Macharius' praetorians opened fire, lasbolts and bullets flying. Hannabel's shots added to the torrent of fire, but the raging wind fouled their aim, and only Hannabel's shots found a mark. One of the horrible Xenos pitched backwards into the snow. Several heads whipped around and, with a keening screech, about half of the aliens turned away from the burning shuttle and charged towards this new threat. They were horribly fast, covering the long distance in long strides or sprinting on all fours. Three of them made it to melee range, claws raking at Macharius and his men. The Rogue Trader beat back the hail of blows with his sword, while his bodyguards simply retreated, backing away from their assailants. Then Felidae fired.

The thumping boom of the storm bolter lit up the battlefield, mass-reactive shells turning the ground in front of the party into a killing field. Xenos were blown apart under the withering fusillade, all of the group that had abandoned the shuttle fight simply ceasing to exist over the span of a few seconds. The ones in combat with Macharius didn't seem to notice that their backup had vanished, though. Almagor smashed his opponent over the head with the butt of his gun, while Murphy struggled to keep his at bay. Down by the shuttle, things didn't seem to be going so well. The marines were fighting hard, but they lacked the heavy arms of Macharius' command squad. Anika saw one fall, and the rest retreated towards the open rear ramp of the shuttle, firing as they went.

There seemed, somehow, to be more Xenos now than there had a moment ago. Another group had appeared atop the shuttle, two leaping down to crash into the backs of the retreating marines. Others streamed in out of the swirling snow, coming from somewhere on the far side of the wreckage. The vox lit up again, the panicked voice of the marine sergeant filling the channel.

"Sir! They're everywhere! Don't know how much longer we can hold them!"