The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

Holy fuck, this was like one of those bad Call of Duty explosion cutscene, you know the one, the cinematic blurring, ears ringing bullshit that makes you want to throw up. Okay, first order of business, unfuck his memory so that he can get a recap on what in the hell was going on. Let's see, he was in the Warhammer 40k universe, great. Cadia just got fucked, bad. He was leading a regiment with Henry into a city with a Greek name, awesome. And he was betrayed by corrupted guardsmen, assholes.

Yep, that's pretty much the gist of it so far.

Groaning, Tangmo began moving his arms and legs, the limbs responding lethargically but everything seems to be working correctly. Next he wiggled his fingers and rolled his ankles, a little pain here and there but nothing was missing. Blinking, Tangmo gazed up at the smoke filled sky for a few seconds before rising to a sitting position, spitting gravels and dirt as the pounding in his ears subsided, only to be replaced by the unrestrained cacophony of war. Eyes darting left and right, Tangmo found himself in the middle of a bloody melee.

The Chaos cultist were upon them, the shrieking mob of tattooed face motherfuckers fell on the scattered guardsmen in a frenzy of knives, guns, claws and teeth, tearing a bloody path through the disarrayed ranks. Smoldering nearby were flaming carcasses of the once proud Leman Russ and Chimera, now nothing but gutted metal boxes, some were even titled comically upside down like in a cartoon. As he rose slowly to his feet, a high pitched scream pierced through the din of moshing slaughter. Spinning on his heel, Tangmo saw little Korri kicking and screaming in the grip of a leering Chaos cultist, his hands slithering and groping really inappropriate places, while another twisted looking fucker began tearing open her flak jacket and fumbling for her trouser.

Oh no! Nobody's getting rape under his command!

Drawing his laspistol, his lasgun nowhere to found, Tangmo stomped toward the two would be rapists and fired two shots. The cultists collapsed in a mangled heap, charred holes decorating their heads, a screaming Korri sandwiched between them. Tangmo was about to approach the girl when more zealots appeared around them, some rushing him, but most went for Korri with outstretched, hungry hands. Great, he can't take them all out – wait a minute, he had two guns. Chuckling, Tangmo drew the other laspistol and went John Woo on their asses.

Out of the five that rushed him, four careened to the ground with lasbolts to the face while the last one, a skinny geriatric geezer with a cleaver, took a Muay Thai roundhouse kick to the head. His bony neck gave satisfying snap as he bounced across the ruined street. Completing a full spin, Tangmo trained his dual laspistols on the crowd converging on Korri when a rapid barrage of laser fire tore into them, the aim wild but the damage absolute. Soon, twitching corpses ringed the sobbing Korri as Krillen barreled into view, tossed away his lasgun and wrapped her up in a powerful embrace.

"Oh big brother! They tried to…they tried…" hold on a second, did she just said brother?!

"It's okay Korri, I'm here, I'll protect you," Krillen crooned soothingly into her ear, drawing the shaking girl tighter into his arms.

"Wait a minute," Tangmo came to stand above them, "you two are related?"

"Of course we are!" Krillen barked at him, and it was now, upon closer scrutiny, that Tangmo saw the familial traits between the two. "What the hell did you think we were?!"

"Well, I thought you were a pedophile coercing the girl into a sexual relationship," hey, he might as well be honest, "sorry about that."

"You…" Krillen seethed, canines flashing, "sick…twisted…piece of…!"

"Oh save it for those assholes, pretty boy!" Tangmo fired his dual laspistols over the sibling's heads, taking out another group of Chaos cultist in a pretty salvo of flashing red light. "Get the fuck up! We're still neck deep in shit here!"

Tearing his eyes away from the commissar, Krillen quickly hefted Korri off the ground and half dragged, half carried her toward where he dropped his lasgun as Tangmo took in the situation around them. The fight was simmering down, and despite all the bullshit the fanbase gave them for being cannon fodders armed with flashlight and t-shirt, the Imperial Guards were handling themselves commendably, pushing back the overwhelming tide of Chaos zealot with determination and fury that rivaled the Space Marines. Tangmo was looking for Henry when he spotted the American cleaving a bloody swathe into a mob of heretic, covering a group of retreating guardsmen. The revving chainsword sang a demented melody as Henry weaved a crimson path into the mosh, swinging the hulking weapon with unnatural grace, spinning, pivoting and pirouetting.

When the glistering chainsword finally powered down, nothing remained but dismembered limbs, disemboweled viscera and enough blood to drown Quentin Tarantino. Those that fled the slaughter were gunned down by Tangmo as he approached Henry.

"Geralt would be proud dude," Tangmo grinned and held up a heavy metal corna, "too sweet me broski."

"Right on broski," Henry chuckled and too sweet him.

"Lord commissar! Lord general! Over here!" Tangmo saw Meko waving at them from across the shell pocked square, the radioman and Orhul the grenadier were standing in front of a wide domed building that had miraculously survived the bombardment. Without another word, Tangmo and Henry bolted across no man's land, body hunched low, half expecting a stray bullet or an artillery shell to kill them. Fortunately, nothing happened.

"Good to see you both alive sir," Orhul nodded as they reached the tall, church like doors.

"Really?" Tangmo flashed him a grin.

"I'm just being polite sir," Orhul shrugged.

"Good enough for me!" Tangmo gave the man a friendly tap on the shoulder. "Welp, let's not stick around then gentlemen, in we go."

Nodding, Orhul dashed inside with Meko, Tangmo and Henry quick on his heel. Turned out the place was indeed a church, the huge vaulted interior retaining some of its angelic splendor despite being strewed with rubbish and other discarded clergy amenity. Scattered amongst the rubble were surviving Cadian, Whiteshields and Kolasian. Some were standing guard or sitting wearily on splintered furniture, but most were lying on the floor, being tended by under staffed medics from both regiment. Oh, and there appears to be a fight going on.

Are you fucking serious?! They just got bombed to shit and the guardsmen have to pick this moment to start a fisticuff? And why wasn't he surprised that Krillen was involved? The Cadian colonel was trading punches with Xiphos; the Kolasian colonel had lost his helm in the scuffle, revealing close cropped black hair and a faint stubble on his bloody chin.

"You Cadian fuck!" Xiphos bulled Krillen into a broken marble column, "those were your artilleries! You traitorous bastards! You've been in league with Chaos all along!"

Roaring, Krillen threw his head back and slammed it down on Xiphos's face, the Kolasian was staggering back when the Cadian lands a solid punch on his jaw, sending him to the ground with a straggle grunt.

"It's this planet," Krillen seethed as Xiphos scrambled back to his feet, "the ground beneath us, the very air we breathe, it's tainted with the Ruinous power. Your kind is a disease, and you have spread that sickness to us. My brethren fought the Archenemy and died with our planet, while you invited them into your beds and let them fuck you."

Xiphos was frothing as he tackled Krillen, wrapped his arms around the Cadian's waist and, in a fine showmanship of Greco-Roman amateur wrestling, hurled him to the ground before going all UFC on his ass, the crowd cheered and booed as the local pummeled the outworlder. Then, bursting through the ring of people, Korri of all people charged straight for the two fighting men, shrieking as she leapt on to Xiphos's shoulders and began hammering his head with her fists. And holy shit, the girl was like a crazed chimpanzee, tearing and punching Xiphos face until it was covered in blood.

Trading an annoyed look with Henry, the commissar and the general nodded and shouldered their way through the crowd, hushing everyone in their path. This stupid shit went on long enough.

"Hey, cut that out!" Henry announced sternly, pointing a reprimanding finger at the brawling trio. None took heed as they continue to pound each other senseless.

"They ain't listening," Henry turned to Tangmo.

"Damn right they're not," Tangmo concurred.

"Guess there's only one thing left to do then."

"I absolutely agree."

The enraptured crowd went morbidly silent when the commissar and the general threw back their awesome coats in a dramatic, synchronized, flourish, all eyes trained on the holstered laspistols. But neither went for the sidearm, instead they crouched down into a crab like stance as Xiphos successfully caught Korri's plummeting fists and tossed her off his back, the girl bounced across the marble floor like a ragdoll, and was about to grapple with Krillen again when Tangmo shouted: "Hey!"

Krillen and Xiphos spun to face them and received a resounding super kick to the chin. The stereo Sweet Chin Music, thigh smacked to maximize the sound effect, send the two guardsmen flat on their backs, both trying and failing to get up.

"Are you fucking entertain?!" Henry roared, blazing eyes swept over the now docile crowd, many looking away like scolded children. "Are you fucking entertain?!"

"You are Imperial Guardsmen!" Tangmo added his baritone to the mix. "Not children on a fucking playground! I should have all of you shot for this stupidity alone but I'm not gonna make it easy for those heretics." He swept his arms wide across the gather crowd. "But please, continue to act like complete retards and draw every fanatic within a hundred miles radius to this location."

The Cadian and Kolasian grumbled but did little else.

"Get back to your post, now!" Henry sends the guardsmen scattering then rounded on the rising Krillen and Xiphos, murder in his eyes. "We are deep behind enemy's line, the entire armored column is gone, our numbers is decimated and the two of you deemed it wise to behave like this?"

Xiphos cast his head down in shame, at least having the decency to admit that he did something wrong. Krillen on the other hand just glared at Henry, uncaring of his misconduct, daring the general to do something about it.

"I swear upon my life that I will never behave so dishonorably again," Xiphos bowed his head low.

"Lucky for you, the general and myself are in something of a forgiving mood," Tangmo spoke up, "dismissed and go make yourself useful."

Xiphos saluted hurriedly and sprinted for the rows of blood stained cot, leaving behind a fuming Krillen who didn't budged an inch.

"Unfortunately, the same sentiment extends to you, colonel," Henry said lowly, turning to face Krillen, "get your ass moving."

But Krillen remained rooted where he was, like a stubborn brat refusing to obey his parent.

"What the fuck is your major malfunction colonel?!" Henry was quickly losing his temper.

"I don't take order from a bloody outworlder, especially not some pompous, glory seeking pieces of shit like the two of you." Krillen spat thick, red tinged phlegm at Henry's boot. "I won't let the legacy of Cadia be tarnished and used by the likes of you."

Now, this was usually the part where Henry, being the calm and cool dude that he is, will try to explain to Krillen that he had it all wrong, that both him and Tangmo were not some gold digging highborn jackasses looking to use Cadian guardsmen as some stepping stone up the social ladder.

"Commissar Tangmo," Henry spun sharply on him, his face a mask of cold fury, "deal with this insubordination."

Tangmo just stared flatly at Henry, unbelieving that the usually nice and understanding American was suddenly breaking character and ordering him to waste Krillen over a simple misdemeanor. After a second of flabbergasted silence, Tangmo smoothly raised his laspistol and pressed the barrel to Krillen forehead, "it would be my pleasure, general Henry."

"No!" Korri dashed off the ground and came to stand in front of Krillen, arms spread wide in a heroic pose of protecting her big brother, despite her head barely reaching his chest.

"Please!" She begged the unmoving Tangmo and Henry, tears streaming down her grimy cheek. "Please don't kill my brother! Please!"

"Move away Korri," Krillen hard voice softened at the display.

"No!" Korri stood adamant, stalwart like a guardian angel, no trace of the jittery frightened girl remained.

"It would be a lot more preferable if you die by the hands of the enemy as opposed to mine, colonel Krillen," Tangmo began, his finger coiling easily around the trigger, "continues on this path and I will execute my duty. But I urged you to think of the men and women under your command and especially your little sister there. Is your petty defiance worth it? Are you that selfish to abandon those who look to you for guidance and leadership? Make your choice colonel, or I will make one for you."

Wait a goddamn minute, why was he being the reasonable one? That was Henry's job! He should be putting a lasbolt through Krillen's head right this very second but Korri and her freaking adorable kitten eyes shimmering with tears, heart poured out in desperate plea…he can't, he just fucking can't, not with that bulging gaze honed on him. Fuck, he was weak. Looking down at his sobbing sister, the rebellious blaze in Krillen's eyes dulled to a weak ember and, with great reluctance, eased himself off the gun.

"A wise choice," Tangmo twirled his laspistol with a flourish, holstered it and turned to Henry, "I believe a reprimand is no longer necessary general."

"For now," Henry said ominously and walked away, "come commissar, we need to assess the damage."

Sparing one last glance at the two siblings, Korri throwing her arms around Krillen, crying into his chest as he patted her head, Tangmo and Henry made their exit. Conversations, muffled in timbre, were returning now that the drama has been peacefully defused.

"Well that almost went to hell," Henry said lowly when they distant themselves enough from Krillen and Korri, his face one of gushing relief.

"Yeah man, what the fuck were you thinking?" Tangmo asked.

"I've seen that look before dude, the worst kind of insubordination that comes with ranks and territory, Krillen will always be a thorn in our side," Henry shook his head agitatedly, "but fucking Korri man, goddamn, seeing her crying like that…argh!"

"I know dude, that puppy look was fucking lethal."

"And did she just say Krillen was her brother?"

"Oh yeah, they're related, dude told me a while ago."

"And here I thought he was banging her, oops. Guess I don't need to call Chris Hansen anymore."

"Thank God for that, Krillen might be a dick, but he's a competent one," Tangmo cast his gaze around the cathedral then, "how long was I out? I mean, I remember the bombs coming down, but between that and waking up I got nothing."

"The barrage lasted for about five minutes," Henry said, "Ruven's tank got tossed all over the place, the old girl saved us from the worst of the blast but the damage she took was irreparable. By the time we managed to crawl out of the wreckage, you were already up and about."

"Cool, that means I didn't miss anything much," Tangmo spotted Meko, Orhul and Krix nearby and turned toward them, "I'll check up with the men, later dude."

"Yeah, later man," Henry went the other way as Tangmo approached the guardsmen.

"Sir!" Meko stood at attention, Orhul and Krix mirroring him.

"No need for that Meko," Tangmo waved him off, "good to see the three of you alive."

"Got lucky, we did," Orhul shook his head, looking somewhat crestfallen, "fuck it all, was it really our guns that did this? Like what the local said?"

"It was," Tangmo nodded firmly, no point in beating around the bushes, "me and Meko heard it."

"That we did," Meko sighed lowly. "By the Throne, I can't believe Sorian was a traitor, and to think we have no idea how many more of their kind remained within the regiment."

"Hopefully they're all dead," Krix scratched her red bandaged arm, "the traitors that survived the bombing all gang up on us. I gutted one myself, right after he scratched me up good and wrecked my flamer that is."

"So it's safe to assume that everybody here are all loyal citizen of the Imperium?" Tangmo asked.

"I hope so."

Tangmo chuckled dryly and looked at Meko, "where's your vox-caster thingy?"

"Lost it in the explosion, sorry sir."

"Damn, I need to contact headquarter and find out what the fuck is going on."

"What's the point?" Krix gave Tangmo a rather unreceptive look.

"They stopped shelling us," Tangmo pointed out, "that can only mean two things. First, we're surrounded and most likely fucked. Or second, the loyalists managed to beat back the heretics and will still be able to give us fire support."

"We can only hope for the best then," Meko said, "the problem now is that I don't see anybody with a working vox-caster."

"We'll figure something out," Tangmo started off toward the field hospital, "come on, I need help tallying the dead."

Tangmo was honestly surprised when the trio actually followed him, taking the honor guard role as he waved over a Cadian medic who had just clamped shut a pierced femoral artery, the man looked more like a butcher than a surgeon, slick dripping blood drenched his uniform.

"At ease doctor," Tangmo saluted as the medic came to stand before him. "What's your name dude?"

"Ryvin sir," the man gave a distracted salute, his gaze drifting back to the injured soldiery weeping and wailing behind him, "is there anything you need sir? I'm a little busy."

"Casualties numbers," Tangmo cut straight to the point.

Nodding slowly, Ryvin withdrew a bloodstained data-slate from his belt, red wet finger tapping the cracked, stuttering screen.

"Not good news I'm afraid," Ryvin began. "We've lost the entire armor column, along with nearly three thousands of our original number, this already adding the Kolasian. We have around seven hundred men in fighting capacity and about four hundred incapacitated."

"Damn, that does sound bad," Tangmo concurred before giving Ryvin a salute, "thank you doctor, carry on as you were."

"Will do," Ryvin gave a sharp nod before hurrying off to help a sobbing Kolasi guardswoman. Tangmo was about to carry on down another row of patients when he found Meko, Orhul and Krix giving him an expectant, if somewhat pressuring, look.

"What?" Tangmo asked.

"Nothing sir," Orhul said noncommittally, but the intensity in his eyes tells another story, "we're just wondering what you're going to do with the wounded."

"Nobody's getting left behind, that's for damn sure," Tangmo smirked as the guardsmen visibly relaxed. "What? Did you think I would leave them here?"

"A more pragmatic commissar would," Meko added.

"Well I'm a fucking idiot, so you don't need to worry about me being pragmatic."

"A fine gesture sir," Krix glanced around the field hospital, "but how are we getting them out?"

"Maybe we can ask her," Meko waved at a group of guardsmen that had just entered the cathedral, "hey Luva! Over here!"

The lead guardswoman broke away from the group and approached them, she took off her dark green barrette, revealing short black hair that framed her narrow face, and wiped sheen of sweat from her brow.

"Meko," she flashed the radioman a handsome grin and was about to embrace him when she noticed Tangmo, causing her to stiffen in an abrupt display of propriety as Krix snickered evilly in the background, "sergeant Luva, reporting for duty sir."

"At ease," Tangmo nodded, "so, where have you been sergeant? Out for a little run?"

"Scouting sir," Luva went on.

"Any sign of the enemies?"

"None sir, but I can hear fighting off in the distant, too far away to be of any concern for the moment."

"That's good to hear. Also, did you happen to find communication relays or vox-caster by any chance?"

"Well…no, but we did found a few abandoned grain trucks a few clicks down the road. One of them might have a short range radio inside."

"Grain trucks?" Tangmo irked a brow. "How big are these trucks?"

"They're like the one back home sir, wide and large, designed to haul a couple of dozen tons of harvest. Wide flatbed with tank tracks instead of regular wheels."

"Are they in working condition?"

"They looked unscathed sir."

"Holy fucking shit, can you actually believe this!" Tangmo turned to the other guardsmen with a bright smile. "You three ready for a little stroll?"

"Always," Meko grinned, lasgun held firmly in his hand, Krix and Orhul nodding their assent.

"Sergeant Luva, pick five of your best men and wait for us at the exit," Tangmo told the guardswoman, "we'll join you shortly."

Luva saluted and hurried off to her squad as Tangmo and his three sidekicks rushed down the aisle of bloody cots, apologizing to the wounded they accidentally kicked or bumped in their haste, until at last they found Henry talking with a Kolasi medic, standing around him was Ruven and his tank crew, looking not too shabby all things considered.

"Yo!" Tangmo walked up to Henry. "You are not going to believe what the scouts just found."

"More heretics?" Henry thanked the medic and turned to regard Tangmo.

"Nope," Tangmo shook his head, "trucks."

"Trucks?" Henry's incomprehension quickly morphed into wide eyed glee. "Holy shit, for real?"

"Oh yeah, we can get everybody out and carry on with the mission."

"Let's just hope those things still work," Henry turned to Ruven, "I know it's a downgrade from a Leman Russ, but can you drive a truck?"

"Used to help my father drive those things around before joining the Guards," Ruven said, "shouldn't be too difficult, but it's been a while."

"Good enough my dude," Henry gave the tank commander a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Bring along your tank crew, let's see if y'all can get those trucks fired up again."

"Right away sir," Ruven gave his shoulder a few wincing rolls before waving over his crew, the Glasgow Smile dude, a grim looking dude with a goatee, a broad shouldered dude with a strong Nordic face, a lanky rookie dude and finally a lean, fit Indian woman.

"This is Konas," Ruven introduced the Glasgow man, "he's the driver. Next is Bektra, the gunner," he gestured to the goatee dude, "this is Volsom, the loader," the Nordic dude flexed his arms playfully, "the little guy here is Cil, just joined us a few months ago," the rookie gave a shy wave, "lastly, we have Ladaee, our chief engineer," the woman gave a curt nod.

"Namaste!" Tangmo gave Ladaee an enthusiastic Thai wai, the clasped hand greeting you see on tourism poster.

"I'm sorry lord commissar?" Ladaee face scrunched up in confusion.

"I mean…good to have you with us mam," Tangmo gave a nervous laugh, "anyway, arm yourselves and follow me, we still have a few more people to pick up."

Spinning on his heel, Tangmo strode toward colonel Xiphos who was getting his face patched up by Ryvin near one of the towering pillar.

"Real smooth with Ladaee there dude," Henry came up to his side with a sly grin.

"Oh, ha, ha," Tangmo rolled his eyes.

"She's quite a looker, ain't she?"

"Oh yeah, no argument there," Tangmo grinned wickedly, "so, you like a little spice with your chocolate?"

"The best kind of chocolate, baby," Henry chuckled and fist bumped Tangmo, once again drawing quizzical look from the guardsmen in their charge. Ryvin was bowing his goodbye to Xiphos when Tangmo and Henry came upon him, the Kolasian gave a snap salute before going rigid like a statue, the bruise from the super kick still glaringly visible on his chin.

"Sir!" Xiphos stood at attention.

"Chill out Xiphos, I'm not here to kick you again," Henry had to suppress a laugh as the man eased his stance, "I need you and some of your men to join our little group over here. Also, it would be nice if you can find us a Kidemonas local."

Xiphos nodded thoughtfully before bellowing at a Fire Guard squad making their round, "Pollius! Hera! Over here!"

A guardsman and guardswoman broke rank and jogged up to them, interestingly these two weren't wearing a Corinthian helmet like the other Fire Guard, but a Roman Galea legionary helmet.

"These two were born here," Xiphos continued, "they know the city."

"Fall in with the rest," Tangmo nudge his head and the three Kolasian went to stand behind the three Cadian, both side eyeing each other warily.

"And last, but not least," Henry walked up to Krillen and Korri, the two siblings were seated next to a broken stained glass window, the sister dapping ointment on her brother battered face and lips. Krillen made no move to rise when he saw Tangmo and Henry approached, Korri however sprang up and gave a flimsy, but goddamn cute, salute.

"Get your ass up colonel," Tangmo said, "we need you and your sister for a little excursion."

Expecting pretty boy to be difficult, Tangmo and Henry was admittedly surprised when Krillen actually got up, picked up his lasgun and stood at attention, Korri demurely mirroring him.

"What do you want?" A far cry from anything resembling respect or obedience, but for now, it will have to suffice.

"I'm not leaving you here to stir shit up," Tangmo stated bluntly.

"Resorting to slander now?" Krillen sneered.

"It's not slander if it's true," Tangmo shrugged.

"You already got that Kolasi dog with you," Krillen spared an agitated Xiphos a dirty glance, "why do you need me?"

"Because I'm holding the both of you hostage so that your regiments won't try anything stupid while we're gone," Tangmo continued nonchalantly, "so you best behave or something very, very bad is gonna happen."

"Krillen, please…" Korri began tugging on Krillen sleeve, her face scrunched up in a begging pout so powerful that it made Tangmo and Henry baulk from the diabetic grade sweetness. Like before, Krillen stoic visage crumble before his sister merciless onslaught, giving the now smiling girl a playful tap on the head before turning back to Tangmo, a look of resignation plastered upon his hard face.

"Fine."

"Glad that we have an understanding colonel," Tangmo smiled obnoxiously as Krillen and Korri fall in with the other Cadian, "best not keep Luva waiting."

Slamming new magazines into his two laspistols, Tangmo and Henry approached a normal size door at the far end of the building, where Luva and her five men fireteam stood waiting.

"Commissar," Luva shouldered her lasgun and opened the door, the dusty alley beyond, lit brilliant gold by the sun unchallenged radiance, was littered with debris and a few sundried corpses. But besides a few refuse it was reassuringly quiet. Luva was about to dash outside when Henry stopped her with a gentle, but firm hand on the shoulder.

"We lead from the front mam," Luva gave Henry an annoyed look, but simply shrugged and stepped aside for the two upstarts CO wanting to play soldier.

"A three way junction," Henry braced his lasgun, "you take the right, I take the left. Watch the roofs and windows."

"Got it," Tangmo tightened his grip on his two laspistols, "okay, on three. One, two, three."

Their movement a blur, Tangmo and Henry sprinted onto the uneven cobbled ground, hunching low, weapons sweeping across the flanking building, eyes trained on every dark cracks and crevices, finding nothing but empty shadow as they reached the alley mouth a few seconds later. Training their guns down the eerily empty road, the wind howling like a freaking banshee wailing for their souls, Tangmo waved the men over, all of whom, even Krillen, quickly lined up behind him and Henry, lasguns brandished on the buildings around them. Luva and her scouts however, were less than enthusiastic as they sauntered up behind the commissar and the general, guns relaxed in their grip.

"I've already swept the area, sir," Luva strode on to the adjacent street, "there's nothing here."

"Just wanted to be sure," Tangmo glided after Luva, his awesome commissar coat sweeping dramatically as he fell into step behind her, "no offense intended sergeant, I'm sure you did a fine job."

"I did," Luva gave him a sideway glance that conveyed, politely, her growing displeasure.

"Oh, calm down Luva," Krix piped up with a toothy grin, "the commissar knows what he's talking about, why don't you let him teach you a thing or two?"

"You'd know all about allowing men to do things to you," Luva shot back, the word void of humor and acidic in its implication, wiping the mirth clean off Krix's face and replacing it with a lupine snarl, lips peeling back to reveal gritted teeth, brown eyes blazing like the liquid fire of her flamer.

"Go fuck yourself," Krix growled, both hands suddenly gripping the barrel of her lasgun, wielding it like a cudgel.

"Unlike you, I don't relish the thought of having things thrust up between my legs," Luva spat back, and it was in this moment that Tangmo realized that things were escalating quickly and really getting out of hand fast.

"Another word and you're going get very intimate with the stock of my gun."

"Don't make me laugh; you'll end up kissing my boots like the last time."

"Wanna try your luck then you highborn whore?"

"That's rich coming from you of all people."

"How about the two of you maybe chill out a bit?" Tangmo trained his laspistols on both Krix and Luva, "so I don't have to do something that I would definitely regret."

The two guardswomen ignored him completely and continued to glower at each other, uncaring of the guns aimed squarely at their heads, a jousting of will to see who relented first. After a few more seconds of heated silence, the entire troupe having stop to gander at the confrontation, Luva disengaged the deadlock, playing the mature one to piss Krix off.

"Alright, alright, alright," doing his best Matthew McConaughey drawl, Tangmo slowly lowered his gun, "now that the two of you are done, can we please get a move on?"

"Yes sir," Luva nodded sharply and led them down the road, the column trudging along after her.

"How long until we reach the trucks, sergeant?" Tangmo asked, veering everybody attention back to the task at hand.

"Ten minutes sir," Luva answered.

"Very good," Tangmo then turned to Krix, "I think you'll do a better job covering our backs if you weren't holding your gun like a club, sergeant."

"I understood sir," Krix expertly shifted the lasgun so that it was held correctly, "don't worry sir, I'll keep everybody safe."

Luva snorted, "better to try our luck with the enemy's guns than to depend on her aims."

"I can give you a demonstration right now," Krix pointed the barrel at Luva's back, the other woman scoffing at the gesture.

"Okay, that's it!" Tangmo stepped in between the two guardswomen and raised his laspistols again. "We're in the middle of a fucking warzone, so I suggest you check your estrogen level or I'm gonna Thai kick the both of you so fucking hard, it's gonna make Gaki no Tsukai look like Sesame Street!"

"Whoa, dude, aren't you getting a little drastic here man?" Henry strode up to Tangmo, palms held out in fearful supplication. "There's no need for that."

"Shut up dude! I have it up to here with these two," Tangmo bellowed, crazy eyes darting between the stunned Krix and Luva. "Now I'm sure there's a right time and place for the two of you to duke it out, hell, I think we all want to see that, but this is hardly the spot for a main event like that. So, ladies, I must ask you nicely, one last fucking time, to start acting like goddamn guardswomen or face the wrath of my full authority. And believe me when I say you'll both wish for death if that comes to pass."

"For the love of the God Emperor, do what he said," Henry urged the two women, "I've seen what a Thai kick can do to a person, you don't want none of that dude!"

Huffing sharply, Krix and Luva gave each other one last scathing look before breaking eye contact.

"Now," Tangmo let his arms fall to the side, "no more fighting for the time being, is that clear?"

When the two only gave low mumble in reply, Tangmo raised his voice,

"I said…ARE WE CLEAR!?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, now carry on, we've wasted enough time as it is."

Thankfully, the rest of the journey was rather uneventful; the narrow streets of Kidemonas were coated in unwashed scums and days old rubbishes, the looming building looking woefully unrepaired and dilapidated, neglected and rotting just like the soi of Bangkok but with a sprinkle of ancient Rome aesthetic thrown on top.

"Well, this place have quite a rough charm to it," Tangmo breathe a sigh of relief when it was Orhul who spoken up.

"Can't argue with that," the Kolasian guardswoman, Hera, said, "me and Pollius were in rival gangs before joining the guards, we know firsthand how bad the southern and western end of the city was. If you weren't born near the skyscrapers, every day was a war, men and women dying for moldy crust of bread or rotted ration carton only to go hungry an hour later."

"I see," Orhul gave a knowing nod, "guess the riches up there never reached you guys, heh?"

"Never," Hera chuckled sardonically.

"That might explain how the Ruinous power managed to get a foothold here," Meko held up a halting hand toward the Kolasian, "no offense to you lots, but desperation and despair is an ever fertile soil for Chaos to sow its seed."

"I understand what you mean," it was Pollius who spoke up, "all the blood, all the death, I guess it was only a matter of time. I just don't understand how it got this bad though, I mean, I had assumed that everybody would be too busy trying to stay alive than to give anything else a thought."

"You people are weak, that's all there is to it," and Krillen had to be the prick that brought the pleasantry to a crashing end.

"Aww, don't be like that Krillen," Tangmo cut in brightly before Xiphos can respond, "Chaos is seductive, and if the mighty Adeptus Astrates themselves can succumbed to sure a lure, then can you really blame those poor souls? Not that I'm saying you should show them any mercy or compassion of course, that's just fucking stupid, but I just want you to know that even the most pious can be lead astray if they're not careful, so how about a little understanding and empathy for your fellow man, hmm?"

Krillen just grumbled under his breath, earning a sharp elbow in the rib from Korri.

"Besides," Tangmo continued, "I know perfectly why the good people of Kolasi turned to Chaos."

All eyes came to rest on the Thai as he cleared his throat.

"It simple really," Tangmo began with a hint of a musical note, "they wanted power and they begged for fame."

Henry burst out laughing then, causing the guardsmen to flinch, their astonishment only increased when the general picked up where the commissar left off:

"They wanted everything the easy way."

"They want to gain, without pain."

"Now their bill is in the mail."

The Imperial Guardsmen of Cadia and Kolasi care only stare, mouth agape, as the commissar and the general continued to sing, the rhythm and tempo unlike any marching song or solemn hymn they have ever heard.

"They got stronger but their mind got weak," Tangmo sang the next verse.

"They made a promise that they couldn't keep," Henry gleefully recited the next line.

"They had it all. They lost more."

"It's all there in the fee."

"Via hell incorporated (Regeneration)."

"First they love it then they hate it (You're such a saint)."

"And now they're never gonna make it (Bad situation)."

"Get on, get on, Ow! There's hell to pay!"

The road was opening up on to a big square when Tangmo and Henry joined for the monstrous chorus:

"Cause the Devil is loser and he's our bitch! For better or for worst and we don't care which. Cause the Devil is loser and he's our bitch! Running into trouble you skitch! He's our bitch! Hahahaha!"

Tangmo and Henry high fived each other as the stunned guardsmen waltz into what appeared to be a large parking space like those in front of Walmart and Big C. And occupying almost the entirety of the area was six, hulking grain trucks, as long as two train cars and as wide as six lorries lined up side by side.

"Nice find sergeant!" Henry gave Luva a friendly smack on the back.

"Thank you sir," when she was smiling, Luva was actually really pretty, in a dainty Elizabeth Bennet kinda way.

"Okay, now let's hope the damn thing still works," Henry waved over Ruven and his crew, "do your thing dude."

"Yes sir!" Ruven saluted and rushed off to nearest grain truck, climbing up the wide rectangular cockpit situated six meters above ground with Konas and Ladaee in tow, while Bektra, Volsom and Cil went to inspect the hull and tank tread.

"Give us some good news dude," Tangmo said as the rest of the troupe formed a rough circle around the grain truck.

"The navigation system and hydraulic gears appears to be in good orders sir," Konas stuck his head out of the side window, "everything seems to be functioning as it should."

"The truck's intact, as far as I can tell," Bektra ran up to them, "my only concern is that the car doesn't have any roof."

"We'll have to make due," Henry said, "let's turn this baby on then."

"There's no fuel sir," Ladaee popped up above Konas shoulder like a second head, "the tank is completely empty."

"Don't worry, there's a few hundred full barrels over there," Bektra pointed at the other end of the parking lot, "Volsom and Cil is filling her up right now, give us a few minutes."

And so they waited, every second passing in queasy anticipation, only the soft whisper of the wind and the occasion shout from Volsom punctured the heavy, nerve wrecking silence. Tangmo and Henry were about to start biting their nails when hollow bang reverberated across the ground, followed by a booming voice saying: "That's five barrels!"

"Okay, the gauge just went up, that should be enough to start the engine," Ladaee slip back into the truck and a few heartbeats later, the choking stutter of starting engine raked the air. Holding his breath, Tangmo was bouncing on the tip of his toes as the mechanical coughing came again, and again, until at last the engine roared deep and loud like blessed thunder. Cheer burst from the troupe, small but hearty all the same.

"Fuck yeah!" Tangmo threw his fists into the air, index and pinky extended.

"You guys just saved the day!" Henry gave the tank crew a thumbs up.

"Just doing our job sir," Ruven and his team climbed down from the elevated cockpit, "praise the Machine spirit for this small mercy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, ghost in a machine," Henry turned to Luva then, "send some of your scout back to the cathedral and tell everyone to haul ass here."

"Yes sir," Luva gave three of her scouts a series of hand signal, they nodded and quickly dashed back the way they came.

"Hey, Ruven," Tangmo strode up to burly tank man, "you happened to find any vox-caster up there?"

"Sorry commissar, beside a few ration boxes there's nothing else in there," Ruven gave him an apologetic look.

"On well, thanks away," Tangmo nodded and strode up to Henry who was having a lively conversation with Meko, the guardsman actually looked pretty hopeful now that their predicament didn't seem so grim.

"Commissar," Meko saluted and extricated himself from the general, walking back to joy his brothers in arms, which now include Xiphos, Pollius and Hera. All the while Krillen just stood back and watched the niceity with brooding disgust like a little emo bitch, his gloomy disposition preventing Korri from joining the other.

"Can you believe our luck? Holy shit," Tangmo said.

"Yeah dude, looks like things are finally going our way," Henry concurred, "too bad we still need to find that STC."

"At least we got a walking bunker to back us up," Tangmo continued.

"I'm actually kinda irked that there's no roof on the damn thing."

"The men can shoot back easier."

"While bunched up like pigs of slaughter, if someone lob a grenade inside then its game over."

"There's a downside to everything dude, I'm just glad we got some kind of vehicle to get the survivor out."

"True enough, but it still gonna be a…" Henry stopped suddenly, body tensing as he slowly craned his neck upward.

"Well shit, guess there goes our luck," Tangmo looked up at the sky, "what is it?"

"Listen," Henry held up his fist when the howl of jet engines shattered the sky. It wasn't long before the noise rose to a droning pitch, like swarm of iron locust moments from descending upon an unprotected field of crops.

"Get under the truck! Take cover!" Tangmo shouted and the guardsmen sprinted for the grain truck and crawled under its awning dark underbelly, the screaming of supersonic plane growing louder and nearer.

"What are you doing?! Get in here!" Surprisingly it was Korri who spoke up, her head sticking out of the truck's shadow like a puppy poking her head through a doggie door.

"I'm saving your brother a bullet, now get back in there!" Tangmo haven't even finished his sentence when Korri slid back inside with a yelp, obviously pulled back in by Krillen. The girl did have a point though, he and Henry should really get into cover, but a strange, almost six sense-ish feeling was telling them to remain and witness what was about to unfold. So he and Henry watched the sky until black shapes trailing white plumes began streaking across the cerulean canvas.

"Look, I like Band of Brothers as much as the next guy," Henry began as the sleek form of Valkyrie gunships became more defined, "but standing from this perspective, I'm scared shitless."

"Yeah," Tangmo agreed, "and it won't be Easy Company jumping out of those plane either, but bombs, evil murderous bomb like the one that kill Seita and Setsuko's mom in Grave of the Fireflies."

"The church is gonna get hit."

"Oh definitely, probably the most likely target too."

"It's gonna be hard getting the STC with only those lots."

"The odds never stopped us."

"Hey, I'm just making an observation. Now shut up, I want to see the fireworks."

Not a second later did gleaming cylindrical shapes began falling out of the Valkyries, twirling through the sky like a boomerang, the air wailing to its careening descend. The spiraling payload crashed onto Kidemonas in raging plumes of twisting fire, the ground convulsed a painful throe to the pounding explosion. It wasn't long before the hammering bombardment took on a rapid tempo not that dissimilar to a Running Wild song, a lightning fast drumming that seems to tear the very fabric of reality apart, flaming pillars erupted all around Tangmo and Henry like a heavy metal concert pyro, the wind blistering and scorching.

"Okay, that shit is getting close," Tangmo spoke up, "I think we should hide now."

"Yep," nodding, Henry and Tangmo was about to make a beeline for cover when a jarring staccato rose to challenge the wrathful symphony, a pounding, buzzing disharmony of rattling heavy gunfire. Stopping in their track, Tangmo and Henry looked up to see piercing orange tracer rounds shooting across the sky in overwhelming multitude, long sinuous line slithering across the air like a rearing snake, scattering the Valkyries formation, many falling in heap of flaming debris to the furious retaliation.

"What the fuck is going on?" Tangmo watched as more Valkyries plummeted to the earth.

"…I think those were our planes," Henry ventured, "Chaos aren't stupid enough to down their own plane, right?"

"No," Tangmo grinned, "dude, this means we still have back up!"

"Yeah, but they're getting dropped left and right."

"And that one's coming straight for us."

Tangmo and Henry watched the Valkyrie nosedive out of the sky, black plume trailing its burning engine, before letting out an embarrassingly loud squeal and dashed for the grain truck, arms flailing like startled chickens fleeing for its coop. Sliding into the truck underbelly, Tangmo caught a glimpse of the stricken Valkyrie as it roared overhead, casting quick swathe of shadow across the ground, flying clear of the square before crashing nearby. Tangmo held his breath for the accompanying explosion but none came, the pilot having successfully made the emergency landing.

"I think the blitz is over, come on," Tangmo crawled out from under the truck and dusted his awesome commissar coat, "everybody okay?"

"Yeah," Meko nodded and swept his gaze around the smoke filled vista, "what just happened?"

"Those were our planes; they were probably bombing Chaos positions in the city." Henry's words trailed off when Korri stomped up to him, a large red welt marring the left side of her face.

"The hell happened to you?" Henry asked.

"You kicked my face!" Korri pointed an accusing finger at the American, her attempt at being angry ended up more cute than threatening.

"No I didn't," Henry shook his head.

"Yes you did!" Korri remained adamant. "When you slide in you hit me in the face!"

"…That was you? I thought I hit a rock or something."

"Like Krillen doesn't have enough reason to kill us already," Tangmo chuckled, drew both his pistols and turned to the troupe, "Luva, leave your scouts here with Pollius, Hera and the tank crew, the rest of you come with me."

"Where are we going?" Krix asked.

"The Valkyrie," Tangmo jogged toward the pillar of churning black smoke, Henry and the men falling in sync behind him, "it didn't blew up when it crashed, maybe there's a radio we could use."

They were hurrying down the cramp side road when manic screams rushes down the corridor of building, the fizz and pop of discharging lasgun pierced the maddened screeching, adding a more violent tinge to the rising cadence.

"Safeties off, make ready," Tangmo lowered his voice and, with Henry at his side, led the column into a clearing of rockcrete rubbles where townhouses used to be, and stabbed in the middle of this was a Valkyrie, nose plunged into the ground, the tail raised skyward like a flagpole. And there were heretics everywhere, converging on the downed plane like vultures fighting for the first strip of meat. Some were armed with lasguns and these lots were peppering the cockpit with suppressing volley while their knives wielding brethren pressed forward, the spluttering returned fire from the pilot seat did little to deter the attackers.

"Meko, Xiphos, Krillen, Korri, you four go left," Tangmo whispered his command, "Krix, Orhul, Luva, you take the right, me and the general will bring up the center."

Nodding, the guardsmen quickly crept to their position as Tangmo and Henry walked side by side toward the ring of about three dozen howling heretics, cool and calm like two cowboys strolling into town before starting a gunfight with a clan of outlaws. They were reaching the edge of the crowd when a piercing, womanly shriek drew their attention back to the Valkyrie, where a crazed zealot was brandishing a mess of cursing red hair.

"Tyra?!" Tangmo blurted loudly, his announcement drawing the attention of every heretic in the clearing, their vulgar chattering ceased as all eyes turned to the commissar and the general.

"Commissar?! General?!" Tyra squeaked, unbelieving of who had just come to her rescue. Not waiting for the crowd to come to their senses, Henry shot the heretic holding Tyra hostage, the lasbolt boring a sizzling hole into his forehead. Tyra tumbled on top of the corpse with a straggle yelp when the mob, Valkyrie and pilot forgotten, rushed Tangmo and Henry en masse. Henry managed to drop a few before the tide quickly came upon him, forcing the American into a running battle across the clearing. Tangmo on the other hand, calmly holstered his laspistols, planted his feet firmly on the ground and rested his hand on the grip of his sword. Judging the unarmed commissar to be an easier target, the heretic bulled toward him.

The blade made a pleasant soprano as it flew from the scabbard, a serene whisper as steel cleaved empty air, then flesh. The first zealot crumbled to the ground, bisected from hip to shoulder as Tangmo carved a scarlet avenue into the ranks of heretic, flowing gracefully from one form of kenjutsu to another, his sword work a crimson song of melodious agony and tempestuous slaughter. When the heretics finally retreated from his murderous path, eleven dead bodies, mutilated and decapitated, laid at Tangmo's feet as he bend his knees and assumed a battle ready stance, blood slick sword angled downward at his side, running parallel to his leg, the sharpened edge turned toward the enclosing foe. The sword might have felt and weigh like a langschwert, but the damn thing cut like a katana.

The Chaos madmen were about to resume their attack when the guardsmen cut them down in a devastating volley of lasbolts. Tangmo killed a few more himself before rushing to the where Tyra had fallen. The pilot was already up on her feet when he and Henry reached her.

"Not exactly how I imagined our second meeting would go captain," Tangmo sheathed his sword with a samurai flourish, like how Toshiro Mifune did it.

"Personally sir, I would also prefer a glass of amasec over this," Tyra managed after a few calming breath.

"Looks like we came just in time too," Henry holstered his laspistol, the fighting around them had already come to an end, "good to see you again captain."

"Likewise sir," Tyra gave a tired salute.

"Are you injured?" Henry continued.

"No sir."

"What about your copilot?"

Tyra closed her eyes and shook her head, "he didn't making it sir, he was just about to unstrap himself when he was gunned down."

Tangmo turned to the cockpit and leaned into the broken window, inside was the copilot, a boy a few years younger than he was, unblinking eyes staring at nothing, his body riddled with scorched hole.

"Rest in peace bro," Tangmo reached inside, swiped his eyes closed and turned back to Tyra, the woman quickly wiping away a stray tear from her cheek, "what was his name?"

"Devin sir," Tyra sniffed.

"Remember him captain, so that he may never be forgotten."

"I will."

"Good," Tangmo placed a comforting hand on Tyra's shoulder, she was about to lean into the touch but stopped herself at the last moment, propriety winning over the urge for intimacy.

"Now captain Tyra," Tangmo pulled his hands away, "do you happened to have any communication device with you?"

"I do actually," Tyra nodded quickly, "it's under my pilot seat, along with survival gears in case I crash landed like this."

Tyra was about to climb back into the cockpit when Henry stopped her.

"Allow me captain," Henry crawled inside, "I can tell you don't really entertain the idea of stepping back in here again. So please, stand back and let me handle this."

"Thank you sir," Tyra turned away sheepishly, cheeks reddening from Henry's gentlemanliness.

"Here we are," Henry emerged a moment later with a backpack vox-caster and a duffle bag, "Meko, get over here."

The radioman took the vox-caster from Henry and began tuning the machine.

"Base come in," Meko spoke into the telephone speaker, "anyone there? This is corporal Meko; survivor of the combined Cadian regiment trapped inside Kidemonas. We've taken heavy casualty and are cut off from support, what is the status of the command center? Please respond."

"You might want to hurry up, I hear more of them coming," Luva was casting wary glances around the clearing when an excitable reply came from the vox-caster, crisp and clear.

"Meko? Is that you?!"

"Vakon?!" Meko face brightened. "Emperor's mercy, you're alive?!"

"I should be the one saying that, we thought everybody in the city got killed."

"What in the fuck happened?"

"Traitors, half the garrison turned on the other. We managed to stop them but lost seventy percent of our artillery, along with Halven and the high command."

"Who's in charge then?"

"…I guess me? I rallied everyone and lead the counter attack, but now everybody's asking me what to do. Gah! I'm just an artillery lieutenant, I don't know anything about chain of command and shit!"

"Calm yourself soldier," Tangmo took the headphone from Meko.

"Who the hell is this?" Vakon asked.

"Commissar Tangmo."

"Oh! Sorry sir."

"What is the situation over there Vakon?"

"Things are bad sir, I can see the traitors amassing at the edge of the city for a frontal assault, our remaining guns won't be able to deter them for long. I vox the admiral in the fleet for help and he ordered all the Valkyries on the ground to be refitted for a bombing run. What little good that did."

Tyra gave an angry huff at this but said nothing.

"Thank you for the information lieutenant," only then did Tangmo realized that the nearing, determined footfalls were becoming more pronounce, "but I think our position is about to be overrun. We'll talk later."

"Emperor be with you sir," Vakon gave his goodbye and the vox-caster quieted with a static splutter.

"Alright, let's get back to the other," Tangmo handed the headphone back to Meko, drew one of his laspistol and waved for the other to follow, "come on, we have a better chance of holding them at…"

Tangmo was taking one step forward when the ground at his feet exploded into rocky fragments, a blackened coin size crater marking where the lasbolt had struck.

"Take cover!" Tangmo bolted for the downed Valkyrie as red light tore through the air, peppering the spot where he had stood into puffs of dancing gravels.

"Motherfucker!" Henry gritted his teeth as he slammed into the metal hull beside Tangmo. "Anybody got shot? Everybody still here?"

The guardsmen enthusiastic sound off was swiftly silenced by the sharp twinkling of laser punching steel, the shots concentrated and accurate. Snarling, Tangmo drew his sword and shouted:

"Come then Chaos scums! Tremble before the might of the Imperial Guards! We are the hammer of the God Emperor, unbent, unbowed and unbroken, so screw your courage to the sticking place and face your annihilation!"

Hearty ovation erupted around Tangmo as the gunfire suddenly stopped, the overwhelming suppressing barrage ceasing so suddenly that it felt like someone just found an off switch and flipped it. Then a powerful female British voice, so haughty in enunciation that it bordered on the stereotypical, demanded: "Identify yourself."

"Who the fuck are you?" Tangmo shot back.

"We are the Astra Militarum of the Imperium of Man," the woman went on, a CO in all likelihood, "and judging by your declaration, it appears that we are on the same side. So show yourself."

"See, I don't like the idea of trusting some random asshole who'd just tried to fucking kill me."

"An honest mistake. But then again, the foul forces of the Archenemy are known to be crafty and deceitful."

"Lady, do you not see the dead bodies everywhere?! We just killed those sum bitches!"

"The followers of Chaos are a fickle bunch; infighting is their way of life."

"Oh for the love of…you know what?" Tangmo sheathed his sword and holstered his laspistol. "I'm gonna step out around this Valkyrie to show you that I'm not a threat, and in return you are not going to shoot me, deal?"

"Fine."

"Okay I'm coming out now, with both my hands up."

Taking one deep breath, arms held over his head, Tangmo calmly stroll into the open and saw the bedraggled group of Cadian and Kolasian guardsmen taking cover behind an emaciated building, half expecting one of them to bust a cap in his ass, as the urban colloquialism goes. Thankfully, nobody shot him, many visibly relaxing at seeing a friendly face. Tangmo was lowering his hands when the woman spoke up again, loud and sharp, "you!"

Brow irking, Tangmo watched as – oh shit, it's the commissar woman from before, the one he got into a scrap with. Oh fucking God, she looks pissed.

"Out of everyone that has perished," the commissar sneered, stomping up a cloud of dust as she came to stand before him, "you of all people survived."

"Well, I'm that damn good."

"Yo Tangmo, who are you talking to?" Henry asked from behind the Valkyrie.

"That grouchy commissar woman from Halven's tent," Tangmo gave no fucks as other commissar glared at him with such open contempt that he could feel the tip of his hair singeing. Hush, fearful whispers emanated from her men, while Tangmo's own appeared to be stifling laughter.

"The Asian?" Henry continued.

"Yeah, that one," Tangmo gave the woman a pleasant smile, which only made her blistered more.

"Why does she sound like Laura?"

"It's her accent dude."

"For real? Damn Tyra, you got some competition in the cute department."

Coughing to hide his snicker, Tangmo asked, "what is your name commissar?"

"I am commissar Leilatha," the woman seethed.

"Nice to meet you mam," Tangmo gave her a crisp salute as Leilatha's men climbed out of their cover, "good to see we're not the only one who survived this treachery."

"Treachery, you say?" Leilatha face softened somewhat, and Tangmo was taken aback by how pretty…no, beautiful the woman was. The perfectly sculpted contort of her face gave the commissar an air of classical beauty.

"Before you start shooting us, I found out from headquarter that half the garrison went Chaos. The situation is under control for now."

"I see," Leilatha glanced at Henry and the guardsmen emerging behind him, scoffing snobbishly, "this is all you managed to save?"

"Actually, this is a scouting party. I saw the Valkyrie came down, rescued the pilot and liberated a vox-caster."

"Where are the rest of your men then?" She pressed on.

"We're assembling our troop in the square over there," Tangmo stabbed his thump back down the side street, "you can join us if you want."

"Seems I don't have a choice in that matter," Leilatha spun to face a Whiteshields boy leading the fifty man group.

"Captain Ovin," she began crisply.

"Mam!" The young blue eyed youth saluted.

"Did I give permission for the men to leave their position?"

The boy went pale as a sheet, "no mam."

"Was my order not clear?"

"It-it was mam."

"Then why have you led them here?"

"I-I just thought that, since the two of you were talking, it would be safe to…"

A backhanded slap ended Ovin sentence and send him crashing to the ground, where he curled into a feeble ball as Leilatha eased her boot on to his head. None of his comrade, Cadian or Kolasian, moved to protest or help, chilling fear plain in their eyes, while the older guardsmen, the veterans without the ranks, gave the commissar a subdue admonishing look but did little else, knowing full well the consequence if they intervened.

"This is your last warning, Ovin," Leilatha said coldly, the boy squirming under her iron rimmed sole, "disobey me one more time and it's the firing line."

"I'm sorry mam! I'm sorry!" Ovin sobbed.

"You better be," Leilatha removed her heel roughly and was stunned to see a fuming Krillen glaring at her, his exuding hatred unhidden.

"Do you have a problem, trooper?" Leilatha returned the stare with equal intensity, her hand coming to rest easily on her holstered laspistol.

"Colonel Krillen is simply unreceptive of your harsh treatment of the boy," Henry came to stand between them, "and to be honest, I agree with his sentiment. There was no reason for you to rough him up like that."

"Someone need to keep the guardsmen up to the highest standard as was set by the God Emperor himself," Leilatha shot Henry a look of disgust, "since it is obvious the two of you have been lax in that duty."

"Yeah, what happened to the general dude that was with you?" Tangmo went to help Ovin, the boy could only gaped as the commissar gently pulled him up to his feet, right after his counterpart almost curb stomp him.

"He was a failure; lost control the moment the barrage came down," Leilatha shrugged noncommittally, "I promptly dealt with such cowardice."

"Welp, that needed no further explanation," Henry gave Tangmo a knowing look before waving everyone to follow, "let's get going before a real Chaos patrol shows up."

Taking the lead, Tangmo and Henry led the group back to the parking lot; all the while he could feel the heat of Leilatha gaze burning a hole into his back like a freaking laser.

"Remember that last commissar I told you about?" Orhul came to his side, speaking lowly so that Leilatha couldn't hear. "She reminds me of him."

"And did Krillen shot his ass?" Tangmo asked. "Be honest now."

"He took a bolt to the knee, and we simply left him there."

"Are we appropriating the same fate to our new lady friend?"

"Well sir, she's climbing up my shit list real quick," Orhul hazard a glance back and flinched, before quickly making himself scarce. Turning, Tangmo almost jumped out of his skin when he saw how close Leilatha was behind him, black tilted eyes narrowed to a dangerous slit.

"Did you need something?" Tangmo asked flatly as they entered the square, now bustling with more people.

"It is unwise and highly inappropriate for you to be conversing with those of lower ranks," Leilatha made her admonition.

"I can talk to whoever I want woman, so why don't you chill a bit?" Okay, now he was getting annoyed, Leilatha attitude was going to make his job that much more difficult.

"From what I've seen so far, I guess I shouldn't be surprised if you choose to fraternize with those of the same breeding."

"Excuse me, but, what the fuck is your problem?"

"I'm a good judge of character commissar…Tangmo was it? And, forgive me for being frank, but you and your general friend is shaping up to be an even bigger disgrace than my previous partner was."

"See, now that is just rude and uncalled for."

"Ruven! How's it going my main man?" Henry waved at the tank commander, interrupting the two commissars before things escalated.

"Three of the trucks are filled sir, the rest should be done in about twenty minutes," Ruven flashed a grin at Leilatha and her men, "looks like you picked up a few friends along the way, nice find sir."

"Friend is a bit of an overstatement," Tangmo shot a look at the other commissar.

"I see," Ruven swallowed nervously, sensing the tension.

"What about the wounded and the rest of the regiment?" Henry pressed on quickly.

"It's slow going sir, but we'll have everybody here in about an hour," Ruven said, "so do you have any idea where we're supposed to go sir?"

"The city center, in all likelihood, at least that's our approximation of where the STC should be."

"The Standard Template Construct is most likely situated within the Ouranos research complex, northwest of Adelfotita square," Leilatha took out her data-slate and daintily tapped the screen, her movement obnoxiously queenly, "satellite reading shows massive heat signature and high electrical surge within the vicinity, so that narrows down our target considerably. Luckily the road leading there, being the city main thoroughfare, is wide enough to accommodate these trucks. If we move out now, we'll reach the objective well before nightfall."

"We'll go when all the wounded gets here," Tangmo announced firmly.

"Leave the invalid for the traitors," Leilatha lifted her chin condescendingly high, as if her words alone could sway everyone, "at least they'll buy us some time."

"Nobody is getting left behind," Tangmo raised his voice, "I'm responsible for the men under my command and I will not use them as baits for the enemy."

Leilatha inhaled sharply but said nothing, opting instead to let her glower simmered silently as she locked eyes with Tangmo.

"So why don't you make yourself useful and go help the men set up defensive perimeter for the time being?"

"Fine," Leilatha tore her eyes away and stomped up to her men, barking as she herded them toward an alley mouth on the far side of the square, whipping the guardsmen into position around the debris and ruin.

"She's a good leader," Henry walked up to Tangmo, "but damn, what a second rate human being."

"It's a norm in 40k sadly, but she's right about one thing," Tangmo turned to Ruven, the man more than happy that the confrontation was over, "I'm afraid I must ask you to speed things up lieutenant, can you get the trucks ready faster?"

"I'll try my best commissar," Ruven said. "I can probably have everything done in fifteen minutes."

"Good," Tangmo took in the square, the wounded, the patrolling guardsmen and the surrounding building, "because I sure as hell do not want to be out here when it gets dark."