Blitzog's krumpin'

Sergeant Jenk of the 25th Carthage regiment, Planetary Defense Forces, wasn't sure what he was seeing.

"Uh, high command, do you copy?"

"What is it, Jackal one?" The operator's voice hissed over the vox, laden with static. Jenk winced as a shrill screech cut across the next sentence. "...peat, Jackal one. What do you see?"

"Smoke, sir. Lots of smoke."

"You have to be a lot more clearer than that." Jenk could almost hear the operator roll her eyes. "What's causing the smoke? Wildfire?"

"Hang on, high command...um, it's not just smoke. I see a huge cloud of dust. A duststorm?"

"What do you...?"

Jenk never heard the rest of the question. There was another high pitched shriek before the vox went dead. Clutching the receiver, he stared at the auspex in his Leman Russ tank, The Abridged. His eyes widened when he made out dark shapes within the cloud dust.

Impossible buggies, those that seemed as if they were manufactured solely out of scrap, were hurtling toward them.

The 25th Carthage PDF regiment was hit hard. Hot on the heels of the scrapjets was a Truk, filled to the brim with hooting, howling boyz. The Orks jumped off their ride, with a single Warboss in mega-armor leading the charge.

"Reverse!" He yelled.

"Trying!" Raina, the driver yelled back, slamming on the pedal. There was a squeal as The Abridged jerked before the engines coughed, but the gigantic greenskin was upon them. Swinging its massive axe with a roar, it dented the front hull armor in a single strike.

Jenks could hear yells of defiance and agony as the infantry fired futilely against the speeding scrapjets. The Ork buggies swerved about, avoiding the plasma fire from The Abridged's sister tank, which exploded as a pair of rockets slammed into its side with violent force. Shootas erupted thunderously, the slugs cutting down running soldiers of the Planetary Defense Force.

"Crush them, Raina!"

"You got it, sarge!"

The driver grimly shifted gears, urging her tank forward. There was a satisfying crunch as a boy was run over by the vengeful The Abridged.

Unfortunately, that was all they could do. The warboss chuckled as it raised its axe and smashed another chunk out of the shuddering Abridged.

"This loot iz mine."

Jenk could only stare frightfully at the massive greenskin, suddenly aware that there was nothing between him and his assailant. The Abridged had been peeled apart, and for the first time in hours, he was exposed to the dry hot air of Hamlicar.

"Get zoff my loot, humie."

The last thing Jenk saw was the huge weapon descending upon him, his vision then replaced by excruciating red.

Then darkness.

-------

Ahem, I forgot to say that I bought Cadia Stands and built a new Armored Sentinel. For comparison purposes, here's how he looks next to the old Armored Sentinels. Of course, I need the plasma cannons and the chainsaw because...I like plasma. My Imperial Guard regiment specializes in plasma weapons. So yeah. Hopefully I can get more Armored Sentinels in the future!

Interestingly, the weapons all fit nicely, so you don't have to glue them or magnetize them. Just pop them onto the socket and swap them if you want. I thought it interesting to have all the different options, so I assembled all of them. The plasma cannon is still the default weapon for me, though. But I thought it might be fun to try out the different weapons once in a while - experiment and see which is the optimal loadout! After all, I can't use the plasma cannons when the Sentinel is locked in combat. Oh, well. We'll see.