Kalidar War - Mars Triumphant Versus Lux Imperator: As the main army group began its offensive on Hive Meradon, Mars Triumphant set out to accomplish its mission. The enemy Gargant seemed to be retreating, drawn by the prospect of heavier combat on the other end of the surface town. Cortein's comm-officer suggested using the Navy's guns to annihilate it, but Cortein dismissed the idea because the Cruiser's accuracy would be reduced by the absence of ground-based telemetry and because the Gargant would already have entered the area of Orktown protected by the psychic amplifier.As Mars Triumphant entered a great plaza, a console began to ping incessantly, recognising an Imperial vehicle nearby. Running the vehicle's recognition signal through his console, the comm-officer was astonished to receive a positive match: the unidentified vehicle was Lux Imperator!Despite Brasslock's resistance, the Ork witch known as Greeneyes had successfully pried the secrets to reactivate the Shadowsword's Plasma Reactor from the Tech-priest's mind. Lux Imperator had subsequently been "kustomized" by Gratzdakka's Mekboyz to become one of the infamous Ork Battle Fortresses. To add to the insult, Brasslock himself had been impaled on one of the many decorative spikes added to the Shadowsword to make it more "Orky", his helpless form dangling from Lux Imperator’s chassis.Knowing fully well that his own tank had little chance of surviving against the Shadowsword's Volcano Cannon, Honoured Lieutenant Cortein ordered his driver to take them out of the plaza by the shortest route. Its engine roaring at maximum power, Mars Triumphant turned, seeking cover in the low houses of the surface town just as Captain Exertaxes and his men entered the plaza. Cortein tried to warn the captain about the approaching menace, but the Atraxian officer did not let Cortein speak, instead promising to have him and his men court-martialed for fleeing before the enemy.Lux Imperator finally entered the square, flattening a building in the process. Its appearance was much changed after only a short while in the possession of the xenos. A great iron maw had been welded to Lux Imperator’s front chassis, recreating the long tusked grin of the Orks. Turrets had been added to the Shadowsword's frame, springing up like ugly mushrooms on the tank's flanks. Some had not survived the super-heavy tank's brutal passage through the building, the remnants of their occupants now smeared on the tank's armour.As befitted a great Ork Battlewagon, Lux Imperator sported a customised paintjob, the tank's hull daubed in a garish camouflage scheme, Orkish glyphs running in broad stripes along its flanks accompanied by the Blood Axes' emblem.As soon as it had entered the plaza, Lux Imperator stopped, unleashing the might of its main armament against the Atraxians, killing one Chimera and twelve men in a single shot. Keeping out of the Shadowsword's arc of fire, Mars Triumphant drove along a parallel street, its turret ready to fire at the captured Shadowsword as soon as the opportunity presented itself.In the meantime, the Atraxian infantry scattered, their Chimeras peppering Lux Imperator with their Multi-Lasers, which did little more than scratch its paint. The Shadowsword fired a second shot before Mars Triumphant’s weapons spoke. Low-hulled against the buildings surrounding the square, Lux Imperator made for a difficult target and it was no surprise when the shot went wide.A deadly game of cat and mouse began, with both super-heavy tanks trying to get the best arc of fire on each other. Using the low buildings of the surface town for cover, Mars Triumphant’s turret proved a sizeable advantage over Lux Imperator’s hull-mounted main weapon.Honoured Lieutenant Cortein hoped to somehow immobilise the Shadowsword and destroy it, and he repeatedly had his tank drive through buildings to escape becoming a target. Several times the Baneblade clashed with roaming bands of Orks, blasting its way through every opponent as Imperial artillery began to shell the surface town. In the chaos surrounding them, the occupants of Mars Triumphant did not realise that they were being herded back to the square where the Atraxians had been slaughtered -- and to the Psy-Gargant waiting to face them there.The Gargant suddenly loomed malevolently over the plaza. In a moment of clarity, Bannick realized that Imperial artillery had not stopped shelling the surface town, their shells were merely being absorbed by the psychic shield cast by Greeneyes aboard its Gargant.Mars Triumphant’s Auspex pinged with renewed urgency, picking up the tell-tale signal of Lux Imperator’s capacitors charging to unleash the wrath of its Volcano Cannon. Cortein's comm-officer shouted a warning, but before anyone could act, Greeneyes focused his psychic powers on the Baneblade, trying to kill its crew so that the Blood Axes could claim yet another super-heavy tank. One after another, the crew fell into unconsciousness, blood dripping from noses and mouths.When Bannick awoke, the Sandscum amulet he had been given was burning hot. Most of the crew had accepted Mayor Bruta's gifts, a gift that had just saved their lives. The lone crewman who had not worn one of the amulets was dead, his head having exploded in spectacular fashion. Mars Triumphant had been hit, and the Baneblade's reactor had gone cold. Reading the Orks' intentions, Hounoured Lieutenant Cortein ordered everyone back to their stations. The exterior periscope showed Ork infantry advancing on the dormant tank.With only solar minutes to act and no power, three of the tankers manually hauled the special Lorelei shell from the Baneblade's magazine to the breach of its turret-mounted Mega Battle Cannon. Cortein's intent was clear: head straight for the Gargant and hope the Lorelei shell would act as the Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus had predicted.With a roar, Mars Triumphant’s reactor and engines came back to life. Guns blazing, the Baneblade lurched forward, Heavy Bolters mowing down the Boyz trying to capture it. With pin-point accuracy, the left Lascannon destroyed the last remaining Killa Kan covering the Orks, and the Grennskin the foot-soldiers scattered.Watching the scene unfold from the bridge of his Gargant, Greeneyes bellowed in anger. The Gargant's conventional weapons opened fire, churning up the ground around the Baneblade.  Mars Triumphant’s forward turret, which housed its Twin-linked Heavy Bolters, was badly dented before being destroyed, but the Baneblade's thick armour held, and the tank advanced on its target. Annoyed by the Baneblade's continued survival, Greeneyes' mind began to harness the power of the Orks' gestalt WAAAGH! energy, transforming their ire and battlelust into destructive energy. He hit a prominent red button on his console and a klaxon began to wail, informing the Psy-Gargant's captain that it was time to deploy the Warp Cannon.With a clanking of gears and rattling of chains, the grotesque jaw of the Gargant dropped and the Warp Cannon was run out. Undeterred, the Baneblade continued its advance, the long-barrel of its main gun pointed at the towering warmachine. The Mega Battle Cannon fired and Greeneyes laughed at the pathetic efforts of the "humiez." But his laughter died in its throat as the shell passed straight through his psychic shield, penetrated the Ork walker's armour and exploded deep in the Gargant's bowels.Compared to the size of the Gargant, the shell's entry wound seemed flimsy. Fire gushed from it and the Titan-class Ork walker was stopped in its tracks, but the Gargant's head and weaponry continued to fire at Mars Triumphant. The Baneblade's reactor was hit again, and power was lost throughout the vehicle.All aboard believed they were as good as dead when green fire suddenly belched out of the Gargant's guts, roaring upwards. Wild, green lightning appeared around the Gargant's head. With a loud clap, one of its arms was snapped off, wreathed with the viridian energy.Emboldened by their first hit, Mars Triumphant fired another Lorelei shell, its hull-mounted Demolisher Cannon now joining the fray. The Gargant was soon riddled with interior explosions. Despite the sudden exuberance, Cortein's comm-officer shouted a sudden warning. The Auspex had picked up the presence of the Lux Imperator rushing back to the square just before a wave of green energy spat from the self-immolating Gargant.Mars Triumphant was hit with enough force that the entire Baneblade shifted counter-clockwise, its front badly dented. Green lightning danced along the Baneblade's consoles, shorting them out and causing the hololithic chart table to explode, showering the deck with glass shards. One of the crewman confirmed that the tank's driver had been killed and the Demolisher Cannon was lost as well.With the internal Vox-system out, Cortein had to shout so that the remaining crewmen could hear him. He ordered everyone to abandon the tank. As the crew donned their protective goggles and respirators, Tech-aspirant Vorkosigen insisted on remaining: without him, the tank's reactor would fail and Mars Triumphant would be as good as dead. Lieutenant Bannick was put in charge of the survivors and tasked with getting them to safety. Bannick and Epperlariant carried an unconscious crewman between the two of them.Exiting the wounded Baneblade, Bannick and his small band of survivors crossed the square, seeking shelter in the buildings around them. Human figures waved at them, survivors of Exertaxes' platoon who had fought off the Orks. It was only once in the relative safety of the crumbling workshop that Bannick could see that the psychic shield protecting Orktown was still up, as both artillery shells and lance strikes battered ineffectually at it. All hope of victory now rested with the two men aboard the dying Mars Triumphant -- and their time was almost up, for Lux Imperator had come back to finish its sister off.Miraculously still alive, Adept Brasslock's world was one of constant pain. His mechanical components were on the verge of terminal shutdown and his body was delirious with fever, his wounds having become infected. Seeing Lux Imperator bearing down on Mars Triumphant, his still-human heart was filled with sadness.Out of desperation, Brasslock reached out to Lux Imperator’s Machine Spirit. He felt that the Shadowsword's caged spirit was pained by being so roughly handled by the Orks. He began to chant the litanies of calming, soothing the Machine Spirit. The Shadowsword answered him, through coincidence or a miracle of the Omnissiah, Brasslock didn't know, but Lux Imperator suddenly suffered a catastrophic malfunction. The four terrawatts of energy accumulated in the Shadowsword's capacitors suddenly discharged, not into its gargantuan main gun but through the tank's hull, frying every Greenskin inside of it!With a sigh of relief, Brasslock let go and drifted into unconsciousness.Unaware of the small miracle that had saved his life, Honoured Lieutenant Cortein had descended into his Baneblade's main hull, and seated himself in the driver's seat. Mouthing a short prayer to the Emperor and the Omnissiah, he pulled the throttle and was rewarded by the sound of Mars Triumphant’s engine coming to life. He set the Baneblade on a collision course with the Gargant before crawling his way back to the shell-locker.The air was so thick with smoke and fumes Cortein had to navigate by touch alone. Fetching a belt of Fragmentation Grenades from the tank's small armoury-locker, Cortein headed for the shell-locker where he wrapped the explosives around one of the high-explosive shells. When Mars Triumphant hit the Gargant in an ear-numbing din, Cortein mouthed a final prayer to the Emperor and depressed the firing button on one of the grenades.The resulting explosion consumed Mars Triumphant, lifting the super-heavy tank several metres into the air before crashing back down. As Cortein had hoped, the destruction of the Baneblade ignited something inside the Gargant and it too was riddled with explosions. Debris rained down upon the square and with a loud bang of rushing air, the psychic shield warding Hive Meradon disappeared.