Prelude

The sound of Lasguns and Heavy Bolters cracked through the dark thickets. The unholy roars of Tyranid Carnifexs filled the night air; our brothers didn't have much time. Both man and beast shrieked in pain as the battle raged in the distance. Despite the horrors we heard from the clearing, we remained resolute in our task. The platoon was sprinting through the jungle to get behind the Tyranid advance. We ran, stumbling over fallen tree limbs and each other. We remained quite though; the Tyranids had a distinct advantage in the jungle. With each step closer to the clearing, the sounds of war only became more terrifying. Soon, we could see fire beyond the trees.

"Lights, Boys!" Captain Leopold whispered to his command squad. A sudden whistle followed by another shortly after came from the back of my squad. The night sky was lit by two flares that revealed the enemy to us; something that I'd rather not seen. There were at least a thousand Hormagaunts backed up by several Carnifexs closing in on the camp. Luckily we were behind them, but not for long. "For the Emperor! For the Imperium!" Leopold shouted.

The flares caught the attention of the many un-engaged Tyranids. They stood briefly, in awe of the magnesium fires above them, but only for a moment. Nearly half the Tyranids attacking the main detachment of the regiment turned around and began to run at us. They were nearly a kilometer away, but they came closer to us with unimaginable speed.

"Lasguns up, grenades ready!" I yelled to my squad. "Fire!" I leveled my laspistol and charged my chain sword. The beautiful crack of las bolts filled the air, but there was something wrong. Twiggs could be heard snapping further in the forest. My senses became acute, blocking out most of the lasgun fire and arrogant, jolly profanity. We weren't alone.

Suddenly a fellow Sergeant cried out, "'Stealers! 10 O'clock! Get ba-". The sergeant's voice was cut out as the claws of a Genestealer ripped through him. They were still a good 20 meters away from me and my men.

"Adjust your fire to the 'Stealers, damn it!" I yelled. I swung around to meet the Genestealers, and saw a site that churns my stomach to this day. Seconds had passed since the sergeant fell and a Genestealer already stood in front of me. White skin, four arms, each with three fingers tipped with claws that can rip through terminator armor like wet tissue paper; I was frozen with fear. As I stood there, it opened its mouth and roared, spewing drops of green saliva on my face. It lifted its arm, preparing to strike me down, when one of my squad mates put a las bolt right through its eye. I snapped out of it and fired my laspistol a few times. "By the Emperor, I will destroy you, dirty xenos!" Soon, all the 'stealers were killed. Our immediate obstacle was out of our way. Now we just had to deal with the few hundred Hormagaunts headed our way. "Resume firing!" I commanded.

"Lay into 'em!" Captain Leopold yelled confidently. A spectacular amount of Tyranids fell, but it still wasn't enough. They were only a few dozen meters away. But again, my senses became acute. I heard the rapid pounding on machines. The ground shook and metal screeched together. Suddenly, 20 or so Tyranids were engulfed with flames from a heavy flamer. 30 or so more fell to the shriek of heavy bolters; the sentinels had arrived. The Tyranids became disoriented and the few that were left fell to sweeping las fire.

As my men and I got our bearings, we heard faint cheers from the troopers back at base. Soon the cheers spread to us, and the march back began. Instead of dodging trees and limbs in the jungle, we walked through the clearing. Hundreds of Tyranid corpses polluted the air with their scent. The Vox-caster in the Captain's squad was receiving and sending communications fast than I thought possible. I could hear the comm officer in the distance saying things like, "enemy neutralized" and "reporting six casualties". We got lucky this time, the whole regiment, but this was far from our last battle. The Emperor protects.

Sergeant Philip Conrad, 796th Cadian Combined Arms Regiment, 4th Company, 2nd Platoon

Testimony of the Myran Campaign, Day 8