Chapter 13: Perchance to Dream pt. I

Word Count : 6326

When Krieg dreamed, it was a rarity for him to ever remember what the dream was about, or even if he had dreamt in the first place. As such, he found nothing strange when he woke up again with no recollection of his dreams. What he did find strange was the noises around him. He had expected to be met by that infernal heart monitor's constant beeping, not the moaning of dead and dying men. Instantly, he was on high alert as he flew up into a sitting position on his bed. What he found chocked him to the core.

He was no longer lying on one of the soft beds in the Cave's infirmary, but on a makeshift stretcher in a field hospital. He knew it was a field hospital due to the hundreds of wounded soldiers lying all over the place. But Krieg nearly had a heart attack when he saw the uniforms lying around the place. Most were of some unknown regiment, but he easily spotted a handful of Death Korps uniforms.

Confusion went through his head as he glanced around the huge tent in a stupefied daze. Where was he? What happened to the Cave? Why were there Krieg Guardsmen here? Something else suddenly struck him as he checked his body. He was wearing a light tunic, pants and underwear, but as he rolled up the tunic he found something truly bizarre. He had possessed scars long before arriving on Earth. But the thing was, he could not find any of the scars inflicted on him by the Joker.

The smiley on his chest was gone, his toes were not crushed, and his arms were free of letters. But most importantly, the Glasgow smile had disappeared, as he found when running his hands over his cheeks. Coherent thoughts vanished in a heartbeat, leaving him frozen up in incomprehension. 'What in the name of the Emperor is going on around here?' he asked himself.

So caught up in his own confusion, he did not notice that one of the medics had seen he was awake and had run out of the tent. It was a few moments later that he returned, with six other people accompanying him. At the front of the group was a Death Korps officer, along with a short man wearing a skull-shaped helmet. The rest were apparently guards as they walked in formation behind them.

"Soldier," the officer announced coldly the moment they came to a stop next to Krieg's bed. Having been so occupied by his own thoughts, Krieg had never noticed their approach. But nevertheless, years of ruthless training kicked in as without even thinking, Krieg had risen from his bed and was standing at attention like a good soldier.

"Identification number," the officer demanded. Krieg's response was instantaneous.

"Sir, 769355-637566-Keled, sir!" so many questions swam through his mind at that moment, and he dearly wished to have them answered. But he knew his place here. He was not allowed to speak unless he was given permission by his commanding officer. But he did manage to catch a glimpse of the soldiers accompanying the officer. Inquisitorial Stormtroopers. And it was not difficult to pinpoint their commander. The shorter man with the helmet was wearing an Inquisitor badge.

"You will accompany us. Any attempts at resisting will result in your termination," the officer intoned, right before the Stormtroopers stepped forward. It was a clear sign; get moving, or things would get ugly. So Krieg wordlessly fell in line and was led out of the tent. Krieg could hardly believe his eyes. He was right in an Imperial camp, with thousands of soldiers moving this way and that, tanks silently standing in line and hundreds of artillery pieces firing away with thunderous booms.

None of it made sense to Krieg. This did not exist on Earth, this was just supposed to be part of Krieg's abandoned past. It just was not impossible for this to be real. But no matter how much he tried to tell himself that, he could not deny the truth that was staring him right in the eye. This was the Imperial Guard. This was a world locked in war with one of humanity's enemies.

This was home.

"All of you, wait outside. Soldier, come with me," the Inquisitor spoke monotonously as they stood just outside a field command center. The officer and the stormtroopers instantly stepped back as the Inquisitor opened the door. Krieg hesitated for a brief moment before he stepped in, followed by the Inquisitor. Navigating through the crowded command center, the duo eventually arrived outside of an office. Without even bothering to knock, the Inquisitor opened the door and stepped inside, followed by a heavily confused Krieg.

Inside, they found yet another Inquisitor sitting at a table. This one was not wearing a helmet, displaying the slightly wrinkled face and gray hair. Obviously he was a man past his prime. But as he looked up from his task of filling out some paperwork, there was no denying the vigorous strength still burning in his eyes.

"Thank you, Dante. That will be all. You may return to your other duties," the elderly Inquisitor spoke calmly. The helmet wearing one gave a short nod before he exited the office, closing the door behind him.

"Brilliant young boy, that one. Currently on loan from his mentor as I required some assistance," the elderly Inquisitor remarked before a wistful look entered his eyes, "I feel that a very unique adventure awaits him in the future," as if suddenly noticing Krieg for the first time, he turned his attention fully to the Krieg Guardsman standing in his office.

"Inquisitor Adrian Forge, Ordo Hereticus," he introduced himself before gesturing towards a chair in front of his desk, "please, take a seat," Krieg did just that, not uttering a word. A few moments of silence followed as the two of them just sat there and stared at each other, eyes devoid of any manner of emotions.

"I can only imagine that you have many questions right about now. But before I can answer them, I need you to answer a few of mine," Adrian eventually spoke again as he leaned back in his seat. Krieg remained silent, just nodding his head to indicate that he understood.

"Fist off; do you know where you are at the moment?" it was a simple question, with a simple answer.

"No, sir," Adrian's reaction to that answer was a slow nodding of his head.

"Then what was the last thing you remembered before waking up in the infirmary?" he eventually inquired. Here, Krieg hesitated. Could he really tell him what he remembered? About what he had gone through these last months? What would happen if he told the truth? Would he be dismissed as a lunatic? Arrested on charges of heresy? Executed even? It made him uncertain, something he rarely was.

"You would not believe me if I told you," he answered evasively. It was so against his training to evade a question like that, but he could not help it here.

"Try me," Adrian challenged. In the end, Krieg decided that he could not lie to a commanding officer like that. So he told him the truth. He recalled how the battle of Helsink went, how the Warp had claimed him only to strand him on a foreign Earth. He told the Inquisitor about the Justice League, and his time fighting alongside its heroes in service to mankind. He finished his tale with the torture he went through at the hands of the Joker. When all was said and done, Krieg silently awaited the unavoidable death sentence he was undoubtedly about to receive.

"Well, I have to admit. That was one of the strangest, yet entertaining stories I've heard this week," Adrian commented humorously as he leaned back in his seat with a smile on his lips. That was certainly not the reaction that Krieg had expected. At all.

"Sir?" he asked in confusion. Instantly, all the humor vanished from the Inquisitor's face, making Krieg worry if he may have overstepped his boundaries by speaking without permission. It had been several months since he last met an Imperial commander, he was a little bit rusty. Adrian just brought out a cigarette from his pocket.

"I suppose you deserve an explanation on what's going on, so listen carefully," Adrian began as lit the cigarette, taking a deep draft before blowing the smoke back out, "the siege of Helsink ended over 6 months ago, and your regiment was dispatched to another warzone. A neighboring system which had been invaded by Chaos warbands," he momentarily paused in his explanation, obviously gauging Krieg's reaction to the news. As expected from a Death Korps Guardsman, he remained stoically unchanged.

"However, our forces ran into unforeseen trouble the moment we landed on the planet. Chaos sorcerers had been conducting a ritual that unleashed a massive wave of psychic energy over us. Our attack was close to collapsing then as thousands of soldiers fell into comas, and even more were driven insane and turned on their comrades," there was a definitive hint of anger coloring his words as he spoke, a sentiment that Krieg shared as his hands tightened into fists. He hated Chaos with all his being, and he hated psykers and sorcery just as much.

"Thankfully, we were able to drive them back and establish a foothold. Unfortunately, we did not know how to awaken those that had fallen into comas, you among them. We have kept you all under surveillance for the past three weeks, watching as your numbers dwindled as your comrades either slowly awoke from the coma or simply passed away. Those few that have awoken have all told tales of fantastic and even bizarre adventures that they experienced," here, a light chuckle escaped Adrian's throat, "Hell, just yesterday I listened to one soldier telling how she found a strange world by falling down a rabbit hole,"

But Krieg was no longer paying attention to Adrian's words, his mind having withdrawn in shock. He spoke as though it had all been a dream. But that could not be, could it? It had all been so very real to him.

"Sir, does that mean…" he began hesitantly. He feared that he may have overstepped his boundaries this time, but he could not contain himself. He needed to know, he needed it confirmed. Even though he already suspected what the answer would be. Adrian meanwhile did not appear to be the least bit angered by Krieg's half-finished question. If anything, he gave off the feeling of being sympathetic.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. It was all nothing more than a dream, an illusion conjured up by the powers of Chaos. Most likely as a way to trap your mind in a world it perceived as real, and would therefore never see a reason to wake up," he answered honestly. Krieg was at a loss of word. All that he had been through, the trials he had faced, the enemies he defeated, the world he protected. None of it had been real? To be fully honest, Krieg… no, Keled. Krieg was the name he chose for when he served the Justice League, and so he should no carry it anymore now that he was back with the Death Korps. But to be completely honest, Keled did not know whether he was sad or relieved to learn the truth.

But in the end, he decided that his personal feelings on the matter had no relevance. It was all over now, and he was back where he belonged, that was all that mattered now.

A few hours later, and Keled was back in his comfortable uniform, lasgun in hand as he sat in the cramped compartment of a chimera destined for the frontline. With him was a mismatch group of Krieg Guardsmen, engineers and even a Commissar. Like Keled, they were all fresh out of the field hospital and returning to their posts. No one said a word as the transport rumbled along the road, no one so much as a made a sound.

Though he remained calm on the outside, Keled was feeling a sliver of concern. It had been quite a while since he last stood alongside his true comrades, felt like ages to him. He worried that his time away will have made him rusty, made him lose some of his edge. He swiftly crushed those doubts, realizing the danger they posed to his ability to serve faithfully on the field. 'Have faith in the Emperor, and nothing will be impossible,' he thought reverently to himself.

Any further thoughts were put on hold as the Chimera came to a lurching stop, and the rear hatch opened up. The passengers all wordlessly walked out into the radiant sunshine. While his fellow passengers were quick to scatter in all different directions, already knowing their proper place and destination, Keled lingered behind as he found himself captivated by the sight laid out before him.

Trenches, bunkers, mortar pits, barbed wires, murder holes. Stretching for miles in both directions and all bearing the telltale signs of Death Korps engineering. This was a true and proper frontline, and Keled instantly felt at home. This was where he belonged, not in some misbegotten crusade to halt crime alongside xenos and mutants.

"You, soldier!" someone suddenly called to him. Turning to the direction of the voice, Keled found a Krieg Watchmaster gathering up a squad of stray Guardsmen, "You are with my squad," wordlessly, Keled walked over and fell in line as the Watchmaster led the squad of twenty Guardsmen towards the front trenches. And as they moved onward, Keled was once again struck by the stark difference between the Death Korps and the Justice League. Back on Earth, everyone tried to be nice and polite, smiling and greeting him as if they were old comrades.

Here, there was no such nonsense. There were no greetings, no words spoken between passing soldiers. They did not even acknowledge his presence beyond moving aside so they did not collide, no smiles or nods. Here, friendship and camaraderie were nonexistent, they were all merely faceless drones destined to die an anonymous death. Many would undoubtedly find it disturbing, but Krieg felt relieved. Attention was not something he thrived on, being a mere nobody again was a welcomed change of pace.

The thunderous noise of artillery fire suddenly boomed across the frontline, but hardly anyone flinched and just kept on working like nothing had happened. Finally, Keled's new squad reached what he assumed was their new post. It was a section of the trenchline with a heavy bolter nest and an underground shelter with bunk beds tightly crammed together.

"Find yourselves a vacant bed, and then await further orders," the Watchmaster ordered. The squad instantly split up in search of an unoccupied bed. The others seemed to have more luck, but Keled was left wandering a bit as he found Death Korps gear laid out on every bed he passed. It was as he passed another apparently occupied bunk that his dilemma was solved.

"You can take the lower one. 189266-717922-Jensen was killed this morning. No one has so far bothered to remove his gear," a soldier lying on the upper bed commented without even taking his eyes off the ceiling which he had been staring at for hours. Keled said nothing, just carefully removed Jensen's gear before dropping his own on the bed. There were no further words exchanged between them as Keled seated himself in his new bed. And with nothing else to do, he felt the need to brush up his knowledge on Imperial Guard doctrine. Would be a bit of a waste to be executed by his own commander before the enemy even had a chance to kill him. So he brought out his newest copy of The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer and settled down for many hours of reading.

Hours later, a whistle blowing shattered Keled's concentration, and he was instantly on his feet with a lasgun in hand. The other Guardsmen present had a similar reaction, and so they were all rushing out into the cold night air in seconds. Without having to be told, over fifty Guardsmen gathered together in front of a Watchmaster standing on a crate.

"Listen up. The heretics have damaged the outer layers of our defenses, and so a team of Engineers are being dispatched to repair the damage. You are to accompany them and provide cover. And let me make this clear, those Engineers are worth more than all of you combined," that last bit was unmistakable to every gathered Death Korps soldier. Those Engineers needed to return back alive, the Guardsmen did not. No complaints were raised over their assignment as meat shields, there was nothing to complain about. Death Korps soldier, regardless of rank, were all destined to die on the field of battle. It did not matter to them if it happened today or tomorrow, they would greet death with the same stoic resolution.

"Move out," the Watchmaster ordered, right before he led the Guardsmen out of the trenches and into no man's land. It was a quiet affair as the soldiers silently stalked through the blasted and desolate landscape. This was purely a repair work, so exposing their position was not advised. When they had advanced almost a third of the distance between the opposing trenchlines, the force halted and the Engineers stepped forward to work on the concealed mines and the barbed wire that had been ripped apart.

No words or instructions passed between the soldiers, all of them merely waiting for the mission to be completed. Minute after minute ticked by in silent alertness. Everyone present knew that each second they remained out in the open like this increased the risk of the enemy spotting them. Tension mounted, Keled's grip on his lasgun tightened as his eyes tried to pierce the suffocating darkness that lied like a blanked across the world. Then, he saw something. A shape, glimpsed just at the edge of his vision, but was gone when he looked. Glaring into the darkness, he tried to catch a glimpse of what exactly he had seen.

But he still saw nothing, it was all quiet. Normally, he would have dismissed what he had seen as a mere figment of his imagination, but then the teachings he had received with the Justice League came back to him, and it made him doubt. Despite having all been a dream, those skills were not something one should easily discard. So he slowly began to back up, crouching low to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Finding a large enough rock jutting out of the ground, Keled pressed his back against it as he tried to remain unseen.

He waited in that position for what felt like ages before his patience was rewarded. A wheezing breath, so quiet that Keled could barely hear it, reached his ears as a thin hand, almost nothing more than skin and bones, appeared in his line of sight. Around the rock's corner, a gangly creature shuffled forward on all fours, wearing nothing more than a loincloth. Its skin was pale and slimy, like a slug which had grown limbs. Spindly arms and legs supported a malnourished frame that looked more dead than alive. A bald head that looked far too big to belong to such a thin creature shifted back and forth. Bulbous, fish-like eyes constantly peeled for danger.

But it failed to notice Keled, who was mere feet away from it. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he imagined blasting a hole in that disgusting creature's head with his lasgun. Slowly, his fingers tightened around the trigger in preparation to make that dream a reality. But he stopped himself. A gunshot would alert the enemy of their presence, and that could spell disaster for the whole mission. So his grip on his lasgun slackened, as he waited for a chance to strike.

He was soon given his chance as the creature cautiously shuffled forward, presenting its back to Keled. A fact he was more than happy to take advantage of as his hand tightened around the combat knife sheathed in his belt. Slowly, he rose from his position, and before the creature even knew what was happening, Keled tackled it from behind, a hand was firmly placed over its filthy mouth before it could scream as he drove the knife into its throat and then began to repeatedly stab it in the throat to make sure it was dead.

It thrashed in his grip like a fish dragged out of water, and Keled almost lost his grip on it, but it quickly lost its energy to fight back. Only when it had stopped moving altogether did Keled cease his assault and let the creature drop dead to the ground. Rapid footsteps alerted Keled of more unknowns approaching, so he grabbed his lasgun and made ready. It proved to be false alarm, as it was only the Watchmaster and a trio of Death Korps Guardsmen, no doubt investigating the ruckus.

"Hold your fire, the enemy has been neutralized," Keled announced while holding his hands in a non-threatening gesture. They took a few seconds to survey the area before they seemed to accept his words as true.

"Report," the Watchmaster ordered as he lowered his pistol and sabre.

"A mutant, probably a scavenger, almost snuck up on us. I managed to neutralize it before it gave away our position. But I do not know if there are more out there," the moment those words left Keled's mouth, human-like howls pierced the silent night like a dagger. In that instant, it was like the whole world came alive again, as flares went up into the air on both sides of the field. The Krieg forces out in no man's land thus found themselves facing off against packs of disgusting mutants rooting around the field. While both sides were caught off guard by this, the Death Korps' training and discipline made them act almost instantly.

And just as the mutants seemed to get over their shock and prepared to attack, the Krieg Guardsmen had already formed firing lines and were pouring out las rounds at their targets. Dozen fell in the first salvo, and more dead piled up as the second salvo hit home. But more of the abominations charged over their dead and dying kin, screaming at the top of their lungs.

As the creatures drew closer, Keled calmly raised his gun and took aim at the approaching monsters. A squeeze of the trigger later, and one mutant fell back with a hole in its head. Shifting his aim a bit to the right, he took out a second with a shot to the chest. Another came up right behind where the second one had been, and Keled took a deep breath before he sent another las round slamming into this monster. A shot to the stomach, but it was not stopping and instead kept charging. Keled was unconcerned as he placed another shot in its shoulder before finally felling it with a headshot.

But despite killing four more mutants, the disgusting creatures would not stop, and it soon turned to close quarter combat. One attacked him head-on, swinging a spiked club above its head like a maniac. A quick shot to the throat a point blank dealt with him. But another one attacked from the side, a thin and gangly creature with a mask made out of human skin. It swung an axe at him, which he dodged. It tried again with an overhead strike, which he sidestepped and caused the axe to get buried in the ground. Not giving his opponent a chance to recover its weapon, Keled stepped forward and rammed his bayonet into the guts, giving it a nice twist before drawing it out again.

But another came right at him, a three-eyed thing wielding a pair of meat hooks. The fiend cackled maniacally as it swung the hooks at Keled. He sidestepped, dodged, blocked, ducked, parried and then counterattacked with a thrust. But this one was a bit cleverer than the ones before, as it not only sidestepped the attack, but trapped Keled's lasgun with its meat hooks before yanking the weapon out of his grasp and throwing it aside.

Howling in joy, the mutant renewed its assault, foregoing technique in favour of wildly slashing at Keled. He was steadily forced back, desperately trying to find an opening in the whirlwind of slashes unleashed by the mutant. He finally found his opening when the creature accidentally overextended itself in an attempt to cut Keled's head off. Keled immediately took advantage of this and ducked low to sweep its legs from underneath it. The moment its face made contact with the ground, Keled straddled it and drove a knife into the back of its skull.

Making sure it was properly dead by breaking its neck, Keled then got back up in search of his lasgun. He did not receive a chance to properly look for it before more mutants attacked. The first one leaped at him like an animal, and ended getting its throat sliced open in mid-jump. The second attacked from the front with a chainsaw while its companion snuck up behind with a meat cleaver. Keled calmly sidestepped the overhead strike from the chainsaw before slamming his elbow into the scale-faced mutant's throat. Faster than the last mutant had expected, Keled had turned around and caught its hand as it had tried to sever his spine from behind.

Twisting the wrist until it broke, Keled swiftly snatched up the cleaver as it fell from a useless grip and cleaved the screaming mutant's skull in half down the middle. That only left the one with a chainsaw, clutching its throat as it struggled to breathe. But Keled noticed another group of mutants coming at him, so he hoisted the chainsaw-wielding one up on its feet before ramming a grenade down its throat. Then he kicked the mutant and sent it tumbling straight into its comrades. Keled did not wait around to see the result, instead diving for cover in a nearby blast hole. Mere seconds later, a small explosion sent various body parts flying all over the place.

Keled was instantly up again and back in the fray, stabbing a mutant in the throat, breaking the arm of another before burying the knife in its head, shattering the jaw of a third in order to steal its sword and gut the mutant with it, breaking the neck of the next one he faced and finally bash the head in of another one with a rock he snatched up from the ground. Next to him, another Krieg Guardsman fell to the ground without a head, and Keled swiftly picked up the lasgun still clutched in the dead soldier's hand. He offered a silent thanks to the deceased man by avenging his sacrifice, as three las rounds killed the disgusting mutant holding his severed head towards the skies like an offering.

He soon spotted another mutant, scurrying along like a dog in search of a fresh kill, and sent the abomination back to the abyss that spawned it with a single shot. That alerted another mutant, a two meter tall creature with horns growing out of its skull, of Keled's presence. And with a bellow that sounded more animal than human, it charged right at him like a mad bull. But Keled was unaffected by the fearsome sight, even as the thing knocked aside friend and foe in its frenzied state, sending their broken bodies flying like projectiles through the air.

With a calm detachment that only a Krieg Guardsman could achieve in the face of such imminent death, he kneeled on the ground and took careful aim. Breathing in, breathing out, then letting his first shot fly. It scored a direct hit to the creature's eye, making it stumble slightly in temporary blindness, but it did not stop it. Another shot burned a hole in its left cheek, but that only infuriated it further. As a third shot hit its forehead, but only brought out roars of pain, Keled guessed that the beast had a thicker than average skull to still be standing.

Nevertheless, he did not falter in his resolution, and merely aimed for its last remaining eye. He may not be able to kill it so easily, but he could damn well make sure that someone else would have a better chance. Closer and closer it drew, coming right at him with a fanatically insane fire raging in its eye. For just a short heartbeat, Keled was reminded of the Joker and the insanity burning in his eyes. But in the end, he found this creature to be harmless in comparison to what that madman stood for. He had been a cruel and cunning man ruled by the whims of Chaos. This sad excuse of a life form was naught but raw Chaos, and nothing more.

It was now so close that Keled could feel the ground shaking with each step taken by the rapidly charging behemoth. So close were they now that Keled could have seen the white in his enemy's eye, if it had possessed such coloring to begin with. But just as he was about to pull the trigger, something happened. It felt like the whole world crawled to a sudden standstill as everything around him tilted back and forth in a manner comparable with being drunk. Keeping a steady aim became impossible as Keled swayed back and forth in his kneeling position. 'What's going on?' he asked himself in confusion. This did not feel like a fault on his part, it felt like the world around him was falling out of balance.

"Krieg! Krieg, can you hear me?" someone suddenly shouted in his mind, bringing a sudden unwelcome rush of pain with it. But even as Keled reeled from the sudden psychic attack, he found himself recognizing that strange mental touch. It was one he often despised when subjected to it, but this time he only felt waves of incomprehension wash over him at the familiar touch.

"M'gann?" he asked in astonishment. It could not be her, she was just supposed to have been a figment of his imagination. But he received no answer to his question, and faster than he would have liked, the world returned to normal. That left him facing a very angry mutant again, seconds away from crushing him. Acting on reflexes alone, he narrowly dived out of the way as the mutant thundered past him, smashing straight into a rock instead with a massive boom.

All of Keled's confused thoughts vanished as he stood back up and let loose with full auto into the back of the mutant, the las rounds burning nasty holes in its leathery hide but doing no lethal damage. Tearing its horns free from the rock, the bull-like mutant turned around and charged at Keled again with another loud bellow. The mutant lowered its horns as it started running on all four like a bloodthirsty beast. Common sense dictated for Keled to retreat or to seek cover, and definitively not charge the best head-on. But hey, since when did Keled ever listen to common sense?

"I fear no evil, I fear no death. For the Emperor is with me," he quietly intoned to himself, right before he made a mad dash straight at the incoming mutant. Rage was overflowing from the creature's remaining eye, blinding it to all else around it but the human which had dared harm it. Keled was not so blinded, and kept his mind focused. And so, when they were mere feet away from one another, Keled suddenly leaped into the air. The creature was moving too fast and was too blinded by rage to react to the sudden absence of its prey in its path, and so could do nothing as Keled's boot landed on its head. That head was used as a spring board for Keled to throw himself further above and beyond the mutant.

But as they passed one another, Keled struck by stabbing his lasgun down with all his might, driving his bayonet straight through the neck of the mutant. He lost his grip on the weapon in the process, and was sent crashing painfully to the ground. The mutant meanwhile charged on for a few more meters, bayonet still stuck right through its neck. It seemed that it took a few moments for the beast's dull brain to realize that it was in fact dead. At which point it collapsed to the ground with a tired groan.

Keled wanted to stand back up again, not lie on the ground like a pathetic invalid. But for the moment, his body hurt too much to properly comply. 'Note to self; never do that again,' he thought to himself sourly. Finally, the pain turned into a more bearable ache that allowed him to climb back up on his feet. He expected to be attacked by another mutant, so he drew his combat knife in preparation. It proved to be unnecessary, as all mutants were by this point dead. The occasional las shot here and there signified that the Guardsmen were performing executions of wounded mutants, as per standard regulations.

"All soldiers still alive and able to walk, gather around," the Watchmaster suddenly called out. Like moths to a flame, whoever was left alive moved to where he was standing next to the Engineer team. The Engineers had only lost one of their numbers, so that meant the Death Korps Guardsmen had been successful. At high cost among themselves though. Of the fifty that had ventured out, only ten were left standing. No one said a word as they stoically awaited their next orders. None of them, not even Keled, was concerned about the lives lost in this skirmish. They were dead, the mission was completed, and so their deaths had served a purpose. That was good enough for them.

"Mission has been completed. All of you, return to base," the Watchmaster eventually ordered. And so they all silently marched back to the trenchline, leaving their dead behind to rot in no man's land.

If it was not for the vast lack of soldiers occupying the bunker in comparison to just a few hours earlier, it would have been impossible to tell that anything had happened to these men. These ten survivors, still decked out in full combat gear and after having seen their comrades getting ripped apart by bloodthirsty mutants, were back doing their usual chores without a care in the world. No words of goodbye, no last tears of sadness, no remembering of the good times shared. Their comrades were dead, so they saw no point in thinking about them anymore. Their duty had been fulfilled, nothing more and nothing less.

Not even Keled was affected by their deaths. Such was the life of a Death Korp, there was no point in mourning that which was inevitable. But there was one thing his mind refused to let go of. That voice in his head. Had it truly been M'gann? He tried to tell himself that it was impossible, that is must have been a trick. But the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that it had indeed been her voice.

He clutched his face in his hands as he seated himself on his bed. This was all too much for him. He already knew that he would undoubtedly die a painful and anonymous death on some distant battlefield, such was the lot of every Death Korps soldier. So why did the universe feel the need to toy with him so much? Why him? Why not a Space Marine or an Inquisitor? They were meant for greater things than Keled could ever even hope to dream about anyway.

The moment he realize what he was thinking, he felt like strangling himself. Who was he to question the life that had been handed to him by the Emperor, beloved master of all of Mankind? What right did he have to complain about the destiny chosen for him by the one true god of the universe?

"Attention!" someone suddenly shouted with authority, prompting every Guardsman to stand at attention in a heartbeat. That someone who shouted turned out to be the Watchmaster, who strode in until he was standing in the middle of the bunker.

"I have spoken with high command, and they have agreed to form you into a Grenadier squad. Anyone who has an objection to this decision, step forward," he announced. No one moved. Being granted the rank of Grenadier was an honor that none of them could possibly refuse. Though none of them were overly thrilled by the news. Becoming a Grenadier only meant that your chances of survival just dropped exponentially. Not that it mattered to Keled, death awaited him at every turn anyway.

So, after delivering the news, the Watchmaster turned and left, allowing the newly promoted Grenadiers to return to their duties. That also had the side effect of leaving Keled alone with his thoughts again. No matter how much he tried to distance himself from his dark and heretical thoughts, they would not go away. On and on he thought about M'gann's voice in his head, how it should not be possible that he heard it. But it was possible, because it had happened, and Keled dearly wished that it was not so. 'What in the name of the Emperor is going on?' he asked himself.

Note; the Inquisitor Dante is an OC created by Deathwing17, making a brief cameo here.