It was a grim situation.

“How many have we lost?” Shining Armor asked the earth pony.

“Half the Equestrian Army force, a quarter of your own Crystal Army,” the pony replied. The left side of its face twitched intermittently, still adjusting to the makeshift eyepatch it had recently acquired, patches of coagulated blood still spattered across its coat. “And almost all of the Manehatten militia, reserves, and police. And…”

“Too many of our Lunar Guard,” Princess Luna finished. Orlando could see the fury burning in the xenos princess’ eyes.

“Our losses number three battle-brothers,” Orlando reported. Had he still be merely human, he would have shivered as he spoke his next words. “And the Chaplain.”

Around them the bloodied remains of the various militias, armies, and strike forces they had under their command took advantage of this brief respite to regroup. The wounded were gathered, weapons and armour checked, and squads and formations rebuilt or forged anew from husks. There, Sturdy Pike was putting the defensive line back together, there, Iron Will shouted encouragement to its mob. In the back, far away from the frontlines, the Priest Domenico worked, piecing the Chaplain Alessandro back together. While they worked, the remaining commanders had gathered in the shadow of the Predator Annihilator to sketch out a battle plan. It was a slow business, far slower than Orlando cared for. The purple xenos, Twilight, seemed almost vegetative, tears dripping from its oversized eyes as it mumbled something about bloodshed.

The xenos known as General Fogey harrumphed. “Well, I think it’s quite obvious we can’t hold this position. Even with that whatchamacallit…”

“Land Raider,” Renato filled in.

“Whatever it is, out of commission…” Fogey continued.

“It’ll be back soon enough,” Paolo interrupted. “We hadn’t even a chance to scratch that thing’s armour.”

“Would you kindly can it?” Fogey snapped. “I’m simply trying to say we can’t stay here. With our current forces I doubt we could hold off an angry bugbear, never mind firepower like this. We need a better position.”

“Retreat?” Luna said, aghast. “After so many have been lost? We must press on and banish these invaders forever from our lands!”

Twilight finally seemed to recover its senses. “Princess Luna, I think Fogey’s right. We’re beaten, we’re tired, and oh sweet Celestia there’s just so much blood everywhere, I… I…”

Renato placed a hand on the xenos’ back, stilling its shivering form. The Librarian and Orlando shared a brief, suspicious glance, both considering the implications of how easy that had been. Circumstances, however, dictated their conversation would have to wait.

“While I care not for your insolence, xenos,” Orlando replied, tapping his fingers against the hilt of his sheathed power sword. “I cannot disagree with you. The Chaplain may have believed we could win an assault, but we’ve no chance now. So we pull back, regroup, ready ourselves for their return.”

“What about the bridge?” Shining Armor said. “Easily a quarter of our forces are there. It’s already fortified. If there’s anywhere left in this city we can make a stand, it’s there.”

Renato, Paolo, and Orlando snatched quick glances at each other.

“Very well,” Orlando voiced their decision. “Get your soldiers moving. We’ll send Domenico back with the Chaplain and Castello, and the rest of my forces will form a rearguard.”

“We can gather up the pegasi and thestrals,” Luna suggested. “A cohesive air force has oft proved decisive in battle.”

“I’ll go on ahead to make sure everything’s in order,” Fogey said. “Blue Cross! Get a vanguard together, we’ve got a job to do!”

With that the ad hoc council broke. Luna took to the skies while Shining Armor and Fogey set off to gather their forces. Paolo gave a simple nod and stomped towards the rest of the Blood Angels, bearing Orlando’s orders.

“I…” Twilight said, its breathing still heavy but its demeanour seemingly more calm to Orlando’s eyes. “I better go tell the girls. See you soon.”

The lavender xenos slowly walked away, leaving only Renato and Orlando.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Renato asked.

Orland sighed, slapping a fresh magazine into his boltpistol. “We are Astartes. We know no fear, for we are fear incarnate.”

Renato placed his hand on Orlando’s shoulder. “But we are still human, at our core. Don’t hide from me, brother. Tell me what ails you.”

“Is this not the Chaplain’s job?” Orlando countered.

“You know as well as I that Aless was never one for simple chatter, never one for cameraderie,” Renato replied. He looked out over the slowing regrouping xenos. “You’ve fought with the Fourth long enough, you’ve seen what he can do with an army at his back. But alone, when it’s just him and a battle-brother? I think in all two centuries of his service, Paolo and I are the only two he’s ever just talked to, and even then… So yes, it is the Chaplain’s job, but since he’s indisposed at the best of times, I’m the best you’ve got. And might I remind you that I outrank you?”

Orlando sighed again. “Do you think we can win?”

“This battle?” Renato stroked his chin. “By the Emperor’s grace. That’s the only chance I see left to us. We can fight, but this entire battle has been a series of victorious skirmishes that kept us from winning the true fight. Our strength is spent, our ammunition is low, and the enemy has us outnumbered. Aless’ gambit might have turned the tide, but now…”

“So we’ll fight then,” Orlando said. “We’ll fight them at the bridge, and see what we can make of ourselves. And if we fail…”

“Aless would likely sanction me for saying this,” Renato said. “But retreat is an option. Life is the Emperor’s currency, and dying on the outskirts of a xenos city seems wasteful.”

“I know. I don’t intend to die, not here, not now,” Orlando said. This time he placed his hand on Renato’s shoulder. “We know no fear, but we are neither invulnerable nor numberless. I do not know the machinations of Chaos as do you and the Chaplain, but I have served the Golden Throne long enough to learn that when Chaos seeks a world, no matter how random or pointless the invasion seems, there is always some sinister plan at work. We will fight them at the bridge, and should the Emperor will it, we shall retreat. But I pray it is not so.”

“Then let us to it,” Renato said, gesturing to the now-moving column. They stood silent for a split-second, a time almost undiscernible to mortal eyes, but long enough to transhuman beings such as them. “Time grows short, and Chaos will not await us forever.”
_____

Further along in the column, Shining Armor was doing his best to keep his composure.

Do not break down screaming, do not break down screaming, do not break down screaming…

The mantra pounded in his skull, as much a prayer as a mental trick. He had spent the time since Cadence inherited the Crystal Empire preparing for a day of crisis, but this…

This was beyond anything he’d ever imagined.

At the moment, however, that didn’t matter. He had to hold together, for the soldiers, and the growing number of civilians silently joining the column.

The exhausted unicorn looked around, grimly watching the beleaguered ponies around him. Hastily-patched wounds, broken armour, and dried blood were the fashion of the day. As much as he deeply wanted, no needed, her right now, Shining was glad Cadence wasn’t here. A sight like this would break her heart.

“Never fought a real battle before, have you, son?” General Fogey asked, trotting up to Shining’s side.

It was a strange thing for Shining. By Celestia, had it only been morning when he dismissed Fogey as an outdated relic, useless as a modern commander? It seemed like months had passed since he said those things.

“Not like this,” Shining admitted. “A few skirmishes were and there, border squabbles with the Griffons, the occasional changeling raid, but this…”

“This is why I’m still around,” Fogey said. “Why we keep old war horses like me in service, rather than retire ‘em the moment the conflict ends. Because Celestia’s been around long enough to know the world never stays at peace, and the Elements of Harmony can only do so much.”

Shining opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a lavender blur.

“BBBF!” Twilight almost squealed as she slammed into Shining, wrapping her forelegs around him in an almost desperate hug. “Oh my goodness, you have no idea how good it is to see you again, and I know I should’ve already done this but it’s just we were running away from the Chaos Marines and then we had to fight and then there was the council and I didn’t get a chance and I’m just really, really happy to see you!”

“Alright, alright,” Shining said, a distinct tone of good humour seeping into his weary voice as he playfully resisted his sister’s hug. “I get the idea. I’m really glad to know you’re safe too. And I should probably be apologizing to you, I mean, we didn’t know if you were alive, and… It’s really, really good to know you are.”

The siblings simply stood silently for a moment, the exhaustion of the day weighing down on them. As ponies marched past them and alien machines rolled down the streets of Manehattan, their last meeting in the Crystal Empire seemed very, very far away.

“I don’t mean to intrude on a private moment,” Fogey said. “But that’s Crescent’s squad coming up. Rearguard. We’d better get moving if we want to keep up with the column.”

Shining looked to the sister still wrapped around his neck. “He’s right, Twily. Come on, we’ll talk as we walk.”

Twilight nodded and the pair started off. All around weary ponies marched through the hot evening air.

“How are you and the girls holding up?” Shining asked.

“It’s been a weird day, but we’re holding together. Starlight and Applejack are okay, but I think Fluttershy’s going to need a vacation or something and Rarity seems like she got hit really hard. She’s a bit fidgety, but we isn’t right now? And Pinkie, well, she’s Pinkie…” Twilight answered. A look of shock flashed across her face. “Oh my gosh, I forgot! Shiny, have you seen Rainbow Dash? She was supposed to be helping with the Wonderbolts and I haven’t…”

Twilight’s words faded as she caught Shining’s grim expression.

“She tangled with one of those metal dragons,” Shining explained. “She’s in hurt bad, but we got her to the medics in time. If nothing else, she’ll survive, I think.”

Tears pooled in Twilight’s eyes. “I’ve got to see her. If she… I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself.”

“Dash is strong, she’ll pull through,” Shining said. He flinched as a thought flitted through is mind. He may never have fought a real battle, not like this one with all the blood and the screaming, but he’s seen his fair share of crisis. Rainbow Dash would survive, that much he was sure of, but not everything a pony survived made them stronger. Sometimes, it just found another way to break them.

He looked over across the column. Tired, weary, bloody. Only the Blood Angels seemed to still have real fight left in them. The rest, the ponies, were all but beaten. It would take a miracle to pull victory out of this.

And Shining has the distinct feeling they had run out of lucky breaks today.
__________

“Nikolas! Double-time, man, we need that debris now!” Rikkard shouted. The grizzled old man kept his hot-shot laspistol raised, ever vigilant against a surprise attack.

Nikolas grunted and pushed his legs as hard as he could. In his arms he hefted a hunk of brick and mortar, wreckage from a nearby xenos construction. At last, he dropped the heavy weight onto the makeshift wall, giving his aching arms a few precious seconds of relief.

“Good work, good work,” the xenos commander, Blazing Star, commented as it passed. “You do your commander honour.”
Nikolas kept a close eye on the alien. The Holy Chaplain had said they were working together, but even a lowly servant of the Emperor like Nikolas knew it was an act of pure desperation. Once Chaos was gone, they would be able to purge these creatures, just like the Ecclesiarchs said to.

“Nick! Hey, Nick!” Sanders called.

“What is it?” Nikolas turned to his squadmate. They had only known each other a few days, but Sanders was still human and therefore better company than most on this Throne-forsaken world.

“We’ve got another group of xenos wanting to cross, and Elbert’s group isn’t back yet, need an extra gun to escort them,” Sanders explained.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working on the Predator?” Nikolas asked.

Sanders shrugged. “We’d need a techpriest or techmarine to fix that thing, that or a few days. They managed to break the axles, really offended the machine spirit. We don’t have the incense to placate the spirit, or the parts to fix the mechanism. Guns still work though, so there’s that. So, now I’m on escort recruitment.”

“Blasted heretics. Alright. Anything’s better than lugging rocks around,” Nikolas said. He turned to Rikkard. “Sir, I’m needed for escort duty. Permission?”

“Go ahead, kid,” Rikkard called back. “We’ll round up a few xenos, fill the gap for a few minutes.”

Nikolas turned to join Sanders when he heard a rumbling in the distance, the crunch and groan of treads on rubble.

“Sir!” he called to Rikkard.

“I hear it, kid,” Rikkard said, drawing his sword. It was a piece of masterwork, a gift from their holy masters and a mark of his station as platoon commander. The blade was just over three feet long, and sharpened to a killing edge. “That’s tanks and Rhinos. Platoon! Ready up! We’ve got incoming!”

Nikolas and Sanders slid their hot-shot lasrifles off their shoulders and rushed to the barricade. The rest of their platoon soon joined them, while the xenos filled the rest of the defensive line.

“Think it’s the heretics?” Sanders asked as he doubled-checked his ammo.

“Who else could it be?” Nikolas replied.

“Well, maybe the Holy Chaplain’s won, and we’re going to…” Sanders trailed off as a group of blood-red vehicles rolled around the corner.

“By the Emperor,” Nikolas said. “It is the Astartes! The Blood Angels are back!”

Nikolas and Sanders watched as the Rhinos rolled down the street, followed closely by a long column of wounded xenos.

“Nikolas! Sanders! You two, with me!” Rikkard called. “We’re going to meet with the Chaplain.”

“We’ll come as well,” Blazing Star said, walking up with a trio of xenos warriors. “Hopefully, Prince Armor will be back. If the battle is over, I’d like to start reconstruction as soon as possible.”

Nikolas followed along, taking regular, wary glances at the xenos. When dealing with aliens, even ones as strangely adorable as these, it always paid to keep one eye open.

Blazing Star and Rikkard led them to the crimson Rhino. The vehicle rolled to a halt and dropped its rear ramp. The Sanguinary Priest Domenico emerged, his white armour almost stained red with blood. Rikkard, Nikolas, and Sanders knelt before

“Rikkard, xenos,” Domenico nodded his head in greeting. He looked around, the ruby lenses of his helm drifting over the barricade.

Nikolas struggled to steady his breathing. He was a Chapter Serf by birth, but even after all these years, he still could not help but find the Space Marines awe-inspiring. The Emperor’s Angels, the embodiment of his Divine Will, how could he not tremble in their presence?

“Ready to report on the situation, Holy Priest,” Rikkard said, looking up at the Blood Angel.

“In time. Orlando will be along shortly. For now, get the men back to work. We’ve not much time, but much to do,” Domenico said.

“My lord?” Rikkard said, voicing the confusion Nikolas felt.

Blazing Star intruded on the conversation. “What’s going on? Haven’t you won? Or is this a retreat?”

Domenico sighed. “I don’t have time to explain. The Chaplain needs me. Make ready the defenses. Chaos will be here within the hour, in full strength.”

Rikkard rose and turned to Nikolas and Sanders. “You heard the Priest! Sanders, get the Predator entrenched and ready. Nikolas, grab two men, set up a sharpshooter post.”

“Where is Prince Armor?” Blazing Star asked. Nikolas dashed off. He cared nothing for the xenos’ questions. He had a mission, on behalf of the Astartes. His heart was pounding in his chest with anxious excitement. At last, he would have a chance to fight for the Emperor, to make a use of himself for the Blood Angels beyond maintenance and errands.

Whatever was coming after the column didn’t matter, Nikolas decided. It was just like Captain Rodri said.

Now they were all Blood Angels. And whatever came next, nothing could ever change that.

Author's Notes:

IT LIVES!

Sorry it’s taken so long. It’s been a busy few months. But now, we’re back! CotBA lives!

Next time: Last Stand in Manehattan.

Comments and criticism greatly appreciated.