The Ethereal had a smile on his face as he looked upon the holographic map. Now that the Space Marines had fully come to grips with what was going on, they were reorganized. They were mounting their counter attack, and slowly destroying many of the Tau units. Never the less the Tau had delivered a punishing blow to the Marines.
He watched as Commander Breindel rode into the city, though he didn't know it was him at the time. The Ethereal watched as Marines made their way towards his tower. They were fighting in his territory; he knew every nook and cranny of the city. There was nowhere the Space Marines could go where they wouldn't soon be destroyed. This was a major advantage; he knew where his troops could, and couldn't go, the Space Marines didn't. What he couldn't predict is what was going to happen next.
The Ethereal's interest was sparked as he noticed a small group entering his building. He watched as they quickly made their way up the building. Puzzled, he went over to his computer and accessed the buildings security cameras. A look of horror passed over his face when he saw what was coming.
He quickly closed everything down and got into a secret elevator. The Ethereal hit the button and quickly went to the roof of the building.
"This is your Ethereal speaking, I need immediate pick up on the roof of my building. I repeat, immediate pickup." He said when he was safely inside the elevator.
Just as the elevator door closed, someone banged on the room's door.
"Why did you let him lock the door?" Came an extremely angry voice; two loud thuds came shortly after.
There was a short pause, and then the door flew into the room. An angry Commander walked into the room with his Bolter extended, he made a sweep of the room. He drew his Power Sword, went over to the desk, and smashed the desk.
"Where the hell is he?" The Commander yelled in rage. He walked over to the wall by the window and smashed his fist into it. When it didn't crumble beneath his fist, he looked up. The metal had wrapped around his hand. He grabbed the pieces of metal that were sticking out and ripped them off the wall.
"That sneaky bastard." Commander Breindel whispered to himself. He looked up to see where the shaft lead, and then ran out of the office and towards the stairs. "Follow me!" He yelled to the Terminators that were standing outside of the room.
The Ethereal stepped out onto the roof and scanned it quickly.
"Where is my transport?" He yelled into the radio.
"Currently on route. It will arrive shortly." Came the response.
The Ethereal paced anxiously; he was nervous that they might catch on to him and find him. Then he stopped in his tracks and whipped his head around at the sound of a loud bang. He quickly went and hid behind a pillar close to the edge of the building.
The door buckled underneath the strength of the Commanders shoulder. He gave it one more, hard slam, and the door gave out. The four soldiers ran out onto the roof with their weapons drawn, the two Terminators with Cyclone Missile Launcher couldn't fit through the doorway.
"Fan out!" Commander Breindel yelled to his troops. "I know yourself up here. Just give yourself up and it will be much easier." He said in a calmer tone of voice.
They slowly made their way across the roof, searching behind, and above, everything. Then the Ethereal stepped out and up onto the edge of the building.
"Fools!" He yelled, and then fell backward off the roof.
The four soldiers ran to the edge to see what the Ethereal had done. Just as they reached the edge, three XV8 Crisis Battlesuits flew up into the air, with the Ethereal on one. The Commander and Terminators immediately opened fir upon the Battlesuits.
The Crisis Battlesuits responded with a salvo of missiles on the small group, and then started firing their Plasma Rifles at the Terminators. They reached their peak and started their descent.
The Terminators and Commander Breindel continued to fire until the suits went out of sight. Then they turned and ran back to the stairs.
"Three Crisis Battlesuits are approaching ground level. Any units at the base of my current position destroy these suits; their Ethereal is with them. Intercept and destroy. I repeat, intercept and destroy the Ethereal!" The Commander yelled over his radio. Him and his retinue of Terminators made their way back down to street level.
Two Hammerhead tanks and a unit of Gun Drones provided covering fire for Battlesuits' landing. They laded safely, and quickly moved out of the battle; their only intention was to keep the Ethereal safe.
Waiting down a nearby alley was a Devilfish Troop Carrier; its rear hatch was down and a unit of six Fire Warriors waited inside to receive the Ethereal. Outside the alley tank rounds exploded, and Bolter fire was seen zinging by. The Ethereal quickly got into the Devilfish, and the hatch closed. They made their way out the other side of the alley, with the XV8 Crisis Battlesuits for cover. A loud explosion was heard nearby, one of the Hammerhead tanks exploded.
Waiting on the other side of the alley was Fire Warriors; they were locked in a firefight with some Marines.
"Commander what do we do?" Asked the Devilfish pilot.
"Move as fast as possible and get out of here, they can take care of themselves." He responded. The pilot nodded and went back to concentrating on piloting the transport.
"Destroy that transport!" Commander Breindel yelled into the radio. "All units be advised, destroy any, and all, Devilfish transports you see! I repeat, destroy any and all Devilfish transports that you see!"
The Commander and the Terminators burst out of the main doors. They ran down the stairs and towards where they were getting reports of where the Ethereal had been last seen. They rounded the corner of the building and saw the Hammerhead tank and the unit of Drones attacking a small group of Marines. The Commander raised his Bolter and pressed the trigger; the resulting rounds tore apart a Drone. His Terminators joined in and fired their weapons at the Drones, and the two Terminators with Cyclone Missile Launchers fired a salvo at the Hammerhead tank.
All but one Drone was destroyed in the attack, and the Hammerhead was badly damaged. Every last unit fought to the end. The tank fired one more round at the Commander, and it narrowly missed him; it exploded a few seconds later.
"Lets go, this way!" The Commander yelled to his Terminators, and the newly acquired squad four of Tactile Marines. He ran toward the alley where the XV8 Crisis Battlesuits had been reported to go down.
Commander Breindel looked down the alley and saw the group of Fire Warriors at the opposite end.
"For the Emperor!" He yelled. Then he ran down the alley with his troops closely following him; they all opened fire upon the Fire Warriors.
The Tau were thoroughly outnumbered in the alley, and were quickly dispatched. When the Marines reached the other side they scanned both ways of the street.
"They went this way sir!" Said one the Marines of a Combat Squad.
The Commander quickly ran down that way of the street. As he ran, he looked down every side street for any evidence of a Devilfish transport. Then he found what he was looking for. It was only a fleeting glance, but that was enough to convince Commander Breindel to pursue it.
He ran down the street and towards the place where he had seen the transport. They reached it with no opposition, and this time Commander Breindel saw the transport round another corner. He rushed forward, with his soldiers close behind, and rounded the same corner. To his surprise, three XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, a squad of five Gun Drones, and a unit of six Fire Warriors awaited them. The Tau immediately opened fire and kill three Combat Marines; the other Marines retreated back around the corner.
"You two, throw your grenades out there." The Commander pointed to two Combat Marines.
They immediately obeyed the order and armed two grenades. Both of them came to the corner and threw the grenades towards the Tau force. A few seconds later the grenades exploded, killed three Fire Warriors, and destroyed two Gun Drones. Commander Breindel looked around the corner and quickly pulled his head back when rounds hit the wall. Then one of the Combat Marine's head exploded; every soldier there hit the ground and covered their heads.
"Pathfinders!" Commander Breindel yelled. "The shot came from that building across the road." Another round exploded next to the Commander.
"I saw where it came from!" Yelled a Tactical Marine with a Missile Launcher. He raised his weapon and fired a missile.
The soldiers watched as the missile flew through the air and hit the side of the building. Whatever was behind that wall was gone now, and the soldiers hoped it was the Pathfinders.
"Alright, when I give the word we are all going to rush out. Take out as many xenos as you can before you go into melee combat. Are you all ready?" Commander Breindel said to his soldiers. They all shook their heads in response.
"Lets go!" He yelled. They all rushed from around the corner with their weapons firing.
The assault surprised the Tau, and the remaining three Fire Warriors and three Gun Drones were destroyed. The Crisis Battlesuits reacted a bit quicker and were able to get off a few rounds of their Plasma Rifles, which resulted in the death of two Tactile Marines and one Combat Marine.
Commander Breindel rushed one of the Battlesuits and was able to engage it in melee combat before it was able to boost away. He came down with his sword and cut off the Battlesuit's Missile Pod. The pilot countered by coming with his left arm and attempting to crush the Commander. He narrowly escaped getting smashed into the ground, and slashed across the machines crest plating with his Power Sword. The pilot activated the jump pack and leapt into the air, while turning away from the Commander.
"Mistake number one." Commander Breindel said to himself. He raised his Bolter and fired out several rounds. Most of them found their mark in the jump pack of the Battlesuit. It faltered in the air and came down hard, but not without turning itself around first. The Crisis Battlesuit was able to fire a round from its Plasma Rifle directly at the Commander.
Commander Breindel's eyes opened wide as the energy bolt sped towards him. He was helpless; all he could do was watch. The scene transpired in slow motion to him; his life flashed before his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye something moved, then it came into his full view. A Marine was flying through the air, and he was going in front of him. The round never made it to the Commander; the Marine had given his life to stop the death of the Commander.
The Commander roared in rage as he charged at the Crisis Battlesuit. He plunged his sword into the units left arm, nearly severing it from its body. Then he brought his Bolter up and fired rounds into the Battlesuit's head; it exploded leaving the pilot blind. He then brought his sword above the unit, with the tip pointing downwards, and plunged it to the hilt into the armor. Commander Breindel withdrew his sword, and then plunged it into the Battlesuit again. This time the unit went limp under his sword. He was breathing hard as he drew out his sword. The Commander surveyed the area and saw that his soldiers had made quick work of the other two Crisis Battlesuits; then he looked for the Devilfish transport.
"Damn! It got away!" He said to himself. "This is Commander Breindel, drop all units onto the predetermined drop sites inside the city. I repeat, I am giving the order to drop all units into the city." He said over his radio, a smile had crossed his face. The battle had gone on long enough, and now the xenos would pay.
The Commander watched as moments later multiple streaks of light sped across the sky. He smiled to himself knowing what they were, or at least he thought he knew.