Umbram Ignis: Chapter 10
Toran stared at the spot where the Smoke-Jaguars had been as his mind tried to comprehend what could have happened but before he could find an answer the press of battle swept over him and he was forced to focus on the fight around him. All thoughts of the reasons for the mysterious disappearance fled from his mind as he desperately defended himself from a flurry of knife blows.
Toran lashed out left and right forcing the Wyches to summersault away but that left him confronting a single Eldar female, this one wore pitiful armour that left patches of skin exposed yet bizarrely she had not a scratch on her. The wych shrieked as she swung a sword made of overlapping segmented layers at him and Toran surprised himself by managing to catch the attack on the edge of his own sword, the Captain did not realise that he was being lured forward into a trap until the Wych giggled and twisted her grip on the hilt.
Instantly the sword collapsed upon itself, breaking apart to become a long lash made up from razor sharp blades, Toran had no time to react as the whip moved like a living thing to stab into the joints of his arm. The lethally sharp edges drew Transhuman blood as they ripped at his tendons and Toran was forced to desperately twist his arm at an awkward angle to prevent his whole hand being torn off, he fell back with his sword hand hanging limply and he was forced to switch to a one handed grip on his blade.
The Wych cackled in delight at seeing his injury and bounded forwards as she flicked her Razorwhip around herself, Toran knew logically his best chance was to fall back in the hopes that his transhuman physiology could repair the damage but that was not the way of the Space Marines. All his training and hypno-indoctrination told him two things, first that when facing a superior opponent, when injured and without hope the only option was to attack and secondly that victory requires sacrifice.
As the Wych pounced in expectation of her prey's retreat, Toran reversed his stride and stepped forwards closing the distance, the razorwhip spun about to take his head off but the Captain raised his wounded right arm and used it to intercept the oncoming lash. Already in motion the whip hit his forearm and dug in deeply as it pirouetted around and around his limb, wrapping it in a layer of razor sharp edges that penetrated the ceramite of his armour. Even with his enhanced physique Toran's arm felt like it was being ripped apart but he compartmentalised the pain and concentrated on the essential facts: his arm was still attached, he could still move it and if he could move then he could yet fight.
The Wych was momentarily stunned by the seemingly suicidal move and that was all Toran needed to wrench his arm backwards hauling the Eldar off her feet, she flew towards him and the Captain met her not with his sword but with a titanic headbutt from his helm. Reinforced ceramite was driven forward by neck muscles that could have lifted a small ground transport and when they encountered frail Eldar bone they shattered it into tiny fragments, the Wych collapsed with her skull caved in and Toran stepped over her corpse as he shook Xeno brain matter from his eye lenses.
Toran's arm burned fiercely as his implants started rebuilding his tendons and muscles but he had bought a second to take stock of his surroundings, all around him he could see his brothers beset by Wyches, skipping forms that danced around blows and cartwheeled around strikes. The Eldar made battle seem like some elaborate dance and the Astartes looked like poorly schooled buffoons in comparison, their defensive circle had been broken and now the swirling madness of the melee carried every man away into their own individual war.
Toran saw Mylos surrounded by foes who nicked and scored his armour with a thousand cuts, the Space Marine tried to hit back but always the Eldar were just out of reach and Transhuman blood flowed to stain his proud colours. Meanwhile Priyar was subjected to hit and run strikes, the Eldar seemingly wary of his power maul's concussive field, they would leap in to gouge and tear then cartwheel away before they could be hit in return.
Sergeant Zeax was trying to defend his squad with his thunder hammer and storm shield, he was having some success but the enemy outnumbered him too greatly and he could not cover every avenue of approach. His Heavy Bolter armed brothers tried to gun down the foes but they were surrounded and unable to effectively concentrate their firepower in any one direction.
Sergeant Lorath was roaring in anger as he lashed out at one Wych but the Eldar he targeted ran straight at a support column to jump up and off it before doing a back flip over the Space Marines' head. Even as the Captain watched he saw the leaping Wych slashing her blade mid-air through the neck of another one of Lorath's squad, it was brother Odalla who had stood proudly in defence of the Fortress Monastery but now he fell as a headless corpse while his murderess laughed on merrily. Elsewhere Furion held the Command Squad together in a tight knot of resistance, armed with the mightiest of weapons and with the banner flying high over their heads they alone were having some success yet the numbers against them were too great and for every Wych they cut down two more would take her place.
It was in this moment that Toran spied a figure he recognised bounding right at him, wielding a serrated sword and an agoniser whip it was Athra J'rect and he only had eyes for the Captain. Even with only one good arm Toran levelled the Sword of Thiel at the Archon and bellowed a challenge, "Face me Xeno filth!" Athra sneered as he sashayed closer and called, "Your death shall be exquisite!"
Toran knew the Eldar was faster than he was, more skilled and since his foe was not encumbered by an injured arm there was no way he could beat the Archon in a duel of blades but then sword play was the last thing on the Captain's mind. As Athra closed in Toran feinted high with his blade and the Archon sneered at the obvious ploy, twisting in anticipation of sudden reversal of the blade but in doing so he fell into the Astartes' trap.
As the Eldar closed Toran raised his right arm, still encased in bundles of razorwire and drove it laterally across the Archon's abdominal plates, thin Xeno armour parted under the lashes' lethal kiss and watery pink blood flowed. Athra screamed not in pain but in outrage that a mere Mon-Keigh had wounded him and skipped backwards out of reach before he could be disembowelled, Toran however did not pursue for he knew defeating the Archon would not turn the battle for his Marines, it was time to use unorthodox thinking. Toran drew in a breath and bellowed "Sergeant Zeax, have your brothers target the support columns!"
Instantly four Heavy Bolters raised their aim and unleashed streams of fire at the plasteel columns that held up the roof, great gaping craters were blown into the metal and sent jagged splinters flying to rattle off armour plates. For long seconds the barrages continued but so thick were the columns that it seemed a wasted effort then slowly with a roar that shook the earth itself one of the columns began to crumble and fall apart.
The fighting stopped for an instant as all eyes were drawn upwards and everybody saw large cracks begin to race across the roof then with dread inevitability rocks began to fall, the first few were tiny bits of rubble barely the size of a fist but the after a second massive boulders dropped downwards to smash randomly into the dirt. Eldar and Space Marines were forced apart as the deluge fell upon them, massive stones impacting the earth and shattering to spray shards everywhere like frag grenades going off.
The rocks fell indiscriminately upon everybody and all felt their harsh touch but the Space Marines wore thick ceramite plate and stood true while the Eldar's found their grace and agility rendered moot, their thin armour useless in this environment. Toran saw dozens of Eldar die as they were crushed under falling rocks and even as he felt stone shards ricochet off his plate cried, "Brothers, follow me!" and began forcing a path towards one of the distant exits, it didn't matter which one: anywhere was better than here.
As he ran his Company followed him out but he spied Athra J'rect retreating in another direction and heard the Eldar cry, "I shall find you Mon-Keigh and your life shall be mine!" Toran almost diverted to finish off the wounded Archon but even as he thought it a shard of stone ricocheted into his neck seal and penetrated to draw blood.
Toran grimaced but could do nothing to do save keep putting one foot in front of another and lead his men into the safety of a large tunnel, swiftly they dove into the welcome darkness and barely had the last Marine made it out when the roof finally failed and collapsed in an ear splitting roar to seal off the entranceway behind them. Silence fell and Toran was left gasping as his Larraman cells clotted over his wounds and many Marines staggered with blood pouring from gaping wounds, as the thick cloying dust settled he looked at the pile of debris behind them and saw it was completely sealed, there was no going back that way now.
Toran felt utterly weary but knew they had to regroup swiftly and not trusting his voice he waved his sergeants to reorganise the squads, meanwhile Memnos approached him and said, "Let me look at that neck."
Toran tried to shake him off saying, "There are far worse injured than me, the men need you." Memnos replied briskly, "In medical matters you do not have the final word, I do, the men need to see their Captain strong and inviolate right now so come here before I sedate you." Toran relented and bent down to allow the Apothecary to start removing splinters from his neck and suturing arteries back together, as he waited Furion and Persion approached and he looked at them knowing they had the grim butchers bill ready.
Furion wasted no time but said brutally, "Final head count is three Brothers dead and lost to the ambush." Toran grimaced, three deaths in one battle was a harsh tally for Space Marines and he snarled, "We shall make the Xeno pay for this."
Persion nodded and said, "Indeed we shall but I also want to know what happened to the Smoke-Jaguars, they abandoned us!" Furion didn't sound convinced and said, "Perhaps some vile Xeno trick stole them away."
Toran replied, "No they were gone too swiftly and cleanly, they chose to leave us." Persion snarled, "Our allies always leave us at the worst moments, I am noticing a pattern starting to emerge."
Toran said, "We shall find them and I shall personally wring some answers out of Imix with my own two hands." Persion nodded but said, "There is another matter, I took something off an Eldar's corpse when I killed it, you have better see this." He held out a small device, typically Imperial in its blunt functionality, Toran said "what is this?"
Persion replied, "It is an Auspex scanner and it seems to be tasked with displaying our exact location at all times." Memnos seemed done with the Captain's injuries for he leaned over and said, "What does that mean?"
Toran snarled, "It seems the Smoke-Jaguars are not the only ones we must beat some answers out of, someone has betrayed us, someone had betrayed the Imperium!"