Chapter 7

Flames of War

Part 1

Scorpios City wasn't an easy place to get to, all around the settlement was a natural barrier of mountains and cliffs that would take months to scale, the only real way through to the city was a manmade passageway that reached from one side of the canyon to another, at the end of this corridor was a ridge and at the top of this ridge stood the tall Imperial outpost, known as the watchtower.

Colonel Marcus Varne watched from just outside as his two companies of Imperial Guardsmen placed machine gun emplacements and Lascannons on the balconies and outside walkways, sandbag walls were hastily being put up around the tower to act as a makeshift wall.

The supernatural hum of engines was enough to send his men running to their posts, the first company of a hundred men got behind the sandbag wall training their weapons on the passageway while the other company within the tower loaded their heavy machine guns and anti-vehicle weapons. The Eldar could only come through here, if they tried an air assault the cities anti-air guns would tear them apart.

The sky had become dark, grey clouds now covered the orange sun threatening to unleash a rainstorm at any moment.

Varne took out a set of binoculars and scanned the corridor, a dozen black forms of hover vehicles zoomed across the ground, most were Jetbikes but the Colonel saw a couple of troop transports among them.

"Show no mercy!" Marcus shouted to his troops "For the enemy will give you none, your families, wives, husbands, children, mothers and fathers will be butchered if we don't stop them here" Marcus immediately thought of his wife and daughter as he spoke "May the Emperor guide your rifles and raise your spirits!!!"

"May the emperor guide our rifles and raise our spirits!!!" his soldiers shouted in unison.

"Fire!"

A withering barrage of bullets, laserfire and plasma meet the Eldar Jetbikes as the first wave flew forward, from the tower an impressive display of machine gun and laserfire meet the invaders but the Dark Eldar were to fast, their vehicles zipping around the deadly barrage and returning fire with their own weapons, men from the tower were hit and fell to their deaths while the men and women from behind the sandbag wall were thrown backwards from splinter hits.

A few Eldar Jetbikes were hit and exploded before the Dark Eldar were on them, the Eldar warriors jumped out of the transports with swords, daggers and lances drawn slicing into his soldiers and cutting them to shreds.

Marcus drew his power sword and ran it through a female Eldar, bright red blood spilled onto his sword arm before he wrenched it free and drawing his bolt pistol put three rounds into another Eldar charging towards him, Las and splinter fire shrieked past his head as the surviving Imperial Guard opened fire from the steps of the watchtower, the sandbag walls had been overrun and from that direction he heard the bloodcurdling screams of wounded guardsmen as the Dark Eldar dragged them away.

He riddled another Eldar with rounds from his bolt pistol before the gun clicked empty, he threw it to the ground and holding his sword with both hands took off the head of another warrior, he didn't notice the Haemonculus behind him until a power sword blade stabbed him in the back and came out of his chest, the Colonel fell, dead before he hit the ground.

The Haemonculus hissed with pleasure as he pulled his blade out of the dead human before turning to the tower, as the last gun emplacement went silent he spoke through his helmet comm. "The tower has been taken my lord, the main force may enter"

Before he moved on the Haemonculus saw the chain of a necklace around the Colonels neck, he pulled it free and finding a locket opened it, he saw the dead human with a female and a child, the Dark Eldar made a special note to look out for them when he entered the city, the human would pay for the death of his kin with his families blood, as he walked away the rain began to fall soaking into the ground and tingeing the land red with the blood of the fallen.

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"Status report" Magi Durin said as he stumbled to his feet.

"Sir we're trapped in the dock, all the entrances have collapsed but the ships shields saved her from any damage!"

The Magi sat in his command chair and hit several runes in its right arm, several holographic images appeared around him showing that all the main entrances were blocked by rubble, the ceiling had collapsed in several places but thankfully the tech was right, the shields vaporised any debris that was going to fall on the Emperors Fire, dead bodies of people, their faces blue from lack of oxygen floated lifelessly in the space surrounding the battleship, the Magi gripped the arm of his command chair so hard that he drew blood from his hand, a quarter of his crew were out there among the dead.

"Full power to the forward guns" he said hoarsely "Prepare to make an exit, all personnel to battle stations, be ready to encounter heavy resistance once we're out!"

"But Magi" one of his officers said "The space station-"

"Is nothing but a wreck" the Magi said "No ones alive in here but us"

The front lance batteries of the great battleship opened fire smashing into the debris strewn exit quickly carving a way out, the vacuum of space swept everything from vehicles to the dead into space. The Fire powered up her great engines and smashed through the created opening into open space.

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Admiral Halos winced as another Imperium frigate flashed out of existence, its adamantium hull pulverised by concentrated dark lance fire, the small force that he had managed to assemble around him was getting hammered by these Eldar warships who were using their superior speed and numbers to wear down the Alliance and Imperium ships.

All around the duelling warships Alliance and Imperium starfighter squadrons were skirmishing with sleek Eldar fighters and thankfully holding their own, all of his pilots had engaged the Yuuzhan Vong on several occasions and survived which in Halos opinion put each of them in line for a medal.

A trio of Eldar fighters strafed his bridge shields and broke away with six X-Wings in pursuit, firing frantically with their laser cannons, Halos blinked to see from the flash of splinter cannons against shielding before pointing to the lead Eldar capital ship, a Torture-class Cruiser.

"Have all lance and turbolaser batteries target that ship and fire!" he shouted.

The cruiser banked sharply to the left as a storm of energy beams streamed towards it, dodging the display of firepower but came into sight of the weapon batteries of the Vengeance, Rosso jumped at the chance and fired, within moments the Torture cruiser turned into a bloom of fire and wreckage.

The bridge crew cheered and Halos grinned before turning to Gabriel, the Jedi master was floating a couple of feet of the deck using battle meditation to coordinate the fleet against the Eldar's dark kin.

"Master Sabbath, can you free up a couple of bombers to take pot shots at their flagship?" Halos asked pointing towards the 3km long Darkness-class Battleship.

The Jedi master grinned "Let me see what we can muster"

Before long a group of eight K-Wing bombers soared towards the flagship, dodging dark lance and splinter fire left and right before unleashing a volley of proton bombs, the red balls of light collided with the Eldar vessel with several magnificent flashes that left gapping holes in its lightly armoured hull, the bombers circled like hawks before peppering the wound with laserfire and breaking off as a swarm of Eldar fighters moved to intercept, their splinter cannons breaking through the shields of the rear bomber tearing it and its two pilots apart. Halos saw Gabriel's face furrow in slight pain. The one real down side to battle meditation was that he had to shoulder the burden of those under his coordination who died.

"Have the forward lance batteries target their flagship and fire!"

The newly installed lance batteries of the Vigilance opened up on the retreating battleship riddling its damaged side with energy, an Imperium destroyer added its firepower to the Star Destroyers and before long the battleship was a burning wreck.

The flashes of hundreds of weapon batteries going off turned Halos attention from the battle, the Admiral grinned when he saw the 12km long Emperors Fire firing its impressive arsenal of lance batteries and newly installed long range turbolaser emplacements at the nearest Eldar warship, the battle had just swung in their favour.

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Archon Deathstrike scanned the assortment of buildings that made up the capital city of this wretched planet, in the streets around the structures were hundreds of PDF soldiers and a dozen vehicles including Chimera Fire Tanks and Lemon Russ Tanks. He smiled venomously, let the pathetic defenders of this settlement bring out their tanks and troops, the results would be the same, his men would slice through them like a knife through butter.

"Bring me the slave" he growled to his guard, the Haemonculus grinned before walking to the troop transport. He returned a few moments later with an Eldar woman, her Ulthwe robes torn and tattered, her pale skin covered in bruises, shallow cuts and dried blood, her long white hair was dyed red by dried blood and her purple eyes resembled her frame, broken and defeated.

"Well it would seem that we will have more potential slaves to join you" Deathstrike sneered with a sickening smile "Ishta Taldeer"

"Why don't you just kill me…and get it…over with" Ishta said weakly, trying desperately to draw in a breath of air.

"All in good time" Deathstrike said "But I have one last use for you before I throw you to the warp"

He walked over to her and grabbing her chin roughly made her look up at him, he had thoroughly enjoyed tearing the Ulthwe taskforce apart a few weeks before and had been more pleased when one of the slaves was the daughter of the one he hated the most, the one who died before he could have his revenge.

"Vengeance for what your mother did to me a Deldrane" he whispered into her ear making the young warlock shudder ever so slightly "Your mother routed my fleet and made me look like a fool all to save a small insignificant human colony"

Taldeer's eyes hardened "That planet had an Adepta Sororitas training camp…if you had destroyed that then the humans…would have blamed us and we would have lost thousands in their vengeance" the warlock managed a tight smile of resistance "Your fleets loss was the better outcome"

Deathstrike snarled and backhanded the warlock sending her careening into the mud, the rain was still coming down heavily.

"I will use you as bait for the Jedi" Deathstrike said with a smile "From the data I have read from your wrecked ships they are fine warriors, protectors of the defenceless and all that, and I would like his…lightsabre for my collection"

"What makes you think…he'll be here" Taldeer managed.

"Because my dear his fleet is right above us" the Archon replied simply "They have just routed my fleet and are launching their own ground forces, quite frankly I find it hard to believe that the xenophobic humans would join forces with such an organisation" he then smiled, he still had a few ships cloaked who could get him and his catch out of the system.

"Take her away" he ordered, as the Haemonculus dragged the warlock away he drew his punisher blade "Begin the attack"

I am so pleased with this chapter but what do you think? Reviews please, the next chapter sees the concluding part of the war on Scorpios. Will the Eldar escape or will the Alliance/Imperium coalition stop them.

Question - Would the Dark Eldar attack their Craftworld kin?