"No need to thank me," Foros replied, crouching to meet her gaze. "What's your name?"
"Tessa," she answered.
Foros nodded. "Alright, Tessa. We'll do all we can to keep those monstrous creatures away, but you must take care of yourself and your sister, and make sure not to fall behind."
Tessa nodded vigorously, her small face now flushed with a renewed light.
After a brief rest, the group had to press onward.
The doors ahead and behind had been sealed, but Foros deftly opened a concealed door in the wall, guiding everyone down another hallway. The entire underground city sprawled like a labyrinth, each few steps presenting a new fork with no markers to guide them. Yet Foros always managed to find the correct path, occasionally diverting to search rooms for any other survivors.
Besides Foros's steady guidance, they were fortunate not to encounter any more plague-ridden corpses; they were likely sealed off in another corridor.
"Captain Foros, you seem familiar with this place?" one of the Custodians asked.
"I grew up in a similar city," Foros replied, surveying their surroundings. "These underground cities resemble vast dormitories built underground, and I suspect that such cities were once massive military installations."
The Custodian looked around, nodding in agreement with Foros's assessment. Though time had weathered the surroundings, the patched walls and corridors bore a militaristic structure.
"There's a subterranean factory on the hive world in the Tyrone System, supposedly for manufacturing colossal war machines," the Custodian said. "And here... this place feels like a barracks."
Just then, the distant, ominous wailing of plague-ridden corpses broke the Custodian's thoughts as more of the abominations surged toward them from every direction.
Though the Emperor's Angels and the Custodian stood guard, the civilians trembled in terror. Yet Tessa gripped the dagger in her hand tightly, although its weight, far too heavy for her, caused her hands to tremble. Still, the weapon offered her some sense of safety.
"Keep moving. I'll hold them back!" the Custodian shouted, charging toward the horde while the others pressed forward.
Foros wanted to stop him but could only prioritize the civilians, leading his unit in clearing a path forward. He occasionally glanced back, watching as the Custodian, now engulfed in the tide of corpses, held his ground. Even those emerging from the floor and vents couldn't reach him, as his gravity shield obliterated any that drew close.
"Come on, all of you!" the Custodian shouted, raising his arms to unleash waves of lethal fire. His shoulder-mounted cannon whirled and incinerated the bile spat from the creatures.
As he broke through a wall, drawing the undead down another route, Foros returned his focus to guiding the group forward, just as they continued to search for survivors.
…
The rescue mission stretched on for four days and nights. The civilians' stamina couldn't compare to that of the Astartes, so Foros established a safe zone for them to rest while he continued searching alone. By the fifth day, at two in the morning, Foros finally encountered the one he most wanted to see—the Custodian who had held off the hordes.
Emerging from a corridor across the hall, the Custodian was unscathed, though the intense combat had slightly warped the shotgun lasers in his hands.
"There's no one left alive here," he said as he deactivated his gravity shield and passed Foros. "I've combed through the entire area."
Foros found it hard to accept. In a world that once held billions, they had saved only a handful.
He felt the same helplessness as he had decades ago when watching his flagship destroyed by the Minotaur Legion.
"You're an angel, not a god," the Custodian reminded him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "You saved over two hundred people, and they'll pass down the story of how the Emperor's Angels descended to save them."
Foros was silent before responding. "The Emperor's Angels, descending to a world of billions, saving only a few hundred... Is that honor or shame?"
"Perhaps you didn't come to save billions but to rescue the last few hundred souls on a plague-ravaged world with no other hope," the Custodian replied as they both quickened their pace back toward the civilians.
The ten remaining well-supplied Astartes easily protected the civilians. Despite the constant gunfire and howls, the civilians never saw the undead up close. When Foros arrived, they were eagerly imagining their lives after they reached safety.
Tessa and her sister were embraced by a kindly Ecclesiarch, who said, "We may need to seek shelter in neighboring systems, but rest assured, I won't let you two fall to misfortune. From now on, you're my family. May the Emperor watch over us."
Tessa and her sister knew the Ecclesiarch well; it was clear from how other civilians respected her that she had done much for them.
"You're likely bound for Tyrone, so gather your things quickly. This forsaken place won't hold you any longer," the Custodian urged. "The Emperor has shown mercy, granting you the chance to bask in the Tyrone's light. Don't waste it, folks!"
With bright eyes and hopeful smiles, the civilians hurriedly prepared their belongings, and, under the Astartes and Custodian's watchful guard, they began their journey back to the surface.
When the Custodian called for transport, ten shuttles quickly descended from the fleet orbiting the planet, breaking through the atmosphere to hover above them.
"Sir... this is yours..." Foros heard a voice beside him. He turned to see Tessa, holding out the dagger.
"Thank you for keeping it safe," Foros said, crouching down to take the blade before turning to the Ecclesiarch. "Thank you for taking them under your care."
"It is us who owe you thanks," she replied, saluting him. "I may not be wealthy, but I will give them all I have."
"Thank you," Foros replied, nodding.
The shuttles landed, and as the ramp opened, civilians boarded, guided by armored soldiers holding laser rifles. A white drone methodically scanned each individual to confirm they were plague-free.
Foros watched with bated breath as the scanner approached Tessa, releasing a green beam across her. If it detected plague within her…
But to his relief, the drone passed over her and her sister without incident, moving on to the next civilian. Yet, it halted at the Ecclesiarch and sounded an alert.
The soldiers gestured for her to step into a metal compartment.
"The plague is treatable, but for now, you'll need to isolate. My apologies," one of the soldiers said.
The Ecclesiarch blinked in confusion before nodding calmly, blessing Tessa and her sister before stepping into the compartment.
The Custodian glanced sympathetically at Foros. "The Governor might develop a better cure."
"If… if we didn't have to worry about an unnecessary war... if the zealots would just leave... we could have come here sooner," Foros said through gritted teeth.
The Custodian remained silent, knowing that until today's Governor's appointment, the entire Tyrone fleet had been stationed in grim anticipation of a distant threat.
"Take me to the other world in this system," Foros said over the comms.
The reply came swiftly from the fleet commander: "There's no need. The second world in this system has already fallen."
Foros walked to the shuttle's window. They had already breached the atmosphere, nearing the cruiser, and he could see the other planet orbiting the sun—a world now stained in putrid green.
"I'm under orders to proceed to the next system," the commander stated. "This cesspool will be left to others."