Touring the Warship

"My lord!"

Rockefeller, Chapter Master of the First Chapter, led a host of legion warriors awaiting inspection. Tens of thousands of Interstellar Space Marines stood in hundreds of formations, each gathered around a standard-bearer, lining both sides of the road to welcome Lorgar.

"We salute you, great Primarch."

The mortal soldiers and naval crew knelt on one knee, awaiting Lorgar's inspection.

"There's no need for that. Go about your duties."

"Rockefeller, show me around the Warship."

At the order, Rockefeller hurried to Lorgar's side. Lorgar handed a parchment detailing the legion's organization to the Adjutant beside him.

"Revise the legion's organization. The old structure is too bloated."

Lorgar had read about the Word Bearers' organization. It centered on five Chapters: the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth.

Broadly speaking, warriors belonged to squads, squads to companies, and companies to Chapters.

This structure remained largely unchanged until they openly rebelled on Istvaan V.

Even the Primarch's return and the influx of Recruits from Colchis had barely altered the legion's basic structure. They had merely added layers to it.

Across the legion, the Word Bearers used every squad configuration found in other legions, and they tended to keep all their units large.

While other legions might be content with, or even prefer, units of only a few warriors, the Word Bearers usually fielded far more troops in their frontline units.

For example, twenty-man squads were commonplace in the Word Bearers' Chapters and companies, and they usually followed the Tactical Squad configuration.

These squads formed the legion's core and the foundation of its approach to war. The Interstellar Space Marines of the legion advanced with extreme aggression, using whatever means it took.

Squads, in turn, belonged to companies. A company usually numbered one hundred warriors, though it could be larger or smaller depending on its role.

The Word Bearers tended to assign certain companies a specific battlefield role, designating them assault companies, linebreaker companies, reconnaissance companies, and so on.

These companies were often deployed together, underscoring the Word Bearers' strength in frontal warfare and large-scale battles.

The assembled companies were grouped into Chapters of five hundred to three thousand warriors. Each Chapter bore a name and heraldry based on a Colchian constellation.

Examples included Jagged Sun, Bone Throne, Newborn White Moon, Tearful Hand, and Spiral Whip.

Each of these names could be found among the legion's forces, and these large formations were usually the basic units of a Word Bearers campaign.

Most Word Bearers expeditionary Fleets therefore contained at least one Chapter, while some of the largest could contain several.

Within the Word Bearers' command structure, Lorgar was both Commander of the Seventeenth Legion and its spiritual guide. The legion's hierarchy reflected this dual role, divided between military and spiritual authority, between mind and soul.

On one hand, the Seventeenth Legion followed a simple, firm chain of command: each Chapter Master led a Chapter, each captain a company, and each sergeant a squad.

It was also common for a Chapter Master to appoint a captain as his "sub-Commander" and Adjutant.

Within a Chapter, the second line of authority was spiritual.

Although the chaplains were nominally attached to companies and Chapters, they were, in practice, a brotherhood of their own.

Every chaplain was a warrior, but direct command was not his concern. His focus was strengthening his brothers' spirits so they could withstand temptation and threats.

Each chaplain held a rank befitting him, rising as his knowledge and the respect he commanded grew.

The legion's senior chaplains stood at the top of this brotherhood and formed its innermost circle, much like the Dark Angels' Inner Circle. At its center stood the Chief Chaplain.

Honestly, if this system could keep working, the Word Bearers would undoubtedly become one of the most loyal and capable legions in the Imperium.

Unfortunately, problems had taken root inside the legion. Erebus and Kor Phaeron, those two bastards, had fouled the entire Word Bearers Legion.

Fortunately, Lorgar had already dealt with both threats by physically sending their souls back to the Warp. Now he only needed to watch for problems among the legion's remaining personnel.

As Lorgar considered his strategic plans, he walked through the vast Gloriana-class Battleship beneath his feet.

The ship beneath his feet was a Gloriana-class battleship, the Word Bearers Legion's Flagship, the Law of Faith.

Gloriana-class Battleships were colossal Imperium Warships, built at the height of the Great Crusade, between the late thirtieth millennium and the early thirty-first.

No one now knew exactly how many Gloriana-class Battleships had been built, but one thing was certain: during the Great Crusade, every Interstellar Space Marine legion had received at least one such Warship.

The Gloriana-class Battleships owned by different legions varied greatly in size and appearance. Each was like a flawless, one-of-a-kind work of art, with its own distinctive features.

The Ultramarines' Flagship, Macragge's Honour, for instance, was twenty-six kilometers long, while the Iron Warriors' Flagship, Iron Blood, measured twenty kilometers.

Each Gloriana-class Battleship also reflected its legion's character, whether in firepower, boarding capability, engine speed, or something else.

And the most distinctive feature of the Law of Faith beneath his feet was... that it looked like a cathedral?

Thanks to the Word Bearers' religious bent, this Warship was ten thousand years ahead of the Imperium's other Warships: it already looked like an enormous flying cathedral.

For the record, Imperium Warships had not yet become so obsessed with putting cathedrals everywhere.

After crossing a spacious hall, Lorgar reached the chambers several Chapter Masters had prepared for him.

"Clack, clack, clack, clack..."

Metal gears turned, and the heavy iron doors opened automatically. Artificial sunlight shone in, revealing the entire room.

The chamber was several hundred meters wide and dozens of meters high. It had seating for guests, a station where he could work through documents, and a terminal that could access all known Imperium records.

The people cleaning the room were the finest Attendants the Word Bearers Legion had selected from Terra. Like the legion's Interstellar Space Marines, they longed to earn their Gene-Father's favor.

Above the room hung an artificially miniaturized star. It had been thoroughly modified to work like a lamp, able to light up or go dark at any moment.

Nearby stood shelves for parchment scrolls. Tens of thousands of scrolls containing classified Imperium records sat in high-tech security cases, accessible only to the Primarch himself.

"My lord, are you satisfied?" Rockefeller asked respectfully.

"It has everything I need, though it's a little too lavish," Lorgar said approvingly.

"As you command. We can change the room's layout whenever you wish," Rockefeller replied.

"I've seen enough of the room. Let's go." Lorgar walked out, his calm voice at odds with his divine appearance. "I'd like to see my gene-sons train. Take me to the training grounds."

"As you command, my lord." Rockefeller raised his right hand and placed it over his chest.