novelraw Chapter 47: An Arrived Promise
Chapter 47: An Arrived Promise
"Adept Loken?"
Soshyan took a closer look and realized the man was actually the orbital station's Tech-Priest. The man was clearly terrified by the brutal battlefield, especially at the sight of the dead Space Marines littering the deck.
Official Imperial propaganda had always proclaimed the Astartes to be immortal angels, and Loken had grown up subjected to such indoctrination. One could only imagine the shock to his heart upon seeing these angels in such a miserable, blood-soaked state.
The other warriors had also noticed the sudden appearance of the Adeptus Mechanicus priest, but they didn't pay him much mind, as they were busy tending to the wounded and recovering the wargear of the fallen.
"Adept Loken?"
Seeing the man standing there in a daze, Soshyan called out again. This time his voice was louder, and the man jolted, immediately snapping back to reality.
"A-Apologies!"
Loken bowed his back and spoke in an earnest tone:
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Soshyan looked at him in confusion. The man had obviously showed up on his own accord, yet acted as if Soshyan had summoned him."I do need your assistance. It concerns the supplies and wargear our Chapter previously reserved."
"Oh, oh, right this way! Right this way!"
Loken nodded hastily and led Soshyan to a centralized warehouse compound not far from the starport. This was the primary storage facility for the orbital station's materials. Constructed of solid adamantium, without Loken's clearance, even the main cannons of a warship might not blow it open.
"It's... right here!"
There were five warehouses in total. The Tech-Priest stopped in front of the third massive door.
He then opened a nearby console, inserted a mechadendrite, and inputted his security and biometric codes.
Once the sequence was complete, the adamantium doors—ten meters tall and five meters thick—slowly ground open with a harsh, scraping sound, much like the portals of a mythological titan.
As the doors slid apart along their tracks, a massive billow of steam flooded out from the gap, engulfing Soshyan and Loken.
"It's right inside."
Loken coughed twice, shook his red robes, and stepped forward, with Soshyan following closely behind.
As soon as they entered the warehouse, all the lighting fixtures immediately flared to life. This place ran on an independent power supply, and thus was unaffected by the central power system's failure.
Soshyan was instantly stunned by the sight within.
It was a space as large as the 'Starfire' hangars. The first thing to catch his eye were the densely packed rows of monomolecular chainswords, power swords, power axes, boarding shields, and other melee wargear hanging from display racks along the walls. A single glance revealed hundreds of them.
And filling the center of the hall were a mountain of stacked, massive shipping containers, each one as tall as a Leman Russ battle tank.
Soshyan stepped up to one of the containers, and Loken tactfully moved to unlock it. However, due to his lack of physical strength, merely unlocking the latches took everything he had.
The Space Marine beside him said nothing, simply reaching out and pulling the doors open with ease.
The small interior lights also snapped on in an instant.
Inside lay rows of neatly arranged bolters and bolt pistols, while heavy bolters hung against the container's bulkheads. Beneath them were sealed ammunition crates.
Soshyan used a combat knife to pry open an ammo crate, revealing tightly packed tiers of bolt rounds. The brass casings still carried the scent of grease, clearly indicating they had been manufactured quite recently.
It wasn't just this crate; the entire warehouse was permeated with the scent of incense and sacred oils. It hardly felt like a sealed-off place abandoned by man.
"I inspect this wargear regularly,"
Loken revealed the truth.
"To ensure they are ready for use at all times."
Soshyan removed his helmet, nodded to the man, and said gently:
"You have put a lot of care into this, Adept Loken."
"It's nothing, merely a small matter. My mentor always said we must strive for perfection and never shy away from the trouble."
"Your mentor..."
Soshyan recalled the name Brother Zayd had mentioned to him.
"...is that Master Espid?"
He was referring to the Forge Lord of Makand II, Bishop Espid.
"Yes."
Loken nodded. His expression seemed somewhat unnatural, a detail Soshyan immediately caught.
"What happened?"
"My mentor... has already returned to the embrace of the Omnissiah."
"Is that so."
Soshyan nodded thoughtfully. He knew full well that the internal politics of the Adeptus Mechanicus were far from harmonious. Although they constantly emphasized their dedication to the machine, the desires and flaws of mortals had never truly vanished within them; at times, they were even stronger.
Jealousy and hatred never truly faded within their cold, mechanical logic. Sometimes, it was truly ironic to think about.
But Soshyan could only ask. It was exceedingly difficult for an outsider to meddle in internal Adeptus Mechanicus affairs, let alone someone representing a Chapter teetering on the edge of destruction.
The fact that the Chaos Space Marines had nearly succeeded this time was entirely due to their use of trickery to exploit a loophole. Otherwise, even for a fully intact Chaos warband, shaking a Forge World was not an easy feat.
"That's truly a pity. I had originally intended to thank him for his long-standing support of our Chapter."
"Uhm..."
Loken hesitated for a moment, then whispered:
"My mentor's death was not natural..."
Soshyan turned his head and looked at the young face beneath the cowl. For a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Loken certainly possessed a bit too much "flesh". There were almost no visible signs of augmentation on his face, making him look more like a priest of the Ecclesiarchy.
Perhaps feeling unnerved by Soshyan's stare, Loken hunched his shoulders and took a step back.
"My Lord, I-I didn't mean anything else by it."
"Since you are Master Espid's disciple, I shall be honest with you."
Soshyan sighed and spoke in a low voice:
"The reason we came to collect the supplies ourselves this time is because our Chapter recently went through a disastrous campaign. From the previous Chapter Master down, all seven hundred and seventy-one battle brothers of the Chapter died in action. We are left with only thirty-something recruits. I have barely taken command of the Chapter for a standard Terran week."
"Uh..."
Loken was dumbfounded. His worldview shattered into pieces. In his eyes, the battle that had erupted between these twenty-something Space Marines down in the orbital station was already equivalent to a clash of deities.
A war that could kill over seven hundred Space Marines in a single campaign... What kind of terrifying spectacle must that have been?
The hymns of the Omnissiah drifted through his mind, and he could almost see his mentor's wrinkled, mechanically augmented face smiling at him...
"...Our Monastery-Fortress has been handed over to another Chapter. Currently, we can only operate out of a single strike cruiser as our base. These supplies are crucial to us, so we have no choice but to collect them in person."
After Soshyan finished speaking, he noticed the other man seemed to be sleepwalking, so he bumped Loken's shoulder with his hand.
"Adept Loken?"
"Did you not wash... Ah! Apologies, apologies! It's not my place to ask, not my place."
After waking from his stupor with a start, Loken hurriedly bowed and nodded apologetically to Soshyan, causing the Space Marine to frown.
Most of the Adeptus Mechanicus members he had met were very rigid, acting much like real machines, but they were also exceedingly meticulous.
The Tech-Priest before him, however, seemed to have a few loose wires. If he hadn't been able to open the warehouse, Soshyan might have suspected he was just an Imperial Guard soldier in disguise.
"I almost forgot the main issue. Here is the supply manifest."
After regaining his senses, Loken fumbled around his robes for a moment before finally pulling out a dataslate and handing it to Soshyan.
"Fifty-six chainswords, eighty power swords, twenty power axes, four pairs of power fists, one hundred and twenty boarding shields, one hundred and forty bolters, two hundred and sixty bolt pistols, thirty heavy bolters, ten plasma pistols, forty armor-piercing rocket launchers, armor-piercing grenades..."
Reviewing this extensive inventory manifest, Soshyan couldn't help but praise the generosity of the former Mechanicus Bishop. Not only were there weapons here, but also a large number of power armor repair parts, sacred oils, spare servos, and so on.
No wonder it required such a massive warehouse.
After reviewing the list, Soshyan turned his gaze to Loken.
"Our warship will be docking at the starport shortly. Now, I must trouble you to arrange a work crew to transfer the supplies from the warehouse to the starport's loading bays."