Chapter 188 - Who Blew Up Caliban
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Lion led Korahel to a secluded corner of the ship.
His brother Sanguinius had thoughtfully erected a psychic barrier around them, sealing out any outside observation. They could speak freely.
Korahel had too many questions. How had his Gene-Sire returned to the Imperium. How he had come to Vigilus. And the Fallen, what had actually happened to them.
The questions jammed in his throat. He didn't know which one to push out first.
"The Fallen Angel warbands on Vigilus," Lion said. "Have you dealt with them?"
"All eliminated." Korahel paused, then added, "Our 4th Company swept their positions clean. No other Imperial forces will know."
The Lion didn't respond to that second part.
"Are you certain they were touched by Chaos?"
"They brought shame upon you and the Dark Angels, my lord. They collaborated with Abaddon."
"If they hadn't done that, I might have forgiven them."
Lion sighed. The breath was barely audible, the complicated feeling that surfaces when a troublesome matter finally resolves itself without requiring your hand: not quite relief, not quite regret, and impossible to name cleanly.
To Korahel's ears, it carried a different weight entirely.
His instincts caught it. That sentence was his Gene-Sire's verdict on the Fallen.
He chose his words with care.
"Forgive my presumption, my lord. I want to know what happened to those Fallen Angels."
"They have already been absolved. By me."
Lion didn't hesitate.
"All except one. Cullen — you know the name — who went to Terra and received absolution from my father directly."
Korahel's mind went back to the briefing after Azrael's return. That Fallen who had gone to Terra. Absolved by the Emperor of Mankind in person. Now at the side of that [Arch-Traitor] Horus...
"I know of him, my lord."
"But those others..."
"Rest easy. I have my own measure of judgment." The Lion's voice settled, low and deliberate. "I will not fail any of my sons again the way I did before. Not the Fallen. Not those of you who are the Unforgivable."
"Azrael," Lion continued. "Current Chapter Master of the Dark Angels — I'm right about that? Where is he now? Can you reach him?"
"My lord, the Chapter Master has led the Chapter's main strength deep into the Dark Imperium. Our 4th Company will need to close the distance before we can reestablish contact."
Lion nodded. He straightened.
"Then we go."
"My lord, I..."
"Say it plainly, Korahel."
The Lion made the effort to soften his voice, to make himself someone his sons in this new age could actually approach.
"Forgive me, my lord. Now that you have returned to the Imperium, now that you are standing before us, I thought, a grand..."
"A return ceremony?"
"Yes, my lord."
Korahel lowered his head. He couldn't bring himself to look at his father's face.
He knew the Dark Angels had never had any talent for spectacle. But the Primarch deserved it. The Primarch deserved the entire Chapter turning out in full, deserved the Imperial fleet arrayed in ceremonial formation, deserved an announcement grander than any triumph in living memory.
"The hope your return brings, there is no measuring it, my lord. Not even Horus can compare to you."
"If Sanguinius heard you say that, he would be offended." Lion's tone carried a note of wry amusement. "And you have never met Lupercal. He matters to the Imperium as much as I do."
Lion chuckled softly and put a hand on his son's pauldron.
"Besides, ceremonies are too much bother. If there must be one, keep it within the Chapter."
"We don't have time to spend on celebrations."
Korahel shook. Not visibly, he was Dark Angels; his spine didn't bend, but somewhere beneath the ceramite he was trembling. Even through the pauldron, he could feel the weight of the honor that had just been given to him.
Had Supreme Grand Master Azrael ever been given this?
The thought rose without permission and churned once in the deepest, most private corner of his heart.
Then the Lion let out a low cough, and it yanked him back to the present.
"Before any of that, would you hand command of the 4th Company over to me, Korahel?"
The Dark Angels Grand Master was certain he had misheard. He blinked. His brain spent a full second parsing the words.
Then he answered at a pitch he had never used before in his life.
"The Dark Angels 4th Company swears its loyalty and service to you unto death!"
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After the Vigilus support campaign concluded, Lion, Sanguinius, and the rest of the party returned to the fleet.
The Dark Angels 4th Company was formally incorporated into the Blood Angels fleet order of battle. Under any normal circumstances, that arrangement would have put every Dark Angel on edge. They had never been comfortable with prolonged contact with their cousins. Every joint operation was a potential breach. Every battle fought side by side was another set of nerves wound to the snapping point.
But with their Gene-Sire Lion back, all of that fell away.
The 4th Company welcomed their father's return with a nearly suppressed excitement. They still stood straight. They still held the Dark Angels' customary silence and rigid order. But the corners of every man's eyes were bright.
To serve directly under the Primarch's command, that was a glory no medal could match.
Lion had much he wanted to say to his sons.
But not yet. He had a mission to complete first.
Absolver's Wrath, command chamber.
"Are you certain it's the Somnium Stars?"
"Yes, brother. Kaelen's intelligence has always held up."
"I'll grant the boy has some ability." Lion crossed his arms, doubt still threading through his voice. "But we can't lean on him completely. War among the stars is full of variables no one can predict."
"If the information is wrong, trust that my foresight will tell me."
The Great Angel smiled as he said it.
"Kaelen told me a powerful Chaos force will ambush the Dark Angels there. Our fallen brother Angron will appear as well." Sanguinius paused. "And he revealed something else. A secret about Caliban."
Lion made a short, cold sound in his throat.
He did hold a genuine regard for that mortal. But the boy knew too many of his secrets, and that sat uneasily. At least he wasn't loose with them.
"What secret."
"Brother, have you never wondered whether it was actually your orbital fleet that destroyed Caliban?"
Lion went quiet.
The question was a key turning in a door that had been sealed for a very long time.
"Truthfully, the fleet I commanded didn't have the firepower to destroy Caliban." His voice came out low, measured. Then he pushed forward. "So what did Kaelen say? Was there someone else who did it?"
The Great Angel's smile shifted. It was still there, but the shape had changed, sympathy in it, and tact, and the faint discomfort of someone carrying a truth they would rather not be the one to deliver.
"He isn't certain. It's a personal assessment. Highly probable, but still a guess."
"And what is the guess?"
Sanguinius saw that his brother wasn't going to let this go. He stopped circling it.
Quietly, he said the answer.
"The Dark Angels blew up Caliban."
3 full seconds of silence in the command chamber.
Lion El'Jonson's face in that moment looked like a stone statue left out in the weather for a thousand years.
His lips moved.
Only one syllable came out.
"...Hm?"
➤ Next: Causal Loop
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