The slaughter was unexpected, even unimaginable. The Adeptus Astartes were the finest the Imperium had to offer, yet they died… died en-mass, squad after squad. Dolgath, watching from the view screen of his personal Vendetta transport, had seldom been witness to such a waste. These Tau were clearly beyond anything he was prepared for. He had dismissed Inquisitor Nelthas’ offer of support cordially, yet he realized now he should have never sent her away at all, in fact, he should have seated control of this operation to her entirely. The recent revelations made it clear beyond a doubt that this was a matter for the Ordo Xenos.
Returning to the Subjugator, Dolgath was confronted by another unpleasant and yet unavoidable consequence of this action… the honor of the Space Marines. None other than Captain Rex himself awaited Dolgath in his chambers. Although he might have doubted it just days before, the full furry of a Space Marine Captain far outmatched that of even an Astartes Chaplain… There was no dissuading the course of events that were to come. Dolgath offered a few kernels of advice that were summarily disregarded. This was now an Adeptus Astartes matter – the one organization for which the Inquisition held no authority. Dolgath could do naught but watch as the space marines expended themselves to the last against the Tau. Sadly, it was the Tau who would ultimately pay the price. Even if they defeated the Space Marines totally on the morrow, the Astartes bore a long and bitter memory. They would write their defeat into stone, nay, into adamantine, a grudge to last for untold millennia only to be brutally avenged, Dolgath guessed, long years after the Tau had utterly forgotten about it…
As the massive, ancient Astartes warrior departed, Dolgath fell back in his chair with a sigh and activated the encrypted Ordos channel. Inquisitor Nelthas’ response was almost immediate, as if she was expecting just such a contact. At this point Dolgath was beyond any pretence of ego, he needed help, however and whatever that entailed…
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