The wide, half-circular pauldrons of the Saturnine Pattern Terminator prototype housed teleport-sync modules that linked directly to the teleport transponders worn by the First Company Captain, allowing for rapid lock-on to their arrival coordinates.
The moment the Honor Guards clad in the Saturnine prototypes stood steady on the teleportation platform, light flared.
Relying on teleport synchronization, the Honor Guard in prototype armor arrived at the battlefield far faster.
Their advanced targeting systems instantly locked onto the rapidly moving enemy.
The twenty Honor Guard raised their arms. The reactors powerful enough to feed their energy weapons roared to life, plasma blastguns thundered, spewing beams of equal output to over a dozen Etacarn-pattern plasma guns wielded by the Einhyr.
BOOM!
The plasma blastguns pierced the chests of twenty Einhyr, incinerating their bodies.
Carlo saw two Einhyr swiftly close in on an Cataphractii Terminator. They nimbly dodged attacks and swung the plasma blades mounted on their left arms.
The orange-yellow blades attached to the gauntlets struck the Terminator's armor.
A harsh screech of friction sounded as the buzzing ion blades cut through the steel armor on the thigh.
"Die!" Carlo shouted, raising his arm. The heavy disintegrator roared.
The heavy disintegrator was a relic from the Dark Age of Technology, exdangeous powerful, an rare that in the entire Fifth Chapter on hiis armor was equipped with such a weapon.
The heavy disintegrator beam struck a Einhyr. The brutal weapon flashed as it destroyed the armor at a molecular level.
Flesh and metal were instantly torn apart. The protective armor crafted by Squat artisans could not withstand the terrible attack of the heavy disintegrator gun.
The heavy disintegrator gun fired another blast, reducing the Einhyr to cinders.
The appearance of the Saturnine prototypes on the battlefield immediately brought sudden death to the Einhyr.
In mere moments, over thirty of their finest fighters fell, fewer than a hundred Einhyr remained.
The Champion leading the heartband was astonished. Even powerful Ork warriors would be shattered by their assaults.
The earlier black-armored warriors had inflicted nearly one-for-one casualties among his elite warriors, which had already shocked him. The newly arrived, even larger warriors were beyond his imagination, they instantly shattered his line.
"For the Ancestors! Deal with them first!" The Champion marked the enemies clad in massive black armor and simultaneously reported to the Votannic Council.
"The Shadows of Order have deployed even stronger forces. I will fight to the death."
The Einhyr concentrated their fire entirely on the massive Saturnine prototypes, completely ignoring the much smaller Cataphractii Terminators.
The shoulder-mounted external armor grenade launchers on the prototype suits unleashed their final, remaining firepower as they charged.
Grenades rained down, crashing towards the twenty-one Saturnine prototype suits.
Invisible conversion fields crackled amidst a series of explosions, yet not a single one fell.
The charging Einhyr suffered continuous deadly strikes from the Honor Guard in Saturnine first company's Cataphractii Terminators.
The various ranged weapons equipped on the Saturnine prototypes' right arms roared to life.
Twin-linked assault cannons spun and thundered. A stream of heavy bolts struck the Einhyr, shredding their armor.
Missile pods emptied in an instant. Armor-piercing missiles trailing fire crashed into heavy armor. Explosive shockwaves tore through the Squats' battle plate, hurling their bodies away.
…....
Carlo raised his right arm. The dreadful flame storm cannon attached to his right arm shot a blinding beam, striking an Einhyr.
With a BANG, the thick armor ignited. The fire spread subsonically within the armor, instantly setting the guard ablaze.
Armor and the resilient body within turned to ash in an instant, sparks scattering in all directions.
One-third of the Einhyr fell on their death charge before reaching their targets.
"For the Ancestors!" The Champion roared, leading the remaining of the Einhyr in an attack.
As they swung their arms, the weight of their punches was greatly amplified by shock gauntlets.
Shock weapons, technology lost to the human Imperium, smashed heavily against the ground. Invisible shockwaves surged out, crashing against the prototype armor.
Several nearby Cataphractii Terminators were pushed aside by the concussive blasts.
The conversion fields of the Saturnine prototype suits screeched with piercing noise. Their bodies swayed but did not fall.
The other half of the Einhyr swung their glowing blades, slashing at the massive calves of the black-armored warriors.
Plasma blades clashed against the conversion fields, emitting a harsh grinding sound.
The Honor Guard swung their left arms. Chainsword motors roared. The rapidly spinning blades shrieked as they sawed through dark grey armor, reducing Einhyr to pulp.
Power fists on the prototype suits smashed down heavily.
Heavy fists crushed the heads of Einhyr, pulverizing their armor into ruin.
Carlo took a step forward. His blade flashed with a piercing blue light, cleaving down through the air.
The power sword collided with the Champion shock gauntlet. A disruption field met a concussive shockwave.
BOOM!
Destructive energy forced the Champion's feet to sink into the rock of the Hold, while Carlo's massive frame, its conversion field having weakened the shockwave, only swayed slightly.
As the Champion pulled his right foot free, the "Barbarian" roared in fury. Resolute dwarf eyes flashed with golden sparks.
The "Barbarian" swung his arm. Another vicious slash cleaved the air.
The Champion raised his arm, barely blocking the attack with his shock gauntlet.
Amidst the explosive noise, he lost his balance.
The "Barbarian" seized the opportunity, slashing out with his sword. The energized blade struck the Champion's armor.
The disruption field erupted in blue light, tearing apart the dark grey armor along with the Champion himself.
After annihilating all the Einhyr, the Honor Guard strode forward.
Meanwhile, within the Fane of the hold, three Grimnyr stood before the massive machine.
The Chief Grimnyr Lord sighed and said, "The Ancestor has not yet responded."
Hearing this, the other two Grimnyr Lords furrowed their ash-white brows.
As the only ones capable of communing with the Votann, they had sought the Ancestor's wisdom ever since the Shadows of Order entered the Squatt System, praying for guidance, yet no response came.
They knew this was not unprecedented; sometimes the Votann would answer decades or centuries later.
And in extremely rare cases… not at all.
After a moment of silence, the Chief Grimnyr Lord spoke:
"Lorenzo, you will remain and await the Ancestor's reply."
"We will join the High Kâhl in holding back the enemy."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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