'I'm trying.’ said Haegr.
'Focus on Gabriella's scent instead. You know it better.’ recommended Torin.
Haegr gave his friend a look. He wasn't sure if Torin was implying something or not. Haegr knew that he had a strange feeling for Gabriella, but he told himself it was a sense of protectiveness.
From one of the palace windows, Haegr could see drop-pods descending amidst the fire and smoke of the combat. The Space Wolves had arrived! Just catching sight of the wolf symbol made his blood race, although he felt a sense of disquiet as well. He should be in one of those drop-pods with his battle-brothers. Then, he realised that the symbol belonged to Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist.
'Impressive, isn't it?' asked Torin. The other Marines were gathered around, momentarily distracted by the scene of drop-pod after drop-pod coming down.
'Look.’ said Elijah, pointing out of the window. More Dark Angels drop-pods were descending. The Dark Angels were still coming. The battle was escalating.
They were running out of time.
Gabriella struggled against her bonds as the commander pulled her through dark passage after dark passage. She had lost all sense of time and place. Guards walked behind them, hard-looking men with scars and oddly mixed armour and unique weapons. There were at least six with them, but she couldn't tell if there were more. These were Cadmus's hand-picked troops: men who had followed him to this planet.
She knew that the Wolfblade would come for her. The Space Wolves would not relent until they found her. Cadmus would die for his treason.
Yet she could feel other forces at work. In her mind's eye, colours swirled, vibrant and bright. She could feel the power of Chaos coursing through these dark passages. She saw images of Madox and the Thousand
Sons, just as she had felt them before when Cadmus had contacted them in his ritual. They were coming, and they had something with them, something that they had brought from the warp.
Then, she saw an image that she knew from ancient tapestries and paintings. She saw the Spear of Russ, the artifact that Ragnar had lost. It was in the possession of the Thousand Sons, they must have recovered it from the warp. She knew the story about Ragnar and how the Thousand Sons had nearly opened a gateway between the warp and the physical world, attempting to summon their primarch, Magnus the Red.
Would they succeed this time?
ELEVEN
Dark Angels and Wolfblade Unite
A war raged in the city of Lethe between the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels. The ten thousand year-old distrust of these two founding members of the Adeptus Astartes was being exploited by the powers of Chaos.
Ragnar and Jeremiah were in unexplored territory. The mixed band of Space Marines was setting out to find Cadmus and bring him to justice, rescue Gabriella, and work out a way to bring this conflict to an end without sacrificing the honour of either of the proud Space Marine Chapters.
Torin, Haegr, Nathaniel and Elijah had just completed their search of the palace. There were no additional signs of Cadmus anywhere to be found. During their search of one of the communication temples they did, however, come across Tech-Priest
Varnus. Varnus was monitoring several communication channels while directing his servitors to areas and equipment that needed to come to the assistance of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The tech-priest accompanied them, walking between Haegr and Torin, his scarlet robes lightly dusting the floor. With the exception of a few minor scraps and some fresh oil stains on his robe, he looked exactly the same as he had when the Wolfblade had first met him.
As the group approached the entrance to the command centre the heavy metal doors slid open as Ragnar and Jeremiah entered the corridor.
'Ragnar, Jeremiah, allow me to introduce Tech-Priest-' Torin began.
'Varnus, it is good to see that you are alive.' Rag-nar's surprise and relief were apparent. 'We are in your debt. Had you not opened the blast door, Cad-mus's treacherous attempt to destroy us would have succeeded.'
'Indeed, your plight seemed rather perilous. I'm sorry I could not have been of assistance sooner. It had only recently become apparent to me that the governor's forces had been compromised.' There were no emotional inflections in the tech-priest's voice and his mechanically assisted breathing remained eerily rhythmic.
'Compromised is an understatement. Cadmus is undoubtedly in the service of Chaos.'
'Haegr will wipe his Chaos taint from existence,' Haegr promised.
'Yes, Haegr, we will, but first things first,' Ragnar responded.
'What could be more important than cutting out his treacherous heart?' Haegr's words revealed his simplistic perception of the universe.
'I believe that Ragnar is talking about our newly landed brethren who are fighting and dying on the streets of Lethe,' Torin said.
'Perhaps I can be of assistance,' Varnus interrupted. 'Shortly after the Dark Angels began their assault, the Space Wolf patrol fleet commanded by Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist arrived.’ Varnus paused as if checking his facts.
'Yes they were the forces of Thunderfist. After several attempts by him to determine why they had quarantined Hyades, he was forced to engage the Dark Angels, and through a daring ship-to-ship engagement was able to deploy his forces. It was here that I discovered the treachery of Commander Cadmus. His troop deployments were not consistent with defending the city. He had removed his most experienced forces from the city, leaving his less experienced troops defending the brant of the attack. That, combined with several communications between Cadmus and his storm troopers that I was able to monitor, forced me to take action. I only regret that my actions did not come soon enough.'
'Have you made contact with the Space Wolf landing forces yet?' Ragnar asked.
'No, but I believe that their commander has been successful at contacting some of the loyal Hyades ground forces.’ Varnus answered.
'Once the Space Wolves were on the ground they established communication with the loyal factions of
the planetary defence forces. It was through this alliance that they were able to establish a defensive perimeter within the city, right around the palace compound. With the defensive lines firmly established, the allied forces have begun to push back the Dark Angels.’ Varnus concluded.
Ragnar and the rest of the Wolfblade were relieved to hear that the tide of battle appeared to be swinging in their direction. Ragnar, however, knew that what was good news for him and his Wolfblade brothers was worrying to his new-found allies. The alliance forged with the Dark Angels kill team was tenuous at best, and if they were going to bring this conflict to an end it would be this relationship that would be the catalyst.
'This madness has to end.’ said Ragnar. 'Cadmus has been pulling the strings from the beginning. Everything that's happened has been according to his design.’
'That is true, Ragnar, everything except one element: our alliance! Cadmus could never comprehend that the Lion and the Wolf would be capable of setting aside ten thousand years of distrust. It is this alliance that gives us the advantage.’ Jeremiah said.
Ragnar was relieved that Jeremiah's thoughts were the same as his. However, the Wolfblade's first duty was to House Belisarius. The information provided by Varnus left them free to pursue the traitor and rescue Lady Gabriella.
'Varnus, can you establish communications with the Spaces Marine forces here on Hyades, and inform them of Cadmus's treachery? Ragnar asked.
'Yes, I believe that I can.’ Varnus replied.
Ragnar hoped that Varnus would be able to use his skills as a tech-priest to establish communication channels with the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels. This could be a useful resource when the time was right.
'Our priority is to locate Cadmus.’ Torin exclaimed.
'Yes, but he could be anywhere. In fact, I would be surprised if he was still on the planet at all.’ Haegr said.
'No, he's still here. He wants to ensure that his plan works.’ Nathaniel added.
'How can you be certain?' Ragnar asked.
The Dark Angels remained silent, exchanging glances between themselves until Jeremiah finally spoke.