Smart People

Fortress of Tyrant's Gate.

Vengar walked into the Medicae. As the Mortal nurses stared at him in astonishment, he leaned against the wall, crossed his legs, and gazed lazily at Aels.

"How much of your memory has come back?"

the apostate asked.

Aels glared at Vengar. "After you fought your way through the Arena and got what you wanted, I saw the contempt and defiance in your eyes for a split second. That's how far back I remember."

"Then you're doing pretty well. Congratulations." Vengar nodded. "Now, this bastard named Vengar has a question for you."

Aels remained silent. He neither agreed nor objected.

He knew Vengar was one of his Chapter Master's more important lackeys. Since the Chapter Master was willing to grit his teeth and make use of him, it wouldn't do Aels any good to sour things too much.

"Do you remember Lu Jin?" the apostate asked.

"I went to retrieve him, then faced the xenos with him. I nearly got killed, and he saved me," Aels said.

That part of his memory still felt like a blank.

He claimed to remember only as far back as Vengar's arrival among the Red Corsairs. He had said that purely to insult Vengar. In truth, he remembered being ordered by the Chapter Master to take in the Fierce Angels.

But everything he knew about Lu Jin came from what others had told him.

"Right. That's the version I heard, too."

The apostate lowered his head and began to ponder.

As he pondered, he voiced his doubts.

"I spent some time with you. I know what you're like."

"When I received the Maelstrom Lord's orders to go with Lu Jin and wipe out the Botulism Gang, I asked around about you and Lu Jin."

"And about some other things, too."

From those accounts, Vengar had formed an idea of Lu Jin's character.

From the way he protected Mortal crew members and fought three opponents at once in the Arena, it was clear that Lu Jin cared deeply about Mortal lives.

The Fierce Angels were the same.

But then there was Aels's character. He was always doing things on his own, only following Huron's orders when necessary, and he hated Mortals.

Before coming here, Vengar had considered what Aels would have done if the story he'd heard was true and Vengar had been there himself—after Aels discovered that the Ragefang was nearly sunk and the entire Chapter's Space Marines had been captured alive.

That was why Vengar had come.

"I don't think he could have saved you," Vengar continued. "Think it over carefully."

Aels fell silent and genuinely began to think.

What Vengar said made sense to him, too. After hearing more details, he believed that at the time he would have ordered them to take only Lu Jin and the Navigator.

"So you hadn't even thought about any of this before?"

"If I were Lu Jin, I'd have chopped you up, you bastard!"

"With a piece of trash like you, you'd help him fight the leader of the Ork xenos? Have you ever thought about what kind of person you are? You really think you're some kind of decent fellow? You've been lying in this hellhole like a corpse all this time, and you haven't even checked with Huron."

"You're the biggest idiot of them all!"

Seeing that Aels seemed unable to remember, Vengar calmly goaded him with words.

"Watch your mouth!" Aels immediately flared up. "You have no right to—"

"Shut up and listen, then think! Is Huron going to kill me for this, or what?"

Vengar fired off his words like a barrage.

"What could he do to me if I killed you right now?"

"When it comes down to it, you're a piece of trash who can't even follow orders properly. You're still alive and doing all right for yourself for one simple reason: you're one of Huron's old veterans."

"You're a failure who couldn't even finish your surgeries, and the only reason you survived is that Huron shares one stupid trait with Lu Jin."

"When I was still in the Chapter, I could've killed someone like you just because I couldn't stand the sight of you, then found somewhere to dump your body and claimed the enemy had blown you up."

"..."

Aels was too furious to even talk back. He got up and searched the Medicae for a weapon, but found nothing.

When Vengar saw that he still meant to fight, he walked straight over and slapped Aels to the floor.

The Mortal nurses panicked and ran out of the Medicae.

Aels lay on the floor. Just as he was about to keep resisting, something suddenly came back to him.

The moment Vengar saw him freeze, he grabbed Aels by the throat and hauled him up. "Remember something?"

"Let go of me! I'm going to see the Chapter Master!" Aels shouted.

Only then did Vengar release him. He followed Aels as they hurried through the corridor.

A veteran from the Astral Claws days had been summoned to the Medicae by the nurses. He was just about to teach Vengar a lesson when he found the place empty.

Vengar and Aels hurried down the corridor. As they entered a straight passageway, they both suddenly stopped.

In the dim light, a warrior in Terminator armor stood a dozen meters ahead.

"Sekara?" Vengar called out, reading the name engraved on the armor.

But then he noticed that the white amulet set into the armor's chest was gone. It had belonged to Sekara, who'd claimed it could protect against psychic attacks or something...

Vengar's expression changed dramatically.

"You'll see Sekara soon enough."

The Terminator reached over his back, pulled out a Warhammer, and began advancing at an extremely slow pace.

Lu Jin was inside the armor.

He didn't have a Black Carapace and was driving the Terminator through sheer strength alone.

He'd given the amulet embedded in the armor to Onaas.

The Psyker's head exploding had left Onaas deeply shaken and afraid. She had shut herself inside the Navigator's Sanctuary and refused to see anyone. After Lu Jin returned from Vengar's ship, he went to see Onaas, but in the end he couldn't meet her. He had only slipped the amulet to her through the crack beneath the door.

Lu Jin advanced slowly.

Vengar and Aels were just about to rush out of the corridor when they saw a Fierce Angel standing on a hexagram and closing the bulkhead. Before it shut completely, the Fierce Angel vanished.

"You're the one who defeated me! You're the one who turned me into a vegetable!"

Aels stood in front of the door and roared at Lu Jin.

He couldn't see who was inside the Terminator, but he could tell from Lu Jin's halting High Gothic accent. This is the bastard who nearly beat me to death with his fists!

"It was me." Lu Jin let the Warhammer hang naturally from his hands and kept advancing, step by step.

Then Aels thought of the crewman he had killed with a Bolter on the Ragefang's command deck.

Lu Jin thought of that man, too.

He also remembered promising the timid crewman that he'd be safer at Lu Jin's side than in the shelter when he brought him out.

He remembered how the crewman had fought his way through the Greenskins with him, all the way to the Navigator.

He remembered that Aels had killed him.

"You're still alive because I came up with a way to save more people at the time," Lu Jin said.

"All this over one Mortal? Are you insane?!" Aels roared.

"Yes. All this over one Mortal." Lu Jin kept walking, glancing at Vengar as he drew his Chainsword. "In my eyes, you're no more valuable than the crewman who showed me the way."

As Aels tried to keep shouting, Vengar slapped him and handed him a combat knife.

"What's the point of telling him all this?!"

"He doesn't think like we do! He kills whoever he thinks deserves to die! You'd be better off charging him and dying for me than wasting your breath!"

Aels took the knife, but didn't have the nerve to charge.

Vengar raised his Chainsword high.

He wasn't preparing for a sword fight. He was ready to knock aside the Warhammer if Lu Jin threw it, preventing him from killing someone with it.

Vengar was a powerful warrior, and he was confident he could use skill and strength to deflect a heavy weapon like a Chainaxe or Power Hammer if it came flying at him, just as he had killed the warrior in the Chapter who tried to stop him from leaving.

Lu Jin continued to approach slowly... but that was as fast as he could move.

Even someone with a Black Carapace wouldn't be much faster wearing the armor.

Once they were no more than ten meters apart,

Lu Jin raised his Warhammer, while Vengar and Aels prepared to fight to the death.

The bulkhead suddenly opened.

"Just as I told the Black Legion envoy at the meeting, if Abaddon has to rely on the Red Corsairs' fleet to ensure the conquest of Cadia, then he shouldn't have launched this crusade in the first place."

"Why would you side with the Black Legion and think that we should—"

Huron and Amanius had just walked through the bulkhead.

The former hadn't finished speaking when he spotted his veteran, Vengar, and Lu Jin.

"Chapter Master!" Aels rushed toward Huron, hiding behind Amanius. "Lu Jin... he's going to kill me!"

"He was planning to pin the blame on me, too." Vengar walked toward Huron. "My lord, you must deliver justice!"

Huron understood everything in an instant.

Amanius glanced down at the microcomputer on his arm and thought, So that's why the bulkhead malfunctioned. I had to crack it myself.

"..."

Huron fell silent.

He had just left the conference room after meeting with the Black Legion's envoy. He was still wearing his armor and carrying his weapons.

And with Amanius, who never took off his armor, killing Lu Jin wouldn't be difficult.

"He—"

"I'm not stupid, child. I can figure out what happened."

Aels had just started to explain what had really happened when Huron cut him off.

Huron stared at Lu Jin, his gaze growing more and more vicious.

Amanius raised his arm, the cannon attached to it aimed at Lu Jin.

It automatically switched to plasma mode. When fired, it would unleash a blast of plasma powerful enough to melt Lu Jin's armor and body.

Aels turned to face Lu Jin. His expression was not only fierce, but triumphant as well.

Squelch—

The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out.

It wasn't Lu Jin charging at them and killing someone, nor was it them killing Lu Jin.

In utter shock, Aels lowered his head and saw five sharp claws protruding from the space between his waist and chest.

They belonged to the Maelstrom Lord's weapon, a clawed weapon called the "Tyrant's Claw."

"C-Chapter Master..." Aels raised his head with difficulty.

He was confused.

He could tell that Huron had avoided all his vital spots. Despite the pain, he didn't even feel as if his life were draining away... So why had the Chapter Master driven his claws into him instead of the enemy?

Huron looked down and met Aels's eyes. "Don't alter my orders. Don't cut corners when carrying them out. From the days of the Astral Claws to when you went out to retrieve the Fierce Angels recently, how many times have I told you?"

The pain was too intense for Aels to speak. He could only weep.

The Tyrant's Claw was pulled free.

Aels curled up and collapsed at his Chapter Master's feet.

"My lord..." Vengar began, struggling to speak. "He was trying to pin the blame—"

Huron turned to Vengar.

The latter lowered his head and fell silent.

Huron glared at Lu Jin, his expression dark and vicious.

He said nothing. With every passing second, his breathing grew more hurried and labored.

It was easy to imagine the fury contained in that half-flesh, half-machine body.

After a brief pause, Amanius crouched down to tend to his battle-brother's wounds.

"Hahaha!"

Huron's expression changed in an instant. He gave a few mirthless laughs, then shook his head. "Don't worry. This won't have any effect on our relationship. When all is said and done, Aels made a mistake."

"You chose the wrong man for the job," Lu Jin said. "Aels would have disobeyed your orders anyway—"

"No, I didn't. There was no one else available at the time." Huron shook his head. "The Hound Clan capturing every Fierce Angel except you was an accident. Without that, Aels would never have cut corners when carrying out my orders... because he thought your people were no longer useful."

Vengar suddenly spoke up, fanning the flames. "Aels killed one of Lu Jin's crewmen at the time."

"Aels is probably still alive because you came up with a way to save more people. It's the same now." Huron didn't even look at Vengar. "Either your feud with Aels ends right here, or I kill every last one of your crewmen. Choose."

Lu Jin remained silent.

But there was no doubt he had already made his choice.

"Aels, is this over?" Huron looked down at his warrior.

Aels nodded with difficulty.

Huron looked up again. "You owe me compensation. A warband will visit tomorrow—a warband that worships the Blood God. They came because of your deeds, and they'll stay with the Red Corsairs only because of you. You'll attend the feast to welcome them with me."

Before Lu Jin could finish speaking, Huron turned to Vengar. "Do you have any objections?"

"My lord, you're pinning the blame on us, and word of this will spread soon. When it does—"

Before Vengar could finish, Huron turned to Amanius. "Shell Vengar's ship, then kill some of his men. After that, pin everything that happened here on them."

After giving the order, Huron turned back to Vengar. "As compensation, you'll receive a Cruiser. The one we captured from the Imperial Fists."

"Praise my lord for his generosity!"

Vengar dropped to one knee.

He'd suddenly thought of the matter between Lu Jin and Aels and sensed something was amiss. He'd wondered if he could use it to strike at Lu Jin, so he'd gone to find Aels.

After all that effort, some people would die and he'd take a pounding... But he'd gotten a Strike Cruiser out of it, so he'd come out ahead.

After Vengar stood up, Amanius, who was treating Aels, noticed the injuries on Aels's face.

Amanius glanced back at Lu Jin. He didn't think Lu Jin had caused those injuries, so it was obvious who had hit Aels.

He stood up and walked over to Vengar.

The latter looked completely bewildered. Still bewildered, he watched Amanius remove his helmet, then raise his hand. Finally, Amanius's massive gauntleted hand slapped him hard across the face.

Aels couldn't even speak, but when he saw his battle-brother deliver righteous justice to Vengar, a hint of a smile appeared on his contorted, pain-racked face.

Lu Jin turned and left. Vengar saluted, then left as well.

Huron looked at Amanius, who asked, "You didn't expect there to be trouble between Lu Jin and Aels?"

"I didn't expect him to dare to do this today. If Vengar hadn't been there, this could have been my chance to win him over."