Chapter Five.


Golden light, warm yet dispassionate, limped over the world of Riva as it had for millions of years. It was uncaring, unknowing of the horrors and death that played out upon the world basked in its light.

We stood ready upon the broken streets, the light chasing away the misting breath of mortals behind sandbags and piled up debris. The servitors had gargled out their warning, soldiers sallying from the gates to meet a dreaded foe.

I decided to help them stand on the main road. News of our arrival had spread through the PDF, but seeing my warriors fighting where the enemy was the thickest would help the Rivians morale. To share in the burden of sacrifice and combat. The tauros opened fire first, their autocannons spinning up before unloading hails of hot metal, ripping apart the enemy in their hundreds.

It was my soldiers first time off Tarth soil. Speeches had been given, reminders of duty and courage. It didn't stop them from looking terrified at the foe we faced. Hearing stories from the Rivians of the carnage this war held. They looked to me for encouragement, I hoped they got it.

A blinding flash as lasguns added to the salvo, soldiers stacking their guns on barricades and other shackled defenses. Flesh ruptured, hundreds of the dead gaining final rest from the first volley alone. Loudest of all, my bolt pistol roared, as sure a symbol of our defiance as a banner overhead.

Thunderhawks roared above, heavy bolters and lascannons roaring, their battle cannons shattering the sky as they dove upon the enemy. Still they came, unrelenting, thousand of them pouring from the streets in an unyielding tide. We met them with equal fury, but it was not us I worried for.

With the gunships providing support we were able to hold our lines easily enough, it was the outlying squads that suffered under the assault, removed from the mass fire of the line. The thunderhawks could not be everyplace at once, but they tried, racing around the city in frenzied activity, destroying as they did.

I feared using them in wider bombing runs, not knowing if civilians were still hiding out in the city's districts. If there was a chance of getting more people out of the city, I had to take that chance. A timer on my helmet read six minutes, an estimate given what Vovek and said the day before.

I raised my bolt pistol again and emptied the magazine into the walking flesh, my vox channel filled with reports from the strategium. I directed two of my squads in nearby reserve to further out battles, trusting that we could hold the line here. The horde parted a hundred meters down the road, a traitor's tauros, like those my forces held. Even as we redirected fire, its guns spun up and spat death, rounds racing towards the vehicles and piled up debris that soldiers around me used for cover.

I ducked as the bullets raced overhead, rising a moment later and firing several shots into the machine. The vehicle tried to pull back, but my rounds found the driver and gunner atop his station. Both exploded into showers of gore. More traitors dove towards the vehicle, trying to recover it, more died for their attempts. Our tauros swing their guns around and tear the machine's metal flesh into scraps.

I glanced around me. Six mortal slain, chests and heads torn apart by the firestorm. Others were more fortunate, having only to push off the dead to keep firing. I looked deeper down the lines. Some of my own laid dying, picked off by lasfire that came stealing over the infected horde.

Some screamed as friends died, men and women they had known since their first days in the guard. They had trained together, bleed and slept in the same foxholes. Now all those memories were naught but ashes.

The timer in the corner of my eye continued to tick up, mixed with all the other tactical information that flooded through my sight. Target locks were uncountable, my lenses magnified, hunting out the traitors beyond the corpseflesh.

Fifteen minutes of punishing fire laster and as hoped the tide stemmed, the horde thinning until only a few dozen were cut down with red beams of light. But the day was only starting.

"Forward!" I shouted down the line, and a selected few squads advanced alongside me as we dove into the nearest alleyways. Others did the same, heading into the streets of the city and towards the nearest districts. We were hunting for survivors, any who could be saved during the time between the waves.

My battle plate growled around me, its servos whirling and microfiber stretching and contracting in perfect sync with my own geneforged muscles. We caught up with stragglers, cutting them down and advancing farther into the city.

It was a risk, for all I knew the enemy could have the infected turn on us and we would be forced to fall back, but it was a risk that must be taken. High class districts were the closets to the palace gates, fat houses built in what had been the cleanest streets. These were tall and squat, like oversized gothic boxes. Stained glass with glorification to the Emperor and saints were everywhere, watched over by gray gargoyles and Imperial Aquila.

I tore away the steel gate blocking our entrance, a small garden filled with bright vibrant flowers on a cobblestone path leading to the front doors. Two marble angels held out their swords for us to pass under.

I was first into the home, breaking down the wood door and letting my armors systems map the inside. My sensorium brought relevant information to my attention, no lifesigns. Not that it meant much given our foe.

The soldiers that followed me spread out to help me search the complex, led by Sargent named Edim Kurko. He was a good man, with a fair jawline and a hooked nose that he sometimes peered down. One of the many Tarthian officers that had been trained by Sosa to help lead my fledgling guard army.

"This room is clear my lord." He said, coming from a connecting chamber. I gave him a nod and opened the next door, flies in their hundreds bursted out of the cracked door, covering the black teeth that snapped around the ceremite of my armored fingers.

I slammed the door shut and pulled my blades. They were pounding on the others side, angry groans filtering through the thin wood. I took a few steps back and bursted through the door. The piled infected fell and were cast about by the flying debris. Blue lighting tore into life as I cut through them, now rotted sink robes and fine cloth cut to ribbons. The soldiers moved in behind me.

"No signs of forced entry." One of the soldiers commented, and I looked around the room as well. Dried blood was everywhere, the people themselves were torn apart, held together by the plague that ran through their veins.

"One of them must have been infected, didn't tell the others and then, it got in." Another trooper muttered.

"I would hate to think of what it was like when one of them turned." I cut through their chatter before it could continue.

"Finish searching the building and then inform command, I want to search three more before we head back." I got a round of acknowledgement and left, working through the other chambers before we repeated the task on other nearby buildings. It was slow going, watching out for enemy PDF and roaming infected. They would fall away from the main battle lines, guided back by the same force that led them there, but were still attracted to noise.

"Conta-" A voice from outside cut off and lasgun fire impacted across the opened door, body slumping to the ground, half his face charred. The soldiers inside rushed towards the entrance, taking up firing positions as I grabbed my bolt pistol and checked out the door for a moment.

Twenty at a glance, traitors that had come to test our lines again.

"See if there is a back way out, flank if you can, we will hold them here." Four soldiers took off back into the chamber to find a second door and I leaned out to fire several shots into the enemy, two died, the rest diving for solid cover.

"Find cover outside." I ordered them and in those seconds, rushing out to keep the first burst of fire off the men. Soldiers ducking behind stone statues as the enemy found their feet, a dazzling duel of red on red erupting around us. I grasped a grenade and threw it around the stoneworks I used as cover. The blast provided the distraction and confusion I needed to make it into melee, my blade humming with power as streaks of lightning ran down its edge.

The first to fall was a middle aged man, his face covered in green warts and boils. His body cut in half, horror on his face as I moved to the next and the next, bolt pistol barking in my hand and blade humming its savage glee. They were shellshocked, the horror of witnessing an Astartes in action making them hesitate. They died for that error. The last six enemies were taken in the side, blasted apart by lasgun fire from the flanking squad.

I turned to Edim, who had been part of the flank. "Report."

"Nobody injured my lord, but we lost trooper Reg." My eyes flickered to the corpse that was still slumped against the doorway.

"Grab his body and return, we have stayed as long as we should." The men obeyed and we traveled our way back to friendly forces.

The houses we searched would be marked and uploaded to the machines of the strategium, giving clearance to the thunderhawks to provide further bombardment in front of harrowed squads. Sargent Edim nodded his goodbye and left with the body of his comrade, to be taken back to the Light for transport back to Tarth for burial.

Reports of the day came streaming in, casualties among the PDF and Guard, a few civilians had been found, shellshocked lesser nobles that were herded towards chambers to be checked over for evacuation.

They would be taken to those few cities that were accepting them, Micheal having gotten a few to take them in. For now it would be enough. I had the sense to have those who were leaving to be checked before they left, needing no excuses for this plague to go farther than it currently was.

This pattern continued for the next two days, we would weather the storm of the enemy, race out from our defensive lines to look through the homes of the highborn, marking the places that had been cleared. Smoke curling from the rubble, entire blocks leveled.

My power swords thrummed with energy as I helped clear another building, another traitor falling dead, blood spattering the walls. Squad Diago advanced alongside me, it's leader was one from the Feudal-world, a rough man who cursed often, but followed orders well.

"Throne take these damned infected!" He roared from behind me, swinging the butt of his lasgun into the face of a shambling zombie who moaned out in anger before he ended it with a burst of light. There was one more of the last highborn homes to be searched, our forces having made good progress, clearing hundreds of meters of homes before falling back.

We had been found by a horde, thirty or so of the monsters attracted to the snap of lasshot and the boom of my own weapon. I had learned not to use it often. The traitors had finally gotten wind of our intentions, and were holding out in some of the houses, forcing door to door clearing. It was a brutal affair. We lost more men.

"We have one home left in our sector Sargent, then we can head back." I said over our vox channel, busting down the door of the large building.

"You think I could get some recaff after all this is over Chapter Master?" Pausing at the request I looked to the Sargent for a moment before I chuckled.

"I'll make sure your whole squad gets some." The men let out a small cheer and we headed inside, moving through the gothic and gold lines rooms, two watching the door.

I found signs of life among the rooms, a pantry that was left open, dust didn't cling to the floor like it had in so many other buildings. A dining chamber with chairs roughly pushed away from its long surface. There was somebody still living here, of that I was sure. I went up the stairs, ignoring the way they creaked under my bulk and followed a long chamber towards what I assumed was the master bedroom.

I could smell sweat and other, things, from nearby rooms, I could guess they hadn't left this home in some time, forced to hide from the traitors and infected. There were some parts of the city that were cut off from water and electricity. I walked up to the ornately carved double doors and spoke to its surface.

"I'm part of the relief force of the city, you're safe now, can you open the door?" A weak voice came from the other side.

"How can we trust you?" I could have taken time and won them over, perhaps, but I didn't have the desire to. Instead I raised my blade and let lightning dance down its edge, cutting off the hinges of the large wooden doors. They fell off and I pushed them aside, revealing a family of five cowering behind stacked furniture. Molding food and bottles of wine sat discarded around the room. They must have heard us entering or clearing the nearby houses and hid.

"We are here to bring you to safety." I said plainly, seeing the fine clothing that hung off their thin frames, they all looked utterly relieved, eyes sunken, and cheeks gaunt. The father rose shakily to his feet, helping his wife and two children. Both the boy and the girl cowered behind their mothers skirts, peering out behind them with wide gazes.

"Thank the god Emperor, we are saved." I didn't respond and motioned them out, connecting a vox channel to David.

"Bring the thunderhawk to my location, we have a few civilians to bring out, I'm pulling back the squads for the day." I got a confirmation and walked outside, the family following, a few of the guardsman with me offering them clean water from canteen that they drank greedily. Sargent Diago rested his weapon on his shoulder and looked up at the roaring craft overhead.

"Can't complain about the air support, that is for sure." We walked a short ways to an area large enough for the thunderhawk to land. Soldiers standing guard at entrances while the civilians loaded up. Other squads from nearby clearings joined us, darkness creeping over the city, casting long shadows over rubble and piled corpses.

I let myself look around the small plaza for a moment, the fountains of marble stood silent, water murky and yellowing. Flies buzzed around destroyed bodies and harrowed some of the soldiers, many who swatted in vain attempts to move them away.

Grass was growing up through cracked cobblestone, blast marks from the fighting in the earliest days of fighting marked up many of the destroyed or looted shops. I had heard more reports of civilians who were still alive, deeper into the capital. They had formed groups to survive, but none had been saved yet. Diago called over to where I stood from the door of the transport.

"We are ready to set out my lord." I turned from the ruined city and towards my transport, standing and grasping one of the handholds above soldiers and the family of civilians sat around me. The nearest trooper saw this and got up, but I waved a hand and went back to my thoughts. I looked at the soldier for a moment, seeing the way his eyes seemed so tired. I knew that I didn't process battle stress like mortals did. I hardly noticed it at all. To me, these monsters were just, walking bags of flesh given function, hardly even a threat.

But I had seen a soldier torn apart by their grasping limbs and biting flesh, chunks of meat and skin hanging from black teeth, even as he screamed to die. I didn't think of these occurrences often, but I wondered in that moment what this fighting was like without ones sense of fear dulled. I thought what those first weeks had been like for the miners and civilians.

There were so few being saved from these rich areas, so many that had been turned and forced to fight for in this disgusting war. How many more would we find in the more populated zones? I was still unsure how these infected were controlled, or how the plague spread. Micheal knew that it was at least through biting, but if that simply meant fluids, then what did that mean for the water system of the city? As of yet, the palaces water and electricity were self contained things, drawing from generators and a source untapped by the city itself, but if that became contaminated.

I would have to make sure that such things were guarded, without power or a clear source of water, the palace would be rendered little more than a rock, and a new base of operations for our forced would need to be found. A massive waste of time, resources and life.

The thunderhawk set down and a team of medical staff came out to see the civilians and soldiers. From other crafts others came forward, one, a still fat lesser noble with a few personal house guards' voice rose as he confronted a medicea.

"Hands off! I won't be touched by the likes of you." My own civilians complied with the checks just fine, the father giving me a thankful nod as I walked over to the ranting man.

"As if I could be one of those monsters, how could you even thi-" His voice tapered off as I came to stand beside him, the medicea using their diagnosticator in his equipment to scan the man.

"This is part of a mandatory check for all civilians who are being brought back to the palace." His complaints stopped for a moment before he again pushed away the tools of the medic.

"I am telling you I am fine, there is no need to violate my personal." The machine beeped and its cogitator crystal whirled for a moment before bringing information to the medics eyes.

"He has signs of infectio-" The man's eyes bulged and he swatted the machine out of the medic's hands.

"Preposterous! My blood is pure! My family is a branch of the Cavacarios line. As if such fowl taint could touch us." The medicea's eyes went to my helm, those nearby tensing slightly. This was not the first time such a thing had happened. Even a few PDF troopers had caught the thing from fighting the enemy.

I rested a hand on the man's shoulder and motioned to a nearby soldier, his family cowered nearby, a wife and a daughter. They had passed the checks fine.

"This man here will lead you to our medical chambers, there you will be looked after, we have ways of slowing the infection." The stress bled from the man and his fat shoulders slumped a bit as his anger at dying faded out.

"Good, good, thank the Emperor," He turned to the medic then, and surprised me. Making the Aquila and bowling slightly "I, am sorry for that, it's been a hard month on all of us. Please forgive me." The medicea wouldn't meet his eyes, looking away to the next family that needed his attention. The trooper lead him away, his family being lead to a different holding chamber. Sargent Diago walked up beside me, his men heading off to their bunks.

"What a sad sight you know, to get through all that just to be unlucky enough to get infected now." I almost felt an eyebrow raise at the man's callous attitude, but knew that I was far from better. I was the one sending dozens of soldiers to their death each day.

"Let me know if the Quartermaster gives you any problems with getting your squad recaff Sargent" I said before I walked away, there would be reports to look over, casualties to see too and the ever present pestering of nobility to deal with.

"I will Chapter Master, and thank you." I called after me, several throwing him confused looks.

The event with the noble brought to mind the threat we faced, and I changed my course to the set up medical station that now dominated one of the large and vaulted chambers. Lumens glows bright above, amplifying the white and bloodstained fabric.

Arotium Farus was the Emperor's Light Chief medical officer, and my frontrunner on trying to find a way to cure or slow down this plague. He was no scientist, more used to repairing broken flesh than peering at a microscope, but he did his best all the same.

"Any findings Farus." I spoke as my feet thudded lightly on the stone floor, the meds filled beds of those who had been injured fighting the traitors. He didn't look up from the dataslate in his hand, but given how hard he had been working since making planetfall, I didn't care for the lack of a salute.

"Nothing my lord," He said alongside a sigh, finally setting down the slate and rubbing tired eyes.

"This, virus, if I could even call it such, isn't anything I have ever seen before. Plagues do occur on ships after all, that many bodies all packed together, disease is bound to occur but, I honestly couldn't tell you what this is." He glared down at his workstation as if it had offended him.

"It changes cells, of that I'm sure, both causing them to decay and rejuvenate at such a rapid rate I... " he trailed off again, trying to find the words before simply shaking his head.

"I don't know what to tell you my lord, I'm sorry I don't have more than that." I wasn't annoyed by the lack of progress, knowing that understanding this could be beyond him. The best Apothecaries of my old Chapter had sometimes contained plagues caused by the followers of Nurgle for future study and ways of combating their sickness. The madness of how such contaminants worked was a constant annoyance and irk to them.

"It's fine Farus, do continue your work, but what we are fighting is a terrible thing, you do the Emperor's work fighting it as you do." A ghost of a smile came over the sawbones face.

"Thank you, my lord. I will find a way to help, I must.." Somehow, I knew that would not be the case. But I would not dash the sudden vigor in the mortals' eyes.

Another two frantic days of thunderhawk bombardment followed. We were tearing through our ammunition at a furious rate, blasting the noble houses to dust for greater and greater fields of fire upon our front line.

During time I made preparation to push into the next set of districts, the men standing in rank in the mustering fields the front of the palace had become. I was issuing orders for the day, speaking loudly to all those who were set to clear, when the sound of a bell tolled loudly across the city. I turned, looking to the Cathedral to the Emperor that stood several kilometers away.

Survivors, my mind turned, and I quickly changed my orders.

Within minutes two thunderhawks raced toward the towering structure, its bell a sirens call, a death sentence for those inside. Unless we got there first.

Six squads joined me, half PDF and half of my own men. They too grew more haggard by the day. Untested soldiers fighting for their lives just out of training fields and mock battles. Such was our grinding wars.

We flew over the battle line of the day, hordes in their thousands trying to close the distance over wreckage and rubble. It was easier now, the fields of fire were greater, but the enemy used this to their advantage as well, taking potshots at our ranks from over the heads of their shambling hordes.

I had already abandoned my idea to take the city back chunk by chunk. There was too much to be searched, too many enemies laying in wait in alleyways and buildings. Better to airlift in, and airlift out in locations where we knew survivors still stayed. I knew this would mean that some would be left, some abandoned. But I had different plans for saving those. Locations I wanted to establish in the city for people to come to, bastions of defense like the palace we could hold without great loss of life. It was finding these locations that proved difficult.

I had less honorable reasons for keeping the soldiers on the ground before the palace walls and not simply holding them up in total safety besides my change in tactic. I wasn't yet sure why the infected hadn't spilled from the city, but I had my suspicions it was because of the warm bodies that presented easiest pickings.

These thoughts troubled me as the thunderhawks rumbled around me. I still had no true answer to my question that these monsters were being controlled. A theory at best.

But if they were being controlled then why did the enemy waste their resources upon our lines? I frowned inside my helm, once again annoyed by the lack of information and understanding of my enemies plans. It was, a waste to throw these bodies against our defenses now, hardly any squads were overrun now, the thunderhawks saw to that. So why did they keep doing it?

I shook my head to rid myself of such thoughts. Trying to understand Chaos was, unwise, in many circumstances. Like Orks, the Great Enemy did not measure victory like we did, in ground lost or gained, they served different goals, held totally different values that those who served the Emperor. Instead I turned on the live feeds from the picts on the outside of the thunderhawk, and observed the Cathedral below.

Like most of their kind, it was a giant structure, with towers and reliquaries that stretched towards the sky. The tallest of them, three hundred meters above the ground held the massive bell we heard ringing, made of bronze and sculpted skull faced angels, large enough for eight men to stand shoulder to shoulder.

The entire building was built upon an artificial hill, perhaps to raise it above the rabble that worshiped there. The small mountain was almost impassable, except for the twenty meter wide staircase that led to its flat foundations. A domed roof covered the plus shaped complex.

We landed on the flats in front of the church, a makeshift barricade of wood pews shoved at the top of the stairs. There was a substantial amount of bodies outside their defenses, those infected drawn by the sound of the bell. The squads were down the ramp and headed towards the barricades. Squad Diago came with me towards the church.

We were met with civilians guards, men and women with some stub weapons, a few degrading lasguns and pipes sharpened to edges. They came outside the large double doors of the cathedral, watched over by angels with swords held high and halos over their heads. At their front, a priest, what had once been fine red robes now covered in grime, his staff, a thing of iron, held a book wrapped in chains around its surface, topped with the Aquila.

"You are the relief force?" He said in a raspy voice, hair gray and thin, lips pressed into a line. I nodded to him, and his eyes went towards the thunderhawks behind me.

"Praise him who sits on the throne." He said again before turning towards the church, leading us inside. His followers made room for us, but didn't lower their weapons, something both I and Diago noticed.

Inside was as grand as all large churches of the Ecclesiarchy were, gothic and gold, filled with places for the devout to worship and pews of more, reserved members. In the center, a high alter stood, with a massive book laid over its stone table. Light from stained windows poured down upon us, assisted by uncountable candles that sat on iron studs.

Our boots thudded off the high ceiling and far walls, echoing from slopes made to add to the call voices of the devout, amplifying what would already be a defining session of worship. My armor lit up sections of defense and targeting data scrolled across my vision, places I could be ambushed, where heavy guns could have been brought to bear. All the information I would have needed to storm such a place. I dismissed the sensorium a moment later, clearing my visuals of all but the most important streams.

There were perhaps no more than a hundred people inside, all of them armed in some way, and I had to wonder how many were hidden away. I knew from experience that places such as this often held deep underground passages and chambers, perhaps the entire hill under us was hollowed out for such purposes.

I wondered at the idea of making this place into one of the bastions in which I could save more civilians, it would be fitting, after all. A church, a place of holy ground and purpose to congregate to. I was taken out of my musing by the priest starting to speak.

"I prayed for many days and nights for us to be saved from this madness," I left squad Diago behind as we went towards his office. Lesser priests could be seen now, some mumbling prayers, others staring far off into nothingness. Upon entering, an aid closed the door behind us as the priest sat his old bones down into a wood throne, leaning heavy on his staff as he did so.

"I suppose you are going to ask me to leave this place." He finally said after pouring him and I a glass of wine. I didn't move to take it, watching him bring the trembling cup to his lips and drinking a small bit, struggling to swallow.

"I want to get all the people out of this city that I can. It is my duty to save them." He took another sip of his wine before setting it down, the silver clattering slight on the smooth wood.

"It has, taken you some time to come to us." I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a jibe or not, but he was correct. I was taking my time, preserving the lives of soldiers I could during our strikes away from our lines.

"My apologies." I responded diplomatically. "We were unaware anybody resided inside the church until you rung the bell." He nodded a few times, almost to himself.

"We knew it was perhaps the only way to let you know we still lived. We noticed the pattern you see. The gunfire, the explosions, then your aircraft would fly farther over the city, we waited until we knew you could come." It was a sound plan, and I shouldn't have been slightly impressed.

"I, don't know how to tell you this, but I cannot leave this place. I have given my entire life to preserving his work and will. I will not see its sanctuary pillaged by filthy hands." I had expected that to some degree, and reached up to unlock my helm, the seals releasing with a hiss of air.

The priest's face was filled with surprise as I reached down to grasp the silver goblet and brought it to my lips, even if I did have to lean forward slightly to drink.

"I expected that, should I be honest, and I do not desire to abandon this place to the enemies outside its door." I set the goblet down. It had been a fine vintage, but wine had never been something I had partaken in.

"But the people here must be secured, staying here is only to invite death upon your entire congregation." He motioned to the bolt pistol at my side.

"You have weapons, ammunition. You can give us some supplies, we will hold it." It was well defended, but I wouldn't arm civilians with weapons and ask them to fight.

"I could place a garrison here to help defend it, but I will be evacuating the civilians all the same. I will not ask them to fight when they could be moved to safety."

"And if they want to fight?" He challenged, reaching for his staff of iron and rising to his feet.

"We have been fighting and surviving for the last month, scavenging and holding out against these monsters. While I would appreciate your help, it is not needed." He looked up at me with fire in his eyes, the kind I had only seen in other men of faith, and heretics of radical devotion.

Before I could respond there came the pounding of boots on stone, the door thrown open by a soldier I did not know.

"They are coming." He gasped before I passed him, activating the vox in my helmet.

"Report." I said, the voice of Vovek coming through, slightly confused.

"Everything is normal here my lord, we just got a few soldiers in from the landers, four new squads," I cut him off.

"The infected, are they moving on the defenses?" We had fought off a wave just an hour ago, and had seen a double wave yet.

"No." He said slowly, confusion littering his voice.

"Be ready for one." I said back before cutting the line, opening the doors of the church to see my soldiers snapping off shots down the stairs and off the edges. Even as they did so, one was taken in the chest by a returning shot, thrown off his feet, flack armor blackened.

I went to the edge to see what was happening, infected were coming up the streets uncountable in their number, shambling towards the church. If that was not enough, traitors were set up in buildings, taking pop shots from windows.

Behind me the thunderhawk whirled and took off, heavy bolters already starting to pick targets as their machine spirits gave into their more wrathful tendencies. The gunners had proved their skills of late, mowing down the monsters with admirable accuracy.

I raised my bolt pistol and fired, shooting through the weak rockcrete wall a traitor was hiding behind. Dust and blood exploded into the air, showering his comrades in chunks of both. They might have tried to come to kill me, to cut off the head of our operations, but they had made a mistake. The bombardment cannons of the two thunderhawks boomed above us, showing the entire street in broken stone and rubble.

The infected were climbing the stairs now, and raining bolt shells from the gunships above kept them at bay, but then more soldiers were taken out by the traitors. The civilians were doing their own parts, those with ranged weapons were taking out infected, more with pipes stood ready by their barricades for the coming wave.

They advanced up the stairs, hundreds had been pulped to nothingness but it didn't matter, they climbed and shambled over their destroyed fellows flesh, a sea of them filling the streets below. I turned and loosed a few bolts into the horde, cutting down dozens before a few lasrounds impacted my armor. I should have gotten them out as soon as I had landed, instead of playing nice with the priest.

There was always a limit, but we had assumed whoever was controlling them could only push the hordes a few times a day, if we had been wrong about that, what else could be mistaken.

We held them back, with lasfire and stub rounds the infected fell in mass, the traitors themselves had been picked off, but more seemed to keep coming, pulling from some unseen reserve. Many of the buildings around us, lesser shrines and statues and reliquaries, were already reduced to rubble, so they fired from farther back, the thunderhawks above having plenty of targets to choose from.

Then the first civilians gun clicked empty, and when she went to reach for the next magazine, her belt was empty. My own soldiers fared better, each having a handful of laspacks to their person, but they tore through them in abandon, red beams flaring and heating their weapons to dangerous levels. I opened a vox channel to Diago.

"Start getting the civilians out, we will buy you time." I couldn't call in the other thunderhawks, they were each being used by different squads on different missions. Calling them away, an order I knew they would follow, could mean sentencing those soldiers to death. Even from here I could hear the boom of other main cannons, bolters spitting death to buy time. We would have to make do with what we had.

One of the craft landed in front of the barricades, opening its side door while its bolters spat overhead, cutting down the infected in mass. Diago roared for the people to get inside, and they looked to the priest for a few moments, he shook his head.

"Now is not the time priest!" I yelled out from my vox grill, making many close by flinch. Without two thunderhawks raining down destruction, more las rounds found the defenders, six laid dead, others clutching at blown away limbs.

The dead made it to the barricades then, tearing at the pews of the faithful, gnashing on wood worn down by thousands of worshipers. They strike along the edges of the stairs, any who climbed over were quickly put down with blows to the head. But it was not enough.

"On the transport." I snapped again, firing the last few rounds of my pistol into a traitor who had peered out from a window.

"We will hold." The priest said, leaning heavily on his iron staff just meters away from the destruction. He didn't seem worried, even, relaxed. Perhaps death didn't scare him. I turned to Diago and jabbed a finger at the thunderhawk.

"Get the wounded inside, if they won't leave then we need to make sure we can fall back." He nodded and those able to move helped those who could not. One civilian got too close to the edge of the stairs, their metal pipe yanked at and they were dragged forward. One rotted hand clasped on their arm and it was over, their screams only lasted moments as they were devoured, guts spilling into hungry mouths.

"Keep faith!" The priest yelled out, his voice strong and steady now, conviction burning through it.

"We have faced these monsters before! We will again! Keep faith in he who sits on the throne, we will be delivered through our sacrifice! Fight! Fight for him on Terra, fight for your place at his side. Fear not the end, fear not these monsters. The Emperor protects his faithful! He guides your wra-" A stray lasround, fired from the top of a roof, catches him in the head, brain and bone exploding outwards as it superheated his skull. He crumpled to the floor and for one moment there was silence, a moment of shifting tides and realizations.

The battle resumed, but the cries of those who fought were lesser now, filled with rage and hate from the death of their leader. More monsters got over the barricade, more than the defenders could strike at. Another was brought down, neck torn open and flesh greedily gulped down. I smashed my boot down through both of their skulls, igniting both of my blades and cutting through those near me. There were too many.

"Get inside the transport!" I spat again, directing my words at the fighting civilians. They ignored me, fighting a losing battle to keep the holy ground they had kept for so long. One of them even went and grasped the staff of the priest, holding it aloft like a banner. I grasped at one of them and thrusted him towards the thunderhawk, my patience and time running thin.

"Inside." I grounded out, turning to lash at another infected who had gone unslain. Filthy black blood coating my proud battle plate. We were growing closer to being overrun, to many were coming over the gaps, more were being grabbed and torn apart. The assault from the traitors was growing bolder, even with the raining destruction from the other gunship, they just continued to emerge from the rubble, firing up at us, trying to destroy our resistance.

A few finally got the message, but too few, too late. The infected finally started to mount the barricade in mass, dozens spilling over as people started to flee towards the transport. My own soldiers stood their ground, buying time for the city's people to board. The thunderhawk flared its engines, the pilot's voice coming across the vox link.

"We will be back as soon as we can!" Then it was blasting off, and its lack of firepower was felt in those next minutes. We couldn't hold the flat ground any longer, and I called for a retreat back to the church. The men broke their lines and fired while walking backwards, civilians fleeing past them.. At the entrance the troopers formed into fireing lines, some kneeling while others stood over them. I was the last inside, shutting the heavy doors and motioning the soldiers to find barricades. I looked to a nearby priest, one who had stayed inside and now fearfully clutched at his book.

"What other entrances are there to this building?" He stammered for a moment before rattling out a number of locations. I looked to two of the remaining Sergeants and their partial squads, they nodded and ran off, set on securing them.

"Are there more people under the cathedral?" I asked the small crowd of civilian warriors, noticing most of them were men, a few hard gazed women. They nodded and I cursed inside my helm.

Outside the thunderhawk made use of its battle cannon on the stairs themselves, the hill we stood on shaking from the impacts. I ignored the pounding on the other side of the doors. I looked to the other four squads.

"Find firing positions, we will retreat down into these tunnels and hold them if we must." The troopers split off to find places to try and cull the horde, the many high windows smashed out and balconies brought to a new purpose. I looked to the people now, who looked ready to finally listen to my orders.

"Go and ready those underneath us to move soon, we cannot waste time." They broke away and did as ordered.

The enemy pounded on the doors now, tearing at the wood and iron banding, splintering it fingernail by fingernail, bone by bone. They would bring it down, by eating through the wood, or by breaking it from its hinges, I did not know. But for now we had time.

I tried to divide my attention between the tasks before me, ensuring each understood what was to be done before the horde broke through. There were one or two balconies that could have been used to get people out, if the pilots could hold their doors still and open long enough for people to climb inside, but I didn't favor getting out hundreds of people that way.

I sighed and closed my eyes, blocking out my other senses for a moment as I delved into my mind. I, like many Astartes, had memorized many parts of the venerated Codex Astartes, the book written by the Primarch of the Ultramarines. There were dozens of possibilities that could have been applied to this circumstance, if I had fellow Marines alongside me. Instead, I had to rely on the mortals that even now ran around me, trying to find more things to barricade with.

I was not used to working alongside humans as much as I had this past year. I had always been a battle brother, a warrior of the line before being promoted to Sargent, until I was given an opportunity to stand in the personal guard of my Chapter Master. I had not hesitated, rising to one of the most venerated positions in my Chapter, easily giving away command to a chosen successor.

I had little experience in leading mortal soldiers, having only seen it second hand from those Imperial commanders and officers who I had sometimes fought beside. I had read Imperial Guard doctrine, other ways of war and how they organized their forces, but it seemed to be as widely followed as the Space Wolves follow the Codex. I was once again gladdened that I had a man such as Sosa to lead much of the logistical side of my forces.

My attention was taken by a creaking of the wood, and I could see the bulging of the wood from the other side.

They would eat their way through before the hinges broke.

I wouldn't hold this sanctuary, there was no way I could, not enough men, not enough firepower. Only a Devastator squad could have held back that shambling horde, raining death in unprecedented destruction.

Help was coming, the thunderhawks outside would be joined, other squads who had been making use of them would have completed their missions. More gunships freed for our use, but how long that would take, I didn't waste the time to vox in and ask.

I was still getting information from outside, data transmissions from vox towers that were able to penetrate the walls. Visual updates from the gunships outside. I didn't share the image of a mound of flesh that was pressing against the walls, and for a moment I wondered if they would be able to mount high enough to break open the glass and pour in that way. It was a question that I would not have to answer.

A hand broke through first, a blackened limb of fresh that had several of its fingers mangled and broken. A face appeared next, a murky yellow eye that was forced against the wood by a hundred pressed bodies behind it. The gap grew wider, black teeth gnawing at the gap, tearing at the wood until its teeth broke, then it used its rotted jaws before it was forced away, newer flesh filled teeth widening the gap.

I moved my men and the last few militia forces underground, giving orders to level the building above us. I knew the priest would be rolling over in his grave at such an order, but this expedition had come at a large cost, one I had not been ready to pay.

But if it would block the infected from following us, that alone was enough. So we descended into the catacombs of the cathedral, where the dead of the city had been buried for centuries.

It was here that I found all those who had been hiding from the destruction above, perhaps two hundred old and young, mothers nursing babes. Dust shook from above as the thunderhawks tore at the stone foundations of the cathedral. I thought for a moment I could hear a ring of the bronze bell, before everything started to shake, massive bits of rockcrete and metal fell atop us. We went deeper into the tunnels, a tight space that made me stoop at times. The farther down I went, the more the dirt collected and dust grew.

The higher places had been for nobility, chambers lined with hold and heavy doors. These were what made up the hill, I had found, layers upon layers of tombs.

Deeper in, it became of lesser nobility, small chambers until only wood boxes long eaten by insects, the bones of those inside peering through the gaps. There was little light down here, not that it was a problem for me.

My suit's sensorium gave me a map of the passages, that which the augur systems could penetrate. Diago walked behind me, followed by the other remaining soldiers. There were, thirty seven left, out of the six squads I had brought with me. Their helmet lumens were on, lighting the decaying stonework.

The thudding of above couldn't be heard anymore, if we were far enough down that the pounding was silenced or because the building was brought down, I wasn't sure.

Finally my feet hit dirt, not the foundational stone that made up much for the journey. We had hit the base of the hill. I turned to Diago.

"Search for a way out, there must be one." His helmet light bobbed in acknowledgment and I looked passed them, watching the train of mortals that followed behind us. All of them looked horrified, malnourished and lacking in sleep and fortitude. They stumbled in the dark, some holding onto burning candles, wiping away at the wax that ran around their fingers as they held the small flames high in the dark.

After half an hour of searching through the catacombs a trooper of the PDF came to me.

"We think we found a way out my lord." I motioned for him to lead on and followed him to a wide tunnel that went deeper into the ground, burrowing into the stone for another fifty meters before it seemed to level out.

"Gather the others, follow after me." The trooper saluted and I looked down into the tunnel once more. There was no light, any lumens that had lit the passage had long gone out or were without power. The entire place was damp, moisture clung to the walls along its bottom, a chill registering in my armors sensors. Not enough to harm a human, and so I pressed onwards.

I reached the bottom of the walkway and peered forward through its darkness, the tunnel spreading for hundreds of meters. Additional passages built into its sides at times, leading to other locations in the city. I strained my senses for a moment, trying hard to listen for anything other than the mortals behind me. I heard nothing, and so waited for them to catch up before continuing along our way.

The soldiers spread out around the civilians, some trailing behind, some following alongside. They kept their helmet lights on, showing the gray and molding stone for all to see. A vox signal wouldn't penetrate this far underground, not without support, and I was forced to simply, guess, which way might lead to the surface.

The chronometer ticked and I realized that three hours had passed since we had been forced underground. I kept trying to find a way out, trying to listen for something, a bit of wind, a change in the shadows that could mean light. The path twisted and turned, never going in a straight line, but I didn't want to risk heading down one of the secondary paths, and so remained in the largest tunnel.

Another hour passed and Diago came up beside me, combat boots echoing alongside a hundred others.

"The people are wondering if we are…" he didn't finish, and I had to repress a sigh. I had not thought to find schematics of the cities underground, something I had now wished I had done.

"We will find a way out, keep faith." My words echoed across the line, and but I could hear the people tiring behind me, growing slower, weaker from their labors. But that faith was rewarded when the tunnel started to rise, heading up towards the surface, the chill of the air lessening, the clattering of teeth behind me fading.

This path led to a new massive maintenance door, a large circular metal door with a basic hand crank to open it. I placed my hands on the rusting metal and turned, ignoring the annoying spitting creak and forced the latch open, swinging the door open wide.

The interior of some warehouse met my eyes, pipes and power lines littered the walls, some version of low gothic I had only a partial master over was painted in large while across the wall, but I could read enough of it to tell that it was in a subsector of some basement. I followed the sigils upwards, giving quick orders for the people to stay there, and stay quiet. I took squad Diago, members that remained, and snuck, as I was able to, through the structure.

Four floors up and I found the ground level, it was indeed a warehouse of giant proportions, one of several hundred meter long structures that was used to house the ore after it had been recycled and cleared from base rock.

Huge shipping containers lined the floor, each marked with its contents in large bold gothic. The vehicles that the crews had used to move such containers laid where they had been abandoned, some driven into the sides of buildings, some toppled over.

My eyes scanned up and down the row but found nothing, and squad Diago spread out with me to search the complex. Before that, I tried for vox communications, managing to establish a link with the command center. The voice of a relieved Sosa coming over the line.

"My lord, we thought you dead when you didn't resurface."

"I am very much alive, I am in warehouse four seven five alpha, how many transports can you spare to my location?" There was a few seconds of silence, and I could hear him getting muffled information from an aid.

"There are four thunderhawks currently able to be diverted to your location my lord, as well as a few arvus lighters that are being refueled before they continue their cargo runs." I hoped that we would be able to cram all of the civilians inside.

"Send them all, I have almost three hundred souls to bring back, make preparations, have squads on standby to receive them." It would take time to check over so many, they were tired and hungry, such people could often make mistakes.

Within a handful of minutes the people were led up into the ground level, I checked out outside the doors closest to us, a yard full of machinery and more cargo crates, but most importantly, cleared of infection.

As the aircraft landed the survivors were ushered inside, soldiers hurrying them along as they could. It took several trips, many tense moments as we crammed as many mortals into compartments as possible. Finally, it was over, myself being the last to leave the ground.

"I don't suppose I could ask for another favor, Chapter Master." I looked down to Diago beside me, holding onto the too large of seats and gave him a nod.

"You think you could get me and the boys some more recaff?" I couldn't help the small smile that came to my lips.

"I'll see what I can do."