"For the Lord!"
"Die, filthy scum!"
With that battle cry, shouted in perfect human language, the elite veterans rapidly shifted the battle's momentum.
The Chaos demons, forced into physical form in the real world, operated at a fraction of their power, far weaker than they would be in the Warp. Against the seasoned and powerful "aliens"—or rather, the Sangheili elite veterans who had aligned themselves with Atlas—smaller demons were utterly outmatched.
At the intersection, the demon "sorcerers" shot out streams of psychic fireballs in a desperate attempt to halt the elites' advance. Resembling twisted humanoid forms with skirt-like legs, they bore multi-beast faces melded grotesquely, wielding clawed pincers lined with razor-sharp teeth.
Despite their unwieldy appearance, they could fly.
Swish—swish—!
The fireballs whizzed through the air, but the agile Sangheili evaded effortlessly, closing in on the "sorcerers" within seconds.
!
Seeing the energy sword-wielding elites approach, the sorcerers used their legs to leap upward, blue psychic flames propelling them into the air, where they hovered over the street. They adjusted their pincers, preparing to bombard the elite veterans with psychic fire from above, exploiting the ground-bound elites' lack of anti-air defenses.
But—
Bam bam bam!
A series of heavy explosive rounds interrupted the sorcerers' concentration.
Boom! Boom!!
The 1.0-caliber rounds tore through their bodies, igniting their hydrogen-loaded warheads and creating a constellation of tiny "suns" that lit up the skies over Red Light Street.
When the gunfire and explosions finally ceased, every demon that had besieged the UNSC recon platoon had been annihilated or banished back to the Warp.
"Disgusting creatures!"
One Sangheili veteran spat, watching the demons disintegrate, his four-part mouth curling in disdain.
Boom, boom!
Just then, the clanking of magnetic boots on the pavement echoed down the street. A six-man squad of Dark Angels tactical marines emerged from the corner, stepping up behind the UNSC platoon.
The Dark Angels were heavily armed, packing enough firepower to surpass that of a typical UNSC armored division.
Their arsenal included three .75-caliber bolters, a 1.0-cal heavy bolter, a 105mm plasma cannon, and a 40mm plasma rifle wielded by their squad leader.
Even more striking were the two machine-gunners who hefted both heavy bolters and plasma cannons. With ammo cases and power cells mounted on their shoulders and miniature missile launchers attached to their armor, they were literal "walking tanks."
The Dark Angels' heavy Titan Mark I armor featured dual cold fusion reactors, a deviation from standard suits that only had a single reactor. Despite their massive size, these reinforced suits maintained full speed and agility, supporting the Atlas R&D department's ambitions to develop the Terminator Project, the prototype for true heavy armor.
Currently, however, the young Astartes had not undergone the final series of surgeries needed to pilot such armor, with R&D scientists stating that only fully grown Astartes could safely handle Terminator armor. Thus, Atlas was pouring resources into the Terminator Project, planning to deploy these suits once the Astartes reached full maturity and completed their enhancements.
These Dark Angels marines had also personalized their gear, adding individual decorations—some wore white wing crests on their helmets, while others etched tally marks on their pauldrons to count high-value kills.
Leading the team was squad captain Galan Clovis from the Doom universe, who wore a black hood over his helmet for a particularly intimidating presence.
The Dark Angels had all seen action in the Battle for Brotherhood City and, later, with the joint Atlas-Sangheili fleet in capturing multiple Covenant colonies.
Despite being relatively young, they boasted combat experience rivaling the AECS and ODST, humanity's most elite forces. As battle-hardened veterans, they took pride in their distinct appearance, differentiating themselves from new recruits with their eye-catching customizations. Atlas even encouraged them to personalize their power armor, provided they maintained good relations with logistics personnel.
"..."
Meanwhile, the UNSC recon platoon, who had just been rescued, was dumbfounded by the turn of events.
They had Sangheili veterans, perfectly at ease amid the demonic horde, ahead of them, while towering "armored giants" were approaching from behind.
"Captain..."
One soldier sidled up to the platoon leader, eyeing the advancing Dark Angels and asking in a low voice, "What do we do? Those hulking giants are about to reach our defensive line."
"What do we do?"
The captain straightened up and approached Galan Clovis, who was clearly the Dark Angels' leader, saying:
"If they, or those Sangheili-speaking aliens up ahead, really wanted us dead, do you think we'd even have time to ask that question?"
The captain then opened his comms and ordered,
"All units, listen up! They appear to be allied forces. Until I give the word, do not engage or make any moves that could be misunderstood."
"Yes, sir," the soldiers confirmed over the comms.
By now, the captain had reached Galan.
"Damn, you're tall," he muttered before extending his right hand.
"Captain Shell Nuspe of the UNSC Recon Platoon. My men and I appreciate your support."
Galan reached out and shook Nuspe's hand, careful to control his strength, and replied in a metallic voice:
"Galan Clovis, squad leader of Atlas's Dark Angels trainee chapter."
"Atlas, huh? Should have guessed."
Nuspe seemed unsurprised by Galan's identity.
Rumors about Atlas's "bioweapons" and "super soldiers" had circulated widely online, and the alliance with Sangheili veterans made perfect sense in Atlas's fold. Nuspe had mentally prepared himself for the possibility.
He released Galan's hand and looked toward the city center, where pink and blue lights illuminated the sky, saying:
"No matter what conflicts may have existed between Atlas and the UNSC before, I think we need to work together now.
And it seems you're more familiar with our attackers. Do you have any recommendations, Captain Clovis?"
Galan retracted his hand, gripping his plasma rifle once more. After glancing at the civilians sheltering in a nearby restaurant, he looked toward the portal at the city center and replied:
"Captain Nuspe, there are still civilians that need evacuation.
I suggest you escort them out of the city. Alternatively, you could split your forces to continue fighting the supernatural creatures in Mombasa.
Good luck to you."
With that, Galan led his squad through the UNSC defensive line, joining the Sangheili veterans at the intersection.
Moments later, Galan and his men vanished down the street, clearly advancing toward the portal in the city center.
"Captain, are those big guys looking down on us?"
The same soldier from before grumbled as he stared at the now-empty intersection.
"Looking down? You think these pea-shooters of ours compare to their hand-cannons and energy swords?"
Captain Nuspe tapped the soldier's helmet and then opened comms to give his orders:
"Third platoon, focus on evacuating the civilians. First and Second, continue our original recon mission. We need to find the source of Mombasa's chaos. Hoo-rah?"
"Hoo-rah!"
The soldiers of the recon platoon shouted in unison.
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