Chapter Twenty-Five: Rust and Ruin (Part III)

After processing his words I summoned up the courage to speak. "I understand, if this is the case then what would you have me do? The Stormbringers are by a majority against my Order. Can anything be done to change that, or am I on a fool's errand? Why are the X Legion so opposed my presence and Remebrancers in general?"

Chief Shadrak seemed to ponder the questions for a moment before responding: "One factor is the length of service. Your predecessors have not lasted long for a number of reasons, leaving little opportunity for my brothers to reach any level of understanding of your kind. Simultaneously, the contempt felt by much of the Legion's upper echelons bleeds through the ranks. If the Warlairds and Chieftains dismiss the Remembrancers, why should the rank and file not?"

Standing up, to his full towering height, Shadrak Smyth left his desk and opened a biometric lock in the wall behind him, pulling an ornate looking necklace out of the compartment and handing it to me. On closer inspection, I noticed incredibly intricate circuitry and mechanical precision covering the pendant. The center of the necklace held an empty slot, perfectly suited for the identification badge given to me earlier. Without really thinking I placed the badge into the slot and it clicked in. The now complete pendant hummed for a second and let out a small shower of sparks. The symbol of my order and my identification details were joined by a number of new sigils. Some I recognized as marks of the Stormbringers, others I did not.

Shadrak pointed at the medallion and spoke: "That is my answer to both of the problems facing you Remembrancer. It's a powerful miniaturized conversion field. It is not powerful enough for any real battlefield use but plenty to protect you from stray rounds or shockwaves. Additionally, those markings identify it as one of my creations and demonstrates you are an entrusted agent of mine. My name carries a decent amount of authority across the Legion, and obviously much within my Clan. From now on you are my Remembrancer, and will be treated with the respect you deserve with that title."

Slightly stunned, I cocked my head and decided to press my luck with my questions. "Why in Terra's name are you entrusting this to me? You are asking me to help you change a Legion's culture and giving me a skeleton key to observe the inner workings of one of the Imperium's most important institutions. I lack any achievements to warrant this attention and I'm inexperienced."

It was then I experienced a truly new sight, one I think is rarely seen outside the ranks of the Legio Astartes. Chieftain Shadrak Smyth laughed. A small chuckle that sounded like falling stones, but a laugh nonetheless.

Sitting back at his desk the Chapter Master thought for a few seconds then spoke. "It is precisely that you are a fresh-faced youth with nothing exceptional to your name that I am selecting you. If we are successful it will be good for your carrier. If my Brothers do not budge after your best efforts then I can easily have you transferred to another Legion. No strike against your record, you survived the Stormbringers and earned your way out. Hypothetically if you fail catastrophically and damage the already low standing of your Order in this Legion. It can be excused by your inexperience and nothing of value would be lost. Or if by some damned reason you try to abuse this trust given to you. Then tossing you out of an airlock would not cause me any major issues."

The sobering knowledge that my new superior would drown me in the Void without a second thought or throw me to the lupines if need be counterbalanced the incredible opportunity before me. If I was successful or at least not a failure this could be the launching point of my career. The ambition to succeed where others have failed was a crucial idea within the Great Crusade. Working together as a species to conquer the stars and build a galaxy worthy of mankind. To follow the example the Emperor and his guardians set for us. I've come this far, I might as well take the plunge and see what comes of it.

My train of thought led me to another question for my new patron as I agreed to his offer. "Chieftain Shadrak Smyth, I will do my best to fulfill this ambition, but I must ask. Why do you wish this change in your Legion? What makes you different from your Brothers and Genefather?"

Shadrak simply pointed at his forehead and asked: "Do you know what this is"

He referred to a single golden stud implanted into his skull. I nodded and answered: "If my memory is correct that is a Centennial Service Stud. Marking an Astartes for serving a hundred years."

"Correct" Shadrak responded as he tapped the metal piece in the right side of his forehead.

"I am one of the oldest Astartes of the Stormbringers. I've watched this legion grow and change in my over a century of service. I was there in the early days when the Primarchs were younger than you are now. I stood alongside my Legion when the Unification War was in its final moments. Yet, in those early years, I did not fight alongside DuCaine or my Primarch. Instead, I was part of the mixed legion chapters that cleansed the Underhives of Old Earth. Sons of Kota Ravenwing and Ogadin Vulkan fought alongside me and my brothers. We cousins learned from each other and were better for it. The Stormbringer Legion is mighty and unbreakable, yet we become easily set in our ways. A flaw that can be fatal to eternal warriors such as us. I seek to ensure the Storm we raise is not ever wanting. For those reasons I intend to use your order to prod my Brothers in a new direction."

Retrospective Review: Article Four

Dated: 998.M30

In the coming years, I would learn to appreciate the value of those words. Like so many other citizens of the Imperium, I found the Legio Astartes an enigma. Even as one tasked to document their achievements, I had initially not known what to think of the Transhuman Soldiers. Were they mutated killing machines? Inhuman abominations of genecrafting meant to destroy anything the Emperor commanded them to? Or noble heroes who would fight and die to protect the species that created them? Angels of Death who struck down any foe and made the galaxy safe for humanity. In truth during those early years, I don't think even the Astartes themselves knew. Crafted as the perfect warrior breed, faced a choice of which side they would embrace.

While my role in the story of the Stormbringers is ultimately a small one. I have had the privilege to watch them during those days of the Great Crusade where they struggled to discover what they would be. How the ideologies of killing machine and soldier warred within the legion. In my experience working for Chieftain and eventually Warlaird Shadrak, I think his efforts helped move his Legion and the Legio Astartes in a whole towards heroism. It might be presumptuous but I believe my own interactions with the Stormbringers helped the Legion find something worth fighting for. They became more than just a tool of destruction, serving mankind as they were meant to. Storms do more than destroy after all. They bring new life, burn away the corrupt, and stir up the stagnant.