Lerriksen led the remainder of the squad through the jungle, machete in hand, chopping through brush when necessary. Following him was the Sergeant. And behind the Sergeant followed the boy with the Commissar on his tail, her bolt pistol drawn in anticipation of the necessity to blast the head from his body. The heavy growth made passing difficult for the thickness of life made the entire jungle seem alive. The constant buzz from the innumerable insects and vermin filled the air, broken occasionally by a squawk from a bird that leapt from a branch and flew overhead. Small bipedal reptiles scampered through the undergrowth, almost impossible to follow as their skin rapidly changed color.

But under it all were the distant sounds of gunfire.

"Damn Maxell traitors," grunted Sergeant Milan. "Why in blazes didn't they just pay their tithe?" He paused speaking as his pants leg was caught by briars, then pulled it free and resumed. "Did they think that when the Warp choked off the Pass for a couple of years that the Emperor's Grace didn't apply to them anymore?"

"I don't know and I don't care. Burn all the traitors," Valkina said. She pushed the boy in the back. "Still, I bet they wouldn't hesitate to hand over their levy of psykers if the League of Black Ships showed up at their door."

"I'm not so sure," answered the Sergeant. "Their Commander was crazy enough to leave the Maxell system and jump to this Emperor forsaken world. And we were crazy enough to follow them here." He glanced back at the Commissar. "I also heard a rumour that they had an unsanctioned psyker in their ranks."

"Rumours can be dangerous, Sergeant Milan," Valkina snapped. "Watch your words carefully."

The boy ignored the conversation he was walking in the middle of, his eyes focused on Lerriksen. The Guardsman had stopped and was looking around. He raised his arm toward those trailing him and signaled them to stop with his hand. The insects had quieted and the little lizards were nowhere to be seen. The only sounds were of the distant gunfire and explosions.

The boy felt the Commissar's bolt pistol push against the back of his helmet. "Keep moving," Valkina snapped.

Suddenly, Valkina's body crashed into his, tumbling him forward and onto his stomach as the over-sized helmet fell off his head. Despite his tumble, the boy's hand never released the Wyrdvane Staff. The Commissar landed on top of him but the weight on his back was not hers alone. A snarl filled the air and Valkina cried into the boy's ear as blood spattered onto the ground in a halo around his head.

His eyes focused on Sergeant Milan in front of him.

A great bipedal reptile, similar to the smaller ones which had been scampering through the underbrush, was mounted on top of the Sergeant's chest. Its jaws snapped at his face. A face he saved by sacrificing his arm. The reptile locked onto his arm and, like lightning, brought up its hind legs and proceeded to rake his belly apart. With but a thought, the boy reached out to the Warp and snatched hold of it.

Thought led to action.

Valkina and the reptile on top of her were cast off his back and into a tree. Cast off by the Warp answering his command. The boy climbed to his feet, still holding his staff. While he did so, another thought passed through his mind, and the reptile raking Sergeant Milan's guts caught fire and shrieked in agony.

He glanced over his shoulder.

Commissar Valkina was lying on her stomach, half-curled into a ball with her face turned toward him and vacant eyes staring at his, a fact made possible by her broken neck. The reptile which had crashed into a tree beside her was climbing to its feet. With another thought, it caught fire and turned to ash.

The boy whipped back around.

Sergeant Milan was lying motionless with his guts strung out. Sarge's dead. The reptile which had been on top of the Sergeant was still afire and stumbling away. It's good as dead, the boy quickly decided as his eyes darted past to where Lerriksen had stopped. A third reptile was lying on its stomach with a pool of blood forming beneath it. Beside the reptile, Lerriksen was sitting on the ground and leaning his back into a tree, bloody machete still in his hand. His gut was split by a single long vertical claw trail.

The Guardsman turned his head, blue eyed gaze momentarily locking with the boy's eyes.

The boy ran over to Lerriksen and squatted down. "I don't know how to heal you," the boy said, remembering that of the whole squad, Lerriksen had come the closest to saying a nice word or two to him.

The Guardsman coughed and spat out some blood. "The mission boy," he hoarsely whispered then raised his arm up and placed his hand upon the boy's shoulder. He pulled his hand off and pointed in the distance to the Commissar's corpse. "You're the only one left." His eyes closed.

The boy stared at Lerriksen for a moment, then glanced down to the ground and saw the Guardsman's lasrifle. He picked it up and placed it in Lerriksen's hands. The Guardsman opened his eyes for a moment as he took hold of the lasrifle, then closed them again.

The boy ran over to the Commissar's body.

The back and sides of her neck were torn out in addition to her spine having been snapped at the base of her neck. He quickly flipped her onto her back, a motion only partly followed by her head. He reached down and unbuttoned her greatcoat, then quickly noticed the inside pocket and reached into it, pulling out a leather-bound journal held closed by a single snap button. He quickly grabbed her combat knife and bolt pistol, then removed her ammo pouch and snapped it onto his belt.

After doing so, the boy unsnapped the journal and opened it.

He stared at a jumble of symbols and letters he didn't recognize. After a moment, the boy turned through the pages until he found the last encrypted messages. As he stared at them, the symbols and letters changed, rearranging themselves. What the? Finally, they stopped moving, leaving a message he could read.

Bring the Wyrdvane Psyker squad to the following coordinates

07.3321440, -13.6828791

Inquisitor Matthias

Who or what is an Inquisitor? the boy asked himself as he pulled the combat knife from its pouch, then stared at the position tracker mounted on the butt of its handle. Looks like something is in orbit giving this thing data, he realized. The site isn't even a kilometre away. He quickly replaced the knife into its pouch and ran back to Lerriksen, stooping to pick up his over-sized helmet on the way.

"I'm here," he said as he squatted beside Lerriksen. The Guardsman opened his eyes and looked at the boy. "The site is nearby." He calmly looked into Lerriksen's eyes. "I'll complete the mission and bring help back."

Lerriksen struggled to hold the lasrifle more firmly for a moment, then said, "Go now." The Guardsman closed his eyes.

The boy pulled out the Commissar's combat knife and looked at its position tracker. He ran off into the jungle with combat knife in one hand and Wyrdvane Staff in the other.

No sooner than he began racing through the jungle, did the sounds of a firefight erupt nearby. Projectile weapons. The thought passed through his head as he recognized the retorts. Must be the Maxell PDF. But who are they fighting? I don't think we have anyone out here. Whoever it is I'm meeting? He paused for a moment to consider his options. I got a feeling I'm needed.

The boy rushed forward and through the jungle without any thought to safety. Briars ripped his pants and flak coat, caught him in the face. He slipped and tumbled forward but the Wyrdvane Staff stopped his fall and his feet kept moving.

And then the jungle opened, revealing a complex scene that instantly seared itself into the boy's mind, freezing him into place.