NationStates Jolt Archive

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---Post deleted by NationStates Moderators---

"Sir, we're picking up some scattered chatter from around Ali'Staan our sensors. Sounds like Ali'Staan is...about to be attacked!"

Antares spun around in his chair, his fingers steepled before his face. Who were they? What was this all about? Regardless of the answer, they would have hell to pay before they got into the city--or whatever the hell they were trying to do. He sighed. "Mobilize the Southron Guard. Fortify all municipal borders, and round of the civlians."

"Yessir. We're sending a field of sensor drone out now to ascertain the nature of the threat. The 2nd Fleet has been notified, and air patrols around Ali'Staan will be doubled within 30 minutes."

Antares nodded as he threw his jacket on. "Good to hear. Keep in touch."

Melkor, Lord of Darkness
He who Arises in Might
Emperor Eternal of the Imperial Dominion of Melkor Unchained, Lord and Master of Arda
http://www.thangorodrim.net/graphics/morgoth.jpg

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From far out into the solar system, the Necron Tombship Reaper of Light monitors the eldar raid...

Somewhere in the Sol System

Dome of the Crystal Seers Tor Yvresse.

'Are these reports accurate?'
'Yes Farseer we have detected Massive WebGate activity within the Borders of Melkor's land'
'Hmm watch the situation, and prepare for any unusual happenings, I want to know everything that happens this could be.... interesting'

The artillery turns night into day, backlighting the silent advance of the eldar, rendering them into spikey wraiths silhoutted from behind. They hurry forward as the resistent spatters to life, to take refuge in the streets and alleys of the city, to wage war on their terms. Few of the eldar are hit by the first wave of artillery, with the guns still being zeroed and the swift advance of the aliens.

As the scattered squads draw closer to the city, flights of reaver jetbikes burst from the hills; their whooping engines echo like the shrieks of banshees against the buildings and pavement. The jetbikes scythe forward, their speed making them truly difficult targets and quickly bringing them into the short ranges of their miniaturized dark lances and splinter rifles. They fight to throw the enemy into confusion, darting forward to stab with a black beam of dark matter or rip at a line of defenders with poisoned blades, always crowding and boiling near the enemy troops to confound artillery or aircraft fire.

Lastly, coasting along silently on gravitic thrusters, the Talos squads, ravening engines of destruction, advance from the south; they are slow compared to the rest of the eldar force, but stll as fast as a tank and unencumbered by the difficulties of terrain.

As they converge on the city, the Dark Eldar run into withering small arms and stinger fire from the Sountron Guardsmen stationed in the city. In the sky above, the 2nd Fleet can be seen approaching slowly, as the Orodruin begins to drop tanks. Aboard the Second Fleet, Fleet Marshal Valcus spoke to his crew: "We've just entered weapons range. Load up all heavy gauss and direct it to the South. Raven escort has just left their hangars, and will be over the enemy soon. Hopefully they'll be followed by some bombers from outlying airfields.

One of his aides grimaced. "This won't be fun. Thankfully, it appears they haven't made a bid for air superiority, so perhaps our Ravens can capitalize. What has Garrand said on the matter?"

Vlacus sighed. "He's coordinating with Ground Command to get the Imperial Legion on the scene. This will at least make it impossible for them to get back to their gate, if they all advance. And Antares is asking Lord Melkor if we should use the Amarth Legion, and maybe some war trolls. Nearest ones are at Camp Serech, and they'll be here in a few hours if mobilized."

****
On the ground...

A column of MBK's can be seen lumbering down the west side of the city, their turrets fixed on the fields before them, firing as they move. Sliding out from the sides of the tanks are the Chronos TCD's, who crawl their way over the rockey terrain to meet the advancing enemy. Missile batteries on the back of the tanks fire their missiles at the incoming jetbikes, releasing a few hundred SAMs into the air in a matter of minutes.

Back in Ali'Staan, Antares winced as men fell around him. His Southron Guard was doing their damndest to hold the city, and given the numerical advantage they had, it hopefully wouldn't be hard. Units had been detached from outlying bases to try and find this webgate, wherever it may be: sensors seemed to think it was somewhere to the west, but it was underground, so it would be difficult to tell. Not knowing how long they had been there sure didn't help things either, it seemed. He looked to the sky as 50 Gunships sped over the city, dispatched moments earlier from the 2nd Fleet. They circled about in the sky over the jetbikes, slowly picking away at their numbers with mostly autocannon fire. Some were outfitted with light missiles as well, but as a general rule, autocannons and augmented PD arcs were the norm.

Following the gunship strike was a few squadrons of A-10 fightercraft, who made a beeline for the Talos squads. GAU-8 fire filled their air as the massive planes were brought to bear on their targets, antitank missiles slamming into the Talos crafts' ranks seconds later.

Melkor, Lord of Darkness
He who Arises in Might
Emperor Eternal of the Imperial Dominion of Melkor Unchained, Lord and Master of Arda
http://www.thangorodrim.net/graphics/morgoth.jpg

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The Ni'Staani priests were not fooled. Marching from their temple in the heart of the city, the Champions of the Imperium descended upon the battlefield to engage these "Wyches." Dark, haunting chants could be heard as they approached the field, their green eyes eerily piercing through the night as they scanned the invaders.

They grew stronger with every soul that passed into death before them: drawing their power off the quintessence of death, they began to pool their power. A dark purplish haze rose from the ground, cackling with energy. Turning darker as it rose, it formed a mighty sphere. One of the mages, putting his hands to it, chanted a terrible oath, and the sphere suddenly flew apart, a small piece adhering to each of the Priests. Spreading over their body, the essence seemed to invigorate them. Taking up their staffs, they charged the field.

The tank column struggled to advance under heavy attack from tthe jetbikes. Thankfully, they had gotten rid of their TCD escort some time before, which responded to the new threat by raining thousands of tiny, blindingly fast incendiary missiles at the bikes. Three of them would be about all that was needed to knock one out. Grav-Gunships were diverted from Talos squad detail to dispatch these bikes as well, weaving around the buildings in hot pursuit, breaking off long enough to allow the TCD misisles to track their targets: then they were right back on them again.

Then came the Amarth Legion. From behind. Tearing furiously over the rocky terrain to get to their foes, the Amarth Legion roared one and all as they met with their enemy outside Ali'Staan. Some of the more preceptive Eldar now begin to feel the earth rumble beneath them. The Imperial Legion was coming.

Melkor, Lord of Darkness
He who Arises in Might
Emperor Eternal of the Imperial Dominion of Melkor Unchained, Lord and Master of Arda
http://www.thangorodrim.net/graphics/morgoth.jpg

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The Dark Eldar begin selling themselves dearly. They mindlessly attack with the ferocity of those who know they will die, and are eager for it. Reckless they become charging the enemy and burning the bodies of those who fall, their own and the others. The Talos, with their thick armor and mad weapons, crash against their armored foes, supported by what's left of the Reaver squadrons.

Explosions begin to rock the lines of the eldar as they begin charging and immolating or detonating themselves.

The Amarth Legion continued their brutal advance from the rear of the Dark Eldar's ranks, clawed hands reaching from the shadows to snatch the enemy from their positions. Moments later, a pile of bones and fetid flesh was the only evidence that they were ever there.

The MBK batallion by now has sustained moderate losses: considering that they outnumbered the jetbikes well over 10:1, this was quite an acheivement for the enemy, as TCD drones crawled up the sides of the buildings to get a better firing angle on the bikes, autocannon fire erupting from their backs as they climbed.

The Southron Guard began a slow, grim advance starting from the city limits, marching slowly to engulf their enemy in a sea of foes.

Melkor, Lord of Darkness
He who Arises in Might
Emperor Eternal of the Imperial Dominion of Melkor Unchained, Lord and Master of Arda
http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~darion.c.smith/melkor.jpg

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Regular patrols are established, and the Police take to the streets to turn away onlookers and clean up the mess.

The haze of fire could be seen in Ali'Staan that night, as fire crews rushed to douse the affected buildings. As the squads sweep the streets, they snatch up any stranded Eldar and detain them for questioning.

The Amarth Legion retreats back into the rocky crevices from whence they came, hissing as they climbed back into their holes. The battered MBK battalion turns and lumbers back to its base for repairs, the remaining TCDs sliding down their buildings and climbing back into the holding ports on the MBKs. Aboard the Second Fleet, Valcus listens to another report:

"It seems we've decimated most of them. No reinforcements have shown up on our scope: we can't figure out why. Units encountered don't seem to be consistent with Tor Yvresse's military, but that doesnt rule out the possibility that we simply hadn't seen these units yet, or that they're trying to frame someone. Luckily, we've captured a number of them, and they're being brought aboard the Orodruin for questioning. They're definately Elves, that much we know."

Valcus nodded. "Still, we must remain vigilant for any further attacks."

Melkor, Lord of Darkness
He who Arises in Might
Emperor Eternal of the Imperial Dominion of Melkor Unchained, Lord and Master of Arda
http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~darion.c.smith/melkor.jpg

The Reaper dissapears, leaving the real universe for an alternate one. The necrons aboard see no reason to save the dark eldar from the pit they have dug themselves into.

Interesting, 'However that Webgate is still open, this is unacceptable, I want a Warlock dispatched to close it, Seal it I do not want any of Melkor's forces making it into the Web' Telgorthrind watched and smiled, much had been learnt of the Melkorian defences, and no Tor Yvressian lives had been lost in the effort.

The Eldar captives were arranged in a neat line outside the city, under heavy guard. Striding up to the first, Radek Antares scowled and stuck his .45 in the Elf's face.

"We're not buying this shit. We've fought the Craftworld Eldar before, and frankly, we don't think that you're who you say you are. I'll ask you once, and once only: Who sent you?"

***

The patrols combed over Ali'Staan's outskirts, searching for this webgate. No one was quite sure whether or not there were Eldar still around, or if the webgate was even closed or not. It would only be a matter of time before it was found, given the way the patrols were methodically searching the countryside.

On the other side of the Web the race had started in earnest, the team dispatched knew what their role was, they had to close the Gate before Melkorian Forces arrived, if need be, some of them would have to fight a desperate rearguard action, sacrifacing their lives and perhaps worse, to save Tor Yvresse, it angered the men that the Fallen had not taken precautions.

The Team was swift as it ran through the Web, moving rapidly to the Gateway, but at times they had to pause and search for the next turning, at other times Deamons of the Web had to be repelled, it was unknown if they had enough time. Already the Men who would form the wall for the Gate where being chosen by the Warlock, and informed of this role.