Consistency is apparently a myth in my reality, or a bad joke. Not sure which. Anyway, yeah, back again with the next chapter. School year was finishing up and I had a fair bit of work to do so I just never got the motivation to use the rest of my free time to write, that continued for most of a semester at that. Finishing up high school can get busy, but summers here now, so hopefully that means I can get a few chapter out with the new free time I've got when not working. As always, comments and critique are more than welcome.
I don't own Warhammer 40k. The scalpers got to it before me and I'm not paying their rates.
The Astra Militarum had the dubious honor of being the group most relied upon to keep the vast realm of the Imperium safe from threats both external and internal. They numbered in the trillions and died in millions every day to keep mankind's realm of a million worlds safe. They were expected to be devoted, loyal, and driven to do the best they could in their work. But as Captain Jensen of the Lugan garrison sat in the sun around the garrison base, he thought that sometimes the orders he was expected to follow were stupid beyond belief. He also thought that an Emperor damned breeze would be appreciated.
Around him the work of their little base in Lugan went on unabated, menials walking around doing work to maintain the base, it's vehicles, and the weapons of its soldiers. Taking up the middle of the yard was a pad used to receive aircraft, with the huge deserts aircraft were the only viable way to transport stuff across Lugan. While on the far end was a garage for the few vehicles they used to transport men and supplies around the local area. Around the compound was a sturdy wall, but Jensen could still hear the hustle and bustle of the city floating over the wall. The sounds of peaceful existence, that he and the other Guardsmen worked to maintain, even as the people of this planet scorned them. Well, some of them, over time more and more of the people had adjusted and accepted the Imperium. But still, whenever Jensen was out on patrol though the city, or even just hanging about at the cities various bars he and his men still got stares and sneers thrown at their backs.
Rousng himself out of his thoughts Jensen looked down at what was in his hands, a vox that he had been fiddling with for the past while trying to get in contact with the men he had sent down into the catacombs to investigate. He was still frustrated that this was all he had been allowed to do. Send a couple men out into the city streets to look for something, he didn't even know what to tell them to look for. No records he could find could tell him anything about whatever a Genestealer was, and the rest of the Servo skulls message he could hardly understand, too much theory and not enough practicality for him. The fact that the Colonel had taken the Servo skull and wouldn't let him look at it again didn't help things either. Now he was stuck sitting here waiting for a report from his men, or for the transport taking him to Riln's South Pole to arrive for his little forced vacation.
"Come on you damn piece of scrap work!" Getting increasingly frustrated at the Vox continuing to spit static he slapped the side of it and much to his surprise he could actually hear one of his men.
"Sir, that you?" At last the static cleared up enough for him to actually talk with the men he sent. He quickly got to the point.
"Soldier, report. Where are you and what have you two found?" It shouldn't have been so hard to get the vox to connect, those things were pretty reliable.
"Well sir, you told us to look out for suspicious individuals. So we found this guy sneaking though the alleys and followed him into the catacombs below the city..." So of course they had to be underground. Vox systems tended to get a lot less reliable with solid earth getting in the way. "...We ran into a man down there who attacked us while the one we followed fled deeper in. We have reason to believe their may be a nest of criminals down here. So we're intending to clear it out if their is one sir." Jensen wasn't surprised by the possibility of a criminal den down there, the catacombs below the city were frankly too good a hiding spot for there not to be.
"Do you believe backup is required?" He wasn't even sure if he could get backup for them if they needed it, but he thought he should offer anyway.
"No sir, they all use primitive weapons, swords, knives, and the like. We should be more than capable of handling them." Their assessment wasn't exactly wrong. Nothing they had was likely to be able to pierce flak armor and Lasguns should be more than capable of killing any of them. But Jensen couldn't shake a feeling of concern about the whole situation.
"Very well. But be extra careful and pull out if anything goes wrong." He wasn't going to waste lives trying to clear a den of criminals with too few men. If they proved too much then the colonel would get the report and allocate the men to clear it out herself. He'd more than likely be out of Lugan by the time they got back anyway.
"Yes sir." With that Jensen switched off the vox and set it back on the ground beside him. Once again with nothing on his mind his thoughts soon returned to bitterness. He ran a hand through his short brown hair before wiping his brow. As he looked to the horizon he could see an angry black cloud hanging over it, over the last few hours it had risen and hung there. This wasn't a sign of rain though, if he were to hazard a guess it was from the downed ship, but he couldn't imagine what Yulun and his men had done to cause that.
Jensen saw a figure approaching in the corner of his eye and turned his head back towards them, finding Colonel Stefsten approaching him, clearly not in a good mood. He wondered what she was doing here and got up, walked up to her and saluted.
"Why are you here ma'am?" His voice carried equal parts curiosity and bitterness. Stefsten clearly noticed and sighed before answering.
"I came here to explain my decision to you Jensen." He was a little surprised she decided to use his name instead of just referring to him by rank. But he still looked at her flatly.
"Since when do you have to explain yourself to your subordinates ma'am?" There was an edge of sarcasm in his voice.
"Don't take that tone with me, the situation you've gotten yourself into isn't enviable Jensen." Now he started to get exasperated, all he does is try to do his job and now he's getting a lecture for it? This was the Guard, not his home!
"What situation! Ma'am, I do my job and bring up a valid concern and all I get is told to screw off on a vacation!" Most wouldn't complain about getting sent on vacation, but Jensen had a nagging feeling that something was going on here. He couldn't just leave now. But as he said those words Stefsten just stepped back and brought a hand up to massage the bridge of her nose.
"By the Emperor you don't even know...?" In that moment she sounded tired beyond her years, she was in her early forties but already had a good bit of greying hair. The rigors of command of even a pretty low level position taking their toll.
"What's happened ma'am?" Now Jensen was concerned, Colonel Stefsten was clearly concerned about something.
"I just got back from the palace Jensen, it's a political mess up there..." Jensen's worry was only increasing as she spoke. "...look at the horizon at that big damn cloud of smoke over that way." She pointed in the direction of the crashed ship and the angry cloud of smoke above it, before she looked back at him. "You led our troops along with the local soldiers to investigate that, most of your men came back...but not a single local troop has reported back, neither has Yulun Jakil." Realization started to dawn on his face as he began to realize just how this all looked. "To say people are pissed would be an understatement Jensen."
"I...they couldn't think that I..." She quickly cut him off and continued.
"The head of Lugan's military is assumed dead and needs to be replaced. Yulun's wife has taken up the role for now but just about every captain and person of note under the sun in this Kingdom are jockeying for his old position. People are confused and angry that an entire company has disappeared and are also assumed dead. And most of all, people are looking for someone to blame." Jensen backs up a couple steps and sits back down on the box he had been sitting on as he contemplates Stefstens words. This was bad, really bad.
"That's ridiculous! I would never!" The Colonel just shook her head.
"I've done what I can to ensure that they don't think you assassinated Yulun and killed his men, but at best it still looks like you abandoned him to his death." He couldn't believe this, he tries to do his job then that glory seeker gets himself killed, and he gets blamed for it!?
"So what? You send me away for the sake of politics?" Bitterness was clear in his voice.
"For your protection. Your a good captain Jensen, I'll need you." A roar starts to be heard as an aircraft approaches from the distance, approaching the city. "But for now, go take a load off. Let the storm calm down, and once people aren't calling for your head I'll call you back."
The aircraft flies over the city before stopping above the compound and lowering itself down onto the compounds landing pad in the yard. The wind picked up by its landing blowing their hair and clothes around before it settles onto the pad and the front hatch opens. People start loading things into the craft and Jensen sighs as he watches.
"Yes ma'am..." He was by no means happy about this but he could see the wisdom in her words, he hadn't anticipated just what amount of chaos would come from his trip to the derelict ship. Saluting again he walks up to and enters the craft, settling himself down onto one of the crafts seats and buckling himself in as the loading and refueling is finished.
Colonel Stefsten watches as her subordinate enters the craft and it proceeds to take off, heading for its destination in the temperate and more urban South Pole. Jensen had caused her a lot of trouble with his recent stunt, many nobles were calling for his head, literally. She was doing everything she could to calm them down, and put out any political fires before they could get out of hand. She was going to have to talk with King Ostar Sheldar about the replacement for Yulun, she had her own horses to back in that race. As her mind went over everything she'd need to do she sighed and started walking back to her office. Her work was never over, hopefully this most recent storm would blow over quickly.
Footsteps echoed out in the dark as Dejka, Saradiel, Felo and the gang members creeped their way through the catacombs, trying to be as quiet as they could as to not alert their enemies. The atmosphere was tense as they wandered through the stone hallways, desiccated corpses interred in the walls or just placed on shelves carved of rock. Every once in a while a light noise would sound out, whether it was a cough, someone stepping on and breaking a bone, or the light sound of weapons or armor shifting.
The torches some of the gang members carried flickered with their unsteady light, revealing some of the path and the walls. While at the same time making it that much harder to peer into the shadows. The torches were making their own shadows at the same time as their silhouettes walked alongside them.
As Saradiel walked she tried her best to give off an aura of confidence and control over the situation. It would not do for the cult to witness her, who was supposed to be the Great One's right hand, shaking from fear at two enemies. Despite this though some nervousness inevitably showed through in her movements, being just a bit too stiff for someone who was supposedly calm. Her robes flowed around her as she walked and her white mask reflected the torch light creepily, if one saw her in the dark they could think they were seeing a ghost. Her hands also never strayed too far from the sheath on her hip, ready to draw the knife at a moments notice.
Felo wasn't even putting up the appearance of confidence, one could look at him and tell he was nervous. His head scanned left and right, while his eyes darted around trying to keep track of everything and everyone so nothing could sneak up on him. Though he tried to contain himself he startled easily, while he kept a death grip on the knife Dejka had given him. He was no stranger to brawls, having been in plenty of them himself. But he had the sense that people were going to die in these tunnels today, and he sincerely did not want to among their number.
Of the three of them Dejka exuded the most confidence, he had been though a lot in his years and clearly wasn't convinced his story would be ending here. His gait was composed and confident, yet also battle ready, he was like a coiled spring, ready to leap into action at a moments notice. The rest of the gang members they had brought with them walked with varying levels of confidence.
"So..." Dejka started, whispering in order to not reveal them but desiring the break the tortuous silence. "...what do we know about the guys down here?" Felo looked over.
"There's a couple of them, don't know much more. I see them walking around the city sometimes, other times hanging around the bars." He left out that he had also gotten in a few brawls with some of the Guardsmen. Say what you wanted about them, they could pick up on the rules for the local gamblers games quick. and he didn't appreciate losing that money to a bunch of outsiders who learned the game in the last year. Saradiel decided to add what she knew.
"Don't know many specifics but I do know that sword of yours isn't going to get through their armor Dejka." He just blew her warning off.
"Then I'll hit 'em where they don't got any armor." Saradiel lightly scoffed at his words.
"As long as you can get close without those "Lasguns" of their's killing you." Felo lightly shuddered, remembering witnessing that guard at the entrance falling to the ground dead, with burned out craters in his body from the Guardsmen's Lasguns. Those things were dangerous. Suddenly another of the gang whispered to the rest of the group.
"Shh! I think I heard something." At once all of them went quiet and the one who had heard something sneaked forward to a crossroad of the catacombs and went around the corner. The group heard some movement and suddenly they saw bright artificial light shine from around the corner, a brief shout, and the discharge of weaponry before the man fell back into sight dead. Lasgun shots having burned craters into his body that were still smoking.
Shouts rang out, some calling out the name of the deceased gang member, some of surprise, others of anger. But Saradiel was just staring at the corpse, frozen. Her reaction inscrutable underneath the mask on her face, but her eyes carried horror in them. It occurred to her that this was the first person she had seen...dead because of the cause she had dedicated herself to. She knew people would end up dying and being killed...but it never truly registered that she would...witness it. The man's face was frozen in a rictus of pain and surprise, the craters tore into his body lightly steamed, and even some parts of him had been...tore off and were lying about around him. The smell was terrible and she felt the urge to gag. Is this the truth of what she would need to experience? How many times would she have to witness something like this? Was this all worth...
All of a sudden Dejka harshly elbowed her and she felt like her mind was forcibly torn back into the moment by...something. The cult guards had surged forward and rounded the corner and she could hear rapid footsteps, the guardsmen were running, occasionally the sound of Lasgun fire rang out, but it was getting further away. Dejka got in her face.
"Hey! Hey snap out of it!" All mirth or humor was gone from his face, now replaced with a serious expression. "People are gonna die, get used to it. Come on!" He yanked her arm and suddenly they were running too, catching up with the other cult guards as they sprinted through the catacombs. Every once in a while they passed a body, the unlucky few who had been hit by a wild shot fired by the Guardsmen as they ran. As she looked around realized Felo was also there, he had stayed behind instead of rushing forward.
"You alright!" His face clearly showed concern and she gathered herself enough to speak as she ran.
"I...I'll be fine! Just needed a second..." Walls were rushing by them as they sprinted and she realized that they were splitting off from the cult guards as the sounds of their footsteps and shouts became quieter. "Where are we going!"
"We're cutting em off! If we let 'em get back outta the tunnels and fetch backup we're done for!" This continued for a bit, their mad sprint bringing them on a rounding path through the tunnels. Dejka showing an impressive ability to navigate them that Saradiel assumed came from his criminal life. He had probably been using and navigating these catacombs all his life, it made sense he'd be able to do something like this.
Soon though she heard the sounds of footfalls getting closer and as they turned another corner she could see the Guardsmen running towards them by the light of their flashlights. A couple cult guards turn the corner, pursuing them, and Saradiel's heart sinks as she realizes these were all that were left of the original ten they had brought. One Guardsman turns around and fires his weapon rapidly, but with good accuracy and the two cult members drop to the ground dead. The other Guardsman kept running, only realizing they were there a second too late, but managing to turn it into an impromptu shoulder bash, barreling into Felo and throwing him to the ground, his knife clanging as it falls out of his hand. Him and the Guardsman are a tangle of limbs on the ground and they immediately start wrestling. Dejka moves towards the guardsman still standing.
"You deal with him, I'll take this one!" As his Guardsman raises his lasgun to shoot at him Dejka surges forward and delivers a shoulder bash of his own, knocking the Guardsman back. His lasgun falls from his hand and clatters to the side, but the Guardsman rolls back and recovers quickly getting back to his feet and drawing his combat knife. He takes a stance but with the change in weaponry Dejka has gained the advantage with his longer single edged blade. They begin to circle, throwing out short, careful attacks at each other. Dejka holds himself back, trying to incapacitate the Guardsman.
As Dejka fought a few feet away Saradiel and Felo were fighting more of a brawl with the other Guardsman. As Saradiel got her bearings on just what was going on the Guardsman had gotten on top of Felo and started punching him, Felo tried to block as well as he could with his fists. Saradiel goes for her knife, yanking it from its sheath before going in to try and stab the Guardsman pummeling Felo. She aims for his armpit trying to avoid the armor but he notices her at the last moment and moves enough to make her stab his armor, the knife scratching it and sliding across it, doing no harm. As she cursed her luck the Guardsman lashed out, throwing her back a bit and giving him room to get up.
Once she regained her footing she tried a clumsy slash with her knife, she was clearly unused to and inexperienced in combat. The Guardsman grabbed her arm and shoves her roughly back again, this time causing her to slam into the catacomb wall, hard. She cried out as pain flared up all across her back and the back of her head, and stars erupted in her eyes as she slid down the wall to the floor. She got only a moment to see the Guardsman's knee approaching her face and hear a cry out from Felo before the world went black.
Unconsciousness is supposed to be well...an escape from consciousness, I know, impressive deduction. But the reason I say this is because the "unconsciousness" that met me when I collapsed in the sands of the desert was a strange thing indeed.
First there was a torrent of just about every sensation you could imagine, a chaotic surge of colors, shapes, sounds, and everything else you could imagine sensing. It was utter chaos, a mess of senses that made my head spin, hurt, and a hundred other things. It was like I was caught in a wave of sensory input so chaotic I couldn't tell one thing from another. Interspersed all throughout it was raw energy that tried to grab and claw at me, those horrible whispers getting louder and more violent by the second until it felt like everything would reach a fever pitch. Like it would all be too much and I would explode, tear into a million pieces, and a hundred other things all at once.
Then it stopped.
The chaos that had surrounded me and swept me like a tidal wave disappeared and I was left in a peculiar place, or, as I looked around I saw a peculiar place. As I looked around it appeared like I was in a vast...bubble? Shield? It was something like that, through the walls of this...contained area, I could barely make out what I assumed to be what I had just gone through. The wild colors and sensations seemingly mellowed or blocked by the shield. As I looked around inside the area I saw what I assumed to be stars? or were they fires? These strange pinpricks of bright light floating in this strange place, they were connected by ethereal looking strands to each other, like a web, or a constellation made physical. Eventually they all connected back to one light in the middle of the area, if the other lights were candles, this one was a bonfire, roaring with power. It was all...exceptionally confusing to me.
"Just...where am I?" Then I looked down at myself and witnessed something even weirder, I wasn't in the body of a Genestealer, but I wasn't human either. This form was androgynous, and almost a silhouette, inside this silhouette body one could see a vibrant night sky with stars all over my body, lines connecting them. Like a microcosm of what I saw all around me, with all these lines connecting back to the brightest star which was where my heart would have been. "All right...that's weird..." Normally I would be terrified at all this, but over the last months the required level of weird needed to shock me had gone into the stratosphere.
I started to float about this weird place, finding that if I willed myself to move I could cause my body to float around in this space. Naturally I did a few flips as I floated, it was like getting to go to space, just...without the risk of horrible death. As I continued to float about I got up near to some of the stars scattered about. If I reached my hand near them I got...sensations, feelings, images, sounds and the like, it was strange. But a thought was starting to creep into my head, a possible explanation for just what was going on, but I wasn't sure yet.
As I continued my wandering around the bubble I saw something strange. It was near the wall of the area, I wasn't sure what it was, to me it looked like a mass of energy...or something like that. The energy roiled around in a ball and could only be described as eldritch...or some shade of pink or purple, same thing really. It seemed capable of moving around in its own and was seemingly tending to a section of the bubble that was...damaged somehow. Their were cracks in the bubble and the chaos outside was seeping inside though them, but whatever got through was seemingly contained by the floating ball and pushed back outside the bubble. I cautiously approached and called out to it.
"H...hey! Can you understand me? Why are you here?" Despite the mass having no face with which to look at me I could still feel its attention shift away from the wall of the bubble to me. Then my head felt like it was splitting apart as sensations tried to insert themselves into my brain, these sensations were utterly alien. Sounds I couldn't begin to understand. But I somehow got the feeling like it was searching for something in my head. I grasped at my head screaming for a few moments more before it seemingly found what it was looking for and left my head. The pain disappeared and I was left to recover for a couple seconds, getting my bearings again.
Then it spoke.
Well, at first I could only get the intention it was trying to speak, seemingly using the same telepathy I used when "talking" to humans when I was back in my Genestealer body. At first all that rang out in my head was a mess of noise, it was loud and bothersome, but nowhere near the pain from the intrusion a few seconds before. Slowly things came together to begin sounding like words, and it felt like it was taking all the knowledge I had of language and using it too...I wasn't really sure, synthesize a voice of its own? When it finally spoke words I understood they were...like every voice I had ever heard melded into one, it was jerky though, like each word was poorly edited together from different sources.
"Hello..." It paused for a few seconds, as if contemplating what it should say next after the plain greeting. "...usurper." That made me confused, it was a weird word to use for someone you just met...unless we hadn't just met...
"Usurper? Why'd you call me that? What are you?" The thing replies flatly, as if it has no feelings, as if everything it says is a fact.
"Usurper, someone or something that takes a position meant for someone or something else. You have taken a position not meant for you, you are a usurper. We were meant to fill this position." After a couple seconds of though a flash of realization crosses my mind.
"Wait! Then you're..." The thing finishes what I meant to say.
"We are what you know as a "Genestealer" this was meant to be our body, our mind." Once again the words were said with no emotion, no aggression or malice, just as if stating a fact. "You entered this thing you call a "bio form" as it was created, you usurped our very being, now we are relegated to confinement in our own mind."
"Listen, I had no control over that." The thing remains silent for a few seconds.
"You can still serve the hive minds purposes. We do not oppose you, we have aided you before when you have proved inadequate to keep this bio form alive." My mind flashes to all those moments of what I thought were mere instinct. Dodging out of the Calka's way, disabling the bandits in the sewer before they alerted their allies, my miraculous survival of the derelict ships explosion.
"Those were you? Why?" I was confused, I was human, nothing but bio mass to the Tyranids yet here I was, learning I had my life saved multiple times by the...mind? Soul? Of one.
"As said, you serve the hive minds purposes. You seek survival and protection, you form a group of infected. I would do the same if in your position, purpose of this bio form is fulfilled in either scenario." Of course... because as long as I continued to sow chaos and grow the cult I'm useful to the hive mind. Yet if I don't I'm much more likely to eventually be caught, hunted, and killed. I'd already just barely escaped death once. I was stuck in a damned if I do damned if I don't situation. Then the thing continued. "However. You are...strange. Abnormal. As I see into you memories I see things that do not...compute?...make sense." I silently cursed, of course something in my head could see my memories. I saw no real reason to hide this, this whole situation I was in was insane enough.
"Well, I'm just gonna be truthful, believe me if you want...I'm from another world, there this whole galaxy is what is known as a "tabletop war game." Absolutely no idea how it happened or how I got here. Feel free to call me insane whenever you want." Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly for how much emotion this thing had shown, it didn't react with shock, disdain, or any accusations of insanity.
"Fascinating. No signs of potential lying, claim matches evidence. Unknown phenomenon, unknown mechanics of process, unknown means of entry, unknown process of replication. When possible this must be disseminated through the hive mind." Well that was ominous, I really didn't need the hive mind figuring out how to cross dimensions, or use warp travel, or any other terrifying invention that info could cause the hive mind to be able to create.
Wanting to change the subject my eyes were drawn to the crack in the bubble and I thought back to the fight I had survived earlier. How close I had came to death before I lashed out with that incredible power, and the whispering had started.
"Say, are those cracks...because of me?" The response is quick and merciless.
"Yes. Your irresponsible use of what you call "psychic" or "psyker powers" caused a small breach to be created in the borders of this place, contamination began to seep in. I have quarantined the area, eradicated the contamination, and am fixing the area as we speak." The thing wasn't lying about that, as we spoke I could see the cracks slowly coming back together and sealing.
"And this place...it's the Broodmind isn't it?" I took the chance to see if I could get my suspicion confirmed.
"Yes. This is how your perceive that which you call the "Broodmind." The collective mind of the "Genestealer cult." If I could have raised my eyebrow I would have, but unfortunately I lacked the eyebrows to raise.
"Using game terms to refer to real things here?" I said this with a hint of humor, the thing replied flatly as always.
"Yes, it is a term you understand that describes this group well. I see no reason not to use the term when it applies." Well, they raised a good point, no reason to not use a term if it applies. But with that matter figured out I moved on to a much more important one.
"So...how do I get out of here? Y'know back to being able to move my body around. Actually how did I get here in the first place?" I had slept before in my Genestealer body, and it had just been normal deep sleep. Albeit one I could wake up from on a moments notice and I wasn't sure I even needed it in the first place. But it never brought me here.
"The intense psychic activity you engaged in, that being eliminating your enemies in the ship...connected?...attuned you enough with this construct for your mind to automatically be brought here when you lost consciousness. Before your process with unlocking your pshychic potential has been...slow overall." Well that was...interesting? This was about as close as they would get to straight up insulting me, but knowing my progress with controlling my new body's psychic powers was how I got here was good at least.
"Cool. Still, how do I get out of here." It may have been a little ridiculous to be so nonchalant about this. But I needed to get back, and soon, I had no idea what was going on back there.
"You came here because of the intense amount of psychic energy you used. You need to recover from the strain. You will return to consciousness naturally over time." Alright, I didn't like it, but I could deal with it.
"Ok, so how lo-" Suddenly I pause as I suffer a strange sensation. It was like a part of me I wasn't fully aware of just...disappeared. I looked around in confusion trying to find out what caused that sensation. Then it strikes again, but this time I see a star go out in the constellation. And I think, this was the Broodmind, each of those must represent a mind in the Broodmind, and if they're going out...
"Infected are dying..." They confirm my fears for me, it stays silent for a couple second before continuing. "Intruders in the lair, infected putting up pursuit and resistance. Infected are dying." I start to panic as I see a couple more stars go out.
"Nonono! Please no!" I turn to them. "How can you tell what's going on!" I needed to know what was happening, my subordinates were dying. For me, because of me. I needed to stop this.
"We are one with the infected, you are one with the infected. Reach out and their senses are your senses, their memories are your memories." Alright...I had done this before, when I search my infected followers for information, like they had done to me to learn how to speak. I reach my mind out and images flow in, tunnels, the catacombs, people running, Lasguns firing, people dying...
"How do I help them! I have to be able to do something! Tell me dammit!" I shout with an anger born of desperation, demanding aid. They wouldn't be made to die for someone who brainwashed them, I couldn't let them die for me.
"Ten dead, one wounded and unconscious, two still fighting." But all they give me is a status check, this angered me immensely.
"Tell me how to help not how many graves to dig!" The thing remains silent for a few seconds.
"We are one, you are one, the infected are one. We are one with each other. Enter your mind into one of their bodies and their mind will move aside." The answer is cryptic but understandable enough.
"L...like possession? Will that work?...never mind, there's no time." The thing starts floating away, the wall in the bubble is fixed by now. I follow them as they travel to and stop next to one star.
"This infected is unconscious, but at the fight. Enter this infected's mind." Following the things instructions I reach out to the star and place my hand over it. I feel a connection much like telepathy open up, and then I deepen it, instead of just transmitting my thoughts to it, I transmit my mind to it. For a second things get hazy and go white...
The first thing I feel is pain, my head was pounding like an ogryn was using it for a drum. I bring a hand up to hold my head an feel cloth shift, my eyes flutter open and I see my hand. Well, not my hand, but the hand attached to the body I was currently using, my mind registered that it was a woman's hand, although I didn't really think that mattered. Next I see the fighting happening before me. To my left Dejka and one Guardsman were going at each other with knife and sword, Dejka slowly pushing the Guardsman back with his weapons superior reach and his personal experience. While in front of me another Guardsman and an unknown individual were going at each other with their fists, grabbing and punching at each other. A couple knives were on the ground, evidently neither of them had managed to kill the other before getting disarmed.
I blinked a couple times as I realized what was going on, then my mind finally processed that a deadly fight was going on and I needed to help or I'd be digging eleven or twelve graves. I start trying to haul myself to my feet, having to go through the process of relearning how to use my body all over again. Although since it was a human body I was able to stand much quicker than when I was learning how my Genestealer body worked. I grabbed onto a shelf on the wall and pulled myself to my feet, neither the Guardsman or the man realize what was going on near them.
My mind is rushing a mile a minute thinking on what I should do, there's a well crafted knife on the floor next to me, I could attack with my fists as well. But this body was in no condition to get into a fight, I wasn't even sure if it would be able to stand if I wasn't using it like a puppet.
The man gets thrown against the wall and the Guardsman goes in for a punch, but the man just barely ducks under it and pushes the Guardsman back. They both square back up and immediately rush back in, continuing their brawl.
Then a thought hits me, psychic powers. I had gotten better with them, maybe, just maybe they could help me here. I try to reach out and I can feel that roiling energy all around me, I can interact with it. I know I'm not good enough to control it, but I didn't need to be, not for this plan. I start focusing and gathering the energy.
Their brawl continues with the Guardsman going for a haymaker that the man dodges under before jabbing him in the side. The guardsman grunts before responding with knee into the man's chest, he doubles over coughing. The Guardsman brings the knee up again, stunning him and he falls to the ground groaning. He stands there a moment breathing heavily before he sees something in the corner of his eye. Her turns and sees me and I enact my plan.
What was the plan?
Throw him.
Hard.
I allowed the power I had gathered to go unstable and explode but did my best to direct it outward. The blast hits him, and as I wanted it to, it throws him and he bashes into the wall of the catacombs. Then he falls to the ground, heavily bruised and battered, unconscious. Possibly...probably concussed. I faced some knock back from the blast and I stumble back, but I come out infinitely better than the Guardsman.
Once the dust clears I look around, to my left Dejka had dealt with his Guardsman who was laying unconscious on the ground with a bruise forming on his face. Now he was walking over to me.
"Saradiel...? No...it can't be. Great One?" Well now I knew who I had possessed. He also sounds genuinely confused right now, surprising for someone who always felt so calm and collected. But I also detected...tiredness in his voice.
"Yes my friend, forgive me. I was...delayed in my return. But I knew of the intrusion and took more unusual methods of intervention." My voice was strange, you could clearly hear Saradiel's voice on top, but could also hear something underneath giving it a creepy and ominous tone to the voice.
"That have anything to do with tell of a hundred something missin' soldiers?" I lightly chuckled and winced at that.
"Y..yeah. It was a tough fight to day the least." I heard some rustling from behind me and turned around to see the unknown man getting back to his feet, I tuned back to Dejka. "Who is this? They are not in-...enlightened, they are unknown to me." I almost slip up and catch myself.
"One of Saradiel's recruits from her little charity pet project, destitute drunk on the streets named Felo who she helped. Apparently not bad in a brawl from his performance just then." As he said that Felo finished getting to his feet and came over to me.
"Saradiel! Are you okay? You took quite the...wait..." I quickly responded to clear up any confusion.
"I am not Saradiel, she remains unconscious, I merely used her body to aid you in your fight." I was concerned about what he was about to say. The pounding in her...my? Head attested to the fact she took a bad hit, it only felt like it was getting worse. I turn back to Dejka. "I'll be back soon, tie up the Guardsmen to prep them for enlightenment, send out the rest of your men to fetch the bodies of the dead." My brow furrows as I say that, and I continue on. "My condolences friend." He merely shakes his head.
"People are gonna die...I'm used to that." He says that, yet he looks and sounds so tired. Dejka isn't an old man, he's in his late thirties, mid adulthood. Yet in that moment he sounds beyond his years, in that moment I wonder just how many of his subordinates have died like this. How does he deal with it? My heart was breaking again now that the fight had calmed down, ten good, if less than moral men had died for my mistakes.
All against two Guardsmen...
Two...
The thought of fighting battalions of Guardsmen made me want to be sick, or maybe that was because the world had begun spinning? I did my best to keep my balance as the pounding in my head became worse, so did the spinning. As Dejka and Felo cried out in concern I fell to my hands and knees, I could see dark marks forming on my...Saradiel's left hand. The one I had used to "cast" that blast at the Guardsman. I didn't have long to think on that before I fell forward and the world went black.
Comments:
Zerkil: Indeed.