have discovered this cave system in the limited time that he had to prepare the ambush. One of the
cultists had brought it to the attention of the Chaos Marines, one of the wretched dogs that doted on
the First Acolyte.
Branching off the sheer-faced chasm, the entrance to the cave system was hidden from view, and
unless someone knew of its location it would be nigh on impossible to discover. Still, the flames of
the enemy’s weaponry had found the entrance, even if their bearers had not, and his armoured suit
was blackened from the blasts of blazing promethium.
The demolitions that had followed had completely caved in the chasm as the seismic charges
shook down rock from above. No exit from the cavern could be accessed by a warrior in Terminator
armour. But if the enemy became complacent because they believed their flanks were secure, then
all the better.
There was another booming sound and the ground shook. Though the area was most likely not
being scanned, it would be too much of a risk to chance vox communication. The First Acolyte
whelp should be moving the cultists forwards. If he mistimed the advance, the Anointed would be
left terribly exposed to the guns of the cursed enemy. He ground his teeth. Were the whelp to fail in
his duty, he and his brethren would almost certainly be annihilated. Not even the upstart Marduk
would knowingly leave the Anointed to perish, though he was certain the thought had crossed the
bastard’s mind.
Still, this was the only chance the Legion had of destroying the Imperator class Titan without the
loss of hundreds of warrior-brothers. It was a risky venture, but Kol Badar found a glimmer of
excitement at the prospect. He had thought that such battle hunger was long lost to him, faded over
the great expanse of time he had been fighting for the glory of Lorgar. He welcomed the feeling like
a long-lost comrade.
Dozens of sharp, red lights began to flash against the cavern wall as the ground once again
rumbled beneath him. The shifting of rock caused another avalanche of stone and dust to fall, and
Kol Badar smirked as he realised that there was every chance that the whole cavern might cave in at
any moment, trapping him and his warriors beneath thousands of tonnes of mountain. That would be
an inglorious death indeed, and he could just imagine the derision that would be heaped upon him
by the bastard Marduk if such a fate was his destiny.
There was yet another crashing impact nearby. He estimated its distance. It was difficult to
determine, but he judged that after two more impacts, it would be time to detonate the impact
charges.
The red lights of the charges blinked rhythmically in the darkness. They were designed to
explode outwards in one direction only, and he had organised their placement carefully. An expert
in siege demolitions, he had spent several hours studying the fault lines and angled layers of the rock
face so that the powerful explosives would have the desired effect. Just one misplaced charge would
bring the mountainside down upon them, and he would allow his fate to be determined by none but
himself.
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With his savage anticipation building, Kol Badar listened for the heavy impacts that would
signal the launch of the ambush.
The command Chimera rambled forward slowly in the shadow of the Exemplis. No matter how
many Titans Brigadier-General Havorn had seen, he was still awed by the sheer scale of them, and
this, an Imperator class no less, was amongst the largest Titans ever constructed. From his position
in the cupola of his Chimera, he had a good view of the massive war machine as it strode forward.
He could understand why the twisted adepts of the Mechanicus worshipped it as an avatar of their
god, for it was a powerful, primal thing of epic proportions.
From behind, he could see many of the oiled workings of the god-machine, as its rear was not as
well armoured as its front. Pistons the size of buildings rose and fell as the behemoth lifted its huge,
bastion legs, and eddies of super-heated smoke and steam blasted from the exhausts in its back.
Higher still, pennants were whipped by the bustling breeze atop the arched architecture of the
fortress that the Titan bore upon its massive shoulders. Battle cannons and siege ordnance was
housed there, along with temple shrines to the Machine-God and mausoleums that held the remains
of past princeps.
The narrowness of the ravine made him tense and uneasy. It was more like a chasm than a
valley, the sides sheer and close. They seemed to loom in threateningly, and if the enemy moved
onto those ridges, they would be able to rain fire down upon the convoy with impunity. Still,
Laron’s 72nd held those regions and were pushing forwards along the ridge tops ranging out ahead.
The point of the Mechanicus forces was moving forward slowly through the ravine and it seemed
that the enemy were content to wait for them up ahead. Still, he half expected something to happen,
some ploy to be launched, and he had learnt long ago to trust his instincts.
“Rachius,” he called down into the Chimera, “run another sweep.”
“In progress, sir,” said his communications officer.
The Chimera was outfitted with an array of sensors and powerful vox-units to allow the
brigadier-general’s commands to be conveyed to his captains, and tall aerials and dishes rose from
the rear of the APC.
“I’m picking up faint radiation from the cliff face, sir. The exact position is unclear.”
“Damn it!” he said. He felt his tension rise. This was the critical moment. The diminishing width
of the pass had forced the Imperial regiments to spread out in a long, unwieldy convoy. If an attack
was launched it would be difficult to bring up support and the rest of the regiments behind would
grind to a standstill.
“From the cliff face you say? The demolition teams didn’t leave any chasms clear, did they
Rachius?”
“No, sir. My reports say that all were collapsed. Could just be geothermals.”
“Try to pinpoint the location. And order the Chimeras to close formation. Tell the commanders
to be ready for action.”
The hyper-efficient officer swiftly carried out his orders. Donal Rachius was a fastidious man,
utterly fixated on his appearance. A crease in his uniform upset him, and he was exact and precise in
everything he did. Havorn tolerated his eccentricities because the man was exceptional and his
perfectionism, though irritating on a personal level, made him ideal for his role.
The Chimeras behind his command tank revved their engines and advanced, drawing level with
his own. There was not room in the ravine for even twenty of the vehicles to advance alongside one
another. Still, they kept a wary distance from the Titan. One descending foot of that monster would
easily crush a tank flat.
When the attack came, it was almost a relief. But it came at the front of the armoured column,
the strongest point in the Imperial line.
He heard scattered bombardments up ahead and saw the column slow.
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Instantly, Havorn dropped his lanky frame down through the cupola, swinging his legs around
beneath him as the powered semi-lift lowered into the Chimera proper. It was cramped with
communications equipment, a small team of officers and a very large ogryn hunched in a specially
constructed bucket seat, his head stooped but still pressed against the roof.
“Report,” he ordered.
“The techno-magos informs us that his Skitarii units have engaged the foe.”
“What, the enemy has advanced to meet us?”
“It would seem so, sir. They have rounded the bend here,” said Rachius, pointing to a data-slate
with a simplified overhead map that glimmered with points of light that indicated troop formations.
“But that makes no sense. They will be butchered without the support of their bigger guns,
which are all positioned back here, are they not?” replied Havorn, pointing along the ridge tops
some kilometres around the bend in the ravine.
“They are. We have received no intelligence to indicate otherwise.”
“They want us to engage, halting the column.”
“The Mechanicus have already halted, sir. The Exemplis is readying its weaponry.”
“Tell the magos to advance. Tell him his god-machine is in danger,” said Havorn as he climbed
once again into the cupola to survey the situation.
He raised the hatch of the Chimera to see the Titan’s legs planted firmly, and support pinions
locking into place as it readied its weapons. The air was charged with power as its plasma reactors
burned hot, making ready to unleash a fusillade of destruction. He lifted a pair of long-range crysscopes
to his eyes, scanning along the cliff walls ahead. There was nothing there, no entrance from
which a hidden force could emerge.
“We have enemy movement, sir! They are pushing forward along the ridges! And more of the
enemy are moving along the ravine at pace! They are moving for a full attack!”
What the hell are they doing? thought Havorn. They will be slaughtered in their droves by the
massive guns of the Exemplis. Still, this new development gave him no comfort and his unease rose.
“Forward!” roared Marduk. “The eyes of the gods are upon you and their judgement awaits. Prove
your worth before them, and take your hatred to the infidel corpse worshippers!”
The cultists advanced before his fiery oratory, but Marduk despised them, every one of them.
The gods were watching, it was true, and they would laugh as these wretches were led to the
slaughter to accomplish the goal of the true favoured ones, the Word Bearers.
“Onward, warriors of the true gods! Glory and ascension awaits you! Fear not the guns of the
enemy. Embrace destruction, for with your deaths the aims of the gods are accomplished. Give up
your mortal bodies unto Chaos, and your souls will soar in the realms of the deities this night!”
Five thousand cult warriors advanced into the tight ravine, towards the waiting guns of the
looming Titan in the distance. They screamed their devotion as they marched forward.
Leaving a considerable gap behind the Cultists of the Word, Marduk ordered the remainder of
the Host forward, giving up on any further pretence that they were going to wait for the enemy to
come to them.
He saw the Imperator Titan plant its feet as the cultists drew within range of its weaponry, just
as Kol Badar had predicted. Now was the time for the Coryphaus to act. His gambit needed to work,
else the entire Host would be at the mercy of the Titan’s guns.
“I still think we should have held back,” snarled Burias. “Let that bastard Kol Badar face the
enemy alone and blast him back to hell.”
“Burias,” laughed Marduk, “your choler is in the ascendant. You speak these words because you
believe they are what I wish to hear?”
“A statement of my feelings, First Acolyte, nothing more. The bastard ordered a retreat against
the foe. He deserves death.”
90
“Maybe, my Icon Bearer, but you would have us abandon the Anointed?”
“The Anointed are Kol Badar’s pets. They worship him with nearly as much fervour as they
worship the Dark Apostle.”
“And you are bitter at having not been indoctrinated into the cult,” said Marduk. The Icon
Bearer made no reaction, save a slight tension in the muscles of his neck, which Marduk observed.
He laughed.
“You are an ambitious, black-hearted one, aren’t you, dear Burias. And you hold some
resentment towards me, is it not true?”
“First Acolyte?” asked Burias in a slightly hurt tone. “I am your devoted warrior, always.”
“But you blame me for your not having been embraced into the cult of the Anointed. You think
it is a subtle insult directed at me from Kol Badar, an insult that you must pay the price for because
of our comradeship.”
“The thought… had crossed my mind, First Acolyte.”
“It pleases me that you can at times be honest, Burias,” said Marduk lightly. Before the Icon
Bearer could respond, he continued, “Is it the lure of Slaanesh, your endless desire to raise yourself,
to better yourself?”
“It is not perfection I seek, First Acolyte, as you know. I don’t need perfection to attain that
which I desire.”
“No, you just need to be on the good side of one who would become a Dark Apostle. Do not
become complacent, dear Burias. When the time comes for me to take on the mantle of that position,
I will choose only the most suitable warrior to become my Coryphaus.”
“My suitability is in doubt?” questioned Burias, trying to keep his pristine, handsome, pale face
devoid of emotion, but Marduk saw a flash of Drak’shal’s fury in his eyes.
“No, Burias, but nothing beneath the gaze of the gods is certain. Do not allow your hubris to one
day shame you.”
“Nothing will bring shame upon me, just as I will never bring shame upon the blessed Legion of
Lorgar,” said Burias severely.
Marduk smiled and placed his hand upon the Icon Bearer’s shoulder.
“I believe you may be right, Burias, old friend. You said the same words on Calth while we
battled the cursed warriors of Guilliman.”
“And you said that one day you would lead one of the grand companies, with me at your side,”
said Burias.
“That is true.”
“If this… trick of Kol Badar’s goes badly, then there will be too few warriors within the Host to
justify splitting it, as the council on Sicarus ordered, especially after the casualties we suffered
against the Titan. There will be little need for a second Dark Apostle.”
“That thought had crossed my mind,” snarled Marduk, his mood darkening. “Regardless, one
way or another, I will become a Dark Apostle.”
“Always I have fought at your side, First Acolyte, long before I called you such. And I will fight
there, always, whatever may come.”
Marduk placed a hand upon Burias’s shoulder.
“I would expect nothing less of you, my friend. Now, order the last of the Host to advance. We
fight them here, and pray to the gods that Kol Badar succeeds, else we will all be slaughtered and
seeing them sooner than expected.”
“What if it is the will of the gods for us to die here, First Acolyte?”
“Then it is their will, but that is not what I have foreseen. The twisting paths of the future are
never set, but of the thousands of coiling threads that I have followed in my dream visions, we were
slaughtered here in less than half of them.”
“That is of… great comfort, First Acolyte,” said Burias dryly.
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Marduk laughed again, his black mood evaporating in the blink of an eye.
