Chapter 7

Guardsman Noah Silastar of the Urban Tigers 25th Regiment

Pain tore Guardsman Noah Silastar from unconsciousness. He screamed, but his throat was so raw that it hurt. The roar of a nearby engine beat at his ears, and bright lights burned his eyes. He tried to sit up, but strong hands kept him restrained.

He managed to focus his eyes on the man pinning him down.

"Calm down!" Jack shouted at him.

"I am calm!" Noah screamed back, half in agony. The pain was coming from his leg.

He looked down to see Sergeant Samson Cutter at his feet, his hands covered in blood. He was holding a huge Orkish blade, the same one that had lodged itself in Noah's leg earlier.

Cutter pulled a bottle from his belt and began unscrewing the cap. Dread clutched at Noah's chest.

"Wha-what are you doing?!" Noah shouted, trying to get up, but Jack and several other Guarsdsmen had him pinned. Someone stuffed a rag in his mouth

"I need to amputate," Cutter said gruffly, not looking away from the grisly scene that was Noah's leg. Without mercy, he poured a harsh liquid all over Noah's wound.

A muffled scream escaped Noah's lungs, and his body writhed in agony.

"Someone sedate him!" Cutter ordered.

An arm pressed itself onto Noah's neck, and he passed into unconsciousness.

A strong lurch jolted Noah back into consciousness. He lay still for a moment, quietly taking in his surroundings. He figured he was aboard a Valkyrie, given the nearby thrum of an engine and the gentle rocking of his world.

He turned his head to the side to see another Guardsman sleeping. With a groan, he propped himself up on his elbow.

He saw Jack Osborne sitting up against a wall in the Valkyrie cabin, cleaning his Lasgun. A laspistol was sitting next to his leg. Noah looked around the cabin to see that it was crammed full of Guardsmen. Most of them were covered in blood and bandages.

"Finally you're awake," Jack said when he realised Noah was looking around. He slid the laspistol across to him.

"You lost your rifle," he explained. "This was all I could find."

"Thanks," Noah mumbled. His throat hurt. He reached for the laspistol by his leg…

…and realised that half of it was missing. Panic hit him like a bullet.

"My leg," he gasped, gaping at his stump. His leg had been cut off just below his knee, and the stump was wrapped in blood soaked bandages.

"The Ork's blade was poisoned," Jack explained. "It was either your leg or your life."

It took Noah a moment to figure out what Jack was talking about. Adrenaline hit him when he remembered.

"What happened to Kara?" he spluttered.

"Dead," Jack spat.

"What about that woman?" Noah asked. Jack looked at him strangely. "What about Vince? Or Carlos? Or-"

"I don't know!" Jack cut in angrily. "Noone knows. Everything went to shit when the Squiggoths arrived."

Noah sat in silence, remembering every gruesome detail of his encounter with the Ork. At first he was scared, but slowly his feelings turned towards anger.

I hate them he thought to himself. I hate all of them. Orks, Tau, everything.

After a few minutes, Noah cleared his throat.

"What happens now?"

"Now we get redeployed," Jack said. "What's left of us is either safe in a Valkyrie, or desperately trying to outrun the Orks in a Chimera."

"I remember Cutter killing the commander."

"Good thing to," Jack said darkly. "It's that fool's fault we're in this place. Cutter's in control for now."

As if on cue, Samson Cutter walked into the cabin from the cockpit.

"Ah, good," he said when he saw Noah. "You survived."

Noah looked at Cutter sheepishly.

"Thanks," he said quietly. The sergeant didn't react, but Noah was sure he had heard.

"Gather whatever you have left," the sergeant announced to the cabin. "We're landing in half an hour."

What remained of the 25th Regiment had set up camp in an ordinary clearing. Canopies had been erected out the sides of the grounded Valkyries, and the men had set up crude beds to sleep in for the night. It seemed as though the planet had sympathy for them, as for once it wasn't raining. Some small campfires were scattered around the camp and the men and women talked quietly about themselves. The remaining squad Sergeants had managed to set up a communications array and were discussing what to do amongst themselves and their superiors in another city.

Noah was with Jack who had found him a strong branch to use as a crutch. He practised walking around the camp with the branch under his right arm. He was surprised at how well he had taken up his new limb.

"Here, try hitting that tree over there," Jack said while pointing at a tree on the edge of the clearing. He passed Noah his new laspistol.

Noah lined up his target which was about twenty metres away. With the pistol in his left hand, he aimed and shot at the tree. With a crack and a bright flash, the shot punctured through the tree with ease. Jack laughed.

"You'll be deadlier as a cripple," he said, before handing Noah a short stump. "Here, I made this for you. It should make it easier to walk."

Noah was speechless as he took the limb off of Jack.

"What?" he managed to say. "How? When?"

"While you were passed out," Jack explained. "It's the handle off a shovel, with the spade taken off. I moulded the part that attaches to your leg out of a helmet I found and bandages. You'll have to tie it to your stump pretty tight but it should serve you well enough until you get a proper limb."

"Why," Noah said, still dumbfounded. "I've nothing to give…"

"Don't worry about it, mate. It's what squadmates do."

He clapped Noah on the shoulder before returning to the Valkyrie, leaving Noah to attach his new shin.

He had to rummage about various campsites to find enough bandaging to firmly attach his leg, and he was even lucky enough to talk to an engineer who gave him a sticky goo, though he dared not ask what it was. He managed to firmly attach his leg and found it much easier to walk again. He attached his bayonet to the end of his crutch so that he could use it as a spear. Thanks to his new leg, he could treat his crutch as a staff, although he relied heavily on it. He lumbered around the campsite like an old man, but he was grateful to simply be alive.

He returned to his campsite to see that Samson Cutter had returned from his meetings with the other squads. Some Guardsmen were packing up the camp.

"We're moving out," Cutter explained to Noah. "We're heading to the capital, Gran Valens."

"I know what the capital is," Noah said, forgetting his place. His sergeant glared at him, making him promptly stand to attention. Cutter's angry face was quickly broken by a laugh.

"Lighten up, man," he said, clapping Noah on the shoulder. "I'm only teasin'."

Noah flushed red.

"Sir," he asked, trying to quickly change the subject. "What's going to happen to the squad?"

Cutter's face turned serious.

"Most of us are dead, lad," he said solemly. "Once we get to Gran Valens we'll regroup and see how many of us is left. Then we'll be reorganised into squads and redeployed."

Noah nodded quietly.

"If I may, sir, why Gran Valens?" Noah asked. "It's one of the most heavily fortified places in the sector, what help are we going to be?"

"We're not the only group being recalled," Samson explained. "According to Command, Orks from all parts are converging on the city. Something wrong's happening.

"Don't look so worried, kid!" Cutter said loudly, trying to be reassuring as he saw the look on Noah's face. "Remember, we're a lot stronger than it looks. More than half of us are on the Chimera's heading here now! Once they arrive, we'll be off."

Almost as if on cue, three Chimera's hurtled into the clearing, almost running over several Guardsmen. Scratches and smashed trees lined their hulls. Several more Chimeras smashed their way into the clearing. One of the hatches opened up and a man rose out.

"Orks!" he shouted. "We can't lose them!"

This sent the camp into a frenzy. Noah looked to Cutter for guidance, but the man had already disappeared. He looked back to the Chimera to Cutter climbing into the hatch, delivering a strong backhand to the man who had announced the Orks. Noah could hear him cussing from where he was standing, swearing at the man for sending the camp into such a state.

Seconds later, Cutter had wired himself up to the Chimera's speaker system and his voice boomed across the camp.

"Listen up!" he commanded. "I want the Valkyries in the air providing ground support as soon as possible; shoot as many of these greenskins as you can before they get into the clearing, try to choke them up.

"I need the Chimeras to form a wall, and any man on the ground to get themself on top of a Chimera. You'll be shooting the Orks down as they enter the clearing. They won't easily reach you on top of the tanks.

"As this fool-"a dull thud could be heard over the speaker. "-so loudly announced, we can't outrun these Orks. It's only a vanguard party, so don't worry about facing any real monsters. Just hold the line, by the Emperor, and we'll see this through."

Even as Cutter was speaking his orders were followed. Valkyries were already hovering over the clearing, already providing suppressive fire into the forest. The Chimeras roared into a line across the clearing. Noah counted six tanks. He limped his way across the clearing to the closest Chimera. Men were clambering onto the massive tanks. Dread filled Noah's chest as he approached the tank.

How am I going to get up? he asked himself. He needn't have worried, for as soon as he reached to pull himself up, two strong arms grabbed his forearms and heaved him up. He nodded his thanks to the two guardsmen that helped him, before kneeling in his place in the front line. The Guardsmen organised themselves into two ranks of five men on each tank.

Noah focussed on the forest in front of him. He saw the tracks of destruction that the Chimeras had left in their wake. Splinters of wood flew everywhere from the Valkyrie's suppressive fire.

He couldn't see any sign of any Orks, until in the distance his eyes finally focussed on a body, and his whole world began to spin slowly. He could feel the blood rush in his ears; hear his heart pump in his skull. All the anger and fear that he'd experienced in his last encounter gripped at him again. He wanted to turn and run, but Cutter's orders held him in place.

"Hold the line!"

More and more he saw Orks in the trees, rushing towards him. Noone dared waste any shots until they were certain they'd hit their target. He saw Orks fall to the Valkyries rounds, but the horde didn't stop.

His heart beat faster and faster, pushing more and more adrenaline into his system. It wasn't until he saw an Ork several metres from the edge of the clearing that he instinctively raised his pistol and with a roar, unleashed the first lasround of the firefight. It hit its target with a gory crack.

In response, the rest of the 25th Regiment roared with Noah and unleashed their first volley of lasfire. It ripped at the treeline, and Noah saw a wave or Orks fall.

The 25th was relentless with assault. As soon as the first rank had fired, the second followed suite. Noah lost track of time; all that mattered was his next shot. It seemed forever that they'd been holding the Orks back, and not one Ork had set foot in the clearing. All the while Samson Cutter was roaring commands and inspiration across the battle.

Until the bigger, uglier Orks started arriving. Noah first noticed when he fired at an Ork that didn't go down after being hit. He watched the beast take four more shots before falling over.

Next thing he knew, there was a wall of Orks at the edge of the clearing. Instantly, everyone redirected their fire to the brutes. Within seconds they fell, only to be replaced by more brutes. Ever so slowly they managed to crawl their way closer and closer towards the line of Chimeras. They seemed devoid of all sense; they mindlessly threw themselves against the Tigers with no strategy in mind. The Tigers had only lost a handful of Guardsmen to the pathetic excuse the Orks had for return fire. Yet still they pressed onwards.

How can they survive this?! Noah asked himself as another blistering volley shrieked over his head. The Orks pressed ever onwards, clambering over the bodies of their kin, hoping to reach the Guard line but to no avail. Volley after volley the Guard held the line, but there were more Orks than the Guard had guns.

An eternity passed and the Orks still pressed their assault. The two battlelines were mere metres apart now. The Orks roared in frustration at the humans, only for the Tigers to roar back in fury. There was a rhythm to this battle that Noah didn't experience last time. The Tigers fought as one. Noah saw one especially heroic Ork manage to push itself the last few metres to a Chimera, only to have three bayonets forced into its skull when it tried to climb aboard a Chimera.

How many more are there?! Noah thought as he rammed his last magazine into his pistol. For the first time since the battle began, he began to doubt, and he hated himself for it.

"Fear not. The Emperor will provide," he told himself, although he knew there was no help coming. The Orks were only a meter away now, spitting and gnashing their teeth at the Guardsmen. None had managed to climb aboard a tank yet, but they were frightfully close and Noah could feel desperation start to creep into the fight. The Guardsmen now fired at will, unloading as many shots into the throng as they could. The Orks constantly fell, but Noah was beginning to see that it wasn't going to be enough.

With a pang, Noah heard the dreaded click of an empty magazine. He looked out at the horde.

Emperor save me, he thought to himself. But he wasn't scared. He was angry and frustrated. He'd left his fear back at the Outpost. He gripped his makeshift spear in two hands, and prepared himself for the impending melee.

A huge Ork slammed itself against the hull of the Chimera, rocking everyone atop it. With a guttural roar, Noah thrust his bayonet into the creature's neck, as did the Guardsman next to him. The monster clutched at its throat in agony before falling to its knee.

Noah let off another war cry at the Orks, and was joined by the Guardsmen atop his Chimera. He knew they needed to keep the men's spirits alive if they wanted any chance of survival.

A commotion to his right made him turn to see that an Ork had actually managed to climb aboard a Chimera. Black goo seeped from various wounds around his body and face, but he still threw himself atop the tank. In unison, the men atop the tank surged forwards to meet the Ork, and hit him with enough combined force to push it off the tank.

The battle continued desperately for another eternity, and Noah saw more and more Orks manage to climb atop tanks, only to be thrust back into the mass of attacking bodies.

We're losing control, he thought as he pushed yet another Ork back.

Suddenly, as though the Orks had finally united for one moment, they surged forwards and managed to throw several Orks atop multiple Chimeras.

Noah and the Guardsmen atop the tank fought at the Ork in front of them, but by the time it had fallen another two had taken its place. The Orks finally swamped the tanks. They swarmed aboard and began crushing Guardsmen. Within seconds every man was fighting desperately for their life.

Every man atop Noah's Chimera was fighting their own Ork. Noah desperately ducked beneath a blow that the Ork in front of him threw at him. He heard it hit the Guardsman behind him with a crunch and a scream, but Noah had no time to look back at his fallen comrade. He thrust his spear into the Ork's chest, jabbing it as much as he could until the beast fell off the Chimera. So deep was Noah's blade in the Orks chest that he couldn't yank it free. As the Ork fell, it took Noah's spear with it. Instantly another Ork had taken its place.

The next Ork roared at Noah and raised his wicked sword, ready to strike at the defenceless man. Suddenly the Ork's roar turned into a gurgle as a plumed arrow lodged itself in the beast's throat with a dull thud. Noah saw two more Orks fall; their faces slashed open by some unseen power. One by one the Orks atop the Chimeras fell, to the Guardsmen's amazement. Some fell with arrows in their body, others were sliced up by invisible swords.

Then a shadow passed over Noah and he looked up to see several slender figures leap effortlessly over the Guardsmen and into the mass of angry green bodies below. He watched as one of the figures gracefully landed, plunging its sword through an Ork's neck and landing on its body, before darting to the next Ork and taking off the beast's arm as it swung at the graceful figure. The figures moved with a fluidity that wasn't human; and only one name came to Noah's mind when he saw the figures in action.

Eldar.

Jackson 8