Legends of the Smoke Jaguars chapter 195
"Charael's going to be insufferably smug after this," Ajax growled as he rammed his Eviscerator through an Ork's chest.
"May I respectfully suggest that you put up with it," Iagion retorted as he decapitated a dripping wet Ork, "Or would you prefer we lose the docks?"
"I'd prefer it if we had more warning than a dream!" Ajax snapped as he kicked another back into the water.
"The Emperor works in mysterious ways."
"An auspex ping, a subsurface tremor, anything! Damn those lazy natives, their underwater augurs haven't been consecrated in five hundred years!"
Another Greenskin tried to mount the stones of the docking pier, only to find Ajax's sword swinging for its face. The waters around the jetty were turgid with guts, made oily under the actinic glare of floodlights. The swells seethed with motion as Orks swam to engage, being picked off by squads of Storm Heralds firing into the water with deadly accuracy. Mortals cowered in warehouses and atop high docking cranes, unable to do anything but cover their ears and pray for salvation. This wasn't supposed to happen, this dock was supposed to be safe.
The docks of Coronam were sheltered by a long sea wall and bastions of Macrocannons pointing into the distance. No boat could approach the dock and survive, but the Greenskins hadn't come by boat. From under the surface it had risen without warning, a hulking monstrosity of a submarine. Crudely welded plates and rivetted panels held it together, as chugging smoke stacks alight as soon as it broke the surface. Longer than a Capitol Imperialis, and nearly half as broad, a blasphemy unto the Machine Spirits. Ajax didn't know how Orkamemnon had constructed it, but he had and he'd packed it to bursting with Boyz. They scrambled onto the sea wall from where the submersible had beached itself. Some jumped into the waters beyond and swam headlong into the crossfire, but the majority were racing down the length of the barricade, eager to shed blood.
"We need to secure the end of that wall!" Iagion cried as he battled Orks trying to get out of the water.
Lujan's on it," Ajax snarled, "We hold this dock."
"He'll be overrun!"
"He's got enough forces to hold, focus on your own duty!"
Indeed the Chapter Master was holding the far end of the sea wall with his Honour Guards. Seemingly outnumbered but supported by enfilading fire from the rooftops and cranes. Deadly accurate shots picked off Greenskins as they tried to rush along the the sea wall, the few survivors running headlong into Lujan's blades. The Honour Guards' ceremonial axes were no less deadly for their gilt, the eagle-masked warriors reaping a fearsome tally. Lujan himself was not to be outdone, sweeping the Sword of Thiel in dazzling displays of marital prowess. No foe who approached him could live, his skill at arms impressive, despite his other shortcomings.
Ajax reaped foes as they came but was also monitoring the battle. The Orks seemed to have misjudged their assault. The submarine was trapped on the outside of the harbour and so left themselves exposed. The swim across the bay was too far, the sea wall too long. They hadn't the numbers to break through the defence. Ajax judged they'd be disposed of within ten minutes, it was overkill. A single Company could have held this dock, a Demi-Company. To pull all their forces out of the city had been a gross overreaction, leaving their comrades to fight and die alone. Ajax cursed Charael under his breath but then a massive boom rang over the docks and a warehouse behind him exploded, sending mortal bodies flying high in pieces.
"Earthshaker!" Iagion cried.
"I see it!" Ajax yelled, "The bloody Orks have mounted heavy artillery on that hulk!"
"We need Knight support!"
"No time! Ajax to Lujan..."
Lujan was already on the vox, "Threat level mounting! Vanguard Veterans, eliminate that artillery!"
"You heard him!" Ajax roared, "Bring the thunder!"
Ajax's jump pack blazed as his feet left the stones of the dock. Into the air he soared, carried aloft on comet tails of jet exhaust. He had a godseye view of the harbour, lined by fishing boats and pleasure yachts. The night was alight with muzzle flashes and the streaking contrails of rockets as the Storm Heralds brought death to the Xenos. A black void below was the water and ahead lay the stark metal hulk of the submersible, lit by the flashing of Shootas as the crew tried to swat the Marines from the sky.
Ajax felt a round clip his pauldron but was not shifted a single degree. His arc brought him down in a thunderous strike, his feet hitting an Ork in the chest and laminating the foul beast to the deck. Ajax hadn't planned that but serendipity was not to be scorned. His spine compressed as he landed but he stored that energy and bounded forward, swinging Storm's Wrath in a great arc. Indistinct shapes loomed out of the dark, even autosenses struggling to tell what was midnight and what Xenos. Distant flashes of guns created a strobing effect, seconds sliced out of time like still pict-images. Ajax saw faces leering, arms coming at him, bodies pressing forward with feral rage in every piggy eye. He met them with relentless blows, carving a path into the foe, heedless of the danger. His Brothers were with him, matching his speed and ferocity but the cost was dear. A lifesign winked out in his vision, Brother Caddael, a veteran of two centuries service, a full quarter of which were at Ajax's side.
"You wretched fungal-warts on the anus of the galaxy!" Ajax roared in outrage.
"There's still a few hundred on board!" Iagion warned.
"No matter, I'll kill them all!"
"It'll take everything we've got to fight to the enginarium and plant melta-charges."
"Frak that, I've got a better idea!"
Ahead the Earthshaker loomed, a looted artillery piece sticking out of the deck itself. It had laid flat under a sealed hatch during the voyage but had been lifted out to lay waste the harbour upon arrival. The Orks were already shoving another massive shell into the breach as the Vanguard Veterans closed, a pair of gunners heaving the explosive about with glistening muscles. Ajax tore the spine out of the closet with a single swipe, then grabbed the other about the neck with his free hand. The Ork gawped through thick goggles but Ajax slammed its head into the hatch, letting it drop dazed to the floor. Ajax wasn't done, he snatched the heavy breach and slammed it upon the Ork's reeling skull, crushing it inwards. A second slam saw brains painted over the end of the gun and a third squished the head into paste.
"Cover me!" Ajax yelled as he kicked the Ork's body out of the way and closed the breach. The Veterans took a stance against the tide of foes as Ajax stowed Storm's Wrath and set to the controls. It was elementary to operate, as best suits Guardsmen, and he began spinning the wheels with expert hands. The long barrel rotated, a slice of black in the night sky, as it lowered to nearly horizontal. Ajax couldn't depress it very far but a rude conning tower stuck out of the rear, where outraged Greenskins pointed and yelled in alarm. Ajax grinned as he looked upon them, then reached over and yanked the firing pin.
An almighty boom split the air and a microsecond later the tower exploded. Red hot shrapnel scythed everywhere, pattering off power armour but lacerating Ork flesh near and far. The deck heaved as vibrations cracked the submersible like a whip and the sounds of shrieking metal rang loud. Flames erupted from where the tower used to be, spreading fast, cooking off fuel and unspent munitions at a rapid pace. The sub was doomed, its end certain.
"Time to go!" Iagion cried.
"Get Caddael's body!" Ajax barked.
"He's too heavy," Iagion protested.
"I'm not leaving his gene-seed to rot, help me!"
Orks were staggering wildly as the sub began to tilt over, many of them diving into the cold waters to escape death. Ajax hurried past them, feeling the death throes of the machine grow wilder. He found Caddael's body where they left it and heaved it upright, his legacy would be preserved. Iagion grabbed the other shoulder and they braced themselves, then with perfect timing ignited their Jump packs. The weight was awkward, the angles poor, but between them they lifted the heavy corpse off the dying sub. Their Brothers were jetting ahead, making perfect arcs across the harbour, unlike the lopsided trio. Ajax saw the stones of the dock approaching rapidly, too fast to manage by half. They hit the stones in an ugly sprawl, rumbling head over heels, dropping Caddeal's body in the process. Ajax rolled twice, his armour blaring in protest at the poor handling, but they had made it, they were alive.
"I've had better landings," Iagion groaned.
Ajax ignored that, "Apothecary! A Brother is in need of Last Rites!"
Lujan called across the waters, "A casualty?"
"Brother Caddael Rests in Glory Eternal."
"He passes in an otherwise flawless victory, our injuries are few, not even into healing comas."
Ajax stood up and surveyed his handiwork as he said, "This was overkill, we could have held the docks with a fifth of this force."
"Indeed, perhaps we acted in undue haste..."
But Charael's voice cut in, "Oh ye of little faith! Our travails have barely begun!"
Ajax's voice was stayed as his eyes widened. Beyond the sinking corpse of the submersible the waters seethed. Frothing cauldrons spread far and wide as dark shapes rose from the depths. As far as the eye could see the ocean boiled with ejected ballast, allowing more submersibles to rise. A half-dozen, twelve, twenty, forty, each ugly as sin and packed to bursting with Greenskins. The one they had destroyed had merely been the forerunner, its overeager rush drawing it ahead of its comrades. An army of Orks was about to pour over this dock and if they were not denied the city would fall.
Ajax looked upon the rising tide of enemies and knew even three Companies of Space Marines would struggle to hold against this surprise attack. Without breaking eye contact he drew Storm's Wrath and tested its motor as he muttered, "Throne, Charael's going to be truly insufferable after this."