V2 Chapter 115: The Salamanders and the Black Shields Meet.
After several low, resonant shudders, the ship entered the Warp fully.
Tanith was not particularly far from Balhaut, but the transit would still take some time, enough for the 112th Combined Battle Group to complete its first rest period before reorganisation.
Duvette walked along the upper deck corridor toward his personal quarters.
The quarters were one of the perks that had come with his changed status. He had spent most of his time before now in a narrow bunk on the middle decks. Having a full officer's cabin on the upper deck of a naval cruiser still felt slightly wrong, in the way that any sudden comfort after too long without it does.
Footsteps followed him.
He looked back. Several Salamanders in dark green power armour were moving silently behind him, their enormous frames taking up nearly half the width of the corridor.
He thought about it for a moment, stopped, and turned toward them.
The Salamanders stopped as well. Crimson lenses settled on Duvette. Nothing came from beneath the helmets.
Duvette met their gaze without any sign of discomfort.
"Are you planning to follow me everywhere?" he asked. "Including when I sleep?"
The lead Salamander lowered his head slightly. A rough voice came through the helmet's external vox.
"This may be uncomfortable for you, but we apologise; it is our assignment. To protect Entropy's Song, and to protect your safety."
Duvette gave a nod and started walking again, this time not pushing ahead but keeping roughly one step beside the lead Salamander veteran.
On both sides of the corridor, naval crew pressed themselves against the walls without being asked. No one wanted to be standing between a Colonel-Commissar and several Astartes.
"If you're this concerned about Entropy's Song," Duvette said, looking up at the figure beside him, "why not simply keep it in your custody directly?"
The Salamander veteran was quiet for several seconds.
"The relic is responding to you at present." He said. "Harath Shen has determined that forcibly removing it from your presence is not a prudent course of action, not until it goes dormant again or explicitly refuses you."
He continued. "We will record the phenomena, state, and data when you resonate with the relic. We will also record every change Entropy's Song undergoes in your vicinity. We are here as protectors and as observers."
"So I am a Salamanders research subject now?" Duvette asked.
"We would not describe you that way, Major General." The Salamander replied.
Duvette gave a short laugh, then asked a question that seemed to come from nowhere.
"What is your name?"
The Salamander veteran did not hesitate.
"Vakur. Salamanders Chapter, Fourth Company, Branded Warriors. Veteran sergeant."
"Vakur." Duvette gave a nod. "Good. I cannot spend the whole campaign calling you 'that Salamander.'"
Vakur did not respond to that, and simply continued walking beside him.
Just as Duvette was about to continue toward his quarters, the personal data-slate at his hip vibrated. The screen lit with a message from Evan.
[Sir. Markus and the others are requesting to see you.]
[They need to confirm their deployment positions for the Tanith operation, and are also submitting a request to the ship's Mechanicus priests or armoury for armour stands, servo-arms, and replacement cabling. Several suits of power armour took significant damage in the recent engagements and they want to request repair work.]
Duvette read it and stopped where he was.
All of this could technically be handled remotely. He only needed to issue an authorisation to the armoury and the ship's Mechanicus priests.
But he glanced back at the Salamanders squad behind him.
This meeting would happen eventually.
If the Salamanders only discovered that Duvette had thirteen Astartes of unknown origin under his command during some future battle or relic incident, the situation would be considerably worse. The introduction would be far more manageable now than under fire.
Beyond that, the Salamanders' feeling toward the Traitor Legions was not something that could simply be set aside. What happened on Isstvan V was not a passage in an archive for them. It was fury inscribed in their blood.
With that in mind, Duvette put the data-slate away and looked at Vakur.
"I have a particular Astartes squad under my command." He said. "For various reasons, they are cooperating with me temporarily and operating under my direction. Since you will be accompanying me continuously, I want you to meet them in advance."
Vakur's lenses shifted slightly.
"Their Chapter?"
"They are Black Shields." Duvette said. "But I would ask you to remember: they fight for the Emperor now, and they act under my orders."
Vakur did not respond immediately.
Several seconds passed. He said only: "Our assignment is to protect Entropy's Song and observe its connection with you. Beyond that, we have no other intentions."
"Good." Duvette gave a nod. "Then come with me."
They did not go to the upper quarters. Instead they took a lift shaft downward, passed through two weapon decks, and came to a training deck that had been allocated to the 112th Combined Battle Group.
Before they reached the entrance, Duvette could already smell it.
The ammonia of metabolised sweat, blood, disinfectant, weapon oil, and hot metal had mixed into a particular atmosphere that had no equivalent in an ordinary training space. Two 112th veterans at the entrance came to attention the moment they saw Duvette.
He waved them down and indicated they should not announce him.
Inside the training deck, the thirteen Black Shield Astartes were stripped to the waist, two by two, running armed combat drills against each other. Their power armour was secured on a line of temporary armour stands along the wall.
Duvette noticed quickly that the training blades in their hands had been sharpened.
The edges were not razor-keen, but they were sufficient to open flesh. The Astartes crossed and broke against each other, catching strikes, driving forward, and the blade edges left shallow marks across skin that were quickly diluted by sweat.
Markus stood to one side with his arms folded.
He was shirtless as well, covered in sweat, with a few shallow cuts across his chest and shoulders. When the sound at the entrance reached him, he was already turning, his gaze moving naturally past Duvette and settling on the large green-armoured figures beyond.
"Brothers of the Eighteenth Legion?"
The moment the words came out, Markus registered his error.
The sound of blades on the training deck stopped. Several Black Shields turned slowly. Their gaze fell on the Salamanders. The atmosphere went very quiet within a single second.
Duvette did not give Vakur the chance to respond. He spoke immediately.
"They are warriors of the Salamanders Chapter, here to protect and observe me and Entropy's Song."
Vakur was clearly not going to let it pass that easily.
He raised a hand and removed his helmet, revealing a face the colour of obsidian, with the red eyes distinctive to the Salamanders. No obvious anger showed on that face, but the wariness was plain.
"Few people would use that term for us." Vakur looked at Markus. "Fewer still would say it so naturally."
Markus said nothing.
Vakur stepped forward. The heavy power boot struck the deck with a dull resonance.
"Which Chapter are you, brothers?"
Markus was quiet for a moment.
The other Black Shields did not speak either. Their armour carried no modern Chapter markings. Old insignia had been stripped away. The shoulder guards bore only a silent black shield device.
"The old name is dead." Markus said. "We removed the old markings ourselves. We are Black Shields under Inquisitorial seal, loyal to the Emperor, and currently operating under Commissar Duvette's command."
Vakur did not speak. He continued to look at Markus.
That gaze moved across his face, then across to the armour stands and the power armour frames mounted on them.
Markus looked at Duvette.
Duvette stepped into the space between them and softened his tone slightly.
"I simply wanted you to know each other." He said. "We will be operating on the same ship going forward, and very likely fighting on the same battlefield. Meeting in advance is better than guessing at each other in the middle of a firefight."
Vakur looked at Duvette once.
Markus drew his gaze back as well.
It was at that moment that a low laugh sounded from nearby.
It came from Markus. He appeared to have thought of something, and turned to pick up a combat knife from the weapon rack beside him. He turned it in his hand once, testing its weight.
"The simplest way for Astartes to get to know each other."
He looked at Vakur and held the knife out level in front of him.
"Come and try, brother."
The corner of Duvette's eye twitched.
Vakur did not take up the blade immediately. He looked down at his own power armour, then at Markus's bare torso.
"I am still on assignment." Vakur said. "And I am wearing armour."
"No matter." Markus cut him off. "I don't mind. Come on, brother."
The training deck went quiet again.
Markus wore a slight smile. It was not aggressive, but it was enough to make the meaning clear: even armoured, he did not believe he would lose.
Against that kind of unforced dismissal, even a patient Salamander would feel the pull of anger. He was, after all, an Astartes.
Vakur's expression settled heavier.
"I hope I don't cause you an injury."
Markus showed his teeth and said nothing further, only stepped back twice and settled into a combat stance.
Vakur turned and walked to the weapon rack. He did not select a thunder hammer, a chainsword, or any weapon he was most practised with. He picked up an ordinary combat knife, then returned to stand before Markus.
Duvette watched them both and was silent for two seconds.
At this point, he had no intention of stopping it. Astartes had their own way of resolving opening tensions, and two knives were considerably better than drawn weapons and open suspicion.
He raised a hand anyway.
"Let me set some terms, if you don't mind. Three touches to win." Duvette said. "No energy fields, no strikes to the throat, the eyes, the spinal interface, or the power armour backpack. Whoever damages the training deck explains it to Admiral Villent personally."
Markus smiled slightly. He did not take Duvette's rules particularly seriously.
Vakur also gave a nod without objection. He had the overwhelming advantage, after all.
The Black Shields stepped back to give space. The Salamanders squad spread out half a step as well, though two of them remained close to Duvette's position. Their assignment had not been suspended.
Duvette crossed his arms and stood to the side.
By any conventional assessment, this contest had only one result. A bare-chested Astartes against a veteran Astartes in full power armour. The difference should not have been a contest at all.
Power armour multiplied strength, speed, protection, and stability by margins that would leave any mortal in despair. Even against another Astartes, fighting without it meant fighting without an enormous portion of what made an Astartes dangerous.
But Markus was too certain of himself.
That certainty carried no heat or bluster. It was the look of a man who had already walked through every outcome of this fight inside his head and found the same result each time.
Duvette watched his expression and found himself genuinely interested.
He wanted to know what this Shadow Wolf veteran, who had come across ten thousand years to stand here, was capable of without his armour.
Vakur tightened his grip on the combat knife. His stance was solid and unhurried.
Markus let the tip of his blade drop slightly, his body tilting forward.
The training deck lights flickered once, very briefly.
Both Astartes moved at the same instant.
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