Corbal sat in his makeshift office in the Fifth Armoury administration building. The pict-screen in the corner jabbered on but he wasn't listening to it, the ceiling was providing much better entertainment then the drivel the machine whined. The office was sparsely decorated, aside from a chair, a table and a cogitator, there wasn't much to this office save the file cabinet and the aforementioned pict-caster, there was barely enough room for the Captain himself. He desperately wanted to sleep as he reclined in his seat with his feet up on the desk. The annoying flak armour discarded for the moment. The data-slates that decorated the desk shoved to one side to allow the heavy booted feet space to rest.

The door opened slowly and a soldier entered a moment after declaring "Excuse me sir". "Captain Corbal" the soldier saluted as he entered, "Yes Jacob?" The Captain smiled to the underling. "Third platoon has been billeted sir" the lieutenant responded crisply. "Good work Lieutenant" the Captain smiled, hoping the officer would leave quickly, but it seemed something the pict-screen said caught the said officer's ear. "Oh, is that the agent of the higher ups?" Word had spread among the soldiery that a Representative had was arriving to inspect the hive. "She's pretty" the young soldier awed at her face as she appeared on the screen. The Captain looked at the screen, and he had to agree, though after spending the last five months with almost three thousand soldiers in an exceedingly warm barracks would make anyone else look like an angel.

The Tercian 509th Regiment was the latest of many newly founded units formed from the Planetary Defence Force's upper-crust. However the recent spate of recruiting had meant that the number of new regiment didn't match the number of available transports to move them to the nearest warzone. The Departmento Munitorum had told the regiment that a proper troopship would be in their system that could accommodate them and their equipment. They told them that almost six months ago and the governor didn't want to annoy the Departmento Munitorum by dispatching the three regiments that were still on planet without proper orders or even a proper destination to go to.

"I wonder if she'll tour the armoury" the Lieutenant openly asked. The Captain doubted that very much, pretty face like that? She wouldn't be able to tell a guardsman from an Astartes. No, he thought, she would spend all her time with the high society being fawned over by dozens of hand servants and eating the finer foods before finally leaving with a full stomach and only half a brain cell of what life was actually like on Tercius under the upper-levels and high spires.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up lieutenant" Corbal said eventually, "We have bigger worries other then the spit shine on our boots."

The Lieutenant turned to the older Captain. "You think we'll really move into the underhive sir?"

Corbal looked at the young officer as he sat straight, his chance at sleep ruined; he was barely out of his teens and was now expected to lead almost fifty men into battle against traitors, xenos and mutants. He looked genuinely scared that his first of those battles would be spent killing his countrymen of the very hive he had come from. Since they hadn't left yet they had resumed their previous duty of planetary defence troops, albeit in separate barracks and command structure. The former PDF officers had been divided out to provide a definitive command structure for the burgeoning regiments. Unfortunately there wasn't enough to fill all the platoon commander slots. Only first company in their regiment had 'experienced' lieutenants, the rest were equally as new as the troops they commanded.

"Maybe Lieutenant, maybe" The Captain lied, it was almost a foregone conclusion by this point that they would at least move to control, if not crush the gangs entirely. To move so many men and so much equipment and not use deploy them would reflect badly on the governor to the PDF commanders and the media. The Arbites were pretty much thing that could halt the operation through annihilation of the gangs save a visit from the Emperor Himself.

"We go where were needed Jacob, we are the Imperial Guard, remember that" The Captain propped up as he saw the Lieutenants face drop sullenly. "If we must move in then I expect a proper performance from my troops and my officers, no matter the enemy, is that understood."

"Sir Yes sir" the lieutenant said proudly despite what his face showed. The Lieutenant saluted and then exited the office, leaving the Captain and the pict-screen. He watched as the camera pan over the ground-car and the attendant Arbites and their Rhino, both with visible damage to their surfaces and what looked to be slashes on one Arbites' armour.

"Just what are we gonna' face in there" Corbal said quietly to himself.

The Rhino sallied back into the courtyard after an hour and a half, almost three hours after it departed earlier that day. Task Force Carnodon was still out on patrol and suppression actions. Last Thall heard, the Provost was leading a combat team into a suspected gambling den. The teams had finished playing about an hour ago and now the Imperial law keepers had to deal with the aftermath.

As the Rhino slowed to a halt near the main building, a team of Arbite Medical and a Forensics team moved forward. The Rhino's ramp dropped and the Arbites exited. Thall nodded to the four Cadets holding a steel cradle. They were here to carry the fallen Arbite that was sharing the space with a mutant. Thall resisted the urge to spit in disgust. He merely opened the casket and allowed the team to extract the body. They placed the body into the cradle reverently, Grasis moved towards the body and reached into his pocket. The dog tags jangled as they were removed from the pouch. Grasis looked to them again before sighing. He placed them on the chest of the fallen Arbitrator. The shotgun laid beside the body as the team took him away to be consecrated and buried.

Thall held no such respect for the ganger; he gripped the hard flesh of the mutant arm and almost ripped the dead corpse from the simple container. The Medical team held a far less ornate stretcher, ready to accept the corpse. Thall heaved the straggly offender onto the white fabric. The dark blood immediately started to stain the cloth.

With a dismissive gesture Thall sent the Forensic team on their way. He turned to the others and looked to the Proctor. Frenius removed his helmet and pulled back his balaclava. He breathed deep as he waved the squad up towards the main building.

The doors swung open for the five Arbites. The menials bowed low as the Proctor entered with a grim face. his bolter held in his grip and his black cloak flowing behind him. Thall and the others till had their helmet on and marched in behind the Proctor in a box formation.

Cairn had to stifle a laugh as he saw the faces of the Cadet, menials and the citizens at the front desk. They must have looked like something straight out of a holo-drama. The previous commotion died immediately as they entered. Once again the boots stomped in mud and debris into the previously clean white floors. This time however, Thall didn't care what the menials thought. The Arbitrators on the desk stood straight and saluted to the returning honour guard.

One young child, probably accompanying a parent to the precinct wondered out from the queue and stood in front of the Proctor. A woman, Thall assumed the child's mother darted out to scoop up the boy form the implacable Arbite march. She whimpered an apology and bowed low to the Proctor. Frenius stopped and looked the woman with his hardened features. The woman seemed to shrink into her manufactoriam overalls even further.

The four others drew to a halt behind the Proctor. Thall could hear an almost inaudible growl emanate from Frenius. Thall shot a quick glance to Sven who returned it, was the Proctor going to charge them with Impediment of an Arbite?

The Proctor reached to his waist, hovering over the marker gun. The thick armoured fingers delved down. Thall held his breath, was the Proctor in that bad of a mood, Thall felt for the loss of a comrade too but even he wasn't about to pull a 'Arbitrator Fear', a holo-drama character from a factually incorrect series about the Arbites, renowned for his harsh nature and strict adherence to the law, even more than the standard most Arbites held themselves too.

The hand of the Proctor whipped quicker than Thall could follow. The woman almost shrieked in terror before she saw what the Proctor was holding. A simple grox flavoured ration bar. The child reached out from his mother's arms and took hold on the silver wrapping. The Proctor broke a smile and the crowd let their combined breath go. A wave of relief washed over all of them as the Proctor ruffled the hair of the child and continued his march onwards.

The five entered the preparation hall and started to relive themselves of their armour. They changed in silence. The weight of the day starting to push on each of them, mentally and physically. Cairn was the first to sigh audibly. "What a day" he said laconically. "First those kids, then the block war, then that!" He shook his head and sighed again. Thall looked to his partner and shook his head.

The shotguns hung from the racks and the laspistol were returned to their places. The once clean armour was placed back into the lockers. The Proctor sat on the bench that lead down the centre of the aisle. He rubbed his face with sweat lined hands. "We are now officially off duty" The Proctor said from underneath his palms, he dropped his hands on his lap. "Squad, dismissed" The four other saluted sharply and promptly left the hall.

The Proctor was left alone in the preparation hall. He reached to a stack of papers on an inside shelf in his locker. He pulled one free and laid it on his lap. He also took a stylus. The title on the paper read 'Official Record of the Deceased' and with a final sigh he started to fill out the form, he hated doing these forms.

Thall sat down into a padded seat in the refectory. The grox-bun in his hand had a massive bite taken from it. The hall was quiet due to the distinct lack of Arbites in the precinct and the usual tone of muted conversation that took place that happened within the large walls of the refectory. The servitors bussed trays of food back and forth between the tables of Arbites, several off-duty administratum drones and menials.

As he chewed his way through the meat he thought on today's events. What was that mutation being the main question that filled his mind.

Cairn dropped into the seat opposite from the pondering Thall. The clearly tired Arbitrator put on a lazy smile "Good grox today?" he asked. Thall chewed a few more seconds before responding "Reprocessed, as usual" he mumbled. "Good, my favourite" Cairn laughed as he waved down a servitor and ordered one himself.

"What the hell was that arm?" Cairn asked as he slouched in the seat. "If he asked for that I'd ask for a refund." He quipped as the servitor returned with his food. "Thanks" he nodded to the servitor despite the uselessness of the gesture. Thall took another bite as the servitor wandered off on it caterpillar tracks. "Perhaps a purge in the underhive would be needed" Thall said. "Some serious purging needed in the hive overall" Cairn said off-handily. "Bit harsh don't ya think?" Thall glared at his friend. "You see what those claws did to me!" Cairn stressed with the slight humour.

The two sat talking, drinking a small stream of recaf and eating the reprocessed grox buns. They were only disturbed by the rumbling of Task Force Carnodon.

Thall and Cairn exited the refectory with their third round of grox buns. The growl of the Rhinos and Repressors could be heard from the courtyard; the occasional Castigator Riot Vehicle lingered among them but was otherwise overshadowed by the up-gunned Repressors the Tercius Arbites were in the habit of deploying.

The two Arbitrators exited into the courtyard expecting to see the entire Task Force, they saw only a handful of vehicles. A couple of Sentinel pilots walked up towards the main precinct in a hurried gait. "Where's the fire?" Cairn quipped as the Arbitrator approached.

The pilot was panting as she halted in front of the off-duty Arbites. "Frak hit the fan downtown." She panted, "We just returned to empty our prisoner holds and re-fill our ammunition stockpiles." Thall handed her his grox bun to which she wolfed down eagerly. After she finished she sprinted off again.

"Evening" A voice pulled the attention of the two. "Farrell!" Cairn exclaimed. The Arbitrator was being helped up the steps by a Cadet as he clutched at the side of his chest. "Oh Emperor" Cairn sighed "Can't you stop yourself being shot?"

The Arbitrator chuckled "Stabbed actually" He corrected, "The crowds were fine till somebody let off a shotgun." Farrell smiled "Next thing I know, a young girl shivs' me."

Thall and Cairn shook their heads. "Didn't the Doc' staple you back together this afternoon?" Thall put forward.

"Wouldn't want him to get bored?" Farrell laughed as the Cadet hauled him up the steps.

"You think we should go help?" Cairn asked Thall as they watched the Arbitrator be pulled towards the Medical wing. Thall shrugged, officially they were off-duty and there were plenty of units still available to assist the Provost.

But to due to the citizen riot, those resources were split. At last check the riot was slowly moving towards the stadium, possibly to link up or just by coincidence. "Our armour is rather damaged," Thall said as he continued to watch, "But we should find a way to help." He said sternly as another troupe of Sentinels stomped to a halt in front of a squad of waiting Enginseers. Thall turned to Cairn "Your Sentinel licence still valid?" The Arbitrator nodded as he took the final bite of his grox bun.

"No need. We have everything under control" the grizzled voice of Bale echoed up to the two as his heavy boots stomped up the steps. In his iron grip was a whimpering citizen, a red stain miscoloured his blue manufactoriam overalls, his eyes wild with fear. "Take the perp'" Bale ordered as he thrust the man forward. Thall grabbed the criminal as he stumbled up the steps. "What he do?" Thall asked as he retrained the fear-wrecked man.

"A Section 92" Bale growled.

"Criminal Damage" Thall echoed to the perpetrator. "A Section 102" Bale continued.

"Rioting" Thall echoed again.

"You're looking at eight years" Cairn warned to the man.

"I wasn't rioting" he squealed, "I was just trying to get home!" but Bales voice boomed again.

"And a Section 114."

Thall looked to the veteran sergeant "Littering?"

Bale merely nodded. "The only thing he did right was he didn't resist arrest." Thall looked to the perp' "Oh you're in for it now" he said with a chuckle as he hauled the skinny man up the steps.

"Colonel" The Captain saluted as entered the briefing hall. He was waved down towards a seat in the centre of the hall.

"Captain Corbal" Colonel Kravitz nodded.

"Now we're all here." Captain Derringer shrugged as he reclined in his seat. The Colonel sent the Captain a stern look but dropped it a moment later. "What's happening in there Colonel?"

The captains of the Tercian 509th were sat around a simple wooden table in front of a holo-projector that displayed the schematics of Hive Lucius. The briefing hall was in the centre of the administration building, usually used by the administratum to discuss various numbers on slates. The Hall originally stated to hold upwards of two hundred now seated fifty, the captains and logistic personnel from the regimental headquarters and service company. The arid smell of low-grade recaf permeated every fibre of the room like some sort of malodorous spectre.

The Colonel coughed to clear her throat as she began. "As of two standard terran hours ago, Hive Lucius entered into a state of alert. A standard, run-of-the-mill citizen riot sparked up despite the exemplary efforts of the Arbites to contain the situation, the disruption spread throughout several city blocks." She stopped for a moment to allow the hololith to alter to show a representation of her words.

"The Arbites are rounding up the rabble-rousers now and the riot is expected to died down soon, though this falls within the usual standards of larger riots. However, it seems in a panic, Governor Macekre has finally given the order for the Imperial Guard to begin operations into the underhive" The words dropped like an anvil to Corbal, despite the fact he was expecting them, he was still taken aback by the order. The Colonel's face showed the same expression, "The rank-and-file Planetary Defence Forces will hold off the moment." She turned to Aran, the Captain of the 509th first company. "The first will lead with a mechanised spearhead" The screen again changed as she fiddled with several knobs and dials. "The other companies will fill in after the first takes, Mostatia plaza." The hololith changed to show the said plaza. "That area is our designated staging zone in the underhive" The Colonel stated clearly.

"What are the rules of engagement?" Captain Garrius asked as he leaned forward, absorbing every miniscule detail of the map. His fourth company would be the default for defence of the little staging area. This is where the Colonel visibly hesitated. "We are, by order of the Governor, to react to all approaches by civilians as a hostile action and to deal with it accordingly." Also known in Guardsmen terms as Fire at Will.

"We, the 509th will deploy in five standard hours" The Colonel ordered clearly and the six captains replied in kind.

"Captain Corbal" The Colonel said again after a hushed conversation with Major Julian, the regimental second-in-command. "Your men are to link the 509th and the 507th, here" The map changed to the area just to the east of Mostatia plaza, to what looked like a small yet expansive range of tunnels and service corridors. Despite the difficult nature of the area, it would provide an invaluable cordon to contain the ganger's movement in that area of the Underhive. The small tunnels would however put the Imperial Guard troopers at a massive disadvantage. Judging from the tiny scale at the bottom of the hololith, it looked like the guardsmen would just be able to walk by twos through the inescapable death trap they were walking into. The Captain sighed as it was his turn to absorb as much data in a few moments. This was getting worse by the moment.

"Hold!" Proctor Serganius roared as the stubber rounds raced over them. The sparks of gunfire sprinkled on the suppression shields the Arbitrators held in their grips. The shield wall held true under the pressure of fire from the gangers. In the chaos of the riot, various gangs had decided to take advantage of the situation and had hid inside the tumultuous tides of people, further inciting the crowds to higher and higher acts of riotous conduct.

The Proctor waved the shield wall forward. In unison the wall marched onwards in formation. The rioters shouted abuse and hurtled primitive missiles into the oncoming Arbites. True to their training, the Arbites marched unperturbed into the rain of vocal and physical abuse.

The Arbites came to a halt on order and stayed still as the gangers became more and more fervent. A few came close enough to attack the shields with clubs and simple bladed weapons. They continued long enough for others in the crowd to close and vent their anger. One closed to yell at an Arbite, feeling safe because of the crowds behind him. The man was a thin and tall juvies whose entire right arm had been covered in coloured patterns.

The juvie expected for his voice to fall uselessly on the steely ears and hardened suppressions shields of the Adeptus Arbites, what he did not expect was the shield in front of him to jut out, smashing the young man to the ground. The shield came down and the juvie yelled out even as his mouth filled with blood from his recently crushed nose. Instead the shield landed to the side of the juvie, shielding him from the crowd. In a moment of blind uncertainty the juvie looked up to see the powerful glare of the black armoured Arbite staring down at him. The noise of thudding feet didn't register to the juvie until two pairs of hands grabbed the simple fabrics of his clothes and hauled him away. The shield returned to position in the wall as if nothing had happened and continued to hold true under the unceasing hail of missiles and stubber rounds. The dull crack of a laspistol followed after a short, sharp very one sided conversation.

The Proctor looked through the vision slit of his shield to the crowd. The vox-horn coughed into life as the ground rumbled behind the line. "Proctor Serganius, this is Castigator TA-23, rolling into position, awaiting your order." The Proctor growled back as another hail of rounds sparked across the adamantium shield. "Castigator TA-23, you may fire at will, full dispersion pattern." The low drum of thunder pounded into the air. The vehicle launched grenades in an arcing trajectory into the riot, many were take-down grenades, permeating the air with arid gas designed to cause coughing spasms within its victims, but little lasting damage. The built-in respirators of the Arbites protected them from the gases most dangerous effects. Only the horrible smell of the tainted air got passed the filters.

"Sun's coming up!" The Castigator called too all the Arbitrators who by reflex looked away from the crowd. The photon-flash grenades burned bright as they raced over the shield wall. Dozens of perpetrators were immediately blinded, some permanently. The scream of the crowd overtook the machine-grenade launchers eventually as more and more grenades of either type landed into the unrepressed mob.

"Forward" The Proctor deftly ordered with another grim look out into the unruly horde as the bombardment ceased to facilitate the advance. As they stepped over the fallen bodies and weeping citizens, they were cleaned up and hauled towards the Arbite rear line by dedicated teams of Cadets.

The idling Rhinos and Chimeras sat prepared should the riot turn militant and direct lethal action be required. Several teams of bolter-armed combat teams stood ready to support them should it be necessary. Sniper teams were stationed on the lower rooftops and were actively attempting to find a seemingly invisible ring-leader, so they sat prepared to fire but not doing so, no use in wasting ammunition on the cannon fodder of the riot.

The mass gathering of people had been slowly but surely herded into this city block after two long, painful hours of riot actions. No one was sure who fired the first shot, the Arbites or the crowd and by that point the rioting public were long past caring, they were riled up and furious about an entire multitude of things from tithes to parking tickets. The Provost had led the combat teams directly to clear up any stragglers.

"Tide incoming!" An Arbitrator roared as the crowd returned to its senses after the brutal barrage of grenades. A war cry raced out from one of them along the lines of "Get 'em!" More in common with Orks then previously decent human beings who maybe would have smiled and said hello to a passing Arbitrator.

The sheer mass of bodies smashed against the shields of the Arbites, the raw momentum would have toppled and bowled over the vastly out-numbered Arbites if it had not been for the reinforcement of the line by almost three score nearby Cadets and Arbitrators. The shouting became a simple continuous note of unintelligible babble to some of the Arbites as they countered the horde as they smacked into the unrelenting shields like a wave against a beach.

"Hold!" The Proctor roared as his shield shuddered and rattled but held true nonetheless. He threw himself against the horde to hold them at bay. "Hold!" He roared again as more and more pressure was pressed against the Arbites. The Castigator fired a few more photon-flash grenades but it was almost to no use. The sheer inertia of the crowd meant even if blind, the mass would still move in the direction of the Arbites.

"Hold!" He ordered again as he felt the ground scrape underneath him, inch by painful inch. The Proctor looked to the pained expressions of the Cadets as they pushed with all their might. The Arbitrators held firm, not one falling to the onslaught of raw force being exerted on them.

The time was near, the momentum couldn't hold forever, and when it dropped or sagged, it would be time. The Proctor reached with a quick hand to the shock maul at his waist. "Prepare Arms!" He shouted as he pressed the activation rune. The weapon buzzed into life as he readied it. The other thirty or so Arbitrators that formed the shield wall that completely blocked the road complied.

There was a very minor drop in force, and to the Proctor, not a moment too soon. "Push!" He shouted and the Arbitrators obeyed. Each step was agonisingly slow, the momentum was gone but the weight behind it was still there.

"Shields!" The Proctor ordered with a tinge of enthusiasm. As one the Arbitrators clicked on the shields 'suppression' feature. A variant of the refractor fields favoured by Imperial Guard officers, only instead of protecting the user, it lashed out with stunning bolts of electricity at whoever closed on the outer face of the shield. Immediately almost a hundred gangers and civilians jerked back, some dropped to the ground and some were pushed into the welcoming embrace of the Arbite's suppression field. A few died as their bodies were overloaded with electrical power, causing some to just drop dead. The crowd's morale, at least at the front, broke. They tried to turn and run from the now advancing localised lightning wall.

"Suppress!" The Proctor roared as he jabbed out with his shield to fell a miscreant who didn't get away in time. The suppression field combined with the sheer blow from the adamantium shield smashed opened the fragile skull of the perpetrator, felling him dead. The other Arbitrators followed by example and training. They rammed and sundered the retreating frontline as they collided with the pressing hordes still coming. It was a slaughter. Those that survived the suppression field and the furious ramming of the shield itself, soon found themselves crushed by the sheer weight behind them. Others died under the feet of their retreated fellows or under the heavy boots of the Arbites.

"No Mercy, No Quarter, No Retreat, Only Justice!" The Proctor yelled as he brought his maul into play, bringing it down on the first ganger that looked like he was going to put up a fight. The metallic rod impacted on the ganger's shoulder hard, the blow alone would have broken the collar bone, the electrical discharge only added insult to injury by flash frying the skin around the impact. The raised fist of the ganger dropped limply as the mind lost control of the appendage. The face of the ganger turned from a mask of rage to a mask of fear in that instant, the follow up swipe of the maul turned it to a mask of blood as the maul broke the cheek bone soundly.

"Havoc!" The Proctor cried the code-word to the handlers at the rear near the Rhino's over the vox. The Proctor leading the Kayninez squads nodded and looked to his own Arbitrators. Each of the four held in their hands a laspistol and four tense heavy grox-hide leashes. At the ends of those leashes were some of the fiercest animals the Proctor had ever seen, Frenzon-filled cyber-hounds. Each was salivating as the fury-inducing drug pumped around their systems. The Proctor held a single leash himself, holding the seemingly more docile cyber-bullmastiff. But the Proctor knew that if he uttered the simple words, the dog would fly into a ravenous rage. Each of the dogs had been both cybernetically and genetically altered to bring them to the uncompromising standards of the Adeptus Arbites.

The Proctor kneeled next to his partner, his own hound. He pointed towards the riotous mob. "When I say, sick 'em" the Proctor grinned at his ruffled the fur of his long-time friend. The dog panted back and licked the gauntlet that held a meat chunk in front of the dog. The meat was laced with the taste of blood to acclimate the loyal hound to the coming action. The Proctor looked to the front. The Cadets and non-Suppression Arbitrators had backed away to allow the Kayninez to attack. The Arbitrators had followed their Proctor example and were now engaging the rioters in mêlée. The occasional bolt flew through the appearing gaps into the mob.

The Proctor stood and looked to the others who were barely holding on to their charges. "Release!" The Proctor cried as he let go of the leash. The others followed suit an instant later. The hounds ripped out towards the horde of unruly citizens.

The dogs howled and roared as they leapt into battle beside the Arbites. They bit and tore at the civilians and gangers, the sharpened teeth sliced easily through the simple overalls that most the rioters wore. Many fell backwards when hit by almost a hundred pounds of meat, teeth and metal. Some stayed conscious into the attack long enough to scream as the vicious dogs mauled at their chests and faces. As each criminal became submissive or rendered unconscious the cyber-hounds were trained, despite the Frenzon flowing in their veins to move on to the next target. The Bullmastiff, was almost the leader of the dogs, he was the first into the battle and was flanked by his 'squad' of the four biggest Kayninez in the entire team. The combined squad of dogs took down one ganger after another, they helped Arbitrators who were surrounded or locked in a grapple fight with the rioters.

The snipers started to plink away at the rear line of the charge. The rounds killing two, maybe three with each shot. But still more came, regardless of the losses from the main body of the riot which now found itself under attack from five separate directions along the block by the Arbites.

All restraints were off; the rioters had plenty, more than ample opportunity to break off and go back to their hab-blocks. But they persisted in the looting and the violence against anyone in their path. The gangers in the crowd had done little more than incur a larger force of Arbites to defeat them then usually prescribed. Arbitrators and other teams had been called in from almost three other levels over the last two and a half hours.

Serganius led the Arbitrators by fighting deeper and deeper into the rioters. His shield, maul and boots were stained red. He had to fight down the rising lust for battle; this should be a grave duty after all, not something to make light off. As he and his squad mates laid into the innumerable gangers and civilians with maul and shield a cry ripped across the vox followed by a simple message, "Corvus is down! We're being overrun here!" An Arbitrator called off too Serganius' left. A desperate glace revealed nothing, the curtain of black armour, whirring mauls, stabbing knives and dirty overalls obscured his view.

"I have a sighting" One of the Snipers called, "I'll cover best I can from here, get him out." To enforce the point several rounds speared through the horde in no real order, just killing them to provide a retreat path for the wounded Arbitrator. The cyber-hounds again came into play here as they bit and barked their way through the crowd towards the fallen Arbitrator as per their training, their built in auspexes allowed them to find the homing signal for Arbitrator Corvus.

They found the source of the signal and bit onto the armour, the teeth allowing them purchase on the carapace armour. As two of the dogs dragged the fallen arbitrator out, the three other leapt forward. They growled and bit at any who got to close. The fallen being a higher priority than the law-breakers at this point.

The two dogs were aided by two members of the combat team that was providing support fire. They patted the dogs to thank them as they hooked their arms under shoulders of Corvus and lifted him up; there was a lot of blood and Corvus himself wasn't making much noise save short, shallow ragged breaths.

As the two hoisted the Arbitrator towards the waiting medical team, one of them caught a glimpse of the shield, great claw marks adorned its surface as if he had been attacked by some sort of wild beast, now that was entirely possible if the Suppression-Arbitrator had just returned from rural duty, such beast did live in the forests around Hive Lucius, but the fact that both the armour bore similar marks around the great wound on his stomach and the fact that the Arbitrator knew of no beasts that made claw patterns like the ones on the shield and armour.

The two hoisted the wounded comrade onto the metal stretcher and after a nod from the attendant Arbite; they turned and returned to the fight.