Крип / Kryp: Отряд_5

Chapter 30

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 11:19

Inside, the theater building was just as bleakly pathos-laden as the outside. Gigantism, hatred of rounded shapes and lines, carpets, tapestries, mosaic panels depicting battle scenes, and peaceful labor. Aquilas and other state symbols are everywhere the eye falls. Despite the remark about reduced combat value, Jennifer and Luct went with the unit. Olga struggled to move her feet, crimson light poured from everywhere, against it the sun that tried to peer through the wide windows faded, the yellow rays dying impotently, dissolving into the bloody glow. The theater seemed an oasis of tranquility and peace amidst the unfolding of the light of the world. But it was a grave peace.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 11:44

There were corpses everywhere. Harmless, quite human, with no signs of terrifying changes. Just dead people, many, many dozens of them.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 11:45

Olga felt a cast-iron heaviness flooding her skull. She wanted to lie down, to put her head on the floor and relieve her back a little. The light that only she could see made her eyes ache and dry.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 11:46

"Don't be afraid," Fidus said quietly. "Just don't be afraid of anything. The worst is over."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 11:47

She wanted to say something like `yeah, sure', because Olga had learned the main lesson of life in the distant future: everything changes only for the worse. But the girl was too tired, and besides - what if the inquisitor was right after all? She did not want to jinx it. So she thought it best to remain silent.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 11:55

"Death was above us and beneath our feet," recited Schmettau. "And wherever I looked, to the right or the left, my eyes fell upon the rotten sores of heresy."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 11:55

"But we neither feared nor were afraid, for there is no disease on the body of the Imperium that cannot be cut out and scorched with a steady hand," concluded Kryptman.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 12:02

"Yeah... We'll need a long time to clean up this mess," the Priest summed up.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 12:02

"Emperor, have mercy and protect," whispered Savlar, folding his fingers into an aquila.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 12:21

The theater was not just a tomb, it had been turned into one big altar. Olga even tried to close her eyes, to walk by touch, holding Fidus's hand, but she stumbled a couple of times and realized that she had to either look or beg in his arms. The girl had no doubt, Kryptman would accept, the temptation beckoned with incredible force. Olga imagined how easy and calm it would be to snuggle against the tall inquisitor's broad chest, to cover her face with the hood, feeling protected. To give, after all, a rest to her legs, which threatened to break at every step, shooting pain into her knees.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 17:50

But she can't...

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 17:50

Although nothing seemed to threaten here - 'the dead don't bite' - Olga was well aware that things could change at any moment. In the Imperium, even death is not final and the dead bite. The Inquisitor must be ready for battle, and for that, he needs his hands free. So the girl just took a tighter grip on Fidus' wide belt, leaning on it like a staff, it was easier to walk that way. She also tried to look, but not to see. To use her eyesight as a crutch, just to keep from falling, because to look was to let the terrible images into her mind, to give them a part of her soul.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:12

There was blood everywhere. Apparently, the villains used it instead of paint, often literally, smearing it on the walls, on the floor, and even in places on the ceiling. But it was mainly the blood that was used to scribble various scripts. On the surface, the pictographs seemed miserable, primitive, like cave paintings, but it was physically unpleasant to look at them, making me dizzy almost immediately, weak at first, but quickly growing stronger.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:15

And a lot of bodies.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:15

Olga imagined that, in fact, they were dolls, mannequins. Someone had scattered them in a mess, dousing them with paint for a silly joke. There are enough fools in the world, not funny pranks either. Perhaps it was only this self-delusion that kept the girl from hysterics, it was too scary here.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:16

"I think the whole local inquisition is going to trial," Kryptman reasoned, looking around and pursing his lips. "Along with the arbitrators."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:16

"They'll go to the expense," Schmettau corrected. "It's a real, full-fledged cult. Look, all the volunteers are here. Hundreds of followers. You could miss that in a hive, but this icebox here... No. It's not a mistake, it's a disaster. It's total ineptitude."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:17

"I don't think so," Fidus shook his head. "There could have been a focused impact here. A psyker strike that paralyzed the will of honest citizens. Or..."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:20

Kryptman glanced at the three dead bodies, stacked in a star-shaped figure - a woman and two girls, judging by their resemblance, relatives. All three had their clothes soaked and crusted with blood, but their faces were clean, their postmortem masks stamped with delight and bliss.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:21

"Or an induced hallucination. I think the latter. They may well have imagined that they were go alive for His Throne, and in the meantime, the heretical knives were doing the work."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:28

The footsteps of the small detachment echoed echoingly beneath the vaults of the wide corridors like a cave. The metallic sounds of weapons echoed off the walls until they were trapped in the dense carpets with rich and tasteless embroidery.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:28

"That's the problem, Fidus," Shmettau shrugged, the gesture so expressive that it showed through the thick spacesuit. "You think too much and don't do enough. Heresy is like a disease, it can always be justified, but the scalpel in the hand of the surgeon must still be sharp and ruthless. They have surrendered to evil, they have served evil, and that is enough. If impure emanations penetrated their souls, then they already had wormholes in them."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:29

Kryptman shuddered at the insult, but the young inquisitor kept silent.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:29

"And you're a jerk," Olga said quietly in Russian, looking into the back of the short and pot-bellied man. Not that she felt any special sympathy for Fidus, but the girl was somehow used to the fact that unkind words to Kryp were her personal and well-deserved privilege. And this same Shmatao said things that were hurtful and unfair.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:32

"You rotten old goat."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:34

The inquisitor suddenly turned around and looked at the girl very carefully, without the shadow of a smile or any expression on his fleshy face. Olga was thrown into a fever with the realization of her own carelessness.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:35

"It seems quiet here," the Priest thought aloud and shook his head, as if reproaching himself for his choice of words. Indeed, 'quiet' sounded almost sacrilegious in a theater tomb.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:35

"Rather yes," Kalkroit's silent companion unexpectedly agreed. He strutted about as calmly and confidently as an attendant, despite the melta, which, though specially assembled, must still weigh a great deal.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:36

As if in response to their assumption, there was a rumbling, very artillery-like noise outside the theater. Several of the huge windows cracked, but the glass held, as if some force had strengthened the building.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:39

"Again," Olga grumbled, "it's hitting me over the head again..."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:41

Indeed, the ghostly glow trembled again, pounding in a quickened rhythm. It spread into the corners, killing the shadows, and echoed with an inaudible yet piercing scream.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:43

"Emperor, protect me," Bertha leaned against the wall, covering her face with her hand, her fingers trembling visibly. The other squadmates were also visibly unwell. Servitor Luct's legs began to wobble as if his electric drives had malfunctioned. But who knows, maybe the mechanics really did break down. No wonder with such tests. Olga looked sympathetically at the living dead man, remembering how many useful things the servitor had already done. Only she and the tall inquisitor with the horrible scars on his bald head endured the astral scream relatively peacefully. Only her ears pricked and a heaviness crawled from her temples to the back of her head like drops of liquid and cold lead. Wakrufmann dropped her head in a surprisingly human way and fell to her knees, burying her fingers in the thick carpet. Luct silently helped the Martian to get up.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:45

Olga inadvertently remembered that the 'cog' was not even fifteen years old yet. And then a very simple thought occurred to her - how long is a year on Mars?

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:46

"Third floor..." Demetrius adjusted the medical bag, touched the bandage on his temple. "How much further?"

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:48

"Probably all the way to the top," Fidus suggested.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:48

"Yes, there's a great hall for solemn assemblies and moral performances," the Priest suddenly displayed a knowledge of the local architecture. "If anywhere to bring hecatombs, it's there."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:49

"Bastards," Bertha spat just for a difference, not blood, but saliva, from sheer contempt.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:51

Olga thought that, yes, really assholes - they should worship their vile rites as villains should, deep underground, so that normal people do not have to stomp up the stairs. But she decided to keep that argument to herself. Demetrius, who happened to be nearby, silently slipped a glucose pill into her hand, then handed out the same to the other companions, including the inquisitors. Schmettau simply took the pill and silently chewed it without any emotion, Pale nodded his thanks and suddenly asked:

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:53

"What are we going to do then?"

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:54

"Kill the psyker," replied Schmettau.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:54

Olga wanted to tell the fat man what she thought of his cannibalistic nature, but she stopped herself as soon as she opened her mouth. No one was in a hurry to criticize the inquisitor, not even Kryp. No one told the evil and cruel idiot that he was an evil and cruel idiot. On the contrary, in the purificators' silence, one could read a general agreement, an almost vigorous approval.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:55

"Probably some kind of barrier," Kryptman thought aloud. "We might have to break through it. If we can do that at all."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 18:56

"The barrier... I don't think so," Essen retorted. "If the lass is right, it acts unconsciously."

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 19:03

Again Olga wanted to blurt out that it wasn't an 'it' but a poor baby, and again she kept the hot words on the tip of her tongue.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 19:07

That was the end of the blitz. Savlar tried to hum another prisoner song under his breath, but Schmettau measured him with a long glance and said as if he were reading from a sheet of paper:

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 19:07

"Charles deo Coulian. Nostril plucking for insulting Her Ducal Lordship in verse. Thirty years' hard labor for recidivism and it was by no means Savlar Penitence. Wasn't it?"

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 19:08

"I stomped on all the moons.." the noseless man whimpered as was his habit. "I'm a proper jailer, and I know nothing of your poems!"

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 19:11

"Oh, of course," agreed Schmettau, and his slightest smile was more insulting than any mockery.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 19:12

For a few moments Savlar walked sadly, like a scarecrow in a red overcoat, then suddenly straightened up, as if he had dropped ten years. Olga suddenly thought that the convict was still quite young and would have been a good-looking man if not for the mutilation.

Camrad_RIP 07.12.21 в 19:12