Crimson Fury

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Forran dropped the body of the last guardsman, and strode towards the commissar, being supported by Kyrech. He levelled his bolt pistol at Yeiser and yelled through his vox-grill, the voice emerging as a harsh, grating blow to the pale commissar.

“How did you become a guard? Where did you train? Where else is infected?” The commissar let out a spittle flecked laugh, and in a rasping tone answered Cade, putting more contempt into his tone than he thought physically possible.

“You-you want to know where we are? You want to exterminate us? I’ll tell you. We are everywhere. The devourer is coming, it is coming, and your precious world of angels will be consumed, and all o-“ Gealt Yeiser’s head sprayed across Kyrech’s chest, as Cade lowered his smoking bolt pistol.

“Emperor Protect us, there must have been a third generation cult at a militarium training outpost.  There’s no telling how many guard regiments are tainted by the xenos.” ++Gavla! Hyte! Report!++

++ Sweep’s clear sir, the workers are dead, but they’re clean. Guard had their own hab-block. Motion trackers are empty inside, but long-range shows orks gathering for another assault, and indefinite movement beyond them. Not orks, smaller signals, but many times the ork’s number. The manufactorum’s wrecked, there’s no repairing it. Permission to speak my mind sir?++

++Granted++

++I think we should blow it, with the orks inside, and bang the hell out, let the Emperor guide these souls back to his side. The main reactors been wrecked, but the backup is still marginally intact. Put one round through there and not even the mites will be left.++

++Negative soldier, we need to ascertain if the xenos taint is fouling this planet yet, or if the cult was the only source of psychic signal. Run a long-range scan for any large metallic deposit, hulks are the most common form of transport for the foul beasts.++

++Understood. Running scan.++

Kyrech stepped to his sergeant’s side. “Sir, what did you mean by psychic signal? And earlier, you said they were ‘calling’?”

“You’ve never encountered these xenos before?”

“No sir, I’ve been Baal Home Guard since my initiation. 86 years and nothing passed by my post. I’ve only ever fought in your squad since that deployment. I understand the basics, these, ‘forward scouts’, but I’ve never heard of any psychic manifestations before.”

“I see. These cults, they run in four generations; first is a clean human, infected by the xenos, the second and third appear human, but carry the infection, and the fourth, as you saw today, are affected much more severely. No, they are not psykers, but they do emit a sort of signal, a beacon, akin to that of the blessed astronomican, in the warp. This acts as a navigational aide to the oncoming fleet. We need to find out if the fleet is still being directed here by these ‘scouts’ as you would call them, or if the cult really was only an offshoot of a dispersed whole. May the Emperor guide our judgement in this matter.”

“The Emperor guides his faithful.” Kyrech replied and stepped away.

++Sir! Do you copy?++

++Loud and clear Hyte. What have you found?++

++Not exactly a hulk sir, a large organic structure, but laced with metallic compounds. Looks like more of a hive ship to me.++

++Understood. The fleet must have sent out scouts to solidify the signal. Unfortunately for us, this means that the cult is more widespread than just this planet. We need to warn the chapter. How long until they return?++

++At least a native week sir, although the days are shorter here than on Baal, the nights are twice the length, due to the axis of rotation of the planet.++

++Alright, Fortify this hab-block, we defend here until the fleet arrives. Emperor willing, the orks are all we have to defend against.++

++Understood.++

Kyrech moved to clear away bodies from around the hab-block, and Hyte and Gavla set about closing and welding shut the doors to the block. Forran retrieved some mines from the guard’s corpses and began to lay them in a codex-approved pattern. “Sir! We’ve got movement! The orks are coming!”

“Move inside! Standard fire patterns covering all access points. Don’t shoot unless you’ve got a target. We’re trying to avoid a close quarters situation, there are enough orks here to kill us through sheer weight of bodies, and we no longer have the guard’s support.” The squad moved through the motions drilled into them hundreds of times in training, and then hundreds more on battlefields across the imperium. Sergeant Forran stooped as he entered the hab-block, passing Kyrech as he covered the last remaining door, and took up position on the west side of the hab-block, leaving the south and east to Gavla and Hyte. “Orks closing, much faster than usual, 200 metres, closing.”

“Emperor be with us”

“Wait, something’s happening. The orks are slowing, stopping. There’s something else out there! I’ve lost the ork’s signal.” Hyte shook the scanner and the screen began to resolve. “I’ve got a signal, Unknown numbers, not moving. They’re all around us!”

A shrill scream sounded from one of the corners.
“What was that?” Sergeant Forran moved to the corner from which the sound emanated, and picked up a raggy bundle with one hand, which when he turned it over revealed small, malnourished limbs, straggly dirty blond hair, hands clutching what appeared to be an imperial prayer book, and a sobbing face. Under the girl Forran saw the reason for her shriek – a pair of three-fingered hands, were clawing their way out of a ventilation shaft. “For the Emperor!” Cade let off a round of shells into the shaft, spattering the edges of the while with a purple ichor, which ate through the surrounding metal like acid, before dissipating. The girl raised her head, and seeing the space marine holding her, lunged towards him, wrapping her arms as far around his neck as she could. “Emperor be praised!” she sobbed. “He has answered my prayers! He has sent his angels to protect me!”

“Sir! We have movement! They’re coming!” Cade peeled the girl off him, smiling inside his helmet despite the grim situation, and placed the girl in the rubble at his feet. “Stay here. I’ll keep you safe. I swear, I'll make sure you get out of here.”