Martin ran without looking back at the PDF behind him. The Hive City beneath him had now become 100% hell. People were running for their lives as chaos spawn and demons poured in and slaughtered everything in a frenzy. Some, mentally unstable, went berserk and destroyed everything instantly.
Screams of fear, agony, and despair, mixed with the stench of blood and thick ozone, filled the air.
"What the hell is going on, my lord?!" A40AT asked in panic. He let A40AT do the talking and began explaining.
"Demon! If you want to survive, come with me and stay away from me!" Martin explained, slashing Bloodletter to pieces.
The panicked A40AT tried to catch up with him, using his last pistol to shoot any demons or heretics that approached. Jennifer remained unconscious in his arms.
He saw a woman carrying a baby running towards him. The chaos spawn followed at an unnatural speed. It used its tentacles to grab the woman and pull her closer.
"Aaaa ... She was groping her way through the bloody, grimy streets.
Molly... she... Molly's eyes were blocked by metal plates. Her hands were cut off from the elbows down. Cybernetic devices that would enhance her abilities were attached to the back of her neck. A bloody metal collar was around her neck. Beside her lay the corpse of someone rather fat and well-to-do, likely a nobleman.
She had become a slave to the local nobles.
Martin slowly calmed himself and approached Molly calmly. He knew what she was capable of and how dangerous Molly was. He didn't want to be like the Primarch Angron.
"Who are you?! Don't hurt me again! Not again!" Molly turned her bruised face towards him and demanded in a menacing tone. She tried to cover her face with her hands, but even though her hands were gone, a wave of lightning and multicolored energy instantly destroyed everything in the vicinity. Martin easily dodged it.
"My name is Martin, Sergeant Major of the 1st Squadron of the 2nd Company of Night Talon." Molly seemed to calm down a bit. She seemed to be growing increasingly paranoid and excited.
"Elasia, Molly, sir. You're the Emperor's angel your mother told you about, aren't you?" Molly replied cheerfully, her faceless face staring at him. She shouldn't have come to see him like this.
"Yes, I am the Emperor's angel, but I'm not here to help you now." The child was silent for a moment before answering sadly when Martin told him the truth.
"Don't leave me—" Ouch!! Molly shouted. This made him feel sad and heartbroken.
"It's okay, little one. I'll be by your side on behalf of the Emperor." Molly seemed less paranoid. It was good he had built her trust. Suddenly, lightning and energy vanished from Molly's body. Her bruised body slowly sank to the ground.
"That was close..." Martin muttered to himself as he gently picked Molly up with his left hand, trying to prevent further injury. Maybe she'd get a new arm or eye. What the poor girl had been through? He should've come sooner. To skin that fat noble!
"She looks dangerous, sir," A40AT tried to warn.
"Yes, she's an alpha+ psyker and a null," Martin replied nonchalantly, much to A40AT's dismay.
"Huh? Null and phyker in the same body, she's even more dangerous, sir," A40AT said in a much more worried tone.
"Never mind. We've wasted enough time. If you want to survive, follow me," Martin replied nonchalantly before running again as a swarm of chaos spawns approached.
"Wait, sir!" A40AT shouted after Martin, running after Martin.
The four of them continued their journey as they were pursued by a swarm of deamon and chaos spawns. Their destination was the top of Hive City.
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Regarding the null or blank slaves
People with the rare genetic disorder null allow them to block the power of the warp, which affects those around them, making ordinary people feel uncomfortable and prejudiced. This often led to them being killed, exiled, captured on black ships, or enslaved by the upper classes
"Hack, hack, hack," Martin panted as he stopped to catch his breath. He had been running and fighting for three days, and now he found himself in the Mid-Hive. Corpses lay everywhere; most were in such poor condition they no longer looked likely to die quickly. Hive City resembled an apocalypse movie he'd once seen. The streets were empty, littered with bodies and abandoned vehicles. Cultists and gangs ran rampant, looting and fighting.
"Lord, wait for me. I feel like… I need to put some oil on my legs," A40AT shouted as he struggled to keep up, exhausted.
"My lord, why are you still carrying the corpse? She hasn't had a pulse for two days," Martin thought as he studied the lifeless body and gently lowered it to the ground, trying to be as respectful as possible. From the way she had died, a broken spine seemed most likely.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Martin snapped at A40AT. He did not begrudge death — it could come at any time — but he resented having wasted energy carrying a corpse for two days.
Fortunately, they had survived; these daemons were slow and clumsy.
"It's a good thing I caught up with you while we were fighting our way out of the horde of daemons," A40AT said sarcastically, speaking on behalf of Ommiciaar. His sacred mechanical legs were nearly broken.
"Put this aside for now. I need this child to live. We should find shelter," Martin said, pointing to a drugstore. "That's where we're going."
---
Day 1, Year 1, Millennium 42
After Martin, A40AT, and an unconscious Molly had survived several miserable days in Hive City — each one marked by attacks from daemons and cultists — A40AT carefully planned their escape from the planet amid the massive warp storm that followed Cadia's destruction. They talked until noon, and then news arrived that a pirate ship had entered orbit.
Martin and A40AT worked together to repair a crashed space shuttle nearby. They immediately boarded the pirate ship.
---
Acid rain washed away sediment trickling from the drainpipes on the ground level. After sunset, in the lower levels of Hive City, Molly — a small girl hugging a Grox doll — sat in her father's room. Her skin was pale as she waited anxiously for him to return from work. In his presence she felt warm and safe.
Molly had never had friends. Whenever she tried to play with other children, they ran away. Even the adults kept their distance. She could not understand why.
"Knock! Who's there?" called a familiar voice. She hurried to open the door and saw an ordinary-looking middle-aged man standing there.
"Oh... my daughter, look! I brought you something today!" Her father held up a package of jerky.
"Yay!... Grox!" she cheered.
He chuckled softly and patted her head, then moved into the small kitchen, crowded with rusted pipes and worn appliances.
"Let's make some grox stew. I'll show you how to tenderize the meat," he said, placing a dented pan on a small fuel burner and adding oil.
Molly climbed onto a chair and stood beside him, spoon in hand, stirring as the scent of cooking meat filled the room.
"I love the smell. It makes me feel... less lonely."
Her father turned and smiled sadly. "Me too, dear."
When the stew was ready he split it into two small bowls. Molly ate slowly; the faint smile on her pale face brightened for the first time that day.
"Dad, can you make another plate?"
"I'm sorry, my dear. We don't have enough money."
"Okay," she replied, then got down to wash the dishes in the rusty sink.
Suddenly, a shrill siren wailed and red lights bled through the metal window.
"They're here..." her father whispered, rising quickly.
The door banged. "Abites! Open up!"
He held Molly close. "You'll be safe. Hide in the closet," he urged, yanking open the dusty wardrobe and pushing her inside before closing it.
Inside, Molly clutched the Grox doll so tight her small hands ached as gunshots rang out.
Heavy footsteps approached the closet. The door was thrown open by two men with cruel, leering faces.
Then she saw her father's lifeless body on the floor, a spreading stain beneath him, his eyes fixed in her direction as if seeing her one last time.
Molly trembled and gasped; her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
Tears streamed down her pale face.
"Lord Isanthus will be pleased," one of the men muttered. The last thing she saw was the butt of a pistol coming down.
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