Silence filled the Thunderhawk as the Carcharadons went to meet these Alien interlopers face to face. It wasn't necessary for the rescue, the menials and crewmen of the Escort vessels had already been transferred to new ships, but the Reaper Prime and his Honor Guard needed to know what new threat these aliens posed.

Strike leader Kordi was silent, like the rest of his kin, but internally, he wrestled with confusion as to why they would humor the Xenos like this when they would soon be destroyed.

To ensure their destruction. Kordi gave but the slightest twitch when Khauri whispered into his mind, and he thanked the Forgotten One that it went unnoticed.

If the Xenos escape before our reinforcements destroy them, they will know better than to offer us parley a second time. So we will accept their offer to meet with their Commanding Officer...and kill him when the Nicor arrives. The Librarian explained. Kordi said nothing in response, for nothing needed to be said. Khauri saw his understanding as clearly as he had seen the Strike Leader's doubt.

The Librarian's unspoken words were the first and only words passed between the Space Marines before their Thunderhawk completed it's journey. The Astartes dropship entered the alien ship's docking bay and powered down, lowering it's ramp to allow the transhuman warriors to disembark.

Per protocol, Kordi's Strike Team entered the enemy's domain first. They did so Bolters up, prepared for anything...except what they found.

The enemy Honor Guard he had expected was too far away to be effective. In their place, he was met with a large eyed female Xeno that sized him up with an impressed whistle. "Wow, you're a a bigg'un, ain'chya? Were those little'uns I rescued yer kids or somethin'?"

...No threats present, you're clear. Kordi voxed to the Reaper Prime while trying to pierce the veil of absurdity that prevented him from understanding his present situation.

"...uum, are you the Commanding Officer?" Asked a male voice, directing Kordi's attention to his mother on a beach.

The Tactical Marine blinked away the unwelcome memory from a life no longer his own, shaking his head so faintly that his helmet didn't move. When his senses returned to him, he found himself staring at a small winged equine with a white coat and light yellow hair upon it's head and tail.

"No. I am." Answered the voice of Bail Sharr.

Kordi stepped back and allowed the Reaper Prime and The Librarian to meet with the Xenos...cursing the returning sound of waves upon a beach.

Bail Sharr kept his helmet mag locked at his hip, allowing the Xenos to see his pale face. He could see the sudden unease of the creature as plain as a single star in the void, but there was a mixture of other emotions as well, many of which could not be easily identified. "I am Bail Sharr. Captain of the Carcharodons Astra's 3rd Company. Identify yourself."

The equine spoke in it's alien tongue. Some unseen device translating it's words into Imperial Gothic. "I am Captain Brighter Tomorrow of the EFA Heavy Battleship Liberator. Commander of the second intergalactic exploratory mission. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Bail Sharr acquired three vital pieces of information from the foolish Xeno. First, this vessel, which was equal in size to a Tyrant-Class Cruiser, was classified as a Heavy Battleship, likely making it the most powerful vessel this new enemy could deploy. Second, this new Xenos species had crossed the void between galaxies, just like the Tyranids, though it was doubtful that they came from the same galaxy. But the third was the most troubling.

"Second? Meaning there are others of your kind in our galaxy." Sharr questioned.

The Alien's expressions told the story long before it's words did. The vessel was lost. "We...lost contact with the Envoy. Our mission is to retrieve it, and then lend a hoof wherever it's needed."

Sharr thought he misheard the alien. "Meaning to your allies?"

Now it was the alien that was confused. "No, to anycreature. Like you." It explained.

"We do not accept aid from aliens. Now leave." Sharr demanded.

"Now just hold on a minute." The bipedal bovine creature interjected. "If it weren't for us, yer friends would've been done for. The least you could do is say 'thank you'."

"You preserved our servants. It was their duty to fight and die for us as it is our duty to fight and die for the Imperium." Sharr stated.

The bovine's expression became wrathful, and she appeared ready to attack the Reaper Prime when the equine addressed her. "Stand down Sub-Commander, I'll handle this." The creature held her tongue but turned her head between the two Captains numerous times in a silent plea to unleash her fury before yielding at last.

Sharr waited with slight curiosity to see how the alien would 'handle' him. "Before we lost contact, the Envoy sent us images of your galaxy. Every single one of them was a different battlefield. We don't know what you're fighting for, but from what Ari has told me of the prisoners she rescued, your desperate, struggling for survival, and those slavers aren't the worst threat. We just want to help you."

Sharr turned his attention to Khauri. The Librarian had been probing the alien's mind this entire time. He knew beyond doubt that these creatures were lying, playing some unseen angle, he only needed the Librarian to confirm the urgency of the situation.

Khauri nodded his head twice and Sharr had to do a double take. It told the truth?

"Lies." Sharr stated, seeking to gain greater insight into these creatures. "You wish to gain our trust so you can conquer us without firing a shot. Just like the Tau."

The Xenos became Horrified at the mention of the Tau. It's expression stating that a cause it very much believed in had been misused in a blasphemous manner. "What!? NO!! The Equestrian Friendship Alliance was founded on Unity across the stars. A united galaxy is a prosperous galaxy. We see that you're suffering and we want to help you, that's all. If you can't trust us, then allow us to earn your trust."

Sharr turned again to Khauri, and again he confirmed it's words as truth. This alien was no deceiver, and it had no intention of conquering the Imperium.

...It was something worse.

Few remain who remember the exact reason the Emperor demanded the extinction of all alien life. It was not because they were all monsters, it was not because all that offered friendship and compliance were deceitful, it was because humans who allied themselves with Xenos turned from their own race.

During the Dark Age of Technology, when Free Will was a right held sacred by all of humanity and allying with the Alien was far from unheard of. A great many humans became more involved with their alien allies than with their own race. and when the Dark Age of Technology burned in fires of the Age Of Strife, these human/alien alliances would not lend aid to their kinsmen...because their allies needed it.

In this dark age where war is everywhere, more and more reports of cooperation between Imperial forces and Xenos scum have reached the Red Wake's ears, and he has ordered that any who are seen commiting such heresy is to be destroyed with extreme prejudice. This was why. If these aliens were permitted to spread their corruption to the wider Imperium, none could say how many would become tainted by the notion that these Xenos could protect them more than the Imperium.

"I am only going to say this once. Get out of our galaxy. And don't come back." Sharr snarled.

While the equine's eyes told Sharr that he believed the Carcharodon still found him deceitful, the bovine's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "ya know, when we landed in the middle of yer liddle tussle with them crazy slavers, we didn't start shootin' immediately cause we didn't know which one of yall was the bad guys...didn't occur ta me that yall might both be the bad guys."

"Calm down Ari, they didn't mean it li-Reaper Prime, the Nicor has dropped out of Warp.' The mortal Captain of the White Maw informed him.

While the bovine alien tried to convince her foolish Captain to share her distrust,Bail Sharr wordlessly donned his helmet and spoke a single command into his vox. "Korro, strike!"

The aliens had recieved word from their bridge crew that a second, larger, Carcharodons ship had appeared when they suddenly lost contact. They were still trying to reconnect with their bridge crew when Sharr drew his Bolt Pistol and shot the bovine.

The Bolt exploded harmlessly on a Void Shield that emanated from the equine's uniform, alerting them to the ambush. The equine stared numbly in a futile attempt to comprehend the situation while the bovine shouted words that her translator saw fit to ignore while she reached for a weapon on her back.

Sharr was sprinting towards his prey before Reaper was off his back, determined to vanquish his foes.

Equestrian Artificial Shields were an impressive feat of science by all accounts, but they had been made to accept passage from anything under the speed of sound, in order to allow the shield to envelope allies and civilians. This was done under the belief that the technology would never be used in anything more than a gunfight...it's not like the designers imagined nigh indestructible super soldiers with a fetish for chainsaws after all.

Bail Sharr moved fast, but not fast enough for the shield to deflect his attack.

Arizona had retrieved her slug-loaded slam-fire shotgun, but was unable to aim and fire before she had to duck a decapitating blow from Reaper. The large Chainax howled it's frustrations at being denied it's bloody prize, further adding to the aliens' confusion.

Brighter Tomorrow fell to the floor, slamming his hooves to his sensitive ears in a vain attempt to block out the horrible noise.

Bail made to swing again, but was thrown off target when Ari shot him in the stomach, below his breastplate. For all the power of a 6 gauge slug, and the choice to avoid the thicker armor. It was still only just enough to punch through the artificial muscle fibers protecting Bail Sharr's stomach. The slug was left half embedded in the Astartes with the other half held in place by the muscle fibers. Enough to stagger a mortal, but the Reaper Prime barely flinched.

Ari racked the slide, but had to throw her gun up to block a bisecting blow. Reaper quickly began chewing it's way through the Minotaur's shotgun, leaving her wide eyed but not helpless. Ari twisted her gun, Minotaur might equaling Space Marine strength, and spin kicked her opponent in the head.

The Carcharodon staggered, but he didn't go down. Ari would've followed up, but she was suddenly reminded of Brighter Tomorrow's shield when it was suddenly alight with exploding Bolts.

Arizona traced the gunfire to the enemy's aircraft, mounted with several weapons, and surveyed what else had transpired in the docking bay.

Her Minotaurs didn't go down easy, but while their AA-6s could put noticable holes in ceramite, the Tactical Marines made more accurate shots faster. leaving 5 dead Minotaurs for 1 dead Void Brother and two others sustaining injuries. The two other Minotaurs were now using the cover of their Griffin allies, who were laying down suppressive fire with their lightning guns, which were surprisingly effective...almost like the suits of armor were wired directly into the wearer's nervous system.

Khauri used his gifts to shield his Void Brothers when he saw what the griffin weapons were capable of, but was too far to shield Bail Sharr when the griffins noticed him.

The Reaper Prime deflected the first ball of lightning shot at him, Reaper's leather wrapped handle protecting him from conduction, but a second blast struck him dead on along with three FRAG-6s to the chest and shoulder.

Khauri brought the full power of the Warp to bare against his foes. A tidal wave of psychic energy sweeping the group of Minotaurs and Griffins off their feet and drowning them in water that wasn't there.

The Liberator's automated defenses detected the use of hostile magic and added an anti magical dust to the docking bay's ventilation. The dust was made from the same stone as the Worldbreaker's Railgun projectiles and absorbed the magical energy suffocating the EFA security. Unfortunately, the Tactical Marines gave them no time to recover and charged them with screaming chainswords.

As this occured, the Astartes rendered unconscious by the lightning guns began to recover, their enhanced bodies being pumped with combat stimulants to return them to battle as soon as possible.

"...Please tell me you called for reinforcements." Ari breathed out as she took in the deteriorating situation around her. She had spent the last ten seconds since being suppressed by the enemy gunship unloading the buckshot from her second slamfire and replacing them with slugs, but it was now painfully obvious that fighting this battle any longer would be a death sentence.

"...uh...I..ah..." Brighter Tomorrow looked like he'd been shell-shocked. He had seen combat before, but nothing this brutal.

"SNAP OUT OF IT PONY BOY!!! YER SUPPOSED TA BE THE SMART ONE REMEMBER!! NOW I CAN'T FIGHT THIS BATTLE BY MYSELF AND THOSE MINOTAURS AIN'T GONNA LAST MUCH LONGER!!!" No sooner than Arizona had stated this fact did the last Minotaur die, a chainsword piercing his stomach and cutting him nearly in half. The only survivor was a single Griffin that had lost it's courage and fled. Ari couldn't blame him. There wasn't anything he could do.

The Griffin flew to the docking bay's elevator and shut the door, fleeing to another part of the ship...then they were alone.

Brighter Tomorrow had finally made the call for reinforcements, but the words sounded a galaxy away as Ari watched the Carcharodons turn in unison towards them. They didn't bother shooting, and they didn't seem to be in a hurry, they just walked towards the frightened Pony and unsettled Minotaur with slight swaying of their shoulders that reminded Ari of fish swimming towards her...or rather, sharks.

Ari took a small step back, knowing that leveling her gun would trigger a charge, but not knowing what else to do. But then, an idea came to her.

With no time to clue him in, Arizona stooped down and grabbed her Captain like a puppy and turned and ran. She heard the thudding footfalls of the unnaturally fast behemoths giving chase, but she was closer to her target.

She skidded to a halt next to the only Space Marine still unconscious and put the barrel of her gun against the Reaper Prime's head. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!!"

The Space Marines stopped like a bus, planting their feet onto the deck so hard it pushed up the plating, and then they waited, silent as the grave.

Ari waited until her heart was quiet enough for her to hear her voice without screaming before she spoke again. "...Get back in yer ship...an' get out."

"...No." Spoke their second in command. Ari never heard Khauri's name, but knew that he was important due to his armor being a different color. "I'll blow yer boss' brains out if you mess with me." Ari threatened.

"I am aware. I am also aware that you intend to send him back to the White Maw in an automated shuttle as you make your escape...But you are not going to escape." Khauri promised.

"Oh yeah, says who?" Ari shouted.

"The Reaper Prime." Ari briefly recalled that being the title their Captain gave earlier before she found herself falling to the floor. Damn it! He woke up!

Ari's next sight was Bail Sharr's boot raised to crush her skull, but a white blur flew into the Space Marine's face with enough force to throw him back. The other Astartes started firing on Brighter Tomorrow, only to find his shield just as functional in flight.

The Pegasus dove at Bail Sharr again, the Carcharodon made to retrieve Reaper, but thought better of it. For all the weapon's power, it's weight slowed him down considerably, hence why the bovine alien had been able to dodge his attacks earlier. So Sharr chose instead to wait and grab the Xeno from the sky to rip him in half.

He was distracted by a most unwelcome sound, hostile reinforcements had engaged his Void Brothers. The bird-like creatures from before...and something else. This new Xenos race was reptilian in appearance and wore formidable armor, but what allowed them to turn the tide of battle was their chosen weapons: Plasma guns.

Bail Sharr suffered a second strike from the alien captain as he turned to retrieve Reaper...but a cloven hoof stood upon his weapon.

Ari fired a slug right into the Space Marine's face, shattering his helmet and cutting his forehead, and then fired another into his armored kneecap. Sharr would've pressed the attack, but Khauri came to his side to shield him. "We have to go. Now!"

The remaining Carcharodons fled into their ship, unable to retrieve the dead and wounded, and disembarked from the Liberator.

"Get the wounded to medical! And tell the bridge-crew to get us ou-" Brighter Tomorrow could say no more as their ship trembled under fire.

Author's Note

And so Equestria is introduced to the Emperor's Angels of Death. There is quite a bit to unpack here, especially if any of yall haven't read the Carcharodons books. If you haven't, but you plan to do so in the near future, your spoiler alert is here.

First off, Kordi. If you haven't read the books, you'll be forgiven for not understanding that 'mother on the beach' bit. We learn in Red Tithe that Kordi is one of the rare examples of Astartes that remember pieces of their past lives. Kordi occasionally see this image of his faceless mother standing on a beach calling out to him. It is that he could focus on this memory and recall more, but instead, he chooses to ignore it, claiming that it is longer his life and that life belongs to the Nomad Predation Fleet.

Later in the book, a Cultist suicide bomber sees Kordi buried alive in a mine shaft, and the memories that have pleaded for him to return to humanity now call for him to stop fighting and rest(in peace) Being a badass Carcharodon, Kordi rejects the peaceful end and claws his way out of the Earth to join the book's final battle against the Night Lords. There a single nod to this in the sequel book Outer Dark, but he shrugs it off without effort...so what brought out of him now?

Well, a good number of individuals brought it to my attention that even the non-magical Equestrians would be susceptible to Chaos Corruption if they A: fell into a Warpstorm or B: got too close to a Chaos Lord/Daemon Prince. I concede to that point, but it also gave me the idea that Harmony could function the same way, and rather than creating an OC CSM(whic I might still do) I decided to demonstrate this natural aura of Harmony on a canonical character whose entire schtick is resisting the light in a way that works (suck it, Kylo Ren)

Second thing to unpack: the Emperor's no alien policy.

Any time someone tries to justify the hatred of Xenos without using the word HERESY!!!, it always starts a fight. So, I'm gonna give my real head-canon as this is just a plot-point.

I'm one of those guys that believe the Emperor anticipated/caused the Horus Heresy as there are just too many things that don't make sense (being so harsh to Lorgar's religion while deliberately creating the Mechanicum Cult) and the way I see it, if Big E had suffered the Alien to live, while he would've been allowed to count the Interex and Diasporex among his followers, he would've lost a lot more. many Xeno hating planets would've purged instead of conquered, and a much larger portion of the Imperium would've turned to Chaos...at least that's my take on it.

Third: Khauri

Those who haven't read the books don't know what's wrong here, but I nerfed that Librarian hard for plot convenience and I am sorry. In Red Tithe Khauri(known then as Mika) is a young Psyker who is pursued by the Night Lords and Carcharodons alike for his power...power that we see unleashed in it's fullest in the climax to Outer Dark when he slows down time and, I'm not joking' boops a Genestealer Patriarch to make it explode. (insert TTS jokes here) So yeah, feel free to flay me in the comments for not letting him go ham in this chapter.

I think that's everything. If you have a question, post it below. In the meantime, I have finally returned to my Trade School, and also have recently acquired the Night Lords Omnibus. So along with not having much time for writing, I'd like to spend a good portion of that free time reading. (I would've never guessed that Chaos Space Marines could be capable of brotherly humor, but this book is genuinely funny at times)

So I'm not gonna promise any weekly updates, and I don't know I'll update next either. Until then, I'll see you all next time.