The footfalls of the Titan shook the ground. Buildings collapsed under it, men and vehicles bobbed and jerked as it strode past. Grey and dark as the world it was on, the Titan wrought destruction and death upon the rebels on Alpha Phi Testla. A Warlord-Class Titan, Bello Uirum was designed to wreak immense havoc upon the enemies of man, and doing so leaving an everlasting mark on the earth and soul. Legio Dracones Ignem led the advance on the nearly obliterated city of Stravis. Millions of guardsmen serried behind the vanguard of Titans; supported by hundreds of tanks and other support units. The cacophony of war bellowed from the Titan vanguard. Hissing of war-cries voxed out to instill fear in the enemy and to motivate the warriors of the Imperium. Hundreds of missiles bulleted by, their smoke trails hung still in the dense smoke filled landscape. In the distance flashes of orange and red lit up the command center, throwing shape shifting shadows around. ‘Keep her steady, steersman Galer’ said Princeps Haulzer.
‘Aye, Aye Princeps’ he replied, while turning knobs and flicking switches. The room shuddered as the Titan made its way through the burning city. With each footfall buildings were crushed to dust while the unfortunate that were seeking refuge from this war were flattened: like mere worthless bugs. Princeps Haulzer sat on his command throne, with two steersman on his left and right and a tech-priest to the rear. In front of him were two of his Moderati. Their faces alight by the stations they sat at. ‘Sir, left and right Turbo-Laser Destructors are charged and ready to fire. Your orders?’ asked Moderati Geers.
Princeps Haulzer looked into his mind, reviewing every piece of information being sent to him through the MIU. ‘Fire at coordinates six-three-eight. It seems the 47th Gregorian Dragoons are facing tough resistance. Let’s help them out, shall we?’
‘Aye, aye.’
‘In three… two… one.’
The Titan shook as the blast from these weapons shrieked and blazed out towards their targets. The sky flashed a hellish-light as smoke billowed from the devastated target. ‘Good hit, Moderati. I’ve taught you well. Tech-Priest how’s the energy core?’ said Princeps Haulzer with a smile. Clicks and static hissed behind him and a mechanical voice came through ‘It’s holding. But we can’t fire Volcano Cannon. There’s a ninety-eight percent chance it will overload; killing us all and destroying this piece of irreplaceable work of art of The Machine-God.’
Hours before the total extermination of the city, Legio Dracones Ignem and the Guard units tasked with this fight took a beating at Green Fields. Losing two precious Titans and a quarter of million men, Green Fields was now a conflagration of the past. Bello Uirum took severe damage by a civilian plane loaded with thermonuclear warhead tipped with a melta charge. The void shields barely held it.
‘Damn!’ Haulzer said with anger. The Tech-Priest nodded and went on with his work. Haulzer was in agony, that battle took a heavy toll on him. The pain; the excruciating pain was like a molten knife piercing the cold flesh of a mere mortal. But he knew that he had to keep going. The Collegia Titanica taught him to fight on and keep going, no matter the cost to himself. The frontal and dorsal batteries pattered away at suicidal aircraft. Streaks of crimson and the traceries of autocannon fire scratched the smoke and flak filled skies. Wreckage fell from the sky like burning meteors, exploding on impact with fervor of extermination. Void shields absorbed the ones that came through the heavy barrage of defenses, but barely. Mushroom clouds covered the fizzling and bubbling shields. ‘Damn them. Damn these cowards. Moderati, let’s bathe these traitors in the fiery sea of our Inferno Cannon’ he said with a smirk. The Moderati nodded and managed the switched at his console. ‘Promethium levels rising – any second now we will be able to fire’
‘Good. Fire when ready.’
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