Etrius shivered. Partly because of the cool, slicing wind blowing through the barn door, and partly because he was alone. The rest of Jade Squad was in the Farmhouse playing poker. Etrius leaned forward and twisted a few dials on the set of radio equipment assigned to them, before sending a proxy ping to make sure it was working. To his surprise, he didn’t receive a reply. He adjusted them again and resent the ping. This time, he got his reply instantly. He breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and rubbed his eyes. Pulling on his overcoat, he went outside and lit a cigarette. Standing in front of the barn Etrius scanned the landscape. What he didn’t see were the three black shapes stalking towards him from the tree line. Etrius sighed; it had started raining, so he stubbed out his smoke on his tongue before placing it behind his ear. Turning around to step back into the barn he was confronted by one of the shadowy figures. Etrius stepped back in horror but the figure lunged forward with vicious precision – a 5 inch blade pierced through his torso forcing the breath from his lungs. The figure let out a soft laugh before removing its knife and turning towards the farmhouse; although he knew his comrades would have dealt with the rest of them already. He tapped his wrist and told the others to dispose of the bodies quickly, he was going to return to the drop site and call for evac.

**Chapter One – Besieged**

I glanced around the interior of the old church at my squad. They were a rag tag bunch of privates, apart from my good friend – Jeeves, and the radio operator – Carlson. Tonight would be our first mission together as Topaz squad. In my opinion, Davryk couldn’t have chosen a better place to garrison us. Wardaria was a small outer rim colony that specialised in the production of munitions. The real perk though, was that the planet was pretty much as far form a conflict zone as you could get. As far as the Imperial records went, The Legion hadn’t even made it past blockade D, which was roughly 3 systems away. I felt quite safe here, even with the rookies.

“Hey Marco? It’s just started to rain, just so you know.” One of the rookies said. I took no notice. What did rain matter? We were inside a chapel, with walls roughly 3 foot thick, and a roof made up of intricately carved marble and then lined with lead. There was no way any rain would be getting inside any time soon. I looked over to the communication stack that Carlson was attending to, and wondered what exactly he was doing. He seemed to be staring it down. I yelled over to him and he broke his gaze for several seconds, before looking back to the stack and replying with a swift “What you want boss, I’m kinda busy at the minute.” I knew better than to ask, but I guessed the rest of the squad were starting to become restless too.

“You brought your guitar right? Break it out; I want to hear some more of your insane shredding. It is quite um… What’s the word? Inspirational… That’s the one! I’m sure the rest of the guys would enjoy it to. It’s that or we get Jeeves to do some stand up comedy, and believe me, you don’t want that.” I said, before laughing so hard I almost couldn’t breathe. I steadied myself and to my amazement he had left the stack and went over to his pack. I saw him rummage around briefly before returning with his antique Fender Stratocaster – one of the only remaining to have survived since the early 21st century. The only others that I knew about were in museums, but none of them were as loved and respected as much as Carlson’s. It gleamed, and looked spectacular, for an obsolete piece of kit anyway. The rest of my squad had since moved from where they were and now we were all bunched up in the centre of the chapel, anxiously awaiting Carlson to let off some insane metal riffs as he called them. I remember him telling me that they were popular in the 21st century, and many artists used them. If I recall, he named but one metal band – Dragonforce. He said that he admired their technique, and so he had spent the past 20 years of his life mastering it. He played several riffs, and we were all blown away. He had improved since I had last heard him play, which was always a good thing.

Before he could play anymore, a crack rang out in the distance and where Carlson’s head had been just a moment ago, there lingered a red haze, followed several seconds later by the sound of his guitar hitting the floor and splintering into several pieces. The oak doors at the front of the church flew open and a handful of shadowy figures rushed in with their rifles covering pretty much every angle of the room. Instinctively the entire squad threw themselves into cover behind the pews, before grabbing their weapons and providing suppression fire. I was quite surprised that even the greenest member of my squad could do that instantly, without an order. Training standards really have been going up I thought, before picking up my modified FN35 and taking out the figure closest to the door with a clean headshot, and ducking back into cover, just as the pew splintered above my head due to the others now concentrating on me. The fire fight continued before the attackers abruptly retreated.

Cautiously, the others and I stood and assessed the damage. We had a KIA squad member, which also meant no one to operate the radio equipment, and a wrecked guitar. Jeeves immediately set himself to closing the door and stacking pews against it. The other two caught on and helped him. I went over to where Carlson’s corpse was and I swore under my breath. I carefully picked up his body and took it over to the altar where I covered him with my overcoat. I whispered more to myself than anyone that I would avenge him. I turned back to the door to see that they had created a nicely defensible position from the pews and general objects in the room. I told Private Gregory to attempt to get an SOS signal out to base, and I went over to the barricade where Jeeves and the rook stood. I told them to cover Greg whilst I checked out the catacombs quickly, just incase we needed to make a quick getaway. I hoped we didn’t, but it was necessary to do.

**Chapter Two – Assault**

I took the steps down to the catacombs three at a time. Barging through the stone doors was probably a bad idea at that moment in time, but speed was of the essence. The shadowy goons could attack at any moment, and I didn’t like the prospect of leaving two rookies in the hands of Jeeves. I’m not saying I didn’t trust him; I just didn’t like the notion of it. I noticed almost straight away how stale the air was down there. It was warm too. That was quite odd but I had to map the tunnels quickly. There were three passageways here. I took the left one at random and started down it. I glanced at the plaques on the walls, that commemorated the fallen. There were so many names. I wondered how they could fit all these dead people into such a small place. My earpiece buzzed. I tapped the button and I was greeted by the sound of gunfire.

“Jeeves, what’s going on up there?” I shouted urgently.
“The bastards have started their push back in. Looks like they have some heavier gear this time too. I see combat shotguns and carbines, so, just get back here quickly will you?” He shouted back, barely audible over the crack of gunfire.
I turned and sprinted back the way I came. Clumsily I ended up tripping over an exposed root that I hadn’t seen earlier. I now had a bloody knee and a ripped trouser leg. I picked myself up and jogged the rest of the way, as fast as my leg could take me. I was now in the area at the bottom of the stairs and I could smell cordite. Someone had used some explosives, and I knew for a fact that we didn’t have any. With a greater sense of urgency now I took my FN from my back and hopped up the steps to find Jeeves and Gregory in cover on opposite sides of the room. There was no sign of the rookie anywhere. I dived behind the cover that Jeeves was occupying and asked where he was.

“Bad news I’m afraid. You see how the front most barricade is scattered now? He was standing behind it shooting his heart out. He ignored my warning to get down, and well…. They fired a rocket at him. That was when Greg and I took cover further back from the door.” He said in a solemn tone.
I nodded my head and peered over the top of the pew. There was roughly a hand full of figures there, each wearing the exact same thing. A one-piece black over suit and what looked like a speed bike helmet. All black, with nasty looking spikes. Just the sight of them frightened me. It was like seeing something out of a nightmare I had as a child. I fired off a few bursts in their direction and drew their fire. I yelled to Greg to throw a Frag Grenade. I watched as the green orb arced towards the figures. To my horror though, one of them caught it mid flight, and tossed it over to where me and Jeeves were. I instinctively rolled behind another pew. Jeeves on the other hand wasn’t so quick. I heard the crump of the grenade and his scream ring out. I crawled back around to where he was laying. The grenade had sent splinters and white hot shrapnel flying, and most of it had hit Jeeves in the leg. I was sick a little in my mouth, as I saw how shredded it was. I took a roll of bandages from my pouch and started to patch him up. It was this moment I knew we would all be dead if we didn’t get out of here. I told Jeeves that we would fall back to the Catacombs. I yelled over to Greg to provide some suppressing fire and I carefully picked Jeeves up from the marble floor and supported him as we made our way towards the steps. My heart was pounding. At least as far as I could tell, Greg was doing a super job at suppressing them. Going down the steps was very awkward and twice we nearly fell down them. Reaching the bottom I told Jeeves to wait, I would go and cover Greg. I sped up the steps and slid into cover.

“GREG! YOU BEST GET YOUR ASS DOWN THE STEPS, NOW!” I yelled.
I stood and fired off several rounds, but I was too late. As Greg started running, one of the goons had rushed forward. To my horror, he was carrying a shotgun. A single shot rang out, before the sound of Greg being torn apart by the shrapnel. I felt sick. I threw myself down the steps. No need to stay here much longer I thought. I opened the door and helped Jeeves through, before pulling the door shut, I slid the bracing across. That wouldn’t keep them out forever, but it would give us some time atleast

**Chapter Three – The Hive**

“Marco. I think, maybe, I could walk now.” Jeeves said slowly. I let him go and watched as he took a few steps. The agony showing on his face was terrible, but I knew he wouldn’t say anything.
“You sure you can walk?” I asked, just to be sure. He nodded. “I suggest we take the central path. As far as I can tell, the left hand one is a dead end, and so the right hand one probably is too.” I continued. Again he nodded, so we made our way down the dimly lit passage. This passage was lined with as many names as the other one, maybe more. I took my flashlight from my pouch and flicked it on. There were cobwebs everywhere. And dust. The amount of dust was shocking, and as far as I could tell, it wasn’t just ordinary dust…

Somewhere below us, something had happened – The ground had started to shake, causing Jeeves to fall to the floor. I stooped to pick him up, but before I could, the floor caved in, sending us tumbling through the air. Several moments later we landed in a heap, from the looks of it, around 30 metres below our previous location. Miraculously though, something had cushioned our fall, but due to the lighting I couldn’t distinguish what. I stood and helped Jeeves up, before noticing that our uniforms were slick with an unknown substance. It was sticky, and as far as I could tell, completely odourless. Foreboding pulled at my mind. There was no time for it though; I dismissed that as swiftly as I had dismissed everything else in the past few hours.

Down here, we were faced with two directions. I would say, the corridor was almost parallel to the one above. We started walking in the direction we faced when we stood up, it was much better to just get moving rather than wait for the goons to find us standing at the bottom of a big hole. Some time later we discovered ourselves in a cavernous area with a high domed roof. There was a distinct sound of dripping somewhere off in the distance. I slowed my pace and perched myself on an outcrop of rocks to the right of the entrance, and so did Jeeves. I thought now would be a good time to check over our gear.
My flashlight was beyond repair. I had 3 clips for my rifle, and checking my current clip, I noticed it was empty. I switched that for a fresh one, meaning I had even less ammo. On a brighter note, my earpiece seemed to be working. Although I didn’t really see how that would help me at the moment, because that was strictly for short range communication. I looked over at Jeeves. He had removed his bandage and was attempting to pull out the shrapnel. The wound looked infected already. I knew we would have to get to an infirmary as soon as we got out of here, lest he would need it amputating. I stood and took a small bottle of vodka from my pouch. Luckily, it was still intact. I slowly unscrewed the cap and ripping a piece of dry cloth from my coat sleeve, I applied it to his leg. I then helped him pull the metal shards out. He whimpered the whole time, but I knew it was better than leaving them in.

I think it took about 5 minutes in all to pull the majority out. He held his hand up for me to stop so I did. I noticed how pale he was, and imagined the pain he was in. I felt like throwing up, but didn’t show it. I had to show him we could make it out. I held out my hand to help him up but he just shook his head.

“God damn it man. You’ve made it this far. Those goons could come at any time, so moving is our best course of action. Hell. I’ll even carry you if I have to. But we need to find a way out of here. There is no way I’m leaving you here. You’re the only member of my squad left. I feel it’s my sole responsibility to get you out alive.” The words just came out of my mouth without thinking. To my relief he nodded and took my hand. He took a few steps before landing in a heap on the ground. I helped him up again, before bending down and hefting him up on my back. He was heavy, but I walked. The running water seemed a good direction to head in, so I moved off towards it. . It was then that I noticed how uneven the floor was. There were potholes, mounds of dirt, stalagmites, random rock outcrops, and even small pools of water, which were teeming with small insect life. That was quite odd I thought, but at least they weren’t giant sized. There had been many rumours flying around the barracks on Mar’Serus that on the outer rim worlds, giant, man eating insects had colonised under the surface. I was hoping that they were just rumours, as the prospect of giant man eating insects made my stomach turn with horror. Still I strode in search of the running water, as I hoped that that would lead us out of here.

Shouts rang out somewhere behind us. I looked over my shoulder and saw about a dozen silhouettes. Damn it I thought. I moved as fast as I could into the closest opening in the cave wall and hoped it wasn’t a dead end. The sound of running water had vanished with my entry in the corridor, but safety was the main priority. I carefully made my way through the pitch black corridor before ending up in another large cavernous room, almost an exact replica of the one that I had been in before. Except this time luminous grubs covered almost every space on the walls. Great. The rumours were true then. I slowly placed Jeeves down on the floor and unslung my FN. Just incase. I scanned the room and saw an opening on the far side of the room. I told Jeeves to make his way there. He nodded and lifted himself painfully. He made his way slowly over to the other side. Suddenly though, from the other side of the cavern several large black shiny bugs had appeared. I raised my rifle and told Jeeves to get down, before placing a bullet into each of them, causing them to explode in a shower of luminous green liquid, much like a set of fireworks. It was quite gratifying saving someone’s life, especially when they are seconds away from being ripped to shreds by huge insects.
Jeeves stood and carried on limping towards the opening. I followed a couple of steps behind. Then the grubs started to emit a high pitched screech. This startled me. I knew more of the insects would be here soon, so I ran to Jeeves and hefted him up on my back, before running for my life towards the other opening. I just had to get us out in one piece. I knew this was easier said than done, but I felt as though I was invincible. Maybe that was the animal instinct kicking in, or maybe I was going insane. Either way, I was fighting my way out of bug hell or I would die trying. Several more Chitinoids appeared and I shouldered my way past them. I dashed down the corridor and took a left turn followed by a right before descending further into the network of passages the Chitinoids called home. Chitinoid. What a funny name I thought. Well, I couldn’t think of anything better to call them at the moment. A few more skittered around the corner and I ran past them too. I paused for a second to catch my breath before sprinting further into the labyrinth.

Running Water! Somehow I had happened across the destination of the water from before. I set Jeeves down at the edge of the pool before kneeling down myself. I took a long drink. It rejuvenated me, but also brought back the fatigues that I had accumulated so far. I heard a barely audible hiss over the din of rushing water and turned in time to see a Chitinoid with a yellow pattern leap through the air. It pinned me to the ground knocking my Magnum from my breast holster. I could almost feel its pincers cut through my face. I struggled to keep it away from me long enough to wrench it off, but I knew that the bug had more strength than me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jeeves retrieving my Magnum from the floor before placing a single round into the side of the mad Chitinoid’s head. Streams of hot blood escaped into the air and some splashed across my face. It burnt. I recoiled with shock and dropped my face into the pool.

**Chapter Four – The Black Hand**

I collected my thoughts and thanked Jeeves, before reloading my assault rifle. Jeeves had stood up and was holding my Magnum out for me. I replaced it in my holster and thanked him again. He looked deathly pale now. I really needed to get him to an infirmary. I re-holstered my FN and hefted him upon my back once again, before proceeding up a narrow pathway. I hoped this was a way out, and to my surprise, it wound upwards. Things seemed to be going better for us already. I hoped I wouldn’t need my weapons again. I reached the top of the slope and saw the sun peeking over the horizon. I could see the capital city in the distance, on the other side of a forest.

Whispering into my ear, Jeeves said “Put me down here Marco. Please. I’ll be fine, I’m telling you. Just get back to the city and tell Davryk. Then get an ambulance crew out here. Resting is probably the best idea for me…” I grunted my approval and set him down against the cave entrance. I removed all my extra weight – My weapons, my pouch – pretty much everything but the clothes I was wearing. There would be no need for it now I thought. I placed it all down next to Jeeves, before turning and sprinting off towards the city, even though I was exhausted – a mans life was at stake if I didn’t get there quick enough.

Reaching the tree line I heard a single gunshot behind me. My stomach turned. Looking over my shoulder I saw three black figures standing over Jeeves. I fought back a fresh wave of nausea and the tears continued running. Bullets whizzed past my head, impacting upon the dense tree trunks, sending showers of wood chip everywhere. I knew that if I didn’t keep moving between the trees, I wouldn’t get back to the city in time. A needle of white hot pain shot up through my leg, bringing me down to the floor with a crash. I ignored the pain and stood again, limping towards the city. Footsteps… I could hear footsteps getting closer… A hot breath on the back of my neck and then blackness for a few seconds.

Marco opened his eyes to see a man standing over him. He wasn’t wearing a helmet like the others, but he knew he was one of them. He laughed and spat in his face.
Marco just lay there awaiting the inevitable. The figure fired a full clip into Marco before turning around to his comrades.
“Major. That’s the last of them.” The helmetless one said into his earpiece. “Good.” Came the reply. “Return to the drop. Ill send up the signal when you get back.”
The trio dashed off back towards the caverns.

“So there has been no response from any of our outposts? Hot damn. I guess we should put the military on High Alert. Prepare the city for evacuation. It is the only reasonable course of action, seeing as we don’t know anything about the size of the invaders force, or who they are. I’m pretty sure there is no chance it could be Legion though. They are surely too busy helping themselves to the core systems. Jesus. This stuff has definitely hit the fan. Big time.” Captain Davryk exclaimed. He had just been informed by his servitor that all of the outlying recon units had been wiped out. He had no idea that Marcus was still out there, edging further towards the city all the time. He shooed the Servitor away before going over to his assistant. He explained the situation and she scurried off, to do as she had been told. In a few moments, the industrial capital of Wardaria would become a flurry of activity. Davryk played the scene over in his head. Chaos. He reassured himself that there was no other way. Explosions rang out along the south wall of the city. Streams of Black Clad soldiers swarmed through the walls and began cutting through the citizenship like a hot knife through butter.
“Sir. We are getting a signal.” The servitor said. Davryk turned to the screen as it came to life. A man wearing a sinister black uniform and a deathly pale face was staring at him.
“So, you must be the man in charge of operations? I do apologize for not giving you any prior warning for this, but you have to believe me that there was no other way.” The man said, with a smile on his face. “I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Warlord Sulphanath, of the Black Hand. And I have one thing to say to you. All your base are belong to us.”
Before Davryk could say anything, the screen went black, leaving Sulphanath’s fanatical laughs echoing in the confines of the room. The door flew open and a Black Hand soldier was framed in the door way. Davryk turned and was cut down instantly.

The battle for Wardaria lasted all of 4 hours. The merciless coordination of the Black Hand rendered the defences of major facilities useless. Only an estimated 27% of the population was successfully evacuated. What percentage did make it into orbit were raked with fire from the Cruisers above. It seemed that Imperialis had another enemy in the war for the galaxy. Nobody was sure of the Black Hands incentive, although it is thought that their sole purpose was to strike fear into the hearts of the Imperial war machine. They had certainly accomplished this. Meanwhile above the planet of Mar’Serus, another Black Hand fleet had assembled, awaiting orders from the Overmind to begin another merciless attack…

**Chapter Five – Hope**

Silence gripped the bridge of the Repentance as it sliced through the immaterium and entered real-space several parsecs from Wardaria.
“Sir! We are picking up distress signals from Wardaria. What are your orders?” A young woman at the navigation controls said.
“Distress signals? This far out? How could the Legion possibly have got past our blockades? Let me see here…” Captain Lazarus said before stroking his facial hair and looking vacantly into the view screen at the planet that lay before them.

Aimee Wentz checked her rifle and yawned. She was eager to get off the ship and back on solid ground, back in the fresh air and not the stale conditioned air pumped around the Repentance. Slamming her locker and sitting on her bed she leapt out of her skin when her room’s communication channel chimed.
“Attention all Military Squad Leaders and Mercenaries. Would you kindly report to the bridge. We have a matter of urgency that needs to be attended to.” Came Lazarus’ voice.
Sighing, Aimee grabbed her jacket from the desk and slipped it on before exiting her quarters.

“As many of you can probably tell, we dropped out of slip-space several minutes ago. This is because we have received several distress signals from the planet you see before us” Captain Lazarus motioned to the view screen behind him.
“There is one major thing that stands out though. The signals were sent atleast 3 days ago, and no specifics are given. The later signals speak of a threat attacking the Capital, but the threat was never identified. We can only assume it was the work of Pirates at this moment, as there have been no reports of Legion breaking the blockade. I’m sorry. I’m rambling. Your mission as Squad Leaders is to go down to the planets surface and determine what exactly happened down there, and if necessary, rescue any survivors. You Mercenaries on the other hand, your mission is to provide support. Each of you will be assigned to a squad according to your speciality. If anything happens to the squad leader you have been attached to, you are to take command and answer only to myself or the two lieutenants on board. Any questions?”

The line of men and women standing at attention just stood silently. Then Lazarus noticed a mousey guy who he thought wouldn’t have even made it past basic with his hand barely raised over his head.
“Yes?”
The man looked around then pointed at himself, clearly taken aback that he was the only one that didn’t really understand the mission. Lazarus just nodded and fought the laugh attempting to burst from his mouth.
“Umm… S-s-Sir?” He stuttered. “Why do we n-n-n-need to send so many soldiers? I highly d-d-d-doubt the pirates would still be on the planet.”
“Son, did you learn anything in basic? It just isn’t profitable for a group of pirates to assault a city and then leave. They would stay and utilise the cities industry until the last possible moment. We have been monitoring space traffic since slipping out of slip-space and there has been no movement. Either they are still on the planet, or they aren’t pirates. Do you see my point?”
The man just looked at the floor; his face was crimson with embarrassment.
“Any serious questions?” Lazarus said, with a slightly more cutting tone than he had gauged for.
The soldiers, excluding the man who had spoken before, all chanted the words ‘Sir, No, Sir’ in unison.
“Alright then. Full briefing will be covered in roughly an hour’s time. Take this opportunity to check your gear and get ready. Dismissed.”

Aimee sat back in her chair and sighed heavily. She had been so eager to get planet side earlier, so what had changed? She tried to picture the city she would be in in around an hour or two. She also thought about the Pirates that would probably be down there. Why didn’t Lazarus send only the Mercenaries? Seven of us would be more than a match for a battalion of Pirates. Sending a small army against Pirates would be a little bit overkill she thought. Why would the captain send that many people down to what is probably a backwater mining world? She sat up and reached for her glass on the desk in front of her.
Empty. She cursed under her breath and stood up. She opened the locker and gazed at her rifle. It was an immaculate LSR-73, the current top of the line rifle. It had cost Aimee roughly 290 thousand credits, but it had been worth it. A rifle like this could kill a target at 4,000 metres in the hands of an expert, and Aimee wasn’t exactly an amateur. She was one of the best snipers hired by ‘Aspiriant Corp’, the most prestigious Mercenary group working under Imperial territory. They were trained by the Ex-Imperial Hero known only by his codename ‘Sulphane’.
Sirens wailed suddenly, causing Aimee to jump for the second time that day.
“Would all combatants report to the briefing room. I repeat. Would all combatants report to the briefing room. Briefing will commence in 5 minutes.” The computer chirped.
“Well. I suppose I best get going then.” Aimee grabbed her rifle and slung it across her shoulder and picked up several spare energy cells, before leaving her quarters.

About the author

Gazza C has not provided any biographical information.