Andor and his battle-brother, Les, had exhausted their ammunition. The smell of gunpowder lingering in the air was being sucked out of the windows along with the gradually leaking atmosphere.
"Can you still fight?"
"I don't need your concern."
Andor cast aside the shattered pieces of ceramite power armor from his arm and smashed several Hormagaunts backward.
"These monsters are truly endless."
"Just the way I like it. The more I kill, the happier I am."
Their power swords carved through the lunging gaunts. The Tyranid Warriors leading these smaller creatures had been slain by the two Dark Angels moments ago, yet the swarm showed no signs of losing cohesion.
"There is likely a more troublesome presence nearby."
"I know." Les was growing impatient. "Brother Andor, focus on the fight. Dealing with these enemies is taxing enough."
"Brother Les, it is precisely because we are in combat that we must judge these matters carefully."
"I have no desire to argue with you right now." Les grabbed a Hormagaunt and slammed it into the floor, crushing it.
Finally, they held off another wave of the Tyranid assault. The two Dark Angels did not lower their guard; they scavenged the battlefield for the few remaining supplies to prepare for the next engagement.
"Perhaps we should release the Sinner. Let him die at the hands of the xenos," Andor suggested.
Les immediately rebuked him. "Would you release a Fallen? By Lion's grace, I have actually spoken the word. If we live to return today, that sentence alone would be enough to see you judged!"
"It was merely a joke." Andor tossed the salvaged ammunition to Les. "This is the last of the melta charges. Use them sparingly."
Les expertly loaded the weapon, aiming at the breach where the swarm had recently poured in. "The Emperor tells me they are coming out of there again."
"To be honest, aren't we currently protecting that Sinner anyway?"
As they spoke, something emerged from the breach. The Dark Angels fired without hesitation. Intense heat and bolt shells combined to char flesh to cinders and collapse masonry—a tactic proven across a thousand battles.
"Watch out!" Andor roared.
He saw an eerie beam of green light erupt, sweeping across the ground with terrifying speed. Les was directly in the path of the emerald glow. Through his damaged helmet, Andor saw Les's hair evaporate. His face began to melt, his eyes vanished, and a dark red fluid seeped from the seams of his armor.
Andor had no time to mourn. He aimed at the Zoanthrope that had floated out, but his bolt rounds were all deflected by its psychic barrier.
"Dammit."
Andor swung his power sword, but it was futile. Before he was completely vaporized by the Zoanthrope's psychic might, he caught sight of a figure appearing at the breach.
"I wondered why this place was taking so long to clear. So it was two Dark Angels. Hmm, they don't look like reinforcements. Could they truly be survivors of that starport explosion?"
As Yuki spoke, he walked toward the strange room. This was not a strategic point, nor a vault for treasures. Why station two Dark Angels to guard it?
Yuki pushed open the door—the only one still intact. Inside was another Space Marine, bound in chains and covered in scars. Even now, his wounds were slowly knitting back together.
"Hermit?"
Recognizing the prisoner, Yuki froze for a second before a look of genuine joy crossed his face. "Hermit! I thought you were dead. But it makes sense; the Dark Angels are obsessed with finding the Fallen. Once they catch one, they wouldn't kill him easily."
With a thought, Yuki's psychic energy severed the chains binding Hermit. "Perfect, Hermit. You can come with me—"
"Yuki! What have you done!"
Hermit's roar cut Yuki off. His battered body trembled with rage.
"What have I done? I did what I had to do."
"What you had to do? Yuki, have you been infected by the Genestealers? Why are you colluding with the Tyranids!"
Yuki had prepared himself for a reaction, but Hermit seemed to have understood everything at once.
"No wonder... no wonder that God-Emperor cult was so strange. The things you did defied common sense yet always succeeded. And that bizarre woman—the xenos! You are a xenos!"
"Enough, Hermit. Stop this."
"Stop this? Why did I become a Space Marine in the first place? I fought to kill the xenos, to create a bright future for humanity. Emperor... we were so close to realizing that future. And ten thousand years later, I have made this mistake!"
Ignoring his grievous injuries and the fact that he lacked power armor, Hermit lunged at Yuki with his bare hands. "I have never betrayed humanity! I have never betrayed the Imperium! I have never betrayed the Emperor!"
Yuki's expression darkened. To be honest, he viewed Hermit as a friend. If Hermit wasn't willing to follow him, letting him leave in peace wouldn't have been impossible. But this righteous declaration meant Hermit had chosen a tragic end.
Yuki easily pierced Hermit's body, but Hermit did not stop. He rained punch after punch upon Yuki's face until his own hands were a bloody mess, yet he failed to inflict any real damage.
"I trusted you once, Yuki. I thought you were a human with ideals, like the exceptional men I witnessed during the Great Crusade."
"No. That kind of man died long ago. This universe has no place for them."
Yuki did not let any other Tyranid units approach. He punched through one of Hermit's hearts, then the other. "Return to the Golden Throne, if the Emperor of Mankind can truly guard your soul."
"What are you waiting for! Fire!"
Hermit's roar was like a clap of thunder. A plume of flame hundreds of meters long filled the entire corridor, engulfing both of them in a split second.
Within the fire, Yuki sighed. He crushed Hermit's second heart and laid his body gently on the ground.
Who had dared to burst in and interrupt his final conversation with Hermit? Who had the audacity to insult his body with something as trivial as fire?
Burning, he turned toward the Battle Sister who was currently swapping fuel tanks. At that moment, she noticed Yuki looking back at her. Her movements froze.
The figure standing amidst the flames looked remarkably like someone she knew. That aura and that sorrowful expression were identical.
"Mr. Yuki? Is that you?"