The Indomitus Crusade has begun and the Hexarchy coup came to a swift conclusion. Terra was healing, but new wounds kept appearing so long as the cultists continued to infest within the hive cities. With thousands of Astra Militarum regiments under Roboute Guilliman's service, Terra had only scraps of men and women to defend the throne world. Even with the intervention of the fabled Adeptus Custodes, the war to cleanse the influence of Chaos would take longer than expected.
In a civilian Hab-block sector a ragged middle-aged woman and a scrawny little girl were waiting in line hoping to receive government-issued rations. It has been days since they had something to eat and they prayed to the Emperor that they could finally receive some protein paste packs and a few cups of recycled water. The line was packed tightly together and the odor of uncleaned bodies could make anyone gag. Being so tightly packed it was quite common for a few hungry Terrans to start fights from a simple push, a grope, or even from a sneeze. If any of these do occur, local Arbites would quickly intervene and drag the rowdy Terrans out of the line and restore the peace. Any retaliation against the Arbites was quickly dealt with either using a power maul or a bolt shell through the head. The walls on the Hab-blocks had many propaganda posters from inspirational sermon passages, pics of the Avenging Son posing dramatically, or recruitment posters inspiring future candidates how glorious it would be to serve next to the Primarch himself. Any graffiti on these posters were quickly torn down by the Arbitrators and any caught vandals were quickly executed. Servo skulls would hover above the hungry civilians spewing out pre-recorded sermons from sanctioned priests.
'Hunger is admitting the weakness of the mortal shell.' The servo skull growled through the vox grills. 'Maintain prayer to the God-Emperor and you shall feel hunger no more.'
As the servo skull flew past the Mother growling similar messages in a loop, the ragged mother closed her eyes and whispered a small prayer to her God-Emperor. She then opened her eyes, stared up, and saw the large golden spire of the Imperial Palace from a distance. She felt the growing warmth in her chest as her faith was rekindled just from staring at the spire knowing her God Emperor was there on his Golden Throne.
"Oh Merciful God-Emperor," she whispered hoping her daughter wouldn't hear her mother's plea, "please answer my prayer...and give my child something to eat this time."
The Servo skulls suddenly stopped flying and jerked a bit after receiving new orders. There were a few loud clicks and beeps and the Servo skull began to utter a new message.
"Attention, servants of the Imperium. The last ration pack has been given. This lot is now closed."
The people in the line groaned frustratingly and cried loudly. Some were on their knees crying after waiting in line for hours and some quietly left the line used to the bad news. The majority of people that were in line all walked towards the Arbites.
"When are we getting someth'n tuh' eat!" A man spat at one of the Arbites
"I have been waiting for hours! Is this what we get?" A woman cried
"Please! My family hasn't eaten in days!" Cried another
The Arbitrators grabbed their power mauls and activated their suppression shields ready to repel a food riot. "Disperse immediately."
These were testing times for the Imperium security force. Just 10 Arbites were responsible to oversee hundreds of starving civilians waiting in line for a small packet of protein paste enough to satisfy only a fraction of the crowd. The majority of the Adeptus Arbites were deployed with the Astra Militarum to quell the cultists uprising located all across the globe. Guarding small food dispensers like this one located near Hab-Blocks was a lower priority according to High Command than the dispensers located near Governmental buildings or in a Temple.
The crowd was getting closer and the civilians were grabbing anything they could use as a weapon while the small group of Adeptus Arbites was creating a shield wall.
The squad leader of the Arbitrator squad shook his head seeing the mob getting closer. "Shit." He said as he didn't like his squad being surrounded. He then looked at one of his subordinates. "Tell command of our situation has turned from a code-2 to a possible code-5. Immediate reinforcements needed in Ration Dispenser C115." He then grabbed his bolt gun and pointed it at one of the rioters. "Get back!"
The ragged mother leaned against the wall exhausted after standing for hours and hearing the servo skull announcement sapped all of her remaining energy. Her dirt-covered cheeks were stained with tears as she pondered what kind of sin did she commit to receiving this punishment to her and her daughter. She felt a small hand pulling on her tattered pants and it snapped her out of trance.
Mama?" The little girl asked with wide eyes. "How long do we need to wait?"
The exhausted parent sniffed loudly and quickly wiped wet cheeks before putting up a friendly facade and kneeled down to her child's eye level. "We...we need to wait a bit longer, my little stardust." She tried to chuckle before playfully poking her daughter's nose. "The Temple might have some food. We just need to find a Sister."
Hearing the rowdy crowd shouting and intimidating the Arbitrators was making the woman nervous. The last thing she needed was being in a crossfire getting both of them killed.
"C'mon, Sasha." The woman quickly stood on her feet. "We need to go." She could hear a bolt gun discharge and the sound of the chunk of meat explode in every direction. The screams and firearm discharge made her run while her daughter desperately tried to match her mother's strides.
"Don't look back!" She cried in fear. She was not sure if she was telling herself not to look back at the carnage or telling her daughter to keep her last remaining innocence.
Suddenly, the little girl stopped and she almost made her Mother's trip. The frightful mother looked at her child who was staring to the side in curiosity. "Sasha! What are you doing? We have to keep moving. It's unsafe."
Her daughter seemed unfazed by her Mother's anxious tone as she pointed at a mysterious object that caught her attention. "Mama, what is that?"
The desperate mother wanted to continue running, but she quickly followed her daughter's finger and saw a massive structure slowly materializing in front of her. The structure was just a massive black gate with an architecture the Imperium would see from a Macragian society: white marble and large marble pillars. The mysterious structure materializing seemed to have been enough to calm the hungry crowd as they began to question what this mysterious object was. Some were bold to approach it and touch one of the marble columns.
"What in the name of the Throne is that?" muttered the Arbitrator Squad Leader as he pulled out the empty magazine from his bolt pistol and slammed a fresh one in.
His vox comms began to buzz. "Arbitrator SC-1195 report riot threat level."
"SC-1195 to Command. The situation has changed"
"Elaborate."
"A mysterious structure appeared between two Hab-Blocks near Ration dispenser C115. Sending Pict now."
There was a pause as the Arbitrator began to gulp loudly and felt his sweaty body clinging inside of his carapace armor. He then holstered his bolt pistol to his thigh seeing that the crowd was no longer interested in him or his men. His Arbitrators still had their shields locked together, but even they were confused as some stared at their squad leader wondering what their new orders were.
His comms clicked. "SC-1195 you are to investigate the unknown structure and form a perimeter around it. Use extreme caution. No one is to go near it until local Guardsmen arrive. This matter is no longer part of our jurisdiction."
"Acknowledged."
The squad leader began to bark orders and immediately ran towards the Gate pushing people aside.
"Disperse!" They barked as they created a shield wall between the unknown structure and the hungry bystanders. Occasionally, any hungry civilian too slow to react against the commands were wacked with the power maul.
Suddenly, there were loud metallic groaning and whining as the giant, black metal doors slowly swung open revealing a black void inside. The Arbites' heads slowly rotated back over their shoulders before they quickly spun around sheathing their power maul and grabbed their shotguns.
"Command." The squad leader voxed. "Situation update. Large doors are ope-."
The Arbite wasn't cut off as a large flying reptile flew out of the black void and headed towards the open sky. Soon more large flying reptiles flew out of the Gate and headed towards the open sky. The Arbites and the civilians all ducked on the ground avoiding getting hit by the beasts. The sound of war horns could be heard through the black void as collective screams of warcries shouted in a single voice. Then a large number of tan skin orcs , grey goblins, fat pigmen, and giant trolls suddenly rushed out of Gate wielding clubs, swords, or any other brutal hand weapons.
Caught off guard, the Adeptus Arbites began to fire shotgun shells in a panic as they quickly tried to fall back. Multiple orcs were peppered in shotgun fragmentary shells and they collapsed on the floor dead. A few small goblins leaped onto one of the Arbites and managed to topple him on the floor with their collective weight. His carapace armor was thick and stabbing him with such crude blades was not effective. It was until they decided to stab his exposed mouth; he could only scream for a second as their knives embedded into his cheeks and through his lips over and over. His arms flailed and his legs flailed violently, but they eventually went slack.
"BY THE THRONE! Where did they come from?" One of the squadmates shouted in a panic as he blew off a charging orc's head off.
"It doesn't matter-keep firing!" Said his squadmate as he threw a Krak grenade into the horde. The grenade skipped across the ground a few times before exploding underneath a giant troll. Its lower body exploded and any monsters near the epicenter were thrown off their feet and ripped apart raining gore and limbs.
One Arbitrator was blocking an incoming blow from an orc's sword with his suppression shield. His shield zapped the orc, it shouted loudly before losing control of its muscles and collapsed on the floor. Before it could recover, the arbitrator aimed his shotgun at the monster's head and pulled the trigger. Its head literally disappeared in a mist of red as brain matter and bone fragments peppered in all directions.
A couple more of the Abites fell as they were overwhelmed by a sea of monsters once their shotguns ran out of shells. Clubs and hammers smacked against their backs and sides and the fallen Arbites screamed in agony as they felt their bones breaking before succumbing to the blows.
"Command! RED ALPHA! We are under attack by savage Xenos! They are coming through the unknown structure! Multiple Arbitrators down. I repeat. We are under attack! Xenos coming through the unknown structure"
He fired the last shot of his bolt pistol at a rampaging orc before tossing it aside before grabbing his power mauler. Only he and two of his squadmates were the last survivors as they slowly took a few steps back while gasping for air tiredly.
Before the squad leader could give the order to retreat, an entire legion of humans wearing lorica segmentata and holding black scutum shields emerged through the black void.
"Oh throne…" He whispered in shock.
The civilians began to run in panic as soon as the orcs, goblins, and trolls charged out of the Gate. The ones that were not cut down by the Adeptus Arbites were causing havoc to the civilian population. The heads of each arbitrator were stabbed into pikes and raised high with the Empire's banners to instill fear into the new world's population. The Empire's legionaries began to charge, stab, cut, and maim anyone within arm's reach till the streets of Terra were drenched in a sea of blood.
An officer of the Saderna Empire grabbed a scroll from his side and unraveled it. "All you savages listen up well! We, the Empire in the name of His Imperial Majesty Molt Sol Augustus, declare the conquest and dominion of all of these lands!"
Once the last cohort emerged from the black void, hundreds of heavy cavalry emerged from the Gate and they began to move at full gallop cutting civilians in their path and scouting the area to gather intelligence of this foreign land. The Auxillia began to haul heavy equipment from the Gate ranging from catapults, supply wagons, and ballista as the Empire planned to secure a logistical network between both worlds for long-term expansion.
The office rolled up the written parchment and stashed it on his waist. He had his hands on his hips and took a deep breath of the new world's air. In his eyes, the world was just as disgusting as the air he smelled. Sure, it was intimidating to find buildings as tall as mountains, but the architecture was not as beautiful with no marble, columns, vibrant color, or any other artistic tastes. He stared at the sky and to his disappointment, there was no blue sky and a yellow sun, but thick brown clouds where the Sun could barely penetrate.
He spat on the floor. "This is no paradise. This is a shitlhole."
With the clop of multiple horse hooves approaching him, the officer looked over to see who was approaching him. He quickly stood at attention and slammed his fist on his chest. "Generals!" He saluted.
General Herm Fule Maio was one of the three generals sent on behalf of the Saderna Empire to conquer this world. He was an ambitious man who came from a lowly noble family to a Viscount at the age of 23. As a young man, he lacked any military experience and relied solely on his veteran officers to help make tactical decisions. He was assured by Crown Prince Zozal el Caesar, he and the other generals were given the finest and battle-hardened army in the Empire.
General Mudra was a few years older than Maio, but shared similarities when it came to combat experience. His ruthlessness made up for the lack of experience. He was the one who ordered his men and auxilia to commit horrific brutality towards the civilians and rounds up young men and women to be used as a slave force.
General Marquis Calasta was the last General. He was in his mid-20s and despite how toned his body was, he was a greedy coward. He enjoyed the public praise of being a young general and relished being called a hero to the Empire. Despite his hunger for glory, he rather had his hands clean and had those fights for him. He accepted being part of the expeditionary force just to have first dibs on the spoils of war.
General Maio nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Tribune, report on the situation."
"We have surprised this country's forces as predicted. We have not seen any of this world's military as of yet. Our Auxilia has taken significant casualties."
All three generals looked away unimpressed as they stared at the aftermath of the carnage. The Auxilia troops were just their nonhuman soldiers and they were meant to absorb all the deadly blows for the main army.
"They were attacked by a small group of armored 'mages'. The enemy managed to kill ten for every fallen combatant." He continued.
"Armored Mages?" General Mudra asked.
"Yes, Lord. They wielded strange staffs that explode at the tip and cause horrific wounds. I have never seen such carnage inflicted upon these Auxilia"
"Should we be concerned?" Asked General Calasta anxiously. "If a small group of mages caused this much damage…" He trailed off as he imagined the dangers of being near these staffs.
The officer shook his head. " We have not seen any more of these mages as of yet, Lord. I believe they must be this country's champions."
Mudra placed a hand on his anxious comrade. "The Officer speaks of wisdom, Calasta. Just look around," he waved his hand across the landscape, "this place is filthy, smells like shit, and full of feral humans. I don't think this world has a force to match our superior military.
"Fair words, Mudra." Maio shouted as he tapped his horse's side with the stirrups. "Tribune, advance the main army."
"To where Lord?"
Maio chuckled. "We march to this world's capital. Surely, there must be some sort of tribal leader to these savages. We find that leader and force him to accept our rule. "
There were some cries and moans at the distance and Mudra urged his horse towards the noise and the other generals followed his lead. The noise led them to a large cache of men and women thrown into small cages.
"Is this the best you can find?" He asked his veteran officer. "This stock won't even last a month of hard labor."
The officer saluted and bowed his head. "Apologies, my lord. They are all malnourished like this."
"This will not do," Said the general as he stared at a thin man praying to some sort of deity in a language he could not understand.
He then stared at his veteran office. "Tribune, raise the legion standard high and sound the war trumpets. We shall find better stock of slaves deeper in the cesspool of a city!"
The mother was panting hard in exhaustion as she ran for her life with her daughter crying in her arms. She and a few other exhausted civilians were running from a large group of orcs and fat pigmen. Behind the monsters were a cohort of legionaries slowly advancing and stabbing their spears into corpses making sure no one was faking it. She winced in pain feeling an arrow embedded deep in her shoulder as the xeno legionnaires shot dozens of arrows at the running crowd. One by one the group was getting smaller and smaller as the monsters were finally catching up and killing the slow stragglers.
She began to feel lightheaded from the loss of blood combined with not eating anything for the past few days. Her vision became blurry and her legs eventually gave out as she collapsed on the floor violently throwing her daughter to the side. Sasha quickly got up and grabbed her mother's hand trying to help her up. However, the two were not fast enough as the brutish pigmen finally caught up to them and grabbed the mother's ankle. The monster oinked loudly and licked its lips as he lifted his club while his prey approached. It wanted to relish the humans' agony before bludgeoning them.
The mother cried in horror as she tried to kick the monster's chest with her free leg while her daughter was desperately pulling on mother's wrist.
"Just run, Sasha!" She cried
Before the pigmen could bludgeon her, it stopped as something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He slowly started up and it's mouth opened in awe as it released the woman's ankle and quickly took a few steps back. The other monsters did the same as they anxiously took a few steps back while gripping their weapons in a defensive posture.
The mother took this opportunity to scurry backward, grab her daughter's wrist, and run. But, she looked up as well and she couldn't help but to collapse onto her knees in religious exaltation and wept with tears of joy.
"Praise be" She wept. "Praise be! The Emperor Protects!"
A giant, golden warrior was approaching them walking upright with his spear in hand with two more same warriors walking behind carrying the same wargear. They were magnificent wearing gold armor none of the Saderna's artisans could ever accomplish. It was unthinkable for any warrior to wear armor made of gold than any other metals because it was too malleable. Any arrow or blade could easily puncture that amour. It was also unthinkable that any kingdom would willingly invest in an armor where looters can easily steal the entire set if the warrior died in battle. The three warriors all wore conical helms with red glowing eye slits shining brightly with bright red plumes on top. The head warrior wore a long, vibrant red cloak, which separated from his other kin by his side of his rank.
The greed to obtain such valuable armor was enough to embolden the monsters as they bellow out various war cries before charging at them. The legion centurion barking orders to have their auxilia monsters halt, but the brutes ignored the lesser human.
The sight of monsters charging towards any lesser warriors would have intimidated them, but these were no lesser warriors. The three golden warriors continued to walk slowly towards the advancing horde. The head warrior lowered his spear with the sharp edge facing the monsters. A bold orc was the fastest of his kin as he raised his club and threw himself onto the head warrior.
There was a loud wet slice as the flying orc was suddenly bisected diagonally in a blink of an eye before it could have the chance to land a blow. As the bisected body landed on the pavement, the three giants finally halted. The lead warrior flicked his bloody spear and the red fluid splashed onto the floor. The blade then turned blue evaporating any excess blood off before the brightness died away.
The sight of an orc effortlessly bisected in half at such speed halted the monsters as they stared at their dead kin in fearful awe. Even the Legionaries gulped nervously and whispered fearfully that a giant warrior clad in huge, bulky armor had such lightning-fast reflexes.
"Leave none alive." The lead warrior growled through his vox faceplate. "In His name."
All three warriors gripped the shaft of their spears in both hands before charging at the invaders who dared to trespass in His domain. They ran at such speed it caught the monsters and the legionaries off guard. No mortal being could ever sprint at incredible speeds in armor without showing a hint of fatigue.
They were a golden blur as they charged into the horde and quickly reduced the monsters' ranks. The warriors spun their long spears around so fluently while slicing multiple orcs and pigmen with such quick precision they turned killing into a visual art form. Monsters were quickly being slashed, stabbed through, and bisected in different angles in mere seconds. The warriors were so quick at the art of killing none of the gushing blood ever landed on their armor. The remaining monsters threw their weapons to the side and began to run back in fear. They pushed the legionaries to the side, trampling a few, and ran back towards the Gate.
"D-D-Damn brutes! Come back and fight!" The centurion shouted nervously.
He gulped loudly as he felt the cold sweat on his forehead as he slowly stared back at the carnage in front of his men.
A lone pigman was grunting weakly while slowly limping towards the legionaries clutching his bleeding arm stump. A spear was suddenly thrust through the back of his neck and for a second his remaining arm flailed in panic before the blade slid down effortlessly spilling blood and guts on the ground with a wet splat before the body fell over.
The legionnaires were now wavering and they prayed to one of the Gods, Emroy, for courage and strength. Some gripped their spears so tightly from their knuckles were white, while others were either relieving themselves in their armor or shaking in fear. They all wanted to run, but the sight of such carnage froze them in fear. It was as if the three titans sensed the legionnaires' fear as they all stared at the small humans before charging at them.
"S-S-shield wall!" The Centurion shouted in fear as he unsheathed his sword and pointed at the advancing golden warriors with a shaking hand.
The troops were not fast enough to lock their shields together and form an impenetrable wall as the Golden warrior wearing the red cloak jumped over the shield wall and landed on a pair of unfortunate legionaries in the center. His weight immediately crushed the small men underneath each foot. The second he landed he bent his spear arm and released a devastating 180-degree arching slash that instantly killed multiple men in a second. The men behind the unfortunately fallen comrades all cried in fear and tried to scurry back, but there wasn't much room with men packed together in a tight formation.
The other two warriors pointed their spears at the shield wall and the tip of their weapons exploded loudly in lightning and fire. Instantly, something round penetrated through the legionaries' shields and embedded inside of their chest before exploding. The devastating hole left behind was like no wound a soldier of the Saderna Empire has ever seen. Depending on where the hole was located, it was large enough to tear the body into two effortlessly or the head to instantly disappear in a mist of red blood. Not only was the wound visually devastating, but whenever someone exploded, bone fragments would eject with such force it would be embedded into the nearest man and maim him severely. Once the shield wall was broken, the two warriors charged into the group and joined their brother in the slaughter. A company of the Empire's finest that was sent deep within the hive city was reduced to a handful in less than a minute.
The Centurion and a handful of his men that survived the charge threw down their weapons and ran towards the deserting Auxilia monsters. True to what the lead warrior commanded, the three warriors pursued their prey until none were left standing.
Behind the charing warriors, the small mother was on her knees, sobbing, and hands clasped in prayer. "Glory, glory, praise be to Him, Sasha. He has sent us His holiest servants to protect the faithful! He has sent us His own Custodian Guard.
The three Generals were shouting at their mounts in a panic to coax the horses to run faster back to the gate. Behind the generals were mounted veteran cavalry, which acted as their bodyguard and they too were trying to coax their horses to gallop faster. They have seen horrors no one in their world would ever believe Golden titans wielding spears eliminating ranks of legionnaires with ease, Yellow Knights each wielding a fat box-like contraption that inflicted massive damage towards the tissue, and humans much smaller than the others mentioned wielded sticks that shot red lightning in such large volume no one thought it was possible to kill people in such large volume in a short amount of time.
"Keep moving!" Mudra shouted at his mounted bodyguards. " We must warn the Empire!"
Calasta shook his head while wiping the tears from his eyes. "This can't be happening! How could we lose 30,000 in a single engagement."
Maio's eyes were empty as his ambitions to conquer this world in the name of his Emperor were shattered. "We were promised to claim a paradise...but this the underworld full of giant demons!"
He shut his eyes and he could still hear the sound of exploding meat and the sound of his men dying in agony as they desperately tried to use their shields as cover. None of his legionaries ever stood a chance against weapons used by the Yellow armored demons. Their red eyes burned into his eyes and he could swear they were haunting his mind. The haunting image of the demons' red eyes burning and judging his soul was enough for the young general to tilt his body to the side and vomit out bile while his horse was galloping at full speed nearly falling off.
100,000 troops were sent to Alnus Hill as an expeditionary force and nearly a third of the army was sent as a vanguard force to secure a foothold through the gate and an additional 20,000 to reinforce the Gate and provide security to the Auxillia ranging from cooks, architects, blacksmiths, doctors, veterinarians, slaves, and other logistician staff. With the success of the surprise attack, the three generals were far too eager to pillage the foreign land of any wealth it had and decided to advance their small vanguard force deep in unknown enemy territory without proper scouting to locate the enemy disposition. That mistake had cost them dearly.
After the successful invasion, a small band of dragoon wyvern riders was flying hastily towards the three generals and the Tribune warning of huge mysterious warmachines approaching the army fast. Bands of horsemen approached the Tribune warning more mysterious warmachines approaching them in different directions. The tribune began to hastily send messengers to recall all of their stretched legions back to the main force. The Veteran officer then sent another messenger to call upon the 20,000 legionaries from the rear to support the main force but he was not sure if they would make it in time before the engagement.
They had enough time to hastily set up a defensive triple line formation. The first line consisted of the youngest in the veteran legion all hot-blooded and eager for glory. The second line consisted of the older veterans who were not as strong as their younger counterparts to withstand an infantry charge, but they were ready to protect the first line's rear. The last line was Auxilia archers whose task is to soften the enemy before the main body engages. Auxiliary monsters were sent at the front of the army to harass the enemy and loosen their formation.
The horse cavalry was split up and stationed to the sides and protect the army's flanks. The Dragoon dragon riders were all stationed at the center ready to attack in any direction. It was a favored tactical formation in the Saderna Empire for centuries
The ground began to shake softly confusing the legionaries as the shaking was getting more violent with each passing minute. The hot-headed young legionnaires in the front were pale with fright as they saw a yellow Land Raider, followed by two yellow rhinos and a column of Leman Russ tanks approaching them.
"What in the name of 12 Gods is that? The Tribune gulped nervously. The men were already wavering to see so many titanic war machines approaching them.
The Tribune then stared at his generals and they were growing anxious as well.
"Attack!" Shouted Maio as he broke the anxious silence. "Attack!"
The men beside the generals blew their trumpets loudly and the Dragoons and the Auxilia monsters began to charge at the advanding metal beasts.
"My lord is it wise to charge?" His officer asked. "This is not an ordinary army. I advise we use caution and return to the Gate. We must bring the entire expeditionary force if we are to subjugate this land."
Maio frowned at his Officer. "Are you telling us to retreat, Tribune? Such talk of defeatism has no place in the Emperor's army!"
"I am just saying, my lord, we don't have any knowledge of the enemy's strength. We should not be charging in so recklessly. At least wait till reinforcement arrives. I implore you"
There were dozens of loud explosions all exploding at once, which broke the debate as the horses were getting startled. The Generals all look in horror as they see their monster Auxillia and the Dragoons decimated with every passing second from heavy bolter guns and heavy stubbers. While on the move, the Land Raider fired several volleys of lasers from its pair of twin-linked lascannons. Legionnaires that were unfortunate to be the target were instantly evaporated without any time to scream in pain. The laser was so powerful it penetrated all three lines of the Legionaries formation and morale instantly broke as more of the devastating volleys kept decimating their lines. Centurions in each cohort tried to restore order by shouting at their wavering men to hold their ground. Soon Leman Russ battle tanks fired their main cannon and heavy bolters simultaneously at the Auxilia and at the centerline. Troops, monsters, and body parts were thrown in the air violently before falling on the ground with loud wet splats.
The first line already broke and men threw their spears and shields on the ground and ran back towards the Gate. Behind the Leman Russ were Chimera troop transporters and platoons of Terran Guardsmen left their transport carriers and began to stand in between the tanks firing their lasguns. Any remaining monsters that survived the barrage of the heavy vehicles were all put down with precise las shots. The Land Raider's rear door opened and a large, bulky Imperial fist Captain wearing Mark X Gravis plate armor left his venerable vehicle and joined the guardsmen outside along with 9 of his battle brothers. The Rhinos opened their hatches and more Imperial Fist Astartes dismounted and joined their Captain.
The Captain examined the carnage and saw the army that he was up against. "Is this really what we are up against?" He growled in disappointment. When he heard the reports of a mysterious structure spewing out an alien horde, he was frightened of another battle of the Lion's Gate incident. He never had the opportunity to defend the Lions Gate from 88 cohorts of bloodthirsters, but he had heard it was a costly victory. The Captain was still furious no Imperial Fists were present in the defense of Terra and he would never forgive himself leaving Terra undefended again.
One of his sergeants approached him with his bolter in his hands. " Captain Garadon, what are your orders?"
"Annihilation protocols granted."
Seeing the large yellow giants clad in intimidating armor enough to finally break the entire army as more of the legionaries abandoned their weapons and ran back to the gate.
Mudra unsheathed his sword and cut down one of his men that dared to run away. "Cowards! S-stand and fight in the name of the Emperor!"
The tribune galloped towards his lord's side. "You must return to Alnus Hill immediately my lord. The battle is lost. I will try to cover your retreat."
The general and his companions didn't argue with their officer as they all galloped towards the gate. The Tribune then called for his remaining cavalry and had them charge both of the enemy's flanks simultaneously.
He unsheathed his sword and yelled, "advance" and legionaries that remained anxiously charged at the Imperial fists and the guardsmen. The ending was predictably one-sided as bolter shells from the Imperial fists obliterated the cavalry before they could even cause any significant damage. Guardsmen and Leman Russ tanks released devastating volleys of fire and explosion at the Legionaries ranks. Shields were useless as the men tried to form a testudo, but las shots easily penetrated through the wooden shields. It was even worse for the legionnaires to form a testudo when tank shells inflicted more devastating damage if the men were packed closely together.
In a matter of minutes, the expeditionary army was broken and their numbers greatly reduced as they all threw down their shields and ran away. The Space Marines began to pursue their prey sprinting towards them. The sight of giants running towards you was a horrific sight. The Imperial fists would unsheath their combat knives or their chainswords and viciously slice the broken army's backs. Injured men that tried to crawl away were trampled by yellow boots and men that were on their knees begging for mercy were given a swift yet brutal end with a chainsword. None of the Astartes ever fired their bolters once they were in close-quarter combat. There was no glory in wasting precious ammunition on easy prey.
Tor Garadon nodded his head in approval seeing his brothers annihilate the mysterious humans who tried to invade the throne world. Once the battle concluded he ordered the armored column to continue their pursuit of the enemy and contain the mysterious Gate in the middle of the city. He heard a wet, weak cough and his head snapped towards the direction. He saw the Tribune on the ground with his dead mount on top of him. The weight of his horse broke his hip and he was covering a wound on the side of his neck as blood consistently gushed out. The captain could see the fear in the mortal's eyes and he carefully studied the man's wargear and gauged the level of threat of this mysterious enemy.
A battle brother also sees the grievously wounded mortal and slowly approached him with his combat knife in his hand.
"Wait," Garadon said sternly. "This one's armor is more extravagant than the others. He might have some sort of rank. Find me a medic. I want this one alive."
The marine bowed his head respectively, activated his vox coms, and relayed his Captain's orders before resuming his hunt. With nothing else to see, the Imperial Fist Captain voxed his brothers to head back into their Rinos and Land Raider for the next rapid deployment.
The three generals along with a fraction of their vanguard army finally arrived at the gate with the metal monsters still pursuing them. Transport wagons were thrown across the floor to make room for the vanguard army to escape and slave cages were left unguarded near the black void. Without looking back the three Generals galloped towards the void and they were relieved to be back in their world. When they finally arrived at their camp, they collapsed on the ground from exhaustion and weep with joy as they escaped hell. Senior officers would scream out for apothecaries and carry their generals to a physician's tent. It was to the officers' shock to find General Calasta hiding underneath his cot weeping. Mudra shouted at a slave to fetch wine so that he could drown his misery in alcohol hoping it was enough to forget the trauma. Maio was sitting up straight stiffly and his face was sickly pale as if he had seen demons. He stared at a candle with empty eyes as he imagined the bright candles to be the eyes of the yellow demons. He then told his officers what happened while continuing to stare at flickering candlelight. The Empire made a grave mistake invading the new world. Now, they must dig in and defend against the possibility of a counterattack and warn the Emperor of the threat of titans.
