POV: Tank Commander Nova van Grimm
Lady Nova glanced out over the line of heavy tanks arrayed on either side of her Macharius Vanquisher. The super-heavy Shadowsword brought down by the rogue trader forces and the small cadre of Astartes armor arrayed around it loomed in the distance making her thank the Emperor she wasn't on the Cycladon side of the upcoming conflict.
"Commander, is there a reason we're sitting here? The first Battalion rolled out an hour ago." Operator Greg called out.
Nova felt one of her eyes twitch at the interruption. "Operator Greg, we have orders to hold so you will hold until we are told otherwise!" She growled out, making Greg flinch back.
"Yes, Ma'am" Greg muttered as he ducked his head back inside. He didn't stay long, popping back up to look out at all the armor once he got bored.
Nova couldn't blame the troops for feeling restless. They had scrambled to get ready for the upcoming siege, but whatever command had planned was something she had yet to be informed of. By her estimates, the siege was going to take them weeks. City shields didn't fold easily since they were designed to hold up against orbital bombardments.
Just as she was considering calling in for an update a shadow passed overhead blocking out the light as a massive lighter circled overhead and descended towards their lines. It landed just between her and the Rogue Trader's forces. The massive door at the back slowly lowered to form a ramp.
As the dust settled, there was a loud rumble of an engine, and Nova felt her eyes go wide as she watched the colossal engine emerge from the transport. "By the Throne," she whispered hoarsely.
Greg was not so eloquent, "Holy fucking shit what is that!?" Nova decided to ignore his use of language this once as her vox crackled.
"Attention, forces of Halo Alphos. This is Archmagos Doll. We have deployed Ordinatus Sagittar, designation: Vesuvius, to your combat theater. We may begin deployment. The estimated time to reach Cycladon is eight hours. Witness the wrath of the Omnissiah."
Nova nearly missed the follow-up message sent to her specifically. She shook her head and took a deep breath before she barked out. "Engines ahead full! Form up around the Ordinatus and the Rogue Trader forces! You will cover the engine, we will provide a screen!"
The tank under her lurched to life after Greg ducked back inside and closed his hatch.
"Commander, I get that the machine is important but… what does this mean?" One of her troopers asked as she ducked back inside before too much dust got kicked up.
"It means the Archmagos is pissed and this is no longer a month-long siege. That's a minor Ordinatus engine but make no mistake, it's a titan killer. That's not the normal pattern for the make of Ordinatus he claimed it is. If the Archmagos says it'll crack the city shield I am inclined to believe him." Nova admitted as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and then slipped on her headset to start issuing orders.
—-------------------------------------------------------------
POV: Archmagos Doll
Doll sat in the rear of the command center of Vesuvius linked into the noosphere as he and the other Magi went over the schematics for Cycladon's void shield projectors with the various members of leadership listening in. "While the schematics appear accurate. There is little recourse for it. We need to test the shield and gather readings for instability or areas of weakness to expedite the removal of the shield."
"Will we be test-firing Vesuvius at the shield Archmagos?" the Governor asked.
"Negative. Vesuvius will fire at full power. The Machine Spirit has asked this of us. I intend to keep my promise. Instead, Hunter's Lady will enter orbit above Cycladon, and using both their Sunhammer prow lance and Sunsear laser battery they shall bombard the shield while we pinpoint the ideal area of fire. This will both stress the shield enough for us to gather data with minimal risk of breaching it but also strain the shield capacitors." Doll explained in a pleased tone.
"Are we not worried about anti-orbital fire from the city?" Another Adept asked.
"Cycladon has minimal surface-to-orbit weaponry, an obvious weakness in hindsight, but the majority of it is concentrated in Halo Alphos and the Halo. What few batteries they have cannot overlap their fields of fire well and are not at risk of overwhelming the shields of the Hunter's Lady if they could manage to hit it when it's presenting its prow," Zeta-9 spoke confidently. "We have total orbital and aerial superiority, making the slower missile munitions infeasible, leaving only projectile and energy weapons as viable alternatives of which the city has few. According to records the city once possessed a capital-class laser array but it was decommissioned in M38 after a major earthquake hit the city and the entire hive sank slightly."
"Once the shields fall we will strike." Spoke Captain Bolaar, "My squads will seize the shields, the main power station, the main Imperial guard depot, and assault the enemy command bunker. My Librarian Astrovas is concerned that they are brewing something foul in the depths of the city."
"While you do that we will mount a frontal assault through the main gate. Purging the enemy along the way - the enemy psykers are priority targets. The areas taken by the Star Dragons will be reinforced with guard from Castellan Craig's forces while my PDF forces will systematically work on retaking the hive." General Ashica van Styr added with a nod.
"An excellent plan, now I get to inform you we're on a clock," Lord Drakios told everyone. "The Argent Drake has been performing periodic scans of the system, our Deep Void Auger Array and other enhancements make the Drake ideal for detecting long-range objects. There is a Xenos fleet headed our way."
"What kind of Xenos?" asked Magos Xor.
"It's either Eldar or Drukhari; their ships are difficult to tell apart." Lord Drakios admitted with a shrug.
"How long till they reach Ur-Haven?" asked Zeta-9 as he directed one of the Halo's Augers in the direction Lord Drakios indicated.
"At their current pace, five or six days." Lord Drakios said calmly.
"So we have our timer. Five days to fully siege and retake a hive and secure an STC fragment. Can it be done?" Governor Aarark asked tentatively with a wince.
"It can and it will," Captain Bolaar replied boldly.
"Make sure all the other vessels at the Halo are ready for combat. My ships will be ready." Lord Drakios said firmly.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------
POV Traitor Guard Captain
He scowled as he read the latest report. The units that had left the city to harass Halo Alphos had stopped responding a few hours ago. This wasn't the plan. He had been promised grand things from the inquisitor, all he had to do was hold off the Halo Alphos forces. The city was well prepared for a siege so why did he feel so unsettled?
He stepped out onto his balcony for some fresh air and to admire the chaos gripping the lower portions of the hive. The smoldering fires set the lower portions of the hive alight in the evening gloom. The mobs would make excellent fodder to sacrifice into the meatgrinder of war.
He still had yet to coax three of the eight local Captains to his side after the removal of their commanding officers. Unfortunately one of them was in control of one of the main vehicle depots. It would take time to coax them out or wear them down. Perhaps one of the sorcerers could expedite that issue.
He was about to get back to work when a blinding flash turned night into day as fire washed along the void shield. More flashes followed, rippling across the surface of the city's shield. He looked up barely spotting the spec of a voidship as the next salvo came crashing down.
The act puzzled him, he was certain a single ship wouldn't be enough to bring down the shield. It would barely strain their generators. There was little reason to start a bombardment when the siege hadn't started...unless… A chill went down his spine as he rushed to the other side of the spire looking out the window as the first salvo of shells crashed onto the shield.
"No, no, no! It's too early! How did they get here already!?" He grit his teeth in frustration and rushed over to his vox operator. "Get me an update now!" he demanded harshly.
"Sir, our external sensors are being jammed. There appears to be a large armored force from Halo Alphos outside the shield, I also have unconfirmed reports of a large machine of some sort moving towards our position." the operator said curtly.
"A titan?!" The Captain asked only for the vox operator to shake his head in the negative.
"No sir, it's large and tracked. The scout didn't get close enough for proper identification before they were lost."
When the orbital barrage cut off an hour later he frowned "I have a bad feeling about this." The Captain muttered as he stared down at the tactical map.
—--------------------------------------------------------
POV: Archmagos Doll
"Archmagos, we have finished our analysis. There are six areas where the void shield projectors overlap causing discordant resonance weakening the field." The Tech Adept presented Doll with the data.
"One of the options is the primary gate?" He chucked "Ironic, the emitters must not have been aligned properly, or perhaps they have been nudged out of alignment due to the faint seismic effect of the heavy traffic." He mused. "No matter the cause. That will suffice. Helmsman move us into position! Target the main gate! Have the Basilisks continue their bombardment. Have the Shadowsword target the gate as well. We will fire on my mark." Doll ordered as Vesuvius rumbled forward imperiously crushing the flaming remains of an enemy tank under its massive treads as it moved into position several kilometers out from the main gate.
"Capacitors fully charged, Archmagos!"
Doll waited for the perfect moment, just as the local sun crested the horizon when the placid quiet of the early morning had engulfed the interior of Vesuvus and the rest of the firing line waited with bated breath, only the long-range artillery from the Basilisks continued to thump in the rear lines. "Fire."
Moments later a beam lanced out of the massive barrel slamming into the shield from Vesuvius, next to it came the beam from the Shadowsword as it fired its weaker cannon. The beam from Vesuvius at first mimicked the beam erupting from the Shadowsword but within the first three seconds of fire, the beam intensified in strength dwarfing the other engines' output considerably even as the shot of the Sahdowsword tapered off.
The next few seconds saw the shield start to flicker as they heavily stressed the vulnerable point.
The temperature inside the command module of Vesuvius steadily increased the longer the laser fired. They watched as the city shield held at first but soon collapsed letting the beam continue onward slamming into the massive main gate vaporizing it in moments. The beam continued onwards leaving a thin strip of molten glass along the ground directly under the beam. It went through vehicles, walls, anything, and everything in its way was destroyed with impunity. The laser nearly made it a third of the way into the hive before the furious beam finally tapered off.
Vesuvius's barrel glowed with residual heat as it hissed and began to vent large clouds of air hot enough to boil a man.
"Cycladon void shield has suffered a cascade failure!" one of the Tech Priests announced excitedly.
"Captain Bolaar. The shield is falling. You may begin your assault momentarily." Doll voxed as he looked out proudly upon the devastation Vesuvius had wrought, the engine itself seemed to purr with satisfaction.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
POV: Captain Bolaar
Bolaar stood in front of his entire company, barring those down on the surface operating their tanks and guarding the Ordinatus. Looking out at the quads arrayed before him he dearly felt the loss of the last two squads.
"Brothers, as you well know, soon the shield of hive Cycladon will fall and we will strike deep behind enemy lines. It is no Xenos we fight this day but Heretics and the corrupted minions of Chaos that will feel the wrath of the Star Dragons!" Bolaar walked along the front row in his full Saturnine Tactical Dreadnought armor admiring the gleaming suits of armor and weapons ready to purge their foes from the planet.
"You will bring death to the Heretiks in the name of The Emperor! With fire and fury!" Bolaar boomed.
"Fire and Fury!" The Astartes chorused in reply.
"Second scale you will go first, you must secure the city shield, third scale you will take the primary power plant, fourth scale you will secure the main guard vehicle depot, fifth scale you will secure the main spire's command center, The first scale and I will assault the Heretek stronghold directly. You are to give no quarter." Bolaar said as he strolled along. The entire first scale was clad in the modified Saturnine suits, his old Indomitus Pattern Armor had been tuned and adjusted for the leader of the second scale.
His sensors picked up movement on the far side of the Teleportarium. Baldos in his Venerable and Silverfury in his Contemptor moving up. Bolaar noticed the petite red-robed figure sitting on Baldos's shoulder immediately. Nicole's cadre of guards stood politely off to the side with several of her ancient war automata.
"Not bad." Baldos praised Bolaar's speech before he turned and called out. "Brothers! A morsel of wisdom for your hungry maws. When fighting Traitors and Heretics! kill the sorcerers first!" Nicole let out a small amused huff as she hopped down from Baldos's shoulder. Bolaar could feel her gaze as she swept her eyes over their armor and gear with a critical eye.
She seemed to hesitate for a moment as he watched her turn back to him and Baldos. "Captain, would it be improper if I delivered an Oath?" she voxed privately catching him off guard. He gave her a nod of approval and she moved to the forefront.
"Astartes!" She called out leaning slightly on her axe. "During the time of the Crusade, there was a ritual known as the Oath of the Moment. Typically it was between two Astartes, sworn over a weapon and written on parchment. This is not that Oath but I hope you appreciate it just the same."
Nicole pushed back her hood and took off her helmet, latching it to her belt. "An ancient Terran once said a sword is an extension of its wielder and that the two are one. You are the Emperor's warriors, his swords. You fight wielding arms and armor cared for by myself and the Mechanicus and in a way that makes us your caretakers. We have taken care of your equipment so that it might take care of you." Nicole offered a small smile and Bolaar saw Astrovas twitch just as Nicole's axe flickered.
"I offer you this Oath, go knowing that your arms shall not fail you this day. As you purge the enemies of the Imperium of Mankind! I swear! Your armor! Your guns! Your blades! They shall not falter in the face of the enemy! On this matter, and by all these weapons, I, Nicole Cavalerio, swear!" Nicole raised her axe and then slammed down the pommel a faint wave of blue crackling energy expanded to engulf the entire room. Nicole wobbled and had to lean heavily on her axe as she stood there with her eyes closed.
Bolaar watched as the energy seemed to seep into his armor and weapons. It was a subtle thing and being the only one to have worn the Saturnine suit for so long, he was likely the only one who noticed as his armor adjusted itself ever so slightly to better accommodate him. It might have been an unusual blessing but it had obviously worked.
"Thank you, Princeps, for this blessing." He called out as Astrovas moved over to help Nicole off to the side where she could sit down and he could speak with her. Though from what Bolaar could hear it sounded more like a gentle scolding.
Just as Bolaar was about to speak again he got the notification from Doll. The shield was coming down. "Star Dragons! Prepare for combat! Second Scale to the pad!"
—-----------------------------------------------------------
POV: ZR-999
ZR was slumped in his medicae bed, a large majority of his external parts had been ruined and required removal. He wanted to remove the arm bearing the cursed mark but doing so would hobble him.
His breath came out in rasping coughs as Tharius Grimn came by to check on him again. Tharius looked stressed and furious as more and more information came in about the siege above.
"You are certain you cannot travel with us?" Tharius asked with pursed lips.
"Nega-" rasp "-tive" wheeze "I must" hiss "remain. You must" wheeze "go. They are" cough "coming. Shield failing." ZR managed to pass a small drive holding the map to the location to one of his assistants using his single partially working arm and passed Tharius the corrupted data spike given to him by their master. "Take. It."
Tharius sighed and nodded as he took the spike. "Alright. Sorry, my friend." That was all he said as he turned and left in haste, he only stopped by briefly to warn the sorcerers that they needed to start their ritual immediately.
"Why didn't you go with him?" One of ZR-999's acolytes asked curiously once Tharius had departed. "Even if someone had to carry you the entire time you would have normally gone before." They said speaking more freely than they might if he had been hale.
"Your statement is" cough "True. However, I have been marked" hiss "My body will not" rasp "recover in time" ZR-999 held up his arm staring at the bite mark with a mixture of awe, reverence, and horror.
"Marked for what?" The Acolyte asked, glancing down at the arm curiously.
"Death." ZR-999 whispered as an alarm in the next room started to blare signaling the imminent failure of the city's void shield.
"Go. Prepare the" hiss "defenses." ZR-999 closed his eyes, he already knew the defenses wouldn't be enough for what was coming. The reports had clearly stated the Mechanicus had fielded an Ordinatus against them, the Astartes and Skitarii would come and the grand force of master Eligael and the Sundered Forge was still months away. As he lay there and contemplated their path he felt a deep sense of doubt, everything had all gone so well right until it went wrong. Was this intentional? Or was it somehow unforeseen by the diviners of Tzeentch? ZR-999's eyes couldn't see the answers he sought.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
POB: Venerable Baldos
Baldos watched silently as the teleporter flashed, the second scale vanished, and the third scale took their place. The ancient Teleportarium delivered the payload of Astartes to the key locations in the unshielded hive.
There was an old bit of wisdom that said with a full company of Astartes you could take a hive city. While their company was well under full strength in terms of their number their firepower and gear had never been in a better state.
Baldos could imagine the intense transhuman dread the enemy would feel as the scales appeared and promptly slaughtered the heretic defenders. By the time it was finally his turn to climb onto the pad with Bolaar and the first scale they received vox confirmation from the second scale that the shield station had been secured.
There was nothing left to prevent their slaughter. Baldos looked across the bay where Nicole and her cadre stood waiting. They would be coming after their assault and he intended to purge as many foes as possible before they arrived.
"It is time, Brothers. Kill. Them. All" Baldos growled as they vanished and appeared in a large dark corridor, the only space large and close enough to receive an entire squad of terminators and two dreadnoughts.
"It seems they closed the blast doors on us." Captain Bolaar observed as Baldos lumbered forward.
Baldos slammed his combat weapon into the metal digging his metal digits deep before he wrenched it asunder and dropped it to the ground with a loud clang. "What door?" he stepped through, the men manning a fortified position down the hall had less than a second to watch in horror before a hail of fire and death obliterated their position.
Baldos and Silverfury took up the flanks as Bolaar led the Terminators straight into the enemy stronghold. They did not stop, their shields flickering as scattered return fire plinked off them harmlessly before they were obliterated under waves of bolter, plasma, melta, and laser fire.
"Captain, I am detecting a massive warp ritual in the chamber below us!" Astrovas called out a warning, and they increased their pace, breaking into smaller teams as the corridors narrowed.
Baldos stomped a screaming man underfoot as he moved with purpose carving a bloody swatch through his foes like a scythe through wheat.
He smashed his way down a ramp as he ripped another door off its mounting to enter the large space that had been converted into a ritual chamber just as Bolaar and several Terminators also arrived.
"Warning! This is Captain Bolaar requesting immediate reinforcements! We have an active warp portal! Kill the sorcerers!" Bolaar shouted urgently.
Baldos blew the head off one of the ritualists but paused for a second as the portal responded to the death by consuming the dead ritualist and noticeably widening. Daemonic figures were already scrambling out of the flickering hole in reality as the lead sorcerer on the other side of the chamber continued to chant.
Just as Baldos was acquiring a firing solution the first Screamer flew out of the portal and intercepted his shot. "You're in my way warp-spawn!" Baldos growled as his weapons devastated the creature but more were already scrambling to pour from the portal as it widened with each ritualist sorcerer they killed.
The situation in the main chamber rapidly devolved into chaos as more daemons spilled forth and various cultists rushed to their ends to try and protect the lead sorcerer, rushing headlong into the waiting oblivion granted by an entire squad of Terminators and two veteran Dreadnoughts.
((As usual thanks to Cemb for helping edit and proof this chapter!))
