Chapter 173: The Unwilling Workforce, in Materium and Immaterium
This was a galaxy torn asunder by war, a universe struggling in the throes of desperation.
The light of a dying sun filtered through the smoke of battle, casting a mottled, blood-red stain upon a shattered ringworld. The Imperium and its Space Marines were like the corroded cogs of a vast, failing machine, grinding onward under the threat of extinction, crushing countless souls to dust beneath the cold calculus of necessity.
Most Space Marines viewed civilians as a consumable resource. Some would calculate casualty figures on a tactical slate, coolly weighing loss against gain. An even smaller number were often inclined to simply purge the civilians along with the heretics and xenos.
Only a precious few still held to the duty the Emperor gave them when He yet walked among mortals:
To protect and save humanity.
The Lamenters Chapter were among those precious few who cherished the lives of civilians more than their own.
And yet, it is said that rope frays at its thinnest point, and misfortune seeks out the already damned.
They were born of the Cursed Founding, and from their inception, they have borne that title as a brand. When other Chapters sang praises at victory celebrations, the Lamenters could only witness their fate in shadowed halls, their history etched upon metal walls listing the names of their fallen.
301.M39. During the Eleventh Black Crusade, the Mortifactors Chapter, deeming the Lamenters to be cursed due to their origins, abandoned them on the field of battle. As was their fate, the Lamenters found themselves facing the main strength of the Black Legion. Without the support of the Mortifactors, they were surrounded and decimated. After the war, the Chapter's entire fleet was caught in a warp storm and fought alone against the forces of Chaos for over a century.
578.M41. After returning to the galaxy and proving their loyalty through numerous crusades, the Lamenters were assigned to guard the Maelstrom. They suffered massive casualties in multiple unrecorded campaigns.
698.M41. The Lamenters participated in the Corinthian Crusade in the Realm of Ultramar. 300 Space Marines and the Battle Barge Daughter of Tempests were committed. During the liberation of Slaughterhouse III, they delayed their advance to save civilians, allowing Ork reinforcements to encircle and attack them. They suffered two-thirds casualties, and the first recorded instance of the Black Rage erupted within the Chapter.
812.M41. The Lamenters participated in the Achilus Crusade, but their Strike Cruiser, the Elegy of Phall, suffered a catastrophic drive failure. Only a handful of survivors from the four companies aboard were recovered. Some of these survivors were seconded to the Deathwatch, serving in a Kill-team under Captain Mordred, while others returned to serve with their brothers.
904.M41. Approximately 870 Lamenters were forced into the Badab War. They were systematically targeted by the Minotaurs Chapter. When they surrendered to an Imperial Inquisitor in 908.M41, they had lost their battle barge, and only 311 warriors remained.
After the Badab War, the High Lords of Terra declared the Lamenters traitors and sentenced them to a hundred-year penitent crusade. During this crusade, they ran directly into the main tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken. To protect Imperial worlds like Mavorn and Devlan from the Tyranid invasion, the Lamenters chose to face the swarm in a hopeless battle, and were nearly annihilated.
It was not until the awakening of the Imperial Regent, Roboute Guilliman, and the arrival of the Primaris Space Marines that the Lamenters, long teetering on the brink of extinction, were finally given a chance to breathe.
Their history is a litany of tragedy, Romulus thought, the Chapter's file scrolling through his mind.
Even some First Founding Chapters, like the Ultramarines who often remained garrisoned in Ultramar, had likely not endured as much as the Lamenters before the Tyrannic Wars began in earnest. Yet, what was most precious, what was most worthy of respect, was that after this unending series of calamities, the Lamenters remained fiercely loyal to the Imperium and continued to protect its people whenever possible.
Or perhaps, as their battle cry declared:
For those we cherish, we die in glory.
It was never about loyalty. It was simply that the so-called Imperium happened to belong to humanity, and had been fortunate enough to have its path intersect with theirs.
Romulus shifted his focus to the offensive dispositions for the third defensive line. The new Primaris Chapters Cawl had raised were sent to reinforce Calgar; their natures were sensitive, and as Codex-compliant Chapters, there was no harm in letting the Ultramarines watch over them.
The Black Templars had taken on the duty of a detached splinter fleet. The Executioners and the Crimson Fists were deployed together; the zeal of Captain Pollux and his warriors would serve as a good counterbalance to the Executioners' violent ferocity and prevent any unnecessary incidents.
The Carcharodons, with their extensive experience in void-faring warfare, were dispatched to support the Mantis Warriors, who likewise specialized in raiding actions to harass the swarm from behind the front lines.
With the Ultramarines holding the core of the defense, the dispersed Crusade Fleet would push deep into Tyranid-ravaged territory like a great whale swallowing the sea, seeking to annihilate as much of the Hive Fleet's strength as possible before it could consolidate its forces.
The sector-wide battle plan unfolded on the hololithic display, blinking lumens marking fleet assembly coordinates. Romulus's fingertip traced a line across the void, pushing the marker for the final reinforcement contingent to the edge of the warzone. Thankfully, Calgar was an exceptionally skilled commander; he had no need to worry about the defense.
Romulus crossed his arms, carefully reviewing a series of contingency plans. After confirming that all available intelligence was accounted for and that the plans could be adjusted at a moment's notice, he turned his attention to the slightly less burdened administrative system.
The Invictarus Suzerain were stretched too thin. Even after requisitioning several adepts from the Ultramarines' garrisons, it was a drop in the ocean. From this point on, he had to focus his own energies on military matters.
"Arthur," Romulus said over the comms.
"I'm here."
"Have you dealt with the personnel issue?"
The Dawnbreakers desperately needed Alpha Legion operatives, but he couldn't allow them all to sharpen their knives and try to infiltrate the Chapter's high command. They could infiltrate, but they also had to work.
"Almost," Arthur replied, just as he was tossing several Chaos-aligned Alpha Legionaries into the Warp. "After the Space Wolves finish screening them, they'll be sent over in batches."
Putting the Alpha Legion to work was not, in fact, difficult. When the risk of promotion and exposure far outweighed the benefit of intelligence gathering, these multifaceted agents would naturally choose to embed themselves within the data-slates and parchment stacks of another force. After all, an administrative system was an incredibly efficient tool for espionage, and it made weaving their so-called "grand plans" far easier. And to spy more effectively, they would need to take on more work to acquire more authority. It was inevitable.
As for security, that matter was left to the Dark Angels.
Arthur had to suppress a laugh whenever he thought of the dejected look on the Dark Angels' faces. They would capture several "Alpharius" agents, only to discover they were tainted by Chaos and have to reluctantly toss the lot into the Immaterium.
Not every "Alpharius" wanted to handle paperwork, and even those who resigned themselves to the task had no desire to be welded to a desk for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, one couldn't deliberately obstruct the advancement of a 'loyal' battle-brother. This kind of human-on-human psychological warfare was a game the Dark Angels were perfectly suited to play.
They constructed a new Inner Circle system, designing a multi-tiered ladder of promotion and classifying all administrative documents by clearance level. Every time a file was declassified, the Alpha Legionaries could feel new levels of access unlocking before them, like a carrot dangled before a grox.
The process would be complex, for both sides were masters of intrigue.
Fortunately, the Dark Angels were enjoying themselves immensely.
They shied away from doing the administrative work themselves, but they were enthusiastically invested in supervising the Alpha Legion. The vigour they displayed in this task stood in stark contrast to the withered, hunched-over posture they adopted when faced with an actual desk.
In short, they had no energy for the work itself.
But for supervising the work of others? For that, their energy was boundless.
"Good."
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