Fulminata- A Warhammer 40,000 Story

The Black Mask

"Is it doubt I hear in your voice?" Kaeso asked simply, his visage unbroken.

"Of course not," Gladio said, "I only wish to be on the same page as you for the upcoming battle."

Kaeso nodded, a smile cracking his stone face. "You squirm too easily, Gladio. Do you wish pure honesty?"

Gladio paused. Of course, he should want honesty, truth was a core tenant of the Astartes. But at the same time... Hope was sweet, and his basest human desired it. Should an Astartes desire hope?

"Honesty, of course." Gladio responded.

Kaeso sighed. He left his place at the center of the bridge.

"Titus, I give you control of the bridge."

The Chapter Master pulled Gladio along with him. They stalked through the halls of the Egregium and found their way to the Court of Thunder.

The Court of Thunder was a magnificent room. It was a large, octagonal room, with a slab of pure marble from Terra in its center. It was the room where the Fulminata's conquests were planned. It was here that the Chapter Master would meet with his captains, and any other relevant personnel, to plan their grand strategies.

Now, however, it was empty. Now was not the time for glorious campaigns or honorable battles. Now was a time for pure, white-knuckled survival, at any costs.

"I don't know." Kaeso said.

"What?" Gladio responded?"

Kaeso turned to face the 2nd Captain. For the first time Gladio could ever remember he saw fear in the Chapter Master's eyes.

"I don't know how we'll get out of this alive. I ran out of ideas as soon as we were trapped in the warp. Emperor, we shouldn't even be alive right now. You heard the technicians; our Gellar field shouldn't even be active right now. I've no idea how much longer we have."

Gladio froze. If the Chapter Master was this discouraged...

No. Gladio refused. He would not lie down and die, he was an Astartes. And dammit if hope didn't course through his body right now.

"So you plan for us to die? Cowed by the powers of the Warp we've fought so many times? Wait here until we drown in Chaos?"

Kaeso chuckled. "Of course not. That's why I sent Cicero away. He does his best thinking while he's fighting. Either way, I'm sure we'll be occupied soon enough. Something will present itself soon enough. Perhaps the Servitors will manage to repair our Warp Drives. Or maybe our Gellar field will fail before they get the chance. Don't mistake my uncertainty for failure."

Gladio nodded slowly. "I apologize for my outburst."

Kaeso nodded. "I appreciate your thoughts. As you know, it is not becoming of a Fulminata to not think for himself."

Gladio could hear Kaeso's Vox click. After a moment, the Chapter Master responded.

"I'll be right there." He turned to Gladio. "Ready your company. Expect battle soon."

The harsh thumps of Bolter fired died out the moment the Daemons fell. Theos spat a curse as he kicked over the corpse of one of the red-tinged Daemons.

"Bloodletters. So Khorne has taken notice?"

"Calm yourself, lieutenant," Cicero spoke, "There will be more."

"Have you told Kaeso yet?" Theos asked.

"Vox has been spotty. I haven't been able to reach him, but I told the bridge. Titus said he'd pass the message on."

Theos cursed again. "If our Vox-nets aren't working, that will make things a whole lot more complicated."

Cicero nodded as he reloaded his Boltgun. "We've dealt with worse. Remember Korus IV?"

Theos shook his head in amusement as he walked around his fellow Astartes, checking to see if any needed medical attention. "We weren't a single Gellar malfunction from being crushed by the Warp then. Pardon me if I don't have much hope in this situation."

"You don't need hope," Cicero said as he cocked his Bolter. "You just need to follow orders, and right now those are to defend the ship. Start securing the area and readying defenses. I'm heading to the Armory to see how Anius is handling this."

Theos smiled. "Bring me back a set of Terminator armor, will you?"

The same smile spread to Cicero's face as he marched down the hall, picking his way to the armory.

When Kaeso returned to the bridge, Titus immediately approached him with a dataslate, ignoring all pomp and circumstance usually afforded to a Chapter Master entering the bridge.

"Numerous squads have reported Daemonic incursions around the ship. Mostly Bloodletters, but a few Plaguebearers are also showing up."

"Any patterns showing up?"

Titus shook his head as the pair walked back to the center of the bridge.

Kaeso picked his helmet up from off the console and slid it onto his head.

"Stay here and keep trying to find a way back to Realspace," he commanded, his voice muffled through the Vox, "I have some Daemons to kill."