A Perpetual Paradox: A Warhammer 40k Odyssey

by DiabloDragonGod

Awakening in 40k wasn't a pleasant experience at first. I wasn't a primarch, a space marine, a guard, not even a member of the Imperium. To make matters worse, the literally damned planet I started on was under invasion by chaos undivided. As you can imagine, I tried to survive and was almost immediately ripped apart. I guess it's a good thing I did get one Perpetual advantage.

7. Chapter 7

CRUNCH

Stomping the skull of a demon like paper, a heavily armoured olive coloured boot was not slowed in the least as its owner trekked through centre of the barren crumbled streets of the ruined hive-city. Around the figure, the naked bodies of many women equipped with bolters surgically advanced from street to street in a wide formation to avoid being too easy of a target. As they advanced with weapons aimed ready for hostiles, they professionally checked corners, rooftops, the sky, shadows, rubble piles, and even the floors. This level of caution was not unfounded as every once in a while, the city's new wretched residents would jump, climb, or fly from seemingly anywhere and everywhere with not an inclination of fear for their own existence, only a sole desire to slaughter.

In the centre of the formation, the small group of Rex and his allies strode forth without hesitation. His large figure was deliberately hulking in the open so as to draw the attention of any flying enemies that would occasionally swoop down to attack, only to unleash his massive flaming sword's wrath upon them, rending the demons to bloodied ruined parts.

"Ugh, dissssgusting." Verosika hissed, looking down at her blood covered purple scales as she leapt from around the armoured suit's neck and morphed into her humanoid form to walk alongside her companions. "Did you really have to kill it like that? I was sleeping." The demon bemoaned, sulking.

"Any how exactly would you like for me to chop a flying demon frog in half, huh?" He countered while leveraging his Chain Sword over his shoulder, to which she simply looked away while burning the blood off her skin.

"Hey Rex, can I take a look at that word yet?" The eldari on his shoulder asked, having not been budged no matter how oven he shifted his pauldron. Rex was honestly starting to believe she was glued to it with Warp sorcery.

"No, Kráeth. I've told you the same thing for the last five hours." He sighed, in no way wanting her to work her warp magic on his magic demon eating sword. "Honestly, I with I had a PSP or something to give you so you would focus on literally anything else." He wryly smiled.

"What's a PSP?" Firebird Bandit asked beside him while still carting Kleopatra on her back, seemingly no worse for wear. Rex regarded the demon girl who'd been chatting away with Kleopatra and escort in the form of Interceptor V8, like regular women friends. It was odd to him to see something so unbelievably normal after his experience thus far.

"A PSP is a portable handheld game device. You can slot video games into it and play them while on a car journey." He explained, though he realised he'd just given them more questions than answers. "Let's just say that it's probably non-existent in the Imperium and leave it at that." He shot down, though he grumbled. "Though not after I nick an AdMech against its will."

"What heretical nonsense are you spouting once more?" Seranz commented at clearly hearing his attempted veiled words.

"Nothing Sera." He groaned, stretching his back to remove a kink after walking for so long. "Just missing so shit from back home."

"Oh?" She raised a brow. "You know, it's most curious. You often talk as if you're from outside of the Imperium, and yet you seem far too knowledgeable about just about anything. Even history only known to immortals, care to elaborate Rex?"

At her question, he took his eyes off the attractive ass of Fastback 69 who was crouched while carefully peaking around a corner with Hellcat SRT to check down a street to be sure the coast was clear to advance. Instead, he pondered what would be good to admit. In the end, he said 'fuck it.' in his mind.

"I am. You could say my planet was basically a younger Holy Terra. We didn't have much in the way of space travel or Warp bullshit, but we certainly had tech the Imperium has lost to time." He explained, deciding to drop the whole 'other universe' stuff, would be too heavy. He would keep that to himself.

"Oh! And he'd from another universe." He paused mid-step, his neck cracking with the force of his head movements as he whipped to glare viciously at the demon. Unfortunately for him, it seemed everyone had heard her casual remark as their whole formation had stopped.

"A-Another universe?" Kleopatra said breathlessly. "I kissed some form another universe." She uttered to herself, looking at him like a specimen.

"Preposterous. The demon speaks falsehoods. There's no way you could be from a place beyond this plane of existence… Right?" She said, though her mind flashed to a few occurrences since he'd met him that seemed rather odd. Though the fact he wasn't moving to deny it, only served to stir her inner thoughts.

Growling, he slapped his helmet in frustration. "Verosika! For fuck sake, you gormless git." He raked his fingers down his visor. "Yes, I'm not from here. I won't get into it, but I didn't travel here. I just appeared in a basement on the other side of the city a few days ago." He explained.

"Holy shit."

"I'd believe it. This dude is too relaxed to be from the Imperium."

"Plus, he does know a lot of things."

Clearly getting more than she bargained for, the loyalist Sister settled for ignorance as such implications were beyond the scope of their mission.

"I'm apologize that I asked. Your business is yours after all Rex." She said, turning and moving forward once more, though she noted nobody else was following suit. "We don't have time for a break. Get moving!" Following her order, the women were awakened from their stupors and went back to the advance. Behind her, Rex was watching her armoured back with nothing but gratitude for saving him from uncomfortable interrogations that he was sure the many naked women would be most successful in.

That said, it did not stop him from slapping the demon's ass in retribution.

"OW! What was that for?" She questioned, rubbing her rear with a blush which was forming a red mark from his large, armoured hand.

"Punishment." Was all he said, striding forth, ignoring as the woman seemed to enjoy her punishment.

The conversation died down after that, as it was clear after one or two more attempts by the girls, that Rex wasn't going to talk about anything to do with other universe things. Not long after, however, things started to get strange.

"WAgaHaga!"

BANG

"Boom! Headshot!" Cheered Mustang GT500 as she sent a bolter round directly between the eyes of a stumbling humanoid. Turning to Rex, she rushed over and grinned. Her movement highlighted by the jiggling of her massive jiggling chest. "Rex, Rex! Did you just see that? That was like, 40 meters!"

"Damn…" His Hud replayed the shot from his prospected while zooming in. "Holy shit, you shot that poor fucker straight between the eyes." He said, impressed as he looked down upon the woman what embodied his idea of all-American-babe with long wavy golden-blonde hair, blue eyes, and massive tits and wide birthing hips. All she was missing was the star and stripes bikini. "Remind me to tell you what rednecks and bikinis are another time, yeah? I… have an idea." He grinned.

Doing a fake solute, she nodded. "Yes sir!" She energetically ran back to the front, shooting yet more shambling creatures that seemed to be exiting the local ruins.

"Rex." He heard Kleopatra's voice from the side, prompting him to listen. "Do those demons look… familiar to you?" She asked, making his raise a brow under his visor.

Turning to the corpse as they walked past it, he paused his movements with Firebird Bandit and Interceptor V8 stopping beside him.

"Is that a zombie? Weird that's here. The reports… They never mentioned Nurgle infestations. Perhaps it's a coincidence?" Interceptor V8 mumbled, poking the corpse with her bolter's barrel to see if it woke up to attack, even without a head.

This was the burning question on Rex's mind as he called out. "Everyone hold!" He gave the order to stop.

"Did you find something?" Seranz walked over, looking down at the headless rotten corpse which they had gathered around. Said body was noticeably degraded and oozing a sickly green fluid in the place of blood. "By the God Emperor. They're on the surface now?" She then looked around, only to notice another shambler walk out ahead of them.

"So, it would seem…" Rex clenched his fists.

"Oh, no. Not again! I-I don't want to go be near those horrendous things again…" Kleopatra whimpered, subconsciously hugging into Firebird Bandit's back, startling the demon girl.

"Hey, what's wrong Patra?" The ravenette asked in concern laced in her crimson eyes.

"W-We got lost in an Under Hive and… it was just horrible. The people. They were all turned. It was terrifying." Following her admittance. The two demon women widened their eyes and looked at each other.

"H-How many people were populating this hive city again?" Firebird Bandit asked with a chill running down her spine as she looked between everyone and the headless corpse.

"Ask Charger R/T. She likes to know small details like that." Interceptor V8 narrowed her eyes.

With that, Rex called the woman over, who reacted with disgust at the corpse, and she sneered in a way that Kleopatra was sure would make Seranz blush if she wasn't always so neutral.

"What do you require my Lord Rex?" She asked, straight to the point.

"Well, you see." He gestured to the corpse. "We just found out that the bloody Nurgle zombie virus we encountered yesterday, that may I just add, infected the whole entire fucking Under Hive, has crawled to the surface. So, we and wanted to get an idea of the number of these rotter cunts we can expect up ahead. Interceptor V8 said you may know the population of this hive city. After all, I do remember you knowing how large the city was." He explained, to which the woman took all information in like a computer before responding without missing a beat.

"Estimates for the Upper Hive city was around 1.047 billion. Meanwhile, the Under Hive below was last reported to be around 6.285 billion, for a total population density of 7.332 billion citizens during the last report that was available to me one month ago." She explained, making all present widen their eyes.

"Holy shit, is she a calculator servitor or something?" Kleopatra murmured.

"No, actually she has an implant from the Mechanicus that boosts her brain's ability to remember information and process it. She got it as a child after she was brought into the Order." Firebird Bandit whispered to the Cadian who was intrigued by the intimidating woman.

"Thanks Charger R/T." He smiled as he petted her head while the woman leaned into, even while glaring at him. Though when Rex considered it, that glare may have just been how the way she normally looked. If that was true, he'd hate to have to see her angry face.

Removing his hand, he sent her off to join the other women as they held position in a loose defensive ovel around them to watch their very flank. Meanwhile, the conversation reverted back to their current threat and what it could mean.

"Well, this ain't good." Verosika voiced as she covered her nose from the smell of the corpse.

"It feels strange. There's a heavy Warp presence inside that thing." The Eldar commented, raising her hand and making the zombie float for a moment, a green and black aura of energy leaving the corpse before coalescing into a ball. "Yeah, Rex. This stuff is definitely Warp based." She commented as her eyes flashed white. Seranz rolled her eyes.

"We knew this much already Xeno." She scoffed while glaring down at the corpse. "Logic prevails that these pests brought the disease to the surface, or killing those two greater demons has created a power vacuum that something wretched is trying to fill."

Agreeing with her statement, Rex hummed to himself as his Hud identified yet more hostiles down the street that were being attracted by the occasional bolter noise.

"We would be far better off with some silencers." He muttered, though he was not sure if a bolter could even be silenced. "We need to get the fuck out of here. Kráeth, stop playing with the Warp magic shit." He turned and continued to walk, with the now sulking Eldari still on his shoulder. Seeing his movement, Kleopatra eyed the corpse one last time, even as Fire Bandit carried her away.

Pov change – Rex

"AND FUCKING STAY DOWN YOU CUNT!" I roared, retracting my visor to spit on a 14ft Nurgle demon that I had just eviscerated after it had burst through a shop window with the girls barely jumping out of the way in time. Being the largest target, it had barrelled after me as the obvious target. Even if it was a whole 3ft taller than my armoured body, I had dug my feet in the ground and dragged it to the ground with me where I used Chain Crucible to dice the bastard. Even still, it surprisingly wasn't dead, so Kráeth, who'd floated off my shoulder before it hit me, ripped the bastard's soul out.

Honestly pretty metal.

As we cleared through the streets, I couldn't help but also be impressed by the women who were bound to me. They were oddly tactical, considering my knowledge of 40k suggested Sororitas just charged the front lines like it was WW2, and maybe that was true in most cases, but I guess I got the competent girls as they cleared corners scouted ahead.

Unfortunately, it seemed that shambler earlier was exactly the first warning what we thought it would be as on one hand we ran into less normal demons, however on the flip side we were gradually encountering more and more zombies and diseased abominations.

"Rex." Kleo called to me, making me incline my her to her.

"Yeah darlin, what's up?" I said, noticing her cheeks flush from the term, making me smirk under my helmet as Kráeth used her Warp powers to clean my armour. Such a good girl.

"Is there a place we can rest? I-I know I've been carried since the monorail, but…" She told me, looking off with a regretful look. Poor girl probably didn't want to inconvenience us, huh?

"Speak your mind Kleo, it's a long journey from here to the Forge, after all." I said, swinging my sword and throwing it lazily to kill a zombie up ahead, before calling it back to my grip. A game I'd made up since I was so bored.

"Oh, erm… I-Its just that, well. We haven't had a time to get something in a while, so…"

"Let me guess." I said, turning to walk in reverse. "You're hungry, right?" She nodded silently, apparently embarrassed. I couldn't blame the chick. She was surrounded by almost tireless demons, a perpetual, and a woman I was sure would dehydrate to death while waiting for the perfect moment to slit the throat of an enemy of the Imperium. And even after that, I was sure the crazy bitch would revive herself just long enough to do it.

I shuddered as she turned to me, almost as if Sera could literally hear my thoughts as she walked alongside me. Still as I turned back to Kleo who I noticed was looking a little frailer, probably from starving now that I was actually paying attention to it, I Figured it wasn't a bad idea. After all, it wasn't like I had the chance to try Imperial food yet.

"Sure thing. Truth be told, I could do with a sandwich or something." I remarked, tapping my armoured stomach jokingly, making a 'clanging' sound.

"Thanks Rex, I'm slowing us down." She said a little insecurely and it honestly annoyed me as it wasn't like this was her fault. She then yelped as I picked her up from Firebird Bandit's back. Said girl looking grateful for the break as she stretched.

I retracted my helmet and kissed her forehead, before placing her on my shoulder opposite Kráeth. I seemed she was in for an attitude change as a smile bloomed on her lips, much to my enjoyment.

"Rex~" I closed my eyes and breathed in through my nose. Preparing myself for whatever my nutty succubus wanted.

"What's up Verosika?" I looked down at the woman that was now slithering in her Lamia form though significantly smaller, at her usual height of 7ft. That said, her tail was a lot longer. It did seem to bother Seranz as she scowled every time I caught her glancing at my favourite demon's inhuman feature, which I was 100% certain the cheeky minx was showing to tease her.

"Why do you have to keep wearing that armour all the time! I miss when you were naked and I could see your dangly bits~" Her half sexy, half childish tone was honestly funny and while I too had gotten used to being naked all the time, such things were impractical.

"Oh, Verosika." I petted her head affectionately, scratching her horns since she seemed to like it. "As much as I'd love to tease you all like that, for one, this suit is providing us all with almost unbreakable protection from Warp bullshit. Two, Seranz is going to stab me again if I keep getting distracted." I explain, to which I catch the audacious bitch actually nodding to herself, pleased that her threats had gotten to me. Stop smirking you cruel beautiful bitch!

"Agh, fine…" One the one hand she stopped tempting me, on the other she went back to what she was doing before. That being harassing and distracting the various demon girls that were trying to watch our flanks. She had done this since Seranz had threatened to kill her for becoming so bold as to grope her chest plate in a moment of complete stupidity via boredom.

So, with my favourite succubitch distracted, I had the chance to focus on Kleo's request, and for that, I needed my favourite Demon Bitch, aptly named after my favourite car. I don't know what it was when I called her forth at first, I just clicked with her.

"Hey, Mustang GT500. Can you come over here please? I need you for a sec." She turned to me, seeing me making a 'come-hither' gesture with my large, armoured finger. Jogging over with her body doing the movements I'd come to love, she stopped just before me while walking backward.

"What can I do for you Lord Rex?" She said, bobbing on her feet energetically in such a way that was very cute to me.

"My sexy Guardslady here that's currently half cosplaying as a Sororitas, is starving to death. Be a dear and tell the girls to keep an eye out for a McDonalds or something." I should have realised my mistake as she only tilted her head.

"McDonalds? Is that a thing from your universe or world or whatever?" She asked, to which I face palmed. Right, I forgot this place didn't have food places.

"Yeah, it is. Fuck it, wherever there's food or whatever passes as that on this sodding planet. She's hungry and I'm sure Seranz is too, if the woman would ever admit to such a thing." I heard her scoff. "And then there's Kráeth, who I don't even know WHEN she ate, if ever."

"Ate? What's that?" The three of us turned to the Eldari with no small amount of shock.

"The frak?" Surprisingly it was Kleo that swore, at least I think that was this universe's primary swear, which I felt explained our thoughts perfectly. "What are you talking about, you don't know hat eating is?" She asked incredulously.

"After my creation, I was injected with nourishment until I was implanted with what I needed to function." She elaborated, making me shake my head.

"Kráeth, love. I'm getting you a good burger. Even if I have to bless a lump of bread and some strange meat." I said determinedly, before looking back down to my attentive blonde demon bitch.

"What passes for a ford court in a world like this?" I asked, to which she placed a finger to her bottom lip in thought.

"There's the commerce district. It's where the populous is usually provided food, and usually dozens of them are scattered about, so the billions in a hive city can get to them easily." She explained, which I found logical. No cars mean you can't just take a half-hour trip down the road to go to the shop like a usual bloke living in rural America might have.

"Cheers Mustang GT500. Do us a favour and ask the other demon bitches to look for signs or whatever the Imperium uses to tell a punter where to find food. Tell em whoever gives it gets to blow me or something." I shrug, trying desperately not to let the smugness of have a bunch of horny sexy demons at my command, show on my face.

With a smile bright enough to challenge a Word Bearer, she saluted. "Yes sir!" Her cheerfulness was honestly something I hoped to see more of in this fucked universe. The sway of her rear end as she ran to her demon sisters to happily spread word, also helped.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Seranz commented from the side, though from her tone, I was getting 'pissed Sera' vibes.

"What are you on about Sera?" I asked, looking down on the woman who felt oddly colder than normal in this moment.

"These faithless heathen traitors who bare the God Emperor's mark. It must be nice to have so many at your whim and service. To do with as you please, at your pleasure." She remarked with a monotone, like she was telling the weather.

I thought for a moment, not getting what she meant since with Sera, I'd learned her words were never often given without meaning.

"Sera, is something bothering you?" I asked, to which she scoffed and increased her pace.

Now knowing something was deffintaly wrong, I did something admittedly stupid, and figuratively grabbed the piranha's tail as I reached forward and grabbed her around the waist, with her reaction being as expected.

"Hey! What madness befalls you? Unhand me." I didn't think she had the capacity to comprehend the pun she'd made as I lifted her up and placed her sitting on my outstretched palm with her legs handing off like a seat.

"Calm the fuck down Sera. I ain't gonna be forgetting my favourite Sororitas any time soon." I say, holding her in my palm, even as she gave a token resistance, going so far as to stab me.

"Yours? Since when did I become property of yours, wretch? Blessed though you may be, I am not like your Agri-World farm girl, pet Xeno, or traitor demon slaves. I am a member or the Order of Our Martyred Lady an-mmf." I silenced her by covering her mouth and squeezing her butt through her combat pants. Oddly enough, this also ceased her struggling.

"Sure, sure," I replied dismissively, removing my hand and letting her just rest on my palm which she no longer tried to escape from. "Whatever you say my cute loyalist." I gave her a knowing grin and a nonchalant shrug. Letting her just sit, huff, and brood on my palm, I couldn't help but equate her attitude to a cat. Sure, she'd scratch you, she'd hiss at you, and she was pretty cold, but she still wanted attention and recognition. Typical tough bitch shit. Considering her allies were all dead, Verosika had mentioned to me that pledging herself to me was probably a way of redemption for her failure or some shit.

Walking through the streets, I couldn't help but stare up into the sky beyond the trashed skyscrapers of the Upper Hive, knowing there, just beyond my vision was a war raging in the upper atmosphere. I could occasionally catch the glimpse of something streaking across the sky, burning up on approach before crashing. Even in the day, the explosions were bright and foreboding.

I had no idea who was winning out of the Imperium or Chaos, and it only made our situation all the more dire, because even if we shut down the ritual, it was still entirely within these fuckers' ability to terraform this place into the hellhole of their dreams with enough time. That only made our situation all the more pressing as it reminded me to stay on focus.

Suddenly, Charger R/T called out she'd found something. Approaching the woman, I found it to be a sign buried under rubble. Placing Seranz down, I guessed she was annoyed as she seemed comfortable, and letting Kráeth get off with Kleopatra. I began lifting blocks and debris until the sign was visible.

After some fiddling around with it, Shelby Cobra was able to figure out which direction it had been pointing after doing some scouting, before returning.

I thanked Charger R/T, to which the woman coldly nodded and walked away to Challenger R/T. Honestly, there was an odd resemblance between the pair. Still, I could feel her feelings of happiness at my praise, accompanied by my Hud picking up on horny pheromones from her. It seemed she was more of the cold type that did things in private. That said, I also admired that off all the women, she had the biggest tits.

I was once more distracted by the sound of Kleo's stomach, proceeded by Firebird Bandit and Verosika's snickering. The girl was obviously embarrassed as Firebird Bandit picked her up while teasing her, much to our entertainment. Still, I told them to get a move on as we now knew where to go.

Traveling without struggle for a bit, we finally seemed to be entering the right district if the burned hanged banners said anything.

THUD

Unfortunately, it seemed larger amounts of Nurgle Zombies were in this area. I was pretty entertained when I witnessed Kráeth play with her Warp abilities by making a zombie float, only to have a green aura of Nurgle energy leave its mouth, nose, and eyes. It would then coalesce into a ball, the zombie stopping all function as it was truly dead. Dropping the zombie, she'd regard the ball of necrotic energy, before she would fire it at a metal wall which instantly turned to rust.

THUD

Honestly things seemed to be going well all things considered. Sure, I had to occasionally respawn one or two of the girls since we had left the battlefield as their unarmoured bodies did jack-shit for protection, but beyond that we didn't have much slowing us down.

THUD THUD

"Rex." I turned to Seranz. "Do you hear that?" She questioned, to which I scrunched my face in thought as I looked around curiously. Unsure of what she was talking about. Verosika also gave the same look as she and I looked to Seranz for explanation.

THUD THUD

"I heard it too! What was that? It felt like it was making the ground shake?" Interceptor V8 informed, standing closer to Firebird Bandit so she could protect Kleopatra as ordered.

I looked at my Hud. "My suit ain't picking up any seismic activity." I said, looking through various details being provided by my suit.

"Hold position." Seranz gave the order, and we all stopped as whatever was making that noise, it was close. As a precaution, we got closer together and made a tighter formation in the street. Chain Crucible and my demon sword were both in my hands and ready.

THUD THUD THUD

"Ok, wha-"

CRASH

Whipping my head around, we were enveloped in a dust cloud caused from the falling a building behind us. I moved to stand before those in the centre of out formation to protect them somewhat when suddenly, the cloud was cleared when I was struck by an expolision that sent me careening into a shop window.

"REX!" I vaguely heard Kleo call my name as the concussion I'd received healed in my head and the work stopped spinning.

THUD THUD

There was various shouts and bolters and lasguns that began their symphony as a few of the sisters appeared before me, helping drag me out of the rubble that had fallen on top of me. Apparent my Demon Bitches were far stronger than they looked as four of them pulled me free while the rest were firing down the street.

Freed, I thanked the girls, before turning to see what had had the audacity to cheap shot me, only to widen my eyes as my head craned up to look upon the 50ft tall abomination that had just cut off our trail and was now behind us.

"By the Emperor, it's an Imperial Knight!" My loyalist Sororitas called out, and I couldn't help but marvel at the thing, before disgust set. The reason being that as the thing advanced with our weapons doing zero damage to it, more of it came into view through the dust. It was just such a sad thing as its once proud red paint job was covered in literal skin that had grown over it accompanied by tentacles, horns, and other shit. It's house banner and shield were ripped and ruined, and its helmet had some sick looking pussing ooze flowing from it.

The green light of its eyes also painted a horrid picture as tentacles raked the sides of the buildings it passed while its gatling gun and missile launcher were directed right at us.

That was not all as this thing was being led around by a massive Nurgle bug demons that swooped down, chaos, making me raise my sword to kill the bastard.

It dodge out of the way and left more of that sickly green mist on the ground that made demons begin appearing from literally everywhere, like it was a call to arms.

Seranz shouted orders, directing us to maintain our defensive positions while firing back at the encroaching horde. Verosika and I exchanged a quick glance, a silent understanding passing between us as she entered my body and I activated Chain Crucible, its teeth roaring to life in challenge as I prepared to figure out how the fuck I was supposed to kill this thing. A literal Death Knight.

Interceptor V8 positioned herself close to Firebird Bandit to shield Kleopatra as ordered which I was glad about. The air cracked with bolter fire as our weapons blazed, each shot finding its mark amidst the swirling chaos of demons that gradually pushed us back with the situation growing dire as the relentless tide of zombies rushed forward World War Z style, pressing us into tighter quarters. Despite the demon sisters' best efforts, we were fighting a losing battle against the overwhelming numbers while I kept sending slashes into the air with Chain Crucible to detonate the Death Knight's missles midair before they hit us.

"SERA!" I shouted to the woman, who was suddenly pinned by a nasty looking zombie dog demon. Fortunately, Verosika was on the case as she sent a gout of flames that incinerated the diseased undead mongrel. While Barracuda helped Seranz to her feet, her voice cut through the chaos, saying we needed to retreat.

Cursing as I had no fucking idea where we would be going, I threw my flaming sword at the knight to buy us time and cover our retreat as we withdrew to a more defensible position. My strike surprisingly didn't go as deep as I'd expected it would, apparently Imperial Knights were built out of some strong shit.

"RUN! Come on!" I roared, helping up a few of the girls that had tripped when the knight's latest missile had struck the building beside us, causing debris to fall. All around us, were the undead which crawled from everywhere. Clawing, biting, they were ravenous bastards.

Following behind the group so as to soak up the bullets from the Death Knight's gatling gun, we were fortunate that Kráeth was doing some warp bullshit to redirect a ton of the shots away from us as we ran.

DAKA PEW DAKA PEW DAKA PEW DAKA PEW DAKA BOOM

I was forced to grab Seranz, Kleo, and Kráeth and turn with my back blocking the hail of hell that was directed at us from ahead. All around us, the Demons Sororitas were being cut down and subsequently ripped apart by zombies and Nurgle demons as they tried desperately to fight back. Now I was turned around, I could see the Death Knight advancing with flying Nurgle demons leading the charge.

"What's shooting at us!?" Kleo asked, shielding her head with her hands from all the kicked dirt. She'd unfortunately also lost her weapon and my M4A1 when I'd grabbed her form Firebird Bandit who'd been cut down a second later, along with Interceptor V8.

"It's the Guard! They've been possessed by this foul affliction!" Sera responded, escaping my grasp and running to the side of the street to fire back along with the Demon Sororitas members who'd escaped the surprise attack.

"Rex, I'm suppressing the massively concentrated plague that these bastards are trying to infect everyone with, it's the green mist that's doing it!" My Eldari told me as I placed her and Kleo at the side for cover. I barely noticed how Kleo struggled to stay in my grip as I handed her off to Plymouth GTX to protect her.

BOOM

I was struck again from the rear this time by the zombie guard up ahead. I found my suit had a decent sized hole in it as my skin and the suit's fibres healed and regenerated with a cold to my suit's power reserves for such damage, I turned to see none other than the 120mm cannon of a Nurgleized Lemon Russ rank. Complete with a the skin growth, tentacles and one of its tracks being replaced with a flowing meat-like substance that screeched with every moment. It also looked like it had been on fire, by the burn marks I can see.

That said, I had another concern. It was aiming at me!

BOOM

I fell to the floor, my head and most of my shoulders reforming as I was laid the fuck out.

"ex! Rex! REX!" I began to hear as cognizance returned to be, just in time to punch a demon in the face that was climbing over me to get to Kleo, who was screaming for me.

Getting pissed off. I grabbed the demon by the back of his throat and ripped his head off, before body slamming the fat cunt dead, or at least I thought it was dead, until the damn thing grabbed me, even while headless.

That was until my forearm ignited in purple Warp flames.

"{REX! GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME PARTNER! ALL of your mortal women are about to get fucked between that tank and Demon Knight. That's one Eiffel Tower I don't want to witness. You need to clear the path ahead now, before they all die.}" Verosika called out in my mind while I shook off the dizziness. Nodding while gritting my teeth, I glared at the tank.

"Rodger that." I reached back without looking, Chain Crucible returning to my grip. Punching myself in the side of my head to hype myself up, I roared in rage and charged at the corrupted Leman Russ tank like a freight train.

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

BOOM

It fired its weapons at me, hitting some of the Demon Sororitas around me as they fought off the zombies. I was hit square in the chest with a massive hole being blown out the back of my armour, but I continued to keep running like a bull, ignoring the damage as with a fucking hard smash, I hit the ugly thing head in its side. It cried out in a creepy unnatural sound as with a roar cry of effort and strain, I lifted its left tracks up and finally tipped it onto its side. I wasn't done as I revved Chain Crucible and slashed into its underbelly, carving along its hull that oozed puss and sprayed me down with blackened greenish blood. All the while it cried out in presumably agony while pissed me off as I ignited my blade's flames that burned the thing out from the inside out.

Not a wise decision as the shells inside ignited and blasted me into the side of a building where my vision when fuzzy. Laying in the rubble, I was once more witness to a few Demon Sororitas helping me up as they grabbed my arms and tried to haul me up.

"THE WAY IS CLEAR! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Seranz ordered, pushing people past the burning corpse of the demon tank.

BOOM

The girls helping me were blown down as a stray missile struck nearby, sending them flying as more rubble fell on me, pissing me off as I tried to escape.

"{I'll help.}" Verosika said, leaving my body and helping me out of the rubble with a hard pull.

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

The horrid thing's gatling gun then tore everything up with Verosika turning into mist just in time, but the Demon Bitches beside me were cut down. I waisted no time in sprinting after the girls, seeing their survival more important than fighting that thing as the demons above were still a massive threat to them.

Throwing my sword up into the sky, I cut the wing off a flying Nurgle demon which splattered on the ground before crawling after us. It was honestly fucking horrifying.

Just as I'd caught up to them, of which there was only eight Demon Bitches left according to my Hud, I was suddenly hit with yet more warning signatures as I turned to see the Death Knight had rounded the corner onto the street we were fighting through, only to make our lives harder by firing MORE missiles at us, making me raise my arm in a feeble attempt to stop them from hitting anyone else.

SHIN

Mush to my shock, multiple explosions went off in my face as a red curved energy shield was projected from my arm, allowing me to block the multiple shots, with me only skidding back a few feet. I was honestly shocked as this suit just kept doing more crazy shit.

"Oh, fuck yeah." I grinned, continuing to cover our escape as gatling gun rounds the size of a small dog smacked into my shield constantly. Unfortunately I could see the energy drain on my suit wasn't cheap, so once I had a chance, I dropped the shield with a command on my Hud and sprinted after the women who'd ducked through a building with Seranz directing them.

Seeing they were trapped by some barricades, I crashed through the wall, allowing them to chase after me. The Chaos Knight wasn't far behind as I had to shield them from the rubble as it walked through the fucking building to chase us.

CRASH

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" I cried as ANOTHER fucking rot Knight trampled a building to my right and with zombies behind us, I had no choice by to direct everyone to run between the pair.

That's when tragedy really struck as a couple of the Demon Sororitas were caught in the horde while that second Demon Knight's Heavy Flamer cooked the streets and would have been us if Kráeth hadn't projected a shield along with me to ward off the very literal green hell fire of its modified demon flamethrower.

Knowing I could just heal them and that they couldn't feel the pain, I was thankful as the Sororitas simply carried on defending the girl. All the while, Seranz was leading the charge as she continued to gun down sprinting zombies. Unfortunately, behind us, the Knights were still attacking, prompting me to turn to Verosika, who was beside me.

"VEROSIKA!" I called and pointed to the monsters that were giving chase much faster than their designs should allow them too. "Do me a favour and hold those fuckers off." I ordered, to which she looked hesitant for a moment, before nodding.

"You owe me Rex!" She called out, stopping in her tracks and I watched as she transformed into a 60ft purple demon cobra. She hissed as she saddled up against the pair of corrupted knights. It looked like a Pacific Rim battle as they squared up until with her fangs bared, Verosika tackled the two huge demon Knights and proceeded to tear buildings apart in their battle. Sending Warp fire all around her, something she could do to a massive degree now that she had the power boost as she bathed them in a tide of purple flames to cover our tracks, I had a tear in my eye regardless as I could hear her pained wails as she faced off against the undead.

Internally, as I sprinted after the girls while stomping and crushing the zombies and abominations ahead, I kept reminding myself that I could just respawn her. That she wouldn't remember what was happening. That I just needed to fucking get these girls to safety. I was even ignoring the fuel readings that were telling me that the constant damage and repairs were draining the suit's energy.

Unfortunately, the concentration of zombies only seemed to increase as our group were forced into tighter quarters. We were fortunate that the flying Nurgle demons seemed more interested in Verosika's giant Greater Demon form, than us for the time being.

"BANEBL-!"

BOOM

I was barely able to make out what was screamed as I was sent into another building, this time without my lower half as my armour ran out of juice after regenerating so much damage constantly and it shut down. Blearily looking around, I vaguely made out a large mass approaching as I dragged my reforming body out of the spot I was in. The familiar sight of my own organs and blood ahead of me as the severed lower-half of my armour entered my feet and under my skin.

"Rex! Get down!" Seranz, suddenly forced me down as another massive shell flew past my head, the concussion of the explosion giving me temporary shell shock. "REX! REX WAKE UP!"

SMACK

"Ah, I'm up!" I shouted, my vision all over the place.

"Well, frak, he's almost out of it." Kleo said, which unintentionally prompted Sera again.

SMACK

"Hey, stop that!" I shouted, blinking the dizziness out.

"Rex focus!" She grabbed my shoulders. "There's a Baneblade down the street, where's your armour!?" She barked, and I had to cover my ears while we all crouched in the ruins, taking cover from the fucking moving fortress.

"It's out of juice Sera, I need to kill some shit without being trashed by these big fuckers if I'm gonna use it again." I say, referring to all the attacks I'd taken while guarding them from getting killed.

"Well, we lack any sort of weapon capable of taking it out and we are running extremely low on munitions. Also, there's only three of the traitors left, along with the Xeno, Kleopatra, and me." She explained, making me widen my eyes as I saw the state of the demon girls who seemed to have used their unprotected bodies to block claws, teeth, bullets and other nasty things from getting to the girls. It honestly brought a tear to my eye as it was one thing to say you were loyal and to do things for someone, it was another to FEEL their emotions.

Gritting my teeth I looked at the approaching tank from out of cover.

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

Big mistake as I had to dive down as its massive cannons blew the area behind me apart, making a building collapse and crack the ground as a mortar weakened the ground to the point I feared it would collapse to the Under Hive.

Gritting my teeth from the floor, I looked around at the fearful women as Seranz kept shooting approaching zombies. Their fear motivated me, especially Kleo as she was clearly terrified into shaking worse than a Chiwawa in a blizzard.

Crawling to Kráeth, I grabbed her leg. The poor girl seemed just as bad as Kleo as she jumped at my hand touching her.

"Kráeth, I have a plan. But I need you to keep using your Warp shields for it, ok?" She nodded hesitantly. "Good girl. I've been watching you rip out and play with those zombies' Warp essence. You think you can drain that thing's corruption as well?" I ask as a shell flew over us, showering us in dirt. I honestly believed I was getting to know how the people in the trenches of WW1 felt.

"Y-Yeah, I can do it Rex. It's easy. I-I just need to get close since its so big." She told me while wincing and covering her ears at the wail of a zombie that I was suddenly tackled by.

"Get… OFF!" I shouted as the larger zombie pinned me and was ripping my chest open with its claws while I struggled.

BANG

When my punctured lung restored, I breathed a sigh of relief as Kleo snatched Demon 340's bolter and shot the rotten bastard repeatedly until it killed over to my side.

"Agh, thanks babe." I winced, using the fat corpse to stand as I grabbed my Eldari's hand and turned to Seranz.

"Sera! We are going to shut that Baneblade down. Have Roadrunner 70 and the other two girls sprint out on my mark." I commanded, taking a deep breath as I got ready to fucking run like hell.

"Understood." She acknowledged, not even pausing in firing her bolter for a second. Not that the horde would give her a chance as she desperately kept them at bay.

I glared at the Baneblade while barely sparing a glance at the horde down the street behind us and closing. Fuck that's a lot of zombies. I took a deep breath, before shouting.

"NOW!"

Following my call, the girls dashed in three different directions, leaving Seranz alone to guard Kleo. Meanwhile with Kráeth beside me, we ran like hell towards the tank directly. Unfortunately for us, what I hadn't accounted for was for the fucker to begin raining hellfire on ALL of us at once, luckily it was using its lighter weapons against us and instead used its bigger weapons on my poor Demon Bitches who were blown up instantly. I didn't have time to react to that anger inducing fact or the emotions they sent as they their souls entered me along with all the others.

Bullets, bolter shells, and cannon blasts hammered against my blonde Eldari's Warp shield as we charged towards the Baneblade. Determination was burning through my veins as despite the relentless Nurgle-tainted barrage raining down upon us, Kráeth and I pressed forward. The deafening roar of explosions filled the air as the corrupted super-tank unleashed its fury upon us.

With every step, I felt the weight of just how real all this shit was. That sure, I couldn't die, but people who I'd come to care about would. This fuelled the usually violent fire within me as I raised Chain Crucible while the shimmering energy of my Eldari's Warp shield deflected incoming projectiles. Together, Kráeth and I closed the distance, our hearts pounding in rhythm with the thunderous onslaught around us.

With a primal roar, I raised my blade in such a way as to cleave the main gun's round in two as it exited the barrel. That wasn't all as suddenly, a gaping maw ripped open on its lower plate, biting into my right leg. The horrendous teeth made me want to be sick, so I used some of Chain Crucible's last dredges of energy to send a wave of flame down the monster tank's throat. In the same motion, with my other hand, I grabbed Kráeth's and swung her up onto the demon engine's front plate where she proceeded to climb to the top.

Suddenly the upper hatch opened and a Nurgle gremlin looking thing crawled out after her, catching her by surprise. With a grunt of effort, I threw my demon sword like a spear that pieced the little rotten troglodyte's brain or whatever passed as one.

"Thanks Rex!" She called out, tossing me back my sword after using telekinesis to rip it out of the dead thing's corpse. Good girl. Don't touch that. You don't know where it's been.

Not a moment later did her eyes flash a pale white and the monster almost blew my eardrums with its agonized screaming. I was covering my ears as the sensation made me dizzy to the point I was falling to my knees and throwing up in front of the tank.

BWAAAAAAH

Blearily, I turned back to the way we came to see one of the Demon Knights was rounding the corner. It was approaching Kleo and Sera at a rapid pace as they were now, much to my horror completely surrounded by zombies.

Struggling to my feet while the cursed tank screamed incessantly as Kráeth literally ripped its essence out of its body, I snarled at the machine and raised Chain Crucible.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I brought it down on the bitch's mouth, cutting out its putrid tongue, making it slightly muter and instead gargle in a way that made me want to wretch. Ignoring that, I spared one glance to my Eldari girl who nodded in acknowledgement and that she'd be ok on her own for the time being.

Without wasting a moment, I sprinted directly for the massive horde that was piling in from every fucking place available. Dragging my swords along the street floor, I raked them, up in a vertical slash, before slicing done and bisecting multiple zombies with the oversized swords. The big issue was that outside of my armour, I couldn't properly wield these heavy fuckers like normally, so it too a lot more effort than before.

BOOM

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

""REX!""

I widened my eyes as the horde was pushing me back and cutting me off from the girls who were calling out to me as the Demon Knights opened fire on them. Growling, I grabbed the zombie's throat in front of me and ripped it out in rage. I then swung Chain Crucible in an arch that cleaved many zombies in two before igniting them in a wave of flames. While I knew this level of violence wasn't enough against the literally thousands of undead that was filling the main streets, the vicious killing did charge my armour what with a thought, began covering my blood-soaked and dusty body. Where a second ago I stood as a man against the horde, with a rev of my sword, I was now standing once more as a walking tank. And with such a high saturation of corpses to kill, I could charge my armour better than when I was just taking damage while protecting the girls.

"KLEO, SERA! I'M COMING!" With a roar of my back thrusters, I set my blades to my left and right like wings as I rocketed forward, carving a bloody tide through the undead ranks. Zombies before me were literally turned into roadkill as I crushed them under foot or kicked them away with the force of a freight train. Meanwhile my swords tasted a ridiculous amount of blood at as they acted like the world's most violent tripwire, bisecting a ridiculous number of zombies. It should be mentioned that Chain Crucible's spinning teeth were spraying ludicrous amounts of blood just about everywhere.

Approaching the trapped girls at speed, I broke into the tight circle on undead that were grabbing and clawing at them, slashing and crushing all around them as I passed over their heads with a jump, before with a blood thirsty roar, I slammed my swords into the left leg of one of the knights while tackling the appendage. The result was something I was immensely proud of as I ripped the think clean off, making the thing tumble to the street floor while its mangled leg came with me.

Shaking my head after the impact, I shot my gaze to the second one that belched flames at me as its mouth, that had replaced its head, screamed at me in a jumbled Warp dialect I had no chance or hope in hell of understanding.

Sprinting through the fire, I sent a wave of fire at the thing with my sword, only for the tough bastard to completely shrug the attack off much to my surprise. To add insult to injury, it seemed it was the Knight's turn to attack as its top mounted launcher blasted me with rockets that sent me into a building.

BWAAAAAAH

Getting my bearings, I widened my eyes in shock when a fucking 70ft Demon Warhound titan barrelled through a building to stomp me into the ground. I was then grabbed and thrown across the street by the heavy flamer Demon Knight, where I crashed and skidded until I was just next to the girls who'd been given a respite from the zombies by my earlier slaughter to charge my Praetor suit.

Grabbing my head, I shook my dizziness away to look up, only to regret doing so as I stared down three giants down the street that completely towered over me, as well as the horde of the undead that flowed past their feet.

Looking back in sudden horror, I realised that the girls were in the firing line as they were in the middle of the street with me. That was all the time I got as they raised hell fire upon us. Thinking fast, I activated my red energy shield and blocked the incoming fire while standing up just in time. Looking over my shoulder I shouted to the girls.

"SERA! YOU AND KLEO GOTTA GET TO KRÀETH! YOU'RE IN THE FUCKING WAY!" I cared not for how rude that may have come across as I continued blocking their sustained fire, yet I was constantly aware of my diminishing power reserves. It seemed my message got across as Sera hoisted Kleo onto her back while grabbing their weapons, before running to the tank.

Third POV

With the girls out of the way, it gave Rex the opportunity to finally drop his shield and go on the offensive. Dodging to the side, he activated Chain Crucible and bared his demon blade, before sprinting towards the three giants. One of which had used rotten vines to reconnect its leg back into place and a toxic sludge to glue it back on. Rex merely saw this as a challenge as he grinned under his helmet. Slicing a dozen zombies to the point his sword was humming with red Warp essence, he threw it at the War hound titan's right cannon, slashing the weapon and making it explode in a misfire. Not that it was out for long as mucus, rust, and skin began clotting over the damaged area and forming a new weapon.

BZZZZT

The armoured man was then blasted from the side by the energy laz-cannon of the first Demon Knight that had improved mobility thanks to its legs being overtaken by demonic looking rotten growths, before being tackled and crashing near the two women as Seranz carried Kleo to the tank for safety. Rex noticed this as he heard Kleo scream when rubble from the street kicked up and flew over their heads and around them.

"HIDE GIRLS!" He continued to rumble while roaring out, crashing through a wall, before righting himself and activating his elbow thruster to deliver a super enhanced punch to the Demon Engine's armoured face that made the much larger creature of metal and rotten flesh recoil from the blow. It retaliated by once more tackling him to the ground and handling him like a ragdoll.

Further down the street, the other corrupted machines of war had taken shots at the girls as they tried to escape, forcing them to duck into a nook under a damaged transport vehicle that coincidentally gave them a full view of the raging battle. They watched in fear as their companion and only chance of survival in their situation was flung to the other side of the street, subsequently pummelled by flame, rocket, missile, las-shots, and bolter fire.

Thinking fast, forced open the rear doors with her power sword and shot multiple Nurgle zombies that were inside the tank. She then dragged them out, before placing Kleo inside and shutting the doors behind them, leaving them in the semi-dark interior that also cut off most of the sound from outside. Kleo wiped her eyes to stifle tears as she was hyperventilating at everything that was happening around her. Seeing this, the Battle Sister knelt down to her.

"Kleopatra, get a hold of yourself. This is no way for a servant for the God Emperor to act in the face of Chaos. You must be strong." She ordered, attempting to calm the woman, who only seemed to be freaking out more, especially as the light tank was rocked by something bashing into it from outside, with Seranz trying to grip the railing above, only to fall while Kleo came after her, cling to her front to soften her landing.

Gripping the back of her head in pain, the Platinum Blonde faintly heard the other woman praying to the God Emperor for salvation. While she normally took great pride in witnessing such actions. At this moment, she could only feel pity for the woman who she knew wasn't built for war like she or that lunatic outside was. Still, they had a duty to carry out, so she sat up while addressing the woman as she grabbed her shoulders.

"Guardswoman, pull yourself together. Rex is outside right now fighting for our lives, so I expect you to maintain your faith. Or would you forsake his efforts and crumble when we are so close to escaping this wretched world?" She demanded, her dominant ice-blue eyes glaring into teary violet.

"Y-You're right. I just. I feel so helpless." She murmured, them both wincing when the Chimera was rocked yet again. Seranz took a breath, placing her hand on the other woman's shoulder.

Seeing her normal straight forward attitude wasn't working, she switched up tactics to something she wasn't normally good at… Feeling. "Faith and courage, Kleopatra. That is what will get us through this. Though I loath to admit it, whether it's because he's a Perpetual or quite mad, perhaps both, that suicidal immoral immortal outside is more courageous than many of my own Order. He has gotten us this far, as has our own bravery. I as well as you yourself need to keep pushing forward and keep your spirit if we want to survive these trials. The God Emperor Protects, does he not?" She asked, staring into the woman's eyes with her usual unbreakable will. It seemed this had done the trick as silently, the other woman nodded, before hugging her front tightly.

"… Understood." She whispered while pressing her face into the taller woman's chest plate. This made the Sororitas Sister uncomfortable as she slowly patted the other woman's back and looked at her with a complicated expression, though a traitorous part of her mind admitted that it wasn't unwelcome as a small unseen tug upward of her lips presented. With the rocking of the vehicle once more, the pair were taken from their moment when the light tank suddenly was hit and violently rolled until it landed upright once more.

With a groan, Seranz winced as she grabbed her head in pain from hitting the floor and walls while she wrapped her arms around Kleopatra to protect her. Said woman was reeling and recovering slower as she had headbutted her armoured chest plate multiple times by accident.

Checking on the woman, Seranz took the moment to peer through the driver's view port, wincing at the battle raging outside. Even the battle hardened Sororitas could admit when something was out of her league, though it wounded her pride to do such a thing.

Turning to her co-occupant, she hoisted her onto her back once more.

"We have to go." She said simply, gathering their weapons.

"But it's safe here!" The other woman protested, not wanting to leave the relatively safe space inside the dim interior of the vehicle.

"No, it's not. The God Emperor only knows what will happen if we stay so close to the battle. Rex gave me a clear order, so I'm getting us to that Baneblade." Seranz said resolutely, kicking open the rear doors that screeched from the force.

She was startled when Rex's armoured body crashed into the side of the vehicle. The battle had not been going well apparently as she could see his armour damaged all over and repairing while the rotten monster machines had only grown more grotesque with boils, pocks, and rotten skin now covering vast proportions of their mechanical bodies.

She knew it wasn't Rex's ability that was hampering him, he was just too small to effectively fight the monsters, even with the marginally enhanced height afforded to him by his Praetor suit. In another circumstance, she may have found it silently amusing that the short man's lack of height was his folly. No doubt he'd be annoyed by it and spank her again for her attitude.

'Bad Seranz, focus.' She said to herself in her mind, shaking her head while her cheeks flushed as even now in this battlefield, the memory of the man's actions and her begrudging feelings on the matter were a constant in her mind. If her sisters knew about it, she'd surely be forced to an extended period of secluded prayer and repentance.

Shaking off the distracting thoughts, Seranz forced herself to focus on the immediate danger at hand. She watched with growing concern as Rex's armoured form struggled to stand as he leaned against the vehicle, his struggles evident by the sparks emanating from his armour's joints and his own grunts as he was forced back by the barrage that hammered their position. She wasn't the only one concerned as the passenger on her back was seemingly panicking again at the volume of Nurgle abominations that surrounded them.

"Rex!" The Cadian called out, staring back at the white dome of Warp energy that surrounded the Baneblade. "Kráeth needs more time! You have to hold on!" She explored the struggling man that was protecting them from the approaching horde that constantly bared down on them, supported by the two monstrous Knights and the Warhound Titan that advanced up the street at an almost mocking pace, as if they were horror movie villains that were taking their time only to extract the most exquisite fear to please their wretched Grandfather.

Grunting, Rex turned his head to the woman with a twitching eye.

"YEAH!? And what the FUCK do you expect me to do?" He proclaimed, getting hammered by a large piece of debris that slammed into his shield and forced him back. "Bastard." He snarled, launching Chain Crucible over his shield to intercept another volley, before retracting it. The Ravenette was trembling, not at his anger, as she knew it wasn't truly directed at her, but at how much he seemed to be struggling to keep them safe. She'd find it further endearing, if only her thoughts weren't beginning to darken once more to hopelessness as she trembled and hugged tighter to Seranz's back.

The Sister, meanwhile, was dealing with a different swirling of thoughts. Instead of fear of death or defeat. She was analysing the situation and searching for any advantage which could be afforded to them to turn the tide. Touching the side of the damaged Chimera, she narrowed her eyes that snapped to the man like a whip.

"Rex." She called out, getting his attention as he sustained another volley which cracked his red energy shield that was beginning to dwindle in power. "That Krork suit of yours. It can function based upon your beliefs and desires, correct?" She questioned.

"Yeah, that's about right. What the fuck's it got to do with this bollocks Sera?" He growled, his arms beginning to grow weak from the strain.

"You lack the mass to effectively fight those corrupted Titanicus, do you not? Perhaps you may use the God Emperor's light to combine your suit with this Chimera tank to bolster your formidable prowess?" She asked, to which he looked at her in bewilderment, before a look dawning on inspiration, and most likely madness, was revealed in the exposed eyes she could see behind his blue visor.

Raising his shield in front of him to full power and ignoring the energy drain, he blocked increased constant onslaught of the approaching behemoths. Meanwhile a sound akin to a jet engine powering up, combined with Godzilla's charge up, resounded from his armour's chest while scarlet energy built up at its core.

Backing up, the Seranz felt the need to pray to the God Emperor as she and Kleopatra watched Rex place his large, armoured hand on the damaged machine. The air crackled with scarlet energy that ran from his chest to his arm and finally into the damaged vehicle. Red tendrils of light snaked their way across the vehicle's surface, tracing intricate patterns as if weaving a web of power. The women watched in awe as the tank seemed to shudder and rattle, like something was pulling at its every surface.

Responding to Rex's touch in a way they could scarcely comprehend, assisted by his golden Aquila tattoo that radiated golden ethereal light. Slowly, imperceptibly at first, the tank began to collapse upon itself. Its angular form shifted and contorted, breaking down with metal plates rearranging themselves and finally liquidating under Rex's command to filter and absorb though his arm. What had once been a standard war machine of the Astra Militarum, now merged with the towering figure of Rex's armour as he raised to his knee from the cracked pavement while his shield that was blocking the oncoming fire, expanded and enhanced, almost as if the Machine Spirit of the Chimera was being consumed to fuel his suit's energy reserves.

The armour's damage repaired faster with the sparks subsiding and the armour's seemingly living material expanding and contracting to grow and overlay itself with new material. The praetor suit tore down the light-tank's base components and converted them into its own sub-sentient mass. This was not without cost, however as much to the girls' dismay, Rex was screaming at the top of his lungs like when the armour first merged with him as red energy coursed through him.

Even so, the transformation was mesmerizing. Seranz would say it was a testament to the God Emperor's boundless abilities and silently revered that this act of what could only be described as techno-magic, was akin to a small window of what the God Emperor was truly capable of 10,000 years ago.

Meanwhile, Kleopatra had momentarily forgotten her fear as Rex captured her eyes with his own to stare into them meaningfully. Both somehow conveying that everything would be alight, and that their survival was what was fuelling him to fight so hard.

As the process reached its climax, the women beheld Rex's new form as many mechanical noises resounded from the armour's internal and external orifices with parts slotting into place and securing themselves with a series of rumbles and hisses.

Slowly leaning and rotating his head from side to side to crack any kinks from his neck and armour's neck joints, the newly formed armour stomped forth, cracking the ground beneath its weight alone. Rex's Praetor suit, now merged with the Chimera tank, stood closer in size to the knights though still marginally shorter than the Warhound Titan.

Retracting a segment in his chest and turning to the girls with a grin that sent shivers down their spines, he raised a thumb to them.

"Sera, I could kiss you." He rumbled while cackling like a madman. The woman for her part, blinked. Not expecting such a confession from the chaotic heretical little shit. Still, not leaving indignant Sororitas a chance to respond, several vents on his back opened and a blue flame roared forth, propelling the huge, armoured figure forth while his shield kept blocking everything that was sent by the approaching behemoths.

"ALRIGHT YOU BASTARDS! LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN!" Dropping his shield, he tanked several missles, rockets, and bolt-rounds to his shoulders and mid-section while sprinting like a train. In response, the corrupted Warhound Titan began charging up a heavy lazgun while the Knights moved to its sides to give it a clear shot.

Just as the beam was fired, the 47ft olive green Praetor mech went into a dive as it slid across the ground and tore up the concrete street. Rex's action was not a trip or desperate tactic, but intentional as he tackled the Titan's leg, spinning around and using his momentum and new weight to drag it down with him, making it crash to the side and land on the knight to its left.

Rolling onto his knee while still in motion, Rex raised a massive fist and brought it down on the more mobile Knight to the right to stop it from firing upon him with more missiles, successfully landing a strike upon its centre mounted mutated maw of a head that roared in protest with acidic spit and gnarled yellow teeth.

In response, he clenched his fists and raised both arms, bringing them down to clobber the disorientated chaos knight. He grit his teeth in effort as the knight blocked him with its own extended and mutated fleshy arms. Straining against the monster, Rex widened his eyes when a crack resounded from the floor he was standing on.

"Oh, SHI-" And then they were tumbling down as the ground beneath them collapsed into the dark abyss. Tumbling and grappling each other, numerous blows were exchanged as they fell to the under-hive.

Spawning demonically warped green swords from its arms, the knight swung for Rex, who crossed his arms to block it while retracting a much larger copied version of Chain Crucible from his left arm and batting away one of the blades, only to lean back and avoid the second that carved the metal beside them as they fell, destroying everything they got near during their free-fall.

Cocking his arm back, rockets on Rex's elbow roared to life as he super punched the mechanical monster in the chest, only for them to hit an angled ledge and tumble through a steel wall, causing a section to crumble. The two then found themselves skidding across the floor, before coming to a stop on a massive flat blackened area probably marked for more slums in the lower hive.

In the darkness, the Knight was the first to recover as it leaned up, rotated its upper body 180-degrees, and pushed itself up onto all fours, before rotating back and charging up a heavy laz-beam from its upper mounted cannon that burned like a beacon. Without hesitation, it fired upon Rex's kneeling form and forcing him to deploy his shield. It seemed this thing was taking him seriously unlike before as he could actually feel himself being pushed back by the Warp enhanced weapon as the Knight approached.

Thinking fast, he punched the floor he was kneeling on and fell once again. The Knight approached with the certainty of death and heavy stomps to inspect the hole Rex had disappeared through, only for the ground below it to explode upwards as Rex rocketed from below and tackled the demon mech to the ground. Pinning it down, he sent a punch to the demon Knight's mouth/face, only for it to dodge to the side and make him punch the floor, weakening it. Grabbing the Rex by the shoulders, the Nurgle Knight slammed Rex's armoured head down through the ground.

Turning the tables, the Knight climbed atop him, only for Rex to deliver a jet-powered fist to its face that sent it reeling back quite far. The Knight caught itself and stared Rex down with its full arsenal ready to bare.

The man could practically hear the soul of Verosika that was returned to him, sarcastically saying she thought it looked pissed off. If she did say this, Rex's response could only be described as "Good." As he stood before the Chaos Knight and extended Chain Crucible and revved the motor from his left arm.

In response, like the knight duellists of old, the traitor Knight extended its swords from both arms, likely aware of the minimal damage its ordinance was doing as the armour kept regenerating and powering itself off the thick green miasma of Nurgle Warp energy that saturated the damned Under-Hive. Its blades glowed a sickly green and Rex's Hud was telling him that it was capable of damaging souls and consuming them, making him actually worried and lamenting that in 40k, true invincibility, even to a Perpetual, didn't exist.

That said, as he panted from the inside of his armour, he couldn't help but grin. He had to admit that he was having more fun than he'd ever had in his entire life. After all, this was practically every boy's dream.

With a feral smile, he started off in a sprint, blade raised. However, just as they would clash, he knelt down and slid, raising his blade to cleave the monster's side while avoiding being cut himself by only a hair. The wound on the Knight was deep, and oozed with sickly green puss as it revealed the infection that had grown in the mechanical monster's technical innards. Spewing huge magots and sludge onto the flat surface they stood upon.

Rex wanted to imagine that it looked panicked as he grinned viciously under his helmet while he studied his chaos tainted foe's movements. How it leaned down and looked at its new wound and escaping chaos taint from the purifying blade, gave him some credence to his sadistic after thought.

"Heh, got ya, you bugger." Standing and sprinting forwards, he dodged low to avoid a slash aimed for his head and uppercut the Knight below its head, making it stagger to the left while he rammed his sword into its thigh. Unfortunately for him, the Knight's Warp blade cut his massive but weaker version of Chain Crucible in half while it was still in the Knight's left leg. Roaring, it at slashed Rex's left shoulder while he leaned back with the blade only glancing off his armour, while the following hit from the left Warp sword staggered him to the side while he guarded, sending sparks and chunks of corroding metal to the floor in the darkened cavern with their primary light source being the hole in the ceiling which they had fell through that highlighted their vicious and titanic exchange.

Catching the knight's mutated forearms as it went for a killing blow form above, Rex found himself struggling as the Knight pressed down upon him with the blades crisscrossing either side of his Praetor suit's armoured head.

"Arrrrrr. You muthafucka!" He seethed, feeling the strain as he squeezed his eyes shut and pushed separately against the monster's onslaught as it was emboldened by its advantage.

"Heh heh heh. Your mortal flesh is weak, your soul is but a large source of power to consume, and your armour will be a fine edition to our new Death Knight order in service to the Grandfather. Give up pathetic mortal, let me eat you." The Knight intoned for the first time, its harrowing and resonating tone that casted through its vox was accompanied by the shrieks and hisses of the mouth where its face once was.

Pressing the blades harder against Rex's guard, the left one began grinding against his helmet as he struggled to push back and with the direct contact, it began siphoning the armour's Warp energy and after that, his soul. Feeling the Nurgle taint as it wreathed across the outer surface of his armoured body, it gave Rex a new wave of disgust as he cracked his left eye open and channelled his golden Aquila's energy to boost his suit's strength at a great personal strain to himself.

Taking a chance, Rex moved his head to the side to let the blade land squarely upon his shoulder and ignored as it ate into him as he used the free arm that no longer held it back to grab the back of the knight and force its head closer to its own other spinning green sword as he used his hand that still held it to gradually turn its own weapon against it.

Headbutting the Death Knight with a head CLANG, the tide of the battle shifted as it was now kneeling on its mutated legs while Rex held its own spinning blades to its neck and pushed down.

"Yeah!? You fucking like that!? Have another one!" He reeled his head back and slammed it forth once more, disorientating the Knight and making it unable to respond as Rex disengaged and delivered a heavy Left-hook uppercut to the mechanical monster's chest-face, before avoiding a wild swing from the monster's sword, ripping his own severed blade from its leg and completing the motion by ramming it through its armoured top carapace and twisting with it screeching out in agony as he'd apparently pierced something vital.

Rex was not done as he used the blade as a handle to yank it down and used his free hand for the killing blow to PUNCH through the monster's maw/face that exploded in gore with him holding a giant tumorous pulsing brain in his hand that now extended through and out the back of the Knight.

Ripping the bloated mass back out the front of the wretched corrupted hunk of metal. Rex watched in seething anger and took vindictive delight as the monster seemed to struggle with the concept of true death, before going limp and falling to its knees while Rex backed away slowly to allow the dead Knight to seemingly look up at him without its head almost like its corrupted machine spirit was thanking him, before it slumped backwards and crashed to the ground, finally vanquished.

Standing over the defeated knight, Rex beheld the brain for only a second before crushing it in his crash and tossing it aside.

"Rust in pieces, you pile of scrap." He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, proud of himself for his victory.

His moment of triumph was short lived as explosions from above, reminded him that there were still more to be done. Looking to the way he came in, he cursed that he didn't have the ability to fly as his boosters could only assist his movements. As such, with a running start, he left the sight of his epic battle and leaped onto the rubble to begin climbing his way back out of the collapsed hole with the girls being his sole focus as he hoped they'd managed to stay safe while he was down in the abyssal of the Under-Hive.

Back on the surface, Seranz and Kleopatra had retreated to the Baneblade via the gap in the horde opened up by Rex before his forced departure from the battlefield. Her bolt-gun fired constantly as she tried and failed to hold back the tide of the undead while Kleopatra repeatedly handed the woman more bolter mags while firing her own new Lasgun that Kráeth levitated to them from within the tank to keep them supplied, while she extracted the corruption from the weapon of war's every orifice.

The Eldari had erected a stiff Warp barrier defence in front of them that was keeping the Titan and Knight from getting close to them. However, that didn't stop the undead as she had to split her focus and could only handle the super-tank and the mechs at the same time. As such, the two women were forced to take a position in front of the vehicle's now mouthless olive Ceramite and Plasteel armoured hull.

"Seranz, there's too many of them!" Kleopatra called out while replacing her Lasgun's spent Power Cell magazine. Before them, a street filled with corpses, both undead and truly dead, were like a blanket that swept through carried by the thick green miasma of Nurgle's touch.

Las shots and bolt rounds pinged and hammered their position and the surround rubble as the Nurgle zombies with more mental facilities returned fire with whatever they could find.

Throwing a Krak grenade and ducking down as rubble and dust flew over her head, Seranz grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the sprinters that now crawled at a fast pace with every mortal limitation of their bodies having been removed.

"We simply must hold. There's nowhere else to fall back to." She grunted as yet more explosions resounded off the semi-white transparent Warp barrier that blocked the largest enemies' attacks and held back the Titan and Knight, as well as the flying monsters which she didn't even want to comprehend to describe beyond that they explode into a green and highly flammable mist when shot.

It irked her to no end to know a Xeno was the only reason she and Kleopatra still breathed after Rex had gone missing. The alien Warp barrier that was barely keeping back the assault was something she had to tolerate and knew she'd become a Sister of Repentia if her Order ever heard about ANY of the heresy she'd abided by to this point.

Suddenly, she was startled as her companion human was leapt upon by a monster, while she struggled to fight the rotten mass off.

"H-HELP ME!" She cried, she cried, pulling out her combat blade and stabbing the monster repeatedly in its guts. Making them wetly spill out onto her stomach with the smell making her wretch while the un-bloated old man zombie with half a face was trying to bite her face off while her left forearm was wedged desperately under its chin to keep it at bay.

BWAM

Suddenly, a pulse resounded from the top of the tank ripped the soul from the reanimated corpse and made it limp so the hyperventilating woman could push it off her and to the side while she desperately clambered back into position while screaming her thanks to the Eldari, who only nodded her head at the woman's panicked actions while continuing to spiritually work on the behemoth of a tank. Despite Seranz's utter lack of sympathy for the Alien, the Heretic, and the Xeno. Even she could see the fatigue upon the woman's face as she used her powers to such an extent for the first time and without training.

Gritting her teeth while holding in her violent instinct born from her teachings once more due to the Eldari's presence. The Battle Sister continued firing until they heard something that made even her fighting hope dwindle.

BWAAAAAH

BWAAAAAAAAH

Like the Grim Reaper here for its due for her escape from the battlefield where her squad had perished, the Battle Sister trembled as she beheld two more fallen Imperial Knights that had burst from the left flank with the rubble of the building raining down upon them like Krieg mortar shells, prompting her to think quick enough to grab Kleopatra and throw herself under the super-tank's hull for cover.

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

With a sound like shattering glass, the Warhound Titan suddenly charged with the formidable speed it was famous for and finally smashed through the psychic barrier, making Kráeth grunt in mental pain as she was forced to her knees from the strain as she gripped her head.

"I-Its over…" The Cadian trembled at her side, closing her eyes from their fate as they watched the horde get as close as fifteen meters while the giant mechanised monsters approached unhindered to surround them in the middle open street.

Gripping onto the woman close tightly, Seranz hoped that some comfort would help the woman somewhat before their bitter defeat. Her mind did not contemplate fear or what was to come. Instead, the Platinum Blonde felt pure hatred. Hatred for the monsters she could not slaughter, hatred for herself that she was not strong enough to slaughter that she had yet too. And hatred that she could not continue to serve the God Emperor and that her body and soul would be used to fuel the heretical daemons of the Warp and their fake Gods.

In what were to be her last moments, she'd face her oncoming death with duty and honour, her almost always narrowed electric-blue eyes glaring at her foe in defiance until the bitter end.

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

Like a war siren, Twin-linked wrist mounted bolt-cannons screamed with vitriol for the damned as one of the Knights fell to its knees when it was lit up from behind and tackled by an equally large and farm more mobile olive-green mech. The two tumbled for a moment, kicking up rubble and zombies into the air as they fell.

"GET IN THE TANK GIRLS!"

Rolling to their feet while still keeping their momentum going, Rex grabbed onto the Knight's broken House Shield and used it as an anchor to deliver a heavy roundhouse punch to its metal face that made it stagger. Spinning back around, Rex attempted to use his thrusters to leap over the monster, only to be tackled at his midsection where he was slammed into the ground HARD, causing him to grunt under the weight of the Chaos Knight as it rolled over him.

The Seranz, Kleopatra, and Kráeth were utterly relieved as their saviour finally appeared in their darkest hour, saving them in the nick of time while sending a barrage of Hud calculated targeting bolter-shells mid tumble into the line of undead closest to them and allowing them some much needed breathing room.

"About bloody time." The humans heard the Eldari say as she redoubled her efforts to truly purge the vehicle as ordered. Meanwhile, she telekinetically opened the hatch at the bottom of the tank for the women to climb through. Wasting no time, as was her prerogative, the Battle Sister, helped the joyful and grateful weeping Cadian into the vehicle, while closing the hatch behind them. From inside, they were relieved to find not an ounce of Chaos taint was to be seen with Kráeth channelling so much purifying Warp energy, that she'd erased the zombified Guardsmen inside, leaving only their uniforms in their place.

Quickly, they scrambled to a gunner's sight to watch the battle and provide assistance with the super-tank's weapons if possible.

Punching the bottom of a giant pillar that Seranz would say probably weighted about 40 tons, Rex hefted it like a bat. His intention was clear as he swung the heavy club with such down-force that it exploded atop the Knight and dented its armoured Carapace substantially, and made sparks fly as its ancient frame was compressed under the added weight of the blow and its internals were ruptured.

"WEAK!" Rex insulted, his Hud having analysed the Demon Knight during his earlier fight enough to reveal all of their weaknesses, and design flaws which he intended to use to great effect. Going for a swing of its gatling gun, Rex batted the weapon away with such force that it turned the knight around, only for Rex to punch his fist through the monster's back.

"PUNY!" He called out, reflecting upon how the Chaos taint and Nurgle's erosion had ruined the Knight's once formidable ancient steel armour that was said to be peerless in its strength, as he ripped his fist from the back of the Fallen Imperial Knight what then whirled around desperately, only for Rex to dodge back from its swing and retaliate by reeling his arm back and dealing a heavy elbow jet enhanced punch to its face that broke its armour and exposed its zombified pilot.

"Waste of metal." He cursed, the Knight that he had just decked to the floor, while retracting another copy of Chain Crucible from his right arm this time and trying to stab it through the Knight's head, only for it to deflect and have it hunched over. Not giving the Knight the chance to recover, he backhanded the Knight with his sword, grabbing it by its carapace and flipping it over his shoulder, before stabbing his sword thought its chest, and ripping it out with a show of gore and sparks as the impaled pilot was on sword. Looking down at it, Rex sneered and revved the blade, making the zombie evaporate in a shower of green blood mist.

BWAAAAAAAAH

The Warhound Titan's horn sounded off to alert its cohorts that a real threat had appeared as much the women's relief, the titans changed target while the Zombies could not get into the tank no matter how hard they bashed against it.

Taking the first volley of shots levied at him, Rex's shield soaked up the blasts as he swings his spinning sword blade into the face of a Knight, making it ball backwards, only for the second to hit him square in the face with a chaos-forged mace where his head landed in the clutches of the Warhound Titan's extended third mutant demonic arm.

Bashing the monster in the face, it ignored the blow and began sawing into his armour's rib area with the same kind of green chainsword that the first Knight had possessed. Rex retaliated by slashing at the at the arm, damaging it slightly and making it let him go. He immediately had to block a blow from the mace again, that impacted his arm and made him fall against the Titan's lower half.

With lightning fast reflexes, Rex reached out, and grabbed the Knight by its flamer arm, raising it, he felt the swing of the mace's saw blade scratch his chest, to which he used his thrusters and backed away, before avoiding an overhead swing of the saw and narrowly missing decapitating the Knight with the copied Chain Crucible.

Not having a moment to think or even breath, he swung behind him to block an exchange from the second Knight, only to be slammed, grabbed by the shoulder, and tossed over the Knight's back where he crash-landed though a building.

Righting himself, he received a building crushing blow to his chest via the mace that penetrated his chest plate and pieced his body cleanly for only a moment, before sending him reeling back and onto his mechanical ass.

""REX!"" All three girls at the tank screamed upon seeing the hit, witnessing the crimson blood that now spewed from the hole in the Praetor armour's chest cavity. Even the demon women within his soul that were waiting for him to revive them were traumatised by raw feeling of the Knight's potent chaos corruption and actively helped him fight it off from the inside with Verosika putting up the most efforts with her considerable power as a Greater Demon.

Even with this, it was enough to wave off the effects of the raw Nurgle energy that tried to corrupt the man's soul. Dazed and confused while feeling very sick all of a sudden, he stood up and stumbled about while the knights and Warhound Titan circled him mockingly.

He first received a block from the front, courtesy of a heavy bolter that was accompanied by a spattering of many smalls las cannon shots that made up for their lack in size, with quantity. He was then backhanded by the Warhound Titan's right original metal gun arm that proceeded to blast him directly in the chest as the monsters figured out his weak spot.

Flying back through the air while the giant bots casually followed him menacingly, Rex tumbled on the ground and till he rolled to a stop before the tank where he spat out several charred teeth as his lower jaw regenerated. He could see into the hatch to look into the girls' eyes and see their whirlwind of emotion and concern for him as he groaned from the strain of his soul fighting off the corruption.

"You fight well for one of the materium. I shall offer you a proposal. Join us and help us reign in the Grandfather's name and glory. In exchange, he shall let you keep those lowly pests that cling to life, oh so dearly." The impossibly deep voice resounded from the crackly Vox caster of the Warhound Titan, rattling the bones of those present and living.

Panicking as one of the Warhound Titan's tentacle arms converted into a whip-like sword, using upper body strength she didn't know she possessed, Kleopatra climbed and crawled through the hatch atop the tank's front portion next to its gun with Seranz calling out behind her.

Reaching out into the hole in the armour's chest, she cupped Rex's cheek and smiled at him tearfully. Her heart swelled as her trembling fingers caressed his charred skin. Tears blurred her vision, she allowed herself to feel the depth of her emotions in the hope he would too.

To see the length, he was going for them, for her. To literally don a suit of armour to protect them, sword in hand, from evil Knights and monsters of the Dark like in the stories her mama had read her as a child. Love—raw and unyielding—surged within her, transcending the chaos of battle and the horrors that surrounded them. She did not care if it was sudden of too soon, or the length of time they'd know each other, all she knew was that her mama had said one day she would find a good man and she'd mentally say, 'that one'.

"Rex," she whispered, her voice cracking. "You're not alone. We've come too far to falter now. Our souls are bound by more than duty or circumstance, even fraking survival. We fight for each other, and you promised me you'd get me home, right? So, I could show you my farm, and you could show me these 'cars' and 'burgers', you keep yapping about, right?" She smiled tearfully as his tired eyes met hers, and in that shared gaze, they felt so much raw emotion. Of her horrifying experiences and his own mental fatigue, that it was their companionship that kept them going this far.

Even Seranz, who hesitated, before throwing caution to the wind and leaving the relative safety of the tank to kneel beside the Cadian silently while offering him that small smile she'd only let slip a few times before.

Deep within his soul, he also felt Verosika fighting with everything she had to save him from the corruption inside him. They were his anchor in this sea of Chaos and he was their ship. Together, they would defy the monstrous forces that sought to consume them he would use their support to carve this grimdark galaxy into Perpetual paradise for themselves.

With renewed determination, Rex kissed her hand, before contorting his face into one of focus his suit shifted and began closing its wounds. The sound of a turbine also resonated from within as he pushed himself up, ignoring the pain and the lingering corruption. His jaw clenched as he growled, and he staggered to his feet.

The knights and the Warhound Titan circled, mockingly, but he wasn't seeing them as they were. In his mind, he likened them to blokes from his would. The Warhound was just some tall cocky fat prick that needed his teeth kicked in and the two knights were his lap dogs that would look a lot nicer bleeding out in an allyway.

As he glanced down at the three girls who looked upon him as their only lifeline, he glanced at his blade with determination and smiled at them.

"Oi, you rusty piece of shit! You think you I'm dumb enough to go along with your daft promises and become a rotting puss bag like you and fight for your poxy grandad's war? I've got more important things to fight for here, mate. My birds and I are getting off this fucked planet and are gonna make a proper future in this shithole galexy. I'll take you all on, so you can take your 'grand' offer and shove it up your rotton mechanical arsehole, you mangy CUNT!" He snarled, a second Chain Crucible extending from his other hand before he turned on his heel and lunged for them with his duel swords alighting in crimson flames.

Stabbing through the back of a Knight's shoulder, he used it as an anchor to toss it back while he constantly slashed at the Warhound titan that had to back away from the revolving whirlwind of carnage that was two giant flaming Chain Crucibles. One lucky shot severed its whip sword's hand and sent the spinning blade at another Knight that had its flamer damaged from the impact of the atom-sharp edge.

Meannwhile, Rex was laying the pain down upon his chosen Knight which had struck him with its mace as he sliced it across the back, before kicking it into a building, and using his rocket booster to reach up and slash the Warhound titan's upper leg and left tentacle arm.

As he swung his blade, parrying the heavy bolter shots and deflecting the Warhound's second whip-like sword, he glimpsed Kleopatra atop the tank. Her tear-streaked face held a mixture of fear and hope. She believed in him, and that belief was his strength.

The battle raged on, with Rex seeing slashing the Warhound yet again, before seeing a knight about to blast him with a heavy bolter-cannon, so he leaped upon it digging his blade into the closest extended arm and cartwheeling over it to stab through its other arm. The result was a lot of Vox-communicated pain-born screaming and the blast hitting the Warhound Titan square in its right gun arm, destroying it as there was an explosion from within.

Wanting revenge while crying out, the Titan used its remaining cannon to shoot at Rex, only for him to use a Knight as cover and throw his right flaming BRRRRing sword at the Titan's side, making it stagger with the blade slicing off a good portion of its right chest-plate that guarded its leg mechanisms.

Continuing his momentum, Rex grabbed a Knight with his free hand and headbutted it back with its helmet cracking, before turning and stabbing through the knee for the other knight where he skewered it all the way down to the bottom of its foot, ruining the limb as the flames and teeth of the sword ate away circuitry, Nurgle flesh and other essential parts for the ruined limb to function.

Spinning around and dragging the leg with him, he ripped the blade out of it and rammed it through the Knight's side, making it fall forward onto its knees and weapon arms. He wasn't done as he pulled it up by its carapace and stabbed it through its left shoulder, and went to stab it through the top of the head, only for it to dodge in the last second and have the wiring blade slide along its cheek with sparks and pieces of metal showering the floor below. Still determined to let the strike go to waste as Rex used his sword arm to right-hook the monster with an uppercut onto its back.

Turning from the downed Knight, the other Knight had recovered quickly enough to be fed directly into the metal grinder as Rex latched onto its left arm and brought his left elbow down upon it, severing it at the shoulder and using it to bat the Knight across the face repeatedly, before smacking it down and using it as a spring board to kick himself into the air where his back's rocket boosters ignited in blue fire to send him onto the circling Warhound Titan's front where he climbed atop the biggest, monster by stabbing his sword thought its top and using it as an ice-pick to climb atop its head.

Calling his other sword to him with an outstretched hand, he stabbed the blade into the other side of the Warhound Titan's chassis/face and pulled.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

With a battle cry to fill the ages, Rex's blades cut the Titan's head clean off with him standing atop it with his arms outstretched with his swords looking like a victorious bird of pray.

Feeling the Titan going limp, the armoured man balanced himself, before jumping down, using his left sword as a hook to slow his decent as he dragged the Titan down where it crashed through a building, and he came to a walking stop.

"Piece of tin." He sneered, not bothering to look back at the wreckage of the once-proud Imperial War Machine.

Looking around, he saw that the Knights were all seemingly down and so he approached the girls to check on them.

SHINNNN

STAB

Or he would have if one of the Knights hadden arisen and in one fluid motion, grabbed his left arm and stabbed him through the back, ripping him out of his armour and skewering him upon the tip of its blade.

Rex wasn't sure who was screaming as he blurrily looked down upon the green miasma-coated giant blade tip sticking though his chest and spraying his blood and entrails all the way down to the floor. He could feel it now. Far worse than before as he'd been brought low by a single touch. This attack was prolonged and all-encompassing as the Knight held him aloft while he desperately tired to slide himself off the blade that was actually causing him true pain.

"YOUR SO WEAK." The Knight exclaimed as it increased the energy coursing through his body and making him scream out in blinding white agony which his vocal cords ripping and seemingly exploding from the effort of expressing such endless traumatising agony.

BOOM

DAKA DAKA DAKA

BOOM BOOM

BOOM BOOM

DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA

BOOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, the Knight was assaulted by such firepower that it all but exploded on the spot as it fell limply forwards with Rex still rested upon its blade tip and held aloft.

The source of such firepower being non-other than the newly started Baneblade that rolled forth, its massive top mounted cannon reloading to fire a death shot into the second Knight that was limply crawling away to recover, only to hive a human sized hole punched through its carapace and out of its face destroyed plate.

"ONLY IN DEATH, DOES DUTY END. IN THE NAME OF THE OMNISSIAH DEMANDS IT!" A deep and resonant voice poured forth from the vox casters onboard the Baneblade as it rolled forth, crushing rock and debris and zombies alike while its flamers and bolters killed everything in the facility with targeting and ease that showed how such a machine had earned its infamy.

"REX!" The man was unable to really focus upon anything like that, however, as he felt his conciseness fading. He felt himself being delicately hoisted off the sword blade with telekinesis and being held in Seranz's strong armoured arms as she held him to her chest. The single tear he felt on his cheek made him doubt that for a second, only for him to crack an eye open and witness the smiling, puffy eyed visage of possibly the hardest woman he'd ever met. Still, he could tell by her expression that they were not tears of sadness, but of pride and joy as their victory, and that her own iron-clad faith had been rewarded.

He felt himself being placed down upon the ground where He felt a pair of lips overlap his own. Judging by the taste, he knew it to be Kleopatra. Most surprisingly, he felt a second set of lips, ones he'd felt once before as his fizzy vision caught the shade of light blonde, he'd come to associate with Kráeth.

Gasping for air as his lungs had collapsed, he felt a warm glow overcome him as he was encompassed by white light born of the Eldari's Warp energies. Barely conscious of his surroundings anymore, he whispered.

"V-V-Verosica… Demon… Bitches… Fingers…" He murmured almost imperceptibly; however, it seemed it was indeed enough for Kráeth's hearing, that or she read his mind. Either way, he soon felt his fingers being cut off and regrowing a total of 23 times with more and more voices overpowering his fading mind.

It wasn't long before he smelled Lavender that cut thought the rot and oily air like a sword and a soft purple hand came into view as he felt himself being picked up yet again and being kissed a third time, this time by a much more sensual and forceful mouth. As the lips pulled away, he felt energy enter him as well as Kráeth's as it worked with the Eldari's to heal his soul. The energy he was so familiar and could only be his first companion's, Verosika.

He blurrily smiled up at the woman, happy to see her again after she'd sacrificed herself along with the others to protect them. Still, even this small action was a war in of itself and he soon felt himself slipping out of consciousness as tried to weakly protest his coming unconsciousness.

He was carried toward the super-tank with the most supernaturally soothing words whispered into his ear as he felt all background noise shut off.

"Rest now, my love and our brave warrior. You've done enough for one day, haven't you? You've fought with the heart and soul of an unbreakable dragon protecting his horde with everything he has. You're tough as nails, but even the strongest need to rest… Close those tired eyes; I've got you. We're all here, safe, victorious and we will continue forward thanks to you. We will all watch over you while you rest. Sleep, now and let the healing tides of our combined Warp essence mend your soul and body. When you wake up, I'll be right here, ready with a naughty joke and a teasing smile. I Promise…"