Grinde Galaxy Chapter 8

 

Chapter 8

The dark tunnel ahead seemed to stretch into oblivion.

Allen: If you had the power to hypnotize, why didn’t you use it before? When you were being beat up?

Me: I prefer not to use it. Every time I do, I get closer to the darkness.

Allen: Right.

Me: You know them?

Allen: I know many things.  

Me: Then that’s it. No more need to ask questions.

We turned right at an intersection. The squad leader seemed to know where we were going. We took several turns after that until we were in the bowels of the industrial district. Shadows flickered where the light from the marines’ armor faded into blackness. I felt something pressing against me, a sort of psychic force.

A man jumped out of the dark and ran into the line of fire.

“Please don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!”

The marines trained their rifles onto the man.

I stepped out. “Don’t. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

The commanding officer looked a bit miffed, but lowered his gun. “Isac. Your squire appears to have an attitude.”

“Sir, he may be right. We can at least listen to what this man has to say.”

Thanks, Isac.

The commanding officer sighed. “Okay, peon. What is your business here?”

The man waved his hands in front of his face. “We mean no harm. We just want to be left alone.”

The commanding officer checked his holo map. “We’re in the right location. Do you know where the orrery is?”

“I don’t know anything about no orrery.” The man coughed, splattering blood across the floor.

The commanding officer ran up to the man and shoved his gun in the man’s mouth. “You’re corrupted. Tell me where the orrery is or I kill you on the spot.”

Isac waved his hand. “Captain. Let me handle this.”

The commanding officer backed off. “You’re the interrogations expert.”

Isac walked up to the man. “You look sick.”

The man wiped his mouth. “I am sick. We’re all sick down here. That’s why we trust in our savior, the Teogyne.”

“Heresy!” The commanding officer fired a spray of bullets at the man, dissolving him into red mist.

Isac sighed. “Captain. Please keep your trigger finger under control next time.”

The commanding officer grimaced. “I will not tolerate an affront to the Emperor. No man may worship any other being.”

Isac shrugged. I looked at him, and we made eye contact. He shook his head ever so slightly.

Allen: Your commander appears to not have learned anything from the last encounter.

Me: No kidding.

Isac looked back to the darkness ahead of us. A slow, deep hum vibrated underneath the floor. “Let’s keep going.”

Our squad moved deeper into the tunnels. We entered a large open space filled with industrial machinery that must have been a century old at least. A couple of seconds after entering the room, I noticed the smell. It was not like the smells I was used to in the sewers of my home world and the Atlas’s sewage system. It was totally different, an offending odor that penetrated my very being.

The Rhymachi seemed to agree with me on this. Isac gagged before pressing a button on his armor and engaging the enviro-hazard shield. At that moment I wished I had one as well, but as a squire, I was out of luck.

“What the hell?” The commanding officer also engaged his hazard shield.

Allen: I detect the presence of a certain bacterial pathogen associated with the Warp.

Me: Tell me more. This can’t be anything ordinary.

Allen: The Warp has grown unstable since I last looked upon it. These pathogens are associated with Marlo.

Me: Marlo? Who’s that?

Allen: The chaos god of pestilence. One of the five major chaos deities.

I pinched my nose. “Yeah, I’ve never smelled anything like this.”

One of the other squires vomited.

“Keep it together, Smalls.” The Rhymarchi who was nearest to me slapped the vomiting squire in the back.

“It’s not going to help, Peters.” Isac shook his head. “The smell is supernatural. I can tell.”

“Yeah?” The Rhymachi named Peters kicked at a large piece of junk. “We’re supposed to be tough. Smells shouldn’t stop us from achieving our mission.”

The commanding officer turned towards the darkness ahead. “Let’s forgo the distractions. I can sense the orrery.”

A scream rose from beyond the darkness. Stale air, infested with that infernal smell, flowed out from within the tunnel. The scream grew louder, the concentrated wails of a hundred dead souls.

“Prepare for contact!” Isac and the other marines aimed their guns towards the tunnel.

A wave of disgusting, rotting human bodies flowed out from beyond the line of sight.

The marines opened fire. The monsters weathered the hail of bullets, climbing over the bodies of their fallen comrades with a crazed frenzy. They continued to come, and come, and come.

“We’re running low on ammunition!” Peters yelled above the sound of battle.

Isac switched to his sidearm, holding his main laser rifle by his side. “There’s too many of them!”

As a squire, I had a sidearm, but that was it. I fired as many shots as I could at the horde, achieving little.

The commanding officer held up his palm. A blast of electrical energy surged from his skin, enveloping dozens of the crazed attackers. They sizzled with the direct contact and fell to the ground, smoking.

Isac dropped his sidearm and pulled out his energy sword. The blazing light of contained plasma illuminated the walls, casting them in a violent purple. The other marines also pulled out their swords. Watching them swirl through the mound of crazed corpses was like watching a ballet of blood and plasma. Black ichor splattered against the ground and rained upon the squires, who stood back, away from the chaos.

The monsters finally petered out and stopped coming. The remaining zombies froze for a second and then retreated back into the darkness.

“Ang. Can we get an analysis?” Isac was speaking to the commanding officer, whose name I finally knew.

Ang knelt by one of the mutilated corpses, holding a small device. The device sucked up some blood and then beeped.

“Yep. Just as expected. These are synth.”

“Something’s wrong.” Isac knelt down beside Ang. “Synth usually consume the biomass of life they capture. Why did they leave the physiology mostly intact?”

“I have no idea.” Ang stood up. “But we must continue. The orrery is ahead.”

We pressed onward through the tunnels, the space marines’ suit lights illuminating machinery, pipes, and other fixtures of an under-hive. It was a familiar landscape.

We came to the end of the tunnel. A gigantic cylindrical air vent stretched up and down from where we stood. It was maybe half a mile to the other side, and both the top and bottom could not be seen.

“Where the hell did those monsters come from?” Isac tapped the ground next to the ledge.

“Maybe we missed a side passageway.” I knelt down and tried to see the vent’s bottom. It faded into darkness, and I was unable to tell how deep it went.

“The orrery should be close.” Ang opened a dimensional door and retrieved several sets of climbing gear. “We’re going down. I sense its energy.”

Allen: At least your species retains some knowledge of spatial manipulation.

Me: Are you talking about his portable bag?

Allen: Is that what you call it?

Me: I thought you saw me use my own portable wallet.

Allen: I imagined you to be special.

Me: Well thanks, I guess. But it’s not just me who has this stuff.

Allen: Now I know.

Ang began to strap himself into the climbing gear. “Isac. Peters. Stay up here and guard the anchor point.” He looked at the remaining space marine. “Rodgers. Come with me.”

“Sir.” Rodgers saluted. “I am not trained in rope work.”

Ang gritted his teeth. “Then—”

I stood up. “I can go down with you. In fact, I can climb this without a wire. If you let me go first, I can set up an anchor at the bottom.”

Ang looked at me with a critical gaze. “You should know your place.”

Isac stepped forward. “I can vouch for him. He has more wherewithal than you give him credit for.”

“Fine then.” Ang grunted as he tightened the wire around his waist. “Come with me. We’ll see how you measure up.”

I let myself over the edge and began my descent.

“Whoa, he’s fast.” The marine named Rodgers looked over the edge. “You okay down there, squire?”

I continued to descend the vertical shaft. I reached the entrance to the lower level.

Allen: I sense the object you are searching for inside that tunnel.

I swung onto the ledge. “Then let’s find it.” I attached the anchor and signaled for Ang to begin his descent. Five minutes later the hulking space marine was standing next to me, looking into the tunnel.

“Do you sense it, squire?” Ang pointed his suit light into the maw of the tunnel. “We’re nearing our goal.”

“Yes, sir.”

The two of us continued forward. We came into a well-lit terrarium ornamented with hanging catwalks. In the center of the room, there was an orb, about the size of a basketball, surrounded by fleshy tentacles and teeth.

So you’ve come. The rumbling psychic voice pierced my head. Do you understand what you are toying with? Or are you just dogs sent by your pathetic Empire to stop me?

Ang pointed his gun at the monstrosity. “I don’t negotiate with heretic monsters.” He tried firing his weapon and it clicked—he had used all his ammunition in the fight before. He tossed the gun aside and drew his plasma sword. Holding it out, he rushed the monstrosity in the center of the room.

Gigantic tentacles rose from the ground and attempted to swat the gigantic Rhymachi away. With incredible agility, Ang dodged the tentacles, weaving in and out, getting ever closer. He finally closed the distance and stabbed the monster in its center.

The monster released a psychic energy wave that ruptured the membrane of reality and sent the immaterial world flowing through the room. It was as if a flood of emotion suddenly broke its bounds and filled the room with the screaming souls of a million dead. I gripped my head in pain.

The pain went away in an instant.

Allen: I’ve engaged the psychic hazard shield. You should be protected.

Me: Thanks.

Ang, on the other hand, was not faring well. He gripped his temples, a tight grimace on his face. I ran up to him. He was gigantic, almost eight feet tall and wearing several hundred pounds of armor.

Allen: I’ll handle the armor.

The armor surrounding Ang split, falling off his body. Even though he was still huge, I was able, just barely, to drag him away.

“The … Orrery …” Ang spoke as if he were enduring great pain.

I looked at the object that had been at the center of the monster. “Is that it?”

“Yes …”

I dropped Ang to the floor and rushed towards the glowing ball of light. Just as I was about to grasp it, a tentacle reached for me and grabbed my waist.

I am not done yet!

The world shattered around me and I fell into a deep pit, a pit of psychic energy. I felt my soul separatee from my body and I watched as I rose above my physical form, watching it collapse against the magical device I had picked up. The device, the orrery, shone brilliantly in the mental world I entered. I was holding it, and I appeared in the middle of a large white space.

A handsome human man in a top hat and suit appeared out of nothing. He sat down in a plush chair.

“I’m sure you have many questions, Mythe.”

“Who are you?”

“Allen. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”