Kharnak fell to ground as his common sense came back to him. The wound would probabily not kill him, but he was bleeding profusely. With certain difficulty, Kharnak walked away towards his shooting position. Once there, he knelt and raised his autocannon. His brothers, more adept at close quarter combat than he was, swarmed Cautorious. If he tried to fly away, he would be ready to shot him down once and for all. OCC: All out if Cautorious flees away.
@DeranVendar Dyzek still laughs as he feels his fore arm drop down with an almost casual slice of the foe's blade, even continuing to the point where he can see the incoming strike that will take his head off completely. In these hazy moments, the battle lust had overtaken him completely, to the point where pain, suffering, death, they were all just large cosmic jokes to him, and he was the one to enjoy partaking in it. Yet, the changing visage of the chaos champion would draw his attention, as he watched his comrade lunge forth and pierce it's hide with a gush of ichor. As Seth grabbed his shoulder, and cast him back, Dyzek's voice would be in full cackle of the actor upon his stage, being shown up in his own performance. Slamming into the ground, Dyzek tucks back, and rolls into a crouch, still being caught in a fit of soft giggles, as he can feel the effects of the mind tampering fade away. Slowly, control re-asserts itself upon the man, and as his beating hearts still, and he finds his tempo, the Blackshield struggles with the realities of the situation. Marcus' indicator had gone dark, and in replaying the words of the daemon back in his mind, he had no cause to wonder why. A heavy weight would fall upon him in this moment, grief welling up in his soul for the loss of one of the company's oldest veterans, yet for now, he could not indulge. Even as he felt sorrow rising up, he pushed it aside from his mind, as he could not afford to mourn the loss of his brother, not until his killer was brought to justice. Strangely enough, he felt the pang of a friend lost, before he felt the pang of a lost limb, yet when it came, Dyzek would grit his teeth together. Looking down to the stump where his arm had once been, the marine would curse his own foolishness, before rising up to return to combat. Spotting his own limb lying still on the hull of the titan, Dyzek would rush forth to grab at it, before moving up towards Kremnar, seeing his brother spraying another lethal barrage against Cautorious. Without much ceremony, he'd leave his talons with his comrade with a simple 'watch this for me', before moving back to race into the melee, seeing Seth and Herchel lumbering forth in their massive armour to vent their own grief at the foe. Even as his serenity returned, Dyzek was weary of going on the offensive, for between the rasping in his lungs, and the lacking of an arm, he'd not want to risk perishing so easily in a berserk assault as his brothers did. No, instead, he'd do what he could to ensure that while they raged against this abomination, that they'd do so with some cover. Thus. a marine diving and dashing between terminators, Dyzek would stand ready to intercept any incoming blows the Slaaneshi champion might seek to send their way. OOC: All-Out Defense on Self, Using Trait: Rising Winds, Conferring Defense on Herchel, Defense of Seth, Re-Roll on Seth Defense.
Everything happened much too quickly for Vera to follow, even after her service in the company of Astartes. Life and death separated by less than an instant. The line blurring between victory and defeat.The pull of a trigger, and men are turned to carrion. Centuries of service lost with a single bolt. Thank the Emperor it was just her job to shut up and shoot--a task that Vera nonetheless took very seriously, popping right back out from behind Herschel's cover to loose yet another silver stake. OOC: Balanced attack with anti-psyker stake
Everybody is a Critic"Embrace it brother! Submerge yourself in the flood waters of hatred!" Cautorious strafes away from Herchel's furious fire. Descending he meets the vengeful guardian head on, smashing the Hammer of Redemption from hand with a slash from saber before running arm through with glaive and briefly holding Herchel back from reclaiming weapon. One of Vera's stakes drives itself deep into the mutant's blower back, nArrowly missing spine and penetrating above hips. Fourth hand stretches around to tear it out like the last, discarding bolt to the metal floor. Wings strike air and Centurion blitzes towards Vera. Kraken rounds rattle off chipped and cracked torso like rain from a tin roof as Kremnar once again intervenes. Glaive slices towards Sister of Silence as Cautorious flies by, woman sinking beneath blade while champion of Slaanesh makes a U-turn centered around her and surges towards Kremnar. More propellant rich rounds punch into Captain of the Third Legion, yet an aura of mania oozes from Cautorious. Personal danger was reaching a head and the rush of it drove him onward where common sense told him to begin retreating. With impeccable timing Sternguard lifts his foot, heel driving itself into his foe's helmet. Mask shatters, ceramite boot hammering shards of the stuff deep into traitor's face. Teeth wet with blood flash from around the foot, paired blades of glaive and saber closing in to hack Kremnar in twain. A Reaper autocannon blasts wounded champion with force enough to twist double slash into a barrel roll. Snatching up the Sergeant's arm, Kremnar beats a hasty retreat towards Kahrnak who continues chasing after legionary with heavy weapon. Veteran Terminator cuts off the flow of fat slugs when Emperors Child lands once again with Seth and Nathiel acting as unwitting meat shields. Saber and Gorehowl slash at same time, Chaplain grunting as more of his abdomen is opened up. Body cavity spills more steaming blood down the front of already soaked armor. Power Excoriator hews a matching wound into Cautorious, adding a long gash too the dozen or so smaller scratches and craters that either fail to regenerate as before or do so much more sluggishly. Warsong chops forward, Cautorious side stepping and retaliating with a rising slash from polearm that traces Seth's facial scar that runs from lower jaw to nose; mercifully the strike is not so violent as that of the World Eater that gave it to him. Off to side Nathiel is held at bay by both saber and open hand: latter wrestling for control of thunder hammer while saber is only barely kept at bay by Dyzek whose lightning claw has sword pinned between two nails and only a few inches from their own champion's throat. Cautorious opens his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by another lunatic scream from Seth, Gorehowl driving traitor back with a slash that leaves light trailing out of ruined melded flesh metal from groin up to collar. Pain at last banishes the murky haze of whatever perverted high Captain rides upon. Helmet broken all are able to hear his next words fairly clearly, lack of voice caster forcing Astartes to yell. "TO ME SQUADS ATRIOLUS AND HESHINE!" Jump packs roar as assault squads of the IIIrd re-deploy towards their wounded Captain. "This is quite the twist Iron Warriors. Unfortunately the intermission is upon us, perhaps we shall meet again for the next act." Writhing away from the turning tide of close quarters, more of the Captain's brothers fill in the gap. A chainsword and its cackling wielder descends upon Seth, Gorehowl fishes traitor out of the air and slams him down, dragging Excoriator close and bisecting the Astartes. Kahrnak and Vera are surrounded by two of Squad Atriolus and a Vanguard Vet who has spilled out from the fight against Squad Herchel. Kremnar deploys the rest of his Kraken ammunition into Sergeant Heshine himself, combat shield absorbing most. "Sergeant, requesting support over here." Herchel's own squad calls to him. The same warrior that had picked up a slab of rockrete to replace his storm shield, and was still using it, stood over a fallen ally. Power spear impales another of the corrupt Vanguard. Another with power sword steps up and hacks into Terminator's exposed side, carving a shallow wound left by a previous strike into something far more grievous. All the while Cautorious continues flitting away and towards one of the circling air craft. Suddenly another Terminator is right above him. "By the satin thro--" Vilhelm's power axe arcs down towards the surprised traitor. In a last desperate gambit Iron Master has teleported himself off the titan itself, nothing laying between he and the deadly drop back to Terra except the traitor himself. Cautorious' surprise shifts to a grin, saber angling itself to deflect a bolt with eerie accuracy into Vilhelm's helmet. Undeterred but partially blinded thanks to damaged helm crumpling in toward his face, the Techmarine slashes. Cautorious screams, alive but inflicted a great deal of harm. Bystanders on the titan look over and see two arms and a wing sailing away from the pair and Vilhelm dropping like a brick. Cautorious shakily extends remaining wing, using it to awkwardly glide down. A bloody wad of saliva chases after Vilhelm on his rapid drop towards certain doom. A Land Speeder shadows him, Carolus having abandoned the duel with Doomrider to try and save the Forty-Fourths Master of the Forge. Skimmer has no possible hope of stopping the fall of something that might very well outweigh it. Nor has Doomrider abandoned the duel, both Vilhelm and Carolus' heavy speeder are framed briefly by the chaotic energies spat from the nose diving combat bike. Vilhelm feels no fear, for it is a poor Iron Master that does not tinker with his own kit. A chrono ticks down on flickering HUD, barely functioning after the deflected bolt. It hits zero and the raging energies inside personal teleporter cause Machine Spirit to start bitching unceasingly; thankfully temperamental tech does not deny him transportation and Iron Master vanishes into the depths of the Knight of Terra. Carolus lets out asigh of relief. Body jolts and Iron Warrior hunches forward, several mass reactive slugs screaming past his head. Doomrider closes in from behind, spiked tires gouging into armor and tunneling into an engine unit like a borer machine cycling into a quarry. Slaaneshi champion throws his head back and howls in delight, bolt pistol discharging blindly into the vehicle. Loyalist decides it is time to bug out. Reaching into the passenger seat, occupied only by the modified greenskin sonic weapon, Carolus snaps up his weapon and leaps away from the dying Tyrannus Rex and sails with open arms towards a nearby band of battalion brothers engaged on the titan's shin bastions against a sorcerer and his entourage of Daemonettes and Seekers. Doomrider sails into the shattered earth and wrecks the Land Speeder, erupting forth from the wreckage and wildly pumping his fist while roaring off in search of a new challenger.
Kremnar Eranite fired off another burst at the winged abomination when Brother Dyzek came by and... tossed him his arm? Surprised but keeping his composure, he nodded before taking the fallen limb and mag lock it onto his back, near his power scythe. Certainly, it had been the strangest thing someone's requested him to carry, the sternguard veteran made sure the lightning claw didn't have its own independent power supply or that it was off, before turning back towards the enemy just in time to see the Emperor's Child shooting himself towards their sister of silence. Seeing an opportunity, Kremnar unleashed a hail of kraken bolts at the flying target, broadsiding him and catching his attention. Cautorious turned sharply and flew straight into the incoming fire. Kraken rounds ripped the armor and flesh apart on the twisted thing that had been an astartes. Still, the frenzied enemy kept coming, and his charge led his face directly into the bottom of Kremnar's boot as the blackshield kicked forward, smashing the mask into the bestial figure's head. While it did keep Cautorious at a distance, it still gave the enemy the chance to be within striking range with his many arms and sabers. Fortunately, a burst from a friendly autocannon slammed into the Emperor's Child, causing him to corkscrew away from the sternguard veteran right into the arms of several very angry loyalist terminators. Kremnar pulled back, before checking his ammo on each bolter. The ammo indicator on his helmet miraculously still functioned and told him that unless he reloaded quickly, he would otherwise play a dangerous gamble with his life when the next engagement came. Popping out the nearly empty clips and slapping in his last bit of bolter kraken bolts, the sternguard veteran turned just in time to see the III legion reinforcement came to rescue their leader. Scowling at the sight of the retreating enemy leader, he nonetheless turned his bolters on the nearest enemy, firing round after round at what looked to be a purple colored sergeant. Powerful as the kraken rounds were, they merely bounced off of the fresh combat shield harmlessly, though damaging it in the process. Spending the last of the specialist rounds at the approaching traitor, Kremnar swapped to his pistols, before a hail of kraken, bolt and plasma shots followed the original fire, traveling less distance than before splashing onto the enemy's shield and body. Where the Kraken rounds failed before, the pistols hammered the now weakened shield. The triple threat managed to finally crack the bulwark, but the Emperor's Child had already reached striking distance. The power sword swung around, aiming to carve Kremnar's head off of his shoulder, cutting air rather than flesh. Ducking and rolling, the loyalist aimed up, firing point blank into the body of the traitor. Plasma, kraken and bolt rounds trailed up the III Legionnaire, punching holes and burnt flesh all over the astartes, staggering him. Coming back up, the sternguard veteran promptly front kicked his enemy, catching him square in the chest. Knocked down and stunned, the Emperor's Child could barely lift his damaged combat shield up before the power scythe's blade smashed into it and one of his hearts. Rather than pulling the weapon out for another strike, Kremnar used all of his strength to pull on the weapon, in order to drag the shield along with it down. If he could damage all of the vital organs in one stroke, he could end the fight quickly. However, it seemed that either he had underestimated his own strength or the weapon got stuck deeper in the astartes than he had thought. The power scythe, rather than cutting through, ended up dragging the whole body along, and even as the Emperor's Child tried one last time to swipe at the sternguard veteran with his power sword, he got tossed far along the Titan's shoulder, clean off of the side in fact. Shaking the weapon free at the last second, Kremnar gripped his power scythe at ready in case any of the soon to be dead astartes' allies wanted to avenge him. He would find himself in the clear for the moment, before replacing his power weapon with bolters in his hands to help cut down whoever any enemies that still lived on their post.
Herchel growled as cautrious got a strike on him causing his hammer to go flying into the side, Raising up the veteran was ready to strike before being thrown into a wall he could here the sound of one of his marines calling out to him, as the sound of assault packs over took him suddenly two assault marines trying to pick at him when he didn't have his hammer, Rising from the wall Herchel let out gout of fiery causing them to back away as he came out from the wall, Rage kept him as he saw his hammer on the grounds it would take him time to work for it but for now he had to deal with these Degenerates. looking for the nearest melee weapon Herchel spotted Marcus corspe hand still clutching the power sword, Jogging forwards Herchel quickly picked it up from his Friends corpse and began slashing at the emporers children marines using his own rage and strength to push them back as they parried to blows. @Beiolos "Kharnak Help me push these bastards back and get marcus body to a secure area for geneseed removal, and to regroup with our squad.!" Herchel yelled out a order pushing the emporers children back before suddenly raising his volkite and firing causing both marines to activate there jump packs and jump pack from the gout of fiery death that wanted to consume them, Going forward Herchel quickly then picked up his hammer before mag locking Marcus sword to his belt and raising his hammer up once more and then going back into the frey each strike of his hammer would have more rage then the last from the Black shield terminator.
Third RetreatKnight of Terra's upper body swivels to address a new threat. Warlord finds itself staring down a small fleet of approaching Warhounds equipped with gargantuan harpoons. Pack of wolf faced walkers lope over the heads of thousands, navigating the sea of traitor bodies with the same amount a care as a child sprinting through the yard; needless to say those too foolish to make way in the first place became a non-issue. Warlord clenches its fist around a towering statue of one of Mankind's heroes, features already too worn down by the war to be recognizable. Nameless memorial is turned into a projectile, Forty-Fourth battalion watching as their charge casually chucks a piece of masonry several times larger than one of the supporting Knights towards the hunting pack; all to buy time for plasma cannon to recharge. Dyzek falls bodily to the ground once more, smashed aside by Nathiel in time for champion to absorb several heavy shots from a warrior carrying a plasma pistol. Thunder hammer sweeps over the traitors head, enemy agilely ducking beneath and smashing Iron Warrior across the head with a power maul. Taking the blow with an admirable amount of stubbornness loyalist hammers back with arm less shoulder and drives foe into a fatal stumble backwards. Thunder hammer returns the favor and Emperors Child crumples alongside his head. A wide berth is given to Seth. Chaplain fights like one of the possessed himself. Gorehowl and Warsong lay about the Soul Smith as he vents the erupting fury of his volcanic anger upon the foe. Kremnar moves up to Dyzek, thrusting arm back into his care before resuming covering fire for his battle brothers. Several Iron Warriors spill out onto the titan's shoulders. Chief Apothecary Gloran among them with a retinue of assault veterans whom waste no time laying into the enemy. Herchel finds himself standing back to back with Kahrnak in defense of several bodies, unwilling to let the Emperors Children desecrate the dead, even as battle rages on the deviants cannot be trusted to stave off their darker urges; already several pairs of geneseed have been irrevocably lost to traitor blade work. Gloran barges between two Terminators and moves to check on Marcus, a vox link immediately opens up to the Iron Master.... Heaven Burns"AWAKEN HIM IRON MASTER. TIME IS SHORT." As if to accentuate Brumdar's point another wall went down somewhere in the perimeter. Warsmith Orion and the surviving battalion soldiers had been fighting a losing defense for several hours. Current location consisted of a re-arming and repair station installed by the Imperial Fists shortly after Dorn took up the defense of Terra. Multiple years of hard labor were being undone brick by brick, minute after minute. Night Lords and World Eaters were pressing down hard on the Forty-Fourth, soon enough they would need to relocate once again, but not before the IVth wrung every resource they could from the facility. Acquiescing to the newly re-promoted Captain's order Vilhelm initiates Wakefulness Protocols. The Contemptor before him is a fresh shell, one of many stored far behind the lines for such a purpose. It had taken a fair deal of pressing and swearing, but they had managed to get the unit delivered towards the shallows of the palace. There is stirring in the sarcophagus: a mortally wounded warrior whom dedicated his service to saving others has now been saved himself. "MARCUS. WAR CALLS AND YOU SHALL ANSWER. YOU ARE ORDERED TO LIVE, FOR YOUR EMPEROR, AND YOUR BROTHERS NEED YOU." Pistons hiss and servos whine as the Dreadnought groggily rises up, abandoned by supporting servo-arms one by one until at last the Contemptor stands on its own. Vilhelm looks up at his newest creation, in more ways than one, and finds all checks passing at varying levels of sufficiency. The siege of Terra does not leave one time for perfect work and standard procedure. Few can attest to this quite so well as Nathiel and Dyzek. "Lieutenant, take reserve team two out and address the newest breach in the line. We need more time to prep these explosives, we cannot have any of Kurze's psychopaths stabbing into our flanks or getting back here and disrupting the sappers." First-Lieutenant Akar addresses Second-Lieutenant Petroski. Former Sergeant has been thrust into an even more veteran command role thanks to the merciless nature of their current war. It has been two hours since the promotion and already two attempts have been made on his life by the Night Lords and Alpha Legion. It is a cold comfort that Gloran was able to salvage and re-attach his arm, even if it still functions sluggishly and is taking its sweet time re-adjusting. Elsewhere Nathiel has no trouble putting a new augmented limb to use. Little more than bare metal stilts jutting from his stump and reinforced with sheets of ceramite taken from a damaged suit of power armor the Company Champion resembles several other Frankenstein-esque suits of armor that are the handiwork of the ever practical and overworked Techmarines under Vilhelm's command. One of the Red Butchers under Angron's lead headbutts Nathiel, Iron Warrior shaking it off and returning the favor as storm shield and thunder hammer match up to twin power axes. Like countless others around them the pair duel over the trampled ruin of a once beautiful fountain and its surrounding topiary; all trampled stone and burnt shrubs now. The courtyard it is centered in was once a leisurely place for gathering dignitaries to while away their short breaks between meetings. Now it was just a couple more meters of ground that would soon be lost to the enemy. Elsewhere Gloran ministers to Squad Herchel, now consisting of a few battered Terminators that formerly made up Odiaus' old Phalanx and the remnants of Squad Dyzek. Of course none of them are standing idle or catching their breath. Even as the Chief Apothecary rapidly picks out the worst of a metal storm rounds deadly shrapnel shower from most of Kremnar's left side, he is firing blind bursts of storm bolter fire into the Night Lords attempting to drive them from cover with flamers and grenades across the way. Right arm devoid most its armor Gloran looks like an awkwardly shelled beetle as he tends his brothers. Verra is perhaps the only one of them enjoying any sort of quiet. A Medicae from among her own order is at last on hand to tend her wounds in a way that the hardier Astartes simply cannot. She sits up against a bolt cratered wall that is barely waist height, half dipped to the side so that the odd rounds that make it past the defenders does not accidentally blow away her cranium from behind. Down the way their Auxilia allies have turned a small brunch room into a temporary med-bay. Over a dozen men, the questionably lucky few who are not slain outright on the field, are being brought into standing shape and given just enough pain killers to get their blurry eyes back on the advancing foe and limbs able to lift a weapon. Some of the wounded do not move, unable to rise the medical staff on hand simply presents them with an explosive of one sort or another and the command to sell their lives dearly once the line shifts back once again. The battalions Temperers move among the lines. Seth stands at the front as he always has, Aegeus and Castor stand at his side, and further along to their flanks are both initiates and greener Chaplains belonging to their battalion. Several of Dyzek's reforged are among them, strangely enough the unofficial squad stands at almost full strength compared to most of their battalion. The die-hard spirit of the Temperers keeping the guardians of the loyalists' souls fighting on where many others had succumbed to their wounds and the will of Horus.
It wasn't long before the mighty dreadnought had awoken - in more ways than one. The HUD came online, vitals flashing for the user who had danced with death, Vox systems activating and soon enough so came on the control for the rest of the chassis itself. A growl was all one heard through the vox systems as Marcus re-awakened, the static distorting his groan of confusion as he turned to look around. IFF tags allowed him to recognize his brothers from this greatly heightened view and soon enough, he looked down to see what had become of him. No longer did he see his hands, but two mighty power fists that could crush astartes with the ease that an astartes could crush a child. A counter appeared on either side of his screen that he soon recognized; one was at a percentage, and the other being a far higher number; a flamer was installed into one hand, whilst the other had a combi bolter. Good, he thought to himself, less trouble in clearing the filth. Not long after however, he stepped forward and a stab of pain was felt from where his lower half should be - it was not the legs themselves, but the bionics that had been installed to keep him alive, the life support systems hastily constructed and keeping him in optimal condition. The massive form stumbled briefly before the other leg stepped forward and stomped at the ground, steadying him as he clenched both 'hands' - one could see the confusion for a moment before he looked up towards his fellow Dreadnought. Another growl like noise came out, before it came through multiple times in rapid succession; he was laughing. It wasn't long before he stepped forward despite the awkwardness, and if he could, grabbed at Brumdar's 'shoulder' and gave it a light shake. "I see that you all missed my sour presence too much to let me torment them in the afterlife." Marcus said, the veridian eyes that glinted in his 'helmet' almost showing a flash of pride. "It is good to see you again." His gaze soon went to Vilhelm and he gave a nod. "You have my gratitude, friend; I'll see to repaying this debt by taking a hundred in your name, by the time this is done." It was a bizarre sensation, to the space marine; to feel his voice so naturally booming, and yet at the same time for it to feel amplified even tenfold past that. An empowering sensation; and it was satisfactory to know that with this sensation came a literal sense of power, in knowing what his new form was capable of. All the same, each motion was met with stabbing resistance - the sensation of needles tearing into his nerves with any action other than turning his actual head, it was often that he clenched his 'fists' to take his attention away, however briefly. "What is our next objective? I wish to show them that I am not so easy to kill." Marcus then declared, 'straightening' himself as best a Contemptor could, happy to know his promethium and bolt shell supplies were adequate within his limbs. God, he thought to himself, thank you for giving me this new chance to fight against these monsters.
@DeranVendar @Vlayden "The next objective will lie with me, brother." Dyzek's voice would be heard coming from the entrance to the chamber, as the marine strode forth into the company of giants and their attendants. Looking over the few dreadnoughts they had left, Dyzek's gaze would focus upon the newest addition to their ranks, in a chassis that until recently, had born another. Another death, another tally to the list of debts the traitors would owe them all, yet with it, a chance for service beyond death. Flanking his sides, Dyzek would stride forth with sixteen astartes, formed from two newly created squads in the wake of their most recent losses, in the form of Squad Nestor, and Squad Menelaus. Headed by those personally Reforged and brought into The Emperor's Light by Dyzek himself, they would make up twin squads of assault and tactical disposition, Nestor, bearing a beaten and scarred boarding shield with combi-bolter, and Menelaus outfitted with twin power swords, seemingly taken from corpses of XIIth and VIIIth Legions respectively, the results of a nonstop combat they'd faced. Of Dyzek himself, newly promoted lieutenant would indeed bear his synonymous lightning claws, despite the flexing of fingers that hinted of still healing reattachment, along with a familiar helmet to the newly interred dreadnought. Staring back at Marcus with the eyes of his own helm, Dyzek would give a curt nod to the assembled dead, before he'd continue to speak. "The Night Lords and World Eaters have been attempting to rout our forces for sometime, and despite the best abilities of our comrades, they are many, and we are few. A breach has been made in our lines, and I will be leading the attempt to stem the tide until we are good and ready to withdraw from our garrison. In accordance with Akar's orders, I am requisitioning you for my designated task, so rejoice brother, you shall soon be back in the thick of combat." Surveying the room quickly, as a rumble passed through the very foundations of the building they'd be within, Dyzek would turn back towards Squad Nestor, speaking a few words. "Take your men and begin moving, Marcus shall be with you in quick time." Passing a quick slamming of his hands into the aquila, Nestor would turn and charge off with the remaining six men of his tactical squad, going off to set up the line that traitors would break against. With this, Dyzek would turn back towards Marcus, his voice cutting through the chaos in the air around them, as his eyes locked onto those of his fallen brother. "Shall we go?"
Kremnar Eranite watched as he put a bolter round through another flying Emperor's Child's head, watching the body drop from the sky and down onto the earth below. The fighting, while winding down, seemed more frantic and chaotic than ever. The massive warlord titan below shifted as the ground might during a mighty earthquake, and more than once the sternguard veteran had to steady himself as the world tilts dangerously to the side. Still, he hadn't gotten thrown off of the massive god-machine yet and for that, he thanked the Emperor. Looking over at his more melee oriented battle brothers, Kremnar spotted their Sergeant freed of enemies for the moment and headed over. With the fight on the titan more or less over, Kremnar pulled out the Sergeant's dismembered arm before grabbing his attention. "Need a hand, Sarge?" he couldn't resist asking, before tossing the limb back to its rightful owner. Ducking away before Brother Dyzek or anyone else could hit him for the bad joke, he grew serious again as he saw the procession moving to secure Brother Marcus's body. Pulling out his double bolters, the sternguard veteran ran along side Brother Herchel and his squad as well as their Iron Master and Apothecary, looking to give them covering fire should they need it as they evacuated their fallen comrade. ___________________ In a flash of blurred memories, Kremnar found himself both being treated by Apothecary Glorian and continuing the fight at the same time. He had gotten into a firefight earlier with his counterparts from the XX legion, and while they didn't give as good as they got, as seen by their corpses, he still took a licking. One of the enemies fired a metal storm round that exploded a bit too close, covering him with even more shrapnel than before, having taken more than a bit of metal into his body from the fight with the Emperor's Children's leader. Still, the sternguard veteran managed to not only drag himself to the rendezvous point but somehow got himself a storm bolter as well. His only regret came from the fact that he couldn't secure any of the equipment from the secretive legion before he retreated. Now, placing the large storm bolter on top of the cover he hid behind, Kremnar fired it with one hand while Apothecary Gloran pulled out shrapnel large enough to kill most mortals out of his other arm and side. Apart of him fit annoyance as he lacked his usual maneuverability to bring to bear against the approaching Night Lords, but he dug deep and went back to his days as a devastator, placing down heavy fire against the enemy while his brothers descended upon them with chainswords or picked them off with their bolters. Spraying another volley at the encroaching enemy, one of the rounds punched through the fuel tank of a flamer, detonating the weapon and bathing the enemy in a fiery death. Behind him, Kremnar heard the booming voice of another dreadnought, strange but familiar at the same time. In his heart, he found himself glad to have Apoth-no, Dreadnought Marcus back; they needed every fighter they could get their hands on at the moment. Their makeshift fallback base could only hold out for so long, and soon they would need to form another fighting retreat to the next line. A part of him wondered where the last line of defense had been laid. Would they need to fight with their backs against the Eternity Gate themselves? Putting those thoughts out of his mind, the sternguard veteran turned back to the fight at hand, just as both the now Lieutenant Dyzek led his forces out to harry the enemy advance and buy them more time and Apothecary Gloran stabbed his Narthecium into him, injecting a bit of the dwindling supply of stimulants to speed up the clotting process from his procedure, and fired into the enemies' ranks again. Soon they would need to move, and he would have to abandon the large weapon. Until then, Kremnar would use it to kill as many of the bastards as possible.
