Warhammer 40k: Ours Journey

Chapter 34: Either the Marshal or the Chaplain Has to Be the Zealot

"Greetings, Brother Romulus."

The Chaplain standing behind Marshal Orlando, clearly unable to bear watching the negotiations any longer, smoothly inserted himself into the conversation.

"Before we reached the Lesser Pierdra system, two companies of the Minotaurs Chapter went missing on Pierdra. Now, they have fallen completely silent. The Emperor's Tarot has revealed the peril of this mission. Our crusade fleet was only able to dispatch three hundred brothers, so we must secure any and all possible aid."

This Chaplain was much more pleasant to talk to, explaining the situation in a calm, even tone. He then produced his divination records and showed them to the group. The Emperor's Tarot, a divination tool used by the faithful of the Imperium, could, through ritual, provide omens of future events. Typically, only those with sufficiently devout faith could receive the Emperor's guidance.

"The omens reveal that we march towards death," Canoness Arabella translated for the ancient warriors, "but a single ray of light remains in the darkness, requiring the aid of powerful allies." After all, the Imperial Cult as it existed now had only become mainstream after the Age of Apostasy; before that, faith in the Emperor was not so systematized.

"..."

The Chaplain noticed something was off. A Canoness was, in terms of authority, on par with a Chapter Master. In fact, her ability to mobilize Imperial forces far exceeded that of a Space Marine. For her to not even show a hint of disdain towards the Deathwatch—a notoriously eclectic mix of Chapters, full of mavericks who fraternized with xenos tech—was unusual. Was this Canoness being a little too respectful to these Deathwatch brothers?

"Understood," Romulus said, acknowledging the divination. In his mind, the importance of securing more combat power had just been raised by an order of magnitude. This was the Black Templars, after all, a Chapter directly watched over by the Emperor. The credibility of their divinations was very high.

"Thank you for your interpretation, Sister Arabella," Romulus said. Although reading the Carcharodons' somewhat outdated records had refreshed his understanding of the Imperium's absurdity, he held no prejudice against the Sisters of the Ecclesiarchy. He understood that the current state of the Imperium was not their fault.

They all knew that if simply killing a few people, or even a few High Lords, could purify the Imperium and make it great again, they wouldn't even need to do it themselves; the High Lords would probably find the nearest high place and jump off. As for the specifics, the transmigrators planned to observe for a while longer. At the very least, they couldn't let their future Chapter homeworld turn into such an abstract mess.

"It is my honor," Arabella replied with a bow. What she was most grateful for was that while these ancient holy warriors did not approve of the current Imperium, they had never tried to forcibly deny it, instead showing respect for the faith and sacrifices of humanity over the past ten thousand years.

If the Emperor's repeated miracles had earned the transmigrators the reverence of the Sisters, then it was the transmigrators' attitude during their actual interactions—a sense of, "I don't really get it, but I respect it," and "At any rate, you can't blame these people who are sacrificing themselves against all manner of horrors"—that had easily earned them the Sisters' sincere admiration.

Perhaps more than a little, the Chaplain thought, carefully observing the Deathwatch marines with their Ultramarines and Blood Angels insignia. Something about them didn't add up.

"So you are inviting us to deal with the Drukhari in order to secure the assistance of the Explorator fleet, correct?" Romulus asked, having sorted out the situation.

"But Inquisitor Aglaia, in order to persuade the Explorator fleet to accompany us, rashly agreed to the Archmagos's harsh conditions. For this, we lost twenty-seven brothers, and now we have gained nothing," Orlando stated bluntly, glaring at the Inquisitor. "You will answer for our brothers who died because of your witchcraft."

"It was a vision from the Emperor!" Aglaia argued back.

"It was merely a hallucination brought on by your sorcery! If you were not wearing the rosette granted to you by the God-Emperor, you would be just another witch to be purged on sight!" Orlando shot a look at Aglaia, his eyes filled with undisguised disgust.

The Chaplain, who had been about to speak again, watched helplessly as his Marshal, who was even more extreme than he was, got into another argument with the Inquisitor. He led the others a few steps away and apologized.

"My apologies."

"It's understandable," Romulus said, unconcerned. Black Templars. In every crusade fleet, either the Marshal or the Chaplain has to be the zealot.

"So the Black Templars have differing opinions on whether to help the Explorator fleet?"

"The Black Templars also support the Inquisitor's decision. The Emperor's guidance tells us we should secure all possible aid, so the addition of the Explorator fleet is naturally a good thing," the Chaplain said. He then looked towards the Archmagos, a hint of indignation in his voice. "But Archmagos Cawl's demands were... harsh."

"What do you mean?"

Click~

A servo-skull flew over. The Chaplain inserted a data-slate into the slot at the back of its cranium and began to describe the course of the attack.

"The Archmagos and our crusade fleet, at the introduction of Inquisitor Aglaia, reached a consensus regarding our entry into the Pierdra system. The Black Templars would ensure the Archmagos's safety after landing, and after the completion of the mission, the Archmagos would provide us with ships, depending on the gains." The Chaplain deliberately glossed over the type of ships. He then pointed to the displayed star-chart.

"Both parties agreed to rendezvous in the Lesser Pierdra system and proceed to Pierdra together. But when the Explorator fleet arrived, before our fleet could move to meet them, a Drukhari fleet that was already lying in ambush attacked them."

"Those Drukhari were clearly hired by someone to intercept the Explorator fleet in this system. After their fleet was defeated in the void battle, over five hundred Drukhari boarded and seized the forge-core in the stern of the Spirit of Steel, using it as a base to occupy a large portion of the aft section."

The hololith displayed the outline of the Ark Mechanicus, the red section at the rear indicating the area occupied by the Drukhari. The Chaplain drew a core circle within it.

"The objective of this Drukhari force is clear: to delay the Explorator fleet in this system, even at the cost of their entire fleet." At this, the Chaplain's voice, already distorted by his skull-helm, was tinged with helplessness. He gestured towards a Torture-class cruiser floating outside the viewport. "And the Archmagos is clearly being held hostage. He even left them a cruiser after the void battle was won and gave us permission to leave ahead of him."

"But the Inquisitor still insists?" Romulus asked, looking at Aglaia, who was now red in the face from arguing with Marshal Orlando.

"Correct. She insists her psychic omen was guidance from the Emperor and demands the Archmagos accompany us. The Archmagos, in turn, demands that the Drukhari infesting his Ark be dealt with in five minutes, otherwise his vessel will suffer damage he deems unacceptable."

(End of Chapter)