A/N – And another chapter is written, short one, but the end might make you wonder if there won't be some serious fighting between two factions. Two factions notorious for being autonomous and listening and interpretating orders the way that suited them.

o-0-o

Sharrowkyn fired his sniper rifle and winced when it once again kicked against the shoulder plate of his armor. The stubbornness of the humans was an admirable trait, but a touch annoying. Nykona fired the last round in this magazine, made the rifle eject it and then reached for another.

As his hand slipped into a pouch on his belt his eyes widened as he found only one more magazine. He slowly loaded his rifle and then looked for worthy targets. Wasting it on some chaff would be a thing he couldn't afford. He scanned the approach to the building and then smiled when a couple of light vehicles with heavy stubbers mounted moved into view.

He aimed carefully and pressed the trigger before smiling when the weapon kicked against his shoulder and the head of the lead driver exploded in a shower of blood, bones shards and brain matter.

Reloading the rifle, Nykona watched the vehicles crash and disappear into a ball of tangled metal, fire and limbs. It went far better than he hoped, as the second driver didn't have a chance to react and adjust to the death of the lead one.

o-0-o

Agapito looked towards the sky and allowed himself a smile when a Thunderhawk emerged from the darkness, its wings heavy with the ordnance and its targeting systems already focused on the tanks. A beam of scarlet light broke through the darkness and the lead tank disappeared in a flash of an explosion.

"They were instructed not to use lasers," Agapito said with distaste as he shook his head and then gunned down one more human that ran at him. "Brahe, what's your status?"

"We're pushing forward," the Scout responded and Agapito nodded. "They seem to be running out of thugs."

"At least that's good," Agapito said as he stopped a human that tried to sneak past him and then hurled a grenade in the direction of a cluster he saw in the distance. "Don't leave anybody alive and be careful with your ammunition."

o-0-o

Harry stripped out of his armor and looked at the plates of plasteel and ceramite neatly arranged on the ice floor of the small room he claimed inside of the training camp. He looked at them and then at his black mesh underclothes with Black Carapace ports standing out from the material. He gazed at himself for few brief moments before turning to look at the Reiver armor and a single Tech Marine that stood near it.

"Will it hide my presence?" Harry asked, approaching the armor. "It looks slimmer and different than normal."

"Nothing will fully hide you," the Techmarine said and then added. "But this piece of armor should provide you with as much stealth as Mechanicum can manage. You make no noise, your thermal signature is reduced and the paint we used helps you blend in with the environment."

"What's the catch?" Harry asked and approached the armor. "I used an armor made by the Artisans of the Fabricator-General himself and all of the changes came with a price."

"The power source won't be able to power a heavy weapon." The Techmarine shifted and Harry smiled wolfishly at him. "Normal Reivers can, but for this we were forced to remove it. Without, your backpack would be extremely visible."

"Can it power my axe?" Harry asked and then paused, looking at his massive weapon. "Can it power a normal power weapon?"

"Your axe, no. The dimensions and strength of the power field are of the Terminator weapon, not of a normal one. However a sword or an axe that's standard issue, yes."

Harry hummed and then snapped his fingers. "Help me put it on. Once inside I can adapt it to my tastes."

The Techmarine nodded and Harry slipped into the armor more easily than he thought and it fit his form smoothly. A thing he didn't expect from such a design. Yet all the plates were in perfect places and nothing was limiting his movement.

"This is good," he said twisting his hands and testing the joints. "It doesn't give me the same protection as that Wolf Guard armor, but other than that it is perfect."

"You can use your helmet," the Techmarine said, handing him a wolf-head helmet. "Actually, for your mission it will be better. You have custom optics and audio systems, right?"

"Yes," Harry said, putting on the helmet. "Another gift from the Mechanicus of Mars, much better quality and more resistant."

"You are truly blessed by the Omnissiah," the Techmarine muttered, his servo arms moving and then he once again became serious. "The next thing is how you'll get to that island. Usual Thunderhawk insertion is out of question. There are too many radars scanning the air and stealth variant is in a limited supply."

"That's problematic," Harry frowned and then smirked. "I could requisition one from the Deliverance to be flown here."

"You could," the Techmarine nodded in agreement. "But, that would tell everybody where to look for us."

"Which leaves Warp craft and sorcery," Harry said thoughtfully. "A Gate of Infinity would do. Assuming there would be a way to anchor it in Britain." Seeing confusion he added impatiently. "The way that island is called. During Heresy time they called it Alba."

"It is one of the options," the Techmarine said and smiled making Harry twitch in annoyance. "The Stormwolves of your chapter can swim underwater. It was never tested extensively, but it feasible and it should work."

"And if it dives deep enough it should avoid detection," Harry mused aloud. "Not a bad thing all things considered. And I'll be able to take more gear with me. Probably even more than I could take otherwise."

The Techmarine nodded and walked away, leaving Harry alone with his gear and musings. The circumstances of this whole thing were interesting and he wasn't sure, nor had any hints as what to do in the future. The instincts were telling him he was right, yet he had doubts about throwing himself there.

Here, far away from the centers of civilization they were pretty much invisible to the world at large and didn't need to pay much attention to what they were doing. If he went to Britain, his old home, some part of his mind whispered, moving undetected would be much, much harder and more troublesome. Gear and weapons of Astartes were far from subtle or silent, Harry mused as he mindlessly reached for a bolter and started to disassemble it. They were loud, scary and deadly, but not silent.

He assembled the bolter, checked that it worked and nodded to himself before reaching for a power sword he had nearby. Sliding the sword into a scabbard on his back and the bolter into one at his hip he walked out of the room.

Snow and ice crunched under his feet as he walked. He passed through the training fields and towards the gunships waiting close to the shore. He walked aboard the Stormwolf and checked his supplies before nodding to himself and opening one of the crates. Inside of it were dozens of the sickle-shaped magazines, each holding thirty rounds for a standard bolter.

He grabbed a couple and then rummaged through one with the grenades before nodding and sitting down in one of seats and activating his vox. "I'm ready, let's go for a swim."

"Of course, my lord," one of the Grey Hunters said with a laugh.

o-0-o

Nykona shook his head as he looked at the burning compound and at the Techmarine that rummaged through it. "This was a mistake," he said and looked at Agapito. "It was supposed to be stealthy mission, not an all out battle."

"They spotted us," Agapito said, diverting his eyes from Sharrowkyn. "And knew we were coming." He jerked his hand towards the smoking wrecks of tanks. "Those things in jungle don't move fast..."

"Fuck!" Sharrowkyn cussed and then nodded. "So they were close or they had some warning."

"Both are probable," Agapito said and paused. "Next mission we will do either in Reiver armor or only scouts. And probably drop several kilometers away from the target."

Sharrowkyn nodded and then pulled out his pistol and fired at one of the still alive humans. "Make sure there is nobody alive when we leave," he said and sighed. "We are protectors of humanity, but now we need to kill them."

"Secrecy is our shield," Agapito murmured, his eyes slipping over the dead. "Secrecy and fear."

Sharrowkyn only nodded, his head slowly moving in an affirming nod.

o-0-o

The helmet was put on and the space in front of Harry's eyes exploded in data. Then the seals activated and he gasped as the internal systems turned on, recycling the air. He grabbed his gear and walked to the front of the hull.

His fist slammed into the rune and the assault ramp opened. Water gushed in and filled the bay. When the ramp lowered Harry walked out, gear strapped to his armor and jumped off the ramp. He glanced around, thermal sensors of the helmet activating and letting him see through the murky, dark water around him.

"Thank you for the ride," he muttered into the vox and then started to swim up. His legs augmented by the servomotors of his armor pushing him towards the surface. "I'll use fleet's vox when wanting ride back home."

With those words the comfortable silence fell as he moved towards the surface. Then with a final push he broke the surface of the sea. He was several dozen meters away from the shore, a thin dark line ahead of him. Stars and moon providing almost no light.

Harry checked positions of the stars and then his gaze darted to the chronometer slowly counting in the edge of his vision. Content that he had few more hours of darkness he started to swim towards the shore. Swimming wasn't a normal thing for Marines, but it was a part of their training and the servomotors of their armors made it much easier and simpler.

With one, last, powerful stroke he pushed himself to the shore and started to walk away from the water. Liquid dripping from his armored form in long streaks, pouring out from between plates and from under them.

"Finally, fresh air," he said as he unlocked the seals and pulled the helmet of his head. His wild hair whipping behind him like a mane. He breathed in deeply, savoring the hundreds of smells coming from all around. "Now, where is the Warp sorcery?"

He paused for a moment, then hair on the back of his neck raising. The threat or danger was close, hidden, but still there. He carefully pulled his sword out of the scabbard. It wasn't his usual weapon, but felt familiar enough.

A single press of finger against the rune and the power field flickered alive. The quiet humm of the power field was comforting and familiar.

The rain started to fall. Droplets of water splashed against the energy. Sizzling as they disappeared out of existence. Harry muted that sound out and then looked around. The stillness and lack of sounds of any animal moving in the forests was worrying.

"Where are you?" Harry asked in a murmur. "I'm angry and tired and want to kill you."

As if answering his question the trees exploded as something charged out. It was large, covered in black and gray skin. A massive club in its hands. It's mouth a gaping hole full of fangs. A crudely drawn, bloody eight-pointed star on its forehead.

"What the fuck is that?!" Harry yelled as he rolled out of the way of the beast.

In the next moment his sword shot out and it severed the leg at the knee. A roar of challenge turned into that of surprise and pain. Then he walked to the still struggling creature and drove the sword through its neck.

"I'm for less than ten minutes here," he said and shook his head. "And I'm faced with a servant of the Ruinous Powers." He put the helmet back on and locked it in place.

He chuckled at this and then looked around. His eyes slowly moving as the sensors of the helmet fed him data. He was used to processing staggering amounts of information efficiently, but he felt a bit overwhelmed as his psychic senses were assaulted by wave after wave of Warp energy.

"What in the name of the Emperor is going on here?" Harry asked as he crept forward.

He crossed the line of trees and entered the forest. First he saw nothing. The darkness so overwhelming that even the systems of his helmet couldn't see through it. Then his eyes flashed cerulean blue and banished the magic.

Yet he wished he didn't banish it. A large clearing was in front of him. A pack of trolls there and with them a human in robes from human skin covered in paintings in blood. He stood by a bloodied stone, an obsidian knife and a staff in his hands.

"Chaos," Harry spat out. "Your very existence is an insult to the universe."

Adrenaline started to pump through his body and a roar broke out of his throat. Enhanced by the speakers of his armor to the defeaning levels. He bounded across the open land between him and the trolls. Before the first knew he was upon it, his sword severed the head from the rest of the body.

In the next move he pulled his combat knife from its scabbard at his belt and hurled at the sorcerer. The blade shone in the light and then struck the target. No human could survive such a hit. Insane superhuman strength of a Space Marine aided by his armor hurling a knife that was more of a sword.

The skin parted. The bone fractured and the brain matter exploded like a ripe fruit. The body, standing for few, brief seconds collapsed like a doll without its strings.

Harry moved out of the way of one troll and smashed his feet into the groin of another. It didn't kill it, but knocked back and gave him room. He swung the sword and severed the arm and head of one troll from the rest of its body. Then he whirled and with a simple gesture sent a pillar of kinetic energy at next.

After something that felt like an eternity he slit open the chest of the final troll. His whole body bathed in their foul, black blood. He flickered on the blade the energy evaporating gore and then slid it into the scabbard on his back.

He looked around and grimaced. If someone stumbled upon those bodies they would wonder how did it happen. The cuts were perfect, straight and even. Bones split without any cracking. The flesh charred and wounds cauterized. The sorcerer's head struck by something beyond human levels. "I got carried away," Harry said and then unlocked the helmet and attached to his belt.

He sniffed the air and smelled human piss and fear. It was close. He looked around and found a cage, hanged on one of the trees. Inside of it ten male teens. "First troll, then a horde of them and now them," he said and shook his head.

He could tell that the kids were scared. He smiled faintly at the comparison, he was not that much older, yet did so much more. He found the chain that kept the cage in place and then gently lowered it to the ground.

"Stay silent," he said, lacing his voice with his powers.

He then smashed his sword against the lock and opened the cage. He let them come out and then whispered. "Sleep." All of them dropped onto the ground.

Harry looked at them and then tapped his vox bead. "We have a problem," he whispered. "I have some Aspirants and a lot of potential troubles. Requesting a squad of Scouts and a Thunderhawk."

"We will need time to avoid detection."

"Understood, but hurry," Harry said. "The amount of blood and corpses will get attention, sooner or later." He paused and then forced his implants and armor to give him a map of the area. "There is a cave, five kilometers away from here. I'll carry the Aspirants there and wait for you."

o-0-o

Sharrowkyn frowned as he listened to the request. "Why of all things does he want Scouts?"

"Because they can still pass for a human and are silent," Valdor said and then shook his head slightly. "But it doesn't make much sense. If the troubles are as big as the feed from his armor suggests Marines would be better."

"Unless he believes secrecy is more important and thus wants to take out troubles stealthy."

"Your Primarch's teachings make sense here," Valdor said and then glanced outside of the tent they were in. "Especially here and now. Nobody can know we're here and anybody that knows it needs to be eliminated. The risk of alternating the future, for worse or better is too big."

Sharrowkyn nodded and studied the message for a second before nodding. "I have a squad in mind that will suit his needs."

o-0-o

The Deliverance was a maze of corridors, chambers, mineshafts and dozens other artificial and natural constructs. Some were forgotten by the Raven Guard, some fell into obscurity due to earthquakes and shifting tectonic plates. Finally the vast majority was of such little importance that nobody bothered to check them, up until now.

Several thousand more Space Marines and even more Tech-Priests, their thralls, servitors and automata needed more room than the relatively small chapter of the Raven Guard ever required. There was also a matter of cleansing them from the xeno filth known as the orks or the greenskins.

Lukas the Trickster roared as his claw slashed through the arm of an ork. Then he kicked the bleeding beast backwards and shot the next in the head. Dodging under the swing of a choppa he stepped to the side and let Ragnar drive his sword into the ork.

Laughing like a madman he sheared off the head of a gretchin from its torso and then hurled it at another. Before moving out of the way of the Long Fangs that finally managed to bring forth their flamers. Extremely flammable promethium gelly was spat out and ignited. Bathing the tight corridor in an orange and red dance of fires as the orks burned.

"This is better than the caves of Fenris," Lukas laughed as he shot a still alive ork. "At least they fight like some worthy opponents and not like chaos possessed lunatics."

"Don't underestimate the enemy," Ulrik the Slayer said as his mace flashed and smashed into an ork that tried to leap at them. "No matter the size, the enemy is the enemy and needs to be killed."

"Why are we even clearing those corridors?" Ragnar asked. "There is nothing useful here, just the orks."

Ulrik didn't say anything, instead he pressed on. The heavy mace in his hand rising and falling. Smashing orks and killing them as if they weren't even a threat for him. He moved forward, the rest of the Wolves following him and killing what was left alive in his wake.

o-0-o

At the same time, elsewhere Corax faced Cawl in latter's laboratory. "I respect the work you had done on the Primaris Project and the armor to revive my brother," Corax said and then approached the ancient Magos. "But there are some things that you need to know. When my father, the Emperor, designed us, the Primarchs and our sons, Space Marines, we were designed to be specialized in a single field. To be the best of the best and their mutation aided with it."

"My Lord Primarch," Cawl said, his mechanical unnerving Corax, reminding him of Kelbor-Hal. "I don't see the point you're trying to make."

Corax shook his head and stalked away from Cawl. Instead he turned towards the tanks holding gene-seeds in nutrient rich liquids. "The gene-seeds you developed are perfect, too perfect. You made them ideal copies of each other and of me and my brothers. The little quirks of the genetic mutation that happened over time and in the Warp made the already formidable Marines even more."

"Are you suggesting that I should destroy my work with the taint of the Warp?" Cawl asked, the false plesantness gone from his voice. "Do you think I would be willing to destroy the genome of the Omnissiah with the corruption?"

Corax snorted in amusement and looked at Cawl. "No, I'm not insane, Magos," he said quietly. "What I'm implying is that I want you to tune down the undesirable traits, while expanding on the desired ones." He then smiled thinly. "How is going your research into the gene-seed of my fallen brothers?"

"I don't know what are you talking..."

The Cawl was unable to finish as Corax lunged at the Magos. Hurled him at the wall and pinned there. Strength of Corax's godlike body and the armor overpowering the struggling Magos. The sparks flying as the mechanical limbs gave up under the stress. Even if they were made from the hardest alloys known to Mechanicum, not much could survive the fury of a Primarch.

"Don't like to me," Corax hissed. "I'm not a fool you think I am. My Techmarines hacked your databank and found every scrap of data about the genetic research you conducted. I know you had experimented with the DNA of my fallen brothers... And cut, I'm mean, get used to it. Continuation in the next chapter.

o-0-o

A/N – Yes, Cawl can make the gene-seed for any Legion. The question is, will Corax allow him to or the ancient Magos will be forced to scrap the research. Both options have advantages and disadvantages, both for now and the future.

Reviews:

DragonForce – Warp, that thing behaves the way it wants or a sufficiently strong psyker wants. They have an insane amount of strong psykers with them that with a bit of coaxing might make the Warp hurl them back in time. It won't be nice, it won't be pleasant and it will invite hordes of demons, but it will work.

Speaking about psykers, almost all of those they have are skilled in predicting the future to a lesser or bigger degree. They can aid in choosing the best, not the safest path, but one that will guide them onto proper course.

Actually there is a whole Ordo of the Inquisition whose sole purpose is dealing with timeline issues and things fucking with it. They don't have that many successes and here the Primarchs will make them cry and sob in the corner, but they're the Inquisition... And the Wolves have grudges with the group.

Sparda B-312 – he has, all of them. Just now with the more important issues, like, oh a pack of trolls and a bloody sorcerer wanting him dead he kinda forgot about them. Forging new weapons out of them might soon be an important thing for him. Why? [REDACTED] *laughs* I won't reveal funny bits, at least not easily.