Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 52: Fellow Townsman

After the secret meeting concluded, Soshyan left the frigate 'Glorious Saber', headed to the newly arrived 'Starfire', and began organizing the transfer of orbital station personnel aboard.

Meanwhile, Loken and Farzad's squad remained on the 'Glorious Saber'. Loken was scheduled to attend an important meeting a bit later, and the Space Marines would be present throughout to ensure the meeting proceeded smoothly.

As usual, a small group of servitors huddled in the shadows of the comms room's corners, manipulating the runic symbols on the curved walls.

To Loken's delight, the mutant Navigator had already returned to his quarters to rest; the sudden appearance of those beings always set his nerves on edge.

He then entered the main conference room adjacent to the bridge.

It was deathly quiet inside; only Loken's perfunctory greetings echoed through the chamber.

After a while, everyone had gathered. One of the communications officers spoke up without preamble.

"We have received orders from Training Fleet Command."

He announced:

"The frequency of pirate incidents has been on a rising trend recently. We are to immediately join the Thirty-Second Patrol and Escort Formation."Loken's heart sank, though he had long anticipated this.

The communications officer looked toward Captain Hodges, unsure if the latter was signaling him to continue briefing the situation.

Ultimately, he resolved to press on.

"It is believed that the Sector Governor has run into some trouble, things like riots caused by supply shortages due to blockaded shipping lanes."

"Oh really?"

Loken asked in feigned surprise:

"Hasn't everything been quite peaceful lately?"

"Who knows."

The communications officer shrugged.

"I thought the same at first. The Governor might just be a little spooked. This is probably the first time he's ever seen large-scale unrest."

"The appearance of traitors here indicates it likely isn't just a rumor. The sector is under threat."

The Vice-Captain swiftly cut in.

"We must join the fleet immediately."

"I still think it's nothing more than rumors."

Loken emphasized again. His words drew dissatisfaction from some of the officers, but no one voiced it. Meanwhile, the ship's Tech-Priest remained utterly silent throughout.

"What are our orders?"

Finally, the Vice-Captain looked at Hodges, as did everyone else.

"We are leaving this place."

Hodges, resting his chin on intertwined fingers, gave an impassive reply. This brought a sigh of relief to many; after what had transpired, no one wanted to stay here any longer.

"Sir, when?"

"Very soon—"

Hodges's gaze was currently as deep as the endless void beyond the viewports. The Vice-Captain suddenly realized that his superior's former aura of despondence had vanished.

It was replaced by an icy, unwavering resolve, like a glacier.

"Very soon, we will depart alongside Chapter Master Soshyan."

"What?!"

Everyone was startled, the Vice-Captain even jumping out of his chair. The only one who didn't move was the Tech-Priest of the 'Glorious Saber', who remained seated like a statue, so still that it was difficult to tell if he was even breathing.

"Are my words so difficult to understand?"

"Sir, Command's orders dictate that we—"

"I have received them."

Hodges lowered his hands, looked at the Vice-Captain, and replied calmly:

"Do you have any other questions?"

"B-But..."

The Vice-Captain took a step back. He now thoroughly understood what Hodges intended to do. He then cast his gaze toward the other officers; though their faces were all fraught with unease, none of them spoke up.

Hodges's prestige was still quite high, and furthermore, most of the people here had been personally promoted by him, with the exception of the Vice-Captain.

The Vice-Captain had graduated from the Naval Academy and had only served under Hodges for two years. In reality, as a noble, his future prospects were vastly brighter than Hodges's. In another two years, he would likely be given independent command of a frigate himself.

"No! Sir! This is mutiny! You cannot do this!"

The Vice-Captain clearly had no desire to join the Space Marines on a crusade with an utterly unknown future. Hodges let out a sigh.

Just as Hodges's shoulders slumped to accommodate his sigh, a mechadendrite suddenly rose from beneath the robes of the Tech-Priest beside the Vice-Captain. The needle-pistol mounted on it emitted a soft 'pew'.

Then came the muffled thud of a heavy body hitting the floor.

Seeing the Vice-Captain collapse, the other officers immediately fell into a panic. Hodges raised a hand to calm them.

"Do not panic. I haven't killed him. Let him just sleep for a while."

As he spoke, soft snores began emanating from the fallen Vice-Captain on the floor. Hearing this, the tension on the faces of the other officers eased considerably.

Hodges stood up, swept his gaze over the assembly, and said:

"You all know me, and I know all of you. Every decision I make is carefully considered. Even if it wronged you slightly, I absolutely wouldn't do it."

Everyone nodded one after another.

"We are all mortals, and can only be mortals. But if we only wished to live the lives of ordinary men, why did we ever board a drifting warship? Wouldn't it be better to spend our lives peacefully on the ground? Some may have been forced, but I believe that out of everyone sitting here, absolutely none of you were forced! You are all like me; blood unwilling to accept mediocrity flows through our veins! You have hearts that yearn for great deeds, a craving to let the Emperor's name shine across the void, a craving to annihilate the great enemy in the Emperor's name!"

Saying this, he slammed his cap heavily onto the table.

"Then let's do it! Hesitate no longer! Even if we are ground to dust in the next breath, at least we will stand gloriously beside the Emperor, rather than struggling in agony to die on a sickbed!"

"For the Emperor!!"

The crowd shouted in unison.

Loken promptly breathed a sigh of relief, then gave a thumbs-up to Gemini Ford, the Tech-Priest of the 'Glorious Saber'.

But the other man merely met it with an impassive stare.

After the meeting concluded, Hodges ordered the warship sealed, only allowing the cargo bay workers access while transferring supplies. The rest of the sailors remained completely ignorant of the drastic upheaval that had just occurred.

They only knew that a squad of Space Marines had boarded the ship, but had no idea what that signified.

At this time, Loken departed the 'Glorious Saber' with Gemini Ford and headed to the 'Starfire' to meet Soshyan, report on the progress of the situation, and introduce a new member.

"Chapter Master."

On the bridge, Loken and Ford met with Soshyan, who was currently studying a dataslate.

"Is it finished?"

Hearing the voice, Soshyan lowered the dataslate and saw Loken approaching with the Tech-Priest of the 'Glorious Saber'.

"Yes, everything is sorted. Hodges has complete control over the 'Glorious Saber'."

"And this is..."

Without waiting for Loken to make the introduction, the Tech-Priest spoke up himself:

"Gemini Ford."

"He is a fellow townsman of mine; we joined the Cult together. However, my focus was mechanics, whereas his was biology."

A Magos Biologis? Soshyan was suddenly curious. The man had clearly been serving as the Enginseer of the 'Glorious Saber' earlier; how had he suddenly become a Magos Biologis?

Catching Soshyan's questioning gaze, Loken hurriedly explained:

"Like me, he was marginalized by those incompetents and tossed onto a frigate to do menial work."

"I was dragged down by you."

Gemini Ford replied coolly.

"Perfect timing. Our Apothecary requires a capable assistant for medical duties and safeguarding the gene-seed."

As he spoke, Soshyan extended his massive hand toward Ford.

"Welcome to our ranks, Adept Ford."

Gemini Ford hesitated for two seconds before grasping Soshyan's index finger with one of his hands, formally accepting the handshake.

"It is a profound honor to serve you and the Chapter, Chapter Master Soshyan."