Packing Up

[Bruce Malcom]

The large form of a Space Marine was a large contrast to the leveled buildings around him, and the weary few guardsmen who still managed to stand. The barricades were overrun, corpses lined the floor, and dead vehicles sat still. The Space Marine was adorned in pale yellow and silver, but endless blips of grey and gunmetal peaked out from the Mark VI Power Armor he wore. The Astartes moved through the masses, tending to their wounded or their guns.

 

A few, less wounded guardsmen dragged the remains of heretic cultists and traitor guardsmen from before his feet, as to not have his ceramite boots press the flesh of the traitors into a flat layer of grime. He didn't care if they did it out of respect or because it would've been harder to clean up later. He did care about the Astartes ahead of him, lying against the burnt out right side of a heretic-controlled Leman Russ Battle Tank.

 

The battle-brother's plate was scarred and pierced, the pale yellow contrasted by deep maroon. A large circle, many, many centimeters in diameter, was stamped into the Space Marine's core. The Astartes was dead, his Boltgun a few meters away. His Mark VII plate was shattered in combat, likely to one of the Leman Russ's sponsions given the hole. The Space Marine was no Apothecary, so he slid his hands under his knees and behind the drained backpack. Lifting the Astartes, the Space Marine looked around him.

 

Men and women took out their shovels, or made makeshift digging tools out of their lasguns, and made holes for their dead to sleep within. The Astartes looked to his fallen, the limp carcass facing away from him. He looked back ahead, and walked through the cleared road with his fallen brother.

 

A Rhino transport awaited them, colored in the same fashion. As Valkyries passed overhead, the Imperial Guard had captured this settlement, and now it was time for the Space Marines to depart. When the Rhino's doors opened, he set the dead Astartes besides him gently, and took a seat himself. "Settlement 11-C recaptured," the Space Marine told the driver. "Requesting dropoff for Brother Kyrodes and geneseed extraction at Outpost 3. Ready for redeployment."

[Bjorn Firewalker]

A good start. Is it set in the same timeline as The End of Quiet?

[Bruce Malcom]

A good start. Is it set in the same timeline as The End of Quiet?

No, I just wanted to write a couple paragraphs about some Space Marines for a bit.