Lexus stopped, leaning against a wall to catch his breath; he'd been attacked by a group of creatures. The beasts were a composite made of the bodies of the dead inhabitants of the planet twisted into gruesome shapes only the Chaos gods could have dreamed up. The Marine had been forced to dismember the creatures to get them to stop moving. His scythe was still dripping from the work he'd been doing. The Marine stood up, having rested as much as he needed to after slashing his way through dozens of mutated, Chaos filled monsters.
A low hoot rang out from the alleyway to Lexus' right. A creature same barreling at the Marine, its almost reptilian head looking up at him as it slashed at his armor. It was nearly strong enough to trip him on its own. Lexus swung his scythe, cleaving it in half cleanly, the two parts splitting, each half of the head looking up at him. There was another cry and three more creatures, identical to the first, darted out of the shadows. The Marine drew his pistol, took aim on their legs, and fired.
Stern's helmet registered the sound of a plasma pistol. The Knight hastily scanned the area, frantic to find the fellow Marine, though he thought it unlikely that it would be anything other than a servant of Chaos.
The group was moving swiftly through the ruined city in a hasty formation, toward the source of the Chaos; while they had seen no survivors, neither had they seen any sign of the invading forces. There was only blood and the occasional body.
The Iron Knight stopped in his tracks for a moment when the scan completed. His helmet detected not only another Iron Knight's signal but that of his own brother. A low growl escaped his lips, though it went unheard by the rest of the group as he caught up with them in several long strides.
Lexus had turned to Chaos over a dozen years previously, to Stern's dismay. Though, to the rest of the Imperium, Lexus Sabathon had died that day, Stern had been convinced that he could redeem his brother; he had fought against him and had sensed the slightest hesitation in Lexus' scythe, though Stern had been prepared to end his brother's life. Then, barely five years ago, a report was received that Lexus had been found on a deserted planet by a fellow Knight. According to the Knight, Lexus had deserted Chaos and was requesting a blessing in the name of the Emperor. Though, when Stern and his platoon arrived, they had only found a dead Knight and a deserted ship.
The group was stopped by a gate, beyond which Lexus' signal was resonating. The Professor pulled out his sonic device, unlocking the gate and allowing them to enter. That was when the creature struck.
It only vaguely resembled a human, though at one time it may have; its arms were raised above its head, spikes of bone protruding from the hands. Its mouth was opened unnaturally wide, a guttural roar escaping it as it moved forward far too quickly.
Two shots rang out at once as Stern pulled his bolter and fired. Stern's shot hit the beast squarely in the head while the second ripped its legs from under it.
The Iron Knight turned to see his brother's Chaos armor, patched caringly with pieces of his old Iron Knight armor.
The Professor looked between the two Marines, unsure. "A friend of yours," he asked Stern. The Knight looked at him, the mechanical glowing eyes of his helmet feeling as if they could bore a hole into the Time Lord.
"Once," said Stern, clenching his bolter pistol. "But he betrayed his own. That man is a traitor who must be dealt with." The Knight leveled his weapon with the newcomer.
"This is not the time," said the newcomer, putting his pistol away quickly. "I am not your enemy here, Stern. I have turned my back to the gods of Chaos."
"Wait a moment," said the Professor, looking at the slain monster. "There's a more pressing matter than your little squabble here."
The Time Lord stepped over to the fallen creature, examining it carefully. "Oh no," he muttered. He pulled a thin, delicate looking instrument from his inner coat pocket; scanning the creature quickly with it, his eyes widened in shock. Rosie squatted down beside him.
"What is this thing, Professor," asked the girl, looking worriedly at him.
"What does it look like, Rosie," replied the Time Lord quietly. "It's a Salturan. A Salturan who has been dead for nearly fifteen hours. We just walked in on their extinction event."
Rosie stared at the Professor. "I suppose we can't just leave, can we," she asked, trying vainly to smile. "I mean, this would be a fixed event in history, right? And we can't just skip out on whatever it is we're supposed to do." He nodded at her. Their eyes met and for an instant, the same thought resounded through both of them, 'another world I have to watch burn.'
The Professor stood up, looking between the two Space Marines; Stern seemed as volatile as ever, but said nothing as he watched the Time Lord.
"Whatever this invading force is," he said. "It reanimates dead flesh, though I'm not sure how."
"I can answer that question," said the new Marine. "There are creatures flying around here that infect the corpses the others kill. They have a kind of stinger and they inject something into the head and then the person changes."
The Time Lord crossed his arms, pacing slowly. "An infection," he said. "That would make sense with the readings I got from that one; a psychic mutagen. But something has to be controlling it." He looked at the Marine. "And for that matter, how did you get here? The ancestors of the human race have barely crawled from the sea and yet here you are."
"Right, well, my name is Lexus Sabathon. And I believe that I have seen the thing controlling these creatures. It was a black obelisk. The thing was dropped onto the planet I was hiding on and shortly after, a Warp storm swallowed it and drug me along."
"This is all very fascinating," said Drake, looking at the Professor, his sunglasses discarded. "But we were just attacked by a hostile corpse and I for one don't feel like chatting while the enemy has a chance to regroup." The Time Lord nodded, looking to the rest of the group.
"Be on your guard," he said. "Lexus, how do we stop them?"
The Marine looked around, trying to pick out another target. "Take them apart. Nothing else seems to work on them."
"Would have been better if a shot to the head was the answer," said Rosie, half smiling.
"So," said Drake. "We have to cut them apart?" Lexus nodded. Drake drew his long, curved sword, smirking. "This should be good," he said.
The Professor looked to the witches. "Pi-edi," he said. "Protect Billie and Athena."
"Excuse me," said Athena, hands on her hips. "We don't need a babysitter, right, Billie?" The Hufflepuff nodded quietly. "At the very least, we can do more than you. You don't even have a weapon." The Professor grinned slyly.
"Don't need one," he said.