As we Finnish our 46th game of chess (I'm up 3), I stick my head out. The planet has been growing closer by the day, and although it has been a month or so, things haven't changed. As I look out this time, I see something new.

From the backdrop of the planet, a flash of light expands outward. What had happened? I could think of a few possibilities.

There could be an engagement above the planet, and voidships are detonating. Or perhaps a simple malfunction? I can't tell at this distance.

I don't know about the specifics of this ship, but it's top speed should be far faster. We are likely in stealth or some such. As I drop back down and tell Karros of my findings again, the response was the same, and we agreed.

Too little information, and so we wait. While we waste the day playing, I've not been idle. I got rid of the auto cannon and it's accompanying ammo. The mass there in is going to a multi-las.

The ammo efficiency currently is unsustainable. A multi-las runs off my reactor, and thus, it has 'infinite' ammo. The only problem is, the material ised for my barrels would melt if I held the perverbial trigger. I can rectify this with a change in material, so even if I overcharge the fun, the barrels will stay cool. I could also add heat sinks... Ya. I might even change the crystal...

Anyhow, I've been absorbing some of the wall material, and it is extremely mass efficient. To the point, I could rush the project and accelerate it by months! Most pleasing of all, I've created some of the Armor penetration rounds for my main gun.

I need to make a list of what is needed... anyhow, I suppose I will continue on. Perhaps something new will happen as we approach the planet.

_____________________

About 7 days later and I'm down on wins. This socks. I've gotten complacent... Karros knows my moves. I will need to rectify this! In other news...

HA. I really aught to stop talking to myself. Makes me sound insane. Anyhow, the ship sped up recently, and I need to check things out. As I get up, I make sure alls well.

When I pop my head and shoulders out, I finally get a glimpse of what was going on. It was a void war between... Imperial ship's and... huh. What... are those? Perhaps...

Oh. Shit. Orks. Fantastic. I can guess the timeline off of this alone. In typical ork fashion, they hop to a world for raiding. In typical Imperial fashion, the system defence fleet is trying to hold ground until reinforced. From the looks of it, it's even enough. NOT.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

The imperial fleet looks like it's been through the ringer. From this distance, I can't tell the classes of ship's from one another, but the two fleets are split apart.

There are 21 imperial ship's against 37 ork vessels. While not impossible to overcome, it depends on many factors. And we are heading straight for both. Do the eldar want to pick up slaves in this mess? Thats... well, it's on track to be honest. Sigh.

I head back down and tell Karros the news. "If my assumption is correct and this is an imperial world, we need to do our duty. We destroy this ship while it's in atmosphere, and crash land. I will protect you upon impact. We then kill the survivors, and head to an imperial stronghold thereafter."

"I agree, however, if your wrong?" He asks.

"Plans change. When we get closer, I cam get more information for the both of us. But no matter what, I'm slaughtering these drukari. I swear it by the emperor himself! I've had enough of them for a millenia." I state.

__________________

Two days later. I've been counting, and we've stopped our games. I've been building ammunition, planning, and meditating. Karros has been doing the same. And it's time for my look about. I feel like some kind of ferrit or mole.

As I pop my head and shoulders up and out, I see we've gotten much, much closer. I've been augmenting my sensors and scanners with warp fuckery for the last... 4ish days, and from this range, I finally have a good view. And its... suboptimal.

The imperial fleet has gotten its nose bloodied, and have lost 4 ship's from my last count, bringing the total to 17. The orks though, list an arm. They have taken 10 casualties, bringing their total to 27. Whoever the commander of that imperial force is, they deserve a damn medal for bleeding them like this.

We've past most of the fighting, the only thing I can see is void supremacy fighters duking it out. We are close to the planet, maybe 9ish hours until reentry. I look at the planet, and try to spot anything.

I eventually see a spot on the planet after a while. It soon becomes clear, it's a city. A sprawling city at that. Shit.

I go back down and tell Karros of my findings. "So, it's a populated world, the imperial fleet is playing with their enemies, and were going down in the middle of it all. Hmmmm. Your first suggestion was probably right. We take down this ship, preferably away from the city, then we regroup with imperial forces to assist. What say you?" He asks. I affirm.

_____________________

I feel a sudden jolt from my position laying down. I've been waiting for this for a while. It's go time. I load my APFS rounds, and aim to where the engines are located. Or at least should be. Soon after, I unload.

Unlike my other rounds, these don't detonate on impact. These go through the wall, the wall behind it, so on and so forth. So as I dump round after round at the engine deck, I hear explosions roar through the ship. After 10 rounds, the ship begins to list hard to port, and soon flies into a flat spin. Oh... oh fuCK OH SHIT!

I quickly grab Karros with my fist and buffer him with psykic might to cushion the G's. I hold myself in place as best I can as we spin like a demented top.

oH fuCkiNg ShiT i wISh I coUlD thRow uP! It is a thoroughly miserable experience. And in fact, it only gets worse as I hear the ship rip apart. In half. Mid air. Still spinning. Fuck my life. Eventually, blessedly, I feel the floor, ceiling, and walls crunch inward as the spinning stops. Now, it's just rolling. Each successive impact makes my chest hurt. But, Eventually, we stop. And, with grim humor, I quote my hero...

"Another happy landing... Sigh..."