Setting pitch: in ancient times, the legendary homeworld of humanity, “Earth”, was lost to a horrifying plague of demons that have ever since been slowly spreading across the galaxy
Fighting them is the mighty Galactic Empire, which counters the sinister corruptive power of the forces of Chaos with a combination of unshakable dogmatic purity of mind, and overwhelming firepower.
Once, the Empire was the light of hope for the galaxy. There are even old tales of heroes with miraculous powers who could fight demons on their own terms and win
The light of hope the Empire once stood for has grown dim, it’s armies fight battles on a thousand fronts, and life has been ground down to little more than a desperate struggle to survive one more day
At the forefront of this war, the tip of the Empire’s spear, stand the Space Marines, transhuman warriors rebuilt from the ground up to be unstoppable killing machines full of cybernetic implants and bionic upgrades
They had lost the hyper tech that was humanity’s birthright, but had built themselves back up to a simple industrial society (so roughly 21st century, from our perspective)
As the marines prepared to make planet fall and neutralize the threat, however, a second ship arrived. A ship of corrupted soldiers who had traded their souls for dark power
- earned an early promotion that a lot of his battle siblings (while I think all the marines on this planet are boys, in this setting there ARE female marines) think he doesn’t necessarily deserve
He rallied a squad of regular soldiers who’s morale had been shattered and was able to lead a charge to retake an anti air gun that was preventing reinforcements from landing
Even without any gear he could flip a car over, survive injuries that would kill most humans, shrug off all but the most deadly toxins and diseases, and sprint at like thirty miles an hour
- cybernetic implants let him interface with his gear, improving his accuracy with guns and giving him full diagnostic readouts on his armor’s condition. He has a HUD, basically
Though he does need to wear long sleeves to pass as normal since his arms and legs have neural implant ports for improving reaction speed by directly interfering with power armor
- Two space marines can take on a true demon if they have been briefed on the demon's capabilities and personality ahead of time and go into the fight with a plan but even that is risky
a monster of the week that is EXTREMELY zippy the girls could purify it but their finisher takes too long to charge the marines can nail it with gunfire but they can't purify it, just kill it
so they work together for the first time by the marines pinning the monster in place with gunfire to give the girls time to charge and aim their finisher
where the first episode: the girls can't hit a monster so leonides, grabs the monster and pins it in place by holding it like piccolo. he has no idea what it'll do to him, since he's not corrupted, but he's telling the girls to take the shot anyway.
if magic comes from hope, and the empire lost hope long ago, and the two sides are learning from each other it's ENTIRELY possible the climax of the show involves one of the marines becoming a magical girl/boy themselves.
okok lets go Berserker-Sgt Freyja of the Drakkar Legion Berserker in the more historical sense of a top champion (melee) fighter more than the pop-cultural sense of uncontrollable battlerage, she still uses sound tactics, but she does have a bad habit of going for battle-glory over following orders fights with a chainaxe and .75-caliber sidearm
yeah I figured Star Hawks are a more 'normal' style of legion like ultramarines or blood ravens and Freyja comes from a gimmickier one that would have a separate codex
Leonidas gets the power of hope again, and his armor turns from green to blue, and unfurls a cape from nowhere (made of magic) and his laser pistol suddenly develops a new setting: "Purification".
he doesn't do magic, he just channels the power into his items, and can also use it to charge others. Without his gear or his team, he's a Space Marine in underwear. With gear, or with his team he's Crunch of the Mighty Orbots.
CorporalActing Captain Leonides of the Star Hawks space marine legion, 10th company, reporting for dutythe girls could purify it but their finisher takes too long to charge
the marines can nail it with gunfire but they can't purify it, just kill it
because hee hoo violent space viking chainaxe lady
so leonides, grabs the monster and pins it in place by holding it like piccolo. he has no idea what it'll do to him, since he's not corrupted, but he's telling the girls to take the shot anyway.
it's ENTIRELY possible the climax of the show involves one of the marines becoming a magical girl/boy themselves.
Berserker-Sgt Freyja of the Drakkar Legion
Berserker in the more historical sense of a top champion (melee) fighter more than the pop-cultural sense of uncontrollable battlerage, she still uses sound tactics, but she does have a bad habit of going for battle-glory over following orders
fights with a chainaxe and .75-caliber sidearm
also I'm still amused by my idea of calling the hellportal where Earth used to be the Eye of Terra