The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

So the Winged Hussar arrived, but Eyvtalien was not freed. They made the enemies bleed, but they did not yield. Resplendent and heroic was the White Phoenix Lancer's charge, fearless as they cut down uncountable heretics, traitors, daemons, even a few Chaos Marines, their lances, sabers and pistols a radiant silver fire that tore apart the servants of the Ruinous Power. But it was not enough. Bodies, big and small, mutilated and burned, littered Eyvtalien's southern approach, unfortunately the Fallen Astartes leading the Chaos army were not like Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha, nor were the traitors, heretics and daemons in a desperate, tired state like the Ottoman army outside Vienna.

"Shit, at least we get to sing the song," Henry shrugged from beside Tangmo as the Chaos army continued its approach, undeterred by the massive amount of death the White Phoenix Lacers had dished upon them, more monsters bounded out of the forest and refilled their diminished ranks. Meanwhile, the eldar Winged Hussar were speeding into Eyvtalien to bolster the Immortal Spirit and Solace Sun defenders. At the head of the battered column, his armor, jetbike and rider drenched in gore and viscera, was Zolwyken. "Although I kinda wish it had ended like the battle of Vienna. You know, with us actually winning this damn thing and Syrathel's army collapsing completely."

"You and me both," Tangmo sighed and glanced up at the sky. Holy fucking shit, things were actually getting worse, the Warp anomaly Syrathel has created by sacrificing the other planets in the Vhilytra system was turning the atmosphere of Thima-Chantra into a sickening congealed mass of eldritch animation, the oily movement was grotesque to behold and Tangmo couldn't look at it for too long before getting nauseated. "Fucking Christ, why can't Syrathel be incompetent like Skeletor and Megatron and do the same old shit every few months so we can kick her ass?"

"I know what you mean," Henry nodded. "But look on the bright side dude, we just sang one of the most popular Sabaton song and Erik haven't killed us."

"Seriously though, that shit could still happen," Tangmo spun nervously at the citadel, the blurry shape could barely be discern on the horizon. "I swear to God, Erik can probably fire his rifle from Stockholm and kill some poor bastard in Moscow, while he's sitting in the Kremlin."

"More like he can pop a fat ass in a palace in Pyongyang," Henry chuckled good-naturedly.

"I wouldn't put that beyond his ability," Tangmo concurred with a low laugh when heavy footsteps sounded from the stairway behind them. Giving the nearing Chaos army one last look, Tangmo and Henry turned to meet the two new eldars stepping onto the apartment roof they occupied.

"Lord commissar, lord general," Celalira smiled and waved over the pair, both regal in baring, the man sported an eastern European Cossack-ish haircut, one side shaved and the other long, while the woman had a crown of golden braid. "Let me introduce you to marshal Zolwyken and his second in command, lady Aemtyra."

"A pleasure to meet you marshal," Tangmo was pleasantly surprised when Zolwyken, without condescension or hubris, took his proffered hand and shook heartily. "We would have been in serious trouble if you hadn't made your timely attack."

"It was an honor to help the Immortal Spirit battlegroup, lord commissar, it's the least we can do for your assistance," Zolwyken said firmly, released the handshake and repeated the greeting with Henry. "Myself and Aemtyra were convinced that we would find nothing but death and ruin when we emerged from the forest. We were glad to be wrong."

"It wasn't an easy fight, I'll tell you that much," Henry said. "But with everyone shipping in, we were able to beat those sons of bitches back. Hell, if you'd arrived a few hours early, you would've seen us take down a phalanx of Imperator Titans."

"It was almost too unbelievable to be true," Aemtyra grinned as she shook Tangmo's hand. "But mankind tenacity and stubbornness have always been legendary."

"Hopefully that quality will carry us to victory today," Tangmo chuckled. "And with you hussars here, I think we might actually have a shot of winning this thing."

"I wish I can share your optimism, lord commissar," Tangmo and Henry didn't like how the stoic Zolwyken deflated, not even when Aemtyra wrapped her arms around his did the gloom lifted.

"Your little trek in the mountain wasn't a pleasant one, was it?" Tangmo asked.

"No, it wasn't," Zolwyken shook his head. "When the Chaos forces made a firm foothold on Thima-Chantra, I volunteered the Lancers to wage a guerrilla war against the invaders. Isha and the Solace Sun high command gave their blessing and we have been striking at them for the last few months. They were endless, no matter how many we killed, but that paled to what we have found."

"What did you discover?" Celalira traded alarmed look with an equally nervous Tangmo, the Farseer was as clueless as he was.

"Our fallen kin, the Chaos Aeldari," Zolwyken spat the words in anger, and it was only when Aemtyra tightened her hold on his arm did he continued. "Those bastards seek to open a Webway…their Webway."

"That is not possible," Fanduin cut in and Celalira looked about ready to faint, her body tilting as if struck. She waved off Tangmo's offered help and mouthed a thank you. "Such thing does not exist, the Chaos Aeldari has no presence within the Webway, we would have known if they did!"

"But we did not know, and in that ignorance had allowed them to consolidate and mustered a force of arm right under our noses," Aemtyra added. "They had successfully built their Webway Gate, one that links directly to their worlds in the Eye of Terror."

"Wait, hold up, like, hold the fuck up," Tangmo held up his hand, stopping Fanduin and Celalira before they can speak. "Are you saying that we're about to get a full scale fucking invasion from the very heart of the Eye of Terror?!"

"Yes lord commissar, that is what the Chaos Aeldari had done," Zolwyken sighed, gently pulled away from Aemtyra, and glanced at the nearing heretics. "The construct has been completed and is being transported here as we speak. It will arrive any moment now."

Great, just fucking great, at this rate Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Nurgle themselves would probably make an appearance in the next hour or so, all of whom will then proceed to curb stomp his ass into the next universe. Tangmo, and Henry by the looks of it, wanted nothing more than to scream and hauled ass to the nearest Valkyrie, Ciaphas Cain style. Too bad Tangmo and Henry were absolute bosses, so they settled for sagging shoulders and a long frustrated sigh instead.

"This must be the most grimdark shit we've ever face," Henry's smile was mirthless. "How's the evacuation going?"

"Seventy percent completed," Tangmo glanced up at the churning, eldritch sky and grimaced. "Ae-Shin and Tyra said that beside the nausea of having to fly through the damn thing, the aerial anomalies are harmless, for now."

"What about Isha?" Henry went on and the Aeldari perked up.

"The girls are bogged down in a town next to the river. But they'll pull through, I'll bet my awesome commissar cap on that," Tangmo looked at Henry. "What's the condition of the battlegroup?"

"Our casualty is rising, but by Imperium standard it's still in the low margin. Latest count put the deaths at around three thousand, and a fuck load more injured, but we can fix most of that," Henry told him. "As for ammunitions and ordnances…shit, I want to say we have enough, but if we're about to get a rude visit from the Chaos Aeldari straight outta the Eye of Terror…yeah, the math isn't good dude."

"Bad math or not, we need to hold the line until the evacuation is completed, or until Isha's off the planet," Tangmo swept his gaze over what remained of Eyvtalien, the place was so deep in ruin that he can't even imagined what it looked like before the war. How much more can the city take? "Are we still pinning down the eastern forces?"

"We are," Henry nodded. "The eastern trenches are holding for the moment, but now that the southern forces are making their advance again they're upping the attack and, sorry for being blunt, I don't think we'll be able to hold out for long, half an hour at most by my estimation."

"Ae-Shin, you still around?" Tangmo tapped his earbud.

"I am, for now," there was a strained edge to Ae-Shin's voice. Tangmo can't really blame her, given the horror show sweeping across the sky. "Throne of Earth as my witness I can see shapes emerging from the atmosphere, like whales and serpents about to breach the ocean before fleeing back into the depth."

"Have you been attacked?" Tangmo pressed on.

"No, but it's freaking everyone out, especially the eldars," Ae-Shin said. "Tyra said that the Aeldari civilians are now screaming and wailing every time she and the transports took off, many were frothing and catatonic when they arrived on the Immortal Spirit. Thankfully the Sororitas of all people stabilized them, whatever afflicted them were easily chased away by the Emperor's holy light."

"You up for a bombing run?" Tangmo asked.

"Always," Ae-Shin replied firmly as Tangmo started tapping the data-pad on his arm.

"I'm sending you the coordinates right now," Tangmo swiped his finger across the screen. "I want the enemy's eastern front blown to kingdom come, we need to buy time for our troops to withdraw and dig in around the western portion of Eyvtalien. We're gonna make our stand there."

"Acknowledge, lord commissar," Ae-Shin said. "Be advice, something big is approaching from the south."

"Yes I know, I'm looking at those mofos right now," Tangmo waved at the Chaos army, sporadic gunfire was now being exchanged between the forward elements of the heretics and the battlegroup's outlining defenses.

"I'm not talking about the Chaos Marines, I'm talking about the mass of… somethings that's following them out of the mountain," Ae-Shin said.

"Yeah, we can't catch a break," Tangmo's nervous laugh was not putting Ae-Shin in a good mood, "mind sparing some of your jets in that direction?"

"There are six Fleshships hovering above the place, along with an army of Heldrakes and heretic's aircrafts," Ae-Shin told him. "The scouts I sent that way were not able to get close and see what's on the ground, although thermal reading suggests another large army."

"Unsurprising," Tangmo shrugged dejectedly. "Happy hunting Ae-Shin, wipe those fuckers off the face of the earth. I'll see you after all of this is done."

"I would very much like that lord commissar, good luck," Ae-Shin said kindly and cut the transmission.

"Ladaee, Leilatha, initiate tactical withdraw, I repeat, initiate tactical withdraw," Henry now tapped his earbud, above them the roar of jet engines rose in octave, the symphony cleaved pleasantly through the air. "The moment Ae-Shin starts bombing those assholes I want all of you to withdraw to the western battle line and fortified our position there."

"Acknowledge."

"Got it, stay safe Henry."

"Thanks Ladaee, I will," Henry offered Ladaee a soft smile over the intercom. "Leilatha, have the artilleries made a complete withdrawal from the central island yet?"

"They have lord general, it was one of the reasons that made repelling the latest push somewhat challenging," Leilatha was obviously smirking on the other end. "I will signal for the battlegroup to fall back immediately, we don't have much ruin left in this area anyway."

"Be careful Leilatha," Tangmo offered.

"Of course Tangmo, someone still need to chaperon your meeting with Ae-Shin," there was a clear lit of humor in Leilatha's tone and Tangmo couldn't help but laugh, his spirit lifting.

"Ugh, the man is wholeheartedly devoted to you, so I don't believe you need to worry about me?" Ae-Shin groaned.

"I'm a very careful woman," Leilatha said neutrally before cutting the transmission.

"Lord commissar, lord general," Zolwyken and Aemtyra stepped forward, striking a parade ground pose with sharp, militaristic crispness. "With your permission my White Phoenix Lancers will provide cover for the battlegroup as they make their withdrawal. We will scour the ruin for any Chaos spawns and strike them down."

"That's mighty neighborly of you Zolwyken, and yes, we appreciate any help the Lancers can give us," Henry and Zolwyken shook hands, trading firm nods. "Just watch your back out there, it'll be a damn shame if we lose such badass warriors so soon, and we've only met!"

"Do not worry lord general, with me at the helm nothing will touch my husband," Aemtyra traded chuckles with Zolwyken. Ah, so they're a couple, as Tangmo had suspected.

"Make Sobieski proud then," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap at the pair. "Fire and steels my beautiful Winged Hussars, show them no mercy!"

"Why do you keep calling us hussars?" Zolwyken titled his head questioningly as he and Aemtyra started for the stairs.

"Human history dude, I'll tell you about it after we get out of this," Tangmo waved his goodbye. "Good luck!"

"Thank you," Zolwyken grinned and went down the stairs with his wife.

"I think we should get the fuck out of here too," Henry nudged his head for Tangmo, Fanduin and Celalira to follow.

"I couldn't agree more," Tangmo nodded and followed the three down the stairway, their hurried steps echoed hauntingly in the empty confines, the sound of silence punctured by unending din of gunfire. "Not really digging the noises though."

"Neither do I," Celalira grunted as they stepped outside, where guardsmen and eldars were in the process of evacuating the neighborhood. The Farseer locked eyes with the Thai commissar. "Can we win this?"

"I don't know," Tangmo answered honestly, but flashed Celalira a grin when she started frowning. "But hey, I got you guys this far, right? I'm sure we'll get out of this."

"Regardless of the duplicity of your statement, I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless, thank you," Celalira was actually pretty cute when she smiled. "I only wish I can continue to serve Isha."

"Don't count out your luck just yet," Tangmo stated firmly as the four of them, being the heroic badasses that they were, stayed behind until the troops and rescued civilians evicted the area before taking off themselves. And would you look at that, the colonels were actually waiting for them. "Aww, thanks for caring dudes! I'm really touched, not in the physical way that is."

"I'm sure you would've done the same for us," Krillen shrugged, pretending like he didn't care.

"Besides, none of us wants to be the unlucky bastard who had to break the news of your demise to lady commissar Leilatha," Lingxin shuddered visibly, earning murmurs of assent from her colleagues.

"She's right lad," Bruce concurred gruffly. "That's why we're here to make sure you remain unharmed, so that the lady commissar wouldn't flay our hide."

"Trust me colonel Bruce, I will do a lot worse than simple flaying if anything was to befall lord commissar Tangmo," Leilatha's cold utterance almost made Bruce leapt out of his kilt. "Feel free to keep that in mind."

"And trust me, nothing she had planned even come close to the evil shite I'll unleash on the lot of you if Henry got hurt," Ladaee added her dark promise, causing every colonel beside Hildebrandt to pales.

"Aren't our girlfriends great?" Henry and Tangmo laughed villainously as they and the main characters dashed out of a narrow alleyway and into a desolate open space free of buildings, rocks and concretes. It took Tangmo a moment to realize that high rises and homes used to be here, but have since been flattened by the battlegroup, creating an empty two thousand yards no man's land for the attackers to content with. Looming beyond was a tall, and very long, earthen battlement now manned by the Immortal Spirit and the Solace Sun.

"Holy fucking shit, when the hell did this happen?" Tangmo blurted as thunders of aerial bombardment rolled over them. The pounding lasted for almost five minutes.

"Dame commissar Leilatha had this section of the city leveled, with the purpose of divesting the enemies of cover once the battle is joined," Hildebrandt said, his timbre the same comforting monotone despite spirting beside Tangmo. "The demolition was completed whilst we were attacking the altars."

"We could have been informed," Celalira growled, not at all pleased with the battlegroup's wanton destruction.

"Sorry, but this is a warzone and snap decisions had to be made on the fly," Tangmo shrugged apologetically at Celalira, in front of them cheers went up and Henry raise his corna in salute. "Seriously though, it's not like you were gonna be coming back to this place anyway."

"I supposed you are correct in that regard," Celalira sighed as they sped passed the battlement and onto a large mustering ground bustling with martial activities, two King Russes rolled forward and plugged the entrance once everyone were inside. Tangmo slowed his steps and strolled toward Leilatha and Ladaee, giving the lady commissar a brief, but hearty hug.

"Good to see you on your feet," Tangmo and Leilatha broke apart. Henry and Ladaee were still holding on to each other, the commander engineer refusing to let go.

"The feeling is mutual," Leilatha said firmly and glanced at the battlegroup. "But if I was being perfectly honest, I'm not sure how long that's going to last."

"Nothing new for us then," Tangmo nudged his head toward the bell tower that rose above the roiling ocean of men, eldars and weaponries. Although it had taken a few hits from rockets and lasers, the stony obelisk remained tall and defiant. "Come on, I want to have a better look at the Chaos Astartes and their cronies." He glanced at the still hugging Henry and Ladaee, the American mouthing a 'help me' to the grinning Thai. "I'm sure general Henry and commander engineer Ladaee can hold the fort while we're away."

"Hey!" Tangmo ignored Henry's plea for help and dashed for the bell tower with Leilatha, guardsmen and eldars alike saluted their passing. The place was imposingly tall, the footing and stairs damaged and treacherous, but Tangmo and Leilatha made it to the top without much difficulty.

"You're back!" Korri and her sniper buddies, who had withdrawn here earlier, squealed and cheered when Tangmo emerged on the top landing, the silver bell that had hung here now lay broken on the first floor. Remembering herself, Korri flashed a clumsy, but cute, salute. "I mean, I am glad to see you safe, lord commissar."

"Glad to be alive too," Tangmo chuckled lightly but quickly became solemn. "I wish I could give you guys some good news, but I don't. Chaos Astartes are still en route despite the Winged Hussars heroic charge, and now they're gonna throw everything they have at us. Not only that, those fuckers are about to open a Chaos Webway gate, so we're in for one hell of a fight."

"That's cheerful," Korri snorted, earning sardonic sniggers from the other snipers as she went about checking her well-worn lasgun. "But not really surprising though, we've been jumping from one hellish scrap to another, so I guess we should be used too…"

"By He on the Throne of Earth!" A Vostroyan sniper squawked and hurriedly pointed south. "A gate is emerging from the forest! By the Emperor, it's almost as big as the Titans!"

"Fucking shit, and here I thought we would have more time before everything goes tits up," Tangmo growled, pulled a binocular from his awesome commissar coat and pressed it to his face. He did not like what he saw and uttered the most appropriate word for the occasion. "Fuck."

"You weren't kidding, that is a Webway gate," Korri squinted through the scope of her rifle as sharp commands and regimental bugles resounded below, the soldieries preparing themselves for the epic fight to come.

"Yes, but it is a lot less pleasing to behold," Leilatha commented and Tangmo concurred with a grunt, because at first glance the Chaos Aeldari's architecture, being dragged across the battlefield by hundreds of moaning, screaming slaves, actually looked kinda nice, almost identical to a normal Webway gate. The aberration, however, became more noticeable the longer you stared at it. Beneath the beautiful ebon façade, the finely cut curves, angles and lines of the Chaos Webway gate radiated black malice, the geometry of every facet simmered with daemonic auras so thick that ethereal monstrous shapes can be seen wavering in and out of corporeality around the arch, flowing and caressing the construct.

"That is the most evil looking shit I've ever seen in my life," Tangmo lowered the binocular and rubbed his eyes, the damn thing was giving him a nasty migraine. When the throbbing subsided Tangmo turned to Leilatha, who also looked a bit out of sort. "Our defenses around the field hospital are ready, right?"

"As ready as it'll ever be," Leilatha spared a glance west then returned her attention to the approaching Chaos Webway gate, san the binocular. "Do you think they will attack the civilians?"

"Absolutely, they have more than enough manpower to make a simultaneous attack on both our positions," Tangmo said. "Syrathel will also want to make sure that our escape route is cut so Isha would remain trap on the planet."

"What is the status with Isha anyway?" Leilatha asked.

"I don't know," Tangmo shook his head. "Last I heard Laura and the girls were at the river, so they don't have much more to go before reaching safety."

"More than enough time for calamity to descend," Tangmo didn't like the foreshadowing quality of Leilatha's tone. "That means we have to make sure the Chaos army's attention is fixed on us."

"We can try, but like I said before, they'll probably attack our positions simultaneously," Tangmo shrugged. "Both battle lines around the field hospital and Eyvtalien are well entrenched, not to mention decked out with a fuckton of guns, so I don't think they're gonna risk leaving a flank expose."

"You're right," Leilatha nodded. "And given the close proximity between the two fronts, support can be swiftly rendered if one was to falter. By my estimation we should be able to hold the line long enough for the evacuation to be completed."

"Sounds good to me," Tangmo didn't have a chance to appreciate the minuet optimism when blaring war horns, of the classical and the mechanical kind, resounded from horizon to horizon. Mighty roars from uncountable mouths answered the calls to arm and the black mass of the Chaos army surged forward, baying mad daemons made up the vanguard, followed by armored vehicles of the humans and eldars persuasion, with infantries bringing up the rear. Grinning sardonically, Tangmo unslung his Zetton lasgun and braced the stock to his shoulder, "welp, time to fucking rock and roll then."

"You're not going down?" Leilatha asked, one brow quirking.

"Henry can take care of everything on the frontline," Tangmo tapped his earbud as the last of the White Phoenix Lancers got behind the defenses. "Yo Henry, you got this bro?"

"Already got my Patton glasses on dude, my time to shine!" Henry cackled on the other end and Tangmo can just make out the American perched atop the hatch of the King Ghidorah as she rolled toward the rampart.

"Stay frosty dude, good luck," Tangmo cut the transmission and was honestly surprised to find Leilatha still standing beside him. "You can go join Henry if you want, but being the selfish douchebag that I am, I would very much prefer if you stay with me…can you stay with me please?"

"Since you ask me so nicely, I think I shall remain by your side," Leilatha grinned and drew her bolt pistol, her hard gaze locked on the cacophonic vista. "The change of scenery is indeed very nice."

"Oh yeah, totally, I mean, this feels like watching a movie," Tangmo sidled over to Korri and crouched down beside her, streaks of lasbolts and bolts were already flying in their direction, some of them pinging unpleasantly off the tower. "A movie where you can smell, hear, touch, and quite possibly get kill by if you're not careful, but yeah, this is totally the IMAX experience right here."

"We'll act as secondary eyes and ears for the troops below," Leilatha paced across the tower, grimly satisfied with the snipers' handsome display and readiness, before looking at the sky. "Watch the air people, I can already see winged beasts drawing closer, prepare to repel."

"You have enough magazines?" Tangmo asked Leilatha the same moment the battlement below erupted in furious light and sound, the Immortal Spirit and the Solace Sun pouring a brutal salvo on the charging Chaos horde, the melodic cadence reverberated powerfully, sending rippling quake up the bell tower. "Because I have a lot more stashed all over me."

"I do," Leilatha clasped her hands behind her back, striking a dashing commissariat pose. Around her the snipers were discharging their weapons. "I'll let you know if I need anything."

"Got it," aiming down the iron sight, Tangmo flicked the lasgun to semi-auto and started taking pot shots at the daemons below. Although not anywhere near as accurate as Korri's sniper rifle, the spunky Cadian scoring headshots after headshots, Tangmo was nevertheless able to take down an impressive number of daemons and heretics that managed to survive the battlegroup's encompassing barrage and closed in on the ramparts. And once again, like on Kolasi, Jigugeum, Tera-Antebella and Yomi, the scene of the Immortal Spirit's holding back an endless tide of enemies, fighting against staggering odds, repeated itself, and holy shit Tangmo will never get bored of it. The fact that he was usually at ground zero and fighting in the thick of it only make this occasion more awesome, to see the battle played out before him like an epic videogame cinematic cutscene made his heart pounded with excitement. On the ground the roar of weaponries was rising in earnest as the professional soldiers on both sides got within killing distant. Above them supersonic screams tore the heaven apart as the battlegroup's jets and Titancrafts charged the Chaos Fleshships and aircrafts, lightning of fire and iron lit up the sky.

"I'm seeing fuck huge mortar batteries rolling in from the south east," Tangmo tapped his earbud and send a few bursts at the aforementioned direction, but being out of range none of the lasbolts came close to even grazing the field artilleries. "Brace yourself and send some counter barrages in that direction."

"I got this," Korri trained her sniper rifle at the heavy guns, now arrayed in a pristine line behind the frontline, the crews and slaves went about prepping the weapons for discharge. Fingers deftly adjusted the scope and flicked the switches, the high powered lasgun hummed with increased energy, Korri breathe deeply and took aim. "Can you help me find where they're stacking the ordnances?"

"Give me a sec," Tangmo pressed the binocular to his face, swept it slowly across the battlefield, then stabbed his finger over the parapet. "There! Between the third and fourth battery, it's being unloaded from a halftrack."

"I see it," Korri pulled the trigger and Tangmo's vision was seared white. The world regained its corporeality in time for him to see the halftrack consumed by rolling balls of fire, the cacophonic explosions swept left and right, creating a chain reaction that destroyed most of the Chaos field artilleries, those that survived tried to rally and recalibrate but a mortar salvo fired from the battlegroup's position put the final nail in those coffins.

"Holy Christ Korri, that was one of the most beautiful shot I've ever seen," Tangmo gaped at the burning carcasses as the Chaos's first wave scrambled back from the battlegroup's defenses, no jeers or cheers hounded them though because another horde was already charging across no man's land, crushing their retreating comrades in the process. "How did Verity, Alnelle and Himinn survived you that one time, I'll never know."

"I wasn't trying to snipe them," Korri shrugged then grinned proudly at Tangmo. "I'm glad you approved lord commissar, I would like to see High Ranger Erik try and outdo that!"

"Don't give him any ideas, because I guarantee he will try it," Tangmo snorted and trained his lasgun at the nearing horde again. "But I think we should be more concern about these assholes."

"Absolutely lord commissar," Korri was super perky as she dialed down her sniper rifle and started taking out targets below again, Tangmo joining in, less accurately, with relish. This went on for about twenty minutes, the rush of battle never lost its sweet tang for Tangmo as he dropped motherfuckers after motherfuckers like it was a good day at the arcade, when a powerful gust, too heavy and thick to be anything but supernatural, knocked him and Korri flat on their asses. He sluggishly got back on his feet, every movement hampered by unseen weight, as if his awesome commissar coat was covered in magnets and he was getting pulled to the ground.

"What in the fuck?!" Korri growled when she and Tangmo finally propped themselves up on the tower's parapet.

"The Chaos Webway gate has been activated," Leilatha joined them with a snarl.

"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Tangmo sighed in resignation and beheld the towering arch flared to life, dazzling pink and violet danced across the surface, the runes brightening to a painful radiance along the curving gateway. The second Chaos wave had just been annihilated by the battlegroup, but no anger and hatred rolled from the Ruinous horde. Now they sang, joyous and thunderous, unrestrained in exaltation, a symphony for their impeding victory, and a requiem for the battlegroup.

"Damn, kinda wish we had more time," Korri shrugged. "At least the damn thing isn't too painful to look at, not like all the other Chaos shits we have to put up with."

"Guess there's a silver lining for everything," Tangmo snorted and tapped his earbud. "Yo Henry, the fucking Chaos Webway gate just went online dude, prepare for trouble because it's gonna be double."

"We know dude, the eldars are all getting the jitters down here," Henry didn't sound one bit pleased, but like Tangmo he'd made peace with what was coming. "We're fighting this out to the very end, right dude?"

"Damn right we're dragging this out to the last round," Tangmo said. "Ain't no way I'm making this easy for those Chaos assholes. You with me dude?"

"Hell fucking yes," Henry responded heartily. "Besides, the artilleries haven't even opened fire yet, let's see how much fight the evil elves sons of bitches got in them."

"I'll be down in a couple of minute dude," Tangmo stood up, slung the lasgun over his shoulder, and breathe deeply until the last quiver passed from his body. And Korri was right, the evil Webway gate wasn't as bad as the run of the mill Chaos portal, hell, it looked like normal eldar magic. Other people might have found solace in this but Tangmo knew better than to take things at face value, especially in this universe. "I wanna see what's coming through first."

"Have fun dude, I'm more than fine being here with Ladaee," Henry snickered lightly. "See you in a bit."

"See you in a bit," Tangmo made his goodbye and leaned over the parapet, eyes squinted to get a better look at the swirling portal that now connected Thima-Chantra with the Eye of Terror, Leilatha and Korri joining him. "Honestly though, I expected things to be a little more…I don't know, eldritch I guess? With scary eyes peeking through and octopus's tentacles crawling all over the place."

"Praise be to the Golden Throne for sparing us such a sight," Leilatha made an aquila over her heart then glanced at Tangmo with a quirked brow. "Eager aren't you? This isn't the first time we've fought the Chaos Aeldari."

"I know, but this time it's the bulk of their real army," Tangmo went on. "It will be extremely educational to see the true capability of our enemies."

"I rather not see those fuckers at all," Korri snorted.

"Knowledge is power my dude," Tangmo grinned toothily. "The more we learn about them, the easier it'll be to kill them."

"That would be the case if we can apply the knowledges learned," Leilatha added.

"Sure we will, right after we…"

Laughter twinkled across the sky, loud like the chiming of a thousand silver bells, emanating from nowhere yet resounding everywhere. Out of all the horror tropes, creepy laughter was the one Tangmo hated the most. Jesus Christ, he half expected to see creepy Chaos eldars emerging from the shadows around him. A quick glance told him nothing of the sort was happening, much to his relief.

"Here we fucking go then," Tangmo drew his twin laspistols, gave the guns a little cowboy twirl, and held them tight in his grip. "Bring it you fucking bitches!"

"Sir, something's not right," Korri spoke up and looked away from her sniper scope.

"Of course something's not right bro, we're about to be ass deep in daemons and evil elves!" Tangmo gritted his teeth, getting more and more restless as the minutes wore on and nothing but incessant laughter poured from the Webway Gate.

"I'm not talking about that, look!" Korri stabbed her finger downward, her torso leaning dangerously over the parapet. "They're not cheering anymore!"

"Say what now?" Blinking, Tangmo holstered his laspistols, followed Korri's pointing digit and was rightly perplexed by what he was witnessing. The Chaos third wave had halted their advance, the joyous marching and exalted hollering from before was now replaced by discontented murmurs rising amongst the traitor regiments and the Fallen Aeldari. Muscles tensing, Tangmo steadied his breathing and tapped his earbud. "Henry, what the hell is happening?"

"I don't know, those fuckers just stopped all of a sudden like the fucking droids in the Phantom Menace, they're still alive though," Henry told him. "What's the situation up top? You got eyes on what's causing this?!"

"Nope, I have no fucking idea why they just stop – whoa, what the fuck?!" Tangmo squawked, the pitch embarrassingly high, when several bright white laser beams wreathed in brilliant sapphire shot out of the Webway Gate and tore into the ranks of Chaos warriors, the watery skein that marked the threshold between the material and immaterial world rippled violently, "holy fucking shit, did you see that shit?! Jesus Christ, that killed those motherfuckers dead!"

"Who killed who dead?!" Henry blurted. "Was that lasers going off?! What in the fucking hell just fucking happened?! Did we do that shit?!"

"The lasers came from the Webway!" Tangmo went on loudly, around him the human and eldar snipers were shoving each other to get the best view. "Dude, I seriously don't want to get your hopes up man, but I swear to the God Emperor the fucking lasers came from the Webway. Holy God, everything in front of the gate got scorched to shit and Chaos eldars are running all over the place man. Bro, I seriously don't know…"

"HEAR YE, HEAR YE, OH GENTRIES AND LORDS FAR AND WIDE, REJOICE IN THIS GLORIOUS DAY OF EXTRAVAGANCE AND ASTONISHMENT!"

Tangmo blinked, his breathing forgotten as rapturous cheers rolled from the Webway Gate, the timbre and octave that of a hyped up crowd at a concert. The strange, unexpected scene, combined with the herald's booming, old timey announcement, did nothing to elevate his confusion, the growing incomprehension was shared by the Immortal Spirit battlegroup, the Solace Sun Aeldari and the forces of Chaos, battle forgotten amidst this enigma.

"Movement at the Gateway!" Korri shouted, her eye pressed hard over the sniper scope. "Something's coming out!"

"Are those…jetbikes?" Tangmo was watching everything through the binocular, but beside the spikey contour of the emerging vehicles, moving at an extremely unsafe and flamboyant speed, he cannot discern any details from the newcomers. "Those are totally jetbikes, right? Damn thing looks Drukhari in design though, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not."

"They are not Drukhari," an Alaitoc sniper lowered his rifle, shock of the most absolute kind paled his visage, but beneath the stark astonishment Tangmo glimpsed burgeoning joy, "Harlequins…the Harlequins of the Laughing God! The children of Cegorach are here!"

Seriously, that was the last thing Tangmo had expected to witness today. Yet he did not allowed optimism to surface, and boy did he wanted to as the Harlequin eldars, yep, definitely Harlequin now that he got a good look, plowed through the thoroughly confused Chaos eldars on their swooping jetbikes, called Starweavers if he remembered correctly. Now, Tangmo's knowledge on the Harlequin factions has always been limited at the best of time, but he knows enough to understand how random and volatile the clown mofos were.

"All unit hold your fire, I repeat, hold fire, do not resume fighting until I say so," Tangmo spoke quickly into his earbud then glanced up at the sky. "Ae-Shin, you and the air force continue engaging the Chaos fleet, everybody else stand down."

"Yes sir."

"Huh?! What the hell's going on?!" Henry was rightly flabbergasted. "And what was that Cirque Du Soleil shit a minute ago?!"

"Bro, fucking Insane Clown Posse just show up dude!" Tangmo made his loud explanation. "The Harlequin eldars are here dude, and man, they're killing everything in their path, like, holy shit, everything around the freaking Webway Gate are nothing but dripping gibs now!"

"The Juggalos are here?! Holy fuck!" Henry hollered. "And they're helping us?! Dude, we should be giving them fire support!"

"And risk a friendly fire and having them turn on us?!" Tangmo went on. "I rather sit this out and wait until it becomes clear whose side they're on."

"Okay, now that is a legitimate point," Henry agreed. "But…can I at least shoot the Chaos assholes if they get too close? I'll tell everyone to watch their fire."

"I'm cool with that," Tangmo nodded. "Tell the tanks and artilleries to hold fire though, big explosion makes people nervous."

"Got it," Henry said the same moment loud trumpets blared from the obviously hijacked Webway Gate, the fanfare one of unrestrained jubilation, and Tangmo glanced up in time to see a gigantic hovering stage swerved left and right into the material world with the breakneck speed of a supercar, the shape was that of an ancient Greek Trireme, colorful Troupers hung from rails and mini platforms protruding from the hull by strips of scintillating silks, their weapons unleashed with dazzling grace upon the Chaos forces trying to regroup. Upon the pentagonal platform at the prow a group of Mimes danced around a High Avatar, their flowing movement ethereal in beauty, the Harlequin leader was holding what appeared to be a microphone stand to his mouth, harmonizing a haunting, but strangely familiar tune that made Tangmo grinned.

"Hey Meko," Tangmo tapped his earbud again. His peeking canines made Leilatha and Korri blanched. "Think you can link our frequency to that of the Harlequins?"

"I can try sir," Meko was skeptical but did as Tangmo asked. After a minute or so, the radio captain gave his confirmation. "All ready sir."

"Thank you Meko," Tangmo picked the correct channel and turned to Leilatha and Korri. "Can you two keep an eye on that big stage please? Especially the humming High Avatar?"

"As you wish," Leilatha pressed the binocular to her face. "What do you plan to say to them?"

Tangmo's answer came when, after waiting for the High Avatar to harmonize to the correct part of the song, took a deep breath, and sang.

"Chanting my name…chanting my name!"

Roaring applauses erupted from the Harlequins as they responded to Tangmo's singing by becoming more violent in their slaughter.

"The Harlequin's leader, the High Avatar, he's looking straight at us," Leilatha stiffened somewhat. "He's waving his microphone wildly in the air, he seems very…"

"Pleased," Korri added. "It looks almost like he's urging you to sing some more."

Well, who was Tangmo to refuse such a request? He was the Singing Commissar after all, he had a fucking reputation to keep. Grinning, Tangmo sucked in a lungful and stood up to his full, dashingly imposing height, thought for a moment whether to brace one foot on the parapet but quickly decided against it, because falling off a bell tower in a misguided attempt to be cool would make for a dog shit eulogy, instead he struck the appropriate Roy Khan pose, and belted out the chorus.

"Welcome all, to curtain call, at the opera!"

Holy shit the High Avatar and the dancing Mimes were harmonizing along with him, and they miraculously got the actual song right, down to the harmony and timbre and octave and everything! Good to know that Kamelot's discography survived in the Webway throughout the millennia.

"Raging voices in my mind, rise above the orchestra, like a crescendo of gratitude!"

The performance ignited the spirit of the Harlequins into a roaring inferno, for they cheered and howled in ecstatic delight and, moving together as a single, graceful organism, possessing one mind and purpose, flew straight into the Chaos's battle line. The collision was kaleidoscopic and dazzling, bodies flying through the air like scintillating meteors. Tangmo waited until the Mimes finished singing the musical part before resuming the Ghost Opera.

"This is my song. Like the dead, I am on the other side, their howling in my head, no remorse and no redemption."

The gigantic Trireme stage plunged into an armored column, plowing into two Predator tanks and sending them bouncing across the ground, thanks to the void shield that had been turned up to eleven. The other tanks were turning their weapons on the Trireme when the hovering stage started spinning, all guns blazing on the converging war machines. The sight reminded Tangmo nostalgically of how Gamera flew around. Despite the nausea inducing movement, the High Avatar and the Mimes never lost their tempo.

"Hush my dear, let the music fill the night, and soon it's all we hear, screaming out for my attention."

At this point the Chaos vanguard had completely disengaged from the battlegroup and was concentrating on the deadlier threat that was the Harlequins. The killing was reaching its zenith now, so Tangmo unleashed the chorus once more.

"Chanting my name…chanting my name! Welcome all, to curtain call, at the opera! Raging voices in my mind, rise above the orchestra, like a crescendo of gratitude!"

The Harlequins cheered and Tangmo bowed in the direction of the Trireme stage, but found himself grimacing despite the afterglow of such an epic performance. Although greatly diminished and demoralized, the Chaos forces were able to halt the Harlequins' advance before starting to push the Juggalos eldars back, the Traitor Astartes more than capable of mustering an effective counter attack. True to their nature, the Harlequins were ambivalent of the fact that the tide of battle was turning against them, laughing and dancing even as they were struck down.

"Bravo, bravo, bravo!" The High Avatar gave zero fuck as white hot bolts whizzed dangerously around him, the man never losing his gravitas and showmanship even when some of the Mimes dropped dead from bullets meant for him. "A grandiose performance, my lord commissar, you truly live up to your reputation!"

"The pleasure was all mine," Tangmo took off his awesome commissar cap and bowed with a flourish. "You guys need a little bit of help there? The Chaos Astartes and your fallen kin are getting kinda close dude."

"A most noble sentiment, lord commissar, but we have to respectfully decline your offer of assistance in dealing with the Chaos spawns, for the bloods of these miscreants are not yours to spill," the High Avatar made an extravagant bow then gracefully swung his microphone back at the Webway Gate like he was a wuxia martial artist. "And now, gentle maidens and noble lords, we children of the Laughing God will perform the magnum opus of tonight's entertainment!"

Pressing the binocular so hard to his face that it would probably leave a permanent mark, Tangmo leaned over the parapet, mouth hung open, breathless with anticipation as the High Avatar, the Mimes and the Troupes around the Trireme suddenly stopped moving and sat down in a lotus position, uncaring that bolts, las and shurikens were cutting them down. The scene grew even more confounding when low rumbles, melodic and sonorous, rippled across the battlefield, the timbre swiftly overtook the tumultuous gunfire. The motherfucking Harlequins eldars were throat singing, honest to God authentic throating singing, what the fuck?

"Bro…who the fuck is throating singing?" Henry asked suddenly.

"…The Harlequins are throating singing," that sounded even more insane coming from him.

"But…why?" Henry was as confused as Tangmo. "I mean, not that I'm complaining, for a buncha of pointy eared European fae they're doing a pretty good job channeling Mongolian music and honoring that heritage, the music's very soulful dude, not gonna lie."

"Maybe we're about to see fucking Mongol eldars on actual horses charging the Chaos Marines? Like the Exodites with their dinosaurs and shit?" Tangmo shrugged and the serene surface of the Webway Gate started roiling, the animation violent and growing more so with every passing second. "Oh here we fucking go, yo Henry, the Webway Gate is spazzing out."

"Seriously? Mongol elves? Welp, I guess it's better than more daemons," Henry didn't sound too enthusiastic, and Tangmo shared his sentiment wholeheartedly. That was until a very loud, and very distinctive roar of a motorcycle, the big ass Harley Davidson kind the Sons of Anarchy used, resounded from the Webway Gate. "What the fuck was that?!"

"Motorcycle engine," Tangmo held his gaze unblinking on the Webway Gate. Around him the throat singing went on, unperturbed by the advancing heretics and daemons, the melody now reaching its highest zenith. Then something clicked in his brain, and before he can stop himself Tangmo said. "Hey Henry…wasn't there a Mongolian trapped in the Webway since the end of the Horus Heresy?"

"…Bruh."

"Bruh."

"Bruh?!"

"Bruh!"

Tangmo knew it was not possible for that individual to emerge from the Webway, no matter how much his nerdy ass wanted it to be true. Despite the Immortal Spirit being something of a nexus for crazy shit to happen, there was absolutely no way in hell this could come true, the universe, especially this universe, cannot be that serendipitous. He hated his boyish wistfulness sometime, but he simply can't help himself, and was already dreading the gut-wrenching disappointment that would follow. The roar of motorcycle was getting louder and nearer now, a tangible gale that battered Tangmo all the way up here atop the bell tower. Then the vortex of the Webway spilt opened to a sky shattering thunder and a shape, metallic, large but sleek in grace and craftsmanship, bolted into the material world.

"Holy fucking shit, I'm gonna faint," Tangmo wished he was joking, but we was really starting to tilt when the implication of what he was witnessing, a moment that will be immortalized for as long as the Imperium of Man exist, dawned on him. Thankfully Leilatha and Korri, both of them having yet to realize what was happening, steadied Tangmo before his mind went blank, the lady commissar's stern shaking snapped him back to reality. "Goddamn Henry, you should've come up here with me dude, this shit is historical."

"Can it?! Could it really be him?!" Henry's voice had risen to a squeaky pitch, no longer able to contain his excitement and hypeness, but a sharp smack from Ladaee restored his equanimity quick enough. "Ow! I mean – do you have visual on the Chaos Marines? Because the forward scouts are saying that they're becoming…erratic, scared even."

"Yep, and I can't blame them," Tangmo pressed the binocular over his face, grinning as the throat singing stopped and the Harlequins unleashed a roaring cheer, the High Avatar himself bowing deeply at the motorcycle as it thundered passed the Trireme, and it was now that he saw eight smaller bikes following behind, the column pristine and singular. The man on the lead motorcycle, his proportion godly, larger than even Damien, raised his gigantic steppe tulwar, which he easily wields onehanded, in salute at the High Avatar. He was of Mongolian descent, heavy of brow and sharp of eyes, a high ponytail crowned his head and a tattoo of red lightning bisected his face in two. His lips was peeled back in a rictus snarl, teeth barred as he roared at the Fallen Astartes and plunged into their midst like a hawk of war descending on his foes. "By the Emperor…"

"Who is that?" Leilatha asked, hers and the snipers' attention were now honed on the singular man slaughtering the Chaos Astartes. The Harlequins choose this moment to spur into motion again, joining in the carnage, "a Space Marine? But how can a single Astartes deal damage of such magnitude on his own?"

"He's not a Space Marine," Tangmo dramatically pulled the binocular away from his face.

"What do you mean he's not a Space Marine?" Korri now asked.

"Let me ask you this," Tangmo clasped his hands behind his back, the Thai commissar's gaze never leaving the destruction being wroth upon the Chaos Astartes and their allies, blood and fire painted the air in a visceral, hellish hue. "Did any of you ever believe that you would live in an age, in a time, where the God Emperor's son walks amongst us mortal once more? To see, to hear, hell, even talk to him if you get the chance?"

"No, none of us believed we would be so blessed," Leilatha and the human snipers made the sign of the aquila over their hearts, the eldars were respectfully solemn toward their Imperial allies, "a beacon of hope in this dark time."

"How about two Primarchs?" The heavy silence, so at odds with the raging calamity below, was all the answer Tangmo needed.

"If we can only be so lucky," Korri ventured cautiously, the brutal melee was reaching a violent climax now that the other Space Marines and Harlequins had entered the fray. You don't need to be Sun Tzu or Carl von Clausewitz to see that the Chaos Astartes, the unstoppable vanguards of the Dark Gods, were losing badly. "Are we that lucky?"

"Congratulation, you are," Tangmo had to stop himself from squealing like a fangirl when the Primarch, his white armor now adorned with dripping crimson, cleaved through three Death Guards with a single swing of his sword, bisecting them hip to hip, the diseased Astartes bursting into flames with horrid screams. Walking to the stairs and nudging his head for Leilatha to follow, Tangmo flashed Korri a grin. "That's Jaghatai Khan down there, the Primarch of the White Scars, looks like his holiday in the Webway is over."

Tangmo was half way down the bell tower when loud conversation erupted at the top, the excitable guardsmen and eldars kicking up a storm of noises as questions and speculations bounced across the air, the volume rivaling the fight outside.

"Are you sure?" Leilatha asked breathlessly as she matched steps with Tangmo, eyes wide, her timbre one of barely contained astonishment. It's a rare sight indeed to see the lady commissar so shocked, "another Primarch? The Great Khan himself?"

"I'm pretty goddamn sure," Tangmo nodded vigorously as they strode into the open, his steps springy, no longer able to keep his cool, excitement gushing out in torrents. "I mean, how many big ass post-genetic Mongolian killing machines do you know? And I can't be the only one who felt the majestic aura radiating from the man, right?"

"Yes, I feel it too," Leilatha tipped her awesome commissar cap at the colonels when they reached the forward-most rampart, the place was badly bruised and battered, smoke drifted from many sections, several were in fact on fire, the medics going about the grim task of carrying away the wounded and the dead. Despite the harrowing façade, the defenses remained intact and indomitable, and the main characters were alive too. "The sensation was identical to when I beheld lord Guilliman back on Tera-Antebella."

"In that case, I think it is only prudent that we make our introduction. Because judging by the noises, everything across no man's land is gonna be dead in a couple of minutes," Tangmo stabbed his thumb beyond the parapet, earning weary laugh from the main characters when Henry, with a huffing Ladaee in tow, sprinted toward him. "Oh hey man, what's up?"

"Bro, is that really Jaghatai Khan out there killing shit?!" Henry blurted, a grin splitting his face in two.

"Fuck yeah its him, the Harlequins were throat singing his entrance yo," Tangmo tapped his earbud and waved at the Evangelion and two Fire Prisms in front of him, the three war machines were entrenched around an opening in the defense. "Mitsurugi, what's the situation over yonder?"

"The Chaos Marines have been…destroyed," the commander of the Evangelion couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, but her composure returned quickly. "What are your orders, sir?"

"Me, Henry and the officers are gonna go meet the Primarch who'd just bailed our asses out of the fire," Tangmo told her. "I want you and the Fire Prisms to accompany us across no man's land, stay behind us and be ready to kill anything that survived the wrath of Khan."

"At once, lord commissar," Mitsurugi verbally saluted and the three tanks rumbled forward.

"Wrath of Khan?" Henry snickered from beside him as they strode passed the defenses.

"I know, I'm a comedic genius," Tangmo flashed Henry his best shit eating grin, but what little hilarity passed between the two swiftly crumbled into breathless awe, with a healthy serving of terror on the side. Horrific though the corpses may be, things got a lot nastier the deeper they ventured into no man's land, where the cadavers got progressively messier and messier. And if that wasn't enough, the Harlequins had successfully turned the now silent battlefield into Clive Barker and James Wan's fevered nightmare as the clowns, all of them laughing and chatting melodically, went about ballerina dancing over the smoldering carnage, their steps spritely as if they were frolicking across a green hill on a summer day, some were even admiring the viscera, holding the dripping gore to their faces like how one would inspect a piece of jewelry, Jesus Christ, the crazier ones were literally waltzing with dead bodies. The colonels, gripping their weapons tight, all huddled closer to the equally revolted Fanduin and Celalira, and Tangmo had to fight the urge to join them. The prevailing unease, the kind you felt as you waited for the jump scare to drop, lessen somewhat when the gigantic Primarch, his white armored now decorated with wet scarlet, noticed the battlegroup representatives and approached them with regal steps, his footfall making mini-earthquakes, his polite bearing contrasting greatly with the bloodletting unleashed.

"Well fought warriors," the Primarch of the White Scars gave a Chinese bowed in greeting, his voice rumbled deep like an approaching storm but was strangely soothing, every enunciation laced with power, charisma and wisdom. "The most potent weapon against the forces of Chaos will always be courage, to give one last cry of defiance against a raging storm is the greatest act of valor one could achieve."

"Attention!" Tangmo raised his voice and Henry and the main characters snapped into a pristine military pose, chests out and chins high. Then, as one, synchronized down to the nano-second, the battlegroup saluted the Primarch. "It is a great honor to meet you, lord Jaghatai Khan, the Warhawk of Chogoris, the Great Khan of the Imperium of Man. We are in your debt for your invaluable assistance."

"The honor was my, I assured you," Jaghatai returned the salute. "It is good to see that some reputations are well earned in this age of darkness. The Immortal Spirit battlegroup's performance had been exemplary." To the surprise of all, Jaghatai turned to Fanduin and Celalira and bowed respectfully. "Credit goes to the Solace Sun also, to remain unbent and unbroken against such overwhelming adversary is a feat worthy of songs."

"More like several albums worth of Sabaton," Tangmo chuckled and fist bump the grinning Henry, the casualness drew horrified looks from the main characters and an inquisitive quirk of brow from Jaghatai. Thankfully, the Primarch was more amused than offended. "Are you back for good this time? Or are you gonna mysteriously disappeared back into the Webway again?"

"No, my time of inaction has passed," Jaghatai declared firmly and holy shit, Tangmo felt his knees wobbled from the powerful, commanding acoustic of his timbre. "For although the wisdom I have gain in the Webway is invaluable, mankind has fallen far in my absent, spiraling deeper and deeper into darkness. Flawed as my father's dream has been it is worth fighting for, and I shall remain idle no longer."

"You do know that Roboute Guilliman is back, right?" Henry spoke up, flinching slightly when Jaghatai turned to regard him. "He's trying to fix things too, to the best of his ability."

"Guilliman's resurrection was what prompted my return," Jaghatai glanced northward then, majestic and regal in bearing, "along with the liberation of the Goddess of Life, Isha."

"And you are here to help in that regard?" Henry ventured and Tangmo held his breath, bracing for the answer.

"The Harlequins and Cegorach would not have rendered me assistance if I had meant Isha harm," Jaghatai said without rancor, if anything he appeared to have no qualm with helping the Aeldari goddess. "The Webway is a labyrinth of unfathomable magnitude, not even I can navigate it accurately after ten thousand years of traversing the place."

"Well shit, glad to have you back with us my lord Primarch," Tangmo grinned. "Because after the Rift split the galaxy in two, we're gonna need all the help we can get to survive the next several centuries."

"My name has faded into myth and superstitious," Jaghatai's words were dark and heavy. "I shall remind them what I am capable of."

"That's awesome to hear," Henry nodded appreciatively and glanced at the breathtaking destruction around them. "So…what happens now? I mean, you pretty much slaughtered the cream of the crop of the Chaos army, the rest should be easy to mop up now, and last I heard the girls were returning to the refugee camp with Isha."

"Those few you had just fought were merely the advance elements of the Chaos Astartes," Jaghatai's gaze was fixed beyond the Webway Gate, at the dark forest where multitude of eldritch pillars of sickly light lanced into the sky, the spectrum becoming one with the churning heaven. "Now the bulk of their forces, bolstered by the Fallen Aeldari who were not slaughtered in the Webway are marching forth from the Warp."

"Yep, not one bit surprise, we can't catch a fucking break," Tangmo shared a laugh with Henry and stabbed his thumb back at the refugee camp beyond. "Wanna join us in the trenches? I think it's high time we redeploy around the place anyway."

"Make safe the innocent, lord commissar, I wish you well in your mission," a ghost of a grin teased Jaghatai's lips as he settled his gaze on Zolwyken and the White Phoenix Lancers, the eldar Winged Hussars were gathered in a pristine formation behind them, lances raised in salute, unmoving like soldiers on a parade ground. "I go now to hunt the Arch Enemies and their slaves, and wishes to see the mettle of the famed White Phoenix Lancers."

"Have fun my lord!" Henry waved at Jaghatai, who gave them a Chinese bow, palm clasped over fist, and strode to his motorcycle the same moment the eight Astartes that had accompanied him rolled their vehicles to a stop beside the Primarch's iron stallion.

"Thank you," Jaghatai got on the motorcycle and looked at Tangmo and Henry. "Forgive me for my lapse in manner, but beside the monikers given to you by the Harlequins, I never got your names."

"Lord commissar Tangmo sir."

"Lord general Henry sir."

"Tangmo, Henry, we shall part more words when victory is achieved," Jaghatai grinned, started the engine thunderously, and nudged his head at the other Astartes. "I leave them in your capable hands then, I'm sure their experience and zeal will greatly bolster your ranks."

The Khan's motorcycle kicked up a storm of dust as he sped away, the Harlequins and Winged Hussars congregating to him. Both coughing from the messy, albeit badass, exit, Tangmo and Henry wiped away the sooty detritus, glanced at the new Space Marines, and froze. Okay, so last time he checked White Scar's armors were not black, nor were their pauldrons emblazoned with Germanic cross, and their Brother Sergeant sure as hell did not wore a Teutonic Knight Great Helm.

"Lord commissar, lord general," the Teutonic Astartes with the Great Helm approached Tangmo and Henry and saluted, his subordinates following suit with synchronized crispness, their battle worn power armors lending them an Arthurian air, "Brother Sergeant Adelhard, reporting for duty."

"Good to have you with us, Brother Sergeant," Tangmo saluted. "Now what is a squad of Black Templars doing with the Primarch of the White Scars?"

"That lord commissar, is an arduous tale."