Thunder Warriors Camp,
This was a unit of stragglers pulled back from the front, having taken devastating casualties during the assault on the Ursh Empire.
The merciful Emperor of Mankind had permitted them to withdraw and rest.
But everyone understood they would never see the battlefield again.
Once the war ended, they too would meet their end.
Almost all of them had sunk into despair and grief.
A considerable number of the Thunder Warriors had fallen into madness.
Dakan sat quietly by the gate, gazing at the distant moon, waiting out the remaining time like a rotting old man.
Yes.
His time was running short too.
He raised his hand, the hand that could normally hold down a Heavy Bolter single-handed, and found it trembling uncontrollably, sharp bursts of pain coming in waves.
Dakan understood.
He too would soon join his maddened brothers.
From a distance he spotted a white-robed figure slipping out quietly, completely unaware of the two Adeptus Custodes trailing far behind.
Heh.
He stood and walked over to meet the figure.
“Your Highness, back again?”
Bonar glanced around, confirming no one was following.
“Captain Dakan, I think the odds of success are quite high this time.” Bonar shook the vial in hand.
Dakan smiled, helpless and warm at once.
This jewel of the Emperor had been devoting himself to solving the Thunder Warriors’ affliction for some time now, failing again and again.
But Dakan was glad all the same.
Because at least…
Someone still cared about them.
“All right, all right.
Go ahead.” Dakan forced a smile.
He knocked on the door and called out: “Nevado, take a few brothers and go with Bonar.”
“Thank you, Captain Dakan.”
Dakan settled back onto the steps and ignored the Adeptus Custodes who thought themselves so well-hidden, quietly scaling the perimeter wall and slipping into the camp.
These two struck him as likely recruits, their tradecraft lacking in too many ways.
The Emperor had been raising forces at a frantic pace lately.
It seemed the Great Crusade he’d spoken of was truly coming.
Dakan picked up a bottle and took a long drink.
If only…
he could follow the Emperor himself.
Help build that future the Emperor had spoken of.
That would have been something.
Thunder Warrior Centurion.
…
Nevado and several brothers pinned a maddened Thunder Warrior down onto the operating table.
“Ahhh!
— It hurts!
—” The warrior howled with gut-wrenching fury, limbs held down hard, thrashing and struggling without stop.
Bonar took a deep breath.
Then drove the needle into the artery.
Nevado escorted Bonar out of the room afterward.
“Thank you for your help.”
“Think nothing of it.
The fact that you care about us this much, that’s more than enough.”
Bonar checked the time. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Grandfather Malcador went up the mountain every night for some unknown reason, and typically didn’t return until the early hours of the morning.
There was still plenty of time.
“Have Father’s legions all been mustered?”
Nevado nodded.
“His Sacred Majesty’s legions are nearly assembled.
Word is the final strike is already being prepared.”
“Terra is about to be unified,” Bonar said, a little pleased.
“Yes.
Unified at last.” Nevado’s voice carried a trace of melancholy.
“It’ll be fine, I’m confident.
Eighty percent chance of success this time.
You’ll all still get to see the stars.” Bonar smiled.
Nevado looked at that smile and couldn’t find words for a moment.
Only nodded.
“Yes…
probably so.”
Suddenly, the door opened.
“Vice-Captain Nevado, come look at this,” the warrior said, face full of shock.
Nevado’s brow furrowed.
A hand went to the Boltgun nearby.
Chambered a round.
Then stepped inside.
Bonar followed.
The warrior who had just been raving mad was sitting on the bed in a daze.
Several Thunder Warriors nearby stared with expressions of pure shock.
The warrior looked up and saw Nevado walk in.
“Vice-Captain Nevado?”
Nevado’s expression jolted.
“Sher — you remember me?”
Sher nodded, looking a little dazed.
The Boltgun slipped from Nevado’s hand and clattered to the floor.
Nevado pointed to another warrior nearby.
“What’s his name?”
“Vasher.”
“And him?”
“Saisugu.”
“Who is our captain?”
“Captain Dakan.”
Nevado was completely at a loss for words.
Then looked over at Bonar, who stood there smiling.
“Please wait, I…
I need to go get the captain.”
Nevado turned and ran, accidentally smashing clean through the door frame on the way out, and kept running.
Less than ten minutes later, every Thunder Warrior in the company who could still move was down on one knee before Bonar.
“Fifth Company, Thunder Warriors, we thank Lord Bonar for his efforts,” Dakan said, voice thick with emotion.
“There’s no need for this.
You are all noble warriors.
You deserve to die on the battlefield, not in a sickbed.
I only helped you realize your own dream.”
Bonar felt a little helpless.
There was simply no way to pull warriors this large and powerful back to their feet.
A short while later, a few of them made their way to the mess hall.
Sher was wolfing down food at a tremendous pace.
Several nearby warriors watched in astonishment.
“Sher, how do you feel?”
Sher swallowed everything in one great gulp.
“I feel good, Captain.”
“The serum requires a great deal of energy to take effect, Sher having an enormous appetite is completely normal,” Bonar said.
“But…
Sher’s reaction speed may not be what it once was.
I did my best.”
Dakan nodded, satisfied and relieved.
“My Lord, you have already done more than enough.
That small sacrifice is utterly insignificant compared to being able to continue fighting for His Sacred Majesty.”
“From now on, whenever you have need of our Fifth Company, simply give the order.
We will give everything we have.”
Bonar nodded with a slightly rueful smile.
There was nothing to be done.
These hulking Thunder Warriors simply had that kind of nature.
After a quick meal, Sher was pulled off to the training ground.
A warrior was assigned to spar, and after getting a feel for the weapon again, Sher began.
The reaction speed had indeed dropped considerably, already a beat slower than an Astartes, but still more than enough to crush any ordinary human.
The strength loss was less severe.
It had gone from being able to sprint and single-hand a Heavy Bolter simultaneously, to only being able to single-hand a Heavy Bolter while standing still.
Bonar felt this was still a failure on his part.
He had been on a battlefield.
He knew what a drop in reaction capability of this magnitude truly meant in a fight.
But Dakan and the others were so moved they could barely speak.
This was already extraordinary.
As long as they could continue to fight for the Emperor of Mankind, they didn’t care even if they were reduced to ordinary men.
And because their genetic stability had improved so significantly, their vitality had grown considerably stronger as well.
At the very least, no one would have to worry about a heart giving out mid-battle anymore.
Bonar looked up.
Dawn was nearly breaking.
Time to hurry back.
…
Several days later, Captain Dakan personally led a team through every single Thunder Warriors company, one by one.
At the same time, a briefing on the matter was placed into the hands of the Emperor of Mankind, the origin of the serum documented in full, every component laid out with complete clarity.
The briefing had come from Malcador.
Bonar’s small movements had been watched by Malcador the entire time.
Bonar was still too young, far too young compared to the Sigillite, who had lived for an age beyond reckoning.
Truly, in the most literal sense: he had eaten more salt than Bonar had eaten grain.
A rare flicker of emotion crossed the Emperor of Mankind’s weary face.
He set his precious attention on that small slip of paper.
Then reached to the side and took up another order waiting there.
Execute All Thunder Warriors Beyond Control.
He tore it apart with one hand.
Then rose to his feet, and walked out to meet the rising sun.