The thing that had been Varens opened a single eye on a blighted world. With warp-born sight, he perceived a viscous net of befouled spiritual power linking him and the six dead soldiers, stretching from their maggoty hearts out into the stars. Questing tendrils extended themselves further over Iax as he watched. All of the seven chosen were marked by Nurgle in their own way: by obvious trauma, minor scratch or unnoticed wound. Varens’ own mark had been a fly bite, dismissed in a moment! How bountiful his new lord was. The thing was pleased at the honour, and the last of Varens died under its pleasure.

‘One, two, three. Four, five, six, seven.’ The plaguebearer counted the approaching shapes coasting through the hellish sky, and awaited its masters.

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Greyshield

Captain Felix had considered taking off his armour before he went to see his erstwhile comrades. He disliked the distance the unmarked ultima on his shoulder pad put between him and the others. In the end, however, he kept his battleplate on. He was an Ultramarine now. He should not dishonour that, even if he did not yet feel fully part of the Chapter.

His cobalt blue was the same shade as the older Ultramarines in the fleet, but he was bigger than his new brothers, stronger, and more capable. The differences extended from the Irradial Whorls that marked his hands to the extra organs deep within his brain. Physically, Felix was closer to the primarchs than any of the generations of Space Marines who had fought and died for the Imperium before him.

His battleplate further set him apart.

Aggressor power armour was more sophisticated than any comparable rating of battleplate in the Ultramarines armoury. A heavy gorget projected from the breastplate, guarding his vulnerable neck. Cowling covered his helmet. The reactor was larger to support the more powerful sub-systems, its built-in power field and the armour’s sophisticated cogitator and sensorium suite. Although slightly less resistant to fire than Terminator plate, the heavy armour worn by the Ultramarines’ existing veterans was the only thing that approached Aggressor armour’s capabilities, and Felix was far more nimble than warriors in tactical dreadnought armour.

Felix was glad there were hundreds of other Primaris Ultramarines in the crusade. He could imagine how strange it must be for those of the Unnumbered Sons who had been assigned to existing Chapters in dribs and drabs.

Being the primarch’s equerry was an honour heavy with many burdens. And they shall know no fear! The Emperor’s commandment to His Space Marines echoed down the millennia to the present day, and generally, a Space Marine was afraid of nothing. However, being fearless did not stop Captain Felix from worrying.