Part 2 (1/2)
a”Point,a” Thade conceded, a”but you know where the orders came from. These people were Imperial citizens, Corrun. Pilgrims. Priests.a”
a”I heard the stories, Cap. They were faithless. a'Only the faithless will fall to this plaguea', isna't that what wea've been told a thousand times?a”
Thade dropped it. He didna't want to dredge this up again because he found it hard to argue with his driver tonight. He believed as Corrun did. The faithless had fallen. They deserved this fate. To h.e.l.l with a mandate for a”clean kills at all timesa” and a”preserving the plague-slain to be redeemed in consecrated incinerationa”.
But Kathur Reclamation protocol stressed respect for the victims of the Curse of Unbelief. The lord general was keen to foster political allies within the Ecclesiarchy by retaking this world as cleanly and carefully as possible. The emphasis on respecting the tainted dead was just one more petty protocol in a long list that Thade hated to think about since hea'd made planetfall. Destroying the dead wasna't enough. They had to be put down with grace, gathered by Guardsmen with a hundred better things to do, and ritually burned in the reactivated funerary cremation facilities.
By the Emperora's grace, the 88th hadna't been selected for gathering duties yet. Killing those that refused to die was bad enough.
a”Drive,a” Thade said. a”And dona't argue. Besides, if Enginseer Osiron finds out youa're using my command Chimera to ram gangs of plague victims clogging the road, hea'll have your head. Ita's an insult to the machine-spirit.a”
Corrun, grinning like hea'd won a montha's wages, wrenched the steering wheel to the left. Another three souls in the ruined rags of Kathurite pilgrims met their final end under the churning tracks of the racing troop transport. There was a brief wrenching of gears as something a- some part of one of the plague victims a- got caught up in the APCa's moving parts.
Thade closed his eyes for a moment. a”I never want to hear that again.a”
a”It was a purr!a”
a”Youa're good, Corrun. But youa're not irreplaceable. It would grieve me to see you shot for disrespect. Play safe this time. By the book, and no hacking off the machine-spirit.a”
a”Not at all.a” The driver licked his lips. a”The old girl likes it rough.a”
a”When I say a'ramming speeda', then you get to play your game.a”
a”Understood, sir.a”
Thadea's vox-bead pulsed in his ear. The captain tapped the earpiece, activating the fingernail-sized receiver strapped to his throat. As he spoke, it picked up the vibrations from his larynx and filtered out background noise.
a”Captain Thade, Cadian 88th.a”
a”Count the Seven,a” someone hissed. Even through the vox distortion, the voice was wet and burbling. a”Count the Seven.a”
Thade cut the link.
a”New orders?a” asked Corrun.
a”Just vox-ghosts.a” Thade turned to the ten soldiers in the back. Each one watched him a- quiet, attentive, at the ready. a”Janden,a” he nodded to his vox-operator. a”Change command frequency and share the new wavelength with the other squads. The current one is compromised.a”
He saw the question in Jandena's eyes but gave no answer. The vox-officer leaned down to where his bulky backpack was secured by his seat, and made the necessary adjustments to his communication gear.
a”Done, sir.a”
Thade gripped the handrail running the length of the ceiling, supporting himself against the shakes. a”Get me Dead Mana's Hand. Patch Vertain through to my ear-piece.a”
a”Youa're live.a”
a”Vertain, this is the captain. Acknowledge.a” Thade listened to the reply, and narrowed his eyes. a”Thirty seconds, Vertain. Thata's all.a”
He switched to the command channel. a”88th, at the ready! Disembark in thirty seconds! The plaza ahead is flooded with plague-slain and Dead Mana's Hand needs extraction. We go in, we kill anything not wearing our colours, and we move on to the monastery. Corrun a”
a”Sir?a” He was already grinning again.
a”Ramming speed.a”
The autocannon roared.
a”Fall back!a” Vertain cried, wrenching his control sticks. His walker reversed, the backwards-jointed legs protesting with a hiss of angry pistons. Solid rounds pinged and clanged from the poda's sloped armour, while the Sentinela's underslung cannon replied in a percussive burst of thunderclap after thunderclap.
The plaza had erupted in gunfire a few minutes before. An expanse of concrete inlaid with a mosaic of the saint formed a courtyard between several towering temples. The squadron had been scouting here when the first sniper shots rang out. Within a minute, plague-slain were shambling from the temples, led by cultists wearing ragged remains of Kathurite PDF uniforms. They came in a tide, immediately broken in places as the Sentinels opened up with their autocannons, drowning out the grunts and wails of the dead.
a”We are not dying here,a” Vertain spoke into his vox-link. a”Break formation and fall back.a” He never heard an acknowledgement from the others. He could barely hear his own voice over the carnage unfolding around his walker.
The squadron wasna't going to win a straight-up fight, and they all knew it. They were scouts, and the Sentinels were armed for taking shots at armoured infantry and light tanks. The high-calibre rounds from the walkersa' autocannons were tearing holes in the crowds of plague-slain, but they were next to useless against such a horde.
Greera's walker staggered, almost thrown from balance as its stabilisers strained to deal with striding over piles of moving corpses. In a move worthy of a medal, Vertain saw the other pilot condense his leg pistons, lowering his c.o.c.kpit pod for a moment, then spring upwards to clear the mound of writhing dead hea'd been standing atop. Greer landed with a thudding clank that shook the ground, turning as he walked backwards and opening fire on the plague-slain again. A swarm of corpses dressed as monks flew apart in a grey-red cloud as three auto-cannon rounds. .h.i.t home.
a”That was beautiful,a” said Vertain through clenched teeth as he kept laying down fire.
a”I look forward to my promotion,a” crackled Greer.
Vertain joined his fire arc to Greera's, and felt his Sentinela's gait start to drag. He was limping now, limping badly.
a”Youa've got three of them on your right leg, sir,a” Greer crackled. a”Kick them free.a”
Vertain tried. His Sentinel replied by lurching violently to the right with a screech of protesting stabilisers. Alarms flashed across his console as his leg pistons vented air pressure.
a”Theya've ruined my stabilisers. Ia'm not kicking anything for a while.a” As he spoke, Vertaina's c.o.c.kpit tilted again. His helmeted head smacked against the side of his pod, the pain painting his vision in a palette of greys.
The dead were climbing his walker now. He heard their fists beating on the armour plating on his c.o.c.kpit. They might even drag him down if enough of them could scramble up.
His vox sparked live with a burst of static. a”Vertain, this is the captain.a” Emperora's blood, Thadea's voice was clear. He sounded close. a”Acknowledge.a”
With sick on his breath and half-blind through a concussion, Vertain reported the situation, ending with the four words Captain Thade had been praying not to hear.
a”Dead Mana's Hand: Broken.a”
a”Thirty seconds, Vertain. Thata's all.a”
It turned out to be just under twenty seconds.
The Chimeras tore into the plaza, a rolling thunderhead that slammed into the horde of wailing dead. Black as a panther, the command Chimera pounded into the first group, grinding them into b.l.o.o.d.y gobbets. It swerved to a halt, cutting down the plague-slain nearby with angry beams of light from its multilaser turret. The irritated whine of high-energy las-fire shrilled above the moans and crunches of combat.
The other Chimeras, their hulls a gun-metal grey, followed in the wake of destruction. Dozer blades bolted to the front of the troop transports a- specifically banned from ungentle use in clearing roads of corpses - now hammered the plague-slain to the ground to be crushed under heavy treads.
The drivers spread out to form a protective ring around the embattled walkers, turret fire slicing through the bodies of anyone approaching the tanks. In a chorus of clangs, thirty rear ramps slammed down onto the mosaic ground, and the 88th spilled from their transports: guns up and firing red flashes. Thade was first out of his Chimera, chainsword raised and howling.
a”Secure the walkers! For the Emperor!a”
The captaina's first foe wasna't dead. A PDF traitor ran at him, slowed by the disease ravaging his body. In his fist was a broken bayonet. Thadea's chainsword sang in a savage backhand swing, and the traitora's head left his shoulders.
a”First blood to Cadia!a” someone shouted to his left.