Authors Note: As always plz reveiw and tell me any fluff problems or grammatical/spelling errors. And also if you wish I will do Imperial cameos now, cause I cant get Tau names right, unless somebody wantes to give me some help.
Brother-Librarian Ashok of the Mantis Warriors space marine chapter closed his eyes and searched for the enemy with his physic senses.
Unlike most major species in the galaxy the Tau were strange as they emitted almost no signal in the warp, mostly having to do with that they had no physkers in their ranks. Ashok's eyes opened with a grunt, his noble face turning towards the west, where he had found that the Tau were coming from.
Ashok was a intimidating figure in his burnished dark green power armor with intricate workings of black and gold worked on it. In his hands rested a double bladed force staff that radiated with waves of physic power. His head was bear, as he choose not to wear the special hood that came with being a librarian.
His eyes burned with a inner red light that gave him a almost demonic look to his aristocratic pivoted towards the force of Mantis Warriors that were assembled behind him, their green power armor blending into the grasslands almost seamlessly.
He opened the inter communicator channel between the brother marines that was wired into their armor and said, "Scout-Commander Octavious what is your status?"
Octavious's scouts were positioned ahead of his force of Battle-Brothers. "Brother-Librarian Ashok we have a visual on the enemy. I have my snipers aimed on their commanders."
"Thank you Octavious, be ready for the assault, we are right on the outskirts of the Hive city and once we start this attack the real battle begins."
"Yes Brother Ashok, Octavious out."
Behind him Tactical Squads Sulur and Relk along with Devastator and Assault squads Leyn and Frex moved forwards to their positions, ready for battle. Ashok couldn't help but grin as the Imperiums finest warriors readied themselves to kill the hated xenos who had sullied this world with their foulness. Ashok hefted his staff and walked towards his position to wait.
The first Tau vehicle that appeared was a scout Tetra, its passage almost soundless as a result of the Tau's techno-sorcery that had created it.
Two of the aliens operated the vehicle, one driving while the other looked on a some form of scanner, checking for threats. Behind the scouts skimmed a column of Tau vehicles, teeming with Tau fire warriors, gun drones and pathfinders.
On the smoky horizon the giant hive city of Khergit dominated all the marines visions. Artillery on both sides dueled and aircraft passed overhead headed towards their attack run sites in the city.
The Tau vehicles were directly in front of Ashok now, he could their faint whisperings of skimmer technology as they passed by. He turned on his vox and sub-vocalized, "Now Brother Leyn!" and in response lascannon's, missile launchers, heavy bolters and devastator plasma guns opened up followed by the sound of exploding Tau vehicles and scream of alien soldiers dying. He vaulted out of his cover with a roar his staff already blazing with power.
Ashok smashed into the scout Tetra and slashed downwards with his force staff the blades cleaving through the vehicle as if it was made of nothing more substantial than smoke.
The pilots tried to scramble out of the vehicle but one was smashed underneath the vehicle and the other was cut in half by one of Ashok's spinning blades. He then turned a unleashed a wave of multi-colored energy out of his staff which consumed a squad of fire warriors, their power cells to their rifles cooking off in a explosion of energy.
He then half turned and saw assault squad Frex jump into the fray, chainswords flashing and bolt pistols barking. Sergeant Frex himself was smashing men to the ground with his power maul, shattering the Tau's frail bodies in discharges of energy.
Bolt rounds from the tactical squads screamed through the air, exploding torsos, pulping heads and smashing through limbs.
The Mantis Warriors had engaged the Tau with the perfection only space marines could achieve. Overlapping field of fire destroyed the Tau and scattered their formation while the assault squad and Ashok slaughtered them in close combat.
Ashok wheeled and spun through the battle, his armor absorbing projectiles, his staff whirling and cutting through bodies or impaling Tau on its ends, blazes of warp energy spewing from his fingers, engulfing vehicles and infantry alike with its dazzling flames. Ashok nimbly dodged a rail beam, it being able to penetrate his armor easily and stepped forward smashing his fist into offending Tau sniper's face, caving it in like a hammer hitting a rotten piece of wood. He turned and then slashed through another of the aliens and using his momentum put the tip of his staff through the armor of a Devilfish transport and killing its driver in a flash of energy.
A smart missile whistled past his shoulder and exploded behind him, ending the service of one of his battle brothers.
He opened the company vox channel again and said, "Octavious now!"
This entire time the twenty scouts had been sitting silent in the cover of the undergrowth, waiting for his signal. Sniper rounds began shooting through the air, splattering brains and bone acroos the ground as they struck. Tau soldiers that had steered to close to the bushes began being killed by swift stabs and slashes of combat knifes as the scouts worked their deathly magic.
As the scouts sprung he again yelled a order into the vox, resulting in a barrage of high explosive missiles from whirlwind batteries that were hidden behind the Marine's position, destroying the rear of Tau column in a flash of flame and panicking the xenos. Then as if the Tau thought that victory was impossible already, assault bikes and land speeders emerged from over the grassy hills, their forward mounted weapon firing, turning Tau soldiers to bloody paste. This battle was won, and now it was time to win the day.
Dark green predator tanks, vindicators, rhino's and razorbacks rumbled exhaust fumes into the evening air. Ashok clambered aboard the Land Raider, Manti Exemplari, and looked upon the might of the 7th company of the Mantis Warrior's chapter.
Thunderhawk gunships roared overhead, and assault bikes and land speeders prowled the fringes of the Marine armor. He laughed at the thought of the Tau actually believing they can beat the might of the Imperium and waved his staff forwards.
The Emperor's finest warriors traveled to the hive city.
Sister Charity of the Order of Our Martyred Lady washed her Adepta Sororitas Power Armor with ritual unguents and oils.
The power armor of the Adepta Sororitas is different form that used by the Space marines because of it's lighter and les bulky design, which allowed the unaltered Battle Sisters to wear it, even though it offered less protection and servo power. With her armor cleaned she then checked her weapons, a wrist mounted flamer unit and large power axe with purity seals on its haft. Each of the weapons had served her well over the course of her 30 years as a Sister of Faith.
After that process of her pre-battle cycle she began to place on her armor while chanting prayers to the Emperor.
She stood to her full height, servos whining, and strode out of her spartanly furnished chambers, the Emperor called for her. The attack on the hive city had begun.
Energy beams sliced around the Valkyrie transport as it dropped the Sororitas onto the roof of the Manufactorum building in the city of Khergit, the view offered from its top showing flames and ash, along with surface to air and air to surface fire, glowing throughout the massive city.
In the dark and winding Gothic streets of the city tens of thousands of civilians were being killed as they were caught between the Imperial and Tau forces, the two sides ripping apart the city in the wave of violence and brutality that existed between the two species ever since the Tau's assault on the planets of Gereziad and Canticar.
Blood ran ankle deep in the winding corridors of the city, burning wrecks and bloody corpses choked the walkways of hive.
She turned her attention back to the task at hand.
Her sisters had already secured the roof giving the Imperial tacticians the view of city that they had wanted to coordinate their assault and depriving the Tau of such a advantage. Squads of Sisters were already moving through the giant factory and engaging the human traitors which had joined the Tau when they had taken the city.
She gathered herself and headed inside the confines of building.
Las and auto rounds rang off of Charity's armor as she strode forward towards the traitors that were ducking behind a piece of machinery. Sniper's snapped off shots towards the Sisters, just resulting in wasted bullets as the shots failed ot penetrate the warriors armor. Grendades detonated and flamers whooshed as battle was joined in the huge factory that used to be the lifeblood of the city.
She ducked into cover with Sisters Lowell and Sabat behind a heavy weight lifting servitor, Lowell clutched two bolt pistols in her hands while Sabat held a multi melta in hers. They nodded towards her as she dropped in with them. "Sister!" yelled Lowell over the din of battle, "It seems the traitors want a fight, yet they will not me face to face!" she spat with hatred at the cowards.
"Soon you will get your wish Sister, for now we advance." Charity turned towards their comrades that were arriving in a steady stream behind them. They carried heavy flamers, bolters and multi meltas with easy skill. Firing towards the fortified enemy with bursts of heavy fire.
She turned back towards her sisters and yelled, "Ready?"
"For the Emperor!"
They leapt form cover weapons blazing. Lowell flew through the air on her jetpack unloading the clips of her bolt pistols into the heads of the xeno lovers, pulping skulls and faces. Sabat sprinted forward with Charity and jumped over the machinery while shooting a stream of super heated molecules into those sheltering behind it, turning them into steaming mush. Charity landed almost slipping in the human viscera before regaining her feet and lashing out with her axe and chopping through two screaming men whose eyes had been fried with flash of thermal energy from Sabat's melta. She absorbed the impact of a bayonet on her arm plates before kicking out and breaking the mans pelvis before switching on her flamer pilot light and sending a wave of flames out of its muzzle igniting half a dozen men on fire before striding forward and killing men with her axe with large sweeps.
She then stood and tossed a phosphor grenade into a stairwell where the rebels were retreating, the chemical reaction causing the grenade to burn almost as hot as tiny star, instantly turning the men to ash, cutting off their screams abruptly. A shaped loomed behind her suddenly holding a huge billhook his hands. As the traitor started to strike Sister Lowell landed on the man from the air her jetpack flaring, a crack of bones signalling the mans death.
As the glow faded from her helmet optical sights, she turned back towards her sisters, "Objective Secured."
Gunfire thudded against Captain Bayern's cover, the street was filled with shouts of dying men and aliens while the boom of explosives and heavy weapons added a backdrop to the scene of carnage in the apartment buildings.
The wall next to him vaporized as a beam of energy lanced through it. He looked around him bodies draped over chairs and other peices of furniture, "Nuls give me some covering fire!"
Autocannon fire tore through the room and splintered the shabby, soot stained furniture apart. The fire coming at him vanished as quickly as the furniture, "Ceasefire!"
The chugging of the 20 centimeter cannon stopped, as Nuls stood up and surveyed the room, covering his mouth with his hand, trying and failing to keep the wood and dust particles out of his throat. He picked up his shotgun as guardsmen moved through the room and packed up the autocannon before moving to occupy a new firing position.
Bayern held his uniyyal blade and laspistol loosely in his hands as he listened to the vox as the massive assault spearheaded by the space marines and battle sisters, slowly took apart the city of Khergit, while still hundreds of thousands of civilians died in the process. He strode outside into the hazy night air and felt rather than saw flights of Marauders and Furies unleashing volleys of missiles and clutches of bombs onto the city, collapsing whole parts of the city. Hundreds of Laotian men ran past him, following Colonel Bradington's Shadowsword super heavy tank, Backbreaker, and the smaller tanks swarming after it. Chimeras loaded with platoons of Armored Fist squadrons drove past, going to secure some unknown objective.
"Nuls any word on the vox of where my dammed sergeants are?"
His adjutant looked back at him as he fiddled with the voxcaster strapped on his back, "Nothing sir, the dammed battle chatter is making it hard to hear anything at all."
Bayern nodded at this absently, already knowing what the answer would be. He heard the whistle of shells and rockets launched from Basilisks, Manticore's and Griffons sounding through the air, as yet another artillery barrage came in on the devastated city. "Well then follow me, there is Tau to kill."
He strode towards the main square of the market district, where gunfire and the rumble of tanks sounded from.
In the square of the market district war was waged.
The Executioner class tank Ravagersped across the plaza, burning gouts of plasma shooting from its turret, melting stone, metal and aliens into the broken and shattered it revved the Extrminator Tank Hell Hath No Fury, its autocannosn and heavy bolters roaring, following the Backbreaker. Dozens of other battle tanks roared through the square, their firepower ripping through barricades and buildings.
Captain Bayern ran forwards through the tracer round filled air, his adjutant beside him, his shotgun booming. He raised his laspistol and fired some shots towards the enemy.
The figure of the huge tank Backbreaker, was visible on the other side of the square, rounds and lances of energy glancing and impacting on its super heavy armor, built to withstand even a direct hit by a high explosive artillery shell. Men were running over the square in their thousands, firing upwards or downwards into windows and doorways of buildings that loomed around them.
He turned as he saw a familiar looking gaggle of men running across the square, moving from pieces of cover to cover. He opened the vox net and said, "Father Ulric is that you?" the group of men were sheltering a few yards away from where Bayern was, and one figure stood up and looked in his direction before there was a reply on the vox net, "Captain Bayern, blessings of the Emperor upon you this day."
"Thank you Father but I need to know your force disposition and combat effectiveness we need to move up and support the Colonel's tanks."
"I have nearly one hundred-seventy devout servants of the Emperor with me Captain." A brief crackle of static before, "One hundred-forty three of my men are battle ready." "And I have a good amount of heavy weapons troopers."
"Good, on my signal you will break cover with me and the troops I have towards the toppled statues and fountains in the north of the square, we need to secure to make sure nothing can flank our forces."
"Yes captain, for the Emperor." The voxed clicked off, with a grim sense of finality. He looked around him at the thirty or so guardsmen sheltered around him. He looked around at swirling chaos taking place at the different levels of the hive city. He fired his laspistol in the air and charged towards the rubble.
Vespids whirled through the air around Bayern, the weapons in their hands blasting out bursts of energy which smashed men to the ground, crumpling armor and breaking bones. He ducked and weaved his blade cutting through the air and scything through buzzing wings and dangling bodies. Blood splashing is face and hands, Nuls was beside him his shotgun shooting, blowing through torsos and scattering brain matter. Schkk, Boom, Schkk, Boom, that was the pattern that Nuls shotgun made as it ended alien lives.
Bayern parried a razor sharp claw before stabbing forward and putting his blade into the heart of xeno, its body flopping to the ground, before another claw sliced through across his back, blood rushing forth in a river. He turned, yelling in agony, before shooting the Vespid through the head with his pistol and stabbing it in the groin for satisfaction.
He sat down on the steaming corpse, narrowly avoiding a burst of energy and pulled a grenade from his belt and tossed it into the buzzing mix of bug-like creatures, seeing them burst apart in the explosion.
He watched as Father Ulric blew his way across the battle, his Eviscerator chainsword roaring in his hands, cleaving and ripping apart the aliens with ease, his muscles bunching in his arms and shoulders as he killed. Lars the heavy weapon trooper followed him his masterfully fashioned melta hissing as he fired it.
Corpsman Likan hurried up to him, his lasrile firing in bursts as he took out bandages and painkiller tablets to help Bayern. He noticed that there was a buzzing in the air and the Tau forces were charging with renewed vigor towards the Colonel's Shadowsword, as yet more Guard tanks fought and died around it.
The Volcano Cannon mounted on the chassis of the tank, glowed with power as it charged, the barrel glowing with barely controlled power. Shadowswords were originally created to hunt enemy Titans, its massive cannon able to melt through meters of thick armor plating and void shields, but its mass of power coils prevented it from having sponson turrets, not making it an ideal support tank for battles like this. But its firepower would be needed to blast thorugh the Tau defenses. As the tank charged its cannon the Tau were focusing more on it, try to prevent from firing, groups of Fire Warriors, Kroot Carnivores, Krootox's and Piranha Gunships streamed towards the group of tanks surrounding the Colonel.
Bayern stood up suddenly as Likan dressed his wounds, lifting his sword and laspistol yelling, "Men! Fight! Die! For Colonel Bradington!" and charged back into battle, half made dressings flapping on his bloodstained back, stabbing, hacking and shooting in battle rage.
The Backbreaker roared into life with the sound of an angry god.
Its Volcano Cannon blazing with heat, it hit the exchange building at the end of the square and demolished it completely. Vaporizing all the enemies in and around the building in a flash of searing light. The Tau instantly broke under the terrifying display of power. Captain Bayern, half dead from blood loss cheered with him, till he collapsed into blackness. Men cheered as the aliens ran away, shooting them in the back as they ran. Victory was the Imperium's, the sounds of furiuos fighting still echoed around the city, as the this was just the turning point in the siege of Hive Khergit, not the end.
Battle awaited, Death's gluttony was not yet filled.
Brother Librarian Ashok blazed with power, his armor scarred from weapon and blade impacts. The Land Raider Manti Exemplarifired its weapons in a tide of ammo consumption, the hurricane bolters spewing out ammo at a terrific rate and its lascannos and multi-meltas blazing with energy.
The full might of the 7th company had been deployed to take the East Gate of Khergit. Bolter fire ripped through the air, finding targets and detonating, sending broken bodies to the ground. Marines clubbed with bolters and slashed chainswords and combat knifes the size of swords. Ancient Brother Dreadnought Kruidan stomped through war torn plaza behind the broken gates of the city, firing its shoulder mounted missile launchers into the streets with war-cries from its vox speakers. Detonations blew towards the Marines as the missiles impacted, Dreadnought Kruidan stepped forward ,its tri-linked autocannons whirring to life and thumping shells out of the three large barrels, shredding Tau and Human auxiliaries with its arc of fire. Kruidan swuing his huge blade replacing its right arm forward and smashed through a rebel Leman Russ.
Ashok turned and sprinted towards the doorway of a Arbites building giving a good view of the plaza, a place to coordinate his assault. Slashing and spinning his way towards the door, he heard a clap of thunder and the reek of ozone as Sergeant Yarolek and his terminators transported onto the battlements of the gatehouse. Storm bolters clacked, assault cannons cycled and massive power and chain fists smashed through bodies and sent blood raining down upon the combatants below.
He arrived at the doorway and blew it off its hinges with a krak grenade at his belt before diving in, avoiding the fire from a heavy stubber and rolling to his feet and destroying the emplacement with a blast of warp energy. He sprinted up the stairs of the building killing those he found and arrived at the rooftop, his twin hearts pounding in his chest.
Below him combat raged as the Tau forces, who were in flight because of their losses in the main city ran headlong into the arriving Mantis Warriors. Ashok saw Thunderhawk gunships flying through overhead, rapid lasfire and missiles arching from their forms into the melee below, with loud detonations and explosions of gore and body parts. A vindicator tank rumbled forward and fired its massive gun, destroying a building in a storm of stone and dust. The stealthsuits sheltering in them tumbling to the ground below. He turned around and saw Apothecary Derechos standing behind him, his white armor stained with blood, his gene-seed holders surprisingly empty.
"How goes the battle Apothecary?"
"Victory is almost ours, Brother, with luck our losses will stay as low as they have."
Ashok nodded his consent, "These Tau are weak, and their human lackeys even weaker."
"They do not need to be strong commander, their technology does that job for them."
"That is true Derechos, get the Devastator squads up here to give us better fire support and let us return to the battle." They strode towards the stairs.
Magos Sedisvar looked upon mighty troop carriers, holding tens of thousands of Adeptus Mechanicus Skittari and other troops and machines.
Magos Jadinar and Coras stood beside him, their semi-human frames not moving at all, gazing at the might of the Mechanicus with their optical implants in place of their eyes.
"Magos Jadinar has the target location unidentified by our logic machines?"
"Yes Magos, it has been calculated and recalculated by our holy machines there is only a .179 chance of error."
"Good." the conversation between the two Magos had as much emotion as two Orks discussing anything but war. Sedisvar's vox speaker blared into life again, "Magos Coras how goes our deployment?"
"All Skittari units are currently being ordered, while our Ordinatus units are being fueled and armed."
"Praise the Omnissah" remarked Sedisvar, "Make obeisance to the Omnissah and ready yourselves for the greatest discovery in approximately three hundred standard years." The collected Magos bowed there heads towards each others and walked towards their respective tents.
Authors: Note Well pretty good chapter?