Angels of Darkness

'I cannot let you do this,' Nestor said, taking a step towards the door. 'My duty, my oath, was to protect that gene-seed.'

Boreas grabbed the plasma pistol from Hephaestus's belt and thumbed the activation switch. It began to hum and vibrate in his grip as it charged up.

'You will not open that door, Brother-Apothecary,' warned Boreas, pointing the pistol at Nestor's head.

'What treachery is this?' Nestor's voice, even distorted through his suit, dripped with scorn. 'You would kill your own brethren rather than continue the great quest of our Chapter? You, a Chaplain, guardian of our tradi­tions and guide to our souls, would rather kill me than atone for a sin ten thousand years old? I think not.'

Nestor took three more steps and reached towards the portal runepad. Boreas pulled the trigger and a ball of superheated plasma smashed into the Apothecary, exploding on impart. His headless torso, the stump of his neck cauterised and smoking, pitched forward and slumped against the gate.

'None of us are leaving,' Boreas said, handing the pistol back to Hephaestus.

'You do realise that if we do not leave, we will die here,' the Techmarine told them. The virus can stay active for up to seventy days once released. That is over twenty days longer than the environmental systems in our armour can sustain us.'

'I will obey your command, Brother-Chaplain,' Zaul said. 'If it is to die here, then so be it.'

'You are to achieve orbit of Piscina V, and guard against any intrusion.' Boreas stood in the control room, at the comms station, instructing Sen Naziel. 'Nothing is to land, nothing. Do you understand?'

'Yes, Lord Boreas,' the ship's officer replied.

'I will shortly transmit a coded message,' Boreas con­tinued. 'When the Tower of Angels arrives, it is to be passed on to Grand Master-Chaplain Sapphon. No blame will be attached to you or the crew for the events and our actions of these last weeks. I commend you for your dedication to the Chapter, and your perseverance in the pursuit of your duties.'

'And when will you be joining us again?' Naziel asked. Boreas paused, unsure what to say.

'Wе will not be joining you,' he said eventually. 'These are my final commands. The Grand Masters will inform you of your future.'

'I don't understand, my lord.' The confusion was evi­dent in Neziel's voice.

'You do not have to understand, merely obey your orders, Sen,' Boreas told him. 'Honour the Chapter. Ven­erate the Emperor. Praise the Lion.'

'Praise the Lion,' Naziel echoed and Boreas switched off the link. Turning his attention to the data log, he acti­vated the recorder.

This is Interrogator-Chaplain Boreas of the Emperor's Dark Angels Chapter,' he began. 'This is my final com­munication from Piscina, as commander of the Dark Angels in the system. Our ancient foes have struck a blow against our Chapter. The reviled enemy has wounded us severely. We are entangled in a plot that goes beyond our comprehension. The events I am about to relate stretch beyond this world, beyond the furthest reaches of this star system. Great and dark powers are at work, I see their hand manipulating us, bending us to their twisted goals.'

He stopped, choosing his next words carefully.

'For ten thousand years we have sought redemption. We have pursued that which shamed our brethren when our time of triumph was at hand. It was a grave, unfor­givable sin, which must be atoned for. That is beyond doubt. But these last days, an even greater sin has come to light. It is the sin of ignorance. It is the sin of past errors repeated.

I ask myself what it means to be one of the Dark Angels. Is it to hunt the Fallen, chasing shadows through the dark places of the galaxy? Is it to pursue our quest at any expense, foregoing all other oaths and duties? Is it to lie, to hide and to plot so that others will never know of our shame? Is it to keep our own brethren unacquainted with the truth of our past, the legacy we all share in? Or is it to be a Space Marine? Is it to follow the path laid down by the Emperor and Lion El'Jonson at the found­ing of this great Imperium of Man? To protect mankind, to purge the alien, cleanse the unclean?

We must act as a shining brand in the night, to lead the way for others to follow. We are the warriors of the Emperor, guardians of mankind. Roboute Guilliman called us bright stars in the firmament of battle, untouched by self-aggrandisement. Yet we, the Dark Angels, commit the supreme sin. We put ourselves before our duty. We have buried our traditions, masked our real history in legend and mysticism to confound others. We are not bright stars, we are an empty blackness, a passing shadow that serves nothing but its own purpose.'

He stopped again, feeling weary, and leant against the panel. He knew they would not listen, that in fact they could not listen, for he spoke against everything that made the Dark Angels what they are.

'Included in this log is a complete account of the dis­aster that has befallen Piscina and us. For this, I take sole responsibility. Our enemies know us too well. We have become an anathema to ourselves, as this plot of the Fallen demonstrates. Everything that has transpired has led us to this place and time, and there is nothing left but to do what we must. Ten thousand years ago, our soul was split. We tell ourselves that the two halves of us are the light and the dark. I have learnt a bitter lesson, that it is not true. It is a comforting lie, which keeps us safe from doubt, so that we do not ask the questions whose answers we fear. There is no light and dark, only the shades of twilight in between.

If once there was a chance for us to redeem ourselves, it passed away ten thousand years ago. For a hundred centuries it has driven us, and consumed us at the same time. Not while one Fallen stays alive can we know peace within ourselves. But what then? What does it mean to be Dark Angels without the Fallen? We have come to define ourselves by them. Take them away and we are left without purpose. We have strayed far from the path, and it is my fervent prayer that you, the Grand Masters of the Chapter, the wisest of us, can find the true course again.

If not, then there will never be salvation, and all that we aspire to will come to nothing, all that we have achieved will be in vain. I beseech you not to allow this to happen. We are to make the ultimate sacrifice for the people of Piscina, and to safeguard our future. Do not make the deaths of my brethren be for nothing.'

Boreas switched off the log and walked away. As he reached the doorway, he stopped, another thought occur­ring to him, and walked back and reactivated the recorder.

'I have one more message to pass on. Walk that dark road down through the rooms of the interrogators, past the catacombs into the deepest chambers. Go to that solitary cell at the heart of the Rock and tell him this: You were not wrong.'

They gathered in the chapel, their robes draped over their armour. Along one wall lay the bodies of the forty-two attendants and fourteen aspirants, each covered with a white shroud embroidered with the Chapter symbol. At the end, his shroud inverted, lay Nestor. The Dark Angels knelt in a single line in front of the altar, Zaul and Hep­haestus to Boreas's left, Thumiel and Damas to his right. They each clasped a melta-bomb to their chests and bowed their heads. Boreas held the detonator, his thumb over the trigger stud. They had been unanimous - better to end the ordeal quickly, lest desperation set in as they starved to death and asphyxiated, and they showed weak­ness. This way was clean and instant.

'What is it that gives us purpose?' Boreas chanted.

'War,' the others replied.

'What is it that gives war purpose?'

'To vanquish the foes of the Emperor.'

'Who are the foes of the Emperor?'

'The heretic, the alien and the mutant.'

'What is it to be an enemy of the Emperor?'

'It is to be damned.'

'What is the instrument of the Emperor's damnation?'

'We, the Space Marines, the angels of death! '

'What is it to be a Space Marine?'

'It is to be pure, to be strong, to show no pity, nor mercy, nor remorse!'

'What is it to be pure?'

'To never know fear, to never waver in the fight!'

'What is it to be strong?'

'To fight on when others flee; to stand and die in the knowl­edge that death brings ultimate reward!'

'What is the ultimate reward?'

'To serve the Emperor!'

'Who do we serve?'

'We serve the Emperor and the Lion, and through them we serve mankind!'

'What is it to be Dark Angels?'

'It is to be the first, the honoured, the sons of the Lion!

'Praise the Lion,' Boreas said, pressing the stud.

AFTERWORD

by Gav Thorpe

'Much anticipated' an over-used phrase, so I'll set­tle for simply 'anticipated'. That is to say, since the first printing of this novel went out of stock I've had a steady stream of people asking when the book would be published again. Perhaps not crowds of screaming fans who might frenziedly celebrate the reunification of a boy band (or, indeed, another instalment of the life of a boy wizard), but nonetheless there's been a gentle but persistent insistence that Angels of Darkness should be made available again. So it is with a mixture of pleasure and relief that this second printing is now available, and the friendly pestering can stop - both of me by fans, and of the poor staff at Black Library by me!

I am very proud of this novel, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, because of the way there are two tales intertwined. Initially, I had conceived of the interrogation of Astelan by Boreas to be presented simply as shorter passages of transcript interlacing the 'present day' chapters of the book. However, as I discussed the novel with Lindsey, hard-working editor of BL, it became apparent that simply having lines of cold dialogue wouldn't convey the complex relationship that develops between the two characters. I am very glad that Lindsey made me think more about those scenes, because without them, Angels of Darkness would not be the novel it is, and would not have gathered such quiet respect amongst Warhammer 40,000 aficionados. Without that portrayal of Boreas in his prime as an Interrogator-Chaplain, the progress of his story in the other half of the book would be that bit flatter; less personal.

It was the changes in Boreas's attitudes as they are portrayed in that context that give me my second source of pride - Angels of Darkness achieves what I had wanted it to from the outset. To explain, when I was first approached by Marc Gascoigne to write a novel about Space Marines, I was hesitant. Could I cre­ate a story and characters about a group of inhuman, ultra-dedicated sacred warriors that was both engaging to readers on an emotional level as well as staying true to the well-defined and widely established nature of the Space Marines?

The fact that this book exists shows that hesitancy swiftly succumbed to my desire to meet a creative chal­lenge. I wanted to create a story that would have the bolters blazing, ugly death feel of a true Warhammer 40,000 novel, whilst finding room for our protago­nists to feel emotional conflict and spiritual angst. This meant finding a subject that would not humanise our Space Marine characters - because they are not human, they do not fall in love or get scared by big monsters or care very much about anything other than hot bolter death! The Dark Angels jumped out as an obvious choice, because they are so mired in their own secrets, their own designs, there were lots of conflicts of interest for me to explore. They had a story that I could help to tell a small part of.

Which nicely brings me onto my third and final rea­son for a certain degree of authorly smugness concerning Angels of Darkness. Once it was agreed that the Dark Angels would be our central characters, I wanted to both follow what had already been described in their background and history, whilst simultaneously turning everything people thought they knew on its head. This was because I wanted read­ers to wonder if they really did know what the 'dark secret' is.

Could they really believe what they already knew? Was that dark secret simply the rebellion of Luthor, or was there something even deeper, even more hidden than had been previously shown? Judging by the divided reactions amongst readers, especially those already fans of the Dark Angels, I know that Angels of Darkness has succeeded on that count.

Even now, years after the first printing, Astelan's tes­timony to Boreas crops up in conversations and internet debates about the nature of the Dark Angels and the Fallen. Can you believe the word of a traitor? For that matter, is Astelan really a traitor, or the true follower of the Emperor's vision? Do Boreas's actions and his eventual doubts, perhaps conversion even, lend credence to Astelan's arguments? Alternatively, does the fact that Boreas's own experiences of aban­donment weaken his resolve and create an unwitting sympathy with Astelan? I could go on, to talk about the Old Legion versus New Legion conflict, or the cat­alytic role played by the shadowy gene-seed thief (who is the enigmatic Cypher, for those who haven't guessed), but there isn't space. I'm never going to say one way or the other, because it has always been my intent that readers get to decide and debate these issues for themselves.

All of which brings me to the end of this Afterword, save for one more shocking revelation. The part most-quoted from Angels of Darkness is probably:

'What was he waiting for?' Boreas asked quietly.

Astelan looked into Boreas's eyes, read the curiosity that was now there.

'He was waiting to see which side won, of course.'

It's been a source of great interest and amusement to see just how much this has been simultaneously reviled and rejoiced. The cherished convictions of thousands were shaken by this dubious revelation. It fundamentally sums up the equivocation and secret agendas of the Dark Angels. But the thing is; I never planned it at all. It just came out as I was writing that scene. I remember it well, because I stopped dead in my tracks, hands hovering comically over the keyboard, and read it out aloud to myself. Wow, I thought, that's really going to get people talking.

So, everything else aside, perhaps that's the greatest achievement of Angels of Darkness - it even managed to shock me!