Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad you like the story so far. As always I do not own Warhammer, I wish. WARNING: Things are going to get messy.

The piolet took them to them to the docking bay and set them down without incident. Theobald made a final check to make sure everyone's rebreathers were in position. He was not sure if there was any atmosphere or not, but he was unwilling to take any unnecessary chances. Satisfied he signaled for the hatch to be opened. Once the ramp hit the deck Rolf moved out. Theobald had wanted to go first, but the feral worlder had insisted that he go first to ensure Theobald's safety. Behind him went Valeris, who seemed to be entirely focused on various auspexs that he held in his mechadendrites. Behind them came Theobald with Longwood beside him. After them came the armsmen and Silver brought up the rear, her instincts developed from a life in the Underhive would detect anything attempting to come up behind them, at least it was hoped so.

The lights appeared to be all out and Valeris declared that the atmosphere, while breathable, was only barely so and he advised that they keep their rebreathers on and so Theobald ordered them to do so.

"Where to, My Lord?" Rolf asked. Theobald look around, though there was clearly only one logical course of action for them to take.

"To the bridge." If there were survivors there was a good possibility that they would be on the bridge. Even if that was not the case and there was no one there Valeris could hopefully interrogate the machine spirit of the ship's cogitators and allow them to find what they wanted to know. While Vagabond-class ships were far from the largest class of ship in the Imperium the docking bay were still some distance from the bridge and so they had a walk ahead of them.

It was clear that the ship was dead and had been so for some time. Not only were the lights out, but there was not hum of machinery. Theobald, having spent some time aboard ships by now, found the silence to be even more disturbing than the darkness. When he issued commands to the others he spoke in a tone barely more than a whisper as it felt wrong somehow to speak in normal even though it seemed that no one but them was present. No servitors attended to the ship and it was clear that they had been absent for some time. Speaking of absences…

"I don't like this Boss-man." Silver commed from the back of the line, also speaking in a low tone of voice.

"What don't you like?" Theobald signaled back.

"Everything about this place. I've seen plenty of gang fights and more than one beast attack and this place don't look like any of them."

+That is not entirely correct+ Valeris interjected.

+Since coming aboard I have scanned multiple lasgun burns and bloodstains on the deck and walls+ If he had intended for this to be comforting, it did not have the desired effect. If anything it made them all feel worse. Theobald looked around and though no one said anything he could tell what everyone was thinking, because he was thinking it himself.

If there had been a fight, where were all the bodies? There was not one to be seen and it was more than that. He knew that some creatures ate human bodies, the Orks certainly had not turned up their noses at doing so, but those had always left traces, chunks of flesh and other detritus. Yet here, there were none of those, there was not even clothing. Had they been taken? There were pirates and slavers that preyed on ships, but that did not make complete sense either.

As they walked on he saw many things which would surely have tempted any raiders. Why would anyone leave it all behind? Theobald did not know and he did not think that he wanted to know; though he would likely have to if he wanted to avoid the same fate. Looking at his party he could see that he was not the only one whose unease was increasing the longer that they went. Men were beginning to jump at shadows and Theobald himself felt that if anything besides themselves were to make a noise. Though neither Silver nor Valeris gave any indication of anything being near them Theobald felt the sensation of eyes watching them wherever they went.

The darkness seemed to close in on them when they finally reached the elevator. As with all other things it was without power and it so they had to have Valeris cut their way into the shaft using a plasma cutter Valeris had in one of his mechadendrites and they then climb up it. Despite all the time he had spent climbing up and down shafts in the Ruins this; however, was different. He was fully conscious of how tight the shaft felt and he kept imagining something coming at them from either above or below while they could not effectively defend themselves. At last Valeris declared that they were on the level as the bridge. Again employing his plasma cutter Valeris cut them through the hatch and let them onto the deck. They proceeded along towards the bridge itself when Rolf suddenly stopped and signaled for the others to do so as well. As Theobald moved up to him Rolf pointed his light to a spot on the floor.

About a yard ahead of them there was a hole in the deck several feet across. Theobald inched forward to shine his light into the hole. It went down to the deck below. Rolf turned to look at Theobald, a worried look on his face.

"What in the name of all the gods caused that?"

+Whatever made the holes in the hull I would conjecture+ Valeris stated, coming up to stand beside them.

+Now that I can more closely observe and analyze it I can postulate with a 99.994% certainty that whatever caused was it was organic in nature+ These words sent a shudder of fear through all who heard them, Theobald included. As he listened the tech-priest a single word entered his mind.

Tyranids.

Though he had never seen any himself he had heard stories of them. Seemingly endless tides of chiton-armored xenos who stripped whole worlds bare in order to grow their hordes. That would explain why they had found no bodies, they could very well now all be in Tyranid bellies. He shuddered again at the thought and felt an overwhelming urge to flee the ship back to the safety of Adventurer and have it reduce the Bounty and anything which might be aboard it to atoms. Still, he could not appear weak in front of his men and he would if he fled from shadows without knowing that any actual danger was present. He turned to Valeris and spoke in a low tone of voice.

"Do your auspexs show anything?"

+No. However; they are calibrated primarily for homo sapiens and may not detect xenos+ That was not what Theobald wanted to hear and from the mutterings he heard, neither did those with him. Theobald looked at them and took a deep breath in an effort to force down his own unease and sound calm an in command.

"We go on." Accompanied by Rolf he continued on, not looking back to see if the others were following him. Skirting the hole in the deck he walked on, a moment later he heard the clatter of boots as the others did as well.

Despite their increasing unease for a time it appeared to be unfounded. Valeris' auspexs continued to produce negative results and despite the presence of shadows everywhere nothing jumped out at them. At last they arrived on the bridge of the ship.

As with the rest of the ship the bridge was deserted, save for signs of battle, which were more numerous here. That made sense as those on the bridge would have been trusted with more access to weapons than those on the rest of the ship. Counsels had been blasted by las and bolter fire, as well as what appeared be tooth and claw marks on the deck and counsels. Even the Navigator's chamber had been bored into. As with everywhere else there were no remains were found. Theobald was about to instruct Valeris to begin interrogating the ship's cogitator when Silver frantically signaled him.

"Boss-man." She hissed at him.

"What is it?"

"We aren't alone."

Author's Notes: Hey everyone, what did you think? I meant to have this out earlier, but what can you do? What do you think caused it all? Will try not to be so tardy next time. Stay safe and may Jesus bless you.