"Do you think we have enough?"

"Fuck if I know but I rather we have surplus ammos and bombs, because throughout our illustrious career when had we ever need less firepower?"

Krillen took a moment to contemplate this statement then conceded with a grunt to Tangmo very accurate prognosis. After escaping the shoggoths and the Deep Ones and returning to the surface in one piece, Tangmo had ordered the lower level sealed off with copious amount of krak charges and swiftly joined the ongoing battle the battlegroup was embroiled in. The Lovecraftian monsters had managed to avoid their detection until the very last second before they went on the offensive. Thankfully, Tangmo's paranoia had put the guardsmen, eldars and Sisters of Battle on highest alert, which resulted in the surprise attack being resoundingly beaten back with minimal casualties suffered. The shoggoths were undeterred however, the gelatinous horrors continued to attack the battlegroup with brutal singlemindedness. The Deep Ones on the other hand appeared more than happy to simply watch, which was creepy and alarming in equal measure. For now, the lines were stabilized.

"You know what? I think we actually need more shits down here. Henry and Erik are definitely having it worse than us and they'll need all the bullets they can get," Tangmo told Krillen then tapped his earbud. "Solveig, I need more supplies coming down from the fleet, triple that shit yo. Things are heating up real quick dude and I'll be a lot happier with more weapons down here."

"Affirmative lord commissar," the lord admiral responded promptly. "And what of the bombardment run? Do you need more air supports?"

"Tyra and Ae-Shin are doing a good job keeping them in check," Tangmo told Solveig. "But to be on the safe side, keep the heavy bombers and Titancrafts on standby, I'm sure we'll need their service in the near future."

"Your will be done," Solveig terminated transmission the same moment a salvo of missiles streaked through the sky, the shrieks of fiery ordnance was accompanied by the rousing melody of the Exorcists' haunting organs, the pounding tempo of muted explosions were very pleasant on the ears.

"Yo Laura, you there my dude?" Saluting his goodbye and parting way with Krillen, Tangmo sprinted over a wide bridge that led to one of the Shwedagon fortress pagoda. He did not like the continuous flashes of gunfire dancing across the nocturnal vista. "Did the missiles hit anything?"

"I think so?" Laura made her unsure assessment. "That much bombs going off should at least kill something, right?"

"The drones have confirmed multiple casualties caused by the Exorcists' barrage," Galatea, not one to tolerate Tangmo questioning the martial ability of the Adepta Sororitas, cut in sharply. "We're counting the corpses right now, preliminary visual anecdotal confirms more than fifty slain."

"Thank you Galatea, great job," not wanting to argue, Tangmo accepted the Martyred Lady canoness's numbers before changing frequency. "Ruven, do you read me, copy?"

"Good to hear from you, lord commissar," major Ruven of the 89th Cadian artillery corps answered him enthusiastically. The nervous edge in his voice was barely noticeable now. "Fresh batch of shells and missiles have just arrived, we're about to rain down another barrage on them."

"Your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated Ruven, but I need you to halt the attack for the moment," Tangmo waved at Nikki, the Ukrainian exarch was rounding a corner with several squads of Biel-Tan and Ulthwe Guardians. "What kinda armament are you guys lobbing into the sea? Standard shells?"

"Yes lord commissar, a ten minute salvo with eight minutes cool down in between," Ruven told him. "Our bombardments are scattering and preventing the Deep Ones from massing for an assault, we're working in concert with the air force. Although I must admit the casualties inflicted were not as effective as I had hope, therefore I would like to request we change ordnance to cluster munitions."

"I'm afraid I must belay that order Ruven," Tangmo said. "Please tell the other artillery officers to ceasefire for the time being, the heavy gun emplacements should be more than enough to deter the Deep Ones for now. Keep the shells ready though, especially the airburst and cluster variants, because you can be sure things are gonna heat up in the coming hours, I rather our artilleries do maximum damage at the right moment."

"Yes sir, lord commissar sir!" Ruven gave his loud response.

"How soon until things escalate?" Nikki asked as she and the others joined Tangmo. "They've been attacking us for a while now."

"Give it an hour or two," Tangmo held out his fist and Nikki bumped it energetically, "anything new with the Lovecraftian beasties?"

"Not yet," the Ukrainian exarch's choice of words were honest, if a little ominous. "But the northern pagoda has suddenly come under intense assault, so I'm bringing reinforcement to help them out."

"That's mighty neighborly of you," Tangmo's start of a grin ruptured into a squawk when an entire section of the pagoda's lower level was torn open by a barrage of blinding melta beams, the destruction coming from inside the building, "holy crap, shits really hitting the fucking fans over there. Who's in control of that sector?"

"Laura, Yuki, the Sororitas and the Aeldari," Nikki told him. "Where are Leila, Raine and Cain?"

"East, south and west respectively," Tangmo whistled sharply at several platoons of Cadian hunkered around a row of single storey buildings nearby, "Krix! Luva! What the hell is happening?!"

"Same old bullshit but with different skins," Krix growled and held down the trigger of her M249 LMG rapid las, the stream of white hot laser cutting an unlucky Deep One to pieces while it's brethren dove for cover. "Beside those fucking slime things the fish people are now entering the fray, and they're armed too!"

"Not that they're any good at it. Suppress that tree line over there then lob several grenades at them," Luva and a squad of Cadian opened fire on the designated target, tearing the foliage to ashy splinters and ending the barrage with pops of discharging grenade launchers. Red fireballs consumed the sparsely placed floras, twirling mutilated limbs streaked across the air as the surviving fishmen fled for the many bridges connecting this island to the ones beyond. Luva and Krix were right, the fucking Deep Ones were packing heats, mostly sidearms. The foolish few who tried to fight back were easily terminated by a volley of well-aimed las, "case and point."

"I hope it's them sucking for real and not some tactical feint," Tangmo joined the two captains and braced his lasgun firmly to his shoulder, eyes trained unblinking on the red dot of his optic attachment as he watched the Deep Ones leapt into the water. "How many islands are there between here and the pagoda?"

"Three layers of long and wide crescent shape islands, they act almost like moats. The two ends of those islands are connected to the walls stretching out of the pagoda," Luva explained and waved her hand at the aforementioned landscape. Buildings dominated each strips of lands, all of them connected by sturdy bridges that arch pleasantly over gentle waterways. The place would've been idyllic if it wasn't for the dead bodies bobbing on the now crimson streams and the furious battles raging across the islands, through the staccato of muzzle flashes Tangmo can make out bipedal and amorphous shapes emerging from the water. "Against the wishes of the Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees, lady inquisitor Laura and lady exarch Yuki are asking for assistance. We and a few others answered."

"A very correct decision," Nikki fired several shots from her Aeldari sniper rifle, the strobing lasers all found their marks as four Deep Ones collapsed limply to the ground. Blowing away smoke rising from the barrel, Nikki turned to Tangmo with a very punchable shit eating grin. "You're more than welcome to stay here and provide covering fire, we won't judge."

"Motherfucker I was already under the sea, this shit ain't gonna faze me!" Tangmo was lying through his teeth, which only widened Nikki's smile all the more. Puffing up his chest so that it was appropriately heroic, Tangmo ignored the sniggering Ukrainian, slipped out of cover and stomped toward the bridge. "Guardsmen and eldars, on me! Watch the water and unleashed hell on anything that's not us, this is a fighting advance! Forward to victory and glory! In the name of the God Emperor let none survive!"

The battlegroup roared boisterously and with trained tempered steps sally forth for the bridges, the tempo of their pounding feet accompanied by flashes of las and shurikens, cutting down any shoggoths and Deep Ones in their path. Cheers and hurrahs rose from across the waterway as Tangmo and Nikki led the reinforcement over six bridges. Peering over the rails, Tangmo noticed that the waterway, currently filled with murky smudges and fishy corpses, was shallow enough that he can see the bottom, probably waist deep if he was to guess.

"They probably won't use the canals now," Tangmo made his comment as he, Nikki and the battlegroup reached the first crescent island, a place of nice manicured lawn dotted with palm trees and statues. The regiments occupying this patch of earth were the Kolasi Fire Guard and the Jijurean Homeland Rifle, and judging by the dead bodies sprawled before them they've just beaten back several assaults. Colonel Xiphos and colonel Min Jae saluted Tangmo and quickly arranged their troops into firm firing lines, all of them facing the next island,

"What makes you say that?" Nikki asked as the two groups greeted each other with hearty shakes of hands.

"The damn canals are shallow as all fuck, the place is probably used for sightseeing with dainty little boats," Tangmo told Nikki. "They had one chance for a surprise attack, and they fucked up because we're fucking awesome. The only things we have to worry about now are the fuckers that managed to crawl on land."

"Should we set the water on fire?" Nikki asked as Xiphos and Min Jae headed over to them. "Just to be sure they won't pop up again."

"No, because we're gonna be operating in this area, and we also need an avenue of retreat if thing goes south," Tangmo shook his head then turned Xiphos and Min Jae. "Nice to see the both of you unscathed, how are the slimes and fish people treating you?"

"The Deep Ones prefer to keep their distant and attack us with light firearms, laspistols and water resistant stubber guns mostly," Xiphos spoke up and wiped a thick mess of ichor off his breastplate, frowning as he flicked it away. "It's the shoggoths who prefer close quarter combat. Bayonets, unfortunately, are not effective against them."

"I told you not charge those things," Min Jae shrugged with a smile and Xiphos rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Lasguns get the job done. They regenerate slower when hit by heat base weapons as opposed to conventional bullets."

"That's good to know," Tangmo was nodding when a tidal wave of fire consumed the island beyond, demolishing a cluster of buildings immediately adjacent to the canal. The blast of hot air almost blew the awesome commissar cap off his head. "Oh shit, I forgot there's a war on. Come on! Form up and follow me, let's fucking go!"

Like before Tangmo and Nikki was at the tip of the vanguard as they thundered across a wooden bride inlaid with iron. Behind them the guardsmen went about setting up heavy guns and repairing fortified positions, barrels trained on both directions in anticipation for the forthcoming Lovecraftian counterattack. Unlike the more placid garden island they just vacated, Tangmo and Nikki found themselves storming into a pandemonium of fire and smoke. The roadway ahead was carpeted by ashes and flame, flanked on both sides by destroyed homes and buildings, shadows of guardsmen and monsters darted between the raging infernos in great revelry of violence.

"Spread out and secure the bridges!" Nikki shouted and the guardsmen and eldars moved to obey, setting up beachheads around the canal while the medics went to assist limping and crawling guardsmen within the immediate vicinity. A quick glance told Tangmo that the injuries were inflicted by both conventional weapons and unconventional close quarter engagements. "This way! I can see heavy fighting ahead, follow me!"

Letting Nikki take the lead, Tangmo swept his lasgun across the battlefield and saw that, holy crap, the buildings around them were of classical Thai design. Raised a good two meters above the ground by a quartet of sturdy iron poles the elevated homes easily loomed over them, the undersides filled with myriad of random shits like dining tables and automobiles. It was a pleasantly nostalgic sight, if one was too ignored the blood and death splattered across every conceivable surface. Huh, so this was what happened in Ayutthaya after the Burmese took down the walls.

"Shoggoths and Deep Ones ahead!" Nikki's commanding voice wrenched him out of his recollection and Tangmo found a group of Lovecraftian abominations charging a barricade comprised of mismatched debris and destroyed vehicles. The powerful fusillade was keeping them at bay for the moment. "Let it rip people! For life and for light, kill them all!"

It was a by the book pincer attack, the flawless execution made Tangmo smile as he held down the trigger of his lasgun, the barrage of las and shurikens scything the Lovecraftian flank apart in a mist of scarlet gore. The shoggoths were reduced to bubbling mushes by the combined laser assault while the Deep Ones tried to flee back to the canal. None made it more than a few steps before the barrage rend them asunder. Tangmo was in the process of turning a Deep One inside out with a stream of full auto las when the embattled guardsmen emerged from cover to greet their comrades in arms.

"Would you look at that, Indians helping out Indians," Tangmo observed with a grin, because the Ekkaroqian Wind Walker and the Lohid Chakram were fighting on this island. Judging by the many wounded scattered across the defenses, they had a hard fight recently. "Now that's something I never thought to see."

"Goddamn, you're right," Nikki snickered as they headed to where colonel Akecheta, major Anaba, colonel Lakshmi and major Rani were hunkered down behind a collapsed house. The four appeared to be arguing fiercely, guardsmen from both regiments giving the quartet a wide berth. "Why were Native Americans called Indians to begin with?"

"Columbus. After he landed in the Bahamas and met the Taino people he started calling them Indians because he thought he'd reached the Indian Ocean. That caught on quickly and before long everyone in Europe was calling Natives in the Americas Indian," Tangmo explained and cringed a bit when Rani stabbed an accusing finger at Anaba, the latter had a bloody tomahawk in hand, the angle tilted dangerously. Both Akecheta and Lakshmi were trying, and failing, to keep the peace. "Shit, we might need to break out some peace pipes soon."

"The enemies are in retreat, we need to pursue them!" Anaba raised her voice and waved her tomahawk at Rani, splashing red droplets on the Lohid major's flak armor. "See?! They're running, only a fool would waste this opportunity!"

"Yes, let's run after them like last time and get our arses whip again!" Rani shot back, shoulders heaving up and down like a boxer who's about to murder her opponent. "No! I'm not listening to you and your brother! If you want to act on your base impulse and chase after those fish things, then go ahead, meanwhile me and Lakshmi will be here waiting for reinforcement! Go ahead then, no one's stopping you!"

"Fret not ladies and gentlemen, because the cavalry is fucking here!" Tangmo and Nikki entered the conversation, the Thai commissar and the Ukrainian exarch's toothy smiles putting a halt to the rising argument. Seeing how the situation had calmed down a bit, Tangmo playfully tapped his lasgun and said. "Now, why don't you guys start from the beginning, but without the vitriolic this time?"

"I apologize for my sister, lord commissar, the situation had made all of us rather passionate," Akecheta said lowly before silencing Anaba with a sharp glare, the Ekkaroqian major mumbled darkly under her breath but nevertheless complied, the tomahawk coming to dangle at her side. The Wind Walker colonel then glanced at Lakshmi, who nodded slowly to his unreadable expression. "When we arrived on the island it was occupied by the Deep Ones, our combined assault easily drove them back. We…I convinced colonel Lakshmi to pursue, and found ourselves bearing the blunt of a counterattack." Akecheta squared his shoulders, like a man bracing for judgment to be passed. "I make no excuses for this mistake lord commissar, I submit myself to any disciplinary action you see fit."

"Dude, we're facing an enemy that is barely known to the Imperium, mistake will happen. Just be sure to learn from it," Tangmo gave Akecheta's shoulder a friendly tapped, the colonel grunted in relief and nodded. He turned to Lakshmi next, prompting the Lohid colonel to stand at attention. "Your wish is granted Lakshmi, backup is here and we shall be pursuing the Lovecraftian monsters again. What sorts of fucker are arrayed against us?"

"Shoggoths and Deep Ones, lord commissar," Lakshmi made her answer but her face scrunched up a moment later. "At least, according to your description I think they're Deep Ones."

"Lakshmi, I need you to be extremely precise with the description okay?" A staccato of explosions went off not a hundred yard from where Tangmo, Nikki and the officers were standing. A barrage of rockets had tore into a thick neighborhood, fiery debris and body parts riding high on plumes of red as more guardsmen and eldars joined them. "We're kinda short on time here."

"They looked like Deep Ones but…malformed and incomplete would be the words I'm looking for," Lakshmi made her explanation. "It's as if they're in the process of metamorphosing."

"Ah, I know what you mean," Tangmo nodded his understanding. "They're Deep Ones, but the sort that haven't transformed completely, that's why they looked like a fucked up mishmash of human and fish. And these fuckers can fight?"

"Their deformity doesn't prevent them from effectively wielding weapons," Lakshmi grimaced and waved at herself and Akecheta, "as they have demonstrated."

"Don't worry Lakshmi, we're about to tear them a new asshole," Nikki smiled brightly and waved over the Guardians, Cadian, Kolasi and Homeland Rifle, the reinforcement quickly bolstering their beleaguered compatriots. "Nice and slow this time people, stay within each other's sight and push them back! Let's go! Mael Danna!"

This residential island was larger than the gardens from earlier. Instead of trees and bushes what greeted them were neat and cramp row of elevated buildings in the Siamese style, and a lot of them were still very much intact. They haven't taken ten steps into the open before a hail of small arms fire rained over them. The guardsmen and Guardians responded promptly with sustained volleys as they advance through the thicket of buildings, las and shurikens ripped apart walls while grenades and rockets slipped into windows and doorways to gut the interior. The Wind Walkers and the Homeland Rifles ranged out a couple of meters in front of the main column, acting as skirmishers and pointers for any large concentration of enemies. The Cadians, Fire Guards, Lohid Chakram and Guardians comprised the center and were responsible for unleashing heavy munitions on the Lovecraftian abominations. The strategy proved brutal and effective, the Deep Ones of both varieties cannot content with the battlegroup unrelenting assaults, the spryer specimens swiftly headed for the water while their deformed cousins were slaughtered en mass by the ceaseless firepower.

"Shoggoths, two o'clock!" Captain Binaaswi shouted and falls back with a pair of Jigurean as an especially large protoplasmic sentient slime bulldozed a house in an explosion of bricks and steels.

"Flamers forward!" Tangmo held down the trigger and got a bit scared when the uninterrupted las barely slowed down the enraged shoggoth. Thankfully Krix and three flamers wielding guardsmen appeared beside him and unleashed literal hell. So powerful was the burning promethium that the shoggoth's horrid screeching lasted for only a few seconds before the torrent reduced it to bubbling speck of ashes. "Nice work Krix! Always like to keep my eyebrows short and sizzling!"

"Don't mention it lord commissar!" Krix grinned toothily then tapped her earbud. "The enemy's battle lines are collapsing. The shoggoths are low in number and are swiftly being destroyed. The Deep Ones on the other hand are fleeing for their lives. If things keep up, we'll be able to secure this island in no time."

"I hope you're right Krix, because this is just an appetizer before the main course arrives," Tangmo decapitated a fleeing Deep One with a single shot from his lasgun and tsk appreciatively, damn he's good. He can't help but be optimistic though, because the Lovecraftian horrors were really in full retreat. "Who's at the last island and the Shwedagon pagoda fortress?"

"Our perky buddies Laura and Yuki, along with the Sororitas and the Aeldari," Nikki piped up after firing into a curtain of flame, the hole made by the flying shuriken revealed a deformed Deep One doing a rigor mortis pirouette. "Unsurprising, since Celestine and Isha is with them."

"Shit, we might as well take our time if the nuns and elves are over there, the fishes and slimes are probably mush by now," Tangmo started to chuckle but stop when a certain detail caught his attention. "Wait, did you say Isha is with Laura and Yuki and Celestine?"

"Yeah, turns out the temple we occupied earlier wasn't exactly secure, as in a big ass shoggoth managed to sneak inside and tried to nab her," Nikki told him. "Remember? You were calling me and I had to cut our conversation short?"

"Oh yeah, I heard her shrieking in the background," Tangmo said. "Isha seems to be a magnate for peril of the tentacle sort, I wonder when it's gonna be Celestine's turn. That will be interesting to see."

"For you…okay fine, for me too," Nikki snorted before moving out of cover, a winning smile plastered upon her face. "Would you look at that, I think the path ahead is clear." The Ukrainian exarch flipped open her data-pad, typed quickly across the screen, and nodded before putting it away. "Yep, besides a few stragglers the main Lovecraftian force had been beaten back."

"No point slowing down then," Tangmo tapped his earbud. "Time to move people, let's go, I won't allow the Battle Sisters to call us tardy. Weapons team on the first island, pack up and redeploy to the second island, cover our asses while we clear the third island and the areas around the Shwedagon pagoda. Advance at a nice and slow pace, move out!"

Okay, so they didn't advance immediately, instead the battlegroup remained where they were and waited for the heavy weapon teams to set up new firing positions. It was only after they got thumbs up from the men and women manning the heavy bolters and autocannons that Tangmo and Nikki led the battlegroup through the neutralized residential area. Tangmo made an effort to keep an eye on the Wind Walkers and the Lohid guardsmen, but besides the exchanging of nasty glares between Anaba and Rani, everything remained stiffly professional. It wasn't until the veil of smoke had lessened and the third island came into view that they heard the cacophonic amalgamation of unleashed weapons and battle music, the bombastic acoustic almost falling in sync with the continuous conflagration raking across the landscape.

"You think they're winning?" Nikki sidled up beside Tangmo and nudged him in the rib playfully with her elbow. "I wanna be optimistic, considering the massive amount of explosion we're seeing."

"Go right ahead and be optimistic dude, because they're winning for real," Tangmo gave Nikki a friendly smack on the shoulder and pointed at the waterway and bridges. After sharing a hearty laugh with the Ukrainian exarch, the Thai commissar held up his fist, the column of guardsmen and eldars coming to a stop when they saw what Tangmo was seeing. "At ease, but be ready to support the nice ladies my guys and gals, not that they need it."

"…Yeah, you know what, not even that," Nikki shook her head then tapped her earbud. "Everyone, spread out along the waterway and give the bank a thirty yard berth. We'll move across the bridges once the nuns and elves are done with the killing. Heavy weapon teams, sorry to be a pain in the ass but you guys needs to pack up again, the third island will be secure in a couple of minutes so hurry over."

Ignoring the groans from the other end of the transmission, Tangmo and Nikki went to stand at the edge of the waterway, settling themselves comfortably down on what was essentially an exclusive front row seats for the unfolding feminine carnage. The Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees were everywhere, on the bridges, on the opposite shore, even in the water itself. The Lovecraftian monsters were horrific to behold and very powerful in their own right, but against the warrior women of Warhammer 40k they were wholly outmatched. Having since forsaken range weapons, the Sororitas and Banshee plowed into the mortified Deep Ones and shoggoths in a maelstrom of close quarter extreme violence. Chainswords revved across the air to rend fleshes in fountains of gore, katanas cleaved through bodies with barely a whisper, and iron clad fists pummeled fish craniums into unrecognizable pulps. It was a real novelty to watch eldritch abominations failing to flee an onslaught of super-hot women of war.

"Damn, not exactly the Shape of Water is it?" Nikki chuckled as a thrashing Deep One got his neck snapped by a Biel-Tan Banshee. "Ouch, that's a one eighty spin."

"That looks painful as shit – hey what the fuck?!" Tangmo lashed out with a straight Muay Thai kick, catching a panicky Deep One square in the chest with a resounding thud. The Deep One flew back into the water and was immediately set upon by Battle Sisters of the Valorous Heart, Frost Bringer and Celestial Serenity. The poor fishman articulation of agony was short lived as maces and axes and naginatas descended in a mad crimson frenzy. "Die like a man you pussy ass fish fuck!"

And died they did, rather ignominiously too because the Deep Ones can do nothing as they were buried under the warrior women's zealous bloodletting. Honestly, Tangmo couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at seeing how easily the Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees dispatched the Lovecraftian horrors. They made it looked like a fucking walk in the park while he and his homies were fighting for their fucking lives. His misgiving didn't last long though, soon enough he came to appreciate how hot the nuns and elves were at ditching out death. By the time the heavy weapon teams arrived the killing was over, so with a nonchalant wave of his hand Tangmo and Nikki led the guardsmen and Guardians across the bridges at an unhurried jog.

"Glad to see all of you having fun ladies," after sending the guardsmen and Guardians off to various defensible positions around the island, Tangmo and Nikki headed for a mound of dead Deep Ones, the cadavers were coated in thick vivacious slime. Atop this bloody monument stood Bellona, Zhensu, Eldul and Naledi, the latter two were in the process of gleefully collecting Deep One's heads for trophies. "You sure as hell had a better time than us."

"Hardly lord commissar," Bellona took off her helm and wiped sweat from her face. "The rout you saw only came after we've beaten back several sustained assaults. I must confess there were moments that got me a bit worried."

"But we prevailed, the abominations cannot content with our combined might and our faith in the God Emperor," Zhensu and Bellona traded amiable nods. "They wanted to overwhelm us with speed, number and terror. That might have worked with weak minded cultists of Chaos, but against us…well, you were correct when you said we spoiled ourselves a bit."

"By all means, you guys sure as hell earned a little indulgence," Nikki cringed when Eldul pulled a Deep One's head clean off its body with a wet fleshy tear, the vertebrate still dangling from the skull, she and Naledi had a large number of craniums tied to their belts. "You sure you got enough over there?"

"Just a few more should suffice," Naledi winked prettily, the sarcasm didn't go over her head. "These ugly bastards should make for a good conversation starter."

"I'm thinking of a more practical use when the bones are sterilized," Eldul flashed her wolfish canines as she bounced the head up and down on her palm, "a cup for a special feast perhaps?" The elskerinne of the Frost Bringer then waved her trophy at the gaoseng of the Celestial Serenity. "Hey Zhensu, maybe you should take a few gifts back to Myorin, everybody loves a souvenir hot off the battlefield."

"I believe Myorin will appreciate her favorite wine more," Zhensu deadpanned, her unhidden distaste earning laughter from Eldul and Naledi. "Are we quite done ladies? The battle is far from over."

"Zhensu is correct, wrap this up quickly before…" Bellona tapped her earbud suddenly, then snapped her head at the Shwedagon pagoda with a blistering scowl. Following her gaze, Tangmo hefted his lasgun up at the ready when kaleidoscopic flashes blazed furious from the interior. "By the Golden Throne, the pagoda has been breached! Sisters and Banshees, back to the fortress with all haste! Move!"

"Stay here and fortify our position, nothing gets through," Tangmo gave his order to the guardsmen and eldar officers before taking off with Nikki, managing to catch up with Bellona, Zhensu, Eldul and Naledi within a few heartbeats. "Yo, wait up! We're coming too!"

"You're reputed to be the expert on our latest foes, more so than Laura and Greyfax," Bellona put her helm back on and pulled the power whip sword free from her belt. "Are the shoggoths really so crafty that they can penetrate our defenses with ease? By all account, they shouldn't be able to get close."

"Shoggoths aren't crafty dude, they're flexible," Tangmo explained as he matched steps with Bellona. "They came through vents and pipes, or any crevices between the walls for that matter. They saw the conventional defenses you guys put up and simply elected to take a more unorthodox approach."

"If we know ourselves and not the enemy, then for every victory gain we will also suffer a defeat," Zhensu's sagely comment earned her an annoyed groan from Bellona, to which the gaoseng offered the canoness an endearing motherly smile. "The lesson will help us in future battles Bellona, one must never spurn knowledge."

"I would very much prefer that the education doesn't come at our expense," Bellona waved her power whip sword fiercely in the air as they entered the gigantic courtyard immediately in front of the Shwedagon pagoda. Bordered by manicured hedges and four gigantic peacock statues, the marbled paved welcoming area was big enough to accommodate the King Ghidorah Stormhammer, and was currently hosting a grand bloody slugfest between the Lovecraftian monsters and the warrior women of 40k. The raging mosh pit was so thick that Tangmo had difficulty telling who were gaining the upper hand. "Slay the beasts, in the name of the God Emperor let none survive!"

The arrival of the four canonesses ignited a second wind for the embattled Sisters of Battle and Banshees, the roars of feminine fury eclipsing eldritch ululations as the warrior women threw themselves valorously at their abominable adversaries. It soon became clear that Tangmo and Nikki were the only mofo wielding range weapons, so they helped from afar and started landing accurate shots on Deep Ones and shoggoths that looked to be getting the upper hand. The fight was pure brutality unleashed and clearly one sided, the nuns and elves were already tipping the scale but things got worse for the fishes and slimes when Bellona and Zhensu entered the fray. The two canonesses were a storm of thunderous destruction, the power guandao and power whip sword were sublime blurs of burning blue as they plowed into the Lovecraftian thickest midst. Ichor and limbs erupted skyward from the pair's violent passing.

"Damn, feeling kinda useless over here," Nikki deadpanned as she lowered her sniper rifle, Tangmo following her example when the victorious Sisters of Battle and Banshees raised their viscera covered weapons high, roaring in bloody exaltation as they stood over vanquished foes. "We barely did anything."

"Eh, I like a little break once in a while," Tangmo narrowed his eyes on the pagoda, hefted his lasgun up and jabbed Nikki in the rib with his elbow. "The fight is still ongoing inside Shwedagon. Yo, stop fucking cheering shit's still going down over there, come on!"

This time Tangmo and Nikki took the lead, the canonesses, Battle Sisters and Banshees sprinting hard at their heels, hurling bombastic and zealous declarations at the pagoda's flashing entrance. Suppressing his compulsion to start pointing out the various South East Asian motifs on the stairs and the rails and the pillars holding up the curvaceous triangular gable like a tour guide, Tangmo leapt up the steps three flight at a time and bulled into a Deep One, the fish fucker had his back to him. With no bayonet attached, Tangmo bodied the fishman with a shoulder tackle and put two lasbolts into his skull when he crashed to the ground.

"Out of the way!" Nikki grabbed Tangmo's shoulder and pulled him aside just in time to escape getting crushed by a phalanx of armored women stampeding into the temple, and it was no exaggeration to say that they arrived in the nick of time. "Well shit, I didn't expect this many Deep Ones and shoggoths inside."

"Same as last time, let's pop them motherfuckers. Where the hell is Laura and Yuki anyway?"

"Let go you fucking gobshite cunt!"

"Follow the angry Scottish noise it is," turns out Tangmo and Nikki didn't have to look far, the pair hadn't taken five steps when they came upon an unusually large shoggoth looming over what was essentially the center of the pagoda. Thicket of tendrils studded it's heaving amorphous body, making the fucker look like a sea anemone, but instead of Nemo and his dad it was the Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees who had taken up unwanted residence within the shoggoth's slithering embrace. Laura and Yuki and the main characters were getting tossed around by the tentacles, very inquisitive tentacles too if Tangmo wasn't mistaken. Before he can examine the unfolding scene further, in the name of science of course, two of the victims caught his attention. "Isha and Celestine got groped?"

"Isha and Celestine got groped," Nikki nodded and traded cackling high five with an equally giddy Tangmo. "Okay, now I've seen everything. Hey, does this live up to your expectation?"

"Hell yeah," Tangmo knew he should be doing something productive like trying to assist the beleaguered ladies, but damn, it's been a while since the last ecchi incident so who can blame him for staring? It was goddamn hard to look away from Celestine as she wrestled and hacked furiously at the dozen tentacles wrapping themselves around her limbs. "I think I should be doing something."

"Stop gawking you motherfucker and help us!" Yuki shrieked at him. "Ahhhh! It's going inside my armor!"

"Okay fine," Tangmo placed the lasgun on his shoulder, struck a badass pose, and turned to Nikki who had been staring down the scope of her sniper rifle for the past minute. "You got it?"

"Yeah I got it," Nikki grinned and pulled the trigger. Having set the output to maximum, Nikki blasted the shoggoth with a lance of sparkling shuriken that glittered like diamond in the sun. The projectile tore into the slimly Lovecraftian fuck with ease, obliterating the core brain in a shower of visceral red and brown. Given how the shoggoth was roaring heartily when its protoplasmic body disintegrated into liquid, the damn thing didn't even realized it was dead. With the tentacles disappearing so terminally and suddenly, Laura, Yuki and the main characters dropped gracelessly to the ground, embarrassing squeals abound. "Bullseye baby."

The big shoggoth appeared to be a leader of some sort, or was at the very least an individual of importance, because the moment it died the Lovecraftian horrors around the hall went into shrieking pandemonium. Being very well verse with the many variations and flavors of scream, Tangmo grinned toothily when he recognized the verbal outbursts to be one laden copiously with fear and panic. The remaining shoggoths and Deep Ones never had a chance to flee though, because the nuns and elves proceeded to tear them apart with ease, more effort were put into actually chasing them down. Unlike what had transpired outside though, the Battle Sisters and Aeldari either went to aide their injured comrades or stomped off to other parts of the pagoda in search of any remaining Lovecraftian goons, no one cheered this time.

"Nooks and crevices people, air ducts too, every small passageway can be used by the shoggoths, clog them sum bitches up with a nice handful of grenades," Tangmo reached down and helped the spluttering Laura up to her feet. "Goddamn you look like shit, you alright dude?"

"No thanks to you!" Laura snapped and batted slime off her awesome inquisitor hat before putting it back on her head. "Enjoy that, didn't you?! Watching us virtuous maidens get violated by slimy monsters!"

"Oh sorry I wasn't watching you, I was watching Celestine," Tangmo shrugged, ignoring Laura's open mouthed shock as he turned to the approaching Celestine and Isha, the Living Saint and the Aeldari goddess were disheveled and covered in sticky goo of rotting brown but were otherwise hale. "Good to see the both of you still standing, my lady saint, your eminence. That got scary for a moment there."

"It did indeed, thankfully lady exarch Nikki was true with her shot," Celestine awarded the beaming Nikki with a bow and a smile, her temperament however darkened when she turned to Tangmo. "That was very ungentlemanly lord commissar. I am very disappointed in you."

"Yeah, sorry about that, sometime my retarded side got the better of me," Tangmo shuffled nervously under Celestine's judgmental regard. "Hey, at least nothing bad happened, right?"

"I hope this will not happen again," Celestine leaned forward suddenly, her head an inch from Tangmo's own, he would've been ecstatic by the proximity if it wasn't for how cold and deathly her breath was as it tickled his ear, "because if it does you'll be getting a very unpleasant visit from Greyfax at the most unexpected and most unfortunate moment. Is that understood?"

"Yes mam," Tangmo squeaked, never in his life had blood drained so fast from his body. "I'll behave, honest."

"Good boy," and just like that Celestine was her old smiling, shining self again. She patted him endearingly on the head, which did fuck all to calm his ass down. Nearby Laura and Yuki was loving every minute of his suffering. The sound of hurried stomping boots resounded behind Tangmo and Celestine glanced over his shoulder, a twinkling chuckle escaping her lips. "Ah, here come an extremely worried Katarinya and Elnys now, if you will excuse me lord commissar."

"Y-Yeah, have a nice day," Tangmo made his raspy stammer as Celestine glided gracefully away, Isha swiftly matching steps beside her. If he wasn't so shell-shocked by the Living Saint's threat, Tangmo would've made some reaction to the Aeldari goddess's cheeky grin, alas no response was forthcoming. "Have a nice day too Isha."

"Holy fucking shit, I love karma," Yuki and Laura slid in front of Tangmo, Nikki joining them a second later, the trio were smirking poisonously at him. "Honestly though, I've never seen Celestine that scary before, not even in the heat of battle. I'm honestly impressed dude."

"I'm very proud to not be unconscious too, thank you," his bluster and charming personality returning, Tangmo bend over and exhaled loudly, expelling the last of his fear. "Jesus Christ, thalassophobia isn't the only scary thing anymore."

"At least you get to see Celestine wrestle tentacles," Nikki made her snarky comment. "Was it worth it?"

"Damn right it was worth it," Tangmo adjusted his awesome commissar coat and cap, raising his voice loud enough to show the nuns and elves that he got his funk and mojo back. His confidence stuttered a bit when he practically felt Celestine's gaze boring into his back, but he shrugged it off. Spinning on his heel, Tangmo took in the pagoda from top to bottom and whistled appreciatively. "Even with the gore this place is beautiful, very nice."

"We can admire the architecture later," canoness Galatea strode through the puddle of steaming viscera and joined the Eight and the main characters, a finger pressed to the side of her helm. "The Lovecraftian creatures are retreating. They're all leaping for the open ocean."

"Tyra, you there?" Tangmo tapped his earbud. "Can you confirm what canoness Galatea just said?"

"Give me a second lord commissar," in actuality Tyra took five seconds before responding to Tangmo's query. "That's a resounding yes lord commissar, all across the Hive the Lovecraftian creatures are fleeing en mass, the Deep Ones especially are diving straight into the water. They're pretty elegant, if you ask me."

"Those fuckers ain't getting a ten from me, that's for damn sure," Tangmo knew he should be happy with this news but the tightening sensation in his chest, the one he gets when things were about to go to fuck, was flaring badly. Nope, they were about to enter the next phase. "Maintain your circuits above the battlefield Tyra, you guys are our eyes up there. And call Ae-Shin down here, I have a feeling an escalation is coming."

"Won't be the first time you correctly predict the future," Tyra was obviously snapping a salute on the other end. "Nothing will escape our vigilance lord commissar, I promise."

"Thanks Tyra, stay safe up there," Tangmo terminated transmission and headed for the wide stairway built into the side of the pagoda, one of the many snaking up the great wall of painted mural. Finally fixing the bayonet to his lasgun, Tangmo waved for Laura, Yuki, Nikki and the main characters to follow. "Let's get a move on people, we're still a long way from winning this fight, come on!"

Laura, Yuki and Nikki were beside him in an instance, the main characters trailing at their heels as the battlegroup rushed up the wall, the stairs shaking from the furious pounding of boots. They must've went up twenty floors by Tangmo's estimate before dashing through an archway and onto the parapet, the ledge was large enough to accommodate two Chimeras speeding side by side. Currently the place was decked out in a fuckton of Anguirus howitzers, heavy bolters, vulcan cannons, autocannons, and pulsars cannons. The artillery pieces were getting reloaded and repaired while their smaller cousins lit up the night.

"Hold your fire! Yo, stop firing and conserve the fucking ammos!" Tangmo's command was quickly taken up by the officers arrayed across the parapet and within minutes the weapons went silent. "Thank you. Now rearmed the guns and maintain maximum readiness. Keep your eyes on the swimming Deep Ones, they'll be back."

"Okay, seriously, that is beautiful. Come over here mate, check this out!" Laura was leaning over the rail with Yuki, the pair waving for the main characters to join them. Tangmo was tempted to make several comments about their shapely posteriors but decided to keep the thought to himself, in case Celestine heard him. Within moments everyone was clamoring along the chest high iron railing, and Laura wasn't kidding. Hundreds, no, thousands of Deep Ones were swimming above and under the waves of the ocean, all of them shinning bright, painting the sea in vivid cresting electric blue. "Holy shite, it's like the second Avatar movie." Laura turned to Tangmo. "You saw it yet?"

"Watched it on Disney Plus," Tangmo was caught between awe and fear as he took in the dazzlingly kaleidoscopic ocean, but since it's the Deep Ones conducting the lightshow shit feels really ominous. "Didn't finish the damn thing though, because fucking hell that shit was boring, couldn't get pass the fish village part. It's like watching the first movie again but with more water. All the while I kept wondering how many cyclonic torpedoes it would take to blow up Pandora."

"Christ almighty dude, when was the last time you actually finish a movie?" Nikki made an incredulous face at Tangmo. "You know, watch the whole thing through to the end?"

"Top Gun Maverick, the Northman, RRR, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and del Toro's Pinocchio, you know, the good shits?" Tangmo smirked smugly at Nikki, the Thai commissar responding to the Ukrainian exarch's raspberry with a middle finger. Returning his attention back to the water, Tangmo was about to list off more movies when something on the water caught his attention. "What in the…yo! Holy fucking shit what in the fuck is that shit?! Are you seeing that shit?!"

"Huh?" Yuki narrowed her eyes on the ocean, titling her head this way and that. "Dude, I'm not seeing anything beside the Deep Ones performing their aquatic dance routine."

"God Emperor on the Golden Throne, are you fucking blind?! It's right there!"

"Tangmo isn't spazzing out, there really is something on the water," Nikki cut into Tangmo's hysterical hollering, unblinking eyes trained down the rifle scope. As she adjusted the lens the main characters quickly gathered around her. "It's…what in the fuck, you can't be fucking serious."

"Told y'all I saw shit on the water," Tangmo pressed his binocular over his eyes, zoomed in on the anomaly, and wished to God he didn't. Pulling the ocular assist away, Tangmo blinked quickly, furiously wiped his eyes to make sure that nothing was impeding his vision, then pressed the seeing aide to his face again. Nothing changed, if anything the scene got a hell lot clearer. Tangmo lowered his binocular and handed it to Verity the hospitaller who was standing beside him. "Please tell me you see a dude walking on water."

"I do lord commissar," Verity nodded and passed the binocular to Annelle the Aeldari medic. "There is a psyker walking across the ocean and the Deep Ones are swimming under him, as if making a road for him."

"Jesus Christ, it's Jesus Christ!" Laura piped up, her eyes wider than saucers.

"Last time I check, Jesus definitely wasn't bald," Yuki made her comment, looking a lot calmer than her girlfriend. "Nor was his skin made entirely out of pitch black onyx."

"Umm…Tangmo, we have a problem," Damien contacted them suddenly, and why did he had to sound so spooked? For a Space Marine to forget the tenet of 'we shall know no fear' was a pretty bad portent by all account.

"Yeah I know, there's a dude walking on water in front of us right now," Tangmo waved at the aforementioned individual. "You came into contact with him?"

"He was there one moment and gone the next, we found him inside an infirmary that had been converted into a mad scientist charnel house," Damien explained then paused a moment to brace himself. "I think it's Nyarlathotep dude, but I need your confirmation."

"Your eminence, forgive my rudeness but I must ask that you return my binocular, because I need to check if we are utterly fucked or not," noticing the deranged edge to Tangmo's teeth gritted request, Isha handed the binocular back to him with a squeak. Ignoring the dirty looks he was getting from the Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees, Tangmo zoomed in on the man walking across the ocean. Darker than starless infinity, regal in poise and manner, and revered by lesser beasts aligned with the Old and Outer Gods, Tangmo can only shook his head because Damien had correctly identified their newest enemy. "Yep, we're fucked."

"So it is Nyarlathotep?" Damien articulated his dejection with a restrained sigh.

"It is Nyarlathotep," Tangmo tsk and handed the binocular back to Isha, knowing full well that the nuns and elves saw how his arm trembled a bit. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tangmo straightened his back and watched as the Outer God walked further toward the horizon. "Okay, give me a sec…yo Damien, what's the situation down there? You found the STC yet?"

"We're en route to it," Damien was walking on the other end, the thumping of his boots was a pronounce echo amidst the background noises. "Don't worry dude, the moment we extract the data inside the STC we'll head back up pronto."

"I'm putting Coreth and Marlonah on standby just in case," Tangmo went on. "The Stormbird can dive underwater and is armed to the teeth, so if things goes to hell be prepare for emergency extraction."

"Copy that, I'm gonna go tell Henry and Erik to get ready to bail," Damien wholeheartedly agreed with the plan. He was about to say more when the sound of snapping fingers can be heard. "Oh yeah I almost forgot, when Nyarlathotep was down here he picked something up. It looked like an egg, a glowing eldritch egg, and I think he's gonna do some scary shit with it. Just giving you a head's up."

"Thanks dude, now stay safe and keep me up to date, I gotta go," Tangmo told Damien.

"Right back at you buddy," Damien said before terminating transmission. His foot tapping an agitated tune, Tangmo took a moment to physically and mentally steady himself before spinning around to face the main characters, all of them were looking at him with eager intensity. The first word was about to leave his mouth when Nikki made the interruption, her timbre frosted with rising alarm.

"Tangmo, Nyarlathotep had stopped walking…he's now holding an object up to the sky in a religious benediction sort of way, said object is also glowing. He's kneeling now, I think he's putting the object down and…!"

Nikki never got the chance to finish her commentary for a powerful tremor struck the Hive, a quaking of such terrifying magnitude that it sent the calm ocean into a frothing frenzy, above them the pagoda swayed like a skeletal tree caught in a storm. Screams and shouts shattered the air, and Tangmo was thankful no one pitched over the railings and into the yawning ocean below.

"Get down! Get your ass flat on the ground!" Yuki bellowed over the din of groaning building, crashing waves and yelling humanities. "Prepare for a tsunami, so haul ass like Obi Wan and get to high ground!"

"By the God Emperor and all of his Saints, look!" Verity was leaning dangerously over the edge with Alnelle holding on to her legs. The hospitaller was stabbing her finger urgently at the ocean. "The water is changing!"

Tangmo was about to yell at Verity to stop acting like a stupid kid at a gorilla enclosure when, after getting back on his feet, realized that the earthquake had stopped. Waiting a few seconds more just to be sure, Tangmo grunted and went to join Verity, but not before pulling her back into a standing position. He looked down, got morbidly confused by what he was witnessing, before finally making sense of the eldritch apocalypse unfolding before him. Cancerous growth were rolling into existence across the ocean, the progenitor being Nyarlathotep and whatever the fuck Lovecraftian sorcerous bullshit he was carrying, the lumpy black soil of unnamable origin reeked of rot as it spread like fire on oil. The Deep Ones were shinning bright in jubilation at this unnatural creation of biblical proportion, they swam with the soil and jumped onto the newly made land. Tangmo watched as the growth slowed before fusing with the Hive's wall, noxious steams drifted languidly into the air as plant like abominations sprouted upward, blooming orifices filled with teeth and tongues and alien appendages howled sickeningly at the stars.

"Hey Tyra, this is your friendly neighborhood commissar speaking," Tangmo tapped his earbud, making no attempt to hide how dejected he was. "Did a daemonic landmass just appear around the Hive from every direction?"

"Yes lord commissar," Tyra's reply was breathless with fear. "It's big and still growing outward."

"Keep me posted Tyra," Tangmo cut transmission, held his gaze on the thousands of Deep Ones gathering on the island, braced the stock of his lasgun to his shoulder with an audible sigh, then turned to his friends and the main characters. "Welp ladies and gentlemen, shit just got fucking real."