955.M30.
Following the Primarch's command, the First Chapter of the Shadows of Order intercepted the largest Ork asteroid fortress in the Solent system.
On the bridge of the Elysian Guardian, Toby Bandak, now over a century old, had grey at his temples.
He led forty-one regiments, accompanying Arbiter Lord Howard Fender across the stars to the Coronid Deeps to annihilate the invading Orks.
This was not Toby's first time in the Coronid Deeps. Nearly a century ago, during the Rangdan War, he had led the 1st through 5th regiments beyond the light of the Astronomican to seize the fortress Lord Nareth would later name the Fellwatch Keep.
He stood straight, his gaze fixed on the holographic display. Fourteen regiments had already been the first to land on the asteroid fortress.
The Elysians' ability to rapidly deploy on the battlefield was as superb as the Shadows of Order's.
Toby assessed the threat vectors across the battlefield, quickly identifying Sector 13 as the most dire.
One regiment, airdropped into the zone, had suffered a casualty rate of 58.36% before even reaching the ground.
Toby raised his mechanical right arm. His hand had been withered by the Hrud's entropy, forcing its replacement with a bionic prosthetic.
Though he had a mechanical arm, his atrophied nerves could not be restored. His reaction time had drastically slowed, forcing him out of the front lines.
Toby pressed his finger firmly on the holographic image, marking Sector 13.
He pressed the communicator at his throat and issued the command over the vox channel.
"Bombardment of Sector 13. Four waves!"
"All regiments on standby: full-regiment airdrop assault."
"Death from above!"
A chorus of responses came over the comm channel: "Lord Commander, your will be done."
The Elysian ships, black with yellow sun and emerald plant emblems, navigated through the burning, rusted wreckage, closing on the designated coordinates marked by runes.
Toby's expression was grim as he stared at the holographic display.
Hellish, dangerous plasma beams swept towards them, attempting to block the fleet's advance.
The skewed plasma jets, like water from a squirt gun, seemed scattered by the wind.
Toby picked up his datapad, his fingers tapping on a yellow-highlighted section of critical information, finding the specific entry he needed.
'The Orks' fourth asteroid fortress breached the northern quadrant of the Ramilles-class starfort Casardeg, which was guarding the Soshyan Passage.'
'The weapon array type installed in the Casardeg's northern quadrant is plasma.'
Toby's face darkened as he stared at the crooked jets. They lacked the beautiful, symmetrical arcs of human plasma cannons, but they were still deadly.
Threat vectors climbed relentlessly. A thousand threads of crimson static light filled the display.
He turned to his adjutant. "I will lead the airdrop."
"Too-" The adjutant saw his commander raise his hand, swallowing the protest lodged in his throat.
He raised his hand in salute. "Your presence on the battlefield will ignite a flame in the heart of every Elysian!"
"Death from above!"
The engines of the Valkyrie gunships roared as they swarmed from the flight decks.
Inside the Tauros command vehicle, Toby Bandak wore a black military greatcoat trimmed with luxurious gold, gold thread embroidered on the cuffs. His strong jaw was clean-shaven.
He sat with his arms crossed, staring at the skewed hell-arcs.
Rolling streams of red runes stung his slightly dull eyes.
Whoosh!
A greenish glow bathed the driver's seat. The young noble adjutant in the driver's seat spat in disgust.
"Filthy greenskins. Their vile glow eclipses the white-green plasma energy, the blazing lightning."
"Moncigaro, the Orks always find a way to use our technology in ways we cannot comprehend." Toby spoke earnestly to his grandnephew.
"You'll get used to it." His gaze was deep as he looked towards the open hatch.
"Elysia lies at a confluence of warp routes. Someday, you will... face the green tide." The vehicle's violent shaking lent a slight tremor to Toby's voice.
Bang!
The grav-chute opened, the shuddering subsiding somewhat.
Moncigaro gripped the steering wheel tighter. "My lord, I will... learn diligently... from you."
He stared straight ahead, watching a beam of evil light pass from just below his left eye's corner to above his right eye's corner.
A hundred Elysian Drop Troops were incinerated to ash, leaving behind nothing but an ominous, expanding ring of light.
Moncigaro's knuckles went white on the steering wheel.
Toby raised his mechanical arm and brought it down heavily on the back of Moncigaro's hand.
"Don't be tense... Today... our luck isn't that bad."
"My lord, I'm not... tense."
Boom!
The Tauros slammed onto the cratered, uneven ground, bouncing into the air.
Toby withdrew his arm and roared over the vox channel: "Attack!"
"Death from above!"
Countless blue flashes lit the air. Elysians raised their lasguns, firing at the greenskins.
Support gunners spun their heavy flamers, sweeping the area with jets of fire.
Orks roared, struggling forward through the inferno.
Promethium streams blazed. Black smoke rose. The stench of scorched fungus-laced air flooded Toby's respirator, seeping past the filters.
Cough, cough!
Toby released his throat communicator to avoid cluttering the channel.
Crack!
With a sharp crack, the flame stream abruptly ceased.
Toby turned to see the support gunner blown to pulp.
"Four o'clock!" he roared to Moncigaro, leaping onto the vehicle's roof.
Scattered electrical arcs stiffened his flesh. He gripped the handles with his mechanical arms.
Clang!
The Tauros spun. A wheel on the left-rear side struck a protruding piece of jagged metal.
Pop!
The tire blew out with a bang.
Cold sweat soaked Moncigaro's back. His right hand stiffly lessened the pressure on the wheel, compensating for the lost power.
Elysian commanders chose the Tauros not only for its lightness but also for its ability to be controlled and continue moving even after losing one or more wheels.
Bang!
The Tauros lurched. Moncigaro breathed a small sigh of relief.
Then his pupils dilated.
Dozens of Orks, carrying wrenches, were gathered around a massive cannon, jumping and chattering.
Around them, hundreds of heavily armed Ork boyz, bound in rusty iron plates, turned their dull grey gun muzzles.
The pneumatic systems on their backs wheezed. Their gun muzzles clattered.
Moncigaro wrenched the steering wheel.
Scrape!
Amidst the shrieking sound, Toby steadily pulled the trigger.
A stream of fire weaved erratically, but never strayed from the greenskins.
The stench of foul ammonia filled the air. Angry roars gradually subsided.
Moncigaro's eyes widened. Amidst the dancing flames, the Orks were all dead. Not a single flame had touched the crackling, evil-looking machine.
"Death from above!"
The Elysian Drop Troops roared, following their Lord Commander as they surged against the greenskins like an unstoppable tide.
Concentrated las-fire struck each greenskin with precision.
Every shot found its mark.
Airdropped into critical strategic nodes, Elysian Drop Troops often fought for extended periods without resupply.
Accuracy of fire was a key training focus, as important as grav-chute operation.
Toby stood tall and resolute, his banner flapping in the wind.
The yellow-brown tide broke the green tide.
The Elysians had seized the plasma cannon emplacement.
"Jump!" Toby's sudden shout echoed in Moncigaro's ears. Instinctively, he threw himself from the vehicle.
Boom!
Black smoke billowed as a shell slammed into the Tauros.
Moncigaro tumbled, continuing to spin, his bones feeling as if they were being pulled apart.
He scrambled to his feet, eyes wide as he stared at a beast at least three heads taller than any Ork he had ever seen.
The beast wore crude, roughly ground full-body armor, even its head encased in rusted iron.
It charged with a snarl. A cannon was slung across its back, wisps of black smoke trailing from its muzzle.
At its side, a massive power saw whirred.
Whoosh!
A beam of light, brilliant as a star, shot towards the beast.
Moncigaro's eyes lit up. He recognized that weapon. It was the reward from Lord Arbiter Finder for Toby's service in the Fellwatch Keep campaign.
The beast was dead.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
Smoke rose, but the beast did not fall.
'Impossible?'
Moncigaro's eyes widened in shock. He saw, packed within the beast's ragged body, layers of rusted iron. Melted cables sparked and spat.
It had undergone crude bionic modification.
Spurt!
Blood stained his eyes.
Blood stained the eyes of every Elysian Drop Troop.
They had lost their beloved commander.