Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 - Faction Wars 2021 | Space Marines vs Chaos Space Marines #4

Описание: An Imperial citizen is jolted awake by the sound of unearthly gunfire, scattered ruins of the vast Administratum building in which he toiled lay around him. He manages to get to his feet and limp through the smoke as his lungs heave against bruised ribs, trying to breathe amongst the toxic smoke.

War had come to this world, but the Planetary Governor assured inhabitants of the affluent Estia Province that no alien or heretic would reach their borders. He was wrong. War descended like an infinite shadow in what seemed like moments. Alarms had barely sounded when the ground began to shake to the impacts of a weapon none of the workers even knew the existence of. The beginnings of screams began to form in the mouths of all around him when his vision darkened.

The clouded memory was shaken from his mind as he pressed on, able to see the remnants of daylight ahead of him. His father was an Adeptus Arbite, and the citizen almost became one himself. Confident with a weapon in his hands, he took hold of a dust-covered lasgun nearby. There was no sign of the PDF soldier who had once wielded it.

The muffled sounds of warfare began to become clearer as he continued towards the light. It did not sound like the warfare from the famous stories of giant armoured angels that defend humanity, but one of chaos and other-worldly noise that he could not begin to guess the source of. What sounded like a cacophony of screams would dance around the edges of his hearing and then pass, only to rise again. The ground beneath his feet shuddered with the steps of something impossibly large, and the roars of what sounded like feral beasts invaded his ears and triggered an instinctive response of uncontrollable fear until they passed.

The ruins finally cleared and the brave Imperial citizen stepped out into the dim light of day, though what day he had no idea. He could see nothing of what he remembered; the roads he travelled to work were nothing more than chewed up ceramite and stone, and none of the surrounding buildings were standing. After this moment of realisation, the sounds of war rushed back into his senses.

Through the thick smoke he saw what looked like an armoured giant. Was this one of the angels of legend? He called out, but his voice made no impact against the surrounding mayhem. The armoured giant stopped, weapon ready and scanned his surroundings. His movements almost mechanical in their execution; the movements of a warrior with centuries of training. The armoured giant was then joined by another, and the citizen managed a weak smile at the sight of these mighty angels.

The citizen continued on through a warzone that went against everything he thought was possible. Humanity was doomed, he thought. He'd seen things as he limped through rubble and corpses that nothing could possibly protect humanity from, he was sure. Then he heard it, the thud of heavy footsteps closed in quicker than he could move. He heard the screeches of what sounded like tortured machines, mixed with the guttural roars of giant beasts.

The heavy footfalls were now upon him, and he ducked behind a pillar. Peering out, he saw more armoured giants, but instead of a feeling of hope, it was one of dread. Their armour was covered in iconography that made him ill to look upon, and he could see what looked like human skin stretched between their spiked pauldrons. These giants of dread, four of them, barked at each other in what sounded like static-filled noise mixed with deep growls. He could understand none of it, and could not stand to look at them any longer. He got down and sat with his back against the pillar, and heard more communicative barks from these giant.... things.

Those same heavy footfalls now unmistakably ventured towards him. He closed his eyes, praying to the God-Emperor that they would stop. They did. He opened his eyes again, breathing heavily and his heart racing, but something was wrong. He sensed a taint on the air. He could taste it in his mouth and feel it in his stomach, while what seemed like a million voices whispered in his mind. The whispers were filled with hate, and were carried upon a sea of vast power that tempted him.

The citizen then realised that he was not alone. With the echoing sounds of a million whispers still swirling around his psyche, he looked to his right and gazed upon an armoured giant of dread. Fear gripped him, and any thought of reaching for his lasgun was quenched by the dark power that emanated from whatever it was that stood before him. The voices in his mind droned louder, scratching at the edges of his sanity. He wanted to scream, to try and release some of what was now festering within him. Before he could open his mouth, the dread giant lifted its ancient weapon and fired.

The nameless citizen's body was torn in two by the mass-reactive rounds. A brief quiet followed, marking the death of one of billions of Imperial citizens that would die that day in a war none of them understood.