All he could see was destruction. Destroyed buildings, burnt out tanks, crashed aircraft, and the dead. It had been months since the Tryanids attacked. The planet was lost. For months the guard and PDF regiments held the xenos back, then he and his brothers arrived.

"Brother-captian Sydros, the xenos have nearly reached evacuation zone gamma. We are holding them but your skill is needed to ensure the citizens get away safely." one of his brothers said over the vox.

"I am on my way. I have found a guardsmen squad with heavy weapons, they shall assist us in repelling the xenos threat."

Cutting the vox link with his brothers, Sydros looked to the squad of guardsmen he had found in the ruins.

"Guardsmen prepare yourselves for combat, we are nearing the evacuation zone." Sydros told them.

"Yes my lord. MEN GET READY!" the leader of the squad shouted to his soldiers.

After several more minutes of running they reached their target. The evacuation zone was in the middle of a large courtyard, the defenses covering the outer edge indicated that this was once a outpost used by the guard.

Approaching the courtyard the guardsmen ran off to join the defenses on the walls, while one of Sydros's brothers came to speak with him.

"Captain, it is good to see you. Our defenses have held so far, but I fear they will fall during the next attack." his fellow marine said to him.

"Why do you believe this Sergeant?"

"The xenos attacks have been small, the attacks were most likely small groups that got cut off from the main horde and found us. In the last attack however the xenos were more coordinated. They know where we are, and I fear that this attack will destroy this position."

"Understood. Sergeant, get our brothers ready for a fight and tell the guardsmen to prepare. Their orders are to defend the civilians at all costs, we must ensure that they escape. We shall be leading the defense against the xenos, be ready for front line combat."

"Yes Captain."

Sydros watched as the Sergeant relayed orders. As everyone in the courtyard prepared for combat, Sydros was standing on one of the defensive walls, checking his weapons for the upcoming battle.

Looking over his weapons Sydros did a final check before the fighting began. His bolter was in good condition, only minor wear and tear from its extended use. His plasma pistol, having been unused so far, was fully charged and ready, as was the laspistol he was given by a guardsmen long ago. On his right hip lay his power sword, ready and prepared to kill the enemies of humanity. Finally, resting safely in its holster was a grav-pistol, a gift from a rouge trader for saving him from death.

"Captain Sydros, the guardsmen are ready."

"Good, and the civilians?"

"We have sped up the loading process, but I fear it wont be enough. Reports from the Crimson Rapier show the xenos horde less than 5 minutes out."

"Very well. Get ready for a fight."

Getting up from where he was resting Sydros began to move to the southern wall. While crossing the courtyard he couldn't help but look at the civilians who were being loaded onto thunderhawks. Watching their fearful faces get onto the aircraft, not knowing if they would ever return to their home, brought feelings of anger and sadness to him. Anger over the fact that he and his brothers were unable to keep their home safe. And sadness for all those who his brothers were unable to save.

Finally arriving at the southern wall Sydros looked around at the defenses. Turrets lined the top of the wall, mines and other obstacles placed outside the safety of the wall, and the guardsmen standing on the wall, ready to face the xenos.

Taking his position on the wall and voxing orders to his brothers, Sydros once again saw the faces of the brave men and women of the guard. And he prepared to rally them for their final battle. Taking his helmet off he prepared himself, his voice had to reach all 400 guardsmen on the defensive wall, and he would make sure it did.

"GUARDSMEN! I AM CAPTIAN SYDROS OF THE VOIDTREADERS SECOND COMPANY! OUTSIDE THESE WALLS THERE STANDS A XENOS HORDE OF UNKNOWN SIZE. THIS HORDE HAS LAID WASTE TO THIS CITY FOR THE PAST 2 MONTHS. AND THIS HORDE SHALL LAY WASTE TO THIS COURTYARD AS WELL. BUT! INSIDE THESE WALLS THERE STAND 1500 SCARED CIVILIANS, THEY DO NOT KNOW WHY THE XENOS ARE HERE, THEY DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE THEIR HOME, AND THEY DO NOT KNOW IF THEY WILL RETURN. AND THEY MAY NOT RETURN IN THEIR LIFETIME. BUT WE SHALL GIVE THEM THE CHANCE TO RETURN. WE STANDING HERE ON THIS WALL ARE THE FINAL LINE OF DEFENSE FOR THESE PEOPLE! IF WE FALL THEN ALL OF THEM SHALL DIE, NEVER TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES. AND IT IS OUR DUTY, NOT AS ASTARTES OR GUARDSMEN, BUT AS FELLOW HUMANS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE CHANCE TO RETURN! SO LISTEN CLOSE GUARDSMEN! YOU ARE NOT ASTARTES. NO, YOU ARE SOMETHING GREATER THAN US ASTARTES, YOU ARE BUT NORMAL MEN AND WOMEN, YOU FIGHT THE HORRORS OF THE GALAXY WITHOUT OUR EQUIPMENT, WITHOUT OUR STRENGTH, AND YET YOU PREVAIL. AND TODAY IS A DAY THAT YOU WILL PREVAIL! IT MATTERS NOT IF WE DIE, ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE BEHIND THIS WALL ESCAPE TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY! IF YOU WISH TO SURVIVE YOU MAY JOIN THEM, IF SO THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND ARMOR. BUT IF YOU DO NOT, THEN GRANT US ASTARTES THE HONOR OF DYING ALONGSIDE THE IMPERIAL GUARD! FOR WE WALK THE DARKNESS OF THE VOID SO THAT OTHERS MAY ENJOY THE LIGHT OF DAY!' Sydros's words reached across the entire courtyard, his speech rallying even the most scared of guardsmen.

Everyone guarding the defensive walls were ready when the xenos arrived. The moment they did the guardsmen started shooting. Lasbolts, bolts, and stubber rounds tore through the air to cut down the advancing Tyranids. But they kept coming. More and more charged down the street, only to come face to face with the mines. Dozens of Tyranids died when a mine went off, but they kept advancing.

"By the throne is there no end to them?!" yelled a panicked guardsmen.

"Hold guardsmen, it matters not how many there are, only that we keep the civilians safe." an Astartes told him.

Thousands of rounds had been fired, but the Tyranids finally reached the wall. Despite the best efforts of both the guard and the Astartes, the wall caved inwards, letting the Tyranids inside.

"BY THE THRONE THEY GOT I-"

"AGHHHH MY LEG MY LEG!"

"HELP ME, THERES SO MANY. NO GO AWAY STAY BA-"

"Throne dammit, FOR THE EMPEROR, FOR THE GOLDEN THRONE CHAR-"

"FALL BACK TO THE SECOND LINE. WE MUST HOLD THEM, THE CIVILIANS ARE NOT YET AWAY!"

The screams of zeal and pain mixed together as the first defensive line was overrun. With precision only hundreds of years of experience could provide Sydros picked off the most dangerous of the Tyranids with his bolter.

"Enter formation 3 brothers, we must buy time." Sydros said over his vox.

In seconds his brothers had formed a circle, no angle uncovered by a bolter, no gaps in the defense, perfect sight lines and overlapping fields of fire. Pulling back the Astartes wreaked havoc on the advancing Tyranids. Any who tried to attack the groups of Astartes directly were killed, and any who did not were put down in seconds under combined fire.

"This is brother Durios, second squad is pulling back from defensive point Juliet, the xenos have overrun the position, detonating charges." as the vox message finished the charges went off, killing hundreds of Tyranids. Just outside the blast radius of the charges were 6 marines, moving carefully yet quickly. Each marine scanning all around them, killing any xeno they saw before it got close. The way the Astartes moved seemed more fitting for the Tempestus Scions, not Astartes.

"MY LORD! THE TYRANIDS HAVE ATTACKED THE NORTHERN WALL, THEY ARE INSIDE AND NEARING THE THUNDERHAWKS, WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS!" a guardsmen screamed over the vox.

Without thinking twice Sydros and his squad charged towards the Thunderhawks, their only mission to save the civilians.

Bursting into the center of the courtyard and crushing a Tyranid with his weight alone, Sydros immediately went about killing the xenos that dared to attack the civilians.

However, there were too many. The guardsmen defending the Thunderhawks fought with the fury of an Astartes, but they were overwhelmed. His brothers, throwing caution to the wind, charged in with their chainswords to try and hold the xenos back. Sydros followed them with his power sword and bolter ready.

Dodging a claw swipe from one of the xenos he quickly spun on his leg and split the foul beast in two. Continuing his spin his sword caught another xenos in the face mid charge, cutting its head in two. Just then two xenos tried to claw his back, but Sydros managed to avoid their strikes. Quickly spinning he swung his sword at the xeno, the power behind his swing cleaving it in half.

Durios swung his arm towards the Tyranid in front of him, the chainsword tearing through the flesh of the beast. Durios quickly pulled his sword free and grabbed his bolt pistol and fired, blowing the head of another xeno apart. Turning with inhuman speed he slammed his blade into the head of a xeno, splitting it in two vertically. Before he could turn to engage a new target however, he felt a sting of pain in his right shoulder. Quickly turning around get crushed the head of a xeno, but his right arm was useless. Dropping his bolt pistol and switch his sword between hands, Durios was ready to face another xeno. Then everything stopped.

Sydros watched as one of his brothers was stabbed through the helmet, killing them. Quickly dodging yet another strike at him Sydros swung his power sword and once more cleaved a xeno in half. 3 more xenos attacked him at once, forcing Sydros to move backwards to avoid the claws. Before the xenos could react he swung his first outwards, crushing the skeletal structure of the weakest of the xenos, then swinging his sword he killed the other 2.

"YOU SHALL NOT GET PAST ME XENO, WE SHALL BOTH DIE HERE!" Sydros heard one of his brothers shout, before a krak grenade exploded, killing his brother and the xenos around him.

Turning back towards the xenos in a furious rage, Sydros charged forward with his sword drawn. Quickly cutting down 6 xenos in one swing he reached one of his falled brothers.

"I am in need of your blade brother Durios, forgive me for taking your weapon." Sydros said as he reached down and took the chainsword in his other hand.

Now swinging two blades instead of one Sydros cut through the xenos like scythe to wheat. Both swords flying through the air and meeting flesh, the chainsword rended the xenos apart with its spinning teeth, while the power sword bypassed the armor of the xenos and cleaved them in half. Suddenly, Sydros felt a pain in his abdomen. Spinning on the spot, swords armed, he tore a xeno in half. His HUD telling him that he had been stabbed through the chest. He acknowledged the information and went back to fighting the xenos, he had bigger things to worry about.

Sydros was starting to feel the fatigue, multiple wounds dotted his body, the wound in his chest bleeding. Sydros felt himself sink to his knees, and he was unable to get up. Looking around he saw the battlefield, all but 60 of the guardsmen were dead, 15 of his brothers had fallen. But there were much more dead xenos. He guessed, from his kills alone, that at least 400 lay dead in the courtyard. Unable to get up Sydros grabbed his bolter and took aim at the approaching horde. He couldn't do much, but anything he could do to save the civilians, he would do. Firing his bolter at the oncoming xenos he began to tear them apart. The bolts detonating inside the bodies of his foes.

For what seemed like hours Sydros was sat there, firing his bolter. That was until he heard a scream. The fearful scream of a young girl, no older than 7. Turning to the scream Sydros saw a young girl surrounded by xenos. He watched as one of the xenos prepared to jump at her, and he knew he couldn't do anything. His bolter's mag was empty. Watching the xeno attack Sydros felt something that he had only felt once before, he felt the rage of his Primarch when they watched a world burn.

His body rejuvenated, the pain gone, the slowness gone. He was standing and moving within seconds. The fury of his gene-father flowing through him, he had grabbed both his swords and had only one thing on his mind, the girls survival.

"I AM CAPTAIN SYDROS OF THE VOIDTREADERS SECOND COMPANY! I HAVE FOUGHT FOR HUMANITY FOR 500 YEARS, AND IN THAT TIME I HAVE FAILED TO SAVE MANY. BUT NOT TODAY FOUL XENO! TODAY THIS GIRL IS UNDER MY PROTECTION! THIS GIRL SHALL SURVIVE TO SEE THE END OF THIS DAY! FOR I AM THE ONE WHO WALKS THE VOID, AND I WALK THE DARKEST PATH SO THAT OTHER MAY LIVE IN THE LIGHT! IF I DIE, IT SHALL BE DEFENDING THE WEAK!" Sydros yelled out.

In seconds the xenos around the girl were dead.

"Go little one, I shall ensure you survive. Do not worry about me, it is my pleasure to die to save your life young one, now go. Escape this place and live your life."

Charging into the xenos horde Sydros fought with every amount of strength he had. Cleaving through 8 xenos in a single swing of his chainsword before bringing the power sword through another 6. Sydros was in this moment not a man or Astartes, in this moment he was a whirlwind of fury and death. Ten, twenty, thirty, the number of dead xenos kept climbing. He felt his muscles burning, his wounds screaming out in pain. But he dared not stop for a single moment, for if he did then the girl would die. A xeno attacked him from behind, stabbing him in the chest again, only to then get ripped in half.

Finally Sydros felt the exhaustion catch up to him as he fell to the ground. Looking up he saw the girl board the final Thunderhawk, and he watched it fly off into the sky. Sydros could only breath a sigh of relief, the girl had survived. Looking around him, Sydros saw the aftermath of the battle. 19 of his brothers laid dead, all but 5 guardsmen were dead.

"My lord, its alright now my lord. The civilians escaped. You can rest now." he heard the voice of a guardsmen. Turning to look he saw the surviving 5 approaching him.

"Guardsmen, what is your name?" he asked.

"Gideon my lord."

"Gideon, you did well today, I saw you fight, all of you. I have but one dying wish."

"What is it my lord?"

"Brothers, I have found 5 worthy of becoming Voidfollowers. They are at evacuation zone gamma. My final orders are to ensure that they survive to get off this planet."

"My lord what is your wish?"

"You 5 have proved yourselves, not just in combat, but in your hearts. It takes a courage to stand to be willing to die for no other reason than to ensure that innocents live. I see you as worthy of become like me, of becoming Voidfollowers."

"M..my lord. We can't possibly be wort-"

"You are worthy, you all are. My final wish, is for you to become protectors of the weak. To become Voidfollowers. To walk through the darkness of the void like I do, to become a Voidtreader. Grant me this final wish."

"We shall my lord, you can rest now."

Sydros smiled. He had found those worthy of walking the void alongside his brothers. But Sydros would not rest yet. He would not rest until his brothers arrived.

When his brothers finally arrived Sydros watched them assist the guardsmen onto the transport. Sydros watched as an Apothecary approached him.

"He is too far gone Captain, he is one with the void now." the apothecary said, in a saddened voice.

Sydros could only smile, he had done his duty. He had did it well. For 500 years he protected humanity, for 500 years he served the Emperor.

Finally things went black. Then nothing.

Until he heard a voice.

"My son, it is not yet time for you to join me. After all you have done for humanity, you receive no reward but death. It is not right. I will not allow this. You shall not die here, I shall ensure that. I only hope that you can find peace and finally gain what you fought so hard to protect. Goodbye."

Was the Emperor talking to him? But why? He knew the Emperor was not a god. So why? Ah, it must be what the Emperor wanted him to gain. Peace? Yes he would be fine with that. 500 years of fighting would make anyone weary, but he knew that in order to gain that peace he would have to fight, and he was ready to fight.

He awoke to see trees around him. Green trees and grass all around. Quickly sitting up he checked his armor over. No damage. Odd, did the Emperor repair his armor for him? He accepted that gift with gratitude. Checking his equipment again he found that only the damage was restored. His armor was still covered in blood and his ammunition was still depleted. But he did find Durios's sword in his hand.

Standing up he began to check his surroundings. Where he was had a breathable atmosphere, his sensors informed him, and he knew there was plant life. Looking around for any signs of civilization, he found nothing. After walking for half an hour he found a small stream. Deciding to follow it down towards civilization, hopefully.

As he was walking he couldn't help but take in the sights around him. The trees were lush and green, the air was clean. The only sound was that of the stream flowing and the songs of birds. This was new to Sydros, but it was not at all unwelcome. After some time walking Sydros decided to take a rest, his muscles and body still ached from the fight. Finding a suitable tree he laid his back up against it, his body falling to sleep.


For the first time in months Sydros had a proper rest. Standing up he could see dew on the leaves and grass, indicating that it had rained. After checking over his equipment once again he found a few items he had forgotten he carried. Key among them being extra ammunition, his medical supplies, and some of his forging tools.

Getting up and once again following the stream Sydros, for the first time in decades, let his mind wander. The peaceful forest was one of unmatched beauty in his eyes. For 500 years he had been fighting, there was little chance for rest. To be sent here, to a place so peaceful, it was odd to him. He was thankful that the Emperor had sent him here, but it was still odd to him. His entire life was spent fighting, his earliest memories of childhood were in the lower deck fighting arenas. The peace of this place was something foreign to him, something alien. But not something he was against, in fact he relished in this peace. This was what he had spent his life fighting for. A future where people no longer needed to live in fear, a future where humanity was at peace. A future he never thought he would see, but one he was more than willing to give his life to ensure it came about.

A scream. He heard the scream of a young woman downstream. Breaking away from his thoughts Sydros began to run full speed towards the scream. Bursting from the treeline he saw a woman with black hair and a white cloak on being attacked by a man with dark red clothing and a pure white mask on his face, and a man with a... scorpion tail. He did not know what had started this fight, but he could tell from just a glance, the woman was an honest and righteous soul. Someone who would lay down their life for another, no matter how weak. He smiled, he had found another worthy of walking the path of the void. But the other two, the white mask, he was a soul that killed the innocent for thrill. And the scorpion, that THING was not a human at all, it was closer to a daemon. A being that not only enjoyed but RELISHED in suffering and pain.

Sydros raised his bolter to fire at the white mask, firing at the scorpion had the potential to over penetrate and hit the woman, he pulled the trigger right as the woman was stabbed. The bolt flew true through the air and struck the white mask in the spine. He noted that the bolt faced some resistance before striking, potentially some form of shielding. But the bolt still hit, and blew the mans chest apart.

But before he could fire of the scorpion it disappeared into a portal. He would have tried to follow it, but the woman was hurt and potentially poisoned. He rushed over, grabbing his medical kit, to help her. Reaching where she lay he got to work. After a difficult battle, especially the poison, he managed to stabilize her. It was then he noted her eyes, her eyes shone a bright silver, the purest of colors. A pure color for one pure of heart and soul.

Perhaps this new world would not be without need of his skills yet.