The Alpha Legion at their finest

My personal favourite passage from 'Deliverance Lost' by Gav Thorpe. Spoilers for this book.

Throughout this book the Alpha Legion have been busy removing the faces from fallen Raven Guard legionnairies, eating their bodies to absorb their memories and then grafting said faces onto themselves to infiltrate the Raven Guard.

None of the undercover Alpha Legion know which of their fellow Raven Guard are also traitors. All of the infiltrators refer to themselves as Alpharius. Hijinks ensue:

'He saw Sergeant Nestil striding through a pool of burning promethium, almost on top of Alpharius, flames licking from his breastplate and left arm.

Alpharius readied the chainsword and sprang at the sergeant, sweeping the weapon towards his throat.

Nestil saw the attack and pivoted, catching the side of the chainsword with his forearm to deflect the blow onto his shoulder plate. Monomolecular teeth screeched, churning through paint and ceramite.

‘Hydra!’ Nestil yelled, bringing up his combi-bolter.

‘Effrit,’ Alpharius replied instantly, the counter-signal. He stopped midswing, letting the chainsword drop to his side. Nestil also lowered his weapon.

‘Nestil?’ said Alpharius, not quite able to believe that the veteran sergeant was really an Alpha Legionnaire.

‘I am Alpharius,’ the sergeant replied. ‘Ort?’

‘I am Alpharius.’

‘So am I,’ said a voice behind the pair. ‘What a coincidence.’

Both Alpha Legionnaires turned.

‘You?’ said Nestil, shaking his head. ‘One of us is a commander?’

BONUS POINTS for the 2 lads murder-suiciding themselves to avoid capture later in the book:

'Solaro looked at Nestil, and though they could not see each other’s faces, their subtle nods indicated they were in agreement.

‘What makes you think you can take us alive?’ Solaro snarled.

He lunged, thrusting his power sword through the heart of Nestil as the sergeant pulled the trigger and sent a bolt-round smashing through Solaro’s helm. The two of them fell into each other and twisted to the ground, locked together in death.'