Darkest Heresy

by johntheone87

This is a story I created from a Dark Heresy roleplay game I run with my friends. I have added things, changed names, and tried to smooth out the story which was hectic at times. it is quite long but then again it was a long session lol

Forests of Blood

Prologue

Purple lightning flashed above, the sounds of screams and violence could be heard all around, on a roof top of a shop stood a woman in a torn great coat holding a bulky looking bolt pistol, beneath her lay River Taan , the woman was severely injured, she had used her psychic powers and saved the rest of the team from a greater daemon, but at the cost of her own. It was unlikely she would survive medical extraction. Her tan brown greatcoat lay in tatters around her, the guardsmen flak plate underneath ruptured and broken in places, her body was burnt and broken in so many places it was hard to see what she originally looked like. "Guess..."- cough cough "i showed that daemon eh" Commisar Abel looked down on her, she said nothing.

"Its OK Abel... I knew the risks," cough "I did this to save the team". Blood trickled from her mouth and from multiple places on her body. She was a pyrokinetic psyker, able to conjure flames with her mind, using those powers she turned herself into a human bomb to destroy the body of the daemon they had been sent to hunt. Abel aimed her pistol at River's head. "may you find peace in the emperors eternal grace... May his light guide your soul to his side... May you stand ever ready for the end of days at his right hand." . River smiled at her "I'll save a seat by the big man for you". Abel closed her eyes not wanting to see this. The pistol discharged its mass reactive shell... The casing clinked to the ground. Opening her eyes to confirm the deed was done she turned and walked to the access stairs on the roof. Leaving the body of an ally and a friend.

Nexon 5.

The planet was life, life and death. All that existed on the planet could kill 99% predator and 1% prey . The fight for life was a constant one. Every moment was a victory against the elements and the inhabitants, every second a struggle. And in the centre stood a team. A group who had their own prey. A team who would brave these conditions to end the life of a hated enemy. They were team Salvation Hope. They were of the inquisition.

5 hours earlier

The docking bay opened its massive doors. Grinding and creaking metal sounds were lost to the void as they slid to reveal docking bay 5 of the imperial troop ship Hells Fury. Silently and with a grace born from years at the helm, the ship slid into the docking bay and landed on platform 2.

The ramp opened and at the entrance stood a group of individuals who could not be more different. One was a tall broad man, a large sword strapped to his back and a heavy pistol on his waist. His face was scarred and his long beard covered down to his chest. His name was Wulfric Storm cloak.

Next to him was a short slight man about 5"4 . He had no visible weapons . He wore a long leather jacket and held himself with the look of a man from class. His name was Caleb.

Next was a woman in a rust red robe. Gang electoos on her face and a large axe strapped on her back. A mechadendrite appendage snaked from her back to scan the area, she was Sindel.

Next stood a slim attractive woman. She wore the peaked cap of a commissar and held herself like someone who was used to control . She had a large bolt pistol on a holster and a chainsword on the other . This was former commissar Abel.

The final member and most recent addition to their team was a female named Shinko . She was tall and encased in ancient armour of a feudal design. Her face was covered by a mask of an ancient god of destruction. She carried in her hand like a walking stick, a great spear with a chain blade on its top. She was also known as The Silent One.

"Let us be away to the Commander". Said Abel who was nominated as leader due to her experience. The group began to move out. Some Carrying kit bags with various equipment in so they had all they needed to face their prey.

"Stop right there! Who do you think you are?! I demand to see your clearance. I was not aware of any deliveries or arrivals on my schedule!", shouted an official looking man. He approached them carrying a data slate. Behind him 2 ship enforcers followed with shotguns in hand. Abel sighed to herself and nodded to their pilot Caleb. He walked to the man and presented a small hololith badge. The man's face immediately changed from furious indignation to that of fear. He backed away from the symbol projected and began bowing and apologising "M-my Lords...I - I'm so s-sorry if I only knew". He dropped to his knees begging forgiveness "On your knees fools!" He grabbed at the shirts of the ship enforcers pulling them down. "Have some respect for the holy ordos!" The men dropped burying their faces on the decking begging not to be burned as traitors. The stories they were told as children, were of the inquisition as nightmarish figures who killed those they believed as traitors without mercy.

"Man... why does this always happen…, " Caleb said to himself, "it's OK sir you are only doing your duty and the emperor respects your service… Please stop grovelling." He said this with the voice of a man who had repeatedly used the same turn of phrase over and over again. Emperor give me strength why do I have to put up with this every time. He thought.

The man stood but kept his head bowed, the ship enforcers kept their heads bowed , they dare not raze their heads in case the flaming eyes of the emperors own inquisition purge their souls .

"How may we be of assistance to the most holy inquisition of the imperium of man? ". The official asked.

Typical cowtowing toady. This is why we work in stealth thought Caleb. "We have come to see the commander. Please direct us to him" he asked getting frustrated at the fear their presence causes. Fear was a useful tool, it opened doors, opened mouths and kept the curious at bay. However in his experience it closed more doors than it opened so his team worked in the shadows.

"Of course my Lords. He will be on the observation deck . Me and my men will take you there". The man said bowing with every sentence.

"There is no need. Please continue in you service of the emperor as we must be about his work". Said the pilot.

The man bowed again even deeper. "As you wish my Lords. I shall be at your beck and call if you need me. Praise the emperor and may his benediction be very...er.. beneditious?" the imperial official finished, the enforcers suppressed a snort

Caleb straight faced simply nodded and said "And may he bless you too sir".

The team walked past, the ship was an Imperial Guard troop transport for the Catachan 409th . As such warriors from that death world were exercising in ordered ranks. Running drills across the empty space, the catchans were huge compared to the team. Each at least 6'6" and built solid with muscle. Shinko the silent one saw something and separated from the group. Commissar Abel saw what she was going for and sighed. A group of Catachans were surrounding 2 fighting men. Stripped to the waist these brutes were huge and they traded blows that would have given a space marine pause. "Never would have happened with the Valhallans ..." she said under her breath. Fighting rings were common in some of the more brutish guardsmen regiments, the front line soldiers fought for some kind of honour or glory or simply to work off their testosterone. Abel had worked with many regiments but held the memory of the valhallen ice worlders as a favourite of her time before the Inquisition. She followed shinko at a distance, deciding to see this play out, she was ready to step in in case any help was needed. The Catachans would need all the help they could get.

Shinko walked towards the fight her mask concealed her emotions as she approached the fight. Men were taking bets on the outcome of the fight. Blood splattered from a broken nose caused by a lucky right straight from a man whose face was a mish mash of scars. The other man reeled back from the strike and then delivered a wicked punch to the chest that even over the frenzied crowd , the sound of ribs breaking could be heard.

Shinko watched all of this. No one approached her and she kept her distance from the crowd. She watched the fight go back and forth with seemingly neither party the Victor. This continued for 10 minutes until the scarred man made one last mistake. He missed his right hook and the other man countered, grabbing his head and ramming it into the pipe work of the wall. Bones cracked and blood fountained from his mouth and nose and he lay still. His opponent raised his fists, bloodied from the fight, he roared with the feeling of victory. He looked down at the unmoving body and the feeling went away, replaced with fear. He backed away afraid of repercussions of murder. Fights were normally outlawed on troop ships, the men were a needed resource that should be wasted on the battlefield, not beating each other senseless. Illegal fight rings like these allowed the men to let off steam so many commanders looked the other way, however a death in the ranks would cause tension, a crackdown of activity on ship, it could devastate moral. "I-i didn't mean .. it is he OK?". The fighter said coming down from his adrenaline high.

Shinko approached. The crowd parting without thinking, many trying to keep out of her way. She knelt by him and checked his pulse and his airways. Her battlefield medical training helping her to identify his wounds. Shinko's eyes scanned over the Catachans body, he was breathing, his massive chest rising and falling with laboured breaths, the right eye had swollen shut and his left stared blankly up at the ceiling. He had a skull fracture, broken nose, dislocated shoulder, broken ribs, and enough contusions and cuts to cover a dozen men. The skull fracture had caused internal hemoraging and he needed surgery or he would not live long. "HE SHALL LIVE, BUT HE NEEDS URGENT MEDICAE ATTENTION". The voice came from the vox emitter on her gorget . The words she had typed onto her dataslate attached to her wrist translated to speech in a monotone voice.

The men seemed relieved but didn't move to help. They seemed frozen in indecision . On the one hand they wanted to help their friend. But on the other they did not want to be part of the punishment for fighting on deck. Too many of their friends had been placed in stockades and none of them wanted to be next. "YOU MUST HELP HIM, HE WILL DIE WITHOUT TREATMENT!"

"I'M SORRY LADIES! DID THIS WOMAN'S VOX POWERED VOICE STUTTER?! Get your asses moving and get him to the medicae or so help me I will introduce you the emperor personally!"

The men all stood straight and began moving immediately to deal with the order. They heard the voice of command from a commissar and the was enough some turned and saw Abel approaching, hand on her bolt pistol. Commissar's were political officers, many of whom used powerful methods to ensure loyalty. Battlefield executions were a favourite of many, Abel did not prefer to use such methods, to her it was a waste of the emperors warriors. She Those that met her steel gaze turned away and helped their comrades carry the injured fighter, in 30 seconds they had gone.

"You did well... Your limiter still working" Able asked, not capable of making eye contact with shinko. She sighed and nodded. She was used to the persecution but she wishes people would look at her. Shinko was a blank, a psycic pariah. She had suffered abuse most of her life and only those in the inquisition had given her a tiny sliver of respect. Though reasonably new she had vowed to herself to this cause and to hunt the alien, the daemon and the witch where they hide in the shadows. Shinko turned and headed to join the rest of the group. Abel reached out and put a hand on her shoulder plate, "It wasn't you they were afraid of then... It was their fear of authority that kept them from acting". Shinko listened to this and seemed to take it in, she nodded and continued walking. Abel watched her go and turned to the group of soldiers now carrying their fallen comrade. She smiled, watching another life saved by the inquisition, another soldier for the front lines to fight the emperors enemies. Abel turned back and moved back to join her team.

The team moved on as a group heading to the observation deck to meet the commander. The crew gave them strange looks as they were an odd bunch. The team has had new members all the time as group was split and moved between different teams, sometimes team mates would fall in the emperor's service and the new additions would not always get along. However the differing styles and origins made for a disparate group of individuals with unique skill sets that amazingly complemented each other. However sometimes their personalities brushed against each other.

"Is this the last hunt for the witch?" Asked the deep voice that sounded of avalanches in a storm, this was Wulfic Stormcloak. He had hunted for their prey many times and had seen people lost in the machinations of the most hated of enemies. Born and raised on Fenris, the death world home of the space wolf legion, he was a natural hunter. Bred to be a survivor , he had braved the ice wastes of that planet and fought with the monsters that made the death world the antithesis of human life. He had been part of the team as long as Abel but was not a born leader like her, his skills were less subtle.

"It may be Wolfy... She's got a reckoning that's for sure". this voice came from Sindel the groups tech priest, very few alterations to her flesh, she had gang electoos proudly on display . very few knew where she had acquired her tech priest attire but most who knew her believed it was not through the will of the mechanicus. She kept her origins to herself mostly, the others did not pry, to them it did not matter where someone came from as long as their souls was pure. She had a good heart, she brought a laugh to every situation she was in but occasionally she rubbed people the wrong way. Many in the Inquisition had their secrets, some darker than others.

"Don't call me 'Wolfy' you know my name so you should call me it" . Stated wulfric. This back and forth between them was common and the others just ignored their bickering.

"Sure thing Dog biscuit" she said jovially .

"Russ help me..." said wulfric under his breath

They all had their quirks. It was what brought them together as a unit. Not simply imperial guardsmen trained with discipline. Not rigid adeptus astates sticking to their codexes . These were men and women who were the best in their own fields and we're brought together for one purpose... to keep the imperium safe.

They entered the observation deck and found Commander Lazarus talking with 2 naval officers. They turned as the group entered, the commander nodded to the officers. "Its OK, we have an appointment"

The officers left the group in peace and commander lazerus gestured to the group to follow. He was a tall well built man as were most of the catachan death world. He carried himself with a stride that came from a man who had seen combat and survived and he was proud of his accomplishments , his file showed him as a level headed commander who took few risks and had won a few campaigns in his relatively short career. He had medals across his chest for bravery and heroism that he had earned unlike some other commanders they had met. They headed to the strategium, a room where battle plans were made by the leaders of the campaign. They were going to put together a plan to hunt a dangerous prey.

They entered the strategium , normally the room was reserved for officers of the fleet and ground commanders, usually during a campaign it was a hive of activity, but for now they were its only occupant's. The team took places around the room. Wulfric stood by the door to ensure privacy. As the door closed he was sure he felt a draft as if some one passed him but as he looked around there was no sign "Damn ship ghosts..." he muttered under his breath. He was a superstitious man, his life before the inquisition had ingrained such things into him.

The room went dark as the hololith lit up to show a grainy image of the planet below, Lazerous at the controls, bringing the image to clarity with a few kicks to the panel, known in imperial guard terms as 'the rite of percussive maintenance'. The image became cleared and a series of lines crossed the planets, dictating scanning zones, areas changed colours depending on the status of the conflict in that section. Most areas had pacified becoming a soft green but some areas held patches of resistance and were coloured red. Auspex scans, world topography, zoology, climate, and local time all were displayed on the image. The team took in all the details, memorizing them as they could all be pertinent to the mission.

Nexon 5. A death world, 99% jungle coverage, almost all of the native life is lethal to humans. Bleeder vines, Black Lion Wasps, King Horror plants, kraken lizards and fire nova ants being the smallest. This is why the Catachan death worlders were sent when the native human tribes killed the imperial church missionaries sent there. The death world troops came and began putting down the rebelling faction with amazing speed, leading to a loss in around 85% of the native population. The campaign was later to be known as 'Sweepimg Dawn' by the imperial high command but to the catachans it was simply a slaughter. The locals had put up a fight, leading to the death of 184 men but them were out matched in terms of weaponry and tactics. All was going well and the last remnants due to be wiped out within the next few days. And then... the tyranids came...

Arriving at the edge of the system, a large hive fleet , larger than any encounter the imperium has had against these xenos beasts in all of recorded (and unrecorded) history. The alien species had been discovered first years ago in the Tyrany system, giving them the name 'Tyranid'. The Tyranids were normally only seen in smaller numbers , infiltrating worlds and feeding the local inhabitants. Entire cities had fallen to small numbers of them, and with a large fleet of them in this system, the entire sector of space could be in jepordy.

Luckily for the imperium the fleet was discovered on route to the system by a mechanicus fleet explorator vessel investigating nearby asteroid belts. The crew picked up strange gravitic waves nearby and investigated, they found the fleet making their way to the system, there ships did not use the warp, instead they used strange creatures that manipulated gravity fields to move their fleets through space. The vessel sent a message back to imperial navy high command but was unable to escape and was quickly destroyed. With the warning the imperial navy was able to mount a serious defense. A large fleet lays anchored in system comprised of 3 cruisers 18 destroyers 8 carriers, 2 battle ships a deathwatch strike cruiser known as 'Faith and Retribution', and imperial support elements comprised of repair craft and supply ships. 25 squadrons of fighters and bombers accompanied the fleet attached to the many carriers and cruisers. 2days ago the Inquisition arrived bringing with it 'The Emperor's Fist'. The largest imperial vessel in service to the inquisition. It was an incredibly powerful craft, it had been in service since before the time of the heresy and the amount of kills to its name was incalculable. Roughly the size of a large city, guns lined the port and starboard sides like spines on a porcupine, thousands of lance batteries, bombard canons, torpedo launchers were ready to unleash hell. The ship was gilded in gold and it shone like a beacon in the dark, and at its fore was the reason for its name, its ram shaped like and enormous clenched fist.

"welcome ladies and gentlemen to my little war zone. I trust you had a pleasant flight over" said the commander. His voice rough and gravelly as most of the death worlders.

"Cut the pleasantries Commander... we don't come here to chat. We have come for specific prey" said Abel. She had been elected group leader due to her experience and leadership qualities, so it fell to her to express the groups feelings.

"I guessed as much. You inquisition sorts don't just come for the view". Said Lazarus baiting the team to tell him their true purpose

At this moment Abel thought she smelt the odour of... cigars? But then it had gone. She scanned the room but it was empty but for the 6 of them.

"We came to finish a fight. To end the life of a filthy xenos who has shed so much imperial blood... Melissa" said Abel with a look of distain as she spat the name from her lips as if it was poison.

The name shocked Lazarus. It was a name that brought fear and anger to those who knew it's true origins. One that only those in high up command positions and those trusted as agents of the inquisition would know. Lazarus knew of her only by reputation, her deeds had caused the death of many of the imperiums finest, and the Inquisition had made it known that anyone that did not report seeing her would be executed on the spot.

She was an Eldar Farseer of great power. Originally from Craft world Unglata now she roams between other craftworlds seeking to destroy the inquisition especially those affiliated with Lord Inquisitor Batkin as Team Salvation Hope are. No one knows why she left her craftworld, there are many theories and thoughts on the matter by inquisitors but none conclusive. She has used her powers to manipulate the strands of fate to wage attacks on human settlements, kill officials and assassinate diplomats. It is believed that her schemes and manipulations have led to the deaths of 384 imperial personnel. This has in itself caused wars and fights that have drained imperial resources throughout the subsector. The loss of life from these conflicts ran into the millions.

"So... her. Lord Batkin told me to look out for a...Xenos matching her description. I never imagined she would be here of all places , and just before a tyranid attack. Why is she here? There's nothing but a couple of worlds for humans and no military outposts, apart from the temporary ones we have set up obviously. What did Lord Batkin say?" He rambled this off , pasing back and forth and then looked at Able.

Abel and the others looked down, the scars of the incident fresh in their minds. The memories of dead friends and lost comrades still with them. She remembered his face before they had gone on their last mission, he was a huge man, nearly 7ft, having achieved the title of Lord Inquisitor, he had personally purged more alien, daemon and witches than the rest of the inquisitors in the area combined. He had smiled at her, giving her team words of encouragement, shaking her hand as an equal, it was a moment of pride for her, one that would stick with her. When they had returned from their successful mission... He had died. A new alien species being dubbed 'The Necrons', had boarded the ship and began killing the crew, while leading the non combatants away from area to keep them safe, a beam of energy from the alien commander's struck him in the chest, cutting a hole through, he died a week later from his injuries, his efforts had saved many lives, but his death was felt by all.

Wulfric spoke up for the party, "His grace Lord Erious Batkin has died. He fell due to... Her... Machinations".

Lazarus looked down and removed his cap and held it to his chest respectably "My apologies... He was a good man, anything me or my company can do to help will be provided. If we need to burn the entire planet then let it be done!" The last part was said with passion and venom in his voice. The loss of a lord inquisitor was a blow to the imperium but Batkin was one of the greatest servants of the name and had saved many of the imperium from many moral threat's and had been a friend to many in the imperium.

"Thank you Commander, all we ask is for access to your systems and then a valkerie transport to the surface". Abel said, she had a lot on the line with this but the fewer lowly guardsmen to get in the way the better, though she did not mind the extra protection a line of meat could provide, she worried about keeping an operation secret if she had to do it with a bunch of grunts from this undisciplined rabble.

While the Commander protested asking to let his men help and Abel countered saying the inquisition works in secret. Sindel, the Mechanicus team mate looked up, something had caught her attention. Her mechadendrite immediately slid out her robe and looked around the room before settling on a spot in the darkness, its thermal detectors picking up something with a heat signature, it stood in the corner of the room, whoever it was they had managed to slip past everyone to get to this location, this proved their skill in stealth. The heat vision lens showed a grainy image of a well built male human, from his physique she guessed he was a Catachan.

"I'd like to see what our friend thinks on the situation..." Sindel said folding her arms and turning to the spot she knew the man was occupying. The others looked to her puzzled but then they heard a voice like a granite cracking. "I think you are going to hell , and I think you will need some help"

Shinko spun instantly at the sound of the voice, her reaction instinctual, her large spear levelled at the newcomer, the tip was a foot long chain blade and a bolt caster was mounted above the blade. The weapon was a family heirloom, a precursor to the guardian spears used by the custodes. She held it steady, finger on the trigger of the bolt caster. The voice had come from a man directly behind her, she did not know how he had gotten there without her knowing. He was tall and built, wearing nothing but a tank top and jungle camo fatigues, his face a mix up of scars but it was his eyes that she noticed the most. Normal men having a 6ft guardian spear primed and aimed at their head would at least flinch or make some kind of move. He simply stared, his gaze did not waver or move. "Nice weapon..." He said with next to no emotion.

The moment seemed to last forever but in reality it lasted only a few seconds before Commander Lazarus sighed. "ladies and gentlemen of the inquisition I would like for you to meet Sylvanus Yanov Marbo, recently transferred to my unit, a pain in my ass, and for breaking into confidential talks he is now assigned to you until your works are finished."

Marbo never flinched or seemed to care about a potential death sentence for eavesdropping on inquisitorial talks. He simply nodded and pulled out a cigar (taken from the ship captains private reserve). "Call me Sly..."

The arguments started again between Caine and the Commander. Shinko holstered her spear in one fluid motion and sat again, eyes on this newcomer. The others seemed intrigued by this and watched the two. Shinko could not speak and even when she used her dataslate she rarely talked or interacted, being a pariah she avoided social contact as much as possible. But she seemed interested in this man, simply for the reason he did not flinch. The man was silent and made no attempt to look at any of the party, he simply stared at the map.

In the end Abel relented and allowed the assistance of Marbo and a 5 man veteran squad. The Commander wanted more, begging for armour support and a squadron of navy bombers to flatten the area, but was satisfied he got what he did.

"You have access to our systems from here. Let me know when you want to leave". The Commander said with a bow. He nodded to Marbo and left the room. Abel nodded to the others and then withdrew a small cylindrical device from her jacket. The tech priest asked "what is that device, are we not to use the ship systems?" . Abel shook her head, "we know she's here, now with this we can narrow our search a little". She inserted the device into the hololith display and entered a secret sequence. The display crackled as the cogitator took on the new information. Numbers appeared at the top right of the image, coordinates Abel guessed, the system used this to highlight an area on the planet, the image zoomed in showing a flat picture of a region of the death world, a red crosshair moved across until it came to a stop on a point of the map and began blinking. This was their target, after this a timer appeared on the screen at the top left, it was counting down and showed a little under 11 hours remaining.

Sindel turned to look at Abel "what is the source of this Intel? How has it got a location with such accuracy?" Abel looked to her and said simply "The information is legitimate. The payment of a favour". This did not seem to be enough for Sindel who pressed "who provided this... payment?". Abel stood to her full height, which while not impressive she was determined to show her authority. "That is a matter beyond you. Scarlet entrusted me with this mission and allowed me use of this information. Stopping Melissa is the top priority" Abel said, determined to show who was in charge of this team. Sindel simply nodded although not pleased, "as you say..."

The team left the Strategium with Sly Marbo in tow and headed to the docking bay to ready the Valkyrie. The veteran squad assigned to the mission was to meet them there. On the way Shinko silent as ever was patted on the back hard by Wulfric, "What has you down my lady, you are more silent than normal... If that was possible". At this point he burst out laughing at his own joke, clearly amused at himself . still walking she turned her head to him and started making gestures in the air, the sign language she had taught him for use in battle and so she did not have to use the data slate. "Well I thought it was funny..." He replied after processing the movements she made . she signed again and Wulfric looked thoughtful for a moment. "Me too silent one, I feel the same . this whole situation feels ... Wrong I guess". They were all worried, Melissa being a powerful Farseer likely knew they were coming and had also planned against such an act. Many times she had been hunted by Lord Batkin and many other inquisitors but each time she had slipped away or laid a trap for her pursuer's. Shinko paused, then made a short few signs. "Its OK if any trouble rears up we shall face it together. I mean what kind of death world could hold up to Fenris" Wulfric said with a hearty laugh and slapped his hand on Shinko's back, her armour rattled under the impact. At this they both heard a chuckle from in front of them. Sly Marbo spoke up, "Fenris? Its a skiing holiday compared to what you will face down there".

Wulfric stopped and pulled Sly Marbo by his shoulder, halting his progress, the others stopped around them. They had seen Wulfric tear a mans arm off once for talking about fenris in front of him, they knew how his temper could be. He was a proud native of Fenris, believing in the All Father and Russ as Gods, his belief in them and his loyalty to his new 'pack' was one of the reasons he was on the team. Fenris was completely inhospitable to human life, the near absolute zero temperatures of the planets surface combined with the predators of the world gave it the designation by the imperium of 'Death World'. To Wulfric, for this soldier to be describing Fenris as a holiday destination for him, filled him with rage. "And what would you know about it... Friend". Wulfric pronounced the word with venom, "you think you would survive an hour on the surface of fenris". Sly laughed at this, "I've survived Catachan and every single hell hole I've ben sent to. Worlds you have never seen and will never see again in your lifetime, places that make your little ice box seem like a paradise. I've seen men come and go, I've lost count of the men I've seen die before me... Fenris ? I'd welcome it". Wulfric was taken aback by this outburst from a man who had been stoic and in passionate . "I too have lost many, together with my comrades we have been to places that rival the depths of Helheim itself" Wulfric said. The two squared up to each other standing tall and locking eyes like the horns of stags of old Terra. Abel sighed, fed up with all this bull shit. "Ok , listen up you two. You can stow it and get along or I will make sure when were are entering orbit you two are on the outside of the Valkyrie! Do I make myself clear?!!" she shouted getting between them. the two stopped in their showdown and relaxed. "Perfectly ma'am" said wulfric. Sly just nodded.

The rest of the journey was in silence. Wulfric stared a hole into the back of Sly Marbo's head, Sly simply ignored him. They reached the Valkyrie docking bay, the large transport gun ships were in a line on the deck or suspended by chains in the gantries above. All had members of the adeptus mechanicus priesthood all over repairing broken components, respraying damaged ceremite areas of the craft and welding on new plates, the deck was awash with activity and the smell brought Sindel thoughts of home. She smelled the air, her mechanical lungs filtering all the components and identifying them for her. The mechadendrite tail with the optical attachment scanned around allowing her to get a 360 degree view, through its eye she saw the world through a variety of light spectrum, each altering Sibdel's view of the world to let her know exactly what was around her in detail human eyes could never grasp. Sindel's mind raced as the machinery made her think of home, a place she had not been in... Oh emperor, how long was it. She had forgotten as with many operatives of the Inquisition, their homes were but a memory the Inquisition was their home now. She sighed and stroked along the side of the Valkyrie as they entered, enjoying the sound of the metal and the sensation of it on her skin. So much of her had been augmented over her years of service, but she still kept her tactile senses, she had not surrendered completely to the omnisiah's perfection ... but there was always time.

On board the craft the team stowed their gear in overhead compartments. The pilot was a grizzled veteran of over a hundred drops and bombing runs, together with a servitor co-pilot he would deliver them to the location and provide extraction. In the crew compartment sat the 5 catachan death world veterans. Each one heavily built, they were each a jigsaw of scars and bionic parts. They each had their own load outs, the standard equipment being a serrated sword and a hellgun, the bulky overcharged las guns were a mainstay of veteran squads allowing them to unleash devastating firepower to mow down heavily armoured troops. One of the squad, a slight man with a scar crossing his bionic eye held a sniper rifle in his hands cleaning the barrel with the patience of a skilled assassin. Another man with dark tanned skin and facial tattoos held a pair of power swords, he was scraping each against each other in an attempt to sharpen them, the noise reverberated through the cockpit. This was a hunter squad, outfitted to kill an alien up close and personal, perfect for how the inquisition squad operated. This squad was chosen as they had faced many alien threats before, including the eldar, each member were veterans of many years, each with countless confirmed kills to their names.

The heaviest one, evidently the leader introduced himself to the group. "aright. My names Doc and I'm the sergeant of this ere bunch of misfits" he pointed at each of the group in turn "this ere is Shiv, this is Bones, this is Harv and the big man is Bob. So... been told were goin eldar huntin'"

Abel answered the sergeant "that's right sergeant... Doc is it? . This is a high priority extremis mission with a high likelihood that you will not be coming back" . the Sergeant, laughed out loud at this stating "don't you know ma'am? That's every mission for us!". At this point Marbo pushed past her and snorted. He sat on one of the grav couches in the corner. As far from the group as he could. "What's his problem?" She asked the sergeant. Any issues with the squad would affect the chance for success for the mission. "Oh.. him. You've not heard the stories? Abel shook her head. "He was part of a squad sent on a recon mission . The whole squad was killed by orks. They were never recovered and declared KIA . One week later he comes walking out of the jungle carrying the Ork warboss' head. There was no marks on him and he said nothing about his team. Since then he has volunteered for every dangerous mission and has come back every time" Doc finished his story and looked at Marbo, the outcast didnt look back.

Abel was impressed, an ork warboss could be the equal of a hundred men, but to take one down himself was a near superhuman feat., she nodded and said "Thank you sergeant . Ready your men. We leave in 20."

Caleb had not gone to the Valkyrie and instead was going to retrieve something he needed for the mission. He moved to the next bay along that held their shuttle which had been transferred. He reached the ship and found the secret panel he looked for where he had stored something personal to him. Every Inquisition agent has something like this, a part of their past, a piece of their lives before Inquisition. Most were trinkets, baubles, small reminders to cling to their past. A Las clip from basic training was what held the past to Abel. A cog from the first machine she built was for Sindel the mechanicum agent. For Shinko it was her guardian spear, an ancient relic of the time before the heresy. Wulfric had his rune sword, an ancient blade passed from father to son. Each held meaning to their owners but to Caleb, his item was freedom itself. It sat in the compartment, 8ft in length , 2 reinforced bullet proof tyres , sleek black armour plas panels, heads up display and an engine that could roar as loud as the nemian lions of home. The bike was not his originally, he had taken it from a stockpile of many weapons and trinkets from the preheresy times, however it brought back to his past and it had saved his life on countless occasions. He had decided if he was going into the planet of hell itself, he would ride into the flames on his own terms.

He wheeled it to the Valerie gun ship and managed to fit it into the cramped space. "You bringing that thing? Not much use in a jungle" Doc said. Clearly not impressed at bringing 'tourists' to this death world. "Don't worry. I'm a good driver" Caleb simply said. Doc just shrugged and thought to himself These idiots have no idea what they're getting into

With everything stowed and prepared the landing ramp lifted and closed. The engines started and as the sound began to rise, so did the craft. The docking bay cleared and the hanger doors opened revealing the cold depths of the void. Far from here on the outer reaches of this system a battle was being fought... one to determine the fate of the entire sector.

"Bring main batteries online and load a full spread of the torpedoes". Ordered captain Andres. Captain of the Emperors fist, he had been a naval officer for 75 years, bionics and juvenant treatment kept him youthful, and his experience gave him the edge in naval warfare. He served the inquisition with distinction and had purged many foes of the imperium with ruthless tactics and skill but what they faced today was to test him like never before... or so he thought. "Has there been any movement for the enemy fleet?" He asked his Chief Auspex officer "no sir, no movement...it's strange. It seems they are aware of us as some have turned to track us but they are not making any move to attack". Andres' brow creased in disbelief. This was a tyranid fleet , a xenos species responsible for the deaths of many systems. They're fleets would normally attack anything in their way... and they were ignoring the assembled fleet?

"This is not right Captain. Please use caution. Don't take them lightly". Said inquisitor scarlet. She had served the inquisition for 30 years under Lord inquisitor Batkin until his demise . She was his second in command and had taken up his mantle. This was her first Mission as a full Ordo Xenos inquisitor, the skull badge of office still felt heavy on her chest. She had vowed was not going to let her former master down. The tyranids were a recent threat in the Imperium, they had come for the far reaches of the universe and first encountered in the tyrant system (giving them the name) . They had been like a swarm of locusts consuming all they saw but this fleet was on another level. The number of ships and size of the vessels dwarfed that which had been seen before. It had been dubbed by the Navy... leviathan, like the ancient mythical beasts of old terra.

"I am not taking them lightly... Inquisitor. They are a plague that needs to be exterminated". Stated the Captain who then activated the ship vox. "Engineering, begin diverting power to the main weapon. Let them taste the emperors wrath".

The wrath he spoke of was the ships main weapon. A Nova Cannon. Highly destructive and deadly it was one of the most powerful weapons in the imperial navy's arsenal. Capable of obliterating capital ships in an instant. The weapon began to charge and the hive fleet still did not move. The rest of the imperial fleet moved into position and armed their weapons. All was calm until the first volley. That's when things went bad.

Breaking though the atmosphere the Valkyrie gun ship descended towards the death world. Painted in jungle camo green and outfitted with 3 lascannons and a heavy bolter mounted on the side that was manned by one of the veteran's its forward facing wings cutting through the air with the aid of powerful engines that were mounted at the top of the craft. There was jungle as far as the eye could see, the canopy rose to about 200ft high, it covered the planet blocking any light to the surface. The pilot flew the craft low , the hull almost touching the tops of the trees. "We're coming up on the target area. Eta 20 minutes" came the vox from the pilot. They were to land in a clearing near to the location given , it was only 20m wide but it was just big enough to set down. The craft was coming in low to avoid some of the largest airborne predators which flew above the clouds, the smaller creatures were kept at bay by the engine sounds and Harv at the controls of the heavy bolter ready to clip their wings. The team sat in their grab harnesses, sharpening blades and preparing their minds for combat, making prayers to the god emperor for protection, steeling their souls from the warps malign powers. The veteran squad sat apart from them towards the end of the craft near the docking ramp, they were to be the first one out upon the landing. Doc turned to the team while checking his Hellgun for the twelfth time (a habit of many guardsmen) . "So where's this Intel from, there definitely going to be pointy ears to blast?" He said the slur with some distaste, he had lost friends to the eldar and knew their trickery. Abel looked up from her bolt pistol she was cleaning "The source is none of your concern, their will be something for your men to kill sergeant". This didn't seem to satisfy the sergeant who stood to face the commisar "My men are not some toys for your Inquisition to use and discard, we wanna know how you knew to find a place like this on this hellscape". This genuinely shocked Abel She was not used to guardsmen who did not fear the peaked cap and sash of a commissar, let alone the inquisitorial rosette. She put it down to the proclivity of the catachan death worlders to disobedience. They were a loyal regiment but in the past they have disobeyed orders from high command, this was she believed to be part of the lone wolf complex they create for themselves while surviving on catachan. She stood and straightened her commissariat coat and in one quick motion her bolt pistol was at the head of the sergeant.

To his credit he did not flinch at this, but she could see the sweat bead forming upon his forehead. Seconds that seemed like hours passed and both teams eyed the scene carefully, all except marbo who seemed to be asleep in the corner near the pilot. "As I said sergeant... You will have something to fight, the source is not your concern. Do we have a problem?". Doc seemed to think this over, weighing his options, trying to gauge if he and his men could take this group and if his men would join him against this ... This ... Strange group of people. Before he could speak their discussion was interrupted by the vox from the pilot, the craft began to shake as they could feel it moving in an evasive movement pattern. "We got a problem sirs... Strap in. This is gonna get rough". Abel did as she was told and harnessed herself into her seat . she looked at the sergeant waiting for him to do the same. "This isnt over ma'am" he said as he turned to sit down. Those words were the last he said.

Something struck the craft, emergency lights flashed to red, sirens began to sound drowning out all sounds but for the explosions of the craft. There was no shout of exclamation from the pilot, simply a flash and flames and then the sudden feeling of weightlessness as the Valkyrie began to fall. The first casualty was Harv at the heavy bolter, he didn't get time to scream as the blast tore the heavy bolter from its mountings and impaled it into his chest, flames licked along it in slow motion he dropped to his knees and fell backwards. This the led to chaos. As the flames licked along the weapon the volatile ammo within cooked off and mass reactive shells were sent careening through the crew compartment. Doc was stitched as 6 entered his body from head to groin and detonated in blast of crimson blood leaving nothing but a mist. The other veterans were saved from the bolts... But it did not end there. One of the shells struck the opening mechanism on the rear access ramp of the Valkyrie and the ramp descended. The sudden pressure drop and rush of wind ripped Bob and Shiv from their harnesses and they were lost to the wind, their bodies scattered against the trees, their blood covering a 1km area. Bones was spare this as his chair held, he looked on in horror as his comrades died in front of him, his screams of anguish lost to the rushing winds and siren. The inquisition team had their eyes shut the wind whipped about them, the sensation of falling growing more accuse, they could hear branches striking against the side of the craft, there speed growing as they plummeted towards the ground. And then suddenly as went to black with a ferocious impact...

Back on the emperors fist things were in a similar vain. "Fighter squadrons move to the following coordinates and protect the bombers! Angel of Damnation and Tatarus Spike move to Intercept the swarm in quadrant 4. Engineering how long until the next shot?! And someone get me a damn damage report!" The orders were coming thick and fast as the captain of the Fist was trying to hold this fleet together. From the first shot it has been chaos, the Nova blast had struck the largest of the tyranid bioships ripping it in two, bio plasma spilled into the void the rest of the fleet began firing sequences. The tyranids then swarmed towards them at a speed never seen. The fleet had no time to react, a cruiser and a destroyer were the first hit, crippled and venting air into the void as the swarm ripped through team Shields and the hulls like they were paper. Their weapons were unorthodox and tactics unpredictable, like animals they seemed to pounce on stricken ships or those away from the rest of the fleet, they acted like a pack drawing ships away and feeding on them. The tyranid ships flew through the formation trying to disrupt it, firing bolts of bio plasma as they went. The fleet struck back with broadside after broadside , whittling down their numbers leaving the void filled with corpses of bio ships. So far it was even, the tyranids had the speed and the numbers but the imperium had the tactics and the power. "Captain! Something is not right about this" shouted Scarlet through the confusion. "Your right, our formation is out of line and squadrons alpha to theta are struggling with their targets, we are handling this. One more shot from our main gun and we can crack this open". The captain said with relish in his eyes, this was a battle he had looked for, a challenge for his ship and crew after so long. "You don't understand captain! The xenos are not behaving following any previously seen pattern. They seem almost bestial, like wild animals attacking in desperation". She said to him trying to convince him of the danger. The captain looked at her for a long while and then said "Thank you for your insight inquisitor. I will adjust our stratagems accordingly". Scarlet nodded and turned to the view port, unaware of what was to come.

...bleep...bleep...bleep...

The automated beacon was signalling. "W...wha-what... Where are we?" came the voice from Abel. She felt lots of little pains as scratches and cuts and bruises from the impact. He shoulder was the worst as the harness had dug in while softening the impact, she could not see anything as the emergency lighting had all broken and it seemed to be dark outside. She could hear something moving about around her, as well as groans from others, "good. At least someone else is suffering like me" she thought to herself. Suddenly a light flared to life blinding her momentarily. The green glow globe was held in front of her and she shielded her eyes from it. "Good, at least your not dead". She recognised the voice but her mind was still piecing itself together. "Who...w what ..." she murmured turning left and right. Reaching for the release claps on her buckle to the grav harness. "I wouldn't do th--" the voice tried to warn but... THUD... "tried to warn you, we ended up upside down" The fall shook her up but she was getting her faculties together. She stood with a little difficulty and reached into her coat and pulled out a servo skull that was keyed to her and thumbed it's activation stud. The left eye of the skull, a built in light, activated and the skull floated from her hand giving her a view of the crashed Valkyrie.

Inside all of the compartment was a mess, blood splattered all over the wall, the remains of doc. They were on the ceiling of the craft, its seating was above them, the metal bent and useless, wires hung all over with sparks flashing into life as the remnants of the machine spirit died off. She couldn't see the rest of the team except Wulfric. He hung upside down in his harness, blood dripping from his forehead. "Yeah I was going to wake him next unless you want the honour?" She turned to the voice recognising its annoying tones. Sly Marbo stood holding the lumen stick in his hand, a variety of cuts and bruises covered his body including a deep cut along his right arm where a piece of the stanchion had fallen onto him. He seemed unaffected by his injuries and still held his poise with pure confidence.

"Where are the others?" asked the former commissar as she scanned the rest of the wreckage for signs of life. "Outside, took us a while to uncover you two, the others are scouting the area trying to get a signal to high command" said Sly. Emperor protects... thought Able . "I'll get Wulfric, you get that seen to" she said pointing to the wound on his shoulder as blood was steadily dripping from it. Sly seemed to notice this from the first time and nodded leaving Able and the hanging Wulfric in the near pitch black of the Valkyrie. "wakey wakey Mr Wulfric!!" she shouted with glee, enjoying the results.

Outside the team gathered in a clearing created by the crash. The Valkyrie had flipped on its ceiling in its uncontrolled descent and plowed through the ground until it came to a stop. The canopy of trees and lessened the impact so that the team had survived but the damage could be seen for kilometers around. Sindel was on her own setting up a mobile transmitter. Caleb and Bones were stood arguing. "What hit us then, coz I ain't seen anything that'll do that"- he gestured to the front of the craft –"to a friken Valkyrie!" Bones shouted going red in the face, the need for vengeance for his fallen comrades was palpable. Caleb had his hands in a placating manner "I don't know but we're going to find those responsible and we will purge the entire planet if we have to". His voice was calm but he spoke of the order most imperial citizens know nothing of and those that do fear it's mention. The ultimate sanction... exterminatus. Bones didn't seem sure turning to the wreckage, looking for any clue. The cockpit and one of the wings was ... just gone, vaporised in an instant, the pilot likely died without knowing what hit him. The other wing was bent out of shape on the crash, the fuselage was crushed from the impact. It was a miracle they had survived at all. At this point his examination was halted by the arrival of Abel . She walked from the wreckage nursing her shoulder, followed behind by wulfric who was holding his head, a large bump forming on it. "Well... any landing you can walk away from right?". This earned some chuckles from the group, but the jokes were just to soften the crowd. Year of experience in dissembling and manipulation of guardsmen and officers had shown that Abel had a knack for it. It was one for the reasons she had been inducted into the ordos years ago.

"Now down to business everyone. What's our status?" She asked trying to get the situation under control. "Well the transmitter took a hit during our 'landing'. I think I've managed to get a quick burst transmission to the orbiting fleet but I can't be sure. It's in the Ommnissiahs hands now". That was Sindel, she was busy applying sacred ointments and a rigorous amount of binaric cursing at the damaged device. "We have rations and water enough for a couple of days and plenty of ammo. And I'd like some vengeance for my friends" . This was bones busy fitting a serrated bayonet to the end of his Hellgun. "We got some good news at least. My baby survived..." this was Caleb who was pulling his bike from the wreckage , miraculously it was undamaged. "And I have a killer headache..." that was Wulfric, this brought another chuckle to the group. "Great. How about you Mr Marbo" (the lack of military rank was an insult but he did not show he cared). Marbo knelt in the crushed earth, he pulled a dataslate from his pack out. Punching in a few commands it showed a map of the local area. "OK based on the land and the patterns of trees we are about...here". no one argued with him, catachans were excellent survivalists and places like this were like home to them. "Our target is here... and Echo Base is... here". Three points were marked on the map where he touched. The group could see they were 3km from their target and 2km from the Base. "Your choice... Ma'am" (the tone lost on Abel) "we either head straight to the target on foot, about a days trek. Or we go for echo Base, take about 12 hours. There should be supplies and possibly transport there."

So they had a decision to make. March on the target onto try and take down mellisa so she has no time to enact some plan. Or head to Echo Base and together with reinforcement and vehicles storm the place. In the end the decision came from an unlikely source. "We need what I think you call 'intel', I will stay at our crash site and keep trying communication with the fleet, you should probably go for the base and acquire some backup, this is not a stealth mission anymore sir". This came from Wulfric. He was never one for standing around and the bump on his head may have rattled something loose in him. Abel disliked splitting the party but believed it sounded the best option. Wulfric would bring them reinforcements, and as a death worlder he was the most likely to survive on his own.

They grabbed gear and prepared weapons. The crash may have scared off some predators but death world's are called so for a reason. As Abel was checking the fuel cell on her chainsword, Sindel came up to her and whispered close to her ear. "So... we're not going to tell them what is waiting for us?". Abel didn't say anything, she simply holstered her weapon and stood. Sindel stood with her and moved infront of her. "You know what did that to the ship" she said pointing at the damage. "I saw it on the monitor, as i was plugged into it, and I'm assuming you know too". Abel pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "We have to trust in his divine protection" said Abel who began to walk away. "Your going to get everyone killed, you know this". Sindel said. Abel turned and looked in her eyes and said "If we all die the imperium may fall. I'm not going to let that happen. Keep what's waiting for us to yourself". Reluctantly sindel nodded and then added a poor excuse for a salute. She knew this would be the hardest thing they had to do, she didn't want to see anymore friends die, too many have already fallen. She checked her mechadendrite and her weapon, a chain axe given to her by her gang leader when she left her world forever. Confirming it was still as good as ever, Sindel set off after the group and into the forest.

Back on the Emperors fist things were frantic. The battery had raged for about an hour at this point, attack retreat attack defend, an endless cycle of death. Each shot fired dealt damage on an extraordinary scale that would level cities, with ever ship lost thousands of souls were snuffed out. It was still an even battle but it seemed to be tipping the imperiums way. Scarlet was pacing on deck at this point feeling impotent at her inability to affect the outcome of the battle. She was sure her former master lord batkin would be in the captains chair himself Damn you Melissa! Why did you have to take him from us she thought as she walked back and forth. She had feelings for the man, she looked up to him as a father figure but sometimes she felt there was something more, she knew nothing would ever have happened between them but those feelings never left her.

The captain was sweating, the pace of the battle taking it toll, the weight of countless lives on his shoulders was driving him to his limit. Scarlet could only stand and watch as the orders came and went and as explosions filled the viewing port. From behind her the bulkhead doors opened and in ran Max, her second in command and one of her oldest friends in the inquisition. He was a blank and she was a psyker so they should hate each other like dark angels and space wolves, or sisters of battle and well... anyone. "My lady, I bring grave news". She turned and saw the grim look in her face so she knew it was serious. He was always a joker and tried to liven the mood but now it seems was not one of those times. "Speak quickly, we have our hands full here" The captain said turning at this interruption to this ballet of war he was directing. The captain did not seem happy with this distraction, especially with the soul chilling presence of Max now permeating the room. Being a blank meant that Max's soul had no connection to the warp unlike all other living things, and while this severed his connection from psychic attacks and warp spawned phenomenon it gave those with the pariah gene an aura that disturbed and disgusted normal humans, in psykers the effect was worse, in some cases the effect can be lethal. A lot was mitigated by use of limiters that suppressed the effects but not completely, leaving the would chilling feeling that disturbs all around them. "It's about the team on the death world. It's been reported their valkerie crashed on the planet. So far no survivors found but it's impossible to get a good reading due to the jungle". She frowned and closed her eyes at this, they were a great team and a powerful asset for the inquisition. The loss of them was a tremendous blow . "That is... it's unfortunate. Right now we can do nothing but pray to the emperor they survived". Max nodded and looked around. "Is there anything I can do?" Max said, Scarlet was about to answer but the captain shouted out "Nothing for you, freak. Get off my bridge, your putting my men off their work". Tobias scowled at this, he was used to the hatred as a blank but it still hurt him coming from his allies. He shook his head and turned "Fine... asshole". Scarlet made to stop him but he stormed out. She turned to the captain in a fury. "Captain... while you have your right to an opinion, I ask you keep it to yourself when it comes to my friends in the future or..." she then picked up and empty goblet the captain had been using to drink from. With a single thought she crushed it with her telekinesis until it was the size of a pea . The captain didn't change expression but nodded in understanding and the pellet of metal fell the deck plating at his feet.

The jungle was immense. Trees grew hundreds of feet in the air. Vines and creepers hung everywhere and the whole place reaked of death. Plants and local small predators turned their various sensory apparatus to the party as they advanced through the jungle. Snarls and barks greeted them as they moved through, their response was the crack of an occasional las pistol shot from Sindel or the boom of a bolt round from Abel. In the distance they heard the screams and roars of the cycle of death that existed here. Marbo moved with the group with the confidence of a man at home with his surroundings. The two catachans never let their guard drop but the group could tell this was as close to home as they could get now. "We are lucky for the crash really". The others turned at this shocked at his statement. "Most of the dangerous wildlife would had fled. It may have been impossible to get through on foot otherwise". Caleb flared at this and grabbed Marbo by his guard issue flak jacket and pulled him close. You think Bones and the others would agree with that. He lifted him off the ground but still Marbo made no move. "Maybe I should carve their names into their chest to remember them". Caleb was a proud man, one who had lost much in his travels, he didn't like the thought of others in his dreams at. Memories ran through his mind of friends lost in the heat of battle, of one recent, a woman who had been close to the team for a while, he remembered her smile the most. Marbo sighed and pulled up his shirt. "I think there is room just below the ribs". The others were shocked by what they saw, names all over his chest, all carved in with a knife, all self inflicted. "They won't be the first, they won't be the last. Death is part of life in the guard, more so with the catachan". Caleb lowered him to the ground. "We shall honour their memory with our deeds then". Marbo nodded and walked on towards their destination, the others who were expecting a bit of response from him were dumbfounded for a moment and then followed. They were about half a kilometer from their destination the forest thick, the animals seemed quieter than would be expected for this planet, and then the chirps, cries and screeches seemed to stop.

Marbo stopped suddenly and crouched in the ground with fist raised, the others knelt too and listened... nothing. Abel crawled towards Marbo, she whispered "What's wrong" His gaze did not change, he sniffed and frowned "what do you smell?" He asked able. She was momentarily confused by this but knew better than to question Marbos skills. She took in a deep inhale, trying to identify the multitude of smells in the air... grass, bark, leaves, blood, fire... "what?... that's not good. We need to move. Now!" She stood and gestured to the team "Prepare for a fight... something has happened". At this they all snapped to action and spread out in combat formation, weapons were drawn and armed, they went radio silent and advanced.

They moved forwards cautiously, scanning they're surroundings, they're ears straining to hear every sound. Sindels optical mechdendrite moved around identifying all heat signatures, Caleb was on his bike with his hand on the throttle eager to unleash the speed. Shinko road on the back seat, guardian spear held at her side ready, Abel moved with Marbo who kept stopping to look at patches of ground that the others thought held no insight. They could all smell it now. Blood... the metallic scent of death and the stench of burning corpses. They had passed markers set by the Base personel and points where auspex would have picked them up. By now there should have been a armed squad coming to meet them, there should be something on their vox beads but no one picked anything up. The jungle was silent, as if all life had been extinguished, and given their surroundings it put every one on guard. Finally they broke through the undergrowth and came across a scene that left them speechless... "Oh frak"... all except Sindel.

Burning corpses littered the ground it must have been everyone from the Base. Some held lasguns or blades. Some even held makeshift weapons like chairs and mechanic tools. All were clearly dead, the stench of burning flesh assaulted the teams noses. Blood was sprayed in huge goats all over the area, chunks of flesh and viscera covering the ground and splattered onto the guard building. It was a feracrete habitat building of standard modular design one large building with attached smaller building. There was a shutter door that had bent and buckled from the impact of what looked like and ogryn corpse. The vox caster array at the top of the building was destroyed, melted beyond comprehension. The team moved closer, trying to move silently though the dead, weapons raised, senses sharp. Calleb and Shinko had dismounted the bike and now held their weapons at the ready, Shinko her spear and Calleb a pair of compact laspistols. Each footstep sounded loud to them each one leading to a crunch of the foliage or cracking of bone or squelch of a fallen guardsmen. Looking closer they saw the bodies had not burned with fire but with a powerful acid. It had dissolved most of the bodies to a pinkish soup leaving the occasional bone fragment or bionic augment. The vox tower as well has been melted by the same thing, whatever hit here did so quickly and without mercy. "This was not the eldar..." said Abel as she mused over the corpse of a sergeant, his arm missing at the elbow and face meted off he was only identifiable by the insignia and sergeant stripes on his left shoulder. "Maybe Nids' sir?" Asked Bones as he panned around with his hell gun. "Don't think so Mr Catachan" said Sindel interrupting the two, her mechadendrite tail scanning everything through a variety of spectrums. "Nids would not have left bodies to find. They eat the lot for biomass". She turned over the body of a fallen tech priest. Something had tore his head off and tossed the body his axe snapped in two sparked nearby. "Damn, I wanted one of those" she said mourning the loss of a good weapon. Shinko simply walked past heading to the building, looking to fine a clear opening. "Anything to add Sly?" Abel asked, wanting the veterans opinion. "It was a beast of some kind, it charged through the trees and burst through the razor wire fencing like it was paper. It then raged and destroyed the vox tower before they could radio for support. It then slaughtered everyone it could see and then ran off towards the north". Again Able was impressed by his abilities , being able to read such details from this scene of carnage, but it still left one question. "What is it?" He looked at her, and she thought she saw doubt in his eyes as if he was unsure they could win. "It is big..."

They made their way to the building and found an entrance not blocked by debris. If was a side door, blood covered the frame and a body lay next to it, the features was unrecognisable and the body was twisted in an unatural angle, from his clothing he was one of the support staff, perhaps a mechanic judging from the wrench lodged in his chest. The door was locked, the keypad locked damaged so the team prepared to breach the door, wary of any surprises. Bones stood ready to kick in the door, Caleb stood to one side with Abel on the other ready to sweep left and right respectively. 3...2...1... Whispered bones. He kicked with all his strength, the door broke at the hinges and fell inwards. He moved in, hellgun up and tracking for a target, Caleb swung in holding his pistols in different directions, Abel moved in last, gun at the ready and sword drawn. The lighting worked and there seemed no internal damage though there was no one in sight. Blood had dried on the floor and while there was a lot it seemed to indicate a direction. Sindel came in and with her usual lack of subtlety "Well... someone got pretty fraked up". She then paused and cooked her head. "Blinky found a heat signature in that direction". She pointed towards where the blood trail headed . Bones turned back, head cooked to one side "Blinky?" Sindel laughed and pointed to her optical mechadendrite. Well I can't just call him Optical mechadendrite model 104-C can I?" As if it sounded obvious. Abel shook her head, she thought about reprimanding sindel on her attitude but she knew from experience it would not help. "Sindel and bones head left and check of the living quarters, see if anyone managed to hide, me and Marbo will follow this trail". All serious now the two groups split up, weapons ready and sense sharp. Even sindel became quiet , concentrating on the task of staying alive and finding survivors.

Sindel and bones made their way through the compound, they had to duck under broken rebars and climb over debris, sindel commented on the fact it was a wonder the structure was still standing, this was not what Bones wanted to hear. Why was this tech priest so chatty? He wondered he had met plenty of cog boys and girls, none of them seemed to chat, and this girl... She talked like a hive ganger. Like someone brought up in the slums and who like with ruthless gangs, deffinitly not like a priest of the mechanicus who have their emotions removed and sticks the size of tree trunks stuck up there asses. He was worried who he was with and decided to keep his weapon trained on everything. One thing he knew from his life as a death worlder , trust nothing, Catachan was not a planet you could afford to trust the unknown.

"Your not like any Tech Priest I've ever met". Said bones as he picked his way along the corridor, sweeping his weapon to cover a branching path that ended in a section of collapsed wall. She chuckled as the checked a panel that seemed inoperative. "Well I consider that a compliment Boney". Again with the nickname's, she was really starting to get on his nerves, and given the day he has had so far, he had very little patience for this bull shit. "Alright that has got to sto- wait what are you doing?" He said watching as she was rifling through a soldiers personal belongings. They had reached the sleeping quarters, no one was around, it looked like the base personnel had gotten up in a hurry. Sindel was giggling to herself as she was scavenging. "Waste not want not I always say" . she said picking up las clips, and combat knives. She was born a ganger on a hive world, raised through the ranks she knew that the dead had no need for an ammo clip or a spare knife, but the living... They could always find a use for them. She always had an affinity for machinery, and it was considered good fortune when a tech priest fell from a gantry 30 feet above her, he died instantly but his equipment was still fine. She didn't want to stay stuck in the hive and saw this as her ticket out. She took the equipment, had some black market alterations done to attach the augments and sneaked on to a transport, no one ever disturbed a tech priest so she had free reign. She used her freedom to move from ship to ship, exploring everything she could. Then she met the inquisition, and it all changed for her.

Have you no respect! Bones shouted breaking her reminiscing... This false tech priest taking equipment from the dead. "I respect the living . the dead can respect themselves". Sindel stated as she stood. Bones still shaking in rage almost didn't hear the vox message come through from Abel "Get to the garage. We have found a survivor..."

The survivor had survived a lot of punishment, 3 broken ribs, multiple lacerations, bruises, a deep gash across his forehead. The worst was the most obvious, his leg had be removed just above the knee. A lot of blood has gushed from the wound and the survivor had crawled into the base and to the garage to try to get help. Even given that the survivor was an Ogryn , such a feat was almost unbelievable. Ogryns were ab-humans, living on high gravity worlds their bodies became stronger and tougher to compensate, most lacked all but basic intelligence but were stronger and tougher than marines which is why the imperial guard used them in their forces as blunt instruments to meet the enemy head on.

Abel was working on him, she was using what field medical knowledge she had coupled with the med kit on the servo skull. She had stabilised the injury after about an hour of work on the ab human but was amazed that the creature had survived, the sub species were notorious for their strength and toughness in battle but she felt there was something more to this. The ogryn had crawled his way through the compound the garage area and had rested against a promethium barrel. Abel was alone with his patient , Marbo having moved along after barley a moments hesitation. "Seems like you've had it rough my friend" said Abel , mostly to herself, not really expecting anything. "No more than is expected sir" came a shakey but strong deep voice, the ogryns eyes were slightly opened and barley focussed on the former commissar, but there was passion in them. "You surprise me again soldier, your awake after all of what has happened". She said while gesturing to the damage on the body of the ogryn . the ab human lifted his hand and opened his fist, inside was a small bent icon of the emperor , damaged by the crushing strength of the ogryn holding it. "The emperor protects..." Abel looked at this, and finally came to realise how the ab human had lived, Faith. "That he does soldier... That he does". Sindel entered with bones, acting jovial even in the face of this bloody scene. "Wow... you got fracked up mister". And again the ogryn held up his icon "I believed... he let me... live". Sindel looked to Abel, eyebrow raised. "He's a believer it seems". Sindel shrugged "each to their own I guess" she said as she held her own icon of the omnissiah. In her time with the tech priests she would admit to not being a devout as others, she did feel a connection with the machine god, she had never been one who went to church, except to occasionally rob the place but the omnissiah was something different to her.

Abel turned to the Ogryn, "What's your name soldier?" She asked to the wounded ogryn. "Ug... Sir". Said the ogryn, happy to have some kind of authority to lead him. "Ug... nice name, easy to remember. What has happened here". Ug furrowed his brow, trying to think of the words, smarts didn't come quickly to him "big... thing attacked. Came from forest, destroyed tower, I charge to save commander". He gestured downwards at the ruined stump of its leg, "I crawl back inside . Then you come". Abel nodded along, "what was it". She asked trying to goad the information out. "Big, size of tank, horns and breathed green". Sindel piped up at this mention "Green?" Ug looked up, confused at the question. "Green ... was hot but did not burn, made metal go away". Sindel thought on this, matching up with evidence from the damage outside. "It breathed acid. That could be a problem". Abel nodded, "We must be on our guard but we need to get moving. Our target may escape if not". Ug tried to stand but with only one leg he only dropped back down. "Please sir... let me come. I need to fight ... for the emperor". His need for vengeance overriding his self preservation. In a guard army he would either have been retired or put down, but right now, they weren't the guard.

Able was touched by creatures faith and dedication. "Well you won't do much without something to stand on" she said looking at the stump, she had closed and disinfected the wound and the creatures natural healing had helped the process, she doubted a normal human would have survived her cauterizing and sealing such a wound. "Here you go, should be right size". Abel turned to see Sindel handing him a Las gun that had the barrel sawn off. She had long ago given up asking where she finds these things. "Right... this may sting a tad..."

Back on the ship the battle had begun turning to the imperium's favour. Through coordinated strikes from bomber waves and tactically precise strikes from the deathwatch astartes strike cruiser, the tyranid fleet was losing its larger ships, their corpses beginning to devolve as the hive minds grip of the flesh failed. There was loss on the imperium's side with many ships damaged beyond repair and countless numbers of lives lost. The captain was at his edge but knew this would be one of his greatest victories, 'The Fist' had suffered a lot of damage, several key systems were damaged and a lot of sections had been vented to contain fires. The loss sustained could not be thought of now... it would soon be over. "Shields's at 85%, structural integrity at 92%" read the report from the servitor tasked to damage control, it's human controller had died earlier in the battle due to a power surge through his console that incinerated his nervous system. "Well inquisitor, looks like we are on the verge of a great accomplishment. Hell of a way to start your career eh" he said while sipping from a goblet of wine. This was inquisitor scarlets first command since the death of lord inquisitor batkin, she as his interrogator gained the title of inquisitor by tradition, a title she did want but not in such circumstances. She nodded at this but still seemed like something was weighing on her mind. Like an inch that could not be scratched, a dull throb in the psyker part of her mind, she could not describe it. It would be like a man with eyes describing modern art to a man who has never seen.

She turned to the sound of Max Debauche entering the bridge, his footsteps echoing on the deck plating, she felt his presence as his null aura swept over them. "I have news on the death world team". She turned to him, glad for company of a friendly face. "They made contact and the are still on route too-" this was all he said before the captains voice interjected. "Inquisitor, please, would you ask your ... pet ... to leave the bridge. Reports can be made at the end of this battle". Max looked to Inquisitor Scarlet, his eyes asking her to step in. She shook her head, he nodded and left with out a word and no one saw the tears in his eyes, frakking normals... frak them and their prejudice he thought in the safety of his mind. Scarlet rejoined the captain, fixing him with a look that could freeze the hearts of men. He did not respond to it and returned is attention to the battle. "One last big ship, target main lances. Let's gut this thing". He smiled with glee, it would only be fair that the Fist would get the last kill. "Target is coming about... she's heading right at us sir" came the dispassionate voice from the auspex controller. "Good. Let them face their death sooner". The captain grinned, he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. Incoming acid attack came the announcement from the same controller. "Raise Shields, brace for impact. Target their centre mass". He wanted this thing to see its death. "S-sir ... the void Shields... they won't engage". Came the frantic voice of the shield operator. The captain turned, his face immediately full of fear. Without the shields the acid would... "What?!! Evasive maneuvers!"

That was his last order.

At the Base the garage doors opened slowly, revealing the team. Engines sounded and servos whined as their transports activated. Caleb and shinko were on the bike. The others had found their own ways of getting around. The two sentinels walked out of the garage . Modified with additional seating attached to the sides to allow more than one passenger. Marbo drove one, fitted with a Las cannon. Bones and Ug sat in the seating, weapons drawn to provide support. Able piloted the second one armed with a heavy flamer, Sindel on the extra seat. Feet stomping, the scout variant vehicles moved into the forest. Caleb and shinko moved ahead first, their bike able to keep ahead of the walkers. "Should take little less than an hour to reach the target". Caleb reported through his vox bead. "Understood, keep an eye out for the beast" said Abel who was doing the same.

They progressed into the jungle, the trees becoming dense and the undergrowth thick, they had been moving for about 30 terran minutes, they had encountered nothing but small wildlife so far, verminous critters who fled at the sound of the approaching sentinel walkers blood sucking insects hounded the team but the combination of a couple of heavy flamer burst and chemical sprays saw to them. They began to think that the creature had run off or had been killed by another predator, but then it seems the prey found them.

Boom... boom.. they all felt it. Like the foot falls of a titan, immediately they brought their weapons to readiness. And then they heard it. It was the most colossal roar they had ever heard, the force of the sound ripped branches from trunks, the team were momentarily deafened and stunned. When there eyes looked up they saw the beast. It was huge. Easily twice the size of a chimera tank, armoured spines ran along to back, jaws big enough to each a space marine in terminator plate in one gulp, the fangs dripped green corrosive liquid. It's right eye was blood red, made of pure malice and hate. It's left had a bayonet rammed into it, clearly the beast had taken a hit at the Base. To each side of its head were two curved horns, easily as long as two men. "Frak...". moaned Sindel

"Move it!" Ordered Abel and he pushed the sentinel to circle the beast, out of the way of it corrosive breath. A sharp beam of light shot out from Marbo's sentinel as his Lascannon fired , the beam cut across the beasts head, shearing the horn off on the right hand side. Again Abel was impressed at his ability, a snap shot at this range to do such damage took real skill. The beast reared in anger in pain. Marbo circled around the other side after this shot. Caleb and Shinko however headed straight for the beast. Shinko had her spear drawn and held to her side. Caleb gunned the engine closing the distance quickly. "Get back! What are you thinking?!" shouted Abel. Caleb countered by saying "Shinko says she got this, I'm not one to argue". Abel was about to argue the point that Shinko would otherwise have 'said anything' but the bike was too close to turn back now. "You sure about this?" Caleb asked Shinko, her silent nod was his answer. The beast reared it's head back and opened its mouth, corrosive liquids bubbling out dissolving the ground it landed on.

What happened next left everyone speechless... both with the driving aptitude of Caleb... and the near suicidal skill of Shinko.

Time seemed to slow down... the world moving at a crawl Caleb could see the monster rearing in front of him, could feel the heat from its breath, could feel the unnatural gaze. He knew he had only one chance, and the time had to be perfect. His breathing sounded heavy, he knew what he had to do, his bike had the ability, he only needed to be sure of his timing... and that Shinko could survive. "Come on... come on..."

The beast roared... green acidic chemicals spewed forth, nothing would be safe in its path, plants animals only the stones, which merely crumbled at the edges were spared such an onslaught . This was when Caleb acted. The bike suddenly braked and turned, the action almost instant , it's effect was immediate. The force of the sudden braking launched Shinko towards the beast, she had been preparing for this and kicked off with her legs , powering her over the incoming spray, the monsters acid passing centimeters from her feet, her spear held above her head with its chain blade on full speed. Caleb and the bike dropped to the side and skid along the ground in a power slide, only just reaching the safety of a large boulder, the acid destroying all around leaving Caleb and the bike unharmed. "Nailed it!" He exclaimed with joy.

At the pinnacle of the jumps arc Shinko pointed the spear downwards and as she flew over the beasts head she drove into the beasts neck between its scales piecing deep into the flesh, the chain blade biting into the innards of the creature, acidic blood spraying from the wound. The beast reared pitching it's had left and right trying to shake the source of its pain. It took all her effort for Shinko to keep hold of her ancient weapon, it was like trying to hold onto a ship during a storm.

Abel saw this, the whole thing took less than 5 seconds. He began moving his walker to get a clear shot, but with the heavy flamer he couldn't risk firing and burning Shinko as well. Marbo was taking aim with is lascannon , the weapon could probably finish the beast but given its thrashing then Shinko was still at risk. "Marbo, don't shoot until she gets clear". Marbo turned his head and Abel saw him nod slightly. "Come on Shinko..." Abel said to himself.

Shinko grunted, the landing had almost separated her shoulder and forced her to let go of her ancestral weapon. The spear was not hers, she had taken it when she left her home planet for good, but she felt a bond with it. She would not let go. The creature would die. Deeper she pushed the spear, the chain motors tearing through the muscle and sinew, green acidic gore spraying from the growing wound. The beast became more frantic in its movement, going from pure rage to survival instincts. She pushed the spear until the blade caught on bone... Now! She thought as she depressed the firing stud on the haft of the spear.

The weapon was ancient, a pre heresy relic given down through the generations , believed to be the precursor of the guardian spear, the blade was a chain weapon that was used to dig deep into the inards of the enemy and just above the blade that was a bolt caster much like the guardian spears used by the holy custodes. The bolt weapon was the final answer to the question of whose weapon make the most mess

The weapon discharged. The round entered the neck of the creature ad impacted against the spinal column and neck vertebrae. There the mass reactive shell detonated. The result was instantaneous and gruesome to behold. The explosive round severed the spinal column and, coupling with the chemicals in the creatures acid sacks under its jawbone, exploded it's head like a ripe fruit. The sudden outpouring of gore and viscera was horrific, skull brain and other more xenos based internal workings were scattered over the forest floor. Acid dissolved all plant and animal life.

The area around the now smoking carcass was black and barren, nothing moved 10 meters from the wound that felled the beast. Abel approached the devastation on foot, she wanted to know if Shinko was still with them. She called out, "Shinko!!!, click your comms!" no answer, she checked on the radio, no click back or response. Shinko had other been in the team long, in fact it was their first big mission together but to lose a team member was always hard. Memories hit her of the face of friend looking up at her before she pulled the trigger. Just as she was about to turn away she heard a vox amplified voice state from the trees behind the beast "target neutralised" . Shinko walked out of the trees carrying her spear her armour had minor burns and some damage from impact but she was OK. Abel breathed a sigh of relief and turn back to the team "you heard the monster killer, we're moving out" Abel said, they had to keep moving and finish their mission. She had used the explosion to throw her self clear of the devastation and ended up in the trees behind the beast away from the blast. Abel pondered "...what if she actually tries?"

On board the deathwatch strike cruiser 'Faith and Retribution'

The captain of the ship, was in silence for a moment as he watched the Emperors Fist become crippled, gases and human corpses spilled into the void, the later freezing over before shattering as they contacted the debris. Chapter Master Orcran stood beside the captain, a huge man even by marine standards in his power armour, his face showing his centuries of service with the deathwatch with 3 service studs and 3 times as many scars, his left eye a bionic and his jaw also, he reached over the a vox unit next to the captains chair. "Patch me through to the fleet" he said in a voice that sounded like tombstones falling in a cave. In moments his order was carried out. "The Fist is down, I will take command" . He cut the link before issuing orders to be sent to the various fleet elements, his genetically enhanced mind and years of experience creating him multiple strategies and counters to eliminate the remaining xenos scum. He had originally deferred to the inquisitor due to her authority and the ship she had command of. Now that it had fallen he would finish this fight, in the Emperors holy name. Humans he thought... always a disappointment... and so gullible...

Back on the planet

They were making good speed, they were almost at the target site, Caleb and shinko were back on the bike shinko was cleaning and maintaining her spear, removing the gore and removing the acid damaged teeth from the chain blade before replacing them with fresh ones from a kit she carried. Bones was looking at her with something approaching awe. "You... killed that thing on your own" he said on the radio. "I mean on your own... with a spear... it would take multiple squads with armour support to do what you did. Seriously where do you learn ... what did you use. What's your secret?"

Marbo laughed out loud at this, a sound the others had not heard from him before "You really don't get the idea of 'mute' do you son". Everyone laughed at this... except bones who flushed red with embarrassment. Even shinko chuckled to herself, albeit quietly and with her mic off. They all felt it, they were heading for danger, soon they will be facing a foe that shot them from the sky and posed a threat to the imperium at large. Caleb spoke first, "we should scout first, see if we can get around the weapon platform that shot so down. Must have been a Brightlance or similar". Bones nodded having seen such weapons before , he had watched them carve tanks open with unnatural ease. "Yeah, we can try to manoeuvre behind it and take the gunners out. Rest should be easier". Abel had remained silent throughout this exchange as strategies and theories were brought forth on how to get to the target. She knew what waited but telling them now would hurt morale, and her career as a political officer taught her many things, the main one was morale wins battles more than the size of the gun.

They came to the edge of a clearing and as they approached the heard the sounds of something... something big. Caleb and Shinko were ahead and came the clearing first and what they saw left the speechless... Shinko seemed more silent than normal. Shocked by the sight or what awaited the team. "What do you see, enough xenos scum for everyone?" Bones eagerly asked , wanting retribution for his squad mates. "I.. i...I". stammered Caleb. "Fuck" was the mechanical response from Shinko, one of her pre programmed responses on her gauntlet device. "What is it" Came the question from Ug. The Ogryn dismounted from the sentinel and bringing up his ripper gun. The bulky machine gun was an Ogryns main weapon, weighing more than most humans and with an arm length bayonet on the end. He could hear the footsteps, but they weren't those of the animals in the area, they were ... different. Thump...Thump...Thump... steady beats on the ground like the heartbeat of the emperor himself. He joined Caleb and Shinko. He immediately grabbed the symbol of the emperor on a chain around his neck and was silent.

The others joined and we're similarly shaken by the sight. What they saw was a bone white citadel around it were multiple white armoured elder soldiers, designated as guardians, they were the standard trooper of the eldar forces. Two were standing on a balcony overlooking the entry to the building. The building was curved and looked elder in design as if it had grown from the earth itself, Moss and other vegetation had grown over the structure, giving the building the look of something that was ancient. All the guardians were on alert and scanning side to side with their shuriken catapults, rifles that could hurl hundreds of razor sharp discs at their foes in seconds. Two more were on the ground kneeling behind barricades made of the same material as the building, one other elder was moving between them, a glowing sword in its left hand and a pistol in its right. Dressed in armoured robes with sigils and runes inscribed all over, some seemed to be floating around the eldar like deadly satellites. "Shit... a Seer... they probably know we're coming" Bones cursed, he had seen the psyker aliens annihilate squads of men at a time and be able to predict ambushes and attacks with unnerving precision. However none of this was the thing that had them all silent. Thump... Thump... standing 10 meters tall... Thump... thump. 6 meters wide, body completely white like bleached bone... THUMP the last footstep was one that resonated with the whole area. A wraithlord... walking around patrolling. On its left shoulder was the brightlance cannon that shot down their valkerie. In its right hand was a massive sword about 6 meters long, glowing blue and rune covered. Like the guardians it was also turning left and right scanning for targets, it's blank face seeming to convey it's hatred and malice for its foes. "I call dibs". Everyone stared at Marbo at this.

Abel smiled. She nodded, "OK you bones and Ug distract the big guy and the rest of us take the witch bitch". "But but ma'am ... they don't stand a chance". Caleb stated. Marbo shook his head, "You need to get in there and we have to buy you the time... plus, no need to count us out just yet" . Marbo stood there arms crossed as he said this. This thing that had tried to kill them, which had killed the veteran team with them. He wanted to end it. To make its skull a trophy. It was not a matter of if to him. Bones was eager to exact vengeance on the xenos scum and Ug was happy doing the immortal emperors work. They knew it was suicide, they knew that they would most likely die here, but they would do this, for honour. "Right, so you will draw them out, how will we know your signal" Abel asked, she knew the vox beads they had would not be able to reach each other after they move away, they were designed for short range only and the forest and the building was interfering somehow. "Don't worry you'll see it" said Marbo with grin. Plans were drawn up quickly and Marbo, Bones and Ug head off on the sentinel walker, heading to the east of the clearing. The others got ready and readied their weapons, preparing for a fight. "You know Commissar". Sindel said to Abel getting her attention. "This looks like a big fight... might not have everyone coming back". Sindel had un-holstered her cog wheel shaped chain axe, she was checking each of the razor teeth and applying holy oil to the mechanism. "It is the risk we all signed up for" Abel said while checking her own equipment, a standard looking chainsword and a bolt pistol, staples of her profession before her induction to the inquisition. She was cleaning the barrel meticulously with a cleaning kit. "All we have is our faith..." Abel said inspecting the sights of the weapon. "May the Omnissiah protect". Abel nodded, she respected her team mates beliefs as long as they were within imperial doctrines. 3 minutes had passed since Marbo and his team had moved off, they were beginning to worry something had happened. Suddenly BOOM!!, Marbos signal was clear.

2 minutes earlier. Bones was crouched in the undergrowth, a 'catachan knife' in his hand, more like a short sword. It was serrated and the blade coated so it gave off no glint. His target was approaching, Bones' breathing slowed and his grip tightened. He was invisible, a hunter, a predator the fed upon the suffering of the xenos. An Eldar guardian was patrolling in front of him, he would pass 6ft from him in 10 seconds, the armour while strong will provide no protection from a serrated sword to the neck. 8 seconds. He could hear the steps. He had been waiting there for a minute but he was ready to strike, his face painted to blend in his eyes narrowed on his target. Marbo and Ug would take their targets soon and he had to strike... 4 seconds. His target paused and looked around as if sensing something, bone made no movement or sound, to do so would give him away. The target moved slowly towards his direction. Gun tracking left to right. Shit... he thought. Just as the guardian warrior was about to come across him, a minor phracian box tail bird flew out of the trees, the Eldar looked away for only a half second but it was all Bones needed. He left forwards wrapping his thick muscular arm around the xenos' scrawny neck and squeezed preventing a single sound from leaving it's vile lips. In the same movement his other arm brought his blade around and jammed it in the gap between his arm and the eldars armour joint, the blade reaching up into the aliens brain and partially coming out the top of its helmet. The effect was instant as the guardian tensed as felt the cold steel it's head before realising it was dead and became limp. For good measure he viciously twisted and snapped it's neck, he had plenty of hate to get out on these pointy eared bastards and he was going to enjoy every one of their deaths. Looking to his right he saw Marbo dragging off his victim, he didn't see or hear him but he guessed if the tales were true then that was going to happen. To his left he saw Ug lining up a shot with a big gun on their biggest target. They had ditched the sentinel thinking they needed maneuverability on foot more than the light armour plating, however the lascannon it was fitted with was part of their plan.

Ug crouched and aimed at the wraith lord. The lascannon on his shoulder with its power pack strapped the his back, in its jury rigged state he could fire 3 shots most before it burnt out. He was not the best shot being an ogryn but he believed, and belief in the Emperor was his guide, his faith was his shield, his zeal and fury would be the sword that vanquished this evil. It didn't hurt that the Walker was huge and he had an augmetic eye sighting the target. He depressed the firing stud... FREEM!! The energy beam struck the Walker... he had been aiming for a head or central mass shot. But whether by some bad luck, reflexes of the Walker or some malevolent witch powers the building sized walker turned... the beam hit the shoulder destroying the Brightlance cannon. The BOOM and the shriek from the creature alerted the rest of the guardians and the seer. They all began moving towards the beam source... Well. At least the distraction worked thought Ug as he sighted on the Walker again.

The Inquisition team made their move as soon as the explosion had happened. Caleb and Shinko on the bike again in front speeding ahead and the rest behind on the sentinel. The bikes loud engine and sounds of it bursting through the trees attracted the attention of the guardians on the balcony overlooking the entrance. Immediately they began to fire, hundreds of shuriken rounds rain down around the bike that dodged left and right avoiding any hits. Caleb fired up at them with his las pistol, his shot wild but enough to make them duck. They quickly recovered but as they looked up they saw they're doom. The pilot light of a heavy flamer. The weapon attached to the sentinel following the bike, there was a sudden FOOSH and a massive blast of heat before the xenos were no more. Just burning ash on the balcony.

Caleb pushed on and the bike burst through the entrance, it's wooden door providing no protection as he jumped the small steps leading up and plowed the front wheel through shattering the doorway and skidding it into a powerslide into a vast room. The ceiling was arched about 30-40 feet wide and nearly 10 times as tall. At the far end were two sweeping stone staircases that met in the middle and then branched off again. Up to the left and right. Where they met was a massive doorway, covered in an eldar shield. Two balconies extended on the left and right of the room supported by 3 pillars each. Caleb could feel... something wrong, the feeling he gets from warp born phenomenon, coming from the shielded entranceway. The fact that he could feel it while next to shinko was proof of the power being output, he was sure that if shinko was not here the sensation may have overwhelmed him. However the main thing that caught their attention was the sounds of alarm and of multiple weapons being aimed his way from the 8 eldar guardians and the warlock at the shielded doorway. "Hey there... I'm here to accept your surrender" he said jokingly. He would never accept surrender from these xenos.

Back with Marbo's team. Since the first shot. The fighting had devolved into a mass melee and firefight. Bone's ducked a kick from a guardian who tried to get close. He took the leg off at the knee before driving his blade into its face. He was cut from a few shuriken hits and a lucky strike one of the nimble bastards managed to get in on him. He brought up his hellgun and let loose a volley that shredded a guardian trying to sneak up on Ug. The ogryn had fired twice more at the monster and had clipped it's shoulder as it nimbly moved dodging fire and its right leg which hit some kind of barrier but still managed to crack the armour plating slightly and inpeed its movement. Bones hadn't seen Marbo since this fight broke out but he could hear the sounds of him working with the screams of the enemy. He couldn't think of anything else though as he tried to focus on staying alive. He flicked his weapon to full auto and unleashed his remaining clip as he strafed it to the left, screaming his lungs out so the emperor would hear him. His volley ended 2 more xenos lives as they're bodes were shredded to gooey chunks by the attack. He quickly changed clips and saw the seer charging towards him, glowing sword in hand, warp light glowing from him. Bones knew what fear was, he had lived on Catachan and been trained to live in the most hostile environment that could be imagined, he had faced down daemons, aliens and heretics with nothing but a bayonet. This boney pointy eared prick thinks he was intimidating? Bones levelled his weapon and unleashed a full clip. "Suck on this you piece of shit!" He shouted as he blasted away at this creature that was the focus of his rage. The Seer had predicted the shots and simply dodged them as he moved with speed that could only be brought by on by the warp, or allowed his defensive runes to absorb the shots. His future sight was not perfect as some of the shots penetrated his shield and impacted against his armour but he kept going. Bones dropped his hellgun and drew his laspistol and sword. "Come get some!" He shouted in challenge. "Uncivilised Monkeigh!" Came the artificial reply from the Seer, as his alien language was translated by the device on his forget. He attacked fast and powerful with his glowing blade, his first strike was to be the only one in his mind, he was trying to cleave the human in two in one strike. Bones was no sword fighter he admitted but he was damned if he was going to lose to some witch. He ducked the blade and counted with a strike of his own going for the leg, he wasn't a sword fighter but he knew how to fight dirty. The alien was fast and expertly parried the human blade but had to quickly dodge to the side to avoid the laspistol shot, he was fast but not fast enough as the blast took a piece from his helmet. He disengaged and tore off the helmet, he was upset, not at the human but at himself for falling for such a maneuver. "Calm... I must be calm... rage is the way to damnation... must be in control". He fought with all his will to remain in control of his emotions. Bones seized the opportunity and charged in slashing with his blade high, wanting to finish this quickly, he knew he could not hope to take the Seer in a straight up fight, he needed to fight dirty. The Eldar blocked the blade with his own with very little effort. "You have no honour, Monkeigh". He spat at the human before twisting the blade and cutting him across the chest. Bones had dodged back at the last second but the cut drew blood, the wound was shallow and the pain gave his thoughts clarity until rage took over. "Eat a dick you xenos wwitch" He fired back as he brought up his las pistol and fired at his target a quick 3 round burst. The alien deflected these with his rune shield but it was just cover , as the last shot had fired he had dropped his pistol and grabbed his equalizer, a short throwing knife hidden ready for a quick draw, he let it fly. His aim was true and he threw it with all the zeal he could muster. The blade suddenly stopped in mid air, mere millimetres from the aliens face. He plucked it from the air, with his fingers and examined the blade. "So crude... No wonder you are all savages". He said to no one in particular. Tossing it away he resumed his fighting stance and advanced towards Bones. Bones raised his blade in turn and stood his ground. "Why resist, you cannot overcome fate, I have seen how this fight will end, with you dead at my feet". The seer claimed as he moved forward, stalking his prey. Bones laughed at this making the alien pause, he charged in quickly and their blades met, each warrior pushing against the other, the Eldar was focusing the warp into his muscles making him stronger than Bones, the blades began to be pushed back making Bones grunt in effort. "And what does fate say about this?!" Bones shouted to the Seers face before kicking him... Hard... In the groin. He didn't know much about the alien physiology but it clearly had an effect as the Eldar dropped to his knees cross eyed. Bone was not done as he grabbed him by his robes and stuck a grenade into the folds of it "say hi to fate for me!" He said as he threw the alien away as the frag grenade detonated scattering him around the area in the form of a wet paste. Looking at the destruction he had caused he saw the guardians become enraged at his actions. One charged at him but before Bones could respond Ug grabbed the charging alien by the head and squeezed. It was barely noticed effort on the part of Ug as the skull broke and burst like a ripe fruit. "Thanks big man" said bones as he recovered his gun, Ug's only reply was to brace his ripper gun and fire at another group of Eldar.

Back inside with the Inquisition team it was turmoil. The guardians on the balcony had begun firing and it was only down to the driving skills of Caleb that they had not been seriously hurt. Shinko had jumped off almost as soon as they had entered and was firing from the hip from behind the cover of a pillar. The rain of fire from the balconies was insane. The air was filled with thousands of projectiles making it nearly impossible to fire back. They needed something to distract the enemy or give them a new target. Moments later they got just that. They heard a loud crash of masonry breaking the sound of screaming metal as the sentinel piloted by Abel rammed itself into the main doorway. The servos screamed the metal wailed in agony as the walker was forced into the doorway that was not quite big enough.

This gave Caleb all the opening he needed, as the guardians were momentarily distracted by the interruption, their indecision to fire at their current target or the new target. Its was only a moment for for some of them it was to be their end. He pressed a button on the handlebar of his bike and a section of the front wing opened revealing a standard Graxia pattern grenade launcher. The snub nosed barrel was pointed up, their was 2 magazines, one with frag grenades and the other with armour piecing krak grenades. He turned the bike on the spot and fired a frag grenade up onto the left balcony. He aim was true as it landed between 2 guardians, their armour no use against the white hot shrapnel as it shredded through them. They collapsed as the metal fragments penetrated through their skulls killing them instantly.

Shinko had seen her chance too and took aim at another guardian and after a moments pause she fired the bolt weapon, the mass reactive shell hit the targets centre mass and detonated in a violent display of gore and viscera. She moved to the centre and pointed at the warlock as a challenge. The warlock saw this and gathered the warp around him, the power building creating a scream that all those not cut off from the warp would hear. He brought his hands back and then thrust the forwards and with a shout of an Eldar curse he unleashed a devastating wave of energy. The power was known as Destructor, a powerful wave of energy sent forth by the caster, it contained the rage and fury of all Eldar and it destroyed all life in its wake. It looked like a tidal wave of force and power, a ripple of pure warp fury that would rend flesh from bone, Shinko was the first target but none would be spared this assault, this devastation. The ground tearing and tiles splintering before her Shinko stood her ground, she planted he spear and reached for the small dial hidden on her belt. She clicked to the off position, she had turned off the limiter she wore. The effect was instant, suddenly all connection with the warp with 15 meters of shinko ended. The psychic attack broke upon her like a wave against an unmoving cliff face and parted at her. She became a shield, a wall against the unholy. The aura she gave off was apparent to everyone including non psykers, it felt... Wrong. Every sense the human had was screaming at them saying this person was disgusting, it took some effort of will to not throw up. Such was the effect that blanks had when not limited, it was the main reason the limiters existed. The effect on the warlock was more pronounced. As the last of his psychic attack faded his mind touched on the blank soul of shinko. He screamed as his mind recoiled from the void, from the null space of her soul. He screamed in agony as his mind struggled to hold itself together against such a backlash.

Abel was pushing hard against the control, trying to force the sentinel further in, she needed to bring the heavy flamer to bare, it was the most effective weapon against the grouped together foes. Come on!!! She shouted as her muscles strained against the control stick, the metal screamed in protest as it ground against the door frame. Almost got it!. Her efforts were interrupted by the rain of fire resuming as the guardians had gotten over the shock and recovered enough to start targeting her vehicle. The armour plates rattled as countless shuriken shots bounced harmlessly from them, but some ricocheted into the cabin, her reflex's saving her as she ducked the razor projectiles. She raised her bolt pistol and let off a 3 round burst towards the shots coming at her, she heard the micro detonations of the bolt shells detonating, shortly followed by a scream of pain. A smile lit her face before it turned into a grimace as she began forcing the controls. "Think this is my stop!" Shouted Sindel over the metal cacophony, she had been calming the machine spirit, applying sacred oils but now she was needed a bit closer to the action. She drew her axe and jumped down before taking cover behind a pillar from a sudden burst of fire from the guardians. Caleb was turning his bike in doughnut's firing his las pistol as he did so, his shots while inaccurate gave the warriors something to think of and it reduced the rate of incoming fire. Shinko held her spear in front of her, the blade pointing forwards, its chain blade reving occasionally in challenge, her eyes met the warlocks, he recovered quickly and charged with his sword, a glowing witch blade, in hand and leapt to attack shinko, their blades met in a shower of sparks, the true battle begun.

Outside the temple Marbo was a spectre of death, he moved through the enemy like a wraith, his envenomed blade flashing out and hitting a vital spot killing the target in seconds. Most were dead without knowing their killer, many died trying to fire on him only to meet the same fate. He had killed 11 so far, but there were more coming, and the wraith lord while damaged was still a threat. Ug's third shot had slowed it immensely as it was dragging the damaged appendage as it moved along, however it was still dangerous, the sword and massive fists would kill them in one blow. Marbo quickly finished his last target a guardian trying to prepare one of their weapon platforms, his life ended with Marbo's blade embedded in his sternum. Looking back he saw Ug fighting with a couple of dire avengers that had tried to ambush him, a massive punch that crushed the skull of the first put an end to that thought and the second died shortly after as he grabbed the head and force the skull down with such force it became part of its own stomach. He had seen Ogryns fight before but Ug took it to a new level, precise and barbaric at the same time. Marbo could admire his simple style and its effectiveness. Bones fought like a pit fighter, scrapping with his foes in brutal melee knife fights, cutting and shooting, low blows and dirty fighting, whatever worked for him. He watched as Bones stabbed one guardian before kicking one in a stomach, grabbed the head and twisted viciously breaking its neck. All three of them had fought well but they were not without injury, Ug had his cheek ripped off with jaw bone showing under it after a shuriken catapult was unloaded in his face, however with an Ogryns toughness it didn't even slow him down, Bones had cuts all over from various close calls , each one bleeding beginning to slow the fighter. Marbo looked OK but inside he had taken a few bruises from close call plasma grenades, he felt 2 broken ribs. He would fight to the end, only in death did duty end. This fight had turned their way with the death of the enemy psyker, the aliens became less organised, but now the numbers of the enemy began to take their toll, there was so many of them, it was like they had disturbed a nest. Marbo dodge left as shrieking warrior dived at him, as the enemy passed him he took its head off, his blade passing between its armour joints and aliens own momentum carried the blade home. Since the death of the seer, rather than hurting the moral of the enemy it sent some into frenzy, and different xenos turned up. He suspected they must have some kind of webway portal to allow these reinforcements. The Eldar were known for their trickery and a hidden webway portal was one of the tricks he had seen before. The portals could be cloaked and allowed transport from practically anywhere in the universe, it allowed them them to reinforce almost anywhere with the use of their 'webway', a series of networks through space that connected their worlds.

"You! Time to die monkeigh!" An Eldar screaming banshee shouted to him, a squad leader if he was any guess given the ornamentation and the weaponry. The warrior seemed intent on getting revenge for the comrade he had just slain. As the alien charged him he simply sight, drew his pistol, and shot it in the face. The needle pistol launched its deadly payload of toxins plunging into the eldars skull, the venoms crafted from some of the deadliest creatures of Catachan worked instantly dissolving the alien from the inside leaving them a sack of meat and blood. He ran in the direction of the others, they needed to regroup.

Inside and the fight was on, Shinko and the Warlock traded blows, each strike was designed to kill, their weapons rung with the sound of battle, thrust parry twist slash stab repeat. Each strike was pinpoint and only by the reaction of the other did they not kill. The Warlock was having trouble, he had been trained by Melissa herself, one of the most powerful Farseers of his home world. She had trained his gifts and honed his skills to make him a dominant force on the battlefield, he was a veteran of countless wars and battles, claiming millions of lives. His powers lay in prediction, he could predict the outcome of a fight including were each blade would fall and how to counter. She had gifted him with her own personal sword, 'fate shredder', an elegant serrated edged witch blade, an almost sentient weapon that used the power of the psyker to enhance the force of the blows, to sharpen the blade. In a fight he could see the paths of battle and change them to his own desire.

But against this monstrosity his own psychic powers were useless, his powers relied on reading eddies from the warp caused by living souls, this... Blank for lack of a better term had no soul and thus he could not read her. He still had his skills and experience and a vast array of powers he could use , he knew anything offensive he used against her would be deflected away by her aura. He still had a few tricks left to play . he swung his blade in a wide arc, forcing her back, with this breathing room he gathered his will and opened up himself to the warp, it was difficult while in the presence of this anathema bit he drew enough of the warp... And forced it into him, its energy suffused his muscles, strengthened his bones and energised him, "Now!" He thought as he sprung at her.

The fight in that moment changed , the Eldar was now 3 times faster, his strikes hit harder and he began to push Shinko back. She parked desperately, trying to find an opening but the xenos was a blur, he struck at every angle, there was no way to compete. It was only a matter of time before he got a hit in. He fainted to the right and even though shinko did not fall for it the moments hesitation gave his an opening, his blade flashed out, Shinko reacted trying to dodge and it was this reaction that saved her head for now. The blade struck her on her armoured shoulder guards the psychically powered metal etched in runes and honed edge bit deep, the ancient armour while some defence could not stop the blade as it passed though the plating meeting flesh, muscle, sinew and hitting the bone, biting deep. Shinko roared in agony, the normally mute warrior screamed in pain, her cry heard across the battlefield, the alien tore the blade away, her arm fell limp at her side, if the armour was not there the arm would have gone and she had no doubt she would die next. She dropped to her knees, her spear leaving her hand as the pain made feel numb to all other sensation. Blood ran down her crippled limb, it fell in rivers pooling under her, the fingers twitched as damaged nerves misfired, she grabbed the wound to try and staunch the bleeding but it ran between her fingers. A second later she felt a weight on her other shoulder looking up she saw the face of the alien, the monster that was to kill her, his blade on her shoulder ready to be used to decapitate her, he did this to show respect as a fellow warrior, "You fought well... But I will not fail in my duty". He drew back his sword to deliver the final blow. Shinko could not move, she could do nothing to stop the blades trajectory.

Back outside Ug was killing the emperors foes, Ug would smite the unholy aliens, kill the mutant and burn the heretic... His fist shot out crushing the skull of another xenos. His finger pressed the trigger of his ripper gun, the weapon discharged and tore another apart in a burst of gore. Kill the enemy, kill the alien. Kill the enemy, kill the alien. Kill... Kill. These thoughts were all the kept him going, blood poured from so many wounds on his body, he was an ogryn, and as tough as they come.. But he had limits. His vision kept going fuzzy, he only reacted to the guardian charging him because the alien was screaming as he did so. He grabbed the xenos' head and crushed it to pulp, the spike of adrenaline kept him up but he was at his limit. He knew he was not the sharpest bayonet in the armoury but he knew this was a suicide mission. He stumbled to his left as more shuriken fire hit him from the right, he fired in that direction, he didn't know if it hit but he knew he was hurt bad. He felt his blood running between shattered ribs, he breathing was painful, each lungfull tasted of copper, he coughed and blood came out. He dropped to one knee and world began to fade from his sight, his hearing became dull. He thought he could hear someone screaming his name... Thump... Thump... He turned his head to the noise, slowly turning to the side, he couldn't focus, what was it? Some white giant? He tried to move but his tired body was made of lead, his hands were slick with his blood, he saw the face of what would kill him. The blank expressionless face of the wraithlord. Its blade began its inexorable trip to cleave him in two, he wanted to move but he couldn't, he felt the call of the Emperor the sound of his voice echoing through time and space, becoming him to be by the master of mankind's side for the end time. It sounded like "move you stupid lump of shit!!!" The sound snapped him from his delusion as strong body tackled him forcing away from the blades path. His eyes now regaining focus saw the tired face of Bones who had saved him. "Th-thank you sir" was all he got out. He saw the hand coming, he tried to warn Bones, he tried to get the words out in time but the wraithlords hand wrapped around Bones and picked him up like a soda can. It brought him level with its 'face'. It held him tight, Bones said only one thing "Fuck you!"... before the monster squeezed. Bones burst, his blood spraying everywhere, the body going limp in the hands of the machine that killed him. It tossed the corpse aside with disdain , the body landing in the grass with a wet thud.

Back inside there was the sound of blood being spilt, shinko opened her eyes, surprised it wasn't hers. On top of the sound of blood, there was the sound of a chain weapon tearing. Sindel had struck from behind the Warlock, seeing shinko in trouble she delivered an overhead strike into the aliens back. The warlock screamed in agony as muscle sinew, and bone all tore by the onslaught of the chain axe. Chain weapons were by definition not very subtle, the blade was designed to rend and tear and pulp, and that was what it did. "Oooh that looks like it hurts" Sindel said working the weapon back and forth. The warlock belowed as he used his will to force a warp blast at his new assailant, the telekinetic force pushed Sindel away ripping the blade free. The pain forced him to his knees, looking up he saw the face of death, it lived in the barrel of the bolt gun of shinkos weapon.

She held it with her undamaged left arm, and had braced it against the floor, her finger on the firing stud, the blade under his chin, the barrel at his face, he had no hope to dodge or stop this, a sign of respect for a worthy opponent, or she wanted to know his death was inevitable. He looked into her soulless eyes, through the slits on her deamon mask helm, he saw the infinite blackness of the void staring back at him, she fired one shot. Bang! The bolt detonated spraying her and a 2 meter radius with blood as the head exploded.

A scream of psychic energy was let out on the aliens death, his soul released into the warp to be consumed by slanesh, he had no soul stone to flee to as it was destroyed with the slash to his back. The backlash from this hit the guardian squad he was guiding with his mind. His soul died in agonising pain as it was ripped into the warp, and every Eldar in the building felt it. They felt the pain of loss and grief, his rage and physical pain all in one, one of the guardian's were overwhelmed and fled from this, others were stunned by the loss and stared in shock. They did not hear the screeching from the sentinel forcing its way in had stopped, or the thumps as it strode forwards.

The last thing they heard was the voice of their killer "Ello boys!". Abel pulled the trigger and the heavy flamer ignited and dispensed its payload onto the balcony, white hot flames lit the room and the screams of the aliens were soon drowned out by the rush of flames as they consumed everything that could burn. Satisfied she turned to the other overlooking balcony to see that Caleb's las pistol had finished the last one. Patching into the comms she said "Objective secured, moving to secondary objective", she didn't know if marbos team heard it as the building seemed to interfere with vox signals. But before she could move in the voice of Sindel cut through the squad channel. "I need your help ma'am , shinko is not doing so hot".

She looked down and saw the two of them, Shinko was in a growing pool of blood and lying on the ground while Sindel held her hands on the wound to Shinko's arm. She knew she had to finish the mission, but her team came first. She unfastened her harness and jumped down, her medical servo skull coming to life from her pocket at her command. "Scan protocol, diagnose". She ordered the floating skull, it wordlessly obeyed, floating to the prone warrior and lighting up the wound with a medical auspex in its left eye socket. 2 seconds went by. Analysis complete... Extreme damage to limb, loss of 23% muscle tissue, bone damaged, primary artery severed, blood loss at dangerous levels. The report came from the skull in a monotone machine voice. Abel looked at the wound and silently swore, she needed immediate medical attention, Abel could do it but without the right equipment it was dangerous, one wrong move and Shinko would be dead. She got to work, "Sindel hold her down, this may sting a little" she said before pulling out her field medical kit. She looked at the wound herself and removed the shoulder guard of the armour, she would be lucky if she ever used the arm again... If she survived today.

Outside, Ug was on his knees, looking at the mangled carcass of Bones, the body crushed beyond recognition, Ug stared at it with disbelief as someone who had saved his life, had his snuffed out for doing so. His vision was still blurring but he saw the enemy well enough, he saw one of their squad leaders move to him. So arogent and sure of his own ability. He held a bulbous looking pistol, his slow mind fought to remember what type but he knew it wasn't good. The alien walked up to the injured ogryn, his helm was off and his face was that of a killer without emotion. Reaching Ug he aimed the barrel of the gun at the top of the Ogryns forehead. "Time to put an animal down, go join your friend" his flat translated voice stated. He was about to pull the trigger when Ug's hand shot up and grabbed the wrist like a vice, crushing the bone to dust immediately, blood ran between Ug's fingers as the shattered bone broke skin. The xenos screamed and tried punching Ug to get him to let go, it was like trying to stop a planet, his eyes showed only death, and when he spoke it was pure rage, like khorne himself was using this ab human. "Ug smash puny alien!!" The Ug pushed with all his strength. Ug was very strong, even for an ogryn but he never tried to go all out as he was scared of using that much strength against the tiny enemies he faced but now... Something had broke in him.

He pushed the alien arm into the torso , the bones of the arm that weren't immediately broken were forced through the lungs and heart of the alien. Blood spray from his mouth before his brain realised it was dead, Ug was already on the move. "Ug smash, Ug kill!!!" He bellowed as he charged the nearest Eldar he could. His arms like hammers that laid about them , crush everything in has path, he wouldn't be stopped, he saw only blood and gore as he ripped foes in half, broke spines, tore heads from bodies. He left a trail of bodies in his wake, I didn't matter about armour or weapons as he killed without mercy or grace, it was butchery. In his mind he felt the emperor with him, granting him power, his faith imbuing him with this strength. The enemy tied to shoot him down but it did little to stop him, he was a force of nature, shuriken shots missed as they fired wildly and others cut into him but in his anger he felt none of them... And then he came to the object of his fury, the wraithlord with blood on its hand.

The walker looked upon the death Ug had wrought with its blank face and saw the ogryn covered in the blood and viscera of its comrades. Ug had no fear of the giant machine, he charged at it roaring with all his fury and pain, his blood running from the countless cuts and wounds on his body, his pupils like pin pricks of malice and hate. The wraithlord swung its sword at the charging ogryn but had not expected to be charged by Ug, so the swing missed, gouging a 2 meter furrow in the ground as it struck where Ug had been. The ogryn covered the distance quickly and directed all his fury into a punch, screaming "in his name!!!!" as all his pain, anger and sorrow fueled the strike. It struck the leg of the walker with enough force to crush and landraider, the wraith bone did not fair much better as it shatters and buckled under the impact, driving it to its knees. An inhuman scream echoed from the wraithlord in a sound of pain and rage.

Ug wanted to destroy this thing, wanted to break it like it broke the man who had helped him. He tried to strike at its face, wanting break the skull, but the alien walker was fast, too fast for him. In one motion it struck him with the back of its empty hand, backhanding the ogryn, lifting him of his feet and launching him 10 meters away into a tree. The impact cracked the ribs not already broken and dislocated both sholders, blood spurted from his mouth as his already punctured lung filled up more, his back cracked and his head hit the tree dazing him. Blood seeped from him from the multiple wounds he had received, his body slumped, he couldn't go any further. Faith could power a man to do much and rage could take him through pain and exhaustion, but the body had limits, even a toughened ogryn body could not keep going. His hand slumped to the side, through his mechanical eye, which miraculously kept working, he saw the wraithlord slowly reach its feet, shakily on its broken leg.

It began moving slowly towards him to finish him for causing such pain, it advanced like a reaper coming to claim his soul. Ug looked at it, he could not fight, he couldn't even move but he was not going to give this thing the satisfaction of passing out before the final blow. It drew back the sword for the thrust that would be the end of Ug, he did not flinch, he had served the emperor faithfully and purged his enemies, his would could rest in his eternal light. Kaboom ug looked up as a focussed blast at the base of the walkers neck destroyed its head in a flash of light, the scream of the aliens machine's soul stones shattering brought a smile to his face. It had been a melta charge placed there. As the creature felt to its knees and fell forwards Ug saw marbo standing on its shoulder, riding the corpse to the ground. He jumped off just before it landed, and ran over to Ug. He had been on the other side of the clearing when Bones had been killed, he was a good man, he respected him and it filled him with pain that he didn't save him.

I'm sorry... Was all he said. He knew that he had to destroy the webway gate first and by the time he came back the wraithlord had been advancing on the fallen Ogryn. Marbo had come across the gateway being guarded by a pair of guardian warriors, quickly dispatching them he destroyed the gate with krak grenades at the base, he had to close it, it was the tactically right thing to do... But he hated that was how he thought.

Ug didn't hear his apology, unconsciousness had finally taken him.

Wordlessly he started first aid but knew it would be in vain. Ug needed emergency treatment and for that they needed transport, and without communication with the ship in orbit, it may never come. He heard rustling leaves and breaking branches of someone moving through the jungle at his back, he instinctively grabbed his needler pistol and thumbed it to full auto, glancing behind he turned and aimed to where the noise was from. He was not expecting what he saw. A man walking through the undergrowth, dressing in a brown leather trenchcoat and black cargo pants with a white vest shirt, he held a lho stick in his hand and he took a deep drag from it savouring the flavour, blowing out a perfect smoke ring the man gestured to the injured ogryn. "Looks like you need some help". The voice heavily accented, the man seemed at ease as if he had not just walked through a jungle of a death world. Marbo didn't lower his pistol, his finger on the trigger. The man held up a hand as if to forestall being ripped apart and reached into his jacket, marbo tightened his finger on the trigger. The man pulled out a small black wallet with a skull symbol on it, Marbo recognised it and after a long pause lowered his weapon.

Inside the temple Abel was finishing up, she had stopped the bleeding though it would take a proper medical suite and a couple of months to full heal the limb, shinko would at least be functioning. It had taken some time but with the help of her servo skull she had repaired the artery and sealed the wound caused by the witch blade. Sindel had already grabbed the weapon, she could never use it or understand it but as she always said "waste not want not". Wiping the blood onto her pants and drawing her weapons again she turned to the rest "let's finish this" . the psychic distortion had only increased as time went on, they could practically feel the warp pushing against the wall that Shinko caused by being there. The air felt heavy as the warp energy saturated it.

"Caleb, scout ahead, the rest with me". Caleb nodded and mounted his bike again, revving the engine he then gunned it spinning the rear wheel. He rode it up the stairs, the enhanced suspension making it like he was on flat ground. Reaching the top he drove and burst through the shield. The energy shield was effective at blocking projectiles but a full sized bike with weaponry and a pilot who loved speed was something different. Behind him Abel boarded the sentinel and moved to the end, the walkers size would not allow it through the door but the heavy flamer would welcome anyone wanting to counter attack. Shinko moved up the stairs, her damaged arm still limp at her side, she held her spear in the other hand, she moved to the side of the door. Sindel took the other side of the door, the mechadendrite tail poked round the corner providing her with information. They waited for calebs word of what was beyond. It was from there they heard the explosions.

Caleb rode through the hallway slowly, expecting and ambush, he could hear chanting and now he was away from Shinko he could feel the warp energy circling the air, it permeated the walls, runes lit up all along the structure and pulsed with an unknown rhythm. He had reloaded the grenade launcher and had it primed. Reaching the end of the corridor it opened into a circular room like a meeting room, in the centre was a massive shimmering webway portal, it filled the room with a shimmering light. Surrounding the portal were 6 seers and at the back, his target. Farseer Melissa. She was tall, clad in white and blue rune inscribed wraith bone armour. Her red hair fell in locks down to her shoulder, her skin milky white had a sheen of sweat to it as she concentrated her power on the portal. The other seers were doing the same, warp energy channelled through them was coming from the temple, feeding into the portal, for what end he did not know, but it was not a good reason he was sure. None of them turned, they were too focussed on their task, he could see their determination, but he could also see fear, like they were worried what would happen if they failed. 4 seers laid dead around the portal, the power had overwhelmed their minds and it had claimed their souls.

He could see all this and felt a pang of regret as to his next action... Only a small one. Activating the grenade launcher, flicking the ammo select to krak grenades he aimed at his target... "Hey Melissa, Lord Batkin sends his regards". With that the Eldar turned towards him and held up their hands as they realized too late as to his intention. Melissa screamed at his to stop but he would not be deterred. He pressed the trigger twice launching a pair of krak grenades, each one a highly focussed blast preventing any splash damage but maximising the effectiveness on hardened targets... Or in this case the supports for the portal. The grenades struck the arching supports for the webway portal, they each detonated on impact, each shattering the arches and causing them to collapse on themselves. Caleb turned the bike and sped back the way he came, he knew warp born portals and energy of that nature were not the most stable and being around when they collapsed was a bad idea, especially when psychic energy was thrown into the mix. He did not look back to see the results of his actions but he heard the screams as the seers had their souls torn out.

He gunned the engine and raced down the corridor, in seconds he reached the entrance surrounded by the rest of the team. Code 82!! He shouted to them as he passed them, jumping the bike off the balcony area onto the ground below. The team had many codes for certain phenomenon, code 26 for dark Eldar raiding party, code 38 for tyranid invasion, code 69 for slanesh ritual. They had to have this system so they could prepare for each situation, this code was for 'Duck and prepare for psychic ritual backlash'

The others instinctively knew what to do, they took cover as best they could and prepared their mind for an onslaught of psychic energy... 3 seconds later it came as a massed scream, like thousands of dead souls clamoring for vengeance, their ears couldn't process the raw power of the sound but they tried to shut themselves off from it, this feedback from the warp. Shinko didn't feel any of this as it passed around her as if she were a stone in a river. Her untouchable nature barricading her soul against this ripple of warp. Colours appeared that had no definition or name in and human language, life was born grew old and died in front of them within seconds. And then just as quickly it ended, the warp winds died down, the malign energies faded leaving the room quiet again.

Abel was the first to recover, she stood the sentinel up and rearmed its weapon. Looking down the corridor it was smoke filled, he couldn't imagine anything surviving what had happened , but then again Melissa had survived many attempts from the inquisition to kill her, Abel didn't want to take chances. The others were standing, Shinko leaned against a wall, barely able to stand, Sindel had taken up her position again and was ready to fight, Caleb sat on his bike ready for support.

All was silent, seconds seemed like hours, then as the dust from the warp feedback cleared a figure could be seen slowly moving towards them. Melissa. She was injured, it was clear from her dragging her right leg and the blood running down her face. The air around her shimmered with uncontrolled warp energy, her head was down but tears streamed to the floor, as she moved forwards the tiled ground cracked under her, she looked defeated with her posture, but the team knew it was not the end. As she came into range Abel unleashed the heavy flamer with no hesitation, the flames rushing forth, white hot and ready to consume the farseer. She made no move to defend herself and the flames embraced her, Abel frowned as she saw that the fire had not consumed the target. The flames parted around her like a river around a mountain, the corridor around her was blackened and glowing molten but she was untouched... And she was still advancing. Shinko wheeled around the corner and fired her spear underarm, she fired 6 shots in total, each detonated harmlessly 1 foot in front of Melissa. They could hear her sobbing now, grief anger and pain had overtaken her. The runes on the walls were dimming, lights snuffing out, none of the group were psykers but the amount of energy being drawn out of the building was palpable, it was like a monstrous entity was drawing a deep breath, inhaling the warp energy stored within. Mellisa had begun to radiate with a corona of warp energy, lights and colours that did not exist in the mortal real sprung to life around her, plants sprouted grew and died in moments were her foot fell. "What the hell is happening?!!" Shouted Sindel over the thrum of energy she was emitting. "No idea but its not going to be pleasant" Abel replied as she fired again with the same results. Sindel scanned the xenos with her mechadendrite eye flicking through all the spectrums. "Shes channeling the energy of the building into her... Her body wont hold but i dont think it matters to her" she reported to the group.

The farseer stopped before the entrance, Sindel struck with her axe, hoping for a surprise strike to take her head... Melisa caught the blade with two fingers. The Chain gears spinning furiously as she held the weapon. "Oh come oon" Yelled Sindel in frustration. Melissa looked up, he tear streaked face full of grace, plain for all to see. "Do you know what you have done... Monkeigh!!?" The last was said with venom as she used her telekinetic powers to push away the blade. VYou have doomed a craft world to die... Countless souls are now going to be lost because of your pathetic miserable race. You cave dwellers who have had the barest speck of an existence compared to us... You destroy everything you touch... And you think you are somehow destined to rule existence. You are all weak, pathetic, monkeigh filth!!" . This tirade came from her translator device, she then thrust out her hands towards the sentinel, it began to shake as the metal began to warp and convulse. The machine spirit screamed in pain as it twisted and tore, Abel jumped clear and a moment later the entire sentinel walker collapsed into itself, the flamer tanks ruptured covering one of the balconies in burning promethium, the machine folded around itself in moments. It was crushed to the size of a human head, which then fell to the ground, the level of psychic control to do this was inconceivable.

Shinko and Sindel charged, hoping to rush her after a display of power, Melissa saw this and brought her hands together in a sudden clap, the sound and vibration amplified by her psychic power created a shockwave that pushed them both back to the main building floor with a sickening crunch. Normally Shinko would be spared but Melissa had not hit her with psychic power, she did use her power to compress the air particles in front of her. While the null field protected against psychic abilities, it could not stop the air around them.

Melissa advanced towards the three, Abel joined the downed two and had drawn her bolt pistol, she loosed a couple of rounds which again harmlessly detonated before their intended target. Melissa had stopped crying now, her grief forgotten in the name of revenge , now her face showed only hatred for her foes. "What now pathetic humans... What will you do? Pray to your corpse god? He is but a flea in the face of what is to come... Your species will be wiped from this existence and then the Eldar will-" BANG!!!

Silence

She fell forwards, a smoking crater in her head from a las pistol. A las pistol owned by a human woman behind her. One they all recognised. River Taan... The team was silent as River holstered the pistol on a thigh holster. Abel was the one to break the silence "But your dead!!" Shouted Abel... She knew this for a fact, she had been the one to give her the emperor's mercy. River dressed in a tight fit body glove, and covered in a long dark leather coat turned from the team and before running back to the corridor she looked at Abel and put her fingers to her lips in a 'shushing' motion.

The silence this left the shocked Inquisition team in was then interrupted by a deep rumbling. The building they were in began to violently shake, the walls and floors began to crack, sections of the roof began to drop, Abel dragged both Shinko and Sindel to the side to avoid a large section of the roof from landing where they just where. "We have to go! Now!" Abel shouted into the comms, hoping to reach Caleb. She began to run, helping the injured Shinko, Sindel had recoved enough to run on her own. Over the dim of the collapsing building she heard the sound of a motor, Caleb was riding back into the corridor, he dodged left and right, avoiding the falling debris. "Caleb get back here, that's an order!" Abel shouted with as much authority a commissar could project. Caleb had always been a rebel and did not stop. "We lost her once, I'm not going to lose river again". Caleb said as he rode up the stairs, the engine on full. He had seen her die, had worked with her multiple times and he couldn't face losing her again. "Get back here now! Dammit you reckless fuck knuckle... Respond!... Respond dammit!". It was too late, he had turned off his communicator.

Abel, Sindel and Shinko ran for all their worth, the dodged left and right as more and more of the building collapsed inwards. The psychic energy taken by the ritual and then by Melissa held the structure in place, and with both now gone, the feed back would be the death knell to the building. Screams resonated through the building, the sounds of souls wanting release, the sounds of the warp set free. Abel hated leaving Caleb to chase off after... A ghost, she never like letting good men die when they could be of use to the imperium, but she had to save those she could and that was what she would do. One of the pillars fell behind them with a resounding crash, the building would not hold long, they reached the exit and she threw shinko through it first and she and sindel jumped next. Half a second later the roof dropped in and dust was thrown everywhere. Abel jumped to her feet, her eyes not wanting to believe "CALEB!!!!!!" She screamed, she had known him a short while but knew he was a good man, and would have made a good inquisitor. She coughed from the dust created by the buildings collapse, looking around for any sign of life. She activated her vox again "Answer dammit! CALEB!!!" ... There was only static.

She had seen death so many times, had sent countless men to their deaths by her order. But for a friend to die... It hit her hard. She dropped to her knees and punched the ground. "The stupid bastard... He should have just let her go... Why didn't he let her go..." Abel said to herself. She felt a prescence to her left and saw shinko standing there. The untouchable woman stood silent as if inviting Abel to talk to her, willing to lend a shoulder to cry on. Abel waved her away and stood. She knew her logical mind that this mission would not be without loss but in her heart it did not make her feel better.

Turning from the now ruins she beheld the devastation left by marbo and his team, blood and gore sprayed all around, Eldar bodies littered the grounds, some whole others... Not so much. Her jaw dropped as the scene revealed itself to her, further round she saw the body of Bones... The man was clearly dead, his neck broken and body contorted in many painful ways. A little further on she saw the walker. Smoke poured from the neck stump and it showed signs of a heavy battle, behind it she made out the figure of Ug, there was a blood trail that led to the ogryn he lay against a tree, multiple bandages showed he was cared for, and was treated recently.

"What in the omnisiahs holy metal balls!?" Sindel exclaimed. She was examining the damage, the carnage left over from the battle. She saw Bones and silently swore before offering a prayer to the omnisiah for his lost equipment. "Where's Marbo?" She asked, the others looked around at this, there was no sign of him. "We need to get moving soon as its going to get dark, and a death world is not somewhere I'd like to have a camp fire". Abel said, reloading her pistol with her last clip. The Eldar and the ritual had forced the indigenous life away but with both now ended the scent of blood had drawn them in and they were beginning to mass around the edges of the clearing, eager for the meal to come.

"Where though? Our guides are gone and the last base were were at was totalled" Sindel said. It was a sobering thought, they didn't know where they were or how to signal for help the closest active base was many kilometers away... They were alone and lost in a forest of death.

"Are my friends in need of a lift" They heard a deep booming familiar voice through their communicator's. Then they heard the beautiful sound of a valkerie engines. "Oh you beautiful furry bastard!" Sindel screamed as she saw the site of the craft coming in low over the trees, 3 vendettas behind it on approach, ready to defend from anything. "Good timing Wulfric" Abel said. The Valkyrie set down in the clearing and wulfric jumped from the rear ramp. "Impressive, I guess the little man could back up what he said" Wulfric stated looking around at the battlefield, referring to Marbo. Abel walked over and saluted with the aquilla, Wulfric banged his fist on his chest in respect. He looked the same, apart from a dozen new scars and a section of his armour was now missing.

You had fun it seems Abel said, pointing to the damage. Before Wulfric responded Sindel rushed him and hugged him, she was not one for the formal greeting . "Thanks big man, you missed a hell of a fight". Wulfric looked downcast, he hated missing the action. "So it seems... Where is bike man... Caleb?" Silence followed those words. Abel shook her head "well we shall drink tonight in his name!!!" They nodded relieved, medical personnel where rushing forwards to grab Ug and assist Shinko back to the transports, the body of bones had already been picked apart by scavengers. One of the Catachan's bowed his head in respect "The jungle reclaims its own". Catachans were not a spiritual people but they respected the jungle and its ways

"Is it done Commissar?" Wulfric asked. Abel nodded, "Its over... She's very dead". Wulfric relieved nodded. "Then another reason to drink tonight friends!!" and together the boarded the valkerie. As it took off, the vendettas began strafing the ruins of the Eldar building with rocket fire from their rocket pods, many tonnes of explosive munitions bombarded the collapsed structure, tearing it down and crushing the remains to dust, it would no longer be a presence on this world

Epilogue

They were sat in the Valkerie about to dock with the imperial guard ship in orbit. Shinko was sat in her restraint, Abel sat next to her, she leaned towards her and whispered to her so the others would not hear. "Did you get it?" Shinko nodded and opened the gauntlet of her damaged arm, in the palm was a small blue gem, that was he'll snugly in her hand, Melissa's soul stone. Abel nodded, "good, a fine trophy..."

They returned to their ship the Emporers fist after a couple of days in the medical bay of the imperial guard transport. Shinkos arm had been looked after and they managed to save the limb but it would take months of physical therapy for her to regain full use of it, for now she had it held it in a sling. Ug had joined them, he had been witness to the inquisition and as such there were two options, death or join them. Abel had vouched form, seeing something in the Ogryn, he lay on a grab couch, his body bandaged and bruised. He would need some extensive treatment to be of use but for now he would be part of their team On the flight over they saw the damage done to the once mighty craft. Acid scorch marks were all over the ship, gouges had been torn in the armour plating, holes had been rent in its side and whole sections had been opened to the void. The most extensive was the bridge area that seemed to be just... Gone. The area was blackened and melted the superstructure dissolved.

Upon landing they were greeted by Max Debauch. The normally jovial pariah was sombre. "Welcome back team... Was your mission a success?". Something was up, he would normally joke around and mess with them, but now he was all business. Abel didn't coment and delivered the mission report as best he could. As the information was relayed Max's expression never changed. "What happened, where's inquisitor scarlet?" said Wulfric, they could all feel what was coming but they needed it confirming as if the truth was not something they could accept. "She... She died during the battle, the void emitters became damaged in the forward section and the tyranid hive ship struck with an acid attack, the bridge and everyone on it is now... Dead" as he said this, tears ran down his face, he loved the inquisitor and her loss so soon after losing lord Batkin was too much. "I'm sorry for your loss Max" this was from Abel, "it's OK, I think whatever you did on the planet saved the rest of us" , "what do you mean, what happened?" this was Sindel who like the others looked confused.

Max continued his tale and explained how the hive ship was coming for the fist like a hunter for weakened prey, the other ships caught out of position unable to defend it and then suddenly the hive ship had stopped and turned. It headed out of system, long range auspex picked up an Eldar craft world that seemed to be cloaked. He postulated that the ritual was clouding the craft world from scans and the tyranids senses, interfering with the hive mind of the alien ships, making the tyranids act more like animals. With it gone the tyranids lept on the craft world , the hive mind compelling them to seek the Eldar moving planet . they moved out of auspex range but scout crafter sent found debris consistent with Eldar vessels and very little tyranid biomatter. "That's what she was doing, trying to save the craft world..." Abel said, remembering Melissa's words. "Two birds, one stone" came Shinko's mechanical preplanned response.

On a distant world, its sky blood red, the ground barren , storms raged in the distance, thunder cracking the sky. A light appeared, small at first, sparks flew around it as a portal burst into existence, shimmering with blue Eldrich light. Suddenly an engine roared as Caleb and his bike burst from the portal, skidding to a halt he coughed to clear the dust from his lungs. "Wha- where?" he said, his eyes streaming from the dust as the building collapsed. He struggled to remember what happened. He remembered chasing River, her coat flowing as she ran down the corridor. He was slowed by falling debris but he was almost on her when she turned down a side path he though blocked off, turning down it himself he saw a flash and then... Darkness... Then he was here. "hey there Caleb" came a voice he had not heard in a while. "guess I need to explain some stuff"...

The End...?