Warzone: Borhelia - a mini-campaign on the planet Boreliah in the Esenie system!
The jet engines howled as the Valkyrias slowly descended and landed on the barren ground just outside of the ruined city of Gaxos. It was an eerie sound that tuned out slowly and was replaced by a fizzing sound as the rear ramps opened. Ogden sat casually on the roof of his Chimera and awaited his personal guard of amazonic warriors. He had battled with them for many years now and was impressed by their zeal and devotion to the Emperor and the cleansing of enemies to Mankind. This was something else than the semi-chaotic Marines he had been with for two weeks. This was death to the enemy in a purer form. While the Wolves and Ravens killed for the love of … the killing itself, the Sisters of Battle killed for a greater purpose; to enlighten lesser beings by showing what happened if the Emperor's call wasn't heeded and spread the word of the blessed Emperor’s divinity. Ogden rose and jumped down from the Chimera, proud as a father is to his children. The Sisters, led by a stern-looking woman, all clad in black with a white, short-cut hair and a grim expression on her face, strode slowly out from the aircraft, watchful and wary - just as Ogden expected them to be - and when they saw Ogden they seemingly, but only seemingly, relaxed. Ogden knew that they would never relax or get careless, that wasn’t their style. And after them followed the rest of his retinue; the old days were coming back to him! He had been studying alone for too long... he had missed all the adventure that only operating on the field could give.
-Canoness Cara, Ogden greeted, I’m pleased to see you! It's been all too long since... And you've come in the very nick of time! There is much work here to be done. The Emperor needs all help he can get to steer things in the right direction here on Hyperia... and in the whole system of Esenie, I might add.
-Inquisitor Ogden. Nice to see you again. Last time we had the pleasure of seeing each other we were showing Katzaa’rkh the door!
Ogden smiled. Cara had a funny way of saying things that he found very relaxing and eloquent at the same time. It was a fine moment she referred to; a bitter clash with a Khorne Daemonprince at Jolhans II. They had banished it back to the warp after a bloody fight and the Inquisitor and the Canoness and her Sisters had fought like a well-oiled machine
-Yes, Canoness, it was a good day for us... but... here on Hyperia things look very bleak, I’m afraid. Traitor Guardsmen and a insubordinate chapter... no... two insubordinate chapters of Space Marines... Ogden let the sentence fade away.
-I’ve heard about these Marines, Cara said, the Sons of Russ and the Black Ravens have earned some attention, and rightly so, from the Ordo itself. But not from a positive perspective... There is a danger of heresy here, of that there’s no doubt!
Ogden nodded. He felt pleased to have these hardened warriors by his side. He glanced beyond the Canoness and saw more black-clad female warriors and walking vehicles stepping down from the other Valkyria. Thank the Emperor! It was time to start cleansing this forsaken moon once and for all.
-Sir! One of the Sisters of Battle interrupted his thoughts. Sir, the auspex is picking up several blips... something's approaching! The pattern seems to correspond to a large number of...
Suddenly a roar came from the plateau to the north. Ogden and Cara turned for a look and saw in the distance several creatures advancing like a redbrown carpet.
-Ah! Tyranids... Ogden reached for his force sword and drew it up in a wide arc. Looks like you’ve come directly to the hot-spot, Cara! Ogden raised his voice and shouted loud and clear: Assume fire positions, my Sisters! And send for the detachment of those damned Sons of Russ... they might be of some use. And now... in the name of the Emperor, kill the abominations!!
***
Ogden was quickly joined by his trusty warband of warriors. They had been drafted many years ago and were stiff fighters. The fact that they were women, of the clan Escher someone had told him, meant that they were efficient, smart and worked very much on intuition. Ogden had once joked that they were fine examples of female intuition and had then spent a whole evening defending himself that he didn't mean it in a bad way... He smiled at the memory. But his smile faded when he saw the amount of Tyranid creatures heading his way. It was a sea of bodies... and behind them a large creature; a Tyrant and his bodyguard. If he could deal with that Tyrant, then the lesser creatures would waver...
-Sisters! In the name of the Emperor... aim for the lesser bugs! Clear the way to the Tyrant for me! Ogden's voice was loud and clear.
The Sisters of Battle responded by a volley of Bolter fire, cutting down a large amount of creatures. Two Penitent Engines ran forward, heaving their Heavy Flamers. The roar from the flamethrowers was almost deafening and swarms of small Rippers that were running in front of the Tyrant were annihilated. But the Engines, foolish in their frenzy had gone too close to the Hive Tyrant and a skimming Ravager. Ogden didn't have time to warn the Penitent Engines and they were slaughtered by the Ravager's strange lightning attack and the Hive Tyrant's lethal sword. But Ogden now had a direct route to the Tyrant and he went for it. At the same time he heard the earth behind his sisters break. He glanced back and saw that a Trygon emerged from below. Damn, he thought, this made everything a bit more complicated...
***
The Grey Hunters on the flank saw all this happen in the center of the battlefield and they were intent on helping the Inquisitor as fast as they could. But there were lots of Tyranid creatures to get rid of first. The grey-clad Marines jumped at the oncoming horde and managed to slay the whole first wave. They were eager to continue the killing, but the second wave suddenly turned and moved rapidly away from them. The Grey Hunters looked at each other in confusion when suddenly another large body of Tyranid creatures ran against them, waving some strange guns. Then they shot and an insane amount of slimey goo hit the Marines, who screamed and clawed to get rid of the millions of worms and slugs that suddenly were all over them. It was too many though and they ate their way inside the Marines armour and the whole squad of Grey Hunters fell, dead as doornails! The whole right flank had collapsed...
***
The Trygon roared and charged and massacred a squad of Battle Sisters, who stood no chance against the frenzied Tyranid monster. Limbs and weapons flew as the trygon butchered its adversaries. Ogden had to ignore their dying screams as he charged the Hive Tyrant. His retinue, now also accompanied by the acro-flagellants smashed in to the Tyrant guard and killed one and sent the other retreating. Ogden circled slightly to the Tyrants left side and feinted an attack against Tyrants head and then drove his Force Sword upwards right into the Monster's armpit. The Force Sword hummed as it sucked the life out of the Tyrant. It's body fell hard backwards and Ogden felt alive like never before. But, his joy didn't last long, as the Trygon threw himself onto him. The Inquisitor had no time to jump aside and the Trygon used that to its advantage. Its claws dug deep into Ogden's arms and his Power Armour couldn't withstand the sheer force of the attack. He was lifted high up in the air and then the Trygon snapped off Ogden's arms. His body flew in a wide arc and landed several yards away. He was almost dead but managed to holler to his remaining force to withdraw. He felt hands grabbing his legs and body and heard the roaring sound of the Valkyrias and then he passed out...
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Written by Tony Melander (2012)