"Cough, cough, cough..." Alexei hopped onto the ground and let out a series of violent coughs. "I say, Allie, next time you bring me down, maybe dial back the speed a bit. I don't have psychic powers."
"Was it that fast?" Allie asked, tilting her head in genuine confusion.
Alexei gave a helpless wave. "Can you disperse the Nurgle plague in the air around here? It stinks..."
"Easy." Allie's body floated into the air once more. Vast psionic energy surged from her, and the plague mists in the immediate vicinity were instantly dispelled, restoring half the district to its former state.
Allie descended slowly, her bare feet touching the pavement. "There. That should hold for a few hours."
"Impressive." Alexei gave her a thumbs-up and looked toward the upper atmosphere. Dozens of "falling stars" streaked overhead, slamming into a nearby clearing.
"Let's go." Alexei marched toward the drop pod landing zone, with Allie floating along behind him.
After reaching the landing site and easily clearing out the surrounding plague zombies, Alexei looked at the girl. "Can you find the entrance to the bunker?"
"I think so. Let me try." Allie closed her eyes. A moment later, she pointed in a specific direction. "That way!"
Alexei gave her another thumbs-up and led the fully combat-ready Guard squad toward the objective.
After carving a path through the opposition, they arrived before a massive, collapsed concrete entrance. Without needing a word from Alexei, Allie's immense psionic power cleared the debris, revealing an alloy vault door leading underground. The door promptly buckled and tore under the crushing force of her will. She hurled the mangled metal into the distance with a dull thud. Alexei shook his head with a wry smile and led the squad into the dim corridor.
"This bunker has some years on it," Alexei muttered, looking at the rusted iron stairs. They descended the spiral staircase, noting that to evade the Nurgle plague, this sanctuary had to be incredibly deep and equipped with a superior air filtration system.
"Can you sense the survivors' location?" Alexei asked again. Having a powerful psyker around was certainly convenient; it saved them a tedious room-by-room search.
"I think they're over there—no, wait! Enemies!" Allie's voice suddenly turned sharp.
*Enemies?* Alexei narrowed his eyes and ordered everyone to high alert. The disruption field of his power sword hummed to life. they advanced cautiously through the gloom until they encountered four loathsome forms. Against their superior firepower, however, the Plague Marines were no different from the zombies outside, reduced quickly to piles of rotting meat.
Alexei sheathed his sword and was about to ask Allie if the coast was clear, but he saw her staring intensely at a nearby shadow. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
The moment the words left her mouth, a figure lunged from the darkness, a power sword swinging directly for Allie. "Hmph." A wall of psionic force caught the attacker mid-air, pinning him in place. Just as Allie was about to crush him into a pulp, Alexei shouted, "Wait!"
Allie lowered her hand and looked at Alexei in confusion. He was staring fixedly at the black power armor and the scarred emblem it bore. He called out tentatively, "A Fallen Angel?"
The towering figure in black armor seemed to flinch at the name. Even while restrained by psionic force, he struggled to turn his head toward Alexei, his crimson eyepieces locked onto the man.
"No, no, I mean no offense. I bear you no ill will," Alexei waved his hands in a gesture of peace. "It looks like you haven't fallen to Chaos, so that makes us allies."
He turned to Allie. "Release the restraint." Seeing her worried look, Alexei smiled to reassure her. A single Fallen Angel wasn't enough to threaten him, and he was curious why one would be here on the sub-sector capital, Grevan. There had to be a reason.
As the restraint vanished, the Fallen immediately swung his sword at Alexei.
*Tch...*
Alexei clicked his tongue; a fight was unavoidable. He parried the strike with a sudden, powerful sweep of his own blade.
Astor was shocked to see a baseline human deflect his attack. He couldn't comprehend how a man who looked so ordinary could possess such staggering strength.
However, when he caught sight of Alexei's golden, slitted pupils, he understood. A massive force slammed into his chest, sending his giant frame skidding backward until he collapsed onto one knee.
Watching the man across from him twirl his sword and ask, "Still want to go?" Astor used his blade to prop himself up. He settled into a duelist's opening stance. In the name of Lion, he would not retreat.
In the narrow corridor, the two engaged in a duel under the watchful eyes of the Aiur Guard and Allie. Ten minutes later, amidst Allie's cheering, Alexei sighed as he looked at the figure on the ground trying to crawl back up. "Why be so stubborn?" He tossed the captured power sword back to the Fallen. "Again?"
Astor used the last of his strength to prop himself against a stone wall. He removed his helmet, revealing short blonde hair, a high-bridged nose, and dark green eyes that stared unblinkingly at Alexei. "You... are a monster..."
Alexei shook his head. "We are here for the survivors. They shouldn't be trapped down here to rot. Do you know where they are?"
Astor glanced away with a light scoff. "Strong warriors with hearts as soft as yours are rare. Follow this tunnel to the end; that's my prayer room. They're all hiding there."
Alexei nodded and signaled for the Guard and Allie to head ahead. Once they were gone, he looked back at the man. "Fallen Angel..." He paused to choose his words carefully. "Son of the Lion, Knight of Caliban—why are you here?"
Astor remained silent for a long time before finally answering, "Repentance. And the Hunt."
Alexei frowned. The Fallen continued, "My brothers are blinded by ancient grudges, trapped in a past they cannot escape. They have forgotten who the true enemy is. I repent for the betrayal of ten millennia ago. I am here in the Lion's name to hunt the true traitors."
"Just to hunt traitors?" Alexei asked skeptically.
After another long silence, Astor spoke again. "And to track the trail of something ancient and powerful enough to unmake worlds."
"What is it?"
"An avatar of universal law—a shard of a C'tan, escaped and adrift among the stars."