Chapter Twenty-four

a/n: this is something of a set-up chapter for future character development. It also expands on Sedreth's motivations and back story. It also sort of ends the Meyis incident. and there will be a brief gap before we pick up. This is mostly because I'm not really sure about how to write up Janey as an early adolescent, so my apologies for those expecting it. For the record, if I had to write a The Talk speech for a character, I'd probably pinch Ari's coming of age recording to her clone from CJCherryh's Cyteen. And I do recommend that novel by the way.

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the kind reviews. I'm very flattered and extremely grateful.

Now, on with the story...

From her vantage point at the great armoured observation window the stars were distant multi-hued lights against black velvet. She liked this place. Here, in the quiet of the briefing chamber, she could find a sense of peace before the unrelenting realities of position and duty took over again.

A soft chime indicated one of her people was at the door. She turned and pressed the stud that allowed entry.

It was not one of her people. The massive armoured figure of brother-captain Silur Mendez of the Grey Knights stepped through the opening, somehow dwarfing the doors even though they were much larger than he. The man's serene grimness was, she had to admit, both a comfort and a warning. It was not the first time she had worked with astartes, but it was a new experience to deal with the psyker-daemon-hunters of the elite chapter.

"Inquisitor Coigreach. We are about to make final warp transition."

She nodded. "I shall come to the bridge, brother-captain."

He waited courteously for her, keeping to her pace easily as they walked together, naval personnel and servitors alike giving them a respectful amount of space.

She thought back to the conversation the two of them had had when he'd first come aboard. She had asked him, "Why the Grey Knights, captain? What is your interest in this affair?"

His answer had surprised her for its candour. "To ensure we did not make an error four years ago, Inquisitor. My squad and I encountered Sara Tarken and her people in the Plett system. If we were incorrect to let them go, I will kill them myself."

"Do you believe you were incorrect?"

He had smiled briefly and told her, "No."

Ekaterina Coigreach hoped he was right.

The buzzing was insistent. Janey's voice came over the comm. "Mummy, there's a transmission from station. Inquisitor Coigreach and her retinue just arrived in system. Four warships."

Sara rolled over sleepily and reached for the unit. "I'll be up in half an hour, darling. Have you told captain Ignatius and Morgan?"

"Yes, mummy. Mr Morgan is making breakfast already" The comm cut out.

Sara slid out of bed and headed for the shower. She would have time for breakfast and hopefully for her morning workout long before the Inquisitor was in any position to demand audiences. She instinctively glanced at the scan feed; Phoenix was stationed close to system ecliptic, from where she could deal equally easily with ships trying to leave unauthorised, or any attempted invasion force. Luckily, in the two months since brother-captain Ignatius had effectively placed the system under martial law, the latter had not been a problem they'd had to handle, and Sedreth's judicious use of the (repaired) armour belonging to the dead marines of Ignatius' kill-team had persuaded the governor that there were many more astartes than was actually the case.

She stepped into the hot spray chamber, letting the powerful jets drive the last vestiges of sleep from her body. The scar on her thigh had healed well, with only minor treatment required for the torn muscles. Janey, thanks to the Emperor's mercy and the kill-team's medical servitor, had also healed easily and without more than a pair of thin scars. She was back to her training too now, had been for two weeks.

The two injured Deathwatch marines had not been so fortunate; Jeremiah had succumbed to his many injuries less than a day after the battle, and Sigurd, who still somehow clung to life despite having only one barely working heart and half a lung, needed constant monitoring by the kill-team's medical servitor. The Space Wolf should by rights be dead, but simply refused to let himself give in to oblivion. In his conscious moments, which were becoming thankfully more frequent, he had stated that he was determined to return to his Chapter to ensure that Lord Gustavus' name was added to the honour rolls of those who had given their lives alongside the Wolves. Sara also suspected that he wanted to inspire the young naval officer who had fought beside him on the Golden Dawn. The woman had set the self-destruct, killing nigh fifteen thousand of her own crew-mates, and guilt, as much as her severe injuries, had caused them to come close to losing her for good. Lieutenant Verstark had mostly recovered from her physical trauma, but rarely left the marine's side; Ignatius in a remarkably open-minded demonstration of shrewd intelligence had not objected.

She hit the dryer cycle, the heated airflows warming her muscles, and stretched lithely. No twinges, again. Good. Ignatius was due to work with her today and she didn't want to be slow. It was a matter of pride in herself, of course, but also to honour her trainer. She wasn't entirely certain that Ignatius fully trusted the former chaos marine, and she and Janey had an agreement not to let Sedreth down.

"Hi, mummy," came the familiar merry greeting when she walked onto the bridge twenty minutes later. Janey was in her usual chair. Sedreth was in the pilot's station and Ignatius matched the Emperor's Children marine's courteous nod from nav. Both marines were armoured today, she noted, as they had been less frequently recently. They had obviously been busy; both suits gleamed brilliantly pristine under the bright bridge lighting, the luxuriant purple of Sedreth's Indomitus armour a brilliant contrast to the indomitable black of the Deathwatch captain.

Lieutenant Verstark, likewise immaculately uniformed, looked up from tactical scan and gave a faint half-smile. Sara smiled back.

"Good morning, everyone. You gentlemen have obviously been busy in the repair workshops, I see. Lieutenant. It's good to see you this morning. How is brother Sigurd?"

A deep voice answered her and she saw the Space Wolf's craggy features on a monitor screen. "I am well, captain. Well, better anyway. Although the servitor fills me full of anaesthetics if I try to sit up. Or to do anything more than talk." His voice sounded both frustrated and cynically amused.

She chuckled. "It is good to see you better, brother Sigurd. No doubt the Inquisitor will have experienced medical staff amongst her people, so you will be up and around again soon."

"If the Emperor wills it, captain. However, now that you are on duty, we can do what I arranged with brother-captain Ignatius last evening. Brother-captain, if you would do the honours?"

The marine captain smiled and stood. "It is my privilege and honour, brother. Lieutenant, would you come here, please?"

Looking puzzled, Verstark stood and walked over to the armoured giant.

Sedreth's voice was cold and hard. "Attention!" Sara instinctively came to attention, as did the others, Sedreth's armour making a massive crash as he slammed into position.

Ignatius took a small object from his utility belt and stood in front of the rigid young woman. "By the authority of the Ordo Malleus, and at the request of brother-astartes Sigurd of the Sixth Chapter Astartes, it is my honour to state the following. That on the Imperial warship INS Golden Dawn when it was boarded by heretics and enemies of the Imperium all loyal officers on the bridge were shot. That one of those shot officers was not killed and had the intelligence and courage to await the best moment to strike back for the Emperor. That said officer played a vital and gallant part in both the defence of the ship and its eventual destruction, along with more than forty heretics of the former Emperor's Children Legio Astartes. That without her intervention, brother-astartes Sigurd would have died beside his commander, their mission only partially complete. In light of the aforegoing it is the decision of Deathwatch kill-team alpha six to present this emblem of her mental and physical courage and her loyalty. Wear it in honour, lieutenant Katrin Verstark, in the Emperor's name."

He pinned the wolfshead seal to her chest and snapped a salute.

Katrin Verstark stood still for a long moment, clearly shocked, then returned the salute. A single tear trickled slowly down her young face; she didn't seem to notice. It was only when Sedreth said 'Dismissed' that she rapidly left the bridge.

Sara met Ignatius' somewhat puzzled eyes as the faint sound of sobbing reached their ears.

"Leave her, captain. She needs to cry. She's needed to for a long time. She will come back when she recovers herself."

"Lady Coigreach, they are here."

Ekaterina nodded shortly, annoyed with the flunky's obsequiousness already. "Then let them in."

Still the chubby little man hesitated.

"Did you not hear me? Let them in." She snapped, silently wishing the Emperor's curse on all courtiers.

He bowed, almost lost in the richness of his voluminous robes, and bustled out. The doors slid open.

The two marines in the black armour of the Deathwatch lifted her just by their presence. There was something indomitable about the pair; this was what humanity should aspire to, she thought. The third figure, that walked and talked and was undeniably real, was both more massive and considerably more disturbing.

All three saluted – the traditional astartes salute, fist to chest, that was relatively rare in her experience. She gave a courteous nod in return.

"Brother-captain Ignatius," she said quietly, "I think your report should come first."

The warrior neither nodded acknowledgement nor changed expression. "Deathwatch kill-team alpha six reporting, Inquisitor. Two effectives. Four dead, including Lord Inquisitor Rein Gustavus. We encountered two separate chaos incursions in this system. One, an attempt by the traitor Word Bearers to infiltrate and pervert the world's traditional music festival was defeated with only minor injuries. The second, an attempt in strength by the heretic traitors of the Emperor's Children to capture their former vessel, the strike destroyer Eyes of the Phoenix, and to take control of the system, caused heavy civilian and military casualties. In the course of defeating the latter incursion, Lord Gustavus, brother-sergeant Meleriex, and brother-astartes Shere and Jeremiah were all killed, along with the entire crews of the system's guard vessels Tenryu and Golden Dawn which were likewise destroyed. Three hundred and forty-seven personnel on the orbital station were also killed during an attempt by the heretics to take it. I am honoured to report the deaths of the ancient heretic known as Julius Kaeseron and an estimated one hundred of his marines.

"Since the destruction of the two Imperial Navy vessels, I have commandeered Eyes of the Phoenix for system defence until your arrival. My detailed report gives more precise information. At this time, the Meyis system remains under martial law pending investigation by the Imperial Inquisition."

"Thank you, captain. Perhaps you could introduce me to your companions?" The formality gave her a few more moments to assess the stranger astartes.

"Of course, Inquisitor. This is brother-astartes Sigurd, currently assigned to my kill-team from the astartes Space Wolves. And our companion is brother-sergeant Morgan Sedreth, who as you can see is of the Third Legio Astartes, 79th Combat Century."

She said nothing, looking straight at the tall, frighteningly handsome, man with the ice-cold blue-grey eyes. He didn't flinch from her gaze, a casual confidence in his stance that she suspected had nothing at all to do with the massive Terminator armour he was wearing. After several seconds she broke the silence.

"You claim to be an astartes marine of the Third Legion?"

"No, Inquisitor. I am an astartes marine of the Third Legion," he replied solidly. "And have been since I received the geneseed implants in M29.743 to 746 shortly after the Emperor confirmed his son Fulgrim in command. I was formally reinstated to the Emperor's service by Lord Commander Dante of the astartes Blood Angels just over a year ago."

She bit back the instinctive reaction to that name. "You followed the arch-heretic in betraying your Emperor. I would know why."

The impassive face showed nothing.

"I want an answer, Morgan Sedreth."

"Before or after you summon your people in an attempt to take me into custody, Inquisitor? I would appreciate your not trying that, if you don't mind. I recently fought beside these two men, and have no desire to kill them just because the Inquisition is staffed by one fanatic too many." The man's voice was mild, but the contempt in it stung.

She held back the command at the tip of her tongue; always think rationally, her instructors, long dead, had drilled into her.

"You do not approve of the Holy Inquisition?"

"I do not. The Emperor is not a God. The Inquisition's actions too often bear more resemblance to those of followers of chaos than to civilised humans. Fighting evil with evil is ultimately doomed to failure."

She looked at the other two marines, then pressed the stud which allowed Mendez and his warriors to enter from the adjoining chamber. The ten Grey Knight Terminators walked silently through the doors to form a five-strong line on each side of their fellow astartes.

Mendez looked at her quietly, then shook his head.

Sedreth half-smiled. It looked strange to see a space marine look pleased at something; they were normally, in her admittedly limited experience, almost unreadable. He stepped forward and took the hands of three of the Grey Knights in turn, the warriors' grip, wrist to wrist.

"Brother-captain Mendez. Brother Joshua. Brother-sergeant Neihart, how is the new leg?"

Neihart nodded. "It works. In some respects it's better than the old one. Where did you get the new armour, Sedreth?"

"My old armour was destroyed by genestealers on the space hulk Heresy of Corruption. The Blood Angels' techmarines were good enough to repair this for me. Now I carry both the Emperor and the Angel into battle with me."

Neihart's expression softened fractionally in what might have been a smile. "The Blood Angels have excellent technical staff. How do you find it in battle?"

"Useful. I'm a little slower, but the more I use it the faster I get."

"I find that too," rumbled Joshua. "For some reason the more I practice, the luckier I am in battle."

Ekaterina blinked in surprise as several of the marines actually laughed, a series of basso rumbles. Mendez smiled briefly at her, a bare flicker of expression. "We may be the Emperor's chosen, Inquisitor, but we are still men. We feel the bonds of comradeship just as you do."

Sedreth nodded seriously. "Which is why the most hated opponents of the Emperor's astartes are their former brethren. A brother's betrayal is hardest to bear."

"And a brother's redemption the most celebrated," added Sigurd quietly.

Sedreth half-smiled at the Space Wolf, an air of serenity about him. "I have much to redeem myself from."

One of the other Grey Knights asked her question again. "But why? Why would you betray your Emperor in the first place?"

Sedreth stood thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke quietly into the expectant tension.

"Because I had no idea what I was getting into. Do any of you honestly believe that all the astartes involved in the Heresy rebelled because we were dedicated followers of chaos? Only fools think like that, and you all know better. It was gradual, Inquisitor, years, decades in the making. Only in hindsight is it easy to see the steps along the road to perdition; at the time we followed our commanders, not realising where they were going – indeed, I don't believe most of them had any idea either. Not until all was committed, and then there was no backing out. And by that time, most of the legion either no longer cared, or were so far gone that they willingly embraced the power the chaos deities offered."

"But what started it?" asked Ekaterina. She waved aside his expression. "I am not looking to condemn, Sedreth. But I want to know. We all want to know."

He sighed. "Very well, I shall try and explain as best I can. Honestly, Inquisitor, I was not involved in the plotting of it, so I do not know everything, only what I have picked up over the centuries. For the Legion, it started with the warrior lodge edict, just before the Laeran campaign. Not all of us were members, of course, but the lodges, allegedly spaces for marines to speak freely as brothers without the barriers of rank, changed the character of the Legion. We astartes are," he gestured to the other marines beside him, "proud of our deeds and our reputations and our honour. In the Children, at least, the lodges played on that. We and we alone bore the Emperor's sigil. We were the best, and we believed it. We were the Emperor's Children. But..."

"But?"

"But, after Ullanor, after the Emperor returned to Terra, it was whispered that He had been turned from His loyal astartes by whey-faced clerks and merchants, who had never risked life and limb themselves but stood to reap the benefits we had bled for. That is the sense of what the lodges taught in their sedition. Oh, not openly, not at first, but gradually, subtly. And slowly, so slowly that it wasn't noticeable at the time, the Legion transferred its primary loyalty from the Emperor to the Primarch, and thence to the Warmaster. And the Primarch did nothing. Why, you ask? I have a theory, well, perhaps more than just a theory. Towards the end of the Laeran campaign we destroyed a great temple, and from that temple – which with hindsight and experience I recognise as a temple to the Children's current chaos patron – the Primarch took a beautiful sword, silver with a massive uncut emerald in its hilt. We, he, had no way of knowing what it truly was, that sword."

"It was possessed?" she asked quietly, biting back her instinctive horror. She had seen what happened to those possessed by daemons.

"Indeed. Of course, even the greatest daemon cannot simply overwhelm and possess a being like a Primarch. It took years and years to seduce him. But he started to use it more and more, although he still wielded Fireblade, the Phoenix Sword that his brother Ferrus Mannus had made for him, too. And like the Legion, he grew prouder. He was proud that the Legion was his. Even above his father's. I suppose the first real signs came after Nicaea. There were rumours that the Primarch was angry with his father; that he believed the danger of having librarians was overstated. We had many of us fought beside Magnus and his Thousand Sons and we respected them for their skills and their abilities, their knowledge and their loyalty. Their promulgated vision of a peaceful and civilised galaxy was one we, who thought of ourselves as both a military and intellectual elite even amongst the Legions, could very much relate to. So the Emperor's Librarian Edict was a cause of much dismay; we had met enemy psykers before and many felt it was short-sighted not to have our own corps of powerful psykers available. That was the first time it was noticeable, that astartes openly spoke out against the Emperor, even by so much as questioning a decree. The Primarch was right and his father was wrong. Still, the Legion obeyed, and those who had trained as librarians went back to normal duties."

"But the seed of doubt was there."

"Yes, Ignatius. Then, just a couple of years later, came Murder, where we lost more men in weeks than we had in decades. Oh, we cursed Eidolon for his deployment, but we were also angry at the intelligence errors and at the Imperial orders which had kept the Primarch from being with us at the start of the campaign. He would never have got us cut up like that. Then, when he and Sanguinius did turn up, and not only saved the situation but led us in person to destroy the megarachnid,... well, you can see how that reinforced loyalty to him rather than the far-away Emperor. Little steps, you see."

"And the same was happening in the other Legions?"

"I presume so. The Luna Wolves adored Lupercal as a beloved father. The Death Guard I spoke to during those decades were likewise absolutely devoted to their own Primarch, but it was hardly unusual in any Legion. Sergeant Rahl, my honour brother in the Fourteenth Legion, was part of their Seventh Company's command squad, so he could have given me more of a picture, but we rarely had opportunity to meet, and we wouldn't have discussed that sort of thing anyway; it's not done."

"Rahl? I have not heard the name. It is not on any list of heretics I have seen."

"It wouldn't be. Pyr Rahl. He was killed on Isstvan Extremis by a warsinger. Fabius was there; he told me later, when I got back to the Isstvan system with the Primarch after the débâcle with the Iron Hands." He fell silent, a faraway look in the blue-grey eyes.

"Go on."

"Not much more to tell, Inquisitor. The die was cast by then. The Primarch and Ferrus Mannus had fought, anyone senior enough to rally the Legion in opposing the nascent rebellion was already dead and we were committed. Although most of us still believed that we were trying to save the Imperium rather than merely conquer it, we knew we'd have to conquer it first. Again. And it's also true to say that we had few objections to measuring ourselves against the best opponents available – the other Legions. We were skilled, we were arrogant, and we thought we were unbeatable; we expected to win. You have to understand; the Children had never lost, not even in a squad-level action." He gave a short half-laugh. "Damnation, Commissar, there are a few companies of the Children even today which have never known a real and actual defeat on a battlefield, even though they may have retreated by order at the behest of a commander. And after the Drop-Site Massacre we were certain we would win, and the corruption started to set in earnest, not that I cared."

"Why not?"

"I saw the fight between the Primarch and his brother Ferrus. I saw the thing in that damned sword take my genefather. All that mattered after that was killing; I had no other reason for existing. I became one of the most feared killers in a Legion of killers." He turned a cold, deadly gaze on her. "I doubt there are five dozen warriors in all the galaxy could take me one on one. And none who could take me without serious injury."

There was stark silence, then Ignatius broke the tension. "You're still arrogant." He smiled slightly as he said it.

Sedreth chuckled. "We've sparred, brother-captain."

Ignatius nodded. "I'm not saying it's not justified. Just that you're arrogant."

They shared a brief grin, then Sedreth answered in a serious tone. "I'm the last astartes of the Third Legion. The last of the true Emperor's Children. Nine Legions want me dead and will bend their considerable resources to ensure it. Well, eight will anyway – no-one ever knows what the Alpha Legion want. I'm not even sure if they know what they want. But they'll probably kill me on sight just on general principles, so let's call it eight and half. I have to be the best I can be in order to live long enough to complete the task He set me."

"Which is?"

"I don't know. But I shall. And I shall not fail in it." He suddenly looked directly at Mendez. "Is that why you're here, brother-captain? To determine whether I can be let loose?"

Mendez nodded. "Something like that. The Inquisition doesn't like you and doesn't trust you."

His gaze showed casual equanimity. "The feeling is entirely mutual. No offence, Inquisitor, but an Imperium where mercy and justice are at the whim of religious fanatics is not why we fought the Great Crusade."

Ekaterina nodded slowly. "No offence is taken, Sedreth. I would give a great deal for my office to be unnecessary."

He smiled slightly, cynically. The expression was somehow wrong on those chiselled features. "Blame Aurelian. The Urizen was convinced his father was a God; it unhinged him more than a little to be told that he wasn't, that his masterwork was entirely wrong."

Ekaterina glanced round, at equally puzzled faces. It was clear that Sedreth meant one of the traitor Primarchs, but in terms that were unfamiliar. "Who?"

Sedreth looked surprised. "You don't know? The Urizen was what they knew him as across half the galaxy in those days, rather than by his true name of Lorgar Aurelian. Yes, that Lorgar. He wrote the Lectitio Divinatus; the worlds his Word Bearers brought into compliance worshipped the Emperor as a God, and the astartes as His Angels of Death. Damn, when was it? Must have been a few, three or four, decades before the Heresy, the Ultramarines hit one of those worlds, evacuated the populace by force and destroyed the cities, by the Emperor's direct order. Guilleman and Aurelian came to blows over it, or so the rumour was. Anyway, the Word Bearers, who had tended to take their time in bringing worlds into compliance, suddenly started to move faster. Now, of course, we know that they were inculcating worship of the dark Gods, but at the time it seemed like they were finally pulling their weight. And there were a lot of them, the Seventeenth was the largest Legion bar the Ultramarines, a full hundred companies of ten combat centuries each."

"A hundred thousand space marines?" The amazement was open in Joshua's deep voice.

He nodded. "Only Guilleman's Legion had more, and not by that much. You have to remember that there were just eighteen Legions at that time. Even the smallest, the Thousand Sons, was more than ten thousand strong. There were more than forty thousand Children and we were one of the smaller Legions too. Most were at least half again our size; Legions like the Iron Warriors, Space Wolves and Night Lords were all seventy or eighty thousand strong. Horus lost, not including the loyalists who he betrayed, nearly sixty thousand on Isstvan III, and the destruction of three full Legions at the Drop-site Massacre cost him nigh on a hundred thousand more despite the ambush and overwhelming odds. And he still had enough left to smash his way across the galaxy to Terra, while using almost three full Legions to keep the Ultramarines and other loyalists occupied."

"There were other forces involved, too, Sedreth," remarked one of the Grey Knights. Sedreth waved it aside.

"It was an astartes fight, brother. Planetary armies could not – still cannot – stand against the astartes. Any current Chapter could take any planet in the Imperium at a whim, unless another space marine force intervened. Yet the Space Wolves, even though they had Silent Sisters and Custodes with them in strength, lost nigh on forty thousand warriors – half their strength – taking Prospero just because it was defended by Magnus's Legion of Librarians." He looked at the Grey Knights, a brief nod also to Sigurd the Space Wolf. "You Grey Knights are all of you psykers. You know all too well how much power the Sons wielded. No offence to your brothers, Sigurd, but they were lucky Magnus had dismantled his main defences."

The Wolf nodded briefly. "None taken; truth holds no insult. I have read the histories. Had it not been for our own Rune Priests – and Lord Russ – we would have lost many more."

She nodded thoughtfully. The man was correct. No force in the Imperium could stand against the space marines for long. It was one of the greatest fears of the Inquisition, that of space marine rebellion. And with good reason.

"It is as well we won," said someone, a deep voice behind her.

Sedreth shook his head sadly. "No, brother. We lost. Where are the Primarchs today? Where is the Emperor? What of the flowering of literature and knowledge, of culture and civilisation, that we fought the Crusade for in the first place? The entire galaxy has been at constant war for ten thousand years. That is no victory."

"You think the ruinous powers won, then?" Her voice was hard, she knew.

He suddenly smiled, a genuine expression which made him even more handsome, if that was possible. "No, Inquisitor. Not yet. We lost one campaign, a great one. But there is still love and honour and truth. Humanity is not yet defeated. The dark powers do not understand that; cannot understand that. They are our worst aspects made manifest – hatred, lust, greed, cruelty, cowardice. But the best of us they cannot reach, nor destroy. Even in the chaos Legions, amongst their own most dedicated servants, humanity flowers ever and anew. The Death Guard hate us, but they hate themselves more, hate that they dishonoured themselves, that they surrendered to their pain. The Iron Warriors, the Children, the Night Lords, even the World Eaters, retain a twisted sense of honour, a desire to face their enemies. In all the Legions are vestiges of what they once were, twisted and perverted, perhaps, but refusing to die. How else could someone like me stand here? There is always hope, Inquisitor. Always. If we do not surrender to despair, we can still win. I am living proof of it."

Twelve days later a small naval squadron and a very energetic Inquisition team began to deal with the aftermath of one of the more serious chaos incursions in the sector's history. Despite several pressure-filled messages from her far-off superiors in the Holy Inquisition, Inquisitor Coigreach and her team were considerably less harsh than might have been expected given the traditions and history of the organisation. She took the viewpoint that 'what a population doesn't know won't hurt them' and merely eliminated, using the evidence gathered by her predecessor Rein Gustavus, the traitors' duped followers and their allies. Shortly afterwards, Brother-captain Mendez and his Grey Knight Terminators were pleased to report to their superiors that the attempted seduction of the system by the Heretic Word Bearers was unsuccessful, and that the local population's loyalty to His Imperial Majesty remained undiminished.

Of the rogue trader strike destroyer Eyes of the Phoenix little was reported beyond the bare facts of its assistance to the late Lord Inquisitor Gustavus.

Of the astartes sergeant known as Morgan Sedreth, nothing was reported at all.