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Ponchos Servitor driver follows his order, cuts the engine and lets the Tauros softly roll out close to the living quarter wall, out of sight of the big tank. The sounds of tortured metal and bellowing exhaust can be heard as the monster slowly waltzes its way through the refinery, while some overenthusiastic gunners on it trigger some of the smaller weapons just for the fun of it. Stubber rounds smash the windows and thin sheet metal walls of the former quarters to splinters while the "WHOOSH" of flamers can also be heard. All of it is underlined by the frantic, almost hysteric shouting and belowing of multiple Orks - some of which seem to disembark while their ride goes forth.
Poncho is pretty focussed on getting as good of a grip on his target as possible, as he spots some movement in the corner of his eye. Taking a quick look in that direction he can see another Ork-boy quickly stepping behind some cover. Maybe a survivor from the failed attempt to storm the gate and definitly more cunning and sneaky then his peers. The Xenos is still maybe 25-30 yards away, but might become a problem, especially if he warns the other Xenos.


Over in the alley, multiple things happen in pretty short time. Njal turns the turret towards the two Orks storming towards the Chimera in from the northern side of the alley, while the Kraitus does his best to communicate with the machine spirit of the transport and offer it advise to better do the will of the Omnissiah. For Njal this presents itself in the servos moving the turret as well as the gun elevation suddenly becoming just a little bit smother and more precise, as the Techpriest overrides the more rustic automatic.
The Autocannons barks its "BAMBAMBAM" underlined by the only marginally quiter "FUMPFUMPFUMP" of the heavy bolter triggered by sparky. Again Njals choice to ask for the heavier armed Chimera turret pays of nicely as the large caliber rounds turn the first ork into a mangled mess of boneshards and meat, while the second is also heavily mutilated before his shape is turned assunder by the exploding mini rockets from the hull bolter. The Chimera driver celebrates that with a hearty "Yeah! Show those beast how its done!" coupled with an encouraging slap on Sparkies sholder who doesn't really react. Overall these Guardsmen seem to be pretty happy with Kraitus assistance.


Over at Teodores position, the two Brontians - not the best shots themselves and armed with laspistols with too short a range to do something - decide to assist the paramedic and improvised autocannon gunner by stabilizing the weapon to give him a better chance at making a difference. Focussing on the small stretch of alley in front of him, he waits and suddenly sees a flash of green enter from the right. He immediatly triggers his weapon and sends some bullets flying, that smash into one of the brutes carrying some kind of rocket like a backpack. The Greenskin is taken of his feet and smashed sideways, barreling into another one of the creatures that curses him in their crude tongues, before both stumble out of Teodores sight.


While Simond can guess from the sounds of it that Njal has dealed with the Orks on his side, the two storming towards him are kind of an obstacle in his endeavor to reach the wounded nob before he can find his composure. At this point a mix of luck, good planning and of course the emperors grace play right into his hands, as from somewhere on his right, another autocannon begins to bark. The bullets slam into the torso of one of the rocketboys storming towards him and while they don't seem to outright kill it, it is definitly heavily wounded. More importantly the impact slams it of its feet, throwing it against the other one and thus out of Simonds path towards the Leading Nob. Not one to let such a chance unused, Simons sets his steed into a sharp gallop and lowers his lance to finish the big monster of, before it finds back his composure. The lance tip burries itself somewhere in the nobs shoulder region as the cavalrymen triggers the explosive. The following small fireball tears away most of the upper left of the hulking body, but unfortunatly also detonates a couple of grenades it was carrying as well as its strange gun, sending a heavy shockwave including some shrapnell towards both riders.


This only leaves only two pretty wounded stormboys alive - the one Teodore shot as well as the one Tambo hit crossing the wall, both of which finally reach the Chimera and begin climbing on top in an effort to grab and wrestle with the autocannon turret. Right now Njal won't be able to target any of them.

Through the combead you can hear Tambo cursing again, together with the scream of a grot and some enthusiastic but obviously unsuccessful pistol fire. It is answered by a single "ZIPPP" from his Longlas, as the Askari is forced to fire his sniper gun from the hip. "Just die already you little bugger!" he exclaims, obviously occupied for the moment.

The lance struck home, and the beast disappeared in a ball of flame. The blast hit him like a hammer but he managed to stay in the saddle.
A strong reefing on the reins brought the bolting horse back under control, he stopped and whiled it back toward the chimeta as he reached for his chainsword.
His hand slippery with blood met the leather grip and he pulled the weapon free. He wheeled the horse to see the greenskins chambering onto the chimera.
He took a sharp breath at the pain in his left arm and leg, the hot wetness he felt there. He wasn't finished with these beasts quite yet.

He had the blade half unsheathed when he thought of a better idead and let it slide home back into it's sheath, instead he reached into the pouch at his hip and pulled free a blasting egg. He knew enough to know that the armour of the vehicle should protect it from the fragmentation bomb, he spured his horse back towards the chimera and pulled the pin free and hurled the egg towards the beasts.

Simond watched the grenade bounce off the top of the vehicle's hull, fly into, bounce again and skitter off the far side of the vehicle. A few moments the blast resounded. His hand went back to the chainsword. It would be the messy way afterall.

Inside the Chimera, Njal can hear the turret servos scream, as one of the Orks starts to wrestle with the autocannon. From the sound of it the other one seems to try and climb up on the turret to hurl the hatch open, as the St. Paulus trooper can see the lock mechanism wiggle a bit, before the brute starts pounding on the metal with something big, heavy and sharp. The metal already starts to bulge in a bit, as you can make out the "pling" of something being thrown at the Chimera hull and bouncing off of it.

Simonds grenade bounces of the Chimera plate, jumping up and over the turret, far from where he intended to aim between the Orks. The blast engulfes the one standing on top of the turret in a cloud of flames and shrappnell, tearing him into pieces. The metal shards also seem to have hit the large ammobelt across his chest, as a whole bunch of slugs and bullets start flying into all directions. Simond and Balwin manage to duck away more or less - or to be honest their steeds do so instinctively and they just cling on to them - but the remaining Greenskin is pierced multiple times, goes to his knees and starts to faint from blood loss. As he tumbles down, Erc sets the Chimera a metre back, letting him roll to the ground, just to reverse the transport and crunch him with a nasty "SQUISHHH" under the tracks.


Inside the chimera you can hear an explosion shake the hull from somewhere behind the turret, followed shortly by a series of bangs from atop the turret and the sound of two large bodies falling on the armor. Erc drives the Chimera in a short back and forth motion and comments "that should deal with that frakker!". The banging on the turret hatch has stopped, but it is deformed from the beating and the explosions and Njal realizes that it won't open any time soon. Also the Autocannon might be in need of realignment and he might have to adjust his aim a bit.


"Damit!" Tambo curses under his breath, as he misses the Grot attacking him by a hairs breath and barely manages to duck into cover on the return fire "I'm kind of pinned here!"

Through the combead, Wyona orders "Njal, Erc? Try to get the Cogboy on a position so that he can see what we are dealing with on the main alley. Maybe he can spot a weakpoint. Adamo, Malakai: Go Grot hunting. Tambo has a grenade launcher, he mustn't waste his shots on the smaller buggers and focus on the big stuff. Poncho, what's the situation over at your place?"

Towards Teodore she says "Come on, we join with the others near the Chimera" before picking up the autocannon with him. The two Brontians climb over the wall to try and hunt down the smaller Xenos and get them of your backs.

Edit: Kraitus hears the orders from the imperial soldiers NCO, tactfully ignoring the nickname the common guardsmen tend to use for the Omnissiahs most holy servants. The idea to get a look on the orkish machine-abomination seems valid on a tactical level but rather uncomfortable on a spiritual one. Looking at the battered transport he notices that the large hatches on top of the troop compartment have buckled in a bit from the grenade blast. Not enough to loose its protective function but the environmental seal is definitly compromised.

Njal pressed the comm-bead into his ear, in all the noise it was tough to make out what the Sarge was saying. He got the jist of it though.

He tapped the intercomm, "Erc, did you copy that?" Two clicks back indicated an affirmative.

Njal toggled the gun a bit and realized that it was not aligned properly anymore. That could be an issue. He turned and bent and shouted into the back of the Rig.

"Tech-priest, what can you do about this auto-cannon alignment. I feel it's spiritual sanctity has been impinged upon," Njal hoped the cog-boy was even paying attention to him.

It was a miracle of the emperor. His throw had been poor but both Orks were dead.
He could not have a prayed for a better resuly so he made the sign of the aquila and then moved himself into cover and took a few bandages and some salve from one of the horse's leather paniers.

Poncho saw the lone Ork coming his way, he swung the Lascannons towards the filthy Greenskin, but then the voice of his instructor ran in his mind, chidding him for the ammo expenditure he was about to commit. The large, heavy weapon was swung aside and he reached for his Longlas and took aim.

His target was in partial cover, with most of his right side hidden, Poncho compensated by aiming for the left lung, resting the weapon on the turret's cuppola and taking aim before firing a single bright red beam. It smacked its target with full force. Not quite enough to kill it, much to the Kriegsman's disapointment, those Xenos never went down easily, but the shot certainly had an effect, he saw the Ork stumble and stop dead in its tracks, the lung was likely a burnt out, ruined mess. The faceless man took aim for the follow up shot.

Ponchos shot gives him room to breath again and atop of that, taking the Greenskins breath away will keep him from shouting and alarming the others of Ponchos presence. As he tries to hide himself, the Krieger does not get a good view of the big tank at the moment, but from the sound of it, it seems to have just passed the wall and entered the compound. Unfortunatly the behemoth seems to be a battle taxi as much as a battle tank, as the shouting indicates a couple of warriors disembarking.

Theodore and Wyona run along the walkway and finally reach its end, suddenly facing Simond and Balwin, who are reeling their horses around. The two cavalrymen can take a glance around the corner and make out another one of the really big "Nobs" leading a couple of the "normal" sized Xenos into the alley. Behind them and still a bit in the distance they get an impression of some really big, hulking mountain of metal slowly croaching into the refinery, underlined by the sound of the usual very enthusiastic, but unaimed stubberfire of the enemy.

Erc does his best to turn the Chimera around again, so that the better armored front faces the entry of the alley, from where they have to expect the hopefully last wave of Orks. Your position is not really bad, the promethium wells to your right giving you some cover and the alley itself forcing any infantry storming in into a nice firing arch, but when the big tank manages to get line of sight with its big guns or even worse if the orks decide they don't really mind the risk of blowing up half the refinery by wildly shooting into the promethium tubes running around everywhere, things might go downhill pretty fast.
Pointed towards the autocannon, Kraitus can only agree that the weapon is misaligned. Fixing that would require him to exit the vehicle and get to the turret weapon from outsite, which seems quite risky at the moment. The alternative quick and dirty workaround would be to missalign Njals optics the same way, so that gun and gunner sight are parallel again. May the Omnissiah forgive such an act of imperfection of the machine...


Between them, Tambo, Malakai and Adamo manage to put the Grot attacking the Askari into a crossfire, bringing the little, already wounded creature down. While the Brontians immediately turn around, to try and hunt down the last of the smaller Xenos to keep your backs free, Tambo takes a look through his Longlas-sight, while M'Gele prepares the Grenade launcher again. "I can't see a lot right now. Looks like a really big heap of metal on tracks. A big turret with a gun on top, but I can't really see the hull from here."

Teodore looks out and with a nod from Wyona helps get the autocannon in position. "Ok I guess if any green thing pops its head out then let's let loose with our big cannon eh?"

[Chimera + Theodore with his Autocannon declare overwatch on the entry of the allies]

Simond could see the large machine approaching along with the new group of orks. that would soon become a maelstorm and he had no wish to be anywhere near there when his comrades opened fire. Or when that machine did.

From what he remembered of the layout of the complex, he might find a way through the cluster of storage tanks and the building where all the pipes seem to feed to (refinery).

He turned his horse south and started towards the southern perimeter of the complex.

Erc completes the turn of the Chimera, facing the more heavily armored front towards the entry of the alley and backs the transport back as much as feasible to scrap as much cover as he can out of the Promethium wells. For now that keeps you out of the line of sight of the biggest turret of the crazy ork tank, but one of the smaller ones on the front as well as a sponson get into view. The sponson houses some crude mechanism involving a thick rubber hose and a pilot flame, but the Ork manning it seems to have enough sense not to shoot for the Chimera that is so close to the combustible pipes, instead trailing the alley and waiting how the charge of the Ork-Infantry turns out.

The smaller turret is armed with two big shootas and aims for the Chimeras turret, peppering it with a hail of slugs and stubber rounds, which the reliable imperial armour resists valiantly. Should they reaim towards Teodore and Wyona, both will be in big trouble though.

The Big Nob and the three orks following him - strangely armed, more veteran looking guys holding so called Deffguns - surge forward, while some more of them seem to exit from the Superheavy vehicle to join the fray. Not wanting to appear weak or coward, the Nob urges them on to charge forward, meeting the overlapping fields of fire from Teodors and Njals Autocannons head on.

The Imperial Autocannons bark their stakkato towards the Xenos menace, assisted by the Heavy stubber manned by Kraitus Servitor, drowning the Orks in a hail of projectiles. Even the mindlessly hulking beasts duck into cover under such withering punishment, but not before the Autocannon rounds from the Chimera turret wound two of them. A single exeptionally brave or dumb looter (a metal plate covering an earlier, massive head wound implies the later) manages to duck the worst of the incoming fire, throws himself towards the southern alley wall and keeps going, trying to charge Wyona and Teodore, while firing his deffgun on the move, the shot going wildly of target as expected. He will reach them any moment though. Just the opportunity for Simond to again safe the day or in this case, his Sarge and Medic, and keep the cannon firing.



Poncho orders his Servitor to slowly pull the Tauros forward and suddenly sees an opening in between the living quarter stacks, were some bridges span from one stack to the next. It's not much, but Emperor willing he might be able to sneak a shot through this opening without exposing himself to most of the guns of the superheavy tank. Sending a prayer to the emperor he waits a brink of a second as indeed the left front tip of its massive tracks gets into view. Taking aim he prepares for one shot - maybe the shot of his lifetime - going for the front drive wheel and slowly depressing the trigger...


Up in his hideout, Tambo has meanwhile changed back to the grenade launcher, turned the rotary magazine to one of his three halucinogenic grenades frantically looking for as big as an entry point as he can find on the crazily wielded together machine-abomination as he can find. While it rolls forward he can finally see the half-ramp-half-door that the Nob and other Orks on foot use to exit the troop compartment. Kissing the talisman on the necklase around his neck he sends a prayer to his god and sends "here goes nothing..." through the comlink. With a "FUMP" the grenade is send on its way, sailing in a high ballistic arc. "Darn, missed it!" Tambo exclaims, as the small projectile hits the metall beside the door and is deflected. It does roll of right in between the second batch of Ork boys that have just jumped out and releases a fast growing purple gascloud that engulfs them. All three Orks blink in confusion as they inhale the gas, before the first one suddenly turns on his comrades in a short burst of frenzy, flailing his weapons wildly. The second one immediatly falls flat to the ground as if dead, his tongue sticking out melodramitically even though he hasn't even been really hit. The third one on the other hand turns around and sprints back towards the breach in the wall to find cover away from his so called "boys" that are surely out to get him...

The first time Poncho pushes down the trigger nothing happens, due to some short circiut. The Kriegsman calms himself though to not panic, lifts his thumbs and immediatly tries again. Maybe that first failure to response was devine intervention as the moment was not quite right yet, because the double shot that releases this instant is truly epochal. Both heavy lasbolts sneak their way right through the narrow opening between the hab stacks and slam into the sprocket wheel. While the rugged construction does not explode as Poncho might have hoped for, the lasbolts turn the sprocket into a heap of molten slack, burn through the sidearmor and vaporize the gearbox under the front armor. The intense heat of the liquified metal also cuts through some of the track links on this side, completely immobilizing the superheavy tank, which slides another two or three meters before grinding to a halt.
One of the smaller turrets housing a rokkit launcher comes into view though and might get a shot at the Tauros if it doesnt move, while on the other side the defenders of the alley will have to keep back where they are, as any step forward would bring them into the crosshairs of the big main turret on top. Regardless of that danger, Njal, Teodore and the others can see that the monster of a tank has grinded to a halt after a loud bang from its other side.

The beast is limping, but its teeth and claws are still very very sharp...

Teodore switches weapons to the autogun and starts shooting at the ork that broke through the suppressing fire and was now charging at his position. "Come on!" he shouts at the charging ork. (Thanks for the updated map, that helped a lot)

Simond sees the Ork crossing his front towards where his sergeant and the healer were.
He moved to put his spurs to the mount, but auto cannon fire started blasting from that alley once more. Instead he grabbed a blasting egg from his pouch and readied to pull the pin from it and throw it at the creature.

Theodore pulls up his autogun, switches to full auto and tries the good old "spray and pray" method. While a good chunk of his ammo clip goes wildly off, the positive part of it is that the sneaky orkboy cannot really dodge the shower of projectiles, with two hitting him in the right leg. The first one doesn't seem to do much to its sturdy physique, but as the second bullet burries itself into the his thick upper leg, it suddenly bends in a weird way as if a bone was shattered inside. While not deadly wounded, this Boy isn't going anywhere soon and also isn't aware enough to return fire on the medic in turn, instead pointlessly shooting some bolts into the surroundings.

The next moment you hear some horseshoes cantering and a krak grenade from Simond sails through the air towards the wounded greenskin. While not a perfect throw, it lands more or less where it should and bursts in a bright flash at the Xenos right arm. The concussive wave throws the already prone greenskin around and shatters something in his bulging biceps, knocking the crude weapon he just tried to use on theodore of his hands. He is still not dead but suddenly much less of a danger for the lot of you.



The couple of greenskins in the alleymouth still remain though, at least without immediate reinforcements, as those are affected by the hallucinogenic grenade Tambo just shot. Njal tries to keep them supressed, hoping for a lucky hit, Kraitus Servitor mindlessly trailing the heavy bolter completely parallel to Njals Autocannon as before. Spraying their targets with a heavy hail of Autocannon and Bolter fire, the two of you try to keep their heads down, while Erc slowly backs of another meter, to stay away from the big tanks firepower and make charging them a bit more difficult.
One of the Autocannon rounds slamms into the nobs shoulder, burrying deep into it and tearing a chunk of flesh away. The shot would have turned a mere human into nothing more than a heap of shattered bone and flesh, but the hulking beast seems to just ignore it. Be it that he really was hit less severe then expected or that he doesn't want to look weak in front of his subordinates. While the looters at his side are forced into the mud by Njals Autocannon fire, crawling for cover, their leader shakes off his fear and jumps to his feet to try and charge forward in between the salvos.

It is in that moment as one projectile from the Heavy Bolter manned by Sparky hits the left looter of the trio right through the eyesocket, exploding in his skull and turning not only its head but the whole upper torso into a spray of blood, gore and viscera, spraying all three with it. The remaining body convulses violently, while both remaining, already wounded orks - the nob and another looter - stare it the corpse in horror. You wouldn't have believed before, that the Xenos were even capable of feeling fear, but obviously they are, as the blank, primordial horror is literally written into their eyes. Shaming their proud warrior race heritage, both of them, as well as the looter wounded by Teodore and Simond, back of screaming, trying to crawl into cover and AWAY, just AWAY from the Chimera, Teodore and Simond. Which definitly gives you space to breath.


Inside the Chimera Kraitus and Njall are aware, that the turret autocannons magazine is almost depleted, with only two shots left, while the hull heavy bolter is still pretty well stacked. Seeing as he has nothing better to do, the Techpriest picks up the next clip and reaches it up towards Njal in a way that he wouldn't get in the way. "Guardsman. Ready to change the weapon clip?" he asks shortly and would complete the reloading as soon as possible, if the Saint Paulus trooper doesn't tell him otherwise


Up above, Tambo takes another shot at the door leading into the Superheavies crew compartment to spread chaos before more of them get out, as he only has two hallucinogenic grenades left. With another "FUMP" the grenade sails through the air, the Askari shooter still well hidden between the tubes of the refinery and not yet located by the orks in the tank. "Come on... come on..." the Askari exclaims followed by a hearty "YES! YEEEES!" through the combead, as the grenade bounces of the doorplate right into the half dark interrior befor releasing its toxic cloud again. From the sounds of it havoc and mischief burst out inside, and only two further orks stumble outside. While one of them seems to be more or less on his senses, the other one screams in fear, haking against his own leg with his axe screaming "DA WORMS!!! GET OFF DA FRAKKING WORMS!" with expectable results.

Njal hears the tech-priest's request and mindlessly nods in agreement. He tries to stay out of the way as best he can in the tight confines.

In that short moment, the ringing in his ears subsided for a moment. His entire body was humming with adrenaline, and sweat glistened across his exposed flesh. He took the short moment to actually breath and mop the sweat from his brow.

One big breath in, hold, let it out. Breath in, hold, let it out.

Somehow he was still alive!

"Yeah we got em on the run now. Take that you Xenos filth!"

Teodore ducks down behind cover and spends a turn reloading a fresh clip into his weapon. When he has a moment he looks around again to see if any targets of opportunity have presented themselves

Simond watched the end of the alley in case the enemy tried another attack. He'd seen more heavy gunfire streak past his position.
'Balwin, make ready another melta head for my lance!;
He ordered.

[old turn]
Poncho orders his driver to reverse before the side turret that got him in its crosshairs can fire and the servitor complies, moments before a rokkit turns part of the hab stack into rubble that falls down on their former position. "Get to its backside and then cross over to the Northeast wall!" the Kriegsman instructs, while he turns the lascannon turret to the right to shoot the tank in the back.

[new turn]
Teodore changes his magazine, as does Wyona with their Autocannon, making good use of the moment of relief in pressure, as the Greenskins that attacked the alley are still shaken from their brothers grizzly demise. As to targets of opportunity your best bet would be to take a shot at those crawling orks, even if they are kind of hard to hit, clinging to cover as good as they can. The superheavy tank seems to be toroughly immobilized, but the turrets are still online, some gouts of flame and stubber fire discouraging you from getting out of your positions towards it.

Balwin prepares a Meltatip for Simond. Up above Tambo reports "Simond, its to dangerous to charge. I have one hallucinogenic round left. I see a small hatch in between the smaller turrets. Emperor willing that will give you room to make it. But I need some time to align the shot..."


Using his Mechandrite and a bionic arm that looked slightly too long and spindly for Njal to really feel comfortable, the Techpriest Kraitus effortlessly pulls the almost depleted clip out of the autocannon and slots in the new one. The ammo indicator in Njals sight switches back to 20 rounds. Njal could take a shot at the fleeing Xenos, but they are crawling and under cover, making things a bit more difficult. So he decides to go for a single aimed shot at the big Nob, that at least has some parts out in the open, but misses.

36 I believe + 10 for short range + 10 for single shot +10 for aiming but no bonus for size as only a normal sized part of Nob can be seen. Rolled a 84 on BS, missed

That leaves Ponchos Tauros speeding up behind the hab stacks to cross the main road through the refinery between the Ork superheavy and the hole it made in the wall to minimize the time the Orks would have to retaliate. As the scout car shoots out of cover, one of its smaller back turrets turns around to aim for him. The sponson gunner on the other side that would also have had the opportunity to do so seems to be affected by Tambos grenades, as its flamer turns arround erratically, spewing small plumes of fire randomly. Seeing as the vehicle is still a gargantuan foe, the Kriegsman decided to wear it down step be step, this time going for the turret that tries to fire at him with two big shootas...

As he depresses the firing button, Ponchos expertise with lasweapons once again proves incredibly valuable, aligning both lascannons shots precisely on the small space between the turret and its ring, piercing right through it, the gunner and, most importantly some kind of autoloader or ammorack within. Whatever it was it explodes violently setting of a chain reaction in the rear part of the giant tank. With a deafening boom, the small shoota turret is ripped out of its housing, flying a dozen meters into the air to likely crash down on one of the habstack-roofs. The ammobelt that was feeding it cooks of, inciting various secondary and tertiary explosions, amongst which seem to be the fuel tanks of the heavy flamer sponson in the rear. A cloud of greenish flames and burning fumes burst out of every opening in the hind-half of the superheavy - through the roof, the hatch the Orks had spilled out and lots of smaller little holes and hatches. Ponchos driver has to adjust a bit to not get caught. Most of the Ork warriors still in the troops compartment are burned to a crisp or smashed to paste, with only 5 of them thrown out by the force of the explosion in a more or less "just alive" state.

As the Tauros speeds forward back into cover - unmolested as the rear turrets are out - you feel an impact followed by a slight bump, as the driver accidently rams and runs over one of the orks that was fleeing under the influence of the hallucinogenic cloud. You can hear a muffled scream "I KNEW IT! I KNEW THEY WERE OUT TO GET ME!".
The main turret still seems to be operational, turning slowly towards Ponchos position. The fact that it hasn't fired so far indicates that the Orks did not want to destroy the refinery, but seeing the devastation Ponchos Tauros has brought, he wouldn't count on them being so considerate any more. So even if you find some cover behind the promethium wells, it seems likely that the big kanon on top will shoot at it, with likely spectacular results.

Teodore points to the crawling orks. "Let's keep the pressure up. We got this!" He seemed almost overconfident in this moment as the ork attack seemed to have been stopped dead in its tracks.

He takes a carefully aimed shot at the crawling orks with his autogun while the Auto cannon lets loose a few shots in their direction.

"OK guys, fingers crossed!" Tambo exclaims and tries to wriggle the last hallucinogenic grenade into some hatch near the remaining secondary turrets. Another FUMP sends the small device flying in a high arc, angling downwards towards the forward hull deck. And indeed the emperor is willing and the gas filled canister slips through some tiny hole were the already poorly build construction has bent under the punishment it received so far, releasing its load into the forward crew compartment. A moment later even in cover the defenders of the alley can see the result, as the flamethrower sponson send an erratical gout of flame straight up in the air, far from doing anything relevant, while the shoota turret begins to just rotate around faster and faster as it's gunner enjoys the blurry feeling in his stomach. "Simond, Njal, now or never!" Tambo sounds the signal to charge forward.



Meanwhile Teodore aims the Autocannon again, firing at the big nob that is still crawling away. As it is partly in cover, he takes his time to aim for the head. His shot is right on target, exploding the fat ugly skull of the leader like an overripe watermelon. The looter beside him - already crazed out of his mind by the demise of its comrade seconds before, is traumatized even more as he is drenched in blood and gore again, going everywhere including his eyes.


Erc drives the Chimera forward, to shield Simond and Balwin from stray rounds, but as a lucky surprise almost nothing goes their way. The main turret is currently rotating to the back, the other turrets are destroyer, have hallucinating gunners or are on the other side of the superheavy and almost all the Orks outside are either delirious or almost dead. So just some stray rounds pepper the Chimeras side armor inconsequentually.

Simond spurred his horse forwards. The moment of glory was upon him, as his horse raised alongside the chimera.
The Ork warmachine was massive. He didn't know what his little bomb would do to it, but he figured that he'd come up with another plan should the weapon fail.

As the hulking form rushed towards him he angled his horse almost parallel to the machine's flank, he pulled himself up in the saddle so that he was squatting in it. As the horse came up parallel to the machine he leapt, he managed to get a hand hold on the some scrap metal bolted to the front of the machine, the muscles in his arm screamed in protest, his boots found purchase on the machine's track links. If it hadn't been for the breastplate he'd have been winded by slaming into the steel behemoth. Simond's blood was singing as he pulled himself to his feet readied the lance and charged across the top if the machine, his leather soled shoes slipping and skidding on the steel but he kept on, above him the main turret was a hulking form, it's guns thankfully pointed away from him for the moment.

Covering for Simond and Balwin, Njal turns the Chimeras Autocannons towards the turret with the twin big shootas on top. The flamer sponsons seem to be a less acute danger, as the cavalrymen should be able to avoid their firing arc now that their gunner seems to be delirious. The St.Paulus trooper takes careful aim and lets loose with the trusty long barreled cannon. The heavy bullets start flying and two of them find there way in between the turret ring and the gun mechanism. While they unfortunatly don't penetrate them, they burrow themselves deep enough in both mechanisms that those grind to a halt and the turret becomes inoperable.



As risky as it is, Poncho drives back out of his cover, to finish of the main turret, before it can blow the refinery to bits. Him driving out alone might give the gunner enough of a target to not fire into the promethium wells, which might as well kill all of you anyway. None the less it is pretty scary to watch the giant main gun aim directly towards the small, fragile Tauros. The Buggy might pack a heavy punch, but it can barely take one.
Meanwhile Simond takes a perfect opportunity or a giant dumb risk - depending on the observer - as he rides close to the superheavy tank, takes a step on his saddle and jumps on its deck plate, his Meltalance still in hand. The main turret is only a few paces away and currently turns its backside towards him...
Poncho has the first shot - his last shot, if he can't stop the turret or avoid the worst of the guns blast - and takes it. "One shot, one Kill..." he wispers as he takes quick aim and shoots another incredibly precise shot

As god as the Kriegsman placed the lasbolts, a Superheavy tank - especially shot at right from the front into the gun shield - is a mighty beast indeed. The first heavy lascannon bolt melts a whole into the thick metal deep enough for a human to put his whole arm into but doesnt really penetrate it. The second one faires a bit better, but the whole it leaves does not look like it will had done much damage... Poncho makes his piece with the Emperor, fully expecting to see him every minute, as the giant cannon aims at his buggy and... clicks. Then clicks again. By sheer luck it seems his Lascannon blast - while not killing the turret - has damaged something important inside. The Ork in charge screams in frustration and makes the once in a lifetime mistake to treat the damaged machinery with a crude big hammer - to which the propellant of the loaded shell responds by exploding and bending the main gun into a shape which will definitly not fire anywhere soon. Also from the looks of it a fire seems to start inside.
The hatches on top are thrown open, releasing thick black smoke and some of the Orks inside try to get out and bring their weapons to bear towards their attacker.

Now this might be Simonds Moment to shine. The turret is already damaged, all it takes now was a bit of luck, to finish it off... He grabs a good strong hold of his lance and charges forward like a mix of madman and hero that would put a tear of you into the eye of any Commissar and slams the Meltatip home into the back of the heavily armed turret.

The marvel of imperial technology lets out an actinic blast and the smell of ozone fills the air, as it melts a round whole with a meter diameter in its back. Instead of his worst fears Simond is not turned into dust by a gargantuan explosion, but his attack sets of even more of the propellant charges stored in the turret as well as some kind of promethium fuel and the fire started by Ponchos shot gets fully out of control, engulfing the Greenskins that tried to crawl out on top and blasting through the insides of the tank. Within the flames and smoke, Simond can just about make out the shape of an enormous Ork with some kind of Servoarm attached to its back, that starts to run into his direction to exit through the whole the Meltalance created. Beside this problem it is clear, that the cavalryman has to get of the ruin of the behemoth fast, as the fire will likely set of secondary explosions.

Turned from the blast of heat and fire and took the few running steps towards the front of the vehicle, it looked like he had a clear run down to the vehicle's front tracks. He hoped Balwin would have caught his horse, and he hoped the boy would be bringing it around.

There is little left for Simond except getting of the burning heavy tank as fast as possible. Behind him he can hear the sound of shearing metal, as the Big Mek widens the whole the Meltatip made to get out of the starting inferno of the turret. The thing is really massive, even bigger then the Nobs you saw before, with a bionic arm with a powerwench that might well lift a Chimera fused to his back. But as formidable a foe it usually would be, explosions and fire already have done quite a number on it. Almost all of its body is heavily burned, almost charred and the bionic seems to have taken serious damage too. Refusing to die just out of spite and rage, the Big Mek still tries to reach Simond and take him down with him, but Njal, Erc, Teodore and Wyona hose it down with all the firepower they can get to it. Whole chunks of meat are torn out of the tormented body and finally it goes to its knees and disappears, as the Superheavy is engulfed in flames and becomes a smoking heap of scrapmetal and grilled Orkmeat.

The only thing left is to finish off the remaining, mostly panicked or hallucinating Greenskins, which by now is more a case of administring the emperors mercy. A hand full of the less affected ones manage to flee into the jungle, but overall it is an overwhelming imperial victory. The refinery might have taken some damage through shrapnell and wreckage from the explosions, but overall it is functional and loosing a superheavy tank will seriously damage the Orks war efforts in this direction. Simond (and whoever else is inclined to do so) was also able to get himself a nice trophy, in form of Ork tusks and even the giant head of a nob that will lool nicely on a spike. As to your own losses you almost came out unharmed, with only Simond, Malakai and Adamo being seriously wounded and M'Gele having suffered some glancing hits.

As the dust settles, you report not only that you are still alive, but even have been victorious to the HQ, which is received with astounishing surprise and hasty preparations for your extraction. (Obviously nobody had expected this to be necessary after the Scions had been flown out.)
A day later, in the morning, a small troop transport escorted by two Valkyries approaches, loading of two squads of fresh Guardsmen to secure the facility as well as work crews and heavy machinery to put the refinery back into full working order. Your ragtag mob is first greeted by sneering looks from the new arrivals followed by disbelieving than utterly respectful salutes, after they have seen the wreckage and slaughter you have caused among the vile Xenos.

After your Chimera and the squad is loaded back of into the sturdy transport shuttle - which provides much more armor, room and comfort than a Valkyrie - you find yourself on your way back to the Garrison and finally able to catch a well deserved break. Your wounded have been patched up professionally, all of you got double ration packs and even some almost tasty energybars as provision as well as a cache of Skrynne beer cans for the ride, that will surely take several hours. You might get some shut-eye as well or talk about what happened and what is to come now. From the comments of the flight crew that saw the wrecked Ork tank you are likely to get some medals slapped on your chest for what you've done. But as you well know fame and celebrity is a double edged sword.
Kraitus joined you on the Valk, mostly to administer what help he can to the poor, damaged Chimera that he tends to tenderly.

Back at the Garrison, your feet almost automatically lead you to what in lack of competition has to be called "the finest establishment in town" to get a drink and celebrate life. The drinking den is already filling up nicely, but you manage to get some spots near the bar.

Tambo and M'Gele are the first to grab a can of beer, open it and toast each other and the others around "Can't believe we survived that! Here is to luck and the sky father!" With a questioning look they check the others and would give everyone who wants a can. Towards Simond they exclaim respectfully "Damn, are all soldiers from your planet such dare devils? Going after a tank with a lance on foot? Are the adamantium balls natural or bionics?"

Teodore joins them in going to the watering hole for a beer.

"To be honest, I don't even know what happened. Wyona and I were just trying to cover our little corner of the place. You guys did the hard work."

"Say Tambo, what planet did you say you from again? The Emperor must have given your people some tremendous fortune. Perhaps it is rubbing off on us now eh?"

Simond enters the bar with a slight limp and a few bandages. And a large ork tusk dangling from around his neck. During the hurried descent from the giant burning tank he'd landed a bit hard. Not that he'd felt it in the moment. He spots his comrades and heads over towards them.

'I was not on foot, I was on the war machine.' He replies with a wide smile as he pops the lid of the beer.
'I figured I was not doing much if I hit the hull. But that big gun would have shells close by.' He explains taking a draught.

Then he raises the can and gestures it to all of them assembled there.
'My fiends. To victory.' He looks to Teodore and Wyona, 'To the Emperor's protection.'
His eyes fix on Teodore 'And to those that might not have chosen this path, but still stand and fight.'

After the toast he looks around the drinking den. 'I think we need some music.'
'Sergeant Wyona if I can rustle up some, would you do me the honour of a friendly dance?' It wouldn't be his first time limping around the dance floor.

Teodore gave Simond a rousing toast when he arrived. "To the hero of Skyrnne. Huzzah!"

At the mention of being in the Astra Militarum despite his choosing he sighed. "I feel good about what I've done. I feel like I helped make a difference. But when this war is over, I want to be here to help rebuild it. This place has a promising future, if only we could push the greenskins back again. That's why I'm going to put my papers in to transfer back to the PDF as soon as possible. Of course, if I get tithed, or I'm already tithed, then so be it. It's the Emperor's will then."

As he gets up to play another song on the juke box he catches Simond's inquiry to Wyona and cracks a grin. "You got to admit he's persistent ain't he Sarge? Well I guess the taste of death hasn't dulled his bravery any eh?"

It took a moment for Poncho to join in at the bar. What clued him as to where his comrades were was the fact that the barracks was empty, and none of them was to be found training around, which would have been the standard set by the Korps.

But he was not with the Korps anymore, and so after a quick visit to offer prayers of thanks to the machine spirit of the lethal lascannons he had used, the heavily armored shape of the ex-Grenadier made its way towards where he assumed his fellow gang of misfits would be.

When he arrived, the drinks where already flowing, he took a spot that slightly out of the way, and went to order a glass of water. The Catachans he had served with had introduced the Kriegsman to booze, but it was never something he developped a taste for.

Poncho was forced to removed his helmet and facemask, it was still something that he did with a bit of reluctance, and those were carefully strewn on the table, as he looked to his comrades.

After getting home, he supervised the Rig getting parked in the bay. Of course, he and Erc offered it blessings, rubbed the sacred ungents where proscribed, and burned incense and prayed for its service. That was how you honored the Machine Spirits for getting you home safely. However, Njal noticed that he and Erc seemed to rush it a bit. Afterall, the rest of the squad was heading to the bar!

After completing their services, the two soldiers hurried over to the Skyrrne's finest establishment.... at least the only one they had access too. He saw Simond, Wynona, Tambo, M'gele and the others there.

"The bar was too damned hot, but at least it wasn't in the jungle", Njal thought.

The St Paulian cavorted and chortled along with his fellows. Now was the time to drink and remember that you were still alive! The blizzard had been weathered, and you could still count yourself among the living. He pranced and preened along with the other drunken soldiers. Tonight was for remembering what it meant to live, as tomorrow you could be with the Emperor's Choir.

Erc was off to gamble at the tables. Njal saw him playing cards with some of the other regiments. He seemed to know how to unwind a bit.

Njal was all too happy to tell battlefield tales to the other soldiers around him, the ones that were willing to listen. He realized that the Greenskins had scared him when he first got here, and to be true; they still did. But now he had bested them, and they were on the other side of the wire now! You could rain sleet on them all you wanted!

Some grumbled about his squad being a bunch of "Glory Boys", "Medal-Heads" or "Just as bad as Scions". Njal let it slide, because tonight was not a night for fighting, but for dancing, singing, and laughing. Black Hats be damned tonight!

Wyona can't help but rolling her eyes about the notorious cavalrymen, but gifts him an honest smile "Of course... if you get them to play something, I'll dance with you. But no funny business, Mister!" she jokes. As the saying goes, fighting and surviving alongside each other has quite some fraternizing effect. It might be debatable if that is a good or bad thing, but either way your sergeant seems to be a lot less snappish and loud compared to how Teodore got to know her first. As Simond drifts away and Teodore comments on his dedication she smiles and nods "He sure is. But it's fine. I had much more unpleasant dealings in my career. At least he seems like a fellow that respects a no when it counts..." now that you come to think about it, Wyona never actually discouraged Simond, even though she does try to keep it professionel between her and her subordinates when you are on duty.

On Teodores question, Tambo replies "from the steaming coastal jungles of Thoth! In the far flung corners of the segmentum Pacificus." but makes an wiggling gesture with his hand "Can't say we are known for our good luck though. But I take what I can get. Its a warm world, not unlike yours, but much dryer. Most of it is deserts and savanas, but there are some nice forests near the poles... And our plants and animals don't try to eat us... at least not all the time." he comments in respect of Skrynne being a dead world. "honestly it's still really weird to be another planet. You start to realize how many things you always took as natural are uncommon elsewhere." as the topic fits he turns towards Njal "You told us you are from an ice world. How do you... I mean... Do you live under the ice? Or on top of it? And what do you eat? Are there plants growing on ice?"
As Teodore seems to be rather humble, M'Gele claps him friendly on the shoulder, trying out a new nickname as "kid" doesn't quite cut it any more "Don't sell yourself short Teddy. You did good, really good. You stood your ground and took down some of the bastards, that's all that counts."


Poncho taking off his mask does grant him some curious looks from two or three of the other patrons in the bar, as a Krieger without his mask is not a very common sight to see. The Barkeep asks back two times if he heard him correctly and then hands him his glas of water with a slightly puzzled look - that was definitly one of the rarer orders around here. He could see Simond going away and shuffling his way to an ancient looking jukebox on the side, while the others were talking. As they notice him, they wave him closer to join them.

Even though the bar - as most of this planet - was too damn hot, Njal at least got his hands on a really cold beer, which helped increase his mood even more. And even though some of the other guardsmen might grumble about the glory hogs, an equal amount seemed to be willing to pay for a round and hear your stories and boasts - more interested in some good entertainment then for the objective truth. The fact that even some Scions confirmed that you indeed were there at the refinery and not lost a single trooper already sets the stage for some awesome reputation...


"No way you brought down a superheavy... I mean, how?" one of the new arrivals asks disbelievingly, giving you the opportunity to boast some more.
Over at the jukebox, two Brontians blocking it look Simond up and down before one of them points provokingly with a knife - which he should have left at the counter, but here you have your Brontians - at the Ork tusk around his neck "How did you get this boy? Found a corpse lying around and though to get some fancy necklace?"