Kalidar War - The Unseen Blow: Under the cover of yet another sandstorm, the Greenskins had infiltrated the Imperial camp. Worse, it seemed that a large group of Ork stealth-specialists, the dreaded Kommandoz, had succeeded in breaking into the Magnificence. Once inside the Command Leviathan, these infiltrators' first target was the Leviathan's long-range communication array, the sole relay powerful enough to link the Imperial ground forces to their orbital support. The Orks also sabotaged the vehicle's interior security system before dispersing throughout the Magnificence and clashing with patrols of Atraxian Guard Paramount.In the banquet hall, the gathered officers recuperated and called for action. While the senior officers headed to the massive vehicle's command deck to direct their troops, the junior officers like Lieutenant Bannick were ordered back to their units. Alone or in small groups, these officers scattered throughout the Magnificence, each heading in a different direction, hoping to evade the Orks' trap. Lieutenant Bannick followed Commodore Spaduski, both rushing to the long-range communication array. They encountered a squad of Tempestus Scions who confirmed that the communication array had been knocked out.As the Magnificence was rocked by another series of explosions, the Sergeant of the Guard Paramount split up his squad, sending six troops to reinforce the defences on the command deck while retaining two others and himself to escort Spasduki and Bannick. While Spasduki made his way to the astropathic choir, Bannick was escorted to the Leviathan's outer hull and a sally-port from which he would be able to exit.The characteristic sound of Las-fire and the heavy boom of the Orks' more primitive percussion weapons soon told Bannick and his guide, a Storm Trooper named Milites, that this exit was compromised. Milites led Bannick to an exterior service hatch instead that was usually used to control the Leviathan's enormous armoured tracks. Ultimately Bannick needed to drop down the last six metres, but thanks to Kalidar's low gravity Bannick did not injure himself in the fall.As the wind and sand battered at him, Bannick drew his Laspistol. The sandstorm proved a fierce one. Within solar minutes his ears were full of the stuff, its small grains hammering the lenses of his googles like Stubber-fire. With visibility reduced to a few feet in front of him, Bannick fully expected an Ork to jump at him at every moment. Fighting his own panic, the Lieutenant advanced in the direction of the nearest camp. A squad of Guardsmen had managed to mount an effective defence, unleashing disciplined volleys of Las-fire at the Greenskins. Unfortunately, they were so focussed on the enemy in front of them that they did not see the Orks outflanking them. Soon the Guardsmen found themselves in bloody hand-to-handy combat where the Orks had the advantage.For long seconds, Bannick considered helping his comrades, but decided against it: he was a tanker, and would be of greater help if he could get back to the Mars Triumphant and prepare it for combat. The Lieutenant pressed on past the tents of the infantry to the area where the 7th Heavy Tank Company was billeted. As he crossed the park of standing vehicles, he almost stumbled into a lone Ork crouching over the tracks of a Leman Russ Battle Tank.Fumbling with something in its hand, the creature quickly departed without looking back. Once he was sure the Ork would not return, Bannick advanced to check on what the Greenskin had been doing. He quickly discovered the bomb the Ork had planted there, a simple yet effective device of six sticks of pliable explosives linked to a mechanical clock that acted as timer and detonator.Bannick lowered his Laspistol and shot the clock, careful not to hit the explosives before detaching the bomb and throwing it as far as he could from the tank. The storm would burrow it beneath the sand and keep it safe long enough to scramble a team of artificers to safely dispose of it.Scanning his surroundings, Bannick just made out the S-shaped footsteps of the Ork, heading towards the next tank in line. Sheltering himself from the wind in the lee of the tank he had just saved, Bannick activated the Micro-bead incorporated in his respirator-unit, trying to raise his headquarters on the Vox.The attack on the Magnificence was only a feint, the true target was the Imperial force's vehicles. But the raging sandstorm and Kalidar's turbulent magnetosphere meant that no one could hear him. To get through, he would need a more powerful emitter -- like the one on board Mars Triumphant. With a new sense of urgency, Bannick headed to the mesa's central ground where the super heavy tanks were parked.As he drew nearer to his target, Lieutenant Bannick could hear the welcome sound of Heavy Bolter fire, proof that some of the crew were at their post. A sizeable group of Orks were mustering for the charge on Mars Triumphant, but the suppressive fire of the Baneblade's tertiary weapon systems were doing an admirable job of keeping the brutes at bay. Bannick weighed his options.With visibility so low, whoever was manning the gun would be trigger-happy, shooting at the merest hint of movement. Commending his soul to the Emperor, Bannick lurched forward, throwing himself flat on the ground. As expected, a volley of fat bolts passed over him. He rolled in time to see a big Ork bearing down on him from the back. The Greenskin raised a huge pistol, and aimed it at the helpless Lieutenant and pressed the trigger.The weapon clicked dryly, its firing mechanism clogged by sand or its barrel obstructed by Kalidar's fine dust. Bannick quickly lashed out with his sword, slicing at the Ork's leg. The fine blade presented to him by General Iskhandrian sliced into the Ork's limb, just below the kneecap, drawing blood. With an angry roar, the Ork tried to grab him but the severe limp the Greenskin now possessed gave Bannick more than enough time to evade. Leaving the Ork to roar and shout, Bannick turned tail and ran towards his unit.With something approaching joy, Bannick could see that all three of 7th Company's remaining tanks were partially active, their Twin-linked Heavy Bolter turrets constantly tracking. About thirty metres from the tanks, a line of dead Orks attested to the crews' valiant efforts. None of the tanks was moving, their engines doubtlessly still dormant.Bannick approached from the left, sheltering behind Ostrakhan's Rebirth’s thick armour and ducking beneath the Hellhammer's arcs of fire. As he rounded the tank's front, a trio of Bolt-rounds cut into his path, fired from Mars Triumphant’s left sponson. No others came, for even in the sandstorm a man's silhouette was considerably smaller than that of an Ork. Bannick sprinted towards his war machine, and aided by Kalidar's low gravity, jumped straight onto the Baneblade's forward chassis. Climbing around the silent Demolisher Cannon, Bannick finally entered Mars Triumphant through the forward hatch.