The cultist wrestling Diego struggles against his opponent. Rolling on the ground, he is forced to roll onto something metallic and painful, causing him to involuntarily gasp for pain and loosen the grip he has on Diego with his free hand. As he feels Diego breaking free, he pulls his arm back, intending to hack at Diego's face with his hatchet.

Elsewhere, the mutant attacking Xeno slashes at Xeno's skin until he suddenly shapeshifts, turning icy cold and hard beneath the cultist's grasp.

The cultist is taken aback and pauses a moment too long. Long spikes of ice suddenly fire from Xeno's back, punching through the cultist and throwing him into the air. Several more pierce his scaly body before he even hits the floor, now thoroughly dead.

The axe-wielding cultist facing Natalya notices the glowing shards in the air, but as he has no means to protect himself, he instead decides that a good offense is the best defense. He closes the remaining distance with Natalya in one quick, short leap, his axe already slashing horizontally towards her torso...

The other cultist meanwhile has managed to reach the equipment cache... and lifts a heavy-looking piece of machinery from it. Steadying it with both hands, he grins madly as he toggles a switch and an audible "fwoosh" is heard. Realizing his companion is still engaged with Natalya, he instead looks for another target... and sees an icy Xeno finishing off his adversary.

A perfect target for a cultist armed with a heavy flamer.

Taking cover behind a steel barricade, the cultist rests the flamer on top of it as he takes aim, before firing a massive burst of billowing fire at Xeno.

The stream of liquid flame conties to be sprayed out over a half-circular area, getting awfully close to Natalya, and shrouding the immediate area in smoke and flames, before the cultist ducks behind the barricade again.

Meanwhile, Kitharsis' defense comes not a moment too soon. The grenade explodes powefully, but the expanding, flaming ball is deflected by Kitharsis' rapidly-expanding shield, rebounding harmlessly into the opposite direction on making contact with it. Several pieces of shrapnel blast out with it, one striking awfully close to Soul Reaver's head, and another actually injuring a cultist who had been firing at the marines. A small team of cultists witnessing Kitharsis' rather awe-inspiring defense back away from the sphere nervously, unsure of how to react to it.

Sepher's berserk attack continues despite his injuries, bringing him ever closer to the front line of cultists. Bodies are left in his wake.

The cultists at the front line are still managing to hold their positions at the barrier, their losses being replaced swiftly by reinforcements from within the barrier, but they are noticeably worried by the rapid approach of the frenzied Sepher.

But suddenly his fortunes change.

There is a loud whine, increasing rapidly in pitch, and suddenly a thin, concentrated, blinding beam of light steaks from behind the barrier. It hits the ground just in front of Sepher, causing a massive explosion that will likely hurl him several metres back.

The hulking silhouette from the behind the barrier finally becomes visible - a grotesquely mutated cultist, is oversized body apparently formed of misshapen, fleshy lumps. It stands behind the front line of cultists, standing at least twice as tall and three times as broad as his brothers. Slung over his shoulder he carries a huge Lascannon, with which he has just fired on Sepher. The steadily rising whine indicates that he is about to fire again... and his next shot might be aimed better than his first...

The handle of Diego's beretta smashes the cultist in the temple, stunning him and interrupting would could well have been a death-blow. Before he can recover, Diego has turned his pistol on the cultist and three shots ring out loudly.

The beretta bullets punch through the cultist's head and his lifeless body falls limp. But Diego can already hear the rattling of bolter fire and the sound of bullets ricocheting off concrete nearby - he had better get back behind cover or he will get hit.

Elsewhere, Kitharsis leaps down into the cultists, who scramble to get out of his way. However, their reactions are too slow, and they are caught by the sphere. Screams escape their mouths moments before the air in the lungs seems to catch fire. Their charred bodies are hurled clear and shatter into piles of bone and ash upon hitting the ground.

Only two cultists manage to escape the radius of the attack... and they are now running without looking back.

Fei's sticky opponent is too busy attacking to mount any kind of defense. The headbutt proves effective at temporarily dazing the cultist, although it also causes some of the cultist's vile, gooey flesh to stick to Fei's forehead. The punch that follows the headbutt then smashes through the cultist's face, splitting his head in two. Teeth, bone, and more tar-like flesh spray from the impact-point.

For a few moments the twitching body remains standing, but then it begins to sink to the ground. The sticky flesh seems to dissolve, sloughing off the cultist's bones and freeing Fei's hand. Not unexpectely, of course, more cultists open fire on Fei the moment they see their mutant comrade fall...

The flamer-wielding cultist, despite his efforts, is unable to hit Xeno, and is unprepared for the attack when it comes.

Thus, the cultist is hit by some of the less-well-aimed ice spikes... and one of the spikes hits the flamer fuel chamber.

Unfortunately, this has the effect of immediately depressurizing the canister and exposing the volatile fuel to air. As a result, the entire payload immediately explodes.

A huge fireball erupts, turning into a burning mushroom cloud. Sharp pieces of concrete fly out in all directions, and the huge steel barrier is literally ripped from the ground and thrown about twenty metres away, bouncing several times before sliding to a screeching halt amidst a spray of sparks. Cultists near the explosion are scorched and blasted to the ground, where they lie unmoving, their robes burning and smoking.

The burning shockwave from the explosion is likely to flatten everything and everyone standing nearby.

Before the explosion, Soul Reaver's Insanty spell wreaks havoc on the front line of cultists. Being weak-minded, they have little defense against the spell, and so, wild-eyed and frothing at the mouth, they whirl around and begin firing madly at their friends. Unsure of how to react, the several cultists try to flee, while others dive down and begin to fire back. The crazed cultists clearly have no more regard for their own safety, and several are felled... but those suffering non-fatal wounds fight on with redoubled ferocity.

Thanks to the distraction, only a small number of cultists fire back at Soul Reaver. He is about to get back behind cover when the flamer explodes far behind him. Even at this distance, Soul Reaver loses his footing from the shaking ground. Moments later pieces of hot gravel rain down on him.

As Soul Reaver rolls to get back on his feet, the hulking cultist with the lascannon, unmoved by the explosion, fires his weapon at the cover that Soul Reaver disappeared behind.

Soul Reaver sees a bright beam of light slide silently through the thick pieces of asphalt he was hiding behind as if they were not even there. As if time had frozen, Soul Reaver sees the beam touch the ground beside him causing it to burn red, then white...

Almost immedately, the asphalt cover and the ground right next to Soul Reaver explodes from the intense heat.

Soul Reaver has no chance to ready any defensive spells before the Lascannon hits, and the ensuing explosion catches him unprepared. A firey blast envelops him and lifts him off his feet. The scorching pain covers his unarmoured legs, arms and face, and he feels himself sailing through the air.

Anger pulses through him, and while still in mid-air, he quickly gains a grasp of his surroundings. Righting himself, he manages to land safely on his feet with a loud 'thunk'. His skin is somewhat scorched and covered in black soot, and has several small cuts from small rock shards, but otherwise he seems to be unhurt.

Darkstar in hand, he looks set to charge the cultists again, when Kalana's message enters his mind. He too senses reality twisting around him, and a Gate opens not far from him... fortunately, the beast that steps out seems too intent on charging the cultists to worry much about Soul Reaver at the moment.

Soul Reaver scowls at Kalana's insistence that he must retreat, but it seems she has left him with no choice in the matter. Spinning Darkstar in his hand, Soul Reaver begins to make a tactical retreat.

On the way, he begins to head towards Natalya, to ensure that she too is going to withdraw.