Another draft peek from me. This one I’m working on with more energy so I’ll hopefully have a completed version this weekend to share. Once I rework the beginning.

Black smoke choked the sky and the smell of burning oil filled the air. Part of the fortified city was burning after a crash-landing that only left a single survivor. A lone human protected by a masterfully crafted suit of power armor whose vision swam as he came around from unconsciousness. Enki pushed his way out of the wreckage that had landed on him, the visual processes in his helmet display already alerting him to no other survivors.

He was alone in a hostile city. A small laugh left him imagining how worried Petra must be for her “Precious Trinket.” But he could not just sit and wait so he hefted the power-ax he had been gifted and began making his way from the wreck just as the sound of approaching feet rose above the din of the burning ship. Staying in the area was the first thing that ran through his mind and rose above the other chemical responses screaming to get somewhere safe. Safety was staying close to the burning beacon any sort of recovery team would check first. If they were hostile… well this was not the perpetual’s first urban war zone.

“The strategic value of The Trinket is Absolute.” Sergeant Dosan reiterated to his small force of Iron Warriors. Having been tasked with locating and retrieving the human that so ingratiated himself to Petra, there was no room for failure. The human, Enki, had tempered their Primarch’s unbending iron which had brought clearer vision to the IVth.

A silent nod came in unison from his raiders and the Sergeant flexed the fingers of his beloved power fist. The transport getting shot down had been an unforeseen event despite the meticulous planning of that attempted insertion and now the time for subtle action was truly passed. Petra’s fury had boiled over and the siege had begun in earnest. Dosan’s raiders would breach the city soon…

Petra poured over the incoming battlefield data with her practiced precision. She needed to keep her mind occupied, keep the turbulent sea of her emotions in check. One hand unconsciously touched the front of her battle plate, right over where Enki’s first gift to her hung around her neck. It brought to mind his competence and his admittedly clumsy way of working under pressure. Along with those came the one reminder that kept her fury from overtaking her mind like it would a few of her sisters: Enki would not, could not, die out there.

Everything was on schedule despite her Trinket’s plan being interrupted. Then again the plan was intended as a distraction so in a darkly humorous way it had worked. The raiders were on their way under the cover of artillery and would breach the city soon. They refused compliance and so they would feel the strike of Iron.