This took a lot longer than I'd first anticipated, but it was fun to write. Without further delay, the last chapter of Evolution.

Disclaimer: I don't own Warhammer 40k or Elfen Lied

The walk to the lift was a tense affair. Everyone was on edge with the exception of Joseph who held true to his previous image of unnatural cheer. Rein kept one ear on constant alert for any sounds of movement while the other was keyed in to pick up any alerts from Stitch. He still didn't trust the man or his auspex, but if he'd been right once he might be right again. If nothing else, the possibility was there.

Before too long, the familiar sight of reinforced metal blockades greeted them. Ceramite fortified to absurd degrees stood between them and their goal.

"All right, Joseph up front." Rein ordered, prodding the man in the small of his back with his hellgun. "Get that thing open, and be quick about it. We don't have all day to waste standing around."

"Not a problem my good man." He assured, stepping up to the barricade confidently. He brushed by Forty Two on his way there, not seeming to notice as the girl stumbled to get out of his way. "I'll have it open in a jiffy."

Fang reached forwards, catching the Diclonius before she fell over. Rein tensed in preparation to bring his weapon up at the sight, but no spray of blood erupted from the Catachan's body. Forty Two took a moment to rebalance herself before shying away from the gruff jungle warrior with a murmur of thanks. Fang opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly stopped as his face took on a distant expression. It only lasted for a brief second, passing as he shook his head, coughing into the back of his hand.

"Anyone else feel that?" He asked, looking over his shoulder as though expecting to see something in the empty hallway.

"Feel what?" Stitch demanded, tapping the side of his arm impatiently. "Are you experiencing heart palpitations? Has your nerve finally broken?"

Fang glared at him, his free hand unconsciously edging towards the massive knife he kept at his belt at all times. Before a friendly fire incident could take place, Rein stepped between the two for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"That's enough kiddies." He stated sternly. "Our job isn't to pick fights with each other. If you're trigger fingers are getting itchy, I'm sure you'll have something to shoot at once we get down farther into the facility."

"Wasn't our goal to take them alive?" Stitch questioned, his own hand lightly gripping his laspistol.

"As many as we can." Rein stated. "But we need to be alive to do that."

The sound of a polite cough drew their attention back to Joseph who was standing next to the lift with one hand placed on the speaker.

"I hate to be a bother, but if I could bother you for a moment of silence…?" He asked, nodding down at the panel. "If you're all speaking, it'll be far more difficult for the machine to pick my voice out of the din."

A grudging quiet descended as both Fang and Stitch took up positions on either side of the door. When he was satisfied that he wasn't about to be interrupted, Joseph turned back to the task at hand and activated the panel. After a brief moment, a familiar synthesized voice filled the hallway.

*ACCESS TO T-T-TRANSPORT LIFT RESTRIC-C-CTED. SECURITY LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT. P-P-PLEASE PROVIDE PROPER AUTHORIZ-Z-ZATION TO PROCEED.*

Clearing his throat, the scientist straightened up and addressed the damaged machine.

"Joseph Agmundale." He said, speaking with a clear voice. "Authorization code Lilium. I require transportation to sub-level one hundred and fifty effective immediately."

The whine of metal parts grinding together followed almost immediately. Very slowly, the massive bulkhead pried itself apart to allow them entrance.

*WELCOM [JOSEPH AGMUNDALE] P-P-PASSAG-G-GE TO SUB-LEVEL-L ONE HUNDRED FIFTY PROVIDED. PLEASE HAVE A P-P-PRODUCTIVE DAY.*

With a satisfied smile, Joseph brushed his hands together and gestured for the others to follow him into the opening. Des was first to follow, slipping through the gap as easily as an assassin's blade through an unsuspecting fool's ribcage. Stitch came next, followed at a distance by Fang. Forty Two filed in behind them, careful to keep a respectful distance. By the time Rein stepped inside, the bulkheads had opened entirely.

It wasn't the biggest lift he'd seen, but neither was it the smallest. The inside was spacious enough to accommodate three Leman Russ battle tanks side by side and still have enough room left over for a platoon of guardsmen to stretch their legs. No doubt it was used to bring down mining equipment or large numbers of workers. Even with secret mutant experiments going on, this place was still the largest mine within a thousand standard miles.

The metal flooring beneath their feet gave a lurch as the countless lengths of cable began to lower them into the bowels of the mountain. Rein took a steadying breath, gripping his hellgun tightly as the speed began to pick up.

"So." He began, turning to Joseph. "What can we expect to find down there? I want to know just how many mutants are between us and the security station as well as what the end plan is once we get there."

The man nodded, looking as though he'd been anticipating the question.

"Well, it's hard to say for sure." He said, his eyes growing distant as he pondered his answer. "From the last count, there should be at least two to three thousand Diclonius housed inside the facility in the lower levels."

The number sent a ripple of unease through the group. They might be trained elites, but they weren't Space Marines.

"You're housing an army." Des said quietly, giving him a meaningful stare. "It is little wonder that so many have died."

"Well it isn't like we can just let them run free on the outside." Joseph replied with a shrug. "We've killed a large number of those that we had no room for, but our ultimate goal was never to wipe them out. Anyway, given that at least some of them would have been killed by the retaliatory attack from the guards, I'd say that there will likely be around eighteen hundred at most still alive. That is of course, a generous estimate assuming they sustained minimal casualties."

"That's still a hell of a lot more than we can handle." Fang growled. "We're not exactly equipped for a full blown exterminatus here."

"Now don't worry, I'm sure we shouldn't run into too many." The man assured. "That number will be scattered throughout the whole mine. Many did flee deeper inside when the guards tried to barricade the exits, but they will likely have spread out again now that most of the soldiers are dead. Besides, we have Forty Two here to keep watch."

Rein tore his eyes away from the passing markings on the walls to give Joseph a skeptical glance.

"And what exactly is she going to help with?" He questioned. "I wouldn't mind having those vector things on our side, but she's not what I would call prime 'look out' material."

"Oh, I forgot you people haven't spent time studying the Diclonius like I have." Joseph chuckled, shaking his head. "You see, they share some kind of a link with others of their species. Forty Two will be able to sense other Diclonius and warn us before they show themselves. It's quite fascinating really… Some of my colleagues likened it to a Tyranid synapse web, though clearly it is far more limited in-"

"Now isn't the time for storytelling." Rein interrupted, cutting him off midsentence. "At the moment, I don't care how it works. If she can act as an alarm system, that's a great aid. Now, what exactly is the plan on stopping the others?"

A brief shudder ran through the lift, causing the occupants to stagger momentarily. The shadows danced along the walls like some kind of unnatural cultists as the dim light of the vast chasm they traveled down cast their predatory gaze on the descending humans. When the tremor passed, the group cast wary glances around the metal cage they were stuck inside of.

"Well, that didn't sound pleasant." Joseph commented, smoothing out his tunic with a nervous gesture. "Anyway, to answer your question, once we get down to the security terminal we I'll activate the emergency outbreak protocol. All levels of the facility will be flooded with gas and the Diclonius will be rendered harmless."

"Which will leave us over a thousand sleeping mutants to collect." Stitch finished with a weary sigh. "This is going to be a very long day isn't it?"

"Oh, they won't be sleeping." Joseph added, drawing the attention of everyone else. "You see, Diclonius are still capable of lashing out with their vectors while unconscious. It's mainly an issue when they're first developing them, but it is still possible in later maturity. Instead, the gas is designed to deliver a potent toxin into the bloodstream of those who breathe it in. It will cause their nerve endings to continuously fire, instilling artificial pain responses over long periods of time."

Fang sighed, shaking his head.

"Care to say that again so that some of us can understand?" He demanded.

"He said the gas will cause them to suffer." Stitch stated, giving him an annoyed glance. "Though I'm sure the sight of them writhing in pain would be an entertaining use of time, how is that better than knocking them out? At least they wouldn't be able to aim their weaponry then."

"It's quite simple really." Joseph explained. "As I said earlier, vectors are essentially projections of a Diclonius's mind. This means that they require a certain degree of concentration to be able to maintain them. The easiest way to disrupt this concentration is with pain stimuli, though there are experimental treatments being proposed that would involve numbing the pineal gland."

"So they can't use their vectors while in pain?" Rein asked. "That sounds like a pretty big drawback for your mutant super soldiers."

"Well, it wouldn't be entirely true to say they can't use them." Joseph added. "It just makes it absurdly difficult. Needless to say, there have already been some proposals for a program to be implemented that would allow certain exceptionally loyal Diclonii to train their concentration beyond-"

Whatever he was about to say next was drowned out by a terrible screeching sound. The floor of the lift shook violently as the sound of tearing cables filled the air. Rein dropped down, bracing himself with his free hand.

"What the hell is that!?" He demanded, shouting to be heard over the cacophonous din. Stitch yelled something in response, but his voice wasn't able to overcome the noise of snapping metal. All at once, gravity took a hold of the elevator and pulled it inexorably downwards.

Rein felt the flooring beneath him start to pull away from his feet. Reacting on pure adrenaline-fueled instinct, he leapt to the wall of the lift and grabbed onto the bar attached to it. Turning his head, he was greeted by the sight of chaos as everyone else was flung from their positions by the falling metal box.

The back wall, grinding against the outside guiding beams, began to tear away from the rest of the elevator. Rein tightened his grip as he felt wind whip past his face, his eyes being drawn to the peril another member of his group was in.

Forty Two, having resigned herself to one of the back corners during the ride, was precariously close to the edge as the metal plating of the far wall finally ripped itself free with a horrible metallic scream. The sudden rush of air picked her tiny frame up off her feet and drew her towards the newly made opening. Her own cry of terror was barely audible over the howl of the tormented machinery.

Rein didn't pause to think. A lifetime of military training kicked in, spurring him to release his grip on the bar and throw himself towards the child. Six rapid steps brought him forwards, and his arm shot out, latching his fingers around her wrist in an iron-hard grip. Pivoting in place, he pulled Forty Two away from the gaping opening and lurched back towards the stability of the metal bar.

He never made it that far.

Feeling his warning sense flare up once again, Rein pulled the Diclonius girl tight to his chest and braced himself. Without warning, part of the lift caught on the shaft it was falling through, drastically slowing its breakneck descent and slamming the occupants into the ground. Rein was smashed against the metal flooring, putting himself in between the unforgiving substance and the child who was clinging to him.

Waves of pain shot through his body as the freefalling elevator ground to a halt against the metal beams. When at last it stopped moving, all the breath in his body rushed out in a single tortured gasp. Greedily drawing in new air to replace it, he struggled into a sitting position, Forty Two still trembling in his grip.

"Status!" He ordered, shaking off the disorientating effects of the ride. "Is everyone still alive?"

The shuffling of slow moving bodies, and the soft groan of straining metal were the only answers he received. Fang was the first to rise back up to his feet, spitting out a bloody tooth with a grimace as he did so.

Stitch and Joseph came next. The former murderer had a small trail of blood running down his forehead, but looked to be none the worse for wear. The scientist was not as lucky, sporting a sizable bruise growing across the left side of his head and looking around with a very dazed expression.

Des was the last to recover, and it didn't take long to see why. Rein instinctively cringed slightly when he spotted the state her right arm was in. The limb was bent about forty five degrees in the wrong direction. The cloth of her flak armor was starting to turn crimson around her elbow.

"Fething hell. Des? Can you hear me?" Rein questioned, absently setting down Forty Two and hobbling his way over to the woman.

She didn't reply. Though the broken arm must have hurt terribly, she showed no sign of being in pain other than a slight flush of her features. As he made his way over, she forced herself into a sitting position. She looked down at her dangling appendage with a frown as though noticing the damage for the first time.

"Nasty injury." Stitch remarked, mopping up the trail of red liquid running down past his eyes. "Just hold still. I'm sure I can find something to make a splint out of in due time."

A light sigh escaped the woman's lips. Instead of acknowledge the offer of aid, she reached over with her undamaged arm to grasp the wounded lim. Rein realized what she was about to do a moment before it happened, but wasn't quite able to brace himself for the display.

With a sickening crack, Des wrenched the misaligned arm back into place, casing the others to flinch and turning Joseph's cheeks a sickly pale color. Flexing her fingers experimentally, she rose back up to her feet as though nothing were wrong and fixed her grip on her hellgun.

She looked expectantly to Rein who simply shook his head in defeat.

"Is your arm going to hold out?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"It will endure." She replied calmly. "I think we'd best be moving now though. The lift may be held up for the moment, but there is no telling when it will break loose."

He couldn't argue with that. Shouldering his weapon, he gestured for Stitch and Fang to move up with him towards the door.

"Help me get it open." He ordered. "I don't know what floor we're on right now, but it can't be too far judging by how fast we were falling."

They quickly nodded, taking up positions on either side of the blockade. Rein hit the switch to open it and the two of them slipped their hands into the slight gap, pulling with all their might to hasten the process. Even with the added muscle, the doors parted with painfully slow movements, seeming to take an eternity before a gap wide enough to pass through was made.

The group moved to the opening, exiting into a precarious elevator shaft. The lift had been halted midway between two floors. The only footing around was the precariously positioned guiding beams, none of which were designed to be walked on by normal humans.

"Which way are we going?" Rein demanded, turning to Joseph who was squinting upwards to examine the numbers etched into the doorway above them. "Up or down?"

"Up." He replied with a nervous smile. "That door is to floor one hundred and sixty two. It's quite fortunate we stopped when we did. This facility only has one hundred and sixty five floors. Had we kept falling even a little longer…"

Rein closed his eyes, resisting the urge to throw the talkative man into the chasm beneath them. He didn't need the added stress of knowing how close they'd all come to being pancaked in the belly of a mountain.

"Looks like we're climbing then." He stated matter-of-factly. His comment earned him an uneasy glance from both the scientist and the Diclonius who was clinging to the beam beneath her like some kind of pink-haired barnacle.

"Climbing?" Joseph parroted. "I'm afraid I'm not very well suited to climbing. I don't think I've ever learned the proper way to go about it. Isn't there some other way we could go about this?"

"No." Rein replied with crushing certainty. "So you'd better learn fast. It'd be a shame if you were to fall."

The ascent wasn't as difficult as Rein had feared it would be. The meshwork of metal crossbeams and supports made it so that even Des, using only one arm, was able to maneuver comfortably upwards. Despite his misgivings, even Joseph was starting to act more confidently as they neared their goal.

The only one couldn't was number Forty Two. The girl had stubbornly refused to budge against all coercion attempts and threats. It wasn't until Rein had lost all patience and, ignoring his better judgment, actively picked her up that she released her death grip on the metal beam, quickly flinging her arms around his shoulders instead. It was an uncomfortable experience, not the least for knowing she could cut him apart at any moment, but he pushed upwards regardless.

When they finally reached floor one hundred and fifty, and managed to pry open the blocking door with help from one of Stitch's numerous mechanical abominations, they all let out a collective sigh of relief.

"No time to rest." Rein said, sending a meaningful glance towards Joseph. "We're behind schedule, and now we know it isn't just mutants we're up against."

"Excuse me?" The scientist asked, blinking in confusion. "What do you mean? Who else could be between us and the security terminal down here?"

"Use your damned head." He replied, annoyed that the question even needed to be asked. "I might have been willing to believe that those things managed to break out on their own, but they sure as hell didn't sabotage the lift. It would be one of their only means of escape. It was an attempt to keep people out. That means someone else had to do it, and I'm willing to bet that they're the reason all this is happening in the first place."

"You mean… you think there are saboteurs in the mine?" Joseph questioned, dumbstruck. "But who? Who could possibly gain access to the necessary… unless…"

Realization dawned slowly, dropping his expression into s serious frown.

"You think that this was done by people on the inside?"

"I think that's a real fething likely possibility." Rein confirmed. "Guns up, eyes open, assume hostile until proven otherwise. We're too deep in to take risks, so if they're armed and don't surrender immediately, put them down. That goes for both mutants and other humans."

The order was met with an expectant silence as his companions readied their weapons. Des had to hold her hellgun offhanded, bracing her injured arm underneath it to stabilize the firearm. Rein didn't worry about her accuracy. He'd seen enough of her targets to know that she was perfectly capable of firing with the wrong arm.

"Very well, if that's what it takes." Joseph said, looking more bothered than concerned with the idea of an internal rebellion. "Just try not to kill everyone. This place will need workers once everything has blown over, and it takes an age to train new ones."

"After this is done I'll do everything in my power to ensure this place is burned to ashes…" Rein grumbled, too low to be heard. He closed his eyes and took several calming breaths, blocking out the scientist's presence. When they opened back up again, he was back in his battle ready state.

Giving a wave of his hand, he gestured for the others to fall in behind him. They complied without pause, leaving Joseph and Forty Two to bring up the rear. Rein only spared the two a passing glance, but he could have sworn that the Diclonius girl was observing him.

The march began at an unspoken signal. He was once again straining every sense to detect any signs of danger. The soft tapping of feet on the hard flooring echoed in his ears, forming the backdrop to a near silent symphony of-

"Take a left up here."

It took an inhuman amount of effort to keep from swinging around and discharging his hellgun into Joseph's chest. Shooting a glare over his shoulder, he turned to the man who remained oblivious to the mortal peril he'd put himself in.

"Quiet!" Rein snapped, keeping his voice low. "No talking unless I say it's safe to. We're in the middle of a mission,"

He frowned as though putting consideration to the statement. As he was about to open his mouth to reply, Stitch slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the indignant cry of surprise before turning to Rein and tapping his auspex.

The device was picking up life signs.

Rein suppressed a sigh. If the irritating thing worked twice in one day, Stitch would no doubt be praising it for the next month and a half. Rolling his eyes, he signaled for Stitch to take the lead. The man accepted with gusto, cradling his laspistol in one hand with the enthusiasm of a child playing with his favorite toy.

The device led them left, the same direction Joseph had advised. Stitch stayed slightly ahead of the group, signing for those behind him to slow down as they approached an intersection. For several seconds his eyes were glued to the device on his wrist. Once he was satisfied with the readings, he carefully peered around the corner leading to the right. He stood perfectly still before withdrawing as slowly as he'd approached. Tapping Rein lightly on the shoulder, he leaned in close.

"Contact up ahead." He whispered, his rebreather giving his voice a crackling quality that made his words hard to distinguish. "One. Dressed like a miner. Heavy stubber emplacement. Guarding a door. Looks like he's been awake at his post for a while. Twitchy reflexes. Eyes darting back and forth. Might be a surviving guard, or one of our instigators."

Rein nodded. Showing themselves was a risk, but simply gunning the man down would be counterproductive if he was friendly. Making his way forwards, he crept up to the intersection and held his finger on the trigger of his weapon. A quick look confirmed Stitch's assessment. There was a single guard standing at the far end of the hallway, manning a heavy stubber which had been set up behind a makeshift barrier of tables and work equipment.

"In the name of the Imperial Inquisition! Identify yourself!" He shouted suddenly, keeping himself hidden behind the bend. The sudden noise caused the man to visibly jump, his own hands tightening around the handles of the massive gun as he looked frantically around.

"Who said that!?" He demanded, his voice cracking with panic. "Who's there!? Show yourself!"

It was a risk to show himself, but Rein knew that a visible figure would help to ease things over more quickly. Right now, time was of the essence. He didn't want to stay in one place for too long and let roaming mutants find them. With a short half-step, he turned so that he was visible, but still partially hidden by the curve in the hall.

"My name is Rein Darius." He stated flatly, keeping his eyes trained on the man's hands which her dangerously close to the stubber's trigger. "By the order of Inquisitor Cartwright, this facility and everyone in it is under suspicion of heresy. Lay down your weapon now, or I'll be forced to treat you as an enemy of the Imperium."

The sleep deprived man took a moment to process the information.

"You're with the Inquisition?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly in what could be interpreted as unease.

"That's right." Rein replied, taking another step out into the open. It was a calculated risk, but he hadn't opened fire yet. "The mine has been put under suspicion. All personnel still alive are to submit to the authority of the Ordo Hereticus."

Shuddering slightly, the man took another moment to mule over the implications of the sentence.

"Prove it." He said at last. "Anyone can call themselves an Inquisitor, but you don't look like one to me. How do I know you're not lying?"

Instead of answering, Rein reached into his collar and withdrew the necklace that he always wore around his neck. He pulled up a short length of silver chain that ended in one of the most recognizable symbols in the Imperium. The Aquila.

"I'm no Inquisitor." He said calmly, taking note of the way the man's mouth dropped open and sweat began to form on his brow. "But I work for one. Believe me when I say you don't want to have him come down here. Now step away from your weapon."

An internal debate played across the miner's features. He alternated between tightening and loosening his grip on the handle of the heavy stubber until he finally slumped in resignation.

"Can't do that." He said, doing as much as he could to mask any emotion in his voice. "My superiors told me to stay on guard and they're the kind that'll put a shot in the back of my head if I disobey."

Rein lifted his eyebrow a fraction.

"I can't say I like the sound of that." He said, letting a mild undertone of threat coat his words. "What you're doing could be interpreted as uncooperative. You wouldn't want that now would you?"

The man swallowed visibly, but settled for a shrug.

"Sorry but orders are orders. You want to discuss it, feel free to talk with the boss in the back. Me? I'm staying right here."

Rein frowned, staring intently to discern any hidden motives. The guy was run down and looked about dead on his feet, but there was a kind of weary determination in the way he stood at his post. Whether out of loyalty or fear he was unwilling to abandon his position.

"That sounds like a much more productive option." Joseph said, coming around the corner suddenly. He ignored the sharply hissed orders from Stitch telling him to stay back. "I think a conversation with the man in charge should be in order don't you?" He asked, turning towards Rein.

It was all he could do to keep his finger from squeezing the trigger. He was about to snap at him when he noticed a change come over the man standing at the end of the hallway. His danger instinct once again flared into effect.

The guard was staring intensely at Joseph, his face a mask of concentration. After a second, his features spread into recognition. Then anger.

"You're one of them!"

Rein didn't need to think about the implications of the words. He was already in motion by the time the miner had brought his heavy stubber level. A series of deafening bangs reverberated in the enclosed space as a wave of supersonic projectiles were unloaded in his general direction.

Joseph, who had neither realized the threat nor moved from his open position, never stood a chance. High caliber rounds ripped into his torso, painting the wall behind in a gruesome crimson shower of blood, gore, and bone fragments. By the time his shredded body had started to fall, Rein rolled into a crouch, bringing up his hellgun in a long practiced gesture.

For the span of a single fraction of a breath, the soldier and the miner met gazes. Both knew that only one of them was walking away from this alive.

Rein fired just as the next brutal staccato of the weapon emplacement filled the world once more. His lasbolt, positioned with expert precision, lit up the dim area as it streaked directly towards the man. It hit him in the middle of his throat, reducing what would have been a scream of pain into a choked gurgle. His body toppled over backwards with his head only hanging onto his shoulders by a few strands of charred flesh.

Still in his crouched position, Rein didn't move. He felt no searing pain or the warmth of dripping blood. He hadn't been hit and it was brutally plain as to why. Hovering mere inches in front of him without the aid of any kind of suspension was a massively thick metal plate. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see where it had been torn from the wall before being used as a shield against the return fire. Heavy dents dotted its surface, telling the story of the rounds that would have ended his life otherwise.

A quick glace over his shoulder was enough to confirm his suspicions. Forty Two, hands outstretched and eyes closed in focus, was standing a short distance behind him. It took a moment, but she eventually opened her eyes to meet his gaze.

"You did that?"

It was more of a statement than a question. There was no one else here that could have torn a chunk of the wall out like that. She nodded in response, letting the block of metal drop to the floor.

"Too big to block…" She offered, speaking as softly as was physically possible.

"Why?"

His question came as a surprise to both her and himself. As far as he could tell, she'd only been following along on Joseph's orders. Yet she had taken the initiative and saved him from what would no doubt have been a messy end.

The scientist hadn't been so lucky. Why hadn't she chosen to aid him as well? It was possible that she simply hadn't reacted in time, but it was also possible that she'd let him die. Why would she though? What did he offer that Joseph didn't?

His train of thought was forcibly derailed as the door at the far end of the hall was slammed open.

"What the fuck is going on out here!?" Yelled a heavyset woman, carrying an autogun under one arm. Her features were hard and chiseled from a lifetime of strenuous labor. Taking in the scene of carnage, her mouth dropped open in shock. "Who the fu-"

The rest of her sentence was silenced as the sharp bark of Fang's shotgun boomed into life. Knocked backwards by the force of the slugs pulping her midsection, the woman's body fell to the side revealing a glimpse of the room behind her.

"Storm them!" Rein ordered. It was the strongest course of action they had open. These people had already proved to be hostile. No sense letting them regain their bearings.

The others jumped to obey, crossing the distance and hopping over the poorly organized barricade with ease. Fang was the first to arrive, his heavy boot slamming into the door which had drifted closed, smashing it the wrong way with enough force to shatter the poorly maintained hinges and drop the whole thing to the ground.

Rein was right behind him, taking in the scene before him in the blink of an eye.

Eight people stood in varying degrees of surprise, all armed with a ragtag assortment of weapons. One at the back was obviously the leader, standing tall with an authority of command that only came from years of bossing people around. He didn't even have time to raise his weathered looking lascarbine before Rein's shot blasted through his eye socket and burned a hole in the back of his skull.

What came next was chaos. Shouts and cries turned to howls and screams as the sound of gunfire filled the air. The miners fought with panicked ferocity, but they were clearly not soldiers by trade. Their total lack of cohesion and frequent hesitation proved fatal as the far more experienced troopers ripped through their ranks.

Rein turned to see a man wielding an old, rusted chainsword rush towards Fang. The Catachan saw him coming as well. The clumsy swing was projected miles in advance, giving the jungle fighter more than enough time to duck underneath it and draw his own blade. In one swift motion, he jammed the knife into the overzealous man's chin, gave a sharp twist, and wrenched it free while using his momentum to drop the corpse behind him and raise his shotgun once more.

The whole fight took approximately twelve seconds.

As the echo of the last shot drifted away, Rein paused to take in the aftermath. The defenders were obviously workers. How they got weapons, what they were doing here, and why they were so hostile was a mystery.

A ragged cough told him that the action wasn't over with.

Stitch was the first to the source, kicking aside a discarded chair and pointing his laspistol at the head of a young man whose legs were a bloody mess. Likely the result of a glancing hit from the shotgun.

"Don't… Please… Mercy…" He begged, struggling for breathe as the pain of his injury threatened to steal his consciousness away.

Rein made his way over to the fallen miner in an unhurried fashion, making absolutely certain that the boy could see him coming the whole way. He looked as though he was going to bleed out before long, but Rein knew he had enough time to answer a couple of questions.

"Well, what do we have here?" He commented, his voice taking on a tone of mild curiosity as though he were merely observing the weather. "Mind explaining to me why your pal outside decided to try gunning down an agent of the Inquisition?"

The boy tried to rise into a crouch, but only succeeded in starting a new fit of coughing. It sounded like a piece of shrapnel had found its way into his lungs at some point though it wasn't clear where the entry wound was.

"You… Sick… Bastards…" He spat, curling his lips into a half-snarl. "You're all… going… to die here…"

Rein was less than impressed. At his nod, Stitch stomped heavily on the young man's ankle, causing him to let out a scream which quickly gave way to more hacking and wheezing.

"That's not the answer I was looking for." Rein remarked. "You're buddies killed someone under my protection, and I'm starting to think you had something to do with the outbreak. If you want any semblance of mercy from us, you'd better start talking. If not, we can probably spare a bit of time to ensure you learn your place before departing to be judged by the Emperor."

The boy grimaced, his features pulling together in a hate filled glare. He opened his mouth to spout more words of spite only to stop suddenly, his eyes going wide with fear. Rein followed his gaze to the source of his terror, coming to rest on Forty Two as she tentatively stepped into the room. She'd been left behind in the initial charge.

He was quick to capitalize on the moment.

"Judging by the look on your face, you know what those like her can do, don't you?" Rein asked. "How about this. You tell me what you're friends thought to accomplish with this little uprising, and I'll make sure she doesn't rip you limb from screaming limb."

Forty Two's head perked up as she realized they were talking about her. With her slow, careful movements, she certainly didn't look much like a killer, but she might as well have been a rampaging Dreadnought with the effect her presence was having on their prisoner.

"Keep… Her… Away…" He rasped, trying to inch away only to be blocked by Stitch's leg. "We had… To fight back… After… What they did to us…"

"What they did to you?" Rein repeated, gesturing for Des and Fang to secure the doors. "What would that be? Were the conditions in the mine so intolerable as to warrant this?"

The boy shook his head, an action which caused a flash of pain to shoot across his face, before raising a trembling finger to point towards the Diclonius girl standing behind him.

"They… Used us… To make… More…" He said, speaking with an odd mixture of venom and grief. "Didn't… Even know about them… Until my brother's wife… Gave birth… His daughter… A monster… And they came…. To retrieve her!"

"What did they do exactly?" Rein questioned. The young man merely shook his head again.

"Don't… Know… How… Only… That they did…" Even through the anguish, his voice still managed to convey a deep seated anger. "It was always… Someone's kid… Someone from the mine… Then Aldrich found out the rest… Told us… How to fight back… But she… Got in the way…"

"Who is 'she'?" Rein asked. The boy didn't answer. His head was bowed as though he hadn't heard the question at all.

He lurched forwards without warning, wrapping a hand around Rein's leg and using it to pull himself up a bit higher. He ignored the weapons that swung his way at the action.

"We did… The Emperor's work…" He spat, glaring accusingly up at the soldier. Blood stained his face, giving him the air of a corpse come back from the dead. "Used their monsters… Against them… We… Are not… Heretics… You… Are…"

"I'll consider that a confession." Rein stated, pulling his leg free from the boy's grasp. "Stitch, give him the Emperor's mercy."

He turned away, not bothering to watch as the hive world criminal discharged a shot from his laspistol into the back of the young man's head. His thoughts were already racing to take in the new information as well as the consequences of their recent loss.

"How far do you think we are from the security thing?" Fang asked, wiping drying blood off of his boot.

"Jerimiah said that it wasn't far from where the lift was supposed to drop us off." Rein replied. "If he was correct we should be close. However, I'm not sure if we'll be able to access it without Joseph."

Mentioning the recently deceased scientist was enough to bring a thoughtful silence to the room. They'd been lucky to have him around to open the way through the lift, but if the security terminal needed a code as well…

"I'm sure I can make it work." Stitch interjected. "Let's get to it first. Once we know what we're dealing with, I'll be able to find a way to fix it. Right now, I'm more concerned with our exit strategy."

Rein closed his eyes, preferring not to devote any worry to figuring out how to climb back up a hundred and fifty floors right now. At worst, they'd have to do a, much longer, repeat of their earlier ascent.

"One objective at a time." He reprimanded. "Let's get moving. We need to find that terminal before the other mutants find us."

As it turns out, it was surprisingly easy to find the security station. It wasn't far from the room where the rebels had been holding out, and the piles of corpses was more than enough to show them they were going the right direction.

The eerily quiet scene was the aftermath of a slaughter. The bodies of over a dozen security guards, and about twice as many miners, were strewn across the hallway. The loyal troops were pockmarked with bullet holes as were several of the rebels. Most of the insurgents however, had been sliced apart with brutal precision, leaving no doubt as to the identity of their killers.

There were no Diclonius corpses. Either they'd taken no losses, or they'd retrieved their dead afterwards. Given the weaponry at the miners' disposal, it seemed unlikely that they'd have been able to fight back against the mutants.

Or perhaps, mutant.

Stepping gingerly between the fallen, Rein swept his gaze back and forth to watch for any signs of movement. It was unlikely that any had survived such disfigurement, but he'd seen stranger things than corpses rising back to their feet.

Through it all, Forty Two stayed close to his ankle. Her presence was as reassuring as it was uncomfortable. By now, he was reasonably certain she had no intention of killing him, but that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous.

"Too quiet." Des commented, her voice echoing a short distance before falling like a lead balloon in the still, dead air.

Rein nodded in agreement. There were two main kinds of 'too quiet'. The tense, breathless, quiet that came before a massacre, and the hard, solemn, quiet that followed. This felt almost like a mixture of both.

No more words were spoken. At the far end of the passage, a single metal door lay before them. Like the camera system they'd found Joseph hiding in, it appeared to be of a much higher quality than the normal ones found dotting the walls they'd passed. It was heavy, imposing, and shorn almost entirely in two.

"Looks like someone beat us here." Fang remarked, shouldering his shotgun and slinging Choir's hellgun into a ready position. "Who gets to go first?"

"Nobody." Rein replied, gesturing towards Forty Two at the confused look he received. "All right squirt, you're supposed to be able to sense them aren't you? Well how about it? You sense anyone on the other side of that door?"

She jumped, having been zoning out in her own little world. Once she realized what was being asked, she quickly recovered and, after a moment's pause, shook her head.

"No others in there…" She said meekly.

Not for the first time, Rein was struck by the possibility of a trap. Even so, he ignored the threat and stepped forwards. He knew that Diclonius couldn't block lasbolts, so if one was waiting on the other side he'd just have to be quick on the trigger.

Without giving himself time to lose his nerve, he strode forwards and kicked the damaged entryway as hard as he could. The first hit caused the mangled slab of metal to budge only an inch, but the second forced it through much farther. By the fifth kick, the tortured barrier tore itself free with a metallic shriek and collapsed inwards.

Rein's gun was up instantly, knowing that anything on the other side would have had ample opportunity to prepare after hearing his knocking.

There was nothing there. Or at least, nothing living. Three miners lay slashed to pieces just inside the door, their faces frozen in eternal expressions of shock and horror. Apparently they had thought themselves safe behind the construct only to realize their mistake when the Diclonius hunting them had simply cut through both the metal and their bodies in one go.

Kicking aside a severed arm that was in his way, Rein stepped inside. As promised, the security terminal lay just ahead.

A single massive screen was perched atop a veritable forest of buttons, levers, and all manner of mechanical parts whose purpose he couldn't even guess at. On the screen itself, several phrases flashed by faster than he could read, only to suddenly flash and repeat themselves over and over again. He silently prayed to the Emperor that it wasn't broken.

"Looks like you need my aid." Stitch commented, sounding far more eager than Rein would have liked. He was tempted to simply refuse the offer, but there was really no alternative. With a sigh and a shake of the head, he gestured the damaged man forwards.

Hopefully the Omnissiah would wreak his horrible vengeance on Stitch and not him for the desecration.

As the murderer happily tapped away at the keys, the other three took up positions to guard the entrances. Other than the one they'd come in, there was a single side door and a ventilation shaft which could be used as a way inside by a crafty attacker.

Rein focused on the main hallway. His eyes resumed their earlier vigil, washing over the fallen bodies in a regular, monotonous pattern. A minute passed. Then another. Then five, and ten, and fifteen. Slowly, an hour and a half had come and gone as Stitch worked behind his back while he kept a look out. He blinked, fighting back the threat of tedium. Complacency was a killer. He had to remain alert.

Another thirty minutes of uneventful sentry duty passed by. Still, Rein remained on high alert. His training had ensured he could maintain his focus for as long as necessary.

If only it had rendered him immune to the stench of rotting entrails. That was something you never really got used to.

Very suddenly, Forty Two, who'd been napping lightly simply out of boredom, jerked awake with a gasp. Rein realized the significance of the movement just as a figure came into his field of view.

His startled eyes met with a pair of cold, impassive ones.

This was the third Diclonius Rein had seen today, but she was so vastly different from the first two that she was like a whole other creature entirely.

Forty Two and the girl that had killed choir were both children. This girl was fairly well into her womanhood, standing around five and a half feet. She was entirely naked, clothed only in splotches of blood, some drying some fresh. None of it looked to be her own. Fiery hair, almost red in its shade, hung low over two unfeeling eyes. Were it not for the horns protruding from her skull, he might have thought her to be Des's long lost sister.

The plague created by Argentinus was only ever successful in creating one Diclonius.

Joseph's words came back to him in a rush.

But she… Got in the way…

Was this the original mutant? The one created twenty years ago in the mad experiments of a deluded noble? She certainly looked old enough, but if Joseph's information was true, they didn't age like normal people.

She began walking.

"Stop right there!" Rein barked, raising his hellgun into position. "Not one step closer if you want to keep breathing!"

She paused, regarding him with as much curiosity as a cat examining a slightly interesting insect. If she registered the danger, she showed no signs of it. After a second, she resumed her approach.

"I said stop!" He repeated. By now, Fang and Des had joined him at the entrance, lending their own weapons to the line.

She paused again, tilting her head slightly to the side. It took a moment, but he realized that she wasn't looking at any of them. Her eyes were fixed on Forty Two who was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane behind him.

She watched her younger counterpart with an unreadable expression. Another tense moment passed before she spoke.

"Traitor."

The word was rasped by a voice that wasn't often used. There was no accusation or anger in it. No anything really. It was as simple as stating a fact.

She resumed her approach.

"Feth this. Fire!" Rein ordered, deciding he'd had enough of the stalemate. The others didn't need to be told twice. Three beams of light erupted from their weapons, shooting directly for the woman in the hall.

They never reached her.

The walls seemed to rip themselves apart, flinging their broken pieces into the paths of the bolts. Each shot struck the flying debris and sent up a shower of burning rubble and sparks. None hit their initial mark.

"Bring her down!" Rein shouted. More shots were fired, only to have more pieces of the wall rip free and throw themselves into the way of the oncoming projectiles. Streaks of molten light lit up the scene as the soldiers kept up the barrage. The Diclonius continued her walk unhurried, looking as calm and collected as though she were out for an evening stroll.

All too soon, she drew near the entrance to the security hub.

Rein and the other drew back, still firing as they went. He didn't know whether or not Stitch was close to finishing his work, but he couldn't pause to check. He just prayed the man would be done soon and lend his weapon to the fight.

The Diclonius walked inside, her makeshift shields swarming in a blur of movement as they intercepted each shot that was sent her way. It wasn't long before the hellguns exhausted their power packs and the deluge of gunfire ceased.

The whirring noise of metal fragments hurtling through the air slowed to a stop. For a brief span it was as though time had stopped. Rein, Des, and Fang each held their empty weapons pointing at the grim figure before them. Unconsciously, they all knew that trying to reach for a spare power pack to reload would prove fatal. Even spread out as they were, it would only take a couple of steps for her to close into the two meter range.

Rein's eyes met hers in a silent contest of wills. He could practically feel the air rippling around her with the movement of her vectors. The moment stretched on for a miniature eternity.

All at once, it snapped. Feeling the sudden change in atmosphere, he dropped down to one knee, his hand shooting to the spare laspistol at his belt. By the time he had the weapon in his hand, he knew it was too late.

Two of the chunks of debris the Diclonius had been hiding behind rocketed outwards, slamming into both Des and Fang with the force of a charging Astartes. Even as they were both flung against the far wall, she was already leaping towards him. It was too late, but Rein raised his weapon regardless, refusing to simply give in.

As soon as his arm had extended to take aim, it simply fell apart. A crimson spray erupted along the length of his limb, marking the half dozen places it was slashed to pieces. It was as though he'd stuck it inside a massive industrial fan with razor sharp blades.

There was no pain. It felt surreal watching the sections of his appendage simply fall away, their descent marked by messy rivulets of blood that was still trying to pump through them. He didn't get long to ponder the strange sensation. Another chunk of metal swung wide and smashed into him, sending him hurtling across the room. He skidded across the floor, leaving a trail of red behind him.

Now he felt it. Pain, burning, all-consuming, and inescapable surged through his system, wiping away all other sensation. The agony didn't simply encompass the stump that extended halfway to where his elbow should have been. It reached into his core and even danced along the air where his severed limb had rested just moments ago.

"Stop it!"

The sound of Forty Two's cry reminded him of his current predicament. Using the iron willpower that had been drilled into him from constant service in the Emperor's name, he forced his suffering into the back of his mind and regained his focus.

The girl had put herself between his prone form and the approaching Diclonius. She was holding her hands upwards in a pleading gesture.

"You don't need to hurt them!" She said, desperation creeping into her tone. "They're not-"

Her sentence was cut off as she was sent flying, hitting the remaining half of the main door with a shriek and a dull thud.

"Sit down." The Diclonius woman said, sounding more as though she were talking to herself than anyone else. She didn't even bother looking at the fallen girl as she did so. "I'll deal with you later."

Rein pushed himself into a sitting position, grabbing onto the severed end of his arm in an attempt to slow the blood loss. The action sent a wave of dizzy nausea racing through his gut, forcing him to close his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, a pair of pale, gore coated legs stood in front of him.

"You're not getting away." He stated, turning his gaze upwards to look her in the eye. Her face still held the unfeeling expression she'd worn the whole time. "There's hundreds of soldiers waiting outside, and far more in the area, all ready to storm this place at a moment's notice."

If she was worried, or even truly registered what he was saying, she didn't show it. She said nothing as she took another step forwards. Rein kept his focus on her face, determined to go to his grave with as much defiance as the situation would allow. The Emperor would not find him wanting.

Before Rein could process what was happening, a beam of light cut through the air, hitting the Diclonius in the back of her head and sending a spray of flesh and skull fragments through the air. She took a reflexive step forwards, teetering precariously before her body registered its own death. When it did, she slumped forwards and collapsed in a heap, an image of mild surprise playing out over her features.

"Honestly, I turn my back on you for five minutes and this is what happens?" Stitch questioned, holding the recently fired laspistol in his hand. "What would you do without me? Anyway, you might want to search around for a gasmask of some sort. The protocol has been initiated, and I doubt you want to be breathing that stuff in."

Rein processed the turn of events with a mechanical lack of attachment. Stitch had already moved on to start helping up Fang and Des while Forty Two sat cradling the back of her head where she'd hit the wall. Seeing that the situation was as close to under control as it would ever get, his body fell back on a tried and true tradition set down by those in ages long before recorded history.

Falling to one side, Rein blacked out.

Planet Gharius Prime.

Eight years since the events of Cyrridus Delta.

The chair let out a wooden groan as Rein leaned back heavily. There was a small mechanical whirring as his bionic arm flexed against his natural one, stretching towards the ceiling. His sparsely furnished office felt much emptier than it had this morning. Likely due to the fact that all the paperwork he'd been working on had been finished and sent off.

Or at least, the ones that hadn't been thrown out the window in sheer frustration.

Working from here was less dangerous, but no less stressful than in the field. In a way, he preferred being on missions beside the Inquisitor and his troops. At least he didn't have to deal with the infuriating world of political wordplay then.

Turning his attention to the last remaining item on his desk, Rein distantly toyed with the thought of leaving it for another time. He knew he couldn't however. It had already been put off for too long and it wouldn't be magically going away.

Picking up the dataslate, he pored over the latest reports of the Diclonius regiment.

Their deployment against the Orks of Cyrridus Omega had proven exceptional. Three months and the greenskin uprising had all but been snuffed out with minimal losses. In fact, most of the hundred and twenty seven deaths that the girls had sustained had been the results of a botched artillery strike called in by an amateur spotter. He had of course, been dealt with in the appropriate manner.

They were now stationed against a fully-fledged Ork WAAAAGH in the Ventius system. It was their first major mission, and from what he'd read it looked like they were passing with flying colors. The xenos had even invented nicknames for them. 'Pinkeez' or 'Butcha Gurlz' depending on how brazen they were feeling.

Under the guidance of Forty Two, who'd been given the unofficial title of commander among the mutants, and the eagle-keen eye of the Commissariat, they were pushing back against the green tide a little at a time. They were even working surprisingly well with the morale officers. Perhaps the unyielding discipline of the Commissars were rubbing off on them.

Regardless of the reason, they were proving to be an excellent weapon.

That did not however, come without cost. Many of the more puritanical sections of the Imperium where appalled at them. Their seemingly shameless nature and unnatural powers had several Inquisitors already calling for their extermination. It was even rumored that the reason they worked so well with the Commissariat was due to their bodies rather than their faith. Not that any would dare say that when in earshot of the officers. Nobody was stupid enough to question them to their face.

Potential scandals aside, the main reason they were so despised was due to their… infectious nature. Wherever they went, they spread like wildfire. The girls themselves were sterile, but every planet they visited would have a sudden drastic rise in the birth rate of mutant children. Almost all of which were Diclonius.

In addition to being troublesome for the honest citizens of the afflicted planets, this also meant that they had to construct specialized facilities to enact the behavioral therapy required to ensure the mutants didn't go off the rails. There had already been several incidents with some of the girls losing control. The messes were damned difficult to clean up afterwards.

It was a serious problem and there was no real way to contain it until they figured out what caused it. Rein sighed to himself. He of all people didn't need to be told twice about how quickly they could spread.

A soft tug at the hem of his uniform drew him out of his stupor. Looking down, he was greeted by a pair of wide, curious eyes, bright pink hair tied back in a ponytail, and a pair of horns.

"Papa?" The little girl asked, blinking with the wide-eyed gaze she'd inherited from her mother. "You said you'd read me a story today and mama say's it's bed time. Can you read to me please?"

Rein breathed out lightly, patting her on the head.

"I'm a bit busy right now Madeline." He offered, gesturing to the dataslate. "How about you head upstairs and I'll be there to read to you when I get finished?"

She shook her head vehemently, looking up to him with the kind of intensity only a child could muster.

"No! You gotta come with me!" She insisted. "You might forget otherwise!"

It was more or less what he'd expected. She was always clinging to him, seemingly afraid that he'd forget about her or leave when she wasn't looking. Maybe she could sense the way he could never fully relax around her, or maybe she was just naturally that way.

Whatever the case, he knew that she could be just as stubborn as he was. Setting down the last piece of work, he decided that it could wait another night before being sorted out. It wasn't like the Diclonius would be going anywhere anytime soon.

"All right, let's go get you tucked in then." He said, leaning down to pick up his daughter. She let out a squeal of delight, wrapping her arms around his neck to help the process. She enjoyed being carried.

As he hoisted her diminutive frame upwards with a grunt, she settled down against his chest with a noise of contentment. Her demeanor left him feeling more than a little worried.

The fevers had started a little while ago. He'd thought she was simply ill at first, but they kept coming. He'd been around enough of the girls to realize what that meant. Her vectors were coming in. Before long, she'd be able to use the same invisible limbs that had cut his arm to pieces.

She'd have to go for behavioral therapy. From what little he'd seen of those places, it wasn't a very pleasant or gentle experience. If she was receptive to it, she'd eventually be shipped off for training to eventually join the others like her on the battlefield. Right now, it was the only acceptable place for them.

If she wasn't receptive…

Rein shook his head to dislodge the thought. It was a worry he'd been having more and more lately. He was a loyal servant of the Imperium, but try as he might, he couldn't be comfortable with the idea of sending her away. She was a mutant. Dangerous, unusual, and likely a threat to anyone in her vicinity.

More than that though, she was his daughter. She'd already grown so much faster than she should have. He didn't want to have to give her up, especially not after having her for such a short time.

He made his way to the door with his precious bundle resting lightly in his arms. He still had connections to Cartwright. Maybe he could help keep her away from those facilities. At the very least, he could be there to watch over her during the process.

Rein shook his head again. It was a problem for another day. Right now, he had a story that needed reading. His mind was already going over the possible choices.

Shutting off the two lamps he had in the room, he closed the door behind him, leaving his office in the dim afternoon half-light.