Page 7 (2/2)
’You created a warrior class to rule over Tharsis, with yourself at its head,’ Boreas concluded
’With your cynical eye, itthe Chaplain’s contemptu­ous stare ’Even now, your power leeched away, the Legions divided, how els are not Space Marines Tens, hundreds, thousands?’
’The Chapter is hly five hundred serfs, servitors and tech-priests,’ Boreas answered cau­tiously
’Five hundred people for a thousand Space Marines, that does not sound too much,’ Astelan said with a wry look ’But what about beyond the walls of this fortress, on ships and in distant garrisons? The saain? Probably many more And the food you eat, the ammunition in your weapons, even the paint for your armour, where does this come from? Thousands, tens of thousands, labour every day so that you stand ready to fight, to guard theels are a Space Marine Chapter, the only purpose of our existence is to fight battles, to ar on the eneued Boreas ’Worlds do not exist for that purpose’
’Why? Why not?’ Astelan becaain ’This was the crux of his vision It seemed so plain to him -why could Boreas not understand? ’Caliban once did! So you see, that wasto create The weak ions, broke thealaxy, strewn across the stars and rendered iiments of the Imperial Guard are clu my time on Tharsis, and I came to despise what they repre­sent They rely on the ships of the Navy, which are controlled by a different organisation A whole branch of the Administratum, the Depart regi them with supplies This you know, but you don’t really understand what it e the wars of the Emperor now, not military officers It is a shaed down by its own coone? It was likeday in an attempt to deal with its oieldiness Who is there to carry on the Eer? Clerks? Farmers? Miners?’
’And your way is better?’ sneered Boreas ’To place trust in someone like you, a man who unleashed unprecedented bloodshed upon a world you say you had adopted as your own?’
’You sound like the whining priests back on Tharsis!’ snapped Boreas
’The ones you ainst you?’ said Boreas, stepping forward again, loo over Aste­lan
’With the Imperial commander dead, it was the will of the people that I take his place’ Astelan was defiant, he would not let this interrogator bully hi when he knew in his heart that he was not They recognised that really it had been I that had brought theh, and soon the ruling class revealed therates they were While they had happily allowed the people of Tharsis to lay down their lives to protect them, the councillors, the cardinals and the aris­tocracy resistedhypocrites of the Ecclesiarchy were the worst of all Since e they have done More than anything else it is their ridiculous s and pompous sermons that have undermined the power of the Imperium’
’And so you felt justified to elirabbed one of the chains and twisted it in his fist, tightening it across Astelan’sinto his flesh ’Perhaps you feared the power they had over your slaves Were they the only true opposition your coup had, the only ones to rival your tenacious grip on the people of Tharsis? Was it jealousy of their privi­leged position and spiritual authority that incensed you?’
’Driven by ma, they refused to endorse ree with the against the tightening of the chains ’Hah! I have walked alongside the Ery and sad What do they knoith their carvings and paint­ings, their idolatry and superstitions? The Eod? That was not his intent, and the fools who founded this Ecclesiarchy coure to be worshipped, He is the will behind us all, the power that drives man to surmount the trials that face us It was He who said that mankind e has been thrown aside, so that the illed can blas’
’You profess a closeness to the E the chain so that it slapped against Astelan’s skin
’No, I do not’ Astelan shook his head ’I was one of several thousand Chapter Masters, proud of my achieve­ments, but no more worthy of His attention then any other I met the Emperor just once, on Sheridan’s World, and then only briefly Whenever I have doubts, I recall that ain He spoke only a feords tothe fervour of ret I have that I was not with him when they rediscovered Caliban Perhaps if I had been there, things ht have been different But with the return of the pried, it was never the same as it had been e followed the Emperor alone’
’And so you ordered your death squads to murder the priests, the cardinals and even the deans and choir boys,’ Boreas hissed between gritted teeth
’You exaggerate,’ Astelan said, trying to wave his hand in rejection of Boreas’s accusation, the gesture stifled by his bonds ’They presented od, or face another revolt Their oords and actions betrayed their trea­sonous intent I presented them with an ultimatus and advantages that their false teachings had gained them, or be tried as traitors Souilty and executed Choir boys indeed!’
’But you did not stop with the priesdy orders,’ contin­ued Boreas ’You waged a war upon all the agents of the Ied a war against your own populace when they voiced discontent’
‘They resented es, the arbitrators, the witch-cursed astropaths, the Munitoriu hordes of the Adeptus Terra I took back the power they had stolen over ten thousand years, subtly usurping the Imperium from those the Emperor had conceived to create it In their petty-mindedness and internecine squabbles they had obscured the original vision, bastardised the Iainst me But not once did I ever kill out of hand The people of the Ireat truths, but never truly think about the s they quote: By the manner of their deaths, shall you know them, is one that came to embodythe war, and there were the traitors who died on the gibbet afterwards Tharsis shared my dream, they believed in me and the Emperor’
’And so while you rebuilt your dreauns, els and blades and brutalised those who did not conform to that dream’ As he spoke, Boreas’s fists clenched and unclenched slowly
’I only wished harmony, of that I swear by my life,’ protested Astelan ’It was to banish the discord that has reigned since the Emperor defied Horus that I did what I felt was necessary’
Boreas said nothing immediately Instead, he turned away from Astelan and took a few paces towards the door, his head bowed in thought
’But there was one dissenter who escaped your wrath,’ the Chaplain said quietiy
’I do not understand,’ replied Astelan ‘He was con­fused; as this dissenter the Chaplain spoke of?
’Why do you think we ca around, a look of triumph on his face ’For seven decades you were there, isolating yourself from the rest of the Ih Lords, and certainly not the Dark Angels Your forces controlled the ships, so that none could leave without your permission, but you did not reckon on the faith and defiance of onea shuttle and flew it through an asteroid field to avoid pursuit One deserter, though I suspect there were o, but he felt the need to break free And that hen coincidence, fate, destiny, or whatever you care to call it, paid interest in your affairs again For fifty days he floated in space, on the verge of death,increasingly recycled water Fifty days is not very far in the depths of space, but it was far enough for his trans­missions for help to be intercepted by one of our ships that was patrolling the edges of the Tharsis system His shuttle was recovered, and we learnt of the terrible events that had unfolded And we learnt of you’