Wow guys. We reached 100 favorites this week. I'm honored. Truly, I am. In my world, time is the currency of life. That you are willing to spend the precious commodity on my work is… well… Emperor bless you all.

I have to say as usual, thank you for your comments! I appreciated all the words. I mean all of them. (Looking at you Nox, you had excellent comments. Thank you. :P)

Enjoy! Watch out for POV switches, there are a few here.

Ruby pressed her fingers on the ground with her feet set firmly against the crumbling city streets beneath her, a runner's stance if ever there was one. Cade and Lovelock stood nearby, sheltered within their portal to salvation, an abandoned home that would lead them from the alleyway turned kill zone. They each stood with fingers on their lasgun triggers, ready to cover her. The sides of their faces still sported the crimson stains from the sonic torture they had endured.

"Ready, Skirts?" Shouted Cade over the incessant hiss and crack of small arms fire. Ruby nodded, focusing only on her objective before her, the most important person she had in this world. Merith.

They, Ruby and her fellow squadmates, had been moving down the street hopping from cover to cover. The would only pause to fire back to protect the others behind them. Merith had been the last to run from a small store they were taking cover in.

She hadn't made it.

In the street she lay, a small pile of rubble was all that stood between her and the cataract of weapons fire. Her helmet lay several meters away, knocked from her head and still bearing the scar of the bullet that should have killed her. Merith was pressed up against the rubble, her hands gripping the top of her head tightly, her blonde hair bearing streaks of fresh blood. Silent tears streamed down her cheeks and she shook with every ricochet that battered against her cover.

Cade waved over to Trunks and Grandy who were on the other side of the street. It was more of a narrow alleyway to be more accurate, barely five meters across. Yet for all the fire pouring towards them it seemed a much greater distance.

Grandy nodded as Cade held up a hand with three fingers extended. With emphasis, he counted down each finger. As the last finger fell, all five Guardsmen moved, four to fire, one to run.

Ruby pressed off the ground, loose rock flinging back under the pressure as she kicked forward. She was now running into the oncoming fire. The world moved in slow motion for her as crimson beams and supersonic slugs crisscrossed in the air. Yet Ruby gave it no thought. A loved one was in trouble. She would brave far worse for them.

Running low to present the smallest target, she sprinted towards Merith. A sudden impact caught Ruby in the shoulder as she closed the distance. She dove bodily to the ground and slipped up next to Merith's side. She paused only to look at her shoulder, her flak vest bearing a new scar where a round had dented the hardened material. Sighing in relief, she promised to thank Cade for making her wear the armour before focusing back on what she was shot for.

Merith had made no movement, her eyes shut tightly and still unaware that Ruby was with her. Ruby, her own body pressed up against the rubble as compactly as possible, gripped Merith's arm tightly. "Merith! Come on, we can't stay here!"

Merith opened her eyes, her blue eyes shimmering in abject terror, then alighting in new found hope at the sight of Ruby at her side. She shook as another round buzzed overhead, but her eyes never left Ruby's. She gripped Ruby's hand tightly, "You came…" She whispered.

Ruby forced a smile and squeezed her hand back. "I'll never leave you Merith. But we have to move. Can you run with me?"

Merith's eyes opened wide in fear and she shook her head. A lasbolt zapped over her head and her nails dug into Ruby's arm painfully as she recoiled. "I… I can't! We'll never make it!"

Ruby gently pulled Merith's hand from her wrist, her nails having left shallow furrows in her skin. "You're coming back with me Merith. Even if I have to carry you! I'm not losing you. Not now. Not ever!" Merith pulled her hand away and put it to her mouth. She began biting on her finger as she looked at the gauntlet Ruby was to take her through.

Ruby couldn't spare any more time. Every second the shallow pile of rubble was being shattered into weaker fragments. She looked back to Cade and the others, they had been pressed back under cover, but lasbolts still zipped from the shadows where Ruby couldn't see. "Cade!" She shouted, her voice swallowed by the cacophony around them. "Cade!" She shouted again. A gloved hand jutting out briefly to show a simple Cadian sign. Fifteen.

Ruby could only assume he meant fifteen seconds. She thought quickly, unsure of how she would make it back with Merith in tow. A bullet cracked by her hand and she pulled it in to her chest, her hand rubbing against a brace of objects on her hip as it passed over it. Her put her hand back to her hip to the objects and smiled. Grenades.

With only seconds left, she pulled both of them free and yanked on the priming pins. She held tightly onto the charging handles and counted backwards, hoping she was on time with Cade. At three seconds left, she threw the grenades blindly over the cover as hard as she could, charging handles pinging against the street. Panicked voices were heard. Shouts of warning.

Three.

Two.

One.

She grabbed Merith's wrist just as the explosives detonated. The fire around them lessened just as their friends stepped out once more, lasfire pouring overhead. Ruby scrabbled to her feet, dragging Merith behind her, and ran. They could only trust in their comrades, luck, and the Emperor, to see them safe.

Sprinting the endlessly short distance, they hurdled over the small collapsed wall to join Cade and Lovelock. Merith collided directly with Lovelock who caught her safely in his arms. Ruby dove headfirst, landing solidly on the ground where the wind was knocked from her body. Grandy and Trunks ran over to them from their side of the alley, barely avoiding stepping on Ruby in their haste.

Ruby was pulled to her feet roughly and tugged behind better cover by Cade. He looked pointedly at the dent in her shoulder plate before he met her eyes. "Are you okay?"

Ruby nodded, still trying to take deep breaths. Cade nodded and grabbed her lasgun where she had left it and pressed it to her chest. She took it from him, a short cough spasming from her as she finally recovered.

She followed Cade to the door to the home. They stacked up against the wall as Cade kicked the metal door inwards. Ruby dove inside with Grandy just behind her, their lasguns raised in readiness. It was dark and cool within, secluded from the heat of the sun. They entered a dining area large enough for their squad to spread out with some comfort. A closed door led to an unknown room whilst a staircase ascended to a floor above. Shadows seemed malignant as they made their way through. The others, Lovelock and Trunks, fired one more salvo down the alley before pulling back to join them within and slamming the door shut behind them. Furniture was moved to press up against the door to create temporary barricade against pursuit.

They swept through the building, an empty skeleton where once was a warm home. Ruby paused only momentarily as a picture caught her eye. It was of a family; a father, mother, and four children. She sighed, shoulders slumping as she passed by. She brought her lasgun up to her shoulder, a little less determined than before.

It didn't take long to sweep through to a hallway housing the front door would lead them to the main thoroughfare. Lovelock opened the door slightly and peeked outside. Relief was evident on his face as he pulled open the door the rest of the way, allowing the blue sunlight to warm the empty home. As the door opened they found their goal. There, rumbling softly, was the Holy Intent. It had been so close the entire time, but it might have well been the gulf of the void betwixt them.

The plaza was a temporary safe haven. A square open area with large roads leading to and from the main highway to the inner city and the Ildra Gate. Ever since the outer gate fell, they had been fighting their way back here to this final chokepoint. Here they dug in, buying time for anyone that had fallen behind to rejoin their comrades before the final retreat to Ildra Gate.

It hadn't been easy to make it here. Outnumbered and outgunned, the several companies that had been at the fallen gate had retreated slowly and stubbornly. The Leman Russ had slowly backed away, guns blazing while guardsmen followed behind. They forced the traitors to pay a bloody toll for every meter they took. The streets had run red with the blood of fallen foes.

Sadly, it wasn't so one sided. Many guardsmen had fallen and nearly all the Chimeras had been lost or destroyed. The thin armour on the vehicles had failed to protect the vehicles and only a few remained. These last few Chimeras idled, wounded Guardsmen being carried within as makeshift hospitals. Already a duo of Chimeras were revving forwards up the highway, carrying their wounded cargo to safety.

Now the Guardsmen bought time. Other Guardsmen stood in various points in the plaza, their weapons tracking for any signs of movement. Lasbolts could be seen arcing from other alleyways. This plaza was the only way to the main highway that led directly to the inner gate. They were holding it as long as they could while Guardsmen and PDF troopers trickled in, bleeding and faint, their faces grim symbols of determination.

It was into this security that Cade led his small squad. Each of them finding a moment to breathe before they would undoubtedly be thrust back into the fray. Ruby pulled Merith away and sat her down. The blonde woman was shaking, her head held tightly between her hands. Ruby knelt before the distraught woman and took her hand in her own. Her quiet voice whispering words of comfort.

Cade left them and walked up the Holy Intent where Hicks was frantically working with another crewmember on the Leman Russ. The rugged tank was scarred and blackened from the incessent pounding it had endured. The port bolter housing had been destroyed, the metal torn and gaping with jagged edges jutting inwards. Hicks was now holding a sheet of metal over top while the crewman welded it onto the frame.

"Hicks, we lost the alleyway."

Hicks didn't move other than to turn his head slightly. "Damnit, I need more time. The Intent isn't ready yet." An explosion tore through a building twenty meters away, with a rising rumble the building began to collapse. Guardsmen began running from the building's shadow as it crashed to the earth. One guardsman wasn't fast enough, his scream cut short as metric tons of metal and stone collapsed atop of him.

Cade began flipping his longlas' scope cap on and off, a sure sign of his nervousness. He couldn't help but picture his little squad meeting their own end. Even losing one of them… He flipped his scope's cap faster. "We can't stay here. You know we can't hold forever."

"We can't move now!" Shouted Hicks, the crewman cried out at him as the metal shifted as he welded. Hicks inhaled deeply and again held the sheet still. He nodded at the former bolter mount. "We've gotta patch this. It's an open shot right for a magazine cache. Imagine hundreds of bolter shells detonating. Now picture that again, INSIDE MY TANK!" He glared over his shoulder at Cade. "And in case you haven't forgotten Sergeant, since the Captain and the Commissar is missing, I'm in charge here. We hold here until the Intent can move and the wounded are loaded up."

Cade growled, anger and sarcasm bleeding into his voice. "How much time then, Lieutenant?"

"As long as I need."

Cade glanced at his little squad. They were pale, their faces knit in grim defiance as they held their position. They were tired. They all were. The past several hours had been a ceaseless discharge of violence and fear. He sighed, still flipping the cap of his scope. "Fine, we'll give you your bloody time." He turned without waiting for a response, his feet beating an angry tattoo as he returned to his squad.

As he returned, Lovelock approached him. He took a look at Cade's scowl and frowned himself. "Let me guess, we're staying here."

Cade nodded, biting back his discouraging response, waving Lovelock to follow him to the rest of the squad. "Alright listen up." The others turned to him, save for Merith who stared blankly at the pavement. "Let's get this house secured. I want Skirts and Trunks and myself inside with eyes on that back door. Lovelock, you take upstairs.

"And me?" Asked Grandy.

"You are the last option. If we need to retreat, you burn the place down."

Grandy grinned, her fingers dancing eagerly to the flamer at her side. "Gladly."

"Let's move! Get in there before they do!" Cade noticed Ruby hesitantly leave Merith's side, slowly allowing her hands to slip free of Merith's own. She stood and looked back at Cade, her eyes meeting his own. Worry was etched deeply on her face as she stepped inside the darkened building. He followed her within as they made their way back into the dining area.

Cover was sparse. The metal door frames provided the only decent protection, but they wouldn't have time to prepare any more than that. The barricaded door leading to the alleyway was dented, streams of light shown through the edges while the door shook under repeated impacts. Trunks went and pushed over the table, settling himself behind the thin metal sheet while Ruby and Cade took position on opposite sides of the doorframe of the hallway leading out to the plaza. A hallway stretched out behind them, the light of the sun illuminating the dark corridor.

"Cade? Are… Are we gonna be okay?" Ruby's voice was soft. Cade looked over at her. She was down on one knee, her lasgun pressed up against her shoulder, her knuckles white on the frame of her lasgun. She was speaking to him without looking, her gaze focused on the capitulating door before them.

Cade didn't respond. Even he didn't know. He cursed Hicks internally for placing his squad in such danger when the more tactically sound option was to retreat. But Cade was first and foremost a Cadian. He would follow orders. But if he lost any of them; Grandy, Trunks, Lovelock, Ruby… He would be sure that Hicks would pay for it.

Lasbolts sounded from the floor above them and a scream resounded through the door. Cade looked up to the ceiling, Lovelock had already started firing. Then, his booted feet came stampeding back down the stairs, his face was white with panic.

"Get back up there!" Shouted Cade, pointing fixatedly up the stairs.

Lovelock shook his head frantically, "No, no we have to go! They have-"

The door groaned, drawing all eyes to it. With a piercing tearing of solid metal, an armoured fist slammed through the door. It retracted a moment later, only to be replaced as a fully armoured human slammed through the doorway. Their makeshift barricade of furniture scattered as the weakened door was wrenched from its hinges. The intruder stood in the door's place, unmoving and oozing a palpable aura of fear. The armour was purple and blood stained. Spikes and chains chattered across the armour. The helm itself was menacing, the eyes endless abysses of darkness.

"-Traitor Marines." Lovelock finished, his eyes glued to the terror before them.

The Space Marine stared at the guardsmen with an eerie patience its head cocked to the side. Humans poured through the now open doorway and scattered around the armoured bulk. Cade raised his lasgun and fired blindly, if only to distract as the opposing forces fired in the knife-fight range of the kitchen. "Run like hell!" He shouted. Lovelock reached across the doorway and grabbed Ruby who was staring in awe at the armoured giant before them. She didn't resist as he pulled, running down the hallway behind Lovelock as Cade had ordered.

"Trunks!" Cade yelled, still firing blindly. Trunks was still behind his makeshift cover, exposed and in danger. He was unmoving, his face away from Cade. He yelled again, "Trunks! Run!" Trunks seemed to snap to himself. He turned and pushed himself off, running as hard as he could the few meters to the safety of the hallway where Cade stood.

Cade fired blindly as the portly man ran. Praying that Trunks would make it. His prayer died on his lips as he watched autogun rounds slammed into Trunks back and out of his chest and belly. Blood sprayed from his abdomen below his flak vest as the rounds continued through. The trooper fell to the floor and lay still.

"TRUNKS!" Cade shouted as he silently begged Trunks to rise. But he couldn't go out there. His own cover, a thin metal doorway, was punctured and groaning under the return fire. The Traitor Marine still stood there as if daring him to try. "Trunks! I'm sorry!" Cade cried, turning and retreating down the hallway to the safety beyond.

Cade was the last to pass from the dark home into the blazing sunlight. His expression was dark and somber as he yelled to Grandy. "Burn it!" She brought the flamer up, blue pilot light eager to combust the volatile promethium.

"Trunks is still inside!" Shouted Ruby running forward and pressing the flamer down. "Stop!"

Grandy hesitated and looked at Cade.

"He's gone!" Cade yelled, averting his gaze to the door and pulling his lasgun up, if only to give him something else to look at besides Ruby's questioning stare. "He's gone Grandy. Burn it."

Ruby gasped, her hands still upon Grandy's flamer. The disbelief easy to see. She doubted him, as unwilling as Cade to admit that another had fallen to join Bearings. After a few moments she stepped back, still staring at Cade without accusation.

Grandy lifted her flamer, her eyes no longer reflecting morbid pleasure. Her mouth was twisted in a feral snarl as she depressed the trigger. Burning promethium spread forth just as the first of the traitors ran through the door into the plaza. The burning pitch set them ablaze before continuing on through the open doorway behind. The conflagration was searing and the troopers recoiled from the wall of heat and screaming humans.

Cade stepped away from the makeshift funeral. His sudden absence going unnoticed by the Guardsmen who stayed behind.

Grandy continued to pour flame long after the traitors within had fallen silent, their bodies turned to ash. Even after her promethium tank had run dry she continued to squeeze the trigger, willing her empty flamer to continue adding to the pyre.

All round the plaza similar stories of loss were unfolding. As if a tap had been loosened, a flood of conflict had poured upon them. The chokepoints had succumbed to a quagmire of knife-fight range battles. Lasbolts and explosions echoed all around as the defenses threatened to collapse.

Ruby stared blankly at the blazing building, the concept that combat was raging around her all but lost. How could Trunks be gone? The awkward yet lovable man. How many more friends was she going to lose? Celia, Brody, Bearings, she had almost lost Merith, and now Trunks was gone? Who was next? Would any of them make it out alive? Ruby didn't think she could bear to lose another friend.

She was scared. Scared of being left alone in a world so dark.

A hand gently gripped her shoulder, pulling her from both her location and her thoughts. Lovelock walked by her side, his eyes were wet and his dirt stained cheeks were partially cleansed by tears. "Come on Ruby, you know better than to stand in the open like that."

Ruby nodded and reached up to grip Lovelock's hand on her shoulder with her own. She squeezed his hand tightly as she and Lovelock settled behind a stone wall where stray shots would be unlikely to hit them. Lovelock took a moment and pulled Ruby close and hugged her shoulders tightly. Ruby smiled in gratitude at him, the friendly gesture reminding her that she wasn't alone.

Lovelock poked his head out from behind the wall and watched the remaining buildings, aware for any more breaches into the courtyard. The burning and charred home stood in the middle of a line of homes and shops. Each building stood over two stories. While not all held a ground level door to the plaza, each was still a potential breach. So, they waited, eyes searching for any signs of a breach, any signs of the purple armoured monster.

Ruby's eyes were pulled to the sights of other Guardsmen as they battled. "Shouldn't we go help them?" Ruby asked.

Lovelock shook his head. "No, if someone got through on this side and we weren't here, we wouldn't know until it was too late. Just pray no one comes at all."

The only one to come was Cade, running doubled over towards their position. He rounded the cover and slid in beside them, his face red and his lips pressed in a thin line. "We're getting out of here. I told them about the Traitor Marine and Hicks was much more agreeable. Bastard."

"How?" Asked Lovelock.

Cade pointed to the highway that led to the inner gate. "The only way we can. We have to go over the highway."

"Huh, figures." Grandy scoffed. "And get shot at the entire time. It's a kill zone up there. No Commissar and we're still gonna get shot in the back."

Cade nodded, "Highway to to the Warp more like, but it's all we got." The revving of engines reached them and Cade raised his head over the wall before dropping back down, his voice dropping almost conspiratorially. "Listen. I'm not losing anyone else today. We're going now while we're clear. Let's get to the bridge and better cover so we can support everyone else and not get shot." He nodded to Ruby, "Skirts, you're on point. Grandy, you keep Merith close. I don't think she's all there right now."

He poked his head over the wall once more, "Ready?... Go!"

Ruby vaulted the wall and began running, the others not far behind. The plaza was about fifty meters across with the highway resting in the middle of the northern end. A statue had fallen from the bridge at some point during the siege of the city and it now stretched across the right side of the bridge entry. The stone figure was shattered yet more than capable of serving as a barrier between them and hostile fire. They made it to the protection. Each ducking quickly behind the statue before setting their firearms against the stone.

As they braced themselves, the last of the Chimeras rolled past. Carrying all the wounded they could to safety. The little squad looked longingly at the armoured safety. They would have to make their way on foot several kilometers to the gate. They could only hope that the Chimeras would make a return trip.

A thunderous boom resounded through the plaza. Fire blossomed at one of the entrances where the Guardsmen had fallen back. Their tank support, the Holy Intent, no longer idled. It's cannon now smoked with the heat of recent discharge. The self-same Leman Russ now began slowly rolling backwards towards the bridge, its remaining two bolters settling into a consistent chug of outgoing fire. The main cannon fired once more and a column of advancing traitors vanished in a storm of shrapnel and fire.

Other Guardsmen began retreating back from their positions. Shouts and screams were heard along with spraying blood as several were shot in the back as they ran. Their comrades stopped to pick them up, pulling them to their feet or over their own shoulders, refusing to leave their brothers and sisters behind.

Finally, Ruby could see enemies as they pressed through the breaches to pursue the retreating Guardsmen. This time, she didn't hesitate. Her silver eyes narrowed as they fired on the retreating Guardsmen. They had taken a friend from her.

Let them try to take another.

She pulled her lasgun up and fired, clipping a man in the shoulder. He fell behind a slab of cover and out of sight.

She quickly reacquired another target, tracking him as he sprinted perpendicular to her. She fired and he fell to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and began limping. She fired again. Once more he fell. He didn't get back up.

Guardsmen were streaming past. Several stopped by the squad's side behind the statue, adding their own fire to the defense. But slowly, the traitors were filling the plaza, taking effective cover and returning fire. Ruby was forced to duck her head as a round shattered against the stone before her. Shrapnel threatened to cut through her cheek but was held in check by her Aura. A Guardsman next to her wasn't as fortunate. He fell back screaming with a hole where his eye once rested.

Forcing down the bile that rose at the mindless violence, she rose once more to fire. She saw ahead one of the buildings, the windows filled with foes that fired from the vantage point they had. The Holy Intent fired once more, the high-explosive shell tore through the lower level and part of the building collapsed, taking with it the men within.

The Holy Intent rolled up next to the statue and the external vox crackled to life. "Get behind me. Use the Intent as cover. We're backing out of here."

The Guardsmen didn't need a second telling, they were the last to leave. They sprinted from their cover to hide behind the Leman Russ. The 150 millimeters of armoured hull more than capable of deflecting the small arms fire that stormed around them. Cade and another Guardswoman poked their heads around the hull of the tank, adding their fire to that of the Leman Russ' bolters.

Slowly they crept backwards up the highway. The Leman Russ moving at a walking speed while the Guardsmen behind tried to avoid both being shot or run over. It had already happened once. A ricochet slicing from underneath the tank to hit a Guardsman in the leg. Ruby could still hear his screaming in her mind as the Holy Intent drove over him.

Meter by meter they rumbled away. The return fire was lessening as the traitors had to use the same kill ground the Cadians had deserted to close the distance. Ruby took hope at the thought, they were going to make it.

Then, a hauntingly familiar rumble sent her hope crashing down. Ruby turned to follow the deafening noise to see an armoured figure on a distant building. In his hands was a oblong weapon. An eldritch wave blossomed from the barrel, heading straight for her.

Cade heard the bass rumble. He knew that whatever it was had shattered the gates. There could only be one target for the unknown weapon.

The highway and all the Guardsmen upon it.

He began shouting at all those around him, raising his voice as best he could to be heard over the growing crescendo. "GET BACK! GO GO GO!" They all scattered. Save for one person.

Ruby.

But before Cade could take a step towards her, the bass note released. A shrieking thud grew ever louder as a visible pink contrail tore through the air towards the Holy Intent. Towards Ruby.

The wave collided with the Highway. Ruby was thrown several meters through the air before crashing back to the ground. She tumbled and rolled limply before coming to a stop. She lay there unmoving as cracks began to form beneath her and the Holy Intent. The Holy Intent had stopped, it no longer moved and its guns fell silent.

"RUBY!" Cade shouted, his own voice muted after the sonic assault. He ran forward even as pieces of stone began to crumble from the bridge. The Holy Intent suddenly tipped forward, swallowed by a sudden hole in the highway. The crumbling stonework spread to Ruby and threatened to give way beneath her.

Cade ran towards her limp body before arms gripped him tightly and held him back. "Sir, no!" Shouted Lovelock, pulling Cade back towards safety.

"Let go of me!" Cade shouted, struggling to free himself "Ruby!" But as he watched, the ground gave way and Ruby vanished from sight.

"RUBY!"