as the behemoth laid waste to everything before it.
Advancing through the press of soldiers and tanks, it dwarfed everything in its path. A multitowered
bastion the size of a walled stronghold sat atop its massive, armoured carapace shell. Siege
ordnance and battle cannons, of such size that a small tank could drive through the barrels, were
housed within this massive structure, and the pennants and banners that adorned it whipped around
in the gale. Scores of symbols were emblazoned on the ancient kill banners that hung from the pair
of monstrous main guns that the Imperator Titan wielded in place of arms, marking the enemy
Titans and super-heavy vehicles that it had destroyed throughout its long history. The air around the
giant war machine shimmered with the power of its void shields.
The siege cannons upon the hulking shoulders of the Imperator thumped as they launched their
first salvo, and the air was filled with screaming shells that erupted amongst the Word Bearers.
Warrior-brothers were thrown through the air and tanks smashed asunder beneath the barrage, but
that was as nothing compared to the awesome destruction that was to come. Super-heated plasma
fed into the annihilator cannon on the beast’s right arm, filling the air with potent hissing that hurt
the unprotected ears of the Guardsmen, and the massive barrels of the deadly hellstorm cannon
began to rotate, the wind beating fiercely as it picked up speed.
The hellstorm cannon let loose with a torrent of fire from the spinning barrels that tore along the
line of Word Bearers, cutting from one side of the valley to the other, ripping through warriors and
vehicles alike. The plasma annihilator cannon flared with the power of a contained sun and a gout of
white-hot energy roared from its barrel, engulfing a handful of tanks that were instantly returned to
their molten base elements.
The destruction that the Imperator wrought was awe inspiring, and a roar rose from the ranks of
Imperial Guardsmen as their god-machine unleashed the power of its weapon systems upon the
hated foe.
Marduk bared his sharp teeth, hissing up at the monstrous, unstoppable beast. Stabbing beams of
energy flashed from the mountainside as the lascannons of the havoc squads positioned there
targeted the Imperator. The powerful blasts looked like little more than pin-pricks of light as they
strobed towards the Titan. Scores of predator tanks, Land Raiders, Dreadnoughts and daemon
engines added their fire to that of the havoc squads as they directed their heavy weapons fire
towards the towering behemoth. Missiles, lascannon beams, heavy ordnance shells and streaming
plasma speared towards the Titan. Its void shields flashed as they absorbed the incoming firepower,
leaving the deadly machine unscathed, and it returned fire with dozens of battle cannons situated in
the leg bastions.
The ranks of the Imperial Guard renewed their attack, bolstered by the arrival of the Titan that
unleashed the power of its plasma Annihilator once more, firing up into the darkness and blasting
away a ridge top, causing salt rock, debris and daemon engines to crash down the sheer cliff in a
mass avalanche. Its hellstorm cannons smoked as they spun, tearing along the ridge. Rain turned to
steam as it lashed against the super-heated barrels of the mega-weapon. Barrages of ordnance
continued to pound at the void shields atop the carapace of the Titan, and they flashed with a myriad
of colours as they deflected the incoming fire.
Marduk swore again and fired into the press of bodies around him, feeling the shifting tide of the
battle turn against his Legion. There was just not enough firepower to take down the Imperator’s
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shields, let alone damage the Titan, not while they were already engaged with the Guard and Skitarii
forces.
But to fail in their duty to hold the valley was to face a fate far worse than death. If it was
necessary, every Word Bearers Space Marine would willingly give his life in this battle at his word.
Though it was Kol Badar’s place as Coryphaus and strategos to organise the complex, interwoven
battle lines, the carefully planned advance, fire support and overlapping fields of fire, it was
Marduk’s place, in the absence of the Dark Apostle, to be responsible for the Host’s spiritual
leadership. If he gave the order to stay and fight to the death, for that was what the gods of Chaos
wished, then his word would be obeyed without question. The warrior-brothers would sell their lives
dearly but willingly, taking as many of the enemy with them as they could, before their own life
essences were freed from their earthly forms.
But Marduk could not see how a noble sacrifice could be made against this ancient war god. No,
there could be no proud last stand. There would be only death and destruction, swift and ignoble.
They would not be able to buy the time that the Dark Apostle needed to complete the construction of
the Gehemehnet, and that was paramount. If the building work was interrupted then the whole attack
against the planet was rendered pointless, and the Council of Dark Apostles upon Sicarus would be
most displeased. That was truly something to be feared, for even in death, the Council would reach
into the abyss of the Immaterium and seek out the souls of those who had failed them. The endless
torment that they would orchestrate was too horrific to even contemplate.
He felt anger build within him and hacked around in a fury, shattering bones and slicing through
flesh as he fought in the rising water. Many of the enemy were wading almost to their stomachs
through the fast moving flow, and the corpses of the slain floated face down, their blood leaking out
like an oil slick. Another blast from the Imperator obliterated a section of the battlefield with the
power of its weaponry, and the whooshing sound of water instantly turning to steam was mixed with
the roars of the dying and the detonations of the fuel lines and ammo-banks of vehicles.
“We must pull back, First Acolyte.” Kol Badar growled over the vox.
“The great war leader Kol Badar, ordering a retreat from Imperial Guard,” remarked Marduk. “I
can hear them laughing at us already.”
“Let them laugh. They won’t have the chance to savour their victory for long.”
“For them to be able to savour any sort of victory against the Legion of Lorgar shames us all,”
snarled Marduk.
“You wish to die here, whelp? I will joyfully oblige you if that is what you truly desire. And
nobody will save you this time.”
Burias-Drak’shal cleaved his icon into the chest of a Guardsman, splattering blood across
Marduk’s helmet.
“The battle is good,” he growled, the thick daemon teeth within his shifting jaw making his
speech awkward. He was not privy to the private vox transmissions passing between Kol Badar and
Marduk. “Is this the day to give our lives to Chaos?”
Marduk shook his head at the possessed Icon Bearer and snapped a barbed response to Kol
Badar.
“The gods of Chaos would curse you if you dared try, warlord. Your failure mars us all.”
“And I will stand with my head held high before my lord and accept any punishment that he
metes out. I would not try to wheedle out of it like you, whelp.”
“You admit your failures then, mighty Kol Badar.”
“I listen not to your spineless taunts, snake. As the gods are my witness, I will see that damned
Imperator fall. I am still warlord of the Host, and you will do as I command.”
“I look forward to seeing you grovel and lick the ground at the Dark Apostle’s feet as you beg
for mercy,” snarled Marduk.
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“Never going to happen, snake,” said Kol Badar. The vox-channel clicked as it was opened to
the champions of the coteries.
“Fighting fall-back,” ordered the Coryphaus. “Front coteries detach, third and fourth lines lay
cover. Second and fifth lines, intersect with the first, overlap and close out. Third and fourth, then
detach. And pull back those damned Dreadnoughts and daemon engines.”
Burias-Drak’shal snarled in frustration, ripping a man in two as he enacted his dissatisfaction.
“We flee from these?” he said as he broke the back of another soldier.
“No,” said Marduk. “We flee from that.”
“Bah! We have taken down Titans before. The Coryphaus is weak.”
“Eyeing his position already, Burias-Drak’shal?”
The possessed warrior grinned ferally before he allowed the daemon within him to reassert
itself, and he was transformed beyond being able to communicate. With a roar of animal power, he
launched himself back into the fray.
Marduk felt shame and resentment build within him. It was not the way of the Legion to back
off from a battle against the soldiers of the Corpse Emperor, though he knew that Kol Badar’s orders
were the best path of action for the Host.
Still, it would be a pleasure to see the arrogant bastard taken down a peg when the Dark Apostle
received word of the setback.
The Word Bearers’ retreat was perfectly executed as the lines of coteries fell back in textbook order,
laying down fields of overlapping fire to cover those that backed away. Those coteries in turn then
planted their feet and covered their brethren. Fallen warriors were dragged back, for to leave them
upon the field of battle would have been a gross sacrilege, and in addition, the war gear and geneseed
of the Legion were far too precious to abandon. Vehicles rolled slowly backwards, firing their
weapon systems towards the Titan.
Most of the daemon engines and Dreadnoughts were dragged out of the fighting by massive
chains hooked to heavy, tracked machinery, though they fought and struggled to rejoin the fray.
Several of them turned against their minders, killing dozens of the black-robed humans that strained
to rein them in, and tipping over several of the heavy vehicles hauling them backwards. Others
ripped free of their restraints and launched at the foe, ripping, tearing and roaring, flames and
missiles streaming from their weapons before they were inevitably silenced by the guns of the
Imperator.
Kol Badar felt the shame tear at him, but he could not allow the Host to be destroyed. The losses
had been high, however, and this day would long be lamented.
He had of course made preparations for a fall-back if it was needed, it was just part of the canon
of engagement to be ready for any eventuality, but to order a retreat was not something that he had
been forced to do for millennia.
With withering, concentrated fire, the Word Bearers drove the enemy back. The Legion slowly
retreated, their bolters creating a swathe of death.
Ground-hugging, eight-legged machines skittered forward from the Chaos Space Marine lines.
They were smaller than the towering defilers, and operated by beings that had once been lowly
humans. Now they were forever linked to the machines through mechanical hard-wiring and black
sorcery, the corrupted flesh of their bodies contained within domed, liquid-filled, blister-like eyes at
the front of the constructions.
The bloated abdomens of the machines pulsed as circular mines were excreted from their rears,
jabbed downwards through the water and into the earth. They scuttled forward, their oversized
bellies shrinking as they laid their deadly cargos just beneath the crust of the hard packed salt rock,
placing thousands of the mines across the entire breadth of the valley.
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Other, longer legged constructions strode through the deepening water, like perverted, multilimbed
water fowl. They liberally spewed a thick, glutinous, oily liquid across the top of the water
flows, spurting it out past the Word Bearers that backed away, out into the no man’s land between
the two forces.
The Imperials’ fire destroyed dozens of the twisted creatures, and entire sections of the valley
were still exploding beneath the horrendous force of the Imperator’s weaponry, but they were
disposable and Kol Badar did not care that they were destroyed. They were performing their allotted
tasks and their destruction was of no consequence.
The Titan took another massive step forwards, the huge, multi-tiered metal foot slamming down
with thundering force, firing its weapon systems at the retreating Word Bearers. Battle cannons atop
the Titan’s carapace turned, tracking the Thunderhawks and Stormbirds as they screamed through
the storm, veering out towards the ridge-tops.
The words of the First Acolyte rang in his head and his anger grew. Such a victory for the
Imperials should never have come to pass and he felt frustration weigh heavily upon his massive
shoulders. He had wanted more time to scout out the enemy, to assess its strength and composition,
but the Dark Apostle’s wishes had been clear, and time had been a critical factor. To properly
evaluate the enemy would have meant facing the foe deeper in the mountains, and he had felt that
such a strategy would not have been to the Dark Apostle’s liking.
“You are too cautious, my Coryphaus.” Jarulek would have said. He had insinuated it before.
His caution would have spared the lives of many warrior-brothers this day, however, for the
arrival of the Titan had been an unexpected shock. And now, he was forced to fight a retreat.
Still, he would damn well ensure that the enemy took as many casualties as possible during the
Host’s withdrawal.
As flames and shrapnel fell upon the thick, oily soup spewed forth by the twisted, long-legged
walkers, the valley erupted into tall flames. Burning fiercely, they roared across the entire width of
the valley, engulfing dozens of the walkers. They squealed horribly as they perished, legs kicking in
agony as flames licked at them. The burning liquid gruel had covered hundreds of mindless Skitarii
as they had continued their relentless advance after the retreating Chaos Space Marines, and the
flames dissolved their flesh as they marched. Pieces of machinery, having lost the flesh that bound
them together, slipped beneath the streaming waters, though they continued to burn, even beneath
the surface.
The first tanks reached the mines secreted beneath the salt rock and were thrown into the air as
the powerful weapons detonated. Having seen their power, the Imperials would be loathe to
continue their advance until minesweepers had been brought forward to clear a path, and the
princeps of the Imperator Titan would have no wish to risk his colossal war machine.
He had bought the Legion time, but it was time that he would have to use carefully, to plan and
