Sudden Death
As dawn broke, the land was greeted not by the sound of birds hailing the new day, but with the deafening thud of Basilisk fire. The imperial shelling was greeted in kind with concerted whirlwind missile volleys, keeping the encroaching guardsmen at bay as they edged ever closer to the fortress. From her vantage point, Caerys kept her vigil, watching events unfold below.
Khailes had not returned. During the night, the Exarch had vanished with his aspect warriors to investigate a disturbance the Rangers had uncovered. She had been alone since, focusing solely on the affairs of the mon'keigh as their pitiful struggles consumed them.
There Stubbs, who had so eagerly and so easily pushed forward the previous day, now faltered in the face of a true conflict. He hadn't pressed his attack, and his caution had cost him their advantage. The Blood Ravens had entrenched themselves, preparing to rebuff any effort the General would launch at them. However, the Space Marines lacked the numbers to directly engage the Guardsmen, and so were trapped within their walls like a tomb. Both sides had resorted to indecisive exchanges of artillery in the interim.
Caerys lifted her ornate mask from her face, letting the cool wind sweep over her skin and through her hair. It was a small comfort, but it could not hold back the pangs of loss she had endured these past few days. The news of Taldeer's death on Kronus weighed heavily on her kin, and in their despair they had faltered. The Necrons roamed free across Kaurava III, their soulless automatons cleansing the planet of life and pushing the Craftworld's finest back into the Webway.
She could not go back, however. Not yet. Ulthwe could wait until her answers were found. Their fates would be tied to these Blood Ravens, for good or ill.
The landspeeders continued to soar across the lands, continuing their search for survivors. Kerax checked his auspex scanner again. There was a signal emanating from the large forest to the east of the Fortress. It was weak, but Hethforn wanted to hunt down very lead he could find. His devotion to his company was fierce, even to the point of irrationality. Kerax harbored many doubts about their chances of finding anything, but he wasn't about to second-guess his Captain.
"Squad Ferrus, take the southern ridgeline," said Hethforn over the vox. "Sergeant Kerax, take the north. All other Blood Ravens, follow me through the center."
"Understood, Captain." acknowledged Kerax. "Orthel, Breanor, with me." The landspeeder shot towards the forest, lifting above the crest of the treetops. The woodland was too thick to pass between the trunks, but Kerax hugged the top canopy as close as he could. Up here, they were exposed, and they were too far from the Monastery to receive any anti-air support if they were discovered.
The treetops were whipped into a fury by the passing engines, shivering in their wake. Kerax's gunner, Tarsel, scanned over the green expanse with the speeder's bolter. Kerax pulled the speeder to a stop, and checked the scans again. The signal was still emanating, but there was no change in the frequency of the blips to indicate if they were closing in. "Kerax to Breanor, have you discovered anything?"
"Nothing yet, sergeant," said Breanor. "There is no sign that a brother's drop pod crashed near here. There is no impact site, nothing. He must have traveled on foot to get here."
"Something doesn't seem right," murmured Kerax. "Keep your eyes open. It's possible his vox link was damaged by the crash, but this could also be a trap. Continue the sweep. Orthel, inform Captain Hethforn to be ready for an ambush."
Cyrus peered through the scope of his rifle, watching the Imperial Guard as they continued to fan out and establish a greater presence to the south of the walls. From his perch atop the barbican, Cyrus could see for miles. His personal Sniper rifle, an Ultra Pattern Mark IX given to him for his service in the Death Watch, allowed him to see far beyond even what his augmented vision could provide. The Guard, their main base established ten miles south, was as clear to him as the crumbling foundations of the fortress.
The morning's shelling had taught the Blood Ravens something about their chosen base of operations: it was in a state of disrepair. The Kauravan Monastery had been one of the Chapter's previous homes before they had changed to their current fleet based society. Due to the general stigma against the chapter for their secrecy, the Chapter had opted to abandon recruiting from single worlds and instead collect initiates from a number of regions along the Eastern Fringe.
The Monastery was a ruin, maintained only by those devoted families that had not forgotten their owed services to the Chapter. The place was more symbolically powerful than physically. Had the Warp Storms not driven the Blood Ravens to return to Kaurava, the Monastery would have remained an empty husk, gathering dust and weathering the climate as it had for centuries.
Thankfully, the archeotech that powered the fortress had withstood the test of time better than the walls. The void shield still functioned, providing a buffer between the Chapter and the Kauravan's constant barrage. That lack of provisions was the more immediate problem. Ammunition and firepower were in abundance, but the means to replace damaged limbs with augmetics were in short supply. Cyrus had refused to have his eye replaced, demanding the Apothecaries tend to those in more need. His rifle would be his eye for now.
The guard were sending sappers forward. They were hugging the ground, skipping between the broken and burnt out shells of the chimeras and tanks that had thrust forward the day before. Cyrus deftly tracked them, his aim steady. With the heavy suppressor minimizing his sniper's sound and muzzle flash, he could pick off the upstarts without them noticing. The six troopers broke from their cover, sprinting for the next safe shelter.
They never made it. Cyrus's shot took the first trooper down, the others being dispatched moments afterwards by concentrated shots from across the monastery's fortifications. Cyrus put a hand to his vox bead. "All clear, targets down. Keep a patrol across the wall, sergeants."
"Understood, my captain." said Ariston. Elerion responded in kind.
Cyrus sat back, shaking his head. It had only been two days, and the fighting was beginning to wear on him. A sense of doubt had permeated the camp, and there were talks of dissatisfaction with Boreale's leadership. Captain Hethforn had not returned, nor had he responded to any vox communiques. He was intent on following his own goals, and it seemed that his spat with Boreale had not been brushed aside.
Among the others, there was almost the feeling of dissent. Cyrus had been quietly told by a number of Marines about their agreement with his words. They felt Boreale was allowing them to become surrounded, his approach to defense being too static. Cyrus found it hard to disagree. The Baneblade detachment had only been the first of several movements by the guardsmen over the day. Under cover of the bombardment, Stubbs had launched three other groups to encircle the fortress, content on using this time to consolidate his position.
But there had been no attack, no aggressive moves. Stubbs had fallen back on reliably predictable Guard tactics, and this bothered Cyrus. Was this really the same man who had united a planet and rebuilt a failing guard unit into a professional army? Cyrus was certain that there must be something else at play. Either Stubbs was being intentionally obfuscating, or he had his own problems to contend with.
"Sergeant, we've found something!" said Breanor. "Our auspex scans showed movement down below. One individual, moving westwards, we're moving to intercept."
"Acknowledged Breanor, we're on our way," said Kerax. He activated his vox. "Orthel, triangulate coordinates with Breanor and I. Captain Hethforn, I think we have found our survivor."
"I am on my way, Sergeant. Good work." Kerax gunned the engines, streaking for Breanor's coordinates. That brought his landspeeder over a small clearing in the dense forest. The tree trunks dispersed to allow enough room to maneuver. The auspex showed the individual moving slowly towards the clearing. A faint vox signal burst from Kerax's helmet speakers.
"This is brother Emir, broadcasting on… emergency channel primaris. My combat patrol was killed on impact. We… we were struck by anti-air batteries on our descent. I was the only survivor from the drop pod."
"Brother Emir, this is Brother Kerax. We're here to return you to your brothers. Sergeant Horan still lives, along with half your squad. Approach the clearing and we will retrieve you."
Kerax could hear the surprise in the marine's weary voice. "Horan still alive? But, I thought for sure… no matter. It will be a comfort to be among brothers again. I still have some fight left in me."
"As do we all, brother."
Kerax settled the Landspeeder down in the clearing. Breanor and Orthel's speeders hovered above him, the backdraft of their repulsor engines kicking up leaves and grass. The lone marine stumbled out of the underbrush. His armor was chipped and scarred in several places, and his left leg dragged behind him. Tarsel jumped out of his seat to catch Emir as he keeled forward at the lip of the speeder.
"Easy now, brother, we will get you to the Apothecarium as soon as possible." Tarsel shouldered Emir's weight, half walking, half pulling the wounded marine into the Speeder's seats. Kerax noticed a blip on the auspex. He assumed it was an animal, most likely startled by the speeder's sudden drop into the forest. However, soon several more blips appeared, vanishing just as quickly as they appeared. Then, even more marks appeared, all flashing on and off the motion detector, as if the device was broken.
By the time he realized what was happening, the first shots were fired. A sliver of metal, no wider than a fingernail, sliced through Tarsel's helmet, exploding out the back of his head. Kerax leapt from the landspeeder and hugged the side as more shots tore through the bushes, accompanied by shouts and footsteps. Kerax recognized the sound of the weapons, and the unearthly timbre of the attackers' voices. Eldar.
"Brothers, we have come under Eldar attack!" he shouted into his vox. "We have a brother down, and another wounded!"
"Sergeant, we cannot get a good angle on the Eldar from up here!" said Breanor. "We're too exposed, and they have heavy cover!"
"Breanor, it's a trap, get your troops out of here!"
"No!" shouted Captain Hethforn over the vox. "I will not lose another battle brother on my watch. 6th Company, to Brother Kerax's position! We take the fight to the Eldar!"
No, no, they were heading into a trap. Kerax looked over to Emir, trapped under the weight of Tarsel's corpse, too weak to stand. The Eldar had set them up. A lone marine, isolated from his brethren, and away from the major fighting. And they had caught the 6th company in their web.
Emir reached out in vain, trying to pull himself out from under his brother. A green, lithe figure stood over him, shortly before setting a chainsword to Emir's neck, decapitating him. "Come out from there, mon'keigh," said a taunting voice. "It would be a shame for your brothers to witness you die like a coward, hiding under a metal box."
Kerax gripped his bolter tight, thinking. The Eldar was to his right, he could see his feet. Who knew how many more were watching from the depths of the wood? Still, he would not play their games. Kerax rolled onto his back and delivered a kick to the landspeeder, jamming one of the repulsors. The kick sent the speeder spiraling out of control, spinning wildly into towards the Eldar. Kerax used the momentary distraction to get to his feet, Bolter in hand.
The Striking Scorpion easily dodged the landspeeder, leaping over the vehicle with twin blades aimed for Kerax's throat. Kerax uttered a cry which the Eldar met with arrogant silence. Bolter in one hand, knife in the other, Sergeant Kerax engaged the Aspect Warrior as the landspeeders of the Blood Ravens 6th Company converged on his position, riding a wave of fire rising from the immolated forest behind.
Author's note: Been a while for this one, hasn't it? I really just lost interest in it for a while. This update I wrote months ago, but I was never totally satisfied with it, until now. Edit after edit. And I needed something to break up the tug of war between the Imperials. So here's some Eldar.