There was a lot of shoving and pushing as we gathered in front of the gate and I ended up being squished into the middle of the group. I could not leave if I wanted to, the bodies of the other PDF troopers pressing against me as we all presented our bayonets and made ready for the gates to swing open. As the PDF officers got into position, the sound of heavy feet attempting, and failing miserably, to run in unison could be heard approaching fast.

Unable to turn around and look at what was happening, my curiosity was soon satiated as I heard a slightly familiar voice call out moments later,

"OGRYNS, HALT!!" I heard the commissar from earlier in the week yell out. Immediately, the PDF officers were over us, ordering that we split into 2 groups, making a corridor for the Ogryns to pass through when the gate opened.

"Listen up troopers!" The commissar's voice could be heard all over the wall. "When the gate opens, the Ogryns will lead the charge. Once they have fired off their ripper guns* the charge will commence! Remember, pain is temporary, honor is forever!! And when you decide to die for our glorious emperor, remember to grant the enemy the same honor"

The gates began opening and one of the Ogryns attempted to run forward, only to be elbowed in the chest with enough force to misshape the discarded tank tracks that were used to make the armor usually reserved for Bullgryns**. "Not Yet! Commissar ain't given the order yet!" The Ogryn that had thrown the elbow said. He was even bigger than the rest and had obvious signs of cerebral implants. A Bone 'Ead***.

I could see the Orks approaching the walls fast. Their warcries had united into a rolling, neverending WAAAGH****! that went on forever as they charged us. I noticed small flags planted in the ground, extending outwards from the city walls, and for a moment, I wondered about the purpose until I saw that the artillery stopped just short of where the flags changed color from gold to green. The weapon emplacements on top of the walls had not stopped firing during all of this and yet, the orks kept coming.

The gates opened the last bit of way and the commissar blew a small whistle just before my world became a confusing mess of running, pushing, and screaming mixed with the dread of running towards danger and the smell of gunpowder, blood, and ozone. As we closed on the orks we did not slow down. Instead, the Bone 'Ead, on an order from the commissar, bellowed "SHOOT DA GREEN ONES!!!" And the Ogryns all opened fire. The cacophony of noise was disorienting and deafening but I kept running. As the Ogryns ran out of ammo and were directed to change the magazines (light ones empty, heavy ones full) some of them got confused and, in their childlike tantrums, opted to switch grips on the guns to use them as clubs.

Our line clashed with the orks a second later and everything became chaos. The man in front of me fell over with an oversized blade sticking half an arm's length out of his back and I thrust my bayonet over his falling body, impaling a gretchin*****. It still screeched at me and tried to claw at me, but I started pulling the trigger on my Lasgun, making the little body jerk every time I pulled the trigger.

I put a foot on the corpse, intending to kick it off, but halfway through the movie, I got pushed aside by an Ogryn who was busy smashing in the head of an ork with the blunt end of his ripper gun. I managed to untangle my Lasgun from the gretchin corpse and brought it to bear despite the awkward angle and started shooting blindly. To this day, I have no clue how I managed to make the shots connect, but the distraction was enough for the Ogryn to bash the ork aside.

As I scrambled to my feet, I heard the commissar bellowing across the battlefield "TARGET AND DENY! BY OUR DEATHS SHALL THEY KNOW US!!

I managed to spot him further ahead, swinging a power sword with reckless abandon while doling out death with his bolt pistol. "FEAR NOT, THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!" He continued shouting as his bolt pistol was knocked aside by a grinning ork that immediately fell to the power sword, almost cleaved in 2.

"SIR; THEY ARE KILLING US!" I could hear, what I assumed was, a PDF officer cry out over the fight.

"SO KILL THEM BACK!" The commissar bellowed back as he pressed forward to engage the orks again.

I decided I would be less than useless if I entered melee at the current time, so I tagged myself on to the nearest Ogryn and began working as an infantryman would have done in my world. Providing cover fire, watching for enemies closing from the flanks, and suppressing the advancing orks, as much as you CAN suppress an enemy that only feels happiness in the thick of the fighting. The heavier the fighting, the happier the ork.

More PDF troopers saw what I was doing and decided to follow suit, making our small group grow rapidly in number. More Ogryns saw the attention we attracted from the orks and, in their blessed simple minds, they somehow figured out they would do better by joining our group than they would by rampaging on their own.

Slowly but surely, we became a bulwark of ripper and Lasgun fire, our killing potential heavily augmented by the massive Ogryns dealing with everything that came remotely close to us. But we still suffered losses. Men were dying by the handful every minute and there seemed to be no end to the orks. The press of green bodies weighing down on us kept growing and the space we had around kept shrinking, the troopers becoming panicked and uncoordinated, resulting in even more death.

Somewhere deep within me, I felt desperation grow, but next to that desperation a small flower of... Something. started growing and suddenly I found myself shouting far louder than I ever thought humanly possible.

"Protect us, O Emperor, from the snares of the heretic, the mutant, the Xeno, and the warpspawn. In you, we place all our faith. In you we find refuge. In you, we find our avenger. Lead us forth into the legions of humanity's foes with thy spirit and give us the courage and capability to slay the foes in every battle we are compelled to fight, though they last until the end of time."

I could feel the effects of the prayer of absolution in the men around me, as I spoke the words. Their aim became steady again, their cries of fear gave way to screams of anger and hatred, and even the Ogryns seemed to be fighting more ferociously if that was even possible.

I have no idea for how long we fought, but suddenly the flow of orks seemed to lessen and we got enough breathing room for the PDF troopers to deploy grenades, giving us some proper space to move in. The Commissar materialized out of thin air as soon as the explosions went off and helped drive off the last orks by taking direct charge of the remaining Ogryns. Under his supervision and the supporting fire of the surviving PDF troopers, we finally managed to kill off the last orks.

____________________

After the battle had ended and the survivors were milling about, gathering charge packs and other equipment from the dead troopers, I found myself in front of a young man, barely more than a boy. He was laying on his back, cut open from chest to groin so far in you could see his spinal cord. But the only thing I could see was his smile.

It was a smile of bliss. Fulfillment. Knowing that you do exactly what you were meant to do in this life and it disturbed me far more than I will ever admit. After mumbling a prayer over the dead I emptied his pockets for useful equipment. A dead man would not need it anyway. I felt a strange shape in one of his pockets and pulled it out... A harmonica.

I don't know why, but the little instrument reminded me of home and, after wiping it off, I gave it a hesitant try. the tones were crisp and clean, meaning he had taken good care of it. Without thinking about it, I said down next to the corpse of the young man whose name I didn't even know, and I started playing a little tune I remembered from back home. (See post-chapter notes)

At some point, while I played, one of the surviving Ogryns had come over and sat down on the ground behind me. I didn't notice, to begin with, my mind occupied with playing the tune and trying to, I don't know, send this young boy on his way with even the slightest bit of care. I didn't even care about the blinking in the corner of my vision. I just wanted to play this song and remember, if only for a little while. I missed my dull life back home.

Like all things, the moment came to an end all too soon and I had to get up. That's when I noticed the Ogryn, covered in small wounds, with the star-filled eyes of an awestruck child locked on me. Something about the giant human seemed familiar and I took a guess.

"Zag?" I asked hesitantly

"Yes. Can you play again? I like da sounds you make." He asked, oblivious to everything else around us.

"ZAG!" Came the sharp commanding voice of the young commissar. "Stop bothering the PDF trooper and get back to your unit!"

I jumped to my feet and saluted the commissar with the Imperial Aquila. "Ave Imperator, Commissar," I said dutifully. "Forgive me, but I am afraid I am the reason your Ogryn left his unit. I was playing a little tune on this harmonica, you see" I lifted the harmonica for him to see, "And Zag seems to be enjoying it more than the other Ogryns. I'm afraid the fault, even unknowingly, Is mine."

The commissar gave me a critical look before he spoke "I remember you. The strange one. You started praying during the battle and rallied the troops." He gave me a nod before continuing. "Thank the Emperor for your duty this day, for had I not seen that during the battle, you would be dead for this." With that, He turned on his heel and walked away. "ZAG, COME!" He bellowed as he walked away and the giant Ogryn got up and trudged after him, looking over his shoulder the entire way.

I could finally take a look at the blinking notification.

LEVEL UP! CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING LEVEL 2.5 SKILL POINTS AWARDED.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED *to me brothers!* FOR RALLYING TROOPS AROUND YOU WITH THE PRAYER OF ABSOLUTION DURING A HOPELESS BATTLE. 2 SKILL POINTS AWARDED.

PRAYER OF ABSOLUTION UPGRADE PROGRESS 1/15

SKILLS LEVELLED UP: LASWEAPONS, LIGHT. MELEE WEAPONS, REGULAR.

Not bad. Not bad at all. looking over my character sheet, I liked what I saw.

HUMAN. LEVEL 2.

STAT POINTS REMAINING: 7

ALIGNMENT: PURE IN THE EYES OF THE EMPEROR.

LITANIES: 17

AUGMENTATIONS: NONE

LEVEL: 121/1200

STRENGTH: 5

AGILITY: 5

PERCEPTION: 10

WILL: 5

LUCK: 16

SKILLS

FEATS

ABILITIES

Now, where to put all my points?? Perception had served me well so far, but so had luck. The falling over in the battle told me I needed more agility, but I just wasn't sure. What to choose...