Venenum Filios Chapter 6

In the Thunderchild's Strategium an odd meeting was taking place, the large space between the marble columns filled with Brothers of various character. Many of the Company's Sergeants were still in comas but every squad had been represented by a Brother, along with the entire Command squad. It was only fair, Third Company was facing extinction, all the Initiates deserved to know what they were up against. They stood under the icon of the Aquilla and listened as Captain Toran presented the dire facts to them, drinking in his words.

Persion was looking over the assembly, seeing some faces he knew well and some he barely knew at all. Among the Sergeants who were present were Lorath, Zeax, Matheus and Mylos. Everybody was showing signs of the Phage, one way or another. Red welts, blood-shot eyes, bulging veins, twitches, rashes and boils, there was hardly a symptom in existence that wasn't displayed on somebody in the room. Persion glanced down at his own hands, seeing the faintest speckling of a rash beginning, accompanied by an itching sensation he couldn't shake. He knew it was only going to get worse and he dreaded what was to come after.

Persion was distracted by the voice of Captain Toran concluding his briefing, "So that's the situation."

Mylos was the first to speak saying, "Damn you, you've doomed us all."

That brought stirs around the room, so direct criticism of a Captain was a serious breach of discipline. Yet the protests were feeble and half-hearted, not nearly as loud as they should have been. Toran grimaced and replied, "The enemy attacked us from an unexpected direction, we could never have anticipated this."

Mylos crossed his arms and said, "This is but the latest in a long series of disasters, ever since you became Captain we've lurched from calamity to calamity, bad luck hangs upon you like a rotten stench. With you around the Storm Heralds are cursed, if you weren't Gorgall's favourite then you would have been exiled long ago."

Suddenly the harsh voice of Chaplain Wrethan erupted from his skull-helm as he spat, "Hold your whining tongue Mylos, you sound like a crying Guardsman not a warrior of the Adeptus Astartes. We have no use for curses or luck. Every Chapter faces setbacks on a daily basis, the Storm Heralds are not special in that regard. We do not hold the Captain responsible for the actions of the enemy; they are sly and cunning beyond measure. Focus your hatred upon the true enemy."

Persion saw heads nodding at that declaration but he himself couldn't help but wonder why Wrethan was keeping his helm on. If was an attempt to reassure the rank and file it was failing spectacularly, for he couldn't help but wonder what symptoms the Chaplain was hiding. Mylos settled back with a sneer of contempt but at least he was silent. Then Jediah declared, "If we are doomed to die then I say we go find that slime Zerban, make him bleed before we go."

Furion spoke up to say, "You would have us end our line with an act of dishonour? Attacking the Inquisition would bring shame upon the Storm Heralds. If we are to die then let it be with an act of honour, one last glorious charge to death and glory."

"Yes," interjected Lorath, "They say Cadia is besieged, I say we sail to the Eye of Terror and sell our lives trying to cut Abaddon's throat."

That brought many mummers of approval; a glorious death in pursuit of a forlorn hope was the stuff of legends among the Astartes. To die in such a manner was infinitely preferable to choking upon one's own bile or turning into a spawn. Yet Matheus raised his voice to say, "What of the rest of the Chapter, aren't they in danger too?"

Memnos stepped up and with a click of the vox activated an overhead Hololith, displaying a twisted double-helix array. Nobody here understood the mysteries of genetics and Persion thought that the Apothecary was showing off as he said, "The Phage is utterly deadly to any Storm Herald, the Chapter will have no defence against it. I have sent what little information we have on via Astropath and opened the sealed archives looking for more information but it is scant. If the Traitors attack Lujan II with this bio-weapon they will wipe out the Storm Heralds."

Matheus declared to the room, "Then we have to find a cure, this is bigger than just us, all our brethren are imperilled. What of the Alpha Legion base, there must have been something left there."

Memnos looked forlorn and said, "Servitors scoured the place top to bottom, it was almost deserted. All the key facilities had been stripped bare long before we arrived, they knew we were coming."

"A trap," spat Mylos, "They left just enough forces to lure us in while they took everything of value and fled. The whole base was nothing but a snare."

Matheus protested, "Then let us seek out the Magos Biologis of the Tech-Priests, consult the archives of the Administratum and the greatest medical minds. Somebody must have a cure."

"What is life without honour?" Lorath growled, "I would prefer to die, blade in hand, than spend my last days as a lab rat on some operating table."

Zeax chose that moment to point out, "But what if the Traitors use this Phage on other Chapters, you said all they need is a sample of Gene-seed to adapt it. There is no telling how many Chapters could fall; the whole Imperium is in danger."

Toran shook his head and said, "Would that we could but we have no leads and little time. Perhaps it is best to choose our preferred way to die; we can still make a difference out there before we perish."

Wrethan declared, "It is fitting, one last fight before the End Times claims us. One last stand with death a certainty, no matter the outcome. The Divine-Emperor grants us one final boon, what more could we possibly ask for?"

Matheus wasn't willing to let it go though and said, "We can't just give up, not now. We have to try something… try anything. There must be someone out there who's seen this before, what of the Chapters who are known to have aberrant Gene-seed, maybe they have something useful."

Furion interjected, "Those Chapters hold a dark reputation, we don't want to associate with the likes of them. Let us die with honour not grubbing about in the dark."

Zeax spoke up to say, "Desperate times call for desperate measures, damn reputations and whispered gossip. What good is that if the Imperium falls?"

Wrethan growled, "Watch your tone, such thoughts lead to doubt and association with heretics leads to heresy. Is it not written, better to die for the Emperor than live for yourself."

Memnos broke in to say, "It hardly matters either way, such Chapters are few and far between and most of them are extinct or actively avoid Imperial contact. Look I'll show you what I mean…"

As he said that Memnos started flashing up heraldry into the Hololith, symbols of Chapters long lost or obliterated from history. There was a bird covered in flames, a coiled oceanic predator, a stone gauntlet, a Leviathan rising from the deeps, a golden chalice with three jewels and rays shining from within. As each one joined the Hololith Memnos stated, "Look at this litany of disgrace, ignominy and loss: the Flame Falcons, the Carcharodon Astra, the Sons of Antaeus, the Black Dragons and the Soul Drinkers. All afflicted by aberrant gene-seed, all reviled by the Imperium or forced to live as outcasts. Some were even declared Excommunicate Traitoris and redacted from all but the most sealed archives. Would you have the Storm Heralds become like them?"

Zeax spat, "If it lets us continue the Emperor's wars… then yes."

Toran cut in, "Even if you were willing to do so we have no idea where such Chapters dwell. Searching the galaxy for an impossible dream is no fit use of what little time we have left."

At this point Matheus made a rejoinder but Persion wasn't listening. He had lost all interest in the conversation and was instead staring in stupefaction at the Hololith. He couldn't believe his eyes, the images displayed within soaking up all his attention and sparking a dazzling connection within his mind. Vague memories arose in his mind, images from a hazy childhood, buried under Hypno-indoctrination and a century of warfare. Yet despite that certain things yet stood out clear as day.

Persion leaned over and whispered, "Lorath look at that… Lorath I'm talking to you."

Lorath scowled and said, "Not now."

Yet Persion persisted, "Lorath this is important, do you see what I see?"

Lorath turned impatiently and spat, "What is it?"

Persion nodded at the Hololith and said, "That icon, haven't you seen it before?"

"No, how could I? Its sealed information, I've never seen any of these…." then Lorath froze in shock and he gasped, "Hold on, yes I have. That golden chalice, I've seen it before, when I was a child. How is that possible?"

Persion nodded in agreement and said, "Me also, it was a warning symbol, used by the Elders of Trux to scare us. There was a dark legend, about monsters and something…"

Lorath agreed, "Yes there was a thing… it happened a generation before I was born. We were warned to stay out of… someplace. Gah, I can't remember it was so long ago, memories before ascension are such weak things."

"Excuse me," interrupted the loud voice of Captain Toran, "Is there something you two would like to share with the whole group?"

Persion and Lorath glanced about in surprise, seeing that the whole meeting had paused and everybody was staring at them with a mix of curiosity and outright annoyance. Persion realised that he had broken up the briefing but it was too late to back out now. He drew a breath and said, "Lorath and I, we recognise that symbol. We've seen it before, on Trux, when we were children."

"Wait… what?!" spat Memnos incredulously, "How is that possible, these records are sealed, there's no way you should know any of these icons. Most of these Chapters were subjected to an Edict of Obliteration; only the most high-ranking officers can access this."

Wrethan growled angrily, "Persion, have you been poking your nose in where it doesn't belong again?"

Persion shook his head and said, "No Father, on Trux they don't use written words, they use a form of pictograms. That Chalice symbol is one they use to denote great peril and to warn children away from dangerous locations. It's from a legend about monsters… who came to the world and created a dark, forbidden place."

Mylos snorted and said, "Children's tales and pretty pictures, that's all this is. It's a big galaxy, somebody had to end up using the same image, you're getting all worked up over a coincidence."

Lorath shook his head and said, "A golden Chalice, three jewels and shining rays, its identical. And it's not an old legend either; it was recent, within the last couple of centuries."

"How is that possible, how did the icon of the…" Toran said then he paused and asked the Apothecary, "Who did you say this belonged to?"

"Soul Drinkers," Memnos replied, "A most foul band of Traitors who suffered from rampant mutation once they turned their backs on Terra. Yet when they were brought to justice they claimed to have overcome it, to have cured mutation itself. I saw the trial records in the sealed archives."

Toran nodded and said, "So how did the icon of a dead Chapter become a legend on a back-water world? One well within the Storm Herald's protectorates and sitting at the dead-end of a warp-route."

Matheus spoke up to say, "It's worth investigating."

At this point Mylos spat "You must be joking, we are facing our deaths and you want us to go haring off, chasing down children's tales and legends. This is ridiculous."

Zeax growled at him, "It's a lead, the only one we have. What other options do we have except to go find some big war to die in. Meanwhile our Chapter sits with the hammer of doom hanging over its head."

Furion agreed, "We have to at least try, for our Chapter's sake if not our own."

Mylos sneered at that but at least settled into silence. Meanwhile Toran said, "There will always be a war to die in but Matheus is right, we must try everything else first. It is decided, I will speak to the Navigator and tell him to set a course for Trux, once there we can chase Persion's lead and see what he can find."

Persion gulped as he realised that everybody was looking at him, holding him responsible for this course of action, which meant he would be responsible if it turned out to be a complete waste of time. As the meeting broke up Persion began to really wish that he had just kept his mouth shut.