Galaxy in Flames Read Online Free PDF

that whatever foe they would face on Isstvan must be mighty indeed. Even the thrill of excitement he felt at this opportunity to prove themselves before the Warmaster was tempered by a sudden, nagging sense of unease.
    ‘Four Legions?’ asked Lucius, echoing his own thoughts as the squads fell out to make ready for the journey to join the 63rd Expedition. ‘For one system? That’s absurd!’
    ‘Careful Lucius, you veer close to arrogance,’ Tarvitz pointed out. ‘Are you questioning the Warmaster’s decision?’
    ‘Questioning, no,’ said Lucius defensively, ‘but come on, even you have to admit it’s a sledgehammer to crack a nut.’
    ‘Possibly,’ conceded Tarvitz, ‘but for the Isstvan system to rebel, it must have been compliant at one stage.’
    ‘What’s your point?’
    ‘My point, Lucius, is that the Crusade was supposed to be pushing ever outwards, conquering the galaxy in the name of the Emperor. Instead it is turning back on itself to patch up the cracks. I can only assume that the Warmaster wants to make some kind of grand gesture so show his enemies what rebellion means.’
    ‘Ungrateful bastards,’ spat Lucius. ‘Once we’re done with Isstvan they’ll beg us to take them back!’
    ‘With four Legions sent against them,’ replied Tarvitz, ‘I don’t think there’ll be many Isstvanians left for us to take back.’
    ‘Come, Saul,’ said Lucius walking ahead of him, ‘did you lose your taste for battle against the greenskins?’
    A taste for battle? Tarvitz had never considered such an idea. He had always fought because he wanted to become more than he was, to strive for perfection in all things. For longer than he could remember he had devoted himself to the task of emulating the warriors of the Legion who were more gifted and more worthy than he. He knew his station within the Legion, but knowing one’s station was the first step to bettering it.
    Watching Lucius’s arrogant swagger, Tarvitz was reminded of how much his fellow captain loved battle. Lucius loved it without shame or apology, seeing it as the best way to express himself, weaving between his enemies and cutting a path of bloody ruin through them with his flashing sword. ‘It just concerns me,’ said Tarvitz. ‘What does?’ asked Lucius, turning back to face him. Tarvitz could see the hastily masked exasperation on the swordsman’s face. He had seen that expression more and more on Lucius’s scarred features recently, and it saddened him to know that the swordsman’s ego and rampant ambition to rise within the ranks of the Emperor’s Children would be the undoing of their friendship.
    ‘That the Crusade has to repair itself at all. Compliance used to be the end of it. Not now.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ smiled Lucius. ‘Once a few of these rebel worlds get a decent killing this will all be over and the Crusade will go on.’
    Rebel worlds… Whoever thought to hear such a phrase?
    Tarvitz said nothing as he considered the sheer numbers of Astartes that would be converging on the Isstvan system. Hundreds of Astartes had fought on Deep Orbital DS191, but more than ten thousand Emperor’s Children made up the Legion, most of whom would be journeying to Isstvan III. That in itself was enough for several war zones. The thought of four Legions arrayed in battle sent shivers up Tarvitz’s spine.
    What would be left of Isstvan when four Legions had marched through the system? Could any depths of rebellion really justify that?
    ‘I just want victory,’ said Tarvitz, the words sounding hollow, even to him.
    Lucius laughed, but Tarvitz couldn’t tell if it was in agreement or mockery.
    B EING CONFINED TO his quarters was the most exquisite torture for Kyril Sindermann. Without the library of books he was used to consulting in Archive Chamber Three he felt quite adrift. His own library, though extensive by any normal standards, was a paltry thing next to the arcana that had been destroyed in the fire.
    How many