EotS Chapter 5: The Harvest Feast
·
Sep 17
76
Added a few scenes and descriptions to the previous chapter and a few general improvements.
As for why we are doing 40k again instead of the other fic, well I want to give both stories time to develop an identity of their own instead of splitting my attention constantly in the beginning (that would just make one bleed into the other) and Volition was always meant to be the side thing.
So we will be doing exclusively 40k for 3 to 4 weeks before going back to the usual schedule so I can get the whole thing running.
As always big thanks to Aliya for helping me bounce my thoughts around.
Savant Militant Konstantin of Zamor
The valkyrie shot up into the air with a jolt, making me sink deeper into my secured seat as we blasted off towards the south from Frumentum's northernmost continental mass.
The relatively small planet had three large continents surrounded by a large ocean of salt water, two of them were humid and tropical in climate and mostly used for farming and hunting while the third and northernmost was more temperate and housed the planetary administration.
We were headed for one of the tropical ones, the largest landmass holding the largest jungle, and also the place where the orks had been congregating since the Great Crusade, or maybe even before that.
'One can't ever tell with them, bunch of galactic cockroaches.'
The interior of the gunship was silent for a short while, broken only after the Colonel, draped in the immaculately clean parade dress of his homeworld, lit up his trusty lho stick and addressed the Major seated next to him. "How long until we get there, Grant?"
"Three hours, sir." The perpetually tired woman informed him without looking away from her data slate.
He clicked his tongue and began to grumble and complain.
At least none of it was directed at me.
He liked to pretend I didn't exist.
I quickly tuned him out for the most part in favor of observing the other soldiers on board.
A guardsman with a boxy vox caster unit held between his legs, a narrow faced young officer with a Captain's insignia listening in on his superiors, a downright massive man holding the regimental standard (A black baton surmounting a golden sunburst on a field of brown with the golden words 'Mavus Invicta' sewn under the crest) and seven regimental grenadiers in full carapace armor and armed to the teeth.
Hellguns, grenade launchers, plasma guns, enough firepower to bring down a space marine if used properly.
In theory.
And the Commissar of course, who was seated right next to me, unwilling to leave me by myself after yesterday's debacle and perfectly content with remaining silent for the whole duration of the flight.
Sensing my stare he merely shot me a questioning look.
"Seeing as we are guests of honor." I whispered curiously. "Will we be expected to join in on the hunt?"
Commissar Marcus furrowed his brows briefly before slowly shaking his head. "I do not think so, no. And even if we were, the Colonel can always send his retinue to represent him."
'Thank the Emperor.'
"That is if the Colonel does not decide to join of his own will." Marcus goes on. "The Mavian nobility is known for appreciating a good hunt almost as much as our hosts do."
"Joy." I say dryly.
"An excursion will do us all well, I suspect." He says simply, shooting me a mild warning look before returning to his silence.
I took the hint and shut up, implying an unwillingness to fight the enemies of mankind to a Commissar was not an act one would consider wise.
The valkyrie ride was a surprisingly calm one, plagued by minimal turbulence despite being one of the most mass-produced vehicles in the entire Imperium, and this one even seemed to have a bit of air conditioning installed, likely due to it being the designated command vehicle for the day.
We were not flying alone either.
Half of the regiment, some ten thousand guardsmen, had also been moving over to the jungle since yesterday in large arvus ligher crafts and setting up camp around the noble gathering while the ones staying behind were scheduled to perform large scale military exercises under the command of one of the regiment's Captains.
At first, I found it odd that it wasn't Major Grant that was tasked with this, but then again I was starting to get the impression the poor woman was far too busy babysitting our commanding officer to step away for that long.
Hopefully I was being biased and too harsh on the man. I'd take him being a plain asshole to psykers over him being an incompetent any day of the week.
The hours passed quickly in the air and soon we were landing, the grenadiers snapping at attention and rushing down the ramp the moment it fell open before being followed by the rest of us.
My muscle cramps tried making themselves known as I stood but I powered through them, keeping just slightly behind the main retinue as we exited into the warm humid air of the planetary equator.
It was the sight that awaited us down there that almost made me miss a step, a sea of immense fabric tents of all colors stood strewn about on a great field of tall grass, bonfire smoke belching into the air while men and women dressed closer to a renaissance fair than a proper high imperial gathering mingled about.
There must have been tens of thousands of them gathered for the event, nobles, retinues, huntsmen and servants, congregating between each other with no ordering I could point at.
Their clothing was just as colorful as the tents, and sometimes just as puffy, and after some more observation I noticed that their arms and armor were far off from the imperial guard I'd started getting used to.
The rifles some of them carried looked little better than ancient flintlocks, and I even saw a few men in masterfully articulated full steel plate armor following some of the more brightly and elaborately dressed individuals around as bodyguards.
"Backs straight, soldiers." The Colonel's voice rang out with a vigor that wasn't there moments prior. "We are representing Mavus today, and I will have no mishaps happening before our honored hosts." He turns just far enough to side eye me, causing me to silently nod which seemed to satisfy him.
"All uniforms are up to regulation standard." The Commissar informs him.
"Good." He smiles in satisfaction. "Unfurl the banner." He waits for the bearer to do so and then starts the march. "Forward!"
The Frumentine nobility made way for us as we marched through, many of them looking at us with sheer awe and with an almost religious degree of respect, while many others in turn looked at us like curious displays from the local zoo.
I even caught a Ministorum priest out of the corner of my eye preaching at a bunch of young noblemen about the glory of service and sacrifice in the Emperor's name.
The poor fools looked enraptured by his words, especially once their eyes landed on the Mavian grenadiers.
Too bad an agri world like Frumentum wasn't tithed in guardsmen. They'd have to content themselves with joining the Planetary Defense Force instead.
Our march quickly led us to a truly prodigiously sized tent colored in red and white stripes, surrounded by men wearing proper red flak armor and wielding las rifles who offered crisp salutes as Colonel Fritz approached them.
The inside of the tent was even more extravagant, looking more like a grand feasting hall than a camp tent with genuine parquet covering the soil beneath and with great long tables covered with a truly decadent spread of meats and pastries, and housing no less than ten fireplaces.
And in the center of it all stood an elaborate wooden throne, where our host awaited us surrounded by dozens of noble supplicants.
Lady Governor Patricia looked in a word, ridiculous.
Her face was completely powdered up, and her hair was brought up in an oversized updo about three times as large as her head that she seemed to be leaning against the backrest as a matter of course.
Her silken white dress was even more ridiculous, encrusted with gems and precious metals along its entire length, with the many folds of fabric looking like they'd need at least six attendants to carry along comfortably.
"Garett!" Her face brightened as she saw us, the nobleman bowing before her quickly moving out of the way as he was promptly forgotten. "I was starting to think you refused my invitation."
"I wouldn't dare, my lady!" The Colonel takes off his cap, placing it under the nook of his arm, and offers an elaborate bow. "The Mavian 32nd is honored to join you in celebrating your world's glorious history. And may I say my lady, you look truly radiant today."
"Oh Garett you flatterer." She fluttered her eyes at him, and then daintily tapped the armrest of her throne, making a trio of lumbering men walk over and bring chairs and tables-
No, they weren't men, I realized.
'Servitors.' My lips thinned.
I'd gotten used to many foul realities in this life but those… things still disgusted me to my core. I could only hope their minds were truly gone, and that no one was conscious behind those empty eyes.
"-Sit, please. All of you." The Lady Governor told us with a small smile, distracting me from the walking insult to mankind. "It is such a shame you will be leaving us so soon my dear Garett; you have been very polite guests of our beloved world. I have had amasec from my personal stores brought out for the occasion."
"We must all do our duty to the Emperor." The Colonel bows his head. "We thank you for your generosity in hosting and supplying us, my lady."
He sits, and as he does most of us follow suit, only the grenadiers remaining on their feet and drawing back slightly so as to not take too much space.
The servitors retreated and proper servants brought out fancy glass bottles, pouring them with practiced ease.
As one reached me, I raised a hand to stop him. "Apologies, but I do not drink."
"Of course, milord." The servant bows his head. "Water then?"
"Please." I nodded.
He left quickly but even that was enough to draw attention and soon the Lady Governor's curious eyes were on me. "The newest addition to your regiment I take it, dear Garett?"
The Colonel's good mood drops a bit but not completely as he nodded. "Indeed, my lady. This is Konstantin, our sanctioned battle psyker. He is freshly arrived from Holy Terra."
"The Throneworld…" She mutters with genuine awe. "What I would not give to see the same sight myself…" Her eyes sharpen as she looks back at me. "You can do that, can't you? Make me see it?"
Feeling my lips dry for a moment, I stand up and offer a perfunctory bow. "Apologies, my lady Governor, but such telepathy is beyond me."
And I wasn't stupid enough to mess with a planetary governor's head.
"Truly?" She frowns, making the Colonel briefly glare at me. "That is a terrible shame." She points a hand to a hooded figure next to her. "My own Astropath tried showing me the holy sight once, but she does not remember most of it."
I was not particularly surprised that a Governor interested in meeting a psyker had her own pet witch brought up to the hunt, even when taking the planet's Chief Astropath (judging by her elaborate robes) so far outside of their sanctum was an incredibly foolish idea.
"My most humble apologies, my lady." The hooded old woman bowed.
"All is well, my dear Taliah." Lady Patricia waves the apology off easily. "It was mere curiosity I assure you. Why don't you sit with our guest? I am certain you two have much to talk about."
The woman bows and starts walking up to me, only to stop in her tracks halfway there as she brushes against my mind. The Governor was thankfully already distracted by the Colonel and her hesitation drew only minimal curiosity.
She sat next to me and just kept staring for a good while.
"How are you still sane?" She asks unsurely, voice quivering as she takes in my full presence in the warp, instinctively drawing away from me. "Do the voices not tear at your mind every day?"
"The voices." I scoffed, drawing a curious look from the Commissar who was seated to my other side. "They bring nothing but lies and deceit, and disdain is their sole due. Giving them attention only gives them more power over you."
She seems almost confused by my response for a moment before shaking her head bitterly. "If only it were that simple."
"The fact you have convinced yourself of this is your greatest foe." I retort with an animated backhand wave of my hand. "There is nothing the human mind cannot achieve, so long as it believes it possible."
I see a faint smile under her hood. "To be young is a power of its own it seems."
"A fine excuse." I agree, voice light and sarcastic. "But you should know better, honored Astropath. To surrender within is to court your own doom without."
She doesn't answer immediately, taking the time to sip the wine-like amasec the servants brought over for a while before letting out a long exhale. "The sea has no mercy for those who burn too brightly."
"Perhaps." Is all I say to that as the servants start bringing over the food and we spend the next half hour gorging ourselves on some of the finest roasts I'd ever eaten, in either life.
Whenever possible, I prodded the Astropath for information about the planet, learning that it was unequally developed with the capital city of Khadul being up to par with most of the Imperium while the rest was almost feudal in its development, depending on the capital for both the technology needed to keep operating their immense plantations and their exports off world.
Quite standard as far as systems went for less developed worlds to control their populace.
As for the orks they were treated mostly like a natural cycle here, they grew aggressive during certain times of year and a few villages or caravans tended to disappear here and there until the green menace was culled in a great hunt.
The orks simply lacked the numbers to be truly dangerous here, hopefully.
I wanted to press for more details about the infestation, but I caught the Colonel talking to the Lady Governor again just in time to see him boisterously standing up and patting his chest. "You can be certain my lady, I will personally bring you a dozen of the beasts' heads! There are no greater hunters in this galaxy than those of house Fritz!"
"Such a dashing warrior you are." The noblewoman titters. "I will be watching you with great interest, my dear Colonel."
"We are ready to move out at your word." He bows.
"Why wait then?" She smiles and gets up, eight other ladies rushing over to lift her dress as she began to walk. "I will declare a start to this harvest hunt and you may begin gathering your trophies right away."
About half of the feasting nobles quickly grab their overdecorated armaments and fall in with us as we follow the Governor outside, marching towards the edge of the camp where a great wooden podium had been constructed, protected from the front and flanks by pre-fabricated bunkers and trenches manned by eager Mavian foot.
They'd also pre-cleared the woodland as well, leaving a kilometer of open ground between us and the jungle.
The Lady Governor took nearly ten minutes getting up without damaging her dress, giving the other guests time to gather while we waited.
And as we did, many of us heard a noise coming from the jungle, seeing one of the larger trees shake as a trio of great reptilian birds leapt out from the canopy, screeching their throats out in outrage as they began to fly off, two of them bolting in the opposite direction while one headed for the camp.
The Lady Governor's face didn't even have time to twist in annoyance at the noise as Colonel Garett raised his hellpistol and shot without even bothering to aim, nailing the bird in the neck and killing it with one hit.
He blew at the smoking barrel before holstering the weapon with expert dexterity, looking at the gathered crowd with a massive smirk.
The Frumentine nobility cheered at the display and the Lady Governor completely forgot the poor Administratum clerk holding her speech vellum for her in favor of praising the Colonel loudly and for all to hear.
It seemed getting a 'Frumentari Shryke' was quite the achievement, especially for an off-worlder.
As this went on though, I was distracted by a loud pained hiss from my current companion. The Astropath Taliah was clutching at the sides of her head and wincing in pain while forcing her eyes shut.
This drew Marcus' gaze and he slowly palmed his bolt pistol while shooting me a questioning look.
I felt nothing immediately threatening from her and shook my head, instead placing my hand on her shoulder and asking: "What is it?"
"Reach out." She hissed back. "Feel it."
Sharing another look with Marcus and seeing him nod, I did as the woman suggested, lowering the lid off my mind ever so slightly and prodding my surroundings in the warp only to slightly flinch back as I touched something charged and caustic.
It was immense, an amalgam of hundreds- no, thousands of individual minds screaming and thundering against each other in a declaration so jubilant and soulful I was almost tempted to join in through sheer mental osmosis.
I felt the largest chunk of this mass move and turned to follow in real space, facing the jungle just in time to see a massive mountain of green muscle step outside, covered in plates of metal and raising a great metal war axe above its head as it pulled its head back and roared, a roar that was joined by thousands of others, a roar loud enough to shake the very ground beneath our feet:
"WAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!!"
Terms:
Valkyrie: Most commonly used imperial guard assault craft/gunship and air transport. Void capable.
Regimental grenadiers: Elite foot soldiers of an imperial guard regiment, given the best equipment and usually assigned to guard officers or the regimental banner.
Carapace armor: The best armor a guardsman can get, offers a lot more coverage than flak armor and is considerably more resistant to fire. Generally used by officers, infantry regiment elites or stormtroopers.
Vox caster: Radio.
Hellgun: Considerably more powerful lasgun, usually requires a full backpack to power it and capable of punching through power armor.
Arvus lighter: Basic void shuttle transport.
Servitor: Lobotomized cyborg used for manual labor made by the mechanicus, is considered perfectly normal by the imperium.
Adeptus Ministorum: Imperial Church
Adeptus Mechanicus: Techno Church that controls most of the Imperiums tech.
Adeptus Administratum: The paper pushers, comically inefficient in most cases.
Hive World: A human ecumenopolis, covered in city hives the size of mountains and usually thousands of years old. These are not nice places to live.
Hellpistol: More compact hellgun, generally more advanced due to the energies involved.EotS Chapter 6: Ork Clash
·
Sep 18
71
Minor edits to the previous chapter, the only pertinent "change" for this one is that the forest is one kilometer away from the camp edge.
Big cheers to the local spawn of the abyss for aiding me with the scribble as always.
Savant Militant Konstantin of Zamor
The jungle's edge shook as more and more of the xenos emerged behind the massive specimen, the physical war cry of: "WAAAAGH!!!" Following almost immediately after the psychic one in one grand wall of noise.
There was a moment of confusion as the battle cry reached us, and the entire gathering stopped in its tracks. Then fear and panic rose around me with such intensity I could practically taste it.
The hunters were not expecting the orks to come out like this.
Which meant the xenos were shifting tactics.
An authoritative voice snapped through the quiet.
"Soldiers of Mavus, to your positions!" Colonel Fritz shouted, swinging his ornate power maul above his head. "All Frumentari auxilia form a secondary line of defense. Grant, see to it!"
"Yes, sir!" The woman snaps a salute and starts wrangling the noblemen.
"Vickers, direct our air support."
"At once, my lord." The Captain who had accompanied us on the valkyrie saluted and rushed to one of the bunkers in the back.
"And someone get the Lady Governor out of here right now!"
"The rest of you are with me." The Colonel told us not paying even a second of attention to the Lady Governor who was getting unceremoniously dragged away by her bodyguards with no heed for her ridiculous attire. "We will show these foul beasts the might of the Hammer of the Emperor!"
We descended into the trench just as the orks began their charge.
Every single one of the block-faced creatures was over two meters tall at least, armed with great wooden clubs or stone axes and painted with tribalistic blue stripes making them out as the more savage and tribalistic members of their kind.
The xenos were widely known to be dumb brutes who cared about nothing else but getting to the fight as quickly as possible with no consideration for tactics.
I knew better.
My perception shifted as I sunk into my witch sight, and I was nearly blinded by the crackling energies surging around the creatures. Ignoring the discomfort I pushed through.
And there in the back, behind the leader, simply standing and letting the others pass them by, I could see hundreds of them covered head to toe in scrapped metal, and their weapons-
"Sir." I called just as the heavy bolters started discharging their munitions from the bunker nests.
I went unheard as the Colonel kept barking orders.
"Sir!" I shouted over the din around me.
"What?!" The Colonel rounded on me, angered by the reminder of my presence.
"The orks, sir." I pointed at the jungle behind the charging line. "They have firearms in the back."
For a moment he looked like he was about to tell me to stuff it and get back to preparing the line before his face twisted and he grabbed the binoculars from the vox trooper's hands and scanned the enemy lines.
The first line of greenskins had already been cut down by our weapon emplacements and they were nearing the halfway point between the trench and the jungle.
The ones behind them didn't slow down for even a moment and the lines of guardsmen opened fire with their las rifles, putting down many of them but nowhere near as effectively as the heavy weapon teams.
"Curses! You are right." Colonel Fritz smashes the binoculars into the vox operator's hands. "I want a mortar barrage on that position yesterday!"
My warning delivered, I readied my las rifle in burst shot mode and added my own fire to the fusillade. The weapon was surprisingly light, the kick minimal, there was absolutely no bullet drop to account for either.
The orks I shot barely paid attention to it, a chest hit barely made the roaring beasts twitch while I needed at least five headshots to bring one down if I didn't hit the eyes directly.
I had no time to lament this as they neared us, and the Colonel roared over the fire. "Affix bayonets!" Just as the mortar barrage hit the jungle.
The guardsmen followed the order, even as I noticed many of their arms shaking in fear and anticipation.
An undisciplined sputter of gunfire joined the line of las rifles, and a good number of the orks fell to the large lead shot fired by the Frumentari, giving me a moment to ask for permission to engage.
The Colonel was already looking at me by the time I turned around, a disgusted sneer on his face. "I will not have the regiment's first victory tainted by sorcery. Hide in the trench if you wish, we real men will win the glory on this day."
I kept my face completely blank to hide my rising rage.
The Commissar behind us frowned. "Sir-"
"That is an order Hett!" Fritz roared and turned back to the front, preparing to jump over the top. "With me men! For the Emperor!" And then the completely unarmored madman leapt up, followed by his grenadier lifeguard and the standard bearer.
The rest of the guardsmen roared with him, inspired by their commanding officer leading the charge, and rushed to meet the orks in glorious melee combat.
Marcus looked almost surprised when he saw me reload my rifle and flip it to full auto before following him topside but seeing my grim expression he merely nodded and revved his chainsword.
And then the green tide was upon us.
"WAAAAAAAAGHH!!!"
The orks' charge was devastating.
Men and weapons broke as solid imperial steel met stone, and as I raised my las rifle and started firing it into the horde, I got to see the Colonel break an ork in two with his power maul, and put down another five with his hellpistol, once more barely aiming and delivering precise hits to their heads anyway while expertly parrying away any and all attacks with his melee weapon.
Marcus was only a step behind him, relieving a large ork of his arm before blasting its head off with his bolt pistol.
The grenadiers were living up to their name, clearing out entire clumps of attacking aliens with their explosives and keeping their commanding officer from being overwhelmed with precise disciplined shots, all the while the standard bearer stood tall and proud, cutting down any ork that tried to get to him with his ornate looking chain sword.
The other guardsmen did far, far less gloriously.
What was a mighty charge mere seconds ago was now a desperate holdout as the massive xenos cut them down in their hundreds, the tide of reinforcements coming in from behind us just barely enough to hold the line while the rear provided supporting fire.
A squad broke and nearly made it to the trench, only for Marcus to rapidly disengage from his melee and shoot their leader in the back, making the retreating guardsmen stop in their tracks and throw themselves back into the desperate fight.
They lasted for about ten seconds before being torn apart by the savage xenos.
I gunned down the ork trying to brain the Commissar despite that, pushing up to a few steps behind him and thanking the Emperor for the las guns ridiculous ammo capacity.
Another mighty roar came from the orkish lines.
A large xeno, not as massive as the one I suspected was the leader, but far more imposing from up close, roared as he charged at Fritz, it ignored the fire coming from the grenadiers with furious hisses while my own shots barely even registered on its thick hide.
"Gloria Frumentum!" A battle cry suddenly rang out from behind us and I barely sidestepped a plate armored warrior rushing past me followed by another dozen of his comrades, punching into the orkish lines sword first, and pushing against them with surprising alacrity.
The ork Nob bellowed at the reinforcements and finally reached Fritz, only to have the mighty overhead swing of his greatclub contemptuously batted away by the Colonel, the half his size human barely being flung a few steps away as the grenadiers finally managed to focus their fire and bring the beast down.
The feudal reinforcements stabilized the lines and soon we were pushing the mass of green back.
I could feel the moment the WAAAGH!!! field did a one eighty, the psychic momentum shifting from attack to retreat as one of the orks yelled over the sounds of battle: "THE HUMIES GOT SKARACKA! LEG IT!"
The orks went from bloodthirsty berserkers to complete cowards in an instant, running away in a panic while a few of the ones too close to get away threw themselves into the imperial lines, taking down a few more soldiers each before being brought down by the sheer weight of fire surrounding them.
The Mavian guardsmen cheered, but it was a weak thing. Soldiers sagged their shoulders, listlessly staring into the enemy's back or at their slaughtered comrades.
Some still fired into the retreating orks with hatred in their eyes, depressing their triggers long after their weapons had run out of ammo.
The Frumentari seemed to take it a fair bit better and were currently quietly dragging the bodies of their fallen back towards the trench, long since used to brutal melees against the enemy.
My eyes eventually found a lone man surrounded by corpses, curled up on himself in a fetal position and silently rocking himself while crying, his rifle discarded next to him.
Marcus saw much the same and passed me by as he began walking to the broken man, stone faced and grim.
Knowing what was about to happen, I grit my teeth and looked away and back to the retreating ork lines.
Mortar shells were still dropping in the background, throwing up green flesh and dirt, but the heavy bolters had stopped their fire, either conserving ammo or waiting for a resupply.
But something odd was happening with the xenos. Their retreat was slowing down now, from a sprint to almost a shuffle as they seemed to reach some kind of obstacle.
And then the center of their horde was shoved aside by the same massive ork I'd seen at the edge of the jungle, hundreds of other ork boyz in full armor and armed with guns pushed through the rest.
They were covered in dirt and soot, and many were openly bleeding from the mortar bombardment, but it was nowhere near enough to deter them.
Another ork followed them, covered in war paint and his face hidden behind a totemic bone mask. I felt the warp roil around the creature, the psychic field of the other orks seeming to focus around his presence as his red eyes glowed.
I heard a guardsman cry in fear. "No, oh Emperor please… No!" He turned to run.
Marcus shot him before he took three steps.
The shot silenced the battlefield completely.
The ork boss seemed to revel in this terrified quiet, approaching us with leisurely steps and with his arms spread, showing off an axe that wasn't merely metal but also a chain weapon, and some kind of gun attached under his off hand.
"'UMIEZ!" He roared. "HOW'DYA LIKE A PROPPAH SCRAP FOR ONCE?"
"Reform!" Colonel Fritz roared back, snapping his troops back into action as they shakily tried to set up a firing line.
I very cautiously stepped behind a shield bearing man in armor.
"OI!" The ork barked, annoyed. "BIG BOSS GRAVEBOILA BE TALKING TO YA 'ERE!"
"Present arms!" Fritz glared.
"BAH!" The ork threw his hands up. "No respect for proppah bantar. GET 'EM BOYZ!"
"WAAAAAGH!!!"
Weapons fire exploded on both ends of the battlefield, but we were now out of position, and our enemy was armored now, and they could fire back.
Men fell around me in the dozens before a second was out and the only reason I didn't need to repair my skull was the fact the armored man in front of me took the bullet on his shield.
It cracked and he still died but at least it was quick.
I returned fire as best as I could, but I knew it in my bones our lines were not going to hold against this, and I was on my last power cell anyways.
I was sorely tempted to ignore my orders, break the enemy before they could crush us, but I could feel Marcus' constant gaze on me even from a few dozen meters away. He might not agree with Fritz's orders, but he will do as he is told on the battlefield.
The Colonel himself was too busy to reconsider them anyway, as the ork Boss was charging him with his Nobs, and three of the grenadiers were already down from the xenos leader's heavy weapons fire.
The ork Boss reached him in a thunderclap of movement, bisecting a grenadier and gunning another into pieces as he tried to shield Fritz with his body.
The Colonel attempted to break the ork's axe but even his power maul failed to bite into the scrapped metal as the force of the backswing sent him reeling back.
He reached for his trusty hellpistol and attempted to immobilize the xeno with a precise fusillade of lasfire but the ork had been observing his fighting, and dodged aside, taking only glancing shots before closing in for the kill.
Fritz looked almost confused as he tried to regain his footing and attack again but by that point it was too late, his grenadiers had been cut down by one of the remaining Nobs while the other broke the standard bearer in two even as I expended the last of my ammo unloading into him and grabbed the regimental standard into his massive hand.
The Bos's offhand shot out and grabbed the Colonel, enveloping his head and shoulders as he raised him into the air and began to laugh victoriously-
'Oh fuck it.'
The wall around my mind creaked open and my veins flash froze, torrents of warp energies coursing through my mind and soul as I felt every single surface in my surroundings as if I was touching them directly.
I'd already dropped my las gun now, and grasped my force staff, the torrent growing ever so slightly more manageable now that I held a proper focus.
The battlefield seemed to almost freeze as it felt my presence, and I reached out for the ork boss with my free hand.
And closed it shut.
Some of you may feel Fritz was being an idiot in not allowing Konstantin to go wild but I must remind you that his superstitions make perfect sense and outside of that he was solidly competent by imperial noble standards.
Its no one's fault the Imperium is usually its own greatest enemy.
Glossary:
Power maul: Power mace/baton, usually used by the Arbites (Judge Dredd-esque police of the Imperium) but also by other forces, the baton itself doesn't do much but the power field around it absolutely ruins armor or flesh.
There are many other power weapon variants out there.
Bolter: Heavy ballistic weapon fires a self propelled grenade, extremely expensive and effective, mostly used as a team weapon or by space marines.
Chainsword: Sword chain saw, standard issue melee weapon for the imperium (not counting the bayonet), used by anyone from IG sargents to space marines and wildly varying in quality.
The WAAAGH!!!: A psychic field, a war cry, a war in and of itself, the very purpose of an ork's existence.
DAKKA: Ork for firepower, there can never be enough.
Boss: The commanding ork, biggest and meanest
Nobs: Officer orks, big and mean
Boyz: Basic orksEotS Chapter 7: Psychic Might
·
Sep 21
72
Improved flow and wording in the previous chap.
And another big whoop to the local gremlin for its aid.
Savant Militant Konstantin of Zamor
A loud rip of crushed bone and flesh echoed across the battlefield as I yanked my hand back and the ork Boss bellowed in pain as his arm was ripped off out of its socket, landing right next to me alongside the Colonel who let out a pained groan.
The Warp hissed into my ears as I was suddenly the center of the battlefield, but I had no intention of wasting time and lives on hesitation.
I gathered another wave of warp energies and extended my hand outward, expelling an immense wave of force into the core of the enemy lines and throwing hundreds of the greenskins away like ragdolls.
I felt the body flying through the air and at me before I heard the accompanying; "WAAAAGH!!!", and I took a single step to the side, extending my hand and stopping the ork in its tracks alongside the dozen others following it in its charge.
The beast struggled for a moment before letting out a disappointed: "Oh zog."
I snapped my fingers, and the air was set alight, a powerful gout of warpfire extending in a cone away from me burning the xenos to a crisp even as crude bullets stopped a few inches away from me in their hundreds, levitating in place while I turned to face the source.
A rather normal sized ork decked out head to toe in bits and pieces of salvaged technology and wielding a truly oversized machinegun over one of his shoulders.
The bullets he so generously donated twisted in the air around me flattening into slivers of metal under the sheer force of my mental focus and pointing back at him.
I could see the moment of realization in his sole biological eye as I extended my hand out again, and the slivers launched themselves at him faster than even his weapon could fire them, turning him and the xenos around him into fine piles of meat.
"HE GOT DA MEK!" An ork cried out.
The Warp echoed with raucous laughter at my deed, and I felt the implants in the back of my head heat up as they rapidly converted the excess energies into heat.
By now the Mavian guardsmen were forming up behind me, setting up lines of fire as I advanced step by methodical step and giving me as much space as they could, while a pair of valkyrie gunships finally reached the frontline and began strafing the ork horde with heavy bolter shells.
All the while I could feel Marcus' gaze in the back of my head, just a few steps behind me, ready to do his duty if I damned myself.
'How reassuring.' I smiled widely in the privacy of my mind, and the cackling in the warp grew all the more intense for it.
The WAAAGH!!! field around the orcs was intensifying despite my efforts, and the source was obvious. The damn Boss was too tough to be taken out of the fight by simple pain and was rallying his troops.
"GET THAT ZOGGING WEIRDBOY!" He roared while pointing his axe at me, and his boyz were all too happy to make the attempt, throwing themselves forward in a refreshed wave alongside the returning savage orks.
My mind remained clear through it all, and I decided to nip this in the bud, pointing my extended fingers at him and feeling my hand go numb as my bioelectricity intensified massively and rushed through my flesh.
'Hate this fucking feeling.' I growled internally as I slammed the Boss with a psychic smite.
I fully expected the lightning bolt to disintegrate him on the spot but aside from an agonized scream and getting flung a good hundred meters back the damn beast remained irritatingly alive.
'Best fix that quickly.'
I focused my mind on finishing the job just in time to feel the warp twist on the enemy side and an image of a bone-masked ork flashed in my mind an instant before a voice roared through the warp.
'FOOT OF GORK!'
A titanic foot made up of cracking green energies congealed above the center of our position and I was left momentarily stunned by the fact I'd been foolish enough to give the enemy psyker time to operate.
'Focus!'
Thinking quickly, I forced my mind to open up even further as the foot began to descend, and I pulled at the warp with all the intensity I dared, ignoring the hungering cackles screaming into my ears and twisting it into a single bolt of force before launching it upwards with a roar of defiance.
The two warp constructs smashed into each other with immense explosive force, shaking the very air and making it feel as if the very skies broke.
I felt a vindictive grin form on my face.
The Foot of Gork was an artillery strike, wide scaled and unfocused.
The force bolt on the other hand was a scalpel, and it cut through the shaman's construct immediately, dissipating it in the atmosphere to far away from imperial forces to do any damage.
The ork horde was thoroughly broken by the display, and more and more aircraft was arriving in the area.
Our lines had stabilized.
I wasn't about to let the enemy psyker run though, and I found him just in time to see the thoroughly crisped ork Boss pick the Mavian regimental standard from his biggest Nob and roar at the Shaman. "OI! WAZGAZ, DIS FIGHT IS DONE! WE'Z ARE GOING TO LET THE HUMIES COME TO US NOW!"
"YES BOSS!" The masked ork picked up its bone carved staff and began dancing in place, pulling more power with each hop of his impromptu ritual.
"Oh no you don't." I growled, pulling at the warp and directly grasping the shaman's whole surrounding area before following up with another less potent force bolt aimed at the Boss.
Only the shaman had been ready, and a crackling field of orange lightning sprang up, detonating a few meters away from the two and popping the heads of two of the Nobs and dozens of the boyz as the Shaman finished his dance and raised his hands-
My entire body sizzled with static as I forced another psychic smite, aiming for him this time-
'DA JUMP!' Echoed in the warp.
And the Boss disappeared just as the Shaman was struck, his head exploding as the gathered energies lost focus, alongside the entire core of the remaining ork formation.
The remaining xenos suddenly appeared lost and aimless and were gleefully gunned down by lasgun fire, and the Imperial troops finally had an actual reason to celebrate.
I was nowhere near that jubilant though, staring at the spot previously housing the crackling green portal through which Boss Graveboila had jumped through.
The Warp was outright laughing at me now, mocking me for refusing the easy power it offered and for all the consequences that would have. I shut it out without even considering the words as usual.
"Frak." I voiced hoarsely.
"Mhm." Marcus hummed from right next to me. "Quite."
He tensed as I looked at him, still holding his bolt pistol but not pointing it at me just yet.
"What now, Commissar?"
He worked his jaw before letting out an almost inaudible exhale. "That will be up to Colonel Fritz."
I nodded and followed him back to the trench, holding back the urge to thank him, knowing that it would only make things more awkward for the political officer.
The troops' gazes were mixed as we passed them, most of those eyes held some kind of awe but the reason behind the feeling was nowhere near as unified, some were amazed and grateful, some were terrified, and a fair few were outright disgusted by my very existence.
Amusingly, the final echo was accompanied by a good chunk of self hatred more often than not.
'Good old humanity.' I mused to distract myself as we were brought up to the command squad, or what was left of it.
Only Colonel Fritz, Captain Vickers, and the minorly bleeding vox operator remained from the previously mighty group, and the latter was currently proffering a radio device to the Colonel even as a medicae tended to his shoulder.
"Of course, my lady." Fritz spoke heavily. "We will not allow this shame to persist; you have my assurance."
His face twisted even further as the response came and I could guess how enthused the Lady Governor was about his assurances, and he grit his teeth. "Understood, Lady Governor. Colonel Fritz out."
He practically threw the communicator back to the operator and rounded on Vickers. "Where is Grant?"
"Organizing the medicae tents." The man answered promptly. "Shall I call for her, my lord?"
"No… no need." The Colonel waved him off tiredly and finally turned to me, standing on his feet despite the protestations of his doctor, and picked up a familiar looking las rifle.
The same weapon I'd discarded, I realized.
"Savant Militant Konstantin." He said softly and Marcus finally pointed his bolt pistol at my head.
I didn't flinch. I had expected this.
The Colonel's gaze held none of his earlier fear as he stared into my eyes even as they still crackled with warp energies, and he carelessly stepped up to me so close we were nearly touching.
"Explain yourself." Fritz ordered simply.
"The line was breaking, sir." I didn't hold back. "No, it already was broken. And you were in the process of getting your head crushed by the enemy."
His face grew red with anger and he ground his teeth so hard it was audible but by some miracle he didn't interrupt me.
"The way I saw it, sir." I went on. "If you died the line was dead, if the line died the Frumentari nobility would soon follow, and if they died the Imperium loses far more than a single regiment of foot."
"And do you think I care for your analysis?" His eyes narrowed.
"I was already a dead man walking with orks in melee range, Colonel Fritz." I shrugged without care, still staring him dead in the eyes. "And I made my choice knowing that. Now it's time for you to make yours, sir."
He was silent for a good ten seconds, a multitude of emotions swirling in his mind so loudly I could make them all out clearly. Shame, anger, self-pity, more shame, hatred for the enemy, and even more shame.
He seemed to chew on nothing as he stared back at me before grunting as if pained and shoving the las rifle into my hands hard enough to make me take a step back. "Your weapon, soldier."
I quickly shouldered it.
"You saved my life, and that of thousands of Mavians." He said quietly, so that only I and Marcus could hear him and shook his head. "I will not have you shot for that." He glanced at the Commissar who nodded and holstered his bolt pistol.
"Thank you, sir."
His expression implied he wanted to say something dismissive to that, but he ultimately settled on even more frustrated silence.
"What is our next move, sir?" Commissar Marcus asked after a few seconds.
"The foul xeno made off with our regimental standard, Hett!" Fritz snapped at him, another wave of overwhelming shame bubbling around him in the warp. "What do you think our next move is?!"
"I see, sir." The Commissar nodded calmly. "What of the Lady Governor?"
"Lady Patricia's hospitality has grown… strained." Fritz admitted, looking drained. "She demands we crush the xenos responsible or she threatens to complain directly to the Administratum about our incompetence." He practically spits the final word out.
With each word he spoke I felt a bubbling of incredulity rise within me, finally I couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Trudge through extremely rough terrain with troops untrained for the task to hunt down a single tribe of orks who had lived there since before anyone can remember?" I asked mostly to myself. "What could possibly go wrong?"
Both the Commissar and Colonel heard me and were looking at me with an odd mix of annoyance and grim amusement. "Worst comes to worst, witch." Fritz says after a moment. "You can always just burn the whole damn forest down."
"After today, sir?" I looked back at the jungle. "It would be my genuine pleasure."
Glossary:
Warpfire: Fire but burns your soul too, very scary.
Ork Mek: Ork techie, usually wielding heavy weapons and exotic doo dads but if there are enough orks around and if they get big enough they can go as far as piloting a scrap titan.
Weirdboy: Usually refers specifically to ork psykers but can be used by the orks for any psyker in general. Ork variants are extremely volatile (Their heads tend to pop) but can't be possessed as they draw all their power from other orks. Savage ork weirdboys are called shamans.
Psychic smite (biomancy) : Lightning bolt made up of bioelectricity, very handy to have around.
The Foot of Gork: Ork weirdboy summons a massive psychic foot that crushes everything underneath.
Gork and Mork: The twin ork gods, one is brutally kunning and the other is kunningly brutal, the question of which is which has sparked multiple civil wars among the orks.
Force bolt (telekinesis): 'Magic missile' made up of pure force.
DA JUMP!: Ork teleport spell.
Medicae: What do you think?
EotS Chapter 8: The Expeditionary Muster
·
Sep 22
67
Very minor wording changes to previous chap.
Big whoop to Aliya for giving it a quick early read as well.
Savant Militant Konstantin of Zamor
The Colonel chuckled softly at my declaration while the Commissar remained stoic, and a quiet moment passed as the chaos of the post battle cleanup flowed around us.
Fritz caught himself and schooled his expression, sitting back and letting his medicae get to work.
'Best leave before things get awkward then.' I thought, not even considering the option of offering to fix him myself. "With your permission, sir. I could go and aid the medicae with the worst cases?"
My outward biomancy needed all the help it could get.
The tired officer frowned but looked just about ready to wave me ahead if just to be rid of me only for Marcus to clear his throat.
"I would advise against that." The Commissar said.
"And why is that?" The Colonel asked him, sounding a bit surprised.
"The Savant has already pulled much power from the Immaterium." He elaborated as if reading off a script. "Doctrine dictates Primaris classed psykers are to be provided a cooldown period whenever permissible in order to minimize the risk of warp perils."
Fritz considered this before addressing me. "Well? Can you keep going without risk?"
The sting of heat coming from my implants made me sigh. "The Commissar is right, my biomancy takes more out of me than my other disciplines."
"And there you have it." The Colonel shakes his head. "Go get some caf or something, whatever keeps you… you. Report back in two hours standard."
"Yes, sir." I saluted and left the two to their business, doing my best to stay away from crowds while looking for a suitable spot to rest only to feel a mix of confusion and irritation as I spotted a familiar face looking thoroughly lost near the Governor's abandoned tent.
"Lady Taliah." I greeted the Astropath as I approached. "What in the Emperor's name are you still doing here?"
The telepath nearly jumped in fright as she heard me, somehow managing to miss the slowly dissipating psychic storm around me in her panicked state.
"L-lord Konstantin." She stuttered while looking at me. "Y-you are st-table?"
"I am a trained battle psyker." I explained myself bluntly. "That does not answer my question, what is the planetary Astropath doing alone and unguarded?"
She looks like she wants to ask me a million questions, but my demanding stare makes her slump and sigh. "I was… forgotten."
My eyebrows rose and I blinked, a few times just to check if I wasn't suddenly possessed by something. The realization she really uttered those words somehow felt worse.
"Holy Emperor save me from fools and incompetents." I hissed harshly as I pinched the bridge of my nose, ignoring Taliah's outraged expression and quickly scanning my surroundings with my telekinetic sense.
A very familiar bloodied yet mostly intact squad of five Mavians was passing by and I made a sharp whistle to draw their attention, stopping them in their tracks as they noticed me.
Ignoring their apprehension, I waved them over.
"Ho there, witch." Corporal Jaremy grinned, showing off a pair of missing teeth. "Hankering for some of our premium recaf, are you?"
Raising an eyebrow, I looked down at the canteen of steaming something he was holding and inhaled. "Please." I whispered.
He chuckled and handed it over and I take a deep gulp of the hot swill, feeling a jolt of energy as my soul remembered that most ancient of addictions.
"Thanks." I handed the drink back to the battered soldiers. "All of you make it out?"
His mood dropped immediately as he shook his head. "Most of us did, aye… Would have gotten slaughtered to a man if Sarge didn't throw himself at one of the big ones with grenades in his hands. The crazy bastard."
The other soldiers grew solemn and muttered in remembrance of the man between themselves.
"A good death." I inclined my head. "And as much as I want to leave you to it I'm afraid there has been a fuckup of titanic proportions."
The guardsmen tense, tired but ready. "What is it?" Jaremy asks.
"Someone." I drawled before pointing my thumb at the still terrified Taliah; "Decided to abandon the Chief Astropath of Frumentum on an open battleground. Unguarded."
"That's bad?" The Corporal looked the hooded woman over. "…Right?"
"Exceptionally."
"Well shit." He curses before pointing at one of his men. "Bilby, you and Stocke go and fetch the LT. He should have a vox on him. Tell him its important."
The two men saluted and jogged off.
Cpl. Jaremy Hickins of the Mavian 32nd Foot
He and his remaining two squaddies quickly formed up around the very strategically important witch. Apparently.
He had no idea why that was, but he wasn't about to say no to the scary warp wielding artillery piece he and his lads owed their lives to.
Sure, Sarge died heroically but if the xeno he suicide charged didn't get thrown back alongside the rest of the greenskins coming for their heads they'd have been caught in the blast just the same.
Also, Konstantin probably knew what he was talking about, but that was way above Jaremy's pay grade.
He was probably better off not knowing.
Instead, he fell back on what he usually did when he was shit scared. Banter. "You're looking at that caf like it's your long lost lover there."
Konstantin shrugged with an amused smile on his face. "In a way you are right." He took a gulp of the cheap swill and savored it for a few seconds. "It has been ages since I've had some. Not since my homeworld."
"What, they don' have caf on Holy Terra or somethin'?" Brick asked from nearby, jaw still intact despite getting the mother of all backhands straight from a greenskin.
"They do." The man whose eyes were slowly returning to their empty blankness chuckled. "They just don't like giving narcotics to unstable psykers."
Marian and Brick stiffened but Jaremy merely gave him a questioning look. "You sure you should be drinking that then? Not going to go all crazy witch on us 'cos of some caf?"
"You didn't put anything weird inside, did you?" The psyker asked suspiciously.
"Shouldn't have." Jaremy said. "You never know what the local merchants will do for a quick throne though. Marian, you were the one to grab it, caf seem fine?"
"Smelled like normal caff to me." Came the immediate answer.
The psyker squinted at the drink and sniffed. "Doesn't seem too bad." He shrugged and took another gulp.
A few of his boys looked increasingly shit scared by the moment but Jaremy just laughed and took a few sips of his own. "Well you look fine." He said. "You want to join the boys and I for drinks when we are back at base?"
His boys looked at him like he grew a second head but he ignored them. They'd thank him when the psyker saved their asses a second time over someone else.
"I don't drink." Konstantin immediately shook his head. "And I would advise holding back on any celebrations for now."
Jaremy felt a cold sweat go down the back of his neck at his tone. "You know something?"
"Nothing concrete at the moment." The pyker didn't even bother to try hiding the lie. "Just stay prepared."
A grim atmosphere descended between them and Jaremy grunted. "Gotcha. Thanks for the warning."
The psyker nodded back and they settled into a tense silence, sipping on cheap recaf while waiting for the LT. to come over, all the while the other witch looked at it longingly while holding herself back.
That poor woman.
Savant Militant Konstantin of Zamor
It took the Mavian soldiers a good ten minutes to fetch the woman in charge of their battalion, and the moment I explained the situation to Lt. Bell she kicked it up the chain and the Astropath was quickly surrounded by a small wall of soldiers while high command arranged her extraction to Khadul.
I didn't rush to return to the improvised strategium, giving myself a moment to meditate after the situation was dealt with and truly return to my safe state.
The strain of the process was worse than usual, the predators of the warp were hungry today and my display acted like a loud dinner bell to all of them, but my mental shields would not be disturbed by such minor critters when the veil of reality was still relatively thick.
The most they could do was mildly inconvenience me.
By the time I found my way to the command center the local star was already falling and a large rockrete bunker had sprung up in the middle of the festival grounds.
The guards let me through with minimal fuss and I arrived just as a trio of Frumentari noblemen were addressing the Colonel, only one of them paying me any attention and only so long as to see me come in.
"My own beloved city of Hermin was sacked by the xeno scum but that damn-" The one in the lead cleared his throat. "The honorable Lady Governor refused to do anything about it for multiple weeks."
"And why, Sir Ferdinand, would the Planetary Governor refuse to assist you against His foes? On her own planet no less?" Commissar Marcus asked coldly.
"Because Hermin was growing too powerful." The nobleman scoffed. "My plantations produced the finest razor grain, and my huntsmen carried the best weapons money could buy. She was probably feeling threatened."
'So that's where the orks looted their weapons from…'
"That is a serious accusation, Sir." Marcus said warningly.
"It is the truth!" The nobleman retorted before shaking his head. "But I know I will not prevail upon you like this."
This made the Colonel look at him expectantly, and he was not disappointed.
"Which is why my fellow landholders and I are ready to offer four thousand of our most experienced beast slayers for your excursion into the great jungle." The nobleman puffed himself up proudly. "As well as joining you personally in facing the enemies of man."
While the conversation went on, I quietly made my way to the Commissar and Colonel pair, earning a quick nod from the former and going momentarily ignored by the latter.
Colonel Fritz smiled coldly at the noble. "And do you expect us to overthrow your liege lady in return? I must admit that is quite a bold idea." He almost whispered his next words. "Almost treasonous in fact…"
"By the Emperor no! We are not suicidal." The man denied immediately, a trace of panic entering his voice. "Merely report her ineffectiveness to the Administratum and let the Lex do its just work."
"Help us win and you have a deal, landholder." The Colonel nodded after some deliberation, much to the nobles' satisfaction, and turned to the other unfamiliar figure present. "Enginseer Fidelis-Rho, how go the auspex scans?"
"Accurate and with minimal interference." The heavily modified cyborg engineer-priest responded in a cold emotionless synthetic. "The xenos threat is not attempting to conceal its position."
"They are challenging us." The Commissar muttered.
Fritz shot him a look. "Explain, Hett."
"Orks are known to be obsessed with battle, it is everything to them." Marcus did so. "The leader declared he wanted us to come to him before he fled, and now he is making sure we do."
"Well, this should make things simple then!" Sir Ferdinand cheered.
"Not quite." Marcus shook his head. "The xeno knows to expect us. The path is bound to be perilous."
"Which is why we will split the troops into three prongs." Fritz declares. "The auxilia and our lightest foot shall harass the ork from the flanks and encircle any ambushing hardpoints while our main force will strike the enemy directly."
Major Grant who was looking even more weathered than usual, typed away on her data slate for a moment. "What little Aeronautica support we have available will be next to useless in the dense jungle."
"Incorrect." Enginseer Fidelis-Rho shook his head. "Targeted promethium payloads will ensure the xeno's ability to maneuver is reduced by 70.013 to 75.43 percent dependent on valkyrie pilot capabilities."
Grant furrows her brows. "We do not store incendiary munitions."
"The Machine God shall provide." The Enginseer declares solemnly.
"The support of Mars is appreciated, Enginseer." The Colonel nods curtly before side eyeing me, hesitating only briefly before addressing me. "Savant, you will remain with my command squad for the operation. I also rescind my previous standing orders."
"Understood, sir." I incline my head.
"Very good." Fritz nods and addresses the rest. "We've gone over the outline, now I want numbers."
The planning session lasted for hours.
It was already approaching midnight when I left the bunker, but no less loud for it.
Dozens of arvus lighter craft went up and down from the surrounding designated landing points, taking away the severely wounded while delivering the remainder of the regiment from our garrison fort on the capital continent.
Nearly two thousand Mavians died to the orks in less than one hour of fighting, and those losses needed replacing, especially since we were to descend into the green hell in front of us come morning.
"That was well done with the Astropath." Marcus spoke as he walked up beside me, a cup of steaming caf in his hand. "The Governor's failure to secure her lines of communication will be another bullet in our chamber against her should she decide to attempt to stonewall us."
"Awfully blunt of you, Commissar." I shoot him a curious look.
"Survive enough deployments and you get used to the politics." He says sounding almost… nostalgic about it. "We can worry about those later, however. Be prepared for tomorrow, the ork can be a vicious beast."
'Like I needed reminding of that…'
It wasn't that hard to figure out his nostalgia. The man looked to be in his forties, which meant he had been attached to other regiments before. And something told me the Mavian assignment was probably meant to serve as some kind of vacation for him.
"If having dirt on the Lady Governor is to our advantage." I began instead of speculating further. "Then you might wish to note down that the raid on Hermin could very well be the source of the xenos' suspicious stocks of firepower."
The Commissar rubbed his clean shaven chin briefly before nodding. "Very well done indeed." There was something resembling a smile on his face now, if you squinted, and it disappeared almost instantly as he made to leave. "Rest well, Savant."
Returning the goodbye, I made for my temporary housing next to the strategium and went to sleep, fully expecting to be too excited to fall asleep.
But the moment my head hit the hard pillow I was out like a rock; my mind filled with dreams of unfamiliar distant battlefields and offers of glory unending.
It came as no surprise that I woke up tired, covered in sweat, and with uncountable curses for the warp on my lips.
Immaterium: Other name for the Warp
Perils of the Warp: Unintended phenomena signifying a breaking in the veil between the material and immaterial, usually indicates a loss of control from the psyker causing them.
Caf: Proper quality coffee accessible to nobles.
Recaff: Chemical swill accessible to the guard.
The Throne: Most widely accepted imperial currency.
Astropath: Telepath tasked with interplanetary communication, critical to imperial infrastructure.
The Lex Imperialis: The Imperium's law code, comically overbloated and inefficient.
Enginseer: Mid rank adept of the Mechanicus, pretty common addition to IG regiments tasked with maintaining wargear, fortifications, or vehicles.
Promethium: Highly flammable fuel used by the majority of imperial vehicles and industry in general.
The Machine God: The deity worshipped by the Mechanicus, they consider the Emperor to be the Omnissiah, the Machine God's "earthly" representantive.EotS Chapter 9: Capture The Flag (Part 1: Welcome to the Jungle)
·
Sep 24
70
Previous chapter has seen an overall improvement. Nothing blatant but there are a good chunk more details here and there.
Customary big whoop for the local Brit menace.
Colonel Garett Fritz of the Mavian 32nd Foot
"Liutenant Bell. Report." He ground into the vox caster as the Chimera jostled along the path his forces scouted, making his carapace bite slightly into his chin and pinch his beard.
[We are bleeding troops for every kilometer, sir. The xenos know the terrain too well.] The woman answered with clear frustration in her voice. [They will not slow us for long.]
"Good." Garett grunted. "Once you reach their stronghold establish a foothold and hold position. Your troops will be rotated out of the main assault."
[Yes, sir. For the Emperor.]
'We are lucky bleeding us is all they are doing.' He thought bitterly. If the orks decided to fully assail his men in the open jungle his main attack column would be caught out of position.
They couldn't simply engage the enemy in the jungle, the area was too large, and they had nowhere near the number of guardsmen necessary for a full sweep.
And so, he sent out his blooded troops alongside the planetary auxilia to scout the paths ahead and clear out any pockets of xenos threatening the main advance prongs while preserving his main forces for the upcoming attack.
It was a solid plan, one supported by his entire staff.
It did not make hearing the constant reports of casualties lost to xenos perfidy any less infuriating.
"For the Emperor." Garett answered and cut the vox, handing the caster back to the operator. "Vickers, the flanks?"
"Pushing steadily, my lord." His fellow noble born reported readily. "Though reports indicate their losses are just as heavy."
'Damn it.' Garett cursed to himself. "And the Frumentari? Are they of any use?"
"They are… eager, my lord." Vickers told him cautiously. "They are used to fighting the enemy but their wargear is too primitive for a dedicated push."
"They will do their duty." The Colonel muttered. "Would that we could simply incinerate a path forward."
"The Enginseer has already informed us we lack the ordinance for that." The Commissar reminded him. "Even if he declared the stratagem an efficient one."
"I am aware, Commissar." Garett ground out, looking over the rest of his staff in the chimera and finding no useful input.
At least the witch was content with simply sitting quietly and with his eyes closed, he didn't need to stress about the warp spawn while he worked.
Even if he did prove himself, he admitted in the privacy of his mind.
"My lord!" Vickers called a moment later. "Report from Lieutenant Bell, sir. Her entire forward echelon has ceased all communication!"
"Damn it all." He felt like thrashing the damn vehicle. "Send the sentinels her way. I will not have her moving blindly. The orks must not be allowed to delay us."
"That will make our supply lines vulnerable." Marcus informed him.
"I do not care, Hett." Garett grits his teeth. "In fact, I want you to lead them there personally." Whatever the orks were doing would take far more to break his men if the Commissar was present.
Marcus saluted.
Satisfied, Garett addressed his Captain. "Tell Grant to dispatch extra escorts with the supply runners. And have her finish arming the bombers. Those incendiaries will be useless if they are too late."
As he listed his commands he caught movement in the corner of his vision, the psyker had opened one of his empty eyes and was looking directly at him, the request clear in his blank eyes.
He just grunts and waves him on. "Go."
The psyker stands up without a word, quickly followed by the Commissar.
Happy to be rid of them both even if temporarily, Garett grabbed the vox to contact the Enginseer.
They'd need a landing point when they reached the ork stronghold, and if the Mechanicus detachment just so happened to help defend a few supply runs on the way there then he'd just call it a happy coincidence.
Sargent Jaremy Hickins of the Mavian 32nd Foot
He hissed through his teeth as he felt another one of those irritating stinging leaves pass over his skin. "Damn jungle." He cursed. "He could have told us we'd be chasing the standard."
"Least we didn't get drunk." Brick shrugged, jostling the brand spanking new promethium tanks of his flamer with the movement. "Willson's squad got a nasty flogging I heard."
"Saw them get sent in the first wave with the Frumentians." Marian shook his head from nearby. "Poor frakkers."
"At least you managed to get us those extra frag grenades." Bilby piped in from behind them, prompting Jaremy to look back at him and find him still attentively scanning the treeline.
"Can't have a fresh Sargent be underequipped as well as understaffed he said." Stocke snickered mockingly, trying and failing to hide his unease.
Jaremy held back a huff at the reminder.
Lt. Bell just slapped the pips on his shoulder, tossed him Sarge's old chainsword and told him he was the replacement.
Still didn't feel right even if Sarge was half mad.
Stocke went on. "Where'd you even learn such big words, Marian?"
"Oi, I'll have you know-"
"Quiet!" Jaremy hissed as he heard a shuffling noise some ways in front of them. "Something's over that way."
All four of them immediately shut their gobs and formed up.
There should have been an entire mixed battalion pushing through the jungle before them, but their communications had been spotty at best for a while now, so Lieutenant Bell sent them to check things out and report back.
Emperor forbid they had one of the sentinels do it because apparently they had better things to do, and sending a few squads into the green hell on their own was cheaper.
Jaremy clicked his tongue.
The vanguard had probably fixed their communications by now and this was all one big waste of time.
The Mavian squad skulked up to the edge of a small clearing in the jungle, and Bilby made a few sniffs despite knowing he'd only smell more of the same wet and green as usual-
Except he smelled blood, and lots of it.
The source was obvious.
Hundreds of bodies, both greenskin and human were strewn about, the human ones looking completely broken by sheer brute force while the far fewer orks surrounding them were peppered with inaccurate lasgun and flintlock fire.
Jaremy could almost swear he saw the armored corpse of the Frumentari on top of the pile twitch, pulled by something but he quickly dismissed it in favor of looking at the orks.
They were the usual half naked beasts but something about their body paint was weird, scratching at his eyes. The blue paint he'd seen a day before seemed dark, far too dark. Almost… purple.
Something shifted in his vision again and another hiss left his mouth as his boys murmured between each other.
Jaremy squinted his eyes and his vision blurred, and the scene in front of him changed completely, revealing a large ork that seemed to blend into the canopy behind him almost perfectly.
Whatever sorcery the filthy alien was using was trying to escape his sight even now but his fixed stare seemed to stop it, even if he really wanted to look away.
The xeno was hefting the Frumentari solider by the neck while methodically removing his teeth with a massive grin on his face, and Jaremy could make out another seven of the creatures doing much the same to the corpses below, gathering teeth on strings like city slum savages.
"Ready grenades." He whispered harshly, drawing odd looks from his men. "Do it." He ordered.
Confused but trusting him they prepared their explosives while Jaremy pointed out the positions, and the longer they looked the more strained their expressions became until they finally saw as he did…
And then Stocke gasped. Loudly. "What in the Emperor's name?!"
"WOT?" The big ork immediately rounded on them, tossing the dead body away and lifting his axe-
"Throw damn you!" Jaremy snarled.
The orks were already charging them by the time they'd let fly, looking almost happy to see them with their wide grins and loud bellows, and only half were caught in the cascading grenade blast.
Jaremy alongside the rest of his lasgun armed men immediately began putting down fire on the charging xenos, bringing two of them down while only wounding the other pair.
The leader was laughing and roaring as he made straight for Jaremy and the freshly baked Sargent took his lasgun into his offhand and kept firing at the massive greenskin on full auto while fiddling for his chainsword.
He needn't have bothered because just as the beast was about to leap at him, a loud fwoosh of ignited gas hissed across the jungle, and a wave of searing heat washed over his face.
The big ork roared in pain as the promethium stuck to its flesh and Brick wasted no time in unloading even more flamer fuel on him until he was nothing but charred meat.
Jaremy moved to help the rest of his squad just in time to see Marian unload an entire power pack into the remaining ork while Stocke was repeatedly stabbing it in the arm with his bayonet, furiously screaming his lungs out until his arms started cramping from the violence.
The thoroughly dead xeno fell backwards, revealing a dead Bilby, his flak chest piece broken and rent, and his spine twisted unnaturally.
The noise died down and Brick rejoined them, looking the scene over and placing a hand on Jaremy's shoulder. "Come on Sarge, we need to go."
The deathly pale Stocke tried to say something but simply ended up uselessly opening and closing his mouth.
"Retrieve his power packs." Jaremy ordered quietly. "We move out in one minute."
Stocke hung his head low and Marian got to work, while he and Brick tried salvaging the forward echelon's vox, only to find it completely broken.
Seeing the machine had been destroyed deliberately after the ambush, Jaremy ordered a forced march back to the Lieutenant's position.
Just in time for the jungle behind them to start shaking.
Savant Militant Konstantin of Zamor
The sentinel blitzed through the Frumentari jungle at an almost blinding pace, blurring past massive trees and untamed wilderness with the certainty only psychic powers or a sufficiently advanced auspex system could provide.
I hung off the side of the open-topped chassis, giving the uncomfortable pilot enough space not to crash us while I slowly unlatched my mind once again, extending my witch sight and telekinetic senses.
Touching an entire stretch of jungle at once was beyond uncomfortable, but it provided an incredible amount of information, and by the time we reached the forward column I'd already mapped out the entire surrounding area in my mind.
And at least a hundred species of insects.
The guardsmen and auxiliaries cheered as the five sentinel walkers rushed up to their position in a small clearing and Marcus and I quickly dismounted, leaving the pilots to set up firing lines while we approached the Lieutenant.
The young woman was covered in jungle detritus and snapped a perfectly crisp salute at Marcus as we approached.
"Lieutenant." The Commissar nodded. "You appear to have stopped your advance."
There was no accusation in his tone, at least not yet.
"I've already reported my forward lines lost communications, Commissar." She answered in the Mavian drawl. "We are waiting for my scouts before we move forward."
The Commissar made no further judgement, simply crossing his arms behind his back and nodding.
"You have waited long enough it seems." I voiced a second later, just before the Lt. culd go on. "I sense one of your squads returning five hundred meters southwards. They are sprinting, being chased."
"Ready firing lines!" She barked at her troops who hopped to it before turning back to me. "How many are chasing them?"
My brows furrowed as I felt something shifting across my senses, it felt almost like footsteps but not quite, and yet something was clearly indentating the dirt.
A great many somethings.
I focused and pushed my senses harder, and the warp began its irritating whispering. It also revealed the orks, half naked and savage like the rest of them but much more agile in how they weaved between the trees.
"About five hundred." I said after a few seconds and everyone that heard me tensed, except for Marcus who merely nodded and prepared his weapons.
The familiar scout squad burst from the tree line and rushed over to us, pushing through the ranks and saluting the Lieutenant while staying on their feet by sheer force of will.
"Sargent Hickins reporting, ma'am." The NCO spoke forcefully through his haggard breaths. "Forward echelon has been destroyed to a man, xenos ambushers chasing after us-"
"They have stopped." I said softly, glaring at the tree line, seeing the orks uncharacteristically hesitant as they stalked from cover to cover and evaluated our defensive position.
"What? Why?" Jaremy asked, confused.
"That is quite uncharacteristic." Marcus agreed calmly. "Anything you can share about these xenos, Sargent?"
"Felt weird even looking at them, Commissar." He answered after a moment. "Like they were trying to escape my eyes but couldn't. Couldn't even see them at first. It was like sorcery."
"Anything else?" Marcus' eyes narrowed.
"They were uh…" Jaremy scratches the side of his head. "Painted purple, sir. If that helps?"
Marcus' lips thinned into a flat line. "It does."
"Pardon me." I cleared my throat, while still glaring at the orks. "May I have some grenades?"
"You ask that now?" Lt. Bell questions incredulously.
"A few dozen would do." I confirmed. "Oh, and prepare for a hard push."
She hesitated, looking less irritated by my presumption and more simply unsure of what I was getting at.
"I would advise listening, Lieutenant." Marcus says, sounding a bit unsure himself but willing to see what I had in mind.
A few seconds more pass as she tells her men to remove their frags and give them to me, but I quickly tell them merely holding them up would do.
They all look considerably more worried now.
The orks were still observing us while this was going on, but they didn't seem to notice too much of the commotion. Jungle adaptation or not they were too far to make out our details perfectly.
Which is why a subtle opening attack was perfect for the situation. A charge would simply make them retreat.
My mind began to vibrate as I latched onto each and every one of the sixty tree grenades and they slowly began to levitate into the air.
Slay them all sorcerer. Spill their blood for the blood-
'Fuck off.'
-
"Prepare to attack." I said, and as one the pins fell onto the wet jungle floor.
And the grenades were flung directly into the orkish lines, correcting their paths midflight and dispersing widely enough to cover most of the xenos.
There was a single quiet moment as they all landed, and I could almost hear the confused 'Wot?' from one of the orks that picked one up to look it over.
Then they all detonated, and the jungle was briefly lit up with explosions, and echoed with the screaming of xenos.
My eyes opened and I found myself standing surrounded by a small field of thoroughly rotten leaves and saplings.
"Well." I muttered with disgust as I stepped away, making sure to breathe through my mouth. "That's going to take some extra practice."
Then a sentinel blitzed past me, firing its multilaster into the confused orks at full blast while the infantry charged forward, leaving me behind with Jaremy's squad and Marcus.
"So gentlemen." I smiled at the terrified soldiers. "Enjoying the forest air?"
Most just stood there and stared at me while Stocke fell on his ass and began to cry.
I would take that as a no.
Glossary:
Chimera: Basic APC chassis used by the imperial guard, has light weaponry consisting of multi-laser turrets (Bigger las guns basically) in most cases but can be given heavier loadouts.
Flamer: Guess.
Sentinel: Light combat/scout walker widely used by the imperial guard.
Ork color beliefs: Orks believe certain colors give them corresponding powers/advantages like red making things go faster, or yellow making bigger booms. Relevant to this situation is blue which is lucky and purple which makes you sneaky.
The fact almost all orks believe this makes it have a tangible effect on reality.
Teef: Ork currency. Yes this means they use actual teeth, though I am unaware of the exact exchange rates as ork teeth tend to regrow quickly while others don't do that.
Do orks actually understand supply and demand? Iunno.