The mood was grim. Any sign of elation at the news of recent successes were absent on the stoic faces of the inner circle. The general situation facing the imperium in the region of the Cadian gate was not encouraging at all. Once again in the Conclavium Angelus, supreme grandmaster of the Dark Angels, Azrael faced his counterpart from the Angels of Absolution. Their immediate confidants, the grandmasters of the librarium and chaplaincy were present as usual for the strategy session. Despite the widely scattered nature of their forces their preliminary moves had gone beyond expectation. Their initial covert missions on Amistel and Lelithar had netted a vast bounty of intelligence including numerous prisoners. Small victories they may be, dwarfed by the overwhelming defeats and betrayals suffered by imperial forces in recent times, but their significance to the sons of Jonson was not lost on those gathered on this day. "Lion be praised, we have gathered much intelligence on the activities of our fallen brethren. Vigorous efforts by our interrogator-chaplains have produced ample evidence to suggest the presence of two major bases of operations for these heretics on Lelithar. More disturbing is the evidence that an orbital dockyard on Malin's reach is also being used for supporting these forces. These are not simple operations but have the appearance of a complex and devious plan. How these fallen fit in with the despoiler's plans is as yet unclear." "We must act with speed tempered by caution. It is very likely that we may discover some clue to the ulterior motive of the activity of the fallen in this sector. The forces of the despoiler and his masters do not simply plot and plan. They have plots within plans and plans within quests and so on ad infinitum." responded his counterpart. "However what news of battle fleets vengeance and redemption?" Grandmaster of chaplains Sapphon drew back his cowl to answer the query. His face a mask of stone, he grimly replied "We have conceded for long that the alien elder had a better understanding of warp travel particularly with their ancient devices. That this knowledge could be used by humans was amply proved during the gothic war, when admiral Ravensburg's battle fleet gothic was supported by these aliens and taken along previously unknown warp routes making rapid progress. Our brethren in the Angels of Redemption have secured an ancient castellum in the planet of Cyclops Majoris. Their lightning assault capturing the librarium intact and using the ancient manuscripts captured, the chapter librarians have divined the location of a warp route entry point. We expect that the use of this route will allow battle fleet redemption to reach its exit point near the Dorsia system in the Scelus subsector in a matter of weeks." A wry smile played on his face for a fleeting moment. A more disturbing piece of news is the presence of yet another unnamed blasphemous tome which was found within the depths of the libararium. Such was the corruption emanating from it our brother librarians were forced to enclose it within a stasis field. After much prayer and warding the pages were interrogated using a psychic medium. The most astounding revelation was the reference to the leonine gene seed preserved within the wreckage of a space borne vessel for centuries. This reference is no doubt related to the Angelus Lionus. If such knowledge were to be found here then we must assume that the dark powers and thereby the fallen will also have access to this. In the light of the recent occurrences in Piscina IV we must assume that the wreckage of the Angelus Lionus may well be a focus of search by the fallen. We must view this with deep concern as the possibility of the revelation of the Knights of the order becomes a distinct possibility." As he paused the chief librarian of the angels of absolution spoke. "This is grim news indeed and we need the full might of the unforgiven to bear. What of our brethren in the Angels of Vengeance? We have had no further communications from them" In answer Sapphon looked towards Ezekiel. The holder of the keys and keeper of the book of salvation looked lost in reverie. After a moment of silence he spoke, every word weighted and measured. "The angels of vengeance have accomplished their assigned task well. Their rapid action resulted in the brief capture of the elder farseer, who had requested a meeting" "Brief capture?" "Yes! He died shortly thereafter, by the shuriken fire of his own brethren. Our brothers stated that they had indeed identified the warp route entry point and would arrive near Dorsia in the Scelus sector within weeks" The sense of relief and accomplishment was palpable in the room as Ezekiel continued. "However the brother librarian stated that librarian Adonis had first hand information that was level Omega Magna pertaining to the coming conflict and our own affairs" The keen observer of the proceedings would have noted that the normally stoic and unemotional attitude of these high ranking space marine commanders was for a fleeting moment lost their composure. The slight increase in the depth of their inhalation that they demonstrated was the equivalent of a sharp indrawn breath of surprise in a normal human. Status Omega Magna meant that the message or information was so sensitive that it could not be transmitted psychically through the warp for fear of interception or loss at the hands of the warp creatures. It would be delivered in person and that person would be in mortal danger during any passage through the warp. Azrael took the lead once again. "We will launch surgical strikes at the two bases on Lelithar to capture what information we may and disrupt the enemy's plans. The space docks on Malin's reach are maintained in orbit by a ground station. A small strike force will destroy that station. This will effectively send the docks out of orbit and destroy any ships docked within it Minimizing the forces used in these operations will allow us to concentrate considerable forces to worlds of Subiaco Diablo in the Bellis Corona sector and Dorsia in the Scelus sector. We know that the enemy intends to assault these worlds and intervene with the arrival of battle fleets redemption and vengeance. We shall ambush the ambushers. Detailed plans and fleet movements have been drawn up. Let us honour our primarch with yet another victory that will see the unforgiven chapters united as a legion!" As simply as it had begun the meeting ended without formalities, as each commander departed to commence yet another undertaking in the name of the lion. END OF VOLUME I |
CHAPTER V: REVELATION Chronicled By ( Shadow Guard ) |
GATHERING OF ANGELS |
This section provides the narrative history of the events that took place during the Gathering of Angels campaign conducted by the Inner Circle, during Abaddon's Thirteenth Black Crusade. This is in no way the official GW version nor is it in anyway an attempt to infringe on their IP. There are many versions of imperial history buried within the sands of time and this is but just one of them. Read on if you dare! |
