Angels of Death The Digital Collection by Various

Author:Various
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Final Journey

Guy Haley

‘In the name of the Emperor, and of mankind, and of duty,’ intoned Chaplain Odon. Clad in newly polished armour, robed and carrying the symbols of his office, he led the funeral procession. His voice was metallic though his skull-helmet’s speakers.

‘The Emperor. Mankind. Duty,’ replied the brothers. There were twenty-five of them. Rearmost were twenty in two files, empty-handed but for one who bore a white veteran sergeant’s helmet in his hands. Four pall bearers were at their head. These, members of Voldo’s squad, remained silent, heads down, muscles straining under the weight of the armoured corpse of Sergeant Voldo on the bier. More than one was new to the squad, replacements for others dead, but that did not matter. They shared a bond with Voldo, whether they knew him well before or not.

Sergeant Arendo was the twenty-fifth, walking between the bier and Odon. Helmless, grim-faced, lips painted black with ash. This would not be wiped free until Sergeant Voldo was laid to rest and he would utter his first orders to squad Wisdom of Lucretius.

‘In the cause of the Emperor, the defence of mankind, and our oath,’ said Chaplain Odon.

‘We give our lives freely.’

With each response to Odon’s chanted words, the Space Marines descended a single step, stamping their armoured boots with a crash that resounded down the kilometre-long stairway and into the darkness at the roots of the mountain. They waited for the sound to die away, until only their breathing, the faint whining of their bone and blue armour and the spitting of the lumen globe hovering over Odon’s head remained.

Odon shattered the quiet again with his ringing voice.

‘Each to themselves, each to their duty. Each to the oath of Corvo.’

‘Our duty is ourselves, our duty is the fulfilment of Corvo’s Oath.’

Crash.

They neared the bottom. The catacomb of the Red Millennium was ahead, dug deep into the cold hard rock of the Heavenward Mountains as every catacomb had been and every catacomb would be until the Novamarines were extinct, and their fortress home finally finished.

‘Glory to the dead, glory to sacrifice, glory to the children of men.’

‘May they forever rule the stars.’

Crash.

‘We bring our brother home, may he rest peacefully until the final battle is begun.’

‘May the Emperor deem him worthy, and bring him again to war.’

Crash.

So it went on, until the entire procession had descended to the level floor of the catacomb. The corridor was a perfect rectangle, and if the light of the lumen globe were powerful enough, the Space Marines would have seen it stretch away until its sides, ceiling and floor were forced together by perspective.

Somewhere far ahead, a pair of servitors waited by a raw rockface for the ceremony to cease so that they might continue their digging. Only when the millennium turned would they stop extending the catacomb, and another would be begun. Perhaps ten thousand cold beds lined the walls already, perhaps more. They would never all be filled, but that was not the point.

Odon bowed his head. The brothers followed suit, moving with perfect synchronicity.

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