Imperial City Ruins With the Death Angels there in force the city was being retaken at a rapid pace, Dark Angel's strike teams touching down to rapidly cleanse heretic hide outs and clusters of Tyranids. The ambushes were of some effect but the nature of the chapter saw that they weren't simply moving about in vulnerable patrols but striking from above in swift, merciless maneuvers that bypassed a number of ambush zones. Atrius had informed one such force of the situation in the sewers and provided his knowledge of it's lay out to get progress cleansing the underground tunnels going at an accelerated rate while the Blood Angel's scouts were ferried back to HQ for medical treatment and rearming.
Calling ahead to the main ork base, he put in an order for a very specific object. He had heard of it from the great war world and heaven to all orks, Armageddon. Payment in teef as soon as he arrived. Listening to the radio while slowly riding home, he heard chatter of new artefacts. This would be good indeed...
OOC: Lets move this along, shall we? Alurria had returned to the members of her shrine bearing news. Layairda sat on the ground patiently awaiting her Exarch's words. The area was silent for a moment, and then the Exarch's voice broke the silence. "Six more artifacts have appeared. Lissia has given us the task of recovering one in jungles of this planet. We are to retrieve it before the Astartes can reach it, for when they arrive, their prize will be gone. The Wayseers have prepared a portal for us in the vicinity of where the artifacts where detected, we will need to act quickly." The Howling Banshees of the Graceful Blades nodded to display they understood. "If we encounter the humans?" One of them asked. "We are to avoid them at all costs." Alurria replied. "We can waste no more time, let us depart." With that the Graceful Blades made their way to the Webway portal to begin their endeavor. ---- The assault had began. Medathron was at the forefront of the attack. He fought his way through wall, machine, and heretic alike, slicing them all apart with his claws. Devastators provided supporting fire while the assault marines jumped into the midst of the bloody combat. Eldritch and his squad moved in behind Medathron, staying close together and supporting one another. The Marines fought fiercely hoping to draw the attention of the Chaos forces solely on them.
Astartes Assault Line: Scavold thundered forward into renegade marines with twenty three eager Blood Claws howling with joy behind him. His pack broke ahead of the other Space Wolves and struck deep into the lines of their foes without heed of the risk that they may be cut off, only the death of the Emperor's enemies mattered. His power claws flashed before him in grand sweeps of lightning sheathed death that made a mockery of power armor and flak vest alike. His pack of pups reveled in the slaughter alongside him as their chains words howled bloody praise to the God Emperor and their bolt pistols barked furiously like their owners. Eldritch's plan was highly favorable to him, all it demanded was that they let loose and make a target of themselves, something too dangerous to ignore. Now that they were well stuck in he let the modicum of cunning he possessed out and fired every single rocket from the cyclone rack hanging just above him. Sweeping his upper body with a claw stroke as he did so to create a line of devastation as a mixture of krak and frag missiles erupted amongst a line of advancing tanks and soldiers. Nothing drew the eye like a good pyrotechnics display and Scavold let out a booming laugh at the carnage caused. "Let them ignore that! Forward pups, strike the wounded beast before it musters it's strength aknew!" And once more, they pushed deeper into the enemy lines.
Gaia: Lissia's Biel-Tan battleforce winked into existence on the central ecological clash-zone on Gaia. They were bold, appearing directly east of an outcropping of an ancient structure only best described as a monument or temple. The structure settled right between the terminator between the jungle and grassland. The Eldar appeared in the grassland, free of the venomous jungle towards the west. Lissia ordered her warhost into the structure, and commanded immediate development of a perimeter with dark reapers posted monitoring the approaches to the structure. She sent warp spiders and rangers out to scan the surrounding region and sent detachments of banshees and fire dragons into the temple to remove any obstacles in the tight corners under the ground. With the acrobatics of the Banshees and the power of the Dragons, Lissia believed reaching the artifact would take little time at all. Brias: Spiritseer Aerothir had been appointed to command his brother and sisters, alive and dead, in taking the artifacts of Brias. He set his force in motion immediately, moving his necromantic automotons into the webway, and onto the icy wastes of the arctic south. They brought a small detachment of their aspect warriors to fill the gaps between their wraith units, but their intention was direct. Aerothir split their force into two groups and set out to capture two of the artifacts of Brias. He left the third one, closer to the grasp of enemy forces on the continent to the north, for last in an attempt to avoid unnecessary Imperial entanglements. He positioned his forces in a perimeter around each artifact's supposed location, buried in the ice within yawning caverns of crushing cold, sending in the wraithguard and wraithblades to cut their way into the ice, supplemented with warlocks to aid them in their spelunking. Both detachments of Eldar carried multiple webway beacons so that the wayseers at Hell's Gate could extract them quickly once their prizes were in hand. Citadel: Selhiat coordinated with Atharys's forces in removing anti-air batteries, defensive battlements and attacking in small, swift raids to remove only critical pieces of equipment before the Space Wolves' full force reached each position. As for the Blood Angels', Atharys's forces made a clear point of avoiding all Blood Angel attack zones. The Space Wolves would fight unimpeded, but the uncooperative Blood Angels were on their own. Not necessarily that they needed it...
Skarlm the Wolf Scout, Astartes Assault on the Undaunted Citadel: Arriving in the wake of the assault allowed Skarlm ample opportunities to observe the citadel from much closer. Massive and foreboding the structure stood defiant in light of the attack that now carved new wounds into its flanks. Enemy gun emplacements blasted apart as Eldar weaponry cleared the path for the Astartes assault. Where the traitors and the loyalists met the forward momentum ceased and battle lines blurred as the defenders proved their resolve. Traitors and loyalists died by the score and cries of pain and triumph mingled unnoticed in the din of explosions and weapons fire. Skarlm ran with his brothers, letting the press of bodies carry him to the walls. Slinging his rifle, he draws his bolt pistol and affixes the hook grapnel. He fires his grapnel over the edge of the battlements and ascends the wall as quickly as possible. The section of wall he climbs onto is deserted, a nearby weapon's platform blasted to ruin, shards of metal melted and twisted by the heat of the explosion. The sickly sweet smell of corruption was now joined by the fresh coppery tang of blood, the unmistakable scent of shredded viscera and postmortem reek of evacuated bowels. This was war and his senses basked in the debased reality of it. This was were he was most comfortable. Drawing his blade, Ultionis, and slowly stalking along the battlements, he comes across the bodies of the traitor's retinue, his handiwork, yes, but messy and unintended. Skarlm's blood boiled in his veins at this affront... these are merely collateral. Where's the prize? Sniffing the air he catches something, a kind of pheromone trail but barely detectable. "Welcome, Sssssskarlm," comes a sibilant whisper from behind," I've been waiting for you..." The lash wrapped itself around Skarlm's neck as he moved to face his opponent, barbs along the length of the whip dug into his bare flesh, a kind of dulling sensation spreading outwards from the wounds. Quickly realizing this he lunges forward, the sudden jerk providing just enough freedom of motion for him to turn and cut the lash with Ultionis. The traitor merely cocked his head, the numerous piercings in his face moving weirdly with a smile. The remaining portion of the whip seemed to shrivel and fall off, the numbness quickly combated by his enhanced physiology. Now on equal terms with the traitor, Skarlm growled audibly, he could feel the hair on his neck rise as he began to charge. A howl echoed in his mind and once again the wolf was on the prowl. He could hear the pads of its feet and as he brought the massive power blade down in an overhand swing, the wolf howled again as it met two power blades in a burst of white-blue light, arcs of electrical discharge dancing wildly from the blades' edges. This time Skarlm did the howling and the traitor's smile grew wide, too wide, and then he laughed...
~~ Hive Fleet Kraken - Orbit ~~ "Alpha. Time. Has. Come." It ordered the Hive Tyrant, an army ready at it's disposal, feeding him with the information of the Chaos and Eldar fighting against eachother. "Slaughter. Them. All. Then. Devour." It ordered the mighty beast. With this much of Bio-Mass and absorbing perhaps even some strings of their DNA they would gain an advantage over the Rogue Mind. It would be devoured and defeated just like these puny little beings are going to be crushed very soon... The Spores were ready to make planetfall, The Gargoyles circled the Orbit.Even a few Haruspex were ready to unleash the horrors of the Hive Fleet. None Shall Live, but the Hive Mind!
Coryphaus Dorvin: Western Line The time had come, the Celestial Stairs had been reduced to ruin. Across the blood soaked ravine, the forward line still raged, a wall of inferno covering the Word Bearers retreat. The vox clicked active, the voice of the Desolate Lord seeping across the lines. "The time has come to withdrawal, the Stairs are Dead, press upon the Warsmith's tower with all haste, our enemies seek to steal the Holy Lands of Chaos." Coryphaus rallied the men in short order. The Forsaken Guard eager to leave the scorched plains, while the Host had wished to counter the Imperials that had suffered so to seize the Outpost lines. Reluctantly, they trusted the word of their superiors, the new vengeance brewing within their hearts. With the Word Bearers main force of infantry, daemon engines, and winged furies, they fell back towards the Undaunted Citadel. Fanning out in an inverted horseshoe formation, the force flanked the Imperial troops advancing upon the fortress, the first volley of holy fire tearing into the spines of the advancing enemy. Caught between the citadel and the Word Bearer forces, Imperial troops fired in all directions, nearly surrounded on three sides by a force of supported infantry, daemon harpies screeching wordless hate as they dove upon the besieged enemy, though the guns of the Citadel itself remained mysteriously silent. As the embattled enemy forces struggled to maintain order, Dorvin tightened the noose around the forsworn besiegers, his forces slowing their fire as to not hit their own as the crossfire closed in. Lord Yuri the Desolate: Armored Column Firebrand Rider packs swarmed the advancing tanks, Word Bearer Predators flanked by their Forsworn Guards Russ Battle Tanks. His men pressed North West, towards the flickering icon of a fresh artifact, its presence barely registering on the sensors, but pulsating in the Lord Sorcerer's mind. The xeno infection had claimed the first device, its power obvious as it was mysterious. As their enemies struggled in the West, the Word Bearer Elite would take the devices sanctum, their forces barreling down on whatever lies ahead. OOC- Moving on the Unidentified Signature
