Chapter 9 - Spears
To Ruby, the battle of Ishem Isthmus offered a surreal experience of horror and dismay, embodied by uniquely appalling sensory impressions. As she was bombarded by the relentless noise and tremble of both friendly and enemy shells, she was simultaneously confronted with countless sights and scenes of death and suffering. All encompassed by a scarred landscape of seemingly endless devastation.
Her younger self would have been overwhelmed by the brutality and carnage around her. Luckily, she wasn't the same person as before, and her mental discipline and focus didn't waver, despite all that. All the terrible, negative events and experiences she had endured in the last years, at least left this single beneficial consequence, if nothing else.
The young huntress was on the move, never pausing save from a few moments, constantly scanning her surroundings for her next target. She always kept in mind the words of General Kastriot, regarding her role in the battle and the kind of "preys" she should concentrate on. After defeating that grotesque walker, she had momentarily left the task of dealing with enemy heavy vehicles to the other teams, instead of focusing on eliminating the ork chieftains and disrupting their leadership. While she had no luck finding the warboss so far, spotting its "lieutenants'' wasn't that hard, as it was clear from looking at Crescent Rose, already stained and dripping with alien blood.
Just like with Alpha Grimm, ork leaders were easy to identify, as they towered over their kin and easily exerted their authority upon them, each one commanding entire battle groups. They also were the ones sporting the strongest weapons and the best armour, which further helped in identifying them.
Ruby had already killed a few of them, and she could see why their death was so important to increase the Imperials' chances. Whenever one of the chieftains was killed, the mob it was leading began to fracture, as some of their members started bickering and even fighting one another for control, which led to hesitation and lack of coordination that her allies could easily exploit.
Even when there wasn't any infighting the situation didn't improve. Most of the time their dead leader would be smarter than its subordinates, capable of using tactics that went beyond simply charging at the enemy; without that kind of guidance, the mob would predictably just run straight towards the biggest gathering of enemy troops, leading it to fall into otherwise obvious traps, or to be bogged down into the locations with the heaviest suppressive fire.
Finally, Ruby spotted her next quarry: a group of roughly thirty orks which, unlike others, was hiding behind the wreckage of destroyed vehicles as they advanced. The benefit of this action was twofold: by following the trail of broken machines, the greenskins moved on a relatively safe path, as any mine or defense system would have already been triggered. Plus, they could use the ruined engines as cover in their approach, limiting the losses they could suffer.
Even after a quick glance, the huntress was able to identify the author of this strategy, as well as the commander of this battle group. The thing was enormous, and not only because of its natural girth: the alien was clad in what could be described as a black exoskeleton that covered the entirety of its body, with the exception of the upper half of the face. Its arms ended with two massive circular saws: the sound they made when they spun was chilling, no matter the distance. The armour had the typical crude, brutal aesthetic that characterized all ork constructions, but the girl realized, even from afar, that its thick metal plates made it extremely durable and tough.
If an Imperial veteran in dealing with orks had been with her, she would have learned that her target was a MegaNob. But even without knowing its name, the huntress had gathered enough intel to reach a simple, yet valid conclusion: close quarter combat would not be particularly efficient.
So, she opted for the long-range approach. Moving behind the ruined section of an ork tank, some fifty meters to the left of the advancing horde, she reverted her scythe to its sniper rifle form and began aiming at the hulking brute. Internal and external ballistic, wind speed and direction, angle of the shot, trigger control, recoil management. These and other factors were all taken into account and analyzed in the span of a few seconds, becoming instinctual after years of training and experience. Her breath was calm and composed. A natural pause of it took place, and she fired.
Any expert in marksmanship, who could have observed that moment, would have concurred that the shot was perfect. All aspects had been taken into consideration to a T, and her bullet would have hit the ork straight in the unprotected area of the head, causing an instant kill.
But no matter how meticulous a sniper can be, sometimes there are external factors that defy even the wildest expectations.
Like a Squigeon, flying high in the sky, that made an abrupt, senseless nosedive and found itself right in the line of fire when the bullet was moving.
When the two objects collided, the flying creature was blasted into pieces. The small explosion of gore grabbed the attention of the Nob and as he turned, the ork caught sight of Ruby.
'What was th- oh, damnit!' The girl, still processing what had just happened, silently cursed, as she noticed the giant greenskin pointing one of his saws in her direction, and his followers quickly charging where they were ordered.
"Well, guess we can't do this quietly," she said with a sigh, while Crescent Rose morphed back into a melee weapon. More than twenty ork boyz, with the number already growing, were running towards her. She wasn't worried about this particular group of enemies: she had dealt with far scarier and more dangerous foes. What gave her some concern was the risk of this skirmish turning into a prolonged battle of attrition: if she fought normally, taking her time to deal with each opponent, chances were high that the clash would be noticed, attracting more and more greenskins from nearby bands until she would find herself embroiled in an endless struggle that would drain her strength and deplete her Aura.
Speed was essential in this case: she needed to deal with this before it could escalate further.
With that in mind, she took a combat stance, Crescent Rose firmly in her grip. Then, she leapt towards the mob, propelled by her Semblance. During her enhanced movement, she began to spin, turning into a red vortex that became redder and redder, as she carved a bloody path on the unprepared orks.
Four seconds.
That's the time it took her to slay over thirty ork boyz, the entirety of the meganob' mob. From dismemberment to decapitation, from being severed in half to being impaled while hurled away by the shockwave of her movement. After those four seconds, the meganob was the last xenos standing, and he watched the huntress finally stop her movement by planting her scythe deep on the ground, while blood and body parts started dropping on the ground where his underlings had stood.
"Ya krumped all ma boyz. How'z... wait... now I get it. Yu'z 'dat mysterious, strong humie Urzag kept yapping 'bout."
If the ork was scared or concerned about the carnage Ruby had just perpetrated, he wasn't showing it.
"Ya may be strong an' fast, humie, but ya cannot defeat Durgrad, da toughest boy 'n Warboss Gurzag's WAAAGH!"
With that said, the meganob let out a roaring warcry, before charging straight at the huntress, his movements seemingly unhindered by the cumbersome armour. In response, Ruby propelled herself towards the alien. She sinks the belly of Crescent Rose into his clavicle but didn't get much further through the ork's impressive armour. Despite having anticipated this might happen, the girl still couldn't help letting a small shocked gasp. In contrast, the Nob grinned smugly, and brought the two saws in his arms towards her, with the intent of shredding her in a deadly embrace. Ruby quickly activated Crescent's Rose last upgrade, rotating its head 180 degrees. Then she swings the now free blade back at her, just in time to intercept the two circular saws closing in. Metal shrieked as the two weapons collided, the ork power saws grinding on the Aura enhanced scythe before the huntress jumped back to gain some distance.
'Well, I certainly don't want to get caught by those. They would drain my Aura pretty quickly if I let them.' Ruby mentally noted, having felt the intensity of the alien weapon even without the need of an Aura reading.
"Dat's a pruty cool choppa ya have. I will gladly loot it from yer dead corpse, afta I krump ya." Durgrad taunted her, and he immediately rushed to attack her once more.
"I'm getting sick of you brutes trying to take my Crescent Rose!" Ruby responded, irked by the possibility.
This time, the girl remained on the defensive: she parried and dodged all the ork's attacks, a constant buzz always accompanying them. Despite the surprising agility of the alien, the huntress was still way faster, even without resorting to her Semblance.
'I cannot remain on the defensive, but its armour is too tough to pierce without exerting too much energy.' Ruby thought as she kept evading the enemies' strikes, much to the nob's frustration. 'I don't get how can it move so fast with that much arm- wait, that's it!'
With the sudden revelation, she briefly burst into petals and moved back from the ork, some thirty metres far from him.
"Yer may be red an' fast, 'umie, but it seems runn'n away iz 'da only f'n ya kan do against 'da mighty Durgrad"
Ruby didn't fall for the alien's taunt. Instead, after planting Crescent Rose's blade on the ground, she changed the magazine of the rifle with a different one and prepared to fire.
"A choppa dat iz also a shoota?! Yu'z full uv surprises, 'umie. But no amount uv dakka, unless dat komes from a Gargant kannon, iz gunna stop me!"
Without letting herself be influenced by the massive ork charging at full speed, she aimed at a specific point and fired. The bullet hit right into the crack on the armour that Crescent Rose had left, and it used this breach in the enemy's defense to plunge deeper. But it wasn't some explosive round, nor one with more penetration force: instead, an electric discharge rapidly spread all over the alien. The shock was significantly powerful, but that alone wasn't what stopped the greenskin: the power released by the electric Dust overcharged the internal locomotive system and boosters of the exoskeleton, which systematically shut down. The assault of Durgrad abruptly came to a halt, as the nob was brought to his knees by the sheer weight of its now-dead armour.
"How…dare…ya…" the ork struggled to speak, his energies fully committed to the task of getting up. It was a testament to the monumental strength of this xenos elite, that he was slowly lifting himself, despite being fully clad into more than a ton worth of metal, without the aid of the armour's power system.
"Ya stupid git! I'll krump ya! Rip out yer guts wit' ma bare hands, den strangle ya wit' dem. I-"
Any further threat was cut short when the blade of Crescent Rose severed the unprotected forehead of the greenskin from the rest of the body.
Thus, the life of MegaNob Durgrad came to an end.
Ruby lingered in front of the corpse of her last kill for a moment, pondering about the whole fight. She had exerted herself more than she would have liked. The battle was still long, and her Aura would not last forever.
"I guess I'm still adjusting to fighting without my team, and that will begin to take its toll soon…"
The intense tremor and rumble from an explosion nearby stopped her from dwelling back on those negative thoughts about her absent friends.
"Now it's not the time to wallow in self-pity! People still need my help!"
And with that said, she went back in action, moving towards the source of the blast.
⁓
The Stormhammer Arbanon's Vengeance, together with its five smaller siblings, powered through the minefield, six promethium guzzling engines growling in unison. Their movements were completely unhindered by the mines and booby traps, knowing exactly where to go without triggering them. This was thanks to the ingenuity of Restion, who had memorized the locations of all the explosives, and thus, from aboard Arbanon's Vengeance, could coordinate the safest routes for the armoured squad, his mind always communicating with the drivers and machine spirits of all five vehicles.
The sight of the unstoppable advance of these heavy tanks, amidst that field of death, should have struck fear and awe in the hearts of mankind's enemies. Yet the orks, despite their heavy losses and precarious footing, whooped in joyous rapture. Their foot soldiers poured from line Primatowards the approaching Imperial forces in a wave of green flesh.
Those that had firearms opened fire, seemingly all at once, with no leadership or tactical consideration. Bullets from sluggas and shootas merely pinged off the thick Leman Russ, Macharius and Stormhammer armour, and even large-calibre explosive shells that detonated on impact did little more than leave black scorch marks and dents over the surface of the tanks.
The Imperial vehicles retaliated in kind, and their anti-infantry weapons mowed down every greenskin in sight: at the forefront of this onslaught were the Leman Russ Punisher Sword of Kruje, with its fast-firing Punisher gatling cannon, and the Macharius Furor Aquilae, whose Vulcan mega bolter decimated scores of enemies every second. It was evident that the orks couldn't stop them that way.
The xenos had their own heavy vehicles, which had the means and the numbers to overwhelm their opponent. But, unlike their Imperial counterpart, they were completely at the mercy of the terrain. The fear of the mines made them move slowly, hesitatingly, which limited their options when combat began.
Every so often, one of them got the short end of the stick, walking straight into a trap. The smaller ones were destroyed, while their more armoured counterparts could still be damaged in their threads and wheels, permanently crippling their locomotion and turning them into stationary targets.
Some tried to follow the trails left by the Imperial tanks, correctly deducing that those will be safe to travel. However, they soon learned the hard way that this action made their movement pattern all the more predictable.
This peculiar situation allowed Restion and his squad to eliminate a lot of targets, despite their inferior number.
"Get me a visual." Restion said to the crew of the stormhammer, looking for a new opponent.
"Armour!" one of them exclaimed, squinting through his periscope. "Forty-five degrees at three hundred metres."
Restion glimpsed a dark shape through the dust and smoke. It matched the silhouette of a Hellhound tank, but with heavier, ramshackle armour plating and a big krusha kannon, wobbly bolted on the top of the turret, in place of the promethium-spewing flamethrower of its namesake. All signs of ork kustomisations on a looted wagon, likely acquired in a previous warzone.
"I see it." Restion answered, its neutral voice concealing the rage it felt at seeing the corruption these xenos wrought on a once pure creation of the Machine God. "Load, AP. Traverse right. Let's get into the fight."
"Identified!" the gunner called back, twisting the controls to rotate the turret to the right.
"AP, up!" Restion heard, as the armour-piercing shell was rammed into place.
"Oh Omnissiah," Restion chanted in prayer, his eyes fixed on the target. "Guide the flight, watch the target and take the unworthy's life. Gun, fire!"
The Stormhammer cannon of the Arbanon's Vengeanceroared with righteous thunder as the tank slightly bucked from the recoil. The gun's breech block bounced back, spitting the spent shell casing to the deck. The improvised armour plating the orks had put on the stolen tank had given it greater protection than before, but it had no chance to stop an ordnance hit. The looted wagon was cracked apart. The projectile must have hit some highly explosive elements inside the ork vehicle, causing its hull to twist open like a bursting flower as it exploded from the inside. Flames rolled up into the sky, wreathed in greasy smoke as the iron husk spat shrapnel in all directions.
"Tank destroyed!" the gunner shouted in jubilation.
"Good job everyone, but keep sharp. There is more where they came from." Restion warned, his attention drawn on the auspex screen. He noticed one of the enemy signals moving at a far greater speed than the others. Moreover, its course was peculiar, and the enginseer realized in a fraction of a second that the mysterious vehicle was avoiding the mines, just like they could. But ho-
"We have been hit!" he heard from the vox the crew of the Leman Russ Exterminator Berat's Fury. "High-velocity gun!"
"Identify the target, now!" the enginseer ordered, while his mind was already at work to find it on his own. He opened the commander's hatch, to take a look outside, and soon enough, with his bionic enhanced senses, he got a clear look at the enemy.
At first glance, it appeared to be a Kill Krusha, though the number of modifications it had exceeded those shown in documented reports the enginseer had observed. A Kill Krusha is a massive tank born to fulfil and combine the ork's love for speed and high firepower. This one brought this combination to the extreme: the amount of boosters and thrusters it sported was staggering.
That explained its abnormal speed, but Restion still couldn't fathom how the orks driving it were so proficient in avoiding the mines. What the enginseer could not have known was that that mekboy responsible for this tank's construction had incorporated, as a unique kustomisation, the presence of a crude-looking, yet surprisingly complex scanner. Its original purpose was to act as radar, detecting potential enemies from a distance, before they even appeared on site. Unexpectedly to all, including its creator, the alien device was capable of picking up even the faint energy signature of the mines and explosive traps on the ground. This provided the tank's crew with a functional map of places to avoid, and they were using it to great effect.
The imperial tanks fired several shots, but the speed and the erratic path of the enemy vehicle turned them into either a miss or, at best, a graze wound. In contrast, the number of hits scored by the Kill Krusha was noticeably higher, and while the super-heavy Arbanon's Vengeancecould endure them with relative ease, they were beginning to take their toll on the three smaller Leman Russ.
"Throne, if only that bastard stood still for just a second!" Restion heard one of the gunners shouting in frustration, and the enginseer agreed with that sentiment. Even with his mind predicting the enemy's course throughout the minefield, the ork tank was proving itself faster than the tracking system of the Stormhammer.
'Omnissiah's grace, a 25.93% decrease in its speed would be enough...'
It seemed the Machine God had listened to his prayer: sure enough, just as the thought formed in his mind, the Kill Krusha slowed down significantly, much to both human and ork bafflement.
Restion didn't miss an instant and was already directing the tanks in adjusting their firing parameters and trajectories. However, a separate part of his mind was instead focused on understanding why this unexpected event occurred. He examined the scene once again and several details began to emerge.
First of all, the deceleration was caused by several external formations that generated on the threads of the tank, obstructing them.
A superficial chemical scan showed that these formations were composed of oxygen covalently bonded with hydrogen in a crystalline structure, colloquially known as ice. Still, a subsequent energy scan detected a faint but distinct etheric signature emanating from the aforementioned solid water.
Furthermore, from the cacophony of noises, Restion could isolate the noise of several shots, originating from a non-Imperial high calibre sniper rifle. With all this information, the enginseer could make a fairly certain guess on who had helped them.
His analysis took place in the span of a few seconds, during which the Stormhammer cannon finally locked on the ork tank, whose crew was still unable to understand why they were slowing down. The explosive shell hit right into its external mass of hydraulics, boosters, and engines. At that moment, the builder's excessive desire for speed became the vehicle's undoing: in the moment of impact, the tank simply vanished in a ball of flame, heated gas, and molten metal.
The crews of all five tanks cheered at the destruction of such a dangerous foe, and Restion allowed them that moment, while he surveyed the surroundings from the open hatch and ordered the two damaged Leman Russ to fall back to the relative safety of Secunda. While doing that, a few red petals flew in the air around him, just as a red blur suddenly appeared next to the Stormhammer, coalescing back into the huntress Ruby Rose.
One of the tank's co-axial multi-laser aimed at her, but didn't and wouldn't fire at her, even assuming it had been instructed to. This came as a surprise to the other members of the tank, but not the enginseer: he knew Arbanon's Vengeancehad an ancient machine spirit, far more complex than many others, and it seems it knew the girl was its ally.
"I thank you for your timely intervention, Miss Rose. Without you, many men and machines would have perished before that enemy could have been brought down."
He then turned his attention to her rifle. "Now that I have seen Dust in action, I want even more a chance to study it"
"No need to thank me, you were the one to destroy it," Ruby answered, her tone showing, even now, the resolve and positivity that marked her.
"Now that I have seen this beauty in action, I want even more a chance to ride and fire it." she continued, mimicking the enginseer's words, her silver eyes almost sparkling in wonder at the tank's massive cannon.
Despite the critical situation they all found themselves in, those words amused Restion.
"If we survive this, we both might have our chance." Unfortunately, the harsh reality demanded his full attention once more.
"As I said before, I thank you for your help. We can continue on our own here. I heard from the vox communications that the Falcons are currently engaging the greatest bike gang in the ork army, 3.8 miles west from here. I believe your assistance will be greatly beneficial to them."
Ruby nodded, understanding the gravity of their state and the need for swift action. After wishing him safety, she ran, moving towards her next battle.
The enginseer looked her leave for a few moments, then he turned his attention back to his hunt.
"May the Omnissiah guide you and preserve you, Ruby Rose."
⁓
The Arbanian Falcons.
That was the name given to the Tempestus Scions raised on Arbanon. As befitting any members of this Ordo, they were the best soldiers the Arbanian Janissaries could call upon, having undergone the most brutal training and being equipped with superior war gear. Their name derived from their preferred method of combat: trained in the harsh environment of the Bjeshkët Nemuna, the highest mountains of Arbanon, they specialized in high-altitude and aerial combat, attacking enemies from above with the aid of jump-packs.
Before, entire companies of these elite warriors bolstered the ranks of not just the Arbanian regiments, but several other Astra Militarum forces across their sector.
Then, the death of Arbanon happened: just like their brothers and sisters, most of the Arbanian Falcons died against the Tyranids, defending their homeworld. Barely thirty Scions survived, condemned to a slow and inevitable extinction like the rest of the Arbanians.
Still, they fought with great proficiency and bravery, as it was expected by true warriors of the Imperium, and the results of their skill were plainly visible on the battlefield.
Ork leaders and their elite bodyguard were decimated, las-shots raining from above their heads, while wartrukk and tanks were sabotaged, as the Falcons dropped on them and planted explosives, all this performed with such precision and speed the xenos could not retaliate.
Their strikes were particularly useful in the disruption of warbiker mobs. The extreme speed of this kind of enemy made it difficult for Restion's tanks to oppose them, while the Falconscould compete with them in that area, and were capable of locating and shooting their target with surgical precision, even amidst the vast, dark screen of the warbikes' exhaust fumes. Thanks to them, several biker gangs had been dealt with way before they could cause turmoil on the Imperial line.
Now, however, they were fighting the largest warbiker mob in Gurzag's Waagh!, and found their match.
This congregation was led by Noznar Klawblittza. He was the fastest ork Nob in the service of Gurzag, a devoted member of the Kult of Speed, aboard his heavily kustomized red-painted warbike. The vastly increased speed of the vehicle and the recklessness of its driver - who plunged right into the midst of explosions and took several course actions that defied logic and self-preservation – was certainly making it very difficult for the scions to successfully target him, but those weren't the main reasons of Norzar's elusiveness, and consequently the threat he represented: that went to his impressive reflexes.
The ork, even in the middle of a high-speed chase, was able to react to the stormtroopers' shots, nimbly dodging them. Norzar was even able to intercept two of the elite guardsmen, who thought to take him by surprise with an abrupt nosedive, catching them mid-air with his Power Klaw and slicing them in half.
The Falconskept the pressure on this mob, killing several of the ork boyz, but they weren't close to eliminating Klawblittza. The speed freak, for his part, was enjoying himself, though a small, yet clear, tinge of boredom could be detected on his features.
Sure, these flying humies were pretty fast and entertaining, but they were no match for him. The Nob yearned for a challenge, against an opponent capable of keeping up with him. A true battle of speed, one that the gods demanded and he deserved.
His musings were interrupted by the death scream of one of his underlings, coming from his communication device, followed by eerie static. He initially ignored it: casualties were to be expected.
But then another came. Soon followed by several others, all in quick succession and abruptly ending like the first one. Too fast to be caused by the humies they were fighting now.
"-oss, we'z be'n attacke-"
"-eva seen someth'n dis fas-"
"-z' dat shoota a choop-"
"-'da red mist iz stomp'n' us-"
Noznar made a sudden drift with his bike, turning back towards his rapidly dying boyz behind him. In the instant his vehicle was reversing, he glanced at the cause of the commotion. Regular eyes might have only barely registered a red blur moving towards his boyz, leaving only severed corpses and destroyed bikes in its wake.
But Klawblittza's eyes were anything but regular: after living all his life moving at high speed, the gods – at least according to him – must have rewarded him with senses capable of perceiving such high velocity.
So, he not only saw the movements of this "red mist", but at times he was even able to make out, inside of it, the shape of a human, dressed in red, black and white, holding a well-crafted choppa.
Activating all the boosters he had, the speed freak nob pushed his bike to its maximum speed, and as he moved towards this mysterious foe, Noznar couldn't help but grin.
Finally, a worthy opponent. Someone -a humie no less- who, like him, seemed to understand the majestic beauty of speed, and fully embraced it.
Their clash would be legendary.
Ruby stopped her attacks and turned to look at the approaching ork leader. Her silver eyes met his red ones, before she began running straight at him, using her Semblance to keep accelerating. Their collision and fight lasted less than a couple of seconds, but for the two adversaries, it felt longer, as the flow of time and the world around them seemed to slow down.
Klawblittza could finally have a good view of his opponent and he could see the movements of her attack and where she wanted to strike him, so he moved his klaw in an arc, that would have deflected her scythe and subsequently grab her head in its deadly grasp.
It was then the ork realized, to his dismay, that while his senses and mind could react to the huntress, his body couldn't keep up with them, causing the movements of his flesh to appear sluggish by comparison. So, he could only helplessly watch as his klaw failed to reach the girl in time, and her scythe cut him in half diagonally, from his shoulder to the lower part of the chest.
The head and the rest of Noznar's severed body was swept backwards off his warbike. In his final moments, just before crashing on the ground to his demise, the nob experienced several conflicting emotions: anger, for losing against this humie; joy, at finally receiving the battle he always wanted.
But one topped all of them: envy.
If only he could have reached the same heights of speed as she did…
Ruby, completely unaware of the emotional turmoil inside the reckless ork she had just slain, landed safely on the ground after her last move, while the enemy's bike, without the guidance of its driver, lost control and rolled over at high speed, turning into a lethal wheel of wreckage and fire, that crashed on the ork bike mob.
With the death of Klawblittza, his gang soon began to break up and lose their unity, with the various boyz starting to move without a clear direction, while slowly being targeted one by one by the Falconsand the young huntress. It wasn't long before this particular threat was completely eradicated.
After that, Ruby met with the squads of stormtroopers: they weren't a talkative bunch – though they still offered their thanks, even if sometimes just with a nod -, except for their leader, the Tempestor Isa Boledini. The grizzled veteran shook the hand of the young girl vigorously, thanking her for her support. Then, he suggested she tagged along with them against their next targets: they both shared a predilection for rapid assaults, and they could all benefit from the mutual support. Ruby gladly accepted, seeing the merits of this synergy.
That day, the talons of the falcons and the thorns of the rose spilled the blood of many greenskins together.
⁓
Green flames of psychic energies spread across the field in front of section B-75 of line Secunda. Erupting from the mouths of two Weirdboyz like vomit, they scorched the land wherever they passed, and any Imperial soldiers unlucky enough to get caught by them burned to a cinder, doomed to experience an excruciating demise by seemingly inextinguishable fire. The flames advanced inexorably towards the trench line, and the defenders of Kanrilia were unable to stop them. Even trying to target the two psykers proved to be a difficult task, as the height and intensity of the etheric energies hampered any attempt.
Just when only a dozen metres separated Secundafrom this green death, however, the blaze suddenly stopped, as if blocked by some invisible dome. At the centre of it stood a hooded woman, holding in one hand a staff with an icon that the Imperial men behind her immediately recognized. Her other arm was extended forward, its hand closed in a clenched fist that was slightly shaking.
"What an incautious way of using the currents of the Immaterium, but I suppose it fits the taste of your savage race." Zahra calmly said, while looking straight at the two orks.
"But I have to admit that, while crude and wild, your display of power is quite powerful, in its brutal simplicity. Definitely a feat befitting a Zeta, perhaps an Epsilon.
Zahra smiled a wolf's smile.
"What mighty creatures you must be", she said. "But I am Delta."
She opened her fist. The invisible bubble that was blocking the psychic flames suddenly burst with tremendous force, repelling and extinguishing the green firestorm in an instant. The two weirdboyz were hit by the shockwave as well: one of them fell, convulsing in pain, while the other staggered but still stood, leaning on his copper staff.
"I am an instrument of His wrath."
She raised her hand. More wounds open across the arms and throat of the fallen ork, while lifting him in the air.
"And I defy you."
Zahra threw her hands out. There was a thunderclap of pressure. The snapping of bones. The lifted weirdboy was hurled through the air, trailing blood and flayed skin. He landed in a crumpled heap and went still.
The other ork psyker, still in pain from the previous attack but now enraged at the woman, began channelling the foul etheric energies of his kind at the top of his staff, coalescing into eerie green electricity.
"Ah, you are more proficient in electromancy. That's a funny coincidence," replied Zahra, while his powers began focusing on her hand once more.
"So am I."
And just when the weirdboy unleashed a massive bolt of lighting to the human psyker, a light-blue electric discharge ran from her hand to oppose it. For a split second, the two attacks clashed, evenly matched. Then, Zahra's lighting quickly overpowered its counterpart, running straight at the greenskin and engulfing him. The amount of power the xenos experienced was so overwhelming that his staff melted into molten slag. His body didn't fare any better: a loud howl of agony escaping his mouth, the ork exploded into a shower of gore, sending boiling blood and burning organs all around.
With these foes slain, Zahra allowed herself a moment to take a breath, easing a little the stress she had put her mind and body on. Then, after making sure the area was secure, she moved on.
Just like she had done up until now, she traversed the battlefield, targeting particularly troublesome enemies. For the most part, she had hunted the xenos psykers, knowing full well the havoc they could cause and the fact that she was the best one at dealing with them, but she didn't stop with them: from elite troops to metal vehicles, her kill count was quite respectable.
She had just killed a group of orks, shooting from the top of a broken tank's hull – who realized too late that standing on a metal surface when dealing with someone conjuring electric attacks wasn't the smartest idea -, when she heard the ground shaking.
The frequency of the shockwaves, and the massive shape that was forming through the smoke and dust, quickly told her that this wasn't some natural seismic event, but the steps of a massive creature.
The unique figure of an Orkeosaurus, the biggest squig in the feral orks' possession finally came into view, trotting dangerously towards Zahra, while dozens of primitive greenskins howled from atop its back. With metal plating covering its equally durable thick scales, the creature was a living juggernaut, moving unfazed, despite the mines exploding on its feet with each step.
Zahra began moving to get out of the beast's way and call for help, when she suddenly stopped, caught by shaking and muscle rigidity all over her body, while a rivulet of blood came out of her nose.
'Damn it, not now…' she mentally cursed herself. She was aware that she had been pushing her limits since the battle began, but the timing for the backlash couldn't have been worse. Normally, some minutes of meditation would have soothed her spirit and eased the strain in her body and mind, prompting her recovery, but it was clear that the enemy wasn't going to give her the chance: sensing the weakness of their enemy, the feral orks were already urging their abominable steed to charge the psyker, eager to see the monster stomp her into a bloody pulp.
The weakened woman faced stoically her imminent demise while funneling the energies of the Immaterium despite her state: if she was going to die and join the Emperor, she might as well hurt this xenos threat as much as she could.
Just when she was about to be trampled, the colour red engulfed her visual for a split second. Then, Zahra felt her mind and soul separate from her body, while temporarily losing any sensation with the latter; an experience she was somewhat familiar with, achieved during her mental training, but that this time knew wasn't a voluntary one. And it wasn't hard for her to discover the source of it, considering the warm, familiar spirit that was next to her during this event.
The disconnection lasted but a moment: Zahra's body soon reformed, and she found Ruby holding her, while red petals -which Zahra sensed being little emanations left by the huntress' soul- surrounded the two. They were also hundreds of metres away from the Orkeosaurus, in the relative safety of the trench line Secunda.
"Are you alright, Zahra? You are not feeling sick, aren't you? I'm being told that using my Semblance on others can be somewhat destabilizing..."
"Actually, I am familiar with that sensation, in a way. And yes, I'm alright, thanks to you. So that was that your "Semblance", the power your warrior psykers use. Is it some sort of teleportation?"
"More like moving really fast. It's kinda hard to explain, and right now it's not exactly the best time to do it. You stay here and catch your breath. I need to go and help the Falconswith that creature."
Before Zahra could say anything, Ruby had already vanished, rushing to help others, like she always did. Her target was the massive squig which, having failed to kill the primaris psyker, was now tormented by the flying stormtroopers, like a large herbivore covered by a swarm of flies.
With a dash enhanced by her Semblance, she delivered a powerful slash right at one of the creature's ankles. Her attack would have cleaved an Ursa Major in half, so it was a testament to the Squiggoth's resilience that it barely managed to pierce its skin and draw blood. She didn't let this distract her, and nimbly dodged the beast's attempt to kick her, firing several shots in its face as she backed away. The Dust bullets of her Crescent Rose joined the laser shots and sub-atomic blasts of the Falcons's hellguns and meltaguns, creating an impressive display of firepower surrounding the titanic enemy. It proved too much for the feral orks riding the squig, and they were decimated. On the other hand, the orkeosaurus stood unbroken, its armour plates covered with dents and ruined sections, while its hide with wounds and lesions, though none great enough to cause significant damage.
"This is getting us nowhere," Isa said at some point to Ruby, after landing near her. "We could keep attacking it for hours, and it is more likely that we will run out of ammunition or exhaust ourselves, before we bring it down.
And it's not like time is on our side, either: the more time we waste here, the more greenskins will flock to our location, and we will soon reach the point when we cannot contain them all. We need to bring that thing down, but it seems we are running out of options."
"Artillery?" the young girl asked, her eyes fixed on the creature, searching for a weak spot, while her mind evaluated their situation.
"We are too close to Secunda, outside their optimum range."
"What about Restion and his tanks?"
The Tempestor paused for a moment, the clicks coming from his helmet indicating he had established a vox communication.
"Negative. They are engaged with a mob of wartrukks and battlewagons on section Delta-Four, and cannot redeploy safely to our position."
Ruby gritted her teeth in frustration. There had to be something they could do…
A flash of light, resembling a small sun for an instant, erupted from the beast's back, catching the huntress' attention, while eliciting a cry of pain and rage from the monster, who began lashing furiously on everything around it.
"Damn it, not even the plasma grenade worked, though it stung, judging by how pissed off it is…" Boledini stated matter-of-factly, though a note of displeasure could be detected in his voice. The weapon-enthusiast part of Ruby, amazed at finally seeing first-hand a plasma weapon in action, was quickly held back by her serious self.
'What else can we do?' she thought, while she kept dodging, shooting and occasionally slicing when given the chance. 'That blast was pretty powerful, yet it failed to penetrate its exter-. Wait. We can't stop it from the outside, but what about the inside?'
An idea sprang to her mind, and soon realized it was the best chance they had in their current situation.
"Sir Boledini, I need you and your men to give me as many grenades as you can, preferably the plasma ones, strapped together on a belt."
Any other men might have asked for some explanation, so it was proof of the sergeant's cold, rational mind, even under combat, that he only paused a moment to look at her, before simply nodding and conveying new orders to his men. Thanks to their rigorous training, the stormtrooper flew in a coordinated pattern, meeting mid-air with one another to gather the explosives, without stopping firing at the squiggoth for even an instant. After a minute or so, one of the troopers came to Ruby and Isa, delivering the requested items.
"There are 11 grenades here, mostly plasma with a couple of melta." The soldier said while giving the belt to the girl. "One of the latter, on the top, has a timer that can be set whenever you like. You only need to initiate it: when it goes to zero, its explosion will trigger all the others, causing a chain reaction."
Thanking the man, Ruby grabbed it and began to program the countdown, putting it at only 5 seconds.
"Are you sure about this? Either I or one of my men can take your place." Isa asked her
"I know, but while I'm sure you can do it, you likely won't be fast enough to escape the blast, unlike me. It will be a suicide."
"You say it like we aren't ready to die to perform our duty…" His tone was seemingly menacing, but in reality, he was more curious at her answer than offended.
"Believe me, I know you are. Even if not for long, I fought alongside you enough to know that. I know the importance of sacrifice, especially when there is no other path available." Ruby paused, her mind recalling past situations that required it.
"But, if I do this, there is a possibility that none of us has to die right now. And if there is even a single chance for that to happen, I'll do all in my power for that."
As she delivered those words, she looked straight at Boledini. The determination her eyes radiated struck a chord even in the indoctrinated and strengthened soul of the veteran elite, who could only step aside before her conviction.
"We will draw its attention. When an opening presents itself, seize that moment and strike." Having said that, he and his trooper flew away, joining the rest of the Falcons. With her scythe on one hand and the explosive belt on the other, she observed the fight from a distance, waiting for the right moment.
'Come on, come on...' The wait was killing her, but she knew that rushing wouldn't solve anything.
The window of opportunity came from an unexpected source: a mysterious object flew above her, casting a momentary shadow, before moving at high speed towards the Orkeosaurus' head, piercing right into one of its eyes. Ruby could now see that it was a big chunk of metal, probably coming from the hull of some destroyed vehicle. The squig let out a deafening roar of pain, opening his maw wide open.
'NOW!' She mentally screamed, and she activated the timer.
5
She turned into a burst of petals thanks to her Semblance, propelling herself right inside the monster's mouth.
4
When she was inside, right in the middle of the squiggoth's pharynx, she re-formed her body, plunging Crescent Rose on the creature's flesh to stop her momentum.
3
She threw the explosive device as deep inside as she could.
2
As the mouth was already closing, Ruby used her Semblance once more. Her body disassembled into three small slipstreams of petals, allowing her to pass through the small gap between the creature's teeth.
1
The young girl landed a few metres from Zahra, who had reached the group despite Ruby's advice, her arm still stretched from the telekinetic throw she had made a few seconds earlier. The orkeosaurus, despite the damage inflicted on its eye and the interior of its neck, was still standing and, almost recognizing the ones responsible for its pain, ignored the flying stormtrooper and began to move towards the two battle psykers, ready to lash out.
0
The monster froze as the muffled sound of an explosion echoed in the surrounding area. For a moment, the belly of the massive squig glowed, the light inside so bright not even the thick skin of this monster could fully conceal it.
At first, blood came out of its nostrils, soon followed by smoke that stank up the air with the smell of burning meat. Then, the squiggoth opened his mouth and vomited a copious amount of boiling blood, while more and more smoke escaped from its every pore.
The explosives had destroyed most of its internal organs, particularly its lungs, which had been completely erased. Even those body parts which survived the blast weren't safe, as they began to burn thanks to the residual energy of the explosion. No living creature, no matter how mighty, could endure all this: the beast crushed on the ground without much fanfare or commotion, its life finally at an end.
The battle was far from over, but even the battle-focused scions allowed themselves a moment of rejoicing for the death of this enemy. Ruby went to Zahra, feeling a mixture of joy and worry at the sight of the woman.
"What are you doing here? I told you to stay behind and recover. In your state, you could have been in danger."
"Are you kidding me?! What about you? You are the one who jumped right into the enemy's mouth and almost got eaten alive!" Zahra responded to Ruby's concern, showing far more emotion than most who knew her ever saw from the woman.
A back and forth between the two began, though the atmosphere and the tone were light-hearted. Soon they were joined by the rest of the Falcons, who commended the two ladies.
They all came from very different backgrounds, but fighting side by side in such dire battles was beginning to forge a bond, one that would only grow in the future, if fate allowed it.
⁓
Even in the thick of battle, rumours and stories spread like wildfire.
Many orks, despite conflict being their sole focus, started to notice the disappearance of several leaders of their army, some well-known like Durgrad and Noznar Klawblittza. Bits of information reached the ears of some, saying that these strong orks were all killed by the same being: a mysterious humie, who could easily outspeed the fastest of boyz – clearly because she was wearing red robes that made her go fasta -, wielding a great choppa - which was also a shoota!- that could cut even the tough armour of a mega dread. A name began circulating among the greenskins, uttered in a mix of awe, excitement and fear.
Red Rippa
At the same time, tales of Ruby Rose emerged on the Imperial line, as well. Accounts of a young girl, calling herself a huntress, that on her own killed numerous orks and eliminated several of their war machines and beasts, seemingly teleporting from one place to another.
Many of those who saw her in action, and the more fervent Imperial Creed believers, already thought she was some kind of saint, her presence and feats a sign that the Emperor was at their side.
Others, the more realist and cynic ones, assumed she was some battle psyker employed by the Arbanian Headquarters, or that she didn't even exist, and those deeds either had been performed by the other elite forces or fabricated for propaganda, to raise morale.
Regardless of the truth, one thing was certain: the surgical strikes performed by the so-called "Spears", as the elite groups were colloquially called, alongside the defensive measures enacted by General Kastriot were clearly showing results: the orks, who had crashed line Primalike a tsunami in a short amount of time, had now lost their momentum, as they were still stuck in the plain between Primaand Secunda, the major losses they suffered finally starting to take their toll.
The most hopeful and naïve men believed the battle could be won, against all odds, and even the more pessimistic ones, while judging the situation as being still grim, were now thinking that they might at least be able to hold the enemy long enough for the evacuation to be completed, or even for the Solar Flameto arrive and provide orbital support.
The good news had reached one of the bunkers in Secundaas well, which acted as a temporary command post.
"Since the loss of Prima, the speed of the enemy's advance has decreased by 80%, with several sections of the front where it has stopped entirely." Lieutenant Bajramaj reported the latest data of the battle. Her tone was straightforward, not wanting to display premature signs of delight despite the positive news.
"Just received communication that the Spearshave killed the biggest war beast in the enemy army!" shouted one of the younger PDF officers, obviously not concerned with such restraint.
Overall, the command staff were, each to a different degree, in a relatively good mood.
"This doesn't make sense. Something is wrong…"
Except for one.
General Kastriot, who had only now returned from the frontline, the stains of ork blood in his uniform still fresh, was ignoring the high spirit of the men surrounding him, his mind completely focused on the hololithic map in front of him, which was being constantly updated with new information from the ongoing battle.
"Where in the warp is he?"
"Sir?" one of the officers, who, having noticed the seriousness in the general's tone, were gathering around him, dared to ask.
"The warboss, damnit." Kastriot answered, a flicker of rage escaping its usual controlled tone. "There is no sign of him anywhere in the field. You would think that with so many of his major assets eliminated, he would have shown himself by now. Instead, nothing!" Eskender punched the table in frustration, which caused the hologram to flicker for an instant.
"M-maybe he is already dead?" the young PDF officer who had cheered before suggested timidly. "We are hearing numerous reports of the Spearskilling lots of ork chieftains. Perhaps they have killed the warboss without even realizing."
'Spoken like someone who has never faced greenskins beyond the disorganized feral type. He doesn't realize that if the warboss had really been slain, the cohesion of his army would have crumbled, and the effects would have been plainly visible even to the ignorant.' The general thought, while shaking his head in disbelief for what he had just heard.
As he was opening his mouth to voice his thought and educate the young soldier, a sudden, earth-shaking roar shook everyone present to their core. Moving way before his subordinates, Kastriot rushed to the exit of the bunker, and he noticed, to his horror, that the sky, which up to that moment was coloured by the dying sunset, had been illuminated by a great, vibrant green light.
The source of the light was a massive, glowing beam of energy in the sky, roughly a couple of miles west to his location, whose shape and irregular movement almost reminded him of a whip, in a way. Moving forward towards the city, it left a trail of destruction: everything below it, machine and living beings alike, regardless of which species they belonged, got crushed and ripped apart, as if exposed by extreme, unstable forces, all while mines exploded in its wake, despite not being triggered by anything solid.
The beam passed over Secundaand Ultima, and when it soared above the city walls, the segment of the fortification underneath it, despite being built out of pure adamantium, fell apart as if made of sand.
A surge of messages bombarded Kastriot's vox receiver, overlapping one another in a cacophony of pure distress.
"-ection B-3 of Secunda has been wiped out. Multiple casual-"
"-he wall has been compromised. Breach in th-"
"-e request urgent reinforcements on-"
"General, I'm detecting abnormal gravitational spikes following-"
"This is Judge Alulim. Multiple districts of Epidamnus have been destroyed. The port is also damaged. One of the supertanker-"
"Unidentified object suddenly detected by auspexes, right in front of Prima. H-how did it avoid our sensors-"
The last message snapped Eskender out of this momentary trance, and he quickly took the magnoculars out of one of his officer's hands. He looked straight to Prima. And he saw it. Even amidst the smoke, the fire and the dust, he saw it. A shape that, while looking small now because of the great distance, already showed the man the scale of this new threat.
"Throne of Terra. Not here. Not now..." the general whispered, unable to hide the hint of dread in his voice.
Kastriot, as a Lord General, could access and review numerous dossiers and reports concerning past, as well as current, conflicts and theatres of war. Among those, he had the chance to review records of both the First and the still ongoing Second war of Armageddon.
In his personal experience, he took part, 60 years prior, in a major Imperial incursion against the Ork Empire of Calverna, fighting against the greatest greenskin forces he had ever seen with his own eyes.
During his career, he also had the chance to fight multiple times alongside the holy god-machines of the Legio Titanica, witnessing first-hand their power and size.
Thanks to all this, he realized not only what this new enemy was, but that it was greater than any titan, Imperial and not, that he had ever known of.
A massive Mega Gargant had just entered the fray, ready to bring death to this world.
⁓
From the command centre, in the head of the gargant, sat on his throne, Gurzag watched his mek-boyz running around, busy operating a complex system even they didn't fully comprehend.
Despite that, he smiled, extremely pleased with the power displayed by the titan's main weapon. When he and his forces had been stranded on this remote planet, he initially thought he had been plagued by misfortune.
But when he had discovered this ancient marvel, lost in the wilderness of the mountains and revered by the savage gits of this world, he realized it was a sign, a blessing from Gork and Mork.
As the warboss reminisced, he caressed with his hand the object he found on the throne when he had first entered the gargant: a partly fleshed ork skull. Its sheer size was impressive, bigger than Gurzag's cranium, or the ones of any other ork he had ever seen.
It retained a leer within its porcine rictus, and the warboss could feel, even now and despite its age, the small, yet lingering echoes of power from its owner.
Words were carved on the top of the throne. A chant that once had scared the whole galaxy, and might do so again, in the future.
I am slaughter!