Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 62: Master of Eagles

There was a dead silence in the troop compartment. Other than the roar of the engines and the friction of trembling components clashing against each other, there was no other sound.

Red lights continuously swept across every warrior, but they sat motionless in their respective seats like statues.

The atmosphere was exceptionally eerie.

"Chapter Master."

Suddenly, Soshyan, who was resting with his eyes closed, heard Armin's whisper through his helmet.

"This man is highly suspicious."

Soshyan didn't need to look to know who Armin was referring to, but he offered no opinion, simply allowing the other to continue speaking.

"I cannot imagine what kind of person could survive... for ten thousand years in that sort of environment."

"Time in the Warp is not constant; to him, it may not have been that long."

"But that was a ship full of daemons! Chapter Master, although this is my first time fighting such entities, I've heard the High Chaplain say in the past that they possess a highly corrupting power... And is he truly the person he claims to be?"Soshyan opened his eyes beneath his helmet.

"Armin, you must understand that this is a very grave accusation."

"I cannot trust him."

Soshyan said no more. Instead, he stood up from his seat. The other warriors immediately noticed his movement and focused their gazes on him.

The atmosphere instantly grew even stranger.

Soshyan stepped up to Sol in two strides. The latter was still looking out the viewport, lost in whatever thoughts he had.

"Company Commander Sol."

As soon as he spoke, Sol turned his head and stood up as well, looking Soshyan straight in the eye. His lips trembled slightly, as if he were saying something...

Armin's hand immediately moved to the bolter holstered on his outer thigh, and the other warriors did the same.

However, the scene that followed was quite unexpected.

"Were you speaking to me just now?"

Being the closest to Sol, Soshyan could confirm that the man had indeed said a sentence when he stood up, but he hadn't heard it.

"I was asking myself."

Sol unequipped the bolter from earlier and his sidearm, answering calmly.

"Are you truly worthy of trust, Soshyan... Chapter Master?"

With that, he offered his weapons to Soshyan.

"Company Commander Sol, by my life and honor, I swear that as long as it can be confirmed there is no issue with you personally, I will do my utmost to ensure your life and honor remain unharmed."

"Save it, these so-called oaths... I have heard too many of them."

After surrendering his weapons, Sol sat right back down in his seat.

The troop compartment returned to its previous dead silence.

Ten minutes later, the Thunderhawk returned to the flight deck of the Starfire. Upon stepping out of the compartment, the first thing Soshyan did was issue an order to Lothar on the bridge.

"Destroy that ship!"

Subsequently, the Starfire and the Glory Saber concentrated their firepower, viciously bombarding the space hulk that had gradually ceased moving.

Lance weapons, macrocannons, torpedoes, and various other armaments took turns firing, tearing dazzling spots of light across the Warp.

The originally sturdy cruiser now seemed to have lost its backbone. Under the relatively weak firepower of the two warships, it surprisingly began to disintegrate, as if tens of thousands of years of age had suddenly caught up with it.

On the flight deck, Soshyan did not hastily allow the maintenance personnel and technical servitors to approach the Thunderhawk, as he was not yet certain whether this transport carried the risk of corruption.

Soon, the black-armored Chaplain arrived at the flight deck, carrying a rosarius and holy relics capable of detecting Warp corruption.

However, he was quite astonished when he saw that the squad of seven had returned as a group of eight.

"Chapter Master, this is..."

Yazdan looked at Sol. In the deep sockets of his skull-shaped helmet, two clusters of flames seemed to ignite, as if ready to peel away the stranger's disguise. Meanwhile, he slowly turned the rosarius in his hand.

Sol was also observing the Chaplain, seemingly very curious about this black-armored warrior.

"You inspect the Thunderhawk first; I will go see Brother Zayd."

Yazdan nodded, casting one last deep glance at Sol before leaving.

"Take them to the medicae bay."

After having Armin lead the wounded squad members away for treatment, Soshyan personally escorted Sol toward the Chapter's temporary archives. Lothar had just informed him that Brother Zayd was already waiting for him there.

The archives were not just a place to store Chapter records, but also Brother Zayd's resting place. He had the Techmarine place his stasis field in the archives; it seemed he could only fall asleep accompanied by those ancient scrolls.

But only Soshyan knew the real reason.

Beneath the resting place of Brother Zayd lay a secret entrance, which harbored the true hidden truths.

Along the way, Sol carefully observed everything he saw.

Finally, they stopped before a door that required biometric identification. Soshyan halted his steps, and after the instruments confirmed his identity without error, the door to the compartment slowly opened.

At the end of the rows of bookshelves was a massive lectern, which also housed a stasis field. The sacred Dreadnought stood before the lectern, while occasionally, buzzing servo-skulls drifted over the upper part of the compartment.

"Brother Zayd."

Soshyan led Sol to the Dreadnought, then stepped to the side and introduced him softly.

"We have confirmed that the space hulk is a Word Bearers Slaughter-class cruiser. On that ship, we also found this man, who claims to be the Captain of the 10th Company of the Emperor's Children, Saul Tarvitz. He was also the one who helped us break out of the daemons' siege."

By now, Sol had tied his hair back, allowing his features to be clearly seen.

The Dreadnought first fell silent for a moment, then took a step forward.

"Saul Tarvitz, one of the leaders of the loyalist resistance on Isstvan III. I never expected to see you again after ten thousand years."

"I do not know you."

Sol cautiously scrutinized this silver-grey Dreadnought. He searched hard through his memories but could not find any relevant information.

"Of course, of course you wouldn't know me, because I spend most of my time in slumber. But when you first entered service, I wasn't in this iron coffin."

The Emperor's Children legionnaire frowned sharply.

"Your previous name couldn't have been Zayd, could it?"

"It has never changed."

"But I don't remember your name, nor do I seem to have heard of your deeds."

"Just consider me merely a nameless nobody."

At this moment, Soshyan abruptly interjected:

"Brother Zayd, you said Company Commander Sol was the leader of the loyalists on Isstvan III? Yet... wasn't everyone on Isstvan III wiped out?"

"Very few does not mean none."

Soshyan could sense a hint of laughter in Brother Zayd's voice.

"I am not mistaken, am I, Company Commander Sol, or should I address you as... the first Master of Eagles of the 34th Millennial, the Death Eagles."