Relief
drop to the surface of Calderis, First day of the Aurelian
Crusade
The Drop bays of the Armageddon were filled
with hundreds of servitors chanting the Blessing of the Warrior and
inspecting that everything was in order. Suddenly the search stopped,
as the Magos in charge became satisfied with the condition of the
chamber.
"Brothers, the orks want to take our worlds! Lets
show those degenerates the wrath of the Emperor! Captain Thule and
the Initiates are currently besieged by a large swarm of orks. We
need to reinforce their position and drive the filth back!"
Azarius called out, as Squad Tarkus boarded the Drop pod with
him.
Tarkus, devout and disciplined, prayed to the God Emperor and
soon all his brothers joined in as the Drop pod was readied for
launch.
The acceleration hit them suddenly as the launch tube
magnetically accelerated the Drop Pod and sent it blazing towards the
surface of Calderis. The pod cut trough the atmosphere within
seconds, and the motors kicked in the last second to
slow down their landing.
The Drop pod still hit the ground with a
speed that would have curshed anything inside to bloody jelly, except
Astartes. The sides of the pod opened like the petals of a large
seed, and the Marines stepped out into into the molten glass, their
boots sinking into the sticky material impervious to its heat.
Their
autosenes instantly took in the situation as the battle brothers
formed up in less than a second and advanced towards the position of
Captain Thule. "Orks, how can they breath in their own filthy
stench?" exclaimed Vindictus. "Don't worry brother, they'll
smell like barbeque soon enough! Nothing smells better than
Promethium in the morning!" retorted Brother Caedus, who was
considered a pyromaniac by anyone outside the Salamanders
Chapter.
"Less talk, more killing!" growled Asmodeus,
who took a dim view of any chatter. "Prepare Brothers, the
Emperor will punish the orks for their sins" decreed Tarkus as
the Marines marched in the valley towards the orks. The sides of the
valley were unclimbable, so at least they had the orks confined in to
the valley where they could not bring all their numbers to bear at
them.
Over the vox Captain Thule was rallying the Scouts:"Scouts, stay in cover! Kill the orks that are in the open!" gunfire and static flooded the channel "Welcome Commander. This is Captain Davian Thule in command here on Calderis. We are battleing the orks that threaten this world. You have dropped right into the combat zone. I am north of you with several squads of our Initiates. We are under heavy fire and loosing control of our flanks. Move north and provide support." The marines redoubled their pace towards the enemy.
"By my fury they shall know
the Emperor's name!" roared Azarius as the first greenskins came
into sight. He drew Ardent Wrath and the disruption field crackled
into life like bound lightning. These orks were almost completely
feral, armed with only primitve weaponry. Most likely their more
developed fellows pushed them back to act as a rearguard. Azarius
charged, not wanting to waste bolter shells on these vermin.
The
orks were surprised, but had courage. They tried to charge him, but
they were too slow. He was upon them like the wrath of the Emperor
Himself, his power sword slashing left and right, killing with every
strike. A few orks managed to hit him, but their crude swords and
axes bounced off his armour uselessly.
Azarius slashed left,
opening up a greenskin from neck to groin, and punched another in the
face with his left fist. The orks skull disintegrated like a melon
hit by hammer, bone and brain fragments flying everywhere. He stabbed
forward and impaled two orks at once, their flesh dissolving upon
touching his blade.
Than he felt an impact upon his jetpack
armour, stronger than rain but weaker than firearms. It took him a
split second to figure it out. The orks were shooting arrows at him,
which only managed to kill a few of their kin in the melee.
Brother
Tarkus and his Tactical squad advanced and drew their knives. There
was no sense in wasting ammunition. "For the Emperor!"
shouted Tarkus as he crushed an orks skull with his boltgun, and
simultaneously opened the neck of another with his knife. Julius
kicked an ork in the groin and sent it crashing backwards into its
kin.
Caedus was merrily stabbing orks and crushing necks with his
other hand. Invictus slashed and stabbed, felling orks with every
movement. He seemed unstoppable until a large Chainaxe almost
decapitated him. Only his superhuman reflexes saved him, the gigantic
chainaxe would have cut trough even Astartes neck armour and
reinforced vertebrea instantly.
A nob, heavily armed and
armoured, screaming "WAAAAAAGH!" charged into the melee. He
must have come to investigate the disturbance, and suddenly Squad
Tarkus was on the defence, manoevering away from the nob, bringing
their bolters to bear.
However the nob was not only many times
stronger, but also much faster than the ferals, and he grabbed
Invistus by the neck and held him up, chainaxe raised high.
Tarkus
aimed carefully and shot as fast as only Space Marines can. The orks
hand exploded and the Chainaxe dropped. Invitus was slashing the orks
other hand, trying to sever its tendons. Vincitus aimed his bolter
and put a round trough the orks skull. Half of its head gone, but the
nob still did not die instantly.
However its grip lessened, and
Invictus slid free. He roared in hate and kicked the ork onto the
ground and stomped repeatedly on its head. "Calm your zeal,
brother!" Snapped Tarkus, as the marines finished off the few
orks who escaped the wrath of Azarius.
The marines ran and turned to see the Scout training grounds, where Captain Thule was leading the Scouts in defense of an earthworks with a few turrets, killing orks with his heavy bolter. The orks here were not feral, but just as fierce. Shootas spat a torrent of lead, slowly but inexorably cracking the barricades apart, but the Scouts still held at the moment, but not for long. "The orks ahead of you are trying to outflank us, eleminate them!" ordered Captain Thule.
In a
few seconds two hundred orks forgot all about flanking and charged
screaming "WAAAAAAGH!" towards squad Tarkus. The marines
took cover, more to hinder the charge of the orks than to hide from
their weapon fire,a nd without a word being said, every marine except
Caedus opened fire.
Ork heads and torsos exploded into mists of
blood and gore as the Astartes laid down supressing fire with skill
and accuracy as only Space marines could, killing with every shot.
Heads popped, chests exploded as each of the bolter shells found
their deadly mark .
Julius sent bolts of superheated plasma at
the orks, sublimating three or four into gas and ash with every shot,
keeping his rate of fire low not to overheat his gun.
Azarius
leveled his bolt pistol and aimed, hitting a nob square in the
forehead from a hundred meters. It topled and the orks around him
lost some of their momentum. He fired again and again, exploding tusk
filled faces into gory mess until his pistol ran dry.
He swiftly
holstered it, and jumped out from cover, racing towards the orks.
"Fury and Zeal!" He cried and parried a choppa wielding
ork, cutting through the weapon and wielder with a flicker of his
blade. He ducked the wild swing of the next ork and kicked its left
knee into ruin, and stomped on its head as it fell. He lashed out in
a great circular swing, cutting those greenskins apart who were
trying to bring him to the ground with their numbers. He chopped off
limbs, punched through chests and cleaved torsos in half.
The
dark red blood of the orks turned the sand around him into mud, but
he strode on relentlessly, shoota fire pinging off his armour. A
greenskin fired a burna into the melee, killing a score of its
fellows and burning off the Purity seals of Azarius's armour.
He
charged straight to the Burna boy in fury, trampling down orks and
crushing them into paste under his ceramite boots. The fool would pay
for insulting him! He cut down any ork who dared to bar his way and
shot out his left hand, gripping the burna's neck and crushing his
spine.
He grasped the flamer from its hands as it fell, and
triggered it at the orks around him. The orks caught fire and burned,
and most them started rolling in the sand, trying to put out the
fire. Azarius cut down those which danced wildly in pain with his
swords and stamped on those which rolled on the ground, braking necks
and backs with every kick.
As the orks neared the Tactical marines, Caedus opened up with his flamer. A huge cone of white hot fire spread forwards, incinerating more than fifty orks instantly. The blazing promethium struck to their flesh and reduced them to ashes in less than three seconds, melting their wargear and cooking off ammunition. The sudden inferno stopped the charge for a few seconds, more than enough time for the marines to shoot most of the orks in the head.
The way was clear towards the left flank of
main ork force, at least five hundred strong. "Tactical advance
Omega pattern, formation Purgatus!" ordered Tarkus and the
Veteran brothers spread out into a speartip with Azarius taking
point, followed by Caedus in the front.
The Astartes advanced,
firing more accurately on the run than a human sniper would fire from
cover.
Their boltguns were linked to their minds, weapon and
warrior becoming one, a holy instrument of the Emperor's Retribution.
Scores of orks fell, and slowly it dawned on the greenskins that they
were under attack from two fronts. They replied with the mindless
enthusiasm of their kind, some charging towards the new attackers
while others continued towards the Scouts. Due to the peculiar nature
of the WAAAGH, the orks did not lost any momentum, despite the
haphazard change of tactics.
"I'ze gonna tear off ya ead
ya umie skum!" roared a nob as it came straight towards Azarius,
a power Claw snapping in its hand and its bolta kicking up the dirt
near his feet. "Die, alien!" answered Azarius and met the
power claw with his sword. Lethal energies danced around the blades
as they collided, and both combatants staggered back a little from
the impact.
Azarius stabbed forwards, but the ork swiped his
blade away with its klaw. It tried to backhand him with the same
move, but Azarius was faster and dodged the blow. He fainted right
and slashed left, trying to confuse his opponent, but the nob was
cunning and had nasty tricks of its own.
It parried his strike
and tried to club him with its gun. Azarius tried to evade, but the
blow still hit his shoulder pad, knocking him off his feet. The ork
kicked sand on his helmet as he rolled clear and took something from
his belt, gleefully unaware that it did not effect its autosenes.
"Sleepy, iz ya humie? Got sumfink in ya eyez?" it chuckled,
trying to grab him with his deadly claws.
Azarius sprang to his
feet and thrust his blade into the orks weapon, and the ork trapped
the blade of his power swords in its power claw, immobilizing his
sword arm, but leaving its body wide open. Azarius threw the combat
knife he grabbed while rolling, and the ork's bravado became a gurgle
as the blade punched through its neck and vertebrae.
Tarkus
shot his last shell and an ork with a burna exploaded. He changed
magazine in a second, and looked around, taking in the whole fight
instantly. The orks had become less focused as the nob leading them
fell, but he could already see other big ones trying to rally the
smaller ones.
He silently thanked the Emperor that the greenskin
officers were at least a head taller than their underlings. It helped
so much when it came to shooting them in the head.
His brothers
were killing orks with a gratifying speed, and the scouts could now
held their own against the orks threatening them.
Invictus was
still furious at the orks, his hate only growing as he killed. A
spray of shots from a big shoota pierced the joint of Vindictus's
left arm. The wound was not serius, and the marine was more concerned
about the orks' stench getting in his armour, if his cursing of the
greenskins was any indication. Asmodeus was chanting the litanies of
Alien Slaying as he shot them to death, giving praises to the Emperor
for giving him such a righteous duty.
Julius had to holster his
plasma gun, and now he was stabbing and hacking the orks with his
knife and a borrowed choppa. Caedus was merry, because the ork mass
was the best enviroment for his beloved flamer. He killed dozens with
each burst and the ork horde was melting like snow in boiling
oil.
Captain Thule fired disciplined volleys of heavy bolter
shells into the orks, careful not to hit any marine in the dense
fighting. The morale of the orks was diminishing rapidly, and the
orks started yelling "Letz get outta ere! Leg it!".
Suddenly the remains of the mob were retreating, but that suited the
Captain fine. There was no way they could outrun bolter shells, and
in five seconds every one of them was dead.
"Well fought,
commander, but the greenskins will not give us much time before they
attack again! I need you and Sergeant Tarkus to take charge of
driving the orks back. Move up to the ruins east of here and prepare
to repel the next ork wave!
The brothers formed up into the
spearhead again and quickly reached the ruined walls. The valley
turned to the left where a mine entrance had been taken by orks. The
marines heard the roaring sound of ork vehicle engines and a truck
suddenly burst through the metal fence and an ork manning a nasty
looking kustom shoota opened fire.
"Ork vehicle! Stay in
cover, that truck has a heavy gun!". A smaller wave of a dozen
orks jumped off it, only to be cut down by the marines' bolter fire.
"More shooting, less dying you gitz!" shouted a cyborg mek
from the trukk with oddly accurate Gothic. Tarkus snapped a shot at
the leader, but a force field shimmered into existence and his bolt
exploded harmlessly. Julius fired his plasma gun and melted most of
the rear troop compartement, unfortunatly not cooking off
anything.
"Blaaargh! Go get me some more boyz! And theze
humiez has spooken up me trukk! back through da tunnel!" The ork
driver desperately reversed the trukk and sped towards the cave
entrance of the mine crushing any of its fellows that got in the
way.
A hundred and some fifty strong ork mob started charging
towards the marines shouting "Get em boyz! Shoot, chop, shoot,
chop!" and similar warcries, uncaring of how many orks already
died at the enemy's hand. "Microgrenades!" called Tarkus,
and all Tactical marines instantly took two small egg shaped frag
grenades from their dispensers. They set them to one second and threw
them at the orks with their superhuman strenght.
The frag
microgrenades were designed against light infantry, and each shredded
at least five orks with their monomolecular sharp fragments.
Half
of the orks died or were incapacitated, and the Marines concentrated
their fire on those which escaped the grenades.
Azarius emerged
from cover and killed any ork that came too close, and in seconds
only the orks groaning on the ground with limbs missing were alive,
and the marines butchered them with their knives, having no mercy
because they knew none.
"Well done, commander." came
the voice of Captain Thule over the vox. "Those orks have opened
a way through the hills somehow. Move forward and seal it!"
The
strike force advanced once more and the cave entrance came into view
"More orks, and lots of cover to use on our approach!"
stated Tarkus, and the marines quickly moved into cover, spraying the
orks with controlled bursts of bolter fire. "Its almost like
Fistmas! My mother always took me to heretic burning on holidays."
quipped Caedus as he unleashed another wave of flames towards the
orks. They were pressed together in the confined area and provided
the ideal target for him.
"Keep the vox clear."
reminded him Tarkus, although he could agree with him that this was
satisfying. The orks were almost making it too easy, but it never
payed to underestimate your enemy. Another wave of thirty orks
appeared from the left, and Azarius ran towards them with full speed.
"Come and die on my blade!" he roared as he charged.
He
smashed into the greenskins with his sword cleaving a mighty arc
before him, felling five orks instantly. Azarius cut his way through
the greenskins without slowing down, smashing crates apart and
crushing orks underfoot.
Suddenly heavy shootas poked out of the
windows of the nearby guard tower, and the orks inside opened fire
with gleeful shouts of "DAKKA DAKKA!", uncaring whenever
they hit the commander, or their own.
"Commander, the
orks are using that tower to guard the facility. My squad can take
them out with a grenade!" said Tarkus, and Azarius willed and
his armor pinged "Yes" to the Sergeant.
Tarkus clipped
a heavy Frag grenade from his belt, and threw it into the stubby
tower. It flew unerring into a window in the middle, behind an ork
gunner. After a split second the tower shattered into a pile of
debris, spraying metal sharpnel and burned ork remains at the
Astartes. Heavy frag grenades were fist sized high explosives,
intended to take out most kinds of infantry.
"The greenskins are clearly using that mine as a passage, commander. Seal that entrance by any means necessary!" came the order of Captain Thule, who was observing the progress through the relayed data from the sensors of the Armageddon. "The orks have stacked fuel and ordenance in the cave mouth, Commander. A few krak microgrenades will bring it down." proposed Tarkus, and Azarius nodded.
Krak
microgrenades were useful against light vehicles and heavy infantry,
but they were equally good at blowing up rocks and ammunition. Every
marine took out two from their dispensers, and hurled them into the
cavemouth in a wide spread, and took cover.
The grenades detonated
all at once and the ammunition followed instantly, causing the whole
area to shudder like a small earthquake.
The walls of the
entrance cracked, and the whole top of the cavern came crashing down,
sealing the tunnel for good.
"Good work, Space Marines.
The greenskins will not be using that passage any time soon."
said Captain Thule.
"But the leader managed to escape through
the tunnel before we could kill him! That was our chance to cut this
invasion off at the head." pointed out Tarkus.
"He will
show himself again, Tarkus. And when he does, we shall be ready!
Thunderhawks are on route, prepare for extraction!" Captain
Thule was pleased that the Initiates survived, and the escape of one
lousy greenskin could not spoil the death of hundreds of others.
As
the Astartes waited for battle, Tarkus lead them in prayer to thank
Him on Earth. Although the Blood Ravens did not held the Emperor as
the omnipotent and distant god he was viewed by the mortal humans of
the Imperium, they did not deny his divinity either. While the
Emperor was a being of divine power more than equal of any other god,
he was also the greatest and most shining example of Mankind, a
person perfect in every aspect and deed.
The Blood Ravens prayed
to their ancestral and divine father, asking him to give them
strength to defend their recruiting worlds so they might continue
saving Humanity in the millenia to come in His Holy Name.
