Author's Note: Huh! This might be the first chapter in a while with no Attelus in it. This action scene was a...blast to write during NaNoWriMo last year. So fun.

Dellenger couldn't help crying out, and he ran as the heavy bolter roared into deafening life. He managed to make it around the corner, but that exploded into chunks of rockcrete and dust. A large chunk crashed into Dellenger's back. Pain blasted into him, and he stumbled, but Dellenger kept his feet and continued to sprint.

Down the corridor, surrounded by the corpses of Militia and covered in blood, Kalakor knelt, wiping his combat knife off on one of the bodies. His bolt pistol raised, its barrel smoking.

The beak of Kalakor's helm turned to Dellenger.

'Frigging Chaos Marine!' Dellenger roared.

Kalakor holstered his pistol and unclamped his bolter. A few seconds later, his shots flew past Dellenger in a staccato.

Dellenger slipped past and took cover behind the Space Marine. He turned back.

The Chaos Marine had stepped around the corner and found itself under Kalakor's barrage of bolter fire; the Chaos Marine didn't even bother to take cover. But Kalakor's shots weren't aimed at the horror, but its heavy bolter, which was fast becoming exploded and destroyed.

Frigging clever, Dellenger couldn't help admit.

Instinct made Dellenger turn and drop into a kneel, his autogun blazing into life. More Militia were emerging into the corridor, the sound of their boots masked by the bolter fire.

Dellenger's shots sent four reeling and collapsing and the rest diving for safety. He and Kalakor had no cover, nothing; they were trapped, with a nigh-indestructible monster on one side and dozens of Militia converging from the other. Dellenger cursed as he began to shower the enemy with controlled, suppressive bursts, keeping the enemy horde ducking.

'Kalakor! Dellenger roared. 'You couldn't use any of that sorcery crap to get us out of here?'

'Not possible,' said Kalakor. 'It takes too long.'

'Of course, it does,' said Dellenger.

'But I have an idea,' said Kalakor. 'The Chaos Marines of the Death Guard, infected with the disgusting "blessings" of their horrid god, are slow of movement. I am not.'

Before Dellenger could reply, Kalakor spun and added his salvo to Dellenger's, which was far more accurate and effective—taking down several Militia in welters of exploding gore.

Suddenly, Kalakor's huge hand hauled Dellenger up and held him close to his cuirass, like a mother holding a babe, and then the world became a whirl as the Space Marine began to run. All the while, Kalakor's bolter barked, the accuracy unaffected by the movement; this was obvious even to Dellenger's bouncing, blurred vision as Kalakor's bolter exploded any militiamen foolish enough to get in their way. Dellenger wanted to add his shots too, but there was no way in hell for him to draw any kind of bead in this state. Never had Dellenger felt so useless before.

Kalakor came to a T junction and turned left. In his way were many more Militia, crowded in it. Before they could raise their guns, Kalakor cut down half of them in with a barrage, and then he was in their midst, slaughtering them with the butt and swipes of his bolt gun and kicks.

By then, autogun fire erupted from behind them. And it sheered against Kalakor's back; the shrieking of ricocheting shots managed to eclipse the cries of the Militia.

It took all of a second before the Militia were dead or maimed before Kalakor was sprinting onwards. He was ignoring what must've been a whole armoury's worth of munitions crashing against his oversized backpack.

Kalakor turned another corner, and about thirty metres at the end of it was a turn, but much to Dellenger's relief, a large window revealed the exterior and-

When Kalakor was about halfway down, two Nurgle Chaos Marines stomped to bar their way, both raising their mutated bolters. Dellenger's heart sank like never before.

Before Dellenger could say anything, with speed beyond that of even a Space Marine, Kalakor had re-magnetised his bolter, took out two krak grenades, and threw them into Chaos Marine's visors. The resulting explosions sent the Chaos Marines reeling, allowing Kalakor to sprint past them, shatter the glass with a bolt round, and then lunge outside, exploding into the strong sunlight.

Kalakor didn't slow even slightly as he bounded two steps and leapt; he hooked one hand on the top of the five-metre wall and vaulted them over the top. Less than a millisecond before the Chaos Marine's bolter fire smashed in their wake, reducing the rockcrete into shards and dust.

Kalakor landed with a loud crash but absorbed so much of the impact Dellenger didn't feel a thing. They were in the western side alleyway, only three metres wide, but the T-junction onto the main road was a good fifty metres away.

'Frig! Thanks for the save,' Dellenger gasped. 'Put me down, damn it!'

Without a word, Kalakor did as told, and then he and Dellenger sprinted on as the enemy bolters traced their wake.

'Go, go, go!' Kalakor growled unnecessarily as more Militia poured around the corner.

Dellenger and Kalakor opened fire. Dellenger's shots were fired from the hip and bounded about, yet he still managed to take down two, getting one through the chest, and winged a second across the bicep. Still, his shots were redundant to Kalakor's bolter, which rendered them into a morass of blood and body parts, so much so that when Dellenger ran through the ground-up corpses, he had to be careful not to slip over.

Kalakor burst onto the path, instantly heavy machine gunfire instantly echoed from the right and sheered off his armour. Meanwhile, small arms fire crashed against him from the left. Kalakor's bolter boomed as Dellenger came to the left-side corner, leaned out and cut down three of the dozens of more militiamen advancing down the street. It'd escalated into a miniature war; it seemed as if they'd pulled every militiaman across the city on them.

Dellenger slipped back and reloaded as the enemy returned fire. He glanced over his shoulder, expecting any second for the Death Guard to step into the alleyway after them.

'We need to move! Get in front of me! I have cleared this side,' barked Kalakor, smashing Drllenger back into reality, and without thinking, Dellenger went to move as ordered.

But Kalakor seemed to blanch and pull back as more bolter fire flew his way. 'Not clear! Not clear! Two more of the accursed Death Guard have come from the main gates!'

Dellenger allowed himself a relieved sigh; the Death Guard hadn't followed them this way; after all, they'd looped-

Instinct made Dellenger spin around just in time to see the last pair of Chaos Marines beginning to emerge into the alleyway.

'Oh, shit,' he breathed as he opened fire, despite knowing how extremely pointless it was. Then Dellenger's vox-link chimed into life.

'Dellenger,' said a voice; it was Torris. 'We're almost at the medicae centre, be ready.'

The blockade the Militia had deployed was made in haste. But a dozen militiamen still didn't move as they drove towards them in their stolen truck.

Arlathan drove as Torris rode shotgun, and he raised his Arbites' semi-auto shotgun and opened fire. One of the Militia men was hit in the chest and sent smashing off his feet. Arlathan raised his autopistol and cut down two with a flurry of wild shots.

The rest tried to get their autoguns up, but by then, Arlathan had accelerated, and as Torris blasted down three, the rest tried to scatter. The truck crashed through two of the open-backed utes, which crashed aside, and Arlathan clenched his teeth as the impact shuddered through him and the whiplash sent pain through his head and neck.

Impressively fast, the remaining Militia's gunfire began to spring off the metalwork in the back. Kollath and five of the Stormtroopers retaliated with their hellguns. Tathe's laspistol joined in their cacophony of shots, and Karmen's bolter, along with Darrance's and Delathasi's suppressed autoguns, joined in. Arlathan imagined them being cut down by the merciless shots.

Arlathan shook himself and glanced at Torris. 'Good shooting there!'

Torris shrugged and tapped the meltagun on the seat between them. 'Let's just hope we don't need to use this frigger.'

Arlathan nodded; the walls of the medicae facility emerged into view but, also...

Arlathan's whole being seemed to turn to stone as he saw the two Chaos Marines on the sidewalk as they were turning to address them.

'Karmen!' Arlathan shrieked through clenched teeth. 'Shield up, now!'

Karmen didn't question or hesitate as the kine shield sprang around the truck and the bolt shells exploded against it.

'W-what the hell is going on, Arlathan?' she cried. 'Is that frigging bolter fire?'

Arlathan didn't reply as he sent the truck into a slide, making the back face the Chaos Marines and coming to a stop. Arlathan looked over his shoulder.

The hellguns slashed into the Chaos Marines, their armour was like paper to the high-yield laser shots, but they didn't seem to slow even slightly as they laid down withering shot after withering shot against the kine shield and advanced on them.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!' Darrance roared over the vox.

Arlathan was about to tell the assassin to shut the frig up, but solid shots sparking off the front of the truck made him flinch, and he and Torris turned back forwards.

The Militia had regrouped and received reinforcements, it seemed, as dozens more advanced alongside them, laying down a constant, massive barrage of auto fire against Karmen's shield.

Arlathan snatched up his lasgun and returned fire. 'Torris, looks like you'll be using that meltagun after all!'

'Yeah, got you,' said Torris as he grabbed his meltagun and climbed into the back; he activated his micro-bead and yelled, 'Damn it, Dellenger! Where the hell are you?'

Dellenger wanted to reply to Torris' frenzied question, but he was too busy sidestepping the Chaos Marine's fist as it flew for him. Then ducked its swinging knife. Beside him, Kalakor was a blur of close combat with the other Chaos Marine. Thanks to Kalakor's marksmanship, he'd managed to destroy both Chaos Marine's bolters, but with them being pinned down by the other two, this had allowed them to advance into close combat.

The Chaos Marine's front kick made Dellenger weave beneath it; Dellenger was...beyond standard human capacity thanks to his master's engineering back in Velrosia, but he wasn't even close to an Adeptus Astartes; all he could do was dodge the bastard's attacks with no hope to fight back.

Dellenger had no idea how much longer he could keep this up for!

Torris knelt and aimed his meltagun; the two Chaos Marines were close now; according to Torris' calculations, they would be inside the shield and able to shoot them in about a second or two.

Their stench then hit him; it smashed into his nose so horrifically it made him reel, and tears burst from his eyes and down his cheeks. It was like rotten corpses mixed with shit.

'Hurry it up, Torris!' Karmen cried.

Torris shook himself back to reality and fired. The head of the left-side Chaos Marine disappeared into a morass of melted metal. It dropped its bolter, but it stayed on its feet. The second one was almost through the shield, but Torris knew he couldn't bring his meltagun around in time. Karmen's kine shield dropped, and as the first bolt shot was about to go for Torris, with a cry, she used her telekinesis to push aside the Chaos Marine's aim, making it explode somewhere else, allowing Torris to aim his meltagun and reduce its head into molten slag.

'Where are they?' said Tathe as he and Kollath led the Stormtroopers out the back of the truck. The Stormtroopers were fanning out and firing at targets Torris couldn't see. Delathasi and Darrance turned around and supported Arlathan's lasgun shots with theirs out the truck's now-destroyed front window.

Torris glanced at Karmen, who nodded, then went limp as she left her body. Torris let his meltagun hang on its strap and followed Tathe and the others out the back and back under that damned sun. His shotgun switched around, trying to find a target; the street was full of parked vehicles, and the enemy took cover behind them, but they made for little protection against hellgun fire. No one said anything about Torris, just killing two Chaos Marines; he didn't expect any words; he was an elite Throne Agent of the Inquisition who wielded a weapon designed for killing post-humans, and that was that.

'I have found them!' said Karmen through the vox. 'They are in the adjacent alleyway; they are engaged in close combat with two more Chaos Marines. You must hurry.'

'Yes! Hurry frig you!' roared Arlathan. 'I've got a damned regiment's worth of Militia advancing on me! Kamen, get that frigging shield back up, now!'

'Go, go, go!' yelled Kollath, and they began to sprint for the turn, the Stormtroopers pausing every few seconds to lay down pinning shots at the unseen enemy.

Torris lifted his meltagun, and he and Tathe didn't pause as they sprinted, so they were the first to turn the corner, and as one, everyone froze at what they saw.

Kalakor was pinned against the wall by the neck by a Chaos Marine. It was trying to plunge a horrific, rusted, curved combat blade into Kalakor's throat, but Kalakor's hand was wrapped around its wrist. The Chaos Marine's armour was covered in cuts and stab wounds by the dozen, but it seemed utterly unaffected.

Dellenger seemed to be sliding and leaping all over the alleyway's width; it made Torris think of Attelus' fight back on Sarkeath against the Greater Daemon of the Blood God. He never saw it, but he saw the aftermath; never had he seen Attelus so exhausted; he could've only dodged the daemon's attacks with no hope of retaliating. But really, what took Torris' breath away was Dellenger; he was a blur of incredible speed and agility as he weaved and wound through the Chaos Marine's smashing fists. It must've been the same with Dellenger and this Chaos Marine, but on a much smaller scale. Despite how slow they seemed to walk, the Chaos Marine's attacks were anything but slow.

Torris shook himself back into sanity, aimed his meltagun and opened fire. It was point-blank, an easy shot, so the blast of molten, super-heated plasma took the Chaos Marine through the pauldron, then the side of its head, melting it from the neck up in an instant.

This allowed Kalakor to break free, take out his bolt pistol and boom a few shots into the Chaos Marine attacking Dellenger.

The Chaos Marine barely flinched, but it did hesitate for a nano-second, which allowed Torris an opening to kill it with another melta blast.

With his attacker dead, exhaustion seemed to overtake Dellenger, and he fell into a kneel, gasping and writhing like a grounded fish.

Tathe and Torris ran forwards and helped Dellenger to his feet as Kalakor picked up his bolter and added his fire to Kollath's and the Stormtrooper's deluge of shots.

With Dellenger between them, Tathe and Torris began back toward the street. Tathe activating his vox-link.

'We have Dellenger,' said Tathe. 'We're heading back to the truck now.'

'Hurry it up!' came Arlathan's voice. 'The enemy is almost right on us!'

'Got you!' said Kalakor. 'I shall aid you.'

Then the Space Marine turned and ran out of sight.

Tathe, Torris and Dellenger finally managed to step onto the sidewalk and almost instantly, the Stormtroopers surrounded them in an escort formation. Their hellguns lay down controlled volleys of pinning fire. Now many more militiamen had swarmed into the street, but they were no match for the six Stormtroopers who had every inch covered and cut down any enemy the split-second they popped out to fire back.

The skill and discipline of Enandra's personal Stormtrooper corps never failed to impress Torris.

Tathe, on the right, added flurries with his laspistol as well, but it was unnecessary; it seemed the ex-commissar was just trying to make himself feel useful.

Torris turned to face forwards; Kalakor was on the truck's right side, pouring bolter burst after bolter into the advancing militiamen as Delathasi and Darrance shot through the front window.

With a few sporadic shots smashing into the rockcrete wall and sidewalk in their wake, they finally managed to begin to climb into the truck. Torris and Tathe had to help Dellenger as he struggled to clamber onto the metal floor.

'Go! Go!' Tathe roared as the final Stormtrooper jumped aboard.

'What about Kalakor?' cried Dellenger through his gasping.

'Do not worry about me,' said the Space Marine. 'I will weigh down your vehicle and slow you down. I can get out of this alone; the only reason I have not done so already is because of you.'

Dellenger grimaced, and his eyes fell.

'Alright! Everyone hold on!' yelled Arlathan; as the truck exhilarated so hard and fast, everyone almost fell. 'We're not out of this yet!'