Warhammer 40000: Imperial Guardspony

Chapter Six

They boarded the Valkyrie gunship, and as it took off, they were all amazed by what had just happened while they were preparing. It was just after sunset, everyone had their attention to the sky, which was flickering with the immense battle already unfolding in orbit.

"Hope they haven't landed yet..." Torchlight said, worriedly. She did not want to face demons anymore, she didn't want to face anything. She did, however, want payback. Payback for the fallen.

"Of course they've landed! Why else would we be going somewhere? We've got confirmed traitor Astartes in a Kasr, about ten minutes out. Intelligence confirms them to be of the 'Violators' chapter. We can expect sonic weaponry and perhaps daemonettes." The commissar responded.

Flash and Torch were equally aware of what a Slaaneshi presence involved. Beings not immune to the Prince of Pleasure's influence could expect to be subjected to their primal desires and more contrived, twisted desires, those of bloodlust, masochism, sadism, and a slew of other distasteful things. Immediately, they feared for their commissar. His mind was unshielded from these influences. He would not return the concern, as they meant nothing to him, as they'd realized recently. They were in squads of ten to eleven this time, mounted in six Valkyries. The entire unit was to be dropped into the Kasr, isolated from the other units, into the maze-like structure the Cadians had built for the dual purpose of habitation and urban warfare. Until the drop, they needed only to wait what seemed to be an insufferably long time, even though it was only ten minutes.

*****

The Valkyries flew closer, in a chevron formation. This was broken up as, to their surprise, anti-aircraft fire arced through the air toward them, prompting evasive action. The co-pilot could be heard.

"Incoming fire! Valkyries four and three have reported damage, and Valkyrie six is down- make that six and four-"

The cabin rocked with great intensity, interrupting the co-pilot and prompting the commissar to stand.

"Grav-chutes, now! Open the ramp!" He said, the ponies obeying without question. Donning their modified grav-chutes, they went, one after another, out of the Valkyrie. The commissar went first, to encourage the rest to follow, and they did.

Deploying their chutes, Torchlight and Flash watched as a lascannon hit sent their Valkyrie careening toward the surface. They watched, paralyzed in shock, as it spun downward and impacted a tall building. They took the time to observe the embattled city. It glowed with fire, and from their height they could discern explosions and tiny red beams of lasgun fire, as well as tracers from other weapons. The landing was rough, but none of them were injured and grouping was good. They managed to meet up almost immediately. Leaving the rooftops, they entered the streets below. Dead and dying littered the streets, indicating that any fighting here had since ended, at least for now. They saw a pair of Chaos Marines on the ground, one of them writhing. Each had extreme wounds, yet one clung to life.

"The pain... yes! The pain..." The mortally injured marine rasped through his ancient helmet, then laughed maniacally.

The commissar raised his laspistol to his head, and ended his pathetic, hedonistic life.

"How could this city fall so quickly to such beasts?" The commissar asked, rhetorically, of course. Continuing through the streets, they saw a hastily-constructed shrine to the Prince of Pleasure, with several Marines armed with peculiar-looking weapons gazing upon several Imperial citizens trapped in cruel and unusual traps, laughing in unison, taking heinous pleasures from watching these poor people in pain. They somehow failed to notice the approaching unicorns, and they opened fire with their armor-piercing spells. The torrent of fire, light and other energies burned, sliced, and destroyed the squad of Violator marines with ease. Nothing else in the Imperium could do that as easily, Flash thought.

Continuing through the streets, they encountered up with a storm trooper squad. They didn't seem to be the most friendly of sorts, but they had a similar goal: to secure the Kasr. These 'Kasrkin', as they were called, had been dropped an hour earlier, and had run out of special weapons with which to eliminate special targets. Their dust-off never came when they called for it. The commissar heard one complaining about it, and shot him dead. Nobody else said anything else about it, and the storm troopers- now five in all- came along with the ponies. Even their own, they cared little about, Torch thought.

Both of the ponies had come to realize the truth in the matter: they were on one of the 'dangerous assignments' the pony at the barracks told them about. The least safe, moderately important, smaller ones. They would not be getting out of here easily. The commissar and storm troopers began to act strangely.

"I wonder... if..." The commissar trailed off.

"What is it, commissar? Are you alright?" Torch asked.

"Wha- of course I am. Nothing. It's nothing."

"No, no, finish the thought, commissar." the storm trooper sergeant urged, staring intently at a writhing, dying man down the street. Flash felt a need to stop whatever was happening before it happened.

"Enough. Let's get moving." Flash interrupted.

"What did you just say?" The storm trooper sergeant scoffed, "you, xeno, ordering us? Don't try that again, or I'll... kill you. Yes, kill you... and savor your death." He drew his knife, as did the rest of the storm troopers. The commissar, however, stood, motionless for a moment as the ponies nervously watched as the knife-wielding storm troopers drew closer, then proceeded to raise his pistol toward the ponies, than quickly turn around and shoot the sergeant in the head. His clarity of mind was intact, at least for the moment. Flash was relieved that they didn't need to kill him, at least.

"Back in line, fools! You don't serve whatever demonic force is here, you serve the Emperor! You are lucky to still live, given the great evidence of taint you demonstrate. There will be no second warning! Now, get back in line!" The storm troopers looked at each other for a moment, and sheathed their knives.

"Yes, commissar!" They chanted in unison.

This was only getting worse, Flash thought, as they continued down the streets.