Echoes (Part 1)

"Who are you?"

Just looking at that warrior made Saul Tarvitz's head feel as if it were splitting apart. A strange, half-real sensation rose in his heart, so uncanny it made him frown despite himself.

The Power Armor he was wearing. What pattern was it? Why had I never seen a pattern like that before?

The warrior looked behind the cover where he was for a long while before giving his name, a completely unfamiliar one. "Frank Castle."

"You can also call me Punisher. Keep up."

After saying that, he turned away coldly. Saul had far more questions he wanted to ask, but seeing this, he could only swallow them for now. Whoever this man was, at least for the moment, he did not appear to be standing with the traitors.

The matter of his identity could be pursued later—but the warrior who called himself Punisher stopped not long after turning around, and Saul Tarvitz saw him take the Bolter from his waist. His pupils contracted sharply, but he was not attacked as he had expected.

Unlike an ordinary Bolter, the sound of that gun firing was not heavy. After three shots, the sound of heavy bodies hitting the ground came from the other end of the underground passage. At the same time came Frank's words, cold as solid ice.

"Find cover. Enemy incoming."

Saul Tarvitz frowned. He was startled by this warrior's superhuman senses—though he was an Astartes himself, his perception was nowhere near as sharp as the other man's. That extraordinary hearing made a faint suspicion rise in him.

But was that really possible?

There was no time to think any further.

He tightened his grip on the Bolter in his hands. At this point, there was only battle. Seven rounds. He had confidence in his accuracy. But