"Archmagos Theta-Rho is right," Colonel Ikeda mused from his seat in the Stormblade super-heavy tank, Tenken. "Why is the Boreal Swords Chapter attacking us?"
"We can't trust the damned cogboys," Major Mizuno muttered darkly. Taiyou was rumbling upward to take aim with its plasma executioner turret. "I have a feeling the Tech-priests have an agenda of their own."
"As is usual with the priesthood of Mars." Ikeda sighed. "Very well. Stand down. If they don't attack, we will not fire. But we will not be the ones to deliver the first shot. Continue contacting them on the vox."
Unfortunately, the Boreal Swords ignored them, with the Gladiator taking potshots and Taiyou. The lastalons and multimeltas didn't do much to the tank, though the plasma macro incinerator from a Redemptor Dreadnought blew holes in the Leman Russ Executioner tank's hull.
"That's their answer," Mizuno said.
"Ugh. Throne damn it. Fire! Fire at will!"
The tanks opened up at once, reducing several Bladeguard Veterans to molten slag under the sheer onslaught of plasma. On one end, an entire Bladeguard Veteran squad was wiped out, leaving just the Captain and his Ancient, but the latter succumbed to a plasma cannon sponson blast. A Lieutenant leading two surviving Bladeguard Veterans had to duck under cover, while the Intercessors limped away with two casualties. Only the Gladiator and Redemptor Dreadnoughts stood strong, weathering lascannon lances, though the former took a hit that left the hovertank fuming at an alarming rate.
Added to the sheer firepower of the Leman Russ tanks and single Rogal Dorn tank was the volley of disciplined fire from the Draconian Grenadiers. Having adopted the revered Kasrkin training and equipment from Cadia, the Draconian Grenadiers had packed similar weaponry, pouring a hail of hot-shot las and plasma into the Bladeguard.
Yet the Captain and Lieutenant survived. Meanwhile, the third squad of Bladeguard, led by a Chaplain, smashed into a platoon of infantry, cutting them down with their crozius and power sword. Even so, led by a Primaris psyker, the guardsmen rallied and weathered the ferocious onslaught, stabbing back with bayonets and even felling one of the Bladeguard despite their casualties.
Despite the titanic toll wreaked upon them, the Boreal Swords were unwavering. A bright flash signaled a teleportation, and a squad of Terminators, led by a second Chaplain, materialized several dozen meters away from the grizzled grenadiers. The Gladiator swerved around to fire its bristling weapons at the Rogal Dorn, obliterating its ablative plating. It was joined by the Redemptor Dreadnought, who fired its plasma macro-incinerator, melting huge sloughs off the frontal armor. Inceptors joined in, liquiefying more of the armor with their plasma weapons.
The Captain then laid into the smoking battle tank and carved it apart with his power sword. The Leman Russ Executioner next to the Rogal Dorn was destroyed by a furious volley of melta from an advancing group of Eradicators.
"This isn't good," Ikeda muttered, trying to rally his falling men. The Chaplain and Bladeguard Veterans failed to annihilate the guardsmen to the east, and lost one, though the platoon was largely decimated despite their efforts. The Terminators continued to assail the grenadiers, reducing one to four or so men. The grenadiers didn't falter, instead turning around and opening fire on the newly arrived Terminators, though despite their best efforts, only two of the walking tanks were brought down by the weight of fire from hot-shot las and plasma. Apparently, they had armor of contempt activated or something.
The Eradicators only lost one of their squad to plasma fire, and Ikeda was frustrated at the ineffectual shooting. He did score a moral victory when the twin heavy bolters on his tank finally obliterated the triumphant captain who was standing atop the wreck of the Rogal Dorn tank. The final Leman Russ tank managed to slay one Inceptor, but that was the best it could do. Meanwhile, the Gladiator and plasma Redemptor Dreadnought continued advancing further. Eventually, the Bladeguard Veterans were able to annihilate the infantry platoon, despite the psychic barrier deflecting most of their attacks earlier. The Marshal was able to slay one more Bladeguard Veteran, being the only survivor left. He faced three Bladeguard Veterans and a Chaplain in combat, but when he desperately broke away, he was cut down.
The Carnodon tank did take out one Bladeguard Veteran with devastating wounds from his volkite weapons, but there wasn't much else they could. Funnily enough, when the Redemptor Dreadnought charged Mizuno's Taiyou, it failed to do anything to the retreating Leman Russ Executioner tank, its fists flailing wildly and missing, or just grazing the thick armor plating of the wounded tank.
The Gladiator turned its attention to the Carnodon, blasting parts of it off with its anti-tank weaponry, and the Redemptor Dreadnought with plasma finally took it out with plasma. On the other side, the Terminators charged in after finishing off the injured grenadier squad with a hail of storm bolter rounds, but their power fists bounced off the carapace armor of the determined grenadiers. The defiant Draconians struck back, their power swords and bayonets slicing into the armor and bringing down one Terminator in return. The Lieutenant charged and slew the Tech-priest Enginseer ministering to Tenken, and though Ikeda tried to run him over with the super-heavy tank, he failed to do anything.
"Our faith in the Emperor will be rewarded!" Major Murakami yelled, leading his surviving grenadiers in a ferocious charge. Even the power fists weren't able to punch holes through their carapace armor, the guardsmen' faith protecting them from the crackling fields.
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| Armor rolls for Kasrkins/Grenadiers against AP -2 power fists. Needed 6s, and I rolled 5 6s out of 7. |
No such miracle protected the final Leman Russ tank, which was eradicated by the Eradicators. He was able to kill a second Inceptor, though, from the resulting explosion.
"Where are my reinforcements?!" Ikeda yelled into his vox. "We're getting slaughtered out here! We need reinforcements!"
To his relief, a fresh squad of grenadiers, and a newly arrived platoon joined the battle from the western garrison, pouring las and plasma into the Terminators. Combined with Murakami's surviving grenadiers, they were able to wipe out all the Terminators, save the Chaplain. The infantry platoon poured fire into the Eradicators, managing to bring down at least two of the heavily armored gravis marines.
The Redemptor Dreadnoughts turned about, pouring fire into the infantry squad and Grenadiers, decimating them. The remaining Intercessors and sole Inceptor also fired into the platoon, reducing them to just three guys. The Grenadiers were slaughtered to a man by the onslaught cannons, leaving Murakami alone. The Chaplain turned and charged the fresh squad of grenadiers, only to be hit by plasma. He made it in and swung his crozius, taking out a few, but he was killed when the sergeant fired his supercharged plasma pistol pointblank range into him during the frantic melee. Not even vaunted Terminator armor could withstand such superheated matter at close range. Though Ikeda fired more plasma, he was unable to kill all of the Eradicators, and one survived. Ikeda finally got rid of the pesky Lieutenant with pointblank twin heavy bolters, though, which was a plus. Unfortunately, the Lieutenant had left deep gouges in the armor, his power sword having penetrating adamantine somehow. The superheavy tank was listing to one side from the ferocious charge.
The Redemptor Dreadnought charged and knocked Murakami out with a single blow from its fist, while the Inceptor actually fell to the Sergeants' power swords in the platoon. The infantry still ended up dying to Intercessors' bolt rifle fire, and were wiped to a man.
The grenadiers took out the last Eradicator with hot-shot las and plasma. Ikeda avenged the platoon by slaughtering the intercessors with twin heavy bolters, and redirected the lascannons at the incoming Gladiator. A penetrating hit tore through the already damaged Gladiator and spun it about, a wreck. Plasma crashed upon the dug in Bladeguard Veterans and their Chaplain, but the esoteric barriers generated by their shields allowed them to withstand the fury of a star, with only one of them succumbing to the heat.
"Time to call for a retreat," Ikeda muttered. Tenken was the only tank left on the field, and a squad of grenadiers were staring down a Redemptor Dreadnought. A second Redemptor Dreadnought hung in the back, its plasma macro incinerator threatening, and just two Bladeguard Veterans and their chaplain remained in the tunnel they had found. Damaged, even the superheavy tank was no match for two Redemptor Dreadnoughts.
It was best to fall back. Ikeda didn't understand why the Adeptus Astartes had attacked them, but he was glad that the Draconians had at least given a good account of themselves. They had not gone down without a fight, and dealt as much damage to the space marines as they suffered. The heavy armor of Draconis III was not to be underestimated.
Unknown to him, the Boreal Swords had already achieved their goals...
While the Stormblade superheavy tank reversed, the chaplain and his two Bladeguard Veterans were staring at the tunnel they had just unearthed.
"Is this the one, brother chaplain?" One of the veterans asked. The skull-masked figure nodded, his silhouette ominous.
"Yes. It will lead us to the relic. The priests of Mars had sought to conceal it from us, but they were too naive. Even their efforts in redirecting an Astra Militarum regiment to stop us were in naught. For we are the wrath of the Emperor made manifest. We are His will."
"This search has cost us much," the other veteran said. Behind him, the thunder of the two lumbering ancients grew in volume as they converged with the only survivors.
"Perhaps, but it will be worth it." The chaplain raised his crozius in zealous triumph. "The prize will allow us to rebuild our chapter...and return stronger than ever."
As for the Imperial Guard, as Ikeda was leading the tattered remains of his regiment back, he received a vox.
"Well, one piece of good news," he told his beleaguered tank crew. "Seems like our comrades in the Argent regiments have beaten back a Drukhari raid. They bagged themselves a few kills, and the Dark Eldar probably wouldn't be showing up for at least a week...until Halloween."
"That's great to hear," his driver muttered. "But I dread to think what those pointy-eared xenos slavers have in mind for Halloween. More Mandrakes showing up from the dark and stabbing us in the back?"
"Hey, at least the Leman Russ tanks the Argent regiment received were put to good use," Ikeda replied. "From what I hear, the armor scored big against those big flying ships of those xenos...and Inari is safe from those raiders! Yay!"
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