Chapter 5
"Bring it down, bring it down!"
At the edge of the plateau, Sanguinius is leading his troops in a fierce battle against the Fremen forces. They are facing a colossal sandworm that towers over them, measuring hundreds of meters in length and at least 30 meters in height. The creature's strong scent of cinnamon can be detected even through their helmets. Despite using all their weapons, including bolters, lasguns, flamethrowers, plasma weapons, and ion cannons, they are unable to penetrate the sandworm's armor. Sanguinius guides his troops by pointing out the spot he wants them to hit with his flaming sword.
"The edge of the mouth! The edge!" He yells. The thing has 4 mouth openings, all coming together in one big opening filled with teeth, what the Fremen call Kris. Its mouth is the only weak spot they can find. They have to do it quickly before it goes back under the sand where it is invulnerable.
If they concentrate power they can tear its skin at the edge of the mouth and then chuck grenades at it until one stays put at the wound. Then, it won't submerge anymore, and they can finish it off.
It is tough to do, but they did it before.
"Keep at it! Lasguns. Fire Missiles!" He yells. They have set up quick missile batteries at certain strategic points around the plateau, which is now almost 90 percent in their hands. All they have to take is the city, still occupied by the Sardaukar, to protect their Emperor.
This Emperor has asked to parlay multiple times but they ignored it all. He has to die.
Sanguinius notices a wound appearing on the worm.
"Good. Suppressive fire!" He yells as multiple Astartes start throwing grenades. The Imperial Fists at his disposal are the best at getting close to the thing and harassing it with krak grenades whilst his own Blood Angels keep laying suppressive fire and the Thousands Sons stand at the rear operating turrets and using psyker powers to control the surroundings, keeping an eye out for Fremen ambushes or worm sign.
"It is hurt!" He hears First Captain Raldoron of the Blood Angels say. It is true, they managed to blow a hole in its mouth and it has become sluggish and sporadic.
"Concentrate fire!" Sanguinius yells, now loading an ion cannon himself to fire on the thing. They have to take it down quickly because it can still bury under. Sanguinius fires the ion cannon, a hit! The ion pulse rips through the side of the worm and tears apart its armor in a wide gap. Quickly the Blood Angels cross the dune to the side of the creature to blast it with lasgun and bolter fire whilst the Imperial Fists turn to their frag grenades to finish it off.
At that moment a Fremen surprise attack hits them from all sides. Fremen warriors pop up from the sand all over the place, amid their formation here at the edge of the plateau.
"Down, down! Keep fire on the worm!" Sanguinius yells as he cuts through Fremen unlucky enough to emerge from the sand within his arm's reach. The Thousand Sons warriors come quickly to the aid of the primarch with chain swords and warpflamers, cutting the Fremen down and moving up towards the front.
The Fremen warriors quickly disappear as the worm gives its last scream, a high-pitched noise sending shivers down the spine of even the primarch. Then it is motionless.
"What a monstrous creature! Glory to the Emperor!" Yells Thousand Sons Chaplain Laudren Thalarn exuberantly. Sanguinius nods, bowing his head for his Father. Glory to Him indeed.
"This one is bigger than the last one we killed." He continues as he stands next to Sanguinius. The creature is dead now, the Astartes are scrambling around it, cheering.
"I can't believe these things evolved naturally on this planet," Laudren says. Sanguinius kneels and shakes his head. No, probably some genetic engineering was involved. Perhaps this heretic empire did it, something... Sanguinius stands up and walks back to the camp.
"Dissect this one too, start with the head. I'll be at the surgeon." He says, not waiting for a reply. He takes long and strong strides back to the camp, saluting space marines as they pass with lasguns and chain swords ready to start the dissecting. He walked towards the research station, one of the bigger tents in the camp, beside the command center.
To enter you have to go through multiple decontamination rooms. Once sterile, he enters the clean room where surgeons, tech-priests, and apothecaries are working on the body of the first worm they killed.
"How is the research going?" He asks promptly as he enters, ignoring the servitor robots trying to hand him gloves, an apron, and a gas mask. Sanguinius doesn't take off his helmet though, not here, not on this planet. He has ordered all Astartes to do the same. The apothecary brother Corbulo stands at attention.
"Sire! The creature is hard to dissect, its outer skin is nearly impenetrable, but even the flesh inside is very tough, we are using lasguns to cut through and we keep burning them out. However, we did manage to isolate some internal organs and the working of its breathing and circulation are coming into view." He says.
"I am aware of the toughness of its skin, apothecary. We have managed to kill another one just now, ready for dissection. You will be getting more samples quickly. However, I am not interested in its breathing or circulation, right now I want you to focus on its digestive system." Sanguinius asks.
"Well, it is carbon-based. We suspect it filters sand, catching protein, essential elements, and water its body needs to..." The apothecary says but is interrupted by the Primarch.
"I'm not interested in what nutrients it takes in either, I want to know what the digestive system is capable of. I want to know if there is a connection, with the spice melange." He says. The apothecary is silent for a moment. He nods slightly.
"Its digestive system is vast, complex. They do filter sand through their hide. They take in a lot from that, but it is possible of course they can excrete something with the same process. Yes, I will look into this." He says.
"I'm quite sure about this, brother Corbulo. The Sandworms make the spice melange. And I feel the spice is the link that we need to explain the exceptionally strong presence of chaos here." Sanguinius says. The apothecary looks shocked.
"The spice. You mean. The sandworms are..." The apothecary's puzzlement is clear. Sanguinius nods.
"Yes, the sandworms may be in league with the ruinous powers." He says. He thinks this through more. He must consult with Father. His knowledge of the forces of Chaos is unprecedented. He shields His sons from it as much as He can, though He can't keep a lock on it for them. If they want to research the warp they can. Sanguinius himself hasn't felt the urge much. Not as much as Lorgar or Magnus. Rogal's interest is exactly zero.
But what do they really know? How can it be, that something material can be... Heretical? It puzzles Sanguinius, but Father must know, He must at least be made aware.
"I must talk to Horus." He says and leaves the tent to go to the command tent where Horus is coordinating all the surface action.
"He is in a meeting." An Astartes guard says as Sanguinius leaves. Sanguinius looks surprised. With who? Must be a parlay with the supposed brother. Paul Atreides. Hm, he will wait outside and size him up as he leaves. He can't deny he is excited to find out if this Paul is really one of them.