The cold sensation snaking through Cassar's mind was like an old friend, the touch of something reasВsuring. The metallic caress of the Dies Irae as its cortical interfaces meshed with his consciousness would have been terrifying to most people, but it was one of the few constants Moderati Titus Cassar had left in the galaxy.
That and the Lectitio Divinitatus.
The Titan's bridge was dim, lit by ghostly readВouts and telltales that lined the ornate bridge in hard greens and blues. The Mechanicum had been busy, sending cloaked adepts into the Titan, and the bridge was packed with equipment he didn't yet know the purpose of. The deck crew manning the plasma reactor at the war machine's heart had been readying the Titan for battle since the Vengeful Spirit
arrived in the Isstvan system, and every indication was that the Dies Irae's major systems were all funcВtioning better than ever.
Cassar was glad of any advantage the war machine could get, but somewhere deep down he resented the thought of anyone else touching the Titan. The interface filaments coiled deeper into his scalp, sending an unexpected chill through him. The Titan's systems lit up behind Cassar's eyes as though they were a part of his own body. The plasma reactor was ticking over quietly, its pent-up energy ready to erupt into full battle order at his command.
'Motivation systems are a little loose,' he said to himself, tightening the pressure on the massive hydraulic rams in the Titan's torso and legs.
Weapons hot, ammunition loaded,’ he said, knowing that it would take no more than a thought to unleash them.
He had come to regard the power and magnifiВcence of the Dies Irae as the Emperor personified. Cassar had resisted the thought at first, mocking Jonah Aruken's insistence that the Titan had a soul, but it had become more and more obvious why he had been chosen by the saint.
The Lectitio Divinitatus was under threat and the faithful had to be defended. He almost laughed aloud as the thought formed, but what he had seen on the Medicae deck had only deepened the strength of his conviction that he had chosen the right path.
The Titan was a symbol of that strength, an avatar of divine wrath, a god-machine that brought the Emperor's judgement to the sinners of Isstvan.
The Emperor protects,’ whispered Cassar, his voice drifting down through the layers of readouts in his mind, 'and he destroys.' 'Does he now?'
Cassar snapped out of his thoughts and the Titan's systems retreated beneath his consciousness. He looked up in sudden panic, but let out a relieved breath as he saw Moderati Aruken standing over him.
Aruken snapped a switch and the bridge lights flickered to life. 'Be careful who hears you, Titus, now more than ever,’
'I was running through pre-battle checks,’ said Cassar.
'Of course you were, Titus. If Princeps Turnet hears you saying things like that you'll be for it,’
'My thoughts are my own, Jonah. Not even the princeps can deny me that,’
'You really believe that? Come on, Titus. You know full well this cult stuff isn't welcome. We were lucky on the Medicae deck, but this is bigger than you and me and it's getting too dangerous,’
*We can't back away from it now,’ said Cassar, 'not after what we saw,’
'I'm not even sure what I saw,’ said Aruken defenВsively.
'You're joking, surely?'
'No,’ insisted Araken, 'I'm not. Look, I'm telling you this because you're a good man and the Dies Irae will suffer if you're not here. She needs a good crew and you're part of it,’
'Don't change the subject,’ said Cassar. 'We both know that what we saw on the Medicae deck was a miracle. You have to accept that before the Emperor can enter your heart,’
'Listen, I've been hearing some scuttlebutt on the deck, Titus,’ said Aruken, leaning closer. Turner's been asking questions: about us. He's asking about how deep this runs, as though we're part of some hidden conspiracy. It's as if he doesn't trust us any more,’
'Let him come,’
'You don't understand. When we're in battle we're a good team, and if we get… I don't know… thrown in a cell or worse, that team gets broken up and there isn't a better crew for the Dies Irae than us. Don't let this saint business break that up. The Crusade will suffer for it,’
'My faith won't allow me to make compromises, Jonah,’
'Well that's all it is,’ snapped Aruken. 'Your faith,’
'No,’ s.aid Titus, shaking his head. 'It's your faith too, Jonah, you just don't know it yet,’
Aruken didn't answer and slumped into his own command chair, nodding at the readouts in front of Cassar. 'How's she looking?'
'Good. The reactor is ticking over smoothly and the targeting is reacting faster than I've seen it in a
while. The Mechanicum adepts have been tinkering so there are a few more bells and whistles to play with,’
You say that as if it's a bad thing, Titus. The Mechanicum know what they're doing. Anyway, the latest news is that we've got twelve hours to go before the drop. We're going in with the Death Guard on support duties. Princeps Turnet will brief us in a few hours, but it's basically pounding the ground and scaring the shit out of the enemy. Sound good?'
'It sounds like battle,’
'It's all the same thing for the Dies Irae when the bullets are flying,’ said Aruken.
'This reminds me of why I was so proud,’ said Loken, looking at the speartip assembling on the Vengeful Spirit's embarkation deck. 'Joining the Mournival, and just to be a part of this,’
'I am still proud,’ said Torgaddon. 'This is my Legion. That hasn't changed,’
Loken and Torgaddon, fully armoured and ready for the drop, stood at the head of a host of Astartes. More than a third of the Legion was there, thouВsands of warriors arrayed for war. Loken saw veterans alongside newly inducted novices, assault warriors with chainswords and bulky jump packs, and devastators hefting heavy bolters and lascan-nons.
Sergeant Lachost was speaking with his commuВnications squad, making sure they understood the
importance of keeping a link with the Vengeful Spirit once they were down in the Choral City.
Apothecary Vaddon was checking and re-checking his medical gear, the narthecium gauntlet with its cluster of probes and the reductor that would harvest gene-seeds from the fallen.
Iacton Qruze, who had been a captain for so long that he was as old as an Astartes could be and still count himself a warrior, was lecturing some of the more recent inductees on the past glories of the Legion that they had to live up to.
'I'd be happier with the Tenth,’ said Loken, returnВing his attention to his friend.
'And I with the Second,' replied Torgaddon, 'but we can't always have what we want.' 'Garvi!' called a familiar voice. Loken turned and saw Nero Vipus approaching them, leaving the veterans of Locasta to continue their preparations for the drop. 'Nero,' said Loken, 'good to have you with us.' Vipus clapped Loken's shoulder guard with the augmetic hand that had replaced the organic one he'd lost on Sixty-Three Nineteen. 'I wouldn't have missed this,’ he said.
'I know what you mean,’ replied Loken. It had been a long time since they had lined up on the Vengeful Spirit as brothers, ready to fight the Emperor's good fight. Nero Vipus and Loken were the oldest of friends, back from the barely rememВbered blur of training, and it was reassuring to have another familiar face alongside him.
'Have you heard the reports from Isstvan Extremis?' asked Vipus, his eyes alight.
'Some of them,’
'They say the enemy has got some kind of psychic leadership caste and that their soldiers are fanatics. My choler's up just thinking about it,’
'Don't worry,’ said Torgaddon. 'I'm sure you'll kill them all,’
'It's like Davin again,’ said Vipus, baring his teeth in a grimace of anticipation.