Broken Giants: Chapter 9

Amid the ruins and devastated city there was a lake of fire, a testament to war and a monument to destruction forged with the blood of an Imperial army. Men and machines had fought valiantly, they had fought bravely and well but it had all been futile for they had faced a foe beyond their understanding, one single foe that had reduced five thousand men to ash in moments, 'Lator Angor' was on the move and the world quaked before it.

Once the Warlord had been a proud God-Engine of the Legios, once it had had borne a name that had stirred hearts and been celebrated on worlds across a galaxy but no more, those days were gone and now it was only 'Lator Angor'. The Titan was striding into the lower districts seeking targets, its weapons were hot from firing for they were yet blasting away at targets miles distant, sometimes these were knots of soldiers or vehicles but more often it fired simply for the joy of destruction.

The visage of the Titan was sickening to behold, metal and flesh warped together in insane ways to create a testament to the power of Chaos but that was nothing compared to the interior. Here the touch of the Warp had created a macabre artwork, the union of man and machine taken to ultimate extreme by a Daemon of Slaanesh. Bodies were stretched and elongated in impossible ways, muscles and tendon wrapping around gears and pistons while heart and organs had been fused into mechanisms and devices in a manner that would drive a mortal insane to gaze upon.

In the cockpit the worst expression of insanity had been wrought, the bodies of the crew fusing together to create a web of flesh that filled the interior, they were now the brain of 'Lator Angor' a mind comprised of their bodies and filled with the loathsome stench of the Daemonic. Yet the worst horror was preserved for the most mighty of all, the Titan's Princeps was still alive and completely sane, here the Daemon had crafted a piece of sardonic art for the man's body was fused into the pulsating web of flesh but his head and brain were intact and uncorrupted.

The man had thought he was embracing eternal glory when he sold out his species to the Ruinous Powers but had received only scorn. Now he was forevermore a powerless witness to the deeds of the Titan, fully aware of all that transpired as he wept and pleaded for death.

The Daemon thoroughly enjoyed having its own private audience, the wailing and weeping from its constant companion sustained it through the bleak patches of boredom when its physical body was being transported between stars or locked in stasis. This Neverborn was a creation of the Prince of Excess and it was woven from the tears of a billion widows on ten thousand worlds, grief and lament were the very air it breathed, it did not just want to cause suffering... it needed to.

'Lator Angor' moved among the hab-blocks and homes of the downtrodden workers, impishly snapping off frontages and staving in apartments with its armoured shoulders and as it did so it felt minor weapon impacts on its void shields from nearby roof tops. This was less than an irritation and the Titan turned its secondary weapons upon the buildings, strafing the offending gnats with lascanon fire, it pressed on aggressively looking for real opponents and the Daemon laughed to itself over the weeping from its human companion, the misery and woe just never seemed to run out with this one.

'Lator Angor' pressed on eagerly, seeking out the sounds of battle and when it detected the crump of artillery from nearby it changed course to intercept, swiftly it closed and found itself approaching a smelter's yard crowned by dozens of cooling towers that soared over even its head. Poised just on the periphery was an artillery park filled with scores of Earthshakers and running men dragging shells to and fro, the Daemon grimaced for the range was so great that the Guardsmen had not even seen it yet. 'Lator Angor' could easily destroy them at this range, but where would the fun be in that?

Slowly the 'Lator Angor' stepped forwards right towards the artillery and it smiled as it sensed the men's panic when they spied the Titan approaching, this turned to laughter when the human in its head began screaming at the distant men to run, run for their lives. The Daemon's was thoroughly enjoying this and it chortled when it saw the long barrels dragging about to target the Titan, they actually thought they could fight it.

Red burps of fire announced the Earthshaker's ire and the Daemon Titan bellowed in pleasure as the shells hit its void shields, effortlessly shunted aside without harm. 'Lator Angor' pounded forward, letting the men see the futility of their efforts as the Titan strode on unharmed, then when their fear and agitation reached a crescendo it unleashed its Apocalypse launchers. A single missile the size of a ground cab flew upwards and then arced back down to explode over the heads of the artillerymen, petals of fire blossomed over the area sweeping away everything within range, a few men survived the initial blasts but were covered in fire and fell screaming as they thrashed and died.

'Lator Angor' heard the cries resonating in the Warp and drank deeply of the woe it had caused but then it stopped and held still for its auspex was sensing a localised energy surge. It was far too potent and focussed to be a power station, this had all the hallmarks of a Titan's plasma reactor: there was another loyalist Engine in the field. The Daemon smiled in relish, Titans were truly worthy kills and each machine had a stench of warfare that trailed after it in a delightful plume, this would be a fight to savour.

Slowly 'Lator Angor' paced forwards with weapons ready, seeking out the spoor of its rival among the bell shaped cooling towers like a man walking in an open wood. The auspex jittered and danced as the signal seemed to jump from place to place, sometimes disappearing entirely only to remerge elsewhere, the Daemon was confused by this and in frustration it reached into the mind of its companion. This was the other reason it had preserved the Princep's head, his wealth of knowledge and experience lent the Neverborn a cunning edge its feral mind could never otherwise conceive.

In the Princep's thoughts the Daemon found an answer, the signal was being broken up and refracted by the mass of the cooling towers, it was probably another Reaver Engine seeking to outflank the Warlord. The Daemon found memories of aggression and brutality associated with Reavers and a warning not to focus too singularly on the front lest attacks came from the rear, also it needed to be careful with loose weapons fire, a single misplaced shot here could bring down a cooling tower and bury even so mighty a war machine.

'Lator Angor' paced forwards with weapons primed and ready, walking among the towers alert for traps but even so it was caught by surprise for as it stepped around a cooling tower a massive blast of energy caught it in the right flank to blow out a void shield. The Warlord snarled in anger and ground its waist about to see an enemy coming right at it, not a Reaver but a Warhound: racing forwards at maximum stride. One arm was a double Turbolaser, still red hot from firing and the other was a Vulkan Megabolter that screamed as it hurled rounds in a blitzkrieg of firepower.

'Lator Angor' felt void shield after void shield collapse as the Warhound raced forwards and the human in its head cried out both in recognition of the threat it represented and as a desperate plea for it to be victorious and end his suffering. The Warhound was fast and aggressive, pounding forwards on splayed feet as its Megabolter fired and the turbolaser charged, it was a textbook ambush that could have come straight out of the training manuals, which was why it failed.

'Lator Angor' had been expecting a trap and had kept its weapons poised on the very point of firing, Daemonic strength keeping the power in check until it was needed. The Warlord ground around and lined up its weapons then the Sunfury Annihilator fired, a barrage of plasma blasts engulfed the Warhound and incinerated its shields in one shot. The Warhound responded with its turbolaser as it bounded forwards and managed to strip the last shield from the corrupted Titan but then the Daemon fired the Volcano canon.

The titanic laser weapon hit the Warhound dead on and ripped straight into it and out the other side leaving a gaping hole right in its heart, the blast carried on into ground behind it to blast a gaping cavern into the dirt that collapsed as it exposed an underground road. The Warhound teetered on one foot as if disbelieving it was dead but then it slowly toppled backwards and hit the ground in an almighty crash. In the cockpit of 'Lator Angor' the man was weeping but the Daemon was exultant, thrilling at the rush of the kill, it stepped forwards to savour the experience.

And that was when the second Warhound attacked.

From behind another cooling tower the Titan charged, this one had red fangs painted over its maw and its weapons were a Plasma Blastgun and one close combat tine, a double forked blade glistening with disruption fields. The Daemon growled as it realised that here was the true reason for the Auspex glitches, the two Warhounds had been disguising their power signatures as one larger machine.

Before the Warlord could respond the smaller Titan fired and Plasma engulfed the left side of 'Lator Angor', armour melted away and the structure beneath was scarred deeply. The Daemon roared furiously as its body suffered but this was a God-Engine, a Lord of War and it rode the agony in defiance of its attacker. The Warhound charged forwards at full pace, combat tine glinting in anticipation of the kill, it deserved to win for it had timed its attack perfectly the Warlord's shields were down and its weapons depowered but that did not mean it was defenceless.

As the Warhound closed the Daemon swung about and lashed out with its fleshy tail, swinging the limb right at its attacker's face, the warp touched metal effortlessly bypassing the Void shields and the wrecking ball on the end impacted the cockpit with the force of a pile driver. Armour and reinforced struts crumpled under the impact and the cockpit was smashed into itself, crushing the crew instantly before they even knew they were dead.

The Warhound ground to halt and for a long moment it stood still and then hatches opened around its waist as the remaining crew evacuated, 'Lator Angor' ignored them, they were less than nothing and it was already boring of this location. The Warlord left the other Titan behind as a monument to its victory and exited the smelter's yard looking for fresh fights, as its human companion screamed for death the Daemon wondered where those little Imperial Knights had scampered off to, that would be a delicious fight.

Silence fell in the yard as the war moved on to new ground but that did not mean it was deserted, not long after the fight had ended there was movement once more. Down in the deep crater left by the Volcano canon a metal body heaved its way upwards from beneath, exiting the deeps via the opening blasted into the ground.

One by one five Knights clambered their way back into the sunlight and stood basking in the warmth, they surveyed the carnage all around before they turned away and marched off, heading towards the nearest Imperial Guard base, determined to return in force and exact vengeance.