The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

"Lady Syrathel, general Janet is requesting an audience. Shall I send her away?"

"She is expected Talova, let her in."

The Tzeentchtian Battle Sister bowed and held the tent flap open, her form poised and regal, most befitting of the Lord of Change's acolyte. A good thing she snatched the girl away before Slaanesh or Khorne could swayed her, the former nun had shown great aptitude when it comes to working the Warp. Talova bowed one more time and exited the tent when general Janet stepped inside, back straight and shoulders squared per her formidable military pedigree.

"Oh, please be at ease Janet, you're among friends here," Syrathel waved the general over to the table where she, Kayako, Azarvhin, Miriael, Delilah and Luscinia were currently lounging, tranquil and companionable despite the war raging outside. Swirling the wineglass in her hand, the reddish magenta liquid rolling silkily, Syrathel took a savoring sip. "Come! Share a glass with us."

"Thank you, lady Syrathel," Janet eased her stance and walked crisply toward an empty seat beside Azarvhin, who was oiling and cleaning her serrated curved dagger, the blade gleamed cold like a star on the deepest night. The Tera-Antebellan general hasn't changed much. Her face, framed by curly silver white hair, was handsome and angular, showing only the slightest wrinkle and tautness. The only enhancement she took when Khorne bestowed his blessing was the bright blood red eyes and sharp vampiric canines that peeked pass her lips. Given her reputation of drinking the blood of her enemies, and the occasional gourmet meal made from their flesh, it was fitting.

"To what do we owe this visit?" Syrathel asked as Delilah poured Janet a glassful of wine, Miriael's protégée taking a good ogle at the Antebellan's fit physique, ill hidden by her tight uniform, smiling in approval before backing away. The general did not spare her a glance.

"What is our next move?" Janet sipped the wine slowly, and despite the woman's apparent amiability, her gaze was fixed sharply on Syrathel. The grizzled general was never one for explosive drama, choosing instead to convey her displeasure silently. "My Steelwall Brigade could have altered the outcome of the battle five days ago."

"And my Khornate sisters also," Azarvhin slid the dagger back into its sheath. "An explanation as to why you allowed Luscinia to turn Takagemi into her personal petri dish while our best troops are sidelined would be appreciated."

"Because the Immortal Spirit battlegroup would have destroyed your forces," Luscinia said easily, her eyes never leaving the data-slate in front of her, delicate fingers dancing gracefully over the bright screen. "Syrathel simply sees the necessity of preventing the two of you from committing an act of insanity, for all our sake."

"My berserkers and Battle Sisters would have shattered them!"

"And my tanks would have annihilated their armor columns!"

For all their composure, Azarvhin and Janet were still blessed by Khorne, so it was unsurprising that the two women did not take kindly to Luscinia, a Nurgle Champion, criticizing their martial prowess. Luscinia handled herself pretty well though, not even flinching when Azarvhin and Janet leapt off their seats, eyes blazing murderously.

"Ladies, please, let us not fight. Azarvhin, Janet, be a dear and sit down," Syrathel said politely, her sapphire gaze meeting the Khornate women's shinning red own. Growling lowly, Azarvhin and Janet sat down and finished their wines with powerful, furious gulps, almost shattering the glasses when they slammed it back on the table.

"I'm sure Luscinia meant no disrespect," Syrathel glanced at the aloof Nurgle Champion.

"Apologies," Luscinia made no effort with the placation, further aggravating the Khornate women.

"No one is questioning your mastery of war, Azarvhin, Janet," Syrathel cut in before the Khornate Champion can verbally retaliate. "But Luscinia is right in one regard, we would have been met with ruination if we remained dogmatic in our tactics." Syrathel finished her wine and Dalilah dutifully refilled it. "What is the battlegroup greatest strength?"

"Their advance armaments and highly disciplined soldiers," Azarvhin put forward her answer.

"Their alliance with the Aeldari," Janet made her input.

"Those are major factors, but no, that is not what makes them such a dangerous foe," Syrathel went on clinically, uncaring of how unreceptive Azarvhin and Janet were becoming. "No, what make them dangerous is their unpredictably and their uncanny ability to adapt to every situation that arises."

"Which is why indulging in a bloody full frontal assault, as so preferred by those align with Khorne, is nothing but a wasteful venture that yield no benefit to our mission," Luscinia spared the blistering Azarvhin and Janet a bored look before lowering her gaze back to the data-slate. "No offense."

"I have revised my strategies, shuffled my officers, and redeploy my troops to adequately counter the battlegroup's new arsenals," Janet slammed her fist on the table, sending glasses and silverware leaping. "I do not throw my soldiers into the line of fire wantonly, so I would appreciate it, lady Luscinia, if you would hold your tongue on matters that is well beyond your capability."

"All I see you do since joining our cabal is run your mouth," Azarvhin said lowly. "I have yet to see why Nurgle has chosen you to be his champion."

"Because I will be victorious where the scion of Khorne, Slaanesh and Tzeentch had all fail," giving the screen a final tap, Luscinia put the data-slate down and looked at them directly. "I am pleased to say that my experiment has yielded satisfactory results, and that the next phase is already underway."

"Please explain," Syrathel was feeling a tad annoyed now, Luscinia have always been sparse with the details of her plans. There's a limit to the patience one can spared for the egotistical, and Syrathel had reached that point with Luscinia.

"One of the Immortal Spirit greatest strength is their successful and deadly incorporation of air force assets," Luscinia stated with calm poise. "I've been reading the battlegroup's dossier, and it is more than clear that their advantage lies with the heavy use of combined arms. Did I use that term right? Combined arms?"

"We know damn well about their tactics!" Janet snapped at Luscinia. "And the air force, and the battlefield technologies, even our Mechanicus are wary of them."

"Attempts have been made to improve our own naval forces, but progress has been slow. The Dark Mechanicus have quite ironically refused to duplicate the battlegroup's technological advancement on the ground of techno-heresy," Azarvhin snorted derisively. "Only a few upgrades have been made, and those begrudgingly."

"Your folly lies in attempting to emulate the battlegroup's successes. A raven can never become a hawk, no matter how hard it tries," Luscinia giggled sardonically before fixing them all with a grim stare. "No, the Dark Gods' wisdom is the answer we seek. Our salvation is the Immaterium, not dark age science."

"We have been invoking the Dark Gods' aides, Luscinia, but little of their power can be spare with the False Emperor's son and his Aeldari whore striking merciless at Chaos's strongholds across the galaxy," Syrathel said exasperatedly. "The gods will not help those who wouldn't help themselves, and our lack of success has not painted us in the most favorable light."

"Unsurprising that the gods are not happy," Luscinia shrugged. "You use their powers, infinite and wondrous beyond comprehension, as nothing better than a bludgeon instead of weaving it into weapons of sublime quality."

"And you have created these sublime weapons?" Syrathel wasn't able to hide her sneer.

"I have," Luscinia nodded simply. "The daemons and heretics crawling back from Diyu have been of great help in bolstering our number, but they are severely weakened after so many years of imprisonment, deprived of the sustenance that is the Warp. I have been blessing them with Nurgle's gift of life since."

"You turn them into shambling, decaying corpses?" Janet asked incredulously.

"Please general, I am not so unimaginative," Luscinia waved Janet off. "Most forget that Nurgle's true domain lies within the cellular component that serves as the atomic building blocks of life. Diseases might be what the Great Grandfather excels in, but he has many more knowledges that he shares readily with his disciples. One of those is genetic modification and mutation, which me and my congregation have been putting to great use on the new recruits and vehicles."

"Vehicles?" Azarvhin asked, one brow quirked.

"I am sure you have seen the successful splicing of organic material with inanimate objects, those creations were quite an obstacle for the battlegroup in Takagemi," Luscinia said. "Now, the success of that experiment has been carry on to the next phase, where I am now enhancing our soldiers, shaping them into being of purest perfection."

"You have been experimenting on our troops?" Azarvhin asked in a surprisingly neutral tone.

"Of course not lady Azarvhin, even I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to invite Khorne's wrath upon myself," Luscinia said politely. "I am currently using the local turncoat PDFs and militias for this particular undertaking. And there have been more successes than failures."

"And you believe this will help turn the tide of battle?" Syrathel asked, herself intrigued by Luscinia's testimony. Maybe the Nurgle Champion wasn't so useless after all.

"It will," Luscinia was absolute in her confident as she glanced at her Khornate counterpart. "That was why I have convinced Syrathel to have your soldiers removed from Takagemi. It would be a horrid waste for such elite troops to perish in an unwinnable fight. All of us knew the battlegroup was going to conquer that city regardless."

"You should have told us from the beginning," Azarvhin shifted her displeasure to Syrathel. "Our troops were poised to retake the city."

"I had to wait for the battlegroup to fully commit to the assault," Syrathel explained calmly. "If all of you were to withdraw early, their unmanned drones would have detected the anomaly and put all of us in jeopardy."

"Perhaps," Azarvhin consented begrudgingly and Janet just grunted her assent.

"Talking about the air forces," Syrathel returned her attention to Luscinia. "Have you found a way to neutralize them?"

"Indeed I do," Luscinia nodded. "You have a plan?"

"You are not the only one who have been busy with the Dark Gods' gift," Syrathel traded a smile with Kayako. "As the battlegroup's pylons nullified the Immaterium's presence on this plain of existence, me and Kayako have successfully created our own beacons, these ones magnifying our connection with the blessed empyrean. The skaven ratmen knowledge on the Black Stone has been of instrumental help, even the Dark Mechanicus were shouted down on this instant. It was truly a joy to see those cogs put in their places. Anyway, with our pylons we can amplify the Warp connection with Diyu and direct more forces to Yomi, but they'll be vulnerable to the battlegroup's air force. Can you help me with this?"

"Of course," Luscinia reached for her wine, taking a small, delicate sip. "My creation is ready to soar. We await only your order."

"Excellent," Syrathel took a healthy swig, pleased with the conversation. Even Azarvhin and Janet appeared content. "What is the battlegroup doing now?"

"They are moving on to two more targets," Azarvhin said. "Lord commissar Tangmo and Predator exarch Nikki is leading a large contingent of guardsmen and eldars toward the Zu Xia mountain range where a fortress containing the reliquary is situated. Brother Sergeant Damien and Ciaphas Cain are on Yaiba Island with another taskforce, already closing in on the artifact there. Warseer Lita, her cadre of eldar sorcerers and the Adepta Sororitas are still inside Takagemi, cleansing the place. And general Henry's armored columns patrol everything in between."

"Fucking hypocrite," the wineglass shattered in Kayako's hand, glasses, wine and blood flying in a glittering halo. Syrathel wholeheartedly shared her sentiment. "They raped and tortured us for using the same power to save them. Now they foster psykers in their ranks without restrain and mingle with xenos. I'll fucking kill every last one of them!"

"You'll get your chance sister," Syrathel reached her hand toward Kayako's own, the Tzeentchtian Champion's fingers moving immaculately, the tips glowing as shards of glass imbedded in the sorceress's palm flew upward, the lacerations knitted itself until the flesh became smooth and untarnished. The shimmering specks clattered quietly on the table and Syrathel and Kayako shared a warm smile, taking comfort in each other.

"Thank you," Kayako grinned and flexed her healed hand. "So where should we concentrate our attack? I say we go to the island. If we kill or, Dark Gods willing, capture the famous commissar, it will be a massive morale blow to the battlegroup."

"Although the chance to play with Ciaphas Cain is truly tempting, I think the better option would be to attack commissar Tangmo. He's part of the high command and an extremely valuable asset to the battlegroup, if he is to perish then not even a celebrity can stop the Immortal Spirit from falling apart," Syrathel's face darkened then. "Besides, I have unfinished business with that son of a bitch."

"Looks like someone's in love," Kayako snickered, unfazed by Syrathel's simmering glare. "I'll go with you then, just to make sure that the singing commissar finally dies this time."

"Thank you Kayako," Syrathel nodded then turned to Miriael and Dalilah, the Slaanesh Champion and her protégée have been holding private counsel throughout the entire conference. If it wasn't for the occasional girlish giggles, Syrathel would have forgotten that they were here. "Miriael, do you have anything to add?"

"Oh, that's okay. All of you seem to have everything under control," Miriael said sweetly and finished her wine. She placed the glass down slowly, a thoughtful look coming over her. "Although they have been complaining quite a lot, they want to know why you are not fielding them."

"You can go back and tell them that their help is not needed," Syrathel's voice hardened, anger and disgust blistering her skin at the mere mention of them. "We have no use for their kind."

"This conflict is of great significance to them, and to all who are enlightened by Slaanesh," Miriael answered easily. "Isha is the only Aeldari god to have escape Slaanesh's glorious birth, thanks in no small part to Nurgle's meddling. She Who Thirst will want to rectify that affront."

"Isha belongs to Nurgle," Luscinia cut in sharply, "and she will suffer the punishment of spurning the Great Grandfather's boundless hospitality and love."

"Before either Slaanesh or Nurgle can get what they want," Syrathel interrupted the banter. "The Immortal Spirit battlegroup must first be destroyed."

"Something is not right."

"See dude, that's the last fucking thing I want to hear while walking through a spooky ass forest during a pitch black eclipse!"

Tangmo hissed at colonel Akecheta of the Ekkaroqian Wind Walker, the Thai commissar's strobing flashlight revealing the man's amused grin, quite unconcern that they were marching through a dense as fuck forest dominated by towering pines, the kind you find in Europe and North America. And as he'd stated earlier, it was dark as hell, the guardsmen, eldars and tanks with their bright torchlights were barely able to illuminate the place.

"Mind expanding on that, old chap?" Colonel Alistair of the Praetorian joined Tangmo and Akecheta. Their forces were comprised of Cadian 89th, Minka Lesk's company from the Cadian 101st, the Wind Walker, the Praetorian, the Dawn Blade, the Dragon Blood, the Mordian, Biel-Tan battle regiment led by captain Marwen, Olatien's Fire Dragon Aspect Warriors, four King Russes and six Aeldari Falcons. An impressive bunch, all things considered.

"Hard to say," Akecheta swept a narrowing glance at the wood around them, his lasgun braced at the ready. "But I've led enough forays into forest like this to recognize when something is wrong, like how one returns home to find a few details off. Misplace items, out of place furniture, that sort of things."

"Perhaps it is the dark?" Alistair offered, all the while angling his lasgun slightly upward, not trusting things to chance.

"No," Akecheta answered with clear finality then turned to Tangmo, "how long until we reach the fortress?"

"About twenty minute," Tangmo told him. "Did your scouts find anything dodgy? Like daemons, monsters, ambushing heretics, other creepy shits?"

"Nothing," Akecheta wasn't placated by his own statement. "We combed the forest and found nothing."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Tangmo said. "I mean, I can actually hear animal noises and stuff. That should mean we're in the clear, right?"

"Yet we have not seen any faunas," Akecheta pressed on grimly, and now that Tangmo thought about it, he haven't seen any flocks of bird, buzzing insects or animals since setting foot in this fucking forest.

"Well, it's pretty fucking dark, maybe we weren't paying attention," Tangmo said lamely, more for his benefit than anyone, feeling immediately like an idiot after the words left his mouth.

"Sorry lord commissar, but I concur with Akecheta," Alistair spoke up politely. "I've hunted beast in my youth and the colonel is correct, we should've already run into some sizeable games by now."

"I'll tell everyone to be extra careful then," Tangmo nodded then tapped his earbud, relayed his warning, and turned back to the two colonels. "Thanks for the heads up dude, and here I thought I was the only one freaking out. Spooky forest tends to make you super nervous, you know?"

"Nervousness is good, lord commissar," Akecheta grinned, "it makes you alert."

"Shit, I rather be sharp and ready, not jumpy like Lita when she's watching a – ahhh!"

Tangmo jumped with an embarrassingly girlish squeal, almost crashing into major Anaba, the Ekkaroqian second in command and Akecheta little sister, who dodged out of the way just in time before getting a face full of the Thai commissar.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Tangmo held up his hands in apology to the chuckling Anaba then spun around to glare at the laughing Russian piece of shit responsible for scaring the crap out of him. "Motherfucker, don't fucking do that! Jesus fuck, I almost pissed myself!"

"The scream was worth in bro," Nikki threw her arm companionably over Tangmo's neck. It took every ounce of control he had not to strangle her. "Why are you so jumpy? We've been on scary missions before."

"Dude, let's just say I got a very bad feeling about this, like the silent moment before a jump scare drops," Tangmo dusted down his awesome commissar coat and held his lasgun up at the ready. "Besides scaring the living shit out of me, why are you here again?"

"Was just done sweeping the southern part of the forest, and let's just say things are pretty weird," Nikki let him go and glanced at the foreboding forest, her gaze sharp and unblinking.

"Define weird," Tangmo knew immediately he wouldn't like the answer.

"There's definitely something lurking in the forest, and they're following us," Nikki gave Tangmo an apologetic look. "Even if the sensors are not picking anything up, the scouts on the fringes know something's wrong. I mean, I personally saw dark shapes moving between the trees, way too fast to be an animal. Not gonna lie, I'm actually a bit scare right now, it's like walking into a Baba Yaga's den."

"Are we talking John Wick Baba Yaga, or the creepy fuck ones from Russia?" Tangmo asked, because he would rather go up against John Wick right now.

"The kind my grandmother tells me when I misbehave, and that version was the worse," Nikki shivered. "Even the forest acoustic is weird. I mean, I keep hearing animals but I never see one, even with night vision and heat vision. And the sound…like it's been…"

"Cater specifically to what you should hear in a nocturnal forest," Akecheta finished Nikki's sentence.

"Exactly! It's like the sound is trying so hard to be normal that it achieves the total opposite," Nikki nodded vigorously. "Does that make any sense to you?"

"It makes way too much fucking sense," Tangmo glanced at the stoically calm Anaba. "Same thing happens to you and your scouts?"

"Yes," Anaba wasn't happy about this revelation. "We're being drawn into an ambush."

"By what?" Alistair asked, the Praetorian flicking the switch on his lasgun to full auto, eyeing the forest with rising alarm. Bathed in faltering neon, the place was nothing short of an eldritch nightmare, a forbidden primeval world where men were never meant to tread upon. More than once Tangmo saw lasbolts shooting up at the canopy or the gargantuan pines, swiftly followed by cursing officers and loud smacking. Tangmo didn't blame them, shit was scary yo.

"Hell if I know, but I don't really feel like finding out," Tangmo checked the data-pad on his armguard, the clock said they've been walking for nearly an hour. He swiped the screen, bringing up the digital map. "We're ten minutes away from our target, who's in the forward advance party?"

"Captain Binaaswi with his platoon and captain Minka's Cadians," Anaba told him.

"Binaaswi, dude, do you have visual on our destination?" Tangmo tapped his earbud.

"The target is in sight, lord commissar, a most impressive place if I may say so," Binaaswi couldn't contain his awe, damn, now Tangmo want to see it. "It is however occupied. There's a five hundred yard open field between the forest and the fortress and the ramparts are manned and armed. The garrison has not seen us yet and I can't make out their insignias. Need advice on how to proceed."

"Perhaps we can make contact with them sir," Minka suggested. "Initial scan reveal no Chaos desecration and the soldiers on the parapet doesn't look like cultists."

"Both of you maintain position and remain hidden, I'll take care of this," Tangmo tapped his earbud a few times. "Meko, get over here."

After about a minute, Tangmo saw the Cadian radio captain sprinting toward him, his steps jittery despite his best attempt to remain calm. Seeing Tangmo, Meko sighed in relief and saluted. "What do you need sir?"

"There's a garrison inside the fortress," Tangmo took the headphone from Meko's communicator backpack and pressed it to his ear. "I need you to tune into their frequency. We need to let them know we're coming so they don't blast us to bits when we get out of the forest."

"Finally," Meko couldn't suppress a smile as his fingers danced swiftly over the glowing data-pad on his left arm, but his lips quickly thinned. "What if they're not friendlies?"

"Then we'll get the King Russes and Falcons to the front and make ourselves at home," Tangmo grinned and waited until the piercing jumble of statics faded to silence. At Meko's thumbs up, Tangmo said, "this is lord commissar Tangmo of the Cadian 89th, Immortal Spirit battlegroup, identify yourself."

"What the hell was that?!" An agitated female voice blurted, commotion rising in the background.

"Who is this?!" Another woman voice demanded.

"…I just told you, I'm lord commissar Tangmo of the Immortal Spirit," Tangmo repeated himself, trading a guarded look with Meko. "I repeat, please identify yourself. Are you Imperial or heretics? Our taskforce is moment away from reaching the Zu Xia fortress and we need some identification before making our final approach."

"This is a fucking trick, turn the transmission off!" The first voice spoke up angrily, punctured by the clangs of loading bolters. "Man the barricades! We're under attack!"

"Wait! Everyone stay alert but remain calm, and that means you Hitomi!" The second voice snapped, bringing the raucous to a grumbling end. "Please repeat yourself, are you Imperial forces?"

"We are helping canoness Zhensu and Myorin cleanse this planet of Chaos and protect Isha's artifacts," Tangmo went on.

"This could still be a trap," the first voice put in petulantly.

"Prove that you are on our side," the second voice demanded.

"Oh for the love of – stand by," Tangmo mumbled very impolite words under his breath and turned to Meko. "Patch me through to Zhensu and Myorin."

The radio captain typed swiftly onto the glowing screen then nodded.

"Zhensu, you there?" Tangmo asked.

"Go ahead lord commissar," Zhensu replied, a note of worry seeping into her voice. "Is something wrong? Are you under attack? Do you require reinforcement?"

"Was the artifact taken?" Myorin piped up, always the serious and no nonsense one.

"I'm fine, and I think the artifact is fine, that's actually why I'm calling you," Tangmo put the two canonesses at ease. "We're approaching the Zu Xia fortress right now and it's occupied by a contingent of Celestial Serenity Battle Sisters, and they don't believe we're friendlies. Can you talk to them please?"

"Hitomi and Meifeng are alive?!" Myorin blurted with uncharacteristic excitement, even Zhensu gasped. "Put us through!"

"Stand by," Tangmo pulled the headphone away from his ear as Meko connected the two frequencies so the canonesses can speak to their charges. "Guess all we can do now is wait."

"Yeah, the sooner they're done, the better," Tangmo totally didn't like how Meko's timbre suddenly became grim and heavy, nor did he like how the captain was tapping his data-pad with clear urgency. "Sir, something's wrong here."

"What is it?" Tangmo scooted closer to Meko. Seeing the shift in temperament Nikki, Akecheta, Anaba and Alistair swiftly joined them.

"I'm picking up hidden radio signals on a low, almost undetectable frequency, so subtle that it could be white noise," Meko explained and pointed at a barely perceptible pulsing line on a graph displaying the Immortal Spirit's communication channels. "I thought it was only machine inference or atmospheric anomaly caused by the eclipse, but since we've enter the forest it started to become more noticeable. It's not some random noises either, there's a very clear cadence that suggest conversations."

"Where are these signals emanating from?" Anaba asked.

"…All around us," Meko's swept his gaze over the encompassing primordial darkness. "I'm getting burst of signals echoing at the edge of our formation, always at a fifty yards distance. There are also chatters coming from within our ranks."

"Traitors?" Akecheta's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"No, it's not coming from any of our communication devices," Meko grunted in confusion as he glared at one of the towering pine. "The signals appear to be coming from the trees. Inside the tress, as if they're capable of speech."

"I'll tell the lads and ladies to breakout the flamers," Alistair was about to tap his earbud when Tangmo stopped him with a quick wave of the hand.

"Highest alert but keep everyone moving at a sedate pace, don't let whatever the fuck it is that's watching us know we're on to them," Tangmo hissed.

"Binaaswi, Minka, watch your back, be prepare to engage the forest. I repeat, the forest is compromise, watch the trees," Nikki told the forward scouts, "safeties off, get ready to make a break for the fortress if things go south."

"Can we listen in on them?" Tangmo pressed Meko's headphone to his ear.

"I can try," Meko started tinkering with the data-pad, his digits a blur. Slowly the clashing noise of the guardsmen and eldars died away, allowing the barely perceptible whispers lurking in the background to rise to the surface. At Tangmo prompting, Nikki, Akecheta, Anaba and Alistair tapped their earbuds, joining him and Meko in the eavesdropping. After a few more taps, Meko was able to bring the hidden chatter into focus and holy shit, Tangmo knew then that he wasn't gonna get any sleep for the next few nights. Screams, howls and shrieks, all manners of hellish noises greeted Tangmo, a violent roiling of macabre cacophony that made him physically ill to hear. The unholy acoustic was amorphous and lacking logics and senses, the endless screeching carried no meaning beyond an expression of purest, bestial agony. Tangmo and Nikki traded look of absolute horror with the main characters, the battle hardened Imperial Guards were quickly losing their collective shits. He had no doubt that if the Well to Hell urban legend was real, this would be the closest approximation to the burning ambience of the underworld. Tangmo was about to tell Meko to turn the radio off when, with chilling abruptness, the cacophony ended, the heavy silence that followed left all of them staggering for balance. Although he was glad the fucking shrieks stopped, his relief lasted a paltry two seconds when he realized what'd just happened. Like the moment when a hunter stepped on a twig and an entire pack wolf turned in his direction, the owners of those screams now knew that they were being listened in on.

"Oh shit."

"Get out of the forest, it's infested with daemons!"

Not a heartbeat after Tangmo and the first angry voice from the fortress spoke up that the grotesque howling of a thousand tormented mouths blared again. But it didn't come from the headphones or earbuds this time, it erupted around them, the acoustic explosion was a tangible gale that almost knocked Tangmo off his feet. This time the macabre chorus was joined by roaring cracks and bangs of gunfire and dying screams of humans and eldars.

"Haul ass to the fortress! Go! Get the fuck out of here!" Tangmo bellowed and went full auto on a massive wiry humanoid shape moving above him, the lasbolts punching through the thick barks, scorching the flesh beneath, black putrid ichor splattering across the ground. It would appear that the ambush had been premature in execution, thank God, because even though guardsmen and Guardians were getting ripped to pieces and thrown across the air, many of the creatures that had emerged were succumbing to concentrated las, bolters and shurikens fire, with tank shells providing a spectacular coup de grace. And it was due to these kaleidoscopic flashes of firepower that Tangmo saw what in the fuck he was fighting. Long skinny bodies and limbs wrapped in sinewy muscles, the proportion grotesque and cadaverous, and sitting atop the torso were heads, stacked up like a pagoda of screaming faces, each unique in dimension and agony, with gigantic loudspeakers sticking out of their open maws, amplifying the shrieks and howls.

"That's fucking Siren Head," Nikki appeared beside Tangmo and unleashed a burst of shurikens on one of the creatures, managing to blow off a few faces and knocked the abomination to ground, where it was finished off by a King Russ's churning tracks.

"That is fucking Siren Head," Tangmo nodded and dashed after Meko, Anaba, Akecheta and Alistair, joining a large group of guardsmen and Guardians that were blasting their way through the forest. Head darting left and right, Tangmo can only grimaced as the gangly abominations, numerous in multitude, plowed after the battlegroup, but the humans and eldars were giving them one hell of a fight, retreating with iron discipline as they made a break for the fortress. "Jesus fucking Christ, it's a whole fucking army of Siren Heads. Syrathel have been reading creepypasta!"

"Hey, at least they're killable," Nikki shrugged as a howling Siren Head was consumed by promethium flame and Fire lances. "Now let's get the hell out of here."

"Agreed!" Tangmo caught up with the main characters, tapping Meko on the shoulder. "How bad is it?!"

"They got a pretty good jump on us," Meko growled as he blew a Siren Head's bark covered chest to splattering splinter with several well placed bursts. "We've taken quite a beating, but last I heard the men are rallying and falling back to the fortress in good order. The Aeldari Falcons have been instrumental in providing covering fire for the troops. The abominations are too slow to counter the eldar tanks."

"Go eldar!" Nikki jumped with a delighted squeal and landed two shots on another Siren Head, not doing much damage but it's the thought that counts. "Better call your girlfriend though. We still don't know if she got out alright."

"Oh fuck!" Tangmo pressed the earbud so hard that it almost went into his ear canal. "Leila! Leila! Where are you?! Are you alright?! Leila!"

"Calm down, I'm already out of the forest!" Leilatha shot back testily, barely audible over the cacophonic firefight. "And I should be the one who is worry, you damn fool! Where are you right now?!"

"Still inside the forest with the Siren Heads," raspy baying, the timbre a grotesque amalgamation of canid and human noises, interrupted Tangmo. Great, like the Siren Heads weren't enough! "And apparently something else is also here with us, fucking terrific."

"I'll set up a firing line at the edge of the forest and wait for you," Leilatha offered.

"No, get everyone inside the fortress, don't wait for me," Tangmo countered quickly and went on before Leilatha can object. "I won't die on you, I promise."

"You better damn well not," Leilatha was less than happy but conceded nevertheless, cutting the transmission without another word spoken.

"King Russ, nine o'clock!" Anaba shouted as a tank barreled through a pair of Siren Heads, crushing the gangly bastards under the roaring tracks and swerving to a stop in front of them. And standing gracefully on the hull was Emily, daintily shooting the Chaos creepypasta monsters with immaculate calm.

"Would you like a lift sir?" Emily grinned, hand on hip and laspistol raise, looking absolutely stunning despite all the hell breaking loose around them, stray strands of blonde fluttering majestically from under her white pith helmet.

"Emily, I could kiss you," Tangmo laughed loudly while providing covering fire for the main characters as they scrambled up the side ladders, Nikki on the other hand parkoured easily up the King Russ and was standing beside Emily within seconds.

"I don't believe Leilatha would appreciate such a friendly display, lord commissar," Emily offered Tangmo a lopsided smile as he scaled up a ladder.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure Krillen will probably corner me in a dark alley somewhere and shank my…"

"Look out!"

Tangmo squawked when Nikki grabbed his awesome commissar coat and pulled his ass on to the King Russ, landing hard on his chest as the main characters trained their weapons downward and unleashed a barrage on the spot beneath him.

"Thanks dude," Tangmo took Nikki's offered hand and got up, dusted off his awesome commissar coat and glanced over the tank, brow quirked in revulsion at the smoldering mass of black flesh, charcoaled and minced to unrecognizable gibs. "What in the fuck is that thing?"

"Midnight skin, skinny but sinewy, white lanky hair, and since this planet is one massive Asian horror movie, my educated guest would be a jikininki," Nikki aimed down the scope of her sniper rifle and pulled the trigger. Following the trajectory of the starry shuriken, Tangmo watch the projectile tore a hunched creature matching the Russian's description apart, one of several hundred looping across the forest on all four, lips peeled back to reveal bloody needle sharp teeth, the sum bitches working in tandem with the Siren Heads.

"Good call, they're totally jikininki," Tangmo slung the lasgun over his shoulder and drew his bolt pistol, slammed in the Inferno round, swept the barrel in a wide arch, emptied the payload on the forest floor twenty paces in front of the King Russ, incinerating a few daemons and creating a wall of fire that halted their advance. The jikininkis howled in anger and outrage, but they retained enough cognitive thinking not to hurtle toward death heedlessly. "At least they're afraid of fire."

"Oh, they're about to be a lot more afraid of fire," Nikki grinned toothily and threw four disc bombs at the surrounding forest, two landed amidst the fire Tangmo had made, the other two bounced into the path of a particularly large pack. For a split second dawn broke early on Yomi, Nikki's incendiary ordnance exploding in a spectacular tidal wave of rolling fire, enlarging Tangmo's earlier barrier and burning the jikininkis horde to char crisp. Even the Siren Heads weren't spare. Slender Man loudmouth cousins screeched and bulled through the forest in wild desperation, unable to douse the fire engulfing them, the tongue of flame peeling their skins to the bones.

"Nikki you magnificent bastard, that was fucking amazing!" Tangmo and Nikki laughed raucously.

"Laura's not the only pyromaniac around! Ha!" Nikki threw her fist victoriously in the air and started banging the King Russ's turret. "Get us the fuck out of here!"

"Not yet!" Tangmo shouted into his earbud and pointed at the stream of guardsmen and eldars rushing passed the war machine, many carrying injured comrades. "Cover their retreat! We're gonna hold out as long as we can! Are you with me you crazy, glorious motherfuckers?!"

Of course they were going to say yes, but Tangmo didn't expect it to be of such deafening gusto, the main characters still high on morale despite everything. Not that the task was easy though. Many of the jikininkis had simply went around the fire, and after correctly assuming that the King Russ was the crux of their woe, tried to encircle the war machine. But the fire burned strong and bright, which made the Japanese yokais easy to spot, and lasbolts were effective enough to take them down like any other Chaos grunts. Shooting the motherfuckers was a very stressful, but admittedly exhilarating experience, in the end though cooler heads prevailed and they were able to successfully cover the retreat.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Leilatha demanded, almost making Tangmo missed a headshot, but he didn't flinch when he pulled the trigger and decapitated a jikininki. "Everybody's out of the wood except you!"

"Oh, thanks!" Tangmo grinned and banged the King Russ's hull. "Yo! Get us the fuck out of here! We saved all we can, right?!"

"Quite right sir, we're the last one still here by the look of things," Alistair, like Emily, remained poise and proper when the tank jerked into motion, the war machine roaring furiously as it thundered westward, the main characters clinging on tight lest they fell off. Making a quick sweep, Tangmo found that the Praetorian colonel was right, beside corpses and jikininkis roaming about, none of the battlegroup soldiers were in sight.

"Motherfuck, why didn't anybody tell me we were in the clear?!" Tangmo demanded as he crouched down beside Nikki.

"You were enjoying yourself, we didn't want to interrupt," Akecheta shrugged and the main characters laughed.

"I was stressed out of my mind dude!" Tangmo shot back. "Great, now Leilatha's gonna kill me!"

"I heard that," Leilatha growled darkly.

"Gotta go, bye, love you!" Tangmo blurted and quickly tapped his earbud until he found the frequency he was looking for, "Ae-Shin, you there? Come in, we have a big fucking emergency right now."

"I know, we're getting attack everywhere," Ae-Shin hissed. "You have a target for me?"

"Yeah, carpet bomb the fucking forest! Whoa!" Tangmo yelped and caught Nikki's arm when the King Russ hit a bump, the tank soaring for a second, the Thai commissar stopping the Russian exarch from flying off. "Fuck! You good?!"

"Yeah, thanks dude," Nikki tapped him friendlily on the shoulder, flashing him a pretty smile.

"ETA to target five minutes lord commissar, just…" okay, why did Ae-Shin's sentence just trailed off like that? Oh shit, now she's screaming. "Fuck! Break formation, prepare to engage! Look out!"

"Ae-Shin?!" Empty static answered Tangmo. "Ae-Shin, come in! What the fuck is going on?!"

"By the Sky Father infinite mercy, look!" Anaba pointed upward as the King Russ rumbled onto the flat no man's land. He took no notice of the massive mountain range before him, stretching left and right as far as the eyes could see, nor did he give a rat's ass about the fortification carved deep into the rocky surface, oh no, the entirety of Tangmo's attention was honed on the sky, at the monstrous organism now dominating the heavenly vista, blocking out the stars with its titanic mass. At first Tangmo thought the object in the sky was some cigar shaped dirigible like the Hindenburg, but then he noticed how the surface, glossy and slick, heaved in a clear breathing motion, illuminated by sickly green bioluminescent that ran its entire length, a kilometer or so if he was to make an educated guess. A groan, deep and low like some abominable creature birthed from the deepest abyss of the ocean, resonated from the atmospheric beast, wrong, unceasing and terrible, the reverberation penetrated through the flesh and bored into the soul, the earth and sky sundered by the monstrous timbre.

"What the fucking fuck?!" Nikki cried out as she and Tangmo stared at the eldritch cephalopod nightmare. Scores of tendrils, lit bright by the same bioluminescent, sprouted across its body, swathing the air in languid, almost hypnotic strokes. Churning black smoke streamed after it, the terrible smog bloating out the stars.

"Motherfucking Lovecraft's wet dream!" Tangmo spat as fiery orange balls bloomed across the creature, eliciting what could only be described as an annoyed groan, the tendrils now moving with more malicious purpose. "Welp, at least the air force's taking care of it."

"Dude, I don't think the air force is kicking its ass. If anything, they're the ones getting fucked up there," Nikki said and fucking shit, she was right. Although some of the explosion did come from missiles detonation, most of the fireballs flashing in the sky were of aircrafts getting ripped to shred by the snapping tendrils. Only a few were able to eject in time, the descending parachutes lit up by the jets demise. Nikki then pressed a binocular over her eyes. "Jesus Christ, something's picking them off."

"Say what now?" Looking through his own binocular, Tangmo could do nothing but growled impotently as the surviving pilots were torn to pieces by some kind of winged daemons. But to his surprise a single chute managed to maneuver itself lower than the other, and looking to be coming straight for their tank. Tangmo banged the hull hurriedly. "Left! Turn left goddamn it we're helping that pilot, go!"

Crouching low, and grabbing on to a handhold for dear life, not an easy feat considering that Nikki had her arms in a bearhug around his waist, Tangmo gritted his teeth as the King Russ performed a sharp banking maneuver, the entire tank spinning on its axel while keeping the correct trajectory toward its new objective. In layman's term, the Warhammer 40k tank just fucking Tokyo Drift, beautifully, Dominic Toretto would've shed manly tears if he saw it. Taking a deep breath, Tangmo got on one knee, braced the lasgun stock to his shoulder, and took aim at the nearing pilot, well, not the pilot per say, but the horde of impish, flying gargoyles flapping behind the unlucky dude. The pilot was millimeters away from touching the ground when the imps, screeching in delight, got hold of the chute and started hurling the unlucky sod upward, reeling the poor bastard in like a fish caught on a hook.

"Full speed, head straight for him!" Tangmo yelled into his earbud and, when the kicking pilot was more or less above the King Russ, pulled the trigger, holding it down and spaying the suspension lines until all of it was cut loose and the dude plummeted to the ground, coming straight for him. Dropping his lasgun, Tangmo was barely able to catch the pilot when she, because the jumpsuit was not able to hide her soft busts, crashed into him, the air leaving his lungs in a gagging oof as he cushioned her fall.

"Get us to the fucking fortress, now!" Nikki yelled and helped the pilot up as the King Russ shot toward the mountain range, around them the main characters and the hatch gunner were pouring a barrage of las and bolts up at the pursuing gargoyles. "You okay?"

"I am, thank you," the pilot took off her helmet, revealing a pretty oval face framed by a stylishly cut short hair, and reached her hand down to the coughing Tangmo, who took it gratefully and got up on wobbly legs. Thank God he was wearing armor or something important might have been broken. "I heard how you rescued Tyra and the Sororitas from certain death and degradation. I never thought I would become part of your heroic repertoire."

"Thanks…do I know you?" Tangmo looked at the woman, not recognizing her face but most definitely her voice. The pilot was not pleased though, because she smacked his chest with her helmet, hard. "Ow! The fuck?!"

"It's me you moron!" The pilot snapped angrily, teeth gnashing, and yeah, she did sound quite familiar when she's pissed. Fuck, the answer was right there on the tip of his tongue, "Ae-Shin!"

"Ae-Shin?! That's really you?!" Tangmo looked the huffing pilot up and down. "Goddamn, it's really nice to finally meet you in person! I mean, shit, after all these times just talking to each other through the earbuds, I finally get to meet you in the flesh!" Tangmo extended his hand. "Seriously though, it's really nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Ae-Shin smiled in a sisterly sort of way and shook his hand firmly. "Still, I wish we could've met under better circumstances."

"Hey, c'est la vie," Tangmo shrugged and let go of Ae-Shin's hand. "When we get out of this, you're coming with me and Leilatha for a drink."

"If we get out of this," Ae-Shin chuckled then glanced back at the giant atmospheric beast hovering victoriously in the sky, the gargoyles flocking toward it, abandoning the King Russ now that it was approaching the fortress's open gate, flanked by two gigantic statues of a Celestial Serenity Sororitas, rendered in the expressive Japanese style. Climbing up the gentle inclined littered with corpses from the previous battles, Tangmo was greeted by a well-made picket line of sandbags, bricks and barbwire, currently manned by the Immortal Spirit troops, along with eighteen Sororitas, nine of the bushi path, nine of the wushu.

"Hitomi and Meifeng, I presume?" Tangmo asked as he, Nikki and the main characters jumped off the King Russ, to be greeted by two serious looking Battle Sisters, the decorated and ostentatious detail of their war gears marking them as the Celestial Serenity equivalent of a Celestian.

"Yes, lord commissar," the bushi sister, Hitomi, said when Leilatha suddenly shouldered her way through the soldiery, reining her emotion just in time before leaping at Tangmo, settling for a stoic, but very forced nod instead. Sniggering, Tangmo made the move himself, drawing Leilatha into a hug, squeezing her fiercely, a gesture she reciprocated with equal, if not greater gusto.

"You are well, I assume?" Leilatha pulled away, the corner of her mouth lifted in a minuet smile.

"Oh yeah, you?" Leilatha nodded as Tangmo returned his attention to Hitomi and Meifeng, both of them seemingly more amused than hostile now. "I'm sorry sisters, you were saying?"

"Gaoseng Zhensu and koso Myorin has vouch for you," Meifeng now said, and like her bushi counterpart, the wushu Battle Sister's temperament was that of a hotblooded shonen anime main character. "And I'll admit, what you did back there was pretty heroic."

"I was skeptical about the praises you were getting," Hitomi shrugged with infuriating smugness. "But I'm liking what I see so far, so you better not turn out to be a disappointment."

"Well, prepare to be fucking amaze, because I'm awesome," Tangmo smirked like a dick and was taken aback when Hitomi and Meifeng responded with a toothy, shit eating grin of their own, totally unexpected, but very welcome. Coughing, Tangmo assumed his serious commissariat bearing and pointed at the gate. "Shouldn't the gate be close?"

"It would, if the control system wasn't destroyed a week ago," Hitomi stabbed her thumb over her shoulder, and it was only now that Tangmo finally saw the fortress proper. Yeah, that thing ain't just a fortress, it's a freaking Japanese castle, with layered walls stacked on top of each other, the battlements, barbicans and towers lit weakly by faltering chochin lanterns, and towering at the very back loomed the sloped roof keeps, four indomitable rectangular blocks in the same architectural style as Kumamoto, Osaka and Himeji. All enclosed within an awning, smooth manmade cavern. "That's why we moved our defenses here, so we can bottleneck those daemon bastards and conserve our ammos."

"Which is near depleted by the way," Meifeng added.

"We should be able to spare some rounds," Leilatha glanced at the pitifully lighted castle. "Why have you left the fortification so dark?"

"The Machine Spirit has been uncooperative to our invocation for assistance," Meifeng grunted. "The techpriests and engineseers have not been able to beseech the machines."

"Oh my fucking God, I'll take care of it," Nikki rolled her eyes with a groan then glanced at the Immortal Spirit colonels. "Spared me some engineers and I'll get this place running again."

"You're insane if you think we're letting a xeno touch our machines," Hitomi barred her teeth, hand already settling on the pommel of her katana.

"And you're insane if you think you can stop us," Tangmo interceded lowly.

"Do we have any words from the fleet?" Ae-Shin strode over to Meko, who was frowning as he tinkered with his communication instrument, "or from any of our forces? The guards, the eldars, the Sororitas, the Astartes, can we raise any of them?"

"I haven't heard this much static since before we join the battlegroup, back on Kolasi," Meko shook his head, growling as he attempted to tune and enhanced the frequencies, fingers dancing rapidly over the screen, which was blaring more red lights than what was deemed comfortable. "All I'm getting is scattered fragments of communication across the continent, from general Henry, Brother Sergeant Damien, inquisitor Laura, captain Solveig…we are being attack from every direction, they're coming at us hard."

"What of the air force?" Ae-Shin waved at the giant floating monster spewing toxic fume into the atmosphere. "Is there more of that fucking thing?"

"Yes, captain Solveig is recalling all air assets back to the Immortal Spirit, for repair and rearmament," Meko continued to adjust his instrument, milking every last drop of chatter from the machine. "Those things are everywhere, and the smokes are blocking out satellite imageries and disrupting communication. They have complete control of the sky now."

"Which cuts us off from all air supports and radar readings, effectively leveling the playing field in Syrathel's favor," Tangmo swiftly put two and two together. "Well played bitch, well played."

"And now they will be throwing every fucking thing they have at us, just to make sure we're dead ten times over," Nikki added nonchalantly.

"They're making a push for it now, aren't they?" Tangmo deadpanned and glanced back at the forest they've just escaped from. A pillar of eldritch pink purple now blazed above the dark woodland, a sickening color out of space and time bathing the barks and leaves in rippling unreality, the beacon piercing the smoggy sky. And yep, howls and screams erupted from the tree lines, the wall of green parting as more Siren Heads, jikininkis and a plethora of ugly looking daemons emerged, the nightmare creatures swayed and spasm as they formed an approximation of a battle formation, joined shortly by conventional troops, a bunch of cultists complemented by tanks and infantries of a frighteningly professional kind. "Fuck."

"Welp, I better get this place back online then," Nikki nudged her head for Meko to follow, the captain falling in beside her. "Get our best engineers together, all hands of deck. We needed this place light up two hours ago."

"Yes, mam," Meko tapped his data-pad then pressed the headphone to his ears, summoning the battlegroup engineer corps, which was probably already inside the castle.

"Go and keep an eye on them," Hitomi told a squad of PDF, the grimy men and women wore ragged shirts and armors that made them look like ashigaru infantries, the sergeant in charge nodded and dashed off after Nikki. Satisfied, Hitomi and Meifeng returned their attention to Tangmo, brows quirking in that annoying way tsundere characters do. "Go hide in the castle then, we'll hold them back."

"You're not getting all the fun ladies," Tangmo sniggered and tapped his earbud. "Get the King Russes, Falcons and several heavy teams over here please, we're fortifying the pickets." Tangmo then swept his gaze over the guardsmen and eldars around him. "Into position ladies and gentlemen, let's shows these Chaos fuckers how the Immortal Spirit battlegroup fuck some shit up! Let's remind Syrathel and her cronies what happens when they fuck with us! In the name of the Emperor, let none survive!"

The guardsmen roared, loud and powerful, and swiftly got into position along the barricades, setting themselves easily beside the PDF defenders, who looked really happy to have the extra manpower. The eldars nodded with sharp discipline and joined the guardsmen, silently and without any words uttered.

"And umm…in the name of Isha too! Go Isha!" Tangmo added, flashing two thumbs up. Captain Marwen, Olatien and the eldars nodded their acknowledgement, almost amused by his attempt to be politically correct and inclusive.

"That was nice of you," Leilatha deadpanned as Tangmo settled down between her and Krillen.

"What can I say? I'm a pretty swell guy," Tangmo shrugged then quirked a brow when Ae-Shin, now armed with a laspistol, took her place beside Evangeline, the Mordian colonel was standing on Leilatha's left, both women turning to look at the pilot in surprise. "Shouldn't you be in the castle?"

"Those motherfuckers destroyed my jet," Ae-Shin growled, laspistol braced on the chest high wall of sandbags. "It's fucking payback time."