This is fan fiction and is unofficial and in no way associated with Games Workshop Limited

Chapter 11 Know your enemy

It had been over a week since the crash that had stranded Risia and himself in the massive hive city on Histon 8. The fighting was heavy in the sector that they had crashed into. After battling their way out of one of the Ecclesiarchy churches, Solorin found himself hunched down in one of the bombed-out buildings near the base of the hive. Food had been hard to find, and medical supplies were even more laborious. Risia had the roughest time with her broken leg and other injuries from the crash forcing the pair to be slow on the move and avoid most conflicts if it could be helped.

Unlike him, the feline did not have the healing capabilities that his genetically modified body had. Risia was an interrogator from the Holy Inquisition, but she was still just a mortal. Her broken leg would have to be tended to by a medic with skills higher than his own. "How are you holding up?" Solorin asked sitting next to the weary-looking cougar. "I have had better days." Her voice sounded tired from the lack of sleep and the constant moving they had to do.

Nodding Solorin lifted the flap of cloth over her bound leg. It was not infected as the bone never punched through the skin, but it was not healing right. Mortals were so frail, something he had to remind himself of when he was fighting alongside them. “We will need to get this treated correctly soon. Your other injuries require tending to as well.” His face showed the seriousness of the situation. Usually, he would keep a jovial state of mind, but Banal had charged him with the care of Risia. One charge he did not feel he could afford to fail at.

“We will rest here for a bit.” The large space marine muttered hunching over. Pulling his mag from his bolter, he could see that only a few rounds remained before he would be fully out of ammunition. Bolter rounds were harder to find on a world dominated by mortals. "How are you on your munitions Risa?" He watched her groggily pull her mag from her pistol and then check her belt. “Two mags… we should have grabbed some of the weapons off the PDF troops you killed up in the tower.”

Solorin gave a nod as it had been a quick fight and one that they wanted to extract themselves from as fast as possible which was a good thing. Moments, after they left that tower artillery, hit it levelling whole sections of the tower and the surrounding buildings. "Hindsight is 20/20 though." Solorin pointed out pulling open a compartment of his armor to pull a small bottle of water. The armor used the moisture on his breath and air and other sources purifies it and let it condense into the container. It was not much but enough to give to Risia who took it greedily.

“It must be hard having needs like yours.”

The feline glared at him. “And what is that supposed to mean?” She asked pointedly. Solorin simply shrugged, "Your body needs a lot more rest and resources to stay functioning. It is something I do not remember having to worry about before being turned into a Space Marine. Your kind is courageous going to war and conflict, having these disadvantages stacked against you. That or very ignorant and foolish.” He put on the easy-going smirk that he always gave when he was trying to calm or reassure those around him. It was a learned response from being around their kind for so long. Risia huffed finishing off the water and handed the container back. “Maybe a little of both.” She conceded.

“Where are we?” She finally asked rubbing her face and then pulling out a scribbled map that the both of them had been working on for days. Pointing to a part of the map with his large armored finger “We should be here.” He said. The look he got from Risia made him laugh some. “What?” She had this glower on her face. “Your damn finger covers three blocks on the map! You will have to be a little more specific.”

Picking up a stick he pointed giving her a more precise location. “I believe we are here.”

They were still way behind enemy lines, and a lot of AA and orbital defence batteries were still in place making an extract almost impossible. The trap had been well laid, and it would have killed Risia. They were probably hoping to catch Banal.

“We need to contact Banal and loyalist forces first. Let them know we are still alive then we need to continue with our mission if I can get this leg fixed.” Risia said laying her head back. She was dedicated but not a fool. A broken leg was not something you wanted while looking for a heretic cult. "Very well but where should we start looking? We would need a vox that has a channel on an unsecured line that Banal or crew could receive." He wished that his shortwave vox had not been damaged as he might be able to get a hold of a loyalist unit to relay the message. "The next problem with submitting on unsecured vox is not only will our side be listening in, but the heretics will be as well."

In order for them to vox over a secure channel, they would need the programmed hardware to do so. Even if they found something, neither of them were adept enough to make it work. The machine spirits were fickle like that. "Are you well enough to move? I believe we should move here." Poking at the map with the stick again. "I may have to leave you for a time to try to scout and find a vox we can use. I'm sure your feisty nature will protect you from the worst of these heretics." A wide cocky grin spread across his face as he pulled his helmet off its mag lock.

Risia nodded. It had been a week, and while she was in a lot of pain, still some of the wound had healed to a degree. "Very well. The sooner we can get a vox out to Banal the sooner we can get out of this wretched city.” She spat out putting her arm up, so he could loop an arm under her and then gently pull her up. “As you command, my lady.” He knew that irked her to no end, but it was meant to keep her mind off of her injuries and the situation. A sudden thunk sounded out as she hit him alongside the head with a piece of rock she had grabbed up. The helm kept him safe thankfully, as she didn’t quite hold back. A laugh escaping from his vox grill. “And that is why I like you Risia!”


Banal paced his room. It had been over a week since Risia had been shot down with no communications from her or Solorin. While he was not willing to just write her off, it was worrying. He had talked with the admiral and had started the gathering of all those suspected of collaborating with this attack. It was an attack on the Inquisition and the defying the emperor’s will.

The sting of it was more than just that though. That aggravated Solorin even more than the attack itself. He was cursing himself having let control of his feelings slip. Risia was more than just an Interrogator to him which could be used against him or cloud his judgment. Brickwall would lecture him up and down about having no friends but the damage was done, and he would have to deal with it for now.

The next issue at hand was that the cruiser that Sharue was apart of had not arrived yet. That combined with his lack of finding Issa was worrying him. Not only could this be a trap, but he had his orders to prosecute this war on Histon 8, even if the fox showed up elsewhere could he ignore his duty here? "Emperor damn them all." The saying sounding hollow in his ears before a knock rang out from his door.

“Enter!” and Luxis entered, looking worn out and filthy but still alive. "Lord." He gave a bow before Banal sat and indicated for him to sit too. "How goes it in the wastes?" The tiger gave a sigh. "Slow, banding the feudal tribes is touchy at best, but I have about one hundred and forty-three thousand. That should allow us to prosecute the war in the wastes against the corrupted tribes of the waste.” Banal nodded, the feudal tribes were no better than old terra barbarians. It was believed that it was from one of these tribes that the heretics came from and started the corruption that has beset this world.

“Good, that will keep the pressure off our supply lines and troop movements moving from Hive Beta. So far just Hive Alpha had been pulled into the war. “Any word on Solorin and Risia?” Banal shook his head and sighed. “No, and no word or report of the Cruiser our fabled fox is on.” Luxis gave a nod with a sigh. “Well once we have the ones responsible for the attack maybe they can give us information that will shed light on ether subject.”

"I may go out with you to the wastes just to help clear my mind Luxis. That and most of the ones responsible are being held planetside, and it would do me good to get off this damned ship." Luxis cocked an eyebrow seeing the frustration on Banal's face. "Not like you to get frustrated.” A quick glare came from Banal silencing that branch of conversation.

“How is morale in the Hive city itself?" He asked. "As you would expect, some units it is high some low. Most of the low ones are the front liners that should be cycled out with new units. There is a baneblade unit that has been a rallying cry for one section of the line. They call her the red fox. Its officer is a female from Histon 8 knows her stuff. A lot of the linemen are using her saying as a rallying call to arms." A curious look came across Banal's face as he leaned back in his chair. "And that is?" Lexis offering a chuckle "I do not seek out war, but I will not fool my self into thinking it will never seek me out." Banal let the words roll about in his head to see how well they seemed to work. Histon 8 was not a massive military planet. In fact, it was mostly feudal tribes up until the last few millennia.

"She sounds like a realist. After I am done in the wastes, I would like to meet with her. If she is doing as good of a job as you say, then she may be best put in a different spot. After I am done with these interrogations, there will be a few open positions within the ranks so to say." A nod came from the large tiger. "As you wish." He simply said. "Get some rest, eat, sleep and then meet me in the hangar bay to go back planetside. I will need to visit some of the governance locations then we will go to your feudal tribes and see if we can boil their blood some."
Feudal tribes could quickly be brought to war with the right wording and real leadership. They were simplistic people with simplistic needs, and the petty politics would make it easy to turn them on the tribes that were causing issues in the wastes.

“Aye my lord. I think I will take you up on that.” Luxis stood and stretched out. “The Emperors work will drain you that is for sure.” Banal nodding “That it will. Someone has to do it.” A slight bow coming from Luxis “Ave Impetitor.” Banal returning the gesture as he went back to his data slate. On it was the last known crash site where Risia and Solorin went down. If he was honest with himself, the real reason he wanted to be ground side was to take a more proactive approach to finding his team. “Be strong you two.” He muttered putting the data slate on the table.


Risia was laying in the corner of some sort of administration building curled up with a blanket about her that they had found. She needed rest, and Solorin was watching the area while she did. It was a fitful rest and one full of nightmares and stress, but it was stress nonetheless. The crash had been the closest she had ever come to being killed. It was one thing to look a heretic in the face and fight him it was another to helplessly fall through the air knowing that the chances of you living were almost zero. The only reason she lived was because of Solorin.

Yawning and stretching out, she let her eyes open and look around the room. It was one of the better ones of the building. There was no power or heat but still had some running water which was good and had an excellent overlook to the lower hive below. Cautiously she peeked up, and over the table, she was behind to eyeball the dark room. “Solorin?” She whispered out knowing the space marine would be able to hear it. Soon the large figure leaned into the room. “It’s still clear.” He said walking over with something. A dead rat and some other varmint that he let land next to her.

“I found some protein for you.” Risia eyeballed the meat and sighed pulling out her knife. One could not be picky in this sort of situation. "Thank you." A nod came from the large marine as he settled down taking a small break. Taking his helm off and ruffling his hair out. "You're welcome. During the night two new units came in from the north. They have been on constant patrol for the last three hours, and search teams have been clearing some of the smaller buildings. It won't be too long until they start searching this building." It was Risia’s turn to nod. “Let’s hope they don’t let lose some R.E.X units.” Thinking on those mechanical monsters made the feline gag. It was a lousy way to die, put around in her head over that sort of death any day. Though what made them dangerous was not the way they killed but how they tracked their prey. The units usually had advanced augers and sensors that could easily track individuals down.

"True but I do feel they are looking for us. Most of the citizens have been evacuated or in bomb shelters. I found one straggler, and he was the one that pointed out that rats were a good source of food for those locked out of the bomb shelters."

Risia cocked her eyebrow as she pulled the skin from the rodents. She hoped she could cook them as raw rodent not only wasn't overly appealing, but also it came with its own problems of diseases and parasites. "You talked to a civilian in this area?" The space marine offered a coy smirk. "Dun worry, he will not be telling anyone where we are." She didn't ask for details trusting him as they could not take a chance that they would give them away to the corrupted PDF units roaming the streets. Even if they were loyal, there were ways to make souls talk. Everyone had their breaking point, and it took a particular sort to be able to resist torture and promises for pleasure.

“I found a possible vox station about two clicks from here from my last outing. Though it is heavily guarded and I would have to transmit out on an open channel, but I could give a cant location to help cover up our current location and at least let Banal know we are alive.” Risia paused in her work and hemmed. Thankfully the sleep helped with her being more focused on the task at hand. She needed to eat and regain her strength. She would be useless to Solorin in a firefight or being stealthy.

Stripping some of the meat off one of the rodents she sighed. “You will have to leave me here to do this.” It was a statement but one in which Solorin nodded. “Yes, means only having your pistol and hope they do not start sweeping this building before I come back.” A sigh escaped Risia’s mouth as she rested her blooded paw on her good legs knee with the knife dangling from her fingers. “Talk about a shitty situation.” At first, she had to pause and figure out what Solorin was laughing about. He was a bit louder than she would like as he chuckled out letting it die.

“That has been one of the first times I have seen you not so serious and file and rank. It is good to see some personality in you.” Risia gave a neutral glare. “Really? That is why you were laughing so hard that half of the hive could hear?” Which only got another chuckle out of Solorin. “Possibly, I will leave once the sun goes down and try to be back before midnight. Unless you can think of anything else that we can do my lady?” Risia hit him with the back of her hand. “I will murder you in your sleep.” The large space marine offering his lopsided grin. “Good thing I do not sleep.” Which was partly true.

The rest of the day was spent just trying to relax. Risia took her sleep whenever she could, but when she did, she would have a fitful one. Would Banal be upset with her? How could someone attack the Inquisition so openly? The fear she felt falling from the sky. So many questions rolled about in her head that she was trying to keep out of her head. Her world was becoming much more complicated. Politics, factions, the inquisition was not this all-powerful group that was united for the better of the Imperium.

That probably unnerved her the most. With a little bit of food in her stomach and some sleep, Solorin made sure to give her a knife and whatever he could to defend herself. He would only be gone for a few hours, but many things could happen within those few hours. “Now behave yourself, no wild parties, no staying up past midnight and no boys.” The huge wolf joked. “Please take this seriously for once.” Risia scolded not caring for the jovial mood. “I always take things seriously.” He finally said and then left leaving her in the abandoned administration building.


Solorin knew it was risky leaving Risia by herself. She knew a lot of intel, was a female and was his charge. The problem was that broken leg and the need to vox Banal or someone that could let Banal know they were alive and where they were. Moving as quietly as he could, Solorin made his way down to the bombed-out streets of the hive. It was considered the upper hive but would be the very bottom of it. Was the war even being waged in the miles of underground superstructure? More than likely, that would be where the worst of the fighting would be. Deep in the gut of the city where tight kill zones would kill thousands and the citizens had no bomb shelters or evacuation options.

Watching the moons rise was quite a sight. A rare treat considering the situations they were stuck in. Making his way to the vox station was rather easy. The patrols were like clockwork and the soldiers doing them not taking them seriously. It was apparent that this was a behind the line rotation. The souls sent here were to relax and catch a break from the fighting. The last patrol had gone through almost an hour ago, meaning another would not come through for another two and a half hours. It did not mean that Solorin could be sloppy though. If he had to put a finger on the feelings, he felt when he ended that civilian's life after bumping into him, he would have to say pity first, regret second.

Though most emotions had been long since dulled and tamed by the genetic modifications that were forced upon him. He still felt them but only like the wind just brushing your cheek. The green glow of his helm lit his face as it displayed the darkness as if the sun was out and shining. Another useful aspect was the zoom function allowing him to zoom in on his target. A large antenna was attached to the side of the spire, and thick cables ran down into one of the many stories. The base of the spire was fortified by mostly PDF. The planetary defence force for this world was weak. Their experience was lacking and the soldiers softer than what they should be.

Even though that was true, enough concentrated fire from one or more of the storm bolters mounted in the windows would be enough to end his life and probably doom Risia too. Something that he could not let happen. The wolf had a plan though, he had scouted the area before and knew that one of the spires was close enough to jump from. It would have been an impossible jump if he were a mere mortal, but he wasn’t and was making his way up to one of the floors that had an open run.

All he had to do is jump from one spire to another and work his way from the top down. They would not suspect an attack from the upper levels of the spire. If he was lucky, he could kill everyone on the com level, make his call and then get out before the units stationed at the base could respond. That would be how it would work in a perfect world. One in which he was not apart of because in an ideal world his kind wouldn’t be needed.

Solorin knew there would be some sentries along the way as he made his way cautiously up the spire trying to get to the floor he needed to be on. He would have close to a ten-story drop between this spire and the one holding the comms equipment. He would have to gauge and aim for an opening, and if he missed and bounced off, it would be a very unpleasant adventure after that. While Risia thought him almost indestructible after saving her life from the fall and crash, the truth was that he had barely survived it. Multiple broken bones were still knitting back together, and one of his lungs had been punctured.

A soft sound of a voice brought his attention around to a PDF soldier sitting and watching out a window over an approach to the com tower. To his benefit, he was not asleep, and he was paying attention to his duty. He died with a crunch of the base of the skull after Solorin chucked a piece of plascreet that he found laying on the floor killing him almost instantly when it struck its target at the bottom of the skull. The ferret was laid out not moving as Solorin paused for a moment waiting to see if there was another listening post, lookout post around.

When he went to check on the ferret, he found the apparent signs of corruption on him. The brown furred weasel had four eyes and a third arm growing out of his chest. The mutations were topped off by the blaring symbol of the chaos god they followed carved into his shoulder pad and helm. Sneering, Solorin dragged the mutated filth off to the side and picked up his radio unit to listen.

The small unit was not powerful enough to do what he needed, but the large space marine could at least get some input on maybe troop movements, or if anything was going on, he should know about. The only concerning thing was the constant chant of words that hurt his ears. "Emperor guide me out of this filth." Mutations were dangerous, they could give one of these heretic's strengths equal to his if not more. Some could have armor that could shrug off bolter rounds, and others could fly. This was a calling card of the changer of ways.

Finally, the opening he was looking for came into view allowing him to peek out of the blown out section to the other spire about one hundred and twenty yards out. Four large blown out windows was his target entrance. "Lord this is stupid." Solid thumps of his armored feet set the tone as he backed up and got a running start. From below, no one would see the flying figure of the space marine as he sailed across the distance between the two spires. Instead of coming up short he landed high, slamming into the section above the windows buckling in part of the wall.

Pausing while his helm recalibrated and came back online after the hard hit. Luckily a statue had bared the brunt of his flying wrath, but now he had a large section of the sculpture balancing on him. If the large space marine moved, it would most likely fall and alert those at the base of the spire. "Forgive me whatever saint you are to be." Solorin's armored fist grabbing the broken statue and heaved it off him and over to a section of roof that he hoped would be unoccupied. Pausing for several moments afterwards till only silence filled his ears.

Slipping down into the open section of the spire he could see gun emplacements, thankfully no one was manning the section, but this was some serious hardware. Hydrolisks and other heavy flack guns were aimed at the sky ready to bring down anything that came within range. Why were the guns not manned? That was something that would bother him, but for now, the vox was the primary goal of this trip. If he could find the powder room, he would set a charge and blow this whole section to hell afterwards.


Risia laid there looking into the blackness of the room. It had been over an hour since Solorin had left and truth be told she was bored. That was not something they ever told you about in training. The long hours of boredom that came with combat and situations like this. Not that she would let her mind wander, but she would rather be there with Solorin fighting than laying in a dusty room vulnerable. The pistol that she always used laid across her chest and the knife in paw, her rounded ears continually swivelling about listening to anything that came to her.

It was unnerving how much more she was alert and worked up when Solorin was gone than when he was watching her back. This week had given her plenty of time to see the space marine show his loyalty time and time again. He was tactically sound and dedicated to his mission. The larger wolf also listened to her allowing her to talk and suggest courses of action and did seem to respect her position as an interrogator.

Shifting she took a look out of the window, careful not to lean out or silhouette herself. Right on time, a large patrol was moving out of another spire along a bridge connecting hers to it. Looked like they were finally getting around to searching hers. What made her stiffen up though was when she saw R.E.X units with them. The large mechanical dogs sniffing the air possibly even picking up on Solorin’s scent. “Shit.” Was all she hissed out before taking up her makeshift crutches and packing up what she could. She would have to fall back to the bravo location. They had made three fallback positions if something like this had happened.

One was across the very bridge that the heretics were on, charlie would bring her up towards the top of the spire and only buy her some time and bravo would bring her across another bridge to a entirely different spire.

She put two slashes into the plascreet indicating she was falling back to bravo and started to hobble off. Her leg hurt a good bit, but at least she could hobble it out. Keeping as quiet as she could, Risia made her way down the hallway and to the steps. It would be some time before the search team made it up this far in the spire. They would have to go through every room and clear it before moving to the next floor. Didn’t mean she was going to get sloppy though.

Stairs were the most prominent enemy as she tried to make her way up them. Darkness was the second as she stumbled more than once in the dark guts of the spire. Her makeshift crutch catching the stairs or broken debris on more than one occasion. Risia couldn’t risk using any sort of light in fear of it being seen. “Come on damn it.” She muttered under her breath. She was heaving and panting by the tenth floor having to take a small break.

So far, no voices or movement could be heard giving her a little bit of a sigh. Rubbing her leg slowly till she was rested enough to shuffle down the hallway. It was the soft hump that forced her to turn and look down the hall. The shining red light of a servo skull was coming about the hallway making Risia suddenly try to dart into a side room. Though dart would be a relative term as she more hobbled quickly in hoping that it had not seen her yet.

Pulling up her pistol she stood off to the side and let it hover by. Hopefully it would keep going, but sure enough, it turned about and floated into the room she was in. Taking aim, she tried to keep her paw steady as the retort of the pistol filled the room. The flash lit the room up for a short time, it's afterimage still burnt into her eyes as the small skull sparked and spiralled down to the ground.

Risia didn’t wait to see much more, they would know something was going on in this area and have handlers and PDF on their way to investigate. She had to move and move fast which was an issue. Hobbling out she tried to put some weight on her bad leg only to feel it give out on her almost sending her to the floor. “Ok, crutches it is.” She gasped out and went back to hobbling as best as she could. Thankfully the spire she was in was massive. Multiple stairways and halls and bridges interlinking the complex forest of plascreet and rooms.

It would slow down the PDF that was looking for her at least, but it also slowed her down. Where should she go? Solorin knew the area the best and had given her directions, but she was unsure if she should stick to those. Risia had to, she could not afford to get lost in this maze as she continued out to the exit. Feeling along the wall, the puma was making good speed till suddenly her face came into something sticky. Not just her face but her leg and when she sputtered and brought her paw away from the wall it too got wound up in whatever it was.

"What the hell!" She cursed and tried to pull back only to feel it grip and pull her forward. It took her a little bit to realize she was stuck in an R.E.X units webbing. While the K9 R.E.X units were the most common, there were many different forms of the Restrain extract and exfiltrate units. Spiders, centipedes and even flying units were known to exist. This was bad though if the unit were still around it would be alerted soon if it wasn't already. Taking the knife, she had and began to try to cut at the sticky strands that were holding her. The strands were so sticky that it was continually gumming up the knife, forcing her to whip it off on the plascreet as she worked.

It was slow going, but she kept quite keeping her eyes open and looking about trying to keep an eye out for the R.E.X unit that had made this. Freezing when she heard a metallic clink, her heart racing a bit reaching slowly up for her pistol which was in the paw that was stuck in the webbing she knew it was close. She saw the red glow of the many eyes come into view down the hallway as she let the weapon drop into her good paw and try to take aim. It was pitch dark, so she was unable to see her weapon or where it was aimed. In fact, she had to fight it about after accidentally brushing one of the webbing strings with it trying to get it where she thought it would hit.

The first shot rang out, the flash showing that it was not just one spider R.E.X unit, but two. The thick slug sparking off the top of the machine as it hunched and suddenly skittered up the wall as the other one came right for her. "SHIT!" Three more shots rang out one striking the oncoming spider squarely forcing it to shift, but the round did not puncture the armored housing that kept all its vitals safe. A screech sounded out, four rounds shot she only had four more in her pistol as she had to calm down and focus. One up the wall probably coming up above her and the one coming right at her.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady her aim and took a shot right at the red glow of its eyes. Sparks flew, and one of the many red eyes went out making it stagger and back off allowing her to look up trying to find where the other one went. Her trapped arm was struggling and pulling trying to work its way free while she was dealing with the oncoming R.E.X units. Risia needed both arms free in order to deal with this as she tugged hard trying to pull her arm away from the sticky strands that had entangled it. What was worse was she couldn’t even see the web in this darkness.

“Come on come on come on!” Only three rounds left and she could see a flash of red above her from the second spider as she took a shot seeing it right above her pulling out more strands from its thorax. It's long back legs pulling out enough to use to help bind her up even more. The round plugging into the soft latex underbelly of the mechanical monstrosity forcing it to screech and flop about some. It would not stop it of course, but it did at least do damage and offer her a moment to jerk hard freeing her stuck paw from the webbing. Two rounds left, and she had to make do with them.

Hacking hard at the strands with her knife till a thick strand just landed on her then another and another as it looped about. That recently freed arm getting sticky webbing laid over it and her movement quickly got it bound up in the other webbing and her own body. Risia mentally cursed having not seen the other spider turn and toss some of its own webbings on her.

The whole idea was forcing her heart to race like it had never done before. Not only could she not see what was being done, she knew very well what these machines were capable of doing. She fired into the darkness this time not hitting anything, but it allowed her to see the spider working on her off to the left. Adjusting she shot again this time hitting it but it must not have cared too much because a thick strand stuck to her face. The back legs would grab and pull out the sticky strands and stretch it out and attach it to her and repeat. Much like someone pulling out tape and then slapping it to a ripped piece of paper.

This was just to help immobilize her, just to make sure Risia pulled the trigger one more time and sure enough, a ‘CLICK" sounded out. A sudden slap of webbing came from behind as the two spiders worked to make sure she was secured to the web. She could only wiggle and struggle her body tangled in the mess. This was it, they had her, and this was not the way she expected to go out. Breathing hard she heard them clinking about waiting to see if she was going to free her self from the netting they had cast.

The question was, were they going to just leave her here for the units to find? Were they going to ingest her and cart her off or ingest and just break her down into biomass? Damn it! She did not want to die like this! A scream of frustration broke out as she bucked and thrashed to the point where her broken leg twinged hard and made her hiss out in pain slowing her struggles. Breathing hard she closed her eyes trying to calm herself. She still had her knife in her trapped arm.

Then her world started to move again. They were pulling at the strands in the webbing, and she felt her arms being pulled down more to her sides. "The hell are you doing!" She said in a panic deciding to try something. "I am interrogator Risia Shetani! Override code: magenta four six nine alpha gamma!” Which was a standard universal code that many did use but it seemed these were ether reprogramed or never had that code entered in as they kept working.

“Damn it! Magenta four six nine alpha gamma!” She let out a little louder as she bucked and jerked about in frustration. They were pulling the webbing about in a way that was binding her arms down to her side and tubing her out more and more until just two thick strings at her head and feet were left attached to the wall. The rest having been twisted about her struggling form as she huffed and panted.

The two units were now touching her as she felt the mechanical legs of the spiders exploring her and pulling her this way and that. They were surprisingly gentile as finally, one backed up to her putting its body over her and pulled out a much thinner but broader strand of silk. Sticking it to her hip, the spider started to rotate her under it pulling the wide silk strand tight to her over and over as it worked up along her body. It was like someone was pulling out saranwrap and wrapping her in it. Each spin allowed her to feel it grip and hug tighter and tighter, slowly working its way up her body.

The other spider was working on her hip and working down the pair cocooning her tight in the sticky silk as the other worked its first wrap around her large bust forcing them to push against her chest. She did not want this to happen to her! How she was responding to that fear though was with frustration and anger. Her body flexing and bucking as the skin-tight silk prison was applied to every inch of her body. A wrap suddenly going around her neck then she felt it stretch over her jaw and lower face. She could feel the one at her legs working down her calf and then suddenly the sticky mess went over her face.

One wrap then two then three. The puma breathing hard and thankfully finding out that the silk allowed Risia to breathe through it. Though it was hard to breath deep with the tight compression about her body. The spiders making one more pass up and down her body before they cut the thick strands linking her to the wall. A muffled groan of pain coming from her leg as she landed on the ground. This was not good at all, damn it Solorin where were you? She knew she could not blame Solorin as he was doing his best on the critical task at hand but still… The fear welling up inside her was almost enough to override that aggression response beat into her from her training.

The last thing she felt was a sudden tug and the tight press of the R.E.X unit's latex like jaws slowly swallowing her in. The wet oil allowing her to slip in and gradually get fed down into the thorax where it would hold her, and ether digest her down or bring her to her captors. She would have to see and hope that she would get a chance to escape. The sharp form of the knife was pushed to her thigh trapped in her paw, so she had that at least. A muffled grunt was all she was able to get out before the latex lips of the R.E.X unit slipped over her head entirely pulling her into the mechanical spider and forcing her to ball up in the thorax of the monster. The clicking of the mechanical feet all that was heard after that leaving spent her pistol and spent shell casings on the floor and thick strands stuck to the wall. That would be all that was left to tell the tale of what happened here.


Sharue looked a mess, sleep was hard to get as visions of hellish daemons, compounded with the anxiety of being a psyker, was making it to the point where she felt dead on her feet. Others were seeing it too, and Van had started to stay for more.
“Another attack?” He muttered to her from the bunk across from her. The fox nodded rubbing her eyes. Not only was she having bad sleep, but she was starting to catch glimpses of the monsters from time to time in the waking world. “Yea.” The pain and pressure of being near Van was welcoming if it meant not having to deal with the whispers and images that were going through her head. She thought it wise to tell no one about seeing them in the waking hours, even Van.

Van narrowed his eyes a bit as he looked her over. Sharue had gotten to know him over the year or more they had been in the warp. "Rumor is we are making real space within the week. We will be out of this hell, and hopefully, Issa will be there to pick us up and get us off this can." The mutt of a dog took a bite of his ration bar leaning in. Van had opened up to her quite a bit, while he never became a best friend he was no stranger.

Leaving was another thing that was stressing her out. She has lived with these people for some time, trained with them and made friends with many of them. Her eyes looking around the squad bay seeing Reed laughing and throwing cards about at a table. Emma was with her sponsor and Eric was probably off at the gym with his group. This was the first time she felt pride in what she was doing even if she felt the fear of them finding out what she was.

"What if Issa does not come and get us?" Van looked up having sort of a questionable look on his face. “Then we go to war and get tossed in the grinder. No matter what they say and how much you train, over half of these souls are going to die in the first conflict. The chances of making it to retirement are less than three percent. It's why when Issa gave me an out I took it." He muttered. Sharue cocking her head a bit as this was the first time Van had opened up to her about his past.

"You were Imperial Guard?" Van nodded a bit "Yea, 863rd from TR3321.” He said with a sour look on his face. “Issa knows this and why she tossed me in here with you too as a punishment because she knows I hate that part of my life.” He offered an iho stick to her which she took up and lit puffing a few times before rubbing the back of her head. She kept quiet feeling like he was going to say more.

"Issa found me on this dustball of a world. XV-882 was its formal name. A shit hole that orks had taken over. There was me and another that had just survived an attack from those monsters. Cut through us like paper and Mike and myself slipped away and made a run for it. Issa was working in a nearby area and found us covered in blood and soot. I remember her words, ‘So you ran away to live only to get hanged by your own? You both are walking dead.' She had laughed and when the other tried to say otherwise and say he wasn't a coward she shot him in the head. She turned to me asked me what I was, and I said simply a dead man." He muttered lighting his own Iho. "Then, she hired me. Be careful around her Sha, she may help you, but it's always at a cost." The seriousness of his tone made the fur on her neck rise up.

Something did feel off about Issa but what was she to do? The better question was what could she do? Issa held the power of the Inquisition, a force that made everyone bow down as their word was the word of the god emperor. She had learned a lot throughout the time she had been with her unit. Space, the Imperium, different cultures, and races. There were more humans than anthros in the unit which always felt odd. On Triton, it was the other way around.

She had learned about how segregated she had been and how much just being a female had gone against her in the hive as well. Here she valued by her rank and skill, not viewed merely as a female. In a way though she missed the hive gang. The easy-going nature and the sex and drugs. "I will keep that in mind." Was all she could say though. Issa was the one running the show for now, and she would follow along with her. Besides if the Inquisition was as strong as everyone said maybe it would be a good thing to be a part of. Issa knew what she was, and she accepted her, though Banal was Inquisition as well and he wanted her dead.

Rolling her head back before falling on her back she sighed. "I just want to sleep." She groaned out before she got a laugh from one of her male counterparts who overheard that part. "Honolin, if you need sleep just let a group of us fuck your brains out till you're so tired you crash out." Sha offered a faint upside-down smirk at the group. “You shits couldn't frack a girl tired even if the mech heads gave you cyber cocks." They gave her a mock hurt and then laughed allowing her to smile some too.

It had been hard to step out of her previous mindset that males were above her and she had to do what they said. The first time Reed told her to tell a guy to frack off when he asked to rattle her bed was nerve-racking. She had fumbled it up and looked like a fool, but the guy had merely laughed and slapped the back of her head and moved on. Still was a bit unnerving to do so but she was getting better at it realizing what she could and couldn't do.

“Come on Honolin don’t be like that. We are all friends here.” The fox rolling her eyes as she sat up “About as friendly as your aim on quall week.” She scoffed which got the group laughing a bit. She felt a connection to the people here and was a bit sad knowing that it may end.

They left her alone after that as she laid out on the rack with Van giving her a look. "You have been acting odd last few days. Everything ok?" Sha sort of jumped at the question. "I'm fine, just you know." The fox patting her head. She had been quiet about Corbel too and her getting some training at using her abilities. Some reason she felt that neither Van or Issa would have looked kindly on it.

"So, you think we will make real space soon?" She asked changing the subject. Van gave a nod, "Seams so, that's the word, and then we should be at Histon 8. Took a lot longer than I expected." He muttered puffing on his Iho a bit more. "I am still trying to wrap my head around the whole time difference. I mean this is supposed to be faster so if we spent a year in the warp how far is that real space?” Van shrugged as he was no navigator.

“Time can be really odd, same goes for space and distance. From my understanding, if we do it right we can travel in a short amount of time in the warp and travel a huge distance. If it is done wrong, then we could go in the past or future. It could be a year in the warp and only be gone a week real space. Who knows it's a headache." Sha had to agree as it had been explained plenty to her before but the concept and how its done seemed so convoluted.

Reed had finished her card game and was coming over. That shut the pair of them up about Issa and such as the human sat on Sha’s bunk and smirked. “What is this about fucking?” She teased making the fox huff and sit up. “Just some banter.” Van didn’t much like Reed as he stood looking at the human. “I’ll be about.”

Sha watched Van go and hemmed rolling her Iho from one side of her muzzle to the other. "So, you win big?" Reed gave a wide grin and showed a handful of Iho sticks in her hand. "You could say that. You up for some study?" To be honest, she was. The last few days had left her pretty worn out, and she needed to get her mind off things. "Yea." Sitting up and standing before huffing. "Though no shoving me under the table." She added quietly. It was half in jest half serious as Reed gave a coy smirk. The human had quite the sexual need when it came to her. In fact, it took a good few weeks before Sha had to call a timeout on the number of times she had pulled her off to the side. The sex was good, but the fox felt like she had to find excuses to avoid her until finally, she got the backbone to tell her to slow down.

"I still outrank you Honolin, I could order you to do it." Reed teased making the fox huff. "You could, but you know how I am when I am not in the mood." The human nodding and gave her a hug around the shoulders. Honolin would push her hard when she really needed it but had learned how she was too. It just wasn't the same if it was forced and she knew it left a black mark on their friendship for a bit. "Been that rough eh?" Reed asked as she lead the way to a quiet area where they could study.

“A bit but what can you do? The Sargent’s still going to bust my ass during training wither I am feeling good or not." Reed could only nod at that. Training was training, and war would not stop just because you felt bad. Hell, Lornric had a broken arm, and he was still forced to shoot and quall. "I hear they have you on special weapons training as well as comms now.”

Sha nodded as she followed Reed out the door and into one of the many passageways in the ship. "Yea they have me training for repelling borders and trying to keep those damn PRC 210’s working. I do like learning SAT comm just it’s hard because some of the words I don’t know yet.” Reed had been teaching her the alphabet as well as pronunciations and words. She could at least read enough to get her job done.

“Ah you will get it, you’re a smart girl Honolin. You just didn’t get taught when the learning was easy. Being a lower hiver sucks." Before ducking into a rec room. The room was just a bare room no larger than a few bunks wide and long. Not many came here which made it good for this. "Ok get your notebook out. We are going to play a game." Reed teased with a grin. Sharue gave a groan. "Each word you get wrong adds to how long you're under the desk."

Sharue put her paws on her hips and just gave a mock scowl knowing she was just pulling her tail. “You just can’t resist it.” Sha chuckled before perking her ears up as she pulled out some booze. The fox getting ready to sit before Sgt Cataline peeked in. "There you are, you two with me." Reed had quickly hid the booze as she came to attention and Sharue doing the same. "Aye, sir!"

The Sgt looked a bit serious as he marched the pair down the hallway, the mood had gone from fun playful to strict and ordered. It was odd that the Sgt would come and get them like this and even odder as they walked into the armory. "Honolin, check out your scattergun. Reed, I need you to run this to deck twenty-three and then report to Sgt Beckton for disposal duty.” Sharue didn’t want to ask questions as she checked out her armor and weapon looking it over. “Get live ammo Hon.” Sharue laying her ears down a bit “Aye sir!”

Berk was working the armory today as she gave him a questioning look. The tall black human just gave one back and shrugged as he slid across the counter the large ten-gauge shells she would use in the heavy weapon. Most were even larger at eight-gauges, but due to her stature, they let her use an eight-gauge. Once she was equipped she followed the Sgt out the port and into the ships bowls.

Sharue had never been to this section of the ship, it was dirty and dark, and the souls working this part of the ship looked miserable. All of them had thick iron collars on as well as shackles. Some were shackled to posts as they worked their job. Some were even dead waiting to be picked up and disposed of in the recycler.

Sharue did not want to be in this part of the ship. It was a very stark reminder of what happens to you if you refuse to do what you’re ordered to or were a criminal. Sgt Cataline was quiet the whole trip until they started to come down to the brig. The closer Sharue got to the room, the more her head hurt. It was like being around Van but worse. She had slowed without realizing it, forcing Sgt Cataline to bark at her to hurry up and she ran in through the door to see two others there.

They were from other units all with their weapons sitting on a bench. A commissar was talking with an officer, and an individual that immediately stood out was apparently a blank. She was a human with a sanctioned crest dangling off her collar. She was not military, but she probably worked for the military.

“Sit.” The fox quickly sitting at the Sgt’s order next to the other two. Whoever the blank was she was much stronger than Van. Her head was really starting to kill her. Why the hell did they have a blank here?

The commissar she had seen before. He was attached to the regiments command center for the Imperial Guard side of things. He had come around to do inspections and make sure things were in order on a regular basis. The giant wolf looked like a veteran of quite a few conflicts. His fur missing in places and overall just had a grizzled look.

Then it clicked in her head. “Oh frack…” She muttered looking at the other three. Those green eyes of hers going wide as she sat quietly waiting for her orders. “Follow me.” Was the only order the Commissar gave. The three of them got up and followed the wolf through a few passages ways before they lined up facing a wall that was rust brown and had impact pockets littering the wall. A single post stood in the room with D rings to hold the prisoner that was being lead out.

The blank was there watching, silent and not speaking to anyone. Her black body suite hugging her form and the blanks shaved head only giving her a menacing look. It was hard not to keep glancing at her, but Sharue didn't want to give away that she could feel that she was a blank. The prisoner was led out in a simple pair of trousers and shirt. He was a slender human male, his face bruised and his body broken as he shuffled to the post having two of the guards pull him back and lock him to the post. Sharue’s eyes widened even more as she recognized him! It was the comms man that she had ran into while she was drifting the ship!

“Ship comms man Dillan Lannyard. You are accused and found guilty of being a witch and being tainted by the offensive presence of the warp. Normally we would ship you off on the black ships to die with a purpose to the Imperium." The man was shaking and sobbing his knees barely able to keep him up. "While you have served with honor as ships comms man this sentence will and must be carried out for the better of the Imperium."

It was hard to keep her paws from shaking as she realized what was going on. "The Imperium thanks you for your service and as a reward we will make your death quick." They took a moment as the Commissar took his place at the side of the firing squad. "Have some backbone and meet your death with your eyes up Lannyard." The officer barked out forcing the comms man to look up. When he did, he saw Sharue and shrieked out. The fox flinched and fought the feeling to flee. "Ready! AIM!" Sharue lagging a little behind as she quickly took aim. Her heart was pounding as conflicting emotions tore at her. It was horrific that he was being killed for what he was but at the same time, she wanted to pull the trigger as soon as possible as his eyes got wider. "SH…." "FIRE!" The shots rang out as one, his body slamming back into the post as he was instantly killed from the multiple rounds from the scatterguns.

Sharue’s barrel was still smoking as her weapon shook in her paws. Her head was killing her, and her heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. Keep calm, just keep calm. The guards were checking the poor comms man as Sharue lowered her weapon. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the blank eyeballing her as well as the commissar. She killed him, “Honolin is there an issue?” The commissar addressing her directly making her stiffen up eyes a bit wide. “NO SIR!” She said probably louder then she should have. He gave a dubious look as she kept her eyes forward and on the comms man as his body was pulled from the post and dragged off.

"All witches will meet this fate if any of you have any suspicions you will report it to your Sgt immediately. Is that understood?” “Sir, yes sir!” The three said as the wolf waved a paw “Dismissed!” Sharue was more than willing to get the hell out of there. Sharue felt as if that odd female blanks eyes were on her making her hurry out even more. “Honolin, go check your weapon in and then get some rack time.” Sgt Cataline said when she came out.

Once she was out of sight from everyone, she quickly darted down a service shaft and heaved and lost it. Breath seemed to come painfully hard as she worked her body armor open before dropping her weapon on the floor. Why the FRACK! Would they choose her for that! Did they know?! No, if they knew she would have been up there with that poor soul.

Her head swam as she stumbled about having a panic attack. “Honolin we know!” The voice made her jump and spin about tripping over her weapon as she fell to the floor. Her Sgt and Reed and others were there at the hallway entrance looking in at her. She let out a small scream, but then they were gone. Looking about frantically for them as she pulled over her scattergun pulling it to her chest. "We know what you are." The voice making her whip about looking down into the darkness of the service tunnel. A green glow was lighting up the wall as she realized her eyes were starting to glow again.

“No! No, no, no, not now!" She said hyperventilating and pulling up her weapon, but she couldn't shoot. The Daemon suddenly right in front of her making her scream but still her weapon refused to fire. "They know!" Then she was out of it. Nothing was in the service tunnel with her as she was still on her butt, her weapon about ten feet from her before she pulled her knees up to her chest. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she lowered her head to her knees and began to sob. What the hell was going on?!


Corbel's eyes opened as he sat in his sanctuary. He had not seen or heard from Sharue in the last few days. In fact, the ship she was on was nowhere to be found till finally, she radiated through the warp like a beacon. Something had set her off and her psionic scream washed over him like a wave breaking on the rocks. She was powerful, more so then he had imagined, but without training, she could only bring to bear just a fraction of what she was capable of doing. Corbel had narrowed her down as the ship had flown into very thick and dark part of the warp.

The old wolf’s face sagged as he had fought hard to follow her into that hell. The warp had opened up for the ship and then swallowed it like a fish swallowing its prey. It at least gave him an idea of where they were. The wound in the warp was like a fingerprint. “You will not keep her monster.” The old wolf wheezed. His path had drained him and almost killed him. Several of his mortal followers had perished assisting him as they laid motionless on the floor about him. Their minds were unable to protect themselves from the onslaught from that hell.

One of his surviving followers was bleeding from his eyes and nose even his ears. "Help me, my lord." He asked in a weak voice. Corbel walked over kneeling next to the human who was shaking from the things he saw. "You have done well Bel." Corbel said sadly as he cradled the man's head in his large paw. "Thank you, my lord. Please, I have seen things, horrible things, please release me from my duty." Corbel could see the mortal's mind was broke and his will faltering as he pulled his combat knife out.

It was quick and without ceremony, as he slid the knife into the base of the skull in one smooth motion. "Be with the All-Father Bel." Corbel did not feel the same emotions as the mortals felt, but he did feel a form of guilt. “Your name will be in the annals. Because of you and the others, I know where to start looking." A voice came to him from the other side of the room. "Do you brother?”

"Yes, I do, we head to the galactic north. Past the green skins territory and to the wastes of the rim. The warp is making its move, it's time that we make ours." Nathan narrowed his eyes as he had spoken with Corbel about his doubts but would fallow him. The ways of the warp was his realm. "Very well Brother, shall we make a course?"

Corbel nodded "With haste. I feel the warp is going to throw obstacles at us. Have faith brother, we will resolve this one way or another." Corbel got up, lifting Bel's body in his arms. The man looked like a frail child in the larger Marine's arms. "Sacrifices that have been made will not have been for nothing."

End Chapter 11

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