"Yes, it's just the four of us now."
"Hey, I was just waxing poetic, don't get all emo on me."
"Back to the main topic then."
Romulus chuckled, shook his head, and pulled up a chair.
"Guess what the flagship of that Explorator fleet is called?"
"Steel Soul?"
"That's boring, brother. I wanted to make a show of it."
"To us, you don't need to spell it out. It's Mechanicus."
Pushing open the viewport, Rameses watched as more than ten dark silhouettes emerged in the starlight.
"Who else could it be but Belisarius Cawl?"
Pierrede Subsector, Minor Pierrede System
As the Mandville Point rippled, a compact fleet tore open the veil of reality.
The Red Sharks' warp-jump reliability was remarkable, perhaps from centuries of operating beyond the Astronomican's light. Even while dragging a strike cruiser and an ork hulk with them, they emerged unharmed.
On the bridge of the Nicole, reopened after re-entry into realspace, Arthur stood at Tiberlos' invitation, side by side, watching sharks.
Yes, sharks.
Specifically, a great white shark from Terra.
At least that's what Arthur's panel displayed after passively recording the specimen's data.
It was strange. In the endless void, besides his companions, he had stumbled on something from his own age aboard a fleet returning from beyond Imperial space.
"You recognize it?"
Tiberlos followed Arthur's gaze toward the shark in the tank. Years of battle-honed awareness told him this sword-bearer's attention was fixed on that single creature.
That was unusual. The Nicole's bridge itself was one massive aquarium filled with dangerous predators from oceans across countless worlds. Most guests invited there were inevitably drawn to the terrifying behemoths.
But Arthur had eyes only for this unremarkable great white.
In this era, almost no one remembered what the shark truly represented.
"It comes from Terra."
Arthur admitted it openly, his expression turning wistful.
"But the ocean that raised it is long gone."
Arthur was genuinely pained.
Anyone who knew their homeworld had become the current Holy Terra would feel the same.
The pain of temporal dislocation ran deep.
Even the Sisters who had followed him felt the weight of his sorrow.
"..."
Tiberlos glanced sidelong at this figure he might, in theory, have to call elder. He loosened his grip uneasily, suddenly tempted to wake his chapter's ancient Dreadnought to speak with Arthur instead.
Just a handful of words had sent a Dark Angels Sword-Bearer into melancholy. He doubted anyone else had ever managed that.
"How did you know that name?"
Tiberlos awkwardly shifted the subject and glanced toward Kahurangi, who was just entering the bridge.
"Lord of Shadows?"
Arthur noticed the look.
"Yes."
"Because it once belonged to Arkhas Phal."
Arkhas Phal, Terran-born Raven Guard Chapter Master of the 30k era.
Arthur, following Romulus' "always speak plainly" principle, answered directly. He then nodded politely to Kahurangi, who had come up beside him, and with the Sisters at his side, took his leave.
He could read the room. With the fleet out of the warp, now was the time for internal Shark matters. Standing around here any longer wasn't his place.
"..."
Kahurangi simply watched his daily "loot drop" leave. Seeing Arthur's heavy mood, he held back the impulse to call him back.
"Did you anger Lord Arthur, my lord?"
"I… don't know."
The two men looked at each other for three silent seconds.
"You went to test their Librarius again?"
"Yes."
"And learned nothing?"
"Yes."
At that, Kahurangi felt shame.
That Librarian named Rameses played the fool too well. His probing yielded nothing. The man clearly understood the warp deeply but always hedged or dodged the details.
No wonder he had been a master of the Immaterium in his age.
"Better we speak of the Grey Tithe, my lord."
So Kahurangi steered the conversation.
Tiberlos activated the holo. It displayed a transmission from a Mechanicus Ark.
"Savant Belisarius Cawl of Mars has agreed to the tithe. In addition, the Black Templars with him have invited us and the Deathwatch to a joint war council, concerning Drukhari intruders aboard the Archmagos' ship."
"They are not Deathwatch."
Kahurangi gently reminded him.
"I know."
"Ultramarines and Blood Angels. Perhaps even Imperial Fists among the Cataphractii."
Kahurangi shared what intelligence he had.
"Not only that."
Tiberlos clenched his fist. The battles had come so thick and fast that even brief calm felt unnatural.
He searched his chapter's records of the Dark Angels. No mention of a giant warrior obsessed with dueling. Nothing.
But no, Arthur wasn't obsessed with duels. He simply wanted strength, and dueling Sharks was his method. He was learning their ten thousand years of experience at incredible speed and willpower, adapting himself to the era.
"Who told you this?"
Tiberlos asked.
"Mortals."
Worried that might sound misleading, Kahurangi clarified.
"They never hid their origin. They only borrowed the Deathwatch name, openly recruited Guard regiments as mortal auxilia, and with that gear and those tactics, once they enter Imperial sight there is no concealing them.
"As for how they store such an arsenal, that is not for us to pry."
"Agreed."
Tiberlos nodded.
The Red Sharks had an acute instinct never to probe secrets.
Their own chapter had once been entrusted with the Voidsire's Silent Glass, an ancient relic. If these warriors had some pocket-realm to store their wargear, it was no more unthinkable than that.
As for the Silent Glass they had since lost…
The thought alone gave Tiberlos a headache.
That regret quickly burned into fury, which he turned toward the true culprits aboard that Ark.
Damn xenos.
"Reply: the Red Sharks will lend aid."
"And…"
The pale fury infected Kahurangi as well. The suppressed Raven Guard bloodline awoke in him, stirring a terrible hunger for slaughter. He drew a breath and asked softly:
"Shall we inform Lord Romulus?"
"Of course."
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