Lieutenant Markus of the Ultramarines 4th Company looked upon the bunker full of wounded and scared humans and Faunus. His demi-company has been dispatched to help the local Remnant citizens evacuate in the wake of an encroaching Grimm horde. That was until he'd been separated from his Battle Brothers by a bomb planted upon a bridge by the damnable White Fang .He'd fallen into a ravine and, thanks to his power armour and unique Primaris physique, he'd come through without much more than a case of annoyance.That had been several hours ago.Since then, he'd discovered this old shelter full of injured refugees and...
"Huntress Ruby? Huntsman Jaune? Is that you?"
He saw a pair of grimy faces look at him and slowly register who it was."Lieutenant?" Was the reply from the former. A tint of relief in her tired voice.
She hobbled over, several blood stained bandages across her right leg and arm, leaning on a battered Crescent Rose for support. Jaune wasn't much better with a splint on his left leg."By the five hundred worlds... what happened?"
He knew that these Hunters and Huntresses were far tougher than they looked. Their strange powers giving them a sturdiness almost on par with his own power armor.
Almost.
"Ambush. Beowolves and Ursas caught us off guard as we were trying to evacuate these civilians. The others had left them to die." Anger, hot and intense, flashed in her silver eyes before she inhaled and continued. "There's a lot of sick people here. Old and young with a few orphans and the others just... left them."
He gingerly placed a gauntleted hand on her shoulder.
"You did well. Where are the others? Your sister?"
She smiled."They're all here. Battered and bruised and exhausted. Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, and Blake making sure there are no ways in from under us. Ren and Weiss are badly hurt. We got off fairly light... some of the people..."Tears welled in her eyes as the frustration of defeat showed itself.
Markus nodded. "You did well Huntress. Far more would have died had you not been here." She nodded in return and hobbled back to where she was before and slid back next to Jaune. Markus stepped back outside the old complex and tried to hail his brothers on the Vox again. Surprisingly, he got a response this time."Brother-Lieutenant? By the throne we thought we'd lost you." Replied Chaplain Bariel."Not quite Brother. I do have a situation however. Do you have a fix on my location?"
"Yes Brother. What is it you require?" The Lieutenant explained the situation to the Chaplain and sent his coordinates and upon cross referencing mapping from the flotilla above, they discovered that they weren't far. A half an hour away through the dense forest. The Lieutenant almost sighed a breath of relief before his helmet's auspex scanner began flashing a warning."Brother Chaplain. You'd better get here immediately. We have incoming... a lot of incoming. I will hold them as long as I can but you must rescue these people brother. Do you understand?" The Chaplain replied tersely and Markus could hear the Chaplain begin barking orders when he cut the link.
Markus stepped back inside the bunker and strode to Ruby as best as he could while not hitting his head on the low ceiling."Huntress Ruby... we have a situation." He said as low as his helmet would allow. This still got the attention of a few worried glances from those close enough to hear."He explained that the long range auspex had picked up the Grimm horde. And that same horde would be brought to their position like moths to a flame due to the despair nearly everyone felt."Huntress that door can hold... but not under that number of Grimm. Gather your teammates here. I will stay outside and-""NO!" He heard her almost yell. He was taken aback. It wasn't every day that a mortal told a member of the Emperor's own Angels of Death 'no'.If nothing else he admired her courage."You can't! They'll cut you to pieces! That's way too many Grimm!" She tried to get back to her feet, to fight, to protect those who couldn't face the Grimm head on but she fell, hissing as the deep lacerations on her leg protested the use of the limb."Ruby. Jaune." Markus began, while gingerly placing his hands upon her and Jaune's shoulders. "You are in no condition to fight. Your fighting strength is at 50% at best and your companions will be needed if the Grimm can overcome me."His blood red eye lenses betrayed nothing of his own thoughts. He would like nothing more than to fight alongside the quirky young mortals again. He'd found it quite fun. But he couldn't leave the civilians and the wounded at the mercy of the Grimm."Live. Both of you. Learn from today's mistakes and regain your honor. You both have more potential than you could dream of. But you must live." He rose and made for the door. It was then that the four able bodied hunters made it back up, weapons drawn, wondering what the commotion was. Yang's face lit up when she saw the deep blue of the Lieutenant's warplate."Markus!! We didn't know you were here!"
The Lieutenant smiled. These mortals never ceased to amaze and amuse him. He heard Ruby sniffle and began to close the heavy blast door."Waitwaitwait!! What's happening! Lieutenant!?" He heard the young blonde call as he closed and jammed the door behind him.After a few moments he heard Ruby explain what was happening and when she was finished, he heard Yang and Blake come to the window, panic in their voices."Lieutenant!? What are you doing?? Let us help you!" He unslung his bolt rifle and checked the magazine before ensuring a bolt was chambered."I cannot, Huntress Yang. You and yours are not in any shape to fight like this. I will hold them."Yang's temper was glaring and he could see her eyes turn scarlet red."YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW! MARKUS! YOU'LL NEVER SURVIVE! MARKUS!"He heard pounding on the reinforced steel door. He could hear the civilians start looking out the bunker windows to see the cause of the commotion."Huntress Yang. I will be fine." He said as he felt the ground begin to tremble. His auspex began picking up close range contacts. Then more. And more. And more still.The Lieutenant flicked the safety off on his bolt rifle and raised it, primed and ready.
The first Grimm to enter the valley's head explodes as the .75 caliber bolt penetrates and then detonates turning the fleet footed Beowulf's head into red mist and shrapnel.There were more though and the Space Marine was happy to distribute his rocket propelled death evenly among them.He felled them as quickly as they came at him, bolts exploding through chest cavities and heads. But still more cameHe reloaded and kept firing this time with short bursts. The foe was slowly getting closer with more and more beowolves coming through the wood line and towards their prize. He reloaded again, slamming the magazine home and charging the action before placing the muzzle into the mouth of the first beast to reach him and pulling the trigger. He was firing fully automatic now, sacrificing accuracy for volume as the horde arrived en mass.
Click.
He was empty again, but this time he only had time to eject the spent magazine before the Grimm were on him.The Beowulf lunged, teeth bared for the Space Marine, before a blue gauntlet smashed into its face and pulverized its skull. He slammed another magazine home and resumed firing. The bolts struck home with each report, bits of Grimm exploding from the corpses.Lieutenant Markus kept this up until his ninth, and final, magazine was empty. He was far from defenseless, however, he laid the trusted rifle on the ground before drawing his bolt pistol and the four foot long blade he kept at his side. The power sword shimmered with blue energy."COME FORTH FOUL BEASTS! I AM MARKUS OF THE ULTRAMARINES AND WHILE I STILL DRAW BREATH YOU SHALL NOT HARM A SINGLE SOUL BEHIND ME! COME TO ME AND DIE!" His challenge echoed across the valley as the vox amplifiers made his voice sound impossibly loud. The Grimm roared in return and charged all at once, hoping to crush the blue annoyance with sheer numbers."FOR GUILLIMAN! FOR ULTRAMAR!" He bellowed as he rushed forwards, purity seal papers rushing in the wind as he met the attackers. The ensuing fight was caught on no fewer than 8 scrolls recording from the bunker. What they saw was a whirlwind of blue in a vast sea of black.
There had to have been dozens of Grimm! If not a hundred or more!
But the Ultramarine stood firm, hacking and slashing and blasting and breaking the hated foe. With each swing of the power sword, a Beowolf or an Ursa were split in two and with each report of the bolt pistol, a Grimm fell over missing its head.
Somewhere in the maelstrom, an Ursa began to run for the bunker, hoping to get at the softer targets within. The crowd screamed as the devilish creature came within 20 feet of the bunker. But it suddenly fell backwards as if its hind legs had given out underneath it. It took the people inside a moment to register the towering blue knight had caught up to and cleaved the Ursa in half with a two handed, overhead strike."YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME INHUMAN FILTH! AS LONG AS I BREATHE YOU SHALL NOT SET A FOOT INSIDE THAT BUNKER!" The Primaris Space Marine hurled the bisected pieces of the Grimm at the nearest beast before drawing his pistol again and blasting several in the face.
Click.
He was out of ammo now. He holstered the pistol and drew his combat knife in a reverse grip. Lieutenant Markus' two hearts were hammering in his chest now, the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he slew and slew and slew some more. He would not allow these beasts near those people. H
e realize for a moment after beheading another Beowolf that he might even consider the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR friends. An Astartes! Having mortal friends! He laughed at the irony of discovering what friends were even as he was neck deep in Grimm and slowly taking more and more damage. His helmet's warning tunes kept informing him of the puncture wounds he'd been receiving. One in his abdomen was rather deep. He ignored the pain and kept cutting and slashing.
He could not fail.
He would not fail.
That was all that was on his mind until the world went blank for a few moments. He woke up a second later and several feet from where he had been. His helmet took another moment to correct his vision and when it did, he was staring into the eyes of an Ursa Alpha.
A big one.
The biggest he'd seen in the six months he'd been on the planet. The beast struck, attempting to behead the noble space marine with a single blow, and it could've, had he not moved. The Primaris Space Marine had lost his helmet though, the end of the Ursa's claw knocking it from the head of it's wearer. Markus rolled to his feet and hefted his sword. The knife had been lost but it was no matter.
They circled one another, one apex predator to another. One Angel of Death and one devil from the nightmares of man. They charged one another, the Ursa swept down, and Markus dove to the right. His power blade came up in the flash slicing the Ursa's arm from its body with such speed the beast didn't realize it was gone at first. This enraged the beast and it charged him, catching him off guard, and knocking him off his feet. The beast came down with crushing force, upon Markus's abdomen, where his armor was weaker, and ran the Lieutenant through with its savage claws. He let no more than a grunt escape his lips. Lieutenant Markus then rammed the power sword through the Ursa's skull before shoving the beast aside.
He stood, somewhat shakily. The wound was serious but not fatal, the blood was already clotting. He spat a bloody wad of spit onto the Alpha's dissolving corpse.
The forest was... eerily quiet now. But the Lieutenant's super human hearing was picking something up now.It sounded like a horse. A moment later a large Grimm, larger than the Ursa appeared.It has a horse body and it seemed to be... dragging a body behind it. The horse stopped and the Space Marine's senses told him to tense for the fight of his life. The top half of the creature sprang up in jerky motions as it looked for prey. It spotted the Ultramarine and let loose and yell that made Markus's skin crawl in disgust."YOU MEAN TO FRIGHTEN ME BEAST? I KNOW NO FEAR!" He answered with his own bellowing warcry and charged at the beast, dodging swings from its huge, spindly arms as he ran. One arm was intercepted by his power blade and the beast screamed as the pain of losing an arm registered to it. The sonic blast caught the Lieutenant off guard just long enough for the beast to impale the space marine through his damaged abdominal plate.
He truly yelled now as the pain lanced through his whole body. The pain was so intense he dropped his sword and struggled to pull himself free as the beast hauled him into the air.The giant Nuckelavee brought the mortally wounded marine to its face and bellowed a victorious screech, Hoping to elicit some small amount of fear from this hated foe. All it saw were defiant blue eyes to match its own rage tinted red eyes.
The Lieutenant used the last of his strength to perform one last act of defiance. As the creature was likely preparing to split him in half, the Space Marine drew back and punched the creature as hard as he could. The blow stunned the beast just long enough for him to prime the krak grenade he'd had in his grip and shove it into the beast's gaping maw. The top half of the hated creature exploded moments later as the armor piercing shaped charge blew the damned thing in half.
Markus fell to the ground with the beast's hand still impaling him. He grunted and pulled the offending protrusion free and very shakily got to his feet. There were still and handful of beowolves In the field of dissolving black. But they weren't coming. Markus found his sword and stood over the body of the horselike Grimm, blood pouring from his ruined abdomen."IS THIS WAS PASSES FOR FURY AMONG YOUR MISBEGOTTEN KIND!?" He never got the answer.
The Grimm never knew what hit them.
They had no time to react to the two Inceptor squads landing in their midst and blasting half a dozen of them into atoms with their plasma weapons. More gunfire erupted as he heard the telltale signs of a Repulsor cutting loose with its Gatling cannons and grenade launchers on whatever Grimm were left in the valley.
Lieutenant Markus finally fell to one knee. Using his blade to steady himself he looked back to the bunker and smiled weakly as Yang finally blasted through the door and the Huntsmen and Huntresses rushed over to him. Even Ren and Weiss struggled over to him as fast as their blood stained bandages would permit.
He collapsed onto his back as soon as Ruby got to him."Nononononono!" She shrieked as tears were streaming down her face."Don't you die on us! HEY YOU GUYS! YOUR FRIEND IS HURT! GET A MEDIC!" He vaguely heard Jaune yelling to the first Intercessors to break through the wood line. Markus felt his vision darkening around the edges as his blood poured onto the green grass. He knew he wasn't much longer for this world. But something still confused him."Huntress... Ruby... w-why do you and your companions weep?" He managed rather hoarsely.
She looked puzzled so he went on. "Do.. do not weep for me. I have done my duty Ruby. Look. Not a single one of those bastards made it to the door." Markus coughed up some more blood and Jaune called desperately for a 'medic' yet again. And this time he heard the steady whooshing of the Repulsor much nearer as the door slammed open on the troop compartment. He felt the cold blackness washing over him as the Apothecary rushed over attempt to save his life."O-only in death... does duty... end." He managed as he passed on.
