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Reaching beneath his desk, Chaplain Caius pressed a button beside the keypad. The recorder clicked on. He moved to rest his elbows on the rich mahogany desk, and interlaced his fingers. In a sharp movement he thrust both his hands down, loudly popping and cracking every knuckle in his hands. Caius allowed himself a dreary sigh before putting his warm, gentle smile back on. Pressing a different button beneath his desk, he activated the comm.

"Brother Detrius," he said. To a human, his voice would've been impossibly low, with all the strength and depth of thunder. To Detrius, it was the fatherly voice of a kind man who'd always been thre for him, to counsel him in his moments of weakness, to give him strength for the trials to come. "Please enter."

On faulty squealing hydraulics, the door slid open. Detrius strode inside and the two gazed upon each other, one Angel to another. "Caius," said Detrius, no regard for rank or station. There was none of the reverence in Detrius's voice that the other Battle Brothers had for their Chaplain. It was that kind of attitude that usually brought Detrius to his office in the first place. "How have you been?"

"Very well, brother. Truly the God Emperor smiles upon the faithful. And you?"

Detrius gave a devilish smile. "To be honest, the God Emperor hasn't smiled upon me lately."

"Has your faith waned?"

He nodded. Caius had been hoping for a simple 'yes': it would've made things so much simpler if Detrius had exclaimed into the recorder than his faith had waned. Still, there was little cause for concern. Given a length of rope, Detrius was the sort of man who would make a noose for himself. It was miraculous he had ever passed the trials, much less become a full-fledged Astartes. And now his service to the God Emperor was reaching an end. It wouldn't end as a sparking powerfist came crashing down on him, or one solid slug after another hammered through his chestplate. It would end with Detrius telling all to the good Chaplain, tying a good sturdy noose for himself.

"And if I may ask, how has your faith waned? Do you no longer trust in the God Emperor's teachings? Do you doubt your own ability to follow those teachings? Or, have you fallen so far as to doubt the God Emperor himself?"

Detrius swallowed, staring at the floor, and slowly looked up at Caius. His eyes were bright with something all too rare among Astartes - fear. Loathe as Caius was to admit it, fear could never be fully bred out of Astartes. Sometimes it would lie dormant for years, but one way or another it always came back.

Not that Caius would ever admit it. Who knew who was recording him?

"Caius," Detrius said, voice strained. "I'm beginning to wonder why I should fight for the God Emperor."

"Why, he is humanity's savior, and your own genefather! We owe all that we have to his benevolent hand! He died for you, and all he asks is for you to do the same for him."

"I've heard that. If you'll forgive me, I've never seen it. I've never even seen him. All I hear is that I'm supposed to fight for a living corpse I've never seen on a world I've never seen, and that I'm not allowed to ask why."

Caius would draw it out. He believed in doing thorough work. "The God Emperor has lavished many great gifts upon you. Not just life, which he has given to all men, but the privileged of being an Astartes. An Angel of Death. He gave you strength and courage that few men will ever know. When you first donned your power armor, your second skin, it was his armor that you wore. When you first held your holy bolter, the weapon you wield in this great war, it was his holy bolter, and his hand that guided your aim. Would you allow all this gifts to be wasted upon you? Would you take all these things from him, and give him nothing in return?"

"I never asked for those gifts. I was twelve years old when the Chapter took me. I'd never seen a ship before. I thought it was a dragon. I thought I was going to die." All the resolve disappeared from his voice. "I had a family. I had a pet hound, and he drove us all crazy with barking. I had a mother and a father, and they were taken away from me."

"The God Emperor is your father, and Terra your mother."

"Where was the Emperor when I took my first steps?" It was a small question in a small voice, but it carried with it more weight than anything Detrius had ever said before.

"Watching over you, and guiding each step with his divine hand. Detrius, I would love to speak with you more, but unfortunately I have an appointment. Perhaps we could speak again tomorrow. You're a strong man, stronger than you know. This will pass, and soon you'll be back to leading prayer ceremonies and singing on Candlemass."

Detrius smiled weakly. "Thank you, Caius. Truly."

There were two men, clad from head to toe in battle scarred ceramite, waiting outside the door. Detrius put up no more of a fight than Caius had expected, and the whole matter was done with in minutes.

Very interesting. I'd think that depth of lapse would require execution. Next installment should be interesting!

This was good, I liked the whole under current of guiding the doomed battle brother to his admission of guilt hidden under the Chaplins questions.

Now this was good, I liked the chaplian. What chapter is this?