A Heroic Defence

My men and I where about ready to pull out when there was a sudden resounding hold at all costs over the radio. So I did what any other space marine sergeant would do, I told my men to hunker down to fight a suicidal battle against astronomical odds.

It had been about three weeks since the Raptors chapter had set foot on the planet. The planet went by the name of Tuhlan, and was for the most part a nice green world aside from the fact that it was crawling with cultists. The reason only our chapter was called out was there are only cultists on this planet. None of those big bad chaos marines though I was kind of itching for a fight with one of them.

Upon landing on the planet we immediately hit enemy fire. After charging through razor wire, a mine field and ranks of cultists we managed to drive off the enemy and secure our landing site. Our casualties where minimal, thank the emperor. Though my I my squad sergeant took a shotgun slug to the head, and was killed. That's how I got promoted. The next three weeks where filled with bitter fighting. We definitely underestimated our enemies ability to wage war.

Now here I am with four combat squads ready to hold the line against three hundred enemy cultists. So I guess if every one of us can kill fifteen each we should have an easy time, but I quite doubt that outcome. I know I shall die today, and I thank the emperor for letting me serve him.

Their demonic war cries make me curse their existence. I can hear them know, I guess that's a sign that they have crossed the minefield we had hastily set up. They are rushing through the bushes straight as us. Good a head on charge that will optimise how many we take out. As soon as they broke from cover all twenty of us let loose the fury of our holy bolters. As they dropped it seemed as though the fury of the emperor himself was felling our foes. They fell by the dozens yet kept coming. I yelled and my men dropped there bolters and we drew our closed combat weapons. The teeth of my chain sword still red from cultist blood. We didn't wait for them to drop down on us we ran up to them and unleashed the full fury of the astartes. My chain sword immediately went to work cleaving cultists in two. I laughed as the cultist blood became thick haze in the air, I knew that I fought alongside the greatest warriors that ever lived.

Suddenly the enemies fell back to regroup. As they ran into the woods we cut more and more of them down. I counted our numbers, I found that only seven of us had survived the onslaught we quickly went back to our foxhole and retrieved our bolters. This time when they came Instead of forming a long firing line we bunched as close together as we could these cultists where not using ranged weapons and we could not afford to be fighting alone against such numbers. As the enemy broke through the woods again we once again let bolter rounds fly into the enemy. When they reached us we pulled out our chain swords and formed a semi circle and stood our ground. The enimies where relentless as their attack plowed into us, but we stood firm and weather whatever they could throw at. Just when we thought we would break a cry of a fellow space marine was heard and three full assault squad came flinging down from the air into the cultist horde. Withing a minute all the cultists where either dead or fleeing into the woods. The final count for my troops is four.

After the battle the company chaplain told me that our heroic defence would be added to the chapter archives, and the chapter master personally promoted me to veteran sergeant. We went on to win the campaign, and no foul heretic drew breath upon Tuhlan. This world had been cleansed in the name of the emperor there is no better duty to perform.

Give me a hundred space marines. Or failing That give me a thousand other troops

- Attributed to Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial fists.