Ben Counter - Galaxy in Flames

The Dies Irae was coming back to life around him; he could sense the god-machine's limbs flood with power and could feel the weapons reloading. The plasma reactor at its heart was beating in time with his own, a ball of nuclear flame that burned with the Emperor's own righteous strength.

Even here, among all this death and horror, the Emperor was with him. The god-machine was the instrument of His will, standing firm among the destruction. That thought comforted Cassar and helped him focus. If the Emperor was here, then the Emperor would protect.

'Orders in from the Vengeful Spirit,' said Turnet briskly. 'Moderati, open fire.'

'Open fire?' said Aruken. 'Sir? The Isstvanians are gone. They're dead.'

To Cassar, Aruken's voice sounded distant, for he was subsumed in the systems of the Titan, but he heard Tumet's voice as clearly as if he had spoken in his own ear.

'Not at the Isstvanians,’ replied Turnet, 'at the Death Guard.'

'Princeps?' said Aruken. 'Fire on the Death Guard?'

'I am not in the habit of repeating my orders, moderati,’ replied Turnet, 'and they are to fire on the Death Guard. They have defied the Warmaster.'

Cassar froze. As if there wasn't enough death on Isstvan III, now the Dies lrae was to fire on the Death Guard, the very force they had been sent to support.

'Sir,’ he said. 'This doesn't make any sense,’

'It doesn't need to!' shouted Turnet, his patience finally at an end. 'Just do as I order,’

Looking straight into Tumet's eyes, the truth hit Titus Cassar as though the Emperor had reached out from Terra and filled him with the light of truth.

The Isstvanians didn't do this, did they?' he asked. The Warmaster did,’

Turnet's face creased in a slow smile and Cassar saw his hand reaching towards his holstered sidearm.

Cassar didn't give him the chance to get there first and snatched for his own autopistol.

Both men drew their pistols and fired.

Maggard took a step forwards, drawing his golden Kirlian blade and unholstering his pistol. His bulk was even more massive than Sindermann rememВ­bered, grossly swollen to proportions beyond human and more reminiscent of an Astartes. Had that been Maggard's reward for his services to the Warmaster?

Without wasting words of preamble, Qruze raised his bolter and fired, but Maggard's armour was the equal of Astartes plate and the shot simply sigВ­nalled the beginning of a duel.

Sindermann and Mersadie ducked as Maggard's pistol spat fire, the noise appalling as the two warВ­riors ran towards one another with their guns blazing.

Keeler watched calmly as Maggard's gunfire blew chunks from Qruze's armour, but before he could fire any more, Qruze was upon him.

Qruze smashed his fist into Maggard's midriff, but the silent killer rode the punch and swung his sword for the Astartes's head. Qruze ducked back from the great slash of Maggard's sword, the blade

slicing though the armour at the Astartes warrior's stomach.

Blood sprayed briefly from the wound and Qruze dropped to his knees in sudden pain before drawВ­ing his combat knife, the blade as long as a mortal warrior's sword.

Maggard leapt towards him and his sword hacked a deep gouge in Qruze's side. Yet more blood spilled from the venerable Astartes's body. Another killing strike slashed towards Qruze, but this time combat knife and Kirlian blade met in a shower of fiery sparks. Qruze recovered first and stabbed his blade through the gap between Maggard's greaves. The assassin stumbled backwards and Qruze rose unsteadily to his feet.

The assassin stepped in close and lunged with his sword. Maggard was almost the equal of Qruze in physique and had youth on his side, but even Sin-dermann could see he was slower, as if his new form was unfamiliar, not yet worn in.

Qruze sidestepped a huge arcing strike of MagВ­gard's sword and swung inside his opponent's defence, reaching around to lock his head in the crook of his elbow.

His other arm snapped round to plunge the knife into Maggard's throat, but a fist seized Qruze's hand in an iron grip, halting the blade inches from the man's pulsing jugular.

Qruze fought to force the blade upwards, but Maggard's newly enhanced strength was the greater and he began to force the blade to one side. Beads

of sweat popped on Qruze's face, and Sindermann knew that this was a struggle he could not win alone.

He pushed himself to his feet and ran towards Maggard's fallen pistol, its matt black finish cold and lethal-looking. Though designed for a mortal grip, the pistol still felt absurdly huge in his hands. Sindermann held the heavy pistol outstretched and marched towards the struggling warriors. He couldn't risk a shot from any kind of distance, he was no marksman and was as likely to hit their deliverer as their killer.

He walked up to the fight and placed the muzzle of the pistol directly on the bleeding wound where Qruze had stabbed Maggard. He pulled the trigger and the recoil of the shot almost shattered his wrist, but the effect of his intervention more than made up for the trauma.

Maggard opened his mouth in a silent scream and his entire body flinched in sudden agony. MagВ­gard's grip on the knife weakened and, with a roar of anger, Qruze punched it into the base of his opponent's jaw and through the roof of his mouth. Maggard buckled and fell to the side with the force of a falling tree. The golden armoured assasВ­sin and the Astartes rolled and Qruze was on top of his enemy, still gripping the knife.

Face to face for a moment, Maggard spat a mouthful of blood into Qruze's face. Qruze pushed the knife deeper into Maggard's jaw, plunging it into his opponent's brain.

Maggard spasmed, his huge bulk thrashing briefly, and when he stopped Qruze was looking into a pair of blank, dead eyes. Qruze pushed himself from Maggard's body. 'Face to face,’ said Qruze, breathing heavily with the exertion of killing Maggard. 'Not with treachery, from a thousand miles up. Face to face.'

He looked at Sindermann and nodded his thanks. The warrior was wounded and exhausted, but there was a calm serenity to him.

'I remember how it used to be,' he said. 'We were brothers on Cthonia. Not just among ourselves, but with our enemies, too. That was what the Emperor saw in us when he came to the hives. We were gangs of killers as existed on a thousand other worlds, but we believed in a code that was more precious than life. That was what he wrought into the Luna Wolves. I thought that even if none of the rest of us remembered, the Warmaster would, because he was the one the Emperor chose to lead us.' 'No,’ said Keeler, 'you are the last one,’ 'And when I realised that I just… told them what they wanted to hear. I tried to be one of them, and I succeeded. I almost forgot everything, until… until now,’

The music of the spheres,’ said Sindermann qui­etly.

Qruze's eyes focused again on Keeler and his face

hardened.

'I did nothing, Half-heard,’ said Keeler, answering his unasked question. 'You said so yourself. The

ways of Cthonia were the reason the Emperor chose you and your brothers for the Luna Wolves. Perhaps it was the Emperor who reminded you,’

'I saw this coming for so long, but I let it, because I thought that was my code now, but nothing changed, not really. The enemy just moved from out there to amongst us,’

'Look, as profound as this all is, can we get the hell out of here?' asked Mersadie.

Qruze nodded and beckoned them towards the Thunderhawk gunship. 'You're right, Miss Oliton, let's get off this ship. It is dead to me now,’

We're with you, captain,’ said Sindermann as he gingerly picked his way over Maggard's body after Qruze. The years seemed to have dropped from him, as if the energy lost in the fight was returning with interest. Sindermann saw a light in his eyes he hadn't seen before.