Warhammer 40000: Imperial Guardspony

Chapter Four

The flamer-wielding guardsmen and the inquisitor, with his odd flame-spewing weapon, took a large load off of Torchlight. She wasn't the only one that could destroy the swarms of plague flies anymore. What was a large load, however, was that Torchlight had to face the bitter truth of the matter; all of the ponies in their unit except for her best friend were dead. Killed by Nurglites, a fate oft-considered to be worse than death. Torchlight was entirely silent as the group rushed through the corridors, fighting with great vigor and speed, the slow minions of the plague lord stood little chance. The intercom had just brought news that demons were detected on all decks, and that self-destruction was the recommended course of action.

Flash was relieved to see that Briggs was still alive, and that Torch hadn't been hurt. What weighed his thoughts heavily was the loss of the ponies with which he had trained and learned over the past few days. The small band of seven was well-equipped to deal with these demons and wretched abominations; they had two ponies with good magical ability, three humans with flamethrowers, and two humans with laser weapons. As they went, the demons were unable to withstand them, each of the group members was filled with fury, himself included, and scores of demons fell before them as Briggs led them onward through the corridors to what he called the 'summoning pit'.

"How much farther, Corporal?" The commissar asked, panting between words.

"Through that door!" He called, pointing to a doorway up ahead.

They bunched in front of the door.

"Ready!?" The inquisitor shouted, "Go!"

The door opened, and what they saw was the raw stuff from which nightmares were made. The floor was covered in some sort of pus, blood was everywhere, and decaying corpses lined the walls, pinned by chaotic energies. In the center of the large room was a massive, grotesque creature, with its entrails bulging from holes in its gut. The terrible, repulsive, gut-wrenching stench that had punctuated the entire ordeal peaked in intensity. Along the sides of the room, five... humans, they appeared to be, clad in a sickly-green armor that oozed with terrible contagions. They were what had only been alluded to in the ponies' training, as if the Imperium was ashamed of it- Plague Marines. They had been kneeling before the greater demon, but immediately stood, and picked up their weapons. The gag-inducing demon let out a disturbingly hearty laugh, and began lumbering toward the group in the doorway.

"Strike these foul beasts down! In the Emperor's name!" The inquisitor charged, drawing a long, straight blade with a hilt that glowed blue, and moved with extreme speed toward the nearest Plague Marine. The two guardsmen with flamers rushed to the front of the group and began their spray of fire at the greater demon, which was slowly, but steadily, approaching, the flames licking its unnaturally diseased skin without significant effect. Flash put up a magical shield to protect those around him, which did not include the inquisitor.

The inquisitor moved with such speed that even the super-human Plague Marine he attacked first hadn't the time to react. The man's sword cleaved right through the armor at the shoulder, cutting the thing in half from shoulder-to-waist.

Flash left holes in his shield through which the group could fire. Briggs and the commissar fired their weapons at the Plague Marines as well, but they couldn't penetrate their armor with them. Torchlight sprung into action, summoning, with all of her magical might, a small ball of green fire. It left a shimmering trail as it passed through Flash's barrier, and struck the nearest Plague Marine, blasting a hole in its midsection about the size of a pony's head. The monster before them could not take such damage, and it fell. This left three Plague Marines, which opened fire on the fast inquisitor. Flash saw him get hit almost ten times before he struck the next Marine, again cleaving it in half, this time vertically. The inquisitor began to slow down only as he was cutting into the next Marine, and he fell to the ground.

The demon was right outside the shield now, unfazed by the flames . It raised its massive, rusted, plague-bearing blade, and smashed it down on- and through- the barrier. One of the guardsmen was hit, and was killed instantly.

"Fall back!" Briggs shouted as the demon prepared to swing again. The remaining five of them quickly escaped through the door, and the demon followed. They outpaced it by far, but they'd have to get rid of it. Flash turned around, and focused a tight beam of extremely intense light on the horned, grinning head of the creature. It began to smoke, then to burn, then to cut. It kept coming as the beam cut slowly through the demon's hide, down its chest, through its swollen belly. It stopped then, and fell in half in a grotesque fashion, releasing a number of smaller creatures they knew to be Nurglings. Torch was way ahead of the rest, and toasted them with ease. This left one Plague Marine. It had no ranged weapon, but it did have an axe. It didn't do much good before their torrent of magic, lasers and fire downed it. They slowly entered the room.

The inquisitor was dead, there was little doubt. The guardsman with a flamer that remained began torching everything, the walls, the bodies, everything. Once the summoning pit was purged by the cleansing flames, the ship rocked a bit.

"What was that?" Flash asked to nobody in particular.

"We've dropped into normal space!" Briggs exclaimed, "We've reached Cadia!"

*****

The ship's crew was almost entirely lost, and only two ponies escaped; Torchlight and Blinding Flash. The ones that did survive were all entirely insane or terminally ill, but the three humans and two ponies that were not were found to have been together throughout the ordeal. Each one of them was debriefed, and the ponies learned that they'd be joining another unicorn unit, one that had been stationed on Cadia for five years. They were relentlessly and pointlessly tested for the taint of Chaos, but were eventually cleared. Briggs and the guardsman with the flamer as well as the commissar were not seen during these trials and final training sessions on Cadia. It was learned that Abaddon's forces were mobilizing yet again, for a fourteenth Black Crusade. Cadia was continually reinforced, as they prepared and trained for the coming onslaught.