V
Planetfall
The Thunderhawk shuddered as it lifted off from the hangar's floor; its rocket engines roaring. Giltbert felt a small sudden jerk while sitting inside its cargo bay as the gunship propelled itself out of the Obsidius Euxinum's hangar and into the dark space outside. As the shuddering stopped, the Sword Brother turned to the Black Templar knights strapped to the seats around him; performing the usual rituals over their weapons.
Brother Oddmund sat across him; hanging a small incense burner over his bolt rifle. He was the oldest and the wisest out of all the Crusader squad members. With a long history of participating in various crusades dating back centuries, both Eligor and Giltbert would come to the old Astartes for his consult. From his advice and his vast experience, many would regard Oddmund as a veteran. How strange that he remained a knight instead of a castellan or a marshal.
Sitting next to Oddmund was Brother Dieter who was now anointing blessed oil on his chainsword. Dieter was one of the new squad members that joined Giltbert and Eligor in a previous crusade. This knight rarely spoke; his response always short and direct. During the previous crusade, the Sword Brother had a glimpse of the way Dieter fought. An adept swordsman, he slaughtered numerous enemies; cutting them down with such grace and ferocity with his chainsword. Giltbert remembered how he felt both mesmerised and slightly jealous at the Initiate's skill with the blade.
Giltbert turned his head; focusing on the Black Templar Astartes sitting to his left. The red-helmeted knight appeared to be praying an unintelligible mantra over his Astartes Pattern Omnissian Axe. This Astartes was Brother Wigbrand. Like most senior Techmarines, a servo-harness was attached to his power armour; consisting of two Servo-Arms, a Fyceline Torch and a Plasma Cutter. Wigbrand was the newest member of the squad and had received the same teachings from the Adeptus Mechanicus as the Master of the Forge Jurisian. Giltbert had never met this Astartes before and had only decided to choose him as he believed he needed a Techmarine to examine the downed Emperor's Descent and (perhaps) awaken its slumbering machine god.
The last Astartes member of the squad was none other than Brother Catellus who sat at Giltbert's right. He was Gilbert's squire when the Sword Brother was but an Initiate. Catellus continues to follow his mentor even when he was anointed as a knight. Although not as skillful with the blade as Dieter or as experienced with a bolt rifle as Oddmund, Giltbert chose Catellus for this mission for he saw a potential in his former squire. In truth, he saw the young Astartes as one of his blood brothers.
Giltbert watched Catellus pray to his bolt rifle before turning to his own weapon. Lying on his lap was a sheathed Power Sword. Slowly unsheathing the sword from its scabbard, a recent memory filled his mind as he gazed at its blade.…
Eligor stared at Oroborus through the paned glass hallway of the Obsidius Euxinum. It was unlike any planet he had seen before; a slightly miniscule grey planet shrouded in light green clouds. Occasionally, he would see some flashes of light from these green clouds suggesting that there was a thunderstorm happening. The opening sound of the doors turned Eligor away from the mysterious planet as Giltbert entered the hallway.
"You summoned me, my lord?" the Sword Brother asked, bowing his head as a sign of formality.
"Have you seen the planet, brother?" the castellan asked, ignoring the formality as he motioned Giltbert to his side, "It is rather small for a planet in the Eastern Fringe."
Giltbert stood beside Eligor as he looked at Oroborus through the paned glass. He had to agree that the planet looked small compared to Kilhaven.
"Have you prepared your knights?" Eligor asked as he continued staring at the grey planet, "I hope you have chosen wisely."
"I have, brother," Giltbert replied, knowing that his blood brother was being informal to him, "Oddmund and Dieter will be joining me. I have also requested for a Techmarine from our Master of the Forge."
"Good," Eligor replied, a wry smile on his face, "I'm guessing Catellus will be joining as well?"
"You know him well, brother," the Sword Brother replied with a smile, "Even if I did not allow him to join, he will find a way."
Eligor snorted. Like Giltbert, the castellan also viewed the young Initiate as a blood brother.
"What about you?" Eligor turned to his blood brother, "Are you prepared?"
"I am prepared as I need to be," Giltbert replied with a comforting tone, "It will be odd to not have you by my side this time. And on an unexplored planet too."
"Likewise," Eligor nodded, trying to maintain his calm composure, "If I hadn't been disrespectful to Inquisitor Marion, we would be doing this mission together."
Eligor slowly turned to his sheathed Power Sword attached to his belt.
"Take this, Giltbert," the castellan said as he unhooked the sheathed sword from his belt and handed it to his blood brother, "With this sword, I will be with you in spirit."
"Brother," Glitbert said in a humble tone, "I cannot take it. It is your blade."
"I am not speaking to you as my blood brother," Eligor responded with a stern tone, "I speak to you now as your castellan. Do not refuse this honour."
Gilbert, realizing that his blood brother had just given him an order, immediately knelt on one knee.
"Take the blade, Sword Brother Giltbert," Eligor spoke again with the same commanding tone, "Take it at your castellan's behest!"
"I will, my lord," Giltbert replied, lifting his hands to receive the sheathed Power Sword, "I will."
"Good," Eligor said with a pleased expression on his face, "And now, I speak to you as your castellan and your blood brother. I do not trust the Inquisitor so we will maintain our personal communication channel open."
"I understand, my lord," Giltbert bowed again as he rose to his feet; attaching Eligor's sheathed sword to his belt, "I will report to you immediately if I feel something is amiss."
"Approaching Oroborus," the Thunderhawk pilot's voice crackled through the cargo bay vox speaker, "Prepare for atmospheric entry."
Giltbert sheathed the Power Sword back into its scabbard as the rest of his knights stored away their weapons. The gunship began to shudder again as it entered the planet's atmosphere. Giltbert held on to his Power Sword tightly as the cargo bay rattled violently from the turbulence.
"Approaching drop zone," the gunship pilot's voice crackled through the vox speaker again as the turbulence slowly diminished, "Prepare for landing."
The safety restraints lifted up; allowing Giltbert and his squad to stand up from their seats. The Sword Brother quickly scanned his knights as they faced the cargo bay doors.
"Be prepared, my brothers," Giltbert exclaimed, unsheathing the Power Sword given to him by Eligor as he felt the gunship jolt.
"Yes, my lord," the knights answered in unison as they readied their weapons.
Red alarm lights began to flash as the cargo bay door slowly opened. A huge gust of cold wind suddenly entered into the cargo bay as the ramp continued lowering itself to the ground. For a brief moment, Giltbert felt the wind's icy chill on his face through his helmet.
"Forward!" he hollered through the squad's vox channel as he marched out of the cargo bay.
His knights followed suit; walking with caution down the ramp into the heavy snowstorm.
"By the Throne," Catellus remarked, finding it difficult to see even with his helmet's photolenses, "How is one to see through this storm?"
"Use your auspex, young one," Oddmund chortled, "Is this the first time you've seen a snowstorm?"
"Actually it is," the young knight said quietly as he activated his helmet's scanners.
The Thunderhawk engines roared again as the cargo bay ramp started lifting up from the ground.
"I will return to the Obsidius Euxinum, my lord," Gilbert heard the pilot's voice crackling through his helmet, "We will rendezvous here again."
"My thanks, Brother Avis," the Sword Brother replied, "I will keep this channel open then."
Giltbert watched as the Thunderhawk slowly ascended from the snowy ground; its jet engines roaring again as the gunship flew towards the cloudy sky.
"These are not ideal conditions," Wigbrand uttered, "I can feel my Servo-Arms locking up."
"We must endure for now, Brother Wigbrand," Giltbert replied, "Until the Inquisitor arrives, we remain here waiting."
"He is here." Dieter suddenly exclaimed as he looked at the stormy sky.
Giltbert looked up to see the familiar Gun-cutter lowering itself to the heavy snow-covered ground just a few feet away from him and his knights. Through the thick snowstorm, the Sword Brother watched two figures trudging towards him from the spacecraft. One of the figures he recognised was Fantoche who was still wearing the same long black fur overcoat. The other figure, however, was covered in a large hooded black fur robe.
"Where is the Inquisitor?" Giltbert spoke loudly at Fantoche.
The silent bodyguard pointed at the figure wearing the large hooded black robe. Under the hood, Giltbert recognised the inquisitor's mask.
"Inquisitor Marion," he yelled through the howling winds, "As per my Marshal's orders, my knights and I will provide protection to you as you retrieve the Imperial relic from the Emperor's Descent. Please lead us and show the way."
Inquisitor Marion remained motionless as his right hand reached into his robe and took out a handheld device. The device was showing three flashing blips on its small screen; each blip representing those within its fifty metres vicinity. The Sword Brother also heard a faint beeping sound emanating from the device whenever the blips appeared. He immediately recognised that the device was a handheld scanner. With the scanner in his hand, Inquisitor Marion trudged through the heavy snow with his silent bodyguard following behind him. Giltbert watched as both the inquisitor and his bodyguard continue to plough through the deep snow; ignoring the Black Templars crusader squad as they passed them.
"As expected of an Inquisitor," Giltbert cursed under his breath as he waved his hand in a circle; signaling his knights to form a perimeter around the inquisitor and his silent bodyguard.
A sudden crack emanated from his micro-bead. It looks like Eligor was trying to contact him through their personal vox channel.
"Status report, brother." the castellan's voice crackled.
"We have landed," Giltbert reported, "And so has Inquisitor Marion. We are now following him to the downed Emperor's Descent through the thick snowstorm."
"I see," Eligor's voice seemed slightly concerned as it fizzed through the micro-bead, "Report to me immediately if you have encountered any threats. The Emperor protects."
"The Emperor protects." Giltbert replied, watching the Inquisitor's Gun-cutter lift off the ground before blasting itself into the dark, stormy sky.