Antonius heard the footsteps approaching long before the hatch to the armory creaked open. The slow, measured pace was unmistakably the gait of Chaplain Hakan. As the Chaplain entered, his armour ate light, making the workspace Antonius had littered with machinery just a bit dimmer. Hakan, always the dramatist, wore his pale white skull mask everywhere, his glowing red lenses piercing the darkness.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made a stable orbit around Altea, Captain.\u201d Hakan said in his thick accent, almost slurring his words. Despite his lack of articulation, Antonius had always enjoyed Hakan\u2019s voice, likening it to old, comfortable leather; tough and soft.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d have used the commlink if that was all you wanted, Hakan. Speak your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Hakan\u2019s sigh crackled through the grille of his helmet\u2019s speakers. \u201cWhat are we doing here, my Lord?\u201d<\/p>\n Antonus looked up from the disordered mess of his work. \u201cI need to teach the company what it means to be an Azure Flame.\u201d<\/p>\n Hakan\u2019s face was unreadable behind his mask. \u201c\u2026and what do you<\/i> think that means, O Scion of Atrus?\u201d<\/p>\n A twinge of irritation shot through Antonius. \u201cIt means what the man you followed to Iperin said. We are more than an ordinary chapter. We are heroes. Guardians. We save what can be saved and avenge what cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOrdinary chapters do that all the time.\u201d Hakan said in an extremely flat affect. The frown staining Antonius\u2019 face evaporated. The old Chaplain was baiting him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know full well what my Father meant. Intention is as important as action.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed.\u201d Hakan said, nodding. \u201cBut why?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are soldiers, but we are also servants. We strive to live up to the example of Vulkan. To build the future with our actions, not just to tear down the present.\u201d<\/p>\n Hakan was silent for what seemed like an age. He reached up and took hold of his helm. Hissing sounds followed the undoing of seals, and the helm lifted. Underneath, Hakan\u2019s dark face was split by a bright white smile. \u201cWell said, my Lord. But you did not answer my question. Why are we here<\/i>? At your former homeworld of Altea?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh, yes.\u201d Antonius said as he stood. \u201cAltea has a variety of combat environments for training. It has a ready source of foes to defeat in the form of Feral Orks left over from the invasion that happened when I was a child. But, most importantly, it has people<\/i>. A culture. These new grayshields need to identify with baseline humans, or else they are merely butchers. The same sort that fall to Chaos when they fail to see the difference between humanity and livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you will have them protect the people. That is well. How will this show them humanity?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe people of Altea will take care of that. Trust me, Hakan, I know them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI certainly hope\u2026\u201d Hakan cut off. \u201cWhat in the name of the Throneworld are you doing to one of the brand-new swords that Lord Cawl provided us?\u201d His voice was almost heated; a first for the normally unshakable Chaplain.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, this?\u201d Antonius said, turning to his workbench. \u201cI couldn\u2019t help but tinker.\u201d<\/p>\n Hakan\u2019s mouth tightened in disapproval. \u201cIt is well for a Captain to work the forge, but you tinker with the gifts Lord Cawl gave us?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, the confinement actuators are too nice.\u201d Antonius said, holding the immaculately tooled part in question towards the stupefied Chaplain. \u201cSee here? This is machined to within a hundredth of a millimeter of tolerance. There\u2019s nothing to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean\u2026 it\u2019s too perfect?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s an excellent way to put it.\u201d Antonius said. \u201cToo perfect means it can\u2019t be changed without disrupting the power field. There\u2019s no way to increase the field capacitance, or up the power flow. It\u2019s too artsy. I need something more\u2026 crude.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, a weapon that can slice through an inch of Ceramite with barely a flick of the wrist is not enough for you.\u201d Hakan said, his voice full of mockery.<\/p>\n \u201cOur enemies are sometimes protected by more than just an inch. You know this. Heretics and Xenos can be a cowardly lot. Seeing a sword as fine as this stopped by the armour of one of their allies can embolden them. However, seeing their comrades sliced in half despite the most powerful of protection can break their will. I need a weapon that brings the light of the Azure Flames into their eyes, and then sears their mind.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI prefer to let my voice do that on the battlefield.\u201d Hakan stated with a finality meant to steer the conversation back to its previous topic.<\/p>\n Completely missing this cue, Antonius continued. \u201cNot all of us have your deep rich baritone that can carry across the tumult of battle. Some of us need to turn to the forge. I\u2019m attempting to introduce a waveform to the field generator so I can up the power without blowing the circuits.\u201d Antonius frowned. \u201cUnfortunately, I can\u2019t find a good wavelength. I keep melting the field modulator.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, you\u2019re melting it.\u201d Hakan scolded. \u201cThe wave would have to have a length of decimeters to give the circuit enough time to cool between each peak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s ridiculous. If the wave had a length more than ten centimeters the field surface would be unstable. It would\u2026\u201d Antonius trailed off.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFlicker. Like a flame.\u201d Awe filled Antonius\u2019 tone. \u201cI need to take heed of your counsel more often, Hakan.\u201d<\/p>\n Hakan snorted. \u201cI say that daily and yet only now do you agree.\u201d<\/p>\n Chapter Selection Intro\u00a0 1\u00a0\u00a02\u00a0\u00a03\u00a0\u00a04\u00a0\u00a05\u00a0\u00a06\u00a0\u00a07\u00a0\u00a08\u00a0\u00a09\u00a0\u00a010\u00a0\u00a011\u00a0\u00a012\u00a0\u00a013\u00a0\u00a014\u00a0\u00a015\u00a0\u00a016\u00a0\u00a017\u00a0\u00a018\u00a0\u00a019 \u00a020 \u00a021 \u00a022\u00a0\u00a023 \u00a024 \u00a025 \u00a026 \u00a027\u00a0 28\u00a0 29\u00a0 30 \u00a031\u00a0 32 \u00a033\u00a0 34 \u00a035 \u00a036\u00a0 37\u00a0 Epilogue Antonius heard the footsteps approaching long before the hatch to the armory creaked open. The slow, measured pace was unmistakably the gait of Chaplain Hakan. As the Chaplain entered, his armour ate light, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7781","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7781"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7938,"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7781\/revisions\/7938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fourstrandshobby.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Azure-Flames.bmp\")
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