The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

"Any words from the boys?"

"They took down the Titans, last I heard," Laura told Nikki as they swiftly ascended the narrow alleyway, steep and sharp in angle, toward Isha's looming citadel, the pristine monolith drawing closer with every heartbeat. Although she and the attack force, comprised of Sororitas, Astartes, Aspect Warriors and elite guardsmen and Guardians, were essentially on a stealth mission, the ambience of war was so loud that they can talk normally without fear of detection.

"Then why are they withdrawing into Eyvtalien?" Galatea scoffed from behind Laura, the derision joined by the canonesses and their Celestians.

"The Titans were used as a diversion while a force of Chaos Aeldari and Chaos Astartes pincer commissar Tangmo's position from the south," Ciaphas Cain came to the defense of his fellow commissar before Laura can piped up, because Tangmo was her mate and she wasn't about to let a buncha uppity bitches trash talk him. "It was a wise tactical decision when one needs to fortify against a numerically superior foe and keep casualty to a minimum."

"Yeah, and maybe we should concentrate on the task at hand?" Damien was obviously rolling his eyes at the huffing Sororitas when he tapped Tanrion on the shoulder, causing the Solace Sun commander to cringe visibly, "hey, how much longer until we reach the citadel dude?"

"Prepare yourself then, Space Marine, for we shall be there within a few heartbeats," Tanrion told him, and now that Laura got a good look the path around them had indeed gotten wider and more opulent, if you ignored the bodies of butchered eldars splattered across the flagstone or dangling in pieces from roofs and lintels. "We are now heading for the front entrance of the citadel, where our Aspect Warriors and Dire Avengers are putting up a desperate resistance against Syrathel's cohorts."

"Good, because it's not like we were built to be sneaky anyway," Damien and the Astartes laughed lowly as they made final checks on their gears. Ahead, the road rose on to a flat courtyard where furious screams emanated, the elevation blocked their view but Laura can tell things weren't going well for the Aeldari. "We're going in first, make ready!"

Laura flexed her grip on her claymore, clenching and unclenching her fingers in bubbling anticipation as she, Yuki, Nikki and Lita fall into steps behind the Ultramarines and Salamanders, the Astartes marching in sync as they headed up the incline.

"Ready?" Laura glanced back at the Sororitas, Aeldari and guardsmen, all of whom were already formed into a pristine attack column, weapons ready. They nodded, saving their voices for the battle to come, "righty ho then ladies and gents, how about we go rescue a goddess?"

"Let's just get this over with then," Bellona, ever the one for smiles and sunshine, growled disparagingly. Laura could only grin when she noticed that beside the Martyred Lady, the other five OG Sororitas orders now wore unique distinctive battle helms. The Bloody Rose wore a stylized bassinet, a Templar-ish Great Helm for the Valorous Heart, barbute for the Ebon Chalice and Sacred Rose, and armet for the Argent Shroud. Now that's fucking cool.

"Don't be such a sour puss Bellona, we all know you're just as hype as everybody else," Yuki spoke up before the eldars can respond to the canoness's rudeness. "Save that bitchiness for the Chaos fuckers."

"Courage and honor!"

"Into the fires of battle, unto the avails of war!"

The Space Marines bellowed their respective war cry, sprinkled here and there with the usual 'For the Emperor!', and charged into the courtyard, bolters blazing a hellish symphony as a chorus of daemonic howls swept over the Angels of Death.

"That's our queue! In the name of the Emperor let none survive!"

"For Isha! For light and for life! Mael Dannan!"

Well shit, the Solace Sun's war cry was pretty dope, let's just hope they can back that up with a good fight. And Laura would have to wait a bit longer to find out because Damien and his Marine buddies totally stole the show. As they crested the rise and rushed across the large circular courtyard, big and wide with a destroyed fountain in the middle and currently decorated with dripping viscera, the Astartes were already advancing on the citadel's archway entrance, gunning down daemons and traitor guardsmen with horrific ease.

"Oh, come on!" Laura slowed her pace to a stroll as she followed the Astartes. Behind her the Sororitas and eldars echoed her annoyance with low grumbles. Raine and Cain said nothing, the Valhallan and Antari equally grim. "You took all the bloody fun, ya bampots!"

"Calm down, we only got the stranglers," Damien droned in a bored toned, slammed a new magazine home, and stabbed his thumb at the citadel. "You can go ahead and take the rest of Minas Tirith though, we'll be here covering your rear."

"We're not going in, Brother Sergeant?" Gallus asked, rightly surprised like Laura that Damien had just demoted the freaking Space Marines to what was essentially security guard duty.

"Nah dude, let Laura and her friends have the fun," the ground was starting to tremble and Laura spun around to see a cloud of dust rising from the avenue they had just emerged from. "Besides, according to my reading earlier this place is infested with Chaos daemons and traitors, and here they come now."

The moment Damien finished his sentence, none other than the Orgyn Pillar Men appeared at the far end of the courtyard, accompanied by traitor Storm Troopers and scary looking daemons the size of monster trucks. No Fallen Sororitas in sight though, the Chaos bitches were probably waiting inside. Laura almost laughed aloud when the Orgyns, all of them wielding swords, cleavers and axes, struck an unnecessary flamboyant combat poses.

"Yare, yare daze," Damien drew his chainsword and thumbed the ignition, dual wielding it along with his bolter as he stepped slowly, dramatically, toward the Orgyns with his posse of Ultramarines and Salamanders. Guardsmen, eldars and Sororitas, being directed by Raine and Cain, rushed passed the Space Marines and into the citadel. "Run along children, we got this."

"Be safe Damien," Lita placed a hand on Damien's gigantic forearm and Laura was sure the Mexican Warseer's warm smile was reciprocated with equal heartiness by the Canadian Space Marines.

"Always," Damien nodded and extricated himself gently from Lita. "Go, everybody's waiting for you."

Lita gave Damien's pauldron one last friendly tap and sprinted inside, the same moment roars of unleashed bolters started in earnest, made louder by war cries and inhuman screams. Squeaking and smiling, Lita joined Laura, Yuki and Nikki, the quartet running deeper into the citadel, all of them giddy despite the severity of the situation. Hey, the fate of the universe and Isha might be in the balance, but that doesn't mean they can't have fun! Stepping into a wide, high ceiling antechamber, the four of them bright and giggling like it's a girl's night out, Laura, Yuki, Nikki and Lita joined the Sororitas, eldars and guardsmen, all of whom were grim in countenance.

"Phew, this place looks like Buckingham!" Laura took in their surroundings with a snort, while also glancing back to make sure Damien didn't fucked up and let something slip through. Besides the violent acoustic of battle, nothing followed them. "Is everybody in one piece? Who needs a bandage for their booboos?"

"Not a scratch on us, lady inquisitor," Verity chirped up, she and Alnelle nodding with stern determination, which made the two medics very endearing to behold. "And we're ready for such eventuality."

"Splendid loves!" Laura held up her thumb and turned to Tanrion, the snotty eldar commander was fidgeting from feet to feet, more than eager to be on the move again, "so Tanrion, where to next? Is Isha just beyond that door?"

"Her eminence's apartment is situated at the highest reaches of the citadel," Tanrion said, already waving his small contingent of Dire Avengers toward the door directly opposite the entrance. "We must make haste at once!"

"Typical, Rapunzel is always at the top of the goddamn tower," Nikki groaned but quickly signaled the battlegroup into formation with a series of hand gestures. "Alright people, we need to figure out how to deploy our troops, I think the best way is to…"

"We don't have time for any of that nonsense!" Tanrion bellowed as he and his Dire Avengers started pushing the door open. "Follow me!"

"Wait! There's hostile on the other side!" Heloise's warning had barely left her lips when blooming fireball of violet plasma disintegrated the doors. Tanrion and his Dire Avengers would've been blown to shit if Lita didn't put up a shield around those idiots.

"Hot headed fool! Perish next time and rid us of your stupidity!" Marwen snarled at Tanrion and his Dire Avengers as the oval shield flew passed them, Lita tossing the Solace Sun to the back of the line. Shrieking feminine roars erupted from the smoke filled doorway and Marwen was already firing into the dusty veil, the scything shurikens throwing red mist into the air. "Here they come! Mael Dannan!"

"Form up into a firing line, double time! For the Emperor!" Raine waved the Antari main characters forward, the small group adding their fire power to Marwen's squad. Not to be outdone, Cain, Amberley and the Valhallan main characters joined them, just in time for a gaggle of Khornate Sisters, Slaaneshi Sisters and Vikings and Maori berserkers to charge straight for the guardsmen and eldars. Laura wanted to take a moment to ogle, because bloody hell those babes were sizzling hot, but was denied that little pleasure when the Sisters of Battle and Howling Banshees charged the oncoming Chaos Sororitas from the flanks, the warrior women colliding in a thunderous crash, weapons flashing murderously, sending scarlet surfs skyward. Welp, guess she'll have to settle for a catfight then.

"Can you two idiots stop drooling and help us please?!" Nikki's angry enunciation snapped Laura, and Yuki apparently, out of their ravine. Blinking, Laura found that Nikki, Lita, Marwen's Guardians and the guardsmen were locked in a vicious melee with the Vikings and Maori berserkers who had broken through the nuns and elves mosh pit.

"Shit! Sorry!" Laura pointed her claymore forward and lunged at a redheaded Vikings trying to jump on Marwen, impaling the Red Sonja wannabe through the heart. The woman had barely died when Laura flung her away and joined Yuki, claymore and katanas pointed at the berserkers careening toward them. "I don't know whether to be aroused or scared."

"Why not both?" Yuki grinned, Laura grinned too, and keeping close to each other the British inquisitor and Japanese exarch met the screaming, near naked Vikings and Maoris with their immaculate dance of death, a crimson synchronicity they've performed to perfection, with expected result. After battering aside a blonde Vikings so that Yuki can eviscerate her, Laura raised her claymore with a roar and brought it down on a Maori who was kicked her way by the Japanese exarch, the berserker's skull exploding like a ripe watermelon. Getting her guards up and striking an awesome, and decidedly sexy pose with Yuki, Laura was rightly surprised to find that the fight had ended.

"That's one hell of an appetizer," Laura stabbed her claymore down on a twitching Viking woman, making sure she's double dead, and glanced at the room beyond. It was a vast circular hall with a spiraling stairway at the center, wide enough for a Honda to drive through, seemingly made from one vast, singular piece of marble, chiseled and smoothened to artistic perfection, the rolling patterns appeared to move if you stared at it long enough. But the artistry was nothing compared to the carnage the Sororitas and the Banshees were unleashing on the surviving Fallen Sisters and berserkers. It was pretty fucked up, because the Chaos Sororitas refused to die, which prompted the nuns and elves to be extra brutal, but seeing the Sisters of Battle and Aeldari working together was a beautiful sight nonetheless.

"Enemies coming down the stairs, look alive!" Castrum, the Punisher Sororitas of the Avenging Knight, trained her Leenisium patterned assault bolter upward and pulled the trigger, sending accurate burst at the banister above. Sororitas and eldars dashed for cover as big chunks of marble rained down, shattering like glass on the floor below. It wasn't long before streams of bolts and plasma poured down from above. "Shit! Take cover!"

Castrum was swiftly joined by Miranda, the She-Hulk Sororitas peppered the stairs with an uninterrupted full auto barrage from her twin storm bolters. The two were bolstered by the Ebon Chalice and Golden Pride Celestians, led by Emmanis and Zola, Naledi's daughter, respectively. Together, they managed to throw the descending Chaos Sororitas's aims off the mark as Raine and Cain waved the strike force toward a large side corridor on the right.

"Fuck! Castrum! Get everybody back!" Nikki yelled as she headshot a couple of Khornate Sisters poking above the rail, their bodies twirled bonelessly as they plummeted through the air, but more were already charging down. And to make matters worse, Slaaneshi Seraphims had entered the fray, gliding down on wispy wings of silk and laying a suppressive fire on the Sororitas below.

"Don't worry mam, I got your back!" Cain's sharp cry couldn't stop none other than Jurgen from bounding toward the pinned Celestians, his heavy melta hung easily over his shoulder as he aimed it at the Slaaneshi Seraphims. Laura shut her eyes with a squawk and turned away the same moment Jurgen unleashed the melta beam, dragging Yuki along so that both their retinas didn't get scorched. There was a brief scream, followed by crackling explosions, then the sound of shattered masonries, and finally a great tumbling crash.

"All done mam, the way is clear," blinking to make sure her eyes still functioned properly, Laura and Yuki spun around and saw Nikki leading the Celestians into the side chamber, a very pleased Jurgen bringing up the rear, the way he carried his white hot heavy melta was very hazardous. And Laura understood why he was happy, a large portion of the central stairway was severed by the melta beam, leaving behind a jagged burning slab of marble dangling seventy feet above their heads, the Chaos Sisters were already retreating up to the higher level.

"Damn Jurgen, nice shooting dude," Yuki smirked and gave the Valhallan a friendly smack on the back as they entered a reception room, the Ice Warriors cheering the man's heroic loudly.

"Just doing my job mam," Jurgen said shyly but remained perfunctory polite, the scruffy man was almost cute with his puppy eyes when he glanced at Yuki. "I don't think anybody will be coming at us from that direction now."

"I'm just glad we don't have to take the stairs," sergeant Wyck of the Antari shared a dry chuckle with Jurgen, and Laura was extremely pleased to see the two regiments getting along.

"We were not going to use it anyway," Tanrion said as he walked toward a gigantic mural that dominated one of the walls. "There are hundreds of paths that can take us to the top, both of the overt and covert sorts. I have memorized all the passages and can lead us through the quickest route. Judging by how the Fallen Sororitas had emerged from above, we must assume that the citadel is compromised."

"Let's hope you navigate better than you fight, captain general," Galatea sneered at the scowling Tanrion and joined him at the frieze. "We have tarried long enough, now show us where…"

A series of metallic clicking, followed by the scraping hiss as something fast and heavy grinded to a halt, resounded from the other side of the room, more specifically the huge impressionist painting of an Aeldari champion riding an equine looking beast, the pose identical to Napoleon Crossing the Alps. Acrid smoke, the stench that of burning iron, billowed lightly from the painting's golden frame as the wall beneath it started to shift, the process seamless, the bricks moving without a sound until what looked like an elevator door materialized.

"Get into firing position!" Laura bellowed, magnetized the claymore to the power pack, and drew her hellgun as the battlegroup formed a killing crescent twenty paces in front of the elevator, the thick pall of smoke seeping through the partitions only made things more ominous. "Do not open fire until we have visual confirmation!"

"With all due respect lady inquisitor, I rather not take that chance," colonel Kasteen eased her finger around the trigger, prompting the more hot headed of the Sororitas to do the same.

"It could be survivors," Firnera shot the Valhallan colonel a sharp look. "Hold your fire!"

"And let whatever is in there attack us first?" Morelia shouldered her bolter and took aim. "Not on my watch."

"You will wait, lady canoness," Raine snapped at Morelia. "The lady inquisitor is right. Isha herself could be inside for all we know."

"I pray we are that lucky," Miriya snorted and the battlegroup laughed sardonically, luck of that nature had never been the battlegroup's strong point.

"It's opening! Make ready!" Rattles of priming weapons echoed down the line at Andren's command, all barrels trained forward as the elevator doors slid open, spilling out more smoke that rolled hauntingly across the room, carrying with it the sound of coughing. Laura tensed when a silhouetted shape staggered into the open, back bent low, choking and hacking on the smog. She was both relieved and a little disappointed when a dark haired eldar woman emerged, followed by a gaggle of elven ladies in dresses, bedraggled and frightened, none of them looked like a goddess.

"Elnys?!" Tanrion shouldered through the battlegroup and dashed for the lead woman.

"Brother?!" The woman, Elnys, coughed dryly then threw herself at Tanrion, the two embracing deeply. "Oh brother, you have return!"

"I have little sister," Tanrion stroke her hair gently, soothingly, calming Elnys down until she stopped shaking. Meanwhile, Verity, Alnelle and the hospitallers went to check on the women, all of them looked shellshock but were otherwise healthy beside a few bruises. "Are you hurt? Oh Elnys, that's a bad cut."

"I'll be fine," now that her wit was returning, Elnys brushed Tanrion's concern off with a grin, but abject fear quickly shattered her visage. She snatched up Tanrion's collar and shook him violently. "Her eminence is still up there! You have to go help her!"

"What?!" Tanrion squawked, and now he was grabbing Elnys by the shoulders. "Wasn't she with you?! What happened?! How did you lose her?!"

"Get off me you idiot!" Elnys pushed Tanrion away and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing, "she saved me and the handmaidens and herded us inside the escape elevator, she remained behind to draw away those four."

"And you let her?!" Tanrion cried, quite unreasonably Laura thought.

"What the hell was I supposed to do?!" Elnys snapped and Tanrion looked away, muttering dirty words under his breath.

"Yeah, can you two postpone this little spat for a moment please?" Yuki stepped in between Tanrion and Elnys, glaring at the two, daring them to say something. When both remained silent, Yuki pressed on. "Good. Now, Elnys was it? Elnys, was Isha alive when you last saw her?"

"She was recovering from her sickness, but yes, she was unharmed," Elnys swept her gaze slowly around the room, eyes brightening in recognition and hope. "You're them! You're the Immortal Spirit battlegroup!"

"You're bloody right love," Laura stepped forward and tipped her awesome inquisitor hat dashingly, absolutely loving how Elnys was swooning. "If you would forgive us for being hasty, madam, we would like to know where Isha is."

"She's still at the top," Elnys began but trailed off when the canonesses and Celestians converged on her, the elven woman backing fearfully away from the Sororitas.

"You said 'those four' were after Isha," Miriya said levelly, but there was an undeniable undercurrent of anger to every syllable, and Laura mentally facepalmed herself for not catching that part of the conversation earlier. "Who are these four?"

"Syrathel, Azarvhin, Miriael and Luscinia," well shit, the Four Big Bitches were here. Dark murmurs echoed around the hall, with the angriest coming from the OG Sororitas. Not surprising. According to Tangmo, Syrathel had the six canonesses stripped and publicly tortured back on Tera-Antebella, then Azarvhin beat the living shit out of Miriya and forced her to watch as Miriael tried to rape Verity, thankfully the Thai commissar heroically intervened just in time. So predictably, the OG Sisters of Battle held a grudge. "They made it to the top, but Isha stunned them and helped us escape. Last I saw, she was leading the four away from the elevator."

"Then there is no time to waste," Crestienne declared, the usually kindhearted canoness was iron in composure as she turned to Tanrion. "Your goddess could be dead right now for all we know, so I suggest you take us to the top of the citadel immediately."

"Of course," Tanrion pointed at the frieze from earlier while walking away in the opposite direction, toward a plain looking wall. "Elnys, you and the handmaidens stay here and man the consoles, I'm taking them up the northern stairs."

"Can't we just take that up top again?" Sulla stabbed her thumb at the smoking elevator, earning an 'are you serious?' look from Raine, Cain and the Antari, the Valhallan just scoffed good-naturedly, more than accustomed to the lady general's quirkiness.

"Besides the fact that it's not big enough to fit all of you, the elevator is an escape chute, it only goes down," Elnys dusted off her skirt, struck a majordomo pose, then walked primly toward the frieze, which opened up to reveal a big ass computer console, the complex kind Bruce Wayne used in his Batcave. Directing the handmaidens to the various panels around the machine, Elnys swiftly brought the screen to life, her fingers a blur as it danced across the keyboard, summoning schematic after schematic. "Tanrion, you said you're taking the northern passage?"

"I am," Tanrion nodded as Laura and the battlegroup form up behind him and his twenty Dire Avengers. "Is the way clear?"

"Give me a second," Elnys typed away, stared at the screen, and nodded. "No sign of hostiles, but I doubt that would last long. Are you seriously going to run all the way to the top? That's more than a hundred storeys."

"Of course not," Tanrion huffed and Laura, her mates and several of the main characters let out a breath of relief. She was all for cardio workout, but bloody hell a hundred plus floors seemed a tad too much. "I plan on heading to the gallery on the twentieth floor, and from there use the main elevator."

"It could've already been destroyed, but you don't have much of a choice," blimey, Laura truly didn't like that bleak look on Elnys's face. "Tanrion, the citadel is crawling with enemies. It's going to be hard fighting all the way up to Isha."

"Can you help?" Tanrion asked.

"I can activate the gun platforms along those levels," Elnys visibly brightened as she tapped the keyboards with such speed and skill that it would make the most prolific hackers wept with joy. "By the stars, I can help her eminence from here! Oh, and I can assist you along the way too big brother, I can keep an eye out for any undesirables that could be lurking about."

"That will be of great help," Galatea stepped forward, smirking lightly when Elnys flinched from her. "Please, link your communication network to our vox channels, your assistance will prove vital to Isha's survival."

"A-As you command, my lady," Elnys stammered and hurriedly typed in the command prompt, "all done my lady."

"Thank you," Galatea titled her head to the side, taking in Elnys and the handmaidens with clear derision. "Shall I post some of my sisters hear to safeguard you? None of you are warriors."

Elnys grinned and pressed a button on the keyboard, summoning thick slabs of iron which slammed over the doors around the hall with a jarring metallic crash, followed by the clicks of locks sliding into place. Then the walls swung open and several squads of gun platforms flew out, positioning themselves around the interior, "not to worry my lady, I have everything under control."

"Good, because we will need every warrior for this excursion to be successful," Heloise leaned over Elnys's shoulder, took in the many red blinking runes, and said. "There are sixteen Astartes and a contingent of eldars outside fighting to keep the rest of Syrathel's forces from overrunning the citadel, assist them please."

"Very well," Elnys nodded and typed swiftly on the keyboard. "I should activate the drones and gun platforms at the top too, that should slow those four down."

"Good idea," Tanrion walked over to Elnys, the two siblings embraced, traded light kisses on the cheeks, and parted with a thin smile, resigned in hope but steely in conviction, "for life and for light sister, good luck."

"All my blessing go with you brother," Elnys's eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "Save her, please."

"I will," Tanrion nodded sternly and returned to the front of the attack column. "Let's us be off then."

"Finally!" Laura declared loudly and matched steps with Tanrion as they took off into the hidden passageway. "Isha, here we come!"

"I grew tired of this farce, Isha."

Luscinia was right in that regard, she was tired, so very tired, but she forced herself to take one more steps after another. Despite her predicament, Isha almost laughed between the sweaty, heavy panting when the gun platforms and drones emerged to deter the four Chaos Champions, giving her a much needed time to shake them lose and catch her breath. Elnys must have made it to safety and activated the defenses. Her heartbeats slowed, the cramps and weariness easing somewhat, Isha made a quick summation of her situation. The Chaos Champions were still on her trail, and judging by the vicious cacophony of destroyed metals the drones and platforms had met their demise, which meant that she had a few minutes at most before they were upon her again. So far Isha had managed to run ten storeys down, using the many passageways Tanrion had shown her to flee the Chaos women. Her tenacity had angered them greatly, with many dark promises being hurled at her, each one more horrific than the last.

"You are making me very angry," Miriael, the Slaaneshi Champion, spoke up as Isha quietly stepped away from the desk she was hiding under, her slippers making no sound as she headed for the other side of the messy office she had stumbled in earlier, the echoing declaration made her shiver with fright. Like the rest of the citadel, the place was destroyed and desecrated with wanton violence. Isha voiced her prayer to the dead men and women sprawled across the floor, and felt rather than saw their Soul Stones dimmed as their spirits congregated around her, each shining light pulsed like fireflies in the depth of night, all of them following her, hoping to find deliverance and protection from Slaanesh's hunger. Only Isha can see these souls, she was a goddess after all, but was confounded as to what she was supposed to do with them. She no longer have a place of rest for them in the Warp or the Webway, yet they continued to flock to her, growing to such multitude that if she concentrated hard enough she could see the glittering mist shrouding her. Isha was wrenched from her musing when the door opposite her exploded, and standing amongst the dust and splinter was Azarvhin, the Khornate Champion, her wings unfurled.

"She's here," Azarvhin called back down the corridor just as Isha started shouldering the huge oaken exit open. Isha had barely cleared the threshold when Azarvhin, with unbelievable speed, closed their distant in a blink and struck her with the hard, leathery draconic wing, the force was that of a hammer blow. She flew clear across the corridor with a scream, landed awkwardly on her elbow and bounced several more times before skidding to a stop. Bones and muscles flaring in agony, Isha gritted her teeth and was crawling away when a studded boot pressed her face into the floor, the sharpened sole digging deep until she was crying aloud.

"The sheep will never flee the wolf," Azarvhin lifted her foot away and grabbed Isha's ankle, squeezed with more than necessary force, and easily drag her backward. "Let's see what you are worth to the Blood God."

"No! Let me go!" Isha fought, not allowing Azarvhin to carry her away like some beast to the slaughter. The corridor was hardly empty, lined on both side with furniture, and Isha threw her arms around the leg of a large cabinet, Azarvhin growled when she refused to budge. "No! Help! Someone help!"

"Save your strength, girl," Azarvhin barred her teeth and easily pulled Isha off the cabinet with such force that she thought the Khornate Champion had dislocated her leg from her hip, it didn't, but the pain was excruciating. "You'll need it in the coming days. But Luscinia's right, you have a lovely voice."

"Help! Help! Let me go!" It was pathetic, but what can she do besides scream and thrash? She was a goddess of life, not of war. Reaching for and failing to grab a tapestry, Isha flopped graceless onto her back and was about to resign herself to the inevitable when she noticed how taut Azarvhin's visage was, the Khornate Champion snarling in rictus determination with every step taken. Tendrils of smoke rose from Azarvhin's gauntleted hand where it was wrapped around Isha's ankle, the stench that of burnt iron. Was the simple contact hurting the Khornate Champion? Out of option and out of time, Isha lunged at Azarvhin instead of fighting her, the move surprising the horned woman so much that she did nothing as the goddess of life grabbed her forearm. Two things happened simultaneously. First, Isha felt her power easily penetrating the red furious storm that veiled Azarvhin's soul, the gentle touch caressing the core of her being. Second, the Khornate Champion screamed in agony, her horns and wings wilted and sank back into a body that was suddenly free of corruption, a glimpse into the woman she had been.

"Get off me!" Azarvhin roared and punched Isha in the face, the sharply ridged knuckles tearing her cheek open in a splatter of gore, the impact throwing her down the hall. Gasping and spitting blood, the skin on her face already healing, Isha spared a glance back at the furious Azarvhin, her Khornate affliction already mended, and dashed down the corridor, fear lending her another burst of energy.

"What happened?!" Isha heard Syrathel as she slipped behind a bend.

"The bitch touched me and Khorne's blessing deserted me!" Azarvhin said loudly between angry heaving breaths. "She's dead, she's fucking dead!"

"It's an exorcism, one of Isha's many powers," Luscinia now said as Isha dashed into a storage room. "You were caught unprepared. Don't let it happen again please."

Isha slammed her hand on the square biometric reader beside the door and swiftly tapped the glowing screen. Within a heartbeat thick plates of metal replaced the wooden walls, doors, floor and ceiling, the locks slammed shut with a clang and sealed Isha inside the large room filled with shelves and crates. Just in time too because a loud bang, battering so hard that the wall bulged, blared next to her head, causing Isha to bolt back with a squeal.

"Open up Isha!" Came Miriael sing along voice, Isha shuddered at how deceptively pleasant it sounded. "We promise to play nice. Why, you might even enjoy it eventually!"

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Another bang on the metal wall, this time sending shards of metal flying passed Isha's head. More pounding followed, more of the protective plate yielded, every strike accompanied by Azarvhin's furious bellow. "There won't be anything left to carry back to Nurgle's Garden when I'm through with you!"

"Woah, you are very angry," Miriael observed but Isha didn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation as she darted for the center of the storage room, almost tripping in haste when Azarvhin landed another flurry of punches on the wall. Lord Tanrion had urged her to study the schematic of the citadel, and Isha was proud to say that she accomplished the task with flying color, knowing every little crevice inside her abode. Skidding to a stop and crouching down, Isha pulled away a simple spun rug to reveal a hidden ventilation system beneath a grated barrier. Turing the handle and lifting it upward, the hinges soundless, Isha lowered herself into the cramp air vent then shut the entrance behind her. Isha took a deep breath, ignored the continuous banging, steadied herself and, on elbows and knees, crawled in the direction that would surely lead down to the lower floors. She had no idea what to do if she, somehow, managed to lose her pursuers, but right now the only thought that occupied her mind was flight. And so Isha, the goddess of life, the holy matron who had watched over the Aeldari people for millions of years, now found herself scrambling through an unlit vent, lighted only by her own silvery illumination, chased down a hole like a hare with she-wolves nipping at her tail. It was ignominious, but there was cynical comedy to be found in her predicament. Onward she crawled, sweat beading her face and drenching her dress, the fabric that had been so wispy before now clung heavy to her skin, her sharp tired breath bounced loudly in the closed confines. Minutes must have passed before Isha found the first downward slope, the decline gentle but she needed to keep her balance lest she want the descent to turn into a rolling tumble. It was harder than she thought, and by the time Isha reached another leveled ground she was panting, but she immediately pressed onward, there was no time for rest. Dull, faraway sound drifted through the vent, the claustrophobic space made the acoustic extremely confusing, but the one constant was the muffled cadence of war. Although instinct warned her not to go toward the battle, logic argued that there must be allies where fighting still raged. Logic won that debate and down Isha went, passed more curves and more slopes, the walls seemingly growing tighter with every passing heartbeat. Isha was on the verge of panicking when, to her relief, bright light shone ahead, lancing beautifully into the gloom of the vent. Pushing down the urge to scramble toward the exit, Isha instead slowed her advance, dimmed her own light until all was dark and, making as little noise as possible, crept forward one agonizing inch at a time. For all Isha knew, there could be an army waiting on the other side. But the corridor beyond was empty, and Isha wasted no time turning the handle and swinging the grates open. She took a deep breath of the dusty air, tinged by oily smoke and stench of iron, and flopped gracelessly down the long vertical drop to the floor. Isha landed hard on her shoulder with an undignified squawk, laid still for a few seconds until the pain passed, then staggered to her feet. The corridor was of wood, polished to a gleaming shine, the brown hue calming. It took a moment for Isha to get her bearing, remembering that this floor belonged to the Warlocks and Farseers, their residence when not on a mission, and turned left toward a four way junction where another set of stairs waited.

"About time you showed up."

Isha skidded to a stop at the nexus where the four hallways converged, gasping when she saw Syrathel leaning easily against the wall to her right, the Tzeentch Champion's face was one of amused pity.

"H-How?!" Isha stammered and was backtracking when she heard heavy pounding coming from behind. Spinning around, she squealed at the sight of Azarvhin striding toward her, no longer angry but focus, pitiless as she locked eyes with Isha.

"Even in your diminished state, you are still a goddess," Syrathel pushed herself off the wall and approached Isha, hands clasped behind her back. Glancing left and right, Isha found Miriael and Luscinia coming down the other two junctions. The Slaanesh Champion hummed a happy tune, her steps springy, while the Nurgle Champion was so perfect in her calm movement that she looked to be gliding. "You radiate power, a unique spectrum that shone like the brightest lighthouse amidst the darkest ocean. Such jarring light is so easy to follow, so we simply shadowed your scuttling in the vent."

"I am not going back," Isha hissed, her declaration rendered less than impressive by the uncontrollable shiver raking her body. But she stood her ground, surrounded though she may be, even managing to glare at Luscinia while the other threes laughed at her paltry attempt at bravery. "Do you hear me Luscinia? I will never return to that monster!"

"It never fails to astound me how something so stupid can be worthy of worship," Luscinia spat and drew a curved dagger from her belt. Even from this distance Isha can feel its sharpness needling her skin. Twirling the weapon across her fingers, Luscinia tilted her head to the side, the small grin tugging her lips was cold with malice, "we can share."

"I'm sorry?" Miriael turned to look at Luscinia, her eyes sparkling.

"Short of the Dark Gods themselves, nothing can kill her," Luscinia said. "We cut, stab, bludgeon, crush, shoot and immolate her, and her godly power will make her whole once more. We can take turns, milk every last drop of agony from her until all is satisfied before casting her to the gods. That way, everyone wins."

"For the first time since meeting you, we are in agreement," Azarvhin shifted her grip on the daemonic sword and quickened her pace. "I will have satisfaction for what she did to me."

Isha had heard enough and dashed for Luscinia, the least armed person amongst the Champions. Summoning light into the palm of her hand, Isha raised it at Luscinia's face, closed her eyes, and unleashed the flare. The brightness easily punched through her eyelids and Isha allowed herself a little grin, if the glow was that strong it would surely blinds Luscinia. Emboldened, Isha charged pass the spot where Luscinia was standing, and felt a clawed gauntlet digging sharply into her shirt, the filed tips drawing blood down her back. Isha's eyes flew open, pulsing bruises faded from her vision to reveal an unamused Luscinia snarling at her.

"Did you honestly think that would work again?!" Luscinia rammed the dagger into Isha's gut, goring deep to the hilt. Isha screamed and the dagger was wrenched free, to be rammed in again, and again, and again.

Laura was honestly pretty surprised. Since joining the Immortal Spirit battlegroup, this must be the first time she actually fought the Chaos Sororitas. Seriously, even back on Yomi she didn't get to fight any of the evil nuns, the little spat with Miriael doesn't count, and holy hell those dames were deadly. They were also absolutely knockouts in poises and beauty too, almost made it a damn shame to kill them.

"Emmanis, to the right, look out!" Laura swung her hellgun at a pillar and sends several bursts at a Khornate Sister trying to flank them. The burning red lasers caught the woman in the chest, then her un-helmeted head.

"Thanks!" Emmanis gave her squad quick hand signals and all nine of them bolted from the destroyed statue they were hiding behind and into a gutted sitting room, the furniture chewed to shit and three of the four walls reduced to gapping jagged holes where the Golden Pride and Bloody Rose Celestians were hunkered down, the Ebon Chalice swiftly sliding in beside them.

"There's a lot of them," Raine made her nonchalant comment as she ducked down next to Laura, totally cool and unperturbed by the storm of bolts and plasmas peppering their position, goddamn she's hot, "any idea on how to proceed?"

"And a quick one, if you please," colonel Kasteen went full auto on a group of scantily clad berserkers charging their position, narrowing dodging a stream of las when she was done killing them. "We're not exactly in an enviable position at the moment."

"I'm making it up as we go," Laura's goofy smile did not put the Valhallan and Antari at ease, and she couldn't blame them because they were certainly in a pickle. After the strike force had emerged from the hidden passageway on the twentieth floor and got on a large elevator without firing a single bullet, Laura had foolishly believed that the coast was clear. They were currently on the eighty fifth floors and the advance had effectively grinded to a halt, courtesy of the fuck load of Chaos Sororitas and traitor guardsmen now standing between them and Isha. Not only that, but instead of a simple layout of a skyscraper, that being a long chute with several stairs leading upward, the Aeldari had to go and be a bunch of architectural magicians and made an ultra-convoluted open air tower filled with jutting floors, banisters, colonnades and a shit load of confusing stairs, ala Hogwarts, that connected every level. Like before, a beautiful spiraling stairway dominated the center, currently overflowing with traitors trying to set up the heavy guns.

"We can start off by taking out those fuckers on the stairs," Yuki growled and forced a group of Khornate Sisters into cover, her eldar P90 flashing brilliantly from the rapid discharge.

"Castrum, Virnia, do you have visual on the traitors coming down the stairs?" Nikki tapped her earbud.

"I do."

"I see them."

"Good, take aim and wait for my command," Nikki turned to Laura. "Give me some covering fire."

"You got it," Laura tightened her grip on the hellgun, took a deep breath, emerged from cover, and shouted into her earbud, "covering fire!"

The Sororitas, eldars and guardsmen laid down an encompassing barrage on the closing Chaos forces, a brutal salvo of bolts, plasma, meltas and las that cut down a score of traitors and drove the rest behind cover, their return fire failing to hit any of the battlegroup's soldiers.

"Now!" Nikki, eyes trained unblinking through her scope, fire off a shot, Castrum and Virnia, a markswoman of the Eternal Legion Celestians, the princeps, joined in with an accurate bolt of their own. The stairs blew up, not destroyed like before but wreathed in rolling flame as the ammunition the traitor guardsmen were carrying detonated.

"We need to move up, we're sitting ducks down here," Lita slipped from cover, made a transparent bubble around herself, the thing becoming a literal bullet sponge as the Chaos forces poured a salvo on the Mexican Warseer to no effect. Then, with an intricate wave of her hands, Lita sent a cyclone of razor lights spiraling upward, the half crescent blades spun like a tornado, lashing out at every level, swathing and cleaving the heretics and their covers to pieces. By the time the slashing vortex disappeared, the Chaos forces had retreated deeper into the floors, leaving behind smoking ruins streaked with blood. "That should send them scurrying for a while, come on guys!"

"You heard the pretty Warseer, move it people!" Laura waved the battlegroup toward a wide side stairs, the placement and composition reminded her of escalators at the mall. The Bloody Rose, Ebon Chalice and Golden Pride were already on the floor above, setting up defensive perimeters and pinning down the traitor regiments trying to retake the positions that got wrecked by Lita. Their accuracy was stunning and brutal to behold. Staying behind with Gwynael and the Sacred Rose to make sure that everyone got up safe, Laura gave the place one last sweep with her hellgun before sprinting after the others.

"Two o'clock, right, right!" Gwynael spun her bolter at the designated position and exchanged fire with a group Slaaneshi Sisters that had emerged on the far side, Laura and the Sacred Roses running and gunning as they bounded up the marble stairs, bolts peppered around them, many coming too close for comfort.

"Form testudo, cover them!" Agrippina, leader of the Eternal Legion princeps, thundered toward Laura and the Sacred Rose with her squad, placed themselves between the British inquisitor and the Chaos Sororitas, and closed ranks, scutum shields raised as they protected their sisters in arms up the steps. With their help, Laura and the Sacred Rose were able to reach the eighty sixth floor and dashed into a large roofless pavilion, the place was probably a restaurant before getting fucked, the mostly intact structure provided ample cover for the battlegroup.

"Love, if I didn't have a girlfriend, I would be giving you a big wet kiss right about now," Laura smacked Agrippina friendlily on the pauldron then waved at Yuki, the Japanese smiled brightly and held up the V sign.

"Thank you for the compliment, domina, but I believe we should concentrate more on…"

"Look out!"

Gwynael's warning came too late as Chaos Seraphims descended on them, four of the twenty flying bitches diving straight for Laura and Agrippina. Thanks to the ninja training Yuki gave her, Laura lithely rolled away from the swiping talons and claws, sprung back on her knee, and blasted the two flying bitches pointblank, killing one and maiming the other, the woman crashed to the ground and was brutally dispatched by the Sacred Roses and Eternal Legions. Agrippina wasn't so lucky, for the other two Chaos Seraphims managed to snatch her up and carried her away, laughing maniacally as they flapped their wings harder and faster.

"Fucking hell!" Laura cried, and was raising her hellgun when Agrippina fell back to the ground, the princeps cushioning her fall with the dead Seraphim she had gutted with her gladius. But the other Seraphim quickly pounced Agrippina, pushing her back to the ground, power claws raised high and crackling with malicious delight.

"Die, Imperial slut!"

"Elysium awaits me heretic! Invicta!"

Agrippina raised her gladius, defiant in death, when the Chaos Seraphim exploded in a fountain of blood, the Slaaneshi sister screamed horridly as her torso was bisected in two, the pieces flopping down to either side of the princeps. And standing above the dead Chaos Seraphim was a smirking Hitomi, the bushi Celestian of the Celestial Serenity, katana braced heroically on her shoulder as she helped Agrippina back on her feet.

"Thank you," Agrippina nodded then slipped inside the pavilion with Hitomi, bolts, shurikens and las lanced upward at the retreating Chaos Seraphim, many of them plummeted to the ground in balls of fire as their power packs got blown to shit. "That was swift sword work, it was most impressive."

"What can I say, I'm the best!" Hitomi sheathed her katana with a flourish, drew her bolter, winked at the grinning Agrippina, and flashed her canine at the less than impressed Meifeng, her wushu counterpart. "You heard that Meifeng?! She said I was great!"

"Bah! That's because she hasn't seen how beautiful my skill is yet," Meifeng send a burst at a veranda above them, dropping two traitor soldiers, and gave the amused Agrippina an apologetic bow. "I'm sorry you have to witness such a graceless performance, honorable princeps, I shall rectify that at the earliest opportunity."

"Shut up Meifeng, you and I both know I'm better with the sword," Hitomi spat and joined her bushi squad, laying down a brutal volley on a gaggle of Black and Tan looking tossers trying to be heroic, the morons ended up being red splatters on the floor.

"Throne preserve me, you are delusional," Meifeng scoffed and headshot an Antebellan officers trying to form a firing line on a balcony above them, delaying the heretic troops long enough for the Valhallan and Antari to loop grenades into their midst. Gore petered down on the battlegroup in thick drizzles.

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"You're just jealous!"

"Of you?! Give me a break!"

"Are those two always like this?" Zola, the leader of the ingonyama Celestians and ibhubesi Naledi's daughter, asked Astrid, the Frost Bringer and Golden Pride were moving up to the north side wall, relieving the Argent Shroud and Marwen's Guardians as they fall back to restock their ammos and get tended by hospitallers and medics.

"Haven't known them that long, they joined us the same time you did," Astrid shrugged then ducked when a few lasbolts flew too close to her winged huskarl helm. "But from what I've seen, yes, they're at each other's throats all the time."

"Their bickering is quickly becoming a nuisance," Zola shouldered her bolter and rolled her eyes when Hitomi and Meifeng blew raspberries at her.

"I wholeheartedly agree," Astrid infuriated the two further by speaking loud enough that everyone can hear over the din of gunfire. "Besides, I can kick both your asses."

"A sentiment I share," Zola and Astrid traded friendly giggles before going back to blasting heretics, the traitors guardsmen were starting to gather in significant number at a cluster of low buildings fifty paces north of their position.

"Looks like you two are following the example of your mothers. Tell me, when does the kissing starts?" The battlegroup exploded in rapturous laughter at Lily's comment, the Wolverine Sororitas smiling insidiously. Laura and Yuki were amongst the loudest to guffaw, because elskerinne Eldul and ibhubesi Naledi eloping episodes had grown in infamy during their journey to the Vhilytra system. Growling, Astrid and Zola went full auto on a building, drowning out the laugh with thunderous staccato of gunfire, tearing the cement and those behind it apart. The survivors who tried to fall back were subsequently gunned down by the eldars, sliver and red danced across the air.

"Enough, all of you! You are warriors, not handmaidens!" Miriya had to be a buzzkill as she stomped across the ranks of Sororitas, eldars and guardsmen, the Martyred Lady Celestian dual wielding a bloody, revving chainsword and a plasma pistol. "Now braced yourself, the enemy are forming up for a counter attack, prepare for blood!"

"Alright mate, where to next?" Laura sidled up beside Tanrion, the captain general was actually quite dashing as he calmly gunned down heretics with his shuriken pistol, "and please tell me we're not taking the central stares."

"We are not," Tanrion dispatched a charging Khornate Sister with three well placed shot, one in the gut, one in the heart, and one in the head. He then waved his pistol at a huge archway behind the gathering heretics. Laura can just make out a boulevard flanked by pricey looking buildings. "We shall take the residential concourse, it ran the entire circumference of the citadel, a gentle climb that will eventually take us to the top." He tapped his earbud then. "Elnys, do you have a location on her eminence? Where is she right now?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her since she went into the air vent," Elnys's nervous voice boomed across the intercom. "And every camera from floor ninety to eighty has gone dark, and the defenses on those floors have also been destroyed. I haven't a clue as to what is going on in those places."

"Let's just say there's a lot of fighting love," Laura said. "We'll keep you posted, and don't worry, we'll get Isha out."

"Thank you lady inquisitor, good luck," Elnys terminated the transmission the same moment rumbling war horns resounded across the citadel, shaking bricks and plasters loose to rain around them. Miriya had been right of course, the heretics were indeed gathering for an offensive, and they wasted no time bounding over their cover and charging the battlegroup, most of them Chaos Sisters, melee weapons brandished high in the air.

"You wanna sally forth?" Yuki skipped happily up to Laura, perky and cute unlike Nikki and Lita, the Russian exarch and Mexican Warseer joining the British inquisitor with stern, purposeful steps which would look amazing in slow motion.

"Love, you just read my mind!" Laura magnetized her hellgun to the power pack and drew her claymore, trading smiles with Yuki as Galatea and the canonesses took their places along the destroyed wall. The Celestians and Banshee forming into a wedge behind them, "great people thinks alike, right Galatea?"

"In this instant, yes," Galatea flashed a wolfish grin and thrust her power zweihander high into the sky. "Let none survive! Domine libra nos!"

"Domine libra nos! For the Emperor!"

"Mael Dannan!"

Bellowing their mighty war cries, the Adepta Sororitas, the Howling Banshees, Tanrion and his remaining Dire Avengers, Laura, Yuki, Nikki and Lita leapt out of cover, melee weapons reeled back or lowered at the oncoming Chaos Sororitas and their goons, the two sides collided in a thunderous cacophony of screams and crashing metal. Behind them, Marwen, Raine and Cain waved the Guardians and guardsmen into a crisp firing line, laying down suppressive fire on the surrounding heretics scattered amongst the destroyed buildings. Sticking together like always, Laura and her mates slaughtered their way through the storm of war. The Chaos women were formidable fighters, almost on par with the Chaos Eldar knight samurai hybrid they fought back on Yomi, but Laura had been practicing with Yuki, Nikki and Lita, and were able to dispatch them after an invigorating bout. Thrusting her claymore into the neck of a Khornate Sister, right after cutting off her left leg at the knee, Laura twisted and wrenched the Scottish steel free, almost decapitating the woman in the process, and found herself in a calm spot amidst the bloody maelstrom raging around them.

"Bloody hell," Laura wiped crimson off her face, took in the violence, and turned to Lita, "I didn't really believe it when you said the canonesses were freaking amazing when they worked together. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for doubting you."

"As you should," Lita was super smug as she pointed at a particularly spectacular bloodbath raging not ten paces away from the quartet. "And take it from me, this is even better than the last time."

Laura didn't really have a frame of reference, but seeing the canonesses, the Celestians and the Banshees tearing mercilessly into the heretic's rank, she came to the conclusion that Lita was absolutely right. To see differing fighting styles, each unique and beautiful in its brutal application, working in synchronized harmony, the contrasting elegance of movement complimenting the women next to her, was nothing short of breathtaking. The canonesses were indeed amazing, blending various weapon disciplines together to create a vortex of unstoppable death, and the nerdish side of Laura was totally geeking out at seeing Galatea, Myorin, Amaryllis and Heloise carved a savage swathe into a horde of angry Khornate Sisters, parrying with HEMA, pirouetting with fencing, and striking with kenjutsu, the martial arts joined in magnificent destruction without losing their individuality. And to make things even more amazing, the Celestians and Banshee had taken the canonesses' example and combined their battle tactics. Not far to their right Miriya and Firnera's squad fought alongside Agrippina's princeps, the Martyred Ladies and Banshees striking swiftly at the traitor guardsmen on the flanks while the Eternal Legion's testudo crashed into a gaggle of Slaaneshi sisters, bolters and gladius flashing. Following Yuki's excited pointing finger, Laura saw Navaris, Jenatea, Astrid and Zola charging a line of Khornate Sisters and berserkers, the huskarls and ingonyamas plowed into the Chaos Sororitas with their Viking and Nguni shields, the Bloody Roses and Valorous Hearts exploiting the incision with power flails and thunder hammers. And immediately in front of the quartet the power halberd wielding Argent Shroud Celestians, led by Kessien, were pushing deeper into a faltering barricade manned by heretics and Slaaneshi Sisters, the schiltron grinding all in their path. The Argent Shroud's flanks were kept free of encirclement thanks to Hitomi and Meifeng Celestial Serenity Celestians, their swordsmanship deterring all that got too close. Finally, to top off the awesomeness, the Ebon Chalice, the Sacred Rose and the Avenging Knights had adopted the role of modern soldiers, running and gunning the heretics with accurate burst of fire.

"Not joining in, Laura?" Blinking, and mentally slapping herself for once again getting distracted by a bunch of hot warrior women kicking ass, Laura turned to find Amberley standing beside her, an infuriatingly knowing smiling plastered on her face.

"The ladies got everything under control," Laura shrugged as the guardsmen and Guardians joined the quartet, around them the fight had simmered down, with the predictable result of the Sororitas and Banshees being triumphant. A quick head count told Laura that the nuns and elves suffered no casualty.

"The path is clear!" Oh right, Tanrion and his Dire Avengers were in the mosh pit as well, completely forgot about them. "Follow me!"

"Form up into a battle column, now!" Galatea bellowed and the battlegroup fall in promptly, within a few heartbeats they were stomping over dead Chaos Sisters and heretics and heading up the stairs toward the boulevard above. The Martyred Lady canoness glanced at the quartet when they matched steps with her, queenly in her bearing as she wiped away a smattering of blood from her cheek. "We missed you and your friends in the melee, lady inquisitor."

"All of you looked so good killing those bitches, we didn't want to butt in," Yuki said then traded girlish giggles with her mates.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Eldul piped up, and was that a sway in her hips? "Commissar Tangmo and High Ranger Erik certainly did back on Yomi."

"Love, the boys didn't lie," Laura smirked as the column thundered through the grand archway, the flagstone path widening into a high end neighborhood, mansions and towers flanked them in impressive multitude, a city inside a tower. "You canonesses and Celestians and Banshees were extremely pleasing on the eyes."

"Who is your favorite then, lady inquisitor?" Well, well, well, who would have thought Crestienne had a naughty side? The Argent Shroud canoness chuckled lightly as the ground leveled and the column entered a large circular plaza, the battlegroup slowed then formed a defensive square, every barrel trained outward, taking stock of their surrounding while Crestienne's colleagues shot her a look, faces unreadable beneath the helms. "It is of no question that I am the most elegant."

"Sure you are Crestienne, sure you are," Amaryllis snorted while Heloise nodded her support.

"It is very endearing that any of you presume to understand the true nuance and sophistication of beauty. Some work toward that perfection, some are simply born with it," Myorin fluttered her lashes at the annoyed Amaryllis and Heloise, then traded grin with Zhensu. If she was being honest, Laura would rank Myorin in the top three when it came to awesomeness, then again Yuki was her girlfriend, so she might be a bit biased.

"All these talk of vanity is tiresome," Victrix of the Eternal Legion declared with a clear hint of challenge. "We all know the true answer to that, am I right lady inquisitor?"

Seriously? Deep in hostile territory, surrounded by Chaos warriors, the canonesses chose this moment to start measuring tits? Well shite, Laura would very much love to get a more in depth analysis, but that was preferably done when they were not in the midst of battle.

"Look, ladies, you are all lovely and beautiful in your own wonderful way, but is this…"

"AHHHHHH!"

Laura never thought she would be happy to hear a blood curdling scream, but life was full of surprises. Reverting back to their badass warrior persona, the canonesses turned as one toward where the shriek emanated, and found an empty space strewn with garbage and a few dead eldars. Claymore held at the ready, Laura was starting to shuffle forward when a body crashed on the ground not twenty paces from the battlegroup, the crunch of bones and splatter of blood was not pleasant to behold, acoustically and visually.

"…She's not dead," Laura thought Yuki was fucking with her but bloody hell she was right, the eldar woman, who had presumably fallen from a lethal height, was groaning in pain as she started to stir. Not only that, but to the shock of the watching main characters, her twisted broken limbs started to mend with agonizing slowness, the laceration adorning her near naked body stitching themselves together until the blood stopped weeping. She spun weakly to face the battlegroup, hand held out beseechingly at them. Wait a goddamn minute, was this…?!

"Please…" the eldar woman croaked weakly and crawled toward them. "Help…me…"

Laura was lost for words, but in her defense seeing a mangled eldar woman, no, goddess, healed before her very eyes would make anyone pause. Isha, because it's totally Isha, was about to continue her plea when a dark shape crashed into her like a comet. The goddess shrieked, blood gushed from her mouth, and standing above her, the evil sword Redwind driven a good ten inches into her back, was the Khornate Champion Azarvhin, the horned, dragon winged bitch was twisting the blade sadistically.

"Scream, you fucking whore," so enraptured with torturing Isha that Azarvhin failed to notice the battlegroup. "I'm starting to understand Miriael now, seeing you writhe like this have its novelty…fuck."

"Kill her!"

Azarvhin was fast, very fast, because the command had barely left Galatea's mouth that the Khornate Champion wrenched Redwind free and pulled Isha upright, putting the brutalized goddess in the crossfire.

"Fuck, don't shoot, don't shoot!" Laura knew it was stupid, but holy hell, she wasn't about to let Isha get torn to pieces by a barrage of bolts. Predictably, the canonesses were not at all pleased when she jumped in front of them, but Laura didn't give a fuck as she spun around to face Azarvhin, the dragon woman flashed her canines in a grin as she held the willowy Isha flat against her armored chest. "How about you don't be difficult and let Isha go, yeah? Then we can get on with the business of killing your arse."

"You're fast, I'll give you that, I didn't expect you people to be here for another hour at least," Azarvhin inclined her head to the side, mocking in her pleasantry, and held the croaking Isha up by the throat like a trophy. "This is what you want, isn't it, the fallen goddess?" The Khornate Champion chuckled lowly and swept her gaze over the canonesses. "Syrathel was right, all of you are nothing but hypocrites. What's the matter Galatea, your Corpse Emperor's not good enough anymore?"

"Isha!" Tanrion shouted before Galatea can make a retort, the man close to weeping. "Let her go!"

"T-Tanrion?" Isha rasped weakly. "Run, please…save yourself…take Elnys away from this place…"

"How noble," Azarvhin sneered and lifted Redwind, Isha's eyes went wide when the tip of the blade came to rest on the back of her skull. "I wonder what will happen if I ram Redwind into your brain."

"Keep wondering then!"

Isha collapsed bonelessly to the ground as Azarvhin flew backward with a furious roar, crashing into a building so hard that the walls and ceilings collapsed on top of her, Lita's magic easily hurling the Khornate Champion off the goddess. Laura, her mates, Tanrion and the canonesses surged forward, while the Celestians, the Banshees, the Guardians and the guardsmen laid down an encompassing covering fire for them, all guns blazing on the surrounding buildings and walkways, trading fire with the heretics who had emerged.

"Isha!" Tears streaking his face, Tanrion slid in beside the unmoving Isha, his words slurred by heaving sobs, trembling hands hovered over the goddess's battered form, wanting to help but fearing to touch. "Oh by the stars…Isha, I'm so sorry – ahhh!"

"Save the weeping for later boy, she breathes still!" Galatea crashed the tear-jerking scene by kicking Tanrion to the side, magnetized the power zweihander to her power pack and, with the grace and care of someone picking up a sack of potatoes, hurled Isha into her arms, bridal style. Laura and Yuki laughed loudly when, after bonking her head on Galatea's boob plate, Isha started awake, head darting this way and that in abject confusion. "Miriya! Clear that building and fortify it, we got the asset in hand! Move out!"

"Roger that!" Miriya nodded and went full auto on a townhouse, destroying the second and third floor with burning blue plasma before waving the battlegroup backward. "To the building, go! Set up a defensive perimeter and repel the heretics! Quickly now!"

"I'm on it! Come on Raine, I need you to help me set things up," at Cain urging, Raine, Amberley and the guardsmen rushed into a flat, circular building forty paces behind the firefight. Within heartbeats the Valhallan and Antari were sending accurate shots at the increasing number of heretics converging on their position, Jurgen having a field day with his heavy melta.

"Move it! More of them are showing up!" Lithia waved her power scythe at the many roads that connected with the plaza, now filled to the brim with Chaos Sororitas, many wielding heavy ordnances.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" Lita chirped up and, totally ripping off Gandalf, slammed the butt of her Singing Spear into the ground, summoning a transparent shield around the withdrawing battlegroup. Laughing along with the Mexican Warseer, Laura and the main characters hauled ass toward the fortified building, the Khornate Sisters roared in anger as the British inquisitor, being the last to stay at the door, blew them a kiss before dashing inside.

"You're sassy today," Yuki grinned and fist bumped Laura, the cadence of pounding weaponries reduced to muted thuds as Lita weaved the shield around the establishment.

"Can't help it love, we just rescued a goddess!" Laura started jumping excitably. Yuki took her hands and joined in, the high school girl display drawing horrified looks from the guardsmen. "Oh my God, we actually did it!"

"Guys, I really wanna join in, but we're not out of the woods yet," Nikki cut in, her face nervous. Honestly, Laura couldn't blame her, so she and Yuki settled down with a blush. "Seriously, not only are we not out of the woods, the wolves and bears and all the creepy shits are closing in."

"Got it, we'll pop the champagne later," Yuki glanced around, the electricity still working against all odds, and quirked her brow, "wait a minute, are we in bar?"

"Looks like it," Lita joined them with clear spring in her steps, and held a thumb up at Cain, who was playing bartender with Amberley and Raine, the rest of the Valhallan and Antari were crouched behind upturned tables, all barrels trained at the door they came through. "Nice thinking Cain, couldn't have pick a better spot myself."

"Would have been a lot better if there were any bottles left," Cain grimaced and made a quick sweep of the cabinets, all of them riddled with holes. "Chaos truly is evil, to rob humanity of this most simple of joy, a stiff amasec would be very good right about now."

"Save it for after the battle Ciaphas," Raine said sharply, and for a moment Laura thought Amberley was gonna shank her, but the lady inquisitor settled for a glare as the lady commissar pointed at the guardsmen. "Wyck, Haro, Jey, I want satchel charges placed along the entrance, Vorhees, Janny, help them please."

Despite not being attached to the Valhallan, not to mention being universally disliked by the Ice Warriors, Vorhees and Janny surprisingly followed Raine's directive without batting an eye, helping the Wyldborns plant the explosives. Raine and Cain locked eyes, then traded firm nods, begrudging but genuine in respect.

"Let me see her! Get out of my way!"

Oh right, they completely forgot about Isha. Waving her goodbye at the guardsmen, Laura and her mates turned around and headed deeper into the bar, toward the lounge area currently cordoned off by the Celestians, Tanrion and the Dire Avengers were trying to get through but the Sisters of Battle easily shoved them back.

"What's going on?" Lita asked, her head darting between the Celestians and Tanrion, who was being helped back to his feet after Navaris pushed him flat on his arse.

"He and his lot are not allowed admittance," the Bloody Rose Celestian hissed, moments away from pointing her bolter at the fuming Tanrion. "The canonesses are determining whether the goddess Isha is contaminated or not, better that he and his Solace Sun do not interfere."

"I am her captain general!" Tanrion bellowed, his highborn pomposity unsuccessful in dislodging the Celestians, all of whom were closing ranks. "And why are the Banshees and Guardians given admittance?! I will not stand for this!"

"Because they are of the battlegroup, and you are not," Laura was honestly surprised by Navaris's answer. Damn, they definitely did something right if the Bloody Roses were seeing eldars as allies. "Now sit down before I lose my patience."

"Tanrion, I need you to calm down while the canonesses perform their duties," Lita put iron in her voice and gave Tanrion a subtle push with her sorcery. The captain general's eyes bulged in outrage but nevertheless complied with Lita's request, albeit with clear reluctance. "Thank you for your understanding. You have my words that no harm will come to the goddess." Lita turned to face Navaris, her manner prim. "May we observe the canonesses' preceding?"

"Go ahead," Navaris nodded and the Bloody Rose Celestians parted an avenue for the quartet, much to Tanrion's blistering displeasure. Ignoring the captain general, the four strode passed the ranks of Celestians and onto a clearing set aside by the Sororitas.

"Ha! Oh my God guys, this is totally the couch meme!" Nikki guffawed when the quartet stepped onto a carpeted lounge area, complete with a long leather couch and big, high back chairs, Laura and Yuki joined the Russian in laughter while Lita blanched at the validity of the observation. Bloody hell, it did look like the couch meme, the one with the skinny girl surrounded by big muscular blokes, a clear prelude to a more vigorous activity of the carnal nature. In this case Isha, the Aeldari goddess of life, was seated upon a dirty, partially destroyed couch, clothed in strips of bloodied rags, haggard and tired, knees drawn up to her chest, fearful eyes darting at the surrounding canonesses, the armored women looming menacingly over her. Galatea, who was standing directly behind Isha, held a rose shaped amulet over the goddess's head, the small metallic object swung slowly on a length of chain, pendulous in movement.

"Oh shit, you're absolutely right," Yuki beamed, totally aloof of the seriousness of the situation, earning scathing gazes from the canonesses. "Yo, is this before or after the gangbang?"

"Judging by how fucked up she looks, not to mention traumatize," Laura observed with a grin, "sexy time is over."

"Will you three please shut the hell up?!" Lita snapped, successfully killing the, admittedly, inappropriate hilarity as she went to kneel in front of Isha, the goddess flinching away at first but the Mexican Warseer warm, welcoming personality slowly put her at ease. "Your eminence, don't be afraid, you are now amongst friends. I am Warseer Lita, leader of the Aeldari of the Immortal Spirit, we have come to rescue you."

"T-Thank you, lady Warseer," Isha nodded, her movement weak and pained as she looked nervously at the canonesses, all of whom continued to glare at her. "Are these your colleagues?"

"My sister in arms, your eminence," Lita glanced up at Galatea, who had stashed the amulet away and held the zweihander in her hands once more, the point stabbed to the ground, Laura and her mate tensing from the executioner like display. As calmly as she can managed, Lita asked. "Lady canoness, have you found any taint?"

"No, I have not," there was a collective release of breath from the quartet and the eldars. Firnera slid her eldar katana back into its sheath and Marwen lowered her shuriken cannon. The canonesses, although unfriendly in disposition, were visibly relaxing. "The…goddess if free of corruption, whether it be from Nurgle, Slaanesh, Tzeentch or Khorne."

"But she is weak, so damn weak," Bellona sneered, earning grunts of agreement from the hardliners while Isha wilted, her visage one of misery, tears danced in her downcast eyes. "We risked our lives for her? This weakling who can't even walk on her own two feet? This was a waste of time, what can she do but be a burden to us? Better to leave her here for the Dark Gods, how much morsel can she even give them?"

"She is our goddess!" Marwen growled dangerously, the shuriken catapult in her hands shaking. "Show her respect!"

"The Aeldari people have truly fallen low if you can regard this as a goddess," Morelia scoffed when Isha started to weep silently, her breath coming short and quick. "Crying? By the Thrones, is that all you're good for?"

"Oi! Cut that out right fucking now!" Her inner Scotswoman emerging with a vengeance, Laura stomped forward and got up in Morelia's face, the Valorous Heart canoness took a single step back in shock. "She suffered through hell the likes of which none of us can even begin to imagine, for ten thousand fucking years, so how about you stop being such a massive cunt and show a little fucking humanity, you know, that thing you're supposed to be fighting for?!"

"She's right," Isha spoke up hoarsely, her timbre melodic but so laced with despair that it made Laura sick. "I am not worthy of any of this, for the deaths done in my name. Millions of eldar had died and I can do nothing to stop it."

"Don't beat yourself up over it love, no one is perfect," Laura knelt down next to Lita and laid a comforting hand on Isha's shoulder. Bloody hell, she was so skinny. "But we are here to help you, so don't worry, those Chaos bastards will never lay a hand on you again."

"Thank you," Isha wiped tears from her eyes as Laura slid the hellgun power pack to the ground, shrugged out of her awesome inquisitor coat and, with a motherly gentleness, draped it across the goddess's shoulders, making sure it was snug nice and tight. "You don't have to…"

"I want to," Laura grinned dashingly. "It wouldn't do at all for a goddess to walk around in rags. Besides, a little act of kindness always makes the world a better place." The British inquisitor shot a stern look at the canonesses, the hardliners glared while the moderates refused to meet her eyes, the shame clear, only Crestienne offered an apologetic nod.

"Elnys, good news, we got Isha, she's safe," Lita tapped her earbud and mouthed a thank you at Laura. "But we're kinda stuck in a bar and surrounded by hundreds of extremely pissed off Chaos Sororitas. I've erected a shield around the place but judging by the angry screams and the very unpleasant tearing sound, I don't think it'll hold for long."

"That's great!" Elnys squealed from the other end, a chorus of high pitch cheering rolled in the background. "Is she well? Is she injured? Can I talk to her?"

"Yo, focus!" Yuki snapped. "Stopping it with the mushy shit, because if you don't tell us how to get the fuck out of this place the Four Big Bitches are gonna murder us and make a longer, uncut squeal to Isha's snuff film!"

"Yes lady exarch!" Elnys shrieked her response, went silent for five seconds before saying. "I know where you are, the Silken Moon, a high end place. You're in luck, like many of the dinning and recreational establishments in that area, there's a passage under the building that lead to a storage unit a few storeys down. There's a cargo elevator inside, it can take you back to the lowest level."

"It's gonna be a tight squeeze," Nikki commented.

"The cargo lift is big enough to fit ten Falcons inside without overcrowding, I'm sure all of you will be fine," Elnys said. "I'm sending it up now."

"Sounds like a plan, thank you Elnys," Lita nodded and reached her hand toward Isha. "We need to go your eminence."

"Of course," Isha nodded weakly, slid her arms into Laura's awesome inquisitor coat, the disparity in size was comical, and pushed herself off the couch, only to collapse back on the leather cushion with a sharp cry, so weak was her body that even simple movement has become unattainable. "I'm sorry…but the virus and the assault…not even I can heal that fast."

"We can give you adrenaline shots," Alnelle offered and Verity loaded her wrist mounted syringe with the correct concoction, Laura didn't miss the stark fear flitting over Isha's visage when she saw the needle. "It might accelerate the healing of your body."

"Is the effect instantaneous?" Galatea asked snappishly before Isha can speak. The pounding on Lita's magic shield was growing louder and more frantic now, and Laura was getting quite nervous because of that.

"It will take a few minutes for the solution to take effect, lady canoness…"

"Minutes that cannot be spared," Galatea didn't wait for Alnelle to finish her sentence as she reached down and once again scooped Isha up in her arms. The scene would've been romantic in a Disney sort of way, if it wasn't for the fact that Galatea was scowling at Isha all the while. Despite the overwhelming hostility, Isha nevertheless curled deeper into Galatea's arms. "Where is the passageway to the cargo hold?"

"According the blueprint Elnys just gave us, behind the bar where Raine, Cain and Amberley are hiding," Yuki stabbed her thumb at where the guardsmen were anxiously staring at the entrance, lasguns trained unmoving at the translucent barrier, webs of cracks were starting to appear on the surface. Galatea narrowed her eyes angrily at the grinning Yuki. "Let's get a move on, shall we? Make way for the queen and her gallant paladin!"

Growling a slew of curses under her breath, the vitriolic worsening when the moderate canonesses failed to hide their sniggers, Galatea shifted the frightened Isha in arms and stomped toward the bar, but not before glaring darkly at the Japanese exarch.

"Well love, if she wasn't pissed before, she bloody well is now," Laura adjusted the power pack's straps across her shoulders and matched stride with Yuki as the Sororitas and Aeldari filed in behind Galatea and Isha, Tanrion hurriedly took his place beside the goddess.

"She's always pissed, that's what make her cute," Yuki and Laura leaned against the bar as the nuns and elves, after bulling through the thick wooden door, hurried down the stairs that led to the storage unit, the Japanese exarch and the British inquisitor hanging out with the guardsmen while they waited for the bodily congestion to subside. "Cain! Another round of Manhattan for me and the pretty lady please!"

"I am afraid we are close, lady exarch," Cain snickered then glanced at the cracking barrier, doing a good job of hiding how freaked out he actually was. "We are to cover the retreat?"

"Righty ho love, a walk in the park for the Hero of the Imperium, am I right?" Laura quirked an annoying brow at the smiling Cain, drawing a dirty look from Amberley and a darkly satisfied one from Raine, "oi Wyck, you guys got all those charges set?"

"Yes lady inquisitor," Wyck nodded. "I have the detonator primed and ready."

"Good job sergeant, but let's get out of here first before pressing the button, yeah?" Laura waved at the now empty doorway currently flanked by Nikki and Lita, "time to go lads and lasses, double time."

Moving swiftly but with discipline, the Valhallan and Antari sprinted around the bar and headed into the stairway, the guardsmen covering each other, working in fluid tandem despite their rivalry.

"I'm gonna add another layer to the shield," Lita's fingers moved in a blur and the shield outside brightened, the Khornate Sisters howled in anger and renewed the assault with increased fury.

"Ladies first," Laura ushered for Cain to go ahead, the Hero of the Imperium tipped his awesome commissar cap and bounded down the stairs, the British inquisitor blew Amberley a kiss and winked at Raine as they strode passed. "Right, that's our que mates, let's go."

"I'm getting a very Left 4 Dead vibe from this," Nikki made her observation as they traversed the narrow, zigzagging corridor, the place would've been pitched black if it wasn't for Lita's glowing Singing Spear.

"Nikki, I don't think some comment needed to be voiced?!" Yuki hissed, the quartet now stomping through a set of doors destroyed by the Sororitas, the metal still glowing from where the bolt rounds tore into it. "You're gonna jinx the lot of us!"

"Given the nature of this universe, it doesn't really matter what I say, since it's basically Murphy's Law on steroid," Nikki shrugged.

"Still not helping," Lita, her tone strained, led them down more flights of stairs, and after a few minutes of dizzying, vertigo inducing descend at an extremely unsafe speed, Laura and her mate finally reached a wide, leveled corridor, the bright fluorescent light shining at the end of the hallway outlining the sprinting Raine, Cain and Amberley. "No explosion or gun fights, looks like the coast is clear."

"Let's just hope it stays that way," Laura got her fingers crossed, but when the four entered the high ceiling cargo bay, she allowed herself to relax a bit. Her mood continued to improve when she saw the Sororitas, eldars and guardsmen behind makeshift barricades, the boxes and crates arrayed in a loose hexagon around the closed elevator doors. "Things are looking good though."

"Don't jinx it!" Yuki snapped, her superstitious streaks rising to the surface.

"I'm not, would you calm down already?!" Laura shot back and Yuki turned away with a petulant huff, sometime it took a direct, stern approach to snap the Japanese out of her funk. "We'll be fine, like always, and you freaking out isn't gonna help anyone, so stop acting like an idiot!"

"Okay, okay, sorry, but I can't shake this feeling that we're walking into something really, really bad, you know?" Yuki offered apologetically, ahead the Valhallan and Antari cheered at the sight of their respective commissars, "but…yeah, I'm being stupid and probably worrying over nothing."

"I know better than to ignore your hunch love, I'll keep my eyes open," Laura offered Yuki a warm smile, brightening her up as they strode through a gap in the barricade. Miriya and Firnera were manning this section, so Laura tipped her awesome inquisitor hat at them. "How do you do ladies? Anything to report? Have Bellona and Morelia kill Isha yet?"

"Fortunately, that had not come to pass," Firnera snorted. "She's being tended by the hospitallers and medics as we speak."

"Were you followed?" Miriya, never one for small talk under such a high strung moment, put forward her question. "What was the condition of the shield when you left?"

"It was holding when we bailed for the stairs, and I'm pretty sure we would've heard something if the Chaos sisters were on our asses," Yuki said. "So yeah, we're in the clear for the moment…I wouldn't put it beyond Syrathel to come through the ceiling though."

"Fret not, we had that covered already," Miriya glanced upward, the darkness barely kept at bay by the stuttering lightbulbs. Yuki was opening her mouth when Miriya continued. "And before you ask, yes, we are ready if they come at us from below too, and that includes the elevator, which is currently covered by our heavy gunners."

"Bloody hell, excellent work guys, absolute top job," Laura nodded appreciatively. "Any idea on how long we have to wait? Poor little Yuki here's getting all worked up."

"Last I check the elevator was on the sixtieth floor…" Firnera began but spun around when Astrid sprinted toward them. Laura and Yuki braced themselves for the bad news, twitching hands already reaching for their weapons.

"The elevator's here, we're moving out," Astrid smiled as she smacked Miriya and Firnera's pauldrons friendlily before running back. "Come on!"

"Move out!" Miriya waved hers and Firnera's squad back to the elevator while the pair stayed behind to cover the rear with Laura and Yuki, guns trained on the passageway beyond, fully expecting the first of the Chaos Sororitas to rush out of the darkness. But nothing stirred, and when the squads had completely evicted the barricade the four traded looks of cautious optimism and high tailed it.

"Anything?" Nikki, who was standing beside the elevator with Lita, asked when the four of them jumped inside.

"Nothing," Laura shook her. "Look like Lita's shield was too much for those bitches."

"That's good to hear," Lita let out a breath of relief and tapped her earbud. "Elnys, we're inside."

"Copy that, see you soon," the elevator doors slammed shut and started descending. "Is my brother safe? And Isha?"

"Give me a sec love, I'll check," Laura, with her mate in towed, strode through the protective ring of Sororitas, eldars and guardsmen until they found Isha, her demeanor unchanging in its despondency, although her pallor had improved visibly, bloody hell she was actually glowing softly. Like before, Laura had to suppress a laugh at the sight of a very annoyed Galatea cradling Isha. "Isha's fine Elnys, she's in good hands, and Tanrion's here too. Seriously, does your brother ever smile or was he born with a permanent frown on his face?"

"There's little to be joyful for nowadays, but I love him all the same," Elnys said. "I'll see you soon brother."

"Stay safe sister," Tanrion tapped his earbud and nodded for Laura to end the transmission, and boy was he gloomy, but it was clear that he truly cared about Elnys, the weigh drawing his shoulders down coming from worry.

"Erik, Damien, talk to me mates, how are things on the ground?" Laura switched transmission and opened the channel for everyone to listen in on. "Give me some good news love."

"You got Isha out yet?" Damien asked.

"Yeah mate, we're coming down the citadel right now," Laura told him.

"Better make it quick, we're running low on ammo," Damien punctured this point by letting off a few rounds, "god fucking damn, where the fuck are they coming from?! I don't think we can stack the corpses any higher!"

"Erik? How are you doing love?" Laura now asked the Swede.

"We've reached a stalemate on the third tier," Erik said, the ambience of war roared violently in the background. "Syrathel's forces are not yielding any more ground. Our casualty is light but increasing every minute, what's the ETA on you guys getting back?"

"Soon love, just hang tight," Laura said then switched frequency. "Tangmo, Henry, how are you…"

"AHHHHH!"

"BACK! BACK YOU SONS OF BITCHES, BACK!"

"And we don't need to hear any of that," Laura swiftly turned off the transmission, her blood running cold at the sound of her two mates screaming for their lives.

"I've never heard the lord commissar that distress before," Amaryllis spoke into the vacuum of silence that followed, her timbre steely but with a clear hint of concern, a sentiment shared by even the hardliners, who begrudgingly tolerated Tangmo at the best of time.

"The Traitor Astartes," Galatea said neutrally, betraying no overt emotion, although her stance had stiffened somewhat. "I had assumed they would be here."

"Twenty Death Guards, fourteen Black Legions, seven World Eaters and four Night Lords," Isha added, to the surprise of everyone in the elevator, the enclosed space amplified her weak utterance to a discernable volume. "They have been at the vanguard of every major engagement across the system, and were singlehandedly responsible for breaking the planetary defenses here on Thima-Chantra. Our soldiers were not able to stop them."

"The Chaos Astartes are formidable," Galatea offered, the closet she came to a normal conversation with Isha.

"I wish your friends the best of luck in their battle," Isha said.

"They will need it," Galatea locked eyes with Isha, the goddess shrinking from the canoness's intense regard. "Thank you."

"…You're welcome."

"Tangmo and Henry will be fine," Lita announced sharply, brokering no argument, absolute in her conviction. "They've been in worse jam than this, they'll pull through. They always pull through."

"You're right," Yuki sighed. "But that doesn't stop us from worrying."

"They got away."

Syrathel was honestly surprised by how calm and accepting Luscinia was of their situation, her prim composure unchanging as she, Azarvhin and Miriael gathered at the front of the establishment where the Immortal Spirit battlegroup and Isha had just made their escape. The Khornate and Slaaneshi sisters had since stopped attacking Warseer Lita's barrier.

"Indeed they did," Syrathel braced her staff easily on her shoulder and took in the translucent shield, amateurish, but effective. "I hope this have not inconvenienced you in any way, Luscinia."

"I might have been somewhat peeved by this development, if tiding from the other planets were not so good," Luscinia said. "The Dark Gods truly bless us on this glorious day."

"Everything is in place then?" Miriael asked, perky as ever.

"It is," Azarvhin nodded then glanced at the ceiling, the smallest smile tugging the corner of her lips, "another triumph to your name then Syrathel, well done, to catch so many prizes with only one net."

"I never forget those who are invaluable to my success," Syrathel traded nod with Azarvhin before tilting her head, almost playfully, at Luscinia. "Your hypothesis was correct. Isha truly can't die by conventional means, it will make splitting the spoils that much more enjoyable."

"I believe an agreement can be reach," Luscinia concurred then glanced around the citadel, a sneer coming upon her visage. "Can we leave now? This place disgusts me."

"It has its charm, but yes, just being here makes my skin crawl," Miriael shivered and called for a general withdrawal. The sisters complied promptly and headed to the rendezvous point where a portal awaits. Azarvhin and Luscinia were in the process of leaving when Miriael sauntered up to Syrathel's side. "Was the shield truly that powerful?"

Snorting, Syrathel tapped it lightly with her finger and the Warseer's barrier shattered into a million pieces, the shard drifting down like snow.

"Well, well Syrathel, I didn't know you can be so naughty!" Miriael giggled.

"I try my best."