Chapter 6 Part 6

Chapter 6: Victory, you say?

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Part 6

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Victory Bay

Kronus

As much as it galled me to admit it, the Necron was right, our so called victory tasted of ashes, literally at that. It stank of blood, piss and shit as well. We were ankle deep in blood as well, yet the Guardsmen in the area were happy little beavers cheering the slaughter. I found myself torn – on one hand, it was great that we were still alive and mostly intact, the mountains of corpses around us notwithstanding. On the other, to say that we paid a very steep price for this victory, would be a charming understatement. I didn't feel like cheering at all, in fact puking out my guts appeared to be on the menu.

"Inquisitor, great work!" Commissar Weber exclaimed gleefully. The grinning maniac walked to stand beside me and clapped me on the back. "We should do this again! We sure sent those pointy-eared freaks packing!"

Note to self, keep the crazy bastard busy and as far away from me as humanly possible. Nevertheless, I plastered the best smile I could on my face, nodded and returned the gesture by grabbing Weber by the shoulder so I could shake him.

"We did the Emperor's work today, my friend! You all did him on Holy Terra proud!" I shook the bastard's hand for all I was worth and turned to look at the troopers around us as I spoke.

Heedless of the corpses piled up high around us, the bloody maniacs cheered us like the bloody damned fanatics they were. This was the first time I wondered how the hell I ended up in such a position. I shook my head and turned my attention to something constructive before I could waste any positive reputation I might have gained lately by puking my guts in front of the crowd.

"Our work is not done, my friends. Our fallen comrades need to be tended to, the wounded as well. We won't let them rot in the streets! Commissar Weber!" I turned towards the chief maniac and gave him the most solemn look I could muster. "See to it!" I offered him a pointed nod.

Weber's eyes shone with both fanaticism and admiration, before he turned towards his regimen and began barking orders. With a bit of luck, I would not cross paths with this particular walking disaster ever again.

The next distraction on my agenda was obvious as well – check on the little muchkin that kept me from becoming a daemon's plaything, something I owed the brat more than I could possibly ever repay. It was a debt that I might be ill placed to honour depending on what would happen when reinforcements arrived. I knew my duty – I should be dispatching her in the general direction of Terra so she could be molded into a good little assassin for the Imperium, something that would be both an ill reward for saving me and a loss of a particularly useful asset. Well, for the time being, that was also an academic issue – we needed to survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive before worrying about what would happen then. Until such a joyful event, the least I could do was take care of the brat and keep her safe…

I fond the kid safely strapped in one of the uncomfortable seats of a nearby Chimera, with the Guardswoman assigned to watch over her sitting stiffly in the seat beside the brat. The woman was pale and gripped her lasgun hard enough her arms shook. That made me pause. Surely, the little blank didn't have that much of an effect to everyone else around her! I thought back to the raid upon the Arbiter's HQ and winced. She made veteran Astartes uncomfortable. What that said about my lack of issues with her, I had no bloody idea.

"Hi there!" I waved cheerfully. "You're dismissed, Corporal."

"Thank the Emperor!" The trooper muttered and practically ran out of the Chimera.

Well, this explained why the girl was running alone in the middle of a battle, though it certainly didn't put the sore bastards I charged with looking after her off the hook. If they were still alive, I was going to get my pound of flesh. I simply couldn't afford to have my questionable authority undermined in such a blatant way even if it turned out to be for the best in the end.

"Are you all right?" I asked the girl, which was of course a dumb question, of course she wasn't! As if the fact that she has been catatonic ever since we found her wasn't a clue enough. That naturally led to another obvious issue – what in the Emperor's name was I supposed to do with the kid?! Well, in theory, she might be safe-ish, as a part of my retinue, if my promotion got upheld by higher authority upon contact with the Imperium at large. That in practice meant if the first Inquisitor who arrived to help deal with the cluster-fuck on Kronus believed that I would be more useful as a living asset who owed them their continued existence or not. I shoved that cheerful thought aside, while wondering where did it come from, and returned my attention to the problem at hand.

Her stomach growled like a ravenous Ork and she stared at me with empty grew eyes.

Scratch that, one hungry little girl. At least that was something I could fix. Say what you will about the Guard and PDF regiments on Kronus, the food wasn't just edible, it was actually rather good. Now I just needed to find a MRE, feed the kid and figure out where to stash her and how to find someone to watch over her before I went to speak with the General and find out the overall butcher's bill… I unhooked the straps holding her into the seat and to my surprise found myself tackled by a small missile who hugged my side and began sniffing. Honestly, I had no bloody idea how to react. I awkwardly rubbed her back while trying to figure out what was I supposed to do. They didn't teach us how to deal with traumatized children in the Schola, the bastards!

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As far as engagement with the Eldar went, this was one of the better ones. It was a given that the Guard would suffer significant casualties – it was seldom the regular soldiers of the Imperium could effectively bring to bear their numbers and heavy firepower against these particular Xenos. That said, this was still an amazing victory if all the vox-casts Anteas was getting were even partially true. Thousands of Kroot beasts slaughtered, the Tau armoured elements broken, the Eldar tank forces smashed. It was a good day, even if as always, victory was paid with the blood and lives of good men and women.

The most surprising development so far was the fact that the Necron hadn't attempted to stab them in the back yet, which only brought up more questions. Then again, the answer to this oddity might be simple – they were awaiting reinforcements just like the Imperial forces on Kronus.

Anteas made his way out of a half-demolished building where he ended up while dueling with a pair of Wailing Banshees and took a good look of the battlefield outside. Whole companies of the Guard and PDF were dead, which while regrettable was par for the course when facing Eldar. At least this time around, a lot of the treacherous Xeno perished as well. The Librarian looked around, searching for the Inquisitor. Veil's presence in the Warp vanished halfway through the skirmish. Best case, he was knocked out and had lost a few more pieces, either that or he was dead or worse. Anteas headed for the largest concentration of Guardsmen nearby, determined to find out the truth. Without the Inquisitor around, the odds of someone doing something regrettable would raise significantly. You didn't need to be a veteran Astartes to figure out that the bad blood between the Blood Ravens and the Guard was still very much an issue, one that might flare up without higher authority breathing down everyone's necks.

The Astartes wasn't surprised at the reactions of the troopers as he approached them – a lot of dirty looks, whispered curses and even the sign of the Aquila used as a warding were sent his way, not to mention how many soldiers grasped their weapons tighter. It was a far cry from the awe and hope a loyalist Astartes usually inspired with his mere presence, which was a sad, but logical turn of events. Not for the first time since stepping foot on Kronus, Anteas felt like straggling the people responsible for the conflicting orders. If his dear Chapter Master had any sense, he would keep the Librarian as far away from himself as possible for the foreseeable future. The same was true for General Alexander's superiors in the Astra Militarum.

"Commissar, are you aware of the status of Inquisitor Veil?" Anteas demanded once he saw a man in a familiar red uniform.

"The Inquisitor is over there, my Lord." It was telling, when even a Commissar of all people failed to utter a single word of chastisement toward the lack of proper respect offered to someone of Anteas' status.

While there was some truth to the saying that united the Empire might fall while divided it could stand for another ten thousand years, this breach of trust was simply too much and might yet prove fatal. Something had to be done about it, soon.

"Thank you, Commissar. I won't take any more of your time." Anteas nodded at the political officer and strode towards the Chimera the Commissar pointed at.

To the Librarian's pleasant surprise, it turned out that Inquisitor Veil wasn't just alive but despite all odds he appeared intact. It immediately became obvious why Anteas couldn't feel him through the Warp as well – the Inquisitor had the Blank lass hugging him, and it was still very much amazing that the young man wasn't writhing on the ground and screaming in agony. Even Anteas with his greater fortitude found it hard to be in the girl's presence, much less actually touch her. He didn't want to imagine how would it feel if that happened.

"Inquisitor, it is good to see you intact!" The Librarian greeted with a false cheer trying not to show his unease.

"Anteas, you're a sight for sore eyes."