VIII

Labyrinth

Wigbrand was now alone; having just separated himself from Oddmund and Dieter as he made his way to the downed ship's bridge. The layout of the light cruiser on his retinal display showed that he was currently in the lower decks of the Emperor's Descent.

"Stone cold," the Techmarine uttered softly as he touched the consoles embedded in the narrow corridor, "No sign of active Machine Spirit."

To reach the ship's bridge, he would need to find an elevator. Considering how each console was inactive, the possibility of a functioning elevator was slim. Wigbrand continued walking through the lower deck; his grip on his Omnissian Axe tightening as he passed through the ship crew quarters. Based on his experience and through the recollections from some of the Deathwatch Techmarines, he had expected some bodies of the ship's occupants in the downed vessel. What surprised him was that the corridor was strangely empty. Though he was not troubled by this, it did make him curious.

At the end of the hallway, Wigbrand saw a small elevator shaft. The Techmarine approached the elevator's control; his retinal scanner providing necessary information of the console.

"Praise the Omnissiah," he said, alleviated that his retinal scanner showed that the console was still functioning.

Wigbrand then pressed a button to call the elevator. The loud creaking sounds of chains and rotating gears echoed through the empty hallway as the lift slowly descended from above.

"You have never been in a downed space cruiser before, have you brother?" Oddmund asked as he walked through the Emperor's Descent hangar bay; readjusting his bolt rifle.

Dieter turned to him, armed with his chainsword.

"No."

"I could tell," the old knight gave a small chuckle, "You look like a deer who has just entered an Imperium human settlement."

The swordsman did not laugh.

"What is a deer?" he asked.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence between the two knights as they continued walking through the hangar. The hangar bay had some Imperial Navy attack crafts and a few planetary aircrafts; all still quite intact albeit placed into different positions.

"Whoever was flying this vessel must have been a good Imperial Navy captain," Oddmund spoke, looking at the spectacular display of the misplaced aircrafts, "These machines look functional even after the crash."

"No bodies though," Dieter replied as his auspex scanned the area, "Hangar is without soldiers or servitors."

Oddmund agreed with the swordsman; his auspex also showed no signs of life or any signs of bodies.

The two knights continued walking through the hangar; scanning each crook and cranny. Suddenly, Dieter stopped.

"What is it?" Oddmund whispered, raising his bolt rifle as soon as he saw the swordsman stop in his tracks, "What do you see?"

Dieter remained still, his head looking upwards as he scanned the entire hangar bay ceiling.

"Brother Dieter?" Oddmund hissed anxiously.

"Nothing, brother," the swordsman replied as he lowered his head, "There was nothing."

Oddmund left out a sigh as he lowered his bolt rifle.

"Perhaps being in a new environment has rattled your nerves, young one," the old knight said with a weak laugh as he patted his hand on Dieter's left shoulder, "Remember our vows."

The swordsman remained quiet as Oddmund walked past him. Though he did not see anything from his auspex, his instinct was telling him otherwise. Something or someone was watching them.

Giltbert suddenly felt a chill in his spine as he and Catellus followed Inquisitor Marion and Fantoche into the light cruiser's cargo bay. The cargo bay was a mess with food rations, files, documents and even some machinery pieces spilling out from the broken crates onto the bay's floor. No bodies however. The Sword Brother and his young knight continued to follow Inquisitor Marion being guided by his handheld scanner as the group maneuvered around the spilled supplies. Giltbert felt a sense of familiarity as he carefully walked through the cargo bay. It was almost as if he had been here before. This sense of déjà vu concerned him greatly.

"Are you alright, my lord?" Catellus's soft voice suddenly crackled through the Sword Brother's micro-bead.

Giltbert turned to find the young knight staring at him. It was then he realized that he had unconsciously tightened his grip around his sparking Power Sword. Catellus must have noticed that.

"I am fine," Giltbert replied, loosening his grip, "A fleeting sensation."

Catellus nodded before scanning the area with his bolt rifle. Giltbert could also see that the young knight was also at unease. The fact that Inquisitor Marion and Fantoche remained silent as they walked through the cargo bay further added to this tension.

blip*

Inquisitor Marion immediately stopped. A small blip suddenly appeared on the left side on his scanner's screen. The Ordos Xenos inquisitor turned to find a closed bulkhead door a few feet away from him. He then waved his hand to Giltbert; motioning him towards the closed door.

"Keep an eye on them, brother," Giltbert said to Catellus as his grip tightened around the Power Sword, "I will check."

Catellus nodded as his former mentor made his way towards the bulkhead, slowly passing by Inquisitor Marion and Fantoche. Electricity danced along the Power Sword's blade as Giltbert stepped in front of the closed door. His gauntleted left hand gripped onto the door's wheel handle, noticing it was unlocked. The Sword Brother pulled the door open to find himself peering into complete darkness.

"Remain there." Giltbert ordered Catellus as he took a step into the shadows.

The electricity slithering around his Power Sword provided some illumination as Giltbert examined the dark room. Another sense of déjà vu flowed through him as he felt the darkness within the room was similar to the one he had experienced in his dreams. With caution, the Sword Brother continued through; holding his sparking Power Sword forward.

thud*

His boots had hit something. Something soft. Giltbert looked down. A large shadowy object was at his feet. He started to kneel forward for a closer look when the emergency lights suddenly turned on.

"Magnificent." Wigbrand uttered with admiration as he stood in the Emperor's Descent's bridge; his retinal scanner examining the consoles.

The Techmarine placed his hand over the machine. Unlike the ones in the ship's lower decks, he could feel the Machine Spirit within this console albeit dormant. It was time for him to do his duty. Wigbrand hovered his hand over the console and began to chant. His Servo-Arms, now activated by his own Machine Spirit, began circling over the console sprinkling blessed oil. Through his hand and his Servo-Arms, Wigbrand could feel the Emperor's Descent Machine Spirit slowly awakening. Buttons and screens on the bridge console slowly began to light up but the entire bridge remained in the dark. Perhaps the Machine Spirit was still recovering from crashing into Oroborus. Wigbrand continued to chant as a humming sound emanated from the now active console. On its screen, the Machine Spirit spoke.

Activate emergency power? [Y/N]

Wigbrand looked at the message screen and stopped chanting. The Machine Spirit had awakened but was still too weak to power up the whole downed ship. Fortunately, this was enough for the Techmarine as he gratefully prayed to the Machine Spirit before pressing a button on the console.

Giltbert staggered back as he was suddenly blinded by the activated emergency lights. His helmet's photolenses were quickly switching filters to adjust for the sudden brightness. As his vision slowly returned, he could finally see the mysterious shadowy object near his feet; the body of a dead Guardsman. The dead soldier had an agonized expression on his frozen face. Gilbert recognised the soldier as one of the 8th Cadian Shock Troopers based on the green Flak Armour over the tan uniform. What surprised and intrigued him was the gaping bloody hole in the dead soldier's chest. Closer inspection of the wound showed several broken ribs spread outwards from the open chest. Strangely enough, his auspex showed no sign of entry wound. It was almost as if the Guardsman had forcibly swallowed a frag grenade before it exploded. So engrossed in the dead soldier's strange death that Giltbert did not realize that Catellus had entered the room.

"Brother Wigbrand must have returned the emergency power, my lord," Catellus uttered before seeing the dead soldier's body, "By the Emperor!"

"Do not be so alarmed, Brother Catellus," Giltbert said firmly, "This is not the first time you have seen a dead Guardsman."

"But not like this," the young knight remarked, pointing his rifle at the dead soldier's gaping chest wound, "What would have caused this? A Genestealer?"

"No. This brutality is different. It is unlike any I have ever seen."

Giltbert's micro-bead started to vibrate.

"Emergency power has been restored, my lord," Wigbrand's voice crackled, "The Machine Spirit is active but is significantly weak. I will begin collecting the ship's data."

"Do so, Brother Wigbrand," Giltbert replied, "Transmit the data to me once you have finished."

"It will be done."

It was then that the Sword Brother noticed that Catellus was alone.

"Where is the Inquisitor?"