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     whoever
     had
     done
     this. Those
     people
     had
     dark reputations.
    He
     felt
     anger
     grow
     within
     him,
     driving
     out
     the
     sense
     of
     bewilderment.
     His
     life
     had
     been
     rendered
     meaningless. His people
     had
     been
     betrayed.
     His world had
     been
     stolen.
     Even the
     Dark Angels
     had
     been destroyed.
     Ten
     thousand
     years of tradition
     ended
     here. There were no more bold huntsmen
     of the
     plains for the
     Sky-Warriors to recruit.
    The
     Chapter
     might
     continue,
     but
     its
     heritage
     had
     been
     destroyed
     -
     it
     would
     never
     be
     the
     same
     again.
     Two
     Heads
    Talking was of the
     last generation
     of Marines
     recruited from the
     Plains People. There would be no more.
    As
     he moved beyond
     the
     mansions,
     toward the
     polluted
     river, his spirit senses
     warned him he was being
     followed. Part of him did not
     care, he would welcome confrontation
     with whatever
     watchers shadowed
     him.
     From
     up
     ahead.
     he
     heard a groan
     of pain.
     
* * *
     
    "We
     do
     not
     know
     where
     they
     come
     from."
     said
     Lame
     Bear.
     "Not
     even
     the
     Curators
     of
     the
     Administratum
     know
     that. They
     appear
     without
     warning, carried in the
     mighty space
     hulks which drift on the
     tides
     of warp space."
    A
     shiver
     passed through
     even these
     hardened
     Terminators.
     Cloud
     Runner
     saw
     the
     gaze
     of
     those
     who
     had
     faced
     the
    Genestealer turn
     inward. Their faces
     reflected the
     grim memories of the encounters.
    Unconsciously,
     they
     sat
     up
     straighter
     and
     looked
     around
     nervously.
     For
     the
     first
     time,
     it
     was brought
     home
     to
     the
    Captain that
     they
     really did face the
     Genestealers
     once
     more. They
     faced a threat
     that
     could
     kill them.
    "They
     are
     dreadful
     foes:
     ferocious,
     relentless,
     knowing
     neither
     pity
     nor
     fear.
     They
     do
     not
     use
     weapons, perhaps because
     they
     do not
     need
     them. Their claws are capable
     of tearing adamantium like paper.
    "They
     do not
     use
     armour;
     their
     hides
     are
     so tough
     that
     they
     can
     survive,
     for a
     time, unsuited
     in
     vacuum.
     They
     have the aspect
     of a beast,
     yet
     they
     are intelligent and
     organised.
     They
     are
     the
     most
     terrible
     enemies
     any
     Marine
     has
     faced since
     the
     time of the
     Horus
     Heresy.
    "How do I know this?
     I have
     faced than,
     as
     have others
     here."
    Cloud
     Runner
     shivered,
     recalling
     the
     times
     he
     had
     faced
     the
     Stealers.
     He
     remembered
     their
     chitinous
     visage,
     their gaping
     jaws and
     four rending
     claws. He tried not
     to recall their blinding, insect-like speed.
    "It is not
     their fearsome battle
     prowess
     that
     makes the
     Stealers such
     dreadful opponents.
     It is something
     else.
     I
     will
     tell you
     of it.
    "One
     hundred
     and
     twenty
     years
     ago,
     before
     ever
     I donned
     Terminator
     armour.
     I
     was sent
     with
     the
     fleet
     that investigated
     the strange
     silence of the
     hive world 'Thranx.
    "The
     Imperial
     Governor
     had
     not
     paid
     tribute for
     twenty
     years,
     and
     the
     Adeptus
     Terra
     had
     decided
     that perhaps
     a gentle
     reminder of his sworn
     duties
     was in order.
    "The
     fleet arrived
     bearing
     sections
     from
     the
     Dark
     Angels,
     the
     Space
     Wolves,
     the
     Ultramarines
     and
     an
     Imperial
     Guard regiment
     from
     Necromunda.
     As
     the
     fleet
     moved
     into
     drop
     position
     we
     expected
     resistance,
     rebellion.
     But
     the
     orbital
    monitors did not
     fire at us,
     and
     the
     Governor spoke
     fairly to us
     on the