Sunday passed without much trouble. Ryan was constantly calling me and yelling how awesome it was, the guardsmen in my room had a few close calls when my step-dad barged his way into my room, as normal, and I managed to smuggle some of my Sunday lunch up along with a glass of water for them to fill their canteens in. That moment when my step-dad burst into my room was slightly amusing though. All of my guardsmen had been stood on my bedroom floor, all of them organised into neat blocks and standing to attention. The instant he entered, they all froze perfectly in place. I could tell my stepdad wanted to yell at me for not cleaning my room, but the sheer number of 'models' all stood in perfectly neat ranks seemed to captivate him. There were so many 'placed' so meticulously that he let it slide, seeing as I had taken so long to set them all out like that. Yeah, sure. I did this. Totally. But other than that, nothing special really happened. It was tomorrow I was dreading. I am in 6th Form in a school called Arrow Vale. Work is hard and I don't get much time to myself, even when I have no lessons. That's when I do homework or catch up on coursework. Now I had to babysit a squad of Grey Hunters from the Space Wolves and Governor Anderson, Commissar Reginald and Captain Westfield of the Imperial Guard, all of whom were adamant that they were coming, while studying in school. Well, at least the day would be interesting...


7:00am

My alarm on my phone went off. As usual, I got up and snuck downstairs and as usual, I made myself some breakfast while checking my phone to see what happened last night while I slept. My mom and younger sister were still asleep and won't get up for another half an hour. My step-dad got up a lot earlier and left before I got up. I was absent-mindedly scrolling through my notifications when I opened the cupboard door and saw a squad of 4 Cadian snipers skulking around the cereals. It was safe to say that I jumped out of my skin in surprise.

"What in bloody hell are you doing in there?!" I whispered harshly.

"Sorry, sir." The sergeant said back. "We were scouting around earlier when we saw the other male giant of this household sitting down and eating something drowned in milk. We believe it originated from one of these great structures. The wall was open so we moved stealthily inside, but the giant stood up and closed the wall, trapping us inside."

"Right. Those are called cereals. This is the cereal cupboard. We store cereal in here in these boxes."

"Ser- re- als?"

"Yes. Cereals."

"And these 'cereals' are food?"

"Correct."

"May we take a sample?"

I sigh before making myself some cereal and carrying the scouts to the table. I sat down to eat my breakfast but first, I scooped up some milk and cereal in my spoon and held it out for the snipers. They gathered round it, taking in the texture and look of the oversized food, before each taking a tentative mouthful.

"By the Emperor!" one of them said "This tastes amazing!"

"I prefer the large sample of food he brought yesterday" said another.

"Now if you'll excuse me," I said, "I'd like to eat my breakfast and get ready for school."


7:30am

I had eaten the rest of my breakfast in peace, with the exception of the occasional begging for more from a couple of the snipers. After that, I had made two cups of tea, one for me before I leave, the other for my mom when she wakes up. Leaving them both to cool, I went upstairs and brushed my teeth. After that, I gathered my trousers and a shirt and tie and got changed in the bathroom. Now that I had guests in my room, I couldn't exactly get changed in there. Being in 6th Form, we didn't have a uniform anymore, but we still had to wear smart business wear such as shirts and ties and no jeans. When I emerged from the bathroom several minutes later, my mom also left her room having just woken up.

"Morning, mom." I whispered across the landing.

"Morning, love." she whispered back, before waking my sister up.

My sister was 2 years younger than me and was in year 10 at the same school as me, Arrow Vale. She would go straight to school and she didn't really care about being late, but I would leave early to walk my girlfriend to school, and I couldn't be late for that. I'd hate to make her late.

Now I was packing my school bags for the day ahead. I checked my timetable and packed what I needed for the subjects I had today. My first 2 lessons were psychology, so I packed my notebook and both of the psychology textbooks. The next 3 lessons after that I was free, so I'm probably piss about with my friends in the common room for those periods. Last lesson I had business, but that was almost entirely on the computer, so I didn't need to pack anything for that. And of course I gently placed the little people that were taking over my life into the bag. The Grey Hunters grumbled and muttered something about 'respect' when I picked them up and the Governor refused to be 'man-handled.' I'm pretty sure the Commissar wanted to execute me when it was his turn, probably 'for morale.' Yeah, right. The only one who accepted being picked up was Captain Westfield. He understood it was easier that way. Hell, he even thanked me for it. I really like him.

Going back downstairs carrying my shoulder bag and my small backpack, I set them down in the kitchen and said 'good morning' to my sister. I packed the lunch that I had made last evening into my bag and drank my tea while scrolling through Facebook on my phone. I shared the occasional cute or funny video before I finished my tea and then I put my phone in my pocket, and washed up my mug. I checked the time and saw that it was 7:50am, so I picked up my coat and keys from the cupboard under the stairs and said goodbye before picking up my bags and leaving the house. I put my earphones in and blasted some tunes through my phone, nodding along in tune. I bet I looked a bit like an idiot, but I wasn't the type to care. It took me 10 minutes to walk over to my girlfriend's place, and she was just leaving as I walked up.

"Morning babe!" I called to her.

"Morning baby." she called back.

I walked up to her and gave her a kiss, and then we walked to school holding hands. Now don't judge, because I know when you're still in school these things can be weird, but my girlfriend, Courtney, was in year 11, the year below me. I know that to some it might be weird but I love her and she loves me.

Anyway, enough of defending my dignity. We walked to school holding hands and chatting, and when we arrived at school, we went straight to the radio-room, where we always hung out with friends until the bell went for the start of school. When the bell went, I gave her another kiss and we went to our forms, which we were forced to sit in until first lesson came.


8:30am

I was sat in form, bored out of my skull and absent mindedly doodling in my notepad when I started hearing things. Not in an insane way, but in a 'I'm-hearing-things-that-no-one-else-can-hear-but-are-definitely-here' kinda way. I checked my bag and saw my notebook being read by Commissar Reginald, a squad of Grey Hunters snoozing, and Captain Westfield intently studying the contents of my lunchbox. But there was something missing from my bag... or someone...

Then it hit me. Governor Anderson! I frantically searched my other bag, hoping to find him safe, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I hope to the Emperor that he didn't fall out of the bag on the way here. Then I heard the voice.

"Wow... so many giants... all so bored..."

I looked up and there he was, sat on the edge of my desk, looked at all the kids in the class. Fortunately, I sit at the back as I prefer to stay out of the way of people. Out of sight, out of mind. In truth, I hate people. But before anyone could turn around and spot the tiny person sat at the edge of my desk, I seized him and pulled him close to me so I could whisper something to him that (hopefully) no-one would overhear.

"Governor, what do you think you're doing?!" I whispered sharply.

"Well," he whispered back, "I'm trying to observe this foreign landscape, a goal I cannot achieve from within there." He gestured to the bag in which the others were.

"Later!" I whispered, and placed him back in the bag.

"Thomas!" yelled the teacher from across the room.

She called me by my formal name. Shit. I'm in trouble.

"Perhaps you have something you wish to share with the class?" she said, staring me down.

"No, miss. Sorry, miss." I said, eyes cast down, cheeks bright red.

"Very well..." she said.

That was too close.


10:40am

My double lesson of psychology passed fairly quickly, being my favourite subject. It was now break, which lasted 15 minutes, giving us 5 minutes to get to lesson 3 which started at 11 o'clock. As usual, I didn't hang out in the 6th Form common room, but I went outside to hang out with Courtney and her friends. It might be a bit sad (this, coming from the guy obsessed with 40k) but I enjoyed spending time with her. As usual, we stood outside just chatting and messing around with her friends. The guys in my backpack refused to keep quiet though, so I had to constantly pretend to readjust my bag while knocking them around a bit as a warning. Honestly, I hadn't expected tiny warriors from a possible future to be so mischievous.

"What's up babe?" my girlfriend asked at one point.

"Nothing, darlin'" I said, readjusting my bag and giving her a cheeky wink.

The rest of break passed with little incident, and when the bell went for third lesson, I gave my girlfriend a kiss and she went off to her lesson while I went to the 6th Form area to spend the next three lessons until lunch.


3:00pm

The rest of the day went pretty quick if I'm honest. My three free lessons was basically just me sat around, bored on my laptop, chatting quietly to the little people in my bag and letting them out to explore around the desk as there weren't many people in the room and I was at the back, again, out of sight and out of mind. Lunch was at 1:30 and lasted 40 minutes and it was the same thing as break, but longer and with food. My last lesson was Business studies, and again, I just sat there bored, typing away on a laptop while the figures watched. I think they were expecting more to this day as they seemed as bored as I was by the end of it. But at 3 o'clock, that changed dramatically.

"Sir. Sir!" I heard someone yell from my backpack, his size meaning that his voice wasn't very loud. I was just outside the school gates now, just starting to walk home for the day.

"What?" I asked quietly.

"We need to talk, sir. It's urgent."

I dashed over to the one side, taking a short cut home through the wooded area nearby. As I walked through here and made sure I was alone, I shrugged the bag off my back and opened it, speaking to the contents.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Sir." It was Captain Westfield who answered. "We've received reports from the Underground city. The Space Wolves have left their designated area. They marched openly in full force through our space. They engaged our border troops at your doorway and marched through your room. They left through the window. We took down some of them and only took a few casualties in return, but they have left your home. Reports say they were acting odd a few hours prior to this unfolding, and they appeared to be under some kind of trance judging by their movement."

"Shit!" I yelled. "They've escaped?!" I cut a sharp look to the Grey Hunters in my bag.

"Forgive us." The sergeant said, "We have had no part in this. We've been trying to hail them on all vox frequencies but they're not answering."

"Ok, I believe you, but I'm going to have to have you put under guard by Imperial Guard forces until this situation is resolved." I replied.

"I understand, mi'lord..."


3:10pm

I rushed home and 10 minutes later, I arrived. The front door was still locked so nobody was home. That was good news. Usually my mom had a day off on Monday and Friday, but for now it looked like she was out. I ran into the kitchen, dropped one of my bags and took the one containing the men up to my room with me. When I burst into my room, it was havoc. Valkyries were all over the place, some on the ground in various states of repair, others flying patrols or landing back at the launch bays. Squads or guardsmen were patrolling, searching for survivors and caring for the wounded. Several tanks had formed blockades at several chokepoints, in case of a second attack. Everyone was working. I dropped the Governor, Commissar, and Captain off along with the Grey Hunters, who were taken away at gunpoint by several guardsmen who kept a respectful and weary distance. Meanwhile, I fetched a ladder and looked up into the attic.

It was completely abandoned. Nothing moved. It was as if nothing had ever been here. Dust coated every surface, as it had done before all of this had happened. I pulled myself up and looked around at where the Space Wolves' buildings had been, but there was nothing. I don't know what made me look down, but I did, and I saw a strange, spikey curve of where the dust had been brushed away. Stepping back, I saw that the curve was in fact a large circle. And to my shock, it wasn't randomly spikey. There were only a few spikes on the circle. 8 of them in total. I was shocked at what I was seeing. Here, before me, brushed into shape from dust, was the 8-pointed star of Chaos.


Captain Westfield's POV

It was a disaster. The giant, Tom, was currently in the former holdings of the Space Wolves on the upper level, but down here, it was hell. Cadians, young and old, lay groaning in pain as a result of the attack by the Space marines. What could have drove the mighty Astartes to such madness. Many Space Wolves' corpses littered the ground along with the guardsmen, but there were no Space Wolf casualties. They either lived or died, they gave no chance of being taken prisoner and questioned. The only Space Wolves alive that could be found were the Grey Hunters that accompanied us on our journey today. They swore they had no part in this and were as confused as we were, but they allowed themselves to be taken under guard all the same. It could be a deception, but I trusted them. I'm sure they would be questioned later. For now, we had other problems. None of the structures in the underground city had been damaged, but only 2 Valkyries were active and patrolling at this time. Most had crashed and were being repaired on site by Tech-priests, and others had managed to limp back to the landing bays to be repairs from there. We had taken several casualties and we would have to ask Tom if he knew of anyway to get reinforcements soon. Most of our tanks were unscathed, but Tech-priests still gave them a quick check and praised the Machine-spirit that they were undamaged. The Governor-Militant and the Commissar were down on the ground, assessing the situation, whereas I was up by the launch bays, taking in the view from above. It looked bad. To my right was a damaged Valkyrie that wasn't being repaired as of yet, but seemed to be in bad shape. Soot covered the head of the aircraft and the canopy of the cockpit was smashed, shards of shattered glass covering the inside. Some of the glass had a fine layer of blood. Using my hand, I wiped away some soot and found the craft had taken down 3 enemy aircraft prior to this battle. Not a bad score. Hearing a moan of pain, I crossed to the other side where I saw a man, presumably the pilot, sitting with his back against the aircraft, holding his stomach with his right hand, his left hand held limp at his side. A steady stream of blood seeped between his fingers. Kneeling down low to him, I took in the sight of him. It was clear he'd pulled something large out of his stomach which had caused the blood flow, and he had a thin cut along his left cheek where flying glass had sliced him. Again, he groaned in pain.

"Pilot?" I asked. He seemed to notice me for the first time now.

"Captain?" he asked back. I nodded. "Captain. Pilot Tathers *cough* reporting in." He attempted a smile.

"Pilot. What happened?"

He coughed more before replying.

"0200 hours. The Space Wolves opened the hatch to their level. 0210, heavily armed Space Wolves aircraft fly into neutral space before altering course to our territory. We scramble Valkyries on interception course. 0212, our first Valkyrie is shot down. We launch all aircraft and prepare ground defenses at the border of our territory. 12 minutes later, Spaces Wolf forces push through our lines and advance quickly to the window before fleeing outside. Most of the Space Wolf aircraft had been shot down in the dog-fights in the sky. I was taking down the second from last one when his wingman shot us from above. The shots and shattered glass killed my gunnery sergeant. I survived but now the first one was on me again. He shot out my right-wing engine before I could disengage. I managed to get it back here before they could finish me off."

I took in all the information from his story as he told it. Something was definitely off.

"Tathers, was it?" I asked. "You've shown great courage today, and I am sorry from the lost of your gunnery officer. But listen, you are going to pull through. I promise, I won't let you die here."

The wounded pilot smiled, blood coating his teeth.

"Thank you, captain. You're... a good man." he said, before slumping as he suddenly lost consciousness.

I stood and noticed a squad of guardsmen moving between the bays, looking for Space Wolf remnants. I saw a medic amongst the squad.

"Medic!" I yelled and they all turned to face me. Recognising me immediately, he rushed over to see why I needed him. Seeing the man on the floor, he dropped hastily to one knee and did what he could for the wounded pilot. Still, the pilot continued his smile.