Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 53: Departure

"Alas, yes. Those traitors hijacked the 'Glorious Saber'. Fortunately, the angels of the Astral Knights Chapter descended, and they annihilated most of the traitors."

Loken roared loudly on the bridge of the 'Starfire'. His voice was being transmitted through the long-range vox-caster to the surface of Makand II, which had been trying to contact the orbital station ever since receiving the distress signal.

The ground forces hadn't completely ruled out sending troops to reinforce them, but because communications had been jammed, they had no clear picture of the orbital station's situation.

If the station had already been seized by the enemy, any reinforcing units would very likely have been intercepted halfway.

It wasn't until Loken's transmission came through that they realized the orbital station had suffered a severe attack.

"Report the casualties and damages."

A metallic-sounding voice rang out from the other end of the vox. Loken could tell that the speaker was the current Forge Lord, and it was highly probable that this was the very man who had assassinated his mentor.

Merely from the man's tone, Loken could detect a thick scent of schadenfreude.

He sniffled and spoke in a sorrowful tone:

"Archmagos, the losses are catastrophic! The orbital station's power systems have been severely damaged. The traitors also destroyed a massive number of automated defense turrets and abducted everyone on the station!""Everyone!?"

At this point, the voice was no longer as composed as before, and Loken immediately felt a surge of vindictive pleasure.

"Yes! Those damned traitors! May they be cursed ten thousand times over! They abducted everyone! They didn't even spare my medical servitor!"

Not far behind him, Soshyan watched the man's theatrical display and simply shook his head, while Brother Lothar couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Are you certain?"

"I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Then why weren't you abducted?"

"Because the honored Astral Knights Chapter arrived in the nick of time! They annihilated that band of traitors before I fell victim to them!"

"I... let me speak to their commander."

"Archmagos, I'm afraid that's impossible. The angels are busy pursuing the traitors... Oh no! The 'Glorious Saber' is about to submerge into the Warp! The angels are about to board it!"

As he spoke, Loken inserted a mechadendrite into the console and inputted a string of garbled code. Instantly, the vox channel was filled with loud static noise.

"What? Hello! Loken! Can you hear me?!"

"Archmagos! Please rest assured, even if it costs me my life, I will bring the 'Glorious Saber' back! Wait for me—!"

After finishing his sentence, Loken immediately cut the transmission. He turned around and gave Soshyan an 'OK' gesture. The Chapter Master responded with a slight nod.

"Engage the Warp engines!"

The two warships, one following the other in an apparent posture of pursuit, leaped into the Warp sequentially from a position not far from the orbital station, vanishing into the boundless void.

In the spot where they had departed, the completely pulverized wreckage of the 'New Pharos' floated silently in the freezing void.

By the time ground vanguard forces arrived at the orbital station, all they saw was a metallic structure as deathly still as a graveyard. The interior was an absolute wreck; not only was there not a single living soul to be found, but a massive number of the station's attached automated defense turrets were also completely missing.

The Adeptus Mechanicus forces that arrived later conducted a meticulous sweep of the orbital station. Aside from discovering a pile of unrecognizable meaty mush in the blood-drenched main control room, the only other remains they found were the thoroughly incinerated, mangled corpses of nine Chaos Space Marines.

They had been arranged in the station's small chapel, facing the statue of the Emperor, and all frozen in a kneeling posture.

On the deck, a single line of High Gothic had been written in blood.

"Traitors shall die in disgrace."

After preliminary examinations of the medium-rare Chaos Space Marine corpses, it was discovered that all of their gene-seeds had been extracted. Based on the stiffness of the bodies, they had clearly been dead for some time.

The Mechanicus personnel subsequently searched the warehouses, only to find them cleaner than the face of the Emperor's statue in the chapel. Not only were all the supplies and armaments intended for the Astra Militarum completely gone, but even the twelve Malcador heavy tanks had vanished.

Even more absurdly, the orbital station's food stores and kitchens had been completely emptied!

Did those traitors bring a mob of beggars along for the robbery?

This puzzle deeply troubled the Adeptus Mechanicus priests. Upon conducting further inspections of the orbital station, they realized that the automated turrets didn't appear to have been destroyed, but rather neatly uninstalled.

This included the orbital station's power systems, electrical grids, and communications arrays; many components were not damaged, but simply missing entirely.

Furthermore, the extraction methods were highly professional, causing absolutely no collateral damage to the surrounding areas.

Could it be that heretical members of the Mechanicus were also involved in this invasion?

Regardless, this was a massive loss, both in terms of materiel and personnel, not to mention a frigate belonging to the Imperial Navy had also been hijacked.

This dispute would likely escalate all the way up to the Sector Governor. The Archmagos of Makand II would be dealing with these colossal headaches for a very long time.

As for Loken?

That bastard had better disappear into the Warp forever.

"'Starfire', this is the 'Glorious Saber'. All systems green. Geller field activated."

Just as they entered the Warp, Hodges's voice rang out on the bridge.

"This is the 'Starfire', Soshyan speaking. Translation coordinates set to Volistad High Orbit 1-23."

"Understood."

The 'Starfire' leaped into the Warp closely following the 'Glorious Saber'. The moment she entered, tendrils of energy flared up across the activated Geller field, and streaks of pink and blue light illuminated the navigational shields.

It felt as though she had plunged headfirst into the atmosphere of some alien world.

Following this, eerie harmonics echoed through the ship's internal vox-networks. The erratic, distorted noises emanating from the auspex arrays sounded like they were begging for mercy, screaming in agony, pleading, and whispering.

These sounds were not unfamiliar to any crewman accustomed to long voyages. They originated from the void itself, the most direct manifestation of the Warp.

However, simply as those endless voices seemed about to spill into his ears, Soshyan felt them recede, transforming into a distant echo.

The vessel shuddered, then quickly smoothed out into tranquility.

The voices vanished; the reinforced Geller field had shut them out.

After handing the bridge over to Lothar, Soshyan turned and left, heading straight to the armory.

Originally, he had planned to return to his homeworld—not out of any sense of nostalgia, but because he wished to acquire a batch of suitable recruits for augmentation from there. The Chapter was in desperate need of fresh blood right now.

However, Brother Zayd had suddenly awakened and had Techmarine Logris relay a message to him, instructing him to change their destination to Volistad.

Soshyan had never heard the name before; evidently, it wasn't a very important world.

But since Brother Zayd had spoken, there was surely a purpose behind it. Soshyan respected his wishes and altered their planned destination. However, that world was located in the Draconis Sector, adjacent to the famous Armageddon system; the voyage would take a considerable amount of time.

Taking advantage of this time, Soshyan wanted to ask Brother Zayd the purpose behind his directive.

"Chapter Master?"

The moment the automated blast doors opened, Soshyan saw Logris performing checks on Brother Zayd. To all appearances, the venerable Dreadnought was in fine condition; Logris was merely applying some sacred oils to his left arm.

"Yes. Leave us for now. I have matters to discuss with Brother Zayd."

"Understood."

When Logris had withdrawn, Soshyan got straight to the point.

"Why are we going to Volistad?"

"There is a very precious gift waiting there."

"A gift? What is it?"

"I have forgotten too much. I only remember the name. As for what it actually is, we must go there in person to find out."