The siege of Ptolemy Fortress was one of the most brutal and monotonously cruel battlefields in the entire Arakast Campaign. This was a critical Imperial orbital defense node and armory.
The Chaos forces had committed massive siege armies, including vast amounts of traitor artillery, Chaos Space Marine assault squads, and Nurgle's forces of decay.
The Imperial side was primarily defended by the Imperial Fists Astartes, local Imperial Guard, and large numbers of Tallarn Desert Auxiliaries.
For the player I Will Carry You, this place had become nothing short of a prison sentence.
Ever since the battlefield intensity had climbed above 30%, with both sides committing heavier units and elite forces, she felt like a broken machine stuck in an infinite loop.
Respawn, collect basic supplies, follow AI teammates or scattered players toward some collapsing frontline position. Then, amid deafening artillery, choking toxic gas, flying bolter rounds, or plague zombies suddenly erupting from underground, her survival time rarely exceeded one minute.
Usually it was just a dozen seconds or so.
"Are you kidding me?! I just stuck my head out!"
"Where did that shell even come from?!"
"What's in this smoke?! Ahhh!"
"Where are my teammates?! Help me!"
Those cries and screams had become her standard experience in this war zone.
Points? With this instant-death rhythm, accumulating them would be a miracle. She tried purchasing some cheap support units, Tallarn sand bikes or sniper teams.
But often, before she could even issue a command, both she and the support units were blown away by fire from God knows where.
Despair. Deep, soul-crushing despair.
"No way! Why is this game such torture?!"
After being vaporized yet again by a melta beam from some impossible angle, still two hundred meters from the front line, I Will Carry You finally couldn't help but wail to her stream viewers during the respawn countdown.
"Old Devil Medici, when you designed this map, did you even think about the gameplay experience for regular players?! This isn't me playing a game. The game is playing me!"
The chat naturally erupted in gleeful chaos.
"Switch zones, Liora"
"Go latch onto some pro's coattails"
"If this place won't have you, another will"
"Don't worry, just because you're cannon fodder here doesn't mean you won't be cannon fodder somewhere else"
"Switch zones?" I Will Carry You's mind turned.
Right! Ptolemy Fortress was clearly a meat grinder for hardcore players. What was her scrub self doing here?
Looking at the leaderboard, that suddenly emerged mega-whale, I Am Not God, seemed to be at Heralius Hive City. And Omsk Hive was also supposedly seeing heavy fighting, but at least, well, at least it sounded like they were making progress.
High points must mean there's a reason. Maybe it would be friendlier to casual players?
Time to act. It was practically a ray of hope for escaping this hellhole.
After yet another death timer expired, she didn't choose to deploy at Ptolemy Fortress's respawn point. Instead, she opened the global deployment map and looked toward the far side of the planet: Heralius Hive City.
The display showed exceptionally intense fighting, but Imperial-controlled zones seemed to be expanding.
More importantly, that golden, shining ID, I Am Not God, was in this war zone.
"I choose you, Heralius!"
With an almost pilgrimage-like, coattail-clinging enthusiasm, she selected respawn at the lower levels of Heralius Hive, at a relatively safe Imperial Guard rally point.
After a brief moment of darkness and weightlessness, her vision returned.
I Will Carry You found herself standing in a wide but crude lower-hive hall. The lighting was dim, the air thick with gun smoke, machine oil, and a cold, dusty scent.
Completely different from Ptolemy Fortress's mix of desert heat and rotting stench.
She clutched her system-issued standard-pattern lasgun, looking around curiously.
Then she saw something that stunned her.
Through several main passages in the hall, soldiers were flooding in continuously. Not the familiar Tallarn auxiliaries in tan desert camo with mismatched equipment, but squad after squad wearing uniform dark gray heavy greatcoats, iconic gas masks, massive backpacks, and maintaining terrifying silence.
Their steps were heavy yet orderly, bayonets on their lasguns reflecting cold gleams in the dim light. They spoke almost not at all.
Only harsh breathing through gas masks and the dull thud of boots on the ground merged into a low background drone.
"Holy crap..." I Will Carry You instinctively lowered her voice, marveling on stream.
"These soldiers look so badass, so imposing! Way cooler than the Tallarn auxiliaries from my zone! So these are the Death Korps of Krieg? Living up to their reputation!"
Drawn by this silent yet resolute gray flood, she forgot about finding any pros and unconsciously fell in behind a squad of Krieg soldiers, heading toward the lifts and passages leading to the upper levels.
She thought, following regular troops should feel safer, right?
The lift ascended, passing through maintenance tunnels reeking of metal and lubricant.
When the gate opened again, deafening explosions, gunfire, and roars slammed into her like a physical wall. Acrid smoke, burning smells, and an indescribable, nauseating sweet-metallic stench hit her face.
I Will Carry You was left dizzy by the sudden assault of sound and smell. She followed the Krieg soldiers charging out of the passage into a relatively open but half-ruined mid-hive connecting platform.
Before her vision fully adjusted to the light and dust, she saw about a hundred meters ahead Krieg soldiers taking cover behind ruins, unleashing torrential fire in one direction.
Laser beams poured out like rain.
She instinctively raised her gun, trying to spot enemies and find cover to observe first.
Then she saw that thing.
What a twisted abomination it was.
About four or five meters tall, its main body resembled a giant gorilla or bull skeleton that had been flayed, then forcibly stitched with rusted tank treads and armor plating. Dark red energy conduits coiled around its exposed metal spine, pulsing constantly.
Its head was a massive, continuously spinning serrated disc, edges dripping with viscous, burning blood.
Four limbs supported its massive frame: two armored mechanical claws and two reverse-jointed demonic legs ending in enormous metal hooves. Blood-red energy mist roiled around it.
Just its slow movement radiated heart-stopping savagery and oppression.
Above its head floated a line of eye-searing crimson text: [Khorne Daemon Engine]
Around it were dozens of tall, muscle-corded Bloodletters wielding massive swords, eyes burning with insatiable rage, plus more red-eyed, crazed-looking traitor guardsmen shouting a unified chant.
Those chants merged into a bloody roar, clearly reaching her ears.
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!!"
I Will Carry You's brain completely crashed in that moment.
What is this? A boss fight? Elite mob pack?
Why am I running into this the second I arrive?
The Krieg soldiers' lasers hitting that monstrosity only sparked briefly and made its red mist ripple slightly, seemingly no effect at all.
She hadn't even aimed her gun at any target, hadn't made any tactical moves, when she saw the Khorne Daemon Engine's massive spinning serrated disc head adjust its angle slightly.
A thick, dark red beam, seemingly made of coagulated blood and destructive energy, swept across her general area like Death's scythe.
No pain. Only searing white light and the system's cold notification.
[I Will Carry You has been slain by Khorne Daemon Engine.]
Brief darkness. Respawn options screen.
I Will Carry You stared blankly at the screen.
After several seconds, she practically shrieked into the channel:
"AHHHH?!! Is this even playable?! Old Devil Medici, what kind of garbage balance did you make?! I just entered this war zone! Didn't even see the map! And you show me THIS?! Instant death?! If I ever play this game again I'm a dog! Woof woof woof!!"