Baron Olga, the final knight of House Du Pont de Nemours and pilot of the Knight ch Scorpion Sting, cursed the rune panel to his right as it flickered from amber to red.
Ammunition depleted—
The lta cannon had also expended its last drops of fuel, having turned the surging Ork tide into bloody mist.
Just as they had done all day, the xenos scaled the fortifications, and he annihilated them.
He had guarded this landing zone through the night, because he had to.
The thunderstrike gauntlet on the Knight's left arm was active, the air pulsing around the massive fist cloaked in an aura of blue lightning.
The damned greenskins had breached the bastion, swarming around his feet, hacking feebly at the House's sacred Imperial Knight with crude axes and cleavers.
There were no longer any Astra Militarum forces left to drive them back; the final detachnt of Imperial troops had sacrificed themselves nearly half an hour prior.
The sentinels flanking him had long since been torn apart by the xenos torrent.
Friendly forces were almost completely wiped out. He was alone.
Yet the Orks continued to pour forth in an endless tide.
He brought a foot down in a savage stomp, accompanied by a horrific crunch, pulverizing a pack of the vile xenos.
A backhand sweep of his gauntlet obliterated three or more scaling the parapet, their roars vanishing amidst the crackling thunder of the fist's terrifying energy discharge.
Another backhand pulverized two more Orks.
As mighty as he was, Olga knew he was not invulnerable.
His Imperial Knight's armor was fragnted from the sustained damage, the House's aquamarine heraldry marred by cracks and craters.
The Knight's pain flowed into his consciousness through the neural pathways of the command Throne. Over a dozen fresh scars and countless lacerations stung his mind.
However, compared to the proud battle-fury of the Machine Spirit, it was nothing.
He would die here, before the sun set, but he would fulfill his House's duty unto death: purging the enemies of humanity.
For he was a Freeblade, a sword of the Emperor.
Imperial Knights were humanity's steadfast and reliable protectors. Peerless warriors piloted these towering chs into the fray.
Equipped with armants capable of effortlessly scattering massive enemy hosts, Knight chs fought shoulder-to-shoulder amidst the vast armies of humanity.
Thousands of years before the rise of the Imperium, fleets of the Martian chanicum had already voyaged among the stars, establishing colonial outposts on distant worlds. Among the myriad colonial assets, Knight chs were highly revered as war machines. Serving as protectors, they stood between the colonists and anything that truly threatened them.
Millennia later, the pilots of these chs had cultivated their own rich cultures, establishing noble councils sworn to defend their howorlds.
The first Knight worlds were established when humanity spread across the stars. They survived the Age of Strife and returned to humanity's embrace during the Great Crusade.
Each Knight world was a concentrated, formidable army, swearing allegiance either to the Imperium's Departnto Internus or the Adeptus chanicus.
Due to their differing allegiances, these Knight worlds walked divergent paths.
Those loyal to the Emperor were known as Imperial Knights; they rely required the Adeptus chanicus to maintain their Knight chs.
The others, who served the Omnissiah, were terd chanicus Knights. Although they also fought for the Imperium, in reality, they obeyed orders exclusively from Mars.
Certain exiled House Knights, or the last surviving nobles of a House, beca known as Freeblades.
Though these wandering rcenaries no longer possessed official affiliations, they still fought for the Imperium. However, they sotis exhibited peculiar traits or would accept employnt from various Imperial factions.
Despite their differing masteries, Imperial Knight worlds and chanicus Knight worlds still shared several commonalities—these planets were ruled by one or more Houses, with all Knights swearing loyalty to the planet's supre ruler, typically styled as the High King or High Lord.
All inhabitants of a Knight world lived within a feudal society. Serfs labored to provide for the nobles, while the nobles protected the serfs from xenos, beasts, and heretical attacks.
Everyone was surrounded by layers of tradition and ritual, ceremonies passed down for millennia. In fact, many nobles sought war rely to escape the drudgery of these rituals.
Knight worlds occasionally engaged in civil wars or honor duels, but such losses were swiftly replenished by rapid Imperial aid.
Another commonality among Knight worlds was the presence of Sacristans—specialized Tech-priests responsible for maintaining the Knight chassis.
These individuals were trained by Mars, well-versed in all knowledge pertaining to Knights, ensuring they remained combat-capable.
Nurous records emphasized the importance of Sacristans on martial Knight worlds, highlighting their role in keeping reactors and weaponry operational.
Therefore, it was a common sight post-battle to see a Knight enter a servo-gantry, imdiately sward by Sacristans. They would spend considerable ti repainting the Knight's armor and repairing various damages.
An interesting point to note was that according to the Chivalric Code, a Knight must not only be formidable in combat but also aesthetically pleasing.
Although Imperial Knights often struck commoners as strange and ancient, they remained superb allies.
Knight Titans were colossal war machines towering over the battlefield. Supported by powerful servo-systems, they charged into combat, punting tanks aside or grinding soldiers into bloody mulch upon the ground.
The vulnerable sections of their limbs and joints were plated with thick, robust adamantium armor. Furthermore, they housed integrated ion shields that could instantly respond to the noble pilot's ntal commands.
Since the Horus Heresy, the need for Knights had only grown ever more pressing.
From the bastions of the Segntum Solar to the fortresses of the Ghoul Stars, from the white-hot battlefields of the Cadian sector to the fringes of the Ultima Segntum, Imperial Knights were at war.
For they understood the stakes of these conflicts: if the Imperium fell, humanity perished. If the Imperium prevailed, they would stand triumphant atop the corpses of traitors and xenos.
For the sake of honor, the nobles forsook everything to join the fray.
Olga had done the sa. As a Freeblade, he accepted the Expeditionary Army's invitation to participate in the purge of the greenskins within the Vorenus system.
Yet, to his surprise, the xenos seed to have grown sowhat cleverer after enduring so many defeats.
Instead of cowering on the planetary surface awaiting their doom, they had constructed several artificial orbital fortress-moons around Vorenus Pri. Each of these fortresses was as massive as a natural moon.
Initially, the strike fleets believed these to be ordinary satellites. But once the landing forces established beachheads upon them, the moons unexpectedly bared their fangs.
Colossal orbital macro-cannons inflicted severe chaos and casualties upon the fleet, while the greenskins hiding within the moons sward out, dividing, encircling, and slaughtering the landing forces.
Olga's position was both the first and the last landing zone. If this location fell, the astronomically costly planetary assault would end in absolute failure.
Thus, he continued to hold the line, hoping for reinforcents that would likely never arrive.
In his heart, he knew the fleet was in a tight spot, completely overwheld, and unable to dispatch any reinforcents for the ti being.
"With our blood, we forge an eternal legacy."
Olga took the House sigil beside him, pressed a kiss to it, and prepared to launch a final, suicidal charge to show these xenos the true iron will of humanity.
Suddenly, a vox-transmission interrupted his thoughts.
He hesitated for a mont before opening the public vox channel—he feared hearing a voice declaring defeat. He did not fear death, but he dreaded failure.
However, the voice that echoed within was new. It was not the weak tone of a mortal vox-officer, but a deep, resonant, and powerful masculine voice.
"Hold the line, Knight of House Du Pont de Nemours. The Astral Knights Chapter has arrived."
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