Chapter II: On the ragged hills of the Bramberg Mountain range. The Bramberg Mountain range rose high in to the skies above Qadis III, challenging even the man made spires of Capitol City. Apart from being a natural defensive position it also allowed unrestricted view for thousands of kilometers. Captain Graffer threw himself desperately to one side, narrowly missing the lasgun beam that boiled the sand where he had stood seconds before. He rolled as he hit the ground, and heard the reassuring thump of his bodyguards' gun firing. Jandar had been Graffers bodyguard for more than two years, ever since he was assigned under the command of Colonel Sagitante. The affable but simple looking Ogryn belied a fury that was brought out only by the presence of danger. The ripper gun danced gently in the big Ogryn's massive hands, it's projectiles tearing the genestealer hypbrid in to three. Graffer looked around with grim satisfaction. His fire teams were well positioned. Coordinated fire-lanes and cross-fire kill zones were reaping havoc amongst the genestealer cult. Thousands died, but yet they came on undeterred. He heard the hiss of liquid petroleum as Sergeant Verdant activated the fire traps. Sticky petroleum floated through pre-dug tunnels in to trenches, which had been judiciously abandoned by his men. The liquid clung to organic tissue incinerating them. The screams of the hybrids were the most satisfying he had heard in this whole sorry debacle of a campaign. The Decardes were utilising a mix of conventional and guerrilla stratagems and it was working. Suddenly, three men next to him jerked and fell, a red mist of blood and gore, incinerated by high intensity lasgun fire hung like a pall of smoke where their heads had been. Realization struck Graffer "the damn hybrids had out-flanked them" Rapidly shouting orders to his communications officer he felt that everything was happening in slow motion. He realised that the comms officer was sitting next to him with the speaker to the commnet in his hand. Casually he also noted that the man's head was missing, blood still spurting from the arteries in the neck. He saw Jandar sweep his ripper gun around, cutting down three hybrids and then have his gun jam. He saw the pure strain 'stealer leap at him as Jandar used the gun as a club. A quick swipe and the Ogryn was decapitated with little effort on the part of the stealer. Realisation struck him again. The cult was breaking through here. At the foot hills. He had to hold until they were ready with the defences above. Damn it! Curse it! He realised his hands were shaking as he desperately pulled the bolt pistol from his waist. The 'stealer was too quick. He wouldn't have enough time to raise his arm to fire before it was on to him. How he hoped that he could have a spare second. He had to try He suddenly thought that the 'stealer was mimicking a turtle "I didn't realise they could withdraw their heads in to their bodies" he thought. A split second later he understood. Where the genestealers head had been, there was an explosion of purple ichor. The adamantium tipped explosive mass-reactive shell from a stormbolter had meted out the emperor's justice. Behind the stealer he saw the massive form of a bone-white terminator. Sergeant Lucius swung his storm bolter in controlled arcs with satisfaction. Brother Gideon was beating back the break-through single handedly with precision bursts of death from his assault cannon. The rest of his squad waded in. Lightning claws flashed. Powerfists crushed. Stormbolter spat true death. Genestealers and cult members died in a red and purple mist. Gore and ichor ran thick, splattered the bone white armour and dripped on the ground. Adamantium boots crushed fallen foe in to the dust. Above all, the sergeants booming voice, amplifired by his armours built in vox-casters "To me Deathwing! They shall not pass!!" Then, as suddenly as it had started it ended. Quietness descended upon the battlefield. Sergeant Lucius looked at Graffer standing over the dead body of the Ogryn. "He fights well, that captain" he made a mental note. "Fall back to defence line sigma four" They had bought valuable time for the Decarde and Death-Killers to dig in on the high ground. Now the cult will pay a high price in lives and time Timeif only they had enough time. Back on Qurbitus Station 978 Lucidian strained with the effort of concentration. He had been a Dark angel for three centuries and a member of the third circle of the Deathwing for more than a century. Never had he come across the kind of raw psychic power that was emanating from Capitol City. It was like a massive psychic beacon reaching out in to the void. The effort of trying to break through and locate it's source was draining every ounce of mental stamina. He was focussing, concentrating, sweatingdriblets of blood dropped from his nose he was leaning against the control consoles. Colonel Sagitante looked on with bewildered eyes. He was a tough manbut the events of the past three days had changed him in to a near wreck. He looked at Senior Astropath Glengaard. The old man was exhausted too. "Is he overcome by the shadow in the warp, whatever that is?" querried Sagitante. Glengaard threw a cursory glance at him and continue to ignore him. Desperately the colonel seized one of the three junior astropaths by the collar and screamed " Talk to me damn you! Talk to me! Those are my men dying at the foot hills!" "Quiet!" boomed the Librarians voice. Firm, resolute, strong, disciplinedthe voice brooked no opposition. The command centre hushed in silence. " I have located the source of the psychic signal. From our study of our brethren's battles against cults, we know that the patriarch of the cult is at the center of the beacon" "Eliminate him.. "YES!" Screamed the Colonel "decapitate the snake and then we eat the body at leisure." "However we are too few! But we must try "But what about our imperial reinforcements. Have we not heard anything?" Sagitante looked pleadingly at the astropaths for some sign of good news. "Sergeant Lucius, come in please Prepare to teleport to command coordinates sigma alpha sextus 34288907" The librarian continued, ignoring Sagitante's forlorn question completely. The sergeant's acknowledgement came a split second before the techmarine-brother Gladius deftly teleported them back up to the command center. "We must make plans now" said the Librarian grimly, fingering his force sword gently. |
DEATH ON QADIS III By ( Shadow Guard ) |
FABLES OF THE UNFORGIVEN |
