“Commissar, we’ve had a disturbance in the hangar. A couple of squads are currently engaged with a group of them down there and we’re taking heavy casualties. I’m going to take my guys to give them support. Care to join us?”

I swallowed deeply, taking a few seconds to wrap my head around what was being said. I couldn’t possibly go charging in blindly, could I? Remembering how close I just was to being killed already I considered saying no, but I couldn’t for the life of me think of a plausible reason to get out of this one. So I gave the corporal a wry smile “Of course, Corporal…” I paused for a moment to see if he’d tell me his name

“Corporal Rahmam, but this lot call me Sparky”, he beamed the widest smile at me, motioning to the men around us. I returned his smile and tilted my head towards him.

“Well Corporal Rahmam, let's get moving shall we!” I turned to the 2 troopers who had joined us from the other side of the corridor and motioned to them both “Will you both be joining us?” making it clear that the answer of ‘No’ wasn’t an option.

I had a glance around at us before we set off towards the hangar bay. To my barely suppressed surprise, I saw Private Dominskev standing to the side watching me. As he caught me gazing at him, he raised an eyebrow as a subtle twitch played at the corner of his mouth.

“Private Dominskev, very nice to see you” I exclaimed, my earlier surprise evaporating like snow in the morning sun. I felt surprisingly relieved to see the young Private join me. After a brief exchange of nods and a quick conversation, I motioned to the Corporal that we were ready to move off. We continued to steadily move through the outer corridor of the ship as the crimson red of the emergency lights cast eerie shadows on the walls and floor, highlighting the carnage the Corrupted had caused as they passed through this section of the ship. The distant sounds of alarms filled the air through the metal passages. As we pressed forward, our little rabble of troopers advanced, footsteps in sync.

A deafening explosion ripped through the ship ahead of us sounding dangerously close, followed by not-so-distant alarms in our corridor. The deafening wail forced me to cover my ears to try and dull the pain, the pain from my earlier headache resurfacing, an unwelcome surprise. A scream of metal ahead of us and a strong feeling of being pulled signalled something had gone wrong, very wrong indeed. We stumbled against the walls and each other barely able to maintain our balance as the walls around us shuddered with the impact.

Ahead of us the point man went down, revealing a slash across his neck where some shrapnel must have caught him. My heart began pounding in my chest as the realization hit me about how precarious our situation had become. I felt numb as the last vestige of hope fell away. The trooper on point was suddenly pulled forward, his strength diminished from his injuries and a heavy thump from behind us confirmed my fears.

I spun on my heels with alarm, the corridor we had just walked down was now completely sealed off from us, and a massive door had slammed into position completely obstructing our way through. A few seconds later a similar thing from the other side confirmed the breach. The trooper was pulled and then he was gone, a large hole about two decks high had formed in the side of the ship. Contorted and twisted metal and obsidian glass where the corridor once stood.

I gasped “We’re trapped” as I began frantically looking around for an escape. I knew the doors were a part of the safety measures built into the ship design in the event of a breach, so I exchanged an alarmed look with Private Dominskev. Glancing around the left side interior wall I saw a door built into it, a small unnoticeable doorway with a sign above it saying “for emergency use only”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

This would be classified as an emergency if anything ever would! I rushed forward shouting back to the others for them to follow, the harsh wind whipping my clothes against me and affecting my balance.

I charged into the door, my leg colliding with a jolt. it didn’t give, there wasn’t any time to worry about that though. My head started feeling light as the air was pulled from the corridor and thrown into space. I aimed another kick at the door, but I couldn’t muster up enough strength to kick it hard enough. Rahmam ran over to the door and worked the console which was set into the wall, another small explosion ripped into the corridor behind us dragging an unlucky trooper into the void of space. His mouth was wide as if he were screaming but little more than a muffled yelp escaped from him, and then he was gone. Thrown into the void beyond.

Our small band was down to five now, and the tension in the corridor was palpable as we waited for Corporal Rahmam to work his magic on the control panel. The relentless tearing of the void threatened to drag us beyond. The pull had already claimed some of our comrades, and the lack of oxygen was beginning to get to all of us, Private Dominskev was feeling it the worst.

As time dragged on, the seconds feeling like hours, Dominskev’s breathing began to grow more laboured. Pitching forward his face was grossly contorted in a struggle for air. I reacted instinctively, throwing my arm out to grab him before he could collide with anything. Barely able to keep him upright myself I rested my weight against the wall to the left of the door. The fear in his eyes was all-consuming as he clutched at his throat, struggling to breathe in the vacuum consuming us.

I gulped in what was left of the oxygen greedily, desperately refilling my depraved lungs. I could barely speak, trying to offer him a word of encouragement but nothing escaped my lips. My ears suddenly popped, a painful blistering feeling as the last of the oxygen was ripped from my lungs. Rahmam worked frantically, the exhaustion and lack of oxygen was telling as his movements slowed, his fingers no longer flying across the control panel. Instead, becoming sluggish, eyes never leaving the screen. A bead of sweat dripped down his face, settling above his eyebrow. Finally, the door ahead of us responded, sliding open with a faint hiss, revealing a dark room beyond.

A surge of adrenaline filled my veins and I propelled Dominskev and Rahmam through the doorway before following myself, the pain in my chest becoming almost unbearable, and my vision began to darken. The door slammed shut behind me, blocking out the vacuum and leaving the last two troopers stranded outside our refuge

My heart sank as I heard muffled thumping on the door before silence settled. They were trapped in the corridor, we couldn’t even risk opening the door to help them. The experience was soul-crushing. Guilt and sorrow washed over me, but I knew there was nothing to be done, we couldn’t afford to dwell on our losses though

Inside the darkened corridor the air was thick and rich, like a lifeline in the cold vacuum of space. I inhaled deeply, the initial breath was like a sword stabbing me, but then the pain began to recede. The feeling of pure oxygen filled my lungs bringing with it a sense of rejuvenation. The room we had found ourselves in was a corridor, its walls adorned with thick piping and metallic panels that shimmered slightly in the subdued emergency lights. Strips of LEDs lined the corners of the corridor emitting a faint red light casting a soft almost ethereal glow around the room. The light cast a harsh shadow across everything in stark contrast to the initial calm the fresh oxygen gave us.

Each sound echoed softly in the silence, creating a gentle rhythm that reverberated through the corridor’s narrow confines. Only broken by the shuddered breathing of Rahmam. The floor beneath our feet felt cool and comfortingly solid. A stark reminder of the harsh reality of our situation:

As we finally got our breath back, the sensation was both invigorating and calming, This corridor was our lifeline in the middle of the chaos. I could see the same relief play across the face of Corporal Rahmam as he too was gulping air back in, Dominskev was on the floor facing down, a small puddle of blood pooling around his head.