Into Hell And Beyond

Private Metzel hurried across the sandy ground, bullets whizzing past him in almost every single driection. It was as though everyone in the world was after him or something, like he was global enemy number one. Is he? He shrugged the thought away as he dug in behind a foxhole, cocking his rifle and saying a little prayer.

He looked at the direction from where he came from. He could barely see the shape of Captain Ravion's split-open corpse, killed in the initial bullet barrage that cleaved through his squad mates. How had he escaped that onslaught? It was like God was watching him or something.

He snorted in disgust. He never did believe in God. What the hell is he thinking about?

He peeked out of cover and saw the enemy approaching - cultists. Their armor bore the twisted symbols of Chaos, markings written in blood and ichor, spreading their taint into the minds of their foes and incapacitating them at its horror. But Metzel wasn't afraid of them or their symbols, whatever they meant. He was probably just as insane as they were, but at least not inane enough to chant the names of their blasphemous Dark Gods like deranged fanatics.

Oh wait, they are. Lame joke.

He loosed a few rounds from his trusty R-12 Hunter Assault Rifle, impaling two of the charging cultists with high-velocity Firebolt rounds. As they crashed onto the earth, their bodies shattered, the rest of the squad screamed at the top of their lungs and charged at him. He kept firing till the last one collapsed, and quickly reloaded his empty clip.

"Metzel, what the devil is going on?" a voice barked in his ear. "Where the fuck are you?"

"Not now, Bart," he replied coolly, as he checked his weapon's ammo count. Still half full. Good.

"Fuck, Metzel, this isn't the time to go all out and shit!" Bart barked, his voice distorted no thanks to Warp interference. "You have your orders! Where's Ravion?"

"Dead," Metzel nonchalantly replied, loosing another salvo at another charging group of cultists, their bodies falling lifelessly onto the ground as the high powered rounds shredded through their flesh and measly armor. As the last one slumped, Metzel dashed towards the direction they came from, a fresh clip slammed in his weapon chamber.

"Jesus!" came the reply. Static wash distorted Bart's next few words.

"...you're not supposed to take them on yourself!" Bart continued, sounding downright furious.

"Say again, Bart," Metzel coolly replied as he crouched behind some fallen rocks, and watched several screaming bloodletters dash towards the sounds of battle, their blades held high. Good thing they didn't spot him. Or else.

"You are just an expendable in the entire god-damned operation! Why waste your time doing something you're not supposed to?"

Metzel chuckled. Expendables indeed. That's not what Ravion told him and the rest of them a week ago, before they were deployed here. That's not what they were trained for - to die a terrible death and their bodies turned into firewood for the cultist's unholy pyres. They had a mission to accomplish - a mission Ravion believes will save the entire system from Chaos.  A mission Metzel hoped to finish for just that reason.

"Bart," he then said, checking his gun again. "He gave us a mission. And I intend to complete it."

"Jesus, Metzel," Bart  muttered, bewildered. "You're starting to sound like Ravion himself, bless that bastard's soul."

Metzel smiled to himself. He remembered when Ravion called them all his 'sons' - "'cause you're all like my children!" he had said. He remembered that moment clearly: how Ravion smiled when he called them his sons, how they all laughed together. But that's the past now. They're all dead, save him and Bart - wherever he is.

"I never signed up for this shit," Bart added sarcastically.

"Neither did I," Metzel replied nonchalantly. "But look where we are now."

"You don't get yourself killed, Metzel."

Metzel nodded to himself, peering at the Chaos Space Marines slowly advancing up to where he hid, not knowing he was there. They were all trained to face monsters like this - has his training paid off? He sure hoped Ravion did his best for it.

"You too Bart," he then answered. "See you on the safe side."

He turned the comms off, and jumped out of cover.

(END OF PART ONE)