Blessings of uncertainty

Chapter 4: The Hive

I gesture the squad to stay where they are I step out towards the fountain, a shot rings out that hits my helmet, Just a graze I think as I raise my shield and begin firing in the direction the shot originated from, the squad does as well, firing their weapons into the building I am shooting, a voice is heard from the building "Wait! Don't shoot! Are you Imperium?" I raise my shield and place my bolt pistol atop it. "Indeed we are, heretic. Show yourself and will grant you the mercy of swift death", a second voice responds now "We're not heretics! We're sororitas on a mission to cleanse the hive!" The squad looks at me now with a confused look, I signal to take up firing positions and they acknowledge, "Then come out with your bolters on your waists and hands above your heads!" I demand. A sororitas member, clad in her red armor exits the building slowly and says "My name is Sister Izabel of the Order of the Bloody Rose, we were separated from the main force as we started cleansing the hive of these foul heretics", I lower my weapon and gesture the rest of the squad to do the same, the other sororitas exit the building and I gesture towards the impaled corpse "Your work then, I take it?", Izabel nods "Yes, he was a heretic who defied us as we began cleansing, surprising considering there isn't anyone else around", I nod "I advise you to leave then, sister. We are under orders to clear out the xeno infestation within the hive, if you are likely to shoot any other of my brothers, they may not be as kind as I am". Izabel says "We were informed that you would be arriving, we were sent to aid you but we were cut off" she gets on one knee, the other sisters do the same "Please, allow us to aid you in this endeavor" I nod and say "Fine then, do you at least know anything about the genestealers movements?" Izabel nods, "We heard a group of them make their way down towards some of the lower levels, follow us we just came from there" I nod and say "Lead the way". The sisters begin to take the lead, bolters drawn and we follow suit, Luci looks at me and says "So these hives, do you know much about them, father?" I shake my head "Only in passing, I have been to many hive worlds but never in the city proper, always on the outskirts. I am however familiar with enclosed spaces as I have cleared a few space hulks a few decades prior" Luci perks up at the mention of a space hulk "Do you think I could get to clear one? A space hulk I mean" I nod and say "Perhaps should one appear, however it may not be in your lifetime. "Even so," Luci begins "I'm certain if I am with you it will all go well", "I am certain as well" I turn to look at the squad "Wouldn't you agree, brothers?", "Of course!" Says Dieter "If anyone could brave into the depths of the unknown it's us!" We continue talking lightly as we follow the sisters, our weapons at the ready.

The sisters lead us down into the depths of the hive for a while, they stop at the entrance arch of a desolate requisition terminal hub, in it the corpses of dead arbites and civilians who were disemboweled litter the floor pale and lifeless, Izabel turns to me "They were last seen through here, come we must be close" the sisters continue into the hub, I silently signal the squad to ready themselves before saying "And how exactly did you see them, sister?" The sisters stop as Izabel turns to me and says "What do you mean?" I gesture to the corpses "They are pale and rotting, no one has been here for a long time. If you had been here recently then you'd know it as well, wouldn't you?" she shakes and before she gets a word out I shoot her in the head with my bolt pistol, the rest of the squad gun them down before they get a shot towards us. As silence engulfs the terminal once more Luci turns to me and asks "How did you know they were traitors?" She asks, I walk towards the corpse and examine their armor "Our mission in the hive was to be kept a secret, the element of surprise was to be our main force multiplier, yet somehow they knew we would be present" I stand and walk to another corpse of the sisters, this one not having her head blown off, "On top that, no incursions into the hive would be done by outside forces until after we cleared it, and the last recorded incursion into the hive by the sisters is over a year ago to date" I tear off the faceplate of the deceased sister to reveal a crude branding on her cheek where the fleur de lis with a logo that is not associated with the sisters, I lift the head and show it to the squad "As expected, it is the cult's logo" I drop the body and get up. "Though at the very least our effort isn't wasted being down here, they were likely going to try and ambush us here and drag our bodies closer to where they keep their stocks of food" I gesture towards peculiar objects next to the bodies, they are grenades "I suppose as we passed through they were going to detonate the grenades, let us find another route to pass here as they may have a surprise for us yet. I turn to leave the hub and the squad follows. As we search for a way around the hub, Luci says "So if they're using the sisters of battle, can no one be trusted on this planet?" I shake my head "You can trust the people of this planet yes, however anyone else in the hive that is not one of us should and will be treated with great suspicion, the genestealers have held this hive for at least two years, it is unlikely any of the Emperor's faithful still reside here untainted by their heretical cult" Luci nods solemnly at my response and continues to follow, the entire squad's weapons at the ready.