Chapter IV: Enemy
Having crossed the forest, the small troop was now looking down into a valley. They may have been able to get through the strip of trees unnoticed but that would probably change soon. Not only was the valley bare of anything, that could be used as cover, but it also was crawling with hostiles.
Those enemies were no humans. And they were many.
As far as the eye could reach there was not a single free spot.
"Oh, great. First there are no any enemies at all and now there's no way to get past them, without even touching them. What's your plan on that?" Tarsyr asked with a cynical undertone.
"I agree, this might be interesting indeed." was Rubyn's reply. "Let's retreat to the trees and wait for the night, maybe we'll manage to slip past them in the dark. Karrex, you stay here, keep an eye on them and tell us at once, if there's something happening or you see an opening we could use."
"As you say, M'lady."
"All others, stay on your toes, check your weapons and get some rest. You will need it:" she ordered the rest of the squad.
Thus, they spent hours, polishing and maintaining their armour and weapons and even did a bit of sparring.
Suddenly, Karrex joined them.
"There's a lot of movement going on down there. More than usual, that is. Maybe they have caught our scent? We should-" his report was interrupted by sudden explosions, followed by gunfire of all sorts.
"What the-?" Ruybn exclaimed.
They sprinted towards the cliff and, looking down, they saw humans in fight with the aliens occupying the valley. It was the Imperial Guard, lured to this planet by Rubyn herself and lured to this exact spot by the large amount of hostiles. Imperial artillery was the best in all the galaxy, more so against a large amount of enemies in close formation. Their tanks were feared amongst all who had to face them. The Guardmen, the backbone of the Imperial Guard in any regiment, were so many, not a single free spot could be seen for miles.
Still, they were outnumbered. Here, on this planet, the Imperium of Man was facing an enemy more ruthless than Orks and more numerous than any other race in the whole galaxy, maybe even the whole universe. It was an enemy, that had already taken whole planets without even being slowed down in it's advance, constantly increasing the numbers of it's troops. In fact, there was not even a single organism in the whole race, that was not tasked to killing.
Their origin unknown, their motivation the instinct of survival, their target the consummation of all the galaxy.
The things down there, being killed by humans and taking their revenge, were Tyranids, devourers of worlds.
"Now that's convenient. The foolish mortals aren't just distracting the bugs, they are actually angering them. The result will mean the death of the Imperial Guard here, be it on exactly this battlefield or wherever they may retreat to. On the other hand, the Nids should be busy transforming all the corpses into biomass, thus making it easier for us to sneak past." the Lady observed. "I say, we give them some time to kill more bugs and then we'll move out. For now, let's stay here and keep tabs on the battle."
The group retreated a bit from the edge of the cliff, except for Karrex, who was watching the ongoing battle. The others returned to their previous tasks, though more tense. They also packed up what little equipment there was to pack up so they could move out any moment.
The tides of battle surged back and forth. Superior numbers against superior technology. Hundreds of huge creatures and thousands of small ones against similar numbers of tanks and infantrymen. There even were battles on a microscopic scale: viruses and their like against the human immune system.
The Dark Eldar witnessed a fight, not between two armies, but between two completely different forms of life. He had to admit, the Imperial Guard was exceptionally well equipped. There was a large amount of special wargear like meltas, plasma guns and flamers, mortars and rocket launchers, las-cannons, heavy bolters and autoguns. In addition, the number of tanks was relatively high, considering the reports, the Dark Eldar had "lent" from an imperial vessel some time ago, did not state this particular regiment as "armoured" or even "mechanized". That didn't stop them from using countless chimeras to transport troops to and from the front lines or charging head-on into the enemy with Leman Russes and the one Baneblade they had.
Their enemy, though, was relentless. Relentless and without numbers. They may not have advanced technology, but did also prove, that it wasn't even necessary. The whole race consisted of biological warfare. If a Guardsman was hit, he would need to have the particular limb amputated or fear death by poison. Even tanks did not give enough protection, for anything bigger than a Warrior, and maybe even those, could cut through metal with their claws.
On both sides, thousands fell and still the battle was nowhere near an end...
