Unity for a Riven Galaxy

by StriderInCosmos

In the grim darkness of the far future, hope, it is said, is the greatest treasure of fools. But as the lights in the night go out, and the strength of lonely arms falters and fails, it may yet come to mean salvation. One man, forged in fire, having wandered Reality to be here, will gather those willing to defy the darkness and try. For that is all that is all that is promised.

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Unshackling

Highhold, Salome 4, 891.M41

Three years.

All told, a blip on the auspex monitor in the grand scheme of war. And yet, for the Fighting Furies of the Palaidus 119th, they had dragged on for far longer than any would have wanted.

Certainly, there had been little actions in the meantime. Patrols and thrusts into the city proper, setting up forward outposts that inevitably fell, watching as husks of buildings collapsed in plumes of dust and gunsmoke from artillery strikes. These things had blooded millions even as they killed millions more.

And now, emerging from a camp that now had ferrocrete barracks in place of tents sunk into the canyon-top, a column of Leman Russ', Chimeras, Sentinels, and Hellhound flamer vehicles, one column of dozens, began to trundle once again unto the massive breach in the hive of Highhold's walls towards a forward outpost that the Orks hadn't thus far torn down just yet.

Within one such Chimera, Private Daniel Theisman sat and pondered, his expression hidden by his helmet and the plasma gun that had replaced his lasgun as his mainline weapon held between his knees as the scent of consecrating incense and oils mixed with the stick of promethium to waft through his helmet's filters. He'd gotten a laspistol as his sidearm, but it seemed more a consolation in case the weapon he wielded overheated and exploded. Not that he'd be able to wield it with his arms vaporized.

The atmosphere was tense as they rumbled into the city, past a market district that, at this point, Daniel knew almost like the back of his hand, even as Captain Kinley began to speak.

"Our first objective for today is going to be the 2nd Ring Manufactorum Munitoris Primaris," she said. "It was one of the main ammunition suppliers for the city's defenders and vehicles while it was under siege, and it seems the Orks have taken to using it as a glorified garage. Once we pause and secure the forward outpost closest to it, the Russ' and the Hellhounds will clear the main entry courtyard. When the signal comes, we dismount and enter the building proper. Sweep and clear. Nothing we haven't done before."

Cold comfort, even this far. Such assaults had been repulsed before, each time paying the blood and burned-out husks of vehicles in vain. Who would say this one was any different? Even Joris and who had been revealed to be their hull gunner, a man named Luper, were silent, a remarkable change of pace from their usual chattiness.

'They have so little of an idea of how many times they've brushed shoulders with death.' Daniel mused as he considered all too many such times before. 'Best keep it that way.'

There were powers he could ply that were ostentatious even as they were effective. But there were more subtle methods that had gotten somewhat rusty before now, ones that he'd honed here, as his focus turned for a moment, if one could call three years a moment, to survival. A thickening of space here, a nudging of incoming fire there. Just enough to keep them alive. With this long having gone by, it was only natural that people would start noticing. To Jinley, Farrah, Trav Foress, and Ruper Gillen, he'd become 'the lucky charm'; stick by him, and there was as good a chance as any that you'd come out of even the worst fight without even so much as a scratch.

But a few men on a single planet wouldn't change the galaxy in any way that mattered. He needed to be in so many more places than just a single planet in a single Segmentum. He needed allies far beyond the Imperium. But while he likely couldn't find much help here in the physical world… perhaps there was another plane of existence he could begin to scout.

The Chimera rolled to a stop, pausing Daniel's train of thought. "Alright," Kinley said, "quick stop to stretch and piss. Take it now or you'll take it in the middle of a fight."

It was a chance all of them took, carrying their weapons with them as they emerged into a street walled off by ruins and tank traps, the two hab-blocks on either side shored up and commandeered as watchposts, comms centers, and resupply points. This point marked the furthest sure bastion of Imperial control in this city. Hopefully, that would change today.

Daniel made his way into the block on the left, entering a space that had had many of its interior walls torn down whether by circumstance or purposeful clearing away. A vox-station manned by a squad of comms officers sat in its center, a listening post whose physical tendrils stretched up and down the building's height, more invisible tendrils linking it to others across and outside the city.

The people noticed him as he came in and took off his helmet. "Well, well," one of the women wearing headphones, Lieutenant Weris, said, "if it isn't the nosy bastard. What are you looking for this time?"

Daniel smiled slightly. "Just checking in on my favorite outpost. Any news you might be able to pass along to a humble Guardsman?"

"Well, in case you couldn't guess, this is going to be one hel of a battle. You may be the spearhead, but you'll have superheavy detachments going into the city behind you. You'll even have the Titan Legio Viridian marching into the mess." another man, a new private he hadn't met before, said.

Daniel whistled softly. "Well then. Here's hoping we can finally breach the city and move on. Much as I appreciate actual barracks, I'm ready to get to other places."

Before anyone could speak, Lieutenant Weris' headphones darted up to her ear again as she listened intently. "Heads up, Private," she said as alarms began to wail, "looks like a recon flight spotted an armored assault of Orks on their way here."

Daniel replaced his helmet and unslung his plasma rifle. "Get to safety when you can. We'll take care of this."

"Sod off!" one of the privates said, mostly in jest. "You're not my father."

Daniel had no time to answer as he linked up with his squad, rushing towards the outermost ruins that the Imperium was sure they could reach quickly, several other squads joining them as they got to cover. The tanks and IFVs began to spread out as best they could, and the voices of more than a few vox-operators were speaking quickly to their contacts in the artillery camps, looking to clear the fire lanes before them to keep the Orks from finding cover.

As such transmissions ceased, a tense silence settled over the men, one voice cutting through it.

"Children of the Emperor!" Kurtiz called out. "You have faced this alien rabble before, and come out conqueror! This green terror shall not blunt our assault! You will put the full weight of your fire into these beasts, or you will face my judgment!"

Daniel could feel Kurtiz's eyes on his back with that last remark. Even after all this time, it seemed he could not shake the commissar's scrutiny. It would make his life just that little bit more difficult.

Kurtiz continued, but his next words were blotted out as the whistle of artillery shells became the roar of the rubble before them exploding, the helmets of the soldiers muting the sound only somewhat as the dust of the rubble blew into their faceless masks.

The barrage continued for long, long seconds, then stopped, the dust still billowing in a great cloud that took its time drifting down. As nice as the next several dozen yards being clear of any cover would be, the Orks could use it. How close were they?

Daniel sighted his plasma gun, well aware of the space he had around him, and activated it, sliding a safety into 'fire'. Clunk-buzz, almost like the activation of an old, powerful tube television. The coils began to glow a familiar blue, casting their baleful, constrained light on his cover. Deep breaths. Slow looks around. Wait… patiently…

The dust began to settle fully now, and he thought he could hear the rumble of the Ork vehicles. And… there it was. Quiet, in the distance for now, but a cry that all for them had heard before, and one that would sunder the air even over the sound of the guns.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhh!"

Finally, bursting out of the ruins before them, a mass charge of unorganized flesh and scrap metal, firing wildly and brandishing their melee weapons as vehicles crashed through what walls remained or breaching over piles of rubble. A wave of vibrant, deadly green.

Above the Orkish warcry, the rumble and roar of their engines, and the pounding of their guns, one word made itself clear from behind their lines.

"Fire!"

As one, a blaring hiss accompanied a wall of brilliant red needles lancing into the Orks and sending dozens among their ranks stumbling and falling. The smell of it, like lightning cast into the foe, seeped past Daniel's rudimentary helmet filters as he began to fire as well, his and other plasma rounds roaring like a swarm of bees multiplied a thousand-fold as they sought out the more well-armored Orks and those vehicles that managed to get through the pounding drum-fire of high-explosive shells and metallic penetrators hurled from their tank's battle cannons.

And even still, the Orks pressed on, through the fire that tore limbs and heads from bodies or burned plasma-flame holes through them. They would not stop. They never did, even as their bodies made a low wall a dozen meters out from the Guard that they had to clamber over. The meltas, short range and usually reserved for armor, lit up with a rushing roar that reminded Daniel of massive butane torches as they began to carve lines through the orks that made their way forward, the chattering staccato of heavy bolters with a sure field of targes on their vehicles causing Orks to explode in sundry places.

But even through all that, there were some suicidally brave and hardy Orks that made it through the storm and began to swing their axes, thrust their pikes, and level their guns at point-blank range. Left and right, the Guardsmen falling were joining their cooling comrades at a worrying rate. Daniel found a scrap-clad monster, easily head and shoulder above him, coming at him from his left. He ducked under the savage reach of its kludged-together klaw, unloading round after round of plasma into the chest of the thing as he backed away slightly. He prayed that it wouldn't melt from the sustained fire.

Whether the vox-operators called it in or not, artillery shells once again began to rain down on the back lines of the Ork assault, still somehow pressing on them with vehicles and soldiers, the explosions of artillery shells and vehicles cooking off, the shouts of righteous indignation or jeering mockery, the screams of pain and sorrow all blending into a blanket of sheer noise that threatened to smother Danel's focus as he glanced over and saw Leona, wielding her melta while shouting hymns and litanies against their foes. And the Ork that leveled a rusted pike at her.

It was a simple, instinctual twitch of his powers at this point, a plane of invisible space pushing the blade just a little past diving into flesh, instead sending it skating off Leona's carapace chestplate and warning her of the danger which she promptly burned away.

And so, the killing and the death continued, the wall of Ork corpses growing higher and higher even as reinforcements began to appear for the Guardsmen in dribs and drabs.

At last, a new order came in, shouted over the cacophony with the boosted power of a vehicle's vox-caster. "Soldiers!" Kurtiz's voice cried out again. "Press forward! Use the bodies of our fallen foes to protect us and force these Orks back to their profane gods!"

'Is he mad?' Daniel thought incredulously. 'That could kill us all!'

Even still, as the lines of Guardsmen began to hurdle the ruins they'd been using, he followed the order. Surviving against the Orks, he could explain away. Shrugging off a bolter shell in the back of the head, however, would be impossible to wave off.

So, as the Ork vehicles sent a section of the cadaverous cover flying into the sky with one of their cannons, Daniel charged with the others, meeting the Orks that mantled their fallen brothers in melee combat. Daniel, ostensibly, stayed a little behind, making sure that Ork after Ork fell to the miniature stars, pale copies of what he could produce, that lashed out from his rifle.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, he put a boot on the slack-jawed, toothy head of a dead Ork, beginning to climb even as he continued to fire, the other Guardsmen around him almost instinctively clearing space for him as best they could, stumbling somewhat on the pliant concealment as the Orks continued their barrage.

Now, though, several vehicles turned machine guns on the soldiers peeking out, raking the top of the pile of bodies and sending more than a few Guardsmen tumbling back to the ground around him. There were reinforcements who piled up, continuing to lob what grenades they had over the wall and the heads of their comrades.

And it still just wouldn't end. Even now, more and more truks, more and more looted or cobbled together tanks, more and more Orks, streamed out across the battlefield, and Daniel could swear that he heard the booming footfalls of something big. Multiple somethings, in fact.

'We can't hold here.' Daniel thought, confusion sparking as the artillery barrage lifted. From behind the smoke, clanking footsteps heralded the arrival of what could only be described as metal cans on jittering, somewhat shaky piston legs. The front of the rudimentary mech had a toothy grin across it, two, three, or even four limbs wielding all manner of ranged and close-combat implements of death. The Sentinels, now the only ones able to reliably engage, strode forward to take their place at the barricade, lascannons, autoguns, and plasma cannons flashing into the foe.

But for every can-like mech that collapsed to the ground, two or three more emerged from the ruins behind them. 'If I have to…' Daniel said, beginning to tap into the might of his soul more fully. Then… there was a new whistling sound.

Before Daniel could even blink, something new crashed into the battlefield, followed by a drumbeat of 3 more bulky, pentagonal towers painted a glittering green and gold that had crushed some of the more unlucky Orks. The doors fell… and a torrent of fire poured out of them as equally emerald blurs dashed out.

With a brief pause, the forms revealed themselves as one of Salome's newest Imperial reinforcements.

'The Space Marines.' Daniel still found himself in awe as, for a moment, the Guardsmen held their fire, simply watching the superhuman warriors, 30 of the Emperor's Angels, as they wrought death on the Orks. These ones were the Emerald Dragons of Adinim, and a few among their number carried a rather unique weapon, a polearm that crackled with energy while fitted with either compact plasma guns or meltas. They reminded Daniel of the Custodes' weapons to some extent. One Astartes in particular, wielding a uniquely wrought version of one of these polearms, seemed to be in nominal command, leading the charge into the Ork ranks with a swirling cape of black.

But, as the Orks behind them turned to join the fight with the Astartes, Daniel found himself among the first few that surmounted the wall and began to fire again into the backs of the Orks. 'Strong as they are, they won't last forever without help.' Daniel thought as others joined him in assisting in the Astartes' dance of death.

With a skill surely born of centuries of warfare, the Astartes wielding bolters and other ranged weapons smoothly integrated themselves into the Guardsmen's rapidly forming battleline, stepping forward slowly as the now near-sundering firepower leveled at the Orks began to finally, finally, make them hesitate.

At last, as more men joined and Russ' with dozer blades, scarred and blackened by glancing shots, pushed the bodies aside for more vehicles to follow after, that they broke and ran. A cheer went up from the ragged Guardsmen, relief in victory, small though it was.

"Prepare to push forward!" Kutiz called out, now standing atop one of the functioning Leman Russ'. "We must not let them regroup at the Manufactorum! Press on and seize it from them!"

Daniel looked back at the man standing on the tank with nary a scratch, then back at the Space Marine that now stood before him. It only took him off guard for a moment that the Marine in the black cape had gotten this far from about 20 meters ahead of them. His armor was much better proportioned than Daniel had seen in art or sculpts before now, but it could not be mistaken for anything else.

"My lord," he said, saluting as best he could with his weapon dropping to a sling on his arm. The sign of the Aquila was natural to him now. "How can I assist you?"

"I noticed your particular valor in coming to assist us among the first." the man said, his voice low and booming even as it came through clearly. "I intend to thank all such Guardsmen when this is over. What is your name?"

"Private Daniel Theisman, sir."

The Marine, his face hidden behind a somewhat snarling visage of a helm, nodded, bringing the fist that gripped his polearm to his chest. "Well met, Private Theisman. I am Chapter Champion Serani Ghera of the Emerald Dragons 2nd Battle Company. And I look forward to continuing your mission with you."

Daniel bowed his head, but before he could speak, Ghera chuckled, a deep rumble of a thing. "Do not feel inclined to debase yourself so. You do your duty for the Imperium and His people. We are brothers in arms in this endeavor."

"Thank you… sir." Daniel said. "As much as I hate to waste your time, Commissar Alberich, on the tank, is currently in command of this maniple. He speaks for Commander Usaria here."

"Duly noted," Ghera said. "His time will come soon enough."

With that, Ghera moved off, his long stride taking him to the next soldier he wanted to thank. Daniel watched for a moment as everyone prepared to advance, then regarded his squad as they surrounded him.

"Private," Kinley said sternly, "it's not like you to break the line of battle for any reason."

"I simply saw that the Astartes might appreciate some assistance, ma'am," Daniel replied. "With the Orks' backs turned on us, it seemed like the opportune moment to strike."

"I can't deny that," Kinley said with a nod.

"It got you the chance to speak with one of the Emperor's Angels at the very least!" Leona said, the wide grin evident in her voice even behind her helmet's faceplate. "What was it like?"

"He was kind," Daniel said. "I'd say more, but we've got an assault to press."

"That we do," Kinley said, cutting off any further comments as their Chimera came up beside them. "Mount up! We've got a city to liberate!"

The Chimera was filled in short order, and they were off in minutes after the surviving tanks were patched up and reloaded with new ammo. "How was the action?" Joris said. "I can see the Space Marines arrived, seeing as they're leading the charge of an armored column! Lucia says it got pretty tense."

"It was tense there for a moment," Ruper said. "Gonna admit, I don't know how quickly we can move up with infantry in front of us."

"I… don't think we need to worry," Luper said somewhat incredulously. "Emperor's teeth, look at how fast they're going…"

"Astartes vehicles coming up beside us," Lucia said. "They look like Predator tanks, from what I can recall. There are some Rhinos here as well. No, Razorbacks, I think."

"5 minutes to the Manufactorum," Kinley said, the squad hearing the rain-like patter and thunderous boom of enemy fire reaching them, the buzzing hiss of the Chimera's multi-laser above them answering back with the reports of other vehicles' weapons. "Sounds like it's going to be a bumpy ride. Ready at the weapons ports."

The rest of the ride was spent with the firing ports open, those that had lasguns firing intermittently to send any Ork ambushers on their sides scrambling for cover. Daniel, his plasma gun's barrel too big to fit through the firing ports, shared a silent commiseration with Leona as she waited somewhat impatiently with her melta.

"1 minute to contact!" Kinley said. "Prepare to disembark!"

The last syllable she spoke was underpinned by a great boom from somewhere ahead, then another from behind, both repeating like the city had a heartbeat. "What the pit is that?" Iago said incredulously.

"Something we won't be dealing with," Daniel replied. "I hope."

"If it's up to Guardsmen to deal with something that big, then we're in worse trouble than I thought," Galen said, Daniel able to hear a tight, grim grin on his face.

Then, the Chimera jerked to a stop. "Out, out, out!" Kinley shouted.

Daniel was first out the doors, a deliberate decision on Kinley's part, and thus was first to see the fortress that Manufactorum Munitoris Primaris had become. High scrap-made walls with great gates stood against the pounding of the guns. Orks in their hundreds manned the tops of the walls and firing ports up and down its height, emplacements with guns of various sizes laying into the assault force.

Their Chimera, along with many others, rotated to provide some small amount of cover for the squad as they began to add their fire to the storm of metal and energy. A high-explosive round sent one of the gates flying open, revealing a courtyard now piled up with scrap and populated by haphazard, crude buildings. Buildings that were filled with Orks.

The Emerald Dragons were already through the breach as the Guardsmen pushed up, soldiers falling left and right as they and the vehicles fired at those emplacements they could target, pockmarking the wall in short order. Daniel stood at the edge of the open gate, leaning out and firing at those armored Orks that he could manage to hit before the Space Marines cut them down.

Kinley moved up next to Daniel, taking a knee and leaning around with her las-carbine, the tip of her power sword scratching the ferrocrete. After long minutes, she looked back to the rest of the squad. "Push to cover! Follow me!"

She went around, the rest of the squad following her towards a hunk of scrap, likely taken from the surrounding buildings. Other gates had been either blown open or off their rusted hinges, allowing other squads and vehicles to start rolling in.

Then… boom. Boom. BOOM. The ground shook, and then the air was rent with a loud roar, artificially amplified as, from beside them, something crashed through one of the buildings that still at least somewhat remained standing. From the plume of rubble emerged a corpulent metal Ork writ unbearably large.

It drew all eyes to it, the Orks cheering while the Imperial forces began to silently despair. Then, the Ork Stompa looked past them, to the second pair of tremendous footsteps.

Then, a blare, a warhorn that reached past the skin and shook the very souls of all there. Daniel risked a glance back as a great white and gold Titan, a Reaver of the battlefield, strode forward, a massive twin-barreled melta cannon roaring like a booster rocket as a lance of nearly blinding orange-white light slammed into the Stompa, sending it reeling back into another building.

"Push forward!" Knley cried, bringing Daniel's attention back to the wavering Orks, those few that remained alive. "Into the Manufactorum!"

Daniel followed the charge of the Guards towards the cavernous entrance, the Space Marines turning expertly to cover their rear as the vehicles formed a perimeter. The battle outside, for them at least, was over. The far more difficult fight was just about to begin.

. . .

The Manufactorum, cavernous in size, was mostly dark, mostly lit now by Orkish torches and firepits. It was clearly misused, with parts scattered around in partially finished projects or reutilizations of Imperial tech.

There was little time wasted as the Guardsmen entered into the complex, splitting off towards different objectives. No doubt, there would be more Orks to kill in here.

The Fighting Furies, along with another squad, the Eagle's Talons, had perhaps one of the most dangerous tasks here; the reactivation, if possible, of the Manufactorum's main reactor. To this end, the Talons had among their number a Techpriest. One that was familiar to Daniel, at the very least.

"So, Isyander," Daniel said as they advanced down long, winding stairs in lieu of taking an unpowered elevator, "how are you holding up?"

"I am doing well, thank you," Isyander replied in a somewhat clipped tone. "This place, however… the machine spirit of this place has clearly been tortured by these perverse xenos. It may take some time and incantation to stir this place to life."

"Well," the squad lead of the Talons replied, "I hope it can be done quickly. Our allies up top are going to need all the help they can get."

They descended into a long, somewhat tight corridor, lined with doors. Pausing at its entrance, Kinley looked long at it. "This is a ripe place for a trap," she said quietly. "Move slowly. Mind the doors."

She was first down the hallway, the Furies following behind, Isyander in between them and the Talons. Each door had every gun pointed at it at least once, the silence that had fallen over them all almost attempting to squeeze the very breath out of them, only broken by the clicks of boots on metal plates and the hum of weaponry and Isyander's mechadendrite.

The end of the hall was in sight, a T-junction that expanded somewhat, gave them room to maneuver more fully as they made their final approach to the reactor room proper. Almost there…

Then, from behind them, a cacophony of sound as doors and even walls tore open, massive rounds and stout blades catching one, then another, then another of the Talons. Daniel, in the rear of the Furies, glanced over at the door beside them a Sight that no helmet auspex could match, grabbing Isyander and forcing him down as a burst of gunfire that would have cut both of them in half.

"Go! Go!" Kinley shouted over the din, gunning down what Orks stood before her before letting her carbine drop on its sling and bringing her power sword to bear, hacking through the stout, vibrant green wall that threatened to form in front of them as she stepped forward, the squads leaving the dead as they pressed towards the corridor that was their goal. Finally, they breached the corridor, another Talon falling as they began a mad dash up it. Behind them, Orks began to fill the corridor to near bursting.

"Protect our rear!" Kinley shouted, the mad dash towards the door that was their goal slowing slightly for some as Galen, Kat, Leona, and Daniel pivoted to give the remaining Talons some support, Kinley taking the rest of the squad and Isyander forward towards the door. Daniel extended his protection to them as best he could, but in the chaos of the tight-packed corridor, a resonance chamber that amplified the shouts, weapons fire, and screams to a point that threatened to overwhelm Daniel's senses even through his helmet.

His focus slipped for the barest of moments, and Leona caught a bullet in the shoulder, sending her sprawling to the ground before Galen picked her up. Daniel glanced over at her to make sure she was okay… and a Talon caught a stout, rusty javelin to the head, the force of the throw splitting the man's helmet, and skull, open as he collapsed to the ground.

He couldn't afford to lose his focus here. Not when he could be next, and leave everyone defenseless. So, he did the best he could, tuning our Galen shouting for progress on the closed door that Isyander worked tirelessly on. The holding element stepped back slowly, the gap between their door and them closing more and more.

Daniel worked with an almost feverish focus, feeling the exhaust and refuse from his powers building up in his soul. He could hide some small, skintight Vents for it under his armor, but he couldn't keep this up forever.

Then, a clunk, scraping metal along tracks, told them all they needed to know. "Come on!" Kinley shouted. "We're closing the door!"

The holding element backpedaled quickly into the reactor room. Taking a stand, they spread out and formed a firing line, cutting Orks down almost half a dozen at a time as Isyander, his chants and incense lost in the din and gun-stench, worked to close the door.

First one Ork corpse, then another, fell into the path of the door as it began, once again, to close. "Damn it!" Daniel shouted. "They'll brace it open! Kat, come on!"

Daniel dashed forward, crouching as he came to the first corpse, one of almost a dozen, and began to drag the corpses, all too heavy, back into the room, firing as he could, one then another all too heavy even as they cleared the doorframe. Kat joined him for a moment, then found herself pulled back by Kinley. "Forget the door! Protect the Techpriest!"

She looked over at Isyander, wisely pulling himself from the door controls and hurrying over to the controls of the massive, hexagonal generator, two levels of platforms with low walls ringing the pillar in the center of the room.

It was clear where they should all go, doing their best to get to cover while the Orks poured through the door. Daniel continued to do his best against the tide, but even still, he was nearly completely exhausted. The effluvial waste that caked his soul would begin to crush it if he pushed himself any further. Now, at last, he had to let it drop.

The effect was almost immediate, one Tallon finding himself sliced in half. Another had several rounds pierce his carapace armor and send him sprawling with a grille of bullet holes. But the flow was beginning to ebb, and Isyander began his ministrations once again, incantation, incense, and oils plied onto the long dormant machine to coax it to life.

There couldn't have been more than a dozen Orks left in the room when Kinley, standing firm in front as she swung her crackling power sword, caught the attention of an Ork ax. She saw it, began to dodge… but the blade caught her left forearm, slicing clean through it as she went to the ground with a scream of pain.

"Captain!" Kat shouted, rushing towards her and putting round after round of lasfire into the beast. It shouted in pain as the lances of light pierced its armor and skin like daggers, stumbling back as Kat stood defiant over her captain as it continued to weather the storm of fire.

Then, the Ork took a step forward, its ax coming up over its head… then burying itself in Kat's chest.

"Kat!" Daniel shouted, turning his plasma gun from a falling Ork and unloading it into the one that had felled both of his squadmates, sending the beast falling over with a smoking hole in its chest.

It was only a moment after when the last Ork fell, bringing some semblance of quiet into the room again. Daniel and the rest of the Furies rushed over to their fallen squadmates, what few Talons remained going up and guarding Isyander.

Kinley stirred as her soldiers came to her side. "They're dead?" she asked as Stavros removed her helmet.

"Yes," Stavros said as he checked her for any other wounds before staunching the bleeding from her stump, his voice heavy. "But…"

He looked over, and Kinley with him, to Katherine. She was still, the ax still in her chest. "Dead," she said tonelessly as Daniel and Iago kneeled over her.

Unbeknownst to all, Daniel looked down at her with his Sight, seeing the ruin that had been made of her soul, its Framework shattered from sympathetic trauma as it threatened to fly away from her body into the Warp. 'Not on my watch.' he thought as he placed a hand on her chest, invisible power spiraling into Frames that held her soul in place.

Iago, unaware of any of this, shook his head. "Damn it all," he said. "Our luck would run out at some point, wouldn't it?"

As he spoke, he reached for the handle of the ax, beginning to pull. In a flash, Daniel's hand darted out, pulling Iago's hand off of the haft. "Don't remove it. She's hanging on to the edge of life."

"You're not a bloody medicae." Iago spat. "Even if she is alive, she won't be much longer. Give it up. War was going to take us sooner or later."

"Stow it," Kinley said, her voice gaining strength as, at last, the reactor shuddered to life. "Right now, it sounds like our mission is complete. It's time to go."

"Captain, if we can get her to a Hospitaler-" Daniel began.

"Private," Kinley said sternly. "The Hospitalers are outside of the Manufactorum, maybe even half an hour's drive at most. She wouldn't make it like that. Let her go to the Emperor having done her duty."

The Talons, now numbering only four, and Isyander, stepped onto the floor, taking in the scene. Looking around, Isyander paused, then went over to one of the low walls. There lay a twisted wreck of thin metal that seemed to have once been in the shape of a man. They watched as he made the sign of the cog, fingers interlocked, and intoned a prayer. "Humble servant of the Omnissiah, go now to his perfection. Though your flesh was chained to this world by entropy, let thy soul be as steel: enduring in strength and grace."

Before he could continue, there was a crash against doors at the far wall. Then another. "Damn it, more Orks!" one of the Talons shouted. "We can't hold them here!"

"Then we send for reinforcements," Daniel said firmly. "Retreat for the moment and then come back in strength." he looked over at Isyander. "Do you think that the Orks could shut this reactor down again?"

Isyander hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Not with any sort of quickness."

Daniel looked past the Techpriest, to the twin elevators that were likely for ferrying workers and engineers to and from this room. "Then go. Take the elevators. They should be working. I'll patch up the Captain and be right behind you."

"Why you?" Iago asked incredulously. "Are you seriously chasing glory?"

"I'm making sure no one else dies here," Daniel said, the pounding getting louder and the doors denting under the force. "We don't have time to argue. Go!"

Finally, they seemed to listen, beginning to turn and run for the elevator. "I'll seal the elevator doors behind you," he called out as they entered the waiting elevator. "I'll see you on the other side."

"Emperor's haste be with you," Leona called out. "Don't die on us, too."

Then the doors closed, the elevator rumbling up. "Your bleeding heart's going to be the death of you," Kinley said, looking up at Daniel with eyes that were still unfocused from the pain.

"Some would say it already has been," Daniel replied almost absentmindedly as he prepared an automatic tourniquet, placing it around her stump.

"What do you-" she began before Daniel activated it, her jaw clenching as she groaned in pain.

"Damn it." she finally said after a moment, flexing her jaw. "It won't be enough to just tourniquet it. I've already lost a lot of blood. There's every chance I die before the medicaes can reach me. Just go."

Daniel shook his head, then looked down at his plasma gun. "You're right," he said, leveling it at the elevator panel, firing two shots at the elevator controls then two more at the wall, all in quick succession. He needed the coils of the gun hot for what came next.

With that done, he drew a combat knife, standard issue for the Guard, flipping it to hold the blade and holding it to her face. "Bite the hilt. You don't want to bite your tongue off."

Kinley's brow furled even as she bit down on the leather-wrapped handle. "What the hel are you-" she managed through the knife before Daniel pressed the still-sizzling plasma gun coils to the stump.

She screamed through the pain as he drew it back then applied it again, her back arching for long moments before she slumped into unconsciousness. Daniel kept the pressure on the stump for a few seconds more before slowly removing it for the final time.

He heard a crunch, looking over and seeing a klaw retracting from one of the doors. It was time to get her out of here.

He set his plasma gun down, picking up and carrying Kinley and crouching to grab her sword. He hurried over to the elevator, opening the door to the elevator car that remained. He gently set her down, then channeled his power to touch her soul, bringing her back to consciousness.

"Hey," he said. "You still with me?"

"Throne afar." she managed weakly. "You bastard. I'm not going to underestimate plasma again."

"Good," Daniel said as he stood, power sword in hand. "Keep the rest of the squad out for now."

"Damn it private!" Kinley managed to shout as he turned. "It's not your quest to try and save everyone! Let her go!"

Daniel didn't reply as he pressed the button to send it up on the way out. "Daniel!" she said, fear finally entering her voice. "Come back!"

The doors closed, and Daniel sighed. "For my penance, Haelin… yes. Yes, it is, actually."

With that, he stepped forward toward Katherine as the doors in front of him were torn open, trailing numerous tiny stars from the Vents under his clothing. Dozens of Orks poured into the room, Daniel pausing in front of them.

"Wait a minit, you lot!" A booming voice shouted.

They paused in front of them. Then, they stepped aside as a looming figure, his skin a far deeper shade of green and wielding the massive klaw he'd seen earlier. It looked down at him with leering, intelligent eyes. "Youz the git who's slaughterin' my boyz?" it asked in a rumbling growl. "A single humie?" its tone was incredulous.

"No," Daniel said, the power sword beginning to glow with a far more baleful light than its power source could ever produce as it hummed with an almost arcane power. "They're gone. And you'll have me."

The usual horns would freak Kat out when she came to. He needed a less… dangerous looking main Vent in order to exercise his power fully. And thus, floating above a head that he removed the helmet from, a circlet of crystal, spiked at a separated portion at the front and gleaming with warm, radiant light, slowly coalesced into existence. And above his brow, the form of a bared sword blade glowed in blue.

"Ahhh." the Ork boss chuckled. "Youz a weirdboy, ain't ya?"

"Of a sort," Daniel replied. "I figured you'd just like a good fight."

The Ork boss laughed uproariously. "Youz a good humie, then! Alright, boyz! Krump him gud!"

With that, the Orks charged him. This would be quick.

The blade flashed and buzzed, humming a deathly tune, a constellation of stars extending the blade to a massive size and allowing it to slice through the Orks with contemptuous ease, no movement wasted. The boss was much quicker than his underlings, swiping at him and batting aside the ethereal blade. The Orks continued to stream in, and standing sentinel before Kat's body, Daniel stood firm, concentrating all his defense on himself as any attack aimed at him simply… slipped off or was dragged away.

It was all so easy. Daniel took a moment to be in tune with the power he wielded, this strength that, after this, he'd have to bottle up again. It was good to use this to defend the defenseless. It always was.

Finally, the last of the smaller Orks were gone, sundered and burned by the starfire of his blade. Even the boss that had stood firm against him had lost an arm and a large chunk of a leg, the claw largely a stump now. Its breath heaved, but it grinned and chuckled.

"Y'know," the Ork said, "I 'ad some fun wit' you. You krumped a lot of my boyz. Even managed to git me gud."
Daniel stood firm amongst the broken-down bodies. "Are you running?" he asked archly.

"Ha!" the Ork guffawed. "Run away? Dat's not what Kugmark Gearstrika does. I'm gonna go get the rest of my boyz, find a weirdboy of my own, and den… I'm gonna krump you but good."

With that, Kugmark turned and walked out of the reactor room. Daniel waited for a moment as the footsteps receded.

As the room once again was left only with the deep hum of the reactor, Daniel let the power around the power sword dissipate. He turned, kneeling at Kat's body and extracting the ax, placing his hand on the wound and linking his soul to hers. With that, he guided her soul's Frames back to where they should be, sealing the wound in her chest. This wasn't his forte, but he could manage, thankfully. It took the rest of the might of his soul to save her. But he managed it.

It took all his physical might to keep himself upright as Kat stirred to life once again, fighting to dispel the cursed blade from his brow. Her eyes slowly opened, then went wide. "Daniel… you're…"

"Damn tired, is what I am," Daniel said, reaching out a hand. "Come on. I think the Orks aren't going to bother us anymore."

"You…" Kat began to stutter as she rose, then started to support Daniel as he began to collapse. "You revived me. You killed… all these Orks…"

"Because I couldn't leave you behind," Daniel admitted with a slight slur, the pair going back to the remaining elevator. "The things I do for my comrades, huh?"

They waited for a moment for the elevator to arrive, the doors opening to an empty car. Daniel smiled slightly for a moment. "Huh. I'd have thought the captain wouldn't do what I asked her. Officer's prerogative and all."

They walked in, Kat gently setting Daniel down to sit on the wall and pressed the button to head to the surface. The doors closed, and the silent ride up seemed to stretch far longer than it should have. The light from his Vent was beginning to dim now.

'You know,' his addled mind mused, 'there's ups and downs to being considered a saint, all told.'

He'd been a saint already, though. A god, even. It was the last thing he wanted to be again.

The doors opened, and the Vent above his head, one that couldn't be explained as anything other than a halo, disappeared. But not before those gathered there, the Furies among them, saw it.

"Emperor's light…" Leona breathed, approaching Daniel after grabbing Kat by the shoulder. She seemed hesitant to touch him, whether that was out of caution or reverence. "You received a portion of His power. It's the only way you could have revived Katherine and lived."

"You mad bastard," Iago said, standing back, gaze still locked on Daniel. "Did you kill all those Orks down there?"

Daniel shook his head. "One of them retreated. The boss, I think. And I think I have a… rival of sorts now."

Iago guffawed. "An Ork for a rival," he said incredulously.

Daniel shrugged. "It's not the strangest thing that's happened to me."

He slowly got to his feet, stumbling out to see several Sister Hospitalers using the main entrance as a triage center, tending to the dead and wounded. As Daniel recalled, their black and copper armor, along with their symbol of riveted metal beams uniting into one, marked them as the Order of the Reforged Physick.

One had been looking at him from the start and had pulled another Sister aside. Now, as Daniel walked through the parting Guardsmen, they dropped to their knees, beginning a benediction.

Daniel looked past them, to Captain Kinley looking back at him, then at Kat. He sighed, more quietly than any could hear. That he'd made it this far without revealing himself was nothing if not commendable.

'And hey,' he tried to encourage himself, 'at least you weren't immediately purged as a rogue sorcerer.'

He wondered how much of a comfort that was, really.