Leave no survivors!

"My lord... those monsters... they... they can disguise themselves as humans..."

The noncommissioned officer swallowed, trying to force down the sob caught in his throat. His voice trembled with despair. "We... we lost several command posts because we failed to spot them before they broke through from inside... entire command posts, from the Commander to the vox operators, all... all gone overnight! They learn from us, imitate us... they can even say your comrades' names!"

The instant he finished speaking, the remains that Kran's Bolt Pistol had blasted apart, leaving only the portion below the waist soaking in its own foul blood and shredded flesh, moved.

The two isolated lower legs should have ended in mangled flesh and splintered bone. Instead, in defiance of every natural law, they began to proliferate and mutate wildly.

Muscle fibers writhed and stretched like living tendrils, while bones reshaped themselves like soft clay.

Amid a teeth-grating creak, cloudy, eye-like blisters and a mouth lined with fine, sharp teeth grew from the severed legs in mere seconds, opening and closing incessantly.

Then the two "limbs," granted a horrifying new life, kicked hard against the ground and scuttled frantically toward the nearest shadows like two malformed spiders, moving with astonishing speed!

The sight defied everyone's comprehension, but the Space Marines reacted swiftly.

Bang! Bang!

Kran raised his weapon. With two thunderous bolter shots, the first bolt utterly vaporized the right lower leg with its newly grown eyes and mouth, while the second blasted the left leg and its freshly mutated organs into splattering pulp.

The acrid smell of gun Smoke spread once more, masking the even more nauseating, sweet, bloody stench released by that brief mutation.

Kran slowly lowered his muzzle, the air shimmering around the hot barrel.

He did not spare the utterly pulverized filth