Chistye Prudy station of the Moscow metro. 8:30. Standing and waiting for the coveted train surrounded by a crowd of people, I once again understood how the expression: "The metro is the most comfortable form of transport" is fundamentally wrong, and the person who once came up with it and voiced it out loud is an impudent liar and a dreamer. Every second I had to watch out that strangers would not climb into my pocket in search of the coveted wallet or phone. However, I personally had two joys: there was only a hundred rubles in my wallet, while my fresh salary as a supermarket cashier was on the card, which I, in turn, safely forgot at home, and the phone was in the inside pocket of my winter jacket, which made it absolutely invulnerable to our pickpockets, unless, of course, they were able to take off your jacket, find and take out the phone from it, and then put it back on you, while doing all this absolutely unnoticed. Although, knowing them, anything is possible. A few seconds later, the long-awaited sound of the train wheels reached my ears, which was supposed to take me to Kropotkinskaya. The crowd of people surrounding me from all sides and pressing me to the edge of the platform also began to stir and get ready to play the game of "Guess where the doors will stop," which was mostly a kind of Russian roulette. Peering into the dark circle of the tunnel, I finally noticed two bright lanterns, and then the train itself. With the sound of its wheels echoing through the tunnel coming from Krasnye Vorota, it had already begun to slow down. "Ow!" a female voice suddenly sounded behind me, and a second later the sound of plastic falling onto the stone floor was heard, muffled by the sound of the arriving train. "My phone!" An unexpected push in the back instantly knocked me off balance, and without any time to react, I flew straight onto the rails, while the train was already passing the passenger platform some ten meters away from me. And only when I landed, hitting my Adam's apple on the far rail, did the realization of what had happened begin to dawn on me, but my thoughts still couldn't keep up with my actions. In a split second, I managed to roll over onto my back and look in the direction of the other people. Many pairs of eyes were looking at me with genuine fear. Several grannies in winter clothes and with women's handbags. A woman in some kind of black fur coat and the same black fur hat, holding the hand of a child of about five years old, who was wearing a bright red winter jumpsuit. A guy, about my age, in a winter police uniform and with a baton on his belt. And a girl sitting on her knees near the place where I had been less than a second ago. She was wearing black winter boots, dark jeans, a blue jacket and a wool cap, from under which her long raven-colored hair stuck out. She looked at me with her frightened, deep blue eyes, while holding her broken smartphone in one hand,and the other was trying to reach me in a desperate, purely reflexive gesture to help. Her eyes were full of fear, despair, shock and the realization of what had happened. And at that very moment, a train appeared to my left. In an instant, it moved on, making an unbearable screeching sound of emergency braking, after which I saw only sparks emitted by the wheels and the dark, blurred outlines of the moving train. Then these incomprehensible outlines, too, became mixed and dimmed, after which there was absolute silence and impenetrable darkness. A sharp, hellish pain suddenly took hold of my entire body. It seemed that every cell of my body was being pierced with white-hot needles, every joint was being turned inside out, and my head was being hit with a jackhammer. The pain was so bad that I couldn't make a sound, let alone scream, so all I could do was grab my head and bend over in three deaths, hoping that the pain would go away. Suddenly, a strong push threw me up, after which I touched the edge of something hard, landed on the floor and began to writhe on it in unbearable convulsions. My back arched, and my arms and legs twisted to the limit, from which I rolled on the cold floor. Something inside began to rise, and the next moment I vomited. The mushy liquid splashed over the metallic gray-brown surface, while I began to spit out the remains of this liquid mixed with saliva, trying to get rid of the disgusting taste, and then exhausted fell on my left side. My heart was pounding like a drum in my chest, and I was desperately short of air, so I greedily swallowed it with my mouth. It was unbearably hot, as if I was in an oven instead of a piece of meat. However, the pain was already starting to go away, and soon I was able to relax, enjoying the coolness of the metal floor. Turning over on my back, I took a deep breath and began to put my thoughts in order. The main question arose - what was that? It was not at all like a hangover after a drinking binge in honor of passing a session or defending a diploma - in such cases, you just feel like a piece of shit, crushed on the asphalt by a tank, plus you are overcome by dry mouth and the desire to vomit. And I, as a person who graduated from a medical university, could say with confidence that after a drinking binge you will not have such severe pain throughout the body and such cramps. Trying to answer my question, I began to look closely at the ceiling, which I had been looking at during my mental work, and the following, no less important question arose in my head - where am I? The ceiling was metallic, gray-brown in color. There was a single lamp on it, shining a dim white light. Looking around with my eyes, without raising my head, I realized that the walls were also made of metal and had the same color, and when I ran my palms along the floor, I had no doubt that it was also made of metal. This was already starting to scare me. In our country, as in any country in the post-Soviet space,The walls of the buildings were either bare, and looking at them, it was immediately obvious that they were made of brick and concrete, or for the sake of decency they were covered with plastic and other artificial materials in order to give them a modern look.
But to cover the walls with metal - excuse me, even in mental hospitals they don't do that, the most they do is put bars, and that's on the windows. Realizing that lying on metal, even dressed, according to initial sensations, in something thick, is fraught with frostbite of the kidneys, I sat down on my butt, albeit with difficulty. And as soon as I did this, I realized that the clothes were also not mine. After looking around a bit, I realized that I was wearing black leather boots that reached almost to my knees, black trousers made of some thick fabric, held in place by a leather belt with a metal buckle on which the symbol of a skull was stamped. I was also wearing an incomprehensible vest with gold elements, tied around the waist with a red woolen scarf. Noticing something black out of the corner of my eye, I looked to the right and saw a long leather jacket hanging on a hanger. It had a large collar and lapels of bright red color, and on the shoulders were gold epaulettes. Also on the hanger, hung on a hook, was a black cap with a red visor, above which I could see a gold skull with wide wings. - What the hell is going on here ... - I asked out loud, completely confused. - Mister Commissioner! - suddenly a shrill voice sounded. I reflexively turned my head in his direction and saw a strange door without any handles or a keyhole. However, next to this incomprehensible door there was some kind of panel with two glowing buttons: one was green and the other was red. - Mister Commissioner, are you okay ?!" Again a loud male voice sounded, in which fear was clearly heard, and this cry was reinforced by powerful blows on the door. My feelings were still all mixed up and my head was splitting at the seams, but the thought that they were calling me and that I needed to open the door stubbornly crept into my head. "Mr. Commissioner, can you hear me?!" the voice rang out for the third time, and I realized that it was better to open the door for him quickly than to wait for this very door to be broken down. Gathering my strength and taking a deep breath, I was still able to jerk myself up onto my cottony legs, while watching a fascinating light show in the form of stars before my eyes. Staggering, I nevertheless approached the door and looked at the panel again, after which, relying on my guess, I pressed the green button. "Mr..." the door immediately slid inside the wall, and at the same moment a man's fist slammed into my shoulder, causing me to take a step back, but still managed to stay on my feet. The man immediately stepped back behind the threshold and stood at attention. — M-m-m-mister C-C-Commiss-s-sar, I-I-I beg your pardon, it was an accident… — the man began to babble in a stuttering voice and with animal fear in his eyes, while I began to examine him closely. He had a square face, a massive chin, brown eyes, a potato nose, and medium-thick black eyebrows. On his head was a greenish helmet, the upper part of his body and shoulders were covered by a bulletproof vest of the same color,The sleeves and lower part of the body were covered with some kind of grayish fabric, and there were black gloves on the palms. On the body armor itself, a strange two-headed bird was painted in white paint, but only the left head had an eye painted on it. At the same time, this particular drawing seemed vaguely familiar to me. - I-I... I wanted to k-knock... - the man continued to pour out excuses, which had already managed to annoy me. - Calm down already, - I said, which immediately made my hapless interlocutor fall silent. - What happened, why are we banging on the door? - Mister Commissioner, the ship has just made an emergency exit from the warp! The ship's captain is calling an emergency council! From everything I heard, I literally fell into a stupor. "What ship? What captain? What emergency council? What warp? What is this guy wearing? What kind of strange sign is this?" - these questions began to rush through my head. I couldn't understand what was happening, and at the same time I had a persistent feeling that all of this was vaguely familiar to me. Some strange feeling of déjà vu that just didn't want to go away. And suddenly, in an instant, my brain finally understood what all these concepts meant. In an instant, I saw the light. Warp… Commissar… Two-headed bird… Aquila… Coat of arms of the Imperium… "Warhammer." "Mr. Commissar?" the same man asked me in a calm but puzzled voice, although I already understood that he was none other than an Imperial Guardsman. "Ah… Yes, yes, right now… One minute!" I said in the most convincing tone possible, after which I stepped back and immediately pressed the red button. The door closed, and I went to the wall and hit the metal surface with my clenched fists with all my might. I remembered everything. How I got up in the morning, ate, got dressed and went to work. I walked along the streets I remembered down to the last detail, went down into the metro, went to the edge of the platform and waited for the train. Then I saw it... I fell... And died. Just like that, bitch! I lay down on the rails and got hit in the neck with a wheel! And there was no heaven or hell. There was no trial. There was not even any light at the end of the tunnel! There was only darkness! But it began to seem to me that it would have been better if I had not woken up. Yes, I came to life, I remained alive, but where? In the universe of Eternal War! Lord, why? What have I done in my life that you punished me like this? Why couldn't you have left me there, in my world, or at least sent me somewhere to another Universe, but not to "Warhammer", damn you all! And after all, everyone else was there... Mom, Lena, Vlad... Damn it, I died for them! Now I'm just a headless corpse that will be buried in a closed coffin! And it's not a fact that the mother will withstand such a blow... Now this imbecile cubed, Bogdan, will definitely be trying to drive a wedge against Lenka, she's had to fight him off with a bat for a month now... I don't even want to say anything about Vlad, after all, they're friends in the yard, like brothers since childhood... Damn, damn, DAMN, NO! This is impossible! This can't be! It just can't be!I just wanted to howl from anger and bitterness. Unable to bear it, I punched the wall with all my might, and then hit my head against it.
Pain immediately pierced my fist, the cold of the metal surface unpleasantly pinched the skin on my forehead, but I didn't care at all. The awareness of everything that was happening began to overload my brain to the point of failure. All the facts about this universe began to flash through my head. Everything, absolutely everything that I had learned from books, games, articles, stories of friends, and with each second came the understanding of one fact: I was in shit. "Pull yourself together…" I whispered to myself. I really needed to pull myself together, to calm down. The situation was developing in the worst possible way, but there was no time to think about it. I needed to behave naturally, assess the situation, and only then, having locked myself in my cabin all alone, think everything over from beginning to end. "Come on, pull yourself together…" I repeated again and, after a few more seconds of thinking, turned to the leather jacket and cap hanging on the hanger. Approaching them, I quickly put on my leather jacket and fastened it with the buttons, each of which had the sign of the aquila stamped on it, and then put on my cap. Both elements of the uniform were exactly the right size, as if they had been tailored especially for me. Looking around a bit, I saw my black gloves lying on the table, and next to it, some kind of sword in a sheath. Remembering that, firstly, the sword was called a chain sword, and secondly, it was an indispensable attribute of commissars, I took it and quickly attached the sheath to my belt so that it hung at my side. However, when I was already putting on the gloves, the thought flashed through my head again that something was missing, after which I looked towards the pillow. Under it was a huge pistol in a leather holster, called here simply a bolt pistol. Having put the holster on my belt, I quickly approached the door and, having taken perhaps the deepest breath of my life, pressed the green button. "Mr. Commissar," said the same guard as soon as the door slid aside, but now he calmly saluted me, putting his right hand to his temple, although his face still showed great concern. "Take me to the captain," I said, already understanding that for the Imperial Guard my request was an order. "Yes, sir," the man answered, after which he turned and went down the straight corridor, and I, having pressed the red button to close the door from the outside, went after him. The ship was raging like a disturbed beehive. Everyone was running somewhere about their business, but at the same time, when they saw me, they constantly stopped, stood at attention, saluted, and then ran further down the corridors. But I didn't care much about them. My eyes darted from side to side, trying to take in everything that surrounded me. It was mostly bare metal walls with a bunch of doors. Only halfway through did I notice a door with a gear on it, and inside it was a skull with a cybernetic eye, which was the distinctive sign of the Adeptus Mechanicus and a warning that only tech-priests were allowed to enter this door. Luckily, I didn't have to walk long,and a few minutes later the guard led me to the captain's cabin, which, by the way, was guarded by four guards with laser rifles, but at the same time they had a sign painted on their chests in the form of the Latin letter "I" with several circles from which some spikes extended. "Imperial fleet... Ship's guard..." - the thought immediately arose in my head. - You are free, - I said to the imperial guard who accompanied me, after which I turned to the ship's guard. - I'm going to see the captain. - Come in, - he immediately answered without unnecessary preamble. I took a step forward, and the metal door, five centimeters thick, opened, after which I entered the cabin. There, as I understood, everyone was already gathered. Several pairs of eyes immediately stared at me, which immediately made me feel uneasy. For a second it seemed that they all understood who I really was. However, no one was shooting at me or shouting orders to kill me, and so I was able to calm down and force myself to say at least something. "Gentlemen," I said, nodding my head. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting." This was the most normal thing I could think of, a neutral, apologetic phrase. And apparently, it was something wrong, because the looks of the people looking at me somehow changed in an unpleasant way. "No, Commissar, you're just in time," a corpulent man with a bald head and a rudimentary double chin, dressed in a blue uniform with several medals on the left side, answered me. The captain of the ship – I could understand this even without any hints in my head. Then I began to look closely at the others who had arrived at this meeting. The first person I noticed was another Commissar, about fifty years old, if not more, standing to the left of the captain. He had a strong build, almost two meters tall, wide cheekbones, a flat nose, a large chin, and black hair on the temples. His left eye was blue, while the right one was replaced by a cybernetic one, glowing with an ominous red light, and it was through this eye, along the entire face, that a large white scar ran. In military uniform, this guy was almost no different from me, and only his cap with the emblem of the Imperial Navy gave him away as a ship's commissar. To the right of the captain stood a young man, who was about thirty to thirty-five years old. He was blond, had sharp features, yellow eyes, pale, but not repulsive, skin and a height of about one hundred and ninety centimeters. His uniform was different from the captain's uniform, although they had similar features. "Chief mate ..." - I heard in my head, and I did not argue with it. The third man in the captain's cabin was dressed in Imperial Guard armor but without a helmet, had a square face, brown eyes, short-cropped brown hair, and was almost as tall as the first mate. What kind of shoulder straps he had, I did not know until the word "colonel" flashed through my mind, which immediately indicated thatthat he is the commander of a regiment of the Imperial Guard.
The fourth person present was a tech priest. His face was hidden behind a black mask with two yellow LEDs, from which two tubes extended from his mouth and were thrown over his shoulder somewhere behind his back. The rest of his body was hidden by a scarlet robe with a large hood. But the fifth person present turned out to be the ship's astropath. He was dressed in some strange-looking dark gray robe, his eyes were covered by a strange flat metal device resembling virtual reality glasses, and his head was covered by a hood. His skin was pale as snow and had many folds. However, what scared me most about the astropath were his abilities. He was a psyker, and therefore, he could read my thoughts, which immediately put an end to my survival here. Of course, he could hardly read my entire life in an instant, but he could definitely feel my animal fear. - So, gentlemen, - the captain's voice distracted me from my thoughts. - The situation is as follows. A few minutes ago, our Geller field generator failed while our ship was in the warp. Fortunately, Magos Arival noticed this in time and made an emergency exit of the ship into material space, for which he deserves special thanks, - the captain looked at the tech-priest and nodded slightly. - However, now we have several problems, which he will now tell us about in more detail. Magos, you have the floor. - Thank you, captain, - this Arival said in his synthesized voice. Most likely, his vocal cords had long been replaced with something mechanical. - As already mentioned, the Geller field generator failed. Fortunately, it can be repaired, which will be completed within two weeks. - We arrived, so to speak... - said the guard colonel, who was not at all happy with this idea. - Can't we do it faster? - Unfortunately not, colonel, - the magos answered calmly. "Two weeks is the minimum period according to my calculations," the colonel only sighed sullenly at these words, making it clear that he understood everything, and the tech-priest himself continued. "Also, eleven people died during the exit from the immaterium: seven due to craniocerebral trauma and four due to fractures of the cervical vertebrae. The losses are assessed as insignificant." "Ahem, venerable Arival…" the captain stopped the magos, coughing. "Thank you, of course, for such a detailed report, but can we still get closer to the topic. Is there any other damage?" "Sorry, captain," the tech-priest said. "No other damage was recorded on the ship." "Good. Start repairing the generator as soon as possible. Now a question for you, venerable Sigismund," the captain turned his head to the astropath, addressing him. "Were you able to contact the rest of the squadron?" "No, Captain," the psyker replied in a quiet voice, bordering on a whisper. "I sent them your order to return to us, but no response has come yet. I can only assure you that they cannot have gone far.""Let me know when you receive a reply," the captain ordered. "And one more thing. I understand that we are now seriously behind schedule, correct?" "Yes, Captain. Arrival at Akitos Prime is now scheduled for at least five weeks." "I understand. That is only fitting, the Orks are unlikely to have time to do any harm before we arrive," the captain allowed himself a sarcastic smile, but then his face became serious again. "And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big favor to ask of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I realize that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of infiltration by the Unholy Powers, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us, still exists. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant in relation to your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. "We'll do our best, Captain," the Colonel said, then looked at me meaningfully, which meant only one thing: I had to say something. "We'll be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I'm glad to hear it," the Captain replied. "The same goes for everyone else." That's all. You're all dismissed. The meeting was over. Everyone started leaving the Captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the Captain's cabin to close and making sure the Astropath was still there, I covered the distance between me and the Colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you have to act naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. — Colonel, — I called this Sherkin. — Commissar, — he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious — a seasoned soldier. — I hope everything is okay with ours, — I asked, starting from afar. By "ours" one could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. — Maybe they fell out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath, — a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. — They are used to emptying their stomachs, — I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. — Ha, you noticed that exactly, — realizing that the situation had finally defused, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they've already noticed any odd behavior. I'll join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you later, - Sherkin said calmly.— the captain ordered. — And one more thing. I understand that we are now seriously behind schedule, correct? — Yes, captain. Arrival at Akitos Prime is now scheduled for at least five weeks. — I understand. That is quite appropriate, the orks are unlikely to have time to do any harm before we arrive, — the captain allowed himself a sarcastic smile, but then his face became serious again. — And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big favor to ask of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I understand that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of penetration by the Unholy Powers to us still exists, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant in relation to your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. "We'll do our best, Captain," the Colonel said, then looked at me meaningfully, which meant only one thing: I had to say something. "We'll be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I'm glad to hear it," the Captain replied. "The same goes for everyone else." That's all. You're all dismissed. The meeting was over. Everyone started leaving the Captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the Captain's cabin to close and making sure the Astropath was still there, I covered the distance between me and the Colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you have to act naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. — Colonel, — I called this Sherkin. — Commissar, — he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious — a seasoned soldier. — I hope everything is okay with ours, — I asked, starting from afar. By "ours" one could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. — Maybe they fell out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath, — a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. — They are used to emptying their stomachs, — I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. — Ha, you noticed that exactly, — realizing that the situation had finally defused, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they've already noticed any odd behavior. I'll join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you later, - Sherkin said calmly.— the captain ordered. — And one more thing. I understand that we are now seriously behind schedule, correct? — Yes, captain. Arrival at Akitos Prime is now scheduled for at least five weeks. — I understand. That is quite appropriate, the orks are unlikely to have time to do any harm before we arrive, — the captain allowed himself a sarcastic smile, but then his face became serious again. — And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big favor to ask of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I understand that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of penetration by the Unholy Powers to us still exists, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant in relation to your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. "We'll do our best, Captain," the Colonel said, then looked at me meaningfully, which meant only one thing: I had to say something. "We'll be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I'm glad to hear it," the Captain replied. "The same goes for everyone else." That's all. You're all dismissed. The meeting was over. Everyone started leaving the Captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the Captain's cabin to close and making sure the Astropath was still there, I covered the distance between me and the Colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you have to act naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. — Colonel, — I called this Sherkin. — Commissar, — he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious — a seasoned soldier. — I hope everything is okay with ours, — I asked, starting from afar. By "ours" one could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. — Maybe they fell out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath, — a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. — They are used to emptying their stomachs, — I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. — Ha, you noticed that exactly, — realizing that the situation had finally defused, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they've already noticed any odd behavior. I'll join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you later, - Sherkin said calmly.We are now seriously behind schedule, are we not? - Yes, Captain. Arrival at Akitos Prime is now scheduled for at least five weeks. - I see. That is quite appropriate, the Orks are unlikely to have time to do any harm before we arrive, - the captain allowed himself a sarcastic smile, but then his face became serious again. - And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big favor to ask of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I realize that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of penetration by the Unholy Powers still exists, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant in relation to your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. "We'll do our best, Captain," the Colonel said, then looked at me meaningfully, which meant only one thing: I had to say something. "We'll be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I'm glad to hear it," the Captain replied. "The same goes for everyone else." That's all. You're all dismissed. The meeting was over. Everyone started leaving the Captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the Captain's cabin to close and making sure the Astropath was still there, I covered the distance between me and the Colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you have to act naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. — Colonel, — I called this Sherkin. — Commissar, — he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious — a seasoned soldier. — I hope everything is okay with ours, — I asked, starting from afar. By "ours" one could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. — Maybe they fell out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath, — a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. — They are used to emptying their stomachs, — I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. — Ha, you noticed that exactly, — realizing that the situation had finally defused, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they've already noticed any odd behavior. I'll join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you later, - Sherkin said calmly.We are now seriously behind schedule, are we not? - Yes, Captain. Arrival at Akitos Prime is now scheduled for at least five weeks. - I see. That is quite appropriate, the Orks are unlikely to have time to do any harm before we arrive, - the captain allowed himself a sarcastic smile, but then his face became serious again. - And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big favor to ask of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I realize that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of penetration by the Unholy Powers still exists, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant in relation to your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. "We'll do our best, Captain," the Colonel said, then looked at me meaningfully, which meant only one thing: I had to say something. "We'll be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I'm glad to hear it," the Captain replied. "The same goes for everyone else." That's all. You're all dismissed. The meeting was over. Everyone started leaving the Captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the Captain's cabin to close and making sure the Astropath was still there, I covered the distance between me and the Colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you have to act naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. — Colonel, — I called this Sherkin. — Commissar, — he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious — a seasoned soldier. — I hope everything is okay with ours, — I asked, starting from afar. By "ours" one could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. — Maybe they fell out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath, — a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. — They are used to emptying their stomachs, — I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. — Ha, you noticed that exactly, — realizing that the situation had finally defused, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they've already noticed any odd behavior. I'll join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you later, - Sherkin said calmly.Arrival at Akitos Prime is now scheduled for at least five weeks. - I see. That is quite appropriate, the orks are unlikely to have time to do any harm before we arrive, - the captain allowed himself a sarcastic smile, but then his face became serious again. - And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big request of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I understand that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of penetration by the Unholy Powers, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us, still exists. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant towards your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. - We will do our best, captain, - the colonel said, after which he looked meaningfully at me, which meant only one thing: something must be said. "We will be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I am glad to hear it," the captain replied. "The same applies to everyone else." That was it. You are all dismissed. The meeting was over. Everyone began to leave the captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the captain's cabin to close and making sure that the astropath was still there, I covered the distance between me and the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you need to behave naturally. But if you run headlong to your cabin now, suspicions will become much greater, which is not what I need now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned soldier. "I hope everything is okay with our guys," I asked, starting from afar. "Our guys" could mean a lot of things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. "They may have fallen out of their beds and puked all over everything, but those blockheads will survive. They survived the drinking binge after the oath, after all," a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was some kind of joke. "They're used to emptying their stomachs," I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. "Ha, you've noticed that for sure," realizing that the situation had finally defused, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. "Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they've already noticed some odd behavior." I'll join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you later, - Sherkin said calmly.Arrival at Akitos Prime is now scheduled for at least five weeks. - I see. That is quite appropriate, the orks are unlikely to have time to do any harm before we arrive, - the captain allowed himself a sarcastic smile, but then his face became serious again. - And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big request of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I understand that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of penetration by the Unholy Powers, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us, still exists. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant towards your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. - We will do our best, captain, - the colonel said, after which he looked meaningfully at me, which meant only one thing: something must be said. "We will be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I am glad to hear it," the captain replied. "The same applies to everyone else." That was it. You are all dismissed. The meeting was over. Everyone began to leave the captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the captain's cabin to close and making sure that the astropath was still there, I covered the distance between me and the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you need to behave naturally. But if you run headlong to your cabin now, suspicions will become much greater, which is not what I need now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned soldier. "I hope everything is okay with our guys," I asked, starting from afar. "Our guys" could mean a lot of things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. "They may have fallen out of their beds and puked all over everything, but those blockheads will survive. They survived the drinking binge after the oath, after all," a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was some kind of joke. "They're used to emptying their stomachs," I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. "Ha, you've noticed that for sure," realizing that the situation had finally defused, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. "Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they've already noticed some odd behavior." I'll join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you later, - Sherkin said calmly.but then his face grew serious again. "And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big favor to ask of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I realize that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of the Unholy Powers penetrating us, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us, still exists. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant towards your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers." "We will do our best, captain," the colonel said, after which he looked meaningfully at me, which meant only one thing: something had to be said. "We will be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to me that it worked. "I am glad to hear it," the captain replied. "My request also applies to everyone else. We are finished here. Everyone is dismissed." With that, the meeting was finished. Everyone started leaving the captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the captain's cabin to close and making sure that the astropath was still there, I covered the distance that separated me from the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you need to behave naturally. But if you run headlong to your cabin now, there will be much more suspicion, which is not what I needed now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned warrior. "I hope everything is alright with our people," I asked, starting from afar. "Our people" could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. - Maybe they fell out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath, - a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. - They are used to emptying their stomachs, - I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. - Ha, you noticed that, - realizing that the situation had finally eased, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they have already noticed any oddities in someone's behavior. I will join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you, - Sherkin said calmly.but then his face grew serious again. "And one more thing, gentlemen. I have a big favor to ask of everyone, especially you, Colonel Sherkin, and you, Commissar Merzelius. I realize that our ship, thanks to Magos Ariwal, spent less than a tenth of a second in the warp without a Geller field, but the threat of the Unholy Powers penetrating us, may His Divine Majesty have mercy on us, still exists. Therefore, I ask that you remain vigilant towards your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers." "We will do our best, captain," the colonel said, after which he looked meaningfully at me, which meant only one thing: something had to be said. "We will be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to me that it worked. "I am glad to hear it," the captain replied. "My request also applies to everyone else. We are finished here. Everyone is dismissed." With that, the meeting was finished. Everyone started leaving the captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. But then I had to stop. After waiting for the door to the captain's cabin to close and making sure that the astropath was still there, I covered the distance that separated me from the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you need to behave naturally. But if you run headlong to your cabin now, there will be much more suspicion, which is not what I needed now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned warrior. "I hope everything is alright with our people," I asked, starting from afar. "Our people" could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. - Maybe they fell out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath, - a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. - They are used to emptying their stomachs, - I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. - Ha, you noticed that, - realizing that the situation had finally eased, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they have already noticed any oddities in someone's behavior. I will join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you, - Sherkin said calmly.And so I ask that you remain vigilant towards your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. "We will do our best, captain," the colonel said, then gave me a meaningful look that meant only one thing: I had to say something. "We will be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I am glad to hear it," the captain replied. "My request also applies to everyone else. With that, we are finished. Everyone is dismissed. With that, the meeting was over. Everyone began to leave the captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. However, then I had to stop. I waited for the door to the captain's cabin to close, and made sure that the astropath was still there, before I covered the distance that separated me from the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you must act naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned soldier. "I hope everything is okay with our guys," I asked, starting from afar. "Our guys" could mean a lot of things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. "They may have fallen out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath," a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. "They are used to emptying their stomachs," I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. - Ha, you noticed that exactly, - realizing that the situation had finally eased, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they have already noticed some strange behavior. I will join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you, - Sherkin said calmly.And so I ask that you remain vigilant towards your guardsmen and suppress any signs of madness from the Unholy Powers. "We will do our best, captain," the colonel said, then gave me a meaningful look that meant only one thing: I had to say something. "We will be vigilant," I blurted out as convincingly as I could, and it seemed to work. "I am glad to hear it," the captain replied. "My request also applies to everyone else. With that, we are finished. Everyone is dismissed. With that, the meeting was over. Everyone began to leave the captain's cabin, and I was the first to do so. However, then I had to stop. I waited for the door to the captain's cabin to close, and made sure that the astropath was still there, before I covered the distance that separated me from the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you must act naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned soldier. "I hope everything is okay with our guys," I asked, starting from afar. "Our guys" could mean a lot of things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. "They may have fallen out of their beds and puked all over everything, but these blockheads will survive. After all, they survived the drinking binge after the oath," a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that this was a joke. "They are used to emptying their stomachs," I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. - Ha, you noticed that exactly, - realizing that the situation had finally eased, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they have already noticed some strange behavior. I will join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you, - Sherkin said calmly.I covered the distance between me and the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you have to behave naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned soldier. "I hope everything is okay with our guys," I asked, starting from afar. By "our guys" one could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. "They may have fallen out of their beds and puked all over everything, but those blockheads will survive." They did survive the drinking bout after the oath, after all, - a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that it was a joke. - They are used to emptying their stomachs, - I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. - Ha, you noticed that, - realizing that the situation had finally eased, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they have already noticed some strange behavior. I will join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you, - Sherkin said calmly.I covered the distance between me and the colonel in two steps. My brain was already thinking feverishly and came to one conclusion: if you want to avoid suspicion, you have to behave naturally. But if I ran headlong to my cabin now, there would be much more suspicion, which I didn't need now, or ever. "Colonel," I called this Sherkin. "Commissar," he answered calmly and briefly, turning to face me. It was immediately obvious that he was a seasoned soldier. "I hope everything is okay with our guys," I asked, starting from afar. By "our guys" one could mean many things, and this was the only option that suited my situation. I had too little information to speak directly and specifically. "They may have fallen out of their beds and puked all over everything, but those blockheads will survive." They did survive the drinking bout after the oath, after all, - a smile immediately spread across the colonel's face, and I immediately realized that it was a joke. - They are used to emptying their stomachs, - I said with the same smile, or at least a weak semblance of one. - Ha, you noticed that, - realizing that the situation had finally eased, fortunately the colonel had a sense of humor, I decided that it was time to slip away. - Well, Colonel. We should ask the soldiers, maybe they have already noticed some strange behavior. I will join you soon. - Okay, Commissar. See you, - Sherkin said calmly.
"See you later, Colonel," I replied, and then headed quickly to my cabin. Upon entering my cabin, I immediately closed the door with the electric lock, after which I exhaled with great relief and leaned right on the door, sliding down it onto the cold floor - my legs could no longer support me. I had done it. I had managed not to get caught. Although it was difficult, I managed to think about nothing at all except my surroundings and the current situation. This would allow the astropath to read my superficial thoughts, in which there was nothing suspicious. Yes, astropaths can read a person's thoughts right down to his most intimate secrets, but this requires: firstly, time, secondly, concentration, and thirdly, desire - but I seriously doubted that in the captain's cabin this Sigismund had an acute desire to read the entire life biography of some commissar, given that he still had to listen to the captain. At least, that's what I hoped for. I wasn't one hundred percent sure of anything anymore. It all felt like a dream, only I knew perfectly well that it wasn't. I was dead. Completely. Irreversibly. And I died instantly, at the very moment the train decapitated me. Yes, my brain still lived for a few seconds, if my memory served me right, but it made no difference - it was impossible to save my life in principle. No, one could assume that the train station was a dream, but that was already too optimistic. I had to come to terms with it and accept the fact: I was dead. But the worst thing was that I didn't just die, I ended up in the most terrible place one could possibly end up in. In "Warhammer 40,000". In the galaxy of Eternal War, where human life is practically worthless, and humanity is trying to survive under the relentless pressure of alien races, heretics, mutants and the personification of Chaos itself. You can't think of anything worse than that. But now another, more important question arose, which put me, one might say, at a loss - what to do next? The problem was that there was no answer. I read about people like me. Those who got into different books, films, games or even entire fictional universes. The plot of such stories varied from "pretty good" to "complete crap", although I must admit that I was not into such plots. But still, I was able to understand one thing: all these people who got into the universe knew what to do. The universes they ended up in had a clearly structured plot that could be changed at one point or another, and knowledge of this plot helped to do it. However, this was not the case in Warhammer. It did not have a clear plot that I could change. In my world, this universe is an intertwined knot of board game codexes, computer games, and books, with each game and each book or series of books being a separate part of the universe that, while complementary, is fairly independent. It's in Star Wars or Mass Effect that the entire expanded universe revolves around something specific,but in Warhammer it's different. If you change the plot of one game or one book, the universe won't change. And that's the worst thing for me. I don't know what to do. I have no knowledge of the plot that I could use, and no end goal to move towards on my own. I have nothing at all, except for a more or less normal knowledge of the local realities. And what to do when there is no goal? I don't know the answer to this question. My whole past life consisted of achieving some goals! Finish school, pass an exam, get into a state-funded program, pass a session, write a dissertation, defend a dissertation, find a job, not lose my job... And now there is no goal. Although... What if this is my second chance? I haven't done enough shit in my life to end up in hell, but I haven't done much good either. Maybe God, in whatever form he exists, does this to those who don't deserve either - gives them a second chance to look at them again? Well, if that's true, then God certainly has a good sense of humor. And now all I could do was survive. Survive at any cost in this cruel universe, so that my rebirth would not be in vain. But how exactly to do that, I still don't know.