The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Standard Terra Calendar 991.M41, Segmentum Ultima, Orus Sector, Proctos System, Proctos Prime, Urania Continent.

This marks the thirtieth year since the Forge World Ryza, one of the Imperium’s most renowned, suffered the largest recorded Ork WAAAGH! invasion. Ryza's jurisdiction encompassed over a dozen star systems. To address the threat posed by the Ork warlords, the Departmento Munitorum ordered the mustering of the Astra Militarum from all planets within ten light-years of the Forge World. These included forces from Barrak, Dumahlin, and Catachan. To meet the additional tithe requirements, Dumahlin even conscripted nearly four-fifths of its eligible population into the Astra Militarum.

However, this particular Ork force was exceptionally aggressive. Instead of being repelled by the Imperial forces, they advanced further into Ryza's territory, growing in number.

Despite the constant arrival of reinforcements, the armed forces of the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus continued to suffer setbacks. The ever-expanding war zone became an endless meat grinder, with bloody conflicts consuming planet after planet. The Orks steadily conquered Imperial worlds, and after launching combat moons and engaging in a series of battles, they seized the frozen world of Fibelia and its strategically vital promethium mines, dealing a significant blow to Ryza's industrial capacity.

Besides Fibelia, there was Proctos Prime, Ryza's most important subsidiary industrial world. After eight years of fierce fighting, it too fell. Critical factories were occupied, and billions of humans were enslaved by the Orks to produce weapons. Only the newly arrived Catachan Jungle Fighters managed to secure the Urania Continent, the planet's only landmass, which remained under Imperial control. By this point, the entire system was occupied and blockaded by the Orks.

The weapons produced on Proctos further fueled the Orks' ongoing war effort. Many new warbands were drawn to Warlord Gorogax's banner and the escalating conflict, particularly by the abundance of weaponry. This increased the pressure on Ryza's defenses.

Under these circumstances, liberating or destroying the massive industrial complex on Proctos Prime became a critical mission. However, the Adeptus Mechanicus was not well-suited for such tasks, and the remaining forces of the Adeptus Ministorum on Proctos Prime were limited. The Catachan regiments could only serve to contain the Orks.

Therefore, the task fell to those most capable: the Space Marines, or more precisely, the Space Knights Chapter who had come to Ryza's aid.

WAAAAGH!

WAAAAGH!

We're gonna walk!

We're gonna walk!

We're gonna walk everywhere!

Where are we!

Dunno!

Let's fight then we'll figure it out!

The Waaagh! warcry, erupting from the throats of hundreds, if not thousands, of Orks, turned the surrounding air into a shimmering green haze. 'Bad Eye' Radakkla hammered his wrench and iron pliers together, roaring alongside his Boyz as they charged through the shattered metal gate of the breached fortress.

However, amidst the smoke and dust of the explosions, rows of Skitarii in orange robes slowly raised their taser goads, pointing them like guns at the Boyz.

The Boyz used to mock these orange-robed gits for fighting with sticks. No Boy would ever use a stick as a shoota...

But no Boy dared to say that now.

In an instant, hundreds of taser goads spat bursts of fire, and arcs of electricity surged towards them.

"What the—-"

Radakkla felt a Squig leap across his mind, as he desperately threw himself to one side, but suddenly a bullet struck the ground in front of him, kicking up a cloud of smoke.

"Oi! Crap crap crap crap————"

Before he could even complain, another bullet hit his right shoulder plate. A nearby Boy wasn't so lucky, taking a shot squarely in the butt, which promptly exploded.

Radakkla, enraged, raised his shoota and squeezed the trigger.

A powerful explosion rocked the world.

The ground trembled beneath their feet, and the air filled with a deafening roar. It felt like someone had detonated a stick of dynamite right next to his ear. For a moment, Radakkla thought his shoota had been blessed by Gork and Mork to unleash such impressive firepower, but a gust of wind from behind quickly dispelled his wild thoughts.

At first, it was just choking smoke, but then metal fragments mixed in, slicing through his skin. Radakkla realized that it was the Mekboy's Morkanaut that had arrived.

The massive machine smashed through the Skitarii line, raising its big shoota triumphantly.

But its glory lasted less than three seconds.

With a blinding flash, a Skitarii missile struck the Morkanaut, and a massive explosion tore a gaping hole in its chest. Its arms were wrecked, leaving only shattered metal fingers pointing towards the sky, and blue-white smoke billowed from its sparking head.

But at least it had accomplished its mission.

"WAAAAAGH!"

Seeing the orange robes' formation scattered by the explosion, the Ork boss immediately roared and charged forward, swinging his chainaxe and sending a Skitarius flying. The Skitarius crashed into two of his comrades, and the furious Ork boss gleefully snapped the limbs of the Skitarii, turning their damned taser goads and shields into scrap metal.

Another Skitarius tried to sneak an attack, but the alert Nob raised his shoota and blasted him, instantly engulfing the Skitarius in flames as he howled in agony, before collapsing on the ground in convulsions.

"Boyz! Follow me!"

Even the well-ordered ranks of the red-robed Skitarii couldn't withstand the invaders' advance. The Orks surged past the arc rifle and plasma rifle fire, turning the battlefield into a chaotic flood of green skin.

The Ministorum's battle line was breached, but they did not panic. The defenders on the high walls reacted swiftly, sending bolts of deadly lightning into the green tide, turning them into sizzling, smoking charcoals.

No one is wrong, no one is the first, no one is inside, no one is content, no one is looking!

"Oi!"

The boss turned and yelled at the horde:

"Get up on the walls! Kill those red-robed gits snipin' at us!"

Less than a dozen steps from the city gate, a turret unleashed a blast of crackling plasma into the green tide below, obliterating a cluster of Boyz. Their remains scattered across the vitrified black ground.

"WAAAGH!!!"

Suddenly, an ear-splitting screech filled the air. The boss looked up and saw a mob of Stormboyz with red rockets strapped to their backs, screaming and yelling as they soared through the trails of smoke, flying aimlessly towards the fortress like a swarm of headless flies.

Some of the unlucky ones were shot down mid-air by the Skitarii fire, their rockets exploding and turning them into shrapnel. Others were even unluckier, running out of fuel halfway through their flight (those blue-faced Grots always skimped on the fuel), and plummeting vertically into the hard walls, becoming a messy splatter.