"If anybody got a brilliant masterful plan up their sleeves, feel free to speak up. Because I'm totally fucking stump on what the fuck we're supposed to do right now."

Tangmo didn't mean for the pure unadulterated desperation to seep into his voice but goddamn he really was desperate, and given the apocalyptic turn of event he was totally justified. Currently Hive Somnus was surrounded by a black eldritch landmass summoned by Nyarlathotep, the rough churning surface were covered in all kinds of twisted macabre floras that twitched and howled with malignant sentiency, while Deep Ones and all sorts of Lovecraftian nightmares crawled out of the primordial mud. The artilleries positioned around the Hive, surplus in numbers thank to his thalassophobia induced paranoia, were continuously firing into the mustering horde of eldritch monsters, the canister shells proving effective in turning the abomination into gory mist but more kept showing up to replenish their ranks. They haven't attack yet, but that'll change soon.

"We can hold our ground until Damien and the others get back to the surface," Nikki offered and a few main characters nodded in support. "Then when everybody haul ass back to the Immortal Spirit, we can Exterminatus the living fuck out of this planet."

"Okay, now we're talking," Laura nodded vigorously. "I already got the excuses prepare in my head. When we turned this pale blue dot into a fucking desert, I'll type it up and send it to Guilliman and Jaghatai. They'll understand."

"Of course they will, G-Man and J-Man are bros like that," Tangmo turned to the assembled Sororitas and Aspect Warriors, predictably the nuns and elves weren't very thrill at the prospect of being denied a chance to kill the enemies of the Imperium and Isha. "If you ladies have any objections this is the time to voice it, can't guarantee I'll listen though."

"Dully noted lord commissar," unsurprisingly it was Celestine who spoke up, the canonesses and Greyfax were all gathered behind the Living Saint, hoping to cower Tangmo with their combined glare. "But yes, the tactic that you have chosen is questionable, to put it lightly."

"Come on Celestine, I thought you were better than this," Tangmo clasped his hands behind his back and sighed audibly. He knew speaking so frankly after their earlier altercation was risky, but Tangmo needed to be honest with Celestine, even when the corner of her eye was starting to twitch irritably. "Seriously, if there's something to be gain by sallying forth, I promise I'll be the first motherfucker over the top. Be that as it may, I can see no tactical or strategic benefit by going on the offensive. Sure, it's gonna be a blast kicking Nyarlathotep in the balls, but what's the point? I say we nuke them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure."

"Your tactical analysis has clear merit, lord commissar," Celestine presented her case with calm and poise. "But to simply yield our ground, evacuate back to the Immortal Spirit, while the leader of this horde remain unscathed could embolden the Lovecraftian gods to further incursion into the Imperium."

"Who said anything about leaving without a severance package?" Tangmo went on with a quirked brow, "didn't you hear Laura? We're gonna glass this fucking planet. We might not be getting up close and personal, but the amount of ordnance we're about to drop will send a very clear message that fucking with us is a bad idea."

"I will not argue the effectiveness of an Exterminatus lord commissar, however I do not believe it will achieve your desired psychological result," Celestine wasn't about to let this go without a fight, and it took every ounce of control Tangmo possessed not to groan aloud. "The Lovecraftian gods and the man in black, Nyarlathotep as you have named him, will probably see this as desperation, believing that we are afraid to face them in open battle."

"Hello, hi, can I politely interrupt before this conversation inevitably escalates?" Yuki butted in, good timing too because Celestine's insistent on attacking was really starting to annoy Tangmo.

"Yes, thank you Yuki," Tangmo turned to the Japanese exarch, his visage one of relief. "What do you got for us?"

"We need to go over the wall and gloriously charge the Lovecraftian monsters like when Aragon and Théoden rides out of Helm's Deep," Yuki held up a hand before Tangmo can make his foulmouthed retort, the fact that the canonesses were laughing made it all the more harder to keep his cool. "See dude, I might have agreed with you if it wasn't for the eldritch aurora borealis behind me. And there's a pitch-black pyramid rising out of the muck Nyarlathotep summoned, damn thing looked like Giza in the heyday."

"I'm sorry, what?" Tangmo titled his head to the side and holy fucking shit Yuki weren't kidding, a dead ass fucking pyramid of pure stygian was rising out of the abominable mud, the surface pristine and unmarred by filth and slimes. A sickening prismatic distortion of reality simmered from the pyramid like a heat haze, bending everything out of space and time and all colors known to man. "Holy God Emperor, you have got to be shitting me right now."

"Tangmo, come in, do you read me?" Leilatha's voice blared across the intercom, his girlfriend was doing a good job of tempering her anxiety. "We're seeing multiple objects rising from the ocean. I need visual confirmation on this. Can you see them?"

"What multiple objects?!" Tangmo blurted, drawing immediate attention from his homies and the main characters. "I'm seeing only the pyramid right now. More of them are popping up?!"

"Pyramid? I guess you can call them pyramids judging by the dimension…," why in the hell does this always happen to him? Tangmo's most hated horror cliché was when sentences ominously trailed off, and given their current situation that's the last thing he needed right now. "Are the pyramids moving?"

"…That's a negative, the pyramid isn't moving," murmurs and stunned bulging eyes abound as Tangmo made his answer. He was about to say more when massive movements stirred to the left and right of the pyramid. Although the distant was significant, the proportions were of such gargantuan magnitude that the starry night was blotted out. Taking a moment to ponder which gods across the known multiverse he'd pissed off recently for such travail to be placed upon him, Tangmo tapped his earbud and changed the transmission. "Tyra?"

"Yes lord commissar, I can see the things emerging around the Hive. Hang on, Ae-Shin!" Tyra contacted her aviation compatriot. "I'm going to need every air force asset planet side right now, the Hive is getting assail by some kind of war machines the size of Imperator Titans. They appear to be machine organic hybrid, so bring a lot of bunker busters."

"Roger that Tyra, we're assembling the assault squadrons now, along with four Storm Fortresses and four Sky Breakers," Ae-Shin was running on the other end, if the thumping cadence and slight panting was any indication. "The first wave should be through the atmosphere in twenty minutes, hang tight."

"I'll do my best, but you might want to speed things up a bit," Tyra grunted and Tangmo can practically see the frown on her face. "The combat capabilities of the enemy's Titans are currently unknown, and I for one want them dead before they try anything."

"Huh, they're from the video game," Yuki pointed at one of the Lovecraftian Titans after the pilots cut their transmission. "A huge eye should – there we go!"

"What video game?" Tangmo asked Yuki as a gigantic eyeball opened up in the middle of the creature's triangular mass. "Was this recent or from some bygone era where people still used floppy disk?"

"It's not that old dumbass I think it came out in 2021. It's about a fisherman dude looking for his lost daughter, the entire game is a walking simulator," Yuki's face was scrunched up in deep concentration, then after several heartbeats she snapped her fingers and grinned triumphantly. "The Shore! The game is called the Shore! It got a very creepy and strangely comfy atmosphere."

"Oh yeah, it was made by an indie studio from Greece, I thought it was pretty spooky, gave Lita a bad case of insomnia too," Nikki shared a laugh with Yuki then looked through the scope of her Aeldari sniper rifle. After a moment her eyes widened in recognition, "now I remember, that thing showed up after we solved a puzzle, looming dark and menacing as the plots thicken."

"That's nice and all my lovies, but how do we kill it?" Laura butted in. "I assume you need to fight that thing in the game?"

"Nope, it just walk creepily across the horizon, we don't interact with it what so ever," Yuki shrugged apologetically. "It's a walking simulator, there's not much to do but enjoy the story and the atmosphere."

"Guess it's up to us to find out how dangerous these motherfuckers are," Tangmo narrowed his eyes at the Titans, the ponderous movement was slow and rigid but the trajectory was unmistakable, they were all striding for Hive Somnus. He then tapped his earbud. "Ruven, come in, do you have visual on the organic Titans that just popped up?"

"That's an affirmative lord commissar, unfortunately they're not in range yet," Ruven answered Tangmo's question before he even asked it. "My team is making a comprehensive scan of the Titans sir. Preliminary observation indicates that they do not have void shields. I would recommend that the air force take a crack at it first."

"Seems like the most optimal course of action," Tangmo leaned over the rail and swept his gaze across the dark landmass surrounding the Hive. "In the meantime Ruven, load the cluster munitions, the Deep Ones are making their moves."

"What is our plan of attack then, lord commissar?" Celestine asked and Tangmo couldn't help but detect a hint of triumph in her tone as she came to stand beside him. The shadow of a grin playing across her lips was very cheeky, but goddamn Tangmo couldn't help but reciprocate with a smile of his own. "If you wish, me and Lithia can take a squad of Seraphim to reconnoiter the pyramid."

"My lady Saint Celestine, I'm gonna make this as polite as I can. Please refrain of action that will get yourself kill, because myself and the battlegroup will never be able to emotionally recover from such a tragedy," Tangmo made his explanation, meeting Celestine's glowing eyes with his stern unblinking own. "Seriously, I'll tie you down with ten tones of chain to stop you from flying off and kamikaze yourself."

"You appear quite determined to vex me at every opportunity during this campaign lord commissar. I'm beginning to think that I might have unknowingly wronged you somehow in the prelude to this operation," there was no scorn or poison in Celestine's remarks, if anything she appeared endeared by Tangmo's promise to get physical. Much can be said about the Thai commissar's penchant for immaturity and crassness, but none can deny his straightforwardness and honesty. And Celestine saw that beneath the rude exterior Tangmo did care for her wellbeing. "But you speak sense and I agree with your assessment, so you need not worry about me."

"Thank you," Tangmo was nodding his thanks when the Lovecraftian monsters below started howling and ululating, the trance like melody was extremely abrasive on the ears. But beside a small headache that can be easily cure with a few ingestion of Tylenols, the eldritch symphony did nothing more than annoy. "We'll have to deal with them first before sallying forth."

"I agree completely," Celestine swept a critical gaze across the diseased landmass now heaving animatedly from the thousands of abominations swaying in sync with their abhorrent music. "There are other creatures besides the Deep Ones down there. I can see…insects and sentient plants amongst the throng."

"Mi Gos and Elder Things, don't worry about them, from Damien's report they die as easily as the Deep Ones," to the surprise of everyone Tangmo spun on his heels and walked away from the railing, sparing the Lovecraftian horrors no more mind. After waving for his homies and the main characters to follow, Tangmo tapped his earbud and headed for the stairway. "Ruven, you got the guns all warmed for me my dude?"

"Yes sir, our spotters have marked the most effective areas for the barrage," Ruven's tone was steady, patiently waiting for the command to bring the sky crashing down on the eldritch monster's collective heads. "The Anguirus howitzers and Charon batteries now have the creatures within their sight. Shall I commence the bombardment lord commissar? The longer we wait, the more they stray from the blast radius."

"No time like the present my dude," Tangmo grinned as he led his homies and the main characters down the stairs at an unhurried jog. "Fuck them up!"

Tangmo was sure it would've been an epic sight, to witness firsthand the true terrible might of the Imperium and humanity's most accomplished pursue: war. He can already imagine it, the blinding flashes of a thousand guns, the caustic pounding melody of unleashed shells, the piercing whistles as death cut through the night, finally the radiant blooms of fire reaping destruction across the land. No matter how many times he'd witnessed it, Tangmo always get ecstatic goosebumps from the martial display, almost made him regret not staying behind to watch the first few salvos. But he had a super important job to do, and this won't be the last time the Immortal Spirit unleashed their artilleries, for now the roaring guns and vibration rippling through the pagoda will have to suffice.

"You doing okay?" Yuki sidled up behind Tangmo and poked her head over his shoulder. "Still got the jitter?"

"The stress won out against the phobia, so no, I'm freaking out for a very different reason," Tangmo grinned and Yuki chuckled. "Don't worry dude, I have a reputation to keep."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, don't sweat it," Yuki's encouragement was very nice to hear. "It's good to see you perky but…can I ask you a question? It's okay to say no, I don't want to stress you out."

"Ask away Yuki, a little question can't hurt me," Tangmo flashed a smile at her. "What's on your mind?"

"It's about us and the battlegroup actually," Yuki lowered her voice so that the conversation remained between them. "Why isn't anyone going crazy yet?"

"What do you mean?" Tangmo asked.

"In every Lovecraft story the reoccurring theme is madness and how the human mind can't comprehend the vast infinite terror that is the eldritch gods," Yuki said. "All of his main characters either become suicidal, depressed, or outright insane, not in that particular order. So how come none of us are displaying any symptom of mental stress, your thalassophobia notwithstanding of course."

"Oh it's fucking simple," Tangmo responded easily. "This is 40k."

"Okay, that's a valid answer as any," Yuki shrugged. "I need you to elaborate a bit though."

"Certainly…this is 40k," Tangmo smirked and Yuki frowned, to which he brushed her off with a chuckle. He then got his serious face on and continued. "No seriously, the reason none of us are losing our mind despite the copious exposure to cosmic eldritch horror is because this is Warhammer 40k. Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth might be scary as fuck and very powerful, but the Warp and the Chaos Gods are daemonic eldritch entities on steroid. The terror we face on a daily basis eclipses what the Lovecraftian gods can conjure up, and we have to deal with that shit almost every single day on a very intimate level. That kind of proximity builds tolerance to the point where we're now practically immune to cosmic horror."

"Holy shit, that actually make sense," Yuki nodded and held out a fist to Tangmo, he bumped it heartily as they reached the ground floor of the pagoda. Celestine and Isha must've relayed their plan in advance because they were greeted by ranks upon ranks of Sisters of Battle and Howling Banshees. Unslinging the Zetton lasgun from his shoulder and holding it at the ready, Tangmo saluted the Battle Sisters and eldars, prompting a sharp reciprocation in return. "Now that's a sight I want to see."

"I summoned them, lord commissar," Celestine said, her wings unfurled majestically and bathing the hall in radiant angelic light. Many of the Battle Sisters went to their knees and flashed the sign of the aquila. "Since our enemies are self-proclaimed gods, I thought it would be fitting if they witness firsthand the might of the God Emperor."

"Good thinking," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap at Celestine and headed for a pair of gigantic doors that comprised an entire portion of the northern wall, waving for the army of nuns and elves to follow him. "Alright people, if I remember the schematic of this place correctly, that's the sea door. Find the control console please."

"Found it," captain Luva piped up from the other end of the hall, hers and Krix's squad has been bolstered by Minka and a company of 101st. "You want it open?"

"Hang on a minute, I need to strategize before walking into certain doom," a round of laughter went up amongst the main characters, unbeknownst to them Tangmo was only half joking. Flipping open his data-pad, Tangmo brought up the 12k holographic map of Hive Somnus and enlarged it so that everyone can see. After a moment his eyes widened in surprise, "yo seriously? The pyramid is only five kilometers away? Damn, that's good."

"Barely a sprint," Laura grinned toothily, the British inquisitor was already cradling her hellgun. The way her fingers roamed over the metallic façade was decidedly disturbing. "Alright, quick and easy it is."

"Quick and easy what exactly?" Tangmo put forward his question. "What the hell are we doing? Blow up the pyramid? Kill Nyarlathotep? Destroy the eldritch artifact? I'm totally digging the enthusiasm, but I need an objective before charging into the fray."

"Our target is the eldritch artifact, it is currently located at the top of the pyramid," Isha stepped forward, hands clasped over her belly in a regal queenly posture, so radiant and beautiful was the Aeldari goddess that many of the Sisters of Battle couldn't hide the appreciative gleam in their eyes. "That is the only target we need to be concentrating on, nothing else matter at this juncture."

"Do you know what the artifact is, your eminence?" Tangmo inquired.

"It is a tool that rends space and time asunder," Isha answered him. "The eldritch relic is being roused from sleep and I know not how long before it awakes fully. When that happens, the veil between realities will cease to exist."

"Basically it's a portal to the Lovecraftian gods' home beyond the star," Tangmo said and Isha held her thumbs up to him, it was a bit awkward but so terminally cute that it caused the Thai commissar's knees to weaken visibly. The Aeldari goddess only made things worse by giggling at his reaction. "Alright, sorry about that, anyway, now we know what the fuck we need to kill." Tangmo then gave Isha a knowing look. "And you're coming with us."

"Indeed I am lord commissar, for I shall be the one to close this portal, in a similar manner to when we stopped the skaven on Darwin IX," gotta give it to Isha, she was no longer the meek and frightful goddess they found on Thima-Chantra those many months ago, still shy and awkward in all the right way of course, but a lot braver. "Celestine will be with me, and together we shall deny the Lovecraftian gods entry into this world."

"Straightforward with a tried and true method, I can dig it," Tangmo was very pleased with the plan. There was always comfort in repeating successful formula. He glanced at the door then tapped his earbud when he noticed how the pounding bombardment outside had lessened significantly. "Ruven, I'm hearing a lot less boom dude. Please tell me we're winning."

"The bombardment was too much for the enemies to handle lord commissar, their attempt to storm the Hive has been resoundingly beaten back," Ruven was very giddy on the other end despite his best attempt to remain professional. "I would advise you take this opportunity to sally forth. The enemy's offensive capability has been severely blunted and their attempt to regroup is being thwarted by our precision bombing."

"Damn right we're seizing the opportunity Ruven!" Tangmo ended the transmission and waved at Luva. "Get this motherfucker open Luva, we're heading out!"

"Lord commissar sir!" Captain Minka Lesk held up her hand like a high school student and approached Tangmo with strict military manner. It was only after Tangmo waved her at ease that Minka continued. "How do you want the Imperial Guards and Guardians deployed in the attack column sir?"

"You guys and the Guardians are staying here," Tangmo held up a halting hand when the colonels and majors started booing him. "Yo chill the fuck out! We're keeping the fucking gate open in case shit goes south, so y'all better make sure those Lovecraftian fucks don't get inside the pagoda. You'll get to kill a lot of shit, so don't worry about getting left out, happy?!"

The low mumbling and shrugging of shoulders seems to suggest that yes, they were more or less happy with this arrangement. Without any prompting the humans and eldars officers swiftly ordered the guardsmen and Guardians into the correct defensive positions around the sea gate, professionalism trumping over their desire to go full Rambo on eldritch asses.

"So…do you want the gate open now?" Luva asked again as the heavy weapon teams started setting up the most optimal place for an overlapping fire.

"Yes, open it now please," the squealing grinds of gigantic gears resounded across the hall as Tangmo made his way through the ranks of Sisters of Battle and Howling Banshees. By the time he joined his homies and the main characters at the front the two partitions were half way opened. The rotting waft that swept inside made him stagger and gag. "Holy shit, that's fucking bad! Fuck, and we have to cross that fucking thing?!"

"I didn't realize you were so squeamish, lord commissar," Celestine flashed him a friendly smirk, behind her the canonesses and the Celestian squads made no attempt to hide their chuckles. "A shame that the Death Korps are not around, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to donate a few gasmasks your way."

"It'll take more than a reeking stink to stop me, thank you very much!" Tangmo shot back playfully as the sea gate slid open in its entirety. The sight beyond was not enviable in the least. The ebon pyramid and the maddened aurora borealis of unnamable colors stood directly before them, eldritch lights bled from the sundered veil of reality to paint the primordial landscape in strange wavering hues that resembled dark violet. The only detail that made this outworldly vista bearable was the smoking craters and copious amount of gory gibs scattered all over the place, the wet crimson splatters gave the fucking place a bit of mundanity to soothe the mind.

"Ladies first, Tangmo?" Laura flashed him one of the most punchable shit eating grin in the history of the universe.

"Fuck that shit, first in last out baby!" Tangmo's retarded impulse propelled him onto the churning landmass, his brain catching up too late with the one singular fact that this was a terrible idea. The God Emperor didn't abandon him however, because Tangmo landed on hard solid ground. Giving it a few good stomps just to be sure, Tangmo waved at his homies and the main characters. "Let's fucking go people, for the Emperor!"

The cheer that answered him possessed the expected rousing volume, but verbal enthusiasm did not translated very well into action however. Sure, the attack column treaded upon solid enough surface but it lacked consistency. Some places were harder than concrete, while others devour legs like a WWI trench after a rainstorm, the Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees cursed and growled aloud as they forded across the uncooperative terrain.

"Beware of your footing sisters, the ground is treacherous!" Celestine raised the Ardent Blade high, rallying the troops to a spirited motion, the encouragement proved effective as the nuns and elves slowly stopped fumbling until no awkwardness of movement remained. The Living Saint herself navigated the eldritch landmass with ease due to the fact that she was flying a few inches off the ground, her radiant white wings unfurled and shining bright. "Come along Isha, don't tarry!"

"Forgive me Celestine, but I don't have wings!" Isha said after managing to pull herself out of a particularly large quagmire with Elnys help. Wiping down the front of her battle dress, managing to make it dirtier in the process, Isha was about to say more when she froze, eyes fixed somewhere beyond Celestine. Then she stabbed her finger forward with a cry. "Celestine look out!"

The warning came at the right moment because Celestine barely dodged the surprisingly accurate salvo flying her way, the projectiles hissed close but thanks to two somersaults and a corkscrew none found its mark. Celestine was raising the Ardent Blade above her head when a vengeful volley of bolts raked across the place where the gunners had opened fire. Gory bits of crustacean shells flew skyward on streamers of dark ichor. The high-pitched shrieks were decidedly nonhuman.

"Fucking shit, I completely forgot about those assholes!" Tangmo trained his lasgun on a large mound of rock, flipped the switch to burst and pulled the trigger. The rock cried out in pain and fumbled to flee as white hot las cracked it opened in a shower of fleshy viscera. Seeing what he was trying to kill, Laura, Yuki and Nikki added their firepower to the barrage, the combined application of lasers and shurikens reduced the supposedly inanimate object to steaming insectoid corpse. "Shoot the rocks they're Mi Gos in disguise! Blast them to hell!"

"Allow me," Isha placed her glowing palms on the ground, sending silver bolts across the churning surface, the terrestrial lightning flared blindly for a heartbeat before disappearing. Tangmo was blinking away after images when multiple fountains of dirt erupted around them, when he trained his lasgun at the nearest geyser he found a Mi Go emerging from the blackish soil. The fucker wasn't hollering with rage and attacking the column, instead he just staggered around, the gaits drunken and unsure. "I believe this is the perfect opportunity to attack, lord commissar?"

"Right! Sorry! Let it rip people, cut them down!" Tangmo decapitated the Mi Go with a well-placed burst, the Lovecraftian bug squealed loudly as it died. The Sisters of Battle and Banshees unleashed their weapons across the eldritch vista, the speed and thoroughness of the killing put a smile on Tangmo's face. "Thank you for the assist your eminence, did you electro shock those assholes?"

"Nothing so drastic lord commissar – oh, thank you Elnys," Isha took the proffered kerchief from the Dire Avenger handmaiden and wiped the muck clean from her hands. Taking a few heartbeats to check under her nails, grinning when she found the cleanliness agreeable, Isha handed the now stained cloth back to Elnys. "I gave them a jolt of my power, my undiluted power. It doesn't harm them, but the sudden influx of divine energy will make them daze and confuse. Healing is my art, but too much of it can cause discomfort, which is what the Lovecraftian creatures are experiencing right now."

"Like when someone inhaled too much oxygen in one go, shits gonna fuck you up rightly," Tangmo nodded his understanding, flipped the lasgun to semi-auto, and trained the barrel at a trio of drunken Mi Gos trying to lift their bio-guns. "No time to loose ladies, let's fucking go! Don't slow down for anything and keep firing! For the Emperor! For Isha! In their names let none survive!"

It wasn't exactly a turkey shoot but neither was it difficult for the battlegroup. The column pressed forward at a quick jog, gunning down everything they met along the way. The Mi Gos' dazed stupor didn't last long though, the Lovecraftian winged lobsters regained their wits faster than Tangmo would've like and were soon returning fire on the nuns and elves. Fortunately for the warrior women of the Immortal Spirit, the severity of the assault was greatly diminished after the Mi Gos lost the initiative and the element of surprise. The gnarly insects can handle weapons, Tangmo admitted begrudgingly when a couple of shots whizzed over his awesome commissar cap and a lot more struck the Battle Sisters and the Banshees, but for every hit they score an encompassing retaliation tore them to pieces. After popping a Mi Go's bulbous eyes with a beautifully placed lasbolt, Tangmo made a quick sweep of the battlegroup and found to his relief that nobody had died yet, although the damage done to the ceramite and bone armors were clear. The nuns and elves were very pissed at the defilement inflicted upon their war gears, if the slew of extremely unladylike curses were anything to go by.

"Keep moving my lovies, just a little bit more and we'll be at the pyramid!" Laura raised her voice and sends an interrupted stream of superheated laser to the right, "more Mi Go and Deep Ones incoming! Give them fire and steel sisters!"

It wasn't until Laura pointed this out that Tangmo realized he was the only male in the attack column, but he never had a chance to be stoked about it because the Lovecraftian assholes ruined the moment by attacking en mass. The Surviving Mi Gos were now joined by a horde of Deep Ones and shoggoths, the fish motherfuckers had abandoned the usages of firearms as they bounded on all four across the wasteland with bloodthirsty singlemindedness, howling and baying their blasphemous war cry to the ebon heaven. Explosions tore across the horizon, the brilliant rolling walls of inferno gave the hellish landscape a pleasing color, but the blooming red and orange failed to banish the aurora's incomprehensible spectrum from the battlefield. Nevertheless, the artillery bombardment was able to keep the majority of Mi Gos and Deep Ones and shoggoths from entering the fray, leaving only a few thousands for Tangmo and his homies to deal with. A walk in the park all things considered.

"Brace! Brace sisters! Prepare for blood!" Legatus Victrix of the Eternal Legion waved her bloodied two-handed gladius high as a shield wall quickly enveloped the attack column. "Elysium awaits sisters! Ave Imperator!"

"This is fucked, taking a head-on charge on a flatland is absolute bullshit. There has to be – there!" Tangmo grabbed Nikki's shoulder, shook the Ukrainian exarch vigorously and pointed at a hill-like rise protruding out of the ground not twenty paces from them. "Form the shield wall around that fucking hill, get fucking moving people let's fucking go! Nikki, Castrum, Kassandra, get your best markswoman and follow me! Haul fucking ass people!"

Breaking away from the rest of the column, Tangmo sprinted for the only elevated ground on this God Emperor forsaken landmass, it could very well be a trap but he was shit out of option. His legs pumping hard, Tangmo ascended the hill and reached the top within a few heartbeats. The place granted him a three hundred sixty degree view, the land heaving and churning as the Lovecraftian horde closed in from every direction. The pyramid, so near yet so far, loomed mockingly over the forthcoming carnage like a king enjoying a nice morning execution.

"Nice pick dude," Nikki joined Tangmo and gave his shoulder a friendly smack. A few inches below them the range weapon experts of the Adepta Sororitas trained their guns at the approaching monsters. "But if I was being honest, the view is pretty fucking shit."

"The pyramid and the daemonic aurora look fucking dope though," Tangmo shrugged and Nikki grunted in agreement, the pair bracing their respective weapons at the ready. Glancing up at the sky, Tangmo tapped his earbud. "Tyra, Ae-Shin, you see us?"

"I do," several squads of Valkyries were flying circuit around their position, and Tangmo knew without a doubt that Tyra was leading the formation.

"Hard to miss, lord commissar. How much air support do you need?" Ae-Shin went directly to the question he was about to ask. Although he couldn't see her Tangmo knew the air force commander was close.

"Everything you got, thin the fucking herd for us would you please?" Tangmo grinned and changed the frequency, around him the hum of jet engines grew louder and louder, a pleasant acoustic layer to offset the horrid screeching of the nearing eldritch mob. "Ruven, target the rim of the engagement area, prevent the creatures from reinforcing the assault and keep them pin."

"Affirmative lord commissar, God Emperor speed and good luck!" Ruven was enthusiastic in his response and not a second later the guns from the wall roared to life again, screeching shells cut through the air, ending in thunderous mushroom clouds that tore the damnable earth inside out. The intensity of the bombardment was so furious that some of the Deep Ones and Mi Gos couldn't help but turn around and gape at the fiery destruction.

"Alright ladies, let's give them a little incentive to commit suicide by full-frontal assault!" At Tangmo's encouragement Kassandra and Castrum gave hearty cries and unleashed a vengeful fusillade on the eldritch horde. At a hundred yard the bolts, meltas and plasmas were utterly devastating, the abomination's first ten ranks were scythed down until nothing but shimmering mist of gore remained. The destruction spurred the remaining monsters faster across no man's land, and Tangmo had to raise his voice above the cacophony so that Nikki could hear him. "Yo, where the fuck is Laura and Yuki?!"

"Down there, hyping up the nuns and elves," Nikki pointed at where Laura and Yuki were striding up and down the ranks of interlocked ngulu, scutum and Viking shields, the rousing hurrah and boisterous insult being flung at the Lovecraftian monsters indicated that the pair were effective in lifting the fighting spirit of the Battle Sisters and the Banshees. The British inquisitor was prim and proper, an aristocratic general giving a pep talk to her soldiers before a fateful battle, the Japanese exarch however was shouting and waving her katana high in the air as if she was about to lead one last glorious banzai charge against the enemy. "They'll be fine."

"I fucking hope so," Tangmo had barely finished his sentence when the Deep Ones and shoggoths collided into the Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees with a cacophonic crash, the volume so loud that it almost knocked him off his feet. The formation caved but didn't yield, viscera and gore fountained furiously across the battle line, silver flashed amidst gushing crimson, the Deep Ones howled in desperate agony while the warrior women roared in unbridle exaltation. Laura and Yuki were absolutely having the time of their lives. The dynamic duo was in front of the shield wall and killing everything that got close with claymore and katana. "I swear to fucking God, if those two idiots die I'm gonna Thai kick their asses ten times each."

"They'll be fine, I think you need to worry more about us," Nikki pointed at the Mi Gos, the bug crustacean hybrids did not share the Deep Ones and shoggoths enthusiasm of throwing themselves recklessly at insurmountable odds. The Mi Gos instead decided to be a buncha smart ass and logically used their firearms against the battlegroup, possessing enough accuracy and expertise with the weapons to knock down a dozen nuns and elves. Tapping Castrum urgently on the shoulder, Nikki waved at the Mi Gos. "Forget the grunts Castrum, help me kill the bugs!"

"As you command lady exarch!" Castrum responded enthusiastically but even with hers and the Avenging Knights help the task quickly proved to be exceedingly difficult. While the Deep Ones and shoggoths took on the role of expendable cannon fodders, the Mi Gos used their comrades as shields to creep closer and land more devastating shots on the nuns and elves. If it wasn't for Isha's healing power, there would already be several KIAs.

"Hey Tangmo, how's it going on your end?"

"No time to talk a lot of fighting shits really hitting the fan there's a lot of crazy shits around! Mi Go and all other kind of scary shit I need to kill I gotta go bye!" Tangmo didn't have time to respond to Lita's question and swept his lasgun across the air in a brutal arc, the stream of las managing to decapitate four Mi Gos in one fell swoop. He didn't take joy from this panic borne success because despite the valiant fight put up by the main characters and Ruven constant bombardment, the horde numerical advantage was starting to rear its ugly head. "Jesus Christ in a fucking sword fight, we need to move! If we stay here a minute more we're gonna be fucked six ways to Sunday!"

"Good thing you won't be fucked then, lord commissar," Tangmo sighed in relief when Ae-Shin's voice blared across the intercom. "Be sure to keep your head down sir, we'll be doing an extremely close air support run. Brace yourself."

Tangmo knew he should've followed Ae-Shin's instruction, but being the awesome rebel contrarian that he was the Thai commissar elected to stand tall while everybody else hit the deck. And boy he was not disappointed, even if he came close to going deaf. Ae-Shin wasn't kidding when she said close air support, because her squadron of fighters and bombers jet dived down so fucking low that they almost touched the ground, the fiery engines sending earth and soil skyward in plumes of vaporized dusts.

Then the actual strafing run began.

Rolling thunder tore into the blasphemous landscape, missiles and bolts and bombs were poured on the Lovecraftian monstrosities with such ungodly intensity that not even charcoal gibs survived. The ugly outworldly motherfuckers were destroyed down to the fucking atom. In another testament to the prowess of the Immortal Spirit navy, the decompressed circle of Sororitas and Banshees at the base of the hill was completely unscathed, Celestine raising the Ardent Blade in salute as Ae-Shin and her squadron flew passed. Roaring at the top of his lungs, Tangmo jumped with glee and threw his cornas up as the jets soared within a few feet of him before banking into the stratosphere. He liked to imagine that Ae-Shin saw him.

All in all, the entire run took about thirty second, yet the effectiveness went beyond the horrific. The Lovecraftian horde which had appeared unending and unconquerable just moments ago were reduced to burning skid marks, the pitiful few who survived were summarily cut down by the nuns and elves.

"Fuck yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Go suck Dagon and Cthulhu massive dicks, suck ass!" Tangmo exchanged powerful high fives Nikki, got his shits under control, took a few deep breaths to calm his ass down, then tapped his earbud. "Yo Laura, Yuki, you okay dude?!"

"Holy fucking shit that was the finest dive I've ever seen! The boys at the RAF would be proud!" Laura was laughing on the other end, but that soon ruptured into an annoyed groan. "Oh for fuck sake! Oi! Stop celebrating you cunts, another wave is already coming for us! Form the fuck up!"

Tangmo was about to violently voiced his own complain when the regrouping monsters were cut to pieces by streams of superheated lasers and rattling staccato of red hot bolts. Oh, that's why Tyra wasn't part of Ae-Shin's bombing run. The cheers that had been simmering down returned twice fold when several dozen Valkyries flew into view, the iconic aircrafts of the Astra Militarum coming to hover above and around the attack column, all guns blazing as they laid down a full auto ass whooping on the eldritch abominations.

"We got you covered!" Tyra's Valkyrie was at the front and Tangmo waved vigorously at the redhead pilot. "The path is clear lord commissar! Go get those fuckers!"

"God Emperor blessing be upon you pilot Tyra, pilot Victoria, you have assured our victory this day," Celestine flew up beside Tyra's Valkyrie and placed a hand on the windshield. Her wings beating powerfully, Celestine held the Ardent Blade high and within heartbeats she was joined by Mistress Lithia of the Avenging Knights and Seraphims from every Ordo. "Hasten to the pyramid sisters! For the Emperor!"

Accompanied by six heavily armed Valkyries, Celestine and the flying Sororitas flew straight for the pyramid, the nuns and the gunships forming a wedge around the Living Saint. Tangmo got a little spook because he thought Celestine was gonna try and solo Nyarlathotep, but was relieved to see the Living Saint and the Sororitas diving down on a large contingent of Lovecraftian monsters that were trying to set up a defensive perimeter around the base of the pyramid, judging by the continuous eruption of gore he assumed things were going well. Not a moment later the canonesses, accompanied by Laura and Yuki, ran after Celestine with the rest of the Sororitas and the Banshees, Isha surprisingly matching speed with them. It was only after making sure the rear was clear that Tangmo, Nikki and the range weapon specialists followed the rest of the battlegroup.

"…I'm not gonna say anything," Nikki exchange dry look with Tangmo.

"Me neither," the words had barely left Tangmo's mouth when the ground started to rumble. "Not at all surprise but still disappointing nonetheless, no point in complaining though, because I'm gonna channel all my frustration into killing whatever the fuck is showing up next."

"That's a good attitude," Nikki nodded the same moment three great bulbous mounds heaved upward before the pyramid. The reeking soil exploded in a shower of vivacious filth and a trio of towering eldritch monsters emerged from the diseased earth, each sporting four gigantic legs that supported bodies of writhing tentacles studded with fangs and talons. They screamed and howled piercingly at Celestine, the Living Saint was hovering before them, totally aloof of their threat. "Wait a minute, I remember those motherfuckers from all the artworks and shits, and they showed up in the Lord of the Rings too. What are they called again? Fuck, it's on the tip of my tongue, something about a goat."

"They're spawns of Shub-Niggurath, she's called the Black Goat of the Wood by cultists who worship her," Tangmo explained and pointed at the abominable creatures now barring the battlegroup advance. "Those ugly bastards are her children, the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, or the Nameless Things as mentioned by Gandalf. I guess they're used as heavy hitters by the Lovecraftian gods."

"More shits for us to kill then," Nikki braced the Aeldari rifle to her shoulder then turned to Tangmo, one brow quirked questioningly. "Why are you not raising your gun?"

"Just waiting," Tangmo said easily, Celestine was starting to glow now, wings spread heroically at the trio of Dark Young. Below her Isha was also veiled in divine light, adding another layer to the illumination now battling eldritch darkness.

"For Celestine and Isha to kill the Dark Young?" Nikki turned away from the radiant women, blinking all the while. "I thought you didn't like being useless."

"I don't, but I'm waiting for the unexpected help that will resolve our current predicament," Tangmo shrugged. "Should be any minute now."

"Unexpected help?" Nikki gave him an amused look.

"Yeah, you know, every time things look bleak a Deus Ex Machina like event happens and we won."

"So kinda like how every time we land on a planet things always spiral out of control and into the worse situation imaginable."

"Exactly, but this is the bright side of it, help is coming."

"Since when did you become such an optimist?"

"Never, I'm still the cynical asshole you know and love. But I'm good at picking up patterns."

"And when will this Deus Ex Machina happen? Can it happen before Celestine and Isha double team the Dark Young please? Because that will cause a lot of unnecessary difficulty on our part, this time you're bailing them out by the way, my turn to watch."

"Oh, don't worry about it, we ain't gotta do shit. Look over there."

"Huh, that looked like the Stormbird coming out of the ocean."

"And it's heading straight for us."

"The back ramp is open too."

"It's slowing down… now it's hovering above the Dark Young."

"Did Damien and Lita just jumped out of the Stormbird?"

"Damien and Lita just jumped out of the Stormbird."

Tangmo and Nikki were grinning ear to ear when Damien's boisterous cry, amplified to the max by the grille on his awesome Astartes helm, shattered the air as he plummeted down like a death dealing meteor, sparkling blue energy trailing after the crackling thunder hammer. Lita didn't make as much noise, but Tangmo was sure the Mexican Warseer was smiling brightly as she shot down from the heaven, a dazzlingly comet wreathed in silvery Aeldari magic. The Dark Young trio turned their gaze upward and can do nothing but stared at the descending Space Marine and Warseer, the former heading straight for the one on the right while the latter's trajectory was to the left.

"Datte boku wa hoshi dakara!" Yuki and Laura sang aloud, their timbre harmonious and beautifully in sync.

"Stellar, Stellar!" Lita responded with breathtaking volume. Tangmo and Nikki hooted boisterously as Lita plunged into the Dark Young in a brilliant explosion of silvery blue light. The hulking Lovecraftian beasts was starting to howl in agony when it's writhing mass ballooned outward at a terrible speed then burst apart in a hail of gore and viscera, all that remained were the stubby legs which soon toppled over. And standing at the center of this bombastic demise was Lita, her war regalia untouched by filth courtesy of her Aeldari magic. Tangmo and Nikki were starting to clap when Damien crashed into the other Dark Young. Although lacking Lita's lithe gracefulness, Damien sure as hell compensated by the sheer undiluted brutality unleashed. The thunder hammer careened down to deafening bangs, every hit sending pieces of burning eldritch flesh flying, the downward energetic lumberjack chopping reduced the height of the Dark Young from a skyscraping mass of tentacles to a pitiful single storey hovel. Damien was gleefully bashing the black tendrils to a pulping gory mess when Celestine, obviously not wanting to be outdone by the Canadian Marine and the Mexican Warseer, spread her wings wide and dashed at the last remaining Dark Young. The ugly motherfucker was trying to figure out what to do when it got silently impaled by the Ardent Blade.

Okay, so Tangmo knew he wasn't really in Celestine good grace at the moment, so he kept his comment regarding how mid the Dark Young's fiery ashen demise was to himself. Seriously, after the sky diving routine Lita and Damien just pulled off, nothing can top that. But once again Tangmo's suspicion that Celestine can read mind flared up when, after flicking blackened filth off the Ardent Blade, the Living Saint turned to him with an expectant look. Fearing for his life, Tangmo gave her a thumbs up and a smile, which was enough to satiate Celestine who responded with a nod.

"She can fucking read mind, I'm sure of it," Tangmo said as the Stormbird came to hover ten feet above the ground, and jumping out of the ship came the full complement of Adeptus Astartes, Dark Reapers and Fire Dragons Aspect Warriors. The Adepta Sororitas and the Howling Banshees raised a hearty cheer at their comrade in arms as they joined forces and formed a crescent around the stairway built into the side of the pyramid, the cleanly cut steps leading up to the wide flat top.

"Maybe just for you," Nikki grinned then nudged her head for him to follow. "Come on, we're in the last leg of the program now."

"Let's hope there's a trophy waiting at the finish line," Tangmo grunted and with Nikki strode up to the bubbling corpse of the Dark Young in the center, where Laura, Yuki, Damien and Lita were currently chatting energetically. He waved his hand and said, "that shit was fucking epic!"

"Damn right it was fucking epic! Hell fucking yeah!" Damien held out his fist and Tangmo pumped it, hard enough to make a metallic gong but not enough to shatter every bone in his hand. "Out of ten, what's your score?"

"A nine point five, I have to maintain an image of impartiality," Tangmo laughed. "Real fucking good to see you man, how was the underwater hell?"

"Dark and wet and super fucking creepy, real horror movie shit," Damien said. "But even eldritch Lovecraftian abominations can't contend with the God Emperor's Angles of Death. We totally cream those motherfuckers."

"Still plenty of mofo for us to kill," Tangmo spread his arms wide and embraced Lita, hearty smacking of backs was exchanged. "Nice to see you as impeccable as ever, things went swimmingly for you I assume?"

"Not the word I would use to describe the experience, but things was bearable given the circumstances. Damien's right, it was like being in a horror movie, and I hate horror movie," Lita smoothed her skirt and swept an appreciative glance at her companions. "Everyone's here for the big moment."

"Not everyone," Tangmo sighed. "Henry and Erik are still back at Hive Somnus. Hell, I don't even know where they…"

"Oh good, you guys haven't run up the pyramid yet!"

Head titled to the side and blinking rapidly to make sure he wasn't hearing things, Tangmo spun around and threw up his hands with a cheer when Henry and Erik emerged from the throng of Sororitas and Banshees.

"Holy shit, you two actually made it!" Laura wrapped Erik up in a bearhug, drawing a loud squawk from the Swedish elf. "Now the gang's all together!"

"Damn right we are, no way I'm gonna miss this," Henry reached out his hand and Tangmo clasped it with an epic handshake, followed up by a powerful bro hug. "Good to see you in one piece man, still thalassophobic?"

"Hell yeah," Tangmo laughed then broke the bro hug, like Henry he was smiling ear to ear. "Holy fucking shit I can't even remember the last time all eight of us were presence for the climatic showdown of destiny."

"Neither do I," Henry drew a pair of pulsing plasma pistols from his belt. Of the Immortal Spirit design of course, the kind that doesn't blow up after a few minutes of usage. Twirling the weapons around his index fingers, Henry rolled his shoulders a few times then flashed his canines in a grin. "So, when are we doing this?"

"Right fucking now," Tangmo was in the process of formulating a very clever plan when Celestine and Isha approached them, as always the pair was hale in appearance despite the gallon of gore dripping from their persons. Isha wiped the ichor from her face with a brocade kerchief then handed a clean one to Celestine, who politely decline the offer. "Alrighty then, the plan is more than clear. So who's tagging along with you two?"

"I have ordered our retinue to stay behind and assist in holding our position around the pyramid," Celestine told him the same moment the Valkyries, Lithia and the Seraphims started flying around the triangular structure. "That way, we can engage our query without interruption, and I believe the eight of you will suffice in keeping us safe."

"We'll be right beside you, my lady Saint," Tangmo waiied Celestine and waved his homies over. "Form the fuck up my dudes! We're making sure Celestine and Isha get to the top without a scratch on them!"

"Sorry for being presumptuous your eminence, but up you go!" Isha let out an embarrass squeal when Damien scooped her up in his arms, bridal style. He only shrugged when she quirked a questioning brow at him. "Don't want you lagging behind."

"Yes, I can see the wisdom in that, I wouldn't mind a little warning though," Isha craned her neck up at the summit of the pyramid. "Let's go."

Without wasting more time the Eight, Celestine and Isha headed up the smooth black marble steps of the pyramid, the bombastic cheers from the Space Marines, Sororitas and Aeldari buoying their ascend to greater speed. It wasn't until they were half way up the pyramid and meeting no resistance that Tangmo started getting suspicious of how easy things were going, like the quiet moment before the boss fight.

"Oh…oh, shit! What in the ever-loving fuck is that?!" Yuki squawked and pointed at the evil aurora borealis bending the sky out of shape. Tangmo was about to ask what was new with the abnormality when holy fuck, he saw what had caught Yuki attention. It took a moment for his vision to get used to the nauseating ripples and contortions, and when it did he saw two shapes bulging out of the thin veil between realities, murky lethargic invasion that would break the sanity of lesser men. They were large beyond comprehension, as tall as the sky was high, their hulking transparent mass absorbing the light of the moon and the stars. And to the utter dejection of his spirit, Tangmo knew the two phantasmagoric entities.

"What is that?" Having stopped her ascend to gander at the eldritch gods, Celestine turned to Tangmo for answer.

"The Eldritch gods," Tangmo sighed. "That one with the face of an octopus is Cthulhu, Laura already showed you his little statue. The writhing oval motherfucker is Yog-Sothoth. Apparently he can see into the past, present and future and can also travel between realities."

"Yo, hold up, are we too late?" Damien asked, his head darting between Tangmo and the Lovecraftian gods. "Are they already in this universe?"

"They are not," Isha laid a calming hand on Damien's armored chest, the touch managing to stabilize the Canadian Marine's breathing. "What you see are merely projections, shadows cast across the worlds."

"I am both scare and hopeful of that statement," Laura made a face, like everyone else she was not at all digging how the situation was unfolding. "Can you maybe elaborate a bit more? As in, on a scale of one to ten, how fucked are we?"

"If I was to make such a crass estimation, lady inquisitor, I would say that we've just reached the point of seven. The Lovecraftian gods have not entered our reality yet, but they are at the very threshold that separates the two realms. So close in fact that we can see their outlines," Isha narrowed her eyes in reprimand at Laura's impolite words, causing the British inquisitor to grin sheepishly in apology. "Our opportunity to prevent this calamity remains but that avenue is shrinking, therefore I would advise that we hurry."

"You heard the goddess! I'm about to run your eminence, please hold on tight," Damien gave his warning this time, and after Isha threw her arms around his neck the Canadian Astartes resumed the ascend, leaping up three steps at a time. "Keep up!"

Celestine easily caught up with him, being able to fly and all, while the rest of the Eight made a commendable effort trailing behind Damien and Isha.

"Almost at the top," excitement and anxiety were clear in Henry's timbre, the American general gave his plasma pistols a firm squeeze then turned to Tangmo. "I got a question though, why are we only seeing Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu? Given how we're on an ocean planet, I thought Dagon would also show up."

"All the lesser Lovecraftian beasts are polytheistic, with most of the prayers probably going to Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth," Tangmo told Henry, glad for the conversation because it lessened the encompassing tension somewhat. "Dagon is famous and is worshipped by the Deep Ones, but compare to Big-C and the Yog-Man, he's lightweight by comparison."

"That make sense, Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth probably got a fast-past to the front while Dagon had to wait in line," Henry snorted but his mirth disappeared when the top of the pyramid loomed into view, Celestine flexing her wings like a raptor about to take flight. "This is it."

Tangmo grunted in the affirmative, braced the lasgun to his shoulder, and upped the pumping tempo of his legs when Celestine cleared the last several steps with a radiant majestic leap. He had expected to see many things when reaching the top, the foremost amongst his speculation being a horde of Custodian grade Lovecraftian monsters standing guard around the erstwhile nexus of sorcery, another more prominent scenario was finding Nyarlathotep waiting for them with a sword in hand. They found Nyarlathotep alright, but the Outer God wasn't surrounded by a retinue of royal guards or armed for a final showdown, instead he just stood beside the pulsating eldritch egg shooting its blasphemous light into the sky. He had his hands clasped behind his back, and judging from his posture the dude actually looked bored.

"Be gone, daemon!" Celestine landed not ten paces from Nyarlathotep, her resounding declaration echoed powerfully, sending a tangible ripple across the air. Pointing the Ardent Blade forward and joined by Isha, Celestine and the Aeldari goddess started walking closer toward Nyarlathotep. "We shall stop this intrusion from coming to pass! And we will not be denied!"

Nyarlathotep only answer was to stare at Celestine and Isha. See, the eldritch dude had no face, just two white glowing circles for eyes, so trying to decipher his emotion was an exercise in futility. The seconds were ticking away, creeping closer to the one minute mark when Nyarlathotep stepped aside. Tangmo had to do a fucking double take before he can confirm that the Outer Gods had indeed moved away from the eldritch egg. To add to the rising confusion, he amiably waved Celestine and Isha at the pillar of outworldly energy.

"Okay, fuck this bullshit this is totally a fucking trap," Damien stated the obvious then let out an alarmed squawk when Celestine and Isha cautiously approached the eldritch egg. "Holy shit, are you fucking deaf or something?! I said it's a trap! I can't get any more admiral Ackbar than this!"

"We are aware of that very likely possibility, Brother Captain," Isha craned her neck around and gave Damien what could only be described as a sad smile. "But we must venture into this trap, for the sake of all we are ready for what is to come."

"You and your friend can of course assist, Brother Captain," Celestine nudged her head at the nonchalant Nyarlathotep standing nearby. "Please make sure he doesn't interfere while we proceed with the closing ritual."

"Yes mam," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap at the two divine women then spun around on the eldritch god, lasgun pointed squarely at his face. "Don't fucking dare move motherfucker! Put your hands behind your head and get on the ground now!"

Predictably Nyarlathotep didn't comply, nor did he make any reaction as the Eight fixed him in their crosshairs, the motherfucker was very likely quirking an amused brow if he had had a face.

"Question, why are we not blasting him to hell?" Yuki spoke up, her eyes trained unblinking down the iron sight of the eldar P90 submachine gun. "It'll be more useful than officer Tangmo over there trying to read him the Miranda's right."

"Because the last time he was surrounded we opened fire and he just teleported away," Lita answered the Japanese exarch, and wait a damn minute did Nyarlathotep just nodded in confirmation?! "I rather we have him cornered, where at least we can keep an eye on him."

"Might wanna use that magic of yours to lash him down Lita," Henry made a very good suggestion. "Just to be sure the slippery bastard doesn't get away."

"Been trying that for a while now, but he's stopping all the Warp magic I'm sending his way, easily," Lita stiffened when Nyarlathotep turned to Henry, raised his index finger, and wagged it left and right like an adult reprimanding a misbehaving child. "Okay, he's definitely toying with us."

"Yeah, and I'm not liking it one bit," Laura almost pulled the trigger when Nyarlathotep titled his head at her, as if to confirm Lita's statement and daring the British inquisitor to present a rebuttal. "Okay, so I know I'm tempting fate a bit, but I kinda wish the cheeky bugger would do something besides standing menacingly."

"Holy fuck, don't give him any idea you fucking moron!" Tangmo snapped at Laura and, after he was sure Nyarlathotep wasn't gonna try anything, turned to where Celestine and Isha was standing over the eldritch egg. "My lady Saint, your eminence, I don't mean to be rude but can we get an estimate on when you'll be able to close the portal to Lovecraftian hell?! Things are getting way too scary for us to handle over here!"

"It is…done," Isha said slowly, judging by the tone the Aeldari goddess was seriously doubting her own words. "We have severed the power of the egg from the conduit beyond, the gate is being shut."

"I'm sorry what?" Now it was Tangmo's turn to be skeptical.

"If you need evidence lord commissar, you only have to look at the sky," there was an obvious grin in Celestine's voice. "We can see the cosmos now."

Tangmo followed Celestine's instruction and goddamn the Living Saint was right. The moon and the stars have returned, shining in full silvery radiance and bathing the world in flowing gossamer of mercury. Gone was the eldritch aurora borealis, reality reasserting its corporeality until the last shining spot of color out of space winked out like a candle in the wind. More importantly he can't see Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth, okay, maybe he did catch a tiny glimpse of them before they faded away, like whales diving back into the unfathomable depth.

"Great job ladies! Now let's get this – AHHH!"

Oh right, Tangmo kept forgetting the universe like to give him a low blow at the most inconvenient moment. He can do nothing as a force of unspeakable power slammed into him and threw him across the air, good thing he managed to do a tactical roll before crashing back on the ground or his shoulders would've been fucked. The rest of the Eight were sprawl all over the place, as if a bomb just went off in their midst, but he was more concern with Celestine and Isha careening toward him. Damien managed to catch Isha midflight like a quarterback making an intercept but Celestine flew over Tangmo, her wings flapping madly as she cartwheeled over the descending staircase.

"Oh fuck!" Tangmo, unwisely in hindsight, jumped after Celestine. He miraculously managed to grab her boot, but Celestine's trajectory pulled Tangmo off his feet and both of them started skidding down the stair. Teeth gritted, Tangmo strained every muscle in his arms and closed his eyes for the inevitable plummet. Imagine his surprise when after a few painful bounces the descent slowed to a stop, the tips of his boots clinging to the top flight. "Holy fuck I'm alive! Celestine, are you alright?!"

"I am lord commissar, thank you for the assistance," Celestine sat up and reached her hand toward Tangmo. He grabbed it, got back on his feet and pulled her up into a standing position. After taking a moment to put eschewed armors back into place, Celestine locked eyes with Tangmo and gave him her galaxy famous smile. "That was very brave of you. We both could've careened down the pyramid with you suffering the worse of the fall. Thank you."

"You're welcome, my lady Saint," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap and spun away before Celestine can see his rising blush, his bashfulness evaporating when he braced the lasgun to his shoulder. "Let's permanently deal with this eldritch god."

"I agree," Celestine held up her Ardent Blade as the rest of the Eight and Isha joined them, once again facing Nyarlathotep, the Outer God was cradling the now dimmed eldritch egg in his arm and like before was absolutely unconcern with the forces arrayed against him. "We end this now!"

"Wait!" Isha of all people piped up and latched herself onto Celestine's swordarm. The Living Saint was starting to shake her off when the Aeldari goddess pointed at the Outer God. "It's over! The portal is no more! The only tear in reality is the small one he's about to walk through! Look!"

Isha was right. All that remained was the shimmering oval of blacker darkness behind the Outer God. Before any of them can decide on the next course of action Nyarlathotep made a theatrical bow, his elegance easily outdoing the best thespians to ever walk the Earth, and then stepped back into the roiling portal. The moment he faded the oval disintegrated into puff of smoke that got blown away by the ocean wind.

"Wait a minute, hold the fuck up," Damien spoke up, around him the baying of the Lovecraftian horde took on an agonizingly hopeless timbre. "After everything that went down, please tell me that's not how this end."

"This is a pretty standard Lovecraft style ending though," Tangmo lowered his lasgun. "Things usually end abruptly or in a pretty anticlimactic fashion, after about a hundred thousand purple words and paragraphs and sentences."

"Shit, that's fucking lame," Damien scoffed.

"You want this to end with a fucking fight?" Yuki shot him a withering look.

"Now that I think about, you're absolutely correct. Final boss is cool and all, but when it's you facing the damn thing a simple ending is a lot more preferable."

"Brother Captain, do you read me?" Brother Sergeant Gallus cut into the conversation. "The Lovecraftian abominations are in full retreat, they appeared maddened after the atmospheric anomalies ceased and are leaping into the ocean en mass. What are your orders, do we pursue?"

"Negative Gallus, do not pursue," Damien tapped his awesome Astartes helm. "Now that we've destroyed the eldritch power source, the island and pyramid will more than likely collapse back into the ocean. All of you are to return to the Hive, double time, then I want all battlegroup equipment and personnel off the planet, kindly begin the evacuation order please."

"As you command, Brother Captain," Gallus said before terminating transmission.

"Coreth, Marlonah, come pick us up please," Damien waved at the Stormbird, the Astartes carrier detached itself from the Valkyries formation to land smoothly on the pyramid flat top. The ramp swung open and Damien waved them inside. "Let's go ladies and gents."

"Why did he do that?" Like Celestine, Isha was perturbed by how the event concluded. As the Stormbird shut its ramp and took to the sky, the Aeldari goddess and the Living Saint closed in on Tangmo, both needing an answer from the Lovecraftian expert, "after all that effort to open the portal and bring forth their gods into this reality, why did Nyarlathotep abandoned the undertaking so easily?"

"This could be a trap," Celestine offered.

"It is not," Isha shook her head. "Nothing remained of them. Not in the material realm or in the Warp."

"The eldritch gods' machination is an enigma. We'll go mad if we try to figure it out. My best advice is to take this victory and prepare for the next battle," Tangmo said. "Because I doubt this will be last time we see them."