The world was being cleansed. They had chosen to watch it before they were due to be picked up and returned to the fleet that orbited overhead. . Chairon sat down on the craggy rock and propped his rifle against it.
Gadriel stood beside Titus as they watched it together.
"I can feel the heat on my skin even from all the way back here."
Titus turned to him. "Have you seen the death of a world before?"
He considered Titus's question. Exterminatus was usually a last resort, so it did not happen very often. Not before the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum. "Twice."
His lieutenant nodded. "It is a difficult time for us all. But we must believe the Imperium will prevail. That this will no longer happen at the frequency it happens now. For we have no choice."
He swept his hand across the horizon, indicating many of the souls that once lived in the ruined city that was being burned from above.
"You reiterate what has already been said thousands of times."
Chairon piped up: "I've heard the same thing on Calth. People spread the message of hope to each other. That the siege would end, that it would be ok. All i saw was ashes before i was interred for the next few millennium."
Titus nods. "You bring up the past. Yes, desperate times visit us again. But do you know why it has to be reiterated? Because the baseline humanity we protect is prone to despair. They need the message of hope, lest they despair and give in to chaos."
"We are symbols of hope. We are the fire, the torch in the darkness. We cannot afford to fail. Countless souls depend on us."
Gadriel shifted his feet a little, as if Titus's words were sinking in. "You are correct."
Chairon got up from his seat and walked over to the pair. He clasped Gadriel's pauldron.
"Let us light the way for those that cannot defend themselves."
They could hear the roar of engines behind as a thunderhawk descends onto the grass.
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