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Description
On the small planet of Deruxious, a squad of renegade astartes of the Death Guard legion prepared for their assault on a small yet heavily fortified palace. The squad of marines were charged with the duty of eliminating the governor and annihilating everyone in the palace. There would be no survivors and a plague was to be released into the air so that no one may inhabit the palace after the entire area was purged. The squad of renegade marines was known as "Plague's Hammer" and centuries of bitter war had given them an advantage over their enemies. Their bodies had bloated, forming cracks in their power armor and their flesh had began to rot, gifts given to them by The Lord of Decay. They felt little pain from even the most gruesome wounds and had no fear in their minds, for they knew that if they were to fail, they would be put through an agony that no mortal could withstand.

The palace was surrounded by a sixty foot wall with guard towers running the length of the walls. Each tower was filled with guardsmen and heavy bolters to fend off any intruders. At the north side of the wall was a very elaborate gate lined with bronze figures depicting heroes of the Imperium. In many ways, this fortress seemed impregnable, but the marines given this task were experts in siege warfare. Under the cover of night, they approached the east wall. Rigging the wall with meltabombs, they were ready to invade the palace. The marines gave each other a subtle nod and set the timer on the detonators for ten seconds. 10...9...8...7...They all knew that they were going to alert the whole palace so as soon as the bombs went off, they had to secure ground...3...2...1. The bombs unleashed a torment of rubble into the air as they ripped into the side of the wall. Light shined through the gaping hole from guard towers shining their spotlights. The astartes charged onto the palace grounds and began opening fire on nearby guards. Alarms roared across the palace as more guards tried to repel the intruders. Bolter fire tore through the guardsman's flak armor with ease and the guards quickly began to lose ground to the advancing plague marines. The lasgun fire from the guardsmen seemed to have no effect on the marines' armor and even the high caliber shells of the heavy bolters could do no harm. As the Death Guard approached the main steps of the palace, the main door flew open and large tripod-mounted autocannons took aim at the intruders. Leading them was a man known as Commissar Corentz. He wore a long, red greatcoat that displayed many medals of his personal achievements and he carried a slender blade at his waist.
"Guardsmen!" Corentz harped at his men, "Kill these pitiful heretics!"
"Yes, sir!" The guards shouted in unison. They began to open fire and the autocannons roared as shells capable of carving apart a small tank flew through the air. The force of the impact on the plague marines knocked them to the ground and began to tare apart their armor. The constant shelling threw up debris and smoke.
"Cease fire!" Corentz shouted, "No one could survive an onslaught like that." As the smoke parted, the guardsmen could see fallen marines. Their armor was riddled with large holes and the smell of their decayed flesh began to flow from their wounds. There was no movement, no words to be spoken from the plague marines.
"Good work men. I want that wall patched up ASAP." Corentz ordered.
"Sir!" a guardsman shouted.
"What is it now?" Corentz responded in irritation.
"Look at them! One of them moved!" the guardsman cried.
"It's probably just a straggler, just go put it out of it's misery." the commissar told the guardsman with little interest. The guardsman approached the plague marine cautiously. The stench of rotting flesh was almost unbearable and a large hole ran through the marine. The guardsman unsheathed his knife from its sheath and began to reach for the plague marines helmet. He managed to pry the helmet from the marines head and a horrid smell invaded the guardsman's senses, causing him to vomit roughly. After regaining himself he spoke, "Let's see you twitch after this, heretic." He readied his knife for the killing blow. There was a loud crack of bone followed by the agonized scream of the guardsman. The fallen plague marine had grabbed the guard by the leg and snapped both bones in his grip. The guardsman wailed as he feel to the ground in agony.
"What now!?" Corentz shouted in frustration. He turned to see what had happened and as he did, he saw the once fallen marines slowly begin to rise. Noticing the guardsman gripping his leg in pain on the ground and the jawless, decaying marine's face looming over the wounded man. In its hollow stare, it drew its bolt pistol and shot the guardsman. The bolt tore into the guardsman's stomach and exploded, leaving a mess of gore on the ground. The other guardsmen witnessed the marines' rise from what they thought had been certain death. As the plague marines slowly advanced, the men could feel death approaching and began to run back into the palace.
"Where are you going you cowards!?" Corentz roared in anger. "I will not stand for this cowardice among my ranks!" he drew his laspistol and took aim at a nearby guardsman. "Do you hear me!? You will follow my-gleeahk!" Before he could finish his sentence, a plague marine had run his rusty combat blade across the commissar's neck. Corentz's body fell dead to the ground. There were no survivors that night and no one to speak of the tragedy that befell the palace. The night belonged to the Death Guard.