Chapter 7 Part 3

Chapter 7: Chaotic complications

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Part 3

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Victory Bay

Kronus

Five hours after the mess of a battle, Victory Bay was more or less secure. Heavily armed patrols prowled the streets, sharp-eyed marksmen warily watched the city from positions high up on various tall buildings, while thousands of guardsmen were busy dealing with the direct aftermath. There were wounded to tend, dead to bury, equipment to retrieve and repair, Xeno bodies to burn, and Xeno gear to either destroy or contain for evaluation and later disposal by either the Mechanicus or Inquisition.

It was a grim, inglorious affair, but still a vital one. Besides, it was still better than being anywhere near the Blank lass. It was a pity that looking after her couldn't be used as a proper punishment detail – Commissar Weber wasn't about to entrust her to anyone but the most reliable soldiers under his command, especially after her previous minders apparently abandoned her before the fighting broke out. He certainly wouldn't want to explain to the Lord Inquisitor how the Guard managed to misplace the kid, again. The very idea felt dirty and not just because of what the Inquisition could do to you if you displeased one of their members!

"Commissar Weber, Sir! Orders from command, you're summoned to the General's CP for a meeting!" A nearby Vox operator announced, breaking Weber's train of thought.

"I'll be there momentarily, specialist. Do inform the Lieutenant of my location." He confirmed receiving the summons, looked around for anything out of place beyond the obvious, and headed to a group of Chimeras waiting nearby. Right now, General Alexander flew his flag over a freshly dropped pre-fabricated HQ complex on the other side of the city.

"Sergeant, I need transport to the General's HQ," Weber told the steel-eyed vehicle commander who had the top hatch opened and was looking around for any sign of trouble.

"We'll get you there ASAP, Commissar!" The NCO answered with a stiff salute.

"I'm glad to hear it." Weber waited for the assault ramp to open and climbed inside, nodding to the troopers sitting bored out of their minds while waiting for anything to go wrong so they could deal with it. "Don't get up on my account." The Commissar waved them back along with their hasty attempts to salute and get to attention – a hard feat within the cramped interior of the APC.

The ramp closed behind him and the Chimera's engine roared to life before the armored vehicle rumbled on. In the red lights illuminating the troop compartment, Weber could see how young and uncomfortable the soldiers appeared. This was another new batch drawn from the PDF then. Proper Guardsmen had an air about them that was completely missing with this unit. It was a stark contrast, especially when comparing these boys and girls with General Alexander's regiments, who were entirely composed of veterans before arriving at Kronus. Obviously, the green PDF troops simply couldn't compare and while today proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that many of them had their hearts in the right place, their inexperience did contribute to the ease with which the Xeno slaughtered so many of them.

Weber slowly took a deep breath, keeping his face a blank mask. He wasn't being fair to the PDF, especially those who fought under his command today. They did their best and it wasn't like most Guard units could offer a much better showing against something like the never sufficiently damned Eldar.

On the bright side, inside the Chimera, he could barely smell the stench of gore and burning bodies, something that might persist for a few days yet barring a nice rain to wash the city.

Thirty minutes and five checkpoints later, the APC parked just outside a small park surrounded by a tall stone fence with towers at the corners topped by winged statues of saints. The General's CP was deployed inside and surrounded by rings of defenses.

"You can get back to your post now, Sergeant. I'll procure transport back to the regiment when the meeting is over." Weber told the NCO. With the veteran around, the inexperienced soldiers might just live long enough to become proper Guardsmen.

While passing through more security, which the Commissar naturally approved of, he became convinced that General Alexander had chosen this area for a CP after the battle due to the lack of stench and still burning buildings in the general vicinity. Well, that and the fact that this part of the city was away from the main avenues leading to the factories on the outskirts of the city and thus kept the HQ away from the primary worker congestions as people went to and back from work. That last one was important because Commissar or not, with parts of the city closed for traffic due to battle damage, Weber's transport had to wait and detour more than a few times on the way here. Then there were the security concerns caused by a large group of locals passing by on regular intervals so this was likely for the best.

Besides, the park was a nice change after the blood-soaked battlefield that was the far side of the city.

Weber went past one last security check and found himself in a familiar, standard-sized briefing room nested to the left side of the HQ. The pair of tall mechanical Xeno glowing with ominous green light was very much not standard for a meeting of loyal sons and daughters of the Empire, no matter who they were, though the Commissar didn't have any particular qualms about the other people cramped inside. His eyes shone with approval when he saw the Lord Inquisitor looking warily at the Xeno, who they had to work with for the time being. There was likely going to be hell to pay when reinforcements arrived, and hopefully, it would be Imperial ones that got to Kronus first, because otherwise, well… It would be a good day to die for the Emperor and humanity…

"Commissar," General Alexander nodded sharply when he saw Weber enter. "We're now all here so let's begin. Magos Scipio-Ro-11, please report the status of our vehicle park."

Huh, as far as he knew, this one particular Magus was on the junior side there was no one more senior present. Weber did hear that the Mechanicus did suffer some significant casualties fighting to protect the industrial districts, which were targeted by Eldar raiding parties. So the senior adepts were either dead or too damaged to be present for this.

"Armored ground element: thirty percent irrecoverable casualties. Twenty-three percent recoverable casualties within the next twenty-four hours, twelve percent recoverable casualties within the next seventy-two hours, eight percent recoverable casualties within the next standard week. Aeronautica assets: Sixty percent irrecoverable casualties, ten percent recoverable casualties within the next twenty-four hours, twenty percent recoverable casualties within the next seventy-two hours, ten percent recoverable casualties within the next standard week. Light ground elements: thirty-two percent irrecoverable casualties…"

Those numbers weren't good. For all intents and purposes their aerospace assets were gutted and the armored units, which offered the Guard the bulk of its firepower, not to mention maneuver formations, had taken significant punishment. While not unexpected, perhaps even better than they might have been otherwise, the casualties were severe, close to crippling as far as offensive operations went. If it wasn't for the unpleasant, borderline heretical alliance with the Xeno, the numbers would have been at least an order of magnitude worse and at that point, the necessary assault upon the Chaos positions would turn into an unmitigated butchery.

Needing the aid of Xenos to protect an Imperial world, it was infuriating and frustrating in the extreme. How the Inquisitor managed to swing that, how the idea even crossed the man's mind, Weber would never know. And unfortunately, the higher authority would not look favorably upon the events on Kronus no matter the outcome. Still, they did the Emperor's work this day and they will be doing it in the days to come. If they had to pay the ultimate price for it, just so the rest of the Imperium could be sure there was no taint, spiritual, mental or literal, well those things happened.

"Thirty-three thousand Guardsmen dead from the fighting within Victory Bay itself, to be added to the death doll from the lost infantry regiments, which fell slowing down the Tau armored advance…" And at least twice more wounded. With the Eldar being extremely deadly, engagements against them tended to produce more dead and less wounded compared to facing a more conventional foe, especially when routs and losing whole units weren't a factor.

That still meant at least thirty thousand or so wounded soldiers who would be out of action for the foreseeable future, who were going to be missed during the assault on the Deimos Peninsula.

"In practice, this means we won't be able to launch an assault against the Chaos forces on Kronus for at least twenty four hours, preferably seventy-two." General Alexander said after the butcher's bill was clear to everyone. "Unfortunately, time is working against us. With every passing moment, the heretics become stronger due to reinforcements coming through a Warp Portal they have active at the far end of the Deimos Peninsula, which is our primary target. If we wait too long, they will either have the sheer numbers to overwhelm us or will corrupt this world beyond salvaging and thus doom us all. Either of those outcomes is unacceptable!" General Alexander thundered and slammed a fist onto the tactical table in the middle of the room.

"Within thirty-six hours, we will have replenished and repaired units lost during today's battle." The Xeno spoke in its eerie mechanical voice. "Various special units will be available for the assault, including equipment to mitigate trans-dimensional bleed-through. We recommend launching a joint assault thirty-six hours from now and we agree that the primary target is neutralizing the dimensional breach threatening this world."

Ripples of unease washed over the gathered Imperials, while the machines showed no sign that they noticed or cared about it.

"Thirty-six hours is an acceptable time-frame." General Alexander grudgingly agreed after staring at the Inquisitor and waiting for Lord Veil's nod of approval. "We need a plan for the operation. What assets can you bring to the table?" He asked the Xeno.