Forgotten of the Distant Stars

by LucienLamenter

20 sons scattered across creation yet only 18 returned to their father. They have no names, no titles, speaking of them could even be considered heresy but the sons who returned refer to them as The Forgotten and the Purged, Second and Eleventh. The name of the latter giving away its end but of the former? What happened to the Forgotten? The Lost One?

4. Chapter 4 - Reunion

Chapter 4

Hello again! Let's see if I manage to write this chapter before the end of the year! (lmao absolutely not)

Happy New year! Hope you all spent it well! Today we have the official debut of the Second Legion and all their friends I hope you are all hyped for it ;)

---

Chernobog had fallen silent, the guerrillas had gathered all of the infected that were either not soldiers or who chose to follow them.

Patriot had ordered the fortification of an Ursus Police Station and the nearby districts. It had been a while since he had last seen the other Reunion forces. He and his guerrillas were planning to take the infected back to the Tundra when the entire city plate detached itself from the rest. He should have been the one retrieving the key to control the city meaning that someone else has done it for Talulah.

One of the guerrillas approached him and saluted before handing him a radio "Sir, she wants at the radio..."

Patriot slowly nodded and grabbed the device "Talulah..."

"Patriot..." Talulah's voice replied in her cold tone "Your word no longer means anything huh? Your loyalty to the cause."

"My loyalty hasn't changed...Yours is." He replied looking at the horizon and scanning the buildings with his gaze to see if he was being observed.

"Oh? You sound younger...All of you betrayed me, I just finished that Sarkatz mercenary, she tried to blow me up, you know something about it?" The Tyrant spoke amused.

"No, but if she had succeeded things would have been simpler for all of us," He answered

"Perhaps...But you lost your occasion Buldrokka...you should have left with your treacherous daughter when you could." She spoke her tone changing again to her eerie stone-cold one.

"Your forces might be many...but they lack discipline, they will not protect you forever," The old warrior replied gesturing his soldier to prepare for a fight.

"You underestimate me...I asked Mephisto to do something for me before leaving for Lungmen, I knew that you would have been swayed by the words of Legion, you two always have been...hesitant to do what was needed to make our banner advance. You are the reason it took so long for the enemies of the infected to burn but now, you will no longer stop us. Farewell, fossil."

As those words reached Patriot's ears, screams and growls echoed through the city. A horde of infected, their bodies completely covered in originium shards with a red aura enveloping them. The old warrior saw their movements animalistic, and uncoordinated. He then saw that not all of them wore the Reunion uniform, they wore civilian clothing. A terrible realization dawned on him, he had heard of what Mephisto had done to their troops...and now Talulah had done it to the entire city turning both her troops and the dead infected into pawns. He was utterly disgusted.

"Tell everyone to prepare for battle...move the civilians to the basement...arm whoever can hold a weapon, this shall be our last bastion."

The guerrilla nodded looking to the sea of bodies coming towards them before running to his comrades to prepare for the long defence.

---

Hours had passed since Aurelian left, and Yelena had been interviewed by the strangers extensively. They inquired about her arts, Terra and Aurelian's actions. She answered to the best of her abilities but they didn't seem happy.

Their talk was interrupted when Mephisto's laughter reached their ears causing the Cautus girl to remove some of the ice to check on him.

Faust was a bit worried judging from his expression. The strangers moved in with Yelena causing him to tense up and place himself in front of Mephisto who kept laughing hysterically.

"What's going on?" Yelena asked to the two of them.

"I feel it! I feel it! Talulah! She activated my gift! She must have found out about your betrayal! Ahahahahaha!" The boy replied laughing.

Out of instinct, she grabbed him by the collar and shook him a bit "What are you talking about Eno!"

The boy kept laughing.

"We,have,ways,to,force,an,unwilling,mind,to,collaborate," One of the strangers spoke in their monotone.

"No!" Faust shouted grabbing Mephisto and pulling him away from Yelena and the strangers.

"Sasha...I must know what he means please!" Yelena spoke softly placing her hand on Faust's shoulder.

"DON'T TELL HER ANYTHING!" Skullshatterer shouted lunging at Yelena only to be electrified from the strangers and forced on the ground.

"Prisoner,subdued," The stranger spoke.

Faust sat down with Mephisto and placed his hands on his shoulders "Eno...what have you gifted to Talulah?"

Mephisto chuckled "Victory...I gave her victory! A wand capable of raising the Pack again like I did in Lungmen! But this time applied to every body in Chernobog! All that originium crystals will give birth to super soldiers that will lead her to victory!"

Yelena widened her eyes looking at one of the strangers "I NEED TO SPEAK WITH AURELIAN NOW!"

This time it was the leader of the group of strangers who spoke "The Primarch is returning long-eared one, I believe that you will be pleased to see him given the latest news."

As he spoke the sounds of engines reached their ears and Yelena rushed outside only to see countless massive aircraft landing at the beach before letting out...giants.

They were smaller compared to Aurelian but huge compared to most. They carried swords, shields, hammers, guns and all sorts of weapons. Their armours were red with golden linings and ornaments accompanied by some tinges of dark purple. The symbol of a sun was painted on their pouldrons.

Frostnova felt incredibly disoriented, the Primarch that until now stuck out like a sore thumb had completely blended in with the other giants she looked around, her worry for her father increasing with each second. Out of desperation, she yelled Aurelian's name even though her voice failed to rise up from the others.

"Are you looking for our father little one?" A deep and robotic voice spoke.

Yelena turned to see what she could describe as a bipedal mech. It had a humanoid shape, one of its arms was replaced by a massive gun while the other was a fist. She did not know that she was standing in the presence of one of the contemptor dreadnaughts of the legion.

"Oh...He spoke of the likes of you and the one with the tail of a reptile..." It continued to speak before pointing at the village "Our father wishes for you to go there , he has much to tell you I believe."

Yelena bowed her head "Thank you very much...hm..."

"Brother Meridium, little one," The dreadnought spoke again.

"Thank you very much Brother Meridium!" she spoke before running to the village.

She saw that there was quite a crowd forming, the civilians had come out of hiding despite the fact that the legionnaires were far more intimidating than the previous strangers. She understood why that was once she saw Aurelian standing tall above them all.

"I know that for you...this is all very overwhelming, yesterday I took you here promising you a land where you would have been safe and yet today, you see strangers all around you. These people are not foes as a matter of fact, they are your protectors, they are my sons and they will be the unflinching pillars of our new home. They are my Legio Astartes. Together we will forge a new future, for everyone who seeks refuge. We will keep saving infected and bring them here and together we will build a city never seen before where everyone will be equal infected or not."

He spoke before seeing that the people kneeled before him, Nine included. The Primarch did not seem to be happy about it but remained calm.

"Nine, with me there is much to discuss..." He spoke before spotting Yelena in the crowd and gesturing for her to come too.

The two women approached him immediately seeing that one of the Astartes kept himself next to his gene father.

"Lanius I would like to introduce you to Yelena and Nine, they are the ones who helped me until now," The Primarch spoke calmly.

The space marine reached for him helmet and removed it "Thank you for your services, I am the Legion Master Lanius."

Nine bowed her head "Honored to meet you Legion Master."

Yelena gave a nod of acknowledgement, in awe at the man but too worried for her father's well-being to pay attention to pleasantries.

"My father is in danger Aurelian! Mephisto, he told us that he gave Talulah the power he used in Lungmen to turn the entirety of Chernobog into her puppets! My father will not last for long!"

"That is certainly troubling news...Lanius, is the Legion ready to fight?" The Primarch asked.

"We were expecting to fight as soon as we woke up, we came expecting to be in hostile space, the legion is ready to rain down fire at your command!" Lanius replied proudly.

"Our objective is not to conquer a world, we will bring justice to the city of Chernobog and cleanse it from the monsters that haunt it...There is but one problem," The Primarch spoke crossing his arms "The starpod, a barrier that protects the world. It is not our right to destroy it...I could bring you all through warp but it will take a while to mobilize our forces like this..."

"Father if I may speak, We had prepared for the eventuality to not be able to land our troops easily. Our fleet is equipped with teleporters and so are our Terminators squads. So long this... starpod is not physical, we can warp our troops down using the warp plates." The Legion Master intervened.

"Very well, Legion Master, it would seem like we will descend into battle together," Aurelian spoke offering his hand to his son.

"To finally be able to fight with my father for a noble cause...I couldn't ask for a greater honour," He said holding onto his Primarch's forearm and shaking it.

Aurelian nodded "We shall take our finest warriors there, a relatively small force...I would like for the rest to come here and begin the process of settlement."

"The first and second cohorts are composed of our best marines, we shall make quick work of our enemies, with your permission Father, I would like to begin giving my brothers your dispositions..." The Legion Master spoke receiving a nod from the Primarch before marching away.

The Primarch looked at Nine and Yelena but he focused on the former "I thought we had agreed for you to take the lead..."

"I wasn't the one who faced Lungmen's strongest to protect the infected, nor I was the one to find this place...nor the one who brought an army of giants to defend our new home," Nine replied with a slight smirk "The people put their hopes in you, they call your name, not mine. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to oversee our people..."

At those words, Nine left leaving Yelena and Aurelian alone.

"You fear the title of leader?" The cautus asked crossing her arms "Afraid that you will become like Talulah?"

"No...I just feel like I lost a battle against destiny..." He replied shaking his head as he began to walk "My father had warned me..."

"About what?" she asked a bit worried.

"That a Primarch might refuse his title...but sooner or later, he would find himself in a position of power. I thought I could have become a guardian, a helping hand for the people of Terra. But now I find myself back at the beginning, back at being a primarch." he explained as they walked.

"Can't you do both?" she asked tilting her head.

"Perhaps..." He replied nodding "You are familiar with Chernobog?"

"Well I didn't grow there but I got some familiarity with it since we conquered it," She replied calmly.

"Hmmm..." The Primarch buzzed thinking before looking at one of the many astartes of his "Gather the Speculatores, I have a mission for them."

The Astartes nodded and immediately ran to fulfil his task.

"Speculatores?" Yelena asked curious.

"See them as our secret services..." He answered darkly before turning away and beginning to walk away from her.

"Where are you going?" The Cautus girl asked.

"To talk to Misha..." He replied

---

After a scuffle in Wei's office, Rhodes Island had rescinded their contract with them due to being outraged at the order given to the Shadow Guard. Even Ch'en had moved against Wei.

But their meeting was cut short as Kal'tsit brought terrible news. It would seem like the core of Chernobog had detached from the other city plates and was headed straight for Lungmen.

Normally Yan's jewel would have simply bombed it until it posed no threat but the problem was that the city plate had declared itself to belong to Ursus meaning that shooting it down would have been an act of war.

Wei was ready to set ablaze a new war but Kal'tit instead convinced him to let Rhodes Island try to stop the city themselves. Since Rhodes Island was a private company, an action from their side would not pose a case of casus belli.

Ch'en wanted to go but Wei didn't want her to until she showed her oripathy revealing her infection. She renounced her position in the LGD and left Lungmen to go to Chernobog's core.

Rhodes Island had also withdrawn from Lungmen and had begun deploying their teams in Chernobog. One of these teams were led by Amiya herself along with the Doctor, Kal'tsit and Rosmontis.

Upon their first infiltration, they found the city dead, no reunion or anyone seemed to be there. The Rhodes Island operators at first didn't report any activity but that did not last long.

Reports came, that units making contact with hordes of feral infected moving with relentless fury and madness, their bodies enhanced by the Originium that moved them and allowed them to withstand a lot of otherwise lethal damage. Many teams that had no elite operator with them were pushed back and some went completely silent.

Amiya and her group were no different. They had just managed to clear a path through a massive horde of at least a hundred of monsters. Rosmontis and Amiya were able to fight them off without getting overwhelmed thanks to the latter keeping the former's emotions in check. Kal'tsit had taken upon herself to protect Doctor Croft.

The Cautus Girl was tired, basically having spent the vast majority of her time casting art. Even Rosmontis was panting a bit as she moved her massive weapons.

"The entire city...turned into monsters...how many there are out there?" Doctor Croft wondered exhausted.

"Chernobog was once one of the most populated cities in Ursus...there can be tens of thousands...or one or two hundred thousand," Kal'tist spoke.

Amiya grabbed her phone and called for the other ports "This is Amiya, how are things going?"

There were a few seconds of silence before someone responded "This is Saria, we have a few injured but otherwise operational, proceeding to point 11B."

"This Nearl, no casualty, we are proceeding according to the briefing," Nearl replied.

"This is Silence, the medical camp has been attacked, and we have several injured and a loss..." another call came in.

"This is Dobermann...we have to evacuate, we are no longer combat-effective, we are trying to head to the nearest exfil..."

Amiya felt like she got punched in the belly, especially with the last communication. They had not expected the hell that waited for them in Chernobog. They had seen Mephisto leave with Aurelian, the possibility of encountering his monsters was accounted for but not in this quantity nor them being a stronger version of them...

"We barely made our way through the outskirts...and one of our teams had to retreat," The Doctor began to recount sighing as she checked the map of Chernobog.

"Who is that...?" Rosmontis asked pointing at a single figure that was waving at them.

Cautiously the group approached, trying to identify the mysterious person. To their surprise, they picked up a Rhodes Island ID coming from it allowing them to identify him. It was a guard from Ace's Team who had been declared MIA.

Immediately, Kalt'sit pinned him to the wall through the use of Mont3r but Amiya convinced him to back off and demanded some explanations.

The guard explained that he had joined Reunion in order to help the infected and the civilians stuck in the city and he declared to have not partaken in any cruel action. He also told them that Patriot was a great leader and that there was no need to fight him especially now.

The former Rhodes Island operator explained that since yesterday, Patriot had stopped following Talulah's orders and instead had gathered as many people as possible at his side and under his protection. It was then that he revealed that Patriot had joined Legion and that he was now fighting a civil war with Talulah.

He told them about the army of reanimated corpses that Talulah had begun to use and that their overwhelming numbers had turned their internal conflict into a war of attrition. He spoke about how Talulah's normal forces had turned the area around the control tower into a real fortress, leaving the monsters out to protect the district.

Amiya and the others listened closely. The leader of Rhodes decided to forgive the guard saying that he did what was best at the time.

"But..." Doctor Croft started speaking with her hands crossed "According to what you are saying, reaching Talulah is virtually impossible, Patriot is going to lose."

"Alone yes but we have been contacted by Legion, when I saw you, I was on my way to one of the many meeting points with them," Guard replied excitedly "According to him, victory is inevitable and he would take everyone away, including Talulah."

Amiya frowned a bit "Can we come to?"

Guard shrugged "If you wish yeah but," he checked his watch "We must go now otherwise we will miss them!"

"Lead the way then..." Kal'tsit spoke darkly gesturing him to go.

The Rhodes Island squad followed Patriot's guerrilla...

---

The corridors were silent for the moment, a rare occurrence in the Peterheim Middle School. Perhaps, the number of students that were entrapped in the structure had greatly diminished due to the terrible atrocities that took place in its corridors had decreased so much that now seeing a person wandering the corridors could be considered a rare occurrence.

Anna was walking down the corridors, she was carrying some books from the library, reading was one of the few things that could keep her mind busy...or so she thought. There was something in the air, something different, for some reason, she could not describe, she was feeling goosebumps. And then it happened...

The Ursine girl was knocked off her feet as an explosion took down one of the main barricades that had blocked the school's entrances. She felt her ears ringing, slowly, she got up trying to understand what was going on...Only to find herself staring at the barrel of a massive weapon.

She widened her eyes when she saw a massive armoured giant wearing black armour with dark red lining and a dark purple sun on one of his massive shoulder pouldrons. Her eyes saw more armoured men entering from the hole they had likely created.

"Are there any others?" The man asked in a deep and powerful voice.

Anna slowly nodded.

"Reunion?" He asked again.

She shook her head.

The man looked at the others and nodded before looking back at the girl "Take us to the others immediately."

Anna slowly nodded as the man took a couple of steps back, his weapon was still training his weapon at her. She knew that if she tried anything, he would have killed her.

With no other choice, Anna began to lead the armoured soldiers to where her friends were. The men moved behind her, their movements quick and precise despite being so big and heavily armoured.

"Are you with Reunion...?" She dared to mutter.

The man did not reply.

"Are you going to kill us all?" She then spoke again daring to throw a glance behind her.

The man kept his gun pointed at her and she thought he was not going to answer.

"Unless you force our hand, No," He replied in the usually serious and imposing tone.

She sighed in relief but as soon as she did the sound of laughter reached her ears along with the noise of metal clattering.

From around the corner, a group of students emerged their clothes and improvised weapons drenched in blood. They were carrying the dead bodies of a couple of girls, they were too covered and mutilated to be recognizable. Anna's heart sunk, her eyes shot wide open, her mouth went dry and her body shook like a leaf.

"Zoya...? Lada...?" she muttered.

"Oh look another girl! Ahahahaha! What a lucky find today! Another less mouth to feed!" The leader of the group shouted before noticing just now the giants that were around Anna "Who the fuck are you?"

The giants raised their weapons and one of them pulled Anna behind himself "Drop the weapons and put your hands in the air."

Anna was staring at the the bodies the students were carrying, her vision getting hazy, her stomach twisting as she brought her hand to her mouth.

The students didn't budge despite being threatened by a far superior force and that was because the hell they had just been through had completely broken whatever shred of sanity they had left...and so they lifted their knives and metal pipes and charged.

Anna did not know what exactly had happened, she just knew that all of a sudden her ears were ringing once again as a series of explosions seemed to be taking place near her. Her vision was blinded several times by sudden flashes that reminded her of photo cameras.

It lasted a couple of seconds and when she lifted her eyes off the ground, the group of students was no more. In their place, there were splashes of blood and bits of gore. She slowly got up and walked towards the bodies of the girls the students had dragged. She fell on her knees, staining her clothes with blood.

She began touching them before finally finding something, name tags...which were not her friend's. She let out a sigh of relief as she was finally able to rationalize again.

She looked around the scene once more and this time, she fully understood what had happened. The group of students had attacked the newcomers, who in turn opened fire on them tearing them to shreds.

The man who had kept her in his sight approached her and looked down "You knew them?"

She shook her head and got up before returning to lead the giants to the classroom where Lada, Sonya and Rosa were in.

She was the first to enter causing Sonya to spring on her feet with an axe in hand before lowering it when she identified Anna. Lada and Rosa relaxed too.

"There are soldiers outside...don't attack them," Anna spoke slowly and calmly causing Lada and Rosa to get up and look at the door in fear.

Soon after that, the Giants came in, the first thing they did was to check the corners and any possible blindspot as their brothers kept the group in check especially Sonya since she was armed.

"Sonya...the axe..." Rosa whispered begging with her eyes for the other Ursine girl to drop the weapon.

Sonya looked down at the axe and then back at the soldiers...she raised her free hand above her head and slowly bent her knees as she put the axe down on the floor.

"Against the wall," The giant spoke as the girls obliged "Who is in charge of this school?"

Rosa took a step forward shaking like a leaf "T-The adults were brought away from the school...I was put in charge of things."

The Goliath nodded "You shall guide us through the buildings, Brother Trojan keep the others in check."

Brother Trojan nodded and stood guard at the classroom entrance as the other brothers left with Rosa. Anna, Sonya and Lada stared at the single massive man for a long time, sometimes, they heard the sound of gunfire through the corridors. They did not know how long they were kept like that but eventually, their guard spoke.

"Get up, we are moving to the gym."

At those words, the girls nodded and were escorted by the man to the school's gym. They saw that other students had been gathered there by the newcomers. Rosa was standing in front of the students, her expression showed how little she was happy to be in that position...again. Anna, Sonya and Lada were made to sit down among the others under the watch of the colossuses.

Unbeknownst to the students, their new guardians were none other than the Speculatores sent by Aurelian on a secret mission that would have begun the full-scale invasion. The Astartes squads had moved into the city brought by their Primarch himself in secret. The first phase of the invasion had just been completed and so the Speculatores squads had moved to the second phase which consisted of establishing a FOB where they would install the homing devices connected to the fleets that by now should be orbiting Terra. The only thing missing was a clear understanding of the city composition as up until now the Astartes had based themselves on their own observations. Fortunately, Patriot's guerrillas had managed to recover the city plans and were about to deliver them.

The third phase would have begun as soon as the plans were transmitted to the fleet as they were needed to coordinate with all forces and specifically to find out how much tonnage could the city plate sustain. In charge of the preparations, there was Lieutenant Gregorious who was currently personally awaiting the arrival of the guerilla messenger along with the sergeants under his command.

He received word from his sentries that the messenger was about to arrive but they were not alone as they were escorted by a Rhodes Island squad led by none other than Amiya herself. Their gene father had explained who these people were and that they should take no hostile actions towards them especially Amiya and a certain Kal'tsit that he called sister and mother. In truth, many among the speculatores had great interest in the two wanting to find out what kind of people had taken in their Primarch but their curiosity was greatly outclassed by their sense of duty.

The messenger and Rhodes Island soon entered the sights of the Astartes far before they could spot them.

Amiya and the others saw the Peterheim Middle School which apparently was set to be the meeting point between Legion and the guerilla. The Cautus girl, and most of her colleagues, were expecting to see Aurelian perhaps along with Frostnova but instead, their eyes landed upon a group of armoured individuals that bore a striking resemblance to Aurelian with their armour but their colours were completely different. Amiya looked at Kal'tsit who had a deep frown on her face.

The Guerilla messenger approached the group, he was intimidated by the colossuses but nevertheless offered them his package. The Lieutenant immediately grabbed it and passed it to his tech marine who immediately opened its content took out a small storage device and analysed its content before nodding to his superior.

Gregorius looked at Amiya and the rest of the Rhodes Island operators "Follow us."

He did not add anything else, instead, he went inside the school followed by his sergeants.

"Should we follow them...?" Doctor Croft asked.

Amiya did not bother to reply marching straight into the school followed by Rosmontis and Kal'tsit and eventually the doctor. The girl had felt the emotions of those whom she had just met and she could only describe them as...

Absolutely unmoving.

They had faith, they had conviction, they had absolute calmness, they were out of this world. She had to find out more about these people she needed to know who they were.

And so she followed them into the school where even more of those soldiers waited for them. They did not seem to be bothered by the fact that the entire Rhodes Island team had entered their stronghold...either Aurelian had guaranteed for Rhodes Island or they were that confident in their abilities.

The Lieutenant stopped his tracks in the courtyard where the homer had been assembled and turned around to speak with his guests finally.

"I am Lieutenant Gregorius of the 7th Speculatores company," he finally introduced himself to them "I was put in charge of preparing for the incursion on Chernobog,"

"Incursion? You are not aiming to occupy the city?" Doctor Croft asked tilting her head.

The Astartes shook his head as the tech marine began to send the newly acquired data to the fleet.

"Our Primarch was clear in his directives, stop the city from moving before it passes the border, recover all the infected willing to follow us and lastly capture the tyrant Talulah," The Lieutenant spoke as the tech marine nodded to him.

"How are you going to stop the city? The control tower is heavily fortified," Amiya asked.

"The city travels on tracks..." The Lieutenant replied darkly.

As soon as he said that the ground began to shake violently followed by a glass-shattering boom that caught most off guard. Things quieted down and slowly everyone began to realize what had just happened.

Amiya was the first to check on Rhodes Island PTRS only for her expression to twist in horror as she was notified that Chernobog had come to a screeching halt...then images taken from Rhodes Island's landship came in.

The city's tracks had been blown up both the front ones and the back ones all that remained of them was a massive crater and molten metal.

"Plasma Charges Detonations confirmed, prime directive completed," The Tech Marine spoke activating the device "Teleport Homer aligned with the Sol Invictus, connection established. Starting with phase three in 3...2...1..."

A light blinded all those present in the courtyard that were not prepared such as the Rhodes Island operators and the guerilla guard. When they all regained their vision, they found themselves staring at massive combat force in the most literal of senses. The courtyard had been filled with more Legio Astartes but these were not Speculatores, they were the first wave of the Legion's first and second cohorts or as the other legions would call them, the first and second company.

In front of them stood their father and their legion master who were themselves accompanied by veterans of the first company many of which wearing Cataphractii and Gorgon Terminator armour. Their shadows engulfed those who stood in front of them, their presence overwhelmingly breathtaking. In all of this, only one stuck out like a sore thumb, and that person was Frostnova, who had kept herself close to the Primarch to survive the warp jump.

As soon as they arrived they began moving away from the courtyard, they began heading outside to allow more waves to come in.

The Primarch and his Legion Master moved to the Lieutenant who bowed his head at the two "Father, we have completed our task, everything is ready for your march."

"Were there any problems?" The Primarch asked.

"Nothing that wasn't already reported..." Gregorius replied shaking his head.

The Primarch nodded "Excellent, once the Titans are deployed we shall move onto the tower, by tomorrow, the city will be back in the hands of its makers."

"Lieutenant take your men and keep watch of our enemies, alert us of any change in their behaviour," The Legion master added.

"Then I shall depart immediately, I will report once in position," The Speculatores leader replied before giving the new orders to his men and leaving Peterheim.

"M-Milord!" The guerilla guard dared to speak his voice almost lost to the sounds of the Astartes' march.

Aurelian turned towards him, his eyes landing on his figure and then on Rhodes Island's operators "Thank you for providing us with the city plans, they shall be instrumental to our victory."

"I was just doing my duty Milord!" the guerilla replied immediately "Milord, Patriot needs help! Talulah has unleashed countless monsters against him! Our shield guards will not be able to withstand the constant assault, I took the liberty to pinpoint their position on the plans!"

"We are aware of the situation," Legion Master Lanius replied solemnly "And fret not, those who stand beside us shall not be left behind. Brother Cassius, prepare your men, purge the enemies and fortify our allies' position. This one will show you the way."

The guerilla looked at the Terminator Squad leader bowing his head as he was gestured to lead the way and so he headed out followed by the squadron of terminators.

"Is this is what are you going to do?" Amiya asked looking at her brother "Purge?"

"Yes purge," Yelena finally spoke looking at Amiya "Those who are attacking Patriot are no longer human, they are bodies reanimated by arts and if they are alive...then their suffering must be agonizing."

Aurelian lifted his hand silently telling Yelena to calm knowing how distraught she was feeling for her father.

"The elimination of the pack is essential and the most humane thing we can do...but I know what you mean, you wonder if I intend to kill the infected in service of Talulah..."

Amiya nodded.

"Yes I do," He replied immediately "Should they not surrender, should they choose to keep on fighting, I will accept their decision and treat them accordingly."

Amiya was shocked to hear such a cut-and-dry answer "But Aurelian! They are being misled! I am sure that if..."

"I will not expose my allies to unnecessary danger, they will have plenty of opportunity to surrender after that it shall all be in the hands of fate," The Primarch replied.

As he spoke another flash brought more Astartes but this time there were the armored squads equipped with land raiders and predator tanks.

A demolition squad created a passage for them into the school's parking lot which allowed them to get to the street.

The Rhodes Island operators didn't even begin to comprehend what they were looking at aside from knowing they were standing in front of a highly skilled and well-equipped army ready to take on anything and anyone.

"Minerva, your status?" Aurelian spoke as he marched out of the school.

"I am replacing the...machine spirits. ETA: 2 minutes," The AI replied through the radio.

Aurelian nodded and looked at Amiya "How are your forces holding up?"

"We have a humanitarian camp set up and a couple of squadrons..." The leader of Rhodes Island spoke.

"Tell them to move here, it is well-fortified and out of harm's way," The Primarch told her as he began to walk "All the combat personnel will rally at Patriot's location. We will present a united front, no one would dare to face us."

As he said this he ruffled Amiya's hair making her feel his true intentions which were to hopefully make the enemy surrender through a display of actual unification and strength.

---

Commander Wei was in his office angrily pondering on what to do. Ch'en had left him to go to Chernobog since then he hadn't received any news regarding her from Rhodes Island. He was about to gather his forces and launch an attack on the landship even if it would spark a conflict...After all, Ursus had always wanted Lungmen for itself, this time he wouldn't give them the privilege of the first strike.

His train of thought was altered when Fumizuki entered the room escorted by her bodyguards, her clothes hid most of her body and were plain-looking as they needed to not attract attention...and the reason for that was because Wei had ordered her to go Sargon where she would have been safe in case of an eventual war between Yan and Ursus.

"Wei..." She spoke with a bittersweet smile as she was approached by her husband and hugged him.

"I am sorry..." He spoke holding her tight before hearing a knock on the door.

They all frowned especially when someone they did not expect entered the room.

The Rat King slowly made his way to the two chuckling "Hmmm You have become brash...Yet another decision taken while being overwhelmed by your anxiety..."

"What are you doing here?" Wei asked narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, nothing much, I am just leading some gentlemen inside here," the old man replied.

As he spoke a couple of Speculatores entered the room, ducking under the door frame before staring at the three Lungmenites.

Despite being drastically different, they all knew that the giants that had walked were connected to Aurelian.

"We carry a message from our Primarch" One of them spoke solemnly "The debt has been paid, Chernobog has been halted."

Wei frowned as he marched to his desk accessing Lungmen's long-range optics and seeing the tracks of Chernobog's core having turned into a sludge of molten metal.

Before he could say anything, the giants had walked away as the Rat King cackled at his confused expression.

"The wind is changing Wei, come...Let us visit our old friend..." As he spoke he walked past Fumizuki "Sargon is not a good place, given the recent developments, I suppose there is no reason to go there..."

---

Ch'en hissed in pain holding her side as she patched herself up after having run away from a horde of those monsters her sister had raised. She had fought for as long as she could but their numbers seemed to know no end and in the process, she had received some scratches.

She had broken into an abandoned pharmacy, and most of the things had been sacked but she managed to find a first aid kit.

Her objective was clear, reaching the control tower. The problem was getting there and then getting through the fortified positions of Reunion alone.

She let out an annoyed sigh as cleaned her wounds and then covered them with her shirt. She headed outside, peeking around the corner before beginning to run towards the imposing tower.

She needed to find her sister and stop her for Lungmen and those on the city plate...after all, a city crashing into another would have killed both.

The former chief of police used the secondary alleys avoiding the main roads trying to not get spotted but unfortunately, her stratagem didn't last long as the roads that led to the city center got wider and wider.

She turned around the corner and widened her eyes as in front of her another horde of zombie-like infected. They immediately spotted her and ran towards her while others began throwing whatever they could their hands on such as debris of pieces of cars.

She began to run hoping to lose them but the roads getting wider and emptier did not help. She bit her lip as she reached for her sword hilt. She had to face them, there was no other option. She drew out her sword and let out a warcry as she braced for the fight of her life when...

The infected lunged at her head ready to rip them apart but they never got close. As if by magic, their bodies opened up and exploded covering the former officer with blood.

Ch'en did not understand what had just happened but then an impossibly loud ripping sound boomed across the streets followed by a deafening blaring sound that sounded like a foghorn of a landship...and then the earth began to shake rhythmically accompanied by a loud and heavy thud that got stronger and stronger.

First she saw a shadow coming from a road from the right, it was something big standing on two legs. Ch'en widened her eyes when it came around the corner.

It was a giant bipedal machine with two metal arms with what looked like weapons attached to them. Its 'head' reminded the Lung of a canine as it stood lower than its shoulders.

Beneath it, there were several armoured figures with glowing eyes. Despite the machine having stopped, the sound of mechanical footsteps had not ceased and that was because from the other roads more mechanical beasts showed themselves.

"Hands in the air!" One of the giant soldiers shouted out.

Ch'en bit her lip, her body tensing up as she began to ponder on what to do. In the meantime, the machine turned towards her its weapons trained on her.

She let out a sigh, let go of her sword and raised her hands "I am Ch'en, Former Chief of the Lungmen Guard Department, who am I talking to?"

The giants closed in on her keeping their weapons raised. Their squad leader stood in front of her.

"I am Captain Ricardus of the Second Legion" He replied before turning around and contacting the mission command and reporting Ch'en's presence.

He nodded as he received new instructions before pointing his finger and making a circular motion towards the ground telling his brothers to move to the rally point.

Ch'en felt one of her captors pushing her to get her moving and so she was forced by the massive machine that kept her in its sights.

---

Nearl and the Rhodes Island squad she was the leader of were making their way through the city, they had received the order to reach Amita but the way to the city was mostly blocked by the aftermath of the catastrophe that had struck Chernobog the week prior.

"Firewatch, any possible route?" Nearl asked through the radio.

The Elafia woman scanned their surroundings through the scope of her crossbow "Negative, we'll have to take a long way around...wait...Horde incoming, brace for a fight!"

Nearl lifted her shield ready to defend her companions but then something happened...at first, she thought she was having some sort of hallucination but then seemingly out of thin air, three massive machines appeared in front of her.

Unbeknownst to her, the Mechanicum had begun sending the God Engines to assist the Legion in taking control of the city in a short amount of time and now in front of her stood a lance of honourable Imperial Knights of House Borgius swore to serve the Mechanicum of Forgeworld Lucius after they intervened to stop the civil war on their homeworld of Dutonis. They were composed of a Knight Paladin, a Knight Crusader and a Knight Valiant.

As the horde came closer, the knights stood their ground proudly while sporting the heraldry of House Borgius as they aimed their deadly weapons at the horde. The Crusader fired its melta guns while the paladin and Valiant fired their battle cannon and conflagration cannon respectively reducing the incoming horde to a blackened ash. As if to celebrate their victory, they sounded their warhorns before turning around to face the Rhodes Island Squadron.

"We shall escort you to your leader," The Valiant spoke through its Vox modules before begging to march towers Patriot's location where the rest of the legion was amassing forces.

Nearl observed the machines, and the operators behind her were left in awe as the God Engines waited for them to move. The Defender operator, on the other hand, felt the strangest sensation she ever had. The heraldry and their overall appearance reminded her of the knights of Kazimierz in a strange sort of way...

---

"Move? How do you expect to us move?" Silence spoke through the radio at Amiya in disbelief "We cannot make it to that school even if we wanted to, those beings would rip us apart."

"Don't worry Silence, we are sending you reinforcements, prepare to move," Amiya replied in her usual optimistic tone.

The medic looked at her colleague, Mayer, who was scratching her head a bit since they were both sure that all Rhodes Island personnel had been deployed but nevertheless, they commanded their staff to prepare to move.

Mayer sighed as she had some of her robots carry around supplies but suddenly one of them began to point in a direction and enter combat mode as the earth began to shake.

Mayer frowned as she prepared her weapons while approaching her drone. Her eyes widened when they lay on the armoured carapace of Warhound Titan. But the shock was quick to pass as amazement took its place.

She felt like she was in a dream as the mighty machine stepped forward walking above her followed by even more of its kind. Without a second thought, she took out her phone and started taking pictures while laughing like a child in a candy shop and sending the pictures to Closure.

Silence came running when she heard the massive footsteps but she was not expecting to see several 15-meter tall war machines. It then dawned on her that these were the reinforcements that Amiya was talking about.

"Silence!" Mayer called her voice giving away her excitement at the sight of the God Engines while recording them "I have never seen something like that!"

"That would be expected...This world has never seen the avatars of the Omnissiah..." A deep electronic female voice spoke as many hooded figures appeared following the footsteps of the Titans.

Mayer frowned as she turned around only to see...humanoid beings whose bodies were covered with mechanical parts to the point that some of them didn't seem to even have skin. And one of such beings had spoken as they led the Skitarii forces.

The being was wearing a mask that completely covered its face, light blue glowing eyes could be seen in the shadow of the grim hood. Several mechadendrites seemingly sprouted from their back as they walked closer to the two inspecting them. They hummed as they spotted Mayer's equipment wanting to take a closer look to see if they were this world's mechadendrites but they kept themselves from doing so, they had bigger things to take care of.

Mayer felt a certain sense of encouragement from the fact that these new strangers bringing such revolutionary machines were using similar devices as hers.

"We have formed a perimeter...are you prepared to move? If so, make haste, we have other missions to attend to," The Magos asked staring at the two.

Silence slowly nodded and had to pull on Mayer's arm to get to move away from the strangers.

The Magos observed as the Rhodes Island's operators began to move. The Mechanicum had been tasked with escorting them while performing another mission of their interest, studying what engine was powering the massive landship. Their techpriests had analyzed the power grid of the landship and were able to map it and trace its sources. One was the originium engine that was responsible for the movement of the Chernobog Core and the other was an unknown power source which produced far greater energy compared to the former. The Mechanicum wanted to locate the unknown energy source and confiscate it.

The Rhodes Island operators approached the mechanicum prompting them to begin moving. Mayer had sneaked her way to the side of the Magus who did not fail to notice her presence but paid no attention to her as none was needed. The Warhounds began marching surrounding the group.

Silence did not feel at ease around the admech and their machines, where Mayer saw a masterpiece of engineering, she saw a war machine. She had not seen them in action but, as one of the most brilliant minds in Rhine Lab, she could tell that the weapons they sported on their arms were as out of the ordinary as the rest.

Mayer, on the other hand, was trying to get the Magus' attention with a barrage of questions that her volatile mind could conjure but little she did know that the Magos had filtered off her voice...but their attention was caught once the woman pulled up in her arms one of her drones.

"What is that?" The Magos asked as their mechadendrites moved closer to the thing.

"This is one of my Meeboos!" She replied happy that the Magos had finally given her the attention she sought.

The Magos was a bit...perplexed at the name of that machine "'Meeboos'? What is the purpose of this...Meeboo, I fail to see any weapon."

"Oh! I didn't design them for combat! They assist me in my workshop! I couldn't outfit them with weapons...but they can still use their limbs to fight!" The Anaty replied scratching her head before eyeing the titans "...what's their name?"

The Magos didn't reply but instead stared at Meeboo in Mayer's arms before walking away from her. The Anaty was confused at first when a notification appeared on her equipment. A report from the drone she had in her arms "You are in the presence of the Titans of God, their name is Warhound."

Awe kept building up in her as she saw the marching titans that were escorting her squadron. She wanted to know more, much more than that cryptic message but at the same time, she felt they would not give her the answers she seeks so easily. She immediately ran a diagnostic on her drone to find out how the Magos had interfaced with it but the diagnostics reported that no one had entered the systems...

---

Patriot and his guerrillas were bravely resisting the endless horde. Their defence was truly impeccable and the discipline needed for it to work was just as impressive.

The Shieldguards were keeping their shields high and unmoving as the hordes of monstrous infected slammed against them with the intent of ripping apart whoever was behind them. Patriot himself was standing in front of his soldiers, his mere presence inspiring his soldiers to give their best. To prevent anyone from climbing their shields, snipers and casters rained support fire while the guerilla foot soldiers stood behind the shield guards to protect them from whoever managed to escape their ranged units.

But the odds were stacked against them, even though their defence was on point, every now and then one or more infected managed to jump past the shield guards and immediately start to heavily injure those behind them before they would be put down.

But Patriot would have not called the retreat, there was nowhere to retreat to because behind there were all the infected of Chernobog that had survived the fall of the city and the Pack. They were hiding below the ground in the underground parking lot of the police station, thousands of scared infected that were praying for their defenders to win.

In the carnage of the fight, he spotted someone...The courier that he had sent to deliver the city plans was waving at him from the top of one of the buildings.

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire ripped through the air echoing across the city as the Terminator Elite Squads opened fire against the horde with their storm bolters and assault cannons.

The relief that the shield guards felt when reinforcements arrived was immense. The Terminators placed themselves in front of them unleashing their deadly barrage, mowing down the horde with extreme prejudice. When the assault cannons-wielding terminators needed to relead, their brothers with thunder hammers and storm shields took over the assault.

Each swing of the power weapons was enough to vaporize groups of infected at the time as their scratches and thrown objects did not scratch the paint of their venerable armours.

A trio of contemptor dreadnaughts had accompanied the Space Marine squad equipped with heavy flamers and twin-linked lascannons and heavy bolters. They marched to the side alleys cleansing them with their promethium fire.

The guerilla messenger was finally able to move safely and so he reached his leader "Sir! Seems we arrived in time!"

Patriot gave a slight nod before the earth began to tremble as a pack of warhound titans reached their locations leaving every guerilla present in absolute awe. The Terminator squads moved away allowing the Titans to unleash their weapons on the horde.

Captain Ricardus and his squad approached the fortification causing whispers among the shieldguards. Ch'en observed the feral infected turned into ash by the massive melta guns and flamers. Their weapons were unleashing unbridled destruction and fury. Her heart was gripped with a sense of dread...if these were Aurelian's troops...what would have they done if she had kept attacking him on Lungmen? Would these mechanical giants have hunted down the LGD in the streets of Lungmen?

Images of the LGD officers being ripped to shreds but the weapons of the Titans flashed in her mind as she felt her stomach twist and turn. But neither she nor the guerrillas were ready to see the full forces brought by Aurelian as they all rallied at the Police Station.

The first to arrive was the Primarch himself accompanied by the Legion Master and his veterans astartes. Then came the Predators, the Rhinos, the Land Raiders and similar closely followed by the rest of the First and Second Cohorts. Despite not knowing how powerful the thousands of Astartes were, they all knew that victory was certain. The question was no longer if they could win against Talulah, it was how many would have tried to raise their weapons in front of such an army.

In the midst of all of this, the Rhodes Island operators found themselves almost like a fish out of water especially due to the fact that the Astartes around them hardly communicated anything. The legion had a level of silent understanding and coordination that would put any army on Terra to shame, they were efficient, they were fast, they were strong but most importantly...they were completely used to all of this. The sight of ruined buildings, the blood on the street's pavement, the smell of burning flesh, nothing seemed to disturb them.

The Astartes had observed the city, all of them noting that the buildings were nowhere near as tall as what they were used to and that the fact that it was nowhere near as claustrophobic as the hive cities they were used to. They were somewhat intrigued by the fact that the entire city had been moving up until the Speculatores destroyed its tracks. As for its inhabitants...they found it hard to call them abhumans, they had seen their fair share of Xeno races back in the Milky Way and abhumans alike but all those they had seen were hardly mutated at all, all of them had normal human characteristics and body proportions with the only difference being that also possessed animal traits. Some of the Apothecaries had begun to theorize that they might be a product of very light artificially induced mutations which was nothing something new to their ears.

So far, they have mostly met Ursine individuals whose only traits that differentiated them from a normal human were an extra pair of bear ears and sometimes a bear tail both of them hardly noticeable. Back on Requiem, they had seen others with wolf and fox ears and tails along with some with bunny traits such as one of their gene-father collaborators.

But their thoughts on the matter were irrelevant at the moment, their mission came before everything.

The Primarch approached Patriot giving a nod before being surpassed by Frostnova who ran to her father's side to check on his condition. Fortunately, Patriot seemed unharmed which made the girl relax.

Patriot observed the imposing army that was parading in front of his stronghold, he was surprised but his mask made it impossible to tell. He had served side by side with the Ursus army but this was the first time he had seen an army entirely composed of heavily armoured soldiers all of them armed with guns something that up until now was thought to be something only possible in Laterano.

"What's the situation, Buldrokka?" Aurelian asked as he stopped in front of the Wendigo.

The old warrior looked back at his troops, seeing that some of his shieldguards were battered but otherwise still able to fight. The normal fighters had taken some casualties and a few losses but were otherwise okay. Patriot's comrades were still ready to give their all.

"We are ready to march to the tower," He declared proudly looking at a Primarch.

The son of the Emperor slowly nodded "What about the civilians?"

"They are in the subterranean parking lot," The Wendigo replied pointing in the general direction of the parking lot.

"Very well, Rhodes Island will transport the civilians to the Peterheim Middle School, we have turned it into our FOB, and we will gather all the civilians there, it will be away from the frontlines so we will not have to worry about them."

Patriot was surprised to hear about RI but then Amiya joined the conversation seemingly popping out from behind Aurelian. As soon as he laid his eyes on her, his Sarkatz heritage told him that before him there was none other than the lord of Fiends. In his mind, images of an apocalypse began to flash before his eyes, unspeakable horrors consuming Terra, the black crown eclipsing it all. His body screamed at him to move and strike the monster before him and he almost did but the visions continued. When the entire world was consumed by the black crown and everything went dark...the sun rose. A golden light banished the shadows, beneath the shadows cast by the black crown shards of light seemed to answer the sun's call. A spear of light shattered the black crown, splitting it apart and a single solemn strike unleashing a wave of radiance like nothing Patriot had ever seen.

The warrior took a step back almost alarming the Primarch who had cautiously raised his arm as if to catch him. The wendigo looked at Amiya and Aurelian almost with pity as he recalled the days when Reunion was still young and Legion shared some information on his family, about his sister Amiya and mother Kal'tsit. He had learned that those two were the leaders of RI after the fall of Chernobog. It would seem that a cruel fate was waiting for them, a destiny that would have one of the two fall by the hands of the other.

The leader of the guerilla recomposed himself, there was no need for him to intervene, after all, the vision had shown him that IF the black crown was to consume the world, someone would be there to stop it. But regardless of that vision, he was not a man to simply accept fate as it is and the same could be the same for those in front of him. So he chose silence believing that perhaps him not revealing his vision could be of use to avoid that destiny. A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.

Patriot looked at the Primarch and gave him a slight nod "Very well, there are supplies for the civilians in the warehouse of the station take them too."

"Thank you Patriot!" The leader of Rhodes Island spoke bowing her head a bit in sign of respect for the old man.

The wendigo did not reply, there was no need to.

"We have to cut off the energy supply to the Tower, the landship may have stopped but there are various ways it can control the city itself," Kal'tsit intervened as she approached the group with Doctor Croft behind her "The Chernobog administration was using the Sarcophagus as an energy source if we manage to shut it down, the tower will lost much of its abilities to control the city."

"I am aware mother, I already gave the task of shutting down the Sarcophagus to the Mechanicum," Aurelian replied causing his mother to frown a bit.

"If that is the case, I must go there immediately, they do not know what they are dealing with," She replied with a clear alarmed tone.

Aurelian gave her a nod and looked at one of his Astartes "Bring here a land speeder and someone who can drive it."

The Astartes nodded and immediately requested the vehicle to be sent to their location. With the first contact between the Legion and the Guerilla established, Capitan Ricardus finally decided to approach his Primarch while escorting Ch'en.

The Lung found herself in front of the giant who had slain so many Shadow Guards in Lungmen to protect the infected. His being was...overwhelming to say the least, even more than before. Nevertheless, she stared right in the eyes as she spoke the question that was consuming since she had seen those soldiers of his.

"What do you intend to do to Talulah?"

The Primarch's expression was impossible to read but Amiya felt a shiver down her spine as she felt but a fraction of the emotions of her brother. Rage, so much of it, denial, and grief at the mere mention of Talulah. The Cautus recalled his words to Skullshatter and his soldiers but she was not there to witness it. Those were the feelings of someone who felt betrayed. But as fast those came, they disappeared replaced by a strong sense of duty and need for justice.

"I will confront her and then I intend to capture her, bring her in front of a court of her peers and judge her for her crimes," He replied with absolute resolution "Her death is not in my interests."

Frostnova seemed to have a bittersweet smile when hearing those words while Ch'en's expression did not change as she remained serious.

"I too wish to confront her, it is my duty as an officer...and as her sister." She declared surprising most.

Aurelian remained impassive before giving her a single nod "Then we shall face her together, whoever has a score to settle with her will settle it today."

This statement was aimed at Amiya and Yelena today, basically telling them he would not deny them their closure with the Tyrant.

As the group spoke, the last of two companies of the Second Legion arrived and was ready to fully deploy. Talulah's faction was going to engage against thousands of Legio Astartes all equipped with top-of-the-line wargear and vehicles. Ignorance was the only reason that allowed those who stood at the Primarch's side to think that this was going to be a hard-fought battle, perhaps some of them were vaguely aware of the Astartes' capabilities. But the son of the Emperor knew that this was not going to fight...but a one-sided massacre and that he was about to unleash one of the most terrifying forces known to the Milky Way on Terra for the first time, deep in his heart, he was hoping his enemies would surrender before being in range of his legionnaires.

He activated his radio to give one of his final dispositions "To all units, surround and isolate the Control Tower, crush whoever does not surrender and send any survivor to the backlines."

As soon as he concluded, the engines of the Rhinos, Land Raiders, and Predators roared as they began their march towards the Control Tower accompanied by the heavy footsteps of the marines, terminators and dreadnaughts at their side. The Titans blared their warhorns shaking the very earth they walked on before moving in the direction of the imposing building that towered over the rest of the city.

---

Crowlslayer was tapping her foot nervously as she waited for the scouts to make their return to report to her what the hell was happening in the city. It had been hours and yet not a single one of them had returned. Her troops were starting to get anxious especially when from across the city echoed strange and very loud sounds. They were one of the few Reunion forces outside the tower's perimeter as they were responsible for recon and also were tasked with retrieving the second of Chernobog's keys, something that Patriot should have done but didn't due to his betrayal.

Suddenly, one of her soldiers came running from the main road, he seemed to be running for his life as he shouted at the top of his lungs "ENEMY SIGHTED! THEY ARE COMING! THEY ARE SO MANY! CASTERS! SNIPERS! QUICK!"

Crownslayer immediately got up and began producing her thick fog that so many times had hidden her and her troops. The soldier climbed on top of the barricades they had set up and embraced a crossbow. Crowslayer was going to oversee the defence of their point from the roof, She brought her walkie-talkie to her mouth and spoke.

"Whose forces are coming? Patriot's? Rhodes?" she asked.

"NEITHER! I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THEM! THEY ARE BIG! COVERED IN ARMOUR! I DON'T KNOW!" the sentry replied with a shakey voice.

The earth beneath them began to shake as Crownslayer narrowed her eyes as they landed on the incoming enemy. She too did not recognize the forces that had come to fight them. Several dozens of armoured soldiers were approaching the barricade accompanied by some sort of vehicles she had never seen. Suddenly they had stopped.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS NOW! SURRENDER AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO FIGHT! I REPEAT SURRENDER AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED FOR VIOLENCE! WE GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY!" One of the vehicles shouted through some sort of loudspeakers.

"Crownslayer! Your orders?" A soldier asked on the radio.

The Reunion ringleader remained cold as she brought her radio to her mouth "This is our city! Do not let them have a single inch!"

As soon as she spoke, her soldiers unleashed a barrage of arts and crossbow bolts. There was silence and then the sound of something of something mechanical moving.

BOOM

The barricade exploded with a single shot as the Predator tank shot one of its explosive rounds. Before the Reunion soldiers could begin to understand what was going on, bolter rounds and volkite beams began hitting them reducing almost everyone to either a pile of guts or ashes. Chaos immediately descended upon the Reunion troops as their best ally, Crownlayer's fog, turned its back on them. The Astartes helmet's infrared vision paired with their enhanced sight had completely nullified any advantage the fog could have offered, each shot they fired was one less enemy soldier.

Crownslayer watched in horror as her forces were torn to shreds in a matter of seconds, she was about to jump in to aid her forces when one of her officers pulled her away only to disintegrated by a Volkite beam fired by one of the Marines. She fell from the rooftop into the street hissing in pain but at least she was alive. She immediately tried to rejoin her force before seeing something that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

The casters and snipers were dead, and only her hounds and fighters were left, they held their positions behind cover readying their swords and machetes waiting for their enemy to come to them before jumping on them...But her eyes widened her horror when the armoured figures emerged from the fog wearing what seemed to be massive hammers, swords and chainsaws.

She grabbed her walkie-talkie wanting to order the surrender but it had broken during her fall. Her soldiers jumped out and immediately met death as they were hit with Thunder Hammers, sliced open with Power Swords and ripped apart with chainswords. Crownslayer let out a cry of anguish instantly catching the attention of one of the marines who immediately ran towards her with their swords in hand.

She opened a manhole nearby and jumped down before they could reach her. Crownslayer heard them talking about following her before consulting their command, they were told that it was probably not worthy to seek a single enemy in the landship's bowels and so they did not give her chase. The lupo woman dragged herself to the sewers, exiting at the city's side and left Chernbog forever.

---

Another zombified Sarkatz fell to the guns of the Mechanicum. The Titans they had used to escort the RI were no longer with them as they were sent to push the frontline but this did not mean that the Sons of Lucius and Mars were vulnerable.

The magos in charge of the operation had called to themselves the members of the Legio Cybernetica such as the Castellan, Domitar and Thanatar class robots.

The reinforcements were not needed but both the Primarch and Minerva had been clear in that regard, there was no such thing as overkill, they should have approached the objective expecting a resistance equal to them.

This of course was not the case, as the robots tore through the monsters raised by the occupants of the city but they were not going to question the Avatar of the Omnissiah.

Some of the tech-priest had noted that the monsters of the pack were getting stronger as they got closer to the energy source and their incursions more frequent.

But the might of the sons of Omnissiah eclipsed their enemies' and so they marched on with extreme prejudice.

Finally, they reached their objective, a big and relatively secluded building. The Thanatar robots could not fit inside so they were left outside along with several Skitarii squads to guard the building.

The rest of the forces entered, and as soon as they did several more corrupted Sarkaz attacked them. The narrow corridors were disadvantageous but it was already accounted for as the Tech-Priests had put the Castellan robots both in front and in the back of their formation allowing them to take the bulk of the attack and easily suppress it.

Once the pack was dealt with, the Magos and the Tech-priests began to wander inside the facility escorted by the Skirarii. They found themselves in some sort of office, with lots of computers.

The Tech-priests immediately connected themselves to the machines. Of course, they did not seem willing to collaborate denying them their rightful access. But the son of the Omnissiah was not going to be stopped by a simple wall of code, guided by their Omnissiah, they ripped open the gate and began accessing the data contained inside the computers, learning about their previous users and their research.

It became clear soon enough what they were looking for especially when the Magos accessed the lead scientist's computer. It was named Sarcophagus, a device capable of producing massive amounts of energy...although that wasn't its preliminary function. The energy produced to support a stasis chamber. It had been deactivated for a while after a certain purge but Reunion had reactivated it.

The Magos' systems started comparing it to the STC database...and found a match. They hummed in deep thought before looking at the Skitarii.

"We must go deeper..." they spoke walking away from the computer back into the corridor.

They called to themselves the other Tech-priests and moved deeper inside the facility. They met more infected sarkatz and disposed of them before finally reaching the final chamber.

The Magos approached the stasis chamber running their hands on its sides as their mechadendrites extended beginning to scan and probe the various systems of the machine. The Tech-priests began also run their diagnostics.

The Magos raised their hand "Cut off this system, we must take it to the Rinascita..."

The Skitarii nodded and requested the equipment needed to cut the building open. The Tech-Priest and the Magos and the other Tech-Priest delved into the digital realm of the machine losing their sense of time as they tore down each and every security protocol.

A land speeder arrived at the facility that housed the Sarcophagus, the vehicle landed allowing its occupants to dismount safely. Dr Kal'tsit and Dr. Croft were in shock to see the battle automatas of the Legio Cybernetica guarding the place but what was more curious was what the Skitarii were doing. Many of them were on the rooftop of the building cutting it open with a precise shape in mind. Others were basically throwing away pieces of the building and bringing inside all sorts of mysterious devices.

Kal'tsit immediately tried to enter but a group of Skitarii immediately blocked her path "Subject Identified. Affiliation: Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Company. Occupation: Doctor. Name: Kal'tsit. What Is Your Purpose Here?"

The Doctor seemed to be quite annoyed as she crossed her arms "I am here to stop the Sarcophagus, to do so, I must enter this facility."

"Access Denied. This structure has been sequestered by the order of Magos Argenta. None is authorized to enter this building." The Skitarii replied not moving an inch from where they stood.

"What?! Nonsense! This isn't even your city!" Doctor Croft protested raising her voice and regretting it immediately as a nearby Castellan robot turned to face her.

Kal'tsit considered bringing Mont3r out but she did not know what she was up against, so far, all the forces that Aurelian had fielded carried with them immense firepower and according to the reports, these forces in particular seemed to be the ones behind the giant mechanical titans that had recovered several Rhodes Island teams. If she could not enter the facility with her force she would have used her wits.

"Tell your superiors that I am one of the researchers who worked in this facility," She spoke crossing her arms.

The Skitarii remained silent for a few moments staring deeply into the two women's eyes before opening their ranks "The Magos wishes to speak with you,"

Kal'tsit nodded and grabbed Doctor Croft's arm before dragging her inside. The women saw, even more, Skitarii busy cutting off any wire connected to the Sarcophagus and hoarding the various computers of the facility seemingly preparing to leave it completely empty. In a corner, there were the bodies of the Sarkatz that had been turned into monsters by Talulah about to be burned with Prometheum. The Skitarii did not mind their presence as they kept diligently working on disconnecting the reason for the facility to exist.

"What do you think they are doing?" Doctor Croft muttered as she followed the other woman.

Kal'tsit did not reply and instead started walking faster and faster until the two of them were basically jogging. They reached the Sarcophagus' inner chamber finding the many tech priests busy disconnecting the machine very carefully. Magos Argenta was still connected to the machine through their augmentations. The Skitarii blocked the path to Kal and Croft again but this time only momentarily as the Magos disconnected themselves and turned to face her.

"A researcher of this relic of our shared past...Speak then," They spoke solemnly as the rays of the sun entered the room showing that the Skitarii had removed all the upper layers of the facility.

"What do you intend to do with the Sarcophagus?" She replied in a defensive tone.

The Magos seemed disappointed at the question "The monsters that this city is filled with, are a byproduct of a failed calibration of this relic. It is made for humans, to keep them alive and cure their afflictions. It is clear that this planet is not yet ready to wield such technology and so as the descendants of the makers of this machine, we are removing it from this location to be brought to our sanctum for further analysis in a safe environment."

"What? Descendants?" Croft asked confused.

Kal'tsit on the other hand, for the first time in a while, was at a loss on what to do. Her duty was to keep these sorts of things in check but even if she had intervened with Mont3r it would have been a wasted effort, she could not stop an army alone even as strong as she was and this was without considering she would have to protect the doctor from the crossfire. But the Magos was not wrong, the Sarcophagus was dangerous, if left alone, Ursus would find out that it could make itself an army of monsters to command using the infected and she knew very well they would take advantage of something like that.

"I answered your question, now answer mine, who was being kept inside this relic?" The Magos asked.

Doctor Croft took a step forward "I-I was..."

The Magos hummed "Show me your face..."

Doctor Croft complied removing her hood and mask revealing her long brown hair and amber eyes, there were no visible animal traits on her head "Does this suffice?"

Argenta nodded before turning around as The Skitarii brought it a similar device to the one in Peterheim, a teleport homer but this one was calibrated to take the area around itself to the Rinascita's massive cargo bay.

"Leave this place at once unless you wish to come with us in our holy sanctum..." The Magos spoke again as they and the other priests began making the final preparations to extract the Sarcophagus.

Kal'tsit turned around once again taking the doctor away with her.

---

W coughed up blood as she limped across the city streets beneath the control tower, a defeated smile crossed her cheeks while she used a wall as support. Her intention was to leave Chernobog and go back to kick Hoarderer's ass for having convinced her to join Reunion. She did not regret attacking Talulah alone, what she did regret was not having brought enough explosives for the job.

She chuckled darkly at that conclusion before noticing that the entire area beneath the Control Tower had been fortified. She raised an eyebrow at that and with an hiss she pushed herself off the wall and made her way to the rooftop of one of the buildings around her. She saw the Reunion troops and her former forces having entrenched themselves.

She frowned a bit before looking in the distance, more precisely at the rest of the city. She could hear the sound of heavy gunfire ringing in the distance accompanied by the sound...marching. She grabbed her rifle and looked down at its scope using its sights as a magnifier.

Aurelian stood proud in front of an army of armoured vehicles and massive soldiers sporting red and golden armour. At his side were Patriot, Yelena, Amiya and Ch'en. W looked around and saw that the army that he had brought had surrounded the Control Tower in all directions...What she failed to see were the Speculatores having set up various sniper nests basically putting every line of defence of the tower in their sights.

Things only grew worse when giant bipedal machines joined the ranks of the attacking army. The Sarkatz woman felt like she was in some sort of fever dream, she hoped it was but her eyes did not deceive her. Somehow, Aurelian had brought a massive army to stop Talulah and she had the sneaking suspicion that the fortifications set up by Reunion were not going to last long.

The entire city shook as the last line of defence of Reunion was employed, a sealing layer meant to cut off the Control Tower from the rest of the city. Rosmontis and Amiya were visibly concerned about it and were about to try to stop but The Primarch raised his hand stopping them. The sealing layer closed the access to the tower and its defenders roared as if they had won.

W was puzzled, the army Aurelian had brought was impressive to be sure but the sealing layer was a big obstacle, he would have needed a massive number of explosives to open a breach.

The Primarch seemed undisturbed as he took a few steps forward and looked in the direction of the reunion defenders.

"Soldiers of Reunion, the city you have occupied has been stopped in its tracks, your brothers and sisters who have surrendered were treated kindly and are currently in our custody. I came here offering the same thing I offered to your brethren back in Lungmen, a place to call home. Somewhere that no one but us has a claim to, somewhere where we do not need to fight to earn the right to exist. The infected have suffered for centuries at the hands of the nations, and no more. You stand before me, ready to lay down your lives for someone who would not do the same for you. I am in front of you, the one responsible to lead this army, the one who gives the orders! I am here with my men leading them into battle as a leader should! Unlike yours who watches from her ivory tower the lives of her men being extinguished by her enemies! The war is over, even if you managed to defend yourselves now, the Ursus army will soon notice that Chernobog has stopped, it will be a matter of time before they take back what's theirs and make you pay for daring to take it from their grasp. Even if you stand against me, I do not wish for you to waste your lives. Surrender peacefully now and I will personally see too that you will be treated fairly!"

There was silence, the infected among the defenders began whispering among themselves before being shut up by their officers. Despite how insane it looked, one of the officers ordered a sniper to fire a single shot. The crossbow bolt stabbed itself a few meters in front of Aurelian who sighed deeply before raising his hand.

A pair of Reaver Titans appeared far behind the main frontline, they were armed with Volcano Cannons and power rams. Leaving no time to waste, they began charging their cannons aimed at the sealing layer that was blocking off the entrance of the tower.

W widened her eyes as the sound of energy building up inside the titanic weapons grew louder and louder before...

A blinding light erupted from the cannon followed by a concentrated mid-frequency drone accompanied by a high-pitched crackling. The violent noise deafened all those who were not prepared for it.

When W regained her senses, she widened her eyes in horror when she saw that the sealing layer was not simply breached, it had been obliterated in a single devastating shot.

The defenders were...appaled. Their greatest defence was reduced in a molten slug just like that.

Aurelian spoke again having now shown both the carrot and the stick "I repeat! There is no need for further violence, surrender peacefully and I will guarantee you that you'll live to see another day!"

At that point, even W knew that fighting was a lost cause. She limped her way down the rooftop and was not surprised when she saw droves of Reunion soldiers heading towards the newly made entrance to surrender...but she then noticed something. Despite being quite numerous, the number of defenders hadn't decreased much.

She looked at her mercenaries who were surprised to see her still alive after Talulah had announced her death and one of them approached her.

"W...you're alive...to be honest, I would be more shocked if it wasn't for what had just happened," they admitted.

"The fuck are you waiting for...?" she cut him off shaking her fist "You want to die? Tell the others to get the hell out of this place before they vaporize you..."

"Talulah promised us a great war..." They replied a bit embarrassed.

"A war? Are you stupid?" she pointed at the two Reaver Titans in the distance "A war implies that the participants are equal, guess what? This is not a war! This is a one-sided massacre and we are on the wrong side! So let's move while we still can!"

The Sarkatz nodded and immediately went to tell the others. It did not take a lot of convincing, most of those present probably were going to have nightmares about the sound of annihilation that the Volcano Cannons produced.

They joined the surrendering infected as they marched out with their hands in the air...but then.

"Death to the infected!" someone shouted in a clear Ursus accent.

As soon as those words were spoken, the reunion troops who hadn't surrendered began launching attacks at their surrendering brethren much to everyone's shock.

The reaction was immediate, the surrendering troops began running for their lives towards the Astartes lines as the Second Legion unleashed hell on the fortifications of Reunion.

The Predators, Rhines and Land Raiders destroyed anything their sights landed on, the warhound titans blared their warhorns unleashing their megabolters and plasma annihilators. The Astartes began to rush the Control Tower running past the surrendering and unharmed reunion units. Aurelian and Legion Master were with them followed by the Frostnova and Patriot. Rhodes Island would have joined the charge but they decided to take it upon themselves to save the surrendering Reunion members especially when Amiya felt their fear when bullets started flying.

Just like W had predicted, the fight was a one-sided massacre. The Space Marines poured into the district beneath the tower and immediately engaged with the soldiers defending the area beneath the tower. Bolt rounds flew and raced through the air before embedding themselves inside the flesh of some unfortunate soldier before exploding leaving nothing of the body. Those foolish enough dared to attack the Space Marines in melee only to find themselves dead before they could even realize that they had been cut apart by their enemies.

Those even more foolish, thinking they might stop the battle charged the Primarch themselves only to be crushed underneath his shield or be impaled by his halberd. But most did not even get that far as they met their end after being hit by the power fists of the veterans terminators that accompanied the Primarch around or better yet were rushed into a fine red paste by The Legion Master's thunder hammer.

Amid this Chaos, Patriot and his guerillas had also started engaging their former comrades but it was then that a grim reality was revealed as Patriot impaled one of the defenders opening their jacket in the process and revealing the all too familiar uniform of the Ursus army. The Wendigo stopped and threw away the body from his spear kneeling on the other bodies and checking beneath their uniform...only to find even more Ursine uniforms.

Yelena came running to her father having just provided the Astartes with ice covers. She realized what her father was checking and was horrified when it dawned on her.

The people defending the control tower were not infected but Ursine soldiers who in an attempt to cause as much damage as possible had picked a fight with the legion, But why they were there? why they were wearing the Reunion's uniform? So many questions and yet not a single answer...only carnage.

It took less than an hour for the district to fall under the fury of the second legion. Very few had survived the massacre besides those who had surrendered. Amiya and the others arrived only to be met with streets filled with bodies and rivers of blood. A visage that caused many operators to violently throw up.

"These were not our comrades..." Patriot spoke in his low voice "These were Ursine soldiers posing as Reunion..."

Aurelian frowned at that notion but he knew that the only one who could answer for all of this was waiting on top of the Control Tower.