The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

"The Emperor is our savior, the Emperor is our father, the Emperor is our light. A spiritu dominatus. Domine libra nos. A morte perpetua. Domine, libra nos. Ave, Imperator. Domine, libra nos."

Zorkha watched the Sororitas nun wept her prayer, hoarse and forlorn as a man got off her spread eagle form and stepped away from the marble altar she was sprawled upon. He gave the naked woman one last appreciative look before pulling up his trouser, picked up his stubber gun leaning against a bloodstained column and headed for the chapel's exit. The man haven't taken two steps when another took his place between the nun's legs, one more in a long line snaking across the once sanctified place of worship, his hip thrusting with bestial eagerness. He howled his delight and she sobbed anew, broken orison spilling from her lips.

How long has it been since the convent was taken? Six months? Seven? Eight? A year? He never paid attention to such trivial details but their presence irked him, a distraction that steered his warriors away from the glory of battle. Still, he would be foolish to ignore his men's canal needs, and seeing the whores of the False Emperor suffer was a joy in on itself, let them glean what little pleasure they can while it last. Because soon, they will all die, Khorne has blessed this fortress to be their tomb. Although a formidable seat of power, Deep Rock fortress was never meant to hold out against a numerically superior force. Zorkha smiled, for he planned to go before the Skull Throne with a magnanimous tribute of Imperial soldiers at his side.

The heavy thud of metal sabaton on marble rumbled through the nun's baleful wail. Frowning, Zorkha spun to face the ten foot giant approaching him, colors out of time and space wreathed his ceramite armor, the sickening mass of Warp energy congregating on the spiked crown of his staff.

He wanted to spit, but opted for a stiff bow instead. One does not cross a fallen Astartes, even if he's a Tzeentch spawn.

"Lord Mykrion, you humble me with your presence," Zorkha droned pleasantly.

"Spare me your false flattery, dog of Khorne," the Space Marine hissed, sickly jade pulsed from the slits of his monstrous helm.

"What can I do for you, mighty sorcerer?" Zorkha kept his head low.

"Nothing," Mykrion voice was a raspy, ethereal thing. "It is common courtesy that you are made aware of our departure."

"I see," Zorkha's lips peeled back into a mocking smile, "best be on your way lest those Ultramarines catch you."

"Insolent little…" the air around the staff shimmered, Warp sorcery radiating in snapping tendrils. Mykrion was about to step forward when a hand reached out from the shadow behind him and caught his pauldron, so thick was the darkness that not even the eldritch light or rising sun can penetrate. Mykrion's head tilted downward, nodded a few times then stood erected once more, Warp light dispersing from his golden staff.

"Time grew short," the fallen Astartes announced. "The rite must be performed before we leave."

He tapped the butt of his staff on the floor and from the impenetrable ebon strode eight solemn figures in tattered robe. Zorkha remembered them, Sororitas that had only a few weeks ago been keeping his men intimately companied. It appears these were the enlightened ones.

"A good number," Zorkha commented.

"Agreed," Mykrion handed Zorkha a saw tooth dagger the size of his arm. "They need to be initiated."

Nodding, Zorkha took the heavy knife and walked over to the sobbing nun from before, the eight silent women shadowing him.

"Finish up," he told the skinny wretch pounding mercilessly into her, no more prayer now, just cry of purest anguish.

"Five more minutes," the man panted, sweat and saliva dripping down his leering face. Grabbing his ponytail, Zorkha threw him off the nun. The man was about to protest when a bolt decapitated him.

"Get back to walls, now!" Zorkha swept his smoking bolt pistol over the gathered warriors, sending them scrambling for the arch door, some stumbling as they hurriedly pulled up their leggings. When no one remained beside himself, the eight women, Mykrion and his guests, Zorkha strolled up to the shuddering Sororitas. Looming above the crying, blubbering woman, her eyes faraway and unfocused, Zorkha felt nothing but disgust. Better to have captured a militant order, those women at least wouldn't break so easily.

"You should rejoice," Zorkha patted the Sororitas's grime stained cheek, "your suffering is almost at an end."

Piecing focus returned to her eyes, the singular hatred honed on him. Then, using what remained of her breathe, she spat at him.

"Burn in the deepest pit of hell, traitor," she growled.

Zorkha raised his hand but stopped himself before striking the nun, instead he calmly wiped the wet spot off his chin and waved one of the women over, she complied without a word.

"You know what to do," he pressed the dagger into her hand. She gave it a look over then stepped forward.

"…Talova?" Icy recognition frosted over the nun's seething anger. "What have they done to you?"

Talova said nothing, instead flicking the dagger so that it was held inverted. Slowly, the blade descended on the nun's throat.

"Child…don't do this," the nun pleaded. "You have to fight…!"

The sharpened metal eased into her neck. The nun gagged, blood spurting from her mouth, words coming wet and red. Tightening her grip, Talova pressed the dagger deeper then pulled out, pressed then pulled, pressed then pull, the nun bucked and twitched as the blade sawed through muscles, sinews, cartilages and bones. Twinkling giggles accompanied her dying gasp, growing in maddened intensity with every splatter of blood that landed on Talova's joyful, laughing face.

The barbs have lost its stings. Father Ersako glanced around his destroyed tent, objects of worship gilded in gold, some whole, some broken, laid scattered across the carpeted floor, wet streaks of scarlet decorated the once pristine white canvas walls. No prayer to the God Emperor came as he swung the whip over his shoulder. He heard the hum of power, the slick tear of hooks rending flesh and the soft patter of spilled blood. Yet he felt not the pain or joy of purified absolution, just anger, simmering and boiling. This was supposed to be his glory, a chance to shepherd the righteous and pious to victory, to have his name exalted to the highest honor amongst the Ecclesiarchy.

But he was robbed.

Those outworlders usurped his authority and the God Emperor rewarded them with victory? Why? After toiling for so long, why was he denied triumph when it was a hairbreadth away? Was he not faithful? What has he done wrong? Why has the Master of Mankind forsaken him and cast only silence his way?

Roaring, he flagellated himself again, stroking his rage to a white hot pitch, the fire felt good, beckoning him to embrace it, a sanctuary where his doubt will be laid to rest. Red creeping into his vision, Ersako's bloody face swirled around and found his servants huddled together in the far corner, their young pretty faces contorted with fear, shaking and crying at the sight of him. They had always served his carnal needs, but now he wanted pleasure of a more visceral sort. They whimpered and wept at his approach, begged and plea to the sight of his raised whip, and screamed when the wicked barbs descend. Such beautiful music they made.

"Do I really need to go?" Tangmo whined.

"It's just a mass, stop bitching," Damien shot him a reprimanding look.

"It's not so bad dude, trust me, I've been to a lot of Sunday service," Henry chimed up.

"This other priest is probably a fucktard like Ersako," Tangmo complained.

"I heard he's pretty chill," Henry continued. "And since we don't have any holy man up on the Immortal Spirit, he might be interested in joining us."

"Oh yeah, just invite a religious nutjob onboard, that'll end well," Tangmo rolled his eyes.

"Jesus Christ, stop acting like Laura and shut the fuck up already, we're here," Damien approached a simple brown tent and held the flap open. "The sermon just started, keep your voice down."

Grumbling, Tangmo followed Henry into the calm candlelit interior, the trio taking their place at the rear of the makeshift church. It was a simple thing, with rows of benches crammed together in the center, cut in half by a small lane for people to commute, a stage and a podium bathed in soft, welcoming glow dominated the far end.

"…We are all sons and daughters of the God Emperor," the priest with a braided Middle Age hairdo orated to a packed crowd of guardsmen, his Scottish accent thick but easily understandable. "We live to serve His will, but what does that entail? What is the true meaning of service?"

Huh, Tangmo admit he didn't expect the priest to encourage any kind of thinking, just absolute, blind submission to the Imperial Creed.

"Many will say that our life is the Emperor's currency," the priest continued. "But I reject such labels, brothers and sisters. No, we are not things to simply be spent, for we are so much more than that, we are pieces of the Emperor himself."

Tangmo, Henry and Damien traded look of surprise. Good thing there weren't any Sisters of Battle around or this priest would've gotten his ass purged.

"We are His compassion," the priest roared, his powerful baritone shook the tent. "We are His mercy, we are His kindness, His patience, His understanding, His anger, His vilification. But most importantly, we are His will to defend and protect the Imperium of Man. Be ever fervent in battle brothers and sisters, but remember why you fight. You fight for those beside you, for the defenseless and for the lives yet to come. Remember this when you step into the maelstrom of war and know that you serve the Emperor and his subjects better alive than dead, and that vain glory is the surest path to damnation. Amen."

A reverent amen echoed in response as the occupants got off their seat, did the sign of the aquila and headed for the exit. Tangmo could see their grimy faces brightened with confidence and renewed purpose.

"Thank you for not shooting me, Brother Astartes," the priest walked up to the trio and bowed humbly. "After what happened with father Ersako, I was expecting a similar treatment."

"I just gave that little brat a time out, father," Damien said innocently.

"Which was about a week ago," Henry added. "Should we be worried?"

"The Korpsmen are not reporting anything weird," Tangmo said, "beside him going full Opus Dei that is."

"Yeah, I think we should start worrying," Henry grimaced.

"Father Ersako has been known to flagellate himself from time to time," the priest smiled warmly at a nun who strode up and joined them, she carried what appeared to be a cylindrical metal water cooler. She placed the tank down, scooped up a cupful and handed it to the priest who drank with a satisfied sigh. "He believes it purifies his body and spirit."

"What a fucking retard," Tangmo snorted as the nun gave him, Henry and Damien a cup each. "Thank you."

"Although his method of serving the God Emperor differs greatly from our own," the nun said. "I will respect his decision and belief. It is easy to judge, but harder to accept and understand."

"Oh my God, you sound just like my mum," Tangmo groaned.

"She is a wise woman," the nun smiled.

"Stubborn as all hell too," Tangmo took a sip, the orange drink was icy cool and deliciously sweet. "Holy shit, this taste just like…"

"Irn-Bru," Damien finished the cup with a smile.

"I see the grian leomhainn is to your liking," the priest chuckled as the nun offered Damien a second serving.

"Oh yeah, just need a dash of CO2 and this will be perfect," Henry sipped slowly. "I never did get your name father…"

"Joseph, and this is my wife Joan," he introduced himself and the nun. "We have served with the Grey Watch for the past twenty standard solar years."

"A pleasure to meet you father Joseph, sister Joan. I am Brother Damien of the Ultramarines, and these two are commissar Tangmo and general Henry," Damien bowed while Tangmo and Henry lifted up their cups in greeting. "That was an interesting sermon you've just given, father."

"Ah…" Joseph put his cup down slowly while Joan's posture stiffened. "How did you find it?"

"It rocked dude!" The couple gaped in shock at Damien's beaming face.

"Yeah, and here I was expecting some crazy shit about death, martyrdom, death, sacrifices and more death," Tangmo added. "It's nice to hear something that isn't batshit crazy for once."

"I…I don't know what to say," Joseph stammered. "T-Thank you sirs, it's just that, the reception of our sermon are usually less than complementary."

"With a healthy dosage of threat and, more often than not, physical harm," Joan added, and it was now that Tangmo noticed a bruise on her cheek, the mark looked recent.

"Ersako did that?" Tangmo asked, his mood darkening.

"Don't fret yourself laddie," Joan waved him off. "Not the first bump I got on the noggin."

"I'm gonna kill that fuck," Henry got the crazy, pissed off look in his eyes. "Seriously, I'm gonna give him a prostrate examine with my chainsword."

"I'm not worth the trouble," Joan giggled. "Besides, my husband already gave that loud mouth a good wallop across the jaw."

"I have no regret," Joseph drew Joan into a powerful embrace, his wife yelping in surprise, "even if I don't look forward to another reprimand from the Ecclesiarchy."

"If everything goes according to plan, I doubt you'll get any," Damien said.

"What do you mean Brother Astartes?" Joseph asked.

"Do you know the nature of our mission, father Joseph?" Tangmo asked.

"From what I heard around the camp, you are here to find a Standard Template Construct," Joseph went on.

"Exactly," Tangmo nodded. "Now father, you should realize by now that we are not like your usual Imperial taskforce, oh no. You see the Immortal Spirit, that's the name of our Gloriana, isn't just a flying harbinger of death but a fully functional city full of people with needs and wants. And it hasn't occurred to us until recently that we've been neglecting the civilians and soldiery's spiritual need."

The clergy pair was silent for a moment before Joseph spoke in a low, careful voice, "you want us to join your mission?"

"Bingo," Tangmo nodded.

"But sir, me and my wife are attached to the Grey Watch," Joseph said.

"If negotiation goes well, the Grey Watch and the Iron Guard will also be joining us," Henry spoke up.

"We really like your sermon, father Joseph," Damien added. "We thought it was very riveting and hopeful. You don't spur your listeners to a maddened frenzy but make them understand and embrace their duty to the God Emperor and the Imperium, logical and lacking unnecessary zeal. I believe your version of the Imperial Creed will be very popular amongst the good people of the Immortal Spirit."

Joan glanced hopefully at Joseph but the priest wore a deadly grim expression, his heavy brow furrowing.

"As inviting as your offer may be, Brother Astartes," Joseph began. "I'm afraid I must decline, for your sake."

"Please elaborate," Tangmo deadpanned.

"I am on very bad standing with the Ecclesiarchy," Joseph continued, Joan sinking deeper into his arms. "My preaching has been seen as damagingly unorthodox, some would even denounce me as a heretic. Colonel Bruce has vouched for me and my wife, but at the detriment of the Grey Watch's reputation. If you take us in, you will be stained by association, and I do not want such stigma placed upon good men."

"Heh, that's cute, he thinks we're good men," Tangmo laughed lowly and placed his cup down. "But yeah, you're still coming with us."

Joseph blinked uncomprehendingly a few times, "…did you not hear what I just said? I am blacklisted by the Ecclesiarchy, they will not hesitate to slander your name and dismantle your operation if they see you harboring a radical priest."

"They can go fuck themselves," Tangmo smirked at Joan's horrified gasp. "The situation has changed father, things in the Imperium are about to get a nasty shake up and we need a reasonable religious man on our side. And you my friend fit the bill to a tee. I mean, shit, I don't even like organized religion and I like you."

Joan's pleading brown eyes was doing a great job of softening up Joseph's guarded solemnity. After a moment, the priest sighed softly with a smile, "well sir as I said before, we're attached to the Grey Watch, it will be up to Bruce to decide."

"Oh don't worry about Bruce, we already got him and Evangeline in the bag," Tangmo was starting to cackle like a super villain when the tent flap burst open and stumbled in Elpida, the Kolasi junior tank engineer panting like she had just ran a marathon.

"General Henry!" Elpida saluted sloppily. "Something bad is happening with that priest Ersako."

"He got loose?!" Henry spun to face Elpida.

"No sir, he's still confined within his tent," Elpida went on. "But there are screams coming from inside, and the whole place stank like a butcher shop."

"Well shit, looks like we get to pop that fool for real," Damien pulled the bolter from his magnetic thigh, put on his helmet and strode for the exit after Elpida.

"Guess I'll see you later father," Tangmo gave the couple a Thai wai before dashing after Damien with Henry at his side. It didn't take them long to find Ersako's tent, a big ass wasteful looking thing situated atop a flat hill, the canvas resplendent in gold and red, and right now, surrounded by gawking PDF and guardsmen.

"Get into position! Make ready!" The guardsmen from the Immortal Spirit reacted promptly to Tangmo's command, forming up into firing line or ducking behind cover, lasguns aimed at the now silent tent from all direction. It took a louder persuasion from Damien to spur the PDF into the correct rank and files.

"Stay here Elpida," Tangmo told the girl and stomped toward the Krieg sentries maintaining position a hundred paces from the entrance. The trio was climbing up the gentle hill when a horrid stench of wet rust buffeted them like a hammer blow, almost driving Tangmo and Henry to their knees.

"What in the fuck?!" Tangmo gagged, vainly covering his mouth and nose.

"Oh God, it's in my mouth, it's in my mouth!" Henry staggered drunkenly, looking ready to retch.

"Yeah, something isn't right here," with his helmet on, Damien was unaffected by the cadaverous aroma.

"No shit!" Tangmo blinked back tears and waved at the Korpsmen. "How come they can't smell anything?"

"They're wearing gasmask, duh!" Henry pointed out the obvious.

"Oh right, completely forgot about that," Tangmo tapped a Korpsman on the shoulder. "Sergeant Rainer, what the hell is going on here?!"

"Screams, Herr commissar," the sergeant said. "It happened about twenty minutes ago, we thought at first it was father Ersako administering his daily penance on the novices, but it went far longer than his normal session."

"Did any of you go inside?" Tangmo pressed on.

"No Herr commissar."

"Good. Now get behind us, safeties off."

The Korpsmen were falling into position when Damien spoke up, his voice amplified like a megaphone.

"Ersako! We got the tent completely surrounded, put your hands behind your head and step outside, nice and slow, no sudden move. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law!"

"The Miranda Right? Really?" Tangmo irked a brow.

"Shut up, I always wanted to say that…"

"Movement!"

At Henry's words the tent flap flew open, and Tangmo stopped himself just in time before gunning down one of Ersako's servant, the boy shrieking incoherently as he stumbled toward them, his right arm flayed bloodied to the bones. Ten more emerged, all bearing grisly injuries, rolling down the hills and huddling together, weeping and shaking.

"BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD!" Ersako bulled into the open, and goddamn he looked even more fucked up than the screaming boys, with everything below his neck a mess of shredded flesh and bulging naked muscles oozing rivulet of blood. "BLOOD FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"

The trio and the Death Korpsmen lit up the air with hails of lasfire and bolts, tearing Ersako apart into wet pieces of cauterized meat. In seconds nothing remained but mutilated limbs and a boiling red pool where the priest had stood.

"Should've killed the fucker the first time we met him," Henry growled and holstered his laspistol.

"Well, sometime we need the bad guy in our midst to do the dastardly thing first before taking him out," Damien slammed a new magazine into his bolter.

"Yeah, I'm sure they enjoyed it," Tangmo waved at the pale, shivering boys, now being comforted by Joan who had followed them.

"By the Emperor," a stricken Joseph made to approach Ersako's remains but Tangmo quickly snatched his arm and held him back.

"Don't go near that thing, there could be Warp residue," Tangmo breath in a lungful of clear sweet air, the stench of rust dispersing, "everything need to be burn."

"But he was a loyal servant of the God Emperor," Joseph protested. "He needs to be given proper funeral rites."

"He became a Khornate priest right before he dies dude," Tangmo let go of Joseph. "I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna give a servant of Chaos anything resembling decency."

His words sinking in, the priest nodded sadly.

"Good, now go help your wife with those kids," Tangmo pointed at Joan then put on his earbud, giving it a few taps, "Tyra, you there?"

"Go ahead sir," sensing the urgency, Tyra adopted her serious tone.

"I need an emergency medevac at my position," Tangmo grimaced, some of the boys looked like they were going into shock.

"Yes sir," Tyra cut off the transmission.

"Ryvin, I need medics at my position now dude, this is an emergency!" Henry paced worriedly around the hill and bellowed into his earbud.

"Manaus, get the flamers and converge on father Ersako's hill," Damien relayed his orders. "I want the entire place looking like an erupted volcano in ten minutes."

"Umm…guys?" Albert uncertain voice cut through the pandemonium.

"What is it dude?" Tangmo didn't like it when Albert became meek.

"I got the data you wanted," Albert began. "But you're not gonna like what just popped up five minutes ago."

"Alright ladies and gents, operation Fuck Rohan just got fast tracked," Tangmo announced to the main characters gathered around the flat digitized map of Deep Rock fortress, Leilatha and Krillen groaning at the awesome operation name. "Because according to our friendly neighborhood Machine Spirit, some nasty shit just happened, Albert my man, the floor's yours."

"Okay, but before I get to the bad news, please allow me to update your intel," at once, every data-slate in the room blinked to life, the main characters glanced down and quickly tapped the screen. "The reading from the seismic sonar we launched last night just came back…and things just got a lot more interesting."

"In a good way or a bad way?" Henry asked.

"Well that's depend," Albert went on. "You know how we thought the fortress's interior was going to be like Helm's Deep with all the corridors and hallways being really simple and straightforward?"

"It's gonna be like Moria isn't it?" Damien was less than pleased.

"More like Erabor from the Hobbit trilogy," Albert corrected him, "as in super large and complex, so it's gonna be quite a hassle rooting out the heretics. Now, on to the actual bad news, you see, while you guys were busy killing that asshole priest, the Immortal Spirit's sensor detected a large influx of Immaterium energy coming from within the fortress."

"What does that mean?" Xiphos asked.

"A Warp portal just opened up," the room fell silent at the announcement, no hushed murmurs or whispers, just the sound of silence and quick trading of stoic looks.

"That would explain how daemons managed to possess Ersako," all eyes turned to Joseph and Joan who had just entered the command tent, both their robes still wet with blood. "It exploited his anger and frustration, found the impurity in his fractured soul and made its home there."

"Captain Joseph," colonel Bruce saluted crisply. "I didn't know you would be joining us."

"I asked you repeatedly not to call me that anymore," Joseph said exasperatedly and Bruce bowed apologetically.

"How are the boys?" Henry asked.

"The medics were successful in stabilizing them," Joan stuttered, tears forming at the edge of her eyes. "But I doubt they would last the night. Throne have mercy, they were only children!"

"They'll be fine when they get to the Immortal Spirit," Tangmo waved off her worries. "Our medical bay can work miracle."

Joan was far from convinced but relented with a nod and quickly wiped her eyes.

"How can I help you, father Joseph?" Tangmo asked.

"I understand that your mission is to secure the STC, lord commissar," Joseph went on. "I know this is highly irregular and presumption of me, but I judge you to be a good man and would at the very least listen to my plea."

"I have my own broken moral compass father, I'm hardly a good person," Tangmo said. "But go ahead, what do you want."

"Civilians sir," now it was Joan who spoke. "Innocents herded off to be slaughter. I believe they are still alive, kept somewhere within the fortress."

"I understand your frustration sister Joan, but I'm afraid…"

"Albert, do you have any idea where the prisoners might be held?" Tangmo interrupted Bruce.

"Hold on, let me check," Albert made an obnoxious beeping sound as he went over the map.

"That's the Machine Spirit on our ship, I'll explain later," Tangmo spoke up before Joseph can ask.

"Alright, so according to the thermal scan, the prisoners are inside this big ass natural cavern situated about five hundred meters beneath the fortress," Albert said. "You remember that place in the Two Towers where Eowyn took all the women and children? I'll bet one of my hard drives that it looks something like that."

"Gonna be quite a detour," Henry said. "Considering how big the place is, and I don't like splitting up."

"Well, you kinda gotta go down there anyway, what with the bomb and everything."

Albert nonchalant announcement was predictably met with stunned silence.

"I'm sorry, what?" Damien was the first to recuperate from the shock.

"Yeah, the entire place is rigged," Albert continued. "The heretics are preparing to blow the fortress straight to hell if they're overrun. The good news is that the detonator is not far from where the prisoners are being held, and my reading shows that it's a medium size jury rigged computer, so I can easily guide the disarmament from here."

"I seriously don't know whether to be glad or stressed out right now," Tangmo shook his head and let out a sigh, sweeping his gaze over the main characters before saying, "You guys know what do, get ready, we deploy in an hour. About damn time we Uruk-Hai this bitch."

Saluting, the main characters headed out of the command tent.

"Rie, you ready?" Henry spoke into the mic from his gun hatch atop the King Ghidorah, surveying the lines of tanks arrayed six kilometer from Deep Rock fortress. The no man's land lay bare before them, a perfect killing field for the formidable heavy cannons and artillery emplacements lining the battlement. And to top it off, a shimmering Void shield covered the entirety of the stronghold, it's gonna take some serious pounding from every artillery in their army to even make that thing stutter. Too bad for the heretic, they don't need a barrage.

"The Megumin is ready sir!" The chirpy brunette gave her horrifyingly enthusiastic reply.

"Begin phase one of operation Fuck Rohan," Henry said then changed his frequency to a wide transmission for every Imperial unit to hear. "Everybody take cover!"

Around him gunners disappeared beneath their hatches, while drivers and passengers of the Chimera troop carriers and Tauros jeeps, the Grey Watch lightning attack units, threw on their sun goggles. For Henry, he reached into his awesome general coat and withdrew a newly minted Ray-Ban sunglass, made by a very talented craftsman up on the Immortal Spirit, and put it on with a flourish.

Oh yeah, now he really feels like Patton, or Joakim Broden before he brings the house down at Falun.

A low hum rose in volume behind Henry, ending with an air shattering boom as the Megumin's purple energy ball soared toward the Void shield. It struck with an earsplitting bang, the mountains around them wobbled and swayed from the impact, blinding kaleidoscope light bloomed like a second sun. When the colorful lightshow ended, nothing remained of the Void shield but residue of static energy jittering across the air, smoke rose from one of the building inside the wall. Henry wouldn't be surprised if every generator inside Deep Rock fortress was fucking dead now.

"Subarashii Rie!" Henry spun on the unmoving Megumin to see Rie crawling out of the hatch, smiling brightly, a decanter held up in salute. Henry gave her a corna, put away his Ray-Band and made sure that his muffled headphone was snug tight over his ears before bellowing, "Ruven, Vakon, phase two baby, tear down that wall!"

Shells flew from the Imperial line on roars of thunder, streaking across the empty field and hammering the thick wall of iron and stone in hellish fire, those upon the parapet and watchtowers can do nothing but die under the merciless bombardment. In less than half an hour, the mighty wall collapsed into a monstrous cloud of churning dust that rushes across the field like an angry tempest. Ordering the ceasefire, Henry waited until the ashy soot settled to reveal a few lonely, defiant jagged pieces of wall rising out of the ground amidst the flat, smoking ruins.

"Phase three dudes, forward!" Henry grabbed his dual heavy bolters as the King Ghidorah, the Nynaeve and the four other Macharius lurched forward, forming the spearhead of the assault, the Cadian and Krieg Leman Russ making up their flanks. Storming across the field, every tank along the vanguard unleashed their payload, shells and lasers tore into the courtyard and buildings beyond, preventing the enemy from forming a coherent defense. Above him, missiles and bombs fall from the sky on streamers of vengeful fire as Tyra and the air force pummeled the gun emplacements inside the fortress with precision strike. Pitiful lasfire and tracer rounds shot ineffectually into the sky as the Valkyries banked away back into high orbit.

"All tanks, hold fire!" Henry shouted when a company of Tauros sped passed them and shot toward the destroyed courtyard, heavy melta and lasgun blazing, "Tangmo, all yours dude!"

"Pedal to the metal solider!" Tangmo yelled into the mic then pulled the muffle headphone off his head, threw it down the hatch and put his earbud back on. "Everybody make ready, we're in the danger zone now!"

Pulling the cocking lever of his double heavy bolters, loaded with Kraken armor piercing rounds, Tangmo watched the crazy Scotsmen and women charged toward the gapping, destroyed wall like George Miller's road warriors. The Chimera roared and picked up speed but there was no way they can catch up with the Grey Watch.

Tangmo couldn't help but cheered when the Tauros flew into the courtyard, taking off on makeshift ramps of fallen stone and disappearing into the thicken veil of smoke. Around him two hundred Chimera from Cadia, Krieg and Mordian regiment, each holding thirty guardsmen, rushed across the open plain unhindered, reaching the breached wall within minutes. Expecting to see dead guardsmen everywhere, Tangmo let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the Grey Watch had successfully secured the courtyard. Sure, a couple of dead bodies and flaming jeeps can be seen, while several more guardsmen writhed in agony on the cobbled ground with medics tending to them, but the situation was, all in all, pretty damn good.

"Secure the perimeter! In the name of the Emperor, let none survived!" Roaring, Tangmo jumped out of the hatch and ran down the length of the Chimera, firing his dual laspistols as he went, dropping a few stunned heretics along the way before corkscrewing off the roof and sticking an impressive superhero landing. Evangeline and her Mordian Iron Guards gapped at the display, the Grey Watch however nodded approvingly.

"Spread out and secure every vulnerable position colonel," Tangmo told Evangeline before dashing for the nearest jeep, where he found Bruce strolling casually along the perimeter, giving orders and shouting encouragement to his ducking guardsmen, a laspistol in one hand and a basket-hilted claymore in the other.

"Not afraid of getting shot colonel?" Tangmo took cover beside captain Aileen.

"Bah! A wee little las bite never hurt anybody!" Bruce grinned and fired a couple of shot at a marble column.

"And are those bagpipes?!" Tangmo noticed just then that the cacophonic firefight was warring with the shrieking pipes. The pipers, not giving two fucks about the bullets and las flying over their heads, walked slowly along the embattled line and played on.

"Aye sir! It lifts the spirits, wouldn't you say!?" Bruce laughed.

"By the Throne, I told you to cease with that infernal music!" Evangeline, Leilatha, Krillen and the main characters joined them. "It's distracting and is positively dreadful to the ears!"

"That was unnecessary hurtful lass!" Bruce shot back indignantly.

"Leilatha, reinforced the line here and concentrate your fire on those buildings over there. Krillen, Hildebrandt, Evangeline, clear this area and set up the heavy guns, we are fortifying this position. And you!" Tangmo waved over a piper and a drummer major, the two musicians rushing over. "Cut it out with that Skye Boat Outlander theme and play that song I showed you."

"We didn't have much practice sir," the piper major said. "It might not be up to standard."

"I don't care! I had it up to here with this Claire Fraser bullshit, now play the march major, double tempo!"

"Aye sir," the piper got up, the drummer following suit, and shouted over the roaring gunfire, "new song! On my mark!"

Smirking devilishly at the grimacing Evangeline, Tangmo watched the drummer struck up a rousing fast rhythm for the powerful bagpipes to join in.

"For the Emperor!" Tangmo laughed like a lunatic and gunned down a squad of dumbass heretic trying to rush them with nothing but pikes and halberds, the booming song igniting fires in his veins. Three shells pounded into the tall iron doors two hundred yard in front of them, shattering the entrance and everything around it into rubble, peppering the guardsmen in dust and debris. But the band played on.

Spinning around, Tangmo saw the King Ghidorah rolling into the courtyard, every gun beside the main turrets raising hell in all direction, bolts, melta and strange golden lightning driving the heretics back into the fortress proper. Behind the King Ghidorah came the Nynaeve, her powerful main laser melting everything it touches, stone, metal and flesh alike incinerated out of existence. Behind the angry tank came another Macharius, her guns silent for the moment.

Henry, Ladaee and Elpida quickly climbed down the King Ghidorah's flank and sprinted to where Tangmo was.

"Are you fucking serious man?!" Henry laughed. "Is that the JSDF theme from Godzilla?!"

"Hell yeah!" Tangmo slammed new magazines into his laspistols.

"Highland bagpipers playing a Godzilla's song, now I can die happy."

"Hopefully not today," Ladaee piped up.

"Nope, not for a long while," Damien joined them with his squad of Space Marines. "We ready to go?"

"Yeah, before that," Tangmo pointed at the gatehouse looming above them to the right, more specifically the fuck huge cannon aiming down at them. "…Fuck."

"Incoming!" Damien and his squad dashed behind a Rhino transport tank while Tangmo and the lowly mortal soldiers can do nothing but lay flat on the ground and waited for the boom. Goddamn it, he knew he'd forgotten something! In the Two Towers movie, when the Uruk-Hai broke down the wall, their testudo troops also managed to capture the main gate and the surrounding towers. Having brought the wall down so easily and more concerned with the actual fortress, they had completely forgotten about the gatehouse. Welp, looked like they were going to pay for it now. And yet the band played on.

The resounding explosion came, accompanied by a powerful searing gust that rushed over them like a tsunami. Coughing dust and gravels, Tangmo was honestly surprised that he was still alive. Disoriented, his ears ringing, Tangmo glanced toward the muffled shouts that belonged to Henry and saw the Nynaeve, her flank dented and on fire, whirling toward the gatehouse, guardsmen fleeing from her path. The Nynaeve was half way across the courtyard, the jerk and lurch motion told Tangmo that the crews were trying to stop her, when the other Macharius crashed into her and pushed her aside.

"What in the bloody ashen fuck!?" The Nynaeve's driver, Vatthew, bellowed into Tangmo's earbud, the frequency must've gotten scrambled when they got hit.

"Stand down Vatthew and keep that thing under control," a commanding woman's voice shot back. "Prepare the main gun, fire at will."

The Macharius's main turret rose to meet the tower, steam hissing from the rectangular barrel as a high-pitched squeal, not that dissimilar to a boiling kettle, ran up its length. When the shrieking reached its zenith, the Macharius unleashed a powerful purple energy beam that struck the gatehouse like a battering ram, the kinetic force shattering the building into molecular smoking pieces, the scene reminded Tangmo of when Ramiel wrecked Shinji and Unit-01.

"Tangmo!" Henry sprinted up to him. "You okay man?"

"Yeah," Tangmo nodded quickly. "And everybody else?"

"Still in one piece and super pissed," Damien chuckled. "You ready?"

"Fuck yeah," Tangmo twirled his laspistols and shouted. "We proceed as planned! You know where to go, move out! As for those following me, let's go!"

With that, Tangmo dashed down a corridor filled with billowing smoke toward a wide, one story building that would lead him and his team into the under belly of Deep Rock fortress.

"Play loud, play hard pipers!" Henry raised his laspistol high and led his men in a gallant charge toward the main keep, a towering multi floor monstrosity carved into the very mountain itself, every windows, doors and gaping holes spewing hot lasfire. Around him guardsmen died, Cadian, Kolasian, Krieg, Mordian and Sleaghadharian, their bodies flopping midstride and tumbled to the ground in broken heaps. But the Imperial Guardsmen leapt over the dead and pressed onward, firing as they went, the furious salvo driving the heretic back behind cover. Pipers and drummers, brave musician with adamantium balls, marched at the vanguard, the heroic JSDF march roaring across the battlefield, spurring people onward faster.

"Hildebrandt, blow those windows up!" Henry pointed upward.

"Jawohl, Herr general," Hildebrandt calmly waved his grenadiers forward, the colonel taking the lead. "Take aim and open fire!"

The Korpsmen dashed toward the keep, passing musicians and injured guardsmen being dragged into cover by equally stricken comrades, some fell to the heretic's guns but most got within range and fired their ordnances into the building. Glasses and dust burst outward in sparkling plumes, injured howls echoed from within.

"Xiphos, form up and attack! Bruce, support them!" At Henry's command, the Kolasian colonel shouted his men into a phalanx and charged through the entrance like a thrusting spear, undeterred and unstoppable. Close on the Fire Guards's heel were the Grey Watch, darting from cover to cover and providing covering fire.

"You're not having all the fun!" Damien and his Space Marine squad stormed the keep, bolters roaring.

"Everybody inside, let's go!" Henry bounded into the fortress and tapped his earbud. "Ruven, clear the area around the keep, use the side weapons only, I don't want the shells bringing down the entire mountain by accident."

"Yes sir!" Ruven acknowledged as Henry glanced around the fortress interior, the long hallway of symmetrically rigid columns and colonnades carved from luminescent green stone rimmed in gold would have been beautiful if it wasn't for the usual Chaos gory graffiti, around them heretics scuttled down every corridor like cockroaches fleeing a destroyed nest.

"Don't pursue!" Henry bellowed. "We'll smoke them out later, Ovin!" He waved over the young Cadian captain, freshly raised from the Whiteshields. "Set up the heavy guns and hold the chamber, this is our staging point now. Don't let the heretic take this position!"

"Yes sir!" Ovin bobbed his head quickly.

"I'm going after the STC, try not to shoot me when I get back," Henry flashed a grin.

"I'll try my best, general," Laughing, Henry went to join Damien at the top of a grand stairway, chiseled by gunfire and stained by dark blood.

"Okay, you take that big ass door over there," Henry pointed down a wide empty hallway. "That should lead you to the chapel where the Warp portal opened up. I'm taking the cramp spooky stairway up to the STC."

"Have fun!" Damien held up a corna then turned to his Space Marine squad. "Double files, all weapons hot, move out!"

"Ladaee, Elpida, stay close!" Henry sprinted toward the spiraling, medieval staircase. "Hildebrandt, Bruce, Xiphos with me!"

Quick on his heel came Xiphos and his forty men team of Kolasi infantrymen, Hildebrandt and fifty Korpsmen, and Bruce with thirty of his Grey Watch. That should be enough.

"Let's go," Henry sprinted up the stairs, laspistol in one hand and the data-slate in the other.

"It's like we just stepped into hell," Aileen spoke up, lasgun sweeping across the awning cavern, no intricate masonry here, just a hole bored roughly into the ground that led ever downward at an easy slope. Thank God the lights were still functioning here, or they would all be walking blind in the dark.

"Are you Grey Watch always this cheerful?" Orhul groaned.

"Might as well go to the Emperor with a smile on my face," Aileen flashed him a toothy grin. "What's the matter laddie? Scared? And here I thought you were the funny one."

"Shut up, both you!" Leilatha hissed and joined Tangmo at the head of the column, "how long until we reach the bomb?"

"Soon," Tangmo took one last look at the data-slate before stuffing it back into his awesome commissar coat. "There should be a path leading off to the left just up ahead."

"Let get this over with then."

Tangmo gave Leilatha a flat look, "you know we're here to rescue the civilian too, right?"

"Making sure the entire fortress doesn't come crashing down on us takes precedent."

"Welp, can't argue with you there," they soon came upon another opening, equally big, but with a steeper decline. "We're here."

"What do you want to do?" Leilatha asked as the strike force gathered around them and dropped down to one knee or laid flat on the rocky ground, lasgun trained in every direction.

"I hate to be super cliché but we need to split up," Tangmo said. "Are you going to be alright down there?"

"Don't insult me." Leilatha snapped.

"Guess that's a yes then," Tangmo chuckled. "Take Orhul and Rainer's men with you and disarm the bomb, I'll get the prisoners."

"Always the hero," Leilatha rolled her eyes.

"You want to rescue them instead?"

"Probably not."

"Thought so," Tangmo started down the main corridor, his troops following. "Be careful, okay?"

"Of course," Leilatha gave him a petite smile and waved her team onward, Tangmo felt his heart skipped a beat.

"Move out," the strike team continued down the corridor at a jog, the echoes of their pounding boots were soon overtaken by an unbroken wave of horrid wails.

"Get ready," Tangmo slowed his steps, in front of him grotesque light bled into the dimness, hungry blood red tongues lapping over them. "Luva, Hera, Pollius, with me."

Before them the corridor opened up into a great hollowed chamber, a pair of turncoat PDF had their back turned to Tangmo and the scouts, enraptured by the tormented moan resonating from below. Holstering his laspistol, Tangmo snuck toward the unsuspecting pair, Luva close beside him, combat knives sliding soundlessly from its sheath. Glancing left and right, seeing that there were no other sentries nearby, Tangmo and Luva crept up behind the traitors and easily dispatched them, a knife between the ribs, their movement synchronized. The two men jerked and choked and tilted backward, Tangmo dragged one back into the corridor while Pollius rushed up to help Luva with the other.

Sheathing his knife and drawing his laspistol, Tangmo waved the strike force forward and went to the rickety rail and peered down. Yep, Aileen was right, this was hell. The circular chamber was tiered off into wide balcony like floors, each descending layers getting smaller until it reached an open area the size of a football field. At the center was a weird, fucked up looking contraption composed entirely of spinning saws, bundled together into a vague spherical shape, the serrated blades whirled, overlapped and crossed each other in an intricate dance, but never touching.

"Orders sir?" Meko asked him.

"Give me a second," Tangmo swept his gaze over the infernal landscape and cringed involuntarily. Torture devices of every imaginable kind littered each consecutive floors, all of them occupied by an unlucky civilian squirming under the sickening ministration of a Khornate acolyte, but what stood out most about the Crimson Scythe's five stars accommodation were the pits, shallow things where hundreds of frightened people huddled together, laughing Chaos guards prodded them mercilessly with red stained spear. Worst still was that some of these pits were filled to the brim with what appeared to be boiling oil, bright, swollen red corpses bobbed across the bubbling surface like overcooked shrimps at a hot pot restaurant.

"Well, this place is fucked," Tangmo made his comment.

"We've established that," Krillen growled, eager to do something.

"Okay, this is what we're gonna do," Tangmo pointed at the roughhewed stairs etched into the cavern wall. "We need to move fast before those fuckers knows we're here. I want the heavies and snipers up on the ledges providing covering fire, then we…"

"No, no, no, no!"

All eyes turned to Evangeline, the Mordian colonel's veneer of professionalism has fractured to reveal livid fear and anger. Following her gaze, Tangmo saw what had captured Evangeline's attention. Hanging from a line of chain stretched between two bestial totems, arms taut above their heads and stripped from the waist up, were ten women being savagely whipped by a Khornate warrior, every crack eliciting cheers of delight from the heretics.

"Mordian, with me!" Evangeline hissed and led her guardsmen down a flight of stair on the right, rictus determination hardened her face.

"Goddamn it Evangeline, get back here! Fuck!" Tangmo shook his head. "What the fuck is her problem?!"

"Those lasses are the surviving nuns sir," Aileen pointed at the tortured women. "I recognize the robe, some of them also have a fleur-de-lis tattooed under their eyes, and they're not screaming, it takes unwavering faith to endures that."

"Nice catch Aileen," Tangmo was impressed by her observation. "Okay, I want heavy guns and Korri up here now…"

"Sir, look!"

Groaning at another interruption, Tangmo turned to look at where Krix was pointing. Suspended above the sawing machine by a hook from a crane were ten men, women and children, rolled up tighter than a futon by the torso, slowly being lowered onto the spinning blade. And that's how they died, twisting and screaming as the serrated teeth agonizingly tore, crushed and severed their limbs piece by piece. When nothing remained but shredded flaps of skin on a hook, the Chaos heretics let out a powerful roar as a wave of sickening Warp energy rippled across the cavern.

"Well shit, looks like that thing is pumping out Chaos mojo," Tangmo said as the Sororitas were taken down from the chain and dragged toward the still dripping hook now lowering toward them. Oh shit, he knew exactly where this was going.

"Get the fuck moving," Tangmo hissed and started off after Krillen. "Where's Korri and the heavies at?!"

"Clarisse!"

Tangmo peered over the rail and saw the Mordian colonel rushing into the open, saber cleaving stunned Chaos guards left and right, the Iron Guards swiftly forming a disciplined firing line behind her.

"Evangeline?" A blonde nun dangling by her wrists above the sacrificial machine croaked weakly, bleary eyes gazing toward the colonel when lasbolts flashed across the chamber, felling a score of Iron Guards. Roaring, Evangeline and the Mordian returned the favor with interest, the concentrated and deadly accurate salvo ripped into the converging heretics before they can overwhelm the smaller Imperial force.

"God fucking damn it! Fire at will!" Tangmo drew his other pistol and fired into a crowd of heretics directly below him, they jerk and collapsed in the most satisfying way. "Forward brave guardsmen! In the name of the Emperor, let none survive!"

Not a second after he said that, the ten nuns were lowered slowly, tantalizingly, toward the death machine.

"No!" Evangeline went berserk and rushed head first for the Sororitas, striking down everyone in her path when the descent suddenly stopped, the nuns now hanging about three meters above the spinning saws.

"The control!" Korri yelled, the barrel of her las-sniper glowing. "Over there, we need to get to it! Ah!" Yelping, she fired another round, decapitating a Chaos worker trying to reach the crane's control.

"Keep them busy!" Tangmo said as Korri unleashed a steady stream of lasbolt at the opposite end of the cavern. Around him Cadian, Kolasian and Krieg charged down the stairs, their advance hampered by the heretics suppressing fire. Growling, Tangmo holstered his pistols and vaulted over the rail, parkouring his ass down like Jackie Chan, hands and feet easily finding ledges and outcrops on the rugged wall.

Not a moment after landing on the first tier, a Chaos guard charged Tangmo with a pike. He easily sidestepped the lunge and sends the heretic cartwheeling into an oil pit with a spinning back kick. Six more guards charged him en mass, Tangmo dodged two stabbed and an unwieldy swing before drawing his sword, severing the legs of three attackers in one sweep. Leaving the survivors to writhe in pain, Tangmo closed in on the last three, decapitating one, cleaving open the skull of another and pieced the last through his heart. Pulling the sword free from the heretic's chest, Tangmo drew his laspistol and shot the three he'd left alive in the head.

"Keep low, this will be over soon," Tangmo told the cowering people and ran to the edge of the first floor, dual wielding gun and sword. Thankfully, the drop to the next level was only two meter, so Tangmo somersaulted over and found Krillen and Aileen's company locked in a pitched close quarter fight with the heretics. Sheathing and holstering his weapons, Tangmo threw himself into the mosh pit, Muay Thai blazing, elbows, knees, punches and kicks laying waste to every Chaos motherfuckers in reach.

"Bloody hell!" Aileen exclaimed when Tangmo struck an unsuspecting Chaos soldier with a flying forearm, grabbed the back his neck and launched three knees into his sternum before bashing his head in with a roundhouse kick.

"What's the situation captain?" Tangmo spun to face her in a swooping flourish of awesome commissar coat.

"We're pushing them back sir," Krillen answered when the gaping Aileen failed to formulate the English language. "First to forth tier is secure and the fifth is being taken as we speak."

"And the Mordian?" Tangmo asked.

"On the ground floor and surrounded, we're pushing hard to relieve them."

"What about the panel? Is Korri keeping that place clear?"

"She is. Meko and his squad are on their way there now."

"Nice job dude, now let's go make sure Evangeline doesn't get herself kill. And stop gawking captain, that shit is super rude."

"Sorry sir!" Aileen squeaked as they sprinted down the stairs and on to the ground floor where Krix and her squads were bathing the heretic's left flank in flame while Luva, Hera, Pollius and the scouts provided covering fire for the charging Korpsmen, las flew and bayonets gleamed red, the onslaught freeing the entrapped Mordian from the heretic's encirclement.

Further down, in a clearing void of people, Tangmo saw Evangeline engaged in a sword fight with a huge Viking looking motherfuckers clad in minimalistic armor of black iron and fur and wielding a double headed battle chainaxe throbbing with Chaos power. The four meter tall roided out Khornate towered over the smaller Evangeline, every swoop of his chainaxe sending the Mordian colonel stumbling back, and despite his size the man was able to counter every attack the woman throws at him.

Taking a deep breath, Tangmo dashed for the giant the same moment Evangeline leapt forward with a thrust. She missed and was sent rolling back by a wide counter swing, the monstrous weapon swooped above the warrior like a windmill. Gripping the scabbard at his hip and tilting it downward, Tangmo's sword was a flash of silver as he dashed passed the Chaos warrior and carved open his thigh. The heretic barely registered the damage and only noticed Tangmo when he went to stand beside Evangeline.

"Looks like you need a little help colonel," Tangmo flashed a grin and got into a kenjutsu stance.

"I appreciate the assistance, lord commissar," Evangeline was dropping into an en garde when the Chaos warrior swung his chainaxe at them with a mighty war cry. Evangeline dashed away from the killing arch while Tangmo laid flat on the ground, the spinning teeth howled over his head, before leaping back up and thrust his sword at the warrior's meaty fingers. He staggered back, bellowing agitatedly as his forefinger and middle finger dropped to his feet. The Chaos warrior tried to shift his grip but Tangmo peppered his full face helm with a stream of lasfire, every shot meant to annoy, not damage. Exploiting the distraction, Evangeline lunged forward and relieved the man's undamaged hand of his fingers in a swish of scarlet ribbon. But she wasn't done. The chainaxe had barely hit the ground when Evangeline dove in and planted her sword, hilt deep, into the Chaos warrior's heart. He made to grab her but Evangeline drew her laspistol and shot him several times point blank in the face. With the laser turned up to maximum, she vaporized the Chaos warrior's head into charred stump. Swaying, the mighty Khornate fell with a thud on his back. Evangeline pulled the sword from his torso with a sneer, cleaned it with a kerchief hidden in her sleeve and slowly walked back.

"Move faster please," Tangmo grabbed Evangeline's arm and half dragged, half carried her away from the dead heretic.

"He's dead sir," Evangeline said.

"Better safe than sorry," Tangmo released Evangeline when they were a good distant away from the corpse. "After what I've seen, I want you alive and well colonel."

Evangeline quirked a brow and nodded, "thank you sir."

Flashing her a tired smile, Tangmo glanced around the cavern as the battle drew to a close, the remaining heretics were being set on fire by Krix, their blazing silhouettes made a mesmerizing dance. Only the spinning saws remained active, the nuns dangling precariously above it.

"Yo Meko, are you at the panel yet?" Tangmo tapped his earbud.

"Just got here sir," Meko answered breathlessly. "There were a lot of bodies along the way."

"Sorry…" Korri said sheepishly.

"Don't apologize dude, you did great!" Tangmo chuckled. "Okay Meko, get the nuns down would you please."

"Umm…give me a second…"

The saws suddenly grinded together in an earsplitting shriek, spewing curtains of cascading sparks across the ground. Before long the spinning tooth locked up on each other, bringing everything to a stop. Without the spinning momentum, the nightmarish contraption crumbled into a heap of gleaming discarded discs.

"…What did I just do?" Meko asked meekly.

"You just destroyed the Chaos sacrificial machine," Tangmo said. "Good thing you didn't dropped the nuns."

"Come to think of it, I should've tried the lever first," Meko snickered. "Alright, this should be simple enough."

The crane jerked suddenly to the left, causing the Sororitas to yelp in pain.

"Oops, let try that again."

This time it swung widely to the right.

"Okay, my bad."

The hook dropped a good ten meter before stopping, the screaming nuns bounced and twisted like they were bungee jumping. Evangeline watched the debacle with rising hysteria, spewing torrents of unladylike profanity at Meko.

"Almost got it…"

"Goddamn it Meko, this isn't a claw machine at Akihabara, get them down!" Tangmo shouted into his earbud.

"Alright, I think I figured it out," finally the crane gently lowered the stricken nuns to the ground, Evangeline was upon them before Tangmo could even wave the guardswomen forward.

"Clarisse!" Evangeline grabbed the blonde and took her down from the hook, quickly cut away the thick rope fastened around her wrists and wrapped her up in a tight embrace. "Thank the Emperor you're alive!"

"Evangeline?" The nun locked gaze with the colonel, her face battered and bruise. "Are you really here?"

"I am Clarisse," Evangeline stroke the matted mess of her hair. "You're safe my dearest."

Clarisse stared unblinking at Evangeline, taking in every little detail of the colonel's bloodstained visage. The streaks of tear came first, followed by the quickened heaves of her chest that burst into a full blown wail. Clarisse threw herself into Evangeline's embrace, face buried into her bosoms, a heartbreaking timbre laced with relief and pain.

"I thought…I…" Clarisse sobbed. "By the Emperor I prayed for deliverance, I prayed to Him to send us a savior. I prayed to Him to send you. And by Throne you came…you came for me."

"I'm here dearest, I'm here," Evangeline held Clarisse close, herself also crying.

Okay, seriously, that was really sweet, totally out of place in the middle of a battlefield, but still very sweet. Good thing the fight was over though, the thought of a bullet cutting the reunion short, like in Ran, made Tangmo sick. After about a minute, Tangmo interrupted with a politely cough.

"Your friend needs medical attention, colonel. I think it's high time he get the hell out of here."

Nodding, Evangeline pulled away from Clarisse and guided her slowly toward the suddenly blushing Tangmo.

"You're kinda naked so…umm…" Tangmo looked the other way and found Krix, Luva, Hera and Aileen snickering at him, while Clarisse squeaked and huddled behind Evangeline, the colonel quickly took off her jacket to cover the nun.

"And here I thought you would be a gentlemen and offer her your coat," Aileen grinned.

"…That totally slipped my mind," Tangmo bowed apologetically at Clarisse. "Sorry mam, I should've been more considerate."

"It's alright lord com – ah!" Clarisse jolted back into Evangeline, pointing at the dead Chaos champion she and Tangmo took down. "He's…He's…!"

"Dead dearest, I killed the monster myself," Evangeline soothing words had no effect on the nun, who glanced frantically around the cavern.

"The bomb!" Clarisse shouted. "The detonation is wired to the beating of his heart!"

"Leilatha, come in, what is the situation on the bomb?!" Tangmo spoke hurriedly into the earbud. "Hello?! You there?!"

"Calm yourself, the detonator was dismantled twenty minutes ago," Leilatha annoyed voice answered him.

"Are you sure?!" Tangmo added quickly.

"Of course I'm sure you jackass!" This was Albert speaking. "I guided Orhul through the process and everything."

"The Machine Spirit is correct sir," Orhul said. "You have my word that everybody is quite safe."

"Alrighty then," Tangmo released a breath he was holding, "let's get the fuck out of here."

"Get off me!" Zorkha bellowed, his heavily armored form twisting left and right to the clangs and grinds of metal.

"Let me kill you first!" Clinging on to Zorkha's massive pauldron, Henry was trying his best to align his laspistol with the warlord's head, no luck in that department so far, which goes to show that life like to throw you a curve ball at the most unfortunate moment. Their journey up the towering spire of Deep Rock fortress was uneventful until they reached the top, where warlord Zorkha, his cadre of twenty personal guards and a shit load of heretics were waiting for them. Within minutes, the high domed chamber erupted into a brutal close quarter firefight, the statues of saints and marble white columns providing cover for guardsmen and heretics alike. Although the Chaos grunts were swiftly dealt with, Zorkha and his personal guards were quite troublesome.

But after twenty minutes of hard fighting, and a few dozen dead guardsmen later, only Zorkha and one of his guards remained. Bruce, Hildebrandt, and Xiphos were ganging up on the hulking warrior, while Damien took on Zorkha alone.

That might not be the best idea in hindsight.

Around him, his strike force was spread out across the vaulted hall, most had their lasgun trained on the two remaining heretics, while a few snooped around or tend to the wounded. At the far end of the room, Ladaee and Elpida were quickly extracting the STC from a gigantic throne fashioned from smooth silvery stone that gleamed like midnight stars. Quite a strange place to store a hard drive, but he wasn't about to question the logic of this place.

Gritting his teeth, Henry was about to get a clear shot when Zorkha grabbed hold of his awesome general coat and threw him clear across the room. Rolling as he hit the floor, Henry skidded a short distance, found his footing on the blood slick floor and drew his chainsword, his thumb pressing the ignition button.

"Khorne will welcome me and my bounties with open arms!" Zorkha bellowed to the gathered guardsmen, who only held their fire because Henry stopped them with a raised hand. "I shall be raised to the exalted rank of champion and reap death across the stars!"

"Nobody cares!" Henry shouted back, nearby the last Khornate guard went down.

"Pitiful slave of the Carrion God!" Zorkha sneered. "You know not the glory of Khorne and the power he grants us! You will forever be blinded to his unequal majesty and…"

"Will you shut the fuck up and fight me already you pussy!" And that snapped Zorkha out of his little speech. Roaring like a mad bull, Zorkha hefted up his scythe and charged, reeling back for a killing swoop. As intimidating as the farming tool might appeared, it was still clunky and a very poor choice of weapon against an accomplished swordsman. Remembering the lessons parted to him by Geralt of Rivia, Henry dashed into the scythe's cleaving arc, parried the blade with a wide swing that send him into a pirouette, he twirled two time midair before lashing out with his chainsword, the screaming saw hacking Zorkha's arm cleaned off above the elbow. Landing in an attack stance, Henry leapt at the furious Zorkha and swung at his neck, the adamantine teeth making short work of flesh, muscles, cartilage, tendons and bones. Zorkha's corpse folded gracelessly to the ground like little better than butcher's meat, blood fountained from his severed neck. Around him the guardsmen's cheers rocked the hall and Henry responded to the ovation by taking off his awesome general cap and bowed with a showman flourish to his adoring crowd.

"Xiphos, Hildebrandt, Bruce, front and center my dudes," Henry waved the three colonels over. "You guys doing okay?"

"Some scratches here and there, but we're good," Xiphos said despite sporting a nasty gash across his right cheek.

"Aye, been in worse scraps than this, nothing to fret about," Bruce grinned good naturedly and took off his bearskin cap, giving it a good dusting.

"No injuries," Hildebrandt said, standing straight at attention.

"Alright cool," Henry grinned. "Tend to the wounded and sweep the area, make sure that this place is heretic free."

The three colonels saluted and went to check on their respective troops while Henry strode over to the throne where Elpida was carefully removing a flat motherboard looking thing from the back of the seat, beside her Ladaee was typing swiftly into her new, miniature laptop.

"How's it going ladies?" Henry choked when Ladaee gave him the cold shoulder for no reason. What the hell?

"The data transfer is almost done sir," Elpida chirped up and turned to Ladaee, "ready mam?"

"Almost there," Ladaee punched in a few more keys then nodded. "The transfer is complete, well done Elpida. Oh, and drop the mam, I'm not that old."

"Okay," Elpida smiled and began the meticulous task of removing cables and wires from the motherboard while Ladaee detached the USB port from the throne's armrest.

"Are you alright Ladaee? Did you get shot anywhere? Maybe slip and fall?" Henry's attempt to lighten the mood failed spectacularly when Ladaee shot him a glare, huffed crossly and stomped away toward the exit.

"Wha? Ladaee what the hell?!" Henry groaned and waved two Korpsmen after her as escort.

"She is displeased with you sir," Elpida offered demurely as she stuffed the motherboard into her satchel.

"I can see that, but why?" Henry said.

"She disapproves of your insistence on facing the warlord in single combat, saying that it was needlessly dangerous and stupid," Elpida continued. "She worries that you might get hurt."

"Well, she have a really heartwarming way of showing it," the loud beep of an incoming call interrupted his tirade. Already agitated by Ladaee's attitude, Henry pressed the earbud and growled, "what?!"

"Woah, what crawled up your ass and died?" Tangmo said.

"Shit, sorry dude, it's just, Ladaee is being difficult again," Elpida gave him a disapproving look, and Henry had to stop himself from apologizing. It was a douchey thing to say, but goddamn that woman was insufferable!

"Right," Henry could tell Tangmo was rolling his eyes on the other end. "We got the prisoners and diffused the bomb. How are things on your end?"

"Great actually, we got the STC and I killed Zorkha, chopped the motherfucker's head clean off," Henry bragged.

"Awesome. What about Damien?"

"Wait let me check," Henry switched the frequency, "yo Damien, status report."

"We cleared the keep but…" Damien sighed heavily. "Remember those nuns that were captured six months ago?"

"Shit," Henry hissed, bad news, expected but hard to swallow nonetheless.

"You better find father Joseph."

Tangmo watched as father Joseph and sister Joan escorted the lifeless bodies of the Sororitas nuns, wrapped in stained white sheet, toward a waiting Chimera, Miwak's Ghamarhon PDF acting as pallbearers and honor guards, solemn tears streamed down their cheeks. With reverent care, they placed the sisters inside the hull, father Joseph reciting the last verse of the funeral psalm before he and Joan stepped inside the armored transport and closed the door. Awesome caps and helmet cradled to their hearts, Tangmo, Henry and Damien kept their heads low as the Chimera thundered off to where the nuns will be laid to rest, around them the main characters were in the same mournful posture. Not far from where they stood, the surviving nuns that Tangmo had rescued were on their knees, sobbing uncontrollably, every words of self-vilification slurred by jagged weeping. Why did she have to die? Why did the Emperor let her suffered instead of me? Why wasn't it me? It should have been me. Tangmo sighed, better start dusting off those psychology textbooks on survivor's guilt and PTSD.

"Twelve," Clarisse, the calmest of the nuns, spoke up, her arms wrapped tight around Evangeline's waist.

"I'm sorry?" Henry put his awesome general cap back on and turned to regard her.

"Twenty were taken up into the keep," Clarisse continued. "Yet only twelve were found. What happened to the other eight?"

"We scour the chapel, honorable nun," Gallus spoke up. "Every nook and canaries, we searched. Alas, only the unfortunate twelve were found." The Space Marine hesitated for a moment then said. "We did found evidence that a powerful Warp ritual was performed inside the chamber, the residue signature is consistence with that of a portal."

Clarisse whimpered and buried her face into Evangeline's shoulder, the colonel whispering words of comfort into her ears. There was little doubt as to why the nuns were taken, just the thought of what kind of hell they must be going through right now made Tangmo lightheaded.

"May the Emperor grant peace upon their souls," Tangmo put his awesome commissar cap back on and sigh. "I guess that's that."

"We won the day," Leilatha spoke up, a simple statement, not a passionate declaration.

"Yeah, but I feel like shit," Damien said.

"Victories are never without price," Krillen added.

"We got the discount coupon, the people of the Saule system and the Sisters of Healing Tears paid the full price," Tangmo said. The Immortal Spirit battlegroup suffered a combined seven hundred KIA, with the Krieg bearing the blunt of the number, a good static by 40k standard, while the Mordian and Grey Watch casualty was a bit lighter. All in all, a good fight with a less than happy conclusion. C'est la vie.

"So what's inside the STC?" Tangmo changed the subject to something less morbid.

"Food," Henry snickered, earning a rather incredulous look from the main characters.

"I'm sorry, what?" Damien irked a brow.

"Well, I don't have all the details since Ladaee isn't talking to me," Ladaee's eyes bulged at Henry's accusing words, Ruven and Elpida backing away from the death aura radiating off the engineer like a nuclear reactor going into meltdown. "So ask her."

Inhaling sharply, Ladaee composed herself and smoothened the timbre of her voice, "the data we recovered concerned agriculture. It detailed over a million spices of crops, plants and livestock, along with method of cultivation and genetic manipulation to increase the yield. This will be very beneficial for the Immortal Spirit's greenhouses, which is currently empty, combine with the fact that the Saule system specialize in farming, we can take the seeds and animals aboard to make a complete ecosystem, along with experts on that subject, of course."

"Thank you for the detail report Ladaee," Damien bowed respectful.

"You are most welcome, Brother Damien," Ladaee gave him a sweet smile.

"Oh yeah, smile at him too, you did it to everybody else already," Henry muttering sneer was not missed by the fuming Ladaee, who looked about ready to throttle him.

Tangmo smacked Henry on the head and gave him a 'are you fucking serious?' look, the American grumbled nastily and turned away, arms crossed over his chest like a brat. Adjusting his awesome commissar coat, Tangmo shifted his attention to Bruce and Evangeline.

"Both your regiments performed admirably, colonels," Tangmo began.

"Thank you sir," Evangeline and Bruce spoke at the same time.

"We can use people like you," Tangmo cut to the point. "Lord Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines, has entrusted the Immortal Spirit with the mission to seek out lost knowledge for the Imperium and vanquish every foe we come across. And I believe our mission will be easier accomplished with the Mordian and the Grey Watch at our side. So I hereby extend my official invitation. But remember, if you say no, I can just force you guys onboard."

Bruce and Aileen barked a very loud Scottish laugh, "We've already made up our mind sir, my lads and lasses are with you."

Tangmo shook hand with the Grey Watch colonel and turned to Evangeline, "and you colonel?"

"A good deal, but…" Evangeline cast a worried look at Clarisse and the nuns. "What will happen to the remaining nuns?"

"You're asking whether they can come with us or not," Tangmo grinned knowingly, causing Evangeline and Clarisse to blush. "And the answer is yes, Joseph needs all the help he can get with that new chapel he's setting up."

Evangeline and Clarisse smiled at each other, the colonel was gushing with happiness when she told Tangmo: "The Mordian Iron Guard is happy to join you."

"Glad to hear it colonel, now please, I think you and your friend should get ready for transportation into high orbit, those field medicines can only do so much for such an excessive wound."

Evangeline nodded courteously at Tangmo, drew Clarisse tighter and walked slowly toward a waiting medic Chimera. Evangeline had only taken two steps when Tangmo Thai Kick her round, firm bottom. Clarisse shrieked when Evangeline flopped to the ground, rolling around in pain, as Tangmo came to stand over her.

"That's for going crazy and charging those Chaos bastards in the cave and almost fucking everybody over!" Tangmo yelled at her. Between anger and pain, Evangeline actually had the decency to look ashamed.

"Now, I sincerely hope you won't be pulling that kinda crap again," Tangmo leaned down menacingly. "Well?!"

"No sir," Evangeline hissed.

"Good, now lift her up again, I missed the right cheek."

With frightening eagerness, Krix and Luva pounced on Evangeline before she can scrambled away and hurled her up, the two flashing Tangmo a wicked grin, glad that someone else was about to suffer the same humiliation they went through on Kolasi. Beside them, Clarisse was yelling like a damsel at the pair to let Evangeline go.

"Get your hands off me!" Evangeline struggled. "You can't do this! Ahhh!"

The kick sends Evangeline off the ground with a squeal, the colonel landing in a boneless heap as Clarisse threw herself dramatically over the other woman.

"Welcome to the Immortal Spirit, colonel Evangeline," Tangmo smirked and held out his hand, the colonel glared at his offer for a moment before taking it, allowing the commissar to pull her back up on her feet. "Now let's get out of here."