The Black Legion waited. Soon, even the cultists had fallen silent, and the only sounds one could hear was profane bragging from the Orks, and a small battle in the distance, with the distinctive snaps of lasguns being fired and wild roaring being carried by the wind. The other Guard contingent was further away from the Gate before the Orks fell on them. Eliphas judged from the distance that none of the Guardsmen would make it to the Forge. Good.
The Slaaneshi Noise Champion, Kazgrim, quirked his head. With his already superhuman hearing further enhanced by his allegiance to the Prince of Excess, he could hear sounds far quieter and more imperceptible than other Space Marines. For instance, the quiet tread of power armour, the click of somebody snapping a magazine into a bolter, and orders that the Blood Ravens should secure the Forge and reinforce the Imperial Guard forces against the Ork menace.
Kazgrim despised working under anybody, much less an upstart whelp taking advantage of Araghast's hospitality. He also despised this planet and its lack of colours. All grey and beige, with splashes of red providing the only artistic relief. He hoped there would be a lot more red before the day was done.
Despite his antipathy, he duly informed Eliphas of the Blood Ravens, resisting the temptation to gut him with a power sword and sing along to the screams.
That would come later.
Eliphas was pleased by this development. It seemed they were not aware of the Black Legion's ambush. All the better for them when the Gate was opened and a torrent of bolter fire poured through. That's assuming they could get past the Orks. The sounds of whirring and welding meant the Orks were building vehicles to increase the effectiveness of their forces. Eliphas and his Word Bearers had defeated Gorgutz's entire WAAAGH! on Kronus, but with a few dozen Black Legionnaires who didn't trust him, with around a hundred worthless cultists and a small retinue of Bloodletters? They would fall easily.
That said, only one loyalist Drop Pod had been visible, which meant an elite squad of Blood Ravens had been sent along with any left to guard the planet. So few... their arrogance would be their downfall. Perhaps the initial assault was survivable after all.
A few moments later, a massive "WAAAAAAGH!" went up from the crowds of Orks. The revving of ramshackle engines and the celebratory shooting of guns indicated that the Blood Ravens had alerted the Orks. This meant they were either incompetent or they just didn't care. No matter. If they got past the Orks, the Black Legion would be waiting. No point in sallying forth and risking unnecessary casualties.
Loud clanking and bolter shots rang out, mixed with profane taunts and pained screams. Eliphas fancied that he heard the growl of a chainsword as it ripped through green flesh, and the whoosh of a jump pack. Assault Marines. No, wait... only one. One Assault Marine? Unless he was a warrior beyond compare, he would jump into the middle of a crowd and promptly be torn apart. Worrying. At least he heard no Loyalist engines, which thankfully meant no Land Raiders.
Eliphas walked over to the traitor forces on the walls. "Come away from the wall. It would not do to give away the trap so easily."
As the cultists sheepishly filed down, he ignored them, striding towards the Sorcerer that was rushing in his direction. Bowing hurriedly, the Sorcerer spoke. "My Lord, we have found a position with a vox caster. It looks to fill all this area."
Interesting. A vox caster could be used to stir his forces and demoralise the enemy, or perhaps sow doubt. However, he also wanted to be in the thick of the action, extracting violent revenge for Kronus. He decided that he'd fight on the front lines, and then fall back when the situation became dire. "Thank you, psyker," he replied sardonically. "That is all. Make your preparations for the attack."
"Yes, my master," the Sorcerer said, going off to place whatever wards he deemed necessary. Eliphas cared not.
The cacophony of battle came closer. The clatter of crude Ork firearms and the answering barks of bolters, the swinging of improvised weapons and the guttural roar of the chainsword. "Open the gate!" shouted a commanding voice from the other side. Blood Raven.
Soon, it became evident that the loyalists were now just outside the gate.
"No answer. Thaddeus, jump up and open the gate, if you would," the voice ordered.
"Yes, sir," another voice replied. The sound of a jump pack bellowing, and an Assault Marine ascended, landing neatly on the wall next to the gate controls. He spotted the enemy below.
"Chaos!" he spat, swiftly dropping down even as a salvo of bolts cut through where he had been moments before.
"Chaos? It cannot be helped. We must destroy this gate."
"But sir, the Forge will be vulnerable to Orks!"
"If you go up there again, you'd be cut to pieces, Thaddeus. Avitus, take the wall down."
A moment, then beeping that increased in frequency and pitch until an explosion blew a massive hole in the gate, spreading dust and shrapnel. Some of the larger fragments flew into the positions of the traitors, crushing some of the cultists. Eliphas stood impassively, a mocking smirk on his face.
"Welcome, Blood Ravens! Rejoice, for today you will be anointed and born anew as followers of Chaos!" Eliphas' words were accentuated by a wall of bolt rounds from the Chaos Space Marines, and the crackling red lasbolts by the traitor humans. They could not even see their target due to the obscuring dust, but surely anything short of a Terminator would be pulverised by the sheer volume of fire.
A hail of bolts flew back in answer, forcing Eliphas to take cover. Lurching behind a ruined wall, he aimed his bolt pistol through a gap and waited for the dust to clear. As the cloud parted, Eliphas saw strewn and dismembered bodies of the Blood Ravens caught in the initial volley. As the Black Legionnaires discarded empty magazines and reloaded, the remaining Blood Ravens stepped through, killing as they went.
"Ah, here are our brothers," drawled Eliphas. "Precisely on schedule."
Beside him, the once-proud warriors of the Black Legion were being dismantled by their more organised and collected enemies. Eliphas saw one Traitor Astartes fall, his helm unceremoniously crushed by bolter fire. A white-helmed Blood Raven, which Eliphas supposed was the leader, fired a plasma pistol at another Chaos Space Marine and the heretic fell, his body vaporised before it could hit the ground. Incompetents.
Luckily, then, Eliphas had a trick or two up his sleeve. "Charge, for Khorne! Spill their blood! Take their skulls!"
The Bloodletters and Khornate Berserkers got up from behind cover, rushing towards the foe with eager ferocity. Cries of "Blood for the Blood God!" and wild bellows emanated from the blood-red force as it charged.
"Fall back, Black Legionnaires. Provide cover as you move."
As the Blood Ravens focused on the horde of daemons and Berserkers that had fallen upon them, they retreated to safer positions. And thus the second trick of Eliphas was revealed: in retreating, the formations of traitors and heretics revealed a tripod-mounted Autocannon surrounded by sandbags to provide some protection, manned by a Havoc Marine.
As the Blood Ravens finished the combined force of Bloodletters and Berserkers despite taking heavy casualties, they turned their attention to the retreating Black Legion, and promptly took fire from an Autocannon. The heavy shells exploded against the Power Armour of the loyalists, blowing off limbs and heads of the ones not canny enough to take cover. Some tried to hide behind the corpses of their own battle-brothers, realising too late that the shells could easily smash through a Space Marine corpse and blast them into gristle. Bodies of cultists, Black Legionnaires and Blood Ravens littered the ground, and the loyalists had already lost maybe half their force.
Eliphas smiled grimly. "This way, my brothers!" he called mockingly, raising his voice above the rapid-fire barking of the Autocannon. "Blast them out of cover," he ordered to Kazgrim and his Noise Marines.
"It will be done, my Lord," purred Kazgrim. "Let us show them true sensation."
The Noise Marines opened fire with their Blastmasters, the ominous low throbbing bass note slowly increasing in pitch and volume until the very air resonated so strongly that it broke through the wall that the Blood Ravens hid behind, the sound causing Blood Ravens to collapse, bleeding from their mouthpieces and shattered visors as their brains haemorrhaged massively and eventually scrambled, causing brain matter to flow out of the orifices of their helmets.
Eliphas smiled. There would have been very few survivors of that attack. Not enough to withstand a final charge.
He was just about to give the order when he noticed a final red Drop Pod falling from the sky and landing in between the survivors and the Black Legion. Eliphas scoffed. Another dozen Marines to cut down in a few seconds? Too easy.
The hatch opened. A Dreadnought stepped out.
A/N: Thanks for over 700 views now! Sorry for the wait, I was being lazy and almost forgot about getting the next chapter done. Now that Davian Thule's back, there should be a nice chat with Eliphas, catching up on events like the good buddies that they are.
As always, thanks for reading. If you have any suggestions, corrections or criticism stick it in a review and I'll be right on it.