The Ultramarines' Bloody Stand

"Courage and honor!"

"For Guilliman! For Ultramar!"

Company Captain Slox raised the company banner high and unleashed the Emperor's wrath from his Bolt Pistol.

Countless Flesh Monsters were torn apart beyond the Defense Line. Flying bolts struck like blades, shredding every monster that came close.

Slox fired the last bolt in his magazine, then drew the Power Sword at his waist.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The deafening roar of bolters and Melta weapons echoed across the vast land, as though the entire planet were trembling.

From his high ground, Company Captain Slox looked out over the Flesh Monsters covering the hills. Disgust and fear surged through him.

Their bodies were grotesquely malformed. They seemed to have been pieced together from the corpses of local defense troops and Colony civilians.

Once-familiar faces had been twisted into hideous shapes, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

Among the countless Flesh Monsters, Company Captain Slox could even make out pieces of Imperialis Militia armor and Aeldari-style armor. Their origins were more baffling still.

They looked as though living flesh had been melted down and haphazardly reassembled into a nauseating jumble.

A foul stench rose from their bodies, enough to make anyone retch.

Yet for all their horror, Company Captain Slox noticed one small comfort—the creatures seemed unable to make use of Space Marine flesh.

"Hold the line, Ultramarines!"

With the battle standard in one hand and his Power Sword in the other, Company Captain Slox charged the nearest enemy.

The flesh monster looked to be made from the corpses of a dozen ordinary people and a Glock Beast. Screeching, it lunged at Captain Slox.

Vmmm!

Facing a monster several meters taller than himself, Captain Slox raised his Power Sword and activated the disruption field along its blade.

The gleaming blade flashed, shredding the monster's body in an instant. Slox followed through at once, reversing his grip and driving the broad blade into its skull.

Blood splashed across his blue armor, leaving him looking much like the enemies he fought.

"Soldiers! For Guilliman!"

"For Guilliman!"

Anger and fervor gripped the hundred surviving Space Marines. Bolts spat from their guns, shattering the Flesh Monsters the instant they struck.

Vmmmmmm!

When their ammunition ran dry, the Space Marines dropped their guns, drew their Chainswords, and charged the nearest enemies.

"Die, Xenos!"

The Chainsword's engine howled as its teeth ripped through an enemy's flesh, then sawed its head clean off its rotting body.

"For the Emperor!"

An Ultramarines legionary engulfed by flesh monsters pulled the pin on a grenade at his waist. The blast swept through the creatures around him, turning dozens that had been tearing at his body into a mist of blood.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!"

"For the Emperor! For the Emperor! For the Emperor!"

The legionaries roared amid the tide of flesh, like a small boat holding fast against a raging storm.

"Look out! Above us!"

An Averus Barge with wings like a dragon's swooped down from the sky. Flesh wrapped its steel hull, and masses of tissue clung to it like new-grown organs.

"Heavy weapons! Use the heavy weapons!"

The legionaries carrying Melta Weapons hurried to high ground and aimed their weapons at the flesh monster circling overhead, searching for a chance to strike.

Melta Weapons were powerful. They either agitated a target at the subatomic level to “cook” or melt it, or generated a small-scale fusion reaction that fired a shock wave capable of igniting almost anything. The closer the target, the greater the effect.

Though short-ranged and slow to fire, Melta Weapons were prized for their power against armored vehicles.

They were also considered a good alternative to Plasma weapons, which were unreliable and could kill their users.

Apart from the crack produced when the shock wave vaporized the water inside a target, a Melta Weapon made almost no noise when fired.

Because they were so quiet and effective, infiltration forces could carry out their missions on the battlefield before using Melta Weapons to destroy enemy vehicles.

The enormous flesh monster began its dive toward the ground. Space Marines armed with Missile launchers struck first.

Missiles streaked across the sky, and a ball of fire erupted at the monster's tail.

"Now!"

The legionaries with Melta weapons pulled their triggers when the monster was barely a dozen meters above the ground.

The steel of the transport ship at the center of the Flesh Monsters melted instantly, and the monster's flesh around it vaporized as well.

"Good shot, Brother Angrod!"

The moment Company Captain Slox finished speaking, a huge figure appeared on the horizon.

It stood like a giant, dozens of meters tall, and looked as though tens of thousands of corpses and a dozen Tanks had been fused into one creature.

"Emperor above!" Company Captain Slox cried.

The monster charged their position. The Space Marines' Bolter fire blasted clouds of blood from its body but did nothing to slow it.

Company Captain Slox held his Power Sword upright before his chest. He cast aside his helmet and fixed his gaze on the towering monster ahead, ready to die.

Then Missiles roared down from above the clouds. Dozens struck the monster, and it bellowed as flames swallowed it.

A dozen Storm Eagle Tactical Gunships bearing the insignia of the Word Bearers appeared in the sky.

The Storm Eagle Gunship was one of the most numerous gunships in the fleets of the Space Marine Legions, designed specifically for tactical assault missions.

As a tactical assault gunship, it primarily deployed from orbit, carried Space Marine infantry swiftly to the surface, and then provided low-altitude fire support.

By design, the Storm Eagle was sturdy and reliable. It had exceptionally thick layered armor for an aircraft and heavy armaments for its size, though these cost it some speed and maneuverability compared with other Imperium warplanes.

In combat, however, the Storm Eagle proved highly flexible and versatile. It could also serve as a long-range transport, orbital shuttle, reconnaissance craft, or even, in some cases, an interceptor.