40kRP: TMC: Chapter 3 - Uprising

[Azahul]

The city of Van Dashtalt lay silent, the curfew imposed at nightfall keeping its people inside. It was the one city that still remained upon the original site of its construction. Built upon a rocky outcrop that cleared the surrounding forest, devoid of the vicious plants and animals that populated the rest of the planet, Van Dashtalt had been established as the cultural centre of Moirdivan. Within its walls it held thousands of priceless artifacts, temples, shrines, and statues of the God Emperor. Items too precious to be risked in the frequent relocation's that other cities on Moirdivan must endure were kept within the security of Van Dashtalt.
Normally, the city was protected by almost half a regiment of the Imperial Guard. However, nearly the entire garrison had been ordered to the front lines, into battle against the Necrons in the north or Orks to the south. Now, only a skeleton staff of Servitors manned the outer defences, gun turrets that faced towards the jungle, ready to repel any incursion from the insidious life forms within, while only a handful of platoons, many new recruits or conscripts, remained within the city proper in case of a more organised attack.
The only true defence still in place was the jungle outside the city walls, and that would be no help against the enemy from within...

Jhorl waited patiently for the single. One of the Guardsmen platoons was made completely from Slaaneshi devotees, and this night they had been tasked to eliminate most of the remaining opposition within the city. If they failed however, a force of several thousand cultists stood ready to overwhelm any remaining defenders. Unfortunately, with the cultists pitiful arms and discipline, they would likely take heavy casualties overrunning the Imperial positions.
To balance this out, Jhorl had smuggled the Noise Marines into the city, and with their help he had sacrificed several hundred willing cultists. With their souls he had bartered for the aid of a dozen Daemonettes. The Daemons still lurked in the warp, yet to be summoned, but with their speed they should be able to close with the Guardsmen relatively quickly.
The wait proved to be short. Sporadic arms fire indicated that the traitor Guardsmen had failed in their task, and had become engaged in a pitched battle. Sirens began wailing, alerting the remaining defenders to the intrusion. They served another purpose however. As the alert was sounded, cultists throughout the city seized their weapons, eager to spill the blood of the followers of the corpse-god.
Laughing, Jhorl urged his followers into battle.

 

[Gree]

RE: Uprising - Supplement to Chapter 1

The two marine thunderhawks had lifted off from the base of the governor, barely when Basiclus and his men had re-boarded their transports the ‘hawks blasted off towards Van Dashtalt with roughly fifty space marines aboard the ships.

‘’What’s the situation down there?’’ Basiclus asked one of the sergeants. ‘’Unknown brother-captain, the situation is sketchy down there. What we do know is that members of the PDF have been infiltrated and their loyalty is compromised.’’

‘’Nice’’ commented Basiclus dryly. Going down into a combat zone with no support from local guard was not the ideal combat situation but in his experience war rarely was very fair. ‘’Then we move in and kill all the heretic bastards’’ he said.

The thunderhawks altered course and landed in one of the habs of Van Dashalt. They did not go for the strips, because it was a common rebel tactics to sabotage the air bases to prevent air lifted reinforcements, however he marines were more robust and inventive then that.

The drop ships ramps slammed down and the Eagle Claws poured out.

 

[Azahul]

RE: Uprising - Supplement to Chapter 1

The Cultist response was nearly instantaneous. Several hundred fanatical devotees spilled from the nearby buildings, racing towards the space marines before half the squads had even disembarked. Most carried nothing more than clubs or the occasional pistol, but they continued they charge despite obviously being outmatched.
Dozens fell as the Space Marines opened fire, cut down with ease as bolter rounds lashed back and forth across their ranks. The street rapidly became a killing zone.
It was then that the return fire began. Lasfire slammed ineffectually into the marines' chests, doing little damage, but the presence of enemy shooting meant that one of the traitor guard units had entered the battle. Another round of fire, and the positions of the traitors became obvious. They were located in the uppermost story of one of the buildings overshadowing the battle.
Even as the marines hefted their bolters to return fire however, a dull krumpf, almost like a small explosion, came from the building. A missile arced across the battlefield, striking an unfortunate marine in the chest. The first marine casualty of the battle.

Some distance away, Jhorl listened as reports of the engagements began to file in. The presence of Space Marines meant considerably more resistance to this attack than he had been expecting, but he had planned for every eventuality.
"Call the Sorcerers, bring forth the sacrifices. We have a ritual to perform."

 

[Gree]

RE: Uprising - Supplement to Chapter 1

‘’Take it out!’’ Basiclus’s voice sounded. One of the tactical marines dropped to his knee and fired a frag missile into the building that the enemy missile came from, engulfing it in an explosion. Meanwhile the sheer volume of lasfire cut down two tactical astartes, their power armor finally breached, and wounded three more.

Nearby tactical squads that were armed with heavy bolters and missile launchers sprayed a field of death into the charging cultists. Under the command of Basiclus they reformed so that their fields of fire would overlap.

The terminator squads of Trajan broke off to the flank, covered by the hellfire rounds of Fulgerion. The huge purple and gold astartes advanced through a storm of lasfire, sending out a hail of death from assault cannon and storm bolter before closing in with power fists.

The huge terminators smashed into the bloodied and disorganized cultists, crushing them like rag dolls. Meanwhile the marine captain raised his sword and the tactical marines advanced, pouring bolter fire into the Slaaneshi cultists whose morale and discipline rapidly began to shatter and break as groups broke off fron the main army and fled.

 

[Azahul]

RE: Uprising - Supplement to Chapter 1

Moments later, the cultists' courage failed them completely. With cries of terror, those still alive after the Terminators' assault turned and fled, most cut down by bolter fire before they reached the relative safety of the buildings. Others actually managed to make it out of range before they could be shot down, racing along the street. Although their only thought was to make it to safety, they were unwitting pawns in the next stage of Jhorl's plan.

Some distance away, a host of cultists lay in ambush. They had secured this area of the city relatively swiftly, taking control in a matter of minutes, and had had time to fortify it against any retaliation. What remained of the Imperial Guard traitors had gathered here, watching over many of their fellow Guardsmen taken as prisoners.
Those prisoners were the lynchpin of this defence. Sorcerers, including Jhorl himself, had prepared the men. When they died, their souls would call forth a host of daemon's from the warp, and with their aid it should be relatively easy to sweep aside the marines and secure this city for the glory of chaos.
Sweeping his eyes across his forces, Jhorl smiled in satisfaction. It was perfect. Unlike the first cultists to encounter the marines, these had been able to secure weapons from dead or captured Guardsmen, and heavy weapons stood ready along the length of the street, ready to catch the marines in a deadly crossfire.
Beside him, Ulk'oern stood in silence, his Noise marines prepared to unleash a barrage the moment their loyalist 'cousins' came into range. Behind them stood a pair of hulking monstrosities, half-shrouded in shadows, that could just be identified as Obliterators. The mutant marines were a final insurance, with their variety of weapons it should be a simple matter to sweep the marines aside.
But as a final insurance, lurking in the warp, just out of sight, daemonettes pressed themselves against the walls of reality. Hungry for the feel of the blood of the Astartes upon their skin, the daemons waited for their chance to kill.

The fleeing cultists would die, but their deaths would lead the marines into a trap that would spell their doom. Their deaths would be a message, a sign that chaos had come to claim this world. The Dark Gods would not be denied.

 

[Gree]

RE: Uprising - Supplement to Chapter 1

Squad Pompey took point, moving through the streets with Terminator Squad Varus behind them and Fulgerion and Quintus’s squads him and Basiclus’s group as they moved out into the streets, hugging cover.

‘’Brothers, be on the lookout for an ambush, I do not believe that the cultists we faced earlier where the ones who overwhelmed the guardsmen, or if they were then Lenk’s PDF were more pathetic then I thought’’ the marine captain stated.

He looked around, most of the civilian population had fled, or so it seemed, for all he marine captain knew they could be dead or part of the cult themselves. It hardly mattered at that point.

Then a loud sonic shriek filled the air as one of Squad Pompey was torn to shreds by a barge of sonic weapons as the marine returned fire.

 

[Azahul]

Moments later, the traitor guardsmen added their own firepower to the fight, a blast from a lascannon vaporizing the top half of a second marine, while las- and auto-guns opened up. Several Assault Cannons sent a hail of bullets ripping across the marines' front rank, with little effect thanks to the power armour of the Astartes.
Jhorl paid no mind to the onslaught however, instead keeping his attention fixed upon the ritual. Behind the front lines, he had two other sorcerers were performing the ritual that would allow the daemons to materialise. As the cultists died in swathes charging into the merciless firepower of the marines, the sorcerers brought the spell to its end.
Just moments before the daemons appeared on the planet, Jhorl leapt into action. His laspistol rose, and gunned down his fellow sorcerers. Their souls, bartered in exchange for some additional assistance from the warp, would be a more valuable asset than the sorcerers would be alive.
With a screech that rose over even the barrage of fire from the Noise Marines, the daemonettes tore their way into existence. The spell had summoned no less than fifty of the creatures, appearing in small packs amongst the fortified buildings defended by the traitors. They spent no time ducking behind cover however, instead racing towards the marines without heed for the formidable firepower directed against them.
The daemonettes' speed was such however, that they did not have to endure the onslaught for long. Although nearly half their number was lost in the short distance from the fortifications to the marine squads, the daemons drew a significant number of shots.
With the daemonettes in combat and tying up most of the marine's battle line, the cultists could draw close, and hundreds began to race towards the combat. Marines began to fall under the shear weight of numbers, but the fight was by no means one-sided. Nearly a dozen cultists had to die before one could find a chink in a marine's armour, and strike through to slay the super-soldier. The massive claws of the daemonette's had more luck, but many of the fragile daemons were slain by marine sergeants, gleaming power weapons cutting through their bodies with ease.
The combat against squad Trajan however, was by far the most bloody. A dozen daemonettes, and twice that number of cultists, engaged the handful of terminators. Not one could penetrate the massive suits of armour however, and they began to fall in droves. It was then that a single figure stepped to the fore. It appeared to be similar to the daemonettes around it, but it towered head and shoulders over its fellow daemons, with claws nearly the size of its own body. With a sudden strike it tore away the helmet of the first terminator it encountered, then plunged its claws into the uncovered face. It was a Herald, summoned with the life-force of the slain Sorcerers.
Howling in victory, the creature stalked forward, eagerly seeking other prey.

 

[Gree]

Basiclus beheaded two of the cultists and blew the head off a third. A screaming painted cultist rushed him with a bayonet and he deftly sidestepped it before ramming his knee into the traitor’s chest, shattering it.

He emptied the rest of the magazine into four more cultists, reducing them to crimson mist, before he led his command squad, armed with glowing power weapons, to the rescue of Squad Trajan.

The Herald of Slaanesh saw him and leapt towards him, disemboweling another marine from Squad Pompey as she did so. Basiclus drew his sword and met the clashing claws of the Herald head one.

The daemon’s speed was immense, striking with blinding blows. The claws cut through the shoulder guard off the marine captain, drawing blood in a wound that was swiftly clotted by the gene-enhanced physique of the marine captain.

The other claws raked towards his chest in a killing blow, but energy flashed as his armor’s iron halo activated. Lashing out Basiclus forced the daemon back with a kick to the chest and aimed his bolt pistol at the daemon out of pure instinct before realizing it was empty.

The herald recovered quickly an leapt at Basiclus, claws outstretched, the astartes blade knocked aside the first claw, but the other carved into the meat of his side and past his artificer armor.

Basiclus merely grunted at the blow which would have slain a mortal man in an instant and he whipped around his power sword and beheaded the shrieking herald in one stroke. Blue ichor flowed across the ground as the corpse of the herald dissolved into pink smoke.

Meanwhile all around Basiclus saw that the Eagle claws were being forced back by the sheer numbers of the cultists and the ferocity of the daemons, already the rending claws had claimed two more marines and the cultist another astartes.

‘’Claws of the Emperor! Death to his foes!’’ Basiclus yelled. ‘’Drive them back so that Apothecary Claudius may regain the holy gene-seed!’’ he bellowed and the nearby Squad Fulgerion and his own group charged into the fray.

He reloaded his bolt pistol and slashed aside the skull of a cultist with his sword hilt before disemboweling another, a daemonette leapt screeching at him, but her claws merely slid off his armor and he removed her head in a single stroke.

Quickly Apothecary Claudius bent over the nearest corpse and pushed through the armor with his reductor. Nearby squad Trajan began to do the same to his fallen brother, although with less specialized equipment.

The Eagle claws were obsessed with genetic purity, with all officers and sergeants required to take apothecary training. They had twice the size of the normal chapter apothecarion. The Eagle claws prided themselves in rescuing their fallen's geneseed more than any other chapter.

‘’Thunderhawk Alpha come in! Come in! He shouted over the vox’’ a moment later a buzz cut through. ‘’My lord this is Alpha, Beta is right behind us’’ came the toneless voice of the chapter serf’’

‘’Land at my coordinates pilot’’ he instructed, splaying another cultist. Nearby Chemosian unlashed a funnel of warp flap from his gauntlets, a thick streak of golden fire incinerating a dozen cultists.

Nearby the rest of the marines began to withdraw, sending unrelenting hails of bolter fire. As Apothecary Claudius finished his work with a short prayer and withdrew behind the wall of bodies offered by Captain Basiclus and his men.

 

[Azahul]

Jhorl smiled with satisfaction as he watched the Space Marines withdraw. The city was now under his control, and while he had hoped to wipe out the marines, he would be satisfied with his victory. He was one step closer to immortality, the eternal life promised by the whispers of his god within his mind.
The victory had been bought with the lives of well over two thousand cultists, and the loss of the Herald was a disappointment. The creature may have proved to be a valuable asset at some later date.
Turning away from the scene of the carnage, the magister of the cult of Slaanesh was soon joined by his Noise Marine protectors. As the Chaos Marines took their places, the small band stood back and watched as their fellow devotees fought and died. Across the city, bands of cultists were taking their places, securing the defensive perimeter of the city and preparing to make Van Dashtalt the fortree of Chaos upon Moirdivan. Slaanesh had laid claim to this world, and they would see to it that the Dark Prince's wishes were carried out.