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Chapter 6: Victory, you say?

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Part 3

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in the vicinity of Victory Bay

Kronus

It felt great to face the Eldar in open battle, in a time and place where most of their advantages were neutralized. However, the means that allowed it, they simply grated over everything that made Captain Davian Thule who and what he was. To think that the Blood Ravens and the other Imperial forces on Kronus actually needed Xeno assistance…

Lance cannons discharged their fury with blinding flashes, missiles rained upon the advancing enemy, while a thin yet unbroken wall of blessed steel moved to interpose itself between the Eldar and Victory Bay. For this engagement, the Force Commander had either already deployed or had in reserve the bulk of the Astarters heavy equipment he had available in system. Two Predator tank platoons led by a Land Raider formed an armoured fist he intended to pumpel the Eldar with, he had Terminator and Devastator squads ready to deep strike from orbit along with nearly a third of his available Dreadnoughts. All that was on top of full half of his company outfitted with heavy weapons and currently busy using explosives to dig in improvised fighting positions. If the circumstances were different, that would have been a waste of time. Usually the biggest issue with facing Eldar was to pin them down so you could bring the fight to them. However, this day it was different. The Eldar were the ones who had to attack in order to make an opening for their allies… and extract their infantry who walked straight into an ambush, the arrogant bastards.

The Eldar heavy units came as predicted, and thanks to Necron techno-sorcery, the Blood Ravens not only knew they were coming, they could observe the approach in real time and prepare accordingly.

It still grated, even if said intelligence was going to save a lot of his Brothers' lives upon this day.

The enemy came skimming over the low hills in the distance. A swarm of autonomous weapon platforms led the way screening a Viper reconnaissance unit. Behind them glided the bulk of the Eldar combat power on Kronus – three hover tank platoons led by Scorpions flanking an Emperor damned Cobra. The rest were merely Fire Prisms and Falcons, nothing to scoff at but still paling in comparison to the enemy super-heavy equivalents. If the Force Commander had to face them in open battle at a time and place of their choosing, well honestly Thule wasn't sure if he would have been able to win the day. Those relatively flimsy machines concentrated tremendous firepower, speed and protection in the form of the Eldar never sufficiently damned holo-fields, which usually allowed them to strike with impunity.

Well, this time the Blood Ravens could see through that shroud thanks to the Necrons and while the Xeno systems naturally weren't integrated with blessed human technology, the Astartes were more than good enough to compensate thanks to the visual feed provided by a small swarm of Scarabs.

"The enemy is in sight, Brothers! Fight for the Emperor! Lets smite the Eldar in his name on Terra!" Thule thundered as the Land Rider he rode went to a sudden halt and opened its ramps.

The Force Commander dashed out of the heavy vehicle barely slowed down by the heavy plasma cannon he brought out of the Reliquary for this battle and smiled grimly as the enemy entered into extreme range. Particle beams lanced towards the Blood Ravens from the swarm of weapon platforms and his Brothers responded with high-explosive death and lance cannons. He didn't really bother to take proper aim and discharged his weapon. Even through his heavy armour, Thule could still feel the extreme heat the plasma cannon produced as a by-product of its operation. If there were unprotected people anywhere near him, they would have fried by the mere proximity. Wet grass ignited, the ground below the shot turned charred and cracked, and the enemy… The Eldar scouts managed to get away and avoid even a grazing hit. Yet, that wasn't good enough for the Xeno closest to where the plasma impacted the ground and unleashed its full fury, creating a deep glassed crater. A wave of blue super-heated gas and electromagnetic radiation pulsed outwards, igniting everything they touched. An Eldar Viper took the brunt of the explosion at its back and side, wraith-stone glowed white, electricity arced over the hover-vehicle and its pilot lost control, plowing into the ground. A moment later, a multi-laser secondary from the Land Raider shredded the light vehicle, claiming the first blood of the engagement.

The Eldar responded in kind. Particle beams and more esoteric energies lanced forward from their approaching tanks, which kept accelerating. Thule smiled at the sight. Just as predicted, the enemy didn't intent to fight him at all, merely slash through his blocking force, take the hits they couldn't avoid and proceed to wreak havoc in Victory Bay. The Eldar might have even pulled it out if they had scattered the moment they noticed his force. If they were from a different Craft World, that much would have been expected and a given, then again, Eldar from a different Craft World might have thought twice about attacking the Imperial forces when Chaos was active on Kronus…

"Crow Actual to all Strike Elements, you're clear to deploy, Option Marius Three." Thule called in his reinforcements.

They would drop behind his line in a pattern that would maximize the time they would have to shoot straight into the flanks of the approaching enemy… who would need to slow down soon, but until then… Thule shot at the line of approaching enemy tanks and jumped into a nearby trench, still smoking from the explosives used to dig it. Missiles screamed above, launched by the handful of Whirlwind vehicles he had available, only to be met with a painfully accurate return fire from the remaining weapon platform. That was all right, every platform shooting at the ordnance was one less shooting at his Brothers, which was important now that they were close enough to pose a threat. The ground shook when the Land Raider unleashed the full fury of its armament at the approaching Eldar and the enemy heavy units responded in kind. Blinding flashed and explosions erupted all over the battlefield, devastating lances of exotic energy slammed into the thick armour of the blessed machine, melting deep holes in it, which bled leaking glowing alloy. Whole Devastator squads opened fire with heavy bolters, missile launchers and portable lance cannons, the Predators raced forward shooting all the way.

Two minutes, that was how long it took the Eldar to fly through the no mans-land between the two forces and simply force their way though the Blood Raven lines. Advanced anti-tank weapons cracked Predators, opening them with disturbing ease, Fire Prisms turned whole trenches into blazing infernos that would have killed everyone in the vicinity if they were mere Guardsmen, the Land Rider listed to one side, trying to keep its ruined right from being shot at, while spiting defiance with its remained weaponry.

The Eldar didn't emerge unscratched from their reckless charge. It might have even worked if the Blood Ravens couldn't properly see through their holo-fields, but that was not the case today. Their whole reconnaissance element perished before they could reach the trans-human lines, the Vipers simply lacking the armour to survive the kind of effective firepower the Blood Ravens could throw their way. Fire Prisms and Falcons fared better, their armour usually allowing them to survive multiple hits. However, every strike shattered painstakingly crafted wraith-bone and other, less exotic alloys, or even worse, slowed them down, so they could be more easily targeted and turned into burning wrecks. Even one of the Scorpions succumbed to a heavy strike by the Land Raider so it could be finished off by five Predators that ignored everything else in order to pump as much firepower into the crippled super-heavy tank as they could. Return fire blew up three of them, the Cobra sliced off the turret of the fourth, but not before the fifth one finally cracked through the Scorpion's armour and hit something important. The hind third of the Eldar vehicle went up in flame, the explosion tearing it in two with the forward third burying itself deep into the ground.

Then the Xeno were through, with Blood Ravens turning around to shoot them in the back, while the enemy vehicles slung their turrets around to return the favour. At that moment, the first deep striking units arrived, with Space Marines sprinting out of their pods and Dreadnoughts not even bothering to get out before opening fire with anti-vehicle weaponry. Seconds later, eight Terminators flashed into existence, each carrying heavy weaponry that wouldn't be portable even for regular Astartes and joined the fray as well.

At this point, the holo-fields proved their worth, saving multiple vehicles from outright destruction as they sped to safety. A wave of emerald fire washed over the ground behind the Blood Ravens and the Eldar drivers did their best to avoid the newest danger. A few of them even managed to do it, throwing their tanks right or left, however almost two thirds of the remaining enemy armour drove straight over the minefield that just phased in. Green lighting struck, either discharging its fury at the weaker lower armour of the hover-tanks or worse, overloading their anti-gravity drives and slamming them into the ground at full speed. As if that wasn't bad enough, the energy discharge scrambled the holo-fields, forcing them to restart. Either way, the result was the same – the Eldar vehicles suddenly became uniquely vulnerable and the Space Marines wasted no time shooting at the clearly visible targets.

"At them, Brothers! Don't let them get away!" Thule ordered.

He carefully lined up a shot at the back of the Cobra, which was still mostly intact. The super-heavy vehicle wavered, molten metal rained from its underside. It's turret slung, the Distort cannon lined up with the crippled Land Rider, and the Captain swore. They both shot at the same moment, an invisible pulse rippled through the air and hit the corner of the blessed Astartes machine. The armour simply imploded, providing no meaningful resistance, then the shot continued, spreading and tearing an even larger chunk of the crippled vehicle on its way out.

A burning ball of plasma hit the D-Cannon just bellow the barrel and the whole vehicle vanished in a wall of blue fire. A double heartbeat later, no less than fifteen lance shots slashed through the burning haze. A flash potent enough to momentarily force the Captain's helmet optics to shut down came next and when he could see clearly again, there was a large crater where the Cobra used to be, complete with mauled chunks of alien metal raining all over the minefield.


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Part 4

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Victory Bay

Kronus

This was not right, Taldeer screamed within her head. She wanted to voice her fury, her hatred and loathing aimed at the Mon-Keigh who had the sheer, impossible gall to hunt her down like an animal. Yet, the Farseer was too busy running and fighting to waste even a single breath to such a frivolity. She dashed around a corner, went low and skid over a wasted street covered with cracked stones. Laser bolts flashed above her head, a barbaric chain-blade roared past her helmet and a Mon-Keigh spat his bile at her. Taldeer slashed upwards, gutting a screeching crimson-clad animal and at the same time sprayed its pack with her trusty pistol. Mono-molecular blades cut through the beasts shooting at her and they collapsed in screeching heaps.

The Farseer had no time to enjoy her handiwork. She nimbly jumped on her feet and continued her flight, while Yungir murder-machines hounded her. Broken visions, combat senses, and her armour's sensors were barely sufficient to keep Taldeer just a step ahead from dead or worse, ending up as She-Who-Thirsts' latest plaything. Blasts of abominable emerald energy burned through polluted air, cored through abandoned primitive Mon-Keigh vehicles and clipped the hides of nearby buildings. Wraiths exploded from the ground, their wicked claws slashing, thirsty for Taldeer's tender flesh. Mon-Keigh sprinted to cut her of, screaming obscenities in their crude language.

It wasn't enough to bring her low! She was a Farseer, she was an Aeldari! Taldeer wouldn't allow it! She couldn't meet such an inglorious end!

The Aeldari threw her last plasma grenade over her shoulder and jumped through the window of the next Mon-Keigh building she ran past. Wood and glass shattered harmlessly over her armour, she saw a Mon-Keigh brat stare at her wide-eyed and ran past, even as weapon's fire struck the wall behind her, turning it into shrapnel.

Taldeer burst into a side-street, finding herself face to face with a surprised group of those arrogant beasts. She acted without thinking and waded in between them with blade and sword. Five died before the first one could even attempt to aim at her, she shot two more and ran an eight through before an officer managed to parry her sword strike. The hilt shook within her grasp as her weapon struggled against dozens of spinning jaws of a chainsword. Before the Mon-Keigh could do more than gawk in surprise at her, Taldeer shot him in the face and continued her flight.

No matter where she looked, both through her eyes and her connection with the Great Ocean, all Taldeer could see were more and more Mon-Keigh and Yungir converging upon her position. The only saving grace of her situation was that with so many murderers after her, more of the Farseer's warriors were liable to slip out of this place.

It stung, being forced to run away. That doing so wasn't going to be enough, it was even worse. Taldeer shook under the pressure of her emotions, the Great Ocean around her frame stirred as it eagerly drank her frayed feelings.

Taldeer refused to see her song extinguished in such a way, by soulless automatons and barbarians! She headed straight towards the closest tall building and sent a psychic call to all remaining Aeldari aircraft fighting above the Mon-Keigh city. The command was simple – to abandon their current missions and retrieve everyone they could. She felt acknowledgments pulse through the Great Ocean followed by more mundane response. That was good enough. All she had to do now, was reach the dubious safety of a nearby roof where someone could pick her up.

Taldeer ran for her life, even as the enemy redoubled their efforts to snuff it out of existence and feed her soul to She-Who-Thirsts. A huge Mon-Keigh slammed in front of her shortly before she could reach the building. The shock-wave of his rocket-assisted landing shook the Farseer to the core, rattling her teeth and nearly throwing her off her feet. It was only her natural grace and agility that allowed her to remain on her feet, if barely. That in turn saved her life when the Space Marine went after her with a roaring chainsword and bolter pistol. Taldeer twisted out of the way of the shells, parried the ravenous blade and pushed with all her strength and psychic might against the large abomination who leveraged his own physical strength and even triggered the rocket pack strapped to his back. The Farseer pirouetted away, dancing around their locked blades, and leveraged the pressure point to sling the Mon-Keigh past her lithe frame. He reacted faster than any of his wretched kind had a right to and sent two shots her way as he twisted in mid-air. Taldeer merely moved her head and the bolter rounds missed by a fraction even as she brought her own gun to bear and perforated the Astartes with two precise bursts. Before the mutated Mon-Keigh crashed behind her, the Aeldari already had the encounter filled out of her mind and sprinting away.

There were more Mon-Keigh coming to murder her or worse, there were always more of those wretched vermin!

Taldeer blasted her way through a solid wall, tore the ceiling off and vaulted up, gracefully landing on the upper floor where she swirled around, blade and gun reaping through what was left of a group of Mon-Keigh running through a corridor that she now painted in their blood. Another pulse of warp energy tore the ceiling above her and the Farseer vanished through the hole moments before a pair of Yungir warriors materialized among the carnage. She ran, while blasts of green lighting disintegrated the floor behind her heels. Taldeer summoned more eldritch energy from the Great Ocean, tore the ceiling off and twisted, surrounding herself with a shield of purple energy, before sending a lance of pure warp downwards at the Yungir. She caught one in the face and blasted it away, neutralizing the murder-automaton, however the second one lasted just long enough to return fire. Gauss energy washed upwards and caressed her right foot, stripping away armour, flesh and bone. Taldeer collapsed with an ear-piercing scream that shattered what little glass survived for blocks around. She had to cut off her own leg at the knee and cauterize it with warp-fire in order to stop the Yungir's terrible weapon from further ravaging her body. She got up with a roar of anger, using her fury to push the pain away and hobbled up, substituting her blade for a crutch; the wraithbone sword was more than strong enough to support her weight when slammed horizontally into the nearest wall.

Somehow, Taldeer made it to the roof only facing one more Mon-Keigh who she turned into a living torch after unleashing all her pain, loathing and frustration upon him.

A Vampire Raider shrieked overhead – it was one of the few attached to her crippled flagship, and Taldeer used her remaining strength to jump onboard. A pair of welcoming hands grasped her by the shoulders and pulled her in, an Aspect Warrior with cracked helmet aimed at something behind her and opened fire. The warrior holding her suddenly increased his grip and shoved her away and before Taldeer could comprehend what was happening, someone kicked her in the side, shoving the air out of her lungs. The Farseer gasped, her side burned, trying to breathe was excruciating agony the likes of which she hadn't experienced before.

Was this it? It couldn't be! She was an Aeldari Farseer! The Mon-Keigh couldn't bring her down! Not now, not ever! It simply wasn't right… All Taldeer ever did was what she was taught to, what she was supposed to, what was right! She should have won, brought glory to her Craftworld, brought it a step closer to uniting the Aeldari and bringing back their Empire!

This wasn't right…