"You were Thunder Warriors in your previous lives, right?"
"The Thunder Warriors I know, or Thunder Warriors your sector created yourselves, merely sharing a name with my Father-Emperor's creations?"
Guilliman had no interest in the nicknames of these super-soldiers now. What he wanted to know more was where they had come from.
"These six are all Tyranids. They were previously elite veterans of the Tyran Army."
"Most of the New Thunder Warriors are like them."
"But five of us are different. Myself included, we were improved from Thunder Warriors from Terra's Unification Wars."
"Praise the Lord of Tyran. Praise the gods of Tyran."
The six-man squad advanced neatly down the descending corridor, killing enemies who dared block their path or had been stationed in rooms along either side of the hallway to ambush them.
Bandis, walking behind the six-man squad, coordinated the overall situation while explaining matters to Guilliman.
When he heard that five of them, including Bandis, had truly been Thunder Warriors who had participated in Terra's Unification Wars, a very obvious look of shock appeared on Guilliman's face.
If Bandis was not lying, it meant that the five of them had lived from the era of the Unification Wars until now.
And among the Thunder Warriors' many instabilities was the issue of lifespan.
"How is that possible? Your lifespans..."
"The five of us are somewhat special. We became lost in the Warp, and when we emerged, ten thousand years had passed."
Bandis explained patiently.
"But we still aged. We grew so old that we developed Alzheimer's, so old that we would be gasping for breath after only a few steps."
"Then, because of our performance in the Commorragh War, we received a blessing. We were reborn through nirvana."
So that was how it was.
The two continued onward.