Seargant Markus looked down the line of his tactical squad as they lived up to their titles of Angels of Death. Bolter fire poured from half of the squad situated above the second half who were holding off the advancing Tyranid forces with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword. He noticed from his holding point that the bodies of the Tyranids had piled up so much that the Marines were in risk of being buried in the mass of spilled organs and shattered carapaces that surrounded them. The night sky was red with the blood that had been shed and the flashes of bolter fire lit up the sky while the screams of the Tyranid forces being slain rent the air, being drowned out by the screaching of Chainsword against bone and flesh.

He brought his bolter to bear and pulled the trigger. While he had trained extensivly for most of his life on how to hold and aim the bolter the amount of enemies pressing meant he could swing it wildly and still kill multiple Tyranids with a single bolt. Nevertheless, he still pulled the bolter to line up with his eye sight and was rewarded with a couple of heads being blown apart, and his armour being strewn with even more blood and gore. Brother Donald had finished reloading his bolter so he took his cue and reloaded his own as the last bolts in the clip flew forward and landed in the chests of some unfortunate Tyranids. They had no grenades left; they had been used long ago. As he clicked in his last clip, there was a giant thump which shook the ground and a screech drowned out everything. Thankfully his men did not falter and kept up there steady firing even as a shadow fell upon them all. Markus looked about and saw a Carnifex lifting itself to its full height. His eyes widened, then another even bigger bang sounded and he looked furthur up. A thunderhawk transport ship, not just any but his personnal thunderhawk had slowed down from orbital speed to offer aerial aid to the beleagured marines. It fired its two heavy bolters at the Tyranids closest to the marines, the explosive rounds throwing up chucks of cements and blood everywhere, while four missiles from under each wing detached themselves from the mount and speared towards the rearing carnifex.

The marines pushed forward with the arrival of the thunderhawk; climbing over the dead Tyranids and shooting anything that came near. The thunderhawk fired another salvo at the carnifex, which recoiled under the onslaught and screamed in agony. It flailed its massive sythe-like weapons helplessly as the missiles exploded, destroying its midsection completely. With the threat removed, the Thunder hawk lowered into position, the heavy bolters firing away into anything that tried to come near it. The marines retreated one by one, giving the next in line cover untill it was Markus' turn to board. He slashed at the Tyranid coming at him, and unloaded his clip at the next three that leapt at him. He felt an arm from behind, and let it pull him aboard the gunship.

As he whipped his legs up, he caught site of the swarm that they had been holding off. If the thunderhawk had been another minute, his squad would have been over run. The horizon looked like a sea writhing and moving about. He stood up and grabbed the hand rail above his head. He was thankful he did, because a second later the thunderhawk rose suddenly into the air, but a few Tyranid warriors, sensing their prey was about to escape, leapt up into the air with incredible strength and agility and sunk their blades into the fusilage. The extra weight pulled the transport to the side and Markus felt his legs leave the ground and fly out side. The handrail wasnt designed to hold the full weight of an Astartes so he felt the metal groan and warp as he was thrown out side. The other marines were already seated and were lucky, they hadnt been thrown about. As Markus felt the metal bar detach, and he felt the horrible sensation of free-falling backwards for a split second untill he felt a firm hand grasp his own.

He looked up and the rune on his visor told him it was Elli. He held firm, and with one arm, he pulled out his bolt pistol and took aim at the closest warrior. A few shots was all that was needed to dislodge the creature and in turn that was all the weight that was needed to let the thunderhawk rise. Elli handed his bolt pistol to Markus so he could better shoot the rest. He took the pistol and within a few seconds the thunder hawk was free to escape. Markus let himself be pulled up into the compartment. He noted that the pressure doors had shut, so nothing could enter.

He looked over his team and saw that they were covered in blood and gore and bits of bone, but none of them had any armour breaches and they all had their weapons. He smiled and slammed his armoured fist onto his chest. The others followed suit. Markus headed to the cockpit.

"Seargent, we can't head back to the Grandius, she is still engaged with the xeno fleet, and I'm sorry to say, things are looking grim." The pilot said. Markus nodded silently, thinking of the next move. He needed to head back to command for his next set of orders.

"Are there any Command Centres still running in this?" Markus asked in his hoarse voice gesturing outside where from this height the Tyranids looked like a moving red carpet. Markus noticed the hesitance. "Tell me!" He commanded.

"Only two. CC Delta and Omega are the only ones left. Delta is under light seige and Omega won't be too far behind if Delta falls." The pilot said. Markus thought quickly. Delta was the forward base and almost tactically worthless, save the marines holding it. Omega was the real worry, and Captian Dorme was there co-ordinating the withdrawel of the forces. Seargent Hengist led the two five man squads at Delta and the defence guns. Dorme would know what to do, and where to attack next, so Markus had made up his mind. Those thoughts had taken not a second so Markus replied unhesitatingly.

"Head for Delta we will pick up Seargant Hengist and his men, then head to Omega. Give them warning, and tell them I don't want to touch the ground when we get to Delta, they will be ready for extraction the moment they can jump and pull them selves up. Is that clear?" Markus said.

"Yes sir!"

"Praise to the Emperor!" Markus shouted.

"Praise to the Emperor!" He heard from the his men and both the pilots. He left the cockpit and went to the ammo reserve at the back of the ship. He refilled his Bolter and gave him self as much ammo as he could find. He turned and sat down at the end of the long seat that lined the back wall.

"ETA for Delta?" He asked over his armors vox.

"One minute thirty." Came the instant reply.

"Be ready." Markus told his men. They had heard his orders to the pilot and knew what the plan was. Their reply came in unison.

"Good work back there Elli. Nice shooting one handed too." Markus said to the marine next to him.

"Bah, that was nothing, I was about to kill the carnifex if they hadn't shown up." Elli said, gesticulating towards the cockpit where no doubt the pilots were shaking their heads at the reply.

"I was going to sit back and let you kill them all Elli." Said a voice from far down the line. Markus knew the comment was going to come from Harlon before the marine opened his mouth.

"From what I saw you did. I ran out of ammo before you had used up half yours." Elli said.

"When you panic and fire randomly like you were, you tend to use all your ammo quickly." Harlon said, to laughter from the rest of the squad.

"Atleast my bolts hit targets, it's what where here to do." Elli said to another round of laughter.

"And I see that my helmet is covered in more xeno blood than your whole body." Harlon said, wiping a massive handfull of grime from his armour and dropped it on the floor.

"Thats because I fight with grace and elegance, not like an ork drunk off his own piss." That one got a hearty chuckle from even the pilots. Markus let the banter go, knowing that his team were letting off steam, in this brief pause in fighting, and he knew that they knew they were in for a massive battle ahead of them when they got to Omega. As he listened to Harlon Brag away about how many orks he had killed, he thought to what might lay ahead.

"ETA thirty seconds." The pilots voice silenced the bickering marines, and cut into Markus' thoughts. He stood, as did the his men. They all looked at him, and he slammed his fist into his chest. They followed suit. He smiled, then pulled the hatch that would pull back the doors closing the compartment to the outside world. They slid smoothly out of sight, and instantly the battlt below could be heard. the squad split up and covered both entrances. As they got closer, they could see the flashes of the auto cannons blazing away dicing up the Tyranids advancing. Markus could see the Marine squad on top top of the roof.

"Near the roof!" Markus shouted to the pilots and he recieved an affermation. He stuck his head out and took careful aim. The marines next to him opened fire and with the heavy bolters carved a whole big enough to get close to the assualted marines on the roof. The thunderhawk lowered and the marines fired their last shots before being pulled up by their brethren.

"Kick it!" He heard Hengist shout when he was aboard. It took a split second to realise why before Markus pulled the hatch again and the covers slid in place. The thunderhawk jolted forward but the marines didnt even flinch as the transport ship rocketed away.

"Your gunna wanna watch this!" Hengist shouted again over the roaring of the engines. Markus pulled the hatch and the a back window opened. They could see the Tyranids swarming over the makeshift base like water over a rock when suddenly a deep red light lit up and a split second later, the base exploded spectacularly.

"Melta-bombs... Excellent choice." Markus said grinning and striding over to the Seargant. They clasped each others forearms.

"Onto to CC Omega." Markus said, as he released Hengists. Each marine checked their armour and reloaded.

"ETA for Omega?" Markus asked.

"Two minutes." Came an instant reply. Markus looked at the assembled troops. Twenty marines now filled the compartment. That would be a great help, but his thoughts strayed back to the squad 'Zulu' who had fallen in a previous engagement only a hundred feet from the position he had just recently given up. The ten man squad had flamers and other heavy weapons that would have been vital in defending Omega if the CC came under attack.

"Seargant, I havn't received any reply from Omega." The pilots voice came over the vox, snapping the Seargant out of his thoughts.

"Punch it all the way." Markus said. He stood and walked to the cockpit. Several pillars of smoke fought their way through the currents in the air to the sky, and at the base Omega could be seen. Several Tyranid warriors were stalking around the base of the building and Markus could see with his enhanced eyesight that bodies of Space Marines littered the floor at a crack in the wall near the entrance being defiled by the Tryanids. The sight of it bought anger to the Seargants heart.

"Land this transport!" He barked. A second later the heavy bolters roared to life and spewed explosive bolts at the warriors. The rounds hit and tore most of the warriors apart. The rest were obliterated by two missiles fired from the under-wing. The transport descended at speed and only just managed to stop mere inches from the chewed up concrete. As the trasport landed, Markus had pulled the hatch and the covers slid apart; the marines rushing out before they had settled in their resting postions.

Each marine had his bolter aimed at the blast hole in the wall, all catious of what might be lurking in the shadows. Luckily they were for as the last marine put his boot on the ground, a horrific screech sounded and the sound of claws scraping plasteel began and got louder. The first shadow appeared and it was blasted back into the abyss by bolter. As the marines focused on the door, Markus felt something at the back of his mind. Realising what it was straight away he issued a sharp order.

"Keep vigilant!" His voice cut through the bolter fire and the screaming and he received a chorus of replies through the vox net. As he swept his bolter to the top of the bunker, he cursed himself for letting himself be fooled into falling for the trap. A red and white carapace was all he saw as he pulled the trigger. The bolter kicked back as four bolts sped forward obliterating the target.

"Above and around, watch your backs!" He shouted before leaping into action; pulling his chainsword from its holster, thumbing the activation rune and bringing it up in one fluid motion. He noted the bolter fire had changed from ordered suppressive fire to erratic defensive fire. Three warriors lept at him from the left, and his momentum left two to jump behind him and away, but the third had jumped true, and its body collided with the seargants. The force of the impact knocked the marine slightly off balance, and instead of landing on his feet ready for battle he was forced to land side ways with his boots digging into the ground to buy purchase lest he fell sideways and to almost certain doom. Even so, he was ready for the attack of the warrior. It landed with much more grace and quickly re-arranged its body to best launch again. This time the marine was ready for it. He ducked down and and waited for the warrior to get close enough and he jumped up, chainsword first and it cut into the underbelly of the creature. The rotating blades cut through the flesh and bone, flinging blood and organs everywhere.

With this adversary down, Markus wasted no time seeing if it died, but raised his bolt pisol and aimed at the other two warriors that had missed, and were now ready to leap again. He saw their bladed arms and decided that he would rather not test his armour against those vicious looking blades. As he aimed at one of the warriors left eye, a bolt passed through the skull of the other, sending shattered pieces of skull and mashed brain into the air. Unflinching, Markus fired and was rewarded with the same explosion of gore. He dropped out the used clip, and slammed a new one in, ready to kill any more xeno within range. He also took this moment to grasp the situation. The Thunderhawk had already taken off and was circling, firing its heavy bolters at the warriors about to jump into action. the rest of the marines had reformed into their respective squads, and one of the five man squads under Hengists' command had become isolated and it appeared the warriors were pressing the advantage. Markus shouted a primordial challenge to the Tyranids, and launched himself forward.

Chainsword shattered bone and rent flesh asunder, and his bolt pistol fired away taking with each bolt several warriors, he had only taken a few steps, before he realised the warriors had thinned out significantly. He fired the last bolts in his clip, and slammed a fresh one in. He looked around and saw the piles of warriors and the pools of blood. A marine had been wounded, one of Hengists' men, and by the looks of him, a new recruit. One of the warriors had breached his defences and had jabbed a blade into the weaker shoulder joints. He was already applying synti-flesh and was covering the breach in his armor. The others stood guard around the marine untill he stood and looked at Hengist.

"Secure a perimeter. Five marines to stand guard outside. Don't let anything in behind us." Markus ordered. While he spoke the Thunderhawk landed. "The rest will head inside with me." The marines answered as one, and a squad of Hengists' men quickly re-deployed to cover the entrance from all angles. The rest formed up behind Markus.

He quickly checked his armor and his bolt pistol before setting himself to go first into the unwelcoming darkness. He strode forward, careful not to let his hesitance show, and before he realised it, he was on the thresh-hold. With a single flick of his shoulder the small torch on his left arm lit up, pushing the light back, although very unwillingly. He stepped forward and was thankful nothing jumped out from the darkness. He noted the other Marines filling in behind him, and knew that every inch of the room was covered. He felt safer, and so stepped forward towards the slightly ajar door. He held his bolter ready, and nudged it open with his foot. Light spilled into the tunnel, revealling bodies of the Tyranid warriors and their blood on the wall and roof. Markus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and walked forward.

Behind him, the marines followed in single file.

"Phew, some one put up a good fight." Elli said, running an armored hand over a massive blast hole in the wall.

"More then you would, Brother Elli." Harlon said, from furthur back in the line.

"There is no time for talking, quite, now, and move on." Markus said sharply, and Ellis' retort fell on his tongue. He didn't need bickering amonsgt his men, especially at this crucial time. He refoucosed on the path ahead. The tunnel led on only for a few more meters before the torch light fell on a crude ladder, heading under ground.

"We go down. Argun and Suragus, You both stay here and watch our backs. I will call you if needed."

"Yes sir." They both replied careful to keep their voices down in the echoing corridor. They turned their backs on him, and took a few paces forward and raised their bolters. Markus looked back down the ladder. He placed a foot on the on the top most rung, and swung his bulk over. The ladder took his weight suprisingly well, and he quickly dropped to the ground. When the sound of his boots hitting the ground cleared, he thought he could hear a faint thumping in the distance. It sounded like the discharge of a plasma weapon. Probably Imperial grade considering the planet and the circumstances. He tried to listen closer, but he couldn't discern anything more then a steady rythm.

"Seargant, move your team down thirty seconds after mine." Markus said into the vox net.

"Agreed." The reply came quickly, and he heard the sounds of marines coming down the ladder. Elli was first, so Markus looked ahead. It was another long tunnel and as he peered down, he heard in the far distance, an inhuman scream. It was feint but he knew that the corridor led straight ahead.

"Hurry," He called to his team, and within seconds the rest of the marines had jumped down. There was another scream, from closer, and now Markus heard the patter of chitin on cold metal.

"Damn it! Hold fire to my signal, all lights to full! Move out!" He ordered, and strode forward with his bolt pistol held ready and his chainsword in his hand. Light spilled down the corridor, and the sight ahead was very strange. Hundreds of Tyranids were running along the corridor, not towards the marines, but towards the thumping which was slightly louder. However, the sight only lasted for a mere second untill the Tyranids turned and saw the marines. The Xeno closest to them roared its contempt and charged, the rest followed behind it. Explosions tore the front line down, as thankfully someone had the sense to throw a grenade into the midst. However there wasn't enough time to throw more before they were all embroiled in bloody combat.

Markus side stepped the first and raised his chainsword, through the foul xeno. Its internal organs spilled onto the floor, but not before Markus had brought the sword back down through the head of another Tyranid on his other side. He raised his pistol and fired of a quick burst of bullets which shot straight through the first line into the second and some through the third. Markus took this time to tap the grenade dispenser with his left hand, and felt the grenade drop into his palm. he pressed the button once to indicate a second and threw the grenade into the stomach of the next Tyranid with such force that it speard through the creature. Then it detonated, sending a great wall of pressure and shrapnel directed towards the oncoming horde. Blood sprayed everywhere, skin was seared and bone pulverised against the walls and roof as the rest of the Tyranids turned to flee.

"Cut them down!" Markus shouted, and bolter fire responded with a symphony of blasts and the sound of sizzling flesh. With the vast majority of the Tyranids mowed down with in seconds, the rest turned and resumed their origanl course. Markus couldn't hear the thumping anymore, so he set off to where he thought it came from.

"With me!" Markus shouted and he ran after the Tyranids. His bolter fired bolt after bolt into the crowded mass of chitin and carapace. Several of his men fired from behind him, scoring even more kills. The marines ran down the corridor, following the ever deminishing Tyranids. Bodies were trampled as the marines strode on, crushing skulls and bone. From up ahead, Markus saw the corridor ended and turned right. He heard another louder thump, and saw a flash a deep red and heard an inhuman scream. The weapon fired was a Plasma Pistol, which meant someone was still alive.

"Come you bastards, I will destroy you all and cast your souls into the warp!" Came a loud voice from the turn off. Markus stopped quickly, and signalled the others to do the same. Another louder thump sounded and Markus saw several Tyranids incinerate instantly.

"Battle-brothers! Step forward and join me!" Markus held his bolter at the ready and cautiuosly walked around the corner. Tech-priest Varner stood there his armour looking more akin to a Blood Angels, covered in blood. Around him the floor was littered with scraps of Tyranid bodies. In the middle of the room stood a long holo-table with a hologram of the planet. Across the globe it showed a deep red and only two very small patches of blue. Either the other marines had already escaped or perished.

"Yes, that is all that remains on the planet." Varner said, walking over to Markus. "Over half of the chapter has escaped but the rest has been lost. Captain Dorme is still contemplating a full sweep of the planet to make sure we do not condemn our brethren to a horrible fate." He stood next to the table and pressed a few buttons and the view changed. It showed both blue spots on the globe, One was this base and the other was the Command centre Alpha, the main base on the planet. "This is all that remains that our orbital augars can detect. I lost contact with the Grandius just before you arrived, but I managed to convice the Chapter Master to send us four transport Thunderhawks and eight gunships."

"And that is all we'll have to search the entire planet?" Hengist asked.

"Yes, that is all, but it is far better then the lone Thunderhawk Seargant Markus owns."

"Do we have anyway to reduce the search area?" Markus asked. Varner pressed a few more buttons and the globe appeared again this time with more blue dots.

"This is a real-time feed of how each of these bases fell and what time, if we calculate correctly, we can see which base held the longest before the augers couldn't detect them anymore. These are the bases we send a transport and two gunships each. I'll determine a search pattern that will cover the most ground the quickest. The Thunderhawks should be here within a few minutes, I want you and the rest of the marines outside to accompany them and search for any brothers still fighting." Varner said. Markus smashed his fist into his chestplate and turned to leave without a word. As he walked, he ordered his men to prepare for lift off.

"Hengist, take your men and board one of the transports. I'll take my squad in my Thunderhawk and spread the search out." Hengist fell into step next to Markus. "When we have everyone, rendousvous with the Grandious and if the Emperor smiles on us we may escape alive."

"Indeed. Praise to the Emperor, and may we live through this day." Markus clasped Hengists' forearm and turned back down the corridor.

"Seargant Markus, this is Varner. Captain Dorme just checked in at Aplha Base he, and his retinue have made it and they are all co-orinating the withdrawel of the base and surrounding areas. He reports that the Grandiuos is still fighting fiercly, so much so that the bulk of the fleet has disengaged and headed for the surface. I think the Xeno has realised there isn't much resistance left on the planet, and they were loosing to many ships. That gives us both a blessing and a curse. We have a time limit to search for survivors but we know we have an escape now." Markus listened as he climbed up the ladder. His men had followed behind.

"That is good news still. I will find any survivors and bring them to the Grandious. Markus out." He hurried along the passageway untill he stood in the open air. He looked up at the sound of numerous sonic booms and saw the twelve thunderhawks grow suddenly bigger.

"Priest Varner, we got some good visuals coming down and well, lets say they arn't very good." Markus heard over the vox-net. Clearly one of the pilots.

"Go ahead pilot." Came the reply from the Priest.

"You have a huge wave of Xeno from all directions heading straight towards your base." Varner hesitated and Markus knew what the priest was about to do.

"Very well pilot. Proceed with the original plan, and I will update you all on where to go. Do not worry about me, this is the only way to keep you updated with the information we need to save our brethren. I will hold off for as long as needed then may He have mercy upon me. Varner out."

Markus struck the plasteel wall which crumbled under the impact. "Let's move it, we need to get airborne." Markus and his men stepped aboard Markus' transport and turned to see the other transports land. Hengist split up his squad and plassed them on two seperate.

"Tech-priest Varner has uploaded our first lot of co-ordinates." The pilot called.

"Ok, punch it!" Markus yelled. He shut the sliding doors and sealed the compartment. The marines braced themselves as the thunderhawk shot off.

"Eta for first base is three minutes." The pilot said. Markus settled into the nearest seat.

"So old Varner chooses a heroic death?" Elli asked, seating himself next the Seargant.

"Yes, I assume he thinks its his time to be inducted into the great tales. But still, it is an honourable death."

"That it is." Elli and Markus both fell into silence and it wasn't long before the pilots called out.

"Eta thirty seconds!" Markus jumped up, followed by Elli. He pulled the lever and the marines moved to cover both entrances. Below a sea of red moved towards what remained of a small base. Markus could see a Rhino transport turned on its side, with two lots of twin-linked heavy bolters mounted on its side and a solitary marine manning both. A mountanous pile of slaughtered tryanids littered the surrounding area. Tyranids were trying to scurry up their dead to get to the marine but he was firing through the pile of chitin and gore and claiming even more tyranids. The heavy bolter sponsons on the thunderhawk roared to life and spewed bullets into the sea of tyranids. The lone marine looked up and Markus could see the grin on the mans face.

"Land the transport behind the Rhino!" Markus ordered. He heard the pilots' affirmation and waited as the thunderhawk circled and lowered to the ground.

"Marine, move your ass!" Markus yelled. The marine wrenched one of the Heavy Bolters out of the mount and turned. As soon as the firing stopped, the tyranids renewed their assualt. They sprinted up the pile of dead and leapt forward only to be met by bolter fire from the marines in the thunderhawk. The lone marine began to run lugging the heavy bolter with him. A tyranid slipped through the covering fire and jumped onto the marines back, however he was ready for it and twisted to let it roll over him. He kicked it in the back, and the resultant crack could be heard over the screams and bolter fire.

"Move, Move!" Markus roared as he took aim at another tyranid that made it through the fire. Its head exploded covering the ground with blood and brains. The lone marine covered the last few steps and jumped aboard. He turned and readied the Heavy Bolter.

"Head to the next base!" Markus ordered. As the thunderhawk lifted off, the tyranids crashed into each other, just where the thunderhawk had been. The Marine fired away with his heavy bolter while the transport gained speed and height. Markus placed a hand on the shoulder.

"Brother, tell me what happened." The marine let the heavy bolter drop and held it loosely by his side.

"I am Brother Harley, member of attack team Epsilon. We were defending a munitions depot when we were overrun. We were forced to fall back, but we fought back with renewed strength. We wiped out the Xeno filth and managed to prepare for another wave. Every marine had two heavy bolters each and were given an area to defend." Harley turned to face Markus. "I don't know how long we fought. But I remember we died one by one. That was a while ago." Harley took a step towards a seat and sunk himself into it and raised a gauntleted hand to his face.

"Go on brother." Markus said.

"It was all dark, how long was I fighting for?" Harley asked. Markus rested his hand on Harleys' shoulder.

"Orbital augars predict at least three hours."

"The Seargant was torn apart two hours ago, he was the last to fall, I can't have fought for two hours by myself." Harley said, more to himself than anyone. Markus let the marine come to grips with the situation just as the pilots called out.

"Eta for the next destination is six minutes thirty." Markus lowered down to Harleys' bowed head.

"We still have our brothers stuck in this shit storm. I need every man to pull their weight. Grieving and the proper rituals can be done later, but now our chapter needs us." Harley raised his head.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir!" Harley barked out. Markus stood as did Harley.

"Don't be sorry, just butcher these Xenos." Both marines slammed their breast plates. Markus moved towards the nearest exit and stood against the dark sky, a solid silhouette, unbowing and waiting for the next battle.

Markus stood by the exit untill the pilots broke the silence.

"Sir, we're at the next destination." Something in the pilots' voice didn't bode well, and it sent a shiver down Markuss' spine. "It's a graveyard." The other said solomnly. Markus saw the ground below. Several massive craters were filled with smoking debris and he could see at least fifty dead marines, lying broken amongst dead Tyranids. Smoke rose from some small fires, but other then that, nothing else moved. Fury welled up within Markus. Keeping his voice level, he ordered the pilots to move onto the next position.

As the Thunderhawk turned, one of the pilots shouted.

"Sir! Our sensors show one Rhino moving away at full speed! Tyranids are giving chase!" Joy overrid the feeling of anger.

"Follow that transport!" He shouted as he flew into the cockpit. "Get as close as you can." The pilots gave their affermation, and worked the controls. The Thunderhawk jolted forwards. Far below they could see a swarm of Tyranids rushing towards a trail of dust thrown into the air. The Thunderhawk easliy caught up to the Rhino. On top, two marines manned the two twin linked bolters, turned 180 degrees to fire behind them. A couple more marines were hanging out the sides firing with their own bolters. As the marines saw the thunderhawk, Markus could see their faces lift and one smiled. Markus quickly came up with an idea.

"Jurgen, Can we dock the Rhino at this speed?"

"That's gunna be crazy, but yes, I can!" Jurgen, the lead pilot shouted back. He manouvered the Thunderhawk closer to the Rhino, and the gunners, seeing what was about to happen, hastily pulled their heads into the Cargo hold, and pulled the covers over the firing holes. The persuing Tyranids took advantage of the cease-fire and rushed forward, but were cut off again as the Heavy Bolters swung around and spewed death. As the Thunderhawk moved closer, Markus could feel the Rhino on the bottom of the ship as it bounced around and up into the harness. The magnetic seals clamped onto the side of the Rhino, and Jurgen fired up the extra engine, and with a groan, the transport lifted slowly off the ground. With a screech, the Tyranids lunged forward, but couldn't find any purchase on the hard steel of the Rhino, and the transport flew higher into the red sky. Markus fought down the rising joy and contained himself.

"Find us a safe location and get those marines out of there!" He called. The Thunderhawk climbed higher.

"Sir, with the time left before the tyranid fleet lands, we can't get to any more co-ordinates." Said the pilot, his voice full of despair.

"Head to the main base, we'll help the evacuation." Markus ordered.

"Yes sir! That should take no more than fifteen minutes!" Markus nodded and turned towards the seating compartment. His ten marines were seated on the back row of the transport, with Harley seated just ahead of them. They were all in solemn prayer for the brothers they had lost. Markus sat next to Elli and bowed his own head. He began to intone the prayer of Lost Souls, urging the Emperor to guide their souls towards the great after life, the place where they will wait until the final conflict. As Markus muttered the words, his vox sounded.

"Markus? This is Dorme. Can you hear me?" Markus was jerked out of his thoughts.

"Yes captain, I can hear you. We're currently heading towards your location." Markus said, confused as to why he was speaking directly to him and not the pilots.

"Good," He said, and sounded slightly relieved. "When you get to the base, I need you to report directly to me, in person. Don't speak to anyone else, understood?"

"Yes sir, we're ten minutes out." Replied Markus.

"Good. Dorme out." Dorme said. The vox fell silent and left Markus to think about the conversation. He wondered why he had been directly summoned. Thoughts swam across his mind untill the pilot shouted out.

Markus shook the thoughts away as he stood and walked towards the side window panel. Far below, a vast field of criss-crossing trenches inexorably wound their way to the temporary base they had set up. A large pla-steel fortification circled around the tall but skinny looking buildings at the centre. Twin-linked heavy bolters lined the wall at regular intervals. A group of ten marines walked patrol around the wall, pausing every so often to scan the horizon, and pass information to the marines as they went by. The tower itself had a twin-linked auto cannon at every corner, and the roof, Markus knew hid a massive compliment of missiles designed for almost all types of defence. Within the fortification, a small area had been designated for transport shuttles, which the thunderhawk was heading for. The rest were filled with various ground transports and a pair of landraiders stood guard at the entrance. Jurgen hovered near the ground, to allow the rhino to detach itself. It did so and the thunderhawk glided towards the landing pads.

"After you have landed, perform a quick maintanence check, I suspect we will be lifting off quicker then we will think." Markus told Jurgen. Jurgen affirmed and landed the craft with far more precision then was required in the circumstances. Pursing his lips in silent amusement, he slid the hatch. The eleven marines aboard stood.

"Re-arm and get some food. Rest will have to wait." He told them. They slammed their breast plates in salute.

"Only in death does duty end." Elli muttered. Markus cuffed the marine as he walked past. He himself turned and made straight to where his visor was telling him that Dorme was. He passed through the main doors. Marines and servitors alike when scurrying around, clearly carrying messages to and from the command centre proper. He found a Grav chute leading to the higher level. He stepped in and was promptly lifted up a floor. Instantly he could feel the tension on the air. Captain Dorme, Captain of the 6th Company stood with both hands resting on the vast holo-table in the centre of the room. Four terminators from the 1st company stood to the side and various other marines from the other companies stood throughout the room. At the front of the table stood the Captain of the 4th Company, Taelon. He had one hand resting on his pistol with the other resting on the table.

"We do not have time to risk our lives to wait for a couple of squads. We have the command of two companies in this room, which is not an acceptable risk under the circumstances!" Taelon shouted. Dorme sighed heavily.

"That is not your decision to make. One marine or twenty, we wait." Dorme shot back, barely raising his voice. Apparantly no-one had noticed he had just entered. Taelon glared at the Captain.

"I will run through the necessary time calculations again, but if they are short we will leave immediately." He said, and punched something into the keypad. Dorme looked around and suddenly noticed Markus. He quickly walked over.

"Time is of the essence. Follow me." He said, and they both walked to a side room.

"Captain-" Dorme raised his armoured hand.

"Captain Taelon is ready to sacrifice the lives of our battle-brothers to save his own hide. He is also ready to shoot me if I raise any more complaints."

"What can I do?" Markus asked.

"I need Taelon to relinquish command. Currently, only the Chapter Master, Taelon and myself are left alive, Meaning Taelon is incharge of the ground forces. I need a man to support me if push comes to shove." Markus understood what Dorme meant.

"Yes sir, I understand."

"Swear an oath to me." Dorme asked. Hesitating only briefly, Markus pulled his bolt pistol from his side holster. He held it up, handle towards the Captain.

"I swear upon this pistol, that I pledge my alliedgence to you, and if I may fail, this pistol will be yours to take revenge in what way you see fit." Dorme grabbed the pistol, and handed it back.

"Thank you Markus." Markus took the pistol and holstered. When he looked up, he saw the Captain had already left the room. He followed. Taelon looked up from the table.

"I ran the numbers, at current speed they will not arrive before the Tyranids attack. I expect you to have your troops prepaired to evacuate." Taelon said.

"That is not acceptable. I will not allow you to sacrifice my men, to save your own ass!" Dorme shouted, finally giving in to anger. Taelon was too quick for Markus to see, but he pulled his pistol out and pointed it at Dorme. "I will not allow you to keep undermining my decisions!" Dorme stared at the pistol barrel squarely. Markus pulled his pistol and pointed it at the side of taelons head.

"What do you think you are doing boy?" Taelon growled, not moving his head.

"I think you should listen to Captain Dorme." Markus said. "Drop the gun." Markus said. Taelon snarled untill Markus nudged Taelon softly, digging into the Captains skin. He dropped the pistol which clattered noisely on the ground. Markus quickly picked it up.

"Take Captain Taelon to a shuttle and keep him under guard." Dorme said to the terminators. Two peeled off from the eeriely still squad and approached the Captain. He glared at them.

"This isn't over, Captain." He spat, placing emphasis on 'captain'. He turned and strode off, followed by the two terminators. Dorme sighed. He looked wearily at the table for a few moments without speaking.

"Sargeant." Dorme called suddenly, breaking the silence with a crack. "The men I am risking our lives for, and perhaps the remainder of this chapter carry with them an ancient S.T.C." Markus's eyes widened with reverence.

"A holy artifact!" He cried with wonder. Dorme nodded.

"This particular S.T.C is of very old design. The information is mostly intact." Dorme continnued. "The design is for a power source, more a way to streamline our existing sources by up to 100%."

"Meaning double the output. The benefits of this..." Markus said, trailing off.

"Yes, imagine ships that can last twice as long, weapons being fired at double strength, but this is all speculation. Tech-priest Varner has only been able to glean the smallest amounts of data. We must present this find to the Mechenicas on Mars to discover its true potential. It could be lees by far, or more. It may even be a trap by the Ruinous powers. Once we have it in the right hands can we know for sure." Dorme explained. Hearing Varners name stirred the memories of what seemed like days ago.

"I am sorry to report that Tech-Priest Varner has been slain by the enemy, even as he guided us to rescue our brethren." Markus said solomnly. At this Dorme laughed, a short laugh, devoid of any genuine emotion. Markus looked on in horror at his liege.

"The Tech-Priest is very much alive." Dorme said looking at Markus. "He told me about the base being overrun by the tyranids. He built the bunker, do you not think he would have had an escape route if he thought he would be overrun?" Dorme asked, with no hint of malice, just a simple explination of fact. "Nay, he is the one who discovered the Construct, and he is accompanying the squad of marines who have it." Relief flooded through Markus. If the angry old bastard had survived hundreds, if not thousands of tyranids, then there was hope left still.

"That is indeed good news!" Markus exclaimed. Then his mood turned dark once more. "But what of Taelon?"

"Captain Taelon did not see this as worth risking our lives for. He assumed that if we made it off the planet, we could call in reinforcements and claim the Construct. I knew there would not be eough time, but he would not listen." Dorme answered. "But come now, discussion is over. We must co-ordinate defences for this base. All essential equiptment and personnel are ready for evacuation at any moment. The tyranids are swarming from the north, east and south." Markus interuppted.

"Why not send a transport to recover them?" He asked, feeling slightly sheepish at asking something that was blatantly obvious. Dorme however just smiled.

"Tech-Priest Varner has an affinity with underground tunnels. He is travelling under ground from the west." With the question answered, Markus let the Captain continue.