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Borvus arced down onto the street below, his jump pack screeching. he smashed into the rockcrete, leaving a small crater where he landed. he raised his bolter, scanning from right to left, bafore activating his vox bead.
"Vance, area clear, jump to my position."
a second later Vance roared out of the sky to land beside Borvus. both space marines stood up.
"what did you find in the warehouse, Vance?" asked Borvus.
"all clear, signs of a struggle, and i found this."
Vance held up a helmet. it was beaten and dented, but there was no mistaking who it belonged to.
"that's Karel's." Borvus observed.
"we must find him, and quickly." said Vance, drawing his chainsword.
Borvus put a hand on the Flesh Tearer's arm.
"no, that's not what he would want." he said, "Karel would want us to carry out our mission, only after we've completed it will we start searching for him."
Borvus fired up his jump pack and powered into the air.
"if we don't find him with an ork blade stuck in his side first." muttered Vance before following.

*

Karel woke up. he looked around him. he was lying on a bare metal bunk in a bare metal cell. candles burned in brackets on the walls. Karel stood up, and realised he was no longer in his Deathwatch armour, but instead was clad in the black and white armour of his chapter of origin, the Black Templars. a white robe covered his power armour. Karel lifted up his left hand and his jaw dropped as he saw it was no longer metal, but flesh. he felt at his hip and realised he didn't have his sword.
he suddenly realised where he was. this was his cell. he was on board the Catechism of Heresy, the crusader ship he had served on prior to the Deathwatch.
he turned as the door to his cell opened and a figure strode in. the figure was clad in gold power armour, and carried an ornate sword sheath at his side. he was bald, and his face was aged, and to see him confused Karel.
"High Marshal Brant." he said, "how can this be? i should be on Culexa Primus."
"Sword Brother Karel, you are where the emperor wills you to be." replied the High Marshal, "be content with that."
"what of my fellows, my brothers in the Deathwatch?"
"speak not of them here, Karel." said Brant warningly, "they do not belong here."
"wha?-"
the High Marshal cut Karel off.
"come, Sword Brother, walk with me to the combat chamber. someone is waiting for you."
Karel closed his mouth and followed the High Marshal.

*

Commissar Ivor Kane kicked the wall of a crumbled wall, swearing violently.
"how could we lose the trail!" he demanded.
"i don't know, sir." replied Sergeant Egant. "it's like they've just...dissapeared."
he tapped furiously on the screen of a data slate, his face reddening rapidly. the nine guardsmen that stood around the two looked bored with the chase.
Ivor swore again, then squinted, shielding his eyes against the sun, and saw two figures drop out of the sky and crash to the ground in front of him.
"space marines!" he cried as he saw the black armoured giants stand up.
"i presume you are in persuit of the orks?" asked one of the space marines, the crest of the Crimson Fists contrasting with his black armour.
"aye." said Ivor, then he happened to glance at the rockcrete road, "though we don't seem to be looking very hard."
he pointed to a manhole, the cover of which had been dislodged and thrown to one side.
"brother marines," Ivor said, "would you join us in a light spot of ork hunting?"
"we would be delighted." replied the space marine, "i am brother Borvus, of the Crimson Fists, and this is Brother Vance, of the Flesh Tearers."
"sir," called Egant, "it might be rough going in the sewage network."
"fear not, sergeant." Borvus called, "brother Vance has a most...potent nose."
one by one, the guardsmen and the space marines descended into the sewers of Elux City.

*

Crystal and Crimson sat at the table in the kitchen area of Crystal's apartment, both were tired from the day's events.
the door to the bedroom opened and Shanks walked out.
"there's no permanent damage that i can see," he said, "blimey, i knew space marines were tough but i didn't know they could repair their own ribs."
Crystal and Crimson both looked at him in confusion, and he shrugged.
"is he awake?" asked Crystal.
"nah." replied Shanks. "i dunno why, but he won't wake up."
Crystal looked at the space marines weapons laid on the table in front of her. there was a power sword which stood almost as tall as she did, and a wrist mounted bolter, which she had cleaned as best she could.
Crystal stood up from the table and entered the bedroom. she examined the space marine.
she crossed over to the desk by the window and opened the drawer. she took out the combat knife within.
Crimson came in behind her.
"why do you care about him so much anyway?" she asked.
"because i do." replied Crystal shortly.
"hell, crystal, you don't even know his name!" snapped Crimson
"his name is Karel." said Crystal.
"how can you know that?"
"Crimson, you remember how long i've had this knife, right?"
"yeah."
"well, it's his." she said, pointing to the space marine.
"you going to explain how that's possible?" asked Crimson, confusion plain on her face.
Crystal briefly explained about what had happened to her ten years previously, then fell silent while Crimson took it all in.
"well, that's a turn up." she said at last. Crystal chuckled.
she stood up and paced around the bed.
she kneeled down on one knee and placed the combat knife in the space marines hand, closing his fingers around it. she took his hand in both of hers and shut her eyes.
"if you can hear me," she thought, "please wake up. i don't know why your here or what for, but i need an explanation and i need you to wake up."
she let go of his hand, taking the knife off him, stood up and opened her eyes, she hoped that her message would reach him.

*

Karel walked into the combat chamber, the walls rose so high he couldn't se the cieling. the chamber was lit by candles placed in brackets along the walls. towels hung on racks on the far wall and training mats were built into the floor.
"now then, brother." said Brant, turning to Karel, "are you ready to prove yourself?"
Karel nodded uncertainly.
"good." smiled Brant. he clicked his fingers.
two sword brethren marched in, dragging a space marine between them. the newcomer's armour was completely black and unadorned, the mark of a traitor.
slowly the two sword brethren removed the marine's helm and stepped back.
Karel's jaw dropped as he beheld the face of his former mentor and superior in the Deathwatch.
"Fangas!" he said in disbelief.
"alright, Karel." the grizzled space wolf replied.
"he is a traitor, Karel, and you must kill him." said Brant sternly.
"don't listen to him, Karel." warned Fangas, "he's trying to turn you against me."
"we swore bonds of brotherhood, sword brother." said Brant.
"we fought and bled together." Fangas shouted.
a sword lay on the ground in front of Karel, he picked it up.
"who would you rather believe, Sword Brother, your superior, or your mentor?" Brant said confidently.
"such are the ways of traitors, to lie and mislead us!" shouted Fangas.
Karel activated the power sword. "and he has mislead me well."
Karel swung the power sword round, slashing in a wide arc. Fangas's head flew from his body, which one second later disintegrated into dust.
High Marshal Brant stood silent for a second, then said.
"if i might, how did you decide who was the traitor?"
"i followed my logic." Karel shrugged. "as soon as he talked about lying and deceit, i knew he was lying himself."
"now you see where true judgement lies, Sword Brother." replied Brant, "now, wake up."
"what?" Karel asked.
Brant's voice changed, it became female. the voice of a young woman.
"i need an explanation and i need you to wake up!"
Karel screamed as his vision blacked out.

*

Karel woke up, for real this time. he knew because he could feel a headache.
he was lying on a bed. the bed was meant for two people, but Karel took up near enough the whole bed. he sat up and looked around him. the room that he was in was a bedroom, purple drapes hung from the walls, and the floor was carpeted. a desk stood at the side of the bed. Karel got up and saw a doorway leading onto a balcony. a woman leant against the railing of the balcony, outlined against the morning light. she had brown, shoulder length hair and wore a vaguely seethrough silk gown. her body was muscled, yet retained it's feminine curves.
Karel strode out onto the balcony and stood beside her, watching the sun rise.
after a while she spoke.
"you saved me, last time you were here." she turned, and Karel saw she had misty grey eyes, like his. she held out a knife to him. it was a plain combat knife, but it had Karel's name carved on the flat of the blade.
"i remember." he said, looking her in the eyes.
"...thank you." she said, smiling.
Karel smiled briefly at her, then turned and went back inside. she followed him.
"do you want it back?" she asked.
Karel stopped and turned to her before replying.
"consider it a gift." he said.
he saw a woman with dark red hair walk through another door. she stopped short as she saw the space marine.
"...he's awake, then." she managed at last.
the woman behind him chuckled.
"we haven't done introductions yet, have we?" she circled him and stood in front of him, offering out a hand. "i'm Crystal." Karel shook her hand gently.
"and this gorgeous idiot is Crimson." she said, beaming at the red haired woman.
"a pleasure to meet you, Crystal." Karel said formally, "but i won't take any more of your time. i need to find my battle brothers."
"i'll come with you." she said, grabbing his arm as he went to pick up his sword from the table.
"are you sure?" he asked, turning to her.
"listen!" she said with such authority that Karel blinked, "i think i owe you. i'm coming whether you like it or not."
"oh sweet emperor, that means i have to come as well!" Crimson sighed.
"Crimson, you don't need to come." assured Crystal.
"oh, c'mon Crystal, i'm not going to let you have all the fun." Crimson laughed.
"s'pose that means i should tag along too." said a voice from the doorway.
"Shanks!" Crystal said, surprised.
"well," Shanks began, "someone's gotta look after you kids, and that space marine might be too fast for you."
"right." said Karel, "let's get moving."
he picked up his power sword, clipped on his wrist mounted bolter and made for the door to the apartment.

*

Borvus sloshed through the knee deep water. it was an unhealthy brown colour, and Borvus could hazard a guess as to what that meant.
beside him, Vance seemed more at ease, or maybe it was just that he was indulged in his task.
behind the two trudged the guardsmen, who exchanged angry mutterings about not being able to rest. they complained a lot, but they were good soldiers. others would have dropped dead by now.
Borvus shielded his eyes as a patch of light fell on him. it came from a manhole entrance above them.
Vance crouched low, brandishing his chainsword.
"they are near!" the Flesh Tearer hissed.
Borvus nodded and activated his power fist.
behind him he could hear the guardsmen loading their lasguns.
Borvus looked back at the guardsmen and saw their nervous face.
"the Emperor protects." he reassured them.
Borvus activated his jump pack and launched himself through the hole. as his helmet adjusted his vision to the light, Borvus saw a large crowd of orks gathered beneath him. he arced downwards, crushing two of the green skinned beasts under his weight. he brought his power fist to bear, smashing it into another ork's skull, sending it flying backwards. a moment later Vance was beside him, hacking orks apart with his chainsword. Borvus swung his power fist in a wide arc, knocking four orks off their feet, none of them got up again.
the reoccuring sound of lasfire told Borvus that the guardsmen had joined the fray.
"follow me to victory!" roared Commissar Kane over the sounds of battle.
Borvus rallied to the commissar and they pushed through the crowd of orks towards a rather large ork that was bellowing orders to the smaller greenskins.
if they killed this ork, the horde would be broken.

*

Gobshut saw the humies coming, and weilded his meaty axe in both hands. he widened his stance, ready to smash the two humies when they got to him. just then, one of them did something he didn't expect.
the big humie in the black armour jumped into the sky, drawing his fist back.
with a cry Gobshut realised the humie was going to land right on top of him.

*

Borvus arced downwards, crashing into the ork and jamming his power fist into the greenskin's mouth. shattered teeth and blood sprayed everywhere and Borvus raised his power fist to strike again. he slammed it down into the ork's head and heard a satisfying crack as it's skull shattered. Borvus stood up as Commissar Kane and his Sergeant ran over to him.
"more of the damn beasts are headed this way!" he yelled, "a larger group, by the looks of it."
"rally your men, commissar. we will not let them overpower us. if we die here then let it be a glorious last stand!"
as the guardsmen fell in around them, Borvus saw the size of the coming horde. his jaw dropped.
"emperor preserve us."
it was at that point that Borvus realised Vance was missing.

*

Karel leapt from building to building, the three hive gangers below keeping pace admirably.
as he watched the hive gangers run through the streets, Karel heard over the roar of his jump pack the sounds of battle nearby.
"change course, east!" he shouted, then changed his arc in mid air, leaping towards the sound of battle.

*

Vance hacked the head off another ork, not that it made much difference. the group that had backed him up against the wall of the hab block was so large that he was going to die anyway. but by the emperor, he was going to take at least some of these bastards with him!
he roared his defiance.
"for Sanguinius, and the Emperor!" he roared, satisfied to see his battle cry made the orks wince. he took the opportunity, lashing out and cutting a wide arc with his chain sword, downing three more orks.
suddenly, Vance heard the roar of a jump pack overhead, and looked up to see Karel leap into the midst of the orks. he was followed by three hive gangers that charged round the corner and fell amongst the unprepared orks.
"well met, blood brother." Vance yelled in greeting.
"Emperor keep you, brother Vance." Karel called back.
together they set about finishing off the orks, many of whom bolted and ran.
as they finished hacking down the last of the orks, a sharp cry of pain drew the attention of the two space marines.

*

Crystal shot down the ork that had just stabbed Shanks, and ran to the man's aid.
he was lying on the ground, an ork blade stuck in his side.
"guess i was a little slow, eh?" he said weakly.
"c'mon, we're going to get you to a medicae building." she reassured him, but he shook his head.
"nah, not today. i've had a good run." he chuckled, then the chuckle disintegrated into a bloody cough.
"no." she sobbed, clutching him in her arms.
his body went limp and his head rolled back on his shoulders.
Crystal reluctantly let go of Shank's body as a hand touched her shoulder.
she looked up and saw Karel standing over her.
"come." he said softly, "there is still work to be done."
she nodded, tears streaking down her face. she wiped them away, rising to her feet and picking up her shotgun.

*

Borvus and Commissar Kane fought alongside each other. there were only five guardsmen left now, and the remainder of the Commissar's forces battled like heroes of legend.
it pleased Borvus to die amongst such noble men.
he looked up as an ork leapt at him. suddenly the ork was shot out of the air.
Borvus turned to see Karel standing there, his bolter levelled.
Karel drew his power sword and started cutting into the horde, hacking down orks like some heroic god of war.
Borvus fought his way over to the captain, smashing orks apart with renewed vigour.
"it would seem our search is at an end, captain." he jested.
"indeed, brother." replied Karel solemnly.
together the two fought on, destroying the remanants of the rapidly disintegrating horde.

*

Crystal fought like she had never fought before, the death of Shanks fuelling her hate for the orks. she weilded her sword in one hand, and Karel's combat knife in the other.
she hacked the greenskins apart with unrelenting fury. beside her, Crimson dodged ork attacks gracefully, cutting them up with her twin daggers.
Crystal turned suddenly, seeing a massive brute of an ork charge towards her, a metal claw attached to each hand. Crystal prepared to face down the ork, when a figure jumped in front of her. it was one of the space marines. she saw his unrelenting strength as he went hand to hand with the ork, punching it twice in the face, then kicking it to the ground. he stamped on it's head, which exploded in a bloody spray.
as the rest of the orks ran, the group converged on each other. Crystal saw a ragged looking group of guardsmen, led by a man who dressed like a Commissar, but lacked the hat. the three space marines stood opposite, their black armour slick with blood.
"well, now that that's over, we need to find a way to contact the upper city, get some fresh guardsmen down here." said the leader of the imperial guard.
"no," said Karel, "the orks will cut us down before we get there. we need to call them from a defendable location, here in the lower city."
"we could use the old arbites precinct." put in Crystal, "that's been abandoned for some time, and it could withstand an orbital blast."
"sir?" came a voice from behind the hatless commissar.
they all turned to see a guardsman tapping furiously away on a dataslate.
"what is it, Egant?" asked the imperial guard leader.
"sir, i think i've got these orks figured out."
"and?" asked Karel.
"well, sir, the orks are under strength, but they know that we're under strength as well. they know we've got steel." he began, "they've also lost their ship, which leaves them stranded here. currently the orks are scattered, operating in small groups. now they know there's nothing more to be gained by staying here, so they'll be looking for a way off the planet. my guess is that all the smaller groups will converge into one big group and make a desparate push to get off the planet."
"well, sergeant." replied Karel, "if what you say is correct, then we'll need everything at our disposal to fend them off. the arbites precinct is probably our best bet. it'll most likely have a working vox caster, so we can send out both a plea for help and a false call to lure the orks."
"that's decided, then." declared the commissar, "we head for the arbites precinct."
the group fell silent as they prepared for the march to the precinct building.
one thing they all knew, they were outnumbered a hundred to one.

*

Buggachucka ran through the dimly lit warehouse towards the pile of crates around which a sizeable crowd of orks was already gathering. on top of the pile of crates, Kap'n Gutrippa bellowed the crowd into crude squads, uneven in numbers.
"Kap'n, Kap'n!" he shouted, scrabbling up the pile of crates towards Gutrippa.
"wot iz it?" roared Gutrippa impatiently.
"Kap'n, da humiez killed Gobshut! i saw dem stomp his face in!"
"good!" retorted Gutrippa, "he woz startin ter zogg me off anywayz!"
"so, wotz da plan, Kap'n?" asked Scrap'ead from the other side of the pile of crates.
"get da Killa Kanz ready, Scrap'ead!" chuckled Gutrippa, "we'z gonna get off dis rock pile!"
as he finished, the floor trembled as a trio of monstrous machines stomped into view.
"boyz!" shouted Gutrippa, "dis iz gonna be one zogg of a WAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"
the orks took up the massive battle cry, and the resulting sound echoed across the lower city.
the final battle for the hellhole had begun.