The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

"We need to find an alternative route, a frontal attack is suicide!"

"And spread our forces even thinner? We do not have the time or manpower to pull a pincer maneuver. We need to attack the skaven now before they reinforced their position further!"

Not only was Ciaphas Cain a consummate coward, but he must also be the most obstinate man Severina Raine ever have the displeasure of working with. This was the fifth time they were having this argument, with the end result being the same stalemate that was costing them valuable time and lives. And here they were again, arguing, their regiments spread out amongst the skeletal remains of destroyed buildings, getting pinned down by the skaven's suppressing barrage.

"Lord commissar, lady commissar, it would be nice if the two of you can come to a decision!" Evangeline bellowed over the cacophonic din of screams and gunfire. "Any time now would be nice!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with her," Raine was indeed surprised when general Sulla concurred with her suggestion. Then again, the woman has an unnatural tendency to charge headlong into the thick of battle. A commendable trait, Raine admits begrudgingly.

"But the skaven are well dug in!" Colonel Kasteen exclaimed then squealed when a block of concrete next to her head exploded, sending shards flying all over the place.

"Cushy desk job got you all rusty, Regina?" Major Broklaw chuckled.

"Oh, shut up Rupert, you're not doing that much better yourself!" Kasteen snapped back.

"We cannot stay here!" Major Gaston of the Iron Guard cut urgently into the banter. "Every second we waste the tighter the noose close in around us. Our only chance of getting out of this is to press forward and take their position before it becomes unassailable. If we're doing this, it must be now!"

"Commissar?" Evangeline looked between her and Cain, seeking confirmation. Raine locked eyes with him, steely and expectant. Come on Ciaphas, show these guardsmen what a coward the Hero of the Imperium really is. Raine almost smiled when his façade of bravery started to crack, just a tiny bit, but to her trained eyes it was as stark as sunlight.

"Then we shall meet the enemy head on," well, that was unexpected. "Fix bayonets guardsmen, prepare for blood!"

"You're not fooling anyone," Raine hissed, drawing her sword and pulling her bolt pistol from its holster, wielding them in each hand. And how dare he ignore her?!

"Load the grenade launchers, make ready! On my mark!" Evangeline shouted down the line and Kasteen echoed her command, Mordian and Valhallan alike quickly armed and braced their weapons, barrels trained skyward. "Double volley! Open fire!"

The pops of ejecting ordnance resounded down the battlegroup's line, heralding rolling booms and ratty shrieks as the skaven's positions were wreathed in fire.

"Jurgen, make sure that the rats are sufficiently dead please."

"With pleasure lord commissar!" Cain's personal aide rose fearlessly from cover and bombarded the skaven's dugout with a savage barrage of melta beam, firing with such gleeful exuberant that Raine thought the white hot weapon was going to explode in his hand. Then again, the burning ozone did hide the man's repulsive odor, so she wasn't complaining.

"That's enough Jurgen, thank you, excellent work as usual," Cain pressed the ignition rune on his chainsword, the blades roaring to life, took his aide's place atop the bullet riddled rise and roared. "Forward guardsmen! For the Emperor!"

"Fire and thunder! In His name let none survive!" Raine and Cain leapt over the cover, the battlegroup thundering behind them, bayonets gleaming for blood. The bombardment and Jurgen's suppressing fire seems to have its intended effect, no las or bullets met them as they charged across the fifty-yard no man's land. Cain was the first to reach the crest of the skaven's fortified embankment, revving chainsword held high, his war cry rupturing into a squawk as he disappeared over the other side. Vaulting the earthen rampart, Raine herself let out an undignified squeal when she found a horde of skaven surging forward in a counter charge. And their most immediate target was the Hero of the Imperium.

"Ciaphas!" Raine dashed toward Cain, jumping over a carpet of corpses created by his bloodied chainsword and joined him, her immaculate sword work deterring any skavens lunging for the lord commissar's unprotected sides and back.

"And here I thought you were going to drive that sword into me!" Cain made his quip and leapt into the mass of ratmen. His swordsmanship was a thing of beauty, deadly and graceful, so perfect that it made Raine's skin crawled.

"I still might reconsider my action," Raine growled and dispatched a gang of skaven, her power sword, Evenfall, painting a glistering ribbon of scarlet across the five ratmen. They fell to the ground, dead without even a twitch, necks carved open and hearts pierced. The Mordian and Valhallan entered the fray the same moment verminous reinforcement joined their beleaguered brethren.

"Form up! Form a firing line, quickly!" Evangeline yelled and the Mordian swiftly got into the correct ranks and files with iron discipline, while the Ice Warriors went about the same task with considerably less tact, although the end result was admirable. By the time Raine took her place beside Evangeline she knew it was too late, the skavens were already taking aim at them. Light and thunder erupted and Raine braced for the volley that would tear her apart, but besides the awful ringing in her ears, nothing else happened. Blinking, Raine was greeted by the sight of dead and fleeing rats, bangs of bolter hounding their retreat.

"Commissars," Raine and Cain spun around at the distorted voice and found an Avenging Knight Sororitas, the one with the round shield, Caesar, perched upon a pile of rubble, her helmed face turned toward them.

"Sister," Cain tipped his cap at her.

"Do any of your guardsmen require medical attention?" Caesar asked.

"We have several injuries, some in critical condition," Raine told her. "We would appreciate any help you can give us."

"I'll have our medics take care of them," Caesar tapped the side of her helm and relayed her command. "Are you combat ready?"

"We are," Kasteen said, earning affirmative nods from her fellow guardsmen.

"We must make haste down Guhon lane then pushed our way through Endis avenue," Caesar pointed southward, crisp and sharp like a general. "The Forlorn Star square has been destroyed and it is there that the ratmen have made their forward base of operation, where they have erected an unholy altar and are rallying forth more of their kin from the city's underbelly. The battlegroup's help will be greatly appreciated."

"And we will happily provide it," Raine gestured down the road with her power sword, the blade dripping black ichor. "Lead the way sister."

"With pleasure, lady commissar," Caesar jumped down her perch, landing between Raine and Cain. "Follow me."

Trading looks, the two commissars ordered their respective regiments into battle column and jogged after Caesar. Soon, they were joined by more Avenging Knights, marching in sync with the battlegroup to the left and right, weapon raised at the ready, while above more of the Sororitas soared overhead, some sporting wings of starry silver. Raine didn't like how boxed in they were, but given the circumstance she kept the thought to herself.

"We meet again, Punisher!"

"I am called Sicario, boy," the Avenging Knight Sororitas growled at commissar Tangmo. The menacing, distorted voice made Verity flinched, but the commissar was unfazed, worse, he seems to be taking immense pleasure at goading the heavily armed Battle Sister.

"Really? Because the big ass white skull on your chest says otherwise," Tangmo went on, confusing everyone beside High Ranger Erik, who snickered at the commissar's comment. "Thanks for the help by the way, that was some epic killing you guys did back there, shit was awesome yo."

"Our goals are align for the moment," Sicario reloaded her strangely modified bolter, bulky but elongated in length. It looked almost like an assault rifle.

"Well shit, it better be, it's your planet getting fucked," Tangmo said. "And when you see Lithia again, tell her the schematic she gave us was absolute dog shit."

"Me and the Avenging Knights do not associate ourselves with that woman," Sicario raised her voice.

"Oh, cut the crap, I know you're one of her bodyguard," Tangmo's widening grin was extremely infuriating. "What's your name again? Castrum? Yeah, Castrum, that's it. So what are you, some kind of range weapon specialist?"

"I was warned of your stupidity," Sicario snarled. "But this exceeds even my lowest expectation."

"I'm not hearing a denial, lady."

"Is he always like this?" Alnelle peered over Verity's shoulder. Both of them cringing as Sicario's outrage continue to rise dangerously.

"As far as I can tell, yes," Verity deadpanned.

"This seems very…unwise," Alnelle swallowed loudly.

"There's method to his madness," Erik piped up beside them, grinning as the argument continues to rage. How could he find this amusing? "Sure, at first glance Tangmo seems like an absolute dick who will take every opportunity to annoy and piss people off. But people get sloppy when they're angry, and Tangmo is a master at prodding people. See that? By lashing out, Sicario is giving him everything he wants."

"I fear for him," Alnelle said. "I hope he elect a more diplomatic approach in the future."

"Yeah, that's never gonna happen," Erik shook his head.

"And are you like the commissar, High Ranger?" Verity asked him.

"I'm the good cop, he's the bad cop," Erik smiled and winked at her, and by the Emperor it was gorgeous. Wait, what?!

"Oh, he's gonna die!" Verity and Alnelle squealed girlishly when another Avenging Knight materialized beside them. Unlike Sicario, who wore her skull motif starkly, this new Sororitas was adorned with luminescent smiley faces painted childishly over her war gears, with bright neon red and white shading the armor at random intervals. And to add to the quirkiness of her appearance, two blonde pigtails sprouted out of the side of her helm. "Hey Sicario, kill him already!"

"Holy shit, you're Harley Quinn," Erik's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey! I'm not one of those eldar clowns, buster!" The Avenging Knight huffed and stomped the ground, hands on hips. "I actually put a smile on people faces before killing them!"

"And your name?" Erik asked, his brow rising in an inquisitive arch.

"I am Pierrot, nice to meet you!" She said chirpily.

"Pierrot? You don't sound or look sad," Erik commented.

"It was the only name that kinda fit my charming personality," Pierrot shrugged. "I'm not gonna be called harlequin, that's for damn sure, we have enough bad rep as it is."

"What are guys talking about?!" Another Avenging Knight skipped merrily up to them. She carried two swords strapped behind her back and sported a blonde ponytail that crowned her helmet. "Are you talking about me?!"

"Just wondering when Siccy's gonna shoot the commissar," Pierrot pointed at Sicario and Tangmo, their altercation dissolving into shouts now, "any seconds now."

"Nah, if she's gonna shoot him, she would've done it by now," the newcomer tilted her head lazily to the side, as if to watch the scene from a different angle. "She must really like him, but not as much as she likes me though, we're bestest friends you know?"

"Really? She's always shooting you," Pierrot was obviously smirking.

"That's because she loves me best!" The Avenging Knight announced happily then held her hand out to Verity suddenly, who took it gingerly. "The name's Furieux, how do you do?"

"Very fine, thank you," Verity said politely as Furieux shook vigorously before letting her go.

"Nice, Deadpool got a name," Erik strode toward Tangmo, Verity and Alnelle following closely. It would appear that the war of words between the commissar and Sicario has finally died down. "You guys done yet, we're wasting time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's firing blanks anyway," Tangmo bowed mockingly at Sicario, "until next time, lady Sicario."

"Hopefully not!" Sicario snarled and tapped the side of her helmet. "Form up, we're moving out!"

"You heard the lady, check your ammos, fix your bayonets and get into formation," Tangmo spoke into his vox caster. "Leilatha, how're you doing? Nice. Anyone of us got hurt badly? Okay, that's good to hear, I'll join you later. Hey!" Tangmo caught up with Sicario before she can wander off. "You're taking us to where the skavens are emerging from, right?"

"Mistress Tenebris was very clear on her instruction and I will follow it," Sicario said none too happily.

"Good to have you with us," Tangmo gave Sicario's pauldron a friendly smack, not caring that the Avenging Knight was glaring dagger at him, and took his place next to Erik. "Good thing we hooked up with Lingxin and the Dragon Blood, there are too many Avenging Knights around and I'm getting pretty damn nervous."

"You think they're gonna try something?" Erik lowered his voice.

"Duh, they probably know about Isha's amulet too," Tangmo nodded. "Tell everyone to watch their backs."

"Got it."

"You got some nerves mister!" Pierrot and Furieux stomped up to Tangmo, huffing and puffing in exaggerated outrage, "upsetting poor Sicario like that! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Blow it out your ass, Harley Quinn," Tangmo rolled his eyes and walked away with Verity, Alnelle and Erik.

"I'm not a harlequin!"

"I never thought I would see another soul from Frystasvard again."

"Ha! I knew that hammer looked familiar! Not frost made, but the soul of the wolf isn't hard to miss."

Miriya wrenched her chainsword free of a twitching Storm Vermin, pulled the intestine from the blades, and turned to see Astrid grinning broadly at an Avenging Knight Sororitas. Beside the streamline tactical armor, this Battle Sister wielded a crackling thunder hammer fashioned with clear Frystasvard artistry, and her closed helm sported a pair of wings similar to the one the huskarls wore.

"Well met, sister," the Avenging Knight held out her hand and Astrid clasped the woman's forearm in a warrior greeting. "I am Villtur."

"Astrid," the huskarl shook vigorously, released the grip then pointed at a smoldering crater beside them. "Thanks for the save."

"Well, I do like a dramatic entrance," Villtur was starting to laugh when a slug shot struck her on the pauldron, sending sparks and small pieces of metal flying. Astrid dropped to the ground, shield and bolter raised, while Villtur, still standing and unharmed, glanced at her damaged armor and growled, the hammer in her hand glowing to a bright, blinding luminosity.

"You dare to strike me, vermin?!" Villtur roar and charged a horde of clan rats rushing for the battlegroup and the Avenging Knights. Villtur took to the sky, the small jet thrusters beneath her dark red cape hurtled her toward the skavens. The thunder hammer, cackling blue white energy, trailed after her in a majestic starry arc. She crashed into the skavens, the hammer's explosive landing launched scores of ratmen skyward in bloody pieces.

"Always the show off," another Avenging Knight appeared beside Miriya, this one augmented with a dozen cybernetic enhancements, her entire right arm was comprised of a plasma cannon. Miriya didn't like how the woman was staring at her, the lights on her helm dancing an unpleasant pattern.

"Can I help you with something, sister?" Miriya made her agitation clear.

"Sorry," the Avenging Knight stepped back and saluted. "My name is Titan, a pleasure."

"What are our plans, Titan?" Firnera joined them.

"We are nearing the source of the disturbance," Titan said. "Stay close, scouts are reporting that the skavens are out en masse, so watch your backs. As for the rest, well, I'm sure you know what to do."

"Lead the way then," Miriya slammed the last magazine home as Titan repeated her strange inspection on Firnera. After an impolite amount of time, Titan turned away from the eldar and marched off to join Villtur, the woman having neutralized the skavens.

"She was scanning you," Miriya jogged after Titan with Firnera at her side.

"For Isha's amulet," Firnera said as they rejoined their squads and that of Astrid's huskarl, miraculously everyone was still alive. But Verity was still missing. Try as she might, Miriya's fear for the hospitaller would always creep in and falter her resolve, insidious imagination playing the worst scenarios over and over in her mind.

"Hey!" Firnera's quick snapping fingers brought her back to the present. "Don't let your focus stray."

"I am focus!" Miriya hissed as the column trudged onward, their host growing to a formidable size now that the scattered elements of the battlegroup were merging.

"Then you will know the peril we now face," Firnera went on.

"The skavens are hardly a threat," Miriya uttered those words with half the conviction it deserved.

"I'm not talking about the rats," Firnera nudged her head at the Avenging Knights, and Miriya noticed how they had arranged themselves on the battlegroup's flanks, the placement carried an undeniable tactical reasoning. "I'm more worried about our supposed allies."

Miriya was silent for a moment before saying, with heavy reluctance, "I agree."

"You do?" Firnera was rightly surprised.

"They're scanning you, me and everyone in the battlegroup," Miriya went on, the truth lending her strength and loosening her tongue. "The Avenging Knights are here for your goddess's amulet, not for the benefit of the battlegroup. The moment they deem our usefulness to be at an end, they will likely turn on us."

"You're not as blind as I believe you to be," Firnera tapped the side of her plumed helm, "Banshees, to me."

"Cassandra, Astrid, get over here," Miriya spoke crisply into her vox caster, summoning her squad and the Frost Bringer huskarls. When they converge around her, Miriya took off her helm and cradled it under her arm, prompting the others to do the same.

"Be wary of the Avenging Knights," Miriya lowered her voice for only the Celestians and huskarls to hear, hopefully Titan and Villtur's attention were elsewhere. "They have their own agenda, don't trust them and keep a sharp eye out."

"As you command, Elohim," Cassandra nodded, the gestured repeated around their little huddle.

"What about them?" Isabel nudged her head at Firnera and her Banshees, the eldar's animosity toward them had simmered down to tired annoyance, numbing the bitterness and mistrust between the species. Miriya felt the same now that battle weariness was setting in.

"I'm more worry about the enemies we don't know than the ones we do," Miriya traded brief look with Firnera then turned to Astrid. "Will you be fine with this?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Astrid asked, confused.

"That Avenging Knight is from your home world," Miriya stated sternly, eyes narrowing.

"So? She's not of the battlegroup, is she?" Astrid growled and put her winged helm back on, the huskarls and Celestians following suite. "Get your head out of your ass Miriya, it's getting old."

Miriya scowled and was about to response when explosions tore through the column, cloud of green smog plumed around them, ghostly specters that drifted down the line in slithering tendril, coiling around guardsmen, eldars and Sororitas with indiscriminate intimacy. Then the violent coughs started, guardsmen and Guardians dropped to the ground, black blood spurted from mouths and tears of crimson rolled down grimy cheeks as the poison winds choked them. Some crawled feebly, trying to flee the vile mists, other more unfortunate collapsed to the ground, seizure holding them in a rictus grip, their last breath coming in foaming red.

"Get away from the fucking gas! Run!" Min Jae bellowed over the horrid weeping of humans and eldars as the mist consumed them. Miriya recognized the futility of running, the gases were too close, and even though her helm might provide some protection, the creeping death will no doubt claim her like the others.

"Banshees! Let loose your cry!" Firnera yelled suddenly and before Miriya could react, the xeno unleashed her shrieking war cry, the volume and pitch so agonizingly bombastic that it drove the Celestian to her knees, hands pressed hard over her ears. Teeth gritted, jaw aching from the pressure, Miriya glanced up with great effort and saw the skaven's hellish green mist, moments away from enshrouding her, being pushed back by the physical shockwave of the Banshee's scream, the poison wind roiled angrily before getting shredded to insignificant wisps. A minute or two passed, although it felt like hours to Miriya, and the xeno's screams ended, the silence that followed was thick and jarring. The Banshees swayed drunkenly, many forced to their knees by exhaustion. Firnera herself was leaning heavily on a block of rockcrete, her breaths coming in quick gasp.

"Are you alright?" Miriya rose up, her footing wobbly, and went to stand beside Firnera, stopping herself just in time before reaching out to offer the xeno aides.

"I'll be fine," Firnera straightened with clear difficulty, but managed admirably enough.

"Thank you," Miriya said, surprised that she was genuine in the statement.

"You're welcome," Firnera's amiable response was interrupted by gunfire. Ducking low and joining the Banshee behind the rockcrete stump, Miriya peered above the edge and found another wave of skavens descending on them from the surrounding emaciated buildings, the rats' wild, relentless salvo cutting down many guardsmen and Guardians still stricken by the gas.

"Form up! Rally to me and form a firing line! Quickly! To me!" Yelling between hacking coughs, colonel Al-Rahman rallied the Imperial Guards and Guardians and answered the skaven's onslaught with a brutal volley, but the rats barely slowed, undeterred by the death brought upon them. That was when the Avenging Knights, led by Villtur and Titan, charged head on into the skavens, Sororitas and ratmen colliding in a spectacular surf of fire, flesh and blood. Miriya sure as hell wasn't about to be outdone by them.

"Can you fight?" Miriya magnetized the bolter to her thigh and drew her chainsword, pressed the activation rune and turned to Firnera; the eldar woman had also drawn her twin swords.

"Better than you," Firnera gave her weapons a few flashy twirls, and was that humor in her tone?

"We shall see," Miriya grinned beneath her helmet and raised her voice, "forward sisters! In the name of the Emperor, let none survive!"

"Slay the Sha'eil spawns! Mael Danna!" Firnera roared and, with Miriya and Astrid at her side, dashed straight into the skaven horde. Her chainsword screaming with demented hunger, Miriya swung it downward, decapitating a clan rat and eviscerating a clan slave beneath him. Arrested by the momentum of the attack, Miriya allowed herself to flow with the rhythm of her chainsword, becoming one with the screaming blade. She crashed into the skavens like a furious hurricane, chainsword whirling, slashing and cleaving. Blood splattered her face, but she did not need to see, the righteous holy fire in her vein was her ethereal guide, and Miriya lost herself in the purifying wrath, slaying and rending all that stood in her way. It took several swings through empty air for the divine fury to disperse, leaving Miriya shaking from the lingering afterglow as she stabbed her chainsword into the gory ground, braced on it, heaved in a few deep lungful of rust tinged air and blinked the rippling haze from her eyes. A circular clearing spread out before her, empty beside dead bodies and debris, and Miriya couldn't quite make sense of what she was seeing. Where were the skavens?

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Astrid cackled to her left, covered head to toe in dripping ichor, the white of her teeth peeking through the crimson mask she now wore.

"Are you injured?" Miriya asked the huskarl, who shook her head in response.

"What about you?" Miriya turned and found an equally gore drenched Firnera on her right. This must be the first time she'd ever seen the Banshee winded. "You don't look too great yourself."

"I'm fine," Miriya contemplated for a moment then, because it would be polite, asked Firnera. "And you?"

"I am unharmed," Firnera chuckled then waved her sword backward. "But those rats never stood a chance."

Miriya turned around and couldn't stop the low laughter emanating from her throat. The skaven horde, so formidable and unstoppable before, now looked no better than butchered beasts in a charnel house. Their mutilated remains littered the road behind her, the lanes filled to the brim with gore. And standing amidst the knee-deep crimson slushes were the Sororitas and Banshees, covered in slick sheen of red, a quick headcount told Miriya that all of them were presence.

"Any idea where we are?" Astrid spoke up.

"Nearer to our target. Look," Firnera pointed beyond the skyline, at a pulsing, sickly emerald light beating slowly like a dying heart, painting the buildings and the night in grotesque illumination.

"We should make haste," Miriya eyed the ghostly radiance, the languid ripples were nauseating to behold, made worse by a terrible toll of a bell that shattered the world, the timbre and volume daemonic in resonance, piercing through armor, flesh and bone to violate her very soul. It pealed the horrid note only once, but the reverberation refused to die. "By the Emperor!"

"That thing needs to be destroyed!" Astrid roared at the horrid green light, "come on!"

"Wait! What about the others?!" Isabel spoke up, and Miriya noticed then that the battlegroup was nowhere to be found.

"Fuck them, we don't have time! Follow me!" Astrid and her huskarls hollered raucously as they sprinted down the street toward the verminous glow. Miriya and Firnera groaned before following the Frost Bringers, despite every tactical instinct, honed by years of unending warfare, screaming that this was a bad idea. They were entering a large roundabout surrounded by squat warehouses when Astrid and the huskarls skidded to a stop and quickly formed a loose circle, shields and bolters raised as the Celestians and Banshees joined them.

"What is it?" Miriya asked Astrid.

"Skavens," Astrid's helmed gazed darted across the roundabout. "I saw them lurking in the warehouses, they're everywhere."

"And here we are right where they want us to be," Cassandra glared at the Frost Bringers. "Thanks a lot."

"Get fucked," Thora growled at Cassandra as ratty chuckles echoed around them, mocking and hungry.

"Make ready!" The Sororitas and Banshees were moving to obey Firnera when a violent quake ruptured across the roundabout and the tarmac beneath them bulged upward. Miriya lost her footing and fall to the ground, and continued to fall, the Celestians, the Frost Bringers and the Banshees swallowed by the earth's gaping maw. Miriya landed hard on her back, air leaving her lungs in a pained gasp as Firnera and Astrid crashed down on top of her. The sight would have been comical if it wasn't so damned painful and the weight was making her sink into the ground, cold wet slush creeping into the crevices of her armor. Pushing the two women off, Miriya staggered quickly back to her feet and found herself sloshing through thick, rising mud.

"Cassandra?! Isabel?!" Miriya yelled, her voice bouncing off the vertical wall around them, putrid raw sewage poured from destroyed pipes in thick sludge, slowly by surely filling the wide, five meter deep hole they were in. She found Isabel about six paces away, rising groggily to her feet.

"I'm – ahhh!" Isabel screamed when four clan rats pounced her, the Celestian careening to the ground under brutal strokes of bludgeons and shovels. Baeletha quickly leapt to her aid, the eldar blade making short work of the ratmen. The Banshee was hefting the dazed Isabel up when seven more skavens tackled them, using their combined weight to pin the women into the mud.

"Isabel!" Miriya cried out and saw the skavens, uncountable in multitude, climbing into the hole with clear excitable animation.

"Get the elf-thing and humans women!" A hunched skaven, clad in a tattered robe, waved his diseased looking bone staff in the air, spurring his minions onward. "We need more female for fun, fun! Make them scream!"

"You cannot be fucking serious!" Astrid roared, drew her sword and sliced a skaven leaping at her in half.

"To me sisters! To me!" Miriya held her chainsword high and thumbed the ignition rune. Nothing happened. Miriya glanced down and saw that it had been damaged in the fall, rows of teeth hung uselessly from a dangling length of chain. She was tossing the weapon away when a powerful blow to the head sent her sprawling into the muck, the impact so powerful that her helmet's digital display ruptured into static. Growling, Miriya was reaching for the combat knife at her belt when another blow to the face sends everything into darkness. She was struck several more time, three on the skull, one to the leg and two to the back, when the assault relented in a wet splattered of blood. Wrenching her destroyed helm off and fighting down a pounding headache, Miriya drew her combat knife, eighteen inch of thick sharp steel with a serrated spine, and staggered to her feet, finding Firnera standing above her attackers.

"Stick together, don't let them separate you! Get over here, quickly!" Firnera waved her swords in the air and the Sororitas and Banshees made a fighting retreat toward them, battered but alive.

"You have a plan?" Miriya asked and kicked a clan slave leaping at her leg, sending it cartwheeling across the pit.

"None, you?" Firnera brought her sword down like a hammer on a clan rat's head, splitting it in two and splattering its brain all over the place.

"How about surviving?" Astrid slammed her shield on a Storm Vermin's neck, crushing it with a wet snap.

"That sounds good," Miriya shrugged as the skavens closed in on them, devoid of plans or tactics, driven by primeval need to hurt and dominate. Shoulder to shoulder and back to back with her sisters of the Adepta Sororitas and the Banshee Aspect Warrirors, Miriya stabbed and slashed at the ratmen colliding into their small, tight circle. It was a savage and bloody close quarter fighting, devoid of beauty, surrendering to animalistic act of violence. Miriya lashed out with her knife, fists and feet, the skaven overwhelming number meant that every hit was either fatal or crippling. But there were no end to the rats, and they kept on coming, stampeding over their fallen kin. The Sororitas conducted themselves admirably, but the Aeldari were not faring well, the lack of space to maneuver was hampering their intricate fighting style. A scream went up on her right and Miriya spun around to find Firnera falling down. Her back had barely touched the ground before she was pulled into the mass of skavens, the ratmen shrieking in gleeful delight at having caught their first prey. Without thinking Miriya leapt after the Banshee, hacking through flesh and fur until a bloody rent opened up in the skaven's churning rank, revealing Firnera scrambling, and failing, to get back on her feet, her eldar swords swinging wildly, cleaving through several bodies with every bloody stroke.

"Get up!" Miriya backhanded a skaven and hurled Firnera off the ground, and was met with the eldar's sword thrusting at her. The blade flew passed Miriya's hip by a hairbreadth and plunged into a clan rat leaping at her from behind. The vermin dropped to the ground, curled in a fetal position, a studded iron bludgeon rolling from twitching hand. There was no time for thanks as Miriya carved opened a ratty face while Firnera rose to her feet in a graceful twirl of silver, mutilating and decapitating the converging skavens. By the time the first wave ended, Miriya and Firnera found themselves panting amidst thigh high stack of corpses, back pressed to the other, standing twenty paces away from their sisters in arms. Miriya and Firnera started back toward the huddle, their limbs sore, laggard and aching, the skavens really knows how to hit where it truly hurts.

"Any casualties?" Miriya hobbled up to Isabel, who with Cassandra was helping a dazed Ananke up to her feet, half the woman's face was coated in blood.

"None so far, but we're banged up pretty bad," Cassandra stabbed her thumb at the Banshees and the Frost Bringers, still standing but clearly weighed down by injuries and fatigue. All of them knew they'll never survive the next wave, which was already starting, the rat priest spurring more skavens down into the pit.

"Here," Miriya took a grenade from her belt and handed it to Firnera. "When you're overwhelmed, pull the pin. That goes for all of you, they're not taking us alive."

"I can't do this," Firnera tore the shattered Banshee helm off her face, head shaking despondently.

"Why not?" Miriya asked.

"Because my soul stone will be destroyed."

And her soul condemned to an eternity of torment at the hand of Slaanesh, a fate so horrid that Miriya cannot even begin to comprehend. In that moment she felt sympathy for Firnera, but even at the best of time summoning words of comfort had never come easy to Miriya.

"Do what you have to do," was all Miriya could offer before turning to face their oncoming demise. "Close ranks and stand your ground!"

Miriya was about to send a final prayer to the God Emperor when fiery eruption tore across the rim of the pit, consuming the skavens in rolling torrent of flame. Then came the thunder of las and bolts, turning the ratmen cry of joy into baleful lamentation.

"I've got a better idea for the grenades," Astrid came to stand between Miriya and Firnera, pulled the pin and hurled it at the dumbstruck skavens. The explosion tore five ratmen apart, the rest was just remembering their prey when more grenades fell among them, the booming staccato turning dozen into shredded pieces of meat. Squeezing her combat knife tight, Miriya glanced at Firnera who was twirling her eldar swords. Both locked eyes, nodded, then together with the Sororitas and Banshees, charged the faltering skavens, weapons blazing high and screaming furious war cry.

"For the Emperor!"

"Mael Dannan!"

"Oh my God, you guys made it!"

Lita slid in between Raine and Cain who was hunkered behind a destroyed wall at the edge of a jagged crater created by the skaven underground sneak attack, now surrounded on all side by the battlegroup. It was about a kilometer wide and seven hundred yards deep, the decline steep, treacherous and choked full of barricades and pillboxes, despite the ramshackle appearance they were quite effective in slowing down the battlegroup's advance to a torturous grind akin to the First World War. And at the epicenter where the depression dip to its lowest was some evil, ratty looking altar glowing an ectoplasmic green, guarded by mad looking skaven priests, a buttload of Storm Vermin and, if the scouts were right, a Plague Marine. Yikes.

"Good to see you again, lady Warseer," Raine nodded and let loose a burst of bolts over her head. "I hope you brought reinforcement, because the skavens are not yielding easily."

"Oh yeah," Lita's grin peeked through the bottom half of her eldar lucha helm. "We hooked up with the Death Korps and the Dark Reapers along the way and those guys are packing. Oh, and the Avenging Knights are out in force."

"That we are," mistress Tenebris crouched down beside Raine and swept her gaze over the two commissars. "Where is Caesar?"

"Here mistress," the Captain America Sororitas joined her, dual wielding shield and bolt pistol.

"What's the situation sister?" Tenebris asked.

"The ratmen are well dug in, but we have the place surrounded," Caesar said. "We need to hit them fast and hard before their scattered forces can regroup and encircle us."

"Don't worry about it, the Krieg and Reapers should be in position right about now," not a moment after Lita said that rockets, bolts and shuriken missiles flew from the western reaches of the crater, the projectiles ripped through the skaven's position in a brilliant conflagration, their pained screeching drowned out by the thunderous tempest of fire.

"Laura, Yuki, Nikki, get over here!" This close to the skaven altar, all communication devices were dead, but since the evil thing was made from Black Stone and hardwired to amplify Warp power, Lita was currently supercharged with energy, so sending a telepathic message was super easy.

"I do your bidding, mistress," the three of them joined Lita, Laura slurring her words so that it sounded like a zombie moan.

"Oh, cut that out!" Lita giggled then glanced at Tenebris. "So what's the plan?"

"The altar is protected by a powerful Warp barrier, none of our conventional weapons can penetrate it," Tenebris said. "Can you negate the energy field?"

"Get me close enough and I can weave it out of existence," Lita wiggled her fingers, "Aes Sendai style."

"Me and my squad shall clear a path for you," Tenebris got into a crouch and tapped the side of her bat helm. "Caesar, Praelia, Lyca, Saber, Gaia, prepare to move out."

"You guys game?" Lita asked her friends, all of whom nodded in smiling enthusiasm. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Wait! What are we supposed to do?!" Raine asked as Lita stood up, bullets whizzed about but not one touched her.

"Covering fire and advance when the coast is clear," Lita stretched her hand down the decline, index finger pointed forward while her thumb stood erected, a child miming a gun as she cocked the hammer and fire with a pew. A hellish white explosion erupted in front of her, sending rocks, metals and body parts flying, barricades and gun emplacements disintegrated by the Warp blast. In only a second, the once formidable obstacles were laid flat.

"That's our que guys!" Lita gave a flashy, kung fu twirl of her Singing Spear and sped down the crater, the Avenging Knight and her friends following close behind while the Valhallan and Mordian lay down an epic suppressing fire on the skaven, the rats cut to pieces as they scrambled for cover.

"Hadouken!" Lita blasted a pillbox using the famous Street Fighter move, the Warp fireball blowing it to smithereens. She squealed and jumped giddily like Chun-Li and pointed at the remains. "Did you guys see that?!"

"Two o'clock!"

"Ahhh!" Lita ducked as Nikki blasted a group of Storm Vermin, her salvo sending headless bodies tumbling to the ground. "Thanks!"

"Concentrate on the task at hand, Warseer!" Caesar scolded her and threw her shield at a hulking rat ogre that stepped into their path. The flying disc hit it square in the face, the mutated skaven roared and swayed drunkenly as Caesar drew a second bolt pistol, slide between its legs and blasted the torso to bloody gibs. The shield flew back to her as the ogre went to its knees, its pained howl ended abruptly when Tenebris's scythe made the decapitation.

"Sorry!" Lita got into a serious stance, Singing Spear lowered as she sprinted after Tenebris.

"We got this covered, go with her!" Laura sprayed a barricade with her hellgun, the place blew up spectacularly. Flame wreathed skavens crawled frantically out of the burning ruin. Lita might have laughed if the scream wasn't so horrible.

"Be careful!" Lita said and hurried after Tenebris, damn that woman can really run! She did slow down when a wall of Storm Vermin materialized in front of them, evil looking stubber guns raised. And like Batman, Tenebris spread her cape and leapt gracefully off the ground just as the rats opened fire. Bullets cascaded easily off Lita's Warp shield as she dashed at them, her Singing Spear skewering the biggest ratman the same moment Tenebris's scythe swooped down. It was like a dance, depthless in beauty, yet terrible like the darkest of storm. Lita and Tenebris were like gales as they flow through the skaven's ranks, so swift in passing that the rats didn't realize their demise until blood sprayed from sundered bodies. With punches, kicks and slashes, spear and scythe making an intricate melodious rhythm, Lita and Tenebris plowed through the ratmen with ridiculous ease.

"Oh my God, that was so cool!" Lita smiled brightly, the glowing green altar was already in front of them. "You are awesome!"

"And you are very excitable, lady Warseer," Lita was sure Tenebris chuckled a bit there.

"I know, I'm sorry, I'm totally fangirling out right now! Sorry!" Damn it Lita, get a grip of yourself, be professional! Lita was about to smack her forehead in embarrassment when a gagging odor crashed into her like an invisible wall, stopping her and Tenebris dead in their tracks, hands clasped over mouths and noses.

"By the Throne," Tenebris hissed lowly as the ground rumble ominously to the sure tempo of slow footfall. And striding forth to block their way, a miasma of greenish grey filth churning above him, ceramite armor rotted and decayed by indescribable diseases, was a Death Guard Space Marine, standing formidable and daunting despite his decrepit state. He's also the ugliest thing Lita had ever seen in her life. Every crevice was dripping disgusting pus like fluid, leaving a putrid, bubbling trail of filth in his wake. Cancerous tumors sprouted from his limbs at grotesque angle, some dangled, some twitching in imitation of life, each protrusion an ecosystem of sickly wet boils and half formed body parts. And was that a Siamese twin trying the crawl out of his back?! What the hell?!

"Get to the altar," Tenebris flexed her shoulders and stalked toward the Plague Marine, the blade of the scythe hissing as it dragged across the ground.

"Okay, no!" Lita grabbed hold of Tenebris's arm and held her in place. The Avenging Knight glared at her while the Death Guard made his slow approach.

"Release me, lady Warseer," Tenebris warned her icily.

"Are you stupid?! You're gonna get infected if you melee a Plague Marine!" Lita pushed away the outraged Tenebris and faced the traitor Astartes, cracking her knuckles like a badass. "Can you watch my back please? I need to concentrate."

Not waiting to see if Tenebris complied, Lita summoned the Warp power, a smile splitting her face as white hot energy ignited her veins, fleshes and bones until it felt like she shone brighter than the sun. Normally, this would be the part where mages and sorceress started to get worry, with the whole too much power it kills you thing. But Lita was in total control, and this confidence must have really shone in her easy steps because the Plague Marine now trained his diseased bolter at her. Lita pointed at him and the bolter's magazine blew up, destroying the gun and the hand that wielded it. The Plague Marine didn't care, so Lita swiped her finger across the air, detonating the magazines and grenades at his belt. The explosion ripped open the power armor and the flesh beneath, steaming intestines and ghastly looking organs, some of them Lita was sure wasn't normal, flowed down the disemboweled stomach in thick, sloshing mass. And he kept on oncoming.

"He's not dying," Tenebris made her unhelpful comment. Judging by the dying screams and the wet ripping of steel on flesh, the Avenging Knight canoness was doing a pretty good job of watching her back.

"Thank you! I didn't notice!" Lita snapped sarcastically; herself getting a little spooked by the Death Guard eerie tenacity, time to bring out the big gun then. Lita thought for a moment about what to do, Kamehameha seemed like the most obvious choice, but she decided to go with something a little more classic. Stabbing the Singing Spear into the ground beside her, Lita drew on the infinite repository of Warp energy, willed it into both her arms until the roaring power became a coalescing singularity that threatened to burst from her skin. Smiling at the relentless Death Guard, Lita slammed her arms together in front of her so that it made an upright cross, the center aimed at the Astartes, the Warp energy primed and ready for released.

"Specium Ray!" Yes, its super cliché to call out attack name, but Lita couldn't stop herself as she unleashed Ultraman's signature finishing move on the Plague Marine, the angelic white beam bedazzled with glittering sapphires struck the traitor Astartes like a battering ram, flame of purifying silver consuming the monstrous mutant. The entire thing must've lasted only five seconds but when Lita pulled her arms away, panting heavily as she dropped to one knee, all that remained of the Plague Marine was a single scorched boot sticking comically out of the ground.

"Lady Warseer, are you injured?" Tenebris called out behind her, the fight was still ongoing.

"I'm fine Tenebris, just a little winded," Lita grabbed the Singing Spear, waited until the world stopping spinning and the kaleidoscopic flashes ceased, then pushed herself upward, took a few drunken steps to find her orientation and turned to the skaven altar looming before her. "Oh hey, it's right here."

"What's the plan?" Tenebris appeared beside her, drenched in blood that was not her own.

"Just watch my back, this won't take long," Lita held her hand out toward the evil ratty altar, her fingers dancing like a pianist performing her masterpiece as she swiftly undo the knots and webs of foul sorcery the skavens have placed around the sacramental circle. Meanwhile, Tenebris flowed around her, swooping scythe slaying all who got too close. The job of fraying apart the tapestry of Warp magic was a simple one, the problem was that as the altar loses its potency in channeling the Immaterium, Lita started to sink into exhaustion once the energy that had kept her buoyant seeped away. Gritting her teeth, Lita continued to unwind the jumble of skaven witchcraft, focus honed on every black tread, fingers darting across the air quickly. Lita was starting to faint when the last stubborn tangle was undone, and the shield protecting the altar was no more.

"Hey Tenebris," drunkenness returned to Lita's gait as she grabbed her Singing Spear and tried to walk away from the now exposed altar, her legs refusing to go in a straight line. "The evil Warp shield's down, can you kill the altar please?"

"With pleasure," Tenebris dispatched three skavens with a single slash of her scythe then extend her arm at the altar. A compartment in her vambrace opened and a tiny rocket shot forth on a cute little plume, the needle head burying itself into the altar's stone façade.

"Oh cool, the tank missile from the first Iron Man movie," Lita smirked as Tenebris carried her toward a wide concrete block sticking out of the ground. They'd barely sat down when a deafening explosion swept over them, the searing gale was so hot that Lita thought she and the cement cover was gonna get liquefied. But as sudden as it started the heat dispersed, the encompassing baying of the skavens taking on a more desperate and frightful timbre. Lita slowly poke her head above the rim and whistled appreciatively at the burning, empty space where the altar had stood.

"I guess that's that," Lita rose to her full height and strode around the cement block with Tenebris close at her side.

"The skavens are in retreat," Tenebris magnetized the power scythe to her back and waved at the rats scrambling like mad across the crater, many fleeing into pipes jutting out of the ground while other tried their luck with the industrial complex at large. The latter were not very successful.

"That's one crisis averted," Lita chuckled and stretched her back lazily, the Singing Spear held above her head. "Alright, I guess what we have to do now is -argh!"

The kick came quick and sudden, hitting Lita right in the solar plexus, the armor failing to absorb the impact. Singing Spear slipping from her grip, Lita flew a short distant and bounced roughly across the ground. Lita was coughing for breath when Tenebris hurled her up roughly and slammed her into a broken pillar.

"Give me the amulet!" Tenebris shouted at her.

"Wha-what?! Ahhh!" Tenebris shook her violently until stars burst across her vision.

"Where is it?!" Okay, Tenebris did a pretty good Batman growl, it was really scary.

"Let go of me," Lita can be scary too, when the occasion calls for it. "Now!"

"I don't want to hurt you lady Warseer," Tenebris snarled. "But I do what must be done."

"So do I," Lita's hands darted up and snatched Tenebris's arms, squeezing until the Avenging Knight canoness took notice. "Now let me go!"

And she did, but it was an overhead judo throw. The crash was jarring, but Lita maintained enough wit to block the follow up kick Tenebris launched at her. Grabbing the calf and hugging it close to her chest, Lita twisted her body and wrenched Tenebris to the side. Lita sprung back to her feet as Tenebris scrambled to find her footing, swathing hand reaching behind her shoulder for the retractable power scythe. She might have been spent on the magic front, but Lita still have enough energy to kick some ass. Ankle length dress swooshing, Lita sprang at Tenebris and dropkick her square in the face, the power scythe flying from the woman's fingers as she staggered back. But Tenebris quickly regained her footing and attacked Lita, fists flying with ruthless force and precision. Already quite tired from the day's ordeal, all Lita could do was dodge the plummeting flurry, many careening too close for comfort, and waited for a sliver of opening to show up. It was a powerful right hook that presented the opportunity and Lita took it. Gliding into the punch, the ironclad knuckles missing her head by a millimeter, Lita braced both her hands on the ground and lifted her right leg in a scorpion kick, her studded heel slamming into Tenebris's helmed face. The Avenging Knight stumbled drunkenly back and it was Lita's turn to go on the offensive, her punches and kicks snaking easily between the canoness's guards, each hits striking harder than the last. Tenebris might've been unstoppable with her Muay Thai, Karate, Krav Maga hybrid martial art, but the deadly unorthodoxy of Lita's Capoeira was cutting her down a size. Tenebris was on her knee now and Lita was about to deliver an axe kick coup de grace when a rough leathery length wrapped itself around her neck. Before she could choke out her surprise the vise grip wrenched her to the ground, the tight constriction making her gagged.

"That was sloppy of you," a stiletto heel pressed down hard between Lita's breasts and a lithe figure appeared above her, the woman carried a whip that was now coiled around her throat.

"I need to make sure she doesn't see you coming," Tenebris got up and dusted herself off. "She was pretty good though, don't you think?"

"Oh yes, truly a delight to see," the boot came away from her chest and Lita was yanked upward none too gently, forcing her to kneel before the two Avenging Knights. "She's the one with the amulet?"

"Yes she is, Saber," Tenebris glared at her menacingly, the helm did not hide the intensity. "This is your last chance, lady Warseer. Give me Isha's amulet or I will break every bone in your body."

"Good luck with that," Lita swept out her leg, too fast for Saber to react, and laid her flat on her ass. Pulling the whip from her neck and taking quick wheezy breaths, Lita spun toward her fallen Singing Spear and dashed for it, the weapon can channel more magic into her. Praelia, Caesar and Lyca leapt into Lita's path, all three sticking a superhero landing, forming a wall between her and the Singing Spear. Lita skidded to a stop, and in that nanosecond when she tried to formulate a plan a huge shape plowed her with a powerful lariat. So this was what it felt like to get hit with Bradshaw's Clothesline From Hell. It hurts really, really bad. Ground and sky speeding across her vision, Lita backflipped gracelessly and crashed face first into the hard earth, the pain was so overwhelming that she almost lost consciousness.

"Nice going Gaia, you killed her," Caesar chastised the person who clotheslined her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too!" Gaia, a hulking Avenging Knight, cried out. Despite her size, the woman possessed a distinctly feminine voice.

"You always have problem controlling your strength," Praelia added with a hint of humor.

"I try my best, alright?!" Gaia shot back, sounding genuinely distress.

"Who cares, we just need the amulet," Lyca growl and shoved Lita on to her back with a rough kick, she can only moan in protest from the hard blow. "Oh shit, she's alive."

"Oh, thank the Emperor!"

"Get her up," Tenebris ignored Gaia as three pairs of hands grabbed hold of Lita and yanked her up harshly. She was on her knees again with Lyca putting her in a sleep hold while Praelia and Caesar stretched her arms apart until the joints started to hurt.

"Why are you doing this?" Lita asked the approaching Tenebris, Saber and Gaia flanking her. "What do you want with Isha's amulet?"

"That is none of your concern, my sweet little eldar," Saber crooned melodically and swung her whip down, the crack made Lita flinched. "Now, where were we? Oh yes, this is the part where you give us the amulet."

"You don't have to do this," Lita tried being reasonable as Tenebris made her menacing approach. "We can still work together, we're not enemies for Christ's sake! If you let me go now, I'll happily ignore this little misunderstanding."

"The amulet is under her armor," Lyca spoke up, urgency plain in her tone. "Make it quick, clashes are breaking out between us and the Immortal Spirit. Sicario is already scuffling with the singing commissar."

"Hopefully she won't damage him too badly," Saber giggled as Tenebris drew a very big, very evil looking combat knife from her boot. "I truly want to hear him sing."

"Wait! Come on, there's no need for any of this!" Lita squawked when Tenebris grabbed the front of her armor, the knife angling downward.

"Tenebris…" Caesar hissed reproachfully, the woman was obviously not okay with how things were playing out. Of course, the less dark superheroine wouldn't be so confrontational.

"Be quiet Caesar," Tenebris warned.

"We cannot afford to have the battlegroup as our enemy, not when the situation is this delicate," Caesar pressed on fearlessly. "I think we should…"

"I didn't ask for your advice, so be quiet!" Tenebris snapped. "Now hold her still!"

Lita struggled as the knife made its slow descent, but the hold on her arms and neck were unyielding. The tip was an inch away from touching her breastplate when the combat knife clattered to the ground, Tenebris herself tumbling to the right, and taking the canoness's place was none other than Yuki. Faster than the Avenging Knight could react, Yuki kicked Lyca's helmed face and punched Praelia's forehead, freeing Lita's neck and right arm, but Caesar was already on the move. Caesar speared Yuki, both of them crashing to the ground with the Avenging Knight straddling the Banshee. But being a martial art master that she was, Yuki easily got Caesar into a triangle choke hold. Caesar tried to wiggle out of the submission, even throwing a few desperate punches, but Yuki was relentless and soon the Avenging Knight was slumping into the Banshee's entangling legs, consciousness slow fading. Yuki switched position suddenly and got Caesar into an armbar, pulling the limb so hard that the Battle Sister screamed in pain, legs kicking feebly. Saber and Gaia was moving to help Caesar when Laura jumped into their midst, her claymore a whirlwind of silver. The flat of the blade struck Saber's head with a loud gong, sending her careening to the ground, but Gaia easily caught the sword when it swung for her neck. And with an effortless twist, broke the blade in half.

"My sword!" Laura stared slack jawed at her destroyed Celtic weapon.

"It was self-defense, sorry," Gaia said and tossed the splintered blade away.

"You broke it, you fucking cow!" Laura roared and threw what's left of the claymore at Gaia, it bonked harmlessly off her chest.

"Hey! Watch your language young lady!" Gaia shot back sternly.

"Fuck you!" Laura hefted up her hellgun the same moment Tenebris pressed the bolt pistol to her temple, "shite."

"Lower your gun, lady inquisitor," Tenebris demanded.

"No, you lower your gun," all eyes turned to Nikki, who got Saber wrapped in a chokehold with a wicked looking eldar dagger pressed against the Avenging Knight's jugular. "Or the cat's gets it!"

"Pull the trigger Tenebris! Ahhh!" Saber squealed when the curved blade slid in between her armor, tickling the flesh beneath.

"Don't even think about it!" Nikki warned, her glare sweeping across the ultra pissed Avenging Knights. "Lower your weapons! Do it! I'm not fucking around here!"

They all looked to Tenebris, who after half a minute of agonizing silence pulled the bolt pistol away from Laura's head. Reluctantly, her subordinate followed suite.

"Let her go," Tenebris growled at Nikki.

"I think you might be a bit confused lady, but I'm in charge now," Nikki pressed the dagger deeper, a single droplet of blood flowed down the blade's crescent curve. She glanced at Yuki, who still got the squirming Caesar in an armbar. "Yuki, get off fem Steve Rogers and help Lita up please."

Yuki let go of Caesar's arm and dashed to Lita's side, the gentleness of her friend's caring touch was a nice change from the callous treatment she'd received moments ago.

"Easy Lita, I got you," Yuki slowly lifted Lita off the ground, beside them Praelia went to help Caesar up, the Captain America Sororitas was glaring darkly at the Japanese Banshee exarch, right arm cradled close to her chest. "Anything broken? Are you bleeding?"

"No, but She-Hulk over there Clothesline From Hell me," Lita pointed at Gaia. "Besides that, I'm pretty much okay."

"So far so good – oi!" Laura trained her hellgun at Lyca, the snarling Avenging Knight looked about ready to attack, consequences be damned. "Don't even think about it you cheeky cunt! Try anything and you're fucking dead!"

"That's right, we run this fucking show now!" Nikki dragged Saber toward Laura, Yuki and Lita, the Avenging Knights eyeing the quartet with cold calculation, waiting for them to slip up. "Now, unless you want Catwoman here to squeal like a pig, I suggest you…"

"Nikki, let her go."

Everyone turned to Lita, their dumbstruck silence was truly comical.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say let the cat bitch go?" Nikki glanced at her, and Lita didn't need to see the face beneath the Predator mask to know that she was incredulous with disbelief.

"I did," Lita nodded.

"Oh hell no, the moment we let her go, they're gonna jump us," Yuki's hand went to her sheathed katana.

"You can bet on it," Saber giggled, uncaring of the knife jammed into her neck.

"Something tells me they won't," Lita fixed her gaze on Tenebris, the power scythe crackling in the canoness's grip. "I mean it Nikki, let Saber go. Please."

For the next minute, nobody moved or speak, the situation coming to the point where the littlest mistake can result in Lita and her friends dying a painful death. Then, with a mumbling curse, Nikki removed the knife from Saber's neck and pushed her roughly at Tenebris, the canoness wrapping the Battle Sister in a protective embrace.

"Many will deem your action to be extremely unwise, lady Warseer," Tenebris held Saber tight to her. "Considering how clearly outnumbered you are."

"I know, but I'm not one to follow convention," Lita managed a shaky laugh and regretted it immediately. Her entire body was hurting all over. "I'm offering you a chance to do the right thing Tenebris, please."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Tenebris didn't sound the least bit convinced, and Lita couldn't help but notice how the Avenging Knights were spreading out to surround them.

"We need to stop fighting each other," Lita said. "I don't know what you want with Isha's amulet, but I'm willing to believe you have a good intention at heart. If we join forces, we can both win this war. Please! It has to be better than this!"

"Tenebris…"

"Hold your tongue," Tenebris hissed at Caesar and with a flick of her hand, ordered the Avenging Knights back from the quartet. There was some grumbling from Lyca, but she obeyed the canoness easily enough. "Trust is not a commodity to be given so carelessly."

"I understand," Lita nodded. "Maybe we can settle for a truce instead? Before things goes beyond the point of no return? Because I'm hearing very discouraging things from the radio chatters."

Tenebris stared at her then tapped the side of her helm, "all forces, fall back. I repeat, fall back to the rendezvous point and prepare for extraction."

"Thank you," Lita said as Tenebris and her cohorts turned their back to the quartet, striding dramatically into the dusty shadow between two buildings, fading into the swirling darkness like ghosts returning to their graves. "Will you think about what I say? Pretty please?"

No answer came as the Avenging Knights disappeared, becoming one with the night. It was extremely cool.

"Welp, can't blame a girl for trying," Lita sagged into Yuki, her shaking hand reaching for the amulet tucked under her armor, weak fingers tracing the smooth bone contour, feeling and finding the central aura of power. What did Marwen said when she healed herself? Oh yeah! "By Your tears, let me be healed."

Yuki sprang back with a squawk when angelic silver light enveloped Lita. Infinity seemed to pass, but Lita knew that only a few seconds were ticking by as the raw, undiluted healing power of Isha penetrated her flesh and soul, mending all the pain she had accumulated. Muscles rejoined, bruises healed, skin restored, bones set, the sensation was purifying yet alarming all the same. When the brilliant illumination ended, Lita started to sway and would've flopped to the ground if Laura, Yuki and Nikki didn't grab her.

"Lita? Lita, talk to me love, are you alright?" Laura shook her lightly.

"I actually never felt better," Lita tried taking a single step forward but failed miserably. "Okay, maybe not. Hold me up."

"I thought the amulet was supposed to heal you?" Nikki threw Lita's left arm over her shoulder, Yuki got the right.

"It did, all the pains and wounds are gone," Lita yawned. "But the healing took a lot of energy. I'm beat."

"There's always a price," Yuki shrugged then tapped her eldar mempo. "From what I can gather the Avenging Knights are pretty much gone, and Damien and the Space Marines are performing a pincer maneuver on the besieging heretics. He's winning apparently."

"Finally some good news," Laura looked around the quieting battlefield. "I guess that's it for today?"

"I think so," Lita smiled, too tired to feel anything but relief. She then pointed at her fallen Singing Spear lying a few feet away. "First things first, can you help me get my spear please?"

"Miriya!"

Someone was calling her name. The familiar voice was ghostly in its resonance, muted and faraway, like memories that never achieved tangibility, drifting at the edge of one's mind before fading away, leaving only an ephemeral hint of what was. Miriya, panting and sitting on a mound of skaven corpses, strained her ears and listened. Nothing. Of course, hope was nothing but a first step on the road to disappointment.

"Miriya!"

The voice was real, calling louder this time. Miriya craned her neck toward where her named had echoed from, beside her Firnera and Astrid were glancing in the same direction. An awning, jagged sewage pipe greeted them, twice her height, protruding from the wall of the pit not ten paces away from where they sat. Miriya stared into the gaping darkness, was the voice coming from in there?

"Up here!"

Miriya glance skyward, seeing two shapes standing on the clifftop above them. Blinking, it took Miriya a moment to focus her vision, and when recognition dawned her lips were trembling, words pouring in sobbing stutters.

"V-Verity?!"

"You're alive!" Verity was jumping up and down in unrestrained delight, her arms wrapped around the Aeldari medic, Alnelle, in a companionable hug, both sharing in the others jubilation. "By the God Emperor, all of you are alive!"

"I should be the one saying that!" Miriya smiled and wiped tears from her eyes, joy and relief threatening to overwhelm her.

"I found them! They're over here!" Verity let go of Alnelle and waved at someone behind her. Walking into view was none other than commissar Tangmo and High Ranger Erik, both covered in grime and gore. Even the sight of her obnoxious nemesis could not douse her joy.

"What did I say?!" Tangmo blurted proudly. "Told you she's alive! There's no way in hell a bunch of dumbass skavens can take her down!"

"I never said she's gonna die!" Erik shot back. "I just said she could be in danger, that's all!"

"Well, she's not! Min Jae got us worried over nothing!" Tangmo peered down the pit, his visage scrunching up in distaste. "Holy crap, y'all look like shit."

"Are you getting us out of this fucking hole or not?!" Astrid, inexhaustible in her vigor, shouted at the commissar.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down the fuck down, jeez," Tangmo turned away with Erik, nudging his head for Verity and Alnelle to follow. "Come on let's go find a ladder or something."

"I'll be right back!" Verity gave a parting wave and disappeared behind the lip of the rise, Miriya almost called out for her to stay.

"See! I told you not to worry!" Cassandra's companionable slap on the back almost sends Miriya pitching face first into a disemboweled skaven. "Verity's a tough girl."

"That she is," Miriya nodded as their little group of humans and eldars gather around her. It was nothing short of a miracle that they all survived, battered and exhausted beyond words, but alive. Miriya sent a silent prayer to the Master of Mankind and thanked him for this providence.

"I'm looking forward to a nice bath after this," Isabel cracked a smile, earning laughter from both Sororitas and Banshee alike.

"So do I," Miriya chuckled lightly, and found her voice chiming in tune with Firnera. It ceased when they locked eyes, but unlike before Miriya found that her loathing for the Aeldari was simply not there anymore. Somehow, during their mad melee with the skavens, the sacred tenant of the Ecclesiarchy to abhor the xeno had burned away. It shocked Miriya that her fortress of piety has been breached, but no matter how hard she tried, the burning hatred that had blazed in the Aeldari's presence now refused to even kindle a spark. And without that zeal, Miriya was able to see Firnera for the first time unclouded by preconception. The alien quality of the woman still made Miriya uneasy, but now it seemed more approachable. And judging from the curious look Firnera was giving her, Miriya concluded that she felt the same, the crucible of war shattering the wall that had existed between them.

"You fought well," Miriya told Firnera with a nod.

"So did you," Firnera responded stiffly, her tone cautious.

"…Thank you for your help earlier," Miriya pointed at her side, where Firnera's alien sword came within an inch of cutting her, but instead impaling a skaven.

"And thank you for not abandoning me when I was overwhelmed by the swarm," Miriya was taken aback by the softness of Firnera's tone, void of biting guile and bitter pomposity.

"You're welcome," Miriya said then glance at her Celestians, expecting the worst. But no glare of indignant judgment met her, instead her squad appeared to be equally afflicted by the same, queer open-mindedness Miriya now felt. The look they gave her was one of understanding and rising comprehension, and when they turned to face the Banshee Aspect Warriors the hostility that was so stark before had lessened to near nonexistence. And watching them, grinning in that infuriating smugness of theirs, were the Frost Bringers.

"So when are we getting out of this shithole?" Astrid joined Miriya and Firnera, "because I am taking all of you out for a drink."

"Shouldn't be long now," Miriya said when a bolt pistol bang went off above them. Heartbeats later the ground started to quake and a monstrous groan rumbled from the huge sewage pipe in front of them.

"Oh, give me a fucking break," Miriya wholeheartedly agreed with Astrid as their little group turned lethargically toward the reverberating moan, legs braced and knife raised at the Chaos abomination that was surely drawing closer. Eyes blurred by weariness and pain, Miriya tried to focus and saw too late the all-consuming shape that knocked her flat to ground, the vast weight enveloping and suffocating. Stabbing and slashing, it took a moment for Miriya to realize that she was striking went sludge. She tried to breathe, but found wet, putrid slob invading her mouth and nostril. Panicking, Miriya thrashed and kicked until her body rise above the heavy mass, thick slimy ooze flowing into her armor and sticking to her hair like tar. And the smell, by the God Emperor it was horrid beyond words.

"What the fuck…" Astrid hissed as she tried to help the wide eye Firnera up, the two almost falling over but Miriya grabbed them both in time. Around her, Sororitas and Banshees were near catatonic with disgust, their armors covered in brownish filth.

"We're back Miriya – by the Throne, what happened?!" Verity squawked from above.

"What is – Isha mercy!" Alnelle gasped in distress.

"The fuck are you…" Tangmo and Erik joined them a heartbeat later, the commissar and High Ranger were carrying what appeared to be a rickety, but largely intact, fire escape staircase which they eased into the pit, pushing and tugging until it made a serviceable ladder.

"Oh shit…" Erik stared at them, paralyzed by shock.

"Literally," Tangmo's start of a laugh broke into a gagging cough, the commissar quickly covering his mouth and nose. "Holy God, the fucking smell, sweet Jesus have mercy!"

"Try swimming in it!" Isabel shrieked at him, her movement wrecked by shudders of absolute revulsion.

"What happened?!" Miriya glared at the commissar, anger burning away her indignation. "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do shit!" Tangmo shot back.

"Alnelle warned you not to shoot that valve the staircase was tangled in," Verity folded her arms crossly, not looking too pleased with the commissar. "It could have been easily removed without a single shot fired."

"How in the hell was I supposed to know that valve was a sewage release?!" Tangmo squawked when Miriya started climbing up the staircase, every step blistering with fury. "Okay, Miriya, dude you gotta chill, okay?!"

"You did this on purpose!" Miriya snarled and the commissar leapt back with a squeal.

"No I didn't!" Tangmo blurted as Miriya reached the top. "It was a serendipitous accident, mind you, but I didn't drown you in shit on purpose!"

"Don't you dare run away from me!" But he did ran, Miriya was just getting back on her feet when Tangmo bolted away like a frightened hare, darting into the ruins with startling speed.

"Don't worry," Astrid appeared on Miriya's left, canine flashing in an angry sneer. "We'll catch him."

"Yes," Firnera joined her on the right. "We will."