Fugax Momentum
Chapter 2
Within seconds of opening fire the Entropic's void shields were sorely tested. A staggering array of las fire erupted from the republic cruisers breaching the distance between themselves and their enemies before the Imperial ordinance could reach them. "All ships defensive manovers!" Grendel shouted as the ship began to lurch. Many of the Astartes present for the command circle had left the bridge by this point, sensing their impending duties, leaving it a streamlined operation. Bolkar was hunched over one of the consoles ahead as Grendel held on to steady himself. The pained creaking of the ship betrayed the minor but mounting damage the Imperial ship was sustaining under the Republics withering hail of fire.
Now it was the Imperium's turn. The lance batteries of the Entropic and her sisters struck the three ships. Despite the prodigious effect of the Republic Cruisers shields the seven Imperial battle ships focused fire directed at so few ships had an obvious effect. In some areas the shields held firm but in others it was overwhelmed. Gouts of flame signalled where great gouges were rent in the Republic ships. Grendel new better than to think this would see their enemies crippled but it was not the Death Guard way to count the bodies before they hit the floor. Slower Imperial ordinance was now crashing home. Unfortunately the Emperors wrath would be thwarted for now. The Entropic followed in the wake of the Cadaverex. Another Imperial ship that pulled out just ahead of them.
"Captain?!" Grendel hears his battle brother calling him but could not tear his attention from the Cadaverrex as it careened in front of his ship. Unlike some of the other legions once the orders had been given they were generally enacted without further complication and ceremony. In the gloomy reaches of the Entropic there was stillness. In the corner of his vision he marked the contact of a slightly reduced return wave of fire from the Imperial ships. "Captain" Bolkar called once again the young Barbaran still clamouring for his masters attention. "Open communications with the Cadaverrex!" Grendel shouted ignoring his battle brother. "It will be no use my Lord. Their systems have been disabled by enemy fire."
Captain Grendel didn't hesitate for a moment as the significance of an enemy with weapons that could disable an entire ship, how ever momentarily, dawned on him. "The Cadaverrex's systems are beginning to come back on line. The Peutross has lost its portside battery, the..." The strategem servitors words were lost on Captain Grendel as all his formidable attention was focused on the twilight of the Cadaverex. Although the void shields were beginning to flicker to life it was too late. The republic fire was overwhelming. The Imperium ships with properly functioning shields were just barely surviving.
Great red holes began to form all along the Cadaverrex as molten metal churned within. Its hull dissolving away into the blackness of space as battery after battery of laser fire evaporated great chunks of the ship. How many of his brothers lay dying he did not know but the Death Guard rarely worried about casualties. Captain Grendel contemplated their fate coldly before issuing his next order. "All ships forward!" He would reap Mortarions due from these heathens. It mattered not what they threw in his way. Because no where in this universe or the next was their an enemy who's fire the Death Guard could not weather.
The Imperial defensive line split up and twisted through space. The Republic lasers were still maintaining pressure on the Imperium fleet but several of their batteries had been crippled by Imperium lances. Grendel put on his trademark scowl as he saw another Imperial ship neutralised through what Bolkar was referring to as some kind of Ion cannon. Captain Grendel was so caught up in the battle he didn't notice Turgis pull in close to him. Talking so low only the advanced senses of the Astartes could hear he whispered to his Captain. "We dont know where we are. We have limited numbers. We are facing an advanced enemy. We must end this quickly."
Captain Grendel was at heart a ground fighter and was ill at ease commanding a vessel in combat. The prompting to action by Turgis only highlighted the potential danger of the situation. He was right. They were potentially cut off from reinforcements and ressuply and had already lost one ship. Their own weapons were wreaking under whelming damage to the enemy. By splitting his formation the intensity of enemy fire had been reduced and efficacy of the Ion cannons too but two more of his ships lay paralysed. If only he could get bring his Astartes to bear he could wrest an easy victory from the heretical Xenos loving republic. A ship to ship boarding action would never work. The enemy ships were to nimble and powerful plus with the looming threat of the Ion cannons it was tantamount to suicide.
The destruction of the Putross changed things. The cold dispassionate rage of Mortation descended upon the acting Lord of the Death Guard fleet. His course was set. The Ultramarines would have called it tactically unviable, the Space Wolves would have said their fury could have been better spent else where. But the Death Guard do not give thought to such things. The Death Guard endure.
"FIRE THE BOARDING TORPEDOS!"
It was a risky move, he thought as he transferred command of the bridge to the next in command before stalking out to the main egress. Many of the boarding torpedo's were still under repair after the brutal war of attrition the Death Guard were fighting before they were tasked with the extermination of the Orks. Captain Grendel trusted in the strength of his men. He had seen them fight on through casualties that would have seen even the Word Bearers legendary zeal desert them. But although the other legions may have thought of them as simplistic brutes that combine all the affability of an Imperial fist with the robotic demeanour of the Iron Hands. There was much more to Captain Grendel's tactical consideration than just the legendary resilience of his troops.
They were fighting an unknown enemy that had already demonstrated its own technology to be at least as advanced as that of the Imperium. Captain Grendel's gait lurched and swayed with the bucking off the ship as enemy fire periodically over loaded segments of the Entropic's void shields. He knew there were no more dedicated warriors in space than those who followed his command but he was loathe to over commit against a foe whose capabilities were yet to be tested. There was little choice at this juncture and the Death Guard could never be stopped. It was time for the Xenos and their abhorrent human allies paid for their heresy.
Many of the boarding torpedo's were destroyed in the opening moments of their exodus from the Death Guard ships. Two Astartes ships were destroyed and a further lay crippled and in danger of being overwhelmed when the first torpedo hit home. The erratic flight patterns of the Imperium battle group divided the Republic fire to such an extent the majority of boarding torpedoes were able to reach the largest central Republic ship. Unfortunately the incredible density of gun emplacements on the Republic ships prevented the Death Guard air forces from providing much support to the boarding actions. The strength of arms of the Astartes would make or break this battle now.
The Republic had been caught unaware by this new tactic of their unreadable hyper aggressive attackers. The Republic had braced themselves for a tirade of crippling explosions after the large projectiles thudded into their ships. When the explosions did not come they knew this conflict had just entered a new phase. Large blocks of white armoured, black visored infantry scurried across the ships reinforcing defensive positions and guarding junctions. Intruders were on board and the Republic soldiers were about to get their first taste of the Astartes. The Republic troops were already well in place by the time the Space Marines had finished disengaging themselves from the wreckage of the boarding torpedo landing sites. In those opening moments of battle the Death Guard found a begrudging respect for the training of the Republic troopers if not for their enemies themselves. For in truth their training far surpassed that of their own human allies. The first round of perfectly drilled fire to emanate from the Republic forces defending stairway T-113 hit their marks perfectly. The Death Guard laughed. Or would have had they been of the temperament. Their power armour provided ample protection but the source of their joyless mirth was the mistake made by their enemies. The first round of fire struck them across their chest plates. The next round of fire faltered slightly as the Republic troopers registered the awesome splendour of the charging Astartes form.
Stairway T-113 was a typical entry point to the central vein of the Republic ship. It was essentially a corridor that went down a flight of about ten steps. The Astartes knew the troops they were facing had fortified their position at the top of the steps but were hoping that their legendary fortitude would make up for what the shock and awe of first contact with the Astartes could not. Less than ten Space Marines rounded the corner and charged the stair way. The effect of the space Marine charge was measurable. Bolt rounds slammed home throwing Republic troopers from their feet taking their rear squad mates down with them. Despite the horrifying opening casualties of the Space Marine charge the Republic soldiers reacted perfectly. Troopers shifted positions and shouldered their rifles even as the buried warheads of the Space Marines projectiles pulped their already dying comrades behind them.
With their aim adjusted the Republic troopers fared better. Two Space Marines fell. One from a blast that pierced through an eye plate and another struck in the weak point between the thigh and groin of his power armour. But it was too late. The Astartes were in their midst. The great trench knives of the Death Guard 6th company had been designed for the brutal grinding melees they were usually tasked with but they served equally well in the press of astral boarding actions. The Republic troopers fell like wheat. Here and there a combat roll or an unexpected dive would spare them death but those that tried to fight were split in twain. Republic rifles were shorn as the final strokes of the Death Guard came to an end. One Trooper had escaped. No doubt running to inform his superiors of the strength of their foes. The Death Guard had no such fears. The reverberations of violence spreading like rough waves through the ship told them their brothers were near and the more finely tuned among them could pick out the shudder of lance batteries striking in unison.
The small scale skirmishes around the centre of the Republic ship had been catastrophic. Republic soldiers died in their hundred but the disposition of the enemy had been measured. Much of the central ship had been abandoned in favour of heavily reinforcing a few key points. It was clear that the Astartes where heading towards the bridge and thus their options of ingress were limited. Apothecary Turgis considered the mission ahead of him. He had rendezvoused with two other boarding groups and was now in overall command of nearly 30 Space Marines. They had rampaged through out the flank of the ship before gathering their bearings and making haste for the pathways that would take them to the bridge. Despite the interference of the Republic ships shields Turgis had been able to make sporadic contact with the Astartes fleet. Apparently the battle in the stars was still in the Republic's favour and the Astartes boarders were badly in danger of finding themselves marooned upon the foreign cruisers they sought to overwhelm.
No news had reached the aging apothecary of the boarding efforts on the other ships which did not sit well with him. He had been sure the majority of the torpedoes would strike the central ship. Considering the uphill struggle the boarders were having on the Republics capital ship caused Turgis to scowl. The ship was a maze of corridors and access ways. Though their enemies fell swiftly when directly engaged Turgis had seen more than enough of his brothers fall to their enemies deadly accurate concentrated fire. To compound this disparity of fire power the white armoured troops of the Republic were experts at defending the choke points of their ship. Even if it was not enough to break the rapidly aggregating Space Marine boarding parties.
Thus far the clone tactics and weaponry had changed little since the opening Space Marine/Republic skirmishes. Turgis had seen limited use of explosives but the sudden close quarters fighting seemed to have taken the enemy by surprise. How much longer it would be before heavier weapons, weapons more capable of stopping a Space Marine in his tracks were brought to the battle. Turgis had a reputation for being the most brutal and belligerent Apothecary in a legion that prides itself on its brutality and belligerence. During this battle Turgis had stopped to provide aid to exactly none of his wounded brethren. One Astartes requested treatment after his single handed assault on a heavily defended grav lift put him on the receiving end of ten perfectly aimed laser blasts. The molten remnants of the brave Astartes' power armour seared much of the skin from his face. Turgis put a bolt round in his leg and asked him if such wounds would stall the Primarch.
