NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is slightly open, but I request that you ask before joining. (ie don't post then ask, first TG me)

IC:

The vastness of space is a thing to be respected. Its grand visage a huge and star ridden painting of blackness that reveals only what one can see. It is through this great territory of blackness that the Space Hulk Venturing Light traveled through.

The command bridge of the Venturing Light was like a small pyramid. Its tiers held banks of computers and servitors attached to them. Crewmen and techs walked its pathways, checking and working, keeping the huge ship in excellent working condition. At the very top of the highest tier was a great throne, a command chair, from which a large man in a fading white captain’s uniform sat. Before him sat crys-steel view ports that allowed the crew and captain to see into space.

“Distance to destination?” the captain asked aloud.

“18 hours to spinward lord-captain,” replied the computer modulated voice of the navigational servitor. The captain nodded to himself and ignored the feeling of depression he got when he was forced to deal with servitors.

Unlike other commanders within the Thrashian Navy who commanded such war vessels as the Imperial Star Destroyers or Praetorians, the Space Hulks that belonged to the Thrashian Space Marine Legions were wired in a different manner. Instead of all human adjutants and crewmen, he was forced to deal with half-man, half-computer beings who were wired into the very being of his ship.

The captain sighed and brought up his control panel, checking off in his personal command log the time they were making. The door behind him opened with a well oiled screech and heavy footsteps followed it.

“Everything is going well I assume Captain Gerrard?” asked a heavy baritone, yet soft, voice.

Captain Gerrard turned his command chair to face the tall 9ft behemoth that stood behind him. Genetically enhanced, super-human in all aspects, and encased in the most stupendous and intricate armor imaginable stood Legion Commander Vevarus; leader of the Blood Knights Space Marine Legion.

“Yes Commander,” said Captain Gerrard, his voice going a slight octave higher than usual. “We’re less than a day from our intended target.”

“Good,” said the hulking giant. “I will begin the war council in the main auditorium. You are welcome to join along with Lord General McNeal should you wish.” It was not unusual for the Legion Commander to ask Gerrard to these meetings, but he usually found himself out of place in them since he was a naval officer and was not use to the flippant ways of ground combat.

“Thank you Commander. I will consider it,” managed Gerrard. The battle hardened face of Commander Vevarus cracked into a smile.

“Don’t worry Captain, we appreciate the Navy just as much as we appreciate the Emperor allowing us the support of his clonetrooper armies.”

“Its not that that worries me,” said Gerrard.

“What then?”

“Its that you’re all taller than me,” said Gerrard. He was only 5’3”, a noticeable difference next to the 6ft clonetroopers and the massive giants that were the Space Marines. Vevarus laughed aloud and hard. His entire body seemed to shake as he did so. He gently clapped Gerrard on the shoulder causing the captain to nearly spill out of his command chair.

“Have no worries Captain, your capabilities with this ship more than make up for physical stature,” said Vevarus heartily. He laughed again and turned to leave. Gerrard sighed heavily again when he heard the door close and the footsteps fade.

No, Gerrard thought, he would never be really get use to the idea of commanding the Space Hulk that housed the Blood Knights Space Marine Legion.

Lord Commander Vevarus strode through the iron-steel corridors of the Venturing Light with a somber yet energetic mood. He paced pass white armored clonetroopers heading to training rooms or armories, crewmen and women who walked around laughing about the newest crude joke played on some naval officer, and the occasional fellow Space Marine who would come to the Blood Knights salute, right fist placed atop the left breast, bowing as Vevarus passed. Poets, writers, teachers, artisans, smiths, men and women of all walks of life passed through the halls of the massive Space Hulk.

The Blood Knights was one of ten Space Marine Legions within the Thrashian Empire. Created more than forty years prior upon the planet Elderqan the Space Marine Legions were modeled after the Space Marines of other nations, such as Chronosia. Emperor Treize had, before he became Emperor, used his resources to find and gain possession of a special gene-seed, the gene-seed of a primarch. Using this as a template the Legions were created in secret. It was only now that Emperor Treize was publicly recognizing that Thrashia commanded such forces.

Vevarus was one of ten Space Marine Commanders who were given a special task. It was known to him and his brother-commanders that Grand Admiral Thrawn had been sent by Emperor Treize, beloved by all, to conquer the unknown galaxy. In equal measure of that mission, the Space Marine Legions were given a similar and parallel task. They would embark upon a great crusade to conquer as many planets and systems as possible, all in the name of Emperor Treize.


Vevarus walked through a large portal door, two Space Marines standing guard at each side holding their bolt guns at attention across their chests. Inside was a vast auditorium. Seats lined its tiers and a large hologram table sat at the center of the room’s bowl.

Around that table stood 10 Space Marine Lord Captains, each an officer commanding one of the ten Space Marine Divisions within the Blood Knights Legion. They all turned their attention to Vevarus as he entered. They saluted the Blood Knight way and bowed.

“Greetings my brothers,” said Vevarus. He stepped forward to each of them and gripped forearms with each in greeting. “Casius, Luko, Damien, Ferger, Saul, Manz, Paulus, Noeh, Julius, Septrana,” he said, listing their names. They each swelled with pride as their beloved commander named them.

“We have much work before us brothers,” Vevarus started without prelude. “The Duomon System is less than18 hours away.”

“That soon!?” asked Captain Luko. Luko was the commander of the VII Division and a good officer. He was also very skeptical about the need of regular humans for their campaign.

“Yes Luko, that soon.”

“We could have used some more warning to prepare.”

“Like it matters,” interrupted Paulus, “We’ll defeat our enemies either way, Emperor willing.” Paulus’s words brought about a wave of nodding heads. Luko grumbled a bit then subsided when he looked at Vevarus.

“Our information of Duomon is hazy. It is occupied by humanoid forces, that we know, however we have no clue as to their technological level or space capabilities. The probe that retrieved the information said that the population was estimated at 8 million. Small, but still large enough to cause us problems,” said Vevarus. He turned to Captain Julius, a man who was responsible for the Legion’s information analysis group as well as commander of the III Division.

“As far as we know they will not be prepared for our assault and we should be victorious if we follow along the normal doctrine. Take the head off the beast,” said Julius in a soft voice. Many of his fellow brother-captains would make jibes at him for his soft voice, but none could doubt his fighting prowess.

“Then we’ll use the speartip method,” said Casius.

“Like they’ll be able to stop Space Marines,” laughed Damien.

A red light above them began blinking and a blaring signal began sounding. It was the call to assemble for the War Council. Vevarus turned and watched as hundreds of officers, space marines, and troopers filed into the room from the twelve surrounding entrances. The human officers, leaders of the Clonetrooper Army, took their seats alongside the officers of the navy and the hulking brother-captains and lieutenants of the Blood Knights.

The 10 division commanders took their seats at the very front row, their massive chairs creaking. Vevarus however stayed standing by the hologram table and waited. The room was filled to the brim within twenty minutes and was silent as everyone sat and watched the Lord Commander.

“We are about to begin our great crusade!” Vevarus called out. A raucous cheer and applause went up and out of the crowd. Army Officers and Space Marines alike slammed their fists onto chair arms and called out praise. Vevarus raised his hands for quiet, which seemed to grudgingly come.

“We are about to begin. And it begins with the Duomon System.” Vevarus turned a dial on the table and the lights of the room lowered. The hologram table and the floor surrounding it rose from the floor, metal gears screeching as it did so. The hologram began operating and a bale red light appeared, showing the outline of a globe.

The surface of the globe was lined with continental shapes of landmass. Several small glowing dots showed where major cities were. A single blaring ‘X’ showed where the capital of the planet was.

“Here is planet Duomon Prime. Population: 8 million.” Vevarus had the picture spin slowly so all those assembled could see it. “We know for a fact that they are above primitive life styles and are technologically advanced enough to give us some resistance. Therefore we shall execute a speartip operation.”

“Which Division shall lead the speartip?” asked Brother-Captain Saul aloud.

“The X Division will lead the assault, supported by the 12th and 15th Clone Brigades,
replied Vevarus. He saw a wide smile stretch across Septrana’s face. He had the honor of leading the 10th Division into combat. Colonel Alexander of the 8th Clone Army nodded as well, he would be leading the 12th and 15th.

“Your main attack will be in a sharp avenue between these two mountains spurs,” said Vevarus, indicating the surrounding terrain of the capital. “Your attack will be supported on either flank by the III Division.”

Julius smiled as well. Being that close to the main battle would allow for opportunities for his men to gain some glory too.

“While the speartip lands there and takes over the main city, the II, VI, VIII, and VIIII Divisions will be landing at key points all across the planet; assaulting such cities as are important and by taking over key topographical positions that can be used to severe our enemy’s lines of communication.”

Vevarus gazed up into the crowd and saw the diminutive figure of Lord Captain Gerrard. He smiled slightly and turned to the holomap. “The two supporting cruisers under the command of Lord Captain Gerrard will be bombarding the surface, softening them up and keeping any orbital threats at bay while we land.”

“Is everything clear?” asked Vevarus.

“For the Emperor!” cried out an army officer. The call was taken up almost within an instant. The volume rose to higher and higher levels, shaking the very foundations of the room and reverberating throughout the Venturing Light.

“Then we are ready,” said Vevarus to himself within the tumult of cris.

From the sky fell rain. A rain that was not normal or innate to Duomon. Ignorant men heralded it as the coming of a new age. Others, the King, knew otherwise. It was the rain of thousands of armored drop pods falling to the ground beneath them from space.

The craft shook like nothing else as Brother-Captain Septrana slapped a belt of ammunition into his bolter. He sat strapped into his safety harness against the wall of the ship. Around him sat fellow brother Space Marines. There were thirty inside the drop pod, all waiting with anxious feelings and desire to get to the ground and fight.

Septrana commanded 4,000 Blood Knight Space Marines of the X Division. Under him were 10 company captains, each with 400 men. Septrana went over his battle plan in his head for what must have been the hundredth time. He looked down at his chronometer and then activated his vox system.

“Landing will take place in eight minutes! Prepare for combat!” The space marines around Septrana cheered and raised their fists in the air.

Like a speeding comet the drop pod smashed into the earth and slid upon the ground for a short distance before coming to a violent stop. With a blast of depressurized air the side hatch of the pod exploded open and Space Marines funneled out in haste.

Septrana looked around himself as he stepped out of the pod. Hundreds of identical pods were falling around him, marines spilling out of them. He turned to the north and saw a great shining city before him. That was his objective. “All companies head for the city! Glory to the Emperor!”

The call was taken up by those nearby and it spread as a ripple through water. Supporting clone troops scouted forward, their speeder bikes roaring their own approval as they advanced. Septrana had his men form up into companies, clonetrooper auxiliary forces taking up the rear and flanks. The column advanced like a whirlwind waiting to be unleashed.


The human-like defenders of Duomon were tall, taller than the clonetroopers but shorter than the Space Marines, and fierce fighters. They were armed with a strange technology, guns that used amplified sound waves in the fashion of bullets. They were resplendent in long red leather-looking uniforms with golden helmets, silver embossed goggles and masks covering their faces. They yelled curses at the approaching column in a language that seemed similar to some for of ancient Terra. Large cannon behind their lines began launching shells into the landing forces of the Blood Knights.


A barrage of Whirlwind missiles roared overhead as the speeders of the 10th Division screamed towards the heart of the Duomon force. The Duomon soldiers stood atop a perimeter wall of some grey stone and brandished their weapons. The missiles screamed into the distance; a series of explosions lit up the horizon. Satisfied that the Duomon artillery had been disposed of, Septrana ordered the 1st-3rd companies to advance.

Karl Vorman, standard grasped in one hand and bolt pistol in the other, led the first platoon of the first company into the Duomon lines. Possessed of almost a daemonic rage, the Duomon soldiers hurled themselves bodily at the Blood Knights but their attacks were in vain as red-armored fists crushed skulls, bolter shells tore muscle and sinew apart, flamers and melta-guns incinerated skin and bone. Very soon, the platoons of 1st company struggled to make headway, their progress impeded by the waves of Duomon dead at their feet.

Septrana tore his chainsword free from a dead Duomon and in one smooth movement turned and hammered the pommel into the face of his compatriot. The blow shattered the man’s forehead with an audible crack, killing him before his limp body began its fall to the ground. Kicking the corpse to one side, Septrana followed the men of the third and fourth companies towards the breeched walls of Duomon’s capital.

Suddenly 10th Division’s head Librarian appeared in front of Septrana. He held his hand out and shouted in the vox. “Brother Knights! Hold your positions, hold your positions!” Unquestioningly, the Space Marines heeded the words of the Librarian and stopped in their tracks. Muttering a short prayer of devotion to the Emperor, the librarian focused his mental energies on the ground beneath a group of Duomon soldiers who were wielding a heavy weapon that was causing some causalities amongst the Blood Knights. With no further warning a white hot ball of flame erupted upwards from the ground, exploding outwards, engulfing the weapon gunner and dozens of men around him.

Their moral broken at the sight of their comrades being turned to charred ash the rest of the Duomon line fell back in retreat. Bolter rounds took many in the back, their chests exploding outwards in a gory shower of blood and entrails. Assault Marines powered up their jet packs and fell atop the enemy, cutting them down as they ran like so many vermin.

Karl Vorman stepped to the top of a rubble pile and raised the battle standard of the 1st Company. “Into the city! Victory is ours! For the Emperor!”

“For the Emperor!” came the brutal war cry from the throats of hundreds of Blood Knights, swarming around the standard bearer and through the breach in the walls. Septrana stepped past the sergeant and clapped his hand on the marine’s shoulder.

“Good work brother-sergeant.”

“The Emperor wills it,” responded Karl Vorman piously.

He winked at Septrana and leapt down the pile of rubble and into the streets beyond the walls. There the waves of Space Marines and clonetroopers swarmed, all heading to the large ziggurat at the center of the city.

Not to be outdone by his division commanders, Vevarus had entered his own drop pod and had entered the fray in the capitol city.

He jogged along the paved roads of the city, easily outdistancing the clonetroopers who where accompanying him, and turned a corner. There stood a formation of red uniformed Duomon soldiers. Each of their odd bronze colored rifles had a curved bayonet attached. With a cry they charged at Vevarus.

Vevarus met them with his own charge. “Blood Knights!” Vevarus swung his bolt pistol left and right, pumping bolt after bolt into the red-clad soldiers that advanced on him. The concussive report sounded again and again, counterpointed by the high-pitched crackling whine of the power fist attached to Vevarus’s right hand as it came to full charge.

“For the Emperor!” Vevarus’s blood sang as he parried the sweep of a long bayonet. The sparkling blade shattered against the glove’s energy field. Vevarus slammed his bolt pistol against the silver embossed face-mask of his attacker and pulled the trigger twice. The headless corpse fell to the ground like a stone. Stepping past him, Vevarus placed the open palm of his power fist against the chest of another Duomon soldier. The soldier, still too distracted by bringing his bayonet down in a strike from over his head, stiffened as his body’s muscles went into a spasm.

Vevarus smashed through the Duomon lines and shattered them like a raging hurricane. Duomon soldiers fell as their chests and heads exploded with the impact of bolt rounds and sometimes lost limbs or entire upper bodies to the powerful strike of the power fist. It was only within a few moments that Vevarus had killed more than two dozen of the soldiers before the rest fled.

Howling with desire to fight more Vevarus ran after them. He turned a corner and was confronted by more soldiers. This time however they were taller and armored with red plate armor; not dissimilar from armor of the knights of old Terra. They wielded larger forms of the Duomon rifles and long swords. Vevarus didn’t hesitate.

He hit the Duomon line like a weapon wielded by the Emperor himself. Red-armored soldiers flew left and right, golden helms shattered by close-quarters bolter fire and blows from his power fist at full discharge. To either side of him two more Blood Knights appeared, carving sections from their enemy with their chainswords, blew away limbs and punctured breastplates with their bolters.

One of the Blood Knights fell. His bolter empty and his chainsword stuck in the recess of a Duomon knight’s chest, another Duomon knight tore his head from his shoulders with a blazing, sigil-etched long sword. The other Blood Knight returned the favour, severing the Duomon knight’s sword arm with a well-placed sword-strike to its elbow, followed b a bolter volley in the face. Vevarus and his fellow Blood Knight surged on, cutting a gory swathe through the soldiers of Duomon. The red tide closed behind them, still charging forward and around the two red armored giants.

The two fought a deadly game of ‘who’s the better killer’ and took down scores of the Duomons. The armored Duomons and the regular soldiers suddenly began retreating from the gore covered pair. At first Vevarus thought they were retreating. Instead he saw that they were parting way for a large looming form. Vevarus was reminded of the mighty Dreadnoughts that his own Space Marine Legion used in combat. It was a tall, box-like mechanical beast with two legs and two massive arms that were weapons; one a giant hammer, the other a large looking cannon.

The Blood Knight Marine next to Vevarus charged forward shouting a fierce war cry. The mighty war machine seemed to take notice of the charging Blood Knight and brought its man-sized hammer to bear. The hammer struck the side of the Space Marine, his left arm snapping into an obscene angle. The Blood Knight was driven from his feet and into the air. He flew into the building next to them and fell into a crumpled pile to the ground. The machine followed this attack up by firing a volley of explosive shells into the slow moving fallen Marine, ending his life.

Vevarus was driven to anger beyond anything he had ever before known. He sprinted forward as the giant machine started turning his way. As he ran Vevarus made a quick adjustment to his power fist. Already buzzing with energy, the glove began to emit a continuous high-pitched squeal. His teeth chattered insanely as the energy from the overloading glove hummed through his bones. His head felt like it might explode within his helmet.

Shucking his power fist, whose squeal had passed beyond human hearing as he got within striking distance of the huge machine, he jammed it between the web of struts and power conduits that ran behind the machine’s knee-joint. Blue fire played across the surface of the glove. Tendrils of the barely-tamed lightning began to arc across the surface of the Dreadnought-like machine’s lower extremities.

For a moment Vevarus was entranced by the sight. It took a Duomon bullet striking his breast plate to bring him back to reality. Spinning on his heel he ran and slammed into the Duomon soldiers there.

He never reached his target. The power fist detonated, vaporizing the lower half of the machine. The war machine tumbled backwards, cannon firing a wild, ineffectual volley into the sky. The shock wave from the blade slapped Vevarus in the back, scattering him and the Duomon soldiers around him like so many leaves, swept by the wind. Ears ringing, Vevarus momentarily lost consciousness.

Blinking back to awareness, Vevarus found himself on his back, staring up at the sky. Above him arched the tell-tail vapour trails of Thunderhawk gunships. He turned and saw a white armored Space Marine standing next to him.

“Welcome back Commander.”

“Apothecary,” acknowledged Vevarus. He grumbled and rose, twisting himself into a sitting position. He looked around and saw dozens of dead Duomon bodies and the still smoking remains of the Duomon dreadnought. He turned to see several squads of Blood Knights moving down the road.

A Space Marine with a captain’s insignia appeared and took off his helmet. Septrana’s face appeared. He smiled down at Vevarus.

“Couldn’t stay aboard ship, eh Commander?” he asked.

“Couldn’t let you have all the glory,” responded Vevarus. “Now help me up, we’ve more work to do.” Septrana held out his armored hand and helped drag Vevarus to his feet.

“Come on Commander, the Emperor is calling for more of these Duomon souls.” Vevarus nodded in reply to Septrana’s words and picked up his bolt pistol and drew his chainsword.

“Lets.”

OOC: Would someone consider rp'ing the opposition/other worlds/etc?

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b184/Upum/Space%20Marines/Bloodangels-marine.gif

[ooc: Dear god replying to this took longer then it should have, sorry Thrashia, some stuff popped up, hope its worth the wait.]

~Oh shit...~ thought Yuoton, running down the street. ~Where are they!?~ He was in panic, everything was down, his entire interface was down, he had lost contact with the rest of his squad, and those knights where chasing him. He ran, picking up ammo when he thought he had the time. In his arms he held one of the Outsider rifles, while over his back was slung his own.

~Ok, sit, stay calm.~ he dashed into a building, slamming the door behind him. He heard sound? He twisted, rifle point held upwards, only to be greeted with the cowering forms of a family, a man holding a Pistol at him, a face full of relief. Yuoton noticed with a quick glance they where not native to the city, probably come in for a holiday.

"Tyant Inc Duomon?" he asked, cautiously, slowly, so to give them a chance to understand.

"Yuat," the male replied, looking him up and down. "Uinar Gruandu?"

"Yuat," he replied. "Inc rew indroe Marc, wieal?"

"Yuat, tinas Wieal." nodded the man, before ushering his family into another room. Yuoton nodded, running up the stairs. A quick conversation had left him knowing their was a window overlooking the street on the top level. A quick check and he knew the sites on the two rifles where both fine, and he knew the enemy had been close behind. He wouldn't have to wait long.

He opened the window quickly, checking the street below, no sign of them, good, time to prepare. He pulled several pieces out of his kit, and began to repair the more vital sections of his helmate. Quick check out the window, ~Shit, there're here~ he said, seeing the armour of the Clones down the edge of his street. Repairs abandoned, he went took the Blaster rifle and rested it against the window still.

"Relax," he muttered. "The Rifle is the way you win, you are not going to be stronger then them, but you don't need to be, shoot them and they will go down." He repeated the old saying that was sent around the front lines up at Cawnadon, the bastards may be twice the size, that just made them bigger targets. Only problem the Grunts of the army where only just bigger then a Duomon, so this was not what he was used to fighting. He sighed, put his unaided eye to the site.

Pew

The Blaster sung out, the Blue bolt flashed across the street, impacting onto the clones chest. Instantly, the squad fanned out, taking cover where they could. Yuoton wanted to curse, but feared they might here him. The Clones wouldn't be able to see his heat, the city had the buildings heated to Body temprature, a safe-guard develouped in case of an attack on the city.

Pew-Pew

The second shot impacted onto a clones shoulder, the third smashed into the chest that was exposed thanks to the recoil. ~Lucky Shot~ came the thought to him, as he quickly took his eyes off to switch on the spare radio. He looked at it, pretty dismal thing, if the Seige had been taken to the palace, he wouldn't be getting help, but if they still held the city, it was possible...

The roar of an Artillary strike came then, the shock throwing him to the floor. Great noise, plumes of flame jetting into the air. The sound of missiles was the only thing that could be heard over the sound, Yuoton knew the enemy had called it, probably to clear the entire area, he swore as he heard faint screams from down-stairs and felt the building collapse to his left. ~There goes my cover~ he thought morbidly as the fire stopped as soon as it started. His ears still rang, but he managed to crawl to the edge of the building. He put his eye to the scope and took a look.

The smoke hadn't even cleared, buildings still dripped with the motlen material, and yet the Clones had begun moving. He then saw a flash of red, and his heart began to beat faster. He moved to where he thought it would be, and he saw it, the Knight, he swore and fired, The shot took the Marine in the Chest, leaving a small creator in the armour but not affecting movement. Again, he heard that sound, and this time hit the marines arm. The Soldier ran on, regardless, straight towards the house which held Yuoton captive.

He heard a scream from downstairs, as against the odds the Family had obviously survived the strike, two shots could be heard from a pistol (Vaugely, his ears still rung) before the scream was cut off suddenly. No waiting, Yuoton unslung the other rifle and moved so he faced the door with both. He heard foot-treads up the stairs, before the door burst off its hinges. Both Rifles began to open up, a startling Creshendo, and impacted across the Marines armour.

The Marine actually sumbled, but then he fired a shot with his bolter, and the table was blown upwards, throwing Yuoton out the window. As he fell, he felt a form of release, he couldn't even feel the wood which was lodged in his heart, there was no pain, just a feeling of the world slowly seeping away. His vision began to fade, but as he looked up, he noted the Marine falling from the roof, His Rifle was sticking out of the twisted chest of the marine, and the chest itself had a hole the size of a large watermelon. The Marine feel, and revealed the form of the young girl who had huddled with her father. She held her arm, but she held a striking figure.

~I have looked on beauty, I can die content~ was the last thought of Yuoton, before the marine crushed him. If concious had stayed with him only a few moments longer, then he would have seen the girl shot down, the Clones finishing off what the Marine had Obviously not done. Her own last thoughts focusing on the man who had help her vengance. To those who hold romantics in their heart, there was a likely meeting as they rose to the heavens.

Just as likely, there wasn't.

=-=-=

The Duomon where fighting a loosing fight. No matter how one worked this situation, there was, short of some form of Deus Ex Machina, any way to save them. The Capital Walls where in ruins, and troops where fighting a costly retreat to the Palace. They refused to give ground well, everything became a trap, houses became bombs, streets became mine-fields, a stranded soldier could kill twice his number at least.

As it was, they simply fell back, completely unable to halt the Enemy advance, and instead settling for the return to the Palace costing as many men as the enemy had. While not spending the entire war force, these tactics had merit, as the Thrashians would have to step carefully as they moved.

Lest that movement be their last.

Space Marine Assault Sergeant Draco stood up from his long fall. Beneath his feet were the remains of a Duomon sniper, a good one or what had been a good one. It had been a close call at first, the location of the sniper being hard to spot due to the Duomon weapons giving off no muzzle flashes. But Draco’s enhanced vision caught the movement in the buildings’ top levels as the third shot had been fired.

A nearby mobile artillery howitzer battery had been moved up nearby and Draco had immediately called in their support. Using the barrage as a distraction, Draco advanced and drove into the building, cutting down a Duomon man who was firing off a pistol of some sort. He stormed the stairs, taking four or five at a time; even scraping his head on the top of the ceiling as he jaunted up them.


Draco wiped the last of the blood off his armored feet and turned to the clonetrooper platoon that was slowly advancing behind him. He lifted his sword in the air and roared a victory war. Other Assault Marines came into view and lifted their bloody and gore covered swords into the air, returning the war cry with their own.


* * *

“We’re advancing steadily along all fronts,” reported a small holographic image of Division Commander Damien. He was on the other side of the planet, directing the Blood Knights efforts to subjugate a series of large port cities. “Their defense seems haphazard, not very well organized. Occasionally my forces come upon fierce pockets of defense. However we are already mopping them up with the clonetrooper auxiliaries.”

Commander Vevarus nodded at the image. “Very good commander, continue your efforts and if need be get bombardment support from orbit.”

“Yes sir my lord. I will return to the field.” Damien’s figure bowed and then disappeared.

Behind Vevarus’s hulking form stood Colonel Severus, a Thrashian infantry officer who commanded a battalion of hardened and very normal human soldiers. They had been sent with their fleet by Treize in order to help colonize new places bit by bit. The man seemed in awe just by being in the presence of Vevarus.

“Colonel, your men have secured this command area?”

“Yes Lord Commander Vevarus,” he said, coming to attention.

“Just call me Vevarus, Severus. No need to be formal amongst friends,” said Vevarus with a smile. He watched as the colonel visibly relaxed and seemed to mellow a bit. It was always easier to raise camaraderie with his men if he was less formal.

“Very well lor-…that is, very well Vevarus,” said the man with a lop-sided grin.

“Good, now we need to settle this business in the capitol.”


* * *

“For the Emperor!” The line of Space Marines advanced in a phalanx of fire power, their formation allowing for all angles of fire to be covered, allowing no space for error. It was battle and carnage at a stage of almost unique beauty. A beauty that was shattered when the two large buildings on either side of the advanced exploded and came crashing into the street, crushing several squads of Space Marines under tones of rock and rubble.

“Don’t falter,” cried a Blood Knight officer, his sword raised and bolt pistol handy. “Cleanse them out!”

With a roar Space Marine Blood Knights and clonetroopers alike rose from their cover and advanced at the double. Fire arched from on high as artillery rounds from mobile artillery batteries hammered into the Duomon lines, never ceasing to give support. The whine of high powered heavy Duomon weapons wailed through the air like an avenging wraith. Marines were cut down along side clonetroopers.

The attack faltered.

A flight of bombers sped past, dropping loads of plasma globes and high explosive rounds. The ground shook with the fury of rampaging giants. The ground rose into the air and dirt rained down from the skies. A heavy dust settled over the battlefield.

Through the great swathes of yellow and brown dust strode a line of clones and Marines, firing as they came in an orderly phalanx of power. Duomon positions, already softened by the bombardment, crumbled. Some ran, others simply raised their arms in the air in defeat. All died as laser blasts or bolt rounds slammed into their bodies, stealing life from them.

The Marine banner bearer walked calmly through the blood stained rubble and over the bodies of his comrades and enemies alike. With an ardent and long stride he came to the top of a hill. Around him the buildings were either crumbling or were rubble, only a few were free standing. Before him, no more than 800 meters, stood the high walls of the Duomon palace. They were carved from a dark stone which took a lot of punishment before crumbling before bombardment. Duomon forces were pulling back into it from all directions.

“Company CP, this is First Sergeant Segal. Palace is in sight. Fifth Company readying to attack,” the banner bearer said into his vox.

Tag for interest.

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