Barbarus, Now.
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Hades took a deep breath as he surveyed the battlefield before him, raising his boltgun.
Beside him, Mortarion wore a grim expression, lifting his pistol Lantern. The Deathshroud Terminators around them stood alert.
They were making their way through the corridor leading to the Death Guard's gene-seed vault. Once pristine, the hallway was now scarred with bullet holes and the marks of corrosion.
"I truly did not expect anyone to dare tamper with the Death Guard's gene-seed."
Mortarion's low voice echoed through their communication channel.
The gene-seed determined the future generations of a Legion, directly influencing the strength of its recruits.
Each gene-seed, extracted from a veteran Astartes, carried fragments of that warrior's combat experience. This allowed new recruits implanted with the gene-seed to inherit vast amounts of battle knowledge from the moment they joined.
But gene-seed was not a perfectly stable existence. Each one carried the possibility of mutation, and the likelihood and nature of these mutations varied from Legion to Legion.
Some Legions had gene-seeds prone to frequent mutations, while others were more stable—such as the XIV Legion, the Death Guard.
Mutations could take many forms, both beneficial and detrimental.
For example, the gene-seed of Rogal Dorn granted the Imperial Fists an increased tolerance for pain, but at the cost of slight degradation in their salivary glands.
However, beyond mutation, there was another way to alter the gene-seed's effects on future generations:
Contamination.
Take, for instance, the III Legion, the Emperor's Children—in their early history, a virus known as the Blight devastated their gene-seed stockpiles, causing a catastrophic reduction in their numbers before their Primarch was found.
The importance of gene-seed was undeniable.
If someone had deliberately tampered with the Death Guard's gene-seed, and they hadn't returned in time to check, hadn't noticed the interference—
A chill of dread crawled down Mortarion's spine.
Calas Typhon… something is truly wrong with him. But why?
At the same time, the Primarch felt a sliver of relief that they had caught this issue in time. As long as they destroyed these compromised gene-seeds before they were integrated into the Death Guard's stock, the damage would be minimal.
Mortarion cast a glance at Hades, who was striding ahead.
How does he always manage to uncover these subtle threats?
The closer they got to the vault, the clearer the signs of battle became. The remains of servo-automata and Adeptus Ministorum warriors were scattered against the walls, their bodies lifeless.
Hades tightened his grip on his boltgun and rounded the final corner—
He inhaled sharply.
A Tech-Priest was sprawled against the reinforced blast door, like a giant, grotesque octopus.
His crimson robes had been shredded and compressed by his own deployed weapons, leaving only tattered remnants swaying in the air. His still-smoking autocannon remained locked in position, its barrel aimed directly at the new arrivals.
The entire hallway was deformed from the sheer intensity of the firefight.
Empty shell casings carpeted the floor.
The red glow of the Tech-Priest's optical lenses flickered.
[Reinforcements?]
A binary transmission, encrypted in the sacred codes of the Mechanicus, was sent directly to Hades' mind.
A moment later, Mortarion's towering form stepped into view from the corner.
Recognizing the presence of his Primarch—confirming that allies had arrived and the battle was over—the Tech-Priest peeled himself away from the blast door.
As he collapsed to the ground, he revealed what lay behind him—
The sealed vault door.
It was still shut, intact, and secured.
Only after the Tech-Priest fell did Hades realize the extent of the damage: most of his core structure had already been corroded. He should not have even been able to remain upright.
Confirming that no further threats were present, Hades immediately crouched down, working swiftly to stabilize the Tech-Priest's failing systems, disabling unstable power sources before they could detonate.
Realizing that Hades was not attempting to tamper with him, but merely performing basic emergency maintenance, the Tech-Priest allowed him to proceed.
A raspy burst of static crackled from the Tech-Priest's speakers.
"Lords of the Death Guard, I regret that I am unable to properly render my courtesies at this time."
Mortarion observed the scene in silence.
Finally, after a long pause, he spoke.
"You have done well, Tech-Priest."
"The Death Guard will remember your service."
"Thank you, my lord. Allow me to report on the battle that transpired."
"I am Magos Biologis Druid. Within the Mechanicum, I oversee the cultivation of the Death Guard's gene-seed, coordinate with the Apothecaries, and conduct certain bio-modifications on Barbarus."
"One Barbarus-standard day ago, a man claiming to be an Apothecary of the Death Guard, named Laton, approached me. He requested an inspection of the next batch of gene-seed and the cultivation systems for additional implants intended for new recruits."
"He presented the official seals and encrypted authorization codes of the Death Guard. I verified them multiple times and confirmed their validity for the current recruitment cycle. After ensuring everything was in order, I chose to escort him to the gene-seed vault."
Hades cast a glance at Mortarion.
The Primarch ignored him.
"As a precaution, I implemented a seven-layer security scan along the corridors leading to each gene-seed vault. However, when we passed through the third checkpoint, the scanners detected that the Apothecary was carrying a substance emitting potential psyker radiation."
Mortarion frowned.
"At first, I assumed it was one of his personal concoctions. Apothecaries often prepare private reserves of specialized chemicals. However, according to the Gene-Seed Preservation Codex, any radiated substances must be removed before proceeding."
"I requested to take custody of the substance."
"He refused. And then, he attacked."
"He wielded certain psyker abilities in combat, devastating most of my Ministorum guards and servitors. He successfully pushed forward, reaching the final defensive barrier before the gene-seed vault."
"But I held the line. I am certain that my final shot punctured both of his lungs. He fled soon after."
"With all my protectors slain, I chose to remain and defend this location until reinforcements arrived."
"But your distress signal was never received."
Hades spoke calmly as he fastened a final screw.
In truth, before deciding to head for the gene-seed vault, Hades had noticed something unsettling—every key personnel responsible for this area had been carefully reassigned elsewhere.
Laton had exploited Calas Typhon's authority over the recruitment process to clear the area of any potential interference.
Had Magos Biologis Druid not chosen to stand his ground, Laton might have doubled back to finish the job.
But this Apothecary, Laton…
Where had he come from?
Hades sifted through his memories of the Death Guard, searching for any trace of this name.
His recollection halted at a particular moment—the afternoon the Librarius was set ablaze.
He had been inside the decontamination chamber, its glass wall separating him from a group of Apothecaries monitoring his sterilization.
He was there.
Standing at the back of the group.
Watching him.
With interest.
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