Presenting a teaser for an upcoming story, Domus Discordia

Somewhere, Somewhen

He could see the planet orbiting far below, a brilliant glistening orb of blue and green, banded by thick storms all around the terminus. It hung outside the shimmering atmospheric integrity field of the landing bay, a blessedly welcome sight and one he had doubted that he would ever see again. It was Lujan II, the homeworld of the Storm Heralds Chapter and it was a place that every soul present longed to see.

Captain Toran was stood in the primary landing bay of the Thunderchild, waiting patiently. He was a magnificent sight in his artificer armour, with a red cloak and his legendary relic blade, the Sword of Thiel, on his hip. His face bore one gleaming augmetic eye and twin diagonal scars that gave him a fierce mien. Only a slight trace of fading veins marred this visage, a sign that all was not well.

Toran let his vision sweep across the bay, seeing the Marines of Third Company standing in ranks, squad by squad. Their armour was perfect, beautifully maintained and restored to a glorious condition. They bore their bolters at parade rest, facing forward in absolute stillness. It was glorious and yet each of them also bore faint signs of imperfection, the smallest hints that of their recent travails.

Toran reflected upon this, his most recent mission had seen unbelievable twists and turns. They had been infected with a weaponised Phage, designed to destroy their unique gene-seed from the inside and their quest for a cure had taken them to strange places indeed. They had met both ancient foes and a band of hostile renegades, who sought the same solution they did. Toran had seen rivals become friends and friends become enemies in the most grievous of betrayals.

Toran had struggled to believe everything that had happened and he had been there. Explaining it all to his superiors had been a rather complicated affair. Since they had returned three months ago the Thunderchild had been kept in strict quarantine, while a furious exchange of vox messages had passed back and forth. Questions and accusations had flown continuously for days and then a slow grinding process of examination and endless medical tests to ascertain the nature of the threat.

Eventually their account had been accepted and they had been allowed to send the cure down to Lujan II. Then they had to wait while the whole Chapter was vaccinated against the Phage. Endless days had ground past but at last the Chapter Master was willing to speak to them in person and so the Third Company had assembled to meet him.

Toran spied a glint outside the atmospheric field, an approaching gunship. A stir ran through the ranks as everybody saw them too. Slowly the specks grew into the shapes of void-craft, firing braking thrusters as they closed. Toran zoomed in his augmetic eye and saw the outline of a Thunderhawk, one whose wings were emblazoned with golden starbursts, the personal craft of Chapter Master Gorgall.

Toran and Third Company waited patiently as the craft entered the bay and settled down, ice forming on the void chilled hull. Long seconds passed and then the front ramp ground down, revealing the dark troop bay behind. Toran stood stiffly as movement stirred within and then four figures emerged. They wore shining artificer plate and bore long handled power axes, their faceplates were stylised in the fashion of soaring eagles' wings and their heads were darting to and fro, looking for danger. These were the Honour Guard, the Chapter Master's most trusted warriors and they were ever alert for threats to his person.

The Honour Guard took a moment to check the area was secure then formed up, two on each side of the ramp and waited. Toran's eyes were fixed on the ramp and he was eager to see his visitors. First down the ramp came a face he knew well, Ninth Captain Phalros, his old commander and trusted friend. He took up a position in the line and waited with his patrician, senatorial head held high.

The next visitor was more unusual and Toran blinked to see Seventh Captain Maxitio march down the ramp. What was he doing here, Toran wondered. That was nothing compared to the arrival of Scout Sergeant Nimodes, who shouldn't have been here at all.

Toran's surprise was covered however by the entrance of Chapter Master Gorgall himself. Toran saw his Lord and Master emerge and was shocked by the sight. Gorgall looked haggard and worn, his always thin countenance practically skeletal now. The burden of command hung heavily upon him and he seemed to have aged a decade since Toran had last seen him. The Captain covered his surprise by declaring, "Company, present arms!" A thunderous crash rang out as nearly a hundred hands clasped Bolters upright before them and their boots clanged together in attention.

Gorgall slowly walked down the ramp and surveyed the waiting warriors. After a moment his voice rang out, still strong despite his weathered visage, "Brothers, long have been your travels but at last you are home."

He walked up to Toran who bowed low and said, "My Lord, it is good to see you."

Gorgall nodded and said, "Third Captain, it is good to see you. Honours will be presented in due time but first we have much to talk about."

Toran blinked at the abrupt dismissal of his Marines but said, "Of course, Company stand at ease."

The Marines sank back to rest and Gorgall and his retinue walked on to a waiting transit capsule at the end of the bay. Toran waited a moment to dismiss the company and then followed on, climbing in behind them.

The transit capsule set off, headed deeper into the ship and Toran opened his mouth. He was paused by Gorgall who held up a hand and looked at Nimodes. The Scout-sergeant checked a small auspex, looking for vox-thieves then nodded to signal that they were free to talk.

Toran was bemused by this and said, "My Lord, what is happening?"

Gorgall sighed and said, "One can never be too careful, the walls have ears these days."

Toran was confused and said, "What has happened while I've been away."

"Much," replied Gorgall, "But first let us speak of your mission, tell me of this Phage."

Toran swallowed and said, "As I reported it was a tailored bio-weapon, finding a cure was perilous indeed."

"You were most fortunate," Phalros said, "Who would have believed such gene-tech was hidden so close to our homeworld."

Toran agreed, "Had it not been for the most unlikely of circumstances we would never have found it."

Gorgall's eyes narrowed at that and said, "Yes, that is cause for concern, you spoke of meeting renegades. A disgraced Chapter and giving them succour."

Toran hackles rose and he said, "They were outcasts from a disgraced Chapter, but yet loyal to Terra, they were no traitors. They fought well and proudly, they deserved a chance to rebuild."

Phalros said, "A great risk to take, you can't know what they will do next."

Toran countered, "One of my men fought alongside them, I trust his judgement."

Nimodes frowned and said, "As I understand it you had these renegades outnumbered and outgunned. Why didn't you just kill them?"

Toran blinked and said, "I gave them my word to share the gene-tech."

Nimodes pressed, "But once you had the cure within your grasp, why not just eliminate them?"

Toran didn't understand and repeated, "I gave them my word."

Maxitio nodded in approval but the rest shared a loaded glance and Phalros said, "Toran, sometimes I think you are the smartest Marine ever to march under our banner and at other times I think that you are the thickest dunce I have ever met. You took a huge risk with no certainty that it will not return to haunt us, the whole Chapter may well come to regret this decision."

Gorgall raised an armoured hand and said, "What's done is done; let us focus on how this affects us now."

Nimodes leaned in and said, "Lessall and Samect have already heard of this, their men in your Company reported everything that occurred. They claim this is proof that the Emperor has condemned our policies of moderation, they seek to claim power once and for all."

Phalros followed up by saying, "Those two have been making serious progress, they have swayed several Captains to their cause."

At this point Maxitio declared, "Recently Lessall approached the undeclared Captains, myself included. He tried to recruit us, I turned them down but Captains Erathor and Hakulo are with them."

Phalros agreed, saying, "They already have Jossat and Tygra with them, our side is seriously outnumbered now. If it weren't for Gorgall's unassailable authority they would be running the Chapter by now."

Toran was aghast but noticed one name missing and said, "What of Tenth Captain Judio?"

Nimodes shook his head and said, "Judio seeks to sit this one out on the sidelines, he doesn't want to get involved. The Librarians and Techmarines can get away with that but he'll be dragged in whether he wants to or not."

Toran drew in a breath and dropped his bombshell saying, "There's something you should know, Lessall and Samect are already on the move. They sent an assassin to try to kill me."

Gorgall nodded and said, "Sergeant Mylos."

Toran's jaw dropped and he spat, "You knew?!"

Nimodes answered frankly, "We knew he was spying for Lessall, but we had no idea he was going to go so far."

Toran's anger rose and he snarled, "Why wasn't I informed?!"

"Disinformation," Phalros replied, "Besides we couldn't risk tipping off Lessall's faction that we knew."

"Wait," said Toran suspiciously, "You have a spy in his camp, don't you."

Nimodes grinned and said, "Not so thick after all, yes we are not totally without friends."

Toran swallowed his anger, it galled him to be used so but his strategic training showed him the tactical value of this. He looked up and said, "So what are we going to do?"

Gorgall said, "This situation is a powder keg, one wrong move will tear the Chapter apart. We need to divide and isolate our rivals, keep them separated. I have sent Erathor, Hakulo and Jossat on remote, inglorious patrols while Tygra stands garrison."

"Good," said Nimodes, "Let them cool their heels wandering dead star systems for a while."

Gorgall looked irritated as he continued, "We can no longer keep this contained to the highest masters, we must appeal to every Brother's heart. I want you three on high profile assignments, win enough glory and we can turn the hearts of the rank and file to our cause. Phalros, I want you to go to Tectum and join the naval taskforce against the Tyranids. Maxitio, there's a certain Rouge Trader who seeks an alliance with us; he claims to have found a rich planet to conquer deep in Segmentum Tempestus. Toran, Orks are building in the Serrati Stellas, take the Thunderchild and go root them out."

"Orks!" Toran spat incensed, "The Chapter is tearing itself apart and you send me to fight Orks. We're already at war; Lessall has sent assassins against us!"

Phalros fixed him with a stare and queried, "An accusation for which you possess irrefutable proof?"

Toran grimaced and said, "I heard it from Mylos' own mouth."

Maxitio shook his head and said, "The ramblings of a diseased and delusional Brother, one you already had a bad history with. That will not convince anybody."

"He's right," Phalros said, "We have to tread carefully now, undermine Lessall with a few easy victories."

Toran wasn't convinced and said, "It's a mistake to leave all our allies so far from home. They might make an attempt on your life."

"I have my Honour Guard," Gorgall said, "And I doubt they would go so far as to threaten me."

Toran's incredulity was clearly written upon his face for Phalros barked, "This isn't a discussion, you have your orders."

Toran couldn't argue with orders and said, "As you wish."

Gorgall accepted his compliance and said, "One more thing, Honourable Ajax is awake again and he's rather angry."

"When isn't he?" muttered Nimodes, "A cranky Dreadnought is the last thing we need right now."

Gorgall ignored that and said, "He's liable to touch off a promethium bomb if he stays here, take him with you. Go kill some Orks and soothe his temper for us."

Toran nodded and said, "I shall obey."

"Good," declared Gorgall crossing his arms, "Hopefully by the time you all get back this crisis will have blown over and we can get back to our proper duties once more."