Inside the Shuttle
Mark sat quietly, his eyes scanning the eleven towering men seated around him. Each of them stood over two meters tall, motionless, yet exuding an overwhelming aura of power. They were Space Marines-elite warriors of the Imperium. Mark felt a tearless cry welling up inside him. These men were far more terrifying than the last group he encountered.
One in particular caught his attention-the one clad in blood-red armor, adorned with a belt of skulls. Do you think you're some kind of Shaolin monk? Mark thought, trembling slightly. He had seen this one, Kahn, earlier-effortlessly snap the neck of a Devouring Beast with one hand.
"What are you staring at?"
Kahn's voice cut through the silence like a blade, his sharp eyes catching Mark's constant glances.
"N-Nothing! It's nothing..."
Mark immediately averted his gaze and bowed his head, feeling a cold sweat form on the back of his neck. He had no doubt that the man in front of him could slice him into eight clean pieces with little effort if angered.
"We're almost there. Prepare for combat," Kahn said as he activated his chain axe, its teeth humming menacingly while he stared out the shuttle window.
The ten Iron Warrior Space Marines around him reached for their massive shields and bolters, placing them in ready positions. The air inside the shuttle grew heavy with anticipation.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The shuttle hatch burst open with a hiss. Outside, dozens of city defense troops stood in formation, weapons drawn. Six elite soldiers in gravity suits hovered near the perimeter, surrounding the shuttle cautiously.
The Space Marines, led by Kahn, stepped out of the shuttle one by one. Each of their heavy, deliberate steps thudded against the ground like thunder. Standing over two meters tall, clad in battle-scarred power armor, their intimidating presence instantly made the city defense troops surrounding the shuttle hesitate. Fear spread across their faces like wildfire.
"Bring me your city's lord," Kahn ordered impatiently.
Without warning, he grabbed Mark like a helpless chicken and tossed him forward onto the dirt. Mark groaned slightly but wisely stayed silent.
"No need for that. Leave this matter to me," a man with golden blond hair stepped out from the crowd, his tone calm yet laced with arrogance.
"I am Charles, the High Priest of the Church of Light and Shadow."
Just as Charles approached the red-armored giant, Kahn-who had been restraining himself under strict imperial orders not to use lethal force-let loose a heavy punch. If not for the Emperor's command, that blow would have sent Charles straight to meet his so-called god of light and shadow.
Charles was launched backward, crashing hard onto the ground several meters away.
"You bastard! Kill them all!" he roared with fury, his pride wounded beyond repair.
As someone used to being treated with deference, Charles couldn't believe what just happened. How dare these primitive surface-dwellers lay a hand on him?
"Do you want to die that badly?!" he snarled.
With his authority backed by the Church of Lightbearers, Charles stormed away. In his place, thirty elite soldiers in advanced gravity armor stepped forward to confront Kahn and the Iron Warriors.
"Tell me-who exactly were you trying to intimidate, only to end up offending their leader instead?"
Gale, the captain of the city's defense forces, stepped forward, pulling a chainsword from a magnetic latch on the back of his gravity armor.
"I'll give you a good time, you primitive savages."
Kahn, however, showed no sign of concern. His gaze was fixed on the gravity-powered suits standing across from him.
He was intrigued-how would these machines compare to the power of his own Expeditionary MK II Power Armor?
"Don't interfere," Kahn said to the other Space Marines behind him. "Let me handle this."
He began walking toward the line of soldiers, the massive chain axe in his hands roaring to life with a sickening mechanical growl:
KRRAK-KRAKK-KRAK!
A sound like the scream of death itself.
"You've got six. I've only got one."
A seasoned veteran of countless battles, Kahn wasn't like the overly rigid Lightbearers who blindly killed at the first hint of provocation.
GRAAAHHH!
In an instant, he crushed the head of a gravity trooper-armor and all-with one brutal blow of his gauntleted fist. The pilot inside died instantly, skull and helmet crumpling like paper.
Kahn frowned.
The so-called gravity suits looked like armor... but compared to the reinforced titanium battle-plate of his Chapter, they were little more than toys.
"Is that it...?"
The remaining five gravity troopers charged at him, screaming in fury, blades raised.
BOOM!
Kahn's chain axe swung through the shoulder of the first soldier, tearing through armor and flesh alike. The trooper barely had time to scream before being turned into a fountain of gore.
With the axe's disintegration field activated, the weapon cleaved through another two soldiers like butter, cutting their bodies into ragged pieces in an instant.
"That's all?"
Kahn glanced down at the blood and shredded meat stuck to his chain axe. He sneered in contempt at the rest of the approaching defense forces.
Their hand-to-hand combat was inferior to that of the Orks.
Their formations were sloppier than the Tau.
And their individual strength? Even the PDF-the lowest of Imperial militias-were better trained.
This time, Kahn had had enough.
With a growl, he surged forward, swinging both his chain axe and the stolen sword at the remaining city defenders, a whirlwind of rage and steel.