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Silver Knights ~ The Forges Coda
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Vandius woke with a pounding headache. He slowly sat up and looked around. He was in some sort of medical bay, probably the one on Highseat. He paused to check over himself. They had removed his armor and bandaged him up. There was a dull sort of pain, but not much. Nicander's painkillers had seen to that.
''Ah, good, you're awake.'' Nicander looked up at him from a medical terminal with several white-robed Tech-Priests nearby. He had a look of amusement and relief on his face.
''What happened?'' Vandius asked him bluntly.
''We won, to put it simply. I'm sure Tullius, Dovah and many others have written up after action reports for you to pore over. Cestus killed the Swarmlord, a fact that he will not stop talking about, and we eventually drove the Tyranid swarm from the field, although only at great cost.'' Nicander sat beside him on a nearby chair.
''Once the Swarmlord was dead the Tyranid swarm lost cohesion on a strategic level. That is what enabled us to push back the Tyranids on all fronts. Oh, final victory will take months, even years, but we've got the upper hand. Gryphonne is in no danger of falling now.'' Nicander told him.
''What about Tullius and the others?'' Vandius asked. There was so much he had to review when he got out of the medical bay.
''I've not heard anything of Bergen or Russ's reactions. Tullius is purportedly upset with Jarl Stormwolf for not listening to him, but that's a pot of trouble I don't want to get into. I spent most of my time patching you up.'' The Apothecary told him.
''Still arguing those two. Now's not the time.'' Vandius commented. He hardly approved of Stormwolf's behavior, but recriminations at this time were not wise. He would see what he could do to handle the situation later when he returned to duty.
After a moment he looked down, noting the bandages that covered the massive scar that ran from shoulder to hip. Scars were not unknown to the Silver Knight, but this was a big one. He paused to trace the bandages with his fingers.
''You may not be able to see that, but it left a scar, it also cut through two vital organs, but as you know Astartes don't die easily. Still had it been an inch deeper even I could not have saved you.'' Nicander informed him.
''When can I return to duty?'' The Ultramarine shifted to look at him.
''Get back down. You need your rest. Give it a day or two.'' Nicander told him.