The Endurance.
Now.
< >
“This is a private viewing chamber,” Mortarion’s voice echoed through the vast space.
Reinforced glass was embedded into the dark gray walls, allowing starlight from the void beyond to filter in.
Banners bearing the emblem of the Death Guard, dark green with their insignia, hung from the walls, and two rows of black sofas were casually placed in the center of the room.
Mortarion stood by the window, gazing out at the endless expanse of space.
Hades followed his gaze and saw countless stars scattered across the deep, mysterious void, as though the very fabric of space was swallowing everything.
In the center of the viewing window, a planet cloaked in green mist slowly turned, its surface bathed in a dim, mossy glow.
Massive, chanical rings shimred above it, orbiting majestically, with ships occasionally launching from the starry rings.
Barbarus.
A dim yellow light cast its glow upon Hades’ face, with fine dust particles floating lazily in the faint illumination.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Mortarion rasped.
“But who would have thought that beneath this beautiful exterior, the planet’s mists hide such ugliness.”
“Will the Imperium help improve the toxic environnt of Barbarus?” Hades asked casually.
In the original tiline, the Emperor had used the offer of cleansing Barbarus’ toxic atmosphere as a lure to persuade Mortarion to join the Imperium, an offer Mortarion had rejected.
Now that Mortarion had already slain the Xenos Overlord Necare, Hades hoped that perhaps he would not refuse the Emperor’s offer this ti.
After all, having the howorld of a Primarch thrive with reduced taxes and support wasn’t a bad idea, was it?
“They have indeed proposed this,” Mortarion responded. “But I wonder, if Barbarus loses its toxic environnt, will its people beco soft?”
Hades was speechless for a mont.
This mindset wasn’t unique to Mortarion.
Even the Primarch of the Sixth Legion, Leman Russ, had similar thoughts.
Fenris, Leman Russ’ howorld, was an ice-covered death world.
When the Imperium decided to use Fenris as a recruitnt ground for the Sixth Legion, Russ demanded that the Fenrisians remain unaware of the Imperium’s existence.
He believed that only those who could survive the brutal cold and harsh conditions deserved to beco his Legion’s warriors.
Hades couldn’t entirely dismiss this perspective, but his own simple values leaned toward making life better for everyone if possible.
Not everyone aspires to be a war machine like an Astartes.
So might just want to live a peaceful, quiet life.
After so thought, Hades spoke.
“Resilience is a quality ingrained in the people of Barbarus. It flows in their blood and will not fade simply because the environnt improves.”
“And besides, I believe that a Barbarus free from toxic gas will allow the new generation to grow even stronger.”
Mortarion remained silent.
He thought of the children who had died young, their skin turned purple from inhaling too much poisonous gas.
Were they weak?
If they had lived longer, would they have beco strong warriors?
He hesitated.
“Maybe… I should accept the Imperium’s offer,” he muttered.
Hades smiled.
“I don’t think you’ll regret this decision,” Hades reassured him. “The people of Barbarus will be grateful.”
Mortarion shrugged.
“Let’s hope they don’t grow weak because of it.”
At that mont, Mortarion reached out and touched the glass.
Suddenly, an image appeared across the surface, as if a massive battleship was floating silently in the depths of space beyond the window.
A vast, dark green structure with the cold sheen of silver tal glowed rcilessly.
The sleek, dagger-like hull jutted out into the void, with sharp spikes protruding from the prow, pointing at the stars.
The streamlined gray tal frawork glead with an imperial double-headed eagle on the prow, though the gleaming golden eagle looked oddly out of place on the grim ship.
Beside the imperial eagle was a skull emblem, equally massive and cast in iron-gray—the insignia of the Death Guard.
Next to this behemoth, the smaller escort ships seed insignificant, like ants beside a titan.
This gigantic ship resembled the scythe of death, silently cutting through the void.
Of course, Hades knew exactly what it was—The Endurance, the flagship of the Death Guard, a Gloriana-class battleship.
It was… magnificent.
Contrary to Hades’ initial imagination of a flying cathedral, The Endurance was a sleek, understated, and coldly beautiful dream ship.
The fact that this magnificent vessel had been handed over to Mortarion by the Emperor himself… It did stir a mont of envy in Hades.
Mortarion chuckled.
“This is The Endurance, our current location,” Mortarion said.
“She’s beautiful,” Hades replied, awestruck.
“I decorated her. She wasn’t this pretty before.”
Indeed, the gray-green primary color was Mortarion’s addition.
The Dusk Raiders had originally used a deep red color sche.
“Too much decoration often hides the true beauty underneath,” Mortarion added.
“I plan to engrave all the battles the Death Guard has fought onto her bow in the future,” Mortarion said with rare pride in his voice.
Hades could feel his teeth itching with irritation.
You’re just showing off, aren’t you?!
Mortarion then inford Hades that tomorrow he would start training with the company.
For the next few standard Terran months, there would be small-scale exercises.
Hades needed to get accustod to fighting like an Astartes by training alongside the company.
Despite Mortarion’s eagerness to quickly promote Barbarus-born recruits to leadership roles, the new recruits were far from ready.
Having just undergone surgical modifications and trained for less than six standard Terran months, the Barbarus recruits were not yet capable of holding any leadership positions.
They hadn’t even reached the standard required to be considered fully-fledged Astartes.
If Mortarion hoped to place them in leadership roles, it would have to wait until the veteran Terran-born officers were stretched thin and the new Barbarus-born soldiers had proven themselves in battle.
For now, the Legion’s affairs remained firmly under the control of the Terran veterans.
Mortarion, being a newly appointed Primarch, couldn’t afford to show favoritism toward the Barbarus recruits, at least not openly.
Promoting “newbies” in the eyes of the Terrans would be seen as rash.
Following Mortarion around, Hades toured the ship and familiarized himself with areas he would frequent on The Endurance.
They also visited several visually stunning and technologically advanced locations, showcasing the marvels of the vessel.
As they returned, Mortarion and Hades rode an elevator within The Endurance, slowly ascending to the Astartes’ rest quarters.
Hades glanced at the densely packed floor numbers displayed in the elevator and suddenly realized sothing.
Wait… did Mortarion co to see alone?
The Death Guard had a unique group of warriors known as the Deathshroud, Mortarion’s personal bodyguard unit.
These heavily armored Terminators would silently follow Mortarion, always staying forty-nine paces behind him, ready to protect their Primarch.
Once marked as part of the Deathshroud, a warrior was listed as “killed in action” within their original company.
Maybe the Deathshroud hasn’t been established yet since it’s still early days, Hades mused.
But sothing still felt off.
During their grand tour, Hades hadn’t seen any other Death Guard aside from the occasional mortal crew mbers and servants.
Hades cautiously glanced at Mortarion.
“Mortarion, you’re the commander of the Death Guard now, right?”
“Hmm,” Mortarion humd in agreent.
“…So shouldn’t you be really busy right now?” Hades pressed.
Sensing what Hades was hinting at, Mortarion’s calm voice responded as usual.
“It’s break ti.”
Hades glanced at the elevator panel where the ti was displayed:
Terran Standard Ti: 21:36
Considering that Astartes only slept about four hours a day, this was far from “break ti.”
Hades looked back at Mortarion.
Mortarion remained silent.
Silence fell like the night over Cambridge.
Finally, Mortarion couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I had Captain Barasine of the First Company temporarily take over the training.”
So you really just ditched your duties to co out here, didn’t you?!
(；Д｀) What the heck?!
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