‘And In the Furnace of War Forge Them’
I took in a sharp breath of air as I crawled through the snow, slowly making my way forward with the rest of the squad, moving deeper into the mountain pass. We had marched solidly through the night to get closer to the Minotaur army, before stopping a scant few miles away from where the scouts said their forward positions were. After that, progress had been agonisingly slow as we crept forward, careful not to give way our positions. We didn’t want the enemy to know we were attacking before we were already killing them. Looking out at the army arrayed before us, I realised that surprise was going to be very valuable in the next few minutes.
There must have been hundreds of Minotaur’s arrayed before me, roaring with laughter as small fights broke out within their ranks. They were massive, but no amount of training or forced memories from the Rune priests could truly prepare me for the real thing. Each one of the creatures would tower above me when I got up close, even their weapons would probably be bigger than my body.
That being said, they were in complete disarray when compared with the Legion, and their weapons looked like they were one good buck away from falling apart. There was no standardisation between the creatures, and while some wielded heavy wooden clubs and wore scraps of rusted metal, others wielded axes or cleavers, the blood on them visible even from this distance.
We may have outnumbered them by a large margin, our army being comprised of six of the Great Company's, each comprised of over a hundred ponies, but this would still be a daunting task. I remembered, or half remembered, that when the Legions were first formed, each was comprised of ten companies, each with a hundred ponies in. The Wolves had been the first Legion to buck that trend, organising into thirteen Great Companies before the first Diamond Dog wars, their numbers constantly swelling with new aspirants until the Legion far exceeded the original one thousand ponies.
It hadn’t taken long for the other legions to follow the Wolves lead, each one boasting many times their original number. Now there were hundreds of companies in total scattered across Equestria, most Legions being made up of twenty or so companies, leaving the Wolves thirteen behind. I still thought it was odd that Icewind would insist that we kept thirteen companies rather than expanding more, but who was I to question the Great Wolf?
Casting my eyes skywards, I saw the forward scouts of the Minotaur army. Hovering above the horde were scores of Griffon mercenaries, their silent, almost morbid, demeanour providing a stark contrast with the howling Minotaur’s below. I let out a soft chuckle as I instinctively knew which group I would rather socialise with if they weren’t both going to try and kill me, and it wasn’t the group with feathers.
“What are you smirking about?” Frozen hissed.
“Just drawing comparisons between the Minotaur’s and us,” I chuckled.
“Stop it, they’re nothing like us,” Frozen snapped. “They are the enemy, think of them as anything else and you’ll hesitate. Hesitate, and you’re dead.”
“It can’t be quite that black and white can it?” Gale asked from beside me. “I mean, arctic wolves try to kill us, but Bardolf doesn’t seem that bad.”
“You haven’t seen combat Gale, you wouldn’t understand,” Frozen replied. “Nor would I expect you to, but I have. I’ve faced Minotaur’s before, and let me tell you, it’s not pretty even at the best of times. This battle will be hard enough, and if you hesitate, then I can guarantee that you will not live to see the Aesir again.”
“I wasn’t planning on hesitating, I was just pointing out that they seem kind of similar to us,” I pointed out.
“I guess in a certain way they do, but it doesn’t matter,” Frozen retorted, before drawing his weapons and loading an arrow into his crossbow, the rest of us following his lead.
“I see your point,” Summit muttered from beside me.
“Yeah, thanks,” I nodded. “Gale seems to as well.”
“Course she would, it’s your point,” Summit scoffed softly.
“And what the hay’s that supposed to mean?” I asked sharply, perhaps putting a bit more force into the question than I meant to.
“I mean the amount of tension between you two is strong enough to crack a mountain,” Summit chuckled. “When are you going to speak to her?”
“I speak to her all the time,” I hissed.
“You know what I mean Hoarfrost, and I know that you know what I’m referring to here.”
“Yeah, I do,” I muttered softly.
“Then when are you going to?” Summit pressed.
“Later.”
“Later later later, always later,” Summit scoffed. “At some point it will have to stop being later, and start being now.”
“Tell you what, when we get back to the Aesir, I’ll think about it,” I retorted. “Is that good enough?”
“I’ll hold you to that Hoarfrost,” Summit promised, before readying his weapons.
I stared out at the horde in front of me and slowly licked my lips, steadying myself for the coming storm. I knew what the signal would be to start the attack, and I knew that if we stuck to the plan, as many ponies as possible would get home today, but part of me wanted to just start it now, damn the plan and just get started. I knew it was foolish, and would result in hundreds of needless deaths, but the drive was still there. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long.
Out of the snow rose hundreds of ponies, each one armed with a crossbow, much bigger than my own personal defence weapon. They were the Long Manes, Legionnaires specialising in long ranged combat. Beside them stood the few Rune Priests that had accompanied us to the mountain pass, their horns glowing as they charged hideously destructive spells. It was they who would cast the first shot.
With a roar taken up by the rest of the Great Company, the Rune Priests unleashed their spells, followed swiftly by the Long Manes javelin like bolts that sped after the spells. A split second later, the projectiles slammed into the front ranks of the unaware Minotaur’s, cutting them down like chaff before they could even realise that they were under attack.
“Blood Hoofs! With me!” Frozen bellowed, springing to his hooves and darting forward, quickly breaking into a gallop as he readied his axe.
Exchanging a single glance with Gale and Summit, I opened my mouth and roared again, my war cry stretching on as I followed Frozen’s lead, holding my axe high as the ground between the Arctic Wolves and the Minotaur’s shrank. They were readying themselves, recovering from the swiftness of the attack, and as we charged, they began to charge too, swinging their massive weapons above their head, bounding towards us.
Fifty meters.
Forty meters
Twenty five
Ten
Two
The two lines clashed as they collided with each other, screams coming from both sides as Arctic Wolves managed to pull Minotaur’s to the floor, even as the massive bull like creatures charged deep into our own lines, swinging their weapons in wide arcs in an attempt to hit as many ponies with each swing as possible.
I grunted as I ducked beneath a wooden club that had been swung at my head, before darting forward and slicing a thin line into the beasts stomach. It roared in pain, before lashing out again, hardly slowing from the wound in its gut. I only just avoided the strike, my axe forcing the club away even as I was forced to stumble backwards from the beast.
Bodies already littered the floor, both ponies and Minotaur’s, even though the battle had only been ranging for a few seconds. I didn’t know where the others were, I didn’t even know where Bardolf had got to, and I just hoped that he was still alive.
I couldn’t dwell on that though, not if I wanted to get through this alive, and I transferred all of my concentration back to my axe, pressing forward as I slashed at the Minotaur. My weapon bit deep into the flesh of the beasts, before ripping free, the Minotaur howling in pain as it collapsed to its knees, the wound in its leg painting the snow red.
“Just, die!” I bellowed, spinning my axe around and imbedding it deep into the Minotaur’s neck. The Minotaur let out a gurgling croak as it fell to the floor, clutching at its neck as it twitched in its death throes, before lying still.
There was no time to celebrate my victory however, as already another bull headed Minotaur was charging forwards, rushing up to meet me and swinging its club wildly. The air was forced from my lungs as the club slammed into my side, my armour buckling but holding even as I was tossed aside like a rag doll, landing in a crumpled heap a few meters away.
“Hoarfrost! On your hooves now! Don’t get distracted again!” Frozen bellowed, even as an axe was swung at him.
I lost sight of him before I saw the weapon impact, and I wasn’t sure if Frozen was dead or alive anymore, but I would heed his last words, and I pushed myself back up, tightening my grip on my axe.
“Come on then!” I bellowed, ignoring the pain in my side as I galloped to meet the Minotaur.
“You’re brave pony,” the Minotaur chuckled, raising its club and lashing out at me. “But foolish. I have killed hundreds of ponies before you.”
“But you haven’t killed me!” I bellowed, spinning my axe and sticking it into the Minotaur’s chest.
“Not yet,” the Minotaur grunted, dropping its club and grabbing hold of my axe.
I growled as I tried to pull my weapon back, but it was as if I was pulling against a cliff in the Minotaur’s unyielding grip. The Minotaur began to laugh as it started to leer down at me, before a dark shape suddenly slammed into its chest, knocking it to the floor.
“Ruff!” Bardolf yelped as it bit into the Minotaur’s arm, tearing off a chunk of flesh before starting to worry the Minotaur.
“Bardolf! Get out of here!” I bellowed, ripping my axe from the Minotaur’s arm before grabbing hold of Bardolf by the scruff of his neck and pulling him from the Minotaur.
“You dare use a beast against me!” the Minotaur roared as it got back up, raising its club above its head and bringing it down towards me.
I raised my axe as the Minotaur attacked, my weapon biting deep into the wood of the Minotaur’s club and managing to stop it before it struck my head. I let out a roar of pain as the feedback loop from the telekinetic headband began to send spikes of pain into my mind as our weapons groaning under the stress we were forcing on them, my telekinetic aura working against the Minotaur’s muscle as we each tried to gain some advantage.
“Don’t despair little pony,” the Minotaur groaned as he pushed down harder. “I’ve seen legionnaires before, and a pony of your size isn’t cut out for this.”
“Shut…up,” I grunted, even as I was forced to my knees by the Minotaur.
“S…” the Minotaur began, before Bardolf once again leapt at him, knocking him back once more. “That’s it! Your wolf has lived for too long!”
With that, the Minotaur lessened the force it was pushing down with, taking a hand off its club and using it to pick up Bardolf by the neck, snarling at it. Something inside of me snapped when I saw him grabbing hold of my puppy, and something else awakened.
“Leave!” I roared, getting to my hooves. “Him!” I sprang forward, slamming my shoulder into the Minotaur’s gut. “ALONE!”
My sudden burst of anger seemed to take the Minotaur by surprise, and he fell back, dropping Bardolf to the floor. The wolf whined weakly as it landed, before laying still, the only movement coming from a weakly kicking back leg.
“You bastard! You hurt him!”
“Struck a soft spot pony?” the Minotaur laughed, before spinning his club about his head, trying to slam it into my side.
I dived to the floor and rolled underneath the blow, before springing up behind my enemy. Even as I struck, my mind was not full of thoughts of blood, but of vengeance and retribution, a fire I didn’t even know I possessed. I instinctively began to mutter a prayer to the Empress, one I’d never heard before, but thanks to the memory dump the Rune Priests had subjected me to, I knew like I had been taught it for years.
“Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light.”
I avoided another blow of the Minotaur’s club, before spinning my axe and ramming the bladed head into the creature’s hand severing the appendage in a fountain of blood. The Minotaur screamed, but I didn’t let up. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
“Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith!”
I continued the prayer, even as the bloody stump and protruding bone of the Minotaur’s hand was rammed against my dented chest armour, forcing the air from my lungs and spreading an odd warmth through my body.
“Where there is shame, I shall point atonement!”
I managed as I sucked more air into my lungs, ramming the haft of my axe into the Minotaur’s chest to pay him back for winding me.
“Where there is rage, I shall direct its course through me!”
The Minotaur toppled to the floor, clutching his severed stump as he stared up at me.
“There is only the Empress! She is our strength and shield!”
I roared, my rage coursing through my body as I slammed the axe into the ground beside the wounded Minotaur, making sure to hit just in between his legs. He visibly paled at how close the axe was to his crotch, before looking up at me.
“You’ve failed Minotaur,” I snorted, painting heavily as I looked around the battlefield.
The mountain pass was strewn with the bodies of the dead, both ponies and Minotaur’s, and unfortunately, it seemed that there were more dead Arctic Wolves. Then again, there were still ponies moving about, collecting the wounded for treatment and finishing off the last bastions of resistance. The pitched battle had been a slaughter, turning the white snow into red mush, but it was a slaughter the Empress demanded, no matter the cost in Legion blood.
“F-failed?” the Minotaur managed, coughing up some blood as he tried to laugh again. “L-look around you. There are…more dead ponies…than dead Minotaur’s.”
“And yet we’ve carried the day,” Frozen retorted, moving up beside me and sneering down at the wounded Minotaur. He was bloodied and limping badly, but he still managed to command respect as he looked towards the Minotaur’s arm. “You appear to have lost a hand.”
“He hasn’t lost it Frozen,” I sneered, picking the hand up with my telekinesis and holding it in front of the Minotaur. “It’s right here, see?”
“Very good Hoarfrost,” Frozen nodded, before turning back towards the pony lines. “Come on, leave your toy. We need to help set up camp.”
I nodded and began to walk away from the Minotaur, before I heard him coughing and trying to get up.
“I’m…not done with you…pony,” he muttered, getting to his feet, before falling back to his knees, bringing his head level with mine.
I chuckled for a second as I stared into his soul, before quickly drawing my crossbow and firing the bolt into his right eye, the point piercing the vulnerable orb and slamming into the brain beyond. The whole movement had taken about two seconds, and I’d done it as casually and remorselessly as if I was simply swatting away a fly.
“But I am done with you, Minotaur,” I spat, before turning and leaving the corpse to fall back to the floor and join the hundreds of bodies that already littered the ground.
As the adrenaline wore off, I slowly began to listen to the sounds of the wounded, the screams of pain that echoed around the valley. They weren’t all pony wails either, and I could make out the distinctive cry of Minotaur’s as well. Even if they were the enemy, they didn’t deserve to suffer, and I hoped that my fellow legionnaires would feel the same way and put them out of their misery quickly.
“Hoarfrost?” Gale panted, landing in front of me, her armour scratched from what I could only image were Griffon talon marks.
“Gale. You made it,” I let out a sigh of relief, putting a hoof around her neck and pulling her into a hug, before staggering falling to the floor and dragging her with me
“Hoarfrost? What’s wrong?!” Gale cried, struggling to loosen my grip around her neck, before rolling me over onto my back. “Summit! Get over here!”
“What is it?” Summit asked, running over before looking down at me. “Shit, Hoarfrost buddy, just stay still, we’ll patch you up.”
“Patch me up?” I asked in confusion. “What’s wrong? I fell fi…”
I tried to get back to my hooves, before screaming, my chest feeling like it was on fire as I fell back to the floor, struggling to breathe.
“Shit, get his breastplate off now,” Gale cursed, her artificial horn lighting up as she began to help me out of my armour.
“Way ahead of you,” Summit nodded, pulling my breastplate off. “You stay with him, I’ll find a Wolf Priest!”
“What’s…wrong?” I wheezed as the cold began to seep into my now exposed chest.
“Something’s punctured your chest, maybe it’s punctured your lung, maybe it hasn’t, but you need to lie still,” gale assured me. “Now, this is going to hurt.”
“What’s going to…arg!” Gale pressed her hoof against my chest, sending pain through my body.
“Sorry,” Gale cursed, but kept her hoof on my chest. “I have to stop the blood flow or you’ll bleed out.”
“Keep….going,” I grunted, trying to keep myself from screaming. “S-Scratch…that. Find…Bar…olf. Keep him…alive.”
“I think we have more to worry about than your wolf Hoarfrost, just forget him,” Gale grunted.
“Ne…ver,” I growled, putting a hoof around Gale’s neck and weakly pulling her closer. “I’ll survive. Find…Bardolf. Keep him alive.”
“I,” Gale started, before nodding. “Fine, but if you die, I’ll kill you, you hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you,” I grunted. “Find Bardolf.”
Gale nodded before darting away into the field of corpses, leaving me to look down at my chest. I gasped softly as I saw what had got Gale and Summit all wound up, before letting my head fall back to the snow, closing my eyes slowly. My chest was a mess, a substantial tear ripping my hide open and leaving behind a blood filled hole. I didn’t know if the wound was deep enough to be fatal, but I knew that chest wounds were usually tricky to heal, even for advanced spell casters.
“Gonna survive,” I muttered softly to myself. “Promised…Summit.”
I suddenly felt a presence above me, before a soft warm object was placed beside my head. A few seconds later, I felt a tongue beginning to lick my cheek, and I chuckled as I looked over to see Bardolf.
“H-hey buddy. You were…great out there.” I looked up at Gale, managing a soft smile. “T-Thanks Gale.”
“No problem, now just lie still. Summit will be back with a Wolf Priest soon and we’ll get you looked at ok?”
“Great, he’ll probably…cut me open,” I chuckled. “Don’t let him cut me Gale…ok?”
“Yeah, sure, no cutting, just good old fashioned balms and potions to get you back on your hooves,” Gale nodded, before glancing over as she heard approaching hoof steps.
“How is he?” Summit asked, stopping beside Gale and looking down at me.
“Right here Summit,” I chuckled, waving weakly before wincing in pain and letting my hoof fall back to the floor. “You can…ask me you know.”
“Yeah, sorry, how are you?” he asked sheepishly, stooping down beside me.
“Would you believe me if I said fine?”
“Not in the slightest, but who’s counting?”
“Hurts Summit, it hurts bad,” I muttered. “Feels odd.”
“Pain is good Hoarfrost, remember? Grimskull said as long as we were in pain, we were still alive. It’s when you don’t feel pain that you need to worry,” Summit reminded me.
“Yeah, really comforting Summit,” I coughed, wincing as my chest moved. “Where’s the damned Wolf Priest?”
“Well maybe I won’t help your friend after all,” a pony shrugged, his black armour standing out against the sky blue armour that Gale and Summit wore. “I’m assuming this is Hoarfrost?”
“That’s my name,” I chuckled.
“And I’m Wolf Priest Snowfall, pleased to meet you, now be quiet,” the pony ordered, kneeling down beside me as his headset lit up, pulling various knives and vials of potions from the pouches on his armour.
“Don’t…cut,” I grunted, looking at the scalpel.
“The wound will get infected if I don’t do something, then you’ll die for sure. I need to know what you’re suffering from exactly before I try anything. For that, I need to cut,” Snowfall retorted matter-of-factly, before offering me a bottle. “Here, drink this.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so, now drink.”
With a soft chuckle at the Priests attitude, I lit my own headset, grabbing the bottle and taking a large gulp of the potent alcohol inside, the liquid instantly dulling my senses as I let him take the bottle back.
“Whisky?” I muttered.
“And brandy, and ale,” Snowfall nodded. “Makes it much more potent and useful for what I’m about to do.” Frozen turned to face Gale and Summit, shooting the pair a grimace. “You may want to hold him down for this. And make sure the wolf is out of the way, I don’t want it jogging me while I work.”
“Hold me down? Why would you need to do that?” I asked, pushing myself up a bit, before collapsing back to the floor and wheezing heavily.
“Drink more, this is going to hurt,” Frozen insisted, pushing the bottle into my muzzle and pouring more of the alcohol down my throat as Gale and Summit took their places, holding my hooves down.
My vision was swimming as Snowfall took the bottle away, before readying a scalpel above my wound. He gave Gale and Summit a soft nod each, before placing a thick wooden bit into my mouth, forcing me to bite down on it, before he moved forward with the scalpel.
“Nff! Waff!” I was beginning to hyperventilate as I clamped down on the bit in my mouth, trying to get Gale and Summit off my hooves, but I had no luck, and with grim determination, Snowfall began his job.
I screamed as he cut into my flesh, straining against Gale and Summit and biting down hard on the wood as I attempted to get away from the burning pain in my chest. Bardolf too was yelping as he watched Snowfall cut around the small wound, but was held steady by somepony’s magic.
Suddenly, I felt an odd slipping sensation, before watching a patch of fur and flesh float away from my chest, Snowfall dropping the skin to the floor, before examining my wound closely, before turning to Summit and giving him the smallest nod possible, to the point where I hardly picked up on it.
“We need to clean and seal the wound Hoarfrost, so get ready, this next bit will hurt.”
“Annth thaff diddft?” I moaned around the wooden bit, my teeth firmly embedded into its surface.
“Not like this,” Snowfall muttered, before pouring some of the alcohol onto my chest.
I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out as my entire body tensed up, trying to find some sort of release as the pain washed through my body, driving out every other thought as I tried to fight through the pain, my vision going dark at the edges, before I felt a hoof slapping my across the face.
“Hey! Don’t you dare close your eyes!” Snowfall snapped, before taking the bottle away and placing a small piece of leather over my chest, beginning to poke at it with a thick needle and thread. “This will tide you over if for now, and if you get back to the Aesir, they’ll have something more permanent.”
I nodded weakly as my head lolled back into the snow, the pain of the needle slipping into my flesh and pulling the leather over my wound barely registering on my alcohol addled mind. Eventually, Snowfall was finished, and he stood up, pulling the bit from my mouth and gesturing for Summit and Gale to stand with him. His face was morbid as he looked down at me, sighing heavily.
“I…” I began, picking up on Snowfall’s attitude. “Am I…going to die…Snowfall?”
“Yes Hoarfrost, you’re going to die,” he nodded slowly, drawing a sharp gasp from Gale. “Do you have any last regrets?”
“A…a few,” I nodded weakly, glancing at Summit. Oddly enough, the prospect of death wasn’t as much of a shock as I thought it would be.
“Tell me them Hoarfrost,” Snowfall said softly, kneeling down beside me.
“I regret…never telling Gale…how I felt about her,” I groaned, looking up at Gale.
“Tell her now Hoarfrost, make the most of this time,” Snowfall urged.
“G-Gale, I…I love you,” I coughed, scrunching my face up as my chest hurt slightly. Funny, it felt less painful than before. Maybe it was just a sign of my life slipping away.
“Y-you do?” Gale sobbed, kneeling down beside me, tears in her eyes. “How long?”
“Always,” I muttered. “Always have…and I always will Gale.”
“I love you too Hoarfrost,” Gale choked, tears rolling down her muzzle.
“Glad I got this off my chest, before the end,” I chuckled weakly.
“That’s good Hoarfrost,” Snowfall nodded, standing up and helping Gale to stand back up. “Now get up and kiss her.”
“But…I thought you said I was going to die?” I asked, looking at Snowfall in confusion.
“We’re all going to die Hoarfrost,” Snowfall laughed, before making his way back into the corpse strewn field, looking for other patients. Summit also burst out laughing as he looked down at me, grinning like a maniac.
“You…knew?” I asked as I pushed myself up slightly.
“Maybe,” Summit chuckled. “Now follow the doc’s orders and kiss the mare.”
I nodded slowly, before looking over at Gale. She was still crying, but looked like she was just as confused as I was, before she shook her head and leaned closer to me, pulling me into a soft kiss. It was blissful, and I allowed myself to enjoy the kiss, before slipping back to the floor and closing my eyes, allowing myself to fade from consciousness.
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Hate to burst your bubble, but the Legions pre-Heresy were not that big (Usually numbering only a thousand ponies). Celestia allowed them to expand after the heresy so they could cover more ground and fight longer with higher casualties.
Oh, and Snowfall is best troll
I laughed at this too
4404113
Oh wow, not very big at all then. But then if Minotaur are as strong as you made out in your world building blog, did it take an entire Legion to take one out?
And I just realised, I wrote 1000 for each company didn't I? I think I meant 100, but still.
And I'm glad you like Snowfall.
4404123 well, it would take maybe a small squad to drop one minotaur (or someone with plot armor). Now, a large group of them might require a full Legion, but not for just one
4404370
I realise that, I meant a legion required to. Take on a large grouping of them.
I've changed it so there are 100 ponies per company and origionally ten companies to a Legion, with numbers growing throughout the time before the heresy, but only a bit more. Does that work better?
And yes, plot armour is even better than Legion armour. Maybe even better than Celestia's and Luna's armour.
4404609 That works
4404718
Awesome. Thanks.
Good chapter and that is certainly one way to draw out a confession.
Also small typos;
"who would cats the first shot", should be "cast",
"now be quite", should be "quiet".
4405205
Thanks, I'll sort them now,
I FINALLY had time to read this. Good chapter, liked the fight, liked the Puppy Power (don't know why, but I had thoughts of Scrappy-doo reading Bardolf on minotaur action).
I'm immensely happy that you didn't drag the romance part. Sometimes it works, but most of the time, I'm not the fan of keeping 'obvious secret' for half of the story.
4426695
I suck at building things up, so I thought let's just have it come out quickly.
4426760 Good choice!
so that little litany of his during that battle... was that his own strength, fervor and devotion of the God-Empress that allowed him to block out pain via religious belief (its been proven in studies that people who are religious can block pain easier) or was that something to do with Celestia intervening through some kind of warpcraft? I would guess more the former, but I wouldn't rule out the latter. Perhaps the spirit of Russ finds a home in this one.
4464656
A mixture of Adrenalin and Religeous fervour is what I. Imagined.
the title is SUCH a lord of the rings reference. ugh. Must. continue. reading!
4604821 No, it is not. It is a quote from the Emperor of Mankind upon the founding of the Astartes legions.
"They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines such that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear."