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Thunder and lightning danced high in the sky. A torrent of rain twisted and fell in a maelstrom of complimentary violence to the conflict below. Bodies lay bogged down in the mud and blood, screaming, writhing flesh lying in heaps under trenches and barricades.
Lazgun fire split the night sky, the only illumination of light other than the lightning above. Guardsmen called to one another, firing across no man's land into the line of heretics amassed there. They shot back, gunfire echoing in the air.
The earth shook from explosions and thunder, mud heaved up into the air in large clumps as men died. The auquila standard flapped in the wind, proudly standing in the center of the trenchlines. Bullet holes riddled the flag, but still it stood high in the air, refusing to yield just like the men below it.
A call rang out amongst the ranks, and all firing into the heretical lines ceased. It grew eerily quiet, and the sudden heavy footfalls of metal boots were heard by all. Hulking figures in heavy armor strode purposefully towards the front line. The crests and insignias adorning their armor gleamed in the small flashes of light. Every soldier knew these men, and they bowed their heads in respect. The soldiers lining the trenches parted without a word, Guardsmen averting their eyes in reverence as the figures passed.
Five of them stepped out into no man's land, a perfect formation, firing their bolters in controlled bursts at the heretics who dared defy the beauty of the Imperium.
Another cry went up, and Guardsmen affixed their bayonets. As one entity they crawled out of their trenches, following the hulking figures. They had no care for their lives, only the men who had gone out before them.
The hulking figures advanced, unrelenting, their bolters turning heretics into bloody paste with every shot. They knew not mercy, nor pity, only the truth that is death. Bullets bounced off their armor, lasgun rounds ricocheted off their chests, yet they advanced unscathed and unconcerned. They knew not fear. Only the coming victory. They were the Emperor's sons. They were...angels. They were Astartes.