Location: Thunder’s Ward
Time: 19:00 hours
…..
Subject: Dante
Status: Minor wounds on arms ; Bruised rib ; Gash on lower jaw
Heart Beat: Steady
Blood Pressure: 130/90
Toxin Level: None
…..
Status Confirmed: Normal

[The image cuts to a diagram of sound levels. A small shuffeling sound can be heard and the line on the screen quivers. After a few seconds, a deep gruff voice comes over the speaker and the line spikes.]

“It’s been a while… Since I’ve had to do this… I still remember, after the raid on Kataral… Commander Vash pulling me aside, telling me… these ‘logs’ would help with the debriefing process.”

[Few seconds of silence]

“I can’t remember what I said before, never had the need to listen to the sound of my own voice… But I remember the feeling I got afterwards, the feeling that I could move on, that what needed to be said had been said… Like I said, it’s been a while since I needed that feeling…

[Few seconds of silence]

“Joining the Deathwatch was my call, but this team wasn’t… I was forced here, shuffled into their ranks with the blessing of some ‘prophecy’, pointed… directed… by the hand of fate… I don’t buy that, not for a second.

But I obey, I always obey…"

[Sound of sighing]

“We landed… more like crashed… planet side, and inevitably found ourselves confronted by the traitors and betrayers of that world… Jove’s Decent… The trees themselves would stab you in the back if you let them.

I had made… assumptions… about my brothers, about this team…"

[Voice trails off into silence]

“I saw it coming… I took the shots, I blocked their path to protect my commander, like I always do. The traitorous swine didn’t last long. The pyscopath has his uses, and that girl… well lets just say I wouldn’t want to take her head on… It was quick work, and we moved on…

Their city, just as unclean and diseased as the apostates it housed. But that was a problem for later… First, we had the Tyranids to deal with. That was… less quick… less… easy…

But we banded together, took on the threat, overcame it. There was a second there when I thought we had lost the psyco… and the mutt…"

[Chuckle]

“He’s turning out to be his own worst enemy… Can’t say I’m surprised… I find most of his kind’s bite leave much to be desired… although this one’s bark didn’t give me much hope to begin with.

The city, oh if we can call it that… A hole in the ground, run by scum… Manufacturing muck… Built on lies and corruption. And that’s just the half of it, underneath… It was like, stepping into another time. Faded images of the past rising up to claw at life for a few more seconds… And me, the commander’s guinea pig. Tossed through the veil without a care, as is my duty.

The fighting was brief, it doesn’t take long to put down ghosts… But afterwards…"

[Long pause]

“We were a facade, a lie, betrayers. I watched my commander steal the trust of a man and then order me to stab him in the back. And I obeyed, I cut a man down, felt the blood on my face… And it stopped me. I hesitated, I… faltered… Even the mutt could see that, had to open his mouth… Next time, I’ll need to bring along a muzzle for ’im…

These men… It wasn’t our place, they weren’t our concern. We should have left them for the inquisition. We should have smiled, and walked away but instead our leader forced us, forced me, to betray my word… To cut out a mans heart and feed it back to him…"

[Sounds of shuffling. Voice comes as a whisper, clearer as if the person had leaned in toward the speaker. It spoke slowly and clearly, with heavy intent.]

“This team is corrupted… and I fear, if it cannot be cleansed… My own soul may break… and my resolve along with it.”

[A few moments of silence]

“…Father…”

[Pause]

“…I…”

[There is a long silence followed by shuffling and a loud click as the record is ended. The screen flashes for a moment, and then fades to black.]