Did somebody say action? As always, thanks for the support. I think that I may take a break this week and write a quick one shot. I will be back to this story next week though. Also After reading over my story I realised that I have a lot of grammar errors, so I'll spend some time fixing that.
Sev stared up at the blue sky. There were a couple light clouds but they were few and far between and the sky was almost unbroken. There was a stiff breeze flowing down the streets but Sev and Illineth were warm under their trench coats and with the engine heat rising up from below. The tank crews on the other hand were sweltering in their cramped tanks and they would often pop out of hatches or relax on the hulls. They showed interest in the lost guardsmen and they would call out to the pair. Sev and Illineth would wave or throw salutes back.
After a while Jonesy came up out of the commander's cupola again. He was laughing as he unbuttoned the hatch, perhaps from a joke told by one of the crew members. He asked how Sev was doing and they talked for a while. Jonesy was very interested in the drop regiment, especially the valkyries and the idea of dropping behind enemy lines. He was also interested with the planet of Roland Prime, and all of the new regiments.
In turn Sev learned about the armoured regiment. Each company had three squadrons as well as support vehicles such as the sentinels. Each squadron had three tanks and one tank was a specialized leman Russ with a specific role to fill. The lead tank was a demolisher with a dozer blade and flamers. It was able to clear the way for the rest of the column. Jonesy's leader was a vanquisher which was capable of tackling the enemy's heavy armour. The rear squadron had an exterminator which was in the back of the column to tackle enemy light vehicles.
As they talked Sev watched the clouds. They were moving quickly in the strong breeze. His eyes followed two birds that were high up in the sky. Sev thought of the swallow he had seen in the courtyard the day before. The birds arced and began descending. Sev was astonished as they began to grow larger. They flattened out and started racing towards the column at what looked to be about a few hundred metres above roof level. Sev pointed, interrupting Jonesy mid sentence. The scream of ork engines had become audible.
Jonesy jumped into action and looked like he had done this a thousand times before. He started shouting commands into his head set and pushed himself out of the cupola. The other commanders who had pintle mounts were doing the same. Jonesy vaulted over the edge of the turret so he was next to Sev and swivelled the heavy stubber around so that he could aim it at a steep angle. There was a crackle over the radio as the major issued a command and all the tanks pulled over to the sides of the road. The Sentinels had disappeared out of sight into alleys.
"Keep your heads down. This is about to get hairy" Jonesy said, flexing his grip on the stubber. He had a look of absolute concentration on his face. The two ork air craft had gone from dots, blurry from the almost invisible haze of smoke hanging over the city, too distinct shapes. They were still small but growing fast. The planes were coming down the straight main road towards the column. Sev and Illineth pushed themselves as far up against the turret as they could go. Sev kept the edge of his helmet poking just above the edge so he could see. Despite his fear he was immensely curious of the ramshackle machines that looked as if they should be incapable of flight.
The orks were the first to open fire. The two craft had been dipping and diving; barrel rolling back and forth in what looked like anticipation. But at what Sev guessed to be about two kilometres out they flattened. For a split second there was calm. And then they fired their retro burners. They shot forward at incredible speeds and in the same instance they opened fire. Sev was reminded of fire works back home as shoddily attached weapons blazed forth streams of bullets. Sev watched as the machine guns and cannons stitched a line of tracers down the road towards the idling tanks.
There was a clanging as machine gun rounds began ricocheting off the heavy front armour of the imperial MBTs. Sev ducked down. Curiosity was a door for heresy as the commissar would say; or in this case a bullet through the head. The tanks that did have pintle mounts opened up. Jonesy, heedless of the bullets and cannon rounds impacting around him crouched low, blasting away at the incoming aircraft with the stubber. Copper casing rattled down across the ferro-steel plating of the turret. Chunks of masonry rained down from above across the column from the large calibre cannon round impacts. There were more loud clangs of rounds colliding with armour. There was a cracking sound of metal giving way but it came from above.
Time seemed to slow as an ork fighter bombers went over head. Sev was able to clearly depict the markings on the underside of the wing. He could see the individual asymmetrical plates of the fuselage. He also saw the crude cradle fixed to the bottom of the plane release its grip on a single bomb. Sev ducked away from the road, pushing Illineth under himself. He looked over his shoulder and saw the toothy grin painted on the warhead of the bomb spiralling downward.
There was a monumental boom. Sev felt chunks of shrapnel hit his heavy great coat. The shock wave slammed into his back almost knocking him over and crushing Illineth. A heat wave rolled over him and he felt the exposed hairs on the back of his neck singe.
Sev pulled his head up. His ears were ringing and he looked over his shoulder. One of the ork craft was rolling hard to the right. Sev thought he saw the ork pilot fighting with his controls as his ruined flaps tore off. It had been shot off course before it got a chance to release its bomb. The remaining ork plane was banking out of its bombing run when one of the lead squadron's leman Russ's storm bolters found its mark. What looked like a solid line of tracers tracked across the sky towards the plane. The aircraft tried to alter course but it was too late. Mass reactive shells traced a line from nose to tail and chunks of metal and glass exploded out wards. The plane flattened out and sunk out of sight, the pilot dead or too incapacitated to control the craft.
There was the sound of tearing metal as the first plane impacted with the ground and a second later the other plane followed suit. There was a boom as something important touched off and a moment later a pillar of smoke rose into the air.
Sev looked around him. Jonesy was leaning over the stubber and at first Sev thought he had been hit. He realised that the tank commander was leaning on his elbows and had already stuffed an iho stick in his mouth. Sev looked across at the other tanks. The tank across from them was ruined. The bomb had landed almost right next to it and the entire track section had collapsed. The hull was littered with shrapnel holes and there was smoke rising from the engine. The crew were crawling out of hatches, passing out supplies and valuables. The rest of the tanks in the column seemed fine other than the dents and scratches from bullets.
The crew of the destroyed tank shared out anything salvageable. Everyone was sombre; the destruction of even a single tank was a great loss. The crews became very attached to their vehicles and the men who had crawled from the trashed war machine all held melancholy expressions. Soon the column was moving again, but there was no celebration over the destruction of the enemy. Six men split up across three tanks, two to a tank. They carried the las carbines from their tank as well as any las carbines from the other tanks.
The next ten minutes were quiet. The sentinels went on ahead to scout and reported back soon after that the column was nearing the objective. The tanks halted and the commanders gathered around the lieutenant. Sev and Illineth stayed on Civilized Entrance. Sev sat with his legs out in front of him and Illineth lay back with her head in his lap. Sev didn't mind the intimacy any more. If anything he resented that it wouldn't last for much longer.
After ten minutes of standing around with hands in pockets and quiet discussion the commanders broke their circle, returning to their respective tanks. Jonesy climbed up the side and hopped in the cupola. He seemed in better spirits now, perhaps with the definite prospect of combat. Sev knew how he felt. Although heading into combat for the first time had been petrifying, it felt good to be rid of the apprehension of waiting on the troop carrier. He was sure that the veteran tanker felt no fear of combat any more but boredom didn't go away with experience.
The tanks started moving again and Jonesy ducked down to convey orders to his crew. After a minute he popped up again to let Sev know what was happening. He explained that the Sentinels had reported that the Orks were still un-aware of the tanks presence. They would be splitting into squadrons, each squadron taking a parallel street. They would hit the ork line hard and fast and try and break through so there was an escape route for the surrounded drop troopers. After that the tanks would cover the guard retreat.
The company commander in his demolisher would be taking the middle road, with Jonesys Company on the right flank and the exterminator on the left flank. At the next cross road the tanks broke off on their respective paths. Sev noticed the sentinels stomp off down an alleyway. The three tanks were on their own now. They halted, engines idling presumably as the other squadrons got in position. The lead vanquisher tank, which Sev noticed was called No Patience for Heresy, moved forward a little so that the three tanks formed a wedge. The lead tank's hatch popped open and a man climbed out. He wore a black toque and had sergeant's stripes on his tankers jacket.
"You ready to go Jonesy?" He called back.
"I was born ready sir" Jonesy replied. The leader flashed a smile. There was a moment's hesitation.
"It's squeaky bum time lads, let's give 'em hell!" The leader called back. Sev heard the men cheer down in the tank below him. The leader pumped his fist in the air and the tanks took off down the road. Sev was surprised at how fast they were moving. Apparently they had been moving at the pace they had been going before to conserve fuel because they were now flying down the road. Snow flew behind the tracks of the tanks as the heavy treads ground down across the rockcrete of the road. The first orks came into sight.
Up ahead a group of the small goblin like creatures manned a battery of mortars, watched over by a few of their larger brethren. They were firing their large calibre guns, dropping in rounds almost as fast as they were being spit out. They failed to notice the tanks until it was too late. One of the orks pointed and they all panicked, some running in circles, others trying to hide behind the mortars. The two leman russes at the rear opened up with heavy bolter sponsors. There was the booming that Sev was so used to and he watched as the large rounds tore up the area. One of the smaller creatures literally exploded, completely vaporized by a single shell. A few of the smarter creatures made a dash for the cover of the nearby buildings but it was too late. The lead tank had been outfitted with flamers and there was the crackle of burning promethium as the sponsons swept back and forth and then too the sides.
The tanks didn't even slow down. They continued straight through where the orks had been, crushing the weapons beneath tracks. Sev looked behind at what was probably about twenty or thirty dead creatures. The road was visible where the bolter rounds had struck and there were a few scattered explosions as the promethium that still burnt touched off mortar rounds.
Less than twenty seconds later and they came upon more orks. A group of the creatures, having heard the commotion down the road, were desperately trying to climb into two trucks. A single HE round from a battle cannon and two lascannon shots from the hulls and the would be threats were neutralized. No Patience for Heresy hammered the burning wreck of a truck out of the way, barely losing speed. A second later and they were on the battle field.
The smoke stacks, which had looked to be multiple factories from the distance, turned out to be one large refinery. It was probably the central processing plant for the entire city. There was a large open area around the huge building, filled with park benches and statues, mainly dedicated to tech priests and machines. The orks had dug in about a hundred metres out from the manufactorum and fire stitched the air back and forth. Red lasers from the defenders and rockets and bullets from the attackers. The earth works stretched quite far back and it looked as if the orks had moved the trenches forward, metre by metre. The battlefield was a mess of frozen mud, ice and patches of snow.
Sev clung on as the Civilized Entrance swung hard to the right. Sev looked behind and saw the other squadrons. The manoeuvre had been timed perfectly and all three squadrons had broken out from their respective streets at the exact same time. It must have taken a lot of practice as well as driving skill to get it right. The major's squadron was going straight and the exterminator had banked hard to the left. Sev slid back a little as the turret traversed. They were moving perpendicular to the entrenched ork forces and the turret turned ninety degrees and after a split second hesitation, perhaps a correction of aim, fired. The tank rocked but maintained speed. Sev watched as the shell flew away and exploded. There was a flash and chunks of earth and wood were thrown into the air, as well as what looked like a broken ork body. Sev was amazed at the accuracy of the shot. It had landed right in the middle of the earth works and the tank was moving at full tilt.
Sev looked to where they were heading. Ahead was a group of what looked like assorted imperial vehicles. He realised they weren't when he noticed the iconic plates of sheet metal welded on, as well as painted ork insignias, animal skulls and other ork emblems. A section of the wall was crumbling where the tanks had been pumping rounds into the manufactorum but they were now turning to face the present threat. The vanquisher, still at the head of the perfect triangle, fired its long barrelled cannon. They must have been over a kilometre out from the enemy vehicles, but the shell covered the ground in a split second and Sev stared in amazement as an ork vehicle combusted. The turret spun off and flames gushed from the now empty turret ring of the gutted vehicle.
The other vehicles were doing equally well at their respective objectives. The commander's squadron was ploughing straight for the manufacotrum. The major's tank, Lions Roar, had been outfitted with a dozer blade and boasted heavy flamer sponsons like the vanquisher. There was a deep boom as its demolisher cannon fired, and it sounded loud even from a couple hundred metres away. There was a barely visible rocket trail painted through the air, similar to the ones left behind by bolter shells, and the shell struck the ground. A monumental explosion resulted, putting the battle cannon hit to shame. A large area of earthworks was completely destroyed and this time Sev was sure that he saw multiple bodies launched air borne.
The exterminator's squadron was a little difficult to see because of the distance and the smoke from the battle, but Sev could see groups of what looked like walkers being torn to pieces by lascannon and auto cannon fire. The sentinels were loping behind the lead squadron, swivelling back and forth and blasting away with auto cannons. Any orks caught in the open were cut down mercilessly. Sev noticed that the crews of the leman russ which had been destroyed by the ork bomb were standing on the backs of their respective tanks, firing full auto las fire from the hip. What little, if any damage they were dealing was microscopic in comparison to the main battle tanks but they were just happy to be able to fight back against those that killed their beloved machine spirit.
Sev was pulled back to the battle at hand when there was an explosion just to his right. The wall of a factory collapsed in a waterfall of rubble as an ork shell hit. Civilized Entrance, heedless of the near miss drove onwards. The turret rotated around to face the ork tanks. Sev heard Jonesy shout something down below and the battle cannon barked. The shell barely missed an enemy tank, throwing a column of broken rockcrete up. The enemy tanks were starting to advance towards the three imperial tanks, which worried Sev at first until he realised that the ork tanks couldn't shoot half as well on the move as the imperial tanks could.
Jonesy, who had been keeping his head just below the open hatch, popped up. He spun the heavy stubber around and started pouring shots into an ork trench which had been dug a little too close to the road. The visible orks ducked back and Jonesy shouted insults as the tank sped past. Sev stood up and fired a few shots at the orks who had now dropped out of sight.
There was a clang just ahead as the leman russ to the left shrugged off an ork round. It lost a little momentum from the shot but other that seemed un-effected. Another shot landed just in front of Sev's tank. Shrapnel rattled against the hull and Jonesy, Sev and Illineth all ducked simultaneously. The two sides were driving at each other at full pelt now, the three leman russes against seven ork machines. The vanquisher fired again and an ork tanks magazine went off. Jonesy's tank bucked as the battle cannon fired. The round hit what may have once been a chimera dead on. Two orks clambered out of the vehicle, one missing an arm, seconds before fire began pouring out of the hatches.
There was a crackle as orders were given over the vox and the three imperial tanks came to a sudden halt. Jonesy called down an order and for a second none of the three tanks fired. The ork war machines drew closer. Shells landed around the leman russes and a shot ricocheted off of a particularly tenacious piece of ruined wall and hit Civilized Entrance's front armour. The imperials waited until the orks were thirty metres out. There was a crackle over the radio. The major, who was out of his cupola like Jonesy barked an order and punched his fist forward. Simultaneously the leman russes all fired their main weapons, accompanied by hull mounted lascannons.
The salvo was well planned and each ork vehicle remaining was hit. One tank blew up, magazines or engines exploding in a dramatic fire ball and leaving behind a charred corpse. Three were reduced to burning wrecks with the surviving crew scrambling out before being cut down by heavy bolter fire. The final tank turned to flee before being put down by a well placed lascannon shot from the leman russ on the right.
The tanks wheeled around to regroup with the lead squadron. They crashed through waist high walls and across the ork trenches, all the while pouring heavy bolter fire and promethium at anything that moved. Jonesy was back up on the stubber, sweeping the gun back and forth. Sev and Illineth propped their lasguns on the turret and rained las fire on the trenches. An ork, diving for cover behind the corner of a trench was cut down by Sev's las fire as the leman russ rolled over. Illineth's aim was absolute trash. An ork had plenty of time to scurry into a dug out before Illineth could correct her aim.
The lead squadron was almost at the huge gates of the refinery. One of the tanks was far behind the others, its gun pointing at the sky and flames running up the barrel. It had been destroyed by an ork with a rocket launcher hiding below it in a trench as it rolled over. No one had made it out alive. The two leman russes of the exterminator squadron were closing in on the gate, having finished off the ork walkers on the left flank. The orks who remained in the trenches were either dead or cowering in their holes.
The tanks were almost at the gates. They had closed together, forming a V as they covered the last few hundred metres. Sev watched the tank just off to the left. It ploughed through a particularly large snow bank, mud and slush sliding off its front armour. Suddenly there was a huge boom. There was a flash and the tank, which seconds before had been speeding along, was destroyed. Its turret visibly lifted off the hull and one of the sponson flew off from the force of the explosion. Sev ducked as chunks of metal flew through the air.
The tanks wheeled to face whatever had just hit them. Something was approaching down the road and it looked huge. There was another boom earth and a huge column of earth was thrown into the air. A massive vehicle emerged from the far road. It was massive and sprouted an assortment of turrets at odd angles. The major was calling frantic orders over the vox. The imperial tanks had turned and were speeding towards the new threat. A smaller battle cannon turret fired and there was the screeching of metal as the second tank in Jonesy's squadron lost its tracks. It slumped forwards, its momentum carrying it nose first into a trench. The crew began desperately scrambling out.
The tanks fired as they charged, bucking and maintaining speed. Sev clung on for dear life as the leman russ tore up the snowy ground. He was absolutely terrified, more so than he had ever been. He had no place in this battle. It was not a battle of mortal men, it was a battle of mighty machines, dukeing it out. The tank bounced as it flew across a trench. Illineth clung onto a cable, bouncing dangerously every time the vehicle hit a crater or wall.
The smaller turrets on the enemy vehicle opened up. Auto cannon shots landed around them, some striking the wooden planks of the earth works and throwing up splinters high into the air. A round struck the front of the turret and bounced over their heads. Jonesy had buttoned down the hatches, leaving Sev and Illineth alone up top. There would be no place for stubber fire in this battle. The lascannon fired, striking the behemoth in front of them but doing little visible damage aside from a scorched hole.
The main gun fired. Sev looked back and watched as the tank that had blown out a tread exploded. Sev wondered if the crew had made it safely out. The tank slammed across a crater, smashing through the ice covering the water at the bottom and rocketing up over the lip. All of the tanks were firing, blasting away with their weapons as quick as they could reload. A las shot punched straight through a turret and a vanquisher round tore into the hull but still the battle wagon fired, slowly crawling forward.
The sentinels suddenly appeared on the flank. They had snuck around as soon as the war machine had showed up and now made their entrance, blasting away into the side of it. The turrets traversed as all of the poorly disciplined gunners turned to face the new threat. A cannon fired and a sentinel exploded. Another one was sent slumping onto its knees and then face first under sustained bolter fire. The lone crewman tried to climb out of his ruined machine but was torn to bits by an auto cannon.
The Demolisher, The Lions Roar, pressed the advantage. Driving forward without the weight of fire it closed the final distance. The turret traversed and as the tank passed within twenty metres of the enemy vehicle it fired. The massive demolisher round slammed home at a perfect perpendicular angle into the ork machines side. There was a monumental explosion and the battle wagon was ripped apart.
Shrapnel flew in all directions, hitting the Civilized Entrance which was over a hundred metres away. When the smoke cleared all that remained of the battle wagon was the lower half of the hull, burning. There was a crackling as bolter rounds touched off and from a distance it looked like firecrackers. The tanks that remained regrouped and turned, heading back to the manufactorum. Every platoon had lost a tank, the lead platoon having lost two. There was a single sentinel left and it followed behind. The hatch opened and Jonesy clambered out. He took his leather tank helmet off and wiped his brow with an oil stained rag.
Nothing was said between any of the men as they returned to the refinery. They had taken out eleven ork tanks, six walkers and a super heavy. But the price had been high. Three tanks and two sentinels, as well as the tank lost to the fighter bomber left the company under half strength.
The company stopped to pick up the two survivors of the leman russ that had lost a track before being destroyed. Every man had made it out, but two orks, who had been cowering in the trench, had ambushed them, killing three. The other man had been killed by the shrapnel from the final destruction of the tank.
The refinery had taken a real beating. Three days of mortar, cannon and small arms fire had reduced the exterior to a crumbling ruin. Arches had collapsed and smoke poured from gaping holes in the wall where fires burned. Jonesy's leman russ crushed a gargoyle under tread that had toppled from the roof. The gates had stood strong through out the siege and the mechanicus skull etched on the huge bronze clad doors was scorched and dented but still visible.
A group of men stepped through the door as the tanks drew up. The major and his gunner hopped down and approached. Sev recognized the Roland major and three of the command squad. One of the sergeants alongside the commander unfurled a banner and a cheer rose from the unseen guardsmen within the building. The major shook hands with the tank company's commander and then looked back to the gate.
First one squad, then more, began marching out. Las guns were shouldered and they kept in formation. Sev noticed that almost every squad was missing a man or two. The squads formed into platoons, making three columns. A final squad marched out and took its position. Sev waited but no more came. One hundred and sixty five men had made planet fall. Three platoons of nine squads as well as command teams. By Sevs count perhaps seventy men stood in front of the refinery. To defend a refinery that held no tactical value the Rolanders had lost over half of their company.
Sev hopped down off the side of the tank into the frozen mud. He walked with shaky legs, partly because he hadn't walked on them in hours and partly because of the realisation that a good portion of the men he knew were dead. He had always expected their to be losses, and at times had considered that they may all be dead. But to see the results of the combat in front of him was a harsh reality.
The major shouted out orders. A few squads headed back into the building. They returned a minute later baring stretchers. There were not many critically wounded, perhaps ten men total. The stretchers were brought to the tanks and laid across the rears, a couple men hopping up to keep watch over the wounded.
Sev walked past the men as they busied about. They were from first platoon and he didn't recognize any. He headed straight for third platoon. All the Rolanders wore masks, so the men got used to recognizing each other by body shape and distinctive features. There was a shout and a few men pointed his way. A group of them ran over. Sev was amazed at how different they looked. When the men had touched down they wore pristine fatigues and bore polished weapons. These men were muddied and worn. They had improvised cold gear and one was missing his helmet. Sev understood what Green had meant about being scary looking, as the emotionless masks displayed only trained killers.
The group crowded around and patted Sev's back. They were all talking at once and Sev couldn't understand what any of them were saying. All the attention made him uncomfortable; he had never been great in groups. He suddenly remembered Illineth. He looked behind him and between the masked faces he saw her standing a few metres back. She held her lasgun awkwardly and had her eyes fixed on him. Suddenly there was a shouting from somewhere in the crowd.
"Sev!" someone shouted above the others, "hey Sev". A stalky figure pushed to the front. Blonde hair poked out from beneath the helmet and Sev couldn't believe his eyes.
"Ryn!" he shouted "How the hell did you make it?" It didn't make sense. He'd lost Ryn in the fog.
"I should be asking you the same thing. I thought you were dead for sure after I lost track of you in the mist. I searched around for an hour, calling your name but I thought a sniper had got you or something. I managed to get here just yesterday" Ryn sounded elated and Sev felt the same. But something was nagging at him.
"I almost froze to death in the snow and I still don't know how I made it through the ork trench line last night. What happened to you though?" Sev felt almost embarrassed that his friend had made it here in such good time. Ryn had always been the fitter of the two of them.
"I panicked after losing you. I almost froze as well. I found another Rolander, different company, on the way here and we found the column that you see behind us" Sev explained.
"Another Rolander? Which company is he from?" Someone in the crowd asked. It looked like Tunsy, one of Sev's friends from fourth squad.
"Not sure" Sev replied "She'd lost her flak armour".
"Well does she not speak gothic?" Some one joked. It sounded like Vinn, a girl from second squad Sev had had the hots for a month and a half back.
"Well she doesn't speak. She lost her hearing. Shell blast or something" Sev said. He was eager to change the subject. "What happened with you lot? Looks like you had it pretty ruff".
The group explained the last few days piece by piece with drop troopers interrupting and picking up where others left off. The Company had made good time, making it to the objective late on the first night. They had immediately been assailed by orks. The commissar, who had fought orks on previous occasions with other regiments, rushed the men to the defence of the refinery, creating a perimeter and preparing for the assault. But the orks had not assaulted. Shells, rockets and mortars began raining down on the refinery and in that first night quite a few men were killed or wounded in the confusion. The major did his best to take control of the situation and, under the supervision of the commissar, the Rolanders dug in during the wee hours of the early morning. Windows were barricaded with whatever materials the troops could find and gun pits were made from sand bags.
The entire point of the operation was to draw enemy forces away from the front lines. But the orks, instead of trying to assault and clear out the drop troopers, had dug in. Instead of throwing masses of troops and equipment against a dug in foe the orks waited, bombarding the imperials and peppering them with constant small arms fire. The situation had been relatively stagnant, but the orks had slowly been digging their trenches, closer and closer. This had worked horribly against the novice company's morale and the commissar, always thought to be a just man, had been forced to make a couple summery executions on the grounds of cowardice.
Funnily enough, the ork strategy seemed to affect the commissars the most. All though they tried their best not to show their confusion they paced the defences and would sometimes snap at troopers. They had seen orks throw themselves willingly at the enemy guns in waves, but never use any real strategy. And the idea of using as little troops as possible to contain pockets of resistance would have been laughed at by imperial commanders. Better, they would say, to stamp out resistance as quickly as possible. But they had countered the Roland operation perfectly.
The order was given to move out and twenty minutes later they had left the facility. Sev and Illineth were quickly assigned to third squad, which had lost three members. The heavy weapons team had been killed when their bolter nest took a direct hit from an ork mortar and so Sev and Ryn were to be their replacements. They had a couple friends in the squad. Tunsy, a giant of a man with broad shoulders and a short beard. He handled the squad's melta gun. Finn was a red headed man who joked a little too much for the sergeants liking.
Illineth was assigned to the squad with Sev. He seemed to be the only one who could communicate with her and the Lieutenant didn't even giver her a second glance. Sev breathed a sigh or relief. He told himself that it was because he didn't want to die to the commissars bolt pistol. Deep down he realised it was something more than that, which wasn't to say that he wasn't happy he was alive.
The tanks took the lead, clearing out the trenches as the infantry followed behind. Once they were off the field they began piling men onto the tanks. They managed to get a third of the company onto the vehicles, the especially ambitious exterminator taking eight, as well as the two wounded men and two of the survivors from one of the destroyed leman russes. The previous name, which the crew said had always thought a bit stale, was crossed out to be replaced by clown wagon, which was gaudily painted on in white with a paintbrush.
The men began their long march, two tanks at the front and two at the rear. They would rotate shifts riding the tanks so they could march continuously. Despite the loss of life, in both the tankers and the drop troops, Sev felt better than he had since planet fall. He was back with his company, Ryn was alive, and Illineth had stuck around. He wasn't sure how the latter was going to go for him but by the Emperor he would try his best to make it work.