'Internal bleeding probably/ Oriel proclaims, snapping me from my thoughts. 'Now it is time for me to depart as well/
We have not succeeded/ Gudmanz whispers heavily. We're just a short way from the nearest shutde terminal, on our way to life and freedom, but a few Typhons have decided that they're going to take us with them, forcing us to take temporary cover in a terminal alcove along the main corridor. Oriel went in the opposite direction, who knows where he was headed. A few minutes ago the blaring alarms stopped, which was a great relief to my ears and nerves. I don't need any reminders that in a short while tins whole city is going to be non-existent.
'What do you mean?' demands Schaeffer, grabbing the front of the tech-priest's robe.
"The warning siren should not stop sounding/ Gudmanz says, brushing away die Colonel's arm and pointing to the terminal. 'Let me go, and I will find out/
Everyone is staring at the tech-priest as he deftly manipulates runes and dials on the terminal. His shoulders seem to sag even more and he turns to look at us, face a picture of despondency.
'I am sorry, I have failed/ he says, slumping to the floor. 'I failed to find a hidden failsafe. The reactors will not overload/
'Oh frag/ I mutter, dropping to my knees.
'Is there nothing we can do?' the Colonel demands, visibly shaking with anger.
The coolant failsafe is located not far from here. It may be possible to dismande it/ Gudmanz replies, though obviously without much hope.
"Which way?' snarls Schaeffer, hauling the tech-priest to his feet.
'Back towards the plasma chamber, corridor to the left marked "energy distribution"/ he tells us. 'I did not think it was important/
'You fragging idiot!' Loron swears, grabbing Gudmanz and slamming his back into the wall. "You useless old man!'
'Let's just get out of here!' I tell them. This is the only chance of getting out of this city alive/
'Damn right/ agrees Lorii, staring at the Colonel.
'Enough of this!' snaps the Colonel, dragging Loron away from the tech-priest. We get to this failsafe and deactivate it. We must hurry before the Typhon guards and security realise they are in no danger. Otherwise, they will throw everything they have at us. The panic at the moment is the only thing in our favour/
The mission's failed/ I tell the Colonel, looking him squarely in the face. We have to get out of here/
The mission cannot fail/ the Colonel replies, pushing Loron away, staring straight back at me.
'Why not?' demands Lorii hotly stepping towards the Colonel. 'Because you say so?'
'Don't try to stop us/ warns Loron, raising the bolter in his hands so that it's pointed at the Colonel.
"You would not dare/ Schaeffer hisses at the white-skinned trooper, staring straight at him.
We are leaving!' Loron replies emphatically, his eyes just as hard.
'Coritanorum must be destroyed!' Schaeffer exclaims, and for the first time ever I notice a hint, just a hint, of desperation in his voice. I push Loron's gun away slightly and turn back to the Colonel.
'Okay, tell us/ I say to him quietly, standing between the Colonel and the others, trying to calm things down. If some fool shoots the Colonel, by accident or on purpose, we'll never get out of here. 'Why? Why can't this mission fail?'
We do not have time for explanations/ the Colonel says between gritted teeth. I lean closer, still meeting his icy gaze.
"You have to tell us/ I whisper in his ear, drawing his eyes to mine. He gives a sigh.
'If we fail, all Typhos Sector will be destroyed/ he tells us. He looks at our disbelieving expressions and continues. 1 do not know all of die details, only Inquisitor Oriel has those/ He pauses as we hear a door slam shut further up the corridor. The Typhons are doing a room by room search for us.
'In brief/ he says casting an eye at the door. The command staff of Coritanorum has fallen under an alien influence. A genestealer in fact/
'A genestealer?' I say, confused. "You mean, one of those tyranid bastards we fought on Ichar IV? They're just shock troops. Sure, they're deadly, fast and able to rip a man to pieces in a heartbeat, but there'd have to be an army of them to stand against seven hundred thousand guard. What's the problem?'
'As I said, I do not fully understand this/ the Colonel continues, talking quickly. They are not just efficient killers, they are infiltrators too. Genestealers have some way of controlling others, some kind of mesmerism I believe. It creates an element within the society it has infected that is sympathetic to it. They protect it, allow it to control others, building up a power base from within. This can lead to revolt, rebellion and other insurgencies, as it has here. More to the point, as the power of this influenced cult grows, it begins to send a sort of psychic beacon, so I am told, as an astropath might project a message across the warp. Tyranid hive fleets can detect this signal and follow it. Hive Fleet Dagon appears to have located Typhos Prime and is on its way here now/
'This still doesn't add up/ butts in Lorii. This all still seems very extreme, especially if the tyranids are already on their way. If we were recapturing Coritanorum to restore it as a command and control base, I could understand it, but we're not. What difference does it make if it's lost to this genestealer infection or destroyed?'
The loss of Coritanorum as an Imperial base would indeed be grievous/ the Colonel agrees, still speaking rapidly. 'But not as terrible as its secrets falling into the hands of the tyranids. The Navy is endeavouring to stop Hive Fleet Dagon, but we have to assume it will fail. When the hive fleet arrives here, the tyranids will assimilate all of the data from the base and its corrupted personnel, learning the innermost secrets about the Imperial forces in the sector. They will find out where Navy bases are, where worlds ready for raising Imperial Guard regiments can be found, our strategies and capabilities. Without Coritanorum, the fight will be deadly enough, but if the tyranids possess such information they will overrun the sector much more easily. In fart, it is impossible to believe how they could be resisted at all/
'Five hundred billion people/ I breathe quietly. 'It's a fair trade, you think? The death of Coritanorum and its three and a
half million buys a better chance for the other five hundred billion people living in the sector/
'People can be replaced/ the Colonel says grimly, giving us each a stern look. 'Habitable planets can not. Worlds stripped by the tyranids can never be recovered or repopulated/
Another door slams shut, nearer this time.
'Do you think your lives are worth that?' he says with sudden scorn. 'Is that worthy of your sacrifice? Was I wrong in giving gutterfilth like you the chance to make a difference? Are you really the worthless criminals everyone thinks you are?'
I exchange looks with the other Last Chancers, volumes spoken in that brief moment of eye contact. It's not about pardons, or even saving the sector. It's about doing our duty, doing what we swore to do when we joined the Imperial Guard. We took an oath to protect the Emperor, His Imperium and His servants. We may not have chosen to be Last Chancers, but we chose to put ourselves in danger, to be willing to sacrifice our lives in the course of our duty.
'Move out!' barks the Colonel, shouldering open the door and leaping into the corridor, bolt pistol blazing in his hand. We jump out after him and set off at a run, Typhon lasfire screaming around us. Gudmanz gives a yell and pitches forward, a ragged, charred hole in the back of his robe. Striden stops to pick up the tech-priest but I grab the lieutenant's arm and pull him forward.
'He's dead/ I tell the Navy officer when he struggles. And so is everything else on over fifty worlds unless we get to that failsafe/