Chapter 38: Chapter 5 Part 4
Chapter 5: The Battle of Victory Bay
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Part 4
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Victory Bay
Kronus
Sergeant Forkas followed the Angel of Death to his best ability, determined not to face the Xeno alone. He wasn't going to say it aloud no matter what, but having a large, very dangerous target beside him sounded like a good way to divert the enemy's attention and keep breathing for longer, perhaps long enough so the Imperial forces could put down the aliens for good!
Following the Astartes was easier said than done. The giant of a man tore through walls, shattered the floor to make a path, a few times blasted through the ceiling with his bolter before jumping up in an impossible feat of strength and agility given the apparent bulk and height of his armour. He left a trail of bloody and dying Eldar in his way too and Gabriel was more than happy to ensure that the Xeno were dead for good.
All good things had to come to an end. Without any warning, the Astartes sprinter forward, ran through a wall after weakening it with a burst of bolter fire and before the debris had finished falling, he crossed the room beyond and jumped through the shattered ruing of a shot up window. Forkas cursed and ran after the overgrown maniac before some sneaky alien decided he would make for a good target to pick up.
The Space Marine landed between a pair of those screaming bitches and engaged them with bolter and knife that was a full sized sword for a normal human. The avenue outside was a scene of utter carnage with Imperial soldiers and those metal Xenos fighting the Eldar, there was fire and blood everywhere, and the screaming of the dying… Gabriel shuddered but didn't let his fear and revulsion slow him down. He aimed and opened fire at the Banshees, counting that any stray shots won't do more than inconvenience the Angel of Death.
A sleek alien fighter roared overhead, chased by Imperial Interceptors that struggled to keep up with it. A crack of blinding lighting and buffering wave of displaced air heralded the arrival of enemy reinforcements. More Eldar craft streaked through the sky, this time pursued both by Imperial and Necron machines – there was no mistaking those crescent shaped monsters for anything else.
Of more immediate concern was the reinforcements the Eldar brought to bear. Suddenly the Emperor damned bloody battle turned into pure slaughter for everyone involved. The fresh Eldar threw themselves in the fight with a relish, preventing their friends form being properly overran and trampled under the boots and threads of the Guard. Fortunately, the Imperial reserves were nearby as well and a whole PDF infantry regiment threw itself into the fray pouring countless bodies into the slaughter. The streets ran red with human and alien blood, Forkas saw whole squads die under the guns and blades of the Eldar, some shot, other cut and torn apart, burned, melted and blown up. Then there was the abominable heretical sorcery the Xeno wielded doing terrible things to behold to those it struck.
Gabriel kept firing pausing only to reload or throw the odd grenade into the fray. He had to displace twice when Eldar marked his position, yet they were distracted by his fellow Guardsmen and women, giving him barely enough time to get out of his position before a plasma grenade turned one into inferno and a the second became so much kindling thanks to rapid fire projectile weaponry. The Sergeant didn't survive intact – his thick carapace armour turned away glancing hits, cracking in the process, and in two cases it barely held shots that passed through walls to touch him, he even felt a rib shatter, or perhaps that was the armour plate? It hurt like hell anyway, it was getting harder to breath but at least he wasn't coughing blood and that was something, right?
Many humans and xeno alike below were less fortunate. The abattoir there was complete. Lasguns, multi lasers, melta, plasma, bolters, even the threads of Chimeras and a tank platoon that just arrived to provide close support to the bloody infantry… Nothing should have been able to stand against such a display of human might, yet the Eldar refused to break, they threw themselves with suicidal abadon at the Guard determined to slaughter as many humans as they possibly could before superior numbers and firepower buried them, sometimes literally!
Gabriel knew war, he had faced both Orks and Tau before, but this, this was something else! Why didn't the knife-eared freaks break and run!? That way at least a few of them might make it out and any of his buddies still alive in this slaughterhouse might yet survive! Forkas kept shooting and without thinking began screaming his hatred at the Xeno who kept killing everyone in sight.
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I don't know how long it took me to get back my faculties, but it couldn't have been that long, because the fighting was still going on around us and we were still alive. On the bright side, now there are more and more Guardsmen streaming into the avenue, and they brought armoured support – Sentinels that stood as far away from the Eldar and shot at them with heavy stubbers, multi-lasers and lans-cannons, Chimeras with similar armament as well, which were sturdy enough to provide some cover from certain Eldar weapons.
Another positive was that the freak that tried to shoot me in the back was now well and truly dead – there was an Astartes towering above his body, and the Space Marine's foot had smashed through the Eldar's skull, with the boot still in place, caked in blood and brains, while its owner kept shooting downrange.
"Inquisitor, are you all right?!" A deep voice boomed loud enough to hear over the roar of the battle.
"I'll live!" I shouted back and tried to get up. My brain immediately protested and it didn't help that I had gained a limpet – the little girl now clung to my side, empty eyes staring at nothing in particular and refused to let go. Either she was surprisingly strong or I was more messed up than I thought I was, because when I tried, I miserably failed to pry her away without hurting her.
It took a Guardsman who had his right arm hanging limply helping me get up, girl attached to my side and all.
"What's the situation?!" I demanded from no one in particular.
"The bastards are dying hard, Inquisitor!" A young Commissar, hell the boy looked younger than me, thundered form nearby. When I saw him, he was busy dragging back a screaming Guardsman who had his guts shout to hell. "Commissar Charles Weber at your service, sir!" He flourished his bloody chainsword in my direction, shoved the wounded bastard at a Medicae and drew his bolt pistol. "Orders? Do we continue charging the bastards and trying our best to stick them with the pointy end or do you have something fancy in mind?"
"She's a blank!" I shouted back. "We can use her to shut down any xeno sorcery by bringing her close to the bloody bastards, we just need to keep her in one piece!"
"Ah, so we would only worry about being shot and cut open." The Commissar nodded happily. "I can work with that! Jones, push the Chimeras ahead and get me two squads of your biggest, toughest bastards to act as bodyguards!"
"And someone help me put her down without breaking her fingers!" I added.
"You intent to lead from the front like you did against that Ork?!" Weber exclaimed, excitement coloring his voice. "That was awesome, you're truly a credit to the Inquisition and Humanity as a whole, Sir! We'll be right beside you, won't we boys and girls?!"
The nearby troops cheered gleefully, though not a single one of them capable of fighting even slowed down firing at any and all Eldar in sight.
What the hell did I just volunteer for?!
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