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Trygg - somewhere in the underhive.
Chairon awoke. But wished he hadn't. He grimaced, because with consciousness came pain. A dozen injuries, maybe more. His bionic arm was missing. Torn off during the fighting. How was he still alive?
'You're finally awake then.' Said a voice.
Chairon looked towards the person who had spoken. Sitting beside a fire, a woman, dressed in mismatched armour and clothing. Beside her was a rifle, kroot by the look of it. She wore a headscarf, patched and frayed. He was no expert, but it was the most garish headscarf he had ever seen.
'Where am I?' He asked.
'A chamber near gate 38. The entrance is barricaded. We should be safe here.'
'Is the fire wise?' He said.
She pointed upwards.
'Ventilation shafts suck all the warmth out. Thought a little heat would be welcome.'
'Don't have to say thank you or anything.' She said, but the sarcasm was lost him.
'Thank you? For what?'
'For what!? How about dragging your heavy arse out of that ambush!'
'That was you? Why?'
'My good deed for the day!' She said, shrugging her shoulders. 'And if anyone turns up and you're with me, I can maybe convince them not to shoot me.'
'Shoot you? Why?'
'Why? Oh, I'm the enemy.' She said nonchalantly.
She held up her hands. All three of them. She had a third arm, it had been concealed beneath her jacket. But it was different. The arm itself was covered in chitin like shell. The hand, almost claw like. The biology was unmistakable. A genestealer.
'A hybrid!' He said.
He started to get up, but struggled, his injuries were severe. Even an Astartes couldn't heal that fast.
'I'm not a threat! I'm not part of the cult! I was trying to get off this rock as quickly as I could! But then you and your lot sealed the blast doors! I've been trapped down here ever since!'
'But if you insist, your bolt gun is over there.' She gestured to the far end of the room.
She hadn't tried to stop him. If she had been part of the cult, she would have slit his throat while he slept, he realised.
'Where are my brothers?' He asked.
'They're dead, space marine. They're all dead.'
'I must go to them.' He announced, attempting to get to his feet.
'Sit down, you big, stupid lump! You're injured! I couldn't get your armour off to check properly, but I think you're okay.'
'Besides, what would be the point? There's no one left, space marine. They're all gone.'
She poked the fire with metal rod, causing the fuel packs to snap in the heat.
'I know what it's like to lose everyone.' She said. 'There's guilt because you survived. You feel like you have to do something, to honour the memory of them perhaps? But they're not coming back. It's just you. Alone against the world.'
'Why didn't you join them? The uprising?'
'Like I said, not my cult. Not my family.'
'But your are a hybrid, how does belonging to a different cult matter?'
'I'm different. It's a long story. But I have no desire to join another one. Not that I didn't feel them. I heard the patriarch, in my dream's. I heard him calling to me.'
She held out her hand, pinching her fingers together.
'I was this close to putting a bullet in my head! This close! I won't go back to that! I refuse!'
She was silent. Just staring into the fire, lost in memory of a time long since gone.
'Have you ever thought about how this could be an opportunity?' She asked him.
'What do you mean?'
'I know you lot are into duty and honour, all that stuff. But they wouldn't miss you. They think you're dead. They'll put your name in a book, maybe light a candle. But do you think they really care?'
'They'll find your metal arm, some blood on it. Believe me, compared to what's left of some of the others? That's a lot!'
'You are not being particularly respectful!' He accused her.
'Yeah? Well. They would have shot me on sight, wouldn't they? So would you.' She replied.
'How would this be an opportunity?' He eventually asked.
'I got a job offer, but I could use a partner. The one I had lined up, well, he had an accident with a chainsword. A big scary lump like you could be useful! There's currency in it! An even split!'
'I am Astartes! Do you think I could be so easily seduced!?'
'Just think about it. The doors are still sealed. We got nothing but time.' She said.
'What is your name? I cannot keep calling you hybrid.'
'I've been called worse.' She replied. 'But my name is Louisa. Louisa Mandragora. And you are?'
'I am Meduras Chairon of the Ultramarines chapter.'
'Well, merry meet stranger! Stranger no more!'
'What does that mean?' He asked.
'Forget it, just something that someone I knew once said.' Replied Louisa.
'Tell me about this job you have been offered.' He asked.
... A beginning?