Matroyshka by David McGuire

Im here to shoot someone, the man answered. Sifferings next question froze on his lips as his drink-soaked mind processed that last and unexpected response. He frantically hunted through his memory for anything bad he had done, and then quickly shifted to anything bad he had done that other people knew about, in order to narrow the field. What? What? Who? The oddly-uniformed man still didnt look at him, his eyes hunting here and there amongst the press of troopers. He spoke in an almost off-hand fashion, as if enjoying a private joke. I dont know. Ive never seen him. Please excuse me, trooper. Siffering breathed a sigh of relief that was almost pure resac fumes as he watched the darkskinned, tidy little man walk away through the boisterous crowd. Nearly sobered me up there, you little ah! Maliutin, you jug-eared piece of piss! Have a drink you son-of-a you have one already! Good man! Salut! At the far end of the bar, the oddly-uniformed man smiled down at a bald-headed, pale-faced woman, who was staring at a broad-shouldered trooper sitting across the table from her. Both the woman and the trooper had shot-glasses in their hands, full to the brim. Hello, Shiny, said the man, his sardonic tone making it clear that this was not a sociable greeting. The woman looked up, briefly flashed a sarcastic smile, and then turned back to the trooper. Hello, Blunt. I thought Id find you here. Although I thought you would be lying either on or under the table by this point. I imagine the note that said I have gone for a drink cut down on the thinking time a little, but well done, anyway. The trooper scowled, his drink still held in front of him. Are you two love-birds going to talk or are we going to drink? The woman just stared at him. Eventually, the man she had called Blunt said Ill be over here, then, and strode over to a free stool, where he sat, looking around the packed bar-tent with obvious disinterest. Money changed hands among the troopers friends and other onlookers, and the woman and the trooper downed their drinks in one go. They then grabbed their lasrifles from the floor, slammed them down on the table between them and began stripping the mechanism, fingers flying as they both slurred the Litanies of Maintenance. The woman fumbled the firing actuator, and a snort of derision went up from the surrounding men. She eventually got the charging coil out, tapped it fleetingly on the desk and began reassembly, but the trooper was now a step or two ahead of her. A few seconds later he gave a howl of victory, pointed the re-built lasrifle at the smokestained ceiling and pulled the trigger. The racking mechanism popped out with a hiss and an unpleasant burning smell, and fell onto the drink-sodden tabletop.

The woman raised her rifle, grinning in self-satisfaction, and put a fresh scorch-mark on the flakboard ceiling. The shot didnt attract any attention in the packed bar-tent. She slammed the rifle down onto the table with a whoop of drunken delight, and stood up, her chair falling over behind her. And she wins again! She crowed into the troopers alcohol-reddened face. They said it couldnt be done, and now the crowd are calling for a victory lap of honour! She went round the crowd taking fistfuls of currency from each of them, which they mostly gave up without too much of a struggle. Mutterings of discontent and mumbled accusations of cheating simply made her smirk all the more. She turned back to the trooper at the small table, her winnings disappearing into her uniform pockets. Better luck next time, Kovus. Maybe youll be up against someone you can beat, like a girl. Oh, wait and she laughed again. The man she had called Blunt sighed, and slipped down off his stool. He had seen how nights like this usually ended. He sorted his uniform cuffs and smoothed his lapels, waiting for the fighting to start. Kovus stood up with a grating sound as his chair slid back over the rough, studded floor. He towered over the woman, who was now smiling up at him, batting her lashless eyelids mockingly, her head tilted to one side. He paused. Well done, maam. Think Ill call it a night, lads, he said to his friends and pushed off through the crowd around the bar. The woman seemed slightly disappointed as she watched his retreating back, a faint look of surprise on her face. I wouldnt have hurt him. Much. Whats with these new guys? Just a bit of fun on Revelry Night. The man she called Blunt walked over to stand beside her. I think you hurt his feelings, Vhuna. I doubt you could have hurt anything else. Almost impossible as it is to conceive, I think he was attracted to you. Hurt his feelings? These grunts dont have feelings, Blunt. They just have my money. She turned around, her expression hardening and her silver eyes darkening to a stormy grey. What do you mean, impossible to conceive? Thats a low blow, even from you. Not what I meant, I assure you. Poor choice of words. She grunted, and started pulling notes out of her pockets, counting her winnings. Apology accepted. It wasnt an apology. No, I didnt think so. Time to go, eh? You know the Colonel doesnt like it when you wander off like this. Most of the men get jumpy around you. She stopped counting the money long enough to tap her wrists together sharply right in front of the mans face, the two intricate metal bracelets clinking twice as she did so. The sound was surprisingly heavy and muted.

The man rocked his head back a fraction, a look of annoyance showing on his face. Doesnt make any difference, you know that. Come on. One last drink, Blunty? Celebrate my winnings? Tomorrow we may all die? You will, probably. She whirled on him, her pale, sweating face a sudden mask of rage. Feck you, Blunt! Just feck you! She headed for the door, unsteadily elbowing and pushing her way through the crowd as best she could, spilling drinks whenever she got the chance. Shouts and curses rained off her retreating back. Cadet Commissar Koju smiled to himself, wiped the flecks of the psyker womans spittle from his face, smoothed his lapels and followed her back to the billet. # My, aren't you a glorious sight in the morning, Shiny. With the lights off you look almost human, Koju said as he strode into the small dorm. He took his cap off, peered into the reflector-strip over the wash-stand and ran a hand through his close-cropped blond hair. It shone like a beacon above his jet-black face. Vhuna said nothing as she swung her legs over the edge of the bunk, rubbing her wrists where the dampener-bracelets had chafed during the night. She hadnt even heard him unlock the door. Her head was groggy from the evening before, and her wits were slow. She really, really needed a drink of water. Koju probably knew this, which was why he was preening around in front of the wash-stand. She wasn't about to give him the pleasure he would wring from a request that he move aside. Koju eventually turned around, fitting his peaked cap with its white band back on his head. Colonel wants to see you. Now. Vhuna swore, and sighed heavily. All right. Give me a minute. Koju grinned like the soul of generosity itself. I'll give you two. He swept of out the cramped dorm, his coat cracking with a practised flick. He whipped the canvas drapes over the window to one side as he passed. The light burrowed painfully into Vhuna's skull, and she winced, turning her head away as her gorge rose in protest. This was going to be a long day.

You scrub up well, Psyker Vhuna. If you weren't wearing such a shapeless uniform I could almost bring myself to think of you as female. And if you had a dick you'd almost be a man. Koju didn't look at her as they walked. Careful. There are lines, you know. Despite my good nature. Vhuna bit her tongue as numerous acid rejoinders clamoured to be said. No sense in making this day any worse, and Koju clearly had some special reason to be acting even more of an arsehole than usual. They walked on in silence between the regular Guard barracks, their exhaled breath hanging

behind them in the still and crisp mountain air. As usual the clarity of the air was working wonders on Vhuna's hangover, and her thumping headache began to ease. She looked up at the towering, snow-covered peaks surrounding the encampment, and flanking the pass higher up the glacial valley to the south. It was high summer on Coulters Haven, at least on this lofty bit of it, and glittering rilles along the scree-slopes to the west caught the early morning light as the sun crested the cols of the Arpentium to the east. Far above, wispy clouds soared and scudded in some distant stratospheric wind against a limitless, crystal blue sky. There was a lot more sky this morning, thought Vhuna, more sky and less mountains. Just an optical illusion, probably, but a pleasing one nonetheless. A half-dozen troopers, out enjoying a few smokes after the morning mess, stopped talking as Vhuna and Koju passed. They were both used to such behaviour, although for completely different reasons. So. What's it about? Vhuna asked. As if they would tell me, Shiny. Come on. I am but a cog in the machine. One hand among millions. One ego too many. Come on, Blunt. Spill it. He snorted, and then paused. Someone wants to take a look at you. She waited for it. Poor fecker doesn't know what he's letting himself in for. Weak, Blunt. Weak and predictable. You're slipping. Never make Commissar at this rate. He flashed her another of his sardonic smiles and kept on walking. They were nearly there.

After the Colonel's adjutant had checked her bracelets outside the Command tent she and Koju were summoned inside. The canvas tent was large and spacious, but crammed full of comms gear and dominated by a flat holodisplay and cogitator unit in the centre. Beside it stood Colonel Lehk, a handsome man with strong, almost aristocratic features and all the warmth and personal charm of the sociopath he undoubtedly was. Beside him stood Commissar Vodalus. He was an old man, with a face like the surface of an asteroid, and fire in his ample belly enough for a whole platoon. The air smelled of gutka smoke, wet dog and ozone. The smoke was coming from the old Commissar, as usual. The wet dog smell and the ozone was coming from a hulking mass of furs and leathers slouched in a chair. The occupant's face was turned away from Vhuna; all she could see was a shock of greasy, straggling hair spilling over his winter clothing, but she could see him clearly if she closed her eyes. He was a psyker. The instant her inner gaze fell upon him he turned and sprang up out of the chair, which rebounded from the sudden departure of so much weight and spun to the duckboard floor. He loomed over the room like the shadow of a mountain, a bear of a man with wild, sparkling eyes and heavy features framed by all that hair. He moved, slowly and then quickly, circling around the room towards Vhuna and her guardian. He was growling, low and threatening. She felt Koju shift uncomfortably beside her. Some small, mammalian part of her brain quailed, and wanted to run up a tree, or hide under a log.

Then he was upon her, standing in front of her, moving behind her. He bent his massive head; she caught a waft of sour milk and wet leaves. He put his face close to her head, and she could have sworn he was smelling her. She began to shiver, suddenly feeling the cold and the altitude. He pressed closer, beside her now, his wet furs pushing into her. She wanted to draw away, and looked up at Colonel Lehk and the Commissar, but they were looking elsewhere. His breathing was rough and heavy, and she could feel the warmth on her neck. Not only was he physically close and imposing, he was psychically overwhelming as well. Vhuna could feel could see the roiling depths of his mind, depths in which swam things she did not want to see. Endless, unlit depths. She shuddered. He looked at her, and growled again, then looked at Colonel Lekh. How many? His voice was like rocks breaking underwater. Six, my Lord, Lekh replied quickly, looking as if he would like to add more for the sake of politeness, but could think of no way to embellish such little information. Six, he said again. Vhuna's blood ran cold. She prayed to the God Emperor that he didn't ask to see them. Something told her Lekh and Vodalus would not could not refuse him, and she tried to steel herself to the ordeal. The giant moved away from her as quickly as he had arrived, and began pacing around the room, his massive head turning this way and that as if searching for something. Vhuna tried to make herself as small as possible, tried to stop her heart from beating so loudly. The man stopped. Six. I see. You may proceed. With that he turned and left the Command Tent, and Vhuna did not need her psy-sense to know that everyone left in the room had just breathed a massive sigh of release. Well, said the Colonel. That was - He coughed. That was Commissar. I think that's all, think we're done here. You can go. The Colonel turned smartly and, despite his words, it was he who walked out through the flap at the back of the tent to his personal apartments, leaving the old Commissar to stare openly at Vhuna. After what she had just been through, he could stare at her all day if he felt like it as far as she was concerned. No-one was about to put a gun to her head again, that was this morning's good news. The Commissar tapped the end of his pipe on the quiescent holodisplay table, still looking at Vhuna. Then he looked over at Koju. Anything happen last night I need to know about, Cadet Commissar? His voice was quiet, unassuming. You would never think it to hear him on the battlefield. Nothing, Commissar Vodalus. Oh! The Psyker Vhuna and I paid a visit to the bar to get some air, however. A fleeting visit. Nothing of any consequence, I should have said. There was a pause, and Koju coughed. Will the Inquisitor be returning, Commissar Vodalus? If Vhuna had any blood left in her face, it drained out at that point. Vodalus laughed, softly, and refilled his pipe. That wasn't the Inquisitor, Cadet. I doubt he's even in the sub-sector. He laughed again. Do you really think he would that we would heh! You're young. I forget I was young once too.

Koju bristled at this comment, but said nothing, and Vhuna could tell that he was embarrassed. He had been trying to impress her, unlikely as it seemed. That was one of his Interrogators. One of his field men. A bookish sort, I understand. Don't think I ever caught his name. Don't think I was meant to. Dismissed. Vhuna turned and followed Koju out of the tent.

They stood outside in the chill morning air, the warmth of the Command Tent leaching quickly away. Koju retrieved a packet of gutka-sticks from his arm pocket and proffered one to Vhuna. She took it with fingers that barely trembled at all. If her bracelets had been turned off she could have done her party trick, but as it was she permitted Koju to light the stick. The proximity of the man as he did so sent a fresh chill down her spine, despite the effects of the limiter he wore around his neck. The warm smoke brought her some ease, and the thick collection of lines around her eyes and tight, pinched mouth relaxed very slightly. I dont suppose youre about to tell me what he was doing here? I doubt the reliquaries need the likes of him. Need to know, Shiny. Need to know. Youre welcome, by the way. Koju put the packet of sticks away, and started to walk towards the comms tent, where Vhuna was expected on duty. She took another draw deep into her lungs, sighed out the last of her uneasiness and followed after him over the frozen, rocky soil. Even before they reached the tent, Vhuna could tell something was amiss. Resolve, she said. The word stopped Koju in his tracks, and he turned to face her. He caught the hubbub coming from the comms tent and quickly detached a code-key from his belt. He paused. Taliesyn. Sabbatine. Iconarch. Vhuna quickly recited the names of the Saints that no warpdaemon could ever bear to utter, and Koju nodded. She held out her hands. Koju placed the key into a slot on the side of one of her bracelets, and Vhuna quickly pressed her wrists together, planting the key into a matching slot on the other bracelet. With her wrists now locked together Koju pressed two runes on the code-key, one on the top and the other on the bottom, at the same time. There was no way Vhuna could reach these runes herself with her wrists clamped together like that. The Mechanicus had been diligent in their safety routines. The code-key bleeped three times and the bracelets unlocked. Koju retrieved the key as Vhunas head jerked upwards, her silver eyes rolling back into her skull. Her head snapped forward an instant later, her eyes blazing with an unearthly light. Theyre here, she said. And not where we expected them, not at all. Get the Colonel. She hurried off into the tent where the commotion was now spilling out the open flaps as messengers rushed out with data-slips. Koju keyed his vox link for Colonel Lekh as he followed the psyker into the comms tent.

The arrival of the Colonel and his coterie found the initially fraught comms tent now welldisciplined by the presence of the Cadet Commissar. The presence of the psyker in her unbound state had also imposed a kind of nervous calm, although most of the comms officers were more or less used to her by now. Lieutenant Weild fired off his salute along with the rest of them and stood stiffly to attention. Communique from General Kurt at the Convent, sir. He handed over a data-slate, although Colonel Lekh did not even glance at it. He just waved it in the air to silence the Lieutenant before moving over to the chart table, where a map of the Canossis region of Coulters Haven had been spread. Show, dont tell, Lekh said. Theyve come down here and here. This whole area, and the bay as well. We think here too, Weilds finger indicated various points to the north of the Convent of the Adorers of the Blood of the Emperor. Nothing in the grain valleys to our south? The forests? queried Lekh, his head still bent to examine the locations Weild had pointed out. He must have caught Weilds nervous nod out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, his anger at the non-verbal response clear in his face. Youre absolutely sure? Be certain, Lieutenant. Act as if your very life depends on it. Weild shuffled backwards under the Colonels furious glare and gestured to Vhuna, standing to attention off to one side. Koju stood behind her. The orbital scans are accurate, Colonel. There is nothing south of us. Not yet. Lekh glanced at the prcis on the data-slate. He knew what to expect, and found it almost immediately. The orbital platforms are gone. Destroyed. This information is old. You have to be sure, Psyker. Im not about to abandon this position only to be bit in the arse as we pull back to the Convent. That much biomass I would see it easily. The generals psykers got it wrong, sir. The southern Breadbasket is clear. Lekh turned back to the chart table without another word, studied it in silence for a moment and then straightened up, slapping the table loudly with both hands as he did so. Major Limburgh. I think we should be thanking the Emperor that they are not here in strength enough to seed the whole planet at once. We fall back to the Convent and hold there with the main force until the transports arrive and the reliquaries are away. I want the mechanised companies to leave as soon as they are ready. Within the hour, understood? Everyone else will follow on up the pass by noon at the latest. Bravo Company Armoured Fists are to form a rear guard, just in case. Strike camp and prepare my transport for immediate departure. I want to see this Convent for myself before the enemy arrives. Cadet Commissar, you and your psyker are with me. The Colonel strode from the tent and in his wake the cramped place exploded into activity as the officers and men rushed to implement his orders.

The Salamanders engine rasped and revved, filling the tiny compartment with a foundry of noise and the stench of hot unguents. The tracks slipped on the frozen surface as the alpinecamod vehicle roared up the valley towards the pass which slumped between two southfacing peaks. The sound of stones ricocheting off the adamantium hull competed with the

thrashing engine to drown out the occupants conversation, conversation which became even harder as the vehicle started bouncing and lurching over the larger rocks of the moraine. Vhuna clung onto her webbing straps, and did her best not to be sick. Or to scream. She did not like confined spaces, not one little bit. Colonel Lekh, on the other hand, seemed utterly indifferent to the bucking steel-tomb he had chosen as his transport, and was deep in conversation with his adjutant, Major Limburgh, and two other aides. Any word from the Orders Sisters of Battle? Can we expect them to come and help defend their own bloody Convent? Where the hell are they? Those fat nuns watching the relics are about as much use to me as a comb to that psyker! shouted Lekh. The reply was lost to Vhuna as one track revved impossibly loudly and the side of the scout vehicle she was on plunged sickeningly before bouncing and grinding over the rocky terrain once again. Glancing up, she was enraged to see Koju looking at her with amusement in his eyes. She swallowed her anger; there was nothing she could do with it right now. In her mind, the surface of the Canossis region was laid out as if etched in silver. Features were indistinct unless she focused her minds-eye on them, but even so the deformations caused by the lifeweight of the invading Tyranid armies far-off to the north stood out clearly. As they proceeded up the mountain pass she could even begin to see the bruising in the skein caused by the massed defenders arrayed at the Convent. The Imperial Guard had received advance notice of the arrival of one of the last, lost remnants of the shattered Hive Fleet Kraken in the Coulters Haven system, and were here in force to deny the enemy a foothold to rebuild their strength. Not that Coulters Haven offered much in the way of material for the Hive Fleet to consume. A Haven in name only this world was sparsely populated, and far from verdant. Even the oceans were dead, the chloro-bromine seas incapable of holding life. Mockingly known as the Breadbasket, the lower reaches of the Arpentium valleys were the one attempt at horticulture on this world, and would fail without the yearly salvation of imported water for irrigation. Still, they kept the Convent in grain. The Convent of the Adorers was the only feature on Coulters Haven worth the effort of defending, and even then only until the famous reliquaries of the patron Saint of the Order were removed. Once it was gone, the ravening hordes could have this world, until absolution arrived and burned them all from high orbit. Even now the Navy was mopping up the few living ships that had made it past the blockade, although obviously not quickly enough to prevent them launching their mycetic spores. Hive Fleet Kraken would not renew itself here, thought Vhuna, but plenty of Guard were going to fall to protect some musty old relics. It would have helped if any of her fellow troopers had even heard of Coulters bloody Haven, the Adorers of the Blood of the Emperor or their precious and supposedly famous relics, but there you were. Life in the Guard. Is she safe? Vhuna heard the Colonel shout over to Koju. She was not nave enough to think he was enquiring after her health. Psyker Vhunas bracelets have been deactivated, Colonel. I thought you would want to retain the use of her senses for now, Koju yelled back, gripping onto his own webbing as the old Salamander slid and leapt again. The terrain was getting steeper as they neared the summit of the pass. The Colonels chiselled face remained impassive, giving no impression of whether he approved of Kojus suggestion or not. Theres a lot I dont like about this mission, Cadet Commissar. I dont like mountains. Mountains and tanks dont mix. I dont like being bottled-up on a plateau. And I dont like

being the lab-monkey for you and your warp-magnet. He paused, still looking at Koju, his eyes blank. Youve seen action together before. It wasnt a question. Green-skins. A large theatre, plenty of back-up. Plenty of reinforcements. Plenty of places to fall back to in the event of a cluster-feck. In the Convent therell be none of that. Your pyskers been useful so far, but I dont like what I hear. You should know that. I dont like it. If she screws up . He paused again, letting the words hang. Koju nodded. The Commissariat is ever mindful of its duty, Colonel. Lekh stared at him for a few seconds longer, and then turned back to his adjutant. Neither of them had looked at Vhuna throughout the exchange, and Koju avoided the womans eyes for the remainder of the journey.

The pass descended quickly to a broad plateau, nestled amongst the peaks that towered around it. The bulk of General Kurts army was spread across it, sending blue engine smoke curling into the chill air. Where the road from the pass reached the plateau another road, this time coming up from the lower land to the north, reached the plateau also. It was up this long second road that any survivors of the northern redoubts would retreat to the final defence of the Convent. The Convent was actually several complexes, built over the centuries through the blood and sweat of the devotional Sisters of the Holy Order themselves. At the far northern end of the plateau where it jutted out over the valley the flat, rocky surface was split and pierced by six tall pinnacles of granite and sandstone that leapt upwards from the fractured ground towards the heavens. None of the outcrops less than three hundred metres high, the Convent buildings were perched impossibly on top of them, bell-towers and conical domes straining to catch the sun and scratch the sky. Between the pinnacles the surface of the plateau fell away over a thousand feet to the rockstrewn valley floor beneath, where a thin ribbon of silver glinted and flashed in the noon sun. The Salamander had stopped at the convergence of the two roads, nearly a mile to the south of the towers, and the occupants had dismounted to allow Colonel Lekh to survey his field of battle. To Vhuna it looked like they were standing on the palm of a gargantuan hand whose giant rock fingers stretched ever upwards in mute praise of the Emperor. Koju strolled over to where Vhuna stood alone, his hands clasped casually behind his back. He stopped beside her and followed her gaze up at the colossal pillars of rock nearly a mile away. Now why do you suppose the Sisters would chose such mighty erections for their Convent? When Vhuna said nothing he just snorted, grinned and walked off, whistling to himself. Looking beyond the massive natural formations of the Convent pillars, Vhuna could see the far valley wall, and above that the lesser peaks of the Arpentium range. Further north the peaks dipped towards the invisible lowlands where the Tyranid spores had landed, and beyond that the poisonous sea. Already faint columns of smoke could be seen wending upwards from unseen conflagrations, ominous reflections of the holy structures ahead of her. The skies to the north were beginning to darken, as both the smoke and the foul machinations of the Tyranid weather-spores combined in the lower atmosphere. Soon the whole sky would be blackened as the spores began to alter the ecosystem to suit their needs. Night was coming to Coulters Haven.

Now listen carefully. The only reason you are here at all is because we need an early warning system, and since auspex performance sucks in these mountains and since the Navy are too busy to watch our backs and, the Major sighed with exasperation, air cover is nonexistent, you are it. Understood? Vhuna nodded quickly. Good. I dont want to hear from you otherwise. Cadet Commissar, if you please. Major Limburgh, his rough-hewn face partially hidden by bronze augmetics, showed Koju where he could plant his charge, in the far corner. He then turned back to the gathering of senior officers and Ordo superiors sat around the stone table that dominated the domed room. Far below on the plateau, the dust and noise and chaos of the assembling forces seemed a world away to Vhuna. The high mountain air was charged, faces were reddened and hackles were raised. As Vhuna settled quietly into her flimsy metal seat, trying to stop her bracelets from clinking together, she could tell that discussions were not going well. Colonel Lekh was talking animatedly, and it was obvious he was not used to having to withhold his true opinions, nor was he particularly good at it. While I respect the need to observe the holy rites Your respect is clear in all you say and do, Colonel of the Imperial Guard, and we are all grateful for the honour you do us. The old womans voice coming from within the simple scarlet and grey cowl of the senior Abbess of the Order was slow and measured, light but firm, and carried none of the weakness her considerable years had imposed on her flesh. Lekh bit his tongue, fury flashing in his eyes. He looked at General Kurt, sitting silently to one side, cursed silently as the General avoided his gaze, and tried again. The last reports from what is left of the frontline suggest the first fast-attack waves will be on us tonight. The drop-ships are waiting out there on the plateau, Holy Abbatissa. We can have the reliquaries off-planet before night-fall. General, am I mistaken? General Kurt, the very large and formidable-looking Grand Schema Lucretius now spoke, her black exorassa ornately decorated with the sigils of centuries of holy service, this Abbey of Meteora has held the most holy relics of our ancient Order for nigh on three millennia. No servant of the Emperor would ever see these sacred items treated with anything other than the utmost reverence. It is simply impossible. You, alone of all outsiders in more than eight hundred years, have seen what these reliquaries contain. You, alone of all outsiders, know the true nature of what we guard here with our lives and our devotion. General Kurt grunted. Of course, of course. A great honour. One that I treasure. As a military man I must listen to my advisers Colonel Lekh sat back with an audible and almost contemptuous sigh of relief, but as a servant of the Emperor I must acknowledge what I have seen, what wonders have been given me to behold in this most sacred of places. The look from Colonel Lekh would have fused ceramite had he possessed an iota of psyker power. The General seemed immune to his subordinate's incredulity, however. No, Colonel, I must agree with the Holy Abbatissa and the Grand Schema. These relics must be accorded the piety that is their due. We would commit the greatest of offences in the eyes of the Emperor were we to fail to act in accordance with the dictates of the Order in this matter. Our lives must be spent and our blood must be spilled, but in this matter the Holy Abbatissa and I are as one. In the regrettable absence of the holy Sisters more martial cousins we are left to carry this burden alone. We must hold this plateau, and the landing site, we must hold. We must hold until the relics are safe to transport.

The general looked at the faces around the room. We are finished here, then with the grace of the Abbatissa the cowled figure nodded once, Colonel, deploy your men to defend the Convent and the landing site until morning. Once the relics are off-planet we will fall back by companies to the transports. Lekh had only just managed to master his roiling emotions, and sat forward once again. Acknowledged, sir. At least we can take the Sisters out now, those that are not needed for the the blessing of the relics, or whatever. The Grand Schema turned her beady eyes on the Colonel. I fear you have misunderstood, most honoured Colonel. None of the Sisters will cross the seals until the relics are fully prepared for their journey. She folded her puffy hands over her huge stomach. We will all leave in the morning, she said, with a mirthless smile. The vein on Lekhs forehead throbbed. He sat back, a rictus grin of purest, distilled exasperation pasted on his face. He drummed his fingers on the wooden arms of his chair while he stared up at the delicately frescoed ceiling. Of course you will, he said loudly to the oft-restored renditions of the Orders saints. He stood up suddenly, his chair scraping over the unglazed tile floor. With your leave, Abbatissa, General. I must prepare my men for a siege. Colonel Lekh stormed out of the domed room, his aides hurrying to keep up with him. The meeting broke up as the General sent his other officers about their duties. Vhuna realised Koju was no longer beside her. He had gone to stand beside the tall, arched windows along the north side of the room, and was looking out over the deep valley. She got up quietly, and joined him. The valley floor was almost fifteen hundred feet below, the steep sides lined with countless run-off gullies and rivulets. A ragged line of shadow from the mountain ridges to the west was starting to creep up its boulder-strewn length. Vhuna suddenly remembered that the room she was standing in was buttressed out over the precipice, and that only a foot or two of stone and wood stood between her and a nightmare fall. She had to stop herself from stepping back, and instead focused her gaze upwards and outwards. The skies far to the north were bruised and ugly, and the stain in the atmosphere was spreading; east, west and south, towards the Convent. It would make an impressively forbidding sight when the setting sun lit it blood red in a few hours time. I need to speak to the General, Vhuna said softly. Then speak. Vhuna turned round, startled to see the General standing behind her, and immediately snapped a salute. General Kurt. Forgive me. I that is Youre not a precog, are you? Are any of you? No, sir. Im a scryer. Good, good. Seems my psykers got the landing points wrong. Id rather have a good scryer than a precog any day. Good information now is always better than bad information yesterday.

Yes, sir. Wanted to get a look at you. The General put a hand on her face, turned it to one side, looked in her eyes. Vhuna felt like a prize grox, but managed to avoid flinching at the contact. The Matroyshka. Smaller than I expected, from what Lekh said, but then I got the impression you intimidated him a little. I ought to thank you for that one day. What did you want to tell me, psyker? The Navy, sir. They think they have all the xeno flesh-ships accounted for, but theyre wrong. I dont know why they cant see them, but there are three, maybe four, still in high orbit. You can see them from here? The General sounded incredulous. Yes, sir. The larger the lifeweight the more they deform the skein In Gothic, psyker. Sorry, sir. Theres a lot of them, so I can see them from further away. Cadet Commissar? Koju looked slightly surprised. Sir? Youre the psykers watchman. Can I rely on this? Psyker Vhunas scrying abilities are not in any doubt, sir. If she says they are there, then that is the truth. The half-smile on Kojus face told Vhuna that the emphasis on scrying abilities had not been an accident. Not for the first time that day she bit back her anger. The General, paused, thinking. You cant give me anything more precise? Admiral Mamontov wont appreciate being told hes missed a few unless I tell him where they are. No more than that, sir, replied Vhuna. The Navy need to keep looking, sir. Something must be confusing the auspex. High polar orbit. They may have seeding spores left, or they may intend to land. Yes, yes. Cadet Commissar, let me know if you can wring anything else from her. And let me know when the advance xeno forces will arrive. I need as much warning as I can get it seems comms have just been cut-off with the frontlines in the lowlands. The General face looked grim as he turned and left the room. Vhuna took a deep breath, and was about to unload on Koju when she caught the eyes of the Abbatissa looking at her. She paused, the venomous barbs dying on her lips as the old woman walked slowly around the large stone table towards her. The Abbatissa lifted back her cowl with clawed, arthritic fingers. For the first time Vhuna noticed the missing fourth finger on both hands that was the holy mark of this Order. The womans face was gnarled and deeply-lined. The fragile skin looked like a relief map of a river delta, or the walls of the valley far below, weathered and carved by time. One quavering hand reached out and gently brushed the side of Vhunas cheek. She froze, her breath suspended, as the Abbatissas pale, watery eyes searched Vhunas own. She could see the silver psyker light that glimmered within her reflected deep beneath the cataracts that clouded the holy womans sight. Child. Are you here? Vhunas skin electrified, and she had to will herself to answer.

Not not really. How how do you know? I do not. I can see, but I do not know what it is I see. You are you are thin, child, it is the only word I can think of. I can see behind you. Yes, most holy sister. You fear this. You fear you are not real. Of of course. You dont Peace, child. Our Order does not despise the psyker as so many others do. The Emperor would not have given you this gift if he did not think you could bear it. A long life and an endless devotion have taught me many things, most of all how much I still have to learn, but I will tell you this. I wake up every morning, in my cell in this beautiful convent, and remember that these old bones are made of dust and dirt, nothing more, and that it's just a desperate illusion that I have any more choices that day than the fire burning in the hearth, or the clouds scudding in the sky, or a rock falling down a cliff. Dust and dirt. Nothing more. And you? Thin as you are, strangely thin as you are, you're no different. What you need to ask yourself child is, knowing all this, why do I get out of my cot at all? Hmm? Vhuna paused, uncertain. I I really ah. I don't know, most holy sister. The Abbatissa smiled, and took her hand away from Vhunas face. It's not a very comfortable cot, but that's not really the answer, she said, and then she too turned and left. The Abbatissa is right, you know. You are a bit thin, although youve been putting on weight around the hips a bit. Getting a bit low-slung, there, Shiny. Got a couple of saddle-bags on the way. Have you no fecking piety, Blunt, no soul? Shes a holy woman of orders. You shouldnt talk like that. Im not the one swearing in a Convent. And at least I know I have a soul, not that it's ever done me any good. Here's an interesting question, Shiny. Does a mask have a soul if you wear it often enough? What do you think? I think if you dont shut the feck up were going to find out just how much body weight it takes to break right through this window here. Remember, its not the fall that kills you. Its me shooting you on the way down that does that. Shiny. You wound me. Give me time.

Vhuna shifted the weight of the lasrifle, trying to make it less uncomfortable, but it was still digging into her shoulder. Around her the men of 2nd Infantry Platoon were arranged in static defensive lines, staggered back from the edge of the precipice in the deep shadow of the towering rock columns that supported the buildings of the Convent. An Armoured Fist platoon was stationed to their right, and the men of the 12th Infantry Platoon to their left. Their flanks were protected by the vertical walls of the pinnacles. The open lifts and insanely steep, winding, stone-carved stairs that gave access to lofty Meteora were about fifty metres behind them. Somewhere far above them, hundreds of holy Sisters were beginning the blessing rituals to allow the relics to be moved from their centuries-old home. Each pinnacle of rock held its own

reliquaries, and ceremonies that no outsider could witness were underway at the top of each of them. The Sisters had promised they would be finished before dawn. Men from the Munitorum were rushing to and fro some way behind the platoon, trying to erect the massive arc lamps that would bathe the landing site and allow the transports to return in the pre-dawn darkness for the troops once they had taken the reliquaries and the Sisters to the waiting Naval ships in orbit. The cooling twilight air, made cooler still by the northerly breeze that had sprung up in the last hour or so, resounded to the shouts and orders of the Munitorum staffers. Farther off the distant landslide rumble of the massed tanks of the mechanised companies arrayed around the landing site made the dust that clung to every rocky surface shimmer and shift. An enormous weight of metal was primed on top of this vast plateau, ready to brace itself against the awful tide of flesh that was rolling in unimpeded from the north. Not one inch could be given. No part of the plateau could be lost to the xeno enemy. The order was given. Let not one of them through. Vhuna knew well that Sanctioned Psykers were not supposed to fight the front-line. They were supposed to be held in reserve, to use their skills as and when directed by field command or the Commissariat. This had been drilled into them all at the Scholastia Psykana, they were tools, designed by the Emperor for a specific purpose, but Vhuna had been a special project, one that had taxed the minds and methods of the Scholastia trainers. She was uniquely suited for front-line duties. She was the ultimate expendable resource. Koju stood off to one side, her ever-present guardian angel of death. He had equipped himself with his Commissariat-issue bolt-pistol and chainsword, and had been walking casually along the defensive line, talking to the troopers. His relaxed, sardonic attitude translated well on the battlefield, and the men felt emboldened by his presence and easy manner. His feats with the Commissar Training Squad on Ventia Illustra, pushing deep into the ork-held sea-ports and slaughtering a warboss by most reliable accounts (including his own), had made him a figure of some renown already. He had been assigned to Vhuna for the remainder of that conflict to replace her sadly-deceased previous guardian. The men of their new regiment had been just as impressed by the further stories of what he and Vhuna had managed to accomplish together against the orks, although as a psyker she would never be held in anything other than fear by the common troopers wary suspicion at best, perhaps. At present he was telling a knot of riflemen how the General himself had been permitted to view the most holy of the relics held in the highest tower of the tallest pinnacle, and how the General had been so struck by the honour done to the regiments under his command that he was in the front-lines himself, ready to give the last drop of his blood for the opportunity to die saving these most holy artefacts. Vhuna had to concede that Koju told the tale well, with a fiery zeal that seemed to come naturally, shining through his sarcastic exterior like the very essence of virtuous truth itself. It might even, given the Generals words to the Abbetissa earlier, have been true, although since Vhuna could see the General etched clearly in her mind some way from the front-lines she knew it was not. She paused as she examined the scene laid out in her mind. Something was wrong. She quickly hunted around; the weight of the hordes to the north, drawing ever closer, glimmering argent in her psy-scape; the vague weight of the still-unfound flesh-ships hiding somewhere in the polar auroras; the glowing, pulsing detail of the thousands of men and machines arranged behind her. Something was wrong. She jumped up from the sand-bag firing step and strode over to Koju. He had finished the embellishment of the General and was getting to the punchline of one his dirtier jokes. I didnt say her face, I said

Blunt Cadet Commissar Koju we need to talk. He wheeled on her, obviously annoyed at being interrupted, and even more so at being called Blunt in front of the men. Then he saw the look in her eyes, and drew her off to one side where they could talk without being overheard. Theres something somethings wrong. Tell me. I dont understand. The xenos? No, not them. It its hard to explain to a non-psyker. Well try, dammit! Ok. I see everything as if it were etched in silver in quicksilver to be precise. I know you cant etch anything in quicksilver, but thats what its like. No matter what it is, its always silver, right? Off to the west, theres something thats not etched in silver. And its not really etched. Sort of rippled and muddy. I cant do you understand what I mean? Koju frowned. Sort of. His frown deepened. Give me the names. What? Its not that, Blunt. The names. Fine. Taliesyn. Sabbatine. Iconarch. Im not possessed, for Thrones sake. Theres something there, some lifeweight that I havent seen before. Its small in scope, but heavy. Heavy life. Does that mean anything to you? Im this is new to me, too. The orks were nothing like this. Heavy life, dark life its the only way I can think to describe it. I dont like it. Koju stared at her. And its not the xenos. How far? About twenty miles. Its not moving. Are you going to ? Yes. Of course. Koju keyed his com-link for Colonel Lekh, thought for a moment and then keyed in Commissar Vodalus as well. They werent going to like this.

Youre going to need to give me something a hell of a lot better than that, Cadet Commissar! Lekh shouted over the vox-link. Theres no way on the God-Emperors-steel-Terra that a Salamander could even get to that location before morning, let alone before the xenos arrive. Youre wasting my time, Cadet! If its not moving and its that far away then the xenos will take care of it, whatever the unlucky feck it is. Sir, I spluttered Koju. Cadet Commisar Koju, what do you make of it? The Commissars voice was a stately ocean of calm compared to the irate Colonel. Chaos, sir. Koju spoke quickly but softly. Psyker Vhuna was unwilling to be so specific, but I believe she suspects it. Shes never encountered the Puinous Powers before, of course, so she has no so she has no fecking clue what shes talking about, by your own admission. Why am I even listening to this? Get me solid intel, Cadet Commissar, or get the feck off this comms channel. Vodalus, why I ever agreed to take part in this fecking Matroyshka experiment Ill

The channel went dead, severed at the other end, and Koju swore until he ran out of words, and then started all over again in his Scholam-planet dialect. He only stopped when he realised that, far back from the precipice defences as he was, some of the troopers were looking at him. Temper, temper, Blunty. Did the nasty men ask you to pick up their laundry again? It was Vhunas turn to smirk, and she took untold depths of pleasure in it. No, wait. Theyre all out of snack-food in the command tent and they want you to nip down the store. Koju just snarled, and looked futilely around for something or someone to kick. Should I just call them myself, next time? Spare you the embarrassment? Just think though, when youre a big, bad Commissar yourself you can make Lekh lick your boots. Stick a barrel in it, Vhuna, for Thrones sake. This is serious. Vodalus will make Lekh take notice; the risk of heretics sniffing around here while we move the relics is altogether too much to ignore. Although the righteous prick is right about one thing. Theres exactly nothing we can do about it right now. Dammit, that man really pisses me off! Welcome to my world, Blunty. And so do you! Youd be lost without me, admit it. Id be a fecking Commissar, is what. Come on. I need to come up with some inspiring lie for the troopers about why I was just trying to break the plateau with my foot.

She can see the entire battlefield, General. The whole fecking thing! I want the filthy pysker here, not stealer-bait on the frontline. I need that kind of intel close at hand. My orders are very, very clear, Colonel. Blood the Matroyshka. End of orders. You know where they come from you met his sodding messenger boy. Conditions on Ventia Illustra were not to his masters liking, and we know how that turned out. Im not about to disappoint him, or his master for Thrones sake. She stays where she is. Youll have to make do with the comms link, Colonel. Dismissed.

The muddy smear in Vhunas psy-scape wasnt going away, but it wasnt coming any closer, either. The silvery deformations to the north, however, were almost upon them, and Koju had been in regular contact with the command tent keeping them updated. And then the leading edge of the lifemass reached the pass at the far side of the valley, and word went around the waiting troopers. Lieutenant Chemenkos voice came over the vox on the platoons channel. Stand ready to engage the xenos, as klaxons erected across the plateau whooped three times, a harsh, lifeless sound, and then fell silent. Not a single vehicle had made it back up the road from the original frontline. Nothing had been seen of the five thousand troopers who had prepared fortifications there just a few days ago. Comms had been silent for hours. In between liaising with the command tent, Koju was run off his feet ensuring morale among the three platoons on his stretch of the precipice did not waver. It was an increasingly difficult task as night had fallen, suddenly and completely as it does in the mountains, and the valley

ahead of them had become a bottomless pit of shadow. Overhead the now invisible clouds had rolled over, utterly blocking the stars in the once-clear sky, bringing with them the stench of burning fields, burning fuel and burning men. Bringing with them xeno chems that reddened the skin and make the throat burn as the ecosystem was perverted by the insidious spores. With the intense lake of light from the landing site at their backs, their shadows leaping ahead of them like the mindless bravery they all wished they possessed, the troopers waited in the acid darkness for the arrival of the enemy. First came the noise. Distant, almost inaudible to begin with, soon every ear could hear the scrabbling sounds, the far-off echoing of claw and chitin scratching and sliding on rock, a myriad tiny landslides as more and more xenos poured unseen from the darkness of the pass somewhere ahead of them and swarmed down the far side of the valley. Soon the noises were blending into a muted roar, like some hidden waterfall, then louder and louder, resounding off the valley walls and ringing from the towering peaks around them. Harsh cries, cold, alien screams, hoarse bellows rent the chill night air as they surged skywards from the rubble floor a thousand feet below. Few of the troopers had faced these xenos before, and all were appalled at the wall of noise coming at them out of the inky blackness. Individual sounds rose from the cacophony, screeches that were half-way between a babys wail and a dogs bark, nightmare sounds that froze the blood of the waiting Guard and ran ghost rivers of ice in their minds. Some of the tank crews revved their engines mightily, and every trooper near enough to hear gave silent thanks as the mechanical roar replied to the xenos howled challenges in kind. The tank engines raced again, this time across the entire plateau surface as defiance spread, shaking the ground with their colossal noise, hammering the air with all the righteous might of man. Vhuna felt a pounding in her chest and throat, a throbbing resonance that shook her whole body. Now the troops added their own ear-splitting bloodlust to the furious sound, screaming vengeance and denial into the night. Ready the promethium canisters! shouted Lieutenant Chemenko, as the smell of the xeno hordes reached Vhunas nostrils. She gagged on the foetid stench as she helped manoeuvre the heavy barrels into position. The tank commanders had given their reserve supplies up grudgingly, but even they had had to concede that extended manoeuvres were highly unlikely in the coming engagement. They were right on the edge of the plateau here, their shadows simply vanishing as the obliquely-lit terrain dropped suddenly away, swallowed up by the black void only scant inches from them. Scrabbling sounds could be heard now, coming from directly below, accompanied by a throaty hissing. The northern face of the plateau was a thousand feet of sheer, crumbling rock, but the chittering horde were simply swarming straight up it. Vhuna's scryer-sense was being overwhelmed by the sheer proximity of so much life, and she was finding it difficult to sharply delimit the encroaching tidal wave of bone and claw. They were coming up the cliff in numbers that horrified her that was all she could tell now. Lieutenant Chemenko lit a flare and tossed it over the side, the sudden phosphor glare blinding the troopers before it winked out of sight as it plummeted away. The rope around Chemenkos waist was held taut as he leaned out over the drop, looking down. He was already counting. One, two there they are. Throne! Pull me in, dammit! About a hundred and fifty metres down, moving fast. Let em have it, the Lieutenant shouted along the line. Dozens of canisters of promethium were tipped on their sides and the viscous, reeking fluid

rushed out spilling over the edge to drench the monsters scrambling their way to the top. The barrels were quickly rolled along the lip of the drop to ensure complete coverage. Once all the liquid had gone flares were struck along the line of men. Vhuna raced with the others back to the questionable safety of the sand-bag redoubt. At a signal from the Lieutenant, each man touched his flare to the glistening oil soaking into the porous rock and leapt away, stumbling after their squad-mates. Behind them rose a crackling, smoking inferno as liquid gouts of flame rushed up into the cold air, and hideous screams of xeno agony rose with them. Vhuna ducked down behind the sand-bags as a wall of heat rolled over her and the other troopers in her squad, for once being grateful that she had no hair to singe. As soon as it passed she rose back up with the others and trained her lasrifle on the now brilliantly silhouetted cliff-edge, waiting for something to make it through the hellish conflagration. She felt rather than saw Koju kneel down behind her, thankfully not too close. You be safe, Shiny, you hear? Stay close. Aim high. Just like on Ventia. She was about to say something what, she truly did not know but he was up and away before she could form the words. As she turned back something became visible through the surging flames, a limb, some kind of long, bony protrusion scything back and forth for a fleeting instant before falling back into the maw of the consuming fire. The inferno below must be dying out. Some of the beasts were starting to get through. The vox-channels lit up with chatter; tight and curt at first, orders and acknowledgements, then more. Shouts. Cries. Weapons fire came suddenly from the vox-bead in her ear, harshly clipped and drowning out everything else for a jarring moment. Then more fire, and more, transmitted over the channels. Vhuna began to hear the lasfire herself, without the vox, sounding muted through the huge rock pillar to the east, but growing in volume with every passing second. Somewhere fairly close by, a stubber opened up. Then two more. Another sickeningly curved and barbed bone-sword lashed briefly at the loose edge of the cliff ahead of them, scrabbling for a hold even as its unseen owner was immolated in the cleansing fire. It disappeared for ever, but not before one of the troopers had put a few lasrounds in its rough vicinity, sparking jittery yells of approval from various other Guardsmen. The flames were dying now. And then they came, the crackling hiss of the fire turning to a screeching clatter of rage in a chilling instant as all along the cliff-top crested the advance forces of the xeno invasion. They did not stop for a moment, their speed almost as heart-stopping as the suddenness of their massed appearance. When the troopers opened up the first creatures had cleared half of the distance between the precipice and the sand-bag wall, which was suddenly looking almost like a bad joke. The night air was broken a thousand times in those first few, frantic seconds by incandescent barbs each the heat of the surface of the sun as the defenders fired point-blank into the onrushing nightmare wall of teeth and claws. Armoured monstrosities burst apart under the furious hail of fire, creatures that were nothing but blurring whirlwinds of knives were blasted back over the plateau's edge in a dozen shattered pieces. And for every one of the beasts that fell another three surged fluidly out of the darkness to take their place, raging their mindless need to kill. Eject, reload, fire. Vhuna held her lasrifle high, aiming down the sights, firing continually and seemingly unable to avoid hitting something, anything. Pincers, horns, legs, heads all fell

apart under her unending stream of fire, but always there was more. Her ammo clips were arrayed on the firing-step before her, and she was shocked to look down after what felt like only a few seconds and see nearly half of them gone. Eject, reload, fire. Still there was no end to the torrent of xeno flesh to return to the cursed blackness that had disgorged them as if from the very depths of some twisted mind. Eject, reload, fire. Heavy weapons! She heard someone cry, whether right next to her or in her vox link she could no longer tell. The sound from all around her was almost corporeal in its overwhelming totality. Quite when the tanks had begun firing she had no idea, but even the colossal thunder of their main guns and sponson weapons was simply the white froth on this oceanic swell of crushing sound. Ammo! she yelled, her voice vanishing at once into the hellish cacophony. White beams, a hundred times brighter than the heart of the sun, burned themselves across her sight. For an instant they lit the plateau edge and rock pillars like the fiercest noon-day sun never could and half a tonne of ravening xeno flesh flashed to vapour with it. Vhuna blinked the afterimages away from her silver eyes, tears blurring her vision. More lances of solid light dismissed the night in momentary novas, staccato pulses of destruction that swept the cliff-edge clear. The Armoured Fists platoon to her right was making their awesome presence felt, carving molten swathes through the numbers of the beasts. The unmistakeable whine of an autocannon surged briefly through the din, and tracer rounds spewed across the ichordrenched rock. Ammo! Vhuna shouted again, before tumbling backwards from the sand-bag wall in confusion. In the flowing, monochrome relief of her mind she saw pulses of argent light, heading for the southern edge of the plateau, but these seemed to be underground. They were travelling through the compacted till under the road coming in from the north, burrowing below the front lines. She scrambled to her feet and crouched low, trying to raise the command tent on her vox-link. She could not see Koju anywhere, but her custom vox-link took her through almost immediately. Message! For Colonel Lekh, she screamed over the barrage of noise. Psyker Vhuna reporting in. Be aware. Xenos approaching. Beneath the northern road. Underground. Repeat. Underground. Heading for the southern edge. Of the plateau. Over. She couldn't tell for sure if she got an acknowledgement, and repeated her message once more, just in case. Her voice was hoarse by the time she had finished. Hefting her lasrifle she headed back to her position on the redoubt, but stopped as she ran into Koju. He looked tense, his black face stony and forbidding. How's it going? she shouted in his ear. Splendid! We're holding them at all points, and we have driven them back at the road. The night will be ours. I said how's it going, Blunt? she shouted again. He grinned for a second. As well as can be expected, Psyker Vhuna. We're committing our reserves at a hell of a rate, but I didn't tell you that. We're holding them, though. We haven't seen the big beasts yet. Then it gets interesting. But you know all this! He tapped his temple with one gloved finger. You looked a bit serious there for a minute, is all. Didnt want you to do yourself an injury. Not when I could do it for you.

Any movement from the west? Vhuna shook her head. Let me know. Back in line, trooper! he yelled, and moved off, firing his bolt pistol into the morass of xenos still being torn apart by the lasfire of Vhuna's adopted platoon. Unheard in the din but definitely not unseen a rolling inferno of hellfire washed across the cliff-face as the Chimera stationed behind the Armoured Fists made its lethal contribution. Vhuna ran back to her firing position, and added her lasrounds to the slaughter. Perhaps this night would be theirs after all. All positions had been resupplied, and Vhuna had exhausted another three clips when something flickered across her psy-scape. She paused and reached out. The cliff face below her was still a silvered blur of biomass a thousand feet high but there were some glowing threads stretching out from it, above the surface of the plateau. That wasnt possible, unless the xenos were making their way up the stone towers to either side. They were getting above them, soon they would be flanking them. Someone should have seen them by now, she thought angrily, command had anticipated just this sort of thing happening. Lieutenant! Lieutenant Chemenko! Vhuna cried into her vox. There was no reply. Look up on the rock pillars! Theyre up on the pillars! Can anyone see them? Someone, dammit! Koju! They're getting around us! Vhuna ran from the redoubt and pelted along the flat, pebble-strewn surface in the direction of the Chimera. Its powerful arclights were blazing straight ahead as the trooper in the turret position ripped heavy bolter fire across the waves of screaming creatures that still poured ceaselessly towards the defenders. A few portable stablights on tripods were trained on the rock wall towering to the east, but she could not see anything moving in the stark, overlapping pools of light. Where were they? She reached the vehicle and vaulted up the side, dragging herself up and onto the stationary tracks. Guardsman! Above you, dammit! The trooper saw her, the look on his face one of startled incomprehension. Vhuna reached over, her lasrifle discarded, grabbed the handles of one of the directional arclights and pointed it up at the sheer rock wall looming over them. Even with the much brighter arclight it took her a few seconds to see them. Almost the same colour as the rock, camouflaged through some xeno trickery, and crawling very slowly. Dully glinting shapes clinging to the naked rock like spiders, they suddenly swarmed under the sweeping beam, perhaps realising they had now been spotted. They were almost directly above the line of defenders. Great God Emperor! Vhuna heard the trooper on the Chimera exclaim, as she scrabbled to recover her rifle. The guardsman began screaming a warning into his vox at the same time as he racked the turret round and opened up a thunderous fusilade of fire on the dark wall only metres away from him. Quickly more fire rose upwards and in seconds the line of men were being showered in a hail of rock chips and xeno body-parts. Spraying ichor quickly turned the ground black, but there were too many creatures on the walls and not enough men.

Shapes detached themselves from the darkness and plunged straight down, talons ripping into the flesh of the unlucky guardsmen below, tearing their bodies asunder. The diversion of fire from the forward line suddenly told as well. First one and then two beasts managed to reach the sand-bag wall intact enough to hurl themselves over and rend the men on the other side in their death-agonies. More were coming. Watch the cliff! Vhuna yelled futilely over the thunder of the guns, as she added her fire to the defenders. A burst of flame surged up the wall, crisping countless hormagaunts poised to leap, but it was clear to Vhuna; they were being overrun. She grabbed the shoulder of the man firing the heavy bolter. Reinforcements! We need reinforcements! Crouched atop the thrumming Chimera Vhuna fired again and again, scouring the xeno plague from the cliff-top. The Chimera rocked, knocking Vhunas aim off. She turned in time to see a spiny fist-club sweep around and remove most of the head of the trooper by her side. His blood spattered warmly across her face. Then the thing looked up at her. Her first shot hit it in the chest, and tore off a glistening chunk of plate-armour. It also knocked the creature back just enough that the sweeping talons of its upper arms scissored past each other in a blur just inches from her face. The next few shots tore ragged holes in the monsters torso and pushed it even further back, but its claws scored deep runnels in the ceramite of the hull and it managed to cling onto the roof. Vhuna screamed as the thing bunched and pounced in one fluid, feline movement. She threw herself backwards, firing on instinct, landing heavily on her back as the creature whipped over her prone body in a flash of sharp teeth and splattering ichor. Something hot burned up her leg and tore across her chest. She gasped in pain, finger still clamped like a vice to the firing trigger, but the thing had vanished over the side of the Chimera. Her momentum rolled her backwards, her legs flipping up and over her head, and she toppled off the roof of the vehicle. Landing heavily on her side she cried out again as a razor-edged scimitar of bone whicked past her face. She had fallen on top of the hormagaunt, who was struggling against the pain from its wounds to get back to its feet. She twisted, the lasrifle still in her hands, as the thing bucked beneath her. Something made of iron grabbed her foot and made her scream in pain again. Her face suddenly slammed up against a wall of teeth, dripping fluid and reeking ichor. The jaws flashed open, and she rammed her lasrifle into the sickening maw. She pulled the trigger, and blew the gaunts head apart with a savage cry of victory. Gasping for breath Vhuna rolled off the quivering and thrashing corpse and away across the rough ground. She emptied the remainder of her clip into the body of the thing before trying to get to her feet. Her leg was agony; her efforts to stand on it forcing a deep, startled gasp of pain; a gasp that only made the deep incision across her chest burn with a white fire. She forced the pain down before it swamped her. She felt something move behind her in the chaos of her psy-sense and whirled, falling to one knee and raising her spent lasrifle again. Koju stood in front of her, chainsword screaming as he fired explosive round after explosive round into the carnage that had engulfed the Armoured Fist platoon behind Vhuna. Behind Koju, however, charged dozens of guardsmen, the precious reserve. Their lasfire began to turn the tide as they steadily advanced on the sea of hormagaunts that were flowing around and over the besieged Chimera.

Koju grabbed the muzzle of her rifle and hauled an exhausted Vhuna to her feet. That was pretty fancy, Vhuna. I have my moments. Shame Too late Koju saw the gaunt spring out of nowhere onto the roof of the Chimera and leap at Vhunas back. His shots went wide and he watched in horror as twin, barbed sabres of bone punched clean through Vhunas chest, her pale face going rigid in shock. The lasrifle fell from her grasp as the gaunt shook her, snapping her neck, blood jetting from the gaping wounds, and then flicked her lifeless body away to tumble over the rocky ground. The beasts long head snapped round to face Koju, and it poised to spring.

TWELVE YEARS PREVIOUSLY:This is Fledgling Vhuna, Preceptor. The one I told you about? She's been here for nearly a month, now. Yes. Indeed. I have come a long way to see this one, Matrona. Ah. Quite. Well, the taller of the two women reached up and detached the data-slate from the cell door, while the other peered in through the barred hatch. The faint and troubling

noises of the Scholastia Psykana echoed and rang up and down the long, marble corridor.
Fledgling Arha Vhuna, then, the taller woman continued. Appears to be in her late forties, early fifties. Real age unknown, and possibly meaningless. On the face of it a scryer of median ability. Some fringe pyrokinetic ability. Found in Lord Macharius' arms - The tall woman tutted to herself, and made a correction on the slate. Found in The Lord Macharius' Arms a hostelry on Evidion Beht by the local Arbites, ranting and raving. ID'd as a potential psyker and held for eight years until the Ships arrived. Eight years? The shorter woman didn't turn around, didn't take her eyes off the prone body of the female psyker strapped to the hard cot in the cell beyond. The silver eyes, wide open with the look of a trapped animal, were staring back at her. Yes, they were in the sub-sector already. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary at first. Usual mental traumas and so on, but she was fundamentally sane. As much as these wretches ever are. And then? And then she died. Accident aboard ship no-one was to blame. As such. Of course, what happened next gave the Sisters of Silence the fright of their lives. The man. Fendahl, he called himself. Yes. Indeed. That is what I am here to see. The smaller woman turned round, her face eager, almost hungry. How do you induce the change? I must see this for myself. The taller woman gingerly removed a vial of black liquid from her uniform pocket, a subdermal lance already attached. She held it up. There is only one way. Death.

The hormagaunt tensed, limbs coiled for another killing leap, and then its head snapped back towards the body of the pysker. With a sound like a ramjet engine being pushed beyond breaking point the air and stone around the limp form snapped like a rubber band. Something flashed outward in a mist of faint, dark colour. Something rushed in, hard and tangible and real. And alive. Koju took full advantage of the momentary distraction to place a bolt-round into the torso of the confused creature, and the explosive force rent its armoured form apart. Fendahl! he shouted at the body. Get up, old man! Move it! More taloned beasts were clawing at the guardsmen along the sand-bag wall, and some were breaking through. Two 'stealers, massive creatures that seemed to have come from some orkish world, burst bloodily past a knot of troopers and between Koju and the former corpse. The man sat up, holding his bald head and groaning. He wore the uniform of Vhunas and Koju's old regiment loosely around his skinny frame, and was holding a laspistol slackly in one liver-spotted hand. He looked up as Koju shouted again, the bafflement in his old, lined face changing immediately to horror as he saw the monsters coming towards him.. Oh, he said, his face slackening as his silver eyes flared. Koju? Where are the orks? I think I preferred the The faintest halo of argent flames was beginning to form around his body when the closest 'stealer pounced. Koju was already swinging his chainsword at the other, severing a grasping claw, but the first creature had reached the man he had called Fendahl. The silver fire flared for a moment and then the stealers talons tore the mans chest open in a welter of blood and bone. It picked up his limp body, gore dripping over its thick, stubby claws, and turned on Koju. The Cadet Commissar was fast, and he had already managed to cut off another limb from the second monstrosity and tear a couple of deep rents in its chitin, but the beast was unnaturally large and strong and he was in trouble. The stealer that was holding the corpse of Fendahl opened its cavernous mouth to bellow its fury, but the sound died in its throat. A strange noise had come from the meat it was holding. It looked down. The Boy opened his eyes, dark silver clouds roiling deep within them. Dont touch me, he said, meeting the unblinking gaze of the stealer. His thin, quiet voice was jarringly incongruous in the middle of a pitched battle, although somehow it stood out clearly from the background noise. Dont The chill air fractured around the creature, in a myriad places at once as if it were a sheet of ice hit by a boulder, and the stealer collapsed in steaming chunks to the rocky plateau floor. touch me! The Boy drifted down until his feet were touching the stone. He began rubbing his rough clothes where the things claws had been holding him, his small body trembling. Koju was on his back, swinging furiously with his chainsword, but he could not keep the xeno back. Its wounds did not slow its furious rage at all. Then he gaped in amazement as the thing just rocketed straight upwards, so fast he could barely follow it, vanishing almost instantly in the cold night air. A moment or two later thick, black-green ichor sprayed down on Koju, drenching him and the ground around him in reeking ooze. Koju gritted his teeth. The Boy. That was all he needed.

No psyker can do that. None. I dont care how powerful she is. The womans voice sounded shaky as it echoed in the dank hall outside. In the cell, still strapped to her cot, Vhuna felt woozy that injection they'd given her again, no doubt but she could tell the woman was scared. Why? What had happened? And who was this powerful psyker they were talking about? It wasn't her, that was for sure. Her own ability her curse was as far from powerful as Vhuna was from home. Its not her that's doing it. The voice of the Matrona. Vhuna knew her. She hated her. It doesnt matter. No psyker is strong enough to bring themselves back from the dead. Not even an Alpha psyker could do that. Even the Holy God Emperor himself needs well, you know. The womans voice had dropped to a whisper and Vhuna could barely hear her. You dont understand, Preceptor. Its not her thats doing it, you see? We think I need to think about this. This is too much. This is too much. I need I need, yes, I need to think. Perhaps yes, perhaps His Eminence will know what to do. Thats it. Keep her here for now. I we need to move quickly. That much is clear. This is this is too much. Vhuna saw the other woman's the Preceptor's face appear once more at the hatch, drawn and narrow, with ink-stain eyes. Those eyes looked at Vhuna intently as the Preceptor spoke again, but she wasn't speaking to Vhuna. What happens if you kill the man this Fendahl? Tell me, have you tried that? The Preceptor drew in a deep breath. Maybe there are more.

Do you remember me? Kojus hand went to the limiter at his neck. I said, do you remember me? The Boy glanced at the bolt pistol that was shaking slightly in Kojus left hand, and then looked down at the Cadet Commissars gore-drenched boots. Dont touch me, he said. Im not going to I dont like it here. Ive been good. Havent I? You have, Boy. Very good. I want to go home. Well Koju cursed himself silently. Well get you home, Boy. First those. The Boy turned and looked up at the ravening hordes swarming over and around the sandbag wall. He lowered his head again. Youre lying. Ive been good. He began to walk slowly towards the xenos. Pale, argent light shone briefly from the rocky plateau behind him as his small footprints faded away into the night. Koju wiped sweat and ichor away from his face with a cloth from his pocket. He started following the Boy, as the cliff-edge ahead of him erupted in silent, silver fury.

Welcome back, Fledgling Vhuna. Its been about two days. The mans familiar voice was soft and soothing.

Vhuna closed her eyes again. Dornal, that was his name. Master Dornal. Her mentor. Her tormentor. Her regular executioner. Even after enduring two years in the Scholastia the aftereffects of the killing draught still left her woozy and thick-headed. His promises to find something less nauseating had evaporated a long time ago, accompanied by Vhuna's hopes of ever leaving this place. She tried to remember what experiment it had been this time, but her mind was still fogged. Two days? That was a damned long time for her to be away, although as far as she was concerned Dornal had given her the injection moments ago. What had been happening for two whole days? And then she remembered what it was Dornal had finally been authorised to do. So. Did you really go through with it? Pluck up the courage? Did you go past Marotte? I did. Vhunas eyes snapped open and she struggled to bring her mind into focus. Really? You met Six? And is she is he ? Dornal smiled through his heavy beard. Yes. He is. He is the last. He is the centre. The source. He is the spring from which the rest of you flow. I went through Fendahl, and the Boy and the others we knew about. He stopped, shaking his head. Marotte tried I mean really tried to stop me moving past him. Damn, he's a strong one. I had to get some serious help you wouldn't believe who we'd had in here even if I told you, girl but we got past him. Well, let's not beat about the bush. We killed him, eventually, and he vanished and I got to meet Number Six. And then we had quite a long chat. Vhuna stared up at the ceiling. Questions flooded her mind. So many questions. So few answers, until now. Whats his name? Whats he like? His name is Adrial Fell. We managed to Dornal leaned over and picked a data-screen up from the floor of the cell, grunting briefly with the effort. find an Adrial Fell in the Administratums records, matches his description. The first one of you lot weve actually been able to find records for. So he is the source? She raised herself into a half-sitting position, her silver eyes wide. Well, that alone would confirm it, but so did he. A young man, about ages with my own grandson. His memory of his early life is pretty broken up. Itll take some time to put it all together, but it looks like his psyker ability manifested in his early twenties. Then he just fell no pun intended off the charts, disappeared from the records. We know why, now. He has astonishing power, really, but I think that is pretty obvious. What did he say about me? About Fendahl and the Boy and the others? Where did he find us? Why did he pick us? Dornal hesitated, and Vhuna could see he was savouring the moment. Dornal and the masters of the Scholastia had been expending a massive amount of time and effort trying to pare back the mystery that was Vhuna. Having finally found the source the psyker beyond which there were no others, the omega to Vhuna's alpha Dornal was clearly exhausted but elated. He smiled, but the smile was as cold as the marble walls. Remember, Fledgling. Remember what we discussed, what we've discussed many times. According to the Administratum's records you and the others don't exist, and never have. He is the only one we have ever been able to trace - But there could have been errors, mistakes, gaps in the -

No, Vhuna. No errors. No mistakes. No psyker not even one as powerful as Fell is can bring the dead back to life. The only conclusion is that, despite appearances, you and the others never actually die. And if you don't ever die, then you're never really alive in the first place. You have to be alive to die, Vhuna, you have to be alive. Without Fell at the core, none of you would exist. None of you is truly alive, Vhuna. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. None of you are real. Only Fell is real. Vhuna shook her head. No, no, no. I can't accept that. What did Fell have to say about us, then? What did he say? Again Dornal hesitated, not through any sense of protecting her feelings, but just to lodge the moment in his memory, to enjoy her reaction. She resolved to kill him, one day, if only for that. He didnt know about you. About any of you. Vhuna slumped back, the last of her hopes for an answer draining from her, along with the last dregs of the strength she had summoned. But but I mean, how is that possible? He has to know. He must! I mean how did I get involved in this? I've never met anyone called Adrial Fell. I would remember it. He must have have found me somehow and and trapped me in this nightmare. Trapped me, and the others. I've told you all along. He didn't find you, because you didn't exist. He made you, Fledgling. He made you. He just doesnt know he made you. He is troubled. It must have been hard, when all that psyker power arrived, at such a young age. And according to the Administratums records I saw this morning, he was not a well man. Not well up here, I mean. Hes still a bit intense. As far as he was concerned, when I met him it was still twenty years ago, and hed just found out he was a psyker. If he made me, then whyd he give me all these fecking memories if none of them are real? I remember being a girl on She paused, something catching in her throat, and she turned her head away. I remember being a child. I remember my moth... I remember... Dornal sat back, sighing heavily, becoming weary of Vhuna's questioning. You want to know what I think? Okay. Here it is. Youre armour, Vhuna. Body armour. He was a frightened no, terrified young man and he wanted to protect himself from these powers he couldnt possibly understand. His mind shattered and he hid himself behind you, behind you and the other Four. Youre broken pieces of him, each of you, and every time youre lost he simply remakes you. To get to him we have to go through you, one at a time, before he can remake you. Like onion skin; peel it away layer by layer . Likethose little dolls you get, one inside another inside another inside another. Matroyshka, I think theyre called. Yes, thats it. Matroyshka.

Cadet Commissar Koju. What is the status of the psyker? Vodalus voice came clear over the vox-link, as the sounds of fighting receded from fever pitch for the first time that night. Stage Three, Commissar. The Boy. He is cleansing the cliff-face below us. He he doesnt need the ground. Did you know that? Thats very interesting, Koju, Im sure. Did you advance the subject to Stage Three yourself? The Colonel was wondering where his early warning system has gone. No, Commissar. Enemy action. Excuse me Koju broke contact to pick a serpentine creature off the face of the rock column. He missed, but only just. His bolter shell hit the rock face and the burst of shrapnel eviscerated the beast. sorry, Commisar. I tried to protect Psyker Vhuna, but

I didnt hear that, Cadet Commissar. Dont bother repeating it. I have to agree with the Colonel on this one, although for different reasons. Im worried about that trace she picked up off to the west. The first attack-wave is dying down. The Colonel needs to know where the second wave is massing, whats in it and where they will attack. And I need to know what that contact was. Pull the Boy out of combat, let him revert to Stage One. And then get back to me with an update. Vodalus out. The Commissar was right, thought Koju, as he vaulted over the sand-bag wall and headed warily for the inky blackness of the precipice. The attacks were much reduced; the xenos initial tidal wave of close-combat attackers had failed to make any really serious breaches, although many men had fallen in denying them access to the plateau. The reserve had been fully committed, however, which worried Koju. There was nothing left to call on, and they could expect the heavier, slower beasts to begin an assault possibly within the hour. He could see the Boy, standing in mid-air about twenty metres from the edge of the cliff. His face was downcast, and Koju could see bursts of silver, psyker energy reflecting off him, off his bald head in particular, from below. He was tempted to try and lean over the edge and see what was going on, but resisted the fatalistic urge. The Boy had lost his comms-link somewhere on Ventia. Obviously he hadnt been around since then to receive a new one. Boy! yelled Koju. Not the first time he wondered why this aspect of the Matroyshka had never even chosen a name for itself. The others had come with names, ones they seemed to think they had been born with. Boy! he yelled again, keeping one eye on the cliff-edge in case anything should crawl over it. The child looked up, his face blank and weary. His eyes shone in the night. Time to go home? Come on in, Koju shouted, beckoning to him. The Boy stared, and then nodded and started to drift towards Koju. The sight chilled him. He had never seen the Boy move like that before. He stopped once he was over the plateau and dropped a few inches to the gore-soaked ground. Dont touch me, the Boy said quietly, his face hidden and his voice muffled. Koju craned his neck back and looked up the massive pillar of natural stone to the east. At the very top he could see the lights of the Convent, and around those the brighter, pinpoint flashes of weapons fire. Hellguns by the look of it. Some of the xeno hordes had made it all the way up despite their best efforts, and the elite units stationed up there were conducting what looked to be a very efficient mopping-up operation. Distant flowers of flame blossomed in the blackness. Follow me, were going for a ride. I was good. Can I get a treat? Once we get to the top. Youre lying again. Koju hissed with exasperation, and tried to usher the Boy in the direction of the lift. He was careful not to come too close.

Stormtrooper. Theres a boy in there. I want you to wait with him. Dont touch him, but dont let him leave either. Something very weird will happen dont panic its fine. When Vhuna turns up, a few minutes from now, probably, call me on the vox. Psyker Vhuna, sir? In there? Im not sure I will wait with the child, Cadet Commissar. Grand Schema Lucretius had seemingly come up out of nowhere in the draughty hall, a surprising feat for someone so large. Koju hadnt even heard her matt black robes brushing against the flagstone floor. Okay. I mean thank you, Most Holy Sister. Thats very thank you, I have to go. Here. Take my spare vox-bead. You work it by The Adorers are a martial order, Cadet Commissar. Ah! Of course. I didn't know that, Grand Schema. Please accept my There are six Pillars of the Faith on the plateau, Cadet Commissar, but did you know there used to be seven? The Grand Schema asked, folding her plump hands over her ample belly. Koju shook his head, wondering if the Holy Sister was aware there was a battle raging outside. It is a fact not well known outside the Order, it is fair to say. Did you notice the low hillock at the very eastern end of the plateau, next to the Sixth Pillar? Koju shook his head again, trying to remain diplomatic. No, Grand Schema. I had not Lucretius smiled beatifically. All thats left of the Seventh. After centuries and centuries of target practice, Cadet Commissar. Koju nodded respectfully and then paused. He had a feeling he was being mocked, but there was almost certainly nothing he could do about it. He looked in the open door of the convent cell, the Boy sitting placidly on the solitary cot. The child looked up at Koju. Tell Vhuna I said hello. Right. Be seeing you, Boy. Koju left quickly before the Holy Sister could trap him in further conversation, and the relieved-looking stormtrooper hurried after him. Behind them the Grand Schema eased her bulk into the tiny cell. She stood for a while, staring at the childs smooth scalp, his course-knit clothes and his hands, shivering ever so slightly in his lap. His heavy dampener bracelets clinked together, and his gaze never left the floor. Eventually she reached inside her voluminous robes and drew out a small, brass aquila. It was nothing more than a common trinket, worn smooth and almost featureless by decades of devoted prayer. Lucretius held it out to the child. When he looked at it, but didnt move, she placed it carefully on the cot beside him. He picked it up and held it in his lap, turning it over. He smiled up at her, and then the smile seemed to slide off his face. Is there more? She knew he was not talking about the aquila. The Emperor sets challenges for us all, my child. Some must accomplish a great deal with

very little, it is true. I cannot tell what your future holds, but yes, there is more. She gestured. You hold the universe in your hands. He said nothing, just nodded slowly and turned his attention back to the aquila. After a moment he put it down on the cot again. Then give this to Vhuna. She needs it more than I do. There was a whine and a snap, like a great book slamming shut, and the air in the room jolted as if inside a drum. Vhuna grabbed her chest, and cried out with remembered pain, her breath coming in ragged, desperate gasps. She slid off the side of the low cot, sinking heavily to the cold stone floor, still wracked with agony that her nerves remembered but her flesh did not. Eventually her body convinced her mind that it was no longer mortally wounded, and she slumped forward, her head and shoulders on the cot, her breathing still raw and hoarse. Grand Schema Lucretius watched silently, until Vhuna lifted her head and looked around at the cell walls. Something glistened wetly on her cheek. When Vhuna saw the black expanse of Lucretia, she turned her head quickly away, her hands flying to her face, and looked up again a moment later. Her silver eyes were tinged with red, and pain and anger shone in them. The boy left that for you. Vhuna looked baffled for a moment, and then saw the brass aquila lying on the rough blanket. She grabbed it, turned it over once or twice, and then stuffed it in one of her uniform pockets as quickly as if it were a year's wages. Not many people get to see that. Her voice was hoarse. I imagine even fewer have to go through it, child of the warp. Can you stand? Vhuna felt her leg, where the hormagaunt had cut her to the bone. Both leg and uniform were intact. Both were only minutes old, after all. She stood up. As she did so the Grand Schema spoke into the vox bead and summoned Koju. He made it then? Any legs missing? Arms? Other extremities? Too much to hope for, I suppose. Vhuna ran one hand over her slick scalp. "You dont have a drink on you, Holy Sister? No, suppose not. What I wouldn't do right now for a bottle. Especially one with something wet in it, heh? Lucretius remained impassive. Vhuna sighed heavily, and her fingers sought out the aquila in her pocket. How was the Boy? Was he looking thin? Koju said he was thin last time he saw him. He looked younger than you do, but wiser. I must return to the sacred Rites of Excarnation now. I believe you have some entomosaurs to attend to. Farewell, child. The Grand Schema turned and left, momentarily blocking out all light as she squeezed through the door. Vhuna stared at the empty door for a few seconds, and then turned and kicked the heavy cot a couple of times, eventually knocking it across the cell. younger than you do, but wiser, she hissed. For the love of all feck, what in the seven hells is that supposed to ?

Still swearing in Convents, Shiny? I dont think theyll let you join their club if you keep that up. Temper, temper. Vhuna turned round, anger still shining in her eyes. The cot was small, neat and very thick. For some reason it reminded me of you, Blunt. Koju stood in the doorway, smiling in warm appreciation of his own wit, and they stared at each other for a moment. You look better than the last time I saw you, Shiny, though thats not saying much. He still wont give you any hair, though, eh? Tell me, does that apply where angels fear to tread? Or whatever other witticism you were about to slay me with? Spare me, Blunt. Im not in the mood for your crap. Vhuna picked up her lasrifle and helmet from the floor where they had fallen. Theyre massing for another attack, Cadet Commissar. Big ones, this time. I can see them. I think I know why the Navy cant find those flesh-ships, too. Koju nodded. Lets find a map and make our report then. Theyll probably have to peel the Colonel off the ceiling by this point. He got a bit upset when his auspex went AWOL. They began walking across the dark, cold hall. Covered candles guttering in the breeze lit the bare stone walls but left lakes of velvet darkness everywhere else. The sounds of battle drifting up from the plateau seemed as if they were a world away. Did you get it? The one that got me? Yeah, Shiny. I got it. Got it good. Does this mean I have to let you beat me at cards again? Dream on, Shiny, dream on.

Here. Vhunas gloved finger stabbed a location on the map of the Arpentium range. The big ones are here, and here. Tell the mortar squads and Basilisks to aim there. We should be able to take plenty of them out before they decide to attack again. Koju relayed the co-ordinates to the Command Tent as Vhuna spoke. Also Vhuna held out one hand. Some airborne creatures approaching. From the north again. Cant see them clearly yet. Thats all. She waited until Koju had finished talking into his bead and closed the connection. He looked at her enquiringly. The west, he said. Exactly. The more I see of it the more I think youre right. It must be them. Chaos. She shuddered at the very thought. She wished she had some salt to sprinkle on her hands; ward off the forces of witchery. It got me thinking. How did they get here? Koju shrugged. A ship? Of course a ship. But to slip past the flesh-ships and the Navy blockade they must have something warped. Some foul magic to hide their ship. So I looked. Im not saying I found it, but I caught the same muddiness. Just a smudge across the whole upper atmosphere, but its there. Its in orbit and I think whatever is hiding it is also making it hard to find the flesh-ships. Some kind of side-effect.

Koju frowned. I dont know, Vhuna. Something we cant see is the reason we cant see something else. Sounds like solid female logic to me, certainly He held up his hands as Vhunas face darkened and her eyes glowed. Only kidding! Throne, no need to be so touchy. But you know what Colonel Lekh will say if I tell him that. Hed get so mad Vodalus would probably have to shoot him. Then tell Vodalus. I intend to. Koju was back on his vox-bead when a stormtrooper Lieutenant walked out onto the balcony, his bulky hellgun cradled in both arms. Vhuna saluted and Koju just turned away, still talking. Psyker. Tell the Cadet Commissar that the Sisters are ready to begin transporting the first of the minor relics. Weve cleared the apex of the creatures, and spotters on the plateau say they cant see any more climbing up. The Sisters want to leave immediately. Vhuna acknowledged and the Lieutenant left. Koju turned back. Vodalus is going to order the Navy to strike that location. Even they cant miss the side of a mountain, but it will take an hour to put the Annihilator in the right orbit. If they move before then Ill let you know. You do know theyll probably attack the minute we start moving these relics? Once theyre out in the open? It had occurred to me. The Commissar will make sure Colonel Lekh doesnt feck up. One way or the other. Speaking of relics its okay. I heard. Lets go, I want to escort them down. Most of the stormtroopers are staying here. Theres still plenty of other relics that arent ready yet. Vhuna followed Koju off the balcony and back into the dark cloistered hall, heading for the single lift. Do you know what an entomosaur is? No. Leave all that psyker jargon to you. Idiot. Oh, said Koju as they walked. The Boy says hello. Vhuna grunted. He worries me. I like Fendahl, the old guys good company no offence, but I wish I was stuck with him instead of you but that Boy gives me the willies. At least you dont float, Shiny. You have that in your favour. And dont start, either. Ones bad enough. Vhuna said nothing, and just squeezed the aquila in her pocket tightly.

The heavy incense from the holy censers caught in Vhuna's nose and throat, although it dispelled for a welcome moment the sting in the air caused by the xeno corruption. The opensided cargo lift suspended over the invisible drop to the plateau surface was almost full. In the absence of the revered Sisters of Battle, their ancient vessel forced far off course by the xeno shadow in the empyrean, the devotional Sisters of the Order had taken up arms to escort the first of their relics to the transport vessel half a mile away and hundreds of metres below.

They may have lacked the armour, the cleansing flame weapons and the heavy equipment of their more martial Sisters, but in utter devotion, piety and zeal none could claim to be their better. Few indeed were their equal. Vhuna winced to see the fresh blood-stains seeping through the robes of all of them. Sharpened steel chains had purified their mute flesh time and again before this most sombre undertaking could proceed. Two stormtroopers stood at the outside corners of the rectangular lift, their hellguns tracking across the obsidian night. At the centre was the reliquary itself, cased now for transportation. Even the man-sized case was ornately decorated with wrought silver angels and hammered bronze panels, each pierced with a Governors wealth in gemstones depicting holy crusades and sacred sacrifices. Quite what lay inside such ostentatious wrappings Vhuna could only wonder at. She noticed the Grand Schema towering over the assembly at the far side of the lift. Her tonsured hair was matted with blood, and she was carrying a slender pistol that looked older than the Convent itself. As Vhuna and Koju stepped off the rockcrete platform and onto the shifting wooden boards of the lift the night air was shattered as the first volley was unleashed by the earthshaker cannons of the Basilisks at the far end of the plateau. The onrushing wall of thunder almost drove the psy-scape from Vhunas mind. Were this planets single moon to plummet out of orbit and land in pieces around her it could not match that peerless peal, that heavenly clarion call and she gloried in the havoc that would ensue among the xeno numbers swarming in the valley far below. The lift jolted once and then began to descend, the massive winch clanking as the chains unwound. The Sisters began their intonations in low, murmured voices, punctuated by successive devastating volleys from the Basilisks and the overlapping crump-crump-crump of batteries of mortars shelling the locations Vhuna had picked out. She was confident there would be little in the way of return fire. Among the forms she had sensed were the xeno equivalents of artillery; massive armoured slug-like beings that had been gathering about half-way up the far side of the valley. They had moved slowly into position, and now the same lack of speed would ensure their utter annihilation under the merciless Imperial shelling. An etching of silver had detached itself from the alien mass. She had been following its approach up the road to the plateau in her mind, and the look on her face as it first drew near to the Imperial forces and then slipped past them without being noticed drew Kojus attention. What is it? Something travelling on the surface, but it just slipped through the forward lines. How can it do that? Vhuna pointed through the darkness. The plateau was laid out below them, the landing-site arclamps throwing ghostly, white columns skywards and the myriad lights of the Imperial forces spread out around it. If there was weapons fire, they would have seen it clearly. Its passing right through Captain Monilex tank Company. Over there. Vhuna tried to show Koju the location. Throne, theres two more on their way up the sides of the road. What the hell are they? But Koju was already on the vox trying to raise Captain Monilex. He says theres nothing there, Vhuna, said Koju, after a moment. Throne, hes right on top of it! I can see him. And it. Its heading for the Command Tent. Get the tank to his left to reverse, hard. Now, dammit!

Vhuna gripped onto the chain and looked out. She could see nothing untoward, and could not even make out Captain Monilex Leman Russ in the stark confusion of light and shadow. Then lasfire began stitching the air far below, and the clatter of heavy bolters rose faintly through lulls in the ongoing bombardment. Isolated klaxons began to wail, thin and reedy, and floodunits burst into light around the lasfire, rippling outward like waves in a pond. Koju stood beside her, looking on as more and more fire was poured on to something they could not see. It slowly subsided, and then stopped. The floodunits remained lit, but the klaxons ceased. They got it. Whatever it was. Two more coming up the road, you say? Koju got back on the vox to prevent another breach of the frontlines. A minute later a conflagration erupted at the farthest end of the plateau as flame weapons a mile away turned the xeno assassins into charcoal. It looked like they had been heading for the artillery units. Koju chuckled as he closed his vox link. You know, youre in danger of changing the Colonels mind, Shiny. Keep this up he might even ask you out to dinner. And I might take up Holy Orders if he does. Have you seen his teeth? Ive seen barroom ceilings that looked whiter. Koju tried to hide his smile, and then laughed when he failed. The lift continued its descent through the void.

THREE MONTHS PREVIOUSLY:The glasscrete walls of the small chamber were smooth, dark and damp in the chill air. The sunshine and warmth at the surface of Ventia Illustra would never penetrate this far underground. Miles above, white surf crashed into golden sands studded with mangled wreckage spilling oil and blood, both red and green, into the salt water all along the once beautiful coast. The warboss was dead, but the orks were not done yet, and fighting still raged. Koju sat back in the flimsy plastic chair, tapping his fingers on the data-slate perched on the armrest. He heard a sound at the barred, reinforced door and shot out of the seat, standing to attention in the blink of an eye. Lord-General Tenebrant entered. There was no sign of his retinue in the dim hall outside. Commissar Vodalus followed him in, his gutka-pipe wreathing him in dense smoke. The Lord-General took the data-slate out of Koju's hand as he strode past him, and then sat behind the plaswood desk, leaving both men standing. The Matroyshka. Makes interesting reading, Cadet Commissar. If it he whatever can do what this claims, then yes. Interesting is hardly the word. It can. You saw the seal, so you know that this experiment has some senior sponsors. I'm being watched very closely. Very closely. The Lord-General's tone made it clear this was not something he tolerated with anything approaching goodwill. It also probably explained why a Lord-General felt it necessary to give such a mundane briefing himself. You read what happened to the last watchman, so you know why we need a psychic blank this time. There's not many with your gifts around, Cadet, so don't wind up like him. Koju nodded as Lord-General Tenebrant triggered an icon set into the desk. The metal shutters on the far wall clanked as they opened. Beyond was a window looking into a starklylit cell, with no furnishings. The sole occupant, a bald-headed woman wearing Guard uniform and heavy bracelets that might have been manacles, paced up and down the room, smoking

gutka-sticks. She seemed oblivious to the fact that she was being watched. Lord-General Tenebrant stood and walked over to the window, gesturing curtly to both men to join him. This is Stage One. Calls itself Vhuna. This is the stable stage. All other stages return here once their adrenaline tails off. She's small, but don't let her fool you, Cadet Commissar. She's a prickly bitch. The Lord-General paused usually his coterie would give a polite laugh at this point, but then he remembered he was with Commissars, who had no known sense of humour. He grunted and carried on. Remember that despite all the faces you will see, Cadet Commissar, there is only one person in that room. Only one psyker. The rest are just masks he wears. Understand? Good. Your bolt pistol. I assume it's loaded. You're going to introduce yourself to each of them. Koju paused. My bolt pistol, Lord-General? Yes, your damn bolt pistol. I want you to advance the subject stage by stage, so you can meet all six. Is your man deaf, Commissar? Vodalus simply tapped his pipe on the wall, his expression unreadable and said nothing. Lord-General Tenebrant, I understood that a serum was used to - Serum, my arse. That's for the Matroyshka's trainers at the Scholaria. Do you think you'll have time to find a sodding vein on the battlefield? Koju paused. He had no qualms about administering ultimate admonition as discipline and duty demanded, but this was quite different. Lord-General, I - Tenebrants face darkened. What is Stage Three, Cadet Commissar? Koju instantly realised the Lord-General's point, and looked away, furious with himself for not having seen the obvious. The Lord-General wasn't letting him off the hook so easily. I said, what is Stage Three, Cadet Commissar? The Boy. Exactly. The Boy. If your man is going to hesitate, Vodalus, if his nerve is going to fail, I don't want him doing it for the first time on the sodding frontlines. Understand me, Cadet Commissar? Are we clear? Good. Until you lose your whitecap don't fecking question me again.

The encased reliquary was loaded onto the open back of a customised Immolator and bolted in place. The tracked vehicle moved agonisingly slowly over the uneven surface towards the waiting lights of the orbital lander. The Sisters walked with it on all sides. The smoke from the swinging censers rose all around them, joining the smoke from the Basiliskss guns that was settling over the plateau as the northerly breeze died out. Kojus exasperation was beginning to show. He kept brushing imaginary dust from his uniform. Not even a General or a Commissar for that matter - can overrule an Abbatissa in her own Convent, Blunt, Vhuna said, and then smirked. Its not that, though, is it? Its that theyre women. You dont like taking orders from a woman, do you?

Were not in the Convent any more. And thats groxshit, Vhuna. Whered that come from? Theyre a martial order, they know how critical the situation is, and theyre Koju lowered his voice, - theyre fecking about like this. You dont mind giving orders to a woman, though. I have noticed that. What? Is that what you are? Guess again, Shiny, Koju snapped. Ouch. Hit a nerve? But Vhuna fell silent after that, and fell behind the others as they walked, trying to avoid thinking about Kojus remark. Something had her rattled, there had been no need to goad Koju like that. She wasnt always on an even keel so soon after being rebuilt, as she called it, but this was something else. Perhaps that muddiness Loud cracks echoed through the night between the grinding roar of the earthshakers. She could just about hear screams as the corrosive spores sprayed down from the erupting seed pods. Some of the bio-artillery had survived the bombardment, at least. Vhuna hoped it wasnt much. The Imperial forces were badly exposed here, with nowhere to pull back to for cover. Then she felt the seething biomass at the base of the valley shudder, lurch and rear, almost as if it were a single living thing kilometres across. It began to move. At the same time the airborne xenos to the north began to move as well, heading straight for them. And some of them were huge. Vhuna jogged to catch up with Koju. Theyre coming. Koju stopped, and straightened his uniform lapels. Which ones? Vhuna paused. All of them, I think.

The woman stopped pacing when the three men entered the bare cell, and turned sharply to face them. Koju got his first good look at her, and was singularly unimpressed. Small, plain, haggard, thin and with the look of a hunted animal about her. Then he realised she probably knew why he was there. He began to feel slightly unsettled about his new assignment. The woman dropped her gutka-stick and trod on it. Psyker Arha Vhuna, Cadet Commissar Reiko Koju. Your new watchman, said the LordGeneral. Koju strode up to her. For the first time he noticed the pure silver eyes. He glanced down at the crushed stick, and grinned. You know, those things'll - - kill me? Throne, Commissar. You promised me one with a sense of humour this time. Although with hair like that I can see someone's having a laugh. She reached out one hand as if to touch Koju's short-cropped, blonde hair where the cap did not cover it and then staggered back, colour draining from her face. Forgetting his effect on psykers, Koju raised a hand to steady her, and she exploded away from him. 't touch me! Vhuna screamed.

She pressed herself into the corner of the room, as far from Koju as possible, gasping for breath. He backed off. A blank, Lord-General Tenebrant, said Vhuna between gasps. Very nice. Very fecking nice. Thats enough, psyker. Your Scholaria recommended some control measures for the duration of the experiment. Vhuna held up her wrists, a mirthless smile on her pallid face. She clanked the bracelets together, the sound echoing sharply off the blank walls. Additional control measures. And any further insolence will be punished, girl. Someone who can die more than once should be very mindful of the respect due her superiors. Let's get to work, gentlemen, we're wasting time. Advance the subject, Cadet Commissar.

The klaxons began again as the convoy reached the edge of the landing field. The Immolator and the Sisters carried on towards the transport ship. Vhuna, Koju and the stormtroopers waited just outside the pool of light. Koju nodded as he listened to something over his bead, and then gestured up at the steady lights of the Convent buildings, six separate star-clusters in the dark sky. Good. Theyre starting to bring some more of the He stopped as Vhuna clutched her head and staggered backwards as if recoiling from something. One of the stormtroopers put out a hand to steady her, but she brushed him off angrily. Koju saw that her silver eyes were bright with the light of the warp. Oh. My. Throne, Vhuna gasped. Theyre coming. Oh my God Emperor, Koju, what the hell are those things? I dont want them in my head! To the west? The other traces? Yes, dammit! Of course. They just I think they were shielded as well not any more they are Throne! I can see them. So dark. So very dark. Theyre not life, Koju, they cant be! The two stormtroopers were beginning to look a little unsettled. Koju moved as close to Vhuna as he dared, lowering his voice to a whisper. I have faced the Puinous Powers before, Vhuna. Faced them and prevailed, because the Emperor protects. Everyone who faces them feels the way you do right now. Youre just experiencing it much earlier thanks to your gifts from the Emperor, but I assure you, you will get used to it, Trooper. Now shape up, weve got a job to do. I need to know where and when, and how many. Vhuna talked and Koju relayed, but he couldnt help thinking about the only thing that had ever made him feel the way Vhuna described. He had met it when he was on Axanah Prime, years ago. The cursed traitor marine still haunted his dreams, and the wounds it had so reverentially and painstakingly inflicted in that sunken chapel of agony throbbed anew in the cold, night air.

Koju was feeling distinctly queasy as he heard the whine and snap for the fifth time that morning, and felt the shock-wave in the air make his ears pop. He lowered his pistol. Psyker Adrial Fell. Cadet Commissar Reiko Koju. Your new watchman, Lord-General Tenebrant said with more than a trace of boredom in his voice. Koju looked at Fell, trying again and failing again to ignore the carpet of blood he was

standing in. The man was surprisingly young-looking, and had the most intense, piercing eyes Koju had ever seen. They seemed to be pinning Koju to the spot, and for a second he even thought about deactivating his limiter. It was only later he remembered that although the young man was bald like all his masks were, his eyes were not silver. He struggled, however, to recall what colour they had been. Lord-General. If I may. Why the dampener bracelets? I don't really see the point of them. Fair question, Cadet Commissar. The bracelets stop the subject from progressing, unless you deactivate them first. They also suppress their abilities to one degree or another. We are very concerned about about possible warp corruption of the Matroyshka for reasons I do not intend to go into. The various masks are obliged to wear them. Psyker Fell here volunteered to wear them, Lord-General Tenebrant continued. There is no code-key to deactivate his, since Fell can deactivate them himself. He wears then quite simply because he fears his powers just as much as his masters do. As the briefing indicated, Fell should never be required on the battlefield. I hope thats clear. We others feel that the abilities of Stages Three to Five should be more than sufficient for even the most hostile situations. Furthermore, should Fell perish, we would lose the Matroyshka for ever. And that is not an option. You will probably never see Psyker Fell again. The Lord-General smirked patronisingly. I think he would be more than happy with that, wouldn't you Fell? Just then Koju realised what had been making him so uneasy about Fell. He had been silently mouthing his and Lord-General Tenebrants words just before they spoke them. Koju's flesh crawled. Fell remained silent, and kept staring at Koju. He tried to ignore him. What if I try and and advance the subject with the bracelets turned on? Vodalus pulled his pipe out of his mouth. The Scholaria tried that by accident once, I believe. They were immensely relieved to find that although they had a corpse, once the bracelets were finally turned off, the corpse advanced in the usual manner. Koju hand went to the device at his neck. And what if I were to - We're finished, Cadet, Lord-General Tenebrant snapped. Fell will revert to Stage One shortly, and then Psyker Vhuna will be returned to her unit. Follow me.

The second battle of the night was beginning in earnest. Overhead unseen seed pods spewed corrosive death on men and machine alike, while the very pillars themselves shook with the mighty artillery barrage that answered the xeno assault. Reports were coming in of probing advances from around the rim of the plateau, advances Vhuna was almost solely occupied with warning against, often just in the nick of time. New xenos had appeared now; larger, stronger, and with horrendous living ordnance that ate its way into the bodies of the unlucky guardsmen who were falling by the dozens. Reports of men simply melting away and armour dissolving into mush were not easily dismissed as battlefield exaggeration either. Something the chatter on the vox-circuits was calling an arachnifex was apparently pulverising its mindless way through an entire squad of Leman Russ Exterminators. Something segmented and as long as a freight train had been seen coming up the north-west cliff-face. There had been nothing but vox-noise from that sector since, and Colonel Lekh himself had gone to rally the troops there. There was confused word that General Kurt had been seen on the frontlines, slicing a bloody

swathe through a horde of six-legged warrior-beasts the size of hovercabs in a furious counter-attack, but Vhuna knew it was something that had only happened in the fertile imagination of Commissar Vodalus. Even so, she found herself wishing it were true as the sheer scale of the assault became ever clearer. From above, swarms of winged beasts had appeared from the north and the east. Without advance warning it was likely that their impact could have turned the tide in the early moments all by themselves. As it was anti-aircraft batteries were hard-pressed, and the line had been breached in a number of places. Furious fighting raged across the plateau as the monsters swooped spitting their grotesque ammunition. The reserves were gone, and as they escorted the Sisters back to the Convent, Vhuna and Koju were making some desperate recommendations about which locations to pull troops from. And all the while the oily, black stain in Vhunas psy-scape came closer and closer.

The three men stood outside the heavily barred door to the cell. Lord-General Tenebrant had indicated they should remain silent. After a few minutes Koju heard the distinctive noise of the psyker changing form, a sound he would never forget after that morning's activities, and then he heard the strangled screams of pain from the woman coming dully through the thick metal. They quickly faded. He thought he could hear retching noises, but could not be sure. The Lord-General smiled coldly. Now that Fell is gone, we can talk without fear of him hearing us. To answer your question, Cadet Commissar, we simply do not know what would happen if you were to deactivate your limiter and then kill the psyker. Would the subject advance once you reactivated it, or once you left the area? The people involved in running this fecked-up experiment think not. They think that would be an end of the Matroyshka. The Lord-General gave a contemptuous snort. I told you their concern was that the psyker was vulnerable to the warp, but they dont really know how all this works. Where is Fell exactly when one of his masks is here? Is he more vulnerable than most to the warp because of that? They just dont know. Yet they expect us to do their field work for them. They do know that Stage One seems stable enough, so keep it at Stage One whenever possible. If you think it has been or is being possessed, or if you see it turn into someone you don't recognise, then you get to answer your own question. Immediately. Understood? Good. Dismissed.

Three of the Sisters had fallen by the time Vhuna and Koju managed to get their charges back to the lift. The attacking beasts had flown through a murderous barrage of fire but had still been able to get close enough to loose some of their xeno weaponry on the group. All three had died silently, their zeal for the Emperor sustaining them unto the end, but still their deaths had been difficult to watch. And it turned out the Grand Schema was toting a weapon older than the Convent after all. It seemed to contain the fires at the very heart of a star, and had simply vapourised the flying hormagaunts on contact. Too late to save the fallen Sisters, however. Koju held onto the swaying chains of the lift as he made sure everyone got on. According to the vox there were another two reliquaries ready to come down, but they had to get up there first. Vhuna, Those larger xeno's the airborne ones where are they? Still off to the east? Yes. If I didn't know better I'd say they were reacting. You know, to us anticipating their strikes. It's like they're holding some of their really large ones back, as far as I can tell. Waiting for a Koju Vhuna stumbled as the lift started to rise, one hand flying to her head.

What? Koju hunted around the darkness for a new threat. What? They're here. They just just appeared. Vhuna was looking upwards. How can they be in two places at once? That's not possible. Vhuna, you're not making any He stopped as the vox-channels burst into life anew. From first one pinnacle and then another, reports were coming in of attackers within the Convent buildings. Dozens were already dead. As the patchy reports multiplied they dissolved into frenetic confusion. An upwelling nova of flame erupted from the apex of the furthest tower to the west, and chunks of masonry tens of feet across tumbled outwards in the sudden light before being swallowed by the night. The command channels were completely off-line and subsidiary channels blocked with frantic pleas for assistance and demands for information. A body hurtled silently past the rising lift in the blink of an eye. Debris; stone chips and metal scraps, pattered about them. From above, the sounds of pitched battle could now be heard over the thunder of total war from the plateau beneath. A hidden explosion shook the lift and rang the chains like a bell. Vhuna, staring upwards, jumped as she realised Lucretius was standing in front of her. You knew, child of the warp. You knew, but you did not tell us. May your mistake not be your last. May trusting the Guard not be ours. She turned to her Sisters. The enemy is here. In our midst. The seals have been broken and the greatest enemy of Man is here. Only fire and death await him now, my Sisters. Let the Emperor's light be upon us as we cleanse these holy stones of the stench of Chaos. With a clang the lift reached the top and stopped with a jolt. Broken reliquary caskets, some slagged and melted, were strewn among the bodies, all burnt and many torn asunder. The smoke from the shattered censers mixed with the choking fumes of scorched flesh. Sisters and stormtroopers alike had been blasted apart on the broad rockcrete landing. Lucretius walked off the lift, picking her way through the carnage. The cloistered hallways leading off into the darkened Convent were silent and still, but sounds of destruction echoed through the ancient stone from deeper in the Convent buildings. She stopped by one of the reliquaries, now just a molten, smoking mound. The Order will not forget this failure, Cadet Commissar. This is the darkest of days. She did not look back at Koju or Vhuna as she and the remaining Sisters headed off down one of shadowy halls, towards the flickering lights of an unseen fire. The man and the woman hefted their weapons and hurried after them.

Are you questioning me, Lieutenant? Sir, no sir. The Lord-Generals staff were quite - quite clear that the subject was to be escorted back to her unit. Not that you had to be the one to do it. The key, Lieutenant. The young officer knew when to pick a fight, and when to pick an ally. He handed over the key. Of course, Cadet Commissar Koju. It's a pleasure to assist the Commissariat. Koju waited until the echoes of the mans footsteps had faded from the short corridor before opening the heavy door. The cloying smell of the blood hit him first. Pskyer Vhuna would have hit him second if she hadnt blanched at his presence and lowered her fist, cursing under her breath as she turned away.

He could see her hands, face and knees were covered with blood from the pool soaking the hard floor. Some of that blood would have been, in some twisted sense, her own. Come for seconds, have you? she muttered. Youre to be returned to your unit, psyker. Did you bring a leash? Koju unfolded the white towel he was carrying and threw it to her. She caught it, frowning. Whats this? Its a towel. Ah, the gift of comedy. Why shoot me when I can simply die laughing, eh? Then she noticed the monogrammed corner, and snorted. Thats not bad. For a Commissar. She turned the towel over. Behind the monogrammed initial was the Lord-Generals personal seal. She smiled grimly as she began wiping the blood off her face and hands with purest wheal-wool. Cadet Commissar. Same difference. They dont suddenly give you a sense of humour when they promote you. She glanced at him. they promote you. I live in hope. And I live in places like this. Youll need to tell me what thats like one day, if you last. I didnt have you down as the pessimistic sort. You mean, after our lengthy conversation this morning you have me all figured out? The plucky psyker woman with the heart of gold? I have a heart of solid piss. Try dying once in a while. Ill even help you if you like. Koju waited till she had finished with the towel. So, whats with the shiny silver eyes? You all have them, apart from Fell of course. His are actually I cant remember. Not silver though. Vhuna stared at him for a moment. Its a psyker thing. Soon everyone will be wanting them. Were you born like this, or did someone hurt you as a child? I guess a blunt like you wouldnt know much about it. She dropped the blood-smeared towel on the floor, and then slopped it around the puddle with her foot. Hows that for insolence, you piece of Careful, Psyker Vhuna. Walls have ears. Whats he going to do? Execute me? Koju coughed. Look, about this morning Dont! Vhuna snapped, her eyes flashing and her whole body tensing as she rounded on Koju. Dont you fecking dare apologise. Dont you fecking dare! Koju paused, a look of mock horror on his face. He stood to one side, gesturing Vhuna out of the cell. Well, okay Shiny, but I wasnt going to. I was going to ask if you meant what you said about my hair.

Vhuna stopped in front of him on the way out. Every word, Blunt. And remember, thats coming from a bald woman. He smoothed his lapels, brushed some dust off his sleeve and then followed her down the corridor.

Koju was frantically trying to get through on his vox, so he missed it. Vhuna didnt. Without warning the thing appeared between them and the group of Sisters. The only signs that a half-second ago there had been nothing but empty hall were vanishing wreaths of faintest shadow and a ring of dust puffing gently outwards around the feet of the towering form of the Chaos obscenity. It stood not ten metres away, its back to them. The overwhelming impact in her mind of the chaos spawns presence meant she didnt even begin raising her lasrifle until the colossal figure had begun firing on the retreating Sisters. Bullets from the screaming autocannon filled the hall, ricocheting off walls, floor and ceiling in a deadly hail that none of the Sisters could possibly survive. As Kojus strangled cry indicated he had seen the foe, Vhuna began firing at the things back. Her shots just bounced off the hideous amalgam of armour and thick hide that sprouted in scaly clumps. As it turned towards them, the autocannon winding up for another burst, its other arm melted and flowed, the dark grease of the warp moulding and solidifying its limb into a flame weapon. Koju knocked Vhunas rifle down, sending her last shot spanking into the flagstones, and grabbed the weapons strap. He lunged sideways through an arch, pulling the strap as he did so and Vhuna, the same strap still wound around her wrist, tumbled after him. Behind them the air exploded into a storm of iron and stone dust that was baked moments later by a rush of hellfire. They hauled themselves to their feet and began running across the open courtyard, their footsteps echoing as behind them the conflagration died. They ran through another arch, leapt down a small flight of steps and slid to a halt against the curved outer wall of a spiral staircase. Still following? Vhuna nodded, trying to catch her breath. Mallus? she gasped. The Boy would no, Mallus. Youre right. Make it qui- Kojus bolt pistol cut off her words. Whine. Snap. Staunch. I need Mallus, he said to Fendahl, who had collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest. The old man looked up, struggling to get the words out, his crooked teeth gritted against the phantom pain. Very. Well. Relent. Get on with Koju winced as some of the blood sprayed across his face. Whine. Snap. He looked down. Staunch. Mallus. The Boy stared back at him. He could hear the ponderous footsteps of the warped daemon

Marine resounding through the archway at the top of the steps. Come on, dammit. Staunch. Relent. Koju looked away as he pulled the trigger, then lowered the weapon. Stepping back he bumped against the cold stone wall. The Emperor calls, Mallus. Koju. Bring me something to eat? Mallus voice was slow, desert-dry and deep. Its on its way here now. Some abomination of the fallen Astartes. You handle that? Mallus simply grunted, and his cold, beady eyes shone with a silver light as he turned his massive bulk towards the arch. Far taller than Koju and obscenely fat, he moved surprisingly quickly and gracefully. As soon as he reached the archway Koju heard the whine of the autocannon and an instant later Mallus was hit by a wall of supersonic iron. His coarse clothing burst apart, rent and torn off in ragged strips smouldering in the heat from the daemonic rounds. But where the bullets hit his pallid, puffy flesh brief geysers of argent light erupted, studding his chest and distended abdomen. It looked to Koju like someone firing into a lumpen lake of quicksilver, and it was doing just as much damage to Mallus. The psyker grinned, showing his stumpy, discoloured teeth, and then roared, flecks of spittle spraying out. The Obliterator tried to target his head, which almost disappeared behind fountains of silver light, and then Mallus charged. He vanished in a crackling gout of black smoke and yellow flame. Koju cried out as the Obliterator simply appeared out of thin air only a few metres from him, wrapped in tendrils of spent warp energy that faded swiftly away. He scrambled for cover but the hell-spawns attention was fixed on Mallus. The flames had subsided leaving the psyker almost naked, his skin smoke-blackened but otherwise unharmed. He seemed to know exactly where the Obliterator was, turning back to the top of the steps as more ebony warp-strands flowed over the chaos abominations bilious flesh, twisting an arm into another cruel amalgam of metal, bone and sorcery. Twin beams of star-matter leapt from the nozzles formed by the Obliterator and poured over the corpulent form of Mallus. Koju flung himself through the doorway and onto the spiral steps to avoid the backwash of searing heat as the tapestries on the walls ignited instantly in blue flame. The psyker staggered back slightly, despite his bulk. The stone at his feet where the beams splashed began to glow a sullen red and silver light swelled to fill the room as he absorbed the outpouring of energy from the melta. The Obliterator stopped firing, confounded at this strange foe and raised a hand that now resembled the massive claw of some talonned fiend. It screamed its anger and its defiance, the high-pitched sound tearing into Koju like sawblades drawn across open nerves. Mallus roared again, light flooding now from his eyes and mouth, tendrils of it snaking down his own arms to his hands. They began to glow, and lengthen. Claws of pure silver light began to form, and Mallus leapt from the top of the steps crashing into the huge daemon. Koju swatted at the flames that had sprung up on his uniform, as he tried to struggle to his feet. His cap was gone, his hair and face singed badly. The air was like the inside of a furnace, his lungs couldnt find any oxygen, and it was only getting hotter as the two titanic

figures grappled, energies spilling out. Silver and black light arced and leapt from wall to wall, as the Obliterator fought back with power drawn directly from the immaterium. Koju was barely able to get back in the room. Just as he did so, shielding his eyes from the glare of the warp-energies, a deflected spear of coiled shadow crashed into the ceiling, bringing down chunks of masonry. He backed off again, uncertain how or if he could assist Mallus. The wall beside him exploded outwards, hurling pieces of stone at him and slamming him backwards onto the ascending stair. Mallus and the Obliterator hurtled through the gap, wreathed in psyker flames, and fell heavily to the worn steps. They tumbled away out of view, and Koju, his chest and head in agony, staggered after them, bolt pistol held unsteadily in front of him. He reached the half-landing. The Obliterator was on its back, thrashing its arms as they flowed from one shape to another, morphing weaponry and corrupted flesh in a desperate fury. Mallus was astride its chest. He gripped the daemons head in both his giant, silver hands and screamed into the things face. The noise knocked Kojus feet from under him. Brilliant threads of argentine energy poured from Mallus gaping maw piercing the head of the Obliterator and melting the stone floor under him. Then, as Mallus kept up his impossible scream, they changed direction, flowing from the juddering Obliterator and into Mallus mouth. The scream grew in intensity and pitch; cracks appeared in the stone walls and it seemed that the whole Convent must collapse. Then the daemon Marine stopped thrashing, stopped morphing and stopped moving. It began sinking into the widening pool of liquid rock underneath him. Mallus scream died away like a fading echo and the tendrils of silver energy covering his hands and arms were sucked back into his mouth. Leaning on the headless daemons chest he pushed himself slowly to his feet and stepped away as flames began to flick around its torso. He looked at Koju with his beady eyes glowing like tiny suns. The Obliterator had clearly found a way to hurt him; deep gouges in his pale yellow blubber were oozing blood, but they were already beginning to close. Mallus licked his fat lips. Any more? Mallus' voice seemed to be coming from the bottom of a well. No. Sorry. Koju slumped backwards onto the lowest steps, his pistol falling from his grasp. He felt a heavy and surprisingly cold hand on his face. He coughed, stars of pain erupting within his chest. The hand hovered in front of him. Frothy blood covered it. Was it his own? Why couldnt he get up? The hand vanished, the room whirled about him and he felt himself being lifted. He told Mallus they had to contact the General, although he couldnt remember which General. Wasnt there a Colonel? Where was Vhuna? Was she safe, he asked? He told Mallus to take him to the Abbatissa. She would know where the warboss was. The warboss was getting thinner. He had to kill it again so they could all be safe. Yes, safe. After that there was nothing. ____________________________________________________ Vhuna stood, head still in her hands, watching the Sisters as they tried to bring Koju round. The searing pain that had followed her rebuilding was only just beginning to fade. The Sisters had quelled the bleeding in Kojus chest, for now, and were pumping him full of stims. The Abbatissa had reluctantly agreed to spare a few Sisters from the chirurgia to tend to him. Vhuna wondered just how that conversation with Mallus had gone. From the frantic sounds coming over her vox-link she knew that the Chaos abominations had

warped into every one of the Convent buildings at the same time. They were slaughtering the Sisters and destroying everything they could. Troops desperately needed elsewhere had been rushed to the lifts as the stormtroopers defending the Convent had proven woefully illequipped to fight the colossi of Chaos. They had, at least, bought precious minutes with their lives in which the relics could be moved to other, safer, parts of the Convent buildings. It was a race against time between the foul warp-spawn hunting for the relics and the reinforcements arriving from the plateau. Vhuna flowed out with her mind, steeled now to the revulsion she felt whenever her scrying sense touched one of the hell-spawn. She could see them clearly in her mind, like beacons of darkness against the pure silverscape. She began to direct the Guard troopers to the relics locations. There was no point trying to direct them to the cursed daemons themselves, as they warped in and out of realspace, hunting and searching from location to location. She heard a call on her personal vox-channel for Koju. It was General Kurts Chief of Staff Major Achiezer. His voice sounded hoarse. Psyker Vhuna here, Major. Koju is injured. Report, Psyker. Whats going on in the Convent? What the hell is up there? Some kind of huge traitor Marine, sir. Theres one in each complex. Theyre hunting the relics. Sacred Throne! This is a disaster! Im directing the reinforcements Make sure the reinforcements reach the relics, girl. Get them out of there. How many have been taken? Theyre not taking them, so far as I can tell. They seem to be destroying them. Sacred fecking Throne! We cant spare any more troops and still protect the landing site. Were being pushed back already. This is impossible! Yes, sir. You should know, sir, the last of the large, airborne xenos are approaching now from the east. And there are flesh-pods descending from low orbit for this location. Hundreds of them. I guess the Navy never found those ships after all. The vox-bead just hissed in her ear. Repeat that, Psyker. She did, with a voice that hardly trembled at all. ETA? The Majors voice sounded quiet, and frayed. The pods. About ten minutes. The creatures. Any minute now. She hesitated. And What else? The heretics flyer is still there. Off to the west. Seems to be hovering. Some of the xenos have But theres no more of those cursed Marines on board, at least. I cant tell what they are, sir, but theres lots of them. The things in the Convent arent the worst of it, Major. I can tell that. Theres something much darker on board that ship.

Well thats just fecking marvellous, isnt it? If the sodding Eldar turn up for a shot at us youll let me know, wont you? The line went dead. There was only one Sister left in the small antechamber now. Vhuna walked over to Koju, and saw his eyes were open. How much of that did you hear? Oh, Im fine, Shiny. He paused to draw breath. Thanks for asking. Bollocks. Youre half-dead. Anyone can see that, I didnt have to ask. The situations going to hell, Koju. Yeah. I heard what you said. My beads fried. He pulled it away from his ear. Gave Lady Lard my spare, too. She dead? No idea. I guess so. Havent seen her. Well get you another. What do you think the heretics are up to? If theyre not here to take the relics Koju gritted his teeth, gripped his chest and tried to swing his feet off the cot. He almost succeeded, and fell back onto the hard mattress with a cry of pain. He gasped. I was hoping for something a bit more impressive there. A hand? Vhuna stood back and the Sister came over and helped him to his feet. She started removing the blood-tubes and vein-bridges. - then theyre here for something else. They wouldnt come all this way He stopped again, taking a careful and deep breath. from the Eye of Terror just to destroy some relics, especially when they could have done that when the Emperor's finest werent here. Theyre here for something else then? What? Theyre waiting for it to turn up, whatever it is. Otherwise they would have come in by now. They probably think we cant see their flyer. You cant tell whats in it? Vhuna shook her head. I dont want to know. Seriously. I just want to leave. Ill pretend I didnt hear that, Psyker. You would do well to remember my day job. The relics are a distraction no offence, Sister. Watch that flyer, Vhuna. Very closely. Koju buckled his pistol-belt back on, wincing in pain as he did so. There was a faint pink froth at his lips. What now? Vhuna asked, but Koju wasnt looking at her. Sister. I need to see the Abbatissa. Immediately. He turned to Vhuna. We get the last of the reliquaries out of here, of course. Save what we can before the xeno pods arrive. And hope theres still a clear path to the landing site. This Convent is lost.

Lieutenant Chemenko wiped the blood away from his eyes again, and then dived behind the battered Leman Russ as another wing of scythed horrors flashed through the smoky night air over his head. The soft, sickening thuds of their living ammunition came through the metal shell of the tank against his side, and he heard cries from all around him as more of the biorounds found their targets. No time to tend to their wounds now, he thought, even if he knew how to treat them.

Sergeant! yelled Chemenko, trying to make his voice heard above the screaming of the beasts, the death-cries of his troopers and the rapid thunder of the tanks heavy bolters. He saw Sergeant Lowe glance up from his position behind the shattered masonry that had fallen from above only minutes before. Get the squads to fall back to the Rhinos! Fall back! The Russ will provide cover. Lowe gestured an acknowledgement, still firing his lasrifle with the other hand as he did so. A spore erupted off to the left, showering an entire squad in some sticky fluid. They were trying to scream, and Chemenko cursed himself for being glad they couldnt. He hoped it would be quicker than that when his time came, but that time was not today. Chemenko clambered up the ladder at the rear of the Russ, ducking back yet again as something long and barbed hissed past him into the night. He took the flamer from the hands of Trooper Cowl, not stopping to wonder where the rest of him had gone, and began to work the heavy fuel-tank into place on his back. He saw Lowe rounding up the squads off to his right. Throne! So few left. Where was Madden? He had the comms. And then the remaining stab-lights of the immobilised Russ picked out something up ahead, something rushing out of the darkness beyond the cliff-edge. A glimpse of wings too big to be real. Dull armour plating, thick enough to protect a ship of the line, slung over the largest teeth Chemenko had ever seen. He froze, ancient instinct sealing his fate. There was a glimpse of greenish limbs and soulless, flinty eyes before it crashed into the Russ, crushing it into the plateau surface like a tin toy and smearing Chemenkos body over the rock.

How this new horror had burrowed through the plateau Colonel Lekh had no idea, but it had come up right through the middle of the last working Hellhound on this stretch of the line. The exploding fuel tanks of the inferno cannon didnt slow it in the least, as the burning shreds of the tank tumbled away around its long, slender body. To me! Lekh bellowed as he advanced, igniting his power sword in one hand and raising the gold aquila to his lips with the other. Victory or death! Victory or death! Lasfire began to pour onto the beasts hide as it continued to stretch upwards, still emerging from the tunnel it had dug. A stubber opened up on it from the far side, and chunks of chitin sprayed into the foul-smelling air. Then it unfolded its long, slender arms, and screamed. Lekh only just managed to check his step and hurl himself to one side as a single, curved claw the size of a man stabbed downwards, the point biting deep into the rock. No-one else had been as quick as Lekh, and the red monster that now stood almost ten metres tall flicked their skewered corpses from its many-segmented talons and stabbed again, blindingly fast. Men were being reaped like crops. Lekh rolled again, and again, only just dodging the creatures attempts to impale him. He could hear nothing but the clink-clink as the things razor-sharp talon hammered again and again into the rock all around him, flying slivers of stone bringing fresh cuts to his face. With one desperate swipe of his familys most treasured heirloom he managed to cut the tip off the talon, and it paused long enough for him to leap back to his feet. He raised the sword in the air, hurling defiance at the towering monster, both of them now surrounded by a sea of bodies, blood and fire. His fate looked him in the eye and he gripped the golden aquila tightly in his hand, furious, wordless wrath tearing from his throat, as the beast arched its back and all eight talons flew for him in a blur.

The ancient power sword of the Lekh dynasty tumbled to the blood-soaked dust, its energies seeping away. Overhead an armoured colossus swooped, and then wheeled away. There was no meat here left to kill.

You want to take the reliquaries out through that? asked Vhuna, standing at the edge of the lift-platform and staring down at the chaos that had engulfed the plateau below. The dark surface was a mile-wide morass of brutal carnage; weapons fire, explosions, leaping flames and swallowing shadow surmounted by the din of ceaseless death. Unless the Chaos ship is here to pick us up, Shiny. That lifter pilot down there is not going to wait much longer. Here, help me with these. He dragged a couple of corpses back from the edge to make a path for the reliquaries. Already the remaining Sisters and the few stormtroopers who had survived had gathered most of the dead into a funeral pyre that blazed in the nearby courtyard. Others were waiting with the reliquary containers to board the lift. Vhuna grabbed wrists and ankles and heaved, trying not to think about what she was doing. With any luck, grunted Koju, Vodalus is standing right behind him. Vhuna shook her head as she deposited the body parts farther down the hall, fitful light from the bonfire casting her narrow features in sullen reds and ochres. Your boss is in the thick of it, as far as I can tell now. Its becoming hard to tell human and xeno apart down there. Abbatissa! Koju stood up straight as the elderly woman approached, and tried to wipe the blood off his hands. The lift, please, most holy Sister. You will go with the first relics. I will not, honoured Cadet Commissar. But you must, said Vhuna. The xenos - theyre already in the Convent, Abbatissa! You can hear them from here. Koju coughed into his glove and Vhuna could see dark blood clots on the leather before he hid his hand behind his back. We may not be able to guarantee the safety of those who remain for the second run, he said, his voice hoarse. And the lifter may not wait anyway. Weve lost vox contact with everyone at the landing site, and the command lines are down again. I understand, Cadet Commissar, and you know my decision. Koju looked around at the other Sisters, but he may as well have appealed to the gargoyles in the gutters. The lift was almost ready to go. Vhuna took her place at the outer edge of the lift as Koju walked over to the squads of stormtroopers. Sergeant. Hold this position. Protect the Abbatisssa with your life, yours and every one of your men. We will be back for you. If the holy sister dies in your care, then I warn you to find your own fate in the Convent before I return. The heavy-set Sergeant returned Kojus gaze implacably. These men would not flinch, Koju knew. The great winch began to clank as Koju stepped on the boards of the lift.

Around them the cold night air was alive with winged xeno threats, hissing with their deadly weaponry. More explosions rocked the buildings of the Convent perched on the pillar directly opposite them, and flames leapt into the sky. Gathered around the three reliquary containers in the centre of the lift, the Sisters, the four stormtroopers and Vhuna stood facing outwards, weapons poised. Koju joined them as the lift descended, checking the magazine in his bolt-pistol, and wishing Mallus hadnt left his chainsword behind. I dont believe it, Vhuna said. She looked up. A pinprick of light could be seen in the pitch darkness above them, growing steadily larger as it came closer. Koju turned to Vhuna. What is it? Remember that Interrogator? What, Carnallius? That his name? Well, hes not alone. Other pinpricks of light were appearing now, most of them wreathed in a corrosive, green haze for a few moments as they exited the xeno cloud still boiling invisibly overhead. They descended rapidly, the roaring brake jets audible now even above the din from below and all around. The Convent, said Vhuna, and it was soon obvious she was right. The orbital landers were not landing, but braking to hover in positions just over each of the Convent buildings, including the one they had just left. As the lift clanked downwards the bell-towers and domes of Meteora rose to obscure the ships from view. Vhuna and Koju strained unsuccessfully to see if anyone or anything was disembarking. Hes here, said Vhuna, her eyes wide in wonder. Koju looked back up at the landing lost now in the darkness above them. Up there? Interrogator Carnallius? No, Vhuna laughed, but it had a nervous edge to it. His master. She pointed off to the south. Out there somewhere. Hes hes bright. But diffuse. I cant pin him down. Throne! She looked at Koju, awe and fear written in her face. Hes very powerful, Koju. Very. Ive never seen anything like it. Carnallius is is like a child beside him. Are all Inquisitors like ? Her expression suddenly changed. Duck! she shouted, grabbing the shoulder of the nearest Sister and pulling her down. Out of the darkness rushed a flapping nightmare of bone and hooks, that caromed into the chains from which the lift hung and spun off screeching into the inky night. Koju grabbed one of the stormtroopers to stop him from falling over the rail, and then let go as he saw the deep gash that bisected the mans helmet and the thick blood oozing out from underneath. The body tumbled away in silence. Verdant fire tinged with white erupted from the Convent buildings on the tower to the west, lighting up the cloud base far above for a brief instant, and then vanished. A spine-chilling scream drifted down to them as something foul died. Carnallius?

Vhuna nodded mutely, still staring upwards. The lift reached the ground with a bang. Hissing shadows rushed at them and the combined fire of the Sisters and the three remaining stormtroopers cut them down. More, larger forms hurtled towards them from the direction of the cliff-edge but a jet of flame from directly ahead crisped them. The Immolator was still there. Battered and torn, with armour panels bent and ripped, its engine was still alive, however, and the crew still fought their positions. The twin-linked flamer held off the ravening hordes as the Sisters secured the three relics in the converted hold. Koju and Vhuna added their weapons to the defence. It seemed that the lines had collapsed, and attacks were now being launched from all directions. In the distance they could just make out isolated platoons and tank squadrons fighting and dying in the xeno turmoil. This was turning into a rout. Sister Superior. No objections to a mad dash for the landing site, I assume? No? Koju slapped the ceiling of the vehicle hard as one of the other Sisters sealed the hatch. Lets go, Trooper! The engine raced and the Immolator lurched forward, heading for the remaining lights of the landing site a half-mile away, around which the final pitched battle of the night was being fought. With the firing ports open the journey to the landing site was an endless stream of lasfire punctuated by the whooshing rush of the flamers that sent sharp shadows dancing inside the crammed hold. The smell of fyceline and promethium mingled in the roasting, airless compartment, and Vhuna struggled to catch a breath. Clutching her lasrifle grimly, the brass aquila she held digging into her palm, she fired relentlessly at the seemingly neverending xeno hordes outside. Time and again the racing Immolater was struck broadside by a charging xeno beast that had evaded the defensive fire, threatening to tip the vehicle on its side, but each time luck or the Emperor righted it and it lurched ahead again. The lights of the landing site were getting closer when Vhuna saw in her psy-scape what she had been dreading. She turned away from the firing port. Koju! He was bent double, almost lying over one of the reliquary containers. He looked up, his dark face ashen. Koju, theyre coming in. Fast. The heretics are coming. He gave a bitter laugh, and droplets of black blood splattered onto the casements. Theres no-one to tell, Vhuna. Vox is dead. I cant raise anyone. There was a bubbling sound to his voice now, coming from deep in his chest. She paused. From the crew compartment she heard frantic voices. - go through it! Through it! The Immolater bucked under them, rearing violently in the air before crashing back down and racing ahead again. Chunks of xeno-flesh and gobbets of ichor splattered and splashed past the firing ports on either side. Marotte could.

Koju looked at her. Marotte. I dont think so, Vhuna. Not with his eyes widened and he gasped as he drew in another painful breath, not with the hive mind. Itd burn him up, and you know what that would mean. You fancy letting Fell loose here, cos I dont. He could hold off the hive He probably could, Vhuna. Hell, he could probably take over some of the smaller ones completely, and right now thats an attractive idea. But not for long. Hed fry. Then wed get Fell. No way. The flamer gurgled and whooshed again, and firelight danced through the gun-ports. A hail of bio-ammunition rattled and bounced off the adamantium hull. One of the Sisters started choking and then fell to the floor, clutching at her throat. A second later she ceased moving altogether, as dark blotches spread under her skin. Faint wisps of foul smoke began to rise from the exposed flesh. Theyre not heading for us, or any of the relics, Koju. Well, what the hell are they Its the xenos. Theyre theyre chasing one of the xenos! Koju just stared at her. Vhuna grabbed the handle for the roof hatch and pushed it open. She stuck her head through and ducked as the mounting for the flamers swept past. Koju groaned as he stood up beside her, and she shrank away from him as far as she could. There, said Vhuna. Look. The ship was clearly visible now, a wide-bellied transport vessel of some kind, its engines and thrusters flaring as it braked hard and turned. Dark purple beams of energy that coiled and curled with black strands of the warp burst from hardpoints all over its hull, striking a massive, winged Tyranid that was swooping low over the plateau off to the south, larger than any dragon or gargouille of legend. The beams struck again and again, but they didnt seem to be injuring it. The beast screamed in fury, and the mighty sound drowned out everything else for a moment. The beams fired again and again. The creature tried to flap its pitch-black wings, but only one seemed to respond. It went into a spin and crashed on its back into the plateau, which shook with an almighty thunder under the immense impact. Explosions from tanks crushed by its landing seemed like candle flames against its colossal bulk, and were snuffed out just as quickly. The downed Hive Tyrant thrashed and flailed at the far end of the plateau. Holy Throne, Koju! Theyre not killing it. Theyre trying to capture it! The lights of the landing site were directly ahead, but none of the hundreds of beasts, large or small, seemed to have the slightest interest in the Immolator any longer. They were all milling around, uncertain and confused. The vehicle charged forward, glancing off one armoured body after another, but it might as well have been a pebble skipping over water for all the attention it attracted. Vhuna looked on, incredulous, as the Chaos ship hovered over the monster, the beams still darting out. They were having an effect, as it seemed the thing was unable to rise to its feet. The downwash from the thrusters was obscuring much, and clouds of dust were billowing out, but Vhuna could still see clearly in her mind. The dark shapes that had been on the ship were getting out, fast. And there were a lot of them. The Immolator burst through the ragged final defensive line, a half-hearted cheer going up from the bloodied troopers to either side as they did so, and hurtled off towards the loading ramps of the lander. Behind them the xeno forces had recovered their sense of purpose and

were renewing their frenzied assault on the lines of tanks and men. The Immolator stopped with a jolt under the glaring lights of the lander's belly. Koju was coughing continually now, and one of the Sisters gave him some somnia at Vhuna's request. He tried to resist, but was too weak, and soon slipped into unconsciousness. Vhuna stood back as he was lifted onto a blood-soaked stretcher and carried off to the Sisters Hospitaller aboard the lander. As the reliquaries were being unbolted in the hold Vhuna caught sight of General Kurt standing in the shadow under the loading ramp. She wasn't surprised by whom he was speaking to. He stood out clearly in her mind. He beckoned to her from the shadows, although as she ran over she realised with a chill that she had not actually seen him move at all. General Kurt. My Lord Interrogator. Psyker Vhuna reporting. As she said this, a pillar of light burst dazzlingly into life far off to the west. It reached up, punching through the alien corruption that hung low in the sky, briefly making the night into twilight. As the light faded, dark clouds could be seen spiralling down the ethereal column towards some unseen location in the mountains. General Kurt took the opportunity of this apparition and Vhuna's arrival to edge back from the towering form of the Interrogator, who was leering at Vhuna. She looked him in the eye, inwardly flinching at the dark presence of his feral mind. Your doing, my Lord Interrogator? He made a sound, part growl, part sigh. My master. Dealing with Bile's psykers. Bile himself - Carnallius reached out one hand and grasped at the air before Vhuna's face, slowly closing his calloused fingers on nothing. Bile? said Vhuna, wanting to step back but her feet ignoring her commands. The Manflayer? You mean he's he's real? In the flesh, little mask. My master a keen admirer of his work. Would like to talk to him. He growled again. One on one. Vhuna struggled to keep her breathing and herself under control. The heretic's ship. Has is trying to capture one of the xenos. You must have seen - We were just talking about that. I can't spare any men, Interrogator, none at all. Not even for the Inquisition - General Kurt quailed as Carnallius simply leered at him as he said this, - not even then, none at all. Let them kill each other out there. They can't seriously hope to capture something that the Generals mouth worked, but his mind was obviously sending far too many words at once. The logjam broke and he spluttered on, - your masters stormtroopers are bringing the last of the relics in, and the Abbatissa and her Sisters. And then we are all leaving this foul place. Carnallius moved, swift and flowing. The General rocked back, startled, but Carnallius simply walked between him and Vhuna, turning once behind her to look at the General over her shoulder. I don't need your men, General. Your woman will do. He bent his head to Vhuna's ear, his closeness filling her senses. I want the puppet-master. Marotte. Come. It took every ounce of her courage just to speak without her voice breaking. But, I'm not supposed to go anywhere without Koju and what if the Hive Mind - Carnallius put one lumpen finger to his lips. Hush. His voice dropped to a stony whisper in her ear, a whisper borne on wings of death that had toppled crowns and Cardinals alike.

You're not in the playground now. He turned and stalked away towards the seething morass of violence that was the frontline to the south. Vhuna looked at General Kurt, and was amazed to see what looked like sympathy in his eyes. Dismissed, Psyker. May the saints go with you. The the Emperor protects. She turned and walked slowly after Carnallius.

Vhuna knew what was coming as they neared the bloodbath that was the final defensive line for the landing site. Carnallius had already unholstered a small, snub-nosed pistol. Sweating in the cold air, she took her helmet off and ran one hand over her bald scalp. She then breathed slowly and carefully on her open palm. As she did so, a silver shape formed in the mist of her breath. It was a skull in a circle, studded with five points, and it shimmered like moonglow in her hand. Carnallius stopped. He looked at the sigil Vhuna was holding. I know the code words. If anyone other than our watchman does it, then they need this too, or they will be attacked. Codes or not. She held out her hand. Carnallius massive frame shook, and she realised he was laughing. Anger ran hot in her veins. My Lord Interrogator. They do not know who you are. They will attack. Mallus and Marotte are not to be trifled with. And Fell Mallus and Marotte are scared of Fell, My Lord. There is no-one who should not be. You must hold this. The Interrogator looked at her for a moment, his eyes invisible under his heavy brow. Then he reached out one hand and took the psy-mark from her. He raised his pistol as Vhuna set her jaw, defiance flashing in her argent eyes. If you scare the Boy, my Lord, I will learn of it. He leered, and fired.

Marotte. The Emperor calls. Carnallius lowered the gun, slowly. The psy-mark in his other hand drifted through his fingers, floating towards Marotte. It vanished as it did so. And I am his faithful servant, Interrogator Carnallius, the man said, with a faint nod of his head. He was dark-skinned, with an angular, imperious face that held a look of private amusement. The Interrogator scowled, and stepped close to Marotte, his face inches from the psykers. One chance. Get out. But, of course. I did not intend to intrude, My Lord. Marottes silver eyes returned Carnallius gaze without flinching, and he gave him a smile that was anything but pleasant. Their eyes locked for a moment longer, and then Marotte stepped away turning towards the line of tanks and men that was, for now, holding back the xeno warriors. His shadow-skin suit was already turning a charcoal-grey, and his weapons clinked as he moved. Quite a party. You have invited just about everyone. Can I have the men? The machines? Or the He whirled back to Carnallius, a look of wonder on his face. - the xenos! A hive-mind!

Oh, most holy of holies, a hive mind! Thank you, Interrogator. Thank you, and your master. This is not a game. I hunt Chaos. You will not touch Chaos, psyker. If you try and take them, I will end you. I want an escort, to Biles ship. Carnallius pointed to the waves of xenos hurling themselves at the defensive line. Marottes eyes blazed as he turned on the spot, looking around. Then he looked up. The velvet darkness above was full of spore-pods now, hurtling towards the ground with their feathered cartilage streamers trailing out behind them. Already the guns on the lander behind had opened up and were filling the sky with flak-bursts and las-fire, but even so dozens of the pods would crash down within the landing site alone. Marotte nodded to the Interrogator. And here they come. Just in time. I could use the others, but these will be fresh. His eyes continued to glare, argent beams stabbing out momentarily. His head dropped. It is something else, Interrogator, is it not? The hive mind. I darent approach it, or connect to it. But I can sever it. For a while. His head snapped up, and he looked at Carnallius. Meat. But not just meat. We are both more and less than that to them. Ah, I could delve in this all night but time is, no doubt, pressing. I have severed these five. Around them the first of the massive spore pods had slammed into the ground, shaking the rock with the impact. More quickly followed. The streamers that had guided and slowed their descent collapsed around the pods like coils of fleshy rope. Each pod was covered in thick, white ash, and great clumps of it began to flake off as the things inside struggled to be released. Carnallius drew in a deep breath, and Marotte swayed with the psy-force the Interrogator added to his voice. Back! The troopers who had been setting up to fire on the pods stepped back involuntarily, dropping their weapons with startled looks on their faces. With sickening pops and snapping noises the five pods all split open, and the xenos inside scrambled out in a gelatinous profusion of limbs and talons. They headed straight for the two psykers, and then stopped in a circle around them, clawing at the uneven surface. Last to reach them was the carnifex, a massive creature with two thrashing tentacles where its claws should have been, the foetid ooze from the pod hanging from its armoured body in swinging stalactites of ichor. The reeking monster stood over the two men, howling its boundless rage into the night sky, while the ceaselessly moving gaunts and stealers circled about them, crawling and leaping over and under each other in a lethal ring of barbed, xeno flesh. Ready when we are when you are, Interrogator. Carnallius began striding towards the defensive line, already growling orders over his vox to General Kurt. Ahead of them, the line began to open up.

The xenos still under the control of the hive mind completely ignored the group of their brethren, although they made some efforts to reach the two psykers running in the middle. Their confusion when their oddly mute brood-cousins turned on them with savagery was palpable, although none of the assailants lived long enough to try a second time. The lights of the Chaos cargo-lifter were now clear up ahead, as the dust settled out. Their freakish convoy was well clear of the Imperial landing site, and the hive-xenos around them were pouring towards the cargo-lifter, but something or someone was clearly defending it, lost to sight behind a surging wall of alien flesh.

Carnallius stopped, with a grunt of discontent. Traitor marines. I can smell them. Many lost Legions owe Bile. He growled, and spat in the dust. We can see them, Marotte said. As if by way of demonstration the sunken, dead eyes of the Carnifex towering above them pulsed silver for an instant. Too many to get past, even strong as we are. Strong in tooth and claw. We will rend them He paused, and gasped. Even severed the link is all-pervasive. This is taxing, Interrogator. What else? Scores of heretics. They die, but they keep the brethren from the traitor marines, who are cutting down everything the heretics miss. Behind them our greatest brood cousin lies in chains of light. The hard-ships belly is open and moving into position above him. They mean to steal him away. Stay focused, psyker. Find me a way in. Around the two men the ring of protective creatures slowed almost to a stop. Their movements became hesitant and uncertain, their noises beginning to echo the alien din around them. Carnallius turned to Marotte. If he felt any concern for his wellbeing, it did not show in his coarse features. Stay focused, psyker. Once again, beams of light were lancing out from Marottes eyes. I I have one, Interrogator. A way in. I think you are going to like it. To their left, the rocky surface shook, cracked and burst open, sending gaunts tumbling away in clouds of dust. A mantis-like head, red armour covering massive opposing jaws, reared out. Its eyes flared silver for a brief second as it rose, and it unwrapped its stick-like arms. Marotte turned to Carnallius as he walked over to the creature sticking out of the crater, the controlled xenos still following him. I think it wants to hug you, Interrogator. I suggest you let it. A tight squeeze, and youll need to watch your breathing, but you should make it. I think. That brood cousin will tunnel up underneath the pinned great one, carrying you. Will tunnel through its carapace, and then withdraw, leaving you inside. Unseen. Hope you have a strong stomach, Carnallius. What you do once youre on Biles ship is up to you. You know hes not there, of course. Carnallius hissed. I didnt tell you I wanted to get onboard. His voice was dangerously low and soft. Ah. Forgive the intrusion. Interrogator. Marotte smiled slyly, unable to conceal his delight that the wild-eyed man had not noticed his last psy-probe. He knew Carnallius couldnt touch him, not if he wanted the mantis-thing to carry him safely. He also knew something something he had learned in the haunted, primal depths of Carnallius' mind - that he was desperate to pass on to Vhuna. See you again, Marotte. The Interrogator walked up to the red-armoured horror, and turned back to face the psyker, his dark eyes seething with fury. Soon. Better be ready. Ill bring some wine, My Lord. The xeno wrapped its many limbs around Carnallius, its razor-sharp talons carefully avoiding slicing into him. It hugged him to its segmented belly, bending its flesh-hooks out the way and began to slide back underground. Marotte watched him go, and then turned to head back for the Imperial landing site. His mind

was in agony, the invisible threads of psyker-silver that connected him to the xenos under his command were becoming stretched to breaking point. The hive-mind was hammering at his mental barriers, forcing past them as it sought to re-establish control of its brood, and to take control of him. He had gone only a few metres when he realised the giant carnifex had stopped. He watched, sweat pouring from under his shadow-skin cap, as it turned and headed for the Chaos cargolifter, joining in the attack and back under the sway of the hive-mind. Only his gaunts and stealers remained under his control, and already two of them had peeled off, confused and lost. He began to run. As soon as the mantis-beast was finished he could release it and take some other, closer, xenos, but at this range controlling the beast was taking almost all his power. He unholstered his weapons as he ran, a pistol in each hand. Gunplay was not his strong suit, but he would do anything rather than risk letting Fell loose in this environment. He couldn't allow that to happen, especially after what the Interrogator had unwittingly told him. More gaunts fell away from his brood, keening their confusion into the night. A troope of gargoyles swooped out of the darkness as he ran towards the crumbling defensive line around the landing site. Two stealers leapt in the air in front of them, blocking their dive, another screeched and pounced in front of Marotte. He gunned it down without breaking stride, the plasma pistols incinerating it utterly. He was down to a hissing handful of defenders when he saw through the mantis-things eyes that it had withdrawn from the burrow it had dug in the hive tyrants carapace. The still-living hive tyrant. Carnallius was well, safe wasnt the right word, but Marottes duty was done. He released the mantis, now nearly half a mile behind him, and pounced on the gargoyles as they wheeled for another attack, his mind cleanly severing their links with the hive. Behind him the huge cargo-ship carrying the Hive Tyrant - and Carnallius - lifted off, its thrusters sending stark shadows dancing ahead of him. The xeno army screamed in impotent fury. He slowed to a jog as he approached the battleline between tyranids and humanity. Getting back in could be tricky, but he smiled as his psy-sense hunted for the nearest Guard commander. He didnt get out much, and he intended to enjoy himself while it lasted.

Vhuna stared out the viewport at Coulters Haven. Even on the dayside the dark clouds were boiling in the atmosphere, almost covering the face of the planet. The tips of spore towers were beginning to rise through them in places, although the Navy was adroitly bombarding these as they emerged. Soon the necessary fleet elements would be in place, and the surface of Coulters Haven would be reduced to a lifeless dust-storm. She looked down at the brass aquila in her hand, its smooth edges already familiar to her. There was a name on the back, barely legible beneath a skull-like symbol that had almost faded away entirely. Saint something-ana. Probably the Order's patron. She would find a chain for it as soon as she could. She turned and saluted as General Kurt walked through the open door. At a jerk of his head the two stormtroopers in the briefing room saluted also, and left. The door hissed closed, leaving them alone. The General put two data-slates down on the polished table as he passed, and joined Vhuna at the viewport. The Matroyshka experiment is officially at an end, Psyker Vhuna. Cant say Im sorry. Anyone reading my report on the defense of Meteora Convent would conclude it was a

fecking disaster. But no-one ever will read it. Barely half the relics made it out intact. We lost nearly eighty percent of our men. Eighty five percent of our armour. Eighty-fecking-five percent. Holy Throne. Absolute disaster. Lots of the Holy Sisters died as well, of course. Did the Abbatissa survive, sir? Yes, yes she did. They dont get to that age without being tough little bit tough, you know. Dont let her fool you. And we got the main relic out. The well, I cant tell you, obviously, but thank the Emperor its safe. He turned, hands running through his grey-flecked hair and sat down at the briefing table, facing away from her. He sighed heavily. In the absence of an invitation, Vhuna remained standing. A disaster. And then the Puinous Powers show up, manage to snatch a filthy xeno from under our noses, and somehow evade the whole fleet. All the way here just for that. I know theyre all barking mad, but there must be some reason why theyd do a thing like that. Im anxious to know what my tacticians have to say about it. They should bloody well know. Ill get new ones if they dont. He sighed again. And then the Inquisition who, quite frankly I expected to shoot everyone involved, me included declare themselves very satisfied with the way it went, thank you very much. Although they didnt say it like that, of course. My report gets binned and the whole clusterfeck is declared a great victory. It wasnt the relics brought the Puinous Powers here, though. Oh, no. I dont need a tactician to tell me that, psyker. The feint for the relics was just that - a diversion to draw troops away and let the thrice-cursed bastards have a clear run. They played this one well. Anyway. Your posting here is over. I see. Back to the Scholaria, sir? The General gave a sour laugh. You attracted the wrong kind of attention, girl. A long time ago. No, not the Scholaria. He plucked one of the dataslates from the table surface and held it out. Vhuna paused as she saw the unmistakeable rosette glowing at the top, and then walked over and took it. She realised her mouth had gone dry. Report to his ship by fourteen hundred hours. He stood up, and handed her the second, encoded slate. Both of you. Best of luck. I actually mean that, psyker. Dismissed.

EPILOGUE Hey, Shiny! I was wondering when youd come and visit me. Ah! And instead of flowers youve brought me new orders! You really have hidden shallows of compassion, dont you? Vhuna stopped beside his cot as the Sisters Hospitaller worked silently about the ward. There werent that many injured officers, at least compared with the packed non-comm wards she had passed on the way. On the other hand, there werent many officers left full stop. They didnt tell me youd come around until an hour ago, Blunt, although I see your scintillating wit died in surgery. It will be sorely missed. Here. She dropped the data-slate on Koju's chest and pretended to look surprised when he winced. His ID tags around his neck and his retinal scan unlocked the crypto, and she saw his eyes widen although she could not see the text on the screen. She had a fair idea what it was. Youve got to be kidding Koju said, as he read on, can they do that? Just transfer a

Cadet no, of course they can, theyre the sodding Inquisition. They can do whatever the hell they like. I dont fecking believe this, Vhuna! This has got to be a mistake. Vhuna just waved her own data-slate in reply. Fourteen hundred hours. You could dessert, I suppose, but the locals on Coulters Haven are not too friendly. No way. There are some strings I can pull, you know? Get me out of this. Youre the one they really want, not me. Vodalus made it out, did you hear? Lost an arm. Ill speak to him. Got some pull with the Commissariat sub-division HQ. No way. No fecking way. He hurled the data-slate across the ward and slammed both fists into the cot mattress, with a heavy sigh. No fecking way. He looked up at Vhuna. I dont have a choice, do I? I dont have a sodding choice. Welcome to my world, Blunt. He gave a hollow laugh. Yeah. Right. Shaking his head, he laughed again. I was that close to being a Commissar, Vhuna. That close. Face it. You were closer to a penal regiment, Blunt. They'd never let you be a Commissar with hair like that, anyway. Probably a good thing most of it's been burnt away. Koju's hands flew to his scalp as he uttered a cry of dismay, and only just before he caught the expression on Vhuna's face. Yes. Very good, Shiny. You got me. He ran both hands over his cropped hair anyway, she noticed. Vanity. Thy name is Koju. Oh, by the way. One of the Sisters left this for you. He took a message tube from the drawer beside his cot, and handed it to Vhuna. She took it, turning it over, puzzled. You know what it says? she asked. No its crypto-sealed. I had to try and open it, though. I won't deny it. I don't like you lot talking behind my back. Not after what happened to the first guy. Anyway, she said Marotte gave it to her, just as the lander was leaving the plateau back down there. I dont know what the hell you were thinking letting him out after what I said. You and I need to have a little chat about obeying orders. Vhuna used her own tags to unseal the end of the tube, and teased the message paper out. She read it, and felt the blood chill in her veins. She read it again, shaking her head. No. No, this isnt right. This is one of your jokes, Koju. This is but she knew the handwriting. This was how they communicated, and she knew the handwriting of every one of them. What? What the feck does it say, Vhuna? Koju struggled to lift himself up on his elbows. Thrones sake, woman. Tell me! No. He must be wrong. He must be! She stood up, fear and confusion flooding through her. He must be. But she knew Marotte's particular talents. He could see much that was hidden, that others wanted to hide. For Throne's sake, Vhuna! What! She walked quickly over to the other side of the ward, and before dropping the paper sheet into the medical waste immolator, she read it one final time, tears of anger and confusion forming in her eyes. In a careful, cultured hand the message simply said, Carnallius knows more than he lets on Fell has been lying to the Scholaria, about everything. He is not the source. There are others.

THE END