Ustad hesitated before joining the three Chapters' victory banquet.
If Farzad hadn't found him at the edge of the fire, he might not have attended the party at all.
"Ustad!"
Farzad shouted.
"here!"
He raised his hands, gave Bifarzad a bear hug, and then pulled him into the noisy banquet area.
"I haven't seen you for a while."
Ustad smiled awkwardly but politely and replied:
"The Chapter Master entrusted me with something...Actually, I only left for a while, but you were too happy and ignored the time."
Ustad looked over the shoulders of his battle brothers. In the hall of the Mother of Tears, warriors from all three Chapters gathered together to share with each other their experiences in the battle and how many aliens they had killed.
Although it was in a golden hall with a strong Baal style, the main color of the banquet was still dark green, which symbolized death.
There are hints of bright yellow sprinkled throughout.
As for the silver-grey color, you have to look carefully to see it.
This is the most realistic situation of the three war groups.
The battle in the Ferron system is basically over. The greenskins once again suffered a devastating blow from the empire just like in the past. All the glory basically belongs to the ascetics who initiated the battle. The Astral Knights and Lamenters may be able to He got a small share, but he would never be the first one to appear in the official battle records.
The larger banquet had ended in the morning of Terra time. The Imperial Navy and all senior officers and political officials of the Astra Militarum who participated in the war, about a hundred people, were together with the Astartes to share the victory. fruit.
It was a very ritualistic banquet, at least in Ustad's opinion, full of clichés.
"Oh my god, you are so miserable."
Farzad said, grabbing Ustad's arm.
"Brothers, this is Ustad, the captain of our other team."
Farzad turned and said to the crowd, which were some gathered ascetic warriors, all of them captains and company commanders in terms of military rank.
"What you said is too insightful,"
Ustad shook his head. He had heard that Farzad was very popular among ascetics and had made many friends, but he did not expect that he was already associated with officer-level warriors.
In comparison, he is indeed too introverted.
The ascetic warriors greeted Ustad and also looked at the "stranger"
Yes, even in the Astral Knights Chapter, Ustad is like a "stranger", and his other secret identity will only make him more distant from other people.
"Sit down, take a sip, and tell us about your experience in the battle. You must have a lot to say."
An ascetic warrior spoke. Judging from his helmet and shoulder emblems, he should be a veteran of the second company.
"Mediocre."
Ustad returned with a smile.
"Compared to Farzad, I am not an outstanding warrior. Why don't you tell me about your battles? You must have many things that I have not experienced."
So they did, the ascetics eager to impress him.
Or maybe it was just for Farzad's sake.
But Ustad, who was holding the wine glass, only listened to half of it.
Continuing their tradition on the barbaric planet, the Ascetic Chapter was quite liberal at banquets, filling the smoky room with their revelry.
But despite the liveliness of the party, beyond the loud banter and old songs, there was an emptiness that hung over the place.
Haunting echoes came from the corners of the room, where there should have been more living noises, but now there were only lurking ghosts.
The Weeper Chapter lost more than twenty battle brothers in the battle, which was a relatively serious casualty for their already sparse population.
Ustad has a hard time imagining that the seats will ever be filled again.
This reminded him of the fate of their Chapter.
"Ustad?"
Farzad suddenly put his hand on Ustad's shoulder.
Ustad blinked and found that everyone was looking at him expectantly, and some of them were still smiling.
Their story was finished, but Ustad was not listening at all.
"Brilliant story, courageous action."
Ustad said seriously:
"Your courage will add many songs to your hometown."
He stood up carefully.
"Thank you for inviting me to have a drink, and thank you for sharing. I have to leave now. I still have a lot of things to deal with."
Farzad looked at him with concern.
"Ah, what a busy man, no doubt about it!"
He spoke to the others, words more passionate than his eyes, before embracing Ustad once more.
"I understand you like to be alone."
Farzad whispered to Ustad.
"But stop being an outsider, my brother, come back soon, the war group is not only ours, but also yours."
Farzad's concern burned Ustad's heart as much as his harsh insults, and he left as gracefully as possible.
Then he found a secluded place where no one would disturb him.
He began to drink a lot of liquor produced in Supole and mixed with the blood and venom of various beasts. He drank it until he was dizzy for a while - this kind of liquor was often used by ascetics to experience "near-death meditation" , just a small bite is enough to kill a dozen mortals.
At some point, in his cup, a strong melancholy enveloped him.
Ustad and his peers never quite clicked.
He had a hard time with the boisterous teasing, and others thought he was too stern.
But he has his own way of life, leading his squad into battles with honor and taking things in stride when not fighting.
The strange feeling in his spine made him feel itchy all over.
This plunged him into greater pain, but the shadow covered his melancholy face.
The gifts of the ancient legions given to him by the Order had not worked until now, and he was unable to mobilize them, which made him look like a failure.
He felt that he had failed the expectations of the Chapter Master and Brother Said. He had been burdened with such a huge secret, but could not play any role.
Soon Ustad was drunk.
He drank a large amount of alcohol that would kill a mortal instantly. Some of the liquid flowed onto his armor, but he didn't care.
"Why……"
He murmured into the wine glass:
"What the fuck is that about?"
Inside Ustad's body, his enhanced body was fighting a losing battle against the strong liquor.
Slowly, his eyelids drooped, and he leaned against the wall and slowly fell to the ground. The wine in the glass spilled out.
But what he didn't realize was that when he lost consciousness, the wine spilled on the ground was slowly turning into frost...
