Taggart grins at Kaworu as the Apocalypse enters the Warp.

"Of course I do! it's what I live for. The reason I'm still here. I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. I'll live and die right here, on this bridge with my crew."

Taggart's eyes shift back to the main viewport, and his smile fades.

"Damm... I don't think I've ever seen the Warp look quite like that. it can't be a good sign."

The Warp appears to be much more chaotic then usual. Purple, orange, and black clouds of energy mix with the normal red of the warp, and violent storms clash all around the ships. Mulitple bolts of lightning crash off the ship's warp shields, and all three ships soon begin to shudder and lurch from the turbulence all around them. Onboard the Starblade, Cameron is fighting with the controls for the first time since the ship had been built. he normally has no trouble piloting the Starblade through the worst conditions, but right now, the light craft doesn't seem to want to respond. Even with the Improbability Drive at maximum output and Kalana adding her powers to his, he is having trouble staying focused on the ship's destination. He knows that one slip too far off course could send all three ships hurtling through the Warp at random, and that would more then likely be the end of them. Cameron keeps his eyes locked straight ahead, trying desperately to keep control.

On the Revenant, Mary breaks free from Danyael and moves to stand directly in front of the main viewport. Her eyes are glowing brighter then ever, and now her entire body glows a bright red. Anyone moving too close to her at this point will feel something similar to an electric shock pass through them and force them to back away. She closes her eyes, feeling the violence of the Warp pass through her. She can feel and understand what is happening, and she knows that even with the most skilled guides, it is only a matter of time before all three ships veer off course. She opens her eyes again and places a hand on the hilt of the Elemental blade Morthoseth, immedeately establishing a link with the other 5 swords. Tamrissa can feel her blade, Anathros, suddenly awaken and begin emmiting an energy signal in sync with the raging warp storms outside the ship. Cameron, Garr, Kari, and Karyl also feel the sudden awakening. Mary concentrates on the blade Valermos, and sends a message to it through Morthoseth.

Beads of sweat form on Cameron's brow as he struggles even harder with the controls. Suddenly, a voice enters his mind, owerpowering all other thoughts in his mind.

Morthoseth's wielder says we can travel no farther.

Cameron has barely enough time to process this message before a huge warp storm engulfs the ship. The entire bridge shakes as if it's going to fall apart, and Garr and Kari, along with anyone else who is still standing, are thrown violently to the ground. Kalana manages to avoid falling only by grabbing on to the com deck. Cameron calls out to her.

"KALANA! A LITTLE HELP HERE!"

Kalana pulls herself back up and opens her mind, allowing her powers to flow into Cameron. Cameron immedeately finds a path through the chaotic Warp storm, and he slams his right hand into a scanner that appears on the transparent control panel. Coordinates appear on the screen, the Improbability drive groans, and a Gate rips open in front of the Starblade. Cameron barely has time to get a blast transmission out to the other two ships before the Starblade enters the gate and the entire bridge is engulfed in a bright flash of light. The light fades, and the viewport of the ship now shows stars and open space where the Warp once was. A blazing bright warp gate hangs open behind them. Cameron takes a deep breath and activates a monitor showing the rear view of the ship, waiting for the two battlecruisers to emerge from the gate.

The Revenant is the second ship to be caught in the huge warp storm. As the battlecruiser rocks and wheels in the turbulence, Admiral Benden grabs a nearby chair to keep from falling over. A technician somewhere behind him screams something about slowing down. Benden immedeately shouts a reprimand.

"NO! Keep going, full on! We haven't recieved jump coordinates from Lord Aileron yet!"

The techs keep the ship moving into the heart of the warp storm. The entire ship begins to shudder and creak violently, and the warp shields ripple and begin to fail. And then suddenly, a set of coordinates flash on to the main screen. Benden is quick to react.

"There! THose coordinates! JUMP NOW!"

Through all of this, Mary has continued to stand at the very front of the bridgem unmoving. But just as Benden gives the order to jump, she suddenly spins around and looks backward with a look of fear in her eyes.

"Oh no..."

A warp gate splits open in front of the Revenant and it plunges through. It emerges from the Warp just behind the Starblade, and the entire flight crew of the ship gives a loud cheer. The only difference on the bridge from when the ship passed through the gate is that Mary is no longer there. She seems to have vanished into thin air.

Even though the Apocalypse is the last ship to get caught in the warp storm, it is just as unprepared as the first two. Taggart tries to stick with his guns, but as the turbulence gets worse, and still no coordinates come, he decides to save his own ship.

"Engineering! Cut the warp engines and drop out! make a rough estimate on those coordinates! Go by estimated travel time and get as close as you can!"

Needing no second invitation, the Engineering crew shuts off the warp engines and waits for the gate to open in front of them. But no gate opens. As many times as this has worked for Taggart's crew in the past, it still fails horribly now. Now stranded in the warp storm, the Apocalypse begins to rattle apart as it's warp shields begin to fail. The coordinates finally arrive from the Starb, but Engineering can't seem to reactivate the warp engines. With one final groan, the warp shields fail, and the battlecruiser is assaulted by the full force of the warp. The Marines and companions on the bridge all see a shining figure appear on the flight deck. And then there is a huge explosion, and a white light. And then silence.

The Revenant slows to a stop just underneath the Starblade. Both crews wait nervously for the Apocalypse to emerge from the warp gate which still hangs open behind them. After 5 minutes, Cameron starts to get nervous.

"Where the hell are they?"

On the Revenant, Karyl is also getting nervous, but for an entirely different reason. He is searching the bridge frantically.

"Okay dudes... what the fuck happened to Mary?"

Kalana moves herself into a sitting position from where she had fallen when the Starblade slammed out of the Warp. Just behind her, Cameron pulls himself out of the pilot seat. Walking to Kalana, he helps her to her feet.

"Are you okay?"

Kalana nods, quickly glaicing around to see if anyone else has been seriously injured. Kari is also scanning the room, looking for anyone who might need healing. Garr had been the only one to maintain his balance during the whole ordeal, and now he heads for the back of the command deck, directly towards Tamrissa.

"Lady Tamrissa, are you alright?"

Cameron has other problems. he stares at the screen, watching in horror as the warp gate behind them closes with no sign of the Apocalypse.

"This can't be good..."

---

On board the Revenant, Admiral Benden pushes away a medic who is trying to tend to a gash on his forhead.

"Not now! We'll deal with that later. Where's the Apocalypse?"

Benden gets a reply from one of the technicians.

"No sign of her on scanners, sir. She never came out of the warp!"

Benden curses to himself.

"That's a third of our strike force, and a third of the Grey Knights as well! What the hell happened?"

Benden's gaze is then drawn by Karyl, who is frantically searching around the bridge.

"What's the matter?"

Karyl looks up with a pained expression.

"Dammit, man! Mary was standing RIGHT THERE- *Karyl points at the front of the bridge angrilly* -and now she's just gone! What the hell is going on around here?"

>>god mod follows<<

Danyael backs into a corner of the room to keep himself from falling over during the turbulance. As the bright flash fades, he is among the first to notice that Mary is gone. But unlike Karyl, there is no visible reaction from him. He merely glances at Karyl, mumbling "Well, that certainly isn't helping any..." before lapsing back into silence.

>>end god mod<<

---

Suddenly, both ships shudder slightly, and there hs another large flash of light as another warp gate seems to tear itse;f open right beside the Starblade. Amid a boiling storm of energy, the Apocalypse is violently ejected from the gate, and moves out a good disance from the Starblade before slowing to a stop. The gate slams shut behind the slightly damaged battlecruiser.

On the bridge, the blinding flash finally ends as the ship emerges from the warp. Where the shining figure had appeared, Mary stands now. She stumbles slightly, but regains her footing, pulling her jacket tight around her. A black ring is scorched in the metal floor of the bridge around where she is standing. She gives a quick glance around to make sure everyone is still there. Taggart stands to his feet, undamaged, but looking slightly dazed. The other technicians also quickly return to their feet. Taggart's eyes meet Mary's, and he nods a quick thank you, knowing that the Warp Mage had just saved his vessel. he then begins barking orders as if nothing had happened.

"Well, come on! Get a damage report! Get the engines back online!"

Mary wanders to the end of the bridge. A warp gate opens, and she dissapears into it, emerging from a similar gate that opens on the bridge of the Revenant. Karyl immedeately spies Mary and rushes to her.

"Mary! You're okay! God damm, you scared the shit out of me!"

Karyl's smile of relief turns to a look of suprise as Mary brushes him aside and makes a beeline for Danyael. She reaches him quickly, and grabs his arm, tugging him towards the door leading to the rest of the ship. She speaks with an almost pleading tone in her voice.

"Can we go... please?"

Karyl's look of suprise turns to frustration.

"Bah! Women. I'll never fucking understand them".

Meanwhile, in the corridor outside of the bridge, Two fully armored marines round a corner. They were headed for the bridge to make sure everything is okay, but they suddenly sopt Taysir running towards them. They both equip their arm mounted stormbolters quickly.

"You there! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!"

---

On board the Starblade, the sudden reappearance of the Apocalypse brings a sigh of relief from both Kalana and Cameron. Cameron immedeately heads back to the controls of the ship.

"We'll wait for a damage report from Taggart. If the Apocalypse can still fly, then we'll move out immedeately."