Richell and the others pushed on, the sounds of battle even closer than it was before. They were almost there, and they just had one more turn to make if they were to get back into the sanctum. Commander Urgo was just as surprised as they were by how far they had come. But they could not let up now. They had to push on.

Ervin was uncomfortable in the new armor that covered his body, fully aware that he wasn't its first wearer. The hot-shot lasgun something that made him uneasy as he carried it, mindful of the tubes which connected it to the pack behind him. He stood right beside Richell, who in turn stood right beside him. Lt. Jimmy and the last Stormtrooper behind them as they walked along. The flashlights nearing their last bit of charge. This was it, do or die. Lt. Jimmy had his doubts, and he still did. That he watched Ervin ahead of him with Richell at his side started to tick him off. He had served all this time, and never received such care… but feck it, it didn't matter anymore. He found himself nothing, not even the animal side of humanity, desiring nothing but to survive. Nothing but a mindless Stormtrooper to walk beside. Like it could understand.

"You damn automatons…"

The Stormtrooper turned to face him.

"Automatons…?"

Lt. Jimmy was amazed really. He held back a fit of laughter that hurt him to his stomach.

"So, you feckers can talk. Thought they bashed it out of ya."

The Stormtrooper looked again at the unnatural hand of his, the metal prosthetic. It allowed him to continue fighting. But by normal circumstances he would have been killed for uselessness. It was such… such a thin line he realized. He could hardly understand what he felt, or why. He wanted to simply continue the mission, but he…

"I… I…"

The Stormtrooper shook his head, and looked forward, not desiring to answer. Lt. Jimmy was only left dumbfounded. What the hell was going on with this guy? A defect maybe? He didn't know. But feck…

"You starting to be human are ya?"

The Stormtrooper stayed silent much to Jimmy's annoyance.

"Oh, silent again? Sad cause you had to off your buddy?"

The Stormtrooper glanced at him by reflex. He didn't know why he did so, but he did. It was… strange. He didn't have to explain his logic. But… he felt compelled to do so.

"He was useless. We needed supplies."

Lt. Jimmy rolled his eyes. Right… useless.

"Guess so. Still, guess ya and that Ervin ahead of us got lucky, what with the Magos saving your arses. Otherwise the both of ya would be just as useless."

The Stormtrooper found himself look at his metal hand again. What drew his attention to it so much? Useless…? He could still fight. He wasn't useless. No, he was still capable for war. His purpose was still secure before him.

"As long as I am functional as a soldier nothing else is required."

Lt. Jimmy couldn't tell why but this Stormtrooper really started to get on his nerves.

"Right and funny coming from you. You don't even have a reason other than fighting to go on do ya? Ready to fight and die on the drop of a rock. Always ready for the next engagement, without a hope of anything else. You wouldn't know how it feels like to not want to die!"

The Stormtrooper paused, genuinely shaken. To not desire to die… had he never considered that before? No. He had to only focus on the mission. The mission. The… why… why did he feel this way?

"I…"

Lt. Jimmy gripped his free hand into a fist.

"Feckin hell! I broke you did I?"

Richell and Ervin turned around to see what the trouble was. Richell especially had just about had it with Lt. Jimmy and his instability. Such a good guardsman reduced to this.

"What is going on? We don't have time for arguments."

How could she speak of time? In a place like this? Lt. Jimmy was done with all of this shit!

"Time huh? Time! We barely survived the last encounter… who's to say we will survive the next? Huh? Why are you so fucking caring of that… that voidsman? The guy survived, whoopdy do! And now you started actin' like you have the chance for life after this hell! A life that isn't more of this! Whether it's on a hulk or a forest, or a desert, or the warp for all I care, we are destined to die! To die at the hands of xenos, traitors and demons! What's the point, Commander? If we manage to make it out of this alive, we don't get to have families, we don't get to leave it all behind and live on some pleasure world, we will be sent somewhere else and told to fight until we are either dead or accomplished whatever inane task that's given to us then! We're just like these mindless, unfeeling, uncaring Stormtroopers. Only they, at least, don't fecking feel anything when they are sent to die!"

The Stormtrooper had enough, he grabbed Lt. Jimmy by his collar and shoved him to the wall. Followed by several punches to his face in a rage that he had never felt before.

Richell acted quickly to stop this insanity.

"Trooper! Stand down!"

The Stormtrooper backed away, pulling up his hot shot lasgun once more. Then he continued to walk ahead as he caught up to Richell. This was too much for him, he just wanted to do what he always did. He was a soldier… nothing else. Nothing else… he was…

Richell sighed as she looked down at Lt. Jimmy.

"This is what's become of you, is it? When has that ever changed, Lieutenant? We are human, all of us, even these Stormtroopers, who may I remind you have fulfilled their duty to the end. I don't need you to act like this is some sort of revelation that our lives are a constant war. We are guardsmen, and so far Ervin has been more of one than you. You lost your nerve, Lieutenant. Nobody wanted this, we didn't choose to be here, but here we are. You can either live with that and push on, or sit there and die by the monsters that chase us. I will keep going through all of this shit, and I will try to make my life one I can be proud of. Even if I must always go through hell, I will at least try to make the best of it while I have it. So what is it, coward? Will you continue on, or will you die? Because I will not end you, but those tyranid's definitely will."

Ervin was comforted by her words to Lt. Jimmy. He had come to resent this attitude that Lt. Jimmy showed, because he couldn't understand why he so desperately wanted to give up. More than ever his resolve was set, and he would stick with it to the end. He would stand beside Commander Richell the whole way. He would fight and die by her side, because right now, that's where he wanted to be.

The Stormtrooper took her words differently to Lt. Jimmy. He had seen his fair share of reprimanding of others, but this was different. He would have expected her to have simply shot the Lt. for insubordination. Then again, he could potentially still be useful. Though the rest of her words, about pushing on felt so foreign to him. He didn't know why, and he pondered at them. Something he should not be doing while on mission. His gaze swayed again to the metal hand he was given. This was his circumstance. He was what he was, and he was made for war. But… was that all he was? He wasn't sure, and it bothered him to think otherwise. But he would not stoop to what this lieutenant was. He… didn't want to die either.

Lt. Jimmy, simply stared on at the three of them. Coward, she called him. He had seen far more terrors than this, fought… it didn't matter what he had seen. What he had done before. This was here, and this was now. This was simply who he was now. He… He…

He held onto his head and ran his hands through his hair as he started to slouch forward. What had happened to him? That he was like this now? He used to be so strong before, what was it about this operation that…

A loud screech echoed along the corridor. Without another word, the entire group ran ahead as they made it to the turn in the corridor, a faint light coming from the other side. Ervin was the first to enter the turn seeing the light on the other end of the new corridor, where he saw friendly forces firing off into the distance. They were almost there! Commander Urgo at that moment reported in to Richell on the Vox.

"Come in. Continue along the corridor! Hurry, the extraction has just begun. Gua…"

The communication was cut short as the vox on Richells back was struck by the blade of a tyranids as they attempted to grab her from the vents. She pulled away, tossing the vox away and stepped to avoid it. She didn't realize however the vent on the wall just below her waist, as another blade busted through and slashed. Half of her left leg and her entire right foot were removed in one single, painful swipe. She tumbled to the ground, unable to hold back the agonizing yell that the pain caused her. Ervin was quick to turn around and blast the vents with the hot-shot lasgun, the bright flashes nearly blinding as the death cries of the tyranids busted his ears. Another tyranid busted down from a ceiling vent as it landed beside the Stormtrooper, sending a single strike of its blade through his arm. The Stormtrooper however didn't give ground and pulled his rifle with his other hand. He fired it into the creatures face, melting it off entirely as its flesh covered the wall. With all the known tyranids dispatched, Ervin knelt down beside Richell who barely managed to push herself up with her arms.

"I… I was hit…"

Ervin didn't know what to do at first letting the hot-shot lasgun fall to the side. He hardly was able to look at her legs, a bloody mess of bone and skin. He looked into his trembling hands instead, trying to figure out a plan, and then back at Richell without an answer.

"D-Don't worry I… I'll…"

Richell shook her head, accepting this.

"No, I'm good as gone Ervin… I… you need to…"

Ervin knew what she was going to say and he wouldn't have it.

"No! I refuse, Richell. If you can't walk, then I'll be your legs. I am going to get us out of here. We are so close, and I refuse to let you die!"

Richell looked up at Ervin, for the first time in forever showing how she felt inside, unfiltered and without her brave act. How the terror tore at her, that this could be it.

"Ervin! Listen to me. Save yourself. I… I…"

Ervin undid the power pack for the hot-shot and tossed it to the side. He turned around and held out his hands behind him for Richell to climb on his back.

"Get on, Richell. I refuse to lose you."

Richell beat the ground with her hand, her breathing slowly becoming harder and her eyes more difficult to keep up.

"Ervin I'll just slow you down…"

Ervin gritted his teeth.

"Richell! You listen to me, even if you die in my arms I am taking you. You matter too much to me for me to abandon you to those monsters. Come on, I know you don't want to die. Together we'll make it, or I will stay here and together we'll die."

Richell paused uncertain what to do. She had never expected herself to be put into this position before, on the other side of mercy. Only, Ervin didn't put a gun to her head, he offered her help. It was all just so ironic… and she didn't know what she was even supposed to say.

Something snapped in Lt. Jimmy as he saw his commander on the floor, and as he saw Ervin's desperation to save her. Her foot and the torn sections of her leg spread across the floor of the corridor before him. In that moment he decided. He was already too far gone. Tired, and ready for the end. He wanted his service to finally be over. These two before him, the commander, she had life left to give. He looked back down the hallway to see tyranids as they began to pour in and run towards them. He knew what he had to do.

"Commander, take up his offer. Go on, live."

Ervin and Richell gave him glance as he pulled up his flamethrower and began to pour it into the corridor where the tyranid's began to charge them. Ervin didn't realize what his intentions were.

"What are you doing?"

Lt. Jimmy smiled, genuinely happy in some twisted way, given a last glance back at the others. If he was destined to die, might as well be remembered by someone.

"I'll hold em' off. I'm already tired, and I… this is it for me. Don't mean it's time for either of you. Hurry, this won't last long I'm sure."

Richell pulled herself onto Ervin's back as he held her tight behind him. He stood up, catching his balance, and with a final glance to Lt. Jimmy gave his goodbye.

"Thank you."

Without another word he ran off, as fast as his legs would carry him. Jimmy then noticed the Stormtrooper who was slump against the wall beside him, holding a knife to his neck with his metal hand, his other arm lifeless as it dangled by threads. He thought he was useless didn't he? The fecking automaton.

"Go on, Stormtrooper. This isn't where you die either."

The Stormtrooper glanced at him.

"I… I'm useless now."

Lt. Jimmy grinned as the tyranid's began to get closer.

"Then go make yourself useful somewhere else."

Several brief moments passed, the Stormtrooper struck with pause. Without anything else he dropped the knife and ran, down the corridor after the others. Lt. Jimmy left alone as he faced the oncoming horde. He wouldn't budge until he was dead. His grin even wider as he stared his oncoming death run towards him, the promethium flames bright and colorful.

"Come on you bastards! I'm right here! Put me to rest will you? Before I melt you lot into mush!"

The tyranid bodies piled up in front of him, their bodies melted away by the promethium flames he spewed. Though with every body burned they got closer and closer, but Lt. Jimmy didn't care. He stayed strong. He was happy, and this moment seemed to last eternity for him. The sweat falling down his brow from the heat of the flames, the adrenaline pumping through his veins and the sweet symphony of his heart as it pounded in his chest. He died giving other a chance to live and that was good enough he felt, a perfect way to end his career and his service. If the Emperor would take him for that, he didn't know. At last the tyranids caught up with him, a single one hopping over the charred corpses of its fellows. Then, all it took was a single action to finish it. Jimmy's head went flying into the air, his body trampled over and devoured as the tyranids pressed on forward.

Ervin and Richell were just before the exit into the sanctum. They saw it, the door to the Dark Age ship was still open, and the forces were slowly moving back. They exited a small ways from the door, and they were almost there. Ervin was breathing heavy having pushed himself to the brink, but he didn't slow down. His muscles burned, and the nerves in his legs began to tighten. Richell did her best to remain conscious as blood continued to pour out and held her arms around Ervins chest to stay on. The Stormtrooper ran beside them, his right arm all but removed now. A bloody trail behind them, but they had made it. The tyranids bursting out of the corridor behind them. To their luck, Emile saw them. He knew not how they got back, but he would be damned lest he let them die. So quickly he called for one of the Skorpius Duneriders to pick them up, and at full sprint went to assist them. It was a big surprise for them.

Ervin slowed down as he nearly tripped, only to be caught by Emile who pushed him behind. Using his bolter he fired into the mass of tyranids that followed them, removing the closest threats first One of the Duneriders zooming right in front of the group as the massive hatch door in front opened. Ervin quickly brought Richell onboard, the Stormtrooper and Emile following soon after. Having done his part, Ervin fell to a knee and laid the nearly unconscious Richell onto the metal floor. The medicae that were on board quickly set to stabilizing Richell as she held on, gripping tightly onto Ervin's hand. He stayed beside her the whole way as the Dunerider began its drive backward, the open hatch door grinding across the surface of the floor. Emile hanged onto the side of the hatch as he fired his bolter into the approaching tyranids, the swarm closing in one body at a time. The Stormtrooper laid against the side of the transport, for the first time in his life relieved that he survived a mission. A single medicae tending to him quietly, and without question.

It was a simple matter after that, entering into the open door of the Dark Age ship along with the last of the living ground forces. All those able still firing into the ensuing swarm to prevent the tyranids from entering. Once the last was on, the door began to shut with the tyranids desperately attempting to squeeze through, only for several to be crushed. Once closed, all the cries of the abominations stopped at once.

Richell's two stumped legs sewed and closed, so that she no longer bled, a large amount of medicine placed over the wounds as she rested on a bench within the ship. She was barely able to keep her eyes open, but she did, in awe of the fact she wasn't dead. The medicae of the Faceless Legion were one of the best of any guard regiment, after all. Their intensive care for their legionaries nearly unmatched. Ervin by Richell's side the whole time, exhausted. The Stormtrooper tended to by more Medicae, just as every other wounded aboard the ship was. Through and through, 80% of all forces that had been sent survived. But the battle was not over yet, for there was still one person left who had to finish the fight. Eli, who had at long last clambered down into room where the massive Plasma cores stood. The lair of the Broodlord. Not that Eli knew this as he descended.


It was a long trip for Eli, knowing full well there was no return from this venture. But he made peace with it, and in death he knew not what he would feel, but it was for a worthy cause. He never liked the violence of this wretched universe. The brutal inefficiencies of the Imperium and worse still, the necessary courses of actions that had to be taken alongside. The hypocrisy of protecting a glorious Imperium when it rotted, equally preyed upon by its own members in their lust for personal power and pleasure. The disregard for human life had made it difficult for Eli to justify continuing his service at times, for what then was being preserved? He was a weapon of war, a mutated monster born for nothing more than violence. The Oath Marines were the chapter he believed in most, being his own, for it fully toted a message of keeping the Imperium worth fighting for, one worth preserving. Yet… even he knew that they were not unwilling to let life simply disappear if it was deemed necessary or too high a risk. Emile was a prime example. Eli understood it, he understood why. But that infuriated him to his very core.

That is, he discovered, the reason he felt the way he did with Emile. The dissonance that had come before he and his brother. He would accept that now, and it was not Emile's fault. It was his own for having a caring heart in the universe of war, and Emile knew it as well. He told him the truth, and this was his flaw. If he was destined to die as a weapon of violence, he wanted to go knowing that he saved the lives of others, in the hopes of preserving something worth protecting. He didn't care for the politics of the grander Imperium, for Violas games, or even the true motives of the Magos. What he knew was that the Dark Age ship was something that would be tremendous to someone, and even if it were a lie, he would believe that its recovery would allow for the betterment of humankind. That was what the goal of the Space Marines were, tools used to defend humanity in its darkest hour, and when that was secure, to die and fade away. He was content with that reality, and he would not run away.

He checked the plasma gun he carried again, meticulous as he had after each drop. It was ready, and the cores were just below him now. All that was left was to wait for the plasma gun to completely overcharge and then, fire one bolt into the first core. But he knew it wouldn't be so easy, seeing the tendrils of the tyranids infestation reaching its way along the floor below him. The putrid and twisted flesh of the hive attempting to further its presence. The tyranids likely knew of him as well, and it wouldn't be long before they came to stop him. All he had to do was survive until he was able to detonate the cores and nothing more.

He jumped down into the center of the cores, their blue light emanating against his armor. With his free hand he pulled off his helmet, no longer needing it, and tossed it to the side. For the first time in a while he breathed the air around him unfiltered, cold and disgusting as the hulks was. He looked ahead of him to see something he hadn't expected, a large tyranid Bio form, nearly eight times his size with two sets of arms, it's body similar to the raptor-like forms of its brethren. But this one had large tentacle like protrusions that stuck out of its skull, its head covered in thousands of tiny eyes. A large tail that waved behind it, swinging back and forth as untold numbers of smaller veins connected to the flesh of the hive ship. Most of all, it laid its body on what seemed to be a large throne of flesh and bone that protruded from the ground beneath it. Along-side it were several lines of bone spikes, where the bodies of various guardsman and several Stormtroopers were impaled. Their heads connected to the beast by the protrusions on its tail. This, Eli assumed was the Broodlord. He had never seen such a creature before, but here it was. Alone and without guard, as it stared down at him. Unfortunately, Eli couldn't waste even a single shot to attempt to fight it.

He stepped away towards the nearest plasma core, checking the overclock on his plasma gun. It was nearly ready. The eerie silence suddenly broken by the unnatural sounds of the impaled corpses, all of them speaking at once in an unholy symphony of hollow voices.

"Well… well… well… what has come to the lair?"

Eli looked over to the Broodlord, unmoving as it stared at him. He didn't think the tyranids would ever speak.

"I have nothing to say to you, vile xeno."

The corpse's very mouths moved, broken and horrific for the eyes above them were lifeless and the skin tattered.

"I need to feed… all need to feed… that is evolution. I am evolution. I am… perfection."

Eli looked around the room to see as the tyranid bioforms from before started to enter, slow and methodical as they stood in front of their Broodlord in lines. He pressed himself against the nearest core, the radiation from the plasma cores blaring down on him as he began to sweat.

"I do not care Xeno. This is our end."

The Broodlord used two of its massive arms to push itself up from its throne, pulling two bone swords from their place at its sides. Again it spoke through its flesh puppets.

"I… am… perfect. You will… be… consumed. Need… what is in… that ship. Need to evolve further. Need to feed. Will not join?"

Eli barely understood what it intended to say, nor if it even knew what it did. He would not care. The plasma gun was already supercharged. He held it firmly in his hands.

"Save your breath Xeno. This is over."

He turned to fire the plasma gun into the core, only to have it knocked away from his grip by the unsuspecting Tyranid that appeared before him, its body translucent as water. Eli quickly retaliated and grabbed the bioform by its neck and tore off its brittle head, turning to go for the plasma gun. To his horror he saw as nearly a dozen more of the translucent tyranids appear before him, and crawl over the plasma gun. The Broodlord swerved its head from side to side as it stumbled forward.

"Join… the hive… join… and evolve. Help… spread me."

Eli clenched his hands into fists and charged into the group of screaming tyranids, ripping them apart voraciously as he could, one at a time as more began to swarm around him. All he had to do was get to the plasma gun!

"Be quiet and accept your fate!"

The Broodlord drew closer, its lesser forms not even moving from its path being crushed underneath its clawed feet. The Broodlord needed a way to enter that ship, to further its evolution. These translucent tyranids the result of combining the plasma cores energy in the mutation of the hormagaunt genetic code. It managed to commune with these lesser creatures through the deconstruction of the collected brains. It already developed a strain of gene stealer that was separate that of the hive, that would not be affected by it, and be only its own pawns. No longer would its generations devolve, its strain of gene stealers becoming neigh inseparable from the host race, save for their predisposition to serve it- the one true Broodlord! Unfortunately they remained dormant, the proper incubation not possible with its current biomass. Otherwise it would have already used them against the lesser being that it had already encountered. It needed a way to get them off the hulk and onto worlds, to spread its hive far and wide, to procure technology and bio-mass for it to use, the lesser beings its servants and amusement. What potential it could evolve toward once it used whatever was on that ship. It needed it. Just as whatever whispered to it said it would. This was its right! It was strong enough to evolve past the old hive! It was perfect! This was its destiny!

"Join… Join… join! Accept… my… evolution!

The Broodlord slammed its bone swords on both sides of Eli, blocking off any path of escape. On its command, it summoned several more hordes of the translucent bio-forms, as they swarmed over its back and under it towards Eli. They would force their bodies into the mouth of this lesser being and soon enough would it be enthralled, and give it a means of entering that ship.

Eli fought on, knowing not the reasoning of the creature. Harder and harder he pushed, punched and smashed his way through the growing swarm. Why the Broodlord refused to kill him, he did not know, he simply fought on, focused on his goal. He barely managed to touch the tip of the plasma gun when one of the translucent tyranids clenched a clawed hand onto his face and forced his mouth open. It squirmed its body into his mouth all at once, squeezing its squishy rubber hide, and tried to force its way inside of him. Eli bit down as hard as he could, crunching the tyranid into pieces, his acid spit melting the form away as he spit out the remains. The back of his throat burning as if on fire. He fully gripped onto the plasma gun, only to be pinned down by more of the tyranid's as they scratched away at his armor. The Broodlord's face now above Eli.

So forceful induction would not work. Very well… it would simply consume this lesser being for refuting its gift. It would find another way to enter the ship, even if it had to smash its way inside!

It opened its gaping mouth full of uncountable feeler tentacles that dripped in acid as they descended and attempted to grab Eli. It was caught completely unaware however, by the knock to its head. The blow so powerful that it recoiled backwards, momentarily confused as it and all other tyranid bio-forms in the room froze.

The one that hit it appeared from a strange black portal, and he only needed a single punch to throw the creature away. He was the same figure that had spoken to Erina, and the one whom Emile had fought before. He really didn't want to intervene, but this instance gave him no choice. He had put too much stalk in this plan, for his plan to save what he could, for this tyranid outlier to ruin his plans. Though just as quick as he appeared he left, seeing Eli break away from the tyranids that swarmed over him and stand, stepping back into his portal to disappear.

Eli didn't see him, and he had no idea what had caused the Broodlord to recoil as it did. He simply stood up as he pulled the Plasma gun up, cursing his luck as he saw the overcharge had stabilized. He jammed it back into overclocking once more, and began to race for the nearest Plasma core. The Broodlord recovered quickly however and started to push itself up. Its many bioforms supporting it, more of the translucent tyrandid forms giving chase to Eli.

Eli wouldn't have made it to the cores had another unexpected source of help came. Across the room, still impaled on the blade of the massive Tyranid form which dragged him down, Techpriest Argos systems rebooted. In his half consciousness he saw Eli, and with a final grin lifted his right arch-pistol and fired at the tyranids that gave chase to Eli.

"I knew *cough* you would see things my way! Go, Space Marine!"

Eli noticed Argo, and though he said nothing, he appreciated that he had survived enough to be of support. He made it into range of the Plasma core, only to be blindsided as he was tripped by the massive tail of the Broodlord, its tentacles attempting to wrap around Elis body. It was so strong that it began to crush even his armor, but he did not struggle. He had already won. Eli shakily pulled up the Plasma gun with one hand, and aimed it at the Plasma Core, fully overcharged. All he had was one last thing to say.

"For the sake of a better future, for humanity!"

He pulled the trigger, and the plasma fired from the plasma gun in a hot ball that slammed into the side of the Plasma core. It took no time at all for immediate meltdown, as it rapidly expanded, the plasma exerting a massive force of energy that eradiated the entire room in a cleansing flame, before imploding and going nuclear, the surrounding plasma cores following suit as they all at once suffered catastrophic meltdown. Eli was disintegrated within moments, content with the life he lived, the cause for which he fought, and the hope for which he died.

The Broodlord cried out in pain as it began to fade away into nothingness. It recoiled at this wretched fate! Where was the voices now? Where was that which guided it…? Where… Where… as all caring creators did, it listened of course. It was a single response, one that made the broodlord content with this outcome. In some strange way, the Broodlord saw this as the next stage then, if this was its end. 'I will save your legacy, my little Broodlord.' That was all that was told to it, but it felt… a strange surge of mental receptors fire off within its brain, a chemical that should not have been influencing its physical body. It felt comfort, and in its last moments gave in to the disintegration of the Plasma cores as its skin was ripped apart piece by piece until nothing remained but particles in the air. The voice that spoke to it belonging to a being beyond the grasp of many, one which deigned nothing but to meddle in the affairs of all they saw fit. This entity had no care for morality when it could break the morality of others, no care for honor when it could corrupt others instead, no care for natural order when chaos was all that it desired. To that end, a single shadowy figure appeared in the chamber where the Broodlord's special genestealers were held, and prepared them to take flight to distant worlds. It took them all, and then it disappeared, not that it had any more barring on any other events that occurred. None knew of its appearance other than the nothing that was once the Broodlord. But such is the nature of chaos, and of the abyss. For now, it would have no other barring on this story…

The entire hulk shifted and recoiled under the massive strain which was caused by the detonation of the Plasma cores. The center of the hulk shook and cracked, the pressure too much for its twisted form to handle. Metal was torn, glass was shattered, and the many ships that combined together to make up the metal leviathan were torn apart from their union. The entire hulk split in half, an eruption so powerful that all the air that existed inside escaped all at once in a single wind that even shook the ships which surrounded it. All the tyranid bio-forms left aboard freezing instantly and shattering in the ensuing cascade of debris. The Mechanicus Exploritor ship as well as Violas ship opened fire immediately on the remains, their massive cannons bursting the chunks of the hulk until nothing remained, what was left of the hive ship which once entangled itself within, all but burned away and lifeless. A miraculous sight to behold as the Dark Age ship started again once more and ripped itself from the other side of the hulk, perfectly intact. Whatever construction and material it was made of hardly even registered damage, and the ships functions were perfect. Though it hardly reached half the size of Violas ship, it was about the same as the Exploritor vessel, though its body was much more slender and curved, elongated and a single piece. It had a large front end, and several dozen turret mounts on both its side and bottom, large doorways for fighter-craft to be docked along its sides. Plain by most of the Imperium's standards. The rear end where its propulsion was in the form of three dozen plasma fed engines that propelled it forward. Large wing like structures on the sides with similar engines that allowed it to rotate. Almost none of the former iconography surviving its outside, much of its metal bereft of paint and primarily black, with glints of metal that shined along it. But it was free.

The operation was a success.