PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com A WARHAMMER 40,000 NOVEL CROSSFIRE Shira Calpurnia - 01 Matthew Farrer It is the 41st millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com he may never truly die. Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperors will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants and worse. � To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods. PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com Sixth Day of Septista Twelve days to the Mass of Saint Balronas. The Festival of the Sevenmark. The Day of Shuttered Tithing (Administratum). With seven days until the beginning of the Vigil of Saint Balronas, all those with duties, debts, obligations, or any other Imperial or personal business, should be looking to discharge them. The disgrace, both before one s Church and one s peers, of having unfinished business by the beginning of the Vigil should always � � be borne in mind. Tradition tells us that this is the day on which masters announce to their servants and workers both the fact and the particulars of the holidays they are to be granted for the period of the Vigil both generosity by the � master and gratitude from the servant are appropriate on this day. Masters should lead their workers, and the heads of households their families, in modest celebrations; the exchange of small gifts and tokens is appropriate. A traditional token is a roll of blank parchment or an empty data-slate to symbolise the clearing of debts. On this day the halls of the Administratum will be sealed as that order conducts certain devotions of its own. Any tithing or Administratum business must be completed before the halls are closed at dawn. Celebrations should still be conducted with an air of temperance and deference, and the working day should end with a service or prayer meeting in garb and circumstances traditional to one s duties and � station. The evening should be a time to take stock and ensure that the correct devotional items and clothes are ready for the period ahead, and that one s person and home are clean and orderly. � PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com CHAPTER ONE The machine-cultists of the Adeptus Mechanicus are not prone to strong emotions the beautiful coldness of the � Machine is held up as a model for admiration and emulation, even for those orders of the Mechanicus not directly concerned with physical mechanics and the gradual transfiguration of their own bodies into cybernetics. Genetor- Magos Cynez Sanja was of the Order Biologis, with a greater understanding of the emotions of the flesh than most, but this evening the ability to catalogue the exact neurotransmitters that flared inside his skull and how they reacted to and reinforced his thoughts and stimuli, let alone the Cult of the Machine s scriptures and psalms in � praise of pure reason, were small consolation. Here in his own domain, in the very shrine of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the Adeptus district in what was supposed to be the safest enclave of the capital hive of the fortress world of Hydraphur, Cynez Sanja had found himself under siege. He was displeased, he was frustrated and he was to his own dismay angry. � � Noises from the turmoil outside were seeping through the walls as Sanja stood in the forechamber behind the shrine s great adamantite doors, listening with his head bowed and his eyes closed. He had severed his link � with the external opticons half an hour before, refusing to watch what was going on outside any longer, but now came a four-second burst of ultrasonic machine-code from the throat-mounted vocoder of his assistant, Brother- Postulant Chaim. Sanja reluctantly decompressed and scanned it; the reports and message transcripts unfolding neatly in his brain. They were not pleasant. The avenues to the Administratum towers were blocked and the tally-house and the Ordinates dormitory were ringed in. The bridge over the water-gardens to the Scriptoria was cut off and a � brave group of adepts from the procurator-general s tower who had tried to force their way down the � hopelessly-overrun Street of Quills had not been heard from again. The Adeptus Quarter, it seemed, belonged to the Adeptus no longer. As if to underscore the point, there was a ringing thud that seemed to come through the walls and floor at PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com once. Sanja glowered and cycled the tiny augmetic layers in his skull through a precise series of adjustments, but the walls still muffled the sounds to the point where he couldn t pick out much more than a rhythmic, concussive � hammering and the faintest traces of hoarse shouts. He wondered again why nobody had thought it necessary to raise the void shields. He opened his eyes and looked around him, drawing what serenity he could from his surroundings. The forechamber was a shortened rectangle, its measurements calculated to within a millionth of a millimetre to mimic the proportions, if not the size, of the forechamber of the high genetor s own shrine on the Mechanicus � heartworld of Mars. The black steel of the floor was inlaid in gold and ruby with illuminated circuit patterns and alchemical forms. The friezes on the walls were burnished brass arrays of pistons and valves, their constant, silent hydraulic motion carrying binary-language catechisms of praise to the Machine God back and forth. Setting his veiled hood back on his shoulders and tilting his head back, the genetor-magos contemplated the works above him: layers of interlocking cog wheels, the simplest but most sacred icons of the Mechanicus priesthood, hung weightless, slowly rotating in the air, obscuring the roof. Sanja murmured a prayer and felt the circuits tattooed around his eye-sockets tingle as he merged his sight with the opticon in the steel gargoyle on the wall ahead and examined himself through the machine-spirit s � eyes. His own scarlet tech-priest s finery seemed to shine even in the dim light of the forechamber. Behind him, � framed by the second set of giant doors that led into the shrine s central cloister, was his retinue, standing with � dignity in ceremonial formation and waiting upon his order. Chaim stood two paces behind Sanja s right � shoulder. Behind them were four skitarii, the dedicated templar-soldiers of the Machine cult, their burnished carapace armour pierced with cybernetic cables and leads and their power-axes held at arms. Flanking each skitarius, two guardian servitors, mindless vat-grown automata hung about with mechanised implants of their own, weapon-muzzles pointed demurely down. His two luminant skulls, each half-plated with gold leaf and trailing clusters of perceptor vanes and mecha-dendrites, hung in the air over Sanja s shoulders. � The forechamber was not wide, but its high-vaulted roof was lost in the shadows above the layers of free- hanging cogs. The retinue formation, small though it was, stretched almost the width of the room. The genetor-magos made a small sound of approval, feeling stronger for his moment of contemplation. He would not be cowed here, in his own temple. Whatever was going on out there, they would meet it as befitted their station. PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com It is time, magos. Chaim routed his speech through his own larynx this time, not the vocoder-plate. � � You asked to be notified. � � Sanja did not respond, as was only proper with a functionary, but simply disengaged himself from the gargoyle, took a quick moment to readjust to his own eyes, then made a single pace forward and, through the transmitter above his right temple, commanded the doors to open. An avalanche of noise was the first thing to pour in, and Sanja almost flinched before he had the time to cycle down his senses and put up filters. What had been soft thuds with the gates closed was now a bellow of dramming that felt like physical impacts, as though someone were tapping him rapidly in the chest and tugging at his clothes. Underneath that came shouts, screams, squeals, and every so often the sound of breaking glass or splintering plastic. The air was full of smoke and vapour, the swarms of figures milling around the foot of the steps indistinct at fifty metres and an invisible source of yells at a hundred. How many were packed into the plaza Sanja did not try and guess, but he had seen it hold thousands when Adeptus processions had mustered on the half-kilometre circle of engraved flagstones. That was an inspiring sight, rank upon rank of the Emperor s chosen servants in the rich golden Hydraphur sunlight, but this � � In fact, this almost seemed a deliberate mockery of those processions. Sanja could just make out the row of gaudy trucks and floats that they had apparently all followed here on their damned parade, covered in gaudy foil- and-plastic props to turn them into half-hearted versions of Astartes Land Raiders, Leviathan command juggernauts, Ecclesiarchal reliquary carts, whatever else, their cabs and beds decked with dancers and clowns scattering baubles and sweets. Sanja had no desire at all to recalibrate his cortical implants to see them more clearly: as he and his attendants moved forward in stately ceremonial gait, half-pace and all in step, he was seeing more than enough. Two diamond-glass pillars stood at the foot of the ramp up to the shrine doors, and each pillar stood on a waist-high metal plinth. On the left plinth stood a pudgy young man with a blond ponytail, dressed in an imitation Imperial Commissar s uniform with the cap sliding down over one ear. He was digging candied nuggets or � some kind of stimulant chew out of his pockets and tossing them into the cheering crowd around him. Another equally corpulent boy in a poor attempt at an Ecclesiarchal prayer shawl was trying to scrabble onto the plinth and grab his ankles, but was too drunk to lift himself up. The right plinth was swarming with bodies in varying shades of green: mockeries of Navy uniforms or Scholastia Psykana robes. A woman wearing what she probably thought was an Imperial Legate s uniform brandished a bottle, popped the top with her thumb, and � PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com scattered the contents all over her happily shrieking and now sticky companions as a burly man in an Administratum scribe s robe grabbed her around the waist and clamped his mouth over hers. � Nothing in the sea of bodies was any more edifying: everywhere were hideous over-ornamented attempts at Sororitas surplices, arbitor helmets, military and Administratum uniforms of every design. Despite his determination to remain calm Sanja bristled at a brief glimpse of a sequined, dandified version of his own scarlet Adeptus Mechanicus kimono, the seals and badges placed grotesquely at all the wrong points, before the crowd closed and hid it. There was no sight of his visitor. It was time, was it? Chaim had miscalculated, and Sanja was not appreciative of having to stand out here watching over this display for a moment longer than he had to. One or two people below them had noticed the doors opening. They weren t yet drunk enough to think � about coming up the ramp, but the whoops and cheers were starting. Sanja was about to march back inside when he caught sight of what had to be the person he was to meet: a wedge of a dozen black Adeptus Arbites uniforms, too stark to be props, forcing their way through the press of glitter and noise. At the bottom step, with only a few more paces to go, they ground to a halt it took a moment for Sanja to focus his hearing on them and � realise what the problem was. Stand aside. It was the voice of the lead Arbitrator, a head shorter than her squad and with honour icons � � on her armour that Sanja had no doubt were real. Ooh! Yes, madam! Stand aside for the lady justice! Giggles. Another woman, much younger and � � considerably drunker. Sanja guessed it was the one with her back to him, with her hair fluffed and glow-dyed, wearing a lurid attempt at an Administratum Praefecta s formal tunic that was a size too tight for her. � I m not joking, and I m not in the mood. Stand the hell aside! �� � � Sanja tensed reflexively as his sensors picked up the hum of a power weapon charging. Oh, is that real? Wherever did you get it? A real one of those arbitor things, what is it, a power-thing, I � don t know. � I m one of these Administr Administratum thingies Pref perf It s a good touch, though. �� � � � � � � More giggles. Someone else was slurring, Arrest her! Arrest her! over and over. The girl grabbed a vial. � � Let s drink to that Arbites thing, and to, to my new friend here, with a very dull costume, I have to say, you � � know no, let me finish, you lot, you re really doing the part. � � � I am playing no part , woman. This is the seal of an arbitor senioris of Hydraphur. You will stand � � � PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com asi �� See, now, arbitor seni-whatever, you re starting to just get tiresome. You need to have a drink and � � �� Crack. Sanja winced, despite himself. Ignoring the wails of the partygoers behind her, the arbitor stamped up the ramp to where Sanja was waiting, her squad behind her, power-maul hissing in her hand. On the top step she thumbed its field off and relaxed with a visible effort before they stepped forward to greet each other. Sanja stretched one hand out of his sleeve and made the sign of the Great Engine while his guest clicked her heels and touched the maul to her forehead, then shuffled her right foot a half-pace back and made a slight bow: the short-form salute of the senior Adeptus. In the name of the masterful and enduring Machine God I welcome you to his temple and his benediction. � May the miracle of the Machine watch over you. Sanja had to raise his voice over the din around them. I � � welcome you also in my name, Cynez Sanja, magos and genetor of the great Mechanicus, and pledge my goodwill in the name of the Emperor Omnissiah. � I receive and return your greeting and make my humble respects to the Mechanicus, his guest replied. � � Shira Calpurnia Lucina, arbitor senioris of the Adeptus Arbites, extends her greeting in the service of the Lex � Imperia and the God-Emperor of Earth. The Emperor protects. � Thank you. I think we can agree that this is not the place for high ceremony. Will you accompany me? � � Sanja was itching to get the temple doors between himself and the crowd. The arbitor must have felt the same way: Sanja drew back politely as she gave some curt instructions to her squad, who fanned out into a half- circle with their backs to the door. They remained there in sentry positions as the Mechanicus retinue moved back into the shrine. The arbitor senioris herself fell in beside him as he swept back through the doors. As the adamantite slabs began to swing shut Sanja risked his dignity long enough to glance over his shoulder: a dozen or so of the revellers were clustered around the glow-haired girl s prone body, most of them � gawping up at the temple or wringing their hands. Sanja haughtily turned his back on them and let the doors boom closed. The Mechanicus ziggurat rose above them in precise geometrical ratios and burrowed into the side of the Bosporian Hive underneath them, but everything that Sanja would need to deal with his visitor was here in the chambers ahead. As they walked across the forechamber, the servitor-sentries built into the lintels of the inner doors singing a benediction in binary, Sanja saw that his guest had taken her helmet off and was looking wide- PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com eyed at the tech-arcana around her. Sanja nodded with approval: she was impressed, and was paying him the compliment of letting it show. As the song finished and they moved up the steps into brighter light, he studied her a little more closely. She was a head shorter than he, with an easy, confident way of moving. Her features were even and her green eyes chilly but bright with intelligence. Dark blond hair fell to just below her ears, tousled from the helmet, and there were the first suggestions of lines around her mouth and eyes. Her expression was stern when those � lines came, Sanja thought, they would not be kind ones. Three parallel scars, long healed and barely more than pink lines, started in her left eyebrow and ran straight and neat up into her hair. They passed through the inner doors into the broad cloister that ran to the heart of the tower and branched into stairs at each side. Here the walls and floor were stark grey rockcrete and the contrast with to the richly ornamented forechamber seemed to unsettle the woman somewhat; she fell a pace back as they walked up a long slope of stairs and turned into the passage to the genetors devotory. Her face was composed and dutiful � and he realised she was unsure of whether she was allowed to speak. Deciding to be a courteous host, Sanja dropped back also and walked alongside her. We have prepared the fundamentals of the ceremony while you were on your way to us, my lady justice, so � we will be ready to begin at your word. However, your trip here was somewhat less serene than this quarter � normally is. If you wish to clear your mind and prepare yourself before we begin, my junior will show you to our chapel. It is small, but quiet. � My thanks, master genetor, but I am prepared. That affair outside was irritating but not fatal to the � equilibrium, I think. � Dignity and composure are admirable qualities. I commend you on them, Arbiter Lucina. This way. � � Calpurnia. � � Your pardon? � � Arbiter Calpurnia. My apologies, Master Sanja. An act of carelessness on my part. In formal greeting I use � Ultramar protocol. The family name is second, the private third. Here I am Shira Calpurnia as you are Cynez Sanja. She gave a small, contrite smile. Once again, I apologise. I intended no slight. � � � No slight is taken, Arbiter Calpurnia. He saw her relax and then, to his private amusement, tense again � � as she followed him through the lacquered double doors of the Devotory. The narrow little chamber, its walls red- panelled and ceiling dancing with holo-sculptures of amino-acid molecules, had been prepared just as Sanja had PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com