The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

They managed to reach the armory with minimal casualty. Bracing her back against a Myrmidon jeep, Raine tapped her earbud and was met with shouting as officers directed their troop to engage the new threats. Wailing screams sundered the night, and Raine can tell from personal experience that many of the shrieks were definitely not human.

"What is happening around the temple?" Amberley asked from beside her, plasma pistol held at the ready.

"Daemon infiltration," Raine told the inquisitor as more guardsmen, armed and ready, joined them at the hastily erected barricade of jeeps and crates, barrels trained down the alleyways that surrounded the weapon depot. So far, they've only seen fleeing civilians, many getting trampled in their blind haste to flee. Per Leilatha's order, no one moved to assist them, considering that the elongated monsters they've encountered metamorphized from seemingly ordinary people, no one was taking any chances.

"How?" Evangeline asked.

"My guess would be that daemonic corruptions were planted inside the refugees who accompanied the Celestial Serenity to the temple," Emily offered her explanation.

"The attack is happening all over the complex," Leilatha added. "We were taken completely by surprise, damn it all."

"What do we do?" Raine asked Leilatha.

"What's the situation with the armament?" Leilatha turned to captain Orhul, he and captain Meko happened to be in the mess hall when all hell broke loose, and had since assumed command of the Cadians that has followed them here.

"We should be ready in a couple of minutes," Orhul offered, his rapid-las trained on the civilians. "What are your orders, lady commissar?"

"Sally forth and meet them head on!" Not for the first time Raine found herself agreeing with general Sulla, the woman's single-minded needs to attack was truly a commendable trait. The fact that it makes Ciaphas nervous was a bonus.

"And go where, exactly?" Amberley asked, causing Sulla to stammer for an answer.

"Anywhere the enemies are presences," Raine answered for the Valhallan general. "We need to link up with scatter elements of the battlegroup and strike back at the daemons."

"A solid plan," Andren appeared beside her, clad in his Duskhound armor, hellgun simmering with deadly anticipation. "Is this happening everywhere?"

"Sounds like it," Meko nodded as he cycled through the battlegroup's communication channels, tapping the data-pad built into his left armguard.

"Get high command on the vox," Leilatha told him and Raine caught a fleeting glimpse of worry peeking through her granite visage. "Have you been able to get in touch with anyone?"

"Commissar Tangmo, Warseer Lita and High Ranger Erik are accompanying the canonesses to a southern temple," Meko went on, fingers dancing across the glowing screen. "Predator Nikki and Brother Sergeant Damien are escorting the surviving civilians to the central temple, inquisitor Laura and exarch Yuki are bogged down with the Aeldari in the north, and general Henry is under attack at a motor pool to the west. The general is actually a couple of blocks away from our position."

"Then we should rendezvous with him first," Leilatha announced and the group nodded in agreement.

"Mam, colonel Hildebrandt want to know if the Krieg and the Fire Guard should be redeployed to reinforce us?" Meko asked.

"No, tell them to watch the horizon and prepare for an eminent attack," Raine told the captain, she wasn't about to risk depleting their defenses. This infiltration could be a feint for all she knows.

"Yes lady commissar," Meko nodded and relayed her command.

"What of Ciaphas?" Amberley now put forward her question. "Where is the lord commissar?"

"He's with Brother Damien mam, safe," Meko said and Amberley sighed in relief.

"Is everybody here?" Evangeline yelled down the line, receiving a hearty roar in response, the guardsmen were now gathered in several battle squares around them. Grinning, Evangeline turned to Leilatha and nodded, "when you're ready."

"Shall we?" Leilatha locked eyes with Raine, both looking grim but energized.

"Let's," Raine tightened her grip on Penitence, feeling the bolt pistol's cold steely comfort, then slipped out of cover, joining Leilatha, Evangeline, Emily and Amberley at the head of the column, all barrels pointed down the empty alleyway, the civilians having made themselves scares despite the constant harrowing ambience of scream and death.

"God Emperor preserve their souls," Evangeline muttered from beside Raine, making the aquila sign over her heart as they rounded a corner, finding the path ahead littered with corpses, mutilated by vicious bites and rendering claws, no place untouched by red splatters.

"Movement! Two o'clock!"

"Ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!"

Leilatha and Orhul said at the same time, the column skidded to a stop and trained their barrels toward the designated directions. Taking her place between Andren and Wyck, Raine pointed her bolt pistol at the dozen black shapes shambling amongst the dead, wet crunches rising in sickening cadence as the flickering streetlights revealed a macabre feast. Tearing strips of bloody flesh with their teeth, the bite going deep to the bones, Raine saw creatures that might have once been human. Now their skins were blackened, inky and wet, lips and eyes shining hellish crimson, ichor dripped from mouths and chins as they dined on the slain. Then one of them, after sucking every drop of marrow from a femur it has been gnawing on, raised its head at the guardsmen and bayed grotesquely, a call to arms taken up by its kin as they gazed hungrily at the new, fresher morsels.

"Open fire! Kill them all! For the Emperor!" Raine pulled the trigger, decapitating one of the creatures as the guardsmen unleashed a brutal salvo on the corpse eaters. A few were cut down, but to Raine's dismay many of the creatures, moving with impossible speed and dexterity, managed to dodge the barrage, suffering only glancing blows as they bounded for the column. They pounced on the nearest Praetorian guardsman. The man went down screaming as the corpse eaters eviscerated his abdomen, feasting on his intestines even when he howled for help. Similar scenes of carnage were repeated down the line as the corpse eaters plowed into the guardsmen, maiming and killing with bestial glee before getting slaughtered by a storm of lasbolts. The line held but Raine saw more of the creatures charging down the alleyway, some were emerging from windows, scaling down walls or diving from the roofs above, howling rapturously as they descended on the guardsmen.

"We can't stay here, we have to move!" Leilatha cried out as she kicked a corpse eater off her sword.

"Agreed! To me guardsmen! To me!" Raine shouted above the bloodthirsty din, waving her bolt pistol in the air as the column fought their way down the alley. The strobing firefight painted their surrounding in a hellish hue, dancing shadows transformed the walls and buildings into grotesque mural of contorted shapes. Many lasbolts were wasted on the immaterial phantasm, the mistake proving fatal for many guardsmen as the creatures, exploiting the confusion, ripped them to pieces.

"Look out!" Dark blood splattered across Raine's face, the putrid ichor stinging her eyes as a corpse eater dropped dead in front of her. Andren stomped down hard on the twitching carcass as he grabbed Raine's shoulder and guided her after the Antari, his hellgun glowing white hot.

"Thanks!" Raine wiped her face clean and dispatched two more creatures trying to leap at Jey and Haro before sprinting after the guardsmen. The regiments were mingled in the chaos, with Raine and the Antari finding themselves clustered together with Cadian, Mordian, Praetorian and, unfortunately, Valhallan.

"Take the second lane on the right and head straight for the vehicle pool. It's just down the road that way. Go!" Evangeline waved the column toward the brightly lit hangar at the end of the street.

"How bad did we get hit?" Raine asked as she, Leilatha, Emily and several squads of guardsmen joined Evangeline, forming a rearguard for the rest of the column to withdraw.

"They bloodied us good, that's for damn sure," Evangeline growled and reloaded her laspistol.

"Several dozen dead, by my count," Orhul said from the ground, the captain having gone prone and laying down a suppressing barrage on the pursuing corpse eaters, the rapid-las cutting down a score of the creature. "And close to a hundred injured. Those motherfuckers really got the jump on us."

"Look alive, those big crooked ones are showing up," Meko warned when the tall gangly daemons from the tent strode into view, cackling and rhyming dementedly as they took savoring bite out of the dead civilians clutched tight in their abnormally large hands.

"Righty-ho ladies and gentlemen, aims for the legs, open fire!" Emily commanded and those carrying rapid-las and Zodd lasgun started targeting the aforementioned limbs. The tall creatures cursed and howled as they were struck down, hurling the carcasses they have been eating at the guardsmen, knocking down and injuring many in the process, while the corpse eaters pressed onward, numerous and unrelenting despite the continuous salvo poured upon them.

"Watch the building – look out!" Raine yelled when a window to her right shattered in a shower of shards, a corpse eater crawling half way out, talon hands swooping for any prey within reach. It found Crys, snatching up her webbing and pulling her into the building. The Antari corporal was dragged half way through the window, her legs kicking frantically, when Mari Margot of all people dashed in after her. Unleashing a pointblank full-auto fire on the corpse eater's face until nothing but charred meat remained, Mari grabbed Crys and pulled her back onto the street, the Antari corporal gave the Valhallan corporal a quick thanking nod before both of them scrambled back to join the rest of the rearguard, all of whom were backing slowly toward the motor pool.

"Good to see that their grudge end at the ring," Amberley mused from beside her.

"Indeed," Raine agreed when loud honking blared behind them. Spinning around, Raine found ten Myrmidon jeeps speeding toward them, the mounted heavy bolters and lascannons raining down a cacophonic volley on the corpse eaters and the tall daemons, managing to at last stem their advance.

"Need a ride my dudes?!" General Henry, commandeering a heavy bolter atop the lead Myrmidon driven by Ladaee, flashed a dashing smile and waved them aboard. "Come on, let's go before those sons of bitches catches up – oh shit! Hurry the fuck up!"

General Henry held down the trigger and sent a stream of red hot bolts at a group of daemons trying to rush them as Raine and the others swiftly got on the Myrmidons' open back compartment. She was squeezed uncomfortably beside Amberley when the jeeps veered back to the motor pool.

"What's the situation around the temple complex?" Raine raised her voice over the roaring engines.

"There's fighting everywhere, but we're pushing them back," general Henry told her. "Now we just need to regroup and begin the counterattack."

"Splendid," Raine glanced at Amberley, they stared at each other for a moment before saying, "you fought well."

"So did you," Amberley nodded.

"In here, in here!" Elpida pushed a rickety door open and waved everyone inside. "Come on, move your asses!"

Verity and Alnelle needed no further prompting. The cramp dusty place appeared to be a storage space of some sort, with sealed jugs and urns lining the walls to either side of them, the shelves rising high to touch the ceiling. Elpida remained by the entrance until Korri, Zuhra and Himinn ran into the building. The Kolasi engineer slammed the door shut as the Cadian sniper and Tallarn medic swiftly braced it with a heavy crate.

"Are you okay?" Himinn asked and Verity and Alnelle nodded.

"Think we lost them?" Zuhra panted and slid down the wall, ejecting the magazine of the laspistol Korri had given her and slamming it back in when she deemed the ammo to still be adequate, her hijab hanging loose around her shoulders, wet fizzy black hair plastered her face.

"Hopefully," Korri lowered her las sniper rifle when the shrilly laughter melded into the larger din of battle elsewhere. "Yeah, I think we got away."

"Thank the Emperor," Elpida let out a relieved sigh then turned to Verity. "What now?"

"…Why are you asking me?" Verity stared at the three would be bullies with abject confusion.

"You're a Sororitas, you're supposed to know about daemons," Zuhra continued. "Well? What do we do now?"

"Shouldn't you be the one to decide that?" Himinn spoke up. "You're Militarum, you know more about fighting than us. Besides, you got us into this mess, so you're getting us out of it."

"Okay, I'll admit, that was a pretty bitchy move on our part," Korri apologized halfheartedly. "But there has to be a better way of killing and avoiding those things. And I assume a Sororitas would know what to do."

"You'll be better off asking Miriya," Verity shook her head. "But to answer your question, I've never seen these kinds of daemon before, not in combat situation or any of my studies. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Great! We're stuck with a bunch of dead weight!" Zuhra threw her arms in the air exasperatedly.

"I am not a dead weight!" Verity shot back heatedly, unwilling to let the guardswoman belittle her in such a way. "I can fight just as well as any of you!"

"Oh please, all you and Alnelle did was run and scream while me and Korri did all the works," Zuhra countered with equal passion.

"Excuse me?! If it wasn't for me, both of you would've already been dead!" Himinn snarled at the two guardswomen, stabbing her finger accusingly at them.

"Umm, guys, I don't think this is the time to be…"

"And how do we know the daemons are not following your scent around?!" Elpida's call for calm was promptly ignored by Korri who got up in Himinn's face. "You're probably leaking Warp juice right now!"

"I don't leak Warp juice you idiot! It doesn't work like that!" Himinn said indignantly.

"You know what? I say we kick the wolf woman outside and run while the daemons have their way with her," Zuhra spoke up maliciously.

"You will not lay a hand on her," Verity took her place beside Himinn, not backing down from Zuhra and Korri.

"What are you gonna do, cry until we stop?" Korri sneered.

"I can do a lot more than that," Korri clenched her hands into fists.

"That is enough! All you!"

Everybody was startled into silence when Alnelle of all people intervened, stomping up between the two groups, her visage a cross between frustration and disappointment.

"Is this really the time?!" Alnelle huffed angrily, not far away Elpida smirked at the unfolding scene. "There are daemons running around everywhere and you choose this moment to argue?! Would not our effort be put to better use against the enemies than amongst ourselves?! We need to concentrate on trying to rejoin the battlegroup, not shouting at each other you…you…morons!"

Mouth hanging agape, none of them had a counter for Alnelle's fiery, and quite truthful, declaration, shame quickly settling in now that they realized how petty and childish their behavior was. Well, more on the guardswomen part, for sure.

"Hey, don't look at me, she's right," Elpida added when Korri and Zuhra turned to her for support.

"Okay…okay, you're right Alnelle, this is not helping anyone," Verity took a deep calming breath, closed her eyes and counted to ten before opening them again, then turned to Alnelle with a thanking smile. "I'm sorry I behave, as you said, like a moron. Korri is sorry to, isn't that right Korri?"

"Yeah, we're under a lot stress right now, things got a little heated," Korri sighed in agreement. "What are we going to do then?"

"If I remember correctly, the nearest checkpoint should be just a block that way," Alnelle glanced southward. "There's a company of Guardians patrolling that area."

"Biel-Tan, yeah, I wave at them when we were setting up the ambush," Elpida added sheepishly. "Sorry about that by the way, but hey, we couldn't have known about the daemons."

"A little bit off the mark, but yes, apology accepted," Alnelle rolled her eyes then snuck toward the door opposite the entrance. "We should get going before more of those things shows up."

"I'll take point," Himinn offered and took her place beside Alnelle. "Zuhra, you're with me. Elpida, keep your eyes on Verity and Alnelle. Korri, can you bring up the rear please?"

They all nodded and swiftly assumed their position, Himinn and Zuhra at the front, followed by Alnelle, the wrench wielding Elpida, Verity herself, with Korri right behind her. Himinn glanced back, a miniature snowstorm coalescing around her left hand, and when the group nodded their readiness the Storm Singer eased the backdoor open slowly, the wood creaking ominously.

"Looks pretty clear," Himinn whispered her reassurance as she and Zuhra stalked outside, ice hand and laspistol sweeping the empty clearing. Zuhra waved quickly and the rest of them followed, staying close to each other.

"Which way?" Korri asked.

"My guess? That way," Elpida swung her wrench to the left, almost hitting the squeaking Alnelle in the head. "Sorry. Anyway, I think we need to go under those strange raised houses."

Verity didn't like it one bit. Who build houses like this? With the actual main floor raised above the ground and supported by large, circular pillars, leaving a huge open space underneath for people to do Emperor's know what without the occupants above any wiser. The architects of this place must have been certifiably insane to concoct such a design, but what does that say about the Celestial Serenity who commissioned it?

"You sure there's no other way?" Korri appeared to share the same apprehension as Verity. The darkness inside the cramp, lightless underbelly seemed almost alive.

"We can try the main road again," Elpida waved her wrenched at the cobble street to their right. "But I doubt the place would be unoccupied."

As if to puncture this statement, the slit mouthed women's horrid cackling rippled from somewhere nearby, mingled with the forlorn scream of people who had ran afoul of them, the wailing agony subsided quickly, to be replaced by wet, bloody tearing.

"Guys, what do we do?" Himinn asked as they stared at the unwelcoming black maw.

"Personally, I say fuck the houses," Zuhra piped up. "At least on the road we can watch each others back and see what's attacking us. No chance of that happening in there."

"I actually agree with her," Alnelle nodded.

"Yeah, I think we should take the road," Himinn agreed and veered away from the houses to the group's collective relief. "Stay close ladies, there are still daemons about."

"Right," Verity took off and felt a gentle hand grabbing her arm, she gave it a reassuring tap. "It's okay Alnelle we'll get out of this, like always."

"Hmm? Did you say something Verity?" Alnelle asked, standing a good three paces in front of her, and Verity realized too late that the hand on her arm was colder than ice, jagged sharp fingers digging into the sleeve of her habit. Breath misting in front of her, Verity spun sharply and found the slit mouthed woman from before standing next to her, mandible hanging loose in a macabre toothy smile, sickle raised high above her head. Screaming, Verity reached out and caught the slit mouthed woman's descending arm, the sickle's rusty tip hovering just an inch from her eye as they careened to the ground, the hospitaller flat on her back with the daemon straddling her chest. Pandemonium erupted around her, high pitched squeals, mad laughter and cracks of lasbolts, but in that moment Verity knew only the daemon mounting her.

"Open wide!" The slit mouthed woman crooned manically as the blade dug into Verity's cheek, just below her left eye, the sharpened point dragging a warm bloody trail down her face as it traveled toward her tightly clenched mouth. "Come now lovely open your fucking mouth so I can make you beautiful like me!"

Verity only whined in protest as she stuck the daemon in the jaw with, she thought with pride, a powerful punch. The sickle left her face, the slit mouthed woman's head snapped to the side, spittle flew from dangling mandible, a look of blistering rage further contorting the daemon's visage.

"You rude little girl!" The slit mouthed woman roared and slapped Verity's face twice, the blows splitting her lips, black stars danced across her vision, but she retained enough wit to see the sickle rising again. Then, whether out of instinct or guided by the Emperor Himself, Verity reached into her habit and drew the fleur-de-lis necklace, held the cold metal in her palm and pressed it to the slit mouthed woman's chest. The daemon screamed, pure in agony, and sprang off Verity, rolling across the ground as she clawed at her sizzling torso. Clambering to her feet, Verity pounce the slit mouthed woman and pressed the fleur-de-lis to her head. The daemon shrieked as the sanctified amulet scorched her unholy skin, the burn going deep, fleshes and bones bubbling to slush before crumbling to blacken ash. The fire of purification spread across the slit mouthed woman's skin, and within heartbeats the daemon disintegrated into flaky black soot. Panting, Verity took a moment to watch the cremated remains get carried away by the wind before glancing at the nearest scuffle.

"Fucking die already!" Korri roared as she smashed a slit mouthed woman's face with the butt of her rifle, the daemon still cackling despite the Cadia turning her skull into a vicious mess of pulping flesh. Pushing the sniper aside, Verity knelt down beside the daemon and pressed the fleur-de-lis to her forehead, reciting an incantation of blessing all the while. The Warp spawn shrieked and crumbled to dust like the last one.

"Thanks," Korri panted, relaxing her grip on the blood splattered sniper rifle.

"You're bleeding," Verity saw the nasty gash on Korri's arm. She moved to help but the Cadian waved her off impatiently and pointed at the others. Elpida and Himinn were easily dispatching a group of slit mouthed women, the psyker turning each limb to ice for the engineer to shatter to pieces, the complete destruction killing the daemons as effectively as the amulet. But where was…?

"Alnelle!" Zuhra screeched and, to Verity's horror, the Tallarn medic was desperately hanging on to Alnelle's kicking legs as the eldar's torso was devoured by a morbidly obese daemon, its taut putrid grey skin ripped open in many places. The daemon's head was that of an enormous, slimy tapeworm, convulsing and shuddering as the screaming Aeldari medic slid down its throat. With one meaty arm, it swathed Zuhra away, sending her crashing into an urn, the ceramic shattering upon impact as Alnelle descended into its gullet, the eldar's body made a vague outline before disappearing into its stomach.

"ALNELLE!" Verity screamed, held up her fleur-de-lis, and charged the bloated daemon. Korri yanked her back sharply, a split second before the monster's fist swoop across the spot where she'd stood less than a heartbeat ago. "Let me go! I have to help Alnelle!"

"Stand back then!" Korri growled and took aim, teeth gritted, but she didn't pull the trigger.

"Shoot it!" Verity yelled.

"I could hit Alnelle!" Korri shot back then glanced at Himinn, the Storm Singer had her hands raised as she and Elpida crept closer at the beast from behind. "Hey! Can you get a clear shot?!"

"I don't know!" Himinn answered when the obese daemon made a gurgling ululation, a pitiful moan that echoed strangely as if coming from several different throats at once. Then it started to bloat, growing even larger than its already voluminous size, the cadaverous skin ripping free until only bleeding, rippling muscles remained, these also going taut until at last, the pressure having reached its peak, the daemon exploded. Verity could do nothing as bile, bloods and gore splattered over her, too disgusted to even utter a scream. And flopping at the epicenter of the visceral explosion, a near catatonic Alnelle slipped and crawled out of the ankle deep ichor and shambled toward them.

"Alnelle!" Despite her less than desirable state, Verity wrapped Alnelle up in her arms, guiding her quickly away from the dead daemon, the remain fizzling to ashes. "Are you hurt?!"

"N-No," Alnelle spluttered, spitting foul looking phlegm from her mouth. "At least…nothing physical, that is."

"Holy shit Alnelle, that thing fucking ate you!" Elpida, quite inappropriately, laughed as she smacked the eldar friendlily on the shoulder. She, like the rest of their group, was covered in filth. "What happened in there? Did you use a bomb or something? Some kind of eldar spells?"

"No, I used this," Alnelle held out her palm, upon it was the metallic eye and teardrop amulet of Isha that had been circulating amongst the Aeldari, an offshoot of the original bone talisman found on Leenisium. It appeared that the necklace was imbued with divine power like Verity's fleur-de-lis. "I panicked, started praying, then the amulet glow and I just…pressed it to the daemon. And it died."

"Good for you!" Elpida smacked her again, causing the eldar medic to squawk loudly.

"Shit, Zuhra!" Himinn dashed to the Tallarn, who was slowly being helped up by Korri, her movement awkward and pained.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it," Zuhra took a syringe out of her belt and stick the needle into her arm. She sighed in relief as the concoction was emptied into her vein. "But I'm pretty sure I cracked a few ribs. Seriously not looking forward to when the painkiller wears off."

"We need to get you to a field hospital," Verity was taking off toward the street when Elpida held her back.

"We can't go that way," she pointed her wrench at the nearing bays and screams, animalistic and hungry, then shrugged defeatedly. "Guess we have no choice now."

"Take each other's hand," Verity took Alnelle's wrist, the eldar in turn reaching back to Korri, who after a moment of hesitation coiled her fingers around the medic's own. "Stay close and watch your steps, we will not be using any light. Hopefully the dark will hide us from the daemon."

"Lead the way Verity," Korri said firmly, absolute in trust.

"Follow me," mouthing a silent prayer to the God Emperor, Verity took a deep breath as one would before plunging into ice cold water and, with her friends in tow, strode into the pitch black of the building's underbelly. The absence of light was instantaneously suffocating, so sudden and absolute was the darkness that Verity almost lost her bearing, coming close to tripping over her own heel. Grunts and curses echoed behind her, but judging from the lack of jolting, Verity concluded that everybody was still on their feet.

"Watch your steps!" Verity guided them deeper into the blackness, the cadence of pursuing daemons growing so loud that it seemed to be within a hairbreadth of them. "Hurry! We have to – AHHHH!"

The ground disappeared beneath her and Verity somersaulted through the air for half a heartbeat before landing roughly on the hard ground, squealing in pain as her five companions landed on top of her, crushing the breath out of her lungs.

"B-Breathe…! Can't breathe!" Verity choked but thankfully the other swiftly, but none too gently, scrambled off her. Inhaling deeply, Verity was about to rise when someone grabbed her shoulder and gently held her down.

"Shh…stay down," Alnelle whispered, and all was quiet as the daemonic screeching faded away, in the distant Verity can faintly hear the cracks of lasguns going off. The two sounds clashed, becoming a single horrific din before going quiet. Verity remained motionless for a few minutes more before rising with Alnelle. Movement stirred around her, with one very pain gasp coming from her immediate right.

"Who's over there?" Verity groped the darkness blindly. Her fingers touched something wet and a shriek answered. "Oh! Sorry Korri!"

"Anybody got a light? Thanks Zuhra," Himinn said as Zuhra and Elpida turned on their torches, revealing that they had fallen into some kind of sinkhole, the drop was near vertical, and judging from the frantic claw marks adorning the chutes, it had been recently excavated. "So that's how the daemons got inside the temple complex."

"No, I don't think that's right," Zuhra walked up to the wall, torchlight pointed squarely at four gashing lines cut into the earth, eyes squinted as she traced it with her finger. "They were digging downward, not up."

"What do you mean?" Alnelle asked.

"It means the daemons were looking for that," Korri pointed at a round opening not five paces from where she sat. The dimension appeared to suggest that it was created by human's hands. "The locals were mumbling something about an abandoned cave network under this place."

"Looks like they found it then," Elpida swung her torch at Korri and Verity. "So, umm, what do we do now? I mean, I'm all for going back up but…I don't like the idea of daemons burrowing under the temple, especially when we can do something about it."

"You want to go into the cave?" Alnelle couldn't hide the fear in her voice.

"Our duty is to fight all enemies of the God Emperor," Zuhra added, "which coincidentally, is the enemy of your people also. So yes, I think we should go after whatever it is that went into the tunnel."

"I actually agree," Himinn strode up to Alnelle and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll be okay Alnelle, just stay close to me and everything will be fine."

"I guess it's better than running back to the camp alone," Alnelle chuckled weakly then looked at the Isha amulet in her hand. "Then again, I'm not so defenseless anymore."

"Now that our mind is made up, let's get moving," Korri started to rise but Verity was upon her in a blink, pushing the sniper back against the wall. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Fixing that cut on your arm," with trained swiftness, Verity removed a bottle of alcohol spray and auto-sterilized needle and thread from her belt bag, then tore off a long strip from the lower half of her habit. With Zuhra and Elpida providing the light, Verity pointed the spray at the laceration. "Hold still, this is going to hurt."

Korri gritted her teeth, allowing only a low whine to escape her lips as Verity applied the alcohol, cleaning the wound before swiftly applying the stiches, working with quick precision as she sewed the flesh shut.

"Thank you," Korri offered softly as Verity bit off the thread, the sealed laceration wasn't pretty but effective nonetheless.

"It's my job," Verity shrugged as she tied the strips of her habit around Korri's arm.

"And I'm…sorry," Korri meekly met Verity's eyes, "for the bullying, and the cake, and trying to throw you into the latrine pit. That was very…immature of us."

"Quite mean also," Verity added for good measure, one satisfied brow quirked at the moping Korri, "and not to mention infinitely stupid. All of this effort and drama over something as simple as a cake."

"It was not a simple cake, and you know it," Korri grinned.

"Well, you're right about that, it was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life," Verity couldn't help but return the mirth, "a little soured by the theft, but still divine in flavor, all things considered."

"We liked it too," Korri snickered and Elpida and Zuhra joined in. "But seriously, I'm sorry, we should have been better than that. Only we weren't and instead behave like a bunch of under hive scum. It was a shitty thing we did and, if we get out of this alive, I promise we'll do right by the three of you. Isn't that right guys?"

Elpida and Zuhra nodded firmly, quite genuine in their promise, although Verity was rightly skeptic of the sincerity, given the Tallarn convincing performance earlier. But, for ill or good, she, Alnelle and Himinn were a forgiving bunch, and was more than happy with this display of goodwill.

"Apology accepted then," Verity smiled and tightened the makeshift bandage, causing Korri to squawk in pain. Well, infinitely forgiving as she might be, Verity was not above pettiness.

"That hurts!" Korri snapped.

"I know," Verity rose to her feet and extended her hand. "Shall we then?"

"Yeah," Korri took the offered assistance and jumped back on her feet. Bracing her rifle, Korri went to stand before the awing cave mouth, the torches revealing a narrow lightless corridor that goes deeper than the light could follow. Giving each other firm looks, the six women inhaled deeply and, together, walked into the tunnel.

"This is Fatal Frame," Tangmo was not the least bit happy as he, Erik, Lita and the canonesses strode into the Japanese bonsai courtyard of the southern temple, the gate slamming shut behind them. A totally Zen place, dominated by a cluster of wide, two storey Edo style homes connected via polished wooden walkways raised a few inches above the smooth gravel ground. Little ponds with miniature waterfalls dotted the perimeters, sharp plonking of the rocking shishi-odoshi bamboo fountain chimed pleasantly. Yep, the place looked really nice, almost enough to make you forget that there's an evil fucking monster lurking inside. "This is absolutely, a hundred percent, Fatal fucking Frame."

"Which one?" Erik braced his sniper rifle.

"I'm most traumatized by the second game, so Fatal Frame 2," Tangmo edged forward, torch pointed at the dark menacing buildings, eyes trained down the iron sight of his laspistol. "I fucking hate that Yae bitch, Jesus Christ."

"I legit scream like a little girl when she walk through the freaking wall and kill me while I was hiding in the closet," Erik shivered, barrel trained on a bunch of bonsais to the right.

"You mean like you always do?" Tangmo smirked.

"Man, fuck you," Erik shook his head with a groan.

"Can you two maybe concentrate on the task at hand please?!" Lita, sandwiched between an exasperated Bellona and Lithia, hissed at the pair. "That daemon could be lurking anywhere right now!"

"You mean like behind you?" Tangmo snorted when Lita jumped with a squeal, spinning around at the empty spot behind her, bonking Lithia's head with her Singing Spear in the process.

"That's not funny you jackass!" Lita fumed and kicked the laughing Tangmo in the back, causing him to stumble forward while Erik shot him a chastising look.

"The lady Warseer is right, you are not treating this situation with the gravity it deserves," Myorin cut in sternly, casting the snickering Tangmo a sharp, unhappy look as she and Zhensu took the lead.

"He never does," Galatea added, eyes narrowed on Tangmo, "but I will be remiss if I do not admit that he always gets the job done."

"Damn right I do," Tangmo smirked at the canonesses' combined scowl, getting a massive kick out of their annoyance.

"Enough of this nonsense," Zhensu spoke up, her timbre iron. "The beast could be inside any of the buildings, we will cover more ground if we split up. Canoness Galatea, me and Myorin would be honored if you would accompany us to the sacramental hall. Naledi, you take Eldul and Morelia and scour the northern garden, be wary of the shadow beneath the sakura trees. Bellona, go with Victrix and Lithia to the reliquary chamber. Crestienne, Heloise, Amaryllis, search the storage. As for you commissar, scout between the buildings with the Ranger and the Warseer, the darkness are the thickest there."

"Okay, first off, fuck that," Tangmo blurted. The canonesses, Zhensu especially, were glaring death at him. "Secondly, fuck no. And thirdly, fuck you, we ain't splitting up and that's fucking final! I swear to God, of all the stupid cliché shit, you have to pick the worse one, holy shit."

"Oh? And you have a better idea?" Bellona scoffed, the derision joined by her sisters in arms.

"Yes, we fucking stick together you dumbass!" Tangmo went on exasperatedly then stabbed his finger at the big building directly in front of them. "That's the sacramental hall, isn't it?"

"Yes," Zhensu said tightly, not very happy about getting usurped by Tangmo.

"Good, we all go there together so we wouldn't get pick off one at a time," Tangmo took the lead, Erik following gingerly at his heels. Lita however, preferred to stay amongst the armored warrior women, all of whom were wearing expressions ranging from shock to outrage at the commissar's insolence.

"If we pursue this tactic, the daemon will know of our coming and try to flee," Crestienne offered diplomatically before Myorin can open her mouth. "By splitting up, we have a better chance of sneaking up on the creature."

"Sneaking up?! Bruh, y'all wearing power armor! Stealth isn't exactly in your collective vocabulary!" Tangmo told them and the canonesses fidgeted lamely, knowing that he was right. "Besides, you're operating under the assumption that the fucking daemon is running away from us."

"You believe the creature is luring us to this place on purpose?" Bellona of all people spoke up, actually considering Tangmo's diagnostic of the situation.

"Most fucking definitely," Tangmo nodded.

"Sure knows how to pick a place for an ambush though, I'll give it that," Erik added. "So yeah, to reiterate Tangmo's point, splitting up will play into the daemon's favor."

"Fine then," Zhensu announced crisply and took her place beside Tangmo, lowering her guandao into a Kung-Fu fighting stance. "Let's us face this monster, as one."

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Tangmo spun sharply at Zhensu, startling the gaoseng.

"By the Allfather, what now?!" Eldul groaned.

"Put all of that melee shit away, right fucking now," Tangmo hissed, unbelieving of what he was witnessing. "Get your bolters out! We're gonna be blasting that daemon motherfucker back to hell, from afar, you dig?!"

Mumbling slews of extremely unladylike words, vicious and petulant like a bunch of spoiled teenage girls, all of whom having just lost an argument with her parents, the canonesses, with great show of displeasure, put away their zweihander, rapier, sabre, whip sword, war hammer, spear, scythe, halberd, guandao, nodachi, gladius and ngombe ngulu, and drew the Godwyn bolters, each with its own unique flares.

"There! Are you quite satisfied, mother?" Heloise pouted with mocking childishness and her cohort laughed uproariously.

"Hell yeah, I'm very satisfied," Tangmo stepped onto the front porch of the sacramental hall with Erik and glanced back at the canonesses with a handsome smile. "And all of you can call me daddy from now on."

"Oh my freaking God," Lita facepalmed herself while Tangmo and Erik fist bump, the canonesses were growling like a bunch of rabid dogs though.

"So why does she get to keep her Singer Spear?" Lithia stabbed her thumb at Lita.

"Because she's my friend and she gets special treatment. Hurray nepotism," Tangmo rolled his eyes and went to stand beside the sliding Japanese paper door, Erik taking the opposite end, both their weapons braced and ready.

"On my mark," Tangmo and Erik grabbed the sliding door as the canonesses got into breaching position. Eldul and Naledi went to stand before the entrance, Viking and Zulu shields locked, bolters pointed forward. Crestienne, Heloise, Morelia, Lithia and Lita stood behind the pair, bolters braced and ready, the Singing Spear held high like a banner. Galatea, Zhensu and Bellona slipped in behind Tangmo, while Myorin, Amaryllis and Victrix went to stand with Erik. "On three, one, two…"

At the unspoken three Tangmo and Erik, their movement synchronized, pulled the two partitions apart, swift and soundless, and was greeted by a deep, near tangible darkness of the interior. Without war cry or roar, Eldul and Naledi thundered inside with the breaching squad, torchlights piercing the impenetrable black to reveal a big, Chinese looking antechamber, the furniture creepily untouched, everything standing where it should be. Tangmo dashed in next, he, Galatea, Zhensu and Bellona sweeping left, finding nothing but chairs, couches, desks and tables, spotless and clean, deceptively welcoming.

"Clear!" Erik said from his right.

"Clear!" Tangmo responded and lowered his laspistol, silently wishing that he was carrying a lasgun.

"All clear!" Eldul called out and disengaged the shield wall, trading nods with Naledi. "Well, this is pretty anticlimactic."

"Dude, this is where you save the game before fighting the boss," Tangmo deadpanned and swept his torch around the room, the freaking place seems to stretch into infinity on either side of him, a dizzying illusion of size and grandeur made worst by the lightless night. "Don't wander off, stick together and keep your eyes peel, the daemon sure as fuck knows we're here."

"Where to next?" Galatea asked.

"The sacramental chamber," Zhensu led them toward another set of sliding door directly opposite the entrance. She and Myorin threw it open to reveal a long corridor that goes deeper and deeper into the darkness. The canonesses gathered around the threshold, their combined torchlights barely illuminating the door on the other end, about two hundred yards in distant.

"Welp, that's the most obvious death trap if I ever saw one," Erik made his unhelpful observation.

"Told you sticking together was a good idea," Tangmo pointed his torch at the polished paneled woods at their feet. "Please tell me that's not a nightingale floor."

"That's a nightingale floor," Myorin said flatly as Tangmo took a step onto the floorboard, the wood shrieking loudly, the piercing echo made worst by the absolute silence around them.

"Holy shit, that sounds really bad yo," Tangmo chuckled mirthlessly, the woods screeching horridly when Erik joined him, the Swedish elf jumping up and down to test the floor's integrity, eliciting more harpy squeals. "Oh what the hell, we weren't sneaking around to begin with anyway, right ladies?"

"So you say," Galatea joined him and Tangmo cringed from the tortured scream, he actually thought for a moment that the Martyred Lady canoness was gonna fall through the floor. "Get into formation sisters. Let's not keep the daemon waiting."

"Be careful sisters, the darkness will blind and strike at us," Victrix spoke down the line as the canonesses marched into the corridor, at least the metallic stomping of their armored feet muted the nightingale floor constant screeching. Tangmo was starting to get nervous about the dark when suddenly bright light enveloped them, the searing illumination blinding the Thai commissar. Blinking, his eyes adjusting to the glare, Tangmo found the hallway bathed in warm silver, not a patch of shadow to be seen, the light coming from the glowing orb swirling on the tip of Lita's Singing Spear.

"I thought we could use some light," Lita shrugged good naturedly, earning a smattering of thanks from the canonesses, some, like Eldul and Crestienne, were more genuine and heartfelt than others.

"Couldn't have done this sooner back in the antechamber?" Bellona mumbled, but added in a softer tone when Tangmo shot her a warning look. "But thank you for the assistance, lady Warseer."

"Don't mention it," Lita said friendlily as the group walked down the corridor at a sedated pace, the barrels of their guns sweeping the cramp, low ceiling interior. They were half way to the door when a slew of curses, followed by the clangs of crashing armors, echoed down the line. Turning around, the column coming to a stop, Tangmo found a startled Heloise leaning against an equally confused Victrix, the Sacred Rose canoness looking around in alarm.

"What's up?" Tangmo asked.

"It's…nothing," Heloise shook her head quickly, waving away offered helping hands. "Sorry, let's us proceed."

"I'm sorry, but, it's obviously not nothing," Erik said firmly, but politely. "So can you please not pull this 'I'm fine' stuff?"

"Alright," Heloise sighed. "I felt something…groping my breasts, lecherously."

Silence answered her, only broken when Tangmo said, "but Amaryllis is standing right here, how is that possible?"

The Ebon Chalice canoness huffed sharply, her cheeks flushing red, and was about to give Tangmo a piece of her mind when naughty giggles went up behind them. Laughing, Eldul glanced around the corridor, grinning wolfishly. Like the other canonesses she wasn't wearing her helm. Tangmo wanted to chide them at first, but decided to let it slide, because the warrior women were very pretty and he liked looking at them.

"Well, now I know the daemon have fine taste," Eldul chuckled and few of the canonesses laughed lowly in respond, only to be interrupted by a shriek and a very loud thud. This time it was Lita, who was sprawled face down on the ground, looking about ready to lose her shit.

"The ghost grabbed my ass and tried to drag me away!" Lita spluttered quickly when Morelia, legs kicking and shouting angrily, flew across the air and toward the wall. Thankfully Naledi and Lithia grabbed her in time and pulled her back down. The group was sweeping their guns across the narrow hallway when a playful feminine laugh, light and carefree, echoed around them.

"Well, at least me and Erik are safe," Tangmo shrugged.

"Damn, looks like we're dealing with a poltergeist," Erik muttered, finger coiled around the trigger.

"No, it wasn't a poltergeist," Morelia growled, the Valorous Heart canoness was super pissed. "I saw a blur of white before I was hurled off the ground."

"And the fucking walls rippled a bit," Tangmo added. "So keep a lookout for – fuck!"

Tangmo went full auto on the wall, tearing a row of scorching holes across the paper screens and wooden frames, and just out of the corner of his eyes he saw a lithe shape, clad in rippling white, dashing away, giggling girlishly all the while.

"Did you see that shit?!" Tangmo stabbed his finger after the disappeared target, jumping up and down in both excitement and quite a bit of fear, if he was being perfectly honest.

"I don't see…"

"Seven o'clock, open fire!" Zhensu bellowed, interrupting Erik as she, along with half the canonesses, tore the walls apart with a brutal salvo of bolts, only managing to make the daemon more amused and causing a shitload of property damage.

"Did you hit anything?!" Galatea demanded loudly, growling as she trained her bolter on another set of walls.

"Negative," Zhensu shook her head agitatedly when a streak of white shuriken cut through the air, flying straight passed several canonesses before striking a paper screen, red exploded across the white canvas, and an ultra-angry roar answered the injury.

"If it bleeds, we can kill it," Erik smirked then went serious again when the laughing returned, this time deep, throaty and very sinister, but also very hot. "But I think we should get out of this fucking hallway first."

"Way ahead of you! Follow me ladies!" Lita held her Singing Spear high like an Olympic torch bearer and sprinted for the door. And what do you know, the canonesses actually listened to the Warseer and hauled ass after her, leaving Tangmo and Erik to do the gentlemanly thing and cover their retreat.

"What happened to not quoting old ass quote?" Tangmo and Erik started backing toward the door once the canonesses were through.

"Hey, I'd never had any problem with old quotes dude," Erik grinned. "And like you said, Arnold's quotes are fucking immortal."

"True that," Tangmo nodded and fired off a burst at a panel on the right, Erik adding his own firepower a nanosecond later, both of them can clearly see a womanly outline swiftly dodging the lasbolts and shurikens, fading creepily out of corporeality like a, well, a fucking ghost.

"Hurry the fuck up!" Bellona yelled at them from the opened door, she, Crestienne, Lithia and Victrix had their bolters trained on the corridor.

"Yes mam!" Tangmo and Erik squawked as they dashed through the door, the canonesses sending out a covering burst before sliding the entrance shut so hard that the wooden frame jumped out of its furrows and fall to the ground in splitters…so yeah, fuck. Panting, Tangmo glanced around the large square chamber lit starry silver by Lita's Singing Spear, finding himself inside a Buddhist style hall like the one at Wat Phra Kaew, aka the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, wide and ostentatious, the walls decorated with sparkling leaves of gold that rippled like a gentle ocean. And smacked right in the middle of the chamber was a large golden statue of the God Emperor, rendered in a Buddhist style, sitting in a lotus positon on a raised pedestal, clad in a monk robe, looking absolutely Zen. Erik, Lita and the canonesses gawked at their surroundings, totally taken in by the Asian architecture. But like Zhensu and Myorin, Tangmo didn't really pay it much attention. When you grew up seeing this every day, things kinda get meh real quick.

"Fuck this," Bellona growled, magnetized the bolter to her thigh, and drew her whip sword with a flourish, giving it a few good thwacks. "Come then daemon! Enough of this game! Face me you craven coward!"

"A fine idea, sister!" Myorin drew her nodachi, prompting the other canonesses to swap their range weapons for melee ones.

"But, wouldn't we be disobeying mother?" Lithia glanced innocently at Tangmo, lashes fluttering, and the armored women laughed loudly, condescendingly.

"Nope, mommy is very please right now," Tangmo smirked, finding himself joining in the hilarity. "You gals take on the horny daemon woman while me and Erik watch."

"You two are the paragon of chivalry," Lita rolled her eyes and the canonesses scoffed in agreement.

"I can help too if you want…" Erik offered demurely, always trying to be the gentleman.

"Shut up and enjoy the show Erik," Tangmo groaned in annoyance and drew his second laspistol, duel wielding the mofo. "Wait for the daemon to come to us ladies, don't go after her."

"We bloody well know how to fight!" Galatea snapped at him.

"Oh yes, indeed you do."

Who doesn't like a dramatic entrance? Tangmo sure does, whether it's him, his friends, or even his enemies, dramatic entrance always make things that much more awesome and memorable. And as he spun at the Emperor Buddha statue, he couldn't help but nodded appreciatively when he saw a woman, clad in a strapless white evening gown, lounging upon the Master of Mankind's cupped hands, legs crossed like a seductress.

"Is that Zhensu and Myorin I see?" The daemon woman, deceptively angelic in beauty, rose slowly from the Emperor's hands and stepped onto the pedestal. Her skin was white, not in the creepy dead body sort of way, but shining like moonlight. She was Caucasian, her soft and kindly visage framed by flowing black locks that spilled from the cream colored cartwheel hat she wore. The daemon had an hour glass figure and oh my God Emperor, her knockers were bigger than freaking watermelons. Holy shit, the dimension and circumference was perfection made manifest, and the way it swayed, goddamn, it was like watching a hypnotic pendulum of soft pillowy flesh that demanded absolute singular attention, moments away from bursting free of the gown's thin, silky confines.

"Last time I saw the two of you, you were only girls recently inducted into the bushi and wushu ranks," Tangmo almost didn't heard the daemon speaking, because of the obvious distraction, as she stepped soundlessly onto the chamber floor. "I have always known you two would aspire to greatness."

"Lady Hyrinsilia," Zhensu snarled as the canonesses fanned out to surround the daemon, power weapons brandished. Tangmo and Erik remained rooted to the spot, because those perfect tits had successfully put them into a trance. "It has not been long enough."

"Oh yes, twenty years meant next to nothing in that prison," Hyrinsilia approached them primly, taking in the Sororitas with an aristocratic smile. "You have brought company just for me, I am flattered. And look! You even have an eldar Farseer amongst you, how quaint."

"Yo dude, she's a white Hachishaku sama," Erik blurted and pointed at Hyrinsilia, who glared at the Swedish elf with simmering hatred because, well, he shot her.

"The Japanese ghost from the creepypasta?" Tangmo asked, the daemon's boobs no longer chattel his attention, and only now noticing that lady Hyrinsilia was a couple of feet taller than everyone else in the room.

"That one, yeah," Erik returned Hyrinsilia's animosity with a blank look that would've made Saitama proud. "What did you do? Molest and rape little boys?"

"Girls and women, actually," Myorin corrected him. "She's a Slaanesh daemon that feeds off the energy of her victim. She does this by performing debauch acts of sexual degeneracy on her prey, consuming their life force until nothing but skeletal husk remains."

"So she's just a succubus?" Zhensu and Myorin answered Tangmo with a nod.

"Do not address me with such a primitive title, boy," Hyrinsilia snarled at Tangmo. "I am a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, and you shall refer to me as such."

"The bitch's just a succubus," Tangmo looked at the canonesses and stabbed his thumb at the fuming Hyrinsilia. The daemon absolutely hated being belittled, which incidentally gave Tangmo all the ammunition he needed to be his charming dickish self. "Isn't she, like, the prostitute of daemon? I mean, all she does is fuck people."

"That's pretty much the meat of it, yes," Galatea nodded, joining Tangmo in aggravating Hyrinsilia. "She's a lower class daemon, nothing worth our notice. In summation, you are correct in your assessment lord commissar."

"I thought as much," Tangmo tipped his hat politely at Galatea, both of them actually on the same page for once.

"I should mention that Hyrinsilia have an extremely deep seated, irrational hatred for men, lord commissar," Zhensu warned him, her posture stiff, braced and ready for a fight. "It didn't end well for the last few people who taunt her."

"What's she gonna do, fuck me to death…?!"

Damn, she's fast. Tangmo had barely finished his sentence before the daemon crashed thunderously into him, his back skidding painfully across the ground, an extremely pissed Hyrinsilia straddling his chest, her grin was vicious and needle sharp.

"How about a kiss?!" Hyrinsilia laughed maniacally and opened her mouth wide like a python about to devour a mouse.

"Nope," Tangmo pressed his laspistol against the daemon's left bouncy, and inhumanly soft, tit and held the trigger down. It didn't do shit. Hyrinsilia doesn't even noticed the lasbolts tearing into her boob and leaned down, maw of serrated razor fangs and coiling serpentine tongue slobbering drool all over him. Hyrinsilia was moments away from eating his face when a metallic boot struck her jaw with an audible crack, the blow sending the daemon flying off Tangmo.

"Are you injured?" Galatea reached her hand down and Tangmo took it, allowing her to pull him back up.

"Still in one piece and not a scratch," Tangmo wiped his face clean and saw that Hyrinsilia was having a hard time holding her ground against the canonesses. Currently, the daemon madam was being ganged up by Crestienne, Eldul, Zhensu, Morelia and Naledi, the armored women working in fluid tandem, their steps in sync, every blow raining down in precise rhythm. "Damn, you guys are kicking her ass."

"That we are," Galatea smirked, a deadly and beautiful thing as she got her zweihander into a HEMA guard and approached the faltering daemon. "I believe we will be able to deal with the succubus promptly."

"I got your back," Tangmo twirled his laspistols and adjusted his awesome commissar cap. "Holla if you need anything."

"We will," Galatea nodded and, together with the other eleven canonesses, plus Lita, descended upon lady Hyrinsilia.

"Holy shit, it's like watching a Magical Girl anime," Erik took his place beside Tangmo as the canonesses and the Warseer lay it on the Slaanesh succubus, bloods, sparks, curses, grunts and roars flew across the air, amplified by the hall's acoustic, all happening under the serene eyes of the Buddha Emperor.

"Yeah, if Sailor Moon and her gang are armed to the teeth, ultra-violent, and are not a bunch of bumbling idiots," Tangmo added, whistling appreciatively as lady Hyrinsilia sprouted two more pairs of arms, the appendages grotesquely elongated but sinewy with muscles, the powerful sweep of her talon hands sending the canonesses rolling for cover, the Sororitas lithe and swift despite the bulkiness of their armors. Managing to stagger the canonesses for the moment, lady Hyrinsilia swiftly got into a firm fighting stance, snarling at the surrounding Sororitas, her gown reduced to bloody strips that did very little for her modesty. Not that Tangmo and Erik were complaining.

"You know there's a name for that: Pretty Cure," Erik told him. Eldul had driven her spear into lady Hyrinsilia's foot, impaling the screeching succubus to the ground as she railed against the elskerinne with a flurry of slashes from her six arms, which the Viking Sororitas deflected easily with her raised shield. Lady Hyrinsilia was so concentrated on Eldul that she failed to notice Bellona's sparking whip sword wrapping around one of her arms while Lithia, batwings unfurled, shot down from the sky, power scythe blazing. Two arms went flying in a beautiful torrent of blood, lady Hyrinsilia screaming as she tore her foot free and staggered away from the pursuing canonesses, who hounded her with relentless bloodthirstiness.

"Shit, I saw a clip of that, it's fucking weird seeing girls in frilly dresses kicking the living shit out of each other," Tangmo commented as lady Hyrinsilia was send flying through the air by Morelia's thunder hammer, she had barley hit the ground before Galatea, Myorin, Heloise, Amaryllis, Naledi and Victrix was on top of her, swords rising and falling mercilessly. "Is it any good?"

"If you can stomach the mushy rainbow romance stuff, then the fight scenes are pretty good," Erik shrugged when the sword wielding canonesses went cartwheeling across the room, struck aside by lady Hyrinsilia's battering backhand from her four remaining arms. Panting heavily, blood gushing from dangling flaps of skin, the succubus was trying to rise when six consecutive lightning bolts, courtesy of Lita, crashed into her, stunning the daemon long enough for Crestienne to whack her with the power halberd, lady Hyrinsilia flew like a golf ball and crashed into the foot of the Emperor Buddha's pedestal. "I'm pretty confused though."

"That the Magical Girl genre got so violent?" Tangmo said.

"Not that, dumbass," Erik waved at lady Hyrinsilia, despite her wound slowly healing, she was in no shape to fight as the canonesses and Lita closed in, it was like watching a wounded doe about to get rip apart by a pack of angry lionesses, tigresses and she-wolves. "This! She did the stupid super villain monologue and got fucked up in less than ten minutes. What the fuck?"

"Maybe she just sucks," Tangmo offered but knew that Erik had a point. "Come to think of it, this seems a tad too fucking convenient."

"Yeah, it's almost like she loosing on purpose," Erik tilted his head to the side, face scrunched up in confusion when, through blood and lacerated charred flesh, lady Hyrinsilia smiled in absolute satisfaction, bracing her back against the Emperor Buddha as the canonesses and Lita got within striking distant. Then it clicked for Tangmo and Erik. "Oh fuck…"

"IT'S A TRAP, LOOK OUT!"

Too late. Lady Hyrinsilia must have planted a fucking bomb inside the room before they got here, because with a wave of her hand the Emperor Buddha statue blew up in a spectacular fireball, the roiling flame consuming Lita and the canonesses and send burning shards of gold flying like shrapnel across the room. Tangmo and Erik went flat on their stomach, narrowly dodging the scything pieces as burning gale rolled over them, the pressure and heat robbing them of breath. Ears ringing, skin tingling from the heat, Tangmo and Erik got up, dazed as all fuck, their steps wobbly, expecting to see mutilated armored pieces scattered everywhere. Of course the girls were fine, all of them surprised but totally unharmed by the explosion thanks to Lita's force field.

"Ah, you're still alive, good," Bellona smirked brightly and, with more strength than was necessary, smacked Tangmo friendly on the back. He disappointed her by not pitching face first to the ground.

"You're not getting rid of me than easily," Tangmo winked at the redhead Bloody Rose canoness then shifted his attention to the big fucking hole where the Emperor Buddha used to be, tsking at the waste. "Damn, the bitch kamikaze herself."

"Oh no," Zhensu stammered and rushed toward the crater, "no, no, no, no…"

"Umm…I get the statue was nice and all, but is it really worth crying over?" Tangmo asked delicately and Lita shot him a crossed look, silently telling him to shut the fuck up.

"I am not crying over the statue you fool!" Zhensu snapped at him and waved at the hole. "God Emperor preserves my soul how could I have forgotten about this?!"

"Forgotten what – okay I agree, this is a massive oversight on your part," Erik joined Zhensu and went pale, well, paler than his usual Nordic complexion. Awning before them, unearthed by the explosion, was a freaking tunnel, a wide manmade passageway now splattered with a trail of blood. Well shit, looked like lady Hyrinsilia didn't suicide bombed herself after all.

"Where does this go?" Victrix asked.

"Everywhere," Myorin said in horror, "every corner of the monastery complex. The armory, the infirmary, even the…"

"Sarcophagus chamber of your saints," Galatea finished the samurai Sororitas's sentence and the canonesses all traded look of absolute shock, gasping and whispering prayers to the God Emperor, even Lita was joining in.

"Hey! Can we please save the fainting and crying for later?! God fucking damn!" Tangmo shouldered aside Morelia and Naledi and jumped into the roughhewed tunnel with Erik. "Yo, which way do we go?!"

"This way," Zhensu, the canonesses and Lita joined them, making the narrow corridor that much more cramp, at least the Mexican Warseer's Singing Spear was brightening up the place. "I know the way by heart, come on!"

"We can just follow the blood, but alright," Tangmo shrugged and together they thundered through the cavernous corridor, the earth shaking with their footsteps, light sheens of gravelly dust raining down on them. Soon enough the tunnel widened and the ground changed from shitty uneven dirt path into smooth, uniform cobblestone.

"So, if we're all Sailor Scouts," Lita, having her Tangmo and Erik's earlier conversation, smirked as they entered a large pillared hall, a great gateway towered twenty paces in front of them, spewing spooky ass green light and mist, "then which one of you is the Tuxedo Mask?"

"Tangmo is," Erik laughed lowly, venomously.

"Motherfucker, I'm not that rose throwing dickhead!" Tangmo spat.

"You got the cape for it," Erik blasphemed the sacred awesome commissar coat, despite the fact that he was wearing an Ulthwe Ranger cloak that looked way more similar to what Tuxedo Mask wore.

"Get fucked, you fuckers," Tangmo flipped both Erik and Lita off as he cautiously stepped deeper into the hall, lined on both sides with large circular openings at regular interval, reminding him of underground sewage pipes. "So what the hell is this place?"

"The old temple," Zhensu told him. "We built the new monastery over this one. We're probably the first people in the last thousand years to set foot upon it."

"Pretty sure the fucking daemon beat us to it," Tangmo shrugged at the extremely unamused Zhensu. "Anyway, we sure as shit ain't gonna let those sum bitches enjoy their stay for long. Let's go kick some – what the hell is that?"

High pitched squealing, a mangled cadence of clashing howls melded into a grotesque wailing, echoed from a hole immediately to Tangmo's left. It was growing in volume, the cacophony horrid and inhuman.

"Make ready!" Tangmo spun on the pipe, both laspistols leveled as Erik and Lita took their places beside him, respective weapons trained forward, the canonesses spreading out around the trio. A bulbous mass dropped to the ground before them, breaking apart into kicking, twitching shapes that looked like parodies of the human body, shrieking like harpies straight out of hell.

"Wait, wait, wait! Don't shoot them, don't shoot!" Erik jumped in front of Tangmo a split second before he pulled the trigger, rushing to help one of the figures up, his movement courteous and gentlemanly. "Are you alright Verity?"

"High Ranger Erik?" Well shit, its Verity and her friends. The hospitaller was very glad to see Erik and threw her arms around the Swedish elf, giving him a big hug, unaware that she was in the presence of twelve canonesses. "Oh, it is so good to see you again!"

"Yeah…good to see you too, Verity," Erik glanced nervously at the affronted canonesses, the combined glare putting their flamers to shame. Even Tangmo and Lita had to take several steps back to escape the radiating heat. "Can you, umm, maybe let me go? Because I think we're about to get murder."

"Huh? AHHHH!" Verity screamed shrilly and leapt off Erik, bowing lowly at Galatea who was audibly gnashing her teeth. "C-Canoness Galatea! P-Please! Let me…"

"Explain?" Galatea took a step forward and Verity went to her knees, already close to sobbing. "Is there anything left to explain?!"

"Korri?" Tangmo quirked a brow and strode over to Krillen's little sister, meanwhile Verity was trying to explain to the canonesses why she was so familiar with Erik, who was not helping the situation by butting in and trying to rescue the hospitaller, "you alright their dude?"

"Just a scratch sir," Korri fist bumped him.

"How did you ended up here?" Tangmo asked.

"We fall into a hole and found the tunnel," Korri said. "Decided to follow it because, well, it's our job to fight and kill Chaos, right sir?"

"Of course, that was the right thing to do, well done," Tangmo nodded and Korri beamed brightly, positively glowing from the praise. "So why are you and your gang with Verity and her gang?"

The radiant smile guttered and died in a blink, Korri spluttering to explain, "well, umm, sir…well, we…"

"Please don't tell me the three of you tried to get back at Verity and her friends by dragging them to a secluded place, so people won't see your dastardly deed, but your revenge got interrupted when the ghosts and ghouls started attacking so all of you banded together instead?" Tangmo meant that to be something of a joke, but the miserable guilty look Korri, Elpida and Zuhra tried to hide from him was super incriminating. "Wait…no! Holy shit, are you fucking kidding me right now?!"

"You got that correct down to the letter," Himinn added with pure satisfaction.

"But they saved our lives when things looked the most dire," Alnelle added quickly, being the nice and forgiving girl that she was, her mercy gratefully received by the three guardswomen.

"You know what? I got so much shit on my plate right now that I'm willing to overlook this. For the moment," Tangmo emphasized the last part when Korri, Elpida and Zuhra looked about ready to celebrate, and turned to Galatea who was still berating a very frightened Verity while Erik watched on helplessly. "Hey! Cut that shit out Galatea, we still have a fucking job to do. You can lecture Verity until her ears bleed after we've won."

"Fine then," Galatea composed herself as she loomed over Verity like an executioner about to bring the sword down. "Miriya will hear about this."

"Harsh," Tangmo made his unhelpful comment, but not as unhelpful as Erik who went over to Verity and caught the hospitaller when she looked about ready to swoon. The canonesses really didn't like that. He tapped Zhensu on the pauldron and nudged his head at the archway spilling ectoplasmic light. "Is that where we're supposed to go?"

"It is," Zhensu nodded. "That's the foundation of the sarcophagus chamber. From there the daemons can strike at our Saints with impunity."

"Good to know," Tangmo titled his head to the side. "Ah, looks like a bunch of dog face daemons and some Kuchisake-onna looking bitches are coming right at us."

"Yes, I believe that could prove somewhat problematic to our predicament," Zhensu got into a wushu stance, her guandao held ready and pristine, perfect in form, an angelic smile gracing her face. "Shall we, lord commissar?"

"Let's kick some…"

"Oh no! We're not wasting anymore time!" Lita cut in before Tangmo and Zhensu can dashed forward, raised her Singing Spear high, icy cold sphere of pulsing energy enveloping the three prong blades, begging to be unleashed. "I've had it with these freaking ghosts in this freaking temple! I'm ending this!"

Snarling, Lita gave the Singing Spear a flashy, but very pretty, twirls before getting into a beautiful, and sexy, ballerina like pose as she leveled it at the oncoming Chaos monsters, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"

On streams of glittering stars, blazing like a thousand burning diamonds, a spiraling beam of radiant azure lanced into the mass of creepy ghouls and ghosts, the powerful energy beam blasting and incinerating the Chaos abominations into blackened ashes that blew away into a hundred different directions.

"Holy crap, Sailor Moon is fucking pissed," Erik gaped at the destruction unleashed by Lita, almost dropping his eldar sniper rifle, even the canonesses couldn't help but stare, a very impress gleam shining in their eyes.

"And I didn't need Tuxedo Mask to help me!" Lita huffed triumphantly, her breasts, accentuated by the very shapely eldar bone armor, heaved rhythmically up and down, so of course Tangmo and Erik, being the only two dudes presence, found themselves quite fixated by the motion. Rolling her eyes, Lita sprang back to her feet and braced the simmering Singing Spear on her shoulder. "Really? Are you two honestly that immature?"

"Seriously, how can we not look?" Unlike Erik who mumbled his blushing apology, Tangmo just shrugged, unhidden in honesty, before saying with more sincerity. "You look great Lita."

"Thanks," Lita brushed a strand of silky black hair from her face and smiled, just as beautiful as he'd remembered it. The memory was both sweet and bitter.

"Well done lady Warseer," Galatea strode up beside Lita and placed a companionable hand on her shoulder, nodding firmly. This must be the first time she had ever shown any genuine amiability toward the Warseer. "I believe our path is clear now. Shall we, as you say, end this?"

"Oh yeah, now we're talking!" Lita said giddily and took her place in front of the canonesses, Singing Spear raised high like a general about to lead her soldiers in a daring charge, "come on ladies, let's go!"

Roaring mightily, the warrior women rushed through the archway, power weapons raised high as they stormed the daemon's bastion, even Verity and her friends were caught up in the hype and ran after the canonesses, adding their voice to the cacophony. Trading looks, Tangmo and Erik shrugged and jogged after the Sororitas at an easy pace.

"Wha – how are you here so quickly?! AHHH!" Lady Hyrinsilia, still pretty banged up, cried out as the canonesses and Lita dogpiled her, the daemon woman shrieking as she tried, and failed magnificently, to ward off the angry nuns. Verity and pal wisely hanged back from the carnage while taking pot shots at the heretic servants around the hall, leaving Tangmo and Erik to stride toward the big cylindrical bomb at the center of the derelict chamber, encased within a transparent shield of murky sorcerous power. Tangmo shot it, the lasbolt sinking harmless into the barrier as expected, but hey, he had to be sure the thing was impenetrable.

"Hello, hi, can you please lower your shield? We really need to disable that bomb," Erik politely asked the heretics and dark Mechanicus inside, all of whom spared him a brief deadeye look before going back to arming the bomb.

"Open this fucking dome, motherfucker!" Tangmo roared and kicked the shield, the surface rippled lightly. "I swear to the God Emperor I will fuck all of you up if you don't open this fucking thing right now!"

"You will kill us anyway," one of the dark Mechanicus intoned flatly, sounding almost reasonable.

"Bitch, don't you be pulling that logical shit on me!" Tangmo countered and slammed his fist on the barrier, with the same result. "Now open this fucking thing!"

"Umm, lord commissar? Maybe we could be of assistance?" Verity and Alnelle stepped up gingerly behind him, Himinn, Korri, Elpida and Zuhra standing around them like honor guards. Both were clutching their amulet tight, a fleur-de-lis for Verity and Isha's eye for Alnelle.

"What you got my main dudes?" Tangmo asked.

"We have discovered that our faiths, in the God Emperor and Isha, can be harness and use upon the material world," Verity explained.

"We were able to use it to vanquish daemons," Alnelle added. "And I presume that this barrier, composed of unholy sorcery of the Warp, can be dispelled by our combine power."

"All yours ladies, we got your backs," Tangmo and Erik stood aside for Verity and Alnelle, "when you're ready."

Giving each other frim nods, Verity took Alnelle's hand in hers, clutching tight, and raised their respective amulet at the Warp shield, the heretics inside snickered at the gesture. Tangmo was honestly surprised when Verity and Alnelle started glowing, a brilliant radiant gold that banished the haunting chill of the chamber, the sensation reminding him of when Saint Celestine showed up on Tera-Antebella and healed everyone. Mumbling prayers in High Gothic and Ancient Aeldari, Verity and Alnelle gently pressed the now blazing amulets to the Warp shield. And like a bubble popping it simply disappeared from existence, no explosion or harrowing malevolent curses or nothing. Tangmo, Erik and the heretics all stared at each other, stunned into silence by what had just transpired.

"Umm…the shield is down?" Verity waved at the bomb, not quite understanding what the holdup was.

"Huh? Oh right! Sorry!" Tangmo raised both his laspistols and gunned down the warlock that had made the shield. The killing was easy and satisfying, most of the grunts and dark Mechanicus were not armed, so those jackasses could only whimpered and begged for mercy as Tangmo and Erik went full Tarantino on their asses. A minute later nothing was left alive. "Phew! That was fun!"

"Now comes the hard part," Erik strode over to the screen bolted into the side of the bomb. The damn thing looked like it was cobbled up in some meth head's lab. "Now how do we go about disarming this thing?"

"Is that a timer counting down?!" Alnelle, along with Verity and Tangmo, huddled around Erik, and yes the old ass 1980s numerical font was totally counting down, having just passed the three minute mark.

"Looks like it," Tangmo confirm then looked at Erik, who was also staring at him, their gaze not really inspiring confidence. "So…you know what to do?"

"Not a clue," Erik shook his head, "you?"

"Me neither," Tangmo shrugged.

"I thought you two know everything?!" Verity's head snapped between them, panic setting in.

"Sorry, I'm not a demolition expert, that's Nikki job," Tangmo offered Verity and Alnelle an apologetic smile. "But I think I know some who does. Yo Lithia! Stop killing the super-hot big boob daemon and come help us please."

Flicking red droplets from her power scythe and breaking away from the raging, and extremely one sided fight, Lithia spun around and sprinted toward them, cape billowing epically behind her.

"What do you need, lord commissar?" Lithia slid into their midst, the flecks of blood decorating her midnight black armor made the Avenging Knight mistress looked super badass.

"You know how to disable a nuclear warhead?" Tangmo pointed at the bomb, the timer has just passed the two minutes mark, Verity and Alnelle were squawking in distress.

"You interrupted me for this? By the Throne!" Lithia rolled her eyes and swiftly dismantled the bomb, removing the screen and panel with familiar ease, exposing the wires beneath as she drew a combat knife from her boot. Working like a hair dresser, Lithia then proceed to snip and cut the jumble of red, blue and green wires until the timer went dark and the warhead's reverberating hum ceased. Lithia flicked the knife across her finger, smiling as she slipped it back into the sheath inside her boot. "There, it is done."

"You sure?" Tangmo asked but quickly raised two thumbs up when Lithia glared murderously at him. "That's great! Super cool!"

"You two, come with me," Lithia told Verity and Alnelle as she spun around. Craning his neck, Tangmo blanched when he saw the bloodied lady Hyrinsilia writhing violently, her arms and legs impaled to the ground by the canonesses. "The daemon bitch refuse to die, can your amulets finish the job?"

"We can try," Verity nodded and together with Alnelle and her crew followed Lithia, Tangmo and Erik bringing up the rear.

"Poor little Sororitas!" lady Hyrinsilia cackled dementedly, crimson spittle flying as she thrashed violently on the ground, bones cracking and flesh tearing against the halberd, guandao, spear and zweihander skewering her limbs in place, Crestienne, Zhensu, Eldul and Galatea straining against the daemon's attempt to wiggle loose. "Carve me, burn me, crush me and I will always come back! The Warp will welcome me with open arms and I will return! I always return!"

"You sure about that?" Erik said as Verity and Alnelle, hands clasped together again, not really endearing themselves to the canonesses, walked primly up to lady Hyrinsilia until they were standing beside her head. The pair knelt down, prayers dancing upon their lips, and lowered the amulets.

"What are you doing?! What is that?! Get that away from me! No! STOP! AHHHHHHH!"

Oh shit, lady Hyrinsilia fucking combust yo, the daemon woman bursting into flame, screaming in agony as she disintegrated into sooty burning ashes.

"Verity with the fatality! Nice dude!" Tangmo walked up to the petrified hospitaller, his high five going unanswered as the canonesses roared victoriously, the timbre shaking the cavern, weapons thrust high into the air, some of the less conservative of the bunch were already hugging each other.

"Astounding work Verity, Alnelle, well done," Galatea's compliment surprised the pair, who received it with a low bow.

"You destroy the daemon completely," Zhensu added with a motherly smile, proud and fulfilling. "Well done."

"Thank you, lady canonesses," Verity intoned gratefully, with a clear hint of hopefulness.

"I'm still telling Miriya about your infatuation," and Galatea crushed that hope.

"Looks like everything under control now," Lita joined the conversation, finger pressed to her earbud, listening intently. "The daemons have been beaten, the monastery is secure and Henry is in the process of mopping up the last of the hostile. Our casualty is low, with the civilians bearing the blunt of the dead."

"Sucks for them," Tangmo holstered his laspistols and glanced around the cavern. "How the hell do we get out of here?"

"By the same way we enter," Myorin waved her nodachi backward.

"Alright, let's get moving then," the canonesses heartily agreed with Tangmo as they walked back to the archway, a lot more relax now that doom and death wasn't snapping at their heels. "Better get a team down here and have that bomb remove."

"Agreed," Erik cast a narrow, inquisitive gaze left and right. "Huh."

"What is it?" Tangmo asked.

"Since when did men become an endangered species?" Erik said and their little group skidded to a stop. "I mean, why is there so many girls in the battlegroup? I expected things to be, I don't know, more macho and manly and…" the Swedish elf realized just then how massively he fucked up, again, the canonesses all turning to regard him with clear malicious intent, daring him to speak some more.

"Motherfucker, did you just honestly complain that there's too much women?!" Tangmo was indignant with disbelief. "Are you fucking serious right now, since when is having a lot of women a bad thing, in any situation?!"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that!" Erik looked about ready to get on his knees again.

"Jesus fuck, it's like complaining that you have too much to drink in the middle of a fucking desert," Tangmo threw his hands up in exasperation. "This one's on you man, good luck."

Tangmo didn't look back as Lita took Erik crossly by the ear and dragged him after the Thai commissar, and to his surprised the canonesses didn't follow up on the promised violence, instead falling amiably in beside him.

"Nicely spoken, lord commissar," Galatea flashed a ghost of a smirk.

"What can I say," Tangmo adjusted his awesome commissar cap. "I'm a fucking gentleman."