Free Deathwing by William King, David Pringle, Neil Jones Page A

dreadnought
     performed
     overwatch.
     Cloud
     Runner
     found
     the
     sight
     of
     that
     old,
     familiar
     form comforting.
    He
     saw
     the uneasy,
     worshipful
     faces
     of
     his
     people
     look
     to
     him
     for reassurance.
     He
     kept
     his
     face
     grim
     and
     calm.
     He sensed
     the
     Battle Brothers' unease
     at the
     strangeness
     of
     the
     folk
     within
     the
     great lodgehouse.
     They
     held
     their
     bolters ready,
     as
     if expecting violence
     to erupt
     at any
     moment.
    Cloud Runner was glad to see
     them. Since Lame Bear's death,
     he
     had
     felt
     very
     alone.
     He
     spotted
     several
     familiar
     faces among
     the
     oncoming
     Imperial
     warriors.
     Memories
     of
     the
     old days
     in
     the
     Chapter
     House
     flooded
     back.
     He
     took
     three deep
     breaths, touched
     the
     ancient,
     white-painted
     suit
     beside
     him, for luck, and
     then
     spoke.
    "Greetings
    ,
     Brother Sky Warriors,"
     he said.
    'Greetings
    , Brother Ezekiel,' said
     the
     Marine Leader suspiciously.
     

     
    Cloud
     Runner
     rubbed
     his
     facial
     scar-tattoos
     with
     one
     gnarled
     hand,
     then
     grinned.
     'So
     they
     made
     you
     a
     Captain.
     eh
    Broken Knife?"
    "Yes
    ,
     Brother
     Ezekiel.
     They
     made
     me a
     Captain
     when
     you
     failed
     to
     return."
     He paused, obviously
     waiting
     for
     an explanation.
    "It took you
     ten
     years
     to come looking for the
     Dark Angels'
     honour
     suits?"
     the
     old man asked
     with a hint of mockery.
    "There
     has
     been
     war:
     a
     great
     migration
     of
     Orks through
     the
     Segmentum
     Obscura.
     The
     Chapter
     was
     called
     to
     serve. During that
     time the absence
     of our Terminators was felt grievously.
     You have
     an explanation for this,
     of course."
    The Marines
     stared
     at Cloud Runner coldly. It was as
     if he was a stranger
     to these
     grim
     youths,
     or
     worse,
     a
     traitor.
     He remembered
     the
     first
     time
     he
     had
     stood
     among
     Marines
     and, for
     the
     first time
     in
     long
     years,
     became
     aware
     of
     their uncanny
     quality. He felt isolated
     and uneasy.
    "These
     are not
     our people.
     Cloud Runner.
     What happened
     here?"
     asked
     a
     deep
     rolling
     voice.
     He
     recognised
     it
     as
     the dreadnought's.
     Suddenly,
     he did not
     feel so
     alone, Hawk Talon was there,
     hooked
     into
     the
     life-support systems
     of
     the
    dreadnought
    .
     There was at least
     one person present
     who was on
     his
     side,
     who
     was
     old enough
     to
     understand.
     It
     was like their first meeting under
     the
     shadow
     of Deathwing, when he had sighted
     that
     one
     familiar face among strangers.
    "No
    , honoured
     forefather. they
     are not.
     They
     are the untainted survivors
     of the
     Genestealer conquest."
    He heard
     the
     shocked
     murmur
     of
     the
     Marines,
     saw
     the
     way
     that
     they
     instinctively brought
     their weapons
     to
     bear
     on the
     lodge
     people.
    "You had
     better
     explain, Brother Ezekiel,' said
     Broken Knife.
     
* * *
     
    Cloud
     Runner
     found himself
     telling
     his
     tale
     to
     the
     astonished
     Marines.
     He
     told
     them
     of
     the
     Terminator
     company's landing
     and
     of
     their
     discovery
     of
     the
     devastation
     that
     had
     been
     wrought
     by
     the
     Genestealers.
     He
     told
     them
     of
     the Gathering
     and
     of
     the
     choice
     the
     warriors
     had
     made
     -
     of
     Two
     Heads
     Talking's
     spirit
     walk
     and
     the
     Terminators'
     final march
     on
     the
     city.
     He
     spoke
     to
     them
     in
     the
     intricate
     syntax of
     the Imperial tongue,
     not
     the
     language
     of
     the
     Plains People.
     
     
    "We
     marched through
     the
     black