Hey everyone,
here is a new chapter. I'm on vacation and I'm tired of typing on my phone so enjoy!
As the mob rushed towards the edge of the balcony to watch Accius's father fall to his death, a young boy, about 14 years of age, watched Accius being mercilessly trampled.
Marcus was still in shock from the events of the past day. For a few minutes, he felt like he was on top of the world after that Alexander character saved him from the draft. The next moment, his brother fell off a balcony to his death. Of course, a few of the workers, already fed up with their mistreatment, had started the riot. While picking up his brother's body, he saw an imperial guardsman hit the floor right next to him. His eyes, full of life milliseconds ago, were empty. He left his brother's body after that, sprinting up the stairs to see what in the Emperor's name was happening, and arrived at the moment when the Owner was thrown over the edge. He felt no sympathy for the man.
However, the young boy, obviously his son, looked like he actually had emotions. Maybe he would reward me if I saved his life, he thought. I could take me and my family with the money and move to the upper levels! The idea seemed ludicrous, but there was a slight enough possibility for Marcus to take the risk. Without hesitating for another moment, he began to push his way through the crowd, still jeering as the Owner's body hit the ground. He eventually reached the boy, whimpering in pain. Probably a few broken ribs and a leg. Marcus grabbed Accius around the neck and pulled him close. "Come with me if you want to live." The boy quietly nodded. Hoisting him up, they began to push their way out of the crowd. Please don't let them notice. They were a few feet away from the edge of the crowd when Marcus heard someone yell, "Hey! Where'd the son go?"
"Run!" The two boys pushed through the crowd, Accius's arm around his savior's shoulder. "This way!" Yelled Marcus, directing his precious cargo towards a flight of stairs leading the ground floor. He could hear the mob yelling and jeering behind him, their pursuit causing the factory itself to rumble from the mass.
Two flights of stairs, three, four, ten, forty. The unlikely pair hobbled down flight after flight of stairs, the mob gaining on them with every step. Marcus could hear them yelling, "kill the son! Avenge the boy!" With only four more stories to go, they were only ten steps ahead of the mob.
And of course, that was the inconvenient moment when Marcus's feet decided to trip, causing him and Accius to tumble down a flight of stairs and hit the guardrail at the bottom. The world became fuzzy, and Marcus could barely think. He saw the mob was only 10 feet away and knew they could never escape in time. How could he explain it to them? Or would he have time to tell them why he was trying to save the boy's life before the mob kills them both? It didn't matter anymore. His brother was dead, and it would be harder for his family to feed itself.
A line of lasbolts suddenly ripped itself into the crowd, melting holes into people in the front line. The workers began to fall, either dead of screaming in pain. The Imperial Guardsmen began to pour into the factory, screaming and wildly firing their weapons into the crowd. Cries of rage immediately faded to screams of fear and pain. From his view on the ground, Marcus could see a guard beating a woman in the head with the butt of his lasgun. It was time to go.
Shaking the last of the fuzz out of his head, Marcus slowly stood up and hobbled to the other boy, lying unconscious on the ground.
"Hey, wake up!" He shook the Owner's son a little, and the boy started to wake up. "We have to go, now!"
"It's Accius!"
"Marcus. Come on!" He grabbed Accius and they began to limp down the stairs once again. Down the flights of stairs they ran until they were at the bottom floor. The exit, a large hole in the factory wall, was only 5 paces away when a lasgun smashed into his face, causing the two to once again sprawl on the ground. Five guardsmen stood over them with murderous looks on their faces.
"Good for nothing, worthless mutants!" One of them yelled. "Line'em up!"
Two of the guardsmen grabbed Accius and Marcus by their collars and forced them to get up on their knees. The others aimed their lasguns at the boys.
"Wait! This is a big misunderstanding! I'm Accius, son of..."
The leader backhanded Accius. "Shut up, mutant! You rebelled against you're emperor, and now you will all pay!" He drew his pistol and aimed it Marcus's head. Ok, there was nothing else that could conveniently save them now. They were done finished. There was nothing that could happen...
"Oy!" A voice called from above. The guardsmen and boys looked up to see two boys dressed in black. Both had fiery red hair and smirks on their faces. "Why don't you asses start pointing those things at someone who can fight back?"
The guards' leader, obviously angered by the interruption of his killing spree, yelled, "shoot them!" The two dropped down from the ceiling, twisting and somehow miraculously avoiding every lasbolt. They landed on the ground, and that's when Marcus noticed both of their eyes were glowing blue. They were both psykers. The guards stopped shooting, momentarily paralyzed with fear of seeing one.
The one on the left spoke. "You thugs are like storm troopers! Not able to hit a bloody thing!"
"Damn it Fred! I wanted to say the corny heroe punch line this time!"
"Shut up George. You'll get it next time."
"I won rock paper scissors for this specific operation!"
The one who spoke first grimaced and sharply inhaled. "Do you mind giving us a minute?"
The guards, too stunned to register what in the Emperor's name was going on, nodded.
Both twins, or at least Marcus believed they were twins, turned around. One of them, Fred, spoke first. "Look George, I'm sorry that I stole your thunder, but you're making us look more like tools than heroes."
"Well, we are tools. That what Alexander told us to be!"
"Look, just...let's beat the living daylights out of these jerks and argue about this later.
George nodded. "Agreed."
With that, Fred an George spun around, each kicking the two nearest guards. They were knocked out before they hit the ground. The rest started firing again, but they dodged everything. It appeared that time itself slowed down enough so that they could avoid every shot. George beat a guard down with three quick punches to the face, while Fred ripped a lasgun out of the other's hands and bashed him in the face.
Only one more remained, their leader. Marcus could see the look of terror on his trembling face.
"Traitors to the Emperor! Heretics! Servants of chaos!"
"And?" Asked Fred.
"Haters of order! Cultists!"
George looked dissappointed. Only 5 insults? Weak. Just like you." He grabbed the leader by his collar and hoisted him up so his feet weren't touching the ground. "You are the scum of mankind. A murderer. A barbarian in civilized clothing. How the hell did you pass for a human being!?" The guard said nothing, still trembling in fear.
"I say we kill him."
"No, Fred. Let's give him a reminder about what happens to monsters." He took a pause, enjoying the terror the guard was experiencing. "We shoot them." He picked up a lasgun and fired 20 times, five shots for each arm and leg. The guard began to scream and convulse in pain, unable to do anything but experience the agony. After a moment of watching this, Fred and George turned to face Marcus and Accius, unable to stand up from the pain. One of them waved his hands, and the pain was gone. "Get up, sleepyheads!"
Accius was on his feet in an instant, slowly backing away and looking horrified. Who are you? What do you want?"
"We are just two psyker twins trying to do some justice."
"And have fun while we're at it!"
"You guys better leave. More guards will show up soon, and we won't be there." The boys blinked, and they were gone.
"What was that?" Asked Accius.
"I don't know, but we better get moving. My home isn't far from here. Come on."
They got to Marcus's house a few minutes later. There were a few close calls. Guardsmen began to swarm around the factory, and they thought it was best if they avoided them after what just occurred.
This was the worst day in Accius's life. His father was killed, life stolen from him, and he saw the most unspeakable crimes committed by the Imperial Guard. Could they really be servants of the Emperor? Had they been corrupted somehow. Or worse, does the Emperor encourage the murder of mutants for sport? But these thoughts were heresy. Best to not dwell on them. He noticed that he was in a small tenement, with bits of trash and mud everywhere. No shelves, no kitchen, and he didn't even want to know where the restroom was. In the middle of the room was a mattress with an old man, covered in dirt and sores. He was still awake when they entered, but woke up when the door closed. Immediately, his eyes brightened, and his withered form seemed to look slightly younger.
"Marcus! Thank the Emperor! I heard the ruckus from the factory and knew something was wrong."
"Grandfather, Joshua is dead." The room fell silent. "I see." He was trying not to cry. This is your second brother to die in that damn factory."
"Let's not focus on that. Are the others safe?"
It was at that moment that three young boys and a girl ran into the room. They looked like they had been crying, but they smiled when they saw their older brother and ran to him, all embracing him.
"I'm ok, it's ok." The hug lasted a long time, until the girl started crying. "James, can you put Agatha to bed. You're the second oldest now, so you'll need to help more."
The boy named James nodded with grim determination and gently took his sister's hand, leading her away.
"The rest of you, go to bed."
Without hesitation or complaint, the slowly, grimly shambled away.
Marcus waited for them to leave before he sat down and started to cry. "First George, now Joshua! And I couldn't lost another with the madness that happened today. We live in permanent hell! Our lives could not be any worse than this!"
"That's not true, grandson. My brother lived on a forgeworld, and he told me it made this factory look like a paradise world. They literally worked them to death there. And your parents, my daughter, were both drafted into the Imperial Guard." He began to tear up. "I never saw her or your father again. I just hoped they died together."
Still, how long can we go on like this, with the rich exploiting the poor like this?" He looked at Accius with a murderous look. "Your kind is responsible for this! How did you ever come to power!"
Accius was stunned at this accusation. "My father was an unusually cruel man. I realized that today more than ever before. But it's not wealth. This isn't any class conflict like that. The guards that almost killed us today were not rich at all. Everyone from day one has been indoctrinated to hate those who are different. Tau, Eldar, even members of our own species! It's not the rich against the poor, it's the government that's evil! They encourage the owners to be cruel. They spread ignorance to keep us under control! For the first time in his life, Accius felt free. He had shaken the propaganda, and felt liberated. It was not the forces of chaos controlling his thoughts or propaganda, but his own brain. It was such a beautiful experience he almost teared up. Almost
"So what should we do?" Asked Marcus.
"I don't know, but need to go." He started towards the door.
"Wait!" Yelled Marcus. No! He had risked his life, lost his brother, and he wouldn't get a reward?" But it was too late. The door closed and Accius was gone. Marcus ran to the door, but his grandfather yelled, "stop!" They looked at each other for a moment, his grandfather seeming to read his thoughts. "He's gone."
"How are we going to survive? We have one less wage coming into this household."
"Like we always do, Marcus. We'll figure it out."
Marcus nodded and lied down on the floor, closing his eyes and trying to forget everything that had just happened.
The next day, when he went out the door to go to work, Marcus noticed a letter on the ground. He picked it up. It was on very expensive stationary.
Dear Marcus,
I cannot thank you enough for saving my life yesterday. I am forever in your debt. My address is listed below if you need anything. In addition I know this will never make up for the loss of your brother and for what you did, but please take these.
Accius.
Marcus looked down and was stunned. The letter contained two beatific black flours.
And one million solidi.