The Emperor’s Angel of Death

#2125 - Holding on to Hope (Part 2)

As the others jumped up to return to their original positions, Hayes also got up, following behind them.

For a moment, Hayes seemed to feel the blood rushing out of his ears and the pounding of his heart, and then, in a nightmare-slow awakening, he heard the deathly shriek of incoming shells again.

Suddenly, an explosion erupted in the air beside him, knocking him to the ground as falling debris showered over him.

When he staggered to his feet again, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and as more explosions made the ground tremble beneath him, he stumbled aimlessly through the long, perilous moments.

Then, he sighed in relief as he heard a familiar voice calling out through his confusion.

"Hayes, this way! This way!"

Hashet dragged him back into the shelter, and Hayes looked towards the other positions. Many fortifications had been torn apart, with piles of mangled corpses and stone fragments mingled together. The cries of the wounded rose and fell, punctuated by the curses of the officers.

Finally, the waiting was over, and for the first time, Hayes heard the enemy screaming their terrifying war cries.

At the same time, he still felt the ground trembling, but the source of the tremors was getting closer and closer, and some of the already unstable shelters began to collapse.

Just as the noise and vibration reached their climax, the true source revealed itself.

Three enormous figures lumbered out of the distant cave, as if they were some kind of burrowing machine. Their emergence widened the narrow opening several times over, sending crushed rocks flying hundreds of meters, followed by a wicked howl that sounded full of anger and pain.

Hayes had never seen these monsters before. Their entire bodies were covered in deep red armor, and they were four to five meters tall, resembling some kind of quadrupedal beast. They were encased in heavy metal, and the only organic matter was the terrifying blue tendrils growing from one side of their torso and the unblinking eyes on their chest. Their forelimbs appeared to be composed of some kind of ranged weapon, and burning flames could be seen in their gaping maws.

"Daemon Engines!!!"

Olanio shouted, alerting those around him.

"Anti-vehicle teams! Assemble around me immediately!"

Appearing alongside these nightmarish mechanical creations were also a large number of fanatical servants, brandishing Chaos banners, wearing rebreather masks, and with pale, twisted flesh.

Despite having experienced so many terrible battles before, they were nothing compared to the horror that was now appearing in Hayes's field of vision.

Behind the charging cultists, Hayes saw countless much larger figures emerging from the darkness. Each of them was over two meters tall, a monstrous armored giant mutated beyond recognition, constantly emitting ferocious, savage roars.

Chaos Space Marines. Hayes had seen them before, but only from a distance, and only three of them.

But here, there seemed to be hundreds, if not thousands.

The word 'hope' seemed to be some kind of cruel irony at this moment.

Hashet's calm voice was almost drowned out by the cacophony.

"Stay calm and alert. Prioritize the Chaos Space Marines with the heavy bolters, but they are also accurate shots, so you need to protect yourselves. Fire one magazine and immediately change positions."

"Also, remember to aim high. Heavy bolter rounds must hit vital spots to guarantee a kill. Habry, don't worry about the cannon fodder, they are no threat. Everyone else, focus on the cannon fodder."

Hayes also switched the firing control from safe to 'burst fire' and silently recited the lasgun litany in his mind—

Herald of death, speak your name,

For you are my life, and the death of my enemy.

"Prepare to fire."

The cultists were running closer, and behind the hastily assembled ranks of cannon fodder, Hayes could now see the fallen angels more clearly.

Their armor was full of distortions and intimidation, many of their heads had mutated severely, growing grotesque fangs, gaping jaws, or insect-like mouths. Some of their arms and legs had also become arthropods, tendrils, or even claws, but they were fast, getting closer every second.

As he watched them charge towards the position, Hayes felt himself overcome by an almost irresistible urge to turn and run.

He wanted to hide, to run as fast as he could, never look back, filled with fear, dry-mouthed, and trembling hands.

Despite this, he still stood his ground.

"Fire!"

In an instant, every soldier on the line opened fire, and bright beams of laser fire burned through the air. As a carefully selected defensive force, they proved to the enemy that they were not to be trifled with.

Lasguns, autocannons, and plasma guns fired continuously. Almost all the troops on the Shattered Moon were over-equipped with direct-fire heavy firepower, precisely to maximize the efficiency of killing the enemy in the narrow underground passages.

In the blink of an eye, the frenzied waves were abruptly choked, as if crashing against a reef.

The fragile bodies of mortals were easily torn apart, without even a scream. The three Daemon Engines were greeted with various plasma and rocket attacks. Autocannon rounds hammered cracks into their armor, and the dense firepower even made them stagger, unable to attack at all.

Even the Chaos Space Marines did not expect the firepower of these mortals to be so fierce. Some unlucky ones were instantly headshot by the concentrated fire, falling backward, but more of them crouched down and began to fire.

At the same time, more cultists poured out of the tunnels, some of them dragging light artillery and heavy machine guns.

Hayes fired without hesitation, as ruthless as the others, again and again, his fear diminishing with each shot.

"I got one!"

Habry's excited voice rang out, and then, spurred by Hashet kicking his butt, he began to relocate the machine gun nest.

Hayes also killed several traitors. For the first time in his life, he experienced the savage joy of killing, the first time he saw an enemy wounded and falling, and felt a sense of joy in his heart. He understood the value of hatred.

Seeing the enemy die, he felt no sadness for them, no sorrow, no regret for their deaths.

They had sided with the demons, they were no longer human, they were the unclean, they were all monsters, every one of them.

All monsters.

Suddenly, Hayes finally understood those propaganda.

A good soldier feels nothing but hatred.

Then, in the heat and noise of battle, Hayes, following the machine gun team as they relocated, saw something that made all his fears rush back.

Incredibly, despite the casualties caused by the various heavy weapons and artillery fire, the heretical charge did not falter.

And more huge, twisted machines appeared, looking like some kind of humanoid mechs, about five meters tall, with broad bodies and bestial heads, carrying weapons on their arms, firing at the Imperial lines as soon as they appeared.

A huge flare rose on the line, it was a plasma gun destroyed, then an autocannon.

As some Chaos Space Marines used the cover to approach the line, bright beams of heat erupted, the concealed melta guns firing.

Instantly, a dozen Chaos Space Marines disappeared from the battlefield.

Similarly, when the firepower was concentrated on one of the twisted machines, it only lasted for a dozen seconds before collapsing in a metallic shriek, flames erupting from its body.

But there were six of these things!

As the new position was set up, Hayes put the small aquila to his lips and whispered a prayer.

He hoped he could get out of here alive.