Dan Abnett - Know no fear. The Battle of Calth

‘Arook Serotid, Skitarii Kalkas Cohort,’ he replies. His voice is slightly halting, as if he is not practised at talking. ‘We realised from the Word Bearers activity there had to be XIII strengths in the vicinity. Just the two of you?’

‘Yes. We thank you for your intervention.’

‘It will count as nothing if we remain here much longer, captain,’ replies Arook. ‘We have the firepower to assault a small squad, a vehicle or two. But power reserves are limited, and we cannot take on the mass of the enemy forces.’

‘Can you get us out of here?’ asks Ventanus.

‘We can get you to our senior magos,’ says Arook. ‘It is hoped we can begin to coordinate our resistance.’

Ventanus nods. The skitarii lead the way to the closest exit point.

Arook notes the standard that Ventanus is carrying.

‘That is bulky,’ he says. ‘There is no need to bring it.’

‘There really is,’ says Selaton.

She uses her fleshvoice.

‘I am Meer Edv Tawren,’ she says. ‘I hold the rank of magos. I am the acting Server of Instrumentation for Calth/Numinus.’

‘There doesn’t appear to be much left to instrument,’ says Ventanus.

‘True enough,’ replies Tawren. ‘This is a hateful day. Both of our institutions have lost grievously–’

‘The Imperium has lost grievously,’ says Ventanus. ‘Indeed, something more awful than that has occurred. For reasons I cannot even make a theoretical about, the Word Bearers have turned on us. They have unleashed open war on Calth, on the XIII, on the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, and on the Imperium of Mankind.’

She nods. She is tall and solemn. Her ceremonial robes of office are dirty and torn, and they are stiff with bloodstains. In the last few hours, someone has died while being cradled in her arms.

They are standing in a sub-ground cistern several hundred metres north of the main Numinus arterial. It is a dank cavern, a storm drain for the river system. Arook has suggested that the density of rockcrete above their heads can deter the detection systems the Word Bearers are using.

‘My direct superior is dead,’ says Tawren. ‘We escaped from the Watchtower at the time of the ship impact, but it was too late for him. Responsibility for command and coordination falls to me.’

‘What resources do you have?’ asks Ventanus.

‘I have a force of about three hundred skitarii, with portable weapons and some light support,’ she replies, ‘and that number is growing as we contact other survivor groups. We have no manifold capacity, no noosphere, and absolutely no operational control of the data-engines or the Veridian system weapons grid.’

‘None at all?’

She shakes her head.

‘This is due to scrapcode infection that immediately preceded the start of hostilities. We believe that the XVII Legion deliberately introduced a scrapcode plague into the Calth noospherics prior to attack in order to destabilise then cripple the Mechanicum’s capability.’

‘Since when does a Legion technologically outflank the Mechanicum, magos?’ Ventanus asks.

‘Since today, captain.’

‘So… this scrapcode, it was new to you?’

‘It was like nothing we had ever encountered before. Not just the coding language. The very basis of it. We are still not entirely sure what it is or how it operates.’

‘Further evidence that this was planned and orchestrated well in advance,’ says Selaton.

No one speaks. For a moment, the only sound is dirty water plinking down from the overflow chutes.

‘What is your intention at this point?’ Ventanus asks.

Tawren looks at him.

‘I will use every means at my disposal to regain control of the data-engines. To oust the enemy from our systems and retake the noosphere.’

‘The weapons grid would certainly be a considerable asset,’ says Ventanus. ‘Not to say a crucial one. I fear the XIII has been worse than decimated. I fear for the fleet too.’

‘We have very little in terms of accurate projections,’ says Arook, ‘but at least fifty per cent of the fleet assembly and the ground forces appear to be lost.’

Ventanus tries to focus. He tries to get into theoretical so that he can assist the strategy planning. He tries not to dwell on the practical that over one hundred thousand Ultramarines may already be dead. Dead in just a few hours. It is the greatest Legion loss in history, by an appreciable margin.

‘How do you contact them?’ Selaton asks, suddenly.

‘I beg your pardon?’ replies Tawren.

‘You said the skitarii numbers are increasing as you contact other survivor groups. How do you contact them? There is no vox.’

‘True, but the skitarii have a dedicated emergency manifold, a crisis back-up,’ says Tawren. ‘Arook has switched to the reinforced, military code system of his brigade. The range is limited, but secure.’

‘You have limited secure comms?’ asks Ventanus.

She nods.

‘I need to contact Legion Command,’ he says.

‘Not possible,’ replies Arook. ‘We have no orbital links.’

‘Then I need to contact my company,’ Ventanus counters. ‘There are skitarii units stationed with the Mechanicum support at the Erud muster. I need to contact them.’

‘Erud Station?’ Arook echoes. He glares his red eyes at the server. One of them flickers on and off, sporadically.

‘Of course,’ she says.

Ventanus slots open the cuff of his armour, and lights up a small hololithic chart. He scans the terrain, zipping back and forth. Selaton looks over his shoulder.

‘Theoretical,’ says Ventanus. ‘If we can get the muster moving, we could coordinate a rendezvous. Somewhere here. On the Plains of Dera. Zetaya, perhaps.’

‘It’s defensible, but open to the west,’ Selaton points out. ‘Lernaea might be a better choice.’

‘They’d be too exposed crossing the valley floor,’ says Ventanus. He alters the projection.

‘What about Melatis? It’s got a good position, and it’s agricultural. With fortune on our side, it won’t have been hit in the first strike. Not an important enough asset.’

‘Fortune does not seem to have been on our side much so far today, captain,’ says Selaton.

‘What are you talking about, Kiuz?’ Ventanus snaps. ‘We’re here, aren’t we?’

He turns to Arook and Tawren.

‘When you establish contact, I can give you an authority code to identify me. Try to find out who you’re talking to. Ideally, Captain Sydance or Captain Yaulus. I need them to advance any units they have to Melatis on the plains. I’ll meet them there.’

‘You intend to go overland to Melatis?’ asks Tawren.

‘Yes,’ says Ventanus simply.

‘It is probably an over-ambitious goal,’ she says gently.

‘Severe bombing north of the river,’ says Arook. ‘They’ve taken out the highway. The enemy is also massing engines along the Neride Wall.’

‘Titans?’ asks Ventanus.

Arook hesitates.

‘It shocks me too, sir,’ he says stiffly. ‘I have no idea how any Mechanicum engine could have been so miserably corrupted. Loyalty and devotion seem to be in short supply at this hour.’

‘Leptius Numinus,’ says Tawren.

They all look at her.

‘The old gubernatorial palace, on the plains,’ she explains. ‘It was high on my list of potential destinations. The palace has a non-active but functional data-engine, as well as a high-cast vox array. Neither are operational when the governor is not in residence, but they are maintained. I was hoping that, because both systems were off-line, they might have been spared scrapcode infection and electromagnetic damage.’

‘We could contact the fleet?’ asks Ventanus.