The Disciples of Twilight had arrived upon Yaundo undetected. Yaundo was a small agri world with no planetary defenses to speak of. The base of the Death Warriors chapter upon the planet must have served some secretive purpose. It was housed underground and the planet’s governor had no idea of its existence until recently. Combined with the fact the planet was defenseless only spoke to the fact that whatever the Death Warriors had done here was not meant to be known.
The data-slate that Warforce had retrieved from the Orks had given the exact coordinates to the underground base’s entrance. On the southern side of the planet, hidden amongst the only mountain range on the planet’s surface, was the entrance. The transport ship with the Disciples of Twilight’s strike force had set down west of the mountain range so that the Marines could enter the mountains on foot.
With the transport ship unloaded, the Disciples of Twilight formed up and prepared to march for the entrance. Two forces would make for the entrance. Warforce would lead one element while Warpsmith Grimtech the other. The plan was to come at the entrance from both the north and south. There was a roadway that led into the mountains from the east and Warforce wanted to approach the base’s entrance through the harsher terrain where they would be least expected. By now Warforce reckoned there to be some defense at the base and being able to get in and out quickly was going to be paramount to their success.
Rising up a few thousand feet before the Disciples of Twilight was the mountain range. Most of the planet was fertile land, terraformed for the production of crops to help feed the Imperium. The southern region of the planet was desert however, untouched by man or machine. The red desert sand was constantly blown about by the gusting wind and the Cultists accompanying the strike force had to wrap cloth around their faces to avoid breathing in the sand. The mountains also shared the same red color as the sand but as their elevation climbed into the bright sky snow could be seen at the higher points. Large rocks and boulders were everywhere around the base of the mountains, many having fallen from the heights of the mountains to land below.
On the command channel, Warforce said, “Time to get moving.”
“By your command,” responded Grimtech.
Grimtech relayed the order to his attack force and they began their march into the mountain range. His force would take the lead for the first few miles into the mountains. From that point his force would begin moving southeast to circle around and come to the base’s entrance from the south. Warforce and his team would do likewise and turn to the northeast to approach the site from the north.
***************
Grimtech climbed to the top of a boulder, his mechatendrils aiding his climb as they found purchase in the rock to pull him up. He and his force were a mile from the base’s entrance and he had contacted Warforce to let him know they were in position. Warforce’s location offered little visibility to the base site and Grimtech would need to gather information to determine the best approach.
With a subtle clicking noise, the large auspex built into Grimtech’s helmet, covering his right eye, zoomed in. The first thing Grimtech noticed was Imperial Guard stationed below his position, around a large tunnel that had to be the base’s entrance. He could see four Chimeras parked in a semi-circle around the tunnel and beyond that were two squads of Guardsmen standing guard just outside the entrance. Checking the readings on the auspex for what he could not visibly see, Grimtech could not find any other defenses in place.
Grimtech appraised Warforce of the defenses and a plan was made. Two squads of Chaos Marines would sneak forward from Warforce’s position to get near the Imperial Guard stationed at the tunnel. On Grimtech’s command they would open fire and draw the attention of the defenders. Grimtech and his force would then advance to break open the defenses to allow the rest of the Disciples of Twilight to move in. The force that Grimtech commanded was not a typical force. Those he commanded were of a daemonically mechanical nature, intended as a breaching force.
The Chaos Marines’ had moved into position, sheltered behind rocks and boulders a hundred feet from where the Imperial Guard stood.
“Now,” commanded Grimtech and the Chaos Marines opened fire.
Each bolt round fired found its mark. The armor of the Guardsmen was no match for the explosive power of the bolter rounds.
An alarm was quickly raised by the Guard and lasgun fire was returned to the Marines sheltered position.
As soon as he had given the command, Grimtech and his force advanced. Coming down the rubble strewn slope, the Defiler began firing it’s reaper autocannon at the Chimeras as the battle cannon lined up a shot. A large booming echo resounded off the mountains as the Defiler lobbed a shell from its battle cannon. The shot landed short of the Chimeras, exploding into the ground and sending sand in all directions. Two Helbrutes walked in front of the Defiler and they also fired upon the Chimeras. A missile shot from one Helbrute struck a Chimera squarely in the side and exploded a gaping wound in its side. The other Helbrute was out of range with its multi-melta and fired its combi-bolter instead at the Guardsmen the Chaos Marines were attacking.
With a roar the Maulerfiend leapt forward and ran down the slope, a steady rhythmic crunching noise followed as it’s massive feet and hands destroyed the loose rock beneath its bulk. In a matter of seconds it was upon the Chimeras before they could reposition themselves to face the new threat.
Rising up on its hind legs, the Maulerfiend raised its power fists and slammed them down onto the top of the first Chimera. The track mounting of the vehicle gave out underneath the force, the bottoms kicking out at a skewed angle from the hull. The rest of the vehicle exploded in a shower of armored shrapnel.
“Advance,” ordered Warforce to his attack force. It was time to bring their full might to bear to break the Imperial Guard and get within the underground base.
Warforce would give the Guard credit, they did not run or even retreat within the tunnel to the base, they stood their ground. It was a futile stand against the Disciples of Twilight however. The defenders were outmatched and outnumbered, they never stood a chance.
Grimtech arrayed his daemonic engines before the tunnel to stand guard. The Chimeras were completely destroyed but would serve as a good barricade none-the-less.
Standing beside Grimtech, Warforce removed his helmet and said, “Now the fun begins.”
With a nod, Grimtech replied, “Good luck, brother,” as he grasped forearms with Warforce in a warrior’s handshake.
Bringing his helmet up with both hands, Warforce slid his helmet in place. Pressure quietly hissed from the seal as the helmet locked into place. He walked forward to stand before his force and opened his vox to everyone, “The future and survival of the Disciples of Twilight lies in our hands. We cannot fail here today.”
As one, every Marine made a fist and slammed their arm across their chest in salute and acknowledgement.
Disciples of Twilight
I love painting miniatures and teaching people how to paint. I also really love blogging, so I've combined those two passions here.
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Nice job! I really think your narrative style has developed well in this short series run. I also like that even though they’re Chaos marines, they kind of come off as the good guys. You don’t see a lot of good-natured camaraderie among many chaos war bands. :)
and don’t sweat that not many people may be reading it. they never do. Especially on a hobby blog, I think most people are looking for the pictures. Of the 33% that look beyond that, most probably still won’t read more than a few small paragraphs. Attention spans these days. :)
Thanks. I’m slowly getting more comfortable with creative writing but I still have a ways to go. This short series has helped a lot with getting some of the technicalities of writing under control.
I’m not aiming for them to be good guys, though I don’t mind them being seen that way. I am trying to convey, however, that they are still Marines in the sense of sharing that fraternal brotherhood. These guys didn’t jump to Chaos for freedom, glory or the promises of the dark gods but instead by machinations beyond them. So, I see them more-or-less as they always were before their fall but in a different surrounding while trying to survive and make the best of their situation. Anyway, I’m glad that’s apparent in the writing :)
Yeah, internet ADD is rampant these days. Hell, BoLS gets hundreds of comments on a given article but if you read any of them (I recommend you don’t), then you’ll see most of the commenters aren’t reading the article and are just commenting to insult the author or the site, or they are skimming the article and commenting way off-base. I guess no comments is better than lousy comments? *shrugs*
Well done! I like the imagery of the maulerfiend leaping onto the chimera like an excited puppy and crumpling it beneath its weight. The description of red mountains raising over the desert and swirling sands set the mood nicely. All in all a good read.
Thanks.
I’m working at getting details into my writing in the right spots. I have spent so long writing more overview type of stuff where I cover many events in a few paragraphs that I often neglect detail in these more fleshed out pieces. It’s an adjustment and I’m glad the details I did work in you liked. I really liked the Maulerfiend part as well. I had the visual in my head and was hoping to put it to words well enough.