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He Must Have Been... by Matt Kasper The silence of the morning was broken by weapons fire. A combined force of Imperial Guard, Space Wolves, Dark Angels, and Blood Angels held the ground keeping the Orks out of the capital city. The fighting was fierce, but at the end of the dar, the Emperor's forces where victorious. In the aftermath of the battle, the commanding officers of the three Space Marine chapters where inspecting the damage. While they were walking, they came upon the body of a Guard soldier, laying ontop of a large pile of Ork corpses. The three stopped and gazed upon the scene. The Space Wolf was the first to speak, "He must have been the brother of a Space Wolf, for he fought with the courage of a thousand men. Look how he had held his ground while his squad ran." The other two men nodded their heads silently. Then the Blood Angel spoke, "He must have been the brother of a Blood Angel, for he fought with the fierceness of a thousand men. Look how clean and accurate the wounds are on the Orks while the many charged him." And the other two men nodded their heads silently. Then the Dark Angel spoke, "He must have been the brother of a Dark Angel, for he died to save a thousand men. Look at how he had not given up until the last Ork upon him lay dead." And the other two men nodded their heads silently. The three stood there for a short time, until an Imperial Guard commissar approached the body. He looked upon the face of the brave man, and tears welled up in his eyes, though he did not cry. The commissar then spoke with the firmness befitting a man of his rank, "He was MY brother, and I would die a thousand times over to see him smile again. Look how he clutched the picture of our mother to his chest as he died." And indeed, he was holding a picture of a woman to himself with a grip that would crush a tank, and the three marines gazed silently at the commissar. The commissar then went to pick up the body of his brother to carry back to the camp when the Space Wolf spoke, "Indeed then, he was a brother of a Space Wolf, and I will mourn him." The Space Wolf moved to the commissar's side and helped carry the man's body. Then, the Blood Angel spoke, "Indeed then, he was the brother of a Blood Angel, and I will honor him." The Blood Angel moved to the side of the commissar and Space Wolf and helped carry the man's body. Then, the Dark Angel spoke, "Indeed then, he was the brother of a Dark Angel, and I will remember him." The Dark Angel moved to help carry the man's body. That night, a gathering was held to mourn, honor, and remember the brave young man and every other brave young man who had given his live so that other young men might not have to do so. That night, at the funeral pyre, all the men there knew they were the young man's brother, and they offered the man up to the Emperor's loving arms...
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