Andrews Prime, Hive Thirteen. Thousands of citizens huddled in the underground shelters of the upper hive.
Since the Emperor's light, carried by the Expedition Fleet, had reached Andrews, it had served as a major Imperial transit hub, never once attacked.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. The defense forces have certainly put down the rebellion by now." A man who served as a water-plant overseer for the Water Guild stood atop a stack of crates, craning his neck to peer through the shelter's only window, just above street level.
Thick dust caked the window. The overseer covered his mouth and nose with his left hand, pinched his right sleeve, and rubbed the glass.
Cough, cough...
He squinted through the cleared grime.
Below, a mother clutching a child, a white-haired elder, all looked up at him, hoping for good news.
The overseer's pupils suddenly widened. He saw members of the defense force, Imperial Aquila badges on their shoulders, raising their lasguns.
Zzzzt...
The ionized air hissed. The overseer followed the beam's trail through the air, seeing it strike a rebel covered in fluff.
A blinding light punched a hole in the rebel's chest.
"Nice shot!" He pumped his fist.
His excited cheer relaxed the others; smiles appeared on their faces.
Suddenly, his fist froze. He stumbled and fell.
The white-haired, retired official of the Power Guild caught him. "What happened?"
"Monsters..." The overseer was still dazed, unable to recover from the horror he'd witnessed.
The old man frowned, shaking the man's shoulders.
"Calm down. Tell us what you saw."
"I... I saw... their... lasguns... couldn't kill them," the overseer said, his eyes vacant.
"Some of the fluff was scorched, but they kept walking."
Bang!
The shelter's door shuddered. Warning runes flashed red on the alarm panel.
"They're here. We're all going to be devoured," the overseer said, collapsing to the ground in despair.
"I heard they've attacked worlds on the edge of the Segmentum. The Space Wolves and the Night Lords have been hunting them," said the clerk in the void-port uniform, his voice muffled by his respirator.
"They are the Emperor's Angels, aren't they? Why haven't they killed all the monsters?" asked the wife of a merchant guild representative, in a silk nightgown, clutching her child, her body trembling.
"I don't know. Maybe they're as numerous as Orks, too many to kill. Or maybe they're hard to kill..." the voice from the respirator replied, lost.
The overseer jumped to his feet, staring at the door in terror. "Ah... fluff... they're getting in..."
Everyone turned, seeing wispy strands of fluff seeping through the cracks.
"We're doomed! The monsters are going to eat us!"
The merchant's wife clutched her child tightly, shrinking back.
She backed into the person behind her.
She looked around, seeing only frightened faces, trembling, awaiting death.
She held her child tighter. They had lived well, not as wealthy as the high-born lords in their spires, but comfortably, bathed in the glory of the Emperor and the Imperium.
Now, they cowered in a dark shelter, waiting to be eaten.
"He... left?" the overseer said uncertainly.
Everyone stared at the door. The cracks were clear. No fluff. No pounding.
"The Emperor's Angels! It has to be them!" The respirator trembled.
"I'll... look..." The overseer, trembling, walked through the crowd.
He inched his way to the crates, climbed up clumsily, covered his mouth and nose, and peered out.
"Mmph..." His pupils widened. He saw the fluff-covered monsters launching themselves at a massive, hairy creature.
He had never seen such a creature. It hadn't been there moments ago. It seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
The monsters swarmed over it, their fluff surging into it, as if drawn by something.
In an instant, the creature was filled.
Moments later, it began to swell, wrapped in layers of fluff, round as a great ball.
"What's happening?" asked the retired Power Guild official.
"I..." The Water Guild overseer stammered. "I don't know how to describe it. They're not the Emperor's Angels... it's some kind of livestock..."
He watched the sphere swell rapidly, soon exceeding the window's field of view.
Bodies lay scattered on the ground.
Zzzzt!
A burst of static from the shelter's speakers. A deep voice came through.
"Citizens of Andrews, attention! This is the Shadows of Order!"
"By the command of the Monarch of Vostroya, Primarch Lord Nareth, the Tenth Chapter of the Shadows of Order' has been dispatched to rescue you."
"The xenos threat is being neutralized. All those hearing this broadcast are to remain in their shelters. This is an order! You must comply. Those who disobey will be devoured by the xenos!"
"..."
"Thank the Emperor! It's the Angels!" the overseer exclaimed.
"Lucky... it's not those savage Wolves," the void-port clerk muttered, his voice lost within his respirator.
Even if the Wolves cleansed the xenos, they would disregard civilian casualties and prosperous Andrews would be reduced to rubble. Everyone would die.
Time passed, but those in the shelter were no longer despairing. They peered curiously through the window at the fluff outside.
The fluff vanished. Three hours later, black-armored warriors appeared in the streets.
The overseer waved his arms, shouting: "Shadows of Order! Emperor's Angels!"
A black-armored warrior noticed him, and signaled with his left hand, gesturing for him to lower his arm.
"He responded to me! Ha!" The overseer called out happily to the others.
Two standard days later, the vox broadcast sounded again: "Citizens of Andrews!"
"The xenos have been cleansed and expelled. You may return to your homes!"
People emerged from the shelters, smiling, climbing the stairs to the surface.
The overseer saw the black-armored giants on the streets, holding massive weapons.
He ran towards them, shouting: "Emperor's Angels! Thank you! You saved us!"
Other survivors followed, cheering.
The void-port clerk looked around, then towards the starport, images of the monstrous bodies that had swallowed the starport's defenders flashing through his mind.
He thought of the rumors, forbidden in the hive, that had circulated over the past year.
"Praise be to Lord Nareth! The Shadows of Order are more powerful than the Space Wolves and the Night Lords!"
"They've destroyed the Bone Drinkers!"
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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