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Chapter 3: On Death's ground

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Part 7

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Imperial lines
Pavonian Heartlands


Railgun slugs tore through the air overhead with piercing cracks. Plasma immolated the top of a small hill that provided the medical station with a bit of a cover. Imperial and Tau fighters and bombers duelled in the sky above even as artillery thundered in the distance sending shrieking shells in all directions. As if that wasn't enough, callous and hungry alien laughter came from just out of sight.

"We will hold the Xeno here!" A Commissar wearing the typical red hat and long coat of his station waved his chainsword and pointed it at the still burning top of the hill. "Take position at the ridge!" He ordered and led by example.

"You heard him! Up and at them!" Corporal Jana Hailstrom barked at her squad – the last flimsy line of defence between the evacuating wounded and the fast approaching alien hordes. She had to scream to be heard over the constant cracks of alien railguns and thunder of artillery.

Without wasting any time, her squad surged to their feet and ran after the Commissar. Before any of the humans could reach the ridge, an alien crest appeared over the top followed by a pair of reptilian eyes and razor sharp beak. The Commissar reacted before any of the Guardsmen could, raised his laspistol and shot the Xeno in the eye. A beam of coherent light vaporized the alien's eyeball, drilled its way into its skull and boiled away the alien's brain.

"Go, go, go!" The Corporal shouted, pushing her men to move faster. However, even as the Imperials ran up the slope, a large number of Kroot swarmed over the top of the hill and charged downhill.

The Commissar shot a second Xeno in the head before its buddies reached him. The Imperial revved up his chainsword and cleaved through a wicked looking staff an alien tried to brain him with. The Commissar proceeded to shoot a Kroot running at him in the throat and before that foul Xeno could fall to the ground, he gutted his first attacker with a deft strike. All the while, he didn't stop taunting and cursing the Kroot.

The Guardsmen entered the fray then, pausing their run uphill. They took care not to shoot the Commissar and instead did their best to prevent the aliens from successfully swarming him. Lasguns blasted away chunks or even appendages from Kroot who had skimmed on armour, while others could survive a few hits before their protection gave away. For a moment, it appeared that the Guardsmen would prevail due to superior ranged firepower. Yet, in the end there were too many of the Xenos and a number of them were too large and well armoured to bring down in time so the illusion of victory didn't last.

A large Kroot took advantage of the Commissar eviscerating one of its pack-mates to stab the Imperial in the thigh with the barbed head of its staff. The alien viciously twisted and pulled his weapon and its efforts were rewarded by the staff tearing out a bloody chunk of the human's leg. The Commissar went down screaming and the Xenos swarmed over him. Despite that, he managed to tear out the lungs of a Kroot before the rest began tearing him to pieces.

Meanwhile, the Guard squad kept on pouring firepower in the Xeno bringing more and more of them down. Unfortunately for them, a second pack made its way over the crest.

"Grenades!" The Corporal ordered. For a moment the shooting became ragged as her people grabbed said weapons from their combat rigs and threw them at the Kroot who were just above done with the Commissar. The frag grenades detonated in a shower of gore and shrapnel wiping out the survivors of the first pack.

The second one however turned out to be more cunning and better armed. They levelled their staffs downhill and opened fire with built in slug-throwers. Something heavy hit the Corporal in the gut, tearing through her flack vest and she suddenly found herself on her knees, trying to get her breath back. She saw one of her men hit the ground like a sack, a bloody gaping hole where his face used to be. The foul alien barking was coming closer and closer and she could no longer hear lasguns firing. Hailstorm muttered a prayer to the Emperor and her bloody fingers left her gut going for the few grenades she had left. She just managed to remove their safeties when something truck her head and she saw stars before everything going dark.

An explosion marked the death of the last line of defence between the med centre and the enemy raiders.


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Guard Field Medical station
Pavonian Heartlands

The Doctor managed to drag me out of the med centre just in time for whatever defence line the Guard covering it to collapse. A short series of sharp explosions came from behind followed by pained and furious howls that couldn't have come from human throats.

"Move! Get the wounded away! Now!" The Doctor keeping me steady screamed.

Some of the soldiers helping their buddies put them down and went for their weapons, a nearby Chimera turned in place and headed towards the hill to the right and the multi laser on its top opened fire sending blinding flashes of coherent light overhead.

"Incoming!" A nearby trooper shouted, shouldered her weapon and opened fire.

A Xeno screamed in pain, the Doctor's efforts to get me to safety became more frantic and we all ran out of time. More aliens let out battle cries and a whole pack of Kroot fell upon us. I hissed in eye-searing pain as I drew on the Warp and this time it began to claw at my sanity. I could feel Daemons taking a notice and looking for the slightest opening, yet I didn't have much of a choice. Despite the Chimera scything down as many of the Xenos as possible and the sporadic resistance from the walking wounded, there were too many of the Kroot – they simply absorbed the casualties and slammed into the makeshift convoy assembling at the entrance of the medical station.

An alien jumped from the hill on top of the med station and then sprang into action, razor sharp staff in hand. It landed nimbly and slammed its weapon in the back of a Guardsman trying to get a buddy to the nearby waiting Chimera. Both of them went down and the Kroot kicked the wounded soldier before bringing down his weapon on his skull, shattering it. The Xeno's triumph was short-lived. A livid Cogboy raced out of the med station brandishing scalpels and saws at the end of each of their eight mechatendrils, a short sword in one metal arm and a plasma pistol in the other. The Kroot didn't have time to figure out what hit it before literally exploding in a shower of flashing blades and flying organs. Another alien tried to jump the Cogboy from the top of the building only to be met by swinging mechatendrils that eviscerated him in mid-air. When in landed moments later, it was in a lot of pieces.

More Kroot came around the medical centre and tore through the few soldiers making a stand to the right. The last Guardsman barely managed to activate a grenade before four Xeno slashed him with their staffs and a moment later, the frag detonated tearing them all to bloody chunks. Yet, the rest of the pack was undeterred, if anything, the casualties merely made them more bloodthirsty. What followed was a bloody nightmare of a close-quarters combat.

I could remember frying Kroot with Warp blasts even as Daemons tried to possess me, the Doctor who dragged me out smashing the skull of a Xeno with the but of a rifle, the Cogboy becoming a blood-splattered whirlwind of spinning blades as he tore into the enemy, a large group of the bastards swarming the Chimera opposing them…

Then there was thunder that shook me to the bone and something large and burning came over the hill before twin lines of tracers pulped everything in their way. A Landspeeder flew overhead and a huge red form jumped out, landing on and crushing a particularly large and ugly Kroot. The Space Marine cut another one with a contemptuous slash of his chainsword and shot three more before anyone could process his arrival. I was vaguely aware that there were more large shapes coming over the top of the hill – Leman Russ tanks, I thought. Their cannons roared as one and the shock form the following explosions was more than enough to throw me off my feet. The last thing I managed to do was let go of the Warp in more or less controlled fashion. I heard Daemons screaming in frustration as my soul slipped through their claws and then knew no more.


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Part 8

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Imperial lines
Pavonian Heartlands

"Purge the abominable xeno from the face of this world, Brothers!" Anteas' thundered, while his temper was fraying. They already lost one Inquisitor and his retinue on this cursed planet, he wasn't looking forward to explaining to the Inquisition how they managed to lose a second one in a short order. Said organization already looked at the Blood Ravens with more than enough unwarranted suspicion, thank you very much.

Besides, miracle of miracles, this one was actually rather sane and uncommonly reasonable, so far anyway. Having him die would be such a waste, and allowing the damn Tau of all things get him, that would be simply embarrassing, the Librarian grumbled to himself in the privacy of his mind. He emptied the magazine of his bolter pistol at a cluster of charging Kroot, the ammunition making a delightful mess of their heads, and put the weapon back to its magnetic clamp. He raised an open hand just in time to meet a large, roaring specimen with a blast of Warp fire to the face. The xeno collapsed, clutching its melting flesh and bone, kicking uselessly in the dirt, while Anteas moved on to the next threat.

Around him, Tactical Marines spread out, covering the flanks and keeping annoying pests from a Devastator squad, which set up on the ridge. A platoon of Guard armour followed the swifter Astartes, aiding their firepower to the onslaught. And just like that, the xeno assault broke in a showers of gore and explosions.

"Push them back! Don't let them regroup!" Anteas shouted aloud, both to his brothers and the soldiers who had to fight the enemy practically hand to hand when the xenos swarmed them.

He saw a familiar and sad picture as he approached the medical station – there were too many dead and dying people on the blood-soaked ground. The sight never failed to put a bitter taste in his mouth. This was what the Blood Ravens fought to prevent, this was why they hoarded all the technology and knowledge they could get their hands on – so one day normal men and women won't have to face the horrors of the galaxy with such ordinary equipment. The sad truth was that generally the Guard's equipment wasn't bat, it was just that you needed more in order to face most of the Humanity's enemy on equal footing and win without paying with rivers of blood, and even then, there were foes that even the Astartes couldn't best without paying a steep price.

Anteas put aside those thoughts and returned his full attention to the skirmish at hand, well, its aftermath. The few Kroot still in sight were on the run, with his Brothers and especially the Guard, shooting them in the backs with a relish. Only a handful managed to make it over the nearby hills – it was a target rich environment after all, only for couple of Russ tanks to lob a few sells after the aliens. With the immediate threat neutralized, Anteas could put his full attention into locating the Inquisitor and making sure he lived to fight another day.

He soon found his target surrounded by a small group of shell-shocked troopers, most of them wounded, a very happy cog-boy, who was splattered in Kroot blood from the tip of their hood to the toes of the boots poking out from the hem of their gore-soaked robe and disgruntled doctor. The Inquisitor was on the ground and looked even worse to wear, the reason why was obvious – not just the Kroot attack, but a number of xenos dispatched by Warp sorcery, among the corpses surrounding this particular last stand.

"Medicae, report. What is the status of the Inquisitor? What do you need to keep him alive and what aid do your other patients require?" Anteas demanded answers.

While what was left of the forward positions could not be held with the available assets, an orderly retreat bleeding the alien bastards was very much in the cards, now that their treacherous sneak attack was more or less contained.

"Transports, medics, drugs, the Emperor's blessing, some of those poor bastards are going to need it all." The doctor grumbled.

"I'll arrange as much assistance as practical." Anteas said and switched comm channels to contact command. "What's his condition?"

"The Inquisitor should live, if we can keep him from becoming eaten, blown up or receiving any more blows upon the head." The Martian responded. "He'll need some Omnisiah blessed spare parts, so we'll be able to make a proper person out of him."

"Captain Thule, Brother-Librarian Anteas, we've located the package. He's still viable, but need extraction, medical attention..." Anteas gave Veil one good look, "and some spare parts."

"Good. Get him back to the Capital, we're redeploying the bulk of our forces there for the time being, including Apothecary assets."

"Affirmative, sir. We'll need transports and medics to evacuate the wounded before completing the tactical retreat..."


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Apothecary

Victory Bay

Kronus

Streams of Binary, sterile smell, comfortable bed and the absence of pain – somehow, those things didn't tell me that I've merely had a particularly nasty nightmare. The cog-boy speech intensified when they noticed me stirring. I cracked my eyes open to see couple of blurs nearby – one was reddish-brown, as expected, however, the other one was much larger and gayish in colour.

"Inquisitor, you're awake! Good!" A deep, jolly voice boomed with enough strength to make my bones rattle. "I'm pleased to report that the operation was successful, and you'll have all your new bits and pieces operational in a short order!"

Wut? I blinked at the giant figure, trying to process what it just told me. My brain wasn't working quite right, probably all the drugs, which sounded both wrong and right for some reason.

"What?" I asked, though what came out was a strangled croak. My throat was parched too – something that I just noticed.

A mechatendril shoved a bottle of water complete with attached straw right into my face and I took an experimental sip, wondering why was I getting the VIP treatment.

"What happened?" I tried again. My voice sounded weak, tired and alien to my ears.

"You charged and Ork Warboss, if the rumours are right, riding a Chimera no less!" The red blur cleared up somewhat, revealing the hooded face of a Tech Priest, who had at least his chin still made of good old fashioned flesh and blood.

"We've got helmet video of that stunt. It was one of the funnier things I've seen people do and live through." The deep thundering voice commented.

"That wasn't such a good idea in hindsight." I managed to croak. My memories were coming back now and I had some trouble believing what I had done. Charging an Ork, a Warboss no less?! Did I leave my brain, or at least common sense, back in orbit?

"Well, it worked, kind of." The large blur, which had to be an Astartes, said in something that might have been supposed to be a soothing tone.

"We don't have a confirmation that said Ork is very dead." The cog-boy waved a couple of spiky tentacles behind his back. "We're getting off topic. Inquisitor, I'm proud to announce that we managed to install all your new bits and pieces without an issue. You're now truly blessed by the Holy Cog, and the Motive Force!" He shoved his hand in my face, displaying five thin and long metal fingers, which gave me a thumb's up.

"What bits and pieces?" I asked warily. Nothing hurt, which meant it couldn't be that bad? Then again, I was dumb enough to charge an Ork Warboss, that was what Ogryns did!

"Left arm, the shoulder, some reinforcements so you could properly use your brand new bionics..." The Cog-boy began listing off on fingers tipped with very sharp looking points.

Those were a lot of bionics he was telling me about. What in the Emperor's name did I do?!

My brain dragged out fragmented images of screaming Orks, explosions, blood and Kroot of all things… I thought I heard an echo of laughter too, but then again, I was probably high up on drugs, otherwise I wouldn't be this calm under the circumstances, right?