A massive explosion rocked the floor and a giant hole appeared in the wall on the far right, followed by a small flood of Ogryn making their way inside the warehouse, engaging anyone they happened upon in short and incredibly brutal melee combat. Almost as one, the Krieg soldiers switched their focus to the new threat as the commotion caused the various gangs to seize the chance and retreat into more solid cover. Scores of Ogryns all bearing the same markings, They could only belong to one of the noble houses within the Hive, most likely sent to restore order so a defense could be organized or a counterattack on the warehouse could be started.
All of this happened within a few instants and then the Ogryns reached the Krieg soldiers that, unlike their hive-ganger counterparts, responded with the same level of aggression, descending upon the Ogryns like a swarm of angry ants before a group of Hercules beetles. Shovels, bayonets, random lasfire, and more were being used with brutal efficiency, the Kriegers focusing on the joints and ligaments to disable their enemy before they slaughtered them and the Ogryns using their massive size and freakish strength to smash whole groups of soldiers with every swing.
All we could do was stand and watch, hoping for an opening to present itself to our lasgun fire but that never happened. Instead, we heard the dreaded voice of a commissar, "IN THE NAME OF THE GOD-EMPEROR, CHARGE!!" And the press of bodies moved me forward against my will, so I started running along instead of getting trampled or shot. This was not good! Not good at all! Sure, there was a good chance of getting new feats here, but at the same time, there was a very real possibility of death! Ogryns were no joke, If I hadn't already seen them fight orks, I would have known from the bodies that kept falling to the enormous abhumans and their wild attacks. They operated on fury and a joy of smashing things, which was made evident as the Kriegers were being decimated in front of our rapidly advancing firing lines that had been bolstered by regular Guardsmen as a proper route into the hive had been secured and reinforced. Not that it would do much good to prevent me from getting turned into a paste
We were close enough that the troopers around me raised their rifles and started firing as they closed the last few steps between us and I did the same. By some divine stroke of luck, my first stab hit the throat of a raging Ogryn that was desperately trying to rid himself of the three Krieg soldiers that clung to his back and hacked away with their shovels with wild abandon. His frustrated roars of pain turned into a gurgle as he locked his eyes on me and stumbled forward, pressing the bayonet further into his neck where I could feel it cutting sinew and scraping against bone. The Ogryn finally fell over but my bayonet was stuck in his neck and the Lasrifle was ripped from my arms, leaving me without a weapon, and in desperation, I took the example of the Krieg soldiers and grabbed my trench shovel. There would not be time to reach down and try to wrench my lasrifle from the neck of the fallen abhuman, the melee was already unfolding.
Over the roar of the Ogryns and the screams of the dying, I could hear the desperation in the shouted orders among our officers. Things were not going well and our lines were threatening to break. I tried to remember something, anything, that could help us. The prayer! I took in a deep breath and felt the same sensation of my chest swelling up as the last time this happened, only, this time it was my intention, and not a random coincidence.
"Protect us, O Emperor, from the snares of the heretic, the mutant, the Xeno, and the warpspawn. In you, we place all our faith. In you we find refuge. In you, we find our avenger. Lead us forth into the legions of humanity's foes with thy spirit and give us the courage and capability to slay the foes in every battle we are compelled to fight, though they last until the end of time."
I could sense the calm settle over the panicking troopers and guardsmen around me as I bellowed out the words, The speed of Lasfire slowed down from panicking full auto to controlled bursts, and the ones engaged in melee attacked with more precision and less fear, their courage bolstered by the prayer ability I used Even the voices of the officers nearby seemed to gain more gusto and bravado as they spurred their troops forward with renewed energy. Slowly, ever so slowly, the tides turned to our advantage, as the constant pour of troops being committed to this skirmish kept trickling in and reinforcing our ranks. I had lost count of my kills long ago and had stopped thinking about anything other than staying alive and, should the unthinkable happen, take as many with me as possible!
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
At some point, I realized I was screaming incoherently as I swung my shovel wildly in an attempt to keep an Ogryn at bay. Had it not been for the soldiers around me, I would have been turned into a smear on the floor, but as things were, my desperate flailing bought my fellow troopers the time they needed to swing around the lasrifles and send the abhuman to the ground under a torrent of laser fire. Off on the far side of our lines, the Ogryns were attempting to break through with a massed charge, but the heavy weapons teams had arrived and set up their autocannons*, giving the flank the firepower they needed to hold against the brutal attack.
On our side, the ebb of Ogryns from the large hole that had been blown in the side of the warehouse was finally dying down after what felt like days of fighting. My muscles were screaming and my mind protesting every time I forced any kind of movement, but I wanted to stay alive more than I wanted to relax and sleep, so I fought on. On and on and on, until the blood was covering most of my body and dripping from my weapon. A thin, misty, slightly red vapor was covering the area we fought in, vaporized blood from the Lasfire, and the taste was nauseating.
Fighting back to urge to empty the contents of my stomach on the ground, I pressed on, pushing myself to keep fighting in melee, keep dodging the wild swings of the enormous Ogryns. With the amount of death I had helped deal in this engagement, there was no way I had not gained a level, and I wanted more levels, many more. I was woefully underpowered and unprepared for this world, and the only thing that had kept me alive so far was sheer luck, but that would not keep working. Nobody had infinite luck, so I needed to power up, fast!
Finally, bloody finally! We managed to finish off the Ogryn counterattack, mostly as a result of the heavy weapons teams arriving and augmenting our killing potential many times over. The heavy thud of the autocannon fire sounded like heavenly drums as they helped thin out the sea of mutated muscle that faced us.
As soon as the last Ogryn was dead, I started looking for my Lasrifle. Emperor only knows what the officers or commissars would do to me if I lost it. It didn't take long to find, all I had to do was find the place where PDF troopers started appearing among the dead and look for an Ogryn for a lasrifle stuck in his neck. But when I found it, The Ogryn was, to my surprise, still alive, though his life would be measured in minutes at this point. I did the only sensible thing and put a few shots in his head. They might be terrifying in combat, but mentally, they were no more than children, and I couldn't leave him to suffer to death. Some might be looking at me from the outside and see a PDF trooper that had accepted life as a soldier, but none of them could fathom the amount of empathy I felt for that simple creature.
Regiment after Regiment of Guardsmen entered the warehouses as soon as the battle died down and got to work on setting up a new defensive line for the heretics and traitors within the hive to throw themselves at. The defensive lines further back would not be abandoned, instead, they would be reinforced and made into permanent fortifications until the hive had been liberated and Imperial order restored.
With feet that felt like concrete, the stench of death hovering around me, the blood of countless enemies still dripping from my arms and hands, and a great desire to sleep, I slowly trudged back to the temporary barracks that had been set up. Admittedly, it was better than sharing bunkers with your fellow soldiers as the hive provided plenty of space where soldiers could find a bit of peace. I had been lucky enough to get my hands on a large storage closet, no more than a few meters to each side, but it was private, a thing I had missed greatly since my arrival in this world
I managed to get back there and slide the door closed behind me without meeting any officers or commissars. They were probably busy overseeing the construction of the new fortifications, which meant I could catch some very well-deserved sleep. I slipped out of my flak armor and uniform and lifted the covers of my sleeping bag, but I could not lie down, on account of it already being occupied. A mess of red hair and a pair of glinting eyes stared back at me before she reached out a hand and dragged me down to her.
It would seem I still had a challenge to overcome before blissful sleep could, at last, be mine. But was this really a good idea? It seemed too good to be true, and if I had learned anything from my old life,it was that things that seemed too good to be true, usually was!