The klaxons blared throughout the armoury. Warning all the required troops to report to their transports as ordered. Caiden stood holding his helmet in the crook of his arm. He watched astartes as they went thru their battle gear prayers and rites of battle, wondering when the day would come that he could put on a holy suit of power armour. Caiden felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned to see Larenz starring at him with his helmet on. “Lets go before out thunderhawk takes off without us, how often do you get to ride alongside other astartes. The two ran with their squad towards the embarkation deck, passing by menials and servitors who gave them curious glances. Caiden hadent felt this alive since he last had seen action against the vile Eldar xenos. Though his last encounter resulted in him almost being eviscerated by a group of howling female xenos, he was rescued by the 1st Captain and his honour guard.
Larenz pointed to sergeant Malloy who was in full power armour alongside his squad, and the squad hurried over to the sergeant’s position. “Sergeant, the men have finished their prayers and wish to board”, said Caiden sharply. The sergeant looked sternly at the Caiden, “there is no room in this transport, but your squad is lucky, you will be riding alongside Captain Trake and his command squad, in the lead thunderhawk, hurry because they won’t wait for you, and remember this is an opportunity to gain valuable knowledge from a superior, now move.”
Caiden felt a rush wash over him, in fact he had already started moving before he realised the honour that was bestowed upon him and his squad. Captain Trake was a legend who had never been bested in combat by a foe. His leadership pushed the chapter to achieve great things and he was credited with being an amazing tactician. To fight alongside such a figure was a rare amongst the scout auxilia, but the knowledge that could be gained has no price upon it.
The scouts approached the captains thunderhawk and clambered up the entry hatch only to see the captain and his honour guard already strapped in and ready for launch. Captain Trake locked eyes with Caiden, “are you squad leader?” Caiden nodded his head, “yes captain, I am.” The captain snickered at the pride in Caiden’s voice. “Get you squad in their seats before I decide this was a bad idea.” Caiden dint even need to tell his men when to do they were already doing it, the captains being enough to motivate a man out of a coma. Caiden locked away his bolter in the storage compartment and then locked himself into the grav harness of his seat. This was going to be one hell of a ride.
The thuderhawk streaked through the thick polluted air that covered the planet of Gundac. AA guns blared into the sky trying to pick off the fast moving transport ships but never hitting any mark. Caiden searched the ground for evidence of a firefight but could only see the vast miles of factories and miniature hives that barely scraped the sky. According to Captain Trake’s short and simple briefing, they were headed to a holy basilica where rioters had turned deadly and killed members of the parish. The arbites had withdrawn close to 4 days ago and it was up to the Stone Dragons to take it back in the name of the Emperor. Caiden could see other thunderhawks flying in formation alongside the one transporting him. He wondered how crazed these rioters must have been to go ahead and murder the preachers and priests of the basilica but he cared not to much on the subject as the situation would be over soon.
“ONE MINUTE T’ILL TOUCHDOWN”, screamed the pilot of the thunderhawk. Caiden could feel the ship lowering its thrust and coming down for a landing. Caiden watched as Captain Trake disengaged his grav harness and walk toward the cockpit of the thunderhawk. The Captain turned to face the whole group in their seats, “no quarter for traitors, no mercy Dragons!” Caiden felt the thunderhawk slam down and land, the Captain dint even seem phased by the hard slam that was their landing. The whole cabin disengaged their harnesses and before Caiden could even take his bolter out of its rack, the astartes were filling out of the thunderhawk.
The Basilica Dafoe was once a great place of worship. It was home to saint Dafoe in mid M32, and was the his resting place as well. The saint had come alone to the planet and one by one turned the populace to the light of the Emperor. How such a feat was done by one man was unknown but in time the people built the great basilica in his honour and he preached the word of the Emperor to great audiences of people. When saint Dafoe was assassinated, the basilica became the headquarters for the church’s presense on the planet. Whatever you once might have called a great place of worship was now rendered defiled by the corpses that littered the street or hung from the walls of the basilica. Death literally hung in the air and it almost made Caiden want to choke. He knew he would be fine due to his enhancements given to him by the chapter, but still the idea of so much gore and death seemed like it was only in legends that Caiden had heard when he was a child.
“Squad leader Holtzen, delta pattern fan formation, grouping behind my unit, stay close and sharp”, it was captain Trake’s voice over his comm. Caiden gave the hand signals to indicate the order to his squad and the group moved out. The main doors of the basilica were a kilometre east from their position and the captain’s plan was to use breaches in the basilica’s walls and flood in from different corners cutting down the traitors in a hail of bolter fire. The captain and his honour guards movements were like fluid, and its was as if they never missed a beat, Caiden feared the idea of having to face the wrath of such experienced warriors. The whole group hit the wall and two marines form the honour guard toke out overly large melta charges from satchels strapped to their backbacks. They placed the charges and gave a thumbs up to the captain once they were engaged. Trake nodded and spoke into his vox unit. “All squads report!” their was a moment of silence followed by four replies of “squad ready”. Trake ordered everyone to a safe distance and then gave the order to blow all charges.
...... to be continued
Larenz pointed to sergeant Malloy who was in full power armour alongside his squad, and the squad hurried over to the sergeant’s position. “Sergeant, the men have finished their prayers and wish to board”, said Caiden sharply. The sergeant looked sternly at the Caiden, “there is no room in this transport, but your squad is lucky, you will be riding alongside Captain Trake and his command squad, in the lead thunderhawk, hurry because they won’t wait for you, and remember this is an opportunity to gain valuable knowledge from a superior, now move.”
Caiden felt a rush wash over him, in fact he had already started moving before he realised the honour that was bestowed upon him and his squad. Captain Trake was a legend who had never been bested in combat by a foe. His leadership pushed the chapter to achieve great things and he was credited with being an amazing tactician. To fight alongside such a figure was a rare amongst the scout auxilia, but the knowledge that could be gained has no price upon it.
The scouts approached the captains thunderhawk and clambered up the entry hatch only to see the captain and his honour guard already strapped in and ready for launch. Captain Trake locked eyes with Caiden, “are you squad leader?” Caiden nodded his head, “yes captain, I am.” The captain snickered at the pride in Caiden’s voice. “Get you squad in their seats before I decide this was a bad idea.” Caiden dint even need to tell his men when to do they were already doing it, the captains being enough to motivate a man out of a coma. Caiden locked away his bolter in the storage compartment and then locked himself into the grav harness of his seat. This was going to be one hell of a ride.
The thuderhawk streaked through the thick polluted air that covered the planet of Gundac. AA guns blared into the sky trying to pick off the fast moving transport ships but never hitting any mark. Caiden searched the ground for evidence of a firefight but could only see the vast miles of factories and miniature hives that barely scraped the sky. According to Captain Trake’s short and simple briefing, they were headed to a holy basilica where rioters had turned deadly and killed members of the parish. The arbites had withdrawn close to 4 days ago and it was up to the Stone Dragons to take it back in the name of the Emperor. Caiden could see other thunderhawks flying in formation alongside the one transporting him. He wondered how crazed these rioters must have been to go ahead and murder the preachers and priests of the basilica but he cared not to much on the subject as the situation would be over soon.
“ONE MINUTE T’ILL TOUCHDOWN”, screamed the pilot of the thunderhawk. Caiden could feel the ship lowering its thrust and coming down for a landing. Caiden watched as Captain Trake disengaged his grav harness and walk toward the cockpit of the thunderhawk. The Captain turned to face the whole group in their seats, “no quarter for traitors, no mercy Dragons!” Caiden felt the thunderhawk slam down and land, the Captain dint even seem phased by the hard slam that was their landing. The whole cabin disengaged their harnesses and before Caiden could even take his bolter out of its rack, the astartes were filling out of the thunderhawk.
The Basilica Dafoe was once a great place of worship. It was home to saint Dafoe in mid M32, and was the his resting place as well. The saint had come alone to the planet and one by one turned the populace to the light of the Emperor. How such a feat was done by one man was unknown but in time the people built the great basilica in his honour and he preached the word of the Emperor to great audiences of people. When saint Dafoe was assassinated, the basilica became the headquarters for the church’s presense on the planet. Whatever you once might have called a great place of worship was now rendered defiled by the corpses that littered the street or hung from the walls of the basilica. Death literally hung in the air and it almost made Caiden want to choke. He knew he would be fine due to his enhancements given to him by the chapter, but still the idea of so much gore and death seemed like it was only in legends that Caiden had heard when he was a child.
“Squad leader Holtzen, delta pattern fan formation, grouping behind my unit, stay close and sharp”, it was captain Trake’s voice over his comm. Caiden gave the hand signals to indicate the order to his squad and the group moved out. The main doors of the basilica were a kilometre east from their position and the captain’s plan was to use breaches in the basilica’s walls and flood in from different corners cutting down the traitors in a hail of bolter fire. The captain and his honour guards movements were like fluid, and its was as if they never missed a beat, Caiden feared the idea of having to face the wrath of such experienced warriors. The whole group hit the wall and two marines form the honour guard toke out overly large melta charges from satchels strapped to their backbacks. They placed the charges and gave a thumbs up to the captain once they were engaged. Trake nodded and spoke into his vox unit. “All squads report!” their was a moment of silence followed by four replies of “squad ready”. Trake ordered everyone to a safe distance and then gave the order to blow all charges.
...... to be continued
