Battle for The Abyss by Ben Counter

What has it got to do with our Legion brothers?’
    ‘Thestor, do not be so narrow-minded as to think we do not need their aid,’ Cestus chastened the heavy-set Astartes, who glanced over at his captain. ‘We are a brotherhood: all of us.
    Though we each have our differences, the Emperor has seen fit for us to conquer the galaxy in his name together. The moment we seek our own personal glories, when we abandon solidarity for pride, is the moment when brotherhood will be shattered.’
    Thestor regarded the floor when his captain had finished, shamed by his selfish remarks.
    ‘You may take your leave, Thestor,’ said Cestus. It wasn’t a request.
    The big Astartes got to his feet and left the training arena.
    ‘I agree with you, Cestus, of course I do,’ said Antiges, once Thestor had gone, ‘but they are like savages.’
    ‘Are they, Antiges?’ Cestus challenged. ‘Are Brynngar and the wolves of Russ not savages, too? Do you hold them in such dis-regard also?’
    59

    Ben Counter – Battle for the Abyss
    ‘Of course not,’ Antiges replied. ‘I have fought with the Space Wolves and know of their courage and honour. They are savages in their own way, yes, but the difference is that they are possessed of a noble spirit. These sons of Angron are blood-letters, pure and simple. They kill for the simple joy of it.’
    ‘We are all warriors,’ Cestus told him. ‘Each of us kills in the Emperor’s name.’
    ‘Not like them we don’t.’
    ‘They are Astartes,’ Cestus said, biting out his words, and turning on his battle-brother. ‘I will hear no more of this. You forget your place, Antiges.’
    ‘I apologise, captain. I spoke out of turn,’ Antiges replied after a moment of stunned silence. ‘I only meant to say that I do not ap-prove of their methods or their deeds.’ At that, the Ultramarine turned back to watch the battle.
    Cestus followed his battle-brother’s gaze. The Ultramarine captain did not know either of the World Eaters in the duelling pit.
    He knew precious little of their leader, Skraal. This was ritual combat. No slight, no besmirching of honour had occurred to bring it about. Yet it was bladed and deadly.
    ‘I do not, either,’ Cestus admitted, watching as one of the com-batants nearly lost his arm to a wild swing of his opponent’s chainaxe.
    The Ultramarine had heard stories from his fellow Legionnaires about the so called ‘cleansing’ of Ariggata, one of the World Eaters’ more infamous battle actions. The Legion’s assault on the citadel there had reputably left a charnel house in its wake. Cestus knew full well that Guilliman still sought a reckoning with his brother primarch, Angron, concerning the dire events of that mission, but this was no time for recrimination. Necessity had forced Cestus’s hand, and whether he liked it or not, this is what he had been dealt.
    Skraal led twenty World Eaters on the Wrathful and Cestus was determined to make the best use of them. Brynngar had brought the same number of Blood Claws, and while they were raucous and pugnacious, especially when forced into idleness in the con-60

    Ben Counter – Battle for the Abyss
    fines of the ship, they did not harbour the same homicidal bent as the bloody sons of Angron. Mhotep was the only Astartes not aboard the Wrathful . He had his own ship, the Waning Moon , but no squads of Thousand Sons, just cohorts of naval arms-men at his command.
    Barely fifty Astartes and the vessels of their makeshift fleet, Cestus hoped it would be enough for whatever was in store.
    ‘What troubles you, brother?’ asked Antiges, their brief altercation swiftly forgotten. The Ultramarine finally turned his back on the battling World Eaters, deciding he had seen enough.
    ‘The message at Coralis dock sits heavily on me,’ Cestus confessed. ‘The clenched fist, crested by a laurel crown represents Legion... our Legion. The golden book – I don’t know what that means, but I saw something else.’
    ‘In the reactor