Venenum Filios Chapter 9

From space Trux looked like a flawed emerald. It was a large planet, banded with vast jungles, churning oceans and endless lines of volcanoes and mountain chains. An oversized moon hung in orbit, its disruptive gravity tugging at the planet, causing geological upheaval and surging tides.

No orbital docks circled this world, no defence stations, patrol ships or auspex arrays. Trux was a feral world, its people having long lost all but the most rudimentary technology. The Imperium largely ignored this world, not bothered enough to invest time and resources to lift these people out of barbarism. Few even came here, only the annual tithe ships, occasional tramp traders and the recruitment parties of the Storm Heralds. So Trux spun on, ignoring the wider galaxy and content to be ignored.

Into the atmosphere of this world a flight of Thunderhawks was dropping, hurtling through the inferno of re-entry to soar on the thick air currents below. On board the lead gunship three squads were assembled, Mylos' Lorath's and the Command Squad, along with Chaplain Wrethan and Apothecary Memnos. Mylos had spent the last couple of weeks assisting the Captain to maintain order, a most welcome change that nobody had expected.

In his restraint cage Persion had linked his armour to the gunship's Machine Spirit, peering out through the external pict-imagers. It was technically a violation of protocol, only officers should have that authority but he had never bothered with such petty rules. Other Chapters didn't, he knew, so why were the Storm Heralds so stuffy? Tradition was tradition but sometimes it was just pointless. In every direction stretched an endless jungle canopy, punctured by the occasional mountain peak. Many of these bore ancient signs of habitation, scars and man-made formations from antiquity. Great faces had been carved into the mountains and huge apertures blasted into the peaks, ones that led to vast caverns within. It was widely suspected that Trux had once been a Knight world, but if so then it was a failed one.

When the Imperium first arrived the ancient keeps had all been found to have been abandoned and left derelict. Archeotech treasures had decayed to nothing and any Knight engines had long since crumbled to bits. The human population had been found living beneath the jungle canopy instead, fighting a daily battle to survive in a world of tangled brush, monstrous herbivores and vicious carnivores.

Persion was distracted by a voice from beside him saying, "Glad to be home?"

Persion switched off his pict-feed, seeing Novak stood within his own restraint cage. The Champion sounded like his usual impudent self, his Spirit not ground down by the fraught weeks of Warp Transit. For once it had been welcome, the Company had needed something to lift their morose spirits and Novak had been a welcome beacon of normality. He seemed determined to keep everybody from moping and Persion was glad of his Brother's cheek, he would welcome anything to distract himself from the rash that now covered him head to toe.

Persion drew in a breath and said, "I may have been born here, but it's not my home. The Chapter is my home, the Company my residence. Trux means no more to me than any other world."

Jediah leaned over from his own restraint cage and asked, "So you don't remember it at all?"

"How much of your childhood do you remember?" Persion replied but then he sighed and said, "I remember the jungle and being hunted by vicious predators the size of Rhinos. I remember herding tame beasts of burden, giant Megasaurs, used as a means of defence against the predators as much as a source of labour and meat."

"That's it?" asked Jediah.

Then Chaplain Wrethan's voice arose saying, "The people of Trux are largely nomadic, living in temporary clearings in the jungle with their herds of Megasaurs. They move every few months as the jungle reclaims the land. They trade the flesh of their herds for metal at Imperial trade stations, the only Imperial presence on the planet."

Captain Toran leaned out and asked, "You've been here before then?"

"Once," Wrethan answered, "On a recruiting mission."

Toran asked, "What are the people like?"

Wrethan sounded distant, lost in memory as he said, "Impudent, the people of Trux have no time for politeness or niceties. The daily struggle to survive forges a harsh and direct folk, with no use for dusty rules or lengthy discourse. They love argument and insults and they make it a point of pride not to be impressed by anything. They live in the now, fighting every day to survive. It's why the Chapter values their savagery so much."

Persion realised that Novak was beaming at him and said, "What?"

Novak replied with a grin on his swollen face, "I've just figured out where you and Lorath get your sunny dispositions, it's adorable."

"Oh shut up," replied Persion, secretly glad for the distraction from the constant itching of his skin.

Jediah broke in to inquire, "Do you think they will be able to help us?"

"They better," Wrethan stated, "We didn't come all this way for nothing."

Captain Toran commented, "We'll find out when we reach the Imperial Governor's Palace, if anyone knows where we can start looking it will be him."

Silence fell as they all mused upon this, the unspoken implication being that if this lead went nowhere then they were all doomed. Even now the Phage ravaged at their flesh, each Storm Herald feeling the effects growing worse. They were living under the hammer of doom and there was nothing they could do save wait for it to fall. Eventually the Thunderhawk's engines changed in pitch and they all felt the lurch as it shifted to vectored thrust, coming in to land vertically. As the landing claws touched down the squads were already in motion, running out the hatch to form a perimeter. It was good to see them moving professionally, the prospect of action restoring some of their spirit.

Persion was among them, sweeping the landing field with his bolt pistol. It was a plain and functional Ferrocrete apron, ringed with small shrubs and bushes. It was barely big enough for the handful of gunships and it was bereft of vox or auspex arrays. The whole site was set upon a high mesa, a flat-topped mountain that rose above the jungle like an island in a sea of green. Even at this altitude Persion's armour was registering oppressive, humid heat and that the oxygen levels were abnormally high, a by-product of the endless flora that covered the landmasses.

Novak was looking about, peering at a group of distant buildings on the far side of the Mesa, they were made of stone and not one was more than two-stories tall. Novak sounded confused as he said, "Where's the Lord Governor's Palace?"

Persion commented, "You're looking at it."

"This?" stated Novak incredulously, "This collection of shacks?"

"What did you expect," replied Persion, "This is a feral world not the spires of Tectum."

"This defence is pathetic," Jediah growled, "I could conquer this planet single-handed."

From behind them Captain Toran ordered, "Stow the chatter, the welcoming party is coming."

Persion peered over and saw a large form approaching and his breath caught in his throat. It was a large animal, the height of a Dreadnought with grey scales over a leathery hide. It walked on four legs, each as wide as a Space Marine and boasted a thick tail, with four long spikes sticking out of the end. Its head was covered in a bony carapace, with a beaked mouth, three long horns and a wide frill covering its short neck. Upon its back was a small wooden howdah, which held a party of natives, guiding the beast's path by ropes which were looped through piercings in its bony frill.

Memory flooded back into Persion's mind, he had forgotten the sight of a Megasaur, how could he have possibly forgotten this. Novak sounded astounded as he looked up and said, "That's a Megasaur, Throne's sake, it's huge!"

Persion chuckled and replied, "Novak that's just a calf, a young buck in training. Wait till you see some of the mature ones, then you'll see something really big."

As they watched the Megasaur pulled up at the edge of the landing field. Its handlers let it have its head and it promptly bent to start munching on a bush. As a rope ladder was lowered and a small group of people climbed down off its back the Megasaur lifted a hind leg and let loose a long stream of urine, utterly indifferent to the world around it.

Novak leaned over and whispered with a grin, "Hey Jediah… doesn't that remind you of Camollum?"

Jediah growled irritably, "Novak… shut up."

The party watched as the men and women approached, their pale skin and angular features eerily similar to Persion's. They were, on the whole, shorter than the average Imperial citizen, leaner too and all of them had short dark hair. One of them had a small Aquilla hanging around his neck on a bit of string, but otherwise none of them had any adornments. They wore rough hides and carried short spears, tipped with off-world plasteel knives. The group strode up to the Transhumans, ignored the dozens of Bolters pointed at them and the man with the Aquilla looked up at them and without preamble declared, "You're early, we weren't expecting you for another season."

Even Persion blinked at the gruff greeting, the people of Trux really didn't believe in politeness. Wrethan replied equally gruffly, "We didn't come here for recruits, we are on a mission."

The man looked at him and said, "Is that you Wrethan, still hiding behind that skull-mask eh. I'll double my last offer, two Megasaurs for that pretty bucket."

Wrethan almost sounded amused as he said, "As I told you before Hallap, it's not for sale."

From behind the man an unusually plump woman called, "Why not introduce yourself first."

Without looking back the man cursed, "Dammit woman, I was just about to do that. This is man's work; keep your nose out of it."

Persion blinked but nobody seemed moved by the insult. Instead the man declared, "So let's get this over with, I'm Hallap and I happen to be Governor of this flea-bitten pit. That is my wife Shuea, First Lady of Trux."

Wrethan replied, "May I present Captain Toran and his company."

Hallap didn't seem impressed by the towering, armed warriors all around him and he looked them over one by one taking in their faces. Hallap paused when he saw Persion and he said, "You, you're a local lad aren't you. Taken in the Great Trials to fight for the Sky-Emperor among the stars… but what have you done to your face?"

Persion realised that his rash was showing. The Phage was a matter for the Chapter alone and so he hastily stammered, "I… I walked into some nettle weeds."

Hallap shrugged and said, "Aye, they'll do that."

From the back Shuea interrupted, "You haven't asked why they're here yet."

"Accursed harridan, let a man talk!" yelled Hallap with no real rancour, then he said blandly, "So if you're not here for our sons, why did you come?"

Toran pulled free a data-slate from his belt, showing an image of a Golden Chalice and said, "We are looking for this."

Hallap peered at it for a moment then said, "Well… I think you've come a long way for nothing. That's just a glyph, a warning symbol from some old legend. Maybe it meant something once but there's no one alive today who would know."

Persion's hearts sank, it looked like this had been a complete waste of time. However Shuea interjected, "Why not ask the star-speakers, they have the oldest of the old among them."

Hallap barked, "Blasted nag, don't interrupt me!"

However Wrethan asked, "Star-speakers?"

Hallap sighed, "Astropaths you call them, we don't let them live here among decent people. They have to live in one of the old Keeps, away from everybody. You can't land there but it's only a couple of hours away by Megasaur."

"Very well," Toran declared, "Bring forth your steeds; we will speak with the Astropaths."

Hallap shrugged and set off without even saying goodbye, the natives following in his wake. Novak however was staring up at the Megasaur and said, "You want us to ride on one of those… are you serious?"

Persion grinned and said, "Don't worry, they don't bite. Just don't let one step on you and you'll be fine."