The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

"Honestly dude, this has to be one of our most harrowing deployments yet."

"Oh yeah, no doubt about it, this is basically Klendathu."

"Into the fire."

Tangmo and Henry traded grins but refrained from humming the Sabaton's song, knowing that Erik was listening intently for them to make that slip up. But all joking aside, Tangmo had to agree with Henry, this was probably the Immortal Spirit most intense landing to date. Usually when they arrived on a planet, things would more or less be calm, a break in hostility that would allowed them to deploy fully before taking the fight to the enemy. Unfortunately, shit has already hit the fan here in the Vhilytra system, with the contested planet, Thima-Chantra, on the verge of getting fucked by Syrathel. So instead of their usual leisurely pace, the Eight had unanimously decided to Blitzkrieg this bitch. And by the look of things, they've arrived at the eleventh hour.

"The eldars can't fight a fucking defensive war man," Henry grunted and Tangmo nodded in agreement. The moment Tyra's Valkyrie touched down, Tangmo, Henry, the 89th and 101st Cadian, and Dalthorn's Ulthwe had rushed to reinforce the Solace Sun's rearguard that was mustering for a last stand on the western end of a fuck huge city situated on top of two rivers. The sorry looking defense complexes and the stream of retreating eldars, one moment away from breaking into a rout, was one of the most pathetic sight Tangmo had ever have the displeasure of witnessing. Shit, no wonder the Aeldari lost all the time.

"Take away all the speedy shit, and they're pretty much fucked," Tangmo tapped the data-pad on his right arm and directed the battlegroup to where they would be of most help. "I mean, seriously, what the fuck? Defensive warfare isn't exactly rocket science."

"The difficulty of the implementation is not what hampers us," Dalthorn spoke up testily, looking mightily offended by Tangmo and Henry's disparaging, but true, remarks. "The Chaos forces had specifically targeted our ways of war, crippling our ability to fight effectively. It would be the equivalent of you humans getting thrown into the Webway to fight the Laughing God's Harlequins."

"Alright, alright, jeez bro, calm down," Tangmo held up supplicating hands, but narrowed his gaze at Dalthorn. "Why are you here and not with Lita?"

"She believes me and the Ulthwe contingents would be better suited to the engagement here, while her own taskforce, along with the Astartes and the Sororitas, head for Isha's citadel, where the goddess resides," Dalthorn explained and Tangmo was very pleased to see him frowning, he obviously preferred to be with Lita.

"I wouldn't argue with her, she knows what's best," Tangmo said. "Good to see you worked up over this. At least that means you care about Lita."

"How dare you?!" Dalthorn seethed. "I love Lita and she will always be in my thoughts!"

"Good," Tangmo went on coldly. "Because if you don't, then we're gonna have a problem."

"Okay Tangmo, back off," Henry intervened, coming to stand between the boyfriend and the ex-boyfriend, "enough with the angry protective brother shtick. Stop picking on Dalthorn or I'm telling Lita."

"Fine," Tangmo rolled his eyes and Dalthorn grinned nastily like a spoiled brat. After casting another quick look at the data-pad, Tangmo quirked a brow at Henry, who was also busy with his own digital map. Around them the King Ghidorah, the six Macharius and several King Russes were rolling in behind the eldar's defenses. "Why are you not inside the King Ghidorah?"

"Yes Henry, why are you not inside the King Ghidorah?" Ladaee's voice boomed snappily in their earbuds, Henry flinching from the waspish tone.

"I thought it would be prudent for Ladaee to gain some experience commanding the King Ghidorah and the armor column," Henry put on a professional air.

"You just want to go with Tangmo and fight on the frontline," Ladaee growled and Tangmo squawked when the King Ghidorah's triple barrel turned to glare angrily at them.

"Babe, we talked about this," Henry was unfazed as he smiled brightly at the Stormhammer super tank. "And you said yes!"

"I didn't think you were bloody serious!" Ladaee cried exasperatedly.

"Ladaee, dude, calm the hell down, I'll make sure nothing happens to Henry," Tangmo waved pleasantly at the King Ghidorah, this faraway he doubted Ladaee could see how fucking scared he was.

"I'll hold you to that, lord commissar," Tangmo breathe a sigh of relief when the King Ghidorah turned its turrets back to the city, the hectic cacophony of a running gunfight was drawing nearer, "because if Henry doesn't come back to me, I'll run you over with the tank."

"Duly noted," Tangmo deadpanned as explosions, brilliantly radiant and too near for comfort, consumed a large swathe of buildings on the rim of the city. The trenches opened fire, the barrage at least competent, as the fleeing Aeldari routed completely, every poor bastard for themselves. Tangmo couldn't blame them, because rolling after the eldars were evil Leman Russes, a buncha big mid-level daemons aligned with Khorne and Tzeentch, and…fucking UFOs? What the fuck? "Hey Ladaee, now that you're done threatening me, can you kill those Chaos assholes please?"

"Yes sir," Ladaee said as the Immortal Spirit tanks trained their barrels on the approaching enemy vehicles and daemons, all of them too busy killing eldars to notice the big fucking guns now honed on them. "Brace yourself! Fire in the hole!"

The thunderous discharge reverberated beautifully, the very air distorting from the furious salvo as the pursuing Chaos war host went up in flames, blasted to fiery bits by accurate pounding shells, not a single shot missed their marks. Tangmo cracked a smile when one of the UFO thingy got fucked, hard, shattering into a hundred flaming pieces after getting struck by a King Russ shell, welp, looks like they die just as easily as the rest of them.

"Maintain suppressing fire, cover the eldar's retreat," Henry tapped his earbuds as the Aeldari soldiers managed to gather themselves and, with more order and professionalism, slipped into the trenches, reinforcing their hunkered fellows, all them gawked in surprise and alarm at the battlegroup. Glancing toward the approaching footsteps, Henry nodded companionably at Leilatha and Fanduin. "What's the situation with the deployment Leilatha?"

"Eighty percent completed, lord general," Leilatha said. "The Cadian, the Krieg, the Grey Watch, the Cobalt Star, the Dawn Blade, the Dragon Blood, the Tallarn infantries, the Vostroyan, the Ulthwe battle regiments, four Wraithguard companies and Elraleath's Dark Reapers has completed their mobilization and await your order to engage."

"Have the tanks bombards the suburb for ten minutes more, I want them softened up before we move in," Tangmo tapped his earbud. "Yo Vakon, how's the artillery deployment going man? We kinda need them up and running soon."

"The Charon artilleries and the Anguirus howitzers will be ready in about six minutes, lord commissar," Vakon told him. "The Destoroyah heavy artilleries and Garuda batteries will take some more time, I'm afraid. Twenty minutes at most."

"I say we go in after the artilleries bomb the place," Tangmo glanced at Henry, Leilatha, Dalthorn and Fanduin. "What do you guys think?"

"I'm all for that."

"A sound strategy."

"I concur."

"If it must be done."

"Alrighty then," Tangmo nodded at the unanimous decision and tapped his earbud several times. "Krillen, Hildebrandt, Bruce, Joana, Kenshin, Lingxin, Al-Rahman, Stanislav, Elraleath, get your people to the trenches, we need to stop the enemies from advancing beyond the city's limit. We'll move out after the artilleries are done pounding the place."

"Yes sir," the officers responded with gusto and Tangmo could hear thumping boots and rolling jeeps rumbled behind him.

"Ae-Shin, what's the status up in the stratosphere?" Tangmo asked the air force commander.

"Well, they're learning, I'll give those bastards that much," Ae-Shin grunted. "But the sky around the battlefield is clear. We've just gunned the last of them down. And by the Throne, it's amazing to be fighting alongside the Titancrafts."

"Have fun dude," Tangmo changed the frequency, "Tyra, how's the deployment at the citadel going?"

"With some difficulty sir," the spunky Valkyrie pilot said. "The place was under siege when we made our final approach, thank the Emperor we bank away just in time and touchdown twenty kilos south of our original target. None of our jets got shot down and the second taskforce is disembarking smoothly."

"Shit Tyra, you got me scared for a second there," Tangmo chuckled mirthlessly. "Stay safe, both of you."

"They'll be a lot safer than we are," Henry grinned at Tangmo. "The Titancraft was an awesome idea, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, shit's dope as fuck," Tangmo agreed begrudgingly. "You could've told me about it, I'm always down for this kinda stuff."

"Hell no, you would've bitch and moan like Lita," Henry snorted then pitched his voice high. "Henry! Why are you wasting the battlegroup resources like this?! You are so childish! Transformer isn't even a good movie! Blah, blah, blah!"

"I heard every single word of that, Henry," Lita's cold utterance made Henry leapt off his feet with an embarrassingly girlish squeal, Tangmo and Dalthorn snickered at his misgiving. "What's the matter? Don't have the guts to say that to my face?"

"Love you Lita, bye!" Henry swiftly tapped off his earbud and took deep calming breathes. "Holy shit, I keep forgetting how scary she is."

"You and me both," Tangmo grinned as the officers joined them along the ruin that overlooked the city outskirt, the tank barrage was doing an excellent job of engulfing the place in flame. The heretics were backing deeper into the thicket of buildings while the Aeldari continued their retreat, "everything ready?"

"We have enough troops to attack the city," Krillen told him.

"Hold position for now," Henry tapped his earbud and looked at the glowing data-pad on his arm. "Vakon, what's the ETA?"

"Charon and Anguirus artilleries are loaded and ready lord general," Vakon said.

"Have the Charon attack these targets inside the city," Henry tapped the data-pad and send Vakon the coordinates. "As for the Anguirus, have every battery open fire on the suburb in front of us, I want nothing within forty kilometers still standing by the time we move in."

"Affirmative lord general, calibrating targets now," Vakon said with a clear hint of glee.

"Ladaee, cease fire, conserve ammos for when we go into the city," Henry told his girlfriend and, after one last parting salvo that toppled several buildings, the tanks brought their destructive overture to an end, clearing the way for the roaring symphony of the artilleries. Shivers ran up Tangmo's body as the heavy guns unleashed their thunderous melody. The reverberation hummed lowly beneath his feet as shrieking whistles tore the sky asunder. The shells slammed into the Aeldari buildings, thick clouds of fiery debris rolled high into the air, streets and neighborhoods consumed by roaring inferno. Everything across no man's land was in the process of getting chewed to shit when a singular Falcon burst through the curtain of flame, judging by how it tilted and spasm, the hover tank was on its last leg.

"This…this is Farseer Celalira," a female voice rasped weakly in Tangmo's earbud, coughing wetly before speaking again. "Who is in command of the relief force?"

"This is commissar Tangmo speaking," Tangmo said. "Me and general Henry are in charge of this taskforce. Are you inside the Falcon coming across no man's land?"

"I am, along with the surviving officers," Celalira said.

"We're standing atop a ruin southwest of your position," Tangmo drew his laspistol and fired a few shots into the air. "Can you see us?"

"Yes," Celalira responded as the hover tank veered toward them.

"Let them through," Tangmo told the sentries, holstered his laspistol, and started down the steps with Henry and the main characters in towed. "Come on, let's go meet their leader."

Picking his way carefully down the unstable structure, the artillery barrages making the entire place quaked dangerously, Tangmo, Henry and the main characters strode down the road to where a column of Imperial and Aeldari vehicles were parked, the engineers and combat Bonesingers were already gathered around Celalira's busted up Falcon. The ramp slammed down on the ground and staggering out of the hover tank, supported by a Dire Avenger and a Banshee exarch, was a battered Farseer, her bruised bleeding face patched up with hastily wrapped bandages.

"Celalira!" Almost knocking Joana and Lingxin off their feet, Fanduin bulled passed the main characters and made a beeline for the Farseer. She turned to him, first with incomprehension, then with sobbing joy as she shrugged off her helpers and limped toward the Warlock.

"F-Fanduin?! Fanduin!" They crashed into each other, Celalira crying out in pain as Fanduin wrapped her up in a crushing hug. "Isha's tear, let me go you fool!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Fanduin blurted and released Celalira. "You are alive, blessed be to the goddess, you lived."

"I should be the one saying that. But it is good to see you again Fanduin," Celalira wiped tears from her lacerated cheeks and glanced at the battlegroup, Tangmo didn't like the sharp condescending look the Farseer was giving them. "You found them."

"More like we found him," Tangmo took a step forward and, with Henry at his side, saluted the Farseer crisply. "Lord commissar Tangmo of the Immortal Spirit, at your service."

"Lord general Henry, a pleasure to make your acquaintance," being the suave diplomat that he was, Henry extended his hand to Celalira. Surprised by the amiability, Celalira blinked a few times before shaking hands with Henry, then repeated the greeting with Tangmo, hearty and firm without arrogance, "looks like you been in one hell of a fight."

"That would be greatly underselling the calamity we now faced," Celalira coughed, bloody spittle flying, and Tangmo handed her his canteen. She swallowed several mouthfuls before giving the water back, nodding gratefully. "Thank you lord commissar, and yes our forces have taken great casualties when Eyvtalien fall and the subsequent retreat. I wasn't able to hold the line, and personally ran afoul of the leader of the Chaos army."

"Hot damn, you went up against Syrathel and lived?" Tangmo asked. His impressed chuckle was not well received by Celalira. "Did you got away by yourself or did someone help you?"

"In my anger, I stunned her long enough with a psychic blast," Celalira said dourly.

"You handle that a lot better than I did," Tangmo smiled and Celalira relaxed when it became clear that the Thai commissar wasn't mocking her. Hey, he could be charming if he wanted to. "Nice job dude, not many people can say they stood up to that crazy bitch and survive."

"Thank you lord commissar…" Celalira's voice trailed off suddenly, her visage going blank for a second before lighting up in fearful realization. "By the goddess, how could I have forgotten?!"

"What is it?" Henry asked, the main characters were growing alarmed now, and Tangmo was pretty sure some of them thought the Solace Sun Farseer was about to sprout several pairs of arms.

"Isha!" Celalira grabbed Fanduin and shook him violently. "We need to get to the citadel now! Isha has been poisoned by the Nurgle Champion Luscinia, the Chaos witch used the refugees as vessels to carry the disease and infect her!"

"Hospitallers and priestesses, the refugees are contaminated, I repeat, the refugees are contaminated with Nurgle's blight. Isolate the sickness and purge the virus, if they can't be cured, kill them," Henry swiftly relayed his command, "reserves, assist the hospitallers and priestesses in their task please."

"Laura, Galatea, do you read me, over?"

"Go ahead mate."

"Yes, lord commissar?"

"What's the progress with the deployment around the citadel?" Tangmo asked Laura and Galatea.

"Speedily, lord commissar," Galatea, being the head honcho of the Sororitas, answered him. "The entirety of our forces should be planet side within half an hour, barring any delay of course."

"Your objective has been updated Galatea," Tangmo said. "The Adepta Sororitas primary goal is to secure Isha and heal her. I repeat, secure Isha, safeguard her, and heal her."

"…Repeat yourself, lord commissar," Galatea responded slowly, her tone ominous. "Did you just tell us to offer direct assistant to the xeno goddess, in the healing capacity?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying," Tangmo went on with infuriating brightness. "The affliction was made by Nurgle, so I'm thinking the lot of you could, you know, bestow the Emperor's healing upon her or something, purify her of the Chaos taint and stuff."

"We will never use the Emperor's holy blessing upon a xeno, it is blasphemy!" Tangmo grounded his teeth and pushed down an impolite retort as the canonesses voiced their agreement, loudly, to Bellona's fiery declaration. "Let the wench suffer for her weakness, we have no obligation to intervene in such an intimate manner."

"Okay Bellona, you're being a massive dick right now, and that's not cool," Tangmo shot back. "Besides, we came here with literally one objective: rescue Isha from the Chaos army, and that's what we are doing. So what the fuck is your problem?!"

"Save her, yes, not heal her with the Emperor's own touch," Morelia added with a snarl. "The notion is abhorrent."

"Well get fucked, we're saving her and healing her, deal the fuck with it!" Tangmo verbally flipped the complaining Sororitas off and switched frequency. "Yo Laura, you and Yuki keep them in line. If they try anything stupid, you know what to do."

"Sexy time?" Laura and Yuki said in unison, bright and childlike, the sweetness silencing the nuns.

"How about we compromise and say…sexy death time instead?" Tangmo offered with a smirk.

"That'll do," Laura and Yuki laughed like anime villainesses before cutting the transmission, goddamn that shit was hot.

"Don't worry, the Adepta Sororitas might be a bunch of zealous assholes, but given enough persuasion they can be extremely reasonable," Tangmo turned to a very worried Celalira and offered her a goofy, but calming smile. "I doubt they'll do anything to hurt Isha. Despite what they say, the nuns are pretty chummy with the elves."

"I pray that you are right," Celalira said grimy when abominable roars, powerful and encompassing, shattered the air, the ground shaking as all eyes turned eastward. "They are making another push."

"Yep, we can tell," Henry tapped his earbuds and started toward the trenches, Tangmo and the main characters close at his heels. "Ladaee talk to me, what's happening babe?"

"Oh, the usual, daemons, mutants and xenos," Ladaee replied nonchalantly as the tanks opened fire again, the cadence of discharging ordnances indiscernible from the thundering artilleries. "A lot of them are wading through the artillery barrage, big bastards accompanied by Chaos eldars and the usual gaggle of cultists and lesser daemons. Shall I tell Rie to let the Megumin open fire?"

"Not yet," Henry said as they linked up with the battlegroup soldiers, "keep the pressure on them, move the column up behind the defenders, we'll be there in about a minute."

It wasn't long before they reached the trenches, and shit, despite the fact that the entire concept of Warhammer 40k was based on the First World War, the Aeldari apparently didn't get the memo and somehow managed to fuck it up. Having been tutored by Hildebrandt and Moltke on the finer details of trench warfare, Tangmo felt his hand twitching toward the laspistol at his belt, itching to blam the eldars for their pissed poor job. Waist high and uneven, the floor churned to ankle deep mud, no support beams or floorboards anywhere, the space so cramp that it can barely fit two ranks of people, Jesus fucking Christ this shit was fucking offensive.

"A poor trench," Hildebrandt observed critically, and truth be told this was the first time Tangmo actually detected a hint of emotion from the Krieg colonel.

"No wonder you people are fucking losing," Tangmo shook his head, drawing immediate ire from Celalira and the Solace Sun soldiers. "You know what I'm talking about, right Fanduin? You saw how we fight."

"The defenses could be better," Fanduin admitted sheepishly, shrinking away from Celalira's sharp glare. "But it is clear that attrition was the reason why the trenches are not in stellar condition."

"These guys can be one minute away from midnight and they'll never fuck up this badly," Tangmo stabbed his thumb at the Death Korps, prompting the Kriegers to nod as one, a mechanical bob of the heads. "And there's no way any of us are going into that latrine pit."

"Alright Tangmo, no need to kick them while they're already in the dirt," Henry cut in before Celalira can snapped at the Thai commissar. "But yeah, we ain't getting in there. Yo! Spread out! There are plenty of rubbles and craters y'all can use for cover, get to it!"

With uniform swiftness, the battlegroup guardsmen and eldars slid behind jutting remains of buildings scattered along the trench line, so numerous in sizes and dimensions that nearly all of their troops had adequate cover. The tanks were just getting into position when the first of the Greater Daemons emerged from the dusty ruin of the city, and despite what they said earlier, Tangmo and Henry joined Celalira and Fanduin inside the shitty trench.

"Oh? I thought this place wasn't good enough for you," Celalira sassed them.

"It's not, but we like to be as close to the action as possible," Tangmo did a double take on the Farseer. "Should you even be here? I mean, you can barely stand as it is."

"I am more than capable of fighting, lord commissar," Celalira made this abundantly clear by coughing wetly, her back bent like a crone as she sprayed Tangmo's awesome commissar coat with speckles of blood. "I will stand against the darkness."

"Yeah, next time aims the spit at those fuckers will ya? Jeez," Tangmo reached into his awesome commissar coat, withdrew a syringe filled with a rapid healing solution, called AllCure, grabbed the wide eyed Celalira by the shoulder and stabbed her neck before she could make a fuss. "There, that should keep your stubborn ass working for a while longer. How are you feeling?"

"…Better, unbelievably. Thank you," Celalira was already standing a bit straighter when a screaming Khornate Greater Daemon thundered across no man's land, uncaring as two Anguirus shells tore massive gashes into its torso and left arm, the saurian motherfucker shrugging off the horrid wounds and raised its flaming morning star high. "To arms Aeldari of Isha, for life and for light!"

"Damn, good thing we got the pylons up, or this would be mildly scary," Henry snorted and tapped his earbud. Tangmo could feel the nullifying effect of the Black Stone pylons needling his back. "Ladaee, show them what we do to big targets."

"With pleasure, but you do realize there are more than one Greater Daemon, yeah?" The tanks opened fire, the cacophony beautiful in its brutality, and Tangmo saw that indeed there were other Greater Daemons plowing toward the trenches, and damn those fuckers were huge. He could make out a bison headed four arms gorilla and a spike studded wolf wreathed in burning runes and armors, both of the Khornate persuasion, a slimy centipede with twitching tentacles for legs and mouth, obviously one of Slaanesh's hentai idea made manifest, and a hairy spider leaking puss and ichor, smaller arachnids clung to its limbs and body, spasming with grotesque animation…yeah, that Nurgle fucker did nothing for Tangmo's arachnophobia.

"Holy fucking God, I fucking hate spider," Tangmo shivered when the Nynaeve and the Evangelion combined lasers set the arachnid daemon on fire, the screeching death throe and the leaping smaller spiders, all of them engulfed in flame, was horrific to behold. Pushing down his disgust, Tangmo tapped his earbud. "All infantries take aim, target the smaller daemons and cultists! Pick a target and fire at will, I repeat, fire at will!"

The trench, already flashing brilliantly from the Aeldari unleashed weaponries, now blazed a blinding red as the battlegroup added their firepower to the staunch resistance, las and bolts unleashed in its most terrible splendor. Trading fist bumps, Tangmo and Henry braced their modified Zetton lasguns on the rampart, all dirt and no sandbags good God, and sent steady bursts into the tidal wave of screaming daemons. Being from the 21st century, Tangmo and Henry's lasguns now sported tactical foregrips, optic sight aiming assistances, laser pointers and handguards, effectively turning the 40k weapons into a Spec Op assault rifles.

"Holy shit, these enhancements are fucking amazing dude," Tangmo grinned as he dropped two Chaos hounds with a series of accurate bursts, then cut down a group of lanky cultists after switching to full auto.

"Told ya," Henry, flipping the lasgun to semi-auto, started showing off by killing daemons and cultists with quick succession of headshots, no lasbolts missed. "Oh yeah, I'm in the fucking zone!"

"No one likes a showoff bro," Tangmo huffed less than seriously as he blew a shambling, nightmarish quadruple Siamese twin to pieces with an uninterrupted stream of las.

"Bitch please, you're gonna be charging off and singing in about a minute, let me have my moment!" Henry smirked, and now that the Greater Daemons were more or less neutralized, the lesser soldiers and ghouls wisely backed away into the bombed out city. The artilleries were still pounding the place to hell, muting the monsters' howling ambience with rolling staccato of explosions.

"Aww, don't pout dude!" Tangmo laughed loudly and threw his arm around Henry's shoulders. "You're here now my man, so we're gonna be doing all of that awesome shit together!"

"You mean it?!" Henry's bottom lips trembled as Tangmo let him go.

"Hell yeah bro!" Tangmo held out his fist and Henry bump it enthusiastically. "Shit's always epic when we combine forces!"

"Thanks man, you're the best," Henry said.

"I know, I am," Tangmo flashed his canine in a toothy grin.

"Oh, get a room you two!" Ladaee groaned loudly in their earbuds.

"I completely agree with the commander engineer," Leilatha, who had joined Tangmo in the trench, quirked an annoyed brow at them.

"What, you two jealous of our bromance?"

"The Destoroyah heavy artilleries and the Garuda missile platforms are operational, lord commissar, lord general," Vakon cut in before Ladaee and Leilatha can shot back at the grinning Tangmo, "awaiting your command sir."

"Tell the Garuda platforms to stand by," Henry told Vakon then swiftly tapped his data-pad, marking out four targets. Two were situated near the heart of the city, one to the far north, and one sitting over two tributaries to the south. "These are where the Chaos pylons and sacrificial altars are situated. They're powering and directing daemons and Warp mojo into the city, kindly kill them please."

"Affirmative lord general, prepare for bombardment," Vakon cut the transmission as the Charon and Anguirus batteries goes silent. Three heartbeats later an earth shattering boom, sprinkled with the refugees' fearful scream, resounded behind them, the volume and the resulting blast of wind was so powerful that Tangmo swore he saw the molecules in the air died.

"Yeah, y'all might wanna duck," Tangmo had barely finished his sentence when the world was consumed by blinding light and cacophonic tempest. Pressing his awesome commissar cap flat to his head, Tangmo, Henry and Leilatha dropped below the trench and waited until the tsunami of dust rolled over them before popping back up, taking a good long gander at the four fuck huge mushroom clouds now dominating the vista.

"W-What have you done?" Celalira stammered as she staggered back to her feet with Fanduin help.

"Took out the major targets within the city," Tangmo explained simply.

"You've destroyed Eyvtalien!" Celalira cried despondently, "that was the planetary capital!"

"The place was already a ruin when we got here," Henry said diplomatically, the American actually sounded apologetic.

"And it's not like we can save the place," Tangmo went on before Celalira can argue. "I case you didn't know, every planet in the system have since been turned into daemon worlds, so even if we evict the Chaos army off Thima-Chantra you can't stay here because the corruption will spread. Sorry, this is a rescue operation, not a reclamation operation."

"You have our gratitude for coming to Isha's aide," Celalira glanced back at the refugee camp, frowning miserably. "I know I am asking for much, but would it be possible for the children and chroniclers to be evacuated with her eminence? It would gladden us to know that our legacy will endure."

"…Dude, this is a rescue operation," Henry and Tangmo stared at the Farseer blankly. "As in, we're getting everybody back to the Immortal Spirit. You're coming with us, if that wasn't already clear."

"Truly?" Celalira was taken aback, her visages one of shock and open gratitude.

"After we screened everyone, of course," Tangmo added, the atomic bomb mushroom clouds were starting to disperse, the Thai commissar whistled appreciatively at the flattened buildings unveiled by the receding smog, "and once we're a hundred percent sure the flight paths off the planet is clear."

"But there will be time to discuss that later," Henry jumped out of the piss poor trench, Tangmo and Leilatha following suits, adjusted his awesome general cap, took a deep breath of the dusty air, and tapped his earbud. "Form up! Tanks and Wraithguards at the front, infantries behind! Let's go people, five minutes! I want this show on the road within five minutes!"

King Russes, Chimeras, Fire Prisms and Falcons swiftly sped over the abysmal latrine ditches masquerading as a trench. They were followed by two hundred Wraithguards, a significant number of them wielding power glaives, spears and claymores. Although faceless, Tangmo can feel the aura of eagerness and hatred permeating from the soul powered automatons.

"Alright my dudes, we're not skulking behind trenches and walls this time, now it's our turn to go on the offensive," Tangmo told the colonels and commanders now gathered around him and Henry. "Hit them hard, hit them fast, hit them without mercy! Let's show these Chaos motherfuckers what happens when they fuck with the Immortal Spirit battlegroup!"

Tangmo will never get tired of that epic roar belted out by the guardsmen and eldars, that shit always hyped him up. The armor column, led by none other than the King Ghidorah, rolled forward at a cautious pace, the mounted guns spewing tracer rounds at random intervals. The Wraithguards easily matched strides with the tanks, those wielding wraithcannons let fly their weapons, striking down the evil elf's vehicles, the weird War of the Worlds UFOs and pentagram shaped Falcons. They looked pretty cool, Tangmo admits, but shells and laser kill them easily enough.

"Stanislav! Glad to have you and your First Born here with us," Tangmo traded salute with the Vostroyan colonel as they joined the Cadian, the Krieg and the Buxiunese behind the rumbling King Ghidorah. Every tank, Imperial and Aeldari, were currently shadowed by several companies of infantry. "First time fighting with us my dude, you ready?"

"We will not tarnish the honor of the Vostroyan, comrade commissar," Stanislav answered grimly, his major, Volikova, and the First Born within ear shots added their icy nods in support. "This we give our words, we will prove ourselves worthy to be amongst the rank of the Immortal Spirit."

"You'll do fine dude," Tangmo held out his hand and Stanislav shook it firmly, looking a little bit more relaxed. "Just follow orders, fight hard and don't do anything stupid."

"Thank you comrade commissar," Stanislav nodded the same moment the tanks started pinging around them, coming in surprisingly concentrated cadence. They fucking leveled the goddamn city with Destoroyah shells, shouldn't everyone be dead?

"Ladaee, talk to me, what's happening up there?" Henry tapped his earbuds.

"The enemies are trying to reinforce the line," Ladaee told them. "Infantries and heavy weapon platforms mostly, I can see a few artillery pieces too. They must've bunkered those bastards down when we bombarded the city."

"Ae-Shin, we need some air support my dude!" Tangmo glanced up at the sky and smiled when he heard the jets cleaved through the air.

"On it lord commissar, I can spare several squadrons to your position," Ae-Shin told him.

"Be advised, there could be anti-air missiles and batteries lurking in the city, so watch your rear," Tangmo said. "Stay safe dude, I can't always be rescuing you."

"Oh, ha, ha," Ae-Shin laughed dryly and terminated the transmission.

"Everybody get down and cover your ears, two salvos from the King Ghidorah, all three barrels!" At Ladaee's announcement the regiments trailing the Stormhammer Baneblade went to one knee, covered their ears, and gritted their teeth in morbid anticipation as the triple cannons turned smoothly toward its target. Holy shit, that was loud, like sticking your head inside a Norte Dame bell when Quasimodo starts ringing it, the pounding acoustic liquefying his body's consistency. By the time the King Ghidorah was done unleashing its payload, Tangmo and Henry were leaning on each other for support like two geriatric without their canes.

"Why are you all fucked up? You should be used to this shit," Tangmo steadied his footing, equilibrium returning.

"I was in the hatch with a noise canceling headphone, above the explosion," Henry said drunkenly before, after some effort, managed to stand still. "Holy crap, is this what you guys go through every engagement?"

"Eh, you get used to it, but this one was especially loud," Tangmo shook his head quickly, clearing the last ringing residue, and tapped his earbud. "Give me some good news Ladaee."

"Well, I don't see them anymore, if that's what you're asking, and Ae-Shin bombed all the other places," Ladaee said, around them the other tanks were pounding the outer edges of the city. "Shall I order the tanks to go in first?"

"Hold up Ladaee, let me check," Henry rounded the corner of the King Ghidorah with Tangmo at his side, both of them sprinting forward until they were standing thirty paces in front of the super tank, the American had a binocular pressed firmly over his eyes. "Shit, that's a lot of rubbles."

"Let me see," Henry handed Tangmo the binocular and the Thai grunted in agreement, the bombardment had reduced the immediate vicinity to a pockmarked hellscape of ruins and craters, making it difficult for the tanks to traverse, "looks like we're going in first."

"Damn right we are," Henry nodded eagerly, already checking his lasgun.

"Sure you're up to this dude?" Tangmo asked innocently like an absolute dick. "It's been so long since you've fought on foot without your tank or your girlfriend to keep you safe."

"Yeah, fuck you bitch, I still got game," Henry snapped and tapped his earbud. "Infantries, Wraithguards, APCs and jeeps, move forward and get into breaching columns, we're the vanguards. Tank units, give us fire support and wait for our signal to advance. Look alive people, shit just got real."

To rousing acknowledgements, the soldiers and vehicles got into the correct formation under ten minutes flat. The Solace Sun eldars were a tad slower, but the battlegroup display of martial badassery spurred them faster and they got into adequate ranks and files quick enough. Tangmo and Henry were joined by the main characters and their companies at the tip of an arrowhead comprised of Myrmidon Humvees and Vypers.

"Mommy let you play with us this time, Al-Rahman?" Kenshin and the colonels sniggered. The Kuronese was already dual wielding katana and laspistol.

"Someone had to keep you out of trouble, now that Lingxin is enabling you," Al-Rahman grinned, drawing a louder laugh from the crowd while the Kuronese and Buxiunese colonel glared darkly at him. "Besides, mother doesn't know everything. I'm not always her sweet little boy after all."

"That's the spirit laddie!" Bruce smacked the squawking Al-Rahman on the back, almost faceplanting him.

"Alright, settle down ladies and gents, everyone in place?" Quick nods from the main characters answered Tangmo and he tapped his earbud. "Vakon, give me a one minute barrage on the enemy's position inside the city, we're going in with a bang. The rest of you, forward! In the Name of the Emperor let none survive!"

Another salvo battered the city as the battlegroup made their advance at a jogging pace, infantries and vehicles keeping in pristine formation. It wasn't until they were a hundred paces away that the tanks recommenced their barrage, the discharges timed as they picked out their targets.

"Celalira, where are Zolwyken and his lancers?" Fanduin asked his girlfriend.

"Zolwyken led them into the mountains a week ago, he was going to intercept a warband gathering there," Celalira shook her head despondently. "We haven't heard from them since and I dare not hope."

"Well, we'll have to make do without them then," Tangmo shrugged and trained his gaze forward. "Good thing we don't need to cross any freaking river on this side of the city."

"Hell yeah," Henry agreed then cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "You know what this reminds me of?"

"Osgiliath," Tangmo and Henry traded nods. "We're basically Faramir when his bitch ass father told him to Light Brigade a city full of orcs."

"I mean, if Faramir had Imperial Guards, Astartes, Aeldari, Adepta Sororitas, tanks and planes to back him up, he would've won," Henry snorted. "That scene was fucking powerful though, I fucking love how they interspersed the hopeless charge with Pippin's singing. Shed legit tears the first time I saw it, not gonna lie."

"Home is behind," wanting to see if he can make Henry cry again, Tangmo started singing Edge of Night, dropping his voice to a somber, velvety baritone like that of Roy Khan, his timbre haunting and soulful. "The world ahead. And there are many paths to tread. Through the shadow, to the edge of night. Until the stars are all alight. Mist and shadow, cloud and shade. All shall fade…all shall fade…"

"I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry!" Henry repeated squeakily as Tangmo took a quick swig from his canteen, smiling like a villain as he glanced at the main characters. Why in the hell did they all look so sour?

"What?" Tangmo made sure that his polite question carried an edge.

"Well…sir, it did sound nice," Krillen began.

"Very moving sir," Al-Rahman added.

"One of your more solemn input," Lingxin said.

"Nearly brought tears to my eyes, sir," Joanna gave her two cents.

"Guys, guys, it's okay, I can take criticism," Tangmo punctured this statement by waving his lasgun at the paling colonels. "Don't be shy, say what's on your mind!"

"If you must sing, then let it be something that would not dampen our spirits for the fight to come!" Leilatha blurted and the main characters relaxed visibly, knowing that Tangmo can't lash out at his girlfriend. "By the Throne, you sound like a mopey princeling!"

"B-But, it was a good song!" Tangmo shot back.

"I don't care, we are marching to victory, not to our grave," Leilatha went on mercilessly. "Now sing us something gallant and inspiring!"

"Yes mam!" Tangmo saluted and turned to Henry. "Dude, what do I do?! What do I sing?!"

"Umm…Smoking Snake, Devil Dogs, Screaming Eagle, Attero Dominatus, the Last Stand?!"

"That's a big no from me on all front, buddy," Erik interrupted Henry's suggestion coldly. "You know the drill, I sing about wars and tanks."

"Fuck you, you fucking Sabaton hogging Swede fucker!" Tangmo spat and a light bulb went off in his brain, "Henry, with me! Bruce, tell the pipers to play This is War by Beast in Black, go!"

Belting out a hearty laugh, Bruce gave his command and the drums settled into a rousing tempo of an anthemic Power Metal song. The Chaos forces were opening fire on the advancing battlegroup when the bagpipes blared their powerful melody, substituting the shredding of electric guitars. The guardsmen and eldars roared their approval, the light vehicles peppered the defenders, and Tangmo and Henry unleashed the Beast in Black's song.

"Black dawn, awaits our enemies! Kill with power! Heads fall, bones grinded! Ironclad war beasts, your masters of death!"

Four tank shells tore into the ruined buildings in front of them, sending debris and body parts flying in twirling flaming crimson. One of the explosive rounds managing to light up an ammunition magazine, unleashing a tidal wave of rolling fire that spectacularly consumed the screaming traitors. The jeeps and APCs sped forward and set up a beach head as the infantries sprinted after them, the increase in speed did nothing to affect Tangmo and Henry as they sang the chorus.

"Harvesting glory and trophy of war, proudly we triumph in battle! Chasing the dream of the kingdom and throne, hail to hammer of war!"

"To me guardsmen and eldars, through fire and death do we claim victory! Onward! In the name of the God Emperor and Isha, let none survive! Follow me you glorious motherfuckers, let's go!"

Carried by the roaring gale of the battlegroup, Tangmo and Henry upped the pace to a charging speed, lasguns trained forward as they stomped through the burning dust and smoke with the main characters. Within moment the battlegroup were running through a wide roadway littered with detritus and dead bodies, destroyed buildings spilled into the street like eviscerated intestine, and to their surprise found a significant number of enemy soldiers, a mismatched bunch of traitor guardsmen, cultists and several lesser daemons, rushing to meet them.

"Spread out and take cover! Cut those sum bitches down!" Sliding behind a fallen column in the middle of the road, their backs braced against the warm stone, Tangmo and Henry propped their lasguns above the rim and started gunning down the Chaos heretics, many of them still groggy from the shelling. They were soon joined by Joanna, Lingxin, Al-Rahman and Hildebrandt as the battlegroup spread out around them, exchanging fire with the Chaos mofo who, despite getting cut down in droves, still managed to put up a spirited fight. But it wasn't long before the battlegroup started gaining more ground, and Tangmo and Henry resumed singing the moment the bagpipes roared again.

"Scream, crawl, rise up from agony! Rip their hearts out! Fierce, roar, berserker! Deliver the ultimate wrath of thy sword!"

"Those fuckers are breaking! They're making a run for it, fix bayonet guardsmen! Eldar too if you have that shit!" Tangmo slung the lasgun over his shoulder and drew his broadsword, fashioned into the likeness of a large Siamese krabi. He turned to Lingxin, who was already holding her dao, and grinned, "tell your boyfriend to get crazy, we're banzai charging them sum bitches."

"With pleasure," Lingxin rose from cover, dao brandished to the sky, "forward brave soldiers of the Emperor! Wansui!"

"Victory bound, into legend we go! Harvesting glory and trophy of war, proudly we triumph in battle! Chasing the dream of the kingdom and throne, hail to hammer of war! THIS IS WAR!"

"Tennoheika banzai!" Leaping over a mound of destroyed wall on their right, Kenshin and the Kuronese screamed their war cry and charged the heretic's position, katanas raised high and bayonets lowered, unfazed by the heretic's desperate return fire. Tangmo was surprised to see Dalthorn and the Ulthwe Black Guardian charging along with the Dawn Blade, showing a very un-elven like ferocity as they fell upon the Chaos forces. By the time Tangmo, Henry, the battlegroup and the Solace Sun joined the mosh pit, most of the heretics were either dead, dying or running away, these latter didn't get far.

"Damn Dalthorn, that was some brutal shit bro," Tangmo sheathed the krabi and nodded appreciatively as Lita's boyfriend decapitated a Khornate cultist with his long, serrated bayonet. "I mean, I'm not complaining, I'm really digging this shit."

"I'm glad I have manage to meet your approval," was Dalthorn snarky reply as he gazed around the roadway, the battlegroup showing no mercy to the survivors while the Solace Sun eldar, finally on the winning side for once, chased after the retreating heretics. "Although, I doubt Lita would commend my action."

"Your secret's safe with me dude. Hey, we need to let loose once in a while, right?!" Tangmo and Dalthorn shared a knowing laugh, but the moment of hilarity ended when the Thai commissar noticed how the Solace Sun, easily standing out thanks to their dirty armors, were merrily hounding the cultists down the street. Seeing Celalira and Fanduin nearby, Tangmo quickly rushed up to them. "Yo! Tell your soldiers to get back into position!"

"With all due respect, lord commissar," seriously?! One little charge and they're snooty again?! Shit! At least Fanduin had the decency to look sheepish on Celalira's behalf. "But I am well verse in war, and I will not deny my warriors the satisfaction of retribution."

"Don't over extend the advance you dumbass!" Tangmo waved hurriedly at the Solace Sun eldars stomping away deeper into the city, that shit was making him very nervous. "The Chaos mofo are retreating, not routing, I'm willing to bet my awesome commissar cap that all of you are diving face first into a trap."

"Spare me your paranoia lord commissar," it took every ounce of control Tangmo possessed not to strangled the already injured Farseer, God, but the woman was really asking for it. "And last time I checked, I am in charge of…"

Pounding staccato interrupted Celalira, the sharp shrieks of laser weaponries tore mercilessly into the pursuing eldars, many were cut to pieces while the rest broke formation and hauled ass back toward the battlegroup, who had formed a defensive perimeter amongst the buildings and debris along the road. He wanted to point and laugh at Celalira, but he wasn't that big of a dick, so he just stared blankly at the very pissed off Farseer, his silent disappointment making her face flushed red.

"No wonder you people are going extinct, then again ego is just another form of stupidity," Henry was more vocal in his critique, but before Celalira can retort a great rumble announced the arrival of the Wraithguards. The Aeldari magical golems, about thirty in all, were squeezed shoulder to shoulder along the roadway, coming face to face with a large contingent of Chaos eldars, comprised of infantries, UFO tanks and pentagram Falcons. For one horrified moment, Tangmo thought the Wraithguards were gonna stampede off like the Solace Sun, but they remained stationary, weapons trained on their fallen brethren. Then one of the Wraithguards, wearing an Ulthwe color and sporting two sashimonos, looked to Henry for directive. The American nodded and pointed at the advancing Chaos eldars, "we'll be right behind you providing covering fire. Let it rip my dudes, kill them all!"

The Wraithguard nodded, held the power glaive high, the blade burning bright blue, and thundered off with his buddies, their war cry a haunting echo that conveyed nothing but hatred and anger.

"Kill those fucking vehicles, follow me, for the Emperor!" Tangmo and Henry rushed after the Wraithguards, the battlegroup close at their heels, rockets, plasma balls and melta streamers flashed above and between the bone automatons, striking the UFOs and pentagrams Falcons. "Heads down people, pick your targets and fire at will, give them hell!"

Although lanky looking, the Wraithguards were fast. Tangmo couldn't stop himself from squawking when the skeletal cyborgs charged, the ground quaking violently as every furious step kicked up powerful gusts that battered the battlegroup, throwing many off their feet. Dazzling lasers pierced the air, distorting the world as the Wraithguards slammed into the Chaos eldar's line. The evil elf refused to yield though, returning fire even as power glaives, axes and swords fell in terrible blue arcs.

"Hey wait, yo, isn't that our guns?!" Henry pointed at a group of Wraithguards and Tangmo saw that some of the eldar robots were indeed wielding Imperium weapons. Seriously, it was super weird seeing Wraithguards using heavy bolters, heavy flamers and heavy meltas alongside void cannons, pulsar cannons and pulse lasers.

"Hey Dalthorn, you know anything about this bro?" Tangmo got behind a waist high wall and send a few bursts at the Chaos eldars, not that there were many left to shoot at, the melee weapons wielding Wraithguards were tearing their evil cousins to shred, spraying mist of gore into the air until the place looked like it was haunted by a flock of red ghosts.

"Complains mostly," Dalthorn told him. "The Bonesingers were not particularly happy when the venerated dead demanded that Imperial weapons be installed upon them. They reason that, despite humanity crude grasp on warfare, the weapons themselves were satisfying."

"Ha! No shit, it's more fun when it's louder," Tangmo grinned, kinda startled to find himself warming to Lita's boyfriend, then whistled appreciatively, "goddamn that was fast."

"Indeed," Dalthorn concurred, absolutely pleased with the butchery the Wraithguards had unleashed, the brutality almost orkish with how the automatons were stomping, punching, mutilating and crushing the surviving Chaos eldars and cultists with cold thoroughness.

"Ladaee, where are the tanks?" The crash of crumbling buildings answered Henry, and from the thickest plumes fifty paces to their right the King Ghidorah rolled majestically into view, the triple barrels gleaming in the dusty sun. "Oh."

"Right behind you my dear," Ladaee waved energetically from atop the hatch as the Macharius, King Russes, Falcons and Fire Prisms emerged around the battlegroup, humming and purring with quaking eagerness. "I brought some friends too."

"The more the merrier babe," Henry grinned then looked up at the sky. "Ae-Shin, I need an air strike on enemy forces amassing east of our position."

"We can give you a bombing run, but I'm afraid our firepower must be directed elsewhere at this moment," Ae-Shin told him tightly. "Five Fleshships are heading toward the city, and as always a myriad of fighters and nightmare creatures flock within its shadow. My combined squadrons and the Titancrafts are eager to repay them for what they did on Yomi."

"Happy hunting Ae-Shin, and stay safe dude," Tangmo said.

"Always sir," there was a hint of a smile in Ae-Shin's tone before she cut transmission, she and Tangmo had grown quite chummy after a night of companionable drinks, chaperoned by Leilatha of course.

"Alright people, listen up! We're keeping pace, slow but thorough, this could be a trap for all we know," Tangmo announced to the battlegroup, above them jets and bombers cut across the sky, the roaring engines music to his ears. "Don't go bulling off like dumbasses, stick together! Seriously, if anybody do that shit, I'm gonna start blamming!" At this Tangmo shot the fuming Celalira a poignant look. "No time like the present people, move out! Let's go!"

Despite fearing that the Chaos army was gonna hoodwinked them, things actually progressed quite easily as the battlegroup fought their way through Eyvtalien. Hell, things went so well that half way through the city Tangmo and Henry, amidst giving out orders and shooting shits that were unlucky enough to run into their crossfire, started chatting about Lord of the Rings again.

"So this is what would happen if Faramir actually managed to take Osgiliath back," Henry mused after clearing a curvaceous building with a grenade, coughing cultists covered in blood stumbled outside only to be mercilessly cut down by the waiting battlegroup.

"As unlikely as that maybe," Tangmo snorted as they jogged quickly through a destroyed neighborhood flanked by tall townhouses, the place would've looked nice if the Destoroyah shells didn't turned everything inside out. "I mean, shit, dude had, like, thirty horsemen against, what, fifty thousand entrenched orcs? Dude was fuck the moment his dad kicked him to the curb. I mean, this is more like that scene in the extended version of Two Towers when Boromir and Faramir retook the place from Sauron's forces."

"Actually, that scene, which was never in the book by the way, depicted Boromir and Faramir successfully defending the western portion of Osgiliath, not retaking it," Tangmo and Henry started in surprise when none other than the Eight's resident Tolkien expert, Damien, spoke up.

"Bro, aren't you supposed to be attacking Isha's citadel right now?" Henry asked as they took position inside a bombed out circular building, waiting for the rest of the troops to catch up with them.

"I would, but the Sororitas are not done deploying yet!" Damien said snidely, putting unnecessary emphasis on every word, which made him sound more catty than forceful, the Space Marine timbre didn't help.

"We must make all the necessary preparation for the assault to come, Brother Sergeant," canoness Galatea shot back with equal venom.

"You know how girls take forever to get all their clothes and makeups done?" Erik snickered lowly, derisively. "This is exactly like that but multiplied a thousand fold. Women, right guys?"

"I'm sorry Erik, but what in the fuck did you just say?" Tangmo thanked God that he was on the southern front, because Laura's little polite question sounded more like the rasping of an unsheathing sword, cold and eager for blood.

"I-I mean…what I meant to say was – women usually take q-quite a while to be ready and waste a lot of time," Erik unwisely tried to make excuses instead of just, you know, say that you're wrong and shut the fuck up. Predictably, the women didn't take his comment well.

"And?! You got a fucking problem with us actually taking the time to plan shit out?!" Now it was Nikki giving Erik a piece of her mind.

"Oh yeah, just run charging in with Damien and the Marines, hello?! Do you not see Syrathel and her best troops already besieging the place?!" Yuki snapped at the whimpering Swede.

"All we ask is patience, Erik," Lita delivered the coup de grace by making her motherly disappointment speech, the tone heavy and heartbreaking. "If we move out now we will be repel and a lot of us will die needlessly. I'm sorry if this make you upset, I only hope that you understand."

"Don't waste your breathe, lady Warseer, he is not deserving of your kindness," captain Marwen sneered, earning a very hearty agreement from the women of the battlegroup. Even the guardswomen and female eldars around Tangmo and Henry, those who were eavesdropping because the firefight had become so sporadic, were adding their assents and ganging up on Erik.

"Men! Regardless of species they're all idiots," Heloise scoffed and the woman of the battlegroup laughed uproariously, amongst the din Tangmo can hear Erik's miserable squeaking.

"Alright, cut it out, stop picking on Erik, he didn't mean any harm, he just say things without thinking sometime," Damien cut in sternly, because it was clear the girls were just bullying Erik at this point, "Erik's very sorry, right dude?"

"Yes I am, I'm sorry I insulted you guys," Erik said demurely. "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."

"There, all good now," Damien announced with clear finality, putting the issue to rest. "And stop picking on him for Throne sake. Grown ass women bullying a harmless young man, shame on you I say! Shame!"

Trading chuckles, Tangmo and Henry cut the transmission and returned their attention to the task of pushing the Chaos forces out of Eyvtalien, the little distraction was nice but they still had a job to do. Twenty minutes of prowling through the destroyed elven ruin later, it became more than apparent that the Chaos hordes had completely abandoned the city. It wasn't a complete rout though, which put the battlegroup on edge, the defenses they encountered had the characteristic of a sacrificial lamb, put in place to slow down an unstoppable tide.

"Stay frosty people, check every crook and crannies. And watch your steps for tripwires or claymores or any anti-personnel mines, things are still dangerous," Henry tapped his earbud then turned to Tangmo. "I don't like this."

"You and me both," his lasgun set to semi-auto, Tangmo shot a group of fleeing cultists, one lasbolt for each, as the forward elements of the battlegroup approached the eastern reaches of the city. "They're retreating on purpose."

"I'll get the tanks to fortify our positions," Henry quickly relayed the instruction to Ladaee, and not ten minutes later the King Ghidorah and the tanks came to a stop one hundred paces to their left and right, snuggling up amongst the rubbles.

"Vakon, moved the Anguirus and Charon into the city center," Tangmo gave his orders and waved over a Buxiunese and a Krieg lieutenant. "Zhao, Helmut, take four companies of Dragon Blood and Death Korps each to the central urban area. Clear the place and fortify it for our artillery batteries."

The two lieutenants were saluting when an abominably loud noise, like some fucked up amalgamation of a harrowing Viking battle horn and a distorted air raid siren, resounded across the world, making the earth and sky quake. The timbre was not natural, a soul deep wrongness that made one tremble with nausea.

"Holy fucking shit," Henry gritted his teeth as he slowly, dramatically, pulled his binocular away from his face and handed it to Tangmo. "Welp, I guess it was only a matter of time before we run into those fuckers."

"Can't have the full 40k experience without facing one," Tangmo handed the binocular back to Henry and snarled at the monstrosities striding slowly toward them, and despite the distant their towering shapes loomed clear over the battlefield. Titans. And not just any Titans, oh no, the universe wouldn't want to make things easy for the Immortal Spirit battlegroup. Nope, it had to be fucking Emperor Class Titans, twenty of those fuckers, a phalanx of walking cathedrals with a fuckton of guns.

"So that's why they pulled out," Henry pointed at the churning mass of tanks and men marching under the shadows of the hulking war machines.

"Yep, they're gonna flatten us along with the fucking city. But I'm more worry about those smaller fuckers, the Titans are slower than the original Godzilla, it's gonna take them a while to actually become a problem," Tangmo said and waved the guardsmen and Aeldari forward, many stopping to gape at the daemon powered mechanical behemoths. "Stop gawking at it you idiots, it's just cogs and wheels and oils, we'll kill them like every fucking thing that comes at us. Move your asses and fortify our position!"

"Well Tangmo, looks like we're about to Attack on Titans, eh?" Henry grinned brightly.

"I finally watched the first five episodes by the way," Tangmo told him as he tapped several locations on the data-pad.

"You did?! What did you think?!" Henry was buzzing with anticipation.

"Dropped that shit harder than when the Undertaker threw Mankind twenty two feet off the Hell in a Cell steel cage at the 1998 King of the Ring."

"WHAT?!"

"THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

Tangmo only response to Henry and Damien's combined admonition was an innocent, summery smile, his perfect incisors and canines gleaming like a Colgate commercial.

"Did you just say you drop Attack on Titan after only five episodes?!" Damien roared, the Canadian Astartes totally losing his shit.

"Yes I did," Tangmo said with satisfaction.

"You can't just stop watching a show after only five episodes!" Henry shot back loudly, drawing alarmed looks from the soldiers within earshot. "That is not representative of the entire show. You need to watch the entire season to make an inform decision!"

"Fuck that noise, you two assholes tricked me into watching two seasons of that superhero high school shit," Tangmo countered, "which was also shit by the way."

"Bitch, you did not just call My Hero Academia shit!" Damien was breathing heavily. "Laura! Amberley! I want to report a heretic!"

"You got an actual reason for disliking those shows?" Erik asked, genuinely curious. "Or are you just being a contrarian douchebag?"

"I can't fucking stand the main character of Attack on Titan man," Tangmo explained, around him the defenses were progressing at an admirable speed, the Kriegs were already connecting three separate trenches and strengthening it with scrap metals, wooden planks and pieces of discarded masonries. "What's his name again? Eren Jager? Yeah, I hate that whiny little dumb fuck, yelling and screaming all the fucking time when he's the most ignorant piece of shit around. I mean, if there's someone like that in the battlegroup, I'll put a lasbolt through his skull. Also, all the loud dramatic moments are manufactured as fuck. It's the stupid over the top Japanese anime cliché of needing to be ultra-passionate without cause or explanation. No offense Yuki."

"Eh, you're right," Yuki was obviously shrugging on the other end. "That's why the Koreans are beating us at movies."

"As for My Hero Academia, same reasons, overdramatic tripe, that green hair main character is a little goodie two shoes bitch and I absolutely hate that pyromaniac idiot who's always shouting and being a dick all the time while escaping any judgement because every character have to bullshit an excuse to try and convince the audiences that he's a good guy. Fuck both of them," Tangmo shrugged at the angst Henry. "Hey, look on the bright side, after I drop Attack on Titan I watched Asobi Asobase instead, now that shit was dope. It's not my fault Titan and Hero were dog shit compare to JoJo. The theme songs were pretty good though."

"Hmph! I guess you are forgiven, to a degree," Henry conceded, but not before giving Tangmo his evil eyes. "But you're banned for life from ever singing any of the theme songs again!"

"I'll sing whatever the fuck I want, bitch," Tangmo grinned and pressed the binocular over his eyes, blocking out Henry's frothing mad whines. "Now shut the fuck up, we have real Titans to kill."