#animationtest

you are on the front lines, fighting the chaos insurgents that have taken over the western region of your hive city. you've been fighting for months with no progress every evening the general sends out a distress beacon, and every morning it returns unanswered. you are out of rations and soon youll be out of ammo, the chaos cultists will win and another city will fall to the dark gods.

one morning the general calls for a gathering "back up is coming, weve received word from an astartes chapter nearby. the Son's of the Chrysalis are on their way here. they shall arrive within the week."

"astartes! we're saved!" the thought rattles in your mind. finally there is hope! its a strange name though, The Sons of the Chrysalis, it doesnt sound glorious or righteous, it seems almost alien.

within a week the ship arrives, an old battle worn thing, covered in holes and plasma scoring. the gangway falls and the superhuman warriors disembark from the ship, they all wear helmets of blue and purple. their armor is antique but not symmetrical, like their gear is made up of multiple genrations of power armor.

they do not speak, they approach the general, receive his brief and then march towards the front lines.

you follow them through the city, picking off what few enemies they dont instantly demolish! "theyre like monsters!" you think as you watch one of them rip the head straight off a cultists body. you've seen astartes battle, its a glorious noble thing, not like this. these are not soldiers, these are animals, beasts barely contained within their armor.

and thats when you see it, a cultist you missed, he heaves himself onto a heap and raises a home made rpg. you raise your lasgun but its too late, you were too focused on your rescuer. in an instant you feel fear, the dread of death washes over you. The monolithic warrior spies the rocket heading towards you and your squad and hurls his massive body into the distance between you and the rocket.

your world becomes bright stinging light, then motion. you are flung end over end like a doll in a tornado.

as consciousness returns to you, your eyes clear spy the figure standing over you.

the Son of the Chrysalis, the man-monster that just risked his life to save your squad. his helmet is missing, most likely to damaged to be useful, his chest plate is blasted and hes clearly injured. but you are both alive. your heart swells with admiration and love only to be supplanted with shame. you chastise yourself for ever questioning the humanity of these giants, you beg the Emperor of Man to forgive your sin of judgement.

you gaze up at your savior with an apology on the end of your tongue. as if sensing your thoughts the astartes slowly begins to turn toward you... and your blood turns to ice, and shame is supplanted by terror.

its face is that of a man... but more. its forehead is long and flat with hard ridges traveling up from the brow, like the armor of an insect. its temples are caressed by a snaking pattern of dorsal tubes which pulse slightly as it stares at you. its teeth are like knives and a long tongue flicks in between its jaws like some murderer turning his dagger over and over in his hand. but worst is the eyes, the eyes that hold no humanity, they look like something from a reptile or cephalopod. the eyes bore into yours and you suddenly feel more danger than you ever felt when fighting the cultists.

the being suddenly begins to move and you find yourself paralyzed with fear. its hand lifts to caress your chin and as it bears its teeth in a hideous imitation of a smile, the hand turns over and clamps over your face. suddenly feeling the grip of death so close you thrash and pound on its arm but this is meaningless against its cerumite armor. enveloped in blackness you begin to lose consciousness, as you black out you hear in a tuneless voice "do not fear us, child of the Imperium. we are here to save you."