NOVEL NEXT B2 Chapter 15
Angar's rage drained from his chest, replaced by a steely resolve. His path was clear, his decision unshakable.
As soon as he made the choice, he felt a presence, and looked around, seeing nothing. But he caught an odor he knew well. He had smelled it on Spirit, during her visit after his first stint in a Vitaelux Apexium.
It was her scent. He was certain. He assumed this was her way of saying she approved of his decision.
A spark of anger flared in his chest. How was this different than his choice in the Eyes of Providence building?
Harc could probably kill him quickly, but otherwise, if this decision caused Hidetada to mark him as an enemy, and Angar killed crewmen of the Zephuros, by Spirit's reckoning, he'd be slaughtering innocents.
He wished her logic was applied more consistently. Or made any sense at all.
He put that aside and told Deli, "These woman and children are now under my protection, per my Knightly oath to shield all worthy Children of God with my life, superseding Hidetada's authority. Take that as mutiny or however you'd like."
He turned toward the group huddled near the warehouse entrance, about to summon the clergyman, demand he begin exorcising these people, when Hidetada's cold, mechanical voice crackled through the private channel of his comms. "Have I not given you more than any other chapter would? Do I not care for those under my command better than most? Ask Simo about my generosity. Ask his family. All I require in return is obedience, every commander's due, enshrined in the Third Edict."
"You've provided well," Angar admitted, "and I'm grateful. I also appreciate you'll follow through on our plans for my planet, even if I die here. But you knew Azgoth and Gamosh were on that station. You used me as bait. If you'd shared this, I'd still have gone, and maybe your trap would've succeeded. I'm not asking you to fund the exorcisms. I'll pay for them myself."
Hidetada's mechanical laugh grated for a long moment. "Let's not spread rumors that could stir discontent in the crew. My plan succeeded. We killed Gamosh. Azgoth escaped because he had Old Guard tech he shouldn't have had, an event impossible to foresee. Second, bait works best when it doesn't know it's bait. Third, you don't have near enough credits for all the required exorcisms."
"Then loan me the credits," Angar demanded.
"Loan?" Hidetada's tone sharpened. "No. I'll require a favor in return. One you'll grant without question."
Angar paused, weighing the offer. When he joined the Smallest Spark, he'd sworn to entrust his honor to Hidetada, to place faith in the Saint's greater understanding of the Knightly oath, and give absolute obedience.
He had already looked into that, and disregarded it. It was nonsense. No secular or temporal oath, even one invoking God as witness, could supersede a direct pledge to the Divine, and the Knightly oath was sworn directly to Holy Theosis.
Hidetada could expel Angar from the chapter, and even had the right to kill him for disobedience, but Angar was right to give his Knightly oath precedence over any man's orders.
If he understood Hidetada's prior reply correctly, they had reached a tacit agreement. Hidetada would use Angar as he saw fit, including lying to him and using him as bait, and Angar would disobey orders he felt conflicted with his higher oaths, so long as he kept any sensitive information from the crew.
Hidetada's demand for a favor was a calculated move to rein in Angar the next time a conflict like this arose, or so the Saint hoped.
"I'd prefer a loan," Angar said.
"And I'd prefer unquestioned obedience," Hidetada shot back. "The favor, or nothing."
Angar grunted. "Pay for all the rites, and it's a deal."
Hidetada's laugh rang out again. "So your good deed goes unpunished? No, young Knight. Nothing stings like sacrifice. If your purse is spared, what lesson is learned?"
"Understood," Angar said. "But this settles it, once and for all. I will not have this held over me again. This covers all future situations like this. If that's clear, we have a deal."
"It is and I know," Hidetada replied.
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Near the warehouse entrance, Harc's loud curse cut through the air as the burly clergyman with facial tattoos approached.
The brother passed by Angar without a glance, knocked on the wall near the frightened group, and a heavy door slid open. He then ushered the women and children into a room where dozens of clergy stood, ritual circles already etched on the floor.
An ember of rage flared in Angar's chest. This had all just been Hidetada toying with him again. Harc's curse was likely due to a lost bet.
He waited until the door slid shut behind the last child before turning to the next group, this one made of officials and clergy who'd taken bribes from the Void Reapers.
Traitors, and thus Heretics.
He had no qualms killing these, women included. They'd made their own choices, and they'd chosen wrong.
Then, words flickered into his eyes.
A Glorious Achievement!
Crusader, the all-seeing gaze of the Divine, the everlasting, falls upon you, for Theosis, the Holy System, the sacred voice of God's will in this temporal realm, sanctifies this act. The Heretic must be purged with unrelenting fury, yet some, ensnared by the ruinous powers of the unholy through no fault of their own, are dragged into the abyss. Their souls, though corrupt, are worthy of salvation's struggle.
You perceived a schism within your Knightly oath, and with the sacred wisdom of the blessed Mother, weighed virtue in the balance. With resolve forged, you stood as a righteous bulwark, shielding even those tainted by corruption's touch, in defiance of all, your faith placed in the will of the Divine, an unyielding beacon of light amid the gloom.
Glory Points bestowed: 1
For God and Empire!
Angar moved his hand, ending dilated time. The 1-point award was almost laughable, but he liked when Theosis seemed to put some effort into seeing what actually happened, instead of the surface appearance.
It could peer deeply into events and people's souls, but, as Spirit had explained to him before, to more efficiently utilize its power, it rarely did so. Reports from those whose minds it had rummaged through deeply all claimed it'd been extremely unpleasant.
This subtle surface probe was why, upon graduation, Theosis commended Angar for not lying about his age. But when he had told Vernost his age, he was unaware that lying would've benefited him.
It was also why, as punishment for unintentionally killing so many innocents in the explosion of Mount Shirdis, Theosis demanded purification through asceticism and abstemiousness, requiring self-denial of all worldly pleasures, including rich food and strong drink, a lifestyle Vefol and his circumstances had, for the most part, already inflicted on him without choice.
Theosis' role as shepherd to the trillions and trillions of citizens in the Holy Empire made this understandable. Its efforts focused on the war and those on the path toward, but not yet lost to darkness, offering them messages and opportunities for purification and redemption, paths back to the light.
Angar scanned the forty-odd prisoners, his gaze catching on the humming bracers he noticed were clamped to all their wrists.
They huddled against the warehouse walls, eyes wide with dread, flinching from specific spots where small, blinking devices lined the metal in vertical rows.
He had been in the Holy Empire for a year and a half, still far from knowing all the ins-and-outs. He assumed those wall-devices gave the prisoners a shock or something through the bracer if they tried passing.
He knew this planet's leader had been taken prisoner. Since this was a small, low-population, and unimportant fringe world of only two billion or so, it was ruled by only a Viscount. He thought he knew which prisoner this man was, and headed toward him.
As he approached, the prisoners began pleading for mercy, and Hidetada's voice crackled through his helm. "How'd you know I used you as bait?"
The man he thought was the Viscount, wearing ornate and expensive clothing, was on his knees, his hands clasped, crying, pleading for his life. Angar swung his maul, crushing the man's chest, the ribs splintering, blood splattering, his plea for mercy choked into silence.
His gauntlet grasped the face of a nearby clergyman, on his knees praying. Angar squeezed, pulping the head, leaving gore dripping off his fingers.
His next target darted away, convulsing in agony and collapsing right where the devices lined the wall, his limbs spasming like mad. Other prisoners had done the same, now also twitching on the floor.
The sight confirmed his suspicion that an unseen barrier trapped those wearing bracers like vermin. That'd make this easier, not having to chase these traitors around too much.
"I asked Doc about the fleshy realm," Angar replied, striding closer to more huddled Heretics. "He explained sub-planes." His gauntlet crushed a man's throat, the body crumpling as blood spurted. "The timing, ignoring the battle outside the station, knowing to bring a plane-ripper, simultaneously attacking the secondary power source, it all fits."
His maul sunk into a man's head with a sickening thud, splattering viscera across the nearby cowering and screaming traitors. His maul arced again, smashing two officials' heads, splattering goop all over.
Now certain of their fate, many prisoners grouped up, fists raised in desperate defiance.
Angar would've preferred them armed and armored, a fairer fight, but he couldn't have requested that, not after his stand and disobedience moments ago, sparing the women and children.
He hammered a fleeing man, the cracked spine and ribs echoing through the warehouse. This was his clear duty, killing traitors, even if the specifics of it were distasteful. But the one-sided carnage grated, lacking any honor.
A screaming woman tried diving away only for his implant to kick up and cave her face in, silencing her annoying screeching. A man lunged in. Angar grabbed him by the face and crushed his skull.
The higher-ranking officials and clergy likely had decent Classes and some strength. He'd hoped for some fight from them, if for nothing else, to soothe his conscience some.
"I see," Hidetada said. "You had suspicions about my Machinilitis and Heresy. Why do you no longer?"