He could make out a sly smile through the smoke filling the deck, the figure opposite pacing around the room with his gaze fixed upon him, his large golden staff swinging lightly in well-practiced motions between each hand. Jadden kept his eyes on him, but was desperately trying to work out how long he had before he was blown to pieces, assuming that was what the countdown meant. The timer appeared to only contain 8 symbols in the final two columns, but the first two had markings that were not in showing anywhere else. He couldn't be sure if they were larger numbers, or held completely different meaning.

Sparks burst from a control panel between the two enemies as the floor lurched again. The manta evidently still hadn't completely settled, Mal and Bannerman's sacrifice had clearly done significant damage, and while it had stopped the target escaping it was now complicating his capture greatly. The tension finally broke, Cha'riss dived between a bank of seats thrusting his staff at his foes throat but the alien metal cut only smoke, the agile man ducking beneath the strike, his own weapon aimed at the ethereal's knee. Cha'riss brought the other end of his staff down fluidly to protect himself, the two weapons rang out as they collided. Jadden span around the alien, allowing his blade to slide free, using the momentum to take the weapon into a reverse grip. It was too enclosed here for him to make effective use of his sword, he need the target alive any way so he was not too concerned with moving to a defensive stance, even if he would have preferred to stay on the attack.

The Ethereal turned to face him again, staff held horizontal before him, eyes fixed on his would be abductor. He charged at Jadden, unleashing a flurry of furious blows, each attack met either cold metal or warm air as his attacks failed to inflict any harm. The agent blocked and swerved calmly, reading the man's movements, waiting for his opportunity. He took a quick swing at the Tau's ribs, but too his surprise the rounded pommel of the honour blade struck his temple, the world spinning in the after math. He fell to the floor, having just enough awareness left to roll into the fall and slide away from the follow strike.

Jadden shook his head, cursing as he did so. He touched a finger to his throbbing head, feeling blood dripping down his face. He heard the alien laugh in a low clicking tone, the sound echoed around the inside of the vessel, giving it a sinister edge. He had let the countdown distract him, the warrior priest was getting into his head, and he would end up paying the price if he wasn't careful. He glared up from his crouched position, watching as the golden staff swung lazily in slow circles once more. He was being toyed with, something he was neither used to nor comfortable with.

He took a deep breath, the smoke filled air burnt his throat slightly. He let the air slowly drop out of him, calming himself as the air left his body. The alien charged him again, staff pointed forward ready to skewer him, an alien war cry bursting from thin black-blue lips. He didn't move, letting the last of the air leave his body calmly, watching the enemy approach. At the last moment he blinked, the alien blade bit into the slanted floor of the decking, scratching a deep groove into the floor. The angle of floor cause the blade to slide down, the momentum of his charge swinging the tau around as he fell, sliding into a computer terminal the impact turning the war cry into a yelp of pain. Cha'riss looked around the room in panic, searching for his missing foe. He saw the figure stood were he had begun his charge, the last arcs of energy jumping across his body. He grabbed his blade once more, using it to lift himself upright again, he gave the scar it had caused a brief look of disdain before settling his vision on his opponent.

There was a sudden sound of a buzzer, and all the deck lighting went yellow, the screens displaying the countdown beginning to slowly pulse. Jadden tightened the grip on the blade, Cha'riss took a ready stance his eyes briefly looking to the stair case before focussing on the man stood in his way. Both fighters took another violent swing at each, sparks flying as the blades clashed again, the force of impact staggering them both, the slanted flooring making it difficult to keep balance in the confined space. Jadden recovered first, stepping in for another strike but his blow never landed, the tau had gone with his fall, letting himself slide down, stopping himself against the far wall. Jadden wiped a layer of sweat from his brow, the whole situation was against him, the heat in the manta was becoming unbearable, the smoke made it difficult to see, and the tight space meant he couldn't attack properly, and if he misjudged a blink he could lose a stray limb in a wall or worse kill himself outright. The ethereal however seemed unaffected by the heat, and his narrow fighting style was relatively unaffected, his weapon designed for swift jabs at range, keeping opponents at a distance. And on top of it all, he couldn't shake the thought of the countdown, usually he could focus on the job at hand, but this time that ticking clock burnt at the forefront of his mind. He saw the blue skinned man picking himself up once more and took his chance, leaping at him using slanted floor to his advantage as the fall gave him momentum, he prepared his strike.

Grimes has passed out about 5 minutes ago, Wyn had to lift him across his shoulders, using his mechandrites to maintain pressure on his wounds. Blood still poured from the wound, covering the tech-priest turning him into a gruesome visage of death. Wyn had carried the dying soldier to the edge of the camp, finding himself behind a tau turret. To his surprise the weapons rail guns were firing periodically on distant targets, the Sanguine Dragons forces had finally reached the campsite but there was no sign of any tau fighters fleeing back to the encampment. Coldly he slid his melta from within his soaked robes and unleashed volcanic destruction on the poorly armoured rear of the turret which collapse on itself as its internal systems were vaporized. He gave a quick prayer to the weapon in thanks before continuing his walk from the camp, casually checking that the neighboring turrets were not going to endanger him.

He hacked the marines vox system as he walked, dropping in under the encryption with ease. Sensing the channels as a physical thing, his own link fed in subtly so as not raise alarm, he searched for the commander's signal. Finally he found it, the heavier defenses put up by the transmitters machine spirit cast aside by the talented mechanium student.

'Am I speaking to Librarian Collus?'

'What?' came an angry voice 'Who the hell is on this channel?'

'I am Tech-priest Wynor with the inquisitorial retinue.' He replied 'I apologise for interrupting, but I was wondering if I could procure your assistance.'

'How the hell did you get through to this channel' Collus boomed 'This is an encrypted channel!'

'And I am a pretty talented tech-priest, so if we could focus please. If you look towards the Tau drop site, you will see I am approaching your position.' Wyn stated calmly 'I have a badly injured man, and I understand it is preferable that his wounds be treated as soon as possible. You have medically trained personnel with you, Correct?'

'Very well. I will have a sanguinary priest meet you with a transport. But I want to make one thing clear.' The librarian had a rough tone to his voice now. 'I am not pleased that you have hijacked my vox system.'

'Excellent, see you soon.' Wyn replied impassively.

Craft continued moving towards the north of the camp. His shoulder was burning with pain, but he had managed to ignore it for the most part. The auto pistols he had taken from the infiltration team were light, so it didn't cause him too much pain to wield them whilst injured. He reached the end of the roadway he had been using, a large round dome blocking his path so he turned to the right into a side alley. He let out a surprised grunt when he saw the barrel of a pistol very close to his face, a low, gruff voice came from behind it.

'Gone for a walk Major?' Craft stepped back, turning away and screaming in frustration.

'Aaarrgghh, are you not frakking dead already! I was supposed to escape, join the tau and help destroy the corrupt Imperium.' Craft said with a manic look to the general.

'What are you talking about Craft, you're the only corrupt one I see.'

'Oh you would, you're a part of the problem.' Craft said with a slight laugh 'You're the one who sends thousands of people to die. Well the Greater Good will stop that, I had to pretend for so long, but I never forgot what they had shown me.'

'They really got to you didn't they. How have they turned you so quickly?' Geart was fascinated by the traitor's outburst.

'Quickly? I tried to leave you murderous bastards behind 7 years ago. But a surprise rescue messed things up for me. And they didn't turn me, I saw sense, that's all.' Craft raised his own weapons suddenly. Geart chastised himself for giving the man a chance to speak.

They both stood with guns levelled at each other, unmoving. Craft took a step back, Geart immediately followed, never taking his eyes off him. The major took a step forward again, his rival matched his motion again, unwilling to let the man get too far away, but not prepared to risk getting filled with bullets either by getting too close. The General broke the tension, his pistol kicked as plasma flew from the chamber. His target dived to avoid the shot, spraying fire erratically back at him, forcing him to leap into cover as well.

Both men remained trapped in cover by the others weapons, careful shots from the plasma pistol were answered by short bursts from the rapid firing pistols. Smoking bullet holes peppered the alleyway now, Geart's heart raced as adrenaline flooded him bloodstream, his eyes scanning the most recent set of bullet holes worryingly close to hitting this time. He chanced a look around the corner, seeing the major stood in the alley he ducked back again and waited for the bullets to fly. Nothing happened utter silence. He looked again, Craft was still stood in the alley way, but he wasn't facing him. The veteran jumped from cover, his gun ready to tear the bastard apart.

Craft turned, one weapon aiming at the general once more, the other kept locked on a new figure. The new arrival quickly shifted her lasgun to the General. Her eyes narrowed, she looked almost as surprised as he was.

'What the frak is going on!' said the woman, her voice angry but confused. She switched her aim back to the major.

'Well isn't this nice.' Craft laughed, taking a few steps back, trying to get a clear shot on both his aggressors. 'More Imperial secrets causing trouble.'

'Who are you, lass?' Geart said sternly, not taking his eyes off Craft.

'Frak you is who I am, what is going on. This piece of shit shot up my team and stole my guns!'

'He is a traitor and heretic...'

'I'm a rebel fighting for his freedom!' Craft snapped 'You would never understand. You're just a born killer, General.'

'I do my duty!' He growl, squeezing the trigger of his weapon. The was a hiss crack a fraction of a second before the weapon over heated, hot plasma burst across the alley way, burning its owners arm and face, Josla raised her arms to protect herself, and Craft dived for shelter. The alley was consumed by heat.

The blade sank into the solid metal all the way to the hilt, rivulets of liquid metal running from the damaged panel, electrical energy arced across the surface as the weapon discharged. With a roar of annoyance Jadden yanked the blade free, his target evading him again. His head swam as he stood, must be the smoke fumes he thought to himself. The alien took his chance and leapt in again, a disciplined jab forcing a block, the weapons locking together for a moment as the enemies pushed against each other. Jadden looked deep into the alien eyes, now pushed right up against his. He reacted on instinct, slammed his forehead into the xeno's hate filled face and was rewarded with a scream of pain as the alien recoiled from him. Using the opportunity he charged his body with energy, speeding up to the staggered foe. He grabbed the aliens arm and swung him around, hurling the ethereal at the bank of windows with warp fuelled strength. In the same motion his bolt pistol barked, its shell passing beneath the flying body and shattering the synthetic glass window behind. The blue skinned figure flew through the window, shards of glass cut in to him as he flew. Jadden darted up to the window, a watched him fall from the manta judging his trajectory before he blinked off the deck.

He reappeared beneath his quarry, redirecting his fall so the body rolled across the dusty ground and slid to a stop. Jadden took a deep breath of the clean air, allowing his head to clear before he paced up to the alien leader. He froze at the sound of familiar click whine, a sound which repeated a number of times from all around him. He didn't need to look away from the body of the ethereal to know the sound of pulse rifles charging. He was completely surrounded, and there was no sign of the rest of his team, or the Imperial attackers. He span slowly, taking in everything as he did so, his eyes lingered for a moment on the guard who leg he had ruined earlier, now sat against some crates, another warrior nursing the wound whilst looking on at the standoff. Continuing his turn he counted 14 fire warriors spread around him, all looked ready to fire at a moment's notice. He was completely exposed, he had not expected the square to be guarded so suddenly. What had happened to his team, were they still alive or had the surprise reinforcements cut them down.

His vox bead popped and clicked in his ear as it found a connection, it had evidently got cut off inside the manta. He stood motionless in the circle of would be executioners and waited for his chance. Pistol and sword in hand he couldn't use his vox bead without a motion that would get him shot, but he had to try and call someone back to assist with extracting the target. He had to make sure the ethereal wasn't killed now. A stray shot could end the valuable life and make all the effort he had gone to for nothing. It was at then a deep growl came from the ruined manta, the sound grew to a violent roar as the countdown reached zero and the vehicles engines went critical. The hull shattered as the shockwave smashed it from within, massive chunks of the ships substructure were jettisoned across the drop site.

Jadden ran for Cha'riss, a small number of shots came at him, one catching his shoulder causing a spray of blood to erupt and he collapsed beside his quarry. He rolled to his back, a stared up at burning wreckage headed straight at him and the ethereal. He grabbed the alien and blinked, barely disappearing before they would have been atomised in the thermonuclear explosion.

He hadn't had time to properly aim his jump and had to do it from memory, always a risky undertaking. The two bodies appeared almost six hundred metres away, Jadden had aimed for where he had left the team, and found it but unfortunately almost 4 metres in the air. He fell to the floor, the force of impact threw the air from him and he gasped for breath as the alien landed atop him, incandescent fire flew over the alleyway they had fallen into, taking oxygen from the air at an alarming rate. He gasped for air as the inferno raged around him, through tear streaked eyes he could just see the Ethereal who was struggling to breathe as well. Everything faded as he blacked out.

The ground shook beneath them as they ran, bright white light chasing them down as an inferno enveloped the Tau encampment. Chancing a looked over her shoulder, Alishia was awestruck by the fearsome power of the explosion. None of knew what had caused it, but Grant had offered that it was the aircrafts engines going critical. They hadn't stayed to discuss the matter any further as the nuclear fire came racing towards them, all three began running as one, weaving through the alleyways in an attempt to escape death. They shot past the out defence turrets, 2 of them unleashing angry bursts of fire at the fleeing trio.

They dived into the cover of a small boulder grouping, Grants and Alishia kept their heads down but Bartos chanced a look, just catching sight of the gun turrets being annihilated. Grant grabbed his shoulders and dragged him into cover as the explosion got closer, a few small licks of flame bursting across the boulder, huge shockwaves slammed into the group as they cowered. The roar of superheated air cut through them, their skin flushing red in the heat, all of them wishing for it to end.

Finally after what felt like hours the roar stopped, replaced by the sound of rushing air as the displaced bubble of atmosphere was replaced by cool winds from the plains, it was soothing on Alishia's heat touched skin. She sat up, hair no longer in its tight pony tail, clumps sticking to her flushed sweaty face. Bartos looked across at her, he looked exhausted from the ordeal and his shirt was bathed in sweat. Grant stood, and looked across the blackened remains of the enemy stronghold now utterly demolished, once white buildings were burnt black and brown, the crystalline material the Tau used warped and buckled into unnatural shapes, walls leant over by the blast. The young corporal was utterly bewildered by the devastation before him, the others slowly stood to join him, both groaned as joints complained at the movement after the violent treatment they had just endured.

'That's one big ass explosion' Bartos said, sliding his hand into a pouch, pulling a small metal container out. He produced a small pack of Iho-sticks, he retrieve one, lighting it on a lingering flame atop the rocks in front of him. 'This has really gone to shit hasn't it?'

'Everyone else was in there.' Alishia said weakly 'Grimes, Jadden. They are gone, Wyn and Josla too.'

'What do we do now?' Grant looked at his fellow survivors 'Where do we go?'

'The plan is the same, find allies.' Bartos flat gruffly 'The Marines should be headed over here soon, if we go south we should see them.'

'What about everyone else?' Alishia said desperately 'What do we do about them!'

Bartos took a long drag on the Iho, holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment while he thought of what to say. He let the smoke leave his nostrils before he looked at her.

'Nothing we can do, If they got away from the explosion, they will do the same as us, but most likely they are dead. And unless you got some secret way of bringing 'em back, there ain't nothing we can do, 'cept move on.' He sighed, taking in more smoke as he began walking.

'How can you be so cold!'

'When you have lost as many friends as me, you get used to it. Now let's get moving'.

Alishia went to give a cruel reply, but Grant put a hand on shoulder to stop her. She looked at him, but he just shook his head lightly.

'Leave him, he needs time too.' Said the soldier. 'Let's Go.'