Chapter 2

Banesword Obergrad's Fury, 3rd Company Obryx Super Heavy

30 Miles South West of Master's Spire, Mastado Mining Colony

12.03.145.M41

The crew of Obergrad's Fury jolted as the tank dropped the short distance from the transport to the ground, the Super Heavy throwing up a wave of thick mud as it made landfall. The angry black sky stirred and crackled with atmospheric disturbance from the massed landing and navy lance strikes aimed at the towering city spires on the horizon.

All around transports descended and disgorged wave after wave of infantry and vehicles into sticky knee-deep mud. Some were shot down, and crashed as blazing wrecks in the ocean of filth. Others opened their doors only for autocannons and heavy stubbers to reduce whole platoons to bloody visera. The stench of smashed and rotting corpses must have been truly overpowering, as even through the air filtration systems of Obergrad's Fury the horrific smell clung to the air like a curse.

Surveying the situation, Erasmus saw Volk's Stormblade Indomitable caked in mud to his left followed closely by Remier's Stormlord Judgment, the men on the back of his tank looking thoroughly miserable as Mastado's weather soaked them to the bone. All around the tank men huddled desperately in shell craters and behind tank and transport wrecks, looking to the super heavy tanks for salvation with their pale broken faces.

"Where's the rest of the company?" a concerned Remier asked over the radio, "Nevermind that now, Remier, we got more immediate problems!" Volk barked back "Defensive line dead ahead, I want it gone, now!"

"You hear that Corrke? That bunker over there? I don't want to see it anymore." The 1st Gunner gave a sly grin, "Aye sir. Boen! Gunter! Ferrocrete-Penetrator Round!" There was a heavy clank as a huge shell was heaved onto the loading rail, followed by the low rumble of ball bearings as the shell was rammed into the elevator which delivered it into the breach. A few seconds later the call went up "Gun ready!" and the 1st Gunner went about his work picking out the target.

The long-barreled Quake Cannon traversed as Corrke adjusted his crosshairs over a fat, squat bunker that was uselessly thumping out Battle Cannon rounds at the oncoming Super Heavies. It's ordnance having scarcely more effect on the metal monsters than the rain and bullets pouring down on them. One word: "Away!", and the mighty cannon of Obergrad's Fury roared out a response. Even through the thick armour and sound dampeners of the Super Heavy the sound was deafening, leaving a shrill ringing in the ears of everyone inside the tank. Erasmus didn't like to think about what that experience was like for the poor infantry outside the tank. Burst eardrums most likely weren't much fun.

The massive shell's rocket didn't have time to kick in before it plowed into the bunker, collapsing the structure instantly and scattering its shattered remains as the massive shell obliterated the ferrocrete construct; sending chunks of it scattering backwards and then deflecting its way deep under the earthworks that the emplacement had been built on. Then, before any of the defenders knew what was happening, the shell detonated. A great geyser of boiling dirt and broken bunker was thrown tens of metres into the air, rupturing the trench lines directly adjacent to where the bunker had been, leaving only a smoking crater. Men screamed as they were buried alive or drowned under the wall of superheated mud, broken concrete and displaced gore. The Auxilian infantry wasted no time in rushing forwards to exploit the breach, jumping up from their prone positions to mercilessly kill the dazed and half-buried survivors in a vicious brawl of bayonet strikes and lasgun fire.

Volk's Stormsword was next, it's Tremor Cannon boomed; kicking up a great wave of muck as the massive Stormsword lurched back from the recoil as it lazily lobbed a shell twice the size of the one fired by the Quake Cannon straight into the biggest mass of traitor guns, still lobbing shells onto the landing grounds miles behind them. At first nothing seemed to happen, the impact of the shell into the mud was lost in the thick sheets of rain, but a moment later the ground seemed to lurch upwards as the round detonated deep underground, and then swallowed everything whole: gun and crew alike, leaving only a massive smouldering mound of loose earth.

Not to be outdone, Remier rushed forward with his Stormlord to assist the infantry, the great tank churning up two great canyons in the mud as it rumbled forward. Men threw themselves aside to get out of the path of the rampaging giant while traitor gunners tried desperately to stop the tank, rounds shattering or deflecting harmlessly off its armoured hide and adamantium tracks. The Stormlord then screeched to a halt and started spinning up it's twin Vulcan Mega Bolters. The infernal whine of the rotary cannons could be heard from inside the Obergrad's Fury, but before Erasmus could even consider how that sounded outside the tank the head-splitting sound of the Judgment's fire cut across his thoughts. A sound like tearing flesh filled the air of Mastado, drowning out everything else, as a brilliant stream of bright yellow cannon rounds tore into the traitor trenchline. The Judgment traversed slowly to guide the destruction across the enemies defences. Earthworks, cannons and flesh offered no resistance to the wall of fire as it walked along the trenchline, utterly obliterating the defences arrayed before it as it churned up an obscene mixture of mud, broken equipment and tangled gore. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it ended. The tearing sound and high pitched shriek giving way to a low whine as the men on the back of the Judgment dismounted and stormed the now-empty trenchline with the Auxilian foot soldiers.

Erasmus barely reclaimed his thoughts when a beam of deep crimson lanced out and struck Obergrad's superstructure, the inside wall glowing a threatening orange from the heat of the las bolt. "Revok, bring us about! 20 degree! Right!" Following his commanders orders, the tank rumbled and turned in the thick mud to face in the instructed direction.

"Corrke, Lascannon bunker dead ahead, handle it!" another 'aye sir', another deafening roar from the Quake Cannon and a second bunker was obliterated. To his left fellow Super Heavies wrought similar tolls on the remaining defences arrayed before them. The tearing sounds of The Stormlord followed by neatly carved lines in bunkers and trenches, where it had done it's terrible work, and massive mounds of dirt and ruined hardware marking where the mighty shells of the Indomitable had terminated. Bunkers and fortifications made hopeless protests against the Emperor's own fury arrayed before them; smashed, torn and ripped apart by the angry giants dropped in front them, it did not take long for the traitors to start fleeing in demented panic; Infantry chasing after them like a great horde of hunting dogs.

In the lull, Erasmus raised the concern about the missing company members again. "Captain Volk, sir, do we have any word from the rest of the company?", there was a long silence followed by a booming retort from the Indomitable, marking the death of one of the last batteries of entrenched guns. The Earthshaker crews had been working feverishly to bring them to bare as makeshift AT-guns on the Super Heavies, far too slowly for the seasoned veterans 3rd Company. Then the captain replied in his raspy voice "Old-man Parigar was on the line to me on the way down, but he was cut off by the atmospheric disturbances. Aux tells me that long-range vox communication is almost impossible. Until then we are to rendezvous with the Cadians at their HQ by Hill 414, and prepare for the next stage of the attack now the defences here are broken."

There was another boom as the Stormsword fired off one final round, utterly burying an unfortunate line of traitor infantry in their trench as they tried to act as a rearguard behind the panicked route.

"Alright, our job seems about done here. We'll loop around to the South then re-Shit! Conta-!" Volk's voice was cut off suddenly as a blinding pillar of light that lanced down and cored out the centre of the Indomitable. "Volk!" Erasmus screamed down the vox, only to hear static in response. A moment later the super heavy let out a long groan as tortured metal collapsed on itself, then a blinding flash and deafening boom as the magazine was detonated by the heat. "No!" Erasmus shouted, looking around wildly on his argur screen for the source of fire that had killed his company commander. Then, a single point of light expanded to fill his entire aurgar screen and Erasmus quickly snapped his eyes away as the blinding light sheared Obergrad's Fury's left Sponson clean off.

The lieutenant's head was awhirl as he blinked vision back into his eyes. He could hear the demented screaming of a man in the lower decks, and glowing semi-molten metal now dominated the outside edges of a gaping wound in his tank's armour. The sounds and smells of outside where indescribably horrid, the tank commander's senses were filled with the suffering of the infantry that lay outside the walls of his tank, giving Erasmus a strong urge to vomit as he coughed and hacked.

Then suddenly, clarity pierced his skull like a knife as Erasmus' mind caught up with his new situation. Thinking quickly, he pulled up his argur screen again. On a hillside overlooking the trenches the shadowy silhouettes of two super heavies could be made out through the thick haze of rain and smoke; their barrels glowing orange from the heat of their discharge.

Ignoring the smell and agonised screams with a supreme effort, he spun around to a pale-faced Corrke "We got Shadowswords! Two of them! That ridge over there!" pointing to the offending ridge on his screen and holding up two fingers to the dazed gunner "Put a Ferrocrete-Penetrator in that ridgeline and bring it down, out from under them!" Corrke, trying hard to listen through his dazed state, took a moment to respond but nodded and shouted down the order for shells.

Gunter shouted back "Malcolm's 'urt, Boss!", "If you don't load that shell right now we'll all be!" Erasmus shouted back over the sounds of the firestorm outside.

After several agonising moments the affirmation came back "Gun Ready!".

"Make this one count, Corrke, our lives depend on it!" The sergeant didn't even look up, his face pressed against the rangefinder as he worked feverishly to find the target solution. Finally he shouted "Away!" and the tank lurched as it fired its retort.

The sound nearly deafened everyone onboard thanks to the hull breach, but it meant salvation. Erasmus glued his eyes to his screen.

The shell's rocket roared an angry orange as it shrieked through the sky, flying straight and true, and struck the ridge precisely where Corrke had wanted it. The round detonated a moment later, and the earthworks that supported the super heavy tanks gave out from under them. One slid and tumbled down the hillside, making three full flips before coming to a rest on its tracks; immobile. The second was flipped onto its side by the blast, then teetered, and tipped fully onto its back and slid down the other side of the hill. In any other situation Erasmus might have found the sight almost amusing, but the Honoured Lieutenant was in no mood for merth.

Pulling out a handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth he took stock of the situation. "Derek, try to raise regimental command, tell them that Honoured Captain Volk is dead and most of the 3rd Company is missing.", Derek looked up from his console still in a state of shock "Can't, sir, the console is ruined", looking over Erasmus could see that molten metal had sprayed the console and completely destroyed the communications equipment. It had saved Derek's life, but it would serve no further purpose in that state.

"...I'll go check on the others." and with that Erasmus climbed down from his chair and went to where he had heard the screaming just moments before.

Revok was placing a service blanket over the body of Malcolm when he arrived on the scene. Gunter was sitting quietly against the wall, staring at the blanket while Boen attempted to comfort him.

"What happened here?" Erasmus asked desperately.

"The… the light… i-it blew out der side o' der tank… a-and…" Gunter tried to explain

"Malcolm got hit by molten metal. His station was closest to the side that got hit. Splashed him. Poor bastard." Boen finished for him.

There was a silence for the boy, only broken by Revok.

"Should we bury him, Comrade Lieutenant?" Erasmus considered it for a moment, but shook his head "No, it's too dangerous here. Just keep him here until we can give him a proper burial." All four men nodded along in agreement while Erasmus thought of what to do next.

"Rickard. What's the damage." The tech adept had skulked into the room from the engine deck, his red uniform covered in oil and coolant fluids.

"The primary and auxiliary engines suffered minor heat damage, aurgar eyes on the left side of the tank are also depleted to 20% effectiveness, and 70% effectiveness on frontal quarters creating a blind zone in which you may not survey our enemies. We have also lost all functionality in our communications equipment and 2nd sponson. The machine spirits are willing, however, and the tank continues its prime functions; Omnissiah be praised." Rickard ending his damage report with a small prayer to the machine god "I have repaired damage to the engines and may be able to repair some of the external auger eyes, but nothing can be done for the 2nd sponson or communications equipment."

"Thank you Rickard, you may return to your station." Erasmus paused as he thought of his next move.

"Revok. Retake your station. We're heading out. Ganik?" the 2nd gunner looked up at his name being called "you're now on sponson duty. Let's hope this Emperor-forsaken day doesn't get any worse."

"So what now boss?" Boen asked, Erasmus took a second to reply, head still whirling from what had very nearly been the destruction of his tank and his crew "We'll signal Reimer and head for Hill 414, link up with the Cadians, like Volk wanted. Then we'll see about vengeance for what the heretics have done to 3rd Company this day."