Haesus found himself paying more attention to the briefing this time. The alien coalition was forming for another assault. This time, the Ironwing would pull as many enemy vehicles from the hidden base as possible. Deathwing units would the infiltrat the base, and destroy whatever they found inside it. Losses from the last battle were staggering. The fifth and seventh companies were down by half. They had lost 3 dreadnoughts and a landraider was badly damagaged. Two predator annihilators, and three destructors including Eleanore were knocked out. Only two were currently repaired. Four Ravenwing landspeeders also buried themselves in the sand. Work on the ship was slow going. Years without even basic use had caused the already damaged doors to rust shut. Plasma cutters were brought in to speed the process, but some rooms had already filled with sand. As if working their way through that wasn't enough, the techpriest had to catagorize every item and send it up to the surface for identification. Some sort of shield was jamming all transmitions into, or of the ship. Its possible the warp shield could be active. The marines poured out of the briefing room once more. For many, it would be their last time aboard the rock. Eleanore was waiting for them inside a thunderhawk. Her crew climbed inside and took their positions. Haesus spoke a prayer to the lion, so that he may smash the imperium's enemies. The synaps cord plugged easily into the driver jack. The layout of the vehicle, and an RSR chart filled the lower left corner of his vision. Haesus could feel the gunship leave the rock while he gripped the Y-bar. It was almost the same as the old T-Bar, but he could control more vehicle funtions, including weapons systems, than the T-Bar allowed. Haesus leaned back in his seat and waited." Harsh whispers of metal reverberated through the adamantium frame work that made Eleanore. They slowley grew to a chorus of scraping, grinding, hammering and finally, a zenith of silence. The encore performance was less than insperated. With a deafening boom, the gunship's loading ramp fell open. Eleanore screamed from the thunderhawk's mouth. Sparks erupted from her treads as she slammed onto the ramp, then into red sand. Black smoke belched from her quad exhaust pipes as Haesus shifted into fifth gear. His radio crackled, then the commander shouted over the closed circuit line. "Haesus, head for that clump of trees on our portside. We should be able to fit through the treeline. Keep our heading East by North-East" the commander said. "Aye sir," Haesus called back. The carnage from yesterday's battle still smoked on the red ground. Bodies of orks littered the landscape, casting an eerie luminescent green againts the rust colored background. Haesus found that it was very drive using the vision ports. Pushing a button on the Y-bar, he changed the optical matrix to the external front camera. His vision was filled with a flash of green, then the camera adjusted to the ligh and motion of the vehicle. Though the view was better for driving, it was void of color, save for green and black. A landraider pulled up next to them just before they reached the tree line. Haesus recognized it as Enumclaw, one of the deathwing's transports. Then the treeline hit. Eleanore was in eigth gear. Trees whizzed by, nothing more than a blur as they passed. A loud rythem, not unlike being in a tunnel, filled the vehicle. It was now clear to Haesus how the orks had manage to push through the forest. The trees grew in colums wide enough to fit a baneblade through. The mirage of claustrophobic conditions came from the canapy, which sheltered the ground from all light given by the sun. Turning on the vehicles headlights, Haesus consulted the campaign map. It appeared in the top left corner of his vision. In the middle of the map was a single green dot which showed Eleanores position to within 155 yards. To the east was a red dot, showing the mission objective, also to within 155 yards. Though it didnt seem like much, the estimated yardage could be off by 310 yards. No, it wasn't much Haesus thought, but in this dense of wood, we could pass within 30 yards and miss the entrance. We could miss the dunes by 200 yards easily. The vehicle in front of them veered right and cut between the columns. "Haesus, follow Enumclaw," He heard the sergeant command. "Aye, sir," The driver replied. Haesus could hear the hatch opening. Before the marine could speak out, the tree line broke. Dunes were scattered before them, the hills alive with blowing sand. Eleanore lost speed as the treads struggled to drag the loose terrain under them. After cresting the hill, Haesus could see the caravan spread out in single file along the dune. A massive door lay in an arch way, camouflaged from sight by a fake roof. The double doors swung open as Eldar tanks screamed from the hidden base. Laser fire filled the air with hot beams and piercing shrieks. Two Eldar craft slammed into the sand, molten armor pouring like blood from an open wound. Billowing black clouds of smoke, land raiders rammed the downed craft. Sparks showered the dusty horizon before the Alien craft were tossed aside, or crumpled like tin. Marine vehicles thundered through the opening. As Eleanore was swallowed by the gaping archway, Haesus could see rows upon rows of Eldar vehicles. The alien crew were scrambling to reach their tanks. More lascannon fire, this time almost blinding as light reflected from the metal walls, lashed out over the Grav-tanks. Eldar burst into flame, their armor melting, then trickling to the floor in a puddle of molten metal. Sparks gave life to screaching treads as landraiders ground to a halt. Terminators charged from the monstrous vehicles while firing their storm bolters. Guardians intercepted with shurikens whizzing through the air. A shuriken catapult spat towards a vehicle next to Haesus. Razor sharp discs whirred, then stuck into the armor with a dull thump. Eleanore's own lascannons screamed to life. Four beams cut into a Grav-tank's port engine, then the vehicle was lost in a blaze of blue fire. More gaurdians poured through a giant hallway. Anti-grav platforms with heavy weapons glided along with them. Haesus could see bright lances among them. Gunning Eleanore's engine, the driver charged towards the aliens. The vehicle connect, lurching upwards slightly as it hit the unsuspecting guardians. To Haesus, it sounded like they were driving through mud. The sound of fists banging on Eleanore as she crushed the purpetrators sent chills up Haesus' spine. Eleanore trembled, then slowly died. The driver hit the ignition button. Nothing happened. He pushed in the clutch and tried again. "Sir, Eleanore won't start," the marine called to his superior. Stormbolter rounds downed aliens in a spire of blood as the sergeant yelled back. "Get out, all of you, we can take them on foot!" Haesus grabbed his bolt pistol as he followed the others out of Eleanore. Glancing back, the driver could see a large black circle on his vehicles side armor. "Hay-wire grenades," he thought to himself. Haesus screamed and raised his pistol. Bolts flew from the muzzle like daggers of smoke. Blood rained down from the squad of gaurdians he targeted. The entire room was in chaos. Terminators ground Eldar between their power fists as they assaulted the aliens. Dead marines lay on piles of their fallen enemy. Blood ran across the room as a lake. Crimson ripples beat against Haesus ankle. What was so important about that ship that they would send this large an attack? Three guardians charged him, catapults blazing. Discs embedded themselves in his armor. Haesus aimed carfully at the middle assailent and squeezed the trigger. The pistol clicked on empty. Dumping the empty magazine, he reached for a fresh one. The Eldar moved with lightning speed, closing the distance before the marine could insert the ammunition. Dropping his weapon, the marine punched the first attacker in the head. Armor cracked and blood poured from the Eldar's helmet. Another Eldar fell to a strike in his sternum. Bones cracked, then pierced organs. The last alien fired his weapon and point blank range. A projectile hit Haesus in his left elbow joint. The soft armor gave way and severed the joint. The marine screamed and grabbed his arm. Pain burned towards his shoulder, eating away at his mind. Dropping his rifle, the Eldar struck out with a knife. The blade pierced Haesus' breast plate, and cut into his lung. Coughing blood, he grabbed the alien's wrist and pulled it out. Fingers broke against the knife handle as the alien jerked in torment. Snapping his enemies wrist back, the marine heard armor, then bone snap. The knife now pointed back to the Eldar. Red ooze and bone emerged from the alien's blade-arm. Slowly the knife was fed into the aliens throat. Haesus jammed the handle down, forcing the alien's head to roll back, hanging by a string of skin. Something hard hit the marines helmet and he stumbled back, loosing his balance. Blood filled his right eye. The rest played in slow motion. He could see the his sergeant covered in aliens, fighting them off with his power sword. one alien managed to get his pistol against the commanders neck and pulled the trigger. Blood splashed out from the sergeants throat and he fell. The rest of his squad lay in the crimson lake. Felix was trying to crawl for his pistol. A glowing sword stuck into his back armor, pinning him to the floor. The marines face twisted in agony. Haesus had a moment to wonder where Felix' helmet had gone, then the tortured marine fell face down in the blood. A tall, tan looking figure in shining armor stood nimble over his dead friend. It drew its blade out slow, scanning the room for more prey. Then Haesus spotted his attacker. A red figure with glowing blades on his wrist and two guns at his side. The warp spider advanced with impossible spead, remaining low to the ground as he faded in and out of sight. Reaching down, Haesus pulled the pin from a single grenade. Cluching the lever, he waited. The warp spider lingered over his prey, making sure of the marines death. Haesus jammed the grenade into the Eldar's death spinner, then stood, knocking the suprised alien back. The explosion was defening. Haesus lurched , then flew away and landed hard on his back. Power cables sizzled and snapped. Sparks flew from the lifelines, then his leg armor shorted out. the HUD in his helmet lit up, a Kaleidoscope of colors flashed warnings. He caught a message, barely audible above the roar of engines and thunder of gunfire. "Repeat we are pulling out, return to exraction point gamma." His headset crackled then died. power leaked from his helmet, then it too went out. He pulled it off to scream, but the deathwing had already mounted up and were leaving. "I wonder what was so important about the ship," Haesus wondered as a guardian lowered a rifle to the marines face." |
IRONWING By ( Brother Gideon ) |
FABLES OF THE UNFORGIVEN |
