The gathering storm
A searing pain jolted him into consciousness. Ajax blinked open his heavy eyelids to see a medicae orderly looming over him examining a prosthesis held in one of its many arms while its many tendrils finished the operation. He looked down to see his left leg reduced to a stump, a wound he had suffered in the opening skirmishes on Akrus VII. He strained to remember…
Landing on the rocky tundra near the Drada outpost, the scouting force had spilled from their Stormbirds and secured the surrounding area meeting no resistance. Orbital scans had located several information nodes half a kilometre from their dropzone, securing these uplinks may provide them with vital information as to the location of the STC or how to enter the armorium beneath their feet. Ajax had joined this force just prior to launching, he and his bodyguard clad in the monstrous Cataphractii pattern Terminator Armour had thundered across the embarkation deck of the flagship, The Herald of Dorn, to lead this scouting party. A decision he would not regret despite the grievous injury he suffered.
Advancing through the dusty plains amid rocks the size of a Mastodon, the fists moved quickly, their Astartes frames easily keeping pace with their mechanised elements. The sea fog had rolled in prior to landing and was severely disrupting their sensors. They had no idea what they were running into. Ajax opened a vox channel and ordered his force to halt. They had just stumbled on the first of the objectives when from the murk of the fog the first shot rang out.
The hiss of boiling air followed swiftly behind the unmistakeable ruby beam of a Vindicator laser destroyer, piercing the fog and impacting the front of Ajax’s Spartan. The monstrous vehicle took the impact well, its foot thick ceramite assault ramp and flare shield dissipating the power of the beam across the rest of the tank.
“To Cover!” he ordered across the Vox. Legion Breacher squads Druary & Scutum moved to secure the two nearest uplinks, their huge boarding shields making the need to cower behind terrain pointless. Squads Sagittarum and Pilus, his legion seekers and las cannon devastators heeded his advice, sprinting towards the nearest of the towering rock formations as bolter shell explosions pockmarked the dust surrounding them. However there was something strange about these bolters. They did not hit with the usual red flames and shrapnel, these had a green and purple hue about them. Ajax knew what this meant, the Sons of Magnus were here too. Manipulating the control for the commander’s cupola he scanned the terrain and yet saw nothing but fog and haze. There! Another volley of bolter shells rang out and impacted on squad Scutum to his left dropping some of their members, but the muzzle flashes had given their position away.
“Forward” he ordered as a break in the fog revealed their adversary. In a crater just two hundred meters forward was Magistus Amon, equerry of Magnus, and a squad of veterans. Amon’s mastery of the Corvidae allowed him to weave a phantasmal aura around himself and his squad. Their image seemed to shimmer and shift like a mirage on a desert world making them near impossible to target, despite the superior bolter drills of the VIIth Legion.
As the forces clashed and Astartes from both sides fell Ajax and his bodyguard stormed down their assault ramp into a different group of XVth legion Veterans. Their chainfists and experimental pattern storm shields making short work of the power armoured warriors. A lucky swing from a Kopesh axe had cleaved one of their number from neck to navel, laying him low leaving him to die a death in service of the Emperor. But their fury was too much for the veterans, the sole survivor of the XVth withdrew, leaving them standing in the open on and around the central objective.
It was at that moment he heard it. A rumbling clatter of treads and the roar of engines. At first it had been disguised by the noise of his own transports but now it was undeniable. From the fog on his left flank burst a spartan of the Thousand sons. It disgorged its passengers into squads Scutum and Saggitarum. The Fists, caught utterly off guard, attempted to wheel their shields and bolters around to face the new threat but it was too late. The Sehkmet were upon them before they could react, force axes cleaved through their shields as if they were no more than fibreboard. Both squads fell in short order with the Sehkmet continuing their advance, this time towards Ajax. Combi-bolter shots rang out and felled more of his retinue until he was at the apex of their shield wall. That was when he fell. Time seemed to slow as he noticed the sponsons of the spartan turn to face him. He saw 8 dots of light as the lascannons charged their capacitors, then they fired. He did not even see the beams as they tore through the ceramite of his armour. Most either went wide or were absorbed by his Storm Shield, but it only took one. Aimed low, a beam glanced from his shield into his thigh. The anti tank weapon made short work of his ceramite plated leg and he fell instantly. Pain wracked his body as he convulsed, his advanced nervous system struggling to cope with his horrific injury until a wave of warmth and calm spread from his brainstem, his physiology finally catching up with his injuries. As he faded from consciousness he saw his lieutenant, Adriel, dragging him back towards the Stormbird, his leg left behind to the carrion birds. It was time to leave but they had got what they came for.
While the fists took significant casualties they had secured far more data than their opponents, who had been forced to withdraw back to their own lines. The adepts of their mechanicum detachment wasted no time in deciphering it.
The Orderly handed Ajax a data slate. It showed a location on a map of Akrus near the manufactorum.
“With regards of Magos Legat, Sir” he barked, his voice harsh and robotic.
He blinked the data slate into focus and his mouth dropped agape slightly. It showed a schematic drawing of the long lost Indomitan Mantle, a relic of the chapter and the data suggested it was here on Akrus. Perhaps clues to the STC would be nearby such an important relic….
No comments:
Post a Comment