Note: I do not own Warhammer 40k
Carefully, the squad landed in a loose formation, the Colonel quickly rallying them towards the Commisar. Drawing his laspistol, the Colonel shot a Tau Fire Warrior in the helmet, before being drawn into vicious close combat with a group of Kroot. Power sword in hand, he began hacking away at alien arms and legs, and he occasionally caught sight of a Space Marine in heavily ornate power armour, with a Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, doing the same. More landers came down nearby, most deploying Leman Russ tanks, although one deployed a Baneblade and one another two platoons of guardsmen.
"You! Colonel! What's your name?"
"Colonel Tomas Haldurn, sir, 637th Cadian Heavy Armoured Regiment."
"Captain Hadrick Borais, Imperial Fists 3rd Company." he turned to a Space Marine by his side, "Where in the Emperor's name are those Predators?"
Slowly, behind them, the Baneblade aimed its cannon ready to fire at a Tau power generator complex.
"Firing in three, two, o-"
Next to the massive war machine the troops covered their ears, only to be knocked to the ground as the flaming wreckage landed around them.
"What the feth was that? Get me a vox, now!"
Another tank exploded- this time, Tomas saw why. Six railgun shells had smashed into it, completely obliterating all inside, and rupturing the fuel tanks.
"Fething Emperor, get down! Air support, air support!"
"No air support will be needed, colonel."
"Oh no?"
"No."
Tomas' response was cut off by the sound of heavy bolter fire. There was an explosion from above, and both the Colonel and Space Marine looked upwards to see a Broadside Battlesuit fall forwards- falling off the ledge it had been firing from, onto the wreckage of the Baneblade. Around it, the five others began to turn to flee, but were swiftly demolished by Assault Marines. With a salute to Captain Hadrick, they turned away and jumped up to join in with the battle between three Crisis Battlesuits and a squad of Sisters of Battle Celestians, of the Order Of The Bloody Rose. A Chaplain charged past, crying praise to the Emperor, before he was stopped by the Captain.
"Yes, my lord?"
"How is morale among the troops?"
"As always, we of the Imperial Fists fight with valour and courage in His name."
Tomas could hear the capital letter slide into place, in the way capitalised words always managed to make themselves clear when Space Marines were speaking.
"I was referring more to the Guardsmen, Brother."
Tomas glanced at the Chaplain, "I can assure you, the guardsmen of the 937th Cadian Heavy Armoured Regiment will fight with valour and courage in His name."
The Chaplain turned, "Questions of the Imperial Guard should be directed to Imperial Guardsmen. If you will excuse me, I have xenos to kill, in His holy name."
"Colonel! We've found something in the main Tau complex!"
Tomas turned to see a Kasrkin sergeant rushing over to him.
"Sergeant Dorianis. What have you found?"
"We think it's a titan, sir. Techpriests are on the way, but the complex is still under fire and needs support. They want Space Marines to come- some of the Sisters of Battle think it might be corrupted."
The Space Marine Captain smiled beneath his helmet.
"Battle brothers! We have a Titan to protect. Sergeant, find me Techmarine Garcius. Tell him to meet me in the complex."
"Commisar! Rally the men! You! Vox-caster! Call in a Marauder bombing strike on the Tau generator complex. That'll throw them. Go, go, go!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Tomas arrived at the Tau complex to find Sisters of Battle holding Vespid off with flamers, slowly falling back.
"Guardsmen- firing lines. Hold this xeno scum back."
The Vespid screeched as they saw the guardsmen, the leader grasping the lead Sister in its claws and ripping her head off. The Inquisitor in command of the squad stepped forward to slice it in half with his power sword. The squad pulled back, leaving the guardsmen a clear firing line. They made full use of this, lasgun volleys punching into the Vespid and quickly felling them.
"Inquisitor!"
"Ah, Colonel! Thank you for your help there! Please, follow me to the Titan- but, please, be careful. Some of the techpriests feel it may be corrupted. Captain, do you wish to see the Titan?"
"Of course. Lead the way, Inquistor."
The Inquisitor led them into a larger room, in the plain, subdued style of Tau architecture, unlike the earlier room, which had been taken intact by the Tau two years earlier, when they completed their conquering of Praedith. It was a far larger room, with scaffolding erected around a massive structure in the centre- a Titan.
"What is that thing?" Tomas whispered, more to himself than as an actual question.
"An Imperator-class War Titan, Colonel. The finest we have found yet. Pre-heresy, although it has been modified by the Tau- modifications which should be removable without harming the Machine Spirit."
"I understand there was a question of corruption?"
"Indeed. That is why we have Inquisitor Gabius here. Hopefully, he will be able to cleanse the Titan of any Chaos taint."
Tomas glanced at Hadrick- neither of them was happy about a lone Inquisitor attempting to cleanse the Titan, especially during a battle.
"Gue'la! Surrender now, or by Tau we shall crush you!"
Everyone in the room turned to see a Crisis Battlesuit hovering over the Titan's head, two drones next to it.
"Xeno!"
"The Titan is the property of the Tau, and the Ethereal lord Aun'o'T'au'Acaya'Va'Denta, Master of the Undying Spirit."
"Never! Xeno scum!"
The drones spun to point at Tomas, and fired. Falling back, the Colonel felt his power sword slip from his fingers and a deep, sharp pain blossom across both his shoulders- where the two shots from the drone had hit. As red clouded his gaze, he glimpsed Hadrick crying out in rage, a new scorch mark in his yellow armour.
