As the battle plans were being finalized, Kar'an received orders from the Chapter Master to gather all the brothers on Baal who had succumbed to the Black Rage and arm them.
The maddened brothers, driven to bloodlust, could not distinguish friend from foe, attacking all in their path, making this task a perilous one. Kar'an enlisted Foros, persuading him to lead a company of Terminators to assist. Foros suspected there was more to this request than Kar'an letting on, yet they both proceeded, leading their forces aboard a formation of Thunderhawk transports to execute Dante's command.
The transports halted before a towering bastion on the outskirts of the Angelic Fortress. Unlike the blood thralls usually stationed as guards, mortal attendants of the Weepers Chapter stood sentinel here. Though lacking extensive combat experience, these attendants were armored in yellow power suits akin to those worn by Talon forces.
As the transport doors slid open, Kar'an and Foros strode heavily toward the tower, catching sight of a few mortals and an injured Weeper Space Marine huddled around a fire. A mortal attendant took a bloodied protein bar from his bag, took a bite, and passed it along to the next. The morsel was passed from hand to hand, finally reaching the wounded Astartes, who, upon seeing Foros, quickly rose and saluted, "Chapter Master!"
Foros nodded and continued forward with Kar'an. They entered the tower and descended ancient stone steps.
The passageways within the tower were vast, wide enough to accommodate both companies marching side by side.
"You have quite a rapport with the mortals," Kar'an remarked.
"Yes," Foros replied.
Deciding further small talk with the taciturn Foros was pointless, Kar'an picked up his pace. Soon they reached the tower's lowest level, where a grisly scene greeted them.
A blood pool stood at the center, and a group of Astartes were chained by their necks and limbs, shackled in thick metal links like tank treads. At the sight of the living, these frenzied souls strained against their bonds, baring blood-stained teeth, desperate to tear into the flesh of those who approached.
The Chapter-born Astartes were unperturbed, familiar with such scenes; they moved calmly to relocate their once-comrades. The Weepers approached to assist, and Kar'an turned to Foros. "This sight isn't common in your Chapter, is it?"
Foros nodded, silent. As scions of the Blood Angels, the Weepers were indeed different from the others and had not encountered such frequent cases of the Black Rage and Blood Thirst.
"Do your ranks experience the Thirst at all?" Kar'an pressed.
At this, the Blood Angels halted their tasks and turned, gazing intently at the Weepers.
"Yes," Foros answered honestly, as his company nodded in solemn agreement. Yet he offered no further details, clearly reluctant to broach the subject of a lost brother.
"Such fortune…" Kar'an mused, "To be able to avoid speaking of the Thirst and the Rage as if it were optional."
This sentiment was not Kar'an's alone; many within the Blood Angels Chapter felt the same. He had overheard it from others more than once.
The Weepers Chapter was known for rarely succumbing to these flaws, even leading some outsiders to assume they were immune. However, the Weepers themselves understood it was not immunity but rather a rare affliction.
"In our last battle," Kar'an continued, "if you hadn't beaten sense back into me, I would have ended up here among them."
During the recent decapitation strike against the Tyranid Swarm Lord, where they hoped to reclaim the fortress perimeter, Kar'an had nearly succumbed to the Thirst. Foros had narrowly dodged his blade and pinned him to the ground, pummeling him until he regained control.
Kar'an resumed speaking as they continued their task, "We are hardly friendly toward blood thralls—the mortals. At least, I am not." His tone held bitterness as he reflected on rumors surrounding their Chapter's darker inclinations. "Rumors claim we drink the blood of the locals, and if I consider it honestly, perhaps there's truth to their suspicions…"
"Ever since... certain experiences, I avoid close contact with mortals," he admitted. "I fear either I or those around me might one day lose control…"
As he trailed off, the maddened sons of Sanguinius were led away, loaded into iron cages on the transports. Among these were men who had once been mentors, saviors, and comrades of those now transporting them—no one wished to treat them callously. But the cages were necessary; without them, the captives would unleash their wrath upon any nearby.
"The Sanguinary Priest approached me recently," Kar'an said. "He hopes I might persuade you to allow one of your Chapter to undergo study, to uncover why your kind seldom fall to the Rage or the Thirst."
Foros recognized now why Kar'an had insisted on bringing him. Yet as a Chapter Master, Foros would not easily offer one of his own, even for the sake of their alliance with the parent Chapter.
"Research," though casually spoken, would likely delve deeply into genetic material.
"Agreed," Foros replied. "But inform the Sanguinary Priest I and my Apothecary must be present throughout the examination."
"Understood," Kar'an nodded.
Foros also inclined his head, thinking with faint amusement that the parent Chapter would likely uncover little. Not out of secrecy, but due to the nature of their mutation.
In his time as Chapter Master, Foros had gathered fragmented records of the Weepers' formation. While information was sparse due to the disastrous repercussions of that particular founding, he knew one fact: the gene-seed used for the Weepers had undergone an "improvement" by the Mechanicus, though the actual change had been unforeseen even by them.
The transport engines hummed as the last of the prisoners were secured, lifting off to their next destination.
A fiery streak shot across the sky. It was no meteor but a burning figure, streaking toward the fortress's core. Foros tracked the figure's flight path with narrowed eyes, observing it vanish within the central stronghold.
"What is it after?" he asked.
Kar'an shrugged, indifferent.