Aurelium looked down on a world in chaos. The surface of Varlislia was covered in exotic storms, as the Tyrannid harvesting wrecked the ecosystem. Huge battles raged across the planet, and it did not take someone of Aurelium’s experience to see that things were not going well for the defenders. Two large Tyrannid swarms were now beginning to converge on the main Imperial defence lines – their strength having grown sufficiently to launch full scale assaults. The 3rd Company had received a brief message from Cassius and the 2nd Company on achieving orbit after their long delay in reaching Varlislia. Cassius had secured a drop site for them, and had been successful in clearing several swarms from the area. However, after these defeats, both Tyrannid swarms had moved their attention away from Cassius. In response, the Ultramarines had focused on disrupting as much of the Tyrannid feeding structures as possible in an attempt to stem the Tyrannid reinforcements to the front lines. Cassius had seemed to be implying that Aurelium should land and link up with the 2nd Company in order to launch a combined assault on one of the main swarms.
But the view from orbit had given Aurelium a different view of their priorities. It was clear now that the Ultramarines needed to consider the whole war effort on Varlislia as alone they were no longer going to be able to defeat the growing Tyrannid swarms. As if the invasion was not enough trouble, there had been scattered reports of traitor astartes on Varlislia, and whether from Chaos or Xenos influence, some of the hives were in outright insurrection against Imperial rule. Aurelium met with the Mechanium representatives and they agreed that the first target for their forces must be to suppress any ongoing rebellions – the Imperium could ill afford to be fighting on two fronts, and they would need all of Varlislia’s resources to be mobilized against the Tyrannids now approaching the hives.
In one hive in particular, Caximos, the situation was particularly dire. The loyalist held around a third of the hive, but the traitors had mobilised an unusual amount of the local PDF to their cause, and were closing in for the kill. With the support of the Titans, the 3rd Company would sweep down from orbit into the traitor flank and proceed directly into the hive to crush the traitor resistance. There was no time for extensive preparations; if the hive fell completely, it would be much harder to dislodge the traitors. In the plains outside the hive, traitor armoured forces were sweeping round to surround the loyalists. This is where they would make their strike, and then would drive straight for the centre of the hive. The traitors were well equipped, but had not been tested against the Emperor’s finest. Aurelium knew they would be found wanting.
-------
The dust from a hundred tanks kicked up into his eyes. Gorthac tried to use his viewfinder to establish the progress of the armoured column as it edged around the walls of the hive. The plains outside Caximos were dotted with small manufactura and shrubland. This was the perfect terrain for his tanks, and this is why he had volunteered his armour for this flanking attack – much better than the tight streets of the inner hive where ‘loyalist’ ambushes awaited round every corner. A few short months ago, Gorthac had just been a low ranking officer in the PDF of a provincial planet. Now he had an armoured company to command and the promise of wealth and glory in the new order once Varlislia was theirs. He owed it all to the cult. Never a particularly ideological person, Gorthac had just been a bit dissatisfied with life when they had approached him. At first it just seemed like a good way to go to some uphive parties, but when they mentioned there might be a way to get a promotion, Gorthac was sold. They had explained how the corruption of the elites on Varlislia and on neighbouring worlds had led to popular revolutions across the sector, but that the ‘Imperial’ security forces were suppressing the information out of fear that the same would happen here. They had offworld allies which would be coming to aid the revolution – all Gorthac had to do was kill his superior officer at the correct time, and take command of the unit. Just as they had said, everything went to plan, and now Gorthac looked forward to the swift ending of resistance in Caximos. He was concerned by the stories he had heard, and the storms he could see coming from the east – apparently the resistance was much worse there, but it was the tales of xenos that he couldn’t believe. He had never seen any giant insects that could cut a man in two – that didn’t sound like any xenos he had ever heard of. It was probably just ‘loyalist’ propaganda.
The dust was getting in his eyes again, so Gorthac closed the hatch on his command chimera and decided it was probably time for a nap. There was nothing within a hundred miles that could stop an armoured company.
--------
In an ironic twist, Gorthac was actually right, but just as he was drifting off to sleep, the Imperial reserve fleet was launching landing craft and thunderhawks which had his tanks firmly in their sights. The deserted habs around Caximos were blown aside by the giant Titan transporters that burned through the skies. Within minutes of landing, an armoured column of space marines was headed for the hive, supported by two scout Titans, the larger titans and marines support units following behind. As a larger manufacutrum came into view, the Imperial forces picked up the telltale signs of guard armour slowly edging around the hive. As the Titans stalked across the plains, the guard column seemed to falter and then organise itself into a ragged battleline. Some valkyries and sentinels that had been scouting at the head of the column now swung round to form one flank while the centre was a mass of chimeras, leman russes, artillery and superheavies.
-------
Gorthac wasn’t napping anymore. His voxnet was breaking under the strain of all of his commanders struggling to organise themselves. He didn’t know where those Titans had come from, but there was no denying that they were there. Still, from the inside of his tank, Gorthac still felt pretty safe. The Shadowswords he had managed to get from their armoury to blow through the gates on the far side of the hive should prove very useful in stopping this latest threat. A huge explosion shattered his calm. The Titans had not opened fire yet, so what was going on? He opened the hatch to see that the bombards accompanying his chimeras had disappeared. The infantry were firing into some nearby woods where Gorthac could see lumbering blue shapes firing murderous streams of shells into his formation. Astartes! Where had they come from! Titans alone he could probably deal with, but Astartes! What were they doing here? As he tried to recover his composure, he saw a giant aircraft swoop towards the stormtroopers and their transports at the head of the column. Blue figures on trails of fire swept out of the giant aircraft and crashed into his troops. More aircraft swept overhead as from the distance, smoke trails from rocket batteries streaked towards his troops.
-------
Aurelium ordered his formation forwards. The inital assault had done well, destroying the traitor artillery that could have done serious damage to his small number of marines. On the left flank, the assault marines had broken the stormtroopers with supporting fire from one of the Warhounds and some scouts, but had taken serious loses and had withdrawn behind some woods. Also, it looked like their Thunderhawk had been grounded by fire from a guard superheavy. Ahead of his tactical marines, the second warhound darted forward and unleashed all its fire into a shadowsword that was turing to face it. Plasma blasts cut through the armour and a mega-bolter round found its way to the generators behind. The shadowsword disappeared in a flash of light, littering the plain with burning wreckage. But before the Titan could dart back to cover, a full company of Leman Russes advanced on it, firing their cannons and lasers at its feet. The shields flickered away, and a shell caused the warhound to stager and fall, crippled for the remainder of the battle.
The traitors continued their slow advance forwards, eager to reach the whirlwind battery that was cutting through their large, cumbersome formations. But Aurelium’s plan was working. He had stripped away the guard supporting units with characteristic lighting attacks leaving just the two large mechanised formations and the leman russes. These could now no longer compete with the speed of the Imperial attacks which surrounded them. Belatedly, they advanced on the whirlwinds, but the second warhound had returned to reinforce them, and between them they routed the mechanised company at close range, as Aurelium raced his tactical squads, scouts and speeders up to the traitor command unit which was pulling back towards the hive.
-------
Gorthac couldn’t really believe it. Within an hour, his whole company had become a burning wreck. He had even lost his chimera, and now stood with the remains of the infantry in the open field. To his right, his last shadowsword was destroyed at close range by a horde of space marines. In the distance, his last operable formation of Russes was being taken apart at long range by the larger titans now striding towards the battlefield. He had no idea where all these forces had come from, and started to wonder whether what had been passed off as ‘propaganda’ was indeed just that. Still, there was still all the forces in the hive, and it was time for his brave troops to cover his retreat, and a hive was a good place to hide. As the marines closed on their position he made to get away through the scrubland but didn’t get far before the cold blade of a marine scout found its way into his back.
--------
Aurelium called for a thunderhawk. He was returning to orbit to reassess the impact of their success at Caximos and to try to contact Cassius again. There was no need for him to remain. The Imperial war engines were smashing their way into the hive, and his marines were closing in on the surviving traitors. Their nerve had largely broken after the arrival of the main Titans, and by the repeated attacks by his troops. Most of the traitors would now become slave labour in the munitions factories before they were eventually exterminated for their heresies. However, while this battle was won, it was just a preliminary victory. His main war against the Tyrannids was yet to begin....
(provided by Dr Weir)
No comments:
Post a Comment