Origins of Chaos - Backstabber

Origins of Chaos - Backstabber

Several pairs of heavy metal boots impacted the floor in an organised pattern. Their footsteps echoed throughout the installation's narrow corridors, making their presence know across quite a distance. This was especially true because of the eerie silence, which ruled in those halls. Bandoned facilities... no one ever gets used to those.
They all wore black combat armour and carried various weapons, from shotguns to plasma rifles. And they did not hesitate during their march. For their destination was dead ahead. A sealed, durasteel door, ready to take a large amount of punishment. The group's leader, who had a red insignia on his shoulder, came closer and smashed the door with the hilt of his shotgun.

To their surprise, a voice could be heard from a nearby console:
“Come in, my friends, come in!”
The large door slowly slid open, revealing the room beyond. The soldiers were caught off guard, but they entered, weapons ready. The room was seemingly built around a long, rectangular conference table, at which were many chairs. The walls were a monotone white, while the floor was dark blue. At the other side of the room, at the head of the table, sat a humanoid figure.

The man wore a black, skin-tight suit, which was designed for covert operations. His face was not visible because of a high-tech helmet, which sported green goggles with over a dozen types of vision. On the suit, various tools could be seen. From miniature rifles to welding tools and painkillers. Such is the way of a commando. Ready for anything.
This particular commando was the best of the best. He had an perfect operations record, with no mission even slightly compromising his identity, or that of his employers. Enemies of the Union called him the 'Dark shadow'. Which was not far from the truth. Always striking from unknown locations during unexpected times. Nothing and no one could beat Nathan Marks in a stealth operation.

And no one could have expected such a thing from such a loyal operative.

The commander stepped forward, while his men assumed positions around the room. All of them had the traitor in their sights. And were just itching to pull the trigger. But first, they wanted answers.
“We meet again, Nathan.”
“Indeed we do, Arthur. How long has it been? Three months? I bet you just begged for the opportunity to come here.”
“No. My superiors offered it automatically.”
“How wondrous. Come. Take a seat.”
Arthur's fist slammed onto the table.
“I'm not here to talk, traitor! I'm here to get info and to drive a bullet through your skull!”
“Oh, what a pity. And what information do you seek?”
“First... why did stay here? You could have been three star clusters away, by now. And you then left us that message. You knew we would be able to track it.”
“Yes, I knew. I stayed, because I wanted you to find me. What's a performance good for, if you don't know what the audience thinks about it?”
“You want an opinion? I'll give you one. You are traitorous bastard, who betrayed the positions of an entire fleet to the alien scum, causing the death of over two million men and women. You are a monster.”
“Thank you for being sincere.”
In the blink of an eye, the commander grabbed Nathan by the suit and pulled his face closer.
“Why did you do it?! You were most loyal of us! What could they have possibly offered you?!”
“They gave me nothing. My services were free.”
“What?!”
“Oh, indeed. I gave them all that information. Yet they gave me nothing in return.”
“Are you insane?!”
“Could be. I did it for the betrayal itself. For the thrill of watching the faces of allies look at me with hatred. Like yours. It's not like that fleet was a terrible loss, anyway.”
Arthur threw the traitor back in the seat.
“I've heard enough. Kill this piece of filth.”
The men were ready to fire. But the commando had one last thing to say.
“Where's the rush? After all, one good betrayal deserves another!”
With incredible speed, Nathan raised his hand, which held some kind of remote. Before any of them could react, he pressed it.
An energy field was created between him and them and small vents in the walls opened up. A green gas came forth. Some still found the time and shot, but their rounds bounced off the field harmlessly.
“Son of a... AAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!”
The whole group then fell to the ground, twitching in pain.
“Tisk, tisk, tisk. I always said they should add gas masks to every helmet, but do they listen to highly trained assassins and infiltrators? No. Of course, elite commando gear comes with such items.” he got up, deactivated the energy field and started slowly walking towards the exit, “I must say, you must be in incredible pain. Nerve gas does that, it seems. What a pity. You always were a good captain, Arthur. I'll miss you, even on those sandy beaches on Maldera Prime. Farewell... old friend. Hahahahahah!”

And the commando turned his back. With the last bits of strength he could muster, Arthur fought the pain and reached for his pistol. His arm pointed in Nathan's general direction, because his vision was incredibly blurry.
“You... always were... overconfident.”
One shot, one bullet, one target. And no survivors. Nathan fell to the ground, with a quite sizeable hole where his heart used to be. And he cursed that very trait. With a last look at the fallen around, he let out his last breath.

******

Man, this place was dark. And the four other weird characters didn't really reassure him. What was this place?