2.
Anaru sat with his head in his
hands. In all his years he had never been this afraid. He was being accused of
murder and treason, a crime that would take his life and also the light of the
Emperor. He shook his head over and over
in disbelief.
His cell opened.
Two space marines now stood before
him, their black armor covered in robes and seals and symbols of their faith
and devotion to the Emperor.
Anaru had but a few faded gang
tattoos and the Imperial Aquila on his body. His fath was strong though and he
had prayed non-stop since speaking with the psyker days ago.
“Good evening Captain, on your feet
please. The Marshal needs words with you.”
One of the Astartes stated.
Anaru stood and walked out his
cell, grateful to stretch his legs.
“Will the psyker be there?” he
asked them.
Both Templars shook their heads
slowly.
“This is not your interrogation;
the Marshal wants to merely meet with you. No individual with the taint of the
warp is allowed in our living quarters.”
They escorted him through the higher
decks of their ship. Every neophyte and serf and Astarte gave him cold nods.
They were not looks of hate, rather, severe acknowledgment. He was a captain of the Imperial Guard,
someone who commanded and was trusted. Someone now in their custody.
Every few meters he would take
notice of the war banners, murals or some other curio. Items that would have
been used in war now enshrined as holy artifacts in baroque cases. This ship
must have seen thousands of campaigns based on their battle honors. A whole
hallway was filled with the names of fallen Templars, so that they would be
remembered by all who walked the hallways of the Reconquista. So many great
deeds, all done in the name of the Emperor. It made Anaru feel proud he was in
their presence. If only the circumstances were different.
The Marshal was sitting at his
desk, an ornate slab of marble carved with the images of Rogal Dorn and the
heraldry of the Black Templars. Data slates and scrolls piled around his desk,
his personal servo skull and servitor prepping more information for him to go
over. He looked up Anaru and pushed the scrolls he was reading to one side. He
motioned for Anaru to be seated. He kept his gaze the entire time. Sizing him
up and receiving a data slate from his servitor.
“I am Marshal Kraus, Captain Anaru.
I have been meaning to speak to you about the incident aboard your companies’ ship.
I am not one to blindly judge, Captain. I wish to know the truth and every
detail of it. I would hate to send a man such as yourself to his end in shame.
The Emperor forgives as well as he protects. Your Colonel seems to think you
are worthy enough of salvation of some kind. I am quite curious as to how you
ended up in the position that we found you in.”
Anaru kept the Marshals gaze.
Mildly, he shrugged and let out a heavy sigh.
“I will do my best to answer all
your requests, Marshal Kraus.”
Marshal Kraus sat upright and
cracked the tension from his neck.
“You have been Captain of the first
company for five years. Two years serving as First Lieutenant directly under
Colonel Ogati. You made first sergeant for your platoon in your first year fighting
with the 21st. You’ve campaigned on the front lines most of your
career, Captain. The only blemish I can even see is before your time with the
Astra Militarum. We all have a past though, even I was involved in the violence
that is youth gangs, though that seems centuries ago. You are highly decorated,
a warrior and a leader of men in the Holy Emperors Name. So can’t help but hold
some faint notion that I do not believe the evidence against you one hundred
percent.”
Anaru’s eyes lit up with hope. He
felt the blackness in his heart lift and he cleared his throat.
“I thank you Marshal Kraus, for
allowing me the benefit of the doubt.”
The Marshal nodded his head and
poured the Captain a cup of recaff. His servo skull floating jut behind him, no
doubt pict recording the entire conversation.
“Now, tell me about your mission and the
events leading up to your fleet entering the asteroid field, Captain. What you remember
may not only save your soul, but the souls of all those on Salessia IV.”
Anaru sipped from the recaff
goblet. He leveled his gaze upon the Marshals cold gray eyes. His servitor
lumbered over to Anaru, offering him a tin of cigaros.
Anaru took one and lit it. Savoring
the flavor and exhaling his nervousness out.
“We received our orders on the third Sunday of
last month. We had only just returned to Poirua from an offensive against the
greenskins on Kristzurch IX. We were briefed shortly, as we were getting reports
slowly through the Astronomicon. From what the pict and text data had showed,
the renegades launched a blitzkrieg assault, taking the PDF by surprise and
securing two major Diocese in less than a week. For some reason they were able
to contact us for aid, but we had no confirmation that they had received any of
our messages via the Astrotelapathica. Nevertheless we had our objectives.Commissar
Erastus had gave the lads a pep talk about what were up against. As time went
on we had seen images of these renegades. They were butchering civilians as
they went, and doing worse to the women. We had agreed that no quarter was to
be given and we had instructed all infantry to fix bayonets before deployment.
There was talk about the renegades not yet having access to the PDLB’s. This
was to be or advantage, as we would be dropped straight into enemy controlled zones,
from the Fleet ships in orbit. Each company had specific targets and
instructions given to us by command. Colonel Otagi had tasked the 1st
with assaulting the Diocese of Saint Mendoza, as Arch Bishop Jerall was under
siege and his Apostle Guard were outnumbered nearly six to one. Jerall’s
protection or extraction was of the utmost importance, for whatever reasons
they may be. Commissar Erastus and I had agreed he could not fall into the
hands of traitors, as we both knew what traitors do to a man of the cloth. “
Anaru lit another cigaro and drank
the remnants of the recaffin his goblet. Noticing that the servitor was already
refilling another goblet and Marshal Kraus was paying very close attention, his
hand scribing away on a small scroll.
“Planetfall was set for 0300 hours
Salessia time. The Fleet had entered the warp all at the same time, though our
own ship was delayed buy a mere half hour, some malfunction with our void shields.
The problem was dealt with and we were on our way. To my knowledge we were
supposed to come out of the warp directly above Salessia. I do not know what
happened as we were knocked around by the constant bombardment of the
asteroids. I just remember seeing the
fleet being obliterated before my eyes and not being able to do damn thing
about it.”
Marshal Kraus made a note and
stirred in his seat.
“I woke up here, with a headache worse
than any hangover ever and that psyker telling me I had killed my astropath and
navigator. I’m sorry. That’s all I can remember so far, Marshal.”
The servo skull flew off into the
darkness of the Marshals’ chamber and Kraus slowly stood.
“Thank you for your honesty Captain.
I would hope you will remember more without the aid of your pimaris psyker. I
have no trust of such…beings. I would like to think you would also remember
more before you go before Interrogator Zephael. He is not known to be as
pleasant as myself.”
Anaru stood and saluted the Marshal
.
He was escorted back to his cell in
silence.
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