There was a noticeable change in the air pressure along the corridor. Agrak noticed it through his pressurized armour, it was felt before the clattering of the metal door cut loose against the floor could be heard.
Legions serfs scattered to lower decks, the bridge deck of the Brass Dagger was about to become a place you did not want to be if you were not encased head-to-foot in ceramite and plasteel.
Agrak tightened the hold on his bolter. The ship had been breached in multiple places. There was a squad at the deck above them guarding the hatchway to the main deck and then there were those few squads left on the main deck.
Whatever happened the traitors would know that they had been in a fight.
The footsteps came to them now, the metal sabatons on the metal grating of the deck could be heard even through the closed doors. The screaming of the enemy could not be.
Agrak's squad moved forward and took up a position ahead of the heavy bolter squad who moved to the end of the hall when they got the word that the squad upstairs had positive contact with traitor elements.
Agrak heard the booming sound of heavy bolter fire ahead followed almost immediately by the sounds of the rounds exploding among the traitors who had attempted to force the passage guarded by Ancient Goarn.
Then he heard the door open up down the corridor in front of him, that is when the screaming became much more audible.
The lead elements of the veterans squad came rushing upon them. Agrak's squad barely had time to fire off a few quick rounds before the traitors were among them. The violence of the attack was so sudden and so shocking that Agrak's squad was bowled over and forced back down the corridor. The retreat became a rout and Agrak found himself caught up, fleeing past his heavy bolter armed brothers while they were trying to get a line of sight to the traitors pursuing so relentlessly.
Agrak just made it past them when they opened fire with the traitors only meters away.
Many of the shots were not taken because of a fear of hitting their own men. Of the few that were many went wide in an attempt not to hit comrades. One shot hit a traitor in the knee blasting his lower leg off but then the traitors were among them.
The heavy squad didn't stand a chance. With chain swords and axes the veteran traitors cut their way through the loyalists and with no where to run the both loyalist squads were pinned against the end of the corridor and cut down rapidly by the enemy.
Agrak couldn't even raise his arms to defend himself. A chainsword went through the marine in front of him and deep into Agrak's belly. The blood of the two astartes mixing as they fell.
Agrak looked up to see the victorious enemy gather themselves briefly before looking towards the bridge.
A series of loud clanks turned them in the directions from which they had come.
A seeker squad had dropped out of one of the access routs above the main deck.
Plasma bolts turned the gloomy corridor bright as they ripped among the traitors, half the squad lay with burning plasma holes punched through them before the remaining men dashed quickly into the bridge for both cover and to gain control of the frigate.
Agrak started to push his dead comrade off of him to try to get up to help, but there was another marine dead across his legs and with no leverage each attempt to shove the body off of him resulted in his wounds being reopened even as his superhuman physiology tried to keep them closed.
The seekers paid him no heed as they ran to try to prevent the traitors from gaining control of the ship.
As the first seeker burst through the door, he was greeted by a bolt of plasma that cut through his stomach and sent him reeling back out the door only to collapse dead on the deck.
The others went in and struggled briefly with the traitor veterans until a flash of light down the hall way alerted them to a new presence.
Every World Eater was familiar with the sounds of the twin axes of their primarch. Even the seekers, who had operated so far away from Angron could tell their former lord was present.
They fled the bridge and took to the escape pod as Angron forced his way through a doorway not designed to accommodate some one of his stature. One of them noticed Agraks efforts to free himself and pulled the wounded astartes with him as they entered the escape pod.
The Brass Daggar had fallen to the traitors.