V2 Chapter 146: I Am Old. Perhaps It Is Time to Step Aside.
When Duvette saw that Slaydo had come back to himself, he released the hold on the Warmaster's shoulder.
The soldiers outside poured in immediately. Gun muzzles and blade edges aimed at Duvette from every direction. Several officers shouted for him to surrender at once.
Duvette stood where he was and did not move.
Slaydo raised his head and spoke in a worn voice. "Stand down."
The soldiers stopped.
Slaydo held himself upright and let his gaze move across the officers and Storm Troopers at the door.
"Clear the room."
"Send for a medicae team."
The people at the doorway looked at each other.
They had just watched Duvette move against the Warmaster, put the guard down, and tear the Chief of Staff apart. Now the Warmaster was telling them to leave, and that did not fit anything they could make sense of.
Slaydo looked at them, and his voice went quieter.
"Is that so."
"Have my words stopped meaning anything?"
His face looked considerably older. His body was visibly weaker. But the authority that came with the Warmaster's title was still there.
The officers and soldiers brought their heads down immediately.
"Yes, Warmaster."
They withdrew from the room slowly.
Several Storm Troopers kept their eyes on Duvette as they went, clearly not recovered from what they had seen. Slaydo noted their expressions. He also noted the body and the blood on the floor.
He spoke again. "Everything that happened in this room is to be sealed under highest crusade command authority. Until I say otherwise, nothing leaves this compartment."
An officer at the doorway paused, then lowered his head again.
"Yes, sir."
The hatch closed.
When the room held only Duvette and a clear-eyed Slaydo, the Warmaster finally stopped holding himself up.
His body wavered. He had no more strength to stand properly, and could only take a stumbling step and press a hand against the desk. Duvette moved forward immediately and steadied him.
This time, Slaydo did not refuse the help.
He looked at Duvette briefly, then let out a long, exhausted breath.
"I am sorry."
"I very nearly destroyed the entire crusade."
Duvette kept a hand on his arm and shook his head.
"Accountability can come later."
"Chaos found your weakness and exploited it, but you broke free of it just now."
"First, make certain the crusade holds together."
Slaydo gave a tired, humourless sound.
"Duvette. You don't need to find reasons on my behalf."
"It was able to reach me because I opened the door for it at my weakest point."
"I was too impatient. Too desperate to fix everything before I ran out of time."
Duvette looked at him.
"There is no one in this universe without a weakness."
"That is what makes Chaos what it is."
Slaydo looked up.
"And you, Duvette?"
"What is your weakness?"
Duvette paused.
He did not know what the Warmaster was reaching for, and he did not know how to answer it.
Slaydo appeared not to need an answer.
He simply raised a hand and gestured for Duvette to help him back to his chair.
Duvette did it immediately.
Slaydo settled into the chair and closed his eyes, his breathing considerably heavier than it had been. The smell of blood was still dense in the room. The ruined body lay to one side, a reminder of what had just happened.
Slaydo spoke with his eyes closed. "When did you first notice something was wrong with me?"
Duvette stood at the edge of the desk.
"After the Balhaut victory celebration."
"The expression on your face when you looked at the Saint Sabbat statue gave me the first indication."
Slaydo did not open his eyes.
Duvette continued. "After that, when the crusade command structure stopped responding to my Astropathic messages for an extended period, and then Macaroth came to find me personally: that was when I confirmed the Chaos corruption."
"And you still came alone to see me."
"Because you were still willing to see me." Duvette said quietly. "That was the opening. And I owe you a debt. I was not going to leave you to it."
Slaydo was quiet for a long time.
Then he opened his eyes and looked toward the command terminal on the desk.
"Bring the terminal over."
Duvette moved it in front of him.
Slaydo's hands were not entirely steady, but he entered the primary command authorisation himself. Several identity verifications completed, and the highest authority of the crusade command structure reconnected to the flagship's communications system.
His voice went out through the encrypted channel.
"Lift all restrictions on Duvette's fleet."
"Grant Lord Inquisitor Karol, Lord Inquisitor Werner, Macaroth, and a delegation led by Admiral Villent clearance to board the flagship."
"All fleets maintain present positions. No vessel opens fire without orders."
A brief silence on the other end of the channel. Then the response came back.
"By your order, Warmaster."
Slaydo closed the terminal and settled back into his chair.
"Let them come."
The medicae team arrived while they waited.
Under Slaydo's orders, they did not ask what had happened in the room. They assessed the Warmaster's condition without comment, then transferred him to a medical bay nearby. Duvette stayed at his side.
The medical bay's lighting settled across the old Warmaster's face.
That unnatural vitality that had made him seem so energised before was gone. Exhaustion and age had pressed back in. When the medicae officers completed their assessment, the expressions on their faces were not encouraging.
The senior medicae spoke in a low voice.
"The Warmaster's neural load, cardiac load, and biological age indicators are all above safe thresholds."
"There is no immediate threat to his life."
"However, he is no longer capable of sustaining long-term high-intensity command."
The medicae paused.
"Any activity of significant exertion carries the risk of serious consequences."
Slaydo lay on the medicae bed and heard all of this without reaction.
This time, there was no roar of anger.
He simply lay with his eyes closed, as though working through something privately.
Duvette stood to the side and said nothing.
After some time, the medical bay hatch opened.
Macaroth walked in.
Juno and Werner followed. Juno's gaze moved to Duvette first, then settled on Slaydo in the medicae bed. Werner maintained his silence, his expression carrying nothing extra.
Macaroth went to the bed immediately and came to attention.
"Warmaster."
Slaydo opened his eyes and looked at the man who had once been his Chief of Staff.
He looked at him for a long time. "Do you hate me, Macaroth?"
Macaroth shook his head.
"I don't hate you, Warmaster." His voice was quiet. "I only hoped you would come back."
Something moved in Slaydo's expression.
He sighed again.
"I stripped you of your position. I placed you under house arrest. I pushed the crusade to the state it reached."
"Macaroth, I owe you an apology."
Macaroth lowered his head.
"You have come back."
Slaydo did not respond immediately.
He looked at Duvette. He looked at Juno and Werner. Then his gaze returned to Macaroth.
The medical bay was quiet.
From somewhere beyond the walls, the low vibration of the ship's engines came through: a reminder that the entire Sabbat Crusade was still out there, waiting for orders.
Slaydo spoke slowly.
"I am old."
"Perhaps it is time to step aside."