# Stranded Part 3 (continued)



## Unknown Soldier (Oct 24, 2008)

Yep, I'm a noob and a made a mistake with my headings. Please read Part 3 (continued) before moving to Part 4.

As much as he wanted to distance himself from the incoming craft, charging back out into the desert was out of the question, from the sky, they would spot him for sure. He needed to hide, but where?

Two hundred yards to his left, he could make out the crushed hull of a Chimera, a strangely rectangular shape that was in stark contrast to the organic sea of broken and burnt bodies surrounding it. If he timed it correctly, he could dive amongst the sea of Imperial corpses littering the battlefield and use the human carnage as a form of camouflage to hide himself from the incoming enemy.

He waited for the Arvus to make a banking turn, then ran and threw himself down on to the tangled mass of flesh. Every sensation filled him with revulsion and sickness as he crawled through a seemingly endless jungle of broken limbs and pools of blood. The bodies were beginning to decompose rapidly under the hot desert sun and the stench filled his nostrils and teared his eyes.

For the first time, he could clearly see the carnage that resulted from such a fierce battle. He was visually overwhelmed by both the scale and horror of the wounds, bones sticking through limbs, charred black skeletons sitting in pools of their own melted flesh, he saw men stretched and ripped in half, whilst others had been twisted into contorted shapes until their stomachs and torsos had failed and burst open onto the ground, one unfortunate Guardsman appeared to have been strangled by his own entrails. Wherever he crawled, his hands would inevitably sink deeper into the flesh and blood of these poor souls and each time, a fresh wave of shock and nausea would envelope his senses. Whatever had killed these men, it had not been a conventional weapon.

He took a second to distract himself from the butchery and briefly looked skyward. He could see the Chaos shuttle making another sweep of the battlefield and getting inexonerably closer. Holding his breath and steeling his mind, he made a final effort to pull himself out of the marsh of mangled flesh and threw himself into the open hold of the Chimera.

The Chaos shuttlecraft circled the battlefield twice more before landing gently on the northeastern most edge. From his limited view inside the Chimera, he could see three enormous figures emerging from the Arvus. Even from a distance, he could tell that they were giants as they stood proudly next to the shuttlecraft and gazed down upon the battlefield.

The triumvirate consisted of two armour clad behemoths cradling enormous guns in their metal gloved hands being led by an equally clad, if somewhat more impressive figure differentiated from the others by his long flowing robes, ornate head piece and a metal staff that seemed to glow unnaturally. Though their faces were obscured by ghoulish metallic visors, he could almost sense that they were happy with the blatant carnage that surrounded them and were possibly even enjoying the sight.

From deep within his brain, a shard of memory flashed in front of his eyes. He knew these giants, these creatures. They were Space Marines, biologically and mechanically enhanced soldiers created solely for battle. However, these abominations were no friends of the Imperium, they were Chaos Space Marines, traitors to the God Emperor and the scourge of mankind.

No, he thought to himself, I cannot allow myself to be captured by these servants of Chaos, and he feverishly looked around the bloodied interior of the Chimera for a weapon. After briefly scavenging the darkened metal hull, he was able to procure a Las Gun and two grenades. He knew it wouldn’t be much against such heavily armed opponents, but there was no way he was going to give up without a fight.

He returned to the rear hatch of the vehicle and looked out, the three Chaos giants had moved away from the Arvus and out of sight. A new plan formulated in his mind. His chances of survival against the Space Marines would be slim to none, but if he could get to the shuttlecraft, he could try to escape or at the very least call for help. If all else failed, at least he might have slightly better protection from the enemy’s guns and with a bit of fortune, maybe find a better weapon to defend himself.

Taking a few deep final breaths, he levelled the Las Gun and emerged silently from the Chimera. Looking in every direction, he could see no signs of the Chaos Marines and with careful and slow steps, he began to creep towards the shuttlecraft. Using whatever cover he could find, he darted silently towards his prize, always watchful for any kind of movement that would give away the position of the enemy.

This was it, he was only twenty yards from the Arvus’ side door. He would have to cross open ground but all he needed was a few seconds. Steeling his mind, he made a final, desperate prayer to the Emperor and made a dash for salvation.

‘You!’ came a cry from behind him, followed by the sounds of two heavy guns being cocked. ‘Stop!’


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