Sorry this one took so long. From now on I will be sticking to a regular schedule of writing so expect one chapter a week. Someone said longer chapters so from now on chapters will be around this length. I am still looking for someone to do artwork so if you are interested please pm me. You have no idea how appreciative I will be. Thanks for the reviews, they are good for motivation and knowing what to change. I won't give any spoilers but I will be going back to classic imperial guard action as soon as possible.
Sev wiped the back of his hand across the goggles of his mask, clearing flakes of snow that had accumulated. It was really starting to pick up now. The snow swirled downwards slowly and yet with a certain weight. Sev was freezing and on every horizontal surface of his flak armour or fatigues snow was building up. He pushed a particularly large amount off of the crick of his elbow. He fiddled with the sights of his lasgun, making sure that nothing got in.
The girl walked next to him and he would often steal looks out of the corner of his eye. She walked with long strides, her back straight and head held high. The snow swirled around her, creating patterns on her armour. The red mane of hair on the helmet stood out in sharp contrast. The sword was at her side but she had her hand resting on the pistol. Her mask was carved in the visage of a snarl, and Sev found it almost frightening. He convinced himself that he was staring at her purely out of curiosity but he couldn't help it when his eyes would drift down slightly.
When they had left the bridge Sev had started off leading. He wanted to show that he was in charge, and that he wouldn't let this alien show him where to go. But his leg was killing him and his knees were getting stiff and cramped in the cold that he wasn't used too. Soon she was alongside him. Sev subconsciously straightened, making himself taller than her. He didn't even think about it, but at the back of his mind he was trying to stay the alpha. And even though she walked next to him Sev felt that it was she that was leading. He was grumpy from lack of sleep and stress and at the moment he resented bringing her along.
Soon the office buildings and hab blocks gave way to warehouses and industrial buildings. Everything was as grey as ever and the snow only furthered the dull monotone of the city. A chill breeze made Sev shiver. It must have been late afternoon and the sky was darkening. It was cold enough as it was and he definitely did not want to be outside after dark. They continued for another twenty minutes when Sev decided that the next likely place to stop he would take. The snow had gone from the swirling torrents to a driving force that squeezed between the cracks in his mask and fatigues and made the areas it touched ache with cold.
Sev made his way to the closest warehouse. It had rockcrete walls that were painted grey. Huge bay doors had Aquila's inlaid into them. Chain link fences closed the small distance between one warehouse and the next. A short set of stairs led up to a doorstep. Sev made his way up and fumbled at the doorknob with his frozen hands. It gave way and to his surprise and utmost relief the door swung open. He stepped inside.
He was surrounded by inky darkness. The half light of twilight, further muted by the snow, seemed to creep a few metres in from the door before being engulfed in the gloom. Despite his new found grim resolve Sev was scared. He had always held a certain fear of the dark. In sermons at the tiny ecclesiarch chapel that his family would occasionally visit back home the priest would often preach of the enemies of the imperium being represented by darkness. With a shaking hand Sev reached up and flicked on his helmet light. The beam swept back and forth across the open space. There were a few crates, some covered by canvas tarps. A rat scurried away from the light as it passed over its hiding place. Some cobwebs glistened up in the steel girders that formed the rafters of the building. It smelled musty but with the metallic tang of machinery and oil.
The light fell on a small office set back in one corner. Sev began heading over, lasgun at the ready. The heels of his boots clicked on the floor, echoing out across the near empty warehouse. He stepped in a puddle that had formed in a slight depression in the rockcrete and the splash seemed unnaturally loud. The girl followed behind him and Sev was impressed with how silent she was able to keep herself.
Sev pushed open the door of the office. The light from his helmet lit up the room and he checked it over, keeping his lasgun at the ready. There was a wooden table with a couple chairs at it. A clip board sat on the table there was a cork board with various graphs and receipts pinned up. There were some filing cabinets and lamp hung over head. A window looked out across the warehouse. After fumbling around Sev found the switch and the room was lit up with a warm electric glow.
Despite the shelter from the outside Sev was still freezing. He had never experienced cold of this kind. Although the region he had grown up in on Roland Prime was prone to terrible storms the temperature was always relatively mild year round.
Sev pulled out his small portable stove that was in his bag. He also got out his blanket, an MRE and some water. He hadn't had a heated meal for a few days now and was desperate for something to warm him up. He pulled off his rebreather, which was stiff from the cold and felt like it was frozen to his face. After wrapping the blanket around his shoulders he lit the tiny stove with his lighter and put the MRE on top to heat. He rubbed his hands together near the small flame. They stung as the blood began to flow again.
He looked over. He knew he was being unreasonable pushing the girl away. He had accepted her tagging along and the least he could do was to be reasonably amiable. But he still couldn't quite accept that she was not the enemy. She had slipped into the enclosed office after him and now sat, in her usual cross legged position near the door. She fiddled with one of her armour plates as she stared down at the floor. Sev realised that she carried no visible kit or webbing. In fact Sev had never seen her eat, sleep or drink. He had a pang of guilt as he looked down at the meal heating up in front of him.
"You want some?" He asked. His voice echoed around the room and sounded tinny. He hadn't heard a human voice in a while and it sounded strange and foreign. She gave him a blank look and he remembered that she didn't know what he was saying. He gestured at his food and then at her. She stared at him for another second then nodded with understanding. She shuffled closer on her knees and sat back down across the stove from Sev. After taking off her helmet she looked at him expectantly. Sev gave the processed food a stir.
He didn't know what it was supposed to be. It looked like it could be described as beans but that would be flattery. He had been planning on eating it straight out of the can but after fishing through his back pack he found his mess tin. He slopped half of the brownish grey steaming rations into his tin and the rest he left for himself. He handed her the plate and spoon. He had put enough water in to make the substance drinkable. He pushed the fact that he had a few sips of water left to the back of his mind.
The xenos girl began spooning the food delicately into her mouth. Sev looked in curiosity and amusement as she retched after the first mouthful. But she persisted and continued eating. Sev had to keep himself from laughing from the look of determination on her face as she resolutely shovelled spoon full after spoon full of imperial grade waste into her mouth. Finally she finished, putting the plate down. She looked up at him and smiled. Sev really had to work to keep a straight face. He pulled his blanket across his chest, shuffled his bag around and laid his head down, using the bag as a pillow.
He looked over. The girl sat where she had finished her meal and was giving him an odd look. He couldn't decipher it and thought nothing of it. After a minute she lay back, flat on the ground. Sev realised that, along with having no extra equipment she also had no sleeping gear. He didn't know how warm her armour kept her but it didn't look thick and he expected his fatigues were much warmer. She was shivering badly. Sev scrunched the blanket into a ball and tossed it to her. She sat up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She started to say something but ended up just throwing him an appreciative nod. Sev lay back and she followed suit.
Sev woke up in the middle of the night. His teeth were chattering and he felt immeasurably cold. He couldn't feel his extremities. He had felt hypothermia before. There was the time when a particularly large wave had thrown him from the fishing boat on a stormy night. He had sat in the water for twenty minutes, hyperventilating and wondering whether he would drown or freeze first before rescue came. But this was different. That cold had been a sharp pain. This was more of a dull chill that froze him to the bone. He rubbed his fatigues against his arms and cried out in pain. It felt as if his blood had crystallized and he was rubbing it together. He lay back, shivering uncontrollably.
He looked over at the girl. She had pushed up on one elbow and her oval eyes picked what little light there was in the dark room. Sev thought absentmindedly in his frozen stupor of how it was nice she had thought to turn the light off. He noticed that she was shivering, although it was barely perceivable in the almost pitch-blackness of the warehouse office. After a moment she stood up and walked over to him. She stood there for a moment and Sev wondered if she was planning on killing him. Maybe it was for the best. He couldn't stand being this cold any longer. Under his breath he muttered a prayer to the Emperor to watch over his soul. But she did not draw her pistol or sword. Instead she lay down next to him wrapping the blanket over them both.
Sev was repulsed. He desperately tried to break away, feebly clawing at her. But his arms felt like they were made of lead. All he wanted to do was sleep. The girl slid one arm under him and with the other she pulled him towards her. He resisted with what little strength remained. She hissed something at him though and eventually he gave up. She felt warm, and after a few moments his muscles un-tensed. Even in his hypothermic state he could see the logic in what she was doing. If he didn't warm up he would be dead by morning.
There wasn't much else he could do to heat up. He couldn't eat hot food. In his muddled state of mind something came back to him from training. The first aid course which he had actually bothered listening to on the transport ship had explained hypothermia. The signs of it and what to do as well as what not to do. If he heated himself up too fast he would go into shock and potentially die. One of the best ways was to slowly regain temperature with body heat. In reality the xenos next him was not giving off much, she was probably near hypothermic as well, but it would help the situation and if he was lucky he would survive the night. Sev was almost amused at the thought that he was coming as close to death from non combat means than through the fighting he had seen. Fever, freezing to death and water was soon going to be an issue.
Sev made no more effort to resist but that wasn't to say that he accepted his situation. He fell asleep soon after trying to decide whether it was better to freeze to death or be in the arms of a xenos. As his eyes closed his shivering slowed slightly. The last thought on his mind was that his continued service to the Emperor would make up for the discretion.
Sev woke up in the morning. He still felt extremely cold, but at least his fingers didn't feel brittle and he could move his limbs without too much difficulty. It was then that he realised where said limbs were. The xenos girl lay with her back to him. Her head was pressed into his chest. His arms were around her and she held his hands into her stomach. Her chest rose and fell slightly in the deep breaths of sleep. Sev couldn't get over how normal she looked. Despite the ears poking out of her long brown hair she would have passed as a startlingly attractive human. She's perfect Sev thought. She was lithe but not skinny and curved but not to unnatural levels.
But she was not human, and she was the enemy. He would fight by her side, and accept her help if she would not hinder him getting back to his comrades but he was not willing to become friends. She may have saved his life last night but he was alive now and needed contact with her no longer. He sat up, trying not to disturb the sleeping figure in front of him, extracting his arm from under her slowly. His efforts were for nought though; as the girl turned over quickly, seemingly instantly awake. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and stared up at him as he slowly got to his feet. His breath fogged the air and lying next to her he had almost forgotten how cold it was. His muscles were stiff and his leg throbbed slightly as blood began pumping through chilled veins.
Sev took two nutrient bars out of his webbing that lay where he had dropped it the night before. He waved it in front of the xenos who had curled herself into a ball in the blanket. She shook her head and pulled the blanket over her head. Sev found this hilarious and couldn't help but laugh. Apparently she would need to be starving to eat army rations again. He dropped it next to her and sat in the office chair to eat his own. He wanted to get moving as soon as possible to get his blood pumping and, Emperor willing, find his company.
After finishing off the bitter tasting nutrient bar Sev pulled on his webbing, back pack and the rest of his gear. The girl tossed the blanket up at him and he folded it into a roll and put it in the bag. After putting her helmet on she picked up her sword and pistol and nodded at him that she was ready to go. Sev pushed out the door and began towards the far end of the warehouse. Looking up he noticed that icicles had formed from the metal girders that made the rafters.
Sev thought about the fact that he had nothing to call the girl other than "girl" or "xenos". He didn't like the implications of companionship that came with knowing her name but he decided that it was best to try and figure it out, for the purpose of efficiency.
"What's your name then?" he called back over his shoulder. Looking back he saw that the girl faltered a little at the sound of his voice. She obviously didn't understand, as before, and Sev tried repeating himself, saying it slower and louder. He wasn't surprised when it didn't work. He tried a different tactic.
"My name's Sev. That mean anything to you? Call me Sev?" he said. She had matched his pace and walked next to him, looking at him. It still unnerved him to have what he had always been taught to hate walking with him, looking at him like he was some sort of creature.
"Sev..." She said slowly in a questioning tone. Her melodic accent made it sound strange and it came out slightly tinny through her helmet.
"Sev" He repeated. They came to the door. Sev turned the handle. He could feel the cold of the metal through his gloves. He gave the door a push. There was a soft crunching and the sound of cracking ice but the door failed to move more than a few centimetres. Sev shoved again. Birght light streamed through the half meter gap. One more shove and the door stood almost wide open. Sev stepped from the gloom of the warehouse into brilliant sunlight.
The world around him was different from the one he had left last night. The grey streets had been covered with a thick blanket of snow that made the dirty dull streets look clean and pristine. Everything sparkled. Sev let out a low whistle. He had never seen anything like it. He took a few steps and smiled beneath his mask at the crunching sound it made. There was a lighter crunching as the girl's small light steps followed close behind.
"Illineth" he heard from behind him. Sev spun around. The xenos had stopped walking.
"Fy enw i yw Illineth" she spoke again. Sev liked the sound of her voice, the way the words blended together like the words of a poem or song.
"Illineth. That's an alright name" Sev turned and kept going. Again she matched his pace and walked along side him. They walked down the middle of the road, uncaring of enemies. Perhaps the snow absorbed the sound or perhaps the gunners were resting, but there was no audible artillery. Two lines of footsteps followed behind them.
It was mid morning when thirst kicked in. Sev shook his canteen into his mouth and much to his dismay there was only a few drops of water left. Illineth watched him as he did it and after he had finished peering into the bottle to try and see if any water had eluded him she spoke up.
"Gallwch toddi yr eira eich bod yn gwybod" She said. Sev turned to her and shrugged his shoulders. She knew that he couldn't understand him. Illineth gestured towards the edge of the road impatiently. Sev followed. After they had crouched down in the shadow of construction site she slid around him and began undoing the clasps on his bag. Sev began to turn to stop her. That was his imperial issue gear as well as a few personal items and she had no right meddling with it. But before he could even turn and get the bag out of her reach she stopped him.
"Dorri allan" She said, in a scolding tone. Sev was so shocked by her authoritative manner that he halted mid turn. He sat stunned as she pulled something out of his bag. He turned to see it was his camp stove. He still had the canteen in his hand and she snatched it from him.
"What in the warp do you think you're doing" He said, completely taken aback. She ignored him and began stuffing snow into the metal canteen. After she had finished she looked up at him expectantly and pointed to the stove.
"Pe gallech chynnau os gwelwch yn dda?" She said. Sev got what she was saying but still did not understand what she was doing. He hesitated. Then he remembered something. Back home the family had owned a freezer. It was covered in ice and what looked like the snow. It had never even occurred to him that the snow was simply frozen rain. He snorted once then burst out laughing. Soon he was doubled over, howling with laughter. He had been seriously concerned about dying of thirst when he was completely surrounded by water. Illineth cocked her head and stared at him. She had no idea what had gotten into him. After he had calmed himself down enough he fished into his pocket and handed her the lighter.
She fumbled with it, figured out how the device worked then with a couple flicks got it going. She could not figure out the stove though so Sev demonstrated how to turn on the gas still letting out the occasional snort. He was in a joking mood now and as Illineth brought the lighter down to ignite the stove he smacked her hand, sending it shooting down. There was a poof, and the stove lit. She screeched with surprise and terror as the flame shot upwards and she yanked back her hand. She started yelling at Sev and he fell on his side howling with laughter. She slammed the canteen down on the tiny stove, crossed her arms and her shoulders shot up.
Sev calmed himself down enough to sit up and make sure that the paint on the canteen was not melting off. It wasn't and he turned it over just in case.
"Oh common, you have to admit it was funny" He said to the sulking alien. She looked away and turned up her nose. Sev leaned back on his hands.
"Ok fine, I'm sorry. Alright?" Sev said. Her nose went up even higher.
"Please?" He said. He sounded pleading. She held her ground for another second and then giggled, relaxing. Sev felt very relieved before he remembered that he wasn't supposed to care what the xenos thought of him. He turned the canteen over once more. He could hear the water sloshing around and couldn't feel any chunks bumping against the side so he took the canteen off. He yelped with pain as the heat burnt him through his gloves. He tossed the canteen and it landed in a nearby snow bank steaming. Illineth pointed at Sev mockingly as she laughed at him for his foolishness. He grimaced as he gingerly pulled the canteen out of the snow and slotted it into place on his hip.
"Let's get moving" He said and stood up to continue on. Illineth caught up to him in a few quick strides and walked next to him. He realised after a moment that she was trying to copy his military style march. He ignored her but it started to get on his nerves. The way she swung her arms and lifted her knees in an exaggerated form of the walk he had been trained to do. She was perfectly rigid and looked like some sort of robot.
"Piss off" he said, frustrated. She continued, throwing him a glance to make sure he was watching.
"Cut it out" he said. He was almost mad but decided to beat her at her own game. He held his rifle loose in his hands and started moving with long strides. He kept his back straight and swung his hips from side, over doing the motion greatly. They walked like this for a while, occasionally throwing glances to see how the other was doing. Eventually they both burst out laughing at how ridiculous they looked.
They stopped and Illineth took a step towards him. She looked up at him. He couldn't see her eyes through her helmet and he was sure that his were barely visible through his mask. They stood there for a moment, not even a foot apart. Suddenly her head shot to the side looking back in the direction they had come.
"Rydym yn cael trafferth" She said. Sev looked back down the roar, fear creeping into his mind. Had something seen their tracks and followed them? He didn't want to admit it but he had been having a really good time and had completely forgotten that they were in the middle of a war zone.
Before he knew what was happening she collided with him, sending him sprawling into a nearby snow bank. He laughed at her deception. She had caught him completely off guard and he yelped in surprise and indignation. But he would not be bested by this xenos. She had landed on top of him and he grabbed her by her slim waist and spun her over, shoving her into the indent he had made in the snow. He pinned her down with his superior weight and jabbed a mocking finger in her face.
"Ewch oddi mi eich dwp Mon Keigh!" She hissed at him with obvious and blatant anger. The humour drained from Sev to be replaced by confusion. He was about to reply when there was the rattling sound of an automatic weapon discharging. Sev ducked, pressing Illineth farther into the snow bank. There were multiple puffs as bullets impacted with the snow around them. Chunks of semi melted snow were thrown into the air and the snow bank steamed in multiple places from where the bullets had impacted.
As soon as the rattle stopped Illineth was up. Sev didn't know how she had gotten out from beneath him so quickly but she did and was dragging him to his feet. The snow bank they had landed in had built up against the wall of a factory. Illineth was running, clambering up the snow bank with Sev dragging dumbly behind her. She gave a final push and with a leap she and Sev crashed through a window at the top of the snow bank. Sev landed, Illineth still clutching his hand. His bad leg impacted first from the three metre drop. He cried out in pain as his leg collapsed under him. Illineth was up trying to tug him to his feet. Sev got up, made it a few steps then collapsed again. His leg couldn't take the weight of his body. Illineth was pleading with him, desperately trying to tug him onwards. And then Sev did something he never would have expected to do.
"Go on without me" he said. He pulled his hand from her grip and gave her a dismissive wave. He stumbled a few more metres and rolled over a conveyer belt. Illineth stood there stunned. Apparently she got the gist of what he was saying and she was as surprised as he was that he was offering to give his life for her. Then she walked over to him. She vaulted the conveyer belt and crouched next to him, drawing her pistol.
"Go!" Sev almost shouted. She braced her hand on the metal machinery and levelled the pistol on the window. Sev rolled into a one kneed firing stance and braced the lasgun against his shoulder, lining his sights up with the smashed in glass. His arms shook. He had been happy for the first time in a long time. He knew he shouldn't have been but he had. He liked being with Illineth, Emperor forbid. He looked over at her. Her hands were shaking like his and her eyes didn't shift from the window.
There was a roar as some sort of vehicle approached and then halted outside. The noise stopped as the engine was cut. Heavy boots could be heard landing in snow with crunches. There was the clatter of guns being cocked and the ring as huge swords were drawn from crude sheaths.
"Alright ladz, they went in 'ere. They can't 'ave gone far, letz go in and find 'em" said a deep gravelly voice.
"Five teefs if youz can bring 'em aloive!" screeched a higher pitched voice.
"And ten if youz bring em dead" spoke a hoarse ragged ork.
There was the crunching of snow as the orks began ascending the snow drift. Sev gritted his teeth. A head appeared in the shattered window. Long ears poked out from under the spotted scarf that covered its head. It craned its head back and forth as it sniffed the air. It was silhouetted against the bright cold light from outside. Sev began depressing the trigger but Illineths hand stopped him. He was used to taking orders and he held his fire. The thumping grew louder and one by one six orks leapt through the window, following the little scarf clad runt.
A big ork, the leader, came through first. He wore a helmet with a big metal spike coming out the top. He had what looked like monstrous sheers on his hand. They opened and closed slowly, as if they had a mind of their own. Four other orks looked relatively standard as far as the orks Sev had seen went. Huge heads protruding from huger chests. They carried an assortment of cleavers, pistols and shoddy assault rifles. The final ork to come clambering through the window held what looked like a flame thrower. A tube connected the contraption to his back and his face was covered by what looked like a giant welding mask.
The orks began fanning out but before they could take more than a few steps Illineth punched forward with her fist. Sev took that as the signal to open fire. One of the orks shuddered as las rounds impacted. It managed a few steps under Sevs concentrated semi auto fire before slumping forwards onto a tray of tools with a crash. Illineths pistol hissed and another orks took a few steps backwards and collapsed against the wall as his chest was ripped to shreds. The leader roared with anger and he charged, two orks following. Sev fired another few shots on the leader but they either failed to get through his leather and plate armour or he was unfazed by the pain. Illineth had more luck and another ork dropped from pistol fire, his head a gory mess.
The lead ork leaped at Illineth, the huge wide open claw swung downwards. Sev was desperately trying to bring his lasgun to bear but stared in horror. The claw was moving too fast, Illineth couldn't possibly dodge it. But dodge she did. She slid under the weapon and brought her crackling power sword up. There was a sizzling sound and then a clatter. The orks weapon, forearm included, slid to the floor. A second later the orks headless body joined it. The final ork faltered and Sev managed to drop it with a series of las shots. He put the magazine into his webbing and slotted in a fresh one. He noticed that his leg felt much better. He must have just strained it slightly as it hurt, but not so bad that he couldn't put weight on it. It was lucky that it wasn't sprained or broken.
Illineth was just flicking the ork blood off her sword when there was a croaking noise. Sev and Illineth spun towards the sound. The flame thrower wielding ork sat on a conveyer belt. The flamer was lowered and the croaking sound was evidently him laughing.
"Quoite a good show you twoz put on for me. 'Ere was me thinkin youd killz them all" he said, sliding off the machinery. He took a few slow steps towards them.
"Shame all good thingz aff to end eh?" there was a cough, and then a roar as the flamer belched forth liquid fire. Sev lunged, pushing Illineth to the ground. They both toppled behind some sort of large boxy looking machine. Fire licked around the edges of their cover and almost scorched Sev who was covering Illineth with his body. They both shrunk back from the edge as far as they could. Over the popping of melting metal and the roar of the flames they could hear the croaking of the orks laughter.
The flames were creeping farther and farther around the edge towards them and the must have been slowly approaching. Sev fumbled on his belt. He pulled out a grenade. There were severe consequences for using grenades without explicit orders from a sergeant but Sev felt that if there was time or a place for breaking such orders without permission it was here and now. He pulled the pin, released the spoon, and his arm braved the flames as he tossed the frag. As soon as it was gone he yanked his arm back. He beat it against the machine they were cowering behind, extinguishing the burning promethium gel that clung to his fatigues. There was a dull crump and a millisecond later there was a massive blast. The shockwave felt like a wall had hitting him. He moaned. Finally there was silence.