CUSTOMS DUTY
1/22/2020
CHAPTER ONE
Commissar Hendricks said, "Welcome sir it is a pleasure to have an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos with us at any time. It will give the men further inspiration to do their duty for the Emperor."
Inquisitor Arros said, "I am glad to help motivate your troops, but I am in a rush and need to take the Frigate Largess on my mission for the Emperor."
If the Commissar was intimidated by the Inquisitor, he did not show it and said, "Yes Inquisitor, I fully understand your situation, but the Largess is undergoing inspection to insure it is not carrying an Xenos or heretical taint. As I am sure you know when the Great Military was separated into the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Guard one of the provisions made was for the Imperial Guard to conduct such inspections so that all traitors, xenos, spawns of Chaos and heretics could be rooted out before any serious taint could occur."
Inquisitor Arros said, "Yes, yes I know all this Commissar Hendricks, but the Inquisition supersedes all of that and I need to leave with the Largess immediately."
Commissar Hendricks continued as if the Inquisitor had not spoken at all and said, "Now the Frigate Largess and her battle group just gallantly engaged and destroyed a splinter of Hive Fleet Kraken, saving many of the Emperor's planets from facing the horrors of those particular xenos. However, some of the Tyranids did manage a boarding action against the Frigate Largess. They were fought off by the crew with not too many losses. As you are a member of the Ordo Xenos I am sure I do not need to tell you that if I were to allow you to take such a ship before it was thoroughly inspected I would be endangering you, your entourage, the entire crew and untold numbers of the Emperor's people."
The Inquisitor was about to say something when a hooded figure standing immediately behind him said, "We thank you for doing your duty to Emperor. Is there any way we can assist you?"
Commissar Hendricks said, "I am sorry there is nothing you can do right now. I will of course go and inspire the 403rd Perdita Customs Regiment to have your ship secured and ready for you as soon as possible. If the Emperor gives us his blessing, then it should be only another day."
Taking a breath and thankful to Nortlyn for stepping in, Inquisitor Arros asked, "I have never heard of the Perdita Customs Regiments before are they any good at this type of work?"
Commissar Hendricks said, "While they are not a famous a unit like the Catachan Jungle Fighters or the Mordian Iron Guard or the Armageddon Steel Legion or the Cadian Shock Troops or even the Ghreddask Regiments, they are the best at this type of work. You see Perdita is a Hive World who gives an annual three regiments a tithe. Since they have shown a particular skill at living in close quartered environments and the attention to detail for ship inspection duty, they are usually assigned to posts like this one. While not a glamorous duty it is a necessary one to protect our Emperor's Imperium from infiltration of any kind."
Nortlyn answered for the Inquisitor again and said, "We all have our duty to the Emperor. We thank you and your regiment for doing your duty. We shall await the clearance at the forward quarters."
Nortlyn turned to leave along with the rest of the Inquisitor's party. Inquisitor Hendricks said, "Yes Commissar carry on with your duty. I apologize. I allowed the zeal I feel to do my duty for the Emperor to make me forget that we all have a place in the Emperor's Imperium and a duty to do."
Commissar Hendricks said, "Thank you for your understanding Inquisitor. We should have the Largess cleared and ready within the next six hours."
CHAPTER TWO
Private Bennett worked the controls of the door to the cargo hold and stood back as it ground to a close. Holland and Burke got to work posting an official cleared seal on the door. To Bennett this could not come soon enough. The Commissar had been pushing them to work harder to impress that Inquisitor, so they had not had a break in the last 24 hours. This was the last cargo hold on their list so they should finally be done. Now he could look forward to a shower and a decent meal back in the billets and finally some sleep.
Then he saw the new private, Ripley, taking to the Senior Sergeant. Whatever she was saying it could not be good. She had been bucking for promotion ever since she got to the regiment by overachieving in everything and not hesitating to point out how the rest of them were not keeping up. Even now her uniform was parade perfect even though she had been at it just as long as the rest of them.
Private Walker came up to Bennett and said, "So buddy what kind of trouble is she going to get us in now?"
Bennett looked at his best friend and the same thought about how two people from the same block warren on Perdita could look so different. His light brown hair to Walker's pitch black, dark brown eyes to light hazel, 1.95 meter height and muscular build to 1.75 meters and pudgy. Still ever since they shared bunk beds in basic training they had done everything together on and off duty.
Private Bennett said, "Whatever it is it's going to mean extra work for us. That's how we got stuck clearing out that compartment on the station so the officers could have a dueling club."
Private Walker said, "Yah but they let us use it for hand to hand training."
To anyone else the comment meant what it sounded like. To Bennett and a very few others who knew of the secret way into the old compartment on the station it was a place to bring dates for some of the much lacking privacy. He had a quick flashback to the last time he and Billie had been there and a slow smile crept unto his face.
Private Walker said, "Look out here they come."
Senior Sergeant Otis Brick signaled for all his Guardsmen and Guardswomen to group around him for a briefing. Once they were circled with the front rank of his twenty soldiers, he said, "Listen up. All of you have done well these last three days and we are almost done."
Private Henckle interrupted and said, "Sergeant that was the last compartment on the list. How can we not be done?"
Used to Henckle's interruptions Sergeant Brick just gave him the "shut up and listen now look" and said, "Yes everyone we have finished the list assigned to us. It has been pointed out to me that there is a cargo hold down this passageway that is not on anyone's list. I have contacted the command post and they have given us the honor of clearing this cargo hold."
Several nasty looks were shot at Private Ripley who ignored them as she always did. It was Corporal Lannister who broke the building tension by saying, "So why was this cargo hold left off the inspection lists?"
Private Ripley was about to say something when she got the same glance that Henckle had gotten. Sergeant Brick said, "This is a newer ship than most in the fleet. The forge world that made it did not have all the materials to build it exactly as the STC called for it to be built so they added extra reinforcement and that caused it to have a different layout and whatever it has another hold it we are going to go in and make sure no xenos snuck on board to start terrorizing the crew at the wrong time. Grab your lasguns and let's get this done."
Private Bennet unslung his lasgun and put it at port arms. He knew if the Senior Sergeant was speaking like that than he was just as frustrated at the situation the rest of them, except for Ripley who was now marching down the passageway.
By much drilled practice they formed two lines, ten on each side with the Senior Sergeant in the lead of the left column and the Corporal at the end of the right column. Perdita Regiments had much fewer officers and non-commissioned officers than other Imperial Guard regiments. Their mission needed workers and not many leaders to accomplish. Promotion was few and far between because of this.
Bennett did not feel any ill will toward Ripley for wanting a promotion. He wasn't interested in moving up and all that. Considering how bad other regiments had it this duty was easy. It wasn't that exciting but his chances of surviving the forty years to retirement were pretty good and he would have enough saved up for a comfortable life back on Perdita like the others he had seen growing up. They had real food, clean water and a nice apartment. Not to mention they could afford little luxuries his family couldn't like personal prayer books.
Looking over the two lines, Bennet had known all of them except for the Sergeant and Ripley since basic. While not as close to most of them as he was to Walker they were still as close to family as he could have here on the station. There was Smyth trying to set up a card game with Yates and Owen. He might join them. Shah was mumbling his prayers to the Emperor with one hand on his Imperial Guardsman Primer as usual. Osborne was sneaking a bite to eat and passing some on to James. Edwards B. and Edwards T., brothers who somehow managed to get assigned together. Drake used to be the only woman in the platoon before Ripley arrived. The others were walking straight ahead and like him wishing to get this duty finished and back to the billets.
Of the other two members of the platoon, they had all met Senior Sergeant Brick when they came aboard. He had thirty three years of service and been given this group of rookies to lead. He had looked them over and handed Lannister the corporal stripes and told him if he screwed up he would give them to someone else. It had not been a bad choice, Lannister worked hard to keep the extra pay and private desk he got for being a corporal.
Ripley was the wild card in all this. She had been assigned to them after Johnston was killed in the firefight with the merchant crew a month ago. The platoon had found the stash of xenos artifacts they had been smuggling and thought they could shoot their way out of it. They had not counted on how well and often Sergeant Brick had drilled the platoon. It may have been their first serious action but everyone had reacted as they were trained to and it was all over in under two minutes. Senior Sergeant Brick had said Johnston had not done anything wrong. He had told them you could still get killed doing everything right but would definitely get killed doing things wrong.
Ripley had shown up three days before this ship had arrived. She had gone straight to the Senior Sergeant and asked to be made a corporal. She had not tried to get to know any of them and brushed off all their attempts to get to know her. She did her drills well but made it clear she had wanted to be in a line platoon to get promoted. Drake had taken it the worst. She had thought finally having another woman in the platoon would be good and now had to settle for being one of the guys again.
Bennett's thoughts were interrupted when the two columns came to a stop. Walker had grabbed his arm and stopped him before he had walked into Griffin. The light at this end of the passageway was like everywhere on the ship, good enough to see but made for some deep shadows. Still it gave him a view of a bulkhead that did not look any different from any of the thousands of others on the ship. He could not see a way through it.
Senior Sergeant Brick must have thinking the same thing and said, "Private Ripley you said there was a cargo hold here. Care to show us how we get in."
Private Ripley marched up to the Senior Sergeant and said, "Sergeant from what I learned there is a panel in the port wall that opens the entire wall. It is then sealed back up to provide structural support."
Not impressed Senior Sergeant Brick said, "Well don't just stand there. Go open the wall or door." Trying to get a hold on his tiredness he then said to the rest of the platoon, "The rest of you take up positions and be ready."
The passageway was empty so they moved to the walls and stacked up to cover the entrance, except for the last man in each column who face back down the passageway for rear security. Private Ripley felt the wall for a few seconds and then left a small section up. Behind it was a simple lever in the down position. She reached in and pulled it up. As soon as she did they could all hear mechanisms begin to grind as gears turned. Slowly what had looked like an end of the passageway all began to lift up to reveal a large room behind it. They could not the other side or the opposite walls because there were numerous crates and barrels of all sizes in the room. They had been placed with some order so people could walk around them without too much difficulty.
Bennett took note that the lighting in the room had come on when the door had gotten about halfway up. He took that as a good sign that maintenance had been kept up. He also noticed the lack of dust. Not so good news since that meant the cargo hold had been used recently and they would need to take a closer look at what was in there and that would take longer. Still things could have started out worse.
After waiting and listening for two minutes after the door had stopped moving, Senior Sergeant Brick said, "Squad Two Team Alpha you stay at the door and make sure nothing but friendlies goes in or out. Squad Two Team Bravo you go down the middle and start the inspection. Squad One break into teams and hit the opposite walls. You all know what to do so let's finish this and go home in one piece."
As everyone moved to their assigned duties, Bennett could hear Senior Sergeant Bennett say, "Command this is Platoon 54 beginning inspection of next assigned cargo hold." over the vox bead in his helmet.
Bennett along with Walker, Smyth, McDaniel and Ripley who took the lead position, moved past and were counted by Corporal Lannister. They started inspecting the crates and barrels and the occasional cylinders of compressed gasses to see what they contained and if there was something wrong with the container. He could tell that the crates were spare parts and barrels were various fluids needed to keep the ship running. They had more oxygen bottles than most ships, but they had had a hull breach recently so not most were probably empty. So far everything looked normal. The other two teams were calling in regular reports and finding the same as they were only doing it much faster they then were.
The thing that was holding them back was Ripley. While everyone was doing their jobs as the Emperor expected them too, Bennett could not help but notice she was taking extra time going over the crates she was inspecting. He noticed how she was ignoring the barrels and the smaller crates and only going for the ones over two meters long. He was glad she wasn't inspecting everything but he did wonder why she was only inspecting those ones. Still he wished she would hurry up at this rate the ship would be halfway to its next destination before they got done. He knew better than to say anything to her about it. She would just ignore him like she always did. Still they would get this done soon.
They had awoken it when they had opened the door. Even with its senses reduced by the enforced dormancy, it could tell there were twenty of them. They moved in four groups of five, three coming closer and one staying back. They had weapons and by the way they moved they had skills to use them. A plan would be needed to deal with them. A delicious plan that would allow it to carry on with the larger plan. First a call to the others on board, the secret could no longer be kept but then all could enjoy what was to come.
Bennett and his team were almost to the halfway point, they could now see the far wall now, when the first call came. It was from Senior Sergeant Brick. He said, "All units hold current position. We have lost contact with Private Smyth. Any other team have contact with Private Smyth?"
The other two team leaders called in negative responses and Corporal Lannister reported he had not come back to the entrance way.
Senior Sergeant Brick then said over the vox, "Everyone hold position. We are going to back track and look for him. Call in if you make contact with him."
Bennett and the rest of his team moved some of the crates into a circle and got behind them each pointing in a different direction. He was not exactly worried but this was not part of the routine. Sure Senior Sergeant Brick sometimes pulled surprises on them to keep them sharp but never during a mission. There were just too many enemies in the galaxy who could end your life in too many different and unpleasant ways to make things up during a mission. Also Private Smyth wasn't one to go off on his looking for trophies and extras to line his pockets with. So what had happened to him?
The first had been taken. Too easily it thought to itself. There would need to be more challenge put into taking the next one. This one had been moving a barrel, the noise of it spinning after it had taken the first one had covered their escape. Yes a greater challenge was needed this time, perhaps two at once this time. Still it needed to hurry or they would find its place before it was ready for them. Yes two this time would be the challenge.
Ten minutes passed and there was silence from everyone in their position and over the vox. Bennett was just starting to worry now. It was not that they hadn't found Smyth it was that they had not found any sign of what had happened to him. His mind was going through every xenos in the Imperial Guardsman Primer on what could do this. Since they were sent in primarily to look for the Tyranid xenos his imagination was not doing him any favors.
The silence was broken when Senior Sergeant Brick called over the vox, "Corporal Lannister we can see your position prepare to receive us. Count is four."
Corporal Lannister said, "Wilco Senior Sergeant have eyes on two of you."
Senior Sergeant Brick must not have realized he opened his vox bead as he said, "What? Wait, James where's Yates and Osbourne?"
On the same signal but much quieter, everyone could hear Private James say, "Sergeant look there's Yate's laser rifle on the deck but I don't see either of them."
Senior Sergeant Brick had been doing this work for a long time so his next command did not come as a surprise to any of his platoon. He said, "Corporal Lannister execute Gamma Protocol. All other units hold position until I get to you."
With that order the door to the cargo bay began to close and Private Bennett began to worry.
CHAPTER THREE
Inquisitor Arros sat at the desk in his quarters going over his data slates again trying to pinpoint where his target had gone to the exact kilometer. He did not have much else to do besides target practice and eat. He would not admit that the Commissar had been correct but now that he had some time to dwell on the matter he had come to realize how right the Commissar had been. The enemies of the Emperor, especially the xenos were unrelenting and insidious. Having the ship searched before he took it so that nothing interrupted his mission was only common sense.
The light on the wall intercom interrupted the Inquisitor's thoughts. He pushed the button and said, "Yes, go ahead."
Commissar Hendricks' voice came over the intercom and said, "Inquisitor I have an update on the search of the frigate."
Suspecting that this was not good news, Inquisitor Arros said, "May I hope the you have finished your duty and the ship is ready for departure."
Even though the connection was not that good, the Inquisitor thought he could hear the slap of many booted feet on deck and the sounds of heavy weapons being made ready. None of this he took as good signs.
The Commissar said, "I am sorry to report to you one of our platoons has called a code Gamma. This means they have taken casualties from an unknown enemy and requested reinforcements."
Standing up the Inquisitor moved closer to the intercom and said, "Do you have any more details of the incident?"
The Commissar said, "At present there are three missing Guardsmen but the cargo hold they were taken in has been sealed and the only entrance had a squad guarding it. The rest of the regiment is taking positions to prevent the crew from doing anything until we determine the situation clearer. Also another regiment is activated to prevent anyone or thing from leaving the ship. I am leading our quick reaction force to deal with the situation."
The Inquisitor thought all of this sounded like a well-organized and well-trained unit going about their duty. He said, "It seems everything is in hand. I expect you will call again when the situation is dealt with."
Inquisitor Arros thought he detected a smirk in the Commissar's voice as he said, "No Inquisitor. I was calling to see if you and your entourage would care to assist us. It would be most appreciated."
Inquisitor Arros now smiled and said, "Where do want us to meet you?"
CHAPTER FOUR
Private Hiro being the nominal leader of Team Two, First Squad had heard the Gamma order being given like everyone else. He had his team move some of the crates to give them some cover. They had also moved out the barrels since so of their contents were either flammable or explosive or both. Now he waited in the middle while Holland and Burke watched from 12 to 6 and the Edwards brothers watched 6 to 12. Senior Sergeant Brick should get to the other team first and then find them. He started to hope that in a couple hours all of this would be over and everyone would be back in the billets laughing about the whole situation.
Just then Hiro thought he saw something about twenty meters away. It might have been only a shadow but nothing in this cargo hold moved except them. Moving over to try and get a better look at the what could be there he was stopped by something Holland said.
He said, "Do the rest of you here it?"
Not waiting for any of them to respond Holland stood up and started to walk toward where Hiro had seen the maybe shadow.
Burke stood up also and tried to grab Holland by the arm. He said, "Where are you going, pick up your lasgun, come on stop, what are you doing?"
Their space was not that big and Hiro was on the other side of Holland in a moment. Hiro grabbed Holland's other arm and tried to get him to stop. Holland started to struggle against them and kept saying, "Can't you hear that? Can't you hear that? We need to go."
Hiro was about to order Holland to stand down when he heard a pleasing voice whisper in his ear. It said, "Let Holland come to me. I will give him what he desires, to be one with us. Then you and the others can come to me also. Everyone is welcome in our family. Let him go."
Not realizing what he was doing, Hiro released Holland at the same time Burke did. Holland did not rush off but started to walk toward where Hiro had seen the movement. Before he could do anything else the Edwards brothers tried to get past Hiro and grab Holland. Before the pair could reach him, Hiro and Burke grabbed them and soon all four were in wrestling each other for reasons none of them understood.
Soon the voice came to all of them and said, "No need to fight now, no need to struggle against anything now. All of you can come to me. All of you can join the family."
All four of them picked each other up off the floor and then headed to where they heard the voice calling from. None of them took their lasgun with them. At this moment they cared for nothing or anyone but following the voice.
CHAPTER FIVE
Private Bennett had been waiting ten minutes at his team's position. In that time they had not seen any movement around them nor had they any contact with any of member of the platoon. He knew he was a good soldier but this situation was not one that just a good soldier could handle. He and his team were going need to move up to the big leagues.
Bennett said in a low voice, "Walker have you seen or heard anything?"
Walker said, "Nothing, it's like Sergeant Brick and Team Two just vanished."
Not looking forward to this part, Bennett said, "Ripley, McDaniel, Rosario I think we need to do something besides sit here and wait to be picked off."
McDaniel and Rosario gave a small nod and word of acknowledgement. Of course Ripley had more to say than that. She said, "I think this cargo hold has a vox dampener. Once the door was closed we were cut off from outside and from each other.
Bennett said, "A vox dampener? Why would anyone build a vox dampener in a cargo hold in the middle of the ship?"
It was Walker who answered and said, "Because this is more than a cargo hold and we are sitting in a trap."
Ripley looked around for a moment and then said, "I was thinking the same thing myself."
Private Rosario did not leave his position as he said, "Then maybe we should do something than just sit here and wait to see what is going to come and kill us."
Everyone gave a nod or grunt of ascension and Ripley said, "I think we need to head to the rear of the cargo hold and find out what's there."
Bennett looked over at Ripley. Several questions ran through his mind. Why go to the rear where they didn't know what the situation was? This whole mess was due to her having them search this cargo hold. A cargo hold no one else knew about so how did she know of its existence? Where was she stationed before this and how had she come to be in their platoon?
Before he could ask any of the questions that were bubbling up in his mind both McDaniel and Walker asked first.
McDaniel said, "No we should go to Corporal Lannister."
Walker said, "Why go to the rear of this mess. We need to find the others."
Ripley did not seemed to be fazed by the questions and said, "Corporal Lannister won't open the door until reinforcements arrive and we have no idea where the others are. If there is someone else in here besides us they must have a base camp and it will be in the rear furthest away from the entrance."
Bennett could see the others were just as worried and scared as he was and they were about to take it out on Ripley. He knew now was not the time for them to come apart and attack each other. He wanted answers but first they needed to do something.
Bennett said, "Ripley's right. We should check out the rear of cargo hold. Whoever is in here with us will expect us to head toward the entrance. Senior Sergeant Brick always said to never do what the enemy expects you to do, do what is to your advantage."
Walker, McDaniel and Rosario all looked at Bennett and then at Ripley and then at each other. He could see the three off them come to agree with him. Not because Ripley was right but because he had invoked Senior Sergeant Brick and then had too much faith in their leader to go against anything he had said.
After a minute, Ripley said, "Let's get in standard formation and head back to the rear on this place and get some answers."
Not the most inspiring speech they had ever heard, still they got into their search formation and heading toward the back of the cargo hold. They were close enough to each other to see everyone in the team but had enough distance so a grenade would not get all of them. After they had covered another fifty meters without seeing anything, Bennett made a decision and moved closer to Ripley. She gave him a look asking what he thought he was doing but before she could say something he whispered a question to her.
He said, "Look we don't agree on a lot. My goal is to get us out of here in one piece and we need to work together to do that. No one trusts you and that doesn't help us. Just tell me one thing. How did you know about this cargo hold?"
Ripley gave him a sour look. She knew he had spoken the truth and with the way things were going she decided she better speak the truth also. She said, "I knew about this cargo hold because I took the ten minutes it took to look up the dry dock records of this ship and find out it was overhauled 200 years ago and this was added. Something no one at command hadn't bothered to do. They just took the captain's word about the layout of the ship."
Bennett had not gotten that many words out of Ripley the entire time he had known her. Well in for a fistfight in for a war as they say. He said, "Why did you look up the records? Did you want to find something in here?"
A sudden thought struck him and he said it without thinking, "Are you a psyker?"
Ripley stopped moving and looked at him as if he had shot her with his lasgun. After a moment she said, "No I am not. I also don't want to be stuck in this useless unit for the rest of my career. I want to serve the Emperor on the front lines where it matters not searching cargo holds year after year fighting rats and smugglers."
Bennett took that as a great insult and said, "Perdita has been given many a commendation by the High Lords of Terra for the service we provide, you should be proud of our planet and the regiments and the duty we perform."
Ripley laughed at him. The others had noticed they weren't keeping up with them and had turned back in time to hear what Bennett had said and her laugh. Now all four of them were looking at her. She looked each of them in the eye and then she said, "I am not from Perdita. I am Mordian."
She let that settle in and then said, "I grew up yearning for the day I would fight the Emperor's enemies. My regiment's first campaign was against the Orks. After six months of fighting we defeated them but there were only twenty of us left. I was wounded and left at hospital by the time I recovered everyone else had been reassigned and were gone. The Administratum lost track of where so they just sent me here. Case Closed. Only I am not going to die in the hold of some ship. Now get your asses back in formation and let's find out what is going on here."
With that the others all took a new grip on their lasguns and headed back toward the rear of the cargo hold. Twenty minutes of careful walking later they found the rear of the cargo hold and whatever they were expecting it was not what they found.
CHAPTER SIX
The rear of the cargo hold was just as well-lit as the rest of the hold. There was a clear area of about ten meters from the rear bulkhead and from the construction. Many of the larger crates had been stacked up to make an enclosure. It looked pretty normal except for the curtain that was hung up as an apparent entrance way.
It was Walker who said, "Bennett, isn't that a Norcadif Silk Weave?"
Rosario said, "Yes it is but who uses a million credit tapestry for a doorway in a crate room?"
Ripley said, "We need to go in and find out. Let's ..."
Bennett cut her off and said, "Wait do you smell that?"
Everyone involuntarily took a quick whiff and then Walker, Rosario and McDaniel went for their filter masks. Bennett started to reach for his when he saw Ripley's confused look. He took the time to say, "Lotus bulb incense, go in there without a filter mask and you won't care if you ever see the front lines again. It is a very common smuggled item."
Ripley nodded and then she and Bennett put their filter masks on. Rosario and McDaniel moved to either side of the tapestry. Bennett took the point position with Walker and Ripley behind him. At a three count they moved the tapestry away and Bennett moved inside and then to the right. Walker moved to the left and Ripley took a place in between them. The scene inside the crate room was nothing like they had expected.
All of the walls were covered in the Norcadif Silk Weave tapestries but instead of being plain these had scenes of luxury and pleasure painted upon them. The only furniture in the crate room was dozens of pillows and cushions scattered everywhere. The air was smoky with the Lotus bulb incense making everything hazy. Mixed in with this scent were the aromas of the platters of food placed on the floor.
Lounging around in all this luxury were the ten missing members of the platoon. Each was in varying degrees of being out of uniform. Private James and Private Smyth had their eyes closed were playing a pair of flutes in harmony. Private Holland and Private Yates were eating a rare fruit while trying to hum along with the music. The Edwards brothers were casually tossing shelled nuts at each other's mouths, missing most of the time. Private Osbourne, Private Burke and Private Hiro were at the far end of the crate room being served drinks in golden goblets. The drink was coming from a tap attached to a pair of tubes fused together. One tube went to a large wooden keg suspended from the ceiling. The other tube was attached to Senior Sergeant Brick's carotid artery who was also suspended upside down from the ceiling.
None of these things really caught the attention of the three Imperial Guard. It was the drink server that held all their attention. The beings physical appearance was confounding. At once impossibly twisted and shamefully intriguing, the hermaphroditic form both repulsed and attracted them. It had pale, purplish skin. One of its arms had mutated at the elbow into a huge, crab-like pincer. An extraordinarily long, prehensile tongues flickered in and out of its mouth. It also sported three sets of breasts. Overall it stood three meters tall and swayed as it stood with unnatural grace.
As they stood their aghast, the creature turned toward them and said, "Ah I was wondering when you would join us. Please come in and take your ease. There is food and drink for all and soon other pleasures will be served."
Bennett could not take his eyes off Senior Sergeant Brick. It had been that man who had given them endless lectures on the arch enemy and how they tricked loyal Guardsmen into falling into their deceits. He quickly realized the others must have fallen into this creature's lies but not the Senior Sergeant he must have resisted and been killed for his loyalty to the Emperor. Bennett raised his lasgun and fired at the smiling creature while he yelled, "For the Emperor!"
To his surprise Ripley had also fired and yelled the same thing. Both their shots hit the creature but if it felt any pain it did not show it. Instead it smiled wider and said, "Well if you wish to have the other pleasures without the drinks then I will consent to your wishes."
The other members of their platoon stopped what they were doing and turned eyes filled with murder toward them. Moving fast they picked up various knives and other implements that were hidden under the pillows and smiles on their faces attacked the trio. Bennett used his lasgun to block a swing by one of the Edwards brothers and then shoved him away. Walker was still in a stupor about what was happening and would have been an easy kill for the other Edwards brother except Ripley fired quickly killing both Walker and her attacker, Private Hiro.
She then said, "Fall back, now."
Their training kicking in both Bennett and Walker moved back through the tapestry door while Ripley fired again and killed James with a shot through the head. Once through Bennett stopped Rosario from speaking by grabbing him by the collar and dragging him off to the right moving along the open area of the rear bulkhead of the cargo hold. Walker emerged from the tapestry door and followed Bennett so McDaniel followed him. Ripley ran out from the tapestry and managed to move double time backwards to catch up to the others.
She kept up a cover until they reached the corner of the cargo hold. Once there Ripley called a halt and each of them took up kneeling firing positions. It was McDaniel who spoke first. He said, "Alright what happened back there? Who were you shooting at?"
Ripley was about to speak when Bennett cut her off and said, "We found the rest of the platoon, they have been turned by some kind of demon. We had to shot our way out."
Walker said, "It was a Demonette of Slaanesh. She must have seduced them to turn traitor."
Bennett was surprised Walker could identify what they had seen but of all the demons he would pay attention to Slaanesh. He turned toward Ripley and the two of them exchanged looks that were almost psychic communication. She was thanking him for taking part of the blame for the others deaths. Rosario and McDaniel would not have understood if she had just said she had shoot them. He was telling her that now was the time for her to take charge if she wanted to.
Walker interrupted them and said, "Why aren't they following us."
Ripley said, "It would not be fun for them to just charge in fight us. They want to have fun and play cat and mouse with us among all the crates and barrels."
Rosario said, "So we wait here and take them down when they come...Wait are we talking about killing the rest of the platoon?"
Ripley said, "Yes we are and no we can't do that either. When that demon gets bored of waiting it will come here and kill us. I hate to say it but these lasguns won't do much against it."
Bennett said, "We need a plan and fast."
No one spoke as they all knew the situation was stacked against them. They couldn't stay here and moving was just as likely to get them killed. Finally Bennett spoke up and said, "Listen Perditains, our big problem is we need something to kill that demon with. We've inspected hundreds of cargo holds and know what they have in them. We can find something in here that we can use to take out the demon and then we can get out of here."
The other three gave nods of agreement and Ripley said, "We can keep the bulkhead to our backs and limit their ability to ambush us. Three keep watch and two look for whatever can deal a lot of damage."
Again the others gave nods of agreement and then stood up and started to move. As the others started out, Bennett grabbed Ripley's arm and said, "Do you really think we can kill that thing and get out of here?"
Ripley put her hand over his hand on her arm and said, "By the Emperor's light I believe we will kill it. But I don't think we will leave this place alive."
Bennett looked her in the eye and saw the iron resolve there. He said, "Then we better make sure we take that filth with us."
He released her arm and the two of them took a combat stance and moved with the others, watching for any signs of their opponents.
Half an hour passed and no sign of their former comrades or the demon were found. What they did find after smashing open dozens of crates and barrels that most of them contained exactly what they said they held. They had not been expecting to find a lascannon hidden in them but something more dangerous than replacement switches and a thousand different sizes of gears would have been nice.
Still they pulled together a plan and set up what they could. Now they waited behind a double wide barricade of crates to see if their trap worked. Ripley performed triple checks on everything and Bennett moved down the line giving an inspirational word to the others. When he reached Ripley he said, "You can keep checking but this is as ready as we are going to be. It would help if you said something to the others. We are about to shot down some people we have known for years."
Ripley turned from Bennett and said, "Everyone listen, today something happened that we knew could happen. People we loved have turned their backs on the Emperor. We hoped and prayed it would never happen but it has. Now it is our duty to show them what happens to those who betray his trust. It will not be pleasant but it will it is our duty. It is the duty that Senior Sergeant Brick died doing, he would expect no less from any of you."
From somewhere out in the crate maze a voice said, "Yes dear Sergeant Brick would not join us. We begged him to try some of the food and drink but spit in our faces instead. Since he won't take part in the party we made him part of the party."
All of them recognized Private James voice. Bennett had already told them what had happened to Senior Sergeant Brick but to hear that the others had been the ones to commit the act girded them to want revenge. They sighted down their lasguns and tried to pick out any movement. They had already arranged the nearest crates all single stack and close together but with gaps between them so that anyone approaching them would have to move over the top of them and risk tripping.
Soon they saw heads popping up and down and hands with knives waving at them. Ripley said, "Hold your fire. They are just trying to taunt us."
As soon as she finished talking a lasgun shot landed on the crate in front of her, forcing her to duck. Walker said, "Now we know what they were doing all this time."
Ripley came back up and said, "They are still playing with us. They are going to try and draw this out as long as possible until they get bored. Everyone hold until you have a clear shot."
The next five minutes were a torture for Bennett and the others. Their former comrades did not come any closer or appear for any longer than it took to hurl insults at them. While he tried to remember that they were only doing it to make them make mistakes and allow their snipers, who he thought were Yates and Osbourne to get a clear shot. He was grateful that Perdita regiments were not issued grenades. They had been told grenades would not be very useful or good to use on board a void ship.
Finally Rosario fired a shot that resulted in a load moan and a thud. The moaning continued for a few more minutes. Bennett could not tell if whoever had been hit was dying in agony or enjoying themselves immensely. Suddenly there was a shriek and the moaning ended. Then the inhuman voice called out to them. It said, "You should see what you have made me do. I wanted to have fun with Holland for a while longer and you took him away from me. Now I will have to punish you for that."
As the demon stopped speaking it then let out a screech so loud and warbling all of the loyal Guardsmen dropped their lasguns and tried to block out the sound. At the same time the five remaining traitors sprang up and charged their position. Each of them firing their lasgun wildly but more intent on getting close enough to use the bayonets.
Ripley recovered first and managed to get her lasgun up in time to block Private Burke's mad swing. Rosario was not as lucky as Private Yates threw himself over the top of their position and landed on top of him. Bennett did not try for his lasgun and just pulled out his combat knife. He was in time intercept Private Smyth and slash the pleasure drugged traitor across his face taking out his left eye. Private Smyth let out a yelp and raised his hand toward his face. Taking advantage of the opening Bennett reversed his swing and stabbed Private Smyth under his armpit taking him down before stabbing him in the throat for the final blow.
Looking up, Bennett could see the others were all grappling with the traitors so he moved up next to Private James who was on top of Walker and trying to push his combat knife in his best friend's chest. Bennett leaped over to the pair and pulled Private James up and stabbed him in the center of his chest killing him instantly. Leaving his knife there, Bennett helped Walker up to his feet. Ripley had finished off Private Burke and now stood next to the pair.
Facing them were Private Yates and Private Osbourne. They could see Rosario and McDaniel had not been able to fight them off their attackers and were lying on the floor in spreading pools of blood. Private Yates flipped his combat knife in the air a couple of times while smiling at the three like he was high on some narcotic they sometimes found in their searches.
Private Yates said, "Well we were having a good time before you interrupted us. It's not too late to join us though. We can all go back and have some food and drink and talk about this before we rejoin the regiment and bring them back here for more fun."
Bennett could not believe what he had heard and said, "We are not traitors like you. We will never go and have fun with you."
Ripley said, "We saw what kind of fun you had with Senior Sergeant Brick. We are not going anywhere to do anything with you."
Walker said, "What they said."
Just then an unseen voice could be heard and it said, "My new friends why don't you show them some of the fun they could be having."
Private Osbourne said, "Capital idea there."
Turning to face Private Yates, the two of them reached out and grasped each other's left hand. They then pulled each other close and with their right hands slit each other's throats. As their blood began to spray out they pulled each other so that they spun around as they died covering the entire shelter area in their blood.
As the last three members of the platoon watched the grisly scene and moved back to avoid the blood the demon spoke to them again. It said, "They were nice but they gave in to easily. You three have shown true spirit. I had many like you among the crew, then those vile beasts came aboard the ship and took many of the truly great ones away. Me and the other Neverborn had to intervene and stop the beasts. I lost all of those who came to your universe with me during that time even though it was great fun. Are sure you don't want to join me for a little party?"
Ripley yelled into the cargo hold and said, "We only serve the Emperor. We will never join any of your kind."
Bennett tapped both of them and said, "That thing is going to come in here and kill us any second now. Let's get this idea of yours set."
Walker turned and said, "Hey you thought this was our best shot at killing her."
Bennett shot his friend a dirty look and just said, "You know demons aren't males or females right?"
Walker was about to say something when Ripley cut in and said, "Hey there is a demon trying to kill us."
With that the three of them went into the only plan they could come up with to get out of this alive.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The demon smashed open another crate and found only self-sealing stim bolts inside. Her followers had hidden many of their delicacies in the crates but she could not find any at the moment. It had been looking forward to something to eat before killing the last three. It was sorry they had to die. Strong ones like that always made the best party guests. Oh well nothing to eat so might as well go kill them. Hopefully they would put up a good fight, maybe they would inflict some nice wounds on its body. The beasts who came aboard had been fun and some of them had tasted pretty good too.
The demon said, "I am coming to get you now. You can still accept my invitation to the party if you want to."
There was no response from the little fort its new playmates had made. Gliding over the crates it did not see any movement in the little fort. It thought, "Oh maybe they have a surprise for me. I wonder what it could be?"
Giving a final leap, the demon landed into the middle of the position. It waited for a moment for an attack but nothing came. Now it was intrigued. It knew they had not left their little fort so where could they have gone. Maybe it was time to smash some crates and see what came out. Raising the pincer claw arm, the demon was about to bring it down when it heard the voice of the annoying female call out, "Now!"
One of the barrels fell over and knocked over another one. When the second barrel hit the deck it burst open and spread a foul smelling liquid everywhere. From behind the demon, it heard something being pulled and then a shot from a lasgun went off. When the shot hit the liquid everything burst into flames including the demon. Feeling both pain and pleasure the demon started to scream and then tried to beat the flames out.
While it was distracted, Ripley, Bennett and Walker emerged from the barrels they had been hiding in and started firing their lasguns into the demon. It let out more screams and then lunged toward the nearest of them, the small male one, the least fun of the group. Still on fire the demon swung without taking aim and missed as the small male fell down in its barrel. The other two continued to fire their lasguns at it.
Bennett could see they had hurt the Neverborn a great deal. Still it was up and fighting them. Time to go in for the second part of the plan. He called out to Ripley and said, "Time for the long odds play."
Bennett continued to fire at the demon and was joined by Walker who had popped back up. Once Bennett thought Ripley was ready he open his arms wide and called out and said, "Hey ugly how about you come over here and give me a big kiss."
The demon let out a roar of anger and turned toward Bennett. Moving faster than he had thought possible for anything to move. The demon was almost on top of him when Ripley knocked the top off a pair of oxygen cylinders. The slowly dying flames on the demon sprang back to life and then grew stronger. All three Guardsmen were forced back into their barrels from the heat and the screams of the demon.
The demon lashed out at anything it could smashing the position to splinters. It realized it was going to die here and felt some fear. Not at the end of its life, it did not have one to end. No it was afraid that dying like this it would not be welcomed back into the arms of Slaanesh. It would be forced to do the menial and humiliating jobs for centuries before getting another invititation to a nice party again. This was the last thought it had before the demon ceased to exist in the material realm.
Bennett looked out from his barrel and watched as the demon's body vanished. Once it was gone, he climbed out and tried to bring himself to realize he was alive, and it wasn't. As soon as he was done, he started coughing. The fumes and smoke from the hydraulic fluid they had used to light the demon on fire still lingered in the air. Squeezing into barrels to protect themselves had not helped either.
Once he recovered from the coughing, he found Ripley standing in front of him. She still looked much cleaner than anyone should look after all they had been through. He looked up at her and then she said, "We should move to the entrance now and wait for them to open it."
Bennett was not quite sure if he could do that at the moment. Then the image of Senior Sergeant Brick came into his mind. Bennett said, "No. First we should check the bodies for extra power packs and see if we can find their lasguns. Imperial Guardsmen Primer leave nothing behind that is useful."
Ripley looked surprised and then said, "Your right let's do it."
As Ripley helped Bennett get up, they heard Walker say, "Maybe we could go get something to eat out of the crate room back there?"
Bennett just said, "No." and started to move toward the bodies.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sometime later the entrance started to open. Bennett, Ripley and Walker stood ready in another prepared position made of crates until they saw Commissar Hendricks standing there with two squads of the quick reaction force and another half dozen people, one of which was wearing an Inquisitorial Rosette and of them were pointing weapons in their direction. They could see the bodies of the rest of their platoon lying on the deck along with a great deal of the crew of the ship.
Commissar Hendricks said, "Whoever is in charge report now."
Bennett nudged Ripley and she stepped forward and said, "Private Ripley reporting Commissar. There was a Demonette of Slaanesh and a small temple hidden in here. We have destroyed both and are ready for new orders."
The Inquisitor looked them over, before nodding and then said, "That explains why the crew is in revolt against the Emperor. Alright Private Ripley fall in with us, we need to cleanse this ship. But if you are traitors in disguise you will die the second I suspect you."
Corporal Ripley said, "We serve the Emperor, now and forever and will prove it to you. Fall in you two there is work to be done."
Bennett was burnt, tired and hungry and had nothing to look forward to but a long fight against cultists whose source of worship he had just killed. Ripley was on her way to her first promotion and then on to a more serious fight. Senior Sergeant Brick wasn't around anymore which meant they were going to need someone to train the next Perditia Customs Regiment. He decided he needed to be there to do it for Senior Sergeant Brick and the Emperor.