Ghost legion, p.1
Ghost Legion, page 1
Contents
Cover
Warhammer 40,000
Ghost Legion
Dramatis Personae
++ Official Communique +++
Prologue
-194.02.35
-193.58.14
-190.31.43
-190.14.21
-186.02.06
-185.34.56
-183.59.25
-183.28.01
-03.46.39
Communication I
0.00.00
02.14.52
02.27.43
02.44.44
Communication II
03.16.41
08.00.01
08.13.57
69.51.13
71.30.52
Communication III
73.18.51
Communication IV
75.28.29
78.46.00
79.15.25
81.33.35
81.44.38
82.12.54
82.02.41
82.23.45
82.39.36
82.55.32
82.57.01
83.02.26
83.04.41
Epilogue
About the Author
An Extract from ‘Fulgrim: The Perfect Son’
Backlist
A Black Library Publication
eBook license
For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind. By the might of his inexhaustible armies a million worlds stand against the dark.
Yet, he is a rotting carcass, the Carrion Lord of the Imperium held in life by marvels from the Dark Age of Technology and the thousand souls sacrificed each day so his may continue to burn.
To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. It is to suffer an eternity of carnage and slaughter. It is to have cries of anguish and sorrow drowned by the thirsting laughter of dark gods.
This is a dark and terrible era where you will find little comfort or hope. Forget the power of technology and science. Forget the promise of progress and advancement. Forget any notion of common humanity or compassion.
There is no peace amongst the stars, for in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
SPACE MARINES
THE GHOST LEGION
Solomon Akurra, ‘the Ghost’ – Harrowmaster, High Lord of the New Alliance
Kyrin Gadraen – Solomon’s boyhood friend, Lord of the Serpent’s Teeth
Qope Halver – Headhunter Prime
Krozier Va’kai – Admiral of the Unseen
Roek Ghulclaw – Lord of the Guns of Freedom
Jarvul Glaine – Lord of the Shrouded Hand
Vyrun Evale – Lord of the Penitent Sons
Keros Asid – Lord of the Sons of Venom
‘Alpharius’ – various members of the Faceless
Nazos Zernas – Legionnaire, Second Fang
Phyros Vell – Chosen Champion of the Penitent Sons
Dommik Renn – Headhunter
Sokrate – Headhunter
Juran Vorgul – Harrowguard Terminator
Qyvin – Harrowguard Terminator
Shanio – Harrowguard Terminator
Herqade – Harrowguard Terminator
Epistemer the Snake – Harrowguard Terminator, former Ultramarine
Vorlan Xhan – Pilot of Shadowstrike
NEW MECHANICUM
Kazadin Yallamagasa, ‘Biologis Diabolicus’ – Heretek magos biologis
Diabolicus Secundus – Abominable intelligence
HUMANS
THE GHOST LEGION
Tulava Dyne – Sorceress
General Andol – Commander of the Guns of Freedom
Vasila Manatu – Dishonour Guard
Yora Cirius – Tactical analyst
Axaron Dexius – Tactical analyst
Imora Ironheart – Captain of the Iter Malum
SERTRA
Dunna Tomorey – Governor of Sertra
Zaefa Varaz – Forge Mistress of Lucretia Mons
Durrill Addenbrow – Grand Genetor of Lucretia Mons
Secutor Mitranda – Commander of Lucretia Mons’ forces
Tomi Darne – Clerk
ORDER OF THE EBON CHALICE
Paola Domican – Canoness Preceptor
Jurea Krell – Dogmata
ASTRA MILITARUM
Gavran – Savlar Chem-Dogs trooper
Morten – Savlar Chem-Dogs trooper
Half-Face Harrus – Savlar Chem-Dogs trooper
Pious Phinea – Savlar Chem-Dogs sergeant
Drass – Savlar Chem-Dogs trooper
Sorry – Savlar Chem-Dogs trooper
Jordaneus Harpe – Savlar Chem-Dogs colonel
Durathi Xel – Colonel Harpe’s data-adept
Felanie Fowle – Commissar
ORDO MALLEUS
Evelyn Darke – Inquisitor, former cultist of Vorlese
NAVIGATOR HOUSE BROBANTIS
Lady Chettamandey – Novator of Brobantis
Anja Arqueba – Captain of the Solarox
Layal Jonas – Brobantis security chief
OTHER
Cinereous – Shade
+++ OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE +++
++ SENATORUM OCULARIS PROHIBITUS +++
It is hereby recorded that, upon receiving counsel from the Emperor’s Most Holy Inquisition, in the Name of The Emperor, Whose Light is the Light of All, and whose grace is the salvation of all, is SOLOMON AKURRA, also known as SOLOMON THE GHOST and sometimes THE HARROWMASTER, leader of the most perfidious force known as the GHOST LEGION, called and named heretic in the eyes of all. Let none give him succour, lest they be taken by the darkness that lurks in his soul, and if any do, they forfeit all life and the lives of all those of their blood unto the end of time.
Further, by the will of this Senate and the seals affixed herein, it is decreed that SOLOMON AKURRA shall be ended. He shall be cast into the dark by the righteous hand of the Emperor, acting through those who do His will. So it is written. So shall it be done.
Signatories of sitting members of the Lords Temporal, Martial and Ecclesiarchical of the Most Divine and Righteous Imperium of Mankind:
>> Oud Oudia Raskian, Fabricator General of the Adeptus Mechanicus
>> Zlatad Aph Kerapliades, Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathic
>> Fadix, Grand Master of Assassins
>> Kleopatra Arx, Inquisitorial Representative
>> Kadak Mir, Paternoval Envoy
PROLOGUE
Lady Chettamandey, Novator of House Brobantis, examined the documents laid out in front of her in the stateroom of the Solarox, her private ship, which was currently at void anchor above Port Sanctus. The schematics showed the latest security upgrades to some of her house’s more important sites – sites where, of late, several intruders had been apprehended. Or more accurately, found dead after the existing defences had done their work. Some might have concluded this meant adequate measures were already in place, but Chetta would have derided such a notion as foolishness and apathy. Already had, in fact, when that notion had been expressed by certain of her underlings. Luckily, her chief of security agreed with her.
‘This all looks sufficient,’ Chetta said approvingly. ‘See to it.’
‘Yes, high lady,’ Layal Jonas said, with a crisp salute.
‘Still no indication what the intruders were after, or to whom they may have had allegiance?’ Chetta asked.
Jonas shook her head, sending her braids swaying. ‘I’m afraid not, high lady. There were no distinguishing markings or house tattoos, and the intruders’ clothes were always plain and locally sourced.’
‘Well, there are significantly easier targets for your casual burglar than a Navigator house property,’ Chetta said meaningfully. ‘There must be something behind all this, as I’m sure you well know. It’s probably just another house trying to get details of our contracts so they can undercut or otherwise disrupt us, but better safe than sorry.’
‘Indeed,’ Jonas agreed. ‘I have drawn up a list of likely culprits based on proximity and–’
Brobantis’ security chief was interrupted by the chime of the vox. Chetta glowered at it, then grudgingly flicked the activation switch once she saw the glyph indicating the identity of the caller.
‘Yes, captain?’
‘We are being hailed and ordered to prepare for a boarding party,’ came the voice of Captain Anja Arqueba, distinctly less assured than usual. ‘They are broadcasting Inquisitorial codes.’
Chetta kissed her teeth. ‘Well, drat. Have you done anything particularly heretical lately, Anja?’
‘High lady!’
‘Calm down, captain, that was a joke,’ Chetta said. ‘We’ve dealt with inquisitors before. Well, I have anyway.’ She bit her lip. ‘It’s not Ngiri, is it?’
‘They have not responded to requests for further information. I have granted them access.’
‘Of course you have,’ Chetta said. ‘Foolish to do anything else when at anchor at an Imperial shipyard, even if it wouldn’t be a direct violation
‘Yes, high lady.’
Chetta straightened up – as much as she was able to, anyway. She was old by human standards, and although she had access to funds for more juvenat treatments than she could ever need, Navigator genetics meant some things simply could not be dissuaded from causing her grief.
‘Clear these away, and then make yourself scarce,’ she told Jonas, not unkindly. ‘If I need you, I’ll call for you. Otherwise, I’ll deal with whoever this is alone.’
‘High lady, your security is my responsibility,’ Jonas protested, but Chetta could tell that her heart wasn’t in it.
‘If this inquisitor has decided I need to die for some reason, then it is the will of the Imperium that it happens,’ she said wryly. ‘I wouldn’t ask you to stand against that, Layal. Now take your stuff, and shoo.’
The door chime rang, which was a courtesy of a sort, Chetta supposed. Theoretically an inquisitor could demand to have the door opened for them, and just march into her stateroom as though they owned it. In fact, they could declare that they now did own it. It would be heavy-handed, but not unheard of.
Chetta tapped the appropriate control on the arm of her chair. It definitely wasn’t a throne – there was only one throne on this ship, and that was the navigation throne in which one of her extended family-by-marriage would sit to guide this vessel through the warp – but it was certainly large and ornate, and contained not only the controls to many things within the stateroom and beyond, but also several concealed weapons. Chetta hoped she wouldn’t need them. Not that it would do her much good in the long run if she did.
She was hoping for Zaretta Ngiri of the Ordo Xenos. They had worked together for a short time on Vorlese, and Ngiri was both intelligent and pragmatic. Chetta wouldn’t say she had precisely liked the inquisitor as such, but she respected her, and she was at least a known quantity.
Unlike the person who entered the stateroom.
It wasn’t Ngiri, Chetta could tell that instantly: the hands visible at the end of their bodysuit’s tight sleeves were far too pale. The inquisitor’s face was covered by a mask, however, which was an affectation Chetta had heard some adopted, but which was considerably more unnerving to witness in person.
‘Welcome aboard,’ she said, trying to keep her tone light and genuine. Chetta was well aware that she had an acidic tongue, and it would not serve her well with the Inquisition. ‘How can I be of service? Please forgive me if I don’t rise, I am not as mobile as I once was.’
‘For starters, you can stay where you are,’ the inquisitor said, with a wave of her hand as the door shut behind her. ‘Secondly, don’t react badly.’
‘React badly to what?’ Chetta asked, but her brow was already furrowing. That voice… ‘That’s a Vorlese accent.’
‘It is,’ the inquisitor said, removing her mask. ‘Because I’m from Vorlese.’
It was not often that Chettamandey Brobantis was reduced to speechlessness, but this was one of those moments. She stared in open-mouthed shock at the face revealed to her. It was older than she remembered, but those features were burned into her memory. Quite literally.
‘Y-you?’ she managed at last, so overcome by shock that her fingers wouldn’t move to activate her hidden weapons, trigger the silent alarm that would call two dozen armsmen to her chambers, or anything else. ‘The fire-witch!’
‘Evelyn Darke.’ The pyrokine smiled at her. ‘Inquisitor Evelyn Darke of the Ordo Malleus, as I now am.’
‘That’s impossible,’ Chetta said bluntly. ‘You’re a damned cultist!’
‘I was a foolish dupe, but yes, I was a cultist,’ Darke admitted, her face clouding. ‘But suffice to say that His Imperial Majesty’s Most Holy Inquisition is not impossible to infiltrate, if you can find the members of it that are sufficiently obsessed or foolish enough not to look past the ends of their own noses.’ She shrugged. ‘So far as the Ordo Malleus is concerned, I’m a genuine inquisitor, with the record and rosette to prove it.’
Chetta blinked in astonishment. ‘Why are you telling me this? And why come here, to a person capable of outing you?’
‘Because I want to make my position very clear to you, with no deceit,’ Darke said seriously. ‘I know I’m damned for what I’ve done and who I am. I’m simply trying to do as much damage as I can to the servants of Chaos who tried to kill my world before I lose my life, and this’ – she gestured at her bodysuit, marked with Inquisitorial symbols – ‘gives me the best chance of doing that. As to why I’ve come to you… I need you.’
Chetta frowned. ‘You need me? Specifically?’
‘I need a Novator, and you’re the only one whose courage I’ve seen first-hand,’ Darke said. ‘Have you heard of the Alpha Legion?’
Chetta felt her left eye twitch slightly. ‘That feels like a dangerous question to answer, when posed by a member of the Ordo Malleus. However, in the spirit of honesty which you have so bizarrely initiated, yes, I’m aware of them. Navigator houses hear of most horrors the galaxy has to offer, sooner or later, because we are generally there when they start killing Imperial ships.’
‘I backtracked from Vorlese, found out that they were ultimately behind the attack on it,’ Darke said. ‘When I managed to work my way into the Inquisition, I learned far more. They have a new warlord – Solomon Akurra, or “the Ghost”. I’ve tangled with him before. He’s after a xenos device called the Pillar of Dreams, and it won’t be long before he finds it. I believe it’s in the possession of the remnants of a forge world that was overrun by orks, and whose adepts fled to set up a new enclave on a pre-existing Imperial planet. They’ve suffered a huge loss in status, which gives me an opening. I don’t trust that they’d be receptive to an overt Inquisitorial approach, but contact by a prominent Navigator house offering them agreeable terms for guiding their ships through the warp will be irresistible. I’ll attend negotiations as one of your household, which will give me the cover I need to get in and determine if the Pillar of Dreams is there.’
Chetta stared at her. Some instincts – quite a lot of them, actually – were screaming that she should try to kill Darke where she stood, or summon aid; anything other than agreeing to help the witch standing in front of her.
‘What do you want with this Pillar of Dreams?’ she asked, buying time.
‘To destroy it,’ Darke said immediately.
Chetta frowned. ‘The Mechanicus won’t like that.’
‘I know,’ Darke said. ‘But there’s another problem.’
Chetta groaned. ‘There usually is. Go on.’
‘There’s more than one inquisitor looking for it, and…’ Darke gestured to her face. ‘She might remember me, too.’
Chetta’s mind ran with that for half a second, then latched on to the inevitable conclusion. ‘Throne of Terra. Alyss Nero.’
‘Inquisitor Alyssana Nero of the Ordo Xenos,’ Darke said, with a humourless smile. ‘Already noted as something of a radical. I fear she intends to use the device, not destroy it.’ She shrugged, a gesture of helplessness far more at home on the frame of a lower-class drudge worker than an Imperial inquisitor. ‘I’m of the opinion that anything the Traitor Legions desire should be removed from the galaxy completely, and despite all the hate the Imperium heaped on me, I’m prepared to die for the Emperor.’ Her eyes narrowed in challenge. ‘Are you willing to do the same?’
Chetta rested her chin on her fist and stared at Darke. Possible futures flashed up in front of her. Dying in a hail of fire from boltguns wielded by twisted parodies of the Emperor’s Space Marines. Being executed as a heretic by an Alyssana Nero who anachronistically looked exactly the same as when she had gone by the name DeShelle DuVoir, and had dealt with Chetta’s appointments, or selected dresses for her to wear for interminable social functions.
Or, continuing on with her life as it was, getting even older and even less mobile. Eventually succumbing to the changes that overcame all her kind, and being entombed within the Vaults with the other ancient Navigators too far gone and too mutated to be allowed out any longer, lest the citizens of the Imperium rise up against the mutants and monsters in their midst and, in so doing, doomed themselves to isolation and quick extinction.
Chetta snorted. She could not be having with that foolishness.
She activated her vox. ‘Captain, make preparations to get underway. The inquisitor has a new destination for us.’
