Prometheus Requiem (Short Story)
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| Author | Nick Kyme |
| Publisher | Black Library |
| Collected in | Fear the Alien Tome of Fire |
Contents
Cover Description
The Firedrakes, elite warriors of the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter, enter an ancient space hulk in search of a great prize – a xenos prisoner taken by fellow Salamanders a century before and lost in the warp. Harried by vicious alien genestealers and beset by strange psychic phenomena, the Space Marines struggle to reach their goal, only to find that their mission may be far more difficult than they imagined.
Synopsis
Deployed onto a hanger bay of the Glorion, a part of Space Hulk of which Sergeant Nu'mean's old ship the Protean is melded into, the Firedrakes of the Salamanders are pushing towards the cryo-chamber of the Protean in order to extract someone from stasis after a century of waiting. Apothecary Emek has a vial of serum with which to inject the patient. However, the ship is afflicted by the warp, with each Firedrake being afflicted by the ghosts of their past, Tsu'gan, the Dragon Warriors, Hrydor, a large kraken-like creature, and Herculon Praetor, his fallen brothers from decades past.
The Salamaders face small pockets of Genestealers; however, with the power fluctuations that have been occuring and upon investigation, it is deduced that there are more than Genstealers aboard the ship. After many hours, the Salamanders finally reach the cryo chamber to find their patient is a Farseer, and that the vial Emek carries is to cause brain death. They dare not simply destroy the stasis pod, as if it is breached, then the Eldar's psychic powers will wreak havoc upon the Astartes. It is then revealed that this Farseer has been affecting the warp aboard the ship, causing the hallucinations.
The power is cut once again when Emek moves to inject the vial and is struck by a bolt of lightning, becoming greivously wounded, and forcing the Astartes to retreat from the chamber. Praetor decides to take his squad to the power room to sort out the issues with the supply. Nu'mean stays to hold the position. Whilst on the way to the power room, Hrydor is afflicted by another vision and stomps off down a side corridor. The others follow, but become blocked off by bulkheads slamming shut between them. By the time they break through, they find Hrydor's body butchered. Tsu'gan then sites a Raptor of the Night Lords Legion. He charges towards it, only to fall into an ambush where he is sealed off by bulkheads, similar to Hrydor. However, Praetor breaks through immediately and, along with Vo'kar and Invictese, he slaughters the Raptors, with the leader escaping with the use of a melta through the ceiling.
Nu'mean, back outside the cryo-chamber, is then assualted by a Genestealer swarm. Mercurion and Gun'dar fall to their talons. Kohlogh holds them back with his Flamer as Nu'mean sends Ve'kyt to the nearby saviour pods to launch Emek to safety and return to hold against the Genestealers. Nu'mean himself during this time enters the chamber and confronts his ghosts and crippling psychic damage, not before administering the vial and destroying the Farseer, and thereupon dying himself from the trauma. Ve'kyt and Kohlogh have by this time fallen to the Genestealers as well.
Meanwhile, the Raptors have blocked Praetor's squad's path back, forcing them to find an alternative route back to the Glorion's hanger bay, where they embark upon the Implacable and leave. Volkane, the pilot, then finds Emek's saviour pod after 2 hours searching, with life signs present. The story ends with six Astartes dead and the Salamander's claiming vengeance upon the Night Lords
Setting
The Glorion and then The Protean, a ship of the Salamanders, now a member of a Space Hulk
Characters
Trivia
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Notes
- The events of this short story intersect with the Night Lords short story The Core by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.
