Fire. That's how it started. That's how it usually always started when something went wrong in a hive city. It could be an incident at a manufactorum or a gang war in the underhive, or something completely different. Usually in such cases, there would be a fire that destroyed everything in its path and left sections of the city in ruins.
From the balcony where Rosa Pierste was watching, she could see the fires rising. It was not something unusual in a hive city, but this time, something felt wrong. These were not like the usual fires from minor accidents and skirmishes. These were fires of war, lighting up the city in enormous flames. They flared up all over the enormous city, many of them caused by the rain of steel that was currently hailing down on the surface.
Rosa had spent most of her life in the upper levels of the hive city without any need to visit the lower levels. The lower levels were slums in which all sorts of criminals, deviants and mutants sooner or later would end up. Never in her life had she needed to witness violence or death. The Arbites or Planetary Defense Force had dealt with that for her. All that was about to change.
In the next second, an explosion occurred outside. The sheer force of the explosion knocked Rosa over to the ground, and a wave of dust, glass fragments and debris followed. No time to waste. She grabbed her communication device and yelled into it.
"This is Rosa Pierste, secretary to the Governor! Explosion near Governor's office, I repeat, explosion near Governor's office!"
The Imperial Guard Planetary Defense Force would most likely be there in a matter of minutes. Today, that'd prove to be too late. She could see a group of enormous hulking shadows approach through the hole in the wall on the other side of the corridor. Once they got into the light, the sight was to say the least, terrifying.
Five gigantic warriors in black and gold armor with horned helmets were approaching. Four of them were carrying rifles. Their leader carried a garguantan sword. Whoever they were, they were not part of any planet-based military organization. Rosa did the only logical thing she could think of: Run.
She moved down the hallway which would lead to safety, provided she got to the elevator in time. If she did, it would be a simple matter of taking it to the floor where the Guard was.
To her horror, the explosion earlier had caused enough debris to obstruct the entire hallway. No way around it, and clearing it away would need more strength and time than Rosa could manage. Damn it! Maybe she could run back and take a different path? The second she turned around it was already too late for her to do anything.
The warriors (whoever they were) were blocking the hallway. As if that wasn't bad enough, they were coming right towards her. With her last hope, she mumbled a prayer.
"Holy God-Emperor upon Terra, protect me from these beings and make sure I get out unharmed." If she survived, she would never mistrust the Emperor again. But this day, fate just had it so that the Emperor was not merciful or not listening to her prayer. The warriors had cornered Rosa and a force of sheer dread filled her stomach.
The leader of the warriors stood only centimeters from her with his sword held high. A demonic voice came from inside the armor. The voice was dark, frightening and raspy as if it had come from the Warp itself. Even the most loyal of Commissars would have their hearts filled with fear.
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
Those ten atrocious words would be the last words Rosa ever heard in her life, along with the sight of a sword coming down towards her. It was clear what was going to happen. This planet would soon fall to Chaos.
