"Fuck you! We're conscripts! We're not soldiers! I didn't want to be here! Thaddius, Thaddius over there has a family! You think he wants to be on this Emperor-forsaken world!" Titus cut off Octus, getting into his face. When he motioned over to me I felt uneasy. I didn't like being reminded of what I was forced to leave behind.

"Roth over there was a fucking artisan! He loved his fuckin' job! Back on the ship, future projects was all he could talk about, between card games and wanting to score! You think he wanted to give that up?! And when we got here, not a damn thing about his plans for the future! Not a damn thing!" He motioned over to Roth. He looked a little uneasy being pointed out as well. I think most of us tried to repress what we left behind the second we hit the ground. Keep it out of your mind, can't miss it.

"You're right. We don't want to be here, but we're here now. None of us wanted to leave our lives behind, but we've had to. And if we don't keep acting like soldiers we're not going to get back to those lives. Yes, we're all going to miss Hans. We're all going to get back to the base and drink to him but we can't do that now. Where are we, Titus? We're in a heretic filled building. We've got one dead soldier and a dead commissar, and we have a mission." Octus maintained his calm. Titus looked ready to hit Octus, making tear off his head and drink his blood. I wanted to step in for Octus but it hardly felt like my place.

"Fuck the mission!" Titus snarled, now only hovering an inch or so away from Octus's face. But Octus held up admirably.

"And if we don't complete this mission, how many more guardsmen are going to die from a lack of intel? We'll die from a lack of intel." And that seemed to silence Titus, at least a little bit. The two were still staring at each other, Octus surprisingly calm and Titus seething.

"I got a pulse." Xerxes stated. When we weren't paying attention Xerxes had made his way to the commissar. His fingers were at the old man's neck.

"That sunuvabitch lives and Hans dies?! No! No, Emperor damn it, no!" Titus grabbed his lasgun and brought it up, pointing it at Heimdall's head. We didn't move to stop him. I know I didn't care if the bastard died down here. Octus moved forward, grabbing Titus's lasgun and pushing it down.

"You're right, he doesn't deserve it. But he's a more valuable resource than any of us here. Besides, this is a good excuse to get out of here. You can give Hans a proper burial." Octus was still the calm voice of reason here. A reason I didn't particularly care for. It wasn't justice, saving the life of that daemon.

"What about your precious intel?" Titus snapped back, still snarling but no longer screaming.

"I think a wounded soldier getting some medical attention and a living commissar are more valuable than a little intel. And I don't imagine field command will take kindly to us losing their only commissar. Besides, they can just send out another squad if the intel is that important to them." Octus's words seemed to be enough to convince Titus to relent. I saw him point the gun away as Octus let go.

"Fine." I doubted any of us were pleased we had to save the bastard but Octus was right. He was more important to this war effort than any of us. He was more likely to be our ticket home than any of us. More likely to be my ticket home, back to my wife and daughter. Back to a more reasonable life. Back to the heat, back to everything Titus reminded I missed. Not lost, I had hoped.

Xerxes picked up the unconscious commissar, pulling him around his neck like some sort of scarf.

"I'll take point. Roth, you follow behind me. Xerxes, stay in the middle. Titus, keep up behind Xerxes. Thaddius, you cover our rear." Octus made some motions to us as he made his way towards the shaft.

"Who put you in charge?" Roth protested. Still, he fell in line behind Octus.

"You want to be the one in front?" It was the most pointed thing I had ever heard out of the guy. I don't know where he had been hiding this particular reserve of strength, but I liked it. Meant I didn't have to step in and take control. Didn't have to think so much. At least, not about the war. Roth seemed to like that particular result as well since he didn't ask any more questions. When they were in the shaft Xerxes followed, still practically wearing the commissar around his neck. Then Titus, then me in the back. Xerxes did the only thing he could do besides carry Heimdall, he pulled out his flashlight and showed us the way out. I was constantly shifting between a sideways walk to keep an eye out for anyone trying to sneak up behind us and a normal walk, praying to the God Emperor that the heretics wouldn't choose that time to attack us. I guess after being ambushed twice the Emperor decided to give us a little attention. We made it out of the shaft without so much as a rat scurrying in front of us. I figured the universe was going to throw another fire fight and a second dead friend before we got out of this building.

We only stopped when we got back to the piles of junk. Titus started to try and pick up Hans but Roth managed to stop him.

"I'll get him." Titus nodded. He knew trying to lift the body was probably going to fuck up his arm even more, yet he didn't look all that happy with Roth doing it. Must have felt like he should be the one to carry his body out. Once Roth slung Hans's lasgun over his body's shoulder and got a good grip on him we started marching again, this time with Roth in front of me and Titus behind Octus. Titus may have taken a shot to the arm but he could still fire his lasgun better than the guy carrying a body.

The hardest part of getting out of the building was dropping down into the office we came from. We all saw what happened to the fat guy, didn't want a repeat. I laughed a little. Trying to come into the building caused us to lose a guy and maybe lose our commissar, but trying to get out was easy. In ten, maybe fifteen minutes we were out when we spent what seemed like an eternity pushing into it.

A blast of cold air rushed up to greet met as I jumped down and out of the office. I didn't think I'd ever say it, but it felt good to have snow up to the top of my boots. I actually looked forward to trudging back to base. Even if it hurt my legs in the morning it was paradise compared to actually fighting. The building wasn't going to let me go just yet though. I still had one last thing I needed to grab before I left. I didn't even notice my squad was still moving when I knelt down into the snow where the girl had been pulled out.

"Thaddius?" Titus called out, prompting the line to stop. It wasn't hard to find her corpse in the snow. Sure, her lower half was buried enough into it that I could make out the features but her upper half was fine. Her face just had a light dabbing of snow. I grabbed her body by her arms, pulling her out of her makeshift grave.

"She deserves better than this." I didn't know her but it still felt wrong to just leave her out here. Maybe it was because I could only begin to imagine how hard it was going to be on her parents when they learned, if they ever learned, she was shot and how much harder it'd be if they didn't at least have her body to bury. Maybe it was because she reminded me so much of my own daughter.

"Almost as many bodies as people in this group." Roth joked, almost smiling. Kind of macabre to joke about the dead, but it was one way to deal with the stress. Xerxes hadn't turned around so I had no idea how he reacted, but I could see Titus's face brighten up just a little. Octus still looked serious as all hell. The thinking must have killed his sense of humor.

"Titus, you take point. If anyone's gonna come at us, they'll probably be coming from behind. I'll take the rear." Octus ordered as he moved behind me. We were still in a battle field, some one did need to keep on making decisions. Glad it was Octus. Maybe not the most social aware, but damned if the kid didn't know how to think on his toes.

The march to the base was uneventful. Was passed over the same broken pieces of metal, the same bodies we shot when we got here. The base hadn't changed a damn bit. Kind of forget that the rest of the world goes on when you lose a friend. Business as usual, just a few less people on the job. The guys from the other pit were the only guardsmen I could actually see. The tower bastards were lucky, they shot through slits in the wall. The guys in the other pit spared us a glance. They saw the bodies but they didn't say anything to us. We stopped, the group fanning out into a circle to figure out what to do.

"Xerxes, Titus, come with me to field command. If there's an infirmary anywhere, it's gonna be there." Octus motioned as he broke away from our little circle. Xerxes followed behind him but Titus shook his head.

"I'm not heading in until we get Hans into the ground." Octus looked back when Titus said that, stopping in his tracks. He actually looked confused this time.

"You do that and that wound might get infected."

"And if I go in there it might be a day or two before I get out. Besides, it won't take that long to get him into the ground. Octus, I need to do this first." It was strange, Titus seemed like he was pleading with Octus. I guess I hadn't really thought about it, but Octus had taken control of the squad. Would have figured it'd have been Xerxes that'd be the one to keep us in line, but the nerd did it. Octus's face screwed up for a bit before he finally just nodded.

"All right. Don't bury him until Xerxes and I get back though." With that the two were trudging off to field command. It wasn't that far away but the constant snow made it look a little hazy, almost like a distant star we'd never get to.

"Probably some shovels in the armory. I'll go grab them." Titus spoke as he started walking towards the armory.

"Meet us behind Barracks Four." I called out to him as me and Roth turned to get around behind our little home. Titus wave his hand as he walked. All the acknowledgment we needed. We rounded the box of a building, trying to find a good spot to put the bodies. There was a lot of space, the wall wasn't even close to the back of the barracks. Must have expected a lot more of this outpost than they put in.

We finally settled on nestling them up close to the barracks. Gave us enough room to walk in front of them without walking over them. Roth laid Hans down right beside where we were going to bury him. I started to lay the little girl above him but Roth stopped me.

"I don't think we're gonna have enough time or energy to give them separate graves." He grabbed my arm as he spoke. Kind of depressing, but it made sense. I laid the little girl out next to Hans's body. Titus didn't take too long to find us, followed by one of the guys from the other pit. A black guy, actually recognized him. Went to training with him, used to joke that he was the only black guy caught in that draft wave. I guess he got sent out on a smaller ship ahead of us. He wasn't saying much now, and I wasn't really sure now was the time to try and catch up.

"Hope three feet'll be enough for ya, Hans." Titus commented as he passed out the shovels to us. Me, Roth, and the other guy went to work digging out a square pit for the bodies. Not very wide, not very deep, just enough to hold their bodies. The whole thing made my back ache, but I didn't actually feel it. Was just kind of aware. I guess all the things that had happened kept enough adrenaline pumping in me to make me ignore it. Come to think of it, didn't really even feel the area where the bullet grazed me.

Xerxes and Octus came up to the grave about the time we finished. The three of us climbed out of the little thing, holding our shovels like walking sticks as Titus grabbed Hans's body. He paused, taking off his helmet and pulling his lasgun off of his shoulder. Kind of strange to see Hans without his helmet. His blonde hair was just beginning to grow back. He put them to the side before kneeling in front of the grave, carefully dropping his body down into it. He then grabbed the little girl's corpse, stacking it on top of Hans. There was a brief pause before Titus grabbed Hans's arms, pulling them over the little girl. Kind of creepy, but I could get behind the symbolism. Poor girl must have had a hell of a life leading up to this, at least now there'd be some one to protect her.

Once Titus was clear of the grave we went to work filling it again. The guy from the other pit didn't even ask where we had got the little girl. Don't think he wanted to know. Once we had the snow back over the grave Titus grabbed Hans's lasgun. He rammed the butt of it into the grave, wiggling it until it stood up. He then grabbed Hans's helmet, placing it right over the barrel.

"Roth, gimme your marker." He held a hand out. Roth patted his chest for a bit before producing a black marker. I was closer to Titus so he passed to me, and I handed it over to Titus. Don't think he was really paying attention, absorbed at looking at the helmet. He popped the cap off and started writing on top of Hans's helmet and dictating to us what he was putting down.

"Hansfield Olman. Age 26." He paused, looking back at us, "Anyone got the date." I don't think anyone told us what day it was, much less the month. After about a minute of silence he went back to writing, "Died in service of the God-Emperor, two days after landing." He pulled back for a bit, looking confused. He then starting writing again right under Hans's section of the makeshift gravestone, "Little girl. Age unknown." There was some more hesitation on his part. I don't think any of us knew what to say about a dead girl. Especially not one that none of us knew.

"Beloved child of the Emperor, to meet him before us all." Roth finally spoke. I wasn't sure how valid that was, since one of the God Emperor's commissars shot the girl, but it sounded a lot better than the truth. Titus wrote it down before stepping back between me and Roth, handing over the marker. I turned my head to see if he was all right when I saw we weren't alone. A lot of other guardsmen had come. I don't know if they were there when we started digging or not. Looked like most of the base had abandoned their posts to see this. The commissar was in the infirmary and no one was storming the gate. When I looked back I saw a few tears on Titus's cheek. I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to think of something meaningful to say.

"He won't be forgotten." Was all I managed to think of. It seemed like it help a little, but the words felt empty. I wasn't certain if any of us would be remembered by any one.

"May the God Emperor watch over their souls." Xerxes finally spoke. First time in a while I heard some real emotion from the big guy. After a few more minutes of silence we started to disperse. Titus returned to a stoic expression as we left the grave.

I heard some one ahead of us, some one I had never seen before speak, "Emperor, I hope this is the last."

And for anyone who thinks they missed something/wants to catch up/DERP DERP, some one was kind enough to archive it here
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2973713/

Thanks, I missed the last installment, and I was like "wtf?"

Fuckwin. OP, you gonna be here writing moar? I could do with some entertainment this evening.

>>2992776
I'm trying to decide a few things and I may be going into a Diplomacy game so honestly, don't count on it until later tonight.

This is quite fantastic sirrah, I humbly await the next shipment of moar.

how did the little girl die

Well that was a waste.

>>2992910
See >>2992709

>>2992960
D:>

comparing this to the Eldar story, I now see what the difference between ld7 and 8 is

>>2992644
Good stuff, writefag. Is this the end, or can we expect more horrible misadventures for Thaddius and Co?

>>2993186
Expect more. I got this thing close to 20k words, so I'm not just writing a short story at this point.

Someone put this on 1d4chan for my reading pleasure.

manly tears

>>2993195
You should srsly turn this into a novel.
Elaborate more on the heretics, but don't use that word so much. "Madmen." "Blashpemers" and "Slaves to chaos" work just as well.

OH GOD TEN MINUTES HAVE PASSED I HAVE TO GET MY SHIT BACK ON THE FRONT PAGE OMFG.

>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
>>2993585
This is a good idea.

>>2993585
I'm going to run through it to cut back on redundant word use and make better transitions between updates, yeah. And since a novel is technically around 40k words, it's heading in that direction in length. As for actually trying to get Black Library to publish it, eh.

I was becoming intimately familiar with the strange nature of time. When we were on route to the planet, I had no idea how much time had passed but the whole thing felt like the blink of an eye in comparison to the rest of my life. When we hit Jotun III the first three days were an eternity. The charge, losing Hans, and the day right after. But then I lost track of time, got caught up in routine, and suddenly about three months separated then and now. Not a damn day went by it wasn't snowing. Couldn't tell what season it was supposed to be on this world. Then again, couldn't really tell back on Secundu either. Maybe I just had no idea what to look for.

It was funny. Hans's death, what I thought was our lack of luck, was the luckiest thing that happened to this squad. A week after Hans died they sent the squad in the back tower out to finish up the scouting mission. Eight guys left, five guys came back. Three more helmets were behind Barracks 4, three more guardsmen that would never make it back home. But they got the mission done. Turns out the building that was on it side was the de facto main base for those crazed bastards. Lucky for us though they didn't spend much time down on the makeshift first floor. Probably didn't want to risk breaking the glass too often. Command tried to send out a squad to clear the place out, but by the time they got there the bastards had knocked out some windows and made some machine gun nests. Don't know where the heretics were getting the ammo or weapons.

>>2994085
You'll need an agent. I know there are lots of friend of a friend stories about some gifted blue-collar poet who sends his shit to a publisher on a drunken bet, but seriously, these days a publisher will just throw unsolicited manuscripts in the wastebasket unless an agent gives it to them. Dunno how strict BLs standards are, though. After all, they hired C.S. Goto for more than one novel. Hell, they hired him period. But you won't know til you try. And if it works, we'll all know who you are, and can mail you thousands of superfluous cardboard boxes.

Everything else ended up being routine though. Didn't know if that was right, going back to routine after losing a friend. It seems like something should have changed, something permanent. But after about two weeks Roth had managed to get Titus playing cards again and it was almost as if nothing had happened. Cigarettes, card game, me and Octus at the front, Xerxes resting in the back. The pile of bodies got a bit bigger in the second month, but the other guys didn't seem all that willing to keep on trying to bum rush the gate.

Third month was quiet. Not a hostile spotted, no missions. I was starting to wonder if everyone had forget we were here. A shuttle came down from the ships though, bringing with it mostly just food. Some nice equipment though, backpacks for everyone intended for survival deeper in the city. A few frag grenades for everyone. No more soldiers though, said that there were fronts worse off that needed those troops. Funny, kind of forgot there was a world outside this little engagement. Almost refreshing, being reminded we were part of a greater whole. That we weren't suffering alone on this frozen world.

Just after the third month was the first time since the heretics made their second charge that something interesting happened. We were in the pit, talking about the endless snow and how crazy the guys on the other side were for the nth time. It was like that every day.

"Never stops fuckin' snowin'," Roth would start.

"Heh. Maybe the cold is why those heretics keep doing stupid shit." Titus would reply, dropping down some card that would piss off Roth.

"Think they're planning another attack?" I'd ask. Titus and Roth would shrug.

"It's kind of strange that they're still using swords." Or what ever Octus felt was worth observation that day. Xerxes would stay mostly silent, grunting our an answer only if one of us prodded him. Rinse and repeat ad nauseum. Only thing that changed was our beards. Poor Octus never got a bit of hair on his chin, and Xerxes massive black beard must have itched like the warp. The monotony was a mercy though, made you forget anything else existed outside the walls of the outpost.

The servitor that picked up the bags came around the time he always did, in between 'How do you even sharpen a pole?' and 'What makes 'em heretics anyways?'. Didn't just leave when we gave it the black bag this time though.

"Commissar Heimdall has regained his senses and requests your presence in the infirmary." It stood just beside the pit, waiting for some sort of response. Funny, the things scared me shitless the first time I saw them but after months of having this one pick up after us it didn't seem so much like an abomination. Still kind of creepy but no more nightmares.

"Umm... we're right behind you?" Xerxes spoke as he looked up at the servitor. The servitor stared blankly on ahead. Don't think it even saw us. Come to think of it, don't think the thing was all that aware. Funny, thought the poor bastards were some what intelligent.

"Well, we can't keep the commissar waiting." Titus stated as he started packing up the cards. Octus was the first out of the pit, and him stepping onto the snow seemed to trigger the servitor. It spun on its tread and headed back for the field command, not even waiting for us. I looked over at Xerxes and he just shrugged before standing up.

I shook my head as I walked past Roth and Titus, "All right. Octus, y'know where the bastard is. Lead the way." The followed behind me, and soon we had abandoned the pit entirely.

"What do you think he wants?" I heard Titus talking to Roth behind me. The two had gotten a lot closer since Hans died. Guess he needed some one to play cards with.

"Maybe he wants to thank us? Maybe the war'll also end and the Emperor'll come down from the sky to give us all promotions." I turned to look just in time to see Roth pantomime the God Emperor coming out of the clouds to give a thumbs up. I smiled, shaking my head and looking back ahead of us. Octus and Xerxes were still dead silent. Not even a curious question from Xerxes or a long winded explanation from Octus.

The field command looked something like an over sized octagon, a collection of slits running along the sides so that any one in the building could fire on potential invaders. Well, that and get some air since I doubted the Imperium was paying for air conditioning. The front door was wide enough for two people to pass through, and slid open when we got close enough. Nice little feature, but I wasn't sure it was all that good if there actually was an assault. Then again, warp if I understood how that technical stuff worked.

POSTAN ISSUES

The inside of the field command was what I expected, a poorly lit metal box in the kindest of words. I could make out three hallways heading off in different directions, though hell if I knew where. Octus seemed to know though. Took a right, then another right into some subdivision and stopped in front of another door. No sign, just a skull with red wings coming out the sides. The door slid open, revealing another poorly lit metal box. This time though there was some color, four cots on wheels with green sheets next to rusting end tables and strange machines. Another servitor was in this room, waiting in the corner for when it needed. Had a bunch of tools on each forearm. Nasty looking stuff. Kind of glad the thing wasn't awake.

The commissar was in the cot at the back left wall, still dressed in his coat and hooked up to some sort of machine. His hat and pistol were on the table right next to him. Kind of funny seeing the old man without his hat. Messy grey hair grown down to his shoulders. Either he was in the same boat as Octus or his skin had been too damaged to sport a nice beard. I honestly hoped for the latter, least bit of justice the universe could serve up for the bastard. He grunted when we gathered around, probably the best acknowledgment he could manage.

"I am to understand that another squad completed the scouting mission." Wasn't really a question, more a statement. Didn't sound particularly pleased though, and no one was willing to stand up and admit it to the old man.

"Who's idea it was to disobey orders and abandon the mission?" We saved the commissar's life and the ungrateful bastard sounded like he was ready to kill us, "Well?" He growled when no one responded. Finally Octus stepped forward, looking ready to shit his pants.

"It was me, commissar." Octus managed to speak evenly but I could tell he was ready to curl up into a ball and plead for his life. Probably should have, the commissar reached for his laspistol and took a shot at Octus's head. Waking up from a coma must have screwed with his eyes though, the laser went right past Octus's head and hit a light hanging over the cot across the room. Octus's skin was white, eyes focused on the barrel of the laspistol.

"The rest of you are dismissed." He didn't lower his gun, but thankfully he didn't shoot a second time. I looked at Octus, looked at the commissar, then looked over at the group. No one moved, no one said a thing. I had the misfortune of being the commissar's next target, though thankfully he didn't shoot.

"I said you are dismissed." Though the way he said that gave me good reason to believe I was about to be shot. Wasn't about to push my luck with an angry commissar, I just turned around and left Octus with that bastard. Nothing any of us could do, we just had to hope the commissar had enough humanity to not kill the guy who saved him. We walked back to the pit in silence, and I knew I at least was praying for Octus's life. I wouldn't put it past that old daemon to kill Octus. Doubted the old bastard had ever done a single good thing in his life.

"It was me, commissar." Octus managed to speak evenly but I could tell he was ready to curl up into a ball and plead for his life. Probably should have, the commissar reached for his laspistol and took a shot at Octus's head. Waking up from a coma must have screwed with his eyes though, the laser went right past Octus's head and hit a light hanging over the cot across the room. Octus's skin was white, eyes focused on the barrel of the laspistol.

"The rest of you are dismissed." He didn't lower his gun, but thankfully he didn't shoot a second time. I looked at Octus, looked at the commissar, then looked over at the group. No one moved, no one said a thing. I had the misfortune of being the commissar's next target, though thankfully he didn't shoot.

"I said you are dismissed." Though the way he said that gave me good reason to believe I was about to be shot. Wasn't about to push my luck with an angry commissar, I just turned around and left Octus with that bastard. Nothing any of us could do, we just had to hope the commissar had enough humanity to not kill the guy who saved him. We walked back to the pit in silence, and I knew I at least was praying for Octus's life. I wouldn't put it past that old daemon to kill Octus. Doubted the old bastard had ever done a single good thing in his life.

Still, even with Octus in the belly of the beast Titus and Roth started up a card game when we got back into the pit. Xerxes was resting on the wall again, and I was standing at the sand bags praying to the God Emperor I wouldn't have to get used to standing up there alone. After an hour without Octus I resigned myself to the loss of another team mate. Was probably gonna have to spend the time I was supposed to be sleeping digging a new grave. Well, if the commissar would be so kind as to let me bury my friend. I turned to Roth, making a smoking motion and hoping he got the message. Really wasn't in the mood to talk. He thankfully caught on, pulling one out and lighting it for me before passing it on. I grabbed it and took the longest drag I'd ever taken, kind of hoping for the smoke to hit my brain and shut down my ability to think.

"Don't worry man, I'm sure he's just getting chewed out. They wouldn't let the commissar execute a guy in the infirmary." I knew Roth was trying to be comforting, and I knew he was probably telling the truth, but I really wasn't in the mood to talk. Didn't help that Titus had a look on his face, something along the lines of 'He's fucked big time'. I just went back to the sand bags, propped my lasgun up against the wall, and tried to smoke until I couldn't feel my throat. Or nose. Warp, anything at all.

It was another hour before Octus finally trudged back to the pit. When I turned around he had the strangest mixture of joy and utter terror on his face. He started to jump into the pit, giddy like some kid with a secret, but when his feet hit the dirt he suddenly tried to be very careful and not send up any of the ground at us. I resisted the urge to hug the poor guy, just walked up and squeezed his shoulder.

"What happened?" I wasn't sure if it was a good time to ask. Couldn't begin to imagine what the commissar might have done to the poor guy. Still, he looked kind of happy. Something must have gone right. He got this big grin, like he does when answering some really complex philosophical question.

"I got promoted."

Well, at least I know images helps the posting.

>>2995083
Thanks. If I do end up wanting to get this published, I'll look into it.

>>2995142"I got promoted."

PROMOTIONS

Sorry to interrupt, but
>We've got one dead soldier and a dead commissar
>dead commissar

I must have missed that part... any chance of a repost? or a link?

>>2996045
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2973713/

Isn't the power of misunderstanding the situation fun?

>>2996276
FUCK YEAH MISUNDERSTANDING!

>>2996045
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2973713/

DID SOMEBODY SAY PROMOTIONS?

Octus's announcement had shocked us into silence. We expected a lot of things. Disciplinary action. Being sent out into the field. But that bastard recognizing he owed any one anything?

"You're joking." Roth finally spoke up, expressing the entire squad's disbelief.

"The commissar told me that field command got scared and said you're moving with your auntie and uncle on Bel-Air." He whistled for a ship and when it came near the license plate said FRESH and it had dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this ship was rare, but he thought "Nah, forget it. Yo holmes to Bel-Air!" He pulled up to the port around 7 or 8 and he yelled to the pilot, "Yo holmes, smell ya later!" Looked at his kingdom, he was finally there, to sit on his throne as the prince of Bel-Air.

>>2997339
Real update later tonight

>>2997339
Well played, good sir.

Octus's announcement had shocked us into silence. We expected a lot of things. Disciplinary action. Being sent out into the field. But that bastard recognizing he owed any one anything?

"You're joking." Roth finally spoke up, expressing the entire squad's disbelief.

"The commissar told me that field command wasn't particularly pleased with us not completing our mission, that we managed to bring the commissar out of enemy territory alive was worth some gratitude. They've been trying to reorganize the squads that are missing leaders and decided that whoever organized the effort to bring Heimdall back should be promoted to Sergeant and take control of the squad." Octus finished, still grinning widely over his promotion. Xerxes started to clap, followed by Titus and me. Roth just made a few vague clapping motions but other wise looking absolutely confused.

"I'd say we should toast to the new sergeant, but we don't have any glasses." Xerxes joked as Octus walked past him and up to me. Though the clapping stopped, Roth stood up and slammed his hand into Octus's back. Don't think Octus was used to that forceful of a pat on the back, but Roth meant well. He then went back to his card game with Titus and Octus stumbled a little, catching the sandbags and trying to play it off. I turned to look at the bloody approach, expecting Octus to join me, but instead he rested his lasgun against the wall and turned to face the group.

"There is one problem though." My head sunk a little as he said those words. I didn't turn around to face him, couldn't bring myself to. I had a bad feeling where this was going.

"We're hitting the barracks a little early tonight. We have a mission. Field command thinks the base the heretics are using needs to be taken out now before it gets reinforced. We're to scout out one of the buildings close to it in the middle of the night, clear it out if we need to, and report back to command with a general idea of the layout so that they can sneak in some of the tower squads. They're planning an assault in the coming months and they want to be able to take out the machine gun nests before they do." It sounded like a simple enough mission. Then again, scouting sounded like a simple mission.

"Why does this sound like a very bad idea?" Even though Octus was now our superior officer it seemed Roth was still going to toy with him. Octus didn't miss a bit though, probably emboldened by that wonderful promotion of his.

"Because I can put you at point." It was the first time I heard Octus make a joke. At least, a joke in a language I understood. Xerxes was laughing hard enough that I imagined he'd roll over if he wasn't already resting against pit.

"Last mission was a horrible screw up for a number of reasons. We were poorly equipped, we were poorly informed, and it wasn't that well planned. Command did not think we were dealing with an organized effort. They thought it was a loosely organized collection of scroungers with swords and heresy, not an organized collection of cultists with guns. The building we're scouting out hasn't been heavily reinforced. It's, at best, an advanced warning 'tower'. If there are any cultists there they'll be around the middle section of the building, watching the base as best they can. We'll be given frag grenades and other equipment. If we can cut them off and clear them out before they can warn their main base. If we succeed, snipers can be up by tomorrow and we'll be able to take out the heretics." Octus seemed to have it all figured out in his head. I still kept look at the ground though. Still pretty worried about the whole thing.

"I guess we don't have a choice, do we?" I spoke up, still looking at the snow.

"It's an integral part of our campaign. If we can get rid of the base, the 43rd Saluan Urban can exert greater influence here. We might get more troops and vehicles here. They plan to turn this outpost into a center for cleansing to retake the city." Octus seemed to regurgitate that part but it sounded true. Not sure who the 43rd Saluan Urban were.

"The who?" Titus asked. Kind of glad he asked, didn't want to look like that much of an idiot.

"Us." Well, that was a simple answer.

"Don't remember us being called that." Roth sounded confused again. Don't really know where Octus got the info, but it did sound legitimate.

"You guys weren't paying attention." Xerxes rumbled from the back. I was glad I was looking away, was flush with shame. Seems like something I should have known. Thank the Emperor that Titus and Roth were more willing to be stupid in public.

"So... we get grenades?" Well, Roth finally sounded pleased. Xerxes laughed again and I managed to feel like less of an idiot. We passed the next few hours with conversation. Kind of unusual, talking that much in the pit. We were all anxious about the up coming mission but it was more than that. Maybe after worrying that Octus was going to die and having him come back from the commissar, not just dead but better for it, made everything seem a little more optimistic. He had a good plan, we were getting new equipment. Still had my doubts. Our last mission wasn't exactly the epitome of success. Still, maybe the God Emperor would bless us this time out.

A servitor, carrying five white packs, interrupted us when the time came. We each grabbed one pack on the way out, Xerxes even thanking the servitor. We hadn't really practiced grenades in the field, but we did get a few days with them in basic. Just had to hope it would be enough. Well, that and the crazy bastards didn't have much in the way of heavy equipment set up in that building.

Didn't really get a lot of sleep. Didn't sound like Titus did either. Bastard was constantly twisting and turning above me. Can't blame him for not getting sleep though, I was too worried we'd have a repeat of our first mission. And if we did, who'd go this time? Would it be the big guy? Roth? Titus? Octus? And, all though it shamed me to admit it to myself, what worried me most is would I be the one this time? The whole time we'd been defending the base I didn't really worry about losing my life. The heretics were pretty passive, and the only time they attacked in those three months cost them a lot of men. But now we were going back into the hornet's nest.

Ended up watching my breath for the whole night, trying to not contemplate dying. If it was my turn to go, nothing I could do about it right? Couldn't fight fate. Besides, if I did die I'm sure the God Emperor would watch over me. Sure, I worked under that beast of a man but I was still pure, wasn't I? I was serving in his army, I was doing his work. He'd watch over me, right?

Why was I so worried then? I was so busy worrying over the state of my soul when the servitor came into the barracks to wake us up. Wasn't until the creepy thing was right next to me that I knew it was in.

"I have been sent here to awake you, soldiers." It spoke in that soft monotone voice that it always did. Didn't know how it planned to wake anyone up. Well, until it pushed its wrench hands onto the bunk bed and shook the whole thing.

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" I grumbled, grabbing hold of something to keep from being knocked out of bed. Titus groaned and squirmed a bit more over me. Eventually heard him sit up about the time I swung my feet out of bed. Wasn't going to be getting any sleep any time soon. I stood up, stretching out the exhaustion and grabbing my pack. Or it might have been Titus's. Who really cared? I popped open the pocket Octus told me about, grabbing the two flashbangs and two frag grenades command had seen fit to equip us with. I snapped each one to my belt, rubbing my eyes before heading to the door to wait for the rest of the squad.

One by one they made their way to the door, each one putting their grenades on their belt and adjusting their back packs. Finally Octus made it to the door, probably the most alert of all of us.

"All right. I'll take point. When we can see the toppled over build stick low and to the side. The nests won't see us as long as we don't walk right in front of them." Well, sounded simple enough. We pulled the lasguns off of our shoulders and brought them at the ready. Saw Roth tuck a few brown hairs back under his helmet, and we were out the door.

"Hey, Octus." I head Titus as he sped up past us to catch up with Octus, "When are we gonna get a shipment of razors? You're a sergeant now, I'm sure you have an idea. I was just getting used to being bald and my head's startin' to itch." I managed to suppress a laughter. It was such a mundane concern going into battle. I mean, yeah, my head was itching too but I doubted Octus had any idea when we were gonna get a chance to shave again.

"I don't know. When I report our success to command I'll make sure to ask. I didn't really think about it. I... uh, well, y'know. Can't grow a beard." Octus sounded nervous again. Guess no one liked being reminded of what they lacked. Roth came up behind him, clapping him on the shoulder.

"And that's why we love ya, sergeant." Had a feeling Roth was going to enjoy calling Octus sergeant. I'd feel sorry for the poor bastard, but I'm sure Octus was used to it by now.

When we stepped out of the gate Octus stopped. He took a look around, probably trying to figure out the best path to the building. Me, I was busy looking at the bodies. We had never cleared them out of the way and I never really took the time to look at them. I let my curiosity take control of me, kneeling down and brushing the snow out of the face of a corpse. It was a young man, probably a few years younger than Roth. His skin was blue, mouth wide open. Even in death he looked ready to kill me. Didn't smell as bad as I imagined. Must have been the cold that kept him from rotting too quickly.

I stood up about the time Octus went on the move again. We followed behind him, lasguns ready and ready for any thing to go wrong. Thankfully the approach up to the office building we were assigned to clear out wasn't dangerous. It was actually just a little off the path to the toppled building but the snowy hill between us and that den of bastards kept us safe. We made it to the base of the office building without so much as a loud noise. The building was almost all tinted windows. The first floor was see through though, a nice big lobby with a long receptionist desk.

"All right. Xerxes, you take point. We stick together until we get to the third floor. Roth, you'll be with me. Titus, Xerxes, Thaddius, you'll be clearing floors ten through twenty. Your packs have short range micro-beads in the back left pocket. Put them on now before we go in. No comm chatter unless you run into something or you finished sweeping the floors." We each dug into our packs, pulling our helmets off to put on the micro-beads. I wasn't surprised to see Roth had some long brown hair or Xerxes had some curling black around his head, but I didn't expect Titus to be a blonde or Octus to be bald. We put on the micro-beads then slipped out helmets back on. Roth wrestled with his hair for a few minutes longer, but managed to get it all back inside his helmet.

"Ready?" Octus asked as he stepped up towards the door.

"Ready as we'll ever be." Roth spoke. Octus pulled the handle of the door, leaning on to it and trying to silently open it. We piled in, heading straight for the doors with a big stairway sign on it.

MORE. I'M NOT SITTING UP HALF PAST THREE IN THE MORNING FOR ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER.

>>2999083
Yes, yes you are. 'Cuz I've got a DnD game to run. That or wait until tomorrow.

>>2999092
fffffffffffffine, be that way :(

>>2999092
Yeah man, you tell that Anon bitch whats what, you don't take no shit from nobody.

>>2999144
Damn straight. I'm a god damn tripfag, I'm fuckin' awesome.

Goddamnit, I'm gonna be sat here all night waiting for moar. It's already 3am in Britfagland.

We wasted no time on the first floor. We could see well enough when we were approaching the building, and it was unlikely they'd try and station troops down there. They'd more likely keep up on the higher levels, behind tinted windows and with a better view of the land leading up to our base. When we got into the stairwell I wasn't all that surprised to see some crazy symbols again. The strange three lines and three dots back in the elevator shaft. It was kind of strange though. They had been drawn over some pink symbol, some sort of giant circle connected to two crescents. It was all crazy heretical shit, I tried not to pay it too much mind. There were lights running all the way up the stairs but we decided against relying on them. Gave the enemy too much control. They cut off the lights, we're at their mercy. We pulled out our flash lights, grabbed some all purpose tape, and taped the lights as securely as we could to our lasguns. Best we could manage in a bind.

The second floor went by pretty quickly. Might have been because the third floor had collapsed in on it. No idea what could have caused that, had a feeling it was one of those mysteries I did not want to solve. Second floor was just some little offices for show, meet and greet any potential clients, all that good stuff I didn't have a head for. The third floor was a little more interesting, bunch of cubicles that had been raided before we got there. Papers and plastic strewn about the place. But the crowning moment was when we were at the collapsed section of the floor. Got a good look at the toppled over building.

The building itself had been heavily reinforced in the three month. Stairs leading up to the office we went into, windows popped out and replaced with metal with slits left for some attached machine guns. The path up to the toppled building had been hastily fenced in, barb wire running over the top, the fence running from a building the toppled over building had crashed into and another building just across the path. I didn't imagine it was very sturdy, but it'd stop any invaders long enough for the machine gunners to deal with them. Nasty stuff, probably why field command wanted their sniper positions so badly.

I actually saw some people underneath the toppled building, sitting down in the path we were planning on taking before the little girl popped out. They had a camp fire contained in a barrel, guns resting against the wall. I could make out a few small lights, cigarettes lit up like we would back in the pit. Almost didn't seem all that different from us, just lacked training and equipment. But I knew that particular thought was a heresy in itself, and they had been possessed with some insanity that drove them to charge men with superior arms and armor with nothing more than tattered clothes and scrap metal.

Octus broke my train of though, announcing to the group the plan of action, "All right. Titus, Xerxes, Thaddius, go up to floor ten and don't stop until you make it to floor twenty. Call out every floor you confirm clear. If you run into any trouble, and judging from those drawings back at the stairs we will, call it out and we'll hustle up as fast as we can. Roth and I will do the same, covering floor four on to ten. When we're done, we'll regroup and tackle floors twenty-one through thirty together. Any heavy resistance is going to be coming from up there." The squad nodded and we hit the stairs again. Roth got lucky, he just had to head up a floor. It's a real bitch carrying a full pack up seven flights of stairs. Still, we managed to hit floor ten before they called the all clear for floor four so we were making good time. Floor ten was like floor two, boring. That was a blessing though, interesting on a battlefield tended to mean dead friends. Octus called floor four when we were only half done with floor ten, so I guess that was a good sign they'd be joining us before we hit floor thirty.

Floor eleven was significantly more interesting though. We opened the door to be greeted by a dead guardsman in a marble lobby. Well, he looked like he was a guardsman anyways. Not one of us. Was wearing some torn brown robes over a white uniform. No skulls anywhere, nothing that showed he was actually on our side. Had a lasgun and the armor though. Titus was the first to get to the body, shouldering his lasgun and trying to see what had killed him. He looked for head wounds, then ripped off what was left of the guy's robes to see if anything had broken through his armor. Nothing though, it was like the guy just up and died.

"Should we call Octus?" Titus asked, looking back at us with one hand still on the dead guardsman's neck. Xerxes shrugged, leaving me to turn on my micro-bead. Only got static though, nothing indicating he could hear us. Maybe that was just how they worked though.

"Octus, we got somethin' up here. Dead guy." I spoke before shutting it back off. After a few minutes passed with no response I turned it on again, "Octus?" Still no response.

"Hey, guys, I'm not getting anything. Could one of you-HOLY SHIT" I was startled when my micro-bead started talking back. Something not human though, kind of like the sound of a bullet hitting a body. Well, if that noise could be used as a voice. I didn't know what it was, didn't know what it was saying, but I threw the thing across the room. Xerxes and Titus looked confused, raising an eyebrow and looking at each other before looking back at me.

"You all right, Thaddius?" Xerxes was the first to talk, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Try your micro-bead. Mine just... I think it just talked to me." I didn't really know how to explain it without sounding crazy. Well, crazier. Xerxes look skeptical, but when he turned on his micro-bead he seemed rather satisfied that at the very least the damn things were broken.

"I'm getting a lot of static. Nothing talking though." Xerxes didn't believe me.

"I know what I heard. That fuckin' thing talked." I knew I sounded scared, I could hear it creeping up in my own voice.

"Maybe some one's taking over the signal, toying with us?" Titus proposed, confusing both me and Xerxes. We looked over at him. He shrugged, letting his had fall away from the dead guy and continued, "Well, I heard Octus talk about it every now and again. People can steal communication lines or something, take control of them. Cut them off entirely or give the other end misinformation. Those bastards are crazy, they'd probably want to play head games with us. May have gotten the technology from this poor son of a bitch over here." He motioned over to the dead guardsman. Sounded reasonable enough. Well, reasonable as I was going to get with a talking micro-bead. Still wasn't going to put the thing back into my ear. Damn thing was staying in that corner and rusting for freaking me out.

"We probably got guys on this floor then?" Xerxes asked the obvious question. Titus shrugged again, not like he could answer much in the way of technological question. Probably just a fluke he had been paying enough attention to Octus to catch on to that.

"Probably. Though why they wouldn't take a lasgun is beyond me. Guess they're too crazy for that." Titus shook his head, standing up, "We'll pick up our friend later. Maybe he'll have some sort of identification on him. Hate to bury another nameless body." Titus pulled his lasgun back into his hands. Was only one door ahead of us, a black marble door between two big pillars. Xerxes headed in front of us, placing his foot just in between the doors. He looked back at us, nodding and then slammed his foot forward.

Nothing. Just a hallway with a bunch of doors. Must have been offices, bunch of fancy names I didn't recognize printed on the glass windows built into the doors. We were about to start the long and boring process of inspecting what looked to be empty rooms when we heard a gunshot ring out. We looked at each other, what were they shooting at? We heard some lasgun fire followed by a heavy volley of gunfire. One of the squads from another regiment must have stumbled upon this building. Probably scouts. Whether or not they'd need help, they were on our side. We rushed down the hall, the office inspections could wait.

When we got to the fight every thing wasn't so clear cut though. The fighting was happening in a wide area composed of four different meeting rooms, the big tables turned over and chairs scattered all over the place. The glass that enclosed the meeting rooms had either been shattered or was close to it. What was confusing was that rather than fighting in the two rooms closest to us, we were standing in the middle. It was as if they had been in this building for a while, like some sort of mini-war being fought right outside our base. The guardsmen we could see were all wearing the same torn up robes the dead guardsmen wore. No visible skulls, no numbers, nothing. They were being led by a woman that wore a commissar's hat but had on some elegant black robes instead of the standard coat. The other regiment looked pretty organized, she didn't say a word but they seemed to know where to concentrate their fire on.

There only about nine of them though, up against probably more than twice that many heretics. Organized as they might have been they could use some help. There was one lone guardsman fighting in the room right next to us, and Xerxes seemed to think that'd be the best place to go. He motioned towards the room and we rushed the open doorway. The crazy fucks took a bit to open fire on us, and by the time they started it was too late to hit any of us. We slid behind the table, pushing aside two other dead guardsmen. The guardsman we were reinforcing looked over at us, confused, but he got shot in the head by one of the guys in the room across from us. Only eleven of us guardsmen now, but we were still better than them in every other way.

"Hey, this looks like a good time to test out the frags." Titus smiled, plucking one from his belt and pulling the pin. He tossed it over the table and through the space where the window as supposed to be.

"When it goes boom, we fire." Xerxes suggested, and it sounded like the best plan to me. We didn't have to wait long, heard a loud explosion followed by a lot of pained screams. We popped up in unison, Titus taking down a straggler trying to crawl out of the wreckage in the room across from us while me and Xerxes opened fire on the dazed heretics across from our new friends. When they started to turn we dropped back under and the other squad took their turn. I held my rifle up, back pressed up against the table, and took some deep breaths to steady myself. My heart was pumping faster than it ever had before. This wasn't like the charges back in the base, this was really dangerous. And yet we really weren't at risk, more just our friends. I hated to admit it, but I kind of enjoyed it.

"Ha, bastards didn't see us comin'." Titus laughed, enjoying this even more than I was. Can't blame him. These guys were a lot like the ones that killed Hans. First time poor Titus got a chance to get some real revenge. Xerxes moved his head up a little, trying to see what was going on. He made a motion with his head and we popped up again. Not standing all the way up like we did earlier, just enough to get a good aim at the cultists trying to fire on the other guardsmen. Didn't look like there was many more of them. No more reinforcements coming in from the hall way behind their two rooms. Well, what was their two rooms. After dropping another two we went back behind the table.

Almost felt like a child. This was the glory I was told about in basic camp. Making friends on the battle field against a defined and personal enemy. I was the closest to the enemy so I figured I'd give them a nice frag surprise. I moved over a little, leaning to the side just enough to see if they were looking back at us. When I saw my opportunity I took it, pulling the pin of my grenade as I got into a crouch, tossing it into their room and getting back behind cover. The explosion was beautiful sounding, wood being ripped apart and a lot of blood curdling screams. I didn't enjoy killing them, but I was in the same boat as Titus. The bastards took a good friend and this was payback. After the explosion there was nothing, just silence. I smiled, slinging my lasgun back over my shoulder and standing up.

"You guys all right?" I asked, waving my hand to the other squad as Xerxes and Titus got to their feet. I figured I'd get a good response. A thank you or an all right. Then maybe space marines would come down to do our jobs and we'd get sent out to Paradise IV for 'active duty'. Still, I figured a little gratitude was in order.

Didn't think something getting throne in my face was a way to show appreciation though. Then everything went right and there was this really loud ringing noise in my ears. I reached out, trying to grab something to steady myself. Didn't help much though when what I figured was the butt of a lasgun rammed into my face. I stumbled backwards, trying to grab on to Xerxes or Titus. Felt another lasgun hit me, sending me back into a wall. Hit the back of my head pretty hard. Everything at the edge of my vision starting going black, dots dancing in the bright white light. I closed my eyes but all I could see was white and black. Felt two fingers fall on my right eyelids and force them open. Everything was murky but I could make out that commissar. She had a really twisted smile on her face. I could feel that smile in my chest, my stomach, trying to corrupt every fiber of my being.

And then everything got all blurry. I couldn't keep propped up against the wall. Everything went sideways and I was aware I had hit the floor but I hadn't felt it. I just barely saw Titus being pulled up by one of those other guardsmen before I blacked out.

are they gonna get eaten

Oh fuck off.

>>3000661
:D :D <3 <3

>>3000728
ANOTHER FUCKING CLIFFHANGER?

And we are go for archive on suptg.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2992644/

Female commisar, this smacks of slannesh.

Wait a moment... Is this a continuation of this? http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2973713/#2987862

>>3000880
It's going to be that way until the end.

>>3001466
Yes it is.

>>3001667

OH I FUCKING LOVE YOU

I groaned, trying to force my eyes open. I had no idea where I was but I knew my whole body was aching. I could faintly remember a few good reasons why my face and chest might hurt, but I had no idea why my wrists were screaming at me. My neck felt like it was on fire and only complied with my desires in the smallest of ways. After a few minutes of struggling to pull my head up I felt a hand on my chest, soft. Almost like silk.

"Ooh, you're awake." Some woman's voice, almost laughing. Couldn't get my head up but my eyes were opening slowly. Couldn't get them all the way, but I could see. Though I wasn't sure if I really wanted to see once I could. The first thing I noticed was a distinct lack of pants. I had become so used to wearing my uniform I had stopped noticing I was even wearing it. Kind of forgot what it was like to be naked. My feet were hovering over some well lit concrete, a fact I wasn't particularly fond of. What ever was holding me up didn't make it easy. I could make out the pale hand that was touching my chest, but the only thing I could connect it to was a black sleeve. Couldn't lift my head up enough to connect the arm to a body. I made a few vague motions to try to cover myself but another hand came out. Cold, cold as the rest of the world, gently pressing against one of my thighs and stopping me. I finally gave up, closing my eyes and groaning.

"That's better. No need to fight." I felt one of those cold hands come under my chin, pulling my face up. My neck wasn't pleased and it made its protests known. Still, it was one screaming voice amongst the cacophony. Didn't hurt much more than any other part of my body, not worth any more attention than the rest of them. I managed to get my eyes open enough to see who those cold hands belonged to. Snow white skin, ruby red lips twisted into a smile, brown eyes and chin length brown hair. Probably would have been attracted to her if I wasn't in so much pain. I then started to remember things more clearly. We were in a fire fight, helping her and her guardsmen against some heretics. Then I got hit with something and everything went white.

"W-wait..." I coughed, "We're with the..... urg..." It hurt to think, but I got the impression my life might depend on me remembering that damned number, "We're with the 43rd Saluan Urban. W-we weren't with those heretics. We're on the same side." I managed to spit it out through all the pain. The commissar, at least I assumed she was a commissar, gave me a twisted smile. Made me sick to my stomach, looked a lot like the one she gave me before I blacked out.

"Oh, I know that. But you are wrong about one thing. We're not on the same side yet." She let my head fall. I saw her black robes move away and I tried to look up after her. Could barely get my head up enough to see her. Got a nice view of our room too. Bland concrete with a metal table and four chairs. I was in the far back of the room, in some sort of closet or something. Couldn't really tell, just knew I had a concrete wall to the left of me blocking my view. I saw her round a corner and go up some stairs I could vaguely make out. I heard a metal door slam shut, then silence.

There was some groaning and shuffling next to me though I could see the source.

"Ugh... the warp happened? Where are we?" It was Xerxes, though he sounded to be having about as much fun as I was.

"A prison, I think. Those guardsmen captured us. Guess they..." I trailed off, squeezing my eyes shut as I felt a sudden jolt of pain run down my throat. I was made intimately aware of two facts. One, I was very thirsty. Two, my body did not want me to talk. Still, my answer seemed to satisfy Xerxes as he wasn't talking much either. I pulled my head back to get a look at what was holding me up, partly out of curiosity and partly as an act of defiance. If my body wasn't going to let me talk then the damned thing would at least let me see what was going on. Wasn't all that surprised to see my hands had been cuffed. I was hanging off of some sort of massive hook. This place didn't look like a butchery so I had no idea what it was used for before this place went to the warp.

Didn't get much of a chance to really absorb my surroundings though. Some one outside flicked off the lights. I could feel the darkness creeping up on me, putting pressure on my eyes. I relented, closing my eyes and letting my head fall down. It hurt too much to resist.

"We're fucked, aren't we?" I managed to spit out, my body's reward for my submission. Not that it was worth much, Xerxes either didn't hear me or didn't know how to respond. Didn't really know what to say in this situation either. Never expected to be hanging in some sort of cell on a freezing planet. Guess there was some mercy though, the pain kept me from feeling the cold. Didn't imagine that was good for my health but it kind of felt good. Almost like I was back on Secundu. I was starting to drift into memories of my family when I snapped myself back to reality.

My family wasn't here. Wouldn't want them to be. I was in a cold cell some where in a ruined city. I had a dead friend I had just met maybe a year ago. I was probably never going to see the light of day and I had no idea what they wanted from me. I didn't know anything valuable and the Imperium wasn't going to negotiate for my release. Even if I was that important they'd never deal with whoever these people were. Didn't think these people cared about that though.

I wasn't sure how long I spent in the darkness. Might have fell asleep a few times but I doubted it. Never felt that just woken up grogginess, just a constant stream of thoughts and worries about what was going to happen to me. Did eventually get my answer as to why I was here, though. After some indeterminate amount of time the lights came back on and she was in here again. She didn't say anything though, just placed one of her cold hands on my thigh. It's funny, you hear all those guys wishing they could get a woman that was a sexual beast. Domineering, kinky, all that stuff. Even read a few stories like that myself, though I would never admit it to my wife.

Kind of different when it was actually happening though. There wasn't a yes, a no, nothing. I didn't have a say in the matter and she didn't care. It wasn't 'wild and enjoyable fun'. She was in control, and she made sure I knew that. She wrapped her legs around my waist not like my wife did, not like some one I loved, but in a way that said 'You're mine.' And I was. And I hated it. When it was all over I wanted to throw up, felt powerless. Felt guilty. She had taken away any illusion I had of control. And some part of me felt like it enjoyed the whole thing. I mean, it must have. My body reacted like it would have, but I didn't want it to. It felt like I was betrayed my wife. A wife I'd probably never get to see again.

It horrible and I think she enjoyed it even more for that. She made sure to stretch my body the whole time, keep me in pain while she did it. Made me know I wasn't in control, I was just an observer. A third party. And then she was out the metal door again. The lights went off and I just swung in the air, shamed and in pain. And the heat from the pain was no longer a mercy, no longer a reminder of Secundu or my family. It was just a reminder of her, reminder of my situation. For once in my life I welcomed the cold but it never came. It felt like an eternity until my mind finally gave up and drifted to sleep.

When she came back she had a disapproving look on her face. Fuck her, I thought. Not going to play her games. Didn't seem to bother her that much, like she expected us to refuse the food. She just pulled us back to our cells and hand cuffed us again. She was surprisingly strong, managed to lift me up high enough to get me over the hook. Hadn't really seen any muscle on her and I had no idea where it was coming from. Maybe for the best though. She cleaned up the dishes and disappeared out the metal door. The lights went off, leaving us in the darkness again. We were none the better for the whole exchange.

She came in later that day with a whip. Looked really angry. Poor Xerxes bore the brunt of it, getting whipped for what must have been a half hour. He didn't make a sound, took it admirably. She didn't touch me though, and I don't think she touched Titus. Then she was out again and the darkness came back. I wasn't sure how much longer it took but eventually I fell asleep at what I imagined was the same time I would have if we were back at base. Kind of a nice thing, the body's clock. Gave me a way to measure the passage of days, give me something to quantify my suffering and in doing so separate myself from it.

The next day started in the darkness. I was just hanging there for what felt like hours before she came in. Didn't come to me though, looked like she went to Titus. When I heard the sound of skin on skin I figured out what was going on. Tried not to pay attention, tried to keep my focus on something else. There really wasn't a whole lot to focus on in this room though. Even the table looked like it was just a part of the room, not worth notice.

Finally she left, and the light once again left with her. The next time she came back she came with food, the same food she had tried to feed us the other day. This time me and Titus were more receptive to her offering though. My body wasn't going to just let me pass up the water this time. It hurt a lot to swallow back the water, and since I had gone so long without eating the food made me feel kind of sick, but it was still better than an empty stomach. I saw Titus grab the only other glass of water we hadn't touched. He carried it over to Xerxes, putting it right in front of him.

"C'mon man, eat something. It's not worth your life. Don't give her the satisfaction of killing you." But the big guy didn't care what Titus had to say. He just waved him away and went back to leaning on the wall. Nothing we could do. I pitied him, thought he was an idiot, but admired him. Felt guilty about eating when Xerxes was strong enough to resist his stomach. Didn't stop me though, just felt like shit afterward.

She came back in after me and Titus finished eating. She cuffed us and hung us on the hooks again. Same routine as last time, darkness came until she decided she wanted to vent her frustrations on one of us. Xerxes took the beating again, and again he endured it quietly. And then she was gone, and all I could do was wait for sleep to come.

The darkness of the third day lasted longer than normal. She didn't come for us until she brought the food in. Three plates, three glasses, and then she un-cuffed us. It was a routine, and it was a way to stop thinking. Me and Titus were more willing than the day before. No more nibbling or nervous sips, we went into the food with the same zeal we did our breakfast back at base. When we were finished I noticed Xerxes was still in the corning, staring at us. I grimaced, grabbing the untouched plate and glass. I respected what he was doing but I wasn't going to let him starve himself.

"Big guy, at least drink something. C'mon, you're gonna need to eat something if you want to get out of here." It was the best thing I could think of to persuade him, the promise of an escape. I didn't really believed we'd get out but I didn't want to see Xerxes die in some shitty cell. When he didn't respond I put aside the food and drink, grabbing his shoulder.

"C'mon man." And then it hit me, through the pain and numbness I felt that his skin was a little cold. I bit my lip, not wanting to check his pulse, "Xerxes. Emperor damn it Xerxes, you are not fucking dying." I gave in, pulling my hand up and trying to feel his neck for a pulse. Nothing. He died without fanfare, saying less than eight words since he got here.

>>3002953
NIGHT OF THE THIRD DAY
12 HOURS REMAINING

FUCK NO WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS

FIRST HANS, NOW XERXES? FUCK YOU MAN

>>3003088

>>3003099

XERXES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAMN YOU TRIPFAG DAMN YOU

;_;

>>3003099
>>3003109

Seriously, he's killing of the squad, one by one.
At least i wish Octus doesnt die.

>>3003225

Octus turns to chaos

>>3003151

>>2992644

XERXES!!! NNNOOO!!! You bitch!

XERXES!!!!

Tonight he dines with the emprah. ;_;

they raped his brains out :C

buh?

Where are my grunts?

I manly tear'ed for Xerxes.

Then >>3005012 came along and ruined that.

Said 'pressure' twice in the first paragraph. Within a sentence of each other, too. A tiny thing, but it's the kind of niggle that separates good fanfiction from 'hey this is actually worth money'.

>>3005087
Which is why I'm going to go through this whole thing again before I compile it into one big text document. What separates good fanfiction from MAWNEY is usually time spent editing. Thanks for the head up though, I'll add that to my running list of shit to fix.

>>3005111
+10!

Daily bump

Why are you saging your own thread. Angricus?

>>3006521

It could be considered arrogant and annoying to bump your own writefag thread. This way he ensures the thread lives on its own merits.

>>3006539

Thanks for the heads up, anon

I DEMAND MOAR

>>3005111
add "though" to that list. You use that word way too often. Also why the fuck did you kill Xerxes, I hate you.

>>3006962
>Also why the fuck did you kill Xerxes, I hate you.

Xerxes was a fucking man. He wasn't gonna go accepting no heretical food. The God-Emperor smiles on those with a stiff upper lip.

>>3006990

Even so, he ought to ressurect him somehow. WHO'S GONNA BLAST DOORS OPEN NOW

>>3007290
Only heresy or hetetek can bring a man back from the dead. Would you do that to Xerxes?

>>3007306
He needs a mans touch.

I never really got attached to the Hans. He was cool and all but it really really more of an "aww poor Titus" thing.

But you fucker you make me like Xerxes, and for that I HAET JOO.

BAMF! UNF UNF UNF!

I could feel Titus's eyes boring into my back when I pulled Xerxes's eyelids down. We both knew this was going to happen, but it felt like he was angry with me for announcing it. For making him accept it happened. I could understand why he'd be angry, poor guy had lost two close friends now in three months. Enough to hurt like hell but not enough to desensitize him to the whole thing. Don't know why he was angry with me, wasn't like he was the only that lost a good friend. We all loved Xerxes. Silent bastard he might have been he was still one of the best. Loyal to Imperium to the end. He starved himself and me and Titus were over at the table eating that bitch's food.

When she came into the room I wanted to strangle her. Stab her with the silverware. Something, anything. Just meaningless dreams though. I tried to tell myself I was too weak, but really I was just too scared. Titus was in the same boat. Warp, he was captain of the scared shitless boat. He looked ready to kill her and bathe in her blood but I knew why he didn't do it. Same as me. Too afraid to die. He might have had nothing to live for but instincts are strong. I might have been telling myself I was living for my wife and kids but I knew that was a lie, like any lie he was telling himself. We lived because everything in us screamed 'don't die'.

The calloused bitch pouted when she saw Xerxes wasn't all that living, "Awww. He looked like he'd be the best of you three. I guess I'm just cursed to always lose my favorite toys." She sounded ready to laugh with that last bit. Wished I had tried and kill her before she handcuffed me, but it was kind of a moot point now. She pulled Xerxes out of his cell and just dragged him out of the room. Didn't pick him up, didn't call for some help. No damn respect for Xerxes. He was just some trash to her. When she came back in she noticed me glaring and gave me one of her smiles. Didn't make me sick this time, just made me angrier. Didn't take her all that long to clean the dishes and shut the lights off for the night.

When she came back later in the night she decided to take her anger out on me. She leaned in, whispering something in my ear. I wasn't paying attention. I pulled my foot back as she tried to taunt me, something about never getting out of here and being abandoned by the God Emperor. She was right that I wasn't getting out of here, but Xerxes was all the proof I needed that the Emperor was still watching over me. Something must have given that big guy the will he had. When she started to lean back I whipped my foot forward, slipping in through her legs and slamming it into her crotch. She didn't exactly have the organs I wanted to hit, but it was the only thing I could reach. What I didn't plan on was her squeezing her legs together, keeping my foot where it was, and just smiling at me.

"Feisty." She laughed before stepping back, catching my foot with one of her hands.

"Some one like you needs more interesting punishment than a lashing." She whipped my leg, sending me swinging back into the wall with a surprising amount of force. Always forgot how strong the woman was. My back became intimately familiar with the concrete, learning every little flaw in painful detail. I got to have a meet and greet with it a second time when she sunk her fist into my stomach, shoving me back into the wall. She caught me in the jaw, still pressing me up against the wall. Then she threw me off by biting into my shoulder. Really deep bite. Was bleeding like crazy and she was just sucking it up.

Somewhere along the line she started raping me again, but the other times weren't quite as malevolent. Possessive, but she never got as violent as she did this time. Strangling me, biting me, digging her nails deep into my skin. She ended up breaking my left arm, not because I was struggling. I don't know why she did it. At first I thought she was just angry and I was the one that got the joy of suffering but as it went I started thinking it was just a game to her. She enjoyed it in the purest sense of joy. She shivered when she did it, slowly bending my arm and commenting on the beautiful sound my bones snapping made.

When it was all done she dismounted, smiling at her work. My left arm was actually elongated from the force of gravity. Couldn't really describe the pain other than mind blanking. I couldn't really think, everything was on fire. She then placed both hands on my arm, pulling the bones together. I'm not sure what she did exactly but I could feel my body renewing itself. Painful process, skin forcefully growing over wounds and bones mending themselves. There was a faint glow about her while it happened, though warp if I knew what it meant. I just knew the process was long and slow. I started to pass out, but then another surge of pain would bring me back into the land of the living. She then brought her hand near my left eye. I knew what was coming next, but I Just couldn't get away. She slipped her fingers in, ripping out my eyeball. It was kind of funny, didn't really feel it at first. Saw everything up until the little fleshy thing connected it to the back of my eye snapped. Think Octus called it the optical nerve. I just thought of it as the red fleshy thing on the back of my eye. Well, was my eye.

With my eye in one hand she patted my cheek, smiling her damned smile, "There we go. All better now. I don't want to lose another one of you." I tried to summon up the strength to spit in her face but I was just too exhausted. I tried to stay awake when she shut the lights off. Everything in my body was screaming at me for some sort of rest but I had to stay awake. I had to stick to my schedule, had to be able to tell the time. It was all I had left at this point. She made certain I knew that she was in controlled. Controlled when I ate, where I was, and now what I saw. Or warp, anything she felt like.

If I didn't know any better she was controlling our bowels too. Kind of funny, the disgusting little things you noticed in desperate times. The room was always immaculate. After three days in here we hadn't left a spot. Don't know what she was doing to keep it like that. Not sure I wanted to know what what kind of witchcraft it was. After a while the need to sleep passed. My body still felt exhausted but my mind was alert. For once in the three days here my mind was awake and alive, unhindered by any pain. In my clarity I did the only thing I could think to do, something I hadn't done in a long while. I prayed.

"God Emperor, I know you're watching. I know you can hear me. I don't understand why I'm here. I don't understand why you took Xerxes or Hans, but it is not my place to understand." I coughed up a little blood before continuing, "But I trust you. If you wish to take me, then you will find me pliable. I only ask one thing, that if this is to last any longer that you may grant me greater strength because, Emperor, I don't know how much longer I can take this. My faith is strong but my flesh is weak." I knew the words were eloquent, but to my ears it sounded rather pitiful. Genuine as it might have been it didn't seem right to plead for something from the Emperor. Wasn't my place, I was just his servant.

I did eventually fall asleep. Wasn't sure if the God Emperor was actually going to give me some help, but it did make me sleep a little better knowing I could still pray. Could still be a little defiant.

The next few days were much like the rest. She'd come into the room in the morning to toy with us. Usually just had her way with us and went on with her day, sometimes got a little more violent. She'd put food down and we'd eat in silence. She'd come in later and beat the warp out of one of us, usually me. The actions themselves were routine but the darkness in between lasted different amounts of times. Sometimes she'd switch the order up on us or add in a few more beatings. The only thing I could really hold on to was my sleeping schedule. Didn't think she could take that away from me. No matter what happened I could at least count on knowing what day it was. Count the number of days I was here, try and put a little perspective on my suffering compared to the rest of my life to distance myself.

Then she took that away from me. One night when I was just starting to fall asleep she came back into the room with a big needle. She didn't say anything, just made a beeline for me and jammed the thing into my arm. Pushed the plunger down, pumped me full of some sort of clear liquid. I think it was a stimulant. Well, a stimulant and something else. Didn't know at first, thought she was going to just kill me. Finish me off and just keep Titus. She took my eye, why not my life? When she left I got the impression she hadn't poisoned me.

That actually scared me more. I had no idea what she did to me. When the lights flicked off I started to see things though. Nasty things just moving beyond perception. Barely visible figures draped in shadows. Really really nasty things. One thing in particular stood out. Looked kind of like a man. He was wearing his skin like a loose sweater though and had some sort of crab arm thing. He just kind of stalked out in front of the other figures. I couldn't see his face but I knew he was staring at me. Watching, waiting for something.

When the lights came back on that thing and his little bastards were gone. I had stayed up the whole time. Felt really groggy, but I couldn't get my eyes closed. She didn't mess with me this morning, just toyed with Titus. When she was finished with him she gave me another injection of that drug. When I felt the burst of energy I realized it was a stimulant. She was trying to rob me of the last thing I had.

And eventually she did. Every day she'd give me two injections of some sort of drug. Usually stimulants, sometimes something that made me pass out on the spot. Don't know how my heart handled all of it. Maybe the same way she fixed my arm. I actually started to look forward to the stimulants. At first they did nothing but make me see some really disturbing things but after a while they felt good. Really good. Couldn't put it into words, but it made every thing else seem worthless by comparison. That feeling started to take over my memories, rob me of any of them that were good. I mean, they were good but they just stopped comparing. I tried not to let it take hold of the memories involving my family but after a while even raising my little girl didn't quite have the same impact as this stuff.

Then she started to refuse me the stimulants. Made me exhausted, made everything seem all the more worthless. She had given me some kind of joy and then she snatched it away again just to fuck with me. She started giving the stimulant to Titus, that lucky bastard. Sure, he kicked and screamed at first but then I knew he was liking it. We weren't awake together as often as we used to be so she started giving us meals at different times, but when we were eating together I was glaring at him. He looked so happy. Lucky bastard must have been. I was suffering and he was having the time of his life.

I tried to remind myself he was my friend, that we had fought for our lives together, but I couldn't get over how envious I was of the sunuvabitch. I might have actually jumped over the table and strangled him to death myself just so that she wouldn't have anyone else to give the stimulant to but I didn't. Not because of loyalty. This envy was stronger than loyalty. No, I was just too exhausted. Too weak without it.

Then she stopped giving him the stimulant. He went through his first nights like me. I thought, that's what you get you fucker. You get what I got. Never said it to his face though. We never talked, actually. At least, not until some time later. I don't know how much time, couldn't count the days any more. But eventually we started talking again.

"How're you holding up?" Was the first thing out of his mouth. It took me back. I was jealous of him, I hated him, was ready to kill him, and he was still worried about my health? My first instinct was to hate him because I thought he was toying with me.

"How the fuck do you think I'm holding up? I got one Emperor damned eye left." I spat out at him, jamming my fork down into the food to punctuate it. I actually might have broken the plate if it wasn't metal, I was that angry with him.

"I know. I think she knows you're stronger than me." I couldn't twist that into mockery. He was genuinely admiring me. He admired me because he thought I hadn't given in. After all the punishment that bitch kept dishing out to me he thought I was still the same. He admired me when I spent so long jealous of him, hating him. I didn't have anything to say to that. What could I say? I wasn't worthy of his admiration. I had wanted to kill him for so long over a damned drug. He had covered my ass before and I wanted to kill him over an Emperor damned needle.

Then I just started crying. Crying and laughing. Everything just started hitting me. I was missing an eye, I wasn't going to see my family, I had nearly turned on a close friend, I had lost two friends since I got her. I was unimaginable miles away from home and I was going to draw my last breath on this frozen hell hole with no one to be my witness but the other dying man and that bitch. It was just too much. I curled up in the chair, laughing and crying the whole time. It was absurd, it was excessive, it was fucking depressing. Titus actually put an arm on my shoulder. If Roth was here he'd probably make a gay joke.

Fuck, Roth. I had no idea what happened to Roth and Octus. They weren't here. They didn't hear from us so I doubt they went any further in the office building. They must have headed back to base. I hadn't even thought about it. The two must still be alive. We were probably still in the same office building. I looked up at Titus, smoothing back my hair and taking a deep breath.

"Roth and Octus are still alive." I stated. It was kind of an obvious statement, but I just realized it. I think Titus just did to. He suddenly looked hopeful. I must have as well. We might actually have a way out of here. The command would still want this building for use against the heretics and the bitch wasn't going to kill us. She wanted us as slaves, not as corpses. For once in a long while I actually felt kind of hopeful.

I think she knew too. When she came in to hang us back on the hooks she injected us with some more drugs. I think we got different ones. I know I got the stimulant again but Titus sounded like he was sleeping. But the bitch couldn't take the hope away from us. Not again, not this time. Roth and Octus or some one else from the base would come. The bitch couldn't stand up to an organized effort. Her and her traitors would die. Even if I ended up dying here, she'd be joining me.

So's it just me or did the quality of the story just degrade sharply?

... why does that always seem to be the case the second Slaanesh somehow gets involved?

Same thing seemed to happen with LCB. I'm getting these flashbacks of sentient plantlife.

>>3008605
Well, if you don't like the Slaaneshi don't worry. Not sticking with this section too much longer.

And don't worry, I'm not particularly satisfied with all this Slaaneshi business. Just felt the story needed some more torture and loss to be sufficiently grimdark.

>>3008623
Maybe, but it still could've been done better. Some books will make a torture scene genuinely cringeworthy, but there's little here in the latest entry to inspire anything other than indifference.

HERETIC BITCH

>>3008648
Eh, I worried delving too much into torture would just be exploitative and fetishistic. I'll keep that in mind when I compile everything and start expanding on a few other things.

>>3008656
Well, the drug scenes could've been done better, as well. I could call you on your overuse of "stimulant", but instead I'll point out that everything seemed a little too rushed, and his waking nightmares or sense of euphoria a little too tame. It just seems that up until now, the blanks purposefully left worked really well for the story, but now, they're more of a drag on the scenes in question. Sex or rape isn't even really necessary to get across a Slaaneshi's idea of a good time. I guess I was expecting something that evoked Hellraiser or The Serpent & the Rainbow.

>>3008688
I know Slaaneshi is anything in excess. Part of the reason I was thinking of making her and her traitor guardsmen Tzeentch was because I knew I might just do rape rape rape since, damn it, it's easier. Overuse of Stimulant falls in the same category as HERETICS HERETICS HERETICS HERETICS.

As for the tame drugs, that again comes down to I didn't want to write on them because I thought it might just be needlessly exploitative. Didn't think it'd hurt the story to make less mention of them, but since it seems like it does I'll probably rewrite the Slaaneshi section. At least expand upon his drugged out bits.

>>3008701
It just seems that if you're going to have scenes focusing on people being the POW's to a bunch of thrill-kill cultist maniacs, you'd make it seem as hellish as possible. Remember what the hospital was like for Tim Robbins' character in Jacob's Ladder?

>>3008722
Haven't seen Jacob's Ladder sadly, but I did manage to find the scene you're talking about. Damned impressive without devolving into Halloween/Saw/Hostel BLOODANGUTSAN.

Are you writing anything more or can I finally go to bed?

>>3008853
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2992644/

That link has the thread archived, so even if I do update tonight (Which I probably won't until way later on due to Dork Hearsay game) you can check there and catch the update.

But, due to Dork Hearsay, any update'll probably be in 10 or so hours from now.

>>3008874
Okay, thanks, will check the link out later on.

Not sure if I should praise you for your excellent writing or hate you for keeping me up so long, but screw it: Awesome writing!
I'd buy your book!
And by buy I mean have sex with.
And by book i mean you.

Oh well, the quality went a bit down on the latest update... Especially the part with the ripped-out eye. I get the feeling you didnt give the event as much attention as it needed. Kinda felt like she gave him a brazilian waxing...

If this update's that bad I can go ahead and rewrite it before I move the story along. Either way, I was never really satisfied with it so it's going to be rewritten.

>>3009640
It wasn't as bad as these faggots are making it out to be, it was fine. They're just being the typical neckbeard.

>>3009669
I posted it up here to get criticism, so they're basically doing what I was hoping for. I'm not satisfied with every bit of this yet, so I'm going to go through an editing process. Maybe prune the more filler sections, expand on character descriptions since they are vague and go more in depth in the places that need it. I like the feedback, any writer should.

>>3009690
personally, i really don't mind a 'clinical' tone to writing, but that's fairly obviously not what you're going for. i'd suggest more dialogue if you want to make the characters more human and the place more gritty, but i don't know if that'd interfere with the existing feel of the story (which is good as is)

>>3010209
It doesn't really work out to well in a novel though. I agree that he needs to flesh out the interactions between some of the characters and provide memorable personality quirks but I like how quickly two guys already died before really getting to know them - it really stresses the cannon fodder nature of being in the IG.

>>3010209
>>3010406
I plan to expand the first bit, right after the space whale but before landfall to include more character description and history. Maybe an extra conversation or two between missions, but I don't want too much characterization in the middle of the outpost.

Hans is going to still be the poor relatively unknown grunt :D

>>3010677

The tank who we got to love, even though it wasnt much talkative. The grunt who you KILLED

Anyway, your story, your ideas. It just felt so... quick in the last part.

Morning bump btw. I always find this thread at page 6/7, could get 404'd again.

>>3009640
It does need rewriting. But don't do it now, I want to see how the story progresses.

The best part of the last update was the Titus/narrator exchange. The rest of it felt rather... canned. Stock torture prose. Not that the exchange shouldn't be improved, but it grabbed my attention in a way the rest of this update didn't.

>>3010406
i noticed that, a bit. something else is how, although there are a lot of words (which is okay because this isn't a webcomic, B^U) but a relatively small portion is dialogue compared to the narrators thoughts and action scenes. (do like, try to keep this on rewrites, plz.)

I liked it. Especially the bit about Hope.

It has been some time. And more is required now.

could have done without the imprisonment and slaneshi rape bit, was enjoying it until then.

don't get me wrong, I'm just as sick and twisted as the rest of you bastards, but it just doesn't fit imo

SOLDIERAN, SHOOTAN, EXPLODAN, KILLAN, LOOSAN BUDDIES, GRIPING BOUT WAR, GRIM BATTLEFIELDAN...suddenly, RAPEAN, TORTURAN, MORE RAPEAN :D :D :D

wat

I'm loving the story, I think it's heading a little downhill but every movie/novel has it's moments of downtime. can't all be cards in the snow and frag grenades. For what it's worth I thought the torture/rape scenes were pretty well done, obviously you have the ability to go into more detail but chose to spare the reader needless gore. That's not what this story is about.

Except if you make Hemidal come to the rescue and fuck the heritic whore with his laspistol before pulling the trigger XD

In our recent Dark Heresy campaign, the two characters I played were Adept Octus, and a Guardsman named Roth.

Fuck you, OP, you're creepy.

>>3013261
IM IN UR GAME, INSERTAN MY BODY SNATCHERS

I'm not sure how long it took before she started showing me what she really wanted out of this. Yes, she enjoyed having a toy, but she had a ulterior motive to all the suffering. It started strangely, whispering to me her heretic god and his way. At least, I thought it was male. The way she described him though I couldn't really be sure. Something named Slawnesh, though. I tried to distract myself, stop listening to her, but she forced me to listen. Her words weren't just in my ears, I swore they were in my head. Pushing through every crevice, pushing past my conjured memories. I had no choice but to listen to her. The dialogue was basically the same the first few times.

"Your Emperor has abandoned you here. Why are you still loyal to him?" She'd start, whispering into my ear and into my mind.

"He has gifted me my life, has protected me from the likes of you, the xenos, and the mutant. He is benevolent, magnificent, and if I must suffer for him then I will do so." I'd reply, repeating what I heard in the churches and from Heimdall.

"Your's has given you suffering. You toil under lords you've never seen for reasons you don't understand. Mine has given me my freedom, joy. My every day under my god is nothing but pleasure and I am free to seek that end however I please. I am unfettered, only my god is above me." She'd switch gears, taunting me.

"My lords use my work to produce grand cities. I have heard of cities that expand across the surface, and mine have made a city that thrives in a world mostly desert. This city, this city you and your kind have taken is wrecked. You live in squalor and rubble, I have lived in splendor."

"My city may be wrecked," She'd begin. I always found it odd she called it her city. She was just one among the hundreds I had seen and the probably millions more on this planet. Never did contradict her, always let her continue, "But my people are happy. Your cities are glorious but your people suffer. You've suffered. Your daughter, what do you think is her fate?" And she'd end it on that note. Sometimes she'd refuse me the needle, sometimes she'd jam it into me when I fell silent. She'd always leave me in the dark, and I'd always see that one man-thing in the darkness again. With the drug, I didn't care so much about him. I'd actually mock the man-thing, but he never seemed to respond.

Without the drug, different story. Without the drug he actually seemed to be getting closer. His arms would distort as he swung them, becoming larger in front of him and then smaller when they'd go behind him. I'd try not to look at him but he was always just outside the cell. I couldn't look inside the cell either, my head just didn't seem to want to turn far enough. Or maybe I was and that bastard was there still. Just pacing back and forth, watching me, waiting for something. I never could fall asleep when he was there. Too nervous, worried he might decide to strike at me when I closed my eyes. I was like a damn child. If I looked back, clearly he couldn't move! It was against the rules! I was chained up, what the warp was the damned thing waiting for?

I'd always fall asleep whenever the lights were back on. I'd actually start finding myself glad to see her back. Meant I could sleep without worrying about that man-thing. Never really thought about what'd happen when she turned the lights off again. Always too exhausted to care.

After a while our little dialogues would start changing. The words were the same but the tone was shifting. She'd be more convincing, I'd be less certain. I started forgetting the words to this vocal dance. I'd pause, think, wonder if what I said was really truth. My faith was crumbling faster than I'd like to admit. Octus and Roth might be out there, but I didn't know how long they'd take to get here and I don't know how long I could keep this up.

Then she started changing the dialogue. She'd rub the needle across my arm, speaking softly like my mother might have, "You must be exhausted. You're resisting pretty hard." I'd just grunt at her. Never could think of a good response, was always too distracted by the drug. I think she knew I wanted it bad. Think she knew every time she ran it across my skin I'd prepare myself for the rush. Sometimes she'd pull it back away from me, push the plunger a little and spew the clear liquid out into the air. Felt like such a waste, made me mad.

"I don't know why you hate me so much."

"You killed Xerxes."

"Xerxes killed himself. I gave him food, he starved himself. I come to you bearing gifts, bearing a way out of the guard. Maybe a way back home." She'd never said that one before. A way home? I doubted her little ragtag band of traitors had a ship out.

"Bold claim. You've been torturing me the whole time."

"I brought you the stims, didn't I?" She'd smile, waving the needle in the air. I couldn't lie, I was looking forward to the injections. The only part of this damn thing I did. The food had gotten bland fast, Titus was always silent, she was frustrating, but what she carried with her was release. Whenever she injected it it was like being on Holy Terra, guided by the God Emperor himself through emerald fields with my family. She'd always end it on that note. I felt bad for letting her win the arguments. At least, it felt like that to me. Her injections were still pretty random, based on some whim I didn't understand. Made me welcome the conversation in the hope that I'd get her little reward. It was some sort of shield, keeping the man-thing pacing just behind the shadows and watching me. But Emperor, when she didn't give me the drug he'd be right up at me. He put a hand on my face, run it across my body and inspecting me like some sort of piece of meat. He had this big thick hands. His skin would spread to the side when he touched me, but they were still fat. At least, I think it was fat under his skin.

His eyes were horrible, mockeries of those little puppy eyes my daughter used to give me. They were oversized, always a little watery, with huge pupils and no irises. The skin under the eyes was pulled down enough that I could see the red muscle holding his eyes in and pulling them around. Never saw a mouth, just some holes poked through the skin where a mouth would be. In some places his hanging skin didn't cover everything, revealing some bloodied bones. There were broken sections in the bone, visibly infected and leaking pus. The thing never said anything though, just kept inspecting me. There were hundreds of eyes right behind the thing, more than there could possibly be room for. They seemed to stretch back into infinity, shining in some unseen light as they watched me. Sometimes I'd try to turn my face away but those fat hands would grab my chin, force me to look at him and those things just beyond. Every time he'd just inspect me, never saying anything. Never hinting why. Every time there'd be more spectators, more shining eyes in the darkness.

The eyes would talk though. I think it was the eyes anyways. They'd 'hmmm'. They move up and down, side to side, interact with each other. Never with me, only watching me. I could only catch parts of conversations, "He'd be good," "When's it going to get here?" "I'm tired of waiting," and other little plans. I was afraid at first, but after a while I was just anxious. Waiting for the light to come or waiting for them to go through with their plans.

Eventually she stopped conversing with me. She just came in one day and hung up some grey tattered robes. One for me, one for Titus. Then she'd either inject me or leave me for the man-thing. I think the robes pissed him off because after that it started getting a lot worse. At first it was just this air of malevolence, that if I just looked at him wrong he might snap my neck. I held my breath around him, hoping that maybe he'd leave me alone if I did.

Then he acted. I remember the first thing he did rather vividly. He was trying to get a good look at my eye socket, grabbing the bottom bit of skin and pulling it open wider. Then he pulled down even more, slowly peeling away my skin like some sort of grape. Just pulling down, blood bursting forth and coating his hands as he did it. My throat clenched up, cutting off any attempts to scream. He start twirling the excess skin around one of his fat fingers, keeping a strong hold on it and tugging off a long strip from my face. Then he'd just throw it back into the eyes and I'd see them move to try and catch it. He went down to my chest, grabbing what loose skin I had. He squeezed hard, causing it to tear in a few places. He was just slowly pulling it off, fiber by fiber, muscle by muscle. I could hear the wet sound my skin made as it was being removed from my body. He stretched it out enough I could feel every individual sinew snap under the strain. One by one, section by section, until finally he was holding this flap of skin like a wash rag. Then he just discarded it, throwing it back to the hungry eyes.

He pulled one of my hands up, starting to remove the skin on my fingers but the lights flicked on. Everything was blindingly white and he was gone, just her again. She smiled, that bitch must have known what happened. But I tried not to scowl. She had the needle, she had the way to keep that thing from me. She didn't come to me though, went to Titus. My head hung low, throat still clenched up. I could see where my skin had been pulled off my chest, just a bit pale white mark, almost like a jagged square of some sort. I finally passed out, the pain far too great for me to handle.

I woke up coughing. Couldn't see anything, eyes squeezed shut as it felt like I was trying to get rid of a lung. Then I felt that fat hand on my chin. I couldn't stop coughing, but he grabbed my eyes and forced them open. Forced me to see. I could feel his other hand up at my fingers, back where they were before the lights were on. Just like with my chest he went to work, tearing off bits of me to feed that damned horde of hungry eyes. Those vaguely human eyes, those cannibal sons of bitches that were taking from me. I could never scream, just watch on silently as that fat thing scoped out another section of skin to feed to those fucking eyes.

When the lights came on again I was missing most the skin on my fingers, though I couldn't feel the air over the muscle like I did in the darkness. He took off a nice long strip from my forearm, tearing it in half and throw it in two different directions behind him. I was still coughing, actually spitting out a few drops of blood when she came to me. She was rubbing the needle over my arm again, trying to make me a deal.

"Denounce your Emperor, denounce him and I'll give you your release." She bartered with me. When I finally managed to stop coughing I gave a weak nod. I didn't want a repeat, I didn't want to be fed to those eyes.

"The... the Emperor is false. W-weak. Unworthy of praise." It was all I could think of. Barely managed to get that out, my throat felt like it was on fire. But I had to, I had to get my safety, had to get my sanctuary. She gave her smile, yet for once it felt comforting. She was going to give me the needle.

I had no idea how long it went on like that. I'd like to say I resisted her. I'd like to say at least some nights I'd be defiant and suffer the advances of that man thing in the name of my God Emperor, but that would be a damned lie. She started asking more intricate things, and some times I was just too tired to say it right. She never once refused me the drug because I was being defiant. No, no she refused because I'd get the words wrong. Or it wasn't good enough, wasn't honest or angry enough. I'd scream, I'd plead for a second chance. Hell, I'd end up in tears asking for a second chance to denigrate my Emperor, my family, my homeworld, or whatever the hell else she though needed a bashing. She'd never listen though, just say I had my chance. Then she'd shut the lights off and he'd be back in front of me. Inspecting me. Taking bits and pieces of me, throwing it to those hungry eyes. Those fucking eyes.

And then it finally stopped. I woke up to some loud bangs, swinging in the darkness. But there was no man-thing this time, no more eyes. Nothing but the sound of bangs and what sounded like some sort of sleek fire trying to overpower another collection of fire noises. I knew they were familiar but for the life of me I couldn't give them a name. They were distant at first, barely audible in the dark room. They were all flooding in through the place where she left through. Where she came in with my savior.

I had no idea how long it went on like that. I'd like to say I resisted her. I'd like to say at least some nights I'd be defiant and suffer the advances of that man thing in the name of my God Emperor, but that would be a damned lie. She started asking more intricate things, and some times I was just too tired to say it right. She never once refused me the drug because I was being defiant. No, no she refused because I'd get the words wrong. Or it wasn't good enough, wasn't honest or angry enough. I'd scream, I'd plead for a second chance. Hell, I'd end up in tears asking for a second chance to denigrate my Emperor, my family, my homeworld, or whatever the hell else she though needed a bashing. She'd never listen though, just say I had my chance. Then she'd shut the lights off and he'd be back in front of me. Inspecting me. Taking bits and pieces of me, throwing it to those hungry eyes. Those fucking eyes.

And then it finally stopped. I woke up to some loud bangs, swinging in the darkness. But there was no man-thing this time, no more eyes. Nothing but the sound of bangs and what sounded like some sort of sleek fire trying to overpower another collection of fire noises. I knew they were familiar but for the life of me I couldn't give them a name. They were distant at first, barely audible in the dark room. They were all flooding in through the place where she left through. Where she came in with my savior.

I strained to listen, tried to figure out how far away those noises were. Tried to figure out where she was, where the man-thing was. The noises were getting closer. I heard a few jumbled words but I couldn't make out what they were trying to say. Not over the other noises, especially not over the really loud bangs. I then heard the sound of wood slamming into wall just in front of this room. Some one must have been angry with a door, sounded like they almost broke the poor thing down. I heard some panicked foot steps pounding their way to the room. Sounded like the foot steps knocked over a few things, heard some heavy objects crash into the ground.

Then the lights came on in the room and she was in with us. No needle this time though, some sort of metal object. I had to squint to make out what it was. Suddenly everything snapped into place, a wave of memories and realizations coming back. She was holding a gun, some sort of revolver. I wasn't hearing fire, I was hearing lasguns against other lasguns. The bang must have been her revolver since I knew all of her traitors carried their old lasguns. Her perfect hair was disheveled and I could make out a few rips in her robes, burns around the edges.

"They're not going to get you. Damn it, you're mine! Mine!" She shouted, pulling up her revolver and pointing it at something I couldn't see. I heard struggling, skin hitting wall. She didn't waste much time though, just pointed and fired. Not much aim, but I couldn't hear the struggling any more.

Titus. I almost forgot he was in the room with me. She must have shot Titus. She looked over at me, crazed, angry. I was next. I smiled as she marched over to me. I was next, and then that bitch was going to take a shot through the head. I may be dead, but that bitch and that man-thing was going to be coming with me. She pulled the hammer back, pointed it in the general direction of my head, and squeezed the trigger.

Just an empty noise though. She must not have reloaded when she got out of the fight. I heard more foot steps in the room in front of this one, causing her to panic as she tried to hastily reload her revolver. She had taken out two bullets, but had only gotten one into a chamber before one of the guardsmen came in. She looked up in time to catch as a laser going through her head. The bullet she was holding and the one she loaded slipped out onto the floor as she collapsed. The guardsman lowered his lasgun enough that I could see his face. Not just clean shaven, looked like he had never had a beard in the first place. Octus! I tried to form the words to greet but I just couldn't say him. Another guardsmen came up behind him. Roth, it was definitely Roth. I let out a sigh of relief, my head falling down as I finally relaxed.

I was alive. The Emperor had seen fit to spare me.

There we go. No more Slaanesh. When I go through and rewrite this, I think I'm gonna try and put more focus on drug induced paranoia.

TITUS.

TITUS.

WHAT THE FUCK MAN.
WHAT THE FUCK.

I HAET U.

>>3013920
he grabbed my eyes

Needs fixing, he only had one eye left?

I am in love with your story. <3

Good thing Titus bit it, now there's no one left who was witness to his denouncement of the Emperor.

>>3009669
I wonder why you think that anybody who doesn't just mindlessly blow flowers up the fucking guy's skirt is a "typical neckbeard"... or are you one of those oversensitive faggots who think that all criticism is bad? I don't see much "story sucks, kill yourself" as compared to actual advice on ways it could be improved. Maybe you need to go back to your fucking PTA meetings, voting dodgeball out of physical education, along with any other games that promote competitiveness, you fucking pansy.

>>3013996
Crap, I was worried I was going to do that. Usually don't write for one eyed characters. Thanks for catching that.

Also, damn. Keep getting a "this thread does not exist" error.

WHO'S GUNNA BITE IT NEXT?

ROTH? OR OCTUS?

I BET IT'S OCTUS.

>>3014026
As do I.

Roth has always been the jew from the start, and at the end when its just those two, they'll bawww a bit, become mates, then Roth will die and Angricus will have ejaculated over all of your emotions.

Fucking Grimdarkness.

Couldn't a psycher tell if he'd broken and spouted heresy like that? (I only know 40k from /tg/, sorry; still enjoying the story.)

NEXT UP: AN INQUISITORIAL AGENT COMES ALONG AND FINDS OUT THAT THE TWO PRISONERS HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED BEYOND REDEMPTION

BANG BANG THE WITCH IS DEAD

OCTUS AND ROTH GET MARRIED

END OF STORY

>>3014227
Depends on where the psyker focused their efforts in training, if I recall correctly. Don't think they can all read minds.

Moot point though, since they don't just have hundreds of psykers to pass around and some little outpost isn't going to get a psyker when the front lines could use them.

>>3014254
But one is already dead ;_;

>>3014271
Titus comes back long enough to be executed for heresy.

>>3014331

Just as planned...

DONT. KILL. ANOTHER. ONE

SERIOUSLY
STOP KILLING THEM.
STOP IT. NOW.

Also, some more detail on the skin ripping scenes wouldnt hurt the story as a whole. the guy took his finger's skin off, that's gotta hurt, though i dont think the writting passed over such an emotion to me.

>>2992644
Defending the internet since he invented it

It'd be cool if this was really the story of Octus, and how he rose from humble conscript to an officer of the Imperial guard

observed by his friend there from the beginning

>>3015920
WAY TO SPOIL THE ENDING.

FAG.

>>3016028

Anon does not mind that the ending is spoiled, MOAR please! :3

>>3016028
Something seems off here but I'm not sure what.

>>3016472
I'm gonna hold back on the update for tonight. According to my big collected updates notepad, I've pumped out 35k words in seven days. If this thread dies before tomorrow, eh. I'll just make another one.

Fucking post it everywhere so we wont miss it

>>3018260
seconded