Chapter 4: Rebellion

THE HYDRAULIC HISSING of the boarding plank yawned open to reveal the cargo with. The powerful turbine engine of the troopship was winding down as the first of the occupants exited from the belly. Tiberius and Morpx walked down the plank, leading the remaining men, which with them, numbered twenty-nine graduated lieutenants. A band started playing up "Blessed is the Emperor." The regiment's flag fluttered in the cool breeze. Thousands of men lined the spaceport, all facing towards the troopship that had just disgorged the off-worlders. At the bottom of the plank, stood five men also in military dress uniform. The tallest was General Karv. His gray uniform was elaborate, yet lacked medals. The General's aid, Dorl, a man in his early thirties, had the marks of a colonel. The vox-man's name was Hellos, and the communications equipment looked like it belonged on the burly man's back. The Commissar's eyes were wild and ice cold at the same time; Litus, looked like the exact definition of his office. His great coat was smoothed out and he beamed of pride. The last man that Tiberius laid his eyes on was the governor of Yessaria. He could smell the arrogance that came from him. The man was a short fat man who had lived to well on the wealth of his stature.

'Governor Gohjus,' said Tiberius as he bowed slightly before the man, as did Morpx. Tiberius knew all the names of the highest men in the regiment and on the planet, all due to his reviewing of the data-slates given to him.

'Welcome to Yessaria my boy.' Gohjus practically sang this out. 'And you are?'

'My name is Lieutenant Tiberius sir. This man here is Lieutenant Morpx.'

'Welcome to Yessaria,' the governor repeated.

'It is an honor sir,' replied Morpx, bowing again.

'Well, now that you men are finally here, we should get down to the banquet hall.'

'That won't be necessary Governor Gohjus.' General Karv stepped up to Tiberius, and studied the man. This Lieutenant seemed to be the leader of the group and would need to be treated as such. Karv knew Gohjus was stupid with military matters. He always wanted to show his office off by having a huge feast in honor of new people. It was very political, but Karv wasn't a politician, and cared little about the formalities of such things. 'We need to get right down to platoon formations.'

Tiberius smiled inwardly. Already, he was beginning to like the general. Tiberius stood up to the general and gave a perfect salute. General Karv returned the gesture.

'Okay then, if you want to,' sighed Gohjus.

The men behind Tiberius had all filed out and into a straight line. Their shoulders were back, their chests out, and eyes on the man in front of them. 'About face,' shouted Tiberius. The line moved in synchronized motion, turning to face General Karv.

A decent bunch of Imperial Guard officers, mused Karv. We yet may make a regiment worthy of Imperial songs.

'Captain Braxton, get your men to the billets in the South Distract,' ordered Karv.

This made Tiberius startle. Captain Braxton? Is that what he said?

'Captain Braxton,' repeated Karv, 'the South Distract please.'

'Form up on me!' Captain Tiberius Braxton of the Yessarians and his lieutenants all marched off to the idling trucks, behind the congregation of Yessarian infantry.

'General Karv sir. Are you sure you wanted to promote that man?' The question had come from Dorl.

'Yes I did. Did you not read the report that was given to us prior to them arriving?'

Dorl shook his head from side to side.

'You should have. It seems to me, we have a natural born leader here.'

THE ROOM WOULD have been silent and empty, had it not been for the man sitting in the middle of it. 'Oh dark gods of Chaos,' he prayed, 'give me your strength, your will, and your favor. I will give my life and soul to you.' He fell silent. Voices whirled around him for a while. They spoke to him softly, promising things that mere mortals were not to be given or entrusted with. Another figure walked into the room.

'Master Henor, I have urgent news.'

'Out with it,' spat Henor.

'It seems that some thirty new guardsmen have reached planet side.'

'And…' hissed Henor.

'Well, I thought you would want to know.'

'I don't care if they landed thirty-thousand new guardsmen.' Henor the Beheader stood slowly, flexing his massive muscles as he did so. The servant cringed at the sight of his master standing fully erect. Henor pulled out a knife from inside his ritual robes. 'Power demands sacrifice Rohk. Did you know that? Of course you didn't. You are too weak to stomach true power. With this power about to be bestowed onto me, I will carve a bloody name for myself in this universe.' He laughed as the words left his mouth, then raised his arms to the ceiling and screamed.

Rohk shivered all the way down his spine, and collapsed to the floor, convulsing and vomiting. He came to a few seconds later. He was on his belly, pinned down by something. What the heck was going on raced Rohk's mind?

'I thank you for you sacrifice to me Rohk,' came his master's voice from above him. There was a second of pain in the back of Rohk's neck. Warm fluid flowed down and around his neck to his chin. He tried to scream, but nothing came out.

Henor laughed as he slit Rohk's neck. He enjoyed the beheading of things, hence his title. Too much for his own good really. That was the twentieth servant he had done this week. The voices kept asking for more sacrifices, and he delivered each and every time. Except all the other times, nothing happened. This sacrifice was different somehow. Maybe, because he had done it on a whim, and had not been commanded to. The blood, spilling out of Rohk's corpse started to steam up. The mist rose and surrounded Henor. He reveled in it. He could taste the copper and feel the warmth of the blood haze. It started to attach to his body, in layers. Once one layer was completely hardened, the next would cover him. There were several words on his lips all the while this was happening, and it steadily rose in his throat. 'BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!'

HENOR THE BEHEADER exited from his ritual room and stepped into his briefing room. There, his commanding officers were all gathered around a holographic table of the planet. They stood to attention when they noticed he had entered the room, no one wanting to speak.

'Well my followers, I hope all is in order for our take over of this mud-ball.'

'It is all as we had planned my lord,' stammered an officer.

'It better be, because if my plans fail here, none of you will be alive to suffer the consequences.'

There was a mutual sound of gulps.

'Commence operation "Backstab".' At this he laughed deeply. The cloaked figure in the corner of the room stirred. Henor looked at it, and said darkly, 'Oh, and see that our puppet plays his part.'

IT HAD BEEN seven weeks since they had landed on Yessaria, and it seemed that the Yassarians were starting to get used to the off-world officers. The regiment totaled a grand six thousand men, including tankers with General Karv at the top. Colonel Dorl was next, among two other colonels. There were ten majors in the regiment, with twenty captains. The drills that the new regiment had done during the past week were rigorous and harsh. General Karv wanted them in tiptop shape for their first campaign on the out fringes of the Rhomlus star system. The data-slate that Tiberius and the men had brought back spoke of a massive Chaos incursion on the system. It was apparent that the two Idolator class Chaos ships that had been destroyed were the vanguard of this Chaos wave. Several officers said that if two ships had gotten through, who was to say that more had not. Their assumptions were correct. Reports from the planets of Forrix, an industrial world, and Savous, an agricultural world, said that Chaos and infested their worlds and that a good number of Planetary Defense Forces on both planets had turned traitor.

Crippled of most of its military force, Forrix was easy prey for the Chaos invaders. With the spaceports all taken in the first few crucial moments of the fight, no one would escape the wrath of Khorne. The remaining PDF gave a good account of themselves, holding the Capital city of Orha Prime, the Water Railway, and the Fortress of Callous, for some time. The bitter fighting that raged, had taken its toll on the defenders. Two hundred had fallen on the stairs to the governor's palace alone. And in just two short weeks, the Chaos forces had claimed Forrix as theirs. The factories on the planet churned up once more, but not for the production of the Emperor's work. Instead, they started to pour military supplies for the Chaos troops now in control. Among the production were tanks, guns, armor, and the most important thing to the forces there, a population ripe for Chaos. They broadcasted their name across the star system, killing over fifty astropaths, who in their death throes uttered the words of the cult. Their name was The Tainted Blood Horde.

The once green and lust prairie farmland that was Savous, had been turned into a muddy trench-war by the third week of fighting. The PDF of this world were stunned by the shear ferocity of The Tainted Blood Horde. Yet, they held firm, despite the innumerable amount of men the invaders threw at them. By week seven the PDF still held the Capital city of Barbu, with a series of trenches on the outskirts, manned by a thousand or so loyal troopers, with reinforcements numbering around another thousand inside the city itself. What artillery and armor they still had were in reserve. The spaceport inside the city was still intact, but if anybody was going to get off, help needed to get in first. Daily bombardments from the artillery in the war raged grasslands took terrible numbers of citizens and soldiery to their deaths, but the defenders had already made up their minds. They were going to fight to the last.

'MEN OF YESSARIA, we have welcomed the newest members to our regiment with open arms, and they done well in these past few weeks,' General Karv's voive boomed over the microphone. 'We now make for the outer fringes of our system. It seems our brothers of the planet Savous are under siege. Our first task as a new regiment is going to be relieve them of their burden.'

The Plaza was open to the six thousand Guard soldiers standing to attention, with the civilians to their left and right, in stands hastily constructed to support the mass of people wanting to see this moment in their history. The buildings surrounding them were decorated with farewells and the regiment's banner of a Guardsman with his lasgun braced against his hip, pointing up, standing upon a pile of Chaos corpses.

'The archenemy are calling themselves The Tainted Blood Horde. We have no doubt that this is a branch off of their Blood Cult.' Karv cleared his throat as those words left his lips. 'My fellow loyal warriors of the Emperor, come with me to the very gates of hell so we may, together, rid our system of this filth, this plague that is trying to eat the soul of us. We must stand firm, and let not our faith waver. We will not go quietly into the night, but we will shed light on our foe. Let them see that they cannot stand against the Emperor or His subjects.'

The cheering of those gathered was deafening. Even the officers yelled at the top of their lungs. Standard Bearers waved the flags with perfect motions. To the citizens, it was magical. Captain Tiberius Braxton sensed something was wrong through all the rejoicing. He saw out of the corner of his eye, a figure in the third story of the Workman's Shop to his left. General Karv continued his speech as the cheering subsided. Braxton saw there was a long barrel coming out from the second window from the left of the building. He rushed forward, knocking down Major Strass on his way up to the podium. There were shouts of dismay. He slammed into the general, as there was a crack. The hotshot round passed where the general's head had been not two seconds ago. Panic had taken the stage and the Plaza. People shouted, as the crackle of small arms fire sounded over the panic. Braxton looked up, but the figure in the window was gone.

'Thank you captain,' gasped out Karv.

'Your welcome sir.'

'All officers, form up the men, and return fire where possible,' yelled Karv into the vox-horn just given to him. 'Get to your men captain.'

'Will do sir.' Braxton tapped his vox-mic, 'Platoon one-seven-one, form on the west side of the plaza.' Acknowledgements came in from both of his sergeants. He leapt off the stage, onto the pavement, pulling out his brand new bolt pistol keeping his power sword sheathed. To the north, he could hear the exchange of fire. A lasbolt passed in front of his face, and he could smell the ozone, and felt the heat of it. He turned, and saw two figures rushing at him with lasguns firing from the hip. Their red robes said they weren't guardsmen, and their helmets bore a mark of Khorne. Braxton dropped to one knee and braced himself, pumping one round into each of the attackers. They both were sent flying, with gapping holes in their chests. He stood, and made off to where he had sent his platoon. Another group of citizens threw off their clothes to reveal their true loyalty. More red robes. He shot twice, before ducking behind a parked vehicle. One cultist was picked up off the ground and landed hard. Lasbolts ricocheted off the hull of his cover. They were charging him, firing wildly. An explosion knocked him to the ground. He stood up, dazed, to a figure standing over him.

Lieutenant Nwerin stood over Captain Braxton, offering up a hand to help him up. 'Sorry about that grenade being too close Tiberius, but they were bearing down on you.'

'Don't worry about it Nwerin. Get to your platoon, and follow me.' He was pulled up by Nwerin, and saw that the tech-adepts had done a good job on the man's face. Though a little of the machine part of his face and neck was clearly seen through the fake skin.

'Yes sir.'

Platoons one-seven-one and one-eight-six made off for the west side of the Plaza at a sprint.

VCORL BROKE OPEN a door on the lower level of a restaurant just two blocks to the east from the Plaza with his boot. 'Salg, burn them out, now!' The flame trooper came running, lugging the heavy flamer pack on his back, and the tanks burped as the flame torched the inside of the building. There were screams from inside the building as the enemy inside started to catch fire. A man's webbing containing a good number of grenades blew a huge hole in the front of the place. Debris and body parts rained down on platoon one-eight-three. Three of Vcorl's men were ripped apart in the blast. 'Get in there, rush them,' he yelled. The men ran into what remained of the restaurant, and were met by little resistance. Vcorl, and his vox-man both shot down three cultists each. Flame seared over an area and two cultists stood, clutching at their faces. Someone shouted, 'Don't shoot, let them burn.' Both cultists collapsed to the ground, finally succumbing to their deaths. A lasbolt tore through the throat of the man next to Vcorl, spaying him with the man's blood. 'God damn,' he shouted. More cultists were coming in through the back of the place. 'Form a defense, form a defense,' Vcorl shouted. He tapped his vox-mic, 'one-eight-seven, where the feth are you Gathor? I can't hold the east side alone.'

And he wasn't alone. Unbeknownst to him, platoons seven-zero through eight-zero were alongside him, having problems of their own. Many men died, but they took a good amount of the enemy with them.

Citizens that weren't Chaos cultists fled the combat as best as they could. Hundreds died in the first few minutes of the fight. Many that got away from the Plaza only ran into more Tainted Blood Horde troopers who lay behind the main assault line. The Tainted Blood troopers had formed a circle around the perimeter of the Plaza, trying to catch the new regiment off guard. And, for the most part, they did. Guardsmen ran for weapons and cover all at once. The Plaza was cleared in the first two hours of the battle.

Gathor was having troubles of his own. His platoon, was coming up to support the eastern push, but was intercepted on his way. The street had become a meat grinder in which platoon one-eight-seven and Tainted Blood troopers mixed in with bayonets and fists. Blood of the fallen flowed freely down the curb to the drainage pipes. 'Lay into them,' shouted Gathor as the din of the battle rose. He sidestepped a Tainted Blood warrior's bayonet thrust, and fired his las-pistol into its face. When he spun, another warrior ploughed into him, taking him to the ground. Gathor kicked out hard with the tip of his boot into the groin of the cultist. When the cultist fell to the ground, squealing Gathor fired several las-rounds into the man's body. He saw two of his squad clubbing another enemy with the butts of their lasguns. He could see the fear in their eyes, because he felt the same way. This was going to take awhile he thought as he leapt onto another cultist's back with his chainsword churning.

IN A COMBINED charge, Basd, Yolst, Karth, Lowe, and Ralgal's platoons moved up to the northern edges of the Plaza. Several times they had to dig in and hold while more Chaos cultists counter-attacked. They had pushed three blocks up when they met the first armored elements of the Chaos attack. The tanks used by the Tainted Blood Horde were of the standard Armored Personal Carrier Chimeras used by the Guard. Though these certainly weren't the Chimeras usually seen by the guardsmen. These variants had Autocannon mounted main weapons, which chewed through several men before they got into cover. Their hulls and side plates were better defended then the Guard Chimera. There were a total of five of the APCs coming down the road, with infantry behind, using them as shields.

'Armor! Armor!' Basd shouted this as his platoon found cover. Yolst and his platoon came in alongside Basd's. 'What the feth can we do against this,' asked Yolst as he dropped beside Basd.

'Nothing really, as we don't have any missile tubes.'

'We need to find some, quickly,' answered Ralgal as he too had his platoon get into cover. 'Nobody was expecting this; so all we brought was the usual lasguns. Though, lucky for us, some people brought their flamers.' As if to add a helpful gesture, one of Ralgal's flamer-boys hosed an oncoming APC from the cover of the rubble. The top of the vehicle caught fire, but it still rumbled on. The turret traversed and roared into life, slicing the flame trooper to bits, and igniting his promethium tanks, catching five others in the blast.

'We need to stop them somehow,' Yolst said, looking away from the charred remains of the men.

'And how do you suggest we do that genius?' Basd was getting tired of not being able to do anything.

More Autocannon fire rained down on the pinned squads of guardsmen. Now, they were getting closer, and the cultists behind them started to open up with the weapons they had.

A man dropped next to the three lieutenants. 'We are getting pulverized out there. Do something!'

'What, what can we do against this?' Ralgal outstretched his arms to the oncoming wave of death. The trooper stayed quite. Ralgal didn't blame him for being upset; his home was being razed to the ground.

There was a thump and a detonation, causing the Imperials to cover their eyes. When they looked at the road again, the lead Chimera variant was ablaze, and the Tainted Blood Horde around it started to panic. Another thump was heard, followed again by the second Chimera going up in flames. Dark smoke was billowing from the two ruined vehicles, which rose towards the sky. Now the enemy were in full retreat. No one needed anything to be said. Everybody in the area stood and shot at the retreating forces.

Lieutenant Fhor smiled at the destruction he had caused. The grenade launcher was now slung over his back, and he motioned for a forward move. The men of platoon one-seven-eight followed their leader out from the right side of the street. He met up with Karth and Lowe's platoons. All three nodded to one another.

'Nice shooting tex,' Lowe said, motioning for the advancement.

'No problem Lowe. Anytime you need a vehicle to be blasted, just call on me and my beauty here,' Fhor said brandishing his grenade launcher for both officers to see. The six platoons of Yessarians moved up the streets with caution. There were still three of the enemy vehicles out here somewhere. We must push them out of the city at all costs thought Fhor as the enemy started to open fire on the advancing Imperials. How many men would it cost?

LIEUTENANT HAST SWUNG his blade down, severing an arm, and then decapitating the howling warrior of Chaos. 'Take that,' he spat. He parried another blow. He leveled his las-pistol to the attacker's head and blew it out. 'Come on, you can do better than this.' He laughed as he hacked off the head of another cultist. He saw Suole was trying to get his chainsword out of the belly of a skewed enemy, and shot the next several cultists he saw to cover the man. The hab unit they were fighting over was littered with the dead of both sides, though Hast noticed with satisfaction that most were dressed in red, and not gray. Thanks to the initial push from Tiberius and Nwerin, they had forced the Tainted Blood Horde back on their heels. Unfortunately, the push had gotten the two platoons cut off and surrounded. Good thing for them, he had been behind them, and had voxed up Suole and Maller's platoons. The road to their trapped comrades had been hard, when the surprise attack had come. Hast fired twice more, and then saw his power cell was dry. 'Shit,' he yelled as he brought his chainsword up two-handed, dropping the las-pistol. More Blood Horde warriors charged from the other side of the street, adding to the already engaged fight.

Maller was fighting for his life. He'd lost his las-pistol along with his helmet somewhere. His chainsword was starting to clog with all the flesh he'd cut into, so he was using it basically as a club. They kept coming, and coming. He clubbed left and right, killing with each blow. His platoon with their bayonets fixed, also laid into the enemy. His sergeants with their own close combat weapons were dealing death to the Tainted Blood Horde with precise swings. He stood with his platoon in the middle of the street as the rest of the enemy fled into the building in front of them. There was a noise, coming from around the corner of the building to their left. It sounded like a hydraulic squeak followed by a thud.. What the feth was it?

There was a whooshing noise. Oh God Emperor, save us thought Maller as the Sentinels came into the cross section of the road. There were three of the walkers, each fitted with heavy flamers. Their light armor made them excellent scouting vehicles and even better in city-fight. They moved forward on two legs, with the crew compartment holding one man, and the weapons were fitted to the right side of the body. The men of platoon one-nine-eight ran back the way they had fought so hard to get through. Maller saw two of his boy's light up as the flamers washed over them. They screamed, running wildly, arms flailing, with their clothes combusting, and finally dropping as the flesh cooked off their bones. Maller turned to the rest of his men, who had gotten to cover inside the building they had fought hard to take. 'Charlus to me!' The vox-operator ran up to his lieutenant at a hunched run. 'Tell Tiberius and Nwerin that we can't make it to them because we don't have the weapons or manpower.'

'Roger that sir. One-nine-eight to one-seven-one come in.' White noise. 'Sir I can't reach them.'

'Try again Charlus. We have to make contact.'

The Sentinels were closing in on the pinned Imperials. Blood Horde troopers were massing behind them. They were singing a blasphemous song to the Ruinous Powers.

'Stand and fight men of Yessaria!'

Hast's platoon were already in cover as the Sentinels came into sight. Having finished the rest of the enemy in the building, and seeing the walkers, Hast ordered to defend. Suole seemed to agree with Hast on the idea to stay put, and fight from the safety of cover. They saw how Maller's mob had also fallen back into the building to their right. If they didn't any armor support or anti-tank weapons, and the enemy threw something bigger than these things, they were as good as dead.

XAZIR AND IGMUS had moved southwards in search of the armory. As their platoons had gotten to the Arbites command tower, they ran into trouble. The local arbite force lay dead, all over their compound, all hundred and fifty men. They saw that there were also dead men in red robes lying on the ground. The order to double time it was given. They ran, over bodies and over crumpled walls. As they broke through the inner gates, their worst fears were realized. Two Leman Russ Battle Tanks came rumbling out of their garages, with the marks of Chaos hastily painted on.

'Down,' shouted Xazir as the first battle cannon round whistled over their heads, and blew up dirt from the ground, where the platoons had just been. Another round was fired from the second battle tank, and it vaporized five of Igmus' men, only leaving a crater where their bodies had just been scant seconds before. 'Come on, come on,' Igmus was shouting to his men. They ran towards what was meant to be their deaths. 'For the Emperor and Yessaria!' he shouted. They were fifty yards from the tanks. Another chunk of ground was kicked up, with three more men. Forty yards. The heavy bolter sponsons of both vehicles opened up, mowing down three of Xazir's men. Another main cannon round hit the dirt. It was like the earth was raining down upon them. Twenty yards. Igmus pulled out a tube charge from his webbing, as did two other of his platoon. Ten yards. We can make it thought Igmus. His men were still charging with him, yelling frantically, firing what weapons they had at the hull of the Leman Russes.

Xazir's men were with them all the way. More men fell, as the chattering heavy bolters raked back and forth. Xazir, having a tube charge in his hand leapt onto the hull of the fist Leman Russ. He poked his las-pistol into the eyeslit of the driver's seat and fired. A puff of red mist came out. He climbed up the rest of the hull, to the hatch on top of the turret. The hatch opened, and the commander popped out, trying to man the pintle-mounted storm-bolter. Xazir raised his pistol and fired, missing the man. Another las-round blew out the man's head, to which his body dropped back into the tank. Xazir looked back to see a trooper, behind a broken piece of wall, waving. Xazir smiled and gave the thumbs-up. He then turned back to the hatch and dropped the tube charge down the hole saying, 'Fire in the hole,' and closed the hatch. There was a muffled crump. He re-opened the hatch and smoke came billowing out. The scent of blood assaulted his nose, but he drooped into the tank anyway. There was no sign of life in the tank, only bloody matter covering the controls. Three more of his men jumped into the tank, closing the hatch as the last one was in. One pushed the driver's dead body out of the seat, and took control. Another took to the seat behind the driver, manning the sponsons and forward lascannon. The last man got down into the loading station. Xazir jumped into the commander's seat, and shouted, 'Hurl get this thing moving, now. Khog, get an AT shell into the chamber.' They did as he said, and the Leman traversed on its tracks, to face the other Leman Russ that was still controlled by the enemy. It's tracks were blown off, courtesy of Igmus and his men, who were nowhere in sight. Xazir looked into the tanks targeting system, and the targeting arrays adjusted to his eyesight. The cross hairs were just under the turret's armor. 'Bye, bye,' and with that, Xazir pushed the firing mechanism.

The AT shell tore through the weak armor under the turret, sending it spinning off the chassis and landing several yards away. There was a cheer from the hidden Imperials. They rose, and ran up to the ruined arbites headquarters, clearing out all Chaos filth they found. With Xazir in the tank, he voxed Igmus and told him that his men were now in his hands. And with that, Xazir switched vox channels, and found whom he was searching for.

'SIR,' YELLED CAPTAIN Tiberius Braxton's vox-operator. Braxton looked up from his kneeling position with a lasgun raised to his shoulder, searching for targets. He and Nwerin's platoons were cut off from the main force, surrounded, and outnumbered. Without rescue, they could only last for long. The factory they were in was used to produce heavy machines for the farmers out in the Paradise Plains. But, at the moment, everything was being used as a shield against the enemy bombardment.

'What is it Culf?'

'It seems that Lieutenant Xazir has commandeered a Leman Russ Battle Tank, and needs to know if we needed assistants.'

'You know the answer.'

'Right sir.'

Braxton looked around at the two beaten platoons around himself. Two of Nwerin's men were propped up against one another because they both had suffered leg wounds, and had their lasguns ready. Corpsman Pael was attending to six seriously wounded men. His uniform was soaked in the blood of those he had bandaged together, including Braxton's vox-man, who had been hit in the head by a solid round of ammo. The man Pael was treating had been shaking uncontrollably, and calling for his mother. One of Nwerin's sergeants, in his late forties, was on his back heaving heavily, as blood caked around his mouth. The man's wound had been treated to the best of Pael's ability, but that didn't stop the internal bleeding he was dieing to. Five of his own men at the rear of the factory had suffered major wounds, but still had fought on. They were all strung out, and tired.

From the front, someone shouted, 'Here they come again!'

THE NORTH SIDE of the Plaza had seen some of the bloodiest fighting in the city. With the liberated arbites' armory, platoons one-zero-zero through one-two-five pushed hard with those others fighting in that area. Day One had been the beginning to the fighting in that sector of the city. The rebel Chimeras were no match for the missile launchers taken from the arbites. The burning wrecks of the APCs black smoke could be seen from all over the city. The Tainted Blood Horde cultists in the area were another story. They had dug in and were making it difficult for the Imperial forces to pry them out. On day Five, the Imperial forces brought up what armor they could spare from the main push in the west. This robbed the enemy of their morale. With no armor support themselves, they had broken in the face of Imperial armor, and paid dearly for it. Extraction teams were still clearing out what remained of the enemy into the next week.

THE EAST SIDE was the scene of less bloody fighting. The combined effort of twenty Imperial platoons was too much for the Tainted Blood to handle. They were the weak side of the enemy. Fighting in this sector lasted only until Day Two, which after the Imperials moved onto the west side.

THE WEST SIDE had taken the longest to clean out in the entire battle. Captain Braxton and Lieutenant Nwerin both held out against all odds and were relieved, with only fifteen men remaining between them, out of fifty. Xazir's Leman Russ and several lighter tanks from the PDF were sent in to break the deadlock preventing the Imperials from reaching the stranded platoons. They finally broke through on Day Six, and with infantry support tore a two-mile gap in the Blood Horde lines. With their own lines separated, they routed. Thus, allowing evacuation of the beleaguered men on Day Seven. All in all, they cleared out the city of enemies by Day Twenty.

GENERAL KARV LIMPED up the flight of limestone stairs to the governor's palace, with an honor guard of twenty. The air was still muggy with the smell of ozone, oil, and the stench of death. The wound to his leg hurt worse than it did went he had received it. Damn barbed rounds those damn heretics used, had caught him in his left leg. The two guards at the top clipped their heels together and saluted. Karv returned the gesture lazily. He just wanted to sit down for a while. They opened the golden doors, and the men entered the Great Hall of Governor Gohjus. Two guards were posted at every door, with lasguns held upright against their shoulders, saluting as the group passed. The Hall was long and well decorated. Glow-globes shined down the length of it, casting yellow light onto the floors and walls. The roof was a picture of the Immortal Emperor sitting upon the Golden Throne. At the end of the hall, six troopers guarded the tall doors. They nodded at the approaching group and opened the doors. Inside, Governor Gohjus sat on his throne. A table had been brought up and he was eating his dinner on it. The curtains behind the governor were a grayish color to imitate the regiment color. The room smelled of flesh; bloody flesh in fact. There was a shadow behind the governor. Then it was gone. What the heck was that? I must be imagining things. All the fighting and no sleeping has finally gotten to me. He continued walking towards the governor, and stopped just below him and bowed.

'Governor Gohjus, we have cleared out the remaining enemy warriors.'

'You did; did you,' came the reply. Gohjus put down the meat he had been eating.

'Yes we did,' Karv didn't have time for this.

'Well then, who do we have here with you general?'

'Twenty of my top officers sir.'

'Excellent.' The doors closed behind the men, with such force that they all turned. 'Now, why don't we get down to business then shall we?' Guhjus rose, knocking over the small table, spilling the food and drink to the floor.

'What business?' Karv's voice came out in a rasp. Braxton was already reaching for his bolt pistol, as were several other officers.

'The business where I get to kill you. The sniper that shot at you wasn't any mere Tainted Blood trooper. It was I. And if it hadn't have been for that Captain Braxton fellow, we might have succeeded here.' At that moment, Governor Guhjus wasn't the man Karv had known since childhood. Guhjus started to convulse, and screamed. Two figures came out from behind the curtains. They were huge monsters, bigger than any dog any of the men had seen. They darted past the thing that had been Guhjus. Braxton took a shot with his bolt pistol and hit one of the things in the chest. It stumbled, and then continued forward towards the officers. Karv dove out of the way as one of the things lunged for him. The men of the group scattered and brought their weapons up, blasting away at the first beast. It howled in rage as its right flank was blown into bits of meat and bloody tissue. It collapsed to the marbled floor. The other was on top of Karv, and had bit the man's right arm. Braxton rammed into it, for if he were to chance a shot, he might have hit the general. It wrestled in his grip. The claws ripped into his uniform and drew blood. Braxton reeled back in pain, clutching his chest. He pulled out his power sword and pointed it at the beast, standing in a duel stance. 'Kill the governor,' he shouted, and in a combined effort the other nineteen men started to pound away into the frothing form of the governor.

'My Lord Emperor, protect thy servant with your arm, and give me the strength I need to send this demon-beast back to the warp.' The beast snarled at the words and reared up on its hind legs. Then it landed again, and charged at Braxton. Its claws swung from both sides, and Braxton deflected one as the other ripped into his right side, causing severe damage to his already wounded hip. He yelled in pain, staggering back. The beast seemed to smile at his pain. It came at him again, with its mouth wide open, ready to taste blood this time. 'Exactly what I thought you would do.' He threw a grenade down the beast's throat, and dove out of the thing's way and covered his head. The beast landed, and was about to turn when it exploded from the inside, splattering its innards all over.

As the mist from the blood and the smoke from the weapons cleared, Guhjus was suspended in mid-air, a bloody mess. A wing sprouted from his back, followed by another. His clothing started to rip apart, showing muscles that were bulging, and pouring out pus from the bullet wounds he had suffered. He landed onto the marble floor and cracked the tiles inwards. Already the other men had drawn out their swords. The demon strode towards the men, with its claws ready to strike. Colonel Dorl was the first to charge, and then followed by the whole group. Karv lay still on the floor, bleeding profusely from the wound in his arm. The beast raised one arm and smashed Dorl aside, sending the man into the wall next to the door. Everyone in the room heard bones break. A captain whose name Braxton will never know was grabbed by the reverse swing and had his head bitten off. The thing dropped the man and skewed the next officer through the gut. Commissar Litus brought down his power sword onto the beast's left arm, severing it at the elbow. The amount of ichor that came out of the wound was more than enough to fill five gallons. Lieutenant Nwerin launched himself at the monstrosity, making several deep cuts before he too was slapped away like a fly. He skidded across the floor and laid still. Lieutenant Igmus drove his own sword into the heart of the demon. It howled in rage, and brought down its right claw onto Igmus' head, cracking it open with a sickening sound. The man dropped to the ground as blood flowed from the wound.The commissar was still hacking away when the beast kicked him away. Braxton was upon the beast swinging his power sword in a berserk frenzy. The other men followed up and combined to form a swinging wall of swords, chopping out bits and pieces of the demon. With one final stroke, the beast sent Braxton flying through the air and into the double doors, sending out splinters. With the way open, Lieutenant Xazir drove his blade through the beast's head. It dropped like a lead weight, and didn't move. Everyone in the room sighed out loud.

THE HOSPITAL ROOM was full of the wounded. Many of who were now recovering from the fighting. Captain Braxton with a pair of crutches went past Igmus' cot. The man was alive, but would be laid up for some time. Commissar Litus was sitting up on his cot and looking well for a man who had several ribs broken. Colonel Dorl had suffered severe internal bleeding, but was spared thanks to the chief medic, Bord. General Karv was alive, but in intensive care. All the others were fine and on the roads to recovery.

Braxton left the room, and made his way to a soft couch where he sat down and reviewed a data-slate. Casualty reports were in, and he wanted to get the scope of it. Letters would need to be written.

HENOR THE BEHEADER looked at the star charts with some satisfaction. Savous and Forrix were his in the Muggous star system. Though, Savous was still holding out, it was only a matter of time. It also seemed that the Imperial forces on Yessaria had held out against the force there. His puppet, the governor had proved to be worthless after all. The fourth world of that system was a dead planet and worth nothing to his plans. No matter, my hosts of men have already penetrated the Rhomlus sector deeper than even he had anticipated. The next worlds to fall will be the ones of the Dolious star system. 'Keep me updated on that Imperial Navy fleet that it approaching from the edges of the Gorgous sector.'

'Yes Lord Henor,' they replied in unison.

Henor the Beheader turned, and stopped. Those Yessarians were going to be bottled up on that planet of theirs for quite some time, and if he destroyed their way off that planet... He mustn't let those Imperial ships get to them.

'Fleet Commander Vibes. I want your ships to move out at once and intercept the incoming Imperials.'

'Yes my lord,' replied Commander Vibes with a bow. He turned and left the room with his two bodyguards.

'Excellent. Now for the invasion of the Dolious star system.' The remaining officers and Henor himself got busy with the details.