PERDITION'S FLAME (2019)

Written by Alec Worley
Performed by Grace Andrews, John Cameron Stewart, Andrew Wincott 
& Jo Woodcock 
Scripted by Reverend 


LIST OF CHARACTERS:
* Marko Vossk – Guardsman of the 86th Vostroyan Firstborn; 
* Captain Brandon – Praetorian Guard Captain and Vossk’s jailer;
* Herryn - eccentric Inquisitor;
* Triss – Commander of the ship;
* Renn – Lieutenant of the Guard; 
* Sollovan – Guardsman.  


Marko Vossk: “In here, my friend. Come, warm yourself by the fire. By the Throne I cannot tell you how relieved1 I was to see your rescue ship cross the sky. Though I scarcely2 could see your trail through the blizzard. You can stare outside all you like, my friend. The night winds of this world would freeze even Valhallan blood. So please sit. I am looking forward to meeting the rest of your squad. I’ve been living in this cave for days. It’s small but it’s warm. We’ll be safe here until morning. I’m sure you’ve had worse lodgings3, yes?”
(Vossk smiling calmly) 
Marko Vossk: “My savior pod landed on a few leagues north of here. I was lucky. Hah, so many blessings for a man so sinful. You are a scout, yes? Hm, I was a comm’s operator. Marko Vossk, 86th Vostroyan firstborn. Fortune’s favored, they call us (smiling). We won the third siege of Vulkis, drove the Tau from Trenchis Secundus and the greenskins from Vermis Prime and then we were on Soras. Have you heard of Soras? It’s a bog4 world in the Obsidius Cluster. No? Well, there we faced… We faced worse”. 
(Vossk sighing deeply) 
Marko Vossk: “I told you when you found me, that mine was a long story. Well, it’s going to be a long night, my friend. So listen. Listen or what she did will have been for nothing. Everything will have been for nothing. I…” 
(Vossk making a pause) 
Marko Vossk: “Forgive me, I’ve spent every night in this cavern5 trying to remember the facts, the facts as plainly as if I were writing a duty report. But what I saw… What I most definitely saw… My story will sound like madness.  I know, madness or worse, but I swear to you upon the rifle of my father, this much is true. There are things in this galaxy, things worse than the xenos. Things that watch us from the shadows, eyes gleaming beyond the veil. We cannot see them or touch them, but they are there. They are like… like voices in an empty room. Throne only knows what they are, what they want, but to know them is to know damnation. Soldier, you must listen to me, listen for the sake of your soul, for the souls of us all. Hear my tale…”
* * *
The ship was called the Kamchatka, just a small escort vessel bound for somewhere I would rather not have been going. My present cell had little more than an iron slab6 they called a bed. A shelf in a mortuarium would have been more welcoming. 
(Vossk smiling calmly) 
Certainly my neighbors would have been less troublesome.
Neighbor (pleading): “Out! Out!”
Marko Vossk (beating on the wall): “Aren’t you getting tired of me, pounding on this wall? Stop talking to yourself, neighbor, and let me sleep”.
Neighbor (moaning): “Out! Out!”
Marko Vossk (angrily): “We shall be out of here soon enough. Until then get some rest”.
Neighbor (pleading): “Out! Out!”
My fellow prisoners were murderers, sadists, monsters, all of us slowly being driven mad. The ship’s systems had been malfunctioning for days, weeks perhaps. I could hear the engines juddering7 like a troubled heartbeat. The lamps on the gantry outside fizzed8 and guttered9, casting clawed shadows about the walls. The bulkheads10 creaked and groaned11 in a way that spoke of anxious machine spirits. Like animals we could sense something in the air. But no matter how much we barked and howled in our cages our Militarum jailors were in no mood to listen. 
Brandon (walking along the cells): “Attention, filth! This is Captain Brandon, head of security. Its four hours past lights out. If any of you are having trouble bedding down then I can put you to sleep with a shock maul12 if you like. Any takers?”
Marko Vossk: “Captain Brandon, over here. Comm’s man Vossk, 86th Vostroyan firstborn”.
Brandon: “Prisoner 379, step away from the cell door and get back on your slab. There is 500 more of you vermin in this carcerum and you’ve just woken every one of them”.
I knew better than to argue with the Praetorian Guard. Have you ever seen them in combat? One the field they are like machines, their discipline unfaltering13, their courage mindless. As my jailor this Captain Brandon was just as obstinate14. Her hair was bound tight beneath that high Praetorian helmet. Sweat glistened on her face bearing the mean pitiless look that is the hallmark15 of the highborn.  
Marko Vossk: “My apologies, Captain, but you must listen to me. There is something dreadfully wrong with the ship”.
Brandon: “The tech-priests are aware of the situation. The system malfunctions are only temporary. We’ll be entering warp as soon as they’ve completed repairs. Now get back on your slab and keep quiet”.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, wait! Come back! These system’s malfunctions… I think I may know their cause, let me explain”
Brandon: “Wait a minute! 86th firstborn? You are him, aren’t you? You are the deserter. I heard you left your entire squad to die in the vile16 swamps back on Soras, is that right?”
Marko Vossk: “Captain, yes, that is true. But…”
Brandon (interrupting): “Your Commissar should have made an end of you. Or were they too busy fighting to stop you from running? You are lucky you are on your way to the penal legion with the rest of these animals. The thought of someone like you being allowed to wear a uniform again makes me sick”.
Marko Vossk: “Do you know what we faced on Soras, Captain?”
Brandon: “I’ve heard the stories”.
Marko Vossk: “Stories? Ahahahah, our commander heard stories too, whispers about what we’d be facing in those hive slums. But he chose not to listen. He thought the enemy was just another heretic cult”.
(Vossk remembering the events on Soras)
(sounds of a raging battle and multiple las bolts)
Marko Vossk: “The zealots17 had overrun the city. They outnumbered us 20 to 1, but we destroyed them all in an afternoon. They barely fought back. It was as if they wanted us to slaughter them. Our work done we withdrew to the camp we had hidden in the outlying swamps. Night had fallen by the time we realized…”
(distant screaming voices and unhuman roars)
Marko Vossk: “…that the dead had followed us home”.
(soldiers screaming in agony) 
Marko Vossk: “They had us surrounded, smiling at us through the fog, the air teaming with flies. Everyone panicked, everyone. I know I should have stayed, but to stay was to die. No, to stay would have meant worse than dying. I saw the commander go down, his head cleaved in two. The moment he hit the ground his body started boiling out of his clothes. Then he got to his feet again grinning at me with half of his face. So yes, Captain Brandon, I ran”.
(Vossk running through the swamps) 
(memories fading)
Marko Vossk: “Seeing the impossible changes a man. It gives him a greater sensitivity to his surroundings, teaches him to heed18 the warning signs before disaster strikes”.
Brandon: “And what warning signs are you seeing, prisoner?”
Marko Vossk: “Not just me, Captain, all of us. Every one of us in these cells, we hear. We hear boots in the hallway when no guard is on duty. We see things standing in the shadows. We awake from dreams of being burned alive. This ship is cursed, haunted by something. I know not what but it’s causing the ship’s malfunctions. I can sense it, I am sure of it”.
(Brandon hitting Vossk with a shock maul)
She struck the bars of my cell with her shock maul stinging my fingers, silencing me immediately. 
Brandon: “You sound like an expert in these matters, prisoner. Perhaps I should inform the Inquisition”.
Marko Vossk: “The Inquisition? There are Inquisitors on board?”
Brandon: “Aye, so if there was any such thing that you describe on this ship, they would be aware of it and have matters well in hand. Now, if you any further insights19 to offer I am sure they’d be happy to oblige with an interrogation”.
Marko Vossk: “Frankly, Captain, that sounds preferable to another night without sleep in this cell”.
Neighbor (pleading): “Out! Out!”
Marko Vossk: “Shut up! Shut up, I beg you!”
(Vossk starts beating on the wall)
Brandon: “Stop that! Stop banging on the wall! What’s wrong with you?”
Marko Vossk: “The man in the cell next to me has been yammering20 every night. Captain, make him stop, please!”
Brandon: “What are you talking about? Cell’s empty. The last man to occupy it died two weeks ago”.
Marko Vossk (shocked): “What? But… that cannot be… I hear him repeating the same word over and over again. Out, he says. Out!”
I saw the blood drain from Brandon’s face upon hearing the word. Fear gleaned in her eyes as she turned away. 
Marko Vossk (suspiciously): “What is it, Captain? You have heard this word before, haven’t you?”
(Brandon evading the answer in an unease pause)
Marko Vossk (angrily): “What do you know? Tell me! Tell me or I’ll wake everyone aboard this Throne forsaken ship!”
(Brandon hitting Vossk with a shock maul)
She spun around, thrust the shock maul through the bars of my cell door and lit up my ribs. 
(Vossk falling to the cell floor, moaning)
I crawled away, the pain subsiding quickly. She could have shocked me into unconsciousness, but she didn’t. Perhaps, she pitied me.
Brandon: “I am not one for stories, Vossk. They are only good for spreading fear and panic. So if I hear of any such thing among my prisoners, then I will hold you responsible, understood?”
Marko Vossk (moaning): “I know what I heard”.
Brandon: “You heard nothing. Nothing, you hear?”
(Brandon walking away)
She retreated and I crawled into the corner of my cell. 
Marko Vossk (praying): “Oh immortal Emperor, have mercy upon us miserable…”
Hands clamped over my ears I began a muttered prayer, a prayer to shut out the whispers I could still hear coming from the empty cell beside me.  
(whispers getting louder)
* * *
Brandon: “Commander! Navigatorum reports power level’s restored to 80%”.
Triss: “Why are the tech-priests wasting time repairing the navigation system if our engines are failing. Tell them to concentrate on repairing the long-range vox array instead. They have permission to shut down and cannibalize any non-essential subsystems if required. Tell them we’ll be dead within three cycles unless they can contact the fleet for assistance”.
She was determined to submit an advisory21 report to Commander Triss, but upon entering the command deck she realized straight away that now was perhaps not the best time. The operators benched in the control na?ve were struggling to relay instructions through hololiths choked22 with static. Every minute another cogitator or herald system bleeped in distress announcing another crisis in need of attention. 
Commander Triss was only a few years older than Captain Brandon, but she said he carried himself like an admiral. He was managing the chaos with commendable nerve, but for how much longer?
Triss: “Captain Brandon, stop gawping23 and state your business!”
Brandon: “Commander Triss, I apologize. I had no idea the situation was this bad. I would have voxed my report but the comm channel is down”.
Triss: “Along with the warp drives and half an augury, I am afraid. Servitor Kappa-9! How much longer until my strategium screens are back online?”
Kappa-9: “Unknown, Commander. Currently unable to determine source of interference. Primary examination suggests the fault is not mechanical”.
Triss: “If it’s not mechanical then what in Terra’s name is that?”
Brandon: “Commander Triss, I have an idea about what’s wrong with the ship. I…”
Triss (interrupting): “Inquisitor… at last”.
(Herryn slowly entering the command deck)
And then she drifted calm as a millpond24, cooling her face with an ebony fan. Inquisitor Herryn. A row of chronometers hung from the woman’s girdle25, each one ticking a separate tune. She moved through the turmoil26 of that command deck as unhurried27 as a Commissar on an inspection, as if time itself was hers to command. 
Herryn: “Commander Triss, I am behind schedule. I presume you’ve summoned me here to explain why we have not reached our destination”.
Triss: “Look around you, Inquisitor. These system malfunctions are reaching critical and you know why”.
Herryn: “You still believe this has something to do with cargo that I have brought on board. (smiling) This is clearly an engineering issue that you have failed to control”
Triss: “Inquisitor, I received system errors from the vicinity28 of the sanctorum shortly after you requisitioned it”.
Herryn: “Do not mistake coincidence for causation, Commander”.
Triss: “And those malfunctions remain concentrated in that area while spreading across the rest of the ship”.
Herryn: “So, you invite me here thinking that the sight of your crew merely doing their duties would stir29 me into divulging30 the Emperor’s private business?”
Triss: “Privacy be damned, Inquisitor. There are over 13,000 Imperial souls aboard this vessel. Whatever you are hiding in the sanctorum, whether it is experimental tech, xenos artifacts, whatever it is. You need to tell me before this ship becomes our tomb”.
Brandon saw everyone on the bridge seemed to hold their breath as Herryn consulted with one of her chronometers.  
Herryn: “I assure you these issues are entirely mechanical. Nothing beyond the ability of an Imperial naval commander to remedy31”.
Triss: “Inquisitor, if you refuse to cooperate I shall be forced to…”
Brandon (interrupting): “Inquisitor, if I may… I agree with Commander Triss. Mam, I believe the cause of these malfunctions may be something more than mechanical”.
Triss: “Brandon, you are dismissed”.
Brandon: “Commander, please… Perhaps neither of you nor the honored Inquisitor here are in full possession of the facts. That is to say I believe… I have reason to believe that there may be something aboard this vessel, something not of the world as I would know it”.
Herryn: “Heresy is the word you are groping32 for, guardswoman?”
Brandon: “Mam, I came to submit an advisory report to Commander Triss. One of the prisoners in the carcerum has said something that corroborates33 stories I have heard circulating among the guard”.
Herryn: “Stories?” 
Brandon: “I thought it was not, but barracks’ tales at first, ghost stories, then some of the guard began saying they’d heard voices, dead soldiers crying out from the warp. I thought maybe it’s just a heat getting to them and threatened to report anyone I heard circulating any of such nonsense. But it made no difference. It seemed every guard on every deck was seeing shadows, figures, things that had no business being there. I believe none of it, mam, even when I heard one of them myself”.
Herryn: “You heard something?”
Brandon: “I was on my rounds. Whatever it was, it followed me from deck to deck. I could hear it walking behind me every now and then whispering in my ear”.
Herryn: “What did it say?”
Brandon: “The same word over and over. Out! Out! Out!”
(whispering voices fading) 
Herryn: “Your knowledge in matters heretical appears intimate, Captain Brandon. I shall be retaining34 you for interview once Commander Triss brings us to port”.
(vessel trembling, siren going off)
Deck Officer: “Plasma fire, Commander, starboard35 flank. Armor holding”.
A large hololith appeared before Triss. Brandon told me she recognized the flickering images of that an Imperial transport vessel. Slingshot36 class, a ship not half the size of the Kamchatka, but its hull had been somehow corrupted. Leaking blisters37 bulged38 about its flanks swelling39 through an armored plating somehow softened into a substance that resembled decayed flesh. 
Triss (angrily): “Heretics! Our augur systems are half-blind. They could have followed us all the way from Soras and we wouldn’t have known. Is that your doing as well, Inquisitor? Are they following us because of whatever it is you are carrying? Inquisitor, talk to me!”
(vessel trembling after another detonation)
Triss: “They are testing us, seeing if we’ll hit back. Battery command, hold fire! Let them think we’ve got nothing. Wait for them to close in, then take them down with everything we have”.
Brandon: “Commander, battery systems are not responding. System errors reported across all gunnery systems”.
Triss (hitting his command chair in fury): “Throne of Terra! Inquisitor, we have no warp drive. We have no vox with which to signal a fleet for assistance and no, we have no guns. Whatever you are hiding in my sanctorum I want it destroyed, jettisoned40, gone from my ship now. All the while we have it on board, our systems are useless and we are defenseless”.
Herryn: “That is a tiny vessel, manned by a handful of feeble41 heretics. You are an Imperial naval commander and I am repulsed42 by your cowardice”.
Deck Officer: “Commander, hostile ship approaching on a portside43 boarding vector”.
Triss (breathing hard): “Captain! Captain Brandon! Mobilize the guard!”
Brandon: “Aye, sir! I won’t let them set foot on this ship”.
Triss: “Inquisitor, that is impossible”.
Herryn: “Force of mind, Commander Triss. It is force of mind that renders the impossible possible. It is force of mind that grants us strength enough to endure and vision enough to triumph. It is force of mind through which we invoke44 the miraculous. You will not disappoint me, Commander”.
* * *
(siren going off, flies buzzing overhead)
The enemy vessel had finally succeeded in latching45 itself alongside us. A foul odor thickened the air. I thought at first that the drains46 had suddenly filled to overflowing while the heat grew ever more stifling47. 
Brandon: “Pull F sector, docking portals Silvanus, move, Praetorians! We’ve heretics waiting to be killed. Sollovan, haven’t you managed to get that vox caster working yet?”
Sollovan: “Mam, I am trying. Seems to be interference on every channel”.
Brandon: “Talk while you are walking, Sollovan. With the ship’s comms as good as down, we’ll have barely half the troops we need at the contact point”.
(screams barely heard over the vox)
Sollovan: “Mam, wait! I have something, here listen”.
Guardswoman (over vox, barely hearable): “Keep shooting!”
Brandon: “Give me that hailer, Sollovan”.
(grabbing the hailer)
Brandon (over vox): “Brandon, tumble squad, reinforcements on route! Hold position! Confirm!”
Guardswoman (over vox, barely hearable): “Captain, none human hostiles at least… ten of them… They are taking casualties… listen… they… they won’t stay down…”
Brandon (over vox): “Repeat, hold position!”
Guardswoman (over vox, barely hearable): “Get back! Get back! AAAAAAAA!” 
Brandon (over vox): “Tumble squad, can you hear me? Sit tight! We are on our way! Repeat, we are on our way”.
Demonic voice (laughing over vox): “Good… Ahahahah!”
Sollovan (horrified): “Throne, preserve us! What was that? What do we do now?”
Brandon: “What do you think we do, guardsman? We go in!”
Herryn (over vox): “Inquisitor Herryn to Guard Captain Brandon, report!”
Brandon (over vox): “Brandon reporting, mam”.
Herryn (over vox): “I want you and a squad of your best to full back and defend the sanctorum”.
Brandon (over vox): “Inquisitor, I can confirm that we have the troops maintaining the contact point, but they need assistance”.
Herryn (over vox): “Your troops are beyond assistance as you well know, Captain. Defense of my sanctorum is now your priority. Your orders are to kill anyone who attempts to enter. That includes ship’s personnel. Is that understood, Captain?”
(Brandon unable to answer)
Herryn (over vox): “Captain?”
Brandon (over vox): “Aye, Inquisitor! Brandon out”.
(Brandon turning off the vox)
Brandon: “Throne, help us! She is a mad woman”.
Sollovan: “Mam?” 
Brandon: “Nothing, we are falling back. Full back with me. Sollovan, signal all units! Draw all the targets down towards the lower decks, away from Commander and the sanctorum. We’ll establish a kill zone in main hall of the carcerum”.
Sollovan: “What about the prisoners, mam?”
Brandon: “Avoid contact. They’ll be safe in their cells. Not that there’s any down there I’d mind losing. Come on, Sollovan, wake up! What’s the matter with you?”
Sollovan: “Mam… Mam, what are we dealing with here?”
Brandon: “You are in the guard, son. If you want to ask questions, go and join the inquisition. Now move!”
* * *
The carcerum lurked48 in the bowls of the ship. Above me I could hear the distant snap49 of lasfire, cries of pain and fury, the familiar music of battle moving nearer and nearer. And with it… with it came the blinding stench that I had not smelt since leaving Soras. I knew then exactly what had boarded the ship, what was plodding50 towards us. With white eyes glowing above the rictus51 grin, bellies leaking like rotten fruit. Tendrils52 that once were arms squirming53 to embrace me. 
(Vossk nervously breathing hard by the cell bars) 
Trapped in my own cell I could do nothing but wait. Sweat streamed down my back, as if my terror were a fever slowly consuming me. If only I had known that the enemy had far more reason to be terrified. 
(Praetorian Guard halting after a long run)
Brandon: “Stand straight, eyes front, Praetorians, and check the seals on those respirators. This smell is about to get a lot worse. And anyone I catch throwing up will be cleaning latrines for the next twelve cycles”.
Peering through the bars I could see Captain Brandon striding down the gantry not far from my cell. Those polished buttons on her jacket flashing in the gloom. She had arranged guards all along this level and under balcony above. Tight lines of scarlet jackets blazed in the shadows as the Praetorians aimed their lasrifles down into the great hall far below, waiting for their target to appear. 
Male Guardsman (over vox, barely hearable): “Captain… they are coming… they are approaching…”
Brandon (over vox): “I know, we can hear them coming”.
And so could I, a morass54 of gurgling55 moans echoing down the adjoining halls. The sound of an army drowning in its own filth. Things too big to be flies buzzed about me nipping56 at my skin as they swirled in the lamp light. 
Brandon: “Praetorians, stand by!”
(horde of moaning zombies approaching)
Brandon: “Aim!”
I saw them through the grills in the gantry floor, a mob of putrid57 bodies barging58 through the portal and filling the hall. A legion of eyes glowed white in the darkness, smiles glistening, tendrils of necrotic flesh rising from their heads like trailing smoke. The ghosts I escaped on Soras had returned to haunt me.  
Sollovan: “That’s Sergeant Walkers down there… And there is Olson”.
Brandon: “Shut up and steady those rifles, Praetorians. I want headshots. And…”
(dreadful silence)
Brandon (screaming): “FIRE!”
A hundred threads of lasfire stammered59 in unison bathing the walls in flickering red, chopping into the invaders’ frontlines as they approached the central staircase. Such a volley would have devastated a mortal foe, but most of these grinning abominations seemed oblivious to the wounds now smoking upon their bloated bodies. They lumbered60 forward trampling61 their fallen to mulch62 as they neared the stairs. Brandon signaled another volley. 
Sollovan: “God Emperor, what are they?”
Brandon (screaming): “Eyes on target! FIRE!”
(numerous torrents of lasfire)
The second blast was less focused, the Praetorians unnerved by the enemy leering up at them, bodies riddled63 with blackened wounds.
One of the Prisoners: “Don’t lose heart, lads. Keep it up, you won’t let honest men die behind the bars, will you?”
Marko Vossk: “Brandon! Captain Brandon! I see humans, human targets by the doors” 
I could see them in the hall below, ragged64 humans capering65 into view behind the last of the shambling66 invaders. 
(Chaos cultists laughing hysterically)
These cackling cultists were shepherding the unearthly host, screeching67 eldritch68 words of command and blasting into the dark with stab rifles. As the vanguard began plodding69 up the narrow stairs, the creatures behind them dispersed. Ignoring the rain of lasfire they ascended the walls like jungle creepers infesting the boiling heat of the carcerum with a stink that made it almost impossible to breathe. 
Captain Brandon shoved through her troops and onto the head of the stairs. 
Brandon: “Fix bayonets70! Steel in hands, steel in nerve! Gloria In Praetorian!”
(Praetorian Guard charging the zombie horde, engaging in melee combat) 
The creatures were already oozing over the balconies, but the guards fought back thrusting and stabbing at every grinning face. As it appeared over the railing71, blades sheering through the softened skulls.
Brandon (slacking another creature): “Heads and hearts, Praetorians! That will do it!”
I saw one of the creatures flap over the balcony near my cell, smashing a guardswoman to the floor with a length of broken pipe it carried in its paw. As her nearest comrade went to spear the creature with his bayonet, the abomination threw out a tentacle and caught him all around the throat. 
(Brandon screaming and charging the creature)
Brandon dashed72 in, her pale face glistening with sweat and fury. She slashed the tentacle in half, releasing the guardsman in a shower of ichor. She drove the blade deep under the creature’s chin dragging it onto its back. Whipping73 the blade free she brought her boot down on the creature’s skull spraying its fetid74 brains across the floor. She steadied the horrified guard. 
Brandon: “You are not dead yet, son”.
She shoved him back into line and moved on to the next in melee. My encounter with these abominations on Soras had left me broken, haunted by my own cowardice, but the sight of Captain Brandon and her gallant Praetorians sent fire into my veins once more. 
Marko Vossk: “Captain Brandon! Release me, let me help you. Together we’ll drive these demons back to hell! Ahahahah!”
(wounded guardswoman moaning)
On the floor near my cell the wounded guardswoman got to her feet. Blood drooled75 from a gash in her temple76, a wound surely too grievous to survive. As I watched her eyes clouded and her lips shrank back from her teeth stretching into a grin so extreme that it tore face as it spread.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, behind you!”
Brandon spun around, our eyes met for an instant. Before she saw the thing stumbling towards her, its leprous77 claws inches from her throat. I never saw Brandon hurl the knife. I saw only the festering brute topple78 onto his back, the hilt of a Catachan blade protruding79 from its forehead. 
Brandon: “Advance, Praetorians! Run them down, leave none alive!”
(Chaos cultists and abomination retreating) 
Brandon: “They are falling back… Thank the Throne! Lieutenant Renn?”
Renn: “Yes, mam!“ 
Brandon: “Go at them, hunt down those cultists before they find cover! Go!!”
Pale faces appeared between the bars of the cells and howled their approval as the Praetorians filed down the stairs, brandishing80 their bayonets, uniforms drenched with green filth as they pursued the creatures out of the halls. 
I could see her not far from myself struggling to release a vox harness from the body of its operator. The vox was bleeping as she fumbled81 with the switches. 
Marko Vossk: “Captain Brandon, it’s an auxiliary distress beacon”.
Brandon: “I know what it is. Shut up!”
(Brandon taking off her respirator) 
Brandon: “Throne, what a stink…”
(vox interference)
Brandon (over vox): “Captain Brandon receiving… Brandon receiving, I need your location. Can you hear me?”
Marko Vossk: “If there is that much interference you may need to reset the protocols and don’t twist the dial like that or you’ll lose the signal completely”.
Brandon: “I said, shut up!”
Marko Vossk: “With an old model like that you can reconfigure the power couplings82 to provide a temporary signal boost”.
Brandon: “By the Throne”.
Brandon glared at me and cursed as she dragged the heavy vox harness towards me and dumped it within reach of my cell. 
Brandon: “Show me!”
Marko Vossk: “Let me out!”
Brandon: “Debitum Honorum, guardsman! Do you want to… My men need help!”
Marko Vossk: “Then let us help them together, Captain!”
Brandon: “Not a chance, but show me hot to get this vox caster working and I’ll recommend your case be reviewed. You have my word”.
Marko Vossk: “And you have my thanks, Captain, though we both know I’ll be dead before I can give it to you”.
Brandon: “Stubborn bloody Vostroyan! We both stand more chance of living if you help me fix this vox and reach whoever needs help”.
Marko Vossk: “No, I cannot risk dying in here, not in this wretched cell! You are valiant83, Captain Brandon. I cannot expect you to understand a torment of a coward. I ran once, yes. Once and that single retreat has haunted me ever since. On the blood of my forefathers I swear I would now rather battle a thousand horrors, than face such damnation again. If I am to risk death let it be at your side, Captain. I saved your life when that creature attacked you. Debitum Honorum! Do not abandon me to perdition”.
(Brandon shooting the cell door open)
Marko Vossk: “Honor on to you, Captain Brandon! Thank you”
She kept her sidearm trained upon me as I scurried84 forward and opened the vox caster, struggling to reconfigure the cables with shaking hands.
Brandon: “Try anything, Vossk, and I’ll put a bolt through the back of your skull before…”
Marko Vossk (interrupting): “It’s done, Captain!”
Guardswoman (over vox): “Recon leader reporting from command district, is anyone there?”
Brandon (over vox): “Brandon here, carcerum sector, report!”
Guardswoman (over vox): “Our voxes cannot maintain a sig… cannot mobilize… internal security systems are down. The ship is a mess. Those things are all over this place. Unless we can stabilize these malfunctions, they will overrun the ship”. 
Brandon (over vox): “Maintain defensive position. I know what’s causing the malfunctions”.
Guardswoman (over vox): “You do?”
Brandon (over vox): “Eh, not exactly, but I know whatever it is, it is inside the sanctorum85”.
Guardswoman (over vox): “Captain, we cannot hold on much longer…”
Brandon (over vox): “We’ll save this ship, recon leader! Hold tight! Systems will be back online shortly. I’ll see to that. Brandon out”.
(Brandon turning off the vox)
Her hands shook as she handed me the haler.
Brandon: “Well, firstborn. You are ready to go and pick a fight with Inquisitor?”
Marko Vossk: “Throne of Terra, is the situation that bad?”
Brandon: “I reckon you might have picked the wrong cycle to ask for a second chance. Now, let’s get moving. I’ll explain on the way”.
Captain Brandon never stopped talking, trying to keep her mind occupied as we hurried through the maintenance passages. We were deep below decks, keen to avoid any roaming86 invaders. The clamor87 of battle faded, as she told me everything that transpired88 on the command deck. 
Brandon: “Throne, I wish voices in the dark roll ahead to worry about now. Keep up, firstborn. You are carrying that vox harness like it’s made of rockrete”.
Marko Vossk (breathing hard): “It’s this heat, Captain. I can… I can barely breathe… On my honor I swear it’s getting hotter”.
Brandon: “Keep up or stay behind to wait for those things to find you! Your choice! We need to move fast, not even Praetorians can hold out forever”.
Her words stunned my Vostroyan pride, tarnished89 though it was. But I was too wary90 to retort91 as I followed her up a ladder bolted to the wall.  
(Brandon opening a hatch and lifting herself up)
Marko Vossk: “Pitch black. It appears the power’s out completely in this sector. At least your Inquisitor Herryn won’t see us coming”.
(flies buzzing around)
Brandon: “We won’t be able to smell those creatures coming either. They’ve got their stink all over this ship”.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, I can’t see you. What are you doing?”
A feeble92 spear of light pierced the pervading93 darkness. She had clipped a torch to the barrel of her lasrifle.
Brandon: “Something to help me keep an eye on you”.
Marko Vossk (smiling sarcastically): “Huh, look… There is a sign on the wall there. The sanctorum is this way”.
Brandon: “Stay close. See if you can reach any idle units around here, direct them to our position. If we can’t destroy whatever it is the Inquisitor is hiding, we’ll need bodies to help us get it off the ship”.
Marko Vossk (checking the vox): “Interference, Captain, and I… I cannot boost the signal again without burning out a power cell. I have got nothing but static on every… Wait! There’s something!”
Brandon: “Friendly?”
Marko Vossk: “I can’t tell! It’s between frequencies”.
I pressed the vox bead deeper into my ear tweaking94 dials as a single word rose from the swamp of white noise. 
Distorted Voice (over vox): “OUT!”
This sound poured ice down my spine. I pulled out my vox bead shivering95 despite the heat. 
Brandon: “What’s wrong?”
Marko Vossk (nervous): “Nothing, Captain! I’ll power down until we reach the sanctorum and get the ship’s systems back online”.
Brandon: “I like your optimism, guardsman”.
Marko Vossk: “Enough to lend me your las pistol?”
Brandon: “So I can get a shot in the back while you make a run for the nearest savior pod? Not likely”.
Marko Vossk: “You insult my honor too often, Captain. I would not…”
(glass breaking)
Brandon: “Blast, torch bulb is gone!”
Marko Vossk: “But you have a replacement, yes?”
Brandon: “Not on me. I am not really a tech-priest, Vossk. Vossk, where are you?”
Marko Vossk: “I am right here. Take my hand”.
Brandon: “I can’t see your hand”.
Marko Vossk: “Then stay still”.
(Vossk trying to find Brandon in complete darkness)
Marko Vossk: “There”.
Brandon: “Right! Now just feel your way straight along the wall. The gate to the south porch96 of the sanctorum should be at the other end of this hallway”.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, wait”.
Brandon: “What is it?”
Marko Vossk: “There is something up ahead, listen!”
(somebody walking in the distance)
Brandon: “Footsteps! Maybe one or two of them”.
Marko Vossk: “The echo makes it sound like more. I can’t tell”.
Brandon: “Shhh!”
Marko Vossk: “That’s dead ahead, Captain!”
Brandon (taking her gun): “Not for long!”
(Brandon charging the enemy and making several las shots)
Brandon’s lasrifle hurled lines of bloody red light at a crowd of figures standing further down the hall. 
Marko Vossk (in Russian): “Òðîí, ñïàñè ìåíÿ!” 
The pulsing muzzle flare revealed a grinning green face inches from my own. 
Darkness fell once more and the thing was on me.  
(abomination jumping on Vossk)
Brandon: “Vossk!”
Marko Vossk (struggling with the creature): “Get this… Get it off me… Get it!”
Brandon: “Get its head on!”
Marko Vossk (struggling with the creature): “I’m trying…”
Crimson light pierced the darkness so bright it burned my eyes. As Brandon drilled my attacker’s skull with las bolts, the creature stared and grinned at me as she sent its hot brains down my arms and onto the floor.  
Brandon (unleashing a salvo of las bolts): “AAAAAAAAAAA!”
(creature’s corpse falling to the ground)
Blackness fell again as she ceased fire. 
Brandon: “There’s more at the end of the hall right where we need to be!”
(Brandon starting to fire)
Brandon: “Well, come on, firstborn! You want to die on the floor or on your feet?”
She stalked towards them, squeezing the trigger to reveal her next target, then sweeping her fire towards it. Ripping throats, detonating heads writhed with tentacles. Behind them stood the arched gates of the sanctorum. In the fluttered97 bright light I saw more rictus smiles emerging from the black archway beside us.  
Marko Vossk: “Captain, your left!”
(Brandon starting to fire)
Marko Vossk: “Throne, save me! There is more coming from that archway on the right, the one that bears the gates. They are piling in! We’ll never come through!” 
I thought of making a grab for Brandon’s pistol, when I glimpsed at the grenades clustered at her belt.  
Marko Vossk: “Captain, please, tell me you have another clip!”
Brandon: “Right here, firstborn!”
Marko Vossk: “Can you please plug it faster?”
Brandon: “Oh, can you please shut up?”
Marko Vossk: “Captain, watch out!”
(another creature grabbing Brandon)
One of the fetid creatures came out of nowhere shoving98 her backwards, slamming her into me as she fought back blindly. I could hear yet more of the creatures trudging99 towards us, closing in. Fumbling100 at Brandon’s belt I found a grenade. I felt that spring loaded snap as I whipped out the pin and flung the weapon into what I hoped was the right direction. 
Marko Vossk: “Captain, down!”
Grabbing Brandon around the waist I wrenched her from her attacker’s grip and onto the floor. 
(explosion)
The heavy iron gates of the sanctorum stood half-open, the lock now shattered. The faint101 light from within Illuminated the floor of the hall, now mired102 with ruined bodies, pasted gore dripping from walls and ceiling. 
Marko Vossk (coughing hard): “Captain, get up! There is more of them heading towards us from down these halls. They have overrun the ship, come!”
(Brandon moaning from pain)
I dragged Brandon to her feet, my vox harness feeling heavier than ever as we ran for the doors. 
(Vossk slamming the door open)
Brandon: “Well done, firstborn! Now see if you can get that gate shut again! I am not ready for company just yet. So move!”
(Vossk moaning while trying his best to close the gates shut) 
Brandon slipped past me probing the darkness with her lasrifle as we entered the gloomy chamber of the sanctorum’s porch. I wedged103 the heavy door back in place shutting out the sea of glittering eyes swaying down the hallway towards us. There were empty crates stacked on a servo trolley beside me.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, please pass me that chain! Quickly!”
(Vossk closing the gate and putting the chain around)
Marko Vossk: “It’s secure, but it won’t hold them for long. Is this it? Is this the sanctorum?”
Brandon: “Herryn’s in there somewhere and she’ll know what we have come here to do. Are you still up for this, firstborn?”
Marko Vossk: “Upon my honor, Captain”.
Brandon pressed something into my hand. 
Brandon: “There is your las pistol, Vossk. If she tries to stop us, don’t hesitate”.
Marko Vossk: “I understand, but she’s…”
Brandon (interrupting): “An Inquisitor… I know and she is happy to see the whole ship go down just to protect something she has already lost. That sounds like a good reason for all of us to die, does it?”
Marko Vossk: “It does not”.
Brandon: “Then don’t hesitate, firstborn!”
I nodded and we both hurried out into the sanctorum aiming our weapons. 
Sparse lumo-candles gleaned like stars failing to brighten the immensity of the sanctorum. The place felt like a furnace104, the air so hot it scorched your nostrils to breathe it, heavy with the scent of what I thought was burned wood. We slipped into cover behind the pillars. Gripping the las pistol I peered out across the central na?ve. I was startled to see dozens of silent figures sitting in rows upon the pews. 
Brandon: “That’s the cause of all our worries, right there”.
Marko Vossk: “It looks as if these poor wretches were gathered in worship of it. But what in Throne’s name is it? And why is it ticking?”
At the heart of the sanctorum lay some kind of huge clockwork machine. It comprised an enormous black metal canister plastered with purity seals and the reclining within a turmoil of leavers, dials and ratcheting105 cogs. 
Brandon: “Whatever it is, let’s put it out of commission and get this ship back online”.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, on your right!”
Brandon: “Just a couple of servitors, mind-locked by the look of them. So, where’s Herryn? Cover me, firstborn, and stay out of sight”.
Brandon gave the signal for us to advance and I crept low along the na?ve moving from bench to bench. The bulk of my vox harness disturbed one or two of the benches blackened occupants spilling ash and bone on the floor. They had worn captives’ fatigues like mine own, but red in color. These clothes were somehow untouched, though the bodies within were charred106. Chains shackled their wrists and ankles to the benches and each had a crude brass circlet107 printed with arcane circuitry clamped108 around their blackened skulls. 
(Vossk breathing hard)
As I paused to examine one of these I thought I could see someone crouched in the shadows on the other side of the hall, glaring at me. My scalp prickled109 at the thought of the lurking Inquisitor. But before I could turn and aim my las pistol…
Brandon: “I found Herryn! She is over here”.
The Captain stood at the rear of the machine beckoning me. I dared a glance back at the isle where I thought I had seen Inquisitor. As I stared the darkness seemed to seethe110 with whispers. 
Brandon: “What are you staring at, firstborn? Get over here”.
Eagerly I hurried up the chancel111 steps to see what Brandon had found. And there strapped into some kind of cockpit built into the rear of the machine was Inquisitor Herryn.
Marko Vossk: “She is… wearing the brass circlet, same as every one of those burned bodies”.
Herryn (muttering): “By force of mind shall you be ground. By force of mind shall space resist form”. 
She was gazing into the middle distance, oiled strands112 of white hair in her eyes. The kerchief113 at her throat wilted114 with sweat, her chronometers still ticking at her belt.  She was whispering some kind of mantra. I made no move to protest as Brandon unbuckled her myriad restraints.
Herryn (muttering): “By force of mind shall you be ground. By force of mind shall space resist form. By force of mind shall time resist computation. By force of mind shall we endure”.
Marko Vossk: “It looks like these poor wretches115 were consumed by this machine”.
Brandon: “They were psykers, I recognize their fatigues. Her ladyship116 here must have requisitioned them from the Black Ships bound for Terra”. 
Marko Vossk: “And now she is allowing herself to be consumed. For what purpose? To keep this machine running. It makes no sense”.
(abomination trying to break into the hall, gates barely holding on
Brandon: “I don’t care how much sense it makes. I’d say there less than a minute before those things break through those gates. Help me get her out of this machine so we can shut the damn thing down”.
I helped Brandon remove the last of Herryn’s restraints before pulling the Inquisitor out of her seat. Her circlet was tightened around her skull, attached to a headrest117 by a mechanical tendon118. Brandon hacked through it with her knife and threw the limp Inquisitor on to the floor. Instantly the clockwork slowed, dials whirred119, lights flashed and something seemed to drain from the atmosphere. 
(vox coming back online)
Marko Vossk: “Captain, the vox is working. I’ve got chatter on every channel”.
Brandon: “Thank the Throne, signal all units: coordinate and advance. And inform command we have taken out the source of the interference. The ship’s systems should be back online”.
(gates ready to collapse)
Brandon: “We’ll get out through the opposite porch, but we need to get there before these things can break through and get in our way. Now help me get Herryn on her feet”.
Herryn: “No!”
Inquisitor Herryn sprang from the floor and threw herself at the cockpit from which we had extracted her. She scrabbled120 to reattach her circlet only to find that we had severed the cable. 
Herryn (weeping): “No! No! No!”
She ran her hands over dials flashing red as she sank to the floor sobbing as though she had just lost a child.  
Herryn: “Do you, savages, have any notion of what you’ve just done? How many years this has taken me? What it took to get this far? What you have caused the Ordo Chronos?”
Brandon: “Inquisitor, the situation has reached critical. I was forced to take drastic121 measures and decommission this machine before the ship was overrun”.
(zombie horde trying to break the gates)
Brandon: “Inquisitor, we need to get you to safety! Now!”
(Herryn giving Brandon a slap in the face) 
Herryn: “You weak wild wretch! All you had to do was your duty. Find you way around the problem, keep the ship safe and running. That’s your job, that’s what you do. By force of mind shall we endure”.
Brandon: “But Inquisitor, the interference made impossible to…”
Herryn (interrupting): “Interference? Ahahaha! The interference was nothing, Fluctuations122 in the retention123 field, echoes in time, ripples in the Immaterium, faces peering through the gaps in space. By force of mind shall they be bound. If you and your Commander had done your duty, given me more time, I could have contained it until we reached port”.
Marko Vossk: “Contained? Contained what?”
Herryn clawed at the circlet around her skull. As she fell back I caught her trying to restraint her convulsions. 
Brandon: “Leave her, firstborn! Move”
Brandon was already half-way up the hall, motioning me to follow. Terror filled me at the thought of the fiends tearing their way through the gates and which would fill the hall within seconds blocking my escape. But something compelled me to remain seconds longer.  
Brandon (in the distance): “I said, leave her! Her mind is gone”.
Marko Vossk: “But I need answers. I must know what it was we risked our lives to protect”.
Brandon (in the distance): “With me, that’s an order”.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, I need a reason”.
I ceased the Inquisitor‘s arms forcing her to face me. 
Marko Vossk: “This machine we have deactivated, Inquisitor, what is it?”
Herryn: “It’s…not… a machine…”
Marko Vossk: “Then what is it? Tell me!”
Scalding124 steam rose from Herryn’s mouth as she spoke, her tongue sizzling125, her eyes swirling126 like bubbles as she spoke her last.  
Herryn: “It’s… a cage!”
(deep noise erupting from the machine)
From within the great black cylinder beside us the sound rumbled127 deep in my chest, my blood seizing128 to ice as I recognized the word.
Demon (growling): “OUT!”
Herryn (screaming in agony): “NOOOOO!”
Flames burst from Herryn’s eyes, fire consuming her flesh as quickly and savagely as though her blood were promethium. 
Marko Vossk: “NOOO!”
By the time I released her, the fire had already vanished, sucked out of existence. 
(Herryn’s charred remains falling to the floor)
What was left of Inquisitor Herryn clattered129 to the floor, smoldering130 bones wrapped in embroidered finery131.  
Marko Vossk (shocked): “What? What just happened? God Emperor, what just happened?”
(gates finally collapsing)
Brandon (nearby): “Damn you, firstborn! They are inside”.
Death had finally broken through the sanctorum gates, fetid flesh glistening in the candlelight as the hall filled with bloated bodies. 
Brandon (making several shots): “Now we’ll have to fight our way through”.
I remembered how her words gladdened me. 
(Vossk unleashing several las bolts)
Every squeeze at the las pistol’s trigger was a joy, every ruptured132 skull an ecstasy of retribution. The creatures blundered133 down the na?ve crashing into the benches, spilling the ashen bones that lay there. Most of them wore soiled134 Praetorian uniforms, their wearers milky-eyed and smiling, tentacles wriggling135 from their mutated heads.  
Brandon: “I am out! Damn it, I am out!”
(creature attacking Brandon)
Brandon (attacking the monster in melee): “Oh, you think I am done, do you? I am Militarum! I am never done”. 
(Brandon unsheathing her blade)
Brandon: “Come on, all of you! That’s it”.
Marko Vossk: “Eh, I am empty!”
With no blade with which to defend myself I snatched a nearby candelabra brandishing it like an iron staff, as the monsters approached. Servitio ad Mortem, my father taught me. Service until death. That is what it means to serve the Imperium, to maintain one’s honor. That I had stood and fought in that hall was all that mattered. My pledge to Captain Brandon had been fulfilled. As tide of deathly smiles closed in around me and yet I had nothing to fear. An immense lid136 of black metal flew overhead and crashed into the creatures’ front ranks like a downed Thunderhawk, crushing them to paste as it rolled down the hall. 
Marko Vossk: “Captain, get back!”
A rumble of fire gathered behind me, its heat drenching my back as I stood transfixed, not daring to face what I could sense now lurked behind me. From the corner of my eye I could see Brandon standing nearby, her face a blow, eyes wide as she stared up at something twice her height.
Brandon: “Throne almighty!”
I had conquered my terror of the impossible, but this… this… was something even more malign137 and unknowable. I could feel my rigid138 neck creaking139 as I forced my head to turn and see what had hurled aside the lid of that clockwork’s sarcophagus.  
* * *
What did I see, you ask? Upon my father I do not know. But you have seen statues of the Adeptus Astartes, yes? Those armored giants so like demigods, it is hard to believe they even exist. Well, a figure such as this stood before me, a monument drenched in flames. Its power armor appeared to me brutish and ancient. In lieu140 of a Chapter symbol it was livered all over with bones and skulls. A veil of flames rippled141 over ceramite so impossibly black, that to look at it was like staring through a hole in reality and out into the starless void. I thought at first this apparition142 was just that, a hallucination brought about by the euphoria of battle. Then it glared down at me. Throne, save me! It glared down at me and I was left in no doubt that an unspeakable force of will existed behind those piercing red lenses. I shivered143 so thoroughly that I fell to my knees as if in supplication144. The lower half of its face plate was broken and discloses the grinning teeth of a huge skull. The jaws parted and the roar escaped those fleshless lips.
Space Marine (bellowing): “OUT!” 
The word was no entreaty145, but a bellow of triumph, of the prisoner long held now finally released. The flames dancing about its body intensified, blazing so brightly I had to shield my eyes from the heat and glare. 
The fetid enemy had recovered, innards trailing as they hold themselves onto their feet and resumed their advance towards us. They grinned stupidly clutching their clubs and knifes as they ambled146 towards the flaming monster.  With a single hand it raised an enormous bolter, a weapon somehow more bone than metal. 
Marko Vossk: “Captain, move! Get out of the way!”
(Space Marine unleashing several bolter rounds)
The apparition fired three deafening shots as it moved swiftly and soundlessly down the chancel steps. Its shots hit the foremost three creatures directly in their chests splitting their bodies as the bolts detonated and drenched those behind them with a tide of green gore.
Marko Vossk: “Captain! Captain! What is it?”
Brandon: “It is a miracle!”
Moving with a grace that belied its bulk the apparition moved into the space vacated by the slain and slashed a huge knife across the line of enemies that stood before it. A row of grinning heads thudded at its feet one after the other. Undaunted147 the creatures closed in as the apparition towered over them. It fired a sweeping volley around it.
Brandon (charging and starting to slash the creatures): “For the Throne!”
She threw herself into the fray148 hacking her way to its side until the two of them were splitting heads and blasting at the dwindling149 foe in mutual frenzy150. 
(Space Marine bellowing)
I clamped my hands over my ears. The howl reverberated through the ship like an earthquake as if in announcement of the destruction that was to come in recompense for its imprisonment. The fire that burned around the apparition’s body heightened to an inferno, obscuring its black armor completely until it became a living column of fire. Flames flooded the hall devouring everything they touched: wood, dead flesh, even steel. The fire seemed to possess a life independent of the apparition as if the specter’s rage had been made manifest, a mindless hunger intent upon destroying the very ship, the apparition sought to purge. Smoke choked the air, yet Brandon battled on heedless of the conflagration151 about to consume her. I wriggled free of my vox harness, hurdling152 flaming wreckage as I dashed to her side and caught her arm. 
Marko Vossk: “Enough! Captain, this way!”
Brandon: “Get off me!”
I could no longer see the apparition, only the firestorm that it had created. I’d thought for a moment that it had vanished back to whatever netherworld153 had spawned it, but I could hear its bolter fire resounding from somewhere outside the sector, seeming to ring throughout the entire ship. The apparition had moved on to purge the rest of the Kamchatka.
Marko Vossk: “Captain!”
Brandon: “Let go off me, firstborn!”
Marko Vossk: “And let you die running through a wall of fire? Not on my honor, Captain, come away now!”
Brandon: “Get off me!”
She struggled hard, the heat scorching my flesh, crisping my hair and beard. 
(Brandon laughing hysterically)
She went limp in my arms as I pulled her away watching the tide of flames drown the last of the deceased invaders.  I managed to pull her through a portal into an adjoining corridor abandoning the sanctorum to the flames. 
Marko Vossk (breathing hard): “Through here, Captain!”
Brandon: “Leave me be, Vossk”.
She twisted herself free of my grip but I caught her wrist before she could plunge back into the flaming hall. 
Marko Vossk (breathing hard): “No! No! You saved me, Captain. Now let me save you. The Inquisitor had that thing locked up in her machine for, Throne knows, how long. She tried to restraint its rage with psykers, but the more she tried the stronger it became. Now the fires of that rage will destroy this entire ship”.
Brandon (laughing insanely): “Ahahahah! It doesn’t matter!”
Marko Vossk (worried): “Captain? What madness has infected you? There is no need for you to die. There is nothing more we can do. Come with me and we’ll find our way off this ship before it’s too late”.
She pulled open her jacket and snatched a talisman from around her neck, pressing it into my hands with a look of entreaty. 
Brandon: “There are savior pods further up this corridor. Use this talisman to activate one and get out of here”.
Marko Vossk: “Captain, you must…”
Brandon: “When then find you, tell them what happened here. The others need to know”.
Marko Vossk: “Who needs to know?”
Brandon: “We all do, the Militarum, all of us who fight and die for the Throne. We face death always, watch our brothers and sisters slaughtered in their thousands but it’s not for nothing. Not now! You saw that thing, that miracle as clearly as I. We need to have faith, faith in our service. I admit I didn’t believe it before, but I believe it now. Can’t you see?”
She caught my face pulling me close, desperate to impart154 her rapture155. 
Brandon: “Death is not the end”.
Marko Vossk: “What was released in that hall is not death, but damnation”.
Brandon: “You served me with honor, firstborn. Now honor me with remembrance. Have faith, guardsman Vossk, tell them our story”.
(Brandon screaming and running back into burning hall)
Then she turned and disappeared back into the flames before I could stop her. The fire that took her was already pouring out of the sanctorum in a ravenous156 tide, chasing me all the way to the savior pods and out, out into space. 
* * *
Marko Vossk: “Oh immortal Emperor, have mercy upon us miserable…”
I remember hearing myself gibbering157 those prayers as I lay rigid158 in my seat and watched the Kamchatka whirl and shrink into view through the port hole of the pod. Fires burst and glittered all over the ship, the heretic vessels still sitting on her back like a toad. Finally the Kamchatka burst as if it had eaten its fill159 of the inferno. It vomited an ever expanding fire that blew the ships apart and devoured the tumbling wreckage.  I closed my eyes, braced for the shockwave.
(Vossk crying out loud)
When it eventually hit the savior pod then shook me into lasting blackness, I remembered thinking how much the tremor had sounded like a familiar voice. 
Demon (roaring): “OUT! 
* * *
Marko Vossk: “Do I what? Do I believe that death is the end? No, this I know for certain. There are things we of the Militarum must face out there in the Emperor’s galaxy. Things worse than heresy, horrors unfathomable160 and yet Brandon was right. We must have faith because some of those horrors, some of them fight for us”.
(Vossk making a pause and sighing)
Marko Vossk: “Eh, I’ve recited161 this story so many times now, trying to freeze it in stasis with words. I have to speak it aloud you see if I am to remember. Strange to say, but I can feel the memory trying to slip away like there’s something pecking162 at my brain, like a bird tugging163 worms from the ground. It’s as if the sight of that apparition, whatever it was, lit a fire in my brain that is now trying to burn away all memory of what I saw. By speaking aloud I keep the fire at bay, yes? Save myself from forgetting. It’s become something of a habit”.
(Vossk laughing calmly)
Marko Vossk: “So I am afraid, you’ll be hearing my tale again once we return to your squad in the morning. My apologies for bringing you all down here. Where is this anyway? I have no idea even what sector this is. Does this Throne forsaken rock have a name? Tell me, hm?”
(silence)
Marko Vossk: “Hm, why am I asking you? There is no ‘you’. There is no rescue party, no ship come to fly me home, just my own head inventing companions to keep me from going mad. Same as last night, same as the night before. Just… voices in an empty room”.
(Vossk laughing out loud)
Marko Vossk: “Ahahahahahha! There… No more firewood, my friend. Have I told you already how glad I am to see you? Here, eat! That’s the last of the rations from the savior pod. It’s a good thing you arrived when you did, yes?”
(Vossk laughing out loud)
Marko Vossk: “A tale? Yes indeed. I did promise you a tale, a grand one. If… If only I could remember what it was”.
(Vossk laughing hysterically)