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[Keiya]

It had been months, now. He could feel it in his mind. The control had loosed and the grip around his rage was failing. No longer could he press himself to the extent that he once could. The separation was truly withering him of what he once was and the assailing self-doubt was beating against his iron will with diamond blades. As the chariot rocked as it increased altitude in the dense air of the swampy mining planet he traced the hilt of his blade with the utmost care and raised his eyes. What his vision found was a group of experienced and strangely eloquent imperial guard. Their armor was meticulously maintained regardless of the obvious wears of battle that they wore with honor and pride. Single shifting eyes whipped back and forth towards whatever they desired to view from behind their full-face plates - a truly unique apparatus among the guard. With every breath of external air, he heard the soft venting of filtered atmosphere. There were only they and he, no brothers of his type within. For the past month he had seen combat with this group - their specialized tactics and brilliant maneuvers suited his own combat skills perfectly. Though not marines he had no doubt that with their skill, taking down a unit of even the strongest foes that were offered would be of little difficulty. He did not count himself as superior among them.

Another hard jostling of the transport set his eyes to the rear of the bay as the drop hatch split apart. The dark, fumed light of the distant star of the solar system forced it's way through the thick mist and spread over his armor like a loose painting. He watched as the guard units stood, their singular 'eyes' shifting towards the hatch as the transport descended. A moment later the landing legs of the transport sank into the sticky mud of the planets' surface with a sickening cushion of sound, air pockets trapped beneath the thick mire released poisonous gas that spewed out pus-like globs of fermented muck in it's escaping wake. The first of the guards stepped out, the mud pulling him down to his knees - yet he powered through. Slowly the rest followed through until finally it was the Templars' turn. He stepped from the transport - it lifting a full two inches now devoid of his weight - and sank into the mud much deeper than the smaller soldiers before him. With each powerful stride of his leg, gas and liquid pooled into the rift he was creating. He couldn't help but find disgust in it, but it didn't show in his posture. Before him, the group of 9 moved with strange fluidness - silent and focused. Their layered armor and decorative helmets shifted with their movements as if a second skin entirely. They reminded him of ancient legionnaires recalled through historical texts thought lost and recovered by his chapter centuries before.

"Sistite." He heard through his com.

The entire unit halted, wavering not in breath or sway in stance. It seemed like several minutes before anything came to bare - until the creature marched directly before them having been entirely silent in it's trek. The large treelike creature shifted effortlessly through the mire - it's surface coated in slime and mass corrosion lengthening the undeniable fact that it's already sinister claws would prove that much deadlier. As they waited for it to move past, several more seconds went on.

"Pergite progredi." The group began moving again.

The flicking of dim red eyes as heads turned set a scene more surreal than most any other he had been in. The shifting mire beneath them with the inhuman feeling beings moving across it's surface in search of an artifact - it was like his dreams as a young child of finding distant treasure had came to life in a more gruesome and deadly fashion. On and on they marched, casually ceasing to allow native creatures freedom to progress without their exposure. He followed these troopers without question; rank held no matter in the strength of trust. There was a sense of familiarity that he had felt lost for some time - this was enough for him until he discovered what he had set out to find.

"Sumus prope."

'We're near.' The words rang out loudly. As if in response, the ground began to shudder with expelling fumes and biological exhaust. The Romanesque soldiers brought their rifles to bare, as did the Marine, with the ground splitting asunder before them. The monolith rose from the ground in hurried fashion, it's surface caked in muck and wrapped in ancient vines of unknown source. Life was alive upon this inanimate structure, however, with the whipping of razor vines and slashing blades. From beneath and behind, a pair of monstrosities dug from the infested ground and began clawing their way towards the group - Hefting, oozing, and crusted, the monsters brought with them fury.

"Ad bellum!" The leader of the guards bellowed. In unison, the marine raised his bolter and fired.