Magos Telleos stood inside the Gargant’s idol-like head and knew he was a heretic. He cared little; his peers would grovel for his forgiveness when the Omnissiah’s blessed work was finished. He gazed down through augmented eyes to the planet below, a sea of chaotic violence. From the great height of the Gargant’s head, Telleos felt removed from it all. A harsh voice snapped him from his reverie.
‘Oy, Tin-Head!’ The voice belonged to Big Mek Flamebelcher, who passed for a captain to the Gargant’s crew. ‘Quit lookin’ and get to work!’
‘Such inelegance,’ Telleos muttered through his modulator unit but kept the volume low so as to not be overheard. He strode over to the Big Mek boss.
The Big Mek was hunched over a crude metal tube, shouting orders down to the lower deck captains. Telleos strode past him and began to plug away at a series of tubes, nozzles, and switches that had been haphazardly placed between the Gargant’s eyes. His mechadendrites danced and buzzed, adding to the horrible cacophony of the Gargant’s march. As he worked, Telleos continued to observe the giant’s progress as it stomped through the defences of the traitor guardsmen. Both of the Gargant’s blocky arms ended in great hammers that crashed down like the Emperor’s wrath on the enemies below, while hundreds of orks fired weapons of all kinds with wild abandon into the tumult below.
Telleos grew impatient as he maintained the stolen Imperial technology that had been used in the construction of the giant war machine. He had crossed too many lines, but he was confident his brothers would understand why he was aiding the Big Mek. An STC! Any tech-priest would understand that such a valuable piece of technology would be worth—
A deafening explosion rocked the entire Gargant and for one sickening moment Telleos felt his still-organic heart race with terror. The Gargant was falling! Telleos was going to die a shamed heretek!
‘WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!’
The Big Mek’s call rang through the cockpit and every ork, from the biggest nobz to the smallest grots answered in kind. Magos Telleos felt a static shock dance between his ears as his receptors reeled and he spat curses in binary right up until the impossible happened. The falling stopped. The Gargant, which must have been toppling over with only one flat-foot still on the ground, spun. It spun in a full circle and came to a rest on both feet with a sound like a collapsing factorum. Big Mek Flamebelcher seized the Magos and hoisted him up.
‘Never been through a scrap like this before, have ya?’
‘That should not have been possible! What foul warpcraft was that?’
‘Warp-what? I thought you wuz smart, Tin-Head, it’s why I made a deal with ya. That’s just orky pilot work. Proper shame that your boyz don’t drive so good.’
Telleos’s modulator unit cracked with the beginning of a response but was cut off once more by a tinny call from the speaking-tube Flamebelcher had been at earlier.
‘Boss! Look ahead, they’ve got some big dakka up there! Ain’t never seen anything like it!’
Telleos and Flamebelcher both turned and looked out across the battlefield at once. What Telleos saw sent his mind spinning with rage. Ahead of him were the true hereteks. The Gargant had come to the mountain fastness that the traitors were using as a headquarters and, if Telleos’s data was correct, where they were guarding the STC. All thoughts of that most holy find vanished when the Magos saw the weapon mounted on the high rockcrete walls. A vast cannon that resembled a satellite.
‘By the Motive Force! They have an Ordinatus cannon!’
‘Never seen any dakka like that and I’ve seen quite a bit of dakka in my day.’
‘Step aside ork, these traitorous dogs are mine. Just remember our deal.’
‘Of course,’ the ork’s chuckle was deep. ‘You help us build the Gargant and let us dismantle your skit-ari and you get first pickins on da loot. Proper ork never forgets a deal.’
Telleos doubted that very much. Any potential ork treachery would come later. Telleos marched back to the console between the Gargant’s eye holes and began working earnestly, occasionally barking out prayers to the Motive Force and the Omnissiah in binary. Blows hammered down on the Gargant from all around but the Ordinatus was struggling to ready its next shot.
‘Hurry up, Tin-Head! I’m not keen on my shiny new toy taking a thrashing!’
Telleos did not respond, his mechadendrites a blur of motion as he neared the end of a long sequence of commands and prayers. For a moment, the Gargant went quiet. Then there was the grinding of jagged metal as the chest cavity of the metal beast opened and a huge cannon emerged. It was a greatly modified plasma cannon, strung about with illegal modifications and ork technology. Every ork aboard the machine began to cheer and holler as the cannon rapidly charged. The plasma cannon sparked and bucked, far too close to overloading. Telleos stepped back from the console and next to Big Mek Flamebelcher. The big ork gazed down at him with what could have been respect. With a shared nod, the two pointed forward together and shouted in unison.
‘Fire!’
Magos Telleos stood inside the Gargant’s idol-like head and knew he was a heretic. He cared little; his peers would grovel for his forgiveness when the Omnissiah’s blessed work was finished. He gazed down through augmented eyes to the planet below, a sea of chaotic violence. From the great height of the Gargant’s head, Telleos felt removed from it all. A harsh voice snapped him from his reverie.
‘Oy, Tin-Head!’ The voice belonged to Big Mek Flamebelcher, who passed for a captain to the Gargant’s crew. ‘Quit lookin’ and get to work!’
‘Such inelegance,’ Telleos muttered through his modulator unit but kept the volume low so as to not be overheard. He strode over to the Big Mek boss.
The Big Mek was hunched over a crude metal tube, shouting orders down to the lower deck captains. Telleos strode past him and began to plug away at a series of tubes, nozzles, and switches that had been haphazardly placed between the Gargant’s eyes. His mechadendrites danced and buzzed, adding to the horrible cacophony of the Gargant’s march. As he worked, Telleos continued to observe the giant’s progress as it stomped through the defences of the traitor guardsmen. Both of the Gargant’s blocky arms ended in great hammers that crashed down like the Emperor’s wrath on the enemies below, while hundreds of orks fired weapons of all kinds with wild abandon into the tumult below.
Telleos grew impatient as he maintained the stolen Imperial technology that had been used in the construction of the giant war machine. He had crossed too many lines, but he was confident his brothers would understand why he was aiding the Big Mek. An STC! Any tech-priest would understand that such a valuable piece of technology would be worth—
A deafening explosion rocked the entire Gargant and for one sickening moment Telleos felt his still-organic heart race with terror. The Gargant was falling! Telleos was going to die a shamed heretek!
‘WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!’
The Big Mek’s call rang through the cockpit and every ork, from the biggest nobz to the smallest grots answered in kind. Magos Telleos felt a static shock dance between his ears as his receptors reeled and he spat curses in binary right up until the impossible happened. The falling stopped. The Gargant, which must have been toppling over with only one flat-foot still on the ground, spun. It spun in a full circle and came to a rest on both feet with a sound like a collapsing factorum. Big Mek Flamebelcher seized the Magos and hoisted him up.
‘Never been through a scrap like this before, have ya?’
‘That should not have been possible! What foul warpcraft was that?’
‘Warp-what? I thought you wuz smart, Tin-Head, it’s why I made a deal with ya. That’s just orky pilot work. Proper shame that your boyz don’t drive so good.’
Telleos’s modulator unit cracked with the beginning of a response but was cut off once more by a tinny call from the speaking-tube Flamebelcher had been at earlier.
‘Boss! Look ahead, they’ve got some big dakka up there! Ain’t never seen anything like it!’
Telleos and Flamebelcher both turned and looked out across the battlefield at once. What Telleos saw sent his mind spinning with rage. Ahead of him were the true hereteks. The Gargant had come to the mountain fastness that the traitors were using as a headquarters and, if Telleos’s data was correct, where they were guarding the STC. All thoughts of that most holy find vanished when the Magos saw the weapon mounted on the high rockcrete walls. A vast cannon that resembled a satellite.
‘By the Motive Force! They have an Ordinatus cannon!’
‘Never seen any dakka like that and I’ve seen quite a bit of dakka in my day.’
‘Step aside ork, these traitorous dogs are mine. Just remember our deal.’
‘Of course,’ the ork’s chuckle was deep. ‘You help us build the Gargant and let us dismantle your skit-ari and you get first pickins on da loot. Proper ork never forgets a deal.’
Telleos doubted that very much. Any potential ork treachery would come later. Telleos marched back to the console between the Gargant’s eye holes and began working earnestly, occasionally barking out prayers to the Motive Force and the Omnissiah in binary. Blows hammered down on the Gargant from all around but the Ordinatus was struggling to ready its next shot.
‘Hurry up, Tin-Head! I’m not keen on my shiny new toy taking a thrashing!’
Telleos did not respond, his mechadendrites a blur of motion as he neared the end of a long sequence of commands and prayers. For a moment, the Gargant went quiet. Then there was the grinding of jagged metal as the chest cavity of the metal beast opened and a huge cannon emerged. It was a greatly modified plasma cannon, strung about with illegal modifications and ork technology. Every ork aboard the machine began to cheer and holler as the cannon rapidly charged. The plasma cannon sparked and bucked, far too close to overloading. Telleos stepped back from the console and next to Big Mek Flamebelcher. The big ork gazed down at him with what could have been respect. With a shared nod, the two pointed forward together and shouted in unison.
‘Fire!’
