---

Fiction

"Prepare yourselves!" the pilot shouted. The Thunderhawk Gunship floated towards the orbiting giant. The bright blue ship looked proud in the vast darkness of space. Inside, the Space Marines of the Ultramarines chapter prepared themselves for battle. Five brave men ran to the armory to outfit themselves. With uncanny speed the Marines donned the various pieces of their armor and prepared their weapons. The sound of ammunition being crammed into bolters was music to his ears. Only amidst battle did he feel truly alive. He reveled in the bloodshed, embraced it whole-heartedly as was expected from the Emperor�s chosen. The handle of his bolter felt like an extension of himself, so easily he wielded it. He hefted it easily, swinging it around, checking the auto-sense link. The lighting glittered proudly off the pristine blue and gold that colored his resilient armor. Despite his heavily armor plated suit, Lt. Mazin Moraddin, had little trouble maneuvering in the otherwise, cumbersome equipment. His armor was designed specifically for his body and fitted as comfortably as any clothing. He wore Mark 7 type power armor or "Eagle Armor," as it had the Imperial Eagle emblem on the chestplate. It was completely enclosing, self-contained tactical suit designed for all battlefield usage. The limbs were fitted with powered fiber bundles to effectively triple his strength also aiding greatly in his movement. The Tech-priests of Mars had developed an incredibly effective, durable armor, one of the best types of personal armor in the galaxy. After all, he was a Space Marine, a warrior in the Ultramarines, fighting in the proud army of the Emperor.
The finest soldiers to exist in all history. No equipment would be second best for the Adeptus Astartus, they were far too important to the defense of the Imperium. He had acquired this current suit after his previous was devastated in the battle on Okoran IV. He survived a Melta-missile fired from chaos missile launchers. His suit was completely destroyed, the ceramite skin was melted and fused into the joints, the surface, cracked like an eggshell, none of the circuits still functioned correctly. They literally had to cut him out of the coffin he was entombed in.
It wasn't until after they had removed him from the suit that they noticed he was indeed, alive. He was terribly injured but with his improved physiology, he just barely managed to pull through. Despite the loss of other loss of many soldiers, they were victorious that day, purging the planet of the corrupting influence of the traitors of the warp, Chaos Marines. He always wondered how loyal marines could have turned to the worship of the dark Chaos Gods. He asked himself this question each time he laid one of their tortured souls to rest. He knew not to doubt the righteousness of the Emperor, no matter how harsh he may seem, the Emperor was their salvation, and the only thing that could become of the traitors was a swift death. The chance of redemption for them was long over. He knew he must always remember this, he was made a Space Marine for a reason, after first donning his suit of armor, he would then spend his life fighting in the defense of man. To this end, his body, the product of many mutations and radical surgeries, was made infinitely stronger and tougher than a normal human.
Loaded with specialized organs, he could survive in all but the most inhabitable environments. Standing well over 7 feet tall, he was almost entirely strong corded muscle yet, remained impossibly fast and agile. The perfect soldier. Once again, only the best for the Mighty Imperium and Benevolent Emperor.

A harsh grinding sound could be heard as the torpedo began the descent into the ejection bay. They felt a sensation similar to the old elevators on Earth as their boarding torpedo was inserted into the launch chamber.

"Prepare yourselves Brothers! Once again we join battle for the glory of the Emperor!" Mazin exclaimed.

Suddenly, they were all slammed against their seats as the missile was launched. It streaked towards the Space Hulk at an incredible speed. He saw the countdown to impact at 3 seconds. CRASH!! The boarding torpedo punctured the armored hull like a shotgun shell through sheet metal. Tthe impact jolted the marines terribly making them wince in nervousness. Despite the hundreds of simulated launches, Mazin still could not suppress the unpleasant cold feeling deep in his chest. What could one expect? Being launched through space in a hollow missile would cause even the hardiest marine some measure of anxiety.

Concentrating his thoughts as he had learned from the Eldar Aspect Warriors, he mentally prepared himself for the battle ahead separating himself from his personality living strictly in his warrior persona. Breathing deeply, preparing mentally for the task ahead, he contemplated his mission. His men were ordered to find an imperial ship that disappeared two weeks ago and investigate a Space Hulk that appeared in orbit around Earth. The Adepts felt that there was a connection between the disappearance and the seemingly random appearance of the Space Hulk. After an initial scan for life-forms by a probe, the Space Hulk was declared �minimal risk� as the probe had not detected any hostiles aboard. That being the case, they only dispatched a combat squad to carry out the mission despite the protests of many others. The marines' voices snapped him back to reality.

"Brothers, you have received the briefing," he said. "Once again we have been called upon to defend our glorious Emperor!" he shouted. "Your faith is strong, I know we will be victorious"

"Sergeant," Arcturus began, "What manner of resistance are we expecting?" he asked.

"Were you not paying attention to the briefing?" Mazin reprimanded, "For all those who weren�t listening," he paused a moment considering Arcturus, "The ship we�re boarding disappeared during the Horus Heresy in a warp storm so we think the forces of Chaos may be aboard, but unlike Chaos they have not attacked anything, at least from our knoweldge. For that possibility however, we have received additional support from Mars. Thank the Tech-priests for their generous offering," he explained, pointing to a crate full of potent Frag and Krak grenades."

"I certainly do, believe me," Mazin thought, reflexively pulling his trigger finger, anxious to smite his enemies, "I do."

"You seem eager to get on with this mission," Mazin said to the marines, noticing the intense expressions on their faces.

"Of course sergeant, any chance to destroy the Chaos Traitors stirs my blood like nothing else!" Maetius replied.

Mazin looked approvingly at them for a moment, "I know, mine is stirred as well, yet, do not let battle lust cloud your mind. We need to be at our best, we don't know how deep the corruption has spread.

The outer door flew open and the first squad moved out into the blackness. Arcturus swung his boltgun out with lightening speed covering the left flank, Marcus and Dominic took up point position. Mazin moved quickly in behind them, unlocking the safety of his bolter. He was ready. He watched as each marine�s helmet automatically enabled low-light mode, causing their eyepieces to emit neon green. They moved slowly down the corridor, senses on full alert. Mazin waved to signal the second squad to move out. They moved step by step in perfect unison as to not give away the number of warriors by the sound of their footsteps. The door slammed shut resounding noisily throughout the hallway eliminating their chances for a stealthy advance, now, if anything was lurking in this ship it would definitely know they were there. Cringing, Mazin signaled the squad to tighten up the formation. The engines of the Thunderhawk Gunship could be heard as it propelled itself away from the docking doors. The Thunderhawk would stay near the docking bays in case they needed emergency extraction, it would also provide reinforcements if things got too edgy. Mazin looked about in astonishment. The forces of chaos were definitely present on this vessel. He took in what might have once been a imperial ship, now hideously mutated. Everywhere in sight, one could see grinning skulls and Khornite monuments, the walls were misshapen and looked to be bleeding. The floor seemed less substantial than it should have been, he gasped, he was standing on skin! It seemed as if thousands of human hides were stitched together to serve as a floor. Faces of men and women stared up at them in agony, praying for a release from their fate. He felt something grab his leg! An arm reached from the floor, trying to pull him under!

"Marines!! Defend yourselves!!

He ripped the mono-molecular blade from its sheath and slashed at the arm. It came free spewing black, diseased blood. Thousands of limbs suddenly erupted from the floor grabbing and kicking at the Emperor's Warriors. One marine, Dominic, went down, hundreds of arms pulling him under the mass of the living dead. Mazin leapt toward him hacking furiously at the appendages holding him down. Moans of anger followed as Mazin tore at them, stepping on the faces of the damned. Dominic righted himself exactly as a door flew open and more Chaos spawn swarmed through. The most depraved, insane people could not describe the manner of men that threw themselves at the Marines. With no visible pupils to speak of, they reached the marines with pasty white skin, boils and lesions covering their faces. Moaning unintelligible words, they ran towards them with crude las-guns blasting. Mazin and the two other marines that managed to free themselves from the death floor, opened fire on the largest concentration of them. The cultists literally burst apart, covering the room in slimy blood. The last of the marines clawed their way from the deathfloor, and took up positions.

"Fire in the hull!! Maetius shouted. The rest of the marines ducked as he threw a frag grenade amongst the enemy. A veritable shower of cultist covered them as the chaos minions were blown to pieces. All was quiet, but the lapse did not last. Screams of rage burst from the doorway, assaulting their ears. Then they came, the children of Khorne spewed forth, bearing their promises of horrible death. They sounded more like animals than men and their armor was covered in dried blood and looked badly rusted.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!" one screamed sprinting ahead roaring in insane rage at the site of their former brethren. Mazin and the marines all opened fire simultaneously, bolter shells lashing at the Berzerkers. The Chaos Marines lurched forward as he struggled to move forward through the rain of shells. A bolt found a crease in a Berzerker�s chest plate, burrowing deep into his flesh then exploding, opening him up like a ripe fruit. A dozen more Khornites, rushed at them. Dominic, pushed forward bearing a flamer.

"DIE TRAITORS!!" He screamed in anger, unleashing a raging inferno, completely enveloping the group of Berzerkers. Screams of pain could be heard over the blast of flame. After the smoke cleared, all but 5 Berzerkers had been incinerated, a pile of smoking armor leaving testament to the potency of the flamer. They rushed forward in absolute fury determined to rend the Marines asunder and give glory to their patron, Khorne. They covered the 30 foot gap in seconds, chainswords raised for the kill. Mazin shouldered his bolter and drew his combat knife once more. Arcturus, overcome with battle-lust, rushed in to meet the attackers, he blocked a vicious slice from a chainsword and thrust his dagger into the neck of a Berzerker with brutal strength. The Chaos marine was stopped dead in his tracks by the blow, he gurgled and fell to the floor, dragging Arcturus down to join him in death. Arcturus struggled fiercely as the rest of the Berzerkers set upon him, hacking away. His armor threw showers of sparks as it resisted the hungry blades� teeth. Mazin instructed his armor to divert all back up power to his arms as he joined the melee. He felt titanic strength in his arms as he lifted a Berzerker high over his head and with a roar, brought him down on his knee, shattering his spine with a sickening "Crunch!" Twitching on the floor the Berzerker lay still. He saw the other marines join the combat. They fought brilliantly, blocking each attack then counter attacking. In mere moments the rest of the traitors fell to the blades of Mazin and his men, forever silent. Arcturus, remained on the floor. Mazin ran to him

"What came over you!! Why did you break formation??" He slowed his approach as he got closer. Mazin noticed that Arcturus was barely alive. It seemed that his armor had not protected him as well as he had thought. His left arm had been severed and there was several long slashes covering his back.

"H-help me, please." he managed to say. He writhed on the floor, in utter agony.

"Hold on, we will return you to the ship."

"NO! I will not go back until we are done!" Arcturus cried, pain contorting his voice into a bestial snarl.

"Look at yourself, you are in no condition to carry on with this mission! I'm teleporting you back to the ship and that is final." Mazin said. Arcturus held his head high, but then slumped, acknowledging his injuries.

He activated his long range comm-link.

"Thunderhawk, we have an injured marine here, he needs pick up, I'm activating my teleport beacon, lock on to our signal and then teleport him aboard.

"Roger," a garbled voice said through the comm.

A bright flash, then he was gone.

"We got him, Brother Sergeant. He's cut up pretty bad, what is your statu-ssssssshhhk*

Mazin smacked his helmet, trying to reengage the up-link. Nothing but static, his signal was being scrambled.

"Damn!!! We're cut off from the ship! All right, form ranks marines. Ready yourselves, we are going to communications, there we might be able to get a signal out.

"Then we go, Dominic said, forward for the Emperor, for Arcturus.

"Amen to that," they replied.

The marines reloaded their weapons, now only 4 strong, they faced almost certain death and knew it... And liked it.



Kndly submitted by Ryan J. Palmer