Arlathan led his team as they exploded from the doors and ran straight for the jungle. Arlathan didn't even blink as he opened fire with his storm bolter, scything the explosive shots through the trees. Sporadic and inaccurate autogun fire replied, but Kollath and his Stormtroopers fanned out with incredible speed and discipline, adding their hellgun fire. The Stormtroopers were carrying Vex's cogitator and hauling Karmen's boxed power armour firing from the hip. Hellfire sliced through underbrush and tree alike as if it was made of tissue, and shrieks of pain and surprise came as the enemy, thinking themselves safe behind cover, found out they weren't.

Vex and Halsin began shooting their lasguns, Tathe his laspistol while Torris added his shotgun blasts to the cacophony. Darrance and Delathasi fired while flurries with their suppressed autoguns.

Arlathan knew they had a very limited window to take advantage of the shock their sudden counterattack caused their enemies, so he shouted his people onward, sending storm bolter shot after storm bolter shot out.

It only took them a few seconds to sprint the distance into the jungle proper. A shadow flicked in the corner of Arlathan's eye, and he exploded it into a red mist with a shot as dozens of other figures were cut asunder by hell shots.

'Signatures?' Arlathan asked Kollath, who was carrying the auspex.

'Dozens more, at least, closing in on us,' said the sergeant.

Arlathan cursed and hoped to hell none of those signals were Chaos Marines.

Or they had more time before that Land Raider found them.

Dellenger parried a stabbing bayonet, then crushed in the mask of the militiaman with the butt of his lasgun. Another militiaman charged him wildly, but Dellenger slid aside the attacker with ease, then punched his knife deep into the back of the man's neck. Dellenger then side-kicked the man in the base of the spine, sending the attacker careening off his feet and smashing face-first against the rooftop.

Meanwhile, Kalakor's bolter was a blur as it snapped out shot after shot, Dellenger didn't need to look to see each one messily erased any enemy coming their way.

Dellenger threw himself behind the Space Marine before the autoguns of more enemies could cut him down and reloaded, the sound of the shots ineffectually crashing against the Astartes' armour, sheared into Dellenger's ears making him wince.

The shooting didn't last long before Kalakor spun and shot.

Three more enemies emerged in Dellenger's view, but before they could pull their triggers, Dellenger hosed them down with a sweeping flurry of las fire.

Kalakor pulled the bolt pistol magnetised to his hip and fired that alongside Dellenger's shots in that direction. Each round was on target despite not even looking as his bolter kept blasting. Dellenger couldn't help but cry out at the horridness of the combined cacophony.

Dellenger knelt and activated his vox-link as he blasted a shot into the chest of another militiaman while he was slipped out from cover.

'Kalakor, we can't keep this up forever!'

'I am aware, but my actual concern is why the Chaos Marines have not shown up yet.'

Dellenger nodded; he'd thought the same.

'How do we-'

Kalakor interrupted Dellenger by suddenly picking him and then exploding into a sprint straight toward the end of the building.

'Kalakor!' Dellenger shrieked as the Space Marine launched them over the parapet, then fell for the street fifteen stories below and the traffic driving along its length.

Over the last minute or so, Arlathan had already lost count of how many enemies he'd killed as all around him, the Stormtroopers and everyone laid down an almost non-stop hail of shots. The world had seemed to become eclipsed in fury and fire. But somehow, no one had been hurt amongst his people, but Arlathan suspected that wouldn't last much longer.

'You hear that?' said Darrance over the link.

Arlathan gritted his teeth, about to snap, "I can't hear anything over this hell," but the retort died in his throat as the high-pitched shrieking managed to pierce through the cacophony. Then, the ground began to shake so hard that Arlathan barely managed to keep his feet.

'The hell is that?' said Torris.

A second later, the Land Raider crashed into view, and its hull-mounted heavy bolter exploded into life.

Three of the Stormtroopers became bloody pulps in the first salvo, and two more were sent writhing to the dirt from the shrapnel of their exploding allies and the underbrush, including the one carrying Karmen over his shoulder.

Arlathan couldn't cry out as he threw himself to the dirt. However, even still, he managed to witness Torris, standing calm amidst the chaos, who, with four fast blasts of his meltagun and firing from the frigging hip, destroyed not just the heavy bolter on the front of the tank but the pintle-mounted storm bolter on top and both lascannon turrets on its sides. It was easily one of the most incredible acts of bravery and skill Arlathan had ever seen.

The Land Raider stood still, its only sound the rumbling of its engine as if Torris' achievement shocked even it.

A split-second later, the guns of Arlathan's followers opened fire; the world became a blaze of red light as the shots sheered against the Land Raider's hull. Hellgun fire was so supercharged it could penetrate even Astartes power armour, but they only left minor, black burn marks in the tank's beige, bulging, skin-like surface. Arlathan raised his storm bolter, aiming for the hatch in the front, utterly dreading it opening and revealing the terrifying Chaos Marines inside.

But it didn't open, instead the tank surged forwards, straight for the prone Arlathan. Its exhilaration was incredible; it must've been a good one hundred kilometres in a few seconds; there was no way he could get out of the way in time; despite this fact, he began to scramble onto his feet. It would've crushed Arlathan into paste, but as the reinforced treads were right in Arlathan's face, the tank shuddered to a stop.

For a split second, Arlathan's bemused mind drew him to the conclusion that the tank had stopped on its own for some reason beyond his comprehension.

'Get out of the way!' Karmen shrieked over the vox-link through a portcullis of teeth. Her using that instead of mind-speak emphasised how much strain she must've been in.

Arlathan threw himself aside as the Land Raider exploded forward. He didn't know how many allies were in its path or who'd managed to get out of the way, but he hoped it was everyone.

The tank burst past, and on instinct, Arlathan blasted his storm bolter, its shells ineffectually exploding against the tank's flank.

Now, with Arlathan's and the attention of his people on the Land Raider, shots came from the underbrush, autogun shots coursed. Two of the Storm Troopers were smashed off their feet as the rounds sparked and spanked off their carapace armour. Torris also became winged, the impact smashing him onto his back, his luck seeming to run out. Clenching his teeth, Arlathan hunkered down and returned fire at the advancing figures, scything down at least two in bloody hazes.

The Land Raider was like a careening cyclone through the forest as it wound around to attempt another pass, and Arlathan couldn't help but wonder why it hadn't disgorged its deadly cargo yet. It was as if, as if...

The tracks on the right side of the tank stopped suddenly, forcing the Land Raider to keep spinning in place, throwing up even more mud and dirt in a cascading wave that sent Kollath, Halsin and Delathasi sprawling out of the way. Another example of Karmen's skill and power as a psyker, but she-

Arlathan's thoughts were interrupted as more shots sheered over him, making him cower all the more, this time coming from behind.

'I will take care of it,' Darrance called over the vox, and Arlathan didn't have to look to know he would as Arlathan began to fire into the advancing enemy again. Arlathan cursed, at this rate he'd have to call in Ulysses and the Guncutter for extraction, and that was the last thing he wanted now, showing their hand so soon.

Many a question percolated in Arlathan's skull through the chaos and the cacophony of the combat, but the question on top of them all was: where the hell were the other Chaos Marines? Surely Torris hadn't killed all of them back at the hospital?

'I am about to lose grip on the Land Raider! Be ready!' Karmen cried.

Arlathan clenched his teeth as he vaporised the chest of an advancing enemy, and his hands made him reload. He only had two clips left, and there were many, many more figures emerging and-

The Land Raider swayed as it began to break from Karmen's telekinetic grip. But then it froze.

'What's happening there, Karmen?' yelled Torris. 'That you?'

'N-no,' said Karmen. 'I'm not doing anything at all!'

'Well, what is going on?' Arlathan said, and he was forced to drop again as more autogun fire sheered over him.