperor and the Sigilite. The Emperor and Malcador had both been the greatest driving forces behind the union of humanity. The Emperor created vast armies, and lead them first in the basin of human civilization and then created his eighteen sons. His legacy that was meant to form a grand table of the greatest minds and personalities that could be created while Malcador stood beside the Emperor and ensured the necessary battle plans were given the right support. That bolter shells and plasma canisters were produced and supplied to the battle groups. The Emperor forged humanity into what he had envisioned, while Malcador poured on the cold water that strengthened it and polished it into the truth become reality. You cannot meet the Emperor and be untouched, no matter who you are." Kyreg paused for a moment as he looked around the mass gathering of the crew, even the Sisters sitting amongst them for he wanted them to hear it as well.

"Meeting the Emperor is to bring forth every noble feature that you possess into the forefront and bringing you into a higher state of being. No matter who you are, it brought nobleness into you. Even Abbadon, when he wore the all black of the XVI elite, had met the Emperor. And for all he hates him now, the Despoiler still shows honour. When a single company of Astartes defied him and fought to the death, he showed them honour. Not a single one of their bodies were defiled, and their bodies as well as their suits of power armour were sat on thrones. For all his rage distilled after millennia, even the Despoilers actions cannot be denied to have been influenced by the Emperor. It is difficult to explain and for that I apologize. However remember this if nothing else, we are all here because of the Emperor. From his first steps on Terra when he cast off his disguise as a mere mortal and started on the path that lead him to the Golden Throne, he brought humanity together and united us all in one purpose; to take our rightful place amongst the stars."

The room was silent, some crew members shedding silent tears as they were reminded truly of their purpose, of what their existence was meant to be. "You speak more passionately than any preacher I've met, Lord." Warrant Officer Skultz said with his usual gruff, although he made the sign of the Aquila across his chest with respect behind the gesture. Kyreg bowed his head in return. "Preachers did not walk next to Him like I did. It is an honour which I will treasure, to have lived during the time that the Emperor walked amongst us and lead us into battle. And the Sigilite, I will treasure the memories I have of meeting him in the small garden that he permitted himself as his own luxury in order to fulfil his orders, to order the things which the Emperor did not wish to but objectives that needed to be fulfilled." The Warrant Officer bowed this time with a satisfied smile on his face.

"What is our next step then, Lord?" Albert asked, the question which has been on the mind of every crew member since this began. "We must make for Tyven V, towards the place which my forces still hold. From there, our next step can be figured out. I must unite with my forces, and then we must find the xenos gem. That is the only way which we can hope to stop the darkness that will approach."

Kyreg stood on the bridge as the Rogue Traders cruiser drifted out of the warp slowly. The past month of travel had been steady, with little issues. For most of it, Kyreg stood on the bridge and watched. Behind him as always stood the Oblivion Knight Catriona and her Sisters, who seemed to act more and more as his honour guard wherever he went. They had just entered the Ultima Segmentum, and while Kyreg was more used to the space travel schedules of an Astarte, the mortal crews needed a resupply. Perhaps he had simply not noticed it, or perhaps it was because on the Kilo Zeta, the ship crew subsisted mostly on various synthetically produced foods designed to be shaped and flavoured like real foodstuffs. At the same time, a lot of the tasks were carried out by servitors instead of living crew so their rations were often simply nutrient gruel designed to sustain the servitors without much actual need for flavour. He did notice that the crew on Albert's ship dined much better than comparable Imperial Navy or Astarte vessels. He was still a stranger to the opulent meals produced by the Captain's personal chef, choosing instead to ask for a simple meal in the same canteen that the crew ate at, when he rarely did eat. He averaged about one or two meals a week. In between he would train in the ships barrack areas, where he excelled at the target range of course but he had to make do with sparring machines. Even at the highest settings with all safety protocols disabled, it only helped him maintain his swordsmanship. None of the crew members were able to spar with him, not truly. It took perhaps twenty of them at once and even then, their lives were highly at risk due to the nature of his blade.

As he looked across the viewports, he could see the planet that they approached and smiled lightly. The resupply would be efficient, he was sure and they would be on their way soon. He would activate a small locator beacon through his helmets tactical command console; this was a coded frequency that would bring attention to his forces. Of course it was known where they were but the standard procedures had always been the same in the cases of separation. Continue with mission, and then meet at rendezvous point. The only rendezvous point available would be Tyven V, which would be at least a week of warp travel away from where they were now but it was at least in the same subsector at the very least.

The cruiser would drift closer to the planet, heading towards what seemed like an orbital docking station. "The planet itself is quite a merchant's paradise, Lord. It also means that its orbital station is filled with various contractors who would be dying to resupply us, especially as we pay instantly and on the spot through a transfer process instead of bit by bit as many like to do on the planet itself." The Rogue Trader was quite a fountain of knowledge, and throughout their travel time, Kyreg had taken advantage of the fact and picked the man's brains. Many nights have been spent over a bottle of amasec, Kyreg enjoying the flavour of the beverage more than the alcohol as his system eliminated it rather efficiently. He was about to respond when the warp opened, and multiple frigates entered through, their markings making them obvious. With symbols of corruption painted all over and etched into the hulls, the Chaos raiders openly made a charge for the Rogue Trader cruiser.

"Battle stations, arm all weapon system now. Arm them all dammit." Lieutenant Elisabet Klara yelled out as she took control of the bridge. "Full shields, plasma projectors on full power. Arm the lances, and load all torpedo tubes. All auto loaders activate on macrocannons, I want targeting to begin now!" She yelled out as she began to organize the bridge. Kyreg nodded with appreciation at her efficiency, the crew moving quickly into the appropriate battle positions and orders were given out. "Plasma projectors and torpedo tubes ready." The Lieutenant had no hesitation in her voice as she gave the order to fire. "Fire all tubes, maximum spread pattern. Plasma projectors, target the ones remaining behind. Lance charge time?" One of the crew checked his console and answered. "Ten minutes Ma'am. Macrocannons loaded now." She nodded and grinned. "Excellent work. Macrocannons, fire when they get within ten kilometers, then take over with lance fire when lance is charged." Kyreg grunted with amusement and checked his bolter carefully.

"You expect boarders, Lord?" Warrant Officer Rudolf appeared beside the Astarte looking questioningly at the Marines actions. "Of course I do Warrant Officer. They are Chaos Astartes but they still think like Astartes. Long range fire may be great but kill the crew and the battle is won. And they know that mortal crew stand very little a chance against Astartes in the close corridors of the ship." Rudolf nodded. "Aye Lord, I shall inform the Gunnery Sergeant. We shall make ready with heavy weapons." Kyreg nodded, as Albert began giving his own orders as well, to his bodyguards as well as to the former drop troops on board. "Platoon leaders, I want full activation now, all units on standby." The vox headset he put on buzzed back with responses while he nodded with satisfaction. He may have been spoiled by the good living he had been experiencing but in a battle, he still had the knowledge formerly hard won through battle.

The plasma projectors fired their deadly beams through the void, while the torpedoes ripped through the enemy raiding formation; several were struck although its effect was negligible. "Enemy returning fire, torpedoes being fired. Impact in five minutes." The Lieutenant gritted her teeth slightly, they had gotten too close to evade at that point. "Power up engines, speed through them." It was a classic tactic; hope to get within the arming range of the torpedoes to avoid detonation. A count down timer was quickly put on the tactical screen. Kyreg raised an eyebrow. "Lieutenant, I would start trying to shoot them down. They are probably boarding torpedoes. Do not forget they are Chaos, they do not wish to kill you with strategy. They wish to kill you at close quarters, they care nothing about the death of a ship. They care however for how many lives they can take. Perhaps capture slaves as bartering items. The ship itself could be captured and stripped for parts before being sold or traded off." The Lieutenant sighed with frustration, she was used to fighting mortal enemies not space marines. The countdown hit to three miutes and twelve seconds before the impact was felt. "Three hits Lieutenant, the rest disintegrated from counter-battery fire." Elisabet looked over at Kyreg. "I would order your platoons to advance towards the impact points with heavy weapons. Expect heavy resistance." She nodded and began to relay orders to the security forces on board. Albert looked over at Kyreg and nodded as well while he gave orders to his troops and sent them towards the impact points. Soon enough, the slaughter started.

Only the heavy weapons seemed to do any real damage, the heavy bolter shells stitching into the charging armoured bezerkers. "Death to the False Emperor!" They screamed out through their helmet voxes as revving chain axes met carapace armoured bodies, human corpses being tossed to the side even as individual troops were lifted up into the air while a chain blade gutted them slowly. Kyreg closed his eyes for a moment and nodded to himself. "Sisters. Guard this bridge, let none pass. I shall wade into battle." Before Catriona could protest, Kyreg picked up his bolter and walked through the doors. The first boarding torpedo was not too far away judging by the sound of chain weapons as well as the higher pitched screeches of the las weapons and the louder throatier roar of the heavy bolters. He would move through the halls down past the mess hall until he was in one of the loading bays where fourteen armoured giants were cutting through the blue uniformed soldiers who would unload a las rifle at full auto point blank with little effect. He grunted and shouldered his bolter and began firing. Cainite bolt rounds met power armour, and was sliced through like it was paper. As the magazine ran empty, the last traitor marine charged towards the Commander, only for Kyreg to step aside while drawing his power dagger in one fluid motion and bringing it up and then striking furiously downwards through the skull of the traitor that moved right past him, the power dagger cutting through the helmet with ease and frying the traitors brain. Kyreg pulled the power dagger back and sheathed it before reloading his bolter. The Rogue Traders troops looked at him with awe and at the bodies that laid around the loading bay floor. "Burn the bodies, bring up a flamer. We must erase all trace of them from the ship." The troops around him nodded as he kept walking. The Lieutenant sent him a quick message with a map showing where the second torpedo was. "Lord, the other two are further back, near the crew quarters. The real danger is the engine bay; I've diverted all forces there to hold it. If they make it to the engine bay, we are in trouble."

"I will cleanse them Lieutenant." The doors opened for him as he moved down towards the engine bay. The moment the doors opened for him however, he came under heavy fire. It seemed that instead of attacking the engine bay directly, the Chaos Astartes had decided to advance another direction, towards easier targets. Individual Astartes maybe powerful but an entire company of heavy weapons were still able to take down individual marines. Bolter rounds would zip past him, some impacting on the energy field around him while he ducked behind a pillar quickly. Seeing their targets suppressed, the green armoured warriors charged their target. Kyreg however, tossed a frag grenade out cooked out to be just over a second, his pinkie finger camera sending the images to his helmet from around the pillar. The frag grenade detonated amongst the charging Astartes although their armour protected them from the majority of the shrapnel blast. The one in the middle however, went down after fragments penetrated through the arm joints of his armour as well as the neck seals around his helmet. However, the blast threw many on the ground but that was enough for Kyreg. He turned the corner and strode forward as his bolter fired with a quiet puff as the suppressor did its job. The Cainite rounds drilled through armoured bodies although he was still facing Astartes; the return fire happened quickly. As the bolt clicked back on empty as the last round was fired, he clamped it to his side with his left hand while drawing his phase sword with his right hand and slashed through ceramite and flesh, the ceramite being shredded as if paper while limbs were cut off and heads removed.

Kyreg stabbed his blade through the breastplate of a Chaos Astarte who had just gotten up, twisting the blade as he destroyed at least one of his primary hearts but the traitor roared and swung his keening chainsword at the XX Legionnaire. Kyreg immediately withdrew the blade and caught the chainswords teeth for a moment right before his blade sliced the chainsword in half. The traitor growled and still lunged forward but Kyreg this time took a single step back and swung from top to bottom and bisected the Astarte, both halves falling messily onto the ground. As he turned around to advance, he was hit by the force of a hammer, a chaos Astarte tackling him to the ground and growling, the smell of blood both fresh and old assaulting his senses even through the filter of his helmet. He could make out an insignia, what looked like a daemon face with two horns growing from them etched on the traitors helmet in a green metal. An elbow was smashed into his helmet, although he ducked his head in time so the impact didn't damage his helmet lenses before he would drop his hips down just slightly before ramming himself forward into the traitor. The traitor had raw power, but was inexperienced. Kyreg didn't get the same distilled hate from his opponent as he did when facing those of the fallen Legions. A renegade then.

"Traitorous snakes, what are you doing here? Helping the corpse worshippers?" His opponent hissed out as they circled each other, having untangled themselves. The traitor held no weapon, but the XX Legion Commander didn't underestimate his opponent. An inexperienced Astarte was still an Astarte. "What? No words? Typical snake… not enough courage to face a true warrior of Chaos!" His opponent roared and charged him with overconfidence, not a mistake that Kyreg would make. As the Astarte came to within striking distance of him, he quickly darted inwards drawing his power dagger at the same time and grabbed his opponent by the neck and twisted his body, his right leg reaching out and striking his opponents kneecap. Of course it would not be the armour of the XX Legion if he didn't have any tricks. A blade flicked open from his armoured boots and he swiftly stabbed it into the side of the traitors kneecap, the blade slicing tendons as the traitor collapsed on one knee. Then with a quick pull, he would tug the traitor closer towards him and slid his power dagger through his opponents helmet left lens with a sickening crunch and a slight sizzle as the power field burnt a hole through the Chaos Astartes brain. He pulled the blade out and dropped the corpse down before deactivating the power dagger and sheathing it again. With a mental order, the blade retracted back into his boot and with a slight smirk underneath his helmet, he would continue on wards. The last boarding torpedo was in the middle of the engine room. As he made it down the hall and the doors slid open for him, he could smell the tang of freshly spilled blood and heard gunfire as well as roars and the loud roars of chain weapons being used. He drew his pistol and his phase blade and attacked the enemy's flank.

Twenty Astartes remained, each having charged into the blue uniformed line of soldiers who were being hacked apart while heavy bolters and plasma guns were firing with their distinctive roars and the piercing whines of a plasma discharge. He could tell at first glance that they were losing. Of course they were fighting without the aid of a Legion Officer. His first bolt collapsed a brute with a chainaxe, the Kraken bolt round blowing out parts of the traitors brain from his helmet. The second bolt severed a spinal cord, the traitor collapsing onto the ground mid strike and was swiftly put down by a soldier with a plasma gun. He never got the chance to fire off a third shot as a renegade in more ornate armour roared at him and walked out towards him with a power sword swung in challenge. Kyreg looked at him for a moment and clamped the bolt pistol back onto his hip. When he was still a new battle brother, he had trained with some of the finest close quarter assault specialists in the Legions. The XVI and the IX. The enemy officer charged him with his power sword with a downward strike, Kyreg merely smacking the blade aside and stepping aside before drawing his power dagger as well. His enemy swung at him again, this time hoping to cut him from hip to hip but Kyreg simply stepped into the swing and parried it with his phase sword while stabbing the power dagger into the officers gauntlets. The powered dagger cut through the armour and turned the traitors hands into a mess of sinew, tissues, and bone, the officer dropping the power sword as the nerves in his hands were no longer able to receive any mental impulses. Stepping in and ramming his enemy with his armoured pauldron, he stabbed forward quickly as well as the phase sword sliced right through the ceramite breastplate and cut upwards, cutting the blood vessels that supplied oxygen to his opponents lungs and hearts before stabbing through the officers vox unit with his power dagger, the blade striking upwards and cutting through the base of his skull and into his lower medulla, severing his spine and removing his ability to breathe or move, leaving the traitor to choke to death on his own blood.

The death of their officer made his enemies hesitate for a moment, and that was all that was needed. Sheathing his twin blades and drawing his combi-stalker bolter, he sent precise three round bursts into the remaining Astartes, three of them taking advantage of his empty magazine after the last burst had been fired to charge him. He simply charged right at them as he ejected his magazine and as they began to swing at him, he dropped down into a slide. The momentum propelled him between two of the traitor Astartes and Kyreg quickly reloaded as he would spin himself around and placed a careful burst in the back of the three Astartes helmets, the melta tip burning through their armour and a large chunk of their skull before the mutagenic acid forced inwards by the solid needle core turned their brains into liquid mush. He would stand up, his armour dented in various places from both his opponents strikes as well as their bolters, and looked around. The blue uniformed soldiers looked at him in awe while he quickly gave a gesture for them to burn the bodies. He would begin to make his way back towards the bridge when the red warning lights suddenly came on again.

"All hands brace for impact, enemy cruiser just appeared out of the warp. They have fired their torpedo tubes and we will be unable to dodge three of them. All hands brace for impact."