The GGC company moved at a ponderous pace through the jungles and brown landscapes of Kronos. They didn't need to; even in finely crafted suits of heavy armor there wasn't a soul in the bunch who couldn't run at superhuman speeds. And if things were as urgent as Sindri, Urtha, and Michael's Chaplin Matthias were all insisting, then perhaps they should pick up the pace a little.

At least, that was what Michael was starting to think, so in the name of that he made his way over to Endewan and gave him his thoughts.

"You do have a point." Endewan conceded with a nod, though he added quickly: "But we also don't know this environment well. I'd rather not charge forwards recklessly. Not the Eldar way."

"I don't think it's the Eldar way to dawdle when time is of the essence either." Michael pointed out, the calm and reasonable tone ensuring Endewan wouldn't think he was just trying to be snide with him.

"Fair point." The Eldar conceded again. "Alright, I'll order my men to increase their speed a bit. You should tell Shak to do the same with his Tau forces."

Michael nodded and did so.

Meanwhile, the Chaplin, Matthias, was softly giving a prayer to Horus to watch over the company and to preserve them, as Chaplins so often did. And true to his own nature, Tiberius could not resist the urge to rub it in:

"Do you Chaplins ever do anything else but pray? I mean, you must, right? Unless you pray while ordering dinner too..."

Matthias turned to Tiberius, his white skull helmet betraying no emotion. And it, along with his black with some purple armor, might have been intimidating...were it not for the fact that every last person in the GGC knew that Matthias was as close to pacifistic as any Space Marine ever got.

"Do try to be more respectful, Tiberius." Matthias said in a polite but scolding tone as though he were a schoolmaster explaining to a rowdy child why he shouldn't misbehave. "Our faith is what sustains us. It is what the False Emperor never understood."

"Ugh, a history lesson too." Tiberius grumbled. "I thought that was the Librarian's specialty."

"History is important." Daniel noted. "Helps us to keep the present in perspective. And it reminds us of what we're fighting for."

Tiberius chuckled at this, and Uriel and two other Space Marines, Raphael and Decimus, chuckled too.

"Heh. 'What we're fighting for', eh?" Uriel said. "You mean like the Eldar Warlock? Jenna, I think her name was. We all know you fancy her, Daniel."

Daniel rolled his eyes at this behind his helmet, but Matthias spoke up: "Daniel makes a fair point, however; history is important. For precisely the reasons he gave." He paused, then said: "Tell me...what faith sustains you all, brothers? Faith in Horus, or something else?"

"Horus, obviously." Tiberius said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, like saying that water was wet, or that Orks were insane. Raphael too gave faith in Horus as his answer, as did Uriel. Decimus said he wasn't sure, and Daniel...

"Well...I was brought up as a Catholic, mostly. I guess I still sort of am."

"A Catholic?" Decimus repeated, wondering whether or not he liked the sound of it on his tongue. "Huh. Uncommon choice these days."

"The Captain was raised as a Christian too you know." Daniel noted. "Protestant, I think."

"Yeah. Takes all sorts to make a world I guess..." Decimus said.

Elsewhere, the Eldar Warlock they had just been mentioning, Jenna, was presently in deep concentration, eyes shut even as she walked and doing what she could to sense the coming Warp Storm. Beyond that though, Jenna sensed something...else. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something there with them on Kronos that she just didn't like. The natural culprit would be the ruinous powers of Chaos, but there was no indication that the Tzeentch sorcerer with them now was corrupted. By all appearances, he seemed to be "clean", to use a human figure of speech (something most Eldar were reluctant to do even given their alliance, but Jenna wasn't most Eldar).

Of course, Sindri's apparently being untainted by the darkness of the Four Powers and having only the goodness didn't necessarily prove anything; the most powerful ones could, after all, conceal their true nature from even Warlocks and Farseers, Chaplins and Librarians. This in turn meant that, if Sindri was corrupted and was the source of Jenna's unease, then he was also exceptionally powerful, to be able to hide his true nature from so many Eldar at once plus Librarians and a Chaplin as well.

Calm yourself... Jenna scolded herself silently, with less conviction then she'd have wanted. ...you're just being paranoid. That 'bad feeling' you're sensing is probably nothing at all...

The walk that had since become a run continued for a time before Sindri suddenly stopped and called out: "Hold, friends. We should stop here."

"Why?" Demanded Michael, a sentiment echoed by Endewan and Shak, though just a bit less hostile in the latter case.

"Because I sense that we are being stalked."

As Sindri said this, Urtha, Jenna, and the other Farseers and Warlocks realized that they sensed it too, as did Chaplin Matthias and Librarians. Of them, Matthias was the one to address Michael: "I sense it too, Captain. I suggest we get into a defensive position."

"No need." Sindri noted. "I sense they are falling back. They must realize we know now. From such intelligence and stealth, I would think we were being pursued by Dark Eldar..."

"That does seem the most logical explanation." Urtha agreed, before adding: "Although it is strange that I cannot sense their specific aura. I sense something, but I cannot define it this time..."

"We'll wonder about that later." Endewan decided. "For now, we should keep moving before they decide to attack for real."

The GGC company, following Sindri's lead, continued their run. For a while, everyone relaxed as the false alarm grew more distant in both hours and memory.

But then, as the skies were getting dark and it became the dusk hours, a sniper shot rang out.

All turned to see that one of the Space Marines swayed before collapsing with a loud thud, the precision shot having gone through his helmet and superhumanly durable cranium both. Sure enough, as the leaders gave the order for their men to take cover, several forms uncloaked, revealing themselves to be the lithe forms of the Dark Eldar, with fiery red manes spilling out behind their black helmets and armor that was mostly black with some lavender and/or teal. Several drew swords and charged into the fray.

"Here we go!" Roared Uriel, charging forwards with hammer in hand. He swung out with it but the Dark Eldar he was aiming at expertly ducked underneath and gave a swift slash that managed to leave a gash in the Space Marine's armor, but only a light one.

"ARGH! Swift little buggers, aren't they?"

"For Horus!" Shouted several of the other Space Marines as they charged into the battle, Raphael and Tiberius included. Decimus said nothing and moved in, his Lasguns firing away while Raphael and Tiberius followed Uriel's example of melee weapons, though in their cases Chainswords rather than a hammer. Daniel silently crossed himself as he usually did before battles before taking aim with his Bolter, aiming at one Dark Eldar's head, and firing.

Here was the thing about Bolters; they were not the same as the firearms that humanity had used for most of their existence. Rather, they fired out what amounted to miniature missiles, the initial firing propelling them forwards on their own tiny little rocket-power that, by the time it finally faded, had given the bolter round enough momentum that not much in the world could withstand or react to it...as the Dark Eldar who's head snapped back after getting a big hole in the center of it clearly demonstrated.

"Ha! A fine shot, Daniel!" Uriel said as he finally managed to nail one of the Dark Eldar, hitting him so hard he actually wrecked the Dark Eldar's helmet as well as the head beneath, while a second one got his head taken right off. Decimus continued to put holes into other Dark Eldar with shots from his Lasguns, and simultaneously the Tau and Eldar members of the GGC also did what they could against the Dark Eldar.

"Die, Heretics!" Shouted Endewan as he impaled one Dark Eldar on his polearm before lifting up the corpse and heaving with such force he sent the Dark Eldar body flying into a second with enough force to knock him down and into two more, leaving all three easy prey for the Eldar's Warp Spiders. Endewan smiled with grim satisfaction at the sight, having no mercy in his heart for those Eldar who's hearts remained willfully consumed by depravity. And any chance of ever getting some was lost the day he saw one of their torture camps.

Spinning around in what was a blur even to the superhuman perceptions and reflexes of the Space Marines, Endewan swung with his pole arm that had been with him since his days as a Dire Avenger, and decapitated another Dark Eldar, his helmeted head bouncing when it hit the floor.

"I hate direct fighting!" Complained one of the Eldar Scouts, Tanreer was his name, as he narrowly dodged a shot from a Dark Eldar before dropping the offender with a headshot from his sniper rifle. "Eldar are supposed to fight with stealth!"

"Tell them that!" Exclaimed an exasperated Raphael as he did what he could to dodge some shots aimed at him before one Dark Eldar drove a blade into his leg, going between the thigh and the calf.

"DAMN!" Raphael roared, driving down with his chainsword and slicing the Dark Eldar's arm clean off. A swift kick to the torso from Raphael's other leg sent him sailing over thirty feet with such speed he could have been shot out of a cannon. After that though, he fell to one knee, silently fuming over his wound. A few Dark Eldar unwisely tried to shoot at him after seeing that he was down, and no sooner did Raphael spot them did he draw his Bolter Pistol that had been hitherto holstered, and put massive, bloody holes into each of them before they could react.

"A Space Marine never yields, monsters!" Raphael yelled, firing off more shots before someone somehow managed to shoot his bolter out of his hand. Eyes widening in shock, he turned just in time to see the Dark Eldar sniper who would have put a shot right between his eyes before a high-powered energy blast hit him, melting his black armor like wax and all but completely incinerating the body within. As the Dark Eldar fell down dead, Raphael could perceive that Tau under Shak O' Ryos had moved in to cover him and other Space Marines who had become injured. Similarly, Matthias used his powers as a Chaplin to provide a force-field for Eldar forces, including Urtha and her Warlocks, Jenna among them.

"You have our thanks, Chaplin." Jenna said politely, as she did continuing to fire out searing bolts of lightning along with her fellows and her mistress. No Dark Eldar they hit withstood them.

Finally, after some more amount of fighting, the Dark Eldar pulled back in full, but no sooner were they gone did Farseer Urtha frown. Something was wrong. Several things, actually.

Firstly, their foes had been totally silent. They hadn't made a sound, even as they had died. That wasn't like the Dark Eldar at all. Sadomasochists that they were, they positively reveled in bloodshed and lives ended by their own hands, and while sufficiently severe injuries they received were far less amusing to them, it was not at all unheard of for Dark Eldar to laugh wickedly in the face of minor injuries, and a few particularly crazy ones would even laugh or chuckle after taking a fatal injury in their last moments just to get under their foe's skin one last time. But there had been none of that here. Nor had there been any of the sadistic and derisive taunting that the Dark Eldar never failed to give to their uncorrupted kin. So why were they all so silent?

Not only that, but the attack itself didn't sit right with Urtha; the Dark Eldar were vile, but usually not stupid or suicidally reckless. They must have known that they'd lose to such opposition as a full, multi-species GGC company. The Craftworld Eldar alone were usually more than a match for their evil kin. Them plus Tau and Space Marines would have never been a winnable battle for a Dark Eldar force of that size. So why wage it at all?

Urtha shook her head. Nothing about the battle made any sense to her except for their victory, and she'd make sure to tell as much to Endewan and the other leaders of the company later.

Sindri though, who had casually obliterated over a dozen Dark Eldar through the sheer force of his power, seemed far more at ease with the whole affair, even happy. "Well done, my friends. Well done. As always, the GGC proves that there is strength in numbers and teamwork. These psychopaths and lunatics never stood a chance against such superior fighting prowess."

"Thanks for the flattery." A somewhat bemused Endewan said, while Michael just frowned at the flowery words. Once again he found he just didn't like what Sindri was saying no matter how eloquent the Tzeentch Sorcerer made it. In fact, the more Michael thought about it, the more he realized he didn't like Sindri at all. Maybe it was just how the Dark Eldar had attacked after they'd decided to follow him and he was paranoid, but Michael simply didn't trust Sindri. He didn't really trust anyone that close to the Four Powers, even if they weren't as bad as the False Emperor's scriptures always claimed...

I'm keeping my eye on that one...even if I probably couldn't actually take him in a fight...

In the meantime though, there were dead who needed to be buried, and wounded who needed tending to. However no sooner did this start did Severus Regulus, the leader of Michael's Assault Marines in general and the ones outfitted with Jump Packs in particular, approach him.

"Excuse me, Captain. But while I was airborne I saw that there is a settlement not far from here. We may wish to consider inspecting it."

"What's there to inspect? It would be abandoned."

"You'd think so, but it isn't. I saw humans there. Living humans."

This got Michael's attention. "Very well. I'll inform Endewan and Shak. In the meantime, take the rest of the Assault Marines and a few regulars as back-up and scout ahead of us. Inspect the settlement, and question it's populace. Starting with how in the hell they've managed to survive here this long with no outside contact since the Horus Heresy."

Severus saluted in acknowledgment. "I will, sir. Glory to Horus."

"Horus Protects." Michael returned, and with that Severus was off with the rest of the Assault Marines, Uriel, Daniel, and Decimus being ordered to come as well. Tiberius stayed behind to make sure his friend Raphael was properly looked after by the Apothecary, Phoebus (who Tiberius for one considered just a step above a quack).

As Severus' scouting party left, Michael went over to Endewan, Urtha, and Shak and informed them of Severus' findings. They all expressed the same surprise he had, as he had expected them to, but said little else, since they knew the answers to whatever questions they might be asking were being acquired at that very moment. Instead, Urtha aired her concerns regarding the Dark Eldar fight.

"...and so none of it adds up." She said, finishing her assessment. "Which means there's more to this than a simple Dark Eldar attack."

"What do you think it could be?" Shak asked curiously.

"I haven't the faintest idea." Urtha admitted. "But what I can say with some amount of conviction is that this won't be the end of it. There will be another attack, and if I had to guess, another Dark Eldar attack...one that makes just as little sense as the last one did."

"Well, perhaps we should worry about that when it happens?" Sindri suggested. "After all, what hope have we preparing for something that cannot be explained or understood, and thus, cannot be prepared for?"

"The Tzeentch Sorcerer makes a decent, if not also tautological, observation." Shak O' Ryos observed. "I am inclined to agree with him."

"Well I don't." Michael said, frown deepening, a sentiment that Urtha echoed. "I say we let me try and get to the bottom of this. Myself and the Warlocks can try and pinpoint any strange or unusual happenings on Kronos with our psychic powers. Captain Michael's Librarians and Chaplin Matthias could assist us as well."

"I would be honored." Said Chaplin Matthias, who had accompanied Michael to the meeting as his second just as Urtha had come with Endewan (and always did).

"Very well, if you think it necessary." Michael said, as he did shooting a look over to Sindri to see how he would take getting shot down. He didn't seem the least bit bothered by it.

"I also give you permission to go ahead and try." Endewan said before adding almost as an afterthought: "Even though I know you would have done it anyway whether I'd given you permission or not."

Urtha smiled. "Wise choice, My Lord."

At the same time this was happening, Severus and his scouting party had reached the edge of the settlement. Severus had been all set to rocket in with his fellow jump pack-wearing Assault Troops, when he saw something that prompted him to order them all to take cover in the foliage instead.

They saw several dead bodies, some of them the same humans Severus had seen when he'd first spotted the settlement. Also present though, were scores of Horus Imperial Guard, some of them dead, the rest disarmed and in restraints. Forced down onto her knees was the apparent leader of the group, and in front of her was a man who based on his garb of green Space Marine armor with gold decorations and red cape with gold border, was unmistakably a member of the dreaded and merciless Inquisition; the sadistic disciplinarians, religious fanatics, and preachers of the False Emperor's vile dogma. This one was fair skinned, had short brown hair, and was missing an ear. From the nature of the injury and his own..."expertise" in such matters, Severus guessed that it had probably been caused by blade rather than bolter or Lasgun, though where the blade had come from was impossible to say. But for whatever reason Severus had a hunch that it was from an Ork.

The Inquisitor knelt down and took the Lieutenant's chin in one hand, forcing her to look up at him. "We know these few heretics our men killed are far from the only ones under your protection, my dear Lieutenant..." The Inquisitor began in an accent that managed to sound refined, lazy, and smug all at the same time. He smiled as he effortlessly forced her to look at him again, his superhuman strength easily overpowering her feeble attempt to look away. "...so you are going to tell me where they are."

The woman scoffed. "Piss off. And in case you're going to threaten me with torture, don't bother." She smiled at him defiantly. "It doesn't work. Doesn't get you good information."

"No, it doesn't." The Inquisitor agreed before smiling again. "But we already know that. You see, my dear, the Inquisition is not as stupid as you think we are. We almost never employ torture to get information for precisely the reason you just gave. But we do have...other ways of getting information." His smile widened as he took to stroking her chin as he kept her head in place. "Such as, say...using our Pyskers to extract the information right out of your feeble mind...even if the mind has to come with it." He paused as he continued to examine the Lieutenant. "A shame to do it to you though...you have a rather pretty face. And information extraction from the mind sometimes distorts the body as a side-effect..."

"Go to hell." The Lieutenant spat. "If you do end up killing innocents, I'll have no hand in it."

"Ah, but you will, my dear." He turned to the two robed and armored figures with horribly scarred faces who were near him. His Psykers, apparently. "Prepare this woman for mental extraction. And while you're at it, erase all of her memories and identity." His mouth turned again into a sadistic smile. "I could use another plaything, especially one as pretty as this one. Then we'll resume our hunt for the heretics."

"You bastard! They're mostly women and children!" The Lieutenant shouted, struggling futilely as two of the Inquisition's green and gold armored men forced her up.

"Even children can be heretical." The Inquisitor said, unmoved. "Chaos and the corruption of Xeno filth touch all, my dear Lieutenant. Fret not, when the Psykers are done, you shall remember none of this...or much of anything." He chuckled. However, his chuckle and general sadistic amusement were short-lived when one of the two Psykers was blown away by a direct hit from a rocket fired from one of Severus' Assault Marines. Severus himself stepped forwards with Bolter pistol aimed and ready and Chainsword drawn, followed by the rest of his scouting party.

"That's enough!" Severus roared. "All of you stand down, we have you surrounded and outnumbered!" He turned to the Inquisitor. "That means you too, Inquisitor pig."

The Inquisitor chuckled at this. "Ah, yes, the Space Marines. Still as heretical as ever, I see. Insolent too."

"Let the woman and her men go." Severus warned. "As I said we have you surrounded, and I'm just in the mood for killing a monster like you. So don't give us any trouble."

"I think they should." Uriel said with a frown. "Would give us an excuse to give 'em what they deserve."

"You presume to threaten the Inquisition?" The Inquisitor shook his head. "Heretical, insolent, and stupid." He turned to the still-living Psyker: "Break the woman's mind, the rest of you kill them."

But before the Psyker could do anything, he came under such fire that he had to retreat lest he get shot to pieces, his powers not enough to fend off the assault of so many shooting at him at once. The Inquisitor's men obeyed orders as they always did, but as was often the case when even well-equipped normal humans fought Space Marines, it went poorly for the former, though the Inquisitor for his part was able to kill a few Assault Troopers with a few well-aimed bolter shots. Severus went right at him, and the Inquisitor rapidly drew a Witchblade, that met Severus' Chainsword head on. A few exchanged blows later, and Severus' Chainsword was becoming damaged just from deflecting the strikes.

"Looted this Xeno relic from a slain Eldar after I ordered an Exterminatus on his world. I mean really, Eldar intermingling with humans? Heresy of the worst sort. Something just had to be done."

"I thought the use of Xeno tech was heresy too." Severus said with a frown. The Inquisitor shrugged. "Some of the more...'humorless' members might agree with you. But I've always derived a certain...'satisfaction' from killing the filthy Xenos with their own weapons."

Severus shook his head at the Inquisitor's transparent hypocrisy before running at him again, ducking under his Witchblade strike and slicing up with his chainsword. The Inquisitor's armor held, but it was damaged, and he snarled as he stepped back. As this was happening, Uriel, Daniel, and Decimus were busying themselves with freeing the Imperial Guard Lieutenant and her men, who reclaimed discarded weapons and helped to finish off the last of the Inquisitor's men. Soon the Inquisitor was all on his own, something he realized just after slicing Severus' Chainsword in half.

"You may have out-dueled me, but can you out-duel us all?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow behind his helmet. Seeing that he was indeed now outnumbered, the Inquisitor frowned. "I confess, I cannot. But no matter; you've not heard the last of Inquisitor Xemnar."

There was a brilliant flash of light, and the Inquisitor disappeared. Several shots went flying where he had once been, but it proved a waste of ammo. Inquisitor Xemnar was gone.

"Slippery son of a bitch." The female lieutenant muttered. "And I know that was Eldar tech he just used too. The same sort of thing the Warp-Spiders employ." She spat with disgust. "Hypocrite."

She turned to the Space Marines and smiled. "You have my thanks, Space Marines. Mine and those of my men."

Severus took a good look at her and her men; the woman wore the usual armor and under-armor of Imperial Guards on both sides of humanity, but with the color scheme of the GGC, the armored parts being red and the gloves and under-armor all in black. Vile as he'd been, Inquisitor Xemnar had been correct that she was pretty; she had a somewhat round face, small but friendly lips, delicate arched eyebrows, and wavy but neat chocolate brown hair in a ponytail style. She carried herself with authority and dignity, despite what she'd just been through.

Her men meanwhile, based on the exact design of their good-quality armor and the full-face covering helmets, appeared to be Tempestus Scions, the very best of the best of Imperial Guard. Sometimes known as "Stormtroopers", but those loyal to Horus and the GGC intensely disliked that nickname due to it's associations with the Third Reich from humanity's pre-space era, people the Horus-aligned Tempestus Scions couldn't be further from. Those part of the Emperor's Imperial Guard though, hardly seemed to mind the association.

"You were brave to be defiant towards an Inquisitor." Severus said with a nod of approval. "Most would not be so."

"I wouldn't have joined the Horus Imperial Guard and the Tempestus Scions branch on top of that, if I wasn't prepared to be brave even in the face of torture and death." She held out a hand. "I am Second Lieutenant Mira. Formerly of the Cadian branch of the Horus Imperial Guard, now recently transferred to the Tempestus Scions after my...*ahem*, 'performance' on the Forge World of Graia."

This admission prompted a wave of whispers among the Space Marines. "Wasn't that the battle where the great Titus destroyed a Daemon of Chaos?" Daniel asked, having heard the story from Raphael, who had actually been there.

"The very same." Lieutenant Mira said with a weak smile. "That was before the Inquisition nabbed him on charges of 'heresy'. I don't know what happened to him after that."

"So the Inquisition is here hunting for supposed 'heretics' eh?" Severus asked, changing the subject. "Where are they?"

"I sent them and most of my men to a secure location some distance away. It's close to where an old Adeptus Mechanicus facility is located, as I was planning to use those ships to escape from Kronos before the Warp Storm, and hopefully leave these Inquisition bastards stranded here at the same time."

"Funny you mentioned that, as the GGC company we're a part of is trying to get there too, and for the same reason. Perhaps we should pool our resources into a single alliance?"

"Of course. My men and myself are as loyal to Horus and the GGC as you, and we're in your debt regardless. Lead on, uh..."

"Severus. Lieutenant Severus Regulus of the GGC's Space Marines, Assault Marine sub-division."

"Very well then, Lieutenant Regulus. I am yours to command."

"We do share a rank though."

"Yes, but as I said, I owe you. And you're a Space Marine. I'll gladly follow your lead."

Severus nodded his understanding before giving the order to move out and return to to the main company. Daniel and Uriel brought up the rear.

"Wonder how so many humans could still be here after all this time..."

"I suspect we'll get the answers eventually, Daniel." Uriel said.

"Indeed. Well, either way, I think our odds against the Inquisition, Dark Eldar, and whatever else is here just went up considerably."

Uriel chuckled. "Bah. I've got us plenty covered. It is nice to have an audience though."

Daniel sighed as they kept walking. "You are one cocky bastard, Uriel."

-X-

When Inquisitor Xemnar returned to the small stronghold that the Inquisition had made for itself on Kronos, his men saluted him on sight. They didn't need to ask about the others; that he'd come back alone made it clear that Xemnar's forces had been wiped out.

"The traitors and heretics were saved by Space Marines loyal to the great betrayer." Xemnar said. "What's more, I've reason to believe there may also be Xenos on the planet. Either way, it is clear we shall need more than the rank-and-file Imperial Guardsmen." He turned to his second: "Call in the Gold Legion. Tell them to kill anyone not us they find."

Author's Notes: Yes, I used some of the characters and material from Warhammer 40K: Space Marine, as well as Sindri from Dawn of War and the location here from Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. Trying to draw on established lore even a I write a Noblebright AU.