I searched for survivors, but found none. All the people I recognized were dead and in pieces. No one survived. I alone stood in a field of endless corpses, picked apart by the local carrion. Those I did not recognize, I simply absorbed into myself, adding their raw biomass into my already rather large collection. The others, those I did recognize, I offered prayers so that the God Emperor would accept their souls into his fold so that they may be remade into his soldiers in the realm eternal. They died bravely; our lord would not abandon them.
However, I couldn't do so for every single corpse; there were likely hundreds of millions here and I did not want to waste my time absorbing and praying for all of them. So, I absorbed as much as I can until I accumulated around 5000 kg of raw biomass, before moving on. My goal was to search for the old base camp. I didn't think it still stood, but it couldn't hurt to try.

I also picked up as much equipment as I could salvage, which added up to 200 frag grenades, 130 charge packs, 50 spare lasguns, and a bunch of lamp packs and fire starters. The infinite space was truly a marvel; if I could, I'd try to fit a Baneblade in there, just to see if it was possible. Wouldn't that be a sight to behold? I've only ever seen a Baneblade once; its presence was enough to turn the tide of any battle. I wish we had one during the charge; that might've changed things for the better, but the past was neither here nor there and I had only to worry for the future.

I still had a single quest active as I made my way through the desolate battlefield, the one that told me to find out what exactly happened to the planet; I had a pretty good idea, but I needed confirmation before I could conclude anything. What I knew for certain was that the armies of the dark powers had spilled through the portal and was likely engaging the rest of the planetary defense forces. The ground was covered in so many corpses that I couldn't actually see the soil anymore. All was red and rotting flesh, the cadavers of the men and women who served in the guard with me, for the Emperor, for humanity.

The base camp was located roughly five miles south of my current position. I spotted no hostile forces, but I still did my best to remain as inconspicuous as possible, using the massive and hulking forms of the ruined war machines and structures to obscure myself as I walked. If there were any enemies, then I'd at least be in a secure position to defend myself from, even if I was rather certain that I was mostly alone.

The silence was almost deafening in its intensity. At all times, I felt as though there were eyes following, things hiding in the distance, far from sight, but I could never find anyone or anything following me. But, I could do very little against an enemy I couldn't see and neither was it tactically sound to start shooting everywhere. So, I did the only thing I could do, which was to keep pushing forward.

Praise the God Emperor, I reached the base camp unharmed – or, more accurately, I reached the tattered remains of what used to be our camp. HQ was... just gone, alongside the barracks and the mess hall. The armored vehicles were destroyed and everywhere I looked I saw the corpses of my comrades, my brothers and sisters in arms. I uttered a quick prayer to the God Emperor as I passed them. With the HQ gone... I... didn't have the slightest clue on where to go or where to look for answers. My immediate thought was to make the long journey to the nearby Hive City of Kuresh, which was the largest in Praxtor. It should still be standing – hopefully.

The city's defenses, last I saw, was formidable, having repelled numerous Greenskin invasions over the last thousand years. The land outside the Hive City was a long stretch of blasted craters and fetid swamps of irradiated waters. Atop the walls and battlements were rows upon rows of artillery emplacements, millions of Earthshaker Cannons, Heavy Mortars, Hydra Anti-Aircraft Platforms, and that wasn't even taking into account the Armored Vehicles they had available and the void shields that formed a dome over the city. Hopefully, I prayed, Kuresh still stood, still fought, and still remained undaunted. But, I had to get there to find out and, really, I wasn't sure if I there was anything I could do to stem the tide.

Even with my newfound abilities and strange powers, I was but one man – not even one of his Avenging Angels. I was just a guardsman and not even one with a rank, because I didn't have even that; if I had truly died on that battlefield, then no one would remember me. I had no family and all my friends were dead. I was no one – nameless, just another one of the trillions of brave men and women who died to fuel the Imperium's machine of war. And it would've been a good death. Still, the fact remained that, if the war against the Ruinous Powers still raged, there was little I could do.

And yet, I was a loyal servant of the Imperium and the God Emperor; if I had to die a second time, then so be it.

Though, unless my head was truly and utterly vaporized, then I knew that I couldn't actually die. As long as the tiniest sliver of my brain survived, then I would be able to simply rebuild this body of mine using my biomass deposits and fight once more; my Inventory, seemingly infinite as it was, would grant me a large supply of weapons and equipment that I could draw on as many times as needed. I was a small army onto myself and that, I suppose, counted for something. That said, I'd have to be really careful with my head, at least.

Seeing as there was little more to do in the ruined base camp, aside from moving on. Before that, however, I decided to scavenge for more supplies and, again, found more Lasguns and Frag Grenades. This time, however, hidden away underneath a layer of dust and debris, was a stash of Plasma Grenades – lethal and incredibly destructive, capable of killing even the most heavily armored of foes, including Traitor Astartes if used right. A Cadian Shocktrooper once demonstrated how that was to be done, running up to the Traitorous Astartes and shoving the plasma grenade in a small gap between their helmet and breastplate; I don't think anyone in my regiment actually took it seriously. It wasn't that anyone thought the Cadian was a charlatan, no; it was a simple fact that no one in our regiment was even remotely capable of performing such a maneuver.

There were ten plasma grenades and I placed each one inside my Inventory.

I checked for more, but I found none – at least, none worth taking. I had no use for broken equipment and all the vehicles were either looted or destroyed, which meant I had little use for them. I also couldn't, as it turned out, send broken and useless objects into my Inventory; when or if I tried to do so, a warning would pop out, telling me I am yet incapable of turning scrap into Raw Matter. However, I wasn't sure what that meant, exactly. So, I moved on and walked off. There was nothing left for me in this place. My only hope now was to head to Kuresh and see, for myself, if the Hive City still stood.

As I stepped out of the ruined base, however, I immediately became aware of something following me – closer, this time, than before, because I definitely heard its footsteps. So, I wasn't alone as I'd first assumed. There were eyes that watched my every move; I was just foolish enough to think I could move unseen. But, I was stronger now. I breathed in and held my Lasgun tightly and securely, making sure I was fully capable of turning and firing at a moment's notice should something emerge from the ruins around me.

Nothing did.

I heard the footsteps, of course, but I wasn't sure where it came from, exactly; at times, it felt as though it came from everywhere at once.

Still, I pushed on, passing by the remains of a Leman Russ Tank, its side carved open and its crew slaughtered to the last. There was a foul smell in the air, but not one I could identify immediately; it stood out from the smell of rot, smoke, and blood. I breathed in again and scowled – sickly sweet, like a room suffused with perfumes and waxes and fragrant flowers, too much and too potent. The source of the scent, I concluded, was definitely of unnatural origin; if I had to guess, then I was likely dealing with a spawn of the Ruinous Forces.

I scowled further. The old ones often spoke of battlefields that quickly became bloodbaths whenever accursed daemons breached the material realm – Incursions, they were called. I've never met or fought a daemon before, but I trusted myself, my Lasgun, and – most importantly – I trusted the God Emperor not to lead me to defeat. I would not lose against a demon.

Just as the thought passed through my head, a figure leapt from atop the Leman Russ Tank and landed next to me. I turned and beheld a slender, feminine figure with purple skin and pincers for hands. Its face was vaguely humanoid, but it had no nose and its eyes were black and soulless. It was an ugly creature – a mockery of the perfection of the human form. It had to die. I roared and then, in the next instance, my right arm was just... gone, disappearing in an explosion of blood, much to the hideous creature's amusement as it laughed and moaned as my vitae washed over it.

My eyes widened as my Lasgun fell to the ground.

This thing was... fast.

Its laughter continued, even as it stared it me, grinning, revealing its sharp and needle-like teeth.

I felt it like it wanted to say something, but I didn't give it any time to do so. Instead, I drew a combat knife from my Inventory and jammed the weapon right into its exposed face, which – I figured – must've surprised it, because the foul creature did not avoid the strike, despite its speed. Its black eyes widened as the combat knife found its way into its forehead; I pushed and buried it deep into its brain. I scowled and spat blood at it. "Foul daemon, I will-"

A brief flash and, just like that, my other arm disappeared.

My eyes widened as I briefly glanced at the bloody stump of ruined bone and flesh.

Ah, damn it.

The daemon laughed as it held up my other arm, which it gripped with its pincer.

It was still alive.

The damn thing was still alive, despite the knife I'd jammed right into its brain.

Actually, did it even have one?

"What are you going to do next, human?" The daemon chuckled, reaching up with its free hand, which it used to grab the combat knife by its handle and pulled it right off. And I saw that I'd barely left a wound. And the wound that I did inflict closed rapidly. The daemon tossed the weapon away. "Oh, that's right; you can't do anything, can you?"

I stared blankly at the creature. Right, I should regrow my lost limbs, I suppose; I knew how to do that and, more importantly, I knew how to do it quicly. And I noted the exact moment its amusement faded and a mask of confusion fell over its hideous face. "You're not screaming in pain. You've lost more blood that most humans have in their bodies and yet... what are you?"

I did not deign the foul thing with a reply. Instead, I instantly regrew both of my arms, spending some fifty kilograms' worth of Biomass. And, as my hands reformed, I willed forth a plasma grenade from my Inventory and quickly activated it. The daemon's eyes widened with even more confusion. All the amusement was gone, replaced by... an emotion I could not quite place. Still, the momentary daze that befell the creature gave me enough time to rush forward with the grenade and slam it right into the daemon's chest. As I did, I willed forth as many lamp packs in front of my head as I could. The plasma grenade detonated and both the daemon and I were engulfed in a small storm of plasma. I don't know what happened to it, exactly, all I heard was its scream of pain and... pleasure, but I knew what happened to me; most of my torso was effectively burnt to a crisp and turned to ashes, alongside my arms. Honestly, nearly every part of me, including my face, disappeared in the fire that followed.

However, the fact that I was conscious through all of that meant that I'd survived, even if I'd essentially witnessed my self immolation, through plasma grenade.

I landed somewhere a bit far away. Whatever the case, I quickly remade my body from scratch, using up a hundred kilograms of Biomass as I did. I got up, naked, and quickly got another Lasgun from my Inventory. I surveyed the burnt and smoking remains of the spot on the ground that lay a few meters in front of me, right next to the Leman Russ tank. I even saw some of my own burnt body parts. What I did not see, however, was the daemon's corpse.

My eyes narrowed.

Where is it?

"How dare you?!" I fell as I took a step forward. And I quickly realized that my legs were... gone. Actually, no, the daemon bisected me.
I turned and held my finger down on the Lasgun's trigger, unleashing a stream upon the purple-skinned daemon... well... some of its skin was purple. Most of it, starting from its chest, where I'd slammed the plasma grenade into, was burnt black, including half of its hideous face. It was also holding up the lower half of my body, seemingly unperturbed by the lasgun blasts that burned holes across its horrid form – holes that were beginning to close, but slowly. It was weakened. It was also furious. "I am an Alluress! How dare you mar the perfection of my form?!"

Despite its rage, however, the daemon approached me with some caution. "What manner of creature are you? Not even a perpetual heals as fast as you do."

"Be quiet, ruinous spawn; I have no wish to listen to your voice!" I decided to go against the Guardsman's Rulebook and overcharged my Lasgun by setting it to its maximum output, which was a good way to turn a Lasgun into a live grenade, which it did become as soon as I did that. My fingers burned and my skin melted and I knew I had a moment at best, before it exploded. So, I threw it right at the Daemon, who – for some odd reason – dropped my lower body and caught the gun. It hissed in pain, right before the Lasgun exploded and blasted apart both of its arms and most of its chest. The explosion sent it hurling, set ablaze as it crashed into a bunch of debris, screaming as it did.

I was far enough away that the explosion only sent a bunch of shrapnel that bored several holes across my body – holes that I quickly sealed shut as I reconstituted my lower body, spending around sixty kilograms of Biomass. I then stood up and reabsorbed what little remained of my other lower body, though there wasn't really much of it, since it was exposed to the explosion.

Speaking of which.

I drew a frag grenade, pulled its pin, and tossed it right where the daemon landed.