Part 2 of the story for the first planetstrike game. Didn't read over it yet for errors, my apologies for grammar and spelling errors!
Stanz Frieder ran his hand across the short blonde stubble on his head, smearing dirt and sweat across it. The dawn assault was staggering, he was amazed they even managed to survive. The guardsman situated on the ground beside him was busily trying to raise his men on their squad channels. All of them were scattered in the fighting and most were dead. The young officer hoped at least someone was left.
The chipped handset resting in Frieders left hand was silent. He tried for the last ten minutes to reach higher headquarters to report. There was only static from the vox inside the bastion. Feeling the comm array might be damaged, he and his command team departed the structure to attempt to raise them on the manpad systems.
“Are we being jammed?” he asked to the trooper manning the vox.
“Negative sir, we can still reach platoon level. There is also static on the division channel, just no chatter. They either are unable to respond or the short range signal cannot reach.” The man turned back to his system and called out for squad Alpha again. Stanz looked to his mic and keyed the button to open a channel.
“Orion Prime this is bastion Alpha-2-1, respond.” Freider waited for a response and then tried again with the same message.
“Alpha-2-1, this is Orion actual. Freider, is that you?” The voice that came across the handset was a familiar gruff tone that he knew to be Commander Geitner. It was a welcome sound.
“Orion Actual, this is Officer Freider. We report heavy casualties. Loss of three squads, Leman Russ disabled as well as two Chimeras. Inquisition forces sustained losses but are still present. Enemy forces are routed. Over.”
“You must have fought a light force,” the commander sounded incredulous. “The entire line of bastions around you have fallen to the attacking forces. Reinforcements are mobilizing but will not be reinforcing your position.”
Stanz stared at the communication system. The junior officer did not like fighting so hard for a position only to abandon it. The fact that they would not be sending additional forces struck him inside.
“Freider, you fall under the command chain of the Inquisition now. Maintain contact with the Inquisitorial forces there. “
The man keyed the mic, “Understood command.”
“Freider,” the voice came back. “How did you manage to hold?”
The officer looked to the dust swirling brightening sky and remembered to harrowing hours earlier.
It started in the darkest hours of Orion five. The small bastion sat at the base of a large mountain. The surrounding area was stricken with rocky outcroppings that the Inquisitional forces hoped to use to their advantage. Aegis barriers were erected around the bastion, forming a hasty, yet formidable defense line. A makeshift strongpoint was assembled using a natural rock formation and barriers further from the bastion. Stanz hoped they would provide an obstacle to slow the attackers.
The barriers closest to the bastion were occupied by two of the Sister squads and one of their heavy tanks, an exorcist is what they called it. The relic of a machine looked more like an organ with grand pipes protruding from the rear than a main battle tank. One of the sister superiors assured him that it was a very deadly piece of weaponry.
An inquisitor along with her retinue also took up battle positions. They all appeared to be wielding plasma weaponry. The sister superior assured Stanz they were very effective at destroying power armor and the formidable terminator armor. The officer countered with the unpredictability of the weapons to overheat. The sister just nodded and stated “they should have faith in the Emperor then.”
Two of Freider’s squads were set up at point positions, two chimera’s protected the weaker flanks incase the marines tried to alter their drop zone. Two sisters were set up inside the bastion monitoring the progress of their reinforcements who were flying with all speed towards the would be battlefield. The Palatine of the sisters forces had just radioed in that they would be starting their decent via jump packs in five minutes. That is when the signal turned to static and the dark of night was burned away.
Stanz climbed the ladder and swung open the hatch at the top of the bastion in time to see a huge ball of fire barreling through the night sky towards him. The flaming inferno looked like a small sun descending from the heavens to destroy him. He ducked back into the hatch and the entire bastion shook from the tremendous impact. If the attack from the heavens had hit the bastion itself, Stanz would probably be dead. Scrambling through the hatch he saw smoke coming from the left side and leaned over. The first firestorm from the space marine vessel destroy the quad gun emplacement. Several sisters were lying on the ground and started to get up. The sky began to brighten again.
This blast missed the units on the ground and gouged a huge hole into the base of the mountains behind them. Frieder’s eyes went black again, his night vision having to adjust after each blinding blast. The officer blinked and looked out at the aegis emplacements. His men were huddled down behind the barriers, probably praying to the Emperor that the firestorm would be over soon. Stanz hurried to his feet and ducked back down through the hatch, his men had the right idea, seek cover and stop gaping like an idiot at the fiery death coming from the heavens.
Several more volleys were directed at the battlefield. Stanz could only brace himself inside the fortified structure and await the last of the orbital attacks. Suddenly the radio came alive, “Adeptas Astartes drop pods incoming! All units prepare to repel the attackers!”
Mechanical servos began whirling as enemy signals were detected by the bastions defenses. Stanz moved to the roof to better observe the battlefield and give direction to his men. Just as he breached the roof hatch he saw a conical shaped pod slam into the ground, spraying dirt and rock everywhere. Several blasts echoed through the night as the pods doors blew off and black armored figures rushed forward roaring their battle cry and spraying bolter fire at the defenses.
The sisters surged forward and his men opened fire. He could not see past the defenses just below him but he could see the heavy lasgun fire of his men’s positions as they targeted units in the blackness.
Suddenly there was an explosion from the sister vehicle just in front of the bastion. Smoke roiled up from the weapons bay and the crew spilled out to get away from the fire. A unit of space marines charged directly forwards, claiming the exorcist with melta bombs as they moved. The second squad of marines charged his mens left position. His men quickly became overwhelmed by the furious assault and fled or were killed.
Frieder felt his gut wrench as they died, but it was quickly by another gut wrenching feeling, the unmistakable force and power of a leman russ volley. The heavy tank aimed its main gun dangerously close to target the marines taking the guard position, it fired! The blast sent the five man marine squad flying from a direct hit. Once the dust settled only a single marine was left after he threw himself to the ground.
Suddenly the leman russ suffered an explosion and smoke began to rise as that same marine squad assaulted and destroyed its systems. Sisters responded with their bolters and melta guns, claiming several of the attacking marines before a unit of jump pack equipped sisters surged from behind with flamers and slew the remaining men.
Shouts and screams came across his personal vox caster, the squad in the strong point was being overrun. To his right his men were cut down by hulking beasts of men shrouded in terminator armor. The sisters tried to target the marines but they teleported too close to his men and the sisters would not risk firing upon the guardsmen.
The lascannon mounted on the roof was busy adjusting its aim and firing, as were the bastions heavy bolters. The machine spirit of the structure was guiding the fire in an effort to suppress the invaders. All around him weapon fire was ringing out in the night air. Ammunition burned through the sky, through armor and flesh.
A unit of marines assaulted from the left flank after disemboweling one of Freiders chimera vehicles. Its guns went silent as it exploded. His stomach sank as the unit that destroyed the vehicle leapt into the air and landed closer to the bastion. It was met with bolter fire and the screams of an Adeptas Sororita squad. The fanatical shouts and calls for absolution of a priests filled the air and accompanied the sisters into combat.
Light was slowly coming to the land and Freider could see the carnage in all its fury. Further off a sisters vehicle armed with flamers was burning, a space marine dreadnought was immobile from losing a leg, while another was battling a two sisters in bronzed armor!
“By the Emperor!” The words slipped from his mouth as the two sisters charged the hulking space marine walker and planted grenades in vulnerable places. One of the sisters was crushed just as the dreadnoughts combat claw blew right off the main body. Dust from a new rhino obscured his view of the melee. It charged directly through two lines of aegis barriers in an effort to bring fresh troops to the fight.
The melee between the sisters squad and space marine jump pack unit ended, the sisters somehow broke from combat and turned their melta weapons against the marines, connecting with one and melting him in half. The second marine was throw back up against the mountain as his pack detonated. Freider assumed the man was lost and turned to the swirling melee in the middle of the field just as the drop pods storm bolter was silenced in a tremendous explosion. The vehicle ignited sending flaming scrap metal across the field of battle.
The explosion covered the space marines locked in combat with jump pack mounted sisters. None of the marines or women flinched, the combat continued. Terminators and tactical marines battled fiercely with the Palatine commander of the sisters and two other women. A slash of a power sword meant to strike the Palatine was intercepted by the sergeant of the seraphim. Unfortunately the woman took the strike in the chest and fell to the ground, but she managed to give her life to save her superior.
The bastion was rocked with several blasts coming from far off past the strong point.
“Heavy weapons squad targeting the bastion. A mechanical voice sounded across the intercom.
“Chimera Bravo, target that squad and suppress that fire!” Freider commanded through his headset.
“Target acquired,” came the reply. The vehicles bolter and laser cannon opened fire at the target in the distance.
“Sir, more units of Inquisition forces approaching, it appears the space marines are falling back.”
“Try radio command and give them a status report,” shouted Freider over another explosion.
“Negative,” replied the guardsman, “the comms are fried in here, the signal won’t reach!”
“Grab the man portable vox, set the antennae up outside, we need to get through!” Freider grabbed a las pistol and followed his personnel guard through the exit.
Outside the gunfire had diminished, the sky was heavy with black smoke from burning vehicles and equipment. More deep red rhinos were barreling into the area and women in dark red power armor were rushing about the field. There was an urgency in all they did, and they moved with unflinching resolve when commanded by their superiors.
Stanz looked to the middle of the field and saw the Sororita commander speaking with a fallen marine. A rhino rushed to her and a robed women leapt out and quickly scanned the woman. After exchanging words the robed woman tended to the space marine on the ground.
The handset shouted, “Freider, FREIDER!”
Freider pressed the key to speak. “Sir, it was hell.”
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