"If i may, would any of you be able to tell if they were of the alpha legion" as he spoke the dreadnaught seamed to chuckle "they are notoriously good at consealing themselves untill the corect time" as he spoke he looked at marmorath "if i may id like to sugest to send a small unit to talk to the angels, id sugest amraphel and two others at most to cheak if they are heretic" as he spoke he looked at the chaplin "if that is ok with you il be one of the ones to go"
It was Marmaroth's turn to smile a bit. "Despite my heritage, I never had the problem of itching trigger finger, at least not during my time in the Deathwatch. In any case, your fears are justified and I would never wage an open war against loyal servants of the Emperor, however there is but one other thing that makes me suspicious. As we entered the range we received two signals from the planet, both which were calls for help. The one who sent them was using highly encrypted codes, used in some older iteration of the signal used by the Deathwatch. I went through the files and discovered that an Angel of Absolution from their 5th company indeed served at Jericho Reach at one point in his life. The name of this brother is Lukion, the Librarian that rescued you during your fight at Darius Estate." "The signal is dead at the moment, however I think it's genuine. Of course, it could be a ploy but then I don't understand why would they do it, when we are already here and it is obvious that they wanted us to be here. That is why I'm expecting the worst and that is why I'm marshaling the entire force. If the Angels are pure, we would know it for I have plenty of experience with it and both Draconion and Tempestus are powerful enough psykers to try and trace any possible taint." "Of course, we won't shoot them unless they attack us first, but we shall be prepared nonetheless. As for your suggestion at going for them to try and talk in person, we shall see first how they react to our vox communication. Only then will I let you endanger your lives by walking into a direct ambush."
~ Sirius Jules ~ The Apothecary broke his silence only for one reason only. "Don't let the hydra bite any of you. We all know what happened to the Warmaster." He spoke with poison in his voice, like the very poison itself that has flown throughout Guilliman's body. But what the Apothecary truly meant? Who knew. Perhaps he was trying to make the companions of the Chaplain more aware that they could be tricked into working against each other, perhaps he was trying to cause awareness of the trickery of their enemy in general and not let themselves get butchered. Or perhaps he simply insinuated the obvious: To not get killed. Either way, he spent an equal-length stare on each of the assembled members until his gaze turned towards Stevanus, giving him a mere nod. Signalling that each of them were clean from what his scans could tell.
"My Commander, with your permission, I should like to ask the Venerable One's collaboration in a joint prognostication. The two of us working in concert may be sufficient to cut through the fog of Ruin and shed some light on the truth of things. "
"Which is what you will do. If there is someone down there in need of help, you will find him. Now, back to other things. Lord Strauss, report." The Commissar nodded and began. "Currently, we have 997 Stormtroopers from Ruvornian 32nd plus around 3000 serfs that can carry arms and do a battle without hindering ship's performance. 60 unmodified Chimera transports, 30 Valkyrie gunships, 10 cargo freighters that can be used as transports, 10 Leman Russ tanks and enough ammo for all of it. Besides that, we have 1 Predator tank, 1 Rhino transport, 1 Thunderhawk and your craft. Wasn't counting the Dreadnought." "About the opposition, unknown assets which Alpha Legion traitors are in command. Angels of Absolution 5th company should be Codex reliant, but we can expect some deviation since they fought in the 13th Black Crusade and is possible that they weren't capable of replenishing their losses. What we know for certainty is what we saw on Sombor, which is 4 Thunderhawk gunships, 2 Predator tanks and a Land Raider. Also, if our direst suspicions are true, there's that fortress of theirs. Provided records give us this: it is capable of withstanding orbital bombardment. With its back against mountain's cliff, high walls protecting it and enough sentry guns to make our life miserable, I believe a direct assault is the best. It will cost us a lot of lives, but we will break them." "When can you make your troops ready for battle?" the Chaplain asked, but already knowing the answer. "They are ready as we speak. Just give us the word and Ruvornian 32nd Storm Legion will deploy and destroy the traitors!"
Draconion nods in acknowledgement of Marmaroth's decision and then turns to Tempestus with a bow. "I am ready to begin whenever you are, Ancient One," he says.
"Then let us begin" as he spoke the dreadnaught let his mind flow "il let you take the lead brother, i will try and boost your psychic strength"
"At once, Ancient One." Draconion immediately takes a long, rolled scroll of blank paper from one of his belt pouches. Letting it unfurl upon the floor, he produces a writing brush with an ink bottle built into its bamboo cap and proceeds to write at an amazing rate upon the scroll, covering it in flowing ideograms and arcane sigils. He continues to write and unfurl until he has created an unbroken circle of ink-covered paper about the both of them, upon which he paces the inner circumference of the circle, making complex mudras and incantations to each of the four cardinal directions, corresponding to each of the elements represented thereby, before finally addressing the centre of the circle, where Tempestus stands, representing the element of Earth and the place of the Emperor himself. "I have selected Third Rite of Invoking the Five Kings because it is the easiest for scholars of two potentially differing paradigms to participate in harmoniously," he explains to Tempestus as he sits upon his knees and begins repeating a series of mudras with his hands over and over. He breaks into a repeating chant in Pali, the sacred language of the Fire Priests of his native Tahken, the guttural, rolling syllables echoing strangely about the tacticarium's walls. "[Om cakravartin maha raja di raja om! Genbu, Guardian of the North, we invoke thee! Lord of cold, decay and limitless possibility, reveal to us what has gone before, that we may perceive the seeds of the future! Om cakravartin maha raja di raja om! Seiryu, Guardian of the East, we invoke thee! Lord of growth, youth and burgeoning life, reveal to us the enemy's plans in their nascence, that we may be forewarned and forearmed! Om cakravartin maha raja di raja om! Suzaku, Guardian of the South, we invoke thee! Lord of fire, life and war, reveal to us the enemy's preferred ways of war, that we may counter and break them upon the anvil! Om cakravartin maha raja di raja om! Byakko, Guardian of the West, we invoke thee! Lord of metal, decline and precision, show us the pitfalls on our path, that we may tread carefully and avoid them! Om cakravartin maha raja di raja om! Kou'ou, Guardian of the Centre, we invoke Thee! Thou art the centre, the lynchpin of fate and the bedrock of all being, for Thou art enthroned in golden glory on Holy Terra, and to Thee we turn, wellspring of all that we are and Master of all Mankind. Lend us Thy clarity and wisdom, that we may see the path aright and not go astray!]"
A spectral hand leaves tempestus and touches the librarians shoulder, as it did tempestus copied his chant in unisen keeping in time and in the same tounge as his counterpart, he then moved the limiter of his psychic hood in his dreadnaught armor off and let his entire power flow through the other librarian to assist him and to at the same time keep an look out for interference from any other presense
Through their connection, both of the Librarians could see the same images that flashed before their (mind) eyes. They saw a world covered in snow where everywhere they looked, they saw the white. Then, the images showed wildlife, giant bears and wolves, stalking the ice dunes. The natural order was broken when the winged Angels arrived from the sky, creating huge building like a fort, carved out of the stone of the mountains itself. Other humans followed, settling across the seas of frost and making their homes in small igloos. The images flashed as the inhabitants changed but the giant fortress remained unmoving. They saw that it housed a number of Angels, those who stalked across the planet searching for aspirants to join their vaunted ranks. Everywhere, there was harmony, just like it was supposed to. But the balance was ruined the moment a dark hand crept in. It was a vile presence both of the Librarians instantly recognizing it as corruption of the Warp and it came recently, following in a shadow of a golden armored man with a cold look in his eyes. With him, came others who had the same feel. They stormed the castle, took it by surprise and remained there, spreading the darkness to the earth itself. Behind them, came another presence, more ancient and terrible one, Draconion and Tempestus could feel it both from the surface and the darkness of the void, hiding behind planet's 2nd moon. It was represented using an image of a green serpent, coiling around the high walls and the golden armored man, both around him and inside of his heart. Smaller serpents could be seen as well, their dark souls damned long ago, choosing to remain in the shadows for the time being. But as they pierced through the fog of unreality, two Librarians became aware of another presence, watching them with interest. Tempestus was powerful enough to protect Salamander's mind from any direct influence, thus allowing Draconion to see the observer. It was the same malign intelligence that he had already met at Sombor which also remembered him, smiling with its rotten teeth at the sight of the "puny" Librarian. It gave the impulse of wanting to devour Draconion's soul, but not before it devours something else, something made of white light and hidden in the deepest vault of the fortress below. Whatever it was, it was precious beyond mere trinkets, and it just had to have it. Breaking the contact in order to evade corruption, two Librarians could glance at the final spark that looked as a lighting flashing on the frozen surface. A scent of something pure danced on the horizon up in the mountains, the image of a pale man holding a sword of blue fire disappearing right before the symbol on his shoulder pad, the winged skull of the Angels of Absolution, melted away and turned to ruin.
