Katherine leaned against the wall of the building, peering out into dark street. None of the streetlamps were lit. No light came from any of the windows that overlooked the thoroughfare. The rain had slowed now from the driving sheets to a more sedate precipitation. Still, visibility was limited, and every shadowed window, doorway, and alley was fraught with peril. Frowning, she sighed, "Our first responsibility is to report the Tyranid presence. I hate to leave those soldiers of the 352nd behind, but headquarters has to know there are Tyranids in the city."
Dinah the Celestian nodded, "We can come back for them with a larger force…if they're even alive." She shook her head doubtfully. "How many of these things do you think are around? They couldn't have many down here. Otherwise the orbital pickets would have detected the Mycetic spores."
"The 'Nids must have gotten some kind of stealthy pod close enough to send a handful of spores down. Still, half a dozen broods can cause serious havoc if they can infiltrate Point Phobos, or one of the camps set up around Parvati. They disable a couple defense batteries and that'll mean all the more of the bastards might get through when they launch their main drop."
The Celestian poked her head around the corner, "Well…do we loop south and make for the bridge back toward Point Phobos? It's going to be a long walk."
Katherine thought for a moment, "No, that will take far too long. We don't know if the other Argus made it out of here, and if it didn't, no one knows about this infiltration. We press on west and get to Sector Twelve. There we can use a landline at one of the factories to call in."
Judith took a deep breath and hefted her Meltagun, "Great…with our luck, that'll probably take us right through the middle of their breeding nest…"
"The Emperor watches over us," Katherine winked as she came around the corner, plasma pistol ready. "Beth, you're on point, Mabel and Susanne next. Let's move."
They moved through the streets like wraiths, slipping from cover to cover where it was available…abandoned cars, columns, statues, or whatever cover they could find. Eve the Seraphim flew between the rooftops, keeping watch over them from above, her eyes vigilant. The squad crept through the night, surrounded by the eerie silence of the dead city sector. Every window that looked down at them could hide the enemy. Every alley they passed might conceal and ambush of bloodthirsty Tyranids.
Fighting Xenos was outside the Order's normal purview. Katherine noted dryly that most of what they had done on Kali V had been outside their usual sphere of operations. They were instruments of the Ecclesiarchy and Inquisition, sent to seek out heretics, rogue psychics, and cultists of the foul Chaos Gods. Since landing, they'd fought Necrons, Orks, and Eldar, opponents they had little experience with. Katherine had almost welcomed the battle with the Tzeentch Chaos Marines and their pet daemons. That was something she knew about.
Fighting Tyranids was something she no experience in at all. Having been warned of the approach of the Tyranids by the Ordo Xenos, Katherine had spent some time studying the beasts. If she was going to have to lead her sisters against the Tyranid threat, then she would know all she could about them. The Commandery of the Ardent Blade was few enough in number now they could little afford further casualties…
Above them, Eve landed on the roof of a building full of retail stores, all now closed as the proprietors fled the sector. The apartment buildings of the residential neighborhood had slowly begun to give way to a business district. Perhaps half the buildings were mercantile in nature, holding restaurants, coffee shops, and stores, while the other half were tenement buildings. The architecture here was a little more elaborate, the features and plain brick and cinderblock giving way to the concrete and glass of the Roman-Gothic style predominant in Imperial cities. They were approaching a "T" intersection, with a bank directly before them. Pushing a few stray blond hairs from her eyes, two blocks away on the right she could see a larger building looming over the others…An Administratum!
