The Alluring Plague

Iratus twiddled his thumbs as the Thunderhawk slowly flew towards the Gothic class cruiser. Their last contact with *The Omnissiah's pride* was weeks ago, when they Cardinal Archivists were informed of the relic that the cruiser brought. It was a video game from the Golden age. Since then all contacts with the cruiser were cut. The Chapter Masters decided to send out a small squad to retrieve the game, though two Tech-Priests, a technoarcheologist and a lexmechanic insisted on tagging along. The tech-priests annoyed Iratus, the curiosity and persistence of the Adeptus Mechanicus led many of their, and his, men to demise. There was something wrong on that ship. Something twisted. Iratus could feel its icky, slimy presence. There was a presence of Chaos on that ship. But a presence he rarely felt. Its disease made him shiver each time.

As the Thunderhawk landed into the vast, dark ship, Iratus felt sickness in his stomach.. The steel expanse of the gargantuan cruiser slowly opened up before them with the dropping Thunderhawk door.

"What is wrong, Magister Musicae?" - brother Litatio kneeled before him, worry in his eyes.

"**It is fine, child. Once you feel the overwhelming presence of chaos, it becomes hard to ignore." -** he forces a smile upon his face.

"A presence of chaos, Magister?"

"**Yes. But nothing to worry about child. The Emperor will protect us**." - he puts on his helmet and walks out with a stern gait.

Litatio was an endearing presence, fresh out of the scouts. A naive and loyal soul he was, incorruptible by chaos. Iratus knew that Litatio would, at any opportunity, gladly give his life for the safety of others, no matter how minuscule their role was in the grand scheme of things. He would have been a proud addition to any Chapter.

The ship was enveloped in shadows, barely a thing could be seen without aid. With help, however, the hulking, cyclopean ship revealed itself before the group. The entangled wires, dilapidated bridges and stairways and a large skull, half-bone and half-machine, set against the background of a black and white cog to as a reminder of whose ship this was. The walls were covered in grime and rust, with strange ooze slowly slithering down to the bottom.

"What in the name of the Emperor is that?" - the Adeptus reached with his finger to touch the liquid, before getting pulled back by Iratus.

**"DO NOT TOUCH THAT, WEAK MINDED FOOL!"** -he grabs the adept by the throat- **"THAT IS THE FILTH OF NURGLE!"**

"Y-yes, M-m-magister, I-I-I apologize for my carelessness" - he backs away like a scared pup. The technoarcheologist gets closer to the ooze to better expect it.

"This might be worth inspecting, Magister. It might help us with our research."

**"We are not here for your research, tech-priest. We are here for the relic and the relic only."**

The archeologist grumbles, and continues through the door that leads to a narrow corridor.

"According to the layout of the ship, the relic should be in the chamber located down this corridor." - his slim, bony finger points down the vast, desolate pathway to the door on the far end. The corridor itself is oozy, messy, covered in corpses. The corpses were surprisingly lacking in wounds, no signs of struggle, as if the Emperor himself stripped them of their soul right there and then.

One of the Marines would get closer to the corpse of what seemed to be a Lexmechanic.

"This one's still got some flesh on him, how surprising for a-"- he would be interrupted by the corpse itself, grabbing him by the head and pulling him to itself. Two more would jump on him before he could react and start tearing his helmet off

"**It is nurgle's festering undead! Slaughter this filth!"**- as he said that he fired a few bolter rounds at the zombies on the Adept's back, blowing one's head up and splitting the other in half completely. But, the last living one managed to take the adept's helmet off and sink his rotting teeth in, with the upper half of one joining him in feasting.

**"Curses..."**- he'd grumble before putting a bullet through the zombie lexmechanic's brain. The other would try and leap onto his face but the Magister simply grabbed him by the head and squeezed it like a tomato. The red bits would cover his black armour.

"M-magister Musicae...I-I beg of you..."- his veins would get darker and darker as his eyes would be consumed by the black ooze. A bullet to the head was enough to put him down. The Magister would be angry now, angrier than before at least.

**"Let's end this, techpriest"**- the door would open to show a small, disgusting room. It was completely coverd by mold and ooze, full of disgust and contempt. And the box would be in the middle of the room, in pristine condition.

**"Litatio, secure the- Litatio?"**- brother Llitatio would be by the game, kneeling before it.

"The power, magister, can't you feel its power?"-his helmet was off, showing an insane grin.

**"Do not be tempted by chaos, Litatio, remember your training, your loyalty"**

"Loyalty? Servitude? I owe nothing to that pitiful God Emperor. This relic-it calls me"

**"Litatio, please...just move away from-"**

"You do not command me, old man! The power is mi-"- the bullet would pierce the skull and blow the upper right half to bits. Iratus would slowly approach the corpse, kneel and close Litatio's one remaining eye. He would then get up and observe the box.

On the box it was written: "E.T. 2 for the Xbox 321, by EA and Konami" and a small comment: "10/10 A fantastic experience! -IGN"

**"We shall put this relic in the deepest contaimnent facility on O'magudnis. This ship and all is properties are to be burned. No exceptions"**- he would look at the Techpriest, with anger beyond measure

**"The emperor prevails"**- Iratus would head towards the Thunderhawk, not looking back.