Lord Commander Antioch stood on Embarkation Deck One, awaiting the delegation from the XI Legion. The Lord Commander wore his full ceremonial dress uniform, with the amount of brass, gems, gold and frogging he felt like an over preened peacock, worst still he felt like an undeserving peacock. Strapped across his back was a long and sleek power sword which had been gifted to him by the newly installed governor on the founding fields on the day the expedition left the surface of the Myrmidon. Joining the Lord Commander on the deck was Master of the Fleet Tobias Brunel, he wore his finest fleet uniform but out of necessity it was less ostentatious than his commanders, he stood with his hands behind his back and his stance rigid.

 

The presence of an Astartes Legion necessitated Magos Zule to abandon conclave. The Magos' mood was hard to read for he was so far removed from humanity but if Lord Antioch had to hazard a guess his mood was frustration, at being away from conclave as his servo-arms and megerendrites were twitching with increasing regularity. The final member of the command echelon was Princeps Majoris Alba Tallos, the commander of the Legio Astorum battle group. Lord Antioch had apologised profusely for the loss of the Spectral Hound, but the Princeps had been magnanimous assuring the Lord Commander that he bore him no ill will –besides in private he had reminded him that it had been Magos Zule whom ordered the Scout Titan into combat. The Princeps wore his usual grey dress uniform emblazoned with the crest of the Legio Astorum; the Princeps was also fidgeting slightly, evidently being ill at ease being away from his Titan and his colleagues.

 

The embarkation deck had been cleared of landing and assault craft they were being stored on other embarkation decks as well as other vessels. Covering half of the vast space were Myrmidon Lancers whom had been mauled from their flight from the command post on the surface of Paradise, sum three thousand personnel. They too wore military dress uniform; they stood in blocks of men and women several hundred deep. They stood shouldering combat weapons; they bore eight metre long Sarissa spears. Which had a metre long deadly force blade built into one end and a power plant in the other, which also acted as a counterweight. From afar they looked like deadly blades of grass, the weapons were strictly ceremonial. No personnel including the Lord Commander bore any firearms. The Myrmidon Lancers and the four senior leaders were facing the shimmering integrity field keeping the cold vacuum of the void at bay –looking out into the inky black void they could see the colossal form of the Glorianna-class Battleship it looked as if it could cut Paradise in two merely by its presence alone.

 

The guilt Lord Antioch had felt during this prosecution had lifted when the Astartes fleet translated in system. The Lord Commander was sanguine with the fact that he may be killed for his actions during this prosecution; he just sincerely hoped his Myrmidons would be allowed to continue in this great undertaking and not be expunged from Imperial records. Lord Antioch knew his feeling of self-doubt went well beyond and before the Paradise system, he had felt his way since the founding and training of the 393rd Expeditionary Fleet –he felt that the role of Commander in Chief should have gone to the Master of the Fleet.

 

Tobias was Myrmidon aristocracy he was well bread and already had a military education even before the Imperial Armada happened across their home world. Whereas the Lord Commander was the son of a grox herder and a poor herder at that, considering the fact he was killed and eaten by his own stock. Now Lord Antioch was drawing a parallel between his current situation and his father's ignominious demise. Lord Antioch was going to be executed through his own misguided actions.

 

One such occasion where he brought up his inadequacies for command with Tobias when they dined together, the Master of the Fleet reminded his liege lord how he came to be nominated for command in the first place. Less than a year after the successful integration of Myrmidon into the fold of the Imperium of Man, did the newly installed Terran governor introduce a stream of illegal tithes to fill his own coffers. The populous of Myrmidon were in uproar but failed to act out of fear of repercussions, dreading that any military action against the governor might incur a heavy handed response from the Imperium at large. Plus they could hardly complain as all Astropathic Choirs were sequestered in the Royal Residence of the governor.

 

Thus it fell to the son of a grox herder to stand up for what was right. Having been shamed by his father's idiotic demise and being nearly destitute through slaughtering the great many of his inherited grox herd to find whatever remains of his father he could. So when he was told by an exarch that he had to give over half of his already depleted stock as a form of tax, did his patience finally snap, he murdered the exarch with a pitch fork.

 

Before news could spread to Myrmidons capital city, the Lord Commander gathered a hoard of a thousand angry citizens. They struck the heart of governance toppling the corrupt regime with startling ease. The Governors Royal Guards were loath to defend him as even they had been unable to avoid the unlawful taxation. So it was that the governor's painfully short ruler ship of Myrmidon came to an abrupt end when the Lord Commander threw the corpse of the late governor from the balcony of the Imperial Palace.

 

'I wonder what they're like.' stated Tobias, bringing the Lord Commander out of his reveries.

 

'The Astartes or the Emperors Judgement specifically?' replied Princeps Tallos.

 

The Master of the Fleet shrugged. 'Both.'

 

'The Astartes are everything the stories about them say and more.' replied the Princeps. 'They are giants among men. I have had the privilege of serving with the Luna Wolves and the Emperors Children two standard years ago none adjusted.'

 

'Our Legio was assisting with exterminating an infestation of Orks in the Ultima Segmentum, I personally served with both Legions they have polar opposite fighting styles. The Luna Wolves form a spear tip to tear out the throat of the enemy's leadership, whereas the Emperors Children choose to pick apart their prey piece by piece.

 

'It is said that all Legions are as different from each other as can be, with their own individual fighting styles as unique as the Emperors sons whom sired them. As for the Emperors Judgement I know only of them through reputation alone, one of my opposite numbers is serving with them now he is with the First Great Order. By all accounts honesty, strength, courage and honour are at the forefront of their ethos in all things, it could be said that all Legions bear these traits but the Emperors Judgement are imbued with it.'

 

'Two Legions fighting at once?' asked Tobias, caught up with the visualisation as two Legions of demi-gods going to war. 'The Orks must have been quite a threat.'

 

'The Orks are potentially the greatest threat mankind faces.' Stated Magos Zule, the machine tone of his vocaliser unit startling the other three, they had quite forgotten he was with them as he rarely spoke. 'However, it is necessary for the Emperors Children to fight alongside the Luna Wolves for they lack sufficient numbers to lead an Expeditionary Fleet of their own.'

 

Lord Antioch nodded to himself, he had heard of this about the Emperors Children that a great tragedy had occurred severely stunting their numbers. A thought struck Lord Antioch, he turned to his companions. 'Is there a possibility that their Primarch will be aboard the delegation?'

 

'That is a possibility.' replied the Princeps, 'The Emperors sons do tend to travel with the first of their Legions. However according to our Legio the Emperors Judgement have three Orders per Great Order, therefore their leader could be elsewhere if the Great Order is not deployed as a single host.'

 

'It seems we're about to find out.' cut in the Master of the Fleet, he then gestured towards the integrity field.

 

Every set of eyes in the embarkation deck were fixed upon five shapes moving at speed towards the Achilles, there was now a dead silence in the air. Within moments the shapes had grown exponentially and had resolved into the form of five Stormbird's. The bulky dropships passed through the integrity field and made to set down, before the immense craft even touched down on their landing skids. The deployment ramps of the two outmost dropships slammed open. Just as the Stormbird's set down upon the deck did fifty Astartes charge forth from each dropship, they shook the deck with their immense footfalls.

 

The Lord Commander felt his heart begin to pound in his chest, the Astartes were everything that the Princeps said they would be, they were truly giants among men each being at least nine foot tall clad in their power armour. Their armour was burnished silver, each warrior carried a massive tower shield larger than a mortal man was tall, emblazoned upon them was the heraldry of the Legion a shield crossed by a hammer. In the other they carried a Warhammer one side with a spiked face the other side ended in an axe then topped with a vicious spike.

 

When they got to around fifty feet from the Lord Commanders position did they halt in their tracks in total unison. The din created by two hundred ceramite clad boots stomping to a halt at the same time, while their tower shields crashed to the ground forming a shield wall shook the deck with the force of an earthquake, the Lord Commander felt his bones rattle. They formed an unbreakable wall before the three Stormbird's at the centre of the formation whose deployment ramps still had not set down. The Astartes in the shield wall were now immobile immovable their faces unreadable as their heads were helmed, they held their shields in place while they held their hammers above the wall as if ready to strike.

 

There was a tension in the air that was palpable, the Lord Commander looked to this comrades and they were as flabbergasted as he was, were they under attack, under arrest? The Lord Commander didn't know but he felt like he did back on Myrmidon when the exarch held a weapon over him in the form of an unreasonable tithe. Lord Antioch had invited these Astartes to his vessel as allies and now they had stormed out of their landing craft as if the Lord Commander and his Myrmidon were some kind of enemy. Even if his actions during this undertaking were criminal he would not have his forces treated with such disrespect!

 

The Lord Commander broke ranks and began to march towards the Astartes lines, the Master of the Fleet made to step forward but he gestured for Tobias to stay put. He couldn't think and he couldn't stop his limbs from shaking but he would not broker such disrespect of his beloved Myrmidons. Lord Antioch didn't know what he was going to do when he reached the Astartes lines, but he knew he it was what had to be done. The Emperors Judgement did not react or move at all, if the Lord Commander had not been in the embarkation deck when the Astartes charged then he wouldn't have believed that they were anything other than statues.

 

At midpoint between the Astartes and the Myrmidon forces, the ramp of the central Stormbird crashed down stopping the Lord Commander in his tracks but still the Astartes did not move. Emanating from the Stormbird was the sound of drums, emerging from the darkness of the dropships hold were twenty warriors their armour like nothing Lord Antioch had ever seen. They were reminiscent of the armour the Astartes forming the shield wall wore but grossly exaggerated and over armoured, he knew that the walking tanks were what they called Terminators sporting Tactical Dreadnought Armour, they stomped down the ramp followed by seven Astartes.

 

The cadre of seven seemed to be of an officer class as they went without helms, five of them were evidently fearsome warriors they carried colossal hammers or axes. Another had the look of an Enginseer about him, as well as his normal appendages he had four servo-arms protruding from his armour. The remaining Astartes officer wore a strange metal device framing his face and carried a tall staff topped with the Legions iconography. Even from here the Lord Commander could feel a sickening aura that made his stomach tighten, much like if he stood close to his Astropathic Choir, Lord Antioch knew he was a pysker. The Terminators and the seven officers halted before the shield wall and still no one spoke. It was then that the Lord Commander took in a deep breath to offer a greeting, but he expelled the air from his lungs as quickly as he had taken it in when he saw what emerged from the belly of the Stormbird.

 

Lord Antioch felt as though he had taken some hallucinogenic substance as his mind could not come to terms with what he was seeing. Walking down the ramp of the Stormbird was a god –the Imperial Truth could go hang for he was looking at the divine given flesh- the force of the beings tread seemed to be stronger than any of the Astartes combined. The seven officers, the twenty juggernauts and the shield wall parted for this immense beings passage, the message clear only one such as him could cast his forces aside so easily. The Lord Commander felt his jaw fall slack as his mind tried to come to terms of how tall this god was, he had to be at least fifteen foot tall. Lord Antioch had to crane his neck to look of at the deity's beatific face.

 

Lord Commander Antioch was under no allusions as to whom he was looking upon. The Lord Commander was gazing at the Primarch of the Emperors Judgement, the XI Legio Astartes. The colossus was resplendent in armour of shining silver. It was painfully ornate, inscribed in gold with eagles and dragons. The armour looked as though it had been taken from a medieval knight's tomb and scaled up to encapsulate the Emperors son. The giants face was sculpted of noble bearing, with deep and dark eyes. His head completely lacked hair, covering one side of his head was a painstakingly intricate tattoo of a dragon.

 

Thoughts of affront and insult at the way the Emperors Judgement had comported themselves vanished, the Lord Commander was just thankful that he could surrender his command to such a magnificent being. In one fluid motion the Lord Commander knelt down on both knees in a gesture of supplication. The moment the Lord Commanders knees hit the deck so did three thousand Myrmidon Lancers come down to one knee while still holding their Sarissa's aloft, the only personnel left standing was Magos Zule, the Princeps Majoris, the Astartes and the Emperors son. After a moment of hesitation the Magos and the Princeps shared a glance then seemingly reluctantly came down to one knee, the former with the whir of servos.

 

'I am Ultio Ultionis, Primarch of the Emperors Judgement, the Eleventh Legion Astartes.' Every syllable the giant spoke seemed like the rumble of distant thunder.

 

For a long moment Lord Antioch could not speak for his head ached from seeing the Emperors son, finally he summoned the courage to speak. 'You could be no other, my Lord.' Then Lord Antioch unslung his great sword from his back and offered it up with both hands for Ultio Ultionis to take, in the Emperors son's hands it would look like a combat knife.

 

'Why do you offer me this blade?' boomed the incredibly deep voice for the Primarch.

 

'I have failed my first undertaking as commander of an Expeditionary Fleet.' The Lord Commander keep looking at the deck, unable to look at Ultio in the face again fearing that if he did he wouldn't be able to speak. 'I am no long fit for command. I have just one request if you would be gracious enough to grant it. If my punishment is to be execution then I would humbly request my sentence be metered out by my own blade.'

 

'And why do you feel as though you deserve to be executed?' asked the Primarch, his tone softening to a timbre of a minister taking confession.

 

'I have breached my remit of leading this Expeditionary fleet.' Replied Lord Antioch, he still could not look up. 'I have gone beyond my remit bestowed upon me by the War Council. I have attempted to subjugate a world which was not mine to effect compliance, not only that I have gotten a substantial amount of my beloved warriors killed in the process. The price of my failure was their deaths, my fate should be no different.'

 

There was a long and silent pause, in which the Lord Commander was sure that Ultio Ultionis was considering his fate. After the pause dragged on Lord Antioch plucked up the courage and looked the Primarch in the eyes, he was transfixed by them.

 

'You no longer consider yourself capable of command?' asked Ultio, his gaze unflinching.

 

The Lord Commander had to summon every ounce of willpower to reply without letting his voice shake. 'How could I Sire? For I lead my beloved Myrmidons into folly for what seems to me now as foolish pride. I do not see how I could be suitable to lead my warriors for I have fell at the first hurdle, they deserve a leader better than I.'

 

Ultio Ultionis broke his gaze with Lord Antioch to take a glance at his cadre of seven officers, they all nodded in unison, the meaning of this unspoken consent was lost on the Lord Commander.

 

'What if I told you there was a way to absolve yourself in this undertaking?' replied the Primarch. 'What if I told you that there was a way back?'

 

The Lord Commander looked Ultio in the face with tears streaming down his face. 'How can I absolve myself?'