The Ravens' Penance
Arrival

Strike Cruiser Retribution
Unknown Time
Unknown System

Thaddeus fell to his knee in exhaustion. He lived, for now. The bridge of the Retribution was free of daemonic presence, and the ship was no longer in the warp. But thirty minutes in the warp with a total Gellar Field failure had been disastrous.

Commander Aramus lay beneath Thaddeus' feet. A bloodletter daemon had gotten through the Commander's defense and inflicted a wound in his side. Aramus had endured that wound and slain the demon in retaliation. A minute later, a festering daemon covered in sores had vomited at the commander, covering him in some insidious warp-bile. The commander, poisoned through his open wound, managed to slay the diseased abomination before he faltered.

Thaddeus had rushed to the Commander's side. With his own chainsword in one hand and the commander's power sword in the other, his furious stand had successfully defended the Commander before any daemons could deliver a coup de grace. But the Commander had failed to recover, even with a stimulant injection.

Thaddeus rose and looked around the Retribution's bridge. Much of the chamber was drenched in blood and bile.
"Who else is alive?" His voice rung out. He saw that he was the only Blood Raven still standing. Sergeant Lavrus lay a few meters from where Thaddeus had made his enraged stand, decapitated.
The survivors were few. Only two hands rose. Chapter serfs that had also contributed to the battle, fending off daemons with their boarding shotguns.

Merely two hands rose. Chapter serfs that had been part of the bridge crew, armed with standard naval shotguns.

The ship communications still worked and Thaddeus took initiative.
"This is the bridge. All sections. Casualty..." He paused. "Belay that. All sections, report survivors."

Soon, responses started coming.

"This is Davian Thule." Boomed the slow voice of the honored dreadnought "Vehicle bay... is free of daemons... Two brothers remain beside me... along with seventeen serfs."

"This is Chaplain Honorius. Thirty-eight serfs survive in the chapel."

"This is Enginseer Astra Var." A synthesized voice, as usual for the mechanicus, though with a clearly feminine hint. "Including myself, eighteen mechanicus adepts have survived, along with twenty-four servitors and ten chapter serfs."

"Apothecary Ancaias." A grim voice came "I am all that remains in the Medicae Bay."

Other reports followed. Several sections remained silent. The final tally was grim. Eighteen full Astartes remained, including Thule, plus seven scout initiates. Eighteen mechanicus and one-hundred fifty-four chapter serfs. And twenty-four servitors, for what little that was worth. Not a single navigator.

This was the day Cyrus had spoken of. The day he should have saved some victorious cheer for.

"My lord.. I think the Commander is still breathing." One of the serfs tells Thaddeus.

Quickly, Thaddeus turns his attention and sees that the the serf is correct.

"Ancaias! I'm bringing the Commander to the medicae bay. Make preparations." Thaddeus orders through the comm.

A week had passed since the disastrous Gellar Field failure. Thaddeus was, once again, on the bridge. Thaddeus was silently thinking back on things as individuals from across the ship gathered here.

First, he had thought back on better times. The first Aurelian crusade. Himself and the Commander, as well as the others: Tarkus, Cyrus and Captain Thule (first as their leader, then as a mighty dreadnought). Not to mention Martellus and Gordian, in their respective support roles. Fighting to defend the recruitment worlds of the Chapter: Calderis, Typhon and Meridian, his own homeworld. Thaddeus frowned. Try as he might, he could not strike the final name from his memory. Avitus, the traitor.

Thaddeus' mind went to the next conflict in Aurelia, and to much darker times. It was the first time he'd faced the forces of Chaos. Though Aramus had faced Chaos heretics before, it was still his first time facing members of the traitor legions. The Commander had believed himself cautious at first, but the necessities of the conflict soon drove the Commander to desperate tactics. Tarkus had taken up that strange bolter and 'enhanced' it. Cyrus had put on that sinister armor that seemed to transform him into an unseen specter of death in the field. He himself had...

Thaddeus headed off that train of thought. He recalled the battle against Avitus. How the treason of Kyras was indisputably revealed. He recalled Captain Angelos' judgment: Aramus was to embark on a penitent crusade into the Eye of Terror for a full century. He had joined his Commander, as had Davian. Jonah had returned to Angelos' side. Even now, it bothered Thaddeus that he did not know what became of Tarkus, Cyrus and Martellus. When the crusade was declared, it had seemed like certain death. Himself, the Commander and nine other battle brothers alone in the Eye of Terror.

But unexpectedly, battle brothers from other companies had joined, after learning of Kyras' treason. Brothers who felt that they required penance for not having noticed the rot in the Chapter Master's heart. And Honorious who, while not requiring penance, had felt that a penitent crusade would not be complete without a chaplain tending to the souls of the penitent. The final count at departure had been 46 battle brothers and 14 scouts. More than enough for a half-strength company.

Though stripped of the relics acquired while fighting the forces of chaos in Aurelia, the librarium had seen fit to give a number of pieces to the crusading force. The commander's sword, the famous Alexian's Blade. Three suits of terminator armor, including the Crusade Eternal suit, which they had recovered in the first Aurelian Crusade. There were five other relics, four guns and a suit of armor. Thaddeus had never learned the names of the guns, since he had known from their basic types that the guns in question were at most marginally useful to him as an assault marine. And the suit of armor... he knew it well, but he had no desire to think about that blighted piece. Even if the artificiers had restored it to its' initial, pure condition.

It had taken a year to reach the Eye. And they had been fighting the forces of Chaos under the Commander's guidance for the next twelve years until just a week ago. To his credit, the Commander had been a most exemplary leader. Until the recent disaster, they had only lost ten Blood Ravens, and seven of those had been initiates.

Thaddeus ended his reverie. All but one of the Blood Ravens, as well as Enginseer Var, were now gathered on the bridge. Davian Thule obviously could not be present in the room, but he was represented through a pict screen and vox transmitter.

"Very well. We are all present. Let us begin." Thaddeus announced. "Enginseer, your report is first."

Though looking like a slender miniature when she stood before the astartes, the Enginseer did not seem uncomfortable in the slightest.

"I will begin with the positive. Forty-seven servitors have been reclaimed from crew casualties. I expect to recover up to thirty more units before the remaining corpses deteriorate beyond recovery.

"After basic analysis and communion with the machine spirits, we have determined that neither the primary engines, the warp drive, the sensors, the atmospheric recyclers nor the external hull have suffered critical damage. Minor malfunctions in those systems remain a possibility. Analysis of the weapon systems has not been performed yet.

"However, the negative. Even if we placed the honored Astartes into crew positions and considered servitors fully capable crew, we would remain significantly below the minimal crew quantity required for basic ship maneuvers. Strike Cruiser Retribution is, functionally, a drifting space hulk."

"Thank you, Enginseer." Thaddeus replies. "Apothecary. What of the Commander's condition?"

The white-armored space marine steps before the ranks. "While Force Commander Aramus is still alive, he remains in critical condition. The daemonic bile spread through his body and did significant damage before I managed to cleanse it. The damage is too much for the commander to recover naturally, even with stimulant injections. I have placed him in stasis to prevent his condition from worsening, but the Retribution lacks the advanced medicae technologies required to heal him.

"There is also the matter of our geneseed. I have located the remains of all twenty-four fallen battle brothers and recovered their geneseed. Tests to determine the purity of the geneseed will take time."

As Ancaias returns to the ranks, Thaddeus continues "Codicier Clementius. Have you made any progress in determining our location?"

"Very little." Clementius admits "We have successfully performed long-range scans. The Retribution is drifting on the outer edge of an as-yet unknown binary star system. The sparse outer system asteroid belt grants us some limited defense from cursory scans, but we will be detected if any ship approaches the belt on our side of the system.

"The system itself consists of two stars and three planets." Clementius activates the bridge holodisplay to demonstrate "The innermost planet is terrestrial and has two moons. The other two planets are gas giants. The inner giant has three moons while the outer has four. There is also what appears to be a rouge planetoid in the inner system. We have also detected complex transmissions from the innermost planet, more than simple vox transmissions. They do not match any know Imperial standard.

"The Librarium crew and I have gone through most of our star charts, and we have not found any matches to this system. While systems with identical composition exist, we have found no matches to star alignment. More disturbingly, we have not even found approximate star alignments. The most likely conclusion is that Warp currents carried us into an unexplored sector in the farthest halo stars, possibly a sector that has been cut off from the rest of the galaxy since before the Great Crusade."

Clementius paused for several seconds, as if finished. As Thaddeus was about to dismiss him, he said, with some hesitation. "There.. is something else, however. The walls between the Warp and reality are exceptionally strong here. While I have encountered other places where the Warp is.. weak, so to speak, there is something strange about this place. Going through routine meditative exercises, Lexicanium Iscephas reported that for a moment, he felt as if some force was reacting to his attempts to reach Warp energies and trying to prevent it."

"With your permission, I would like to dedicate some time to studying this phenomenon in more detail."

For a few seconds, silence reigned on the bridge as the Blood Ravens considered the implications.

Finally, Thaddeus responded "Your request will be addressed once other affairs are settled."

Thaddeus stepped before the ranks and continued "I believe that only leaves one matter before we move on to Chapter affairs. With the death of Head Enginseer Uruthil confirmed, his replacement must be appointed."

"To what end?" Gallus, the Techmarine, protested "What difference does it make to have a Head Enginseer if all we will do is wait to die aboard this hulk?"

There were a few bitter murmurs of agreement among the battle brothers gathered, mostly among the scout initiates. Others were angered by Gallus' words, and further insulted by how he had spoken out of turn. Finally, Chaplain Honorius stepped forward and bellowed

"Be silent, All of you! We must not lose ourselves to despair or infighting, for those are the paths of damnation. No matter how much has been lost, we can, we must, still have faith. Such is our duty to our Primarch! Such is our duty to our Emperor! We knew we might all perish on this crusade of penance, but failings such as these were the very reason for this crusade! Will you let those failings consume your heart now? After having sworn before the Emperor that you would find redemption?"

The dissenters became silent. As did those angered by the dissent. Thaddeus continued.

"The two highest-ranking members of the Adeptus Mechanicus aboard are Enginseer Astra Var and Techmarine Galleus and I nominate them both as candidates. Any to speak in support or objection?"

Galleus was the first to respond "I support Astra Var for the position and object to my own candidacy since my responsibilities in maintaining the Astartes wargear take most of my available time already. To divide my attention further would lead to a loss of performance in all my duties."

A few seconds of silence. Thaddeus continued once again. "Are there any who wish to object to Enginseer Var's candidacy?"

There were none. "It is decided then, Enginseer Var, step forward."

There was a brief ceremony, carried out by Techmarine Galleus. Binary chatter exchanged between the techmarine and the enginseer keeling before him. Oaths, duty descriptions and finally the declaration of appointment.

As the ceremony concludes, Thaddes stepped forward again. "I believe that further matters are all within the Chapter. Head Enginseer, you are excused."

Politely, the woman left the room. Only Blood Ravens remained now. They reorganized into a single-row circle, all facing inward.

"First, we must handle the issue of leadership." Thaddeus declared "Given the current condition of Force Commander Aramus, and the death of his second, Sergeant Lavrus, the succession of command has become ambiguous.

"Chaplain Honorius. As the most senior battle brother aboard, you are the first candidate for command. I hand further process of this meeting to you."

Thaddeus returned to the ranks as the Chaplain in his black armor and skull helm replaced him in the center.

"Given our limited number, and the potential disaster that may be caused by conflict and disagreement within the chapter, I decree that this matter must be resolved with the unanimous agreement of all battle brothers present. To settle on a solution that only satisfies the highest-ranked or a numerical majority of those present would only lead to internal strife.

"Codicier Clementius. Though you are a Librarian, you are the highest-ranked of all battle brothers aboard. As Blood Raven doctrine permits Librarians to hold command and librium positions simultaneously, you are the second candidate.

The librarian, armored in blue, stepped into the center, leaving a second gap in the circle.

"Sergeant Thaddeus, despite your youth, you are the only Sergeant remaining. As such you are the third candidate."

Thaddeus stepped forward, leaving a third gap. A debate of support and objection arguments began. The first to be dismissed as a candidate was Clementius. The point of Kyras' corruption was raised almost immediately and a few in the circle actually brought standing chapter doctrines into question.

Points were made in favor of both remaining candidates. Even though Davian Thule vouched for Thaddeus' character, the point remained that the Codex Astartes demanded a minimum length spent in Chapter service from a Force Commander. A minimum that Thaddeus would not meet for another three years.

The Chaplain, in the meantime, argued that he should not lead the penitent crusade since he was technically not one of the penitent. He already had the duty of overseeing the crusade as its' Chaplain, and the Codex did not (in spirit, at least) approve of an oversight officer being in command for an indefinite period. Similar to how the Adeptus Munitorum disliked Commisars taking over strategic command positions.

Finally, it was decided that Thaddeus would receive the position of Acting Force Commander. The Codex allowed for the creation of rank positions not explicitly defined in the Codex. And since Thaddeus did not become Force Commander, he did not have to meet the requirements of that position. After a second short ceremony of appointment, Honorius handed the meeting process back to Thaddeus.

"Next, we have must deal with grievous breach of Codex protocol." Thaddeus said, his voice hardening.

"Brother Sullivan. Step forward." The brother in question did so and knelt before the Thaddeus.

"You stand accused of overstepping your station and equipping yourself in Terminator armor without first earning the Crux Terminatus. Do you deny this action?"

"I do not." Sullivan replied with resignation.

"Are there any who wish to speak in his defense?" Thaddeus asked the circle.

"I shall." Brother Gaius takes a single step forward. "Brother Sullivan's violation of Codex standard took place in a situation of utmost need. With the terminator armor and a pair of lightning claws, Sullivan relieved the defense of the Reliquary against daemons, preventing it from being overrun. I have significant doubts that Brother Sullivan and the serfs that assisted him in equipping the armor would have had a more significant contribution to the defense if they had merely joined the defense at my side in their standard equipment."

"Such a transgression must not be overlooked." Honorius demanded "It was putting the necessities of battle before the restrictions of the Codex that led to this penitent crusade."

Thaddeus considered the matter silently as arguments were made for and against Sullivan. Finally, he interrupted the debate.

"Chaplain, what would be the standard punishment for this transgression?" He asked

"The standard sentence would be sending the transgressor on a personal crusade of penitence on a war-torn world. Typically Cadia or Armaggedon. However, as we are already on a penitent crusade, this sentence in not applicable. The Codex alternative is to carry out a summary execution." Honorius replied.

"Very well. I have come to a decision." Thaddeus began "Given the circumstances and the outcome of your transgression, as well as our limited numbers, I have chosen to show lenience."

The chaplain stepped forward and looked like he was about to protest, when Thaddeus glared at him and continued.

"Instead of a summary execution, you are to take an oath of personal penitence. For the duration of the oath, you will be stripped of your name and your voice. You shall be referred to only as Brother Penitent, and you will be forbidden from carrying personal heraldry or identifying inscriptions on your armor. Markings of penance will be added to your helmet, and you will only be permitted to remove your helmet and armor in solitary meditation."

"Are there any who object to this sentence?" Thaddeus asked the circle. Several heads turned toward the Chaplain, but he did not object.

"Very well. The oaths are to be administered in the chapel by Chaplain Honorius after this meeting concludes." Thaddeus finished.

While the future of the crusade was discussed, the only decision made in the circle was giving Clementius limited permission to study the unusual Warp phenomenon. The librarians could study the matter, as long as there was another battle brother present to give them the Emperor's Mercy if required. The remaining decisions remained in the sole authority of the Acting Commander.

By the next day, Thaddeus had decided on a course of action. Thunderhawk-1 was being fitted for a mission. A small force would investigate the innermost planet, the one that was making transmissions. It was less than ideal, of course. Thunderhawks were not designed for interplanetary travel. Half the shuttle's cargo hold was filled with fuel canisters, since the shuttle would have to be refueled on the planet in order to be able to return to the Retribution.

The squads were minimal. Besides Thaddeus, there were four scouts. They were all ranked equally as initiates, but it was clear that the other tree looked to Initiate Tylon for leadership, as he was the most experienced of them. There was also Gallus, since the Techmarine was the only survivor qualified to pilot the Thunderhawk. And there was Clementius, in case they needed his psychic talents to communicate (or interrogate) the locals.

The shuttle journey from the Retribution to the planet took three days. Fast enough, Thaddeus supposed, since Galleus had elected to slingshot around the outer gas-giant to conserve their fuel reserves. In transit, Clementius did discover something significant, though. He also made Thaddeus realize he wasn't that well-versed in matters of the Warp.

The librarian had explained that after gaining distance from the ship, the barriers between the warp and the material world had become even stronger. He had, in fact, compared the strength of the barriers to those on Terra, close to the restricted sections of the Imperial Palace that contained the Emperor's Golden Throne. He had said that it felt like there was a second, different barrier between the material and immaterial worlds. One that was capable of reacting to attempts at reaching the immaterium.

Thaddeus realized he probably did not understand the full implications. But he had understood that warpcraft was still possible, but required much more time here. Clementius would not be able to use his psyker talents in combat. But now, they were making their final approach to the planet. The world looked similar to Calderis from orbit, both were arid planets, though Calderis was predominantly rock desert, while this world was roughly an even mix of rock and sand.

As they approached the planet, they could make some more detailed scans with the thunderhawk's sensors. For one, there were definitely advanced settlements. There was also space traffic. It was clearly something different from warp travel. For one, the jumps into faster-than-light speed were made by shuttles and light corvettes. Craft that were much too small to fit warp engines. Second, the two transitions they witnessed, one arrival and one departure, did not resemble warp transition in the slightest.

Thaddeus had picked one of the larger surface settlements and ordered Galleus to find a secure landing site about ten kilometers away from the settlement. The two suns were rising from beyond the horizon as Thaddeus gripped the power sword on his hip and took his first step onto the surface of this new world.

And there's the first introductory chapter. Try and guess which planet the Blood Ravens have landed on :P

I will do my best to prevent the space marines from being too OP. But 1v1, they will be significantly more powerful than most Jedi. And most Sith, too, really. It comes down to the fact that waging war in the Emperor's name is the only real purpose in their life, while combat ability is merely one aspect of Jedi and Sith training.

Sadly, it looks like my formatting of the enginseer's speech has been overriden by the upload system.

Update: Made a minor correction. An unfinished sentence early in the story that I had somehow forgotten to finish.