+++Chapter 5+++
Dirt and shrapnel buffeted Avaro's armour. He sprinted down the length of the trench as the explosions hit. Orange flames struck him across the chest and he was thrown backwards. He crashed down into the mud but was on his feet before another explosive hit. The ground trembled as the enemy tanks advanced
"Second Company, fall back to the second level. Withdraw, I repeat, withdraw" More shells hit and Avaro crouched, placing his shoulder against the cracked mud wall. He lifted his bolter and fired blindly over the lip of the trench, unsure at whether or not the attack was worth it. He could hear the pounding footsteps of the incoming Orks, their feral war cries carting across the flat expanse beyond city limits. He gritted his teeth and sprinted down the trench, bounding over the bodies of fallen Astartes and guardsman. Blood and mud caked his plated boots. There were shapes up ahead, more Astartes, clad in the dark silver of the II legion. Avaro recognised them as Sixth company, Rogann's boys. He stopped
"We're falling back" he bellowed over the cacophony of gunshots sounding overhead.
"We have wounded" one of them informed him, gesturing to a helmless marine, blood trickling from the fleshy pulp that had once been his left leg. His Laraman's organ had sealed it off as best it could and no doubt his armour was pumping him full of stims. But even so the man could feel it. His teeth were gritted, his fists clenched
"We're not leaving without him" one of them said flatly. Avaro nodded. He crouched and put the marine's arm around his shoulder and hoisted him up
"Follow my lead" Avaro ordered, he turned to the crippled man on his shoulder "Can you hold a weapon" he nodded and Avaro handed him a bolt pistol before trudging through the mud towards the second line of defence.
The guns of the imperium roared in response to the oncoming tide of enemies. The heavy mortar's launched explosives into the air, that then became a deadly hail as they fell to earth.
"Keep the pressure on!" Epoch barked. Another torrent of fire poured from the amassed guns of the First and Seventh companies. The Second and Sixth were still coming in, the damn Orks had sent nothing short of a sea to engage the first spearhead. Epoch lifted his bolter and joined the fuselage. A shout announced the arrival of the Imperial soldiers from the front line. Bound in blood soaked black fatigues and howling in pain they came in, flanked by Astartes and other soldiers.
"What news?" Epoch asked
"Imperial numbers are down" one of the marines responded "Astartes have taken a few casualties but still strong enough to fight." Epoch nodded "Is the Captain back yet?" Epoch stopped before turning around to face the Astartes again. He recognised him
"Orion?"
"Yes sir" he nodded
"Avaro has yet to return"
"Requesting permission to go back out there sir"
"Denied" Epoch shook his head "the Captain can look after himself, I need you here. We need as many Astartes as possible to hold the line" Orion nodded, reluctance hiding behind his determined expression. Epoch walked further into the trench. Rogann was organising his men, redeploying them to weaker areas in the defences. The Sixth Captain was drenched in mud and blood, his men had been on the front line, but he'd managed to keep them together long enough to organise a steady withdrawal. Rogann turned
"I'm missing two squads" he announced. Epoch nodded
"Keep me informed, there are still men coming in. There's a chance they're out there"
"LEFT SIDE!" Avaro bellowed. Two bolters turned to the group's left and barked the shattered Ork bodies slammed into the mud. The seven Astartes thundered down the trench, a second man had helped Avaro carry the wounded warrior. They were nearing the second level of defence now. Glowing bolts flashed through the air above their heads as the Astartes bore the brunt of the oncoming assault. The two men at the back turned on their heels and began moving backwards, sending sharp calculated shots back into the Orks as they began to overrun the trench.
"They'll ignite the charges any minute" Avaro shouted "pick up the pace!"
Epoch gritted his teeth as he saw more Orks pouring into the trenches. There was no time left, he had to set off the explosives. He ran to the heavy weapons case at the far end of the trench and lifted the detonation device. He closed his eyes
"Forgive me" the button clicked.
The shockwave hit first, hurling the greenskins several feet backwards. The flames came next. Swallowing screaming figures like some foul beast. The heat melted through the armour plates of the ramshackle vehicles within seconds, vaporising every greenskin in the blast radius. But the charges weren't strong enough to melt through the reinforced ceramite of the Legion's Mark IV plate.
Avaro lifted his face from the mud, his ears were ringing but his body quickly adapted and the sound was gone. He turned to check the others. Several more were wounded, of the six that were accompanying him, only two remained seemingly unharmed. They began climbing to their feet. Avaro retrieved the wounded man and trudged towards the second level.
Epoch lowered the magnoculars as he finished surveying the damage
"It forced them back" he announced
"I should bloody well hope so" Avaro grunted. Epoch turned, a grin broke out beneath his helm
"Glad you made it Nathan" he turned and locked the magnoculars to his belt "but we're not finished yet" Stormbirds screamed overhead, bearing the markings of the Fifth Company. The ships unleashed their payloads, hurling volleys of missiles down into the waves of approaching Orks, Fire Raptors followed, their heavy bolters churning out shells, swathes of Orks vanished in an thick cloud of blood. Avaro drew his chainsword and climbed into view of the assembled Astares he raised Vox
"Second Company arrange into fire teams and set up a suppressive line, heavy weapons teams, spread out for max coverage" runes blinked across the Captain's heads up display as each squad confirmed their orders.
Squads of Astartes thundered down the trench network, slamming fresh mags into their weapons and taking potshots at the advancing Orks. Heavy Bolter teams got into position, adjusting their weight to accept the heavy kick of the guns as they hurled fistfuls of shells into the advancing masses. The Ork onslaught had been slowed, the bulk of their forces had been destroyed in the detonations, all that was left was to mop up and move on.
The tide ebbed away, the waves turning to a slow trickle. Avaro ejected an empty magazine and lifted his smoking Bolter
"Hostiles neutralised, primary position cleared" he reported
"Confirmed, good work Captain" Came the Primarch's response.
The drop site had been cleared, and the Northern territory of the largest settlement had been sealed off, the Orks were held back by the Vengeance weapon batteries and Tarrantula emplacements put in place by the Astartes on planetfall.
The Primarch inspected the stats from the first enguagements, thumbing through the steams of data on a dataslate
"Begin deployment of the tank regiments" he instructed "I want this settlement secured"
"Aye sir" the Iron Brother bowed his head and exited the Primarch's Stormbird. Avaro and Epoch walked up the access ramp, in perfect lockstep, they both raised their right fist to their chest
"Primarch" Epoch grunted. Rival lifted his head from the reports
"Well done my sons" he said, casting aside another Data slate "now we deliver a hammer blow to make sure the Orks don't retaliate any time soon. I shall lead the spearhead myself." Epoch nodded
"Aye my Lord." The two Captains evacuated the Stormbird and broke into a heavy jog as they joined their companies and loaded into the waiting Stormbirds, the anvil was in place, now all that was required was the hammer.
Bringing his chainsword down, Avaro cleaved an Ork from shoulder to groin before kicking the body aside. With a practiced hand he lifted and emptied his bolt pistol into the mass of Orks still charging towards the Astartes battle line. Through the bloody melee Avaro could still see the Primarch, Thunder hammer swinging from one side to the next, pulverising green skins with each swing. He lifted his Meltafire cannon and vaporised a large mob of Orks in a blaze of molten metal.
"For the Glory of the II Legion!" he bellowed over the vox link. Avaro roared a battlecry of his own and launched himself into another group of Orks, with a series of brutal swings he cleaved a bloody path to the rest of Squad Orion. The Sergeant was swatting their seemingly innumerable foes into pulp. The rest of the unit emptying magazine after magazine into the ranks of green skins. Orion dropped and empty mag and slammed the pistol against his thigh, jamming in a fresh clip that was tethered to his belt. With a practiced hand he reloaded the gun and lifted it.
"Nice to see you Captain" he bellowed over the cacophony of gunshots
"Likewise" Avaro grinned beneath his helmet, taking his chainsword in a two handed grip and jamming the tip of the blade into the throat of an Ork as it lifted a hammer to try and crush him. He thumbed the activation stud and the serrated teeth of the weapon sliced through the beast's jugular with a high pitched squeal. Blood flew from the wound in a thick torrent, spattering across Avaro's helmet and covering his optics. Orion turned his pistol on the beast and blew it open with a three round burst from his bolt pistol. Yanking off his helmet and hurling it aside Avaro activated his vox bead
"Second Company, close up" the thunderous roar of two dozen bolters drowned out the cries of the Orks as the secondary suppression teams moved up.
The ramshackle Ork settlement had been filled with the foul Xenos upon the arrival of the First, Second and Third companies, but the beasts hadn't been able to withstand the force of the Legion's spearhead.
"Third Company, coming in" the announcement crackled over the vox, as the flare of a dozen drop pods appeared in the sky above them. Avaro dived backwards as the first of the vehicles struck the ground, blood exploded from the scorched underside as the machines crushed Orks beneath their weight. In an explosion of pressurised gas, the assault ramps were blown open and the terminator armour clad Third company were disgorged. Lightning claws flashed, effortlessly slicing through the piecemeal armour of the aliens and reducing them to little more than chunks of green flesh. Rax crashed into a colossal beast, its entire left arm replaced by a pneumatic claw. He bludgeoned the monster to the ground with the hilt of his combi bolter before burying his axe into its chest. The Primarch ascended a mound of bodies and lifted his hammer
"One last push brothers" he bellowed, without the aid of helmet augs or vox links. The Second company responded in kind, locking their ranged weapons to their thighs before drawing their pistols and serrated combat blades and hurling themselves into the Orks. Avaro smashed one of the beasts to the ground with his shoulder and hacked through another on his way towards Rax. The Third Captain was already soaked in Ork blood, swinging his axe with brutal force or shattering bones with the butt of his gun. Avaro wasn't even sure the thing was loaded, that or in the thrill of battle Rax had forgotten to pull the trigger.
Another mob or Orks in an explosion of red smoke as the Primarch fired off another shot with his custom built weapon. Avaro reached Rax's side, Rax had already discarded his own helmet and his thick black hair was matted with blood.
"How you holding up Pup?" Rax grunted, lunging forwards and lopping the head off of another Ork. Bullets stitched the ground at their feet as a group of green skins opened fire with their crude firearms, large assortments of weapons, bolted together on large rigs. Rax barged Avaro aside and took the brunt of the salvo, the bullets harmlessly pattering against his Cataphractii terminator armour. Avaro drew his bolter and fired over his brother Captain's shoulder, bursting the head of the front most greenskin. The body convulsed and twisted sharply, the trigger of the gun rig still pressed, the Gatling gun like weapon tore through the others in the fire team, ripping them limb from limb.
"Neutralised" Avaro grunted, Rax straightened up and hefted his axe into a two handed grip
"Let's finish this" he snarled.
The final push, as the Primarch had phrased it, lasted little over a few hours. With the Greenskins sent running by the sheer force of the Astartes assault. Splinter fragments of the horde had retreated into the desert beyond their crude settlement, assault squads and bike mounted units had been dispatched to run them down, whilst the three companies forming the spearhead regrouped and disposed of the bodies.
Mounds of corpses were wreathed in flames as the Legion support teams brought their flamers to bear, torching the bodies to ensure the spores wouldn't be spread and the whole ordeal wouldn't happen again.
Avaro halted one of the sergeants in order to light a cigar with the weapon's pilot light. The Marine smirked before setting about his work. Gripping the cigar between his teeth, Avaro returned to the impromptu war council. Epoch and Rax were by the Primarch's side, inspecting readouts as they were relayed by the Fifth Company and scouting forces.
"The Orks are scattered, it doesn't look as if there were any major warlords here" Rival grunted, his frustration mirrored on his face.
"Makes sense" Epoch leaned on his halberd "we've only claimed the smallest settlement, the likelihood is the major warlords will be held up in the largest of the three hives." Epoch turned to the Primarch, who was still staring intently at the reports
"Getting there will be no meagre feat" he grunted, casting the slate aside, it landed in the sand a little way off with a dull thud. "We'll go there on foot, wipe out each and every settlement in our path, it's the only way to be sure"
"Do we have time for a war of attrition my lord?" Epoch asked
"Do you have somewhere else to be Captain?" The Primarch asked, his mouth twitching into a smile. Epoch reciprocated
"No my lord"
"Excellent, we'll hold position here and wait for the tank regiments before advancing into the desert" Rival announced, placing the head of his hammer in the ground and resting a hand on it.