In the Grimdark Sector with a System

Author Notes:

UmU

This GSS chapter is actually quite fun to write about. The banters may be all over the place, but I blame recaf.

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"Phew~" I whistle. "That's a whole other Company right there." I say while gesturing my head at the advancing Traitorous formation now visible on the horizon.

Honestly, I have no idea what the Company is even classified as. It consists of a mixture of Imperial Guard armored vehicles like Leman Russes and some Taurox quad-track APCs. Yet, perhaps most surprising of all is the large number of antique Testudo wheeled APCs. These phased-out equivalent to a TPz Fuchs on steroids are riding alongside numerous civilian vehicles that ran a trip through the Khyber pass, thus turning the latter into a bunch of mismatching technicals. Some are hardy all-terrain vehicles with little modification other than having pintle-mounted heavy stubbers. These are used to ferry several colorful bands of Traitors to battle. Then there are technicals sporting shoddy armor platings all over. They bring with them mismatching sets of armaments, ranging from flamers, and Lascannons, to mortar organs. Yet, everything about this Traitorous Company seems and feels old, with nearly all of their equipment being outdated patterns. The Testudo APCs are a dead giveaway, their faded regimental paint jobs are shoddily covered up by cultist markings and decorations. I idly wonder whether they have just raided a surplus store or not to get all of that antiquated stuff out here.

I know that the business of selling military antiques and surplus is always booming in Cadian Kasrs due to the constant demands for war materials. Even a kid may be handed an auto-pistol, provided they're reliably trained and are carrying a license to bear arms as civilians. Cadian civilians and off-duty Guards may even be seen shopping in surplus garages for demilitarized Testudo APC or Tauros buggies for recreational purposes, with them being the rare vehicles that can handle the oh-so-wonderful environment of Cadia. It won't be the first time that some ill-sanctioned patrons rob or buy the surplus gears for some nefarious needs... Or they can get all of the old stuff by an intergalactic delivery from who-knows-where, though that will be a whole different can of worms to open.

But I digress.

Right, I don't know whether or not I should call the Traitorous Company an Armored, Mechanized, or Motorized Company with how they're so damn Frankensteinly-stitched like that. Post-battle action reports will be confusing if I don't know how to call this enemy unit, you know? However, my vexation is soon vindicated when the Traitorous formation is besetted by a hail of missiles from the air.

"And there they go..." I muse, watching as multiple Hellstrike missiles, launched from both Valkyries and Thunderhawks, strike the enemy's heavy armor.

With little to no dedicated Anti-air vehicle in their formation, the Traitors can only gaze on helplessly as the few Leman Russ battle tanks they have explode into fiery bits when missiles come down on them from the top. The blasts then force the Traitors to disperse their vehicle formation haphazardly, casting a screen of dust clouds that makes visual tracking near impossible. It's only due to our slightly elevated position that Weiss and I can barely see the shapes of the Traitors' vehicles in between the clouds. Johnson and the rest of Froggers down there can't see anything, even when they use the scopes on their Chimera IFVs or the missile launcher.

Yet, while mortals like us Imperial Guards may struggle, our aerial units have a field day thanks to their on-board augur arrays. The Valkyries use their Multi-lasers to pick away the lightly protected Testudos and technical trucks. Semi-rigidly fitted to the side of the Valkyries on slightly mobile mounts, the Multi-lasers swiftly deliver withering hails of lasers, punching melty holes through thin armor platings while vaporizing flesh and bones all the same. The Thunderharwks, however, bring out the bigger guns in the form of their wing-mounted Lascannons and dorsally-mounted Turbo-Laser Destructors. If the prior Valkyrie Multi-lasers can be described as MG-42 buzzsaws, then the big lasers from the Thunderhawks can be equated to 88 mm Flak Cannon and 240 mm 'Black Dragon' Howitzer M1. The beams from the Lascannons of the Thunderhawks are more than enough to tear through a Leman Russ or a Chimera from end to end. Yet, their Turbolasers have their beams amplified wider, more potent beams of laser energy. The beams carry enough punch to explosively vaporize its impact point in an area-of-effect blast. Leman Russ, Taurox APC, some unfortunate dude riding a Tauros buggy next to them... All are made equal under the might of the Thunderhawks' Turbo-Laser Destructors.

Still, despite the potent AOE blast from the Destructors, they're ultimately not proper weapons of mass devastation due to their inherent trait of being precision-based beam weapons. Despite the Flights of Valkyries' and Thunderhawks' best efforts, there are still many targets left alive, ripe for the picking, of course. Some of their prey even dare to retaliate in a lively manner at the aircraft circling high and far away from them. Autocannons from the Testudos let out constant barrages of armor-piercing incendiary lead. Lascannons aboard technicals are fire haphazardly in the air with a total disregard for the Traitors' lives and safety. A more brazen cultist brings out a Flak launcher to fire at the Space Marines' Thunderhawk, only for the backblast of his launcher to kill the driver of his buggy. The whole vehicle soon careened out of control, crashing into the side of a Taurox APC before being crushed by the rear tread of the Traitorus vehicle.

One can only wonder how his backblast killed the driver who was in the front of the buggy, but this is 40K where Warp-fuckery is all-around so... Nothing of importance was lost there.

Anyway, the missile is destroyed by the targeted Thunderhawk's twin-linked Heavy Bolters which also acted as its close-in weapon systems. The missile detonates without any fragments scratching the paint job of the Thunderhawk. Other than that, none of the Traitors' autocannon shells or laser beams come even close to hitting our air assets. Still, that sure grabs the undivided attention of the pilots from up there and they start forming up for a major and encompassing attack run.

Weiss reacts to this by saying. "Well, the Traitors sure brought the Emperor's wrath onto themselves this time."

"Nobody provokes aerial superiority with impunity." I pat Weiss's shoulder with a smile as we laze behind our cover while enjoying the show. "Take it as a genuine advice from me."

As expected, the Valkyries and Thunderhawks open up the last missile salvo in this combat sortie. Only this time, they use Hellfury missiles instead of Hellstrike. If Hellstrikes are powerful anti-tank missiles, then Hellfuries is one of the top picks to deal with swaths of lightly armored units. Each Hellfury warhead is packed with dozens of incendiary sub-munitions designed to be released in an airburst across a wide area. In other words, a singular Hellfury is comparable to that of a 21st-century TOS-1 Buratino thermobaric rocket salvos. With one missile having a zone of ensured destruction of 200 x 400 meters. Now imagine having six such missiles being lobbed at a pack of enemy vehicles...

Yeah, that's one Hell of a sight and the combined blast even disperses away all of the dust clouds kicked up by the Traitors' war band. Heck, we can feel the stinging heat all the way in our alcove. Dispersed as the Traitors and cultists might have been, there's no way they could escape the six Hellfuries that were strategically launched to ensure the utter annihilation of everything. Well, nearly everything as there are still some bulky and reliably constructed Taurox that pushed out of the danger zone. Yet, even if they are battered are a mere gust away from burning up themselves. No mercy for the treacherous humans, Lascannons tear holes through the blackened sky and eliminate the survivors.

"Holy Terra." Weiss has a trickle of sweat running down her forehead.

"I know, right?" I smile, gazing at the beauty in Destruction, something that is intrinsic to the workings of this universe. "When they're on our side, aerial supremacy is like a free get-out-of-jail ticket."

"And if they're not?" Weiss asks while looking away from the smoking battlefield, only to gaze at a pair of Valkyries marauding for survivors.

"You better dig a five-foot hole and pray to the Holy Emperor, Weiss." I chuckle as I watch a green Thunderhawk landing beneath Sergeant Johnson's hill.

"The Salamanders, huh?" I muse.

My lips quirk upward when I see well-respected Salamander Space Marines disembarking alongside Sisters of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. "Holy Emperor on the throne." I raise an eyebrow, muttering. "Is that a Chapter Master and a Librarian? What are their names again...? Tu'na and Vel'conan? And is that Mama and Tsavora right next to them!?"

I mean, I kind of expect them to come, but Space Marines and their leaders, seriously? I am relieved and happy when Mama suddenly looks up to Weiss and me, waving for us to come down. Yet, I can't help but be worried and giddy that I will have to literally look up to the Emperor's finest. I still consider myself a mortal after all, and I don't wish to inconvenience my Mama for any potential faux pas I may commit. The Salamanders may be merciful and patient, but I don't want to rely on meta-knowledge that may as well be undependable thus far.

I sigh and bite down the inkling of wariness before looking at Weiss. "Well, Rookie, ready to meet your Angels?"

Weiss seems to gulp before replying. "Any advice, Ein?"

"One." I reply before turning around to head out of the alcove... After I wave back at Mama, of course. "Treat them as you would to a religious or a military superior. It should help you navigate some potential landmines."

"Joy..." I can feel Weiss' rolling her eyes behind me as she follows me out of our hiding spot.