The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

"So, captain Tyra, how are you with that pistol?" Henry strolled cordially next to the Valkyrie pilot, shoulders almost touching.

"I'm not some schoolgirl fresh out of the academy sir," Tyra gave him a less than serious pout. "I can handle a gun, if you must know."

"Apology for any offense I might have caused captain, but I simply wish to be sure," Henry went on pleasantly.

"Don't worry about it sir, you'll find out how deadly I am soon enough," Tyra winked cheekily and dusted her brown airmen jacket.

"Don't fret about the uniform captain, you look dashing enough."

"Oh? So I don't look fat in it?"

They stared at each other for a moment before sharing a short, but heartfelt laugh, past spat mended now that they'd gotten to know each other better. Real smooth Henry, real smooth. Walking just a few paces behind the pair, Tangmo couldn't help but give Henry a begrudging nod for his impeccable maneuvering, while also flipping him off whenever he glanced back with that obnoxious triumphant smirk of his. That gloating motherfucker!

"Permission to speak freely sir," Orhul crept up beside him, failing miserably to hide his grin.

"Choose your words very carefully, sergeant," Tangmo gave him a sideway glance.

"Well sir, the battle's far from over."

"I'm sensing that you're not talking about our current predicament," Tangmo swept his gaze over their impromptu convoy trudging slowly down Kidemonas empty twelve lane thoroughfare, once again finding themselves in the serene companionship of warm summer breeze and undisturbed silence. Like before, the enemy remained elusive despite the six trucks roaring louder than a Boeing jet. Fortunately, the nearest building that lined the road was a good five hundred meters away, so the chance of some asshole lobbing a grenade into the truck or taking pot shot at the injured guardsmen sprawled inside the flat hull was rather minimal. They were still within range of most las and conventional weapon though, but the trucks metal plate should keep them safe.

"I guess we're not," Orhul shrugged easily.

"I would advise you to concentrate on the task at hand, sergeant," Tangmo said.

"Oh, definitely sir. But so far, there's nothing to do but wait for something to happen."

"Keep your eyes peel then."

"But seriously sir, have you not noticed the quick glances? It's rather telling, if you ask me."

"Quick glances?" Tangmo was irking a brow when he caught Tyra out of the corner of his eyes, giving him a subdue, but meaningful, look. She flinched when their gaze met and spun forward, resuming her small talk with Henry as if nothing has happened. Tangmo could only chuckle.

"Told you so," Orhul huffed victoriously.

"That you did," Tangmo adjusted his awesome commissar cap, "but I'll worry about that when we get out of this alive."

"That's the spirit sir."

"Any words from Luva?" Tangmo changed the subject.

"None yet sir," Orhul shook his head.

"You sure Krix haven't 'accidentally' killed her?" Tangmo snickered lowly.

"God Emperor, I hope not," Orhul was far from amused however.

"What's up with those two anyway?" Tangmo pulled a metal canteen from his belt and began drinking. "I mean, there's the obvious class friction, but this seems a few notches above mutual dislike."

"It is," Meko joined them, stealing quick glances around to make sure that Krix wasn't in the vicinity. "Those two loathe each other."

"It also doesn't help that they're fighting over the same man, isn't that right Meko?" Orhul toothy grin was received by Meko murderous glare as Tangmo spluttered and choked on his canteen.

"Meko…" Tangmo managed after the coughing subsided, brow rising into the shade of his awesome commissar cap, "playa…"

"I'm going to assume that the term 'playa' doesn't convey anything positive?" Meko shook his head exasperatedly.

"It means you're very virile with the opposite sex," Tangmo continued. "It's a compliment dude."

"The praise is misplaced sir," Meko's anger downgraded to a surly annoyance. "I'm like an injured stag being fought over by two angry she-wolves."

"Why not just tell them it's over?"

"Both are very dear friends to me sir, I couldn't hurt them like that."

"Jesus Christ Meko, you better not get soft on me when bullets start flying."

"I know how to differentiate love and war sir."

"That's good to know," Tangmo took another sip, "and besides fighting over Meko, Krix and Luva came from two opposite ends of the economic spectrum, right?"

"You hit the mark right on the target sir," Orhul said. "You see, Luva was born into a family of high ranking military leader that have a storied history of bringing glory to the God Emperor, the Imperium, and most importantly Cadia herself. They're the equivalent of the highest aristocracy on other planets. Krix on the other hand was a hub girl living in one of the worst part of the lower hive, her father was a lowly guardsman who got killed during an Ork raid, forcing her mother into prostitution to make ends meet. By ten, Krix had already joined her mother in the carnal trade."

"Jesus Christ," Tangmo was mortified, canteen held forgotten in his hand, "and Luva doesn't like Krix because she's from the gutter?"

"It's not that simple sir," there was a hint of protectiveness in Meko's voice.

"Guess you would know," Meko wasn't really appreciative of Tangmo shit eating grin. "Care to elaborate then, corporal?"

"Well sir," Meko took the bait, "Krix and Luva have the unfortunate luck of meeting each other before joining the guards. You see, the Cadian military aristocracies are not immune to the vice of lust, and every balls and galas needed entertainment of the fleshy sort to satiate the guest. So it was during such celebration that Krix found herself within the halls of Luva's ancestral keep, to ply her trade for one of the most powerful houses in Cadia. And as fate would have it, the head of the household decided to claim Krix for the night."

"Let me guess, innocent little Luva just happen to stroll into daddy's bedchamber while he was in the process of fucking Krix," pretty cliché all things considered, but Tangmo was used to such formulaic plot device, so he shrugged and took a big swig from the canteen.

"Not her father," Meko hesitated for a moment, "…it was her mother."

Tangmo spat plumes of water into the air like Triple H before his match, choking and reeling from the unbelievable testimony.

"Motherfucker!" Tangmo laughed.

"Exactly," Orhul found himself joining in wholeheartedly.

"Welp, thanks for that, now I get why those two can't stand each other," Tangmo was putting his canteen away when he noticed Meko desperately trying to avoid his gaze. "There's more detail to this, isn't there? Come on dude, don't leave me hanging, we could all die in the next hour anyway, so spill it."

"Well…" Meko sighed, "I have it on good authority that…um…Luva walked in on Krix…plowing her mother."

Tangmo was doubling over in gut wrenching laughter when Orhul said, "you got that from your pillow talk with Krix or Luva?"

"Both," Meko said sheepishly, "and things only got worse when they crossed path again at the academy a couple of years later. Feeling that the honor of herself and her house has been defiled, Luva made it her mission to make Krix's life a living hell."

"Hang on, back up a bit," Tangmo recovered with a deep inhale. "Besides the three of us, nobody knows about this, right?"

"Ha! The gossiping maids and servants made sure everybody on the planet knew," Orhul said. "I'm from a little hub in the northern pole, and even I know."

"Yikes."

"Which only makes things between the two irreparable," Meko continued. "But despite everything Luva throws at her, Krix persevered and now they're of the same ranks. As for the rest, well, you can see that clear enough yourself, sir."

"Indeed Meko," Tangmo gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Thank you for the story corporal, now I have something to blackmail you with."

Meko gave the commissar a justifiably horrified look, "sir, I'm not sure if you're joking or not."

"That remains to be seen," Tangmo gave him a sly smile before turning to the snickering Orhul, "the same goes for you sergeant, tread carefully."

"Me?! What did I do?" Orhul squawk indignantly.

"You egged him on as much as I did, you're an accomplice my friend," Tangmo quickened his pace down the column, "stay alert, I'm gonna go ask Leilatha how far along are we."

"Good luck sir," Meko saluted his goodbye, the stark grimace on his face conveying Tangmo's own trepidation at having to converse with the lady commissar. Tangmo gave Henry a tap on the shoulder as he walked pass, the general nodded and politely extricated himself from Tyra, the pilot gave him a sad smile and saluted apathetically, looking rather lonely amongst the mass of guardsmen who barely spared her a glance. Luckily, Meko and Orhul were quick to keep her company.

"She'll be fine Romeo," Tangmo said, noticing how Henry was glancing back more than once.

"Just making sure she's okay," Henry returned his gaze forward. "Besides, she's interested in you, not me."

"Oh, really?" Tangmo asked innocently.

"She wouldn't shut up about you," Henry continued incredulously. "What in the fuck? All she ever said was 'tell me more about the commissar please'."

"It's call getting friendzone dude," Tangmo laid a comforting, yet condescending, hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry."

"You're not making me feel any better," Henry grinded his teeth.

"I know," Tangmo drew back with an evil grin. "Besides, didn't you and Ladaee have something going on? Don't think I didn't notice the two of you cozying up in the driver seat."

"Well, yeah, but when I throw a net I expect to catch more than one fish, you know what I'm saying?"

"Personally, I go spear fishing, I chose my target."

"Talking about spear, you might need one for that Megalodon over there."

Not needing to follow Henry's pointing finger, Tangmo strode up beside the foremost truck and found Leilatha clinging to the side window like King Kong, engaged in a heated argument with Ruven, the commissar piercing, but melodious, enunciation battering down his demure resistance.

"All yours dude," being the great friend that he is, Henry stood back with the frightened guardsmen and allowed Tangmo the honor of facing Leilatha's wrath alone.

"I am ordering you to speed this truck up, lieutenant," Leilatha bellowed into the side window, one hand holding the rail, the other pointing furiously inside.

"I'm sorry lady commissar," fear shook Ruven stern voice, "but as I said before, I take order from general Henry and commissar Tangmo, not you."

"You insolent little…!"

"Commissar Leilatha," Tangmo raised his voice, stopping the woman mid admonition, "perhaps you should come down, lest you fancy breaking your neck. Those railings doesn't look too secure, am I right Ruven?"

"All rusted up sir, very dangerous," Ruven hurriedly agreed with him.

Leilatha narrowed her dark tilted eyes on him, the katana sharp glare would've send the greatest of warrior fleeing, but Tangmo stood his ground, returning the animosity with acute boredom. Realizing that Tangmo wouldn't budge, Leilatha slowly, gracefully, climb down the moving truck.

"Here, let me help," Tangmo offered as she descend the last few steps.

"Don't touch me," Leilatha hissed and jumped down, making a perfect landing before him.

"I give that a ten out of ten," Tangmo began.

"What do you want?" Leilatha snapped.

"I just want to know how long until we reach the city center."

Gazing haughtily down her nose, Leilatha took out the data-slate and tapped the screen, "your delay has cost us a good two hours. The sun would already be setting by the time we reached Adelfotita square."

"Okay, but you haven't answered my question, how long until we reach the objective?"

"Judging by our current speed…" Leilatha squinted at the runes flashing across the glass surface. "Two hours, standard Terra time."

"Cool."

"Of course, you can speed things up by telling that lieutenant to go faster," Leilatha gave the cockpit a dirty glance, "the men under your command seems incapable of following simple instruction and is riffed with insubordinate attitude that tarnishes the good name of the Astra Militarum."

"As long as they do a good job, I don't give a shit," Tangmo gave Leilatha a smug look. "And they have been performing admirably, wouldn't you agree Leila?"

"So far," she shot him a look then, "and it's Leilatha, thank you very much."

"So when are we getting to the nickname basis?"

"Never."

"Ouch."

"What of command center? Have your corporal receive any more news? I heard shelling in the distant."

"The Chaos cultists are pushing hard for the Cadian line. Last I heard, Vakon's guns are keeping them at bay and the Imperial Navy are gonna be providing orbital support soon."

"That's very good to hear. It also means that the enemy presence within the city would be greatly reduced, making the task of retrieving the Standard Template Construct much more easier."

"I hope you're right," Tangmo's countenance hardened when he saw Luva and her scouts sprinting down the road toward them, "because I think we're about to get into a fight, come on."

Jogging up to Luva, Leilatha close at his heels, Tangmo swiftly saluted the sergeant. "Not good news?"

"No sir," Luva took a few lungful before continuing. "We found the square, but there's a significant number of well-armed traitor occupying the place."

"How many?" Leilatha cut in before Tangmo could speak.

"I couldn't get too close lady commissar," Luva said, "but judging from the sentries, I would hazard at least a battalion worth."

"What of defenses?"

"I saw a few heavy bolters and two anti-tank artilleries pointing down the main road, a single hit from that thing would turn our trucks inside out."

"And the defender themselves?" Tangmo spoke up. "Are they like the sort we faced before?"

"They look military sir," Luva continued.

"Stop the truck!" Leilatha's yelled drew Ruven's head out of the side window.

"What?!" He asked.

"Belay that order, maintain optimal speed lieutenant," Tangmo told Ruven before waving Luva and Leilatha to follow him, "come with me, we got to find Henry."

Not waiting for Leilatha to voice her objection, Tangmo hurried down the column until he found the New Yorker strolling beside the third truck, engaged in an easy chat with Tyra, Meko, Orhul and Krix.

"Yo! Dude!" The urgency in Tangmo's voice brought the conversation to a stop. "We got a bit of a problem."

"Define 'a bit'," Henry said levelly.

"We're about two hours away from our destination," Tangmo tried to sound upbeat.

"But…"

"The place's crawling with Chaos guardsmen, and these guys are packing some serious firepower. Like, RPGs, heavy lasers, artilleries and shit."

"Okay," Henry calmly acknowledged their predicament, his face thoughtful, "how many?"

"A battalion, right Luva?" Tangmo turned to the scout sergeant, who nodded briskly in assent.

"One thousand men," Henry gazed at the ground, making a mental calculation, "and we have seven hundred. Honestly, I'm not liking the numbers dude."

"Tell me about it," Tangmo agreed.

"The odds are irrelevant," Leilatha announced primly, assuming a pompous militaristic pose, chest puffed and hands clasped behind her back, "we shall perform our duty. The square shall be taken no matter the cost, for the glory of the God Emperor."

"Yeah? But I rather fight for the Emperor than die for him," like a vampire, Krillen slinked out of the shadow and joined them, Korri, as always, skittered after him.

"Disappointing words, colonel," Leilatha sneered at his rank, "was that heresy I hear? Or was it cowardice? Strange, I would have thought Cadian guardsmen would be made from stronger stock."

"Oh my God Emperor, can you two not do this right now?!" Tangmo hushed them like two unruly children. "Look, I understand where the both of you are coming from. Adelfotita need to be taken, that goes without saying, but we can't blindly charge in there either. Luckily for y'all, I'm here to provide the middle ground."

"So be it," Leilatha relented reluctantly while Krillen gave a grunt that probably translates as 'fine'.

"Commissar, share your data with sergeant Luva so that she can cross-reference the digitized map with her own reconnaissance," Leilatha was waving Luva over when Tangmo turned to his three sidekicks guardsmen. "Gather the officers, Cadian and Kolasian."

By the time Luva had gone over the map with Leilatha, about thirty officers had form a rough circle around them, walking slowly besides the trudging trucks.

"The enemy's position is located at the southernmost tip of the square," Luva pressed her finger on the screen, "the gun emplacements stretches north and east to encompass the outlining ruins and still standing buildings. They're well dug in, a frontal assault would be difficult."

"No arguments there," Henry agreed and glanced at the gathered Kolasian, "if anybody here knows a sneaky way into the square, this will be a good time to speak up."

"There's a small maintenance tunnel that leads into one of the outer building," Pollius spoke up.

"All of them have been sealed up by the urban cohorts," Hera shook her head. "Too many successful thief run does that."

"Yeah, but I know for a fact there's one hatch that wasn't seal," Pollius went over to Luva and pointed at a spot on the map. "Here, about a kilometer from the square, an access point beneath a butcher place, built long before any of us were born."

"Are you sure?" Luva asked.

"My cousin said he was still using it when the 13th Black Crusade happened."

"Splitting up is a bad idea," Henry shook his head despondently.

"Yeah, but as much as hate this deathtrap cliché, we don't have a choice," Tangmo spoke up. "We have about seven hundred men in fighting capacity, right?"

Less than enthusiastic agreeing murmurs answered him.

"Quite a skeleton crew, but beggars can't be chooser I guess," Tangmo gave a relaxed shrug, "Krillen, Xiphos, gather three hundred of your best men and meet me at Ruven's truck in fifteen minutes, tell them to bring any heavy ordnance they have. The rest of you, return to your men and await further instruction, move out."

Xiphos saluted and Krillen gave a mopey nod before both headed off to find more guardsmen while the rest of the officers returned to their charge, leaving behind the named characters.

"Henry, I need you to stay here with the trucks," Tangmo continued.

"So you can have all the fun?" Henry gave a knowing grin.

"Oh yeah, and besides, we need someone to make sure things run smoothly on this end."

"No problem dude. So you want us to hunker down for the time being?"

"Nah dude, just keep pace. By the time you guys get there, we should be done with those Chaos mofos."

"And if you're not?"

"Get ready to bail us out."

"Alright," Henry and Tangmo clasped hands then gave each other a bro hug, "don't get kill dude."

"I'll try my best," Tangmo watched Henry walk away before turning to the remaining guardsmen. "You guys ready to kick some ass?"

"Always," Orhul hearty nod was mirrored by Meko, Krix, Luva, Pollius and Hera as they swiftly inspect the integrity of their weapons, ejecting magazines and gazing down the iron sight. Leilatha remained stoic however, her temperament still sour.

"Coming commissar?" Tangmo asked. "I can always use an extra capable hand."

"I suppose someone need to be present when your inevitable failure comes to pass," Leilatha said snootily and shouldered Orhul aside to come and stand beside him. Tangmo was rolling his eyes when a bright voice chimed above:

"Good luck!"

Leaning out of the side window, waving energetically like a maiden giving her goodbye to a knight marching off to battle was Tyra, the pilot enthusiasm putting a smile on the men's faces, not much for the women.

"Thank you captain," Tangmo waved back with a smile.

"Stay safe sir," Tyra gave a bashful reply before sliding back into the truck, the red in her cheeks rising to match the shade of her hair. Chuckling, Tangmo returned his attention forward and was about to strode off when he saw Leilatha's gaze lingering where Tyra has been, cold and calculating. When her eyes met his, there was a glint of undeniable malice to it, and he knew immediately what was going through the lady commissar's mind.

"Don't," Tangmo gave his low warning.

"We'll see," Leilatha cold indifferent was starting to piss Tangmo off, but thankfully, a petite voice quickly doused his rising anger.

"She seems to really like you sir."

"Huh? Oh yes, it would appears so, although I think it's just a school girl crush kinda thing, ya know?"

"Actually, I don't sir."

"Well, you see, its…wait a minute, Korri?!"

Tangmo could only gape at the Whiteshields captain, who returned his gawking shock with a cute little salute.

"Umm…you're here…without Krillen," Tangmo managed. "Weird."

"I can go where ever I want!" Korri huffed testily, her steps becoming more forceful.

"I'm sure you can, it's just…I don't know, you're like Peter Pan's shadow, I keep expecting Krillen to show up and sew your hip to his like a Siamese twin."

"Little girl need to grow up someday," Krix walked up to the pouting Korri and threw her arm around the smaller girl in a sisterly embrace, "stick with me kid, I'll show everything I know and more."

"Hopefully not everything," Luva spoke up with a hint of revulsion, "unless your goal is to despoil the girl of her innocence and chastity."

Krix was opening her mouth when Tangmo spun sharply on them, a warning finger wiggling.

"Behave ladies."

"She started it," Krix mumbled as Korri went to stand behind Tangmo.

"You're right," Tangmo gave Luva a half pleading, half coercing look. "Apologize sergeant, that wasn't nice."

"You were always good at sucking up," Luva scoffed, the innuendo hard to miss.

"Luva…" Tangmo continued sternly.

"…Sorry," Luva spat the word like it was something vile.

"Apology accepted," Krix was nauseatingly sweet as she blew Luva a kiss, the scout sergeant look about ready to shoot her then and there. Thankfully, before anymore drama can transpire, Tangmo and his troupe reached Ruven's foremost truck, where Krillen and Xiphos stood waiting with their men, the Cadian and Kolasian were lined up in crisp ranks and files, fearsome in their discipline. Xiphos saluted, while Krillen eyed Korri close proximity with him crossly.

"Nothing happened," Tangmo said quickly then raised his voice to Ruven above. "The general will join you shortly with new orders lieutenant, for now, maintain current speed."

Ruven gave a loud 'yes sir' in response as Tangmo walked to the head of the column with Luva and Leilatha at his side and said, "we go now to vanquish our foe and reclaim Adelfotita square in the name of the God Emperor. The enemies are well fortified and outnumber us by three to one, but the traitors will soon learn that such insignificant trifles are poor detriment against the courage of Imperial Guardsmen. Make them regret turning from the Emperor's light, make them tremble before our fury, and make them despair as they drew their last breath."

The guardsmen were really getting hyped now, nodding and shouting their agreement with barely restrained gusto.

"Forward guardsmen!" Tangmo drew his laspistol and bounded down the street, "in the name of the Emperor, let none survive!"

With a short, bellowing war cry, the combined column of guardsmen thundered down the street, the quickened tempo of their feet rocking the thoroughfare like a miniature quake. After about twenty minutes of lively jog, limbering up the lazy muscles after the languid march, the guardsmen slowed their pace as Luva wordlessly led them into an alleyway of semi-standing buildings, some whole, some gutted, the pounding footfall from before muting to a dull thump as they snaked through the maze of rockcrete.

It was about forty minutes later that Pollius came rushing up to Luva.

"Sergeant!" He kept his voice low.

"What is it?" Luva asked him.

"The butcher shop I was telling you about is just around the corner," he pointed down a crumbling corridor, "I'm pretty sure the tunnel is still there."

"How far are we from the square?" Tangmo asked Luva.

"Three blocks sir," Luva answered. "Do you want to check this place out?"

"I don't see why not," Tangmo nodded at Pollius. "Lead the way dude."

The Kolasian flashed a grin and swiftly scampered across the rubble strewn road until they came upon a low roof building, reeking rot and buzzing with choir of flies. Striding through a gapping doorway, Tangmo found himself inside a pretty normal looking butcher shop, with metallic benches, dangling chains, racks of huge cleavers and knifes, and little drainage chutes on the floor flowing with black, putrid filth. Hanging from the rusty hooks were large slabs of meat, coated in blood, gnawed and sawed in places, the stench of decay hung heavy like a shroud.

"I guess they fixed the food problem," Tangmo attempt at a joke backfired spectacularly when, upon closer inspection, he saw that the pieces of meat were body parts, human body parts. Yep, eviscerated arms, thighs and torsos riddled with disgusting white maggots bobbed and swung like macabre wind chimes to the tunes of squealing metallic hinges. Pollius looked about ready to weep at the fate of his fallen countrymen while fearful murmur rose behind him, and a squeaky gasp that Tangmo knew belonged to Korri.

"Pollius," Tangmo grabbed the Kolasian and shook him, "hey! Pollius! Snap out of it man!"

"Huh?" Pollius eyes darted around the charnel house before coming to rest on Tangmo.

"You still with me man?" Tangmo asked.

"Yes sir," Pollius nodded hurriedly, "sorry sir, it's just…God Emperor have mercy upon their souls…"

"I understand your pain bro, but right now I need you to focus, okay? Now, where's the secret tunnel?"

"It's over here sir," Pollius crept carefully through the rows of cannibalized remains, ducking and edging around the still fresh corpses, Tangmo, Luva, Hera and a few other guardsmen following with similar reservation.

"You might want to hurry up bro," Tangmo said as Pollius flipped over a decaying wooden counter, "I don't want to be around when Leatherface shows up."

"Found it!" There was an audible collective sigh of relief when Pollius threw open a derelict sewage hatch built into the bloodstain tile floor. Before Tangmo can congratulate the man, Pollius slid down into the narrow drop. It was about five minutes later when the Kolasian voice echoed upward:

"The way's still clear, but it's a lot smaller than what my cousin made it out to be. We can only squeeze about a dozen people in here."

"You…Hera, was it?" Luva waved the guardswoman over. "Take twenty men and go with him. If the schematic is anything to go by, you should end up right underneath the enemy position. When you get there, wait until the fighting starts before emerging, by then, hopefully, the heretics would be too disoriented to counter a flanking maneuver."

"Okay," Hera whistled a few sharp notes, summoning a team of Galea wearing Kolasian, "you're not coming with us?"

"I'm still needed up top," Luva said, "good luck."

"Thanks," Hera said and followed Pollius downward with twenty Fire Guards in tow.

"You want us to close the hatch?" Tangmo called after them.

"Yes," came Pollius reply as Tangmo slammed the heavy iron door shut, the reverberating bang sounded rather ominous, like he had just doomed them to an inescapable hell or something. Oh well, no point worrying about that now, he still have a job to do.

"You're up again Luva," Tangmo led them out of the slaughterhouse.

"Yes sir," Luva tipped her barrette then led them through more labyrinthine back street. After about twenty minutes more, Luva held up her fist and gestured for everyone to be quiet as they approached the back of a strangely unscathed row of townhouses. Switching off her safety, Luva crept slowly toward one of the door, grabbed the brass knob delicately and turn, the hinges and lock making no sound. Pulling it open, Luva nudge her head at Tangmo, "don't you want to lead again sir?"

"Do mind if I do," Tangmo drew the other laspistol and slip inside, Luva, Krix, Meko, Orhul and Leilatha close on his heel. Unlike outside, the interior looked like it's been wrecked by the Tasmanian Devil. Furniture were scattered all over the place in sad broken piles, any remnant of luxury had since been stripped bare, leaving behind lacerated walls and jagged tooth floorboard pried open by hungry hands. The walls adjoining the buildings were riddled with man sizes holes, while the front were, not counting the broken windows, unmolested.

"Spread out to the other apartments, quietly," Leilatha soft command drifted behind him. Turning, Tangmo saw Xiphos directing his men to the left before leading another group right. Krillen on the other hand, took a handful of Cadian guardsmen up the revolving stairs, taking up position on the second and third floor.

"Nicely done," Tangmo told Leilatha as they snuck toward one of the broken window, parted the wispy lace curtain and peered outside. Across the two hundred yard stretch of empty roadway were another row of townhouses, defaced and desecrated by hellish explosive, revealing the multilayer interior. And crawling within those cavernous remains like worms writhing inside an open wound were the heretics, confident to the point of careless, striding around fearless of retaliation, their weapon emplacements naked to the elements with very minimal defenses. Still, there were a lot of them, easily outnumbering the three hundred guardsmen.

"Their hubris will be their downfall," Leilatha proud declaration soothed Tangmo rising nervousness.

"Agreed," Tangmo waved the guardsmen forward, a mixture of Cadian, Kolasian and Whiteshields, lasgun trained on the unsuspecting enemy across the street.

"RPG," Tangmo growled agitatedly when the men and women gave him a blank look, "rocket launchers, anybody got any rocket launcher?!"

"Here," Orhul took an RPG from a nearby Cadian guardsman, "we have six of these with five rockets for each."

"See that munitions dump over there?" Tangmo pointed at the two man tall stacks of metal gray boxes brimming with bullets and shells. "On my signal, blow it to kingdom come."

"With pleasure," Orhul shouldered the green gray tube and took aim.

"Ovin, over here," Tangmo waved the Whiteshields boy over, "go to every platoon and tell them to fire a single salvo of rockets after Orhul wasted that pile over there. After that, I want every gun to lay down a suppressing barrage on those buildings as we move to take it. Then, assuming Pollius shows up, we'll take the fight to the square itself. Got it?"

The boy bobbed his head up and down quickly.

"Good, now go tell everyone, quietly," Ovin gave a jittery salute before creeping away to deliver Tangmo's command, his footfall surprisingly lithe. Checking his laspistols as he waited for the Whiteshields boy to return, Tangmo glanced around the emaciated living room, at the faces he knows by name and those he didn't, wondering who would be left after this. A somber thought, but that's what happens when you start giving a fuck about the men and women at your side. A futile sentiment in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, but hey, he was only human.

Tangmo was banishing away the distracting thoughts when he saw Korri, again unaccompanied by Krillen, leaning next to a broken window, lasgun braced on the sill, nervous breath coming quick and heavy. Korri frowned when she noticed Tangmo staring, the look explicitly daring him to say something witty. Instead, he gave the girl a firm, encouraging nod which visibly cheered her up. Hey, just like Krix said, the girl got to grow up, let's just hope Krillen doesn't blame him if she get kill.

"Everyone's ready sir," Tangmo almost jumped when Ovin rematerialized like a freaking ghost.

"Good," Tangmo tapped Orhul's shoulder, the grenadier got down on one knee and took aim at the stash of ammo.

"Steady," Tangmo carefully parted the curtain, the barrel of his laspistol peeking through the white fabric. All round him, lasguns were slowly, soundlessly, sliding into place.

"Fire," a thunderous rush of wind answered Tangmo's quiet command as the rocket flew a twisted trajectory toward the weapon cache. He only caught a squeak of alarm when the rocket struck home, the ammo stash disappearing in a brilliant, all-consuming conflagration of searing fire. Woods, bricks, metals, people and dismembered limbs flew in all direction, some of them trailing fire.

"Holy shit dude, MLG!" Tangmo laughed as five more rockets hammered the enemy's position.

"Thank you sir!" Orhul slung the RPG over his shoulder and picked up his lasgun.

"Cry thunder and unleash the fury of the storm guardsmen!" Tangmo shouted as the smoke begin to clear. "Kill'em all!"

Las rounds lanced across the street, peppering the dazed and injured heretic in a merciless salvo, tearing those not quick enough to find cover into a spasming mess of charred meat. The return fires were pathetic, wild and panicky, only accomplishing in revealing themselves to the guardsmen who quickly concentrated their attack on the paltry resistance until nothing but burnt ruins remained. After about five minutes of gunfight, the traitor guardsmen fled their position, shooting blindly from the hip as they dashed into the townhouse's shadowy maw.

"Fix bayonets!" Tangmo bellowed, holstering one of his laspistol and drawing his sword. "Follow me carefully…"

"Glory to the first man to die! Charge!" Leilatha shouted suddenly, sword held high above her head as she leapt gracefully over the broken window and sprint across the street. Spurred by her courageous display, many of the guardsmen followed her into the breach with roaring gusto.

"Oh, for the love of fuck!" Tangmo turned to his remaining guardsmen and waved them onward. "Move out! Libera et impera!"

With equal zeal, Tangmo led the remaining Cadian and Kolasian after Leilatha's band. They were nearing the smoldering building when red flashes flew to meet them, dropping several nameless guardsmen as they leapt into the gutted interior, where the regrouping heretics were waiting for them.

"Fuck them up! Fuck them up!" Tangmo took down two traitor guardsmen with his laspistol when a saber wielding officer barreled into him, swords locked as the man pressed him up against the wall. Broadsword and saber grating an inch from both their faces, Tangmo braced his leg and launch a Muay Thai knee into his sternum. Doubling over, the man was gagging for breath when Tangmo impaled him to the hilt with the broadsword. Twisting the blade, Tangmo wrenched the sword free and let him dropped to the ground, steaming gut poured from his savaged abdomen.

Cleaning his sword on the dead man's coat, Tangmo rushed across the vast vaulted chamber, stabbing, slicing and shooting any heretics that came within reach. During the brief break between the killing, Tangmo saw Meko stabbing a cultist lying on the floor, Orhul beating the holy crap out of another with the butt of his rifle, Krix laying down a barrage that took out five troopers that were ganging up on Luva and Korri saving Leilatha with an impossibly accurate shot that decapitated a traitor guardsman. The melee lasted only a few minutes before the traitors made another hasty retreat, this time bounding for the big awning entrance at the end of the hall.

"Forward! They're fleeing! Forward!" Like before Leilatha drove the men onward, bloody sword blazing crimson above her head. Adrenaline overriding critical thinking, Leilatha and the guardsmen were storming after the heretics when concussive heavy bolters rounds tore into the walls.

"Look out!" Tangmo speared Leilatha to the ground and dragged her behind a sturdy marble pillar as subsonic heavy bolts turned the charging guardsmen into exploding gibs, blood sprayed across the room in spectral mist before drenching everything in slick sheen of scarlet.

"Let go of me!" Leilatha screamed as Tangmo threw himself on top of her. "Coward! Stand and fight!"

"Stay down you dumb bitch!" Tangmo bellowed over the unceasing roar of gunfire and whistling shrapnel.

"You gutless whoreson!" Leilatha yelled. "We're pinned down here! We need to keep moving forward and charge the guns!"

"Are you that fucking stupid?! We're gonna get cut to pieces!"

"Weaklings! Push forward damn you! For the Emperor!"

"Oh, hell no! You're not gonna get us killed for some retarded vainglory shit!"

"Get off me!"

"Wait!" Tangmo eased himself slowly off Leilatha, noticing just then that the heavy bolters had stopped firing, the tumultuous destruction that had reigned a second ago replaced with eerie serenity.

"Sound off! Anybody still alive?!" Tangmo raised his voice, ignoring the squirming Leilatha beneath him.

"Still here sir!" Orhul voice echoed from somewhere.

"Both the heavy bolters are jammed!" Luva and a group of Whiteshields led by Korri crawled toward the pocked wall.

"This is our chance!" Leilatha knocked Tangmo off and rose to her feet, sword drawn. "To me guardsmen! Take the fight to the heretic! On…hmph!?"

Leilatha never finished her sentence as Tangmo clasped his hand over her mouth and threw his free arm around her torso, wrapping the lady commissar up in a rather inappropriate looking, but necessary, reverse bear hug, for the good of the regiment of course.

"Orhul, you still got that rocket launcher?" Tangmo asked, tightening his grip on Leilatha who kicked and writhed viciously against his unbreakable hold, her muffled scream sounded less than polite.

"Right here sir," Orhul was shouldering the weapon when the pounding of bolters resumed from elsewhere down the line, most likely directed at the other advancing platoons.

"Kill those guns, would you please," a glowering Leilatha still thrashing in his arms, Tangmo crept toward the splintered doorway and was greeted with a sight he didn't expected to see in the 40k universe. Besides the usual armaments and crude Chaos effigies and graffiti, Adelfotita square actually reminded him of those pristine opulent open places you see in Star Wars and Star Trek, with trees, shrubbery, benches, smaller buildings, paved clean path and fountains surrounded by towering glass buildings of various height and geometrical shapes.

"When you're done with those bolters," Tangmo continued, "advance slowly, use every available cover and drive those Chaos fucks back. I don't know where Pollius and Hera is, but I'm not waiting for them. Right now, we do what we can. And for the love of the God Emperor, don't go charging off like some brain dead moron, alright?"

"Got it sir," Orhul concurred readily and fired the RPG, like before the rocket hit its mark, turning the heavy bolter inside out and shredding the crew into unrecognizable pulp of minced meat. The other gun, an autocannon Tangmo now saw, was consumed by a hellish fireball after taking a rocket to the barrel. Once again, the heretics quickly fall back to another position, a cluster of small buildings that looked kinda like concession stands.

"Keep your heads down and move out," Tangmo shouted as the Imperial Guards advanced, cautiously, outside. "Stick to cover and take out those guns pinning the others down, then - OW! BITCH!"

Yelping, Tangmo pushed Leilatha away with a pained hiss, his gaze held unbelieving on the deep, reddening crescent teeth mark adorning the web between his thumb and forefinger.

"You fucking bit me!" Tangmo glared indignantly at the fuming Leilatha. "Fuck! Now I'm gonna get rabies!"

"It's the least of what you deserve," Leilatha seethed, sheathed her sword, drew her laspistol and walked into the square. Giving his hand a few shakes, Tangmo slid his broadsword back into its scabbard and headed after Leilatha, drawing his second laspistol as he went.

"Stop following me!" Leilatha spat as Tangmo joined her behind a bench.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you out of my sight," Tangmo shot back, "where ever you go, I go, got it?!"

Grumbling under her breath, Leilatha gave one exasperated sigh and said, "fine, but if you ever lay your hands on me again, I'm going to break your neck, are we clear?"

"Ha! You can't even fight out of my Kung-Fu grip and you're gonna break my neck? Bitch, please."

Letting out an infuriated cry, Leilatha leapt over the bench and ran across the square, firing her sidearm vehemently at the heretics cowering behind bushes and trees, pinned in place by the guardsmen determined fire. Chuckling, Tangmo hurried after her and found the lady commissar ducked behind a large, but dry, fountain, depicting what he assumed was a Sister of Battle with wings. Huddled around her was a squad of Cadian guardsmen and a platoon worth of Whiteshields, Meko, Orhul and Korri among them.

"Good to see y'all alive," Tangmo reloaded his laspistols.

"We're pushing them back sir," Meko fired a couple of shots, painful bay answered him. "They left this place pretty undefended."

"Lucky us," Tangmo agreed, "where's Krix and Luva?"

"Over there," Meko pointed at a small blocky building being besieged by the two sergeants and their squad. Believing at first that the two guardswoman had put aside their difference and were working together, Tangmo was horrified to see them taking the opportunity to, subtly, harm each other. Sneaking toward one of the slit window spewing gunfire, Luva was sliding the barrel of her lasgun into the opening when Krix sprayed the area with a wild barrage of lasbolts, many almost hitting the shrieking scout sergeant who bolted out of the way like a startled hare.

"Prepare to breach, follow me!" Krix called her squad over as the defenders fled deeper into the cramp, bunker like structure. Pressing herself flat beside the entrance, Krix carefully eased the door open and tossed a primed grenade inside. Dust billowed from the narrow crevice, the muffled boom tinged with agony. Kicking the door open, Krix was the first to rush inside, unaware of the grenade Luva had tossed in a second earlier.

"Fuck!" The blast sends Krix flying back outside, but beside a few cuts, she was luckily unharmed. Coughing, she glared at Luva who casually strolled away to rejoin her befuddled squad.

"What in the fuck is wrong with those two, man?!" Tangmo blurted, unbelieving of what he was witnessing.

"Umm…friendly rivalry?" Meko gave a faltering grin.

"What a shameful display," Leilatha added disgustedly as the heretic began another retreat, only to get struck down by superheated laser beam that send them skidding lifelessly across the ground. The shots were singular, lethal in its accuracy and coming from their position. Glancing right, Tangmo, Meko, Orhul and Leilatha could only gaped at Korri, her face twisted into a jittery grimace, squeaking every time she pulled the trigger but managing to drop one traitor after another, every flash of the muzzle meant another heretic dead, a sizzling hole punched through their skulls, guts and chests.

"Keep up the good work Korri!" Tangmo gave her a thumps up.

Korri gave a straggled laugh when a circular marble building in front of them exploded in a brilliant puff of flame, sending rock pieces scything through the air, foggy shapes of fleeing guardsmen darted across the veil of dust like ghost. A triumphant, but most definitely heretical, cry resounded across the square as six 40k version of the M1 57 mm anti-tank gun, decorated with spikes and skulls and being pushed by mewling Chaos slaves, rolled into view. Training their barrels out in a wide arch, the artillery pieces began firing indiscriminately into the ranks of guardsmen, turning many of the covers into gore slick crater, bringing the advance to a grinding halt.

"Krillen!" Korri shrieked and was about to abandon her position when Leilatha pulled the girl back into cover, holding her in a vice like grip. Following the girl desperate crawling hands, Tangmo spotted Krillen, drenched in blood, lying flat on the ground as he fought desperately against the heretic's overwhelming counterattack. Krillen was trying to move when a shot went through his shoulder in a mist of ruby, the colonel howled then went still.

"Big brother! No!" Korri kicked and screamed against Leilatha as she tried to dash for Krillen. Not far from where he laid, Krix, Luva and their squads were pinned behind a rectangular building by four heavy stubber guns that looked vaguely like a Vietnam war M60, rendering them unable to rescue the stricken colonel.

Sighing dejectedly, Tangmo turned to Meko and shouted, "Covering fire! Light them up! Give them hell!"

"Covering fire!" Meko repeated the command as Cadian and Kolasian guardsmen popped above their cover and laid down a concentrated volley on the artilleries emplacement, stuttering the heretic's attack for a few precious seconds that Tangmo used to dash for the downed Krillen in a balls-out display of courageous insanity. Ignoring the las and bullets whizzing around him like demented wasps, Tangmo kept his head low and managed to reach Krillen with only a few scratches on his awesome commissar coat, sliding the last few feet so that he was lying next to the injured colonel.

"Oh good, you're alive," Tangmo said as he observed Krillen's shoulder, the bullet going in and coming out clean the other side.

"Here to finish the job?" Krillen spat.

"Nah, I'm here to bail your ass out," Tangmo ducked when a lasbolt scorched the top of his awesome commissar cap. "Can you walk?"

"There's a rockcrete lodged in my right thigh, what do you think?"

"Well shit, guess we're doing this the hard way," Tangmo grabbed Krillen and pulled him closer.

"What the hell are you doing?! Argh!" Krillen screamed as Tangmo draped him across his shoulder and carried him off the ground.

"Shut the fuck up you pussy!" Tangmo shouted as he carried Krillen toward where Krix and Luva were hunkered down and threw the colonel unceremoniously off when they reached the rockcrete cover.

"Fuck yeah, Forest Gump that bitch!" Tangmo whooped loudly and drew his laspistols. "Still kicking Krillen?"

The colonel only gave an annoyed, and quite ungrateful sounding grunt as a medic went over to check his injuries.

"I'll take that as a yes," Tangmo shrugged and crept to the edge of the wall, stealing a quick peek to find that every gun, stubbers and artilleries, were being trained on his position. Fuck.

"Orders sir?" Luva and Krix approached him.

"Welp, it's been nice knowing the both of you," Tangmo flashed a goofy smile.

"I'm sorry sir?" Krix gave him a questioning look.

"Those Chaos assholes are about to blow this place straight to hell, so…yeah, we're about to die."

Krix and Luva traded glance then, seemingly unhappy with the fact that they were about to die together when screams erupted from the heretic's line, the blessed pops and fizzes of ionized air punctured the inhuman screeching. Poking his head over the wall, Tangmo couldn't help but laughed like a maniac as Pollius and Hera, along with their twenty scouts, plowed into the Chaos rear.

"Okay, my bad, we're not the one dying," Tangmo held up his laspistols, smiling ear to ear, "they're the one dying. To me guardsmen! Charge!"

With an all-conquering roar, the guardsmen thundered out of cover only to find the Kolasian already finishing off the last of the heretics.

"Oh, come the fuck on!" Tangmo threw his hands down, disappointed that he didn't get to kill anything.

"Sir!" Pollius saluted, his bayonet dripping dark ichor.

"Fantastic fucking job private!" Tangmo holstered his laspistols and gave the Kolasian a hearty slap on the shoulder. "But goddamn, couldn't have come a little sooner? We almost died out there!"

"Sorry sir, but the tunnel was choked full dead bodies," Pollius continued. "The heretics have been dumping corpses in there for a week, there was barely any room to move."

"Messy. Anyway, thanks for the timely rescue my man, a second more and we would've been toast for sure."

"Thank you sir," Pollius slung his lasgun over his shoulder and turned to Hera. "Ready the explosives, we're destroying the guns."

"Whoa! Hey! No, no, no, we're not destroying these," Tangmo cut in.

"But sir, they're Chaos weapons, it's tainted," Hera explained.

"Yeah, but it's not like the damn thing gonna start growing teeth and bite us, is it?" Tangmo started good naturedly, but got a little nervous the longer he stared at the edgy Death Metal décor the heretics has given to the weapons. Seriously, this is 40k, the odds of the Ruinous power mutating an inanimate object into a killing machine exists, quite exponentially too.

"Okay…" Tangmo began again, "firsts, let's get all the spikes, body parts and heads off the guns. Then we clean it as best we can. Look, I know none of you want to touch it but we don't have the luxury of throwing weapons away, especially one that can be used against the enemy."

Agreeing murmur and nodding heads answered him, good to see the average Joe guardsmen actually possesses common sense.

"So yeah, clean the weapons and pray to the God Emperor for his protection and cleansing of the revered war machines," he glanced around the now quiet square, the cacophonic fighting that had raged moments ago seemed like nothing but a fading nightmare, "in the meantime, I say we consolidate our loses and fortify our position. We don't know if there's any more heretic hiding around here, but given our condition, I say we wait for Henry before doing a full sweep. And that's pretty much it, dismissed."

The gathered soldiers saluted crisply and went about their given task. Tangmo was wiping sweat and grime from his face when he saw Leilatha approaching him.

"What can I do for you commissar?" Tangmo put his awesome cap back on.

"Am I off your leash yet?" Leilatha tone was like steel.

"Sure, run along and play now," Tangmo gave her a smug look then. "So?"

"So what?" Leilatha snapped.

"How did I do? Have I lived up to your high standard yet?"

"Barely, your foolhardiness only prevails by the unfortunate advents of incomprehensible luck," Leilatha failed completely at hiding her rising jealousy.

"I say that's progress," Tangmo held up his hand to her face, the one she bit. "I'm still waiting for an apology."

"You should be thankful I didn't shoot you on the spot," lifting her chin high with a dainty huff, Leilatha stomped off. Shrugging, Tangmo went to assist Pollius and Hera in cleaning the M1.

"Thirty seven dead and a hundred more injured," Henry said as he and Tangmo strolled along the ringing townhouses that was breached earlier, now fortified into a competent looking defensive perimeter. Sandbags plugging every vulnerable spot, a fireteam armed with heavy weapons looted from the traitor, cleaned and sanctified, posted at every five meters.

"By 40k standard," Henry continued as they traversed the dark corridor lit up by electric lamps, darkness has fallen over Kidemonas, "this is almost a perfect score."

"An A plus for sure," Tangmo said. "Too bad you missed it man, shit was dope. How was the convoy though? Any problems along the way?"

"None at all," Henry shook his head. "It was a nice, relaxing little road trip through a deserted town ransacked by hell."

"With Tyra and Ladaee to keep you company, right?"

"Ladaee, yeah, Tyra was too busy worrying about you to even notice my charming personality."

"Well shit, you better make sure Ladaee never talk to me or another fish is gonna squirm out of your net," Tangmo chuckled. "Anyway, did you found out where the STC is?"

"Under the Ouranos research complex, across the square over there, just like Leilatha said," Henry jabbed his thumb in a vague direction behind him.

"And the research complex is…"

"The short two stories pyramid in the northern quarter."

"That little thing? You sure?"

"The actual laboratory is underground, a large network of interconnected facilities and storage units. It would take days to go through the entire thing, but since we're on a tight schedule, we've narrowed the search down to one particular sector, even that's gonna take a while."

"And you're starting the excavation first light tomorrow?"

"Yeah. It's been a long and harrowing day man, I think the men deserve a little R&R."

"I agree completely dude," Tangmo yawned, himself wanting a few hours of shut eye. "You heard anything from base?"

"The heretics tried one massive push around noon, but the defenders beat them back, resoundingly too according to Vakon. After that they just sat around and do nothing, only sending in a few skirmishing parties before falling back. They're maintaining position, as if waiting for something."

"That's fucking ominous."

"I know right? But Vakon said that the Imperial Navy are flying into bombardment position as we speak."

"…You think that's gonna go without a hitch?"

"Not a chance in hell."

Sharing a resigned laugh, Tangmo and Henry was entering a large welcoming chamber, desecrated and left in shamble like everywhere else, when excitable shouts and loud hooting greeted them, the lively cheers accompanied by quick scraping feet and wet smacks of fist on flesh. Growling, Tangmo and Henry let out a slew of curses as they approached the ring of whooping people congregating on another bout of cross regimental boxing match.

"I swear to God, Krillen's dead this time," Henry pulled out his laspistol.

"And, pray tell, what have I done to earn such punishment?"

Freezing in their track, Tangmo and Henry spun and found Krillen lounging lazily next to a tore up couch, a sleepy Korri swaying left and right on the leather seat, moments from dozing off.

"How's your leg colonel?" Tangmo asked, noticing how Krillen was barely limping.

"Does it matter? You're here to kill me," always the people person, jolly old Krillen.

"Apology colonel, I had thought you and Xiphos were killing each other again."

"You think me and the Kolasian can draw a crowd that big?" Krillen nudged his toward the commotion, and it was now that Tangmo heard the feminine groans and grunts, and damn, it sounded really hot too, in a violent hate sex kinda way. Sneakily removing their awesome cap, Tangmo and Henry snuck into the ring of churning, shoving people until they found a nice little spot behind the front row that hid their uniform while granting them an unobstructed view on the unfolding brawl. Surprise, surprise, Krix and Luva bitchy spat has finally escalated into a no holds barred fight, the two guardswomen were rolling across the floor, pummeling the living shit out of each other to the adulation of the crowd. Some were even placing bet.

"I'm stopping this," being the gentleman that he is, Henry was about to interrupt the two ladies when Tangmo snatched his arm and held him in place.

"Oh no, you fucking don't," Tangmo said.

"Bro, what are you doing?!" Henry tried to pull away but Tangmo grip was like a python.

"I can't let you stop a catfight dude."

"Catfight?! It's a freaking UFC match!"

"Dude, their body armors are gone and their shirts ain't gonna last long. Five minutes, that's all I'm asking."

Henry slowly succumbed to Tangmo's poisonous words and glanced back at the fight, Luva was straddled atop Krix and raining wild, inaccurate punch on her while the flamer sergeant yanked savagely on the scout sergeant black locks, trying to pull every strand of hair from her scalp.

"Well…" Henry stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I guess we can always intervene before they kill each other."

"Think of as a…physical couple therapy session."

Henry was about to accept Tangmo's bullshit explanation when Luva was launched across the floor by Krix's kick. The crowd roared as Krix sprang back on her feet and barreled for Luva. With a breathless grunt, Luva was tackled face first to the ground with Krix landing on top of her. Then, to the gathered soldiers hollering satisfaction, Krix began grinding her shapely hip on Luva round, firm bottom. The scout sergeant screamed and thrashed against the ignominy as the flamer sergeant leaned in closer, fingers digging into the other woman's wrists as she pinned her to the ground.

"Get off me you fucking whore!" Luva screeched and tried mightily to dislodge Krix.

"Not liking the position, little miss?" Krix breathe huskily into Luva's ear.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

"Aww, but your mother liked it so much."

Welp, that did it. With a monstrous roar, Luva broke free of the grip and swung her elbow up, hitting Krix squarely in the skull, sending the dazed woman staggering to the side. Both were back on their feet a second later, this time with combat knife brandished, sizing each other up like a lioness and a tigress moment before locking claws.

"That's our que," Tangmo put on his awesome commissar cap, drew both his laspistols and kicked the guardsmen in front of him to clear a path into the ring, the man flew a good four feet, turned with a snarl but quickly scampered away after seeing who he was.

"Drop the knives ladies, drop it!" Tangmo bellowing command shut the crowd up. Krix and Luva stared at him and, wordlessly, sheathed the knives and held up their hands in surrender.

"Very good," Tangmo flicked his laspistol, "front and center."

Bruised faces stern, Krix and Luva marched up to Tangmo and stood at attention before the commissar, unfaltering in discipline despite the disheveled state of their uniform.

"Take off your belts, now," a glint of confusion and hesitation flashes in their eyes, but the two guardswomen complied, undoing the clasp and letting the belt and webbing falls to the ground.

"Henry, into position please," Tangmo holstered his guns as Henry walked around to stand behind the apprehensive women. "Do the honor my main man."

"Luva, Krix," Henry gave them both sharp tap on the shoulders, his face rueful and apologetic, "Thai Kick."

"Eyes forward," Tangmo strode behind them, gave the air a few jabs before getting into a Muay Thai stance, knees bent and leg arching back. Before neither of them could comprehend what was happening, Tangmo kicked Luva squarely in the left buttock, sending the woman off her feet with a shriek as she landed gracelessly a few feet away, hands covering her behind. Krix was starting to laugh when Tangmo administered the same punishment on her, the sergeant squawked like a chicken as she rolled around in pain next to Luva.

"Hoist them up again," Tangmo said and Henry grabbed Luva's arm, "still got the right cheek."

"No! Don't!" Luva twisted like a child trying to flee her parent, but Henry grip was firm and unyielding. Krix tried to crawl away but was stopped by Leilatha of all people. The commissar pulled her up roughly until she was standing next to Luva.

"Please! Not again! Don't! Argh!" Tangmo ignored Luva begging and kicked her again, this time she collapsed to the floor in a quivering sob.

"Mercy! Commissar, please! Mercy! Yeeargh!" And Tangmo did the same with Krix. Now both women were sniveling and rubbing their ravaged bottom, face red with shame.

"Now, ladies," Tangmo leaned in closer, causing Krix and Luva to flinch away in fear, "I hope that next time a misunderstanding occurs, you two will settle things in a nice and calm fashion. Sounds good?"

"Yes sir! Whatever you say!" They nodded hurriedly.

"That's very nice to hear," Tangmo then swept his unnervingly sweet smile over the crowd. "Who's next?"

Like spooked galls the guardsmen scattered to the four winds, some colliding into each other in haste, dodging Tangmo's nonthreatening gaze like it was some Eldar death ray. Tangmo was about to thank Leilatha for her assistant but the lady commissar had already made her Batman exit, swift, silent and faster than you can blink, leaving him with Henry and the two crying, humiliated guardswomen, their doleful eyes shimmering with hurt and betrayal.

"I'll take these two to the infirmary," playing the good cop, Henry gently helped Krix and Luva to their feet, the two woman seems caught between resentment and fear.

"You do that, I got some other places to check," Tangmo strode off, behind him he could hear Henry giving Krix and Luva comforting words, the guardswomen giving a subdue murmur in acknowledgement. For the minutes that follow, Tangmo went about inspecting the defenses. The guards were in good spirit, having performed admirably today, ready and willing if the enemy reappears. It was about an hour later that Tangmo came to a deserted part of the townhouses. Tangmo was looking around in one of the small, windowless study, going through desks and flipping open discarded books when he heard footsteps at the door. His hand darted to the holstered laspistols when he saw Krillen standing at the entrance, lasgun slung across bandaged shoulder.

"If I had wanted you dead, you'll never see it coming," Krillen stepped into the room.

"Maybe you wanted me to know who did the killing," the laspistol was in Tangmo's grip now.

"Perhaps," Krillen shrugged.

"You want something colonel?"

"I want to make it very clear that I am neither receptive or at peace with your meddling within the regiment, commissar. Personally, I found you a dangerous influence on the men, the way you speak and your strange custom are distracting them from their duty."

"Oh yeah? I don't hear any one complaining."

"I can see them faltering, they need a leader who doesn't treat everything like a joke."

"Bitch, where the fuck do you get off lecturing me about what I can and can't do? You're like a couple of years older than me, and going through some emo phase too, so it's not like you're a paragon of maturity. Also, you don't own the regiment, so don't get your panties in a twist when people got sick your mopey ass."

"The men know who leads them."

"Is there a fucking point to this? If not, then get the fuck out of my way. I have better things to do than listen to your sanctimonious bitching."

Grunting, Krillen gritted his teeth and continued. "Although I am far from attuned to your style of leadership, I give credit where it's due," to Tangmo surprise, the colonel held out his hand, "thank you for saving my life."

Tangmo glance unconvincingly at the extended gesture, "really?"

Krillen gave a sneer before forcing out a "yes sir."

Still not trusting the colonel, Tangmo trained his gun on the man and, with exaggerate caution, clasped his hands.

"Korri put you up to this, didn't she?" Tangmo smirked.

"She did," Krillen admitted and let go, "for reason unfathomable to me, she has taken a liking to you."

"So does that mean you're not going to kill me anytime soon?"

"I'm not that stupid commissar," Krillen headed for the door, Tangmo following at a safe distant.

"Oh, one more thing," Tangmo called after Krillen, who stopped midway down the corridor and glanced back. "If we survive this, I'm promoting your sister to sniper division."

Krillen was unreadable but gave a curt nod before disappearing behind a bend. Tangmo was about follow when a voice drifted into the cramp hallway, a low, chant like whisper coming in timed cadence. Laspistol still in his hand, Tangmo scanned the dim surrounding until he found a small stairway built into the wall, leading up to the second floor, the hush incantation echoing from within. Taking a deep breath, Tangmo silently ascended the iron steps, his footfalls quick and soundless like a ninja. He soon came upon an archway that leads into what used to be a bedroom, one side of the wall destroyed by the fighting, revealing the dark cityscape beyond. The only furniture that survived was a queen size bed. And seated upon the dirty sheet, legs drawn up to her chest as she rocked back and forth, was Leilatha, mumbling into her knees. Putting away his laspistol, Tangmo silently approached the lady commissar, her words becoming more discernable as he drew closer:

"I will not fail, I will not fail, I will not fail."

Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, the woman was a reverse Shinji Ikari. Instead wanting to run away, she was hell-bent on meeting and succeeding at every task that came her way, a perfectionist in accomplishment. No wonder she took the commissar position so goddamn seriously.

"I will not fail, I will not fail, I will not fail," Leilatha went on, unaware that Tangmo was now standing not two steps beside her. Up close, he can see a single streak of tear marring her beautiful face.

"No, you will not."

Leilatha bolted from her seat with a squeal, hands clutching her heart as she glared at Tangmo.

"Wha? How did you…?" Leilatha blurted.

"Heard you droning from downstairs," Tangmo sat on the bed, and damn, it was so soft he could just lie down and sleep. Oh what the hell, he was tired. Letting out a satisfied moaned, Tangmo eased his tried body on to the velvety, and admittedly dirty, duvet and pillow, feeling the knots in his back loosening one thread at a time.

"So what were you doing up here all by yourself?" Tangmo wiggled his feet.

"None of your business," Leilatha wiped the wet streak from her cheek.

"I would've let it slide if the circumstance wasn't so incriminating," Tangmo took off his awesome commissar cap and placed it on a pillow beside him. "For all I know, you could be summoning daemon."

"How dare you!" Leilatha stomped over to him.

"There are no guardsmen around, so you can drop the defensive façade. And trust me when I say that your secret will not leave this room, commissar honor."

"I just needed a moment to myself, and like all things, you have to ruin it for me."

"So who were you not going to fail?"

"Me," Leilatha answered after a moment of hesitation.

"Something of a personal mantra then? Warding off the thought of failure and encouraging yourself to be the best that you can be?"

"Of the sort, yes."

"Alright," Tangmo nodded, not wanting to pry any further as he laid there and gazed at the ocean of stars outside.

"Can you leave?" Leilatha tapped her foot impatiently.

"I like it here, it's comfortable."

"Go find somewhere else to be comfortable."

"The bed is big enough, we care share."

"That might've worked with the pilot, but you'll be disappointed to learn that I'm immune to such lecherous guile."

"You know, for someone so proper, your mind really wander to weird places," Tangmo was shaking his head when he was struck by a low tremble, weak but constant like an earthquake that seems to invade every fabric of his senses, a nuance rippling that lap against his soul.

"You feel that?" Tangmo stood up and put on his awesome commissar cap.

"I did," Leilatha came to stand beside him.

"What in the hell was…" his answer came when a muffled boom reverberated through the room, a rolling thunder that seems to originate from everywhere at once, the tremor becoming more powerful like cresting wave nearing the shore. It was then that myriad shade of purple and pink began dancing across the bedroom, moving in slow trance like rhythm, painting the walls in dazzling psychedelic hue.

"Look!" Following Leilatha pointing finger, Tangmo saw the source of the anomalous illumination. High up in the dark empyrean, a widening maw of out worldly majesty forced itself into real space, radiating a nauseating aura and spewing Lovercraftian tendrils that grew more vast and terrible with every passing second. Awestruck as he was for seeing it in real life for the first time, Tangmo was scared shitless by the sight of a Warp portal opening up above Kolasi, unknowing of who would emerged.

Turning to the equally stunned Leilatha, all Tangmo could say was:

"Well shit."