Warhammer 40k: The Harmony Crusade

Chapters

High-Value Target
Objective Complete?
Sabotage
Villains On Both Sides
A Beautiful Sunset
Whispers In The Night
Discoveries
New Planet, New Places, Same Orders

High-Value Target

Chapter 1

High-Value Target

“Orbital insertion commencing. Firing in five, four, three, two....”

The drop pod screamed as it was shot out of the Inquisitional cruiser Hammer's Retribution down towards the smog-covered planet of Damscan II. The drop pod entered the war-torn upper atmosphere, narrowly missing the lance batteries of both Imperial and heretic cruisers alike.

“Hold her steady!” shouted Justicar Vakarrian to the pilot-servitor from his drop harness over the ear-shattering roar of the engines, “We don't want a repeat of last time!”

Dear Emperor, please not like last time prayed Brother Tarrik from his harness. Last time during a cleansing mission, they had landed more than a kilometre off target in the middle of a cultist camp, and wasted precious time fighting their way out. We almost failed, and damn, I wasted a lot of good ammo that day....

“Brother Tarrik!” Vakarrian shouted, snapping Tarrik out of his daydream. “Reminisce in your own time! We are approaching the landing point now, and you are first out clearing a path! Myself, Kaska, and Tarses will follow you out! Anvar will bring up rear with the incinerator!”

“Yes sir!” Tarrik heard Brother Anvar shout, barely audible from the other side of the pod.

The pod shot through the cloud layer and towards the battle. The ground was red, blood mixing with dust as las fire filled the air.

“Right Grey Knights! The Cadian 412th and 301st are already on the ground in heavy fighting! The Blood Ravens 3rd Company is descending to the east!” shouted Vakarrian, “Fix helmets, landing in three, two...”

The drop pod crashed to the ground, throwing dust and heretic remains into the air with the impact. The door swung open, and immediately Tarrik was first out, slicing through the heretics with his nemesis force halberd. The rest of the the squad fanned out after him firing their wrist-mounted storm bolters, the blessed rounds punching through heretics and daemons alike. Brother Anvar brought up the rear, his Incinerator spewing gouts of holy promethium over the enemy.

Tarrik glimpsed Brothers Tarses and Kaska near him. Tarses, ever the show-off, killed three approaching cultists at once with a long sweep of his halberd. “Feel the wrath of the Emperor, you thrice-damned heretics!” he growled over the comms.

Kaska brought his force hammer down upon a cultist whilst replying “This is no game Brother, we are here on a serious mission! If you are going to use comms, then use them as the tech-priests intended, not to vent your hate!”

“Shut up both of you! Everyone set objective markers to the enemy's command bunker! We will rendezvous with the Blood Ravens there!” shouted Vakarrian as he parried a blow from a daemon and plunged his sword through it's gibbering form. He spun around and lobbed a frag grenade into a group of cultists, blowing them limb from limb.

Great! thought Brother Tarrik, seeing the marker was over a eight hundred metres away. He spun his halberd two-handed by the shaft, decapitating two cultists and bisecting a third as he went. The blade crackled with psychic energy as he dodged a blow from a daemon and blew it apart with his storm bolter. Out of the frying pan and into the shit. He grimaced, This is gonna be worse than last time......

Inquisitor Emerson Hallaman of the Ordo Malleus stood aboard the command deck on the bridge of the Lunar-class Imperial cruiser Hammer's Retribution, anchored in geosynchronous orbit just above the planet of Damscan II. He was a tall man in his late 40's, with dark hair, a clean-shaven angled face and perceptive blue eyes. He was wearing a long black cloak emblazoned with the symbol of the Inquisition over a discrete suit of body armour. He probably would have been an attractive man, if it wasn't for the Ordo Malleus rosette pinned to his chest. His ornate bolt pistol and his power sword were holstered at his hip, and he was intently watching the unfolding battle on one of the bridge's many pict-screens.

“Hmm....curious” he mused to himself.

He turned away to face the tech-priest sitting in front of the command consoles. “Magos Tevlan, how are we holding?”

The Magos turned slowly in his command chair, his servos and dendrites whirring around him. “We are holding up” he replied in his mechanical voice, “Void shields are stable, but there is a heretic cruiser moving to engage, and our escorts are otherwise occupied. We are finding targeting solutions now. I calculate the enemy has a 57.387% chance of breaching our shields.”

“Very well”, replied Inquisitor Hallaman, turning away. “See to it the cruiser is destroyed, and keep the ship systems nominal, I want to make sure of a swift departure once the primary objective has been completed.”

“Yes, Inquisitor”, replied the Magos, just as the starboard lance batteries fired. The shots punched through the void shields of the enemy ship, blowing apart the engines and aft section of the ship. A second later, the ship's engines detonated. For a moment, the ship shone as brightly as a supernova, then exploded in a fiery ball that filled the view of the bridge's starboard viewing screen.

The Inquisitor smiled, watching the fire show. “Good riddance to bad trash” he murmured to himself.

“Sir!” came a voice from behind him. Hallaman turned around. It was his two personal bodyguards, Vindicare Assassin Levin and Callidus Assassin Umbra. They were both wearing the typical stealth suits of their temples, but come to think of it, Hallaman had never seen them wear anything else, and he had never seen their faces.

Levin was carrying his matte-black Exitus sniper rifle, and its counterpart pistol was holstered at his hip. There was a monomolecular-edged knife in a sheath attached to his left shoulder. Umbra had both her needle pistol and power sabre in their sheaths at her hip, and several stimm-injectors full of the shape-changing drug polymorphine in a sleeve down the length of her right arm. They both carried pouches of grenades and other supplies strapped to the sides of their legs.

“Sir”, Levin repeated, “Grey Knight Squad Purge 1 has been deployed, but landed a kilometre off target. They are fighting their way towards the enemy command bunker now. The Blood Ravens have already made it there, and are holding position until the Knights arrive. They know they cannot face off against a possible Greater Daemon by themselves.”

“Yes” continued Umbra, “They are approximately three hundred metres out now, but are still facing heavy resistance. The Cadian regiments are holding off the majority of the enemy forces, but are losing men fast. I suggest we deploy the reserves.”

“I will do as I see fit” replied Hallaman, “However, you may be right. I will send the order to deploy the 807th Reserves Brigade. We cannot fail this mission, doing so would result in loss of control in this sub-sector, and that is something we cannot afford. Besides, we need the HVT alive, and we will need all the help we can get.”

“There are too many Captain!” shouted Corporal Reiss from the wall of the barricade, firing his hotshot lasgun into the mass of cultists encroaching on their position.

“I know! Just keep firing until the reinforcements get in!” yelled back Captain Belknap, his chainsword disembowelling a screaming cultist. Warm blood splattered over his hands and face.

“I will contact the other squad, get a fix on their position!”

The two elite Cadian Kasrkin squads had been dug in for the past hour, holding off a seemingly never-ending horde of daemons and cultists. Their orders had been to hold the position to allow the Blood Ravens time to fight their way to the enemy command bunker. The Blood Ravens had made it to the objective, and were waiting on the Grey Knights so they could enter. If there was a good time to fall back now their objective was complete, this was that time.

“This is Captain Belknap of Kasrkin Squad Solace!” shouted Belknap urgently into the vox. “Come in Squad Aquila!”

“This is Acting Sergeant Roland of Squad Aquila! We read you Captain!” came the reply.

“Acting? What happened to Sergeant Rex?” yelled Belknap.

“Dead, sir!” came the reply, “Killed around 15 minutes ago by a cultist!”

That came as a shock to Belknap. He had fought side by side with Sergeant Rex for several years, to see him finally dead......No! he thought. It is the price to pay for serving the Emperor! He was a good man and will be remembered....He shook his head and continued into the vox.

“We cant wait for reinforcements! Where are you?”

“Around two hundred metres to your west!”

“Very well Sergeant! Fall back to the Blood Ravens position at the enemy command bunker! We will meet you and hold the line there!”

“Yes sir!” replied Sergeant Roland into the vox, decapitating a cultist with a shot of his hellpistol. “You heard him men, fall back!”

There was a scream next to him and he swung around to see one of his men dismembered by a daemon. He picked up Sergeant Rex's fallen chainsword and sliced it, revving, through the daemons chest. The daemon screamed in anguish and vanished in a cloud of blue smoke.

“Dammit! Retreat now!” he screamed.

“Burn heretics!” Brother Anvar yelled as his incinerator engulfed a clutch of fleeing cultists, the cleansing flames searing the flesh from their bones.

“We're coming up on the command bunker now!” Kaska shouted as a Tzeentchian Screamer came hurtling down towards him. He jumped and brought his hammer down upon its head, crushing it into the ground in a bloody mess.

Tarrik and Tarses leaped past him, severing daemons and cultists alike. Tarrik twirled his halberd round his body and thrust it into the nearest daemon, the blade emerging out it's back. The daemon perished with a howling scream. He heard a loud weapon discharge over his shoulder as Tarses fired his storm bolter at an charging cultist. The explosive rounds penetrated his armour and detonated, blowing open his chest and sending him sprawling to the floor in a shower of blood.

“Twenty metres!” called Vakarrian over the comms.

“Almost there!” called Tarrik in a strained voice as another group of daemons advanced towards him. Suddenly there was a crash and a flash of red and bone-white as they were shredded by a hail of bolter fire and revving chainswords.

A squad of jetpack equipped Blood Ravens emerged from the resulting dust cloud, their melee weapons slick with blood. The rest of the Grey Knights formed up around Tarrik, the cultists and daemons momentarily halted.

Vakarrian stepped forward. “I am Justicar Vakarrian of Grey Knight Squad Purge 1. I assume the bunker has been secured?”

One of the marines stepped forward, removing his helmet. “I am Sergeant Morentz of Blood Ravens Assault Squad Talon. Yes, sir, while the bunker has been secured, we have yet to enter to capture the target. Our orders were not to go in without your squad.”

“Your orders were correct, Brother-Sergeant” replied Vakarrian.

“Very well. Now that you are here, we can launch the final assault on the bunker. I daresay the heretics want it back, they have been launching desperate counterattacks since we captured it. Here, come with me. Brother-Captain Uriel is expecting you.”

The Sergeant led them over to the sealed doors of the bunker. There was a squad of Terminators outside, their energy fists crackling and their assault cannons glinting in the half-light.

One of them stepped forward, dust springing up from the ground with his footsteps. “Brother-Captain Vakarrian” he said, making the sign of the aquila across his chest.

“Brother-Captain Uriel” replied Vakarrian, returning the gesture.

“Shall we?” asked Uriel, indicating to a small holo-table set up to the side of the main doors.

The squad followed him over to the table, where he began to speak. “The 807th Cadian Reserves Brigade is arriving now to provide extra support while we are capturing the target, who is located inside this bunker. The bunker extends underground, where we believe he is attempting to summon a Lord Of Change, a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch to aid in his master's unholy plans. This daemon would bring with him not only chaos and destruction, but entire armies of daemons, and perhaps even the Traitorous legions. We cannot allow this, lest we risk the destruction of the entire sector.

The Inquisition wants the target alive for interrogation at the Inquisitional facility on Enceladus. We do not know his name or what he looks like, but he will be overseeing the summoning. Do not shoot to kill if you believe you see the target. The margin of error here is too large for my liking. Most of the men in the summoning chamber will be savants or psykers, so be careful.”

“I see” said Vakarrian, turning round, “Right Grey Knights! You heard the man! Breaching formation around the door! Anvar, you will be first in with the Incinerator!”

“Yes, Captain” replied Brother Anvar, igniting the flame at the nozzle of his Incinerator.

The Terminators placed charges on the door and took up formation next to the Grey Knights. “Right Brothers, ready weapons, prepare for heavy fighting once inside! Breaching in three, two, one!”

The charge detonated, completely blowing the doors from their hinges. The soldiers charged inside, Purge 1 leading the way as the Thunderhawk Gunships of the 807th Cadian Reserves flew overhead.

“Sir!” Vindicare Assassin Levin approached Inquisitor Hallaman as he stood by one of the bridge's tactical consoles. Hallaman turned around and inclined his head, indicating that he was listening.

“The Grey Knights have made it to the bunker and have met up with Captain Uriel's Terminator Squad. They have just breached the doors and are heading inside. The 807th Cadian Reserves have landed and are deploying troops to aid the embattled Blood Ravens and the 301st and the 412th. They are defending the bunker at all costs while the Grey Knights complete their mission.”

“Very good, thank you Levin” replied the Inquisitor. “Everything is going according to plan, thank the Emperor for that, but pray to Him that they succeed now.”

Objective Complete?

Chapter 2

Objective Complete?

“Keep going!” shouted Captain Belknap, firing his hellpistol back towards the cultists, “We're almost there!”

The two Kasrkin squads sprinted across the battlefield towards the entrenched Blood Ravens, dodging debris and enemy gunfire. Squad Aquila got there first, vaulting over the barricade, followed closely by Squad Solace. They both turned and opened fire on the chasing cultists, riddling them with lasfire. The soldiers dropped to the ground, granted a moments respite from the battle.

Captain Belknap walked over to Sergeant Roland, pulling him to his feet. “Come on” he said, “We need to go find whoever is in charge around here, let them know what happened and why we are here”

“Is that a wise idea?” asked Roland, “I don’t think we were supposed to fall back”

“Well then pray for the Emperor's mercy” replied Belknap.

They made their way through the winding barricades, passing by other squads of guardsmen, even a few of the space marines. Belknap rounded a corner and found himself face-to-chestplate with a Blood Raven.

“Hey! Watch where your going soldier!” snapped the Raven.

“Sorry sir” replied Belknap, saluting, “We are trying to find the person in charge around here”

“At ease soldier. That would be me” said the Raven, removing his helmet. “ Brother-Sergeant Morentz, Blood Ravens Assault Squad Talon. I'm in charge while Brother-Captain Uriel is assaulting the bunker” he said, proffering his hand.

“Captain Belknap, acting commander for Kasrkin Squads Solace and Aquila, this is Sergeant Roland, my second-in-command” replied Belknap, shaking the marine's hand.

“What happened to the other squad's captain, and what are you doing here?” asked Morentz.

“Killed, sir. Around twenty-five minutes ago. We retreated here, we were low on ammo and surrounded by cultists”

“Were your orders to retreat?”

Belknap gulped. This was where he had to phrase what he said very carefully. “Our orders were to hold a position at all costs until the reinforcements had made it to the bunker. Once we got the signal that they had made it, we fell back. We would all be dead right now otherwise”

The marine seemed to consider for a moment.

“Fair enough, soldier. I understand wanting to keep your men alive, and you would be of no use to anyone dead. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if your commanders are dead by now. The guard regiments have been all but overrun, and the reinforcements really aren’t helping that much. Re-stock on ammo, take your men and go help defend the eastern barricade. Our men our getting swamped down there”

“Yes sir, right away sir!” replied Belknap, saluting. The marine turned away and started to walk back towards the south side.

Roland wiped the sweat from his brow and released a large pent-up breath. “How close were we to just getting executed for dereliction of duty?” he asked.

Belknap smiled and pinched his thumb and fore-finger together, millimetres apart.

“Damn, that close huh?” chuckled Roland.

They both jogged back towards their men. The fight wasn’t over yet.

The Terminators advanced slowly down the stairs, the high-energy beams of light from the helmets barely even penetrating the gloom ahead. Purge 1 followed them close behind, the blades of their weapons gleaming in the dark. The flame on Anvar's Incinerator flickered menacingly.

The walls were packed tightly together, being two marines wide at best. It was the perfect chokepoint, and Tarrik didn't like it.

“Light up ahead!” called one of the Terminators up ahead, “We're coming up on something!”

They emerged into a massive hall, illuminated by large lamps that hung directly overhead, spilling a bright yellow light into the dusty air. The marine's helmets were already filtering the air and tracking heat sources in the dust.

“They're here!” they heard a voice across the hall. “Defensive positions!”

One of the Terminators opened fire with his assault cannon the direction of the voice, to be rewarded a splatter and a gargling scream.

“Cover!” yelled Brother-Captain Uriel. Both squads dived into cover as the length of the hall was filled with las fire.

“How did they see us?” shouted Tarses, “I can barely see anything myself, even with my helmet on!”

“Must be some kind of warp enhancement!” Vakarrian yelled back, “Don't forget, we are dealing with sorcerers and witches here, I wouldn't be surprised if they have access to some psychic power!”

“Move up through the hall! Suppressing fire as you go!” called Uriel. Both the Knights and the Terminators ducked out of cover and opened fire as they moved up. The heretics ducked into cover as the bolter shells flew past them. Some were too slow and were shredded by the hail of bullets.

Tarrik rounded a pillar and came to face-to-face with a cultist. The cultist tried to back away but Tarrik grabbed him in his bolter hand and squeezed the firing stud, blowing the heretic apart. Kaska charged past him and demolished two cultists with a swing of his hammer.

“There's a gate at the end of the hall!” called Vakarrian, “That's our target! Anvar, suppressing now!”

Brother Anvar stepped forward with his Incinerator, unleashing a geyser of flame towards the heretics. They ducked into cover as the Knights moved further down the hall. The Terminators followed them up closely, keeping the effect going as they continued fore with their storm bolters and assault cannons.

“Brother Ryza!” called Uriel, “Move up to the gate, clear out remaining heretics!”

“Yes sir!” replied the Terminator, but just as he moved out of cover from behind the pillar, he was smashed back by a hail of rounds.

“Damn!” shouted Uriel, “That's a heavy autocannon, we can't get past that! If that can punch through Terminator armour, it can sure as hell get through yours!”

Vakarrian poked his head out of cover, scanning the area near the gate.

“The pillars!” he shouted. “Take out the support pillars! Collapse them in on the emplacement!”

Both squads opened up on the support pillars. The autocannon began firing again, taking out another Terminator.

“Anvar! Watch out!” screamed Brother Kaska, but it was too late.

The autocannon shots punched through Anvar's left shoulder in a spurt of blood. He fell back, yelling in pain. He crawled back into cover, his enhanced body already clotting the blood flow and releasing pain killers to the wounded area.

The squads continued firing, and it paid off. The pillars collapsed, along with a sizeable chunk of the ceiling, crushing the autocannon and the heretics manning it.

“Brother Anvar! Are you okay?” called Tarses, running up to him.

“I'll be fine” he replied, as he propped himself up against a pillar, pulling his Incinerator to his side.

“Your in no condition to continue” said Vakarrian, “You won't even be able to lift your weapon properly. Stay here and watch for reinforcements. Communicate us with the vox if something is wrong”

“Yes sir” replied Anvar.

“Very well” said Justicar Vakarrian, turning away. “Right” he said to everyone else, “We now number three Blood Ravens including Brother-Captain Uriel, and my own squad of four Grey Knights. This should be more than enough to capture the target, barring any unforeseen incidents. Now, let's go!”

Both squads took up positions on either side of the gate. “Remember, we want the target alive for interrogation. Non-lethal shots on any suspect, got it?” said Uriel.

Both squads nodded in unison. “Okay then. Three, two, one, breaching!”

Uriel kicked open the gate and both squads charged in, and were immediately met with a blinding flash of light and an immense shockwave that blasted them back against the walls.

On board the command deck of the Hammer's Retribution, Inquisitor Hallaman cried out in pain as he felt something sharp jab into his mind. Damn his warp-sensitive mind....wait....

“Sir!” yelled Callidus Assassin Umbra from the corner of the room. She sprinted up to him. “What is it sir?” she asked.

He raised his head and looked at her through glazed eyes. “They....they failed...the daemon has been summoned”, he straightened up. “Evacuate all personnel off the surface now. If they are not at the transports by the time they leave, they will die. I am ordering exterminatus on Damscan II”

Tarrik painfully opened his eyes and pulled himself to his feet using the shaft of his halberd.

“We have succeeded! You have failed, servants of the corpse-Emperor! My master's plans will come to fruition, and your Imperium will fall!” screamed a maniacal voice from a platform at the other end of the room.

Well, at least now we know which one he is thought Tarrik grimly. He looked up and stifled a growl. Standing in the middle of the room was a gigantic blue-purple aviary creature. Sharp claws extended out of its bony hands and its feet ended in hooked talons. A large pair of wings extended out of its back and it had a massive green and gold staff clutched in one of its hands. A Lord Of Change. It opened its beak and let out a piercing screech. The Terminators fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Tarrik and the other Grey Knights flinched as the warding runes etched onto their skin burned white-hot, stretched to their limits.

“Captain Uriel!” shouted Vakarrian to the spasming Terminators, “Get up, we need your help! Grey Knights, open fire!”

The Grey Knights opened fire with their storm bolters, the psychic bolts impacting the daemon with incredible force. The daemon screeched and shrugged off the bolts, swinging its staff round at the Knights. Tarrik and Tarses dodged back, spinning their halberds. One of the unfortunate Terminators was too slow, and was smashed apart by the blow, losing the group's last assault cannon.

“Uriel! Go after the target! We will engage it in close-combat!” called Vakarrian. Captain Uriel and the remaining Terminator moved away from the daemon towards the platform at the back of the room, continuing to fire their storm bolters at the monstrosity.

Vakarrian leapt up to the daemon, parrying the blows from it's staff with his sword. Kaska charged towards it with his hammer, only to be sent flying back against one of the back walls from a gigantic backhand from one of it's clawed hands.

The daemon swung it's staff in a huge arc, forcing Tarses back to dodge the blow. Tarrik instead jumped and grabbed the staff with his free hand, holding on as he was swung round. At the widest point of the swing, he let go, being flung up to one of the higher catwalks in the room.

Below, Uriel and the remaining Terminator advanced on the target, having eliminated the other sorcerers.

“My master's plans will succeed!” he screamed, “I have been promised whole worlds for my service! I will be a king in the warp!” he laughed maniacally. He grabbed a laspistol from a nearby table, moving to aim towards his own head.

Uriel fired, blowing off his hand and most of his forearm. The heretic collapsed, screaming, holding the stump of his arm.

“There is no reward for heresy” he replied, “Only death”

He grabbed an injector from a punch on his belt and stabbed it into the cultists neck, causing unconsciousness in seconds.

“We have to get this heretic out of here and to the medical facilities if he is to be alive for interrogation!” yelled Uriel.

“A little busy down here!” shouted back Vakarrian, parrying another blow of the staff.

“Tarrik! Whatever your going to do, do it now!” shouted Tarses.

Tarrik waited until the daemon's head was directly underneath him, and jumped. He landed on the back of the daemon's neck. It screeched, and started flailing about, trying to shake him off. Tarrik spun his halberd and plunged it into the back of the daemon head, the blade piercing it's skull. He leapt back, holding onto the shaft of his weapon. the blade ripped through the daemon's neck, severing it's spine and splitting it from the base of it's neck to the small of it's back. It screamed one final time and dissolved in a wash of pink flame. Tarrik dropped to his feet.

“That was bloody fine Brother Tarrik, nice work” said Vakarrian, jogging up to him.

“Damn straight” agreed Kaska, pulling himself to his feet.

Uriel came over, the cultist draped over one of his armoured shoulders. “I just received a message from Brother-Sergeant Morentz on the surface. Inquisitor Hallaman just ordered exterminatus on the planet. All remaining troops are falling back to the transports at the staging area, we have twenty minutes before the first torpedoes are fired”

“We best get moving then” said Kaska, sheathing his hammer and taking the cultist from Uriel in his armoured hands.

They made their way out of the hall, stopping to pick up Anvar and his Incinerator as they went.

“What in the Emperor's name took you so long, and what was all the screaming?” he asked.

“Oh, you know, summoning of a greater daemon, Tarrik pulling some badass moves, Kaska getting knocked out, basically the usual” replied Tarses.

“So I didn't miss much?”

“Nah”

“How is me getting knocked out the usual?” asked Kaska.

“Remember the daemonic incursion at Kasr Derth on Cadia, the summoning on Chiros, the invasion on Cypra Mundi?......”

“Alright, alright, I get the idea” he laughed before Tarses could name anymore.

Sorcerer Sonorious of the Thousand Sons watched as the Imperial Thunderhawks blasted into the sky towards the low-orbiting cruisers, his blue and gold armour glinting in the sunlight.

“They have foiled our plans and sentenced this world to death” he said to his two followers, Arazakh and Mhotep, “They have captured our minion, and plan to interrogate him. He is weak, he will break soon, and this, we cannot allow. He knows too much”

“So we go down there, and destroy him!” said Mhotep.

“No” replied Sonorious, stopping him. “There are too many Imperial forces still down there. Have patience”

Captain Belknap ran up to the nearest transport guard.

“Which are the transport ships for the Spirit Of Cadia?” he asked.

“I'm sorry sir” the guard replied, “The Spirit Of Cadia was destroyed by chaos cruisers more than an hour ago. The Inquisitional cruiser Hammer's Retribution will be dropping any of the Spirit's surviving personnel back at Hydraphur during a refuelling stop. There will be a transport ship waiting there to take you back to Cadia. The transports for the Retribution are over there” he said, indicating to the jet black Thunderhawks emblazoned with the dreaded symbol of the Ordo Malleus, a logo Belknap felt he already saw way to much on his homeworld.

“Very well. Thank you soldier” he said and hurried back over to his men. “Damn” he muttered to himself, “I'd almost rather stay down here than board an Inquisitional cruiser”

“Well?” asked Roland.

“The Spirit Of Cadia was destroyed. We're hitching lifts with the Inquisition to Hydraphur”

“The Inquisition!?” one man asked incredulously.

“I don't like it any more than you do Corporal, but it's the best we've got unless you want to stay down here and get blown apart at a molecular level” Belknap replied.

Grumbling, the men stood up and made their way over to the Thunderhawks.

“There!” said Sonorious, watching the entrance to the bunker through a pair of binoculars.

A group of space marines emerged from the gate, two Blood Raven Terminators (Nice to see some casualties were inflicted down there he thought) but he didn't recognise the second chapter. They wore a greyish-silver armour, and the sight of them almost hurt his eyes. They were certainly better equipped than most space marines, considering they weren't Terminators. They each wielded their own force weapon and had wrist-mounted storm bolters, with the exception of one, who was injured and was carrying a weapon that bore some resemblance to a heavy flamer, though was much larger. One of them was carrying a cultist in his arms. A Thunderhawk descended from the sky to meet them, and they began to load on.

“That's him” he said, handing the binoculars to Arazakh “They've got him”

“I don't recognise space marine chapter with him” Arazakh replied.

“Probably just some filthy second founding chapter, so little remains of the original legions now. Watch the gunship, see what cruiser it docks with”

Arazakh followed the transport through the binoculars. “There!” he said, pointing to a cruiser just visible in low orbit.

“Oh, that's an easy one” said Sonorious, grabbing his companion's arms as tendrils of the warp began to snake around them.

“What are you-” began Mhotep, but was cut short as they teleported onto the Hammer's Retribution.

The Thunderhawk descended into the hangar, opening it's forward hatch as it landed. The Grey Knights walked out, to be confronted by Inquisitor Hallaman, who was flanked by Levin and Umbra.

“What the hell happened down there!?” he demanded.

“Sir, the daemon was summoned earlier than expected. We ultimately destroyed it with the sacrifice of some of the Blood Ravens, who are on the way back to their own ship now. However, we did capture who we believe was the leader of this little thing” said Vakarrian.

“Hmm, well, I expect better of you, Justicar Vakarrian, of all of you. Hand the prisoner over to the Inquisitorial Guards, where he will stay under lock and key until we reach the interrogation facilities on Enceladus. You yourselves will be dropped back at Titan to be re-deployed. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Inquisitor” replied Vakarrian.

“And one more thing, we have a few guests from the Cadian 412th aboard. Try not to scare them” he smiled.

He left the Grey Knights there to go about their duties, and made his way back to the bridge.

“Magos Tevlan” he instructed. “Give the go ahead for the bombardment, then full speed ahead out of system. I want the jump to Hydraphur to be made as soon as possible”

“Yes sir” replied Tevlan, as the orbiting ships unleashed a barrage of virus bombs, cyclonic torpedoes and atmospheric incinerators at the planet. Continents of flame erupted across the planet's surface as all life was scoured from both land and sea, and the atmosphere was incinerated, ensuring no life would survive or ever would again. The planet, and all it's inhabitants, were dead within minutes. The daemonic forces had infected all major population centres of the planet. Hallaman had only done what had needed to be done.

Sabotage

Chapter 3

Sabotage

The Lunar-class Imperial cruiser Hammer's Retribution sped through the warp, engines burning as it made good speed towards the Imperial Navy world of Hydraphur.

Inquisitor Hallaman sat at the bridge, compiling a full mission report for his superiors on Cadia. He would be returning back there after the prisoner had been successfully handed over to the interrogation authorities on Enceladus. It would be nice to return to his homeworld again for a while, but that was another three and a half months away. It was a two-week voyage to Hydraphur, where they would be dropping the surviving elements of the Cadian 412th, then a month from there to the Sol system and Enceladus, where the Grey Knights would depart to their fortress-monastery on Titan, then two months from there back to Cadia.

He sighed and rubbed his head. His superiors would just have to wait, and they would not be happy about the enemy's plans coming so close to fruition. He could not blame Justicar Vakarrian and the rest of the Grey Knights, it was his mission and his responsibility. He'd probably be put on probation for near-failure, the Ordo Malleus didn't become so effective for being soft on it's Inquisitors and it's troops.

But oh well, he was scheduled for three weeks shore leave when he got back, and Abaddon probably wouldn't be pulling anymore Black Crusades out of his arse for a while after the defeat of the Thirteenth five years ago, so him and his retinue would have time to relax. Well, if you call relaxing catching up on tedious paperwork while Levin was constantly firing off rounds at the shooting range and Umbra was cutting up the targets at his sparring gym with her C'tan Phase Sword.

He sighed again and stood up. This vessel was five kilometres long, and he was going to take a walk.

“That's a load of crap!” exclaimed Captain Belknap, as he realised that Sergeant Roland had once again beaten him at regicide.

“It's called skill, Captain” replied Roland calmly, beginning to pack up the board and pieces, “Now, I believe you owe me something?”

Belknap groaned and pulled out a packette of cigarettes, handing them over. “I'm almost all out. I'm gonna have to stop making bets” he said.

“You seemed fine with making them when we were down on the battlefield”

“Sometimes risks have to be taken. There were men's lives at stake down there, not just a simple packet of smokes” He swung himself onto bunk and began cleaning his lasrifle, still blackened from the mud and dirt of the battlefield.

“You did good down there, Captain, we wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you”

“Thank the Emperor for good luck, and that that Blood Raven was in a forgiving mood” he laughed.

“I still can't believe we got away with that. If our commanders were still alive, we probably would have been punished or executed”

“We're Kasrkin. I'm sure we're not that expendable”

“Perhaps. But that reminds me, I have something for you” said Roland, reaching under his bunk and pulling something out of his backpack.

“This isn't a coming out speech is it? Your not gonna try anything on me?”

“....What?”

“Don't worry Roland, I trust you” he chuckled.

“Oh, fuck off” he laughed, “This was in Rex's backpack, I'm sure you'll like it”

He handed Belknap a picture frame. It was a picture of him and Rex on shore leave outside their favourite bar back on Cadia. Both men were smiling. He remembered that, it was six months after the remains of the Thirteenth Black Crusade had been driven back into the Eye Of Terror.

“I can't believe he kept this” said Belknap.

“A reminder of home. Remember the punch-up you guys had with those loudmouths from the 413th?”

He laughed. “Hell yeah! Bastards had no clue we were Kasrkin, we took them to the fucking cleaners! Whole place was cheering for us after we threw them out!”

“Good times, eh?”

He smiled wistfully, “Yeah. Hopefully there'll be more to come...”

Brother Tarrik knelt at the ship's chapel, murmuring the Rites Of Purification as he did after every battle. He wore nothing but a black bodyglove, his armour and weapons being recharged and repaired by the tech-priests at the armoury. His hands were placed in the sign of the aquila across his chest. He prayed to purify his mind and body from the taint of Chaos, but also for forgiveness that he had almost failed his mission.

“I am the Hammer, I am the Sword, I am the Spear, I am the Shield, I am the soldier at the End Of Time. Ave Imperator”

He finished as he got up and bowed to the altar. He lit a candle at the side for the fallen battle-brothers of the Blood Ravens and the soldiers of Cadia, and made to leave.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Brother Tarses walking between the pews towards him.

“Greetings, Brother” said Tarrik.

“Same to you” said Tarses, who had never been big on formality. “How're you holding up?”

“I've recovered. But then again, there wasn't really any damage in the first place. It's something you should probably be asking Anvar”

“He's out of the infirmary now. It's nothing his body couldn't handle by itself if need be, but he's been given minor surgery, bandaged up and given some drugs to help him on the way”

“Really? We've only been in transit a few hours”

“The medics work fast. He's lucky it was only a clean glancing shot, it could have been a lot worse, and his armour is being repaired now. He's in the sparring hall with Kaska and Vakarrian. Come on, I'm sure you'll want to see Vakarrian kick Kaska's arse again”

“Kaska knows he's going to lose. Why did he volunteer to get the shit kicked out of him?”

“A mixture of boredom and still being sour about missing out on fighting the daemon”

“Ah” said Tarrik.

They hurried through the halls, towards the sparring hall.

“How long do you reckon it will be until our next deployment? I mean, after we return to Titan?” asked Tarses.

“I don't know” replied Tarrik, “Things have calmed down a bit since the end of the last Black Crusade. The number of daemonic incursions have decreased in Segmentums Obscurus, Solar and Pacificus. It's gotten to the point where it's nothing the local Guard or Astartes can't handle. It took two years for us just be to be called in for this one, but only because it was serious. Maybe we could get called out for long-haul operative duty around the Maelstrom, or the Eastern Fringe around Segmentums Tempestus or Ultima, just like those squads from the 8th company, but I doubt it. I know you hate hanging around Titan, but until Chaos decides to stop crying it's eyes out after it's last big failure, we're probably only gonna be stuck with the occasional mission to sort out something that can't be readily handled”

“Hmm..”

They rounded the corner to the sparring hall just in time to see Vakarrian block a uppercut from Kaska, and take advantage of his exposed torso to swing in a devastating punch that sprawled Kaska across the floor.

Kaska slowly rose to his feet and bowed, making the sign of the aquila across his chest. “Good fight, Justicar” he remarked.

“Same to you Brother, but remember to anticipate and block next time. It would help, especially since you take longer to recover from swings of your hammer due to weight” Vakarrian replied, taking up a combat stance, “Rematch?”

Tarrik and Tarses walked over to Anvar as Kaska renewed his attack, who was sitting on a bench on the far side of the room, his exposed shoulder wrapped in bandages.

“How're your shoulder?” asked Tarrik as he and Tarses took a seat next to him.

“Not too bad” said Kaska, “The shot missed any major muscles and the wound was clean. It should be healed enough to effectively carry my Incinerator again within the next day”

“With the decreased amount of missions lately, I doubt you'll be needing it” replied Tarses sombrely.

“I know what you mean Brother, but have faith” he said as he looked over to see Vakarrian once again knock Kaska onto his back.

Sorcerer Sonorious kept to the shadows, avoiding the light of the aft bay as he crept round the corner towards the prison cells. He turned to Arazakh and Mhotep, “You two go to the engine room. When I give the signal, disable the ship's Gellar fields, void shields and engines, let the daemons aboard. We will cripple this ship from the inside, and the let the crew die or be killed. I will go after the prisoner, he failed us, and for that, there will be punishment”

“And what will become of us once the ship has been exposed to the warp?” growled Arazakh.

“Ahriman knows of our plans. The daemons know not to attack us, and a recovery squad will be coming for us”

“Very well. We will contact you when we reach the engine room”

“Tzeentch watches over you, sons of Magnus” Sonorious bid them, as they went their separate ways.

The heretic Klinus sat snivelling in his tiny, dank cell, the cold stone floor no better than the wooden bench that was his bed. He had failed, his dreams of the warp ripped away from him by the thrice-damned Imperium and that thrice-damned Inquisitor. Death to them he growled in his mind, Death to them and to the false corpse-Emperor.

His head jerked upwards as he heard two loud bangs, and the two Inquisitional soldiers guarding the cell fell back in a shower of blood. A towering figure stepped into view, the muzzle of his bolt pistol still smoking as his blue and gold power armour glinted in the darkness, the red eyes of his helmet glowing.

“Master!” cried Klinus, falling forward as he bowed, “You came to rescue me!”

“Shut up!” roared Sonorious, raising a hand. He curled his warp powers around the cultist's neck, picking him up and slamming him against the far wall. “You failed, Klinus” he growled.

“N- No” the cultist spluttered, “The daemon was b- birthed...”

“That wasn't a birth, that was a fucking miscarriage!” he shouted, his voice echoing around the small cell as he smashed the cultist against the wall a second time, “You know the price for failure, Klinus...”

“No, wait!” Klinus cried in a final attempt to save himself. The cultist screamed as Sonorious tightened his grip on the warp, crushing every bone in the heretic's body and turning him inside out, spraying blood and organs all over the cell and corridor. Sonorious grimaced as he turned away, wiping splatters of gore from his eye-lenses with a gauntleted hand.

Inquisitor Hallaman was walking through the aft bay when he heard two loud gunshots from the direction of the holding cells. He immediately broke into a run as he shouted into his comlink, “Magos, send a containment squad to the holding cells now! The prisoner is possibly loose, and I want a full bio-scan of the ship, search reference non-Imperial life-forms!”

He froze as he rounded the corner. There, towering in the corridor, facing away from him, stood a space marine, garbed in the armour of the Thousand Sons. A Traitor Marine. Hallaman noticed the marine was covered in gore and blood, as was much of the cell. Well fuck he thought, drawing his bolt pistol, This is gonna make one hell of a report to my superiors.

He backed away, taking aim with one hand while raising his comlink to his mouth and changing the frequency to Justicar Vakarrian's, “Justicar” he whispered, “We have traitor marines in the prison block, near the aft bay, grab your gear and reinforce now!”

Unfortunately, the marine decided just then to turn around. He saw the Inquisitor backing away, and drew his bolt pistol. Hallaman dived into cover as he backed into the aft bay, the explosive bolts flying over his head. The marine followed him out, his eyes glinting as he swivelled his head round for his target. A squad of Inquisitional Guards rounded the corner in front of him and opened fire with their lasguns, peppering the marine with lasfire, to no effect.

The marine became enraged, shooting two of the guards and forcing the rest to duck into cover before moving back towards the opposite corridor that led to the engine room.

“Bio-scan complete” came the voice of Magos Tevlan through Hallaman's comlink. “Scans reveal an unknown space marine in the aft bay. Have you seen him?”

“I'm fighting him right now!” yelled back Hallaman.

“Oh, well you should probably know that it would appear he has two more comrades in the engine room”

Sonorious backed off down the corridor, taking potshots with his bolt pistol as he ran. It was now or never.

“Do it now!” he shouted into his comlink.

“It will be done” replied Arazakh as he shot the last servitor off of the maintenance ramp, “Mhotep, cut the engines!”

Mhotep pulled the levers to deactivate the engines and opened fire with his bolter, utterly destroying the console. Arazakh did the same with the Gellar field and void shield generators. “There” he said, “Now they can't reactivate them unless they come down here. Let's go, the sorcerer needs us”

Both marines ran out of the engine room as daemons began clawing at the hull.

“Gellar fields down! Gellar fields down!” shouted Tevlan over the ship's intercom.

Hallaman screamed as the ship was exposed to the warp, his pycho-sensitive mind burning with pain. He knew the daemons would be trying to get inside to feast on the crew. “Magos! Cut the warp drives now!” he yelled into the comms.

“It is too dangerous” replied Tevlan, “We could easily re-enter in the heart of a star, or the ship could tear itself apart without the protection of the void shields and Gellar fields, or-”

“Shut up and do it!” shouted Hallaman.

“I cannot shut it off directly. An exit point must be formulated. I estimate ten minutes until warp expulsion, with a twelve point one-three percent chance of survival”

A violent explosion wracked the ship as the daemons forced their way through weak points in the hull.

“Now!” screamed Hallaman.

Tarrik and the rest of Purge 1 sprinted down the hall, their psychic wards burning as the ship was exposed to the warp. Crewmen were scattered around them, screaming as they bled out of their eyes and ears and the powers of the Immaterium forced it's way into their minds, driving them insane.

Tarrik cut apart a gibbering daemon as it forced it's way up through the floor in front of him, sending it back into the Empyrean. Kaska smashed another one into a pulpy mess with his hammer against the wall and Anvar let out a wash of promethium flame from his Incinerator, burning through a mass of daemons that were scuttling towards them through the narrow corridor.

“The Inquisitor is trapped in the aft bay! We will meet up with the assassins and reinforce him! Preliminary reports suggest there are three Traitor Marines of the Thousand Sons and several daemons attacking him and the two squads of Inquisitorial Guards holding out there!” shouted Vakarrian, leading the way with his sword, the blade crackling with energy as they charged down the dark corridor.

Several horrors rose up through the floor in front of them in a spout of pink flame, spitting bolts of blue energy at the squad. The first shots impacted and washed over Vakarrian's armour, the runes shining as they held against the psychic power. Vakarrian roared and decapitated a daemon and filled another with explosive bolter rounds and it charged at him. Tarses ran another through as it recovered for a next attack.

“Keep moving!” yelled Tarrik, “We're almost there!”

Another pack of daemons rounded the corner in front of them, snarling and growling as they ran towards the Knights. Their heads exploded in a shower of brain matter and warp energy, painting the walls with blood. Vindicare Assassin Levin stepped into view, his Exitus pistol still smoking.

“Afternoon gentlemen” he said casually as he rammed another clip home, “Just another fine day in the warp eh?”

“Suppose so. Where's Umbra?” asked Vakarrian, wondering where the assassin's usual partner was.

“Already met up with the Inquisitor. I knew she could move fast, but she was there within five minutes of the distress call. Must've been practicing. Come on, they're getting slaughtered in there”

Levin holstered his pistol and began to sprint towards the aft bay, the Grey Knights in toe.

Belknap yelled in pain as he and Roland fell to the floor, the energies of the warp forcing it's way into their minds.

“Sir, what the hell is going on!?” shouted Corporal Caughran, holding her head in pain as she emerged in the doorway.

“I don't know Corporal!” cried back Belknap as he forced himself to his feet, “Suit up and grab the rest of the squad, this can't be good!”

The last time he had felt like this was during the Thirteenth Black Crusade on Cadia when the enemy forces had brought in psykers to attack their lines.

Him and Roland stumbled out of the barracks, their ears ringing. The rest of their squad, now numbering at around ten after boarding the Hammer's Retribution, was huddled around the door way, clawing at their heads in pain, some were retching on the floor and bleeding through their ears.

“Squad! Work through it! Suit up, grab your weapons and head to the saviour pods, I'll try to find out what's going on!”

He grabbed his helmet from his bunk and put it on, the visor flashing up and illuminating as tactical information read out onto the screen and the targeting computers attached to the side of his head aligned themselves.

He picked up his hotshot lasgun and synced it to his helmet, the firing lock on the gun deactivating.

A rough mechanical voice boomed over the intercom, “Gellar fields failed! Warp expulsion in seven minutes twenty-three seconds and counting! All personnel make your way to your closest saviour pods! Material re-entry calculations and astropathic observations place us on a collision course with a star!”

“Shit!” swore Belknap, hurrying after the rest of his squad. At least he had been right about the saviour pods.

He hurried down the dark corridors towards the aft pod bays, the screams of the crew members filling his own burning head as he ran.

He turned a corner to see a pink and blue warp form tearing out the throat of a crew member, screeching as it devoured him.

“Fuck, daemons!” wailed Belknap as he fired his lasgun, blowing holes through the daemon and destroying its physical body.

He sprinted past the dying mass after his squad. He entered into the bay to see Squad Solace Of The Aquila, their new name for their new squad loading into an available pod. He climbed in after them and sat there panting as Roland clapped him on the shoulder. They would wait there until it was time to go.

Levin and Purge 1 burst into the aft bay, rounds streaming from their bolters as they closed in on the Inquisitor's position.

“Keep them suppressed!” called Levin as he hurried over to Hallaman, “Sir, we have to get to the saviour pods!”

“No! We have to hold the ship!” cried back Hallaman in defiance.

“Sir, our exit point puts us on a collision course with a star, we have to go!” shouted Umbra as she landed in a crouching position next to the pair, her C'tan Phase Sword slick with blood, “The daemons will die, there is no need for us to as well!”

“Damn!” swore Hallaman to himself, “Fine, let's go!”

“What about the Traitor Marines?” asked Vakarrian as they hurried past him.

“They will die too. We need to get to the saviour pods if we do not wish to share their fate” said Hallaman.

“Then let us go” replied Vakarrian, Purge 1 bringing up the rear as Levin and Umbra led them towards the saviour pods.

The warp tore open into the material universe as the Hammer's Retribution finally deactivated its warp drive.

Magos Tevlan struggled with the controls as he tried to prevent the ship from tearing itself apart as it entered the system.

“Re-entry successful” he mumbled to himself, “However, death still imminent if saviour pods have nowhere to go. Performing system scan now....Scan complete, 0.453 seconds, data returns one planet within habitable zone, unknown. Locking drop co-ordinates to nearest land mass”

The doomed ship sped towards the blazing sun, it's engine brakes of no use at this velocity, even if they had been working.

“60 seconds until collision, entering range of planet now”, he pressed a button on the intercom, “All personnel, suitable landing planet detected, firing saviour pods in three, two...” he pressed a button on the command console and the saviour pods fired out into space, flying in an arc towards the designated co-ordinates on the planet.

He rose out of his command seat for the last time, grabbed Astropath Dyreson and climbed into the bridge's “essential crew only” pod, leaving the rest of the crew and bridge servitors to their fate.

He closed the airlock and looked back at the bridge, full of crew members who had resigned themselves to their fate. “Goodbye, old girl” he murmured with what might have been touch of sadness in his droning mechanical voice. The pod shot out into space, thrusters burning as it corrected it's flight path due to the late launch.

Tevlan unconsciously crossed his hands in the meshed cog symbol of the Mechanicus as he watched the Hammer's Retribution plough towards the alien star through the pods tinted viewing window, “Deus Ex Omnissiah” he muttered to himself, and turned to see them hurtling through the planet's atmosphere. He sat down and strapped himself in. It wasn't going to be a soft landing.

Twilight Sparkle woke with a start as a loud roaring filled her treehouse and an unnatural light filled the windows, blinding her.

The roaring seemed to quieten for a moment, then she heard several loud booms in the direction of what she could only guess was the Everfree Forest.

She trotted to her balcony and looked over Ponyville, angry cries rising into the midnight air as the town's residents came out to see what in Celestia's name all the commotion was about.

Villains On Both Sides

Chapter 5Villains On Both Sides

Sorcerer Sonorious of the Thousand Sons growled as he kicked the broken hatch off of the front of his saviour pod. He walked outside, covering his eyes for a moment as the light filters in his helmet adjusted to the early morning sunlight. Arazakh and Mhotep followed him out, their blue and gold armour shining in the sun's rays. Sonorious surveyed the flat green landscape around them, taking note of the few trees and the large structures in the distance before turning to them.

“Brothers. We were lucky to escape alive. Evidently, Tzeentch has other plans for us”

“This is your fault” growled Mhotep, rounding in on Sonorious, “You assured us that they would not be able to perform a warp exit for at least thirty minutes, giving us time to take over!”

“It has been ten thousand years, disciple, technology has changed. Do not forget your place, Mhotep” snarled Sonorious, his hand going to his power sword.

“Stop, both of you” said Arazakh, “We need to think about now. What is our course of action? There is life here”, he gestured towards the large structures in the distance, “However, we cannot take on an entire planet by ourselves”

“Then that is not our purpose, disciple” said Sonorious, “Not yet anyway. We should perform reconnaissance on that settlement in the distance, find out what we can about the natives. Anything we can use to our advantage, we will use. Mhotep, I want you to go-”

“I don't think that is a wise idea, Sorcerer” interrupted Mhotep, scanning in the direction of the city with his binoculars.

“Why not?” inquired Sonorious.

“Because the locals have decided to do some reconnaissance of their own” replied Mhotep.

He handed the binoculars to Sonorious, “Over there, coming from just west of the structures” he instructed, pointing towards the targets.

Sonorious followed his hand towards the structures, “I think that's a city” he commented, looking at the tall buildings that now dominated the east side of the horizon thanks to his enhanced view. He swung his view down towards the approaching natives, just becoming visible as they moved towards them.

He had to hold back a snort of laughter. They were quadruped equines, galloping towards them. They were small, he could see that much. The front two were garbed in some sort of armour, short swords sheathed at their forelegs. Some had wings, and were flying above the main group. They looked about four feet tall, and each one was different from the last in terms of colour.

Sonorious lowered the binoculars and turned to his disciples, “From what I can see, they are primitive, their only visible weapons being short swords, which I doubt could even scratch our armour. They must be coming to investigate the crash”

“Then let's take them out” growled Arazakh, cocking his bolter and levelling it with the oncoming aliens.

“No” said Sonorious calmly, lowering Arazakh's bolter with his hand, “We cannot let our presence be known. While we are more powerful, there may be thousands, even millions more of them. Besides, I have good reason to believe the Imperials also landed on this world, and it is imperative that they do not find out about us. Especially those other space marines on board their cruiser, they cut through our daemons like they were no threat at all. They fight with the ferocity and strength of the original legions, yet I do not recognise them. I would not wish to go up against them in a fight. For now, we will make our escape, I will reflect and plan in the meantime. We shall come back when they are gone”

With that, the three traitor marines disappeared into the treeline behind them, slipping into the darkness and mystery that their legion knew so well.

The equines arrived minutes later, only to be baffled and confused by the strange object in front of them.

“Contact Princess Celestia in Canterlot, tell her she must come to Manehattan straight away. She might know what the buck this thing is...”

Princess Luna and her squad of guards descended through the dense canopy of the Everfree Forest towards the area of one of the known crash sights of one of those things from last night.

“Fan out” she ordered, “Search for evidence of the object”

Her guards drew their swords and spread out around her, some taking off to get an ariel view.

She knew some of them still did not trust her, and it bothered her. It had been two years. Two years! How long did it take for ponies to accept her again? Nightmare Moon had been banished by the Elements Of Harmony, and she had retaken her position by her sister's side, to raise the moon every night. She no longer posed a threat to them, and yet, despite two years of peace and countless public appearances with her sister, she was still pretty much in the same position she had been in when she had returned. She sighed. What in her sister's name would it take?

“Princess! Over here!” came one of her guards voices far to her left. She took off to see him hovering around two hundred metres away above a wreck in the dense foliage, it was almost unnoticeable. Then again, the Everfree Forest had that effect on everything.

She flew over to him and then downwards to the object. I was certainly not a meteor, she could tell that much straight away. Upon closer inspection, she saw it was made of metal and shattered glass, and there were strange objects sticking out the sides, reminding her of some of the wiring used by ponies experimenting harnessing the power of lightning, or “electricity” as they called it. A hatch lay open at the side, almost separated from its hinges.

She cast a quick spell over it, checking it was not radioactive and that it had cooled enough to allow her inside. It came back positive, and she poked her head inside. The first thing that caught her eye was the sparking, glowing object attached to the inside wall of the object, suspended above what looked like a row of mangled seats, complete with harnesses. They looked like something you would find on one of the cloudcoasters at the Cloudsdale Festival. She stepped inside, looking around, tailed by two of her guards.

On the side was written, strangely enough, in perfect Equestrian: “Hammer's Retribution Saviour Pod 03-01” she read. But this isn't of Equestrian manufacture, we don't have the technology, and neither do the any of the other races of Equus she thought to herself.

“What to you make of this inscription?” she asked one of her guards.

He stepped up, “It isn't anything I recognise, and I have no idea what a 'saviour pod' is. As for the Hammer's Retribution, it certainly doesn't sound friendly, it sounds like the name of a weapon or a ship. If I may be frank?”

“Of course. Your guess is as good as mine Corporal”

“I think it's aliens ma'am. This isn't anything Equestria has ever seen before, and came from the sky. I don't see what else it could be, unless the griffons or the dragons underwent a massive technological revolution overnight”

“I'm tempted to agree with you, but the idea of aliens is just so... alien. However, there is no other reasonable explanation, but this is just stretching the boundaries as it is. Perhaps this will tell us more” she said, moving to the glowing object. She reached out towards it with a hoof.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” she murmured.

“Princess, I don't think that's-” he was interrupted as her hoof made contact with the object, and the glowing screen lit up in a flash of light, and Luna looked on as seemingly random streams of digits raced past on the screen. “What in Equestria!?” she exclaimed.

She jumped back and all the guards raised their swords as a flat, monotone, female voice rang out from nowhere, “Imperial Inquisition Lunar-class cruiser Hammer's Retribution aft bay saviour pod 03-01”

“Who is that? Show yourself! Why does your vessel class include my name!?” Luna shouted out in a random direction, and her guards formed a protective circle around her and the pod. However, the voice continued, when she realised it was coming from object behind her.

“Pod hull integrity sixty-four percent, liquid fuel depleted, successful landing confirmed. Previous occupants: Inquisitor Emerson Hallaman, Vindicare Assassin Levin, Callidus Assassin Umbra, biometrics confirmed. Please place identification on the scanner to gain access to this terminal”, the image on the screen changed, becoming a blank blue with a green bar moving up and down, and the words 'place identification here' appeared in the middle.

“Assassins? That doesn't sound good” commented one of her guards, “But I don't know what an Inquisitor is”

“Best we find out what we can” replied Luna, “Umm...how do I do this?”, she tentatively placed a hoof against the screen.

The thing beeped for a second, before the voice rang out again, “Unrecognised. Please try again”

Luna, annoyed, once again placed her hoof against the glowing screen. “Unrecognised. Terminal shutting down”

“No, wait!” Luna cried out, but the thing had already gone dark, leaving the inside of the pod in shadows. She groaned in frustration, and turned to her guards, when it hit her. Her mind started racing, But it's been ten thousand years! she reasoned, It would certainly explain the language similarity, and the odd ship name, but it's been too long! They could be here by accident... Images, forgotten for ten thousand years, sprung into her mind, a ship, ripping a hole in time and space as it entered the warp. A man, eight feet tall, stood in shining armour, a large sword in his hand. A golden double headed eagle on a banner over a smoking battlefield... I must consult my sister, perhaps it is time to bring Him out of hiding...

She shook her head, “We must leave, I need to inform my sister of these developments. There are aliens in Equestria, the evidence is irrefutable. I will have a science team return at a later date. For now, we must go, and you must not breathe a word of this to anypony, not even your families, under penalty of treason. Do you all understand?”

A chorus of “Yes, ma'am” echoed from her guards.

“Very well then” she said, emerging from the pod and spreading her wings, “Let us go”

The team flew out of the forest and up into the clouds, over Ponyville and towards Canterlot, unaware they were being watched.

Vindicare Assassin Levin tightened his finger on the trigger of his Exitus Rifle as he watched the group of flying equines through his scope. He had seen them emerge above the canopy of the forest from one of the crash sites, and they were currently heading towards the settlement Umbra was near.

“Umbra, take cover. You have inbound airborne xenos heading to your position. I don't know if they have spotted you or not” he said to her over the comlink.

“Got it. Taking cover” she replied, ducking under a nearby bridge after checking none of the xenos were around.

Levin continued to watch them as they soared over the town and up into the cloud layer, heading over the town and towards that massive city hanging off the side of a mountain in the distance.

“You're clear” he told her.

“Alright, moving out” she said, swinging out from under the bridge, jumping onto a nearby cart and vaulting onto the roof of a nearby house. She had a much better view of the town from here, and she could see what she guessed was a market area filled with xenos. It's too exposed she thought, I may have to use my polymorphine to get in closer. But I need a DNA sample from one of them...

“Levin” she said over the comlink, “The town is set out in such a way that I can't get near them to find out information without being spotted, and there are loads of them. You were right about them preparing for something. I can see a large podium being put up in the centre of town, with a massive banner. Strangely enough, it's written in perfect Low Gothic”

“What!?” came Levin's incredulous reply.

“You heard me. Whatever these things are, they speak the language of the Imperium”

“That can't be right. What does the banner say?”

“It says 'Welcome Princess Celestia', they must be readying for a visit from royalty or a ruler”

“This is very strange. Could it be coincidence that they know our language, or is there something else going on here? Anyway, we could use this to our advantage, attack the xenos, give a show of power or capture the leader, show who's in charge. Do you see know anything else?”

“Not without getting a DNA sample and morphing on down there”

“Very well, go. I will stay on lookout”

“Thanks Levin, I will be out of contact for a while”, with that, she turned off her comlink, and swung from the roof into one of the open windows of the house she was standing on.

She looked around. She was in a bedroom, there was a bright purple bed in the corner, and there was a dresser and mirror in front of her, with a wardrobe to her left. Surprisingly human-like she noted. She creaked the door open and stepped out onto the second floor landing, still no sign of any of the xenos. She crept down the hallway, her feet not making any noise on the wooden floor. She checked the two other rooms on the second floor, and satisfied they were empty, drew her needle pistol and started on down the stairs.

Her pistol extended out in front of her, she came to the bottom of the stairs. She froze as her augmented hearing picked up some faint breaths coming from the room next to her. She poked her head round the corner and saw one of the creatures sitting in a chair facing away from her. It had white fur and a pink mane, and one of those horns she had seen on some of the them.

Hoping that like their language, their nerve anatomy was also similar to a human's, she crept up behind the creature and clapped it on either side of the head, where it's temples should be. Umbra said a quiet thank you to the Emperor as it fell unconscious, dropping the book to the floor.

The assassin took a needle from the sheath on her arm and slid it slowly into the alien's back, drawing a blood sample, being extremely careful not to get any blood onto the aliens's white coat, where it would easily be noticeable.

She managed to withdraw the syringe and shook it, making sure the blood mixed in with the polymorphine already inside. Once satisfied, she backed away back up the stairs, and jumped out the window she had come in by. She landed silently on her feet and looked around quickly, making sure none of the creatures were around. Luckily, they were all still preoccupied in the town. She dashed into the nearby treeline, where she removed her weapons and armour, and stowed them in a nearby bush. She took the needle and stabbed it into her neck, pushing down on the plunger and sent the polymorphine, along with the foreign DNA, into her blood stream.

She cringed as the warp energies and drugs contained within the substance began to mould her form, reshaping her bones and flesh and making fur and hair sprout all over her body. With a final excruciating crack, her bones set into place as the drug finished it's work. She carefully stretched out her new limbs, testing out their flexibility and already visibly annoyed by the lack of hands and fingers. She craned her neck around and looked over herself. She had a black coat, the same colour as her armour, and a dark blue mane. She noticed she also had a mark on her flank like the other equines did. It was the image of two crossed swords over the golden aquila of the Imperium. She hoped it didn't look too suspicious, and Emperor forbid it if any of them asked her about it.

She carefully trotted up to the nearest path and continued along it, heading directly into the town. Thankfully, she wasn't drawing any suspicious looks from the natives. They disgusted her, she hated whenever she had to draw on these disguises to infiltrate somewhere, because it meant she often couldn't kill straight away. She preferred it when she could just drop down on a target, slit it's neck and move on, without any of this horrible polymorphine business.

She moved on through the market area, listening in on snippets of their conversations to see if she could pick up any information. She gathered that the xenos were called ponies, and that this town was called Ponyville (Dear Emperor she sighed in her head). The ponies with the horns were called unicorns, the ones with wings were pegasi, or pegasus for single, and the ones without either appendage were called earth ponies.

From viewing the stalls, she gathered they relied on a currency called bits, and that they all had very simple jobs. Most were farmers, shop owners, construction workers, and apparently some of the pegasi had jobs controlling the weather (What!?). Apparently, the males of the species were known as stallions and the females were known as mares, and the marks on their flanks were known as Cutie Marks, which made Umbra want to throw up, draw her sword and murder all of them, even more than she did already.

Finally, she witnessed several instances of the unicorns using what they called 'Magic', which they used to do things such as levitate and carry objects. She very well knew that this meant all unicorns were psykers, and although they did not appear very powerful, it would be wise not to underestimate them. After all, there was only one psyker in their group, and that was Astropath Dyreson, who had little combat training compared to other psykers in the Imperium. What she wouldn't have given to have had a Culexus Assassin on this mission...

However, she still hadn't gotten any information on the xenos' military, if they even had one, or what they were actually all preparing for. She couldn't exactly go up to one of them and ask, it would be too suspicious, especially since they wouldn't have ever seen her before.

She continued on past the market and towards the centre of town, where she saw a group of three ponies talking next to the podium. One was a white unicorn with a purple styled mane, another was an orange earth pony with a blonde mane and was wearing some kind of hat, and the last one, who she figured was the organiser due to the clipboard and quill levitating in front of her, was a purple unicorn with pink streaks running through her mane.

She approached the group and sat down on a nearby bench, just within earshot of their conversation.

“-Haven't seen Fluttershy anywhere” said the purple one.

“She's probably just taking care of her animals” replied the white unicorn, “She might've been out when you stopped by earlier. You should check again later”

“I will, it would be really nice if she could get her bird choir to sing again. But that still leaves Pinkie and Rainbow. I haven't seen either of them since I asked them to help out this morning. Pinkie must have done something since this podium and all the festivities were up when I got here, but I haven't seen her otherwise-”

“Hi Twilight!” yelled he pink one, scaring the purple one and making her topple over.

Umbra blinked and rubbed her eyes. Where the hell had that pink one come from!?

“Lan' sakes girl” said the orange one with an accent, “How many times do we have to ask y’all not to do that?”

“Well it's been around one thousand four hundred and fifty-six times now, so another four thousand five hundred and forty-four and we'll be good!” replied the pink one happily.

The purple one sighed as she stood up, “Well, anyway, I wanted to thank you for your help Pinkie, and I was wondering if you could help me and Applejack set up the rest of the tables and chairs and move all the food over”

“Yeah that's fine, I'll get started on that straight away!”, she shot off in a pink blur.

Umbra rubbed her eyes again, What is with these aliens?

“But that still leaves Rainbow” said the white unicorn, “She still hasn't cleared the sky”

“S'okay” answered the orange one, “The visit isn't until tomorrow. If she did it now, new clouds would just move in. Sides', y’all know she ain't lyin' when she says she can clear the sky in ten seconds flat”

“Well, I guess as long as she gets out of bed in time to do it, I guess you're right” replied Twilight, “Anyway, thanks for the decorations Rarity and the food Applejack, now you two go on, I'll finish up here then come help”

Rarity and Applejack trotted off, leaving the purple one alone. Umbra took her chance. She slid off the bench and made her way over.

“Umm, excuse me?” said Umbra.

“Oh, hi there!” exclaimed the purple unicorn, turning to face her, “Can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah, um... I'm... new around these parts, can you please tell me what is going on?” By the Emperor this was hard.

“The princess is coming to visit tomorrow morning, and we're getting everything ready now so that everything is ready when she comes. I'm surprised you didn't know. What are you in town for?”

Shit. “Um... I'm here to visit some family” replied Umbra quickly. Not bad Umbra, not bad.

“Where did you just come from?”

Holy fucking shit! “I just came from...Baltimare!” Umbra lied, reading it off of the back of a conveniently-placed crate behind the unicorn which read 'Baltimare Shipping Co.'

The unicorn scrutinized her closely, “Hmm, I thought you had more of a Stalliongrad accent, but okay then! I'm Twilight Sparkle, if you need anything else just let me know!” said the unicorn, before turning around and cantering off in the opposite direction.

Damn, that was too close thought Umbra, as she trotted back from the podium and through the market, I'm not going to get much from them without raising suspicions, but at least now we know when that princess is coming down!

She made her way back to the treeline and to the bush where she had hidden her stuff. Luckily, it was all still there. She felt like she needed to decontaminate herself in a vat of acid after speaking to those filthy xenos. She grabbed the polymorphine antidote, and after a bit of fumbling with her hooves, managed to inject herself.

After she (excruciatingly) turned back to her original form, she donned her armour and tuned back in to Levin's frequency on her comlink.

“Levin? You still there?” she asked.

“Still here. Very bored though. I take it you got what you needed?”

“Not much, just some basic information and confirmation of that visit, which is happening tomorrow morning. But we still don't know enough to launch an attack. I think an interrogation might be in order”

“You may be right. Go set up a place to stay, I'll find a couple to capture. We'll question them about it. You said they spoke Low Gothic?”

“Yep, speak it and write it. Don't get caught, and be careful of the ones with horns, they're low-level psykers from what I've seen”

“Got it, send me your co-ordinates when you've found a suitable place, and I'll bring them”

“See you there” said Umbra, terminating the link.

Levin sighed and got to his feet, holstering his rifle. He hated interrogations. He liked assassinations, preferring to leave all the questioning to the Inquisitors.

He scanned around, looking for any isolated singles or groups he could capture. He noticed a couple of them walking up the path away from the town, towards his position. One was a cream colour with a pink and blue mane while the other had a light green coat and a cyan mane, and had a horn.

Levin ducked behind the hill and waited for them to pass. He checked around for any more of the xenos, and seeing none, he emerged over the hill, coming up behind the pair. He drew his pistol.

“-I know what you mean Lyra” said the cream one on the left, “She can be too obsessive, you know she tried to rope me into working with Applejack for catering”

“She's a nice pony Bon-Bon, but just because Twilight is the princess' student, doesn't mean that-”

THWACK

Levin pistol-whipped her over the side of the head with the butt of his pistol, knocking her unconscious.

“What the-” started the other one. Levin knocked her unconscious as well. “I've got a couple” he said to Umbra over the comlink.

“Sending you the co-ordinates now”responded Umbra. Levin groaned as he received the co-ordinates and started to make his way there, carrying the two aliens over his shoulder.

It was noon by the time Princess Luna and her squad of Night Guard arrived back at Canterlot Palace. Her squad split off from her to go to the barracks while she carried on up to the throne room where she knew her sister would be.

The doors of the room swung open to let her in, the guards saluting as she cantered in.

“Leave us” she ordered them breathlessly. The guards saluted again and left, leaving Luna and Celestia alone. The

“Luna, what is it? What did you find?” asked Celestia worriedly.

“Sister...” she gasped, “I... I... The...”

“Calm down sister, what happened?”, she walked towards Luna, putting a wing around her shoulders.

“It's... it's...” she looked up at the white alicorn, her eyes glazed over, “It's finally happening. Mankind has returned to Equestria”

Celestia reeled back in shock. She certainly hadn't been expecting that. “Are you sure?” she asked urgently.

Luna shook her head, recovering from her dream-like state, “Positive. Those meteors were pods from one of their craft, and were inscribed with perfect Equestrian. They came from an Imperial Inquisition Lunar-class vessel named Hammer's Retribution”

Celestia pushed on, “Do you know if there are they here on purpose?”

“I doubt it. They came in saviour pods, implying they abandoned their ship. They are also now wandering somewhere in the Everfree Forest, not exactly the ideal place to land”

Celestia considered for a moment. “Very well. Luna, go get some rest, you'll need it. Later, I want you to take a squad of Night Guard to Manehattan. I just got a communication that another one of the pods crashed there, and I need someone to investigate. In the meantime, I will talk to Him, see His views on the matter”

“Are you sure that is wise? You told me you hadn't talked to him in at least a two years since I returned-”

“Don't worry about it, He would want to know, and anyway, He will probably want to do something about it anyway, maybe even deal with it personally”

“But what about your visit to Ponyville tomorrow, it's located right next to the Everfree Forest and the humans, or whatever were in those pods, are still running amok”

“No, the visit will go ahead. I have worried tortured Twilight enough by cancelling my previous three visits when they already had everything prepared, and I have no doubt cancelling again would cause her a mental fit. However, I will bring several squads of Day Guard with me, and have them on lookout just in case. I will also send pegasus scouts into the Everfree to look for them”

“Very well, I'm going to rest, I will see you later, sister”

“Sleep well, Luna” said Celestia as she watched the blue alicorn trot out of the throne room.

Celestia waited until she was sure she was alone, and then flared her horn and directed a beam of light at an area of wall next to her throne. A part of the wall larger than Celestia dissipated into thin air, leaving a dimly lit marble tunnel around one hundred metres long.

She calmly walked into it, sealing the wall behind her. She quickly trotted down it, and gently opened the mahogany door at the other end using her magic.

“Princess Celestia” came a voice, “It's been too long”

Celestia looked over to where He was sitting.

“Indeed it has, but I bring news. Mankind has returned to Equestria”

“What!?” He boomed, rising from His seat, “Are they Imperial?”

“From what my sister has told me, the vessel was of the Imperial Inquisition, a Lunar-class ship named Hammer's Retribution”

“The Imperial Inquisition... yes, this complicates things. Find them, and bring them straight to me”

“Of Course” said Celestia, bowing her head and backing respectfully out of the doorway.

A Beautiful Sunset

Chapter 6A Beautiful Sunset

The sun was setting over the tree tops now, casting long shadows across the ground where Brother Arazakh of the Thousand Sons stood, his bolter hanging limply by his side. He quietly watched as Sonorious and Mhotep performed autopsies on the alien's bodies, cutting them open and examining their anatomy. Entrails and organs spilled out onto the forest floor next to them

“Yes, it would appear I was correct” said Sonorious, rising to his feet, “These 'ponies' or whatever they are called, have a fairly similar internal anatomy to a human's. The pegasi, I believe you called them?” he asked Mhotep.

“That is what we heard” he replied.

“Very well, the pegasi are able to fly because of small psychic fields generated by their wings when they flap them. These things by themselves could never generate lift” Sonorious continued, lifting a mutilated wing of the dead pegasus, “They also, like other aviary species, have hollow bones and decreased body mass to increase their capabilities. The unicorns here are able to harness low-level psychic powers through use of their horns, simple acts such as levitation”, he indicated where he had carefully cut apart the unicorn's horn down the middle with his power sword, revealing a glowing inside. He waved his hand, forming a small psychic field. The horn glowed and cast a small green aura in response. “And the earth ponies, was it?” he asked again, indicating to the last pony in front of him.

He once again looked to Mhotep for confirmation, who nodded.

“The earth ponies have an increased muscle density in comparison to the unicorn and pegasi, meaning they are stronger and faster. However, they lack any psychic abilities whatsoever. How evolution caused the emergence of three different variants of this species, we will never know and how they were speaking in Low Gothic, I have no idea. But this does open up a very promising way for us. Alone, we do not have the combined psychic power to summon any daemons to our cause, or even contact off-world, but I believe, with enough of these unicorns, we could channel their psychic power to open a rift in the warp, and contact reinforcements” Sonorious finished.

Arazakh and Mhotep stared blankly at him.

“Well have you two got anything better?” snapped the Sorceror.

Two Hours Earlier

Arazakh and Mhotep crept over the hills away from the wreckage of the saviour pod, which was still being examined curiously by the group of unknown xenos. Their bolters raised in a combat stance, they prowled towards the outlying buildings of the massive settlement up ahead. Sonorious had sent them to find out more information about the natives, and capture some for examination.

The buildings up ahead slowly grew in size as they came closer, but there were no signs of any of the equines in the streets.

“I don't see any of them around. It seems suspicious” commented Mhotep as they came up to the side of the nearest building.

“We'll carry on, we need to find out something about these xenos” replied Arazakh, slipping into a nearby alleyway with his bolter raised, his pauldrons scraping against either side of the alley due to his sheer size.

Mhotep followed him through, almost bumping into him when he stopped at the other end.

“You hear that?” Arazakh whispered.

Mhotep inclined his head, his enhanced hearing picking up a faint chatter, “Yeah, I got that. Where's it coming from?”

Arazakh peeked his head out into the street and swivelled around. “I'm moving across to there” he said, indicating another alley opposite him, “It's clear, you stay here. Only comlink from here on”

Mhotep nodded, and Arazakh moved out into the street, pointing his bolter in the direction of the noise. Mhotep took his place at the end of the alley, while his companion stayed at the entrance of the one opposite him. Mhotep noticed Arazakh raise his comlink to his helmet level.

“The noise is coming from that building down there”, he pointed down the street, “The one labelled as 'The Drunk Stallion Bar And Tavern'... Wait, how the fuck can I read that? Why is it written in Low Gothic?”

Mhotep glanced out of his alley, the street still clear. He saw the building, and picked up it was definitely where the noise was coming from. There were also several lights flashing in the window.

He raised the comlink to his mouth, “I've got a visual, that is very peculiar, I don't know how they know our language. Do you reckon that's where they all are?”

“It is the only sign of activity we've seen in this place so far”

“Should we check it out?”

“Negative, hold position. Three contacts just exited the building and are coming our way”

“Engage and capture?”

“Wait until they pass, then slit their necks. It's easier if they're dead. We cannot be heard though, so be silent”

“Very well then” growled Mhotep, holstering his bolter and unsheathing his combat knife as the group of xenos approached. As they got closer, he noticed that one of the aliens had a horn, and it was glowing green. It appeared to be levitating a cup of drink in front of it, which was surrounded by the same green aura.

“You seeing this?” whispered Arazakh incredulously.

“Yeah, the horned one seems to be exhibiting low-level psychic power” replied Mhotep, “Wait for the pass...”

Their voices came into hearing focus as they approached the traitor marines' positions.

“-Do love Friday night at the tavern. Everypony's there, and it's a great way for a pony to unwind” said the one in the middle.

“Pfff, that tavern is nothing. I should take you two to the bars in Cloudsdale, that'll be a night you'll never forget” commented the male winged one on the left.

“You forget we can't fly. Or walk on clouds. We not all pegasi like you” replied the horned one on the right of the trio.

“But at least you unicorns can do magic” retorted the one in the middle towards the horned one, “Us earth ponies got the shitty end of the stick, we can't fly or do magic”

“But you could probably beat us both in a race or a hoof-wrestling competition” said the winged one comfortingly.

“Suppose...” grumbled the earth pony sourly.

Mhotep looked across at Arazakh, who shrugged. “I have no idea what they're talking about, but it's probably all we're gonna get” whispered Arazakh over the comlink, “Anyway, your clear. Grab 'em and we'll head back”

Mhotep surveyed the street a last time before coming out of the alley. He crept up behind the trio of ponies, his massive feet making next to no noise on the cobbled pavement.

He reached and grabbed the three xenos by the muzzles, his gigantic forearm muffling their squeals of surprise. He backed back into the alleyway, and in one deft motion, slit all three of their exposed necks at once with his combat knife. They writhed for a moment, gargling, before they fell still, their blood flowing freely over Mhotep's arm.

He motioned to Arazakh, who crossed the street one final time, and they both started to head back to Sonorious' position.

Present

“I suppose it's the best we've got” sighed Arazakh, “Just how many of these 'unicorns' will we need?”

“I don't know, I still don't have a full measure of their psychic capabilities” replied Sonorious, “However, I would have to guess around...fifty or sixty”

If Arazakh's helmet had been off, and if he had had liquid in his mouth, he would have done a spit-take. “How the fuck are we meant to get that many!?” he exclaimed.

“I don't know, but it's going to take a while, especially if we're not going to get noticed. Come on, we'll make plans properly once we've disposed of these bodies” said Sonorious, picking up the nearest body, stuffing it's entrails and organs back inside before throwing it into a nearby lake.

Vindicare Assassin Levin stood underneath the low hanging branches of a small oak tree, overlooking the town of Ponyville. The sun was setting over the mountains in the distance, bathing the whole valley in a serene golden glow. He sighed. This was what he wanted the Imperium to be, peaceful, prosperous, free of taint...unfortunately, the beautiful valley was filled with xenos, and right now, he'd like to see the whole place pounded into the ground with lance batteries from orbiting cruisers.

“Levin!” Umbra called from the treeline, “The aliens are waking up, let's get this over with!”

Levin grumbled and pulled out his pistol, taking one last hate-filled glance at the valley before heading into forest.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"Over here, through the bushes" replied Umbra, leading Levin through some thick brambles to a small clearing, where the two xenos were propped up against a tree, their legs tied by thick vines they had found deeper in the forest. They were beginning to stir.

"How do you want to do this?" inquired Levin, "I have no interrogation experience"

"Good Arbite, Bad Arbite. You do bad"

"Gah. Fine then" groaned Levin, checking the mag in his pistol, "But we're still gonna kill them afterwards right?"

"Of course" chuckled Umbra.

The green pony on the left opened her eyes first. "Wha- what happened?" she moaned, trying to get her bearings. Her eyes settled on her bound limbs. She started to panic. "What's happening!?" she cried out, struggling with her restraints. Her eyes darted around, eventually focusing on the two figures standing in front of her. Her eyes went wide and her face curled into an expression of shock and terror. Umbra immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. By this time, the cream one had also woken up, and was staring in horror at the monster holding her friend's mouth. Umbra's hand silenced her as well.

All they could do was stare at the assassin, their limbs held limply in front of them, forgotten in their fright. Umbra began to speak.

"Now, we only want to ask you a few questions. You answer well, we will let you go, and will never bother you again, but you cannot tell anybody about this. Understand?"

The two ponies meekly nodded their heads, their mouths still covered.

"Okay then" Umbra continued gently, "If you do not co-operate, or attempt to escape, or speak out of line, my associate here can make life very painful for the two of you. You do believe he can do that, don't you?" she said, indicating Levin, who was standing behind her idly twirling his knife between his fingers. He turned his head and looked down straight into the ponies' gazing eyes. They squeaked in terror and furiously nodded their heads at Umbra.

"Very well then. I'm going to remove my hands from your mouths, and when I do, I want you to tell me your names. Got it?"

They both nodded.

"Okay then", Umbra slowly stood up, removing her hands from their mouths. They both immediately sucked in deep breaths, spluttering and choking. The green one recovered first.

"I- I'm Ly- Lyra Heartstrings" she trembled.

"And you?" asked Umbra, turning to the cream one.

"I'm Sweetie Drops, but- but everypony calls me Bon-Bon" she answered in terror, cowering under the assassin's gaze.

Umbra glanced at Levin, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright. I have gathered that your species are called 'ponies'. Is that correct?" asked Umbra.

"Y-yes" squeaked Bon-Bon.

"Oh my gosh are you guys aliens?" Lyra suddenly spouted.

"Silence!" roared Levin, backhanding the green pony across he face. Her head was snapped round and smashed against the tree. Red blood started to trickle down her forehead, and tears fell freely from her eyes. The cream one started to shake in fear.

"Filthy xenos" the marksman spat, "She told you not to speak!"

"I did warn you" commented Umbra casually, "Now then, what is the name of the town you just came from?"

"Ponyville" answered Bon-Bon obediently, still shaking, trying not to get on Levin's bad side.

Umbra nodded in confirmation.

"And the country?"

"Equestria"

"And the planet we are on?"

"Equus"

"What is the name of the city in the mountains overlooking your town?"

"Canterlot, the capital of Equestria and the home of the Princesses"

"Who are the Princesses?"

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna"

"And their roles are?"

"They rule over Equestria as a diarchy. At every dawn, Princess Celestia raises the Sun, and every dusk, Princess Luna raises the moon"

"What do you mean by 'raising the sun and moon'?

"I- I don't know much about it, but I think they use their magic to bring the sun and moon up over the horizon"

"Is that all you and your friend know on that matter?"

They both nodded.

"Very well. Thank you Bon-Bon. I now have some questions for you" Umbra said, turning to Lyra, "What I am going to ask you is very important. You are a unicorn, correct?"

"Y-yes" sobbed Lyra, still crying from Levin's strike.

"Okay then. And I understand you can do magic, correct? It is called magic, isn't it?" Umbra questioned, trying to confirm her findings from earlier.

"Yes"

Umbra nodded.

"What kind of magic?"

"I-I'm not very strong magically. I can only do simple stuff like levitation"

"There are more powerful unicorns?"

"Yes, unicorns like Twilight Sparkle can do all sorts of spells, like transformations, summonings-"

"Twilight Sparkle, is she the purple one wih the pink star on her flank?" interrupted Umbra.

"Yes" replied the green unicorn, not daring to ask how the alien knew the princesses' student.

"Hmm...okay then" muttered Umbra. The assassin picked up a twig and tossed it in front of Lyra. "Can you give me a demonstration of this 'magic'?"

Lyra's horn began to glow with a green aura, and the twig started glowing with the same colour. I started to levitate off the ground and hung suspended in the air, surrounded by that mystical green glow.

"Curious" Umbra muttered, transfixed by the twig, "I wonder if-"

The twig dropped to the floor.

"I didn't-" started Umbra, looking up in surprise as the green unicorn used her magic to tear apart the vines and rise to her feet in a feat of surprising speed. She started moving in the direction of the forest.

"I'll come back for you!" shouted the mint-coloured mare.

"Lyra wait!" cried Bon-Bon, but it was too late.

Levin brought his pistol up and fired, the assassin's pistol making almost no noise apart from a small phut! as the bullet exited the barrel. Travelling at massive speeds, the gigantic round struck Lyra perfectly in the head, blowing it apart and showering the area with blood and brain matter. The headless corpse struck the floor, blood spurting from the neck like a pressure hose. To the cream mare, it looked like the alien had exploded her best friend's head just from pointing the strange blocky-thing at her.

Bon-Bon screamed and began to wail uncontrollably, tears soaking her fur. "Once again, we did warn you" commented Umbra. "Now, I'm going to-"

"N-No" wailed Bon-Bon

"I'm sorry?" asked Umbra coldly.

"No. I- I won't, I can't. Just- just leave me alone. I don't care what you do, just go, please!" sobbed the cream pony.

Umbra knelt down in front of her. "You saw what we did to your friend. You do understand" whispered the assassin menacingly, "That we can cause you more pain than you have ever experienced. We can make you beg for death. You can spare yourself that fate, if you answer my questions"

Bon-Bon raised her head, tear marks staining her cheeks. "G- go buck yourself" she growled, spitting in the assassins' face.

"Why you filthy little-" started Levin, drawing his knife.

"No" said Umbra, stopping him,"She has a spark of courage, certainly more than I've ever seen most heretics display, I'll give her that. But she doesn't know who she's dealing with. What do you say, should we teach her?"

Levin cracked a smile behind his mask.

"Do it"

Umbra drew her phase sword and activated it, the blade crackling into life. "One learns a lot from a month in the company of the Inquisition's finest fleshsmiths" she snarled, as she began to gently carve the blade down the pony's body.

Birds flew from the trees as Bon-Bon's screams echoed throughout the forest.

Twilight Sparkle made her way down the path to Fluttershy's cottage, with the intention of asking the timid mare about getting her bird choir to sing at the Princesses' visit the next day. She knew she wasn't giving the pegasus much notice, but if she could do it then it would make Celestia's visit that much better.

She stopped to gaze over at Celestia's golden sunset, making a mental note to thank the monarch for such a beautiful sight the next day.

She crossed over the bridge and walked up to the door, rapping on it gently with her hoof. "Fluttershy!" she sang, "It's Twilight!"

No answer.

"Fluttershy, are you home?" asked Twilight loudly.

The door swung open to reveal Angel standing there impatiently, his arms crossed and his foot tapping on the floor.

"Oh- hey Angel" Twilight stammered. She never knew what to do around the bunny. "Is Fluttershy in? I need to talk to her"

Angel shook his head.

"No?"

The bunny nodded in confirmation.

"Oh... well do you know where she is?"

Angel impatiently gestured over in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

"What's she doing in there?"

Angel shrugged and slammed the door. Twilight grumbled under her breath. She could never get much out of that animal, and she couldn't understand for the love of her why Fluttershy kept him as her damn pet.

Well that's bucked she sighed in her head, Maybe the Princess won't mind the complete and utter-

She froze as a loud scream permeated the air, coming from the direction of the Everfree Forest. She swung around. "Fluttershy!?" she yelled, "Fluttershy!?" Her eyes darted from side to side, trying to ascertain where and who the scream had come from.

Moments later, the screaming came again. But it was not of fear, but the strangled, throaty scream of pain. Birds flew from the treetops into the evening air, disturbed by the horrendous noise.

Twilight started to gallop in the direction of the prolonged screams. Tears formed in her eyes in worry for her friend, or whoever it was in there. She had never heard such terrifying noises come from a pony before, especially if it was Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight screamed, "Fluttershy!"

The screaming came to a sudden halt.

Umbra withdrew her phase sword wiped off the blade against the trunk of a nearby tree, cleaning the blood from the cold steel. In front of her, Bon-Bon's body had been all but dismembered, nearly every inch of skin peeled from the flesh and muscles and bones exposed to the cool air.

To the pony's credit, she had refused to give anymore information until the bitter end. The assassin had to admire her for that. It was certainly more than most prisoners of the Inquisition had ever managed. Behind her, Levin was nonchalantly cleaning his pistol.

"What do you reckon? Is it enough to work with?" he asked.

"Perhaps. I trust that we will find out more in time. I am curious to find out what the Inquisitor is planning. For now, I think we should-"

"Fluttershy!" screamed a distance voice out of nowhere, "Fluttershy!"

"What the fuck is that?" swore Umbra.

"With me", Levin motioned with his hand for her to follow him. He led her out of he forest and up onto the crest of the hill overlooking the valley. He took out his Exitus rifle and looked down the scope, scanning the area.

He came to rest on something. "There" he said, pointing at one of the nearby fields, "One of the natives, heading towards us. At current speed, I'd say she's around thirty seconds out"

Umbra looked where he was indicating. "I know her. I spoke to her when I was in that town earlier. Her name is Twilight Sparkle"

Levin nodded, knowing since Umbra had told him everything earlier.

"Come on" the Callidus said, "We have to leave before she finds us, or the bodies. She must've heard the screams"

"Or not" replied Levin, "I think I have a better plan"

"What're you thinking?"

"Isn't it obvious?" stated the marksman.

Umbra thought for a moment, then it dawned on her.

"Where?" she asked.

"Edge of the forest, but not where we left the bodies. Use the trees. Go"

Both assassins departed off the hill, disappearing into the forest like ghosts.

Twilight was galloping towards the forest as fast as her legs could take her when the screaming came to a disturbingly sudden halt. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks from fright as she slowed down to a trot, approaching the edge of the Everfree Forest.

"Hello? Fluttershy? Anypony? Are you alright?" she called into the darkness.

She trotted deeper into the bushes. "Anypony!?"

She felt a sudden rush of wind behind her and swung around to see a figure standing over her, holding a blade to her neck. She opened her mouth to scream. She never got the chance as something collided with the side of her head, turning the world black.

Whispers In The Night

Chapter 7Whispers In The Night"You will get more with a kind word and an excruciator than with just a kind word" - Inquisitor Malden, Ordo Hereticus

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and tried to raise her head, immediately regretting it as the side of her head started throbbing in pain. One thing she did notice though, was that she was moving. Not by herself, but something was carrying her. She could see a pair of legs moving under her, which must mean they belonged to the creature carrying her, but what creature moved on two legs? She didn't think she was being carried by a dragon, she couldn't feel any rough scales. She groaned and tried to move.

"It's awake" came a cold voice from right next to her, the thing carrying her. She felt the grip on her tighten.

"Don't worry, we're coming up to the cave now" came another female voice to her left, sounding strangely familiar.

Cave? Twilight thought in shock, Maybe it is dragons, or perhaps diamond dogs...

She tried to move around, managing to move her right hind leg.

"I know you can understand me, so don't you fucking move, or I'll blow your head off" whispered a threatening voice right into her ear.

Twilight whimpered in fear and ceased her movement. She felt her captor's head shift back to looking forward, leaving her looking back at the trail they were cutting through the forest.

She felt her kidnapper move through a bush and they stepped out into a small opening. A series of metallic clicks filled the air.

"Halt! Show yourselves or we will open fire!" she heard a deep male voice call out. Open fire? What does that mean? she thought.

"It's just us Captain, back from recon" called back that familiar female voice, "The Inquisitor knows we're coming!"

Captain? So they're military, but what's an Inquisitor?

"Lower your weapons boys, it's the assassins" said the male voice, "I'll let them know your coming in- what in the Emperor's name is that on your shoulder!?"

Assassins? Who's the Emperor? Twilight had so many questions on her mind, but she couldn't voice them for fear of whatever was carrying her.

"An example of the locals, tell him we're bringing it in for questioning, and we need precautions for low-level psychic powers set up. By which I mean the Knights."

They're talking about me! Why do they want to question me? Are they not from around Equestria? We are in the Everfree, so anything could happen...

"Of course, I'll let them know", Twilight heard footsteps disappear into what she guessed was the cave her captors mentioned earlier, only to come back out moments later.

"They know, go ahead in. The Knights are ready, as are the Magos and the astropath. I think Tevlan will be wanting an anatomical study when you're done"

"I'm not surprised, knowing him" replied the one carrying her, "Thank you Captain Belknap, carry on"

What are all these things they're talking about? What's a Magos? What's an Astropath? Twilight was beginning to get a headache from the amount of questions that were running through her head, But at least I have two of their names, Belknap and Tevlan... And who are these "knights"?

She felt the footsteps under her resume again, and felt the cool night air warm slightly entered the cave. She could hear the soft crackle of a fire. She managed to catch a glimpse of a bipedal figure at the entrance, wearing all different shades of green and holding some sort of metal blocky-thing with an elongated stick coming out on one end. It was bulky, so she guessed it was wearing some kind of armour, but she couldn't see any of the actual creature itself. It certainly wasn't any animal she recognised...

They rounded a corner and she didn't have time to look up as she was unceremoniously unslung from her captor's shoulder and threw into a corner. She shook her head, seeing stars.

"Inquisitor" said her carrier's voice, "It's there, might wanna get that collar on before it tries something"

"Of course. Thank you Levin, let me know about your own findings after this is over" said a new voice. It was smooth and flowing, yet held a tone of unspoken authority and years of experience.

So the one that had been carrying her was named Levin, that was another name down. Well, I'm not gonna get anymore if I don't try thought Twilight, Here goes nothing...

She looked up. She screamed and blacked out.

Inquisitor Hallaman looked round at the thoroughly confused Grey Knights around him.

"Well, that's a new one" he murmured.

"Told you they were different" smirked Umbra next to him.

"Whatever. It could still pose a threat" he said, stepping forward and attaching a psychic dampener around the unconscious lavender xenos' neck.

He turned to Levin. "So, tell me what you found out about these 'ponies'..."

"Hey AJ, have you seen Twilight anywhere?" asked Rainbow Dash as she swooped down to Applejack on the farm, the earth pony just about to turn in for the night.

"No, ah haven't seen her since earlier" replied Applejack, "She's probably sleepin', all that plannin' she did earlier. Either that, or she's still fussin' over the visit. Ya know what she's like. Why'd you need to see her?"

"I was gonna ask her what time tomorrow morning she wanted the skies clear, and why the heck all these royal guard ponies are restricting the Ponyville airspace"

"Ah'm sure they're just security for the visit tomorrow"

"There aren't usually this many. Do you think this has something to do with those meteors last night?"

"Maybe, but don't you worry yourself none, you'll have your skies back by tomorrow. Now go get some rest"

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and lifted a hoof to her throbbing head, her vision still bleary. She began to rise to her hooves. "Ugh, Spike, I was having the most horrible dream-"

"I don't know who Spike is, but unless you want to be clearing your brains off the floor, I suggest you shut up and sit down now" came a harsh voice from in front of her. Twilight closed her mouth immediately and sat back down.

It wasn't a dream... she thought grimly as her hazed mind finally comprehended that she was still on the floor of the cold, musty cave and that she was staring at... a pair of black boots?

She looked up at the figure towering in front of her. He (she guessed from the pitch of voice) was bipedal, and looked a bit like a shaved ape, or diamond dog. He was clad in a black suit of sorts, covered in areas by more solid looking dark patches, around him hung a black cloak reaching his knees. From his waist hung a sword and some sort of strange L-shaped object, among other things she did not recognise. On his chest was pinned a rosette that bore some sort of stylised letter 'I' with some sort of skull emblazoned on the front. His mane was short, cropped and neat, and his piercing blue eyes stared down at her with no sympathy for her situation. She guessed she had better do as he said.

He caught her looking at his rosette. "Even if you have nothing to hide, you still have something to lose, little xeno" he said. She recognised his voice now, it was one of the ones she had heard earlier when she was carried in. He turned around, "Levin, Umbra, our guest is awake" he called. Only then did Twilight look around him, and she gasped at what she saw.

Gathered in front of a large pile of gold and gems, which Twilight recognised as a dragon's hoard, was a group of around nine more of the strange creatures, whom she guessed were all the same species as the one standing if front of her based on the fact that they all shared the same basic body structure. The one on the far right caught her eye first. It was dressed in a long red robe that obscured most of it's body, but protruding from it's back were several metallic limbs and arms, whirring about in the air. It stood just under six hooves tall, probably just smaller than the one that had talked to her. Next to the red one, was a smaller, skinnier one clad in a simple brown robe, it's face shadowed by the hood of the cloak. She guessed they were both male. As if on cue, it turned to look at her. She recoiled back as eyeless sockets looked straight back at her, she felt as if it were gazing into her very soul. What are you?...

Twilight tore her eyes away from him, and looked over to the next group. They were the ones that fascinated her the most, and whom she looked at for longest. They were giants, easily around eight hooves tall, wearing massive suits of greyish-silver armour which completely covered them. The armour was inscribed with golden texts and silver patterns, and seals and rolls of parchment hung off them like feathers. Two of them carried halberds, one a sword and another a giant warhammer, weapons she recognised from the Royal Guard. The last of them carried a large blocky weapon with a blue flame flickering at a nozzle at the front. Their helmets were tapered forward to a point, and their eyes shone a bright, pure blue. They seemed to radiate pure magic. They must be immensely powerful she thought to herself.

The last two figures of the group had split off and were heading towards them. So it was them. Her captors. The ones who had knocked her out and brought her here against her will. Levin, the taller of the two, wore a simple black bodysuit with a skull emblazoned in the middle of his chest. He had another one of those L-shaped objects at his waist and a long rectangular object strapped to his back. There was a single long red visor where his eyes should have been. Umbra, like her counterpart, also wore a black bodysuit, but her face was visible through the mask and she had a long, green hued blade on her hip.

The one in front of her turned back to her. "I am Inquisitor Emerson Hallaman of the Ordo Malleus, a servant of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition. These two are Vindicare Assassin Levin and Callidus Assassin Umbra of the Officio Assassinorum" he said, indicating himself and the two standing next to him. "You have my permission to speak, xeno. What is your name?"

"M- My name is Twilight Sparkle" she replied, terrified of the individuals looming over her.

"All right then. We want to ask you some questions, Twilight Sparkle. Please answer to the best of your ability, we will not hurt you. For now. If you try to escape, or attempt to attack us, we will kill you. Painfully, slowly. Like my assassins did with those two other pony bitches that tried something, and don't try anything with your 'magic', there is a psychic dampener around your neck"

Twilight gasped. She looked down and saw a black metal collar around her neck, she tried to activate her horn to lift it off, but nothing would come. But wait- they had killed two other ponies? Why would they do such a thing? Her memories raced back, the screaming from near Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy!

"W- who was it?" she trembled.

"The ones they killed? What were their names?" he asked, turning to Umbra.

"Their names? Lyra and Bon-Bon. Lyra died quickly, painlessly. Bon-Bon, well, let's just say the scavengers won't have any skin to work through when they find her body"

"B- but why?" she trembled, tearing up at the thought of the death of one of Ponyville's most well-known couples.

"Because Lyra tried to escape and Bon-Bon refused to cooperate. And because all filthy xenos life like you should be purged from the galaxy, as was and still is the Emperor's vision" snarled Umbra.

That's horri- wait, did she say the galaxy? Twilight looked up, immediately her natural feelings of curiosity rising to the surface over her fear.

"You said the galaxy. Are you aliens?" she asked.

"I suppose to you, we would be the aliens" replied the Inquisitor.

Oh wow, I have so many questions-

"But we are here to talk about you and your species, not us" he continued, "So what role do you play in your society?"

At least the Inquisitor was being somewhat friendly towards her. "I'm the local librarian in Ponyville, and I am also Princess Celestia's personal student and the Element Of Harmony representing magic"

"The Princess' student... Alright, what's an Element Of Harmony?"

"The Elements Of Harmony are six magical artefacts that when combined, can be used to banish evil and restore the natural balance of harmony. Each Element represents a different key aspect of friendship: Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty and Magic. As I said before, I wield the Element Of Magic"

Hallaman almost snorted in mockery of such a ridiculous concept. "Well... okay then" he said disbelievingly, "Anyway, I was told that the Princesses 'raise and lower the sun and moon'. Could you please explain this?"

"We have two Princesses that rule over Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Every dawn, Princess Celestia uses magic to raise the sun and lower it at dusk, and Princess Luna raises the moon to begin the night when the sun sets, and lowers it at the dawn"

Hallaman decided to accept it, after all, for all he knew, they were in some pocket dimension in the Warp where the laws of physics didn't apply. Tevlan would probably have a meltdown. The assassins made no comment, opting just to shoot glances at each other. The Inquisitor swore they could read each other's minds. But digressing onto bigger things, "Are 'ponies' the dominant species on this planet, or are there others?"

"No, there are others. We ponies are centered here in Equestria, but the other races include the griffons of the Griffon Empire, the zebras of the Zebrica Tribes, the minotaurs of Tauran, the dragons of Alagaesia, and the diamond dogs, but they are mostly vagrants, thieves and scavengers"

"Very well. Next question, how are you speaking Low Gothic?"

"I am speaking Equestrian. I could say the same thing to you"

"Fair enough, little xeno, I suppose you wouldn't know any better"

"May I ask you something?" Twilight inquired tentatively.

"Very well"

"There is a hoarde of gold over there, probably a dragon's treasure. Where's the dragon?"

"Is that what that beast was called? It attacked my soldiers when they first found this cave. From what I gathered, Captain Belknap threw an explosive down it's throat. Messy, but very impressive"

Twilight only shuddered and teared up at the thought of what these creatures could do to her and her world. These aliens were dangerous, and she knew they were making sure she knew it.

Sergeant Roland approached the clearing before the mouth of the cave, followed by Reiss, Garced, Merisier and Skult lugging back crates of survival supplies from the saviour pods. He blipped Belknap's comlink three times to let him know they were coming through. A second later, Belknap replied, "You're clear, come on through"

They stepped into the clearing and made their way into the cave. "Inquisitor, we are back with- What the fuck is that!?" he yelled, aiming his lasgun at the snivelling lavender blob in the corner.

"Local xeno, the assassins brought it in for questioning. Lower your weapon, it is not a threat"

"Not a threat? Find that hard to believe"

As if on cue, the alien in the corner looked up and stared at him through large, pleading violet eyes.

D'awww- no! Roland mentally bitch-slapped himself and turned back to Hallaman.

"It certainly is a change. What took so long getting back?" asked the Inquisitor

"We had squads of those flying xenos scouting the areas around the crash sites. They wouldn't have been deadly, only armed with small swords and such, but we couldn't risk getting spotted"

"You would say their military is primitive then, from what you have observed of it?'

Roland nodded, "Their swords probably wouldn't even pierce our carapace armour, and their own armour looks weighty, ineffective, and only covers some of their body. We could easily beat them in small numbers, but we only have so much ammo and there are a lot of them, just in that scouting party. Who knows how many more of them there are in the main bulk of their military?"

"I agree. But speaking of ammo, what did the crates contribute?"

"We can do a proper ammo check later, but the crates contain a few spare lasgun cells, some spare bolter ammo, the Knights can share that out, a couple of assault shotguns for building clearance, enough rations for a few days and some spare grenades and comlinks"

"I suppose that will do for now, now go get some rest and then switch positions with the Captain guarding the entrance"

Twilight curiously observed the giants as they kneeled down near her, their hooves, or whatever those things were, claws, probably, crossed on their chests. One stood before the group, his massive sword planted firmly in front of him. She guessed it must be some kind of ritual. The giant standing began to speak, his voice harsh and mechanical, distorted by his helmet.

"Brother Grey Knights! We have come far since the events of Damscan II, where the Emperor guided us to victory over the forces of Chaos. The Imperium lost many good men that day, but they died in His service. We were tested again when the Traitor legions attacked our ship, and killed our crew, but through His guidance, we prevailed once more! Through His blessing, we were able to come to a planet that can support us, where we can once again prove ourselves worthy of His sacrifice! We pray for the fallen of Cadia, the fallen Blood Ravens, and for the crew of the Hammer's Retribution as they join Him in waiting for the battle at the end of time! With this, we cleanse our minds, bodies and souls, as we recite the canticle of absolution:"

All the Knights were speaking now:

"Praise the Emperor for his sacrifice, as He endures so shall we. We who are hunters of Daemons shall strive in his name eternally. We, the Order of the Hammer , shall delve into dark shadows, We shall seek out the tainted, we shall pursue the vilest evil. It is we who stand guard, our eternel watch shall not fail, For we are the Ordo Malleus!

We Grey Knights are the hammers, we slay the darkness without fear. Founded in great mystery were we, Chapter six hundred and sixty six. Though on Titan we be hidden, yet our eyes encompass the Galaxy. No Devil shall elude our gaze, no Daemon shall avoid its fate. We shall be the Keepers Immortal, all secrets shall be our knowledge. We are the Guardians of Mankind!

Caution and secrecy are our code, watchfulness and patience are our way. Hidden from the Eyes of Chaos, we strike without warning or dread. Though we find ourselves in shadows, no blackness will enter our hearts. No treachery will touch our souls, no pride will sully our thoughts. We shall be pure amongst impurity, we shall be innocence amongst guilt. We are the Imperium`s hidden saviours!

We are spread across the Heavens, our watch is untiring and ceaseless. The Emperor shall guard our souls, as we guard those of others. Our will shall be our weapon, our faith shall be our armour. Our minds will be secure fortresses, no temptation will weaken our resolve. Though unnumbered lurking perils await us, our blades will ever be ready. For we are the Emperor`s Vengeance!

Masters of all weapons are we, no defence exists against our wrath. With the Nemesis shall we fight, with an Aegis to shield us. In bloodshed shall we save Mankind, death shall be our everlasting creed. War unending shall be our fate, in battle shall we be steeled. We shall be unstinting in hatred, we shall hunger for holy war. For we are Swords of Justice!

When all flee in hideous disarray, strong and sound shall we stand. Cowardice is wholly unknown to us, our courage comes from the Emperor. Unbowed and unshaken against all foes, we shall claim victory with blood. Steady and surely we hunt them, those that dare oppose our wrath. Death stalks us in many forms, the grotesque and the utterly inhuman. We are Bringers of Hope!

Bloody battles unending constantly await us, redemption the reward for our vigilance. When possession rears its unspeakable head, ours is the blade that descends. When empyrean horrors invade our realm, our exorcisms shall hurl them back. There is no chaos spawned horror which can resist our indomitable anger. With undaunted courage we shall prevail, no arcane magicks shall overcome us. We are the Bearers of Victory!

No corruption shall blemish our Galaxy, no immatricial fiend shall be spared. No malevolent spirit will oppose us, no creation of sin shall survive. No unholy deed shall go unpunished, all blasphemous acts shall be atoned. No spawn of misrule avoid us, all are banished to the void. Nothing shall evade our cleansing fire, not Daemon or Spawn or Renegade, For we are Mankind`s Divine Blade!

Heavenly blessings are laid upon us, the warp is ours to tame. Though sorceries shall be against us, no witchcraft will bring our doom. Though spell or incarnation blocks us, the Emperor shall see us victorious. No hex can overcome our determination, our resolve is strong as steel. Sigils and wards watch over us, prayers shall serve as our guide. For we are the Emperor`s Chosen!

There is much darkness awaiting us, yet the Emperor lights our path. Falsehood surrounds us at every turn, yet no traitor shall confound us. No despicable trickery will thwart us, no damnation shall bring us low. There is no peace for us, for an eternity we will strive. Though mere mortals in His service, everlasting shall be our true duty. Et Imperator Invocato Diabolus Daemonica Exorcism!"

They finished their ritual, and stood back up, murmuring praises of thanks as they retrieved their weapons. Twilight blinked, coming out of her trance at the sheer dedication and awe that had gone into each word of their prayer.

"Why do you pray?" she quietly said to one of them as he strode past.

He simply regarded her curiously through the shining blue lenses of his helmet, "Without faith, there is no hope" he replied simply, and walked off to join his comrades.

"You should be in awe. There are not many in this galaxy who can witness a Grey Knight cleansing ritual, much less a xeno such as yourself. Under any other conditions, people outside the chapter who heard those words they just spoke would either be mind-wiped or shot" commented the Inquisitor.

Twilight decided not to ask why.

"However, this is where it gets difficult, xeno. I'm going to be straight up with you. Normally, given we had enough troops and resources, we would have attacked your planet without hesitation, wiping out all native life before settling it for ourselves"

Twilight felt fear growing in her stomach.

"But we are not going to do that. Tomorrow, we are going to see the Princess in Ponyville. You will speak to her. We will be assured safety on this world until we can send out a message and Imperial ships can arrive. From there, you have my word that no harm will befall your planet, and the Imperium shall leave, never to bother you or your planet again. Do you understand? After all, you are unlike any xenos I have ever seen before. You are peaceful"

He sounded like he was being honest. But even if he wasn't... there was no-one more powerful than the Princesses, right? Of course there aren't she undoubtedly assured herself. "How did you know about the Princess' visit tomorrow?" she asked.

"One of my agents scouted your town earlier, with confirmation from Lyra and Bon-Bon"

It clicked into place in Twilight's mind. "That familiar voice... It was Umbra that talked to me in the market about what was going on, wasn't it?"

"Glad you finally caught on!" came the assassin's Stalliongrad-ish voice from across the cave.

"She is trained in that sort of thing, but back to my original question, do you understand my conditions? I can tell you, if you decline, things will get very ugly, very fast" said Hallaman.

"I- I understand, but what if you scare everypony?

"I don't care, and quite frankly, the more scared they are, the better. Now get some rest. I think we shall all need it for tomorrow. You will no longer speak until the morning, or unless someone speaks to you. The Cadians will be on shifts guarding you throughout the night"

Twilight nodded and curled up on the cold stone floor, closing her eyes. She did not sleep for hours, wondering about the consequences of what she had just agreed to.

Hallaman on the other hand, strolled over to the Grey Knights and his other soldiers on the other side of the cave, keeping his voice low to stay out of earshot of Twilight.

"Did it work?" asked Brother Tarses.

"Yeah, she bought it, stupid xeno" he smirked, shaking his head.

"I'm worried if we don't have enough ammo to finish the job" voiced Belknap, "What if the locals resist?"

"They seem to worship these Princesses. Seeing us kill their deities will be more than enough to demoralize them, and see us as more powerful. From there, we send out an astropathic message to the Inquisition. We wait for ships to arrive, then take over. I've dealt with enough heretics to know that when you kill the leader, the rest fall cowering for mercy"

"Right, come on people wake up! I want a weapons and ammo check before we set off!" shouted the Inquisitor as the first rays of sunlight began to peep into the cave.

The Grey Knights were already up and checking their weapons. The Magos was up and calculating. Dyreson was hoisting himself to his feet and the Cadians were donning their armour.

Hallaman walked over to Twilight, where she was just getting up.

"The collar will stay on" he told her, "I don't want you trying anything. You remember our deal, don't you?"

Twilight nodded.

"Good" he turned to the group, "Right, ammo check! Grey Knights!"

"Nemesis weapons all working, storm bolters at two hundred and fifty rounds each, allowing for full thirty seconds of continuous fire, two tanks of fuel for the Incinerator. Two frag grenades each, and I was assigned a single psyk-out grenade for special use" reported Justicar Vakarrian.

"Very good. Captain Belknap, your squad?"

"One lasgun, one laspistol and one combat knife for each person. We each have three spare power cells, allowing for a total of four hundred and fifty shots each. A frag grenade each and two krak grenades in the whole squad" Belknap replied, "I myself also have one of the assault shotguns with forty-eight shells"

"Okay, Magos?"

"Plasma Rifle energy at one hundred percent, allowing for sixty medium-power shots. All cybernetics at optimal capacity" came the techpriest's droning voice.

"Dyreson?"

"Two power cells for laspistol, allowing a total of one hundred and sixty shots"

"Levin?"

"Exitus Rifle with eight magazines, allowing thirty-two shots, plus one Turbo-Penetrator round, one Hellfire round, and one Shell-breaker round. Exitus pistol with five magazines, allowing twenty-five shots, one combat knife"

"Umbra?"

"Phase Sword working, six mags for needle pistol giving forty-eight rounds"

"All right then", the Inqusitor himself had his power sword, a bolt pistol with five mags, allowing for one hundred shots, and the other shotgun with forty-eight shells.

"You have all been briefed on the situation. You know the plan, and the formation we are going to keep! Hopefully, things will stay under control" Hallaman shouted to the group, "Now, Levin, Umbra, you lead the way!"

The Imperials and pony marched out of the cave into the darkness of the Everfree Forest, anticipating what would await them when they finally reached the peaceful village of Ponyville.

Discoveries

Chapter 8Discoveries"He who allows the alien to live shares in the crime of its existence" - Inquisitor Apollyon, Ordo Xenos

The Imperials, along with Twilight, stood hidden in the dark treeline just a couple of hundred metres from Fluttershy's cottage, keeping out of view of the multiple pegasus guard squads roaming the forest under the command of Princess Luna, who was currently in Manehattan investigating another one of the crashed pods and looking for survivors. Of course, neither the Imperials nor Twilight knew that. Levin watched the skies through his rifle, looking for the golden chariot that would inevitably appear, carrying Princess Celestia to Ponyville.

A quick scan of the village by Levin and Tevlan had shown increased guard presence in and around the settlement, with Royal Guard blocking every road into the town. Twilight had assured the Inquisitor that there was not usually this much Guard activity in Ponyville, even during other times that the Princess had come to visit, even though the Princesses knew nothing of the Imperial presence in Equestria, or so she hoped. Hallaman had to admit he didn't entirely believe the xeno, especially if they had increased Guard numbers to more than usual. It's not like the Guards would be a problem anyway, with their primitive swords and spears. Still, they had to be wary of numbers and the potentially harmful power of the unicorns.

The sun was almost at the half-way point in the sky now, and according to Twilight, the Princess was running late, which apparently, was extremely unlike her. Not like it matters anyway mused the Inquisitor to himself, She'll be dead by the end of the day, and then it won't have mattered if she ran a few minutes late.

Ten minutes later, the signal came in from Levin. The Princess' chariot had come into view, and would be arriving within a few minutes. The chariot was heavily guarded. The Inquisitor turned to the group. "Right everyone, you know the plan, we'll stick with it, keep formation, Cadians in front, Knights bringing up rear. Twilight, you know what to doing?"

"Yep." Twilight replied nervously.

"Good! Form up and let's move!"

Of course, the plan the Imperials knew and the plan Twilight knew were completely different things.

As they started moving to the nearest path, Hallaman dropped behind the Cadians, leaning to the assassins, "Pattern vice, the colour of night. Execute." he whispered.

Levin and Umbra nodded to each other and silently dropped out of the group, making their own way around the treeline into Ponyville. Twilight didn't notice a thing.

Everypony in Ponyville was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Princess. Applejack had brought her trademark apple food, and was finishing setting up tables and chairs in the outside eating area, Rainbow, as promised, had cleared the sky (in ten seconds flat, no less), and Fluttershy was helping Pinkie and Rarity set up the last of the decorations.

A crowd was slowly gathering in front of the podium where the solar diarch would be speaking. Rainbow flew over to Applejack, joining her in the throng.

"Yo AJ, have you seen Twilight at all today?"

"Can't say that ah have. You still looking for her?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen her at all since yesterday afternoon when she asked me to clear the skies for today. She's not even in the library, Spike said she hasn't been back since she went to go find Fluttershy yesterday evening. I've searched everywhere in Ponyville, and she's just not here!" Rainbow exclaimed, grounding her hoof in anger, "It's not like her to go AWOL on us, especially not when the Princess is visiting and she put so much hard work into making everything perfect..."

"Hmm, tell ya what sugarcube, after the visit we'll all go look for Twilight, I do agree with ya, somethin' is wrong, but let's save it till after the Princess leaves." said Applejack, sliding a comforting hoof around Rainbow's withers.

"Yeah...okay. Thanks AJ."

They were interrupted by a loud booming of horns that signalled the arrival of the Princess.

"Here we go!" said Rarity as her, Fluttershy and Pinkie and Applejack and Rainbow in the crowd, "Such a shame Twilight is missing this-"

She was distracted by Pinkie starting to shake erratically, "Ooh, ooh, pinchy knee, pinchy knee, something's bad's going to happen!" she then began violently bouncing on the spot, rapidly inflating, deflating, and her eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Which one is that!?" exclaimed Rainbow.

"I don't know," replied Pinkie weakly, getting to her hooves, "But it's a doozy alright..."

"Today of all days..." muttered Applejack, "This can only go from bad to worse if the Princess is here..."

The boom of bolter fire... the crackle of lasguns... a pony cut in half by a dark figure with an energy sword... the roar of a flamer as burning promethium engulfed it's targets... a power sword cutting towards Celestia's neck- Dammit!

He shot bolt upright on his bed, I should've done it myself, should have known better... he chastised himself as he reached for his armour.

"Soul Shield, Darkstar!" he called, "Get in here now!"

"Yes, lord, what is it?" Two ponies galloped into the room, both bearing the seal of the Royal Secret Service on their chests.

"I need a chariot to Ponyville, now!" he instructed, grabbing his weapons from the closet.

Both stallions looked at each other, "Lord, you know you are not meant to leave-"

"Do you want your Princess to die!?" he shouted, "You are both aware of the threat that has arrived on this world, and I know now I have to deal with it myself! Now get the damn chariot, or so help me, I'll stroll into Canterlot and make my own way there, by which time, Celestia will already be dead!"

"Very well, lord. We shall accompany you." said Darkstar.

"Good! Now let's move!"

Twilight led the Imperials down the dirt path towards Ponyville, towards one of the entrances to the village.

"Twilight, there are guards at that entrance." said Hallaman.

"Don't worry, I can probably get them to let us through. After all, most of the guard know who I am, I am the Princess' student." replied the lavender unicorn.

"Okay, so long as we can meet this 'Princess Celestia' then." grumbled the Inquisitor.

He had not expected so much guard activity around the town, and it was interfering with his plans. However, he was more then capable of improvising if he had to. It came with the job, missions almost never went according to plan.

They strode to the opening, the guards posted there standing wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the sight of the Imperials. Hallaman could tell from their expressions that they had absolutely no experience whatsoever. Twilight stopped them right in front of the guards, who had finally decided to raise their weapons at the aliens. Swords and spears. How quaint chuckled the Inquisitor to himself.

One of them finally had the sense to step forward and speak up. "What is the meaning of this? What are these... things?" he questioned Twilight.

He was trying to sound tough, but Hallaman could tell he was scared shitless. As he should be he smirked.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, the Princess' student and protege", the guard nodded in recognition, "And these beings are aliens who I believe crashed in the Everfree a couple of nights ago. They wish to see the Princess."

"Do they speak?" the guard asked.

"Yes. Yes we do." said the Inquisitor.

"And you are?" snarled the guard. It took all of the Inquisitor's self-restraint not to pull out his bolt pistol and shoot the filthy xeno right there and then.

"I am Inquisitor Emerson Hallaman of the Holy Inquisition's Ordo Malleus, representing the Imperium Of Man. Twilight is right, we crashed in the forest two nights ago and we simply wish to talk to the Princess about our being on this fine planet of yours until we can secure safe passage home." he replied, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Then why are you armed?" the guard asked, pointing a hoof at the Grey Knight's giant weapons. They had no idea what guns were.

"Simply tools, the galaxy can be dangerous sometimes." smiled the Inquisitor, "As such, we must be able to defend ourselves. These men and woman around me are simply peacekeepers. Believe me when we say we want nothing more than to establish peaceful relations with Equestria until we can make our way home"

The guard eyed them suspiciously, "You and your group stay here with the guards, I'll go and speak to the Princess."

Hallaman dropped back to Tevlan, "Send it to everyone's readouts, when we get to the Princess, non-lethal takedowns on the guards when I say so. If we don't, we'll take them out anyway and make our own way there. This is our best chance here and I'm not about to let it go."

"Non-lethal, sir?" he asked.

"Yes, we need to get in close to the Princess and get her first before we kill any other of the filthy xenos. At least that way she may not have prior warning to escape."

"Very well, it is done." whispered the Magos and he instantaneously sent the order to everyone's helmet.

Princess Celestia stepped up to the podium, overlooking the happy, adoring faces of the residents of Ponyville. She smiled and began her speech.

"Dear residents of Ponyville, my beloved subjects. I thank you all deeply for being here today, and I am honoured that so many of you took the time to set up this wonderful reception for me and to be here for my visit to your prosperous, beautiful town. It's so nice to see all your happy, smiling faces again and I look forward to socialising with all of you again while you catch me up on all the happenings of the past year. But before I end my speech, I have recieved some letters from the ponies of this town regarding the fireballs that crashed in the Everfree Forest yesterday, and I can say that they were just simply small meteors. They are currently being removed by the guard and studied by the top minds in Canterlot, and I can safely say they pose no threat to you or to Equestria as a whole. Thank you and once again, I look forward to speaking to you all at the gathering." she finished smoothly, and stepped off the stage as a round of applause went off.

Hmm, I wonder where Twilight is she wondered, surveying the crowd.

"Princess! Your Highness!" shouted a voice from behind her.

She turned to see a panting guard galloping up to her, bowing as he approached.

"You may stand." said Celestia, "Has something arisen?"

"P- Princess," panted the guard, "Your student, Twilight Sparkle has just showed up at the edge of the town with a group of... things claiming to be aliens and the source of the meteors from the other night!"

Celestia baulked. Her student and the town were in danger.

"How many were there?" she asked urgently.

"About sixteen, your highness."

"Very well... take a few squads and lead them away from the town. After that, get the chariots and take them to Canterlot, and take them to my throne room. I will deal with them when I get there, and make sure to tell a messenger to summon Luna back from Manehattan. Go, now, before the citizens are disturbed. Take Twilight with you, and whatever you do, do NOT provoke them."

"Yes, your majesty." replied the guard before galloping off.

Celestia sighed before turning back to the crowd. She had awaited this day for a long time.

Hallaman looked up as he saw the guard gallop back down the road to them accompanied by several more of the royal guard. He stepped forward, placing his hand of the pommel of his sword under his cape, ready for anything as the ponies surrounded the group.

"The Princess is unavailable to see you at the moment. We are to escort you to Canterlot where you will await her presence in the royal palace. You have no choice in the matter, for it is the will of the Princess."

The ensuing tension could probably not have even been shattered by Kaska's daemonhammer. Twilight was the first to speak.

"Well that sounds reasonable." she stated, "What do you think, Inquisitor?"

Hallaman looked back towards the Imperials and gave a slight nod before turning back to the guards. "That sounds fine." he replied. The guards almost sagged in relief.

It was no surprise that they didn't stand a chance when the Inquisitor drew his power sword and smacked the guard across the head with the hilt, dropping him unconscious to the ground.

The other guards froze in shock for a moment before leveling their weapons at the Imperials.

"What are you doing!?" Twilight screeched as the guards charged.

Justicar Vakarrian was the first to act. He planted his sword firmly in the ground and let it go, before delivering devastating backhands to the two ponies charging him, sending them flying. Had he not been holding back, he would have pulped both of them.

Tarses and Tarrik both spun their halberds and swung them towards the pegasi of the guards, knocking them out with the shafts.

Captain Belknap smacked a unicorn down with the stock of his shotgun as the other Kasrkin repeated the same to other guards with their lasrifles and Roland slammed an earth pony down with a massive punch. The final guard attempted to charge Tevlan, only to recieve a mechanical limb to the face for his troubles. The uncaring techpriest hadn't even moved.

The whole confrontation had lasted six seconds, and already there were more than ten injured unconscious guards surrounding the group.

"Come on." growled Hallaman, grabbing the shocked Twilight by the collar and leading the group into Ponyville to confront the Princess.

Approx. 290.M31

"Why have you come back? And where are the others?" asked Celestia curiously.

"The others?" he gave a wry smile, "Well, let's just say we may not be seeing them for a very long time." he said sadly.

Celestia frowned, "Then why are you here?"

He looked to the night sky as Luna flew down to join her sister.

"Hey Woona." he laughed, ruffling her mane.

"I told you not to call me that!" she exclaimed indignantly.

"Heh, sorry Lu-Lu." he chuckled, turning to face Celestia again.

"Well?" she asked, "It's been more than five years. You said it would be nowhere near finished by now."

His face turned expressionless, his eyes betraying his pain. "You're right, it's not, and won't be. Not for a while. Celestia, all I want is a second chance."

"Won't they miss you?"

"I won't be missed. The galaxy is a big place, and I know whatever happens, they will do without me."

"Very well." sighed Celestia, "I suppose we have a lot to talk about."

The crowd parted before them, a sea of scared and terrified faces backing away from either side as the Imperials made their way towards the Princess, still standing near the podium where she had made her speech. Guards came at the group from left, right and centre, only to be knocked back to the floor. Arrows pinged off of the Grey Knight's power armour and some managed to loosely lodge themselves in the Kasrkin's carapace armour, only to be torn out by the Cadian veterans. The Inquisitor was in the centre of the group, dragging Twilight by the psychic dampener around her neck. He spotted a small chariot flying down towards the Princess, pulled by two pegasi.

"Magos, take it down."

The tech-priest levelled his plasma gun with the chariot and fired. The beam of blue superheated plasma struck the side of the chariot, reducing much of it to molten slag and setting the rest on fire. The guards were forced to drop it where it smashed into the ground in an explosion of splintering wood and burning metal.

Around them, ponies screamed and fled the scene, while others stood simply frozen in horror at the monsters that marched before them. Celestia readied herself on the podium, silently panicking as guards surrounded her. This was not how she remembered the Imperium. In her thousands of years, she had never encountered such powerful beings. She had no idea what to do. The crowd of ponies simply looked on in fear, trembling, crying. Entire families flocked from the scene and barricaded their homes. Not that it would do much good.

The Imperials stopped before Celestia, the Kasrkin parting to let Hallaman through. He stepped towards the Princess, throwing Twilight to the mud in front of him. He slammed his foot down on her back and brought out his bolt pistol, aiming at her head, eliciting a cry of pain and terror from the unicorn.

"Twilight!" cried a cyan rainbow-maned pony, flying out of the crowd, "Let go of her you monsters!"

She zoomed towards the Inquisitor, hooves outstretched, only to be met with a swift hook to the face from Trooper Merisier. Several ponies cried out in shock.

"Rainbow!" screamed an orange pony from the crowd, "Y'all are gonna pay for that!"

The pony galloped out of the crowd towards the group. She quickly turned, raised her hind legs and bucked Brother Tarses directly in the thigh with a resounding clang. She let out a cry of pain and tried to hobble away but the unfazed Grey Knight simply brought his halberd up and smashed her down with the pole.

"Applejack!" cried another white pony, who charged out of the crowd, flanked by a pink earth pony and a yellow pegasus.

The white unicorn shot a bolt of blue energy from her horn at Sergeant Roland, knocking him back a few steps. Belknap reacted like lightning, dropping his shotgun and picking her up by the horn. She wailed out in pain. He used his other hand to sieze her by the throat and threw her into the wall of a nearby building. She fell unconscious to the ground.

The yellow pegasus looked up at the Imperials, her eyes burning. "You-" she trembled, her voice filled with rage, "YOU HURT MY FRIENDS, I'LL BE YOUR END!" she screeched, and hurtled towards humans in a blinding flash of speed.

Vakarrian caught her in his free hand. She deflated and uttered a single "eep" before he threw her against the same wall the white unicorn had hit, collapsing the pegasus on top of her.

The pink one was nowhere to be seen.

"You know, you guys are real meanies! Come on, I mean, King Sombra was pretty mean, but you guys are just taking the cake-oooh, do you aliens like cake? I know I do, my favourite-"

The Imperials swung around at the sound of the pony's blabbering, but she wasn't there. In an instant, she was up on Kaska's power pack, "And then I was all like "No silly, of course we're disregarding the end of season three-"

Kaska swung upwards with his hammer, only to hit thin air.

"So then we went on this big adventure to find Applejack after she ran off because she was too ashamed that she didn't win the prize money-" the pink daemon continued from atop Corporal Caughran's helmet, who dived to the ground and let loose a flurry of lasbolts at her previous position, to no avail.

"And that's how Equestria was made!" she finished, stopping right next to Tarrik. He kicked her as hard as he could, sending her flying over the rooftops.

The Inquisitor simply stared strangely and shook his head before turning his attention back to the Princess. He brought up his power sword and pointed it at her, singling her out. He kept his bolt pistol pointing at Twilight. The guards around Celestia tensed. "Princess Celestia! I am an Inquisitor Emerson Hallaman, agent of the Ordo Malleus of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition and leader of Inquisitorial Taskforce KS:17-68!"

Suddenly there was a gunshot and two black blurs leaped from the roofs of nearby houses. They landed among the guards surrounding Celestia and unleashed their fury, knocking the guards of the way and soldifying into the discernible figures of Levin and Umbra, the former suddenly having his Exitus Pistol pressed hard against Celestia's head while the latter holding her blade to her throat. The majority of the crowd had broken down now or ran away, knowing there was nothing left between the creatures and their Princess.

"For crimes against the Imperium Of Man and the Emperor, by my authority as an Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, we demand that you submit now, and hand over all authority and control of your land and people, for it is the will of the Emperor that all xenos like you be eradicated from the galaxy! Relinquish now, and I may be merciful! What will it be, xeno!?"

Celestia ignored him, reaching her mind out to Twilight's, who was still under the Inquisitor's boot. She didn't dare move, for the blade and gun pressed to her neck and head.

Twilight? she called, Can you hear me?

Twilight's eyes widened, Princess, is that you? Her voice was faint, weak.

Twilight, what's wrong? Are you hurt?

N-No, it's this collar around my neck. It's suppressing my magic, I can't move.

Celestia paused for a second.

Twilight, my faithful student, I want to ask you now, before anything else happens, for your forgiveness. Know that I never meant to hurt you, and that I should have told you sooner. I realise that mistake now. I'll see you again Twilight, I promise, and I'm sorry.

Of course, Princess. I understand.

Thank you, my student.

Celestia broke the link and raised her attention back to the Inquisitor.

"I accept your terms, Inquisitor" she spoke, "I and my sister shall step down."

"No Princess don't-" screamed Twilight, but she was cut off.

An explosion of blinding golden light burst outwards from the Princess' horn, throwing the two assassins off and through the wall of nearby buildings, their armour burnt and damaged.

In less than a second, she refined the energy into a tighter, narrower shining beam firing straight at the Imperials. They didn't have time to react, not even the Astartes.

The beam engulfed the group, bombarding their minds with sheer psychic energy. The Inquisitor, astropath and Twilight were the first to black out, their psycho-sensitive minds collapsing under the pressure. The Kasrkin and the Magos dropped their weapons and fell to the ground, screaming and clutching their heads. The Grey Knights stood firm, bracing themselves against the attack. They clenched their teeth under their helmets, unable to move due to the battle their minds were fighting.

Soon, the tech-priest and the Cadians fell unconscious under the pain, and Celestia refined her beam again so it was only impacting the Knights. They fell to their knees, almost unable to handle the psychic energy being directed at them. Warning runes flashed on the insides of their eyes, notifying them of imminent black-out.

Celestia increased the power again, and the beam was now shining with the blinding intensity of her sun, even she had to close her eyes. She cut off the power and opened her eyes. What she saw shocked her.

The Grey Knights slowly rose from their knees, steam rising from their bodies and the psychic sigils inscribed on their armour glowing white-hot as their servos and power packs screamed to bring them to their feet.

Justicar Vakarrian slowly raised his sword at her. "Wrong move, xeno bitch." he growled, "Squad, open fire!"

Celestia barely had time to raise a shield before a torrent of storm bolter fire hit her like a train. She staggered backwards on the podium, pouring all her magic into the shield. A roar of an Incinerator joined the bolters as Anvar fired a geyser of burning promethium at Celestia, the heat nearly singeing her coat as the flames impacted her barrier.

"Grey Knights, keep firing! For the Emperor!" shouted Vakarrian as he lowered his smoking storm bolter. He grabbed the psyk-out grenade from his belt and pulled the pin.

"Block this, witch!" he snarled as he hurled it at Celestia.

To her credit, the grenade bounced off the barrier before exploding, releasing strobes of negatively-charged psychic lightning. They connected with Celestia's horn, causing her shield to flicker.

"Cease fire!" the Justicar called as the barrier died and Celestia collapsed on the podium, her vision darkening. He brought up his sword and motioned to the rest of his squad to follow him. They moved towards the figure of the Princess.

Approx. 284.M31

Pink petals fell from the trees in the small garden where the humans and the Princesses were gathered.

"We should be going soon." said the wizened old figure in the brown cloak, hunched over his burning staff, "No doubt the enemy are approaching. The Knights-Errant grow impatient."

"I agree, old friend." replied the giant in the golden armour, "The final preparations still have yet to be made. Has there been any word from Dorn?"

"The defences are almost complete. The Imperial Fists eagerley await our return. Chief Custode Valdor is getting anxious. No doubt he'll send someone after us if we don't return soon." said the giant clad in white, a huge curved sword hanging by his side.

"Then we best be off." said the old man.

The giant in gold turned to Celestia. "It has been a pleasure finally meeting you, Princesses. Are you sure you are up to the task we have asked of you? Know that you can change your mind at any time."

"No." said Celestia, determination evident in her voice, "Your plight is too great for us to ignore. We can, and shall do it!"

"Agreed!" Luna joined in fervently.

"Thank you, the both of you. You have no idea how much this means to us. And I promise to you that one day, at least one of us shall return. Until then, farewell." said the giant in black.

And with that, the humans left the garden, leaving the Princesses standing there.

"Did we do the right thing, Luna? What will become of Equus?"

"Who knows sister? Only time will tell."

"ENOUGH!" a voice shouted from nowhere, and suddenly the ground in the middle of the Grey Knights exploded in an eruption of dirt and cobble. They were sent flying in all directions, crashing through walls or sprawling into the dirt.

Out of the resulting dust cloud emerged a giant, clad entirely in pitch black power armour, a rare tri-headed power whip clenched in his right hand and an ancient Phobos-pattern bolter in his left. "YOU WILL STAND DOWN, MARINES!" he boomed, taking up a combat stance, his power whip crackling.

The Grey Knights did no such thing. Vakarrian was the first to act, drawing his sword and charging at the giant, firing his storm bolter.

The mysterious figure rolled out of the way and swung his whip, one of the heads wrapping around the Justicar's arm, throwing his aim off and sending a hail of bolt rounds harmlessly into the sky. His left arm trapped, Vakarrian sliced his sword downwards at the closing giant. The man deftly side-stepped out of the way and holstered his bolter, giving a hard tug to his whip. Vakarrian stumbled forward under the giant's immense strength and received a devastating punch to the face, denting his helmet and knocking him out cold.

The rest of the Grey Knights sprinted at him, their weapons drawn. The figure reacted to Brother Anvar first, smashing the Incinerator out of his grasp before the Knight could bring the lethal weapon to bear. He turned and blocked a blow from Tarrik before lashing out with his whip, causing both Tarrik and Tarses to stumble back. He swung round and in a scream of armour servos, performed a roundhouse kick on Anvar's head, crushing the marine to the ground.

He pulled back his whip as he dodged a hammer blow from Kaska, taking advantage of the Knight's exposed torso to deliver a massive punch, sending Kaska sprawling back, just like the Justicar had done on the Hammer's Retribution.

Tarses followed up with a swing of his halberd, but the giant leapt back out of reach, coiling his power whip around the shaft of the halberd and pulling, ripping the weapon from Tarses' grip. He then used his shoulder to ram Tarses to the ground.

Tarrik raised his storm bolter and began to fire. The giant rolled to evade the deadly rounds and drew his bolter, firing a single bolt at the Grey Knight's arm, throwing his aim off and leaving a bad dent where it had impacted. The man charged and tackled Tarrik to the ground, ripping off his helmet. The giant pinned him with his immense strength, he couldn't move.

The giant looked at him through the glowing red lenses of his helmet.

"Nevermore, son of the Sigillite," the giant whispered, as he reached towards Tarrik's head, "Nevermore."

New Planet, New Places, Same Orders

Chapter 4

New planet, New Places, Same Orders

Inquisitor Hallaman groaned as he emerged from the mangled wreck of his pod into a large crater, the dust only just settling. He looked around to see his pod had cut a swath through the local vegetation. Where in this damned galaxy were they now?

He saw the Grey Knight's pod around a hundred metres away through the ruined forest, the armoured giants slowly emerging from the twisted mass of metal.

“Sir? Are you alright?” asked Umbra as she slowly crawled out of the pod, her armour chipped and scratched. Levin stumbled out after her, his eyes already swivelling across the landscape, his hand on his pistol.

“I'm fine. Just a few cuts, nothing a medicae won't be able to fix” replied Hallaman, “Hey! Over here!” he shouted in the direction of the Grey Knights, waving his arms in the air. Vakarrian noticed him and began to move towards him, his squad in toe.

“See any other pods?” he asked Levin.

“None sir” replied the assassin, “I would recommend hailing them on the vox”

“Good idea” said Hallaman, raising his comlink to his mouth, switching to an open channel, “This is Inquisitor Emerson Hallaman of the Inquisition Taskforce KS-17:68, any surviving personnel please respond”

“This is Captain Belknap of Kasrkin Squad Solace Of The Aquila, Cadian 412th, we read you Inquisitor” came a voice.

“Where are you Captain?”

“We don't know sir. A forest of some sort”

“Mark your position, Captain” instructed Hallaman.

“Yes sir”, a moment later, a blue flare erupted into the sky to their east, just visible over the tree tops. Hallaman guessed it was around five hundred metres away.

“Hold your position Captain, we're coming to you” he said, severing the link.

The Grey Knights jogged up behind Hallaman after making their way through the crushed vegetation.

“Anyone else still out there?” asked Vakarrian.

“A squad of Cadians around five hundred metres to our east. We're going to them now”

“Very well. Let's go”

The group jogged into the forest, completely unaware they were being followed.

Magos Tevlan dragged Astropath Dyreson from the wreck, his servos and dendrites still jarred after the impact. He made a mental note to repair them later. He took a look around, already gathering and filtering information about his surroundings.

“Atmospheric make-up near-match to Cadian standard, eighty percent oxygen, traces of methane, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and other noble gases, perfect for water and thus life. Temperature averaging at 5 degrees celsius, planet may be in summer season, wind speed minimal”, he looked up at the sky, “Star patterns match no known records, we must be on a new world. Minimal soil acidity/alkalinity, flourishing vegetation, some native wildlife, no apparent hostiles in immediate area, but maybe near settlement spotted earlier” he muttered to himself, remembering seeing a small agrarian-looking settlement as his pod flew overhead. He noticed a rodent-like creature scurrying among the bushes, and reached back into the wreck and brought out his plasma rifle, the coils glowing blue as he turned it on. “Date still within 006.M42, no significant time change”

The astropath stirred behind him. “What the hell happened?” asked Dyreson, pushing himself to his feet. He was dressed like a typical astropath, in a brown cloak with wires and cables spilling out the back of his head. He was shaved bald and his eyes were a ghastly white, having been blinded long ago during the Emperor's Binding that all astropaths had to go through.

“Crash-landed on an unknown planet” replied Tevlan.

“Any other survivors?”

“I don't know. My comlink is broken”, said Tevlan, indicating the sparking mass on his wrist.

“I'll do it” said Dyreson, falling limp as he used his mind to reach out across the forest, searching for Hallaman's psychic signature.

He found them about one and a half kilometres north, the signatures of the Grey Knights burning white-hot against the night. Hallaman, the assassins, and the Knights had survived, and had just come into contact with a group of soldiers he didn't recognise. Must be survivors from the 412th he reasoned. He returned his body, inhaling deeply as his remaining senses of touch and smell returned to him.

“Find anything?” the Magos asked.

“The only survivors I could locate are around one and a half kilometres north. It's the Inquisitor, his retinue, the Knights and some soldiers”

“We best get going then” said Tevlan, handing Dyreson a laspistol, “Lead the way”

They disappeared into the brush, slowly making their way back to the main group, the only thing still visible of them were the glowing coils of Tevlan's plasma rifle.

Hallaman turned back to the main group, now numbering about sixteen. Eight Cadians, five Grey Knights, the two assassins and himself.

“No responses to the last hail” he said, “I fear we are the only survivors. We are trapped on this planet, we have no way of getting off, and no way of contacting the Imperium. The astropath is dead, and we don't have any long-range voxes. We have not encountered any hostiles, and we are good for ammunition, but we may still die on this planet”

The soldiers started babbling among themselves in disbelief, and Vakarrian turned to his Grey Knights for one of his little pep talks.

Levin tapped Hallaman on the shoulder, drawing his Exitus Rifle, “I don't think I would say we haven't encountered any hostiles. I've counted five targets, local wildlife, moving in on our position. Strangely enough, they are not emitting any heat signatures”

“Pick your targets, I want them dead” Hallaman said to Levin and Umbra, “I know you two can do it quickly, no need to get the soldiers panicking”

“Yes sir” they both replied. Umbra drew her blade and jumped into the nearest tree, while Levin aimed down the scope of his rifle, scanning the area. He picked up some faint movement.

“Bearing two eighty-nine, range at thirty metres and closing” he said to Umbra over the comlink.

“At your discretion” replied Umbra, balancing on a thin tree branch somewhere to Levin's left.

Levin waited until they were right underneath Umbra. “Firing” he said, and fired his rifle in four quick shots, emptying the magazine. The massive rounds punched through the targets with unerring accuracy, completely blowing them apart. Umbra dropped onto the last one and decapitated it with her phase sword. “One point eight seconds. Not bad, I've seen faster though” muttered Hallaman to himself, ending the stopwatch on his chronometer.

The soldiers and Grey Knights swung around, all aiming their weapons at the direction of the assassins, only too see the threat had already been neutralised.

“That's how we do it in the Inquisition boys” smirked Levin to the Cadians, their mouths visibly hanging open in surprise.

“How fast?” he asked Hallaman.

“One point eight seconds” Hallaman told him.

“Damn, we've done faster against a lot worse. I'm gonna have to start practising”

Hallaman laughed. He hadn't even bothered drawing his weapons, knowing perfectly well what the assassins were capable of.

Umbra emerged from the bushes, holding up the head of one of the animals. “Take a look at this, Inquisitor” she said, throwing the head to Hallaman.

He caught and turned it in his hands, slowly studying it. It resembled a Fenrisian wolf, except smaller and... made entirely of wood. “What in Terra...?” he muttered, wondering what the hell could form a beast entirely made of wood.

“Manufactured, perhaps?” inquired Levin.

“Maybe. This planet may harbour a primitive population capable of creating something like this. If that's the case, then they know we are here. If not, then this planet must be suffering some kind of warp exposure. There's no way a beast like this is natural”

He tossed the head to one of the Cadians. “Carry this” he instructed, “We may need for later”

Suddenly, he heard a sharp rustling from the bushes behind them and spun around, drawing his bolt pistol, but found the assassins already had their weapons rained on the spot already.

A red-robed figure emerged from the bushes, holding a lit plasma rifle, his servos and dendrites whirring around him. He was followed by a scrawny man nervously holding a laspistol. He recognised them as Magos Tevlan and Astropath Dyreson.

“Magos!” exclaimed Hallaman, “Why didn't you respond the my hails?”

“My comlink was wrecked in the landing, and the astropath didn't have one” replied Tevlan.

“I've got a couple of spares” said Captain Belknap, pulling a couple from the nearby pod and handing them over.

“And who might you be?” asked Tevlan.

“Captain Belknap of Kasrkin Squad Solace Of The Aquila, only remaining survivors of the Cadian 412th. The soldiers are Sergeant Roland, Corporals Reiss and Caughran, and Privates Garced, Merisier, Panila and Skult” he replied, indicating each one of his soldiers in turn.

“Ah yes” said the Magos, “I remember processing the inload logs for the new passengers. Thanks for the comlink Captain”

“Well, introductions aside” interrupted Hallaman, “Can you identify the remains of this animal?”

He took back the head from the soldier and handed it to the Magos, who took it with a look of confusion on his face.

“You say this thing was alive?” he asked cautiously.

“Alive, animated, possessed, Emperor knows” replied Hallaman.

“I don't see how a creature like this could have been alive, and it doesn't match any Imperial records”, he plunged one of his dendrites into it's left eye, taking a reading, “Definitely not alive. Must be a machination of the locals, although-”

“Wait, the locals!?” Hallaman asked incredulously.

“Probably should have mentioned that. I noticed a small primitive agrarian society as we flew overhead in the pods. I managed to capture a pic with my bionics just in time” He tapped a few buttons on his wrist and a small projector opened up on his hand, displaying a blurry but unmistakable aerial view of a settlement. It didn't look advanced in any way, the houses appeared to just be made of wood, with thatched roofs. It reminded Hallaman of some of the villages of feral human colonies among the edges of Segmentum Obscurus, near the Halo Stars.

“Could it be a lost human colony, or it xenos?” inquired Hallaman.

“It could be either” answered Tevlan, “However, based on the basic architecture of the buildings, I would say human. Either way, we need to scout it out, check for threats, perhaps find out where these wooden abominations came from”

“In what direction is the settlement?” asked the Inquisitor.

The Magos looked around, “Based on the way your drop pod landed, and my readings on the planet's magnetic north, I would say south of here, roughly bearing one eighty-four”

“Levin, Umbra, go perform reconnaissance on the settlement. Report back on your findings. If you need to contact me, I'm on closed channel Kappa-Phi-Alpha, password is 'Imperator', do what you need to to get information, but do not reveal yourselves. Got it?”

“Will you be safe here sir?” inquired Umbra.

“I will be here with the Grey Knights. Now go”

The two assassins sprinted into the forest, disappearing into the night.

“What about us, sir?” asked Captain Belknap.

“You and the squad will go find us a more suitable place to set up shop, perhaps a cave or a more isolated part of the forest. Preferably near accessible water. Our rations will not last us long. Come back and get us when you find something”

“Yes, Inquisitor” said Belknap, turning to the soldiers, “You heard the man, move out!”

Twilight Sparkle dragged herself out of bed, mumbling incoherently as she stumbled down the stairs of the library.

“This is ponyfeathers” she grumbled as she grabbed the mug of coffee Spike had left for her on the kitchen counter. She still wanted to go investigate those meteors that had passed over Ponyville last night, but her schedule was all full up for the next full days, and she couldn't risk being late. She had her timetable for the next week perfectly written up and organised, even including time to make next week's timetable. She had to stick to it. But still, she thought, This is a fantastic scientific opportunity and to not study it would be- “Dear Celestia!” she shrieked, looking up at her calender, “Literally!”, she had forgotten that Princess Celestia would be visiting Ponyville tomorrow and she had forgotten to get everything ready and- “Gotta go Spike bye!” she shouted and teleported out of the library to Sugarcube Corner where she knew she would find a certain pink mare.

“Pinkie!” she yelled, “I need you!”

“Well why didn't you just say so?” replied the pony, appearing just behind Twilight, who shrieked and fell over.

“How many times must I ask you not to do that?” she asked.

“Oh, sorry” apologised Pinkie, helping her to her feet, “So what do you need me for?”

“Well, Princess Celestia is coming to town tomorrow and-”

“Okay, got it” said Pinkie and shot out the door in a pink haze.

Twilight sighed. She knew that the festivities and invitations would be fine with Pinkie in charge.

She trotted down the road to Rarity's store. She still couldn't believe she had almost forgotten about the Celestia's visit. It must have been the meteors, she must have been so distracted and tired from the night before. She never usually forgot this kind of stuff.

“Yo Twi!”, she had just enough time to look around before a she was barrelled into by a polychromatic mass, smashing her into the nearest puddle.

“Dash!” she wailed.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sorry about that” Rainbow said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head as she got up, flaring her wings, “Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to help me practice flying later?”

“No, I can't. Sorry Rainbow, it's just that Celestia is coming to visit tomorrow and I need to get everything ready. Speaking of which, do you mind clearing the skies for tomorrow? We need a sunny day”

“Well, I don't know. We had some rain scheduled for tomorrow, but I'll have to speak to the boss about it. Oh wait, that's me” she chuckled, striking a pose, “Yeah, I'm sure we can make reschedule for the Princess. Expect some heavy storms later this week though”

“That's great. Thanks Dash”

“No prob Twi, see ya on the flipside” she said, taking off into the sky.

Twilight mentally checked off weather as she opened the door to Rarity's shop.

“Twilight! Do what do I owe this visit?” exclaimed the white mare, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Sorry, I can't stay Rarity, I've got a lot to do. You see, Princess Celestia is coming tomorrow and I know it's on short notice, but I was just wondering if you could help Pinkie with the decorations for the town?”

“Of course, you should have told me! I'll get started on it straight away!”

“I would have told you earlier, but I was busy, then with all that commotion with those meteors last night...”

“Hmm, I was wondering what all the screaming was about. Disturbed my beauty sleep. Anyway, I'll see you later!”

“Bye!” called Twilight as she pushed open the door and stepped outside. She wondered who was next. I've talked to Pinkie, Rarity and RD, so next would be- “Applejack!” she groaned. Applejack's farm was another half an hour away, and she really couldn't be bothered to make that walk. She sighed, gathered her meagre reserves of strength, and teleported to Sweet Apple Acres. She appeared outside the barn.

“Hey Twilight!”, Twilight turned around to see a small yellow filly with a red ribbon in her mane totting towards here.

“What are y’all doing here?”

“Hello Applebloom. I'm looking for your sister, have you seen her?”

The filly scratched her chin for a second, looking thoughtful. “Last time ah saw, she was buckin' trees out in the eastern field. Ah'd look for her there”

“Okay, thanks for the help Applebloom” Twilight said, already galloping in the direction of the eastern fields.

“No problem!” she called after her.

Twilight raced into the fields, catching sight of the orange earth pony laying under the shade of a large apple tree, already surrounded by buckets of apples.

Twilight chuckled, “I swear she's gonna kill herself working so hard one day”

She trotted over, shaking Applejack by the shoulder.

The pony shot up, “What!? Uh, Ah wasn't sleepin'!” she cried.

Twilight laughed. “Calm down Applejack, it's just me”

“Oh, jus' you” she said yawning, “What do ya need Twi?”

“I know it's not much time, but do you mind cooking up some stuff for Celestia's visit tomorrow. Pinkie can't, she's busy preparing the festivities”

“Course Twi, ah'll bring them to Sugarcube Corner when ah'm done” she sighed, yawning again.

“You okay Applejack?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, ah'm fine. Just didn't get much sleep last night after that ruckus, whatever in Tartarus that was. Woke up Applebloom, she was scared sleepless, and the cows even more so. Spent hours calmin' em down”

“Just a few meteors. I should really send a letter to Luna asking her if those were planned or not. Anyway, take your time and I'll see you tomorrow”

“Kay Twi. See ya then!” she called.

Twilight nodded and crossed Applejack off her mental list. Just Fluttershy now, see if she could provide music with her animal choir. She smiled. They might just pull it off yet.

“Have you read the reports?”

“You know I have sister. Those meteors, or whatever they were, weren't planned. I would have let you know otherwise. The locals are worried sick”

Princess Celestia groaned, while Luna paced anxiously around her.

“We're not going to find out anything if we don't investigate” Luna said, “We don't have anything past them landing in the Everfree Forest. Look, it's light now, the forest won't be as dangerous. Please just let us- I mean, me, take a team of the guard and go look around. I'll report back as soon as I'm done, promise. Then we can tell the ponies it was just some space rocks and they have nothing to worry about!”

Celestia sighed, her sister was right. “Fine, take a team, and go. I expect you back by the end of the day”

“Of course. Thank you sister” Luna replied gratefully, backing out the door.

“Hey! What about over here?” shouted Reiss from the mouth of a nearby cave.

Belknap and Roland jogged over. “Looks clear, there's a small lake nearby, whole thing surrounded by tress, well hidden, this is ideal. Best check out the cave first”

He raised his hand, gesturing with his hand. “Squad, form up!” he yelled, “We're checking the cave, Panila, you're on point!”

“Yes sir!” she replied eagerley, taking lead at the front of the squad.

“Go!” said Belknap.

Panila led the way into the cave, scanning the area with her lasgun raised. “Sir, I don't think there's anything here. It seems completely- Holy Throne!” she gasped, staring upwards as she rounded a corner.

“What is i- What the shit?!” Belknap exclaimed as he turned the corner behind her. In front of him stood a gigantic mountain of gold, gems and diamonds, almost reaching the roof of the large cave.

“Guys what's going on- What the frak?” yelled Roland as he and the rest of the squad stood there transfixed by the scene in front of them. There was probably enough here to afford them all retirement on one of the inner garden worlds. Belknap snapped himself out of it and turned around to head out.

“Come on squad. We still have to- “ he froze. Again.

“What is it now Captain?” Roland sighed, exasperated as he turned around, “Uh...orders Captain?”

In front of them stood what looked like a giant green lizard, much taller than any of them, or the Grey Knights for that matter. Spines ran down it's back and tail, and a large pair of wings protruded from either side of them. It had clawed hands, its legs ended in talons and its yellow eyes, looking down at them, glinted in the half-light of the cave.

“Now what fine mess have we gotten ourselves into now?” Belknap muttered.

It let out an ear-shattering roar that reverberated off the walls of the cave, causing the soldiers to hold their heads in pain.

“Cover!” screamed Belknap as a clawed hand swooped down at them. The squad dived out the way and took cover behind anything they could find as the a jet of fire shot out of the beast's mouth, scorching the rocks they were hiding behind.

“What the hell is that thing!?” shouted Merisier somewhere to Belknap's right.

“I don't know, but let's give it a taste of the Imperium! Open fire!” yelled Belknap.

The soldiers ducked out of cover and opened fire with their lasguns, peppering the thing with red lasfire. The shots left small scorch marks on its scales. It roared again, clearly irritated its prey was putting up a fight.

The creature swiped at the soldiers again, this time catching Panila and Reiss and sending them flying across the cave to smack into a wall, unconscious.

“Shit!” shouted Belknap, unaware that the creature had attacked again, sending him and Roland into the side of the cave. He smacked against the wall, feeling warm blood trickle down the inside of his helmet. His vision swam as he pulled himself to his feet.

He watched helplessly as another gout of flame forced Garced and Skult back into cover, their cover slowly disintegrating.

“Not. My. Squad.” he snarled, picking up his lasgun.

“Hey! Over here xenos bastard!” he yelled, switching his lasgun to full auto and holding down the trigger, spraying the beast with lasfire. The creature reared up and swung at Belknap again, this time catching hum in it's claw and lifting him into the air. He dropped his weapon as the beast did exactly what he wanted.

“Squad! Suppressing fire!” he called. It roared as the shots pierced it's weaker underbelly.

Belknap took advantage of the loosened grip of it's claw to reach down and pull a frag grenade from his belt and pull the pin.

“Choke on this xenos scum!” he shouted before lobbing the grenade down the creature's throat. It stopped roaring for a moment, then it's throat exploded in a shower of meat and gore. It collapsed to the floor, Belknap prising himself free of it's claw.

Roland hurried over and helped him up, handing him his fallen lasgun, the power cell completely depleted from the full auto. He popped it out and inserted another one from his belt as Roland thanked him.

“That was bloody awesome Captain, you owned that thing!” he exclaimed.

“Just doing my job Sergeant, part of the description was commanding a squad, can't do that if I don't have a squad to command” said Belknap.

“Whatever, you should just be getting a damn promotion for that!” Roland laughed as he walked out of the cave. Each of the squad thanked him in their own way as they walked out, even getting a small hug from Caughran as they left.

“Swear she likes you” whispered Roland to Belknap as they walked out.

“Maybe, maybe not” replied Belknap, “Either way, until we are off this warp-forsaken planet, I don't think I'll be starting any relationships”

He turned to Skult, who was carrying the squad's voxcaster. “Contact the Inquisitor, tell him we found a suitable location and send him the co-ordinates. Also ask him to bring the rest of the supplies from the pod as we are running low on ammo” he told her.

“Of course Captain” she replied and began tuning into the Inquisitor's frequency.

“You three” he said pointing to Meridier, Garced and Reiss, “Help me move that damned carcass out of the cave. It's beginning to stink the place up”

Levin and Umbra came to the edge of the forest, their weapons holstered to increase mobility.

“We've been running for three hours now. Are you sure we are going in the right direction?”

“This is the way the Magos pointed us in, I even double checked my compass after we were attacked by that giant four-headed thing”

They had been attacked by a giant beast around two hours into the forest, around some swamplands. It had been massive, even taller than the Grey Knights, and had had four heads. The same beast was now a rotting carcass, a massive bullet hole in each of its heads.

“Another ten minutes, and then we'll radio back the Inquisitor, tell him there doesn't appear to be anything in this direction”

“Yeah, good idea”, Levin started to head off over the hill in front of them.

“Wait, what's that over there?” Umbra asked, grabbing him by the shoulder. She pointed in the direction of a small cottage, constructed low to the ground with a path leading up to it. It seemingly blended in with the environment, and Levin almost certainly would have missed it.

He drew his gigantic sniper rifle and looked down the scope at the cottage, examining it.

“A small building, most likely a living quarters for one of the natives, primitive construction materials used. A few coups surrounding it, owner may be a farmer or veterinarian. More interesting is the path. Perhaps it leads to the settlement the Magos was talking about it. We should follow it at a distance, see where it takes us”

Levin lowered his rifle and they both began to jog up the hill. They both froze as they came to the peak.

The hill overlooked a large village, the structures matching those they had seen in the Magos' briefing.

“Well...that was quick” said Umbra, stating the obvious.

Levin raised his rifle. “Structures match those given in briefing, seems to be a small agricultural township. No evident technological influence. Large amounts of local activity”, he zoomed in closer with his rifle, “Locals seem to be... equine in nature, similar to the horses the Attilan Rough Riders use. No signs of weaponry, though they must be preparing for something. Otherwise, they look unarmed and... peaceful”

“Preparing for something? Do you think they know we are here?”

“It's a possibility, we can't rule anything out, there are too many unknowns”

“Hmm... I better go in, take a closer look”

“Are you sure? They could be dangerous”

Umbra chuckled, “I once infiltrated a Tau command centre and assassinated an Ethereal while posed as a fire warrior. I'm sure I can sneak into a town full of horses”

“Very well, I shall keep overwatch from here, keep in contact on channel Beta-Mu-Omega” said Levin, pulling out the bipod on his rifle, and laying down on the ground, “Be careful”

“Always am” replied Umbra, drawing her C'tan Phase Sword as she made her way towards the town.