"Umm…how bad is it?"

"WE'RE FUCKING DYING OVER HERE!"

As if the universe wanted to drive the point home, a salvo of plasma and missiles fired by the Tau tore into the forward element of the battlegroup directly in front of Laura. The Chimeras, King Russes and Falcons at the forefront were obliterated, torn apart in blooms of scything inferno. See, Laura like watching shite burn, but it was less than pleasant when it's her side getting scorched.

"Holy shit Lita, what did you do dude?!" Henry bellowed across the intercom, and Laura can just vaguely see flashes of the King Ghidorah's guns on the far right flank. "All batteries concentrate fire on every large target in sight, bring them down!"

"She did what she was supposed to!" Damien came to Lita's defense. "We took out the Chaos forces occupying the Solarium and destroyed their leader. It's just that the ending was not the one we were expecting."

"Kindly define 'not the one we were expecting'," Erik, hunkered inside a hazardous, half destroyed bell tower looming over the mass of ruin Laura and the Sororitas and the Aeldari were currently occupied, asked politely but with bite. Bullets, las, shurikens, pulse, meltas and plasma strobe violently across the eight hundred yard no man's land until it felt like they were stuck in the middle of a kaleidoscopic meteor shower.

"Well, instead of fading back into the Warp like he was supposed to the maestro, that's the Chaos daemon we fought, somehow redirected the raw, concentrated Warp juice inside the Solarium to the main frontline," Lita made her explanation. "From what we've seen, I think this was a deliberate undertaking and not some last ditch effort to screw us over."

"So the Solarium was a trap," Yuki growled, teeth barred as she peered over their cover to glare across the battlefield. "They sacrificed one front for the sake of another."

"If I was to make an educated guess, the maestro's true objective was to turn himself into a vessel for the Chaos energy, using the audiences in attendance to amplify and siphon the Immaterium into the world," Lita went on. "And when I told Damien to kill him, poof, all those stored up energy went elsewhere. Sorry to ask, but, how bad are things on your front?"

"It's not enviable, to put it lightly," Laura sighed in relief when the surviving vanguard shambled back across no man's land and into friendly territory. And bringing up the rear, sword brandished high in the air as he directed the Chimeras and Falcons carrying the wounded to safety, was general Bendik of the Cadian 101st, he and his regiment were covering the retreating battlegroup, taking heavy fire from the Tau gun emplacements and getting mauled pretty badly by pursuing Chaos daemons that looked like oversized Pitbulls with heads of Great White sharks. "Aww shit! Talk to you later Lita, I got some heroic shite to do!" Leaping out of cover, uncaring of the bullets whizzing around her head, Laura waved at the Sisters of Battle, Howling Banshees and guardsmen in sight. "Get off your arses people, the 101st need our help! Let's fucking go!"

As always, Yuki matched pace with Laura, the pair thundered across the blasted field like the badarse heroines that they were, and behind them rousing roars heralded the tempo of pounding boots. Glancing back, Laura grinned when she saw Leilatha and Krillen leading a company of Cadian 89th after her, accompanying them were Miriya's Celestian, Firnera's Banshees and a myriad of other Battle Sisters and Aeldari.

"In the name of the Emperor, let none survive! Give them hell people, fuck them up!" Laura let loose a barrage of red hot laser at a couple of leaping daemon dogs, their shredded corpses careened to the ground with wet, sizzling splashes. After taking a few pot shots at the Tau in the distance, Laura turned to Bendik's rumbling King Russ and waved at the Cadian general. "You doing okay Bendik?!"

"I'm doing just fine lady inquisitor, thank you for asking!" Bendik quickly put his sword away and grabbed the twin heavy bolters atop the hatch, swung it at the wall of pursuing daemons and cultists, and went full auto on them. Mist of gore exploded brilliantly. "You have my deepest thank for your timely assistance!"

"Get everyone to the ruin Bendik," Laura waved him back, the Cadian general saluted, and the King Russ rolled slowly toward the battlegroup's defensive line. It was an orderly retreat, but way too slow for Laura's liking. "Move the fuck out people, let's go!" Blasting a couple of daemons that made the fatal decision of getting too close to her and Yuki, Laura narrowed her eyes at the raging firefight and growled. "Oh, blast it all to hell – oi! Minka! Stop being a fucking hero and get your arse over here!"

Okay, so maybe calling out someone's name in the midst of battle wasn't such a hot idea, because the moment the 101st captain spun around she was bulled to the ground by a hound daemon, who wasted no time mauling her. Lieutenant Dido, Minka's best buddy, was leaping in to help when another daemon jumped her, teeth gnashing at her lasgun and slobbering her with blood and saliva. Laura and Yuki dashed to the rescue, the British inquisitor and the Japanese exarch was a blur as they closed in on the daemons. The one with its claws lodged in Minka's flak armor was cut to bloody ribbons by Yuki's twin eldar katanas, while the snarling beast trying to devour Dido was decapitated by Laura's super accurate hellgun laser, spraying the lieutenant with thick gush of steaming viscera.

"You injured Dido?!" Laura hefted the lieutenant up and together sprinted after Yuki and the limping Minka.

"Thankfully no lady inquisitor, you have my deepest gratitude," Dido tossed away her mangled lasgun and flashed a smile at the British inquisitor. Damn, she really reminded Laura of Noi from Dorohedoro, if Noi was short. "I would've been dead if you didn't make the safe. By the God Emperor, I am one lucky girl!"

"Yep, no argument there!" Laura winked at Dido, because according to the Black Library canon the Cadian lieutenant was already dead at this point. But being the paradigm breaking arseholes that they were, the Immortal Spirit battlegroup had considerably diverged from the established lore, with one of the side effect being that many of the canon 40k characters, like the Valhallan and the Antari, were saved from the whim of kill happy authors, bloody hell, if only they had met Gaunt and the Tanith too. As they neared the battlegroup controlled zone, Laura pointed forward. "You might want to give Minka a hand Dido, her luck's kinda screwy today."

"Oh shit, Minka!" Dido sprinted for Minka, the captain had her arm draped across Yuki's shoulder, blood ran in worrying rivulets down her torso. Minka squawked in pain when Dido took her other arm, and with Yuki practically carried her into cover. "By the Throne, how bad is it?! Medic!"

"It's just a scratch Dido, don't worry about it," Minka's abysmal poker face crumbled into rictus pain as Yuki propped her against a chewed up wall, Dido going a few shades paler when it became evident how bad the injury was. "I'll be fine."

"Bro, you're bleeding gallons all over the place," Yuki deadpanned, and although the statement was hyperbole things looked decidedly dicey for Minka. Glancing around, Yuki held up her hand and waved vigorously in the air. "Verity! Alnelle! Get over here, we have a priority patient! Move it!"

Verity and Alnelle slipped in beside Minka and quickly divest her of the flak armor and soaked uniform, the captain started blushing when more main characters gathered around her.

"Another scar to add to the collection Minka?" Krillen winked dashingly at Minka before bracing his lasgun on a destroyed window sill and started trading shots with cultists that had followed them across no man's land.

"How badly hurt is she?" Miriya asked as she sent a burst of bolts at a horned daemon stomping wildly toward them, the torso and the head exploding in brilliant gouts of gore.

"I can heal her easily," Verity smiled calmingly at Minka, her medical gauntlet whirled and clicked as a sharp nozzle fixed itself above the hospitaller's fist. "You have three deep incisions running down from your armpit to your hip, don't worry, we'll patch it up in a moment."

"Thank you," Minka nodded and barely stifled a scream when Verity applied the healing solution. Dido was beside her in an instant, wrapping the captain's hand up in her own, both squeezing tightly, "fucking God Emperor that hurts!"

"This wouldn't have happen if you were clad in venerated ceramite armor, captain Minka," Miriya went on, causing Minka to look sharply at the Celestian Battle Sister. "Perhaps you would reconsider our offer. We are always looking for good woman to join the Martyred Lady."

"I am humble by your offer, sister Celestian, but my answer remain the same," Minka held her gaze on Miriya's helmed face, the visage unchanging and unfriendly as Alnelle bind her wound. "I was born a Cadian, and I will die a Cadian, uniform and all."

"That wish may come true sooner more than later, captain," Miriya's pitying tone was poisonous. "Very well then, I shall respect your choice, but remember that the offer remains, if you ever change your mind."

"Really Miriya? Fucking really?!" Laura snapped at Miriya as Prassan, Viktor, and general Bendik rushed to check on Minka. "You're poaching guardswoman fucking now?! I mean, shit, this isn't exactly an appropriate moment!"

"Being offer a place amongst the Adepta Sororitas will always be an appropriate moment, lady inquisitor," Miriya huffed and reloaded her Godwyn bolter, "besides, I foresee a very busy future for us."

"Nah dude, we've just beaten them back," Yuki pointed her katana at the dwindling cultists now running back to the walls, weapons cast aside to assist with the speed of their flight.

"That's a negative Yuki," Erik, moving silently like a freaking ninja, slipped in beside Laura, causing the Cadian main characters to squawk in surprise at his sudden appearance. "Because if my eldar eyes are correct, and they always are, then I believe the walls and watchtowers are coming for us."

"Bullshit, your elven eyes are fucked Legolas," Yuki squinted her eyes across no man's land, and despite the rhythmic quaking she cannot get any visual confirmation. "This is why you use a scope instead of an iron sight, like Nikki."

"High Ranger Erik speaks true, lady exarch," Firnera pulled a binocular away from her Banshee helm and handed it to Miriya. "The Hive City defensive structures are indeed moving, more importantly they're moving toward us."

"See, what did I say?"

"Oh, so that's happening to you guys too?" Lita deadpanned across the intercom the same moment Yuki smacked Erik upside the head.

"Please elaborate lady Warseer," Galatea joined them, behind her rolled a formidable complement of Castigator tanks, Exorcists, King Russes and several Aeldari Scorpion super heavy tanks, armed with big arse Suncannons and Phantom Missile Launchers. As the Immortal Spirit war machines arrayed themselves into an imposing firing line, it was becoming more evident that the Hive City's walls, towers and several adjacent buildings were on the march, the tempo of their footfall muting all other sound. "You have fought these abominable monstrosities before?"

"The residential corridor leading to the Solarium attacked our column," Damien now said. "When we killed the maestro, everything went quite on our front, looks like whatever energy that was used to animate the buildings had been funneled into the Hive City. Again, our bad, we didn't know this would happen."

"You can make amend by telling us how to the kill them, Brother Captain," colonel Min-Jae, and pretty much most of the main characters, took up positions around the foremost defenses. "Are they susceptible to our armament?"

"Oh yeah, las, bolts and lasers kill them easily enough, that's how our column got through in the first place," Lita went on. "So yeah, since all of you are fighting on an open field, you guys should be able to take them down without much of a problem, considering you have heavy artilleries and air supports at your beck and call."

"I appreciate your intel, lady Warseer, but pardon my manner, you only fought homes and shops at the Solarium," colonel Joanna piped up, not looking too thrill at the new wave of enemies lumbering across no man's land. "We on the other hand, are fighting things made specifically to deter heavy weapons, so yeah, we're in for one hell of a fight."

"Good luck then," Damien offered, heartfelt but not exactly helpful. "We're consolidating our losses and reforming our formation. We'll resume the attack in ten minutes, hang in there guys and give them hell!"

"Yo, what the fuck is this I'm hearing about you guys fighting walking walls and towers and shits?" Tangmo's voice blared across the intercom after Damien cut his transmission.

"We're fighting walking walls and towers and shite mate," Laura couldn't stop herself from grimacing when the hulking buildings broke apart into separate gargantuan entities, the detail growing more horrific in clarity. Orifices filled with jagged, needle sharp fangs, a mixture of the biological and the manufactured, studded the walking buildings at random intervals, the sizes and shapes varied without any clear pattern or reason. What looked to be legs, or appendages that passes for legs, multi jointed and arachnoid in crookedness, propelled their gigantic masses forward with precision and speed. And to top things off, talon arms and tentacles and guns, heavy artilleries of both the Imperium and Tau persuasion, were decked out across the daemon possessed buildings, because why the fuck not? "Bloody fucking hell, you gotta be shitting me! Hey Tangmo! How the fuck did you manage to take down all those Imperator Titans again?"

"A fuck ton of Destoroyah cannons and air support, but from the details streaming in I don't think knocking these fuckers down would do the trick," Tangmo said. "Christ almighty on a pogo stick, they're basically fucking mutated Titans."

"So what in the fuck are we suppose do to?" Laura pressed on.

"Lay everything on them, that's the only advice I can give you dude, your frontline have the heaviest concentration of troops," Nikki now added. "Juna and Sulla are just about done arguing, after Raine and Cain themselves are done arguing, we should be able to move out soon and engage the western flank. That should divert some attention away from you guys."

"We really appreciate that Nikki, thank you, I'll see you guys in a bit" Erik nodded and shouldered his sniper rifle, looking both grim and cool as he stared down the nearing buildings, which were now roaring at the battlegroup and letting loose their guns, the shells and bullets were not hitting them for the moment but that was hardly reassuring. The Anguirus howitzers were launching counter salvos when Erik glanced at the main characters. "How do we proceed?"

"With overwhelming firepower," Morelia sneered at the walking buildings with absolute disgust before tapping the side of her helm. "This is canoness Morelia, have every artillery piece concentrate fire on the approaching abominations, unleash the God Emperor's wrath upon them, nothing can withstand the fury of His holy armaments!"

"This is inquisitor Laura, be advised that you're shooting at literal walking walls and towers and gatehouses," Laura added, because Morelia's declaration was kinda light on the details. "High explosive and armor piercing rounds please, let's see if we can crack these bastards open."

Gloriously epic thunders rumbled from behind the frontline, the pounding symphony of shells and missiles rising in octave and tempo as streamers of fire cleaved through the air, the Garuda ordnances painted the smog choked sky with lances of burning light. Explosion erupted across the monstrosities of flesh and concrete, unnamable chunks of scorching blobs rained in great splatters across no man's land, and like every fucking Godzilla, Gamera and Ultraman movie, the Chaos kaijus turned out to be very durable, to an offensive degree. Flame wreathed the reanimated gargantuans, every explosion sending big bloody pieces sky high, but beside pained roars the sons of bitches were not slowing down. The tanks were opening fire when a puff of wind blew across Laura's back, soft silver light suddenly bathing the ruin around them.

"Hey Celestine," Laura spun around and the Living Saint nodded sharply, the winged woman was grim in countenance as she glared at the Chaos kaiju Titan hybrids. "I was wondering where you went, so…any idea on how to bring those wankers down?"

"Our weapons are taking too long," Celestine said as Aeldari lasers tore into a nearing watchtower on insectoid legs, the concentrated prismatic beams cut deep, gushes of black ichor flew in great steaming arches, but besides getting staggered it was undeterred in speed and trajectory. Voicing a prayer to the God Emperor, Celestine unfurled her wings and braced her legs, behind her Greyfax's eyes widened in shock. "I shall do what I can lady inquisitor, keep up with the bombardment."

"Are you crazy woman?! Sit your arse down!"

"Attacking them directly will not yield the result you want, Celestine."

Laura was about to tackle Celestine in a desperate bid to stop her from committing martyrdom when Isha, still clad in her battle raiment of silver and flanked by Celalira and Elnys, the handmaiden now wearing a Dire Avenger armor, laid a gentle hand on the Living Saint's shoulder. To the startlement of all, Celestine folded her wings with a reluctant grunt.

"They need to be stop," Celestine waved the Ardent Blade at the Chaos fueled monsters, the battlegroup's barrage was intensifying, the night banished by unceasing explosion, yet it did little to slow the gargantuans down. "And I have the power and the means to destroy them, nothing of Chaos can withstand the Ardent Blade."

"You are powerful Celestine, but it is not enough," Isha pleaded and Celestine only growled lowly, having no respond to the goddess's observation. "Please, do not throw your life away needlessly."

"And I suppose you have a plan?" Greyfax snapped harshly at Isha, drawing immediate ire from Elnys who, with no subtlety displayed, angled her shuriken catapult at the lady inquisitor. She paid the handmaiden no mind. "Because if you have nothing constructive to add, your eminence, then I suggest you retire to the rear and wait there until you are needed."

"I can slow the abomination down, long enough for the battlegroup to retreat or redeploy to a more advantageous position," Isha responded with surprising iron before Celestine can reprimand Greyfax for her rudeness, but Laura noticed how the goddess's brave façade was already cracking. Taking a deep breath, Isha pressed on before Greyfax can get a word in. "You will achieve nothing by attacking the monsters head on. The only way to stop the Chaos spawns is to destroy the nexus of power that is fueling them."

"Do you know where this nexus is?" Celestine asked.

"Close, just within the outer layer of the Hive, creation of that size need energy of massive quantity and a quick route of delivery," Isha tried her damndest to stand on her toes to get a better look, and frowned in frustration. "I…can't be sure of the exact location though, it's kind of hard to see from here."

"Is the nexus a churning vortex bleeding unidentifiable radiation and energy?"

A strange unfamiliar voice blared across the intercom, stopping Greyfax from parting more mean words at Isha. Laura, her mates, and the main characters all traded looks of abject confusion before glancing around the defenses for the woman who had just spoken, only to be met with shake of heads and shrugs.

"Umm…who the hell is this?" Yuki tapped the side of her Aeldari mempo helm. "Identify yourself, who the fuck is this?"

"Commander Shadowsun," the unknown speaker made her identity known, causing quite a ruckus amongst the main characters, surprised and alarmed in equal measure.

"How did you get a hold of this frequency?" Laura demanded. "This is the battlegroup's private channel."

"It wasn't hard lady inquisitor, Imperium technology is not immune to advance algorithmic infiltration," Shadowsun went on with clear amusement. "But I believe there are more pressing matters at the moment? I will repeat, is this nexus a vortex of violent, churning energy that is both unreadable and unknowable?"

"You got that right Shadowsun," Laura looked up, trying and failing to find the Tau commander. "The energy will be on a proto tachyonic radiation gradient, similar but unidentifiable on all available databases."

"I have found the nexus," Shadowsun made her confirmation. "It's on a square situated two kilometers from where the gatehouse used to be. From my reading it is surrounded by many people, all of them arrayed in precise geometric pattern…an eight pointed star I believe."

"Pretty fucking unoriginal, but yes, that's the fucking nexus," Laura's toned immediately changed from bitter suspicion to sweet friendliness, lashes fluttering as she coyly wringed her hands in a dainty display of affection, earning chuckles from the guardsmen and roll of eyes from the Sororitas. "My dear commander Shadowsun, can you please destroy the nexus? We would truly be indebted to your unbound kindness."

"Since you have ask so nicely, I shall see it done," Shadowsun was more than obviously smiling when Laura saw a streak of brilliant blue light cutting through the smoke and fire, flying easily above the walking buildings and toward the Hive itself. "Stand by lady inquisitor, and please don't shoot my soldiers."

Laura was about to question what Shadowsun meant when rumbles of jet engines rolled across the battlegroup's defensive line and a Crisis Battlesuit landed, with surprising softness and accuracy, a few paces behind her and Yuki. Within moment hundreds of the Tau apex war machines were descending from the sky and mingling with the humans and eldars, their gigantic, and very cool, futuristic guns trained unwavering on the nearing Chaos powered buildings.

"Hello, hi! Nice to meet all of you! Welcome!" Yuki waved friendly at the Battlesuit closest to them and the war machine responded with a polite nod. "Look, not that I don't mind you and your friends being here, we actually really appreciate it, but shouldn't you guys be with Shadowsun?"

In answer the Battlesuit raised his ion cannon at the Hive City, the same moment a brilliant multi-color explosion erupted in great fiery plumes across the heretic's defenses, a tidal wave of flames that devoured infantries and tanks with brutal indiscrimination. The inferno tsunami was so fucking bright that Laura had to turn away and titled her awesome inquisitor hat down to shield her eyes.

"Uh…anybody got eyes in the sky?" Laura blinked several times until she stopped seeing double, even then she can't look directly at the raging conflagration, the blazing hue sickly and eldritch. "Bloody hell that was beautiful, but I need to know if Shadowsun got out alive."

"Yes she did," Erik pointed excitedly at a bright blue plume streaking toward them like a comet. "I don't need scope or iron sight to see who that is!"

Waving their hands vigorously in the air, Laura and Yuki and Erik hollered loudly as Shadowsun made a beeline for them, the Tau commander also taking this opportunity to show off a bit by performing unnecessary, but spectacular, loops and dashes before making her final approach.

"Never took her for a showoff," Yuki muttered as Shadowsun slowed her descent, her jet thrusters shining a radiant azure, highlight the brilliant white armor covered in battle scars, old and recent, the Tau commander was majestic and badarse in equal measure.

"Yeah, and she's very good at it too," Laura nodded appreciatively as Shadowsun came to hover in front of them. Her many weapons sliding back into places, Shadowsun at last deactivated the thrusters and landed in front of Celestine, a challenge sent indiscreetly to the Living Saint. Now clad in her war gears Shadowsun was of height with Celestine, the two warrior women squaring up against each other. Seriously, Laura loves a catfight as much as the next girl but this was hardly the time or the place, so she nudged Yuki in the rib and took off. "Let's go make sure they don't start rolling in the mud."

"Shame," Yuki pouted and swiftly slid in between the Living Saint and the Tau commander with Laura, both the Japanese exarch and the British inquisitor were smiling brightly. "Commander Shadowsun, a pleasure to have you with us. Did you cause that explosion all by yourself?"

"I did, lady exarch," Shadowsun tapped the side of her helmet, causing the sleek metal to slide open to reveal her face and – goddamn it, really? Did she really need to swing her tight ponytail around like a freaking L'Oréal commercial?! Sure, it was hot as hell, and if they weren't being attack by kaiju size Chaos powered buildings Laura and Yuki would be swooning, but holy fuck, Shadowsun was really going out of her way to grate Celestine. Brushing a stray hair from her face, Shadowsun stabbed her thumb backward. "Now we need to destroy those monsters."

"Oh right, totally forgot about those arseholes," Laura stuck her tongue out goofily and shifted her attention back to no man's land, and let out a joyous whoop when she saw that the Chaos powered buildings had stopped their advance, and that's not best part, because the fuckers looked to be dying. Deprived of the nexus, the gigantic monstrosities heaved and shuddered in agony, torrents of rotting ichor poured from every orifice. "Holy fucking shit! This is inquisitor Laura, fire everything! Bring those motherfuckers down! Open fire!"

Laura and the main characters were thrown off their feet by the combined firepower of the Imperium, the Aeldari and the Tau's heavy guns, the world torn asunder in kaleidoscopic shells, lasers, plasmas, meltas and missiles, the reverberating thunder of vengeful weaponries rocking the earth and the heaven. The gargantuan kaiju buildings, evil construct twisted and fueled by the unholy power of Chaos, can no longer withstand the attack, they howled in pitiful agony, appendages and limbs raised in futile desperation as fiery explosions tore them apart, humongous chunks of bleeding concretes tumbled to the ground in great churning plumes, bodies of men and Tau and daemons fell through the air in great cascading mass, adding another layer of scream to the cacophony.

"Holy shit, it's like the end of Godzilla mate!" Laura cackled loudly when she sprang back on her feet, just in time to see two Garuda missiles lanced straight into a walking watchtower, roiling torrents of fire bursting out of its back, the payloads nearly bisecting it in half. The creature was titling with a tortured groan when a swarm of Phantom missiles ripped it to flaming shreds, the sort of coup de grace that deserves a chef kiss. "Yeah, die you fucking cunt!"

"Hey! This is nothing like Gojira you philistine!" Yuki snapped crossly at Laura.

"I meant the shitty American Godzilla love, settle down," Laura rolled her eyes with a grin as more and more of the monsters, indomitable just only moments ago, were getting buried under the battlegroup merciless barrage, some of the poor bastards were actually trying to flee, with the expected hilarious result. "Ha! Look at them go! Fucking weak arse bitches! Seriously, how the fuck did the table turned this badly for them?"

"Without the nexus, they have lost their unnatural durability and healing ability, while also robbing them of the energy for locomotion. They are, as you human put it, a sitting duck, yes?" Isha spoke up, earning a nod from Laura for the correct use of the idiom, before turning to Shadowsun with a smile, and bowed. "Thank you commander Shadowsun, your exemplar display of bravery have won us this battle."

"Thank you your eminence, but I am afraid the battle is far from over," Shadowsun said grimly and returned her attention to no man's land, to the bare defenses of the Hive City, where tanks, foot soldiers and Chaos spawns of varying sizes were now gathered, guns and talons brandished, humans, Tau and daemons forming a new wall for the battlegroup to content with, this one made of flesh. No more cheeky playfulness, Shadowsun tapped her neck armor and the sleek helmet reformed over her head, the cyclop eye glowing red. "Paxish's corruption and influence goes beyond even my worse estimation. The fighting will be hard, long and bloody."

"We are in agreement on that at least," Celestine slide majestically in besides Shadowsun, the Tau commander and the Living Saint traded nods, respectful and without guile. "Does Paxish's army shares similar armament to your troops?"

"They do," Shadowsun said, her tone begrudging and unhappy, "but in greater numbers than mine, five to one to be precise. Bless my luck the Immortal Spirit battlegroup have since bolstered our ranks."

"The God Emperor help his warriors in strange ways sometime," Celestine grinned and turned away from the dead and dying Chaos buildings, all of them twitching miserably and jetting fountains of blood, and looked at Isha. "We will be moving out now Isha, please return to the rear. I will contact you when the path forward is clear."

"I shall be at the front, Celestine," Isha held up a firm hand, forestalling any comments Celestine, Elnys and Celalira were about to make. Judging by the little tilt of her head, Shadowsun was equally surprised by this development. "Embryotic though this Chaos God might be, his power has already wreak havoc upon the material world, as you can see by the living inanimate objects that had attacked us. My presence should be able to counter the corruption that had already envelope the Hive City and assist the battlegroup in their assault."

"You can get hurt," Celestine stated matter of faculty yet Isha displayed no fear what so ever, only unmovable determination can be seen.

"After everything that I have suffered at the hands of Nurgle and his minions, bullets and swords have since lost its novelty," Isha declared with iron but her tone turned sheepish real quick. "But I'll make sure to stay clear of the crossfire."

"Then you will need an escort," Greyfax balked when Celestine's looked at her, the glowing eyes brokered no nonsense. "Katarinya, I need you to remain by Isha's side and keep her safe."

"That will not be necessary," the main characters were spared the, quite possibly embarrassing, argument between Celestine and Greyfax when Elnys of all people stepped forward, holding up her shuriken catapult effortlessly. "As long as I breathe no harm will come to her eminence, this I swear, on the honor of the Dire Avenger."

"Look at that, problem solved before anything distracting can happen," Laura's attempt to lighten the mood was not well receive by Greyfax and Celestine, the power couple finding a new target to vent their frustration on, for the moment forgetting the animosity toward each other. Giving Greyfax and Celestine a cheeky wink, Laura shifted her attention to the Imperial Guards colonels and the Aeldari captains, and waved brightly at the lady commissar standing between Krillen and Evangeline. "Hey Leilatha, just the person I was looking for. Have the regiments been resupplied and reformed?"

"Five more minutes lady inquisitor, and we'll be ready to move out," Leilatha said and the colonels and captains murmured their assent as reinforcements, comprised of Chimeras, King Russes, Myrmidon jeeps, Castigators, Falcons, Fire Prisms, Vypers and a shit load of infantries, fall into places along the ranks and files. "The wounded have been taken to the rear, our casualties are acceptable despite the enemy's sudden and violent counterattack, therefore most of the vanguards are still in fighting order."

"Very nice news Leilatha, thank you," Laura leaned closer to Leilatha and lowered her voice. "Just between you and me, when you say acceptable casualties, what does that mean in actual numbers?"

"Six hundred confirm dead, and about three thousand injured," Leilatha said easily and she's right, given the kaijus attack Laura had expected the death toll to rival the Somme. "Our men fought well, lesser soldiers would have fared worse."

"Damn right they did, thanks Leilatha," Laura nodded then quirked a brow at Leilatha, her lips tugging upward mischievously. "Not gonna ask how Tangmo's doing? He's gonna be sad if he finds out you forgot about him."

"Tangmo is a grown man, bodily at least, his feeling won't be hurt that easily," Leilatha offered Laura an extremely handsome grin, before tapping her earbud. "Besides, I already checked in with him, he's doing just fine."

"That's right, everything is dandy on my end," Tangmo joined the conversation, his timbre somewhat strained. "Yup, all is right with our part of the world."

"Oh hey Tangmo, good to hear from you mate," Laura said as Yuki skipped up beside her. "Just an update, we fucking destroyed those motherfucking kaiju buildings mate, completely wrecked their arses! Bloody hell, it was spectacular, Shadowsun practically soloed the Chaos mofo and helped us killed all the kaijus, we would've been dead if it wasn't for her."

"Great, I missed Shadowsun being fucking awesome," Tangmo groaned. "And here I am stuck babysitting a bunch of idiot children."

"Children that can fight, lord commissar," Shadowsun entered the conversation sharply. "I would ask that you show my soldiers, the best of the Tau Empire I might add, a decorum of respect."

"I'm not talking about the Tau dude, chill the fuck out," Tangmo shot back. "I'm talking about my commissariat colleagues who take every fucking opportunity to bicker and argue with each other."

"I tried my best to be diplomatic Tangmo, the fault is not mine."

"And I am the only person trying to get the column into a semblance of order."

"Enough!" Tangmo stopped Raine and Cain from arguing, the Thai commissar sounded extremely pissed, and a little derange. "I swear to the God Emperor, if you two don't cut it out I'm gonna have the people you love lined up in front of me so I can Thai kick their asses so hard they won't be able to sit down or take a shit for the next fucking year! Do you fucking get me?!"

Gotta give it to Tangmo, despite his immature attitude and carefree personality, he can easily reminds everyone why he was wearing the commissariat black. His powerful timbre, the octave tempestuous and sharp, cleaved easily through the din of rising argument, shutting the bickering Valhallan and Antari up. Oh yeah, when Tangmo's patience ran out, there's always hell to pay.

"That's right! That's what you get!" Nikki bellowed into the soundless vacuum, ready to act as Tangmo hype woman. Around Laura the Cadian and Leilatha were laughing at the Valhallan and Antari's misfortune of having to deal with an enraged Tangmo. "Hey, you should all consider yourself lucky that my man Tangmo is a calm and reasonable individual, because if he wasn't, y'all would've been carted back to the Immortal Spirit with shattered gluteus maximums by now!"

"Lord commissar, have the battlegroup finalized the plan of attack yet?" Shadowsun cut in, helmed head shaking exasperatedly, more than done with the extremely distracting drama.

"Oh yeah, we're good to go," Tangmo reverted back to his charming self. "I just finish up the details with…how do you pronounce your name again, Bor'Kan? Yeah, colonel Bor'Kan and I are ready to move out. What's the situation on your front?"

"We're advancing now mate," Laura had barely finished her sentence when horns and trumpets resounded across the frontline, a rousing hurrah answered the call to arms and the soldiers marched forward at a temperate pace. The last of the kaiju buildings were getting slaughtered by the tanks' high caliber guns, their thunderous demise provided a nice soundtrack for the battlegroup's advance. "Those stupid fuckers don't have walls anymore, this is gonna be a fucking breeze."

"You're not getting all the fun! Yo Raine, Cain, Bor'Kan, get everyone on their feet, we're moving out!" The Tau responded amiably to Tangmo, the Valhallan and Antari were more reserved though, "Damien, Lita, how are things going dude? Are you moving on the main Hive?"

"Uh…you guys go on ahead, we'll catch up later," Laura can easily visualized Lita's coy, sheepish smile, the one she makes when things were not going her way. "Don't wait up!"

"Oh blimey, what happened?" Laura asked.

"We've run into unexpected, and extremely stiff, resistance from the Hive's eastern defenses," Lita went on, her meek vocal amplifying the battle raging in the background. "Yep, those guys really don't want us to go in."

"The fucking walls and towers are fighting back again!" Damien cut in with a bellow, followed by the clicking of empty bolter. "Before you ask, no, they haven't gone Godzilla on our asses, they're stationary but still very fucking deadly when we get too close. Worse, the heretic humans and Taus are stationed all over the living buildings and are shooting at us!"

"I'm sending words to Ae-Shin right now, the air force probably has a few birds to spare," Yuki swiftly typed across the data-pad on her arm. "Fifteen minute dude, hang tight."

"Thanks Yuki!" Damien beamed. "But yeah, I ain't waiting fifteen minute."

"What are you going to do?" Yuki traded alarm look with Laura.

"I'm gonna beat the fucking walls to dead with my fucking hammer!" Damien's dementedly loud laugh was accompanied by Lita's shrilled whooping. "Come on Lita, let's fucking go! See ya guys!"

"See ya," Yuki muttered and terminated the transmission. "Well, he's certainly confident in his ability."

"Good luck to him," Laura snorted and cast her gaze at the pristine formations around them. "Yeah, I'm really digging the marching soldiers and tanks but, I don't know, aren't we going a little too slow?"

"A sentiment I share lady inquisitor, but prudence is needed when attacking a capital Hive like Xyvon," canoness Bellona of all people spoke up. The Bloody Rose canoness turned her helmed head around and let out a pleased grunt. "Finally they are here."

Laura followed Bellona's gaze and cried out in joy. It was the Paragon Warsuits, the Adepta Sororitas exo battle armor, like the one Ripley used to duke it out with the xenomorph queen, their primary function was that of heavy support ala the Wraithguards and the Space Marine Dreadnaughts. And they didn't look like shit. See, back when they Exterminatus the living fuck out of the Izennir system, Guilliman and Jaghatai had resupplied them with a lot of new toys, with the Sororitas getting the Castigator tanks and the Paragon Warsuits. Thankfully the Sisters of Battle, besides being the Imperium most badass soldiers, were also astute coinsure of fashion, so when the Paragon Warsuits were revealed to the battlegroup, the canonesses, the Battle Sisters, even Celestine herself, all blanched at the absolute dogshit design, Laura, Yuki, Nikki and Lita near fainted from the ghastly sight. Game Workshops seriously dropped the balls, designing the exo battle armor in such a way that turned them into glorified oversized pauldrons, with the head, arms and every important cable exposed while minimal armors were placed over the torso and legs, and armed with comically large weapons, as per 40k tradition. But the most cardinal sin of the Paragon Warsuit was how ungodly ugly it was, like, who the fuck look at this piece of shite and thought, 'hmm, this look really neat!', Christ almighty have they never watch a single robot anime in their entire lives?! And to make matters worse, the Warsuits themselves were crap. Miriya, Jenatea, Astrid and Meifeng had volunteered to try out the exo battle armor, and their unanimous verdict was that, despite being able to carry more ordnance, the Paragon Warsuits were slow and clunky, effectively turning the wearers into juicy targets for the enemies. Not ones to tolerate such grave insult to the great and sexy women of the Adepta Sororitas, Laura, Yuki, Nikki and Lita made it their mission to redesign and make a complete overhaul on the Paragon Warsuits, because throwing them away was downright wasteful and, to quote the great Bob the Builder, they can fix it!

And fix it they did.

Tears of pure joy rolled down Laura cheeks as the newly minted Paragon Warsuits marched into view, side by side with the Wraithguards, the two war machines trading poignant nods with each other. No longer a dorky looking exoskeleton full of exposed body parts, the battlegroup's iteration of the Paragon Warsuits were now badass battle armor that covered every inch of the pilots, encasing them within stylish plates of ceramite that was thick but anatomically correct and imposing, decked out in churchly façade that blended the Imperium's famous gothic architecture with the various cultural flares of each orders. Armed with everything from power swords, power halberds, and power guandao, to heavy bolters, multi-meltas, and vulcan cannons, the Paragon Warsuits were effectively walking tanks with the maneuverability of veteran Sororitas. Come to think of it, the new Paragon Warsuits actually looked kinda like the Astartes's Centurion Armor, but more lithe and pleasant in aesthetic.

"Oh my God, they're beautiful," Yuki sobbed from beside Laura and dramatically wiped away her tears. "We did it babe, the Warsuits don't look derpy anymore."

"The complete opposite love," Laura made one more sniff then tapped her earbud. "Lita, Nikki, the Paragon Warsuits are on the field, and they're magnificent, I repeat, they're fucking magnificent. Holy shite, they're like a perfect mix of a church, a knight and an angel."

"Aww, I wish I was there," Lita groaned. "Well, at least I'll get to see them soon, right after I deal with this freaking wall in front of me! Eww, there's tentacles coming out – why is it always tentacle?!"

"Ha! There's no tentacle on our front!" Nikki beamed. "And if we run into any, I'll just throw Tangmo at them!"

"What the fuck?!"

"That will be a sight to see," Celestine snickered lightly and the Sororitas guffawed with mirth as Nikki cut the transmission before Tangmo can begin his tirade, the timbre leaning more toward endearment than any real malice. Giving the Ardent Blade a few warmup twirls, Celestine nodded appreciatively at the Sororitas mechas. "Yes, the new Paragon Warsuits are indeed a sight to behold."

"A lot better than the old models I destroyed a few years ago, they are indeed more pleasing than their predecessor," commander Shadowsun said, her tone conveyed clear respect and admiration. "I would dearly love to see them in battle, for that is where the mettle is truly tested."

"And you shall find out now," Celestine spread her wings wide, almost knocking Isha on her arse in the process as abrasive horns blared from across no man's land. "The enemies are sallying forth, give them fire and death sisters and brothers! For the Emperor!"

Mighty war cries erupted from the Sororitas as Celestine, haloed in a pillar of light that had materialized out of nowhere, shot up into the sky, brilliant stream of iridescent white trailed after the Living Saint like an ethereal cape of translucent silk. The roar of jet engines resounded across the battlegroup and the Seraphims, led by mistress Lithia of the Avenging Knights, rose into the air on wings of steel to join the hovering Celestine, the airborne Sisters of Battle flew an intricate pattern around the Living Saint before forming into several wedges with sublime synchronicity and shot toward the Hive City. It was then that Laura saw winged Chaos daemons breaking through the smoky night, talons, fangs and guns honed on the battlegroup below, shattering the air with their hellish shrieking.

"Good luck!" Isha waved at Celestine, the Living Saint reciprocating with heart before leading the Seraphims into the horde of flying daemons. Greyfax saw the interaction and boy, if the lady inquisitor was irked by Isha and Celestine's friendship before, she totally hates it now.

"Welp, at least we don't need to worry about the sky," Yuki shrugged and trained her Aeldari P90 forward. "Celestine is gonna turn those daemons into minced meat."

"I'll be the judge of that," before Yuki can counter the declaration, she was thrown against Laura with an undignified squeal when Shadowsun shot into the air, accompanied by a cadre of elite Crisis Battlesuits. Celestine turned her un-helmed head sharply when Shadowsun flew in beside her, after a brief moment of intense staring the Living Saint fixed her gaze forward and together with the Tau commander shot straight for the mass of winged nightmares.

"Holy fucking shit, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen," Yuki gaped in awe as scintillating fire wreathed the sky, the two sides colliding in brilliant dazzling violence, the cacophony of zeal, death and armaments was a resounding nocturne that rang unceasing across the night. "I'm not religious in anyway but damn, that shit is biblical."

"Love, things about to get very biblical for us in about a minute," Laura grabbed Yuki's head and turned it toward the tidal wave of cultists and daemons sprinting headlong for them, weapons brandished and baying in bloody exaltation for the slaughter to come. "Fucking hell, that's a lot of them!"

"Right, sorry!" Yuki squeaked, shouldered her Aeldari P90, and together with Laura and Miriya and Firnera's squad, slipped out from behind the King Russ they were trailing and trained their weapons at the oncoming mob. "For life and light! In Isha's name banish these daemons back to the hell they came from! Open fire!"

Las, shurikens, bolts, lasers and shells tore across no man's land, the powerful blasts distorting the air into watery blurs as humans, eldars and Tau, together as one, opened fire on the common enemy that was the Ruinous Power, a unity bore of hatred, rage and survival. The first ranks of daemons, comprised of bestial specimen and corrupted humans and Tau, were obliterated by the salvo, watching their bodies scythed apart by bullets until nothing but shredded gibs remained, or immolated into charcoal soot before they can even scream, made Laura smiled as she held down the trigger of her hellgun and fired from the hip, sweeping the glowing barrel left and right.

"Look alive, the fodders are gone, here comes the real thing!" Laura got into a crouch the same moment a retaliatory volley erupted from across the battlefield, las, bolts and pulse struck the battlegroup with the force of a hammer blow. Around Laura Battle Sisters, guardsmen and Aeldari careened to the ground in a pinwheeling mess of limbs, curses and cries hot on bloody lips, thankfully Yuki and the main characters were untouched. "Oh fucking hell, those wankers know how to bloody aim this time!"

"A surprising development, but hardly unexpected," Leilatha said and emptied her bolt pistol at the charging heretics, the Chaos soldiers were near enough that individual details can be discerned through the swirling crimson dust. Tangmo's girlfriend was an ace gun slinger, all six bolts resulting in messy decapitations. Gracefully reloading her sidearm, Leilatha waved over Krillen and pointed at the nearing hostiles. "Get the rapid-las and anti-armor weapons to the front, we're pressing forward and the enemy's tanks need to be dealt with. And tell Korri to have the snipers target the officers and leaders, they're still cultists after all, cut the head off and the body dies."

"On it lady commissar."

"Forgive me lady commissar, but I don't think that is necessary," Miriya, along Firnera and the Battle Sisters and the Howling Banshees, got back on her feet as the pounding of heavy footsteps reverberated around them. Laura didn't need x-ray vision to see that the warrior women were smiling. "Tell the infantries to slow down and keep a safe distant, I can't promise that things won't be messy."

Cheers erupted along the frontline as the Immortal Spirit troops poured a blinding barrage on the heretics, and sprinting through the tsunami of lasers and bullets came the Paragon Warsuits, their speed a staccato of thunder, every powerful gait kicking up earth and fire, unbothered by the heretics and Tau desperate fusillade which cascaded off their master crafted armors like rain on iron sheet. Great, earsplitting war cries erupted from the Paragon Warsuits' speakers, followed by litanies of purest hate as the vanguards of the Sororitas mechas, all of them wielding huge two handed power weapons like longswords, spears, hammers, halberds, guandaos and kanabos, leapt at the Chaos frontline. Gore erupted in obscene multitude, the Warsuits' great weapons painted the air in sizzling scarlet, every swing and swipe sent burning pieces of unrecognizable meat skyward, and within moments the heretics and Tau broke into a panic rout. The survivors of the titanic, and painfully one sided clash tried to flee toward the safety of the Crisis Battlesuits and tanks, only to find their sanctuaries destroyed by the Warsuits wielding range weapons and the Wraithguards.

"This is fucking art. Seriously, no better words can fucking describe this," Laura was grinning like an idiot as the Paragon Warsuits and Wraithguards plowed into the disintegrating Chaos forces, leaving nothing for the guardsmen, eldars and regular Battle Sisters to enjoy. She guffawed loudly when a group of Ebon Chalice Warsuits and Biel-Tan Wraithguards ganged up on an unfortunate Leman Russ that was trying to flee, the mechas flipping it over like a buncha hooligans after a football match. "Okay, seriously, that's fucking funny."

"I can think of a few less polite descriptions," Isha, who had drifted dangerously close to the fighting, squeaked from beside Laura. The British Inquisitor turned around and blinked at the warm silver white illumination blooming from the goddess, it was nice to look at but Laura couldn't help but think that the light was making them stand out, starkly. "So much death…"

"Not that I don't appreciate you cheerleading us Isha," Yuki said, "but at the risk of being impolite I must ask, what are you doing here?"

"Helping, lady exarch," Isha nodded firmly.

"And how are you – oh, now I see, thank you Isha!" Yuki flashed a thumb up, Isha smiled brightly, and Laura saw the battlegroup's soldiers who got shot earlier rising, hale and healthy but quite dumbfounded as they touched the smoking bullet holes on their uniforms. A quick count told Laura that eight out of ten people had risen to resume the fight. "You're bringing people back from the dead?"

"A goddess of life I may be, lady exarch, but the power to resurrect is beyond me, even in my prime," Isha explained, a spot of calm in the middle of a raging battle, unbothered as Elnys, Celalira and her bodyguards opened fire on any heretics, Tau or daemons that drew too close. "What I did was merely heal the wounded. If the injuries were not fatal I can easily mend them."

"Bloody hell love, and here I thought you were gonna be a burden for us!" Laura meant it to be a humorous jab, but as always the joke flew a lightyear over Isha's head. The goddess moped and Elnys snapped her head furiously at the squawking Laura. "Joking! I'm joking Isha! Blimey love, you really need to catch on with our funny moments."

"Forgive me lady inquisitor, I'll be sure to improve my social skill…"

"FUCKING HELL, GET DOWN!"

Moving without thinking, Laura tackled Isha to the ground, knocking her several paces back, saving her from getting crushed by a writhing shape that had crashed down on the exact spot she was standing. Isha squealed loudly and threw her arms around Laura in fright, preventing the British inquisitor from taking aim at the wounded Chaos gargoyle snapping its mouth in their direction. Thankfully, a swift downward swipe of Yuki's katana decapitated the bugger quick enough, splattering Laura and Isha in dripping back ichor. Yuck.

"Watch your steps, your eminence," with Laura's help, Yuki carefully pulled the drench, and catatonically trembling Isha back to her feet. Yuki tried to wipe the blood off Isha but ended up making more mess. "Are you hurt? Did the daemon hit you anywhere?"

"I am unharmed lady exarch, thank you," Isha nodded quickly as Elnys slipped in beside her, a shuriken catapult in one hand and handkerchief in the other, the handmaiden amazingly managed to kill heretics and cleaned the goddess at the same time, doing a much better job than Yuki. "I certainly wouldn't be if it wasn't for the lady inquisitor quick action."

"And I'm okay too Yuki, thanks for asking," Laura huffed less than seriously. "And I'm waiting for you to clean me! Any minute now!"

"I'm so sorry babe, please don't be mad!" Yuki flaunted wide eyed distress, shared a giggle with Laura, then turned to the sky, no more smiles as she tapped the side of her mempo helm. "This is lady exarch Yuki, everyone watch out for dead bodies falling out of the sky, Celestine and Shadowsun are raising all kinds of hell up there. Press forward with the attack, the enemy's center is faltering, break those fuckers apart!" Yuki gave her katana a flourish of swings before drawing the second one, then turned to look at Isha. Elnys had successfully cleaned most of the goddess's armor. "Stay close your eminence, this is the part where we break the heretic's line, your power will be most needed here."

"Lead the way, lady exarch," Isha nodded firmly and the Immortal Spirit battlegroup, moving en mass with single-minded synchronicity to the resounding blasts of trumpets and horns, started applying more and more weight upon the buckling heretics. Then, after twenty minutes of ceaseless gunfight, all the while bodies of daemons and Battle Sisters and Tau careened through the sky, the two latters thankfully low in quantity, the heretics and daemons yielded to the battlegroup's unrelenting assault. Roars of unbridled joy, loud and violent, rolled across the battlefield as the men and women of the Immortal Spirit plowed into the heretics in a thunderous eruption of fire and blood, the blooming inferno burned and roiled above them like vengeful specters. With the tanks and the Wraithguards and the Paragon Warsuits leading the charge, Laura couldn't stop herself from jumping out and down with glee as, after getting torn apart by shells, blasted to bits by lasers and ripped to flapping shreds by melee weapons, the heretic's desperate attempt to stand their ground collapsed.

"Yeah, that's right you fucking cunt, run!" Laura bellowed and gunned down several unlucky bastards that stumbled into her crosshair, around her the battlegroup surged forward, swiftly gaining more ground and reducing every opposition to gibs, but possessing enough control not to run blindly after the fleeing enemies. "Keep up the pressure ladies and gents, we got them on the ropes."

Laura had to admit, begrudgingly, that these lots of heretics were performing with admirable conviction. After the initial rout the officers, both humans and Tau, managed to rally their troops and arrayed themselves into a fighting retreat, refusing to budge even when the full momentum of the attack crashed directly into them, a most annoying nuisance for the battlegroup. Unfortunately for the heretics, their stalwart display was not able to stop the inevitable. With daemons raining from the sky in flaming pieces, shells and lasers pounding them from every conceivable direction, it wasn't long before the Immortal Spirit soldiers were running across the ragged, torn up ground where the walls and watchtowers had once stood and into Hive Xyvon proper.

"Spread out and secure the beachhead!" Leilatha marched handsomely across the large cobblestone square, bolt pistol blazing at the ragged columns of heretics trying to reinforce the breach. Uncaring of the las and bullets flying her way, Leilatha stared down the nearing cultists as she calmly pushed a new magazine home and placed her booted feet on the head of a fallen statue, presumably the planetary governor, massively pissing off the natives. "Brace yourself, brave soldiers of the God Emperor, the enemies are about to make a counter attack. Repel them!"

"I got your back love!" Laura and Yuki took their place beside Leilatha, the Scottish inquisitor having magnetized the hellgun to the power pack and drew her claymore, the massive highland weapon held at the ready. "By my honor, no harm shall come to my best mate's girlfriend. This I swear!"

"I am touched by your concern, lady inquisitor," Leilatha grinned and tipped her awesome commissar cap at Laura as guardsmen, eldars and Sisters of Battles fall in around them.

"Forgive me lady inquisitor, but is it wise to be wielding close range weapon in a situation like this – ahhh!" Isha squawked loudly when several lasbolts hissed too close to her armored head, Elnys going full auto in the direction the projectiles had come from. Within heartbeats no more shot flew at the goddess. "I mean, most of our enemies are using guns, wielding a sword seems rather counterproductive!"

"But it's cooler like this!" Yuki retorted reasonably and Isha stared at the Japanese exarch like she had just lost her mind. "Raising your sword against an insurmountable odd will always be more heroic, and me and Laura love ourselves a nice romp with heroism!"

"But that thing is enormous!" Isha stabbed her finger frantically at the gigantic Forgefiend lumbering through an equally huge archway, flanked by a myriad of tanks and Crisis Battlesuits, the latter now sporting iconography of Chaos, the usual stuff like dead bodies and heads dangling from rusty chains, the ghastly decoration looks weird on Tau mechas. Bracing its forelegs the Forgefiend, decked out in wicked melee attachments, gave a mighty roar, the timbre near identical to the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, and bounded for the battlegroup in great leaping gaits, "it's coming this way!"

"Yes Isha, we can see that," the battlegroup opened fired on the Forgefiend before Yuki even finished speaking, explosions wreathed it's blackened armor but the motherfucker was not slowing down, the pain only seem to spur the raging daemon construct faster. Yuki quirked a brow and tapped her earbud. "Hey Henry, where are you and the King Ghidorah at?"

"A few kloms to your right," Henry told her and yes, the King Ghidorah's rumbling engines can be heard amongst the rattling din of gunfire. "Hang on guys, I'm on my way! Just need to get through these assholes first!"

"Take your time Henry, we got this," Yuki, with Laura at her side, sauntered toward the nearing Forgefiend, their bombastic hips swaying in sync. When they were about twenty paces from the battlegroup's line, Laura and Yuki got into the appropriate knightly and samurai-y pose, a perfect showing of HEMA and kenjutsu, "oh yeah, I always wanted a Jon Snow moment like in the Battle of the Bastards."

"Same here love," Laura winked cheekily at Yuki, her claymore held high. "But you do remember that before the Bolton horsemen reaches Jon Snow the cavalry swooped in and saved his arse, right?"

"Oh I know," Yuki nodded and honed her katana forward, the tip pointed at the Forgefiend's flaming metallic maw. "I was hoping Henry would be our cavalry."

"The thing is love," Laura stared at the Scottish steel in her hand, more specifically the angelic white light reflecting off the polished surface, "I don't think Henry's our cavalry."

Yuki was about to ask Laura to elaborate when her answer flew passed on a vaporous trail of gleaming iridescent, majestic wings unfurled, bathing the battlefield in holy, heavenly light. If Laura could freeze time and painted this moment in the style of Rembrandt: Celestine with the Ardent Blade reeled back for a titanic strike as the Forgefiend reared back on its hind legs, adamantium clawed raised, the finished masterpiece would be worthy of the Louvre. But Laura can't pause time, and she was glad for it, because this looked even better in motion. Darting into the Forgefiend's swooping attack, her speed too fast for the Chaos beast, Celestine let out a mighty roar and swung the Ardent Blade upward. The resounding impact rang so loud that shockwaves, fierce and tangible, rolled across the battlefield. Taking the full blow, the Forgefiend was lifted off the ground, it's lower jaw shattered to pieces, blood and oil spread out in a halo of gore, the Chaos monster standing at an almost vertical angle, like a dog begging for a treat, it's destroyed visage gazed up at Celestine, the Living Saint hovered high above like an executioner, the Ardent Blade inverted. But before Celestine can plunge down a salvo of lasers, plasmas and rockets flew at the Forgefiend, every projectile striking the vulnerable underside with surgical precision, the construct of flesh and metal coming apart at the seam, like a control demolish done on a skyscraper. Not one to be outdone, Shadowsun dashed in and, pulsing blue light coalescing at the tip of the gigantic gun on her arm, fired a stream of burning plasma at the Forgefiend's exposed heart, the lance of energy bursting through the Chaos beast's back. The Forgefiend screamed in agony but still clung to life, this was quickly rectified when Celestine swooped down and neatly decapitated the dying beast. The Living Saint landed not thirty paces from the dead Forgefiend, striking an awesome superhero landing pose, not looking back as the head crashed to the ground with an ear shattering thunderclap. She was soon joined by Shadowsun, both women once again squaring off against each other.

"Holy shit that was one of the most epic things I've ever seen in my life!" Yuki and Laura sprinted for Shadowsun and Celestine as Henry and his merry band of tanks plowed into the heretic troops trying to catch up to the now dead Forgefiend. The stupid bastards weren't keeping an eye on their flank and paid the ultimate price for the gross dereliction. Despite the explosion going off violently in the background, Celestine and Shadowsun paid the lightshow no mind as they turned to face the Japanese exarch and the British inquisitor. "I mean, seriously, that's the kind of stuff that goes in the history books dude, goddamn!"

"Thank you for the kind word, lady exarch," Celestine bowed politely before returning her attention to Shadowsun, her visage softening begrudgingly. "That was well done, commander Shadowsun, your assistance was greatly appreciated."

"It was you who weakened that monster, Saint Celestine," Shadowsun said, her tone a little stiff, the woman was obviously not used to giving complement. "I merely exploited the opportunity you have made, for that, you have my thanks."

"Are you two injured?" Isha thankfully put the awkward conversation to an end, Celestine and Shadowsun both exhaling visibly. "Did the Forgefiend hurt you? What about the battle in the sky?"

"I am uninjured on both accounts Isha, thank you for asking, none of the daemons even manages to graze me," Celestine looked at Shadowsun. "What about you?"

"No damages received," Shadowsun nodded and fixed her attention on the archway the Forgefiend had emerged from, the only obstacles visible were the smoldering remains of the Chaos forces that had tried to barricade the place. Thanks to Henry's lightning fast attack, the yawning pathway and the ominous dark corridor beyond were now open to them, scarily inviting. "The path to Paxish is clear, let's us move on."

"Agreed," Celestine spun to face the gathered main characters, her heavenly wings folded behind her back. "Sisters and brothers, the task falls to us to prevent the true birth of this new Chaos God, we now march into the abyss, and with the light of the God Emperor and Isha we shall burn away the darkness." The Sisters of Battle and Aeldari roared in unison as Celestine turned to the colonels. "Brave guardsmen, I must ask that you fortify our rear and prevent the heretics from mustering a counterattack against us."

"They shall not pass lady Saint, this I promise," Leilatha nodded sternly and the colonels echoed her confident with a rousing roar. Grunting a pleased tune, Leilatha turned to Marwen and Tanrion, the captain generals of the Aeldari. "I would greatly appreciate supports from the eldars, can you spare your infantries and heavy guns?"

"With pleasure," there was a grin in Marwen's voice and Tanrion nodded sharply in agreement. "I rather be where the fighting is fiercest."

"Reinforce the Immortal Spirit's line," Shadowsun told a nearby Crisis Battlesuit before waving several more over. "Give me some ammo. I need replenishment before heading into the Hive."

"You're coming with us?" Laura asked, surprised but extremely glad with this development.

"Paxish is mine," Shadowsun growled, Isha was taken aback by the vehemence displayed while Celestine grinned.

"The more the merrier," Laura and Yuki jumped with an embarrassing squeal when Erik materialized in their midst, silent and sudden like a freaking Swedish elven Batman.

"Jesus fuck – don't fucking do that you cunt!" Laura snapped at Erik, who only smiled innocently in response.

"Are we moving out now?" Erik pointed at Henry, the American was standing beside the rumbling King Ghidorah, chainsword waving energetically over his head. "Henry's all hyped up to go."

"So are we," Yuki gave her twin katanas flourishing twirls before taking off, Laura and the main characters hot on her heels. "Let's go!"