The skilled apothecary quickly completed the sacraments of healing. He fetched Hezekiah a coarse linen robe to wear. Hezekiah said a quick prayer of thankfulness over the resting forms. Emperor, I beseech you to grant your grace to the souls of the fallen marines. On his way to see Master Michael, Hezekiah stopped at the artificer workshops aboard the cruiser. Techmarine Raziel's servitors worked feverishly on Hezekiah's Corvus armor. Raziel was by another workbench as the Tech-Priest/Warrior poured over an Adeptus Mechanicus tome. Hezekiah's ancient armor was spread open on one workbench. The newly repaired leg greave was already being re-painted on another. Raziel looked up. The normally taciturn Techmarine gave Hezekiah a respectful admonishment about abusing the chapter's precious relics. Hezekiah was pleased to find out that the Techmarine restored his armor's machine spirit in a complicated ritual using the spirit of the Divinitus Duci itself. Raziel politely excused himself and returned to his ministrations over Hezekiah's power armor. Three standard hours later and fully armored, Hezekiah boarded the Thunderhawk, Lionheart. The transport was carrying reinforcements bound for the planet's surface. Looking down at his now fully functional armor, Hezekiah was humbled by his new chestplate. Raziel had replaced the damaged chest plate with a newer Mark VII version. The new solid piece eliminated the exposed armored cables from the damaged part. This piece had a winged angel of death cast on its surface reminiscent of the chapter's banners. Master Michael had honored Hezekiah with the relic as a result of his heroic actions on the planet's surface. After a brief ceremony, Michael had ordered his lieutenant back to the planet-side to take charge of the forces surrounding the landing zone. Brother-Sergeant Hananiah accompanied followed Hezekiah onto the Thunderhawk. Master Michael had personally charged the sergeant with Hezekiah's protection and had placed four of his own personal bodyguard under his command. Included amongst the four was Brother Ariel, the company champion. Ariel was kneeling before the altar of the Thunderhawk, deep in prayer. In the very front of the Lionheart's troop-hold was the Dreadnought Elijah. One of two such entombed warriors aboard the Divinitus Duci, the veteran warrior had been awoken by Master Michael's orders. The force's other dreadnought, Enoch, had been kept in stasis. Hezekiah was one of the few veteran marines who could guess how old the venerable one was. Within the Inner Circle it was whispered that the Revered Enoch had walked with the Emperor and Primarch themselves. Out of respect for his deeds, the ancient warrior was now awoken only in times of dire need. Elijah, on the other hand, had just decades before been granted his eternal service shortly after his near-death aboard the space hulk, Peccavi. At the time of his internment, Elijah had all ready been a living legend among the Terminators of the Dark Angels veteran first company. Among his exploits, the most famous was his victory inside of a desecrated Imperial shrine during the O'mane Heresy. Elijah had boldly challenged the 400 chaos cultists within to call their un-holy gods to defend them. After crushing the summoned daemon with his crackling powerfist, the marine had purged the heretics from the defiled sanctuary with his heavy flamer. As the craft continued to descend towards the planets surface, the entombed veteran and Hezekiah talked over a private vox-channel about the upcoming battle. Although Elijah's synthesized voice was at times difficult to understand, Hezekiah concentrated intently on the conversation. The veteran commander had learned long ago that only fools relied on their own intellect; he now cherished this opportunity to seek advice from the undying legend. Time past quickly and Hezekiah was unaware that they were about to land until Brother-Sergeant Hananiah stood up inside of the Thunderhawk. The sergeant quickly prepared the rest of the command squad to exit the Thunderhawk. The Lionheart's crew chief quickly unsecured Elijah as the warcraft completed its approach towards the landing zone. Once on the ground, Hezekiah eagerly assembled his sergeants together to prepare for the upcoming battle. The battle-hardened marines looked forward to crushing the Emperor's foes and gave thanks to the Primarch for the opportunity. Commending their souls to the Emperor's protection, the assembled marines prayed for a decisive battle. It would indeed be a ferocious fight. Part Nine: The assault on the landing field was inevitable. The slave raiders had been trapped and systematically herded by the persistent pressure from Uriel's Ravenwing detachment. The Librarian's tactics had prevented more settlement raids and funneled towards Brother-Captain Hezekiah's entrenched marines. A full two companies of Governor Culhart's PDF had finally relieved Interrogator-Chaplain Gabriel force's position. The hardened chaplain had linked up with Uriel and together they were keeping unrelenting pressure on the eldar pirates. Throughout the day, the constant roar of Thunderhawks could be heard, as their crews were busy transporting the portable bunkers from the old command center to the landing zone occupied by Hezekiah's detachment. Several bunkers were partially assembled when darkness came and Hezekiah halted further construction. The veteran captain ordered all of his marines into pre-arranged defensive positions. The whirlwind, Abed-nego, had been dug into a defensive position behind Hezekiah's command bunker. Surrounding landing-zone itself were four Hyperios Air Defense Batteries. The anti-aircraft batteries were deployed at strategic points behind the perimeter. A heavily fortified bunker that Hezekiah was using as a temporary command post protected the automated controlling command platform. Brother-Sergeant Zechariah's Devastator squad was deployed forward on top of a small rise. Squads Nathanial and Mishael were spread out in a wide arc on both sides of the rise. Elijah and the force's repaired Razorbacks were held as a rapid reserve to counter the enemy's anticipated assault. Squad Jeremiah had the critical assignment of protecting the rear against the raider's typical flanking maneuvers. What was unexpected was the sudden disruption of communications with the Divinitus Duci. Hezekiah had been reviewing local topographical information using the cruiser's machine spirit when the transmission was suddenly interrupted. Quick vox-communication with the other planet-side commanders confirmed that all three were unable to reach the orbiting behemoth. He then dispatched both of the remaining Thunderhawks currently parked on the landing pad to investigate. The first sign of enemy contact occurred shortly after the last flare from the Thunderhawks after-burners disappeared in the distance. Glancing up from his auspex, Brother Valarias calmly raised his bolter and fired one round into the darkness. In the sudden unnatural silence that followed, the disciplined marines heard a sound like ripe fruit bursting. Bloodthirsty screams echoed from just in front of the Dark Angels. The now revealed mandrakes rushed towards the marines. So be it, thought Hezekiah, the Emperor has graced us with the opportunity for vengeance. The rest of the marines of Squad Nathanial joined in with Brother Valarias. Precise bolter fire raked through the shadowy skinned aliens. The aliens' own splinter pistol fire had little effect as it bounced harmlessly of hardened ceramite. Brother Israfel's launcher sent a series of frag missiles exploded towards the swarming mass. As quickly as the assault had begun, it was over. All of the blasphemous aliens were dead; some were less than a meter away from the closest marine. "The Emperor has guided your hand, Brother Valarias," Hezekiah spoke over the general frequency. "Your vigilance and self-initiative thwarted the aliens' ambush." Soon after Hezekiah stopped vox-casting, the force's auspexes detected several large squads of eldar. The eldar wave quickly approached the Dark Angels positions along the entire front. Squad Zechariah opened fire with a salvo from its triple missile launchers. The flash from the launchers and the fiery trail left by their projectiles were clearly visible in the pitch-dark sky. Explosions blossomed inside the ranks of approaching aliens. Hezekiah smiled as he saw the murderous creatures torn apart by shrapnel. Squad Nathanial began to concentrate its fire on another swarm of warriors. The first groups of advancing aliens fell to accurate bolter and missile rounds. "Brothers, stand firm and have strength!" Hezekiah encouraged. More and more black and purple warriors emerged en masse along the wide arc of the perimeter. Abed-nego's crew opened fire and began to shower the approaching enemies with heavy ordnance. Swarms of the vile creatures sprinted towards the marines. The machine spirit in Hezekiah's armor began to automatically keep a tally on the number of enemies. Archaic numbers began to spiral upwards on the upper left side of the captain's internal holo-display as the number of enemies rose into the hundreds. Hezekiah ordered the twin Razorbacks to move forward and engage the enemy; both rumbled towards opposites ends of the marines' lines. Beams of high energy erupted from their turrets as the gunners tore gaping holes into the advancing horde.. |
PURGE THE XENOS By Trent Hoffman |
EPICS OF REDEMPTION |
