Chapter 11 Part 1
Chapter 11: Daemon's Bane
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Part 1
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Deimos Peninsula
Kronus
Under most other circumstances, Eliphas would consider what he just saw a glorious slaughter that would make Khorne happy. Well, the God of War was going to be happy regardless, the Dark Apostle concluded. He could hear the thunder of the orbital bombardment and fell the aftershocks below his feet. The Astartes could also taste the thousands upon thousands of souls torn from their mortal coil and sent screaming into the Warp. Some were even happy at the prospect of what awaited them, while others howled in fury at the bloodshed denied to them.
Such an unwitting sacrifice, no matter how sudden, had its uses. Some of those souls would fuel the defenses making the rest of the Peninsula that much harder to crack. Unfortunately, Eliphas was no longer certain he had the assets to grind down any assault that might come his way. Much less, then proceed to counter-attack them to death after the Warp Gate replenished his numbers.
The Corpse Worshipers surprised him. Even if they could find the control center for the ancient orbital platforms, and there were enough of them left operational to matter, which obviously was true, more's the pity, they shouldn't have been able to gain access and use them anytime soon. It was a very long shot. His agents could have done it, at least in theory, and only because they were led by an Astartes with access to the soul of a True Believer who used to work there when alive!
"Loyalist and Necron forces are advancing on our positions." A deceptively calm voice hissed. "We need support if we're to hold." Explosions and screams drowned the vox transmission.
Eliphas' experienced ears could hear the exotic sounds of discharging Eldar weaponry.
Who could have foreseen the Corpse Worshipers would ally themselves with not one, but two Xeno menaces to ruin his pans?!
Eliphas didn't bother to answer the request, instead, he ran towards the nearest command post. He could see in his mind's eye a good enough map of his force's disposition. Or, where they should have been, because a third to half of the warm bodies he had available couldn't be relied upon to stay put and follow any complicated orders. He could rely on his Astartes, some Daemons and Daemon Engines would be of use. Several Guard and PDF units who saw the Truth and turned on the Imperium would follow orders as well. The rest were rabble – little more than cannon fodder useful to screen competent units.
The problem was that he just lost a significant number of the latter and more would follow until he could organize a proper response.
"Get sacrifices going! I want a solid wall of Daemons tearing those Corpse botherers to pieces!" Eliphas ordered his remaining Sorcerers. Those weren't among the most powerful, or brightest, however, they weren't a real danger either. Unless someone new had arrived recently without him noticing.
Interceptors and bombers rose to blunt the attack, and Eliphas was glad that he didn't have to do everything himself.
A minute later he was much less happy when Necron's scythe-like craft met his aircraft and heavy anti-air fire rose from the advancing enemy. At least he was now in an operational command post and could see the scope of the disaster with his own eyes.
The ground split into glowing fissures, infernos engulfed settlements bearing signs of the Primordial Truth, fusion warheads flattened villages, and cracked defense lines. Lance strikes focused on any trace of resistance in the lower part of the Peninsula.
The Warp pulsed strangely, while its denizens feasted. Something powerful looked at the battlefield, and Eliphas could feel the tiniest sliver of attention from his Patrons. The Warp resonated with power, and he could hear chanting in his mind.
"With the thirty-seven keys of Tzeentch, we open the way for our brothers!" A Sorcerer screamed and plunged his clawed fingers in the chest of a prisoner to tear out her still-beating heart.
"With the thousand whispers of Slaanesh, we call to them!"
In a profaned temple to the Corpse-Emperor, a murder-orgy took place led by the dead Governor's concubine. Reality sundered and clawed Daemonetes burst through, joining the celebration.
"With the twelve plagues of Nurgle, we fell their enemies!"
Within a steel pen, dozens of prisoners writhed in agony, while countless diseases ravaged their bodies and withered their souls, in preparation to turn them into Daemon hosts.
"And with the mighty ax of Khorne, we cut open the world for them!"
Berserkers and Khornate cultists fell upon each other, spilling blood and gathering skulls for their patron. Meanwhile, a Sorcerer used a ceremonial ax to behead a long line of prisoners, gleefully spilling their blood and using it as fuel.
"Come forth, and spread the Truth of Chaos!" Something whispered within Eliphas' mind.
"Show me the Warpgate!" He demanded and soon a corrupted hololith, covered in pulsing veins, came to life, displaying the gate in all its glory.
Daemons raced through by the scores, while World Bearer squads marched in lockstep like on an ancient parade.
It was an unending tide of warriors to drown the enemies of Chaos Undivided! Eliphas grinned widely at the sight, then he frowned. The pouring horde slowed down, and the screaming surface of the portal shimmered. A familiar, hated presence observed the unfolding events and expended power to defy Chaos itself.
To Eliphas' inhuman senses, beyond the comforting presence of his Patrons' energy, he could barely perceive a wave of searing golden power. It was Anathema, it stood against everything he believed in! With every passing moment, it rose the price needed to bring reinforcements higher and higher.
What was so important here it would bring the Corpse's attention?! Whatever it was, Eliphas knew he had to deny it to the enemy!
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Anteas arrived at the battle in style. He rode across the hell-scape in the back of a precious Land-raider, surrounded by a veteran Terminator squad wielding priceless weaponry and armor. For this operation, Captain Thule pulled off all the stops and opened all the vaults on board of their Battle Barge.
The super-heavy assault transport drove behind a spearhead of Predator tanks, followed by a Guard Baneblade repaired and upgraded with the help of the Necrons. As a consequence, for a change, it wasn't the Astartes who drew most enemy attention.
The countless Necron Drones swarming around the battlefield, providing distraction or lethal weaponry had something to do with that state of affairs, the Librarian guessed. He had his helmet's HUD linked to the venerable machine's external cameras, and it showed him a rare apocalypse.
Scarred, twisted and bleeding soil burned, weapons of all kinds burned lines through the air, and as far as the eye could see, there were explosions beyond number. A single glance was enough to tell Anteas that on this battlefield, only the Guard units with access to sealed armor would be of any use – everyone else would die screaming in short order, either because of radiation, toxins, plagues, or raw Warp exposure. In their short time on Kronus, the Traitors had turned this region into a slice of a daemon world… and they were only on the outskirts of the infestation! Anteas didn't want to think about what they would find when they pushed deeper.
"Target, twelve o'clock. Demolisher." The driver announced.
"I have it." The Land-raider vibrated when it's heavy Lascannons spoke as one.
Anteas saw the target – a former Guard vehicle profaned by now burning Chaos iconography. The corrupted machine was turning around, while a group of Necron warriors repeatedly shot it in the flank, stripping large amounts of armor with every hit. It didn't manage to bring its main weapons to bear on the Xenos – a full alpha strike from the Land-raider caught it in the side and cored it, igniting ammunition and fuel. Some small Drones flew into the holes and detonated, obliterating anything that might have survived the Astartes' attention.
A group of deformed mutants crested a hill to the left, carrying heavy weaponry. Before they could acquire targets, a Vindicator turned them into a red mist with a long barrage reminiscent of a laser beam.
A platoon of PDF Leman Russ tanks attempted to slow down the loyalist advance and squared off against the Land-raider and its Predator escort. That exchange of fire was over quickly and had predictable results. The enemy managed to score a single hit, which glanced off the thick frontal plate of the assault transport. The faster and nimble Astartes tanks avoided all incoming fire before shooting up the opposition.
"Aquila Actual to all Retribution elements. Advance fifteen more kilometers and establish a defensive perimeter. Task Force Talon is on the way to secure a Forward Operation Base. Eldar forces will act as a screening element…"
Traitor artillery finally caught up with the advance and a lucky hit threw off a track from the Predator on point. The Blood Raven tank skid to a halt and caught multiple AT missiles in the side.
"Traitor Astartes with heavy weaponry." Anteas concluded. He could barely perceive their forms through the camera feed. Witchcraft cloaked them. "Foul sorcery." The Librarian decided and busied himself with shattering it.