Legends of the dark ange.., p.56
Legends Of The Dark Angels, page 56
‘Yes, colonel,’ replied the lieutenant, his voice mustering more enthusiasm than his expression.
‘Let me spell it out for you, lieutenant, in case I have not made my point.’ Laursor rolled his eyes at his command squad, but his expression grew serious at the colonel’s next words. ‘If the orks can establish a power link between three geothermal stations, the Astartes commander has told me that there will be an orbital bombardment of those stations. Even if that does not cause a catastrophic eruption to destroy the island, damage will be extreme.’
Hesitating just underneath the awning, Tauno caught the eye of the staff sergeant and pulled the paper from his pocket. The stocky Piscinan nodded and beckoned Tauno further inside.
‘Patrol report, Sergeant Maikon,’ said Tauno, keeping his voice quiet while Grautz continued to labour his point over the comm. He dropped the scrap of paper into the staff sergeant’s proffered hand. ‘Short version is that we didn’t see nothing, sergeant.’
Tauno rubbed his hands together and blew on his fingertips, darting a glance at a pile of gently steaming meat steaks left on a plate.
‘Sit yourself down for a moment, lad, and grab yourself a bite to eat,’ the sergeant said with a sympathetic smile.
‘Thanks, sergeant,’ said Tauno. He pulled his bayonet from his belt and skewered a lump of half-charred meat and sat down on an empty stool next to the staff sergeant. ‘What is it?’
‘Whitehoof, son,’ said Maikon. ‘The lieutenant shot it himself earlier today. Found a herd of them by the stream just south of here, having a drink just before dusk.’
‘Sergeant Kaize wouldn’t let us shoot nothing on patrol,’ huffed Tauno. He sank his teeth into the steak, juices dribbling down his chin and onto the front of his jerkin.
‘That’s ’cause officers make the rules, son, and last I checked you ain’t an officer,’ said Maikon. His lip curled in distaste. ‘You best clean that off your jacket before you get back, or Sergeant Kaize will have you up on watch duty all night too.’
Tauno looked down at the greasy stain and grimaced.
‘You got a cloth or something, sergeant?’
Maikon puffed out his cheeks and sighed.
‘What’s a useless soldier like you doing in the defence force, son?’
‘Better’n working the omnitrawlers like me pa and grandpa,’ Tauno replied between chews. ‘The recruiting sergeant told me I might even get off-world, see other planets, if the Munitterum come for a tithe.’
‘Mew-nee-tor-umm, son. Departmento Munitorum. They’d take one look at you and ship you off to the Mechanicus to be made into a servitor. That recruiting sergeant must have known you was hauled in on the last net…’
‘It was you, sergeant,’ Tauno said. He gulped down the last of the venison and licked his fingers clean. ‘You were the one that recruited me.’
Maikon laughed and slapped Tauno on the knee.
‘Well, I’m sure I must have seen something in you.’ The staff sergeant glanced across the tent as Lieutenant Laursor ended his conversation with Grautz and tossed the pick-up onto the table. ‘Best get back to your squad, son.’
‘Appreciate it, sergeant,’ Tauno said with a wink.
He slipped out from under the canvas roof and sidled back to his squad’s rough billet. A few of them were already sound asleep, their deep breaths and gentle snores another part of the background noise. Remembering Maikon’s warning, Tauno kept to the shadows until he could pull his guncloth from his pack and wipe away most of the mess on the front of his grey tunic. Approximating something like the appearance of a proper defence trooper, he joined the others, tin mug in hand. He poured himself some nu-char from the pot boiling over the fire and settled down, propping himself up on his pack.
‘So, the Space Marines want to blow up Kadillus if the orks break through,’ he said.
There was a chorus of surprise and dissent from the others.
‘True enough; heard the colonel himself say as much,’ Tauno continued.
‘They would never do it,’ said Lundvir.
‘Sure they would,’ said Sergeant Kaize. ‘What do they really care about us, eh? Letting the orks run wild would be a bad mark against them, don’t matter if a few ordinary folks get killed along the way.’
‘I think I’d rather get blowed up by the Astartes than taken by the orks,’ said Tauno. ‘Least if the island goes, it’ll be quick.’
‘I don’t want to be stuck out here if that’s going to happen,’ said Jurlberg, standing up. ‘I’ve got family in Kadillus Harbour. If this is the end, I’m going back to the city to be with them I love.’
‘You are not going anywhere, trooper,’ said Kaize. ‘You’ll bloody well stay here and guard this bloody ridge. Those are our orders.’
Kauninnen stood up next to Lundvir.
‘Karl’s right, we should be protecting our homes, not stuck out here where nothing’s going to happen.’
‘Sit down, the pair of you,’ growled Kaize. ‘If the lieutenant spots you, it’ll go badly for you.’
‘I’m sure there’s others would come with us,’ said Lundvir. ‘If we get enough of us together, nobody’s going to stop us. We got to warn our families, get them off Kadillus!’
Tauno’s gaze moved back and forth between the two men and the sergeant. Looking past Kaize, he saw pinpricks of red and yellow in the darkness, about a hundred metres away: the glowing eyes of the Space Marines.
‘I think the lieutenant would be the least of your problems if you tries to get away,’ said Tauno, sipping his nu-char. He nodded at the Astartes.
‘It went all right last time,’ said Lundvir. ‘We got away from Barrak Gorge, didn’t we? We told them we managed to retreat at the last moment and nothing was said.’
‘Only because they need us here. And I shouldn’t have listened to you then,’ said Kaize. ‘We’re staying put this time.’
Tauno shared his sergeant’s feelings; abandoning the power plant had probably been a bad idea. It hadn’t seemed such a big deal at the time – there had been plenty of Space Marines to protect the station – but on reflection it left a bitter taste in Tauno’s mouth and an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. This time he was determined that if the orks did come he would stay and fight.
Regardless, they had all agreed not to mention it again.
‘Keep your voice down,’ said Tauno, looking at the Dark Angels. If they discovered the truth of what had happened at Barrak Gorge, there was no telling what they might do. ‘You never know who’s listening.’
Kauninnen followed Tauno’s gaze and laughed harshly.
‘Them? Nah, they can’t hear us.’ With a wordless growl, Kauninnen sat down again. ‘You’re probably right we’ll never get away with it twice.’
‘Just shut up about it,’ said Kaize. ‘There’s nothing to worry about. There’s been patrols all day and night and not an ork’s been seen within ten kilometres. We sit tight here for a couple of days, the rest of the Dark Angels turn up and we can all go home.’
‘It’s all right for them,’ said Kauninnen, voice growing louder with annoyance, still looking at the distant silhouettes of the giant Astartes. ‘Tell you what: give me armour like that and I’d be just as brave.’
‘I know what you mean,’ added Daurin, rolling over on his blanket to look at the men gathered around the fire. He plucked disparagingly at the padded tunic covering his torso. ‘They call this armour? My brothers have hauled in raspwhales with thicker skins than this.’
‘And what about those bolters, eh?’ said Kauninnen. ‘Put a hole the size of your gob in an ork.’ He stabbed a finger at his lasgun leaning against the wall of boxes. ‘These things are junk. Never mind shooting orks, I wouldn’t use one of these to find something in a dark room.’
Tauno laughed, but didn’t really agree with the others. He’d lingered behind for a few minutes at Barrak Gorge and had seen the Space Marines fighting the greenskins. It had been terrifying, even just watching from a distance; the way they got stuck into those monsters without a moment’s hesitation. Even with armour and a bolter, Tauno was pretty sure he wouldn’t want to go head-to-head with an ork unless he had a two-hundred-metre head start.
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Daurin was saying. ‘I blame the Imperial Commander. If she wants a defence force that can fight orks, we have to have the proper equipment.’
Tauno could see a large figure approaching through the darkness.
‘Shut up,’ Tauno hissed.
‘I mean, it’s all well and good being brave when the enemy can’t hurt you, isn’t it? I bet them Astartes wouldn’t be half as eager to get stuck in if they had this garbage to fight with. What do they care, anyway? They can just leave if they wanted to, while we ain’t got no choice. I mean, if things were starting to get really dangerous, they could just up and go, and leave us to do the dying.’
‘Shut up, Daurin,’ Tauno said between gritted teeth.
‘What’s your problem?’ Daurin asked. ‘They might have magic eyes and ears, and all them sensors and whatnot, but they can’t really hear us all the way over th…’
Daurin trailed off and his eyes widened as he saw the gigantic figure looming through the firelight. Tauno didn’t know much about Space Marines, but he had been around them long enough these last few days to recognise the markings of a sergeant.
The Space Marine’s dark green armour was polished, edged with reflection from the fire. Yellow eye lenses swept over the squad as Sergeant Kaize scrambled to his feet.
‘Can we help you, sir?’ said Kaize.
The Astartes stepped into the emplacement and sat back against the wall, boxes crumpling and settling under his weight.
‘Constant vigilance is the price of survival,’ said the Space Marine. His voice was quiet, edged with the buzz of his helm’s vox system. ‘In thousands of years, an ork had never set foot upon Piscina before ten days ago. Though you cannot see the enemy at this moment, it does not mean they have gone. My commander has reported no significant counter-attack against his forces holding the landing site; that means that the orks are somewhere else.’
The sergeant’s helm hid all expression, but the way his eye lenses lingered on the squad made Tauno uneasy.
‘The orks that were allowed to capture Barrak Gorge are unaccounted for,’ said the Space Marine. Though he detected no accusation in the statement, Tauno cringed with guilt. ‘Our patrols sweep the wilderness for them, but they have not been found. Do not think that you are safe from attack.’
‘So you think that orks will attack here?’ said Daurin, sitting up. His rebelliousness seemed to have evaporated as he flicked a nervous glance towards his squad-mates.
‘It is a possibility,’ said the sergeant. ‘It is your duty to stand ready in case they do.’
Kauninnen crossed his arms defiantly, though there was a quiver in his voice when he spoke.
‘Why are the Dark Angels waiting here with us? Why don’t you hunt down the rest of the orks?’
The sergeant slowly turned his head to stare at Kauninnen.
‘We all have our orders, trooper,’ said the Space Marine. ‘A better question would be to ask why you are not hunting the orks. As you have agreed, it is your homes that need defending. Perhaps the Piscinans would prefer that my brothers and I left them to fight this war by themselves?’
‘I wasn’t being ungrateful,’ stammered Kauninnen. ‘I mean…’
The Space Marine’s gaze did not move as the soldier trailed into quiet.
‘You said, “They can just leave if they wanted to, while we ain’t got no choice. I mean, if things were starting to get really dangerous, they could just up and go, and leave us to do the dying,” just a minute ago.’ Kauninnen gulped as the Space Marine threw his words back at him. ‘That you would make such an accusation betrays your lack of understanding of what it is to be an Astartes.’
The sergeant stood. Tauno craned his neck to follow the Space Marine as he leaned forwards and plucked Kauninnen’s lasgun from his weak grip. The Space Marine looked at it and handed it back a moment later.
‘Your weapons are inferior because better would be wasted on you,’ said the sergeant. ‘It takes as much effort to create one round for my bolt pistol as it does a whole lasgun. Would you entrust that one shot to such a poor marksman?’
He bent forwards, armour creaking, mouth-grille a short distance from Kauninnen’s face.
‘My armour is many thousands of years old, from before the Dark Angels came to Piscina.’ The Space Marine’s voice was harsher, a tone of anger in his words. ‘Would you have it dishonoured by a wearer that flees from battle? Would you entrust the days of labour that go into its maintenance to a warrior that thinks only of protecting himself?’
Straightening, the sergeant looked at the others, who flinched as his gaze passed over them. Only Tauno managed to meet that glowing stare, and with much effort.
‘There is a selfishness in men to protect what is theirs alone,’ the sergeant continued. ‘It is a short-sighted belief; for all a man is, he owes to the Emperor. The Astartes swear oaths to be the protectors of the Emperor’s realm and His servants, beyond any personal desire or ambition. We have the armour and the weapons you desire because we are the few who are worthy of them. Such riches would be squandered on lesser men; frail, frightened men like you.’
‘That’s a bit harsh,’ mumbled Kaize. ‘We’re doing the best we can.’
‘Are you?’ the Space Marine snarled, his words cutting into Tauno’s conscience. ‘Which of you would leave this world, travel across the galaxy and lay down his life for the home of a family he had never met?’
The squad exchanged glances; nobody said a word.
‘Which of you would place yourself directly in danger, to save the lives of others? And do this not just once, on a spur of heroism, unthinking, but for a whole life, time after time, in full knowledge that one day you will die, and it will be a painful, bloody death. Which of you would not only do this thing, but embrace the sacrifice of the self it entails, not just dedicating one’s death to the Emperor, but one’s whole existence?’ The Space Marine’s voice softened. ‘You cannot answer these questions, and thus you cannot know what it is to be Astartes.’
The troopers were speechless: Kaize hung his head in shame while Daurin stared out into the darkness, eyes glistening. The Space Marine turned away. Tauno jumped up and called after him as he left the emplacement.
‘Excuse me, sir? There was a Scout-sergeant. He spoke to me a few days ago, asked my name. I haven’t seen him since, and I never learnt his name. Come to that, what are you called?’
The Astartes sergeant swung back to the squad.
‘I am Sergeant Ophrael of the Third Company. The sergeant you speak of was called Naaman; he proved many of us wrong and you owe your continued survival to his bravery and dedication.’
‘Was called? So, he’s dead?’
Ophrael nodded slowly.
‘Like many of my battle-brothers, he gave his life for the protection of your world. He will be remembered and honoured. He died alone, amidst a sea of enemies. Master Belial recovered his body a few hours ago. What did he say to you?’
‘He told me to do my duty, and to remember that the Emperor watches us.’
The sergeant stepped up, towering over Tauno, but his voice was gentle – as gentle as it could be with its metallic, clipped tone.
‘Wise words. Do not forget them again, nor the warrior that spoke them to you.’
‘I won’t, sergeant.’
‘You can never be Astartes, but you can still be a good soldier. Remember what you…’
Ophrael stopped and straightened, head cocked to one side. Tauno felt a buzzing across his skin: the Space Marine’s comm activating. The sergeant turned towards the east, his pale yellow eyes shifting to a bright red. Tauno felt nervous at the sudden change. The Space Marine’s size had been intimidating from the moment he had walked over, but now there was something else about his demeanour that caused Tauno to shrink away; Ophrael’s posture, the tilt of his head, the balling of his fists, all pointed towards a sudden unleashing of energy, like the rev of an engine or the whine of a power cell being slipped into a lasgun.
‘Return to your squad, trooper,’ said Ophrael. His tone was businesslike, abrupt. ‘Bellum instantium. Ready your weapons. The orks are coming.’
The defence line was in tumult; sergeants shouted, troopers ran back and forth, ammunition boxes were broken open and weapons given final checks. All through the Free Militia one question was being asked: where were the orks?
The Dark Angels had seen something with their infra-sight and were convinced an ork force was moving up the ridge. Tauno and the others peered into the dark but could see nothing.
‘Hush up!’ Kaize told them. ‘Perhaps we can hear something. Orks aren’t the quietest, are they?’
The squad fell into silence and Tauno strained to hear anything; the only sound was the wind across the rocks.
A rocket screamed out from the Devastators to the left. It exploded about four hundred metres down the ridge. In the flash of light, Tauno saw bodies being flung into the air and a mob of bestial faces.
‘There!’ he shouted. He levelled his lasgun in the direction of the blast and opened fire, sending a hail of blue las-bolts into the night.
The others joined him, shooting at shadows, until Kaize bellowed at them to cease fire.
‘Save your power packs,’ said the sergeant. ‘Wait until you see something before you shoot.’
The Devastators were unleashing the full fury of their weapons: missiles streaked into the gloom while the squad’s two heavy bolters split the air with thudding bursts, rounds cutting the night with flickering propellant trails.
‘To the right!’ said Hanaumman.
