Armored Battle

"I see the Traitors," Colonel Ikeda murmured as he lowered his monoculars. He crouched in the cupola of his Baneblade and sighed, feeling the weight of duty sinking upon his broad shoulders. The Praetorian himself had delegated this part of the wall to him, and Ikeda and his Draconian Defenders would defend it to their last breath if necessary. They might not be part of the Old One Hundred, but having come all the way from Draconis III, Ikeda would not shame his homeworld by failing the defense of Holy Terra. They had been tasked with protecting the walls of the Imperial Palace itself from the treacherous Warmaster's onslaught, and the Draconians would not be found wanting.

"We'll meet them in combat," Tanaka suggested, piloting his Cerastus Knight Lancer out. "I'll lead the charge. Have everyone advance if possible, or march triple time."

"Our orders are to seize and hold," Ikeda reminded the noble. Tanaka nodded, ensconced within his Throne Mechanicum.

"And the objectives we're supposed to seize and hold are out there, being taken by the Traitors." On his visual auspex, he could see the red-armored forms of Traitor Astartes marching toward them, the implacable infantry supported by squadrons of tanks. "If we don't advance, we won't be able to take the wall from them."

"Good point. And we should seize the iniative if we can. Let's go!" Ikeda grabbed the vox to issue the orders. As one, his tank company rolled out. Two Baneblades, supported by four Leman Russ Vanquishers and two Valdor tank hunters. Ikeda felt his chest blossom with pride as he watched his forces. To the east, Major Murakami and his infantry sub-cohort were venturing out to secure the hab blocks and Civitas structures that made up the ruins of the wall, after Legio Mortis had blasted a hole through it and stomped right through the ruined city.

They had no idea what the crimson and gold armored Traitor Astartes were here for, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good. They would threaten the defense of the Palace, that was for certain.

A pair of Sicaran Omega tanks blitzed forward, their plasma arrays crackling, but the Leman Russ Vanquishers were quick, their cannons and lascannons erupting with explosive fury. Both Astarte tanks were demolished before they could swerve around the corner. The Predators opened fire, but they were out of effective range to do anything, which meant it fell to a swooping pair of Storm Eagles to rain down fire from above. Glancing lascannon shots raked the second Baneblade, causing the super-heavy tank to shudder, but it persisted onward, firing at the detachment of Rhinos that sped toward them. Several of the armored transports were cracked open by the Baneblade cannon and demolisher cannon, while the sponson autocannons spat death, slicing the Assault Marines that had leaped out of the two Storm Eagles from the sky. Before they could even land, the jump pack infantry were cut down by the incessant hail of high caliber rounds.

The Valdor Tank Hunters added to the fire, wiping out all but one of the Rhinos. The power armored forms of Astartes poured out, though several mangled hulks were left behind in the smoking wrecks, and they pushed forward to seize one of the middle bases and hunkered down in it.

On the east, a second company of Rhinos pushed forward, with the infantry inside pouring outside and seizing the second middle base. Heavy weapon squads set up in cover, missiles streaking from their tubes and slamming into the vanguard of Heavy Aethon Sentinels, while the Predators also fired upon them. Three of them blew up, but the last Sentinel pilot held his nerve, turning his volkite and missile launchers into the heavy weapon squad in retaliation. Several tactical squads rushed forward to shield their heavy weapons support brethren and were blown out of cover by the frag missiles, allowing the survivors to maintain a steady stream of missiles.

"Ugh!" Tanaka cursed when melta beams from the twin Kratos tanks struck his ion shield, but the lascannons were enough to lance through his defenses and strip adamantine chunks off his Knight armor. The Cerastus Knight Lancer staggered, but Tanaka kept his suit going in loping strides, undeterred by the damage. He could see the Contemptor Dreadnoughts march toward the vulnerable tanks, but his way was blocked by infantry.

He charged right into the command squad, his lance exploding and obliterating the Praetor and his companions. Sweeping his lance, he destroyed another two squads before the fourth clamped a meltabomb onto his Knight suit and brought it down with explosive charges. His sacrifice was not in vain, fortunately, for Ikeda marshalled his tanks and brought down the Contemptor Dreadnoughts, whose path was barred by the chaotic melee. Baneblade cannons and autocannons spoke, along with the Valdors, and only one Dreadnought was left standing. The Leman Russ Vanquishers took out the three Predators with precision shots, their Vanquisher cannons and lascannons ripping through the vehicles in quick succession. In retaliation, the heavy support squad took out the last surviving Heavy Aethon Sentinel, after he failed to take out any more infantry sheltering inside the building.

That left the Kratos, who were whipping about to take out one Leman Russ Vanquisher. On the other side, the Terminators teleported right next to one of the blocks where Murakami's Charonite Ogryns were hunkered down, but even the heavy infantry hesitated to charge the brutish abhumans. Instead, they weathered the storm of las and volkite from the Veletaris storm section and Murakami's command section, while the Rhinos continued to speed forward, the tranports now bereft of their passengers.

"This isn't looking good," Ikeda murmured when his partner Baneblade was taken out by the swooping Storm Eagles, who had returned for another pass. His premonition was confirmed when the Kratos moved in to take his command tank out. In retaliation, the Leman Russ Vanquishers fired and took out the Kratos.

"Charge! For the Emperor!" Murakami ordered, his Veletaris storm section leaping out to charge into the Terminators with their swinging power axes. To his surprise, they were able to hack apart the Terminators through sheer weight of numbers, without taking any casualties in return. Looking over the corpse of a Terminator-armored Legionnaire, he tilted his head in puzzlement. "Uh, I didn't expect that."

The Storm Eagles returned for another pass and obliterated a lasrifle tercio to the west, but thankfully, they didn't touch the tanks, who took out the Kratos and Contemptor Dreadnought. Neutron lasers, lascannons and anti-armor shells punched through the heavy tanks and walker with impunity, blowing up the former and toppling the latter. Unfortunately, Ikeda was unable to do much when the Kratos destroyed his Baneblade, leaving just the Leman Russ Vanquisher and Malcador Valdor tank hunters in the battlefield. Both Baneblades and the Knight taken out in a single battle. This was a disaster.

Nonetheless, the Draconian Defenders dug in stubbornly. Despite weathering missile barrages from the heavy support team, the second Lasrifle tercio and the Charonite Ogryns charged into their positions. The power armored Astartes took out a pair of Ogryns with combat blades, but the remaining six wiped them out with swipes of their power claws and brutal fury. One last squad of heavy support fell back, deciding to retreat under the face of such a ferocious assault.

The Astartes claimed aerial superiority with the soaring Storm Eagles, and they still had a single tactical squad on the verge of breakthrough, having claimed one of the forward bases that the Draconian Defenders were supposed to be guarding. Ikeda, despite being wounded and his Baneblade destroyed, continued to orchestrate from the wrecked hulk of his vehicle.

"Go, go, go! Ignore the infantry and just advance!" He snapped. The Leman Russ Vanquishers rolled toward the middle objective and parked there, taking potshots at the Storm Eagles and missing. A lucky lascannon shot winged one, but it jinked and avoided it. Meanwhile, the Valdor tank hunters pushed their engines and they managed to get one in the backfield, securing an objective they were sent to seize and hold.

The lasrifle tercio, ordered by Murakami, whose Veletaris Storm Section had chopped apart a bunch of Rhinos, marched forward to secure the second backfield objective, while Murakami held the front. The Charonite Ogryns decided to stay in the middle base to protect it after seizing it from the Astartes heavy support squad. It was unfortunate, but they had to leave the forward bases to the Traitor Astartes tactical squad, who had achieved their secondary objective of breakthrough.

However, with just that tactical squad and a pair of Storm Eagles left, there was little the Astartes could do, while the Draconian Defenders held five out of six objectives in the last turn.

"Phew...we turned the tables on them, somehow," Murakami murmured, wiping the perspiration from his brow. "Thanks to your sacrifice, Colonel Ikeda."

"Hey! I'm not dead yet! My Baneblade will be back on the field after some repairs!" Ikeda cleared his throat and consulted his dataslate. "Also, we've achieved our secondary objective too, by wiping out more than 65% of the enemy's forces and claiming ground superiority. They may control the skies, but the ground and bases belong to us. We held the wall. Lord Dorn will be pleased."

However, it was a close run. If it weren't for that final desperate surge forward to claim five out of the six bases that Rogal Dorn had instructed him to seize and hold, the wall would have fallen into the hands of the Traitor Legions. Ikeda was relieved that he had not failed the Lord Praetorian. Terra would stand, even if for just another day.

The defenders of the Imperium had won a narrow victory, but it was probably only going to delay the inevitable. Not with the Warmaster slowly closing the noose around the Emperor's neck as the Loyalists were gradually bleeding out through attrition...Ikeda, in particular, knew just how costly this narrow victory was. He could only hope Lord Roboute Guilliman and the XIIIth would arrive soon to relieve them.

Otherwise, the Imperium was doomed.