Epistolary Jeraiah walked unto the bridge of the strike cruiser accompanied by the faint whine of servos. He wore his ancient Tactical Dreadnought armor now. Every battle-brother was at the ready, ever since they set their course to the orbit of Ulpia Tertius.
Jeraiah briefly thanked the machine-spirit of the armor for holding up. They were old friends, the two of them. The ancient suit still surprised the chapter artificers simply by still functioning. Jeraiah took it as a blessing from the Emperor. A memory of the first battle when he wore the armor flashed through his mind. Jeraiah smiled, then suppressed it. His duty demanded his full attention now.
Rogan was already on the bridge, of course, scanning the planet through the viewport as though his sight could pick up any sign of Lexandro's party. A futile effort, as even the auguries could not penetrate the barriers masking the surface. Yet the captain stood there, still as a stone, his vision fixed.
'Brother-Captain. You summoned me.'
Giving the honorific to the young upstart Primaris Marine still chafed at the elderly librarian. Well, young in a way. Rogan was created in the vaults of the arch-magos Belisarius Cawl thousands of years ago, just missing the time when the Primarchs still walked and fought with their sons. However, he spent most of his time in cryo-sleep. He lacked experience, and he definitely lacked the time and camaraderie shared with Lexandro. But a captain was a captain. Jeraiah could never be accused of insubordination.
'I have, Epistolary. What-'
Rogan stiffened as Jeraiah's eyes became unfocused and the old librarian froze in mid-step. The captain whirled around, scanning the bridge with his boltstorm gauntlet, just in case the librarian saw something behind him - but there was only the bridge crew, and a surprised chapter serf, backing away, sudden fear etched on his face. Rogan put up his weapon, and turned back to Jeraiah. The Epistolary was coming through.
'Brother-Captain... I felt a disturbance in the warp. It is... very close.'
'What does that mean, Epistolary?'
'It was... almost like a breach. And almost like...'
Jeraiah's eyes widened.
'It is here... aboard the strike cruiser! And if I'm not mistaken... You there!' - he pointed at a surprised crewman at his station - 'What's in that direction?'
'Th-th-the planetary a-a-augur arrays, m'lord...'
Ignoring the shaking man, Jeraiah turned back to Rogan.
'Captain, gather all battle-brothers who are near and take them to the augury maintenance bay. We have to repeal whoever has boarded our ship.'
He then switched to his vox.
'Teleportarium... this is Epistolary Jeraiah. Requesting emergency relocation...'
As the Epistolary shouted a stream of coordinates into his vox, Rogan was already running towards the designated area. The days of inactivity chafed at him, and he could barely wait to crush the enemies of the Imperium.
'This is Captain Rogan, to all battle-brothers in the vicinity... Converge on my position. The enemy is here. For the Emperor!'
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