Chapter Four

"Suffer not the alien to live" said Raphael.

"Suffer not the alien to live" chanted the team.

The door slid open and the team sprang to action, they all advanced quickly and in relative silence. The room was clear of

foes and the team moved into the next room. "Raphael, look" said Damascus pointing at the ground, the floor was covered in

blood.

"Damn it, not good" thought Raphael. But there was something else unusual "where are the bodies?" asked Re-Shan. He was

right, there were no bodies in the room at all.

"Cyiren, Re-Shan cover the entrance. Varkas do what you do best, Damascus with me" said Raphael.

Varkas set off with Raphael and Damascus taking the opposite direction. The lights were flickering, clearly sabotage had

been committed. Damascus then spoke over his vox "Brother I hate to admit but Cyiren has a point, I do not doubt that once

this station is cleared its very likely to be used against the people it is supposed to be defending".

"I wish it wasn't so Brother" replied Raphael "Truly I do, but the fact of the matter that men in power do not typically

care for those beneath them". Raphael felt grim at saying that but knew from harsh experience it wasn't exactly untrue.

"Do you truly think that Brother?" asked Damascus. Raphael breathed out slowly and then answered "Unfortuantly Damascus".

If there was a trace of a foe here Varkas could find it. Raphael turned a corner with Damascus close behind, a long

corridor stretched out in front of them. More blood on the floor he noticed and this time a body, splayed out against the

wall. Raphael paced slowly and carefully, his combi-flamer at the ready.

"Damascus cover me" Raphael said then knelt to examine the body. Male, around thirty six years old and heavily built. His

clothing indicated an administrator but it was the injuries that concerned Raphael the most, the man's skeleton had

grown out of his body. The bone had speared outside of the corpse, "Where have I seen injuries like this" thought Raphael.

Suddenly the vox in his helmet crackled to life "Varkas to Raphael, come in". "What have you found Varkas?" asked Raphael.

"I found the foe Brother, Dark Eldar presence confirmed down the left corridor from the entrance way".

Chapter 5

"Varkas do not engage" said Raphael "Striker converge on Varkas". Raphael and Damascus moved back, "Varkas what do you see?"

"Around ten Wracks and three Grotesques, I see a Wrack giving orders armed with a Hexrifle probably an Acothyst".

"Any other kinds of units?" asked Raphael.

"None so far".

"Good work Varkas, stay in position for now but stay out of sight."

"Affirmative Raphael" said Varkas who then fell silent.

The squad had collected together, the corridor Varkas disappeared down streached out in front of them. Raphael motioned

to each member with Cyiren taking the center with his frag cannon, Damascus with his combi-grav and Re-Shan with his

chainsword and inferno pistol. Raphael raised his own combi-flamer "Equip Hellfire rounds, Cyiren keep your rounds solid

until Varkas is clear of our fire" said Raphael. Cyiren nodded as Raphael and Damascus snapped different magazines into

their boltguns.

He then continued "Varkas do you see any Wracks with an Ossifactor near the Acothyst?" "Yes, about a metre away. How did

you know?". "Lucky guess" said Raphael with a smile on his face, "take out the Acothyst and the Wrack with the Ossifactor

then run back to the entry point".

"Give me a second" said Varkas, a second passed then two quick shots rang out. The next thing Raphael saw was Varkas

sprinting full tilt towards them. Harsh screams followed close behind and the twisted creatures ran behind him, the

monsterous appearance of the Dark Eldar may have caused panic amongst mortal men. But the Space Marines were not mortal.

"Fire at will" shouted Raphael and every gun in the line blasted away. The first few Wracks came apart in a hail of fire

but the rest came on still. More concerning were the roaring Grotesques pushing their way to the fore before Cyiren's shots

ploughed into them cratering their flesh. Even so they didn't go down until Damascus aimed a shot at them. Varkas stopped

himself then turned firing, both of his shots exploding a head apiece.

A returning shot of an Ossifactor sounded but hit the cover Damascus was standing behind. Raphael shouted "I thought you

killed the Wrack with the Ossifactor Varkas!" as he fired his bolter into the second Grotesque. Varkas fired his shot into

the head of another Wrack as it lept towards them before shouting back "There were two of them, give me a break!". The

second Grotesque took a shot from Cyirens frag cannon and fell flailing to the ground.

"And you accuse us of arguing all the time!" laughed Re-Shan as he threw a Wrack into a wall and stabbed it with his

chainsword. "For once I agree with you Salamander!" shouted Cyiren as he switched his firing mode then unleashed a storm

of shrapnel into the Dark Eldars ranks. The last few Wracks were killed in the slaughter but the third Grotesque was still

alive and swung at Raphael with a gigantic metal arm.

He ducked under the blow which slammed into the wall. Raphael pivoted his combi-flamer up and triggered the flamer, searing

the metal mask that was the Grotesque's head as well as firing into its head with hellfire rounds. The beast screamed and

fell, almost crushing Raphael under its bulk as he rolled out of the way.

Breathing heavily Raphael stood up as the rest of the squad consolidated themselves around him. "Well they know we're here

now, let us go" said Raphael unsheathing his left blade and stabbing a twitching Wrack in the chest, just to be sure.

The team fell back in reloading their weapons as they did so, Raphael looked around at them smiling under his helmet as he

did so. "A good start Striker" he said.