I woke up slightly dizzy and blinked a few times before I remembered what had happened last night and a flood of memories and images flashed through my mind for a second as I noticed the bed was empty, beside myself of course. I looked around and saw the redhead moving toward the room door.

"Wait, I don't even know your name!" I called out in a hoarse voice and she turned her head to me and smiled before she slid out of the door and closed it behind her. My body was sore all over and the harder I thought about what happened during the night, the more my amazement grew at my own agility and endurance. I guess not everything is bad about being ripped from your own world. I also remembered she had lit up something that looked like a Lho-stick, but tasted, and worked, differently. The only thing I could think of that would have similar effects would be Kyxa*, but that couldn't be right. No Guardsman or PDF trooper would ever be able to afford such a substance.

Just who was this mystery redhead? I had seen her in the battlelines but never actually seen her fight. She always seemed to be nearby when she wanted my attention, but I could never find her whenever I wanted to meet her on my terms. My danger instinct started screaming when I put all these things together and I had to agree with the feeling. something was off about that woman, as tempting as she was. I would have to be more careful in the future, especially when she was around.

I got dressed as quickly as I could and as I was about to go after her, I felt a sudden wave of nausea wash over me and I started coughing. trying to keep my feet steady under me and suppress the coughing, I managed to open the door and stumble out of my room, but the cough kept getting worse, I was having trouble breathing and my vision was swimming on account of nausea. Every step felt like climbing a mountain and every breath felt like a struggle for life. The world started tilting sideways and it wasn't until the faces of nearby PDF troopers filled my vision that I understood I had collapsed. I couldn't breathe and my lungs felt like they were burning up from the inside.

I could feel that I was being moved, but I had no understanding of where to or by whom, but next time my eyes could focus through the pain and dizziness, I saw what looked like a Mechanicus enginseer, but the surroundings were all wrong. It was dark and musty and a multitude of colored lights was shining all around. I could hear falling water, rumbling, hushed voices, and growling animals. The smell was of rot and mold, gunpowder and death, and for some reason, alcohol.

As my mind started focusing and the pain slowly subsided I could pick up snippets of a nearby conversation

"-ment are you offering in return?" The voice was robotic and droning as the words were spoken. most definitely the enginseer**

"Your life, when the Imperium rushes through this place. And this." The other voice was rough and commanding, and it sounded familiar, but everything was hazy and contorted and I could not place the voice. Whatever had been offered must have been acceptable because I felt something prick me in the arm before I drifted off into blissful sleep.

_________________________________

When I woke up, I was still groggy, which could most likely be chalked up to whatever concoction I had been given before I drifted off. Before I could gather my wits about me, the same robotic voice from before spoke up.

"Right on schedule. How is your breathing?"

I tried breathing deeply and to my delight, there was no pain. The air even tasted clean and fresh, but I felt... different. Changed. I couldn't explain it. "What did you do?" I asked hesitantly.

"I did was I was paid to do. Implanted you with cybernetic lungs. Not the best quality, but they will replicate the function of your old ones and even filter the most common pollution and airborne toxins out of whatever atmosphere you breathe." The Enginseer droned on. "For some reason, your body rejected the substance you took, and the resulting damage to your body was focused around the lungs. You are lucky you were brought to me when you were, much longer and you would have fulfilled your oath to the Emperor."

I took a moment to digest the information I had been given before I spoke again, "Where is this place?"

"You are down in the underhive***, and if you wouldn't mind, stop wasting the time of the enginseer with your menial questions, he is only present to make sure your lungs are functioning. I was the one that put them inside of you, so if you have any further questions, direct them to me!" Came a tired and slightly irritated voice from the doorway on my right I hadn't noticed. Turning my head, I saw an elderly man wearing a worn-out and heavily patched Imperial Guard Medic uniform under the homemade lab coat he was wearing.

"How did I get here, and what happened to me?" I asked after a moment of thought. This man was a no-bullshit kind of person. He had seen too much of this harsh reality to allow himself any form of self-delusion about niceties and manners.

"A young commissar and his retinue brought you here, And before you ask how they made it into the underhive without facing opposition, your PDF friends were kind enough to provide him with a security detail. Why he would ever take an interest in someone like you would normally be a mystery, but I have the advantage of having dug through your body. Kyxa does not cause this amount of damage to people unless they are not what they say they are. And you are different. Your body should have been able to handle the drug without issue, but it didn't." He looked me over with a strange look in his eye before he continued.

"This made me curious as to what could cause this. By all accounts, you should have been perfectly fine, if a bit... spent. But you were on the brink of death, your lungs were ruined beyond the repair. So I took a deeper look. You are not you!" He stated with a menacing look in his greedy eyes.

"And now you want me to pay for your silence." I completed the unspoken sentence and he seemed satisfied with my understanding of the situation. I rose from the metal slab I had been laying on and noticed that apart from my lasrifle being gone, I still had my knife in my boot and my Laspistol in the holster on my thigh. He looked me over as I slowly stood on my feet and continued to speak, "I don't know who or what you are, I just know this body is not yours. I am certain the Inquisition would be thrilled to have you delivered to their door. But I also know that I like Imperial Scrip, and you are going to help me accumulate it!"

"And how did you figure I was going to do that?? In case you have not noticed, I am kind of involved in a small war." I countered, stalling for time to find a solution, but with the enginseer working behind me, violence was not an option at the current time. His servo arm would crush me before I fired my second shot. He wouldn't even have to turn around to do it.

"I am always in need of supplies, and with your access to the troops currently deployed, you can start pilfering them for me. Do not worry about contacting me or trying to escape the deal. I have other people among your ranks and they will be happy to report any treachery on your part. Speaking of, there is no time like the present, so go on back to your little war and get to it. Anything of immediate value, especially proper alcohol, and food rations. I am tired of corpse starch****." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed me, as casually as one would dismiss an annoying fly'

I had no idea what he thought I was, but the best guess would be some sort of psyker*****, since my consciousness had occupied the mind of another body, Which would actually make some sort of weird sense. And I HAD been contacted earlier by the mysterious voice talking about power. And I had access to this weird leveling system.

"It's not like I have much of a choice, is it?" I mumbled and made my way out of his little workshop. Outside was a stark difference to the frontlines I had come to know A myriad of alleys, sidepaths, and hidden ways stretched out among the old and crumbled buildings that made up the majority of the underhive. The muck and filth dripped down from above, the walls were covered in grime, and the streets were filled with puddles of waste. All around I could see signs of humans living in the area, lights that had been attached to the walls in a futile attempt to make things more hospitable and bright, drawing on the side of a building, most likely a child that had not been ruined by life and reality yet. Gangers walked around, keeping the peace, despite their rivals being no further away than one could throw a rock.

Vendors, shops, bounty hunters, guilders, hired killers and every imaginable kind of scum of the city could be found here, all of them busy with something and none of them interested in a single PDF trooper leaving a doctor's abode. All except for a single pair of eyes that was firmly locked on me. I had no idea, but I felt my danger sense tingling slightly Not enough to make me worried, but more than it would have when I was surrounded by my fellow soldiers. Seeing nothing that could tip me off to what could make me sense it, I headed in the direction I figured would take up into the hive itself, glancing at the various shops as I passed them by. everything, from illegal weapon modifications to every imaginable and unimaginable narcotic and drug known to man. Which is quite a lot in this universe.

I was almost at the lift that would take me up from this depressing place when I saw the one thing I had been missing since arriving here. I saw a bar. I had my Imperial scrip in my pocket, the trooper pay might be menial but with almost nothing to use it on near the front, it had accumulated. I wanted a drink and I wanted it bad! Rocking up to the bartender, I noticed the slim selection, and before the gruff and nasty individual behind the bar could speak up, I placed my order.

"Rotgut"****** I simply said and threw a few scrips on the counter. A filthy glass filled with a murky liquid was placed in front of me, but the strong smell from it revealed it to indeed be the booze I had wanted. Before my courage failed me, I grabbed the glass and gulped down the foul concoction. It burned like fire and tasted like death, but the alcohol hit my system and I could feel the familiar burn turn into a ball of warmth inside of my stomach. Slamming the glass back down, I continued on my merry way, much to the surprise of the other patrons who most likely figured I would have gotten drunk before leaving. I had no such intentions, knowing where I was, being drunk without backup was a guaranteed way of ending up in an alley with a knife firmly planted at the base of your skull or a mess of stubber holes in your chest.

I had just pressed the button that summoned the lift when my danger instinct flared up, sending a wave of panic down my spine which caused me to dive sideways. Not a moment later, the ground I had previously occupied was hit by a round from a Long-las, the sniper variant of the common lasrifle. I had behind a couple of metal crates as I waited for the lift to arrive. No further shots were taken which left very few possibilities of what just happened. Either it was a Guardsman that had been ordered to prevent people from using the lift, which was highly unlikely. It could also be an opportunistic ganger, trying to stack some kills for his comrades to loot once they were dead. Or... I had made enemies, which was the most likely scenario. I had no idea who would want to kill me, but if they only had the economy to hire mortals, I had nothing to fear. At least not yet. When the lift arrived, I dove inside and pushed the button that would take me back to the regular hive city. I guess I had time to go through my status screen on the way up.