AC 14 - Valaris

Chapter 11

Cassis looked resplendent in his polished black armor. The suit was over 10,000 years old, dating back to the heady days of the crusades. He had fought at the False Emperors side until the Lion sent him and the other Brothers back to Caliban. That slight alone should have been enough to open his eyes, but it was the words of Luther that convinced him. Marines on garrison duty were wasted.

Cassis looked out across the plateau leading to his citadel. What he saw disturbed him. It looked like an entire company of the hated Dark Angels was advancing towards him. Well, so be it, he thought. He looked down at the PDF positioned outside the gates and sighed. “They are a mere speed bump to those Marines.” He looked to his Brother Marines. It was a wall of black and green clad bodies. “We must hold on here until relief arrives. You know what to do.”

“We will make them pay!” The Fallen brothers shouted. “Death to the false Angels!”

The Marines filed out. Cassis hefted his power sword, gave it a few quick slashes in the air, then turned and followed them out.

Sergeant Nathan and his team found a lone Guardsman watching a back door. He was easily dispatched. Nathan whispered to his men, “This looks too easy. Stay alert for an ambush.” He waved to Sergeant Kensie, positioned to cover any withdrawal.

The line of Dark Angel vehicles stopped just out of range of the PDF positions. From the hatch on the Landraider Alacanon could see the Guardsmen milling around in their positions. He could see they were ready for the assault but not willing to receive it. He keyed the Voxcaster, “Whirlwinds Dora and Thor, move into position and prepare to fire. The rest of you, disembark and form up behind the vehicles.” He looked down into the Landraider to Lucian. “You know what to do my friend.”

He could almost see the smile behind the helmet as the Epistolary stepped out of the Landraiders side door. He pointed his ancient force sword at the Guard positions. He whispered prayers to the Emperor and focused his mind on the middle of the line. He began to concentrate his power and a vision formed in his mind. Warp energy formed around him as the construct took shape. With a flourish of his sword the being flew toward the Guardsmen.

Colonel Garsone focused his binocs on the massive vehicle in the center of the line. He watch as some kind of missile vehicles began to position themselves to bombard his lines. He turned back to the big vehicle and saw two figures step out. One was a massive green clad Marine with an ornate feathered helmet. But it was the other one that worried him. He recognized the blue armor and arcane symbols of a Space Marine Librarian.

The rest of his men also knew what the Blue armor meant. Then it happened. A small dark cloud formed around the Marine, then streaked towards them at frightening speed. Before any of them could react clawed hands reached out of the cloud and ripped two of the squad members apart, spewing blood and body parts over the rest of the squad. Then the cloud struck the back of a Chimera and it burst into flames. The Colonel was knocked flat by the cloud but quickly recovered. The squad cowered behind the wall.

Brother Alacanon nodded to Lucian. “That should keep them off balance. Company, advance!”

The line of vehicles began to roll forward with the Brothers gathered around them. Missiles streaked overhead into the fortified positions. The Lascannons of the Predators and the Landraider began to seek out targets among the dug in vehicles. As they closed the heavy bolters on the Razorbacks and the Attack Bikes added their fire to the rest. And the dark cloud continued to do its work.

Brother Israfil moved ahead of the line and unleashed a torrent of fire from his twin autocannons. Another Chimera burst into flames as rounds bounced off of his heavy armor. The other Dreadnought, Brother Tzadkiel, closed the range to unleash his assault cannon. Both Dreadnoughts walked through the hail of fire like Avenging Angels.

The Brothers of the Third Company began to fire disciplined volleys into the Guardsmen. Some of the Brothers took hits from the Guardsmen weapons and a few fell. The Brother-Apothecary tended to them, most were only lightly wounded. Brother Sampson took a hit from the autocannon and had to be given the Emperors mercy.

The Guardsmen began to fire, wildly at first, but as the Sergeants walked among them they settled down. The Autocannon and Heavy Bolter teams began to fire steadily into the advancing Marines but most of their shots deflected off of the heavy armor of the vehicles. Then a few found their mark and some of the Marines fell. The Guardsmen cheered at this minor victory. Then it struck.

“Alacanon to Damocles Vesuvius, commence bombardment.”

Aboard the Praetorian of Caliban the launch bay doors opened. The servitors loaded the sacred torpedoes of bombardment as the Techseers prayed for the machine spirits about to give their all for the Emperor. “All is in readiness Captain, you may fire.”

The Captain looked at the data streaming through the uplink terminal. The Master was cutting this one close. He looked to the weapons officer, “Fire”.

The massive projectile streaked towards the planet. The captain followed the flaming trail as it hit the atmosphere. “Reload, prepare to fire again.”

The first projectile hit near the main gate of the citadel. The ground shook and dirt and debris flew through the air. A portion of the wall collapsed into the field. The Guardsmen positioned near the gate were vaporized in the blast.

Sergeant Nathan saw the explosion and the resulting confusion. His team rushed out of hiding and set up the teleport homer. “Alpha leader to Brother Valaris, we are in position and the homer is on.”

“Confirmed Brother, Valaris out”

Cassis had not experienced an orbital bombardment since those last hours on Caliban 10,000 years ago. He was thrown to the ground by the blast wave. The Brothers around him were also on the ground. As they shook off the dust he waved his arm. “Forward, we will show the False Marines we can not be harmed by such things!”

The dark clad Marines rushed toward the gate before the next projectile hit. They had almost reached the opening when the air behind them began to crackle with energy.

Brother–Captain Valaris of the Deathwing stepped onto the teleport pad with the four other Brothers of his handpicked Deathwing command squad. As the fields formed the barrels of the assault cannons were already spinning up.

As the field cleared around the squad Valaris saw the backs of the Fallen Marines. He leveled his storm bolter at them and fired. The rest of the squad also began to pour fire into them. Then the second and third squads arrived. The Fallen turned to face him.

The Weapons officer looked to the Captain. “Fire again”.

The Deathwing braced themselves as the next projectile slammed into the gate. Several of the Fallen were caught in the blast and torn apart. The remainder of them charged. Valaris drew his Sword of Vengeance and prepared to meet them. The other Brothers powered fists or swords and stood their ground.

Alacanon and the Brothers of the Third Company charged into the Guardsmen. The Colonel rushed forward to rally his men and was met by Alacanon and his Sword of the Avenger. The Colonel tried to parry the first blow only to find his blade shattered. The sword cut him in half. Other Guardsmen fell to bolters and combat knives or other power swords in the hands of the Veteran Sergeants.

Lucian stood on the shattered fortifications and unleashed the Fear. All the Guardsmen not fighting simply dropped their weapons and ran. They were the lucky ones. The few Guardsmen left tried to flee only to be cut down by the pursuing Marines. The Brothers continued the advance towards the Citadel.

“Praetorian of Caliban to Brother Alacanon, a ship has appeared out of the warp near the planet. We are moving to engage.”

The Daemon Cruiser Arkelleas appeared out of the warp. The Black Lord barked at the bridge crew, “Lock on teleporters, beam them aboard. Then get us out of here!"

As the Deathwing closed with the Chaos spawn a vortex of warped energy formed around them. In an instant they were gone.