Chapter 31

Astu was a shimmering dot in the distance, a tiny green emerald amid an infinite number of diamonds. Its light was fading from view and soon it would disappear entirely. Far away from that dot the Thunderchild was sailing away, cruising out into the darkness of interplanetary space. She was scarred and bloodied but proud regardless; she had claimed her first blood and proved her worth. Now she was heading out to the Warp Translation point, to return home for refit and formal commissioning.

Throughout her decks the Serfs laboured, their duties barely any less arduous than when they had been in full battle. Yet they were in high spirits, they sang chanties as they went about their toil and proclaimed themselves blessed. Many whispered that the Thunderchild was a lucky ship and a few rubbed bulkheads for good fortune or patted panels affectionately. All thoughts of curses and jinks were gone, the crew had been united in victory and now had become one body of men.

On the Thunderchild's bridge crewmen went about their duties with calm efficiency, happily performing their tasks as Servitors chattered mindlessly. All knew that they were headed home and even the looming journey through the Warp could not dampen their spirits. So they worked with glad hearts and smiles on their faces, while far above their heads the Navigator made his preparations within his armoured blister-dome.

Standing at one end of the Bridge was Captain Toran; he was waiting below the Oculus and gazing out of its armourglass aperture. He was surveying the length of the ship, looking along its kilometres long hull and taking in the damage. His augmetic eye zoomed in upon various scars and rips in the armour, places where men had fought and died under his command. Casualties among the mortals had been considerable and once such matters would have troubled him. Yet now he told himself that they had battled for their Chapter and their Emperor and their deaths had not been in vain. They had made a difference with their lives and no man, not even an Astartes, could hope for more.

Toran considered their destination, the Thunderchild was headed back to Lujan II, the Storm Heralds homeworld. Once there she would be lovingly restored, her wounds made good but her scars would be meticulously documented and would form the first chapter of her saga. Toran would also have to file a report with Chapter Master Gorgall and the other senior officers. He suspected that they would be astonished at how a simple shakedown trial had actually turned out. Yet he was confident that his ship and Company had acquitted themselves well and would be commended for their service under fire.

Toran heard the crump of armoured boots behind him and turned to see Chaplain Wrethan approaching, along with Third Company's command squad. Furion, Bylan and Jediah were marching proudly in their battered plate, a record of their valour and courage in the fighting. Persion however had his right arm exposed, revealing how it abruptly ended below the elbow. His forearm had been fitted with a metal ring, an interface for the augmetic replacement hand that would be bestowed when they reached Lujan II.

Yet that was nothing compared to Novak's injuries, his left hand was encased in a medical gauntlet, drilled with metal rods to hold in his bones in place while his flesh regrew. It was his face that drew the most attention though, a scarred and burned visage that drew gasps of revulsion from the serfs. Apothecary Memnos had removed the shrapnel from his face, cursing the whole time that it was a bloody miracle Novak had not lost his eyes with such a fool stunt. Unfortunately the scars were deep and would not heal, his handsome face was gone, now he would be forever pock-marked and burned.

Novak was trying not to be bothered by the horrified stares of the Serfs but to Toran it was obvious that he was discomforted by the whispers behind his back. Toran heard Persion mutter as they walked, "Don't worry so much, it's barely noticeable."

Novak glanced at him and asked "Really?"

"Yes, now you look like a proper warrior," replied Persion, "Besides you were always ugly, so nothing's changed there."

Novak tried to grin but winced when his burns pulled at his skin. Bylan stepped in and said, "Think of it this way, now you can actually scare our enemies. They will stop laughing at your babyface looks"

"Babyface?" snorted Novak, "You can't talk!"

Toran shook his head, despite their ferociousness in battle his Command squad retained a warm camaraderie and he wouldn't have it any other way. The squad marched up to the Captain and made the sign of the Aquila, then Wrethan declared, "Inspection complete, all compartments secured, the ship is ready for Warp translation."

"Excellent," stated Toran, "And the Squads?"

Furion answered, "They are in good spirits, another magnificent victory for Third Company."

Toran nodded and stated, "Yes, they fought well indeed. Honours and awards will surely follow. I have received several recommendations from the Sergeants regarding commendations for various initiates."

Furion remarked, "I recall Matheus saying that one of his squad was a mere hundred kills from receiving his Marksman's laurel. This victory must have brought him much closer to that outstanding achievement."

Toran agreed, "A most glorious victory but an unexpected one, we never thought this ship would be plunged into battle so soon."

Furion stated, "The Thunderchild performed above expectations, she had proven her worth. Hevostan is delighted; he says the Omnissiah has smiled upon this vessel. The Thunderchild will make a fine addition to our fleet roster and those Reflex shields will be most useful in the future."

Toran frowned and said, "Speaking of which, where is Magos Castabore?"

Bylan answered, "She's gone back to her quarters, said something about making calibrations. She thinks there's room for improvement in our energy equations"

Toran nodded and said, "Good, it will keep her occupied at least. In the meantime I have sent an Astropathic message to the Forgeworld Crux Lapis, I expect the Mechanicus will be sending a ship to inspect the hulk of the Dark Eldar cruiser."

Jediah spat, "Xenos tech! It is a blasphemy, I suspect the Cog-boys will just chuck the damned thing into the nearest star and be rid of it."

Furion remarked, "That would be most rash, careful analysis of the enemy craft could reveal key weaknesses and tactical data. We could learn critical information from this."

Jediah didn't look convinced but Toran said, "Let the Tech-Priests worry about matters of techno-theology, we should concentrate on redressing our wounds and preparing for the next war."

Wrethan looked down and said, "First we must mourn our dead, thirteen Brothers laid down their lives for this victory. Once we are safely underway we must undertake the ritual observances as demanded by Chapter Tradition."

That statement gave everybody pause and they lowered their heads, silently honouring their lost Brothers. Toran knew death in battle was the inevitable fate of every Astartes but the loses never got any easier. The only comfort was that the gene-seed had been recovered from most of the dead Brothers; their legacy would be implanted in the next generation of aspirants. After a moment Novak looked up and asked, "So did we ever deduce why the Xenos attacked us?"

"Revenge," answered Toran, "That Archon was one we've met before; the Dark Eldar must have sought us out to avenge the slight to their race's pride."

"They won't make that mistake again," stated Persion, "We gave them a pasting and no mistake."

Jediah looked concerned and asked, "Are we certain that the Archon is dead?"

Wrethan declared with relish, "We blew scores of saviour pods to atoms; the chances of the Archon escaping are slim indeed."

However Furion said, "I would not count any enemy dead until we have seen the body."

Toran knew what he meant, too many times had foes slipped away only to return when least expected. It galled him to think that a foe could have evaded their just punishment but there was little to be done. If they encountered the Archon again then they would show him no mercy, but until then there were more foes out in the galaxy to confront: there were always more foes out there.

Toran heard Bylan speaking again, "What confuses me is the appearance of the Shadow of the Emperor. Was it working with the Dark Eldar or not?"

Toran answered, "That is not clear but it fired at all sides, we were fortunate to survive. That ship has become a blight upon the Imperium, attacking outposts as far away as Scapa Delve and Tragion Point. I know the Inquisition has kill-teams hunting it but we must redouble our efforts to put an end to its infamy."

Bylan looked confused and stated, "But that monstrosity had us all dead to rights and could have obliterated us but it turned and ran"

Furion tutted and declared, "We know it was taken by Vorshaan's minions from the Alpha Legion, so it was probably part of some devious scheme. They can't resist complicating things unnecessarily, show those snakes something simple and straightforward and they will have added three deceptions and four treacheries before you've even finished speaking."

Persion quipped, "I don't know, maybe it was just that Novak's new face scared them off!"

The squad chuckled at that, none louder than Novak himself. Toran was relieved to see that despite his injuries the squad would be treating him no differently.

Toran mused, "I do wonder what that Witch was doing, she was shouting some strange things about the future."

"Ignore it," advised Furion, "Eldar are devious by nature, so twisted are their minds that I am amazed they can even walk in a straight line."

Yet Wrethan didn't sound amused as he stated, "Do not make light of the enemies of the Divine-Emperor, they deserve only your hatred. When enemies attack each other it proves nothing, save their lack of honour." The Chaplain's words put a damper on their conversation and everybody tactfully respected his admonition.

After a moment Novak coughed and asked, "So, do we know where Third Company will be sent next?"

Toran shook his head and said, "No, but I am sure Chapter Master Gorgall will assign us a campaign before too long."

Jediah spoke up, "I hope it is somewhere where we can get some dirt under our boots. All this killing at long range wearies me; my sword has seen too little blood."

Bylan said eagerly, "Maybe a place where we can see Titans in action"

Persion chuckled and said, "Still holding out hope for that eh? Don't fret too much; live long enough and you will see plenty."

Toran smiled and saw that nothing could bring his Brothers down; they would face whatever the universe had to throw at them with courage and confidence. Toran stepped away from the Oculus declaring, "Come Brothers, we still have to get this ship home before we can start planning our next war. Let us show the serfs how it's done."

With that the squad headed back to their posts, eager to meet the future and confident that they would overcome whatever it had in store for them.