Brother Sergeant Silon's eyes were heavy behind his faceplate. His bolt pistol hung loosely in one crimson hand and his chainsword in the other, he had been staring out at the hundreds of skinny men and women for half an hour now, standing still as possible.
Surrounding him were the marines of his squad and alongside them, the marines of six other tactical squads all of whom were standing immobile and staring out at the crowd in silence like him.
Lining the edges of the square were the chapter's Predators, Vindicators and Whirlwind battle tanks as well as many Rhino transports. All of the vehicles had their tank commander manning the storm bolter that hung above their respective entrance hatches, the storm bolters were all poised at the people within the square and those manning them also remained silent.
The marines and the crowd were within the large and open square in the city of Keelo that had been used for military parades and large public events such as swearing in new hive governors and welcoming high lords from other wealthier worlds.
This hive's governor had been murdered a week before at the hand of Chaplain Eisen. The blame for his death had however been pinned on rioting cultists that were ravaging their way through the streets. Silon growled quietly. The "rioting cultists" had been nothing more than men and women brave enough to remain loyal to the God Emperor under this new tyrannical rule. The "ravaging through the streets" had been their company's lie to the Inquisition.
When the sisters had assisted them in Keelo two days previous, the crowds at the hab district had been innocents attempting to help any survivors within, following the actions that the scout team Captain Praetus has sent ahead of time's actions.
The scouts had murdered dozens of innocents within using melta bombs and bolters and knives. Their heinous acts had attracted a large crowd which soon brought hundreds more to bear witness to the violence that had come at the hands of the space marines.
And when the crowd met with their aggressors face to face they did not back down.
Silon stifled a groan as the memories of the following slaughter washed over him and he snapped back to the present.
Ahead and to the left of his squad stood the six bulky forms of the company's Centurion suits, the suits were larger than Terminators and each had a heavy weapon built into each arm. To the right and in line with the centurions were the two dreadnoughts that remained to the company; the third had been murdered when the Captain's notion of betrayal became public knowledge within the company.
Silon glared. The Dreadnought was a hero reborn as to further serve the Imperium, he had deserved to fall in battle fighting the Emperor's foes, but instead he had been destroyed by a multi melta while restrained by machinery within their battle barge.
Silon had wished he could of died alongside those who refuted the Captain's betrayal, oh how he wished. Yet here he was, staring out at a crowd of soon to be traitors awaiting his glorious leader's verdict.
As if on cue, the bulky and crimson form of a company Thunderhawk flew low over the city. The crowd suddenly came alive with various sounds of awe at the graceless craft's flyby. Silon rolled his eyes and continued to glare out at them, unmoving.
The Captain had already been in the city and had not the need for the Thunderhawk past shocking the crowd and displaying his power. Silon heard the Thunderhawk turn somewhere behind him and soon heard the thrusters easing the Thunderhawk into a landing. Wind kicked up dirt and discarded items that had been lying on the floor sending them flying over the backs of the space marines that were behind Silon's squad and then over them and finally over the front of the crowds who were at least ten feet away from their lines.
The men and women at the front recoiled and shielded their faces from the incoming barrage of dirt. One woman held a newborn in her arms and buried its face in her own while clenching her eyes shut.
The space marines present remained ever still and Silon could hear the Thunderhawk's forward ramp groaning open The Thunderhawk powered down and as it did, Silon could hear several sets of heavy footsteps coming closer to his position.
Captain Praetus flanked by his command squad and Chaplain Eisen strode ahead of their standing positions and came to be in line with the Centurions and the Dreadnoughts. Every marine present's eyes were on him but none turned their heads, the crowd reacted with fear and hushed talk sweeping across it.
Captain Praetus' relic blade hung from his waist and he walked with his left hand upon its hilt while the Chaplain walked with his now defiled Crozius at his side.
Silon glared as he observed the clipped wings of the Aquila upon the crozius and the visible scarring the eagle's masterly crafted twin heads had suffered under a techmarine's torture.
The Captain's lion crested helm silently roared back out at them, as he stood there immobile for a few moments.
"You all know why you are here." The Captain's voice was loud enough for the thousands within the crowd to hear.
The crowd shifted and none of them spoke, whether it was because of fear, awe or both, Silon could not tell nor did he care.
"You are here to receive a second chance." The Captain continued, "Many of you rallied against us. Rallied against this change in leadership, rallied against your salvation."
Silon noticed those at the front of the crowd's faces contort in fear and many began to shuffle backwards slightly.
"Some of those who did, escaped and are probably amongst you today."
A woman fell to her knees and began to sob hysterically, Silon could hear her repeating the phrase: "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." If the Captain noticed her outburst, he chose to ignore it.
"But no shift in power is ever smooth and without its sacrifices, my brothers know this better than anyone."
Silon tightened his grip on the chainsword's hilt and resisted shooting his captain in the back of the head.
"I am here to tell you a simple truth." He paused, "If you serve under us, you will not be mistreated, you will continue on with your lives, the only difference will be that you will not be working and slaving away in the manufactorums for the Imperium anymore, you will work for us."
He began to take slow steps forward towards the crowd and more specifically towards the crying woman.
"Should you choose to rebel," He said as he walked, the people around began to back away from the sobbing woman on the floor all except a man with glasses who was begging her to stand up. "Should you choose to…resist," Praetus grabbed the woman by the arm and yanked her to her feet, the man who had been trying to get her up cried out.
"No my lord, please!"
"Should you attempt to cause civil unrest," The Captain turned on his heel and began to drag the hysterical woman back towards the rest of the Company.
"My lord! She's my wife, please don't!" The mortal man went to follow him and was replied with every marine present including Silon cocking their weapons and aiming at him in a symphony of clicks and priming whines.
"Should you defy me…" The Captain paid neither the man nor the marines any heed and continued walking back towards his brothers with the woman in hand.
The man stopped at the noise and with tears and snot running down his face fell to his knees.
The Captain turned and held the woman up by the arm at the crowd.
"You will rue the day you were brought into this cruel world."
The woman in the captain's grip huffed and cried and sobbed for all the crowd to see and her supposed husband bawled in front of them.
"You." The Captain said suddenly, the man looked up at them with red eyes.
"Yes, M-my l-lord?" The man stammered through his sobs.
"Come and collect your betrothed." Praetus ordered, "Take this to be an act of kindness." He said all of this loudly enough for the crowd to hear the conversation.
The man got up slowly and paused a moment before walking carefully towards his wife with his hands raised and his head constantly turning to look at the dozens of armoured monsters aiming weapons at him.
He reached the captain and stood with his head lowered.
"Here." The Captain held the sobbing woman out by her arm, her feet dangling inches from the ground.
The man warily looked up and reached out for his wife. Silon knew what would happen before it did and he grimaced.
The Captain effortlessly threw the woman at least six foot into the air and caught her by the throat with the same hand. The man gawped and the Captain clenched his hand into a fist.
The crowd joined the man in a scream of terror as the woman's flesh melted around the Captain's armoured fingers. Gore and pieces of shattered bone rained down upon the man who was now quivering and shaking uncontrollably with his mouth agape.
Silon kept his pistol trained on the man who had collapsed once again. Captain Praetus had managed to keep a hold of both the woman's torso and her head; he took a step forward and dropped the blood spurting remains on top of the man.
"Take that as an act of discipline." This time his voice played through several louder vox casters located upon the vehicles that lined the crowd.
The people in the crowd were still screaming and many began to panic and force their way through others. The gunners upon the vehicles cocked their stormbolters and stood ready facing the now unruly crowd.
"Awaiting commands." One voice clicked over the vox network.
"Weapons ready, Lord." Another followed.
"Silence!" The Chaplain commanded, also using the vehicles' collective vox casters, "Bow you dogs!" The Chaplain then stepped forward to stand beside the Captain and retrieved a book from his belt.
The Captain knelt down on one knee and stared at the man who was lying limp and whimpering under the bloody body of his wife. Even from where he stood, Silon could see the man and his eyes told all. The man had lost his mind.
"Your wench of a wife practically confessed to being one of those who rose up against me, what would you have me do? Leave her unpunished?"
The man shivered and whimpered, refusing to look at the monster before him.
Praetus stood up as Eisen flipped through the pages of the archaic looking book in his hands. The crowd was starting to grow quieter into a collective of soft whimpers of fear and moans.
Silon could imagine the Captain's smug grin behind that beautifully crafter helm as he spoke the next part of his speech.
"My empire will be long lived and prosperous, return to your homes and spread this message, carry on as you normally would, my warriors will be in and around the city to make sure you are all safe."
The Captain turned on his heel again and began to walk back towards the Thunderhawk. His command squad fell in behind him leaving only the Chaplain to address the crowd.
"KNEEL!" Eisen's harsh voice roared through every vox caster in the square and the crowd began to hastily kneel,"The Emperor is a false idol." His voice droned over the crowd, "The Imperium is a rotting edifice, Terra is a lie, work makes you free."
Silon closed his eyes and mentally fortified his mind against this heresy.
I will kill that Bastard. I will kill all of them.
After approximately forty-two minutes of the Chaplain's heretical preaching, he closed the book and clipped the binder around its spine shut. He then turned from the crowd and strode towards the open Thunderhawk and disappeared within. The ramp began to rise and the vehicles around the crowd all began to move at once. Once they had all driven past the Thunderhawk, it took off and drifted gracelessly over the terrified masses.
Silon lowered his pistol away from the whimpering man who was still lying under his wife's immolated corpse and was soon mirrored by his squad and the squad next to his and the one next to them.
"All Squads to designated transports, rendezvous at Western district grid 2-47." The Captain's voice rattled through every marine present's vox network.
Immediately the marines present mobilised and began to march towards the line of rhino's that had driven past them minutes before.
The crowds of people began to hurry towards the exits of the square as the marines walked away and Silon could hear the roar of the Thunder hawk's engines as it came for another pass.
Silon was the first to enter his Squad's transport. As he walked up the small ramp and into the belly of the vehicle, he holstered his pistol and sheathed his chainsword. He turned and watched as each member of his squad entered the Rhino.
First was his good friend Jargen, Jargen was his team's melta gunner but was also deadly with a blade in his hand, he had known him for a long time and hid his devastation when he discovered that Jargen had accepted the Captain's prospect of leaving the Imperium behind.
Jargen stopped in front of Silon and took his helmet off, revealing his younger looking face. He had trimmed brown hair and a clean shaven face, the only sign of battle upon his features was a small scar above his eye brow that he had acquired at the tip of an Ork's axe.
"Some message." Jargen smiled darkly.
"Yes, made quite a point." Jargen couldn't see that Silon did not return the smile behind his helmet.
Filing in behind Jargen was Kherot, Kherot had been a good man, but upon the night they betrayed the Ecclesiarch battle Sisters, Silon had seen Kherot beat one of them to death with the back of his bolter.
Silon ignored the rest of them as his mind suddenly reeled back to the night before, the shame that washed over him was nearly too much to take.
Silon had meant to elude his squad and any other duties he had to carry out so that he might tell one of the Battle Sisters' leaders of his company's heresy. He did not care if he was executed for treason along with the rest of them, just as long as they were stopped.
It was then that the Chaplain relayed the orders over the private vox. That night they would betray their allies by murdering every single one of them.
Silon had to act fast.
He had left his squad to arm themselves while he set off to warn the Sisters. He had not made it far before he found an aged Preacher walking through a corridor. Preachers were regarded highly within the Ecclesiarch forces so he decided with such little time to spare he would have to tell him.
"Preacher, we must speak." Silon said urgently.
The man looked up at him with a hard look.
"Can't talk now, Astarte, I have been summoned to a briefing and with all the damned stairs I have ahead of me I can't afford to waste time."
"You must listen." Silon turned around to make sure no one was with them, he then took off his helmet and lowered his voice.
"My Captain has betrayed the Imperium, his story of heretical insurgencies within the city of Keelo is fiction, and a month ago he and the Chaplain and certain other members of their inner circle came forward and announced that the company would be abandoning the Imperium. Many were killed. None of this matters for now as he has just given an order to eliminate all Ecclesiarch forces within the Fortress, you must act quickly, warn the others."
The Preacher's eyes had widened and one of his hands now rested upon the hilt of an Eviscerator that hung by his side.
"Wh-The heresy-"
"-You must act quickly." Silon put his helmet back on. "They will act soon."
And with that Silon had turned and left the Preacher and headed back to his squad.
He did not know if the Preacher had survived the night, but he knew from the reports their biker scout squads had brought in that there was still a small force alive and kicking inside the fortress.
If the Captain was bringing the company back to Armryt, then Silon could help them. However if the Captain was condemning them to stay here and police the hive city of Keelo, then Silon could help no one and would simply have to wait for the Inquisition to notice something awry and subsequently die a traitor with the rest of his kin.
The Rhino drove down the cobble stone streets for ten minutes or so before reaching their destination. Their rendezvous so happened to be the scene of the massacare that had taken place outside the hab district. Silon grimaced as he spotted the piles of rotting bodies left from two days before, he exited the transport through the side hatch and waited for his squad to form up. Kherot stepped ahead of Silon and observed the bodies.
"How frail mortals are." He remarked.
"They do have a tendency to explode when you shoot them." Allister's smug voice rang out from behind Silon.
Allister had always been a piece of work, even before their company had abandoned the codex Astarte's and the Imperium. He had always enjoyed cruelty and Silon had often sent him to Chaplain Eisen for penance after seeing him carry out such acts, a good example of one would be upon the world of Juroura IV where the company had fought against a force of the upstart Tau Empire.
Allister had cut one of the Tau fire-warriors down in battle by severing its leg from its body. This was to be expected in war, however after the battle Silon found that Allister had returned to this fire-warrior and was prolonging its suffering. He cut off its slender fingers, gored one of its eyes and he had begun to attempt skinning it before Silon had intervened by stamping on the Xenos' head, killing it instantly.
Allister had enjoyed the betrayal at the Fortress Silon akin to the purging of their own chapter as Silon had expected her would. He had arrived back to his squad in time to see them gun down three sisters whom had been walking back to their quarters and led them around the fortress attempting to avoid any area's that might hold survivors.
Unfortunately his squad had come across a room filled with Sisters of Repentia. The scantily dressed warriors had charged his men with their chainswords screaming.
Allister had drawn his combat knife and engaged the first one to reach them in melee, while the others merely fired rounds from their boltguns.
The conflict with the sister had not lasted long, Allister managed to use his superior weight to knock her off balance and then slit her throat with the grooved knife. He had then held her up by the neck and watched the life choke out of her open throat.
Silon hated Allister and when the time called for it he would kill him.
The Captain's Thunderhawk was already there as Silon had suspected it would be and in front of it stood Captain Praetus, his command squad, Chaplain Eisen and a mortal man dressed in a fine officer's uniform. Captain Praetus was not wearing his helmet instead holding it by his waist. The mortal was talking with the Captain and had to look up to retain eye contact.
Chaplain Eisen stepped away from the rest of them and towards the squads that were approaching.
"Squad leaders forward for a briefing!" Eisen's harsh voice rang out over all the space marines present.
Silon began to walk forward as did all the other Sergeants present. One of the Centurion suits stepped forward, powered down and then the marine within stepped out of the back before walking towards the Chaplain.
The Captain, his command squad and the finely dressed man entered the Thunderhawk and only then did the Chaplain permit the gathered Sergeants to do the same.
Inside the belly of the Thunderhawk, Captain Praetus stood with the mortal man stood next to him and his command squad waiting behind them both.
Chaplain Eisen went to stand next to the Captain and turned back to the Sergeants who were gathering in front of them.
Overall there was seven Sergeants present, Four tactical squad Sergeants, Silon included, Zeit, a Centurion Sergeant, Ghregor a Devastator team Sergeant and Tech Marine Markov who commanded the Predator formations. The rest were either back at Fortress Armryt, had died at the hands of the Sisters in retaliation of the betrayal or had been murdered by their brothers after they had not agreed to abandon the Imperium.
The Captain stepped forward and smiled.
"Brothers."
The word stung Silon; these traitors were not his brothers, not anymore, and the Captain least of all.
"We have made the first couple of major steps in the conquest for our independence, but there is still more to do."
Captain Praetus turned to the mortal man and put a large hand on his shoulder.
"This is Officer Ollivar, he is a man with a very specific and useful skillset."
Ollivar grinned smugly.
"Officer Ollivar goes by another name. Princeps Ollivar."
Markov let out a bark of laughter.
Silon refused to believe it.
"As you might have guessed, brothers," Praetus gave a sly grin, "We have the means to acquire a machine god and now-" The Captain put both hands on Ollivar's shoulders, "-now we have the means to use it."
Silon's mind went blank. The traitors would use a Titan to further their interests.
"None of you are stupid enough to believe the Inquisition won't find out about what transpired here with their precious sisters of battle I'm sure, with this man we have a game changer."
"Where is this Titan?" Zeit spoke up.
"You dare talk out of turn, whelp?!" Chaplain Eisen barked.
"It's quite alright, Eisen." The Captain said dismissively, "The Reaver Titan known as Mourning Fury is being brought to Heroxes in preparation for maintenance, once its there we will kill two birds with one stone, we will take the Titan and destroy the Ecclesiarch air force present at the same time. After that I can assure you the mechanicus crews will repair the Titan as they usually would, they would never let a god machine like that to stay imperfect."
"I will require an escort through the titan." Ollivar said, "Also they will have to kill the Princeps who is currently operating the Titan."
"Won't the machine spirit reject a new Princeps?" Markov asked.
"Usually yes." Ollivar smiled, "But I am not a new Princeps to this Titan. I operated the Mourning Fury not ten years ago before I was promoted to a position in government."
"And after all these years the machine will still be as accepting?" Markov pressed.
"It will, I'm sure of it." Ollivar said as he looked back at Praetus.
"First we must return to Armryt." The Chaplain stepped forward, "There is still a small force of sisters holding out in the barracks, our force that remains there are having difficulty rooting them out."
"They'll need your tanks, Markov." Captain Praetus smiled.
"Aye, Brother Captain." Markov replied, "Vindicator shot combined with my Predators should do it."
"Worked wonders on their tanks, should work now." Praetus' joke invoked a laugh from all of the Sergeants except Silon. "Let's move out, we'll get back by nightfall."
Silon contemplated pulling out his bolt pistol and shooting Princeps Ollivar in the face. By doing this he would save countless lives and hinder the traitor company's defense against the Inquisition. If this were not the time to fufill his promise to Atellus then there would never be a time.
However, if they have a backup plan for the Titan then his death would be for nought and he could not further assist the Imperium.
So he exited the Thunderhawk and began trudging back towards his squad and their Rhino.
Jargen stepped forward.
"Sergeant?"
"We're headed back to Armryt." He announced as he walked through his squad-mates. "Mount up."