Here have this.
Reviews and criticism are welcome
Disclaimer: I don't own Games Workshop.
Hager never thought he would be fighting and most likely dying in a place like this. A damn forge world of all places. He hated it. The massive scale of the place frakked with his depth and field. The massive spires were so huge that it was easy to lose one's balance by simply staring up or down at the sheer scale. The sky was in a constant state of dark cloud cover due the massive smoke belching from the red painted structures around him. At least the polluted haze helped somewhat as he zeroed in. His long las snapped out shots, filling the air with ozone. The shots hit several large greenskins in the WAAAGH below. It would usually give his fellow soldiers in the barricade some breathing room as the bigger orks were the one that led the smaller ones.
His vox chirped. ::Corporal, you need to move, there are greenies inbound. We received intel that they are gathering for another rush at our lines. We will be ordered to pull back when they start to overwhelm us.:: Hager wished he could, but that wasn't what his job entailed. His perch had an excellent field of view and had an effective line of sight over the massive courtyard already littered with corpses of Ork and Imperial alike. The only problem was the small spire he was in lay right in the lines themselves. An old chrono tower to be exact. If there was a retreat, he would be overrun as soon as he made his way down to the bottom. Hagen couldn't help but roll his eyes.
::Sergeant, I'll keep you covered and find my own way out. Always do." The Guards line was going to falter on the green tide of bodies this time around. Another fall back point down the road. Where they would repeat until the damn greenies were on the Machanicus' doorstep. Then maybe they might dain to send in their skitarii.
Hager growled at the thought of the tech priest not sending some of those fancy skitarii troops out to aid them. Their lighting guns would do a lot of damage to the horde and those battle servitors could really mess someone up. Then perhaps, maybe it wouldn't make too much of a difference in the end.
This WAAAGH was a large one, but the cog boys were too busy trying to protect their interests rather than their own forge world. It was sickening, and he and his fellow guardsman were truly fodder this time around. Still he fired his rifle as he was trained to do whenever an ork scout popped his head out. Heger was running low on hotshot packs and new barrels. He shook his head. Nothing really all that new in this regiment.
Then the shouts of WAAAGH! Echoed their way toward the line. It was time to hold the line once again.
::You'll be overrun if we have to retreat, soldier!:: Sarge's voice held an undertone of desperation. He was a good sergeant, but he had no idea what he was doing.
You could hear the shrug in his words when Hager took time to reply.
:art of the job, sir.:: It truly was. Part of a sniper's job, that he and fellows often had to find their own way out of bad situations after covering the foot sloggers. This sergeant was newly hadn't really gotten used to leading the squad. If there was experience soldiers who were not dead, then they would have found a veteran, but this campaign had been hard. Hager should have volunteered, but his gut told him that his expertise would be wasted in the trenches. Not to mention he would have to give up his rifle to some FNG with mediocre range scores and that wasn't happening.
By new, only yesterday. The former private had a basic grasp but didn't know what was expected of him yet.
::I…:: There was a brief pause and whispering could be heard on the vox briefly. ::Yes, don't stay out there too long.:: Doing his best to put authority in the words.
::May the God-Emperor guide your aim, soldier:: The priest that ministered to the regiment's spiritual well being said. Ah, it seemed the young sergeant was in good hands. The old priest was a soldier once. The Old man was most likely running things in that part of the trench. Things must have been really bad if the old man was dusting off his cap.
Hager chuckled, The kid might get the hang of things in time. Hager just had to keep the greenie's off the young sergeant until then.
Then as the horde ran thundering toward the lines, Hager heard the grinding of hard boots behind him. His las pistol was in his offhand in the blink of an eye he swung it behind him from his crouched position, ready to fire. His mind was wondering how the greenskin scout managed to sneak up behind him, but no it was a… Battle Sister? There were no known Orders on this world that he knew of.
He took in the sight, ensuring he wasn't just seeing things. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time he had dreamed of meeting a battle sister. Just not like this. He noted her armor was so black it seemed to suck in light, The engravings and trim along its surface only seemed to reflect the light given off by a lantern filled with golden fire. It hung from a chain on her hip. Her helmet's eye visors gave off an eerie shimmer. Resting at ease was a two handed, power ax hanging balanced in one of her hands. He holstered his pistol before he was shot. The Bolter Bitches could be stuffy that way especially when you pointed a weapon at them. This one didn't seem to care.
"Sorry, I seem to have taken a wrong turn." she looked out upon the battlefield. Many orks were dying only for their comrades to shove them aside or simply run them over. Hager only mildly paid attention to that as the armored warrior surveyed the field.
"I best leave you to your work." Her tone sounded awkward like she walked in on something sensitive. She looked at her ax. "This certainly won't do any good up here." she said more to herself than him. The bell tower shook, small trails of dust dribbled down from the roof. The cursed greenskins were just making it to the lines and launching rockets their way. It wouldn't be long before the Colonel sounded a retreat as the orks moved in for melee. Something his regiment was ill equipped for. Most they had in their kit was a combat knife.
He turned his back to the sister, Her eye visors were zeroing on something amidst the Ork mass of bodies. He heard and saw her lift her arm to point out a particular ork.
"Damn, that one is huge." Hager looked back and then to where the battle sister pointed. His heart fell seeing the Warboss known as Hellbringa. He was a big bastard. Easily two stories tall and covered head to toe in heavy scrap armor with massive horns sticking out of his back plates and helmet. The warboss was shouting at his boyz to get out of the way as he plodded toward the front lines. Right where Hagan's platoon was desperately still fighting. Looking back at the sister briefly. She was watching the battle intently. Then the fire in the lantern caught his attention as the flame inside flared brightly. He expectedto be blinded, and see those annoying sunspots. Instead, what he saw was… clarity. His eyesight was clearer and more focused than ever before.
He noted imperfections in the stone and he betted that he could see the wings of flies as they flapped. He felt an urge to take a shot and turned his head back to the field. Not wanting to get shot for inaction by the sister, he went immediately to sighting in his rifle. There was no way he could get back into the lines in time anyway. By the time he reached the base of the tower, there would be no place to run to in the mass of green skins. Might as well take the shot. He leaned down his head and found his target. Yet when he looked down the scope, it was as if the small eye hole in the Warboss's helmet was ten meters wide. An impossible shot… to miss.
He felt the gun hum in approval. He prayed to the God-Emperor and fired. The hot shot las round blazed a fiery trail toward the xeno warlord. He had never felt the gun snap like that before. It was like its machine spirit had desired a shot like this for its entire existence. The round burned so hot, it cooked one of his last barrels. The Warboss's head turned perfectly at the last second allowing the round to zip right into the small steel eye socket. The las round buried itself into the skull of the xeno. Hagen was shocked as he practically felt the impact from here. That was an impossible shot for anyone other than an assassin or an angel. Yet it felt natural. The Orkz fell into disarray as soon as the Warboss swayed and fell on his face. Hager looked back to thank the Sister, but she was gone. Vanished without a trace. Where did she go?
The WAAAGH! Never recovered as they fought among themselves too fiercely to stop the immediate counter offensive. The Priest that took up the sergeant cap again in the barricade had seen the mysterious black armored sister with a flaming lantern point out and guide the sniper's shot. The Priest's holy fervor practically carried the counter offensive forward. He preached of the Emperor's Herald and her holy light.
Dead-Eye Hagan would become an icon in the regiment and the Fistian Sector long after the man himself died. He never missed a shot after that day as the stories go. As for the Sister, no one would know where she went for some time as she had no need to show herself. Her guiding hand was no longer needed after all. It wasn't long before the Ecleisarchy connected her back to Aaylana. The Flamekeeper's second miracle had just been witnessed and another world was saved in the process.
"Damn, that one is huge." I pointed at the biggest Ork I had ever seen. Come to think of it, it was the first ork I had ever seen. They were just as noisy and brutish as the lore stated. A fearsome sight to behold even at a distance. I hadn't seen any of the green bastards until now. I noted the guardsman looked back at me one more time before settling in to take his shot. It was a few tense moments later and the hot shot round dropped the big bastard. I was stunned and was about to congratulate the man on such a well done shot when the ground underneath my power armored boot gave out as the already broken and cracked permacrete crumbled. Apparently the big Ork's bulk was so heavy his death fall sent out tiny vibrations that reached the bell tower. I proceeded to fall from the wartorn tower.
I didn't even scream. I was too busy wondering if this was going to be a common thing as I slammed into the ground and proceeded to break more cracked permacrete and fall into the level below that. I really hope this won't become a trend. I don't think-
"Faghh," I hit a nearby ledge and bounced off with a curse. I realized that I was still several stories away from the next ledge. Apparently levels of this city were massive industrial centers that took up more space then on a standard hive world. Not that I could really get a good read on the place beyond that. Hitting that ledge or pipe or whatever had sent me tumbling. I did my best to level out and only just managed to before spattering on the ground with a "clunk". My armor was the only thing keeping me from becoming a pink circle as my bones and innards were turned to jelly.
I could only think one word in my mind,
Ow.
It was a resounding shock as the pain literally intensified with every nerve ending that reconnected and opened up more nerve endings, and compounded. I wanted to scream but my vocal cords must have been still mending.
When the pain finally ended. I lay there after the perpetual and/or saintly reconstruction ended for several moments. That karking sucked.
I glared at the lantern which looked to have landed perfectly next to me. Somehow it escaped the chain it was linked to and landed like it had floated down on a cloud.
"This isn't going to become a habit is it?" the Lantern flames flickered as it was shrugging. I guess my brain hadn't fully rewired yet if I was talking to an inanimate object.
Standing, my armor flared and any dents or cracks fixed themselves with a flash of fire. I grabbed the lantern and found my ax not too far away. It was embedded in the ground and I yanked it without much issue. The ax flared and any damage it received was gone.
I looked around seeing empty streets and hab blocks. This must have been where the workers for the Mechanicus stayed. I hoped they got to safety. I started walking. I saw a wall sconce with a relatively new and unlit candle in it. I felt an urge to grab it and clipped my ax to my back before doing so. I picked it up. I looked around, noting the wall was littered in pock marks from bullets and grenade shrapnel.
I found this dead part of the city to be too quiet. At least on Aaylana I had various patrols of cultists to keep me busy. I thought that there would be at the very least squigs and gretchen looking for scrap but there was nothing. I heard a small rock fall in the distance. I turned to see a shadow in the corner of my eye. I readied my ax and made my way toward the sound. As I neared the corner I leapt out at the ready, ax drawn.
It was no gretchen or squig.
It was a human child. A girl from the looks of it. She was practically a skeleton. I lowered my ax. Her skin was sickly pale due to malnourishment. She looked ready to bolt, but hadn't the energy. I knelt and she backed away as if hoping to sink into the wall behind her. The light in the lantern burned bright. Any tension in her body visibly slackened. She stepped toward the lantern, holding out her hand for warmth.
I reached up and attempted to open the visor of my helmet, but it seemed to be locked into place. Must have still been damaged from the fall. It was strange that it was not able to open. Whenever the armor flashed it was always restored to full functionality.
I set the lantern down. She shrunk away when I went through my pouches for food and I found nothing. I realized that I hadn't eaten in days and… didn't feel hungry. All I had was the candle I found eariler. I bent down and lit it with the lantern's fire like for that boy on Aaylana. Wordlessly I handed the candle to the girl.
As she grabbed it, I held her boney hands and whispered. "The Emperor Protects," Since this was a forgeworld and she probably knew him as the Omnisiah, I added, "His great machines need tending. Light their forges with the fire of hope and set them to cleanse the galaxy of those who would harm his subjects." It felt like the right thing to say.
I stood, picking up the lantern and held it in one hand as I walked away. I felt hollow. I had no food or drink to offer her. Hopefully the candle's fire would keep her company in her final moments or perhaps lead others to her like a beacon. Hopefully not enemies, but I sensed the small flame would never do that. I continued my journey forward into the unknown. Another portal corridor opened up for me to walk through. I couldn't quite see what was on the other side this time. I stepped through the portal regardless. I just hoped I had done enough while I was here.