Year 669.M30
Terra
Battle of Mount Ararat
So this was probably his first mission.
Bill, clad in his Mark I Thunder Armour, thought to himself as he marched across the radioactive desert and the harsh environment of what had once been part of India. Now he had been assigned to operate alongside the First Legion, and it seemed that the Custodes would be involved as well.
He did not care what kind of mission it was. As long as there was bloodshed, that was enough... and as long as something could ease his hunger. To be honest, ever since he was born—whether that had been in the year 2020, when he worked as a chef and ran his own Italian restaurant, or later, when he fell asleep as normal and woke up again as a baby before living his life until he was eventually taken and transformed into a Space Marine—the entire experience had been absurd.
The augmentation surgery had been agonizing. He had watched hundreds of people just like him die horribly during the procedure, but he had survived. The face that had once been twisted by the effects of radiation and the toxins of the wasteland was now gone. At the very least, when he looked in a mirror, his own face was handsome, with long golden blond hair that he had to cut short. Still, that was a rather pointless thing to dwell on.
His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly as he marched onward, struggling to restrain the hunger and thirst raging inside him. Still, there was something else he had heard about this mission: a purge of techno-barbarians in this region. The battlefield was said to be full of pits and bowl-like depressions. And from what else he had heard...
The Emperor had ordered all Thunder Warriors to take part in this operation.
That made Bill wonder why they had been brought here as well. From what he had heard, those augmented warriors were even taller than them. Space Marines stood around 2.2 meters tall, while the Thunder Warriors he had seen were as tall as 2.6 meters and possessed far greater strength than Space Marines like himself.
After marching for some time, he and his company finally reached their destination. The path gradually grew steeper, and when they reached the summit, they saw that it overlooked a low valley below, where many Thunder Warriors were already engaged in battle with the techno-barbarians.
At first, Bill did not understand why they had been brought here at all.
But when he looked around, he saw that the First Legion and the Custodes had already surrounded the entire valley. That meant there had to be something more to this. Why had neither he nor his company received any briefing about this mission?
Yes, this was their first battle.
Bill glanced left and right once more before turning to the highest-ranking First Legion warrior nearby and asking bluntly, "Do you know what our mission is?"
His voice was so loud that several Space Marines turned in the direction he was standing, before many of them turned away again.
"It is merely a purge. Focus on that. We have work to do, exterminating them. And in the future, do not do that again. It is rather impolite," the First Legion warrior said in a cold voice, before raising his bolter and aiming it toward the Thunder Warriors fighting below. The others followed suit.
And at that moment, Bill understood that his first mission was to take part in the extermination of the Thunder Warriors.
He did not really mind. However, he could not help feeling that they were dangerous and terrifying. Still, it was also a good opportunity to find something to eat before he became unable to restrain himself and went berserk like some others who had gone too long without feeding.
"I understand," he replied with a nod, before cocking his bolter and aiming it at the Thunder Warriors below, just like the others.
"Do not fire yet... wait until they have finished off the techno-barbarians," the First Legion warrior warned him.
Bill simply nodded in response.
And then, a few hours later...
The massacre began.
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Useful Information
What are Thunder Warriors?
The Thunder Warriors were among the earliest augmented soldiers created by the Emperor. They were used during the Unification War to fight the countless techno-barbarians and unite Terra, or Earth, under a single banner.
They were far stronger than Space Marines, but their lifespan was much shorter, and their minds gradually deteriorated over time. In the end, they would eventually begin to lose their sanity.