Editing Grimdark Tarzan (section)

== Chapter 8 ==

''Chaos.''

The battle cry of those sworn to the Khorne, the Chaos God of violence and murder was unmistakable, even in its mangled state. Somehow, the gods of Chaos had learned of this bounty, and had come to rob the Imperium of it. Or perhaps the Emperor had seen fit to send His forces to rob the Chaos of what would otherwise had been their prize. It was of no matter, the Imperials could not retreat at this point.

Shouting orders, the Imperials rearranged their formations. Standing at the forefront were the remaining servitors, while flanking them were sisters armed with flamers. Behind them, the stormtroopers were arranged, and the remainder of the sisters formed a solid core, which included Tarzan and Callen. Although he may not have acted like it sometimes, he was still an Inquisitor, and with it came certain expectations and responsibilities. The techpriests were at the back; they would not be able to contribute much to the fight beyond coordinating and empowering the servitors.

To some, it may have seemed foolish that the Imperials would reorganize with their enemy so close at hand, but Khorne was a being who favored head on conflict. Ambushes and the like were not favored by him, which explained the lack of forward sentries.

The Imperials advanced towards the light that promised a clearing, with the Sisters singing a hymn to the Emperor to combat the foul chants. As they broke through into the sunlight, they saw what was arrayed against them.
It could best be described as a horde. It seemed that all of the forces that they had expected to find had instead decided to congregate here. There was no rhyme or reason to the formations of the chaos beastmen, for them it merely sufficed to howl at the enemy and thirst for blood. Many of them were armed with crude weapons,but others relied on their natural gifts. At the center of the great mob stood a giant of their kind, no doubt blessed by their foul patron. It held a battleaxe of hewn rock, and even from across the field, they could feel the malice in its eyes and the stench of its breath. But the Imperials were also invigorated by what they saw, for behind all the foul chaos tainted ''things'' loomed the unmistakable profile of a great ship.

The two forces sized their opponents up for what seemed like an eternity, although it could not possible have been longer than a few minutes. Neither side showed weakness, and ultimately, would not show mercy either.
It was the Lepris who charged first, as befitted the one they worshiped. They met the slow moving servitors head on, and as heavy drills and axes hewed their comrades, others swarmed over the mechanical constructs, biting, clawing and stabbing.

Great gouts of flame were expelled at the mob to try and break the charge, but where before fire had proven to be a potent repellent, the blood crazed xenos pushed and shoved their comrades through the flames. Many were claimed by the holy promethium, but even as their bodies were consumed, others forced them to the ground, using the bodies of their former allies to smother the flames. No price was too great to pay, and more and more made it through the flaming barrier.

Chants of binary came from the techpriests, granting motive force far beyond the norm to their servants, but it was not enough. They were simply too few, and although they slayed many a foul xenos, eventually the tide of bodies wore them down. One by one, they fell to the ground, slaying one or two more of the Lepris by crushing them with their bulk, but others stood over the bodies triumphant, screaming their cries into the air.
Throughout it all, the Sisters and stormtroopers fired volley after volley into the throng of bodies, timing their shots so that they provided a chorus to their hymns to the Emperor. Both were potent weapons, their bolters ended the lives of their enemies while their songs combated the chaos chants.

Tarzan quickly found himself in the thick of things. He impaled a Lepris through the neck, but even as he was drawing his spear out, another sprang at him. He grabbed it by the head, and slammed it into the ground over and over again until it was a bloody mush, but in the time that it had taken him to do that, two more had taken their own crude wooden spears and stabbed at him. The first pierced his shoulder, sending a blossom of pain throughout his arm, but before the second could pierce his heart, its head exploded like a ripe fruit. Looking over, Tarzan saw the smoking gun of the Inquisitor. With a small nod of acknowledgement and thanks, he returned to the gore, stabbing the one who wounded him in the stomach and contemptuously knocking it into the ground.

Sister Janna was locked in mortal combat as well. She had been using a flamer, and so had been one of the first groups to engage the enemy. She had slain eleven so far, but the tide showed no signs of stoppage. She stabbed and stabbed and stabbed, and shot and shot and shot, but there was no end. A sharp claw came at her neck, but the magi had been hard at work fixing that particular flaw, and it found no purchase. Without hesitation, she shot the daring xenos in the face. Covered in the gore of her enemies, she screamed a prayer to the Emperor and went back to the killing.

By now, the battle had devolved into nothing so much as a gigantic brawl. Although the Imperials had the advantage of ranged weapons, the enemy had closed the distance, and the fighting now comprised of close range engagements, with the occasional shot ringing out through the din of battle. The Imperials had superior weapons, armor and training, but the chaos beasts had numbers on their side, and many a time, that was enough. It was then that the chaos blessed Lepris entered the fight. It trampled over its allies to get to the middle of the fray, uncaring of the deaths it was causing as it rushed to sate its bloodlust.

With a blood-curling screech, it raised its ax high in the air and split a stormtrooper in two. The man's armor had offered no resistance, and he died with a curse on his lips. Another Lepris had been caught in the blow, but it was quickly stampeded over by others of its kin, surging to fill the gap in the battlefield. It grabbed a sister by her leg and lifted her into the air before slammed her into the ground, breaking her spine and ending her life. The entire time, she had not stopped chanting or shooting.

"Beast!" Sister-Superior Portia cried, as her powersword beheaded a foe, "Come face me! Face me and die!". Her challenge roared across the battlefield and caught the monster's attention. Shifting its attention away from other opponents, it strode across the tide of bodies, crushing those unfortunate to be caught underfoot. With a hideous grin, it approached the sister, and brought its ax above its head, intending to split her in two with its unholy might.

But it was not meant to be. Shining with a holy light, Portia caught the blow with her sword, and rather than be broken, she held. If she did not know better, she could have sworn there was a look of surprise on the xeno's face. She redirected the blow so that it landed neatly to the side of her. At this, the chaos beast became momentarily unbalanced; it had put too much of its strength into the blow . Seizing the opportunity, Portia unloaded the entire magazine of her bolter into the thing's stomach, causing it to rend and bleed, exposing foul acids to the air.

But the beast was not dead, merely wounded. Discarding the ax, it grabbed the Sister-Superior, intending to kill her the same way that it had killed one of her sisters.
It never got the chance. As she squirmed in its grasp, an iron spear came flying out of the air, piercing its eye. Rather than slam her into the ground, it relinquished its grip out of pain, and she dropped to the ground. She was hurt, but still alive.

"NOW! NOW IS OUR CHANCE! IF YOU INTEND TO LIVE, FIRE AT THE CHAOS SPAWN!" The Inquisitor's words rang out across the battlefield and was heeded by his forces. Choreographed by the hymns to the Emperor, bolter after bolter discharged into the gigantic, tainted Lepris. Flesh exploded in chunks, and blood showered from countless wounds. Eventually, it was too much, even for one blessed by Khorne and the beast fell.
At that moment, it was if time stopped. Disbelief spread through the Lepris ranks as their leader fell.

That was all the opportunity their foes needed. Emboldened by their success, the Imperials engaged the Lepris with renewed vigor. In their madness, the xenos had not realized that they had slowly been enclosed by the "wings" of the Imperial formation, and every shot rang true. The insanity in their eyes faded, and they realized the great cost that had been exacted in their number. With a number of frightened screeches, the Lepris disengaged, fleeing from the victorious humans.

From across the field of bloody slaughter, allies recognized one another, and breathed sighs of relief for every familiar face. This feeling was soon mollified as they caught sight of all those who did not rise, and remained on the bloody ground.

The price had been heavy and paid in blood, but it was worth it. The xenos had been driven from the field of battle and the wreckage of the Greystoke lay before them. It was their prize, and they merely had to claim it.