Poul Marlin

Plantilla:MascotaGuardiaPatrocinaPoul Marlin fue un sargento del 10 º Regimiento de Slavok de la Guardia 

El Sgto. Marlin armado con su pistola bólter

Imperial. Tanto él como sus hombres estuvieron involucrados en las acciones llevadas a cabo en el Mundo Helado de Shadrac, así como en la posterior huida del planeta. Durante los combates contra los Tiránidos que invadían el planeta, Poul Marlin fue rescatado por Skold Greypelt, del Capítulo de los Lobos Espaciales, con quien acabó entablando amistad.

Historia

Perdición en Shadrac

Ultima defensa del 10º de Slavok

Cuando el mundo helado de Shadrac fue atacado por los Tiránidos, el 10º Regimiento de Slavok de la Guardia Imperial se desplegó para detener a los mortales xenos. Sus esfuerzos resultaron insuficientes, y un mes estándar después de su despliegue, Poul Marlin reunió juntos a las dos veintenas de supervivientes de su regimiento y los llevó en retirada hacia el puesto de avanzada imperial más cercano. Habiendo perdido todo contacto con sus superiores, marchando a pie por la mortal helada y con sus raciones de comida críticamente bajas, los soldados de Slavok estaban desmoralizados. Pero el sargento Marlin los hacía continuar, cubriendose de una fachada de optimismo para evitar que sus hombres desesperaran y simplemente se tendieran para morir, llevados de la suave y mortal mano de la hipotermia. Los Tiránidos no les dejarían morir tan fácilmente, sin embargo, y los supervivientes pronto se encontraron bajo ataque por el rápido movimiento de los enjambres de Devoradores y Hormagantes.

Poul Marlin dirijió a sus tropas en una defensa en marcha, manteniendo a sus hombres en movimiento. Se las arreglaron para hacer retroceder al pequeño enjambre mientras perdían sólo a dos de los suyos. Las cosas todavía se veían funestas, sin embargo, los Tiránidos tenía su rastro, y los humanos pronto tendría que pasar la noche. Marlin reunió a sus hombres en el afloramiento rocoso, y los hizo formar un semicírculo. Esperando que fuera su última resistencia, los soldados Slavok comieron su última comida y consumieron su ultimas remesas de combustible en espera de que los Tiránidos cerran el cerco para la matanza. Cuando su última reserva de combustible se quemó, los humanos encomendaron sus almas al Emperador de la Humanidad como una total caída a la oscuridad. Sin embargo, en lugar de escuchar los siseos y el crujir quitinoso de los Tiránidos en movimiento, los supervivientes fueron ensordecidos por el fuerte rugido del fuego de Bólter.

Los desconcertados guardias escudriñaron en la oscuridad circundante, captando retazos de gigantes con servoarmaduras grises ejecutando a los Tiránidos a través del efecto estroboscópico de sus fogonazos bólter. Ningún Tiránido logró llegar a los refugiados y cuando horas más tarde, salió el sol, los guardias sólo podían mirar asombrados a la escena de matadero que los encaró. La llanura congelada estaba llena con cuerpos tiránidos machacados, destripados y reventados. Pero de sus salvadores Astartes, no había ni rastro.

Persiguiendo a los Lobos Espaciales

Marlin forced his men and himself to ignore the Astartes' strange behaviour; with neither fuel nor food left, they now had to make it to the outpost with all due haste, before the murderous night fell again and froze them all to death. Gathering his men about him, Marlin set out with all possible speed, and the survivors ultimately reached the outpost in the nick of time. Although the forced march would claim three of their numbers, things began to look up for the survivors, as the outpost was still intact and provided them with shelter, water and fuel to burn and get warm. Alas, the remaining food stores had rotted away, so food remained a problem for the Slavok men. The much-needed warmth and rest restored some of the Guardsmen's morale, and when one of the soldiers reported the presence of functional Chimera APC's in the outpost, Marlin rejoiced and decided that in the morning they would embark in search of the Astartes they had glimpsed the day before.

The night proved bitter, however, for one of the famished soldiers chanced to eat therotten food, and became delusional. In his madness, he severely wounded two of his comrades before running out of the base. Marlin ordered his men to prepare the Chimeras while he went after their crazed fellow soldier. His rescue attempt would prove futile, however, for a Hormagaunt had gotten to the man first. Hissing in fury, the Gaunt launched himself at Marlin, but was caught in-flight by a well-aimed Bolter shell, and a bewildered Marlin dazedly turned his gaze from the remains of his would-be killer, to his saviour, glimpsing again a gigantic warrior in Power Armour who nodded at him before disappearing.

Marlin returned to the outpost, and had his men mount up in the Chimeras. The three vehicles then set out with their Auspex running, in the hope of finding the Astartes. What they found instead was another swarm of Gaunts, who attempted to overwhelm the Chimeras. This time, however, the Guardsmen had enough firepower at their disposal, and they held their own, cutting swathes through the Tyranid creatures, and when suddenly three Astartes bikers shot out of the mists and added their close-quarters prowess to the Guardsmen's firepower, the swarm was quickly routed. Marlin ordered a full stop, and jumped down from his Chimera to greet and thank the Space Marines, but their leader only barked at him to go away quickly. Dumbfounded, Marlin gazed in the same direction as the other two Astartes, and watched with horror as a Carnifex charged out of the mists: the Gaunts had sacrificed themselves to slow the humans down and allow the larger bioform to jointhe fray.

Marlin mounted his APC again, watching in fascination as the Space Wolves prepared to face the "Screamer-Killer". At first he gave the order to run for it, but the decision rankled him, and moments later he ordered his three APC's around, and grabbed their last remaining Missile Launcher. Reaching the battle once again, he calmly adjusted his aim, and shot a Krak Missile straight down the Carnifex's maw, which blasted out the back of the gigantic Tyranid's skull and killed it instantly.

Última Defensa de Shadrac

Marlin introduced himself to the leader of the Space Wolves, who named himself Skold Greypelt. The Slavok soldiers then followed the Space Wolves back to their encampment. To their astonishmen t, they were treated to a traditional Fenrisian feast, with the Space Marines building a large bonfire and breaking out caskets of Fenrisian Ale. The Space Wolves explained this was a funerary feast for the Space Wolf biker who had been mortally wounded by the Carnifex. When Marlin dared to ask if the Space Wolves were not afraid thet the fire would attract the Tyranids, he was answered with roars of laughter, growls that the Space Wolves feared nothing, and the "assurance" that attracting Tyranids was the whole point of the Space Wolves' presence on Shadrac. Greypelt explained to Marlin the way of the Space Wolves, and explained that while Shadrac was lost to the Imperium, they could still make the Tyranids pay a steep price for it.

After having feasted, the Space Wolves and the remaining Guardsmen took up defensive positions, and battle was soon joined, as wave after wave of lesser Tyranid bioforms threw themselves at the stubborn defenders, who slaughtered them in droves with volleys from their Lasguns and Bolters, before cutting those few that managed to reach them to pieces.

Yet the valiant defenders eventually ran out of ammunition, and Greypelt called in his Thunderhawk, upon which the surviving Astartes and Guardsmen hurriedly embarked. As the last living defenders departed the doomed world, the critically wounded Space Wolf laid down on his funeral cairn, and with a last shout of defiance, detonated the nuclear weapon that had been buried within it. A cataclysmic explosion that was seen by the survivors from orbit ravaged the surrounding swarms, incinerating thousands of Tyranids and denying their bio-matter to the Hive Mind forever. Shadrac had fallen, but the Hive Mind had paid in blood and ichor for it.

Huida de Shadrac

The survivor's trials were not yet over, however; the Tyranid fleet had forced the Imperial Navy and the Space Wolves' ship out of the system, leaving the Thunderhawk stranded above the dying planet. The prospect of a slow death by asphyxiation made the surviving Guardsmen become restless and agitated, and Sergeant Marlin had to step in and restore discipline, lest fights break out. Marlin assigned his men to man the dropship's Auspex stations, and report anything that could be of use.

Once again, the Emperor seemed to protect the survivors of the Slavok 10th, for they quickly identified a possible solution for their predicament. By scanning a Space Hulk that had somehow followed the Tyranid fleet in-system, they identified a recent addition to it, an Eurus-pattern Fleet Tender from the Imperial fleet that had crashed against it. Auspex scans showed that the tender's bridge and reaction drives were intact, so the Guardsmen reasoned that if they managed to sever it from the Space Hulk's main mass using Demolition Charges without damaging the vessel too much, they could use it to blind-jump through the Warp toward the nearest Imperial outpost.

Marlin realized it was their best chance of survival, and presented his men's findings to the Spac

e Wolves. It was met by reluctance from Trunglas, the Space Wolves' Iron Priest, who acknowledged that the plan was feasible, but that he had grave concerns about angering the Fleet tender's Machine Spirit. Keeping calm, Marlin stood his ground before the grumbling Astartes, and they decided that the Guardsmen would install the Demolition Charges, and then wait for the Iron Priest to finish the necessary rituals before detonating them.

Gathering his men, Marlin gave them a rousing motivational speech, saying they would have only one shot at escaping and assigning them tasks. His speech seemed to amuse Skold Greypelt, but when Marlin asked why, the Space Wolf simply told him to continue. The Guardsmen and Astartes then quickly went to work, but trouble erupted when they encountered a party of Orks from another part of the Space Hulk. The Greenskins were intent on looting this newest addition to their home, and eagerly seized the chance to do battle.

Marlin's small party defended themselves mightily, but they fell one by one to the Orks' Choppas, until only Sergeant Marlin remained, barely keeping the Greenskins at bay with bursts from his Bolt Pistol. He was saved in the nick of time by his friend Greypelt, who joined the battle while savagely swinging 

his Power Axe and cutting the xenos into little green pieces. Greypelt burst out laughing when Marlin reminded him that they only had one shot at taking the ship, happily countering that life itself represented a single shot, and at that, the only thing that mattered was making the shot count. Both warriors then made a fighting retreat towards the fleet tender's access hatch, buying the necessary time for Trunglas to complete the needed rituals. Once completed, they jumped through the hatch and detonated the charges, which liberated their new starship from the Space Hulk's mass and allowed them to escape.

As the Fleet Tender moved away under its own power, Marlin collapsed from sheer exhaustion, and remarked in a daze that he was down to his last Bolt Pistol shell. The Space Wolf joyfully told his friend once again that one shot was all he would ever need.

Personalidad

Retrato de Poul.

El Sargento Poul Marlin fue un miembro honorable y competente de la Guardia Imperial. Como un oficial no comisionado, sabía cómo liderar y motivar a su pelotón de hombres, pero era también muy humanitario e hizo todo lo que pudo para mantener a sus hombres con vida y fuera de peligro. Como veterano,  era plenamente consciente de que la desesperación es el peor enemigo de los guardias, por lo que se aseguró de manter a sus hombres tan concentrados y motivados como le fue posible. Marlin también fue un hombre valiente, sin inmutarse ante los horrores de los Tiránidos, ni vacilar ante un Astartes para defender su opinión. Su rango y antigüedad exacta se desconocen, pero a juzgar por sus cicatrices, su parche en el ojo, y el hecho de que posee una preciada pistola bólter, normalmente reservado a los oficiales y comisarios de la Guardia Imperial, que es probablemente el sargento Escuadra Veterana.

Fuentes

Extraído y traducido de Wikihammer 40K UK.

• Lobos Solitarios, por Dan Abnett y Karl Richardson.