Chapter 10
"I don't care HOW much you're offering us, asari. Until you can guarantee me that there are no Deathwatch on that planet, I'm not taking my crew anywhere near it! You want your family flag back so badly? Go fucking get it yourself!"
-Battlemaster Gatatog Krugg, leader of the Krogan mercenary outfit "The Hammers of Vaul".
"My Armor is Contempt.
My Shield is Disgust.
My Sword is Hatred.
In the Emperor's name,
Let None Survive."
-War-Oath of the Adeptus Astartes.
…
Thunderhawk Gunship Hammer of Judgment, on course to BHMV Fangs of Hashak.
"We are approaching the Xeno ship, my lord, and should connect in a minute or so."
Sergeant Osiris nodded at the pilot's report, standing behind the pilot and copilot's seats in the cockpit of the thunderhawk. "What is the status of the other boarding operations?"
"Kill Team Lothbrok has cleared the first deck of their target, and are pressing forwards. Lord Devinir's shuttle is closing on their target, but won't arrive for another few minutes."
"Very well pilot, seal up the cockpit behind me. There is a risk that combat could break the boarding seal." The Lamenter said, turning and striding from the room.
"Yes my Lord!" The human said as the hatch slid shut behind him. Osiris walked down the short ramp into the main holding area, where his brothers were awaiting the imminent battle, each performing their own pre-battle rituals, most of them for the moment unhealmed.
Librarian Persax was the nearest to the rear of the hold, sitting in one of the harnesses with his head bowed and his force-stave held in both hands, eyes closed as he quietly recited the Blood Raven's Litany of Control, his psychic hood glowing slightly as arcs of ethereal energy jumped from the dampening device to his scalp and back.
Brother Husun sat across from the psyker, his eyes closed and angular, yellowish-tan face calm as the former Company Champion meditated, his silver hair drawn up into a small topknot and a bushy mustache adorning his upper lip.
Brother Herus was next to Persax, performing some last-minute maintenance on his Combi-Melta. His reddish-brown hair was shorn close to his head, and his chiseled features were scrunched with concentration as he cleaned the inner workings of his weapon's firing mechanism.
Across from him, Brother Gorvax was performing some maintenance on his mechanical right hand. The bionics that replaced his right eye (and indeed, most of the right side of his head) whirring as it magnified, the flesh on the left side of his face (which was surprisingly rounded for an Astartes) a deep brown color, and devoid of any hair whatsoever.
Apothecary Augustus was in a similar position as the Librarian, head bowed and hands clasped in prayer, mouthing the words of his devotion silently.
Across from Theoverus was Brother Sar'al, his void-black skin lit by the flickering fire in a bowl that the Salamander had in his right hand, speaking the words of the Promethean Cult with the marine next to him; one of the three 'Specialists' that usually worked separately from the main squad, a Black Dragon named Zar Challax. Challax had adopted the ancient code of Vulkan after the old Nocturnian had taken the younger assault marine under his wing, seeing a conflict in him that echoed that of many a Salamander Neophyte faced once their skin began to darken and their eyes to glow.
The Dragon's face looked on the younger side, his skin greyish in color and marred by the mutations that had made the Dragons infamous among the Inquisition. Two growths of bone jutted from the Zar's cheekbones, sweeping up alongside his eyes, and from the his forehead four nubs of bone protruded, located in pairs roughly over his eyebrows, peeking out from under shaggy blond bangs. In addition, his vambraces were modified to accommodate the retractable bone-blades that marked him as a Dragon Claw, and served as his primary melee weapons.
Across from Challax was their other assault marine, and another specialist; Inax Sed'hra, a veteran of the secretive Voidstalkers chapter, and a master of stealth and terror who had accompanied the Inquisitor to the Xeno space station. He was sitting silently, his black eyes watching the two squadmates across from him as he sharpened one of the short flensing knives that he used in his grisly work of striking fear into the enemies of Man.
Lastly was their marksman specialist, Marcus Lanyx of the Raptors chapter. The son of Corax bore hints of the genetic appearance of his primarch, his skin pale and his hair dark, with a serious expression on his face as he nodded in greeting to the squad Sergeant. He had exchanged his Stalker bolter for a Deathwatch Shotgun, as the battle rifle would be of negligible use in the cramped confines of a starship.
Osiris banged a hand against the wall of the gunship, drawing all eyes to him.
"We approach the target. Helmets on. Contact in T-minus-fourty seconds."
The nine astartes swiftly donned their helms, air hissing as their power armor became a sealed environment. In moments, the individuals were gone, replaced by faceless warmachines that stood ready to kill and die in the Emperor's name.
Though Osiris didn't think there'd be much dying on the Imperial side today.
As was customary, the Sergeant was the last to done his helm, his Hud lighting up with as it connected, showing his vital signs and an ident fine for each member of the squad, alongside updates from the local noosphere. He blinked away most of the information, walking to the front of the troop compartment, hearing his squad stand as he passed.
He stopped before the airlock door, glancing at the red light beside it, signifying it was unsafe to open. Slowly, he unsheathed Bloody Salvation, placing the tip of the ancient Chainsword on the floor of the hold and folding his hands over the pommel.
Then he spoke.
"In Darkness," he began.
"I shall Be Light." Finished Sar'al.
"In times of Doubt," continued Persax
"I shall Keep Faith." Intoned Theoverus.
"In throes of Rage," growled Zar.
"I shall hone My Craft." Whispered Husun.
"In Vengeance," rumbled Herus.
"I shall have No Mercy." Hissed Sed'hra.
"In the midst of Battle," said Lanyx.
"I shall have No Fear." Stated Gorvax.
"And in the face of Death," Osiris spoke again, lifting his blade from the floor and taking grip, drawing his inferno pistol.
The hold filled with the sounds of purring motors, cracking energy and racking slides as weapons were primed.
"I Shall Have No Remorse." The ten demigods of war said as one.
There was a clunking noise, and the light turned green. Airlock sealed.
"These xeno's are ignorant of the Emperor's fury. Let us Instruct them. Deathwatch; Breach and Cleanse."
…
Unlike the teleport strike on the Final Judgement, the crew of the Fangs of Hashak had been able to watch the enemy boarders approaching, and while Captain Pralo didn't want to test the conviction of the hostile dreadnought's promise of destruction, she was more than ready to fight tooth and nail for her ship, and the loot it contained.
So it was that the dozen marines which made up the ship's security detail took up defensive positions around the airlock which the enemy ship was approaching. The defense was overseen by a quartet of SIU operatives, who served as the ground-ops team and ensured that discipline and loyalty were maintained among the crew.
The batarians had unknowingly arranged themselves in a similar manner to the defenders of the Blue Suns raider several hours ago. There were three marines with shotguns waiting in cover closest to the door, the SIU Sentinel and Vanguard waiting with them to provide close-ranged biotic and tech support. The rest of the marines, armed with assault rifles and a pair of grenade launchers, were scattered back along the short hall which lead to the hold of the frigate, as well as the SIU engineer who had set up a sentry turret in the center of the hall. Lastly, the leader of the SIU team was kneeling behind several crates a decent distance from the open door of the hall, a M-98 Widow deployed and ready to obliterate whatever came through that door.
There was a clang and a hiss as something connected to the other side of the airlock, and hands tightened on weapons as the soldiers waited for the door to slide open.
They were caught off guard when the door exploded.
The blast rocked the ship, sending more than a few marines staggering. From the haze of smoke in the door erupted a hail of gunfire, massive rounds smashing into exposed batarians and blasting them from their feet with missing limbs and detonated chests.
The batarians returned fire, blind firing into the smote to try and suppress the attackers. At the screamed command of the engineer, the marines with grenade launchers fired into the smoke.
The grenades were halfway to their targets when two hair-thin beams of fire melted them out of the air.
The defenders were only shocked for a moment, as then an angry orange-yellow glow grew in the haze, and then an instant latter erupted into an inferno.
The fire rocketed through the door, twisting and growing in unnatural shapes. The operatives were able to dive clear but the three shotgunners were engulfed in an instant, their screams drowned out by the hellish crackling of the flames.
And striding through it, cobalt blue armor gleaming in the flickering fires, helmet lenses glowing with unearthly white light, came the Librarian, hand outstretched and wreathed in billowing flame that curled and moved as it flowed from his palm.
The SIU agents frantically backpedaled from the encroaching fire, the Sentinel operative frantically hurled a biotic throw at the advancing shape, causing it to falter in it's step. The other batarians intensified fire on the flame-wreathed giant, and then another shape appeared through the flames.
Brother Zar burst through the swirling inferno, a snarl on his lips and bone blades extended as he pounced on the sentinel, bearing him to the floor and punching two feet of adamantium-sheathed bone into his chest, slicing through the best hardsuit and tech armor and the Hegemony could provide like it was butter.
The Vanguard let out a shout of rage and blasted at the Black Dragon with his shotgun, the blast striking him in the side of the head and taking him off balance.
The Vanguard tried to seize the advantage, charging up for a Biotic Charge, but just as he triggered the attack the flat end of a chainsword smashed into his chest, throwing him against the wall with all the redirected energy of his charge.
The batarian looked up into the glowing barrel of the Sergeant's Inferno pistol, and then a beam of energy the with the condensed heat of a star hissed out of the weapon and immolated the xeno's head and lit his torso ablaze with the backwash of heat.
Zar rolled out of the line of fire, sending an almost imperceptible nod to his Sergeant before drawing his dual pistols and returning fire at the xenos riflemen who were hosing down the hall with rounds.
Raan, who was still standing in the center of his Warpfirestorm, waved his hand to corral his blaze in preparation to send if surging down the hall and end this fight.
However a loud, sharp Crack! Rang out, followed almost instantly be a spurt of blood from the Blood-Raven's neck-area as the sniper round pierced his weaker armored neck-area that was not protected by the raised gorget of the Mk. 8 armor most of the rest of the squad used, as Raan wore Aquila-patternarmor for easier mounting of his Psykic hood.
The Librarian staggered to the side, the fire dying as he pressed a hand against his neck. A warning rune flashed on Osiris' HUD, a diagnostic from Raan's suit indicating that his Jugular had been nicked by the round.
"Theoverus." He said over the squad-vox, stowing his pistol and sword in exchange for his bolter, sending volleys of suppressive fire down the hall.
The apothecary responded instantly, moving from his firing position at the door alongside Herus and being instantly replaced by Sar'al, the Son of Guilliman was at his comrade's side in a moment. He removed Raan's hand and saw the pebble-sized hole the round had left, blood sluggishly seeping out as his Larman's cells sought to stem the damage even moments after his injury.
Theo quickly inserted a small vial of bluish liquid into the injector of his Narthecium and stabbed the needle into the wound, eliciting a grunt of pain from the Librarian. The clotting agent worked almost instantly, the blood flow ceasing as the drugs sent Raan's augmented platelets into overdrive, while also putting him into a state of unconsciousness while the repairs were made.
"He is fine, Sergeant." Theo said, pulling the Librarian up against the wall before drawing his weapons again. "He should recover by the time we finish with these xenos."
Osiris nodded. "Good. Then let us finish this." And he blink-selected a set of runes in his display, designating targets for his men.
On cue, Gorvax stepped out into the room, frag-cannon leveled at the turret at the far end of the hall. The massive weapon sounded once, twice, thrice, and the solid slugs blasted the machine to pieces.
The Batarians, now down several men from the barrage of bolt-shells that had been hurled at them, began to fall back in a relatively controlled manner, the fire barely lifting as they pulled back. However, the Kill-Team had now gotten the full measure of this enemy, and were no longer limiting themselves.
There was a brief pause in the bolter fire as shot-selectors were flipped on several weapons, but in the meantime the pressure was not lifted as Marcus advanced, racking the slide on his shotgun and firing off a Wyrmsbeath shell, the volatile chemicals of the round igniting the instant they hit the air, producing a gout of flame that consumed one of the aliens and sent two others scrambling for safety. This was a vain effort, as Marcus racked and fired twice more in quick succession, the two xenopurge slugs punching fist-sized holes through the batarians.
Then with practiced ease, he slid to the side and cleared the firing lane as the bolter-armed members of the team opened fire with their newly-selected Dragonfire Bolts.
The Batarians hunkered down in the face of this new bombardment, but to their dismay found that these bolts exploded to release gouts of superheated gas that seared their armor and flesh in moments.
For most, their dismay lasted mere moments.
Under this barrage, Inax and Husun advanced on the last few survivors, Chainglaive and Power Sword cleaving through armor and flesh in brutally elegant strokes, slaughtering the last few defenders.
Husun withdrew his sword from the chest of the SIU engineer, letting her body slide down from where he had impaled it to the wall. "Sergeant, all hostiles eliminated." He said over the quiet sound of blood sizzling as it was boiled off by his blade's power field.
Osiris lowered his bolter's aim slightly. "Any sign of the sniper who hit Raan?"
"Negative." Inax murmured, revving the engine of his weapon to spin off some of the flesh and gore that coated the chainblade. "Likely fled once assault specialists closed in."
Osiris nodded. "Brother Theoverus, what is Raan's status?"
"I am fine, Sergeant." Grunted the Blood Raven, sitting up from his spot on the wall with a shake of his head. "The injury is healed. I am ready to serve."
"Right. Herus, seal the airlock. We split into two groups; one, headed by me, will head to the bridge and seize control. The other, led by Sar'al, will take the engine room."
He didn't bother to wait for confirmation of understanding; they knew the drill. "Gorvax, Marcus, Herus, Zar, with me. Raan, Theo, Inax, Sartak, with Sar'al. Strike swiftly, for the Emperor."
"For the Emperor." The squad echoed, and headed out.
…
The class of frigate that squad Osiris found themselves on was not very complicated, the main body being made up of the large cargo bay filled with shipping crates that was connected to the airlock. The engine room was to the rear of this bay, while the crew quarters, weapons control and the bridge were on the deck above.
As such Combat Squad Osiris found themselves in the unenviable position of having to use a small elevator to gain access to their target, which would almost certainly be sabotaged with explosives or turned into a killing box by the remaining defenders above.
However, one of his men quickly spoke up and offered a...unique solution to this problem.
…
Specialist Fahth was worried. And for an SIU fanatic like him, that was saying something.
These hostiles were unlike anything he'd ever dealt with before; they were insanely fast, extremely coordinated, and could take more punishment than a Krogan battlemaster. The only definite injury that his forces had inflicted on them was the throat-shot he made on that blue-armored...sorceror, for lack of a better description. And that wasn't even taking into account their weapons!
Both he and the Captain knew that this wasn't a fight that they could win, so here he was, with a few determined (but ultimately useless) mountain-caste weapons operators armed with pistols and shotguns that had no chance of piercing the hides of these monsters, trying to buy enough time for the captain to arm the self-destruct and purge the hard drives of all sensitive intelligence tying the ship's activities in the Terminus systems to the Hegemony, as per order 3461-9 of the Navy's Privateers initiative.
His heavy pistol was leveled at the door of the elevators, the detonator for their jury rigged trap in his off hand.
Now they just had to wait for the enemy to call the elevator and…
"Did you hear that?" One of the crewmen suddenly said, looking over at the access hatch for one of the maintenance ducts.
"What?" Another asked, brandishing her shotgun.
"I thought I heard...scratching or something…" The man said, slowly walking towards hatch.
"Get back on the door, idiot!" Fahth snarled. "You're imagining things! Those ducts are far too small for something their size to get through!"
The operative's words were proven wrong almost immediately, as with a scream of tearing metal and a bestial roar, one of the giants exploded from the hatch in a blur, spearing the nearest crewman and lifting him off the ground with some kind of wrist-mounted blade before hurling the corpse at another batarian.
Screams rang out in concert with gunshots as the terrified xenos attempted to stop this monster.
It was a vain attempt.
10.39 seconds later, the elevator ground painfully to a halt, the metal groaning with the strain of lifting four tons worth of astartes, allowing the rest of combat squad Osiris to exit into the upper deck.
Brother Zar was waiting for them, surrounded by the dismembered corpses of the pitiful defenders, his body liberally coated in xeno blood, and massive sprays and splatters spread across the bulkheads.
Zar retracted his blades with a Snick. "Area Clear, Brother Sergeant." He said, his tone completely calm.
Osiris nodded at the young marine. "Well done brother."
"Excellent infiltration, Dragon." Marcus commented as well, the Raptor moving towards the locked door to the bridge.
Herus slapped the assault marine on his shoulder. "I honestly didn't think you'd make it through there, Challax."
Zar cocked his head, the astartes equivalent of a shrug. "Dragon Claws are expected to close the distance with our enemy as effectively as possible. In boarding scenarios, that's usually through some vent or other. You learn how to squeeze through."
"Regardless, we are not here for talk. We have an objective to complete." Osiris said, cutting off further conversation.
The five astartes stacked up alongside the sealed bridge door. Osiris snapped out orders quickly.
"Herus, breaching charge. Gorvax, scattershot. Marcus, Cryptclearers. Bolters set to Vengeance rounds. Watch your fire, we are to cause as little damage to the controls of the ship as possible."
Acknowledgment runes flashed on his Osiris' hud, and in a few moments rounds were shifted and Herus had a shaped charge mag-locked to the door, an activation rune popping up on Osiris' hud.
"Squad, execute." He said as he blinked on the rune.
The charge detonated, and the five superhumans moved into the room in a rush.
Osiris took in the situation in milliseconds.
Five targets, two armed, three unarmed. Captain in center-rear of room, just recovering from the blast, within CC distance, target to be taken alive. Other xenos designate extermination, attempt to minimize damage to technology.
As the thoughts flew through the Lamenter's mind, his eyes raced along with them, designating targets and orders with rapid movements and blinks, and within a half a second of seeing the bridge, every batarian officer was designated with target priority and identity of executioner.
Weapons snapped on target, superhuman muscle aided by the servos of their armor, and almost simultaneously they fired.
A blast of cryptclearer shards took the helmsman in the chest, blowing his organs out his back and sending the man flying into his controls. A bolt-pistol round took off the comms officer's right arm at the shoulder, a second shot from a second pistol silencing the man's screams by blasting his throat into oblivion. A burst from a combi-melta walked up the torso of the weapons officer, almost cutting him in half, while a single shot from the Sergeant's bolter popped the Navigator's head like a fruit. Gorvax did not fire, instead surging forward, seizing the Captain by the throat with his bionic hand and lifting her off the ground.
The Confessor observed the captain's terrified face for a moment, tilting his helmet ever so slightly, before he slammed her back onto the console with the exact amount of force required to render her unconscious, but not kill her.
"Clear, Brother Sergeant." Gorvax said.
"Well done brothers, but there may be more xeons yet. I will stay with the prisoner, you clear the deck."
"Yes sir!" The four marines said, turning and thumping off towards the crew-section of the ship.
Soon, the screaming began.
…
The pilot light on Sar'al's combi flamer flickered slightly as he slowly panned the rifle back and forth as he advanced through the cargo area towards the engine room. He could hear his brothers advancing as well, stomping through the haphazard corridors the poorly stacked crates made up.
He saw a flash of movement to his left, and his weapon twitched towards it before he recognized Theoverus' IFF on his hud, the apothecary giving him a small nod before falling in behind as his path joined Sar'al's.
The two went a few more steps before stopping again, their Lyman's ear catching on an irregularity in the environment. On instinct, the marines filtered out the ambient noise of the ship, and identified the anomaly as a very quiet tapping noise, irregular in speed but consistent in strength.
"You heard that?" Theoverus redundantly asked over the internal vox.
"Aye." "Sar'al responded, expanding to the rest of the squad. "Brothers, we may have hostiles. Myself and Augustus are moving to investigate, converge on our location."
Three confirmation runes flashed, and the two moved towards the source of the noise, a cargo container that was within visual distance of the door to the engine room.
As their heavy steps grew closer, the pair heard the noise stop, only to be replaced by the sounds of panicked, indistinct whispers and movement. Both marines had a similar thought, and moved to either side of the crates doors. They paused a moment, and with a nod pulled the crate open, leveling their bolters at the interior.
And were surprised when they saw, not cowering xeno crewmen, but the scared, disheveled faces of a dozen humans, including a few small children.
The group cowered behind two large, well-muscled humans (one male, one female) in what looked like military fatigues, as well as a blue-skinned female xeno which had taken a fighting stance.
Theo's weapon snapped to the alien, only Sar'al's raised hand staying his shot.
"Hold, brother." The Salamander said slowly, dropping his aim microscopically.
"Why? This alien could harm the civilians, we need to eliminate it!" Theoverus said hotly, his sights still squarely set on the alien's chest.
"If it wanted to do so, it would have by now. Besides, look at what it is doing; that is a defensive stance, and it is standing with what we can assume to be local soldiers of some kind. They likely expected their captors, or are fearful of us. They've never seen Astartes before, remember."
The apothecary hesitated for another moment, and Sar'al spoke again before the Son of Guliman made a mistake. "Stand down, Brother-Apothecary."
The combat-medicae hesitated for another moment, then lowered his weapon slightly, just enough to take it off of the xeno.
"The Codex would not approve of this." He said, voice low.
Sar'al grunted. "Augustus, you're in the Deathwatch. The Codex stopped applying to your actions as soon as you took the black. And additionally, you are under the command of one of the most...unconventional Inquisitors that the Imperium has ever seen, and we've found ourselves in the far-past. Get used to doing things differently."
Additional stomps of one-ton warriors heralded the rest of the squad's arrival, though Inax slipped over the top of the boxes silently to land beside Sar'al.
"False alarm, no hostiles, civilians. Continue to objective." He said over the squad-vox.
The others flashed affirmatives on his hud and moved off. Sar'al looked back at the humans, whose expressions had changed from scared to carefully hopeful and curious.
He activated both his exterior vox and the translator program that had been installed in his suit before they left. "We shall be back shortly, you will be safe here." He said, and began closing the door again.
"Wait!" A boy cried out, pausing the Marine's action. "Who are you?"
He looked at the child and tilted his head, smiling behind his helm. "We Adeptus Astartes, the Emperor's Angels of Death. We shall keep you safe, and punish your abductors." He said, staring menacingly at the alien woman until she looked away, cowed, and then closing the door, sealing them inside.
Sar'al quickly reunited with the rest of the squad, who had gathered around the locked door. He paused as Sergeant Osiris sent him a status report, and requested one from him, which he gave.
"The Sergeant has taken the bridge. This should be the last sight of Xeno resistance onboard. Librarian, if you would."
Raan nodded, and held out a hand against the locked door, his helmet lenses flashing with burning white light as he channeled immaterial flames into the door.
After a moment, the overloaded lock flashed from red to green, and slid open to admit the Astartes. Sar'al could not help but feel a tad disappointed; instead of a valiant last stand, the squad came across a half-dozen screaming, cowering xenos that were begging for their lives in their guttural tongue, the pitiful pleas translated to high gothic by their translators.
"Pathetic." Husun scoffed, igniting his power sword.
Sar'al nodded in agreement, and the Salamander encased the huddle of Xenos in the Emperor's burning vengeance, their screams of agony echoing through the hold until, one by one, a gunshot snuffed them out.
…
Classified Location, At the same time.
Somewhere in the galaxy, there was a room. The walls of this room were covered in screens, which projected an image of space, and centermost a large, uniquely colored star burned.
Inside this room was a man. This man was powerful, but his power was cloaked in shadows, for the most part a background element to the events of Galactic society, always pushing and twisting events as best he could to better humanity's lot on the Galactic stage.
He had a name, once, but it has been long lost by the necessities of his work. Now, he is simply...Illusive.
The Illusive man took another pull on his cigaret as he flipped through the pages of the latest report from Project Daedalus; yet more disappointment, as the director's results continued to fall far below his expectations.
He quickly tapped out a response, stressing that if a major gain was not made soon, that a change of management might be in order.
That should get Victoria moving. He though, and was about to open another in his endless series of reports when a new message flagged with the highest priority appeared on his screen.
Intrigued, he tapped it open, and saw that it was from one of the agents he had stationed to watch Omega. The message itself contained a video file, as well as a marker indicating where the footage was taken; some old, rarely-used dock in the upper areas of the station.
The Illusive man opened the file, and saw a trio of Blue Suns mercenaries waiting before the dock with a larger group farther off at the end of the old area, a few vehicles haphazardly parked nearby.
The Illusive man grew a tad irritated as the video dragged on with no indication of what was so important. He was about to close it and send a disciplinary message back to the agent when the smoke clouds burst up around the far mercenaries.
His eyes widened at the sickly-looking sword that appeared on the arm of the batarian captain, and his jaw dropped when the two soldiers emerged from the airlock and speared the floating Suns with beams of light.
And when the giant strode from the smoke and ripped the last Sun in half with some kind of Chainsaw-Blade, his hand was already flying across a datapad, connecting him to one of the few people he'd trust with something this massive.
"Lawson, drop everything. I've got an assignment for you." The Illusive Man said, looking back to see an older human in a long, dark coat walked out onto the dock, the energy-weapon wielding soldiers moving to flank him and the giant nodding respectfully as he approached it.
"And I think I have a target as well."
A/N: Greetings and Salutations, good readers. Lovely to see you all again, in a figurative sense.
So, another chapter of Astartes stomping on Batarian faces. Always good, and now I can say that you have been introduced to every Astartes in Marthas' service: 15 in total, and representing every loyalist legion. Up next, we see some slightly more balanced combat and deal with the last batarian ship, as well as the last bit of Shepard we'll see for quite a while; you're welcome all you who've complained about Shep's bits ;)
Also, for those who may be wonering why I went with Femshep/Liara (like apparently every other author on here), I just like their relationship a lot more than any other Femshep pairing in the series save maybe Garus, and I wanted to have him and Tali together.
And, before anyone asks, the Voidstalkers are a chapter of my own creation who's history may-or-may-not be expanded upon here.
Lastly, I've noticed that I have a kind of excessive number of OC's in this story, would it be helpful to you all if I posted a Character index either here or as a separate story? I'll try to put a poll up on my profile, but if I can't get it working than just leave your opinion in a review if you care.
That concludes this author's note, so as always, Review, Follow&Fave if you're new, and as always,
Imperator senatus et populi Romani Dinosaurs!