The ultramarines commander looked solemnly past his men as they filed past him and took to their bikes. The terminators of the 1st company boarded their land raiders even as the surviving guardsmen fired up the engines of their tanks.
This was it. The moment of truth. One last throw of the dice, to save all that remained of the 5th company on Haides. Their last holdout was overrun merely days ago, thanks to the treacherous Alpha Legions. Now, all that remained was assembled here, deep inside the bunker complex at the edge of the Kolborath Mountain Range.
"Eaglewing to Swiftstrike, Eaglewing to Swiftstrike, acknowledge, over" a distant voice crackled inside the vox receiver of the commander's helm.
"Swiftstrike, acknowledge. What is your ETA?" his curt reply queried.
"Site Helios has been compromised. Proceed to site Grackus. ETA 50 minutes" the other voice replied back.
"Understood, Swiftstrike out" the commander ended the conversation.
Turning to face the assembled astartes and guardsmen, "Move out!" he ordered as he stepped up to his bike and straddled it, igniting the bike's powerful engines.
In column formation, the entire force moved out of the bunker complex, hoping that their movement under the cover of darkness would go unnoticed.
Mission: Annihilation; Deployment: Spearhead
Opponent: Rizal Ultramarines 5th Company
Strategy Cards:
Home Ground (Ultramarines)
Night Fight (Orks)
Bonuses:
350 extra points on additional units (Ultramarines)
None (Orks)
The land raiders and Leman Russ executioner trundled swiftly in column, their tiny headlights the only indication of their movement. The land speeders and bike squads acting as outriders on each flank.
Sudddenly, the column swerved into a defensive line formation, the dreadnought taking up position between the excutioner and one of the land raider. "Enemy contacts up ahead. The orks were waiting."
Even as the outriders were making their way back to the column at their best speed, the darkness began to reveal a growing mob of orks. Their guttural voices marking where they are, despite the gloom. The 'ard boyz led the way, flanked on the left by the lootas and on the right by the nobz.
The darkness interfered with the marines targeting and their lights could not pierce the gloom. This saved the advancing orks from several crucial volleys. The nob bikers, attempting to outflank the land raider on the right, ran headlong into the ultramarine's commander and his large biker squad.
With righteous anger on their lips, and fervent prayer to the Emperor, the commander and his squad charged into the nobz. The commander himself challenging Warboss Grimfang. Clash of chainswords and choppas ring out of the darkness amidst the swirling dust thrown up by the bikes. In the end, only the commander was left facing the mighty warboss. Deftly avoiding the lumbering powerklaw, the commander thrust his power sword but was deflected by the fast moving ork bike. Charging head-on, the warboss crashed into the commander's bike, impaling the unfortunate astartes on his massive klaw. The massive shock was too much for even the vauted space marine's regenerative abilities, and the commander slumped, lifeless.
Once again, Warboss Grimfang hired the Vulcha boyz to do his work. They did not dissapoint. Landing right infront of the dreadnought and executioner, they immediately set upon the executioner, tearing up the turret and its hull lascannon. Despite the damage, the tank was still operable and retreated a bit.
The smaller biker squad appeared out of the gloom and raced past behind the left-most land raider even as the land raider disgorged its assault terminators into the stormboyz. Although clearly outmatched by the terminators, the stormboyz held under the stern-eyed gaze of their commander.
Zooming past the nobz, a single kopta made a shooting run on the dreadnought. Picking it out of the gloom, it sent a streaking rokkit into the thing's piston joints, jamming the actuator and immobilizing it. Despite its damage, the dreadnought continued to pour melta shots at the nearby 'ardboyz.
Jubilant after their short skirmish, the nobz revved their bikes and slammed into a land raider, immobilizing it as well as ripping away one of the sponson lascannon. Unperturbed, the terminators inside disembarked and assaulted the nobz. Lightning claws and thunder hammers ripped through the nobz and four of their number were felled. In return, 5 of the assault terminators were laid low, despite their storm shields, leaving a solitary marine against the rest of the nobz.
On the left side of the battlefield, the lootas spotted the shadows of the other marine bike squad and let loose with their deffguns. The volley cut down two of them but they remained stoic. The landspeeder squad came blazing out of the night and sent the solitary kopta to its fiery end.
The 'ard boyz, incessantly prodded by the Mad Dok finally reached combat. Piling into the terminators busy with the stormboyz, the mob pummeled the marines with their crude choppas and brought 4 of the terminators down. The immobilized land raider lost another wweapon sponson even as the last terminator was killed.
The damaged executioner, its crew resigned to death, held their ground and put out plasma bolts at the 'ard boyz as the mob surged past the broken bodies of the terminators. Zagstruk was alone by then, all his boyz dead or dying. So focussed was he on the executioner that he failed to notice the dreadnought aiming its meltagun at him, instantly vaporising him.
The marine bikers traded fire with the lootas, killing a few and lost another of their number in return. The grots were running everywhere, trying to get away from the oncoming speeders. With bestial fury, the warboss tore through the immobilised land raider and finally put an end to it, leaving it burning. Even as the warboss was tearing up the land raider, the rest of the nobz descended on the stationary executioner and blew it up, debris raining down for quite some distance.
The 'ard boyz charged the dreadnought pulled out its dreadnought close combat arm for the loss of a few of the boyz. Mad Dok failed to push through the press of bodies and could not lend his power klaw to the fight.
The two marine bikers assaulted the lootas and broke them in a one sided melee. The nearby grots too broke under the relentless attention of the flaming landspeeders, the sight of their burning comrades too much for the little buggers to take.
In a final push of speed, the warboss and his nobz fell upon the surviving land raider and destroyed it with well placed strikes using their power klaws.
The biker sergeant and two land speeders were the only ones to made it to the evacuation point from out of the entire force. Although it survived, the damaged dreadnought was too far gone, its fate sealed.
Victory to the orks! (7-4 KP)
As a result, all tiles on the Kolborath Mountain Range except for Chrystal Heights is under chaos control. Furthermore, this last battle removed the last Ultramarines holding on Haides.
Warboss Grimfang squinted at the night sky as the tell tale sign of the afterburners from the imperial craft made its way back to Thessalonicus with its paltry load of survivors. The imperium is truly and well on the way to being routed, he mused.
Already, work parties, under the supervision of meks were dismantling and cutting the armor plates from the wrecked imperial tanks. Big Mek Buzzboltz has promised him a suprise, and said it would be ready in time for the final assault on Polonia.
Inside the imperial transport, the crew chief glanced nervously at the astartes in the cargo hold. The briefing said they were supposed to evacuate around thirty of the marines as well as several dozen guardsmen. The 5 marines, their armor battle scarred and with wearied faces boded ill for the coming weeks.
He could still remember asking the astartes "Where is the rest of the column?" as the giant strode up the ramp. The glance the astartes gave him was enough to chill his marrows and the cold voice that answered reminded him not to cross any of these giants.
"We're it. No one else is coming."
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