[M36.245.08]
Lanto groaned as he stood, his lower back and knee aching.
There was no denying it any longer.
He felt old.
Even with the regenerative treatments he, Selina and several other members of the gang had gone through, he could feel his age catching up to him. The treatment itself had been agony and not particularly effective. Slowing ageing slightly, but living in the underhive was hard living whichever way you sliced it.
But then he made it to an age that was rare in the hive. Particularly one of his profession.
He paused and rubbed his left knee. It was particularly sore, always grumbling where his flesh met his bionics.
With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the strategic map in front of him.
Things had been going so well just a few years before. He should have known. He had forgotten the most important lesson from the PDF. If things were going well, expect the other shoe to drop. And drop it did.
They had complete control of their cluster of hives and had pushed out to start to make inroads in the other hives across the planet.
Some had been easier than others, but they were making steady progress. Unfortunately Aleric's messenger system wouldn’t extend to the other hives, so they had to do it the slow way. Even so, they made it work and spread across the planet.
While not needing her, Morwenna had been very helpful with this, giving them inroads with the nobility of the other hives. Once there, they spread into the guild and gangs linked to them and kept spreading. Morwenna had also grown, her position within her family unassailable and had quickly become one of the most powerful members of House Valtorin. In fact, only the Head of the House, Governor Sylvian, could rival her.
Maybe that had been the problem.
With the instability of the sector, the governor started a recruitment drive, promising a better living for them or their families. Many wanted that, so signed up, enough to raise many regiments. After six months of training they were sent away to whichever war they were needed for.
That had been fine, except the most recent regiments weren't. At the end of their six months of training, instead of getting sent off-world, they were directed to their hive.
The attack was sudden as it was devastating.
The garrisons around their hives were under their control by now, but they had been completely bypassed with the newly created regiments, and so had little to no warning.
The first they heard of it was the troops on the ground.
Morwenna too was attacked, her faction dismantled. She lived, they thought, but was no help to them anymore.
After the initial shock had worn off they had fought them back, effectively too. Even pushing them entirely out of Noxium. But this allowed attacks on the other hives. Not by the Governor or his forces, but by nobles or gangs looking to strike while they were weak.
They had lost tens of thousands of gangers from the start of the war. Compared to the hundreds of thousands they'd killed in their guerrilla fighting? It was a good trade, but several of their best units were hit hard at the outset. The Red Coursires had been a particularly hard pill to swallow.
The entire unit was gone. Only three survived.
Two of which hadn't survived their injuries, and the last, Katra, was on life support, with little to no way to restore her. It was well past what they could do, but they didn’t want to switch off the machines, ending her life.
She had become close to them over the years, and they were loath to end it. But they likely had no choice.
A decision for later.
"Lanto." Rammius said, poking his head around the corner.
"Yes?" Lanto said. Turning towards his Head of Recruitment . His predecessor had died of natural causes, if it could be believed. Of course, the natural cause was the terrible pollution she grew up in, wrecking her lungs, but it was a peaceful thing, a rarity in the hive.
"There is a Mechanicus Adept here to see you."
He felt his heart stutter; had they discovered the supplies they were receiving? If they had that might spell their end.
"Thank you. Where are they?"
"In the main meeting room... he seemed to know where to go."
"Okay good. Have the others been called?" Lanto asked, as he stood.
"Yes, Selina and Peggi are on their way."
"Good. Good." Nodding at her as he passed, he hurried for the meeting room.
As he walked, he was already making plans on what to do if the worst-case scenario should happen. Maybe they could use their connection to the Inquisitor? They still had her token. That might be enough to hold them off.
He met Selina on the way, as beautiful as ever. She too was showing her age, although she had aged like a fine wine.
He smiled fondly at her and gave her a quick kiss before walking beside her the rest of the way. Talking over plans and ideas. She had the same idea as him and had the Inquisitor token on her.
Turning the conversation to happier things, he mentioned Zardelle.
They hadn't received communication for a while, but with the state of travel, that wasn’t surprising. So they had no cause for concern just yet. From the letters they did receive, they couldn’t be prouder of her. She had thrived with the Inquisitor, as he knew she would.
She was already moving up in the world, already an officer and close to the Lady Inquisitor. A monumental honour. Doing the Emperor's work.
There was even a hint of a man in her life. He was somewhat disappointed he couldn’t do the age-old tradition as her father. But that might have been for the best. As the captain of the Inquisitors' vessel, he probably had more pull than he did. If only slightly.
While Selina and he were some of the most powerful people on the hive planet, directly leading millions of people and indirectly billions. The captain had the Inquisitor's name behind him and all that entailed.
Anyway. It was safe to say, he couldn’t be prouder of his daughter.
They paused in front of the door, exchanged one last look before putting their game faces on. Selina entered first, Lanto a step behind. They nodded at the two guards and their mastiffs, standing inside and let them leave.
Something the two guards seemed happy about. The dogs not so much. They almost seemed reluctant to leave, casting backwards looks at the adept. But their training won out.
Lanto turned his attention to their guest.
He was lounging in his seat, as if he owned the place. The man's rich red robe hung about him, parted slightly to reveal good-quality armour underneath. His face was obscured in shadow from his raised hood. As his hand shifted, Lanto could see the glint of metal from the bionics.
All in all, he made Lantos' senses tingle. He was dangerous. He wasn’t the only one. Salina shifted next to him, finger rubbing her digital ring.
"Honoured Magos." Salina said, bowing. Lanto copied a moment later. "How can we assist you?"
"Assist me?" The adept said, his voice amused. Lanto tensed. What had that meant? At the same time, the voice sounded familiar, although he couldn’t say from where.
"Is that any way to treat me after all this time?" Thoroughly concerned now, Lanto shifted, ready to spring into action. What that action would be, he didn’t know, but he would do something.
Then the voice clicked. No, it couldn't be?
"Might we have your name, Honoured one?" Lanto asked, still not convinced.
"I'm hurt you don’t recognise me." The man said, standing. That clinched it. If it wasn’t already, it was confirmed when Aleric threw off his hood.
He had changed, but not by much. Lanto had expected more modifications, but he looked just as he did, maybe younger even. The most notable difference was the bionic eyes, which looked almost human.
Grinning Lanto strode forward. "Aleric!" He said, pulling him into a large hug. He had never expected to see him again.
Laughing, Aleric returned the hug.
While he might not look it, Lanto could feel his bionics. He was solid, and he had barely been able to move him. Lanto stepped back, still grinning, as Selina moved in and gave him a quick, more reserved hug.
They settled into the seats around the table. "How are you doing? And more importantly, what are you doing here?" Lanto asked.
"Couldn’t be better." he said as he leaned back, shifting to get comfortable. Lanto couldn’t help but notice how much calmer he was. He always had that air of calm control around him, but now it had relaxed. He wasn’t so tense or on guard and exuded an air of confidence. "As for why I am here. To see you of course. I've transferred."
Aleric went on to chat about his life, a sanitised version Lanto was sure. Much of it they already knew from the letter they had received, but he had mentioned he would be out of contact for a few years.
Then Aleric turned the conversation onto them, the room getting more serious.
Clearly, he was aware of some of what was going on.
"How's are things you end?"
Lanto hesitated. Not entirely sure how much to reveal. Glancing at Selina, she shrugged and gave him an almost imperceivable nod.
Good, she agreed with him. It wouldn’t have felt right not to give Aleric the full story, but he also hadn't been in the gang for over fifteen years. But then he still had access to their systems and the shipments, so it would be silly to hide things from him.
Beside it was Aleric. Lanto trusted him with his life and, more importantly, with those he cared about.
"Not well. The start of the war took us by surprise. It shouldn't have done, but it did. We will win it, however. It'll just be more costly than I would have liked." He stated confidently. "Although it will have slowed down the gang's expansion by a good number of years."
"We probably won't live to see the gang reach its full height before we pass on." Selin said, smiling wryly.
And wasn’t that the truth?
They had excellent subordinates; he should know he'd trained most of them. But none that they felt could take over the gang. The ones they had planned and groomed to do, Zardelle and maybe Aleric, had both flown the nest as it were.
And by the looks of it, doing very well for themselves.
They had Peggi of course, but she wasn’t gang leadership material. It wasn’t the right fit for her. They had kept putting off picking someone, and that might come back to bite them in the arse. He fully expected the gang to shatter or fragment when they passed.
Not instantly, but over time, he expected it to fade. Not that he cared overmuch. With Zardelle not inheriting it and them dead, what did he care if it failed? The only reason he wanted it to persist for a time was for Peggi and his friends' sake.
"Not see it?" Aleric asked, surprised. "Haven't you been able to get regenerative treatments?"
"Baa," Selina said. "We have, but they were subpar at best. Turns out most of the nobles go to other planets to get better treatment. There is a nearby hive that is famous for it and can offer far better than the normal fair, so it just wasn’t developed so much here."
"Huh." Aleric said, staring off in the distance. A look, Lanto recognised, as him deep in thought.
He smiled fondly at the nostalgia that overcame him. "Regardless, we were hit hard, taken completely by surprise. We have stabilised now. We have complete control over the hive and should have the rest of our cluster in the coming months. From there, we aren't sure what we will do. We are conscious they have space superiority."
Aleric glanced at them sharply. "You don’t think they will bomb the hive?"
"No." Lanto said. "I can't see it personally. At least not right now. If he was losing… Sylvian never struck me as a live-and-let-live man."
Selina laughed at that. "No, he is a petty, ruthless old man. If he loses, he will try to take everyone else down with him."
"So it needs to be sudden then." Aleric said thoughtfully. Calmly too, like discussing what to have for dinner. By the throne, he had missed him.
There was a knock on the door and Peggi entered. Lanto could see the tension across her shoulders, which eased as she stopped, stunned. "Aleric?!"
Breaking into a grin, she hurried over for a hug.
"Peggi." Aleric said with a slow, deep smile.
"What are you doing back? Come to help?"
"I'm here to stay. I have been officially moved to the hive. How long I will be around, I don’t know. But it should be a few years at least. More than enough time to get this sorted."
Peggi nodded, pleased. "It will be good to have some support. What can you offer though? Sorry." she said, raising her hand apologetically. "That came out wrong. In what capacity would you be able to help us?"
Aleric laughed at her question, then smirked. "More than ever. First, I will gain control of all the Adeptus Mechanicus members in the system. So supplies and technology won't be a problem. Not to mention my people will be able to help out. Maybe we could even teach gangers as well. But that is for the future. That just leaves the Governor. They were saying the governor needs to have an accident as opposed to beating him?" Aleric said.
"Yes, but he is up in the space station, and our reach doesn’t extend that far out."
"Got it. So the governor dies, then what?"
"I think you have skipped a step there, Aleric." Peggi said wryly.
Aleric waved it away. "He will be easy enough to deal with."
It struck Lanto again how confident he seemed. He'd always had the skill and some confidence, but not as he did now. He almost had a pull to him now. Like it would inevitably end how he wanted it too. Just a bit earlier, he had stated he would bring the Mechanicus under control. Even as the fixer of the gang, he wasn’t that confident.
He had always hedged his bets, trying to never to make promises he couldn’t keep.
Unless he had changed significantly in the Intervening time, his power had definitely grown.
"We will need someone to fill his place." Selina said from where she was sitting, finger thoughtfully tapping the table.
Aleric nodded. "An ally?"
"That goes without saying. Unfortunately, the person who would have been best for us is locked up in the space station with him.
“You mean, what was her name? Morwenna?”
"Yeah." Peggi nodded.
"Do you actually know what happened to her?" Aleric asked.
"Her faction was effectively destroyed or cannibalised for other branches. We know that much." Selina said, before waving her hand dismissively. "As for the women. We think she is alive. Captured and to be sold off in a marriage."
"Interesting." Aleric said thoughtfully. "So ideally, she would take over the position. Would that even be allowed?"
"If we are quick and careful." Lanto said. He had already thought about it, but it would have been a long shot at best.
At the same time, Peggi said. "If we are ready and in place, sure."
"Although if she hasn’t got any backing, maybe a change in organisation could be in order." Aleric muttered.
Salina raised her eyebrows as high as they would go. "How do you mean?"
"Bring her into the gang." Aleric said as if it were obvious.
"Bring a noble into the gang?" Lanto said, chuckling. That had to be a joke. "I don’t think so."
"Yes so. By the time I leave, the gang will outright control this system, maybe more." Aleric stated, as blasé as someone might discuss the weather. "So bringing her in seems natural. If she would actually help you, and you trust her, that is."
They exchanged glances, Selina cocking her head in thought.
Peggi shrugged. "It could work. She worked well with us. It could only benefit her and us at this stage. What with her support gone, she might even go for it now."
"Good." Aleric nodded, as if it was settled. "How is everyone else by the way?"
Peggi grinned. "Your cybermastiff programme is still going strong. Skyla and Merek are still running it."
"They still together?" Aleric asked, somewhat hopefully.
"Yes? I thought you got letters from them?"
"I do, but Skyla said they were going through a rough patch as I was leaving. So…"
"Oh, yeah, they worked it out. Anyway, they are doing well as expected."
Aleic's face split into a proud smile. "I'm glad."
"As for everyone else…" Peggi went pale.
"What?" Aleric asked, perking with interest and concern.
"Well… well, the Corsairs were hit at the start of the war. Badly. Only Katra survived, if barely."
"What?" Aleric said, leaning forward and placing his hands on the table, his relaxed, easy-going nature evaporating, leaving a harder, colder man in its place. The room darkened as the lights overhead flickered and dimmed.
Lanto could have sworn he saw Aleric's eye glow just for a moment, but it must have been a trick of the light.
"She's alive. She survived." Lanot said, waving his hands calmingly. "But she is on life support, and we are unlikely to be able to keep her alive much longer."
"But she is alive?"
They nodded.
"Good… good. Where is she?" The lights returned to normal as quickly as they had changed, as if nothing had happened.
"Where else? The main med bay." Selina said.
"Okay... Oh, have you all got time to be away for several days?" Aleric suddenly asked.
"I'm not sure…" Lanto said.
"Only a few days, and trust me, it will be worth it."
"We have got our seconds." Selina said carefully.
He jumped to his feet. "Good. Then follow me." he said, already walking to the door.
"Wait Aleric." Selina said. "I need more information. We can't just drop everything."
He blinked in surprise before grinning sheepishly at them. "Sorry. Old, or new habits, I suppose… I will be taking Katra to get treated, that goes without saying. As for you, you mentioned that you hadn't been able to get a decent regen treatment. And don’t think I didn’t see that wince Lanto."
"So where would we get the treatment?" Lanto asked, already guessing, but wanted it confirmed.
"Mine of course."
"Yours?"
"Of course. And before you ask, yes, it is significantly better than most available. In fact, I would go as far as to say it is one of the best in the Imperium."
Lanto doubted that; he was sure there would be someone on Holy Terra that were better at least. But if it was better than what they had… well, who was he to argue?
"Alright we'll trust you. And we can't take turns, why?" Lanto asked.
Aleric blinked, almost confused. "Well, you could, but it will only take a couple of days. It will be more efficient this way."
"You two go first." Lanto said. "I will hold down the fort. I have battle plans to develop, so I can wait."
Aleric hesitated, then shrugged. "Fair enough. Come along then." He said, already striding from the room.
He was definitely more proactive now, Lanto thought as they followed him, still chatting. It was good to catch up with him, the mail had been better than nothing, but compared to face to face…
It was also nice to have someone else to talk to who didn’t treat him like a legend.
That had been a major problem recently. All the young up-and-comers never argued with him, assuming he knew best. Which he did in most cases, but he needed them to challenge him at times. They might not be in this situation if they had.
---
As Lanto saw her, he needed to swallow a lump in his throat. It never got easy saying goodbye to a comrade in arms. Even worse was seeing her like this. Laid out on a medical bed, most of her lower body was missing. Tubes and cables snaked from her to the surrounding machines.
"How are you going to—" Lanto started to ask. When through the door a handful of adepts appeared. He glanced at Aleric, who nodded. He assumed they were his, but assuming makes an arse out of you and me, as his old sergeant liked to say."
Wow… he hadn't thought about him in years. He was likely dead now, having joined the Imperial Guard.
Shaking his head, he watched the adepts.
They moved with practised ease, fussing around her, before strapping her to a stretcher. Servo skulls orbited around them, with two connecting their mechadendrites into the base of her neck. Once they had carefully moved her to the stretcher, they lifted it and marched out.
As they stepped out of the Fortress, Lanto noticed the crowd that had gathered. It went to show how different the city was. When they first started their gang, everyone would have hidden in case something went down.
Now they stood their curiously looking on, trusting the Court to protect them and to enforce order, rightly or wrongly.
The procession started to leave when one of the younger mastiffs’ noses twitched. It snapped around and tensed, lifting its head and howled. The call was taken up across the city, before a deep rumbling howl overshadowed them all.
The howl, one that hadn't been heard for over a decade, reverberated across the city. When it faded away, silence followed. Glancing at the mastiffs again, Lanto saw the younger ones pacing anxiously until an older one yipped at them, calming them down.
It had sat back relaxing, its hackles dropping. From behind him, he heard a cry. "Snuffles!" Gwen shouted, having just exited the Fortress behind them.
Her shout had barely faded when a massive shape streaked from a side street and pounced on her.
Again, several of the younger mastiffs tensed until woofed at by the older ones, clearly telling them to calm the fuck down. Gwen was safer than she would ever be.
He could hear her giggles coming from under Snuffles as she tried to escape his licks. He hadn't changed much; he looked bigger and had a new coat of paint, but otherwise was exactly how he remembered him.
Following her out of the Fortress was Skyla.
Aleric, having caught sight of them, face lit up and rushed up to them. The procession with Katra carried on; they had paused, but some unseen signal had continued.
"Skyla." He said, greeting her warmly.
Skya returned the hug. "Good to see you boss."
They stepped back, and then her attention was claimed by Snuffles, who nudged her demanding scratches. With Skyla distracted, Aleric helped Gwen up and then embraced her too.
They fell into conversation, slowly walking back to where he, Selina and Peggi stood. Snuffles trotted on ahead, moving to greet them all.
Lanto was thankful Snuffles didn’t bowl them over. He nudged each of them for pets, which he more than got, purring loudly as he did.
Lanto crouched down. "Good to see you again, Snuffles. You've been keeping Aleric safe, I assume." Grinning when Snuffles huffed at him as if to say 'of course'.
---
Sorry about that everyone. Fat fingered it a bit. Here is the correct chapter for the weak.
Imperium: Hive Cities Scavenger (Tier 2) - IIWarrior (Tier 4) - VI > XImperium: Hive Cities Danger (Tier 2) - IIIHuman: Hand to hand (Tier 3) - III > VTerra Federation: Technician (Tier 3) - XTerra Federation: Software (Tier 4) - IXSharpshooter (Tier 4) - VI > VIIISelf (Tier 4) - XI > XVIIReverse Engineering (Tier 3) - I > VImperium: Canine Handling (Tier 2) - IVAkashic Throne (Tier 1) - IBlade Mastery (Tier 4) - VII > IXPhysics (Tier 2) - XI > XXIIIGlyphcraft (Tier 3) - II > IIIBlueprints (Tier 3) - IIIActing (Tier 1) - IMathematics (Tier 2) - XI > XIIBiology (Tier 1) - XTeaching (Tier 2) - IIMachine Spirit (Tier 3) - III > VIIChemistry (Tier 1) - VIIIEngineering (Tier 1) - VIIBionics (Tier 4) - IIII > XXIICrafting (Tier 3) - VII > X