Forge World "Shina."
The planet's name had long since been eclipsed by its function.
Viewed from Orbit, it was no longer a planet in any natural sense, but a steel fortress, utterly transformed and armed across every inch of its surface.
An enormous Orbit ring encircled its equator like a shackle, bristling with gun batteries, dockyards, and energy arrays.
On the Planet's surface, endless clusters of colossal factories formed the only "terrain." Towering chimneys spewed an unceasing stream of industrial exhaust, staining the sky a permanent rust brown.
The crust had been hollowed out, reinforced, and converted into honeycomb bunkers and arsenals extending kilometers underground.
There were no oceans here, no forests, only metal, pipes, roaring machinery, and the smells of Ozone, molten metal, and machine oil permeating every breath of air.
The transport ship pierced the murky Atmosphere and shook violently as it landed on the enormous landing platform designated "Furnace-7."
The hatch opened, and air laden with heat, metal fragments, and a faint smell of blood surged inside.
Sergeant Leki Emil followed the crowd, stumbling onto a solid alloy deck gouged with deep furrows by the tracks of heavy vehicles.
Beneath his feet, he no longer felt earth or stone, but the hardness and searing heat of forged metal plates that still retained their warmth.
He instinctively tightened his grip on his lasgun. Overuse had left its barrel faintly blue, and a few more crooked notches marked its stock.
At that moment, the old companion that had followed him from Colchis to the planet "Meat Grinder" and now here felt heavier than the weights used in training to simulate a bolter Gun.
Every breath felt as though his lungs were pulling at wounds that had stuck together. The ringing of explosions and his comrades' dying screams still lingered