Duty

by Sherman Bishop

"All is ready." The hollow chamber echoed the words of the Magos Biologis. He waited, uneasy in the intense heat of the many furnaces, for a reply. A raspy synthesized voice resounded within the chamber after a short time, "Await me there." The   nothing for a time, "As you wish Dragonpriest," he cautiously responded as he rushed back to the comparative confronts of the hallway beneath the citadel. The Halls of Flames, sancuary of the Dragonpriests for the ritual of Vulkan were as a foreboding a place as he had ever seen, he pitied anyone taken there.

Seimalis Sarr Dragonpriest of the 4th cohort Draco Legion, finished his ritual. Slowly he rose exhaling the dark smoke of the burning oils and donned his crimson helmet. As he placed the sacred helm over his blasted visage he wondered, if his men new how true the moniker they had placed on him was. Grimskull, feared by normally fearless marines, his word was like unto that of the Wyrm himself. And grim indeed were the weights which he bore upon his broad shoulders.

Sarr entered the lab without pomp or announcement, the first biologis tech who saw him let out a cry of alarm. For having just left the Hall of Flames his armor still smoked in the cool air of the complex. Fitting, Sarr thought, you should fear me for you are only human. Only human, only….For a moment he pondered the root of this thought.

"Exalted one?.." queried a concerned looking Magos. "Are you ready?"

"Initiate" rasped from the metallic maw of the dragon priest. "and leave me…" He added.

The ancient machine blinked, filled with static, and finally formed the images he was there to see.

The audio slowly began…..

"VC23..our secondary target has been neutralized over."

"Continue on your vector and establish positions at the juncture of the primary thoroughfares" came the reply hissing into the Drakes headset.

"VC23.. Confirmed over…."

"Scorched earth" Hissed the com-link

"Confirmed…No survivors….understood"

Suddenly the auspex flicked to life, All the members of viper clutch 23 pivoted to target the area designated by the instrument. Choked with thick black smoke and amid the blackened skeleton of the city, they relied on the instrument more than usual. An emaciated filthy child stumbled out of a gutted building.

Training dictated that the shot belonged to the nearest Viper. Logun looked at the frail target, he thought for a second who's child it was, was it a boy or girl? As he touched the trigger of his sniper rifle the questions became moot. The unit continued on the designated path past the crumpled corpse of the child, deeper into the hellish urban warzone. In this hell, we are the demons thought Logun. In the hours since the combat drop he had seen more death and destruction than ever before in his career. The ork invasion on Palfos, was one thing but this, these were humans, imperials. As he struggled to reconcile his mixed emotions he was startled back to reality by a thunderous retort.

"Mortar!, at 3….Take it out!" bellowed the Drake on his headset.

The shell landed and killed one of the newer members of the squad. Before the crew could fire again they were laying in the mud, cut down by the expert snipers of the 23rd. After pausing a moment for the Drake to destroy the weapons then pressed on.

"VC23 report." Came a call from the Vindicator squadron tailing the squad."We heard an explosion."

"Clear, one to pick up" responded the Drake.

"Acknowledged"

The orbital bombardment of the city had left little untouched, Logun couldn't get the smell of burnt flesh out of his nose even with the rebreather, the air was thick with it. He knew the Dragon squads were scouring the city for remnants of the rebel forces, their hellish weapons searing the flesh from the bones of the enemy. But not just them, anyone within the city, this troubled Logun far more than he would ever admit.

The heavy clamor of machinery filled the air. Instantly the vipers disappeared into the surrounding debris, as a Leman Russ Class MBT pushed it's way through some rubble at the end of the block. The lumbering metallic beast shuddered to a stop and the main gun swiveled towards the scouts position.

"Scatter" called the Drake as the tank fired its huge gun. The blast churned the pavement and pelted Loguns position. The Drake and 4 other vipers were gone, he quickly assessed his chances and called for assistance.

"Taking ordnance fire….require immediate counter-armor support" called Logun.

"Hold position….Support confirmed."

Before the ringing in his ears stopped the shrill whine of Speeders could be heard. Three of the sleek machines streaked down the narrow roads and lined up for an attack run on the stationary tank. The blasts from the huge Multi-meltas tore through the armor of the tank with ease, the sound of screaming metal almost drowned out the sound of screaming men.

"Viper…VC23…"

"Acknowledged….this is VC23..down to one man….Viper Logun Egrof."

"Continue…Primary target is unchanged.. commencing download" Hissed the mechanical voice.

Logun took out his relay, the small display showed the target. His hearts skipped a beat, an adeptus sororitus? How could this be?

"Acknowledged…command, target received over"

"Highest priority…all other priorities rescinded"

"Understood…"

He understood, he was to kill this servant of the emperor at any cost, including his own life. Steeling his nerve, he avoided looking at the mangled remains of his unit. He opened a small packet on his belt and removed a small stylized imperial eagle. This one looked more draconian, like the Kalia of legend. He put the necklace around his neck silently calling on its ferocity and readied himself for the task ahead. Almost without thinking he smeared dark blood-soaked mud onto the gleaming metal to avoid giving up his position.

In the distance he could hear the speeders moving off and the deep hum of the vindicators no longer emanated from his flank, he was very alone.

After moving several Kilometers deeper into the enemy territory Logun had a turn of good luck. The sewer system was intact in the area around the target so he made admirable use of these to eliminate several guards. Soon he had positioned himself to observe the bunker where the intel said the target would be within the ruined city. He knew it was unlikely he could escape if he were spotted when he took the shot. He pondered the reason for killing the Adeptus, even as he readied the weapon of her distuction. He prepared the rifle in the prescribed manner and waited. In the distance, behind him he could here the sounds of sporadic fighting.

As the fighting moved closer, activity within the complex increased. He caught several glimpses of the target as many soldiers moved about. Finally she moved out where he could see her, as he aimed he heard a slight click behind and to the right of his position. The crosshairs rested on her tawny hair as she emerged from the bunker, behind him he heard the distinctive sound of a plasma weapon just before it fires. He squeezed the trigger, the targets hair flitted up as if the wind had caught it, then quickly became stained bright red as she staggered and fell. The plasma pistol discharged and Loguns world went black.

Epilogue

Sarr had been within the lab for several hours. He flicked a small switch which summoned the Magos Biologis back within the ancient room.

"Fix him, assign him to my cohort with the rank of Drake, I will oversee him."

The Magos Biologis sensed something in his words, but chose not to question, "He will be fit within 13 cycles most exalted. His injuries are quite severe and require many bionics……"His voice tailed as the Dragonpriest turned his gaze on him. The Featureless black eyes set into the bright crimson helm seemed to bore through him. He stuttered to continue "Yes, it will be done"

"Seven cycles, then send him to the Hall of Flames within the Forge….No longer." The words echoed within the metal chamber, then without another word "Grimskull" left. Logun hadn't seen the true face of the enemy. He had doubt, but did as ordered even in the face of his own death. It was hard to guess what the young marine thought was going on. In the Hall of Flames, Sarr and Epistolary Drukha would explain it to him. Then the final judgement would be rendered. In some ways Sarr thought it unkind to save the boy, but it was required. The danger was too great, the need too urgent.

The Magos Biologis set about resetting the equipment which had displayed the memories of the mangled viper which lay in the next room under the always watchful eye of a adeptus mechanicus. Soon he would walk among the ranks of the dreaded 4th cohort, soon he would think back on these tribulations as "the good ol' days"

Sarr And Epitolary Drakhu may be seen on my site.

The Wyrms Lair
Home of the Draco Legion