The Wayward Son

Shortly after Seiras left with Sorellia and Ashera, Ferrus turned his attention back towards the defenders who were taking cover inside. The primarch walked up and looked them all over for a brief moment. To say they were staring at him with deific awe would be an understatement. Realizing that this was his best time to speak to them before a full-scale engagement, the primarch paused in front of the defenders as he contemplated the best way to communicate with non Astartes.

Ferrus glanced at the Cadians and the several PDF troops lucky enough to be there first, "I have centuries of experience leading men into battle…even non astartes. I know most of you are only soldiers from the Imperial Army, but I expect you all to perform your duty to the limits of your humanity. Everyone fights…no one quits. There will be no free rides here. If I see any of you cowering or not doing your job, I will kill you myself. I don't expect most of you to survive. I will do what I can to safeguard you, but your survival will wholly depend upon how badly you want to live and how well you obey my orders. I don't consider your lives irrelevant, but I won't endanger this escape if you do anything stupid or compromising to our success. Is that clear soldiers?"

"Yes my lord!" almost all of them shouted in disciplined unison.

Ferrus nodded in approval, "Good, for this fortification, I want you all in three man teams manning those autocannons or whatever xenos munitions you can find. Your lasrifles won't be as effective in low numbers, so rely on heavier munitions. I don't know what your battle doctrines and tactics are these days so I will be very clear how I want you set up. I need one troop from each team to be the forward spotter. Your job is to protect the flanks and kill enemies that manage to get past the initial volleys through the door. Priority targets are the flying xenos but also be mindful of melee combatants. They will likely attempt to bypass me. Make sure that doesn't happen. I expect grenades to be the biggest danger you will face…so make sure you layer your fortifications threefold and bolster cover a meter higher. This would also be a good time to haul over extra ammunition. From what it looks like, that won't be nearly enough to hold this position. These xenos will be dying by the hundreds if not the thousands...so get everything that won't explode if it gets shot. You, go get more for the front fortification."

The guardsman Ferrus pointed at practically teleported to his feet as he ran full speed to go retrieve more ammo and supplies for their fortifications.

"Primarch, what is your name? I am Ambassador Por'O'Vior'la Kim'ria," the Tau ambassador boldly spoke up much to the shock of all the humans.

"Ferrus Manus, primarch of the 10th space marine legion, the Iron Hands. Most people called me the Gorgon. I am the son of the Emperor and one of humanity's greatest weapons," he answered her stoically.

Most of the humans were shocked that a primarch would answer a xenos' question, but they seemed even more appalled that one would dare to even attempt it.

"How dare you ask a question of the holy primarch, xenos!" Major Medina interrupted with fiery anger.

Kim'ria frowned at the Cadian officer, "I mean no disrespect to your exalted prince, but I wish to know more about him. What was he doing here? How did the Lord Seiras find him exactly?"

"You stupid alien…this isn't the time for twenty questions! How did you even slip in with the first group up the elevator anyways?!" Major Medina growled in annoyance.

"Your rudeness is not appreciated, Gue'la. I simply don't understand where this gue'ron'sha prince came from. Is it wrong for me to ask why? I was under the impression we were working together," Kim'ria sighed.

Before Major Medina could reply, Ferrus spoke again, "What alien species are you?"

"We are Tau, and these reptilian warriors with us are called Kroot. They are protectorates under our empire. We are a cooperative cross-species alliance of multiple races. Although we have had some unfortunate wars with your Imperium, we do not wish for conflict with your kind. I share the hopes of many that we can live together in peace," Kim'ria answered with diplomatic fervor.

"Empire? Has the Imperium truly fallen so far as to allow a xenos empire to brazenly exist in its proximity? Even the Eldar run scared from Imperial Fleets." Ferrus spoke aloud rhetorically.

"They're not an "empire" holy primarch…just a couple hundred worlds near the Ultramar system. They've been getting stronger the past few millennia, but they're not even a match for Ultramar...let alone the whole Imperium," Major Medina spitefully interjected.

Ferrus noticed the Tau, Kroot, and humans exchange distasteful glares with one another upon hearing her comment.

Kim'ria shook her head at Major Medina, "Is it true then that your Imperium has a million worlds? Serias told me as much, but I can scarcely believe it."

"It is true, but I highly doubt the Imperium is as formidable as it once was. Dozens of empires like yours were easily exterminated during the Great Crusade by single Astartes legions. It astounds me that Guilliman would tolerate one right next to his treasured Ultramar. It would seem the situation is even worse than I thought," Ferrus noted.

"Remarkable…so you really are the son of the Gue'la's Emperor? I understand humans consider him some deity…is that true?" she asked again inquisitively.

"I am the Emperor's son. The last time I saw the galaxy was eleven thousand Solar years ago when the Emperor still walked among humanity. Beyond what Seiras has told me, I have no knowledge on the modern age of this galaxy or what people believe now. That is a question better asked of Seiras than of me. Of course, that's assuming you even survive this escape. You're quite fortunate that I would even waste my time speaking to you," Ferrus remarked.

"Eleven thousand imperial solar years? H-how are you that old?" Kim'ria seemed amazed by the information.

"Primarchs and space marines are immortal, alien. They don't age, just like the God-Emperor," one of the Cadian sergeants interjected. Ferrus visibly cringed upon hearing 'God-Emperor' and 'holy', but he didn't say anything about it. Against his better sense of moral judgment, he knew that now wasn't the time to have the 'God-Emperor' talk with people.

Tallath who had been mostly silent during the conversation addressed Ferrus with the inquisitive insight of an Eldar, "Seiras told us that you were in a gestation tube in the lab of the Haemonculus. I have to ask…how did you end up there and how did he free you exactly? I can't imagine you must have had a lot of time to speak with him. He seems to have convinced you to his go along with this plan unusually fast. Considering his urgency in breaking us out, I don't understand where you had the time to converse with him. His story doesn't quite add up to me."

"It doesn't matter…he convinced me to go along with this and I will. Perhaps if you prove your trustworthiness to me, I might tell you the whole story. Until then, you should be grateful that I am even tolerating this alliance with xenos. It goes against my own principles, but I am not above doing what I must to return to Terra. Were it not for the librarian, none of you would be here right now. Respect his trust in you and I will do the same. Give me one reason to doubt your commitment to this temporary alliance, and I will make sure your Craftworld burns WHEN I return to the Imperium," Ferrus responded threateningly.

Tallath did not seem intimidated surprisingly, but the Striking Scorpion exarch nodded in acceptance, "As you say then, primarch. I suppose there is much Seiras did not tell us for tactical reasons. We can speak of it later if you'll permit. So long as Seiras succeeds in freeing our aspect warriors, I see no reason to incite strife between us."

"Hmph…a cooperative Eldar. Quite a rare sight to see in the galaxy," Ferrus couldn't help but state.

"We have no wish for conflict with your Imperium. I for one am in favor of establishing some type of long-term federation or alliance between our two empires so that-" Kim'ria didn't get to finish her statement before Ferrus interrupted her.

"I am not a politician, and that is not for me to decide. Even if it were, the Imperium of my time was vastly different than whatever it's turned into now. That should be the least of your concerns right now, ambassador. I expect your kind to pull their weight as well in this escape. Perhaps if you give me a reason to respect your existence, then I might consider asking Guilliman what he thinks about your request. The Emperor's vision is my only priority…I don't care about anything else. If you do not stand in the way of it, then I have no pertinent reason to desire your extermination," Ferrus responded coldly.

Kim'ria nodded, "I…understand. Our warriors will do all they can to help. Listen to the Gue'ron'sha prince, Fire warriors. Show him the worth of the Tau. Our role in helping the primarch will serve the Greater Good and will make or break future relations with the Imperium."

Most of the fire warriors had helmets on now, but a few didn't. The ones that didn't seemed more motivated as they all expressed fiery determination in their eyes. Ferrus noticed Kim'ria and the two other water caste Tau there were the only people not armed or armoured.

The primarch stared at her for a brief moment before speaking again, "Where is your weapon, xenos?"

"Forgive me primarch, but I am an ambassador of the water caste, and so are my fellow water caste Tau beside me. We are not combatants. That role falls to the Fire Caste. We in the water caste are-" she didn't get to finish her sentence again before Ferrus interrupted.

"Everyone fights. Get a weapon...now," Ferrus commanded sternly.

Kim'ria looked at him shocked and clearly intimidated, "I…but I am not trained, and my caste is not permitted to-"

"You will learn today then…your survival depends on it," he cut her off once again.

Reluctantly, the timid looking water caste Tau walked back into the vault to no doubt retrieve weapons. One of the fire warriors followed behind them likely to help out.

Ferrus refocused his attention back to the Cadians now, "You may speak freely if there are any last concerns you wish to bring to my attention. From what it sounds like the enemy will make another push soon."

All of the soldiers made brave faces, but none seemed to have the courage to respond to the primarch. Most of them seemed as if they still couldn't even believe one of the Emperor's sons was actually in front of them. They were also no doubt scared shitless of Ferrus' passive intensity. Even Astartes got nervous around a primarch like Ferrus…so there was no telling exactly how these people were feeling.

The sounds of the outer defense turrets got louder now as it became apparent the enemy was advancing again. Ferrus turned around and walked out the door without looking back.

Pleasure Spire

As their raider flew higher into the skies of Commorragh towards an exclusive spire further away from the main one, Seiras glanced back over the horizon and saw countless Drukhari ships coming in over the dark skyline. He shook his head at the sight, "I think Faelan was waiting for me to make this escape attempt…that must be why he didn't return right away."

"That seems logical…but I want to know why Asdrubael Vect is coming here, and how you know about it, Seiras," Ashera focused on him from the pilot seat of the raider.

"A harlequin told me about it," Seiras lied.

"A harlequin? Wait…you don't mean Sylandri Veilwalker do you?" Ashera asked seriously.

Seiras shook his head, "No, it was the solitaire, Aenaria. She has warned me a couple of times about things to look out for here…including Sylandri Veilwalker and her fellow harlequins. I expect they'll be targeting me during this escape. Apparently, they want to bring me to the Black Library because I can control Rubric Marines. There's also some veiled prophecy they're trying to prohibit I assume."

"You managed to get a solitaire to tell you her name? That's disturbing…especially if she has a name like THAT." Sorellia pointed out.

"She mentioned her name was a cursed one," Seiras stated as he wondered whether the two aspect warriors would have better insight.

Sorellia sighed, "It is…that name is from a very old legend. What you monkeigh call mythology. I suppose a human equivalent would be like having the name Horus or something similar."

"Perhaps this was part of Iruna's vision…the solitaire warned you in time to free us for this escape. Still…I wouldn't be so trusting of her, Seiras. She certainly must have her own agenda. We could be heading into a trap. At the very least, we will keep an eye out for harlequins," Ashera pointed out.

"If ever they were going to make a move, it would be now. They probably won't risk a direct approach with Ferrus around…so we should be quick about this and return to the others as soon as we can," Seiras pointed out.

"I'll keep that in mind then and inform our warriors to attack harlequins on sight. They are clearly not our allies considering they would passively tolerate our abuse at the hands of the Commorrites," Ashera added.

"That's ominous that the solitaire told Seiras her name. What do you make of that?" Sorellia spoke in her own language to Ashera.

"They have…twisted personalities. I assume that means she has some interest in him. Depending on how much Seiras actually spoke to her, she might have developed some type of obsession over him. Solitaire's have obsessive personalities like She-Who-Thirsts. It's a product of their insanity I believe," Ashera answered.

"What's her interest in him though?" Sorellia wondered.

"They say the cruelest punishment you can inflict upon one's spirit is isolation…given her lack of a need to restrain her emotions and endless solitary suffering, it doesn't take a farseer to figure out the situation. To me it seems as if she might be projecting her delusional and overly emotional desperation onto him because he actually spoke to her civilly. I've heard of this happening before even if you stare at a solitaire too much. I also knew a Dire Avenger that made that mistake once. She asked a visiting Solitaire to help her train. They were somewhat friendly, but he ended up stalking her for decades afterwards. He killed her entire family and eventually kidnapped her. It's more than grim superstition. Solitaires really are crazy," Ashera explained.

Sorellia shook her head, "If this was Iruna's intention, it seems a bit cruel. Even though he's a monkeigh, Seiras has suffered the same as us here. I wouldn't wish that fate upon him. To be stalked by a solitaire the rest of his life…and the eyes of She-Who-Thirsts drawing upon him ever closer. Do you think that Solitaire will do the same to him?"

"For his sake, I hope not. His survival would greatly increase the chances of neutrality and non-aggression between the Imperium and Iybraesil. I don't know how, but he convinced the primarch to agree to this. Honestly though, it wouldn't surprise me if Iruna set him up to deal with the solitaire situation just so he could help us escape and conveniently disappear afterwards. It's doubtful she cares much about his fate in her long-term plan," Ashera sighed.

"I am surprised to hear you have concern for his survival. He would be a useful asset, but he's still a monkeigh. Their lives aren't nearly as precious as ours. Nevertheless, I don't think Iruna is that cruel. She's always been a bit soft-handed when dealing with monkeigh. They're ignorant and arrogant as a species, but they aren't evil. Plus, I imagine this will greatly help Iybraesil if we end up on the good side of the primarch here. It might lay the foundation for future cooperation against the great enemy. I have no love for monkeigh, but it's a complete waste to fight them when we have so many larger threats in the galaxy that take precedence. If Seiras were to die, I'm not so sure the primarch would be as open to diplomatic terms with us. We have to keep him alive," Sorellia noted.

"While your logic is sound, I get the impression you actually care about his well-being, Sorellia." the fire dragon spoke to the banshee in a matter of fact manner.

"You're imagining things, Ashera...this is purely a tactical and political matter," the banshee deflected.

Ashera shook her head, "Deny it if you want then...but I actually do wish him the best. I wouldn't dislike the Imperium nearly as much if there were more sensible monkeigh like him who were willing to listen to us. His death would be a great tragedy in my opinion. Granted, there's no reason for all of this doom and gloom. Seiras is in less danger of dying than we are. Monkeigh or not, he is a psyker and he is a space marine. It will be interesting trying to explain this to the others when we free them. Though I'm certain they will welcome a rescue under any condition from this horrible place," Ashera added.

Seiras naturally eavesdropped on their conversation but kept it to himself as usual. Part of him was relieved that they still weren't aware of his ability to understand them. From what he could tell, the exarchs didn't have any intention of betraying him. In fact they even wanted him to survive.

'I've learned a lot more about Eldar in my time here. If they deliver on their word and we all get out of this alive, then I might actually have to update Iybraesil in the Deathwatch database as non-hostile. I guess Lady Orichiel was right after all…some xenos can be reasoned with. Strange to think that they actually have concern over my survival. I mean it is political…but they are right. Fighting each other is a waste in the current state of the galaxy. Chaos, Necrons, and Tyrannids are a much bigger threat to both of our factions right now. I have no fondness for their kind, but I've certainly gained some measure of tolerance for them as well. If all Eldar were this reasonable and honest, then I'd actually see no reason to genocide the remainder of their race. Nevertheless, I'm certain we will have to deal with them eventually. They want to rebuild their empire and that's a direct threat to the Imperium and to mankind. I doubt there will ever be a lasting peace…there's too few people like them and like me. Eldar who can swallow their pride and humans who can do the wrong thing for the right reason. I only hope history doesn't remember me as a traitor.' Seiras reflected on the information.

"Seiras, I have a question for you…did you touch the Solitaire at all?" Ashera asked him in gothic.

Sorellia turned her helmeted head his direction as well looking almost eager to know the answer.

"What do you mean? Touched her how?" he tilted his head at her.

Ashera shook her head, "Sexually…platonically…anyway at all? Even a handshake?"

"No…she asked me to touch her though. She said she would help us if I did. Something about the whole situation made me uneasy and I didn't do it. Aenaria makes me incredibly nervous…and that's not an easy thing to do to a space marine. I think I made a mistake speaking with her," he replied.

"You have my apologies for even suggesting you approach her at all…though the interaction might have been vital in warning you to break us out in time. I suppose we can review all the facts later and confirm them with the farseer's wisdom. Still, it's a relief to hear that you did not comply with her request. Whether it was your instincts or your intuition, you made the right decision. Solitaires are feared and avoided among our kind for a reason. They have the same excessive personalities of She-Who-Thirsts along with the madness of Cegorach. It's not just superstition to associate with one. They do bizarre things to those that interact with them. She might have…misunderstood if you did touch her. I knew of a solitaire once who abducted one of my friends. All she did was speak to him and train with him a few times. This was shortly after he told her his name. We never saw her again," Ashera shook her head.

'So Aenaria has some kind of delusional obsession about me because I spoke to her? That's absurd, but somehow it seems true. Am I a magnet for insanity? I suppose my instincts were right after all,' the librarian thought to himself.

"Seiras…is there something you're not telling us? I get the impression you're hiding something, and I would prefer that we address it now rather than the heat of battle," Ashera spoke up after a brief silence.

Seiras turned his helmeted head towards her again, but he did not respond for quite a while. Finally he chose to give an answer, "I discovered that Nelfaera intends to betray the Kabal. She asked me if I would help her kill Faelan and Renfaeda. Apparently her aunt is in command of an Ynnari-aligned Kabal. I believe they're attacking as we speak."

"What?! Does that mean she knows about this escape?!" Ashera deadpanned.

"She knows I planned to escape with the other slaves and mentioned you exarchs, but she has no insight into how I was going to do it or when. I don't trust her at all, but hopefully her betrayal proves to be a decent distraction. I believe it is what drew off Mokaela and Aelendriel…as well as all the other high ranking wyches. Before I freed Ferrus, I was in their training grounds for some…party. They were torturing Cult of Strife wyches and sent some insulting vid to Lelith Hesperax. I passed out from all the drugs they put in me and I woke up with all of the leaders gone. Maeralya was there however, and she revealed that she knew what our plan was thanks to a recording bug she put on Sylea. Fortunately, I managed to kill Maeralya when she let her guard down. After that happened, I knew we had to expedite the plan immediately. I rushed to Melisara's lab, and I broke Ferrus out. We killed that haemonculus with some dark matter weapon called a hexcannon. She's probably not dead for good, but at least she won't slow us down. The only two things I'm concerned about now are Asdrubael Vect and the harlequins," he added.

"So that's how it all happened? Interesting…I am grateful to know that you killed Maeralya. What did you do with her corpse?" Ashera wondered.

"I tossed it out of the spire. They won't find it before her soul is gone. She's dead for good I'd say," Seiras said with relief.

"I only hope Faelan and his Incubi can suffer the same fate. You were careless to trust that monkeigh girl…you even suspected she was bugged. It's fortunate that didn't backfire entirely. It could have ruined the whole plan," Ashera scolded him.

Seiras scoffed, "It gave me the opening to kill her, so what does it matter now?"

"So…you actually killed Maeralya?! Truly?! You have my eternal gratitude for that, Seiras. That insidious whore deserved ten times the humiliation she inflicted on me. Just knowing she's dead is a relief to hear. I pray we get to kill Faelan and his Incubi too! I hope we get to tear out their throats and castrate those fiends!" Sorellia hissed with a spurt of random rage.

Ashera glanced at her briefly, "That's the Sorellia I know. Don't distress…he will die."

"Even if we can't kill him, I know for a fact that Ferrus can. With that said, we should focus on our objective above all else. Chasing them down for revenge is the quickest way to botch this entire escape plan. I would advise you don't fall for his taunts or go after him if we have a clean escape. I've seen enough of Drukhari politics to know that he and his sister will get their due soon enough. Getting out of here alive and embarrassing him in front of Vect is likely humiliating enough," Seiras added.

"How can you say that after what they've done to us…to you?! Unless you actually liked being raped by wyches and being their pet!" Sorellia hissed bitterly.

Seiras cracked a fist, "I'd endure this hell a thousand times just to see Ferrus returned to the Imperium. My own desires mean nothing compared to that. Perhaps you should take a lesson from me and endure it for a greater purpose. None of us are important in the big picture. My pride, my glory, my selfish woes, and my honour means nothing in comparison to my goal. A true warrior sacrifices everything for the betterment of his people and his cause! History might remember me as a heretic and a failure of a space marine. They might remember me as some xenos sympathizer, but that won't change the fact that I did what no one else was willing to do…I disgraced my own code to free a primarch. I did the wrong thing for the right reason. I realized I wasn't nearly as important as my mission. Your petty revenge against Faelan won't change anything here and it won't undo what happened. It won't save any future humans or Eldar. There's no shortage of depraved psychopaths living in this blighted city who would do the same thing, and WILL, long after Faelan is gone. Believe me, Sorellia…I wish death upon their ilk far more than you do…but I won't let my emotions dictate my fate." Seiras ranted.

Both of the exarchs seemed a bit stunned by his words and did not speak for a few moments.

Sorellia finally shook her head annoyed, "You're right…we should do what we can for our people. I owe it to my banshees and to all the aspect warriors. I owe it to my predecessors of this armour. We are warriors and our duty is clear."

"Glad to see Sorellia is getting back to normal. I agree with you Seiras. The ultimate revenge will be shaming Faelan in front of Vect. I imagine Vect can inflict punishment far worse than we ever could. Let's take the high road and honour the path of Asuryan. Khaine's Wrath will find Faelan sooner or later. With that said, I certainly hope we get the chance to kill them," Ashera sighed in agreement.

"How far until we reach the spire? Do you know where we're going?" Seiras got the conversation back to business.

Ashera nodded, "I know where the majority of our warriors are being kept. There's a central slave chamber exclusively for our warriors and guardians beneath the main den of the Pleasure Spire up ahead. Here's the plan…down there up ahead is the main landing pad where most raiders and ravagers are kept parked. Usually only trueborn come up here since it's exclusive. Those skiffs are going to be needed to fly our people out of here. We need to make sure we keep whoever is here from escaping on them. When we land, we should go for the traffic control console immediately. I'll reprogram their defense turrets to target Kabalites and Scourges instead. It can also remotely lock the raiders down. One of us needs to guard the landing pad so we don't lose our escape. They will also need to make sure nobody overrides the lockdown."

"Who did you have in mind, Ashera?" Sorellia asked.

The Fire Dragon exarch glanced at her, "You have to do it Sorellia. My firepike will be necessary to break through their blast doors, and I would prefer Seiras present when we free the others. Plus, it's not safe to leave him alone with these harlequins skulking about. Are you up to the task, Sorellia?"

"I can do it…but you need to be quick. If reinforcements hit the spire, which I expect they will, I won't be able to hold out for long," Sorellia explained.

"You'll have the turrets helping you…but we won't be too long. If complications arise, contact me immediately and I'll send Seiras back to help you," Ashera reassured her.

"What is my primary function in the infiltration, Ashera?" Seiras asked the fire dragon exarch.

She looked at him for a brief second before answering, "Your main job is to protect me when I melt through the blast doors with my firepike. Seeing you will also reassure our warriors that we're working together. Not all of them will be as understanding as we are, but they won't object to escaping together."

"I understand then…I'll do my best to reassure them. I imagine they will probably find it strange for a space marine to be helping you," he noted.

Ashera shrugged, "Well fortunately, they will at least know who you are. Their slave chamber also broadcasts arena vids."

"That's good to know…" Seiras was relieved to hear that he wouldn't have to do as much explaining now.

"We're closing in the spire landing pad now. Looks like most of the security was called away to deal with the attack. I see twenty raiders, and two ravagers parked. Enough to fit a few hundred if necessary. We'll be a big target until we get back to the armoury, but it's best if we fly back as one group," Ashera continued explaining mission parameters.

"Look over the horizon there! More Kabal ships! Those aren't Black Heart or Twilight Shadow. Huh…you were right Seiras. That must be the Kabal Nelfaera told you about. Let's hope it keeps them occupied long enough," Sorellia pointed out.

The others didn't have much time to take in the view before landing on the pleasure spire. Its usual guards didn't appear present, and the automated defenses weren't attacking them thankfully. No doubt it had something to do with recognizing the raider as belonging to the Kabal. Seiras didn't have time to speculate on the why, but the absence of a flight controller was likely a factor as well.

The trio of warriors swiftly charged over the bridge and moved in through the entrance of the Pleasure Spire. They could see countless trueborn running over the bridge to reach their raiders, but the kabalites seemed horrified at the sight of the three warriors in their way.

Without any mercy, Seiras and company made quick work of the fleeing Kabalites. Seiras could hear a trueborn leader reporting them in their alien vox around the corner, "We have enemy contact at the Pleasure Spire! The Space Marine and two craftworlders are-"

He didn't get to finish his statement before Ashera set him ablaze with her firepike. The sheer firepower of the weapon was truly impressive as it was essentially an automatic long range meltagun that seared through cover and armour with pathetic ease.

Seiras supplemented heavy bolter fire and psychic attacks to wipe out the rest of the initial response team and before long they were all dead. The three wasted no time going into what Seiras assumed was the flight control center of this landing pad. Ashera quickly went to work hacking through the system and reprogramming the defense turrets to target kabalites.

While she was doing this, Sorellia ran back to get a ravager and parked it at a chokepoint. She jumped aboard and primed the dark lance cannons before grabbing ahold of the portside one which was facing the front entrance into the spire.

"Alright done…the turrets will cover incoming vessels to the landing pad, Sorellia. Just watch the door. If things get too intense, take cover and call us. Make sure to override the lockdown once everyone gets outside. We shouldn't be long," Ashera reiterated the situation to her fellow exarch before glancing at Seiras.

"Okay, Seiras…from here, we're going straight in past the first chamber. Just follow my lead and make sure to watch your fire. Some of our people might not be in the slave chamber itself. There's a central override that can open all the doors in the spire, but it's heavily guarded in the spire security command center. From there we can open the slave chamber and I can broadcast for our warriors to get to the landing pad. Most of our warriors will likely know how to use Drukhari weapons and will be able to help us when we free them along the way. After we broadcast, we need to immediately get back to the landing pad and hold it until most of them get there. The enemy will likely try to cut us off, so once we broadcast, we need to get back here as quickly as possible," Ashera explained urgently.

"What do we do if we encounter the harlequins here?" Seiras asked concerned.

Ashera shook her head, "I expect we will…just run if you see them, but don't separate from me. I assume they will try to find some way to split us up. Once we free our warriors, I'll order them to attack any harlequin on sight. As skilled as they are, I doubt they'd risk fighting several hundred Aeldari warriors. I'm counting on your psychic abilities to deal with Sylandri Veilwalker if we encounter her. You don't have to beat her…just keep her at bay until then. Come on, we don't have any more time to waste."

"Right behind you, Ashera," Seiras nodded as he followed the charging fire dragon into the spire.

The spire security was pathetically overwhelmed as Seiras and Ashera charged into the first chamber. The remaining kabalites present shouted at each other in frenzied bouts of confusion and anger but could do virtually nothing to stop the ensuing massacre.

With her firepike armed, Ashera went to work blowing up all of the inner turrets, sealed doors and unfortunate kabalites caught in the crossfire.

Seiras of course did what he was good at and tanked the majority of incoming fire as he mowed down swathes of enemies with bolter fire, his halberd, and psychic attacks. He was already familiar with the Kabal's tactics thanks to his slaughter of the Khestri Spire, and none of the enemies seemed prepared or skilled enough to stop him.

Those that weren't killed instantly from his weapons got psychically punished with fire, lightning, and sheer telekinetic force. Seiras did notice a handful of craftworlders along the way dressed up in slutty slave attire…even the males.

While they didn't appear to have any idea what was going on, they wasted no time arming themselves with dead Drukhari weapons upon being freed. Most tried following behind the two of them without question which greatly surprised Seiras. Despite their confusion of the situation, he had no doubts that these craftworld slaves quickly figured out that they were being rescued. This did little to lessen their looks of disdain towards him, unfortunately.

A few did ask Ashera what was happening, but she would briefly just tell them to follow or get to the landing pad. As their party grew larger and larger, it became quite apparent that casualties were going to become a factor soon. Before long they had about two dozen freed craftworlders with them.

After a murder spree of carving a path through the spire, the group finally came to a halt at the end of a winding maze of corridors. Ashera glanced at Seiras, "That's the Security Control room. I can melt through the doors, but it's going to take a minute. Watch my back…and when it opens, I need you to put up a psychic barrier and take point. Got it?"

"As you say," Seiras nodded before facing the hallway they just came down. This was the first time that he got to fully take in the bewildered expressions of the half-naked slaves they had recently freed.

While Ashera began to melt through the security blast doors with her firepike, one of the craftworld slaves spoke to her, "Exarch, what is going on? What's the meaning of this? Why is this monkeigh space marine with you?"

As she kept up her work, Ashera answered, "This is Seiras…the space marine from the arena. He's helping us escape."

"The one they killed?! He's alive? How?" a female craftworlder evoked with surprise.

"Melisara resurrected him. She can apparently reanimate psykers and monkeigh. Seiras was forced into the service of Archon Faelan, but he's been plotting with us to escape for quite some time now," Ashera calmly explained as she continued to burn through the blast door.

"How can you trust a monkeigh?!" one of them asked before directing a hateful glare at Seiras. Judging by how young she sounded, he immediately assumed she was probably just a guardian.

"Is there a problem?" Seiras asked the craftworlder.

Naturally, none of them seemed to keen on the idea of speaking to him. Unlike the exarchs who he had some decent rapport with, these lower ranking aspect warriors and guardians had no reason to feel any reassurance from his presence. He sighed as he shook his head, "Are you almost done, Ashera?"

"Yes, just a little bit more. I'm surprised nobody has attacked yet. That must mean the bulk of their resistance will be holed up inside," she noted.

Finally, one of the craftworlders seemed willing to speak to Seiras after seeing him and Ashera converse without hostility, "Why are you helping us, Monkeigh?"

"Farseer Iruna rescued me prior to my capture here…I suppose I owe it to your craftworld. Plus, it's not like I have any clue as to how to navigate the webway. Your exarchs and I decided to join forces until we get out of here. It seems likely that this was the farseer's plan all along," Seiras answered him.

The slaves seemed doubtful until Ashera vouched for him, "Seiras freed us from our slave chamber near the bridge. He said he killed the haemonculus and he killed Archon Faelan's consort. He also knew Farseer Iruna's name when we first encountered him prior to even knowing our craftworld…we can trust him. Well at least until we go our separate ways."

"He…killed the haemonculus?!" one repeated as if she couldn't believe it was possible.

"Iruna sent him? Impossible...she would entrust her vision and our lives to a monkeigh?!" another added.

Ashera sighed, "Well if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be breaking out of here right now...so trust the farseer's vision and tolerate him. He's not quite as zealous as most monkeigh I've seen. The other exarchs can vouch for this temporary alliance if you don't believe me."

"Where are the other exarchs right now?" someone interjected.

"Tallath is with the Monkeigh's allies at the armoury holding it until we get out of here. Atharen went to open all the other slave chambers and scope out our escape ship I assume. Sorellia is waiting at the landing pad of the pleasure spire just outside," Ashera answered bluntly.

Before anyone could say another word, a horrifying shriek came down the corridor as splinter and shredder fire opened up on them. Seiras immediately shielded the group with a psychic ward before unloading an entire magazine of bolter fire down the hallway.

The brief flashes of its light illuminated a large incoming platoon of trueborn. Everyone else opened fire with their own salvaged weapons minus Ashera as they cleared out the majority of them. Quite a few of the enemies were still taking cover, and Seiras could tell that they were likely going to make their next push when Ashera got the door open.

"Almost done here…get ready Seiras," Ashera instructed.

"They're going to make another push as soon as I turn around," Seiras noted.

"Cover the rear, all of you…move inside behind us once we clear the room. Understood?!" Ashera commanded the others.

They all nodded as they formed up defensively and took what little cover they could.

"The door is open, move Seiras!" Ashera announced.

Seiras quickly spun around to form a barrier and charge into the now open security command room. As he spun around though, he threw one of his last grenades down the hallway which caught a few kabalites off guard and obscured the view of the enemy.

Pushing inside, he was met with a massive barrage of shredder rounds, splinter rounds, and even alien grenades. All of them came up short freezing against his psychic barrier and the grenades did little damage exploding at a safe proximity from his armor. Unfortunately, quite a bit of turret fire did manage to penetrate his barrier, but the iron halo made by Ferrus proved to be a nice backup as it nullified the worst of the damage.

With deadly and newly enhanced precision, Seiras tore through the room with tenacious speed. There were dozens of heavily armed kabalites in this room, but they didn't seem to be expecting his psychic powers as he made quick work of most of them.

Ashera made sure to blast out the turrets as he was doing so and motioned for the other craftworlders to come inside. She then jerked her head towards Seiras, "Watch the door, Seiras!"

The two quickly traded places as Seiras stood in the doorway to hold off the incoming enemies who were desperately trying to stop them. As he and the others pelted the corridor with a ridiculous amount of firepower, Ashera went to work hacking through the system.

In practically no time at all she spoke up, "That should do it…all blast doors are opening. Locking them up now. The slave chamber is opening as well. Alright, I'm about to broadcast to the others. Get ready to make a run for the landing pad once I'm done!"

"Understood exarch!" one of the craftworlders acknowledged her.

"Attention, Iybraesil captives! This is Exarch Ashera of the Fire Dragon Shrine. We're breaking you out of here. Make your way for the landing pad facing the main spire on floor 291. There are ravagers and raiders parked outside. Exarch Sorellia will meet you there. We have little time to spare so hurry! We will hold the landing pad as long as we can. Those that can't make it should seek another escape route. Also, we have a monkeigh space marine helping us. He is the same one from the arena. Do not attack him! We'll be leaving in twenty minutes. If you don't reach us in time, take a vehicle to the armoury and group up. We have allies holding it as we speak!" Ashera announced into the console. Upon finishing her statement she pointed her firepike at it and blew up the console so nobody could reverse the overrides.

Seiras immediately took point as he led the charge back the way they came towards the landing pad. Along the way, they were met with much heavier resistance than before. Now that the kabalites knew what was going on, they would likely cluster around the escape route to stop them.

Fortunately however, dark eldar in any quantity were not a good foil to a space marine in tight corridors. These were trueborn, but they lacked heavy enough munitions or dangerous traps to do any real damage to him. They also had no defense against a psyker. It was likely they never expected this kind of assault to hit the Pleasure Spire and lacked the munitions that could actually deal with a space marine. Seiras counted hundreds of kills on the return trip between his work and that of the craftworlders with them. By the time they actually got back to the big open chamber, the clustered up kabalites seemed to be taking fire on all sides from newly freed aspect warriors and guardians.

Seiras and Ashera's arrival proved to immediately turn the tide in the brief standoff as he charged through their makeshift barricades and psychically annihilated everything in sight. After clearing out this open chamber, all of the fleeing craftworld slaves ran past them towards the bridge outside and made their way to the parked ravagers and raiders.

Seiras covered the rear along with Ashera as the slaves kept pouring through. Some in the rear appeared to be slower than others as they were either carrying injured comrades or helping to cover the rear as well.

"Ashera, we have a big problem out here! We need help!" Sorellia shouted into her alien comm at Ashera.

"Calm down, Sorellia…what's going on?" Ashera asked as she and Seiras continued gunning down kabalites.

"Our escape route is blocked!" she shouted again.

"Seiras…Sorellia needs your help! Move!" Ashera commanded.

The librarian nodded before charging out behind the escaping craftworlders. Quite a few made way for him as he quickly charged to the front of their little escape mob. The ones that were armed seemed to be taking cover and firing at a swarm of scourges overhead. Though it troubled him greatly when he realized that the group wasn't moving anymore.

Sorellia herself was still on the ravager, but was now using the starboard dark lance cannon. She was laying down suppressing fire with the cannon at something above them. It was then that Seiras saw what the problem was and what Sorellia was mainly shooting at.

He felt both of his hearts skip a beat as he saw dozens of manned ravagers and raiders levitating overhead. On the main one was none other than Faelan himself along with all of his incubi, Renfaeda, and Meela.

Sorellia's shots at Faelan's ravager proved pointless as its advanced shields simply absorbed the blasts. One of the incubi quickly returned fire with his own dark lance shots on the gunship blowing up the ravager Sorellia was on. She managed to get off in time but was now standing there in horror at the sight of Faelan's entire cohort looking down at them smugly.

"Cease fire, all of you!" Faelan commanded the scourges, kabalites, and anyone else under his command. The craftworlders also stopped shooting as well.

Everyone present was now staring at Seiras himself as he came up next to Sorellia. If looks could kill, Seiras would probably have been destroyed at a molecular level. Every single one of Faelan's people were glaring at him with pure hatred.

"To think…" Faelan spoke up in gothic after the following silence, "to think you would try to betray me after all the hospitality and sanctum I've given you, space marine! Compared to the fates of most, you had it made here...and you chose to deceive me like an eldar would. It would seem I was too hopeful that one of your kind could be properly tamed. I will never make the same mistake again."

The librarian said nothing as he examined the enemy force with subtlety. There were five ravagers, twelve raiders, and probably at least a hundred or so scourges. He couldn't help but notice the Reaver gang leader, Keldorian, was also there with dozens of reavers.

Seiras did not respond as he desperately tried to think of what to do in this situation. Until the aspect warriors were all armed and armoured, they wouldn't be much use in a straight firefight against this kind of force. Their escape group was also nowhere near Ferrus, which was equally troublesome.

'He decided to come here over securing the armoury?! You would think he'd be more concerned about Nelfaera's aunt attacking or all the slaves escaping. I guess it's personal for him. He doesn't want us getting away even if he loses half his Kabal. That and I imagine Eldar slaves are far more valuable than the rest of the ones running lose,' Seiras reflected briefly.

"It simply baffles me…Melisara helped you too. I just can't fathom why! Do you have any idea how expensive and prestigious she is?! She betrayed Vect…she betrayed me…for a monkeigh?! EXPLAIN THIS TO ME NOW, SEIRAS!" Faelan shouted furiously.

'This is really bad…' Seiras thought horrified as this bit of news caused all of the craftworlders to jerk their heads at him in sheer disbelief.

"What a fool you made out of us. Truly you must be the most cunning human alive. To think this entire time, you understood everything we were saying. I suppose it makes sense that one with the mental capacity to think like an Eldar would also behave like one. You were playing everyone for fools…even your pathetic Aeldari allies down there don't know…do they? Haha! Maeralya told me what you were up to and Vect confirmed it. He is most interested in this God-Prince that Melisara was hoarding in her lab. Another fine trophy for the Supreme Archon! It must pain you to know that despite all your careful planning…all your devious lies and Eldar-like intellect…you ultimately failed! I will enjoy making the rest of your existence as painful and miserable as possible, Monkeigh!" Faelan howled.

"What's he talking about, Seiras?! You were working with Melisara?! I thought you killed her! Was this some deal to free the primarch?" Sorellia gasped.

Ashera had finally reached them by this point and also voiced her disbelief, "What do you mean he understands everything you've been saying this whole time?"

"He knows our language…isn't that right, Seiras?! Imagine my surprise when I found out. It makes sense when you look at the big picture. He lied to protect that Ynnari traitor Shiralyn Khestri from death. Another accomplice of yours, Seiras?! She's missing from the palace spire right now! I assume you're the one who set her free and negotiated these Ynnari fools to attack my Kabal?!" Faelan shouted.

'All that lying and plotting...just for my plan to fall apart like this? From what it sounds like, Faelan assumes I set the Ynnari upon them. That's the only misinformation they seem to have about my plans. I suppose all I can do now is fight,' Seiras thought to himself bitterly.

"You…know our language?! To what extent, exactly?! That's absurd!" Sorellia gawked at Seiras. He did not answer her as he focused solely on Faelan.

"Imagine what else he's keeping from you. Seiras has been lying this entire time. Not something I'd expect from a space marine. Truly he is cunning and such a concept was previously unprecedented to me. I imagine he intended to betray you the moment he got free of this place," Faelan tried to sow more discord between them.

"Maeralya told you all of that did she? Or was it Tahril...Vect himself? Did Maeralya also tell you that she wanted my help to kill you and that she had a secret suitor? Not that it matters now…since she's dead. Which all of you will be soon enough! Nothing is going to stop me from getting out of this accursed place!" Seiras spat back in their language.

It seemed to evoke bizarre reactions from everyone present to hear him speak in their language. Sorellia and Ashera despite wearing helmets likely had stunned looks on their faces if he had to guess.

"Oh really? And just how do you intend to do that?! My fleet is back now in full force, and Vect isn't far behind us. This little 'escape' will be put down quite soon. I hold all the cards here…and I have all the pieces in place. What's that one monkeigh game called…Chess? I would call this checkmate. Surrender now and perhaps I might grant you a swift death," Faelan boasted smugly.

Seiras cracked a fist as he felt hatred and anger welling up within him. He didn't say anything aloud, but his thoughts were racing, 'I haven't come this far to fail now. I didn't survive everything that's happened until now just fail like this! I WILL NOT LET IT ALL BE FOR NOTHING! YOU WILL DIE! ALL OF YOU! NOTHING IS STOPPING ME! I'll tear a hole into the warp if I must. I'll summon daemons; I don't even care! These dark eldar will not survive this one way or another.'

Everyone watched with concern as Seiras began to glow with excessive psychic power now. Both of his fists crackled with lightning as a bright light began to radiate off of his expanding psychic aura. It quickly grew brighter and larger causing a great deal of concern among the onlookers.

Renfaeda herself finally spoke up, "He's not wearing his collar, Faelan!"

"Yes, I can see that…Melisara must have removed it. She's truly lost her mind to set a psyker lose like this. We need to kill him before Lord Vect finds out he's a psyker!" Faelan replied curtly.

"I would drown this place in daemons before I ever surrendered to you! If we're going down, then I'm taking all of you with me!" Seiras howled in fury as mustered as much psychic power as he could into the swarm of enemy vehicles. It was much deadlier than any psychic attack he had ever done before as the lightning and psychic force behind it actually obliterated a large chunk of the raiders and ravagers causing most to explode or go crashing. Dozens of reavers went spiraling out of control and scourges began to rain from the sky dead.

Faelan's ravager seemed fine partially due to its high-tech shield and also due to Meela no doubt. Seiras felt rage swell within him as he watched the majority of his lightning streak away from Faelan's ravager. Realizing the danger Seiras now posed, everyone of the dark eldar who wasn't killed by this attack opened fire on him immediately. The Reavers that attempted to close in didn't seem to stand a chance as Seiras would psychically rip their riders off and toss them down the spire. The scourges seemed to be too scared to fight him as most simply fled outright. The braver ones tried to snipe him from afar, but their weapons' fire simply exploded or froze against his psychic aura.

Seiras was consumed with anger now as he felt himself beginning to lose control of his powers. Nevertheless, he kept his psychic power steady as he had no intention of dying before anyone else here.

"Get us in closer before he causes a disjunction! Meela can recess his powers!" Faelan commanded his incubi.

Faelan's Ravager immediately flew closer to him. It hovered a dozen meters away now which caused the librarian's psychic power to quickly fizzle out and dwindle down. Despite the inconvenience, Seiras was actually thankful for it as he was about to lose control of his psychic powers and tear open a hole into the warp. This gave him the respite he needed to regain his senses and recede them back to a manageable level.

"Archon! Honour dictates that we be allowed to kill the space marine," Tullarias spoke to Faelan.

"Yes…I imagine you and Mairan are quite hurt to know he was playing you for fools this entire time. This is personal for me as well, so I won't be watching this time. I will join you in this slaughter! Everyone cease fire on the monkeigh! The exarchs and the space marine are mine! Recapture the other slaves!" Faelan growled.

All of the dark eldar stopped firing on Seiras now as they moved off in mass to go cut off the craftworlder slaves.

Seiras then glanced at the craftworlders, "Get to the armoury, now!"

"Do as he says! We'll hold them off for you to escape. Tallath is waiting at the armoury!" Ashera followed up.

The craftworlders escapees all nodded and departed for the parked vehicles as fast as they could.

"Kabalites, Reavers Stop them!" Faelan commanded.

The enemies that weren't knocked out the sky from Seiras' psychic attack were now focusing heavy fire on the craftworld slaves preventing them from moving. They seemed to be making an active effort to not kill them.

"Are you insane, Seiras?! If you create a disjunction here you'll kill everyone, including your fellow slaves! I won't allow that! As much as I would enjoy torturing you, it seems you are too dangerous to keep alive! Your death will be painful and it won't be quick!" Renfaeda shouted furiously.

"I suppose seeing his dying despair at his failed escape will have to be enough for us," Faelan chuckled.

His smug satisfaction was erased mere moments later as the sound of skyboards filled the air. Everyone, even Seiras, was caught off guard as Karyphea arrived with a huge force of over two hundred Hellions from the Bladewind Sisters Gang. They flanked Faelan's escort group with high speed violence.

"What is this?! Why are those Hellions attacking us?!" Renfaeda demanded angrily.

"Those are the ones the syren Nelfaera recruited to the spire...it would seem they are traitors," Mairan spoke up.

The ambush quickly escalated into dogfights between Reavers, Hellions, and the remaining Scourges. It also drew off a surprising number of surviving raider crews. In the midst of this ambush, another ravager drove full speed into Faelan's and crashed it out of the air causing it to go smashing down on the landing pad close to where Seiras and the two exarchs were standing.

Seiras could barely believe his eyes when he saw Nelfaera was the pilot of this other ravager. Not only had she somehow bypassed the shields of Faelan's ravager, but she had managed to dismount it in time and gracefully land next to them. Nelfaera sent him a friendly smile as she spoke, "I told you I'd help you Seiras…c'mon, let's kill my annoying cousins!"

"What is going on?! They're helping us?!" Ashera said bewildered as she watched more of Nelfaera's forces show up in mass to attack Faelan's. This included several raiders from her aunt's Kabal with Cult of the Emerald Star wyches.

"Watch it, syren…we don't trust you!" Sorellia growled aggressively.

The minty haired wych sighed, "Well…I was hoping for a bit more gratitude. I'm a good girl now. Certified Ynnari! This betrayal is my big debut to prove I'm not loyal to Commorragh. What do you think? Dazzling entrance wasn't it?"

"As if this couldn't get any stranger…" Ashera muttered in disbelief.

"Nelfaera?! YOU TRAITOROUS LITTLE BITCH! I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU LONG AGO, COUSIN! You're with the Ynnari now?!" Renfaeda hissed hatefully as she and the rest of Faelan's group appeared to have survived their ravager crash with relatively little damage.

All of them dramatically walked out of the flaming wreck and stood opposed to Seiras and the others with their weapons all drawn.

"Surprise! Shiralyn also convinced some of the noble families to break ties with the Kabal too. Oh and by the way…my hellions sabotaged the entire defense network. Our fleet is going to tear your spire to pieces! Look out there! See! The Kabal of the Dreaded Nightmare has joined the Ynnari…along with the Cult of the Emerald Star and Karyphea's Bladewind Sisters. I imagine poor Aelendriel and Mokaela probably have their hands full with my Aunt Nelaerys…assuming they're not dead yet!" Nelfaera bragged as she pointed at the distant ships blowing apart the outer defense spires of Faelan's Kabal and making quick work of his unsuspecting ships.

"Warriors, get going! NOW! We'll handle them!" Ashera announced to the bewildered and hunkered down craftworld slaves who were still there. With the newfound opening, many ran for the parked ravagers and raiders and were quick to fly their way out of there.

"Handle us, you'll handle us?! I remember quite fondly of how we HANDLED you, whore!" Faelan sneered at her.

"She's not alone…you and your disgusting cohort will die this day! Khaine will see you all sacrificed for your wicked crimes against Iybraesil!" Sorellia howled.

"She speaks as if she knows the will of Khaine. Sorellia recovered her inner fire…how amusing. How long will it be before we break her again?" one of the unnamed incubi laughed.

His humor was short-lived as Seiras brandished both his force sword and nemesis halberd, "You'll never get the chance…because I'm sending all of your worthless souls into the Maw of Slaanesh where you belong! I hope you languish in agonizing damnation for all eternity! Even that would be too good a fate for you!"

"That was a bit dramatic, but I wholly support Seiras' statement," Nelfaera chuckled.

"We've got your back, Seiras...let's kill them! Once and for all!" Sorellia exclaimed.

"Strange…after all of Seiras' deception, you would all stand at his side and defy me?! I'm the reason you're even alive right now, Nelfaera! You show loyalty to this monkeigh after he butchered you in the arena?!" Faelan shook his head in disbelief.

The syren smirked, "What can I say...we make a cute couple. Besides, I'd welcome any chance to get rid of you two for the way you've treated me! I knew you would eventually figure out he was escaping…and I knew you would leave yourselves vulnerable and blind trying to get revenge in some over the top way. It would seem you've played into my trap Faelan. You should see the looks on your faces right now! Hahaha!"

"This is no laughing matter, Syren...take this seriously! Killing them won't be that easy!" Ashera scoled.

"There's one fatal flaw in your plan, Nelfaera...it involves you winning a fight with us. Surely you're delusional if you think you stand a chance against me!" Renfaeda shot back hatefully.

Faelan focused his attention on Sorellia and Ashera as he spoke again, "And what of you two? You would trust Seiras after all of this? After knowing he's been deceiving you this entire time?!"

Ashera glanced briefly at Seiras before turning towards Faelan's crew, "I don't approve of Seiras' deception, but I understand his reasons for doing so. I stand with him as well. You will all taste the dragon's flame today! Justice will be served! You will learn to fear the warriors of Iybraesil you Commorrite filth!"

"By all means, I welcome your attempt. Incubi…slaughter them!" Faelan commanded.

"Nelfaera is mine! Nobody touch her!" Renfaeda interjected hatefully.

Seiras took this time to glance at Meela, but he couldn't really tell what she was thinking as she loyally followed behind Faelan as she drew her power sword.

All of the incubi immediately brandished their Klaives or demiklaives in Mairan's case as they charged in for melee combat. They made it halfway before Seiras lifted up a bit of rubble telepathically and hurled it at the group. This naturally caused all of them to split up and broke their formation.

His weapons lit up modestly with psychic power and arced with lightning and flame as he spun them as fast and hard as possible to get some early kills.

His enhancements were clearly evident as he cut three of the twelve incubi in half with his opening attack. The attack would have done more, but Meela was too close to him now for his psychic powers to amplify the attack. It wasn't long before Mairan was after Sorellia, Tullarias was fighting Ashera, and Nelfaera was battling against Renfaeda.

Seiras himself killed two more incubi with psychically supplemented attacks before Meela could get in complete nullification range. This left him fighting five incubi along with Faelan himself.

Despite his enhanced 'Immortis' reflexes, he could barely stop the incoming blade storm from all sides. Even Meela was trying to kill him much to his disappointment.

He attempted to blast the ferocious incubi back with more psychic power, but it fizzled out at this proximity to Meela. She herself moved as fast as an Eldar which surprised Seiras greatly. He knew he would have to take her out to put the odds back in his favor and focused most of his efforts on trying to kill her first. While he felt confident in his new speed and strength, Seiras chose to be extra cautious. His lack of caution and awareness is what led to his initial capture to begin with. He felt confident that he could win this fight, but he didn't take any unnecessary risks in the melee skirmish.

Faelan seemed to be doing his absolute best to shield Meela when it became apparent Seiras was targeting her. Meanwhile, Sorellia and Mairan were locked in a deathmatch duel of blades as they danced and flowed around each other with graceful alacrity. Both warriors were giving it their all and appeared evenly matched more or less. Their hatred for each other was apparent as neither one relented in her obsession to kill her nemesis.

Ashera was having a rougher time with Tullarias due to her initially carrying a ranged weapon, but she was quick to salvage a Klaive from one of the dead incubi to duel against him. Tullarias was clearly a better melee fighter than she was, but he couldn't quite press his advantage as Ashera fought with all the pent up rage and desperation she had.

In his brief split second observation of the clash, Seiras knew he was going to have to help her first chance he got. As for Nelfaera, she was clearly not Renfaeda's equal, but the syren was an honourless and dirty fighter. It seemed even more apparent outside of the arena. Between grenades, poison gas, alien flares, smokescreens, and her mother's razorflail, Nelfaera was holding her own well enough for the moment. Nelfaera had clearly been practicing with the razorflail as Seiras even saw her mimicking moves he had done with it. She was also clearly drugged out of her mind, because the twin-tailed syren was moving way faster than she usually did. Despite this, it was clear Renfaeda would win if it continued for too long. Before Renfaeda could make any real progress though, Karyphea showed up on a skyboard to back her cousin up. The Heliarch's arrival immediately put Renfaeda back on the defensive as it opened up with splinter fire.

Karyphea had a hellglaive in her hand and made countless aeriel sweeps against Renfaeda. She was almost cut down a few times, but Nelfaera and Karyphea seemed to work extremely well together as they combined their tactics and skills to hold off the Succubus queen.

The overall fight continued on like this for what Seiras assumed was a few minutes. To him it felt like hours as time seemed to move slowly. Despite his own eagerness to end this as quickly as possible, he bided his time and patiently wore down his enemy. They would undoubtedly get tired before he would.

'Even despite my enhancements, I can't underestimate them. I still have six rounds left in my storm bolter. I need to make them count when I get an opening at point blank range. I don't think they're aware of the storm bolter…Faelan might be, but these unnamed incubi must think I'm out of ammo. I only have one chance to catch them by surprise.' Seiras came up with a plan on the fly.

His defense wasn't impenetrable as several slashes did cut through his armour, but fortunately it didn't do enough to heavily damage him. He finally got his opening when two of the five incubi he was fighting locked their klaives against his offhand sword to hold him still. This gave Faelan and opening to stab at him as Seiras' halberd could do little to stop a close range attack from below.

It was at that moment he opened fire with his storm bolter at point blank range whilst simultaneously thrusting forward with the halberd. This maneuver caught all of them off guard. It was an impossible distance for the two closest incubi to dodge, and enough to force the others to back away briefly. The bolter shots caught the two nearby incubi in their helmets. This freed Seiras' offhand just in time to parry Faelan's blade stabbing from below. As he parried it, he simultaneously thrusted his halberd. It nearly stabbed Faelan, but one of the incubi managed to pull him back just in time. Shots from the incubi tormentor helmets followed to put Seiras on the defensive, but he tanked them unfazed as the damage was mostly superficial against the iron halo and Seiras' armour.

He followed up by cutting the two staggered incubi in half and shot the remaining four rounds at Meela. As expected, Faelan prioritized her survival and moved her and himself out of the way. This gave Seiras all the time he need to slay two of the remaining three incubi with a flurry of powerful and quick swings. With their numbers vastly diminished, Seiras had more than enough of an opening to kill the last one in an overpowering berserk frenzy. This left only Faelan and Meela.

Mairan and Tullarias seemed quite aware that Seiras was blatantly winning his fight as they moved their battles closer towards Faelan himself and backed up towards his location.

Sorellia and Ashera followed up and both seemed relieved that the two klaivexes relented briefly and that Seiras had killed all of the other incubi.

"Melisara's enhancements to the space marine are apparent now. He's a powerful warrior," Tullarias noted.

Faelan nodded, "Yes indeed…this calls for drastic measures."

"What's the matter?! Is that fear I sense?! You only have two incubi left, Faelan!" Sorellia hissed.

"More than enough to defeat you, Banshee." Mairan stated coldly.

Nelfaera and Karyphea were unfortunately not doing as well in their fight against a psychotically furious Renfaeda. Nevertheless, they were keeping her distracted and staying alive. More wyches showed up to help them as their battle continued, and even a raider began to open fire on Renfaeda which negated any physical advantage she had.

"This is quite the unfortunate turn of events…but you're sadly overestimating your 'success' if you think you have me cornered. I always considered the possibility of your escape Seiras…and once I confirmed it, I made sure to have an appropriate countermeasure for a psyker. If you think Meela is the only tool in my arsenal to deal with psykers, you're sadly mistaken. No enhancements will save you from this! Behold the Crucible of Malediction! Goodbye Monk-ARGH!" Faelan didn't get to finish his statement before a sword impaled him from behind.

Everyone present evoked audible sounds of shock when they saw that Meela had just stabbed him in the back. She was quick to grab the strange item in his hand and throw it over the side of the landing pad immediately afterward.

Enraged by her unexpected betrayal, Tullarias and Mairan both swung their weapons with blinding speed to kill her.

Their attacks would have succeeded but Seiras and the two exarchs managed to parry their klaives in time.

Both klaivexes went into a psychotic frenzy as they frantically fought on despite Faelan being impaled. He was still alive and was quick to call out for help, "Renfaeda! Help!"

"Falean?! What?!" the succubus immediately abandoned her feud with Karyphea and Nelfaera as she ran over to her downed twin brother. More of Nelfaera's forces began to gather around now. It appeared that they had killed all of Faelan's forces. Over a hundred hellions and four raiders full of Emerald Star wyches all surrounded Faelan and his last remaining followers. Mairan and Tullarias managed to keep Faelan safe from any of Seiras' finishing blows as Renfaeda charged over to kneel beside him.

"Faelan…you're injured. What happened?!" she demanded frantically.

She got her answer without him even speaking when she saw Meela's sword covered in blood. The pariah was standing next to Seiras and the two exarchs now. Karyphea rode over on her skyboard and laughed, "Oh nice! You have the worm on his knees?! Let's finish them off!"

"I told you that pariah girl couldn't be trusted Faelan! Why didn't you listen to me?!" Renfaeda hissed.

"Hmph…I never would have suspected she would do that. She's been loyal to you for how many centuries now?" Nelfaera strutted over with smug appreciation for the whole ordeal.

"It's over, Faelan!" Sorellia announced with righteous anger.

Despite being injured, Faelan managed to stand up, "I'm…not dead yet."

"You will be shortly. It looks like none of your forces are left alive," Nelfaera smirked.

"This is far from over! You will never be my equal in combat, Nelfaera! You're a pathetic excuse for a wych! Despite all your tricks and reinforcements, I'm still alive! Come and finish us off…if you can," Renfaeda taunted.

"Maybe I won't ever be your equal in the arena…I'll certainly never be my mother's equal in combat. But you know what? I don't have to be…because I'm a lot smarter than both of you. Goodbye dear cousins," Nelfaera said proudly as she glanced at the raiders, "Open fire and kill them!"