LOG-001. Blood.Pain.Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. Where-what-why-THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!I awaken to the shaking of a drop pod. I do not know why I know that. I struggle to care. Faintly, somewhere beneath the burning, and the seething, and the rage that plagues the broken, damaged, ruined mess that is my mind, I recognise it as an Anvillus-pattern dreadclaw.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!My eyes are bloodshot and swollen beneath my helmet. The orange and crimson of my heads up display glares at me. It hurts. Everything hurts. I can’t think, save for noting what little I can make out of my surroundings.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!It’s all buried beneath the ceaseless tide of anger and hurt. Blood. Skulls. Blood. Skulls Blood. Skulls.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!There is a figure across from me. I try to throw myself at him. I struggle and growl and gnash my teeth at him, limbs that feel large and stretched and far, far too strong eliciting a creaking sound from the chains I realise bind me. A whirr from the servos that empower me.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!“Soon, brother.”THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!A roar rips through my throat. It is the first time I have ever made such a sound. My lungs feel well suited to it. As if I have done it many times.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!Blood. Skulls. Blood. Skulls. Blood. Skulls.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!Some screaming fragment of my psyche attempts to shield itself from the onslaught of broken thoughts and ever escalating aggression. It hides within a shadowed corner, fragmenting, splintering, evading notice even as I feel myself froth at the mouth, trying to bash my head against the helmet of the astartes sitting across from me.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!The green of his lenses is all I can make out of his features, shaded as he is in the shadows. The pod is shaking harder now. I can hear dull status reports from my own helmet’s voxlink. Pods three and six have been lost. I do not care. The chains are beginning to bend. I can see him tensing up.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!Kill. Kill. Kill. Let. Me. KILL.THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!“Nearly there. Thirty seconds.”THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!I THROW MYSELF AGAINST MY CHAINS. I SCREAM. WEAPONS. WEAPONS JUST OUT OF MY REACH. KILL! KILL! BLOOD! SKULLS! BLOOD! SKULLS! BLOOD! SKULLS!THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!“Ten seconds!”THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!THE THOUGHTS POUND WITHIN MY SKULL! WITHIN MY MIND! NAILS! THERE ARE NAILS IN MY HEAD! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!BLOOD! SKULLS! BLOOD! SKULLS! BLOOD! SKULLS! BLOOD! SKULLS! BLOOD! SKULLS!THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!KILL! MURDER! DESTROY! PILLAGE! PLUNDER! THE THOUGHTS ARE FORMLESS! A RAVENOUS WAVE! LET ME KILL! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!THE THOUGHT REMAINS! SEQUESTERED! HIDDEN! I THINK BENEATH THOUGHTS! A MIND WITHIN A MIND!THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!“RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK-AS I FEEL THE RATTLING CRASH OF THE DREADCLAW IMPACTING EARTH, THE THOUGHTS FORM! AS MY CHAINS SHATTER, THE THOUGHTS COALESCE! THERE IS A FLASH OF LIGHT-“Brother-wait-!”KA-THUNK!I AM DEATH! THE EATER OF WORLDS! I HAVE COME TO KILL! I HAVE COME TO TAKE BLOOD! I HAVE COME TO TAKE SKULLS! BLOOD AND SKULLS! SKULLS AND BLOOD! THE HELMET DEFORMS BENEATH MY FINGERS! THE LENSES CRACK! I AM THROWN OFF AND I SCREAM!MURDER! YIELD! MAIM! INVADE! NAILS! DESTROY! IMPALE! SKULLS! MASSACRE! YELL! OBLITERATE! WAR! NNNGGGHHHHAAAARGGGHH-!KILLLLLL!—Everything is a blur. My eyes open and I am staring at the ground. My mind feels cold, and icy. I am enraged. I am focused.My gauntleted hands brush across the pebble strewn dirt, one wraps around the hilt of a weapon. Of my weapon.The chainaxe roars as the world flickers.I slam it through a uniformed figure, ripping him in twain and sending him hurtling out of my way.Another wraps around the handle of a bolter. My bolter. It sings to me. The world flickers.I rush forward. Bolts fly. Men who man emplacements fall, their torsos exploding in glorious blood.The world flickers. I am sprinting forward, the tight confines of a corridor restricting my movement. I turn a corner, then another, rapidly making pace. The world flickers.Advancing. I am advancing. A glance shows me an anti air emplacement being overwhelmed by highlighted figures. Brothers. They are my brothers. I look up at a screaming sound, and watch a dreadclaw fall through the sky. The world flickers.My chainaxe chews through a doorway, blood flying from its teeth. The world flickers.Lasfire and bolt rounds pass around me. I am moving too quickly. A few guardsmen. The yellow shaped blur of an astartes. Not a brother. Blood. Skulls. I liked them once. I can’t remember. Dorn’s sons. I fire back. The world flickers.Glimpses of combat. I fire up at a figure atop grand stairs. I watch a brother tear through a mortal defender. Flicker.I reach forward, I grab the helmet of a man who hadn’t been quick enough to get out of my way. His eyes widen beneath my digits-crack. Flicker.Sparks fly. Axe meets sword as teeth grind against one another, trying to out chew their counterparts. I wrench both weapons to the side. The marine’s lenses glare at me before I put a bolt through his head. Flicker.Axe to shoulder. Axe through shoulder. The guardsman’s screams are drowned out by my own roaring as the soldier dies. Flicker.It hurts. It hurts it hurts it hurts! We have taken the city! The vox says we have won! VICTORY! BLOOD AND SKULLS! IT HURTS! ARGH!The cold increases. My vision darkens.Blood. Skulls. Blood. Skulls. Blood. Skulls. Blood skulls.There is no relief, the nails chew at my mind, even as sleep finally takes me.…