The Dark Hour



The Dark Hour 

The heat of so many bodies in the room was insufferable! Commander Rovund cleared the sweat away from his brow with a torn piece of cloth. The sweat was stinging his eyes, already bloodshot from sleep deprivation. It had been 60 hours since he had slept, and fogginess clouded his thoughts. Rovund starred down sternly at the comm station once more as if he could change the facts of his current situation through sheer force of will, or perhaps even erase the events of the past 7 weeks.

The timing of war is rarely ideal. The Ork Waaagghh! had caught the Laygus Sector by surprise and with the majority of its combined forces engaged in a brutal campaign against the Tyrannid Hive Fleet Hades in the neighboring Soulson Sector. The Planet of Occular, with its sprawling mega-cities, was the first to fall to the Ork invasion. The magnitude of bloodshed and despair is indescribable, as the planet was home to some 10 billion souls, which now must be mostly massacred, with but a few thousand taken as slaves. Such is the Ork way.

The planet of Occular had been guarded by orbital defense platforms, Ion Cannons, and an entire Imperial Guard legion, comprised of some 100,000 guardsmen, 100 tanks, 50 Valkyries, 5 Super Heavy Tanks and 2 Imperial Titans. Carthage had sent its only remaining battle-ready companies of Red Brotherhood Space Marines, 200-strong, to lead the defense of the planet, along with Thunderhawk gunships and The Protector of Laygus, Lord Herrock, whom was incased in a dreadnaught and the victor of 100 wars. Commander Rovund and his garrison of 50 marines, along with some 25,000 guardsmen, had been told to stay on Xhorik Prime, to dig in, prepare the defenses and await the coming onslaught should the Orks be victorious on Occular.

Rovund kept in contact with Occular during the first 2 weeks after the Waaagh! landed, in between coordinating the defenses of Xhorik Prime. Rarely in all of recorded history, since the Emperor first spread mankind across the galaxy, has such a number of Orks been amassed into one Waaagh!, with the support of immense amounts of wagons, tracks, and walkers. The battles were fierce. Cities fell to rubble and fire burned across the planet.

Rovund was told that Lord Herrock led one last counterattack deep into the middle of the Ork main battle force, and it was said that he met the mighty Ork Warboss on the field of battle. They said the entire earth shook with the blows that they laid upon one another, that Herrock’s courage is sure to become legend. It was for naught, though, as the final defenses of Occular were enveloped days later and the sporadic communications after that were grim and wretched to hear.

Knowing that the main Red Brotherhood armies and their allies had finally scattered the last of Hive Fleet Hades and that they were on their way to Xhorik Prime, Rovund chose to defend the planet in a series of small skirmishes, hoping to lengthen the time he would have until reinforcements arrived.  This meant sending small groups of 1,000 men to their deaths, defending key fortifications and territory, with no hope of escape or surrender, often against tens of thousands of Orks and their war machines. Rovund knew he must keep the fighting away from the heavy industry as much as he could, as its output of Kleinhaurker ore and gas was vital to the factories of Carthage and others across the Imperium.

Rovund had always prided himself on his cunning and strategic planning, and he was admired by the Chapter Master for his intellect. Rovund’s forces were able to inflict heavy losses on the Ork Waaagh!, using their few Land Raider and Leman Russ tanks to the fullest of their potential, before each was torn into twisted metal by the power claws of the Orks. Rovund commanded his campaign from inside the only Imperial Titan on the planet, an older Warhound model, which gave him the mobility and protection he needed to coordinate the defenses across the jagged plains of Xhorik Prime. His troops fought bravely, slowly retreating over 3 weeks of bloody fighting, until their final destination, the fortress-monastery Thorrosin, with its 50-feet-high walls and complement of devastating Vengeance Weapons Batteries. There they waited for the rescue that they hoped would save them from total annihilation.

The sweat again rolled down his brow but this time he didn’t notice. Looking up to face the mix of guardsmen and marines in the control room, Rovund cleared his throat. He began to speak and then stopped, churning in his mind how to relay the news to his brave soldiers that reinforcements would not arrive in time, that the Orks outside their gates would soon kill them all, to the man, in a most violent and painful manner, and that their service to the Emperor was nearly complete.  The incessant pounding on the outer doors sent metallic echoes across the fortress and the horns and howls of the Orks could be heard over the anxious conversations among the troops. This day will be hell Rovund thought, but one that the Empire of Man would tell stories of for thousands of years to come. Pride and poise rushed through Commander Rovund and he lifted his wide chin up into the air and picked up his sword. The men became quiet as they looked toward their champion. Rovund lifted his crackling power sword, green glowing light washing across his scarred face, and began to speak…