A/N – Harry's stay with the Grey Knights get more bloody as Baal fights for its survival. Read and enjoy.
Harry felt a powerful force punch a drop pod out of its bay and propel it through the space and onto the planet below. He had seen those things before and he possessed the knowledge necessary to safely use them, but being in one that was currently hurling at hypersonic speed towards a planet was an unsettling experience, especially doing it with people from a chapter that was not his own. The fact that nobody knew on top of what exactly they were going to land unsettled him even more, it was supposed to be in front of a tide of Cultists and daemons coming towards positions held by over a dozen of companies from various chapters.
"Prepare for landing," the Grand Master said, his cool and emotionless voice bringing some calm to Harry's nerves. "Impact in ten standard Imperial seconds."
Harry counted the seconds in his head and when he reached ten he felt an impact rock the pod as it slammed into the ground. Moments later the door opened and he jumped out of the pod, what he saw in front of the pod was a massive tidal wave of daemons, cultists and heretics. From the point where he was he could see thousands of beings charge and roars chants to their patron god, who in this case most likely was Khorne.
"Don't let them past your positions," Grand Master Voldus said over the vox. "Keep them contained and look for the sorcerers that summoned the horde."
Harry grimly nodded at those words and started to fire his storm bolter not even aiming very carefully as he knew that with this amount of bodies coming towards them there was no chance to miss and even if something missed its intended target it would hit something else. He could see a wave of explosions rip across the front of the horde, killing many and wounding even more, however he knew that it was not enough as with each step that was driven by lust for blood, rage and fury they were getting closer to their positions and melee combat was unavoidable. He grasped the handle of his axe with both of his hands and swung the massive weapon, cleaving in half the closets cultist and chopping away arms of the one right behind the first one. Before he knew that the weapon he was given was a powerful one, but it wasn't until now that he was truly aware of how mighty it was. He slashed and cut through the flesh, bone, armor and weapons as if they were tissue paper and unable to slow down the massive axe in his hands.
The first major challenge on his path came in form of a Bloodletter of Khorne that screamed a challenge in some language and charged at Harry, its flaming sword high in the air and threatening to split Harry into two. However before the daemon had even a chance to do much Harry fired into its chest whole magazine of bolter rounds and before the daemon could get over the fact that it's chest now had a gaping hole to it, Harry smashed his axe into the skull of the beast and split it in two.
"You definitely know how to fight," Grand Master Voldus said from the side and when Harry looked there, he saw his mentor and temporary superior dismember a cultist and banish a daemon. "A savage and brutal style, but works and sends those fiends to the place where they belong."
Harry smiled at the praise, showing off his fangs which made his appearance even more savage and wild than it already was. He smashed aside a Cultist that tried to smash his skull with some kind of a maul and charged at a pack of Bloodletters he spotted in the distance.
o-0-o
Logan Grimnar looked at the battlefield that stretched beyond horizon and nodded to himself, while the Hive breached the outer walls, it was stopped right outside of the gap and there were still many surprises he could unleash upon those beasts. He looked to the far right and smiled thinly when Bjorn and four other Venerable Dreadnoughts accompanied by over forty Wolf Guard smashed into the side of Hive Tyrant and his guards. Logan watched the duel carefully and when he saw the right moment, he activated his vox. "Flesh Tearers, attack now," he said on one channel and quickly switched it. "Egil, wait for the Tearers to attack and then rush towards the wall."
He heard confirmation of orders and nodded to himself, first came the Tearers their crimson red and jet black armors standing out among the crowd of his Space Wolves and Blood Angels that slowed down the tide. Even if Tyranids were mindless drones steered by Hive Mind, even it was surprised by the sheer savagery and ferocity of the assault that appeared out of nowhere and smashed into their lines. Chain weapons and point blank fired melta weapons pushed back the tide, some parts of it ripped to shreds and some simply evaporated, as if they didn't exist in the first place, and if the enemy had any morale or emotions they would be fleeing right now, yet the Tyranids remained in place, willing to fight.
He was about to order throwing more forces towards that attack when he noticed several massive Carnifexes move towards the gap around which they fought. "Devastators, Long Fangs, stop the Carnifexes," he ordered and looked at the Lord Commander Dante who stood to his side. "We might be forced to withdraw to the second ring of walls and draw them in deeper."
"What about the traps placed by the Scouts outside of the first wall?"
Logan at this smiled and using systems of his armor activated remote detonation device and watched the effects. Everything on the outer side of the wall for a moment disappeared behind massive balls of fire and glowing shards of metal that ripped into everything on their path. While the Carnifexes survived mostly intact, whole swarms of lesser creatures that were around them were obliterated. However before he had a chance to smile a panting and visibly scared Blood Angel entered onto the terrace.
"Catacombs, sir, they are burrowing their way into the catacombs," the Marine said.
"That's bad," Dante said and Logan looked at him. "That's where our ammunition stores are and from there it is a short path to most of the crucial systems of the fortress. Also our Neophytes and gene-seed banks are close."
"We need to stop them," Logan said and looked at his personal Champion. "Arjac, tell Ragnar that he is in command and join me and the Wolf Guard in the catacombs." Then the Great Wolf looked at the Lord Commander. "Gather your Sanguinary Guard and whatever Vanguard Veterans you can find and join me there. Also tell the Serfs to move the gear that can be moved higher up, especially volatile and dangerous one."
Dante nodded and the two of them walked into the building, their personal retinue gathering around them and forming a protective shell that should stop any and all of the attacks coming towards them. While previously it was only for ceremonial purposes, here it was also a real protection as Tyranids were known for targeting leaders and commanders, so them walking without any guard just asked for troubles.
They descended into the catacombs which were a massive maze of chambers, corridors, halls, tombs of former Lord Commanders and the most respected Blood Angels, massive ammunition stores that could last for years of continuous fighting and provided defenders of the complex with an almost unlimited supply of whatever they needed. Almost immediately their senses picked up a sound of something or better would be dozens of somethings digging and chewing through the thick rock that was reinforced with plasteel. Logan just looked around and pointed ahead. "There," he said. "They will come through the rock there. Flamers up front, the rest behind. Assault and Wolf Guard, charge at them once the flamers stop firing."
He saw Marines obey his commands no matter from what chapter they were, showing respect for his abilities and experience that he gathered in centuries of his service to the Imperium and the Emperor. He nodded to himself when he saw first cracks appear in the wall as a mass of chitin flashed in them. "Hold fire," he coolly said, knowing that now they would achieve nothing. "Wait for the first ones to emerge from the wall."
The moment this happened thick columns of flames charged at the wall and the swarm of Tyranids that emerged from it. The first few didn't even have a chance to dodge flames that swallowed them whole and charged at the ones that were further behind. In few moments the whole initial wave was set ablaze, screaming and howling in pain as fires consumed their bodies and ate into their flesh. At this very moment Assault Marines, accompanied by Wolf Guard in heavy Terminator Armors charged and slammed into the Tyranids, pushing them backwards and forcing the swarm to retreat and give back the ground.
o-0-o
Harry sliced open the Bloodletter that tried to kill him and not even paying him any attention unleashed a storm of psychic might at the cultists that charged towards his positions. First few that were hit by the lighting bolts he summoned were turned into small piles of dust at his feet and the rest was shocked to death, still a painful and quick death, but not as spectacular as being turned into a pile of dust.
He paused for a moment to look around the field of battle, piles of corpses in some places meters high and between them moving fighters as the forces of the Imperium tried to stop and contain this incursion. This brief period gave him an opportunity to look towards the Marines that steadily advanced forward, removing those few cultists and demons that managed to slip through the mayhem unleashed by the Grey Knights. On his lips appeared a small snarl when he was able to recognize markings on some armors, dark green, with a white winged sword. "So the Dark Angels," he said and casually smashed aside a Cultist that tried to attack him, killing the heretic on the spot and knocking away few more that were behind.
"Animosities between your and their chapter should be pushed aside," Grand Master Voldus said and Harry looked in his direction. "You're under Grey Knights banner so they will leave you alone and unless you provoke them, they will behave."
Harry nodded and at the same time they heard a roar that would make them feel complete and utter terror if not for the fact that this feeling was removed from their minds. Even without it they felt respect for the beast that caused the noise.
"A Greater Daemon of Khorne," Voldus said and Harry saw the old Marine scan the sky, looking for the flying form of the beast. "We need to pull back and regroup, this beast is too strong for us to combat alone."
Harry nodded and shot a screaming Bloodletter, a single bolt between its eyes, turning its skull into a unrecognizable mass of bones and tissue, and split in two a Cultist that tried to attack him from the side before summoning a storm of psychic might that engulfed those that were in front of him. He was about to fall back more when he heard flapping of some massive wings somewhere above him, looking up he saw a gargantuan form of a Bloodthirster land down almost on top of him and try to chop him into two parts with its massive axe. He barely rolled out of the path of the strike and getting up he was almost knocked out by the smell of the beast, it smelled of the Warp, blood and so much hate and rage that it felt as if it was solidified form of those emotions. However before it could chop him into pieces a withering hail of fire came from the bolters to the sides, distracting the beast and letting him scramble away.
His wolf spirit sought a fight and he normally was more than willing to face any foe that crossed his path, but here he knew he was ouclassed and didn't stand a chance. He looked at the Grand Master, his armor caked in mud and blood, and then his gaze swept over the rest of the Brotherhood, he could see them utterly and completely focused on the daemon in front of them.
"We need to banish it," Aldrik said quietly and looked to his sides. "Paladins, Harald, you will help me with the ritual. The rest is to distract the daemon and protect us from danger."
Harry nodded and focused on his psychic might, calling it to himself and preparing for the task ahead of them. Banishment was never an easy task, but certainly easier and less costly than destroying the beast and sending it that way into the Warp.
o-0-o
Ragnar sliced open a mindless gaunt and stomped onto the head of a one that tried to climb the wall and shot a quick look around. Everywhere around the Marines were trying to slow down the tide, murdering thousands if not dozens of thousands of those creatures and losing maybe a single Marine for few thousands they killed. Yet he knew that this war of attrition would end bad for the chapters involved, Tyranids had the numbers to soak up so much damage, the chapters were starting to get stretched.
"Ragnar, we will need to fall back," Strybjorn said his wolf claws shimmering with energy as he tore into the enemy. "Lamenters and Angels Encarmine pulled back, now it is us and the company of the Great Wolf holding the wall. We pull back now or get overrun."
"I was ordered to hold the wall and I will do it," Ragnar snarled and activated his vox. "Hrolf, focus on the bigger beasts. Sven, take whatever packs that aren't in combat and focus them around the gaps in the walls."
Ragnar fired his bolter at the form of a lictor that almost surprised him, it's long scything talons threatening him with tearing his body apart. He then looked at the courtyard below where several Dreadnoughts waited, ready to face whatever would pour over the wall. He smiled at the surprise the Hive would meet and then focused on the task at hand, he killed a gaunt, reloaded his bolter and killed few more gaunts that tried to attack him and then he noticed something he thought was impossible, ghostly and fiery form of Marines manifested in the midst of the enemy forces and started to slaughter them.
"Legion of the Damned," Strybjorn said in awe. "Manifestation of the Emperor's Wrath and Protection."
"And a gift for us," Ragnar said and activated his vox. "Erik, throw your Great Company onto the walls. We have a chance to take back first walls." He growled at the question. "Yes, do as I told you. Legion of the Damned showed up and we have a chance."
At the same time he jumped down onto the other side of it, his Wolf Guard and Blood Claws surrounding him as they started to slaughter the enemies that were climbing the walls and those below them. It seemed as if the Hive Mind was too confused and too shocked by the intervention of the Emperor to be able to do much, thus letting them to push and take back the land they were forced to give away.
o-0-o
Logan Grimnar buried his axe in the head of a Hive Tyrant that led the attack and smiled at the message he received over the vox. "Seems that the Emperor helps us," he said and kicked away massive body of the beast, freeing his axe from the carcass. "Legion of the Damned is here and the Hive Mind is in disarray."
"We need to push forward and use this moment," Dante said and turned to look at the Captain of 1st Company that joined them. "Take every available Company and attack, we will finish the skirmish here and join the attack."
Logan nodded at the orders given by Dante and looked at the piles of corpses that blocked the passage, most of which was of Tyranids, but there were few Space Marines buried in the piles of chitin. Most of them died when the Hive Tyrant showed on the field accompanied by his guards as before that it was a slaughter of Tyranids, most of whom were even unable to attack back and died not doing a single thing. "They will try to dig a tunnel to some other part of the fortress they can get," he finally said. "So we need to keep several Devastators and Assault Marines to stop the tide or we will learn when it is too late."
Dante nodded and activated his vox before saying few things into it. "Ten squads will be deployed into the underground part, now let's join the counterattack and push those xenos away from my home."
Logan grasped his axe and both of them jogged out of the catacombs, servomotors of their armors whirling as they raced onto the surface and then through the main gates of the fortress and then through several more sets in the walls of it while being joined by companies that were preparing for the counterattack. At the beginning it was them and the group that descended into the catacombs, now it was over two thousand strong tide of Marines accompanied by over thirty Dreadnoughts that poured out of the fortress and slammed into the xenos outside.
o-0-o
Harald Deathwolf howled as mounted atop his Thunderwolf Icefang and leading his whole company mounted on top of Thunderwolves, bikes and Land Speeders and accompanied by dozens, if not hundreds of ferocious Fenrisian Wolves he slammed into the side of the swarm outside of the fortress. Several first lines of the swarm didn't even know what happened to them and before they could even turn to face new threat they were dead, wolves ripping and tearing into smaller and injured ones, while the Marines and their vehicles targeting bigger and more dangerous creatures as well as mercilessly killing every synapse they had in sight.
Harald split in half head of a Tyranid warrior and gazed at the battlefield, in the middle of the swarm Legion of the Damned was wreaking havoc, killing everything in sight and if he was right between the forms of the legionnaires he could see feral forms of Wulfen, a sight he thought was impossible and dozens, if not hundreds of Space Wolves in Great Crusade and Heresy era armor. Then his gaze darted to the fortress and he saw that the Great Wolf, the Lord Commander and several Chapter Masters led ferocious counter attack, trying to meet with the Legion. At this sight he smiled and bared his fangs.
"Follow me and push towards the Legion!" He ordered turning to look at his guards and then jumped into the fray, gaunts trampled by his massive mount and bigger beasts slaughtered by him and his bodyguards.
o-0-o
Harry pulled on his psychic might and closing his eyes calmed his mind before starting to chant in High Gothic, his voice mixing with the voices of the Paladins and the Grand Master as they started banishment ritual to banish the Greater Daemon, trying to send it back into the Warp and ensure it wouldn't claw back its way into the material world for the next few centuries.
Even with his eyes closed and mind completely focused on the task he could feel and in a way see the battlefield around them, Dark Angels and several of their Successor Chapters pushing past their position and joining the rest of the Brotherhood in its attempts to protect the ritual and keep daemons away. Most of which became much more ferocious in their attacks as the chant started, ground around the ritual site rumbling with power and faint shimmers of cerulean blue and silver visible in the air as psychic might was gathered around them and the ritual approached its climax.
His body moved on its own and his axe shattered the skull of a demon that approached him, intent on interrupting the ritual and letting its master wreak more havoc, he killed the fiend not even breaking his focus on the task at hand and still chanting banishing formulas and spells. As the ritual reached it peak Harry felt massive amounts of energy sucked out of him and transfered to Aldrik Voldus whose voice sounded like a chorus of ethereal beings speaking at the same time.
"In the name of the God-Emperor of Mankind I banish you, Kar'voth back to the realm of the Empyrean and forbid you from manifesting back in the material world!" A lance of pure, ethereal light flew from Aldrik and slammed into the massive form of the Greater Daemon and pushed it back, charring flesh and wrapping around it like a cocoon of blazing silver fires, slowly eating its form as it screamed and howled in pain.
As the ritual ended Harry slowly opened his eyes and looked around, the massive form of the daemon was burning away, leaving behind naught but a charred corpse and lesser servants of the Ruinous Powers were in disarray. Shocked by the sudden demise of their leader and avatar of their god, Khorne.
"Don't let them regain their purpose," Aldrik said and Harry looked at him. "We need to keep pushing and find the Sorcerers that were behind the incursion."
"There is more than one?" Harry asked as he wretched a sword from daemons grasp and then gutted it out, killing on the spot. "I thought that there would be just a single one that was behind the whole incursion." He fried a Cultist with a beam of flames and shot one more with his bolter. "From what I was taught usually there is just a single one that orchestrates the whole thing, not a couple of them."
"Not in a situation when we come across a Greater Daemon," Voldus said and added with a grimace. "It requires amounts of energy a single person doesn't have, there needs to be a coven that has a steady supply of sacrifices to keep summoning going."
"Sacrifices that is humans?"
"Or any other sentient species that has a soul. Humans are the most plentiful and easily accessible, so everybody uses humans, but I had seen sorcerers using orks or eldar to fuel their rituals."
Harry filed that piece of data away, stepped over a body of a daemon that was torn apart by lightning claws and looked at the line of the Dark Angels that advanced forward, their bolters firing om short bursts. Between them he could spot their officers and Grey Knights that targeted daemons, leaving the rest for normal Space Marines to handle.
o-0-o
Ragnar nodded at the order he received over the vox and looked at his Wolf Guard that carved a bloody path to his sides, slaughtering and maiming everything on their path. He then gazed at the lines of the Legion of the Damned that held its positions and was drawing attention of the Hive Mind, letting them wreck havoc.
"Turn to the right and move away from the path of Great Wolf," Ragnar said looking at Strybjorn. "They want to encircle as big of a chunk as it is possible and all of the pincers are to meet at the Legion's position."
"Risky," Strybjorn said and Ragnar looked at him. "We are already trying to bite an awful lot and we are getting stretched, any more and we will snap."
Ragnae considered those words and nodded. "Great Wolf also said the same thing and he will be directing three Companies of Flesh Tearers to bolster our forces and start eliminating the encircled enemies. Also all of the Long Fangs and Devastators that are available will be focused on our positions and enemies around us."
"At least old Logan can think better than you do," Strybjorn joked as his claws gutted out a Warrior and hurled the carcass backwards in a spray of gore. "If it was you who was in charge I would be worried about the plan."
Ragnar glowered at his friend and a packmate before focusing on the enemies around them, Carnifexes were visible in the distance their towering forms making their way to the front. However before they could get even remotely close to cause some damage a pair of missiles streaked from behind and exploded upon collision with their target. Out of six Carnifexes two were ripped to shreds, while the remaining four were seriously wounded and knocked out of combat.
Seeing this, Ragnar let out a howl of triumph and charged at the Tyranids in front of his positions, trampling several smaller gaunts and barreling right into a swarm of Warriors, his Wolf Guard around him and cutting down anything that could threaten him. What previously was a challenging battle, now with the Hive Mind distracted by the Legion of the Damned turned to be a very one sided battle as most of the smaller xenos reverted to their primal state, letting themselves be murdered by the Marines that wanted revenge and blood.
o-0-o
Logan Grimnar pushed aside a gaunt and fired a bullet at its head before he reached the lines of the Legion of the Damned and looked around in surprise. As far as he was aware they never really cooperated with the Thirteenth company and here he could see Marines in the armor of the Thirteenth from the Heresy era and they were fighting side by side with the Legion.
"Legends are returning to the world of living," Ulrik the Slayer said as he shattered with his mace a skull of a Tyranid Warrior that got too close to him. "Hadrian was a blessing from the Emperor and the sign of the legends coming to us and the Wolf Time will be soon upon us."
"Aye," Logan said and looked at the members of the Thirteenth Company. "Who's in command here?"
"I am," one of them said, he had a mane of white hair and a massive rune covered power axe. "Jarl Bulveye of Dekk-Tra."
"Jarl Bulveye can we count on your support to encircle and exterminate those between here and the fortress?" Logan asked. "Your arrival threw the Hive Mind into a state of confusion and disarray, letting us use it, but we need to capitalize on it."
"Aye, you can," Bulveye said, showing his massive fangs.
Logan nodded and started to give orders, making whole companies reinforce crucial attack vectors and prepare for the tightening of the noose. He looked at Bulveye who did the same with his own troops and after a nod from the old jarl he activated his vox. "Attack brothers, for the Allfather and for Russ!" He shouted, charging at the head of his Wolf Guard into the place where there was the most of enemies.
Feral howls echoed across the whole line and then mixed with war cries of various chapters as whole force moved onto the Tyranids they surrounded, slaughtering them mercilessly and reducing the swarm in numbers, killing hundreds and maiming even more as the Hive Mind was unable to direct them effectively and most cared about themselves and their own survival.
o-0-o
Harry raced down a completely black corridor, his superhuman eyes letting him see in the darkness while his nose led him to his target. He turned around the corner and almost instinctively rolled, bullets screaming above his head and peppering the wall behind him with dozens of holes. He rose from the roll and his eyes quickly locked on the source of fire and his bolter barked, releasing two bolts that turned the head of the Cultist into a fine red mist and bone fragments.
Harry sniffed the air, trying to once again detect the smell of the Warp and its foul sorcery, once the hideous scent of blood, mixed with something ethereal and sweet entered his nostrils he felt hair on his neck stand up and a short growl left his throat as he bared his fangs and started to jog towards the source of the smell. As he moved his eyes scanned the darkness ahead of him, watching out for traps and surprises that could have avoided his other senses or systems of his armor that were set to maximum sensitivity.
He stopped at the intersection and looked around, trying to find the direction from which the wind blew and with it the scent. But he also paused to let a squad of Paladins catch up to him. Even if it required him to swallow all of his pride and arrogance, he knew that on his own he didn't stand much of a chance against a coven of sorcerers supported by Cultists. However his task was mainly to sniff them out and lead to them a group that would have far easier task dealing with those heretics.
He waited for the Paladins to join him and then indicated a corridor to their right. "We are close," he said over the vox. "Maybe a hundred or less meters away, I don't know how many of them are there, smell of magic hides the number."
The Paladins nodded in understanding and he didn't push ahead of them by much, instead he kept himself slightly ahead of them, just enough to activate any and all of the traps ahead of them. They came across one small group of Cultists that was killed before they knew what was happening or who was firing at them and then they entered a large, circular chamber where five sorcerers stood around a stone sacrificial altar. The floor, the walls and the ceiling of the room were covered in heinous marks and runes of the Ruinous Powers written in blood of slaves that were sacrificed to summon daemons to the world. Further in the room Harry could see a large pen packed full of humans of both genders and various ages.
The moment they were spotted the sorcerers lashed out and Harry was forced to bend his powers into a shield to protect himself from the malicious spells of Chaos. He saw them arc across a shield he created and then dissipate harmlessly. He then summoned his own powers and smiled as the sorcerers were forced to back down and move away from him. This gave Paladins precious few moments to get ready and fire their bolters at the sorcerers and kill them before they could do more harm.
"Targat neutralized," he whispered into the vox. "Slaves freed."
o-0-o
A massive tear in the material universe appeared at the outskirts of the Baal system as over twenty battleships, six battle barges and scores of other ships made translation into the real universe. They were drawn from the Battlefleet Ultima and the Ultramarines chapter and their succesors with Chapter Master Marneus Calgar being given command of the force. The moment they were inside the system they were hailed by the combined fleet of the chapters defending the planet that counted a battleship, three battlecruisers, thirty battle barges, scores of lesser ships and was accompanied by a swarm of escort vessels.
The moment the communication and the command chain was established the massive armada moved towards the Hive Fleet and began a long range engagement to finally put an end to this thing that haunted the Imperium and now threatened the very existence of one of its finest chapters. Previously fleet in system lacked the numbers and guns to effectively fight the Tyranids, but now the odds were in their favor as a terrible power of Retribution-class battleships was unleashed upon the Tyranids.
To be continued...
o-0-o
A/N – Before you ask, yes, something or rather someone is responsible for the Hive Mind suddenly becoming very, very busy and if not for its whole focus more would crawl out of the Warp than the Legion of the Damned and the Thirteenth Company. And now they are in a very uncomfortable hammer and anvil position with fleet waiting to trap them against the planet.
As for Harry, well, he has fun with the Grey Knights and there are Dark Angels around, what can go wrong when sons of Russ and Lion meet?