I looked down at the chaos sorcerer with contempt, feeling wholly unsatisfied at the death but knowing it would hit me eventually. I wonder if Kronus could see me, and if he would approve of my one-man crusade and if I could have served my time better elsewhere. I knew that was not the case. Any heretic and damon summoner was worth my attention, but when one suffers a loss, even if only the loss of a familiarity, they began to question things. I breathed in deeply and sheathed my power sword. I felt an intense wave of indecision. Now I did not know what I would do with myself. Yes, I was to go home finally, but this was my first and only mission alone... 

The rumbling grew louder, and I turned to see the last Chimera rolling up. I blinked, as if seeing it for the first time. Lucius Raj stepped over to me, crushing the skeletal corpse of one of the machine-xenos as he did so. Bleeding with dented armor, he was harmed but very much not dead. I looked from the Thunder Warrior to the cavernous halls of the strange eldtritch sanctum, and the Chimera's back end fell open like a falling anvil, swinging with a loud squeak before a thunderous crash onto the ground. 

"Hadrian! We have to go!" Emmaline called to me. 

She was alive and well! Good. Her face and the faces of the men, along with sergeant Ravjek spurred me into action finally. My eyes steeled and I stepped away from the rotting corpse of Bahometus, vaulting over the short wall and stepping onto the chimera. 

"Make room! We need space for one more." I told them. "Ravjek, you and Hergan go up front with the pilot. Lucius, hurry aboard!" 

"No, commander." The Thunder Warrior said, his helm betraying no emotion. I could hear none from his voice either, and yet there was something touching when I expanded my mind to sense the outer rim of his thoughts. "This is no longer my world. My galaxy. Let me die here fighting these things. I can keep them busy while you escape." 

"You'll only be trapped in stasis again!" I yelled, my hand gripping the railing as I leaned over the dropped, back walkway. "You have the opportunity to do some real good here. Come with us." I felt as if my words were clanging against his archaic power armor as effectively as small arms fire, and yet I sensed he was on the precipice of a decision. I looked him square in his visor and spoke with all the authority of my office. "For whatever brief time it has been, you have been under my command. And I never leave a soldier behind. Get in here and let me show you the Imperium you helped create those millennia ago."  

Another few seconds passed, Emmaline gripping my arm and whispering we needed to go. The soldiers murmured and I felt Ravjek watch intently. 

The Thunder Warrior stepped forward and entered the Chimera, slowly so we might move back and give the giant space. The machine creaked under the weight of the gene-warrior, but with a squeeze we fit. The Chimera began to roll before its back hatch even shut, loud cranking and exhaust whisping in the air as the green, sickly glow of the xenos chamber was slowly shut away.