A strange sort of stillness had descended upon the establishment as the men Ellarian and his "companions" had fought now lay within the spreading pools of their own blood. So much for trying not to be shot at he thought as the atmosphere was broken by the loud and angry shouts of the human female who was clearly the owner of this establishment. The one Merelen Cyierk had called Madam Tsvetkova was spouting something in a language Ellarian did not know but it had the clear, primitive sound of being human in origin.

The Rogue Trader then began speaking loudly in the same language which was followed by the Squat who also spoke it, albeit slowly and carefully. Again, Ellarian had no idea on what they were all saying and could tell that was an argument. The exchange became more heated between the two human females with the Squat clearly trying to back out from it.

Surveying the rest of humans within the establishment, Ellarian saw that the other human females employed by the establishment were relatively unharmed. The Outcast then turned his attention back to the arguing human females and he saw that the proprietress was pointing at the doorway leading out. Merelen Cyierk became silent for a moment and the human's shoulders slumped by a little with an audible sigh heard from her as she then looked to him with a look of both annoyance and weariness.

'Come on Ellarian, let's go' said the Rogue Trader.

'We leave?' asked the Ranger who had a feeling that they had just overstayed their welcome in this establishment.

'Yeah, something like that' she replied in a defeated tone while holstering her pistols and walking rather quickly back towards the elevator they had used earlier. The ranger quietly then followed her and he could hear the proprietress calling out see if the other humans were unharmed while the Squat was quick to vacate the premises.

Stepping back into the enclosed metal contraption which would return them to the upper parts of the building, he saw the human female operate the console and the door closed. For a moment, Ellarian felt an awkward silence as he stood there with the human woman next to him. He had heard the leader of their assailants speaking directly towards the Rogue Trader and it was clear that they had been looking for her.

'What a fething day' said the human female rather tiredly as she finally broke the awkward silence between them.

'Those humans seek you, why?' asked Ellarian with curiosity and the Rogue Trader looked away from him.

'It's kind of a long story Ellarian, but I think it would be best if we go our separate ways here, you still have that message to deliver, remember?' replied the human female as a ding sounded and the metal doors opened. Walking into the hallway and heading back to the room which had been provided to them earlier.

'Why they seek you?' he asked again in a more insistent manner.

'Look Ellarian, you kind of caught me in the middle of something and I'd rather not get anyone else involved in it' she then said as they arrived at the doorway to their room and she worked the primitive lock on it.

'Maybe I help?' offered the Ranger and she stopped for a moment to give him a rather serious look.

'You're offering to help? Just like that?' asked the human a bit skeptically as she warily then asked 'be straight with me Ellarian, did Eorlianeth really send you after me? What are you getting out it?' The ranger gave her a curious look, not quite understanding her words and she clarified 'what I mean is, why? You barely even know me.'

'You also serve Prince Ansgar, yes? We are a now one crew, allies' replied the Outcast with a reassuring smile.

The human continued to look up to him and he saw her white, softly glowing eyes study him for a moment and he could tell that she did not quite believe him. While it was true that whatever trouble the human female had reallywas not his business, the Outcast felt uneasy with the idea of just abandoning her now. The Rogue Trader gave a soft humph and opened the door to their room; the lights were still on as warm air was blown inside of it from the ventilation system.

'Well, I already got some friends handling the… "situation" but I am not one to turn down help when it is offered' shrugged the human female as she went towards the cabinet and began retrieving some of her belongings 'I could really use someone to watch my back anyway'

'A wise decision' commented Ellarian as he began to retrieve some items as well.

'I guess that I will have to fill you in and bring you up to speed' said the human female and Ellarian heard the distant sound of sirens blaring and the Rogue Trader had a surprised look on her face and said 'first we gotta get out of here!'

'I have solution' grinned the Outcast as he reached into a satchel tied to his belt and produced a small, pyramid shaped device which gently thrummed as it felt his psychic presence.

Grumbling with annoyance for being kicked out of his favorite drinking place and now finding himself in a dusty back alley with the police on the way, Krodien fumed in annoyance at the white haired woman whose presence had brought those hitmen to the Red Bokha as well as towards himself for losing his temper like that. Bastards had it coming though; no doubt about it thought the Squat as he reached for a packet of cheap Iho-sticks underneath his coat. Removing a stick from the packet and fetching his lighter, lighted up the rolled up piece of dried leaves and paper.

Feeling somewhat comforted by the nicotine which began to flow into his system, he supposed that he should find a place to lay low for the moment. After placing the lighter back into an internal pocket within his coat, he made his way towards the parking space behind the Bokha where his Trike was parked. As he placed his lighter into one of the pockets of coat and grabbed the light, he heard the sounds of the sirens drawing ever closer and he picked up his pace for the first thing they cops would do was to use their drones to surround the area.

Quickly getting onto his Trike and putting on a pair of goggles over his eyes, he started the vehicle's engine and revved it up, he honestly thought nothing about that fact that he had just been drinking. In a few seconds, the Squat was already driving away before the drones and the police arrived to surround the places. Looking above to see the security and media drones which were now surrounding the Bokha, he briefly looked back and saw the two police cars now parked outside of the place and was glad to have gotten out of there in time for he did not have the legal I.D. to even be on this planet.

Heading up the street with the wind blowing against his beard, he then took a left turn and decided to just turn in for the night. For some time now, he had been renting out a place at a cheap hostel in Dis where no questions were asked by the owner as long as the money was paid upfront and no one starts a fight. What was rather notable about the hostel was that it primarily catered to mercenaries such as himself, many of whom had good reason to lay low and avoid any attention from the authorities.

The bright neon lights of the Acropolis eventually died away and he rode into the gloom of the Dis District with its poorly maintained buildings and the distant sound of glass breaking and gunfire were all common occurences. As bad as the usual, Underhive cess-pit he thought as he passed by an ongoing gang fight with knives drawn and the blood coating the sidewalk to his left. Not bothering to pay much attention to the gangers, he took a right at an intersection and kept on going straight until he began to slow down when he caught sight of the hostel.

Ned's Beds as the hostel was named looked to be as inconspicuous as ever when compared to the other buildings of the Dis District with its only real decoration being a neon holo-sign which flickered and depicted a bed and three letter z. It was a three storey structure with a short flight of six steps going up which had once been a hab-block back when the Imperium had been in charge. The only thing that really changed after the so called "Liberation War" was that instead of housing some factory guild's wage slaves who would never amount to much in their entire lives; it now was the home for the kind of people who wouldn't think twice about shooting a man in the face for a couple of credits.

Parking his Trike by the sidewalk in front of the hostel which was reserved for parking (which most people in the district hardly bothered to follow) he disengage the magnetic lock which kept his sniper rifle in place on the back of the vehicle and turned off the engine. Disembarking from the Trike and retrieving his rifle, Krodien went up the concrete stairway which was in dire need of some maintenance. The front door into Ned's was left open as usual before later where it would be electronically locked and guests would have to punch in code which changed day to day.

The lobby of the hostel was an unsurprisingly rundown space with dim lightings, peeling wall plasters and a concrete floor with enough cracks to make him be glad that he didn't normally waltz about in heavy armour and carry around a massive gun. To his right there was a staircase leading to the upper floors and opposite of that was the reception counter where the owner of the establishment, a grizzled looking man of middling years flipping through a data slate with a bore look on his face. Across the open doorway, the Squat saw the common room where he could see some of the other mercenaries lounging about and watching a holo-screen.

The owner who everyone just called Ned, gave Krodien cursory look 'ho there Krodien' he said while keeping his attention mostly on the data-slate 'need to check with the armory?'

'Not tonight' replied Krodien while shaking his head lightly as the man referred to the basement of the hostel where an arms dealer had set up shop.

'Right then' said the owner as he went back to his data slate with Krodien deciding to see what some of the other mercs were up to. If he were lucky, he might be able to grab a drink before turning in for the night.

Standing around a drum can inside an alley which had a fire going within it, a group of hobos placed their hands near the flames to keep themselves warm. The night was cold as it normally was during these seasons with each of the vagrants wearing thick ragged garments picked off from the detritus of others. One of the hobos, an alcoholic who had been glad for being able to earn enough to buy a new bottle of hooch was eagerly drinking from his bottle.

The homeless man felt a comforting heat fill up his insides and he knew and honestly didn't care that the rotgut he drank was just a cheap mix of rubbing alcohol and various chemicals which probably would have been better of inside the engine of a car. As he enjoyed his drink, he suddenly heard a strange, sharp sound and saw a ball of light floating in the air. The other hobos looked at this ball of light with a mix of curiosity and fear as it began to expand into a glowing disc and from it, two figures stepped out.

The first one wore a dark brown leather coat with a fancy hat and a red visored gasmask like the ones used by some of the Imperium's soldiers. The other figure they only briefly saw but in less than a blink of an eye, disappeared before their very eyes. The disc of light soon dissipated and the two who had walked out from it paid little heed to the hobos as they exited the alley with the gas masked one moving in a staggering manner.

The alcoholic then looked to his bottle and began to have second thoughts about what he was drinking. Deciding that he would be better off without it, he tossed the bottle aside and it crashed into a wall and he swore that he ought to lay off of the stuff from now on.

Seeing the stumbling human female lean heavily on her right against a wall next to them and spoke 'I honestly don't know how you Eldar can handle that whole webway thing.'

'It is… normal… for us' shrugged Ellarian who wasn't quite sure how to respond to the human for he had to hold her hand while assisting her in traversing through the webway. It was curious though that gate generator led them here, to some darkened alley where some extremely impoverished looking humans resided. 'Can you tell me why now?' asked the Eldar Ranger who still full of questions about the situation she was in.

'Let's find some place safe first before I tell you, deal?' replied the Rogue Trader and Ellarian nodded while beginning to feel a bit impatient for he had been getting a lot of that recently.

Surveying the area around them and noting that the area seemed awfully quiet, perhaps even deserted, Ellarian had a feeling that this place may prove to be a bit dangerous. Hearing the footsteps of the Rogue Trader moving behind him, he glanced back to see her conversing with a gathering of thickly clothed humans who warmed themselves by a metal drum with a fire blazing within it. Merelen Cyierk then slipped them something and the other humans were quick to point somewhere.

The Rogue Trader then turned back towards the Outcast and as she drew closer he heard her speak 'looks like we are just in luck, there is place just across the street'.

Nodding to the human he followed her lead again and they left the alley where shortly thereafter, they crossed the road and headed left towards building with a short flight of steps leading up. A flickering holo-sign marked it out from the rest of the buildings around them but judging by the depiction of human styled bed, it was clear that this was some sort of lodging establishment. It all seemed a little too convenient for Ellarian who had some familiarity with the way Seers and fate worked.

Keeping quiet and allowing the human to go first while deactivating his cloak, they entered the structure which looked poorly built.

'Hey there' came a voice to their left and Ellarian looked to see a rather sleepy looking human male seated behind a counter and reading a data slate. 'Looking for a place to stay?' asked the human male 'we got space upstairs'.

'We are' replied Merelen Cyierk 'how much?'

'Fifteen Credits a night, paid up front, no negotiations, we also got a couple of private rooms, good for two' answered the human in a somewhat uninterested tone as he looked at the data slate in his hands.

'One night for the private room' said Merelen Cyierk as she moved towards the man and drew forth a number of currency papers which she handed the human male.

'Right then' the man said 'your room will be on the third floor to the right'. The human male then looked to a room which was across from where Ellarian and Rogue Trader were and he spoke 'feel free to use the lounge over there for meals or watching the holos'

Nodding to the human proprietor and giving a word of thanks, the Outcast looked to the Rogue Trader who motioned to the staircase and said to him 'come on Ellarian, I guess it's time to tell you the whole story.'

Crushing a now emptied aluminum can which had been filled with beer, Krodien relaxed himself on a somewhat filthy couch while watching the holo-screen which was tuned to a local news stations. Three other mercenaries of whom he had done a few jobs with were also lounging about and watching the holo. Like Krodien, each of them were allowed to carry their own weapons which made sure that others could see while some also carried weapons which would be concealed.

'This is Channel 7 Evening News delivering to you, the Greater Truth for the Greater Good' said a professionally dressed human man wearing a red suit. 'Our top story for tonight' continued the news anchor 'the brave boys and girls of the Fire Caste have won a great victory earlier today against the ork clans in the Igarra Mountains, with greenskin casualties estimated to be numbering in the tens of thousands.'

'That's where we should be' commented one of the mercenaries, a purple mohawked man with cheap bionic eyes, a lot of body piercings and a thick spike studded jacket with the handles of several throwing knives sticking out form the pockets. 'Out there fighting the greenies is where the money is at' he added.

'If you want to go be a Dog of War, Cuts, you go right ahead' gruffly interjected another mercenary named Boomer who was a large, older man with a square jaw and dressed in a poorly patched up Imperial Guard uniform while a loaded combat shotgun rested on his lap 'I'd rather stick to being street level where you don't gotta worry about Frakk like facing a hundred of the bastards at once'.

'Yeah? Easy for you to say with your fancy military training' replied Cuts rather mockingly.

'Hush you two' rasped a scarred and tattooed woman named Arbalest who was mostly bald save for lock of bright green hair, she wore a sleeveless green shirt which depicted a human skull on it while a submachine with its safety on was held in her left hand while the right rested on the arm of the couch

'Fire Commander Shas'O'Rhonai has promised in a public statement that until the ork threat has been completely removed from the mountains,' continued the news anchor 'a majority of the planetary Fire Caste garrison can expect to remain in deployment in the nearby future and is asking for volunteers to join the auxiliary.'

'I gave the auxiliary a try once' said Boomer with some disdain 'it's just like being in the Guard, except you have some damn aliens hogging all the credit instead of Space Marines.'

'Yes we have all heard this story' commented Arbalest as she rolled her eyes.

Ignoring the banter that passed between the other three mercenaries, Krodien continued to watch and listen the news reel for any other opportunities. As expected, the news was a mix of propaganda, praising the "Greater Good" of the Tau and trying to encourage people to further embrace the ideology to reports about the ongoing wars in the other Septs of the alien empire. Perhaps he should go look for a contract on Tyranid hunting, exterminating the bugs always gave him a strong sense of satisfaction and the pay was usually good.

'In other news, internal conflict within the nearby Imperium controlled Aegiria System intensifies with reports of multiple, simultaneous invasions from the Orks, Tyranids and a third, unknown force. Imperium military forces have mobilized towards the system which has drawn concerns from the Fire Caste's High Command, and Tau'va military forces may be mobilized to ensure the further security of not only Nussara VII but other worlds within the Sept.'

'Can we change the channel?' complained Cuts 'I am honestly getting sick of hearing about all this war crap'

'Welcome to the Milky Way' sarcastically replied Boomer 'not gonna be easy to find someplace where a dumb bastard isn't bombing the hell out of some other dumb bastard'

'Or waging some stupid war because some guy doesn't like the other's face' added Arbalest.

Reaching over to grab the remote of the holo-screen, Krodien handed it to Cuts who thanked him and the Squat hopped off the couch. As he began making his way out, he heard the news anchor speak in an alarmed tone

'This just in! A series of violent gunfights have broken out in the Mannen Spaceport which is rumored to be a haven for pirate affiliated gangs and even Greenskin Freebooters, local ASF police are currently cordoning off the spaceport and so far the only fatalities reported by the authorities are orkoid in origin, could this have been headquarters of a possible ork terrorist cell? We'll keep you all updated as the coverage continues.'

Whoever did that deserves a medal though Krodien who also hated Orks as much as he hated Tyranids. The galaxy would be a much better place he thought if the two just killed each other off, it would certainly being saving a lot of folks trouble. Letting out a loud yawn as he ascended the stair, the Squat hoped that he wasn't going to wake up with some bad hangover.

Seated down once more upon a mattress which was much harder when compared to the one in the brothel, Ellarian had quietly also noted the overall lack of hygiene among the sheets which were a varying shade of brown in colour. Looks like he was going to sleep with his cloak and armour on he thought as he also spotted a rather large brown shelled insect which filled him with revulsion, skittering upon the ceiling. The idea of sleeping in the middle of a wild forest was more appealing than this place he thought with its grimy walls which had cracks where other insects crawled in and out from.

'I've seen sump hole and I've been in sump holes, but this place just takes the cake' came voice of Merelen Cyierk who lay above him on the upper bed and the Outcast couldn't agree more. A moment of silence passed between them as they could hear the footsteps of the other occupants, the sound of the active holo-screen and the distant sounds of gunfire and fighting in the city.

'Now you tell?' asked Ellarian who was actually rather eager to learn more about what was going on with the human.

'Yeah, might as well' replied Merelen Cyierk who gave a soft sight before continuing on. 'It's like this Ellarian, when we first met, when you first found me on that planet, I was in the middle of a job, for Eorlianeth' she said with the Ranger keeping quiet and he allowed her to continue.

'I've been working for Eorlianeth for well… a long time I guess, probably short I reckon by the standards which you Eldar count time. Anyway, I kind of owe him a debt, a really big one which I have been trying to pay off and the only way to do that is to complete certain… "tasks" for him.'

Keeping quiet and absorbing what he had learned, Ellarian was curious about what sort of "tasks" the human female was going on about. Obviously something dangerous for sure as he remembered finding her inside an escape pod which had been jettisoned from a transport ship which had been boarded and hijacked by feral orks. The Outcast remembered the bodies he had found inside the escape pod and the trek through the snow as he carried her to his camp.

'So anyway, that last job I had from the Prince was that I had to go and make a deal with an Imperial Trade Guild which Eorlianeth wanted to use as a front for some of his own side businesses.'

'Prince Ansgar… trades with Imperium?' questioned Ellarian a bit incredulously for he had thought the Corsair Prince to be… well, a Corsair, a pirate.

'Yeah, and a lot of others, he is a tricky one, Eorlianeth, does a lot of business through proxies and shadows' confessed the human female who then continued her story with a bit of hesitation and anger in her voice. 'The job anyway got all fethed up by some guys who used to be a part of my own crew, bastards got greedy and ratted us out to some Arbites and PDF who were in the pockets of a rival Interplanetary Trade Guild which also had a nice little side business in Piracy and the Cold Trade. I lost a lot of my crew that day and I thought that I was the only one who even survived after that.'

'The one you kill, outside Ember Blade? With you?' asked the Ranger who began to piece together the story.

'Yeah, that little shit's name was Darrid' she said with contempt 'picked him up in the Underhive of Hydraphur, he was a good kid back then, or at least I thought he was.'

Ellarian noted the hint of remorse in her and he asked 'and those men who attack us?'

'Hired killers from the Arkos Syndicate, I recognized the kind of cheap bionics on the arm of one them' she replied while dangling herself down to face him while tapping the side of her head at eye level and it confirmed Ellarian's suspicions that indeed the human's eyes were cybernetically augmented, he briefly wondered what else about the human was replaced with machine parts. 'I don't know how they found me… us' she then said as she pulled herself back up 'but those fethers are going to regret crossing me.'

'You seek vengeance on this… Syndicate?' questioned the Outcast a bit incredulously.

'Not all of them' she answered 'just the fethers who got my friends killed and the bastards who betrayed my crew'.

'And you do this, alone?' asked Ellarian.

'Like I said earlier, I got some friends handling it already' replied the human vindictively 'I don't know when they are going to be done, but I know they are alive and well.'

Remembering the letter the human female had received, Ellarian then asked 'the message from earlier?'

'Yeah, it was from a member of my crew' answered the Rogue Trader 'a Psyker named Valeria who sometimes catches glimpses of future things'

'A Seer?' questioned Ellarian again who didn't think that it was even possible for Mon'keigh to peer into the skeins of fate.

'Well Val is not as good as you Eldar in that sort of thing, but she gets it right… most of the time and is great person to have watching your back when the sump hits the fans' the Rogue Trader then said and Ellarian heard the human female let out a sleepy yawn. 'I am gonna go catch some shut eye now, I will tell you the rest in the morning Ellarian.'

Nodding to the human, Ellarian settled himself in preparation to rest for the night as well. He was fairly sure that Merelen Cyierk had not told him everything as well and he found himself curious about the nature of her "debt" to Prince Angsar. Perhaps in time he thought, he might be able to gently coax it out of her but until then, he should take a cautious approach and give the human female time to willingly tell him all of the details.

'Sleep well' he said to his companion for falling into a restive trance and Ellarian soon drifted peacefully away into the bliss of sleep.

Sitting on his haunches and looking upon the world once more with physical eyes, Ulen Karr or at least that which had once been him was blankly gazing out into the dirty apartment cell which had for a long time, been the home of the gang leader. He felt the rush of every blood cell through his veins, the sloshing of bodily humors within his entrails and the breathe of air which passed in and out of his lungs. It was ecstasy to feel these simple things once more after being trapped in a cage of dried, withered flesh for so long.

Yet his task was not yet complete for there was still so much more to do. Near the leader of the Wyrd Bears was another syringe which contained the psycho-active drug which could imbue his psychic abilities. Once when he had been of flesh and blood, such crude methods would have been beneath him for so much more could be accomplished through the proper application of ritual and sacrifice.

'Power demand, Sacrifice' he whispered and in this case, it seemed that what little shred of old pride he once had would need to be sacrificed.

Picking up the syringe and injecting himself with a full dose of the drug, he relished in the pain it gave him and old memories flashed through his mind. He remembered that bloody, orgiastic ritual on Kyber Prime which had been fueled by both pain and mind-altering chemicals; he remembered that battle against the followers of the False Emperor on Zetrus when he had been hopped up on combat drugs. As his mind's eye expanded into the Empyrean, the being which had once been Ulen Karr gazed into the Eye and it gazed back at him.

Voices whispered in his mind as he saw the warp beings known as Kathartes fly around him, each of the angelic creatures were sublimely beautiful within the Emperyean and he longed to rejoin them in the Realms of the Gods. Among the voices was one which stood out, a deep, masculine voice which emanated from a godly warrior of ancient times. This warrior was well known to the one which had possessed the gang leader for it was the thing's lord and master.

'And so we move on to the final phase' came the deep voice of the ancient warrior whose body began to swell and alter its shape to reveal its true self. The warrior was now clad in an suit of dark crimson power armour which was inscribed with prayers and devotions of dark majesty, the glorious insignias of the eight pointed star and the burning daemon skull were proudly displayed and the thing which had once been Ulen Karr looked to his master with a sense of awe and dread. 'With the followers of the Corpse Emperor vanquished' spoke his master 'and the blind fools of the xeno faith in its place, this world will easily fall'

'What is thy bidding? My master' asked the being which possessed the gang leader.

'To finish what we had started so many years ago' replied his master, the Dark Apostle Nasaron the Maledictor 'the Host stands ready and the Pacts have been made, all that we require now is the Sword.'

The Saint's Sword, thought the being within the Ulen Karr as it remembered task it had been assigned to all those years ago. A mighty weapon, blessed by the followers of the Corpse Emperor had come to this world, a blade that was anathema to the Neverborn. The being within the gang leader cringed at the idea of facing such a weapon for unlike the psychic blades wielded by warp touched mortals, the Sword of the Saint could be wielded by any being and the merest scratch would be enough to cause such sublime agony that even minions of the Dark Prince would fear it.

Yet if such a powerful relic could be captured and its power desecrated to the will of the Ruinous Powers… the mere thought of it sent shivers of avarice up the possessed being's spine. But it had been years since the being's capture and it had no idea where the sword was, for it knew, it could be on some other planet or have been destroyed. Warily, the being voiced its concerns while fearing any displeasure from its master.

'I have it on good account from the Sorcerers in my company that the Sword is still there in Jasserus' said the Dark Apostle matter of factly 'it lies in the hands of the last remnants of those who would foolishly cling to the False Emperor's chains'.

The memories of the gang leader had become one with the being that possessed him and it knew of the mere mortals who foolishly waged a shadowy war with the intent on returning this world to the Imperium's dominion. 'I know that which you speak of master' said the being, but they are well armed and well equipped' explained the possessed gang leader 'the rabble lead by this flesh-sack had been able to slay a few for they had the element of surprise, but a full frontal assault would do little to serve the glory of the Dark Gods.'

'You will not be alone, my faithful servant' assured the Dark Apostle who then explained 'the Xeno Tau, in their childish naivety, allow mercenaries from other xenos species to operate among their worlds. 'Already' continued the Dark Apostle 'a company of the Sicarus should have already arrived on this world and the ignorant xenos believe them to be fighters heading towards Aegiria.' His master grinned evilly and spoke 'they are correct… in a sense but that will be for later, they should be en-route to meet you now my servant.'

'Then the sword will be yours my master' whispered the thing within Ulen Karr as so many centuries of intricate planning would be fulfilled.

'And with that' said the Dark Apostle 'my Ascension…'

Awakening with eyes suddenly flashing open, Ellarian gasped as he found himself to be drenched in cold sweat underneath his cloak and armour while remembering the last vestiges of a dream he just had. He had felt an all too familiar, dark presence scratching at his very soul and it filled him with the deepest sense of dread towards She Who Thirts. Internally checking his mental defenses and finding everything to be in place, Ellarian felt the comforting warmth of the soulstone brooch which was placed over the right side of his chest.

It was probably just a dream he thought, hopefully that was just it and yet he found that he couldn't quite convince himself that it was true. Looking up to the mattress above his and hearing only the soft breathing of his companion, he knew that the human was fast asleep. Feeling that his own sleep may not come so easily to him for now, the Outcast gently got off the hard bedding and he quietly moved off towards the doorway.

Working the simple and primitive lock on the door, he turned the round metal opening mechanism which caused a soft creak from the hinges on the side. Quietly exiting the room and moving into a rectangular chamber which contained four other doorways and the stairway leading down, the Ranger decided to explore a little and make sure that the building they were in was safe for the miniature webway generator he carried still needed time to recharge.

First checking the doorways on the same floor, Ellarian found each to be locked with no known way to get past them without causing too much sound. Deciding instead to go down below to the lower floors, the Ranger quietly descended from the staircase where he could hear the snores of the armed humans who seemed to be lodging within the establishment as well. Leaving these other Mon'keigh to their rest, he was about to descend another flight of stairs before he heard the distant roars of crude combustion engines in the distance which were followed by a series of grunts and shouting.

Oh Lord of Murder, really!? Questioned Ellarian as he drew his pistol in recognition of what was out on the streets now. First he nearly gets shot in some random shootings between human hoodlums, then he gets involved in a firefight with a bunch of hired thugs and now there are Khaine-damned orks on the way! Quickly regretting his earlier eagerness in getting involved with this task for the Prince, Ellarian made sure that the Neuro Disruptor he held was calibrated for killing.

Hearing a heavy step from one of the rooms where the sleeping humans were, he glanced to the direction of the sound and was surprised to see the Squat from earlier step out and clearly armed. The grim looking, short bearded creature clenched a heavy rifle in his hands which Ellarian believed was called a shotgun. The Squat did not notice Ellarian who was still concealed by his cloak and for a moment, he was deciding on whether he should assist the Squat or not.

The sound of heavy booted feet could be heard outside as one ork was bellowing orders to the others and judging by the sound they were making, Ellarian guessed that there were about a dozen or a few more of the vile greenskins. Instantly making a decision in regards to the Squat, Ellarian deactivated his cloak and the bearded creature was quickly surprised but thankfully, did not point its gun at the Eldar.

'You again!?' hissed the Squat in an alarmed whisper.

'Coincidence' replied Ellarian who then looked down the stairway as a heavy pounding could be heard from the main entrance of the building. 'Orks outside, many' the Ranger then said and the Squat nodded to him. Counting on the intense hatred which the Squats seemed to regard towards the orks, Ellarian was confident that if or more likely, when the shooting starts, he would find an ally with the short bearded creature.

As the pounding at the door continued, he really wished that he had brought his Avenger Shuriken Catapult as well as a lot of grenades.