Disclaimer: I don't own Warhammer 40k or Puella Magi Madoka Magica
"Full power to the engines! Hard to starboard! Bring them in range of our guns!"
The skies above Paltua IV were a vision of hell. Outnumbered, outgunned, and outmatched, the trio of Imperial ships were thrown onto the back foot as soon as the engagement had begun. Colossal Ork ships had torn the heavens asunder with ceaseless barrages of gunfire, painting the obsidian void with countless explosions and flashes, streaks of lightning cutting across reality as they unleashed their twisted mockery of technology.
"Sir! Approaching the Ork flagship now!"
Remius steadied himself against the railing, gazing out at the battlefield with an iron focus. The void shields were already being worn down with constant barrages of whatever ammunition the Orks could fit into their sorry excuses for cannons, and the damage would only get worse once they came in close.
"All stations, prepare for an assault run." He ordered over the vox. "Unload everything we have on them and be away as soon as the guns have run dry. Armsmen, stand by to repel possible boarders. Ready men, for Emperor and Imperium!"
The Apocrypha dove into the maelstrom with all the righteous fury that the Imperial Navy could muster, braving the tempest of lead and charging the larger, metal-plated behemoth that was undoubtedly the lead Ork craft by simple virtue of its size. Already, the monster's weaponry were turning their way with swarms of fighter and bomber crafts darting into an intercept trajectory.
Remius took a breath, savoring the moment of calm before the inevitable.
"Open fire!"
In an instant, both vessels lit up the darkened skies with a devastating exchange. High powered macro broadsides and lance batteries slammed mercilessly into the greenskin ship, while a storm of projectiles from the various Ork equivalents pounded the Apocrypha's void shields like an iron storm.
Without warning, an explosion of electricity blasted out from the flagship's zap cannon and into the prow of the Imperial battlecruiser, momentarily blinding Remius with the sheer power of the display.
"Sir! Void shields are down! Breaches in decks thirteen, eighteen, twenty, and twenty-four!"
"Get repair teams to the affected areas, and keep any fires under control." He commanded, blinking back the painful aftereffects of the shot. "Push the engines and get some distance between us and the xenos! We're not going to win a slugfest with a ship like that."
He didn't bother asking for a report on how much damage they'd managed to do. Long experience had taught him that trying to gauge the integrity of a greenskin space craft was like trying to guess how many drops of water filled an ocean. Explosions, breaches, and firestorms were as common on those vessels outside a battle as they were in. The only way to tell for certain was to see it blasted to smoldering wreckage.
"Disengaging. Sir! Enemy attack crafts are inbound!"
"I see them." Remius replied, narrowing his eyes as he gazed out the viewing ports.
The Ork flyers had circled around in an uncharacteristically clever maneuver, putting themselves right into the Apocrypha's retreat path. Already, he could see overzealous pilots throwing their ships into a full-on charge, eager to unload their no-doubt explosive weaponry on the Imperials.
"Bear hard to the port side." He ordered. "Have our lighter broadsides lay into them to minimize the damage, and get any unengaged repair teams on standby to respond. This is going to sting."
The Apocrypha roared as her engines saddled her upwards and to the left, aiming for the rapidly closing gap between the swarms of flyers and the juggernaut at their back. Already, the attack crafts were starting to drop from the anti-fighter fire from their target, as well as the continuous barrages of poorly aimed pursuing shots from the flagship, but it wasn't enough. There were simply too many to shoot down.
Always too many. Remius thought to himself. Hold together girl. We've been through worse in the past.
"Ork ships closing in! Brace for a bombing run!"
The hull of the Apocrypha shook as a sound like that of a wounded beast howled through her frame. Numerous explosions dotted her hull as the foul xenos dropped everything they had, blasting apart the surface of the battlecruiser with reckless abandon. Bombs, missiles, and the odd crashing ship which didn't pull up in time ravaged the hull, opening dozens of breaches into the cold, unforgiving void.
"Sir! Breaches in-"
"Save me the report and have them dealt with!" Remius interrupted, feeling a fire in his blood ignite at the damage his ship was taking. "Unless we're suffering critical damage to one of our important systems, I don't want to hear it. Now, get our void shields back online, and circle around! I want a bead on that abomination, and I want our lances ready to crack it open the moment the opportunity presents itself."
No sooner had he finished giving orders than one of his men jolted in place, turning to him with frantic eyes.
"Captain! Emergency hail from the Guardian of Feroa! They've taken severe damage to their engines and can't continue with the attack runs!"
Remius cursed inwardly, mentally damning whatever fate or deity oversaw instances such as this.
"Tell them to break off and stay ahead of the Orks for as long as they can." He replied, mind racing to modify the battle plan and account for this new variable. "We'll swing in and see if we can't peel some of the pressure off their backs as soon as we're able."
"That's not the issue sir, the greenskins aren't pursuing them."
A nagging sense of concern began to grow in the back of his mind at the statement. One that had been building since the onset of the battle.
"Why not? What are they after?"
"The ships are heading straight for the planet sir; they're passing through the blockade… now!"
"Bring us around, get me eyes on those xenos!" Remius barked. He had a distinctly unpleasant feeling that he knew exactly what was happening.
With the painfully slow transition of such a massive ship's turn radius, the viewing port crawled along the horizon towards the break in their formation. He was given a view of their enemies just in time to watch one of the larger greenskin vessels slam right through an orbital defense platform, blowing the miniature station to pieces against the reinforced armor plating that the aliens were so fond of.
Remius grinned, a thin, humorless, smile, while his fingers clasped the railing tighter.
"Montefort. Open a channel with our ground forces." He ordered, a peculiarly frustrated sense of calm entering his voice.
"Tell them that things are about to get significantly more crowded down there."
To Madoka's eyes, it almost looked like the world was ending. The skies were painted with a deep, reddish hue against the seemingly perpetual cloud of smog that billowed upwards from the Imperial industry. Deep, resonating, flashes lit up the cascade, with the distant and primal roars of the Ork guns reverberating in her bones as she watched. The blanket of maroon grey turmoil was broken up by the streaks of fiery landing crafts, or their equivalent among the aliens, launched by the greenskin ships above.
Despite knowing full well that she'd already shot down one of those ships herself, a tale Sayaka had gone into great detail when telling her during her recovery after the fact, Madoka couldn't help but feel a sick sensation of worry burning in her stomach.
"They certainly aren't wasting any time, are they?" Mami asked to nobody in particular. She, Madoka, Gilliam, Kaname, Heidric, and his retinue of Stormtroopers were the only ones present on the balcony of the fortified super-structure being used as a main base of operations. The others had all been deployed in forward positions to prepare for the coming tide.
"If past experience has taught me anything, it's that Orks share a striking resemblance to the adeptus administratum." Heidric remarked. "A bumbling, blithering, and illogical beast in their natural state, but a nigh-on unstoppable force of nature when roused and motivated. Given the circumstances, I can understand why they'd waste little time on chasing shadows when there are bigger targets in mind."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just compare one of the Imperium's branches of government to a xeno species." Mami replied, voicing what Gilliam was no doubt thinking given the restrained frown he was wearing. "But you may have a point. This could work out in our favor. If they're this focused, we might have a chance to manipulate them after all."
She turned, facing Madoka with a serious expression. The younger girl had almost forgotten how imposing she could look when regaled in full battle gear, covered from the neck down in coal-black armor.
"Are you ready?"
No. She wasn't. She couldn't be. She simply could never be prepared for what she was meant to do. Not after having seen so much, and learned just how fragile her grip on her own soul had become.
"Yes."
Mami nodded, the only indication she needed to give as Madoka closed her eyes. Nearby, she could feel Kaname's psychic presence drawing back away from her in anticipation of what was to come. Licking her lips to distract herself from the chill rising in her spin, she dove back towards the familiar sensation of her inner self.
She moved cautiously, almost fearful of what her actions could potentially disturb. Tentative phantom fingers reached out to touch the core that she knew held a power capable of incredible feats of destruction.
Just a bit closer…
Just…
One…
Touch…
The edges of her awareness brushed the light in her center, and she had to reel back in a half-panic to avoid being drawn in by the energy. She couldn't afford to transform. Not without knowing full well what that would do with the damage to her soul. What she needed right now was a spark. Just a little flare. Something that could draw the eyes of their enemies without risking the growing corruption she found herself struggling against.
Very carefully, she drew nearer once again. It took several more attempts of fearful back and forth until she managed to find the balance. Her consciousness hovered just out of reach, barely on the edge of the light that dwelled in her being. Just enough to cause it to awaken.
With a steadying breath, she refocused her efforts to keep herself in place as the warmth tickled the corners of her mind. A welcome sensation in a galaxy so very cold. She could feel the castoff tails of power drifting past her form, passing by her companions and out into the air. Out into view of those who's gaze she hoped to draw.
She'd found her equilibrium. Now she just had to hold it.
She was ready. Where she'd been distracted, now she was focused. Where she'd been off-balance, now she'd set herself. This was where she belonged. Where she knew exactly what she was meant to do.
With a sharp-edged grin, Kyoko settled back into the confines of Ophelia's cockpit, lightly gripping the controls in anticipation while her gaze monitored the skies for enemy progress. Already, she could see dozens of greenskin targets raining down on them.
It was just a matter of time before the call went out.
+Freeblade, do you read?+
Her eye twitched once at the grating sound of the vox interrupting her moment. With a sigh, she turned her attentions back to the men and women scurrying around the legs of her Knight as they frantically rushed to make last minute preparations.
"Yeah? Wha'ddya want Dandy?" She questioned back.
+Daedalus. My name is Daedalus.+
"And I should care about this right now because…?"
+Long range augers are detecting a trio of Ork ships heading straight for our sector. I thought I'd give you the heads up before they hit. If you're not too busy sightseeing, the Lord Marshal wants you to be in the group that welcomes them to Imperial space.+
She huffed, still grinning as she shook her head.
"I s'pose I could go meet 'em at the door if it's that important." She replied, already urging Ophelia into motion. Despite her size, the Knight Warden moved with surprising care, mindful not to crush those underfoot as she strode towards the projected impact zone. "Does the boss man have any greeting in mind?"
+He said he has it on good authority that the Orks are fond of high-caliber weaponry and large explosions. I think it only fair that we give them what they're looking for.+
Her grin widened, Ophelia picking up speed as she crossed over the barricade set up by the defending Imperials. With no more allied soldiers around to get stepped on, she was able to stride along at a rapid pace, each thunderous footfall bringing her closer to the target.
"Sounds like a plan." She said. "Tell him I'll have a chat with the first group to land. You'll have to entertain any others till I finish with 'em, if you can handle that."
+We'll see what we can do. Try not to die out there. It'd be bad for morale to see that armored walker go down in the opening salvo.+
"Bite me." She shot back, surging forwards as she came up to an abandoned street path. "Just be sure to keep on tally on how many you kill, so I can rub it in your face when I beat your whole squad by myself."
+It's not really by yourself when you're using a Knight.+
"No excuses." She stated, killing the vox before he could do any more complaining. She was in a good mood, and conversation would only serve to distract her right now.
A cacophonous roar echoed across the sky as the Ork landers broke through the cloud cover, streaking through anti air fire and towards the city below like scores of miniature comets. Each one carrying Emperor only knows how many of the war loving xenos right into the waiting guns of the Imperial lines.
A tremble ran through Ophelia's frame as one of the oversized hunks of metal screamed past overhead, crashing through the side of a building before careening into the streets below. Kyoko found herself grinning again.
With a metallic cry of whirring servos, the Knight kicked into action, tracking the trajectory of the landing craft down for pursuit. City walls passed in a blur of motion as she took off, hurtling past the abandoned structures and building momentum with each charging step. Kyoko knew that the vanguard of the Ork forces would almost exclusively be made up of massed infantry. A beachhead of foot soldiers sent in to secure a means of bringing their heavier weapons to bear. Until then, she was all but free to charge in and massacre to her heart's content.
Opelia's massive legs slammed down onto the ground, sending up sparks and cutting deep gouges into the pavement as she ground to a halt at a turn in the road, her kinetic energy carrying her for almost a full block before coming to a halt.
Down the path to her right, she could see the Orks in plain view. Through what was more than likely pure luck, their transport had, quite literally, crashed down into a relatively open square used for public gatherings and transporting large cargo. The most resilient of the greenskins had already piled out, eager to draw first blood, while those who were less fortunate were still stumbling about as they tried to extract themselves from their haphazard craft.
A single volley from her Stormspear rockets could obliterate the whole lot of them. A few passes from her Avenger cannon could achieve much the same thing.
She decided that would be a waste of ammo.
The terrible roar of her Reaper chainsword coming to life never failed to get her blood going. That shuddering cry of war that resounded right into her chest, even as Ophelia leapt into motion once more. With the flip of a switch, the piping around the Knight's head erupted with liquid promethium, igniting on contact with the pilot lights built into her frame, and blazing out into the air.
Wreathed in a crown of fire, her Knight slammed into the unfortunate xenos like a force of nature.
The first batch were dead before they had any chance to react. Paralyzed by the horrific sight of the Knight Warden bearing down on them so suddenly, they were reduced to a crimson spray as Ophelia's Reaper tore through their ranks like a storm of steel, reaping a terrible toll on their numbers. Cries of panic erupted almost immediately, only to be drowned out as the chainsword howled its ceaseless fury for all to hear.
"I heard you feckers were looking for a fight!" Kyoko shouted, her voice being magnified over the vox and transmitted out from the cockpit. "Well congrats, you found one!"
Two more swift strikes from her weapon eviscerated the remaining forces, the first carving a bloody swath through the Orks scrambling to escape her deadly reach, and the second tearing through their twisted excuse for a lander, the massive teeth of her blade causing the machine to explode as they tore into its belly. Kyoko hissed in annoyance at the volatile nature of greenskin craftsmanship as the craft detonated, knocking Ophelia back a step with a wave of molten debris. She could already tell that the scars left from repelling the Orks were going to be a pain to fix up.
With their numbers decimated several times over, and the feeble small-arms they carried woefully helpless against the Knight in their midst, the few survivors scattered like insects before her, fleeing into the small alleyways and buildings in search of shelter. Kyoko briefly entertained the idea of unloading with her heavier armaments, but decided that it would be best to let the other ground forces clean them up. Leveling entire portions of the city to dispose of a few fleeing xenos might be just a touch on the excessive side of things.
Letting her chainsword slow to a gradual halt, she checked Ophelia's auger systems for other nearby targets. Three other Ork landing sites in her sector, with more coming in every second.
This was going to get messy.
And that made her grin.
She was focused. An eagle on the hunt. As keen as… no. She wasn't. No matter how many times she tried to force the awareness onto herself, or how frustrating her current state was, Sayaka couldn't delude herself into thinking that she was in peak condition.
Sadly, greenskins had little pity for things such as that, and most certainly wouldn't halt their invasion until she managed to recover.
"Still alive over there, Miki?" Navarre called. The Troupe was scattered, moving all about the massive, sprawling, human city so as to respond wherever they might be needed. When the Orks managed to group up for a concerted push, they'd need to regroup if they wanted to have any effect, but against the scattered and isolated groups dropping in at random, a handful of Harlequins could bring ruin before they knew it was upon them.
"More or less." She replied, taking up position beside him and peering out the window of the structure they'd occupied. Many floors below, the streets of the city wound their way through the massive structures like the exposed veins of some sinister beast, now ripe with fires, damage, and the ever-present sounds of conflict coming from all directions.
"How bad is it?"
He took a moment to examine the skyline, taking in the seemingly endless stream of various Ork crafts that now polluted the heavens with their grotesque mockery of flight. Those that came to deliver passengers from their orbital crafts, those that showered down fire and destruction in the form of various bombs and armaments, and those that seemed to have no other purpose than to sow chaos by whatever means they could find, be it harassing the few Imperial fliers that had made it into the air, or crashing headlong into the stationary anti-air guns opening up on their attack force.
"So far, I'd say it's getting suitably chaotic for an opening act." The Athair replied offhandedly, leaning on the windowsill. "Mostly typical greenskin fare, though they have added in a touch of ingenuity. They seem to be prioritizing speed over brawn. Focus, over force. More on the edge of Kurnous than Khaine. It's rather entertaining to watch, come to think of it."
Sayaka would have come up with a clever jibe to respond to that with, but all she could bring herself to think of in that moment was the target of the Orks' attentions. The so called "plan" that the lot of them had come up with put Madoka right in the line of danger, a concept that abhorred the Eldar girl on a level she made no secret of.
"How long until we move?" She questioned, itching to be out and doing something, anything, rather than sit here and wait.
Navarre gave a light chuckle, though tinged with an emotion that was far from mirth.
"Soon enough, my dear." He said, still looking out into the distance. "The stage will welcome us when the time is right, and there will be much bloodletting to be had."
Suddenly, he was looking down at her. Sayaka nearly jumped. She hadn't even noticed him move.
"However, no matter how cathartic the violence we will partake in may be…" He warned. "Remember where your heart lies. You do not pay allegiance to the Bloody Handed one, nor the filthy war gods of the lesser races. You are a champion of the Laughing God. A fool for the Fool. To simply kill is the duty of a petty soldier. You must clear your mind, and play your part through to the end, as must every Harlequin.
"Are you prepared for that, Sayaka Miki?"
For a single moment, the piercing gaze of the Troupe Master's mask seemed to cut the haze she'd been stuck with ever since her duel with the daemon. A brief instant of something resembling clarity flitted into her awareness, reaching through to remind her of the very reason she was there in that moment.
"I'm ready." She replied, for once, feeling the conviction in her own words.
Navarre didn't answer. Instead, he threw his hands wide, slapping open the window with a single gesture and leaping from the precipice, out into open air. Without a second thought, Sayaka dove through the opening after him, releasing herself into the brisk blanket of the rushing wind.
Walls and stonework rushed past her at a dizzying pace, the ground rapidly approaching as the two Eldar embraced their free-fall. Just as they came up to the point of no return, as one, they activated their flip belts, turning vertical momentum into horizontal movement and catapulting themselves through the lower window of a nearby fortification.
Without missing a beat, Sayaka and the Athair hit the ground in a rolling sprint, carrying over all the speed and power that had held them in its sway just a moment ago. The blurry, indistinct faces of shocked Imperials greeted her on either side as they rocketed past, as did the sharp crack of a lasgun shot fired from a trigger-happy recruit, but such details quickly faded into the back of her perception as she careened by them.
Her purpose. Her part in this grand play. Fingers tightened around her weapons, eyes fixed ahead as she thought back.
Yes. She knew her purpose. Maybe her body had been damaged. Perhaps, even now, it might be failing her, but she wouldn't allow those things to hold her back. She was Sayaka Miki, faithful of Cegorach, and guardian of Madoka Kaname.
If her friend was in danger, she would turn the Green Tide crimson.
Ophelia's Ion shields flared up, swatting aside Ork rocket fire as she charged from street to street. Grinding to a halt, the massive Knight swung her gatling cannon upwards, unleashing a devastating volley of fire into the upper floors of the building the xenos occupied. Steel and rockcrete exploded in a violent shower of debris, the feeble mason work falling instantly under her wrath and causing the entire section of the building to simply collapse on the hapless greenskins.
Kyoko didn't pause to look over her handiwork. The chunks of ruined building and destroyed infrastructure hadn't even touched the ground before she was off again, augers detecting scores upon scores of targets in all directions while the vox frequencies were near overloaded by the sheer volume of communications and distress signals being thrown back and forth. Above, the skies had been dyed a deep orange-red, seemingly bloodied by the dueling monstrosities in the atmosphere, and the stream of ships falling from the skies.
She was just about to dash in the direction of a heavily pressured chokepoint to lend support when an emergency alert shot through Ophelia's systems.
+Freeblade! This is Daedalus! Pick up! Now!+
"The hell do you want?!" She demanded back, gritting her teeth as an Ork rocket found its way past her shielding and exploded on contact with Opehlia's shoulder. "You better be dyin' over there, cuz if you interrupted me now, and you're not, then you're going to be."
+Two Ork Roks have just been sighted heading straight for the city. We need you to get into position to help hold back the tide when they touch down. If you don't, we're going to be in for a world of hurt.+
She didn't have to ask where. Hearing the warning, all she had to do was look up to see, and sure enough, she didn't have to wait long.
Like flaming swords of ruin cast from the heavens, a pair of meteoric ships, if they could even be called ships in the first place, has broken through the cloud line. Their massive bulk easily smashed through both the high-flying Imperial dogfighters as well as the Ork bombers that didn't get out of the way in time. The massed anti-aircraft batteries turned upon them almost immediately, but despite large chunks being torn from their hulls with each successive barrage, the pair of ships hurtled inexorably onwards towards their targets.
"Feck me… Where'd they get those from?" Kyoko cursed, mind whipping into overdrive as she tried to follow their trajectories. If she was going to limit the amount of damage these things were going to do, she needed to hit them as hard and quick as possible.
Her decision was quickly made for her. Before she could finish her mental calculations and decide which of the two were going to land closer, the thrusters on one of the comet crafts suddenly erupted with flames, kicking it out of line and hurling the gigantic ship off in a different direction, far away from Kyoko's location.
That simplifies things. She thought to herself, switching targets to the one that had remained on course. Her eyes narrowed, and her muscles tensed as she watched the falling giant, tracking as close as she could to the projected landing area without getting too close. To try to intercept it now would be suicide. She knew full well that Orks didn't do soft landings.
The whole world seemed to shake for several moments as the Rok screamed down, only to shudder in a miniature earthquake on impact. A number of buildings were utterly obliterated, reduced to dust and ashes the moment the fire-clad behemoth touched them. Dozens more were heavily damaged as its momentum carried it onwards, plowing through several city blocks before finally coming to rest at the end of a self-made trench of devastation.
Moderately surprised that the damn thing hadn't torn itself apart already, Kyoko kicked her Knight into action, leaping down into the still-smoldering gouge in the earth without a second thought and charging off towards the landing zone.
With a moment's afterthought, she flicked on her vox.
"Listen up everyone!" She ordered, broadcasting on all frequencies. "This is Kyoko Sakura of House Sakura with a message for all the feckers that managed to avoid getting flattened by that Ork cannonball. In a couple minutes, you can bet your frilly little asses it's going to be spitting out more green than you ever wanted to see in your lifetime unless we stomp it out right now. I'm headed there myself, so if any of you are still alive out there, I suggest you get it in gear and lend some fire support."
Without waiting for any kind of response, she killed the connection and surged back into motion. Reinforcements would come, or they wouldn't. Trying to reason with people who were already fighting for their lives on all fronts during a time like this wasn't going to get her anywhere.
Now how the hell am I gonna kill this thing?
It was a problem she decided was best saved for later as, with her target rapidly approaching, green bodies could already be seen piling out of the building sized piece of wreckage.
Just as her gatling cannon began to spin, its mechanical whine filling her ears as it prepared to unleash fury, she hesitated. Something was off. As she drew nearer, she began to see that the creatures abandoning their vehicle weren't the Ork boyz she'd been expecting.
Grots. Hundreds upon hundreds of Grots. Like a miniature cascade of some fetid waterfall, they poured out from the crevices of their Rok, throwing themselves in all directions as though caught in the midst of some blind panic. Kyoko's eyebrow rose as she took in the sight, her weapon forestalled and Ophelia coming to a slow halt for a moment of contemplation. Her instincts were screaming at her, filling her head with a sense of danger, but she couldn't rightly say why.
Then it happened.
The Rok cracked, minor fractures quickly escalating to terrible gouges running along the surface of the greenskin contraption. The development seemed to drive the fleeing xenos into hysteria as their attempts to get away from the machine redoubled, scattering like leaves before the gale, their high-pitched cries trailing behind them as they fled.
They didn't…
Something pushed from within, causing the outer shell of the Rok to expand, silt and broken metal falling from every exposed plate. The surface parted to reveal massive structural supports and what Kyoko could only assume were some kind of ill-fitted shock absorbers lacing the interior. Little by little, it began to fall away, revealing the terrible cargo buried inside.
They did.
Entire portions of the Rok fell away, pulverized as its captive muscled its way out. Jagged, twisted machinery pulled itself free from the confines of its transport, battered, bruised, but still very much intact as it took its first steps onto the world of Paltua IV.
Breaking out of the massive tomb like a newborn bird hatching from its egg, Kyoko found herself face to face with the gargantuan Ork machine known as a Stompa.
Her pulse accelerated. Her muscles tensed. Despite the gravity of the situation, Kyoko found a chuckle working its way up from her chest as her fingers tightened around Ophelia's controls. She'd expected a long-running series of bloody skirmishes until the Orks managed to set up for something big, but here, now, there was something fearsome staring her down with all the killing intent of an army of daemons.
A duel. A challenge that got her knightly blood boiling.
Suddenly, she found herself wishing that she hadn't called for aid after all.
Guess we'll just have to make this one quick then.
The behemoth turned, it's crude, alien features facing the Knight with a grating whine of grinding steel, and a bilious cloud of smoke erupting from the piping on its back. The colossal scythe which took the place of one of its limbs rose ominously, as its oversized cannons aimed her way.
The beast roared, and Ophelia answered in kind.
With her ire raised, Kyoko opened fire.
Even though the world was being bombarded all around her, even though Ork vessels dueled with Imperial skirmish crafts far up in the skies above them, and even though she knew full well that this entire city, no, this entire planet would soon become a war torn battleground, Mami couldn't help but feel a touch of warmth in that moment.
It wasn't natural, she knew that much. It was the product of the girl standing beside her, fostering her strange and decidedly unnatural powers to use as a lure that would drag their main enemies towards them.
The Inquisitor turned, gazing down at Madoka, who had her eyes screwed shut with concentration as she stepped the delicate line around her powers, keeping the doorway open just a crack, but not so much as to lose control of it. It was a dangerous game, and one she'd not been certain was even possible outside of pure speculation earlier that same day, but the girl was doing an admirable job of holding things together.
Heidric and his companions across from them didn't seem as taken in by her presence. All of them had their eyes firmly rooted on the horizon, observing the battle as it happened, or, in the case of the girl, doing a fine job of imitating the motion with sightless eyes.
"Keep it up Madoka." She whispered quietly to herself. It was a dangerous plan, and if she was honest, she shared much of Sayaka's concerns, but it was all they had going at the moment. Times were too lean to face both an Ork WAAAAGH and a daemonic incursion at the same time.
Leaning forwards on the railing, Mami refocused back on the city below.
And stopped.
A moment of confusion passed as she didn't realize what had caused the disturbance in her stance. There was no new urgency in the air, no impending threat that her subconscious had taken in, and no obvious change in the world around her. But as she sought the source, she found her eyes looking down.
"What in the world?"
She was leaning on a railing presiding over the balcony they'd made their observation post from. As she peered down at it, she could see her reflection looking back up at her in the polished, pristine surface.
Only it hadn't been polished or pristine a moment ago. Though she'd paid it little mind at the time, she knew for certain that the railings here had accumulated a fair bit of wear and grit, with patches of rust dotting their length.
With a start, her head snapped up to find that she wasn't just imagining things.
Further down the line, she could see the dirtied metal that she'd first spotted earlier, but it wasn't staying dirty for long. As though scrubbed by invisible hands, the dirt that caked it came away before her very eyes, falling off and vanishing while smooth, unblemished metal started to break through.
Mami stood there, staring in muted wonder at the surreal occurrence for a long moment before snapping her head up.
"Heidric!"
"Inquisitor Tomoe!"
Both spoke at the same time, causing the two Inquisitors to pause, looking to one another for clarification.
"We need to move!" He shouted, grabbing a hold of Kaname and hastily yanking the startled Psyker back as the Scions followed quickly without another word.
Mami was about to demand an explanation when she caught sight of the skies, and instantly realized the danger they were in.
Two gigantic Ork Roks were bearing down on the city, smashing forcefully through the defenses that tried to forestall their inevitable arrival. One of them was streaking off towards the fortifications, and the other…
Was headed right for them.
"Gilliam! Grab Madoka and run!" She ordered, giving no pause. Thankfully the Commissar didn't stop to question, hoisting the girl up from her wheelchair with enough force to draw a cry of surprise as her eyes shot open frantically.
"This way!" Heidric called back over his shoulder, sprinting as fast as he could while carrying the weight of his armored frame. Perhaps sensing the threat of what was coming, Kaname had taken to running on her own, keeping pace despite her ragged condition.
Gilliam and Mami were close on their heels, dashing for all they were worth. Through the twists and turns they ran, each bend in the path causing the blonde's pulse to ratchet up at the thought of the time they were losing. She wasn't even certain where it was they were going, but had no option but to trust that Heidric had some manner of escape route in mind.
"Through here!" He called, waving his gauntleted hand towards a pair of large double-doors. "If we can make it to the landing pads in time, we may just-"
Anything he might have said after that was lost as the gut-wrenching screams of iron and steel being blown apart filled the air, followed quickly by a shockwave that hurled them off their feet.
And all the world collapsed.