Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Iron Cross. Enjoy the 3700-word chapter. I do not own Warhammer, Gameshop does.
There was a desire, something buried deep under the pain and anger where it could be safely viewed… Their fire, protected only by the sheer lust to be dealing with it in the same way it always had?
Halius paused as the guardsmen around him shook in place. Fear, a very strong urge of fear which Astartes lacked. They knew fear but did not break under it, did not feel it that way.
They paused as he turned to them and spoke in a tone, unlike a soldier.
"You will be safe… I swear on my life and honor I will ensure you are secure." Halius said before he straightened up entirely.
There was a pause upon his face, one which he did not return as he looked to the side.
There was a pause which he did not like… The silence he did support at all. No, there was silence for a reason, it would not end… Not now and not until it went crashing into the floor slowly and in flames.
There was a large part of the Astartes who did not know them… However? This part also did not care.
"Who are you?" One of the guardsmen asked.
"Halius. Sergeant of the Ultramarines." Halius stated. "Brothers? Retreat further into the bunker, we are regrouping with the rest of the reinforcements…" Halius stated as he sighed to himself.
He knew very well what was going on…. They had to regroup. Part of him hated that because it meant separation from something that needed to have been dealt with else, something which needed to happen.
It would end, it would end eventually and without even a few seconds within time for now and without any real reason when it came down to it then and there. It was something that needed to be dealt with.
"How long have you fought on this planet?" Halius stated.
"2 months… There were 300 of us." Halius heard.
"And there is more covenant?" Halius asked.
"The scouts said over 20 thousand… We have beaten them back but they just glass it." He heard.
"Glass?" Halius asked.
"Burn it from orbit." The guardsmen stated.
"Exterminatus…. They destroy planets to deny them…. The Xenos have learned our tactics." Halius stated before he sighed. "What is your name, soldier?" Halius stated.
"Jenkins…. Private Jenkins." Halius heard.
"You have my word, you will live, guardsmen," Halius stated. "Chapter Master? I am going to transform this command post into a forward station, send a unit of our brothers here…. I will hold it until we cannot." Halius stated.
"You have several enemy warships approaching…. Hold your position until I give the word." Halius heard.
"As you command, brother," Halius stated before turning to his brothers. "Set up a line, there will be a Storm raven arriving soon," Halius stated.
He sighed before shaking his head. He gestured Jenkins and his squad forwards and followed, pausing to know what he would do next.
(Aboard the lead battle barge)
The soldiers of the 4th chapter were all sent out while the rest of the fleet repositioned itself. They had been able to achieve an orbit and that was why they had not fallen apart yet.
"Has the Admiral spoken?" They heard.
"Not yet…. He has dispatched his men to reclaim the planet but it seems he is acting on his own." They stated.
"Sergeant Halius seems to be attempting to aid the local garrison." One stated.
"Brother Halius always attempts to aid the local garrison." Another status as the voice from before came over the radio.
They said nothing about their brother-in-arms. They were all attempting to do what they could do and he was attempting to stop another fight on another possible front, which many of them could not understand.
(With Halius)
They arrived in a room full of dusty old maps and worn-out generators, Halius guessed the equipment was at least 20 years old… On this planet.
Halius hummed and walked to a window, a small bunker like intrusion on the wall. There were at least a thousand Xeno soldiers outside and he could hear faint sounds of battle.
"There is an entire army," Halius stated.
"Double that…. The scans are picking up 12 ships… All of which are full of ground forces." Halius heard from a table in the middle of the room now.
He turned, looking over at the table, not at anyone else. It was clear to Halius that the tactical situation was not as good as it could be.
Their commander needed to know…. Because not knowing meant problems, problems caused a breakdown in their chain of command.
Perhaps now? That meant dealing with something despite the odds… That they had to strike harder if they were to reclaim the planet.
"Brother, there appear to be several hundred ground troops preparing an assault on our position and one of their cruisers appears to be repositioning to aid them." Halius heard.
"And this area is long enough to support an assault…." Halius muttered as he accessed the situation, looking over the hologram.
"Here is what we shall do. Brothers? You shall take the lower ground and lace it with as many explosives as you can…. Private? You shall take your mean, set them here where they can provide overwatch…. After enough of them reach inside? We detonate the explosives…. There will be a pair of transports meeting us on this landing pad…. We hold them off and regroup with the main force here…" Halius stated, taking time to point to every single little point.
He knew very well that attempting to hold off an entire army while they had enough firepower to destroy the entire base was madness.
"We're going to need more reinforcements to fight the Covenant." One of the guardsmen stated.
"We shall retrieve more…. For now? We wait until the transports arrive and fight them off…. Private, where do you keep the ordinance?" Halius asked to which he sighed.
The guardsmen nodded towards them as Halius turned and motioned for 2 of his brothers to follow, knowing what would come and dreading it at the end of this. They had a duty to do and they would do it very willingly now.
No, he was a lot more unwilling to bother himself.
Even he now could not be something he could not be done with it if he had wanted it some way he could not for now.
He had been through a wringer or doing something worse. Something very worse. He held no type of power besides what little authority over the Marines…. His brothers, that he had been bestowed.
He had a lot of things that he did not wish to do so for now and under the same way and with the same means.
They had problems with it…. Problems with it at the end of the day, he was a soldier with very few resources asked to do the same thing that he did on a dozen different invasions.
He held it on for a good reason, one which he could not have tried to deal with in the same fashion…. Or any real fashion now.
He held none of it against them, none. There was a lot more to this and he held no clues as to how it could have gone otherwise…. Even at his best? He held zero advantages that would help them…
Even he did not know what was going on… And he tried his best to fight through it…. Failure was not an option; nothing was an option besides winning.
He held no delusions now; he held no real moments of security.
He was tired, too interested now for this.
(In orbit)
The Ultramarines watched as a ship that did not look ready for war seemed to float towards Harvest. A pair of box-like craft detached from the undercarriage as they flew off toward the planet below.
It was clear to him that it was a support ship, not meant for the frontlines due to the amount of gear strapped to it. The ship was meant to support ground troops like the majority of the Astartes.
He seemed tired, too interested in what would come next, in the death blows which would be hammered upon the enemy.
Even to him? Even at the end of the moment? It was going to be something for the books now. It was not going to help…. Very little would help at the time being… Very little was going to be done to fix it for now at the time being.
All of it hurt in his way and he knew damn well that they had a lot more work to do now, he held no real idea what was going on, none, knowing what came next was harder said than done.
(With Halius)
Halius turned and executed another of the 'elites' he heard the guardsmen talk about. They were reptilian, almost the size of him, and they were well-trained. Halius hazarded a guess that they were frontline warriors and commanders given the fact they issued orders to their peers without fear of reprisal.
A good idea… But it told him which to kill first. He turned and paused to engage more of them, drawing his Chain Sword to parry a strike to the side and ramming the blade through their chest.
He knew very well how scarce ammo was, it would not be until they were back aboard their ships that they could replenish… If their forge words still existed.
"Brother? There is a ship approaching our position, the captain says it belongs to the guardsmen…. Its commander is deploying reinforcements to a part of the map they call 'Alpha Base.'" Halius heard.
He felt himself snort at this, knowing that whatever reinforcements were headed this way? It was not going to help.
He held no illusions of how outmatched their position was which was one reason he had hunkered down. engaging them directly was suicide and it was clear such tricks were not allowed.
It would not aid them as was, they had to make advantage…. Which to them? Meant fighting through the enemy was not going to work… Not once.
"Sir? It seems we have a ride… Spirit of Fire seems to have sent a pair of transport craft to evacuate the group." Halius heard.
He decided it was better than nothing and put a hand on his radio.
"Brother? Please clear us a landing zone as you land, we will be out shortly." Halius ordered as he went to go fight.
(Aboard the flagship)
The rest of the Astartes began to make plans. Since it was clear they could not just ditch the planet? They decided on another assault.
"Reinforce the guardsmen…. We will push ahead from their base after they secure it…. There is a large army of these Xenos ahead and we must be tactical in removing them." He ordered.
There was a silence, a desire for change, and one which required something resembling order.
"Sir? The Admiral wishes to talk to you…. About the warriors below." He heard as he sighed to himself.
There was plenty to do… He had to coordinate the ground operations, make sure their fleet managed to turn against the enemy fleet.
Whatever they did now? Well, it was not going to help. No, it would not stop and they held no such advantage of such things. It was not until then that the ideas had begun to clog up and it all came spilling out.
He knew what the best course of action was. his years as the captain of this chapter had taught him as much… Taught the soldier a lot, there were a lot of things that made him eager to find out an end to this.
There was something here, something long since buried in the rubble which needed to be done now.
There was a lot more to their little fight, a lot more to this realm and what happened now.
"Are we going to invest so much effort for one planet?" The captain heard.
"We must defend those who are under the Imperium… And we must shield humanity." They heard before they turned to look to the side.
He was not going to be able to try and figure it out as he paused to let it end for now.
(On the ground)
Halius emptied his bolter pistol into the waves of covenant soldiers, watching as some of them dropped dead and some did not. He turned and primed the last of the grenades before dropping them off the launch pad.
"Brothers, guardsmen…. Let us return to the base." Halius stated as explosions punctuated the words as a Stormhawk landed on the pelican.
He watched as a similar but slightly smaller transport landed next to it. The transport paused and let the squad of marines climb up and onto the ramp.
"Sergeant? We have sent down more supplies ahead in front of their base…. You should see the pods ahead." They heard a pair of fireballs streaking across the sky.
He knew what they were drop pods, the fleet above had sent them supplies and reinforcements…. Which meant the Ultramarines were committed to this assault in one way or another.
He boarded the dropship as it finally started to ascend, the door slamming shut behind them. The pair of dropships flew through the sky as the 2 strike cruisers which had come to their aid continued to do battle with the covenant destroyers.
"That is Spirit of Fire?" Halius questioned as the gunship flew around a ship that was over 2 kilometers.
"Yes…. And I have sent a pair of strike cruisers to support it…. The guardsmen are preparing for a massive push ahead into the Xeno's territory…. Report to the Lieutenant, he will command your group into their terrain." He heard.
"As you command," Halius stated before the line went dead.
As he flew over the base? He realized that they had set up fortifications. A base made from metal, gun turrets which did not seem imperial…. And plenty of vehicles that seemed to be based on rolling along the ground rather than floating.
They dismounted as their dropship finally set down. There was a pair of drop pods and the 40 Ultramarines were busy equally giving their gear to one another.
Halius and his squad slowly marched down the ramp, snow clanking and crunching under their boots as the group marched through the guardsmen.
Dozens of them, easily outnumbering the Astartes looked at them, glancing in awe at these warriors who lurked over them, clad in armor advanced enough to fight 20 of their wars.
Halius turned towards Jenkins who had stopped, glancing at the warrior only for him to nod, he strode towards them, watching as the group pulled 2 of their wounded downwards and towards the marines.
"You held your own," Halius stated.
"Thank you, sir." Halius heard.
"Get your men medical attention…. Are you wounded?" Halius asked.
"No… Truss was hit by a plasma bolt on the way out…" Jenkin stated.
"You fought valiantly… Get to a medical unit, I will ensure as few guardsmen fall to the best of my ability." Halius stated.
"We're marines." Jenkins heard. "This must be one of those supersoldiers the brass mentioned…. You are taller than a Spartan." He heard.
"Sergeant Forge." The soldier stated as Halius hummed.
The guardsman in front of him was sporting some facial hair and looked rather young for an officer… Then again? He had not met too many soldiers who survived to be old enough to serve on the front lines.
"Jenkins, go get a cot and some slop," Forge stated before he looked at Halius. "I heard you guys went through the covenant like they were a field of grass," Forge stated.
"We regularly fight Xenos, killing groups is not hard…. I suppose you are the one in charge of these men?" Halius stated.
"I am…. Brass told me you guys showed up and started butchering Covenant… You do not work for the UNSC, do you?" Halius heard.
"I do not…. And you do not work for the Imperium, do you?" Halius asked, frowning.
"No… You are fighting for humans, yeah?" Forge stated as Halius nodded. "Same side then… There are a few thousand of them down there and we are outgunned. Covenant turned whatever they want into a fortress… I know damn well we are going into a blood bath." Forge stated.
Halius sighed as he looked to the side. He knew damn well charging the enemy position head-on to break them was going to screw with them. They would be charging right into a meatgrinder knowing that the enemy was waiting for them.
"We will not. Wait here." Halius said before he shuffled off towards the rest of his brothers.
"What is going to happen is we will split up… Each squad will take positions…. Draw them into the fire." He heard.
"Brother, I believe that is unwise… The pilots reported they have armored tanks and even aircraft… A fortified position needs to be softened, we should request fire support, and lay siege to them." He heard.
"Perhaps we can attempt something similar…." Halius stated. "The guardsmen have armor. We can withstand their assault. We draw their fire, another team ambushes them and we push through them." Halius stated.
"Their armor is too soft." Halius heard.
"Would you like to attack an entire army without any fire support or any ability to fight? We brought a limited number of Land Raiders…. They offer the best firepower besides our air support." Halius stated.
It was clear they were at odds with the next attack. If nothing else? It would be harder and harder to figure out what it was and what it would be if they fought the enemy head-on. Their lore established their armor only to be used by their first chapter which was not anywhere near this planet.
No, he had to remember that there was always a way not to fix it…. Not to deal with it anytime soon, there was always going to be a part where it broke into pieces and it meant very little to figure it out now.
He knew more of what was going on and he knew a frontal assault was stupid…. Especially if they were problems on the horizon now. There were a lot of ideals that he needed to address. The amusement on his face before now was going to be dealt with to the top.
He was tired and unsure, unable to figure out what was going on now.
He did not wish to come to the end of it, he did not want anything like that as he paused.
He was too unable to figure it out once more. He and his brothers knew what the next move was to be. He sighed and then looked now.
"We are going to punch a hole in their forces either way. Either way, we attack? It is not going to help at all, not without a solid strategy behind them." Halius stated.
He knew what he was suggesting and how it sounded. It sounded more insane than before. Either way, he tried to cut it for now was gone, either way, he proposed it.
"Do we have any other way to manage this?" Halius heard as he paused and looked to the side.
"No, we cannot destroy the ruins according to intelligence…. But it seems that the Xenos are digging in to attempt to find…. Something." He stated.
Halius was silent, very silent, and looked to the side, knowing that if something went bad? There were a lot of things which he had yet to end, this was one of them.
He had not been able to think and they held no time to plan the next attack which hindered them as a group which usually set up campaigns in advance.
Still? To them? They held a job to do, a job which did not wait for them so they would do it as best they could now before he clicked his fingers and then looked towards the cave opening.
He looked to the side and then clicked to himself and then smirked as they started to finalize plans to punch through their defenses.
He did not know and he could not have known. What little he did know was that there was nothing now to adjust for.
He held little to no idea what would happen next at the end of the day, even if he had wished it to end differently than this…. He had his reasons and he knew what was growing on his mind before he relaxed for now.
Their next moment was to be happening for now.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out to the people saying the Spirit of Fire would show up. I…. Do not want the Ultramarines to curbstomp the covenant 30 times and I am still wondering how much the Ultramarines would dislike the UNSC. The next chapter will show the Ultramarines and UNSC fighting the covenant for Harvest. Until the 900-6500 words, Lighting Wolf out!