Chapter 25: The Protein Content is...
"This..."
"I'm afraid the workers will riot!"
"That's why we must protect the children, protect the future."
"A sliver of hope is better than none."
"They are not as rational as we are."
"Perhaps we could offer a... 'peaceful passing draught'."
"That... a painless death might be a form of luck. We might need to prepare a dose for ourselves as well."
The priests in the hall began to discuss Omega's proposal. As the originator of the idea, he stood tall and straight, his righteous and noble demeanor contrasted by the fidgeting, shifty-eyed Magos Louis beside him.
Omega's thought: I'm totally not doing this for revenge.
Beep-boop, beep-boop.
The "Omega" suddenly let out a series of alert tones. The sound was jarring in the noisy hall, and all eyes once again fell on Omega.
Hmm! A fish on the line! he thought. After waiting for so many days, it finally happened. This counts as fulfilling a last wish before going to the battlefield. Let's see what you are.
Without regard for the others, Omega snapped the exosuit's helmet shut and connected to the camera he had set up near his "fishing spot." What he saw made his jaw drop.
Sweet Omnissiah! The moment human activity ceases, the city's "little animals" really do come out to play! What did you eat to get so big?! A scorpion, over five meters long, and there were two of them! A heavy bolter would do little more than polish its carapace. But from what Louis had said, they hadn't known these behemoths were down there. Have they really cultivated a Gu King?
"Omega, did something happen?" Louis asked from the side.
"Can scorpions grow to be over five meters long?"
The out-of-the-blue question stunned Louis for a moment, but he answered, "Yes, the Fire Scorpions of Baal. They are extremely adaptable and can survive in almost any environment. I've heard they taste great, too. I wonder if I'll ever get the chance to try one."
"What was that last part?" Omega asked, his helmet still on.
"Err... 'I wonder if I'll ever get the chance to try one'."
"The part before that?"
"'They are extremely adaptable and can survive in almost any environment'."
"And the part after that?"
"'I've heard they taste great, too.' What are you getting at? Stop being so cryptic! And why would you kill my animals?! They don't have much meat, and most of them are poisonous! You can't eat them!"
Omega ripped off his helmet and used a mechanical arm to grab the still-blathering Louis and spin him in circles.
"Hey! Omega, you..."
"You biological cog-head, you've done a great service!"
"What kind of nickname is that?! Put me down! Now!" Louis yelled from mid-air.
Omega casually dropped Louis. Amidst the "he's too young, the pressure has finally broken him" looks from the other priests, he raised the cannon in the exosuit's hand and roared with the air of a renegade, "Brothers! Grab your gear and follow me! Don't let those two Fire Scorpions get away! Whether we eat meat or starch bars depends on this!"
With that, Omega smoothly snapped his helmet back on, activated the mobility wheels, and sped off towards the discharge well, leaving a stunned group of priests in his wake.
"What the scrap? Fire Scorpions?"
"I heard Fire Scorpions too."
"Magos Louis said they're edible and delicious."
Louis jumped to his feet and roared, "Don't just stand there! Let's go! The average length of that species' brood is over three meters! Didn't you hear Omega say they're over five meters long?! His little suit won't even be an appetizer for them! Move!"
Everyone in the hall, including Magos Laust, followed the tracks left by Omega. When they reached the door of the discharge well building, they found Omega plastered against the wall, furtively peeking inside. Hearing them approach, Omega turned and signaled for them to be quiet. The priests tiptoed to the door and used their various augmetics to observe the situation inside.
"Hiss..."
"By my Omnissiah, it's huge!"
"How did we never notice this before?"
Omega looked down and poked Louis, who was lying on the ground to get a better view. "Louis, those are Fire Scorpions, right?"
"Yes, definitely."
"Will the radiation make them inedible?"
"Baal is radioactive too."
"What about the chemical toxins?"
"Baal has chemical toxins too."
"Hmm?!" Omega thought: What kind of hellscape is that place? How did you people survive up there, let alone raise tens of thousands of Space Marines?! Does this mean there are a lot of these scorpions down there?
A priest who was knowledgeable about "Baal" began to brief the others.
[DATASLATE: BAAL]
A Death World and the homeworld of the Blood Angels Chapter. Its surface is a desert and radioactive wasteland. The climate is extremely arid, with high levels of radiation, chemical toxins, and deadly biological viruses. The planet's ecosystem was destroyed in an ancient war. The people of Baal struggle to survive on the heavily polluted surface, facing a hostile environment and terrifying mutants.
As the priests marveled at this, they began to plan how to kill the two Fire Scorpions. The battle itself is not worth detailing; a group of high-IQ priests had plenty of ways to deal with them. It was at this point that Omega voiced his theory: he suspected there were a lot more scorpions down there.
The priests' eyes lit up. The cloud of the food crisis instantly dissipated, and life suddenly seemed full of hope again. Even the usually calm Magos Laust laughed out loud, patting the shell of one of the dead scorpions.
With their prey secured, transporting it back was no challenge for these master artisans. They scavenged materials on the spot and hand-crafted two large flatbed carts. The "Omega" was designated as the beast of burden to pull them. Omega objected to this decision, but he was unanimously overruled.
On the way back, many workers came out to watch, their faces a mixture of fear and relief. The workers were not ignorant of the food crisis; the priests couldn't possibly have inventoried all the supplies themselves. News had inevitably spread. Now, with a new source of food, even if it was terrifying to look at, it was better than nothing.
The butchering was left to a professional like Louis. He didn't mind the hard work; in fact, he was excited. He had only ever read about Fire Scorpions in dataslates. The children of the district gathered around to watch, letting out gasps of amazement. Louis would occasionally explain to them the easiest way to make a cut, creating a festive atmosphere reminiscent of a primitive tribe celebrating a successful hunt on a feral world, all amidst the backdrop of a war-torn Forge World. Omega was there too, of course.
Rhea took some samples for testing. Although Louis had said it was fine, she needed to be sure. The results came back not only safe for consumption, but with a protein content six times that of grox meat. One piece was better than six.
Omega took the inedible innards to use as "chum" back at the discharge well. Louis kept the poison glands and venom, which he said were quite useful. Omega wasn't interested; he was now much more interested in the discharge well.
"To get the fish ashore, you have to trade the bait." The fishing techniques of the 2k era were still applicable in 42k. Omega now had a pile of poisonous "scorpion guts," bloody and pungent—the perfect bait.
Now that he knew there were scorpions in the well, and possibly other things, he couldn't be as careless as before. Omega and a few like-minded priests began to carefully plan the layout of their "hunting ground." They decided to modify the buildings around the discharge well, creating a trap to lead their prey right into the pot.
The modifications went smoothly. With the help of the district's abundant idle manpower, the work was completed in less than half a day. To maximize the effectiveness of the bait, Omega hand-crafted a high-powered blower. Using flexible hoses scavenged from another factory, he pumped the scent of the bait deep into the discharge well. He also added a few more alarms and cameras, which he and Louis's group would monitor in shifts.
Furthermore, to help the subterranean creatures overcome the large drop between the fissure and the well opening and climb out more easily, Omega and his team built a giant metal climbing ladder. Using the engineering vehicles from the warehouse, they inserted the ladder from the well opening straight down into the fissure below.
The roads around the discharge well building were also blocked off. Workers who knew how to use weapons were assigned to guard it 24/7. After consulting with Magos Laust, a "noise reduction order" was issued for the entire district to minimize the vibrations and sounds of human activity, so that the "little animals" below could come out to forage with confidence.
All preparations were complete by the evening of the same day they had hunted the Fire Scorpions. At Magos Laust's suggestion, they held a simple feast. The main course was Fire Scorpion, cooked by a priest who was also a gourmet chef. Everyone who tried it praised it.
"This morning, we were planning how to die. Tonight, we're planning how to live. Reality is a strange thing," one priest remarked.
"You're an optimist," another replied. "I'm more of a pessimist. I'm not very confident in this plan of hunting for food. Even if there are creatures down there, how long can they feed the tens of thousands of us?"
Another priest who overheard them said, "Heh, I think you're worrying for nothing. I'll tell you, the situation underground might be beyond all of our imaginations."