A.N.: Chapter 4! I have to admit, I didn't expect to be writing these as fast as I did. But these have been a load of fun to write, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

Azal gulped as he stood in front of the manufactorum. It wasn't the first time he'd seen the building, but now it took on an almost menacing air. The knowledge that multiple people had disappeared here recently made it appear in a whole new light. He glanced at the six other kids gathered behind him, taking strength in his need to appear confident. He puffed up his chest, let his hand rest on the pommel of his knife and walked forward through the main entrance. The others followed in silence.

The inside of the manufactorum was empty of any people that he could see. There were a few traces of blood however that he could see, dried and plastered against the metallic floor and pillars. His grip grew tighter as he felt a shiver go down his spine.

"I…I don't like this Azal…" Came the trembling voice of Honas.

"Shut up." He snapped back. He didn't need Honas to make him doubt himself. Not now. "We just need to see if there's anything here. Come on." He continued further into the manufactorum, the others following in a loose group.

As they went further, a strange sensation came over him. Like he was being watched. He turned, his eyes flickering all over the open room around him, peering through gaps in the walls to other rooms of the factory and tilting his head upwards to seek any signs of trouble on the various catwalks passing over the heavy machinery of the factory. He let out a shaky breath, turning to take count of the others, only to freeze.

Honas was gone.

"Oh that coward…" He muttered angrily. "Guys! Where the hell is Honas!" They all turned to where the boy had been standing, finding the spot empty. He could see the fear in their eyes, the tension in their bodies as they started imagining the worst case scenario.

Something wet fell on his head. He felt his stomach drop as he slowly raised his fingers to his matty hair, letting them touch the liquid before bringing them down, finding them soaked in red.

He let out a weak whimper as he looked up, barely noticing in his rising panic that the others had already done so and were now running away screaming.

"Oh…" He whispered, his body shaking like a leaf at the sight of Honas hanging by the throat from a long set of claws. The claws were linked to a humanoid arm covered in a silvery chiting like carapace, linked to an utter nightmare of a creature.

It was a xenos, there was no doubt about that. Humanoid, sure, but covered in insect like chitin made of a mat silver material with purplish skin underneath, two glowing yellow eyes and strange white hair. It must have been a good two metres in height, towering over even the tallest of the children, and was surprisingly lean for how strong it must have been to hold Honas' body so effortlessly. Her mouth was open in a vicious grin, many sharp teeth gleaming in the light of the few rays from the great lights connected to the roof of the undercity. There were many more subtle things which distinguished the thing from humanity; its clawed feet, the way her skin seemed made more out of leather than the thin skin of a human. Its face was the most human part of its body, and had it not been for the shape of her pupils, colour of her skin and excess of teeth, she could have easily passed as human.

And yet, when its eyes locked with his, there was an undeniably human intelligence in them.

It let go of Honas' body, leaping forth with impossible speed as she went from hanging from the roof to pouncing on the back of the second furthest child, killing it instantly as the weight of its body combined with its speed crumbled the fragile kid's starving body. He felt numb as he watched the other kids scream in horror, scrambling away from the creature. In an almost lazy manner, he saw it reach out with speed beyond that of any normal human and pluck Tiona's head straight from her shoulders, lashing out in a seemingly gentle kick that nonetheless shattered another one of his friends spine. He fell on the ground, crying out in pain but unable to move his legs, blood and bone fragments mixing in a pool under him. Azal's eyes were locked on the now decapitated head of Tiona, her body collapsing to the ground with the barest of twitches still running through the corpse. He blinked and another child, who had barely taken his third step away, was being speared through the chest by the things claws, another blink and a fourth was kicked into a wall.

As the last child was torn in half with contemptuous ease, he fell on the ground, his legs giving out under him. His body wouldn't stop shaking as he saw the creature turn its glowing yellow eyes towards him, unable to move as he felt himself rooted to the spot in fear.

"Azal?" The thing spoke with a horrifyingly familiar voice. A voice that sounded exactly the same as it had the last time he had heard it, and made the creature in front of him only more disturbing. He found himself unable to answer as it walked up to him, crouching down to stare him in the eyes. Its face was only inches away from him, and he could smell the blood splattered all over her. "Azal, is that you?"

He must be hearing it wrong. There is no way that thing in front of him could speak in that voice. And yet, his lips parted, and with a choked voice, he asked.

"...Cockroach?" The creature's eyes widened, and it grinned.

"It really is! Oh man, that's such a wonderful coincidence!" It reached out to him, placing a clawed hand in his hand and fluffing his hair, the tip of its claws leaving small cuts and gashes in his scalp that drew blood. He whimpered in pain. "I'd completely forgotten about you, you know. I've been really busy."

"What…what happened to you?" His eyes were riveted on hers. He barely registered the pain radiating from the top of his head as a rivulet of blood ran down his cheek. She continued fluffing his hair, although it was becoming more greased and gross with blood caking it.

"Well…it's a long story. Too long to bother explaining to you. Anyways, what brings you here? I thought you were going to have your initiation. Wait…" She, for he now knew it was a her, leaned forward, him trying to draw back only to find her grip on his head too strong to move. Their noses were almost touching and he almost urinated himself in fear. "Did you come find me for your initiation? How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't…I just… the boss told us to come here…" She tilted her head.

"Really? You didn't know I was here?" She shrugged. "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm sorry but I'm going to cut this short. I think your friends are getting impatient, and I need to make them fall for my trap." He was going to ask what she meant, what friends for the only one left had ran away, what trap was she talking about, but before he could say a word a horrible pain ran from his neck and scalp as she ripped his head clean off his shoulders.

The last thing he saw and heard before the consciousness faded from his brain was her snickering.

"Get it? Cut short, cuz I…I made you shorter!"

Anya sighed as the light left Azal's eyes. Ah well. She wasn't sure what had taken her to make the pun. She hadn't made them since her mother died…since she'd stop feeling like she had any control in this world.

Tearing into Azal and his little gang of bullies had made her realize just how much she'd changed. How much stronger she'd become.

"You missed one." The younger her pointed out, leaning against the entrance of the manufactorum as she pointed to the screaming, running child.

"I thought you were part of my mind. Shouldn't you know why I did that?" The younger her cocked an eyebrow.

"I am an echo. A part of your mind readapted to be better the intermediary between your comprehension and that of the Hive. I am not the whole, and I cannot

know everything." A pause as she let Anya digest that fact. "I can however hazard a guess."

"There's a second group." Anya stated. "Stronger. More numerous. And armed from what I can tell. They'll be more cautious, and be reluctant to enter the factory."

"Ah. And letting that one leave helps that how exactly?"

"I think you already know." Anya said as she leaned forward before bursting into a full sprint.

"One is coming out." The announcement was unnecessary. They could all see the child running out of the factory, a distant point a few hundred metres away. It was hard to tell from this far for those of them that didn't have bionic enhancements, but the woman designated as the scout for their team whistled. "Damn, he is covered in blood. Don't know what happened in there but it must have been bad. Kid looks scared shitless."

"Hm." Gorn grunted, trying to ignore the pang of guilt inside of him. "At least we've confirmed there's something dangerous in there. Contact the boss and tell'em."

"Aye aye." As one of the men behind him pulled out the long range radio, the woman gasped.

"Holy Emperor what the fuck is that?!" The group tensed as they saw a second figure emerge from the factory, running faster than any non augmented human could; catching up to the child in a matter of seconds. A high pitch scream of utter terror rang out as the child turned to face the newly emerged thing, only to find themselves pinned to the ground. Gorn's hands gripped tighter around his weapon, his eyes narrowing as his lips pulled in a snarl.

"Mag, what are we looking at."

"Xenos, mutant, I don't fucking know." She answered in a slightly trembling tone. "But I think we found the cause of trouble, big guy."

"What are they doing?" Another member of Gorn's squad mumbled. They watched as the creature grabbed the still mewling child by the leg, dragging them back as they walked into the factory. Gorn almost fired his gun there and then, but at this range if he missed not only would he have given them away, he might hit the kid. Then again, depending on the creature's intentions, that might be a kinder fate.

"No clue. But we have a target now." Gorn growled. "Come on. Let's move."

"It's a trap." His old friend from the guard mumbled softly. "They want us to follow them in the building." Gorn snorted.

"I can tell. It's pretty amateurish trap wise. But if they're expecting us to fall for it, might as well use that for us." With that, Gorn looked to the environment around the factory. Vast, open ground with little room for cover. "Alright. If they're trying to set a trap, it means they know we're here. I want you guys to deploy yourselves out in a fan formation. We're getting closer."

"What the fuck is a fan formation?" One of the people not from Gorn's usual squad piped up. Gorn sighed. He knew this would be a sticking point. If he had time, he'd run drills and more with them, give them some basic military training. As is, he would have to work with what he had.

"Alright. So, you go there..." The next five minutes were spent making sure people understood where they were supposed to stand and why. These weren't people inexperienced in fighting; Gorn wouldn't have picked them otherwise. They just needed some explanation of what the terms he used were. It wasn't too long until they were marching in formation towards the factory. It wasn't quite the strict marching of his old regiment, but it was something.

They stopped thirty metres or so from the entrance. Guns were trained at the entrance, whilst Gorn kept his eyes on the numerous holes in the walls. There were too many places where something could emerge from. It was an ambush nightmare. All the more reason not to take the bait.

"Asdal." The burned man stood at attention. "This place is big. Too big for us to cover properly. But whatever the fuck that was, it likely wants to draw us further inside. What are the odds of you setting the whole place aflame?" Asdal took a look at the factory.

"Low. Mostly metal and stuff. Anything that could catch fire would be decomposed or looted by now."

"Hm." Gorn had to admit, he was a bit out of his depth here. In the guard he had barely reached the rank of corporal in his regiment, and even then he hadn't seen much front line action. Enough to make him far more combat ready than any of the gangsters among the Angels, but not exactly an expert for any situation.

"Fuck me. Alright, we're going in. Keep an eye out for any movement, and always keep track of other people. We do not want to get picked off in there."

"Let's fry some monster." The others were cocky, excited even for the fight to come. He'd never understood that, but it came in useful in these sorts of situations.

They moved into the factory, carefully looking around. A trail of blood could be seen on the floor, going further into the factory. At the end of it he could see the body of the child, still moving slightly in twitches. A low moaning could be heard from them. None of the people in his squad made any move to help the child, and Gorn had to physically stop himself from going himself. He knew he'd just be playing right into the thing's hands.

"They're near." He said in a low voice. "They wouldn't have left such obvious bait otherwise." He could send one of his men to go check the body and as soon as the creature pounced, the others would fire upon it. Risky for the one, but safe for the squad. But that felt too straight forward, too simple. Why would it expose itself just to kill a single one of them, clearly leaving itself open to fire from the others? It was intelligent enough to know they were there, and intelligent enough to set a trap like this. His eyes glanced about, seeing the corpses of the other children strew in various places. It hadn't tortured them. It hadn't eaten them. It was either killing for the fun of it… or it was smart enough to wait until all threats were dealt with.

Maybe he was just speculating. But he didn't feel comfortable betting his life on it.

Taking a glance upwards, he saw the various catwalks and cranes abandoned behind. So many places one could lay in ambush.

"Gorn?" The woman with the bionic eye asked.

"Freak." He said. The mutant twitched, their head snapping towards him. "Keep an eye up. Same for you Asdal. Von, go check the body."

"Sure about that boss?" Von asked nervously, gripping his autogun tighter.

"Go." The man didn't need further encouragement. Cautiously, he stepped forward with the others trailing their guns up in his direction. Gorn kept his gaze forward, despite the itching feeling on his neck that he was being observed. That thing wasn't the only one who could lay traps, but he had to stay collected for it to work.

As Von leaned towards the body, a slight sound of metallic scraping above him made him snap his head up, right in time to see the creature from earlier leaning towards him, hanging from a catrail with its clawed hands open wide. He only had the time to stare into its all too human eyes before flames engulfed it, Asdal dousing the creature in a powerful dose of promethium. It screeched and jerked back up, managing to avoid most of the attack but still clearly having gotten singed from the smell of burned flesh. This caught the attention of the others, swinging around and wildly firing at the thing right as a grenade from Freak blew up right on them, sending the thing flailing back. It let out a screech of anger, and he could see that it was now sporting severe scorch marks on much of its carapace along with having a solid chunk of it around her left arm blown up. Some of the flesh was missing as well.

It snarled as they shot at it, running back behind a pillar. It was all for naught however, as Freak fired another grenade that forced it out in the open where it could be once again shot at by the various lasguns and autoguns that they sported. Gorn took careful aim with his hotshot, and…

A scream caught his attention, distracting him and making him miss his shot. He looked back only to find Von now fallen to the ground, screaming as some…thing bit at his leg, having torn his ankle clean off. It was some ungodly amalgamation of a carapaced worm and a piranha, and while it was no bigger than a small dog it had the ferocity of a mad starving pit-hound.

The others hadn't noticed yet, one of them getting turned into pulp as the creature threw a large metal object upon them with enough force to instantly bludgeon them to death, only to get blasted by the rest of Gorn's squad for its troubles. It looked injured, burned and wounded, but Gorn was still staring in horror at Von.

For there was not one of the creatures, now that he looked.

There were dozens.

All crawling rapidly out from a staircase at the end of the room, swarming out like some fever dream of his youth. He screamed out a warning, some of the others turning around and swearing as they saw the approaching swarm. Gorn felt the discipline of the Guard snap him back to attention, the moment of shock having passed.

"Asdal! Forget the thing, take care of the swarm!" He pointed to the approaching worms. They had completely covered Von's body by now, tearing into him with razor sharp teeth as the rest of the swarm slithered rapidly towards them. "Fucking fry them!" Asdal did not much more encouragement, running up to Gorn and turning the flamer on, frying a good dozen of the fuckers with a single gout of flame. They screeched and squirmed as they set ablaze, the first few incinerated to ashes outright.

Another squelching sound resounded as a large metallic pillar came crashing on two more of his squad. He whirled around, quickly catching track of where the creature was. It was jumping from catwalk to catwalk, grabbing whatever large heavy thing it could before throwing it at his squad. And whilst Freak was doing a good job knocking it around, it had gotten wise to his weapon and was making all his grenade shots into glancing blows that merely served to throw it without inflicting too much damage. He took aim once more as Asdal opened the valve of his flamer on the swarm a second time, keeping the creatures at bay from the rest of his squad. He looked at the creature for a second, taking in its movement, its speed…and fired. His shot landed clean where the thing was already wounded, melting through its flesh effortlessly. It screamed as a clean hole was created in its left leg, almost severing the member outright. Its eyes flashed yellow as it grit its teeth, glaring at him. His eyes widened. No, not him. Asdal. He saw the moment the man flinched, the moment his hands went up to his head as the pain struck him, as the flamer stopped firing, and in that instant he knew they were doomed.

Without Asdal to keep them at bay, the swarm lunged forward, and while it had lost some of its members to the flames there were still dozens left. They came, scratching and biting, digging into his flesh and swarming the rest of the group. Asdal's scream turned into a gurgle as one of the things tore out his throat, and Gorn in a moment of desperation turned his hotshot to the strongest setting, firing into the mass. He must have killed four with the shot, but it made no difference.

He was swarmed and consumed in seconds.

Anya snarled as she jumped onto the masked annoyance that had almost taken her life with his blasted weapon. He tried to run, but even with one less leg she was faster, jumping on his back and breaking his neck in one swooping motion. She turned to face the remaining foes, but found there was no need.

The worms had slaughtered them all.

"Rippers. Humans call them Rippers." She glanced at her younger self as it spoke, before limping to the nearest corpse, crouching down and watching in fascination as they absolutely tore into the body, eating flesh and bone alike, leaving nothing behind with no care or distinction to what it was they were consuming. She reached a hand out, out of curiosity, but found that the rippers would not touch it, instead gently nudging it out of the way before returning to their feast. Interestingly, they had left a few of the corpses alone.

"It fits them well." She gestured to the bodies. "Why leave those?"

"Those are for you." Anya grinned.

"Aw. You guys are so cute." She walked to the nearest body, the sounds of crunching and swallowing filling the manufactorum. The sound of near silent sobbing caught her attention first however. She looked up to find that the child was still alive. She frowned. They had served their purpose. There was no need to keep them suffering. She wanted to live, not to torment unnecessarily.

"There is no relish in inflicting pain. Only in ensuring it serves a purpose."

"Yes." She walked to the boy, watching as he curled on himself. He wasn't even trying to run away anymore. In a surprisingly tender gesture, she reached out to him, willing him to fade away. His eyes blinked as his consciousness struggled not to pass out. She frowned further. Her mind had managed to hurt the burning brute enough to give him a powerful headache, but it had taken a lot out of her.

Still, it was enough to make the boy not even notice as she brought a hand to his neck and snapped it, ending his suffering.

She quickly got around to eating the fresh body. She was hungry, so hungry. Even more so now that she was injured. She needed to heal.

By the time they had finished consuming the bodies, she had started to heal enough to move around without too much trouble. Not feeling pain was of great aid, as she was sure should she still be human she would still be writing in pain. But her body was still able to walk without difficulty, and so she followed when the rippers started to crawl down back into the lower chamber. She watched in fascination as they jumped back into the pool with Nornie, seeing their bodies disolve almost instantly. Anya cried out in panic at the sight, running to the pool and hanging over it in despair.

"No!" She yelled. "What happened to them?!"

"Their biomass was reclaimed, along with what they have collected." The younger Anya explained. "That is the purpose of the rippers. They collect biomass which is recycled into other organisms and grows the hive's overall biomass." Anya tilted her head, the ache in her heart fading at the words.

"So…they're not really gone?"

"So long as it is consumed by the Hive, none of us are ever really gone. Only repurposed, remade, reformed. Reused."

"I…I'm not sure I understand perfectly…"

"It is alright. You do not need to. Just know that there will be more." The younger Anya's eyes flashed a similar yellow to hers. "Many more."

"Then…what next?" She asked, reaching out to the pond. It did not digest her, and so she dipped into it, slowly wading towards Nornie. The creature was a little larger now, and seemed to be drinking from the pool. She went up to the creature, wrapping her arms around its neck. Nornie quickly returned the hug, a strange almost purring sound coming from her.

"For now, rest and heal. We will spawn organisms better suited to protect the hive." A small smile grew on her face as Anya's consciousness faded, offering little resistance as she let the healing properties of the pool embrace her. "Then…we go consume more."

Alya felt a burning hunger grow inside of her as she fell asleep.

Lord-Governor Owen Faen was the most powerful man on the planet. There was no question about that, no serious challenge to his rule. The last time some upstarts had thought to try something, he had crushed them with the might of the Imperium's army. He was a man that had clawed his way to the highest position available on the entire planet, a position coveted by all in the noble houses that ruled this world. He had schemed, plotted, fought and blown aside any and all opposition. He lived in constant worry that someone would try to overthrow him, constantly vigilant. He'd seen much, dealt with just as much.

It took a lot to intimidate such a man.

The sight of the hundred of transports coming down from the fleet parked in orbit was enough to send cold sweats running down his back.

They had arrived a few hours ago, a dozen of warships from the Imperial Navy serving as the transport to the Adeptus Sororitas' militant arm. The Sisters of Battle. Each of these ships had enough firepower to fight toe to toe with the planets own comparatively paltry navy, and could if they combined their might annihilate the hive he stood at the very summit of in a matter of minutes. They were not the most powerful out there, but the Ecclesiarchy took the transport of their militant arm very seriously indeed. Such a powerful fleet for the amount of sisters brought seemed overkill in Owen's opinion. And yet the sisters themselves were not to be underestimated.

Two thousand of their rank, clad in powered armour only surpassed by that of the mythical Adeptus Astartes and accompanied with the appropriate vehicles, equipment and weaponry for a full scale operation. He did not like what this said of their expectations as to this inspection. He had expected a commandry, two if he was particularly unlucky.

Instead, he found himself with two Preceptories. Twenty commanderies. If they wished to exterminate this world, well. He could probably win this fight, despite everything. Two thousand sororitas did not a planetary invasion force make, and the hive-city he resided in alone had hundreds of millions of souls. Even a sororitas could not win against ten thousand to one odds, regardless of how unarmed and unarmoured the foe may be.

Still, they could do considerable damage. And more importantly…his gaze drifted from the landing transport back to the fleet. This was a message. A message from the Ecclesiarchy.

They were watching carefully. One false step, and they would have a forward force capable of crippling any defenses before the real force arrived.

Emperor damn them all! Was his crushing of the cult not enough proof of his loyalty?! Of his devotion?! But such thoughts were dangerous. And as the first transport landed on the massive open flat ground that made the summit of the tallest spire of the city, he plastered on an amicable smile. The transport's ramp lowered, two dozen sisters of battle descending from it. Celestians, he thought to himself. The distinctive black armor with a white visor for the helmet along with the heavy weaponry they wielded was a dead giveaway. Heavy bolters, heavy flamers, multi-meltas, storm bolters…any of these could reduce him to pulp in an instant. With but a fluttering of the trigger. But his strength had never been in combat.

In the middle of the squad stood two further figures which stood out further from the elite sisters around them. One was, quite obviously, the leader of these troops. Celestian Superior, if he remembered correctly. A commander of sorts for the Celestians. But it was the other he found his gaze locked with. She was not wearing her helmet, and even with the multitude of scars criss crossing her face she held a certain beauty. Her snow white hair was a distinctive sight among the population of his world, a striking feature that stood out even further in the dark armour she wore. Above it were long red robes embroided with much decoration, long parchments of Velcrum covered in holy scripts.

Canoness, his memory supplied. Commanders of the sororitas. Militant leaders. Zealous. Fanatical, even by the standards of their insane order.

Quiet thoughts, he reminded himself, and silently thanked their disdain for psykers. He did not relish the idea of the thoughts he found himself entertaining being laid out for all.

"Canonness." He spoke out, maintaining a friendly smile. "Welcome to our humble world. May the God-Emperor's blessing be upon you. It is an honour to receive His most blessed daughters." He was laying it on a bit thick, perhaps, but better to be safe than sorry.

"Governor." She answered curtly. "No need for formality. We are friends here." She gave him a returning smile, but hers was more formal, and there remained a coldness in her eyes that refused to let him relax. "I am Canoness Preceptor Eliana, and I will be the one in charge of your inspection."

"Ah. I placed myself within your capable hands then, Preceptor." He gestured to the entrance of the building. "Come, you must be wary. Warp travel can be such a drag…"

"Indeed." She nodded. More transports were landing now, sisters of battle of various rank and specialisation deploying in great numbers upon the platform. He had to admit, it made an intimidating sight. "Sisters!"

"HA!" Came the answering, synchronised cry from two thousand voices, making him almost jump. The canoness seemed satisfied, giving a nod to another sister who had walked up to her during their short discussion.

"See that they get accomodated to their quarters. The inspection starts in two hours." Lord Faen's eyes widened.

"Tw…two hours?!"

"What?" She looked at him, cocking an eyebrow. "Surely, if you have nothing to hide there is no issue in getting started with all haste?"

"I…I suppose." He almost licked his lips nervously at the sight of a powerful war engine descending one of the larger transports. It had an almost organ-like instrument at the back of it, though the music it played was that of destruction.

He hoped Isabella had succeeded in her endeavours to keep the Undercity pacified during the inspection.

"What do you mean we lost contact?!" Vaem snarled, grabbing the underling by the collar of his shirt. The man gasped, hesitantly reaching for the hand nearly strangling him but too afraid to actually touch him.

"I…I'm sorry boss, we just…they told us about that thing in the factory, and then we never got an update!"

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" He screamed, half in fury, half in fear. "The sororitas are here! And we're all going to burn if we can't get this shit sorted!" Vaem threw the man back, letting him hit the ground with a pained yelp. "Fuck's sake. What are the odds they are still alive?"

"It's Gorn we're talking about sir." One of the four other people in the room spoke up. "If he was alive, he'd have let us know by now if he could."

"Damnit. Damn it!" Vaem slammed his desk. "Alright, we're running on the assumption they're dead. If they pop back up later, it'll be a nice surprise. For now however, I want you to gather everyone. And I mean everyone."

"Boss?" Another asked cautiously. "You sure about that one? That'll leave us exposed as all hell. We're having trouble controlling everyone what with cracking down on any trouble at the moment."

"Ugh…" Vaem brought a hand to his tired face, rubbing it with anxious franticness. "Fine. We can't pull people back. Alright, how many people do we actually have?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I can scrounge up a good…"

"BOSS!" A woman came barging into the room, her expression terrified. All eyes snapped to her. "There's some bad shit going down in the third district!" Vaem cursed.

"Oh what is it now?!"

"Not sure exactly, I just got a call from some hysteric guy saying something about monsters having emerged from the sewers and attacking people!"

"Probably just some high dude having hallucinations." A man shook his head.

"No." Vaem said. "Some freakish thing is seen killing people, and now this? No way this is a coincidence. Gather the people. We're going there."

"Roger that sir."

Vaem stood in the middle of the central plaza of the third district. The third district was a bit of an unusual one; fairly isolated from the rest, and with a population of only a few hundreds. A rare sight in the painfully overpopulated hive. Then again, the rebellion and famine had done a number on the population.

And yet, of those hundreds of inhabitants, there was no sign. No sound, no one in the streets. No, there was only the signs that something had gone very, very wrong. Doors had been smashed, windows shattered and entire walls collapsed. Blood smears splattered all over the place, although unnervingly enough there were no bodies to be found. Not even a body part.

"Boss..this is freaky as hell, I won't lie."

"Yeah." Vaem nodded. "Search around for any clues as to what the fuck happened. Keep an eye on the sewer grates, if whatever the fuck caused this came from them I don't want us to be caught by surprise."

"Yes boss."

"And stay grouped up! No less than fifteen per group." The seventy Angels he'd picked for the mission started dispersing in large packs, nervously looking around for any indication of what could have happened. Vaem joined the largest of these, his hand slipping into his coat, tapping his personal weapon attached to his belt. He felt an uncomfortable feeling come over him, a strange itching of his scalp that made his neck hair raise. He suddenly felt as if someone was staring at him, and found himself whirling around with his gun out, looking around frantically. But no one was there.

He grit his teeth. Damnit, he was letting it get to him. He couldn't afford to look weak in front of his gang. They might be willing to ignore the power struggles during this time of crisis, but if he survived this they'd tear him apart afterwards.

Pushing the discomfort away, he rejoined the group, taking the lead of the search.

"Should we engage?" The younger her asked. Anya shook her head as she looked away, the light in her eyes dulling as she turned her psychic gaze away from the humans as they started searching the place. She continued marching in the sewers back towards the factory, watching with a gentle smile as two rippers fought over the arm of an infant they'd devoured during the attack.

"No. There's a lot more of them than last time, and they're all armed. Better to use the biomass we got to make more combat organisms and crush them when the advantage is more overwhelming."

"Hm. You are learning. Good." The younger Anya smiled. "So am I, I suppose. Still, we ate well today."

"Hm." Anya nodded, closing her eyes in contentment. She wasn't full; she didn't think it was even possible for her to feel this feeling. But she was…satiated. Satisfied for now. She could eat more, but that gnawing urge that sharpened her every craving was for now absent. "You know, I've been thinking. I could really use some way to attack humans from a distance."

"Agreed. Your lack of range has proven problematic, and whilst throwing heavy stuff at people has worked so far it is not the most reliable means of combat."

"Yeah. Who knows how many heavy rocks there will be when we have to fight more dangerous foes." Anya looked to her.

"You assume that you will continue to fight?"

"Well I mean…yeah? Why not?" Anya tilted her head in curiosity. The sound of wet squelching and chewing intensified as they reached the corpse piles of the sewers. She could see the bodies in the pile move, gaping holes all over them from where her rippers had started to tear into them. Whilst most of the bodies were well rotten by now, the rippers did not care. The diseases and parasites growing in their bodies were no match for the rippers' stomachs, and nothing the Hive could not handle.

The thousands upon thousands of corpses strewn across the sewers were proving an amazing source of easily obtained biomass.

"Well…you are strong now. If you were to fade into the background…merely haunt the sewers and pick off the occasional passerby, you could likely survive. Wasn't this what you wanted? Survive?"

"..." Anya looked at her clawed hand. "...no. That's not enough. Even if I wanted to do that, too many people know. They won't leave me in peace. I know humans, and they won't let a predator live nearby them. Besides…I'm not content just slinking back into obscurity and barely surviving like some goddamn scavenger." Her hands curled, and she felt her claws brush against her carapace. "I am part of the Hive. It saved me when I was at my lowest. And I might not understand much about it… but I know this." Anya's eyes glowed with bright yellow light echoed in the hundreds of eyes now looking at her, captivated by the presence of their progenitor. "The Hive Hungers. And I shall help feed it." The younger Anya was looking at her with an unreadable expression. Then, a proud look came over her face.

"My, but you have grown. You feel it then. The Hunger of the Hive. The Endless desire to Consume."

"Yes." Anya nodded. She had started to feel it. Barely, indistinctly, but she felt that this thing in the back of her mind, this faint static like chattering that was barely perceptible even when she focused…this must be what the younger her called the Network. "But…it doesn't control me. It feels like it could, but it lets me choose."

"You have free will in this matter. Without it, the experiment is worthless." Anya did not question the word experiment. "You are willing to go back on your kind then?"

"My kind beat me, starved me. Threw so many of us down here and let my mother die." Anya snarled. "They are as much of a predator to themselves as we are. But they don't even eat those they destroy. No, they are not my kind. Not anymore."

"...do you know what your kind calls us?" The younger her asked. Anya looked to herself.

"No." She said.

"Think. That feeling at the back of your mind? It holds answers. It will take time to learn to get them, to use them, but this one should be easy to find. Pull at it." Anya did so, and almost immediately felt overwhelm. The weight of a million million minds, not even looking at her, not even noticing her, but just existing was enough to make her nose bleed and her eyes roll back. She only dipped for a second, and it was almost enough to kill her.

She gasped as she was forcefully ejected from the Network.

"Careful. You are not strong enough to lose yourself in it just yet." The younger her walked up to her, bringing a hand up to her cheek. She could almost feel the warm touch against her face. "Now tell me. If you are not human…what are you?"

"I…" Anya rose to her full height. She'd grown taller still, at two metres and a half. "I am…" Rippers crawled out from the pile, surrounding her in a comforting swarm. She saw a few of the new organisms that Nornie had recently started producing look at her from their own feast of corpses. Hormagaunts, the younger her had called them. The size of a man in length, bipedal with two vicious claws for arms. Fast, fearsome melee hunters.

Did she know what she was? Of course she did. It was a core part of her now. But to reject her human past felt petty. It was to refuse the basis of her body, of her genetics. She was human, on some level still. But above all else…

"I…" She raised her fist, her claws scraping against her fist. The creatures around her stood eerily still.

"Am…" Her eyes glowed with power. She could feel them. The connection to them all. Their minds, so much simpler than hers but just as much a part of the greater whole as she was. Tools, yes, expendable even. But not worthless. Not to be wasted, but to be used cautiously. She felt affection for them, but she knew what their purpose was. Just like she knew hers.

"Tyranid." The swarm answered her proclamation by returning to their feast with renewed frenzy. An all consuming hunger came over her, and she found herself leaping into a pile of bodies and joining in the furious devouring of the corpses they'd gathered from the district.

She knew what she was. And she knew what she had to do.

Consume

Evolve.

Grow.

Spread.

And repeat the cycle.

Until there was nothing left but Them.

Light years away, on a ship sailing through a sea of stars, a man awoke with a startled gasp.

"Hm…Ylsen?" A sleepy voice came from next to him. "What is it?"

"I felt something." The eldar male spoke softly. "Something changed in the web of fate." The woman in his bed sighed, grabing him by the arm and pulling him back in.

"Come now. Tell me what you felt."

"I felt…" He gulped. "It was like…a screech of victory."

"Tomorrow we will go see the farseers." She said soothingly. "But for now, we must rest. A few hours will not change destiny."

"I suppose not." He sighed. "Still, I think I will have trouble sleeping tonight. I will go for a walk."

"Very well." She did not insist. She knew better than to dismiss his concerns. "I will await for you here." He gave a soft smile to her before pulling himself out of the covers, walking out of their home into a beautiful forest. The calm and gentle woods brought a sense of comfort to him, and the sight of the tall sentinels that guarded them made him relax a tad. The powerful wraithknights stood a silent guard in the night, patrolling in key points of the craftworld. It was a kind reminder that he was home, he was safe with his kind.

And yet he could not get the image in his mind. The one that had come to torment him in his nightmares.

A human child, white of hair, with a crown of teeth and eyes of glowing yellow.

And that horrid screech, of a billion creatures screeching as one in horrific victory.

"I think…something terrible happened." He said softly. He could only hope that the farseers would be willing to listen.

This felt like a turning point of destiny. They needed to do something, or risk things swirling out of control.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

He clenched his hand.

This could not wait. His gaze locked with the tall spire at the back of the ship where the farseer council would be held. Night time meant nothing to them. They would still be awake.

His mind made, he headed towards the nearby automated transport node.

He just hoped he'd be convincing enough.