1_For_The_Emperor

by Sandy Mitchel

  Just beyond the first of them, a makeshift barricade had been erected across the corridor, which gave on to a slightly wider chamber beyond, narrowing the way to the width of a single man.

  'It looks like a checkpoint/ Trebek said, and Kelp snorted loudly.

  *What was your first clue?' he asked.

  She was right, though, the obstruction was clearly meant more to regulate traffic than to keep intruders out; presumably that had been the job of the

  contingent further back, until the tau had relieved them of the responsibility. Otherwise it would have been sited with a great deal more care, and I mentioned as much to Amberley.

  'What do you mean?' she asked, which told me that whatever else they know, inquisitors tend not to think like soldiers.1

  'It's in the illuminated area/ I pointed out. 'If they were seriously expecting intruders, they would have placed their pickets forward, in the dark, where their eyes would adjust and they'd be able to see down the corridor. As it is, they can't see anything from here outside the pool of light/

  'Which greatly assisted us in gaining the element of surprise/ Gorok added helpfully. Reminded of his presence, I turned just in time to see him bend down and take a large bite out of the human corpse lying at his feet. Bile rose in my throat, and the troopers muttered anxiously, or vented expletives of disgust. Kelp started to bring his hellgun to bear, then thought better of it.

  The tau, I noticed, all seemed to be looking somewhere else as their allies began their obscene meal, as though they were equally disgusted but too polite to mention it. Then, to my even greater surprise, Gorok spat the gobbet of meat out, and I was reminded of the similar thing we'd seen before. He rattled off something in his native

  1 And why should we, when we can call on our own Astartes Chapters for that kind of thing?

  tongue, and the other kroot dropped their potential snacks too.

  'What in the Emperor's name was all that about?' I whispered to Amberley, but she just shrugged.

  'Sorry, I don't speak kroot/ Gorok's hearing must have been preternaturally acute, though, at least by human standards, because he answered me.

  'Tainted, like the others/ He made a sound I took to be indicative of disgust.

  Tainted, how?' Amberley asked. Gorok spread his hands, a curiously human gesture for an alien, which I assumed he'd picked up from whoever had taught him Gothic.

  'It is the…/ He lapsed into kroot for a few whistles and clicks. There's no exact equivalent in your tongue which I know. The twisted molecules which replicate…/

  The genes? DNA?' Amberley asked. Gorok cocked his head on one side, apparently considering it, and asked one of the tau a question in that language. 'Something similar/ he said at last. The tau know of it too, but not as we do/

  'You're trying to tell me you can taste their DNA?' I asked incredulously. Gorok cocked his head again.

  'Not exactly. As you lack the ability, it would be like describing colour to a blind man. But I am a shaper, and I can perceive such things/

  'And their genes are tainted/ Amberley nodded to herself, as though it confirmed something she suspected, and a terrible realisation hit me. The nagging memories of some previous campaign, our

  conversation at the palace the first time we met; suddenly I knew what she expected to find down here, and it was all I could do not to turn on my heels and run, screaming, for the surface.

  Editorial Note:

  Despite my misgivings about the style, or, more accurately lack of it, I feel it would be helpful to insert the only eyewitness account of the mobilisation of the 597th. I've been able to locate at this point. Readers with a refined appreciation for the Gothic language may prefer to skip this section. For those of you who wish to persevere, my apologies.

  Extracted from Like a Phoenix From the Flames: The Founding of the 597th, by General Jenit Sulla (retired), 097.M42

  Imagine, if you can, the awful sense of futility which hung over us in those darkest of days. As the city we were here to protect burned around us, the flames of our impatience blazed no less furiously in our breasts. For here we were, sworn warriors of the Blessed Emperor, enjoined we knew not why to step back from the fray which every woman and man of us yearned to enter. Yet we stayed our hand, grim duty no less inflexible for being unwelcome, for had we not sworn to obey? And obey we did, despite the anguish we all felt at our enforced inaction, until at last the lord general gave the order to mobilise.

  I think I can truly speak for all when I say that at the news that our regiment, newly born, all but untried, was to take the lead in this magnificent endeavour, our hearts swelled within us, borne aloft on the wings of pride, and a determination to show that the lord general's confidence had not been bestowed upon us in vain.

  As I led my platoon to our Chimeras, I could see the whole regiment lined up and battle-ready for the first time, and a sight to stir the blood it truly was. Dozens of engines rumbled, and our sentinels formed up alongside us. I noticed that Captain Shambas was smiling broadly as he checked the

  heavy flamer mounted on his doughty steed, and I paused to exchange a few words with him.

  'I love the smell of promethium in the morning,' he said, and I nodded, understanding the urge he felt to unleash the cleansing fire of retribution against the Emperor's enemies.

  As I mounted my command Chimera and took my accustomed place in the top turret, I kept turning my head hoping for a glimpse of the legendary Commissar Cain, the man whose courage and martial zeal was an inspiration to us all, and whose dedication and selflessness had turned us from an ill-disciplined rabble into a crack fighting unit that even the lord general deemed worthy of notice; but he was nowhere to be seen, no doubt even then bestowing the benefit of his wisdom on those entrusted with ensuring our final victory. Indeed, as the Emperor willed it, I wasn't to set eyes on him until that final climactic confrontation which lives on in the annals of honour to this day. At length, Colonel Kasteen took to her own Chimera, and gave the eagerly awaited order to advance.

  A stirring sight we must have been as we moved out, to the cheers and envious glances of less fortunate regiments. Beyond the perimeter, however, I must admit that my spirits were somewhat dampened by the devastation which met our eyes. Hollow-eyed civilians gazed at us from the ruins of their homes, and curses and lumps of masonry were

  frequently thrown in our direction. Fruitless to protest that this wilderness of desolation was none of our doing, for they had every right to expect protection from the tau invaders, and we had left them bereft. Everywhere wreckage burned, and the bodies were scattered in profusion - many in the uniform of the PDF, some modified with strips of blue cloth to proclaim their allegiance to the alien despoilers. Naught had it benefited them though, and they had reaped the just reward of all turncoats; but whether at the hands of their more loyal fellows or the interlopers they had sought to appease, His Divine Majesty alone knew.

  Of the tau themselves we saw little sign, save, on occasion, a rounded tank hull hovering ominously at the end of a street, or a swiftly darting dreadnought keeping pace with us for a block or two. For the most part, however, they seemed content to watch us through the eyes of their aerial pictcasters, which floated like flying plates above the rooftops or flitted around our vehicles like flies around grox. Had it not been for our orders, I'm certain that many would have been downed by our sharpshooters; but however intolerable they found this provocation, not one of our stout-hearted cohort broke faith by opening fire.

  It was only as we approached the precincts of the governor's palace that the resistance we'd expected truly began, and it was of a kind we were ill-prepared to face, and had no reason to expect.

  THIRTEEN

  Taking the long view is all well and prudent, but take care that you don't become so preoccupied with it that you miss what's right under your nose.

  – Precepts of Saint Emelia, Chapter XXXIV, Verse XII.

  We pressed on, even more warily now if that were possible, because
it was obvious from the presence and layout of the checkpoint that we were somewhere deep inside die perimeter of the enemy encampment. The tau took the lead again, which was fine by me, as whatever sensor gear diey had inside those odd-shaped helmets of theirs seemed a good deal more reliable than Amberley's auspex. She'd consulted it a few more times since it had failed to detect our alien

  companions, but after Gorok's announcement and my panic-stricken deduction of what we truly faced, I wasn't expecting anything more from it. Of course, some of the enemy down here might still be suffi-ciendy human to register on the thing, but I'd be a damn sight more worried about the ones that weren't. So I relied on my eyes and ears, and dropped back far enough to voice my fears to Amberley where the others were unlikely to overhear us.

  'This isn't what you were expecting to find, is it?' I asked, trying desperately to keep my voice calm. Even so, it seemed to be rising in pitch to an alarming degree. Amberley looked at me with her usual appearance of cheery good humour, which I was beginning to suspect was as much a mask as my own attempt at professional detachment.

  To be honest, no,' she admitted. 'I thought we were just after some run-of-the-mill insurrectionists when we came down here. If we're right, this changes things a bit.'

  A damn sight more than a bit so far as I was concerned, but I wasn't about to be out-cooled by anyone, so I just nodded agreement as though I was considering our options carefully.

  'I can't get a message back to command/1 said. We've come too deep.' All I'd been able to raise on my combead for some time was static. I looked at her hopefully. 'Unless you've got something more powerful?'

  "Fraid not.' She shook her head, apparently only mildly put out by the inconvenience. 'So I guess we're on our own/

  'I could take Jurgen and backtrack a bit/ I suggested. Try to get a message through at least. The lord general should be informed of our suspicions right away. If we're right, we need a couple of regiments down here, not half a squad and a handful of xenos/

  'I appreciate the offer, Ciaphas/ She looked at me with those wide blue eyes, a twinkle of amusement in the back of them, and I felt suddenly sure that she could read my true intentions with ease. 'But at the moment, suspicion is all we have. If we're wrong/ and I hoped to the Emperor we were, 'mobilising that number of troops would only undermine our truce with the tau/

  And if we're right, chances are none of us will survive to warn him/ I said. 'I've done this before, remember?'

  'I've had a little experience with aliens too/ she reminded me, and I suddenly realised I was all but arguing with an inquisitor. That was a sobering thought, and I shut up fast. Amberley smiled at me again. 'But you do have a point. As soon as we have confirmation one way or the other, we'll pull back/ That was something at least. I nodded my agreement.

  'I think that would be prudent. Even with the xenos' firepower we wouldn't stand much of a chance otherwise/

  'Oh, I don't know/ She smiled again, to herself this time, as though she knew something I didn't. (Which she did, of course, but she was an inquisitor after all, so I guess she was supposed to.) "We might have a bit

  of an edge ourselves.' She was glancing at Jurgen as she said it, and I remember thinking one melta gun wasn't going to make all that much of a difference. But of course, it did in the end, and that wasn't the edge she'd been thinking of in any case.

  We'd gone on for maybe another three kilometres when the shas'ui held up his curious malformed hand for silence. Over the last couple of hours we'd become quite adept at reading the non-verbal signals of our alien companions, although none of us were really at ease with them. Kelp at least looked as though he was just waiting for an excuse to open fire, and much as I disliked the man, I had to admit that he probably had a point. Xenos were xenos after all, and even though we were supposed to be on the same side at the moment, I knew from bitter experience that any such alliances could only be temporary, and were liable to be bloodily severed without warning at any time.

  'He says he's picking up life forms ahead, in large quantities/ Gorok said quietly, translating the flickering finger signs. The tau all had voxcasters and Emperor knew what else built into their helmets, but their kroot allies had no such aids to communication, and, I was beginning to suspect, would have spurned them if they'd been offered anyway. So they used this peculiar semaphore to pass orders and information silently, in much the same way that Guard units did when the troopers didn't have individual combeads, or the enemy was so close they might have overheard a verbal transmission.

  'How large?' Amberley whispered, taking a final look at the screen of the auspex, which, for once, actually seemed to be displaying some life signs that weren't ours or the six troopers with us. The answer seemed to perturb her slightly, as I could see far fewer blips than the number Gorok translated, but then that worried me too as it seemed to confirm our worst fears.

  'We're going to have to confirm this visually, aren't we?' I asked, not because I expected an answer, but because asking the question gave me the comforting illusion of some measure of control over my destiny. Which, at that point, I thought was all too likely to be short, bloody, and messily terminated. Amberley nodded, looking grimmer than I would have thought possible, and it suddenly struck me that even an inquisitor could feel fear under the right circumstances (and if ever the circumstances were right to be terrified, these were the ones).

  'I'm afraid so/ she said, sounding as though she actually meant it.

  I've often wondered since if things would have worked out any differently if we'd warned the troopers in advance what we were getting into. After all, they were all veterans, and had fought a tyranid invasion to a standstill, so they weren't likely to have flown into a panic at the news. But on the other hand, I didn't trust them, and that was the plain, honest truth. For all I knew, if I told them what we'd surmised, they'd simply desert, killing Amberley to cover their tracks as Sorel had suggested. And me too,

  of course, which was the really important issue so far as I was concerned.

  So, rightly or wrongly, I kept my mouth shut, and let them go on thinking we were simply after an insurrectionist cell; and if that left their blood on my hands I can live with it. It's not like I haven't done far worse, to far less-deserving people over the years, and I haven't lost any sleep over them either.1

  After a few more moments of consultation, which Amberley and Gorok helpfully translated, we moved on, more cautious than before. A few metres ahead, the corridor seemed to open out into a wider chamber, as we'd seen several times already on our journey through the undercity, and I expected this one to be little different - like the one we'd discovered the checkpoint in, or the larger one where the tau had slaughtered the outer guards. So as I reached the opening, and peered cautiously round it, my breath left my body in an involuntary gasp.

  The chamber was huge, vaulted tens of metres over our heads, like the schola chapel where I'd spent many dull and draughty hours as a juvie listening to old Chaplain Desones droning on about duty and loyalty to the Emperor, and furtively swapping salacious holopicts with the other cadets. The atmosphere here was about as far from musty piety as it was possible to get; however, palpable danger seeped from every corner.

  1 I suspect this isn't entirely true; I've certainly known him to be woken by nightmares on several occasions.

  We'd come out on a mezzanine gallery some twenty metres above the floor, and, Emperor be praised, there was a waist-high balustrade around it which afforded us a measure of concealment. We crouched behind it, humans and aliens alike, equally appalled at the sight which met our eyes.

  The space below us was vast, receding into the distance like a forgeworld manufactoria. I'd seen a Titan maintenance bay once, where Warhounds were rearmed and readied for battle, and the huge echoing space had bustled with the same sense of martial purpose. Instead of towering metal giants, however, this space held only people, scurrying to and fro in their hundreds, tending to vast machines of great antiquity whose purpose I could o
nly guess at.1 Of rather more immediate interest to me, though, were the ones carrying, drilling with, and maintaining with a meticulousness which would have done credit to a member of the Imperial Guard, more small arms than I was happy to see in the hands of anyone other than His Majesty's most loyal servants.

  'Emperor's bones!' Trebek muttered. There's an entire army of them down here!' A few short, sibilant exclamations from among the tau were enough to confirm that they were as unpleasantiy surprised as we were.

  1 Subsequent study of the city records leads me to believe we were in one of the primary distribution centres of the water purification system. Like many examples of technology from the early days of settlement on human worlds, it had apparentiy been functioning undisturbed for several millennia, and would no doubt have continued to do so indefinitely if we hadn't started blowing holes in it shortly thereafter.

  'It's worse than that/ Kelp muttered. Amberley and I exchanged concerned glances, already aware of what he'd noticed, but then we'd been expecting it, and had known what to look for.

  'How do you mean?' Holenbi whispered, his habitual frown of puzzlement back on his face.

  'They're mutants/ Sorel told him, scanning the chamber through the magnifying optics of his sniper scope. 'Some of them, anyway' A ripple of unease stirred the troopers, an atavistic loathing of the unclean rising to the surface despite their training and discipline. Now that someone had pointed it out, the contamination was obvious: though many of the cultists below us were human, or could pass for it, others were unmistakably something else. In some cases, it was as subtle as a wrongness of posture, a peculiar hunching of the back, or an elongation of the face, but in others it was far more pronounced. In these individuals the taint of the alien was obvious, their skin hardened almost to armour, their jaws wide and filled with fangs; a few sprouted extra limbs, tipped with razor-sharp claws.