Part X Continued "Gideon," Ezekial began, "how long have you been here?" "Time means little when you have lived as long as I have," he replied obliquely. "Several months, at least." "Then you will have learned the ways of this place," the Sergeant pursued. "If you know that Imperial Guardsmen from Stirka accompanied us into this building, then you will know why we have come here." Gideon permitted himself a small grin. "The Eldar are a formidable foe." Ezekial ignored the humor, finding none in the situation himself. "And they will just as readily slay you as me. One suit of power armor looks much like another to their alien eyes." Gideon made no reply. "Will you show me how to completely bar them from entry? And to activate this bastion's defense mechanisms?" The older Dark Angel pondered over Ezekial's request. Without speaking, he walked past the Sergeant, retrieving the chainsword from where it had been dropped, and handed it back to the younger man. Then he sheathed his power sword. Instead of answering directly, he asked a question of his own. "Where will you go, Zeke?" "I don't understand. What do you mean, where will I go? I am not going anywhere," Ezekial replied. "Your landing forces are all but destroyed. Obliterated," Gideon added. Ezekial flushed at the hated idea. "The arrival of the Emperor's Light Chapter is unexpected, but not insurmountable. The Eldar will eventually control the planet. So... where will you go?" "Then I will die in service to the Emperor," Ezekial responded without hesitation. "I will go nowhere, other than to find Eldar to kill." "Hmph!" the other snorted. "You would throw your life away so readily, one so valuable to the Imperium? How is that service?" The words came instantly to his lips. "To die in service to the Emperor is honorable, and greatly to be desired. I will kill as many of His enemies as I am able before they kill me. That is the service I render." "Would it not be better to serve your Emperor in life rather than in death?" Gideon posed. "To make better use of your sacrifice?" "I am not afraid of death, old Hermit," the Sergeant asserted loudly. "But to die here, now, in these circumstances would... would not..." He paused. "It would be yet more shame upon me. To have failed so." Gideon suddenly moved closer to Ezekial, face barely a handspan away. With a tight grimace, he ground out, "Then follow me, and live." Ezekial started at the controlled urgency he heard in the scarred man's voice. "It is not by mere coincidence that the Eldar and I are here, together. Come with me and learn the Truth of the universe, and help me free Humanity." Ezekial involuntarily backed away from the fierce features of his friend. "Take care with what you speak," he cautioned, "I am loyal to my God-Emperor. You offer the False-Faith of the warp gods, and would see me follow the living lie of Chaos. I will not permit that." "Don't be a fool, Zeke! Does this face look like that of a warp-mutated fiend? Do these eyes spit gobbets of fire, given by some foul god?" he demanded. "No! On that day an age ago or more, I told you that I served the Emperor no longer. And for a long time that was true. I ran from hole to hole, trying to hide from my fate. Now I do serve the Emperor, but not in the same way as you. I do not ask you to renounce your faith, only that you listen with that same open mind you once had." The Sergeant permitted himself to relax. He had been right after all, his old friend was not a heretic. His revelations today sounded the same as those he had spoken on Egana III, and though frightening, Ezekial did not think they were quite so dangerous. Events recently had proceeded so quickly that he felt he was being left behind. He had suffered a similar sensation after Gideon escaped the Dark Angels that day, a feeling of being lost, drifting. He had been unable to speak for many days, so overcome by the things he had witnessed, and his Confessors and tutors had not known what to make of it. If anyone ever thought he knew details of the massacre of the Arbites troopers, they had never tried to force him to tell of it. But because no one knew why he had withdrawn from life so much, no one was ever able to help him come out again. Gradually, his own mental defenses blocked out the worst of his memories, allowing him to regain some normalcy. His punishments for not saying the Emperor's Prayer in religious services stopped when he started speaking again, but his boyhood outlook was gone. He tried to embrace the Imperial Cult more fully, but the conflict between what he had seen and what he had been taught weighed on him. How could two defenders of Humanity so readily kill one another, and yet both serve the same Emperor? He never renounced his obligations to the Emperor, but too much had changed. His previous curiosity had been transformed into a burning desire for physical expression, and he had grown up stronger and meaner than most of his fellows. He still roamed the countryside, but now he was seeking ever greater challenges to better himself against, than to find new things and places. So he had drifted aimlessly as he had matured, until that second fateful day when the Dark Angels returned. He had been terrified beyond expression that they had come for him, that they somehow knew he had known Gideon. And in a sense they _had_ come for him. They were recruiting, and Egana III had been given the rare honor of being selected as a source of manpower for the Chapter. The green-armored giants strode through the streets as though they neither knew nor cared what the populace thought of them. And it was as much a surprise to him as to his mentors in the Schola Progenium when he was taken to the stars when the Dark Angels left. From then on, all he knew was gone. His troublesome memories were buried beneath an avalanche of new things, new ways of thinking, new planets. The stern, monastic men of the Dark Angels were pure in their beliefs, and they offered their own views to him: views of duty, honor, and a subtle underlying guilt that seemed to drive them to extremes. Their rock-solid faith in the Emperor was a new twist on an old thorn for him, and he took their ideals to his heart. He accepted their teachings and was reborn. Because of this, his inquisitiveness was reawakened, and therein lay many of his problems today. And now, this moment, he was faced with the greatest decision he had ever had to make. On its face, it was a struggle between his curiosity and his Dark Angels' upbringing to never ask questions. But he knew that his quandry was far more complex; it was simply a mask for the deeper upset within. Was it possible to love the Emperor, and yet not follow the precepts he had been taught? Could the Hermit be telling the truth, and there be a way out of his shame? Ezekial was so bludgeoned by the merest possiblity that he could not speak, could not think. "You once told me you would not judge me, Zeke," Gideon implored, still trying to reach him. "Do not start now. Listen to what I have to say." As though it were singularly important, he added, "I always enjoyed your visits." Ezekial's mind flashed back and forth between past and present, between Egana III and Mraba IV, between the Hermit's hut and the City of Might. He compared and thought, but still felt trapped between his dogma and his desires. He wished desperately to give up the shame of his failures as a Space Marine, but to do so required him to turn his back on all he had known as right. The Dark Angels would never accept his abandonment -- for assuredly they would see it as abandonment -- of their teachings, and he would become as much a heretic to them as any other renegade. Yet the Emperor was certainly the focus of his and their devotion, and surely His forgiveness was more important than the Dark Angels'. Wavering on his personal precipice, he finally latched onto the one thought that made sense to him. He had promised not to judge the Hermit once, and had been set upon the path he had followed ever since. Perhaps it was time to follow a new path. More, in exchange for his trust, Gideon had told him his name, a thing no one had known for centuries or longer. All for a small boy's open-mindedness. When he realized that he would never _not_ believe anything the older man might tell him, Ezekial knew he had committed himself more fully to this course than to any other ever before. And somewhere deep inside himself, he knew he had already made the decision long ago. Gideon, watching him closely, saw the turmoil fade from his eyes. A look of glad relief washed over his own face, and he heard Ezekial's words, "Tell me what you wish me to know," with a light heart. "Then hear me, Ezekial," he began, "for great things are coming. |
REDEMPTION By Kelly L'Roy |
TOMES OF VALOUR |
This item has been reproduced without the permission of the author. It's use here is not intended as a challenge to the original authors copyright and is reproduced here for the sole purpose of enhancing the Dark Angel spirrit and the warhammer 40,000 experience. Sadly all attempts at contacting the author have been unsuccessful and the original site where this was published no longer in existence. The story has been too invaluable to the DA community to be simply lost in the warp and therefre been reproduced here. If Kellt L'Roy happens to read these pages, please contact by email. |
