Mukavia lukuhetkiä!
A dance for three
[ Based on a 3-player campaign and the 8 games played within. ]
Acrux Prime, 3412904.M41
First day of the reclamation of Acrux Prime from the Acruxian rebellion by the Finlandian 14th.
+++ Message +++
+++ Recipient: Finlandian 14th HQ +++
+++ Origin: Radiant Spear // Battle Barge
+++ 3412904.M41 +++
+++ Message begins +++
The captain sends his regards. Orbit has been secured and the few scattered rebel gunships have been dealt with. The mission proceeds with clear skies.
All deployment shuttles have been recovered without incident and I have the pleasure of informing you that all men of the 14th have made planetfall successfully and on target.
The Emperor protects.
+++ Message ends +++
Captain Caven handed the comm-pad back to the young soldier, whom accepted it with a sharp salute and ran off to deliver the device back to it’s cradle within the command Chimera idling nearby. Caven stretched his back, turning his slender neck to this side and that, each motion pronounced by with an audible crack. He’d never been one to enjoy the long flights or rides, it was much better to stand and walk. Glancing down he gave a small rock a kick with his boot, nodding to himself. Terra firma, the best friend a guardsman could have.
He began to slowly walk, his boots crunching broken glass and shards of ferrocrete underfoot. All around him the men at his command company hustled in preparation for the operation ahead. His men had deployed into cover of a ruined factory complex, just outside the perimeter of Jouran’s Hope, the primary spaceport of the minuscule ball of dirt his men had been tasked with securing: Acrux Prime. The forces of the 14th had been spread wide, in order to strike at several locations at once and to catch the rebels off-balance. Judging by their surroundings the rebels had done most of their work for them.
There had been no anti-aircraft fire to greet them, no pillars of smoke to mark the places of battle and destruction, only an eerie silence and flocks of confused birds in the sky. Scout walkers had been sent ahead to identify any potential threats the rebels might pose, but the reports coming in over VOX weren’t tales of fortified positions and roadblocks, but of ruins and abandoned battlements and equipment. Unless there were hordes of armed combatants hiding in the scorched ruins somewhere, the 14th’s task of retaking Acrux Prime would be done in days. Then it would be a matter of ensuring the spaceport’s security and function, ensuring a loyal governor took power and... The thought of the bureaucracy of it all made his head spin. Caven was never one to enjoy politics, and he would be glad to hand over the responsibility as soon as the fighting was done.
“You see that?” -someone called out, the man’s voice confused. Caven glanced behind him, then, following the cue of his men, up.
The sky had changed. It was subtle at first, a different pale shade of blue above the sparse gray clouds. Then the clouds themselves dispersed and some of them began to fall. Men stood frozen in place, weapons in hand, helmets tilted back, eyes fixated at the sky as a number of clouds began to swirl and blacken. Streaks of light rained down in silence. Soldiers were murmuring, likely guessing as to what the lightshow in the sky meant.
“Captain! Sir, a message!” -the soldier from before was running back, comm-pad in hand. Caven dropped a piece of rubble he had absent-mindedly picked up and brushed his hands on the thick dark-green cloth of his uniform, then took the comm-pad with a curt nod.
+++ Priority message +++
+++ Recipient: Finlandian 14th HQ +++
+++ Origin: Radiant Spear // Battle Barge
+++ 3412904.M41 +++
+++ Message begins +++
Unknown vessel has exited the warp near our position and is approaching on an attack course. Numerous smaller craft sighted, headed for planet surface. Threat level unknown, expected high. Moving to intercept, will follow with second message after battle.
The Emper
+++ Message ends - Abrupt transmission halt [ATH 14] +++
Captain Caven lowered the comm-pad and joined his men, his eyes fixated on the sky. The streaks of light decelerated and changed course, some moving away, others growing larger, nearer. Burning debris was falling now, amidst the blackened clouds, streaking towards the ground. As the deafening sonic-boom of noise finally washed over them, captain Caven felt that he would not be receiving the second message.
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 1: Chaos VS Astra Militarum, 500p ]
\\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//
Gavius slammed a fresh magazine into his ancient bolter and snarled angrily as yet another white-hot blast of plasma erupted near his position. The force of the blast brought down a section of wall of the dockyard warehouse his squad of marines had taken cover in, sending marines to seek new cover amidst the rubble.
“The meek fight back!” -called Marius, the startup champion in charge of their squad, though his voice rang hollow somehow. Gavius peeked around the corner, loosing a salvo of bolter shells at the camouflaged figures of guardsmen cowering amidst a copse of trees to their south.
“Down!” -came a shout as a pair of missiles streaked past their building, slamming into the massive hull of the six-legged defiler machine-beast outside. The machine had lost two of it’s legs almost as soon as battle was joined and it’s insane pilot was howling with impotent rage, firing shell after shell and salvo after salvo to little effect as the loyalist armor lumbered onward. VOX traffic was frantic, it seemed that the loyalists were putting up a fight at nearly all of the landing sites they had chosen for their planetfall. If only they had arrived sooner they might have crushed the fools in orbit...
“Come, brothers! We must push on! Let us clear the foolish pawn at the trees! Charge!” -came the call of Maevius, their commander. Gavius despised the wretch. He had done nothing to gain a command of his own and had risen to command status by mere happenstance and most of the men hated him for his audacity. Yet this was not the time to question orders, especially since his command had been cast upon them by an envoy of the unholy Daemon Prince himself. Gavius reloaded again and leaped down from atop the crates he had been standing on for better view of the battle. Outside the Defiler howled and toppled, then finally fell silent as blood and oils spilled from within it’s cracked carapace.
Their squad pushed out through the doors, heading south towards the treeline. Las-blasts crackled in the air above their heads as they moved, but the heavily armored figure of Maevius spurred them on as he lead the charge.
“Look out! The armor approaches!” -called out a marine moving on their left flank, prompting Gavius to glance at his side. He could see the massive figure of a Leman Russ pattern tank rumbling towards their previous position. For a moment Gavius thought they had outwitted the driver and might strike at the vehicle’s rear, but then the turret began to turn to face them. Almost a hundred meters till they would reach the trees...
“Run! Break for cover!” -Gavius found himself shouting. Maevius wheeled around and gave him a look that could kill any lesser man.
“Maintain order, you fool! And remember who commands!” -were his last words as the massive tank shell landed within a meter of him. The blast sent the squad of marines tumbling, killing two instantly as well as vaporizing Maevius despite his terminator armor. Gavius found himself lying face-down near the edge of the hole in the ground. The loyalist infantry in the woods was moving closer, their approach signalled by the chattering of heavy bolters and the distinct sounds of both las and plasma fire. A guardsman shrieked as his weapon overheated and set fire to the man as well as the tree had had been cowering behind. Gavius smiled at that, for what little it was worth.
Gavius pushed himself to his knees, slamming his armored palm to the side of his helmet to clear up the static that was clogging his view of the battlefield, and glanced back to see if reinforcement were coming. He caught a glimpse of their second squad being shredded by plasma fire from the tank’s sponsons, and knew that the battle was lost.
“Fall back!” -he shouted to the few survivors, claiming the command of the late Maevius for himself by default.
“Fall back! Make for the rocks and flee!”
They were broken, the loyalists would reclaim the spaceport for now...
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 2: Tyranids VS Astra Militarum, 500p ]
\\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//
Captain Caven wiped sweat off his brow and tallied his men. Only a few had fallen to enemy fire, thought almost as many had been lost to weapon malfunctions. The ancient plasma weapons were fierce, but prone to overheating, as several men had learned today. A machine priest was hovering around the injured and the dead, more interested in their weapons than the men themselves. Some of the men gave the priest foul looks, but held their tongues.
“Captain, the traitors are broken and in retreat. Shall we pursue?” -asked a lieutenant in charge of a squad of veterans. Caven shrugged.
“Let them run, we need to secure the spaceport first and foremost. Regroup your men, I want these buildings cleared as fast as possible. Tend to the wounded and bring up the...”
The words stuck in his throat. A dark shadow passed over them, sweeping across the battlefield. Men shouted, some panicking, others merely frozen in place at the sight they were faced with. Massive spores hurtled down from the sky, like giant fleshy balloons, falling all around them and bursting to reveal hordes of skittering bluish-purple creatures of pulsating flesh and glimmering chitin.
“Lieutenant! Mount up your men!”
“What are these things!?”
“Just go! Go!”
Men ran for their vehicles, ducked into cover and screamed in terror. Sporadic las-fire streaked the sky as more of the fleshy pods crashed down, revealing new fanged horrors. Alien weapons fired with shrieks and moans, filling the air with skittering black beetles that burrowed into trees and men alike. A massively bulky creature nearly the size of a tank lumbered forth, sending scout-walkers wheeling, then crashing into the side of an armored transport so that the adamantium plating buckled and cracked, the men within scattering like leaves in the wind. Heavy bolters and multi-lasers fired at the creature seemed to only send it deeper into it’s rage as it roared and moved towards its next target.
And then there was the thing that flew; a massive creature of chitinous claws and massive leathery wings which seemed to block out the sun, endlessly screaming as it swooped above the guardsmen, raining down fleshy worms which bore through the uniforms of the men and deep into their flesh, leaving steadfast soldiers writhing in pain and agony, screaming at the top of their lungs while their squadmates reeled back in terror.
“Emperor be good, what is this!?” -captain Caven thought to himself as another armored vehicle was broken, it’s hull penetrated by a queer beam of light and it’s interior set ablaze.
Victory turned into ashes, and within minutes the unprepared guardsmen were crushed, the few survivors scattered and broken.
-
High above, in the orbit, the few surviving orbital platforms struggled and died, their disparaged crews consumed as the horrendous growths and skittering creatures took over the orbital stations one by one. Fleshy pods teeming with xenos life bristled on all surfaces of the orbiting bases, ready to fall down to the surface, standing testament to the arrival of the xenos horde which would come to be known as splinter fleet Apollyon IV-A.
[ With the first two battles fought, the Tyranid player has claimed control of the SPACEPORT. This allows the player to bring an additional 100 points worth of reserves into each battle at the start of turn 4. This victory sets the theme for the rest of the campaign. ]
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 3: Tyranids VS Chaos, 500p ]
\\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//
“They say there are underground tunnels with an entrance nearby. Apparently they use them for cover during war and the network spans most of the continent.” -said Rufinus as he crushed the poor civilians’ skull in his armored fist. Gavius nodded. They had gathered a band of retreating warriors and cultists and were falling back from the advancing loyalists as they claimed town after town. The plan was in peril and the Prince would never forgive them if they didn’t do their part. They had to regroup and the tunnels would provide the perfect way to do just that.
“Strange, the fools do not give chase.” -said one of the marines, Gavius did not know the man’s name.
“They beat us with luck and lies, not with bravery. I can smell their fear, they won’t bother us.” Gavius heard a reply, thought he was not quite as sure as the man who had spoken it. The sky near the spaceport had taken a strange greenish-purple hue after the battle ended, and Gavius hadn’t the faintest idea what was causing it. A similar phenomenon had appeared to the north, and no friendly units in that region had reported in since.
Gavius thought to say something, bark out an order to stake his claim on the command he had assumed in the heat of battle, but something gnawed at his mind. Tendrils of unfamiliar thoughts crept into his brain and a voice slithered into his mind, followed by a voice that was like the feedback screech of a thousand faulty VOX beads.
“Gaviusss...”
Gavius tensed, a chill running up his spine.
“Send the bulk of your forces forth, but gather a rearguard and turn around. An unseen enemy gives chase and must not catch you. Fear not, for I shall join you soon.”
There was a pause.
“I can see your thoughts, Gavius. Cassst aside your doubts if you wish to live, for I have no use for pompous fools or cowardsss. Do what you must and do it fasssst...” the voice faded away, it’s echoes lingering for far longer than Gavius would have liked. After a moment spent in thought, Gavius halted.
“Second squad, halt!” -he called out.
“I want you, you and you and that rhino as well. Gather around and prepare for a fight!”
The men he had chosen snarled and cheered in response, hungry to pay back the defeat they had suffered earlier. They, like Gavius, knew little of what was truly awaiting them.
-
The winged Tyrant creature shrieked and clawed at the clouds as it climbed high up into the air, aided by the winds of this strange world. The hive-mind’s presence pushed it on, leading it to turn into a deep dive towards the battle being joined below. Hundreds of reptilian hormagaunts and termagants swarmed the scattered defenders below, their overwhelming numbers reducing the armored defenders to bloody tatters. A lumbering carnifex roared, firing shards of venom-coated crystals into the hull of the pathetic armored vehicles the plate-wearing creatures were using to transport one another into their deaths.
As the Tyrant swooped down it loosed a salvo of brainleech worms at the poor creatures below watching with animalistic joy as it’s enemies scattered and died in droves. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, it’s dominance of the skies was challenged. A creature nearly as large as itself leaped down from the clouds and challenged it, mentally calling for it’s blood. With a shriek of battlelust it accepted the challenge and veered closer. The challenger was a greenish thing, venous and fleshy, oozing pus and other unnamable fluids as it flew, yet it’s apparent illness did not seem to weaken it, but quite the opposite. It’s mind was a dark beacon, pulsing with corruption and malice. The Tyrant creature easily locked into the monstrous mind and opened it’s jaws, sending forth a psychic scream that could rend minds from bodies. The daemonic opponent reeled at the psychic blow, barreling closer and closer, though now it’s attack was quickly becoming half-hearted. The Tyrant unleashed it’s quadrupled devourers at the creature, sending a salvo of fleshy worms at the Daemon. The combined force of the mental and physical attacks sent the Daemon reeling, writhing in pain and finally turning tail.
The ravenous horde was now unstoppable, and the weakened defenders were visibly disheartened with the loss of their leader. Hormagaunt swarms were locked in a fierce melee with the armored humanoids, while the carnifex was still slowly lumbering forwards. The winged Tyrant saw this all, but was past caring in it’s bloodlust. It swiftly barreled down, taking aim at a massed group of weak humanoid creatures, all of which were firing their weapons to no effect. The barrage of flesh-eating worms killed full half of the squad, sending the survivors scattered in panic.
As the battle began to slow down, the brood clearing out the few enemies foolish enough to not have fled, the Tyrant’s beady eyes caught glimpse of the tunnel entrances...
[ A Chaos Daemon Prince of Nurgle faced off with the winged Hive Tyrant and was swiftly defeated. The resulting mismatch in power left the Tyranids unchallenged, allowing them access to the underground TUNNEL NETWORK which they Tyranid player could employ once in the campaigning to allow all Tyranid HQ and TROOP choices to infiltrate despite mission rules. ]
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 4: Astra Militarum VS Chaos, 800p VS 1000p ]
\\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//
+++ Priority message +++
+++ Recipient: Finlandian 14th HQ +++
+++ Origin: Planetary Command outpost
+++ 3412907.M41 +++
+++ Message begins +++
Massive traitor force has assaulted our position. Fall back protocol is in effect. Heavy casualties on both sides. We have lost our primary battle tank detachment, mobile artillery remains. Outpost commander is alive.
We were unable to transmit a primary SOS. Expect no off-world reinforcement in the foreseeable future.
Rearguard units report traitors taking defensive positions within the outpost, possibly expecting a xenos offensive. Will report within 6 hours.
Regroup forces at grid reference H-7 keypad 4. Secure comm-code: 186367-Epsilon.
May the emperor have mercy on the souls of the fallen.
+++ Message ends +++
Captain Caven tossed the comm-pad aside and cursed. Acrux prime was quickly becoming a death-trap for the Finlandian forces and the attrition rates were completely unacceptable. The failure to send a plea for help would also mean that the sorely needed reinforcements would likely not arrive in time. With the Radiant Spear likely lost with all hands, Caven was feeling isolated and powerless.
The armored columns would soon converge and regroup. There was still at least one good push left in the Finlandian forces and by the Emperor he intended to make sure that push would amount to something. With luck the traitors and the xenos would annihilate one another...
[ As hinted by this report, another battle was fought between Chaos and Astra Militarum. This time the winner gained the COMMAND AND COMMUNICATIONS OUPOST, which allows it’s owner to always succeed in “seize the initiative” -rolls throughout the campaign. ]
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 5: Tyranids VS Chaos, 1000p VS remnants + 300p]
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+++ Priority message +++
+++ Recipient: Finlandian 14th HQ +++
+++ Origin: Planetary Command outpost
+++ 3412908.M41 +++
+++ Message begins +++
Our position is compromised. We are in full retreat. Xenos forces appeared from hidden underground tunnels and have overwhelmed the traitors and have swarmed the command outpost.
Request backup immediately.
+++ Message ends +++
Another squad that would never be heard from again...
Captain Caven was rapidly running out of men and options. He feared it might already be too late, that the spread of the overwhelming xenos force could not be stopped. He winced and cursed as the voice came again.
“Are we agreed, mortal? Swift strike by the highest elite available and we can claim the weapon we need to end this.”
Caven glanced up into the sky, which was now constantly showing a sickly green hue as billions of xenos spores filled the atmosphere. Amidst the scattered brownish clouds he could see what seemed like a glimpse of a pair of great leathery wings.
“Agreed.” -he said, almost breathless.
It would take a hell of a speech to pull this one off. Fortunately all of the attached commissars and priest were dead by now...
The Finlandian armored column drove on, joined by what was left of the suborbital air squadron and the elite infantry units recalled from the capital city. Ahead, atop a high hill, stood the massive lance batteries, their massive barrels pointed skyward, directly at the unseen horrors reportedly amassing in orbit.
[ In another display of Tyranid power, the Tyranid player overwhelmed the Chaos player’s defenses completely. This was likely made easier by the fact that the campaign rules stated the the Tyranid player could field a force of 1000 points, whereas the Chaos player could only field what survived from the previous battle reinforced by 300 points of additional troops. This left the Chaos player with approximately 800 points of total forces. With this victory all three campaign assets are in the Tyranid player’s hands, although the UNDERGROUND NETWORK advantage was spent in this battle.
Can even the combined force of Astra Militarum and Chaos stem the xenos tide?]
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 6: Tyranids VS Astra Militarym & Chaos, 1000p VS 500+500p ]
\\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//
It was a daring plan to say the least, and not only because of the fact that the Finlandian forces were pitted against a massive xenos force, but also because of the uneasy alliance they had struck with the traitors. Whatever they might be planning, it was not sergeant Skyttä’s place to question the orders.
“One minute!” -came the call from the cockpit. Skyttä patted his grav-chute’s harness, eyeing over the straps one more time, before nodding to himself approvingly. Orders were to secure the planetary lance battery control center at all cost, and his squad of stormtroopers was going to have to drop right into the thick of it.
Skyttä squirmed in his seat, craning to look out of the valkyries’ side door in order to get a view of the battlefield below. Vast hordes of skittering xenos were being shelled by the united forces of both the traitors and Finlandians, rapidly filling the safety gap left between the ‘allies’. Massive shells and white-hot blasts of plasma were scattering the vile xenos, sending gouts of flame, guts and dirt skyward with each impact, but there seemed to be more and more. Two massive winged creatures were swooping around the battlefield, exchanging blows at high speeds, while the Finlandian strike aircraft were still struggling to reach the combat airspace, their engines clogged by the airborne spores that filled the air this high up.
“Ready to drop!” -Sergeant Skyttä shouted back as the valkyrie dropped it’s nose to prepare for the insertion. The lurching motion forced him to swallow hard and grit his teeth, but he kept his eyes on the battle below to make sure he had as good an assessment of the situation as he could get before the drop.
“What in the Emperor’s name is THAT!?”
It was several seconds before Skyttä realized the voice asking the question was his own, so mesmerized he was by the cataclysm unfolding below. A massive creature, bigger than any tank or aircraft he had ever seen, was burrowing up from beneath the planet’s surface, right behind the Finlandian battle lines, it’s claws lashing out at the tanks lined up to fire on the xenos ahead.
“Pull up! Pull up now! We need to take THAT!”-he shouted into the intercom, and the pilot responded by pulling the valkyrie’s nose up hard. The jet engines howled and strained to bring the craft back into level flight, but the pilot somehow managed the feat.
“I’ll need to make another pass, Sir. Need a minute!” -came the pilot’s strained voice. Skyttä grumbled, knowing full well that a minute might just be too long, but replied only with a curt acknowledgement.
Those sixty or so seconds felt more like hours as Skyttä watched the massive creature slashing at the tanks, rending armor plates asunder and forcing the heavy vehicles to switch targets and fall back to avoid being crushed completely. Yet they survived, and the time to drop finally came.
One moment he and his men were strapped to their seats inside the bulky aircraft, and the next they were hurtling through the air, free-falling directly towards the massive creature.
-
On the other side of the battlefield, a single hormagaunt -strain creature skittered across the battlefield. Despite being the only survivor of the massive brood it had been a part of, the deaths of it’s genetic kin meant little to it. The presence of the hive-mind was pushing it on, urging it to move into the killing field despite the risk. The mammals must not be allowed to get their hands on the shiny thing!
The creature snarled victoriously, using it’s long claws to grab at the adamantium case, tearing off the lifeless hand of it’s previous owner, then turning back to bring it’s prize into the safety of the horde.
A noise, something out of the ordinary, caught it’s attention. Sniffing at the air the creature raised it’s head. For a split second it could see the massive shell as it approached, falling from the sky, then landing with a thud. A microsecond later the shell detonated, rending the creature into shreds of flesh and chitin, leaving only the nigh-impervious case housing the launch control keys lying at the bottom of the blackened crater.
-
“Fire! Give it all you’ve got! Make - them - glow!”
The stormtroopers had made their drop perfectly, landing within twenty meters of the massive lashing monstrosity. Hot-shot lasguns, plasma guns and meltaguns joined in a chorus of fire, searing at the massive creatures chitinous plating, which was already weakened by the heavy plasma fire from the tanks. The reeling tanks halted their retreat, seizing the opportunity and firing more blasts of searing plasma at the creature, catching it in a lethal crossfire.
“We’ve got it now! Keep firing!” -Sergeant Skyttä shouted over the din of battle. His men replied, thought he could no longer hear their words. It mattered little, as long as they fired. The massive creature tried to squirm, to turn, to face it’s attackers, but it was powerless to escape it’s doom. Finally it let out a shriek that had the ground shuddering and sent the stormtroopers reeling, but as they stood up once more, the creature’s lifeless corpse was smouldering in a heap of charred chitin.
“Target destroyed, good work. Let’s move on out and...”
Skyttä’s voice caught in his throat as he realized that the ground was still trembling, as if in an aftershock of the monstrous creature’s death shriek. The echoes were joined by hundreds upon hundreds of more screams as a vast horde of smaller creatures erupted from the hole left behind by the large monster.
“Targets! Six o'clock! Fire! Fire! Fire!” -he shouted, but they were too many.
“We can’t hold them!” -shouted lance corporal Mäntyniemi, alarm in his voice. His statement could not have been more true, and Skyttä knew it as well. Hundreds of creatures were coming at them, armed with shrieking xenos weapons. A firefight could only end one way...
“Men, focus your fire! Prepare to charge!” -he commanded with grim determination. The tanks had turned around and were no longer providing support for them, instead focusing on assisting their ‘allies’ in pushing on for the main objective. A hail of some sort of black beetles fired by the xenos weapons swarmed over the stormtroopers. Two men caught a critter dead on and fell to the ground, writhing and shrieking as their faces were torn to shreds by tiny claws. A third man tried to lob a grenade at the advancing xenos horde, but fumbled the throw, resulting in a hail of shrapnel showering their own line.
The voice of Captain Caven came in across the VOX-net: “Allied forces have the key, I repeat, allied forces have the key. Hold what you’ve got, we need time to initiate the firing sequence!”
Skyttä nodded to himself, he had to slow down these creatures or they would swarm the tanks from the rear. He thumbed the power selector of his hot-shot laspistol, setting it into overcharge, and gripped the hilt of his crackling power-sword before calling out his last order: “Fire at will! CHARGE!”
The handful of stormtroopers hunkered down and charged forward, firing wildly. Dozens of xenos were blasted and scorched, but there were always more. In mere seconds they were locked in a fierce melee, swinging rifles, knives and swords and firing desperate bursts of las-blasts at oncoming mass of guns, claws and teeth.
Skyttä slashed in a wide arc, felling three enemies in a single motion, only to be faced by five more. A long slender claw slashed down, penetrating his carapace armor and skewering his thigh. The pain made his head swim, but still he fought on, hacking and slashing at the enemy with wild abandon. Another claw came in, glancing his helmet, sending it flying.
“To the last man! For the Emperor! For Finlandia! For-”
A third savage blow slashed at his head once more, rending his face and ending his life.
-
The Daemon Prince, his name forgotten in the eons he had roamed the warp, hovered across the battlefield. His clawed hands held the case of launch keys that would end the orbital reign of the xenos. The payback would be sweet. Below the loyalists were forcing the xenos hordes back, clearing the weapons platforms before the lance batteries could be damaged.
Moments later, after the traitorous Marines has inputted the codes, the weapons came to life. Bulky lance batteries swiveled in their mountings, aiming massive barrels towards the sky. The air sizzled with the heat of the massive weapons firing as lances of energy shot up at their targets high above, deafening those soldiers still struggling to keep the xenos from advancing at the guns.
-
The orbital platforms, now teeming with xenos life, had no way to escape their doom. The first shots cracked the hulls, rupturing the fleshy pods enveloping the creatures being nurtured within. A few sacks separated from the mass, but due to their immaturity they would burn up in the atmosphere. Millions of xenos screams died out in the silent void as the creatures curled up and died, either scorched by the energy blasts or frozen by the harsh void.
[ This battle marked the turning point in the campaign, ending the Tyranid player’s win-streak as the Chaos player managed to snatch the Relic -objective on the last turn of the game. The Tyranid player now lost the ORBITAL advantage, which had proven to be a massive boon during earlier battles. ]
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 7: Chaos VS Astra Militarum, 1000p ]
\\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//
“Gaviusss...”
The voice returned, more intense and demanding than ever before. Gavius tensed, his whole body shaking as the voice came to him.
“We are close. Ssso closse!”
This time there was an image, a picture wrought of daemonic fire etched directly into his brain. A vault, somewhere below, guarded by pillars wrought of bones so massive and ancient that they might just predate mankind itself. And in the middle of it all stood a sarcophagus, massive and wrought of the very same bone, protruding with fangs and spines and carved with runes which seeped blood onto the carved stone floor. Gavius could sense the daemon’s hunger for whatever lay within, the lust and the hunger as the warp-creature demanded access to whatever unholy relic lay within. But as the image receded, his view retracting past layers and layers of soil all the way to the surface where his feet now stood, his eyes could see the problem.
“They stand in our way.” -Gavius remarked. The voice did not reply, it’s message had been understood. One more battle and the daemon would claim it’s relic. One more battle and this world would be naught but a plaything of the master in the warp...
-
The crash and chatter of bolter fire shook the very foundation of the building as Gavius’ squad of terminators forged their way through the devastated factory, firing at the camouflaged guardsmen cowering in the cursed trees. Whatever the greenery was made of, it’s bark was able to withstand bolter shells and the tree would remain standing even after a bolt of plasma had seared it black. The loyalists were certainly making the most of the terrain, having rushed most of their men into the trees.
There was only one way to get them out, and that was to drag them out piece by piece. Gavius flexed the fingers of the bulky power fist strapped to the pauldron of his suit of ancient tactical dreadnought armor. Fleshy growths had sewn the armor shut where it had been burned and broken as it’s previous wearer had fallen days ago, and freshly grown spines and ridges of bone and corrupt flesh now covered the surface of the ceramite plates; a gift of the Daemon Prince to Gavius.
“Heavy armor is attacking the warp-infested! They cannot hold!” -came a shrill voice across the VOX network. Gavius grimaced, knowing that the loss of the infested marines would mean that the loyalists might be able to outflank his entire battle lines if given the time. An armored personnel carrier roared past the structure Gavius’ terminators were holding their own, moving through their field of fire, it’s tracks clattering and screeching as it made a sharp turn.
“Right flank, brothers! Do not let them flank us!” -he called out and his terminators responded by shifting fire. The armored troop carrier had boldly tried to flank Gavius’ position, hauling a squad of loyalist soldiers to their flank, and Gavius had no intention of letting it get away. He snarled and let loose with his combi-bolter, the stream of shells impacting the armored hull of the vehicle, leaving fist-sized pits in the armor with each hit. The loyalist soldiers were scampering out of their doomed vehicle, seeking cover and firing wildly with lasguns and plasma guns both. A lucky las-blast caught one of the terminators in the visor, shattering the eyepiece and sending thick shards flying inward. The man within the suit howled with pain and toppled to the broken floor, his weapon firing a few last shots until the magazine ran dry.
Then, within mere seconds, two things happened at once.
First the massive winged shape of the Daemon Prince swooped down from the skies, smashing the hull of the loyalist armor and sending it’s burning wreckage flying at the men that had just disembarked. Fire and smoke and glowing-hot shrapnel tore the men down like reeds.
Then, before the men had time to even cheer at the deaths of their enemies, came the howl of jet-engines and Gavius barely had time to turn and see the approach of the low-flying loyalist aircraft. The terminators raised their weapons to the sky, firing at the armored hull of the aircraft, but in vain. Bright blue lances of light shot out from under the wings of the Vendetta -class aircraft and two of them pierced the body of the Daemon Prince just as it was recovering from it’s attack on the troop carrier. There was a howl of pain, both in the physical realm and the empyrean, and then a gout of sickly green flames enveloped the Daemon, fanned on by the winds spurred by the imperial aircraft flying past.
The Daemon Prince was dead.
Gavius was as good as dead.
The anger, a wave of unspeakable rage came over him and he roared, raging at the world, raging at the aircraft and raging at the men still hiding in the trees.
“CHARGE!” -he howled, mad with his rage, and his terminators answered his call. Bounding from cover and into the open the heavily armored warriors pushed on, into the killing field. Heavy bolters opened up on them, las-blasts seared the ceramic plates, sending jolts of pain into their bodies. A terminator fell, his chestplate cracked and broken, another stumbled to his face after a burst of heavy bolter shells tore away his legs, leaving only a pair of gushing bloody stumps. When they reached the trees there were was only Gavius.
Swinging his power fist from one side to the other he felled a mighty tree, sending it crashing onto the loyalist heavy bolter teams. With another swing he smashed a soldier caught in his path, reducing the man into a bloody pulp. Then the rest were upon him. Dozens and dozens of men, rifles and bayonets and chainswords. Gavius swung his now ammunitionless combi-bolter in an arc, knocking down three men with the motion, but six more took their places. The warp-damned forest was full of them!
A bayonet found it’s mark, piercing the fleshy seam in the armor where the plate had been broken before. Gavius snarled, animalistic in his fury and threw the attacker back. A chainsword from his side glanced on his helmet, filling his eyes with static as the adamantium teeth ground on his armored temple. Another swing, this time the loyalist bastards were ready for him and he missed his mark, stumbling forward with the force of his own strike. His enemies were all around him, striking at his back. Every now and then one would get through, draw blood. Gavius’ world was now just a haze of red. Another swing, another guardsman dead; it made no difference.
They were shouting, stabbing and tearing at him.
“I will never fall to the likes of you!” -Gavius challenged, but in vain. His knees buckled, the armored joints whining as he lost his balance and fell. And as he fell, he knew he would never again rise.
Acrux Prime would get to keep it’s secret for another century or two...
[ Aided by some unusually helpful mysterious terrain (6th ed rules) the Astra Militarum forces manage to hold on to the objectives long enough, while using massed firepower from infantry and a Leman Russ Executioner to keep the Chaos player off the objectives. In the end the Chaos player was left with only a single Terminator Lord and a squad of cultists hiding far away from the actual battle, while the Astra Militarum still held most of it’s forces intact. Thus the Chaos player was forced out of the campaign and the final battle would be fought between Astra Militarum and the Tyranid horde. ]
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\
[ Battle 8: Tyranids VS Astra Militarum, 1250p ]
\\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//
Captain Caven knelt down atop the command chimera, using his magnoculars to gaze off into the distance. The constant VOX chatter, idling engines and strained voices of soldiers all melted into a blanket of background noise, easily tuned out as Caven studied the terrain.
“Sir! Enginseer Vocrux reports that the array will be operational within the hour. We will need to keep the enemy off the site until the dishes are aligned.” -came the report of comms-officer Kujala. Caven nodded, almost absent minded, as his mind worked at the land ahead of him.
Ruined factories and housing blocks dotted the landscape. A narrow thicket of trees here, an impact crater left behind by a battle between rebels and PDF forces there. The terrain was anything but in the Finlandian’s favor. No cover, no places to hide. And if previous battles were something to go by the enemy would try to attack on three fronts: ground, air and tunnels. As he watched his enemies skitter and crawl into the ruined buildings in the distance he knew there was only one response the Finlandian’s could bring to bear: massed firepower.
As the massive communications dishes began to slowly align atop the hill, the Finlandians gritted their teeth and prepared for battle. Beside them the massive Leman Russ fired it’s exterminator autocannon at a distant target.
“Kill confirmed!”
---
Dig. Dig. Dig! Massive claws tore at the soil, viscous fluids secreted from slits between massive plates of chitin holding the tunnel in place as the creature tunneled ever further. Dig!
A boulder as big as a house was sprayed with vile acid and sliced into pieces by the claws as the Trygon bore ever deeper, ever further. Dig! Dig! Dig!
The voice of the Hive Mind egged it on, drove it to dig. Dig! Then it paused, the voice had gone silent. For a split second the creature was confused...
Up! To the surface! Up! The voice returned almost instantly, a thought that was alien and familiar at the same time. The Trygon -creature began to turn, boring it’s way up, up to the surface.
Up! Up! UP! Soon it would join the battle, soon it would rend the enemies of the Hive Mind asunder. Soon...
The soil loosened and fell. The massive claws reached up and grasped at the hot air, clutching the sides of the newly formed hole and pulling the beast up from the depths.
Again, just for a moment, a doubt lingered in it’s mind. Too early. Too soon. Everything was not as it should, the others were not here yet. As hundreds of men and tanks and guns turned to face the Trygon there was no time for more thoughts. The Hive Mind let the creature loose with one last thought: Kill!
Crackling spark ran up the beast’s spines, the bioelectricity swelling and building into a crescendo of greenish-blue lightning which it could release on command. It roared, lusting for the death of the Hive Mind’s enemies, then released. The directed energy caught the metallic beetles as they were wheeling around to face it, but the charge was grounded too soon, only scarring and blackening the surface of the metal vehicles. Then they returned fire.
The Trygon shrieked as shell after shell of burning hot metal pierced it’s chitin, it’s tympanal membranes vibrating violently at the sound of so many weapons being fired. It lurched forward, trying to charge, trying to reach it’s enemies, trying to kill. Kill. Kill!
A burst of shots tore off two of it’s claws, while a blast of white-hot plasma shattered it’s containment spines, causing it’s whole body to become enveloped with uncontrolled bioelectricity. As it’s own powers scorched it’s body, the Trygon fell back. Kill! Kill! It could no longer kill. The Hive Mind abandoned it to it’s death throes and all it could feel was pain.
---
“Mage-Knight five-three to Foxtrot-Ultima, we are inbound on target area. Skyfire is operational, we have a cloud cover of seven hundred feet and visibility is good.”
“Foxtrot-Ultima, be advised we have sightings of hostile airborne. Priority one target, how copy? Over.”
“Make-Knight five-three, solid copy. Expect contact within sixty, over and out.”
The pilot thumbed the trim-switch, softening the vector at which the Vendetta was flying towards the combat area. All boards were green, except for the sensor augurs, which had shown them little but static for the duration of their flight. Intel was that the xenos were spreading some sort of spores in the upper atmosphere and that they would clog the turbines if a pilot was to stray too high up. Ceiling was something around 700 feet and the pilots had agreed to stay below 500. This made maneuvering more than just a little tricky.
Looking out through the thick plasteel canopy the pilot could see the anti-air batteries covering the communications dish working overtime. They weren’t accurate to below 500 feet, hell, they weren’t designed to shoot anything below 1500, but the hastily organized gunners were doing their damndest to keep the sky clear. The xenos had, according to reports, tried to drop some sort of bigger spores on the site just hours ago, but the anti-air batteries had thwarted that attempt. For now...
“Twenty seconds to contact, I have eyes on friendlies.” -reported the gunner, sitting just in front of the pilot, behind a navigation’s control panel.
“Any sign of hostiles?” -the pilot asked while keeping the Vendetta in level flight to give the gunner time to pick his target on the way in.
“Negative, searching.”
There was a moment of relative silence, seconds felt like minutes as the Vendetta howled through the air.
“Got one. Tyrant class, airborne. Positive ID.”
The pilot could see the bright white blip on his heads-up display as the gunner painted the target with the laser pod mounted on the Vendetta’s nose-cone. He pulled softly on the controls, veering to the left just enough to give all three twin-linked lascannons a field of fire.
“Give me the count.” -the pilot called out.
“Four... Three... Two... One... Engage!”
On the last word the weapons fired. Six cobalt-blue lances shot out from their barrels, piercing the air and striking their target. As soon as they had fired the pilot yanked the controls hard, trying to get some distance between them and the target, looking for a second shot.
“Direct hit! We have a direct hit!” -reported the gunner, his voice elated.
“Holy shit- INCOMING!” -was his next report, the elation in his voice instantly replacing the cheerfulness of the successful attack. The pilot struggled to keep the Vendetta below the ceiling, below the spores that choked the air above them, but suddenly the winged devil-beast was upon them, firing it’s alien weapons at them as it gave chase.
“ALTITUDE! ALTITUDE!” -bleated the cogitator in a fake female voice as the pilot jinked to the left, trying to avoid the shots coming in hard and fast. There was a microsecond of darkness as the massive creature’s leathery wings momentarily flitted past the canopy before disappearing somewhere five’o’clock.
“Can’t get a bead on him!” -complained the gunner. The pilot didn’t have the time to reply as he tried to dodge another hail of biological horrors being fired at him. The alien ammunition impacted with dull thuds and for a moment the pilot felt relieved that they’d had no effect. Then a flicker of red caught his eye as a warning rune came to life on his dashboard. Then another and another.
“Losing number one engine!” -he called out, as tension crept into his voice.
“What the hell is it doing!?”
“I haven’t the faintest... Number two is dying! One is flameout! Call it in!”
As the pilot began to punch at the fire suppression and start runes frantically while glancing back at the turbines, the gunner went for the VOX.
“Mayday, mayday, this is Mage-Knight five-three, we have dual engine flameout and are losing altitude. Repeat, mayday, mayday...”
The pilot was muttering curses and prayers to the machine god as fast as he could, hammering away at his controls. He glanced back, seeing that the turbines had stalled completely and were chock-full of squirming worms, their blood and guts jamming the blades of the turbines. Beyond them, above and behind them, he could see the winged Tyrant -creature. It’s winges had holes in them, torn by the lascannon shots, and it’s massive chest was scorched and black, but it still flew, and it’s teeth and massive maw looked like it was grinning at him.
“Mayday, mayday, we are going down, we are going-”
---
“Captain Caven, sir.” -came the voice of the comms -officer. Caven made a mental note to find out and remember the soldier’s name if they made it out of this alive. Somewhere behind the Finlandian lines a vendetta gunship howled and crashed into the ground, sending a massive ball of fire skyward upon impact. The soldiers around him winced, but hadn’t the time to be gawking as they were too busy finding cover in the thin line of trees that still stood.
“Stike-group alpha reports success in primary objective...”
Caven peeked out from behind a tree, using his magnoculars to try and get a visual of where his stormtroopers had landed. He could see that the ruins from which his men had come under fire earlier had fallen silent, the larger creatures housed within slain by the elite drop-infantry unit. He could also see how two massive creatures, one of them Carnifex -class, the other an even larger unknown variant, were closing in on the soldiers as they tried to fall back.
“...they also report further enemy aggression. They request a fire mission, danger close...”
Captain Caven raised his hand to halt the comms -officer.
“Artillery is unavailable, son.”
“What about the tanks, or the aircraft, or...?”
Caven lowered his magnoculars and looked at the soldier. The comms -officer was just a boy, maybe nineteen.
“We need all of those things to take out THAT!”
Caven pointed at the winged Tyrant -class creature which was just swooping down from high above.
The comms -officer fell silent. As the stormtroopers began to die at the hands of the monstrous creatures Caven tuned their channel out.
---
Lieutenant Alatalo felt outmanned and outgunned. The enemies were approaching by the hundreds and his command squad of five men consisted of four rifled and the laspistol in his hand. The infantry squads at his command were spread in a wide line to ensure that enemy fire would not catch them all at once, but this also meant they had little cover. A few good men had already fallen and more would fall soon, unless something was done.
Another volley of fire from the tanks blistered the air above them, deafening the soldiers as the massive shells went overhead. Lieutenant Alatalo glanced back to see if the friendly air had taken care of the winged devil which just moments ago had slain his men with those disgusting alien weapons of it’s.
Instead he saw the very same winged devil approaching fast, shrieking and howling as it approached, it’s fiendish weapons at the ready,
“Men! Target six’o’clock, high! Fire at will!”
The men turned around, firing wildly at the approaching winged monstrosity, but most of the shots went wide as the fast-moving creature was nigh-impossible to hit with any effect. A few shots connected, but served only to anger the creature as the las-blasts could not penetrate the thick chitinous carapace of the monster.
Alatalo raised his laspistol in a futile gesture and pulled the trigger three times. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the shots land. The first one went wide, just under the creature’s wing. The second struck it in the chest, sizzling off without effect. The third one struck something, an old wound, perhaps?
He could not fathom how, but he knew it was his shot that did it. That third futile shot. The creature shrieked and screamed, twisting and turning in the air, then one of it’s wings collapsed. It began to fall. Men cheered loudly as the creature crashed into the ground just behind the Finlandian infantry lines. Without knowing it, Lieutenant Alatalo had somehow shot the creature, striking a crack in it’s carapace caused by the lascannons of the Vendetta, penetrating the soft flesh underneath and scorching the tyrant’s triple hearts in a single blast.
His men whooped and cheered and Alatalo just stood there, pistol raised at the sky, dumbfounded.
All across them the hordes of skittering creatures began to scatter and flee, while the larger beasts lumbered aimlessly, despite coming under fire from the heavy weapons of the infantrymen as well as the armor behind them.
Atop the hill behind the Finlandian lines, the communication’s dish finally aligned itself, snapping into position and beginning it’s transmission.
---
+++ Priority message +++
+++ Recipient: Any Receiving Imperial Forces +++
+++ Origin: Acrux Prime - Planetary Command outpost
+++ 4412919.M41 +++
+++ Message begins +++
This is Captain Caven, commander of the Finlandian 14th.
This is a priority one SOS. Acrux Prime has come under attack by traitors and xenos. Planetary government is incapacitated and the Finlandian 14th has taken full command of all planetary forces.
We currently command the planetary capital and spaceport. All orbital platforms lost.
Our current force strength is 68.32% reported, supply status is good.
Planetary Defense Forces have been rallied and stand at 39.12% of reported strength.
We have defeated all identified Xenos command-organisms so far and the threat has been reduced notably. We expect to be able to hold current positions indefinitely, although the enemy seems to be unaffected by current rate of attrition.
With support we can cleanse the world and claim it for the Imperium.
+++ Message ends +++
---
+++ Priority message +++
+++ Recipient: Acrux Prime - Planetary Command outpost +++
+++ Origin: Empiris Fortunidas Task Force 28
+++ 4412948.M41 +++
+++ Message begins +++
Captain Caven, we have received your plea for help.
The Space Marines of the Empiris Fortunidas are en route to Acrux Prime. Hold your ground.
The Emperor Protects
+++ Message ends +++
[ Oblivious to the dangers that over 70 infantrymen, 3 tanks and a Vendetta can pose in the game, the Tyranid player sent in a monstrous creature after monstrous creature to outflank the Imperial forces, only to have the massive beasts slain one by one. The most painful loss was the death of the winged Hive Tyrant, which was grievously wounded by the Vendetta and finished off by a 5-man platoon command squad armed with nothing but lasguns, laspistols and solid adamantium balls. In the end the objectives meant very little, as the Tyranid force was deprived of all synapse creatures and left with nothing but three termagants, a squad of fleeing hormagaunts and a single carnifex, while the Imperial forces only suffered a squad’s worth of infantry casualties and lost the Vendetta to the Hive Tyrant just before the beast could be slain.
With this unexpected success the Imperium claimed final victory over the campaign and eventually secured the world of Acrux Prime.
Final score
Thank you for reading! ]
