The Wayward Son

Corun Asha Hive, Capital Spire Palace

The past day had been relatively uneventful despite their arrival onto Corun. Seiras and his Deathwatch brothers spent the majority of their time scoping out the palace for hidden clues. The five Astartes walked into an open plaza as they followed Seiras.

"Twenty-eight hours, and not a single clue as to what's been going on here. This place is making me paranoid. It's too pristine and their records are too perfect to be legitimate. The governor and her court are definitely hiding something," Nemias said displeased.

Seiras closed his eyes for a moment as he stopped walking. A moment later, he felt a vision coming through his senses. Shadows were all he could see at first. They seemed to be scaling the walls of buildings as they attacked people in the streets. A horrific howling sound followed them. Seiras focused more intensely on the vision as he tried to identify what was happening. His vision ended a moment later.

He growled in frustration as he returned to his senses, "I keep having visions of shadows climbing the walls…and this loud terrible sound. I can't peer any further. The warp is too unstable."

"Did you just say shadows climbing walls?" Nemias' voice was audibly concerned.

The librarian turned towards the Salamander and nodded, "That's right…does that make any sense to you?"

"I am not too keen on deciphering visions, Seiras. Though I'm still not discounting that there might be a daemon infestation on this world," Nemias replied.

"If there were daemons here, then we would have learned about them by now," Viggo shook his head.

"Not necessarily Viggo. The warpstorm makes it impossible to really track anything here. They're also known for causing warp anomalies on nearby planets. I only hope that it doesn't open a gateway," Seiras sighed.

Gregorius shook his head, "You don't think it's Eldar? I mean we know they were in the system. We also know that they can cause situations like this on Imperial worlds."

"I haven't dismissed the possibility, but it just wouldn't make sense. The Eldar just helped us against Fulgrim. What would they have to gain by disrupting the order of this planet?" Seiras asked.

The Black Templar shrugged, "Why don't you ask them yourself? You are the Eldar expert after all. Don't you have that little spirit stone you could talk to?"

Seiras reflexively reached down for the stone that used to hang on his waist. It was unsurprisingly not there, but the others all eyed him with curiosity when they saw it was missing.

"Where is that stone?" Gregorius asked seriously.

"The Eldar took it," Seiras answered slowly.

Nemias looked at him concerned, "That's not good. You had that stone for a long time, didn't you? There's no telling how much information they gained on Astartes and the Deathwatch having retrieved it."

"They already know a lot about Astartes, Nemias. The Eldar on that ship even knew how to take my armour off," Seiras explained.

"What?!" Gregorius interrupted.

The librarian glanced at him and decided to explain himself, "They removed it to heal my wounds and put it back on when they were finished."

"You haven't spoken much about what happened over on that ship, Seiras," Decimus finally entered the conversation.

"The Eldar wanted that spirit stone that I had. It was supposedly an Autarch from the craftworld that crashed into Typhon Primaris. Apparently, his life was very valuable to them and they allowed me to live for saving him I believe," the librarian elaborated half of the truth.

Gregorius calmed down a moment later, "That…actually does make sense. Though I'm surprised they would have any honour in a situation like that."

"I was too, honestly. I tortured that Eldar in the spirit stone a lot when I first got it. I wonder what he's told them of me," Seiras trailed off as he recalled the memory with Kalyra in a Wraithlord.

"I suppose there's no point in dwelling on it now. When is Kallius coming back?" Gregorius changed the subject after everyone went silent for a moment.

Viggo shook his head, "Who knows. Probably a few days at the most. If we're lucky, he'll show up soon."

"He's lucky he gets to miss out on this stupid Grand Ball that we have to go to," Seiras said with disgust.

Nemias nodded in agreement, "I have to say that I am not looking forward to that. I am not a fan of the way these aristocrats crush the people beneath them. They live lavishly while the masses suffer. It's inefficient and immoral. I have never liked hive worlds."

"When are we supposed to go to that event anyway?" Decimus interjected.

"Probably soon, it's been over a day. I'm sure Atia will show up and let us know. If we're lucky, she'll forget," Seiras replied.

As if on cue, they all heard a vox transmission coming over their personal channel, "Where are you guys at? I told you to come to the ball! Did you get lost or something?! We're in the Grand Dining Hall on the top floor of the palace!"

"Oh, bloody hell…ask and ye shall receive haha," Viggo said with a light chuckle.

"Is that event happening now?" Seiras replied to Atia in the vox.

"Yeah it is. Get your oversized asses over here so I can scare the shit out of these pompous noble bootlickers," Atia commanded.

"We're on our way," Seiras begrudgingly responded as the five Astartes made their way towards the palace.

Once the vox transmission ended, Seiras audibly groaned, "This is a waste of time!"

"Relax, Seiras. Maybe there'll be booze and food," Viggo said hopefully.

"Why would that matter? It's not like you can get drunk from anything except Mjød," Nemias chuckled.

The Space Wolf moaned longingly, "It's been so long since I last drank anything…Almost six months without any Fenrisian Ale! They better have some good food there, or I might go crazy."

"If we all survive this crusade with the Ordo Malleus, then I'll have some Fenrisian Ale with you, Viggo. I could use some alcohol right now," Seiras said as his thoughts trailed off.

"The last thing you need is a distracted mind," Gregorius muttered disapprovingly.

"I'll hold ya to that, ya bloody magpie!" Viggo laughed heartily.

"We shouldn't delay. The sooner we get this Grand Ball nonsense over with, the sooner we can return to our investigation," Gregorius interrupted.

"Let's make haste then," Seiras nodded.

Grand Ball, Corun Capital Spire

"According to the map layout, the next room is our destination," Nemias said calmly as the five Astartes approached two massive doors at the end of a long corridor.

Many armed guards were manned outside of it. They all quickly stood aside for the Astartes as the large doors automatically opened. Upon stepping inside, Seiras felt a sense of disgust wash over him.

The room was magnanimous. It was ridiculously large with massive windows overlooking the spire below. This room was possibly one of the highest parts of the entire hive. Many decorations adorned the room ranging from crystal chandeliers, ornate statues, beautiful tapestries, fountains, and much more.

At the center of this colossal room, dozens if not even hundreds of people were conversing with one another. Their ages ranged from young children to elderly figures, and many appeared to be in family groups by the looks of it. They had countless servants and attendants waiting at their hand and foot to bring food and drink.

Some people were dancing, and many others were simply just talking. A large orchestra of musicians were playing instruments at one side of the room, adding an ambient sound that screamed pomposity and nobility.

Seiras quickly looked around to see if he could spot the Grey Knights. When he saw they weren't there, he began to wonder if Atia wasn't there either. Before the space marines had a chance to do anything, the entire room went dead silent when they saw them walking in.

The only sound that could be heard were the loud stomping thuds of their boots. The room's inhabitants had awestruck and gawking stares as the five Astartes got closer. They were all wearing their helmets currently, which seemed to greatly intimidate everyone within immediate range.

"Ah there they are! Allow me to introduce my Deathwatch Astartes to you all," Atia's voice finally sounded.

Seiras and the others all watched with silence as the Inquisitor came walking over towards them. She was wearing an incredibly beautiful dress and had her makeup on. Seiras couldn't help but think how fragile she looked in that state. To her sides were the Governor Velina Selik, and a feeble looking nobleman which Seiras immediately assumed was the administrator.

The governor was also wearing a ridiculously ornate and fancy ball gown. She had an abundance of makeup on and reminded Seiras of a doll. The administrator was wearing something equally as distasteful to him.

"Come, come!" the governor waved for the Astartes to follow her and Atia over to a small gathering of what Seiras could only assume were the most elite aristocracy members in the room.

Following behind them, Seiras took this time to examine the oversized magnanimous ball room in more detail. He felt a sickening disgust at how weak, fragile, and ridiculous everything looked. From the massive chandeliers to the flamboyant clothing the nobles were wearing, he couldn't stand any of it. Everything looked like it was made out of glass, stone, and other weak materials.

This room looked so fragile, that he was concerned about the possibility of breaking anything he touched. The people looked even more pathetic if that was even possible. None had the proper physiques of real warriors and quite a few even had excess body fat. Seiras couldn't help but think how abhorrent it was that some of these people were able to get fat while billions on the planet starved. He believed in survival of the fittest, but these people couldn't survive a power outage, let alone going hungry for a week and fighting off an aggressor.

Maintaining his calmness however, he walked behind the governor towards the group of prominent nobles. They all perked up with sheer astonishment at the giant superhumans.

"Inquisitor Atia, my lady! You do us such an amazing and blessed honour to bring holy angels to our beloved world," one woman said in the most over-exaggerated posh tone imaginable.

'How were Arius and Regulus able to get out of this stupid nonsense?! I don't see them anywhere.' Seiras thought annoyed.

"These are the incredible angels that rescued you, your grace?" one of the nobles asked the governor.

"I saw them on the news. That one in the front is the one who carried you!" Another man spoke up with amazement.

"Oh, would you look at that…I am getting called over to speak to the general. I'll be back, but in the meantime, my Astartes will keep you all company," Atia said with a cheery smile.

'Why would she do this to me?! This couldn't get any worse.' Seiras thought annoyed.

"Oh, and you all should probably take off your helmets. This isn't a masquerade, it's rude to not show your faces at these types of events," Atia added before smugly leaving them alone with the nobles.

The governor and her nobles all stared at the space marines with anticipation. The Astartes all reluctantly removed their helmets in front of the nobility. Nemias' came off first. His dark skin and red eye were visibly frightening to the nobles, but they calmed down a moment later when he smiled warmly.

Decimus was next to take off his helmet. The Terminator had a fearsome appearance, and his tattoos caused a similar reaction. Gregorius was third to do so. His face, while handsome, still had burn marks which was a sign of concern to the fragile nobles. Viggo was fourth, and his was the most frightening of all. The nobles visibly gasped when they saw his yellow eyes and fangs.

"Now now, don't be scared. I'm just a Space Wolf," Viggo tried to reassure them with a grin.

The nobles were still a bit shaken, but they calmed down as they anxiously awaited Seiras' face reveal. The librarian was the last to take off his helmet as he had to unhook his psychic hood from it first. As he pulled off his helmet, his silver locks flowed out, and his sea-green eyes shined brightly. The librarian wasn't even trying to hide his unhappiness as he blatantly glared at the nobles with unfiltered disdain.

They all shrunk under his gaze as Seiras began to psychically probe their minds. One man's thoughts were extremely easy to read, "Why is he looking at us like that?! Did we offend them somehow? I must have forgotten to address something."

"We shouldn't have overreacted to their appearances. He looks offended," another woman thoughts sounded in his head.

The governor's thoughts were a bit harder to read, and Seiras couldn't exactly force his way in without being obvious. He did hear her surface thoughts however, "They're all so terrifying and beautiful in a way."

"Please, great angels, I apologize if we offended you. It is a great honour to be in the presence of the Emperor's Angels of Death. You are all so frightening…and yet comforting to look upon. We are truly humbled by your presence here tonight," the governor finally broke the awkward silence.

Seiras did not respond to them as he simply glanced over to where Atia was at. He saw her glance in their direction with an amused grin.

"That is quite alright, Governor Selik. We get these kinds of reactions a lot. Astartes are not meant to be beautiful," Nemias tried to be friendly.

"Oh but you are! Forgive us my lords. This is all just so overwhelming for us," one noblewoman exclaimed dramatically. A moment later, one of her servants began to fan her face.

'Why is she acting so exerted?' Seiras thought annoyed.

"Allow me to introduce the Duke Rodrick Sebastian III, my Adminatrator Karlos Avenicci, and the Countess Jessika Vandenheim," the governor introduced the most prominent looking nobles there. Seiras immediately began to ignore her as she continued introducing more of them.

'I suppose we have to be civil for now...but I really don't care who these people are,' Seiras sighed mentally.

He zoned off mentally as the introductions continued for about another minute. He tuned back in a moment later when the introductions were finally over.

"We would love to know your names, great Astartes. You are all the heroes of Corun. I still can't believe how fortunate I was to be saved by Space Marines form those vile rebel terrorists! I am truly humbled." Velina remarked with a posh moan.

"About that, governor, do you seriously have no idea why the people rebelled in the first place? Surely they were upset about something." Nemias asked.

Velina shook her head, "I-I can't even say. They were all vile heretics who sought to usurp Corun for some evil agenda. We truly do not know my lords."

"You mentioned Xenos were possibly involved?" Seiras finally spoke for the first time to them.

The woman stared at him with an unusual expression. It was almost as if she was distracted. Fortunately for her, one of the other nobles answered Seiras, "My lord, there were rumors of xenos and mutants collaborating to overthrow the planet, but that was never proven."

Seiras looked at Velina somewhat annoyed by her staring, "What is it, governor?"

"Oh, forgive me…I didn't mean to stare," she replied shyly.

Viggo and Nemias immediately traded amused looks with one another as Gregorius facepalmed. Seiras already knew what was going on, but part of him wanted to deny it, 'This better not be what I think it is.'

"Why were you staring?" Seiras asked her with a stoic look.

Velina looked away, "Forgive me, it's just you're-" she couldn't finish her sentence, but she didn't even need to.

Before anyone could say another word, Atia finally walked back over and interrupted, "I'm back everyone. Have my Astartes introduced themselves to you yet, Governor Velina?"

"N-no," the woman trailed off as Atia stood directly next to Seiras.

"Introduce yourselves, all of you," the inquisitor stated authoritatively.

"I'm Nemias of the Salamanders Chapter. I hail from Nocturne and I am a techmarine," the Salamander went first.

"Viggo, I'm a Space Wolf like I said. I'm from Fenris," Viggo followed.

"Gregorius of the Black Templars. My home is none of your concern," the Black Templar said coldly.

Decimus looked at Seiras before speaking up next, "Decimus, Captain of the Minotaurs…Terran-born."

"You were born on Terra?!" one of the noblemen exclaimed with awe at the massive terminator. He nodded simply.

Seiras knew about Decimus being a captain, but he had no idea he was Terran born. The librarian rose a brow curiously, "I didn't know you were Terran-born, Decimus.

"I didn't know you were a captain," Nemias said surprised.

"Is it really that surprising, Nemias? I am 380 years old," the Terminator said bluntly.

As the techmarine and the terminator got into a brief conversation, the governor focused her attention on Seiras who had yet to introduce himself.

"What about you, my lord?" she asked.

"I'm Seiras…Epistolary Librarian of the Blood Ravens First Company. I'm from Sub-sector Aurelia," he finally answered.

"I've heard of sub-sector Aurelia. It's in the Korianis Sector, right? Do you hail from Meridian my lord?" one of the noblewomen asked.

"No…Calderis," he replied.

The noblewoman's face visibly cringed, "Isn't that a world of savages infested with green skins!?"

"Yes, it is…most natives don't even have power or running water." Seiras said as he glared at her.

"Space Marines are typically recruited from death worlds and feral planets…just so you all know," Atia interrupted.

"Are they really? How fascinating. I suppose surviving such unbearable living conditions would harden one's chances of survival. Still I can't even imagine the suffering you've all endured up until now," Velina said understandingly.

"Anyways, now that introductions are done, you may all disperse. Go and mingle with the aristocrats while I conduct some business with the governor here," Atia announced as she dismissed everyone away.

Seiras immediately took this opportunity to get away from the nobles as he walked away from the crowded area. The others all went their various ways to do one thing or another. Viggo's first stop was the food displays, where he immediately began to eat from.

Nemias and Decimus were both having a conversation with each other further away from prying ears, and Gregorius was brooding hatefully in a corner as he looked around the room with hostility. The librarian himself thought about finding his own corner to avoid social interactions, but he barely made it several meters before a swarm of people began to surround him.

"My lord! May we please take a picture with you!" one noblewoman asked. To Seiras' utter horror, she had five children with her ranging from ages 10 to 16. Two were boys and three were girls. All of them had star-struck eyes as they stared at the Astartes.

"Why?" the librarian asked bluntly.

"Please, Angel?!" the youngest looking boy asked. He had a puppy face on as he gazed hopefully at the aloof librarian.

"Fine…" Seiras finally accepted.

The woman and her children all happily gathered around him as a pristine servo skull camera flew over and took several pictures of them.

'Why do I have a soft spot for children?' Seiras wondered as he actually allowed the young humans to touch his armour. One even grabbed Seiras' finger with her hand trying to get his attention.

He looked down at her curiously, "What is it, child?"

"What's your name, angel?" she asked. She looked like the youngest girl, but Seiras couldn't guess her age.

"Seiras," he replied distantly. The Blood Raven was already getting tired of introducing himself to people.

"You're really pretty," the girl giggled causing the librarian to look at her dumbfounded.

"So I've been told," Seiras replied with disinterest.

"Come, leave the angel alone now. Thanks again my lord. This means a lot to my children," the noblewoman said appreciatively as she practically dragged her children away.

Seiras immediately began to move with haste away from the crowds before another person could talk to him.

"Seiras, over here!" he heard someone call his name. He quickly recognized the voice and glanced towards its source.

There he saw none other than Selana and a host of Sororitas with her. All of them were in power armour, but they did not have weapons in hand. The nobility appeared to be steering away from them, likely out of fear.

'I suppose it couldn't hurt to speak with her. At least it will negate these people away from me,' Seiras thought as he approached the Sororitas.

"It's great to see you again, Seiras. How are you feeling? Did the Inquisitor do anything weird to you while you were on quarters?" Selana asked.

"I'm fine, and yes she did. I would prefer not to speak of it," Seiras stated calmly.

He recognized a lot of the nearby sororitas. Many of them were Selana and Jessenta's personal entourage from one his previous encounters.

"I'm surprised the Inquisitor cleared you for duty. I thought she hated your guts," one of the other sisters added.

"Well, a lot of people spoke up in my defense, and I think it convinced her to show some mercy. I appreciate your support, Selana," Seiras said respectfully.

She looked away for a moment before responding, "Don't get the wrong idea about it, Seiras. I owe you big time for saving my life…and I feel like it was a bit overzealous of me to openly condemn you. I know you're not a corrupted heretic because you risked your life for mine. We've all agreed that you're not a heretic...yet."

"You had every reason to doubt me, so I don't take it personally," he replied.

"You should…I was actually convinced that you were corrupting everyone with some weird psychic powers. I suppose I owe you an apology for that. I'm sorry for being a bitch to you. I'm sure you get enough bitchiness from that insufferable Inquisitor," Selana responded a bit emotionally.

The librarian looked away, "I suppose so. It's been a strange past few weeks. I count myself among the luckiest in the galaxy for surviving these recent happenings."

"Yeah, and you keep getting luckier by the looks of things. We're on good terms with you, Seiras, but don't think that means we're not watching your every move…I hope you understand," Selana followed up.

"It's nothing I'm not used to already," Seiras shrugged half-heartedly. A brief silence followed his remark as Selana thought of something to say.

"So yeah, how's this party treating you?" Selana finally managed to restart the conversation with a new topic.

"I hate it here. These people are weak…none of them have ever known struggle or sacrifice. This is a waste of time," Seiras answered.

Selana nodded, "Yeah, they're all a bunch of pompous, lying cowards. I can tell they're all hiding something from us, and I haven't even spoken to any of them yet. They seem to like you though."

"I have that effect on people. They just swarm to me like I'm some beacon of light. It must be my psychic glamour," Seiras said blankly and somewhat absent mindedly as he stared off into the room.

A moment later, several the sororitas began to laugh. He looked back at them confused but didn't say anything. 'Wait...I didn't meant to say that out loud.' Seiras thought concerned.

"That's pretty funny, and definitely accurate," one of the other sisters added.

"Oh, haha, you're making fun of me still?" Selana shook her head with a brief chuckle, "I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

"So, Seiras, I want to ask you about what we talked about before…about the blank," Selana changed the subject after a brief silence. Her voice was serious again.

The other sisters all stared curiously at the Astartes. 'She must have told the other sisters about that. I should be mindful of what I say to her from now on.'

"What about it?" the librarian asked as he looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping.

"Do you still need one?" she asked.

Seiras shrugged, "I don't know…I suppose I'm fine now."

"I know you probably still think we want to kill you, but believe me when I say that we're more interested in helping you. As Jessenta clearly explained to all of us, your situation was her fault and not yours. If there's anything else wrong with you, then feel free to tell us without consequence. You can trust us," Selana followed up.

"How is Jessenta?" Seiras seized the opportunity to change the subject.

Several of the sororitas traded amused expressions from his question, and Selana's expression visibly darkened a bit.

"She's doing much better now. She woke up the other day. We feared she would be unfit for battle after the injuries she suffered, but one of those Imperial Fist apothecaries helped the surgeons to heal her. She was walking around last I saw her," Selana explained.

'Jessenta healed before Kallius? That's odd…though I suppose his injuries were much worse. Still, she was almost cut in half,' Seiras pondered briefly.

"Yeah, you should have seen her face when we told her you rescued Selana," one of the sisters said amused.

"Sister! Don't go telling him about that!" Selana immediately silenced her.

"About what?" Seiras wondered.

Selana sighed heavily, "Nothing, Seiras. They're all still teasing me over this whole debacle. About you rescuing me that is."

"Teasing you?" he said uncertainly, "why would they be doing that?"

Several of the sororitas began to giggle as Selana got frustrated, "They all just think I have some kind of crush on you…which obviously I don't. Besides, if you're anyone's then you're Jessenta's. I want no part in that immorality."

"What are you talking about?" Seiras shook his head somewhat confused, "what does having a crush mean?"

"It's nothing, Seiras! ANYWAY…" Selana trailed off embarrassed. She was thankful that Seiras seemed a bit clueless to what was being implied.

"So, what do you think of that governor?" Selana asked the librarian more seriously now.

The Blood Raven looked over towards the direction where Velina was before turning back, "If I could do it over again, I'd accidentally kill her in the crossfire of her rescue."

"Hahaha," Selana chuckled, "yeah, I saw her on the planetary news here. She seems unbearably annoying. I guess it's no surprise that she and Atia get along."

"I am having a difficult time telling if Atia is doing this for a reason. There is no point to this ball. I think we should interrogate every one of the nobles about what's happening," Seiras shook his head in annoyance.

Selana sighed, "Yeah, she seems to be enjoying herself a bit too much. Personally, I think most of these people are heretics and they need to die. I mean who the hell lets hive gangs and rebel PDF forces take their planetary governor hostage? These people are either very incompetent, or that governor did something horrible to cause it."

Over the next few minutes, Seiras and the Sororitas talked about the unusual condition of the planet's rebellion and the possibilities that caused it.

"So, you think it's Eldar?" Selana said shocked.

Seiras shrugged, "I can't be certain…but they are the only xenos that I know of to do things like this to human worlds. They're also very stealthy and can easily avoid detection."

Before Selana could reply, a voice sounded from behind them, "Oh, Seiras!"

The librarian turned around and saw Atia who was approaching him with a wide smile.

He immediately felt his defenses come up as she got closer, 'This can't be good.'

"Great…here she comes," Selana groaned in annoyance.

"I've been looking all over for you. I thought you left the party for a moment. You would think it'd be easy to spot a space marine in here," Atia laughed. She seemed halfway inebriated by the look of it.

Seiras found it odd that she would willingly drink despite the situation. He quickly rationalized it as her way of putting the nobles at ease.

"Is she…drinking?" Selana said disbelievingly as Atia stumbled forward and caught herself against the librarian.

"I'm kind of tipsy, Seiras, so I need you to carry me around and keep me safe," Atia laughed.

Selana looked at her shocked, "Is she for real?! Inquisitor, what are you doing getting drunk?!"

"I'm not drunk, I just had a few drinks and feel like relaxing for once. These nobles are kissing our asses, so we might as well take advantage of them and celebrate, yeah?" Atia replied.

"I suppose, but aren't we supposed to be investigating this rebellion? Are you any closer to finding out what these people know?" Selana asked.

The inquisitor shook her head at Selana, "You just don't get it, Sister…you're not going to get all the answers by bludgeoning your way through bureaucracy and politics. You need a bit of subtlety…you and your bolter gals over here are sticking out like sore thumbs. Everyone is too afraid to come over here because of it. Take a lesson from the Astartes, they're actually getting along well with the nobles. I was hoping you could all do the same."

Seiras and Selana both glanced over to see Viggo happily eating to his heart's content as he told stories to a large group of children and some of their parents. Nemias and Decimus were both still together, but they were now surrounded by PDF officers and generals. Gregorius was still brooding in his corner, but actually appeared to be talking with a few nobles.

'Gregorius is talking to them?!' Seiras thought with astonishment.

"C'mon Seiras, I need someone to dance with for this next song," Atia tried to pull Seiras away. He did not budge.

'Dance?! Emperor, no…I refuse to do something so trivial and embarrassing!' he thought seriously.

"I'm not doing that, Inquisitor," Seiras finally responded.

"Aw, why not? I was really hoping you'd dance with me," Atia tried to convince him with a playful voice.

Selana looked around at several of the other Sororitas who all had serious expressions on their faces. She immediately spoke up in disapproval, "It doesn't look like he's interested in wasting his time with that, Inquisitor. We were discussing the political situation on the planet before you interrupted us."

"Oh? Is that right, sister?" Atia turned towards Selana with threatening eyes.

"Yeah, that's right, inquisitor!" Selana immediately countered.

"Hmph…I see. I didn't realize I was interrupting over here. No need to be so bitter about it. You seriously need to lighten up and have some fun," Atia replied smugly.

The Sororita leader crossed her arms, "Well, if that will be all Inquisitor, then you should go back to your party and keep having fun. I'm sure there's plenty of people in here waiting to kiss your ass. We're actually working over here."

"I get the feeling you don't like me, Palatine…" Atia said slowly.

"That's funny…I sort of get the same impression from you. You're welcome by the way for saving your ship from sabotage. You never did thank us for that," Selana laughed darkly.

Seiras watched their little debate with confusion, 'What the hell is going on here?'

Atia shrugged, "Well, as far as I'm aware, Seiras was actually the one who did all the work. I am very grateful for it too. I can definitely see why all of his former Inquisitors liked him now. He's an invaluable asset to my task force."

"You sure didn't think that a few weeks ago. Also, If he's such a great asset, then why don't you let him do his job instead of wasting his time with games and politics? Isn't that supposed to be your job?" Selana asked as she shook her head.

The Inquisitor ran her hand over Seiras' armoured arm as she spoke, "You poor, unaware girl…I don't think you understand the situation. Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Oh, I know exactly what you're saying, and you can go to hell if you think I'm going to allow it. That's immoral and heretical. Don't think just because you're an Inquisitor that you're above our vigilance," Selana retorted.

Atia looked at her slyly, "Really now? I wonder if that's as heretical as your Canoness then hmm?"

Selana looked like she was about to pounce on Atia after hearing that remark. The tension got much higher in the following silence.

"When did you hear about that?" Selana asked slowly.

"Seiras told me when I interrogated him the other day…among other juicy things," Atia stated coolly.

The sororitas all looked a bit horrified that Atia knew. The Inquisitor gave them an amused look, "You don't have the power to leverage over me in this situation, so I suggest you mind your own business."

"Really?! And what's anyone going to think about their orders coming from a radical Inquisitor who got corrupted by Chaos during a battle against chaos space marines? You do realize that the Sororitas represent the Ordo Hereticus on this mission, right? As far as I'm aware, you could be corrupted." Selana countered.

Atia crossed her arms, "Is that a threat, sister? For your sake I hope not. If so, then your prioress and I will be having a few words when this is all over."

"I never threatened you…trust me you would know it if I did. The fact that you feel so threatened makes me believe you're guilty," Selana followed up.

Seiras finally decided to intervene, "Enough of this! I don't know what you're both rambling on about, but we have more important things to worry about. This is not the time or place to argue over petty disagreements."

"You're right of course, Seiras. I will return to my questioning. Keep the bolter bitches company if you want, but you still owe me a dance," Atia sighed before walking away.

"I hate that woman," Selana said bitterly before turning her gaze back to Seiras.

"She's definitely childish for an Inquisitor. The only reason she invited my Kill Team here was for her own amusement and to show off for these nobles. We would serve a much better role actually doing something," Seiras sighed.

Selana nodded, "I agree…she insisted on bringing us here too. Yet then she just started flaunting herself in front of us like that. Why was she asking you to dance with her?!"

"Atia seems to find enjoyment in embarrassing and shaming me," Seiras explained with a sigh.

The Sororita clenched a fist unhappily, "I can't believe you told her about what happened between you and Jessenta."

"I didn't have a choice…she already knew too much," Seiras explained distantly.

Selana rolled her eyes, "Yeah well that's a big problem for us now, because we don't have any leverage over Atia. We can't accuse her of heresy when she has knowledge like that to use against us. That bitch a is a manipulative snake."

"This campaign is only temporary. I am completely over Atia and the Ordo Malleus as well, but we all have our duties to uphold. Just ignore Atia's nonsense, and we can all go our separate ways when this is over," Seiras stated calmly.

"I get the feeling she's not going to let you go…" Selana trailed off slowly.

Seiras' eyes widened with disapproval, "You really think so?"

"Seiras…she was practically acting like you belonged to her a minute ago. You really think she's going to let you return to the Ordo Xenos? She'll just make up some nonsense about how you're still corrupted and that you should remain under the Ordo Malleus' jurisdiction permanently," Selana explained.

'What?! Emperor NO!' Seiras thought furiously.

The librarian shook his head, "I sincerely hope that does not happen."

"Well if it does, then I'm going to say something to Captain Arius. Grey Knights have the authority to kill their inquisitors if he or she is corrupted...and I'm willing to bet she is," the dark-haired sister stated factually.

"Speaking of Arius, where are her Grey Knights at? I saw them here yesterday. Why are they exempt from this pointless ball?" Seiras asked.

"I couldn't tell you, Seiras. Though if I had to guess I would say it's probably because Grey Knights aren't really supposed to be common knowledge. All of you guys were on the global news, but only the governor and a few of her people even saw Captain Arius or that other Grey Knight," Selana shrugged.

"That is a valid point. I hadn't even considered that yet. Still I can't help but wonder what they're doing," Seiras replied.

"Seiras, I have a serious question…does Atia often approach you like that?" Selana asked seriously.

The librarian was unsure of how to answer her question. After a brief silence, he finally responded, "I'm not entirely sure what you mean. She has been getting a bit friendlier with me lately if that's what you're asking."

"Friendlier…" one of the other sisters said in a doubtful way with air quotes.

Selana narrowed her gaze unhappily, "Has she…made any kind of advances on you?"

"No, but she did touch my hair recently during my interrogation and she has been asking me a lot of personal questions about my past," Seiras replied.

The sororita grimaced in disapproval, "Well there's nothing we can really do about it since Atia has the upper hand here. I'll talk with Jessenta and see what she thinks. She might have a better idea of how to deal with Atia than I do."

"Lord Space Marine, a moment if you would…" a voice came from behind.

Seiras turned around and saw a nobleman. He did not look very prominent in comparison to some of the others, but the librarian acknowledged him anyway, "What is it?"

"May I speak with you in private. Follow me to the corner fountain behind the pillar as discreetly as you can," he said nervously.

'He wants to tell us something but is too afraid to say it around anyone in here. Why did you choose me though?' Seiras wondered as he humored the man.

He followed the man to the fountain which was conveniently out of sight from the governor and most of her high court. A large pillar now obscured the view from the other nobles as Seiras and the man stood by the fountain.

The librarian eyed him curiously as he waited for him to speak.

"Fine evening good sir. May I just say that it is truly the Emperor's blessing that your fleet arrived when you did. Things have been going terribly for months now," the nobleman explained cautiously as he made sure to stay out of line of sight from other nobles.

"Why are you acting so cautious? Are you afraid to be seen by your peers? Why did you want to talk to me in private?" Seiras asked several questions.

The man fearfully glanced around, "The governor and her ilk threatened to murder anyone who spoke up about what they were doing…but I have to say something while they're all distracted. Everyone's eyes are on the Inquisitor and the other Astartes, but you seemed out of the way enough that nobody involved was paying attention to you."

"Involved in what?" Seiras asked seriously.

"Slave trading, my lord…it's been going on for years. Our planet started getting attacked by aliens about a decade ago. They moved so fast in and out of the hives that the PDF could not stop them. They pillage the planet on a whim taking anyone they can and slaughtering countless others. Eventually, the governor and the aristocracy made a deal with these aliens to supply them with slaves in order to stop the attacks. Governor Velina sells the peasantry and the lower hive citizens to these aliens in exchange for a non-aggression pact. She has also been exposing other planets' defenses and secrets to these aliens in order to spare her position," the man explained quietly.

"A decade? What do these aliens look like? Why have you never reported this to the Astra Millitarum or the Imperial Navy?" Seiras asked seriously.

"They are Eldar, my lord. At least that is what I've heard. Everyone who isn't involved that sees them ends up dead or captured. They don't even leave bodies behind, and the governor helped to cover them up. She's the one who ordered our communications knocked out before she got captured," he replied.

"I see…so your planet has been suffering raids from Dark Eldar?" Seiras clarified.

The man looked confused, "Dark Eldar? What are they? Is there a difference between Dark and Regular Eldar?"

"I don't have the time to explain, but Dark Eldar deal in capturing slaves. When did they last attack?" Seiras asked urgently.

"They're…" the man swallowed a lump in his throat, "supposed to be meeting the governor in here tonight. Since the Inquisitor is here, I fear they'll break their non-aggression pact and assume we've broken the governor's deal with them," he followed up.

"So, the governor invited us here to be killed? Or did she invite us here for her own protection?" Seiras wondered aloud.

"I…don't know my lord. I believe she intends to side with the better option when it presents itself," he replied.

Seiras nodded understandingly, "Thank you for telling me this. I suggest you take your family and leave immediately. Bunker down, and if the Dark Eldar are going to capture you, then kill your family before they can."

"M-my lord? W-what's going to happen?" he asked shaking in fear.

"Go…and do not let them take you alive. It's a fate worse than death," Seiras replied as he walked from around the pillar. Through his peripheral vision, he could see the man hustling to gather a few others and making his way for the exit. A number of other nobles followed him, who were all likely innocents.

Selana and the sororitas all advanced towards Seiras when they saw him practically stomping on his way back over. He drew the Nemesis Force Halberd a moment later as he walked past them and towards the governor.

"Seiras, what did he tell you?" Selana asked urgently as she ran up next to him.

"Dark Eldar," was all Seiras said in response.

The various Sororitas all gasped and soured their faces with hatred and disgust. Everyone's eyes turned towards the librarian fearfully when they saw he was armed and approaching the governor.

Many PDF guards try to intercept him cautiously. One general spoke up, "My lord, why are you armed? I cannot allow you to approach the nobility with that weapon out."

Seiras didn't even acknowledge the man as he pushed him as hard as possible causing him to go flying into a crowd of PDF men and towards the ground violently.

"Seiras?! What are you doing?" Atia intercepted him finally as she had a concerned expression on her face.

The other Kill Team members all wasted no time reaching the scene as they looked at the librarian shocked. Many of the nobles were cowering in fear away from the scene, and the governor along with her inner circle took cover behind Atia.

"You have been selling your people to xenos?!" Seiras demanded, "no wonder a rebellion broke out on this planet!"

Velina looked petrified that Seiras knew and collapsed in terror, "P-please have mercy! We didn't have a choice! I-I had to ensure the safety of the planet, and we could not get Imperial reinforcements to help us against their raids!"

"They've been doing what?!" Gregorius hissed hatefully as he immediately drew his sword and put his helmet back on.

"Was this meant to lure us all into one place?" Seiras asked angrily.

"It's not like that! I had to choose between the lower scum of our planet or the regular citizens! I never wanted to make the deal, but I had to! I held out hoping that an Imperial fleet would come by to save us, and here you are! I have no intention of betraying you all!" Velina exclaimed.

"And yet you didn't even warn us that they were coming here tonight?!" Seiras demanded.

Atia glanced at Seiras confused, "What did you find out, exactly?"

"She's been selling people from the lower hives to Dark Eldar raiders in exchange for a non-aggression pact. Apparently, she has also given away Imperial secrets to them regarding nearby worlds as well," Seiras explained.

Nemias' one red eye widened into a hate filled death glare, "You sold your people to Dark Eldar?!"

"I expected deception, but this is most troubling. I'm not an expert on dealing with xenos," Atia shook her head.

"Please, Inquistor Atia, here's the forge authority codes right here. Reequip your fleet and help us kill these evil xenos! The palace is extremely fortified! You can fight them back right?" Velina pleaded.

Atia looked at her somewhat amused as she took the codes from her, "Way to hand over your only bargaining chip, Velina. I have no more need of you. Seiras…if you would, please kill her."

Doing as commanded, the librarian pointed his arm mounted storm bolter at the governor and blew her in half with a single shot. A moment later Seiras fired into Velina's entourage of accomplices killing all of them.

"Was anyone else involved in this scandal that I should know about?!" Atia asked the rest of the room.

A moment later, a huge rumbling shook the entire room as the lights went out. A vox broadcast sounded over the entire grand hall. It sounded like a horrifying scream followed up by maniacal laughing. Then much to everyone's disdain, loud aggressive music started broadcasting.

"They're already here?!" Atia said angrily.

"They were likely waiting to attack us at this ball. The governor set us up to give as a gift to the Dark Eldar," Nemias said hatefully.

Atia grimaced her teeth as she pulled out a personal vox communicator, "This is Inquisitor Atia, all military personnel deploy to Asha Spire! We're under attack! I want orbital overwatch from the fleet! Admiral Hightower take out any ships entering and leaving orbit! Have all Astartes in orbit on standby in drop pods!"

"We're all going to die!" a fearful noblewoman shouted.

"What should we do?! There's nowhere to go!" another followed up.

Atia growled, "Every one of you bunker down in the throne room with non-combatants! My Scions and the Imperial Fists Astartes will guard the palace. Kill Team Calamity, you're the experts on Dark Eldar. I want you to find the leader of this attack and take him out by any means necessary!"

"As you say, Inquisitor. Come brothers, let's hurry!" Seiras announced.

"We'll go with you!" Selana volunteered.

"Stay and guard the palace, Sororitas! You're not equipped to keep up with them," Atia immediately shot down the suggestion.

Selana begrudgingly nodded, "Come sisters, let's set up a perimeter!"

Asha Hive, Palace Spire Courtyard, Kill Team Calamity

Seiras and company all hurried out of the ballroom and back outside where quickly stopped to formulate a plan. They were all fully helmeted and armed again.

"How do you all want to handle this?! Because I personally want to butcher as many of the knife-eared fiends as possible!" Viggo asked aggressively.

"Show them no mercy. Dark Eldar are the cruelest and most evil beings in the galaxy. We need to find the Archon leading this attack and put him down!" Nemias said with righteous fury.

Before anyone could say another word, Decimus began to open fire as a murder of crows flew overhead. A closer look revealed them to be scourges. The winged Dark Eldar flew above the palace and began to land in various places opening fire on the Imperial Guard, PDF, and Astartes defenders.

Decimus' assault cannon easily blasted countless of the winged Drukhari from the sky, but they all quickly dispersed into a wider flock. It was currently dark outside, and even darker due to the lack of lights and the obscured moonlight.

The local PDF men cried out in terror as countless scourges swooped in to pick them up and toss them off the spire or impale them on buildings. The winged dark eldar were no match against the disciplined Scions who remained in a fortified location and unleashed countless volleys with their hotshot lasguns. Nevertheless, the winged xenos kept descending from the sky.

Various Imperial Fists and White Templars were also spread out among fortifications and entrances further reinforcing the palace defenses. Evaldus and Krias were both at the entrance to the palace likely leading its defense. Anti-aircraft guns and heavy bolter fire began to blast wildly into the sky causing countless flashes of light.

With each flash, Seiras could see more and more scourges dying and arriving. The scourges weren't the only problem unfortunately, as shadowy figures began to appear out of nowhere climbing up walls and impaling countless guardsmen with wicked looking blades.

'It's just like my vision...' Seiras thought concerned.

"Mandrakes approaching to the front!" Nemias announced as he opened fire with his flamer setting a huge swathe of them aflame. The shadowy monsters all hissed in agony as Viggo furiously ripped them apart with his lightning claws a moment later.

Kill Team Calamity was standing out from the fortifications and were surrounded on all sides by mandrakes now. They all formed into a tight formation with Decimus and Nemias up front and Viggo watching the rear. The Minotaur's Assault cannon blew apart nearly one hundred mandrakes during their advance, while the others all fired into the flanks and rear.

"What's the plan here, Seiras? Where are we going?" Viggo asked.

"We need to draw out their leaders. Dark Eldar don't like to attack fortified locations. If we hold out too long, they'll just destroy half the hive around us and flee. Our best option is to draw them into attacking us," Seiras replied.

"If the Archon is here, he is probably circling around outside in a Ravager. This is the standard method of attack for Dark Eldar. They send in scourges and Mandrakes to soften a fortification and then charge in with kabalites, hellions, and wyches. I doubt they'll try to attack the palace if it's this fortified, so Seiras' plan is the most logical option for ending this quickly. Although, I don't like our odds trying to fight an entire Kabal without back up," Nemias added.

Viggo shook his head, "We can take them! Just wait until I see that bloody Archon!"

"I have an idea. When we draw them in I'll drop an orbital relay signal so any Astartes left in orbit can come down in drop pods to help us. Trust me, Viggo...we're going to need help," Nemias elaborated.

"Kabalites are advancing on our position. I see a vanguard behind cover up ahead," Decimus interrupted as he fired into the front line kabalite warriors that were advancing.

"Uh, lads, we have a bigger problem back here!" Viggo shouted.

Everyone minus Decimus turned back to see a Raider flying directly towards their formation with the intent of running them over. The hovering gun platform opened up fire with its dark lances causing them all to spread and move out of its line of fire. The raider craft unleashed a terrible shrieking sound as he sped by them, nearly running them over.

'That sound...' Seiras thought angrily.

"Decimus get rid of that bloody thing!" Viggo shouted as he cut down a number of mandrakes that tried to take advantage of their broken formation.

Many were attempting to swarm Decimus now as the Terminator looked over towards the raider.

"Keep them off of me, for a moment brothers!" Decimus roared as he unloaded a barrage from his cyclone missile launcher into the circling Raider. Several of the missiles missed and blew apart a host of Kabalites, but most of them hit the aircraft causing it to speed out of control and explode into a nearby building.

Decimus wasted no time covering the front again as the Astartes all fell back into formation. He held up his storm shield as many splinter weapons opened fire into them. He started up his assault cannon again and blew apart another formation of Kabalites.

"Viggo get up front and give him supporting fire with those storm bolters, I'll cover the rear!" Seiras commanded.

"Aye!" the space wolf shouted as he moved up front and fired both storm bolters into the Dark Eldar.

His added firepower greatly assisted in pushing the Dark Eldar warriors back as the Kill Team advanced further into the dark streets of the Upper Spire.

Seiras could hear countless screams and sounds of gunfire all around him. As he watched the rear, blasting apart mandrakes and scourges, he could see them grabbing various civilians and taking them away…alive. People were screaming and begging for help as the monstrous xenos unleashed terror upon them. He felt a bit of remorse when he saw a teenage girl running towards the Astartes and crying out for them to save her. She made it halfway before a scourge swooped in in picked her up.

"We need to help these people!" Nemias shouted angrily as he glanced back and saw what was happening.

"We can't Nemias…there's too many of them. Maybe if we had a full company, but there's only five of us right now. The only thing we can do is take out the Archon and end the raid," Seiras replied as he unleashed a psychic torrent of lightning into a huge formation of scourges that landed behind them.

"Damn it! Curse these xenos to the warp!" Nemias said with frustration as he saw a child crying in the middle of the street. The poor boy was dragged away screaming by a mandrake a moment later.

Salamanders were renowned for hating Dark Eldar above all other chapters as the vile xenos were known to raid their home planet of Nocturne. Seiras knew that Nemias in particular had a special loathing for them. Considering that the librarian felt bad about not being able to help the civilians, he could only imagine what the compassionate Salamander was feeling.

"Hold! Something's wrong!" Decimus announced to the group causing the five Astartes to all stop.

"What is it?" Gregorius asked seriously.

The Minotaur briefly turned back, "The Kabalites stopped advancing. They're avoiding us now."

"So what? They're probably scared shitless that we're slaughtering them!" Viggo announced aggressively.

"Brothers, I'm detecting multiple energy signatures approaching! Take cover!" Decimus shouted.

The Kill Team all moved closer towards a building and were less out in the open as three raiders and a ravager flew into the opening. The Ravager unleashed a heavy barrage into their direction as the four raiders circled around covering escape routes.

"We're surrounded!" Nemias spoke urgently as more prestigious looking Kabalites jumped off of the raiders and charged in. The new arriving enemies had much better weapons and armour by the looks of it.

"What the hell are these guys? More kabalites?" Viggo asked.

"They look like trueborn. Be careful not to get shot by those shredders!" Nemias warned.

The space wolf growled as he fired a volley of bolter fire into the first wave of them, "We're getting closer at least if they're sending the elites to fight us."

"Decimus, do you think you can take out that Ravager?" Nemias asked the terminator.

"I'm almost out of missiles. You still have a melta gun and melta bombs. You'll have to do it, but we can't head into the open with all these Kabalites and raiders flanking us."

"Split up then. Decimus and Nemias take out the Ravager. Viggo and Gregorius cover the two right-side raiders! I can get this one on the left street!" Serias commanded.

"Are you sure splitting up is a good idea?" Nemias asked, "I can call in drop pods here if we need it. I know we're going to need more ammo soon."

"Don't waste it until we find their leader. If we deploy too many Astartes before we find him, then he'll flee," Seiras replied.

"Since you're covering a side alone, just hold them back, Seiras, and we will come back you up as soon as we deal with this ravager!" Decimus explained.

The librarian nodded and a moment later, the five Astartes split apart. Viggo ruthlessly charged into the right-side street firing his storm bolters into the advancing trueborn Kabalites. Gregorius fired up his jump pack and landed on the first raider as Viggo advanced towards the other. The Black Templar hatefully murdered everything in range of him as Viggo advanced.

Decimus had his storm shield up as he moved out to draw the Ravager's fire. He made sure not to take direct blows from its dark lances as he maintained cover behind a nearby building. Several mandrakes tried to jump on him while he did this, but he effortlessly crushed them before firing his remaining cyclone missiles into the Ravager.

This caused some damage to the craft, but it didn't destroy it. Luckily, it gave Nemias the opportune cover to move in. The Salamander managed to sneak behind it and threw two melta bombs onto the deck of the Ravager. He then shot the engines with his melta gun causing the craft to spin in a wild arc before exploding violently. Several of the trueborn aboard managed to escape before the explosion, but their survival was short lived as Nemias roasted them alive with his Melta gun.

Meanwhile, Seiras kept his side's enemies from advancing as he used suppressing fire to blast apart the trueborn kabalites. He could hear them all yelling at each other in their native alien tongue.

"You useless fools! Advance all at once! It's only one Monkeigh!" one of the trueborn shouted furiously in his own language.

Obeying his command, the trueborn all charged in at various angles at once. Seiras waited for the opportune moment for them to bunch closer together before channeling forth a large psychic storm of lightning into them.

Defenseless against psychic powers, the dozen charging trueborn all died instantly to the lightning. After smiting the xenos, Seiras charged closer and jumped onto the raider's deck. The Dark Eldar aboard all moved to instantly try attacking him, but they were helplessly ineffective against the Astartes in melee combat as he cleaved apart the survivors.

A moment later, Seiras took cover as another Ravager appeared nearby. It unloaded massive firepower, but Seiras thankfully managed to avoid the blasts and take cover as the Ravager fired onto the Raider. After a few moments of pointless shooting, the ravager tried to maneuver around and blast him from cover. As it came around the side, Seiras charged and jumped onto the deck of the Ravager.

The crew aggressively tried to shoot him, but he wasted no time throwing the gunners off the sides and immediately shooting the pilot with his storm bolter. The obvious leader on the Ravager drew some type of Eldar power sword and immediately parried as Seiras swung his Nemesis Force halberd towards him.

Although he stopped the halberd from cutting him in half, the dark eldar was much weaker and lighter than Seiras causing the attack to send him flying off the Ravager.

He gracefully leapt to his feet and shouted into his own broadcast channel, "This is Dracon Daeyal! I need back up! A space marine took out my vanguard!"

"What do you mean how?! He's a psyker! Send me some damn back up now!" the Dracon yelled into his communication device.

Seiras immediately went to work on trying to murder the Dracon as he furiously cleaved his halberd in ferocious arcs towards the alien.

The Dracon dexterously dodged and parried most of the attacks, but he was unable to counter the librarian as Seiras unleashed a psychic shockwave with his last swing.

Seeing he was outmatched, the Dracon immediately tried to flee, but didn't make it far as Seiras fired his storm bolter at him. Several shots hit the Dracon including one in his leg. The limb was blown off from the bolter round allowing Seiras to easily finish him off with a swift shot to the head.

"Seiras, get back here! We have more a dozen more raiders in bound! I think the archon is coming after us" Nemias shouted into their personal vox.

"I'm on the way, brothers! Call in the drop pods now, Nemias!" Seiras commanded as he made his way back to the others.

He didn't quite make it as one of the surviving kabalites he threw off the ravager from earlier was now back on the deck. The surviving Kabalite began to fire one of its turrets into him. He held up a psychic ward to negate the brunt of the attack as he charged back onto the ravager to kill the survivor. Seiras quickly impaled him with his halberd before a loud shrieking sounded nearby.

"I see Hellions moving in on your location, Seiras! Take cover, we'll come to you!" Nemias spoke into the vox.

"We're pinned, Two more ravagers are on the right side!" Decimus shouted.

"I'll jump in and take them out! Wait here!" Gregorius announced as he used his jump pack to land on one of the ravagers and murder its crew.

While the two ravagers were holding down his team, Seiras was unable to return as a host of raiders now circled the ravager he was on.

"Hold on, brothers! Drop pods are inbound in two minutes!" Nemias announced as he, Viggo, and Decimus worked to take out the other ravager.

Seiras kept his head down as he dodged shots from the three raiders now circling him. 'I should try to pilot this thing out of here. It has heavier armour than the raiders do,' the librarian thought as he moved to the back of the craft and took control of the pilot's seat.

He had no idea what he was doing with it, but it had a similar control panel layout to craftworlder vypers, so he knew how to at least steer and accelerate. Without wasting another second, he drove the Ravager away from the Raiders and back towards his kill team.

He ungracefully scraped against buildings and debris as he attempted to dodge gunfire from the raiders chasing him. Two raiders quickly flanked him on either side as he attempted to reach his kill team. To his utter fury, the two flanking raiders both sandwiched him and turned together forcing his steering away from the other Astartes and into another street opening further away. They then accelerated with great speed forcing Seiras a considerable distance away from the others.

'Curse these xenos!' Seiras thought furiously. He thought about jumping off the ravager, but knew his chances were low against three raiders on foot by himself. Thinking fast, he got off the pilot's seat and moved towards one of the nearby dark lance guns. He unloaded fire into the crew on the right raider. He specifically made sure to shoot the pilot as well causing it to spiral right and crash into a building.

Without hesitation, he jumped on the other raider as his Ravager finally failed from the massive firepower it was enduring. The Ravager soon crashed and exploded into another building a moment later.

As he boarded the raider, Seiras fearlessly cut apart the Kabalites aboard it. He endured a number of shots from the enemies but suffered no fatal damage as he successfully killed the crew. He jumped off and rolled from the raider as is sped out of control and crashed as well.

Now out in the open, he faced down the last raider which seemed to be keeping its distance. Seiras looked at it confused, 'Why is it holding back?'

"Seiras! Drop pods are here, send us your location and we'll come get you!" Nemias announced in the vox.

Sure enough, multiple drop pods began to rain down around the upper spire. Seiras spoke into the vox a moment later, "Have you see any sign of the Archon yet?"

"No…but I saw a lot of Raiders and hellions heading your direction a minute ago!" the Salamander answered.

Not even a second after hearing that, Seiras spotted Hellions flying in on their spiked hoverboards. He took cover and fought them off for a minute, but thankfully several drop pods landed in the clearing shortly afterward.

To his utter relief, several Imperial Fists stepped out of it and unloaded the Emperor's fury on the xenos. Seiras was about to leave cover and make his way towards the Imperial Fists after they finished killing the hellions, but he then felt his two hearts stop for a moment. He could only gawk in disbelief as three Ravagers and two Raiders drove down the street and blasted them apart. The librarian immediately took cover again and grimaced hatefully, 'I need to get back to the others!'

"Seiras, we got a visual on the Archon about a minute ago! He's in a heavily armoured ravager with two flanking ravagers with him!" Gregorius announced through the vox.

"Yeah some Raiders are following them as well. Three Ravagers and two Raiders just drove by me and killed the Imperial Fists that landed over here! How soon can you all get here!?" Seiras asked.

"We're pinned, Seiras! We have wyches, scourges, and kabalites everywhere over here. We're bunkered down with the majority of the other arriving Astartes," Decimus answered.

"A Talos pain engine is incoming!" Nemias shouted, "Focus all fire on that abomination!"

"Don't do anything reckless, Seiras! We can hold out for now. Take the back alleys to get back here. Stay off the main streets!" Decimus stated urgently.

'It looks like I'm on my own again…' Seiras thought.

"Seiras, where are you? We deployed a predator! I'll come retrieve you, brother!" the voice of none other than Kallius came over the vox.

"Kallius?! About damn time your ass showed up!" Viggo half-laughed.

"It's great to hear your voice, Kallius! My location tracker is turned on. I'll remain here as long as I can…but make haste brother! It won't take them long to detect me here." Seiras replied.

He briefly peeked out of his cover as was shocked to see the three Ravagers and two Raiders coming back down the street. They all stopped before advancing further, and Seiras got a good look at the passengers.

The front ravager had five incubi on it as well as a pilot and the Archon himself by the looks of it. The Archon's ravager also had a human woman chained up on it. Both of the other Ravagers and two Raiders had wyches and trueborn kabalites on them.

"Why are we stopping?!" one of the wyches shouted over from a flanking ravager to the Archon.

"There's no sign of the space marine that killed Daeyal…he wasn't with the others. The last raider from the vanguard reported he crashed somewhere around here." the archon answered as he scanned the area.

Seiras immediately took cover again even though he knew it was futile to try and hide. Part of him felt shame in trying to hide from these xenos as he thought about how ridiculous it was for a space marine to do.

'What am I doing hiding over here?! Only in death does duty end…what more can I ask for than a good death?' Seiras thought to himself as he left cover and charged towards the Ravagers and Raiders. He took this time to speak into his vox, "Brothers I am engaging the archon's retinue. Close in on my position, there's not that many of them over here!"

"I'm on the way! We'll be there in a few minutes! Just hold out and survive until then, Seiras!" Kallius spoke into the vox.

All of the dark eldar present on the ravagers perked up in disbelief when they saw the lone space marine charging them.

"Is he insane?" The archon chuckled calmly.

The ravagers all opened fire as Seiras advanced, but to the Dark Eldars' utter disbelief, Seiras wasn't actually there where the dark lances fired into him.

The Archon was quick to figure it out as Seiras leapt onto one of the ravagers and started killing its passengers.

"An illusion!" the archon announced.

Seiras wasted no time killing the gunners and pilot of the nearest ravager before turning and firing a bolter shot into the pilot of a flanking Raider.

Seconds later, the wyches from the other Ravager and Raiders jumped over and began to start rabidly attacking him. Seiras psychically tossed them back in a shockwave of force before diving off the side. The pilot on the archon's ravager immediately flew away from the other two ravagers as it circled around. The Raider that had a surviving pilot followed him with its trueborn crew.

"Hold your fire…let the Hekatarii have their fun," the archon spoke to his troops

Seiras briefly noticed the archon and half of his men were simply watching as he began to battle a pack of wyches. All of the female gladiatrixes were clad in black, white, and blue armour like the Kabalites. They all had variations of blue hair as well.

Seiras did not have time to exaimine them as he reflexively fought off the extremely fast and dangerous warriors. They moved twice as fast as the Kabalites he had been fighting up until now and were impossibly difficult to hit.

The surviving trueborns and the Archon's personal retinue all stood by and watched as Seiras battled the seven wyches. He was unable to avoid direct blows from the murderess aliens as they attacked him with a variety of horrific weapons.

One tried to hold him down with an agonizer whip as the others surrounded and stabbed into him from various angles.

Seiras furiously overpowered them as he made a wide swing with his halberd. It moved faster than some of the wyches were expecting and managed to cut two in half. The more experienced wyches likely knew the speed of Astartes and were smart enough to leap back.

The librarian hatefully fired the rest of his storm bolter's ammunition into the wyches, which they dodged and weaved through. Thankfully, he managed to shoot two more of them with his remaining shots. He was now down to three remaining wyches, and they all looked like they were taking him more seriously now.

Seiras drew his force sword as one came in with a low diving charge and managed to decapitate her much to the shock of the aliens present. Now dual-wielding his Nemesis Force Halberd and his personal force sword, the librarian twirled the weapons in furious threatening flurries which prevented the other two wyches from closing in again.

They both split up in opposite directions as they fired their alien guns at the Astartes from opposing angles. Seiras tried to channel his psychic powers again, but much to his disbelief, nothing happened. He felt a horrible draining presence nearby as his psychic powers briefly surged.

'What is this?!' Seiras thought as an agonizing burning feeling filled his insides. He assumed it was poison as began to suffer in pain from whatever was affecting him.

He quickly recovered his senses just in time to block the front wych from impaling him with her glaive. She nimbly dodged and bended around as Seiras tried to cut her in half. The librarian was getting frustrated at his inability to hit her and growled when the other wych stabbed him from behind, forcing him to his knees.

"This is better than the arenas! Look at how helpless he is!" one of the trueborn kabalites laughed in enjoyment as if he was enjoying the show.

"Get him Aelendriel! Make him suffer!" one of the others added with amusement.

Anger surged through the Astartes as the trueborn began to cheer and laugh. His psychic powers surged with full force shortly afterward as he sent another psychic shockwave into the remaining wyches. With hatred, the librarian took advantage of their dazed state and charged the ravager that was still close by. He leapt on it and started killing its trueborn passengers. The Raider that remained nearby tried firing on him, but Seiras quickly fried its gunners with lightning as he cut down any nearby kabalites he could.

Several of the trueborns aboard the current ravager immediately fled. Among them included looked like another Dracon. They all retreated to the nearby Raider and flew over towards the Archon's Ravager to get away from the space marine librarian. Seiras was unfortunately only able to kill half of the trueborn before the two remaining wyches jumped onto the Ravager deck and flanked him again.

"Archon! Should we just put him down?" the surviving Dracon asked concerned after hastily reaching the Archon's Ravager.

"No, let Aelendriel do it," he said carelessly.

Seiras had no time to contemplate on the Archon's lack of remorse for his own men as he attempted to avoid another combo from the two wyches.

The less prominent looking of the two wyches charged in to finish him off, but she was not expecting what came next. Seiras unleashed a maelstrom of psychic power completely electrocuting her and causing the wych to cry out in agony. Her crisped corpse fell over a moment later. This only left one wych now.

"Having some trouble, Aelendriel? Just give the word and I'll have my incubi assist you," the archon spoke to the surviving wych.

"I don't need their help! I've got this! This space marine is nothing compared to me!" the wych now identified as Aelendriel announced proudly in her own language.

Seiras now had a moment to examine the remaining wych's appearance. She had purplish blue hair and prestigious looking armour. It was ridiculously promiscuous and looked ineffective, but the wych's combat skills and speed more than made up for her slutty attire.

The Astartes and the remaining wych dueled for about a minute straight in a clash of blades and dodging twirls. That minute might as well have been an hour, because Seiras used every last bit of his martial skill to last through it. He supplemented any psychic attacks he could when he saw an opening, but the wych moved too fast to hit with any obvious psychic attacks.

Despite her incredible speed and agility, the wych was too preoccupied in trying to break through his defenses and did not expect it when Seiras stabbed his force sword into the ground a moment later. He then gripped the Nemesis Force Halberd with two hands again as he stepped back.

The wych expectedly charged forward again, but to everyone' shock, the force sword erupted beneath her a moment later causing a small tempest of psychic power to consume her. It did not do much damage, but it gave Seiras the perfect opportunity to grab her glaive and rip it out of her hand.

He then turned and threw the spear towards the Archon's ravager as hard as possible. It almost hit the archon, but one of the Incubi managed to catch it mid air much to his astonishment.

"Nice catch," The archon chuckled with amusement to the incubus.

The now unarmed wych backed away defensively as she raised her blast pistol.

"Do you need help, Aelendriel? I would hate to lose one of the cult's most esteemed succubi," the archon asked with amusement.

She looked completely furious and emotionally distraught as Seiras advanced.

"I don't need your help Faelan! The monkeigh is mine to kill!" she proudly denounced them.

"Are you sure you don't want my incubi to throw you the archite glaive back?" He chuckled as if the situation was comical to him.

Aelendriel looked around at the ground for one of other dead wychs' weapons. Her brief distraction was all Seiras need to catch her off guard. The wych felt the blast pistol in her hand being ripped out of her grip a second later from Seiras' psychic powers. He tossed the weapon a considerable distance away leaving the succubus completely unarmed now.

She attempted to dive for an agonizer whip, but could only watch in horror as Seiras psychically ripped the weapon out of her reach. Now immediately in his range, he front kicked her. She managed to jump back enough to negate the worst of the blunt trauma, but the kick still sent her flying into a nearby building.

"Fuck," he heard her say quietly to herself as she got up. For the first time in the fight, she actually looked concerned now as Seiras' eyes glowed again and psychic power began to crackle over his halberd.

Seiras immediately began to wildly swing the halberd attempting to finish her off. The wych dodged and weaved as best she could but was quickly tripped when Seiras psychically threw her to the ground mid dodge.

He then pinned her arm with his boot causing the wych to squirm around defenselessly. He wasted no time as he jabbed the halberd down to finish her off. Unfortunately, Seiras came up short as another pack of wyches showed up out of nowhere and swarmed him.

As they all cheap shot from various angles, Seiras was forced to huddle down defensively. One of newly arrived wyches then leapt on him and stabbed the Astartes in the chest. He stumbled backward and collapsed immediately. Shortly afterward, she got on top of him.

"That neurotoxin should be kicking in right about…now! Nighty night monkeigh," the wych on top of him spoke in gothic.

Seiras felt his vision getting hazy as the wych on top of him proudly beamed. He heard bolter fire a moment later, but everything sounded distorted.

"Load him up with the other prisoners! We need to move! They have a baneblade on the way." the archon announced as his ravager opened fire into an advancing predator and incoming Astartes.

"Seiras!" the librarian heard over his vox in a loud distorted tone. He soon lost consciousness in the following seconds, but not before realizing he was being dragged onto a ravager.