Deliverance Lost

‘Punishment, ten laps,’ said Alpharius. ‘Battle pace. Move!’

Hef took hold of his rifle properly and set off towards the edge of the hall, perspiration glistening from his shaved scalp. Alpharius could hear him counting out the rhythm of his strides between gasping breaths. There was i

It was a shame he would be killed along with the rest of the Raven Guard.

Alpharius felt uncomfortable at the thought. More than uncomfortable, in fact. He was not sure how he would define the emotion that made his chest a little tight as he watched the novitiates continue their weapon practice. Guilt, perhaps? It certainly was not a sensation he had felt before, and the Alpha Legio

It seemed such a waste. Corax and the senior commanders would never be moved to join the Alpha Legion, but these novitiates were fine young men, who would be ideal recruits for the Legion. Their deaths seemed a little u

Alpharius was not sure where these doubts were coming from. He blamed the false memories. They had been increasing in recent days. He could clearly recall the first time he had set out from Ravendelve into the atomic wasteland, though nothing of what had happened after leaving the armoured compound. Names of fellow legionaries haunted him, Raven Guard that had fallen on Isstvan. His fellow legionaries referred to them sometimes and he would have a flash of a face, or instinctively smile at some half-remembered joke, or briefly relive a moment in battle alongside the fallen warrior.

He had to focus. He was not a legionary of the Raven Guard, he was an Alpha Legio

Holding on to that thought, Alpharius suppressed the memories bubbling up from the depths of his altered mind. I am Alpharius, he told himself. I am Alpharius.

DESCENDING THE RAMP of his Stormbird, Bra

‘What am I looking at?’ asked Bra

‘Transmission data, commander,’ said Ephrenia. She took the tablet back for a moment, tapped the screen twice and returned it to Bra

‘Anomalous?’ said Bra

‘Non-Mechanicum and non-Legion frequencies and cha

‘Not that surprising, really,’ said Bra

‘These transmissions have a Legiones Astartes signature, commander,’ Ephrenia said patiently.

Bra

‘All are flash-traffic, commander,’ continued Ephrenia. ‘Compressed, in my opinion.’

‘Wait, I recognise this transponder code,’ said Bra

‘Yes, commander, it is a Ravenspire access cipher,’ the controller said. Her voice lowered as she continued. ‘I came to you directly because of that. It is Commander Agapito’s broadcast cha

‘I see,’ said Bra

‘Some are old Lycaen security frequencies, and two are on the defunct guild networks, commander. Impossible to pin down a source, but they originate on Kiavahr.’

‘Dissidents, no doubt,’ said Bra

‘A significant peak in traffic, commander. Previous communications detected on those frequencies were sporadic and clustered. The pattern here is more sustained. I believe it might signify some attempt to reestablish the old guild structures.’

‘Good work,’ said Bra

‘As you wish, commander,’ said Ephrenia, with a bow.

‘Wait a moment,’ said Bra

‘Yes, commander.’

‘And set up a monitor on Commander Agapito’s cha

‘Yes, commander. Is that all?’

‘Return to your duties.’

Ephrenia strode down the corridor, leaving Bra

He took a step and then stopped with a hissed curse. If he warned the Mechanicum of any surge in dissident activity, they would be required to perform a scouring of the rad-wastes, or at the very least intensify their observation and security of the area. That would lead to greater scrutiny around Ravendelve, a turn of events Lord Corax would be keen to avoid.

Bra

It was just a theory, and he would need more solid evidence before it was worth notifying the primarch. Lord Corax was intent on the gene-tech project, spending most of his time bunkered up in Ravendelve with Sixx and the tech-priest. Even when he was back on Deliverance, the primarch spent most of his time poring over the reports and studies, incommunicado except for urgent matters.

Unsure how to proceed, Bra

TWELVE

Brothers in Conflict

Mark VI

Creation of the Raptors

SITTING ON A shallow chair in his rooms, Bra

‘What is it, brother?’ asked Agapito, choosing to stand. ‘Lord Corax tells me there has been a significant development in the gene-project. We are to accompany him to Ravendelve.’

‘Yes, I heard,’ said Bra

‘You seem preoccupied,’ said Agapito. He lightened the comment with a smile. ‘Is Commander of Recruits proving more of a challenge than you thought?