"Their all around us!" Yelled a Terminator.
"They're shooting us from…" The Marines sentence died out as his head exploded.
Fire Warriors pinned down a group of Marines in an alley. They were just the suppressing fire; Pathfinders with Rail Rifles were taking out the Marines one by one.
Across the city four Hammerheads were firing at two Predator Annihilators. An Annihilator scored an indirect hit on one of the Hammerheads. Its left side was hit and the tank hit the ground hard, its hover capacitors were damaged. A Rail Gun fired and scored a direct hit on a retreating Annihilator, and the tank exploded in a screen of shrapnel. The front left of the other Predator Annihilator was slightly damaged in the explosion.
The lone tank scored a direct hit while retreating down the street. The Hammerhead crashed into the ground in a flaming wreck; the other Hammerhead pilot narrowly missed getting broadsided. The two remaining Hammerhead tanks increased their speed and advanced onto the Annihilator. In a few short moments the tank was destroyed and the Hammerhead pilots were off to find new targets.
On the main street three Broadside suits stood shooting their Twin-linked Rail Guns at a squad of approaching Tactical Marines. The Marines scored a few direct hits with their bolters, but only minimal damage was sustained. The Battlesuits on the other hand, quickly reduced the Tactical Marine's numbers down to two. Nearby Fire Warriors made quick work of the remaining Marines.
"Units approaching from down the road!" Yelled one of the pilots into his radio.
"I see them!" Responded another pilot.
The pilots magnified the images of the approaching soldiers; a look of awe came across their faces. They were staring down the Space Marine Commander on his bike, and he wasn't alone.
"For the Emperor!" The Commander yelled. He pressed the button on his bike and the twin-linked bolters released their rounds.
His force behind him began their barrage of weapons as they came down the main street. They were attempting to take out as many soldiers as they could before they reached the line of Fire Warriors and Broadside suits. Few shots connected with the enemy, but it did startle them; giving the Marines the advantage of surprise and suppression.
Railgun rounds burst around, and in the group. A few soldiers were killed in the initial barrage. The Fire Warriors came up and positioned themselves between the Broadside suits and opened fire. They didn't hit much, except a few lowly Marines; one did score a hit on a Tank pilot that was outside of the hatch, temporarily delaying that tanks movement and the movement of all the units behind it.
Another Railgun barrage ripped though the air and landed in the middle of the pack. One tank was destroyed; it destroyed a bike and damaged a nearby tank. The Fire Warriors concentrated on the Commander, but to no avail.
The lone Predator Annihilator zoned in on the central Broadside suit and let loose a round. It scored a direct hit and the Battlesuit fell back in a flaming wreck. The other suits were slightly phased, but kept up their barrage. Fire Warriors kept up their attacks, even though they were losing their numbers fast.
Relentlessly the force continued to fire and advance up the street. Another barrage of Railgun fire damaged some of the Rhinos, but nothing was destroyed. When the Space Marines were in range the Broadside Suits let out a salvo of missiles; two bikes were destroyed, and some of the missiles exploded in front of the Commander's bike. The bike flipped over itself, and as the bike went head over heels the Commander jumped from it, somersaulted upon hitting the ground, and finished by getting into a kneeling position. He opened fire with his Bolter on the Fire Warriors before him and killed a few of them. As a Rhino passed by him, he grabbed onto it and rode with it.
The Tau were acting desperate now, as they had a formidable force of Marine bearing down on them; and were missing more and more. On the other hand the Marines were shooting right on target. Fire Warriors were dying left and right, and the Broadside Suits had damage mounting up.
When the Marines were close enough the Rhinos stopped and the rear hatches burst open. One squad of five Terminators, a squad of five Assault Terminators, two squads of six Combat Marines, and a squad of five Space Marines Veterans poured out of the transports. They swarmed ahead, with weapons ablaze, and made quick work of the remaining Fire Warriors. Two Terminators with Cyclone Missile Launchers launched salvos at one Broadside Suit and crippled it. The squad of Assault Terminators rushed the other Broadside suit; their Thunder Hammer and Lightning Claws ripped through the Battlesuit's armor like it was paper. All of the Tau fought until the bitter end, even the pilots tried to fight with their mangled heap of a Broadside suit.
The Space Marine Commander jumped off the Rhino and ran down the street, his soldiers weren't far behind him.
"This is Commander Breindel. All units forward with the attack! Kill any and all Tau you encounter; destroy the city if you have to!" Commander Breindel yelled into his radio. Immediately following his order he heard the chatter of other squad leaders issuing their own orders. A smile crossed his face as he ran down the street. "Marines be advised, I am on route to the central building. If the Ethereal tries to resist, then kill him; otherwise he is mine." He took a right onto another street, the central building loomed above him; his forces behind him fanned out and were following him down the street. "I want the squad of Terminators to follow me, the rest of you seek out and destroy the Xenos scum."
Above the planet another war was being waged, and no one could hear the screams of the dying.