+ inload: Phalangite Promastis +

+ Phalangite Promastis +

+ 'Ident! Two hundred metres – heavy vehicle!' The call, from further down the rampart, heralded a fresh series of crackling thumps and chest-shaking impacts. Hearing flattened by the din, the supporting fire of the invaders' heavy auto-fire and solid rounds was reduced to a tinny distraction. Lines of red and green tracers spotted through the air, raising clouds of dust in the hot, heavy air beneath the void shield. +

+ A stray ricochet clipped a nearby wall and flipped upwards, spinning crazily. Most of its momentum was immediately converted into a series of wild flips, too fast for the eye to see, but the remainder somehow sent it up in a perfect arc. The glint catching his eye, the Janissary watched as the bullet spun, end over end, tracing a leisurely-seeming path through the dust. + 

+ Fixated on this inconsequential bullet, the Janissary's over-stimulated brain filtered out the rest of the assault, straining all the din away in the vain search for peace. All the roar and glare seemed to drift into the background. In what seemed like an age, but must have been less than a second, the bullet reached the apogee of its path and descended, falling directly down the open collar of a nearby soldier, who reacted as though stung – dropping his rifle and flailing madly, his mouth open in a roar, his eyes wild. + 

+ The Janissary blinked at this absurd detail. He was still prone, half-laughing, half-terrified when the Iron Warriors overran his section of wall. +

+++

+ Kitted with a Phobos-pattern boltgun – possibly looted from Mars, but given the casing colour, likely older – Promastis is equipped in a complete and intact suit of Mark IV armour. It is likely this was issued some time prior to the Isstvan Drop Site Massacre, when the Warmaster's reasons for preferential treatment of some Legions became apparent. +

+ The backpack is the giveaway detail for the issue date, being an older pattern of Mark IV, since superceded. Promastis' armour is only lightly damaged, and he holds a full complement of grenades. +

+ One detail of note is the small kylix at his belt, beneath his ammunition pouches. These chalices were used in Iron Warrior Lodge ceremonies, and its presence on the battlefield, while unusual, may have had some ritual significance for the Phalangite or his Mustermates. +

+ Promastis was marked missing following the Siege of Terra; though whether reduced to his component atoms by volkite beam, or simply buried in rubble is impossible to determine. +