ander Luis Dante || BaalHe knew something was wrong; he felt it ever sihat bio-ship ehe atmosphere and crashed into the wastend a few kilometers away with a thunderous explosion that shook the Basilica's foundations but he ig. With a swarm of Tyranids on his head and the Angelic Host nearing its doom, who would worry about a ship crash-nding and annihiting thousands of Tyranids? He didn't.

  It wouldn't have been the first. The Storms that coated the p not long ago sent the Xenos into a mindless frenzy and cut them off of their eldritch hive mind. It was not that unusual that a bio-ship would crash into the p, even if it was days after the others.

  He didn't know how, but that was whearted feeling a sense of foreboding. He even glimpsed at the form of the Sanguinor once or twice as it worriedly sed the horizon. The horizon in the dire where the ship crashed, that is.

  He stared at the being, for he refused to believe even for a sed that what he was seeing was either a human or a woman.

  It had only been a minute since he'd been rampaging through the tide of ravenous beasts. Never had he given in so deeply to the Thirst. He trolled himself in every moment of his overly long life, but now he felt in his st fight he might let go a bit.

  He e, and the feelied him. He knew he'd enjoy it. Of course, it was an addi, an addi coded into their genes no less.

  But right as he was ready to plunge forward, bereft of all his winged brothers, it's -- her -- voice echoed in his mind like a calming breeze that soothed his very soul. An offer to help? NOW? Impossible, he thought. Only demons had both the fht and malice to strike at him at his weakest. He expected a Keeper of Secrets when he challehe being to reveal itself, but what he saw differed from all his expectations.

  For one, Dante knew Keeper of Secrets took on forms fit to seduce the beholder and while the woman was beautiful beyond reason he wasn't attracted to her. He couldn't be. A Demon of Sedu wouldn't have failed so spectacurly.

  Alliance? He frowned irying to figure out what weird game was the being pying with him. He was tempted to cut her dht away, but her a had him frozen stiff and reorienting his thoughts.

  The Swarm was obliterated for almost a kilometer in every dire, he already saw the ones from further ahead rushing into the vacuum it created but that was something only a handful of people were capable of iire Imperium or even the Gaxy as a whole.

  A psyker. Seems sane enough. Shouldn't be beyoa level then...but that power.

  She recalled havihe Chief Librarian in a fight, effortlessly sughtering hundreds and even thousands. This thing did the same.

  High Gamma or Beta then.

  He frowned under his mask. That was a disturbing amount of power for a being he knew nothing about and never heard of. Not to say that staying sane as a Beta-level Psyker was seemingly impossible and they were to be killed on sight, as they were endangeriire ps with their mere existehey are walking gates.

  As an Astartes, ander Dante was biologically incapable of feeling feer but the thought of being this close to a possibly hostile and deranged Psyker who was as strong as the best the Imperium had to offer if not strave him a feeling not too dissimir to what humans sidered 'fear'. He was wary, he thought through every word, sound or movement he made.

  He was dead and so were his men. The Angelic host was a colle of walking dead, damo the st. If he could vihis thing to assist them in taking as many Tyranids with them as they could then wouldn't that be perfect? Maybe she'd fall along with us … that would be for the best.

  Dante pushed the Thirst down and re-ed it as it always was. He expected a rush of exhaustion at that very moment; he repared for it too but nothing came.

  He shifted his body, feeling his body ache, his joints strain, but that came with being a thousand years old. What he couldn't feel was the dozens of wounds he'd gained over the months of fighting and didn't have time to heal. Nothing. He felt none of them.

  "W-*cough*" he recovered himself from his blunder. During his rage he seemed to have fotten to close his mouth, leaving it parched, "What did you do to me?"

  "Oh, that?" the woman floated up to him, her feet ndily on the ashen ground only a few meters away from him, "just a simple healing like I did with all of your men."

  He gave nothing away from his feelings, evaluating her admittand trying to verify the truth of it but he found no injured Astartes as far as he could see. There were only dead and spry ones already spreading out to unch salvoes of devastation on the approag enemy while he...iated.

  He cast his gaze over the woman again, carefully sing her form. She caught his attention with her eborate armor, remi of Aeldari wargear in its curved elegand range of movement, but g the motifs. Beh it, she wore a robe that cascaded from the front and back of the chest, while the rest of her body remained cealed under a dark bodysuit. No scrato dust, not even a drop of blood on her.

  Dangerous.

  Not that danger ever made the ander flinch. He'd stared dower Demons, Demon Primarchs and almost all the horrors of the gaxy. This much couldn't faze him for too long.

  "You asked for an Alliance," his voice was even as he spoke, not betraying his mind by evaluating the probabilities of the woman being a disguised Lord of ge or a hidden champion of the foul Trickster. There was ohat could ge his form. The geling.

  "I did," the woman smiled at him in... amusement? "You are w why, aren't you?"

  "An acute assumption," he stated.

  Her lips twitched slightly. He didn't know if it was displeasure or further amusement.

  "I want you to keep me around for a while after we win," her eyes hardened into dead seriousness, "I want you to introduce me, to voue to one person of my choosing."

  "Who?" Dante asked the obvious, "Why?"

  "It wouldn't be of much worth to me if you k before hands," she drawled, "or maybe it would," she tilted her head, "I want you to introduce me to the Lord of Ultramar should he ever cross path with you while I am still tagging along with you."

  "Chapter Master Calgar?" Dante frowned, but the woman's face remained in a frozen smile. He stared at her.

  "I literally turn into a statue," she stated without moving her lips. "You are not winning a staring match against me."

  Daed that curious statement before he relented.

  "What do you offer t to this... alliance?" he tasted the word like it was ash in his mouth.

  "Me and my three panions," she nodded, "and of course I'll assist you in killing what your helmet is pinging for you. I am partially here to kill that thing."

  It is a risk, a rge one. She still might be a demon in disguise, but as far as I know, she might really just want to kill that thing. I'll worry about her 'payment' if we get out of this alive.

  "Agreed."

  "Oh?" my mouth curved into a smile, "well then, we should get going."

  "What do you wao do?" Valenith asked as he appeared o me with a barely perceptible ripple in the , he wore his human guise and cast an evaluating g the t Space Marine before turning bae.

  "Taking orders from me now?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "Yes."

  "Help Selehen," I shrugged at his stoic demeanour. Unfortunately, he's gotten much better at cloaking his emotions and thoughts since I found out about Eldrad being his Master. However, it's still not enough to prevent me from taking gnces when his attention lessens for even a sed.

  "As you say," he nodded and tapped his staff to the floor before disappearing again, the seamlessness and grace with which he did it was enviable and something which drove me to catch up to his prowess of the spell.

  Dante didn't make any ents, but I saw his eyes trag Val as linger where he disappeared from.

  "Other allies?" he asked with unnatural ess, right, biologically uo feel fear.

  "Yes, I have two others," I shrugged, speaking of.

  'Did the bugs eat you yet, Magos?' I sent to the only mind advanced enough to be him on the p.

  I frowned for a moment as what I received was a barrage of chirps and boops but with a thought I trahe Teo Lingis into a normal people's nguage.

  '...ive; Transport: Acquired; Predicted arrival: 10 Terran Minutes; End'

  'Assist Selene and in defending the Fortress Monastery and the Blood angels if you would.'

  'Aowledged.'

  "Let us go then," I stared into the eyeholes of his mask, "ander."

  "So be it," he said and turowards the Swarmlord.

  In the distance, beyond the rushing line of Tyranids there extended a swirling mass of blood and ash and it ost of my senses just like I assumed it did his. Still, it was easy to tell for anyone even mildly Psychically sensitive that the Shadow was coalesg there.

  Dante's jetpack roared back to life, it vomited psma-like fmes and then uhe ander into the air. I was tempted to try putting on Gargoyle's wings but for now, I wao appear only as an especially strong Psyker and not as a shapeshifting alien.

  Atiesh flew into my hand again and energy coursed through it, even with my bones being made of the same material Atiesh was much better at fog and eling Soul Energy, and my bones also had a fra of its reality-ing power. I assumed it was either because it was the first of its kind in 60 million years, a struct of pure soul Energy or because I and so made it important, it could be either, both or something else entirely.

  I shot off after the ander who was already arg downwards into the swarm, he was deceptively fast for someone over 1500 years old. I saw him pluo the waves and then flowers for dust and gore shout up, he fought much like a berserker but with some of his mind intact. It was a curious thing ho he was even alive at this point.

  Plot armor probably.

  As I flew after him my forcefield repelled anything in my way, be it projectiles or floating sacks of acid.

  I aimed downwards and right into the swarm where I saw a ifex, I haven't fought o in this body. I unched myself and heard the sound barrier shatter with a thunderous explosion that was lost in the sounds of the battlefield. I let go of the staff, letting it float behind me as I formed my bio-sword in my hand, it was now pure white just like my armor with veins of sky-blue energy running along its body and crag with power.

  I angled myself, feet down and the sword pointed parallel to them, a sed ter I smashed into the ifex leg first. My legs bent as they impacted its torso and my sword impaled it through the skull, the beast fell backward and I jumped off of it before it even hit the ground as a dozen rippers and three haunts tried to rip me apart.

  Midair I spun around awo crests of fmes to two of the gaunts as I threw myself at the st. The crests smashed into the two and exploded into a tained inferno, burning as hot as the crust of the sun for just a sed while my sword sheared through air and Tyranid alike like they weren't there.

  The feeling of zero resistance as I swung my sword felt slightly weird when I saw it rend through vicious aliens like butter.

  I jumped up without thought and flipped around, then a psma-charged bio-artillery smashed into the pce I just stood in and exploded, not unlike how my crests of fme did.

  I felt the heated air swing my hair around as I smirked in reition, those neural upgrades were worth it after all, an attack like that could have depleted two yers of my barriers at least.

  As I reached the apex of my jump, a flock of Gargoyles flocked to me, jaws and cws aimed to rend me apart. One came from the front, one from behind, with three others cirg around to sneak in an attack should I let my guard down.

  Bio-electricity flooded my body, jumping over and into my armour in tiny arcs. A momehey exploded outwards into a thunderous lightning storm and by the time it abated, fargoyles were falling through the air with pained screeches, their wings burnt off and their neural pathways fried.

  Then I started falling along with them as the st winged beast dived after me, having stayed behind the rest to observe.

  I heard the screeches and the speech of bolt guns grow louder as I came closer to the ground with the Gargoyle quickly closing in.

  Weird, don't they know I fly?

  'Danger from below.'

  My spidey sense was screaming at me ae my body already twisting to the side and my TK ung me away the sense only slightly abated.

  I ed a bubble of aronger force field around me in preparation.

  The ground caved in, and dozens of bio-forms fell in helplessly as rge spikes of bone burst out of the dirt in a circle around me.

  Not boeeth.

  I couldn't help but gulp as the gigantic creature's jaws snapped close and the bloody light of Baal was robbed of me in an instant.

  An ominous, foreboding feeling came from my senses as I heard a liquid rushing in from the fleshy walls of this biological cave. I threw myself up, tg onto the rge teeth, but I felt my gloves hissing as the acidic bile wao eat through them.

  I sent Soul Energy c through it and the hissing grew quiet.

  The massive beast burst out of the ground like a jumping dolphin and was now desding, about to bury us under mountains of rock. Dires ged quickly, a moment I was hanging from the teeth and the I smmed to my side as up became down.

  I shed out with my sword and ks of calcium went falling. I heard the growing sea of acid below hiss violently as it tried to corrode the beast's owh.

  Ssh after ssh teeth came loose and fell, but the forest of jagged calcium didn't seem to grow smaller.

  I ched my teeth and widened my eyes as I felt Atiesh's presence reag out to me. Despite the distance, I embraced the e and filled myself with Soul Energy. I psychically touched the veil and pushed from both sides, Atiesh was like ara limb, an arm, a part of myself, it was another vector for my soul to influence realspace.

  Light flooded my eyes as my fingers closed around the familiar body of my staff. Air rushed past me.

  I only grazed the tail of the massive beast with my spell before it vanished underground, creating a gaping hole in the ground.

  I don't have time for you now, but you'll get eaten. Just wait.

  I threw a hateful gre into the hole; I ate things and not the other way around. This rown worm was going to get a rude awakening ing for it after I was doing up the Swarmlord.

  Speaking of the big bad Avatar of the Hive-Mind, Dante was getting close.

  I shot off, imagining myself like a surfer riding a wave of space itself, a my speed increase drastically despite not feeling any of the increased Gs on my body.

  Reading how realistic FTL drives could work might have been worth it after all, though this wasn't how they wahem applied, I'm sure.

  When I felt Dante only two hundred meters away from me I let go of the space-ing bubble.

  Fuck.

  My senses screamed at me and I flickered over to Dah inhuman speed and threw up a rge pure bck Barrier, I devised this oo protect from Kiid Radiation attacks by sug up all of it and maybe ung it back at the attacker, the sed part barely worked still.

  I felt my hold on it strain as all the air, ash, dust and other molecules gathered on the front of my spatial bubble shot off at near-light speed.

  Some Tyranids screamed, some didn't, and some tried to circle around the shield and attack us from behind but Dante rewarded them for the effort with his axes and a splitting headache. Heh.

  "I thought you got eaten," Daed, as my minor mistake dissipated along with my barrier.

  "I did," I said as my eyes sed the unhurt Tyranids instantly rushing at me as my barrier went down.

  "Ready to go?" he asked.

  "Yes," I nodded as I sent the approag wave back with a wave of TK. I could call this Force Push.

  "ect us telepathically," he anded and I just shrugged and obliged him.

  'Sure'

  'Let's go,' He shot off again, nding with ayranid getting squashed beh his powerboots at the edge of the swirling storm of ash and blood. He stepped in and I lost track of him a moment ter.

  "I wonder if it's mind-fuckery will affect me," I murmured to myself as I flickered after him and strode in just like him.

  The screeches of beasts, the bark of guns and the far-off screams of the dying became muted as I advanced.

  Shaky and ambiguous forms moved in all dires. They hissed, screeched and growled but none approached me.

  Then, I was at the feet of a mountain stretg endlessly into the grim grey sky, a mountain of corpses.

  Oh, joy.

  I started climbing.

  P3t1