The Sargent stepped making his way through the densely packed jungle brush his squad not far behind, the jungle night was humid and warm and the men of Storm Trooper Platoon-D14 were unusually anxious as they trekked forward deeper into the dark expanses of ths jungle.
The temple grounds a hive of activity as cultist rushed to and forth preparing for the sinister ritual being enacted this night.
"Work faster you welps! The dark gods will not provide for those who do not sacrifice themselves in return!" a watch master howled as he whipped the the mass of slaves as they depreately dragged unholy monuments into place.
" Soon my dear," Balphor whispered into the girl's ear. " You will serve your true masters yet." He assured as he pointed out to her a slab of thick stone next to his alter.
" Boss wheres this path leadin us?" Prim asked already bored from playing follow the lead in the hot jungle night.
" Wherever the Emperor needs us Prim," Shail stated plainly as he stepped over a fallen tree trunk. " Supreme Command however, wants us radio silent and buttoned up until we get there."
" Whats that supposed ta mean?" Prim questioned as he brushed away predatory insect intent on feasting on his life blood.
" It means stay quiet before every able man in the valley hears you Prim." Dalax pressed into the younger trooper as he shoved him forward.
The heretics now began to mass before Balphor's alter hollering and raging at his very presence, The turncoat preacher served as a conduit for the dark loards bidding. He raised his hand to the crowd and they embraced him as only chem-fueled psychopathic heretics took.
" Bring forth the sacrifice!" Balphor called forth ready to begin the ceremony,
" Am I really seeing this Sarge?" Dalax questioned as he stared into the the dark ceremony.
" I dont know what to make of it, all i know is those are imperial citizen" Shail stated as he stared into the eyes of the cage of slaves.
Balphor unwraps his sacred blade and holds it up for all to see as the girl is chained to the slab. The blade itself curves like a serpent, constructed of a dark alloy and dripping with some type of foul poison. The crowd went estatic as he turned and raised his arms to plunge id deep into the her abdomen.
" Now!" Shail yelled as he rose from the jungles under brush firing his hell pistol into the crowd of cultist, " Cut them turncoat bastards down!"
" Servents of the false Emperor! Slaughter them!"
The two forces smashed into one another meeting with combat blades rifles and pistols. Shail broke from the melee and made it to Balphor's alter the preacher dting behind it his knife deep inside him " Have you ever gazed upon this planet's moom sargent?" he manages through gritted teeth. "Upon any other night its alabaster lumanious would saturate the valley, but on this night. Now that the blood of the innocent and wicked has been spilled. It has adopted the color of its prisoner!"
A beastial roar filled the air within the ruins of the temple, Shail whipped around to find that a ominous shadow had casted out the eerie red wash the moon casted onto the battle. Frightened to his core the officer peered up to catch a glimps of what had been unshackled.
" Daemon! Run for it!" A guardsman shouted as the hulking bloodthirster, greater deamon of Khorne circled above toying with its prey below.
In one foul swoop the monstrous creature dived down, gathering tremendous speed the enraged beast crashed into the blood soaked stone floor of the ruins crushing guardsman and cultist alike with little care.
" Yes! Rise mighty servant of Khorne!" Balphor cried as bloodied dribble leaked from the corners of his maw
The feroicous bloodthirster rose to its cloven feet, clad in warp twisted brass armour and rippling with immensely grotesque muscles, the enraged beast stomped forward wielding an immense blood caked axe. The Sargent watch agaust with disgust as the greater daemon of Khorne marched into combat ripping and lashing out at ally and foe alike, soon the jungle floor would soon rival that of the moon that watched over it.
" We can't hold it! its too much!" A storm trooper cried out just before falling victim to the bloodthirster's unending fury, effortlessly cleved into two where he once stood.
The Sargent took up aim with his hell pistol and fired into the beast attempting to wound it, the attack only served to anger the collosal monster further as it now set it's gaze on Shail. The hulking daemon let out a blood chilling roar and openned it's thick leathery wings. In moments the huge wings snapped back proppeling the bloodlusting monster forward and throwing those unlucky enough to be standing behind it into the air. Shail threw his pistol aside and dived off the alter narrowly escaping death as the bloodthirster landed shoulder first, pulverising all in it's path of blood soaked destruction. Not pleased with failing to crush the officer the daemon slammed it's clenched fist down fracturing the thick slabs of stone that made up the alter.
" Yes! Servant of Khorne you serve your master most graciously!" Balphor coughed as he stood himself up in the presences of the monstrocity he succeeded in releasing.
The greater daemon of Khorne set its gaze on the cackling deviant quickly snatching him up within its titanic fist, the monstrous daemon easily dwarfed the feeble preacher as it brought him closer to be further analysed. Shail quickly scurried beneath the alter desperately trying to escape the daemon's fury, in all the years of service he sacrificed to the Emperor he had never once encountered something so immensely violent.
" Your master sent me here to release you from your prison the false Emperor entombed you in millenia ago!" Balphor boasted to the daemon, " We can share the glory of taking this world together now."
The statement quickly enraged the mighty bloodthirster, the thought of sharing glory with an impure human such as the one being held in its clenched hand was vile. In the bloodthirster's eyes humans only served one purpose well in the eyes of the dark gods. If there was any glory Balphor was to be given it was in the form of a sacrifice in the name of the blood god Khorne. The daemon crushed Balphor in his grasp, the cultist's body bursting into bloody pulp within its fist.
The bloodthirster tossed Balphor's remains aside, its hand now slicked with the blood, it quickly caught the scent of familiar prey. The greater daemon of Khorne raised its blood caked axe and with tremendous hate fueled fury brought it down onto the alter. The thick slabes of rock did little to hold back the terrifying might of the bloodthirster as it shattered beneath the titanic blow. The axe blade narrowly missed Shail as he now scrambled to get from under the alter lest he be crushed by the heavy stones that make it, or worse suffer an end like Balphor's. The storm trooper's cowardice only enticed the daemon more who now outstreched it's wings yet again and took to the sky once more at a break neck pace.
Shail pushed himself from underneath the alter and staggered to his feet back in the direction of his men, suddenly the mighty daemon screamed back to earth crashing into the alter leveling it, the force of the impact throwing Shail forward and kicking up a thick plume of smoke.
" Sargent!" Dalax shouted as he helped Shail back to his feet " Sarge we gotta get out of here!"
Dazed by the impact of the daemon falling to earth Shail blankly stared at his men, his senses still recooperating from the trauma. " What of the men?" He managed through his dream like state of being
" I rallied the survivors Sarge now we gotta get far away from here and report what we found!" Dalax barked at his half-conscious officer.
Shail forced himself to stand despite his muscles advising otherwise, as he did a deathly battle howl called out from within the plume of dust and smoke.
" No Dalax," Shail managed as he spat a mixture of blood and salvia that had began to pool in his mouth, " We can't run, If we are to die here then we do so fighting the Emperor's most hated of enemies. There is no greater honor."
Dalax silently accepted his Sargent's final order as did the rest of the survivors of Storm Trooper Platoon-D14, as they readied themselves for battle, fixing bayonets and checking their hell-rifle power cells. Of the sixty stoic and hardened men that originally assaulted the temple ruins, now only thirty four prepared themselves to face the daemon. The bloodthirster slowly emerged from the disepating dust cloud wreathed in black fire, sighting the broken remains of the storm trooper formation challenging him at the other end of the temple ruins. The snarling bloodthirster outstrerched it's wings and raised it's mighty axe, letting out a deafening howl. Shail drew his trusted combat blade from its shealth on his shoulder and prepared to die.
" Steady men," he comforted, " We die for the Emperor, He is our savior and protector."
The bloodthirster lunged forward, its giant leathery wings propelling in forward at inhuman speed. Before the storm troopers knew what was happening the monstrous beast was already crashing into their ranks, crushing and cleaving the men around it. Shail lashed out onto the bloodthirster's back and quickly scaling the titanic monstrocity untill he was clinging to its shoulders. The bloodthirster bucked and yanked the officer in every which direction as it continued to rip apart the storm troopers closest to it, Shail plunged his combat blade into the daemon's neck again and again each time more ichor poured forth. The bloodthirster cared little though, its all consuming rage doing well to cover up the fact that it was being wounded. Dalax emptied the energy cell in his hell-rifle and then tossed it aside, yanking his combat blade from it's shealth and joining the bloody melee.
The daemon's enhanced senses caught on to Dalax instantaniously as it turned to meet the storm trooper and swatted him into one of the few pillars still standing in the ruins. Shail wrestled onto the daemon's neck grasping desperately one of the bloodthirster's two horns that protruded from its forehead. With the last of his might the Sargent raised him arm blade in hand and plunged it deep into the bloodthirster's eye. Finally the beast shrieked in pain stopping the slaughter to lament in agony over its eye, the mighty daemon resorted to anger to smashing its fist and thrashing about. It grasped the sargent with its free hand and with all of its collosal might whipped the officer into the jungle.
The bloodthirster took to the sky and fell upon the sargents crippled body, smashing the surrounding trees upon landing. Shail still somehow clinging desperately to life could do nothing as the foul daemon effortlessly ripped his head from his body. The daemon cried out claiming him victorious prize in the name of the dark god Khorne. Its victory short lived as it found a new enemy force challenging its animosity.
" Your kind is not welcomed here foul warp spawn." a warrior bellowed at the edge of the jungle wilderness.
The bloodthirster turned to find a mighty warrior of the adeptus astartes standing undaunted by its presence.
" Captain Raphael of the forth company Dark Angels," The Captain shouted proudly
Standing ten feet tall and clad in ornate artificer's armour the Captain issued a challange as he banged his fabled power mace Aireus against his mighty storm shield. The bloodthirster leapt forward plowing down the trees and foliage between the two roaring as it quickly closed the gap between the two. Raphael rolled out of the way of the stampeding daemon as it smashed its way back into the temple ruins. Raphael was back to his feet but before he could react the daemon was over him consumed by its inestuigushable hate. Quickly compinsating for lost time Raphael raised his mighty storm shield as the daemon brought down its axe. The two adversely different metals collided sending showers of sparks and arcs of blue lightning in all directions.
Raphael fell to one knee as he was forced to hold up the fury of the bloodthirster above him, his muscles frought with intense pain and his armour's machine spirit crying out in agony. He must act quickly lest he too end up as a trophy to Khorne. Shifting his weight offhim and letting the axe come down onto the stone floor left of him, Raphael shot to his feet and brought down his power mace onto the bloodthirster's hand. The powerful blow shattered the daemon's fist and splintered the shaft of the unholy axe it weilded, Raphael then swung his storm shield into the exposed knee of the bloodthirster, it too shattering under the immense power of the astartes. The Bloodthirster fell back giving into its wounds as Raphael climbed atop it's chest and bringing down his power mace onto Shail's combat blade. Severing the ties the greater daemon of Khorne had to the material universe and ending the madness.
Raphael tossed his destroyed storm shield aside, the blow from the daemon's axe left a inrepreble gash in the antimantium that still faintly glowed red, " Area secured." The Captain spoke into his vox-beed.