In a way, the Federation bears striking similarity to modern day 21st century Earth, but decked out in futuristic utopia motif common with happy science fiction. This also applies to the rules of engagement. The Federation followed the protocol of the Geneva Convention like caring for civilians and injured combatants, no attacking non-military targets, and the humane treatment of prisoners of war.

Unfortunately for them, the Federation was now facing the most cruel regime imaginable across the known multiverse.

"The music for this occasion is very pleasing, lord commissar," besides the usual compliments of guardsmen accompanying Tangmo, captain general Marwen and her cohort of Guardians had tagged along on this nice little sojourn through the northwestern part of the capital. Judging by the many domes, grand houses of glass and steel surrounded by lawns of emerald green, and wide roadways complimented by swaying trees, this appeared to be an opulent neighborhood. It was also where an underground passageway leading to the dark void under the Aeldari temple was located. "A very rousing piece, yet at the same time sublime in melody."

"Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, more commonly known as the Ode to Joy," thunders rolled from the ruins behind Tangmo, the infantries were hunkered down amongst fallen buildings while Chimeras, Myrmidon Humvees and Falcons formed a long column across the wide streets. The notes blaring from several dozen organ pipes went up an octave as fiery missiles streaked across the sky, soaring upon one of the most recognizable song known to mankind. "The Sororitas really know how to pick them."

"Indeed, I'm actually quite surprise they lend us the Exorcists," Marwen grunted appreciatively when missiles and shells flattened the landscape in clouds of rolling inferno. "The Sisters of Battle usually reserve them for personal use."

"The Exorcists are supporting artilleries, not frontline troops, therefore they were able to spare a few for us," Tangmo responded and whistled sharply when several blocks got consumed by a tidal wave of flame, a few desperate souls tried and failed to flee the blasts.

"I see," Marwen nodded. "Do you not want to sing lord commissar? From the chatter coming from lord general Henry and High Ranger Erik, this particular hymn is very well known."

"Oh yeah, there's totally a lyric for this," Tangmo cleared his throat and listened closely to Beethoven's immortal composition. "Give me a moment."

When the music reached the beginning of a new verse Tangmo sang, tuning his voice so that it resembled a mix between Attila Dorn and Alessandro Conti.

"Freude, schöner Götterfunken tochter aus Elysium. Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! Deine Zauber binden wieder, was die Mode streng geteilt. Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt!"

"…That's it?" Marwen quirked a surprised brow when Tangmo stopped after only the first verse, the Exorcists continued to play the rest of the symphony but the bombardment has ended. "It was good, don't get me wrong, but I thought there would be more."

"Oh there are indeed more verses," Tangmo pulled the canteen from his belt and took a healthy pull. "But I wasn't prepared for an operatic performance, or singing in German. It's really kicking my throat in the ass."

"So what was the song about? It sounded like the language the Death Korps spoke," Marwen asked, the dust was starting to settle now, revealing a vista of rubbles as far as the eyes could see. Pockets of fire burned here and there, and as the Exorcists fell silent forlorn wails drifted hauntingly across the ruination, carried far and wide upon the uncaring wind. "War and death, I presume?"

"Not at all," Tangmo shook his head. "The lyric was originally written by a German poet named Friedrich Schiller, and it's about the beauty of love and unity of mankind, where we all come together in harmony to create a great monument of life."

"How ironic," Marwen tilted her head to the side, a sudden darkness coming over her elven face. "Then again, there is beauty in destruction."

"You ain't wrong about that," Tangmo tapped his earbud. "All units prepare to advance. Be advice, enemy survivors are still active within the area so please kill them with extreme prejudice." Nudging his head, Tangmo and Marwen emerged from cover and walked toward the road. "You're looking pretty bloodthirsty recently Marwen, this got anything to do with the voices you guys are hearing?"

"It is lord commissar," Marwen said easily and raised her hand, finger moving quickly as she relayed a set of command to a nearby company of Biel-Tan Guardians. "When we neared the planet it was only a whisper, but now it had become a constant resonance humming. Words and verses we Aeldari knew by heart, yet unable to understand fully."

"I see what you mean, like languages of your forebear that you recognize but don't really know the meaning to," Tangmo said and Marwen nodded. "So it's listening with your heart kinda thing?"

"You could call it that," Marwen made a quick check of her shuriken catapult as they strode on to the road proper. "And from what our hearts can decipher, we are being beckoned."

"To violence?" Tangmo walked to the back of a rumbling Krieg manned Chimera where the Biel-Tan company from earlier and the 89th and 101st Cadian stood waiting, two pairs of Myrmidons and Vypers brought up the rear in a double files formation. He saluted Krillen and Minka before taking his place beside Leilatha with Marwen. "Y'all look pretty angry."

"I will admit, our emotions are veering toward aggression," Marwen grunted then pointed at the teardrop amulet around her neck. "Prayers to Isha soothed the emotion well enough, but many are allowing themselves to fall to the temptation."

"Is this compulsion Chaos in nature?" Tangmo asked and Marwen narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't give me that look dude I'm just doing my job, and considering we've fought Chaos eldars before we could be walking into some Khornate shit right now."

"I understand your worry lord commissar," Marwen sighed the same moment the Chimera blared its claxon horn, and at Tangmo's command the war machine rolled forward, the infantries following ten paces behind. "In all honesty, none of us know the source of this compulsion. If it is indeed corruption of the empyrean, then I must ask that you take my life before I can do harm to the battlegroup."

"We're not gonna reach that eventuality," Tangmo said grimly. "I'll fucking destroy whatever this thing is before it can hurt you, trust me."

Marwen grinned at that, a warm expression the captain general rarely put on, one that was very beautiful to behold. She then turned to Leilatha, the lady commissar's visage possessing a hint of humor, and said. "You're right Leilatha, he's getting sentimental."

"I told you," Leilatha winked at Tangmo, causing him to chuckle. "You need not worry captain general. I'll execute my commissariat duty without hesitation."

"Thank your kind heart, lady commissar," Marwen exchanged bow with Leilatha. "I know I can count on you."

"God fucking damn, you people are grim as shit," Tangmo snorted good-naturedly then held his lasgun tighter when explosions rumbled from other parts of the city. Drones and Valkyries flew swiftly overhead as Tangmo turned to the Cadians behind him. "Meko, what's going on? That doesn't sound like secondary explosions."

"They're not," captain Meko tapped the data-pad on his armguard, fingers dancing swiftly across the glowing screen, then tsk. "Lord general Henry's armored column has been attack by Federation troops. According to captain Tyra a large number of them are emerging from the ruins."

"Welp, this ain't gonna be a fucking walking in the park then," Tangmo felt the corner of his lips tugging upward, he'd always loved a good challenge, "fix bayonet people, prepare for blood!"

The orders were passed down the column to the other regiments, and within heartbeats the piercing rings of bayonets being fixed to lasguns and shuriken catapults echoed pleasantly across the ranks and files. The hatch of the Chimera in front of them slammed open and a Krieg popped up to man the mounted autocannon, sweeping the heavy barrel across the smoldering landscape with menacing slowness. Skimming his data-pad before flipping it close and stashing it back into his awesome commissar coat, Tangmo estimated that they were about thirty kilometers from their target, a large commune that encompassed a significant portion of the city.

"Henry, can we talk?" Tangmo tapped his earbud, eyes roaming the destroyed urbanity for any sign of hostile movement. None popped up so far.

"Yeah, go ahead dude," Henry responded easily from the other end. "Just flattened a block worth of townhouses, the Federation goons were not prepared for the King Ghidorah. What's up?"

"What kind of resistance are we dealing with right now?" Tangmo asked. "Are we looking at some spunky band of rebels like those idiots from Star Wars, or serious shits like the Taliban and ISIS?"

"The Rebel Alliance," Henry snorted. "Complete with self-righteous speech about freedom and justice, and a lot of laser weapons. Their armaments would've be deadly against anything besides us, the rockets and plasmas they got were not meant to go up against Imperium and Aeldari armors, shit barely left a mark. I was expecting IEDs and shadowy ambushes, instead they bum rush us like a bad Disney Plus show."

"But they did slowed us down," tank commander Ladaee, Henry's girlfriend, added dryly. "Lord commissar, the lord general's testimony might be mostly correct but there is no denying that the Federation are mounting a credible resistance. In the ensuing fight, multiple Myrmidons were disabled and many were injured. I would advise that you do not underestimate them."

"We weren't hit that bad," Henry murmured petulantly but Ladaee must've gave him a pretty mean glare because he immediately became demure and professional in timbre. "Commander Ladaee is correct, you must be vigilant Tangmo, lest the Federation goons pull a fast one over you."

"Copy that," Tangmo tapped off his earbud and made a quick sweep of their surroundings. The bombardment had done its work, the landscape was gentle in elevation and the majority of the buildings were obliterated to such a degree that the immediate vicinity around the attack column was reduced to a rubble filled flatland. Vestiges of where urban life had thrived remained though, large mounds of brick and monolithic beams stood like tombstone amidst the graveyard of life, and it was toward these particular areas that Tangmo fixed his attention on.

"They're here," Leilatha pulled her bolt pistol free from the holster while the armored units swerved their mounted weapons at the desolation. "A large group is approaching us, ten o'clock, I can hear them already."

"Probably a buncha armed civilians, all guts but no skill or brain," Tangmo tilted his head at the direction Leilatha had mentioned, Krillen and Minka and Marwen received the silent instruction by flashing quick hand signals at the guardsmen and Guardians. "Prepare for contact, enemies inbound."

"For Acorium! Drive the invaders from our homes! In the name of freedom and liberty and justice for all, attack!"

Tangmo had to do a double take, because he couldn't quite believe what'd just happened, did the fucking idiot actually announce his attack?! Holy God Emperor of Mankind on the Golden Throne, the moron really did shout his intention for the whole world to hear! So flabbergasted by this atrocious martial display, Tangmo can only watch as a young teenage man clad in a ragged remnant of an army uniform emerged from a ruin, and with a hundred youthful freedom fighters at his back charged the battlegroup, weapons brandished and hearty voices raised high. Seriously, Tangmo can't decide on a reaction to this, but disgust was winning over mockery.

"Show them the strength of Acorium brothers and sisters! They will learn today that they have made a grave mistake siding with the wicked eldars, by our hands we'll teach them a lesson they'll never forget!"

"Oh, shut the fuck up!"

And shut the fuck up he did, permanently, courtesy of a lasbolt to the mouth. The heroic cheers from before shattered into screams of dismay when the spunky leader dropped to the ground, all that remained of his head was a sizzling mandible and flopping charred black tongue, the battle lost before it even begun.

"Now that's just fucking sad," Tangmo glanced behind him and noticed that a similar ruckus was rumbling from the opposite direction. "Leilatha, take half of our forces and deal with the right flank, I'll take care of the left. Marwen, go with her please."

The captain general nodded and went to join the lady commissar, leaving Tangmo with the Cadian main characters, all of whom were trading fire with the unorganized mob.

"How many?" Unlike the guardsmen who were crouching or having gone prone, Tangmo stood tall as bullets, lasers and rocks flew passed him. The fact that the Federation retards were failing to hit such an obvious singular target highlighted their incompetence.

"A couple of hundreds," Krillen was telling him when a brick glanced off his helmet. Blinking, the colonel's startlement swiftly turned to rage. "Bastard just threw a fucking rock at me! A rock!"

"Seems to be the only thing they're remotely accurate with," Tangmo shrugged, slung the lasgun over his shoulder, pulled his bolt pistol free and loaded it with Metal Storm magazine, and then drew his sword. "Form up into a firing line, close ranks!" At Tangmo's command the Cadian swiftly assumed the correct position, a few were hit but none were killed. "Present arms! Take aim! In the name of the God Emperor let none survive!"

Tangmo had always wondered what would happen if ragtag overconfident civilians armed only with weapons they barely knew how to use went up against battle hardened soldiers. See, when extreme forces were used during a riot the objective was to disperse the crowd, but in this moment the battlegroup had only one goal: slaughter. Half the mob must've been cut down in the first volley alone. Smoke rose from unmoving heaps of mutilate corpses, steaming ichor glittered hauntingly across the air, drenching the squealing survivors as they turned tail and ran.

"Another group is running up to join them," Korri pulled the trigger of her sniper rifle, the concentrated lasbolt tore through five people, killing them all. Grinning viciously, the Cadian ace sniper pointed at the heaving, shrieking mass running across the gutted vista. "There are a lot of them this time, could be more than a thousand."

"They're pouring out of there lord commissar," sergeant Prassan of the 101st pointed at a cluster of buildings rising behind the mob. It was their target, which had been purposefully spared of bombardment because they rather not dig through the wreckage to gain access to the underground passage. "Isn't that where we're supposed to go sir?"

"Indeed sergeant," Tangmo tapped Minka's boyfriend friendly on the shoulder then fixed his gaze on the Acorium freedom fighters. Being the stereotypically virtuous heroes and heroines that they were, the mob formed a messy firing line and lay down an inaccurate salvo on the battlegroup as the wounded were carried back to the rear. "We'll have to deal with these Luke Skywalker and Rand al'Thor wannabe first though."

"Can we be of assistant, lord commissar?" Tangmo grinned and held out his hand to colonel Alistair, the Praetorian took the offered greeting and shook heartily as the red clad guardsmen, the Mordian Iron Guards and the Kuronese Dawn Blade joined the Cadians. "That's a lot of buggers barring our way."

"Greatly appreciated colonel," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap at Alistair and waved at the Cadian's Napoleonic fighting formation. "Would you be so kind as to join your comrade in the ranks and files please, we'll be giving them two minutes of uninterrupted fusillade before making our advance."

"Splendid plan sir, I'll get right on it," Alistair saluted sharply and rushed back to the Praetorians. "Form up ladies and gentlemen, quickly now!"

"Let's give them a taste of imperial might! Make ready and present arms!" Tangmo emptied his Metal Storm clip on a wave of daring youths. Seeing their bodies ripped viscerally apart by explosive shrapnel was a very satisfying sight, red and green and purple bloods made a brilliant mosaic of gore across the ground. With power sword in his right hand and bolt pistol in his left, Tangmo was rolling his shoulders when a spot of red slipped in beside him. "Major Emily, always a pleasure to have you with us."

"The pleasure is all mine, lord commissar," Emily nodded primly in greeting, and Tangmo couldn't help but noticed how intimately close the Praetorian major was to the reddening Krillen. "If you would allow me sir, I would like to accompany the Cadian during this offensive."

"If Alistair has no problem with it, then you are more than welcome to join us," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap friendlily at Emily then swept his gaze across the battle line. "Huh, is Ovin dead already?"

"I'm still alive sir!" Major Ovin made his way to the front, not at all surprised to see Emily as he went to stand on Krillen's left. "And I'm very glad to be!"

"The feeling's mutual dude," Tangmo grinned and held his sword high, the officers down the line mirroring him. "Make ready! Take aim! Open fire!"

If Tangmo had to be honest, the thunderous cracks and billowing smokes of 19th century muskets was a lot more epic than the flashes of unleashed lasguns, the cacophony was the reason why Napoleonic warfare was so iconic. Epicness aside, none would deny that the Immortal Spirit battlegroup was a thousand time more devastating than the Old Guards and the Coldstream Guards. By the time the two minutes volley was over, all that remained of the freedom fighters were charcoaled gibs, numerous pitiful forms crawled miserably across the ground, dragging entrails along with them.

"Loose formation! Advance!" Hearty trumpets answered Tangmo's command. The guardsmen lowered their lasguns and marched on to the killing field with tempered steps, bayonets gleaming eagerly. There wasn't that many survivors and those that received the blades barely put up a fight. Tangmo was pulling his sword out of a blue peacock bird dude when the nearby puddle of blood started to vibrate, sending rings of crimson lapping against the bodies around it. Looking up, Tangmo found the reason and tapped his earbud, "armored column approaching. Spread out and prepare the rocket launchers."

The guardsmen moved to obey and Tangmo climbed atop a mound of dead bodies, stabbed his sword into the leaking flesh below, and struck a heroic pose as he took in the APCs and the raised plateau they were emerging from. The place seriously reminded Tangmo of Glasgow University and the surrounding Kelvingrove Park, with aesthetically pleasing buildings dotting the rise at spacious intervals and supplemented by vast open ground of verdant greenery. Now all was dust and grey, a somber shroud placed upon a monument that has yet to realize it had become a mausoleum. At the tallest point of the rise sat a long building of glass fashioned to resemble rows of flowing leaves placed in an overlapping pattern, and topping it off was a circular dome that looked like a gigantic observatory. Personally, Tangmo liked the Glasgow castle better.

"There's barely any order to the advance," Evangeline slipped in beside Tangmo, the Mordian colonel's observation was on point. The APCs appeared to be speeding recklessly to meet the retreating freedom fighters, with many of the war machines congesting around the gate at the bottom of the rise. "It's as if they're completely lost on what to do."

"That might very well be the case," Tangmo took in the battlegroup's latest bloodletting, then at the Acorium fleeing behind the safety of the APCs, the ones that had reached open ground at least. He can already guessed the chain of events now, the young hotheaded rebels refuses to listen to the older experienced soldiers and decided to disobey their command, instead acting on their heroic impulses, with a less than desirable result. Too bad for the dumb fucks this wasn't a Young Adult novel, no, this is the grim darkness of the 42nd millennium. No redemption, no lesson learned, just blood soaked consequences. Glancing at the rise and seeing that the majority of the APCs were having difficulty advancing through the throng of humanity, Tangmo tapped his earbud, "Ae-Shin, see the traffic jam in front of us? Strafe the fuckers please." The howling roar of jet engines was starting to echo across the sky when Tangmo waved at the guardsmen around him. "Don't kill the survivors, take them alive!"

"Really?" Colonel Kenshin's wide eye surprise was very offensive to behold, the Kuronese colonel had a katana raised above his head, poised to strike down a ragtag rebel at his feet. The boy was barely a teenager, whimpering miserably with arms crossed feebly over his face. Not one to disobey a high ranking officer, Kenshin spat disdainfully at the boy, flicked blood off his katana and sheathed it with a samurai flourish. "That's a bit out of character for you."

"Shit man, I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart," Tangmo shrugged the same moment the air force pummeled the APCs and the retreating insurgents, the rattling staccato of missiles and bolts made no distinction between fleshes and metals, the pounding explosion easily ripped everything to pieces. "We need to know where the underground passages are, and they're gonna tell us what we want to know."

"I'll never talk!" The boy unwisely hissed at Tangmo and stood up, blood drenched legs shaking badly, "you monster!"

"Bitch, I'm worse than a motherfucking monster, and you're about to find out why," Tangmo deadpanned darkly and, faster than anyone could react, gave the boy his galaxy famous Muay Thai low kick. He squealed from the whip sharp impact and collapsed to the ground, sobbing as he clutched his thigh, Tangmo let him bawl for a moment before waving over a pair of Kuronese guardsmen. "Drag him to his buddies."

There weren't that many survivors to begin with, the battlegroup was efficient like that, the few dozen insurgents who got caught were herded into a sad little circle beside a gutted, burning APC. The boy was thrown roughly to the ground, his friends dragging him into their protective embrace as a quick sequence of explosions went off loudly on the right.

"Is that you Leila?" Tangmo tapped his earbud.

"Affirmative," Leilatha responded crisply. "According to the drones, multiple buildings in the eastern section of the commune have been transformed into armories and military installations. I'm destroying it."

"Excellent, I'll see you later," Tangmo spared the boy he kicked earlier a bored look, and all he got in return was a petulant scowl. "Things are going downhill real quick for you dumbasses."

"Go to hell!" The boy's vocabulary hasn't matured beyond elementary school it seems, that didn't stop him from spewing more bullshits despite his friends' best attempt to calm him down. He tried to get up, but his legs gave away and he landed on his ass. "You'll never win! You can't stop all of us!"

"Try me bitch."

"What's wrong with his leg?" Evangeline joined Tangmo and made her scrutinizing observation. "You shot him?"

"No, I kicked him," Tangmo raised his right leg and gave it a good smack.

"A Thai kick?" Evangeline smirked, being a recipient of Tangmo's unique form of disciplinary punishment she knew personally how bad the Thai kick was.

"It's just little tap on the leg, I didn't know it was gonna cripple his weak ass," Tangmo wind up his leg again, turning the boy's forthcoming retort into a frightened squawk as he scrambled into the safety of his friends. "That's what I fucking thought. Now," putting away his bolter, Tangmo pointed his sword at the boy. "You can of course make this extremely difficult for yourself and your friends, but I'm on a very tight schedule so I'm giving you a chance to be intelligent about this. Tell me where the fucking underground tunnel is, and I just might…"

"Hey Tangmo, you there?"

"Albert? Hey man, haven't heard from you in a while," Tangmo tapped his earbud with a grin, it was good to hear from the Immortal Spirit AI again. Albert and his female counterpart Mary usually preferred to work in the background, rarely do they involved themselves with the happenings on the frontline. "Damn dude, can't even remember the last time we talked."

"Last night," Albert deadpanned. "You asked me to hack into that depository with the terabyte worth of explicit data."

"This is a public channel dude, so kindly shut the fuck up," Tangmo did his best to ignore the guardsmen's questioning looks, especially from the less than amused women of the Militarum. "And I ask that favor in confidence, so fuck you again."

"Will you two cut it out?! The situation is very serious right now!" Mary interrupted the banter and pressed on before Tangmo and Albert can mutter an apology. "We've managed to infiltrate the Federation's entire internet network. The both of us now see and control everything that goes on across the planet. To that effect, for the last half hour we've been using Blue Screen and DDOS attacks to stop the university officials and professors from trying to wipe their mainframe clean, whatever is in there they do not want the battlegroup to find."

"University? Professors?" Tangmo traded confused looks with the main characters. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh for the love of – you're inside a university!" Mary pressed on exasperatedly. "The commune you're attacking is a university campus, the biggest in the city in fact. How in the hell did you not notice?!"

"…Well holy shit, it is a goddamn university," Tangmo mentally facepalmed himself, because now that Mary had pointed out the obvious he did saw the characteristics of a higher learning establishment. The large comfy open areas, small roads meant for foot commute, the placement of each distinct buildings, hell yeah this was a university. This made his earlier comparison to the University of Glasgow that much more poignant. "Okay, my bad. But in my defense we were getting shot at so I didn't get a good look."

"I suppose," Mary verbalized a shrug. "You need to stop them from destroying the data. I skimmed through the files and all of them are related to the eldars."

"Where do we need to go?" Tangmo swept his gaze across the campus before finding the most likely culprit. "Is it the dome at the top?"

"Bingo," Mary made her confirmation. "Better hurry up too, because the moment they realize we're hacking them, they can just physically destroy the mainframe."

"Roger that," Tangmo turned to Evangeline then waved over Krillen, Kenshin and Alistair, "get me a hundred guardsmen, we're attacking the dome," the four colonels saluted and were going about their task when Tangmo pointed nonchalantly at the prisoners. "Kill them."

"W-What?" The boy stammered, his defiance replaced with blank incomprehension, "but, we're your prisoners, you can't kill us."

"Uh…yes we can. I was gonna ask you about this place but my Machine Spirit buddies figured everything out, ergo we have no need of you anymore," unlike Mary, Tangmo emoted his shrug. "If it makes you feel any better, we weren't gonna spare you to begin with."

The prisoners had no time to scream, the execution took only a heartbeat to accomplish, quick and clean without unneeded suffering.

"All is assembled, lord commissar," Krillen stepped over the dead boy and saluted, behind him were the hundred guardsmen and their officers. "Shall we?"

"Yes we shall," being the awesome Thai commissar that he was Tangmo naturally took his place at the front and waved the guardsmen into a loose attack column, with ample spaces between each men and women. Quick, surgical and deadly was the tactic of the day, so without further ado Tangmo took off at a quick jog, the guardsmen close at his heels. When they were a good fifty yard inside the campus, the place must've looked idyllic in better time, Tangmo tapped his earbud. "All unit, advance into the university campus and neutralize every building and fortification, no quarter." He then switched frequency. "Leila, come in, what's your situation?"

"We're about to push deeper into enemy territory, we're consolidating our forces," Leilatha answered him. "What about you?"

"I'm taking a small contingent to the big dome up on the hill," Tangmo sheathed his sword, holstered his bolt pistol, and unslung the Zetton lasgun from his back. They were entering a boulevard flanked by lampposts and manicured trees, ahead was a large communal area with a fountain in the middle, all was suspiciously quiet. "I would love some company."

"Copy that," Leilatha was nodding on the other end. "I'll see you at the top."

"Stay safe Leila," Tangmo terminated transmission and was bracing the lasgun's stock to his shoulder when he caught a brief flicker of light at the edge of his vision, a nanosecond of near imperceptible flash coming from a row of trimmed hedges on his right. Not one to waste time pondering on things, especially in a warzone, Tangmo swung his lasgun at the foliage and open fired. The consecutive semi-auto shots tore the leafy wall to pieces, the greenery cried sharply in pain and a smoldering body barreled through the neat topiary. Goddamn, he loved it when he made the right decision. "Contact! Enemies in the foliage, let it rip!"

The gunfight was breathtakingly short lived, which goes to show that in combat situation it took just a single miniscule fuck up for everything to go to hell. The Federation soldiers tried their best to attack the Immortal Spirit battlegroup, and although Tangmo begrudgingly accepted that they fought with precision and professionalism, training can never trump experience. Having fought orks, Tau, Chaos heretics, Chaos Sororitas, Chaos eldars, skavens, Godzilla and Cthulhu, the battlegroup were able to neutralize the attempted ambush with ease. The survivors tried to run away but they were summarily cut down, the skirmish lasted less than five minutes.

"Launch smoke, cover the place up," Tangmo ordered and a dozen canisters were toss across the open ground, rolling black cloud spewed forth until the entire area was hidden from view. Bullets shot through the churning veil, fired from the dome up high no doubt, but none were able to find its mark. "Come on, we're taking the freaking dome."

"The hill is pretty steep, even with the stairs built into the sides," Evangeline matched steps with Tangmo as they veered into the smoke. The Federation troops were launching mortar shells and heavy caliber bullets into the clearing now. If they had opened fire five minutes earlier, the battlegroup might've been in a bit of a pickle. "It's narrow and long, but I think if we run fast enough we can reach the dome with minimal casualties, or before they blow it up."

"Oh, we're not taking the stairs," using his memory from when he visited Glasgow with Laura and Yuki, Tangmo led the battlegroup up a gently slopped road. Ahead of them were more faculty buildings and townhouses, judging by the fresh tracks on the tarmac this was where the APCs had been parked earlier. "That's the scenic route used by tourists and visitors, the real entrance is on the other side, and the way up is a hell lot easier to navigate."

"I'll take your word for it," Evangeline said as Tangmo waved the column to the left, the guardsmen pressed themselves flat against a high brick wall as they advanced on a flimsy barricade made from tires, thick canvases and planks of wood. "Are they this incompetent, or is this a trap?"

"We're about to find out," Tangmo held up his fist, calling for silence, then made quick hand signals to the guardsmen. Five joined him at the front, and together they crept toward the amateurish barricades situated at a bend in the road, upon closer look Tangmo found that it resembled those dogshit things protestors like to make when they occupy a street. The rest of the battlegroup were advancing across the campus now, the pounding of high yield munitions muting their approach. Crouching beside a wall of mismatched planks, Tangmo found that Evangeline's assessment was woefully correct, because even in this moment the fuckers were arguing loudly about who were in charge. Head shaking in disgust, Tangmo drew a grenade from his belt and held it ready in his palm, the guardsmen doing the same. They pulled the pins, and as one threw the grenades inside the barricade then crouched low. Gore specked plumes billowed out onto the street. Horrid screams of unbridle agony, made by people who had never been injured in their entire lives, were rising to a fever pitch when Tangmo and the guardsmen leapt over the barrier. Most were already dead, pieces of them splattered everywhere. The unlucky sods who survived were quickly silenced by lasbolts to the heads. By the time Tangmo determined that the place was cleared the rest of the guardsmen had joined him, confusion and surprise warring on their faces at how easy things were progressing.

"These are not soldiers," Krillen scowled at the shredded corpses. "They're sending civilians and children at us. This is a fucking insult."

"Nah dude, these are volunteers fighting to defend their homes from the evil Imperium of Man, how stunningly heroic and brave," Tangmo made sure his voice was high and annoying, hearty laughter answered his mocking eulogy. "Alright my guys and gals, the main entrance should be ahead, make ready."

They were in the process of moving out when the unmistakable explosion of a krak charge erupted from the direction Tangmo had indicated. Trading alarmed looks with the main characters, Tangmo and the guardsmen dashed into the plumes rushing down the street. Unlike the apocalyptic mushroom cloud made by the Sisters of Battle's dynamic entrance, the dusts were already settling when he reached the dome's entrance, or what was left of it. Armed silhouettes were emerging from the row of townhouses opposite the gapping crater that used to be the walls and the gate.

"Friendly on the left, don't shoot," Tangmo tapped his earbud as he approached the gasmask wearing Death Korps troops. Standing with them was Leilatha, the lady commissar was emptying her bolt pistol at the courtyard beyond. "Damn Leila, you beat me to the place! How was the journey up here, not too bad I hope?"

"A few pockets of brave civilians supported by several trucks and an APC," Leilatha smirked as she reloaded the bolt pistol then stabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "Captain general Marwen and the Aeldari dealt with them quickly, and thoroughly."

"The anger I felt is dispersing somewhat," Marwen joined them, and Tangmo took this opportunity to see who Leilatha had brought along. Ulthwe, Biel-Tan, Death Korps, Tallarn and, appropriately enough, the kilt wearing Sleaghadhar Grey Watch. "The ethereal pull remained, but the more we kill the more the compulsion lessened."

"So killing people keeps the bad thoughts away, gotcha," Tangmo was giving Marwen a thumb up when a glass bottle shattered at his feet, causing him to jump because he thought it was a Molotov cocktail. Brow quirked, Tangmo followed the trajectory of the projectile and found a mob of civilians pouring out of the dome building in a great roaring torrent, most were armed with makeshift melee weapons and anything they can throw, while a few carried guns. They were starting to pelt the battlegroup with rubbishes when Tangmo pointed at them. "Damn Marwen, you're about to get a very goodnight sleep."

"We don't have time for this," Tangmo felt Fanduin before seeing him, the Warlock was shimmering with iridescent energy as he strode passed Marwen and went to stand at the edge of the crater where the entrance used to be. In the most Looney Toon shit he had ever seen in his life, the entire mob staggered to a screeching halt, the unlucky fuckers at the front were yelling for the crowd to stop as the momentum carried them closer to the pissed off eldar Warlock, feet scrapping desperately across the ground to get away. Both hands coiled tightly around the handle, Fanduin raised his sword, the burning blue blade pointed to the heaven, holding it high for the mesmerized Acorium men and women to gander. Then with a mighty roar he swung the sword down, sending a powerful crescent sharp tsunami at the mob, the blast of unleashed Aeldari magic almost threw Tangmo off his feet. The glass walls of the dome shattered into a million pieces, glittering shards rocketed into the sky, cast to the wind by Fanduin's magical hurricane. Burning corpses soon joined the airborne scintillating crystals, twisted mangle meats wreathed in blue flame, ashes streaked from charcoaled skins and clothes.

"Holy fucking shit Fanduin, top fucking job my dude! Now follow me, this ain't over yet," Tangmo smacked Fanduin friendly on the shoulder and sprinted on to the courtyard proper, tapping his earbud all the while. "Albert, Mary, you there? Where is the mainframe? Please tell me it's not inside the dome we've just destroy."

"Luckily it isn't," Albert replied promptly. "It's about ten floors beneath the surface. The elevator is inside, and yes, it's still functioning."

"Thank you kindly, we'll be on our way," Tangmo headed straight for the destroyed front door, now nothing but two rectangles dangling from the hinges. He can see clear to the other end of the building and the burning city beyond, along with the many groggily forms rising across the hall, their armors and uniforms and lab coats and clothes drenched in blood. "Now where is the goddam elevator – oh, there it is! Fuck, they are not subtle with the fucking placement are they, I mean, a big fucking square in the middle of a dome, seriously bro?"

"All the better for us," Marwen walked passed Tangmo and rammed her curved serrated Aeldari bayonet into the stomach of a soldier who was trying to rise. Across the awning interior the guardsmen and eldars went about finishing off the survivors, not giving a single fuck to pleas for mercy as triggers were pulled and bayonets were thrust downward. The captain general walked up to the elevator and noticed a little problem with their transportation. "The walls of the elevator are destroyed."

"Yeah, but the frames are still in place," Tangmo stepped inside the formerly glassed elevator, his boots crunching the shards to fine powder. He leaned down at the panel then nodded with a pleased grin. "And the buttons are still working." Tangmo waved at the main characters currently securing the dome. "I need volunteers to go down with me. The rest of you stay here, set up a defensive perimeter and wait for the rest of the battlegroup to arrive."

"I shall naturally be coming along," Marwen joined Tangmo. "Although I must mention that we'll be easy targets as we make our descent."

"Fret not Marwen," Fanduin approached the elevator, the swagger in his steps combined with his slightly hunched shoulders and billowing black cape made him the personification of badassery. Following close behind were the guardsmen and eldars main characters, comprising of the colonels, majors and captains. "I can easily keep us safe as we delve into the earth."

"Alrighty then people, hop on," Tangmo was very pleased when the main characters displayed no hesitation as they stepped onto the open air elevator. The only complaints he heard were about how cramp everything was. Considering that there were no walls, Tangmo understood the misgiving. "Yo, chill out a bit with the shoving and stay still, I'm about to push the down button."

Tangmo pressed the big round circle with an inverted triangle, and holy shit the Federation might be a buncha annoying self-righteous PG anime protagonists but the fuckers really knows their engineering. Despite the damage inflicted, the elevator ran as smooth as the machines on the Immortal Spirit, no shuddering or jittering as the platform descended, not even a screech of damaged gears can be heard. They must've traveled a few meters into the comfortably wide slate grey shaft, the plentifully lights flickering fitfully in and out of existence, when Fanduin snapped his fingers and summoned a transparent shield around the elevator, replacing the glasses from before.

"You can touch it," Fanduin said as the guardsmen started touching and tapping the Aeldari's sorcerous shield, it was as tangible and strong as the hull of the King Russ. Some of the more adventurous like Krix, Kenshin and Adrian were already leaning against the transparent wall. "None of the weapons the Federation possesses will be able to penetrate the shield."

"Damn right it won't," Tangmo said with genuine certainty, earning a nod from Fanduin. When the elevator cleared the shaft the Thai commissar was struck by a sudden bout of vertigo. Steadying his feet, the guardsmen around him suffering from the same elevation induced nausea, Tangmo blinked until the world righted itself and found the elevator floating in empty air. "Okay…there's no way in hell the Federation made this place."

"No, they did not," Marwen growled, canines flashing, fiery hatred coming over hers and the eldars' faces. "This entire structure is of Aeldari making, they built their damnable university over it!"

Tangmo would've tried to step away from the enraged Marwen, but given the elevator's very limited space his only option was to keep his mouth shut and braced against her anger to the best of his ability, which wasn't easy since he can feel a bloodthirsty aura radiating off her. So, to lessen his own apprehension, Tangmo took in the circular chamber they were now descending into, seeing immediately that Marwen's observation was correct. The curved walls and vaulted ceiling, seamless and seemingly carved from a single piece, were wraithbones, the many scaffoldings and ledges clinging to the pristine surface couldn't hide the ivory perfection of Aeldari construction. Even from where he stood murals etched into the surface can be discerned, an endless panorama that swirled and flowed in a breathless mimicry of the wind and the tide, Tangmo can't see the detail but it must be very beautiful. Tangmo then glanced down at the floor rising up to meet them, finding the place decked out in many laboratory instruments large and small, amongst those was the very familiar rows of computer mainframe. People darted about the interior in panic, many were crushed beneath the stampede, crashes and shoves abound. Most were scientists clad in lab coats and silver white uniforms, although there were a lot of military personnel in attendance too, these latter had surrounded the elevator and were raising their guns at the battlegroup.

"Hello, nice to meet all of you! We're coming down to kill you, please be patience!" Tangmo was starting to wave when the Federation troops opened fire, bullets and lasers strobe the air in a great cascade of fire. And as Fanduin had promised none of it got through the shield, hell, most ricocheted back at the shooters, "damn, y'all are very excited to meet us, aren't you? The feeling's mutual."

Pushing down his urge to laugh maniacally, Tangmo instead settled for a wide creepy smile ala Pennywise as the elevator touched down on the ground, the futile fusillade having run out of steam a minute ago. God Emperor's mercy the Federation troops were horrified, if a perfect manifestation of misery and hopelessness can be captured in perpetuity it would be the image before Tangmo, soldiers who had now realized all their struggles were for naught.

"Hey Fanduin," Tangmo made a show of cleaning the bayonet with his thumb as he turned to the Aeldari Warlock. "How about you let us take these assholes out? You already obliterated the dome, now it's our turn to have fun."

"As you wish lord commissar," it bespoke a great deal of the Federation's abysmal morale when they did fuck all after Fanduin dropped the shield, only staring dejectedly as a deathly silence descended, "after you."

"What are you people doing?! Kill them!" A woman's screeching voice shattered the soundless bubble, but it was too late for the Federation soldiers. Tangmo gunned down the three men standing immediately in front of him, their lifelessly bodies had barely touched the floor when messy streaks of blood splattered wetly near his feet.

"Beg your pardon, lord commissar," Kenshin tipped his kabuto at him, the man was drenched in red after making a clean decapitation. The Kuronese colonel was flicking blood off his katana when a revving chainsword drowned out a harrowing pained squeal. "Good thing you weren't standing next to that."

"I completely agree," Tangmo winced a bit when Hildebrandt savagely twisted the spinning chainsword embedded in the torso of a hulking shark man and pulled it out in an explosion of steaming viscera, splitting Gwar Gura's roided out chumbud messily in two, "would've been a pain to get all that fucking mucks off, last time this happen it took me days to get everything spotless again."

"Nobody moves or I swear I'm blowing this place sky high!"

That annoying voice popped up again, the sort that belongs to a headstrong independent heroine who doesn't need help from anybody. Finding the owner of the voice was easy, and Tangmo was not disappointed to find a bespectacled young scientist, a human Caucasian female with a face that would've been pretty if it wasn't scowling, teeth barred and nostril flaring. Huddled fearfully behind her were the other scientists, humans and aliens united in the crushing realization that they were completely and utterly fucked. A green saurian, who bears striking similarity to an Argonian from the Elder Scroll series, tried to reach out to the girl scientist but she swatted his hand away.

"Nina please!" The lizard dude begged, he sounded close to tear.

"Stay back Zelax!" The girl snapped at him. "I need to do this!"

"You sure about that?" Tangmo slung the lasgun over his shoulder and casually stroll up to Nina the scientist. She squawked shrilly, took several involuntary steps back and almost tripped over a pile of debris. When she recovered she held up a palm size rectangular device with a big red button on top. "A detonator, cool, what are you gonna do with that, blow us all to kingdom come?"

"I will!" Nina shouted but her countenance paled visibly when Leilatha, Kenshin and Hildebrandt took their places beside Tangmo, all of them covered in crimson and wielding swords, the poses they struck were super badass. "One step closer and I'm pressing the button!"

"Okay," Tangmo stuffed his hands into the pockets of his awesome commissar coat with a look of pure boredom.

"Don't test me!" Nina raised her voice and placed her thumb on the button, her friends screaming in shock. "I'll do anything to stop you and the Aeldari demons!"

"Press it then," Tangmo nudged his chin at Nina.

"I'm gonna do it!" Nina's hand was trembling.

"Do it, bitch."

Teeth gritted, Nina closed her eyes…and nothing happened. The other scientists held their breath, huddled together in a final embrace before fiery oblivion consumed them. Tangmo on the other hand put on his best deadpan expression and started whistling the opening notes of Singing in the Rain while the battlegroup spread out to secure the subterranean chamber. Nina blinked, totally flummoxed as she looked at the detonator in her hand, thumb still resting on the red button. She inhaled, the muscles in her neck bulging, and once again shit didn't blow up. Face red from frustration, Nina shook the detonator to no avail as she spat a slew of extremely none PG-13 curses.

"Muscle cramp?" Tangmo tilted his head mockingly and the main characters chuckled lowly.

"M-My hand, I can't move my hand," Nina's head snapped around to glare darkly at Tangmo, lips peeled back as if to bite his neck off. "What did you do to me?! What have you done?!"

"I didn't do shit, I'm not a fucking psyker," ominous footsteps sounded behind Tangmo and he cracked a grin when Fanduin made his entrance. The Warlock had his hands clasped behind his back, sharing the same nonchalance as the Thai commissar. "You doing this bro?"

"I am lord commissar," Fanduin did something with his voice to make it echo loudly across the chamber, which was very fucking cool. "I must confess my surprise, I did not believe the girl would do it until the very last second, it was very commendable."

"She's brave, I'll give her that," Tangmo looked Fanduin up and down. "Everything cool? After the elevator I thought you would be pretty gas."

"Thank you for your concern lord commissar, but I am very much hale. I only used a fraction of my power on our journey down here…speaking of which," Fanduin made a barely perceptible nudge of his head and the detonator flew from Nina's hand. The blocky remote came to hover a few inches from the Warlock's face before breaking apart into pre-assembly pieces, the collection of plastics and metals falling to the ground with a twinkling chime. "There we are. The bomb will no longer be of any concern, lord commissar."

"Terrific job Fanduin, thank you. Yo, check where the bombs are and deactivate them, I don't want any accidental explosions," after giving his command to the main characters, Tangmo resumed his approached on the stunned Nina. "Now, where were we?"

Nina stared at Tangmo for a heartbeat before her face morphed into unbridled rage. Screaming shrilly she leapt at Tangmo with both arms outstretched, hands bent into claws, the trajectory very likely his jugular. Tangmo rewarded her effort with a straight Muay Thai kick to the stomach. The scientist flew back four paces, bounced painfully for two more before skidding to a stop, every breath a tortured rasp as she lay fetal on the ground.

"You bastard!" Tangmo was about to launch a roundhouse kick at Zelax the saurian, but aborted the attack when the scaly gentleman went to crouch protectively over Nina. "You hurt her! Monster!"

"Zelax…" Nina coughed pitifully and grabbed hold of his arm. "Run away, go, there's nothing you can do…run, please."

"Damn, this makes those shitty Thai soap operas almost bearable by comparison," Tangmo snorted as he came to loom over the doomed lover. Leilatha meanwhile went to secure the surviving scientists with Kenshin and Hildebrandt's help. After giving the many research tools scattered across the hall a quick sweep, Tangmo put on his super menacing face and fixed it on Nina and Zelax. "Give me a very concise version of what it is you people do down here."

"Don't tell him anything Zelax," Nina hissed through gritted teeth, Tangmo found her unadulterated hatred to be amusing. "People like him can never hope to understand what we're trying to accomplish here. Their kind only knows killing, and my mother taught me to pity people like him."

"This is an Aeldari building crafted entirely from wraithbone, the size and grandeur indicating that this was a place of great importance," Tangmo ignored Nina's childish insult and continued talking before the annoying girl can open her mouth again. "From what we can glean after our initial scan of the planet, this is but a small part of a gigantic complex that stretched a few kilometers underground. There is also a passageway that connects this chamber to the unidentified subterranean landmass below the Aeldari temple, so how about you drop the tough girl act and tell me where it is?"

"The Hall of Conclave had been built over by the Federation, it's sanctum desecrated," Marwen joined Tangmo, roiling anger permeated from the captain general, the way she held the shuriken catapult promised nothing but death and it's dealing. Nina and Zelax cringed away from Marwen, both holding each other tight, both scared out of their mind. "You have destroyed the bastion of my people, built your sterile city over its carcass, burrow into its bones like worm, yet you fear us. Was your crime so grievous that you now quail from judgement?"

"We knew you existed, this entire university was built over the ruin of your civilization to study it," Zelax spoke up after loudly gulping down his fear. "After the founding of the Federation five thousand years ago, we tried to decipher who the Aeldari were. We know you were space faring people like us and had colonized this planet before we did, and after a great war we took it from you." The saurian managed to hold Marwen's gaze for a heartbeat before looking away. "History and anthropology aside we know very little of the Aeldari. To us, you have become like myth, scary stories told to scare children."

"Only a few religious nut jobs believed the Aeldari will return one day and bring about the end of time," Nina chuckled without humor. "Who knew we should've listened to the crazies?"

"And now we are here," Marwen's utterance was cruel. "What did your history say about the war that had destroyed my people and their human allies? Was it brute force or treachery that won the day? Then again, to a pack of jackals there is no difference between the two."

"The war lasted for generations," Zelax cast a wary glance at a huge circular effigy on the right. "From what we can learn, the underground structure was sealed by the last remnant of the Aeldari ruling class. Ever since then we've been trying to figure out how to get inside, to no avail." The lizard fidgeted for a moment before adding in a bashful tone. "A lot of records indicated that the Aeldari…used sorcery to fight us."

"Of course they did, the eldars are the most powerful psyker in the entire galaxy," Tangmo followed the saurian's gaze and grunted. "That door over there is locked by magic, for sure."

"Magic isn't real," a little bit of bite returned to Nina's voice.

"Your hand fucking stopped working, and nothing you did can free it from the phantom grip that froze your limb down to the molecular level," Nina clutched her hand tight as Tangmo searched for the Warlock and found him standing before the closed portal, one hand reaching out to it. "Fanduin did that, with Aeldari Warp sorcery. So yeah, magic is real." The Thai commissar locked eyes with Marwen then, "Bonesingers?"

"En route lord commissar, I summoned them the moment I saw the portal," Marwen told Tangmo then shifted her grip on the shuriken catapult, the barrel pointed at Nina and Zelax. "What do we do with them?"

"Not like we need them alive, Albert and Mary had already secured the mainframe and we can probably figure everything out without their help," Tangmo waved dismissively at the petrified scientists. "You do the honor Marwen, seems only fitting and poetic."

"Why are you doing this to us?" Nina's timbre was one of hopeless plea, a condemned woman last request for clarity before the headsman's axe careened down.

"Bad luck, that all there is to it," Tangmo shrugged. "Call it providence, divine intervention, karma, or what the fuck ever, but all things end. You had the shitty luck of being born just in time to witness it."

Marwen held down the trigger, the shuriken catapult flashed blindingly as Nina and Zelax were cut down in a mist of viscera, by the time the captain general stopped firing the two bodies were reduced to near undistinguishable slabs of gory meat. That was the signal to the other main characters, for the surviving scientists were summarily executed by the battlegroup, the end swift and merciless.

"Feeling better?" Tangmo tapped Marwen on the shoulder as he headed to where Fanduin and the main characters had gathered before the closed portal.

"I do," Marwen shook her head with a grunt. "Even when I know I shouldn't, to indulge in such unrestrained killing can poison the mind."

"It's this fucking place, the sooner we're done here the better," Tangmo slid in between Leilatha and Fanduin. "Any updates?"

"This was no ordinary Aeldari colony," Fanduin said breathlessly, which was very out of character for the stoic Warlock. His visage appeared caught between awe and fear as he pointed at the portal. "The artistry is nothing like I've ever seen, but only heard of from ages long lost to legend."

Tangmo followed Fanduin's finger, narrowed his eyes, stepped back a bit to get a more comprehensive view, and noticed then what the Warlock was referring to. He had personally frequented the Aeldari sectors on the Immortal Spirit ship, the cafés and gardens were sublime, and the most reoccurring motif was one of harmony and balance, the perfect union of all facets of the universe rendered into art that held the distinctive style of flowing curves and silken wisps which coalesced into a grand seamless tapestry. What he saw now carried the same artistic tradition, but no harmony was to be seen. All Tangmo saw were grand panorama of war and death, Aeldari warriors in mighty armors wielding immaculate weapons were immortalized in their moments of triumph and radiant battles, burning armies and cities dominated every inch of the wall.

And presiding over this grandeur of untamed warfare and carnage, the center piece of the portal, was a gigantic figure wreathed in roaring fire, a sword of flame in his right hand, dripping blood soaking his left. Holy crap, when was the last time he'd seen this dude?

"Is that Kaela Mensha Khaine?" Tangmo said and astonished murmurs rippled across the main characters. "That's definitely Khaine."

"It is," Marwen nodded, her wide eyes transfixed on the image of the Aeldari war god. "This could be the reason why many eldars are being infused with unexplainable fury and bloodlust, the planet was founded by a cabal of Farseers and Warlocks who worshiped the Bloody Hand God."

"So what the fuck is this place, a Shrine World?" Tangmo asked.

"I don't know," Fanduin shook his head and ran a hand over the closed portal. "But our answer should be beyond this door."

"I'm betting my ass Yvraine and the Ynnari know about this, a hundred percent why they're here in the first place," Tangmo tapped his earbud. "This is commissar Tangmo, requesting reinforcement on my position immediately. Make sure the fucking Ynnari stay the fuck away, fire warning shots if you have to." Taking off his awesome commissar cap and wiping the sweat gathering on his brow, Tangmo put it back on and quickly changed the frequency. "Laura, come in, shit's about to get real yo."