Prologue

A cold, dead, and ash-filled hive city surrounded them. They were used to that now at least, but Ruby couldn't help but wonder how these cultists even managed to take down an entire hive when they couldn't even beat her or the rest of her team without resorting to suicide bombers and traps.

"IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OF FATE, DIE YOU CORPSE WORSHIP-"

Ruby neatly bisected the nut job running up to her with just a shock maul, his entrails popping out of his upper torso and his blood splattering everywhere, covering Ruby in a salty red shade of death. "Ugh. Gross. I got heretic blood on me."

"Ruby, while I find that shade of red attractive on you, can you not get so dirty this early into the mission? Richard will throw a fit! And you know how tough it is to get blood stains out of armor."

"Weiss, while I'll take the compliment, I'd rather focus on getting the mission done sooner than later. Something tells me they're trying to bring in some help considering how underprepared they are for us."

Weiss' mouth curled upwards in a smile, before sighing with incredulity. "You really have changed quite a bit in the 5 years we were training. I miss the innocent you a lot more, you know, much more fun to play with."

"We can have our fun later. Come on, let's go meet up at the designated rendezvous with Blake and Yang."

Blake and Yang were currently surrounded by the ever-increasing bodies of more and more cultists, who didn't seem to get that they weren't going to win with numbers alone.

"Blake! How much ammo you got?"

"About six full mags left! Make that 5 now!", she said as another cultist was filled with hot lead, their head popping like rotten fruit. Yang had also been busy, launching herself at a squad hiding behind cover, ripping their limbs off and breaking bones with every punch.

"These cultists are so annoying! They're not even putting up a good fight! My buzz is being wasted!", Yelled Yang as she crushed a scrawny cultist's chest with her foot, the whelp's screaming like music to her booze-fixed brain.

Blake looked at Yang with disappointment. "You do realize that many of these cultists are just slaves, deceived and used as tools, just like how they were used in their old lives? Have some empathy."

"You know that's inviting corruption, and I'd rather not risk losing such a valuable operative as yourself." Blake turned around and saw Richard, with Bordin and his Tempestus Scions, having approached their fight just as it finished.

Yang smiled and waved her hand in a casual greeting, before going to kick a few bodies for amusement.

Blake paled when she realized Richard heard the entire thing. "I.. uh... "

"No need Blake. I already understand. And I agree with you, except for the fact that they're tools for things even worse than the factory supervisor, that's for sure. Keep your mind strong, no doubt they're planning something more sinister further in the hive."

She sighed in relief, then checked the ammo of Gambol Shadow. Five power packs left. Better make 'em count.

Richard looked up to the thick smog hiding the top spires of the ruined hive. It reminded him of how it all began. The incessant struggle, the lives lost. Any Imperial force would have called it a casual Monday, but this one was special to him. Remnant had good people, yet they were so untested and untried when the invasion began. How did it start, let's see...