Discipline Must Be Maintained

by Jon Vogel

Discipline Must Be Maintained

Inquisitor Chaplain Gemekial stared at the planet below his orbiting battlebarge. His battlebarge "Just Hand of Retribution" had exited warp outside the system and had spent 2 weeks manuevering into orbit with the 3rd planet of the sun in this nameless stellar system. It was an alpha class agricultural world with a population of about a half a million. The population was unaware of the battlebarge's approach. It's defense satellites, inadequate that they were, were easily taken out and replaced with Dark Angel satellites that were identical in function, but were designed to never send a warning...

***********

"Brother-Chaplain, we have assumed orbit." the navigator-pilot informed him. "Very good. Maintain postition. Weapons officer, arm the warheads."

"Aye sir", another Dark Angel bridge officer responded. "Should I use the conventional, low-megaton warheads, to reduce the planet's defenses, Brother-Chaplain?"

"No. Use the virus warheads. We want this system totally cleansed."

"Uhh, aye, sir." the weapons officer was visibly shaken by the Inquisitor-Chaplain's order. As his hands touched control runes, he asked "Sir, why are we using viral warheads? These farmers have no idea we are here. There have been no reports of rebellion or cultist activity in this sector. This seems a little extreme..."

The Inquisitor-Chaplain's expression darkened as his gaze drilled holes in the back of his weapon's officer's head. To dare to affront the Inquisitor-Chaplain by questioning his orders! Gemekial drew his boltpistol from it's holster at his side and fired a shot into the back of the weapons officer's head, spilling brains, bits of bones and blood all over the weapons console. The rest of the bridge crew stared at the Chaplain in shock, as the echo of the shot faded.

"Question not the commands of an Inquisitor-Chaplain, fully versed in the secrets of the inner-chamber..."

Before Gemekial could finish his condemnation of the weapons officer, another officer leaped at him, rage contorting his face. "You bastard! You killed brother Kenneth!" he shouted.

But, before he could reach the Chaplain, the Chaplain's Crozius Arcanum was drawn and swinging in a sharp arc. The other officer's pulverized head seperated from his shoulders and his lifeless body fell to the deck of the ship.

"I trust we shall have no more breaches of disclipline." Gemekial bellowed, glaring at his remaining bridge crew, "Discipline must be maintained!"

They studiously stared at their displays, keeping their eyes from the two lifeless bodies.

"Communications Officer, take the weapons console", the Inquisitor commanded.

"Brother-Inquisitor, with all due respect, I have not been trained in those duties..." the communication officer managed to squeak.

Venting a snort of disgust, the chaplain stode over the the weapons console and pushed the body aside. It fell to the floor with a dull thunk.

Scanning the controls rapidly, the chaplain finished keying in the commands to arm and launch the viral warheads. He watched with satisfaction as the warheads spiraled down to the planet, each one bursting over a population center, few though those were on this cursed world. It was only a matter of time.

The chaplain strode from the bridge, returning to his quarters. As he left, he commanded that the mess be cleaned up on the bridge. The remaining officers scurried to obey.

***********

As the Chaplain entered his quarters, he pressed the rune that locked his door. He strode over to the shrine on the far wall of his quarters and knelt before it. He intoned a prayer for the souls of each of the unworthy marines that he had slain. Then he intoned to Catechism of Disclipline to remind himself of why he had to slay the two marines. Once before, his chapter, the greatest chapter in the Adeptus Astartes, had broken disclipline. From that day foreward, all Chaplains of the Dark Angels had sworn to uphold utmost obedience to the laws of the chapter, that their mistake not be repeated. An Inquisitor-Chaplain of the inner-sanctum was even more zealous at preserving disclipline than most. Gemekial felt confident that the other officers on the bridge would remember this day: "Discipline Must Be Maintained", a lesson well taught.

***********

Rising, the chaplain strode over to his communications console and keyed the rune of rememberance. He read again the message that had been sent to him 3 months before.

Bother Chaplain,

It has come to our attention that on planet Gamma Prime, of star system 102.100.120.54, there exists a special target. You must proceed with all haste to this star system to verify the existance of this target. The usual proceedings are to be taken against this target, should it exist.

Inner Sanctum, Dark Angels, Caliban.

Gemekial had started the "usual proceedings": the complete destruction of the planet's inhabitants. If the people on that world had been harboring one of the Fallen, then they had paid the price for their transgression. If not, then what were the lives of a few hundred thousand people? The Emperor's will be served.

It took three days for the planet to die. Since the population was spread about the planet in small population zones, the virus spread ever so slowly. Two more bombings were required to finish sterilizing the planet. But, finally, the task was accomplished.

***********

On the bridge of the "Just Hand of Retribution", Gemekial stared at the planet. It had been transformed. What was once a lush green and blue planet was now dead-brown and gray. But, Gemekial had no time for such sentimental considerations. "Brother Lematz, scan the planet for lifeforms." he ordered.

The Dark Angels librarian concentrated his powers, seeking for any remaining life on the planet. The life would register as a disturbance in the Warp, a soul that was still bound to a body, offering a potential bridge between the two realities.

After several long minutes of concentration, the librarian's strained voice intoned: "Yes, I can detect a single life form remaining, deep under the northern pole. It is not strong."

"Very good!" the Chaplain shouted, for the first time animation showing on his dark-featured face as it was suffused with a joyful, dark exultation.

"Prepare my Thunderhawk, we leave at once."

The Chaplain left the bridge, his robes snapping in the air. Yes! he thought to himself. It was seldom that an inquisitor was this close to his prey. In 10,000 years, few of the Fallen, woefully few, had been recovered by his Chapter. Today, he would gain glory as a one of the rare Inquisitor's who had succeeded. He _knew_ it, he felt it to the core of his very being. Today was the day.

"The Emperor's will be done!" he chanted to himself as he entered the Thunderhawk launch bay.

***********

As the Thunderhawk descended through the planet's atmosphere, the Chaplain rejoiced. The virus had worked! It was designed to kill all life that did not carry the unique Dark Angel geneseed. It would compare the genetic code of the life it inhabited to the Dark Angel's signature that was encoded in the virus. If the lifeform did not carry the unique geneseed of a Dark Angel, an enzyme was activated that destoyed protein strands in the lifeform, a quick and agonizing death was the result. The Dark Angel looked forward to the next time his Chapter battled a foe alonside the Space Wolf curs. He would order the virus released, it would not only kill the enemies of the Imperium, it would also destroy the accursed Space Wolves. The gene-corrupted chapter needed to be cleansed, and now the Dark Angels had the perfect tool to do so.

***********

The Thunderhawk landed, sending up a dust cloud which filled the air and veiled the view of the ground. When the dust finally settled, Gamekial saw that they had landed at a forlorn outpost, situated on the north pole of the planet. The planet itself was of extremely temperate climate, its northern pole not covered by an ice cap, the southern pole only barely managing to keep one. A large landmass covered the north of the planet. They had landed in the center of it.

***********

The installation was standard for the Imperium. A large block structure, really nothing more than the top of a lift shaft. The door to the lift opened easily to the ministrations of the accompanying tech-marine.

Gemekial and his command squad entered the lift and started descending to the bowls of the the planet, their final destination many meters below.

***********

Gemekial savored his victory as the lift descended. He knew he would rise far in the ranks of the Dark Angels with this accomplishment. Seldom, so seldom, were the Inquisitor Chaplains able to recover an actual Fallen Angel. A fierce grin marred his otherwise stoic contenance.

When the lift finally reached the bottom of the shaft, Gemekial confidently stepped off, followed by his command squad. He was accompanied by Veteran Sergeant Adolfo, young Techmarine Leo and 3 other helmeted Dark Angel veteran troopers. Without a word being exchanged, they slung their bolters to the ready. When approaching the unknown, it was always best to be prepared.

As they strode down the long corridor, automatic lighting glowed, showing the way. The lights were dim, and pulsed slightly, giving off an unsettling illumination. The Chaplain attributed this unsteady lighting to the failure of the planet's primary power grid when he had terminated all the technicians manning it with his effective virus bombing. This installation was operating on emergency power reserves and those probably wouldn't last much longer.

Using his auspex, Sergeant Adolfo lead the squad through several doorways. Finally, a doorway was encountered that did not automatically open for the Dark Angels. The techmarine stepped forward and with a few deft applications of his servo-arm forced the doorway open, revealing the interior.

Several technicians lay on the floor or slumped over their control consoles, clearly dead. But, there was no smell, no decay, no decomposition. Just the blackened, mottled faces of the dead. Gemekial's virus knew no bounds, it had killed the very bacteria in the air that would have rotted the bodies. The entire planet's population of dead would be left to mummify in the lifeless atmosphere of the planet. Gemekial felt the power of one of his chapter's nicknames "Angels of Death". He had truly swept across this planet like the mythical angel of death, smiting all the heretics in their unbelief.

The squad approached another sealed doorway, once again the Techmarine applied his servo-arm to the task. The doorway was more heavily fortified than the first and it took him several minutes to force the door. Gemekial felt a sense of anticipation as the doorway slowly gave. The vet sargeant assured him that their quarry waited on the opposite side of the doorway.

As the door finally gave with a loud screech, the Dark Angels threw frag grenades into the room and dove in. They rose from cover as nothing responded to their violent greeting. The lighting in this room was dimmer than the rest, but with their enhanced vision, the marines had no trouble making out the room's contents. It was a fairly large room, 30 meters by 30 meters in size, though partly rounded. It was full of obscure machinery, with flickering lights blinking from panels covering the walls. Large power conduits criss-crossed the room, plasma flowing through them. But, the center of the room was a large hexagonal pillar, rising to the roof. The pillar shimmered with power, but it was a waning light.

"Brother Leo, what is this room?" the Chaplain demanded.

"I'm not sure, Brother-Inquisitor, I will interface with the control system to determine what this is."

"Do so quickly, Brother, I do not want our quarry to escape."

Other than Veteran Sargeant Adolfo, no other the member of the squad knew what they were truly hunting. Only the members of the Death Wing and the Inner Sanctum knew the true history of the Dark Angels. So it was ordained that it be, so it was. The other squad members only knew that they were hunting a rebel Space Marine.

The marines maintained vigilance while the Techmarine searched the records of the inorganic cogitator, sifting through the information it held, seeking the key to the existance of this room.

Finally, the Techmarine broke his connection with the machinery. He seemed visibly shaken.

"What is it, Leo?" demanded the Inquisitor, suddenly feeling a premonition of disaster. Without answering, the techmarine approached the hexagonal column. Pressing some controls on its side, the techmarine stopped the shimmering of the power. He reached out with his gauntleted hands and removed some restraining bolts, freeing a panel. Behind the panel was a thick, clear duroplast window and behind that, floating in a liquid, a multitude of wires joining it to its confines, was a human brain.

"Here is your traitor." the techmarine announced.

"Fool!" the Inquisitor shouted, shoving the techmarine aside to stare at the brain, "What foolery is this! You will be punished for your insubordination!"

"Sir! Listen the me," the techmarine hurredly interjected. "It was all there, stored in the records. I was able to find everything, the whole history of this project!"

"Explain it to me, then!" the Inquisitor commanded.

"Sir, are you sure?" the techmarine asked, glancing nervously at the other Dark Angels.

"Fool, do not force me to order you again, you verge on heresy!" the Chaplain hissed through clinched teeth, unsheathing his Crozius Arcanum.

"Sir, it began 4,000 years ago, when this planet was first colonized." the techmarine began, "This planet was extremely unstable, the terraforming inorganic cogitators were unable to cope with the complex data needed to process this planet. The Adeptus Mechanicus decided to secretly combine the cognitive powers of a human mind with the speed and accuracy of a cogitator, hoping the result would create an organic machine capable of controlling the rest of the machines that would terraform the planet."

"Heresy. Blasphemy." the Chaplain interrupted, "The Emperor has ordained that the Dark Age of Technology was caused by such foul abominations as this. He has ordained that never again would human minds be combined with machines. The supremacy of the Human race would not be challenged by such cyborg creations!"

"But sir, that is exactly what has happened here! Look around you, why else have this room, and all these control lines leading to that one location, where that brain is held?"

The Inquisitor looked thoughfully at the room, the tightening in his stomach continued, his premonition of disaster deepened.

"Continue the story."

"Well, sir, the first brain that they used was merely human, and even with artificial enhacements was only able to last a bare millennia. But the terraforming process was proceeding according to plan, the Adeptus Mechnicus simply needed a better brain." the techmarine paused, looking nervous again.

The Inquisitor urged him on "Yes?"

A stranger appeared on the planet, a hunted stranger. He had done something bad, but he was a Space Marine and still held his honor. He wanted to help, to make up for his ill-deed. So he offered his superior, genetically enhanced brain to the Adeptus Mechanicus, in exchange for his anonymity and a chance to right his past wrong."

"How do you know this!" demanded the Inquisitor, the room narrowing to encampass only his growing rage and the techmarine's face.

"The records, sir, they were all there. The Adeptus Astarte even had his own personal records, recounting what terrible crime he had commited that caused him to flee the Brotherhood and hide in this hellhole." The techmarine paused again, then rushed on "I don't understand, sir. He talked about Lion El'Jonson and Luther and Caliban and a great treason. How could this be sir? He claimed he was once a Dark Angel? How could this be?"

Techmarine Leo would never know the answer to his question. The Inquisitor-Chaplain's Crozius crushed his head cleanly, instantly ending his musings along with his life. The Inquisitor turned his Crozius on the shocked Dark Angels accompanying him. So fast did he move that they never had a chance as he crushed out their lives. Adding to their confusion were the actions of the Veteran Sergeant, who had also cut down a Dark Angel with his own powersword. The slaughter completed, the two remaining Dark Angels glared at each other, shame on their faces.

"We must destroy this place at once," Adolfo panted.

"Yes. Plant melta-bombs on the structure," the Chaplain ordered.

The two of them quickly placed the explosives on key pieces of equipment and around the hexagonal pillar. They pilfered more meltabombs from the slain marines and planted them along the corridor as they fled. Once they had made it back to the surface, Sergeant Adolfo sent the command that detonated the melta-bombs in the underground structure. A few seconds later, they felt the aftershock. But, unlike most aftershocks, this one did not subside but seemed to be growing.

"Quick, into the Thunderhawk!" the Chaplain commanded.

***********

As they rose back into orbit, the planet was heaving below them. Earthquakes shattered the crust, volcanoes erupted, the whole surface of the planet seemed intent on consuming itself.

"What have we done?" asked the sergeant.

"By the Emperor, I know not. But keep this secret, on pain of death."

"Yes, Inquisitor Chaplain." Adolfo had no doubt that the Chaplain meant it. He was only alive now becuase he was a member of the Death Wing and knew his Chapter's shameful past and why they were unforgiven.

***********

In the great Hall of Testimony, on the Rock, Grand Master Azrael stood judgment over the Inquisitor-Chaplain Gemekial. Before him were the 100 members of the First Company, all veterans, all members of the Inner Sanctum, all Death Wing.

***********

"We are gathered here to pass judgment on Brother Gemekial," The Grand Master intoned. "He stands accused of Heresy, of Actions Dangerous to the Safety of the Chapter. We have heard his testimony, he did willingly allow a person not of this assembly to learn our most Hallowed Secret."

There was a growl of anger from the assembled Marines that answered the accusation.

"He has been judged guilty by this assembly, and must be punished. First, he shall be stripped of his rank as is just by our laws!"

His Crozius was taken from Gemekial's slack grip, his robes ripped from his body, his Book of Secrets removed from his belt.

"Next, he has dishonored this company and may no longer name himself of member of it. His name shall be stricken from our records, his power armor taken."

Gamekial resolutely handed his helmet to a nearby marine, who would not face him.

"Finally, as a person who is not of this assembly, he must not be allowed to share the secret he holds within him."

With that, Asmodai struck him upon his head from behind with his own Crozius Arcanum, ending Gemekial's existance.

His last thought, before his soul left his body, was "Discipline must be maintained."