Free Battle for the Abyss by Ben Counter

formation on the viewscreens, followed by the Waning Moon and the Boundless .
    Whatever was out there, they would find out soon enough.

    ‘THERE IS AN energy trail here. It’s degraded but discernible,’
    said Principal Navigator Orcadus’s voice from his inner sanctum on the Wrathful .
    The Imperial ship and her fleet had reached the region of real space as indicated by the co-ordinates provided by Captain Cestus, the supposed site of the destruction of the Fist of Macragge , in short order. They found no sign of the Ultramarine vessel. There was merely a faint energy trace that matched the Fist of Macragge ’s signature. Unlike battles on land, where evidence of a fight could be seen clearly and obviously, conflicts in space were not so easily identifiable. Wrecks drifted, ships could be caught and destroyed in black holes, space debris drawn into the gravity well of a passing moon or small planet, even solar wind could scatter the final proof of a battle ever having taken place. So it was that Kaminska had instructed her Navigator to search for whatever energy traces remained behind, those last vestiges of plasma engine discharge that lingered in spite of all other evidence dissipating due to the ravages of space.
    ‘By Saturn, the output must have been massive,’ Orcadus continued with rare emotion. ‘Whatever ship left this wake is gargantuan, admiral.’
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    Ben Counter – Battle for the Abyss
    ‘It is possible to follow it then?’ Kaminska asked, swivelling in her command throne to regard Captain Cestus standing silently alongside her.
    Orcadus’s reply was succinct.
    ‘Yes, admiral.’
    ‘Do it,’ Cestus told Kaminska grimly, his expression far away.
    Kaminska scowled at what she perceived as arrogance, and returned to her original position.
    ‘Then do so. Set radar array to full power, Mister Orcadus. Take us onward.’

    ‘BROTHERHOOD,’ SAID ZADKIEL, ‘is power.’
    Surrounded by novices in the sepulchral gloom of the cathedra, he loomed high above the assembly within a raised pulpit of black steel.
    ‘It is at the core of all authority in the known galaxy, and the source of humanity’s dominion. This is the Word of Lorgar, as it is written.’
    ‘As it is written,’ echoed the novices.
    Over fifty Word Bearers had gathered for the seminary and knelt in supplication before their lord, wearing grey initiate robes over their crimson armour. The cathedral’s ceiling soared on stone-clad struts overhead, adding acoustic power to Zadkiel’s oratory, and the air was as still and cold as a vault. The floor, tiled with stone pages cut with passages from the Word, emphasised that this was a place of worship. It was the very thing that the Emperor had forbidden in his Legions. Idolatry and zealous faith had no place in the Master of Mankind’s new age of enlightenment, but here, in this place, and in the hearts of all Lorgar’s children, faith would be honed into a weapon.
    One of the initiates stood among the congregation, indicating his desire to respond.
    ‘Speak,’ said Zadkiel, quelling his annoyance at the impromptu interruption.
    ‘Brother can turn on brother,’ said the novice, ‘and thus become weakened. Where, then, is such power?’
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    Ben Counter – Battle for the Abyss
    In the half-light, Zadkiel recognised Brother Ultis, a zealous youth with ambitious temperament.
    ‘That is the source of its true power, novice, for there is no greater rivalry than that which exists between siblings. Only then will one seek to undo the works of the other with such vehemence, giving every ounce of his being to claim victory,’ Zadkiel said, arrogantly, enjoying the feeling of superiority.
    ‘Upon gaining mastery over his kin, that brother will have forged a mighty army so as to overthrow him. He will have plumbed deep of his core and unleashed his hate, for in no other way can such a victory be achieved.’
    ‘So you speak of hate,’ said Ultis, ‘and not brotherhood at