A.N.: And here we are, chapter 10! A bit of a milestone, so I feel like I should say something...
Harrison: Ashley what the fuck
Ashley: We live in an Imperium.
Anyways, I hope you all have a nice one, thank you for the positive reviews and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Vela looked nervously at him as they stood in front of the door to Ashley's room. Harrison had been called there almost as soon as they'd returned to base, the others having dispersed to do Emperor knew what. He'd expected it. He knew he was likely in a world of trouble, and that execution would be a lucky outcome. And yet, he could hardly find it in himself to care.
"I..." He raised a hand, interrupting Vela.
"Don't." Softer, he added. "I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." She frowned, looking bothered.
"I don't want to leave you alone with that psycho." He snorted.
"Please. If there's one thing I've noticed since dealing with the sororitas..." He shivered. "Them being psychos seems to be the rule, not the exception." He hoped that was just the sororitas, and not an indicator of what the other forces of the larger Imperium might be like.
"That doesn't make me feel much better." She sighed. "Alright. If you survive, I'm getting us both some drinks." He grinned.
"Now that sounds more like it." With that, she took a step back, then two, then eventually left altogether. Once he was sure she was gone he turned back to the door and knocked. A muffled 'Come in!' was his queue, and he opened the door, stepping inside.
The room was incredibly sparse. Empty was the first word that came to his mind. There was nothing save for a bed, a cupboard with three identical civilian outfits, a single military uniform, and a set of powered armour resting in a corner of the room. The only thing that could be described as decoration was a portrait representing the emperor, hanging near the bed. Instinctively, he made the sign of the Aquila.
"Ah, you're here. Good, good." She seemed nervous. "Um. You can, um. sit down. If you want."
"I think I will stand if it's the same to you ma'am." She hesitated, then nodded.
"I...if you say so. So, um. Earlier...I would like to. Um. Know why you did that." He stayed silent, staring her down for a moment.
"Do you mean shoot Isshin?" She nodded. "He was suffering. You were burning him alive ma'am."
"Call me Ashley please."
"Understood ma'am." She seemed frustrated at that.
"Yes, which is why I do not understand why you shot him. You did the right thing firing upon the Lictor afterwards..." She seemed to be gaining confidence as she spoke, glaring at him with those cold, yet confused eyes. "But you should have prioritized the Lictor. Why waste a shot?" He stared at her, stunned.
"Waste a...waste a shot?" His voice picked up in strength. "You were burning him alive!" He emphasized. "He was screaming in pain! Suffering one of the worst fates imaginable! And you..." His voice cracked. "You were smiling! Smiling like you were loving it!" She seemed taken aback by his sudden explosion, but retorted right back.
"Of course I was loving it! I was purging the foe, burning the xenos!" He laughed humorlessly.
"And what of Isshin?! Did you not spare a thought for him, too busy thinking about the xenos dying?!" She tilted her head, her confusion apparent on her face.
"Well of course not. The moment the xenos had caught him, he was already dead. What did it matter how it happened?" He gaped, shaking his head.
"You're...you're mad. I shot him out of mercy, to put him out of the misery you were plunging him in!" She shrugged.
"A waste of ammo." He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"He was our squadmate!"
"So?" She sighed. "Harrison, if you wish to keep going forth without trouble, you need to cast aside such ridiculous notions. Shoot the enemy first, worry about your squadmates second. No matter the circumstances." Her eyes were blazing now, but there was a hint of something there, something Harrison might have better noticed were he not so incessed himself.
"I already lost a squad once." He said in a cold rage. "I will not lose another, not even to you." She looked at him, and sighed.
"I will not repeat myself Harrison. You've got skill and potential. Don't let the Emperor's gift go to waste." He did not dare scoff at a sentence mentioning the Emperor. He turned away.
"I will not lower myself to this. Mankind is better than this. The Imperium is better than this." She did not say anything as he headed to the door, right until he grabbed the handle.
"...Do you think they think that way out there?" She asked, in a voice so soft, so fragile, that it froze Harrison in his tracks. "That they care? That they think...that people matter?" He turned to look at her. She was hugging her knees close to her chest. He didn't know how to react to the sight, and so remained silent. "They don't. No one cares. Not the Sororitas, not the Astartes, not the Inquisition, the Planetary Governors, the High Lords on Terra..." Her body shook. "They don't care. Not one of them. Those that do are made powerless by those that don't, or simply removed." She looked at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I've been to a hundred worlds. I'm so much older than I look Harrison. I've served on a thousand battlefields." She sniffled. "It's...it's aways the same. For every world we save from a xenos or from heretics..." She was wracked by shakes now. "There are ten that are just...trying to make things better. Trying to change. To improve. Make life better. But that means thinking." She half laughed, half sobbed. "There's no greater crime in the Imperium than thinking, save perhaps changing." She looked at him, eyes empty of anything but despair. "You HAVE to like it. You have to enjoy killing them. It's the only thing they'll tolerate. The only acceptable outcome." She shivered. "If you don't enjoy it...you might start to think about it." He stared at her, feeling a mixture of emotions too complex to put into words.
"...Maybe you're right." He said softly. "You've seen a lot more of the Imperium than I have. But I refuse to just...accept that. Evil triumphs when good does nothing. And I intend to do something." He opened the door. "Watch me Ashley. I will change things." She stayed silent as he left the room, waiting until she could no longer hear his footsteps before, softly, she said, as she hugged her knees tighter, silent tears streaming down her face, with depressing conviction.
"No, you won't. No one ever does."
Anya observed the room she had been assigned to. A large dormitory, with over a hundred over children around her age sharing the cramped space. Already she could see some of them fight each other, argue with each other and try to figure out what the hierarchy was. None of them had bothered to approach her yet. Some of them had little bags or cases with various belongings in them. She didn't have anything. Didn't need anything.
Her gaze slowly shifted to the piece of paper she'd been given. It had a hastily scribbled number on it. Her factory assignment. She had been told that she was expected to come to the factory in the morning of the next day, at five, in order to help the war effort. The same as every other kid in this dormitory, and every other one. Their small size allowed them to crawl between the machines and do maintenance tasks that were unavailable to your average tech priest or supervisor.
She glanced at the door. There was no one keeping an eye on them, with there being only one way in and out of the room. A single door, behind which she knew there to be a couple of Arbites. Her eyes drifted back to the general chaos unfolding before her. A small glint came to her eyes as she watched two of the larger boys loudly arguing between each other. Each had a small clique of people behind them as they tried to intimidate each other into backing down, but no one seemed eager for things to get violent. Scared children. Nothing more.
She tilted her head, before focusing on one of the two larger boys. She searched his mind; A simple thing by now, especially with a mind as poorly defended as that of an emotional child. She looked through it, careful not to touch anything, looking for...ah. There it was. She pushed the aggressive thoughts of the child; heightened them to a greater degree. Whispered suggestions of violence into him.
She didn't need to push very hard.
In an instant, a fist flew out, hitting the other boy on the fist. A moment of silence as the other kids paused in their jeering, before it all erupted into chaos. The other child hit back, those on both sides throwing themselves at each other as a brawl suddenly embroiled dozens of the children all at once. Anya walked towards the door, waiting close to it until it suddenly flew open, both of the Arbites stomping inside with thunderous expressions, their electric batons primed and ready. As soon as they were past her, she slipped out of the room, walking away whilst ignoring the screams of fear and pain as the Arbites started beating the children into submission.
The corridor she found herself in led to a network of other corridors; the dormitory was but one of dozens all contained in a much larger building used to house those who didn't have anyone to go to. There was no one in them, no personnel save for the Arbites meant to keep them in line. She hummed to herself, expanding her psychic powers further. She needed to be careful; Those...sisters of battle. No doubt they would be on the lookout for psychic power, and the traces of their use now that they knew she was a psyker. She didn't dare try and influence the minds of the various Arbites patrolling the building, knowing where they were was enough for her. She slowly walked forth, taking off her shoes in order to walk quieter on the concrete floor. It was strange to be back in her human body; At least, superficially. If someone were to do a close biological inspection, the illusion would be shattered. Her blood was full of microorganisms and particularities that had no place in a human body; Her organs were reinforced and enhanced, her bones and muscles were too strong, too enhanced for what was possible for even an extremely strong human. She was weaker than her true Tyranid body, but to say she was human as she currently was would be laughable. Thankfully, she didn't need to be. She just needed to avoid attention beyond skin level; Needed to avoid anything that would result in even a cursory examination of her biology. Even a simple blood sample would betray her. That was fine.
She had spent her entire life slipping in between the cracks of society.
She stood at the corner of a corridor, waiting as the Arbites walked straight past her and continued down a corridor. She immediately went down the way he'd come through, walking a little further ahead before stopping and pressing herself against the wall as the door next to her opened, using it to hide from the Arbites that had come out of the room, waiting patiently as he walked away before continuing her way.
Eventually, after a few minutes of sneaking around, she reached the front entrance. That would be a little harder. There were a half dozen Arbites standing guard at the entrance of the building, all facing the outside. They hardly expected the kids to dare try and escape after all. She wondered if they would noticed if she simply opened the door and walked away, making sure to stay out of sight. But no, they would hear the door opening. She needed a distraction.
An idea came to her. It was unlikely that anyone would notice that she was gone; and even if someone did, it would take weeks for the Administratum of the planet to even become aware of it, let alone the chance of someone caring that a single orphan had disappeared. Still, why take the risk of someone who actually would do something about it noticing something? Better she cover her traces thoroughly.
She reached through the synaptic web, finding what she wanted. She pulled. They answered.
A few minutes passed, before strangled yells outside told her they had arrived. Blood splattered against the transparent doors as the six Arbites were slaughtered in seconds. The doors opened, and seven tall, alien figures stepped into the building. She looked to the Lictors, their frames covered in the blood of the Arbites they had just murdered.
"Kill them all." She said softly. She passed them as she walked past the entrance of the building, feeling the Lictors go further into the building as she found herself in the open street. She quickly entered a side alley as cries started to come from the street, people noticing the corpses of the Arbites.
Then, the screaming began inside the building.
Harrison checked his lasgun was properly loaded and cleaned. It was. Much like the eight other times he had checked in since going inside the truck currently transporting his team towards the latest incident site.
"So." Ashley said happily, a nervous smile on her face. It was as if nothing had happened since they'd last talked. None of the others had commented. In all likelihood, they were just glad he was still alive after his little stunt with Isshin. His heart clenched at the memory of the man. "It looks like there's been an attack on refugee centre B forty five." She tapped her flamer. "A group of Lictors entered around thirty minutes ago through the only entrance of the building and proceeded to, assumedly, start killing the people inside. PDF have been assembled outside to ensure they do not escape." The tapping on her flamer continued, seeming to calm the sister down. "It's our job to go inside, along with a few other squads, and clear them out."
"Aren't the refugee centres B for orphans?" Vela asked, her eyes wide. Ashley nodded.
"Yes."
"Wait, and the PDF are just...waiting outside?!" She asked loudly. Harrison very much agreed. He knew his squad would have been in the moment they'd arrived. "But...it's going to be a massacre inside! The Arbites don't stand a chance against a Lictor, let alone multiple!"
"Yes." Ashley nodded. "The PDF aren't equipped for clearing a building like this. The commanders decided it wasn't worth risking military strength that could later be put to better use."
"Better u...what the fu..." Ashley gently moved her flamer as she cleaned it, the tip of it pointed squarely at the now pale Vela.
"Do you have any concerns, Arbites Vela?" She asked with an innocent smile. The Arbites gulped, impotent fury in her eyes.
"No ma'am."
"So." Everyone looked to Harrison, Vela with pleading eyes and Ashley with a very clear warning in her own. "We're basically letting the Lictors slaughter a bunch of kids to avoid the PDF having to do their job?" Ashley opened her mouth to answer, when Occ suddenly spoke up.
"The better question is why?" The massive man looked to each of them, thankfully catching the attention of Ashley as well, and likely saving Harrison from saying something even more reckless. "So far, the Lictors have been doing their utmost to be discreet about their tasks. Stay out of the way, and target critical infrastructure. Officers, ammo depots, vehicle sabotage, artillery crews..." He took on a thoughtful expression. "And then, suddenly, seven of them just...what, go kill a bunch of kids in broad daylight? If they wanted to go for shock and fear, then wouldn't it be better to do so when they're on their way to the manufactorum, where they'd be visible to all?" He shook his head. "They've backed themselves in a corner for what seems to be relatively minor gain. It doesn't fit with what they've been doing so far. If anything, it seems more..."
"Like a distraction." Ashley finished, her brow furrowed. "Damn it. I need to make a call." With that, she slipped through one of the windows of the truck, managing despite her armour to jump through the window into the passenger side at the front of the vehicle, in a display of agility that should have been impossible in power armour. Awkward silence settled in the back of the truck as they heard Ashley loudly talk to someone through the truck's radio.
"Harrison." Occ said, breaking the silence. "You need to be careful with what you say. The wrong word at the wrong time could lead to a number of terrible things happening to you." Harrison looked at the giant. He'd had a feeling the man had chosen to speak when he did to distract Ashley from Harrison's recklessness, but this confirmed it. Occ was much cleverer than Harrison had first assumed upon meeting the man. There was a frightening intelligence to him.
"It's hard to stay quiet when you hear stuff like that." He answered bitterly. To his surprise, Occ laid an understanding hand on his shoulder, almost engulfing the entire shoulder through the size difference.
"I understand. There is much injustice and darkness in the Imperium. Far from the dreams of Our Emperor." He said solemnly. There was a strange glimmer in the man's eyes as he spoke.
"Occ." Haze said, a slight warning in her voice. But Occ ignored him, focusing on Harrison.
"However. It is not by acting out, by attracting the attention of those who would punish you for such thoughts that you will change things. It is tempting to lash out against injustice, but when doing so will change nothing, it is a selfish act." There was power in the man's voice; Something in it that made it impossible not to listen, even if one disagreed. "If you wish for things to be different, you need to be more careful. More subtle. Get to a place where you can change things meaningfully." Harrison stared into the man's eyes, his hands clenched into fists. "Do you understand what I am saying?"
"I don't like it." Harrison mumbled.
"You do not have to." Occ smiled amusedly. "I certainly do not enjoy having to conceal so much."
"Occ. You're saying too much." Haze gritted out, glaring at the tall man. He chuckled.
"Yes, yes. Sorry." He let go of Harrison. "Just...think about what I said yes? It would be a shame to lose such a promising person." Harrison nodded absent-mindedly, his mind racing through what the man had told him. It went against everything he was, to sit back and quietly accept injustices. And yet...isn't that what he'd been doing his entire life? He knew the system was unjust. Knew that much of the Arbites treated the population of any level below three like disposable rabble, barely worth more than animals, and in some cases worth even less. That the nobles lived in unbelievable luxury whilst the vast majority of the population lived in utter squalor. And the less was said of the Underhive...he shivered. No, he had spent his entire life tolerating injustice. Because it had never been right under his eyes. Because he knew he couldn't change things, not him. Not some random PDF. That he could do more good trying to do his job well, than he could trying to change things at his level.
But to change things...do actual, meaningful change in such a massive thing as the Imperium...he would have to be far more than a PDF. He would have to be a planetary governor; or even more. But what was beyond the power of even the planetary governors? What had jurisdiction on even the most powerful of the Imperium?
Ashley returned to the back of the truck, a neutral expression on her face.
"We're here."
He would have to think of it later. For now, there was a job to do. They descended from the truck, weapons in hand as they found themselves faced with the large building, a cordon of PDF troops standing before the entrance. He could see the corpses of the Arbites that had guarded the entrance, ripped apart and left in bloody chunks. No one had bothered moving the bodies. He could see four other squads like his own, each with their own battle sister leading as they gathered near the entrance. Ashley took a deep breath, before a slightly manic smile came over her. He shivered at the sight. The last time he'd seen her like that was...He shook his head. Not now. Occ was right. He needed to stay focused.
The instructions were clear. Each group was to sweep a different section of the building to minimize the places the Lictors could hide. Harrison thought it was a stupid plan. Separating when fighting Lictors seemed like a great way to ensure each group would get ambushed and potentially overwhelmed. A single Lictor had been enough trouble, seven? It would be a nightmare.
And the Sisters of Battle seemed to agree.
"Call in the Immolator. We're torching this place down." Harrison startled.
"Wait, but what if there are still people inside?!" He asked. Ashley gave him a look.
"Harrison. There are seven Lictors in this building. It's been over half an hour. The strongest person in there will be an Arbites in regular gear, not even riot control." She shook her head. "There's no one alive in there. And if there are, it'll only be a handful that won't last long as we go through." She had a happy smile on her face. "Better to burn it all down than to take the risk, right?" He was going to say something biting back when he saw Occ subtly shake his head. He grit his teeth, feeling his every thought scream in protest to what he was about to say.
"Understood." The words came out shaky, but they seemed to satisfy Ashley, as her grin widened. She walked up to Harrison and patted him on the back.
"I knew you would come around." Her hand snaked up, grabbing his shoulder as she leaned forth, a sickly smile on her lips that only made the genuine happiness in her eyes harder to bear. "I'm glad you're starting to understand how it works out there." With that, she tapped his shoulder and walked away, discussing with the other sisters of battle as they discussed how best to burn down the building. A building that might still have survivors inside of it.
Harrison thought he might be sick.
As it burned, he thought he might have heard the screams of children coming from the inferno.
Anya was hungry.
She hadn't eaten since passing the checkpoint. Her stomach was rumbling. She glanced at the open street. No one was paying any attention to her. Her ratty clothes and lack of shoes was not something exceptional due to the influx of refugees on the lower levels.
Well. Not no one.
There was another person following her. A child her own age, looking nervous but determined. He was dressed similarly to her. She knew what he was doing. She'd seen it before, so many times.
On another day, concerned with her cover, she might have been content to let him shake her down, show him she had nothing and move on. But right now...she was too hungry. This wasn't the kid's lucky day.
With that, she started to walk through side alleys, looping further and further away from the main street until there was no one around. He hesitated to follow her, but did so nonetheless. Until she hit a dead end, and turned around. Except the kid wasn't alone. There were four of them now.
She smiled at them. It must have unnerved them, as they took a step back.
Too late.
Harrison looked at the pile of documents on his desk. He didn't know why the Administratum insisted so much of their data be made on paper, when data-slates were a fairly common technology. Sighing, he sat down and started reading through them.
Adrien Vos. Nine years old. From sector five.
Fahij Eres. Ten years old. Sector six.
Olad Eres. Seven years old. Sector six.
Chloe Weske. Eleven years old. Sector five.
And so on it went. Every new document another child, another registration. Nothing but the most basic information on them, a quick description and nothing else. Hundreds of children, erased like nothing had happened in the purging flames of the Sororitas. Butchered by xenos invaders. No one would remember them.
Harrison had sworn he would. He'd requested the documents, asked to be able to check through them. Someone at least should remember the ones they'd failed to save. That, on some level, they'd condemned by their inaction. A hot bubble of shame nestled itself comfortably in his throat as he read through the files. So many. There were so many files.
When did doing the right thing become so complicated?
Then, something caught his eye. He frowned at one of the files.
Anya. No last names. No relations. There was nothing exceptional about the child, even her white hair, whilst rare for someone her age, was not unheard of. But that wasn't what caught his attention.
It was her eyes.
Bright, yellow eyes.
He almost dropped the file in shock. Getting up, he slammed the door open, running towards the sister of battle's own room.
"ASHLEY! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"
Anya hummed thoughtfully as she sat on a public bench. The third level, despite being overcrowded with the abundance of refugees, was much nicer than the Underhive. They even had a public park! She hadn't even known what a public park was before coming here. She tore a piece from her food, putting it in her mouth and sighing in bliss as the taste erupted in her mouth. Savory.
So, what to do next? She was on the level, she had managed to erase her tracks as well as could do, and she had an entire network of Lictors already in place. Some of them had died recently, but the majority were still up and operational. She tugged at the synaptic web, feeling it bend and twist as she wished. It brought a smile to her lips. She had three days. Three days before the attack happened. Three days to get as close to the chain of command as she could, to cause chaos and destruction. Three days to turn the third level into hell.
"Sorry kid, is this bench taken?" She looked to see a sheepish looking PDF. She instantly tensed internally, but externally gave a happy smile and nodded. I'd sit somewhere else, but well..." He gestured to the rest of the park. Pretty much every bench was full. She shrugged, then went back to nibbling on her meal. The man sighed in relief as he sat down. "Gah, five hours on patrol absolutely melts your legs." She didn't comment. "So, why are you by yourself?" He said it casually, but she could feel his surface thoughts. He was worried as to why a child was by themselves. He really shouldn't. He would run himself ragged if he tried to keep track of every unattended kid in the hive.
"Parents are dead." She took another bite of her meal, swallowing. Maybe she could try and hunt some sororitas. She'd seen some of them by themselves, or followed only by a few PDF and arbites. Hunting her lictors. There weren't that many sororitas, and even a few dead would make the assault easier. And if she only thought a few at a time, even in this body, it should be fine. At least so long as she used her powers.
Something to consider.
"Ah." He winced. "Sorry to hear that kid. Shouldn't you be somewhere though?" She looked down.
"Dunwanna go to the factory." She felt the conflict go through the man's mind. On the one hand, he was bound by duty to drag her back to the factory. Or at least, it would be what was expected of him. But on the other hand...
"Ugh. Tugging at the heart strings there kid." He sighed. "Fine." He stretched. "Take the day, and don't stick to the park. That's where they look for the kids that skip on factory duty." She nodded, giving a shy thank you. He smiled. "No worries. Say, what's that you're eating? Doesn't look familiar." She looked down to her meal, putting it back in the plastic bag, licking her teeth clean before she smiled at the man.
"Meat."
Ashley stared at Harrison.
"So let me recap." For once, she spoke without a hint of nervousness or manic excitement. He shuffled awkwardly. "You're telling me you believe this kid." She pointed to Anya's file. "This...ten year old kid. That's about a head shorter than me out of armour." He shuffled some more. "That one. Is the tyranid leader organism."
"Yes." He said, trying to put more confidence in his voice than he was feeling.
"And your big argument is...similar eye colour?" She asked dubiously.
"You don't understand. I saw them, the day level seven fell." His eyes dulled as the memories came flooding back. "I could never forget them. And I'm telling you, it's the exact same. And not just the colour. There's the same...look in them too." Ashley looked at him with a careful expression, before slowly speaking.
"Alright. However, there is a problem with that theory of yours Harrison." She sighed. "We've been keeping the news on the down low to avoid a panic, but...there's been a renewal of assaults on level five. They've added some new toys to their arsenal. Exocrines, living artillery pieces." Harrison felt his heart rate spike at the knowledge. "They've already breached back into level five, and right now it's a fight to prevent them from swarming past the gates to level four. It's a fucking nightmare down there Harrison. They're throwing everything they have at us, and we're losing ground every hour." His grip on the files felt faint. "And a key point is that the organism was part of the fighting."
"...oh." He looked down.
"Besides. Tyranids can do a lot of things, but as far as we know only genestealers can mimic to look like humans. And trust me, we checked the population for genestealer infestation. Thoroughly." She shook her head. "Besides. If she was part of the orphanage, she would have burned with the rest." And wasn't that a pleasant reminder.
"I... I see. Sorry for wasting your time." She shrugged.
"Eh. It's fine." A grin appeared on her lips. "Wanna spar?! I am so bored right now!" The sudden mood switch was a bit of a whiplash, even having known her for a few days by now. At first, he was going to refuse; Not exactly interested in the one sided beatdown that would inevitably ensue. But then...
"Sure." She blinked, her grin widening.
"Awesome!" She jumped out of her desk, running for the door. "Let's do this!" He followed her, already feeling the ache his body was going to be put through.
If he was going to change things, he would have to be able to face those who would oppose those changes. And to do that, he would have to be strong.
He couldn't afford to take it easy.
He failed to notice Haze peeking out of her room, her gaze fixed on him.
Night had fallen by the time Anya decided to make a move.
Those who had survived the assassinations from her Lictors were by now too well protected for anything short of multiple Lictors brute forcing their way through to succeed; And well, they could be far better used than that. She knew their efforts had paid off; Supplies were arriving in lesser quantities on the front against her Swarm; they were less reactive, less organized. There were simply not enough officers at all levels to effectively lead a defense from the tyranid assault.
The people here were on the breaking point. She could feel it in the air, feel it in their emotions bubbling at the surface of their minds. The frustration. The anger. The fear.
The Hunger.
She grinned maliciously.
All it would take was a spark.
All throughout the level, Lictors entered homes, broke into refugee centres and civilian shelters. Death came to the people of the third level that night; Reaping through thousands by the time day came, all without eliciting any alarm. All the focus was on defending the officers, preventing any lictor infiltration on the second and first level and on protecting logistics from their sabotage. The population was left painfully exposed. The groundwork had been laid, and that night they reaped their rewards.
Changing her form was a painful process; And one she could only use so much before being stuck in one, starving and needing immediate sustenance. But that night, she took on a dozen different forms; Going into various places of gathering such as pubs, underground rings, refugee centres, communal areas... and between visits, she would find someone lost, someone isolated, and devour them, before repeating the process. In each place she would whisper of dissent; Point out how much the population had been left to themselves, how little was done about crime against the refugees or vice versa, how the upper levels still lived a life of luxury despite the rest of the Hive being consumed by a hellish war...and then, she would begin to spread wild theories. That the military knew of the presence of the invisible tyranid assassins that were spreading through the night. That they had made a deal with the tyranids to spare the rich in exchange for culling the poor. That they had used the poor as living shields by leaving them exposed. Contradictory, impossible theories. But to a frightened and desperate population, these spread like wildfire.
And when the morning came and the thousands of corpses were found, with not one officer or member of the upper class so much as grazed, the entire third level exploded into riots.
The streets were an absolute mess. Harrison grunted as a bottle hit his shield. They'd been given riot gear and tasked, along with most of the PDF and Arbites still present on the level, to do crowd control due to the sudden eruption of violence. Harrison had to admit, he was concerned. The violence was something he had honestly expected. The situation was too tense for things not to be wild at some point. But this...this was a sudden, complete eruption of violence. The massacre of civilians had sent them in a frenzy of fear and panic, and without any of the mysterious tyranids to force into accepting the blame, the population found their frustration only to those meant to protect them from such acts. The wild rumors that seemed to have caught the hive certainly didn't help.
"WHERE'S THE REST OF THE ARBITES?!" "WHY ARE WE LEFT ALONE!" "LET THE NOBLES FIGHT AS WELL INSTEAD OF HIDING IN THEIR TOWERS!" Were but some of the less colorful things the crowds had started changing. It had gone to the point the Sororitas themselves had joined in on the crowd control, being even more brutal than the Arbites as they savagely beat down anyone foolish enough to try and push them around. As a result, the few sororitas present in each of the anti-riot improvised brigades created an area around them absent of any but the most reckless of rioters. Dispersed, they did an excellent job at preventing things from escalating too far. Well, more than they already had. The count of injured was in the hundreds already. But given the scales of the riots and the amount of people involved, that was a small miracle in itself.
Someone got a little too close to the line, and Occ smacked him away with a single strike of his electrified pole; having not turned on the current, the sheer force was enough to send the men clean flying. That brought a momentary pause to the rioters, at which point the PDF and Arbites used the chance to charge forth, quickly dispersing the crowd. He sighed as they regrouped, heading for the next group. One down. So many more to go.
The next group was even larger. Hundreds of thousands of people, all screaming and chanting as they went down the streets. More joined them by the minute, and the crowd could easily swell into the millions if nothing was done. He could see there were already plenty of Arbites and PDF present, an intimidating line that seemed quite frail when faced with the rioter numbers.
"Alright people!" He called out. He was in charge of his entire group. Ashley had put him in charge, having been assigned to bodyguard for the canoness during the event as she went to the largest of the crowds. There were a hundred sororitas here alone, along with a few vehicles. Harrison gulped at the sight of the two immolator tanks. He had seen firsthand the devastation those could inflict. Thankfully, these were here merely as an intimidation tactic; One that worked quite well as the crowd did not even try and get close to the cordon of sororitas. "Let's do this right and proper! We want this to go smoothly. March in unison!" With that, they advanced, quickly joining the rest of the Arbites and creating a more solid wall of black armoured figures that managed to make the crowd calm down a bit, no longer as eager for a fight. He sighed in relief as people started to whisper, the electric mood slowly dissipating. So far so good. Now, to maintain...
Anya knew she would have to escape quickly once she pulled her stunt. She had mixed in the crowd, using subtle psychic suggestions to make them ignore the kid. In their worked up, angry state, it had been easy to convince them to look the other way. This time, she used a stronger influence to make them look away; Not pay attention to her. She couldn't afford to have people remember her for this; This form was the easiest to make, the only one that looked entirely human on the exterior, and one she wished to keep using further going forward.
She opened her mouth, and loudly, heard far above the now quieting crowd, yelled out:
"DEATH TO THE EMPEROR!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was slithering away in the crowd, using her smaller frame and her psychic powers to make people ignore her, forget her presence, hide her from the sight of the authorities.
She jumped down a sewer shaft as a panicked clamor began, closing the shaft behind her and running down the sewers, simply seeking to put distance between her and the inevitable chaos.
The silence after those words was deafening. Harrison could feel his heart beat go faster and faster as panic started overwhelming him. He could see in the crowd a mixture of surprise, horror, fear. This was not planned. This was not expected. He looked to the sisters of battle, feeling his heart sink at the sight of the single sister of battle without a helmet looking as angry as he had ever seen anyone. The pure, loathsome rage was enough to make him want to cower in fear.
Then, she screamed the one word which could send any Imperial world into a frenzy.
"HERESY!" The crowd panicked, a wide crowd movement forcing backwards as the sororitas raised their weapons towards the crowd. Worse, the turrets of the Immolator tanks turned on them as well. Harrison raised a hand, screaming out to stop, only to be able to do nothing but watch as they opened fire on the crowd.
It was a massacre.
The tightly packed mass of people, either in civilian outfits or paltry, homemade armour, were incinerated by the intense promethium flames of the Immolator tanks; the flamers wielded by the sisters turning people to charcoal in a matter of seconds, whilst those unluckier standing further away were engulfed in flames; Their screams filling the air along with the zealous chants of the sororitas as they started marching through the crowd, burning away any that they came across. Harrison screamed out a retreat order; There was no stopping this now. The only thing he could do is get his people to safety. PDF and Arbites ran, fleeing towards their barracks in terror as the burning flames of the Sororitas engulfed the protestors and rioters, indiscriminate in their destruction. They marched through streets charred with ash and melted flesh, thousands dying within minutes.
Once his people were safe within the barracks, Harrison headed back into the streets, followed by Haze, Occ and Vela. He wasn't sure what he was hoping to do; They couldn't even beat Ashley together, let alone two thousand sororitas on the war path. But...his eyes watered from the smoke billowing through the streets, his nose overwhelmed by the smell of charred bodies. The main alley was littered with charred corpses, big clumps of bodies fused together in the heat as they tried to press themselves through the narrow alleyways away from the slaughter. Many of the buildings themselves had caught fire; a blazing inferno coursing through the residential portions of the city. The military and industrial sectors would be fine, isolated as they were from the main population centres, but...those who didn't die in the sororitas' zealous rage would no doubt find themselves homeless and destitute.
Four words. Four words were all it took for the entire level to feel the Ecclesiarchy's wrath.
He winced at the heat of the flames blowing out of a nearby building, Vela shouting over the sound of the roaring fire:
"HARRISON! WE NEED TO GO BACK!" He turned to her, his eyes wide and red from irritation. His foot stepped into something crispy on the outside, but gooey as he pressed his foot. He looked down, staring at the burned body of a old man. "WE CAN'T STAY OUT HERE!"
"But we... we can't just..." He said, his voice hoarse. "This is...this is not right..." Vela bit her lower lip, before bursting in a rant.
"I KNOW! I know it's not fucking right! I work for the Arbites for fucks sake, I know what injustice looks like!" She grabbed him, her hands a vice like grip. "But there is nothing we can do! All we're going to do right now is die if we go out there and try and stop them!"
"She's right." The voice brought the group to a standstill, turning towards the main alley.
Ashley stood before them, in the middle of the immense alley, alone. She made for a striking sight, haloed by flames as she wore her full armour, her helmet held under her arm with her other one holding the customized flamer she preferred. They hadn't even noticed her approaching, so focused on the disaster and their own argument. Further ahead, they could see a squad of another six sororitas, clearly waiting for Ashley to return to them.
"Ashley..." Harrison breathed, his voice shaking with anger and pain. "This has to stop." She gave him a smile that was a little too wide, her eyes twinkling.
"Stop? Harrison, this is the Emperor's work!" She opened her arms wide, almost dropping her helmet as she did. "This world was blessed by his Light and purged of its heresy!"
"The Emperor loves Mankind!" He called back. "Is this what he would have wanted?!" He gestured around him to the burning city; The thousands of charred bodies littering just this street.
"Harrison..." She gave him a pitying look, the one given to ignorant children. "The God-Emperor does love Mankind. That's precisely why such words cannot be allowed." Her voice lowered, such that it became hard to hear over the crackling of fire and slowly crumbling buildings. "How do you think he conquered the stars Harrison? Do you think it was with love and compassion? Worlds burned Harrison." There was a haunted look in her eyes. "This is not the first Imperial World I have participated in such an operation. This is nothing. Have you ever seen a planet burn Harrison? I have. Billions of souls, extinguished in an instant." She took a step towards him, then another. He felt paralyzed as she stood right in front of him, her eyes burning into his, her pale skin illuminated by the flames. Her white hair streaked in shades of gray by the ashes that had fallen into it during their conversation. "Run home Harrison. This is not a world for you." She pushed against his chest, gently. "Run on home and pray to the Emperor for protection." With that, she turned away from him and walked back to her squad, before heading out further into the city, ready to do the Emperor's Will.
Harrison stood there for what felt like hours, numbness spreading through his body. Slowly, he turned away, a heavy sense of defeat as he walked back to the barracks. Silence reigned on the group as they made their way through the burning streets.
As they passed what used to be a park, fleeing the increasing heat and collapsing building Harrison saw something that caught his attention, getting a glimpse before a tumbling skyscraper forced him to keep running.
A white haired girl with glowing yellow eyes, sitting on a bench, smiling as she watched the world burn around her.