01x01 - Blood and Duty

[bunniefuu]

We are the Emperor's will

made flesh.

For the emperor!

We are taken from the dust.

We shed our weaknesses, our frailty

To become

Angels.

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No!

In blood I am born.

In battle do I live.

In light do I rise.

In darkness do I fall

In blood will we be renewed.

Honored Chaplain Rafael.

We are brothers before any other rank.

Is there something you wish of me?

Only to speak to a friend.

I have duties to attend.

Duties beyond

this voluntary solitude?

There is nothing I would speak of,

Chaplain.

I will patrol the lower decks

I was there to see you succeed

in the trials.

I watched as you became an Angel

in both heart and deed.

Yet, now I look upon a brother

that would rather see me a stranger.

We were lost in the storms

and are now trapped

over this blighted world.

Kept from returning to blessed Baal.

Do you not chafe at this inaction?

Did your service to the Deathwatch

make you nothing but a weapon, Kazarion?

Can you no longer find peace, even here?

What more is a Space Marine

than a sword against the dark?

The galaxy burns.

We face annihilation! I

I will not waste any more words.

That threat has always been,

since Mankind first dragged itself

from the surface of Terra.

But it is a threat we face together.

As you say.

Summarise.

We still cannot reach Captain Orpheo

or his retinue, Ship Mistress.

Signal distortion continues to increase

within the planet's atmosphere.

We were informed that the city at the base

of the orbital tower

is supposed to be deserted.

There is nothing down there,

at least nothing to delay the Captain.

Open a vox link to the orbital dock.

Yes, Ship Mistress.

Vox link established.

This is Captain Solken

of the Blood Angels Strike Cruiser

Sword of Baal.

Respond.

This is Niades Orbital Spire Command,

we are most honored to address

and converse with you again,

Captain of the Sword of

We have lost communication

with a reconnaissance force

sent to the surface

and require aide in establishing

their exact location.

Of course we will do all we can,

but as we elucidated previously,

most honoured ship mistress,

the surface of our once verdant world

is plagued by electromagnetic storms

that are both severe and unceasing.

This is not a matter for debate.

Organise whatever force is left

on the surface and locate our Captain.

I mean only worshipful respect,

but please comprehend

that rebel elements

may have found a way into the city,

now that we have chosen

to escape from the-

You shall comply within the hour or,

by the Emperor,

you will wish you had.

You'd think they could have just

talked each other to death

How long until we resupply?

The promethium tanker

has almost completed refueling,

priority supply loading

and repairs are in progress.

Estimated completion,

four hours standard.

Good. We stand by to cast off

as soon as it's done.

We've been here long enough.

Ah! I had thought

to find these vaults empty,

Brother Ancaeus.

Brother Hadrael,

I did not mean to disturb your rituals.

Four hundred and twenty-six

unique impairments to this void ship

have kept me and the work crews busy.

We were fortunate to find

safe harbour over this planet.

It is good to see you, brother.

You have been below decks

since we broke from the storm.

What brings you

to these holds once again?

I would tend what is left

after the battle.

Without an Apothecary,

it is all I can do to ensure

their legacy continues.

You do vital work.

I would have your efforts recorded

when we return to Baal.

Thank you, brother.

If the storms ever break

the ship will be ready.

"When", brother, not "if"

Ever the light in the dark, Ancaeus.

Tell me, does Brother Kazarion fair well?

He has been gone a long time.

Perhaps too long.

Are you concerned

that the gene-seed store is not secure?

I was, for a time,

considered as a novitiate

for the Sanguinary Priesthood.

I am

protective.

Uncommon, yet you have risen

under Captain Orpheo.

Command suits you,

Sergeant Ancaeus.

Perhaps, yet I once believed

my purpose was as caretaker.

These fragments taken from our fallen

will live on in our initiates.

Everything that is flesh perishes,

yet we will survive in the blood

that flows through those that come after.

I speak out of turn.

An intriguing insight.

All can be repaired,

made again in blood or in iron,

and thus attains a kind of immortality.

So long as we remember.

The machine demands much,

and takes more.

I was made an Angel

but then half of my soul was given

to the cog of Mars.

I do not say this in bitterness.

It is merely a truth.

You are an exemplary warrior.

If you wished induction

into the priesthood,

why did you not pursue it?

Surely High Priest Corbulo

would have welcomed-

We do not choose our duty.

Only honour in its fulfillment.

Ship Mistress,

there is a direct communication

from Navigator Tabor.

On vox.

Livia The night folds

Red is the dawn

A candle in a gale

The breath of the four airs parts

the branches of the forest.

The storms

the Warp

Light of the Emperor

the tide ebbs, the storm, calms.

Navigator Tabor, your predecessor

knew how to get to the point.

I see

I see

a passage through the storm!

You can see a way out of the system?

A temporary alignment

Summon the Angels.

How long do we have?

Not long, my lord.

This is unlike

any Warp Storm I've ever seen.

Why do they not move?

Surely their own Navigators

see this chance.

They are afraid, my lord.

The tower has already requested us to lead

the flotilla through the storm gap.

They're moving as fast as possible

to evacuate what's left on the surface.

-What of Captain Orpheo?

-Still nothing, my lord.

For the all that the tower

offers us supplies and safe haven,

the surface could harbor anything.

It is supposed to be a desolation.

Yet from that desolation

Captain Orpheo has not returned.

There is a choice here.

To locate the Captain's return,

or follow our orders to Baal.

Our first duty is to the Captain.

As explained,

the surface cannot be contacted.

Then we go down ourselves.

Only eleven of us remain on this vessel.

The gene-seed stored in our hold

must be returned to Baal.

And the Captain?

He knows our duty.

And it appears I am the only one

who remembers what it is to have honour.

How can you say such a thing.

We are not lone warriors here, Kazarion.

As you once knew and should remember.

Enough.

Honour, duty, blood and oaths.

Our path lies not in one,

but upon the blade edge between them.

To doubt each other is to

be defeated before we face an enemy.

Even in such moments

you still seek to teach us.

What time is better than a crisis?

Report!

Emergency signal detected!

Code Vermilion!

It's coming from the surface!

Its weak but it's breaking through

the interference somehow

My lords, it matches

Captain Orpheo's beacon!

Prepare for Drop Pod as*ault.

We are his sons

Forged to grim purpose

In crimson clad

With fire in our hands

And fury in our hearts

We are his Angels

And our gift

is death.

May the Omnissiah's blessings be upon you.

Be ready to recover us

once the Thunderhawk is repaired.

Compliance.

Drop Pod Secundus, ready!

Drop Pod Quartus, ready!

Ship Mistress,

the proximity of the tower

is complicating our launch trajectory.

The governing machine spirits protest.

Override them.

The blade falls at your word.

Launch.