This chapter really got out of hand with the length, but I could not split it. We back to Terra.

Chaos is the prize: Thicker than Blood

Chapter 3

"So come one and come all to the crumbling walls

Of our city now painted with red

As the stench of defeat emanates through the streets

Is the life we once dreamed of now dead?

But we won't break, we will fight, we will storm through the night

Enslaved to their game nevermore."

-Nature of the Beast by Ice Nine Kills

"Well that was not so bad was it?" Kenyon asked as he slammed the thick metal door shut behind them, leaving out the howling creatures of Grimm on their tail. "We are here, and in a completely realistic time!"

Iris let out wheezes as she tried to catch her breath. "In… realistic… time? It took months to cross 2 and a half continents and almost as many oceans!"

"Well I would call it a great success considering we were on foot. There are not many other options for someone like us, you don't think that there are just plenty of airships around to steal, do you?"

Iris stopped holding on to her knees and pulled herself up straight. She took in the narrow corridor she was in, one that they had entered through a hidden door in a ruined city bigger than she could have ever imagined. There were a few holes in the roof from where sunlight shined through to banish some of the shadows. There was a stairway leading down into darkness ahead of her. "Well in any case, we are here now. So what do we do now? Been meaning to ask you when we reached the city but the Grimm did not give us much time for sitting down and talking."

"Now we make our way to the underground of the old Imperial Palace, where we should find some of the few Legionnaires still in Terra."

"How many Venatores can we expect?"

"Not too many. The Apothecary Coven that I told you about, a few permanent older Legionnaires, and possibly some visiting warbands." Kenyon started walking forwards. He grabbed a piece of wood from a pile near the stairs and used a speck of fire Durst to ignite a makeshift torch. "Once we find someone on top of things around here, we can figure out what the situation is and what are our options. With good luck, the Holy Crusaders might still be here, given that this is the only place they can bring recruits to for Implantation by the Apothecary Coven."

"You said it was unlikely before, that they would be here by the time we arrived."

"I said with good luck. As in the Architect of Fate willing. By all sense, they would leave after concluding their business, but maybe they ran into another warband or angered the local lords and got killed or something, which would make things considerably easier for us."

"Local lords?" Iris asked.

"Oh yeah, about that. There are a few older Legionnaires watching over this place, and we need to be very careful with them. You better not screw around if we run into this one guy with wings on his back, be super careful if you see him. Or anyone else that looks dangerous. And donät tell anyone about yourself or where are you from."

"Why?"

"Some people might be hostile towards you if they learn from where you are."

"What, like that I am from Anima?"

"More like they are hostile to anyone from pretty much anywhere. Anyway, don't talk to them about that. Actually… maybe it is best that you do nothing at all but follow me around and let me do all the talking, okay?"

"That might be for the best," Iris agreed. She had no idea what kind of pit of snakes she was about to enter… except she had some idea considering all the stuff Kenyon had shared with her, and she did not feel like navigating the Terran underground alone.

"Also, that thing," Kenyon said as he pointed at the Needler strapped to Iris' hip. "You better cover that up, anyone who sees it will want to steal it from you. But keep it at hand, you might need to use it if we run into a difficult situation."

"So I need to keep it hidden but also ready at the same time. How exactly do I do that?" Iris asked with some snarkiness as she navigated the stairs in the light of the torch.

" I don't know, keep it casually under your clothes or something."

For a long while they just descended the stairs, which gave into multiple crossroads and corridors. There were no signs or markers, but Kenyon seemed to know the way. At some point the corridors started to turn from unmaintained ruins into something showing signs of habitation. They did not need their own torch after a while, thanks to the clearly set up lighting in the form of lights and torches attached to the walls. The architecture also started to become significantly grander.

Eventually, they even ran into the first human beings they had seen in ages, as they entered a dining hall of some sort.

In a relatively maintained, food-smelling and wall vandalized chamber, by one of many long tables taking up the space, sat a man in his early twenties. Standing next to him was an elderly woman, who was laying down platefuls of dishes before the man from a tray she was holding. Mostly fish and potatoes by the smell of it. The man and the woman glanced toward the sudden visitors at the door of the chamber.

Kenyon stopped iris on the door of the chamber by grabbing a hold of her. He tilted his head towards her. "That guy is one of the older Legionnaires here, pretty much cooperatively splitting he being in charge. He is also a Word Bearer, but he is not part of the Holy Crusaders. Keep yourself in check, we don't want him knowing we are after his Legion brothers."

Iris nodded faintly and followed as Kenyon lead the way inside, never more than two steps behind him. As they approached the occupied table, Iris could feel her nerves screaming. The man bore the same colors as Burgundius and the others. He also had a very nasty-looking maul next to him on the bench he was sitting on. It was oly at that moment Iris started to truly feel like she understood in how dangerous of a place she was in.

"Lord Maroos," Kenyon greeted with a nod as he stopped.

The Word Bearer looked at Kenyon with a calm curiosity. Iris could feel herself flinch a bit at the sight of the man's face, turning her gaze away after a few seconds. She had never seen such disturbing eyes in her entire life. If she had to describe them, her impression would be that they looked almost… demonic…"

As the Word Bearer did not reply in any way, Kenyon continued. "I have returned here on a business venture that requires me petitioning and making proposals to other Warbands. Might you be able to share if Terra has anyone here currently who might help me with their connections?"

"I see," the man called Maroos. Replied. He had something powerful in his voice as he continued to speak." I believe the broker we currently have around in Aquarius of the XXth. I suggest you direct your business to him."

"Thank you, lord. I will find him right away."

"May I ask what your business entails?" Maroos asked. "Also.. who is the female?"

Kenyon hesitated but for a split second. "It is a matter of inter-legion grudges…" He replied. "As for the female, she is an associate of mine I think will be of some use with settling my business."

Maroos seemed to lose interest at that and returned to his meal. Iris could finally turn her face forward without risking meeting his gaze.

"Will you two be requiring food or rations, lord?" the elderly woman asked Kenyon.

"Oh yes, Siena, that would be good. If you could make sure something is ready in a few hours. I don't want to intrude upon Lord Maroos' dining.

The woman nodded and headed for a door that seemingly led to a kitchen of some sort. Kenyon and Iris made their leave hurriedly. Iris could feel herself breathing more easily after they were out of the dining area. The Word Bearer there had had a totally different presence than any she had encountered before.

"Who was that woman back there?" Iris asked. "I was expecting to only encounter male Legionnaires here."

"Oh, she is Siena, a senior slave of this place," Kenyon said without batting an eye.

Iris almost stripped on herself. "Slave? You guys have slaves around here?!"

"...Yes?" Kenyon asked without any sign he found it unusual.

"Is… is slavery not very fucking illegal? Been for decades all across Remnant."

Kenyon looked at Iris with faint puzzlement before he left out a small chuckle. "Oh, ha. If you think there is no slavery on Remnant, in what way do you define the concept?"

Iris fell silent for a while. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Now we need to visit the Apothecarium."

The sleek guy with blue hair the age of Kenyon seemed reservedly eager to see them as Iris and Kenyon sat down in his small quarters. His green eyes analyzed both of them carefully before and after the first greetings. She did not like the look of those sharp eyes. But it's not like she had liked much of anything about any Legionnaire she had ever met.

"Aquarius," he introduced himself. He grasped hands with Kenyon, and to Iris' surprise, he even shook her hand. "To some I am known as the "Dealer".

"Nobody calls you by such a title," Kenyon retorted bluntly.

"Well maybe not too many now, but give it time. Neither the Despoiler nor the Fulgent became household names in a single day.

"Oh yeah. Like Carmion the Broker," Kenyon said as if as a jab.

The expression of Aquarius soured a bit. "Please do not mention my competition while dealing with me…"

"Well, I think competition is good for the client I think," Kenyon said. "He does not have such a burdensome family reputation as well. Maybe if you deliver us a fair deal we will have to find Carmion and see what his services have to offer."

"That will not be necessary," Aquarius assured him, bringing his face back to the image of a businessman. "Well then, shall we get to the point? What can I do for you people, and might I ask what does the female do in your company?"

"She is an associate of mine who is necessary for my business. As for what business that is, I have a Warband that I need dead or at least brought to heel."

Aquarius smiled with understanding. "A classical venture then." he turned his attention to Iris. "Iris, was it? May I ask what you consider your relationship with Kenyon to be?"

"I… we are… partners? We have a deal."

Kenyon looked like he did not fully support sharing such info with Aquarius, but said nothing."

"Oh, partners are we? What would you say is the balance of equality between you two?"

"We are equal partners. Kenyon will not get what is his until I get what is mine. If you have something over Lenyon here, be sure to look hold your own, don't let him exploit yourself."

"Hmmm, I see, very interesting. That I will treat you two equally as well for my part." Iris did not like the feeling that Aquarius seemed like he was hoping to get more leverage by involving more inexperienced Iris heavily, but perhaps that gave her some leverage as well.

"Now, what warband are we talking about, and what is the reason for you seeking their doom?" Aquarius asked.

"Warband of the Holy Crusaders," Kenyon declared. "We were wondering if they are still here, given that by our understanding they had dealings with the Apothecary Coven. I talked to the Coven a moment ago and they had no idea where the Warband is."

"I have to say that you are at least a month late. They departed from here as soon as they finished their business with the Apothecaries."

"And that finished business was implantation services. They brought half a dozen recruits with them. They gave half of them to the Apothecaries as payment for the implantation of the other half. I asked the Apothecaries for the details."

There had been a possibility that the brother of Iris had been either part of the payment or part of the recruits given to the Word Bearers. After visiting the Legionnaires that passed for some twisted forms of medics or surgeons, Iris had confirmed her brother had indeed been taken by the Holy Crusaders. The children from her village who had been traded as some sort of sickly pound of flesh had either died or already been delivered to another warband.

That plan was still the same, Clayve was still among the children taken by Burgundius.

"And your business with them?" Aquarius inquired.

"They have taken something that we need back, let's leave it at that," Kenyon informed him. "It is highly likely that the Word Bearers will not relinquish it voluntarily, so it will come down to violence. And that is why I am here, talking to you. I need you to hook me up with some hired muscle."

"If it was buying force, you kinda got unlucky. Just a week ago we had here several warbands coming together for the purpose of spilling Legion blood, including a few of my best contacts. You could have offered to buy their assistance had you arrived a bit early, they are already far from here on a warpath."

Kenyon leaned in. "And you sure they would not be willing to return if contacted about my offer?"

"They seemed extremely invested in their current target."

"They would not consider it even if my offer promised hefty compensation?"

"I feel they would still decline, so eager they were after going through so much trouble to group up," Aquarius apologized with a sorry expression.

"Well dammit. Who did they go after that warrants missing my serious offer?"

"I believe they are out there hunting Ultramarines," Aquarius told him.

Kenyon leaned back and crashed to his chair. "Fucking hell! I think it is fucking wrong that someone like me with actual business can't interest my cousins with a lucrative proposition. But some Legionnaires are able to gather all their buddies in 5 minutes for a mission to shoot Ultramarines!"

"There is no changing how some laws of nature work," Aquarius consoled.

"Well, gotta find help elsewhere. Do you have anyone else you can connect with me?"

"As I said, some of my best contacts are currently occupied elsewhere. I actually have two warbands of Blood Angels and Ultramarines I am close with in a boxed canyon in the middle of nowhere, locked in conflict for months by now."

"What's in the canyon? Anything valuable?" Kenyon asked with interest.

"I would imagine so, would be pretty idiotic to fight over some old bases otherwise." Aquarius rubbed his chin. "You know, if your proposal is as lucrative as you claim it to be, I know there is always one warband leader that is always interested in high profits…"

Kenyon narrowed his eyes. "Don't say it…"

"I am simply bringing up the possibility-"

"Don't. Say it."

"Altan the Covetous and the Capital Corsairs are among the best muscle one can buy."

"I would rather give up my left arm than resort to asking him for help. Whatever he would request as his payment would probably cost me an arm and a leg anyway. Also can't stand him, he has beaten me to things a few too many times for my pride to allow it. I need someone less infuriating and much less expensive. And definitely, someone who do not make me fear for my back in the face of it being beneficial."

"Hmmm, less expensive you say?" Aquarius said, and Iris could see the gears turning behind his eyes. "I only came to think of this now that you mentioned, but if cheap and less prone to betrayal is what you wish for, I might have an idea."

Kenyon leaned in. "I am listening."

"You see, every now and then when warbands show up here for a visit, they take the opportunity shed some burden and dump their undesirable into these here old Imperial catacombs," Aquarius elaborated. " As you are not after a very martially dangerous warband like the Holy Crusaders, I would bring to you the idea of seeing what kind of rejects Terra's underbelly might have for hire…"

"Okay, I know of at least four Legionnaires here that are at least in usable condition," Aquarius said as he lead Kenyon and Iris down into the even deeper underground, his tone more fitting for a car salesman trying to sell the products from the worse end of the condition spectrum.

"If I recall, they are known as the Riven, the Vulnerable, the Trialed and the Wanting. Not many know their actual names."

"What is with you people and giving your kind all those titles and monikers?" Iris let out with exasperation.

Both Aquarius and Kenyon glanced at her. "Because titles are cool as hell!" Kenyon declared as if that was the most obvious thing ever.

"And on the other side of the coin, labeling peculiar and weird guys with nicknames is very damn fun. If anything, being some no name, no title average joe is pretty unfortunate."

"Damn right, give me fame or give me infamy!" Kenyon agreed. "You think I enjoy being just Kenyon Mournival?!"

"What, so you would like if every one among the Legion ilk knew you as Kenyon the lone Wolf or something?"

Kenyon faltered in his steps. His ears reddened just a bit. Iris could see on his face that Kenyon would probably very much like to have such a cool nickname.

"How well do you know these warriors and how willing do you think they would be willing to fight for me?" Kenyon asked after a while.

"Don't you mean fight for us?" Iris reminded him.

"Iris, no offense, but no Legionnaire is going to fight and follow you."

"Why?!" Iris asked with audible irritation. "Is it because I am not an Aura user or because I am an outsider?"

"No, it is because you are a female."

"!"

"I know them by name and by their background," Aquarius replied to Kenyon's question. "I checked them all out when they took semi-permanent residence here, to see if they were worth anything as connections. As for how willing they would be to join you, I think they might be surprisingly eager. They have rotted here for a long while, and are probably pretty desperate for anyone to come up and ask them to take part in some battle making. Well, here we are," Aquarius said as she stopped in front of one nondescript door.

"Did we really have do decent all the way down here, through all those stairs and sub corridors?" Iris complained. Don't you guys have an elevator or something?"

"You think we would have a working fucking elevator in this hell hole?" Aquarius laughed jovially as he grabbed the door handle.

Two Legionnaires were waiting in a dimly lit chamber that showed signs of long-term habitation. They were sitting on large rocks by the wall not too close to one another. At a first glance, they did not seem to be doing much, just sitting in their gloomy room. The feel of the atmosphere reminded Iris of a mental hospital, or perhaps a hospice.

"May I introduce," Aquarius said as he turned sideways, one hand motioning towards the sitting warriors. "Gough the Riven and Wynn the Vulnerable."

The two warriors slowly stood up. The one motioned towards first, this Gough, was a hulking boy glad in red rags, at least a head taller than Kenyon. It did not take much to guess where he had gotten his nickname the Riven. There was a large, ugly patch of scarring in the middle of his forehead, left behind by some drastic trauma that seemed to have cracked his skull a bit if the malformed flesh was of any indication. Iris met the large boy's gaze, and in the green eyes he could something like a cloudy, unfocused expression.

"Gough is a Blood Angel. He was part of the Blood Legion warband, before they got into a scuffle with their cousins while visiting here. A Wolf of Fenris shot him right into the head."

"And he lived?" Kenyon asked with some surprise, some admiration.

"Yep. The Wolf did not however. He had suffered clear brain damage and nobody thought he would live, so they dumped him onto the Apothecaries and left him behind. Don't know who the Apothecary was but I wanted to be treated by him if I was ever wounded. Gough here does not talk due to there being a hole in his brain but he can follow and fight almost as well as ever."

"I see." Kenyon said. He glanced at Iris. "This doesn't look so bad, a mountain of a dude who does not question. We will definitely take him." Kenyon turned and took a step towards the other Legionnaire. "And this one? What does one have to do to get named the "Vulnerable".

"You'll see," Aquarius replied

The slightly hunched lanky boy looked up to Kenyon through dirty black hair. He was dressed in clothing that may have once been white but was now stained gray. There was some scarring on his cheeks. Unlike Gough, he was not unarmed but was instead leaning on a massive great shield of a sort, shaped like a giant round slightly curving plate with a serpentine slit painted on it, giving an impression of a reptilian eye. "Anyone who stands out is vulnerable to be named mockingly…" he rasped.

"This one talks I see," Kenyon noted. "So why is he here?"

"Anyone judged strange is vulnerable to be cast out…" Wynn answered for Aquarius.

"Are you a solid fighter?"

"Anyone who is not is vulnerable…"

"Yeah, I think I am starting to see what his deal is…" Kenyon said.

"Wynn is a White Scar, and was left here by his warband for being pretty bathsit insane, as you may have suspected," Aquarius explained.

"Have to be a pretty severe case if it warranted casting him out, given the standards for acceptable insanity among the cousin Legions," Kenyon commented upon the boy. "Anything I should know if I was to work with him?"
"Not really if you can stand being around him and don't expect much, I think he will serve you just fine-ish," the Alpha Legionnaire assured.

"Good enough for me," Kenyon said as he turned to face Wynn and Gough. "Cousins, I came here because I find myself in the need of some warriors. I have a warband I need destroyed. Could I interest you with a proposal?"

"This guy is at the same time possibly the most useful and most difficult," Aquarius said as he opened to another chamber, or maybe more like a cell of some sort, Iris thought. The architecture of thick metal bars and wasted machinery made for an image of some kind of high-level storage facility, which had long since been emptied of anything of value. "As a fighter, he is as good as Gough or better, but as a person is extremely difficult."

"Insane?" Kenyon asked. Iris was seriously starting to worry how often the topic of mental health came up around these people.

"Not exactly, I think. More like extremely single-minded, leaning on personality disorder."

"I am afraid to ask, but what Legion?"

"Dark Angels."

"Oh Gods… this does not sound good at all. Why is he here?"

"Apparently he was so absolutely annoying, and one might say, cringe, enough that his warband exiled him. On a pain of death, I might add," Aquarius explained. "I gave up on him very fast, but hopefully months of isolation and eroded his worst edges. Don't let it sound like you are anyway desperate for his help, that could seriously boost his ego and waste any progress made personality-wise."

Not long after Iris was able to lay her eyes on the boy. The Legionnaire wore black leather clothing, and had dark brown hair of chin length, held tight by a dark red bandana. He looked to be in somewhat better shape than Gough or Wynn, he had been in the middle of some sort of training using a crudely made sword, giving an impression of someone in peak physical condition.

"Aquarius…" he said with a confident voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he made an exaggerated motion with his sword before bringing it to the rest before him. The flair of the move could have generously been considered cool, or almost embarrassing if one was harsh.

"It might be your lucky day, Lonan, '' Aquarius said, his tone changing to a situation where one could get an impression this boy was the one being sold something. "Kenyon here is putting together a crew for a mission involving fighting some cousins, and I think I may be able to convince him of letting you take part and join up, if you can offer some promise of obedience and performance."

"Ah, at long last. A new great trial presents itself to me…" Lonan said with a smile.

"Lonan here is a big fan of trials. He considers this and that to be great trials set before him to prove himself. And he has little patience for actions he does not consider to be worthy trials for someone as… worthy as him," Aquarius has a much-needed explanation. Kenyon, Aquarius and Iris shared a look. Now her and Kenyon had a pretty good idea of why the boy was labeled as Lonan the Trialed.

"Who would we be fighting? I need to know if this undertaking would be worthy of my skills!" Lonan continued.

"Actually, maybe you guys might not need Lonan, I am sure you can find other more cooperative cousins," Aquarius said, hitting the brakes of Lonan.

Kenyon nodded knowingly. "Oh yeah, indeed. I heard that Smarg's Drakesworn are around, maybe we should reach out to them"

"Yeah!" Aquarius said.

"Wait just a moment!" Lonan said, the edge of hubris vanishing from his voice.

"Or Scarl's Bloodhounds, I heard they are very efficient and cooperative, for World Eaters," Aquarius continued.

"No no no, don't go to Scarl!" Lonan pleaded. "I am in, I am in. I will follow you, Kenyon, I promise to follow your lead. Please let me fight, I have not crossed blades in ages, I am going mad here by myself!"

"Great," Kenyon said. "Be sure to remember that so that I don't have to find someone else to fight epic battles with."

"Banish your worries. So, who are we fighting?" Lonan asked.

"Word Bearers," Iris said, causing Lonan to perhaps register her for the first time.

"...Word Bearers are worthy of my next trial," Lonan proclaimed.

"Gather your things and meet us up with the others by the Dinerium, we will talk more there," Aquarius shot over his shoulder as he made for the door.

"Where would you place Word Bearers as worthy opponents to fight if you had to rank all the Legions?" Kenyon asked Aquarius as they moved towards the last recruitment opportunity.

"Somewhere below Night Lords," Aquarius snickered.

The air of despair was quite palpable in the air as Iris entered the chambers of the last Venatore, the one mockingly named the Wanting, if her memory served. The room was pretty much pitch black, there were no sources of light other than the one brought by Aquarius and his flashlight pack. For a few seconds, Iris wondered if the occupant would be hard to spot in the darkness, but the little light they brought found the boy almost instantly.
He sat in a large depression in the stone floor, as if on the brink of collapse to the levels below. His legs were crossed, he was clad in black rags. His unkempt hair was pitch black, and his skin was the palest Iris had ever seen. The boy had only one arm, his left sleeve tied up a bit under his shoulder.

"Kurosu," Aquarius called out.

The boy turned. The light reflected from his black eyes. His expression was a strange twisted mix between resigned despair and anger. He took in his three visitors slowly. "What?" he rasped. The voice vibrated with lazy hostility and a hint of something like misery.

"I got someone here in need of Legionnaires. Says he will take you and the others down here," Aquarius said to him before turning to Kenyon. "Raven Guard, cast out by his warband, passable in combat despite his arm, probably more useful in less direct roles."

"What use could you possibly have for me?" Kurosu asked.

"I have some Word Bearers in need of killings. I will take what I can get. Will you stand with me?" Kenyon answered.

Kurosu's gaze wandered. To iris it seemed like the boy was weighing the offer with the option of staying down here and simply wasting away. After some time, it seemed the will to live prevailed. "If you would have me…" He said as he picked himself up and headed towards them and the door.

"Excellent," Aquarius said. "Well that should be everyone I have for you."

"Alright then. Let's head back to the surface and start forming these guys into a squad of sorts," Kenyon declared and turned to take a few steps up the nearby stairs.

".Is there a reason you are using the stairs?" Kurosu asked as he watched along.

Kenyon turned. "You have a better idea?"

"The elevator…" Kurosu said as pointed toward an elevator shaft in the opposite direction with his only hand.

"...There is a working elevator?" Aquarius asked in wonder.
"Huh," Kenyon huffed. Well look at that. Probably should have spotted that earlier…"

"OH FOR FUCK SAKE WITH YOU PEOPLE!" Iris let out.

"When you said there were no Warbands currently in Terra, you did not count the Chilling Death did you?" Kenyon asked.

Aquarius shrugged.``When discussing any useful warbands, they did not really come to mind. Not sure if I would even count them as a warband, just band at most."

Iris found her suddenly in daylight. Kenyon and Aquarius had led her up a massive ruined wall fortification of some sort. Apparently, now that they had found the hired muscle, they needed to arm that muscle.

"Hey, we take offense to that! We are much more successful than some Legion offshoots out there!" Call out the most disgusting-looking boy Iris had ever seen.

The "Chilling Death" warband of the Death Guard consisted of only two members, both of them seemingly overweight. Both of them were glad in dirty armor and unwashed clothing. The air smelled awful around them, and the air was filled with the quiet buzz of flies. They sat in straining sunbathing chairs on top of the wall, looking out into the ruined city, and they were surrounded by piles of ammunition packs.

"Yeah!" said the second Death Guard rasped with a dry voice compared to the wet growl of his brother. "Many watch with jealousy at our succe- BEOWULF!"

At that cry both of the Death Guards pulled themselves into a straighter sitting position and pulled out large belt-fed guns. They aimed down the wall and unleashed a torrent of senseless firepower. Iris held her ears as she glanced over the wall, just to see a helpless Beowulf far below get torn to shreds by the volume of bullets.

The Chilling Death stopped firing, observed their very dead target, made a note of the kill by tossing a spent shell casing into a bottle filled with them, and relaxed back to their chairs. "Now where were we?"

Kenyo leaned towards the ear of iris. "In case you were wondering, they are somewhat tilted towards the "Chilling" part rather than "Death". Sometime after the great diaspora, they scored big by causing or stumbling upon a trainwreck of a military equipment train. Needless to say after that haul they were swimming in loot, and have not actually done much since. They just hang out here month after month spending some of that limitless pile of ammunition they have hidden somewhere. They make huge bank by selling munitions and other equipment to other warbands."

"That is what I call a successful business model!" the slurpy-sounding Death Guard laughed out. Whenever some actually big war starts, we will be fully dripped and locked and load- URSA!"

Most cacophonic 7 seconds of wanton shooting ensued again.

"...I need to arm a squad I recently put together," Kenyon continued right on the beat as the fire died down. "Gonna need something half decent on the ranged side and ammo for it. I will try to find some melee weapons elsewhere."

"Sure, thing, we have recently traded some guns for our product selection to diversify the ammo heavy supply. I am sure we have found you something nice."

"Well, let's start negotiating," Kenyon said as he sat on the edge of the rampart.

"I have a catalog here somewhere, we can start with tha- EMPEROR'S CHILDREN NEOPHYTE!"

They aimed their guns and unleashed a fusillade of metal once more. Iris saw a tiny speck of a humanoid shape run and jump across the open ground before diving for cover behind some ruins.

"DAMMIT! We missed him again!"

"I can't take this…" Iris grumbled. Her ears were ringing and she honestly could not take the smell hazard either. "I am going to go back down, please conclude your dealings quickly." She quipped to Kenyon before she turned around and headed for the stairs.

It took her descending far below the ground level the way they had come from to be finally out of the smell range. She leaned against the wall of a large chamber and smelled her clothing, hoping that the smell would not stick.

She waited for a long while. Sometimes she felt like she could hear gunfire from somewhere far above, but that was clearly her imagining things. She did not dare to take a step any closer to the core sections of the Legionnaire territory, so she stayed firmly put and waited for Kenyon.

Whenever she heard a sound that was clearly not her imagination, she found her hand straying to the Needler hidden under her clothes. More than a couple of times a sudden creak or an echo caused her to flinch and pull out the weapon, aiming it along the few dark corridors away from the chamber.

She would never have admitted it, but in those moments she felt scared enough to wish for Kenyon's presence.

"What you got there?" came a human voice suddenly out of nowhere.

Iris spun around. She leveled the Needler towards a small shape that had emerged into the doorway on her back right. It was a young boy in his early teens. For a moment Iris allowed herself to forget where she was and wonder what a child was doing in such a place. Then she saw the boy's face and the knife on his belt. She realized what she was looking at was one of those "Neophytes" of the Legions, a recruit that had emerged from under the knives of the Apothecaries.

"I asked what is that thing you are holding…" The boy repeated himself. He took a step closer.

"Stay right there, no closer," Iris called out with a voice that mixed warning and softer tones.

The boy stood where he was, tilting his head around and observing Iris intently. Iris did not like the gleam in his eyes as he looked at her Needler.

"Is that an injection firearm?" the boy asked after a moment.

"What of it?" Iris asked cautiously.

"Where did you get it?"
"That is my business alone."

The boy started walking to his right, circling slowly with vaguely predatory intent. "That weapon…" He said quietly. "Give it to me."

"I don't think so," Iris said, keeping her weapon aimed at the boy.

"It seems valuable," The boy said. "Very valuable.''I could have use for it. Much use indeed. I could earn me some things. Help me with some rivals. Maybe even get me a life insurance if I can scrape that scarred fuck from his sarcophagus…"

What happened next came totally out of nowhere. The wall to the left exploded in a shower of broken rock and dust. And through that hole in the wall walked something enormous, white and metallic. Iris vaguely recognized the shape of it. It was an Atlesian Paladin, though clearly heavily modified.

Iris let out a scream, but for her fortune, the giant machine that barely fit into the chamber due to its height did not seem to be interested in her. Instead, the machine's giant arm lunged for the Neophyte boy with unnatural speed, faster than anything that big and cumbersome had the right to move. The fist of iron wrapped around the boy who was caught despite his leap for evasion and escape. The Paladin held the boy firmly, preventing any chance of fleeing, and then lifted the boy face to face with the central vision port glowing red menacingly.

Iris did not move a muscle. He had frozen in place against the wall behind her, observing the situation while trying to make herself seem as unimportant as possible. Then the machine spoke.

"Did my systems… pick up your words correctly…" the heavy blurt of machine corroded voice echoed from audio ports. "You desire… my iron prison shell?"

"NO LORD!" the boy squealed with barely contained terror in her voice. "I would never!"
"You… you foul defilers of bodies… slaves and worshippers of metal…" The smoldering anger in the voice was palpable even though the machine distortion. "You speak such words… while I remain in this cage… in this TOMB! Left behind and abandoned by my brothers… for this cursed half-life!" The Paladin smashed his free fist against the wall in a burst of rage. "Those who do not value their forms… of flesh and blood… do not deserve to have them…"

"It was not my intention to dishonor nor insult you, oh lord!" The boy in the metal fist pleaded. "Forgive this young Neophyte for his lapse of judgment. Please lord. Please…"

For a moment the Paladin just stood there motionless, holding the Neophyte at his mercy before him. There was a squeal of servos that suddenly echoed a warning of what was to come. Then in the next moment, the iron hand of the war machine squeezed, crushing the Neophyte to a bloody pulp with its monstrous strength. There was a sickening sound of pops, cracks and crunches, and soon what remained of the boy dropped to the ground as the machine finally let go.

Iris looked on with horror. She glanced to her side, planning to make a run for it towards the way to Kenyon. Unfortunately, the smallest motion attracted the gaze of the machine. Iris froze again.

"Who… are you?" the machine rumbled as it lowered itself to gaze at her.

"I-Iris" she managed to let out. She was dead, she thought This was how she was going to die, was it not?

"You are not… of the Legions. You are not a new slave either… are you?"

"No… I am not. I am here because I have a pact… with a Legionnaire named Kenyon." Iris blurted that out. "Please… lord. Do not.. please do not hurt me…"

The machine scanned her face for a while longer. Then it pulled itself upright again. "You should not be here…" it rumbled. "This is not a place… you want to be in. You should leave. And never return…" the machine turned. It started walking towards the hole in the wall it had made with its entrance. "You should stay away… while you still can. From the Legions. From the Gods. It will bring you nothing but misery…"

The machine stepped through the wall with one of its massive legs, turning itself sideways to intentionally or not to half face Iris once more before vanishing from her sight. "Chaos is a tyrant… that grinds downs its slaves… and they cannot rise against it…" It let out from its audio ports. "They grind others under them instead…"

"You want to live like this? Abandoned and alone? A prisoner in a world you can see but never touch?"

-Mr. Freeze

The crew is coming together.

Have a nice day.