71 The Tactical Genius
"Close formation and FIRE!"
The roaring sound of command echoes when the last civilian from the Legellan passes through haps between five primarily formed formations. Within half a second, the 8th Mordian iron Guard Regiment reformed back to one, and with a single smooth motion, the entire front row went down to their belly, the second row went into one knee, and third remind standing with all their weapons aiming at hoards of lesser daemons of Slaanesh charging towards them.
The walls of lasguns emit blue lights as extreme temperature coherent photons shots hit incoming lesser daemons. The 1,500 Mordian Iron Guards continue their rate of fire without hesitation while lesser daemons continue to charge closer and closer. Before a small group of daemons could reach the line, the Storm Troopers appeared from the left side of the field and ambushed the daemons.
Now, attacked from the two sides, the lesser daemons lost their momentum and began to retreat. This didn't stop the Imperial Guard as they continued to fire their lasguns until daemons ran away beyond their firing range.
"Hold your fire! STOP!" The regimental commanding officer gave his command after receiving his order from the higher chain of command. Standing on the top of the hill, Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed lit his cigar in his mouth and began to puff the cigar.
Lord Creed observes the battlefield with his binoculars, enjoying the burning scent and sound of the Emperor's enemy dying. Upon his quick observation, Creed saw a large dust cloud coming towards him at high speed. With a big smile on his face, Lord Creed orders the vox caster trooper to prepare his troops.
"Prepare for the second wave and inform Lord William that we have more enemy coming. Give the clear command to the artillery company and have Commissar Cain ready when I give my order." After Lord Creed gave his order, he turned around and turned his binocular to the right side, towards the small forest, and smiled again.
He missed the feeling, the exhilaration of frontline battle and tension that makes him realize that he is living the very moment. The same feeling, when he fought the Despoiler and exchanged blade to blade for a short period of time to save the Living Saint. The Despoiler's facial expression at that moment was priceless, and the realization that a mere mortal stood against the Warmaster was poetic justice for Creed.
"Like a riding an assault bike."
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"Have the civilian check by the Hospitaller and make sure soldiers of Legellan disarmed. Kill them if they refuse." The Veteran Sergeant Sariel of the Blood Angel commands the rest of the reserve guardsmen and his battle brothers. The number of civilians who escaped from the capital city is enormous, close to 480, they were exhausted, and some are wounded from the cuts given by the daemons. The unlucky ones died painlessly as Sister of Hospitaller gave a merciful death instead of letting them suffer from chaos corruption slowing taking their body and mind.
"We can help," Rana said to Sariel, and her foot soldiers and knights divided the group of civilians and Legellan soldiers while maintaining their hands on their weapons, ready to draw blood if necessary.
Meanwhile, William and the rest of the battle brothers gather at the command table, observing the 3D-generated map provided by the cog boys. The image display is in the classical color of green with a few additional colors indicating which one is friendly and which one is the enemy. According to the map, the capital city is burning, and most of the sections are already taken by the Slaanesh forces. There is also intel that forces of Chaos Marines, the Emperor's Children, join the Chaos campaign.
"Traitor Astartes. Let us purge them once and for all." One of the Black Templars loads his bolter with a fresh magazine with rage equal to his gene father's, and the rest of his brothers followed.
"We will have our turn soon, but we must prepare for the second wave. Lord Creed already prepared for them, but I'm sure forces of Chaos came prepared, unlike last time." Without his helmet on, William said to everyone and focused the 3D map on where a large group of daemons is coming at the front line.
"Then let us face them head-on. We are more than ready to slay the enemies of the Allfather. This will be one for the tales of tonight's feast." The Wolf Seer said with absolute certainty that all 30 Space Wolves and their 20 Fenrisian Wolves howl like a call to battle.
'I can't ever get used to that, a real Fenrisian Wolves in the flesh. I think one of them can actually carry my weight, of course, without my terminator armor.' William thought to himself, but as he was about to object to what Wolf Seer said before, Sergeant Dioricus of the Ultramarine jumped in to stop the wolves from jumping into battle.
"This is why we don't allow barbarians to handle the strategy. According to the Codex Astartes, we must either flank the enemy or attack their leadership to prevent further advancement. In this case, we have to close any warp portals that allow them to increase their number. I recommend that we send a kill team to eliminate the creature that is maintaining the warp portal." Dioricus points out the red display on the map, which shows the signature of warp energy rising higher and higher. After seeing the increasing level of the warp energy, even the Wolf Seer agreed to this and was first to volunteer to join the kill team.
"We still have two Valkyries that can carry at least eight Space Marines behind the enemy line and to the capital city. I will join the fight and gain their attention while the second team handles the warp portal. Meanwhile, the rest of you will join the frontline and advance to the capital city. The mission objective is to search and destroy. May the Emperor guide you all. The Emperor protects." William put on his terminator helmet, ending the meeting as everyone shouts, 'Emperor protects,' and prepares for departure.
The first kill team is William, Vaskell the Wolf Seer, Space Wolves, and Black Templar.
The second kill team is Veteran Cantus of the Black Templars, his battle brother, and two Ultramarines armed with one heavy bolter and plasma rifle.
"Load up!" After William finished inspecting the two kill teams, he ordered everyone to jump into two aerial vehicles. Just as William is about to board, Sergeant Dioricus stops him to talk to William.
"You have many things to explain, Chapter Master. This 'new' chapter of yours need to be evaluated before every brother commits to it. By the book." Ultramarine said to William as William turned around to reply.
William's custom-built terminator armor overshadows the Space Marine's height in power armor, standing almost head taller than Ultramarine.
"You will have all your questions explained, trust me. My chapter will bring a new definition of death and terror to Emperor's enemy, including four powers of Chaos." William's voice is calm and gentle, but the message within gave a very different feeling. The seasoned Space Marine of Ultramar felt a cold presence coming from William. The feeling Dioricus is currently experiencing is disturbing but unexplainable. The closest explanation would be like his very soul is being pulled from his physical body by the icy cold hand.
"I will see you at the end. The Emperor protects." Ultramarine quickly says his farewell to the Lord and Chapter Master of the Legion of Blacksouls and watches two Valkyries lift off from the base camp.
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Soon, the battlefield group shakes again as hundreds of lesser daemons and Fiends of Slaanesh charge in full speed as if they have unlimited stamina. The unnatural musk and fragrances of attraction began to affect Iron Guards as many began to lose their focus or ability to lift weapons dues to dizziness. Just as Iron Guards are about to lose entire frontline defense, whistling sounds can be heard from the sky as fast incoming projectiles begin to fall from it.
…BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground shook, and the whole battlefield turned into a bombardment frenzy as men and women of the 335th Death Korps Artillery company continued their artillery bombardment like well-oiled machinery. All 15 Basilisks pump out shells onto the enemy as many of the daemons are ripped into pieces as their beautiful but sicking bodies couldn't endure the Imperium's firepower.
The battle turns into a slaughtering field, and Iron Guards regain their composure as explosions wake them from Chaos spell in disguise as scent. As for the Storm Troopers, have their vacuum sealed helmets that prevent them from falling into the enemy trap and watch the firework, weapons ready in case there are surviving daemons. Just as the second wave began to perish, three warp portals suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and six fully armed Seeker Chariots of Slaanesh came out from it in full speed.
Appeared too close for the artillery to fire, the Skeer Chariots charge in full speed as Iron Guards once again fire their lasguns. But without heavy support and firepower, the chariots continue without showing any signs of slowing down. Just as the battlefield advantage turn in favor of the Slaanesh's side, Lord Creed continues to smile and signal Cain to come out and attack.
"Commissar, you may attack." Hearing the Creed's command, Commissar Cain entire land vehicles to advance at full speed. Riding on the top hull of his Chimera tank, Cain and five troop carrier truck, Land Raiders Crusader, and five Sentinel walkers come out of the forest and make a barricade in front of the Iron Guards.
Five troop carriers stopped in front of the front line and lined up on the side of the incoming enemy. After the trucks stopped, the back cover reveals the hidden Catachan heavy bolter support teams and a few rocket launcher squads on the back of every truck. As for the Cain's Chimera and Land Raider, position themselves at the end of each side of the trucks, all weapons pointing at the enemy.
"Open fire!" Commissar Cain orders through an open vox box channel, and every land vehicle unleashes devastating firepower. From heavy bolters to the autocannons, the sheer destruction of the daemons on chariots couldn't withstand as their full speed prevented them from changing the direction of their course or making a complete stop in time. Nonetheless, no matter what these daemons did, it wouldn't matter as their death was inevitable the moment Creed recognized who his enemy was.
The tactical genius of the Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed easily wiped the three different waves of the Slaanesh's forces even before the remaining Space Marines managed to step on the battlefield. After seeing no additional enemies approaching either from the capital city or portal, Lord Creed ordered the Death Korps of Kreig to bomb the portals and shut them down once and for all.
"Send vox message to the Astartes that they can have the honor of sieging the city. We have done our part in the field brought victory to the God-Emperor. Now, we support his Angels as they face the Archenemy." Lord Creed said to his vox trooper and prepared reserve force for the siege battle.
Meanwhile, Sisters of Battle and Rana's soldiers handle the situation back on the base as many tell the tales of a giant daemon and its followers in heavy armor and weapons. Among those tales, a humanoid figure with unraveling beauty is mentioned but unable to speak his name as those who knew, refuse to speak it. A few days ago, the same name was sung by thousands of maidens and men who wished to be just like him. Later on, the name 'Makato Amano' is forever erased by the Legellan history as they never want to associate with the being who sold his mortal soul to the daemon and became the very thing he was chosen to kill, the daemon prince.
