A low keening erupts from the Ishimura as a horde of nearly a million Necromorphs erupts from the ship's passages. As the roiling tide of moves across the 10 kilometer distance between the ship and the Imperial line, time seems to slow. Suddenly, massive Hellshaker rounds impact the horde, their thermobaric warheads incinerating dozens of the Xenos at once. A massive bipedal machine with a scowling wolf's head, a Wolfhound Titan, fires its massive Plasma Destroyers, ripping apart the larger, wormlike Necromorphs. As the smaller creatures move closer, Guardsmen across the line whisper prayers and depress the triggers of the cannons of their Banewolf tanks. Streams of green-white acid erupt from the barrels, dissolving the decaying monstrosities as their numbers begin to thin. Soon, only 300 Xenos remain of what Imperial scans deemed to number over 2,000,000. These remainders are met with a full pyro-bayonet charge by the Haarkoni 89th Division, also known as the Hellfalcons. Within minutes, the entire swarm is destroyed. The Lord Commander, from the middle of his line, gives a quiet order. "Exact Exterminatus. May the Emperor have mercy on those souls who we have freed of torment." A Strike Cruiser breaks through the cloud and bombards the Ishimura with several hundred cyclonic warheads. The ship buckles but remains somehow unharmed. The Lord Commander turns away from the flaming pyre. "Maintain the line, but put those troops who seem most uneasy into quarantine. We must make sure that they remained unaffected by this... Marker. Call up the Athonians. They were on Hydra Minoris. They'll know what to do..." "I need to rest." He leaves, obviously upset by the carnage he has just witnessed.