As the bullets flew around me I came to realize that our stand was nothing but a hopeless fight. But we are the Guardsmen, and even in the darkest of hours we will fight until the last man, I threw that thought off my head, and quickly reloaded my rifle as I saw bunch of Orks overrun a heavy bolter emplacement, ripping the Guardsmen head off and breaking the gun in the ground.
I sprayed my gun against a group of Orks that rushed our position, some crumbled in their run, three of them crumbled to meet death and the others were quickly cut off by my mates. I turned my attention to a group of Guardsmen retreating from a destroyed emplacement, five in total.
"Octavian, cover us!" one of them yelled, desperate. I raised my gun with a somewhat lackluster confidence and sprayed at a group of Orks right next to them. Two of them fell to the ground dead; the others were able to hide into rocks, I kept suppressing them so they couldn't get the jump on the running guardsmen. It was thinking of how much time my ammo would last when I heard the loud bang of the Lemon Russ, the giant blast created a strange buzz into my ears.
But what was the buzz in my ears compared to the Ork's fate, because as their cover was blown to hell, their body parts flew into a gruesome show. As I saw the bits of Orks flying around, landing into the strangest of places, I couldn't help myself but smile. What an incredible display of fireworks, I would love that work if it wasn't for the murderous green creatures jumping at me.
As the other five guardsmen joined me in the trenches the Leman Russ fired yet another shot, more body parts flew into the air, some even fell inside the trenches, spreading the strange smell that only Ork blood can provide. I took a quick glance at my comrades, the one who called my attention joined me, and he gave me a small thumb up and said: "Nice work Octavian, we would be dead meat without you."
I was then filled with a strange joy that only war can bring to a man; still, I was filled with an overwhelming fear: fear of the Orks, fear of my own kin seeing me as a coward, and thus as a heretic, and thus being shoot in the back by the watchful eye of the commissar. I just wanted all that to be over soon. I was just a new guy; I wasn't supposed to see all that action in my third day of work.
Was I?
My entire line of thought was cut when I heard the scream coming from the other side of the trench: "Incoming!" I raised my head just in time to see a bunch of Orks entering the trenches in jetpacks. The shooting intensified from one minute to another, they were so close that I couldn't help but shake when I pointed my gun towards them, spraying and praying for the god emperor.
One of the Orks jumped against me, at the time it all happened so fast I couldn't understand, my mind entered an automatic mode, I didn't think, I just acted. As he came towards me at incredible speed my first reactions was to turn and run, but as I turned I saw him with the corner of my eye, he was just standing there – the commissar, with his pistol in hand. I restrained myself and lunged towards the Ork with my bayonet with a loyalty that only fear could induce.
A sound of flesh being ripped apart was the only thing I heard. I thought that either he was dead or I was about to be. I turned around to see the Ork in the ground, bleeding because of a giant cut on its chest. I was filled with a sensation of job well done.
That was before the Leman Russ fired its heavy flamers against the other side of the trenches, pulverizing the rest of the Orks and exposing my back to a violent heat. When the weapon finally ended blazing the trenches I took the mistake of waiting a second, a single second to breathe, because in that exact moment a barrage from the Orks Shooters machineguns spread chaos amongst the trenches, I felt a sting and then a burning pain as two bullets entered my left arm and propelled me against the ground, I yelled in pain. I had never felt something so terrible my whole life.
"Shit! Octavian, hang on ok-"the man was interrupted by the loud stampede of the Leman Russ, it caused a lot of damage, because I heard Orks screaming as a giant building crumbled right next to the trenches. A hand touched my chest in a firmly but friendly way, and once again I heard that voice. It was Julius, the man I had rescued previously. "Octavian, hang on, don't you die on me! This is only your third day, guardsmen!"
When he finished his sentence his voice was but an echo to me, and as my vision slowly became gray, I had lost all my fear. If I was to die there, at least I died with honor. The last thing I saw was drop pods falling from the sky, our last hope laid there.
A job well done.
They had arrived.
I heard the Leman Russ once again, spreading destruction to the Ork forces. My last hearing before I delved deep into my sleep, knocked out clean.