"Ok, you've lost me. Start over from the beginning." Edsin could hear Irritus sigh behind him as the three of them walked down the snow covered road. Edsin in front by a few paces, Irritus and Maria behind him. Behind them the sun was already setting and the snow covered world became colder with each passing moment. All three traitors knew that they would need to find shelter soon.

"Alright fine, but try to pay attention this time." Another sigh. "There are four main aspects of Chaos. They are personified by four gods-"

"Wait, stop." The ex-sister interjected. "Four gods? You guys all worship four gods?"

"Well, the sergeant and I do. As well as most of the Word Bearers, but some choose to worship one god solely." Irritus explained.

"Why's that?" Maria asked tugging at the collar of the sweater she now wore. She'd taken some blue PDF style pants and a sweater off one of the dead traitors at the ambush, but Edsin got the feeling she hadn't worn this much clothing in a long time. The sergeant tilted his head to the side to hear the answer to her question.

"It's different for everyone. For some they feel that the sole worship of one god will confer the gifts of that god. For others, service of one god happens to align well with their intentions." There was silence for a moment as the woman took in the cultists words, then.

"Then why are you two, what did you call it…undivided?" Irritus cleared his throat.

"Well, I like to see all the aspects of chaos as parts of a whole. All working together towards one goal. In this way, they combine to become one thing. One undivided force." Edsin snorted and glanced back.

"Just remember." He said over his shoulder. "Some of those aspects of yours don't always work together so nice." This prompted a question that the sergeant really wasn't ready for.

"So why are you undivided sergeant?" Edsin nearly tripped over a patch of ice on the road at the question. Irritus looked at Edsin, curious as to his motivations as well. Edsin searched his mind for an answer as they came around a turn.

"Well I…" He trailed off and froze. Behind him Irritus frowned and spoke up.

"You wha-" Maria cut him off with a shake of her head and pointed to the trees ahead. He didn't see it at first, but after a moment he noticed a thin trail of smoke coming out of the trees. Somewhere ahead, there was an Imperial vehicle running.

~/~/~

Guardsman Alain was understandably nervous. He was a good soldier and though he wasn't a corporal yet, he had shown real promise. He was faithful and had never doubted in the Emperor or the Imperium, so had never considered the possibility that he could become 'touched.' It had been subtle at first. He'd been able to guess his squad leaders orders before he'd even given them. That had only been helpful and anyone who noticed had only attributed it to good unit cohesion. Then the headaches started. Every time he met the traitor forces in battle he would feel pressure inside his head. At first it had been nothing more than a minor annoyance. Each time the headaches returned however they came back stronger. Then there were the voices. Only whispers at night but like the headaches they turned into screams the closer he got the Chaos forces. All of these however he was able to conceal from his comrades. It was something far more obvious that had landed him where he was now.

He hadn't intended for his lasgun to malfunction as the traitor guardsmen charged his position. He hadn't known that one would jump into the trench next to him and try to cleave him open with a bloody butcher's tool. And he hadn't known when he raised his hands in front of him in a panic that the traitor would burst into flame.

Psyker. The word echoed from the lips of his squad mates all the way up to his company commander. And all the way back down as well. During a less turbulent time the black ships as would come for him and take him off to Emperor knows where. But since they were in a war with the ruinous powers themselves Alain found himself tied to a tree and looking down the barrels of a half dozen lasguns. Understandably he was nervous.

~/~/~

"What do you see?" Edsin asked Irritus. The cultist lowered his binos he'd looted somewhere and passed them to the sergeant.

"Take a look." He said. The three traitors were lying prone on a hill overlooking a small clearing in the woods. Edsin focused the binos to his eyes and took in the scene. There were eight guardsmen. Six were in a firing line, one was directing them, and one was tied to the tree they were aiming at. "Another traitor like ourselves perhaps?" Irritus guessed a little too hopefully. Edsin grunted and looked for the reason they'd come here. Behind the guardsmen was their transport: a guard chimera. The vehicle was running but there didn't seem to be anybody in it. Edsin hated walking, and a ride was a prize worth fighting these men outnumbered for.

He handed the binos back to Irritus and the three started to crawl backwards and out of sight in case the imperials looked up. When he was out of sight he shifted to a knee and began drawing in the dirt.

"Ok, here's how we'll do it."

~/~/~

"For the unsanctioned exercising of witchcraft and failure to report demonic taint, both acts of heresy against the Emperor," Alain's former squad leader went on. "You are sentenced to death by firing squad. May the Emperor have mercy on your soul." Alain swallowed hard as the sergeant stepped out of the way and the six lasguns of his squad mates all came up to point at him. "Ready." Alain heard the selector levers click. "Aim." Six left eyes closed and twelve hands tightened on their weapons. Alain closed his eyes "Fi-"A las weapon went off and the psyker tensed up expecting to face the Emperor any second. The scream that sounded, however, was not his and opening his eyes Alain saw one of his ex-squad mates on the ground twisting from a wound that had come through his gut as the other guardsmen spun around to face whatever threat was behind them. The psyker could see them scan the woods behind them trying in vain to discern where the attack had come from. The second attack came from a different angle than the first one, and was just as surprising. The controlled burst of las-fire cut into another man's chest and head. Despite his predicament, Alain noted the skill of the burst. The squad began to return fire but it was inaccurate and random. Wild shots in the hope of gaining fire superiority. He saw his squad leader shake his head and point to two of his soldiers.

'Ramaraz, Collins, we'll lay down suppressive fire you two get up there and take 'em out." The sergeant revived two affirmative nods. Two guardsmen and the NCO switched to rapid fire and sprayed the woods as the other two charged the woods.

'Classic tactics.' Alain thought, again forgetting that he was tied to a tree. He tried to move his arms what little he could when he felt something else pulling on the ropes.

"Quit moving, I can't untie you if you keep moving the ropes." Alain swallowed hard hearing the voice behind him. No servant of the Emperor would be untying him now, and on this world that left only one other option.

"Who are you?" He asked, feeling the ropes begin to slack. The voice gave a chuckle.

"A new friend, now tell me why were these fools about to kill you." Alain hesitated, unsure how smart it would be to tell whoever was behind him that he was a psyker so he changed the subject.

"Wait; are all the guys in the forest with you?" He said as he watched the two charging guardsmen reach the trees. Another chuckle and the ropes became slacked enough to sip off. Alain turned around to see a man with purple hair, a sigil tattooed onto his face, and smiling at him with broken teeth. Alain opened his mouth to speak, but the man pointed back at the trees.

No sooner had the guardsmen entered the woods than the sound of a chainsword cut over the din of las-fire. The first guardsman fell over head first as though his both legs had been cut out under him. The second tried to reach his friend, but something metal flashed and in an instant he was without his right arm. The man starred at the blood spurting stump and screamed until a second swipe took his head.

Alain was in disbelief and the sergeant cursed. As he went to reload, the incoming las-fire picked up and another man next to him was hit in the face. As this guardsman fell both Alain and the sergeant saw two figures dash out of the wood line. The first was a man in black carapace armor and wielding a hellgun. This man let off a burst of fire at the remaining guardsman and dove behind a stump for cover. The second was a woman, unarmored, dressed in blue, and wielding a massive chainsword. She screamed something unintelligible as she charged at the remaining Imperials. The last guardsman stood to try to shoot her but a well-aimed burst of red las-fire put him down.

The sergeant snarled and tossed his lasgun aside grabbing his own chainsword from his belt. The woman reached him and brought her chainsword above her head, making to bring it down on the sergeant's. The NCO brought his up to block the attack but the Eviscerator was far more powerful and after a brief struggle it cut through the smaller chain weapon. Alain watched the man in carapace make a run for the chimera and he remembered something. Something very important.

~/~/~

Seeing that Maria had the sergeant occupied Edsin broke cover and ran for the chimera. The vehicle's engine was running, but since in hadn't moved in the fight yet Edsin was fairly certain that it was empty. As he closed to within ten feet, however he found out he was wrong. The turret swiveled to look at him and Edsin found himself starring down the barrel of a multi-laser. This was it; there was no way to avoid this attack. The chimera had him dead to rights and Edsin didn't try to dodge out of the way. Then something completely unexpected happened.

Rather than cut him apart with multiple lasers the turret of the chimera seemed to bulge. Edsin heard a high pitched scream and more bulges appeared on the front of the vehicle. With an explosive sound flames shot out of every opening and hatch in the chimera. The force of the blast knocked Edsin on his back and he hit his head on something.

Everything went black for a moment and there was a ringing in his ears. Slowly he opened his eyes and the world began to return in a haze. He shook his head and tried to stand, feeling a pair of arms reach under his armpits to help him up. Edsin shook his head again trying to clear it and the world snapped back to focus. Edsin could see clearly now all around him and he wasn't happy.

The first thing he saw was the burning chimera in front of him. The vehicle had flames flashing from both the driver's compartment and the turret as well as the new holes in between. He frowned, the vehicle was worthless now. The entire reason they'd attacked this squad wasted. Finding his balance, Edsin noticed that Irritus had been the one helping him up. Behind the cultist he saw Maria approach, a severed head wearing a sergeants vox headset in on hand. The dismembered body part seemed to clash with her outfit and uncertain expression. Edsin gave her an approving nod and noticed Irritus was motioning to his left.

Looking in that direction Edsin saw the guardsman who they'd seen tied to the tree. Without his armor or a weapon the young man looked almost frail. Nothing special about him in any… 'Wait' Edsin thought looking at the way his arms were outstretched. "You're kidding me." He said aloud. It all made sense now. You didn't need a firing squad to execute a traitor. You needed a firing squad to kill a psyker. Edsin shook his head in disbelief. "You're a fuckin' psyker." His tone made the question a statement but the unarmored guardsman tried to answer anyway.

"Well…I-I guess I am. I mean, I really don't know I-"

"Did you do that?" Edsin interrupted pointing at the burning vehicle.

"Well…y-yeah I guess I did…" The psyker stammered out. He paused for a moment then the force of it all hit him. "Oh sweet Emperor what have I become!" He said falling to his knees in front of Edsin. "I-I really am a psyker. I've been touched by the warp!" The man's eyes watered and tears began to slide down his face.

Edsin only looked at the self-realized psyker with an uncaring expression. Irritus bit his lip unsure of what to make of the crying man. Maria looked at him for a moment then nodded to herself. She dropped the head and walked next to the kneeling man. He looked up to see her place her eviscerator above his neck.

"I will grant you absolution psyker." She said in a tone that Edsin thought seemed practiced.

"Hey, hey wait." Irritus said as he ran over and grabbed the handle of her chainsword. "I know you're used to the sororitas treatment of psykers, but things are a little different on this side of the warp." He made eye contact. "Here 'touched' isn't 'taint', and it's a good thing." Maria shook her head.

"We have no need for him," She tried to shake his grip. "Let me give him the absolution I was denied." Irritus gripped the weapon even tighter.

"He is blessed by the dark gods and-"

"Ahem" Both traitors snapped their heads left to look at Edsin. The sergeant was holstering his hellgun with one hand and pointing to the psyker still kneeling below them with the other. They both looked down to see that the former guardsman had fainted beneath them. Slowly Irritus let go of the chainsword and Maria removed it from above the man's neck. Both of them looked embarrassed. "It's getting dark. Since our new friend torched our ride, we'll have to spend the night here." The two traitors nodded and glanced around the clearing. "See if you can find anything useful."

~/~/~

As luck had it, or in Edsin's opinion didn't, the guardsmen hadn't had much on them. The entire front of the chimera to the turret had been burned from the inside out. Melting just enough of the engine and weapons to make it completely useless as a transport. Fortunately the troop compartment was mostly intact. After Edsin had helped Irritus climb up onto the top of the vehicle, he'd been able to climb through the hole and lower the ramp.

Inside the three found that although it was partly charred and smelt of the man who'd been incinerated there, it would be adequate shelter for the night. Irritus started a small fire inside below the hole in the turret. He then dug through the supplies stored behind and beneath the seats, finding a box of ration bars for their dinner. Melting some snow for water, he made a simple meal as Maria and Edsin cleaned their weapons. Neither Irritus nor Maria seemed to want to say anything to one another or at all, both of which suited Edsin fine. The food was poor and Edsin remembered another reason he'd left the guard.

The sun had dropped below the horizon by the time they'd finished eating and Irritus and Maria laid down along the floor of the vehicle to sleep as Edsin took a seat next to the open ramp. The second to last thing he wanted right now was to stay up all night and guard his companions, but the last thing he wanted was to die in his sleep. If someone did try to sneak up on them, Irritus would be dead before he even knew it and Maria would run off and try to take them on herself rather than wake him to help.

He sighed and pulled out the pack of lho sticks from earlier, finding them mostly crushed. With a frown he lit one of the more intact ones in the fire and took a draw. As he did he saw the limp form of the psyker from earlier who they'd left passed out and kneeling in the snow. Edsin had completely forgotten about him. All at once he sat up straight, eyes wide and grabbed his head. The psyker was shaking and Edsin saw blood begin to trail from the corners of his eyes. He took another drag and realized that the man was about to scream. He leaned back and opened his mouth-

"KUNK"

The psyker snapped his head to the side to see Edsin's foot strike the side of the chimera. The sound brought him back to reality and he noticed it was night.

"D-did I…" Edsin's nod answered the obvious question. "I-I guess I was out a while huh." Edsin shrugged and took another drag. The psyker glanced around and liked his lips. "I, uh…I don't suppose that, uh, that you've anything to…to drink, do you?" Edsin starred at him for a few seconds, then reached into the chimera and held up Irritus' canteen. The ex-guardsman hesitated for a moment then walked up to the vehicle and took a seat opposite Edsin. The sergeant handed him the canteen and took a good look at the man. He looked fairly standard as far as guardsmen went. Some muscle, but not much. Shaved blonde hair and green eyes sat on a young but somewhat experienced face.

"Is this your first war?" Edsin asked. The psyker shook his head and swallowed the water in his mouth.

"Second. First was on..." He paused to think. "Loathenr. We were fighting orks." Edsin nodded, he'd faced orks a few times in his career and he probably would again. The psyker seemed more at ease and wiped the blood from his cheeks on his sleeve.

"So…what now?" He asked. Edsin raised an eyebrow.

"Now? Now you can do whatever you want." He took a final drag on the lho stick and tossed the butt in the snow. "Though I think you might no longer be welcome in the guard." The psyker nodded gravely and licked his lips again.

"Yeah…I uh, I don't-"

"You want to come with me?" Edsin cut in. The psyker was caught off guard, mouth agape and blinked once in confusion.

"Uh, how did you know I'd ask that?" Edsin shrugged and motioned to the others asleep in the chimera.

"Lot a people been asking that lately. What's your name?" The psyker hesitated for a second before speaking.

"Alain. Trooper first class, er…well just Alain now." Edsin nodded but said nothing. "So can I c-"

"You still remember how to pull guard Alain?" Again Edsin had surprised him, but after a second the ex-guardsman nodded. Edsin unhooked a lasgun from where it'd been strapped down in the troop compartment and pushed it into the man's hands. "Good, then you've got first watch." He sat back in the seat, tilted his head back, and covered his eyes with one arm. "Wake me up in four hours or if you hear anything. If I catch you asleep on guard I'll kill you. Sound good?"

"Yeah, but I-"

"Good." Edsin said twisting in the seat to be more comfortable. The psyker liked his lips again and looked at the lasgun, then at the darkness outside, then back at the carapace armored traitor-sergeant.

"You don't mind being guarded by a psyker?" Alain waited for a response for a moment before a faint snoring sound told him the sergeant was asleep.

A/N: Thanks to everybody who reviewed so far, it means a lot to know people like this.