The Tetrarchy

Perseus stood on the observation deck and stared down at the planet below. In some ways, it resembled Terra. It was a desolate ball of dust, an arid, dry mess. But Terra was at least of great significance to the Imperium. The planet of Aronnax was just one of a million unremarkable worlds, another planet that made up the numbers of the galaxy-spanning empire.

Shield-Captain Perseus 

Perseus stood resplendent in his armour. He was a Shield-Captain of the Adeptus Custodes, his suit of Auramite armour gleamed in the glow of the planet beneath him. He was a member of The Tetrarchy, an informal collective of himself and three other Shield-Captains; Maxentius, Ramases and Vespasian, 

Perseus smiled to himself, "The Tetrarchy. It had been uncharacteristically witty of The Captain-General Trajan Valoris". The name was a reference to an almost-forgotten ancient piece of Terran history, a time during the Ancient Romani Empire when four Emperors had ruled as a collective. In this particular instance, it represented the fraternal bond of the four Shield Captains, an arrangement of co-operation that would truly be a force to reckon with. The bestowment of the name by Trajan was both a jibe at their self-importance and a grudging nod of approval.

Perseus understood the Tetrarchy for what it really represented. It was an opportunity for the four Sheild-Captains to pursue excellence and perfection together. They had formed The Tetrarchy as a crucible of aspiration. And in this regard, it worked exactly as predicted. The brotherhood travelled the length and breadth of the dying Imperium, pushing themselves to ever greater heights and feats. They did this for no other reason than it was what they were created to do. 

Behind him, he heard the doors to the access elevator hissing open. He heard the familiar footsteps of another figure wearing Aurmic plate. Perseus didn’t need to look to see who had joined him on the observation deck, he could tell it was Maxentius. Either from his gait, the unique whine of his servos or the bellicosity practically radiating from him.

Shield-Captain Maxentius

“They are ready to deploy, Perseus” 

With his gaze still fixed on the planet below, Perseus smiled. “You had to tell me this in person, Maxentius?”

“I came to see if I could dissuade you from this folly” Maxentius growled.

“Stop me? Come now brother, you should know me better than that. It could be argued that all we do is folly. Why stop now?”

Perseus turned to face his brother, whose face was belligerence personified. It wasn’t unusual to find Maxentius in this condition, as he held contempt for practically everything and everybody in the Imperium and beyond. And when everything could be considered beneath him, from even the most objective of viewpoints, who could blame him? It was not a philosophy Perseus subscribed to but it did have a certain truth to it.

Shield-Captain Vespasian

“I am in no mood for your choler Perseus. Your endless melancholy smacks of self-indulgence as does this entire endeavour.”

Perseus laughed, "Self-indulgence? Really, Maxentius, you resort to ad-hominem now?

“Wipe that smirk from your face before I do, Perseus! This is in no way amusing.”

Perseus chuckled, “Oh brother, it is entirely amusing. All we have left are our games, I am merely being stoic.”

Shield-Captain Ramases

Maxentius squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger in exasperation. “You are walking into a trap-needlessly, this matter is of no concern to us!”

“It is precisely our concern. Springing this trap is the only way to truly discover the nature of this cult. I have no problem with putting myself in a precarious situation to gather the evidence I need. There is no fallacy here brother.”

“The fallacy is your involvement in the first place! This is a matter for the Inquisition!”

Perseus shook his head. “If the Ordo Malleus or Xenos are sequestered, the entire system will be taken to task. Those that aren’t mind-wiped will be exterminated without question.”

“I fail to see how that matters, Perseus”.

Perseus placed his hand on Maxentius’ pauldron. “Indeed, you do fail in that respect brother”.

“They are vermin Perseus, unworthy of our attention. We have better things to be doing with our time”.

Perseus laughed again and walked past Maxentius towards the elevator. “We both know that is a lie” He called back. “Send them in Maxentius. I’ll be waiting in the Teleportarium.”