Any and all criticism is appreciated. Please review and suggest improvements. I do not own games workshop or any official trademarks named in this story blah blah blah now let battle commence *blows whistle*
Chapter 1
"Fire, emperor damn you, FIRE!" screamed Colonel Targrin Failser. He turned away from his waiting forces towards the horde of charging green skins. He sighted down the barrel of his compact bolt pistol (the most precious item of equipment and his most trusted friend). The heavily browed skull of an Ork officer or 'Nob' as they were called by their foul brothers appeared in his sights and he prepared to fire. His grip tightened on the short stubby pistol and the ornate chainsword gripped in his left hand. He prayed for luck, so that his shot would fly true, from the emperor feeling the reassuring weight of his weapons, a reminder of his duty and faith to the living god. His grip tightened once, but it seem Targrin's luck had run out, as his thumb accidentally slipped, flicking the activator stud on his ancient chainsword, revving the powerful engine unexpectedly and nearly causing the weapon to leap from Targrin's hand. The colonel glanced down at the momentary distraction, quickly taking his thumb off the activator stud. He turned his attention to the stampeding Ork horde that was fast approaching his position. In a brief moment of misaligned concentration he pulled the trigger, feeling the satisfying kick of the weapons powerful recoil. His attention now fully on where the bullet was going, Failser noticed that there was no longer the oversized skull of a foul Xenos within his sights….there was however the correct sized skull of the companies commissar.
Company commissar Laden's head was pierced by the explosive bolt just above his left eye. The bolt burrowed its way through his like a Land Raider through a squad of cultists, with similar results. The volatile hydrogen gel held within the bullets outer casing promptly ignited, causing a ball of intensely hot expanding gases to form inside his brain casing. As the temperature increased his brain began to boil. The steam produced at first began to vent through the entry wound but the forces being produced were too great for the unfortunate officer's cranium to hold and it ruptured…explosively. His skull expanded, the bone being bent by the immense forces, but soon the rate of expansion was too great for the brittle bone to hold and the skull shattered along the natural fault lines within the bone. His head became deformed and misshapen so grotesque it made the approaching Orks look attractive. The tortured skull finally shattered, the expanding gases sending lumps of cooked brain, burnt bone, charred skin and other viscera flying outwards. This all occurred within the space of 2 milliseconds, thankfully the commissar had died almost as soon as the bolt had entered his skull.
Failser could only look on in disbelief, his jaw dropping as the commissar was thrown backwards by the immense kinetic force of the bolt. An object was catapulted from the gory detonation and landed square in the conveniently opened mouth of the unlucky colonel. Failser quickly spat it out onto the ground. It was the commissars' right eye. It stared up at him, accusing him.
"FUUUUUUUCK!" screamed the shocked imperial guard colonel, as he stepped backwards, away from the grisly remains, the eyes of the surrounding guardsmen following him, disbelief plastered across their faces. The memories of the Orks were now wiped from their minds as they had just watched the commanding officer seemingly execute the commissar without reason.
This was a mistake. The Orks overran the front lines, with a titanic bellow "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!!"
They hacked into the puny guardsmen to the chorus of "ORKS, ORKS, CHOPPA, CHOPPA, DAKKA, DAKKA OOORKS!" for the guardsmen, caught unawares, the casualties were immense.
The day was saved by the timely arrival of a most unexpected ally. A dozen Terminators of the Ultramarine first company materialised out of thin air. They opened fire upon the Orks immediately, pulping great swathes of the enemy with their assault cannons, missile pods, storm bolters and power hammers. The counter attack was short, brutal and resulted in a conclusive imperial victory.
As the final Ork shuddered to the ground and died the Ultramarine officer teleported in. unlike his subordinates he did not appear out of thin air and more like mid-air. He materialised 7 feet in the air… directly above Colonel Failser.
Failser awoke to the bright blue gauntlet of an ultramarine reaching towards his face. He began try to scramble away but the enormous hand snatched out and gripped him by the collar and hoisted him into the air. The gigantic arm lowered and placed him softly on his feet. And he promptly fell to his knees.
"Don't grovel, if there's one thing I can't stand its grovelling" growled the massive ultramarine captain.
"I'm so, so, sorry my lord Cobra" squeaked Failser weakly, as he quickly jumped to his feet, motioning for his command cadre to do the same.
"Don't apologise, every time I try to talk to someone it's sorry this and forgive me that and I'm not worthy" he sighed his voice layered with frustration and boredom "what are you doing now?"
"I'm averting my eyes, Lord Captain"
"well don't its like those miserable Commissar speeches there so depressing," his helmets eye slots seemed to linger on the mutilated corpse of the commissar as he said this, "now knock it off!"
"Yes lord," mumbled the now chastened Colonel.
"Now Failser I have a quest for you"
"A quest, lord?" Failser looked at him incredulously.
"a request. Damned voxponders been on the blink," he growled, and he pulled off his helmet "now I want you to get all guns firing at the Ork positions, everything you've got, even that fancy looking Leman Russ over there," grumbled the gigantic captain, nodding towards an ornate Leman Russ festooned with gold leaf, purity seals and holy symbols.
"But sir that that it the Maynardus, it is our reliquary. It holds the greatest relics of our great regiment. It has no weapons so that it remains clean and sacred."
"well fire your other bloody guns. Then I want these Ork scum wiped from the face of this wholesome planet before they pollute to an even greater degree than they have already. Now get those guns firing before I execute you for obstructing the work of a holy space marine."
Failser whimpered and ran to find his vox operator and quickly instructed them to fire on the Orks. Now because of an unfortunate chain of events involving a tub if grease, several frag grenades, three guardsmen and a small grox the targeting equipment on one piece of artillery equipment was misaligned. And on this very day the most incompetent artillery commander in the entire regiment was in charge. When he received the order to fire upon the Orks he thought Failser meant the Orks that appeared to be attacking the front lines. He assumed the captain knew what he was doing and opened fire. The shells arced up landing in the new repopulated trenches. More were killed then, than were killed in the initial Ork charge. But not all the shells hit their target, one fell short.
As Failser stood with one of his surviving lieutenants, trying to sort out reliable witnesses for the inevitable trial over the debacle with the dead commissar he heard the whistle of an incoming shell. He dived to the ground as the huge shell streaked overhead. He looked up just in time to see the Maynardus immolated.
The precious and ancient Leman Russ disappeared in an enormous fireball. The company's banner, which had survived every battle that it had been carried into, was incinerated. The san griel, which was used when new officers were promoted and which, as it was told in company legend, the emperor drank from melted into a pool of molten slag. A bottle of holy water from the shrinehold of saint Sabbat herself was boiled away in an instant.
Failser looked on in disbelief, his eyes widening in shock. As the realization of what had just happened hit him, tears began to stream down his face. He lowered his head into his hands and began to weep uncontrollably.