Series I - Von Guyen
Episode VII - Riptide
Tempted by the very artefact he was sent to Fastunhive to retrieve, Samovar von Guyen has fallen to Chaos. But despite this startling revelation, he is now on the back foot. At great cost Corporal Verrel of the Ulian Imperial Guard has established his position. Now the White Knights are closing the net, and in force. With dawn nearly upon them, they will not let him escape once more. Sanctus Grimfist is leading the assault personally. And the Executioner awaits him.
The column of tanks rumbled up Fastunhive's main avenue towards the Governor's palace, their treads crunching over twisted Imperial and alien bodies alike. For almost three hours they had been tracking von Guyen, chasing him from the hospital through the city in a frantic game of cat-and-mouse. Slowly but surely, they were closing in.
Sanctus Grimfist heard the sound of heavy gunfire from inside the crew compartment of the Razorback he'd requisitioned. He recognised it as the distinctive low thudding of a Predator's main cannon. He stood and climbed up the ladder to lean out of the hatch.
The tank at the head of the column had pulled off the road and into a market plaza.
Grimfist used his mind to open a radio channel from his helmet.
"Lead," he sent, "This is the Chapter Master. Do you copy?"
"We copy, Master," came the reply. "We've engaged a Tau light recon vehicle to the right."
"Understood," Grimfist said. "We are coming through and deploying."
He barked an order to the driver and the Razorback swerved around, tracks slewing roughly on the uneven surface of the damaged road. Its engine revved, propelling it through a vendor's stall. Orange fruits and discarded bunches of vegetables flew in all directions as it smashed into the square.
Inside, the gunner scanned for hostiles through his targeting optics.
On the other side of the square was another of Fastunhive's many basilicas. To its right was a cloister, and hovering within it was a sleek, streamlined Tau skimmer.
The Predator ahead was already advancing towards it, wary of the danger from its hull-mounted plasma cannon. Its gun threw a superheated shell straight through the cloister wall and into the skimmer's right stabiliser.
It listed to one side, clearly off-balance, and the Razorback moved in for the kill. The battle was over in a flash as a second round slammed into its engine block. A shower of sparks erupted into the air and it exploded. Flames belched from the wreckage.
The Razorback's complement of Marines thumped out into the open as its rear ramp lowered.
Grimfist climbed out of the hatch and dropped down to the ground to meet them by the fountain in the centre of the plaza.
From another Razorback came Second Captain Harlus, leading a squad of his own.
The tanks fanned out, securing the perimeter.
"Sir," came a call to Grimfist, "We havegot signs of life inside the church. Requesting permission to advance through the front wall."
"Permission denied," Grimfist said. "If this is von Guyen, I want him to myself."
He beckoned to the Marines and they followed him through the hole in the cloister wall. The remains of the Tau skimmer were burning in the grassy courtyard ahead. Around the corner was a tall wooden door leading to the basilica that towered over them. They lined up beside it.
Harlus had been listening in on the radio chatter as they went, and he signalled to Grimfist.
"It appears there are Imperial Guard reinforcements on the way," he said. "General Bannur is coming personally to oversee the assault."
"That bureaucrat is trying to steal our glory," Grimfist remarked.
Harlus nodded his agreement.
"Yes sir," he said. "The General claims that since it was his men who found von Guyen at the hospital, he should be the one to kill him."
"What is his ETA?" Grimfist asked.
"Twenty minutes," Harlus said. "He is bringing armour with him."
"Then we have to kill von Guyen before he gets here," Grimfist decided.
Bannur was executing a trademark Imperial Guard tactic, refusing to infiltrate or gather intelligence on the enemy position and instead saturating it with tanks and infantrymen until the enemy's defences were worn down.
Grimfist took a certain degree of pride in knowing he had the chance to show the Guard how effective the Knights' methods could be. He leaned close to the door and his helmet's autosenses magnified the noises coming from the other side.
Tau voices filtered through to him, hushed and urgent.
With a nod from Harlus, the Marines opened fire with their bolters, shredding the door easily and bringing the wall down in several places.
They were answered by plasma bolts from inside, flashing past and dinging vainly off their armour. The basilica was well-defended.
Grimfist kept his head down low as he advanced into the nave. A few shots whipped past just above him. He ignored them.
As he went, Harlus' Second Company Marines kept up a withering hail of fire, mowing down any xenos that tried to close in on them as they poured through from the cloisters.
A Tau footsoldier swung its rifle at Grimfist, coming out of the corner of his vision.
He parried it with his power sword and took the gun with his free hand. Wielding it like a club, he knocked the alien out cold.
"Master Grimfist," came a familiar voice in his ear, "This is General Bannur."
"Greetings, General," he sighed, drawing his bolt pistol and idly putting two shots through the chest of an alien to his right. A bolt of plasma narrowly missed his shoulderpad and he swung round to find its source.
More xenos were coming down the nave. They had committed nearly all their remaining forces to defending their heretical leader.
Grimfist muted his radio.
"Move up!" he snapped to a nearby group of Marines.
They raised their bolters and waded through the flickering Tau volleys towards the altar.
One of them recoiled as a bolt of blue sank into the soft padding beneath his helmet. Blood poured down his white armour. He slumped against a pillar.
Grimfist looked away to find a new target and saw another Marine blown off his feet by a pulse grenade. The force of the blast tore his armour open, as well as the chest cavity beneath.
"We are taking casualties," Harlus reported.
Grimfist ignored him, ducking behind a thick stone pillar.
"General Bannur," he said. "What could you possibly want?"
"I want Samovar von Guyen," Bannur growled. "Alive."
"The Inquisition was unequivocal," Grimfist said. "He is to be killed."
"Don't make this seem like it's out of your hands," Bannur snapped. "We both know you want him dead. But after what he did to my men . . . I want him to suffer."
"Oh, do not worry," Grimfist assured him. "I will make sure he suffers plenty."
"You underestimate him," Bannur warned. "Remember, there's the . . ."
Grimfist ended the call before he could finish.
"Captain!" he called across the nave to Harlus, who was also using a pillar for cover. "We are letting them bog us down! Let us go!"
"You read my mind," Harlus said, with a smile. "Knowledge and faith!"
"Knowledge and faith!" Grimfist roared.
The two of them burst out into the open and charged up the nave, power swords humming and bolt pistols snapping as they sent a volley of explosive rounds into the Tau ranks.
Behind them came the White Knights. Their lenses identified and synched targets and they laid down carefully coordinated lanes of fire as they went.
Grimfist was the first one to plough into the alien lines. He raised the Hand of Russala, his personal power sword, and beheaded the first enemy he saw. Combat knives and rifles came at him from all angles but he shrugged off the blows as he carved a bloody path through the press. Each broad swipe was another two or three kills. The blade crackled and sparks of electricity danced along its length as it rose and fell, claiming life after life.
Harlus wasn't going to let his Chapter Master take all the credit. He was fighting alongside him, his own sword up and at the ready. Its searing edge cut a plasma rifle clean in two and slashed down the front of the alien holding it.
Within moments the rest of the Marines met the Tau and the battle was soon settled. Hot blue blood pooled on the floor of the basilica. A few white-armoured corpses were dotted among a carpet of orange. The gunfire stopped and the last echoes faded. As the chaos subsided the full measure of the devastation became clear. Every wall was dotted with bullet holes and several of the building's windows had been blown out by stray rounds. The air was thick with the stench of death and spent munitions.
"Well fought, my brothers!" Grimfist said.
A jubilant cheer went up from the Knights around him.
Harlus picked his way between the corpses to the Chapter Master.
"My lord," he said, breathing heavily. "It is almost sunrise."
Grimfist looked around.
"No sign of Samovar," he lamented. "But what a glorious day for the Imperium."
"We have broken them," Harlus said. "Fastunhive is ours."
Their radios crackled.
"That will be General Bannur," Grimfist said. "I am sick of speaking to him. Tell him I am celebrating with my men. Make him understand."
"Yes sir," Harlus nodded.
Grimfist beckoned to the other Marines and they circled up to offer a prayer of thanks for their victory. Their chant filled the basilica.
Harlus took the incoming call.
"This is Second Company Captain Harlus of the White Knights," he said.
"I need to speak to your Chapter Master," Bannur demanded.
Harlus shook his head.
"We have eliminated the last of the Tau at the basilica on the top level," he said. "The Master is occupied giving thanks to the Emperor. Surely you would not want to disturb him?"
"Tell him the Tau aren't done," Bannur said, urgently. "That if you'd take a second to think, you'd realise you were walking straight into a trap."
Inside his helmet, Harlus' face paled.
"Sir!" he cried. "You need to hear this!"
Grimfist looked up.
And the rear wall of the basilica exploded inwards in a blinding flash of blue light. Through the shower of masonry and dust came a looming armoured figure, three times the height of the Marines. Its helmet, complete with targeting strobes that blazed through the b=gloom, almost scraped the rafters of the basilica. Each steep it took cracked the tiled floor and shook the building.
Harlus was the only one spared from the blast. His advanced reactions kicked in and he rolled away, putting a pillar between him and the Tau construct. A quick glance out allowed his helmet lenses to scan it and tell him what he was looking at.
It was an XV104 Riptide Battlesuit, one of the most advanced war machines in the galaxy. Its immense size belied its mobility; it was almost as nimble as the Astartes. In place of its right hand was an ion accelerator, a cannon that could tear apart power armour with ease, and held in the gigantic mechanised fingers of its left hand was a huge circular shield. The pilot was far away, controlling it remotely from a safe location.
"Emperor protect me," he quickly prayed, before stitching a perfectly neat line of bullet-holes up the Battlesuit's right shin.
Reactors whined as it span around.
Harlus threw himself to the ground.
The ion accelerator sent a lance of blistering blue over his head. It vaporised the stone pillar and carried on through the wall of the basilica, smashing apart the ancient stone columns of the cloisters beyond. The noise from the shot took some time to fade.
By then, Harlus was in cover again, behind another pillar. The data scrolling across his heads-up display told him that the Battlesuit's advanced sensors couldn't distinguish the adamantium of his power armour from the cold stone he was pressed up against. He couldn't move or make any sound for fear of attracting its attention.
But Sanctus Grimfist had no such fear.
"Samovar!" he called. "Face me, you foul heretic!"
There was an awful pause.
With the hissing of motors and mechanised joints, the Battlesuit turned. It looked down at him. Even in his suit, he barely came up to its knees.
"Sanctus," rumbled a deep voice from the speakers in its shoulders. "We meet again."
"No more games, Samovar," Grimfist said. "Let us finish this."
"It would be my pleasure," von Guyen replied.
The Battlesuit raised its ion accelerator, aiming it straight at Grimfist.
And the whole world exploded.
