The hydraulic ramp of the transport thunderhawk slammed heavily into the silt.
There was no wind or sand, only steam so humid and hot it felt like it would scald one’s alveoli.
A thick scent of rotting vegetation mixed with spore dust slapped against the intake grille; the ventilation fan let out a strained hiss, and while the filters kept most particles out, the stench still seeped into the cabin.
The plants here grew ridiculously large; viscous resin hung from the fronds of ferns dozens of meters high, looking like the saliva of some creature.
“All personnel, disembark.
Establish a defensive line within two minutes.” Tarkus’s voice crackled over the comms channel, as cold and hard as ever.
“Move it!
Don’t keep the Angels waiting!” Inside the vehicle cabin, Tros slapped the driver’s helmet.
The rookie driver named Gar hurriedly shifted gears, and the chimera roared as it charged down the ramp.
Alex hunkered down in the turret, his right hand gripping the fire-control handle.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the vehicle’s response speed was sickeningly fast; he didn’t know what that female Priest had done to this mortal tank, but the joystick’s latency was incredibly low.
“Waaagh!!
It’s the big red tin cans!!” A roar shattered the silence of the jungle.
This was followed by a barrage of gunfire.
Large solid slugs struck ancient stone pillars, sending shards of rock flying, while rockets trailed black smoke, darting through the dense forest like headless flies.
“In the name of the Emperor!
Purge!” Avitus was the first to open fire.
He didn’t need to search for targets at all.
The heavy bolter swept through the densest parts of the jungle, snapping trees in half and turning the Orks hiding behind them into bloody chunks.
Alex watched as a path was “cleared” through the jungle amidst the roar of bolter rounds, his mouth twitching slightly.
This way of fighting completely defied tactical common sense—dressing like a red neon sign in jungle warfare and standing in the open to fire?
But a second later, when an Ork rocket hit Avitus’s shoulder pauldron and only chipped off a piece of red paint, Alex shut up.
Fine, when you’re a human-shaped main battle tank, tactics are indeed redundant.
“Since I’m here.” He glanced at the Ork rocketeers scurrying through the jungle, his fingers moving slightly.
Zzt—!
The laser beam pierced through the leaves.
Alex’s shooting was cunning; a Gretchin had just hoisted a rocket launcher, and before it could pull the trigger, the laser precisely detonated the warhead.
Boom!
A fireball exploded behind the Ork cover.
“Right flank clear,” Alex added casually over the comms.
This efficient clearing of the flanks left Tarkus’s squad with almost no worries from behind, allowing them to plunge straight into the heart of the ruins like a red-hot butter knife.
Then he heard a voice that surprised him a little.
“Not bad.” It was Avitus.
Only two words, but coming from this grumpy fellow, it was equivalent to a letter of commendation.
After advancing three kilometers, the terrain changed abruptly.
Ahead was a massive stone bridge spanning a deep valley.
The bridge’s surface was long since mottled and worn, its railings broken, and several sections of the deck had collapsed, revealing a bottomless misty abyss below.
On the far side of the bridge, the Orks had already set up big gun positions using scrapped vehicles and sandbags.
“That is the only way through,” Tarkus stopped behind cover.
“A frontal assault would incur heavy casualties.
Cyrus, find a detour.” Several newly recruited Blood Ravens Scouts were trying to crawl across the side pipes, but were immediately pinned down by a dense hail of bullets from the opposite side.
Alex looked at the bridge; without heavy fire support, someone would have to risk their life to take out the enemy’s concentrated firepower.
Moreover, the stone structure looked precarious, especially the middle section, which was covered in a spiderweb of cracks.
As a Pilot, he had an instinctive intuition for structural mechanics—this bridge couldn’t handle the weight.
If a chimera drove onto it, combined with the heavy fire from the other side…
Alex’s eyes lit up.
Isn’t this the perfect graveyard?
Vehicle destroyed, people dead, falling into the abyss with no remains left.
Even if the Astartes wanted to save them, they wouldn’t make it in time.
But he did have a standard moral compass, after all; he wouldn’t drag innocent people to their deaths.
“Hey, you guys inside.” Alex opened the internal comms, his voice calm.
“I’m going to do something stupid.
That bridge ahead is a piece of shoddy work; the chimera will 100% collapse it if we drive on.” There was a deathly silence inside the cabin.
“We’ll drive the vehicle up to draw fire and buy time for the Angels.
But this is likely a one-way trip.” Alex tapped the hatch.
“If you want to live, get out now.” The silence lasted only a second.
“For the Emperor!!” Tros’s voice suddenly exploded in the headset, carrying a fanaticism that Alex couldn’t understand.
“This is a glory bestowed by the God-Emperor!
If it’s a one-way trip, then take us with you!!” “No…
wait, you’ll die, you know?” “We are mortals!
Our lives exist to pave the way for the Angels!” The driver Gar also had bloodshot eyes, gripping the controls tightly as he roared, “Just give the order!
I’ll drive this vehicle right into those xenos’ mouths!!” Alex opened his mouth, looking at these high-spirited guys whose brains seemed fried.
Was this the logic of humans in this universe?
He roughly understood now.
“…Fine then.” Alex suddenly roared over the all-channel comms, “We’re going to draw their fire!
For the Emperor!” Without waiting for Tarkus’s response, Alex slapped the cockpit cover: “Gar!
Charge!!” “Hwaaaaaagh!!” Gar floored the accelerator into the fuel tank.
Rumble—!
The chimera’s engine roared like an out-of-control rhino, charging straight out of cover.
Its treads crushed the gravel as it rumbled onto the precarious bridge.
Alex didn’t slow down at all.
He turned the turret forward and fired wildly at the Ork positions, drawing as much aggro as possible.
Sure enough, the Orks went wild.
“That humie’s crazy!
Blow the bridge!
Make ‘im fall!” Countless rockets and bullets rained down on the bridge deck.
Alex could even feel the stone slabs beneath him groaning as the cracks rapidly expanded.
Almost there!
Almost there!
He looked at the largest crack ahead, even starting a countdown in his head.
Crack!
A massive sound.
At the exact moment the chimera reached the center of the bridge, right in front of the pinned-down Blood Ravens recruits, the bridge deck actually collapsed.
Alex’s heart gradually grew calm: Goodbye, you shithole of a world!
Boom—!
The entire section of the bridge plummeted downward along with the chimera.
However.
There was no long freefall.
After falling less than two meters, an even duller thud echoed.
Thump!!
The vibration stopped.
Alex looked out through the observation port and laughed with a sense of relief.
The bridge had indeed collapsed.
But it hadn’t collapsed completely.
That broken bridge slab had wedged itself between two beams below at an extremely tricky angle, forming a perfect slope.
And the chimera armored vehicle was held steady in the groove of this slope, as if supported by an invisible giant hand.
Only the turret and the upper part of the hull’s armor were exposed.
The lower half of the hull and the tracks were perfectly protected by the thick stone slabs.
This was…
a natural defensive position.
“Even this works?!” Alex nearly snapped the joystick.
The odds of this must be lower than getting a legendary on a single pull, right?
But the battlefield wouldn’t give him time to complain.
The Orks’ fire was still pouring in frantically, but now all the bullets clattered against the stone slabs and the sloped armor in front of the chimera, unable to penetrate.
Meanwhile, Alex’s turret was exposed just enough to have a perfect upward firing angle.
“This is…
too perfect.” Alex discovered to his despair that his current firing position was even better than before.
Since he didn’t die, then he could only…
Alex pulled the trigger.
In this bunker of nearly absolute defense, he didn’t need to dodge; he only needed to pick off the Orks on the other side of the bridge one by one, like target practice.
Zzt—!
Zzt—!
Red laser beams shot out from the gap in the broken bridge, precisely eliminating the fire points suppressing the Blood Ravens recruits.
“An opportunity!” Tarkus didn’t waste even a second of this opening.
“Assault squad!
Go!”