Report by Lieutenant Talis of the Ironwing Space Marines
Transcribed by Andrew Hawnt
The Death Guard clearly have more at their disposal than we imagined. Upon taking shelter in a ruined munitions silo, we witnessed a further wave of filth-encrusted Poxwalkers emerging from the depths of their territory. One of the Plague Marines, a hulking brute with a pointed helmet, pustules bulging with pus upon the foul skin visible between its green armour's sections and a thick horn emerging from its faceplate, followed three of the Poxwalkers as they came closer. A recon party, testing their invaders' resolve. They clearly didn't count on not only the Ultramarines arriving but also we of the lethal Dark Angel Ironwing legion.
I left the silo with sergeant Villis, double-backed on ourselves to mask our brothers' location and engaged the scout party. An oversized Bolter, thick with unknown grime, lay down fire from the Plague Marine, one shell skimming the edge of my armour and searing a black line across the ceramite. No matter. As the Poxwalkers neared us, Sergeant Villis picked them off one by one. He had been a crack shot ever since his days as a scout, and I knew of nobody more skilled as a sniper.
Each of the moaning, staggering horrors fell in explosions of rancid meat and bone, their rictus grins still plastered over their faces even after their torsos had been detonated by Bolter fire. I was thus free to focus my own fire upon the marine itself. I aimed first for the head, then the weapon of the thing, but with a speed which it should have been impossible for such a brute to muster, it dodged both attacks.
A third barrage from my weapon blew wet chunks of flesh, armour and toxic jelly from its torso, and I clenched my teeth as the thing wheezed, glancing at its own putrescence as matter sucked together in the Death Guard's crude version of healing. It stopped in its tracks as if listening, then began to walk backwards, keeping us pinned low behind lumps of fallen buildings while it fired upon us. Once it was at a good distance, the monstrosity returned to its brethren and the precious relay. We returned to the other Ironwing marines and formulated a plan.
The element of surprise was lost, so the next stage would be an all-out assault. If the combined might of the Ironwing and Ultramarines couldn't take down these Plague Marines and gain control of the relay, the consequences could be catastrophic for the Imperium. We would have to take down the orks, too. We synchronised timer runes within our helmet displays and waited for the mark to count down to zero. Combat awaited, and if we failed, that combat would be followed by darkness being unleashed still further. We were soon combat-ready.
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