Chapter 79: How Extravagant
The grand hall fell into a strange silence.
The patrolling Astra Militarum and Enforcer squads all kept their weapons raised. The civilians were too scared to move a muscle.
Only the young soldier, clutching the golden Aquila that shimmered in the light, repeated the same phrase over and over. "I need to see a lord who can make a decision."
"Commissar, what should we do?" the adjutant asked in a low voice, resting his lasgun in a groove on the desk to ensure he could pull the trigger the moment he was shot. This whole situation was incredibly strange. He had seen blasphemous Chaos runes before, and he had seen a golden, shimmering Aquila sigil before, but to see both on the same person was deeply unsettling.
"...Send a message to Lord Romulus," the Commissar said after a pause. Romulus had repeatedly emphasized to them that if they were ever unsure about anything, they could report it to him directly and should never feel like they were bothering him. The Commissar could only think that if the people at the Departmento Munitorum were half as responsible as Lord Romulus, he wouldn't have to shout at his superiors every time he returned from a campaign.
"Leave him to us," a gentle voice said. An Angel walked through the crowd and placed a hand on Cornwall's shoulder. It was not the grip one would use on a prisoner.
"Yes, Lord Karna."
Looking at the gentle, handsome face, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, as if they had found their anchor.
Arthur also sheathed his sword and fell in behind Karna. Behind them, the other Astartes and mortals quickly dispersed and melted back into the crowd. Karna would mingle with the people to gain a deeper understanding of the mindset of an ordinary Imperial citizen. Arthur would remain an observer, watching everything. Romulus would record their data during this process. After they left to lead the troops on an assault, this data would be his reference for monitoring the order in the Shrine.
"My Lord, will I die?" Cornwall asked calmly as they ascended the steps to the Spire's council chamber.
"Yes, you will die," the Angel replied calmly.
"I have more to say." The face that had been so resolute was now tinged with nervousness.
"Go on. We will listen," Karna said, pushing open the doors to the council chamber.
The three Space Marine Chapters, the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Ecclesiarchy and the Orders Militant—all were waiting.
Indifference, scrutiny, disgust.
"I know the location of the traitor Angels," Cornwall said directly.
Romulus let go of the model he was manipulating in his mind's eye and looked up to listen.
"I am Cornwall Invict, Sergeant, Reconnaissance Company, 2nd Assault Division, Pierdra Planetary Defense Force. We were attacked by a Chaos cult while operating in the Theoga District of the underhive. We were ambushed by approximately three hundred traitor Angels."
"We were subsequently taken captive to the Stoben District, on the southernmost edge of the hive, to a large incinerator complex on Stoben Street Six. A massive number of cultists are gathered there, by my estimation, over two hundred thousand. The number of traitor Angels is around six hundred."
"There, they performed a blasphemous ritual on us prisoners, one that allowed a daemon to possess us." Cornwall took off his tunic. From his arm to his entire back, the skin was covered in a dense web of Chaos runes.
"After the blasphemous ritual, I... turned traitor." At this, Cornwall instinctively looked back, but the grand staircase and reliefs blocked his view. He could not see the crowd below.
"My mission was to return to the Upper Hive and, under the guidance of the possessing daemon, sabotage Imperial facilities. I returned to the Upper Hive via an undamaged cargo lift in the Stoben District, but before I could take any action, I was rescued by a patrol of the armed faithful and brought to the Shrine."
"During this time, the daemon was constantly trying to show me visions of the future, but the future it described was completely different from what I saw. So I did not carry out any acts of sabotage."
"This is all the information I possess."
It was clear that this soldier's professional skills were not to be underestimated. Even in such an environment, he had been able to memorize his surroundings. But a man is just a man. He cannot forge his entire being into impenetrable steel. The moment a crack appears in your heart, a daemon will slip through. If not for the choices made by the group, which had allowed his family to survive, humanity would undoubtedly have one more enemy.
Romulus then looked at Ramesses. They needed to verify the truth of his words.
Ramesses held out his hand, hovering it over Cornwall's head. "Do not be afraid."
Looking into those shining golden eyes, Cornwall felt the Chaos runes on his body begin to burn, and he himself seemed to fall into the hands of an impossibly great being.
[No, no, what is this? Why can't I see? My memories, I—]
With a sharp scream, something was torn from Cornwall's body.
"It's true," Ramesses said, lowering his hand. Daemons were usually quite stubborn, so interrogation was a battle of wills. But recently, as his research into daemons had deepened, he had found a way to forcibly extract a specific piece of information he wanted by "disassembling" the daemon. Although this process would cause the daemon to eventually explode into a useless, chaotic stream of Warp-data... who cared?
He then shared the information he had extracted on the internal channel. "The daemon was an eye Tzeentch had sent to spy on us. The recent rampant cultist activity is because the Four Gods can no longer suppress their interest in us. As for those Word Bearers, they are testing a possession spell given to them by Tzeentch. We can basically confirm that the remnants of the Nemesis Chapter are also there."
This Tzeentch... how can he screw over his own allies without even seeing us? Ramesses wanted to complain, but for them, this was entirely a good thing.
"But isn't that a Genestealer community? We just scouted it yesterday. How could Chaos—" Romulus frowned, then remembered something. "Damn it. The 'stealers and Chaos are playing a shell game with me."
Romulus cursed under his breath. His own stereotypes had been detrimental. He had only been thinking of the 'stealers and Chaos as absolute enemies and had forgotten that as the Tyranid fleet approached, the Genestealers' autonomy would increase dramatically. During this period, the 'stealers would try various methods of self-preservation, with the goal of getting off this planet before the Hive Fleet devoured it. Any faction with the ability to leave was a potential ally in the eyes of these now-uncontrolled Genestealers.
Chaos must have discovered their operational patterns and used the 'stealers as cover to hide themselves. And when he had been searching for traces of Chaos, he had subconsciously ruled out the 'stealers in the underhive, which were difficult to interfere with.
"Deploy the 'Broken Swords.' Carcharodons and Black Templars, each dispatch two Terminator companies. The Sisters and the Inquisitorial retinue will accompany them. The heavy fire support group will take the cargo lift. We control the large transport facilities in that area. Avoid the smaller passages, take the main thoroughfare."
His mind occupied with various combat simulations, Romulus quickly drew up an attack route and distributed it to the commanders.
"You three go as well."
The bugs were already here. They had to deal with the Word Bearers as quickly as possible, then have the elite forces attack the Forge-World. They, in turn, would need to rally the combat units in the Upper Hive.
Arthur and Karna turned together and descended the stairs with the other commanders. Ramesses, however, came to Cornwall's side.
(End of Chapter)