The wind howled outside Marcus' helmet as he flew over the skyline of Kenostros, the skyscraper currents battering at his armour as he sped at full throttle. Like an eagle, he scanned everything below him, the hum of his thrusters droning in his ears.

A labyrinthine web of roads, underpasses and bridges sprawled out before him, weaving between great towers of black metal and grey earthwork that reached miles into the air. And on each one, thousands of motor vehicles or all kinds rumbled along the tarmac, either driving openly on the freeways or stopping and starting erratically as traffic built up and broke apart.

Marcus could hear his heartbeat, even through the raging wind, as he scanned the cityscape for the vehicle that Ambassador Vidal and Lady Taneera had been taken captive in by the Hand of Reclamation. Leaning his whole body to the left to avoid one of Kenostros' massive skyscrapers, his mind raced to recall what the vehicle looked like.

He knew it was a large truck, or perhaps a lorry... painted grey from front to back... but he couldn't remember any other identifying features it had!

Dipping his body forward, Marcus felt a tingling lurch rush through his back and his legs as he descended closer to the ground. Through his neural chip, he commanded his HUD to zoom in on the ground, granting him a much clearer view of the streets. From there, he meticulously studied the roadways, looking for any vehicle that looked like it could be the one.

A dart of fear pierced his body when the thought that Haraq and his cronies were already long gone flared up in his brain. The thought that Vidal and Taneera were already being held captive by a bunch of Sirthon fanatics bent on the slaughter of every other species in the galaxy...

But Marcus wouldn't let that happen. Not if he could.

The Horusan's eyes darted about in his sockets, looking for any vehicle that could fit what he remembered. His attention jumped from one to the other, anxiety gripping his heart as he saw so many that looked identical to each other.

But then, on a large, bridge-like freeway arcing over the rest of the streets and roads, he saw something that caught his eye...

A large, grey lorry, driving down the open road just fast enough to look like it was in a hurry. It was overtaking every other vehicle that it passed, leaning left and right as it jumped between lanes. And, as Marcus zoomed his HUD further in on that vehicle, a noise flared up through his long-distance audio perceptors.

A growling female voice that snarled the words "Let me go, you Sirthon scum!"

There they were!

Without a second thought, Marcus zoomed out his HUD, set his armour's jets to full throttle and shot himself directly towards the lorry like a torpedo. Within seconds, he was only a few metres away from the vehicle's trailer, his hands tightening around the foregrip and handle of his SMG as he considered how to stop the speeding truck.

But before he could consider that, his eyes flicked to a Sirthon leaning out the passenger-side window of the cab. Rifle in hand, the alien pressed it sights to its golden eye and fired at Marcus, the sound of the blaster shot cracking at the air. Thinking quickly, Marcus ducked away, the white-hot line of energy whizzing past his helmet. Rising up to a high altitude, the human craned his neck backwards, lifted his own weapon and fired back.

The Sirthon took cover just before several plasma shots rained down upon his position. A few shots struck the road and scorched holes in the tarmac, while another struck the wing mirror. As the glowing, ionised gas touched it, the plastic and glass exploded, leaving a cloud of sparked wires and dust.

Marcus had to stop this vehicle, but he also couldn't just blow out the wheels and capsize it. Vidal and Taneera were still inside, along with Haraq – and the Major has a few questions for him.

He had to be smart about this... and when he glanced behind him, he had an idea.

The Sirthon rifleman leant out of his side of the cab again, taking aim at the sky with his blaster as his finger caressed the trigger. However, a look of confusion and alarm crossed his face as he beheld that Marcus was nowhere to be seen!

But then, a loud rattle and clunk burst from the rear of the trailer, and the rear doors suddenly flew wide open. The darkness inside suddenly transformed into a blinding haze of light. Inside the trailer, Haraq, Vidal, Taneera and everyone else winced, squinted and threw their hands out for shielding as their eyes were bathed in light.

There was the sound of gunfire and screams of agony, boiling blood spraying everywhere. And then, with a thud, Major Marcus Winter landed inside the trailer.

He looked ahead for just a second. Between him and the ambassadors were Haraq, whose hideously burned arm was now lowering as his eyes adjusted, and four more Sirthon terrorists, who were turning and pointing their guns at him. The ambassadors were left on the floor, their hands bound behind their backs.

Marcus charged at the nearest one to him, shoulder-barging the alien to the ground as he dashed forward before he grabbed it, gripped it around the neck with his left arm and pulled it close to him. The Sirthon choked and thrashed in his grasp, but couldn't escape the strength of Marcus' power armour.

A living shield.

The remaining Sirthon saw this and hesitated for just a moment. But before their comrade could shout "Kill the human, brothers and sisters!", Marcus had lifted his SMG and fired. Three quick shots, three sudden deaths, with rifles dropping to the floor and the bodies that carried them following after.

Then, Marcus threw his haze towards the last survivor – Haraq. The alien's hand was still burned to crisp by his EMP device, but he still had one good arm. Standing just by Ambassador Vidal, Haraq was moving to pull a plasma pistol from his belt.

They needed him alive. But Marcus couldn't shoot him. Plasma fire close to hostages? Too dangerous.

And so Major Winter pulled a very unorthodox tactic.

He dropped his SMG and sudden grabbed his Sirthon body shield with both hands. Then, Marcus lifted the terrorist up over his head and threw him at Haraq with every last drop of force he had!

Screaming in terror, the Sirthon sailed through the air and clubbed against Haraq with a fleshy thud that echoed through the trailer, leaving both of them sprawled upon the ground. As Haraq was knocked to the floor, his burned arm smacked against the floor, and a wincing shriek of agony hissed from his mandibles. However, both he and his comrade survived, their golden eyes looking around in a daze.

Without pausing, Marcus then strode forward, leaving his weapon behind. With both hands free, he rushed for the ambassadors, his helmet opening up as he looked at them to reveal his identity.

"Kormac Telgaiur!" Taneera remarked joyously as she saw him.
"No time for formalities, Lady." Marcus replied. He gripped Lady Taneera's scaly arms roughly and pulled them sideways, examining her bonds. Her wrists were pinned together by basic magnetic handcuffs, which were trivial to remove if you had the right strength. With one hand, Marcus gripped the point where the two cuffs met and crushed it like squeezing a stressball. With a loud crackle and a fizzle of sparks against his palm, he ripped them clean off.

Beside him, Haraq was coming to. Time was running out.

"Lady Taneera, climb on my back and grasp my shoulders," he told the alien firmly.

"What about me?!" Ambassador Vidal blubbered, his face pale and locked in a look of pure terror, his mind trying to process everything that was happening to him. He gazed up at Marcus, his wet eyes seeming to ooze fear as his mouth hung open in shock.

Marcus looked back, and when he felt the weight of Taneera's body sag against his body and her claws grip his armour, he responded.

"No man left behind, Ambassador."

With a single quick motion, Marcus grabbed Vidal by the chest of his suit, easily lifting him with one hand. Then, with his other hand, he grabbed Haraq around the throat. Lastly, Major Winter turned around and rushed towards the open back of the trailer, With a single leap, he jumped as high and far as he could away from the lorry, holding Vidal and Haraq up his high in each of his arms and leaning forward to keep Lady Taneera away from the ground.

Two seconds after jumping, he landed on the roadway, the tarmac cracking under his boots as he crashed into the ground. Marcus grimaced and gritted his teeth as the weight of his three escapees seemed to gnaw at his legs, his bones screaming in agony. But he held his frame, keeping the ambassadors and Haraq off the ground so that the impact didn't hurt them.

They had to live. All of them.

The squeal of the lorry's brakes suddenly pierced his ears, echoing from behind him. The drivers had noticed their escape... just as Marcus expected. And in response, he opened his mouth and roared:

"Xan-Klar! Kill them! Now!"

As he shouted, Marcus watched as the red-and-gold body of a Xan-Klar Knight – the very one that he saw following him – land upon the tarmac. And as the lorry ahead screeched to a halt, the towering mechanical construct took aim with its weapons...