As Karpath is lying down on a bed in the Munitorum Dominatus Labo Hospital for the Greater Emperor’s Glory he begins to have flashbacks to his time on Graia. In particular to when he lost his arm.
The sky was a dark color of red and black. With Orks ships streaming through the atmosphere by the thousands. So many of them it looked like ants in a frenzy. The Orks had taken control of the planetary defense cannon disabling any support for the 89th. But none of this broke the resolve of Karpath and his squad mates. They knew that the Emperor was with them.
He was on the front line against the ork invasion. He had been sitting in the same place for the last four days not leaving his foxhole or coming out from behind his heavy stubber. To his right was the squad psyker Canto Zarkov. To his left was his childhood friend and loader Tyruss Partheos. In the foxhole was also the squads medic Erioch Zarath and the riflewoman Acadi Rhia. Everyone else in the squad was dead. His mission here is to hold the line at all costs and to prevent the Orks from getting access to the Titan factories behind him. Karpath knew that the Orks would be attacking soon. He made sure that his heavy stubber was loading and ready to fire. From out beyond he heared the loud shouting of Orks as they charge. WAAAAAAAAGH! Karpath pulled back the cocking handle on his Heavy Stubber as the charging Orks come into sight. He began dispensing the Emperor’s Justice to the foul xenos by the form of large stubber rounds. For what feels like an eternity Karpath is laying on the trigger killing Orks by the hundreds as they charge into the killzone. But the Orks begin making headway, there is just too many of them. As the Orks get closer he pulls the trigger firing at a larger than normal Ork. The two seem to lock eyes after the burst from Karpath, and that is when Karpath hears that terrible noise. Click Click. Out of ammo. He looks over to the loader who gives him the sign that there is no more ammo left. The Nob sees his chance and charges the foxhole aiming for the pskyer who is fighting as if he was the Emperor himself incinerating Orks everywhere. Karpath grabbed a lasgun nearby and begins firing away at the Nob but is unable to drop him before he gets to the foxhole. As the Nob dove for the psyker about to tear him in half, Karpath jumped in the path of the diving Nob taking the swing to his left arm heavily damaging him. But in a remarkable show of strength and toughness Karpath begins fighting with the Nob seemingly ignoring all the hits the Nob gave out. Karpath gets the upper hand on the Nob and finishes him off with a few well placed shots from his trusty laspistol.
The medic came over to look at Karpath who is on the ground slumped over the Nob. The medic determines that he has to take off the arm if Karpath is to survive. The medic quickly removes the arm with skill and precision but causing a great deal of pain to Karpath. Karpath screams out as his arm is taken off and then cauterized by the Psyker instantly waking him from his near sleep state.Karpath proceeds to continue fighting with only one arm firing his laspistol at whatever moved fighting with the fury of the Emperor. The squad astonished that their squad leader is continuing the fight after losing his arm begins fighting on with renewed vigor.
Karpath looked behind him and saw three hulking figures wearing blue armor. With a cheer he shouts out that the Emperor has saved them. The Space Marines have arrived in the form of three UltraMarines fighting with the strength of ten men. The sight of the space marines begins stemming the tide of Orks. But just as the tables had been turned an Ork fired as rocket into Karpath’s foxhole knocking out the already wounded Karpath and killing the rest of his squad.
The next thing Karpath remembers is waking up two weeks later on a ship. He remembers the look of shock on the medical staff when he wakes up way sooner than was thought possible with someone as injured as Karpath. After a while he regains the strength to walk around and learns the fate of his squad and his unit. Karpath unable to cope with that his brothers and sisters were dead cries and slips into a deep depression. Karpath is regarded as a hero to those on the ship, but they are unable to chear up the depressed Karpath. During the trip Karpath is promoted to Lieutenant and is told that they are going back to Sepheris Secundus. It takes a very long time for Karpath to finally accept the fate of his unit. He eventually accepts it and knows to himself that he owes his life to the Emperor for it seems that the Emperor has bigger and greater things destined for the young Karpath.
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