The real deal has arrived
Chapter One - Midnight Approaches
The ground was pounding with the weight of death and the air was blocked out by the stench of decay. “INCOMING! GE….” The figure grabbed his helmet and belly flops towards the ground, cursing as he did at the lack of fire support and the fact that he danced with death once more. Fortunately, his fellow comrades had sensed it too and they too had dived for cover.
Slowly standing up and recovering from his filthy mud covered uniform, Storm trooper Sergeant Neil of the 13th brass brazen company looked like a man who had seen death a dozen times and many more. His leggings were torn from the knee down, exposing angry red scars from the shrapnel that had caught him from previous fire fights. His shirt was covered with perspiration, exhaustion was reaching its peak, plus recent helpings of slime, ash and dirt had all taken their toll upon the sergeant for the past hour, who equally thought of it as life at its finest. Clearing his head, he looked through a hole in the sniper position noticing the ugly, but brutal figures of the green scum. The Orks, and the crimson lights that poured into their ranks, with flashes of white. It was almost like fireworks.
He beckoned his squad to move up to the area that he had just located. Setting his vox, range, to 50 metres within the range of the squad he spotted, “Sergeant Neil speaking identify your rank, squad number and situation!” Shouting into it with an air of urgency. The seconds pass as more screams can be heard from dying men before him, as the continuing noise that erupted from the crude guns of the Orks made the communications like this next to impossible. A buzz erupted from the sergeant’s vox, “Sergeant Tuck here, Platoon 240, Squad two-four here. We’re barely holding the green scum back, we require assistance, repeat we require assistance." Exaggerated breathes could be heard in between his words as he spoke. “Don’t worry sergeant, squad 12S* are on our way.” Responded Neil.
*12S was one of the 24 squads of storm troopers assigned to defend this strategic asset, Rennoc city.
“The glory boys are here are they? Well you’d better hurry up or there will be nothing left of us to look for.” Not hearing the last few words, Sergeant Neil knew he could not do much for squad two-four, who were only 50 metres away, but he would try and try he damn well will. “Concentrate fire on one Ork at a time! Damn you trooper, I said concentrate not evaluate! Medic! Medic! Where is the medic when have casualties here and there. Where the hell are those shiny boys?” Those were all words that Sergeant Tuck could manage, before he noticed that the skies were turning hairy with black dots and black wings.
“Damn the Orks, they have air support!” Turning to look at the rest of his squad knowing they were eager for this fight to end and knowing that they were tired, weary and afraid, could not stop the Orks from reaching them before reinforcements could arrive in time. Such was the life of an Imperial guardsman, but so was the expectation from all guardsmen. That to die afraid was to die without glory and glory was what every man aspired to achieve, even in the direst of circumstances. Sergeant Tuck gave one last prayer to the emperor as he whipped out two bolt pistols, the pistols that were given to him on the day of his promotion, and bellowed out one last order in the mist of death.
“Men, you have fought against this endless tide and you have fought with honour! Now is the time to finish this fight, for the emperor and for the Imperium, charge and frag them back to whatever hell hole they came from!” Such were the words of the faithful, but such were the words of dead men who looked for peace within chaos and calamity.
With that order, Sergeant Tuck and the twenty guardsmen that are left in his squad, pulled out their grenades and threw them into the green crowd. While charging into the horde firing and swearing to their hearts contempt, knowing full well that it is better to die with madness than to die with fear.
Upon a hill not 10 metres away, squad 12S arrive only to find that the squad that they were to reinforce had just charged into the horde. Noticing such bravery, they begin to charge, but not before they notice something odd. Trooper Bacon shouts to his sergeant and points out towards the black dot heading straight towards them. Looking up, Sergeant Neil’s stomach twists and turns as his mind races, “Sweat Emperor, is that what I think it is?”
His mouth agape, as more pinpricks started to appear behind the black dot that was heading for them.
In thirteen years of fighting in service to the Emperor. The sergeant had never seen such a sight. A sight he would never forget, nor see again.
For he had heard legends about them, armoured knights who dropped from the skies, plowing into the hated enemies of the Imperium spitting death to their foes and bringing hope to their allies. This seem only all too true, but as the sergeant regained his senses not a moment before his men, smiled, then charged into the green horde, knowing that they would soon be joined by the emperor’s finest.
The space marines!
Chapter two: Daylight Arises
The random thumps and the constant humming of the drop pod's coolant fans were drowned out with the prayers of the men inside them.
"With the fires of war, shall we bring destruction to those that oppose us." Spoke the sergeant calmly.
"To the shadows we bring light." Replied the squad, before they switched their bolters off safe mode.
"With the purity of faith, shall we enlighten those who listen." Spoke the sergeant, his voiced hightened.
"To those who choose not, we purify such taint." Replied the squad, before they turned on their headlights.
"With steal and iron, shall we forge our bodies from death and decay." Spoke the sergeant, with an iron grip in his voice, as it steadily rose in pride.
"Least we perish in our holy duty." Replied the squad once more in a enthusiatic response, before saluting their chests with their right fists.
"With the will of the mind, shall we construct our course." Spoken in a calmer voice by the sergeant.
"Least we are driven from our righteous path." Dutifully replied in a roar like response, before their right hand was moved to their right hip.
"With the leader of mankind upon us, shall we triumph." Replied the sergeant in a louder voice.
"We shall not fail, not now, not ever!" Chorused the entire squad as tempos rised and blood boiled. As they placed their right hand on the handle grip of the bolter and left hand under the grip of the bolter, then pointed it upwards.
"To war we prosper as we came, we saw, we conquered!" Shouted the squad once more.
As each member fired once, a blank, reloaded then switched their bolters to full-auto and placed them in the chest rest position and stamped lighting onto the floor twice, signalling the end of the prayer.
As the rattling continued within the drop pod, the lights within the pod rapidly blinked with shades of red, signalling the last few hundred meters as the marines braced for landing. Outside the pod however, events were even tenser.
“Sarge! What do you want us to do?” Asked trooper Ogra.
“As always trooper, take the glory with guns and bubblegum*.” Replied the sergeant.
*Bubblegum was the term referred to the men of the company of storm troopers as fight to the death. In other words, holding the ground for reinforcements and not yielding an inch of ground to the enemy willingly as death was as common to the Imperial Guard as the number of munitions that were provided to them.
The trooper acknowledged his leader’s words as if he has heard them a hundred times and once more. “Yes Sarge, but don’t we want to spoil the big boy’s fun? After all we’re not the ones who will be in the glory talk later, not with them marines around!” Such glory hogging talk would only lead to Ogra’s death if he was not careful enough.
“Point taken, now why you lot standing here like guardsmen on parade ground, get stuck in, we’re not going to win this war by just standing and shouting all day are we?!” Shouted the sergeant as his men eyed him childishly with grins evident on there faces. “No Sarge!” Shouted trooper Ogra as he smiled at his sergeant’s comment and ran at the tide of Orks with a gun in hand and his companions on his back. “Time to clear this cesspit, before the big boys take all the fun” The sergeant reaches into one of his many pocket pouches, pulls out a timer and frowns at the rucksack in front of him. “Smart man, that kid is.” Quietly referring to trooper Ogra, with a grin, as it wouldn’t do much good to the kid if he became too cocky.
Then suddenly, hearing a roar in the distant and looking up to see a rather large Ork charging through his own mob shoving and thumping his own kind just to get through to his enemy. Judging his distance from the Ork, Sergeant Neil sets his timer to 20 seconds, stuffs it into the rucksack and hurls it into the direction of the squabbling Ork. “Let’s see how loud you cry after this payload.” Spoke the Sergeant as he watched the events unfold, with a pistol in one hand and a chainsword in the other.
Amongst the green tide that was charging into the thin line of guardsmen was a large Ork by the name of Nob Izgotcha. “Oy youz der, getz oudda my way or iz croke ya! WAAAG….” Waving his large axe as he did. Suddenly hit by a heavy bag, Izgotcha swears and picks up the bag to see what was in it. What Izgotcha didn’t know was that the bag was fully loaded with frag grenades and a timer. Shocked and shaken to its green core, Izgotcha could only manage a few words. “Oh, shhhhhhi….”
Before it exploded into a shower of bits and balls, as the explosion vaporised any Ork with a 10 metre radius of the centre of the explosion into green and black squishy pulps and a very big crater.
Chapter Three: Friendly Meetings
Not a hundred metres away, Crosseyezd had his enlarged rocket in the general direction of the grey figure that seemed to be hurling a brown bag. Only to see his leader burst into flames and the opportunity to kill the enemy leader and take the fat Nob’s horde.
"Err we go, oy Sneaky go to dat grey bit stickin out of the ground der, yea right der." Pleasure all to evident in his, Crosseyezd's, voice as he prepared for an event of mayhem to come, but not as he had planned. The next thing Sneaky knew was that what he had stepped on was more than just a grey bit sticking out of the ground. That 'grey bit' was a Mordian MkV Spray Mine, more commonly known to the soldiers of the Imperium as a git finder, due to its trademark warning. The shiny edge that stuck up above the ground.
Fortunately enough for the Imperium, the Orks were attracted to these shiny bits as much as eagles were likely to seize on lonely rodents. Given the chance that they would spot it. In an instance, a shocked Crosseyezd became more confused by the minute as Sneaky was then riddled with holes the size of his fist, as a large figure poured into the scene pouring shot after shot into the ranks of the Orks as the line of men defending the ditch continued to look thinner and thinner by the second. While Sergeant Neil realised at what he had just witnessed, he received a transmission not a second after. “Ello ello, did someone call for a Leman Russ?” Spoke a rough and pleased voice. The voice sounded familiar, but it carried a distinctive huffing and puffing pattern to it with the thumbing of the engines in the background. “Bob! You fat bastard, why are you here and how did you get here? Responsed the sergeant in surprise. However, realization daunted on him as he heard the next few words.
“The name’s Vince, we came to relieve you tight boys* from this mud pit!” Replied Vince as he amused himself with the title of fat bastard.
*Tight boys was another one of the many other forms of words, usually unheard of, used to describe anyone who fought in a contested zone for too long.
“Roger that, Ogra get everyone back now and hunker down, big mamma is on her way!” Spoke the sergeant as he voiced the safety concerns for his squad, grunting and the sound of bayonets could be heard as the trooper responded. “Yes Sarge, about time they brought something big and scary down here for once, fall back! Fall back! Code 5! CODE 5!” However, something distracted the trooper as he redirected the survivors to the last line of barricades.
"Oy, I said fall back not fall dea..m.m.m.ma.ma.marines! Shouted trooper Ogra, then the soldier's jaw dropped at the sight of the large black marines who were more frightening to look at, as they gauged their way through the Ork ranks in a sea of flame, that didn't seem to affect them in the slightest, but caused unimaginable panic for the Orks. Who’s’ fungus like skin disappeared between the flames of heaven and the angels of death. Plus the fact that they came out from nowhere.
There was one thing that the trooper noticed that wasn’t right though. These men all wore helmets with no indication of a leader, not even medals or markings and the fact that they fought in silence, this could be ignored as they all had helmets, but the rest could not. On the other hand, what set Ogra apart from the others, was that he had more sense than to just stand and stare. Knowing that if he failed to heed his sergeant’s words, then he would be better off being the Orks, so he ran and ran as fast as he his legs would drive him.
"Hey Rog!, now is not a good time to be jamming the gun, damn you just fire it! " Said Vince, while leaning extra stress on the word 'now' to the russ gunner Roger. A fraction of a second later, smoke billowed out from the Leman Russ's cannon as it launched its 40 inch shell into the masses of the Orks.
Running with all the energy that he had left, trooper Ogra sweating as he was, still found the energy and the will to carry on towards his RP despite the tide of Orks on his back and despite the fact that he was running from the kill-zone created by the Russ.
Ran and ran he did, but where there was once a trooper, stood ground and nothing more.
Onboard the ship above the battle, Angel’s Fury, something not quite right had come to the attention of the radars on board. “Unconfirmed forces in the area, wearing the image of the emperor’s chosen.” Spoke the servitor at the radar station. “Zoom in at location and centre them in at 90%, freeze frame” Called the stern voice.
“Location zoomed, centred at 90%, freeze frame. Chapter unknown.”
The stern voice moved closer towards the screen, trying to figure what he was seeing, but all he could see was black armoured marines, with flames on their pads and skulls as there emblems. Not even a sign of the imperial eagle was visible on their armour, yet there was something strangely Imperial about them. “Send a transmission to the captain, notify him of the unknown and place the ship on full alert”. As he spoke in a firm voice, something troubled him and he hated trouble that he wasn’t prepared for. On the ground, things were different, much different.
As the ground was seeded with pods. The enemy’s fates were sealed. Once the angels of death arrived, only hell lingered close to them. That was what happened whenever the enemies of the Imperium experienced the storm of death, as Captian Adonis Lucius stormed into the ranks of the Orks and his brothers swept away the xenos.
Chapter Four: Mysteries Unraveling
"Squad Tonis secure the guards left flank, scout squad Dacius and Dakka secure the jungle to the left flank as well I don't want any infiltrators or any surprises from that jungle." Spoken with the voice of a thousand commandments and a thousand memories as he resumed the thinking of one tactic out of thousands. The squad indicators blinked green to signal that all squads heard his orders. However, another signal caught his attention.
"Brother Captain Adonis Lucius here, report." Voiced the captain, as there were only too many seconds that he could delay himself from the battle ahead.
"We have unknown forces wearing the image of the emperor's angels." Steady in his voice, but interests were second matters when there were more urgent matters to attend to.
"Roger that Brother Tellos, keep me updated on this as your no.1 priority" Interest all but blocked out in his voice. The signal blinked green once more and the battle ensued.
"Status report!" Called the captain.
"All squads in position and in the process of completing objectives, there is an increased disturbance near the front ranks of the Xenos." Replied the veteran.
"Gather the command squad and ignite code, “Cold Rays." Code rays was only ever used against any unexpected threat that was more dangerous than an average marine could handle.
Within the Ork ranks, something big was moving; green was everywhere, in the air, on the floor and in the floor as Nobz Piszoff thumped and floored his men. For authority within the Orks was always dealt with a swift thump on the head. "Oy you liddle mangy gitz, da beaky boyz are erez an youz don't wanna miss out on diz fight. Now turnz arounz an getz goingz!" No sooner had the Nob finished his gibbering, he was blown to bits by a rocket.
"Scout squad Dacius reporting, objective complete!" Whispered scout Helios with a hint of satisfaction, for without a leader the Orks would be no more dangerous than a human lunch brawl if confusion was sowed upon them.
"Copy that Dacius, squad Tonis move up on their flank and unleash hell!” Barked the commander as eagerness was slowing creeping into his voice, then he turned to face the men rallied behind him.
“Men, marines and more! Today we shall cleanse this planet of walking *fungus* and today we shall make history!” Eying each marine as he spoke, proud of the spirit he awakened within his warriors and proud of the actions that they would evoke on this righteous today. Raising his weapon as he did he cried out, “TO WAR!”, followed by the response from his men as they shouted back the same words in a defining war cry and charged towards the green horde.
Sergeant Tuck, who heard the war cry, could not resist the temptation to look over his shoulders as his men held the Orks and died amongst the Orks. What was once a hill behind him was now a line of human giants, clad in armour they were; wielding large weapons they were and unimaginably fearsome they were. “Boys, the marines are here now. Fall back, fall back! And give the maniacs some room!” Barked Tuck, exhausted as the guardsmen were, they gladly obeyed such an order and ran towards the russ as it continuously poured shell after shell into the sea of green.
The Orks, realising that the guardsmen were running, felt a sudden surge of joy at seeing their foe run and more arriving to join the fight. For Orks thrived in war and winning was their nature. However, such was the stupidity of Orks as they focused on only one thing at a time. The additional foe, were big much bigger than their previous foe and they charged in a war cry which the Orks gladly replied in fashion with their own, waaagh. Little did they know that they would soon be in pieces, as a sea of flames suddenly took them and fear suddenly engulfed them, as chainswords rapidly tore into them.
The ground below on the other hand, was less exciting than the battle above as trooper Ogra picked himself up.
"What th...." Fear took him by surprise as green eyes suddenly beamed him and darkness overcame him.
MORE TO COME !
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thanks
antique_nova
