The Equus Crusade

The five knights of squad Tiberius were in the belly of the Hengroen, training for the oncoming war against the xenos. They were wearing grey robes while their armours looked at the black walls of the room like ancient guardian statues covered by the shadows of a forgotten temple.

The chapter had made the room exclusive for squad Tiberius’s use, so that the field specialists may train together and develop their bonds of brotherhood. The practice of having small teams of superbly skilled knights who would operate with a high degree of autonomy on the field was not a practice adopted by most chapters, but it had served the Star Lords very well in their long history.

Outsiders viewed the creation of a small elite caste within the chapter with suspicion, but those within deemed it necessary. The chapter did not have suits of terminator armour or a vast armoury filled with all sorts of vehicles, so they had to rely on special infantry teams, like squad Tiberius, to achieve victory. They all had access to rooms like the one squad Tiberius was using.

The room was large enough so that several land raiders could fit in it and still have lot of room to manoeuvre. It had no windows because all windows were structural weaknesses and the room was supposed to be one of the safest places in the entire vessel. It had a shooting range with moving targets and covers, a large arena with a sand floor where the knights could practice fighting with foes on their level and a smaller one that could be filled with combat servitors.

Icarus and Cadriel were sparring together in the large arena at the centre of the room brightened by a large rectangular light on the ceiling. Both of their chests, arms and legs were exposed so that any new cuts could be immediately noticed and a winner declared. They only thing they were wearing was a short white loincloth.

Their godly physiques were not covered in scars like the veterans; they had earned their share of wounds and permanent cuts, but much of their excessively white skin was still smooth like glass. They were not born that way, it was a side effect of the chapter’s gene-seed: the once pure blood of Dorn had mutated in a way that gave all Star Lords white hairs and an unnaturally smooth skin regardless of their age.

Icarus was keeping his blade close to himself, guarding his legs and chest while strategically giving ground as he tried to tire his opponent out and waited for the perfect moment to strike and disarm him.

Cadriel was the opposite of his older brother. He knew he was being lured into a trap, but he felt he had the skills necessary to fight his way out of any situation. He chased him, not giving a room to breathe as he kept himself as close as possible to him hoping he would eventually make a wrong move he could exploit.

Tiberius watched the duel in silence with his blue and made mental notes of his brothers’ technique so that he may criticize it once the duel was over. Cassius was right next to him, also observing the duel and taking notes, but he was planning to let the sergeant speak before uttering a single word of his own.

Aphaniel was also there, but he had no interest in the duel and he was carefully picking apart his bolter and rebuilding it again and again. He had no care for duels and critiquing of his brothers’ worth as warriors; he knew they would all do their part when the time came and that was enough for him. He had never had a reason to doubt their skills.

Cadriel basked in the light and the attention as he relentlessly attacked Icarus, who was not having any problems deflecting his blows.

“So these Xenos we are about to fight” he said between sword strokes “Do we know anything about them? The captain said nothing”

“Only that they are not just one species” Tiberius replied, “We will be facing a confederation”

“A confederation! You will enjoy the variety Aphaniel” Icarus commented as he deflected a powerful blow from Cadriel and almost disarmed him with quick move of wrist, but failed due to his brother’s wise decision to pull back before it was too late.

“Indeed I shal!l” Aphaniel lifted his bolter in front of his eyes “I heard of their dragons and they do sound like worthy foes”.

“I doubt they shall be as mighty as those of songs and myths,” Icarus said as a long thrust forced him to take a few steps back.

“We shall know their might when we join battle with them, not before” Tiberius was annoyed by the speculations of his brothers. They sounded like a dangerous lack of focus in his hears.

“Speaking of battles I am going to win” Cadriel rushed forward, and Icarus replied with a wide slash from the right.

He deflected the attack and grabbed the blade’s pommel; Icarus instantly reacted with a punch straight to the face and breaking his brother’s nose. It was exactly what Cadriel needed, his own blade moved like lightning as it inflicted a wound on his Icarus’s exposed arm.

Just like that, the duel was over. Both sides lowered their blades and shook their hands.

“Well fought,” Icarus said, his blood had already coagulated.

Knowing the duel had ended in his defeat, Icarus went to place his training sword on its respective place on the weapon rack and put back his robes while Cadriel did the same.

It was all part of their morning routine, the two young marines would train under the gaze of the veterans, who would offer critique if they deemed it necessary, before spending the rest of the morning using their bolters.

Tiberius himself stopped them just as they walked out of the arena “now I will show you what you did wrong” he already had a blade of his own.

Icarus complied immediately and walked back toward the arena, expecting to receive a lecture on his defensive technique, but he was stopped once again by his sergeant.

“Not you, Cadriel is the one who has to learn something today”

“Me? I won, he lost” Cadriel was just as surprised as Icarus, he thought that only losers had to learn lessons. That was the reason why Tiberius wanted to focus on him "why do you single me out like this?"

“Just get back in the arena” Tiberius ordered as he removed his robes and stepped in the arena, the light from above made his skin even brighter than usual.

Tiberius and Cadriel went to opposite corners of the arena and rushed at each after a quick bow.

A normal man would have been turned to red jelly after being hit by one of the two astartes because of the superhuman speed they had reached in a matter of seconds. Their blades flashed and sparkled as the astartes fought faster than lightning. They dashed, dodged and parried with the experience born out of centuries of combat. The fight looked like a well choreographed dance performed by two superb dancers preparing for a great spectacle to be enjoyed only by the nobles of the upper spires in a famous hive city.

The two warriors were equally matched and equally aggressive with their moves. For each move that Cadriel had mastered, Tiberius had a counter move that forced the take a step back and try again but Tiberius himself could not yet break through Cadriel's defences yet.

The first crack in the defences was when the blade of Tiberius got dangerously close Cadriel’s right leg.

“You have neglected your defensive techniques for far too long, Cadriel,” Tiberius said.

“Tell me, Sergeant, have we ever been on the defensive?” Cadriel closed the distance and tried to force Tiberius to step back, but he held his ground

“More times than you could expect, but you are young, you will learn all aspects of warfare one day”

“Do not patronize me, old man!” Cadriel was struggling with mainlining a good defence, but his pride prevented from taking a step back. His sergeant had singled him out and he needed a spectacular victory to preserve his honour.

“I am not that old” Tiberius chuckled, he was barely three centuries old. Aphaniel, with his four and a half centuries, deserved the title a lot more than him.

Cadriel’s blood began to boil as heard the chuckle.

“Do not laugh at me!” Cadriel’s rage propelled him forward and made his attacks stronger and faster, but less graceful and more predictable. He was completely out of position, a fact that Tiberius could easily exploit

“Well, stop making me laugh”

It was Tiberius’ turn to step forward and make his first real move. Exploiting his brother’s wrong footing, he inserted his leg between Cadriel's thighs and used the advantage he just gained. Cadriel fell to the ground with the grace of an elephant dropped from orbit.

He looked up at his sergeant with a mixture of rage and surprise. His hands and arms were trembling, itching for a fight, as if he wanted to continue the duel regardless of the rules. Only the respect he still had for his sergeant and brother stopped him from doing so impulsive.

“And this is why you do not neglect your defences” Tiberius offered him a hand, but he was rejected with a snarl.

“Spare me the lecture, sergeant, Icarus is the one has to learn how to attack”

“His lesson will come, for now you are the crack in the blade, your rage blinds you and leads you to foolish mistakes, I cannot afford that”.

“Let us just get to the bolters already,” Cadriel said as he finally got up, not even looking at Tiberius.

Icarus had already put on his robes and was silently waiting for them with Cassius, standing at attention like marble statues glimmering in midsummer sun.

As they all stepped out of the arena, bright flashes of red light invaded the room, giving everything in a darker hue as the voice of Brother-Captain Galahad filled their ears

“All astartes forces to their battle stations, Squad Tiberius and Telemachus to the command bridge”

They all knew what that meant, the Crusade was about to begin.