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“Leta Victoria Middenlocke, for your crimes against the imperium and the planet of Amern I hereby sentence you to serve in the army of the holy God emperor of mankind, where you may cleanse yourself of this crime by dying in his name.”
Leta remembered the judges voice as if he was stood in front of her, she remembered the cries of her cousin, Peggi, the wails of her Aunt Millie as she was dragged away, even now, even in complete darkness, covered in blood and filth, her breath fogging up her scavenged gas mask and deafening her own ears.
Was this hell? Was this her punishment?
A gurgle, a rasp from those…those whatever the fuck they were as one ran at her, a temporary flash of light as she fired her lasrifile.
She knew these tunnels were a death trap, she’d said as much to Ozark, the leader of their little group of criminals as he’d led them in, he’d told her to shut her whore mouth or he’d shut it for good.
He’d died first, his meaty fists too clumsy to get his mask on in time, his eyes had bled, his mouth frothed, he’d died like a rabid dog, seizing and pissing himself on the tunnel floor.
They’d all died in the end, all three of the men she was with, either to the gas or these..people? They were humans, but crazed, Den had turned mad when the gas hit him, he’d stabbed Kart to death as he bled from his eyes and ears, cackling, Bent put him down, before another madman ran him through with a sharpened piece of metal, only for him to meet his end by Leta herself pulling the trigger.
Yet she was alive, somehow, how long had passed? She had slept, she thinks..slumped against the wall, the smell of rot and decay clinging to her nostrils and invading her dreams.
She’d tried to find her way out but it was so dark she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face and try as she might her eyes simply refused to adapt to the darkness.
Her throat was dry and her stomach ached, when was she last time she drank or ate? Was she doomed to roam these tunnels until her body collapsed from exhaustion?
That's if the madness didn’t get to her first.
She swore she could hear whispering, she couldn’t make out any words but it was as if she was in a crowded room but with no one around her.
Fuck, she wished the judge has sentenced her to be hung instead, a quick drop then a short stop, nothing compared to this.
The silence was suffocating, but the silence meant she wasn’t about to be attacked, she wasn’t sure what she preferred.
The silence was broken by boot falls, several pairs, she braced herself, if she was going to die she wouldn’t go quietly.
At the end of the tunnel, was that light? Didn’t they say thats what you saw just before you died?
“Fething hell..”
A voice, odd, they never spoke before.
“They’re guard.”
“Must be that scouting party we were sent after..”
“Look at them, half dead it’d be a mercy to just shoot ‘em.”
She raised her lasrifle “Don’t.”
That was all she could find the energy to say, all she could see in her dazzled eyesight was a silhouette, a man, the one who had mentioned the scouting party, he sounded posh, must be an officer, it wasn’t Parcs, he’d have shot her by now, bastard he’s the one who sent them to this death.
“Its been seven days how in the-”
Seven days?
“Mask.” She responded, which must have taken all the remaining energy she had, because she felt herself pass out, her body finally giving in.
X
“Mask.”
The girl mumbled, her voice barely loud enough to find its way to them, she then promptly collapsed, until she’d spoken it was hard to tell that she was a girl at all, caked in blood and filth as she was.
“Well..that was anticlimactic.” Rawne muttered, relaxing slightly “All that, and then she keels over.”
“She aint dead.” Bragg countered, “Her mask is still fogging up.”
Of all the things Gaunt had expected to find in these tunnels, a terrified half dead girl hadn’t been on his list, if at all.
“Bragg, go pick her up, we’ll take her back to camp.”
“Is it worth it?” Rawne asked before sarcastically adding “Sir.”
“Your kindness never ceases to amaze me, Major.” Gaunt responded, he was growing tired of these tunnels and his mask was starting to make him claustrophobic
“How do we know she hasn’t already gone nutty?”
“She didn’t shoot at us.” Bragg responded, walking past Gaunt and the ever so kind Major, towards the girl “She could’ve the moment she saw the lights, the others did.”
“Of course, far be it my place to question anything Gaunt has to say.”
Gaunt bit his tongue.
“Come on, let's get the hell out of here.”
Bragg returned to them, the girl in his arms, she looked even smaller compared to him, Gaunt frowned behind his mask, how did she end up in the 80th? She looked like she could barely hurt a fly.
Then again, the bodies at her feet would say different.
X
Dordan and Lesp were waiting for them at the medical building when they arrived. The girl was set into a stretcher and wheeled inside, Dorden wiped his glasses on his sleeve.
“What happened to the poor thing?”
“Her squad must have been ambushed in the mining tunnels, the cultists there are using some sort of gas..” Gaunt inhaled deeply without meaning too, the cold air stung his lungs but it was fresh at the very least “She sounded sane enough, but she’d been down there seven days, Throne only knows if that's the case.”
“I will restrain her just to be on the safe side, sir.” Dorden placed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose “Shall I inform you if there’s any changes to her condition?”
“Yes, I’d like to interview her, according to Parcs, those mines were empty and sealed up..”
“You think he knew?”
“I think Parcs dislikes the men he commands and doesn’t care if they die.”
Dorden noded, sadly “Anything else, sir?”
“No, that’ll be all.”
Inside the medical building, the ordallies had already been stripping the newest patient, she was filthy, but Gaunt had said she had been down in those tunnels for a full week so that was to be expected.
“What name do her tags say?” he asked
“P 13331”
Dorden frowned, that wasn’t a helpful answer.
“Very well, clean her and give her a gown, I shall examine her then.”
“Yes sir.”
He glanced at the girl's face, his eyes lingering for only a moment. She had still been wearing her gas mask when they brought her in, but with it removed she looked very young, youthful skin with a few freckles dotted across its surface, and a black star tattoo under her right eye, around her neck on a separate chain from her tags was another necklace, a circle medallion with the insignia of a wolf in the center.
Dorden wondered if it was some sort of gang symbol, it would explain how she ended up as part of the pineal legion.
He turned to walk towards his office, well he’d know soon enough, P 13331 must have a file on her somewhere, and he’d need to find it.