So, this one is slightly shorter than the last chapters. Sadly, this is another project I'm shelving for a while.

Marauth crouched down; laying her spear across her armored thighs and drew a map in the thick dirt in front of her. Around her stood her Exarchs, Warlocks and pilots, studying the map intently. She had seen pic-steals of the mon-keigh barracks and was carefully coordinating an attack from multiple points. Several Wave Serpents full of troops were already in position around the other outlying garrisons and several groups of Swooping Hawks were waiting aboard an orbiting Vampire. The mon-keigh would be exterminated. She would see to that every single one of the ignorant humans was dead so they would not mar the Avatar by gazing upon it with their unworthy eyes. She still could not sense the Avatar, but she was not surprised. The stink of the mon-keigh was clouding her senses. The fields that lay in every direction were saturated by their stink. She gritted her teeth. The mon-keigh were everywhere! They were in such numbers and had so many planets. The Eldar, who were the rightful owners of the universe, had many long years of fighting left before they could reclaim it from the filthy hands of the mon-keigh.

"I will lead the main attack from the north after the Nightwings have strafed the compound. Exarch Ka-has will lead the attack from the west, along with Exarch Hament and Karhaedron. Clear a path for Ararains' Fire Dragons. All you pilots,' Marauth gestured towards a small group of pilots, mainly of Falcons and Wave Serpents, 'I expect you to support the attacks. Do not stop until everyone in there either dead or dying. Is that clear?"

A chorus of acknowledgements erupted from those assembled. Marauth nodded to herself as she ran an armored finger over her spear blade. She had not long been on the path of the seer, but was already wishing she was walking the path of the warrior.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hold the line! Let none of them pass!" Commissar Tokarev shouted as he snapped shots off with his bolt pistol at the onrushing Eldar warriors, graceful women who were all armed with pistols and swords. One fell, chest vaporized by the mass-reactive bolts. To his left, a trooper threw his lasgun over the crude wall they had built out of boards and logs and ran. He did not get more than a meter before Tokarev turned and fired a round into his head.

"Cowards will be shot for dereliction of duty!" he shouted out again, trying to bolster the wavering line. He cursed as some heavy support weapon glided into view through the thick golden fields. The Commissar cursed again as his magazine ran dry and he rushed to switch for another. He was running low on ammo. They all were. He had been on a routine moral check when the Eldar swooped out of the sky and struck. Now they were stuck. The farmers were hiding in their homes, unwilling to defend themselves. He should have shot them.

"Commissar, why don't we try to make it back to Vamosi? Surely we will do more good there than here!" A trooper down the line shouted over the din of battle. The trooper was hefting on of the few heavy weapons the platoon had, a grenade launcher.

"Because cowards run and we are not cowards! Now fight or die!" Tokarev shouted, emphasizing his words by drawing his powersword with a flourish. Something on the horizon, far behind from where the Eldar were emerging from the field. He had seen precious little of their armor and from holo-vids he had seen, the Eldar were infamous for grav-tanks. It looked like a flock of birds, but he got alarmed as they grew larger with each passing moment. They were Eldar flyers.

"Find cover! Incoming aircraft!" Tokarev shouted. The commissar decided his life was more important than dignity and he dived down and curled into a ball. With a terrible scream, dozens of heavy impacts disintegrated the wall and sent Tokarev flying several dozen meters to slam against a farmsteads wall. Tokarev blacked out for a moment, and when he came to, he saw a horrible scene.

The Eldar were all over his shattered men. The air strike had completely broken the wall and those of the platoons that were alive were milling around, disoriented and shell-shocked. He watched as a tall warrior took off a troopers' head with a sword and seemed to laugh at the spurt of blood. Tokarev realized he couldn't hear anything but a ringing in his ears.

The commissar clawed at the ground around him, trying to find a weapon, anything with which he could kill some of them. He didn't feel anything. Then he realized one of his arms was gone and he was lying in a pool of his blood. He looked over and saw his sword sticking out of the wall behind him. His own sword cut off his arm. It was a terrible thought.

Everything started to go gray. What still worried him was that he couldn't feel anything! Then, he realized all of his troopers were dead. He had failed as an Imperial Commissar. He hadn't even had the chance to warn Vamosi of the attack.

The last thing he saw was the tall warrior striding towards him, a sinister grin on his slim, pale features. Then, the comfort of death.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh Emperor! Here they come again!" someone shouted at the top his lungs whilst