A Child Dies
Planet Orobous in the central of the Boson System a well-populated planet that mined the ore that would eventually become the framework for Rhinos and Land Raiders. Orobous was a desert world with sparse lush forests and its water was heavily toxic with the waste of leaked ores. As a result Orobous' population had short lifespans to compensate for the average forty years of life for a native and more importantly to keep the forgeworld at maximum production, the Adeptus Mechanicum turned the world into a prison planet. The Administration believed they'd solved two problems at once; prisoners would be shipped en masse to Orobous and left to either mine thirty hours of the thirty-six hour days until they dropped or be shot for whatever reason the guards decided. The second was that this cheap labour force would allow Planetary Governors to rid them selves of criminals that caused trouble.
Morton was such prisoner, he'd been born when his mother had been raped by some unknown men. At the young age of eight, he like the thousands of children had spent his life crawling in and amongst machinery fixing the decrepit machines. Many of his friends had been killed through a combination of malnutrition, exhaustion and being sent into mines with little or no training few children survived.
As slaves they had very little rights, all the guards and authorities cared about was keeping the mines producing ore. This meant little time was spent with a formal education, no medicare was set up and the habs were built up in a very haphazard fashion. There're choking the skies and on the claustrophobic surfaces of these buildings disease and sewage was ripe. Food was scarce, exhausted workers would spend hours working for meager scraps occasionally the guards would round up twenty or so and offer a full cooked meal and the day off to the winner of a fight to the death. These street fights were fierce and a meal like this was well worth killing for.
Morton awoke covered in a dry sweat, the guards were making their rounds; dragging late risers out with harsh beatings. The prospect of spending yet another day in the mines made him feel sick. He'd twisted his ankle a few days escaping a collapse, he'd lost his close friend Millie. She had saved him by pushing him through a small gap and when he turned to help her the gap was gone and all that remained was a small hand. Focusing on the present he dragged his battered body from his stone floor, he passed on washing, the stagnant water was only for drinking.
Morton ran as hard as he could wincing in pain and just managed to make it to the march lines before the guards made their rounds. The march lines were where hundreds of men, women and children were forced to march across the desert to where the mines lay. Morton walked as hard as he could, fire lanced from his ankle at the mines workers from the night shift wearily slugged out; faces covered in dust, dirt and other grime. The guard growled at him, his job was to enter a collapsed tunnel and place demolition charges.
A man protested that a child would surely be killed in such a task, the guard pounced on him and beat him almost to death. His fists rose and fell again and again till the man was broken and bleeding. Dragging him to his feet he was informed that he would be on detonater and when the child made it, he would push the button, blowing the rubble clear and killing Morton.
Morton hand the charges strapped tightly to his back and was sent into the mines, a shock collar was fastened to his head and he was given a painful taster of what was to come if he was to delay. Morton picked himself up barely and with a sick feeling that this was his last day alive he entered the mines. Tears rolled down face as he passed workers, some gave him a sympathetic look, others looked away knowing that to stop working could result in them joining him on his suicidal walk.
As he climbed down the increasingly small shaft, he reflected on the some of his life; born into slavery, taken from his mother hours after his birth and raised in a derelict orphanage which had a mortality rate akin to other aspects of this hopeless world. Now he was climbing down to his death, because somebody had allowed this tunnel to collapse, this was he felt a terrible injustice to him, he'd always done as asked, after seeing a gang of guards beat a man to death with long metal poles. The fire in his ankle was excruciating as he climbed down a steep mine shaft. He grunted in agony as he put pressure on it, a thought entered his mind he was at least a hab block high, if he was to let go he'd fall to his death, but the guards would not get their wish. It seemed like a good plan until a voice reasoned that they'd just send some other child down.
Morton climbed down further, he could see the bottom mercifully they'd given him a flashlight that barely worked. He could hear the rumble of drilling overhead, at least he was near the bottom. Then it happened his foot snagged a jutting out piece of ore, it ripped into his foot causing him to scream, he screamed again as pressure was put on his other ankle. He stopped fighting back agonised pain coursing through his body, he heard a voice through his collar ordering him to move. There was no concern or delay his shock collar ignited throwing him from the wall like a stone cast aside. He landed awkwardly his back breaking in several places on the hard stone. Not moving again they shocked him long and hard, declaring him dead the last thing Morton heard was a guard shouting for another child to go after Morton and pick up where he'd left off.
As his vision started to fade Morton knew that he was dying, not a quick painless death, this would be slow and painful. When the miners eventually found him, he'd be cast aside or if he was lucky somebody would kill him with a spade.