The War of Shadows

[Swarbie]

Fabio strode into the armoury. If he was to be stuck here, he might as well make himself useful. Selecting a long-las with a telescopic scope, he carried the sniper-weapon outside. He climbed the steps leading to the top of the wall, nodding politely to the guard sergeant nearest him.

Propping the long-las up on the parapet, Fabio pressed the scope to his eye and began scanning for targets. There. A Fury chasing a child down a street. His shot impacted against the back of the daemon's skull, knocking it forward. The creature turned swiftly, glaring. Fabio's second shot took it between the eyes, and its corpse slowly disintegrated, turning into black dust.

"Scratch one," he muttered, grinning to himself as he swung slowly from left to right, searching for more daemons. 

[Necris]

The tank rocked as it manoeuvred it's way through the city following the route laid out by Jeremiah the driver complained about the route but followed it non the less he knew not to argue with an Inquisitor. Jeremiah had chosen the route because it was still, no activity which meant the distracts were either deserted or dead, and neither held little interest for Daemons.

He went over the plan of deployment with the soldiers knowing that every minute outside of the ward he' created risked them being seen by the daemonic, they were in the presence of a psyker and that was an enticing feast for any denizen of the warp. The Tank he'd selected had already felt his touch that was why he'd chosen it the ward would hide them but not forever they had to be quick.

"Holy Emperor!"

The Driver's exclamation snapped Jeremiah's attention round as  the tank ground to a halt he moved looking over the Drivers shoulder, outside was a charnel house thousands of bodies lay across the grand promenade, fires burned and raged from great rends in the ground. The smell of burnt flesh was vicious and stuck to the back of the throat, the driver had closed the view hatch tight but the smell had already seeped in andd was clinging to every surface, the driver was ashen his face panicked as he took in the horror, Jeremiah touched his shoulder and spoke.

"Keep moving."

"But the bodies?"

"We can't do anything for them, if we stay here we'll end up in a worse state than them."

That convinced him into action he gunned the engine almost stalling it and pushed the tank onwards over the mass of dead bodies the sounds of bones crushing under it's weight echoing through the tanks hold. He sat back looking at the worried soldiers as they tried to push the sound from their minds, Silv was equally ashen the noise threatening to overwhelm her as they crossed he promenade an continued into the city.

"How much longer?"

One of the guardsmen complained after another ten minutes of painful slow navigation through the twisting streets.

"Not long a few minutes perhaps, we're trying to get as close as we possibly can, let me prepare you all for what's out there."

He took each of their weapons daubing some of his blood onto their weapon casings in a small spiral pattern each one of them looked horrified at the act but took their weapons back despite it.

"They are heaxgramic wards, they'll keep you hidden from their eyes."

The Tank rolled to a halt and he nodded at them.

"You know what to do, standard sweep and clear until we get to the room, move out."

The hatch opened and the soldiers moved out in to the dead streets of the city

[MarcoSkoll]

   "... and is that all understood?"
   "Of course... Sir."

Lyra only heard the end of whatever conversation Ottokar had been having with the Guard Sergeant, who shuffled off, holding the beacon in a way that left it clear that he was absolutely terrified of it.

   "Inquisitor Grant, a word if you would."
   "Very well."
   "Firstly, I'm going to be forthright. I cannot trust you, else I wouldn't be doing my job properly."
   "Your honesty is welcomed, if unnecessary, Inquisitor Rhodes. I doubt anyone here is extending their full trust."
   "We understand each other then."

Lyra shifted backwards slightly, keeping her weight carefully balanced. It was unlikely that anyone would be foolish enough to start a fight inside the bunker, but a fanatical traitor would think nothing of sacrificing themselves if they thought her a sufficient threat to their cause. And in his armour, Ottakar might even survive a fight. But she had already summed him up as she was crossing the room.

He was one of the few people in the room shorter than Lyra. His short stride and reach combined with the inertia of his armour would slow down any strike he might try to make, and he didn't handle himself like a hand-to-hand fighter.
She didn't want to be overconfident, but her practice and training should allow her to draw her shock maul and land an incapacitating strike faster than he could either produce a weapon of his own or land a blow from those metal clad fists.

The faint shimmer around his head suggested he had a refractor field in place of a helmet, which could rob the maul's blows of some of their effectiveness, but she should still be able to slow him long enough to allow her to withdraw.
Maya would then be able to hit him telepathically which, with any luck, would overload his nervous system, allowing him to be captured alive.

Of course, that was only if he actually did try to attack. Reasonably assured of her safety, she continued:

   "The question that strikes me, Ottakar - if I may call you Ottakar - is that you identified as Ordo Xenos Norikian. If my galactic geography serves me properly, that means you hail from most of the way out along the Sagittarius Arm in the Ultima Segmentum. What exactly are you doing thirty thousand lightyears away from home?"

[Koval]

"A good question. May I call you Lyra?"

Lyra shrugged almost imperceptibly. "I suppose it's only natural."

"Very well. You see, I have, shall we say, an associate in my home sector that is writing a thesis on Orks. Or at least, he's planning to. The actual subject matter is on their almost ubiquitous nature, and on how long Humanity has been battling them."

"Surely your associate could have come himself. I don't quite see why you had to come out yourself."

"I'll be honest with you," I answered almost immediately, "this was at the behest of one of the sector Conclave's -- my sector Conclave's -- most senior Ordo Xenos operatives. Ferraz knows I'm not exactly one to go down easily. My apologies if this heightens your suspicions, my lady, but in all honesty, I've not yet met an Ork that can subdue me. Of course, my primary aim is simply an appreciation of history; first-hand encounters with the old foe are admittedly welcome but not explicitly necessary."

"That would take decades. Why undertake such a long-term endeavour?"

"I am not necessarily the only one to be assisting Ferraz. There are names with which you might not be familiar, but Gervasio Ferraz is one of the sector's foremost authorities on Orks. At present he's researching the history of Armageddon. You're quite right in saying it would take decades, maybe even centuries, but with a dozen Xenos operatives sharing the workload it becomes much more manageable."

"So you came to Carthax to carry out your research?" Lyra queried. "Pardon my assumption but it strikes me as rather odd that you came by at such a time as this. Nobody knows you, for a start."

"I can see why you think that. I was only here to pay Gideon a visit," I stated, glancing in his direction for just a fraction of a second. "As I recall, he left for Carthax not long after the Thirteenth Black Crusade broke out. I've no idea when he arrived but if nothing else, he's a familiar face, and being the social butterfly that he is, I felt he could introduce me to others in my Ordo. Kindred spirits, as it were."

"For your research?" Lyra asked me, and I nodded.

"Care to smoke with me?" I offered, changing the subject for just long enough to produce my pack of lho-sticks. I felt I could do with one.

"Thank you, but I'll have to pass. I'm not altogether fond of those."

"Then you don't mind if I...?"

"Feel free. So Inquisitor Antal is an old associate of yours?"

"I've known him since I was an Interrogator, but I didn't work with him properly until after the Lecah Murders in '36," I admitted as I lit up. "He's an old Xenos man himself, actually. We're close to the Tau Empire so naturally Xenos and Hereticus operatives are in no short supply."

"He certainly doesn't look like he's cut out for field work," Lyra sniped, turning her head to look at him. I followed her gaze and apparently he'd had a rather sudden case of the shakes in the past few seconds. "Someone really needs to calm him down before anything serious happens. I'd ask you to do it, but we might still need him conscious for the time being."

I couldn't suppress a faint laugh and grinned at Lyra's wit.

"Now, pardon me for changing the subject rather abruptly," Lyra continued, "but there's something else that's just nagging at me..."

"And what might that be?" I asked amicably.

"That transmitter," Lyra answered, "or beacon, or whatever it is. It's reassuring to see that someone else is at least treating it seriously, but I can't help but wonder exactly what you asked that sergeant to do with it."

No matter how I looked at Lyra's question, it was awkward, and I wasted little time appraising her of that fact.

"Sergeant Manning's been ordered to guard whatever it is with his life," I told her. "Except, rather than leave him unobserved in the bunker or wherever Inquisitor Crowe thinks is the safest location, he's staying with us, where we can all keep an eye on him, on the transmitter, and on each other. I felt it was a more logical decision than simply leaving him to it. Manning's under orders from me, naturally, but you might like the little rider I put on that."

"Oh yes?" Lyra queried, looking at me dubiously.

"I'm the one giving him orders, but obviously I'm not leaving anything to chance. Anything I say can and will be overruled by either three other Inquisitors, or by yourself."

"Me?"

I couldn't help but notice that Lyra was trying to suppress a derisive laugh, but with marginally more success than I'd enjoyed.

"Do the current arrangements pose a problem?" I asked her, a small part of me dreading her eventual answer.

[Swarbie]

Fabio reloaded the long-las. He seemed to be using a lot of ammunition, considering he was trying to pick out easy shots. Something seemed wrong. He pulled his eye away from the scope and looked out into the burning city. He froze.

"Dear God-Emperor. That is most definitely not good."

[Necris]

The building was quiet, no not quiet, silent it sent a shiver down the spine with the chaos and anguish outside this place was discomfortingly still, never the less the squad followed Jeremiah and Silv through the corridors weapons sweeping left and right as doors were checked and rooms secured, one of the troopers a young wiry man called Hedlan spoke as they moved towards the heart of the building his voice was the gruff growl of an experianced soldier but it was tainted with nervousness.

"The lifts will be out sir, we'll need to take the service stairs."

"Very well, take some men and move ahead and make sure they are stable and intact."

Hedlan nodded curly and moved off followed by half the squad when the rest had caught them up they all moved up the stairs as quickly as they were able.

"Two men watch the stairs, the rest of you move out and secure the floor."

He and Silv moved directly to the door of Brant's suite followed by Laxx and Hedlan who'd been assigned as their escort. The two soldiers moved forward at a gesture from Jeremiah and checked the door.

"It's locked, shouldn't be a problem to breach it."

Hedlan moved to kick the door in when Silv barked an order he froze the outburst from her unexpected.

"Stop!"

She stepped passed him moving towards the door.

"Inquisitors are very apt at protecting their living quaters, they usually have some form of trap set up to either purge the room within or blow the door and the intruder apart."

Her hands slid over the surface of the door and stopped in it's centre.

"A charge of some sort on the other side of the door, an electrical charge should knock it out, Jere?"

He stepped up placing his hand where she indicated, he wasn't happy about this but looked over his shoulder at them.

"Take cover just incase, Laxx bring the men back here this is going to act like a beacon to the daemons."

With an blinding light the centre of the door vanished the stillness of the building was shattered and noise rushed back in as if a bubble had been burst, the turmoil of the city could be heard and the screams of thousands dying echoed into the building through Brant's suite, with a push the door gave and they stepped into the suite.

Inside the room was well kept a desk stood a one side littered with papers and dataslates a door led to a bed room behind it while the other side boasted a small kitchen and dining area, it was sparcly decorated save for a few of Brant's personal effects.

"Silv, make this quick they'll be coming now."

"Ok, everyone stay perfectly still I don't need distactions while I work."

She stepped into the centre of the room her eyes closed she turned her head slowly from one side to the other before moving back again, everything became translusent to her, the desk glowed brightly with the papers the four chairs glowing from where people had sat in them, the dining table where Brant had eaten meals and the kitchen where he'd prepared his food, something stained the bed room with a red glow and she gestured at it with her hand speaking her voice sounding as though she were dreaming.

"The bedroom and the desk."

She passed her head once more going deeper the details of the furniture vanishing from her vission she saw the emotions of the room, all greens and blues, slashed with purples, blacks and crimsons, this had been a safe haven for Brant a retreat a place where he could scheme and plan the death of this world without worry of being found out, a dark square dominated the wall opposite her, it wasn't part of her vission it was blocked from it a square the size of a safe, a safe protected by weak null field.

She stepped back gasping and pointed at the wall.

"Behind there."

"Captain, tear the wall down."

Jeremiah strode across to the desk he looked over the papers shifting through them before arranging them into a pile the ones he'd looked at had names and locations, worlds and lists they could prove significant. He stepped from the desk and looked into the bedroom his face hardening at the sight. Across the bed was a woman her throat slit chains hanging from her wrists and ankles, a thin shift clung to her blood soaked body and fetishes had been thrust through her skin which bore runic markings, in the instant he'd looked upon the body he'd known what it had been and what it could be again.

"We have to leave, hurry up with that wall!"

Laxx and two of his men were hacking at it with their bayonetts chipping away at the plaster, Silv fired over their heads the bolt round making them jump as it blew out a large chuck of the wall, they backed away as she continued to fire at the wall obliterating the masonry and revealing the safe behind.

"Step aside."

Jeremiah moved to the safe drawing the powersword he'd taken from the palace he energised the blade and drove it into the safe down one edge before pushin it slowly down and repeating the precess for the top and bottom, when he was done the safe swung open exposing a small case and a dataslate within.

"Take them."

Laxx collected the items as Jeremiah turned hearing the chains in the bedroom rattle.

"Everybody out! Laxx give me your bolter and grenades."

A moments pause as Laxx handed the weapons over one of his men moved to the bedroom before Jeremiah could shout a warning, his chest exploded inwards as a slender female hand punching through him tearing his spine from his body.

"Flesh things, you have disturbed my masters sanctum..."

He voice screamed in their ears forcing them to clutch at them as they fled from the room only Jeremiah stood his ground bolter and sword held ready.

"Come Daemonhost face your doom."

"You are no match for me man thing, I will use your soul in the abyss as a plaything for eternity."

"Try me."

He swung the bolter round dropping his sword to get a better grip he blazed away with it, the rounds smashing into the daemonhosts flesh tearing holes as large as his fists into the sleek body, the wounds healed quickly but the host was driven back into the bedroom he dropped the spent bolter and threw the grenades in after her bringing his hands together he formed a ball of electrical energy and threw that after them, the explosion tore the bedroom apart tearing the host to shreads, he stooped to collect his sword watching as the body started to pull itself back together.

"Abomination."

He stepped into the fires of the room and removed her head watching as the corpse slumped back to the floor.

Turning he fled the others were already running down the stairs and he was forced to take them in leaping bounds to try and catch them up, when he reached the ground floor he was greated by gunfire as the others battled their way to the tank, he was forced to look up as the floor of Brant's suit exploded as a daemon prince of pleasure fully manifest crashed through the door.

He broke into a run exhausted from his descent his leg complained as he joined the others, they wer driving back a horde of minor daemons as they moved to the tank, following the he watched as four of the men were draged to their deaths then climbed into the tank.

"Get us the hell out of here!"

The driver needed no more words as he pushed the tank away the engine compaining at the punishing pressure being put on it.

"Did we get what we came for?"

"I hope so Silv, I hope so."

[Necris]

Vallaity Lorelei stretched to it's full height the bones of it's new form cracking into shape the sound like thunder breaking, it's time in the human shell had robbed it of the sensations it craved, it's two arms for it had chosen to retain some of it human traits extended into sleek and deadly claws stretched out and tore the masonry of the building aside as though it were nothing, each foot fall was like a hammer striking an anvil the sound piecing yet pleasant as it followed the mortal that had destroyed it's prison, he was a psychic and that would provide a fitting banquet to celebrate it's rebirth.

By the time it had strode from the building it's feast was boarding a metal object which pulled away at speed the word slowly came to it residual memory from it's mortal vessel, the tank pulled away from it the tracks tearing the road the sound caused it's skin to prickle the iridescent pink hue changing to purples and creams the harsh smell of the fuel causing it to sway in elation as the feelings flooded over it.

As the Tank disappeared it turned it attention to the sky taking in the beauty of the colours and swimming in the sensations it caused beyond it's body it could feel the world around it the panic and fear, the pain and death, the pleasure and the suffering and it rejoiced this was a world it could be free to feel on, free to make it's wildest desires a reality.

With a braying call like discordant notes it called out to the Dark Princes children. it's brides and it's fiends, they would come to it because it promised new sensations and new pleasures only the Dark Prince could rival. In ages past Vallaity Lorelei had been mortal, a leader of men, warlord and warmonger he had led campaigns in the name of his dark deity across the world of his birth, conquering the world one victory at a time. The Dark Prince had rewarded him making him strong and fast and when the world was his had elevated him to daemonhood, in those dark days to cement his entry into godhood he'd laid the world to waste his depravity and lust knowing no bounds as the entire populace was made sacrifice in honour of his elevation. 

And now he had a new world to lay to waste and place upon the altar of Slanneshi.

[MarcoSkoll]

Lyra paused for a second, contemplating her answer.

   "No - but I'm left wondering why you're trusting me?", she asked carefully.
   "Lyra, take the other Inquisitors here. As you yourself have said, Gideon is going to pieces. Inquisitor Glosche fluctuates between sarcasm and pessimism - and that's not to mention his episode earlier. Inquisitor Crowe is being impulsive and enigmatic. Inquisitor Wyebold isn't offering it the device the respect it needs, and Inquisitor Czernarvok could quite easily interfere with it."
   But you need to leave an option open to make sure decisive action can be taken if you're not available - and you think I'm most likely to remain lucid."
   "Eloquently put."
   "Thank you.", she smiled briefly, "Ottakar - you've been honest with me, and Gideon seems to trust you. I'm going to extend you the benefit of the doubt - it seems we'll get further working together than apart."

Her tone immediately became more serious.

   "But know this. If you betray me, you'd better hope the daemons get to you before I do."

[Caralinus]

Judge Tornan activated the vox once again and leant in.

   ++This is Judge Tornan, if anyone is receiving this transmission, respond++ She released the trigger and listened to the quiet hiss of static. With a resigned sigh she tried once again, just in case, Emperor willing they'd get a response. ++This is Judge Tornan, if anyone is receiving this transmission, respond++ There was an ear rending yowl that echoed throughout the precinct as other vox emitters picked up the feedback.

   ++This is Inquisitor Czernarvok, Report++ Tornan didn't know how the communication had finally come through but she was in no mood for a child's prank, she couldn't even fathom how or why the girl was messing about on the vox channel with the madness engulfing the city.

   ++Whoever this is, clear the line. If you falsely impersonate an Inquisitor again your transmission will be traced and severe punishment will be meted out!++

The only answer was a squawk of binaric that sent dials on Tornan's board whirring. Her cogitator activated by itself and began cycling through a complex algorithm, accessing information on the Adminstratum net she hadn't even known existed. ++I can assure you, Judge Tornan, my authority is very much real. Report your situation immediately++

Tornan blanched as she realised the voice of the child was entirely genuine. ++My apologies Inquisitor, your voice, I-++ The whole system went dead with a whirring of machinery powering down. ++Hello, Inquisitor do you read me? Hello?++

   "Emperor give me strength. What is going on?!"

   "Ma'am, the entire precinct has lost power, I can't explain it." The Arbitrator on the other side of the office was tapping instruments and flipping toggle switches up and down, nothing was happening. "Why haven't back-up systems engage?" Tornan left the silent vox, her brow furrowing as she moved over to the dead instruments. Her fellow Arbites was shaking his head but before he could say anything there was a dull krump from outside.

They raced to the forward observation port, a wide slit in the armoured wall of the precinct made of two inch thick plas-crystal which gave the slightest green tinge to the unfolding drama. Heavy stubber fire was sending orange tracer rounds into the flaming rubble of the gates. Oily black smoke obscured the high street beyond but whoever it was on the roof must have been able to pick out something with the weapon's targeters.

As Tornan watched a blocky armoured vehicle, a refitted chimera by the look of it, crashed through the blocks of shattered masonry that had once been the gate pillars and oblitereated what was left of the ornate gates into a blizzard of splinters. There was a loud bang and a drive shaft speared through the armoured skirt of the chimera as it hit something a bit too durable, the back end fishtailing as it vaulted into the air. The Chimera thumped down and through the smoke, coming in behind its mad charge, and dragging themselves from within the brutalised vehicle, dozens of dirty figures, clad in crudely dyed red fatigues and makeshift armour came screaming into the yard.

   "Get your shotgun now!" Neither of them had time to move far. Outside, the warriors attacked the precinct doors, battering away with bloody fists and crude tools but it didn't matter. Another figure scrambling through the smoke, fat with the amount of explosived attached to his body sprinted into the middle of the yard and with a cry to his heathen gods detonated himself. The explosion was collosal, disintegrating everything and sending the shredded wreackage of the chimera cartwheeling backwards. The doors of the precinct were blasted to slag and the front wall and the roof came crashing down in a welter of choking dust. A calm descended over the demolished precinct but was quickly shattered by the howls of more warriors spilling into the compound, kicking, punching and slashing at each other in their frenzy to get inside and slaughter anyone who might have survived.

[Necris]

The Chimera rocked violently almost throwing Jermiah from his seat and spilling the papers across the tanks floor.

"What was that?"

"Explosion, looks like it came from the arbiters precinct."

The vox crackled to life the driver jumped at the sudden burst of static before the voice echoed through.

"Inquisitor Crowe, are your responding?"

He moved to the vox unit activating it.

"Crowe here, Who is this?"

"Captain Marquis, Carthaxian 22nd Mechanised, Inquisitor Wyebold has redirected us to your aid."

Jeremiah thought for a second then spoke to the driver.

"Turn us towards the precinct."

"What?"

"If we can save any of the judges then their strength of arms will be a boon to us now turn us around."

He turned back to the vox.

"We're on route to give aid to the judges, meet us at their precinct and be prepared for a fight."

"Understood, Marquis out."

He turned to those gathered in the tank.

"Get those weapons ready we're going into a combat zone, aim for heads and chests."

He looked at Silv.

"Get in the main gun."

She nodded passing him her bolt pistol as she climbed into the gunners chair.


++

Tornan coughed smoke and dirt from her lips rapid retorts of shotguns sounded from behind her and she sat up her head spinning looking over her self as she fought the urge to vomit, her armour was scorched and scared from the explosion, her left wrist was broken the hand hanging limp at her side. Looking round she saw that a dozen arbiters held the primary courtroom doors, they cycled in and around one another pumping shotgun rounds into the corridor beyond. Someone had dragged her here and it took her a long moment to see the bodies of dead and injured around her, Enforcers who'd come to the precinct when their own networks of command had collapsed moved around the courthouse reloading weapons, tending the wounded and making ready to lend their own fire power to the battle beyond the heavy reinforced doors.

She rolled to her knees and made to stand, a fellow judge moved to her side, their armour masked with a white blood stained medicate apron, he was an old dog who should have retired long ago but his skills as a medicate had ensured his continued service. 

"You should stay down ma'am."

"Emperor be dammed I still have use of one hand so I can still wield a weapon."

"Here then."

He slapped a morph shot into her arm and she felt a wash of dull numbness flood through her. Drawing her pistol she strode up to the door stepping up behind the judges gathered round it.

"How many?"

"Hundreds, how did this go unnoticed?"

"It doesn't matter just kill them."

She levelled her gun and started to fire into the mass of bodies beyond.

++

The Chimera broke through the crowds crushing blood maddened cultists under it's heavy tracks while the gun turret turned slicing through the mass with multilaser fire the front sponson barked with it's heavy retorts as the hatch ramp fell bolters and shotguns blazing. Jeremiah led the men sword and pistol in hand, he ducked under a wild swing from a length of iron rod and blew the offender apart in a wash of bolt shells using the proximity to slaughter all those round him, his sword sliced through another and then a space cleared and they moved into the thick of it cutting their way towards the courthouse.

"There are too many of them Inquisitor!"

"Our salvation arrives on steeds of steel!"

Explosions blossomed in the mass as two leman russ tanks rolled into view followed by three chimeras the transport tanks disgorged their troopers in expert formation the thirty men clearing a second space and cutting the mob in half as the tanks circled lending their weight of fire to the fight. Two figures moved from the soldiers weapons hacking aside the few cultists still between them.

"Inquisitor! Captain Marquis at your service this is Commissar Kallor."

"A fine deployment captain, have your men clear and hold the courtyard, I'll need ten of them to accompany me into the courthouse to give aid to our brothers within."

"Understood, Squad alpha with men, Kallor you have command out here."

"Understood captain, Right you heathen whore sons show these heretical bastards how Carthaxian men fight!"

Jeremiah allowed himself a smile as the commissar roared before turning and leading the men into the courthouse. 

[Swarbie]

Fabio scanned across the events happening in the city through his long-las' sights. Jeremiah had a led an assault on the cultists atticking the Arbites complex, hitting them in the rear with a mechanised attack force. He zoomed in and saw the inquisitor carving his way through the cultists. Suddenly, a cultist that had been feigning death sprang up and charged, his sword aimed at Jeremiah's head. A quick double-tap shot and two las-rounds buried themselves in the Chaos follower's back, dropping him instantly.

Fabio swept his view over the carnage, and then found his attention caught by a small movement. He turned to face his right and saw a massive daemon striding leisurely through the streets. It appeared to be Slaaneshi, but he was unable to place its rank. Most likely it was a daemon prince of some kind.

The air rippled around the blasphemous entity's limbs, and Fabio saw daemonettes and fiends forming in its wake. Then he realised its direction. The daemon was headed straight to the Arbites precinct, but it was still several city blocks away. He dropped his long-las and ran down the stairs.

He looked around frantically, and then spotted Inquisitor Wyebold. He jogged up to him and began speaking.

"Wyebold, use that vox of yours and tell Jeremiah to hurry up and rescue those damn Arbites. There's a daemon prince headed straight for him. He's got ten minutes tops."

[Necris]

"We're running low, soon it'll be down to shock mauls and curses."

Oban grumbled the old veteran Knelt beside Tornan taking a shotgun from an Enforcer and continuing to fire down the corridor by his reckoning they could hold for maybe a few more minutes before they were overwhelmed and slaughtered.

Tornan frowned at the news coming from her new second in command, as the most senior judge present she was expected to lead and in this situation there was little in way of leadership, as her weapon clicked empty she cursed stepping back from the line she shouted.

"Fill the gap!"

An Enforcer stepped up a pistol held in his hands he fired four shots before a thrown blade punched through his neck spraying arterial blood as he tumbled back the judges stood next to him flinched as hot blood washed over them giving the cultists the chance they needed, Tornan turned to those gathered in the room drawing her power maul.

"Shields and Mauls!"

Enforcers and Judges stepped up combat weapons held ready the judges brought riot shields and formed a barricade, as the cultists smashed through the doors, those who held it used their shotguns as clubs as they backed away letting the combat element step in and hold the line. The fighting was frantic the cultists coming in a hard wave of berserk killers, against the desperate stand of law enforcers.

Tornan smashed a cultist to the ground the woman had a pair of long kitchen knives and had tried to open her throat before Tornan had crushed her knee, despite the shattered limb she still tried to thrust her blades intro the judge before her neck was snapped by a second blow, stepping passed her Tornan  blocked another attack, thankful as an enforcer swung in wielding a shock maul in two hands the blow broke ribs and doubled the attacker over before the weapon discharged and sent the deranged man back into the other attackers.

Something changed Tornan noticed as the tide of attackers forcing their way through the door eased then ceased, she looked around seeing only a few dozen attackers and bellowed an order.

"Shutguns to the fore, lets drive these heathens from the hall."

Oban stepped up followed by the other door defenders and fired a wave of solid death cutting cultists down, it took the minutes to kill them all and then they turned their attention to the door again.

"Oban man the door, shoot anything that moved out there."

"Yes Ma'am."

She looked to the others.

"Clear these bodies, I want us ready for more of them."

"Holy Emperor."

She turned looking at Oban who stood exposed in the open doorway.

"Oban get into cover!"

"Thats not going to help us now."

She moved to his size and froze, the corridor was littered with dead, some the closest were riddled with gunshot wounds but the furthest away the ones that had filled the corridor lay steaming a figure stood at the end of the corridor eyes blazing blue a sword held in one hand, steam rose from the other which was pointed in their direction, Tornan hissed pushing Oban into action.

"Witch, kill it!"

He brought up his shotgun and froze as a voice boomed down the corridor at them.

"Inquisition! Lower your weapons!"

He looked at her, the figure had spoken his voice as if coming from a vox amp before he started moving his hands falling to his side, PDF troopers moved into the corridor behind him checking the dead as they came a Captain walked at their lead.

"Lower you gun Oban, the Inquisition has come to save us."

"Quite so, I am Inquisitor Crowe, gather all you can time is of the essence."

[Zephon]

"Daath, see to it."

The lanky aide moved quickly inside as Bernard drew Fabio after him. As they walked, they exchanged rapid, staccato sentences.

"Was the creature alone?"

"No, leading the charge, summoning minions as it goes."

"The Precinct is too close for comfort"

"You think we might be next?"
"If the entity is intelligent, certainly"

"They do not think the way you or I might."

Bernard hardly heard Fabio's final statement, as they had just entered the now bustling bunker, and his attention was drawn by a series of brief reports.

"Sir, Oliver's convoy has reached our lines."

"The last refugee column has been overwhelmed."

"Captain Henroth reports ready, sir"

"Enemy forces have withdrawn from attacking these positions"

"If we could take the Arbites armoury, sir..."

"The militia unit in the market district had to double back. Should we have them link up with this unit, here?"

While Wyebold replied, Fabio moved towards the central table. An adept stood aside, allowing him to see. The hololothic display of the city looked more ordered now. The blue aquilas, barring a few stragglers, were clustered around the Palace, which was surrounded by shifting patches of red. The adept who had moved aside began to explain.

"Sir, Inquisitor Wyebold has infantry dug in as the perimeter, with mechanised units as a mobile reserve. We're a second-line redoubt, here. Once we ran out of weapons, we put the civilians to work fortifying positions. They're still coming in, sir, but only a few."

Bernard also moved to the table, leaning on the edge beside Glosche, while shouting to a vox-operator.

"Call Captain Marquis and Inquisitor Crowe. We need to know if the Precinct is defensible."

Looking at Glosche, he attempted a hopeful smile and spoke in a distant manner.

"I'm going to move our reserve to counter the beast. And cover Crowe's retreat. If we're lucky, he'll draw it onto our guns. Just how tough is this thing?" 

He pointed to the map. A red cluster was moving towards the aquila marking Crowe's position.

[Swarbie]

"You want to know how tough something like that is? If we want to bring it down before it reaches us, we will need to concentrate every scrap of firepower we have on it. It would eventually fall, but then we would be overrun by its minions, who would have been able to advance completely unharmed."

Fabio looked at the holo-map. The red cluster was moving at a leisurely pace.

"If it gets here, Jeremiah and I together might be able to hold it off, if it had taken enough damage getting here. But we'd be unlikely to survive. Without our help, the others would last maybe a few days at most. We need to devise a way to stop that daemon without it killing us all. Any ideas?"

[Caralinus]

   "It grieves me to call upon a noble machine to sacrifice itself, but I may have a solution." The child that Molovich used to speak was stood beside the display, pale face deathly from the faint green glow, grey lines cross hatching her face where streets and buildings were displayed, the red mass the represented the daemons was tracking down her cheek like an oversized tear of blood.

   "In the armoury are several racks of Basilisk munition, useless to us ordinarily but it might be possible to convert them into a bomb, delivered by an unforunate Chimera, the protection it would offer would likely get it close enough to the warp entity to ensure utter destruction."

   "And which lucky soul gets to drive the tank?" Fabio asked, looking back to the towering form of Molovich and then flicking his eyes down as the child answered.

   "With the correct obeisances, and if the Spirit is willing, the Chimera will seliver itself."

   "How long it would take?" Jeremiah stood up strait from where he had been examining the holo-display, with a serious but hopeful expression.

   "The explosive device will take only minutes to prepare, convincing the Chimera to willfully destroy itself, that might take a little longer. I will proceed." Molovich turned away, disengaging from his 'bio-unit', the child instantly dropping the grave expression that Molovich, had he a face, would have worn, and waving a hand through the holo-display happily, following the roads with the tip of a tiny finger. Molovich issued a burst of binaric and two of his Skitarii followed, along with his Tech-Priestess, to the armoury.