Reviews:
Jane Rolfe Jalandoni: The Legiones Skitarii will hold their ground to the last man. Go forth with the benediction of the Omnissiah.
Guest: You are half correct in that statement. What you guess was the first phase of the plan. There will always be stubborn people that will not assimilate peacefully into the arms of the Omnissiah, that is what phases two and three are for.
Giang385: 1. In the notes of chapter 9 I addressed this matter. 2. I know I am not using the correct names for Skitarii, and I will address it the same way as previous problem. Also I will fix both of the problems stated in my next story, if I even write another one. If you want another good Ad Mech story to read, hit up Techpriest of Remnant by Megatronus95. It is a shame he stopped.
Forge Master 00: Another great omake. Sage would not be like by Pugnus at all, and her connection to you might put your faith unreliable. Also your use of xenos tech to keep a heretic in line sounds like an act from Stygies VIII. Thankfully the Magos Dominus does not know about this unwelcome guest yet. Also thanks for telling me that the discord code did not work.
Speech Syntaxes (THIS HAS CHANGED):
Speech Lingua-Technis
"Speech" Low Gothic/English
"Speech" Amplified Low Gothic
Chapter's Pre-readers: JVMMM
Notes: Since the discord code is no longer working, just pm me to receive the link to join manually. By the Omnissiah it has been too long, sadly marching band camp starts within a week of the hiatus ending so I might not post for a bit. Also just found out the Tech-Priest Inquisitor Cyberdong from the last special is TTS. Also changed the speech syntaxes.
Summer Special
Baron Siezant was not pleased with his predicament. If anything he was furious. They got pulled out of reinforcing to punish a heretical cell on a mining world-that supplied his home world Kolossi-to this Emperor damned piece of dirt. For nigh three weeks he had been constrained to the Astral Knight, while the Skitarii have been on the surface fighting a new species of xenos. While most soldiers in the Imperium would fist fight a necron warrior for a chance to leave the frontlines, the noble saw no way to become part of the Companions sitting around ideally. That is when an idea entered his mind.
He turned to his most trusted Sacristan, if they even can be trusted. "Frygan Iera of the Iron Brotherhood, what is the status of the five Knights on this cruiser?"
The white robed person in question turned away from his workbench to face the noble, his non-organic orange eyes pierced through the Baron. "The Relentless Crusader, Gallant Protector, and Pride of Koraki are appeased and awaiting to be sent to the frontlines. Misery Bringer's Avenger Gatling Cannon is jamming every third shot. And a servitor got jammed into the gears of Righteous Fury's Reaper Chainsword leaving it unusable. Both of their machine spirits demand compensation for our mistreatments before deploying into the field."
"Good enough, send word to Sir Fogash and Sir Morrin. We shall wait no longer."
The servant of the Omnissiah gave the baron a questioning look. "Baron Siezant that would go against Magos Dominus Pugnus' plans. You surely would not want to go against him."
Siezant approached Sacristan Iera till their faces were inches apart, he gave the robed figure a simple question. "Are you attempting to threaten an Imperial Knight Pilot?"
Frygan's reply was cold and monotone. "No, I am just reminding you that all the blame and the punishment will be on your name. Both nobles will arrive here shortly."
Warboss Battlecookah awoken in an off putting white wasteland, the only thing comfortable was his kustom shoota and big choppa in both of his meaty hands. His boyz were nowhere to be seen, except for one da Mekboy. His fellow Ork got off of the ground and started to scan the horizon. "Boss! Ova 'der iz a city dat iz lack'n 'n Ork kulture!" The boy's statement was true, not that far away was a city that was colored white. It was lacking any of dat good Ork colors, and that can only mean one thing to the impudent mind of an Ork.
"Well den we have gits ta krump!"
The Sacristan was silent as he connected the three nobles to their respective thrones. Once his task had been completed he stepped back to soak in the glory of the Knights before him. The leftmost one was the Pride of Koraki, a Knight Warden armed with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, Reaper Chainsword, Meltagun, Heavy Flamer, and a Stormspear Rocket Pod. The rightmost was the Gallant Protector, a Knight Gallant fitted similar to the Pride of Koraki with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet instead of the Avenger Gatling Cannon, and an Ironstrider Missile Pod instead of a Stormspear Rocket Pod. And the final machine of perfection was the Relentless Crusader, a Knight Crusader equipped almost alike to the Knight Warden. The only difference was a Thermal Cannon instead of the Reaper Chainsword.
Baron Siezant spoke via the vox to his comrades, "Nobles of House Raven, we have been brought to this world to show it the might of the Imperium of Man. What better way than to allow the primitives to be humbled in the shadow of our Knights! Magos Dominus Pugnus had informed me that they attempted to replicate a Knight themselves, their tech heresies were overlooked. But we are not the tech-priest. We shall put the feudals in their place! Below us! Honor Inviolate! Kolossi Eternal!"
"Honor Inviolate!" bellowed Fogash.
Morrin finished the motto, "Kolossi Eternal!"
Pugnus watched the security footage of the hanger silently. It appears that the nobles of House Raven were tired of waiting, he will make sure to give them a taste of combat that this world provides. He called the Sacristan with his personal vox, This is Magos Dominus Pugnus speaking. You will be following the Knights, your job is to make sure all of them return alive. Your head will be payment to their families if one should fall against such weak foes. A transport is already prepared and the coordinates have been set. The Omnissiah protects.
Warboss Battlecookah reached the town lacking in the proper culture, but something surprised him. It was a ghost town, completely barren but of the signs of a fierce fight. He and da Mekboy searched through the ruins for anything they can loot or fight, but they wound up with nothing as the sun reached midday. But then da Mekboy spoke up, "Eh boss, I found a lot uv weird metal kans. I know wot we kan build wit' dis."
Specialist Winter watched the video of an unknown transport landing in the frozen wasteland of Atlas. Three red mechs-evaluated at being as tall as one and a half paladins-exited the craft and started marching in a random direction. They were painted in a myriad of colors: red, silver, black, and yellow. Unknown symbols covered the robots entirely, and they shared no resemblance to the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. She ordered a force of twelve paladins to be deployed alongside her to investigate this new threat.
Sacristan Iera was not having a good time as the three Knight marched across the snow covered ground. Thanks to his mechadendrites he was able to latch onto one of the Relentless Crusader's titanic feet. The trio of nobles were silent as they scanned the horizons for any enemies. Baron Siezant warned over the vox channel. "Group of twelve times mechs and one times VTOL craft at bearing 70. Unknown if hostile, but they are approaching our position."
Frygan used his augmented eyes to zoom in on the pack of mechs, each were labeled with a snowflake. "Those are the Atlesians that the Magos Dominus warned you about. This appears to be their attempts to copy the grace of the machines you pilot currently. Pitiful."
Winter Schnee watched from the airship as the three crimson walkers started to spread their formation into a wedge. The mech with no major ranged weapons took point while the other two flanked to its left and right a considerable distance away, their rockets could not hit multiple now. She quickly ordered her paladins to mirror their formation. That was when a voice vibrated from the mechs. "I am Baron Siezant of House Raven. The scraps of metal that are visible by my eyes, offend the God-Emperor of Mankind. Surrender or suffer the fate of all heretics."
Using the speakers on the bullhead she replied. "Atlas does not answer to this false emperor. You are currently in Atlesian land and will answer by our laws! Surrender over you walkers and your jail sentence will be halved."
"Cowabunga it is!"
Baron Siezant was not one to stay idle, and he could tell that the enemy doubted the might of his Knight. His thermal cannon was quick to rectify that, by melting through two of the Paladins in one salvo. The avenger gatling cannon roared to life along with the storm spear rocket pod mounted on the impenetrable carapace, both sent the other two mechs facing against him to around half strength. Or so the throne informed him, but he had more important matters to focus on. Mainly the ten missiles fired from the wounded Paladins. Out of the ones that actually got to him, they all detonated on his ion shield. Siezant could not stop a chuckle escaping his lips as he launched a final salvo from his thermal cannon and stormspear rocket pod, leaving the last two Atlesian mech as wrecks.
Sir Fogash was enraged by the pompous nature of the blasphemers, the God Emperor of Mankind demands there death! He charged at a group of four pitiful walkers, his vision clouded in the rage only a zealot could produce. And the only cure is blood. The ironstrider missile pods launched their payload into the ground in front of the Atlesians, creating a cloud of water vapor. The feudal pilots could not accurately target the mech without their lasers, leaving them exposed. Fogash came out of the cloud with his weapons ready. His thunderstrike gauntlet bitchslapped the closest mech into the snow, the reaper of the reaper chainsword sowed fear into the enemy as it plunged through the next Paladin. The Knight pilot raised the Atlesian mech so that their cockpits were at the same level. Inside he saw the quivering from of a human, no it was a heretic and deserved nothing from him. His meltagun turned the Paladin cockpit into an oven, the wails of the blasphemers was music to his ears.
The only Paladin left on its feet stared at the Knight Gallant in terror. Fogash capitalized on this as he slowly approached the mech, on his path his Knight's titanic feet crushed the cockpit of the Atlesian robot he bitchslapped to the ground. What he did not expect was for the heretic to launch missiles in his panic, with no time to tilt the ion shields the hull of the knight took the brunt of the attack. Nothing was damaged besides the meltagun. The ground quaked as he sounded his war horn in his final charge. The Atlesian foolishly attempted to flee, only to have the feet of his mech to be ripped off by the giant chainsword. The Paladin fell forward, its pilot could only see snow as he heard the rev of the chainsword getting closer by the second. His screams were trampled by the tearing of metal against metal. Sir Fogash slowly dragged his reaper chainsword from the crotch of the heretical mech slowly up to the cockpit. The traitor pilot would be only mincemeat in seconds.
Knight Morrin was the middle ground between the Baron and the Zealot Knights that stood beside him. He slowly approached his group of four Paladins, his avenger gatling cannon and the stormspear rocket pod pounded their location as he marched forward. They answered with an array of primitive missiles. With only a lucky one piercing through his ion shield causing his paint to be scuffed. His march towards them did not stop, another salvo of stormspear rockets and rounds from his avenger gatling cannon pelted the Paladins one final time before he charged them. Their overwatch made a second scuff, but he repaid the favor by slicing the first Paladin in half with his reaper chainsword. The three remaining Paladins attempted to flee, the Baron's thermal cannon rendered one of them to scrap metal. With the combined firepower of two Knights, the feudal mech stood no chance.
The three Knights stood over the remains of their enemies as they debated over vox what to do next. Sacristan Frygan Iera could not assist them because he was too busy trying to rip apart the remains of the Paladins in an act to cleanse the heresy against the Omnissiah from the machine spirits. Fogash screeched, "We must continue to their capital to cleanse this world! They do not serve the God Emperor and therefore must die!"
"While I agree that this Atlas should not live to see another day, we lack the resources necessary to conduct an assault of a capital. If we had Sir Markley, Sir Enck, and infantry support then maybe we could," reasoned Morrin.
"We would only fail because you doubt our power! The Emperor's will makes anything possible. We would fail because you lack in faith Sir Morrin," accused Fogash.
The noble had to defend himself, "I do not lack faith Sir Fogash. The difference between you and I is that my faith does not cloud my reasoning! If we attempt to burn their capital to the ground we will fail, and then they will salvage technology from our corpses! Their capital will burn, but not today."
Before their debate could continue, Baron Siezant spotting something moving towards them on the horizon. It was a war machine. But something was not right, it did not bear the symbols of any faction that should be here. It was an amalgamation of kettles that were spray painted green. "There is a hostile mech bearing 308. It is greenskin in nature."
"Clever of the damned Orks. They found something to build with in this wasteland," commented Sir Fogash as he revved his reaper chainsword. The Kettle Gargant slowly lumbered forth, the rockets and missiles of the Knights slammed into its hull to only cause small dents.
Inside the metal amalgamation, Warboss Battlecookah ordered, "Fire da supa uba dupa deff tea gun!" Due to the gun being Ork in nature it worked perfectly and barely at the same time. Some of the tea coated ammunition detonated inside the barrel, whilst the majority of the tea rounds smashed into Knight Morrin. Ruining more than just the paint job.
The brash Fogash started to charge the Ork construct, against Baron's wishes and to the joy of the Orks. To save their comrade, Morrin and Siezant unleashed all of their weapons to suppress the Gargant. Much to their disappointment they only caused more dents. The death tea gun fired once more, but this time into the charging Knight. The zealot's walker was sent into half strength, but his charge was not stunted. His chainsword slammed into the shaft of the Kettle Gargant's kustom teaspoon choppa hybrid. The rotation of the teeth forced the axe to the ground, exposing the torso of the metal monstrosity. Fogash was only able to get one swing before he had to block a devastating cleave from the teaspoon choppa, this is where he messed up. The Knight pilot only thought the Orks were only brutal, but when in fact they are brutally cunning. Or was it cunningly brutal? Who cares? The fate of all xenos is that same. Which also applies to anyone who doubts the enemies of man, for it takes a dumb or strong force to oppose the Emperor and live. The supa uba dupa deff gun fired point blank into the stomach of the Knight.
Baron Siezant watched from afar as the Knight Gallant slowly fell into the snow. In honor of their fallen comrade, they unleashed hell unto the Ork menace. An unrelenting hail of rockets, mass-reactive shells, and a superheated thermal beam. They continued till the smoke prevented them from seeing their target, but eventually they had to stop. To their anger, the Kettle Gargant slowly exited from the smoke, over the remains of the Knight Gallant, as if it was defying them. It was calling them weak, it claimed to be superior to man. That is an offence that not even a painful slow death can repay. That is when Knight Morrin noticed something, the Gargant was visibly weaker than before. The giant axe as bent in an uncommon position and the death tea gun was slightly damaged. "Was 'dat suppose ta hurt?"
Knight Morrin charged the blaspheming Ork with only one goal in mind. "No but this is Xeno." His reaper chainsword sliced twice across the damage hull of the Gargant. The mech brought up the death tea gun again, the Knight Warden's avenger gatling cannon swatted it away. "That trick will not work on me Ork." Morrin brought the chainsword down to amputate the gun off of the mech. "Honor Inviolate!" After the swing stroke came another against the shaft of the giant teaspoon choppa, then another, then another. And on the fourth stroke against the axe, it broke. "Kolossi Eternal!" With the last remnants of his fury, his reaper chainsword carved the Kettle Gargant in half horizontally. Yet his job was not finished, for the xenos inside the metal still lived. But a long burst from his avenger gatling cannon remedied that. Standing over the enemy of man victorious, Knight Morrin let his war horn sound across the frozen wasteland.
Ideas: Thanks to JVMMM for the idea about knights, kettles, and brutality.
DISCLAIMER: This chapter is NOT canon to the story, but the imperial characters introduced here are cannon.