The Emperor's Mercy

Part 1

            The tunnels reeked of mold and mildew, and there was a semi-sweet wetness to the air. Dull gray formed the side walls, and a paler grey tile riddled the floor, cracking in many places from millennia of use and wear. Flickering lumen strips lined the ceiling, shoddily placed and poorly wired, further adding to the unease of this place. The clatter of the Marines’ footfalls drowned out our own. They were clad in an eerie dark green, and the symbol of a winged sword marked several spots on their suits. The marine leading the squad was swathed in bone colored robes, hanging from his shoulders to his waist, then draping further down to his ankles. He bore a helmet with small wings branching from above where the ‘ears’ would be, and a sigil of an Angel of Death on the helm’s forehead. Imposing were all the marines, but the veteran sergeant displayed something even more, an aura of sheer determination, nothing less than that of a hunter on the coattails of an elusive and devious prey.

            My squad of Guardsmen and I were trailing behind the super-humans, walking twice as fast as they were, just to keep up. They rounded the corner, barely out of sight, when I heard their steps become much more rapid. We began sprinting to catch up to them, but our mere human physique couldn’t keep up.

            They must’ve found the enemy, I wondered, still sprinting at the head of my men. The humidity down here made for difficult breathing, and it wasn’t long until we had to slow ourselves. Any more sprinting and we’d pass out from asphyxiation, so we adopted a steadier pace. The Astartes feet kept cluttering in the distance, pounding on the stone ground in a well-bred rhythm. A second sound also boomed down the halls of the tunnels; it sounded like ancient metal slamming on metal.

I led my squad around the next bend and witnessed Astartes do what they are best at. At this point I discovered that the metallic burst I heard was a relic of an old door, several thousand years older than I was. The marines were attaching a melta bomb to it. The bomb made an audible click, latching itself firmly to the door, and then a ‘beep’ signaled that it was armed. The mighty soldiers stacked abreast to the door, bolters at the ready. The Veteran Sergeant thumbed the switch of his massive sword, causing the teeth of the weapon to whir and reciprocate. He made a nod-like gesture, and the veteran at the end of the stack reached for his gauntlet. He pressed the activation button and the bomb blew.

            In an instant the once sealed door was blown through, the edges of the blast radius a melting, red-hot and sagging mess of liquid metal. The Astartes poured in, firing already. I couldn’t see any of what was going on inside the chamber, too much smoke still rising from the gaping hole. All I knew was that we’d likely be in their way if we were to enter as well. I ordered the men to halt and await orders from the Marines for backup or to enter. The acoustics made every shot deafening, and made the screams of the Marines’ prey more audible as well. I heard mostly men, maybe a woman or two.

            Then one sound stood out, something like a bomb going off, but not exactly. It was more like a pressurized canister was releasing something, and it certainly wasn’t piping or duct work, these ancient halls were void of anything but makeshift lumen strips. The smoke snaking up from the burning hatch was suddenly cut through by a thicker, pallid green hue.  It poured closer to my squad. I wanted to give the order to fall back, but instead I ordered them to stand fast. Oh how wrong I was to do that. The gaseous substance finally washed over us. The soldier to my left jerked over and fell to his knees, emptying his stomach’s contents onto the pale flooring tiles. Several more followed, some falling to their sides and passing out. It finally got me too; I wretched over violently and viewed the ration gruel I had for breakfast for a second time today. Then I fell over and-

            “GAH!”