“The Twins padded silently ahead of their fellows. Fabius was one of the few, besides their gene-kin, who could tell Maysha and Mayshana apart without looking at codes tattooed on their cheeks. Both had the enhanced musculature common to his creations, but in them it was a result of breeding, rather than augmentation. The first of a new race, the progenitors of the New Man. There were others, who had come after. But the twin Gland-hounds were special, for they had been the first of their kind, and had exceeded all expectations.
They were taller than normal humans, but not quite so tall as a warrior of the Adeptus Astartes. Broad shouldered and narrow at the waist, they wore faded fatigues found on some industrial world, now long since an ash-blown ruin, and piecemeal armour, culled from the still-warm bodies of fallen foes. Bandoliers of ammunition crossed their chests, and scattered scraps of wargear hung from their combat harnesses, most of which still worked. Scattered among it all were the trophies – necklaces of teeth and finger bones, empty shell casings and heat-warped Imperial aquilas were all in evidence.
Both Twins wore industrial rebreathers and heavy goggles like the rest of their pack. The Gland-hounds’ thickened dermis was resistant to the chill and they could survive limited exposure to the vacuum, if necessary. In addition, the Twins carried battered, heavily modified autoguns, and a somewhat startling variety of blades, only a few of which were visible. Lights attached to the ends of their autoguns played across the crumbling wraithbone, illuminating the damage and dust in equal measure. Neither Twin displayed any sign that they understood or cared what they were looking at. Their faces were smooth. Unperturbed.”

“The rattle of weapons caught his attention. They had come to a reinforced doorway, where several men and women stood on guard. They were clad in grimy fatigues and battered carapace chest-plates. Equipment belts and ammunition bandoliers completed the image of a rag-tag planetary militia. But these were no normal humans. The muscles in their arms and necks bulged with almost Astartes-like thickness, and there were series codes tattooed on their cheeks.”