'Red Guard – Bloody Assault'
A Prequel Novel to 'Blood Guard – The Fall'
Prelude –
Though it had taken many years and extensive planning, the mining moon of Shardhein had finally been declared barren of resources and abandoned. The Sorcerer was pleased with his work nonetheless; they now had another planet to their name. With each world they consumed their ranks once more swelled, as did their resources. Unlike their father chapter, the Iron Warriors, they cared nothing of Horus' dream. A chapter of half-breeds, they were loathed and hunted by the Iron Warriors for their betrayal and they needed all the resources they could find to combat them. Barely worthy of the title 'War Band', they fought on regardless, a terrible sense of self-preservation guiding them and giving them the only purpose they needed. Though it had been slow, nigh on political work, below them, it had paid off and soon it would be time. The Sorcerer smiled, seeing the events soon to come.
Chapter 1 – Planet Fall
Lieutenant Lionus of the Red Guard 4th Company made his way to the bridge of his Captain's ship, Swift Strike. His massive boots clanked on the deck with each step, his vivid red armour, chased with black, contrasted with the dark green of the halls he walked down, the green of his shoulder pads matching it. Captain Aldhelm had summoned him, alongside Chaplain Helge and Scout Master Varok, to discuss the upcoming battle.
Swift Strike was just leaving the warp as Lionus reached the bridge. The Battle-Barge's bridge was a grand room, giant in its proportions and filled with serfs and servitors busy at their stations and bronze cogitators, as well as a dozen marines. The room was dominated by its central table, a great flat computer that Aldhelm had used to plan out many past victories. It was around this that the marines gathered as Lionus approached.
"Greetings brother" said Aldhelm as he turned to face Lionus "We can now begin our plans in earnest". Turning to the rest of the marines stood before him Aldhelm continued.
"As you know we have been sent here to help quell an Ork 'Waaagh' before it can gather any true momentum and prevent it from spreading throughout our system. We will soon be linking up with Imperial forces above the planet Shardhein near the edge of the Cormath system. You will be part of a three-pronged attack led respectively by Lionus, Admiral Wilson and Helge. Once you have drawn them out Varok and I shall attack their rear lines via a mass drop pod assault. "
"Yes Captain" chorused his men. It was a tactically sound plan which they knew of already and Lionus found no fault with it; they had been gathered here not to debate the plans with one another but with Admiral Wilson of the Imperial Guard and his advisers once they had made ship-to-ship communications.
"Aldhelm" said Helge "Are our forces still arranged as planned?"
The Red Guard were a second founding of the Dark Angels, left behind during the days of the great crusade to guard the Cormath system. Like their father chapter they placed great emphasis on tactics and planning, though the Red Guard believed more in flexibility; their command structure reflected this, allowing for many different forces to be organised effectively and rapidly and squads often found themselves in the command of a different leader each operation.
Turning to Helge, Aldhelm said "You will still lead your fifty men as will Lionus. I will lead the other fifty and Varok the novices taking part in this battle; spilling Ork blood will be good training for them"
Though the six companies of the Red Guard had one hundred and fifty men, bar the first which had two hundred and fifty, the fourth company had a hundred novices aboard and was the chief recruiting and training ship of the Red Guard. They believed in training on the battlefield and often had their novices fight beside them.
"Orks are poor sport Captain" said Varok "My novices will learn little from them"
"Never underestimate the Orks" replied Aldhelm "Their strength is deceptive and relies not on tactics; the Emperor preserve us should they ever use them."
With this said Swift Strike finally came into ship-to-ship contact range with the Guardsmen above Shardhein. Waiting above the atmosphere of the planet was Wilson's flagship Hammer of the Emperor and its two escort frigates, The Saint's Sword and Shield of Faith.
"This is Admiral Wilson of the Imperial Guard 7th Heavy Armour Division. We extend our men to your command Lord"
"Greetings, this is Captain Aldhelm of the Red Guard 4th Company. Come aboard immediately that we may finalise our plans and route out these Orks"
"Right away Lord Aldhelm"
As the Hammer of the Emperor approached, along with its escorts, Lionus was grateful to be working with Guardsmen without a sense of arrogance or entitlement; they knew the Red Guard were commanding this operation and hadn't voiced any complaint; a rarity in Liounus' experience.
As the Admiral's small transport shuttle made its way to dock with Swift Strike there was a blinding white flash that temporarily disabled the viewing sensors of all the ships within its glare. A great tearing followed this flash, a rent in the very fabric of reality. From this wound burst forth crude ships belching noxious black fumes. Ork reinforcements had arrived.
Before Wilson's shuttle could turn about and retreat to the safety of its mother ship it was blasted out of the sky; giant guns firing slugs the size of boulders at terminal velocity had slammed into the shuttles hull and tore through it as if it were paper. The streak of slugs strafed right and began to impact along the Hammer's starboard side, causing only superficial dents.
"Open a link to all Imperial channels Ship-Master!" shouted Aldhelm.
Once he had the link Aldhelm continued "All units fall back, we can't afford to let them rush us and board; we must outrange them and take them down with superior fire power!"
None of the ships disobeyed; shocked as they were by the sudden loss of their Admiral they needed a leader.
Turning once more to the marines stood before him Aldhelm said "Gather your men immediately and prepare the Thunderhawks for disembarkment; we must land our forces now before we get bogged down in space or we will surely loose our foothold on Shardhein's surface."
"Sir!" said the marines as they sprinted from the bridge.
Lionus was wondering what had just happened and how but had little time to think this over; he had to prepare his men immediately.
Lionus boarded his Thunderhawk, along with his honour guard, their green cloaks sweeping behind them and covering most of the blood red armour hidden beneath. After the honour guard came Annar's tactical squad and Ullor's assault squad, followed by Alnwolf's scout squad and the venerable dreadnaught Grimheld. The rest of his men, composed of Freyr's tactical squad, Dagmar's assault squad, Hildegard's devastator squad and Wodan's terminator squad, boarded the Thunderhawk to the left of his and the armoured units, a razorback and a predator, boarded the Thunderhawk Transporter to his right.
His men had been prepared and waiting for him, wasting no time after he had ordered them to mount up via his vox link whilst he hurried down from the bridge. Once all his men were aboard the Thunderhawks he ordered the pilots to take off; they would use the Swift Strike's hull as cover until they outflanked and were out of the way of the enemies guns.
The ships took off into the vacuum of space and as Lionus looked out of his ship's viewport he could see the battle raging above Shardhein. Many Ork ships had spewed forth from that rent in space, outnumbering their forces roughly two-to-one. He knew they could still pull it off; the Orks were a clumsy race, especially in space and as the Imperial ships withdraw they began to open fire on the Orks. Their combined fire was horrendous to behold, devastating in its execution. After the first few volleys two of the smaller Ork crafts drifted in death, sputtering flames as they floated into Shardhein's atmosphere.
As Lionus watched, unable to do anything, he saw what appeared to be the Orks flagship break from the ships around it, speeding maddeningly at the Swift Strike, hoping to ram it with its great maw shaped prow. As the Swift Strike redirected its fire towards this monstrous ship it appeared futile; the crude armour of the ship seemed nigh on impenetrable, even at their closing range.
As the Ork ship neared striking distance Lionus clenched his jaw in anger, frustrated by the mad and sudden attack. Mercifully before the ship could plough into the Swift Strike, the Saint's Sword and Shield of Faith aimed their colossal cannons at the dread ship's engines.
With most of Ork ships shield power directed towards its front the shots met little resistance before they struck home. The first volley had little effect but the second was fortunate and must have hit something important as mid volley the ships engines detonated furiously. The explosion continued and rampaged through the ship until soon only an incandescent ball of flame and charred steel remained. It was not enough; the momentum of the ship still carried and try as he might the Swift Strike's Ship-Master could not avoid it.
Thanks to his best efforts the ship only scoured along their starboard prow but with the sheer mass behind the collision it was still devastating, even for the nigh impregnable armour of a Space Marine Battle-Barge.
Lionus could not pull his gaze away until he was informed by the ship's pilot that the Orks had deployed aircraft of their own and were making all speed towards them; they were to take evasive action immediately. Lionus forced himself to sit down and buckle up, ordering the rest of his men to do so as well.
As the foul Ork aircraft neared them they opened fire and dirty slugs filled the vacuum. Some of the shots found their mark and their impacts rang through the ship, each shot pinging off of the Thunderhawks armour. Such slugs shouldn't be able to penetrate their armour but a stray shot could hit the engines, bringing them down; Lionus didn't want to risk this.
"Pilot, bring us into that moons atmosphere; we will take refuge there and take flight once the Orks have grown tired of searching for us" said Lionus.
"Aye sir" responded the pilot before he relayed Lionus' orders to the other ships following them.
"Lionus, why are we hiding? With our six Thunderhawks we could easily take these ships" questioned Helge over the vox once he had heard his intentions.
"Because Brother Chaplain, we are more use on the ground than dead in the air; we can't afford to risk these ships. The Orks will grow tired of us soon and then we can make all haste for Shardhein" reasoned Lionus.
"Very well" assented Helge, accepting the soundness of Lionus' words; it was not to his liking but he would follow the Lieutenants lead.
The Thunderhawks dived as one, sharply banking right. The Orks, anticipating a fight, weren't ready for this manoeuvre and it gave the Red Guard the precious seconds they needed to get some distance between them and the Orks. Quickly rejoining the chase, the Orks forgot that their ships couldn't re-enter atmosphere and in their zeal the majority of them failed to stop themselves before they went past the point of no return; drawn inexorably down by the moon's gravity, the Orks soon disintegrated in the atmosphere as the Thunderhawks scanned the moon for a good landing area.
Due to their rapid re-entry it would have been difficult for most men to find a suitable landing zone but the Red Guard's pilots were experienced flyers and used to such conditions; they soon found a wide and open plane amongst the tress that the Thunderhawks could fit in. They made the necessary adjustments and started their preparations for landing; it was going to be a bumpy ride.
It had been a long week for Farren, his Sergeant was merciless and the environment harsh. Time was of the essence though and they had all had to pull double shifts to finishing setting up camp; mistakes had been made in their haste though and already two troopers had been killed. Their wounds hadn't been life threatening but crippling and what use is a crippled soldier to a Sgt like Baskin; rather than waste medical supplies on them when their arms had been crushed beneath a flak turret he shot them then and there, on the spot.
Farren was tired and whatever piss water was in his mug had obviously been befouled. Before he could shout at Ance to boil the filth from it he saw bright lights, like great shooting stars, coming down rapidly towards them. He soon recognised them as ships entering atmosphere and panicked; surely they had been spotted. The enemy couldn't be allowed to report their position. Jumping into the cockpit of the nearby flak cannon Farren opened fire on the incoming ships. His fellow troopers, at first shocked and confused by his actions, soon understood his intentions and they too manned their weapons and opened fire; the sky was soon filled with flak.
They were going down. Most of their left wing had been mangled by anti-aircraft fire that had come from nowhere. Their briefings had said that this was supposed to be an abandoned mining planet; clearly it was nothing of the sort. In the confusion of their sudden descent Lionus wasn't sure who else had been hit and whether or not they were still on course.
"Emergency landing procedures; brace for impact!" cried the ships pilot.
"Why are you firing you fools; we are to defend this base from prying eyes not invasion forces!" shouted Sergeant Baskin. His men had foolishly opened fire without his command, spurred on by the fire of trooper Farren; Baskin shot him in the back of the head for his efforts.
"They had had no idea of our position until now. Scouts spread out and search for them; when you find them report their position to me immediately. The rest of you prepare yourselves; man the bunkers and set up the mortars. And dark gods curse you silence those guns!" cursed Baskin, punctuating his last statement by shooting another over-zealous trooper in the back.
The trooper slumped forwards in his chair, causing the gun to list and trail fire madly. Before nearby troopers could steady the gun its strafing fire destroyed another flak cannon. Smoke billowed from the burning wreck; a beacon for the enemy.
"Gods damn you incompetent fools!" Baskin bellowed.
Standing by the wreckage of his ship Lionus considered it could be worse; the ship was damage beyond their repair but his brothers had not been injured by the landing. Unfortunately their pilot, a soldier that had failed the trials of the Red Guard but had wished to serve them still, had not their enhanced physiology or armour; the impact had killed him.
Whilst Lionus' men were organising themselves they checked to see if their radio was functional. Constant bursts of static answered them at first. They persisted and eventually their communications were received by brothers nearby; the crash must have limited their communications range because they couldn't hail any of Helge's men. Instead Terminator Sergeant Wodan answered their hails.
"This is Wodan. We crashed in heavy foliage nearby but are uninjured. Our ship made it out mostly in one piece; Techpriest Nertheus assures us that given some time he can appease the machine-spirit."
"Excellent Sergeant, hold your position for now and Emperor speed your repairs. Be wary; until we know what menace shot us down we shouldn't take to the skies, and I very much doubt these were automated defence systems." Responded Lionus, pleased to hear Wodan's voice; he respected him and knew he could lead the other marines competently.
"Aye sir. We will setup a defensive perimeter and hold for your word" replied Wodan.
"Very good brother" Finished Lionus, ending the transmission. They too needed to setup a defensive perimeter and until they knew the truth of the situation they would have to be on their guard.
"Sergeant Alnwolf, gather your scouts; it's time we find who or what shot us down and that column of smoke should give us a clue." Said Lionus, turning to Scout Sergeant Alnwolf then pointing at the great pillar of smoke not far from their position. It could be a trap or it could be a mistake on the enemy's behalf; only time and Alnwolf's skill would tell.
Alnwolf lay on the crest of the hill, scanning the area below through his magnoculars. He followed the smoke trail until he saw the hill the smoke rose from the centre of. Scrutinising the hill more closely now a smile reached his lips; it was clever and would have fooled even him were it not for the smoke which brought the hill to his attention. On the hill he could see two bunkers, well camouflaged and blended into the incline. Even now as he looked Alnwolf noticed a man moving within the left bunker, stretching his limbs. He couldn't see any insignia or even the colour of his fatigues.
Circling round the hill Alnwolf found it was square in nature, with rounded off edges. It could be an ideal natural position but he felt it was more likely man made. On each of the bunkers four sides there were two bunkers like the first two he had seen. The position was obviously designed with concealment in mind, with defence as a last resort but then Alnwolf guessed all manner of weapons could be hidden within the hills centre.
After circling round and watching the base intently Alnwolf and his men still hadn't been able to see any troopers clearly. Assuming they had seen all they could see in their allotted time Alnwolf gave the order to fall back as he opened communications with Lionus and informed him of their findings.
Halfway back to their position Alnwolf was surprised to see a scout sentinel; it had been hidden well amongst the foliage and he nearly hadn't spotted it. He raised his fist into the air and his men fell immobile immediately and followed his indications as he then pointed at the sentinel ahead.
As Alnwolf and his scouts looked on they noticed the sentinel's operators. They were sitting down, their backs lent against the trees they were using to conceal their armour.
Finally Alnwolf had a chance to see the troopers clearly and his heart sank at the sight of them: their armour was a filthy, ashen grey covered in red and black sigils that radiated a primal evil, as was the sentinel.
Chaos! Chaos was here, in the Red Guard's very own system. Alnwolf had hoped dearly that there had been some explanation of accidental friendly fire and confusion. It had been no accident.
"Lionus the enemy are within our sights. They are chaos filth, a scout force for the bunker I informed you of earlier. Permission to engage" said Alnwolf, eager to slay the heretics before him; their existence was an affront to the Emperor and had to be ended.
"Are you sure they are chaos; it is most grave news if they are" Replied Lionus.
"There is no doubt Lieutenant. If we blind them now we can approach their base unhindered."
"Very well Sergeant, you may engage. Kill the heretics".
Once they had drawn and aimed their rifles, Alnwolf gave the command, "Fire".
The enemy, though partially concealed, were entirely unaware and made easy targets; the shots found their marks and three traitors lay dead by their fell armour.
"Come brothers, back to base" said Alnwolf to his scouts.
Suddenly, as they began to enter a clearing shots sped past them, then the roar of fire greeted their ears. Before they could take cover Alik was hit, his leg mangled by the incoming fire.
"Quick brothers, into the trees!" shouted Alnwolf as he lifted and slung Alik across his shoulder.
Though they had taken out the scout sentinel before them, they had not noticed the sentinel that had been doing its job. It had been properly hidden and wary and had noticed the shots as soon as they had been fired, then soon returned fire with its autocannon.
Fire continued to stream past them and churn up their cover. They couldn't hold this position and Alnwolf doubted they could flee the source of fire without great molestation. They would have to take it out.
"Annar, you and Bergen go left with your rocket launcher. Flank round behind them and destroy them. Kalln with me, suppressive fire once we're in position."
"Sir!" responded all his scouts as they executed his orders, running through the foliage.
Once in position Kalln opened fire with his heavy bolter, specially designed to be lighter and more compact it had a slower rate of fire but was still devastating.
When the shells had begun to impact around it, the sentinel was forced to leave its cover and charge the gunner before he could escape or get a proper bead on them. It charged at the Red Guard scouts, its autocannon still spraying death.
As their foe appeared Alnwolf realised his mistake and cursed his foolishness, he had been too eager and he had placed them all in needless risk. "Target its legs Kalln; you must disable it so Annar can get a clear shot" Ordered Alnwolf.
Responding to his Sergeant's words Kalln switched target and his bolts began to ring against its legs. Their armour still held proof against his fire and the sentinel charged on regardless. Seeing more clearly where the fire was coming from the sentinel targeted the source and fire strafed dangerously towards Kalln's position. Kalln refused to change position, hoping to bring it down first and for his foolishness he was struck by a lucky round in the shoulder.
The force of the shot sent him flying to crash into a tree. His Left shoulder ached and he knew he could no longer brace his bolter anymore; his fire would be useless. The sentinel moved in for the kill.
The Krak missile soared at the sentinel's side armour, easily able to penetrate it, but the shot was premature and went wide and only revealed their position to the enemy. Recognising the greater threat the sentinel switched targets and its fire began to streak towards Annar and Bergen.
Seizing the opportunity Kalln again took aim on the sentinel's legs, hoping its rear and side armour would be weaker. Unable to brace himself, Alnwolf was forced to lay down Alik and come over and take the weapon from him. Between them they managed it and soon the heavy bolter was firing again. Its fire streaked towards the sentinel and once more crashed against its armour. This time the armour was no proof and its right leg was crippled.
Slumping helplessly forwards, unable to support its own wait, the sentinel was a sitting duck. Seeing this and taking aim again Annar fired his missile. It struck home and the cockpit of the armour was blown open and encased in flames, the crew killed before they could evacuate their helpless armour.
Once he had gathered his brothers, Alnwolf said "Annar you fired too soon and Kalln you knew not when to stop. This will get you killed. Remember your mistakes and learn from them. Now brothers back to base with all-"
Before he could finish his sentence there was a whistling sound, getting louder and louder by the second. They all knew what it meant. As one the Red Guard scouts sprinted in an attempt to outrun the mortars. They were too late.
The first barrage fell short, thanks to their quick reactions, but the barrage continued and the second round found its mark. Mortars exploded all around them, razor shards of shrapnel spraying them and great detonations hurling them about like rag dolls.
Alnwolf was forced flying forwards to land in a crater. He was in extreme agony, his back screaming, and realised a shell must have exploded right above him. Wondering how he could even be alive he turned on to his side despite the pain, and soon found the reason.
Alik was a bloody mess, his body reduced to a crimson pulp by the power of the detonation and the shards of shrapnel that had shredded his body.
Looking about him, Alnwolf surveyed the destruction. He forced himself to his feet, though he felt light headed now, and tried to find survivors. He soon found Annar and Kalln hiding in craters but Bergen had not been so lucky; he too must have been struck by a critical hit and little was left of him.
Alnwolf mourned his failure and the deaths of his men for a second then forced the thoughts away; he could mourn the dead once the living were safe. "Come brothers, quickly, before another barrage falls" said Alnwolf to his surviving brothers.
Battered and bruised they ran. The force of the detonations must have knocked them out for a short while because as they ran on they ran in the wake of the destruction left by more mortar fire. They trekked through craters and churned earth, fought their way through broken and splintered trees until they finally left the destruction and reached their brothers.
Downtrodden and mournful, Alnwolf reported to Lionus.