Portent 17/04/2006 - 15:30
"INCOMIIIIING!"
Korrek ducked and covered his head instinctively, offering a prayer of thanks to the Emperor that he was showered only in stinging dirt rather than flesh rending shrapnel thanks to a nearby wall. His gratitude at his own survival seemed selfish a second later as the horrid stench of burning flesh reached him. That's one thing you never get used to about war, he thought sadly. Trying not to look in the direction of the incinerated corpses of his fellow soldiers Korrek lead his unit to the next piece of cover, the bombed out shell of an old hab-block. Tired and demoralised by days of heavy fighting, every step tested his will, Korrek's strength long since sapped along with that of his men. The proverbial straw that broke the camels back was a searing blast from a Las Cannon. It was overkill for the enemy to use it on troops, but then who could blame them when Korrek and the other Guardsmen didn't even have tank support out here. Two soldiers fell an instant after the laser melted a giant hole through their chests. Korrek could take no more. This is wrong, he thought. In fact, this is madness, beyond reason. Command may be able to send these men to die but I can't, we don't even have frikin' tank support out here.
"PULL BACK!" He screamed. "RETREAT! C'MON MEN, RUN LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT BECAUSE RIGHT NOW IT DAMN WELL DOES."
For a second his troops looked bewildered - if they didn't die here they'd probably be shot for deserting on their return to base.
"But sir, your orders…".
"My orders from command are insane, soldier. If I have to risk a firing squad for insubordination, so be it. I won't lead these men to early shallow graves at the whim of command." He ignored an attempted interruption from the soldier and continued. "We're already getting torn to shreds and we've only come into range of their long range heavy weaponry so far, now MOVE."
His unit moved slowly and hesitantly at first, reluctant to disobey orders from the top, but soon their hesitant fall back turned into a full on retreat prompted by the terrifying pounding of shell after shell and Korrek's shouted orders.
After half a days march through the ruined buildings of the sole, sprawling city on the planet Tersa Secundus, they reached base camp, an old abattoir that was one of the few buildings still left standing. Shifting his shouldered Lasgun Korrek took a deep breath as he entered the base. "I must be mad, running from the enemy like this into the jaws of the lion." He shrugged. "Not much point hiding either I guess, at least I get a roof over my head this way."
The only light in the room came from a dimly glowing light bulb in the ceiling. The lingering smell of meat and disinfectant betrayed the room's former role as a meat freezer though it now served as a makeshift holding cell. Even though it had long been switched off it still felt numbingly cold to Korrek who sat against a steel wall, stripped of his medals, rank, and dignity.
"What're you in for?"
Korrek quickly turned his head towards the voice and saw a guardsman bearing a jagged scar on one cheek.
"Who are you? They didn't tell me I had a cellmate."
"Yeah, well they didn't tell me about you either, guess all due courtesy goes out the window when you defy your superiors."
"Wh… how'd you know I did that?"
The other man smiled. "I didn't, I was talking about me. Got caught stealing rations so me and my buddies didn't starve. Again. They haven't said anything but I'll probably be shot tomorrow. The Guard isn't known for its leniency and it's not like I'll be missed. So what're you here for?"
"Telling General Mishkov where he can stick his orders."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. Well, I didn't tell him so much as show him. I saved the collective asses of my unit and now I'm gonna die because of it. Where's the justice in that? I've fought for the Emperor for eight long years now and just because I disobeyed a senseless order, I'm done for. Hey, what's your name anyway?"
"Call me Bull." Bull reached back to scratch his neck and continued. "Say, you didn't head up the Chevek 36th did you?"
Korrek looked up and said nothing, although the look of concern on his face answered Bull's question for him. "Oh man, I'm sorry. I heard the guards outside talking just before you turned up. Your unit is being sent to the Tanar Mountains and the rebels are crawling all over them. Terrain is too rough for our tanks and they'll almost certainly be outnumbered. It's a suicide mission just like the one you came back from, and this time they're under orders to complete it or all face the firing squad. They haven't got a chance, they're just being thrown in there as bait, probably to turn the attention of the corrupted rebels away from the real attack. They're toast, and Command know it."
Korrek sat silent for a minute then let out a bitter laugh. "I wonder who'll live longer, me or them. I might even be considered lucky, at least now I won't end up as some Chaos scum's trophy."
Bull laughed too, but it turned out for a different reason. "Chaos, now there's a name you wouldn't have heard a while ago. You heard of the Battle for Silaneph IV?"
"Yeah, we beat the rebels and won control of the main city but then the Eldar surprised us by turning up and carpet bombing the entire army. Command didn't know why but those two-faced Eldar bastards and their actions never make sense anyway. That was centuries ago though."
"Convenient isn't it?"
Korrek paused again. "What?"
"Command's explanation for it all. You've heard of an Exterminatus device right? Wipe an entire continent of all life but they're only used as a last resort."
"An entire continent…" whispered Korrek as it suddenly clicked.
"That's right" Bull said, nodding.
"But… no, why would the Imperium destroy an entire Imperial Guard army? It must've been the Eldar like they said."
"You think Chaos is a new thing, right?"
"Yeah, last century the bastards turned up."
"Wrong. They've ALWAYS been around, since forever. You really think they just appeared out of nowhere? In past times even the Marines would be brain-wiped if they came into contact with Chaos forces. And us? Well, we weren't allowed to know at all. Not for long anyway."
"Emperor be…"
"Yeah, it's hard to take when it hits you. Only reason we're allowed to even know they exist now is because Chaos has become too big a secret to contain, and even then it's not like they tell us where they come from or anything, and the Imperium must know."
"How do you know all this anyway."
"I kept my ears and eyes open my friend. The Imperium teaches us to do otherwise and now you know why - an inquiring mind within their ranks is as dangerous an enemy as our forces will ever face on the battlefield."
Next thing a bang came at the door. "Hey, shut up in there will ya."
Bull slumped from his sitting position to lie on the floor. "Night. Don't think too hard about what I just told ya, might get nightmares."
Korrek snorted but it was half hearted - he knew Bull was right.
Korrek paced the room, trying not to trip over anything though the floor was barren enough that it hardly mattered.
"Don't tell me." Bull said. "You decided you might as well spend what few hours you've got left awake rather than waste them sleeping."
"Damn, I woke you up?"
"Nah, I figured I'd spend what scant hours I've got left awake too." Bull grinned, though with the light out Korrek didn't see it.
"You know what a crisis of faith is, right Bull?"
"Hey, before we get with the chit chat again how about you turn the light on."
"Oh, sure." The switch clicked and the old bulb slowly warmed up and dimly lit the room. Korrek turned round and, just as it seemed he would say something, laughed. "Heh, now, you see, that's just one example of how I've already changed. A few days ago I'd have shouted you down for ordering me around like that, getting me to flip the light switch. I'm… I mean, I was your superior officer for crying out loud. But now it's not as if it matters, I've got about as much authority as some snot nosed Hive city juve. Just about the only difference between us that matters now is who's gonna get their skull perforated first."
"Korrek, in the end people like you and me don't matter. Sergeants, Captains, all irrelevant. It's the big wigs, the Generals and Commissars who count, they're the lynchpin. If they're not there everything falls apart, descends into chaos."
Seeming to ignore Bull's last comment Korrek continued. "You ever expected to be a changed man some day Bull, to experience some life changing moment that made you… I dunno, fight harder, think straighter, or just feel different? Well Emperor knows why, but I did. I just never thought my life and view of it would change for the worse. You're grinning again, why are you always doing that?"
The line of Bull's mouth straightened out suddenly. "I'm sorry, I just… you're beginning to see the truth."
Korrek narrowed his eyes at Bull. "Depends what truth we're talking about here."
"The truth of this battle, why thousands of us men are thrown at the enemy every day, usually just to slow them down so the Marines can come or to get in the way of their combat troops so they can't hit our tanks. We're cannon fodder, and what hurts even more than that fact is the obvious assumption that follows - the Emperor that we pray to so hard, every day, simply doesn't care. Hey, he might not even exist."
Depressed and confused though he was, Korrek couldn't help but jerk his head up suddenly in shock. "Blasphemy. That's blasphemy! Were there an Inquisitor behind you you'd be nothing but a bleeding corpse right now. How can you say that?"
"Think about it this way. You've never met the Emperor, all this about a Golden Throne, this planet called Earth… you've never been there have you. For all we know these Adeptus Terra guys could be the ones pulling all the strings, and that's assuming the Emperor is even alive. He could be dead for all we know. How many people do you know who can live for hundreds of years? If he's so special and our great saviour, how come he can't even move?"
Korrek was a strong man. He'd fought many battles, witnessed the death of countless fellow soldiers, but as Bulls words smashed down the beliefs he based his life and reason for fighting around, or at least pointed to the holes in those beliefs, he came very close to sobbing. Nothing made sense anymore. No matter how hard he wanted to believe in the simple truths preached to him about the Emperor and his Imperium, it was all too hard to anymore. Were he his former self looking at this confused man in a cell he'd ridicule such weakness but Korrek didn't care.
Taking a deep breath he managed to speak clearly and without a quiver to his voice. "It doesn't matter. Tomorrow I'm dead, my worries burnt away by however many Lasgun shots. Nothing I can do will change anything."
"Oh," said Bull, looking up from the floor back at Korrek again "that's not necessarily true."
After catching only an hour or two of sleep Korrek was woken by the door to the makeshift cell being opened. Upon seeing the soldier framed in the doorway he turned to Bull and they exchanged barely discernable nods.
Korrek turned back to the soldier in the doorway, stood and walked towards him. "Jed, is that you? Oh man, they're gonna kill me Jed, I've done nothing wrong." Korrek half collapsed into the soldier and embraced him, seeming to sob briefly. The soldier pushed him off just as the dark skinned Guardsman behind him was moving to hit Korrek with the butt of his Lasgun.
"The name's Horgen, traitor, and I don't know who in the universe Jed is. Now get moving and don't come near me again unless you want the butt of this gun across your face, or worse."
Korrek trudged down the corridor, hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.
Korrek was shoved into what served as a temporary office and the door shut behind him. Seeing General Mishkov and, to his surprise, Commissar Chandeg before him, he smiled.
"You can wipe that smile off your face right now, son. The only reason I haven't had you shot already is because I want answers. You've been a damn good Sergeant for years now with the Imperial Guard, and all of a sudden you disobey a direct order, putting back our victory effort by days in one swift act of stupidity. Just what have you got to say for yourself?"
Korrek widened his smile into a broad grin much like Bull's. "Time I did something useful" he said.
The two guards outside the door stood idly.
"You keep tapping the barrel of that rifle against your leg and you're gonna melt a hole through your foot pretty soon."
"Just how dumb do I look?" He hefted the rifle and pointed to the safety which was on. "See?"
"Yeah, alright, guess you can't always be stupid. Still, you're not the brightest soldier though are you Dowden? That's why I'm trusted to carry a grenade or two and you're not."
Dowden looked down at Horgen's waist and narrowed his eyes. "Horgen, you haven't got a single grenade on you."
Horgen's eyes widened as he looked down at his belt. "Oh sh…". The explosion blew the door off and sent shards of the thin concrete wall slicing into the two guards. Most of the Guardsmen in the base heard the explosion, but by the time anyone reached the scene of the explosion there was nothing left but charred, scattered body parts and smouldering furniture strewn with shards of concrete. Were he visible they'd see a figure with a scar down one cheek standing grinning amidst the carnage before he vanished, as if by sorcery, having carried out the will of his eternal, twisted master.
By Pete Closs
