Check the bottom of the chapter for notes.

The city's view inched closer to the speeding band of bike riders. They would be upon it in no time. For the short while they had been travelling, Kronos and the Sergeant had already decided over Vox-comms their plan of engagement. Their targets numbered 20 in total, so the squad would be divided into 5 pairs, with it's sole Attack Bike and Kronos being assigned together. As such, given their superior weaponry and extra manpower, they would be assigned to the most heavily defended objectives.

However, even as they approached, the Custodian could not help but feel a sense of foreboding. Surely, they would've encountered some sort of resistance by now? These cultists were nothing if not organized, toppling a planetary government under the Imperium's nose and managing to take a hold of defense technology that prevented any form of large-scale assault. So, what were they doing, simply allowing the enemy forces into their stronghold?

The Sergeant too seemed wary. He and his Brothers were advancing towards the city with far less fervor than he would've anticipated of the Sons of Chogoris. Even Mira seemed on edge by this. Gan, his apparent upcoming partner, in the unique position of not being in control of a vehicle, constantly checked his Lascannon, Bolt Pistol and the Heavy Bolter mounted to his sidecar. A sign of nervousness or a force of habit?

An irrelevant thought as they approached the outskirts of the city, a beautiful realm by the name of Spiralis, whose corruption could be seen even clearer now. As they reached it at last, the White Scars slowed down to a stop, Kronos with them. The Sergeant barked orders to them in their native tongue, before informing Kronos' own miniature squad, thankfully, in Gothic of their 4 targets. All of Marines performed one last check on their bikes, before nodding to one-another. The Sergeant raised his hand, as he shouted:

"For the Khan and the Emperor!"

His Brothers returned the battle-cry, before his hand came down and all of them charged toward their respective objectives with the ferocity of a storm. Kronos followed behind his own group, perhaps a bit slower. He did not know how the White Scars were capable of navigating the city streets, wide and accommodating as they were, at such ludicrous speeds. Must've come part and parcel of growing up in a society that favored mobility above all else, he supposed. Meanwhile, even above all the engine noise, he could still hear Mira slipping curses due to his speed, subdued as it was in comparison to their other squad members.

His visual display lit up with information a minute or so later, the coordinates of their first target apparently having been broadcast to him. The way was clear, but the tension in the air only grew thicker. A scouting party not appearing as soon as they were in visual range was strange enough, but now they were in the center of the city. And yet...nothing. No one was there, except the bodies. He would've gone as far as to call the entire operation a dud, if the insidious presence of something watching them from beyond the cover of the buildings wasn't a constant one.

He would like to think his Astartes allies could tell of this as well. Gan certainly seemed on edge, constantly checking his equipment again and again. He didn't strike Kronos as the type of person to be nervously obsessive. Even Tarkhan turned his head a few times at his Brother, but Kronos doubted he did not have suspicions of his own.

They continued through the city streets, their advance set at a thunderous pace, but the sprawling metropolis extended seemingly endlessly. The feeling of unease never ceased for even a moment as Kronos heard the cackle of static over his Vox-comm. Tarkhan was messaging him.

"Ready your Krak Grenades. We're coming upon our first Shield Generator."

Kronos furrowed his brow at this. "I was not equipped with any during our meeting."

"Compartment on the left side of your bike. Standard issue."

Kronos did not know how he could accomplish this without moving one or both hands off the handlebar, which would be decidedly unsafe. Being as experienced and trained as the White Scars would've probably helped. Trying to find his way around this, he remembered a little detail currently clutching to his frame.

He motioned Mira with his head. After a couple of seconds, she responded, but he knew she wouldn't hear him over the roar of the engine, instead motioning to the compartment Tarkhan has informed him about. Realizing what he meant, Mira opened it, to find the instruments needed for their job. She gave them to him, as holstered the grenades to his belt, just as their first target came into direct view.

The Attack Bike in front of him slowed down, as he saw both Tarkhan and Gan prepare their own Krak Grenades, waiting to get in throwing range of the building. The Generator was massive, a thing of ornate design that could've been passed off for a colossal cathedral with ease. Yet, despite it's size, he knew that only a few well-placed shots would be needed to disable it. As they were nearly upon the gargantuan machine, Kronos reached for his belt, readying his own shot. Waiting, waiting...

Something was horribly wrong.

The feeling of wrongness pervaded throughout Kronos' entire body, as if his armor was stuffed full of liquid nitrogen. He slammed his foot on the break, uncaring of the shock of momentum dispersing, the screeching sound of strained mechanisms, or the screams of his panicked companion. His mind was working on overdrive now, seemingly almost awakened from a white haze that had settled over his mind.

Why was the the Generator not active? Why did it not have guards? Not guarding the city was enough of a red flag, but this was almost absurdly wrong. Why did it not resemble any pattern he'd seen before? Why were the Scars simply charging towards it so confidently?

And then, at last, he felt the final confirmation, if he could ever possibly need any more. A terrible feeling, a shivering cold in the back of his mind, but amplified several times. He had sensed the presence of Chaos before, but only residual. Diluted. Unpure. In summation, not the genuine touch of corruption from the Ruinous Powers.

But now he did.

"We've drove into an ambush!" he practically shouted into his Vox-comms. Ways away, he could see his partner Astartes having too stopped int their tracks noticing his strange behavior, their confusion seemingly only strengthening by his shout. Their confusion and indecisiveness ceased when the firing started however.

Immediately, as if by a cruel hand of fate, Bolt rounds tore through the air, filling the newly-converted battlefield with cacophony of noise. He could see them, however. One large burst was headed straight for him, while another for his teammates. Amidst his adrenaline-infused brain, one thought suddenly made itself crystal clear: Mira.

He saw the girl, practically frozen from his perspective, in a state of sheer terror. He reached with the speed of a Thunderhawk, so explosive was his grab that he feared he had broken the poor girl in half for a brief instant, before pulling her in and shielding her with his arms. His Auramite armor was projected to withstand Lascannons, Plasma Weapons, and far, far worse. It would hold. Mira would not. His armor could be fixed. A Bolt round through a normal human never could.

The shots rang throughout his frame. Even if he had attempted to block them, nothing would've come of it. They were simply too many for even him to deflect all of them. Their Bike had not been so lucky. Peppered with small implosions, Kronos was awed it hadn't blown up right away. They had to move, fast.

He glanced over his other companions. Gan was hiding behind his sidecar, ducking in and out of cover to fire shots with his Bolt Pistol. Tarkhan stood beside him, his condition barely readable. But the way he was slumped made it clear despite all the chaos. Dead. Or at least, he was going to be extremely soon. They needed a way out.

Another hail of explosive lead stopped his thinking process, as he now ducked under the cover of his own bike. He noticed Mira had stopped screaming at the very least, and now satisfied with her temporary safety, his combat "program" flared to life, as he rose out of cover to examine the area once more.

12 hostiles in total. Well hidden among the dense urban jungle, but still distinguishable to his keen eyes. They were definitely Space Marines, but they were corrupted beyond measure, their very presence disgusting and unnatural. Clad in black armor and sporting numerous unknown protrusions, they bore a nonetheless distinguishable and familiar symbol on them: the Eye of Horus.

What stood before him were undoubtedly remains of the damned Sons of Horus Legion, now reduced to nothing but the pawns of Chaos. Kronos could probably kill them all easily, shrugging anything their basic weaponry could throw at him, if he hadn't noticed the massive Plasma Cannon hanging off from one of their troops. The massive weapon would have to be taken care of before he engaged any of the other traitors, but it would likely spot him in advance and rip through him. Auramite Armor was mighty, practically impenetrable, but enough shots from that titanic mound of destruction would bring him down as well.

With his options extremely limited, and two of his companions unable to help, he would have to opt for a strategic retreat. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but the enemies had too much of an advantage here. He would need to make a break for it, and he would have to do it now. Grabbing Mira again, almost swearing he could hear the child through the cacophony of noise cursing his name, he dashed through to Gan's position, his bike now reduced to little more than slag, shielding Mira all the way with his back.

Placing Mira in between the two of them, Kronos noticed he just barely had avoided a shot from the massive Plasma Cannon. It's wielder was finally moving, reloading as he advanced toward their position. A distraction was needed.

Kronos rose out of their temporary barrier, firing a burst from his Bolt Caster, aimed at the general area of the Cannon wielder. He saw some of the Traitor Marines receive momentary recoil, the Cannon wielder himself falling downward. Just as hope seemed restored and Kronos was nearly ready to jump and tear these filthy treacherous fiends apart, the Cannon wielder raised himself once more, harmed, with his armor ruined in many spots, but not put out of commission. And he immediately began to charge his weapon for a another, likely fatal shot.

Before he was distracted again by a low caliber slug emptying into his eyes, followed by another. Mira had ascended from cover for just an instant, screaming bloody murder as she did, and shot directly at the Traitor Astartes. He had seldom seen such a display of bravery and or stupidity from full grown men, let alone an adolescent girl. Yet another article to add to the pile of why Mira was entirely unusual. But once again, the distraction was extremely temporary.

Realizing their time was up, Kronos picked Mira up once more before grabbing Gan by the shoulder.

"We leave now!" he had to shout throughout the cacophony of the battle.

Gan heard him perfectly, but he could not have been more incredulous to the suggestion.

"I will not stop until my brother is avenged! Even if I have to personally fight with nothing but a stump of a leg and tear their throats out with my teeth!"

Kronos tightened his grip, and for a moment the Astartes thought he was going to receive a thrashing, only for the Custodian to throw himself along with him and their human charge several meters further, their previous cover melted to steam by a blast with the heat of a sun's core. As his Bolt Caster roared to life once more, mostly aimed at the ground this time to create a brief perimeter of concealing dust, Kronos was done playing nice, staring the Astartes in the eye with cold wrath.

"Continue to fight here, and you prove yourself an idiot," the cloud was already dissipating, and he could hear that the Traitor Marines were merely reloading. He should've anticipated as such, but he still cursed his lack of time. "By dying needlessly here, you disgrace your brother even more. We are retreating Astartes, now. Unless you want your honor to perish with you, I suggest you follow us."

The Custodian spared no more words to the shocked Astartes as he bolted into a run, avoiding the rain of fire that was being brought in by all sides now that the dust had settled. Mira, still being carried by him, a fact he had no doubt she loathed, finally piped up.

"Take the right!" well, more yelling, but it was necessary through the storm of sheer size. "There's a huge fucking building! You can't miss it!"

Kronos looked at his charge with an inquiring gaze, or the closest he could give to one as he was currently running at top speed. Her resolve however, was adamant.

"Trust me, just do it!"

Kronos decided to oblige, if only because being a native Mira might've actually had a plan to get them out of there. Or at least, that was his best chance at the current moment. He turned around for a brief instant, to see what the thunderous lead storm had already confirmed, that they were indeed still being followed, but Gan thankfully was in tow. He saw as he shot back with his Bolt Pistol, his Lascannon just barely hanging by his back, the weapon obviously being too unwieldy for such a fight.

He followed the path Mira set him on, eventually coming upon said huge building. He had no time to appreciate the architecture, but for what it was worth, it was indeed massive, though a relic in comparison to the modern city around. An almost cathedral-like, maroon, bricked fortress, it soon eclipsed view of anything else, as Kronos broke through the already half-ruined doorway, with Gan and the sound of enemy fire following suit.

Inside, he could see the true purpose of the building. Some sort of ancient rapid transit system, it's tracks long rusted over and no trains to be found. It had been clearly abandoned for a considerable length of time, unlike the city around. But Kronos had not time to ponder, as he finally understood Mira's plan, looking to the myriad of tunnel entrances, some of them left open as the traitorous Chaos warriors caught up to them, literally bursting through the walls. Not knowing where to go, Kronos looked to his charge for guidance.

"Rightmost tunnel!"

He began sprinting again, Gan alongside him now, as their pursuers relentlessly hunted them.

The tunnel was quiet, dimly lit. Only the sound of dripping water and the occasional rat-like creature scurrying in places unknown broke the choking silence.

They had been running for about 30 minutes, Kronos had to presume. Mira's knowledge of the complex came at an end the second they entered the lightless, labyrinthine tunnels. Although Gan and him could navigate through it with some difficulty, and the blazing of Bolter fire initially helped them, Mira was at a loss. A normal human could not see a single thing in these railways. He questioned if even a feline would be possessing of the vision necessary for it.

But nonetheless, they had made it through, albeit barely. He would have to estimate that they had lost the soldiers of the Black Legion about 20 minutes ago now, and the fact that they had not yet been found made it quite clear that they were almost assuredly safe for the time being. But the air was still thick with tension. Not just that of a squad of fully armed Chaos Marines potentially popping out at any moment, but also between Kronos and Gan.

Kronos knew he was still bitter over abandoning his brother's body, and perhaps even more so in abandoning the battlefield. Such was the way of the Astartes, prideful and devoted to a fault, perhaps foolishly so. Kronos could not blame them, for the Custodians too possessed such a devotion, if not to their brothers-in-arms then to their duty. It was merely the nature of being so thoroughly indoctrinated into the Emperor's finest. But, during the War in the Webway, the Custodians had learnt restraint. They had to, for they would've perished otherwise.

Alas, if they were to survive the harrowing ordeal that Kronos was entirely certain was awaiting them, they would need to work as a team. Being a team meant helping one-another, and definitely not possessing of an inherent dislike against each-other due to previous choices. So it was that Kronos would have to mend whatever he could get his hands on.

"Gan."

"Save it, Custodian," his silhouette was easily visible to him, even in the darkness. "I should've died alongside Tarkhan. That at the least, would've been a glorious death in the Emperor's name. Now instead I'll be hunted down like a rabid dog, while my brother's body is desecrated by those traitorous scum."

"Gan, you are acting irrational. It's all due to the loss. I've seen it happen before," the Custodian approached him, intending to comfort the White Scar in some manner, but instead simply choosing not to considering how awkward it would have been. "Your brotherhood is your biggest strength, as well as your greatest weakness, considering how it is cultivated in you. But we must move forward. We will only die here if we do not keep moving."

"Your brother will be avenged. You can be assured of that. But not now."

Gan stood silent. He could hardly even hear the Marine breath. He supposed he needed some time to contemplate what he had said, but they would have to move soon nonetheless. His newly-acquired sixth sense had calmed down as well now, but Kronos knew this was merely a short respite, and nowhere close to safe haven. They would have to regroup, and try again. But until Gan gathered himself, he supposed he would have to engage with the only other person there.

"Are you alright, Mira?"

"I think my wrist got strained when you were pulling. Is fine though, I've gone through worse," it was hard to notice, but her voice was still cracked from all the screaming. Still, she held herself well through all of that, he supposed. "Oh, and...thanks. You saved my life, uh a lot of times back there."

Kronos did not know how to respond to that. He supposed it was only natural, but this situation had occurred before and he had been just as wordless then. It was after a campaign to liberate a planet from an Ork infestation, the name of which he bothered not to even remember, when he had excavated a massive chunk of blasted debris, likely once part of a large wall, to find family of five amazingly still all alive. They had given him thanks beyond measure, but the Custodian had stood silent, only granting them a single nod as he moved to join his Shield-Company and his Emperor.

But this time, he would not be left speechless by such a basic human response. A Custodian did not feel awkwardness, especially when one decided to honor them, even if it was an honor well deserved.

"It was...the least I could've done Mira," predictable response would have to do. But he could've sworn he saw Mira smile under the darkness.

However, he realized that he would have to give the order to move soon. It had went unspoken, but without Tarkhan there, and arguably even when he was still alive, Kronos was the most senior authority in their little band. Mira obviously wouldn't make any decisions on her own concerning the well-being of the unit, and he doubted Gan had the incentive to try and take command at any level. However, just as he was about to speak up, he heard heavy thuds coming from his right. Gan was approaching the two of them, his gait betraying that something had changed.

"Custodian," he nodded. "Mira."

The Custodian responded in turn, while Mira released a small noise of acknowledgment.

"I realize that my...compromised emotional state nearly led us all to death. I seek forgiveness for my actions."

"And we are more than happy to grant it to you, Gan. But have you made sure it does not happen again?" Kronos knew he was being somewhat insensitive, but he had none the time for politeness at the current moment.

"Yes. I will ensure that I do not burst into another...tantrum, that shall compromise your safety, or the safety of your companion. I realize know that my brother would indeed be disgraced if I wasted my life worthlessly for a vendetta, and even more so if I gave other lives for it," he paused for a moment, before continuing once more, his voice now cold with wrath. "But I swear upon Jaghatai's pride, once our hold on this world is secured, I will personally see to it that every damn, filthy traitor upon this planet is decapitated, and every last one of their heads mounted on the road to Quan Zhou."

"Your wrath needs to be tempered still, Astartes. But it is good to have your by our side once more. Now, we must move. Our time of rest is at an end."

"This whole day has been one giant shitstorm after another. I feel like my feet are going to blow up any moment now inside these boots," Kronos frowned, but he couldn't exactly blame the child. The whole day they had barely rested, and while such a thing was poultry to beings such as him and Gan, regular humans, and especially juveniles, were far more susceptible to exhaustion.

"Do you require me to carry you again?" he did not fully understand why he made that suggestion. Perhaps it was simply to alleviate her tiredness, perhaps it was to quicken their pace, as she would surely slow them down in the long run. Perhaps it was something else entirely, but the response was not exactly unexpected.

"You kidding? I let you do that once, I ain't letting you do it again while I still have working fucking legs," she jumped to her feet as if to illustrate her point. "Besides, where are we even going anyway? My knowledge of the tunnels ended back when the darkness started. Which was, oh yeah, almost immediately."

"We will simply follow one tunnel to it's end. Sooner or later, they will lead us to an exit," Gan piped up, seemingly over his previous state, but Kronos had no doubt the thought lingered in the back of his mind still. "By the way, how were you knowledgeable on this metro station? Or the routes around the city in general? I believed you weren't raised here."

"No, I wasn't, but my family visited this place all the time before the...you know," she swallowed loudly as she continued. "You learn a few things when you visit a city that many times. Major landmarks, important places, that sorta stuff. Just enough to not get lost."

Gan nodded. "Let us move forward then."

Kronos nodded. Mira released another grunt of approval. Without any further words, they continued onward opposite to the side where they had come from, just as Gan had suggested.

Kronos could tell Mira wasn't holding herself together very well. Having been traveling for some time now through the pitch black catacombs, their salvation clearly not anywhere in sight, it was starting to get to her. She was far more jittery, and would draw her gun on practically any misinterpreted sound.

Quite frankly, he once again could not blame her. The darkness, the ambient sounds, once perhaps completely ignorable, served to create an atmosphere of pure tension, just as hearing the sound of a gun being loaded on a darkened alleyway, only for nothing to happen afterward. It was the anticipation, always, where the unease lay, and never the bang of that gun.

So it was that Mira was desperately looking for an opportunity to start a conversation to at least have something to break the chocking atmosphere, but she found that her current guardians displayed no such desire. Kronos and Gan had both been part of brutal training regimes that had served to pull most of their fear out of them, and longstanding phobias were among the first things tackled. But even from them, there was something primal in the darkness and mystery, even if they could see far better than Mira could.

Kronos therefore decided to occupy himself while also keeping Mira from having a mental breakdown under not only her instinctual fear, but also other stresses that had accumulated and were amplified by it.

"Mira."

It would've been impossible for any normal human to see, but Kronos noticed how she jumped a little by the sound of his voice. "Yeah?"

"If you desire to speak, you may do so."

"Oh..." she seemed caught off guard. "Well, it's just that...it's nothing."

"No, do go ahead. We have nought more important to attend to right now anyway. Unless Gan has any objections?"

Gan gave a stern shaking of his head. Kronos would like to believe he did not appreciate the cold, dead silence either. Well, not entirely.

"Well, I've just been thinking," Mira strode forward a bit faster towards the two, nearly bumping into Gan, in an effort to properly converse with them. "They ambushed us right? How could they know we were coming?"

"Satellite surveillance, camouflaged scouts," Kronos began to notice the floor was getting wet, likely a more substantial leak. "There are many ways."

"Yeah, but still, don't you think it was a little convenient that they so happened to have troops stationed at the exact same location we were going to first? Almost as if they knew our plan in advance?"

"They could've quite simply stationed troops near every strategic asset and waited for their opportunity. The Traitor Legions are nothing if not numerous."

"Not as numerous as you might think, Custodian," Gan, once again, displayed his skill in joining a conversation out of the blue, despite his quiet demeanor. "I agree with the child. Something reeks in here. And to be quite honest, I am still puzzled on how our first target turned out to be a dud."

"Perhaps the information you acquired was somehow corrupted?" Kronos could've suggested his other consideration of their scouting force simply being incompetent, but he highly doubted that himself, especially with the information likely going through several layers of rechecking and analysis.

"Preposterous. We had input directly from the Sorsan 8th through 22nd Imperial Guard regiments. They had personally ceased their warmaking along the Segmentum Solar to partake in the liberation of their homeworld. If there was any force that would posses and ensure said information correctly, it is them."

"Then...what makes you sure they're not helping the traitors by leading you to a diversion?" Gan was about to retort, but Mira continued. "Think about it: from what you've told us, the cultist nutbags had been working towards taking over Sors for some time now. Ya really think they'd do that without first dipping their sticky fingers on the Imperial Tithe as well?"

Kronos and Gan were both surprised by the child's reasoning ability, but the more they considered it, the more logical it started to sound.

"Emperor's Throne...you may be right, child."

"All the more reason to hurry our advance then. We must rendezvous with the Sergeant and inform the liberation fleet of this potential treachery," that said, there was one minuscule detail which nagged at his mind. "Mira, how do you know of the Imperial Tithe? If I am not mistaken, it is not exactly something which is spoken off by most of the population of any given planet, especially among it's children."

"Well Sors isn't...wasn't a shithole full of ignorant idiots...for the most part," he could tell he had tapped into another potentially sensitive subject, but this time Mira did not seem particularly affected. "Still, explaining to a 10 year old how they can be whisked away to fight and die on some forgotten hellhole the second they reach the right age? Not fun."

"That is...quite depressingly appropriate, unfortunately," was that a hint of regret he could detect in Gan's voice?

"Meh, I consider it sort of a blessing in disguise. Without that basic training I wouldn't be here right now. Hell, most people who went through it aren't here anyway. Still, it did turn a good portion of the population into hardass motherfuckers. Well, that or the global desert."

A beat passed without Kronos knowing how to respond to that statement, only for Gan to do it for him.

"I can see now why an Astartes Chapter would choose your world as a recruitment headquarters."

"Mhm. Also, might wanna get that comm link ready, cause I think we're finally near the end of this God-Emperor forsaken tunnel."

Kronos was confused by that choice of wording and expression. Was this planet one claimed by Lorgar that had remained loyal? Well, "loyal" was moot at this moment, given the current situation they were in. Nonetheless, Mira seemed to be correct. The light levels from the presumed end of the tunnel they were heading towards began to increase in luminosity, signaling their final escape.

But as they approached the gradually increasing light, finally setting eyes upon the actual exit, a large shadow made itself evident. Kronos and Gan both had an almost assured idea of what it was, but the dangerously close Bolt shell that careened toward them and the shout confirmed it.

"Loyalist dogs!"

Both of their brains entered combat mode. Gan immediately threw himself to the walls, taking Mira with him, being closest to her. But Kronos needed not worry over such poultry weaponry, his armor deflecting the shots, as it was barely even scratched. But he would nonetheless have to take care of this traitor, as he drew out his Guardian Spear, engaging his own Bolt Caster.

Littered with holes, the Traitor Astartes stumbled forward, but he did not yield. Gan then decided to finish what his small burst could not, hauling his massive Lascannon from his back and taking a shot, a laser the size of a juvenile tree's trunk bursting forth from it and ionizing the air around it, going straight through the traitor's chest. A massive hole, at least the size of his head, was splayed across said chest, the light of the outside world visible clearly through it, as the skin and armor sizzled still. The Marine stumbled. He took one step. Then another.

He fell over, obviously dead. Kronos and Gan nonetheless rushed to the body. Gan once again took the initiative by putting a Bolt shell through the traitor's head.

"Not quite beheading. But it will do."

Mira joined them. not a second later, obviously a bit shocked by the experience of being pulled as subsonic speeds. She seemed unnerved, but more so at the Marine himself than the carnage. Perhaps she had simply gotten used to it. What followed however, was definitely not expected, as she spat on the corpse. Both he and Gan shot her inquiring looks, only for her to return with an ironclad visage.

"Fucker ruined my home. He deserved that. And everything that happened to him."

Kronos knew it was only natural for her to harbor such hatred, especially after all that had happened to her, but it still seemed...dreadfully unnatural for a young teen to possess such malice in their hearts. He supposed that was just a byproduct of war, one most hated even among a force such as his, which existed only to wage war against the enemies of their liege: the ability of war to fundamentally change and, specifically, break a person.

Gan, on the other hand, while not amused, was certainly impressed. Kneeling down to the girl's level, Gan disregarded the curious look Kronos gave him and the confused form of the girl's face, as he removed his Bolt Pistol from his belt and extended his arm forwards.

"Take it."

Kronos was shocked beyond words. Mira, while clearly not so, was going through a similar bout of bewilderment.

"W-why?"

"Because, with your actions so far you have clearly demonstrated far above average skill and bravery. You are no good to us with measly shotgun, but with this, you can truly aid us in battle."

"Gan, I will have to intervene. She is a very capable warrior, yes, but she is not ready for Astartes-grade equipment."

"Y-yeah, I'll have to go with Kronos on this one," the girl was obviously excited far more than she wanted to let on. Her simply using his real name was just a dead ringer. "Aren't these things supposed to be able to rip a normal human's arm off by sheer recoil?"

"That is simply myth. And as to rebut you, Custodian, I ask you to look back to less than an hour ago, when this girl proved her worth by not merely standing her ground where most Imperial soldiers would've been whimpering in fear at the sight of Chaos Marines, but also actively fired back on them without hesitation. For her bravery, and for her ability, she more than deserves at least a supporting role, if not simply a way to defend herself, should conflict inevitably strike again."

Kronos would like to argue further, but...he supposed Gan had a point. He had seen that Mira was not to be underestimated as a shooter, and she clearly had some military and survivalist experience. Perhaps, it could even work out as a benefit for them? He sighed internally as he replied.

"Very well, I suppose you make a fine enough point, Gan. But, she will return the minute we come into contact with your squad again," assuming any of them are still alive. Kronos did not like having that thought, but it was always a possibility. "Until then, she can provide cover fire, but only under protection. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yessi-Hell yes Sir!" Mira went from shaking in her boots to an extremely wide smile immediately. Gan, meanwhile, turned over the dead traitor's body only to recover his Bolter. Soon after, he pocketed the ammunition as well. When Kronos looked ready to ask him about, he once again jumped ahead of his thoughts.

"My Lascannon is my weapon of choice, but only a fool enters battle without a backup, especially with said weapon's slow reload and extremely limited ammo," he dusted off the clearly ancient design. "Quite old, but still functional. Untouched by corruption, surprisingly enough. Must be newly reclaimed. It should do the trick."

"Then why not give Mira it instead of your modern Bolt Pistol?"

"Because, Custodian, this might very well be too much for a regular human to use with any effect. The Bolt Pistol is an ostensibly powerful rifle, for all intents and purposes by comparison," he holstered the weapon, heading at last through the tunnel and into the blinding light of the above world, with Kronos and Mira in tow. But said blinding light quickly became far less so, as they noticed that the planet's sun was in the process of setting. "We must make haste now. Baghatur Ganbaatar has already set up numerous points of converging across the city for such an occasion."

"How will we know which one he had chosen?"

"He will have left behind some sign. Some signal. One which I can and will decrypt, while the traitors cannot."

"Then we must hurry, for that Marine could've had a Vox-comm link with the others. They could be moving to our location as we speak," Kronos would've fallen silent again at seeing Gan nod, only for something to be reminded to him by their rather cheery companion. "And please, do teach Mira to handle that thing in the meanwhile."

"Right now? On the move?"

"Considering there is a very real chance she threatens to blow herself up at any moment, yes."

"Oh, c'mon, I was taught the basics on Bolter technology," Mira seemed almost insulted by him, but that quickly changed to a large grin once more. "I've never held one though. This is so cool."

Kronos sighed, giving Gan a look in the process, as he set about the task given to him by the Custodian.

Author's notes: Fucking finally! This chapter just would not stop being written, and this is still shorter than it was intended to be. I'm mostly ending it here so I can fulfill the weekly schedule that I am so intensely fucking set on maintaining, even though I admitted it was a general guideline at best.

Meh, guess I'm just obsessive. Otherwise, not a lot to say about this one except I'm glad it's done. As you can see, Gan is starting to be a bit more like an actual human, what with the whole talking and having actual emotions thing (not that the White Scars were ever know for being anywhere close to the more...robotic Chapters, but still). Also, notice the bit of actual Mongolian honorific in there? Did I do a right?

I hope this chapter was a bit more packing in terms for more action-oriented readers. I hope I can do more of it eventually, but as it is, the story is still unfolding right now.

As always, I am not knowledgeable on everything on Warhamm...okay, like, nevermind this anymore. I literally do research for every single chapter, so if I have any problems just point them out anyway, but until then yeah, I guess I am extremely knowledgeable on Warhammer 40k. Also, reviews are always appreciated and welcomed, but you should know that by now.

Anyway, this is your resident tired insomniac going to bed.