The Emperor's finest Chapter fourteen
Sebastopol, M40
He had heard once, when he was a kid about the glory of war. He had heard from books, vid programs and even priests and PDF troops. They spoke about heroism, courage, duty and honor. They spoke of heroes and villains, of grand tales and epics. He heard tales of the imperial fists fighting the greenskin Beast, he heard of commissar Yarick standing against the greatest Ork of them all.
The brutal truth of it all it that there is no glory in war, no grand displays of valor and courage. There was only madness and butchery, unrivaled savage and sheer chaos. Men were dying by their hundreds, some were cooked alive in their vehicles, others were torn to shreds as they escaped their metal coffins only to be obliterated by the constant gunfire and barrages. Even the greenskins didn't escape the missery, with many thousands dead and others dying on the ground or be burned alive.
A deep bitterness set in Jeffrey's hearts as he observed the pandemonium, even he if couldn't focus on it. How many of these men had enlisted thinking that they serve an honorable purpose? How many thought themselves to be heroes, only now to realize they are be cannon fodder, bodies fit only to stem the tide of alien aggression. Such recriminations would have to wait as Jeffrey turned his attention back to the massive, crude, alien war machine dominating the battlefield.
The stompa towered over the imperial vehicles, casting it's baleful gaze over the battlefield. The mountain of dark grey and orange metal seemed to invigorate the Orks and sap imperial morale in equal measure. It was almost as if the foul machine channeled the power of the cruel xenos gods themselves. The Indomitable was one of the first to open fire, letting lose a deadly ball of plasma that hit the stompa directly but just as it did so a wave of crackling blue energy enveloped the stompa and disapaited the energy from the plasma harmlessly.
"Focus fire, overwhelm the forcefield!" Colonel Ekos ordered and the imperial tanks responded. Dozens of different weapons platforms focused their fire on the stompa and whittled away at it's shields, though it was impossible to tell how much progress they were making. A few stray shots made it through the forcefield and blasted through small sections of it's armored. The stompa however was very well armored even if the quality of it's construction was questionable at best and therefore the few shots did next to nothing to stop it's rampage.
While the imperials were focusing their heavy weapons on the stompa, the lighter Orks vehicles took the opportunity to advance and infiltrate imperial lines and cause chaos. Jeffrey hopped on top of the commanders coupla and manned the heavy "stubber". He didn't like using the lead firing machine gun due to it's noise and recoil but he set aside any such qualms as well as the danger of being exposed, which he honestly didn't even think about in the moment. He let lose bursts of lead at the Ork bikes speeding past them.
The Orks weren't exactly the most skilled of riders but their fast speed combined with the chaos of the battle made them a difficult target to hit. It didn't help that he wasn't used to firing the heavy stubber. Irregardless he managed to take out a few of the bikes with sustained bursts,
one of which was by hitting a gas tank on the bike and setting the greenskin on fire. His efforts didn't go without gaining the notice of the Orks, who returned fire and even grazed his right shoulder. Jeffrey grimaced in pain as he slid back inside the Indomitable.
He turned his attention back to the stompa, whose shield still hadn't gone down yet. The Stompa turned its attention seemingly back towards the Indomitable, letting lose a hail of rockets and a few massive cannon rounds. Fortunately the bulk of the salvo missed it's mark by a dozen feet, the few rockets that did hit bounced off the turret. The impact did stun the crew momentarily and leave them vulnerable for another wave of shooting. Just as it seemed like they were about to ne finished, the shields finally collapsed under the weight of fire and the imperials began to rip into the stompa.
Plates of iron and steel were melted or broken of under the constant barrage upon the Stompa but still it lumbered forward. A lucky shot by a vanquisher cannon disabled the stompa's right arm, severing it at the shoulder causing it's cannon and half the rockets to fall to the ground. The left arm however wasn't so easily disconnected and instead reaped a bloody tally as it cut through several imperial vehicles with it's massive power saw. Azurk bellowed a mighty roar as he directed the Stompa forward, with nothing but bloodlust and madness in his alien heart.
The stompa was only a thousand yards away and Jeffrey felt the tension rising. A simple glance at the power saw brought back nightmare from the encounter with the dreads in Kursk, a feeling compounded by the look in Azurk's eyes as the stompa approached. He froze in his seat, sweat pouring rain. He was shocked out of his fearful trance by Kios shaking him violently. "Orders sir?" The gunner asked, concerned evident in his voice. Jeffrey took a brief look at his crew and saw their panicked faces, with a deep breath he tried to calm himself. Their lives were his responsibility and he had to remain focused.
"Increase rate of fire, interval of fifteen seconds" he ordered, he saw the look of disbelief on Kios's face and therefore he doubled down on it. "Do it" ordered again and Kios solemnly nodded and the Indomitable increased it's rate of fire. Each sphere of plasma bore into the stompa, melting iron, steel, ceramite and plasteel alike. But it wasn't enough, the stompa kept bull rushing forwards, seemingly picking up speed as it went.
Tension continued to climb as the stompa approached, now within three hundred yards. Jeffrey nervously glanced at the runes and surveillance equipment. They were still stable but the temperature of the executioner cannon was rising. Jeffrey cursed as he considered his options, he wanted to reverse, to perhaps get more distance, if he was being more charitable to himself, or run away and let someone else deal with the stompa, if he was being more honest. Several wrecked vehicles behind them made retreat unlikely, at least in a timely fashion. So instead he a different choice.
"Increase rate of fire, ten second intervals" he order and before his crew could respond, "just do it, we are all dead if the stompa gets a hold of us anyway!". A certain fatalism filled the air inside of the Indomitable as the crew processed the order and reluctantly followed it. It was likely there were about to overload the cannon and thus kill themselves in a violent chain reaction, but if the stompa reached them then they would die anyway. "At least this should be quick" Jeffrey thought to himself, if only ease hid fear and trepidation."Come on, hold on you tough bastard" he softly spoke to the machine spirit of the Indomitable.
The stompa continued lumbering foward despite the many breaches and penetrations it suffered. Oil leaked and electric sparked from exposed wires but it still lurched forward, now less than a hundred yards from the Indomitable, wrecked Ork and imperial vehicles surrounding it. Alarms blared and wailed inside the Indomitable as the cannon reached critical levels. The tension reached a fever pitch as the Indomitable fired one last shot, it's barrel glowing bright green as one last ball of plasma shot forth. Time slowed as Jeffrey looked up to see Azurk looming over them with stompa less than fifty yards away. Then there was a bright light and everything turned to darkness and ash.
...
Jeffrey awoke with a pounding headache, clearly alive but dazed. He groggily checked on the rest of his crew, seeing that they were alive despite also being somewhat dazed and likely suffering concussions. He then checked the various feeds and runes inside the Indomitable, all of which were either static or malfunctioning. He order them to reboot the system while he checked the main cannon and scouted out the area, it was definitely dangerous but they couldn't afford to be in the dark anymore.
He exited the tank and quickly surveyed the immediate environment. The smell of brunt flesh and steel wafted through the air, as did smoke and stench of gasoline. For far as he could see were the ruins of both Ork and Imperial vehicles, as well as countless bodies. Rain poured down his face as even the weather was a changed by all the carnage, what had started out a dry and suny turned dark and grey. The stompa was reduced to little more than a lump of metal and scrap, it's once mighty visage defaced and humbled.
He then turned his attention to the Executioner cannon, which was damaged considerably. The coolant tubes had melted entirely, meaning that they couldn't fire the cannon, that was unless assuming they didn't have a death wish. At least they wouldn't have much reason to fire it since their appeared to be no one else left, or at least around them. They still had the heavy bolter, though they were low on ammo and they still had the heavy stubber if push came to shove.
Just as Jeffrey was about to turn back and return to the Indomitable, he heard a screeching and turned around. All color faded from his face as he saw the impossible, a heavily damaged Azurk emegered from the rubble of the stompa. Azurk was limping from numerous wounds to his right leg and flank, as well as shrapnel wounds in his abdomen but was still alive and kicking. Azurk's now pitch black armor sparked with electricity both from his pair claws and his powered armor, it was a look that only enhanced his freighting physique.
Even at this distance Jeffrey felt the immense terror that Azurk exuded. He trembled, frozen in fear and wanting desperately to run and hide. In his mind he was already making excuses to flee, to leave and let his crew handle this on their own. Hadn't he sacrificed enough already? Sure someone else would come in to slay this Ork, perhaps the Space Marines or Adeptus Mechanicius would do it. Surely he could just run from it all and the almost turned to do so.
That was until he thought of his crew, both his new crew and the old. He also thought of all the time he had run from responsibility in the past and couldn't do it. He wouldn't run any more, it was time to face his fears and responsibilities. He knew that it was now or never, today either or
Azurk would die. So he quickly climbed back into the Indomitable and manned the heavy stubber as he voxed his crew of the new danger. This was it, he thought to himself...
One shall stand, one shall fall...