Ambrosius shuddered as his drop pod smashed into the tank turret, the same
one that had fired on Livius' position but moments beforehand. Livius was
at the moment incapacitated, but Ambrosius did not yet know who that was
enough to care. Ambrosius was a tough, well-muscled man with short black
hair and dark green eyes. Battle scars marred his somewhat handsome face,
and a long scar traced along his cheek leading to his mouth. He was
relatively new to actual Astartes field action, but that did not stop him
from accepting his mission with no protest. Ambrosius' features were of
course obscured by his red power armor, marking him a member of the Iron
Fists, and more notably the Red Talons subchapter.
The drop pod door opened, paving a small space for him to talk, and forming a nice groove in the crater of a tank that had been smashed by his entry into Tempestus' capital city. He fastened his bolter, and made sure that the gun had a full clip of ammunition in it. Nodding with satisfaction, the Space Marine stood to his full height and walked out into the war zone that awaited him. Other Space Marines, like himself were just now climbing out of their drop pods. The Orks were quite shocked by Ambrosius and the rest of his men just kind of dropping out of the sky like that. The Imperial Guardsmen used that to their advantage, the Tempestus 54th Infantry under Commissar Livius Quintarius was ready to fight again. Despite being at just above half strength, they were doing well and not running.
Ambrosius hopped out of the pod and jumped down around the side of the tank. He took a few moments to collect himself; at one end of the street was a horde of Orks. At the other side, was a defensive group of Space Marines, regrouping with an ever increasing amount of Adeptus Astartes. The Astartes began firing their bolters, and inflicting massive damage upon the enemy. Ambrosius would have to find a way to make it over to the guardsmen, he took a moment to reflect upon the only other battlefield experience he had.
That had been on Kosav V, where the Red Talons had been sent to wipe out a large Chaos Cult that one Inquisitor and his entourage needed backup in dealing with. There had been Chaos Space Marines there, from the blasphemer chapter of the Thousand Sons. Cries of "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" and "DEATH TO THE CORPSE EMPEROR" had filled the air as Ambrosius had fought in the bloody fields of the agricultural world. There would be time to reflect on the actual events in more detail, once this little mess was taken care of. He took a deep breath, and made a ran for the burnt out apartment building the destroyed tank had been firing at.
He fired as he ran, and dove backwards to hit the pavement, an Ork's shot flying just above the helmet of his power suit. He skidded as he landed, and groaned at the impact. He looked over to his right, and there was a limp figure, unconscious, dressed in the outfit of a Commissar. Clutched in his hand was a laspistol, and behind him was the repeating lasgun that had been maiming Ork forces. Many Orks lay dead in the machine's line of fire.
There were bodies hanging around the area where the lasgun was, and it seemed this Commissar was the only survivor. He took his body and slung it over the massive shoulder of his even more massive power suit. He extended his bolter with one hand, which was kind of dangerous and ran for the Imperial lines, sending an entire clip at the Orks, nailing a few in the chest and blowing another one's arm off. The Orks had been in close combat, and the fighting to get them away had been fierce. Now it was they were engaged in a fighting retreat. The Astartes were doing what they could to make sure that no Ork took one step closer. Red armor soon covered in blood.
Ambrosius rejoined his chapter brothers, dropping the Commissar wordlessly next to the highest ranking guardsmen he could find, a colonel. He was bald, with no facial hair and he had a young look to him. Most of his visible body was covered in tattoos, but of course that was hard to see with the imperial uniform on and all. He looked oddly at Ambrosius and then just kind of nodded thanks, before turning his lasgun back upon the enemy. To the right of Ambrosius, an Astartes fell. His helmet had been blasted right off of his shoulders, and his head had gone with it. He saw what had fired the massive beam of energy that had done that deed.
It was cannon, being pulled by a few Orks. Had that shot been a little lower, it would have hit multiple targets. They were going to have to do something about that, anything really. He looked over at a few of his chapter brothers, and noted their plasma weapons. He patted one on the shoulder, and hurriedly pointed to the cannon. The Astartes only nodded, and said nothing in his large powersuit. He aimed his large plasma weapon at the barrel of the cannon. A shot rang in the air, and the plasma beam flew at lightning speed, directly into the barrel. The cannon then exploded, moments later, taking about ten Orks in it. Ambrosius was actually amused to watch it.
The Orks, with their trump card down decided it was best to turn tail and run. Bolter shells found their marks as Warchiefs scrambled to get their men back to fight. There was nothing to do really; the Adeptus Astartes put the fear of the God-Emperor into them. Ambrosius took his helmet off when the last of the Orks had been chased off, and looked around at the carnage. The street and most of the buildings were defiantly destroyed. Tons of guardsmen lay dead, but even more Orks did. This regiment was reduced to just less than half strength now, by the end of the fighting. That was a lot of casualties for one day.
The colonel he had seen earlier that day was walking over to him, the propped up Commissar on his shoulder. Livius looked up at Ambrosius, and extended a hand weakly. There was still life in him, but he was weak. Still a bit rattled form the explosion that had sent him flying so far. The colonel was bleeding from a cut to his head, and had a few bandages on his arms and legs. Nothing drastic was inflicted upon him, or so it seemed. Livius stood on his own, weakly. He nodded to Ambrosius. "Colonel Lovan tells me you were the one who pulled me away from the blast site?"
At this Ambrosius nodded "Yes, I did. I believe I speak for all of the Adeptus Astartes of the Red Talons when I say that we are glad to have been here to help. For the Emperor!"
The Commissar smiled, Livius extended a hand, and Ambrosius made sure not to squeeze his hand too tight. "Commissar Livius of the Tempestus 54th Infantry, at your service."
"Ambrosius, of the Adeptus Astartes Iron Fists chapter, Red Talons subchapter."
Both men released each other's hands, and then it was Livius who spoke first, pulling out a dataslate "I've lost around half of my men, we need to recover the next few blocks and establish a perimeter. You are to help with this objective apparently." Despite the seriousness of his words, he had a jovial smile on his face. Happy to be alive, that was Livius.
Ambrosius cracked a smile at this, and nodded. "The Emperor protects, and so do we. The captain is making preparations I'm sure, I'm not of sufficient rank to tell you what exactly we can provide but I assume we'll be the first in when the operation begins. It was a pleasure meeting you Commissar, see you on the frontlines."
Livius nodded and waved to Ambrosius after he turned to leave, and looked back at the colonel. They began making preparations, and marks on the dataslate. Things were going according to plan, sort of. The Adeptus had arrived too late to save most of his men, but a regiment of half strength and a good number of Astartes would even up the odds against the Orks. There were about forty Red Talons with him and his men there, only two or so had fallen. That was a good never, especially for a subchapter's resources. Commissar Livius turned and walked back to his men, preparing for the assault to come.
The drop pod door opened, paving a small space for him to talk, and forming a nice groove in the crater of a tank that had been smashed by his entry into Tempestus' capital city. He fastened his bolter, and made sure that the gun had a full clip of ammunition in it. Nodding with satisfaction, the Space Marine stood to his full height and walked out into the war zone that awaited him. Other Space Marines, like himself were just now climbing out of their drop pods. The Orks were quite shocked by Ambrosius and the rest of his men just kind of dropping out of the sky like that. The Imperial Guardsmen used that to their advantage, the Tempestus 54th Infantry under Commissar Livius Quintarius was ready to fight again. Despite being at just above half strength, they were doing well and not running.
Ambrosius hopped out of the pod and jumped down around the side of the tank. He took a few moments to collect himself; at one end of the street was a horde of Orks. At the other side, was a defensive group of Space Marines, regrouping with an ever increasing amount of Adeptus Astartes. The Astartes began firing their bolters, and inflicting massive damage upon the enemy. Ambrosius would have to find a way to make it over to the guardsmen, he took a moment to reflect upon the only other battlefield experience he had.
That had been on Kosav V, where the Red Talons had been sent to wipe out a large Chaos Cult that one Inquisitor and his entourage needed backup in dealing with. There had been Chaos Space Marines there, from the blasphemer chapter of the Thousand Sons. Cries of "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" and "DEATH TO THE CORPSE EMPEROR" had filled the air as Ambrosius had fought in the bloody fields of the agricultural world. There would be time to reflect on the actual events in more detail, once this little mess was taken care of. He took a deep breath, and made a ran for the burnt out apartment building the destroyed tank had been firing at.
He fired as he ran, and dove backwards to hit the pavement, an Ork's shot flying just above the helmet of his power suit. He skidded as he landed, and groaned at the impact. He looked over to his right, and there was a limp figure, unconscious, dressed in the outfit of a Commissar. Clutched in his hand was a laspistol, and behind him was the repeating lasgun that had been maiming Ork forces. Many Orks lay dead in the machine's line of fire.
There were bodies hanging around the area where the lasgun was, and it seemed this Commissar was the only survivor. He took his body and slung it over the massive shoulder of his even more massive power suit. He extended his bolter with one hand, which was kind of dangerous and ran for the Imperial lines, sending an entire clip at the Orks, nailing a few in the chest and blowing another one's arm off. The Orks had been in close combat, and the fighting to get them away had been fierce. Now it was they were engaged in a fighting retreat. The Astartes were doing what they could to make sure that no Ork took one step closer. Red armor soon covered in blood.
Ambrosius rejoined his chapter brothers, dropping the Commissar wordlessly next to the highest ranking guardsmen he could find, a colonel. He was bald, with no facial hair and he had a young look to him. Most of his visible body was covered in tattoos, but of course that was hard to see with the imperial uniform on and all. He looked oddly at Ambrosius and then just kind of nodded thanks, before turning his lasgun back upon the enemy. To the right of Ambrosius, an Astartes fell. His helmet had been blasted right off of his shoulders, and his head had gone with it. He saw what had fired the massive beam of energy that had done that deed.
It was cannon, being pulled by a few Orks. Had that shot been a little lower, it would have hit multiple targets. They were going to have to do something about that, anything really. He looked over at a few of his chapter brothers, and noted their plasma weapons. He patted one on the shoulder, and hurriedly pointed to the cannon. The Astartes only nodded, and said nothing in his large powersuit. He aimed his large plasma weapon at the barrel of the cannon. A shot rang in the air, and the plasma beam flew at lightning speed, directly into the barrel. The cannon then exploded, moments later, taking about ten Orks in it. Ambrosius was actually amused to watch it.
The Orks, with their trump card down decided it was best to turn tail and run. Bolter shells found their marks as Warchiefs scrambled to get their men back to fight. There was nothing to do really; the Adeptus Astartes put the fear of the God-Emperor into them. Ambrosius took his helmet off when the last of the Orks had been chased off, and looked around at the carnage. The street and most of the buildings were defiantly destroyed. Tons of guardsmen lay dead, but even more Orks did. This regiment was reduced to just less than half strength now, by the end of the fighting. That was a lot of casualties for one day.
The colonel he had seen earlier that day was walking over to him, the propped up Commissar on his shoulder. Livius looked up at Ambrosius, and extended a hand weakly. There was still life in him, but he was weak. Still a bit rattled form the explosion that had sent him flying so far. The colonel was bleeding from a cut to his head, and had a few bandages on his arms and legs. Nothing drastic was inflicted upon him, or so it seemed. Livius stood on his own, weakly. He nodded to Ambrosius. "Colonel Lovan tells me you were the one who pulled me away from the blast site?"
At this Ambrosius nodded "Yes, I did. I believe I speak for all of the Adeptus Astartes of the Red Talons when I say that we are glad to have been here to help. For the Emperor!"
The Commissar smiled, Livius extended a hand, and Ambrosius made sure not to squeeze his hand too tight. "Commissar Livius of the Tempestus 54th Infantry, at your service."
"Ambrosius, of the Adeptus Astartes Iron Fists chapter, Red Talons subchapter."
Both men released each other's hands, and then it was Livius who spoke first, pulling out a dataslate "I've lost around half of my men, we need to recover the next few blocks and establish a perimeter. You are to help with this objective apparently." Despite the seriousness of his words, he had a jovial smile on his face. Happy to be alive, that was Livius.
Ambrosius cracked a smile at this, and nodded. "The Emperor protects, and so do we. The captain is making preparations I'm sure, I'm not of sufficient rank to tell you what exactly we can provide but I assume we'll be the first in when the operation begins. It was a pleasure meeting you Commissar, see you on the frontlines."
Livius nodded and waved to Ambrosius after he turned to leave, and looked back at the colonel. They began making preparations, and marks on the dataslate. Things were going according to plan, sort of. The Adeptus had arrived too late to save most of his men, but a regiment of half strength and a good number of Astartes would even up the odds against the Orks. There were about forty Red Talons with him and his men there, only two or so had fallen. That was a good never, especially for a subchapter's resources. Commissar Livius turned and walked back to his men, preparing for the assault to come.