From across the horizon they came, seven behemoths, each thirty-foot high, striding across the ash wastes like gods of war. Around their feet scuttled thousands of cyborgs the dreaded foot soldiers of the Legio, the Adeptus Mechanicus' most bizarre troops, the Skitarii. A pair of fast moving Warhound class scout-titans pushed along the southern flank, driving off circling speed freak columns and burning any Orks who were too slow to fall back. Meanwhile staunch the Reavers marched forwards readying their missiles and mighty Warlords charged their Turbo-lasers. Among their number were proud machines some of whom had seen thousands of years of war and a million battlefields. Names that had scorched a path through history were proudly stencilled on weapon mounts, names such as 'Frater Audax', 'Vivere est Vincere' and 'Ab Aeterno'. At the head of their formation strode two blood-red twin Warlords the dreaded and infamous, 'Dies Judicium' and its ancient twin 'Dies Vindico'.
From high above the ground 'Dies Vindico' scanned continuously for threats; she was a noble beast who had swung whole wars and turned the fate of billions with her wrath. In her head shaped cockpit Princeps Hendrax sat proud and tall, his uniform crisp and regulation even in the heat of battle, his spirit was eager but his sagging jowels and thinning hair betrayed an age even juvant treatments could no longer conceal. He had fought proudly for centuries but time was taking its toll and before long he would be required to entomb himself in the shelter of an amniotic casket, but before that he was determined to win one more victory as the man he was. Constantly he scoured the horizon, yearning for the first sight of the hated foe, for two years he had brooded on the invasion of his homeworld and now he burned for vengeance against them. He turned and called "Sensori Dex, time to contact". Sitting below the left eye of the Titan's cockpit the sensori officer shifted, his shaved head covered with input plugs that linked his mind to the sensors.
"Thermal emissions peaking", the Dex called back in his soft warm baritone, "Audio traces confirm main Ork mass at twenty miles, estimate two minutes till weapon range".
"Excellent", said Hendrax with relish, "Signal all engines to make ready for contact and keep a sharp eye out for Gargants"
"Moderati Ghant" he said turning to his right where his second in command sat "raise void shields, charge all weapons, load munitions and awaken targeting servitors".
"Aye Princeps" the Moderati replied with all the warmth and affection of a servitor, then turned his attention to the neural interface manifold that ran through the thick cables connected to the base of his skull. Through the Titan's interface manifold Princeps Hendrax felt the weapon limbs as if they were his own: he felt solid munitions shifting through his right arm into the super-heavy Mega-Bolter and a hot tingling in his left as the Volcano cannon charged. On his shoulders twin turbo lasers shifted and scanned for targets and he felt the simple minds of the servitors chattering as they thirsted for war. The Titan's ancient programming awoke and he felt it press against his mind, as an attack dog would strain against the leash. A terrible thirst for blood and death churned through the manifold and every crew-member groaned as they fought to retain control over the Titan's machine spirit. Fired and eager for battle Princeps Hendrax increased his speed to full stride as he began to climb a steep ridge and felt the awesome power build in his chest as the Titan's tech-priests stoked the furnace of the plasma reactor to meet the Titan's needs. Across the line every Titan responded in kind, as they marched forwards, while trailing behind them the Skitarii adjusted their implants and moved into formations assigned by their wireless networks.
Suddenly the Reavers began to fire, the missile pods on their beetle like carapaces flashing as they sent heavy rockets over the horizon. Each warhead carried enough munitions to level a building and the horizon lit up as they crested the ridge. What waited beyond took their breath away; the Ork horde stretched from horizon to horizon, a seething ocean of green flesh. The horde was so thick one could not even see the ground, Trukks, Killer Kans and looted tanks tearing through the mass crushing their own kin under their armoured tracks in their reckless abandon. Scattered among the horde were towering effigies to the Ork gods, the crew started, mistaking them for Gargants but sighed in relief when they detected no power emissions. Still the Ork horde was vast, the Legio Metallica had fought Orks on a thousand worlds but even they had never faced such odds. Seven engines against millions any other force, even the Space Marines, would have quailed in fear at such a sight but for the Titans there was but one thought in their minds: it was glorious. With a surge of rage each Titan's machine spirit tore into the minds of their crew, ancient arcane software overriding all with its demands for bloodshed and death and for once they did not fight it. With co-ordination born from millennia of war the Titans spilt formation, the sleek Warhounds veered off using their speed to commence strafing runs against the foes flanks. Meanwhile the Reavers began circling the horde to corral the Orks and the mighty Warlords... the Warlords charged forwards into the heart of war.
Like the fury of the their namesakes the Titans tore the world apart, moving and firing continuously. All along their line carnage was unleashed with every shot and thousands of greenskins died in the first minute. Bullets and shells rose to greet them but death was in their hands and hatred in their hearts: none could stand before them. 'Frater Audax' strode into the Orks her mega-bolters tearing through their ranks whilst 'Vivere est Vincere' poured fire into the deepest mass it could find her Inferno cannons setting them alight with napalm. 'Ab Aeterno' liquefied hundreds of Orks with each shot of her plasma blastguns the star-hot fluid melting flesh and armour alike while it simply stepped on and crushed Trukks and Killer Kans underfoot. 'Dies Judicium' whipped the ground with her turbo-lasers, continually sweeping back and forth burning away everything she touched. And all the while the constant stream of missiles slammed into the horde leaving building size craters as testament to their fury. Behind them thousands of Skitarii milled and churned, their implanted weaponry cutting through rank after rank of greenskins and sifting formation as their networks sought ever more efficient patterns of war. In the thick heart of battle 'Dies Vindico' was forced to keep moving as hundreds of Orks sought to throw grapples onto her shins. High above Princeps Hendrix snarled in rage and contempt as he guided the Titans footsteps but did not let that distract him from his duty. He revelled in the carnage and cheered as his turbo-lasers tore through the Orks, the manifold pulsed with a torrent of data and the crews sense of self slipped away as they were lost in the mind of 'Dies Vindico' now they were truly one. Like a god among mortals 'Dies Vindico' walked the earth, every footfall shaking the ground, death heavy in her fists, calling down fire from above. She spied a column of ramshackle Ork tanks grinding forwards, three seconds later their existence ended in a blizzard of mega-bolter fire, detonations from the man sized shells hurling shrapnel into the surging mass of screaming greenskins. A battery of a dozen looted artillery pieces clumsily lobbed shells at the Titan from the base of one of the Ork's crude effigies but they were vaporised with a single shot from her Volcano cannon. A mighty Ork Dreadnought charged at the Titan, its pilot snarling and yells curses to his crude gods, 'Dies Vindico' simply stepped on it as a man would step on a beetle.
The battle was going well and the Titans were slaughtering their way forwards but they were not having everything their own way. Constant shelling and airstrikes thundered down, the Titan's void shields held firm but they were forced to expend precious power to maintain their integrity. 'Dies Vindico' spied an entire column of Trukks a split second before they rammed into the foot of 'Vivere est Vincere', they were blown apart in an instant but did succeed in twisting her thick ankle bracing. She wobbled as her gyro-stablisers fought for control but with inexorable slowness she toppled forwards creating one of the most spectacular sights of the 41st Millennium: Titan fall. The very earth quaked under the impact and cloud of dust arose so thick that even radar could not penetrate as the Orks swarmed over the corpse of 'Vivere est Vincere'. 'Dies Judicium' screamed with fury at the death of her sister and charged deeper into the mass, her turbo-lasers sweeping across the horde burning and incinerating all they touched. Any other foe would have been broken by the sheer horror of war but the Orks knew only savage fury and the horde surged forward once more penetrating her void shield to swarm up her ankles and shins. The towering Warlord fell back step-by-step firing continuously into the mass but they were just too many to deny. In desperation the titan backed up against one the Ork's effigies, she poured all her fire into the ground before her turning it into a raging firestorm through which no Ork could pass. For a moment she seemed safe but then suddenly and without warning 'Dies Judicium' suddenly exploded as her hull was penetrated by a massive impact, ending three thousand years of service in one second. However this appalling result was not caused by the Ork before her, this shot had come from behind! Throughout the battle the Titan's crews were shocked from their communion with the machine spirits as they registered a hundred power surges from all around them. With chilling clarity they all recognised the awful truth: the effigies weren't simple totems after all: they really were Gargants!
Aboard 'Dies Vindico' Princeps Hendrix sat dumbfounded at this impossibility: the Orks were brutal simple creatures, never in a thousand years had they displayed such cunning. The Legio Metallica had walked straight into a trap!
Mustering every last dreg of discipline Princeps Hendrix began calling out orders, demanding targeting solutions, weapon locks and more power from the reactors. Concentrated by the reassuring familiarity of orders the crew responded and 'Dies Vindico' was the first Titan to resume firing. Facing off against three Gargants at point blank range Princeps Hendrix was cut off, unable to follow his brother Princep's battles. At this close range their superior accuracy and efficiency was rendered meaningless, all they could do was to blaze into the fray and pray for a miracle. Concentrating her fire 'Dies Vindico' tore into the first Gargant, turbo-laser batteries reassembling its face in a manner most pleasing to her Princeps. She killed the first one quickly but her void shields collapsed under fire from the other two and she began to shake and ring like a bell under the weight of fire. Surrounded on all sides 'Ab Aeterno' slowed to a halt, her legs entangle in a thick briar of grapples and cabling. She swung about wildly blasting into the mass with her plasma blastguns but the Orks were too close under the arc of her fire and they swarmed up the lines. Screams tore through the airwaves as the Green skins forced open the hatches and began to slaughter the crew. 'Frater Audax' led a breakout with the twin Warhounds pushing out to the very edge of the horde, blasting and burning in a desperate attempt to escape. Their escape vector was filled with swarming Ork and exploding shells but they pushed through, their leg armour ripped to shreds. The horizon was in sight but still blocked by a single Gargant, their desultory fire flicking off its void shields. 'Frater Audax' increased speed, the proud Reaver drawing away the enemies attention so the Warhounds could circle and flank it. However before they could even fire the Gargant surged forward with impossible speed, a wrecking claw three stories tall plunged into 'Frater Audax' gut, shescreamed as her crew were crushed into pulp and her reactors breached. Haemorring power and crew like lifeblood the reaver could only stand helplessly as the gargant stepped back and with a crude laugh broadcasting over the vox swung its claw again and beheaded the titan. Her pilots screamed as they fell thirty feet to the ground, impossibly he Princeps survived the fall but before he could even disengage the Orks smashed through the wrecked windows and slaughtered all they found. Only the Warhounds survived to carry the word of this utter defeat to the Imperial lines.
Trapped behind in the mass off the horde the 'Dies Vindico' was filled with chaos, tech-priests yelling and screaming as sensori Dex called out damage reports, "Impacts, impacts, impacts! Armour at seventy percent and dropping, prow stabilisers failing"
"Continue firing!" was Princeps Hendrix's only response,
"Primary power conduit breached, servitors nine through seventeen dead, turbo-lasers one and four fused, the Mega-Bolter… the Mega-Bolter is gone!" the sensori cried in desperate terror.
"Continue firing you bastards!" Princeps Hendrix furiously screamed, "Fight for your lives, hold nothing back, give them everything you got! Where the hell is my Volcano Cannon!" The Moderati clung to his shaking his board and called up "Volcano Cannon sustaining heavy damage, safety buffers are gone, charge capacity at seventy percent and falling we can't risk firing in this state."
"We have no choice Moderati", Princeps Hendrix called, "Our duty is clear: Fire!" With a surge of power the mighty cannon spoke, a single spear of light tearing into one of the Gargants, punching straight through and killing the crude blasphemy with a single shot. The beam tore through and plunged into the Orks behind, incinerating a trench through the horde hundreds dying in terrible fire. This act of defiance it was to prove too much for 'Dies Vindico', crippled and burning the cannon exploded under the strain. Terrible feedback tore through the power systems exploding conduits and cooking servitors as it fed into the reactor.
On the bridge panels exploded and thick smoke filled the tiny cabin, Sensori Dex coughed heavily, his face filled with shrapnel but his mind link still strong. Which was more than could be said for Moderati Ghant whose brain had exploded in the calamity. Sensori Dox was nearly overloaded by the feed of data but still called out "Reactor breached! Core temperature rising estimate sixty seconds until we reach critical mass!" A weak voice called out "Sensori" Dex turned and gasped; the Princeps was a sight to terrify a Titan crewman. The mindlink was strongest for the Princeps and he had felt every pain of his machine, deep psychosomatic wounds covered his torso and his face was barely visible under the blood streaming from the craters where his eyes used to be. But through the Titan he still saw a third Gargant standing tall, taunting them by not even bothering to finish them off: it was more fun to watch them burn. Princeps Hendrix swore he would not die like this and whispered, "Divert all remaining power to motive systems, full stride ahead: Give me ramming speed…"
The last of the crewmen rallied to the call and Sensori Dex closed his eyes and said, "Is this how we die… in failure?" As the Titan staggered forwards lurching in agony, Princeps Hendrix smiled for the last time and said, "No, never for we die in the service of the Emperor, there is no higher calling" And then, reeling like a drunk, 'Dies Vindico' collided with the Gargant just as her reactor went critical. They exploded together like the birth of a star and every Ork for five hundred meters was burnt to a crisp by the heat, a blast wave tore outwards knocking thousands more to the ground and shrapnel was hurled miles in every direction killing randomly as it landed.
And with that final victory the saga of 'Dies Vindico' ended.