Mepesto's last transmission made Vandius's blood run cold. If the traitor scum over-ran their position, were they to destroy the gene-seed? He banished the thought from his mind; the traitorous bastards would never overrun the position. Not if they ascended the Black Rock.
Servenus handed Vandius a trio of weapons, his chainsword that fell from his hands, a bloody bolter and a sniper rifle.
"You'll need these, Sergeant. Now, if you'll follow me." The Apothecary and his bodyguard, who moved as one, strode towards the looming figure of the Rock, some 80 meters in the distance.
The wind whipped across the broken surface of the Rock and lightening flashed across the bruised sky as the eleven Space Marines began to set up their positions, overlooking the route they thought the Traitors were going to take. Information was hazy in that area, orbital sensors were on the fritz and long-range scans relieved nothing. Just an ash storm and plumes of smoke from vehicles destroyed and wrecked on the burning plain.
Vandius was carefully scanning the plain, his eye pressed to the scope that one of his battle-brothers had once carried. He could see nothing. Just swirling ash and dust, more than likely concealing the foe that would soon be hitting the Warhawks flank viscously.
Footsteps to his left caught his attention and the scout dropped the sniper-rifle and had his pistol out in a second. What he saw made his heart soar. Four natives, hardy men who fought for a living.
"Emissaries of the God-Emperor, we would like to fight with you. Thousands of our people have died and we had sworn a blood-feud against the black armored traitors." Spoke a heavily-scarred man in the center. Surprisingly, he carried an auto-gun, with worn web-gear stretched tight across his bare stomach. The other three were also armed the same way. Vandius looked closer at the weapons and saw that they all have sections carved and chipped off of them. They had looted weapons from the Chaos cultists! The scout smiled despite himself. These were his people and they would fight to the end.
Servenus was next to Vandius in an instant. The Apothecaries usually gleaming white armor was coated in a fine layer of human ash. The Apothecary wiped a hand across his eye-pieces and spoke, "Yes, you may fight with us. Set up next to Sergeant Vandius here and watch that location." Servenus gestured towards the swirling dust and ash storm, which loomed ominously in the distance.
Vandius holstered his pistol and lay down, carefully scanning the plain again. There! The dust cloud thinned as the wind died and thousands of humanoid shapes came through the swirling ash. Vandius upped the magnification of the scope and looked again. Cultists. Thousands of cultists and traitor guard. For long minutes, the traitor infantry moved through the dust and then tanks rolled into view. Mostly Chimeras and Leman Russ's, all dabbled in eye-aching symbols and covered in skulls.
What came past the armor chilled Vandius to the bone. Dozens of black armored Traitor Marines. The Lunar Wolves, the Sons of Horus, better known as the Black Legion.
"Brother-Apothecary!' Vandius shouted, 'Confirm presence of Traitor Guard! Possibly four thousand! Confirm presence of Traitor Marines! Possibly in company strength, maybe more!"
"Vandius, what is their range from us?" the Apothecary responded.
"Six thousand meters, give or take. The dust is screwing with the range-finders Machine-Spirits."
"Once they are in range, pick off officers and the like. I have set up six of my apprentices halfway down the slope with grenades. Once the traitor scum close, we will have to keep the Raptors off of them."
"Acknowledged Brother-Apothecary." Vandius wanted to make the Raptors pay for what they did to his squad.
For long minutes, Vandius carefully watched the Traitors approach. After the Black Legionaries, came masses of braying mutants, chained together. After a while, one particular Legionary forced the mutants to the fore, ahead of the Traitor guard. Cannon fodder. The sheer number of mutants was astonishing. At least five thousand, most likely more.
For more long minutes, Vandius picked targets, not even bothering with the mutants, but instead focusing on the Guard and Marine Sergeants and Officers. Here, a half-naked Guard officer with a strange, skull-shaped mark on his chest. Around him ran at least a hundred guardsmen and cultists, all adorned with skulls and blades. Another Guard officer with a Space Marine helmet chained to his waist and a shimmering power-sword in his fist. A Black Legionnaire with a massive banner clenched in his fist and spikes growing from his body. Too many targets to mention.
Then, they were within three-thousand meters, which was the technical range for the type of sniper-rifle he had, but with the wind and other factors, hits at this range would be hard. It was dark now, and even with his occulobe and night-sight, the darkness was a hindrance except when the lightening flashed.
"Brother-Apothecary, the scum are within my range!"
"Make them pay, Sergeant. Make them pay for every Battle-Brother we have lost. Make them pay ten-fold and more!"
Vandius's first target was the Black Legionnaire with the Banner. A trigger squeeze and the rifle smacked into his shoulder. Across the plain, the Legionnaire fell, his throat shot in the vulnerable area between helmet and chest. Except Vandius had been aiming at his hand. Still, one down, twelve-thousand to go.
Well? How was that?
