Hunters 219

When you are chosen to be in the Hunter Regiments, you make a pledge to always exterminate the enemy, even if it costs you everything. If you fail these vows, your life will be forfeit. My last stand.

"Please just tell me what is wrong. I can't help you otherwise go to God." The calming voice from the lady soothed me down to the core. The room was bone white and blurring mainly because of the drugs they had inflicted into me. But they will never get it from me! Never!

"I told you already! I was reporting to the Duty as usual and we got this assignment...." I had to tell them a story though.

---Hunters 219/18, Report to Kolonis Prime Northern Sector Caverns and full Exterminatus of a Cannibal nest in the CENTRAL CONTROL STATION V at all costs before the Crusade of a Million Souls lands for commencement of Invasion, you have twelve hours until extraction from the time of 4:35 Planetary Time

Kolonis Prime, a Planet in the Northern Sector of the Republic, once a Jewel trading hub for the Northerners, but then in Romanian Calendar 2335AD the Planet was turned under the turmoil of Khaos, who then proceeded to rip the Planet apart in a huge invasion.

It is now the Romanian year 2793AD, and the Crusade of a Million Souls is dispatching ten thousand soldiers of the Resistance, with Support Crafts of the Golden Guard 199th and Federations 45th----

 

I read the data-slate again, my pores opening in my clumsy gas-mask, the small pack on my back protecting me from the worst of the acidic air.

I looked at my men, four men in total and a complete stranger we saved from the Cannibal nest from which we were now sat.

The lights were dead, probably having been for almost a century, and the flash-lights were running low. I still flashed the torch around the ominously dark room. Outlines of the pale fleshed Monstrous sub-humans burning in Bale-Fire all around me. Dust floated in the empty cold, steel bomb shelter below the surface, a place of death and madness, one where only those that are one with the dark will survive.

“Hey Sir, do you have any Nano-Medic Kits?” Asked Barron, wincing as the bite he received to the shoulder was bleeding out.

“Here, last one, use it wisely.” I nodded to him and threw the Nano-bugs to him.

I’m a cautious man.

“So what’s your name?” I directed my flash-light onto the stranger we rescued. He was a man of a slim build but was really tall, easily six foot, maybe even 6’5, but all of his features were concealed by the protective gear that was Standard in our line of Service.

We’re Hunters, a specialized Republican Armed force employed to hunt monsters and demons and other things that are a real potential threat to the current army posted. We’re the toughest and have been on six lines of duty, which is actually quite impressive, seeming as we’re matched with among the worst things the Galaxy has to offer.

I have killed multiple demons, a few Khaos sorcerers and defeated a nest of Cannibals and being from the Deathworld of Slash 1, a Jungle World where every day is a battle against the very jungle itself, least to say of their inhabitants in that lush, fatal undergrowth.

“Who… Who Mine…? Should we tell them? Why not, they saved… No hmmm… Ah yes, my name is… No that’s not it… Yes, no… Death.” He stuttered, like he was arguing with himself, those jerky movements of his neck not helping me.

I turned to Zero, the oldest member of the group and a powerful sage, “What do we do with this lost soul?” I whispered. He is the wisest of us all and will never lie to us, or just like us, our lives will be forfeit.

“Many cases have been going around over the years of Hunter schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder, and especially with him it’s not looking good, but my advice is we keeping on going to the LZ as we have… Three hours and forty five minutes left until extraction.” He nodded and I saw truth in those words. It took us this long to find and kill them and to re-group and try and hunt the survivors.

We had lost eight of our number compared to about a centurion of the sub-human scum, but there were probably more lurking about in the halls.

“Okay, we’ve got to move. Death, you can come with us to the LZ or you can keep hunting in the dark.” I hoped he would choose the latter, but unfortunately he stuck along with us.

“Keep frosty, we haven’t killed all of the fuckers and there are probably plenty more left out there in the ventilations.” I got to my feet and formed the point in the Spearhead formation.

We walked for what seemed an eternity; every beam of light our torches shone created more darkness, our enemy that was constantly there, never to be defeated.

The eternal darkness hides all the secrets of the universe, but it will hide the worst thing of all; Death.

Death, who was standing next to me, face and body covered in blue gore and a trench cloak hailing to the Hunters, but something was off with his blubbering and muttering to himself. I’ve seen the possessed, the Schizophrenic and other conditions which go hand in hand with our career, but nothing like this. It’s just not right.

Death went forward and I hung back with what remained of our little gang of Hunters. Zero you already know, he’s also the Mage of the Group. Then there was Crux, a Hunter recruited the same time and from the same Squadron, my oldest friend. There was also Furon, an ex-Golden Guardsman, and finally Barron.

“Are you sure about this Barron, I mean this guy isn’t completely stable.” I asked a little hesitant, and glanced over to the huge figure of Death, as he blabbered and whispered to himself.

“Hey, the more the merrier, and he is a Hunter gone mad, maybe the Meds can help him?” He nodded, though I heard something lying underneath his usual tone, though I couldn’t recognise.

“What about that Khazad rumour?” When we fell upon the nest, they were chanting in a tongue, like they were in a ritual of thanks to the Gods, and then one word popped out.

Khazad.

Khazad was once a Hero of the Federation 7th, one of the greatest legions the Republic ever had and it was thanks to him. But it was a fall from grace, as he turned to the cults of Khaos and his whole Company ripped itself apart in civil war.

He was then hunted by hundreds of thousands of Hunters and the remnant surviving Loyal 7th, and finally they found him on one of the Khaos worlds and so the Crusade of a Million Souls was commenced.

He was dead though, by one of the Hunters on Krarre.

I heard a skittering behind me and the lights flickered once, twice.

Just hearing his name turned my blood cold with fright.

He is meant to be able to possess people, turning them corrupt and into insanity.

But it was just a myth.

I hope.

Smog started filling the cavern in big heaps, a greenish substance that was almost like acid.

I reached out and touched it, and it instantly started to melt into my glove, but the second layer stopped the acidic substance.

“A really strong acid for sure.” I nodded and looked up with my flash light.

“Wait, where’s Death?” I asked, and the Lights flickered on again, the shadows scuttling away for an instant, before the Hallway plunged into blackness again, deep and impenetrable.

“Where did he go?” I asked, and it hit me.

“F**k, why Lord, why?!” I huffed and ran down the corridor.

“Death, Death, DEATH!” I shouted and the sound bounced off the walls like a ball down the Hallways.

“F**k, another one gone. Stick close to me men; I’m not losing you too.” I caught my breath for a moment before we wondered aimlessly through the halls.

 

A cross-section was up ahead.

I heard a scream to the back of us.

I reeled around, combat knife ready and ready for anything.

But it was cut off even as it started. I stared back, flashing my light.

Wait, where did my team go?

Hang on.

“Zero? Hunters assemble for action. Okay we had our laugh, ha, ha very funny, now get back in line before I execute you all for insubordination!” I felt anger boil inside me, and gulped. The blackness was whole and who knew what lay beyond it, but they were playing a joke on me, I knew they were.

No answer, nothing but empty blackness of the halls.

A scratching sound from above.

“Gotcha you mother fuckers.” I raised my Plasma Pistol and fired into the Ventilation above.

The roof collapsed and a steel fragment smashed against the floor, along with a mighty boom of steel against steel.

And wires hung down.

Nothing, and then the fear set in.

No bodies, no heavy breathing, no scratching, no nothing.

No, they actually disappeared, this can’t be, and how someone can disappear like that is beyond my understanding.

The smog was thickening but it was doing no harm to me at the moment.

I walked forward into the cross-roads, flashing through the foggy halls, and saw a shape up ahead.

I grabbed my Plasma Pistol, cocking the handle and catching the safety off.

The smog suddenly cleared around a kneeling Furon, with no sign of his weapons.

“Furon, thank God you’re alright, I wondering where you guys were.” I got to him and he just kneeled there, immobile, but it was impossible to tell if he was breathing or not.

“Hey not funny, I found you already, now just tell me where the others are!” I grabbed his shoulders in my anger, and shook him violently.

And his head rolled around on the floor.

 I let go of the body and swore.

It rolled to the floor, a lifeless corpse.

I stepped over the body and kicked the head out of the way.

How could that happen within only a couple of seconds?

F**k!

I kept storming on until I looked down about a couple of minutes later, and saw what I was following, through this winding cavern of steel claustrophobic containers of death.

A trail of dark red, a liquid of some sort was what I was following.

I swiped a finger through the dark red liquid, playing it with my fingers.

Something moved, and my head jerked to where my eye caught the reflection.

Nothing.

But it was getting almost impossible to see through this mask, the smog fogging up the eye-lenses.

“Still fresh.” I muttered to myself and it was. It was still runny and not crusted yet.

I grabbed my Plasma Pistol and held it up, scanning the dark corridor with the small, insignificant flash light.

I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing, but after I coughed from the lack of oxygen I slowly got back onto my feet and kept stumbling into the darkness.

 

I saw a light.

A green and dead haze, and there was only one way to get out that we know of for a hundred miles. I have finished the mission.

I have finally finished the mission.

It became easier to breathe and breath filled into my lungs.

And I heard a chant I have heard before, back in the Caverns.

The Cannibals are alive.

How, we killed them all.

The blood trails, now freshly crusted, lead into the muttering hell of the caverns.

The cannibals killed my friends, and now they will be slaughtered.

I will kill them all.

I flung myself into the corner and around it, cocking my Plasma Pistol and aiming it rapidly.

But there wasn’t anyone there.

“Why did you do it sir, why did you lure us here and kill Barren?”

“Why did you kill Barren sir?”

I turned on my heel, cocking my Plasma Pistol, aiming widely and felt terror cause through my veins.

I didn’t kill Barren, he was bitten by a Cannibal, so I gave him a med pack, and he healed himself. It was all because of that man.

“We asked if you needed a Healer, but you said no!”

What? I don’t need any help, I’m completely safe and healthy, probably one of the mentally healthiest.

“Show yourselves you cowards, face me like a man!” I roared in defiance, and shooting the first place my Plasma Pistol trained on, the whole ventilation shaft exploding into a million pieces.

“Come on, face me like a man, I’ve faced demons and monsters!” I roared again.

“SHOW YOURSELVES!”

I moved to the centre of the room, above me the hazy blue light of the outside world.

But I just couldn’t move.

I needed to find out what these b******s wanted; I was going to make them pay.

“You killed Barron you cowards, I loved him like a brother, the same with the rest of my team mates!”

“You didn’t love any of us. You wanted us gone so you could gain all the glory for yourselves.”

“I’ve never wanted anything in my life!” I roared.

Anger boiled and I shot another round into the dark corridors.

“Show Yourselves!”

“You killed Barron and you must pay sir. All of us, you must pay for all of your sins.”

“Face me like a man and stop hiding in the Dark!”

“But we learned from the best, you.”

“I am an honourable man, I face my fears and horrors, and I was inducted into the Hunters as a result.”

“The Darkness is all you know. You try to escape it, but it will always be there, you can try and fight it, but in the end, it will always be there and will never go away. Where there’s light there’s darkness.” That saying, I know that voice, Zero.

“Zero, please tell them I would never hurt one of my own.”

“Help me Sir, please help me.” He said it like he was a robotic version of Zero.

The darkness seemed to envelope to create an image. An old man with thinning hair and a walking stick, with a Plasma Pistol holstered in his pocket. “Help me sir.” He finally said.

The Red Life force started leeching out of him, and he fell into pieces.

But he got up off the floor, re-assembling himself and getting back into his position.

“You killed me sir.”

Another chant; “You killed me sir.”

“You killed me sir.”

More figures appeared from the shadows of the corridors.

“You killed me sir.”

Someone crawled towards me, and I looked down to see a ripped in half Barren, his intestines gruesomely hanging out in a Gore trail.

“You killed me sir.”

Another figure moved out of the shadows. Crux shambled towards me, but he had Plasma shot through his chest, all of his organs visible inside.

I felt a tap on my back and snapped around to come face to face with a headless corpse of Furon, his left hand holding his head like a lantern.

“You killed me sir.”

No, this can’t be! They all died, they all were died.

They all died.

They kept on closing the circle around me like a choke-hold and I gulped, feeling fear bubbling inside of me, a feeling I’m not used to.

No they didn’t die, they were murdered.

Terror assailed my limbs and I pulled out my Plasma Pistol and shot Barren, the closest.

The bolt passed right through him.

“You killed me.”

“NO I DIDN’T!” I yelled in terror, letting loose the remaining seven rounds in my Plasma Pistol. It clicked over-loaded cartridge and I threw it away and the darkness seemed to envelop it.

“You killed me.”

They were almost on me, ready to rip me apart.

But a miracle happened.

The entire complex shook as if of a seizure and like a halo in the darkness, a FMJ Cruiser appeared in a roar of metal and dust.

I quickly lunged into the open carriage unit and the ship took off in a blaze of light away from that dreaded planet.

I heard some muttering and jerking, but paid no attention.

We got into space and I ripped off my breathing mask in a flurry, breathing the fresh stale air of the carriage compartment.

I relaxed.

The nightmare is finally over; I made it through the Nightmare.

The lights suddenly flickered off.

And there he was in front of me.

His blood red Trench-Coat was stained black and brown with mud and his Green and Brown striped armour was gleaming with blood. Torrents of sweat and trails of red and black liquid trailed down his armour, staining it. White spiky hair covered a clean shaven scalp and the face was perfect, just absolutely perfect, pale blue eyes of a snow planet, high cheekbones, with thin lips. He seemed to be sucking all the light into him, like a spotlight was on him and I couldn’t look away.

But the one thing that I just couldn’t keep my eyes off despite his Demon-tongue, horns on his Forehead, claw for his left arm and more, was a tattoo, just big enough to read, like a branding he was proud to get but later regretted the idea.

7th Federation.

 Khazad.

“Oh, but this is where you’re wrong.” He smiled…

I felt my body start to shake. No, it isn't happening. I killed him, I smashed his head against the floor and watched his life drain from his eyes. I left that planet with his head!

"Where's the head?" She asked as more doctors came and held me down. 

"I don't know! It was right on the bench during the landing!"

"Oh but I know where the head went..." The voice. Khazad.

I heard a pop and a scrape but couldn't feel anything. I tried to look up and saw through my blurry vision a shrieking woman holding me but yet it didn't seem right. I looked down.

Oh.

But if my bodies lying on the table, where am I?