The lasbolts ripped into him, stitching burnt craters across his chest and the left side of his head exploded. I screamed as my best friend died, it felt like somebody had torn my heart from my chest as I remembered the seconds we knew each other.
Still, I held the trigger down, sweeping my lasgun across the chamber, cutting down the two other men there until the powercell ran out and I dropped to my knees, the weapon falling from my fingers.
The emperor was a false god. My bes- The prophet of truth was dead.
He wasn't my best friend. He wasn't.
I could almost feel the pressure lift from my mind, but it didn't do anything. It may have been a lie, but the emotions had been very real.
I threw up on the floor, coughing as I tried to not fall onto my face while doing it.
Or tried at least, didn't have much to throw up. Thinking about it, I couldn't even remember when I ate last.
He had been my best friend. Or made me think he had been. I still shot him. Looked him in the eyes and shot him.
What kind of perso-
There was the sound of a lasfire discharging behind me and I looked back, seeing one of the soldiers on the ground, most of his head missing. He had shot himself.
I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.
Most of them were crying already, most had taken their helmets off and I could see their faces for the first time.
A couple were clutching aquilas, mumbling prayers as they sobbed.
Daniels was sitting with his back to the wall, his head against his knees. Visibly shuddering.
I closed my eyes, seeing the lasbolts rip through him again.
Then I gritted my teeth and struggled up, wiping my mouth as I picked up my lasgun and slapped a new powercell in, "On your feet, soldiers!"
Most didn't react.
"Oh your fucking feet in the name of the Golden Throne!" I yelled and reached down, grabbing Daniels by the collar of his armor with my exoskeleton covered arm and tugged him upwards onto his feet, "We have a planet to save!"
He looked at me, tears pouring down his cheeks, "I... I... Oh God-Emperor... oh..."
"It was a warp trick!" I said and slammed him back against the wall, "Get your shit together, trooper! We're not done yet, the Emperor isn't done with you yet! Your faith wavered, will your duty too!?"
He sucked in a slow breath, one gloved hand going up and rubbing across his face as he managed to shake his head, "I..." he started to say before I felt him take more of his own weight, "No. It was a lie. It was all a lie. I will do my duty to Him On Earth. I will repent!"
I nodded firmly and then let go, walking to the next trooper and tugging him up, "On your feet maggot! The Emperor needs you! Will you fail him again!?"
It wasn't easy. It took threats, promises, kicks and in one case, a hug, to get everybody back onto their feet and holding their lasguns again. Everybody was horribly shook and looking at them, I was far from certain they wouldn't just instantly fold the moment anything dangerous happened.
But they were what I had so I used them. Like tools.
The way somebody that would cut down their bes-
I shook my head, suppressing that thought as quickly as it had come. I could fall apart into a gibbering wreck later on my own time.
"What I need from you is easy!" I told them loudly, "What the Emperor needs from you is easy! You are to follow me and shoot what I tell you to shoot! You are elite SDF troopers, that is why you were picked for this mission! The Emperor relies on you for this mission!"
"You heard the Interrogator!" Daniels said loudly, hefting his lasgun and reloading it, "We still have a mission!"
His voice shook slightly, but he certainly had the right idea.
"If you seek redemption, follow me!" I said and headed down the ramp again, almost stumbling slightly as the path started to lead back down again.
My feet felt unsteady and I swallowed before popping another stimtab into my mouth, swallowing it.
It helped a little.
There was no resistance below, the Eldar had already moved on up along the other ramp and out of sight, but I could hear the sound of battle above. The whining of what I now recognized as Eldar weapons. Screaming and lasfire.
"On me," I yelled and started to run towards the second ramp, "Follow me and shoot everything that's not a xeno!"
Hitting the ramp, I had to slow down. I just didn't have the energy anymore to run up it. I wasn't the only one, I could hear the rest struggling behind me as well.
The sight that met us as we exited onto the roof was indescribable.
Above us the massive rings turned, whooshing past us. The large metal rings glowed purple as they twisted around themselves.
Each time one passed above, it felt like somebody had tightened firmly around my brain with an iron band. Beneath the rings was some sort of altar, also glowing purple and covered with… symbols. I think.
They hurt to look at and kept moving. The heretics seemed to be shooting each other as much as at the Eldar. But that didn't seem to be what was really the largest threat right now.
Even as I watched, the air above the altar crackled and sparked, sending bolts through the air, one of them hitting and sending one of the Eldar warriors flying through the air, dead. Or at least I really hope that killed him because a second later he turned inside out, armor and all.
Then something crawled out of him, multi jointed legs, covered in feathers and scales with a large beak filled with sharp teeth and too many eyes.
Some of those eyes had eyes.
Oh god that's a lot of eyes.
"Everyone, shoot the demon! Shoot the demon!" I yelled and followed my words with action.