still said nothing and were watching the legionnaires talk to him like they were figures of supreme authority. Perhaps they knew better than him, though. Maybe they already knew when they were supposed to be silent and when the legionnaires would want them to talk.
“Yes” Jun agreed needlessly.
“Must we make it any more obvious?” Fendrel asked, his voice flat and toneless, belying the true intention of his sharply-meant words.
“To some, obviously” Nerva replied, never withdrawing her gaze from Jun, making the whole interaction even more uncomfortable for him.
Then Lucius spoke again and the authority in his speech seemed to diffuse the atmosphere of the room. “You have been brought here for one reason and one alone” he announced, cutting through the tension life a hot knife. “You have begun to wonder about the nature of the man who has power over the entirety of your race. We are here because your suspicions are correct.”
Jun wasn’t given enough time to consider the full meaning of that as Lucius continued without pause. “ This group are the few among your Senate who are not afraid to face the truth, the single reality that threatens to destroy everything the Apostles and my fellow legions are attempting to save. The Lord Governor, the solitary man with absolute power to wield over the Gothican Empire, has been Corrupted and he’s more likely than not been such for a long while”.
Jun let the words sink in, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to believe what he had heard. On the one hand, all his fears of being watched by hostile eyes seemed ridiculous and made him feel like a fool for getting it wrong. On the other, reason told him that if the legionnaires thought the same thing about the Lord Governor that he did, then it must be true. Humanity was being led by a madman who could take them in any direction he wanted, including the involvement in a war that the species couldn’t possibly hope to endure in any capacity.
No longer able to look at Lucius for fear of revealing the conflicting thoughts tearing through him, he glanced at another of the legionnaires who took up the conversation instead. It was the one named Galahad, if he recalled the hurried introductions correctly.
“We’re going to kill him Jun, but we need your help…” Galahad explained, completing the destruction of Jun’s understanding of the world around him.
Chapter 5
THANOS STOOD ON the bridge of the Nighthunter , the Blackstar of his sister Nightingale and waited for the news he had heard moments ago to settle in his mind.
“My Lord Cerberus, we have lost Volantia” Azrael had said. Though he had no cause to be upset with the commander of his legion, Thanos couldn’t help but feel angry and it came out in his terse reply. “Come back to me only when you have good news, Azrael, not a moment before”.
The holographic projection of the legionnaire bowed and faded away without any sign of emotional reaction. Thanos regretted his tone almost immediately, but the feeling passed just as quickly. He had to give the Guardians’ of the 73rd Hellhounds credit for their stoicism; he wasn’t the kindest or the most stable of Apostles, but no matter what aspect of himself he threw at them, they served him loyally and without question. He liked to think they understood his nature, Azrael most of all, but he couldn’t fool himself about that all the time, not when he remembered the beast he turned into on the battlefield.
“You are always so harsh on yourself…” a ghostly voice sounded behind him.
Thanos never heard his sister Nightingale arrive on the bridge, but he wasn’t surprised by her ability to appear undetected. They had served in war against the Phantoms for a year together now out in the Tempest Sector, the north-eastern fringes of the Gothican Empire. He had heard his own troops share stories and tales of her powers and
“Yes” Jun agreed needlessly.
“Must we make it any more obvious?” Fendrel asked, his voice flat and toneless, belying the true intention of his sharply-meant words.
“To some, obviously” Nerva replied, never withdrawing her gaze from Jun, making the whole interaction even more uncomfortable for him.
Then Lucius spoke again and the authority in his speech seemed to diffuse the atmosphere of the room. “You have been brought here for one reason and one alone” he announced, cutting through the tension life a hot knife. “You have begun to wonder about the nature of the man who has power over the entirety of your race. We are here because your suspicions are correct.”
Jun wasn’t given enough time to consider the full meaning of that as Lucius continued without pause. “ This group are the few among your Senate who are not afraid to face the truth, the single reality that threatens to destroy everything the Apostles and my fellow legions are attempting to save. The Lord Governor, the solitary man with absolute power to wield over the Gothican Empire, has been Corrupted and he’s more likely than not been such for a long while”.
Jun let the words sink in, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to believe what he had heard. On the one hand, all his fears of being watched by hostile eyes seemed ridiculous and made him feel like a fool for getting it wrong. On the other, reason told him that if the legionnaires thought the same thing about the Lord Governor that he did, then it must be true. Humanity was being led by a madman who could take them in any direction he wanted, including the involvement in a war that the species couldn’t possibly hope to endure in any capacity.
No longer able to look at Lucius for fear of revealing the conflicting thoughts tearing through him, he glanced at another of the legionnaires who took up the conversation instead. It was the one named Galahad, if he recalled the hurried introductions correctly.
“We’re going to kill him Jun, but we need your help…” Galahad explained, completing the destruction of Jun’s understanding of the world around him.
Chapter 5
THANOS STOOD ON the bridge of the Nighthunter , the Blackstar of his sister Nightingale and waited for the news he had heard moments ago to settle in his mind.
“My Lord Cerberus, we have lost Volantia” Azrael had said. Though he had no cause to be upset with the commander of his legion, Thanos couldn’t help but feel angry and it came out in his terse reply. “Come back to me only when you have good news, Azrael, not a moment before”.
The holographic projection of the legionnaire bowed and faded away without any sign of emotional reaction. Thanos regretted his tone almost immediately, but the feeling passed just as quickly. He had to give the Guardians’ of the 73rd Hellhounds credit for their stoicism; he wasn’t the kindest or the most stable of Apostles, but no matter what aspect of himself he threw at them, they served him loyally and without question. He liked to think they understood his nature, Azrael most of all, but he couldn’t fool himself about that all the time, not when he remembered the beast he turned into on the battlefield.
“You are always so harsh on yourself…” a ghostly voice sounded behind him.
Thanos never heard his sister Nightingale arrive on the bridge, but he wasn’t surprised by her ability to appear undetected. They had served in war against the Phantoms for a year together now out in the Tempest Sector, the north-eastern fringes of the Gothican Empire. He had heard his own troops share stories and tales of her powers and
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