Hello again people! I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter more than you enjoyed the first. I do not own Warhammer 40k and I am writing this story for the lulz, nothing more.
Also, thanks to Alexander Voss and anonymous for your reviews, I'll try to avoid the Gary Sue.
And remember: the Emperor protects.
Chapter 2: waking up
The first thing Josh felt was the terrible headache hammering his head. His throat was completely dried up and he was sweating heavily. He tried to get up but found himself too weak to do so. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain in order to find his memories. Slowly the recent events came back to his mind. The new piece of his army, the colors, the rift. His heart missed a beating.
"What the hell happened? Where am I?"
He then took a better look to the ceiling. Black made of steel with an industrial feeling about it, with double headed eagles regularly spaced out. That was not his bedroom, and he knew only one kind of place where you could find that icon. His heart accelerated, driven by fear.
"Oh please tell me it's a nightmare. Tell me I'm going to wake up. I shouldn't be here!"
"Damn right you shouldn't be here!"
"Ian, please stop! That's not what he needs!"
Startled, the young man turned his head toward the voices. He was no longer alone in the small room; a man and a woman were with him now. The man was tall, very muscular with a scar across his face; he had small brown suspicious eyes. He was looking at Josh, clearly not liking his presence here. Crossing his arms, he was looking even more intimidating with his uniform, seemingly one of an army, and the young stranger felt like hiding would be a good idea.
The woman however was smiling to him. She was smaller than Josh and looked just tiny compared to the man. Her blond hair attached in a bun and her strange, black uniform gave her the look of a secretary. Her blue eyes were filled with compassion and, for an unknown reason; she made Josh think about his mother.
"Hello young man, I am Catherine and here is my husband, Ian. We found you on the floor, and you looked horrible so we took you into our house."
Josh got up and looked at his new environment. It was grim, with no decoration or anything that could have made the place more pleasant to live in, just the Aquila with two head. He guessed the rest of the… house? Apartment? Was the same. A jail more than a place to be lived.
Ian put his hand on his wife's shoulder in a protective manner.
"Who are you and where do you come from?"
Josh looked at them, unsure of what to say. The wrong answer would kill him immediately, and lying could be even worse, but he didn't really have a choice. He chose a plausible lie.
"My name is Josh and hum… I don't really remember… where did you find me?"
The woman rolled her eyes.
"Ian dear, let me handle this. Well boy, you were on the floor as I said earlier, in a dead end. You are actually lucky we found you, this level is not safe. The gangs are more violent lately."
"The gangs? What gangs? Could you please start from the start, I'm lost I think".
The woman sighted.
"I guess you really have amnesia. Alright, you are on the planet Kochis V in the segmentum tempestus; it is a hive world and you are currently on level forty five. The lowest levels are infested with criminals who are usually regrouped in massive gangs, and this level has some dangerous gangs too. We are in the forty-first millennium and the God Emperor watches over us from his Golden Throne on Holy Terra. Does it help you?"
Josh frowned. His last hope of having a really convincing dream died with Catherine's speech. How was he supposed to go back home? Could he even go out of this planet? But right now he had more pressing troubles to deal with.
"I remember the Emperor, but I don't remember my level. I guess I'm going to have a big problem right?"
Ian answered before his wife could speak.
"I think you could indeed have a huge problem. From your clothes I'd say you're from level twenty or maybe twenty-five, and people are not allowed to go outside their own level. I should talk to an Arbites about this, but my wife is against it so I'll tell you how to avoid it. You see, she works for the Adeptus Administratum, and I am a sergeant in the Planetary Defense Forces. How old are you?"
"Hum, I'm twenty years old I think…"
"That means you are old enough to join the PDF."
"Ian! He can't join the PDF, he is injured!"
"I know that Catherine, but he cannot remain here."
At this point his wife took him by the arm and went to the living room, leaving a puzzled Josh behind. Joining the defense forces of this world could give him some training, and he was certain that he would need this training if he wanted to survive in this dark millennium. But they were poorly equipped and prepared, and often found unable to match the might of Mankind's foes. Meanwhile, his saviors were having a serious discussion about him, but he couldn't hear them. He decided to listen to them and finally managed to get up on his feet. He was wearing brown pants but his clothes from his reality were nowhere to be found.
"Ian, please! Don't take him to the PDF! I can take him with me; I'll teach him how to transfer data and how to keep a record in check! I will-"
"Honey", interrupted her husband, "you know it is not supposed to happen like that. I know you prayed a lot since… since Amatheus left us, but you can't work with the Adeptus Administratum if you are unable to manage complex equations, and he has amnesia. He won't be able to fill the administrative formalities."
Tears appeared in his wife's eyes as she was bowing her head.
"I know my love, I know, but… I want to keep him safe. I failed our son and I don't want to see another young man suffering the same fate! I spent hours begging the God Emperor to give me a new child, and then we found Josh. I know trusting strangers is a stupid thing to do in a Hive, but look at him Ian, he's lost and alone! He is the answer to my prayers, I am sure of that!"
Ian sighted and embraced his wife. Once again her gentle soul had dismissed his worries, her simple yet strong faith guiding her like a candle in the bight.
"You're not responsible for what happened. I should be the one to blame. But I promise you my love; I will keep an eye on him. I know the man who will validate his commitment without asking too many questions."
She wiped her tears and looked at him with this delicate, beautiful smile that took his heart forty years ago.
"I trust you Ian, and I know the God Emperor watches over us. I will thank him for what he did."
"Hum… sorry to bother you, I hope I am not interrupting anything but I would like to drink something, please?"
The two adults turned their heads toward the sound. Josh was standing in an awkward position before the room.
"Oh yes of course let me help you." Catherine quickly said, rubbing her eyes and giving him a gourd. The water had a calcareous taste but the young man thanked her. Her husband looked at the young man, clearly angry.
"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?"
"No! Maybe… A little… Yes. I'm sorry. But before you punish me I want to say this: if it helps you I will join the planetary defense forces. I want to thank you for helping me."
"Don't say you're sorry, you'll have plenty of time to regret you presence here. Anyway since you agree with me, we will go. My wife prepared clothes for you, grab them and follow me."
Indeed a set of new clothes was awaiting the young man, carefully folded on a chair. They were made of some kind of artificial material, brown and green with a pair of boots. It took little time to Josh to dress up, and after thanking Catherine a last time he went out of the house. Looking around him, his jaw wide opened in awe, understanding what a Hive really was. The place was huge beyond anything he had ever seen, the streets larger than a football field, with impressive structures and gothic spires reaching the clouded sky. The crowd consisted of so many people, going here and there, like an ever moving ocean.
The disproportionate gigantic size of the place was crushing him.
Ian raised an eyebrow. "First time you see this?"
"Yes… it's so big!"
"Yeah I know. Stay with me, it's easy to get lost around here."
The two men started to walk in complete silence. After a moment Josh felt like trying to break the ice.
"So, I would not want to be indiscreet but, how did you get this scar? It's an impressive one."
"Ten years ago, in a riot. One of those idiots managed to get close and he had a knife."
"I see, but why were they rioting?"
"They were traitors, that's all you need to know." But in fact, Ian could understand the reasons behind the anger. Supplies were not distributed equally among the levels of the Hive World, poverty was awfully common except for the highest levels, and very few people could have enough to satisfy their hunger. Some didn't even have a shelter while the planetary governor had a delightful life on the last level, bathing in an obscene luxury. Criminals were numerous and resentful, and the situation was slowly deteriorating. It infuriated him because he knew riots would start again, and soon. Thanks to his job in the PDF and his wife's job in the Administratum they had some privileges, but even like that their lives weren't outside the ordinary. They had a humble life.
"Also could you tell me more about your wife's job? I'm curious."
"Well Catherine could tell you more about it but from what I understood she spends her days managing complex administrative problems involving equations and data. Ah it's here."
In front of them was an imposing building, bearing the Aquila. They went in and Ian quickly found the man he was looking for among the hundreds of people working here. Small, fat and bald, the man was obviously bored, and almost asleep.
"Hello Matthias, as sharp as ever I see."
"Who the frag… oh, sergeant! What can I do for you?"
"The young man with me wishes to join the planetary defense forces. Last time I checked, you were in charge of this level's recruitment. I see you love your post."
"Yes sir, it's just… we didn't recruit a lot lately."
"Well Matthias what a surprise, I wonder why. Something to do with your behavior perhaps?"
The man muttered something while taking out a document.
"Okay kid; write your name on that paper."
Josh looked at it, and saw it was supposed to be more than just writing his name.
"You're sure about that? I mean there are a lot of things to write."
"No one gives a shit kiddo, just do it."
The young man obeyed and Matthias stamped the sheet.
"Congratulations, you are now a part of the planetary defense forces of Kochis V."
And this is the end. I hope you liked this chapter; it was hard to write it since I know very little about the life of a citizen in the Imperium. See you soon!
