Editing The Corrupted Heart (section)

===Chapter Four===
As they stood outside the heavily barred door, Gaelos and Astra once again checked themselves over. After arriving on the hive world of Melenus, their cell had been tasked with tracking down a cult of hereteks, rumored to have access to xenos technology. Their investigation had brought them to this run-down portion of the underhive, where several mutants had been seen working with heavily cyberized individuals. With a little charm from their scum, alongside a rather intense series of interrogations from their arbitrator, the acolytes were able to piece together where cult was operating from proper. From there, it was up to Gaelos and Astra to play the part of new members in order to gain access to the compound. 

Surprisingly, gaining admittance was as simple as giving the bouncer behind the door their names. It seemed as though the cultist that Max had interrogated had made good on his promise to add them to the ledger. Yet, as the door was shut and locked behind them, Astra couldn’t help but feel trapped. This was going far too smoothly, and, in her experience, that usually meant that someone, somewhere was about to get shot. To make matters worse, their backup was ten minutes away at best, by which time they would be long dead if anything went wrong. Still, as she and Gaelos descended a set of stairs, she tried to think positively. Maybe the cultists weren’t as smart as their investigation had led them to believe.

That thought would be flipped on its’ head minutes later, as Astra and Gaelos found themselves pinned behind metal crates, exchanging blind fire with the hereteks. Somewhere up above, an explosion marked the rest of the cell breaching into the compound, though, given the current state of their ammo reserves, Astra was finding it hard to believe there would be anything but corpses for them to retrieve. “Any ideas?” called out Gaelos, firing off his las pistol wildly using his mechadendrite. “Not really!” replied Astra, adding to the suppression with her own pistols. 

For every heretek that they managed to injure, two more would take their place, armed with various bits of xenos weaponry. Each minute that past brought Astra further despair, and she was beginning to resign herself to dying in this Emperor-forsaken storage room. Never knowing what Gaelos thought of her, never knowing what it was to love, and be loved in return. She almost didn’t notice the click of her stub revolver, signifying that she had run out of bullets. Tossing the weapon wildly at their assailants, Astra called over to Gaelos, “Since we’re not going to get out of this alive, I just want you to kno…” It was then that his head exploded as a round from a shuriken catapult pierced his skull, sending bits of gray matter and blood spewing everywhere. Shocked, Astra found herself unable to act at first, though soon she found herself picking up and throwing the crate she had been using for cover as a primal rage overtook her. As various projectiles pierced her flesh, she became lost in the bloodlust, moving to slaughter those that had killed the only person to ever show her kindness.

In the end, only three of the acolytes managed to survive the botched raid, including Astra. As she, Julo, and Kreff delivered their reports to the Inquisitor, a sense of numbness and depression permeated the air. Sighing, the Inquisitor shook her head, commending them on a job well done in eliminating the cult while extending her condolences for their lost comrades.  Astra was only half-paying attention, and found herself being led from the Inquisitor’s office after being dismissed. All she could see was Gaelos’ head scattering before her, the moment replaying over and over in her mind. It wasn’t until the door to her quarters failed to open that she realized she had subconsciously wandered to Gaelos’ instead. Rather than use her override code, Astra slid her tentacles around the door, prying it open and breaking the lock before stepping inside. 

The former tech priest’s room was Spartan in décor, the only decoration being a few odds and ends that he had been working on restoring to working order. Sitting on his bed, Astra took up his pillow, clutching it tight as she began to cry. Lost in her lament, she failed to notice that Kreff had joined her, standing in the doorway. “I…” he began, his blank stare roving over the room, “I know you don’t give a damn what I think, but, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. He was a good man, better than I.” Before Kreff could say anything more, he found the wind knocked out of him as Astra pinned him against the wall of the hallway. “WHY?!” she shouted, pounding her tentacles against his chest as various fluids poured down her face, “WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BE THE ONE TO LIVE?!” Devolving into incoherent babbling, she dropped to her knees, leaving Kreff staring soullessly and silently past her into Gaelos’ room.