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VENGEFUL HONOUR

Nick Kyme

Orks still rampaged over Armageddon Secundus, far off in the wastes or embedded deep in the bowels of the hives they had taken. The guttural shouts and challenges of Thraka’s hordes carried on a hot breeze, reeking of ash and ripe with the stench of burning meat.

The distant ruckus soon faded into obscurity, though, as ubiquitous as the wind.

In the shadow of the Diablo Mountains and the Camp Fortis, the dull scrape of a whetstone broke the stillness. Ballack knew a combat blade’s monomolecular edge needed little sharpening but considered it a ritual.

A Space Marine seldom slept, ate or drank, his every thought and deed bent towards being a better warrior. Stronger, tougher, deadlier.

Of late, Ballack had felt his transhuman prowess ebbing. A deep wound inflicted during an honourless duel had healed poorly. Perhaps it was karmic. His was the dirty blow, ending the duel but earning an injury in return. It had left his skin knotted and scarred. The flesh was tight and the muscle stiff. It had diminished him.

His brothers knew it, and they would not tolerate his weakness. Not for long. Not in the Marines Malevolent as part of the elite Vilifiers.

Ballack thought he heard Kastor training nearby. He wondered if his captain had Narlec or Vathed in ‘the ring’ with him, or perhaps he had found a warrior from another Chapter to hone his skills against. There were many Adeptus Astartes on this dirty world, not all considered allies by the Malevolents.

There was no sparring cage as such, only the ruins of the billet tents, basically all that was left of Armageddon in the regions still held by Imperial forces.

From Hades, more a burning crater than a hive city now, the Vilifiers had moved on, seeking further battles. Orders to advance further east to secure Eumendies Bridge had stalled whilst secondary and tertiary battle companies could be mustered. Kastor reckoned on the Black Templars being a part of those forces.

That should be interesting… Ballack had thought at the time. The crusading sons of Dorn were one of those Chapters who might be considered antagonistic to the Malevolents.

His ritual not limited to his combat blade, Ballack had unsheathed and broken down a veritable arsenal.

It sat on a rough blanket in front of him.

Chainsword, several teeth detached from the belt feed awaiting reintroduction; bolt pistol, clip and shells exposed, firing mechanism pulled out and in need of oiling; bolter, same as pistol, but with iron sights also removed and underslung grenade launcher separated from the main stock; grenade belt and all frags loose from the bandolier.

Cleaning, lapping, oiling, efficacy check, reassembly and then recheck, followed by live-fire with the exception of grenades.

A warrior was only as effective as the weapons he wielded. For Ballack, he needed each and every one to be at its optimum efficiency. His tools of war might be well-worn, like the patchwork armour that was lying next to the weapons, might but they were always combat ready.

The last blade was his by dint of theft, as was part of the war-plate now repainted in the yellow and black livery of the Malevolents. A huge double-handed sword with a concomitant power core that could energise the blade sat apart from the rest of his trappings. The hilt and quillons betrayed its provenance. Black Templars. Despite its obvious superiority to every other weapon Ballack possessed, it had remained in its sheath.

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