Chapter 5
I once had a dream, a dream with body and voice. A dream now with nothing but an echo to its existence. Lost in the screams of a million, fading barely past existence and into reality. A dream crushed and in time, soon to be forgotten.
But I saw a soul, a soul that was neither a beacon nor a wound. It was a soul not fortunate yet neither unfortunate. A soul that was capable and untaint, so I went to the soul. An echo of an existence, a life long forgotten.
This soul had a semblance of precognition or maybe it had come upon a well of luck for it knew so much yet knew nothing. So with hope and a last fading strength, I lit a beacon and left my dreams to one I hoped could be trusted.
Once there was one, never more was it meant to be. One to be snuffed like a trillion more like it. Then I made it nine, nine was all I could do. Nine was all there was and had always been - that is a lie.
[_[]_]~Changing Tides~[_[]_]
The Aeldari forcibly calmed herself down, giving a long look at the grenadier. The soldier was most likely trying to get on her nerves, whether it was intentional or not did not matter. For now, it was time to find out whether their future depended on this soldier or not.
" How do you understand my ancient tongue?" She asked slowly and calmly, the sudden stillness of the environment seemed to become tangible.
The cohort of the Aeldari were also listening in closely, afterall. This soldier could very well mean an end to their troubles in this place, especially since each and every one of them could sense it. The stench of the machinations of the warp coming to be, tearing into this reality.
The sooner they leave here would mean the better, they could always go and pursue more safer leads or better yet, grow their cohort to include many more members.
" I…..do not " The grenadier said, grasping the emptied container from the Aeldari. He soon packed it up into his backpack and wore it, his weapon already being slung across his shoulder.
The response birthed a wave of silence, there was no reply or reaction from the Aeldari. But then she turned her head to the side, what seemed to be a new flurry of anger was begging to swell up within her.
She remembered it, they remembered it. He understood them during their talks, he reacted to it. So this could only mean he was lying, hiding something. Maybe those damned Astartes knew something and were hiding it from them.
" You reacted and acted upon something you did not know? " She said, feigning a calm outlook. The grenadier turned to stare at her, to stare into her eyes before he nodded disapprovingly.
" I simply know you said warp " He replied, his voice calm and empty. It didn't sound like he was trying to hide something or that he was having some sort of pleasure to be toying with them.
Then again, he really didn't reply to them correctly. She never planned to use warp energy in the beginning but yet he reacted to it as if they would. Does that mean that they misunderstood him from the beginning?
Clearly…not. Even if you knew a single word, it did not explain how he could make it out from that whole sentence. Besides, their language was not something to be so easily learned by lesser beings such as these.
Certain messages could not even be delivered by using just words, as they needed more than that.
" You lie" She uttered from within the confines of her own thought, a certain tone of disbelief and unacknowledgement could be heard from it.
" I do not" The grenadier simply replied.
" Then how do you know that word? " She asked, her mind racing to find a reason to prove him wrong. Was their time on this planet really wasted?, were her visions not understood enough or maybe she was misled.
" I heard from another soldier in my squad, one who had contact with your kind before " The grenadier answered once more with the same calmness, his mask hiding whatever expression he may make talking about his comrade.
This however seemed to satisfy the Aeldari since she could easily comfort herself knowing that she approached the wrong target. This could mean that her visions were truly correct, there was more to do.
" And do you know where he is? " She asked, relieved now at her current situation. After years of searching, after years of doubting her decision to leave the craftworld, she could not falter now.
" It died a few months ago. Gone along with the 6th company sent to this world " The grenadier said and then there was silence.
The forward taskforce soon arrived at the rendezvous point for the group, waiting for over 24 hours. They radio'ed for their current status but all they got was a confirmed report that they had encountered and confirmed the existence of traitor forces towards the Citadel.
They were to disregard their current objective, withdraw and meet up with the main group as soon as they could. While the initial mission was to test the grounds of the enemy in order for the task force to know what they were doing, the confirmed sighting of traitor Astartes had caused their own astartes to rush forward.
Not willing to waste this chance they got or leave open an opportunity for the traitors to escape, they resumed the assault into the heart of the enemy.
Surprisingly, they did not meet much resistance whilst they advanced towards the citadel, some believe it to be because most of the enemy forces were assaulting the loyalist forces out there. Leaving little to defend, a mistake that they shall soon regret.
Still, some Krieg and Kellnarian commanders advised caution. Especially since this was behind enemy lines, meaning the place where they drew up reinforcements and supplies. Even worse was that if these were the place the traitor Astartes truly stayed, then it is bound to have a massive defense force in it.
Their warnings were ill received as signs of cowardice and they were shortly executed for it. It took no more than a week for them to arrive at the citadel and there, they saw it. A towering building which reached the never ending sky armed to the teeth.
The building however looked lifeless and deserted, making many within high command doubt if it truly was the holding ground of the traitor Astartes. That is until, scouts and servo skulls saw sightings of Space marines.
It seemed like they were withdrawing their forces away from the building, more reports came in of columns driving off from the building. This was unacceptable to the force that had fought their way through to this place, months of fighting just to now continue pursuing a fleeing enemy.
They were running out of supplies and knew that any further delay would result in this becoming a failed endeavor, an idea that simply could not become factual. So they moved quickly and decisively.
Dividing their forces into multiple sections, Death Riders and tanks would pursue and cut off the retreating force, making sure to kill as many of them as they could.
A company of Death Korps soldiers were quickly sent in as a probing force to see the defense of the citadel, artillery were moved in place as soldiers were re-organized in a manner fit to ensure swift deployments.
The Aeldari in turn however disappeared right on the eve of battle, they had made inquiries regarding any company of soldiers annihilated in the past months, particularly those in a 6th company. What they got were a series of Krieg companies lost in the span of this war and sure enough, there was a 6th company that had lost contact mere days into deploying upon the planet.
A few weeks later, that said company was presumed gone due to a varying level of reports. Most of all, on the sightings of massive enemy forces launching an attack on that sector, the same sector that said 6th company had crashed landed.
Once they received this information, any sightings of them were gone. The marines of the scouring hatred chapter contemplated hunting down the xeno's but refrained from doing so due to the more pressing matters of their arch enemy.
The company sent as a probing force, with most being expected to not even make it halfway through surprisingly…made it through intact. The gun emplacements of the citadel neither fired or showed any signs of activity even.
It was like they were dead, most like unmanned or unusable for a variety of reasons. Still a bit skeptical, they ordered said company to hold their ground and take control of the lower guns. Sure enough, they easily took it as there was practically no one there.
This was both a good thing and a bad thing, with the Adeptus Astartes enraged that they had arrived too late to this place. Perhaps if they hadn't stalled to recoup and rather kept pushing, then they might have met them in their weakest moment.
However, not all hope was lost as it seemed the God-Emperor of Mankind was with them. Soon, reports came in of a ragtag group of heretics engaging their forces and they were being led by black armoured Astartes.
This new info saw the loyalist forces push in their forces to completely take control of the citadel, the Space Marines already rushing ahead with righteous fury primed for killing. More better news was that their second force were annihilating the enemy forces with ease.
Krieg and Kellnarian forces moved into the citadel en masse and engaged the enemy, quickly cutting their way through. Grenadier - 53897-7119-01 was part of this force aggressively pushing their way to meet their traitor astartes.
It was going well until suddenly, the guns on the citadel blared up. Within seconds, the sky was lit ablaze with the sounds of a hundred guns. It tore into the unprepared lines of the lax loyalists, dealing untold damage within their ranks.
Their forces already within the citadel sought to stop and destroy whatever guns were firing. Even gun emplacements that they held began firing all on their own, forcing them to take drastic measures to destroy them completely.
Somehow, these weapons which held no crew were firing on their own. It took a while, but soon the sounds of the guns were slowly diminishing but that was not all.
The once aggressive push of the loyalists soon met fierce resistance in the form of well trained human auxiliary forces coming from up the citadel. They looked nothing like the scattered bunch that they had initially met here.
Their stale push soon became a slow withdrawal as traitor forces were somehow finding their way behind them, the use of pathways or doors unknown to them were soon revealed. The slow withdrawal soon became chaos as reports of massive traitor forces coming from behind their lines were soon sighted.
Chaos became a rout when Kellnarian soldiers began to withdraw in total chaos and disunity. Causing friendly fire and the inability of the loyalist forces to mount a proper counter attack, but worse news came in the form of more reports.
The retreating convoy of traitor forces they had cut off and destroyed were nothing more than empty vessels with no more than their drivers, worse yet was the sightings of enemy tank forces closing in quickly which forced them to engage or risk massive losses if they tried to retreat.
Furthermore, retreating would mean that they would risk being boxed in. Something that would spell a death sentence for all here as their current ground would become nothing more than a kill bow.
The Krieg Artillery emplacements could not bring their full force down on the enemy since most had to be quickly relocated from the back lines, the supplies of the loyalists were however left behind in favour of that.
Little time was given for even a little breathing space as soon, the air was soon to become nothing but a surface of steel and cries. They traitors seemed to not care for their own forces as soon, dozens if not hundreds of bombers swooped into this killzone and them out.
Dropping a devastating payload that saw the efforts of the loyalists on reorganizing and counterattacks null, they were behind enemy lines which meant the air was under enemy control. There were no counter attacks from them, no anti air weaponry within their arsenal.
Krieg forces still however adamant on repelling the incoming assault already saw its soldiers reforming and pushing to form a defensive line, whatever survivors that could move were already moving.
Salvaging what artillery pieces they could, the kellnarians however were utterly gone from the sudden change of events. Their soldiers were in chaos with some simply deciding to follow whatever the krieg soldiers did.
Then they arrived, the sounds of improvised bikes and vehicles crushing bodies and screams. They tore their way into the loyalist lines, with many jumping to engage in a brutal glee of close combat.
The flanking forces were made up of less disciplined men who seemed less like soldiers and more cultists who had finally had a time to less loose upon the enemies they had been fighting for so long.
With the sudden decimation of the loyalists force, they saw an easy time cutting through their lines and bathing in the chaos and blood that would result in their clash. Their laughter and screams echoed through the air even as the weapons of the citadel still fired upon the now chaotic battlefield.
" Blood for the blood God, Skull for the Skull throne!! " They screamed in disunion as the sounds of weapons firing soon drowned the air of any semblance of their voice.
The Forces in the citadel still battled fiercely for their lives, Krieg grenadiers had taken the initiative and begun counter attacking the traitors using the same paths they came from.
[_[]_]~Changing Tides~[_[]_]
" Brother Dmakituc, they have breached into the pathways " Brother Jeron spoke out as they saw the view from the servo skull. It transmitted data showing how Death Korps Grenadiers were advancing through one of the many pathways of this building.
" Are all the Regiments withdrawn? " Dmakituc questioned, a series of explosions going off at a great distance to his back. The windows of the citadel showed an overview of the situation down below, flashes of light and explosions travelled everywhere the eye could see.
" Yes " A short reply came.
Dmakituc stared into the window, after he had walked away from the display desk. He stared down at the chaos unfolding, closing his eyes briefly. He imagined when they came and why they came.
His Master required soldiers, not just the usual bodies they threw at the enemy nor the flimsy bodies they had to man the trenches. He wanted good, well trained and well experienced soldiers for his army.
Having to train them, blood them and gear them would prove to be bothersome for them, so they decided to just plunge this world into war. Train some men for the rebelling side, have them bloodied and then used to train others.
Repeat the process until you have just the survivors who are now sufficiently loyal to them, after all. They did bring salvation and a better future to the weak individuals of this world. Those who become hardened in Iron, blood and war would serve them best.
Plus the amount of deaths and killing here would make it a prime location to lure some daemons for the daemon engine, having experienced mortal commanders will also be a plus for when they need auxiliaries to man certain posts.
All in all, they have achieved every single one of their goals. They could have avoided the loyalists completely, their vain attempts to go after them were…pitiful. Still, it served up an opportunity that one could ill afford to pass us.
The sudden withdrawal of many veteran forces from the rebels will surely hamper their efforts and war plans, but if discovered..could very well lead to them being suppressed once more. So destroying a force as large as this and as important as this would allow breathing space for them.
The elite of the imperium along with their blessed angels would be decimated after this battle, I doubt they would be willing to try another offensive for a few more months. Plus if these rebels do end up winning or this war drags on for a few more decades, it could prove to be a steady supply of decent soldiers for them.
It doesn't have the eyes of the imperium and it doesn't look like it will have it for any foreseeable future. Or they would have sent much more reinforcements than these and a greater number of them too.
" They performed well against these forces, even in the state of certain death. " Brother Jeron spoke out pertaining to the few companies of soldiers they brought here. All to test how they would do against enemy Astartes in pair with a decently trained force of guardsmen.
" Indeed, " Dmatikuc replied.
He then opened his vox channel and radio'ed in one of the companies that were on standby. Their orders?
Lead the loyalists into the main hall, have it be seen as if they are withdrawing back from losing. There, they will be waiting in ambush along with 2 other companies of soldiers. While they had inflicted some losses on the Astartes themselves, it wasn't anything too significant.
The bombers should have killed off a lot of the others on the ground and this fine citadel must have scored a kill or two but a second bombing run wouldn't hurt just to make sure.
Once this ambush was done, most of the remaining Astartes would - if any are left, would not have the sufficient numbers needed to impact much on this planet. Plus, they had already invested a lot into this war.
There was a surety that their chapter would recall whatever was left of them, better yet. They would instead try and focus on extracting their dead and arsenal. Something that will prove far more difficult due to just how far out they were from friendly lines.
Of course, unless they try to extract with a thunderhawk or a teleportation device. Something I believe would be a worse tactical choice since they do not control this air, but I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that.
[_[]_]~Changing Tides~[_[]_]
Within the confines of the citadel where fierce battle had ensued, a space marine of the Scouring Hatred had suddenly come to a halt. His attached group of Krieg Grenadiers also came to a halt, their eyes scanning around to look for enemies.
The Marine raised his rifle and fired a single shot, it hit a mark in the form of a traitor soldier who suddenly popped out of his hiding corner by the wall. But rather than advance and move on, the Marine neither moved nor changed his stance.
His attached group of soldiers upon seeing this, chose to create a space out perimeter around him just in case of a surprise attack. They neither questioned what he was doing or why he was doing it, rather having full faith in the decision he made without their knowledge.
The space marine in turn however was no longer paying heed to the battlefield, rather his eyes and focus were in his helmet which until just a moment ago was functioning just fine. He waited for a few seconds to see if it was a malfunction or not but suddenly, his screens blared up in a report format.
His helmet quickly repeated a series of codes for him to hear before its interface revealed a list of information privy to only him. Information regarding his new objective.
Code - 0411121681
Mission Input - Unwarranted Legionnaire
Date recorded - 211 Terran Years
Chapter Designation - Scouring Hatred
Name Designation - Brother Scarpha
Support - Zero
Activation - …..Success
" Hydra Dominatus " The Space marine whispered under his breath.
Seemingly regaining his posture, he began moving once more. The Korps soldiers were already falling in line behind him as they pushed ever more into the citadel.
[_[]_]~Changing Tides~[_[]_]
The Imperium forces had regained their ground from the initial surprise counter attacks by the traitors, already regaining momentum and pushing inward to the citadel head. Unlike the situation outside of the citadel that saw the Imperium forces being decimated and bleeding.
The situation inside quickly returned into being in their favour, a series of coordinated counter attacks saw the enemy forces being pushed back and chased after. From door to door, corridor to corridor.
Ever since they had pushed in and began to fight this battle, the Loyalists Astartes had yet to engage with any of their traitor brethren which was starting to really get into their heads. Their calls for blood and righteous vengeance seemed to be reaching their maximum when they finally got a lead.
One of the destroyed holdouts of the traitor forces saw their vox equipment left intact and on it were a set of orders telling them to fall back. What stood out however was that they were saying that their masters wanted them into the hall so they could withdraw.
Those of the Scouring Hatred Chapter could already guess who these so-called masters were, so they promptly destroyed the equipment and pursued the retreating forces. Who truly did seem like they were pulling back as per their orders.
It was expected since over 20 Space Marines were leading the assault in this closed space, they were practically immovable tanks that constantly advanced towards you with no end in sight. Still they were not fools and grouped up with a significant portion of their brothers who had been scattered all over the place.
Then they charged up.
The door came unhinged with a single kick from them, next were multiple smoke grenades thrown in by the grenadiers. Then the Astartes pushed in.
The first marine was upon sight, assaulted with a heavy las gun emplacement. Most of it bouncing off his ceramite armour, from the smoke came a single bolt gun shot being fired and seconds later. The gunner of the heavy las gun was obliterated.
Before the assisting gunner could take note of what even happened or why the gun stopped firing, he was already dead. Receiving a bolt round to the head that saw it obliterated, leaving only a gory mess.
Next, two more emplacements opened up. Sending dozens of hot beamings streaks of energy their way, once more. Only sparks and the sound of the energy beams harmlessly glancing off the heavy armour could be heard.
A shot and then the next silenced one of the gun emplacements, the second quickly tried to adjust its aiming in hopes of hitting something vulnerable but were quickly removed from existence by a charging marine who halfway to them, jumped and crushed them beneath his boots.
Their bones cracking and shattering under such an extreme force, then a quick movement of his blade ending what remained of their pitiful existence.
Once more, they moved unimpeded with their assault. The noise made from the brief encounter with the gun emplacement seemed to have alarmed them as multiple squads soon came running into paths.
The space marines, rather than waste ammunition, simply picked off commanders and allowed the Krieg soldiers to take care of the rest. They moved fast without stop, the constant stream of bodies thrown at them did little to slow them down.
Soon they were upon the main gates of the hall which saw most of the enemy soldiers retreating to. Slug based weaponry could be heard and seen firing into the lines of the Astartes, some claiming the lives of some loyalist guardsmen.
Heavy weaponry had only a few seconds to act before being silenced, with most not even having the time or opportunity to be manned. Seconds and a few minimal minutes past and all that was left was the lifeless cold husk that were once humans.
They pushed into the hall, the first set of Krieg guardsmen to push in were gunned down within seconds. The second set made it past the door and the third set saw the Space marines charging into the fray, guns blazing.
A traitor space marine opened fire, obliterating the heads of three guardsmen in mere 3 seconds. Switching his aim to target the incoming Loyalist astartes when he was suddenly bombarded with a flurry of las beams that saw him try to protect his more vulnerable parts.
The seconds used in that single instance allowed the loyalist astartes to close the gap with his chainsword already revving upon in anticipation for blood. But blood will not come easy as the traitor Astartes reacted just as quickly, pulling out his own blade.
They clashed and began a quick brutal melee, the loyalist astartes pushed in. Firing calculated bolt shots into the upper sections of the hall that saw multiple human soldiers gone. Krieg soldiers were already swarming the hall, with some rushing head first into some traitor astartes.
It looked to be an easy victory for them when suddenly, enemy astartes poured in from the sides of the halls, places that looked to be simple walls, fell down to reveal 2 maybe 3 traitor astartes simply waiting.
The upper section floor of the hall soon saw hidden heavy weapons become unrevealed as they opened fire upon the loyalist forces. The weapons tore into the ranks of the grenadiers, gunning many of them down.
Some even managed to injure the Astartes, breaking apart the lenses in the helmet before then connecting with their less armoured part - their skulls.
The sudden arrival of traitor marines firing bolt shells saw 3 loyalists down for the count, each dead before they even realised it. They returned fire, scoring kills of their own before engaging in melee that saw their odds evened out.
Yet that was not all, as within the confines of said hidden walls were squads of enemy infantry equipped with plasma weaponry. Before anyone could realise it, they released full bursts of beaming plasma shots that claimed many marines.
The Krieg forces upon seeing this began to divide and gun down those dangerous units. They were already having a hard time suppressing the heavy weapons above which reduced their numbers by more than half already.
Still, they managed to get soldiers somehow on top of those floors. Already fighting for control over the heavy weapons or straight up just grenading it to oblivion.