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Imperial Guard, Ultramarines, Tyranids, and Something Else... by Matt Kasper
"Range, 40 meters," spewed the small binocular scanner "Life signs, nil." "Where are they?" mumbled Captain Mulhain. He'd been waiting for an hour now, waiting for those alien horrors that the Adeptus Ministorum talked about. Apparently, these aliens were so dangerous they even asked the Ultramarines for assistance in holding them back from the Imperial Palace on Kenrith. "Mulhain!" There came a short but powerful yell. It was Commissar Hicks, approaching Mulhain at a rapid pace. "Yes, Commissar?" Mulhain asked. The middle aged Commissar grabbed the man's shoulder and whispered to him. "We have to speak in private, Captain." Mulhain nodded. "Sergeant Tate, you're in charge until I return." "Yes Sir!" the young man bellowed out with a smile. Hicks, leading Mulhain, took him to a spot to where they wouldn't be overheard. "Captain, there...is news." "What kind of news?" "The enemy has been sighted 'rolling' towards the Ultramarines lines." "Rolling?" Mulhain questioned? According to the plan, the Ultramarines were to hold a 2-Km stretch around 8 Kms to the south of their position. "It was described as an 'orange and purple tide' coming in," Hicks said with a grave tone in his voice, "Within the first 5 minutes of the engagement, heavy casualties were incurred..." A heavy silence filled the area. According the Ultramarine's commander, they had fought these foul hoards before, and knew what to do. If the Emperor's Finest, who had fought these beasts many times and won, were having difficulties now, what chance would his men and his regiment have? Mulhain spoke first. "Do not tell any of the men this." Hicks nodded, "Yes, that was what I was thinking too." Raising his hand in a final salute to his fellow man, Mulhain said a silent goodbye to his friend. "Praise be to the Emperor." "Indeed, praise to the Emperor," resounded the hardened veteran. The two turned from each other and returned to their assignments, knowing that they and their small regiment couldn't win, let alone survive. Mulhain picked up his pace into a soft jog, and reached his trench line almost immediately. "What was that about, Sir?" asked Tate. "News. Ultramarines have engaged the enemy and as soon as they are done, they're going to get up here as swift as possible and assist us in eradicating this alien menace." Tate smiled upon hearing the words 'Ultramarine' and 'assist us'. In the next squad over, a young private whose name badge was to hard to see beneath the dirt on his uniform, spoke loudly. "Did you hear that? The Ultramarines are cleaning house and are going to make it up here in time to help us destroy these alien bastards!" Soft murmurs of approval and happiness instantly swept over the men, and they began to relax in the trenches. Mulhain swallowed hard. He knew the truth. He knew that it was hopeless, useless to try and fight the oncoming enemy. The Ultramarines, one of the oldest and most decorated Chapter, was losing. There wouldn't be any of them left to 'assist' Mulhain and his men. Mulhain thought a quick prayer and clenched his teeth. "Just because the Ultramarines are going to support us, does NOT mean we can be lazy! READY BAYONETS! You, fire-support squad, get fresh magazines into those weapons." Mulhain bellowed in his usual fashion. He knew that the men were ready, but he needed to feel like he was doing something, like he was going to make a difference. The men happily obeyed orders, laughing and smiling while readying their ever-vigilant weapons. "CAPTAIN!" Yelled out Sergeant Tate, "they're arriving on the horizon." Mulhain turned on the spot and approached Tate. Taking the binocular scanner into his hands, he looked out across the long plain. "By the Emperor..." Mulhain whispered out. He had believed Commissar Hick's words, but he had no idea that it was this massive. The oncoming sounds of the aliens could barely be heard in the distance, but they range as loud as a gong to Mulhain. Sweat began to bead on his forehead. Throwing the scanner towards Tate, he took a last look at his men. Their fear was apparent, and they needed morale boost. Mulhain went to open his mouth to speak, but his words were cut short. "Men! Do not fear, for the Emperor is with us today!" yelled out the same private who spread the original news to the men, "Do not fear, for the Ultramarines are going to battle along side us! Victory to the Emperor and the Imperium!" "VICTORY!" shouted the men in sync. Mulhain looked back out to the aliens approaching. Soon, they'd be within ordinance range. He gave the signal for the Griffons and Leman Russes to be ready. Leman Russ, the great Primarch himself. Had he ever had to fight an enemy like this? Had he ever had to get face-to-face with the enemy a cut them apart? Leman Russ died of old age, something not many military men of the Imperium get to do. Is that why they named the tanks after him? Mulhain was still contemplating that thought when the staccato sound of ordinance firing behind him brought him back. He turned to see the shots land with precision. Bodies, along with parts and dirt, we scattered. A loud cheer came from his men, but it fell silent after the onrushing tide came running out of the smoke and ashes, still going strong. "Stand fast, my Friends," it was the young private again, " for today is ours!" The men rallied behind him, but they now had a tinge of fear gripping them. The ordinance fired again, and, as before, carnage...but they still came. Within seconds, the hoard came within the fire-support squads' range, and death was spewed from the end of their barrels. More aliens fell, but they still advanced. Some men begin to tremble; others could only stare at what was happening. Again, the young private yelled something. "For the Emperor!" The men followed his cheer, but it wasn't as strong or as in sync as it were minutes ago. Mulhain's curiosity was sparked when he noticed that the private showed no fear. Not one hair on his body looked raised, not one muscle twitched in anticipation. Mulhain had to know who he was before he died, for such courageous men are but once in a hundred years born, and most that do become Space Marines. As Mulhain approached the man, he felt an odd sensation. He wrote it off as simple fear. He stopped when he was a meter away from the man and looked at the man's name badge. It was blank. Mulhain knew then that something was wrong. No one ever is without identification in a uniform. He opened his mouth to question the private, when the men around him raised their lasguns and opened fire on the closing aliens. Screams of the monstrosities were loud at this range, and they were still 20 meters out. The oncoming threat attracted his attention, and just as he was about to fire his bolt pistol into it, he had that odd feeling again. He looked back at the private again. Red eyes glowed beneath their white layer, as the private's eyes gazed into his. Mulhain was frozen, unable to move. Stood, staring into the eyes, seeing fear, agony, pain, helplessness, death. Mulhain began to blackout, when a hand was placed on his arm. "Sir, look..." said the man. Mulhain looked out to the enemy. A mighty a powerful Leman Russ was rolling steadily towards them, guns blazing. Its hits were potent, and all of them hit their mark, but it was no use. A massive group of the aliens surrounded the tank, and with they're claws, cut it to shreds in less than ten seconds. Was it an omen? Was it an answer to those thoughts he had a couple of minutes ago? Fear gripped his stomach as he watched the awesome battle tank explode into shrapnel, killing even more of the assaulting aliens. They did name the tanks after Leman for that reason, because even in its death throws, it kills in the name of the Emperor. "CHARGE!" yelled out Commissar Hicks, as he and his Ogryn squad slammed their way into a wall of purple. Mulhain knew that the old man was tough, that he had fought countless times in the thick of it. To his horror, he watched the squad and its leader get torn to pieces in a matter of seconds. Man all around Mulhain began to panic. Some dropped their guns and ran others just stood shocked, looking at their hopes of living fade away. Some men, knowing that they needed to do something, rallied and began to fire shots into the wave, but still, it came. 15 meters...10 meters...5 meters...leaping into the air to assault us... With the speed of lightning, two tactical squads of Ultramarines landed in the trench. They fired their boltguns with the same resonance that his men were cheering with earlier. Tens of the bounding aliens fell dead at the foot of the trench. Some even landed in the trench, but they were dead, their intestines and other organs oozing out large holes in their carapace. Even with the Ultramarines there, they couldn't stop the tide. The aliens landed in the trenches and began their bloody slaughter. The whirling flurry killed man and thing alike, and the trenches began to fill with corpses. Mulhain heard the sounds of two Thunderhawks dropping Ultramarine assault squads into the fray. Mulhain knew that what they were doing there was sacrificing themselves to help. Those assault squads were equipped to fight the enemy close up, annihilating heavy weapons teams and the occasional stranded squad, not try and stop a wave of clawing, biting, tearing, screaming things. He saw many of the assault marines disappear in the sea of gore. Mulhain watched as his world came to an end around him. Movement, blood, screams, bodies, explosions, the horror...the horror... "I told you mortal, VICTORY. Today is our day..." said a voice that was so unnatural, not even a voice resonator could emulate it. Mulhain glanced at its source. It was the nameless private, but it didn't look like him. He squinted to get a better look. The private's features were becoming distorted, looking more like a bird than a man. "Tzeentch thanks you for your assistance, Captain Mulhain, but your service is no longer needed here." It pointed at Mulhain, and a small green bolt came from his finger. Mulhain died instantly, having been turned into what some would call 'split pea soup'. The creature laughed with an insane cackle and dissolved into a small cloud of smoke. All around men were fighting, dying, killing, no one noticed what happened. Within minutes, the battle came to a close. Miraculously, the last man standing cleaved off the last alien's head, just as it's claws disemboweled him. The man fell back and lay, staring at the sun. He reached for the radio on his belt, hoping that he wouldn't accidentally grab part of his leaking self. He brought the radio to his lips. "Enemy...defeated...heavy...casualties...medic...victory...victo..." came the last man's words. His grip slackened on the radio and it fell from his hand. "Did you hear that?!" came an exuberant yell from the palace governor. "They killed each other off, totally! You're forces won't have any resistance! We won! WE WON!" The governor turned to the three figures standing in the shadows. As they walked forward, the middle one spoke. "Indeed we did, Governor. Tzeentch is proud of what you did today, and for that, he is going to reward you." The man smiled, beaming with pride. "Thank you. What is it that Tzeentch wishes to reward me with?" "Death." The figure spoke as the two to his sides raised their ancient boltguns and blew the man apart. Tecteras looked at the two Thousand Sons marines standing beside him and nodded. Tecteras slowly took the form of the dead governor, and laughed. "Take this shell, and dispose of it; we don't want anyone thinking that there's been a change in the 'governing body'." Tecteras laughed loudly on the pun he made, something that he usually doesn't do. The two Chaos marines did as they were ordered, and vanished with the body. Tecteras went to the window and opened the shade, looking out at the bright sun of Kenrith. Today, Tzeentch and the Chaos Gods won a victory in the road to oblivion.
The END, for now.
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