The Wayward Son

A While Later

Once again, Seiras spent an indeterminate amount of time copulating with the various slave girls. To his surprise, he felt a lot less guilt and shame in the act since they were all human. True to Maeralya's claim, the nightbliss mist was more potent than the nectar. No matter how many times he came, Seiras did not feel satisfied. It was like this unbearable itch that wouldn't go away. One by one he continuously pumped and ravaged each woman with unrivaled lust. To say this matched his time with the Slaaneshi cultists would be an understatement. The sheer sexual frenzy that ensued easily rivaled if not surpassed it altogether. It was even more intense than the times with the wyches as he actually didn't hate himself as much for breeding with humans.

He had gone through all of the girls multiple times and all of them were now unconscious in sexually satisfied stupors. All of them except for Tira that is. Her superhuman genetics were quite apparent as she wasn't even tired yet.

"UHHH MORE! MORE! Keep going! KEEP GOING! FASTER! HARDER! I CAN TAKE IT! DON'T GO SOFT OF ME! AGHHH! AHHH!" Tira screamed into another climax as Seiras rapidly penetrated her from behind.

Seiras felt himself following her mere seconds afterward as he kept going and going. He lost count how many times the two of them had climaxed together, but for some reason this one was the best and it finally eased the lust in the room as they began to slow down.

Afterwards she pulled herself out and turned around to look at him. The assassin smiled, "I really…enjoyed…that."

She immediately slumped over unconscious afterwards. The entire den was literally covered in sexual fluids and all of the furniture was half destroyed. Finally feeling clarity return to him, Seiras almost couldn't believe he didn't accidentally go too rough and kill one of them. He had gone a bit rough on Tira at the end, but for some reason her body was extremely durable. He made a mental note that he would have to study Callidus Assassins at some point as he wasn't entirely sure what it was that made them like this.

The librarian let out a sigh of relief as he fell on his back and stared at the ceiling. He didn't relax for long as his mind quickly refocused back on the task of dealing with Maeralya.

"I did as you asked, Maeralya…let me out now," Seiras spoke as he stood up and redressed.

"That you did, Seiras…I can't wait to see what all their children look like. I hope they grow up to look like you," she cooed playfully.

'Is it right to let her keep these women here? Should I consider trying to free them?' Seiras wondered as he looked around expecting a wall to open for him.

"You're not going to let me out of here…are you?" he asked after a brief silence when he noticed no wall open for him.

"Oh sorry about that, I was cleaning myself up," she laughed as a nearby wall opened.

Seiras immediately walked through the opening and saw Maeralya sprawled out on her throne. It was clear that she had been masturbating as the Lhamaean was not wearing anything over her nether regions. She clapped for him as he approached and quickly stood up, "You're a delightful slave, you know that? Honestly, I have to say that I'm quite taken with you. It's good we finally get some alone time…you have me quite curious. I can see why the wyches and my girls fancy you so much…I've never seen such sexually satisfied women before."

"What?" he looked at her perplexed.

"My other favor now…let's have an affair. It'll be sooooo naughty! Doesn't that sound sexy? Having sex with Faelan's girl? I know you want to…I mean who wouldn't want a piece of me? I'm all warmed up and wet for you too! Besides it'll be even sexier because I'm supposed to be off limits. I'll orgasm extra hard while he's still alive as you indulge in my flesh," Maeralya licked her lips.

"Wait, we don't have time for that. If you want me to kill Faelan, then spit out your plan already. I've already played enough of your games! Where did Mokaela and Aelendriel go?" Seiras growled in annoyance.

Maeralya smirked cruelly, "No time for games, huh? Well that's too bad…because I ALWAYS GET WHAT I WANT! Try to stop me, when I have you stunned!"

A moment later, Seiras felt his entire body freeze in the collar's stun setting. Maeralya took her time circling him like a hungry shark as she caressed his skin. It sent sickening shivers through his body.

The Lhamaean then kicked him down and planted her bare foot on his head. To his disgust she stuck her foot inside of his mouth now, "You're going to love this…I'm the best there is at pleasuring people. I'll get you in the mood with a footjob first. I do owe you after all."

Pulling her foot out she began to start stimulating his manhood through his pants with her foot. Maeralya was clearly experienced at doing this as it actually did feel good. Shortly afterward she knelt down and reached for his pants to pull down.

'She's so close…if only I had acted before she turned the collar on. I'll have to wait this out for my moment to strike…or wait until she opens the chamber so I can have Melisara unlock my collar. Either way, I can't let her live. I hope this is the last time I have to endure this from an alien,' Seiras thought angrily as he avoided looking at Maeralya.

The courtesan seemed annoyed at him ignoring her and positioned her face directly over his, "Look at me! Don't you dare try to ignore me when I'm treating you! I'm going to make you scream my name!"

Before she could do anything else, Seiras saw a shadow blindside the Lhamaean from seemingly nowhere. To his shock, it was Tira. What amazed him about the situation was her entire body from the neck down was covered in a black skintight suit.

Before Maeralya could even comprehend what was happening, her neck was swiftly snapped. Seiras blinked several times in disbelief as the assassin picked up the trigger switch on Maeralya's wrist and unfroze him with it.

Seiras immediately stood up and looked at the woman disbelievingly. She stared back at him and smiled, "I can't believe I finally got a chance to kill that insufferable alien bitch. All thanks to you of course, my lord. I knew I could trust you. I knew they hadn't broken you yet."

"You were pretending to be unconscious? How did you know about the trigger switch and my collar" he asked.

She nodded, "I pay pretty close attention. It is my job after all. That doesn't matter right now. We need to get rid of her body so they can't reanimate her. She has a trash furnace over there…it should turn her into ash and eject what's left of her remains out of the tower."

The librarian watched with astonishment as the woman dragged Maeralya's corpse across the room to an alien furnace. After a few moments, Tira tossed the body inside and immediately turned it on.

It impressed him that she knew how to do this, although considering she was a callidus assassin, it wasn't too unusual. After all, he wasn't the only Eldar expert in the galaxy. This woman was clearly one as well.

Once she was done, Tira glanced back at him and let out a sigh of relief, "Thank the Emperor, she's gone for good. I hated her."

"Thanks for rescuing me from that situation. I honestly didn't expect it," he said with relief.

"No problem, my lord. Thank you for giving me the opportunity by distracting her. I've never had the opportunity until now. If we're all going to die here, I at least wanted her to die too. I've been here for years I imagine. I didn't want her to get away with what she's done," Tira gritted her teeth.

Seiras sighed, "Unfortunately, killing her is going to cause a lot of problems when they find out she's missing. Not to mention, now you don't have anyone to protect you."

"It won't matter if we get out of here. We should try to escape…you and I can get out of this place. From what I've seen of you, you're quite crafty even by Astartes standards. I promise I won't slow you down," Tira suggested as she stared at him with hopeful eyes.

"You're a Callidus Assassin, right?" he asked for confirmation.

She nodded with a blank expression, "It would seem I was correct in my assumption that you would pick up on that. Normally, I would never tell anyone, but I have a feeling you're good at keeping secrets. How about it then? Will you help me escape? I can keep up with you my lord."

"Well, I already had an escape planned, but Maeralya expedited the whole thing. She knew about my escape plan thanks to her probing Sylea with some recording bug. I had planned on killing her, but I was waiting for the opportunity. You're the first bit of good fortune I've had here recently. I will certainly welcome your aid in my escape, assassin," the librarian responded.

The assassin nodded with approval, "I see…well I'm relieved to hear that you were planning to escape the entire time. Part of me believed it, but it's good to hear you confirm my hopes. So what's your plan exactly?"

"I had a number of accomplices down in Slave Chamber 4 next to Melisara's lab. It consisted of some Cadian guardsmen, a few craftworlders, and some Tau. I know that's heresy, and I know you probably don't approve…but given what we've both experienced in this place, working with xenos is the least of my concerns." He began.

To his surprise, Tira didn't seem to disapprove. She nodded in acceptance, "An alliance of convenience with xenos slaves seems logical. Craftworlders could no doubt navigate a ship out of the webway too…I take it that's your reasoning for accepting this alliance?"

"Yes, you are correct…there's also a prisoner of utmost importance locked away in the lab of the haemonculus. It's the only reason I've endured the shameful and humiliating indecencies of this place for as long as I have …" Seiras followed up.

Tira eyed him hopefully, "There's a high status prisoner you want to rescue from the haemonculus? Who?"

"The primarch Ferrus Manus…he's in her lab in a gestation tube. Melisara showed me…no doubt to gloat about it," Seiras answered with a half-truth.

The assassin jaw dropped at his answer, "A…primarch?! A-are you sure?"

"Yes I am," the librarian nodded without giving a follow up explanation.

Tira stared at him almost disbelievingly, "I am not saying I don't believe you, but that sounds impossible…"

"You don't have to believe me…but it's true. There's also a fleet of Ultramarines and White Scars somewhere in Commorragh as well. I encountered some when one of the wyches, Nelfaera, took me to Mid-Commoragh to help recruit for the Kabal war. I am going to try and contact them. They might be able to help us," he responded seriously.

"Well I'll trust you have that sorted out then…though I suppose for now it's probably best that we figure out how to get out of the room. Maeralya had it locked down with her security system. I have watched her open and close it multiple times, but I don't understand the sequence. It might take me an hour or so to decode. Their language is extraordinarily complex, but I know enough to get us by," Tira explained passively.

Seiras immediately walked over towards the console and pressed the same sequence of buttons Maeralya did to lock it down. Tira seemed amazed as she watched him hack through the system and unseal the entire chamber in less than twenty seconds.

She shook her head dumbfounded, "How did you do that?!"

"I can read and speak their language fluently…and I know how to hack Aeldari technology," he explained, "it's why I was selected into the Deathwatch."

"Wait…you can completely understand their language?! I wasn't aware there was anyone in the Imperium that could. It's no wonder the Inquisition recruited you for a valuable skill like that." she gawked.

Turning back towards her he nodded, "Yes…though I've been keeping that to myself up until now. It's been invaluable so far. These eldar have no idea that I've been eavesdropping on all of their conversations."

"Honestly, I'm impressed…I studied their language for twenty years and I barely got past the elementary level of it. How did you learn it?" Tira asked fascinated.

"It's a long story for another time. I can share it with you when we're out of this accursed place," he shook his head.

"We should make haste then…I imagine those wyches are probably looking for you right now. Let's go," Tira stated as she made her way for the door.

"Wait…what about them?" Seiras asked as he glanced over at the den where all the unconscious slave girls were.

Tira glanced at them apathetically and then looked at him, "They'll slow us down. C'mon, we can't afford dead weight like those haughty damsels. They have no strategic value. Believe me…I have shared their company long enough to know that none of them are relevant enough to save."

"Normally I'd agree with you, but I can't risk them being here with my potential offspring for the Eldar to experiment with. Besides, with Maeralya gone, there's no telling what kind of fate they'll meet with," Seiras reasoned.

"I guess you have a point…didn't expect you to actually care about human women like that. I have to say, you're quite unlike any space marine I've ever seen or heard about. I had no idea your kind could sire offspring. I thought you used geneseed on young aspirants," Tira replied.

'I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that an assassin from a secret temple order has inside knowledge on space marines,' the Blood Raven realized.

"I apologize for despoiling you all like that. It wasn't my intention, but I was looking for an opening to kill Maeralya," Seiras explained.

Tira shrugged, "No worries here…I actually enjoyed it for what it's worth. Though I completely understand if you never want to speak of it again."

"We'll figure that out later…for now, can you do me a favor? Can you sneak them out of here and find a way to regroup with me?" he asked.

She nodded, "If that is what you wish, then so be it. I imagine you want to save Sylea as well?"

"Do you know where she is?" he asked.

Tira nodded, "In Maeralya's hidden bunker…I'll get her out. There's a narrow passageway past it that leads to the foundry. I'll keep the girls hidden there until a commotion breaks out. I imagine you intend on fighting your way through the foundry to steal a ship, right?"

"You are correct. That will work…thank you Tira. I will contact you psychically once I get this collar off," the librarian said approvingly.

Tira cocked her head curiously, "Do you have a way to take it off?"

"I do…" he nodded without explaining it.

She took the hint without question and spoke one last time, "I'll do what I can, but I make no promises that I can keep all of these women safe. They are not to know that I'm an assassin…so please keep that to yourself. I will do what I can to extract them. They all like Sylea, so I suppose she could convince them to listen better than I could. May the Emperor be with you, Lord Seiras."

"You as well, Tira. Before I go, I just wanted to ask…Tira is not your real name, right?" he followed up.

Tira chuckled at him, "Obviously not. Tira is not my real name. I won't tell you my real name. You don't really want to be on a first name basis with the Officio Assassinorum anyways."

"Is that your real face, shapechanger? It'll make tracking you psychically much easier if it is." he asked.

The assassin looked at him blankly, "Would you believe me if I said yes? It actually is. I have been saving up what little reserves I had left for emergency morphs...and nobody here would ever recognize me."

"So how did you…materialize this bodysuit you're wearing?" he asked.

She shrugged, "It's a trick of the trade…I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Fair enough then, assassin. One more question, can you shapechange into an Eldar?" he asked slowly.

"Yes…I had planned on masquerading as Maeralya to eventually escape. I imagine that's what you wanted to know?" she followed up intuitively.

"That's good to know. I'll contact you when I can. Make sure Sylea is made aware of the situation in the escape plan," he stated before making his way for the exit. Without another word, the librarian left the chamber.

Later

Using his perfect memory, Seiras swiftly backtracked to where Maeralya had initially picked him up. The eerie silene and absence of anyone on the way back was quite unsettling. No, it was downright ominous. He was now thoroughly convinced that something serious was going on in the Kabal right now.

As he neared the wych cult training ground, he saw something shocking. Dead bodies were littered everywhere. He glanced around in disbelief for a few moments as he stealthily peeked inside.

There were countless dead wyches in the training ground, but something horrific stood out amidst the carnage…not one Cult of Strife wych was present alive or dead.

'What the hell happened here?!' Seiras thought bewildered.

Upon hearing movement he immediately tucked himself into the shadows and held his breath. Mere seconds later a group of young Cult of Eternal Night debutantes bolted out of the training grounds as if they were running for their lives.

A razorflail quickly cut the three of them down. Whoever swung it probably wasn't trying to kill them as none of the victims had been dismembered or delimbed from it. As the segmented alien blade recoiled, its wielder came strutting out of the chamber. It was a cult of strife wych. She looked like a succubus if he had to guess, but he didn't recognize her at all.

She didn't have any expression on her face other than indifference as she kicked over one of the debutantes who was bleeding out now. Kneeling down next to her, the Cult of Strife wych spoke softly, "Where is Mokaela Shanurae and Aelendriel Raya?"

"I-I don't know. P-please, we d-d-didn't mean to offend you. We just do what we're told!" the debutante pleaded pathetically.

"Where is the space marine at?" she asked calmly in her high pitched feminine voice without any killing intent. Her demeanor didn't seem to be of someone who was upset or angry. She just seemed focused.

"I-I don't know! W-we were all high and I-I kind of lost track of e-everything. Please, I'll do anything! Please don't kill me! I'll be your servant!" the debutante continued to beg for her life.

The cult of strife wych sniffed the air several times as she looked away from the debutante and glanced in Seiras' direction.

She briskly walked towards his hiding spot as if she caught his scent in the shadows. Divine intervention saved Seiras once again as another Cult of Strife wych came charging towards her. She seemed panicked, "My lady!"

"What is it Syndra?" she glanced at the arriving succubus.

'Syndra's free…and she called her lady? Is that the succubus they were all talking about? Is she Lelith Hesperax? How in the warp could she have arrived here so soon?!' Seiras wondered.

"No sign of any of them, but I learned from a scourge that the archon's full fleet is coming back soon, and Lord Vect is with them!" Syndra seemed concerned.

"Vect? I wonder why…wasn't he chasing Lady Malys?" she spoke aloud in deep thought.

Seiras found her voice to be unusually girly and unmenacing. The only word he could think to describe it was the word 'cute' which he only recently began to know the full meaning of. Most Eldar spoke as if they were trying to sound intimidating or smart. The one spoke like she was some innocent girl…or at least the dark eldar equivalent of it.

"None of their bloodbrides were here…none of the succubi…not even the space marine. It would seem this was some attempt at a trap. Let's leave then…we need to get to Melisara's lab before Vect arrives. We don't have any more time to waste on getting revenge," the wych said nonchalantly.

"Lady Lelith…a-are you sure you want to leave without finding that space marine? He should be gutted and castrated for what he did to us," Syndra whined.

'She's Lelith Hesperax…so she's the top wych? Never would have guessed. Hmm…maybe I can kill her if I get Melisara to unclamp my collar,' Seiras thought tactically.

This would be his best and probably only opportunity to kill this wych. Pressing the collar button three times, Seiras waited for it to unclamp.

To his utter frustration, it wasn't working. He cursed his luck as he decided to simply remain motionless and dead silent. His only option now was to hope he remained unseen and unheard until they left.

"Saving your sorry skins was only a secondary objective of mine. We don't have time to waste on hunting them down. They'll just have to die later. Besides, you seemed to enjoy yourself from what I could see…like some doped out warpdust whore," Lelith scoffed. Syndra unsurprisingly did not evoke any offense to her mistress' comment. Likely out of respect and fear.

"When we do eventually capture him, can I be the one to castrate him?!" Syndra asked hopefully.

"You misunderstand. I don't care that he fucked your pride out. It's your own fault for getting captured in the first place. You're lucky Renfaeda wasn't here, or they would have done much worse things to you, Syndra. Besides, I would be more interested in capturing the space marine. He has unique skills, and I think Yvraine's people might find him interesting. If not he'd make a good opponent for me to fight. It's been a while since I fought anyone worthy," Lelith noted.

"This sucks…I really wanted to see him suffer," Syndra complained.

Lelith shrugged at her carelessly, "Be grateful, Syndra, that I cared enough to show up at all. If we do happen upon him, he's mine…got that?"

"Thank you mistress…you're a goddess and we all love you my lady! He's all yours." Syndra bowed her head subserviently.

"Let's go. The lab should be across the bridge on the other side of the spire," Lelith stated indifferently as she pointed in the direction of Melisara's lab on the horizon.

'Thank the Emperor they're leaving…finally a lucky break! But why are they going for Melisara's lab?' Seiras thought concerned.

Lelith then sniffed the air again stopping in her tracks. Seiras' good fortune was short lived sadly as Lelith immediately swung the razorflail from her hip his direction. Were it not for his newly enhanced reflexes, he probably wouldn't have even comprehended its swing arc.

Time seemed to slow down for Seiras as he heard the whistling shriek of the razorflail move in a twisted pattern flushing him from his hiding spot. He dodged it as he rolled to the side around the corner. A dagger then followed it moving with blinding speed. He barely managed to dodge it as he went charging away back the direction he came.

Despite his impressive speed, he didn't make it far before nearly two dozen cult of strife wyches cut him off seemingly from nowhere. One immediately charged him with an impaler spear. She clearly wasn't an elite talent as he effortlessly disarmed her and broke her arm in the process.

The ambush group all nearly jumped at him a second later until the voice of their leader spoke up, "Everyone stop…"

All of the cult of strife wyches obeyed the command without question or hesitation as they safely distanced themselves from Seiras. They still made sure to cover all possible escape routes. The wych whose arm he had just broken cursed at him in her own language as she got up and backed away, "Damned monkeigh!"

Seiras slowly turned around as their leader stopped a mere meter away from him. She eyed him up and down curiously for a moment and sniffed the air several times. She shook her head, "You smell like a sex den. You monkeigh have even more potent sexual odors than my kind does."

'She obviously knows I understand her…I guess I was right after all. Why is everything falling apart now? I can't trip at the finish line…I have to find a way to get out of this situation,' Seiras thought calmly as he surveyed the grim predicament.

There were at least 20 wyches around him. Most weren't involved in Mokaela's sex vid, but a few of them were and they had eyes of bitter anger mixed with eager bloodlust.

"So, you must be Lelith Hesperax I take it?" Seiras responded in their language.

Most of the wyches looked shocked by his use of their language in perfect clarity. Lelith seemed unfazed as she nodded, "The one and only queen of the arena."

Seiras didn't respond as he calculated his options mentally for a moment.

Lelith stared at him blankly before finally speaking again, "Do you know where Mokaela Shanurae and Aelendriel Raya are…as well as the bloodbrides that were with them? It seems strange that they would be gone, but you're still here."

"No, I woke up in the slave chamber a while ago and the archon's consort was there. She said she spiked the room's air filters. I believe she did something to draw them off. She brought me to her personal chambers and that's where I've been the past cycle or so," Seiras answered honestly in order to buy some more time.

"The consort? What was her name, Syndra?" Lelith asked her subordinate succubus.

"I believe it's Maeralya Udra…the Lhamaean," Syndra answered.

Lelith nodded before glancing at Seiras, "So where is she now?"

"Dead…I killed her. Then I incinerated her corpse and dumped the ashes out of the spire," he responded almost threateningly.

"Can't say I blame you…though that doesn't mean you're walking out of here alive. I told you that you would regret what you did to us! Lady Lelith is going to slaughter you, monkeigh!" Syndra boasted.

Lelith held her arm up to silence Syndra, "Don't speak for me, Syndra…it's rude."

"M-my lady…I apologize," Syndra immediately dropped her bravado.

"Your wyches were right…you certainly weren't going to ignore a direct insult to your cult. I never would have expected you to show up this quickly," Seiras pointed out.

"Yes…I did come here to kill Mokaela and Aelendriel, but that's a lesser priority to me. I was already in Commorragh when I received that video on my personal account. I found it rather bizarre that a space marine was able to mate. I know a decent amount about your kind, and I know that's not normal. You're the one that learned our language…and it seems apparent to me that you've been playing the game with your masters here. Dare I say, you're quite clever…for a monkeigh. I see they put a psionic limiter collar on you as well…did the haemonculus make it?" she spoke calmly.

"She did…" he responded slowly.

"While I did come here to free my subordinates and answer the insult to my cult, I'm here for something else which was conveniently at this spire. The haemonculus of this Kabal is named Melisara. We know her better as the Immortal Revenant. We came to kill her current body and steal it so that we can find out how she made herself immune to soul decay. I have a proposal for you, Space marine…help me kill her, and I'll leave quietly without killing you," Lelith continued.

Syndra looked appalled by the suggestion, "Wait, what?! But I thought you wanted to capture him, mistress?"

"I can tell she did something to you…you're faster now than you were in that arena fight of yours. I watched it you know…I didn't find you very impressive compared to some of the space marines I've fought, but I was intrigued by your knowledge on how to use eldar weapons and vehicles. It's clear to me that the haemonculus enhanced you somehow. That would imply she likes you to some extent, wouldn't it? Melisara trusts you, doesn't she? That's the distraction I need…give me what I want, and I'll find it in my big heart to forgive you for raping all my girls," Lelith smirked.

Seiras glared at her, 'How did she figure all of that out? I guess you don't become the best wych just by being the most skilled. She's clearly smarter than any of the ones I've dealt with here.'

"You're after the immunity to soul decay that Melisara has? Sorry, but it's not what you think it is…even if you can get her body, you have absolutely no chance of understanding what she did genetically to do it," Seiras shook his head.

Lelith's eyes widened slightly, "She told you about it?!"

"It's the same thing she did to me…so I have another suggestion. You and I duel. If I win, you leave. If you win, then I'll tell you how she did it and help you," Seiras responded confidently without any fear.

The Cult of Strife leader rose a brow at him surprised, "Even knowing who I am, you would willingly choose to duel me? I admire the courage…truly. I suppose they weren't wrong when they said space marines know no fear. Fine, I accept your duel. Here, take Syndra's Archite Glaive. I'll use one as well so it's fair."

Ripping the weapon out of her subordinate's hand, Lelith tossed the weapon at Seiras. He caught it and watched as she got another one from another wych.

The two then faced off without moving for a brief moment.

"It's going to be over in seconds," Syndra laughed.

It was then that divine intervention showed its glorious mercy once again as Seiras felt his collar's prods painfully recede out of his neck and black carapace. It released a loud noise and caused the librarian to grimace in pain.

Everyone there found it confusing until Seiras launched a psychic force wave a split second later. Every single wych was sent flying in all directions including Lelith herself.

"I'm through with these games! Time for you to die!" Seiras howled furiously as his psychic powers flared tremendously.

Lelith was taking cover now and he could hear her speaking loudly in gothic, "So…you were working with her this entire time then?"

Before Seiras could do anything else, he felt himself being teleported away. Lelith bolted at him as fast as she could, but right as she swung her glaive, Seiras was gone.

All of the Cult of Strife wyches, now recovered, looked around shocked. Syndra shook her head disbelievingly, "His collar opened up?! HOW?!"

"Yes…it seems like he's working for Melisara. She knows we're coming now and I'm not going to take that risk. Let's go girls…we're getting out of here," Lelith sighed.

"Wait, what?! After all that we're just going to leave?!" Syndra whined again.

"Vect is almost here and Melisara knows I'm after her…we don't have a choice. Let's go, NOW!" Lelith commanded angrily.

"What's the problem exactly? You're skilled enough to kill her mistress," one of the other wyches added.

Lelith shook her head, "That's not the issue…we won't even get near her now that she knows we're hunting her. She probably had a recorder on the monkeigh's collar this whole time. I guarantee her lab is rigged with traps just waiting for us to approach. We'll retreat…for now. Although this is somewhat fortunate. If the space marine knows what she did, then it would probably be easier to capture him later on."

Melisara's Lab

Upon materializing back into Melisara's lab, Seiras looked around desperately confused. His psychic power was still flaring but he quickly receded it as he tried to locate the haemonculus.

"It would seem all of our schemes were in vain. I made a mistake and now all of your work and planning will have been for nothing. I apologize for derailing your efforts Seiras, but we're out of time now. Lord Vect is returning with Faelan, and you need to leave…immediately," Melisara stated seriously as she came levitating around a corner.

Ferrus followed behind her and he was fully covered in power armour from head to toe. It was black, silver, and gold. It lacked gauntlets which left his necrodermis arms revealed, but Ferrus was wearing a helmet. Behind his power pack, he had four techmarine servo arms. One had a plasma cannon attached to it, two had a double-barreled assault cannons, and the last one had a necron gauss weapon attached from what he could see. Ferrus' helmet reminded Seiras of a Mark IV maximus pattern…though that comparison did no justice to the personal work of a primarch's craftsmanship. Ferrus also had an Iron halo built onto his armour. It looked like a basic one, but even those were priceless in the modern imperium.

It was honestly amazing to the librarian that he had time to craft it all in only a few days. At least that's how long Seiras believed it had been. To his astonishment, the primarch was also wielding a flaming power sword. It looked unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"At least Lord Ferrus had time to craft some armour," Seiras sighed as the two of them approached him.

Ferrus nodded calmly, "Yes, this will do for now. When we return to the Imperium, I will make myself some gorgon terminator armour. I prioritized making a weapon first though. This blade is a lot like the Fireblade I made for Fulgrim. I have decided to name it Phoenix Reaper."

"Yes yes, that's all nice and interesting…you can talk about that when you're out of here. I'm not joking around. Your escape will only become more difficult the longer you wait," Melisara interrupted them urgently.

Ferrus seemed indifferent to her urgency as he glanced at Seiras, "I fixed your armour as well…though I didn't have time to upgrade it. I expected this escape plan to go to hell. We'll get out of here one way or another."

Seiras nodded before refocusing his attention back on Melisara. He stared at her dumbfounded for a moment, "So why is Asdrubael Vect coming back with Faelan?"

"Remember when I disarmed Faelan's incubi that were escorting you around? I bugged their armour with a nanochip. Think of it as a tracer bug that records all visual and audio frequencies around it. Your collar also had one on it. Anyways, from what my tracer bug showed me, Vect knows I was at Khaine's Gate and he told Faelan. He seems to be under the impression I was working with Lady Malys and the Ynnari while he was distracted. Apparently he also knows that you can speak our language and that you were there too. Which in turn implies he knows I'm helping you. I won't be able to frame my death now…I'm officially an enemy of Commorragh. It would seem I subjected you to a lot of pointless schemes for nothing. Nevertheless, I won't let our work be in vain. You and Ferrus must go free at any cost. I have all the faith in the galaxy that you two can make it out, but don't risk your own freedom to save worthless slaves. Understand?" she sighed.

"Is there a reason we should fear this Asdrubael Vect?" Ferrus interjected sternly.

Melisara nodded, "Yes…he's highly intelligent and his ziggurat is extremely advanced. It could very well ensure both of your deaths. Vect won't risk fighting you himself, but he's the supreme archon of all Commorragh. He could muster a massive pursuit to recapture you. Don't take him lightly."

"We shouldn't waste time then. Librarian…what do you advise for the escape?" Ferrus asked.

"We should probably free all the other slaves so they can help us escape. I imagine most won't make it, but they'll draw off enemy forces everywhere. I'm also going to try and contact that fleet of space marines that was in the webway. Ultramarines and White Scars. If none of that works, I'll try summoning the legion of the damned," Seiras suggested.

Ferrus rose a brow, "You can summon them?"

"I don't know…but they might show up for you," Seiras shrugged.

"Be wary of the harlequins as well Seiras…if ever they were going to make their move, it would be now. I imagine your friend Sylandri has already sensed your psychic powers. She was on her way to your location before I teleported you away. Also if you want to free all the slaves at once, there's an override console at the processing facility close to the armoury. It'll open them all remotely," Melisara added.

"Are you going to help us escape Melisara? I mean…now that you're considered an enemy of Commorragh?" Seiras asked concerned.

She shook her head, "As much as I'd like to stay and help you, I have to go destroy all my backup labs so Urien Rakarth or my other colleagues won't get access to my research. I'll be quite vulnerable for a while until I can create a new one to house my genetic material and a soul catcher. That means I can't help you escape and risk dying…I'm sorry, my friend. Here, let me take the collar completely off before I go."

Seiras could only watch with disbelief as she quickly unbolted his limiter collar and removed it completely now. She then pressed a button on a nearby console causing the machine which kept his armour to come levitating over.

It wasted no time equipping Seiras back in his repaired power armour. Upon placing on his helmet, the psycables immediately hooked into them. The machine also magnetically pinned dozens of magazines of extra bolter ammunition to his greaves and carapace. When it was finished, it extended out his weapons for him to take. Seiras strapped the force sword first, and then equipped the Nemesis Force halberd in his main hand. The storm bolter attached to his offhand quickly cocked itself and loaded the chamber immediately afterwards.

Melisara inspected him briefly before nodding, "Good…you're ready to go. Also, take the webway generator remote. It's sure to come in handy. Make sure you get out of my lab as quickly as you can. It's rigged to explode with dark matter in about two minutes. Hopefully, I see you again…friends."

"I'll remember your aid, haemonculus…I will speak to my father about it when we return to Terra," Ferrus spoke before Melisara teleported herself away.

"Let's move, Seiras," Ferrus commanded as the primarch and the librarian began to sprint for the lab's exit.

They ran with superhuman speed out of it and made it about halfway across the bridge before a gravity distorting explosion nearly knocked both of them off their feet. They each magnetically locked their boots down and glanced back to see a strange explosion completely vaporize Melisara's entire lab as well as half the bridge that they were on.

Ferrus' gaze didn't linger as he continued onward. Seiras quickly followed suit and after about a minute, they reached the elevator shaft to slave chamber 4. Seiras stopped at it and glanced at the primarch, "My accomplices are down there in this slave chamber. We should free them before going any further."

"Are you certain it's a good idea to retrieve them now?" Ferrus questioned him doubtfully.

"We don't have a choice…I don't know how to navigate the webway. The Craftworlders down there do. We need to make sure they don't die or that they don't feel like we're abandoning them," Seiras reminded him.

The Gorgon nodded, "Go down there and get them. I'll wait here to make sure nothing happens to the elevator. Don't waste time."

"I won't my lord," Seiras nodded.

With his psychic senses now available to him again, he sensed the slave chamber down below. He spoke telepathically to the four craftworld exarchs inside, "This is Seiras…I'm breaking you all out. We have to leave immediately. Faelan knows I'm trying to escape and Asdrubael Vect is apparently one the way here as well."

He didn't bother opening a psychic link for them to respond, but he could sense them moving with extreme urgency now as he rode the elevator down.

He expected it to shut down or one of the harlequins to show up, but thankfully they didn't. If they were nearby, they were probably petrified to see a primarch. Upon reaching the bottom, Seiras charged into the center of the slave chamber past countless confused slaves. He amplified the vox speakers on his helmet as loud as they would go and shouted into the chamber, "Cadians, form up! We're leaving, NOW! Farsight Tau, you as well!"

It didn't take long for Major Medina to come find him. The Cadian officer looked shocked by the sight of him in his full power armour. She immediately spoke to him concerned, "My Lord, Seiras…we're doing it now!? What's going on?!"

"There's no time for me to explain! Gather your people, we're leaving!" he commanded.

"Guardsmen form up! Follow Lord Seiras! We're getting out of this Emperor forsaken shithole!" the major commanded her men.

From all around the slave chamber, the Cadians and various PDF soldiers came up following the librarian as he ran back for the elevator. Seeing this as their one and only opportunity at any chance of freedom, countless other inhabitants in the chamber followed after them as well in a frenzied mob.

'That elevator isn't big enough to fit all these people…why didn't I think about that? It can probably only fit thirty or so at a time. Possibly less if they don't want to crowd near the aliens.' Seiras thought to himself as he neared the elevator. It didn't surprise him to see the exarchs already waiting there for him.

All of the Cadians loaded on with him, including a few PDF men and women. Many of the uninvolved slaves desperately tried to crowd in as well, but they were forced back by the guardsmen as some of the farsight enclave Tau and Kroot loaded on as well.

"Don't leave us!" a desperate man cried out as he was pushed back into the rabid mob desperately trying to get on.

"Combatants come first…we're going to the armoury! I've unlocked the elevator, so you'll have to wait until the next round. I'm going to raise all the chambers up and open them as well. Those who can't fight should wait for the slave chambers to open," Seiras explained to the desperate people left behind.

"I will stay behind to organize the rest of this lot." the Commissar Duncan Kavka volunteered as he stepped off the elevator.

"Khrem stay with Commissar Kavka. Khrem help!" the group's ogryn volunteered bravely as he also stepped off.

Arika looked at him shocked but quickly handed him one of the dark eldar rifles she still had, "Duncan…take this,"

The commissar took it and stared at her for a moment before turning back to the desperate mob, "Everyone get back! I'm not leaving people behind, but you need to calm down and follow commands! Line up in an orderly fashion, and don't try trampling people to get in or I'll gun you down!"

"May the Emperor be with you, Duncan…keep him safe Khrem. You're a good guardsman," Arika said to him somewhat emotionally.

"Get that armoury secured, Major! We'll meet you there!" Duncan replied.

"Do you know where it is?" Seiras asked him.

"We'll find it…just follow the bodies right?" he smiled.

Moments later the elevator sealed shut as it began to ascend. Arika frowned as the elevator went up. The woman clutched the dark eldar shredder rifle in her grip tightly as forced out a determined and confident look. Other than her, only two of the cadians had the remaining splinter rifles from the trueborn that Seiras had previously killed.

The soldiers all looked extremely nervous and shaky right now. No doubt they were afraid that they weren't going to make it. Despite this group having all combatants, the Tau ambassador somehow managed to catch this first ride as well as the two other water caste tau and all of their fire warriors. The Kroot Shaper Harru was also present along with a few Kroot. The elevator was a bit more crowded than Seiras liked, but it managed to fit more than he thought it could.

"Lord Seiras, how did you get your armour back? Did you find the primarch as well?" Arika asked hopefully.

"I did…this escape is not how I had everything planned out, but we can't stay here. The Dark Eldar Supreme Archon Asdrubael Vect is on the way and he knows about my escape plans. We can't waste time," Seiras explained.

"He does? Why would someone as important as Vect be concerned about Faelan's Kabal?" Sorellia asked confused.

Seiras glanced at the banshee, "I don't know…but I learned it before I killed Maeralya."

"You killed her?! How?" Sorellia looked at him disbelievingly.

Ashera was quick to interject, "Seiras, how exactly did you get that limiter collar off? How are you in your armour? Wasn't it locked away in Melisara's lab?"

"She's also dead…and her lab is gone now too. Ferrus was the one who took my collar off," Seiras lied.

Tallath glanced at him seriously, "So the primarch is free then?"

Kim'ria the Tau ambassador was quick to speak up, "What is a primarch?"

"A primarch is one of the Emperor's sons…they're the progenitors of space marines and they're so powerful that they make space marines look like normal humans in comparison," Seiras explained briefly to her.

The ambassador seemed shocked, "I have many questions, but I suppose they'll have to wait. He's not going to kill us is he?!"

"Don't worry…he already knows about you aliens helping us. He won't kill you. Don't expect any kind of hospitality though," Seiras stated.

"You had time to speak with him?" Atharen asked confused.

"No more questions…we're almost at the top," Seiras deflected.

As the elevator reached the top, it quickly opened, and everyone who exited went wide-eyed with disbelief when they saw literally hundreds of dead kabalites littering the bridge. The sound of weapons' fire drew their attention as they filed out. Further down the bridge, they could see Ferrus gunning down countless kabalites charging over it to what was left of Melisara's lab.

"Holy shit…it's really a primarch?! D-did he actually kill all of these eldar?!" Arika gasped.

"Everyone take cover behind me, I'll use my psychic powers to shield you. Atharen, I need you to navigate us to the armoury. Once we've secured it, Ashera and I will go free your aspect warriors," Seiras ordered.

Ferrus glanced back when he saw that they had arrived and spoke, "It would seem they came in force to investigate the explosion at the alien's lab. Is this all of your allied slaves? I expected more."

"This was all that could come up on the first trip, there's more down below making additional trips," Seiras answered.

"That's going to take too long," Ferrus shook his head as he looked forward again at an incoming raider. The necron cannon on his fourth servo arm immediately blasted it out of the air as the raider went flying down below into Mid-Commoragh. The two double barrelled assault cannons on his top two servo arms were mowing down waves of enemies as Ferrus walked towards them.

All of the splinter, shredder, and dark lance weapons' fire on the primarch seemed completely ineffective against Ferrus as he steadily advanced methodically destroying everything in sight.

"How are the others going to make it out if there's all these kabalites here?!" Arika asked Seiras as the group advanced with haste.

"They're likely to follow us since I'm here and so is Ferrus. I imagine they're looking for me right now and won't have time to worry about the next few groups. There's also a way to remotely open all the slave chambers as I mentioned earlier. It's a slave processing command center I believe," the librarian explained.

"That is a good solution…I can remotely raise all of the slave chambers up and open their walls. I actually know where it is. I can sneak in there once I get my armour and expedite this." Atharen suggested.

"Well shit, why didn't we just do that in the first place?!" Major Medina shook her head.

"This plan will work out better. They'll most likely prioritize their focus on the armoury after we secure it. From there we can hold that position to draw their attention until we get everyone freed. Opening all the slave chambers at once will throw this entire spire into chaos and give us the opportunity to seize the foundry afterwards," Tallath added.

Ferrus looked back at them again after scattering what was left of the kabalite fortifications at the end of the bridge, "Lead us to this armoury Eldar,"

"As you say, primarch," Atharen nodded as he moved up and led them along.

'They said Faelan was coming back with Asdrubael Vect, but I haven't seen any Black Heart Kabalites yet. All of these kabalites are Faelan's. We need to get to a ship before the Black Heart reinforcements show up. I don't see Vect's Ziggarat yet. It's essential that we get loaded onto a ship before Vect shows up. All of that aside, now's as good a time as any to contact the space marine fleet.' Seiras thought as the group advanced through endless enemies.

Speaking into his personal vox now Seiras sent out a distress beacon, "Calling all Astartes in the webway! This is the librarian Seiras of the Ordo Xenos! I request immediate backup on my location! We're breaking out! I have the primarch with me! I repeat, the primarch is with me!"

'It'll probably take a few minutes for that broadcast to reach them…if I'm lucky. It could be days if they're not as close as I thought they were. At least I got the broadcast out.' The librarian thought as he maintained the psychic shield to ward off flanking enemies.

He also focused his thoughts on former Captain Titus as he tried to send a psychic message as well, "If this message reaches you, Epistolary Titus, I have the primarch with me. We could use some backup."

Seiras had no idea if his message would even reach the other librarian, but at least he tried.

It wasn't long before the group reached the armoury about ten minutes later. To nobody's surprise it was locked down tighter than Terra and surrounded with guards.

"It looks like they knew we were going to come here…they beat us to the armoury," Atharen growled with annoyance.

"Everyone wait here…" Ferrus commanded as he advanced alone.

"Is he insane?! Look at all those turrets and ravagers over there! Primarch or not, he's going to get killed!" Arika shook her head in disbelief.

Brandishing the Phoenix Reaper now, Ferrus charged in faster than physics would normally deem possible as he cleaved down a wave of kabalites with his blade. Fire erupted out of it with the massive swing engulfing countless others in what Seiras could only describe as promethium napalm.

Each Servo arm on the primarch's back focused fire on the heavy turrets and vehicles almost automatically as Ferrus himself moved with divine speed and power hacking apart countless enemies and simultaneously blasting all high priority targets on all sides at once. To say this terrified the defenders would be a vast understatement. Their ranks immediately broke as many fled in all directions from the Gorgon's sheer tenacity.

Several turrets managed to land heavy shots on his armour, but Ferrus shrugged them off despite the melting damage they caused. He then held up his necrodermis arms to completely negate more follow up shots before the cannons on his servo arms blew apart the rest of the outer fortifications.

One brave kabalite managed to throw a grenade at Ferrus before being cut in half and incinerated into ash. Ferrus caught it midair with one of his hands and squeezed the grenade causing it to explode in his palm. This did virtually no damage and was all the remaining kabalites needed to see before they completely routed.

Focusing the assault cannon on their fleeting warriors, Ferrus mowed them down until the enemy was completely gone.

Seiras took this as his cue to lead the others in behind Ferrus now as the primarch reached the sealed blast doors at the armoury.

"It's locked down…maybe we can blast it open?" Major Medina suggested.

Tallath shook his head, "That metal is too thick…it would take too long to blow it open. I might be able to hack it, but it'll take an uncomfortable amount of time."

"I believe there's a back way into these armouries…I might be able to sneak around and open it from the inside," Atharen suggested.

"No…" was all Ferrus said as he silenced everyone's suggestions. They stared at him confused as he walked right up to the sealed blast doors. With both hands he pierced into the inner sides of the doors and pulled with his full strength which slowly pried them open.

Even to a superhuman like Seiras, this was like watching someone perform a superhuman feat. He briefly wondered if this was how regular humans felt when seeing Astartes in action.

"By the Emperor…the primarch is godly! We might just make it out of here alive!" one of the guardsmen evoked with sheer astonishment at Ferrus' demi-god strength.

Just witnessing Ferrus' prior display of might was enough to invigorate everyone there, including Seiras himself, with extremely high morale.

After ripping open the blast doors, Ferrus quickly punched open the other door. He glanced at Seiras, "Cover the entrance, I'm going to clear this place out,"

"Yes my lord! Take cover inside, everyone. I'll watch the front," Seiras nodded before issuing his sub-commands to the others.

After a short minute of hearing horrified screams, Seiras got a message from Ferrus on a private vox call, "It's clear in here. I'm ripping open the vault now. Send them in!"

"Get inside everyone and get your wargear! I'll keep watch on the door until you're set up and ready!" Seiras ordered.

Without wasting any time, everyone ran in and looked for their gear. Sorellia was the last one to go though as she waited behind and looked at him, "Seiras…I don't know what's going to happen when we put our exarch armour back on…it might change us. I'm not even sure if I will be useful when I get it back."

"How so?" he asked as he scanned the outside area for movement.

"Never mind…but just so you know, I want to come with you and Ashera to free the others. Seeing our warriors might invigorate me," she stated before running inside.

'It'll be interesting to see how cooperative they are once they get their wargear back. Granted, even with their warrior identities restored, they'd have to be stupid to cross Ferrus after seeing what he's done so far,' Seiras thought. Just knowing he had the primarch's help alleviated a lot of his doubts about things going wrong.

His thoughts were short lived as he saw a massive eldar ship coming over the horizon. It was quick to touch down and dock at the foundry in the distance. The librarian focused his visor into the horizon and saw the Black Heart Kabal's symbol on it, 'Well here they come…no sign of the ziggurat yet thankfully. Vect seems like the kind of guy who would shoot a singularity at this spire to kill us. No sign of the wyches either...or Nelfaera. Hopefully we can get out of here before they show up.'

Throughout the skies, countless more ships came down to dock and unload troops. Most of these were Faelan's ships judging by the Kabal of the Twilight Shadow symbols.

After a few minutes, a couple raider parties came in towards the armoury immediately opening fire on Seiras' location. Using his psychic powers he redirected the shots and threw one of the raiders into another. A third one landed right in front of him afterwards as countless trueborn jumped off and charged at him.

Seiras quickly fried them with a surge of lightning and followed up by shooting the pilot before he could fly away. This left the raider conveniently right next to the entrance. 'Good, now we have a vehicle to reach the Pleasure Spire with,' he thought tactically.

Focusing his psychic thoughts for a moment he managed to lock onto the Callidus Assassin, Tira, "Assassin, are you there? This is Seiras. I've opened a psychic link with you. I'm sensing you're near the foundry. How goes your progress?"

"It's good to hear from you, my lord, though I wasn't expecting it to be this soon. There was this massive explosion and all of a sudden everyone started going crazy. I freed Sylea and I have the others with me…we're by the foundry in a hidden duct. She's actually been helpful. Sylea managed to convince them to listen to me when I told her you were going to break us out. I have a good look at all the enemies coming in. They seem to be going to one location. What do you want me to do?" Tira asked.

"Wait there…I'll contact you when we're closing in on the Foundry. Those kabalites are coming for the armoury. I have allies here including the primarch with me, so just keep the rest of those women safe for now," he ordered.

"I'll stand by then," she responded calmly.

"Stay alert. I'll check in on you periodically," he replied before cutting off the psychic link.

Shortly after doing so, he saw the advance party of kabalites charging across the open plaza for the armoury. A large envoy of raiders, ravagers, mandrakes were coming in as well. Scourges soon began to descend from the skies as many took strategic locations to snipe at him down below.

Knowing he couldn't negate all of that firepower, Seiras moved inside and took cover. Dark lance barrages pelted the entrance, but he focused a psychic barrier in the opening as he thought of a solution. It was much easier to focus this defensive ward in one area, but he knew it wouldn't hold for long once the reinforcements got closer.

His backup came just in time to reassure him as Seiras saw the warp spider exarch Atharen was the first to return. He was fully armoured and geared up. The aspect warrior clearly knew where his armour had been stored from what Seiras could surmise.

Atharen swiftly ran up to a control panel and began to work through it. He explained his intentions to Seiras while doing so, "These armouries are designed for holdouts in case slaves break free. They have defense shields to negate ship bombardment and backup weapons systems to handle crowd control in case a mob of slaves attacks it. I'm turning it on for us…setting target to Commorrites."

Seiras was rather surprised to hear some good news from the warp spider as the exarch hacked into the system. It wasn't long before he heard a strange noise followed by pillars and walls erupting outside. Still holding the psychic ward, the librarian took a few steps out to see what just happened.

He was pleased to see that the heavy weapons' fire shooting at the armoury walls were dissipating against its shields. Countless additional turrets were now operational as well. It left him wondering why the dark eldar didn't have all this turned on initially, but they likely weren't expecting Ferrus could rip open the blast doors.

The encroaching enemies were soon caught in a hailstorm of firepower and many were split apart as various walls rose up with turrets on top of them. This caught all of the incoming raiders and ravagers off guard shooting quite a few down.

Seiras fell back inside now and kept his eyes fixated on the entrance in case someone could make it through. It hardly surprised him to see a pack of mandrakes succeed as they swarmed inside clawing and hissing violently.

The librarian wasted no time setting them all ablaze with warp fire and made sure to open up with his storm bolter at the descending scourges as well. Thankfully, all of the defenses were now operational as they completely annihilated all nearby foes close to the entrance and pushed back the charging army to take cover.

It wasn't long before a number of the Cadians came back with various weapons. Two even wheeled out an Icarus-Pattern quad lascannon turret. Seiras was quite familiar with these weapons as the guardsmen on Kronus had actually managed to kill space marines with them. Several more rolled out and set up autocannons in defensive positions.

Seeing that the entrance was now covered, Seiras gave them brief nods of acknowledgment as he went to regroup with the others. The warp spider, Atharen, spoke as Seiras departed, "I'm going to open the slave chambers from that processing control center. I'll regroup with you shortly afterwards. Make sure our aspect warriors make it here, space marine…and I'll make sure the rest of your monkeigh friends make it as well."

Seiras nodded and watched as Atharen teleported away moments later.

"We got the door covered sir, the Major is waiting in the other room," one of the Cadian sergeants told Seiras.

He acknowledged them silently before making his way into the main vault area further away. As he went in, he noticed everyone present eyeing each other a bit suspiciously.

The Tau were no doubt concerned the Imperial troops would attack them and vice versa. The other craftworld exarchs seemed unfazed as the remaining three were all back in their wargear.

'It's quite fortunate that their wargear was kept in the armoury and not someone's trophy case,' the Blood Raven couldnt' help but think.

Upon seeing Seiras, Tallath addressed him immediately, "Monkeigh…are you ready to go rescue our aspect warriors? We have a sizeable enough force here and enough firepower to hold off an army for a short while. We must move swiftly…Atharen is already on the move to open the chambers."

"I am ready. Let's not waste any time then. Ashera and I will see your warriors freed. Fortunately, there's a raider right outside that wasn't destroyed. We can take that to the spire where they're being held," the Blood Raven replied calmly.

"Come, Sorellia, we're going. I'll pilot. Since you're the most heavily armoured, you should cover our exit Seiras," Ashera stated as she and Sorellia made their way towards the entrance.

Tallath nodded, "I'll stay here and keep their melee combatants at bay in case they break through. The guardsmen and the Tau here should have enough firepower to keep the entrance covered."

Ferrus walked past everyone unfazed as he interjected, "I'll hold the vanguard, you make sure they don't sneak in behind us, alien. There is more than one entrance here, isn't there? See to it that they do not breach and flank us."

While an exarch normally wouldn't take kindly to anyone commanding him, Tallath surprisingly took it well as he nodded, "Very well…I expect mandrakes and wyches to try and sneak around. I'll ensure they do not succeed."

"My Kroot Warriors can help you," Harru the Kroot Shaper interjected.

"So be it." Tallath responded.

Ferrus and Seiras both went outside first as they gunned down a column of enemies in cover. Several Tau fire warriors took the opportunity to aim their rail guns at scourge snipers overhead before taking cover back inside. The librarian ensured he held up a psychic shield as he, Sorellia, and Ashera quickly jumped onto the raider shortly afterwards.

The primarch spoke into Seiras' personal vox channel as the raider began to take off, "Keep me updated on your progress…and let me know if the xenos try anything traitorous."

"I sent out a message for the space marines in Commorragh to come help us. Hopefully, they got it, but I'm not counting on it. We shouldn't be too long. If you don't hear from me, assume I'm dead and get out of here without me," Seiras responded.

"You should know before you go…the haemonculus said something about what was going on before she teleported you to her lab. She said the Kabal was being attacked by another Kabal and Hellions were sabotaging the spire defenses. Apparently the wych named Renfaeda was repelling the attack. This is actually a good escape window for us. She also said that the harlequins would likely try and target you if we separated. I don't know what those are, but make sure you don't get caught off guard, librarian. Your survival is actually important for my return to the Imperium. Make sure you don't fail me, Seiras." the primarch commanded.

"Yes my lord…I won't fail you," he responded immediately with resolve before ending the vox call.