Slowly, Brother-Captain Hidalgo regained consciousness. He noted by his
pulse rate and bodily functions that he had been unconscious for nigh three
days now, a long period of time. His armor had been stripped from him and
he was bound by manacles in his cell. A sweltering heat could be felt all
around him, raising and driving in intensity, heat shimmering off of the
black walls that surrounded him.
Now he realized why he had been unconscious for so long, these conditions
had put him into a feverish state, near to delerium. In order to regulate
his temperature his body shut down entirely, hoping that he would be
rescued by the time he regained consciousness.
He slowly began remembering his dreams.
They had descended by night.
Slowly they began sweeping towards the capital, destroying the outlying
villages with a cold, calculated efficiency, they moved silently, and there
was no word that they had arrived until a proximity klaxon, tripped by an
unlucky heretic, sounded a silent alarm that woke the first company from
their slumber.
By this time it was already too late for the marines, as the Legion had
breached their walls.
Twisted and Foul creatures fought alongside the corrupt, and the squads
used nop markings, instead, where the markings would be, obsidian stone
jutted forth, writhing and twisting magma playing about them. It seemed to
be almost alive when it caught the light.
Brother Hidalgo was distracted for a moment, and that was all the time his
captors needed. With his eyes drawn to the terminators shoulderpad, he
failed to see the claw that raked across his chest. A second such blow and
he fell into blackness.
His dreams were a gibbering stream of madness. Lakes of fire and
brimstone, of damnation in a desert without water, of being swallowed into
the belly of a great beast.
They recurred over and over again, in each dream his faith to the Emperor
challenged, and in each, his faith withstanding. He was offered power
beyond that of what his captors called "His petty lord", an immortality. He
turned away.
The room grew incredibly hot, almost intolerably so. He slowly descended
into blackness again.
He dreamt about being brought to a pool of magma deep below the surface of
the ground. Speechless, his captor nudged him forward, onto a bridge above
the flames. Slowly, steadily, and bound by his manacles, Hidalgo began to
walk across. suddenly his peripheral vision went mad, and he flicked his
gaze from side to side in order to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that
lay outside his vision.
Then he saw what it was that was playing at the corners of his eyes. He
shut his eyes quickly and cried out in rage and confusion at the same time.
Turning again, he faced the pool, and dove in.
****************************************************************************
"What caused the former captain to break?"
"He saw his tormentor lurking about him."
"Who was his tormentor?"
"Himself."
***************************************************************************
The first troops made planetfall silently and swiftly. Within minutes they
had leveled a pair of outlying villages. The terminator lashed out with his
flamer, moving at unison with the rest of his squad. As he gazed at the
fortress ahead he felt a tinge of familiarity. But then, nothingness filled
the gap, and he activated his flamer once more.
A Space Marine suddenly rounded the corner, charging the terminator at an
all out sprint. Suddenly the marine paused for a second, and the terminator
wheeled about.
"Brother?" Murmured the marine.
The Terminator swung its clawed fist across the chest of the marine before
it.
As the marine's entrails spilled to the floor, the marine looked up with
questionign in his eyes, almost a sadness.
"Your lack of faith shall be your undoing Heretic."
The Terminator did not speak, but merely ignited his flamer.
***************************************************************************
"He has passed the final test. Release the prisoner"
***************************************************************************
The once-Hidalgo stepped forth from the chamber, encased in its suit of
Tactical Dreadnaught armor. It wielded the same armament that his captor
had. It did not speak, but merely turned his gaze upon the Obsidian wall
next to him. It gazed at his unhelmeted head, his hair schorched off, his
face blacked, and his eyes burnt out. It turned his vacant sockets up to
the liege and raised its arm in salute of the power of Chaos.
End.
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