EIGHTEEN
"So let me get this straight, you investigated Kael's residence without informing us, found a stockpile of evidence covering Kael's activities, and then you somehow managed to get all of the evidence blown up?"
"Yes, sir, that is an accurate summation of what transpired."
As one could imagine, Commissar Cain wasn't very pleased to hear my latest update when I contacted him via vox caster. I would have preferred to have gone straight to the Lord-General with what I had managed to save but my requests had been greeted with casual dismissals followed by repeated explanations that "yes, I really am Commissar Abel and yes I was reported dead but that obviously wasn't the case. Despite my best efforts I simply couldn't bludgeon my way through administrative assistants – they were specially trained to specifically handle persistent individuals, especially persistent, reportedly dead individuals. I tried to think of alternatives to reach the Lord-General but when the only plans I could formulate involved rolls of det-tape, rappel lines, and a shotgun loaded with stun-rounds, I realized that it would be best if I simply contacted Cain. Without Cain's preferential treatment to hitch my wagon, to my reports weren't going to reach the Lord-General regardless of their importance. Since he and the rest of the Valhallans were deployed to the jungles to fight the ork horde, I had to rely on a vox caster that was woefully unreliable and frequently gave my ear the audio-equivalent of a stab with a rusty bayonet.
"That was bloody careless. Do you just enjoy constantly riding shotgun in death's buggie? I could have sworn I told you to stay behind the desk until you were fully rested," Cain replied. His exhaustion was evident even in his poorly transmitted tone. I figured the fighting had been taking a toll on him so I tried to be as polite and civil as I could.
"If it's any consolation, I don't think he was actually trying to kill me," I explained. "I mean, he could have rigged it to explode immediately rather than giving me more than enough time to run away." In hindsight, there were a million different ways that Kael could have rigged his residence to kill me that I probably would have fallen victim to so perhaps Cain did have I point about my recklessness. Kael knew I was coming so everything that happened within that building happened exactly as he planned it. It was likely more of a friendly reminder of just how feeble I was compared to him. I knew his criticism was just his way of showing concern for my well-being (or at least my ability to do all his administrative duties). "I've got evidence that suggests that the Tau have been working with our Eldar spy from the very start, even manipulating the Governor.
"I'm sure the Governor won't be too happy to hear that but do you have any actual good news?"
"What's the matter? Orks giving you a hard time?" I teased.
"More the weather than the greenskins: it's wet, it's cold, and I'm out of frakking tanna, thank you very much. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather just have the good news and we'll worry about the bad when I'm someplace dry." The orks must have been hard-pressed for Cain to be griping about the weather more than the enemy but that was just the kind of hero he was – being up to his neck in orks was just another day to him. I informed Cain about that the evidence also suggested that Kael was acting alone so we wouldn't have to worry about an Eldar raiding party coming in to make a further mess of things and also that I may have location of our rogue colonel. "I'm a little hard-pressed to believe that Kael would just throw you a freebie like that," Cain replied with understandable skepticism. Kael must have scouted out the Adumbrians after he disappeared and left the map for me so it begged the question why Kael was handing them over. I speculated that the Adumbrians likely didn't fit into Kael's grand plans or were an undesirable wild card. However, whatever Kael's reasons were, it didn't change the fact that we still needed Trevek.
Or maybe I just needed Trevek. His antics put me out on the field with a squad that turned around and shot me in the back, so in my mind I felt some of the blame fell on the rogue colonel. Emperor help him if I got to him before the Tau or the Orks do. Plus, like any Kriegan the thought of a traitor escaping justice got my blood boiling.
I asked Cain if I should take the evidence straight to the Lord-General or if it should be handled internally before being passed up the food chain. Time, after all, could be of the essence when dealing with traitors. And the Lord-General did have a lot on his plate without having to chase down rogue colonels and his handful of troopers. "Transmit it to us and Kasteen and I will look over it," Cain suggested.
"It's paper, sir."
"You mean like hand-drawn?"
"Exactly. I don't think it's compatible with a vox caster," I said sarcastically. He told me to send a runner to deliver but I quickly volunteered to deliver it personally. I ended the call before Cain could try to talk me out of it. Despite the comfort of desk work, I had been stuck lying around base for too long and I was itching to get back out onto the field, regardless of how stiff my back was. Cain would probably be angry at me but what was he going to do? Throw me out a window?
The ride over to the front lines was...wet to say the least. Weather on Magnus Viridis was prone to mood swings but the swing from calm and sunny to torrential downpour was enough to snap your neck. It took less than a minute before I was fitting my gasmask into place just to keep the water out of my eyes. Watz was cussing about the weather for the whole ride, making constant remarks about how the pooling water was bad for the floor plating but I could barely hear him over the pelting raindrops. Passing through reclaimed territory, the scale of the devastation was evident. Most of our dead had been cleaned up but the ork corpses lay where they fell, creating a blanket of green bodies that Watz had to skillfully navigate his way around. The scores of fallen trees, splintered by artillery or plowed down by our tanks, created additional obstacles but I was surprised that despite the apparent degree of deforestation we had inflicted seemed to put only a minor dent in the overall ecosystem. Even weeks after some of the skirmishes, shrubs and saplings were already pushing to the surface and some of the older trees had bark so thick that it could've been classified as living armour. I recall one of the Catachans commenting that the persistence and resilience of the jungle reminded him somewhat of the jungles back on his homeworld, minus the 'tries to kill you at every waking moment' part.
That world makes Krieg seem like a holiday resort.
Field command was in the general state of disarray one would expect from the middle of a military campaign. Gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance, occasionally a stray round from a tank or a mortar impacted a nearby tree, chimeras cycled to and from the front lines carrying the wounded, and Broklaw stood in the middle of it all shouting orders at anybody who passed within sight of him. For such a young executive officer, he had a tight grasp on the situation and never faltered in his command. Like all the soldiers around him, he was saturated from head to toe and I suspect he never once bothered to take shelter in the nearby command tents unless it was to attend to urgent matters. I always admired his willingness to get stuck in the middle of it for reasons other than personal glory.
"You know, a techpriest could probably set up a vox amplifier to get the same effect without you having to stand out here in the rain," I said when the centaur pulled up next to him. He didn't appear surprised to see me at the front, even commenting that he expected me to show up even sooner. What did surprise him was when I asked for directions to Cain, as he had assumed I would be heading for the frontlines rather than meeting with the commander. I explained to him that I had uncovered some interesting facts about our Eldar friend and brought the evidence in for review. I invited him to tag along but he politely declined, citing pressing duties and that he was due to head to the front for a while with the next batch of relief troopers. I wished him the Emperor's protection and headed off to find Cain.
Oddly enough, while I expected I would have to go somewhere near the front to find the commissar, I instead found him in the command tent with Colonel Kasteen and Garrick. The three of them loomed over a large map, using simple blocks of wood and metal to represent troop movements on their hastily assembled strategy table. In fact, everything about the command tent suggested 'rush job' from the crudely strung luminators on a length of steel wire to the bulge on the far wall of the tent due to the presence of a tree that had the audacity to claim its spot first. The interior of the tent, despite the troopers' best efforts, still felt damp as rain dripped through small tears and holes in the overhanging tarp. Strategically placed buckets kept most of the portable electronics dry, including one that sat right on top of the vox caster while its operator had to deal with the occasional drop landing on his head. Even the map had a recaf mug sitting in the center to keep the map dry. Every few minutes Kasteen had to quickly grab the mug and dump its contents, once accidentally nailing a passing vox operator.
"Commissar Abel, I heard you almost got blown up again," Kasteen greeted with a tired smile. "I hope what you found was worth it."
"What are a few brushes with death when it's in the Emperor's name?" I said jokingly as I shook the excess water from my hat. I took the vox recorder from my inner coat pocket and handed it over to Cain. "I'm surprised to see you here, Garrick. I figured you would be up at the front gutting orks."
"These green xenos are barely worth my effort," he replied. "We are still in the early waves, which are full of the smaller runts and gretchins. Their chieftain is trying to soak up our ammunition reserves by throwing the weaklings and feral orks at us before allowing the main horde to counter-attack."
"Normally I wouldn't give a word of praise to a xeno but our Tau allies are doing a good job of funneling them into a narrow kill-zone," Kasteen explained as she directed my attention to the map. "We've got a crossfire set up along these two ridgelines that the orks have been trying to charge through for the past few days. The Tau have been using their Kroot to draw the orks in, at which point we shred them to pieces with heavy bolters and lasguns." Garrick remarked that it was a common tactic for the Tau and suggested Kasteen should prepare for the eventuality that the Orks smarten up and find an alternate route.
Unfortunately, I had to spoil the news with the revelation that the Tau and the Eldar had been in cahoots since the beginning. The coordinates to destroy the incoming supply transports, the ambush against the space marine strike team, saving the governor, probably even the truce, were all done under the advice and guidance of the Eldar. It seemed far-fetched at first but once they listened to the whole of the vox recording the depth of the Eldar influence became obvious. Though the thought had crossed my mind, Cain was the first to comment, "Rather convenient for all the evidence to be sitting on one vox recording. Kael's side of the conversation feels somewhat…staged."
"It's kind of obvious that Kael wanted me to find this," I pointed out. "To what end I don't know but if what he's saying is true then we have to do something about it. The Governor is certainly not going to stand by when he finds out the Tau and the Eldar have been using him."
"That will drive a wedge straight through this truce and we'll be back at each other's throats before the Orks have been dealt with," Garrick said even though I half-suspected he would prefer if that were the case. "We should hold onto the information and deal with it after the orks have been dealt with and we can focus on our attention on the Tau."
"I never thought I'd see the day where a space marine preferred allying with the xenos over fighting them all at once," I remarked.
"If I had a company of my brothers at my side I would gladly strike at the Tau, Orks, and traitors alike, but I am the last of my squad and the honour of my fallen brothers rests on my shoulders. This mission cannot fail – this planet must be returned to the Emperor."
"I thought that so long as an Astartes falls in battle and duty then it is considered an honourable end," Cain commented with some confusion.
"For some Chapters that may be considered sufficient," Garrick snapped back, clearly irked by Cain's remarks. "But for the Black Watch, honour comes in the success of the mission. There is always glory to be had in battle but our missions come from the Chapter Master, which in turn come from the Emperor's will: to fail the mission means to fail the Emperor and there is no greater shame than that. I stand with my brothers in life and in death…I will not allow their final mission to be that of disgrace, even if it means I must sacrifice some of my own honour."
"That's certainly…um, noble," Cain remarked, voicing the same degree of confusion that Kasteen and I shared. Since I had never met a space marine in person I had no idea what the 'average marine' was like unless I took the rumours into account. Some people described spaces marines as somewhat barbaric and bloodthirsty but after meeting Garrick I got the impression that Chapters could be radically different from one another in terms of ideology.
"The Emperor is strong, wise, and righteous…we believe in emulating those traits. Personally, I find some chapters seem to focus mostly on the first one," Garrick answered with a hint of pride. As informative as it was, we were getting distracted from the important matter at hand but before I could raise a voice to redirect the discussion, one of the vox operators suddenly for Kasteen's attention. He reported, with great urgency, that the Orks were pressing hard in sector R-17. Judging by Cain and Kasteen's concerned expression, this was significant and not in the 'blundering into our minefields' kind of way. Apparently that was the sector that our regiment's allotment of Adumbrians were located, which meant our weakest link was about to be hit by the crude, brutish hammer of the Ork mob.
"Cain, Garrick – gather as many able bodies from the rest station as you can and reinforce that sector," Kasteen instructed. While technically she had no authority over either of them, the three soldiers were already on the same page and knew the importance of keeping our battleline from being cut into ribbons. It was more of an iteration of the fact than an actual order, regardless of how it sounded to the casual observer. If anything the Adumbrians needed something (or more specifically, someone) to rally behind if their line was to hold. This unexpected interruption, however, worked in my favour as it took Cain out of the room and gave me an opportunity to speak with Kasteen alone. I knew Cain would object with what I had in mind but it was something I had to deal with on my own terms, not his. His concern for my well-being (and the workload my death would bring about) would be at the front, not to mention a harsh scolding for considering such a reckless strategy. I like to think that he would have done something similar, though, were he in my position.
"Colonel Kasteen, I think Kael also found the whereabouts of Colonel Trevek," I began as I took out the map and laid it out across the table. "From what I can tell by the map layout, it appears to be an old monitoring station. This approach here should provide enough cover for somebody to approach on foot. Now given the numbers of casualties we inflicted, he shouldn't have more than a few squads left for protection. If we hit fast and hard, we should be able to pin him down before he gets a chance to flee." PDF or not, a colonel still had a solid grasp of tactics and stratagem, so my best bet was a rushing attack that overwhelmed the inexperienced troopers before the colonel could reorganize his defense.
Kasteen took a long look at the map, lifting it up partly on occasion to glance at the larger map underneath. However, she let out a discouraged sigh that did not leave me feeling confident in her answer. "With all due respect Commissar, I know the business with Trevek is ugly and maybe a bit personal but I don't have the manpower to spare just to get back at him because one of his men shot you-"
"It wasn't one of his," I quickly interrupted. The truth of my injuries being friendly-fire was a tightly kept secret – if I made it seem like I had passed it off as a normal battlefield injury then my assailant wouldn't be on edge and, hopefully, wouldn't see me coming for him until it was too late. Her eyes furrowed when she realized what I was implying. No commanding officer liked to hear the suggestion that one of their own is a back-stabbing (or shooting in this case) traitor. I wasn't sure at first if the anger was directed at me for the implication or the thought of a traitor in her ranks. "Somebody in Sergeant Jydais' squad tried to kill me. I need to find out who it was."
Kasteen's expression softened to one of sympathy, her eyes meeting mine briefly before taking another look at the map of Trevek's alleged hideaway. "How many men would you need?"
"His squad should be sufficient."
"I'm assuming you haven't passed this insane plan of yours by Cain? You do realize that whoever shot you will realize what's going on?"
"That is exactly what I'm hoping for," I said with a sly smirk. "I'm hoping whoever shot me will be so on edge he'll give himself away or make a desperate attempt to finish the job. This time around, he shouldn't catch me off-guard."
It was an insanely risky plan, even by my standards, but it was the quickest way to the best solution and it could also solve the Trevek issue at the same time – kill two heretics with one shot as the saying goes. Kasteen wasn't entirely convinced my sanity was up to scratch nor overridden by a desire for revenge but she realized the situation we both were in. "If I said no, you'd just pull the commissarial card out, wouldn't you?"
"I could just execute the entire squad and save myself the trouble," I suggested none too subtly. "All it would cost me is a bit of time to fill out the paperwork." While I much preferred having a reputation of being fair and even-handed in the regiment, I had no intention of letting my assailant escape justice (let alone my wrath) or go through the painfully long and tedious investigation process that would likely yield inconclusive results. If I waited for the enemy to the job for me I would never have the resolution of confronting the person face-to-face. The idea of killing a few innocent men to get to the guilty party was unpalatable but it was better than being left with uncertainty. I disliked having to twist Kasteen's arm in such a manner – I had a great deal of respect for her as an officer, which was saying a lot considering how most officers I met tended to be pretentious blowhards or gung-ho hard-asses.
Kasteen eventually let out a defeated sigh even though she knew the outcome well before admitting it. "It'll take me a few minutes to get Jydais' squad back here. In the meantime, head to the aid station and see if you can find a carapace vest."
"Thanks Kasteen."
It was probably one of the rare times where I was actually visibly pleased to see Jydais, who meandered begrudgingly into the command tent. Scowls and frowns were aplenty when they saw me and I hoped my grinning visage greeting them provided even more indignation. While typically I would watch my step around Jydais and his men, on this occasion I wanted them to be irritated with me. It would be a delicate matter, however, since I didn't want to rile them up so much that each of them would want to put a round in my backside but just enough to get the guilty party to be willing to risk another murder attempt. I needed to make the bulls-eye on my back an ever-increasingly tempting target for him.
I had five suspects to deal with: Sergeant Jydais, Corporal Corial, Trooper Ingrut, Trooper Lalee, and Trooper Malakan. Each one had means, motive, and opportunity so I had a difficult task ahead of me. Jydais, as I had mentioned before, used to be a captain until his brother was executed for cowardice and the commissariat stripped him of his rank. Corial was a troublemaker who was slated to be executed by the regiment's previous commissar before a tyranid attack gave him the opportunity to redeem himself and removed the aforementioned commissar. Ingrut supposedly shot a commissar already, though all I knew about the incident was rumour and conjecture. Lalee, though estranged from his father, was often viewed by commissars and officers with a hint of suspicion due to his father's heretical history, which only further bolstered his general disregard for authority figures and loner mentality. And Malakan…well, I had shoved a pistol in his face and threatened to blow his brains out so I guess it would be safe to suggest that I had been crossed off his Emperor's Day gift list.
After explaining the mission to them and listening to Jydais make his usual remarks about how I would just get in the way, I politely told the sergeant and his team to shut the hell up and listen to my instructions. I was half-tempted to add in some threats of execution if we failed but I didn't need to give them that much incentive to kill me.
"Any questions?" I asked after the briefing.
"Is there a particular reason you decided to take us or do you just like screwing with us?" Jydais asked with a clear tone of annoyance and contempt.
"Well, since you and your team performed so admirably the last time we fought against Trevek's men, I figured a repeat performance was in order," I replied. In hindsight, I probably should have worded that better as Jydais gave me a quizzical glare that made me think, for a brief moment, I thought I might have given my intentions away prematurely.
"Guess we don't have a choice unless we want to be executed," he muttered. "Is that all, Commissar?" I nodded and told them to meet me at the centaur. Since it was raining outside, I made sure to take my sweet time in making my final preparations. As Kasteen had suggested, I had earlier stopped by the aid station and found a carapace vest that it's former owner would no longer be requiring (she lost both of her legs to a rocket). It was a bit loose but given my tiny frame I would have been more surprised if I had found one that fits. Thankfully, with the commissarial coat overtop, the vest was barely noticeable and I removed a few unnecessary layers of clothing to aid in the concealment. It was moments like those, as I squeezed into my armoured corset, that I was glad that I was never well-endowed in that particular region of my body. Breathing would have been a real challenge if I had been top-heavy.
When I finally arrived at the centaur, Jydais and his squad were as soaked as humanly possible and grumbling bitterly about my lack of punctuality. "About damn time you showed up," Jydais quipped. "Next time we're just going to leave without you."
"And yet you stayed all the same," I replied and motioned for everybody to climb aboard. A centaur had limited passenger room but with me sitting up front with Watz, there was enough space for Jydais and his squad to sit. It also kept me relatively dry and left them exposed to the rain. The drive was quiet enough; a few of the troops chattered idly in the back while I monitored the vox channels for updates on the fighting in Cain's neck of the woods. Things were going well as to be expected. Kasteen had assigned the Adumbrians the easiest sector of the jungle to defend – a high, steep ridgeline with a lot of open ground for the Orks to traverse. Had they not been such greenbacks, I doubt Cain would have even wasted his time.
After almost an hour of driving through the jungle, Watz brought the vehicle to a halt. "Okay kiddies, we're walking the rest of the way," I ordered and motioned for them to file out. I was about to join them when Watz held me back for moment.
"I really think this is a bad idea ma'am," he whispered. "At least let me go with you so I can watch your back."
I appreciated his concern, maybe even felt a little flattered, but I brushed his hand off with a reassuring smile. "If you're hanging around, he'll likely bunker down and never reveal himself. Don't worry…I'll be careful."
"A little late on the worrying part," he grumbled.
"Sorry mum," I teased before climbing out to join Jydais and the others. There was still a little over a mile to travel on foot but with the dense jungle we could get right up to their front door before they noticed us. We traveled in a staggered line with Lalee as usual in the lead and I kept to the rear – there was little chance of us getting attacked from the rear so I was relatively safe in the back. I didn't want to put my back to any of these people, at least not yet. Though irritated with me, the soldiers quickly focused on the mission. I secretly hoped that the guilty party would keep glancing back to me out of nervousness but the steely nerves of the veteran squad eliminated that faint hope. It was too early and too obvious for a betrayal but, I kept my laspistol and shock maul out just in case.
After a long walk through the jungle, Lalee signaled for us to keep low. Signs of man-made structures were visible in the distance – the distinct gray hues of rockrete walls and the shimmer of road-side luminators. What worried me, though, was the sight of a treaded metal hull, which bore the Adumbrian colours on the side. I knew they still had some of their chimeras, and Ingrut had a meltagun slung across his back for just such an emergency, but I had hoped to avoid running right into one. I ordered everyone down while Lalee went ahead for a closer look.
"Transport doesn't look active," Lalee reported a few minutes later through the comm-bead. "Couple of troopers chatting on the rear hatch. I'm taking them out," Technically, he should've asked for permission before firing however it was expected because that loner mentality is what had made him a problem for commanders. When I later reminded him of that detail, he merely shrugged me off with indifference and carried on with his business. At least he wasn't as disrespectful as the rest of the squad…just indifferent. After Lalee gave the all-clear, we continued forward, quickly passing by the chimera on our way to the rockrete and chain-link fencing surrounding the observation post. I cast a glance briefly to the two soldiers Lalee had taken down. Both had holes blown through their helmets and I suspected that Lalee was not the traitor – had it been him, he would've put a neat and tidy hole in the center of my skull. That meant I could keep a closer eye on the other four suspects.
The observation post consisted of about four small bunker-like buildings surrounding a central tower. The bunkers in the east, south and west were linked by a single long hallway. The central tower was joined by a single corridor to the northern and final bunker. Entering through the east building would allow us to clear the three buildings quickly. Then we would clear the last bunker and drive to the center without having to leave a hole for Trevek to slip through. Unless he wanted to make an escape run over open ground. I was hoping our speed and the induced confusion would keep him from making that choice.
Ingrut began unraveling some det-tape along the chain-link fence to prepare our entrance. Once we stormed the interior things were going to get real noisy real fast. "Here's our game plan," I began, "once fence is breached we split into two teams. Corial, Lalee, and Malakan will circle around to the right while Jydais, Ingrut, and I will head left. We clear any sentries, meet up at the east bunker entrance, breach the doorway, clear the bunker and then move rapidly to the next. We'll repeat the process at the north bunker. The only people we want alive are Colonel Trevek and Commissar Stimpsen."
"Det-tape is all primed sarge," Ingrut reported, intentionally snubbing me even though this was my operation. I gave the signal to begin our assault. With a sharp bang, the det-tape shredded the chain-link fence and our doorway was opened. Since I didn't want to make it obvious I was holding back just to keep an eye on everybody, I made sure I wasn't the last one through and jumped the low rockrete wall just ahead of Lalee, who I figured to be the safest bet. As expected, a handful of Adumbrian troopers rushed out to investigate the commotion but the lack of cover and our superior firepower meant the traitor guardsmen were gunned down in a blaze of lasfire. We moved quickly to cover the open ground, rushing around the corners and making it to the rally point with minimal resistance.
"Ingrut, blow the door," I instructed. We stacked alongside the door while he primed a breaching charge. The resulting explosion blew the door off its hinges, crushing the dumb sod who happened to be standing on the other side. With speed and precision, Jydais' veteran squad rushed in and began firing at anyone in Adumbrian colours. As time was off the essence, once the first room was clear we split into two teams again and began to fight out way through the bunkers. Inside, with more cover and narrow corridors, our advance was continually stalled by clusters of traitors firing wildly down the corridors. A well-tossed frag grenade quickly remedied those situations when they arose. The fighting proved to be slightly tougher than I had anticipated but in hindsight I should have realized that backing my enemy into a corner meant they were fighting for their lives. Clearing through the northern and last bunker, Ingrut's frag grenade killed and wounded most of the remaining trooper, and I decided to rush in ahead with my shock maul ready. The first traitor I came across, bleeding profusely from cuts across his face, couldn't even see me approaching through the blood, let alone defend himself as I stoved his head in with a swift blow. A second man, who seemed to be crazed from shellshock, rushed me with his bayonet (rather than just shooting me which would have made more sense). I was able to bat the weapon aside, narrowly dodging the tip of the bayonet, before driving a fully-charged blow straight into his gut. The scream is short-lived as his body curled into the fetal position as it fell. Though his body twitched sporadically his life was quite over. I couldn't help but notice how young he was…probably not much older than I. Normally I would have felt a slight pang of pity for the lost soul but I reminded myself that stupidity had delivered him to his fate and if anything I was doing the Imperium a favour by removing him from the gene pool.
"Lalee to Commissar Abel," a voice shot through my comm-bead. It took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me since nobody else in the squad seemed to give a damn about me, let alone acknowledge my authority in the mission. "We've reached the final junction but it seems like the door has been locked down. However, we did find somebody you'll probably want to meet."
With the way clear and my steps motivated by curiosity, I hurried ahead to meet with Lalee to see who was waiting for me. Since there were only two people we wanted alive, and Lalee didn't mention our mission being complete, I guessed correctly in my assumption that Commissar Stimpsen had been found. When I arrived, the Lalee and Corial were examining the door while Malakan stood watch over an extremely anxious commissar. "We found him clawing at the door…looks like his 'friends' locked him out," Malakan explained with a hint of smug satisfaction. Given the squad's contempt for commissars, they were enjoying every moment of watching Stimpsen squirm. Frankly, I was surprised they had kept him alive for me.
"I should just knock you out and save myself the grief but as a commissar I'll give you an opportunity to explain what went through that idiot head of yours to make you think that nearly killing Commissar Cain and Lord-General Zyvan was a good idea. Why sabotage our efforts to save this planet?" I asked sternly, switching my shock maul to its lower setting just in case I needed to provide some motivation.
Obviously, he didn't take kindly to insults and accusations I wasn't surprised to see that he had little to offer other than generic, inflamed rhetoric. "Lie to yourself if you'd like, but Commissar Wren knew the truth; Ciaphas Cain is a coward and a liar. He and the rest of you would rather sell this planet to the Tau than fight the enemies of the Emperor! When the Commissariat hears of this, they'll have you both stripped of your titles and shot for treason."
He prattled on a bit longer about how our regiment was providing aid and comfort to the enemy, how Cain was cowardly avoiding his duties as commissar and duping the Lord-General to do his bidding, and how I was a lapdog bitch for doing Cain's dirty work in silencing 'the righteous few.' Over my career I had been called a great many things in Gothic, alien, and daemonic tongues, and I have always tried to take it in stride. Part of the job involved getting on people's nerves and on the battlefield it was only a good day for me if I made it a horrible day for my enemy. However, I never took very kindly to being called a bitch and I expressed my discontent with a gentle tap from the shock maul. "You and Commissar Wren have abused the authority granted to you by the office of the Commissariat; you have misled the troops entrusted to your watch; you have opened fire upon the soldiers and officers of His Majesty's Imperial Guard; and most importantly, that was no way to speak to a lady."
"Stupid bitch…" he muttered once he caught his breath. Since Stimpsen was clearly a slow learner I gave him some positive (or negative depending on which end of the shock maul you happen to be at) reinforcement to dissuade further cussing.
"Lucky for you, I don't have time to stand here and beat the stupid out of you," I said. "Lalee, how's that door coming?"
"Faster if you weren't distracting me right now," he snapped back. The doorway from the north bunker leading to the central bunker appeared to be sealed tightly and with a solid metal construct we weren't going to be blasting our way through it. However, if the schematics were correct, there was also no way out save going through us. It took a few minutes and a liberal amount of swearing but Lalee and Corial finally hacked the door controls and the way opened up. However, no sooner did the door open did we hear the distinct and terrifying 'ting' of a frag grenade skipping down stairs. The explosive bounced a few more times before rolling through our group and coming to a halt a few feet in front of me. The troopers were scattering for cover but in such a confined space the fragmentation blast was going to take out everybody. Without drastic action, we were all going to be severely maimed or worse. With that in mind, I have no regrets over what I did. Striking Stimpsen in the back of the knee dropped the fat commissar to my level, allowing me to push him onto the grenade with me on his back. Just to keep him firmly pressed against the ground. I shut my eyes and prayed to the Emperor that this wasn't just something that worked in the holo-vids.
There was a muffled bang as Stimpsen's body shook but when I opened my eyes I discovered that I was completely unharmed. The same, of course, couldn't be said for the now, late Commissar Stimpsen. "Well…that was close," I said with a sigh of relief as I got back to my feet.
"Way to valiantly shove the prisoner onto a grenade," Jydais remarked with a mixture of sarcasm and faint amusement.
"He was a dead man either way, I figured his unwilling sacrifice might earn him some mercy when he stands before the Emperor," I answered. Unfortunately, killing a fellow commissar also meant I'd have to fill out a huge amount of paperwork justifying my actions to the Commissariat. I could've said he just tripped and saved myself the grief but I was way too honest for my own good. "Anyways, now that the surprises are out of the way we can finish this mission and go home," I said as I headed for the stairs, scooping up Stimpsen's cap in the process. "They're shouldn't be many left…the rest of you stay down here. Trevek and I have a personal score to settle."
In actuality, I would've preferred to have left the final bunker to the troopers but I needed to present an ideal opportunity for my betrayer to show himself: alone in the observation bunker potentially surrounded by hostile forces. Anybody wanting to kill me wouldn't let such a juicy opportunity like this slip past them. Of course, that still left the slight challenge of dealing with any stragglers still in the tower. If I was lucky, it'd just be Trevek and a handful of troopers. However there was also the chance I could be blundering straight into a trap. In hindsight, I realize that my desire to flush out the traitor was propelling me to take unwarranted risks. That and the fact that I had committed to the action in front of the troopers prevented me from backing out as that move would forever tarnish what little reputation I possessed. Cautiously, I crept up the stairs, which were numerous and did several laps around in the interior of the tower, but stopped just shy of entering the upper chambers. It appeared to be a wide open room but there was nobody ahead – even an idiot would know to take cover and wait for the enemy to walk into the open. Sticking Stimpsen's cap onto the end of my maul, I slowly extended it into view and right on cue, several lasbolts skimmed across the doorway knocking the hat off its perch.
Gauging by the volume and frequency, the shooter was close and there was only one who fired. Perhaps fortune was on my side for a change. But now he knew I was on my way and would better prepare for my arrival. I needed Trevek alive so tossing in a grenade was out of the question so my only option was to rush in and hope that my carapace vest protected me.
"Make this easy on yourself Trevek and just surrender," I called out, hoping that cooler heads would prevail. A fool's hope but hope nonetheless.
"Why? So you can string me up and parade me around town?" he shouted back. His voice was very close by.
"I know Commissar Wren coerced you to cooperate…fed you half-truths about righteousness and an officer's duty. They took advantage of your off-world inexperience. Yes, what you did was stupid but you were manipulated into doing what they wanted. If you surrender and explain yourself, the Commissariat may show leniency."
"Would you show any?" He scoffed.
Once again my inability to lie at a critical moment left me in a difficult situation. Lies were used to manipulate and required a precise, delicate touch. I had a tendency to be about as delicate and precise carpet bombing. "No, I probably wouldn't. You won't be walking away from this. But what you have a choice over is how you're remembered."
"Remembered?" he said with a stifled laugh. "I was neither stupid nor malicious enough to earn any real prominence. I doubt anyone will even remember my name a year from now, regardless of what I do here today. I might as well just save you the effort and me the embarrassment…" For a brief moment, I thought I might have succeeded in convincing Trevek to surrender without a fight. Technically, I had succeeded, just not in the way that I had planned. I realized it a second too late and I barged into the upper chamber just in time to see Trevek splatter his brains across the wall. In doing so, he prevented news of his actions from spreading very far or very fast, which was something a military tribunal would have done. Instead word would spread mostly by mouth as campaign notes and after-action reports tend to get swallowed up by information black hole known as the Administratum. However, he was wrong about one thing: I never forgot his name. I still use his story as a cautionary lesson for my cadets against the importance of maintaining good relations with other commissars. All too often vindictive commissars use their regiments as tools to lash out at rivals and adversaries, occasionally putting the whole campaign in jeopardy.
Standing over Trevek's remains, I could not help but feel anger as I was about to walk away accomplishing none of my goals. I was about to go on a cursing spree that would have made a grizzled naval captain blush when I heard footsteps coming from the stairwell. I had received no word about somebody coming up so it had to be my mystery shooter. I took position next to the chamber entrance, laspistol drawn, and waited for the man to show himself. Anxiousness began to wreak havoc with my nerves and I had to steady my laspistol with my free hand. A helmeted figure finally emerged through the doorway and my resolve suddenly hardened. All I could think of at that point was the pain and hate I felt towards the man.
"Weapon on the ground and hands where I can see them," I spoke as I leveled my weapon at his head. I had caught him looking away from me so it took him a moment to look my way and realize the gravity of the situation. I was finally face-to-face with the guardsman that tried to kill me. "Don't act so surprised Malakan."
"Commissar…w-what are you-?"
"Don't play stupid," I hissed. "I know why you're here and I've suspected for some time it was you who botched my execution."
Finally confronted, he didn't play the innocent role for very long. His eyes furrowed but he didn't make any sudden movements, instead he complied with my instructions and set his lasgun on the ground. Unfortunately, just as his gun touched the ground he suddenly charged forward, tackling me to the ground and knocking the gun out of my hand. My shots whipped over his shoulder and out into the stairwell. Like most men, he had size, reach, and strength on his side and my situation deteriorated rapidly as he pinned me to the floor. My attempts to squirm free were met with repeated blows to the face. He clearly thought he had me beat as he continued punching me in the face rather than just finishing me off. I made sure to exploit that mistake, lowering my arms and giving him a free shot at my head. While he was raising his fist to strike again I was pulling out my shock maul and thumbing it to low power. Shock mauls were a great defensive weapon when you lacked physical strength but it has a major shortcoming. Specifically, you can't use the weapon if your opponent is in physical contact with you, at least if you didn't want to get electrified too. I had little alternative so I mentally braced myself and jabbed Malakan with the business end. It worked with the expected results and left us both twitching on the ground in pain. Even on a low setting, a shock maul would leave the average human out of a fight for several minutes, which meant my best chance for survival rested with another member of the squad coming up to the chamber and saving me.
"Malakan you bloody idiot," a voice suddenly shouted as footsteps heralded another trooper's arrival. Actually, it marked two as both Ingrun and Corial stepped through the doorway. Corial's words were none too reassuring when compounded by the fact that neither appeared to be in any hurry to help me. Apparently I didn't have just one trooper wanting me dead, I had three. "I swear, you can't seem to do anything right."
"Heh, looks like Abel zapped herself out too," Ingrun said as he leaned down to take a closer look at me. There was a definite smirk of satisfaction plastered across his face though there was little I could do at the moment except try to develop enough psychic powers to make his head explode. It was an impossible task, of course, even without the interference of Ingrun kicking me in the face. "Frakking commissars…always messing things up," he said just before his boot met my head. "Cain at least kept his distance but you had to come along, frak things up, and get Seppala killed."
"Would you knock it off and just shoot her already, we're wasting time up here," Corial snapped while he helped still-buzzed Malakan back to his feet.
Just as Ingrun was about to comply, a long-las barrel tapped against the side of his helmet and took his attention elsewhere. "Make a move and I drop you," Lalee spoke calmly with a slight hint of bitterness to his voice.
"Same goes for you corporal," Jydais added as he stepped into the chamber and raised his hellgun at Corial and Malakan.
"Come on Isaac, you can't be serious," Corial replied, clearly as surprised as I was by the sergeant's actions. "You of all people should understand. This is for Seppala, she-"
"She did her damn job…and so did Seppala. Now stand down!" We were at a stand-off and unfortunately I was the only one without a gun in the equation. However, while all eyes were focused on the people with guns, I was slowly inching my hand towards my back-up laspistol.
Finally, one of the soldiers finally decided that Jydais was bluffing. "You're not going to shoot us sarge," Ingrun said. He must have been counting on the years they served together to be worth more than my miserable life but whether he was right or not didn't matter; when he looked back to me, I had just finished drawing my laspistol. I put two shots through the chest without hesitation.
"Damn bitch!" Corial shouted in rage as he aimed his lasgun at me. Surprisingly, Jydais wasn't bluffing as he blasted Corial and Malakan with a long burst from his hellgun. In less than ten seconds, it was all over. I had found, confronted, and dealt with the people who had tried to kill me. My victory did not quite feel like a victory but that could easily be attributed to the repeated blows to my head.
Jydais walked over to me and stared down at what I assumed to be my pounded, bloodied face. He didn't appear to be in a hurry to help me either but at least he didn't have a gun pointed to my head. "This is why you should just wait in the vehicle," he remarked with that 'I told you so' tone. I would've kicked him in the crotch if I had the strength left to do so. "A kid like you has no place on a battlefield."
"Just shut up and help me up," I muttered. He motioned for Lalee to give me a hand and while my head was still aching, once I was on my feet I was able to stay upright. There was still one thing on my mind, other than how much it hurt. "Okay, I give…why didn't you just let them shoot me?"
Jydais glared at me for a moment, an annoyed look across his face. "Do you really take me for some kind of idiot?" he replied. "You think I hadn't figured out what kind of stunt you were trying to pull here? Besides, Colonel Kasteen would have gladly placed my head on a pike if I came back without you. Get one thing straight, I don't like you or any other commissar…but I am no traitor."
Even after all the years I've known him, I've still never quite figured that man out. Despite attitude problems, almost every soldier in the regiment would gladly follow him into the Warp and back. He was a non-com who genuinely watched out for his squad regardless of the cost to himself or his career. I had seen him brave bolter fire, shuriken cannons, ork mobs, and even dance with a Chaos dreadnaught to save his fellow guardsmen…but I guess even a man as contemptuous as him had a line he would not cross. I was simply (and silently) grateful that I stood firmly on the other side of that line.
Lalee helped me back out the centaur, where Watz had a fit when he saw the state I was in. His nagging was the only voice during the entire trip back to the base camp. I had a lot to think about on the way…many of which left my mind sober but in desperate need for a drink.