He remembered the sense of magnificent beginВnings when Maloghurst had tasked him with the death of Ignace Karkasy
Maggard had jammed the barrel of his pistol beneath the poet's quivering jaw and blown his brains out over the roof of his cramped room before letting the generously fleshed body crash to the floor in a flurry of bloody papers.
Why Maloghurst had required Karkasy's death did not concern Maggard. The equerry spoke with the voice of Horus and Maggard had pledged his undying loyalty to the Warmaster on the battlefield of Davin when he had offered him his sword.
Later, whether in reward or as part of his ongoing designs, the Warmaster had killed his former misВtress, Petronella Vivar, and for that, Maggard was forever in his debt.
Whatever the Warmaster desired, Maggard would move heaven or hell to see it done.
Now he had been ordered to do something wonВdrous.
Now he was going to kill a saint.
Sindermann beat his middle finger against his chin in a nervous tattoo as he tried to look as if he belonged in this part of the ship. Deck crew in orange jumpsuits and ordnance officers in yellow jackets threaded past him as he awaited his accomplices in this endeavour. He clutched the chit the guard had given him tightly, as though it were some kind of talisman that would protect him if someone challenged him.
'Come on, come on,’ he whispered. Where are you?'
It had been a risk contacting Titus Cassar, but he had no one else to turn to. Mersadie did not believe in the Lectitio Divinitatus, and in truth he wasn't sure he did yet, but he knew that whatever or whoВever had sent him the vision of Euphrati Keeler had meant him to act upon it. Likewise, Garviel Loken was out of the question, for it was certain that his movements would not escape notice.
'Iterator,’ hissed a voice from beside him and SinВdermann almost cried aloud in surprise. Titus Cassar stood beside him, an earnest expression creasing his
slender face. Another man stood behind him, simiВlarly uniformed in the dark blue of a Titan crewman. Titus,’ breathed Sindermann in relief. 'I wasn't sure you'd be able to come,’
'We won't have long before Princeps Turnet notices we are not at our posts, but your communiВcation said the saint was in danger,’ 'She is,’ confirmed Sindermann, 'grave danger,’ 'How do you know?' asked the second man. Cassar's brow twisted in annoyance. Tm sorry, Kyril, this is Jonah Aruken, my fellow Moderati on the Dies Irae. He is one of us,’
'I just know,’ said Sindermann. 'I saw… I don't know… a vision of her lying on her bed and I just knew that someone intended her harm,’
'A vision,’ breathed Cassar. 'Truly you are one of the chosen of the Emperor,’
'No, no,’ hissed Sindermann. 'I'm really not. Now come on, we don't have time for this, we have to go now,’ 'Where?' asked Jonah Aruken. The medicae deck,’ said Sindermann, holding up his chit. We have to get to the medicae deck,’
The surface of the shimmering globe above Horus resolved into continents and oceans, overlaid with the traceries of geophysical features: plains, forests, seas, mountain ranges and cities.
Horus held up his arms, as if supporting the globe from below like some titan from the ancient myths of old Earth.
'This is Isstvan III,’ he repeated, 'a world brought into compliance thirteen years ago by the 27th expeditionary force of our brother Corax,’
'And he wasn't up to the job?' snorted Angron.
Horus shot Angron a dangerous look. There was some resistance, yes, but the last elements of the aggressive faction were destroyed by the Raven Guard at the Redarth Valley,’
The battle site flared red on the globe, nestled among a mountain range on one of Isstvan Ill's northern continents. The remembrancer order was not yet foisted upon us by the Council of Terra, but a substantial civilian contingent was left behind to begin integration with the Imperial Truth,’
'Are we to assume that the Truth didn't take?' asked Eidolon.
'Mortarion?' prompted Horus, gesturing to his brother primarch.
'Four months ago the Death Guard received a disВtress signal from Isstvan III,’ said Mortarion. 'It was weak and old. We only received it because one of our supply ships joining the fleet at Arcturan dropped out of the warp for repairs. Given the age of the signal and the time it took for it to be relayed to my command, it is likely that it was sent at least two years ago,’
What did it say?' asked Angron.
In reply, the holographic image of the globe unfolded into a large flat pane, like a pict-screen hovering in the air, black, with just a hint of
shadowy movement. A shape moved on the screen and Loken realised it was a face – a woman's face, orange-lit by a candle flame that provided the only light. She appeared to be in a small, stone walled chamber. Even over the poor quality of the signal, Loken could tell that the woman was terrified, her eyes wide and her breathing rapid and shallow. She gleamed with sweat.
'The insignia on her collar,’ said Torgaddon, 'is from the 27th Expedition,’
The woman adjusted the device she was using to record the image and sound flooded into the Lupercal's Court: crackling flames, distant yelling and gunfire.
'It's revolution,’ said the woman, her voice warped by static. 'Open revolt. These people, they have… rejected… they've rejected it all. We tried to integrate them, we thought the Warsingers were just some primitive… superstition, but it was much more, it was real. Praal has gone mad and the Warsingers are with him,’
The woman suddenly looked around at someВthing off-screen.
'No!' she screamed desperately and opened fire with a weapon previously held out of view. Violent muzzle flashes lit her and something indescribable flailed against the far wall as she emptied her weapon into it. 'They're closer. They know we're here and… I think I'm the last one,’
The woman turned back to the screen. 'It's madВness, complete madness down here. Please, I don't
think I'm going to get through this. Send someone, anyone, just… make this stop-'
A hideous, atonal keening sound blared from the pict screen. The woman grabbed her head, her screams drowned by the inhuman sound. The last frames jerked and fragmented, freeze framing through a series of gruesome images: blood in the woman's frenzied eye, a swirling mass of flesh and shattered stone, and a mouth locked open, blood on teeth.
Then blackness.
There have been no further communications from Isstvan III,’ concluded Mortarion, filling the silence that followed. 'The planet's astropaths have either been compromised or they are dead,’
The name "Praal" refers to Vardus Praal,’ said Horns, 'the governor left behind to command IsstВvan III in the name of the Imperium, ensure compliance and manage the dismantling of the traВditional religious structures that defined the planet's autochthonous society. If he is complicit in the rebellion on Isstvan III, as this recording sugВgests, then he is one of our objectives,’
Loken felt a shiver travel down his spine at the thought of once again facing a population whose Imperial official had turned traitor. He glanced over at Torgaddon and saw that the similarities with the Davin campaign were not lost on his comrade.
The holo swelled and returned to the image of Isstvan III. The cultural and religious capital of IsstВvan is here,’ said Horus as the image zoomed in on
one of the northern cities, which commanded a large hinterland at the foot of a colossal range of mountains.
'The Choral City. This is the source of the disВtress signal and the seat of Praal's command, a building known as the Precentor's Palace. MultiВple speartips will seize a number of strategic objectives, and with the city in our hands, Isstvan will be ours. The first assault will be a combined force made up of Astartes from all Legions with backup from the Titans of the Mechanicum and the Imperial Army. The rest of the planet will then be subjugated by whichever Imperial Army reinВforcements can reach us with the warp in its current state,’