Finally, the stormtrooper's work was finished. His team had sucessfully infiltrated the Tau compound. Now, he had one of the Ethereals on the ground, lying before him. The look upon the xeno's face was priceless, in his opinion, one of pure terror, and begging for mercy. His helmet concealed his face, and the smirk which he wore on it. The filth that lay before him was as good as dead. All he would have to do is shoot him with his hellgun.

But, what was this? The stormtrooper felt a feeling rise up in him, overtaking his satisfaction at the completion of the mission. What was it? Regret? No, he would not regret, not doing something like this. Could it be... pity? Did he feel pity for this pathetic creature? This poor, vunerable creature, which it was his job to kill, had made him feel pity? It could not be. He was a stormtrooper of the Most Gloruious Emporer. He did not feel pity for this xeno scum. But he did. Against all his teachings, his indoctrinations, against his very soul, he still felt...

No. The Tau was playing with his mind, begging for mercy like that. There was only one way to deal with this type of evil. The stormtrooper crushed what remorse he had left in him. But still, he couldn't get rid of that feeling, that feeling of compassion. The choice had to be made. Would he follow his orders, and kill the Ethereal? Or would he follow his heart, and what it told him to do?

The hellgun fired.