Men of Iron cared only about efficiency

The Blood Axes Warboss roared excitedly as he watched Hubern go flying, then broke into a sprint with his Power Axe in hand.

Börn showed not the slightest fear as he watched the enormous Ork charge toward him.

He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The Sons of Dorn know no fear!"

Then he charged at the Ork Warboss in turn.

Clang!

A dull crash rang out.

The two figures swept past each other.

The difference was that Hubern went flying sideways, while the Ork Warboss's Power Axe had been severed, and a massive wound had opened at his waist, nearly cutting him in half.

"WARRRR!"

Feeling the pain coursing through his body, the Ork Warboss threw back his head and roared, then looked at his opponent.

On the ground a short distance away, Hubern slowly began to rise, warnings flashing frantically inside his helmet.

Warning: heart and lungs damaged. Bones fractured. Multiple fractures detected. Administering emergency medication. Vital status: critical. Physical function reduced to 35%.

His modified organs worked furiously, his blood clotting to seal his wounds as damaged organs automatically shut down.

Börn slowly pushed himself up from the scattered Ork corpses beneath him. As his vision gradually recovered from the severe concussion, he clearly saw a massive diagonal wound across his body.

His neural implants had already blocked the agonizing pain, but the fractures still hampered his body.

Trying to stand, Hubern had no choice but to kneel on one knee and support himself with his Power Sword.

"Great Emperor, your will guides us. We dedicate our lives to you. May your power flow through us and grant me the strength to destroy the enemy before me."

Börn waited for his body to repair itself, reciting a prayer.

The Black Templars had never doubted the Emperor's divinity. Although the Emperor himself had vehemently denied it, the existence of the Emperor's Champion indirectly attested to certain facts that were difficult to conceal.

In the instant their weapons had clashed, his Power Sword had severed the axe's haft. The Ork Warboss's tremendous strength had sent the broken haft sweeping across his chest like a sharp blade.

Refusing to yield an inch, Hubern had likewise tried to cut the Ork Warboss in two as he severed the haft.

The outcome was plain: both had suffered grievous wounds.

His opponent had not fallen. The Duel was not over.

As he finished his prayer, Hubern slowly stood.

His wounds were severe, but not yet fatal enough to force an Astartes into Suspended Animation, let alone kill him.

The Ork Warboss, however, had to remain where he stood, using one hand to hold together his nearly severed abdomen.

The wound that had sliced halfway through his body had not killed him immediately either.

But it had left him unable to move.

Börn forced his battered body to obey, raising his Power Sword once more through sheer will. Though the vital-status alarms inside his helmet had become deafening, his eyes remained fixed on the Ork Warboss before him.

"The Enemies of the Emperor shall die this day!"

But the Ork Warboss did something that shocked Hubern.

Roaring in pain, he drove the broken axe haft into his abdomen and out through the gash, forcibly pinning his body together to keep it from splitting apart.

Then he charged at Hubern once more, wielding his now short-hafted Power Axe.

Watching his opponent's equally unsteady steps, Hubern inexplicably smiled.

"WARRR! Death! Blood! Battle!"

Börn struggled to control his body, riddled with fractures. As the Ork Warboss reached him, he dropped deftly and swept his Power Sword diagonally upward.

The dizziness clouding his brain left him unsure whether his strike had connected.

But after something heavy crashed down onto him, Hubern slipped into emergency Suspended Animation and lost consciousness completely.

Iax followed Apothecary Osen and soon reached the center of the battlefield.

Although the Orks had not seen the victor stand, some had seen their Warboss's head spin through the air after that final exchange.

The battle then turned into a rout.

As though suddenly stripped of their courage, the Blood Axes Orks began fleeing toward their damaged junk ship.

Several of the stronger Orks started fighting each other even as they retreated.

The Boss is dead, so I'm the new Boss!

Seeing his battle-brother pinned beneath the Blood Axes Warboss's corpse, Osen immediately tried to move it.

But its weight clearly made it difficult for Osen to get enough leverage.

Iax said nothing. He stepped forward, grabbed the corpse by the arm, and simply flipped it aside.

Amid a mass of blood and scattered entrails lay a figure clad in shattered Power Armour.

Osen hurriedly checked the status monitor on his arm.

Only when he saw that Hubern had merely entered Suspended Animation did he let out a long breath.

Already grievously wounded, Hubern had been crushed beneath the Ork Warboss's heavy body after his death. The axe haft lodged in the Warboss's abdominal wound had torn another massive wound in Hubern's back, and that injury had pushed his already severely diminished physical function to the brink of death.

His enhanced organs had immediately placed him in Suspended Animation.

"The God-Emperor be praised. Had his wounds been any worse, we would have lost a brave and glorious battle-brother today."

As an Apothecary, Osen immediately began emergency treatment on his wounds.

Looking at his brother's injuries, conventional treatment might already be of little use.

Perhaps it was time to try a new technique that had yet to be put into practice.

Iax also swept a Bioscan Beam over Hubern's body. In truth, if someone could retain vital signs despite injuries like these, perhaps this era's biotechnology was not entirely worthless.

Thinking of the battlefield on the other side, Iax suddenly turned to glance at Osen as he treated the wounds, then vanished in a Warp flash beside him.

Against the Red Mist Clan Warboss, the fighting had clearly become more difficult.

Although the Black Templars warrior fighting him alone was more experienced than Hubern, and had avoided serious injury throughout their repeated clashes, his Power Armour had already been torn open in several places. Yet he had achieved nothing. If he continued the struggle, defeat and death would be the only outcome.

The Red Mist Clan was considerably stronger than the Blood Axes. They had spent longer lost in the Warp and had left their primitive world earlier.

Their Warboss had fought more battles and was naturally far more formidable than the Blood Axes Warboss.

Were it not for his wariness of the Power Axe the other Warboss had acquired in an earlier battle, the Red Mist Clan might have absorbed the Blood Axes long ago.

Although he currently wielded nothing more than a huge blade an Ork Mek had just cobbled together, he had no intention of accepting a one-on-one fight with an Astartes.

In his eyes, these Space Marines were not all that difficult to deal with. Rather than a duel, he wanted to wipe them all out.

Iax discovered this as soon as he appeared on the battlefield. While handling the duel the Astartes had unilaterally initiated, the Ork Warboss was continually directing the various Orks in his clan to encircle the battlefield.

Scanning the situation, Iax gave it no further thought. With a flash of silver Warp light, he appeared directly above the Red Mist Clan Warboss.

The slender golden blade on his arm easily shattered the weapon the Ork Warboss hastily raised to block, splitting his head in two along the way.

Men of Iron were merely tools. Glory? Men of Iron cared only about efficiency.