Gairoid Sigma

Princeps Sakamoto Ryuji took a deep breath, his eyes closed as he fought to rein in the ferocious machine spirit linked to him through the mind impulse unit. He could feel the flaring beats of the plasma reactor that served as the heart of Kagutsuchi, the colossal war engine stalking through the broken hab blocks of the once proud hive city of Neotou Magna. The immense Warlord Titan could almost sense the enemy loping through the shatter spires and toppled towers just opposite the ravaged Shibuya District, and it growled, wanting to unleash the full wrath of its Sunfury plasma annihilator.

"Patience," Ryuji whispered in an attempt to placate Kagutsuchi. He shared its eagerness to hunt the traitors, but he wasn't reckless. He knew that the Loyalists were outnumbered and outgunned. Under the Archtraitor's orders, Legio Mortis had landed a full battle group on Gairoid Sigma. Horus Lupercal had acceded to the requests of the new leader of the so-called True Mechanicum, Kelbor-Hal desiring the forge complex just behind Neotou Magna. Only the Titans of Legio Draconis and the Knights of House Yato stood between the Death Heads and the real prize.

"Massive energy signature detected forty-five meters ahead, about 45 degrees to the front," Machida Machiko, one of the moderatii operating aboard Kagutsuchi, reported. "Most likely Warlord Titan class."

"Bring the plasma annihilator to full power," Ryuji ordered.

"Charging plasma annihilator to 100% capacity, aye," Machida Machiya, the other moderatus, said. The Machida twins were superlatively competent moderatii, having fought in countless engagements alongside Ryuji. He had full trust in the veterans, the crew serving as well-oiled cogs in a single machine.

Praise the Omnissiah.

"We cannot allow them to get to the forge complex," Ryuji continued, eying the auspex. A second energy signature had appeared, also looking like it was another Warlord Titan. Unsurprising. As the Warmaster's favorite and one of the Triad Ferrum Morgulus, Legio Mortis was more well equipped and well supplied than most Titan Legions. He wouldn't be surprised to see a third, or even a fourth Warlord Titan. He also had to look out for the smaller wolf-like Warhound Titans that hunted in packs, and the flexible Reaver Titans flanking him.

In contrast, the Dark Dragons could only field no more than a couple of Titans. This was more of a Knight Household battle group than a Titan one. There weren't even enough Titans to form a single maniple. That was why Ryuji counseled caution, holding Kagutsuchi back even while the enemy approached. He would not lose one of Legio Draconis's few Titan engines because of impatience.

"You would think the Praetorian would send more reinforcements to protect a forge complex this precious," Machiko remarked bitterly.

"Lord Dorn has little choice," Ryuji replied stiffly. "Our forces are stretched. The enemy are many, and we too few. We will have to make do with what we have."

"Will that be enough, though?" Machiya asked softly. Ryuji hesitated, understanding his Moderatus's conceern. They had seen the battle reports when they made landfall. Legio Mortis had torn through the hive world's Militia and Skitarii Legion almost effortlessly, their Titans razing entire armored companies and incinerating whole infantry formations. True to their moniker, the Death Heads had sown nothing but death. Even the maniples of battle-automata sent by the desperate Archmagos to stop them were crushed.

However, the forge complex could not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Traitors. A Mechanicum enclave - or was it Adeptus Mechanicus enclave now, after the event that they termed the Binary Succession? - had been constructed on Gairoid Sigma millennia ago, housing a precious Standard Template Construct that allowed the Martian tech-priests to establish an industrial base on the hive world of Gairoid Prime to fabricate legions upon legions of automata. The Legio Cybernetica had considered this a vital asset to be protected at all costs, and though the Taghmata of Draconis IV had marshalled an impressive force of combat automata from various forge worlds, the scale of the conflict meant that this would be decided by Titan warfare. Even the formidable siege-automata of the Legio Cybernetica were no match for the apocalyptic firepower of the Death Heads. Already, fields of shattered Thanatar siege-automata and corpses of Castellax battle-automata lay slumped in the line just beyond Neotou Magna, their desperate last stand blasted apart by the colossal war engines.

Now, only the Dark Dragons and their allied Knight Lances stood against the enemy.

"First contact within engagement range!" Machiko yelled.

"Void shields to full!" Ryuji barked, and the Moderatii responded. The Tech-priest, Magos Deuron Delta, coaxed the plasma reactor, solidifying the protective screens that wreathed the immense Warlord Titan. As Kagutsuchi turned to face the enemy, devastating lances of blinding light ripped out, slicing a hab block in half and hammering into the shimmering barriers. Sparks flew from a console as one of the void shields blew out, but Deuron Delta was already working on bringing it back.

A corrupted Titan lumbered out, and while Ryuji saw that Machiko's assessment was correct, the once proud Warlord Titan was now a shadow of its former self. Patches of putrid organic flesh had grown over formerly gleaming hulls, with giant eyes blinking across its torso. Tentacles flailed from one shoulder, wrapping themselves around the now clawed barrel of its Belicosa volcano cannon. The head that was supposed to house the cockpit now devolved into a skull-like visage, with actual rotting bone protruding from the armored adamantium.

"By the Omnissiah, what is that?" Machiko gasped in horror.

"Matching energy signature and cross-referencing records," Machiya responded tensely, disbelief lacing his usually calm voice. "That's the Mortem Canis."

"What in Holy Mars happened to it?!" Machiko repeated.

"Corruption. Does it matter? We have to destroy the Mortem Canis." Ryuji forced the anger down, his hands curling into balls of fists. Reacting to his emotions, Kagutsuchi brought up its plasma annihilator and volkite destructor. "Let's burn away its void shields first."

"Aye, activating volkite destructor," Machiko replied, breaking out of her stupor and going to work at her console. Her blue eyes hardened, even as she brushed her fringe out of her face, her short black hair matted with perspiration. A second later, a ruby beam speared out and collided against the approaching Mortem Canis. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but the heat rays continued to bombard the now glowing void shields. Then there was a thunderous bang as the volkite weapon overheated the void shields of the corrupted Warlord Titan, popping its energy barriers out of existence.

"Fire the plasma destructor! Maximal fire!"

"Firing!" Machiya responded to his Princeps's order. "Also targeting the Mortem Canis with the turbo laser destructors!"

There was a bellow as the Sunfury plasma annihilator built up to solar temperatures before unleashing a colossal blast that scorched the torso of the reeling Mortem Canis. The Death Head engine stumbled, attempting to swerve aside before the destructive lasers of Kagutsuchi's carapace weapons slammed into the softening armored plates. The flesh caught fire and ignited, turning into an inferno that wreathed its foul silhouette, but still, the Legio Mortis Titan refused to fall. It responded with a volley from its laser blasters, but Ryuji was already guiding Kagutsuchi around a hab-block, using it as cover to weather the tempestuous bombardment.

Both volcano cannons fired, erasing entire civitas towers from existence, but one lance missed completely, while the other collapsed another of Kagutsuchi's void shields.

"How's the restoration going?" Ryuji yelled.

"It's going!" Deucon Delta retorted, harried as he fought to bring the shields back online. "You do know there's only a 33.33% probability of bringing them back, right?"

"I thought you were boasting about the efficiency of your servitor clades?!"

"Second enemy unit heading straight for us!" Machiko snapped, her voice shrill.

"The Lupus Plaguis!" Machiya said. "It's bringing its Arioch power claw to bear!"

The second Legio Mortis Titan was armed for close combat, its power claw resembling one of those Ayakashi that Ryuji had seen in his homeworld of Draconis III than one normally fitted upon a Titan. Its other primary weapon, a Macro Gatling blaster, was now wrapped in rotting flesh, almost purplish appendages curling around its rusting barrels like vegetation. The carapace gatling blasters above its bestial form howled, hurling tank-sized shells at the Kagutsuchi.

"Stand your ground!" Ryuji snarled, knowing that the Dark Dragon Titan wouldn't be able to evade in time. Instead, he held firm and brought up both arms. Already, Machiya and Machiko had readied the steaming weapons for another round of firing, as well as the turbo laser destructors.

All four weapons roared in defiant fury, hammering the Lupus Plaguis and impeding its full body charge. Even so, the Death Head Titan moved swiftly, with an unnatural grace and predatory stride to its sprint. Ryuji had never seen a Warlord so quick.

"Brace for impact!" He ordered, knowing that there was little the crew of Kagutsuchi could do. Lupus Plaguis would gut them with its mutated power claw, eviscerating even the venerable engine. Worse, corrupted power fields glowed balefully around the excessively long talons, sending chills down his spine. Kagutsuchi growled, its machine spirit refusing to accept defeat, but the logical segment of the princeps's mind knew that death was imminent.

And then Lupus Plaguis stumbled.

"Knights of House Yato, charge!"

There was an accompanying cheer as a banner of Cerastus Knight Lancers slammed into the rear of Lupus Plaguis. Moving faster than the Warlord Titan, the swift Knights had maneuvered around the hab blocks and taken the much larger engine by surprise, exploiting a vulnerability in the rear. Weaving through torrents of shells spat by ardex defensor cannons, they rammed their Cerastus shock lances into the more vulnerable rear armor of the corrupted Titan, the shafts crackling with destructive energies that vaporized organic flesh and punched through corroded ceramite. Thrusting their powerful weapons, their arms moving like pistons, they stabbed repeatedly as Lupus Plaguis flailed about desperately, trying to veer around to catch them with its claw.

Then something steamed out of the punctured reactor. At a signal from the Daimyo, Lord Takeda, the banner of Knight Lancers dispersed and fled. Led by Kensei, Takeda's steed, they ducked back into the labyrinthine network of hab-blocks and districts of Neotou before Lupus Plaguis erupted into a supernova, leaving a charred crater.

"Engine kill!" Takeda roared in triumph.

Ryuji couldn't respond, for Mortem Canis was still bearing down on them, the severely damaged Death Head Warlord listing but stubbornly standing. Its volcano cannon erupted in incadescent fury, demolishing a neighboring hab-block and skimming the surface of Kagutsuchi's void shields, leaving a glowing furrow on the barrier.

"Finish it off," Ryuji snarled, and the Machida twins complied. Lasers and plasma slammed into the teetering Titan, bisecting it. With a groan that almost sounded like a wild beast, and shrieks of agony that sounded so very human, Mortem Canis separated at the glowing lines left across its waist, its steaming torso toppling over and crashing to the ground.

The impact must have triggered the already damaged plasma reactor, for half of its body disappeared in a fireball that set the fleshy legs ablaze, engulfing the taloned feet in an inferno.

Ryuji exhaled in relief, turning Kagutsuchi about. As he suspected, the battle was far from over. The void shields had stabilized, but were weakened from the exchange earlier. And he could see more shapes lurking in the storm of dust and shadows. Warhounds stalked out, their plasma blastguns and Vulcan mega-bolters barking as they set upon Kagutsuchi in a pack. Ryuji turned his attention on them, but he was relieved to see the banners of House Yato Knights intercept them.

Accompanied by two banners of Questoris Knights, Takeda and his surviving Knight Lancers crashed into the flank of the bounding Warhounds. If the Warhound Titans were wolves, the Knights were more akin to hunting hounds, smaller but no less deadly when set loose upon their prey. The Warhounds swerved about, more agile and faster than a Warlord, their weapons glowing as they unleashed apocalyptic fury on the courageously charging Knights.

More nobles of House Yato would die this day, but their sacrifice would not be in vain. Lances smashed into fanged snouts, piercing through armorglass and distintegrating the crew. Thermal cannons whistled as they focused melta beams on joints, sending the larger machines toppling over to be picked apart by whirring reaper chainswords.

Ryuji left the wolves and hunting hounds to their melee and focused on the real threat. A third Warlord had exited the gloom, its laser blasters snarling. More void shields collapsed, and a volcano cannon gouged into the arm, almost amputating Kagutsuchi.

"The plasma annihilator is offline!" Machiya reported tersely, scanning the damage diagnostics crawling through the pict-screen in front of him with his brown eyes.

"Void shields are down!" Machiko added, albeit unnecessarily. Ryuji gritted his teeth, wincing as blood leaked from his arm. Sympathetic welts had appeared, and he felt red-hot agony throbbing through his limb, the psychostigmatic feedback causing him to share the burden with Kagutsuchi's wailing machine spirit.

"Fire whatever weapons we have left! Target the enemy with the volkite destructor!"

Machiya hadn't identified the third Warlord yet, but he didn't have to. Right now, it was more imperative to survive...to rally and fight back. Ryuji would be damned if he allowed Kagutsuchi to be felled without resistance. By the Omnissiah, he would deal as much damage to the Traitor as possible before their demise. Perhaps the Knights of House Yato would avenge them, but they were embroiled in their own battle for survival, having disengaged from the fallen pack of Warhounds to confront a recently emerging Reaver that destroyed two Knight suits with its melta cannon. Takeda was even now desperately guiding his Bushi into a retreat, the Knights attempting to avoid direct conflict with the Reaver Titan's screaming chainblade. Rivulets of flesh and a rain of ichor dripped from the hideously mutated weapon as it struggled to unclog itself. Ryuji swore he could hear the Reaver shrieking in pain from the wielding of its own weapon.

It was not alone in its agony. He was seeing red as another superheated blast from the enemy Warlord's plasma seared through one of the turbo laser destructors, causing his shoulder to blister. He bit his lip, refusing to cry out in pain. It would not do for his crew to see their Princeps so weak.

Instead, he focused his hand on the target. There was a hum before the volkite destructor spat another superheated ray, splashing against the enemy's void shields and bursting them in a thermal shockwave. The Legio Mortis Warlord staggered as its void shields blinked out, but it retaliated with another volley from its volcano cannon, seeking to bring down the Legio Draconis Warlord as vengeance for its fallen brethren.

Ryuji saw the thermal buildup in the barrel of the mutated weapon and knew that this would be his last moments. Kagutsuchi growled in defiance, but the venerable machine spirit also acknowledged that it wouldn't withstand another hit from the Titan-killing armament.

And then the enemy detonated.

"What?"

"Friendly contact coming from the north!" Machiya shouted, his calm demeanor entirely forgotten. Ryuji blinked and glanced at the auspex, hearing a familiar voice over the vox.

"Good job, Princeps Sakamoto. Leave the rest to us."

Princeps Senioris Asakura Hiro, bringing the Warmaster Titan Amaterasu to the battlefield. The magnificent war engine trampled through the streets of Neotou, heedlessly knocking over towers and hab-blocks as it brought its formidable arsenal to bear. The plasma destructors spoke again, wreathing the burning silhouette of the enemy Warlord in the wrath of a star, sending the blazing frame toppling over and leaving little trace of the enemy.

"Thank you, Princeps Asakura. By the Omnissiah, you saved us."

"Only doing our duty, Ryuji. And excellent work bringing down its voids with the volkite. We wouldn't have been able to get a clear shot otherwise."

Even though Kagutsuchi had brought down the void shields, a Warlord Titan was still a heavily armored and durable engine that could survive a couple of hits from even a volcano cannon. Yet a single salvo from Amaterasu had laid it low, and a second blast destroyed it completely. Ryuji watched the magnificence of the Warmaster Titan in awe, reminded of the miracles that the Machine-God had wrought to bring such a force to manifestation in the material world.

Meanwhile, the Knights had also dealt with the Reaver, leaving a smoking husk slumped against a half-shattered hab-block. Their number had diminished, but their resolve had not. The surviving walkers were regrouping, rallying around the stalwart figure of Amaterasu. Ryuji made to join them, but the vox crackled to life once more.

"Retreat for repairs for now, Ryuji," Asakura ordered, the plasma destructors of his engine releasing clouds of steam as it turned around to confront the newly arrived forces of Legio Mortis. "Leave Neotou to us. We will hold the line."

A smile curled across Ryuji's lips as he obeyed the Princeps Senioris. No matter what engines the Death Heads threw at the Dark Dragons, they had lost. Even the venerable Legio Mortis didn't have the same firepower of a Warmaster Titan. Legio Draconis had focused on quality over quantity, and Kelbor-Hal and Lupercal had underestimated their foes.

The moment Legio Draconis walked, the fate of the Traitors had been sealed. The Cybernetica automata of Gairoid Sigma will belong to the Loyalists. So Lord Dorn had decreed, and so it will be.

The Emperor, in His aspect as the Omnissiah, was on their side this day.