In the world near the Great Rift of Warhammer 40k, these are the stories about humanity witnessing the apocalypse and still remaining humans.
In his name(Warhammer 40k)
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nil desperandum
"Another day in the Guard, out and AT THEM!"
It still felt wrong. I was no longer the 4th to rush out of the Chimaera. Instead of the purplish brown birthmark of Gonzalez beside me, it was a young sweating pale man named Marcus. Gonzalez always had my back,going all the way back to the factorium. We used to joke that he joined because nobody back home would marry him. I knew he did it to watch my back when I got recruited.
They were gone now. Somewhere in the radioactive ash wastes of Borderlands. I still remember his last message about the convoy being attacked. I remember begging to just keep the pass open for just a bit longer. The Priest demanding that they be evacuated, the captain hesitantly saying we should and Commissar Felicitas ordering the fallback
saying that everyone out there must be dead. Bastard must still had a heart though, he took the last Salamander back to make sure after that weird auspex reading.Worst jog ever….. only 30 of us made it to LZ.
He didn't make it … ordered the liftoff while he tried to buy us more time.
I squinted at our surroundings. Another day work for the Emperor.
Frak! That had to be a multilaser and we heard an autocannon earlier. We were surrounded…. I glared at the prisoner we captured. Had to be of some high rank, staring at his tats made my eyes tear. Maybe…
"To our misguided brethren, lay down your arms. This would be your one and only chance to surrender. Is your lives worth dying, for a corpse emperor on a far away throne? You had been left behind as I was. Join the Swords, as I did."
That voice… it was impossible to hear with any clarity over the staticky comns. But somehow….
"Erico Gonzalez?"
There must had been millions…
"Emily?"
I coughed as I finally saw him again. Beyond hope .. into despair. As I struggled to find a more comfortable sitting position within my bonds, I said
"Care…. They might blame you for my men escape."
A rictus grin answered me
"But they already did.", Lifting up his overcoat, he showed me a spot , sticky, black and wet. He crumpled to the floor beside me.
"Hey.." he gasped. " Remember when you saved us from that sump flood?"
I grinned back as the bright memory rushed through me. "I remember you held that pillar for 8 hours…. Longer than humanly possible while I scrounged up a solution that worked better than duct tape. "
"Yeah" he wheezed." I knew you wouldn't have thought I died…. The bastard commissar must had forced you to write me off as acceptable losses. "
" He ordered us out…. He also went back in alone to search for you…
Refused to let me come, say we were too valuable to risk and the dropships needed defending… "
"Oh." He sighed.. " Throne take me. You don't want to be alive for what these scunners are going to do next."
"I don't have a say in that… it's in the Emperor hands as always. "
I heard the distinctive klink of the spring mechanicism…. I knew what was in his hands.
"Help me…" he rattled. " Help hold on."
Somehow, my fingers found his and clasped his hand tight.
"Always my friend. Always"
We would reach the throne in a blaze of glory, my friend, having redeemed himself through purification and sacrifice, the souls of humanity foes our fee to prove our worthiness to Him on Earth.
Always.
It still felt wrong. I was no longer the 4th to rush out of the Chimaera. Instead of the purplish brown birthmark of Gonzalez beside me, it was a young sweating pale man named Marcus. Gonzalez always had my back,going all the way back to the factorium. We used to joke that he joined because nobody back home would marry him. I knew he did it to watch my back when I got recruited.
They were gone now. Somewhere in the radioactive ash wastes of Borderlands. I still remember his last message about the convoy being attacked. I remember begging to just keep the pass open for just a bit longer. The Priest demanding that they be evacuated, the captain hesitantly saying we should and Commissar Felicitas ordering the fallback
saying that everyone out there must be dead. Bastard must still had a heart though, he took the last Salamander back to make sure after that weird auspex reading.Worst jog ever….. only 30 of us made it to LZ.
He didn't make it … ordered the liftoff while he tried to buy us more time.
I squinted at our surroundings. Another day work for the Emperor.
Frak! That had to be a multilaser and we heard an autocannon earlier. We were surrounded…. I glared at the prisoner we captured. Had to be of some high rank, staring at his tats made my eyes tear. Maybe…
"To our misguided brethren, lay down your arms. This would be your one and only chance to surrender. Is your lives worth dying, for a corpse emperor on a far away throne? You had been left behind as I was. Join the Swords, as I did."
That voice… it was impossible to hear with any clarity over the staticky comns. But somehow….
"Erico Gonzalez?"
There must had been millions…
"Emily?"
I coughed as I finally saw him again. Beyond hope .. into despair. As I struggled to find a more comfortable sitting position within my bonds, I said
"Care…. They might blame you for my men escape."
A rictus grin answered me
"But they already did.", Lifting up his overcoat, he showed me a spot , sticky, black and wet. He crumpled to the floor beside me.
"Hey.." he gasped. " Remember when you saved us from that sump flood?"
I grinned back as the bright memory rushed through me. "I remember you held that pillar for 8 hours…. Longer than humanly possible while I scrounged up a solution that worked better than duct tape. "
"Yeah" he wheezed." I knew you wouldn't have thought I died…. The bastard commissar must had forced you to write me off as acceptable losses. "
" He ordered us out…. He also went back in alone to search for you…
Refused to let me come, say we were too valuable to risk and the dropships needed defending… "
"Oh." He sighed.. " Throne take me. You don't want to be alive for what these scunners are going to do next."
"I don't have a say in that… it's in the Emperor hands as always. "
I heard the distinctive klink of the spring mechanicism…. I knew what was in his hands.
"Help me…" he rattled. " Help hold on."
Somehow, my fingers found his and clasped his hand tight.
"Always my friend. Always"
We would reach the throne in a blaze of glory, my friend, having redeemed himself through purification and sacrifice, the souls of humanity foes our fee to prove our worthiness to Him on Earth.
Always.