As Horus, commander of the Terran Empire's Great Crusade fleet, had just finished his call with Darius, the highest commander of Canopy Star's human forces, the Astartes of the Empire's XVI Legion, the Shadowmoon Wolves, were already locked in fierce combat at one of their two landing sites. More than three thousand of them were fighting the thousands of Warp Daemons and Chaos monsters surging toward them.
The three companies, more than three thousand Astartes in all, were occupying a naturally defensible position: a hilltop town. Hundreds of corrupted Mutants and several twisted Psykers had once occupied it, making it an outpost for the Warp monsters.
But the Astartes had wiped those creatures out as soon as they landed. When the Warp Daemons saw that these despicable humans had bypassed the front line and stolen their "allies'" outpost, they naturally wouldn't let the matter rest. The battle had begun.
"Move!"
"Build a defensive line at once!"
"Hey, you!"
"Get those two crates of Bolter shells over here!"
"Hurry up!"
"They're almost here!"
"Everyone, get ready!"
"Open fire!"
"Open fire!!"
At an officer's furious bellow, the Shadowmoon Wolves of the XVI Legion soon rose from behind their makeshift fortifications and cover. They lifted the Bolters in their hands—different sizes, but all of similar design—and poured fire at the Warp Daemons and Chaos monsters charging toward them.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant!
As the warriors opened fire, the dull, resolute thud of Bolters rose and fell, echoing across the battlefield.
Under the bombardment of the large-caliber, nineteen-millimeter rocket-propelled rounds—with their booster bases, high-yield explosive primers in the main propellant charges, refined deuterium cores, and diamond tips—the foremost Chaos monsters, the Bloodhounds, burst into sprays of vile blood. They wailed and staggered to the ground, only