Journal Entry

Conquest of Adraxinus VII, Day 6:

I feel like things are slowly beginning to sink down from bad to worse in the conquest. I know there's something out there, hunting us. I can feel its eyes on me every waking moment, staring at me mockingly, laughing at every single twitch I make. I know it's dangerous, because of what happened to first squad. I hate them for what they did to first squad. Yet, how can I hate what I cannot see? How can I shoot what's not there? How can I track that which walks unseen and unheard through the now still heart of the jungle?

So many questions like these spin through my head. One thought, however, remains ever constant: no matter what happens, the Emperor will reveal all the answers to me in time. Only through keeping my faith in him do I ensure that I will be able to strike with righteous fury upon those who wrong us. I constantly remind myself (and those around me) of those same words, that same shining truth that led us to venture above the canopies of the jungle of Catachan, to fight for our beloved Emperor.

There are some good things that have come to pass, make no mistake. The squad received one of the requested Sentinel walkers today. As I am the squads scout, I was put in charge of driving the Sentinel. It's brand new, too, so it handled beautifully as I took it for a spin around the edge of the crater. As I pushed the walkers speed to its limits, I could see Marcula and Taurus cheering me on from the sidelines.

Marcula, Taurus, and I have become very close in the last few days following the impact. Our experiences in the jungle either during Guardsmen Training (in the case of Marcula), or during our time on Adraxinus VII (in the case of Taurus) have brought us together not only as friends, but as brothers. Those two together . . . I swear, I would trust my life to them in the face of a Tyranid invasion, if such was the case. We spend a lot of time together, either on watch or around the fire, and I have gotten to know them extremely well.

Marcula, for all his love of wanton destruction and pyrotechnics, is a gourmet when it comes to cooking. He has been able to take one of my day rations, whip out some herbs he keeps stored in one of his old mess tins, put the two together, cook them out over the open fire for about five minutes, and then present it as an incredibly fine dish. Let me tell you, I have never tasted its equal. I think, if he put his mind to it, Marcula could take a stick, and make it satisfying. Ironically, I found it surprising that this love of cooking was no surprise to me at all. It's like I'd been expecting it.

Taurus, on the other hand, has been a complete surprise. He uses his Catachan knives to sculpt much more than flesh. He sculpts wood totems in his spare time. Whenever he is off duty (which is a rarity due to recent events), he is always sitting inside the crater, a chunk of wood and small knife in his hand, carving away. His meticulous attention to detail, given to his traps, carries over into his artwork, with every scratch and indention done with a purpose. He is truly an artistic warrior.

According to them, what draws them to me is my loyalty and speaking ability. Marcula once commented on my speaking, saying that I could convince an avalanche to turn and attack the enemies of the Emperor with little or no difficulty. Taurus, a man who is usually quite quiet, told me that he would follow me anywhere, and that I should have become a Comissar. The thought has stuck with me. What would happen if I was a Comissar? Would my men follow me? The Catachan Jungle Fighters have been known to frag many of their superior officers. For a fellow Catachan to say he would follow me if I was a Comissar . . . well, I'll hold onto that thought.

There have been more problems in the jungle. The retrieval teams sent after the first and second squad haven't returned, making my squad the last of the Catachan Devils regiment deployed on Adraxinus VII. The comissars and commanders on the Doombringer have begun a full-scale landing onto the surface, mostly due to the urgings of the astropaths and a strategic need to secure the planet. With the loss of two retrieval teams, and two squads of Catachan Devils, command has realized that it has a problem that it cannot ignore. The shadows seem to be closing in for the kill now. We're the last ones left, the last beasts left to kill. Yet, in the name of the holy Emperor himself, it will be a fight to remember.

Well, that's all I really have for today. I need to go. I'm on first watch again and I shouldn't keep my friends . . . wait a minute, I think I heard some thing . . . aw hell, INCOMING! OPEN FI-(log cuts off here)