Just a little tale..

[Temian Nightfire]

So Ive been dusting off the cobwebs and writing for pleasure again, Ive enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoy reading it. Im hoping to make this the first in a series of short stories focusing on different areas of Ordo if it's well received.

P.S. this was four pages in Word.....doesn't look a lot here.

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The rain was merciless; it was as if the weather were siding with the enemy. An angry tropical storm raged over the planet and had done so ever since the Ordo insertion. Misfit shivered as he crouched, camouflaged beneath a large jungle fern. A drop of rainwater fell from one of the broad leaves and slid down the back of his Insidiae armour, he cursed silently to himself. As if in answer thunder rolled overhead and somewhere in the distance lightening earthed itself, a bright flash flooding the jungle, photosensitive filters built into his visor blocked out the worst of the glare.

Vertium was a sparsely populated world on the edge of the Colonial Expanse; its official designation was CW-XVII.56. It was a small world, most of its three continents covered in dense jungle. The main export of this dwarf planet was wood, rare wood, used almost entirely to furnish the houses and star-cruisers of the wealthy. Yet, nestled at the heart of the ancient jungle a group of dissenters had taken hold of an old military compound from the early days of the planets colonisation. Two hundred and fifty armed foresters in an armoured compound, plotting the downfall of Imperial rule on the planet and broadcasting anti-imperial messages throughout the sector. They had already destroyed several of the saw mills and sabotaged most of the Brutor tree harvesting machines, which had originally been designed by the Munitorium, but were now licensed for commercial contracts. The insurgents had to be eradicated. In order for the speedy termination of these upstarts and while Victrix were tied up in a war of attrition with the Teristi, Cohors A had been mobilsed.

Misfit watched the compound closely through the enhanced vision his visor provided. A high concrete wall surrounded a square compound, in the center a two storey command post stood, to the north the barracks, to the south a storage depot; it was a standard Imperial Colonial War era outpost. Underground, however, were small warrens of interdependent bunkers, perfect for the rebels to hole up inside.

His muscles ached; he had been crouched in cover for the best part of four hours now. The previous day Insidae had used the storm to their advantage; using small charges to blast down trees and block the entrance and exit routes to the compound. Along with Praescius they had intercepted any vehicles halted by the make-shift road blocks and dispatched the passengers swiftly, they used the dead men’s radios to send false reports back to the enemy.

He watched his chronometer; he knew Navis were moving into position in orbit, as soon as they were in place they would begin blocking the insurgent’s broadcasts and the order for the attack would be given. He glanced again at the sheer concrete walls, the watchtowers, the camo netting and the broadcasting arrays dominating the compound, he smiled to himself as the tactical display on his visor highlighted the explosives planted by his brothers not half an hour ago around the main gate.

A voice, distorted by the interference of the storm, crackled through the comm bead in his ear “All squads standby” It was command, silence was their only response; they knew their orders well. “Be ready to commence the attack on my mark.” Misfit flicked the safety catch on his gauss rifle and licked his lips, the anticipation before combat was an intense feeling. He steadied his breathing, mentally he ran through the mission brief and reconnaissance photos they had memorised before leaving the ship, he was as prepared as he was ever going to be.

“All personnel commence the attack, Theta clearance, maximum aggression...the Imperator be with you.” A moment later all hell broke loose. Evalidus opened up on the compound from the tree line, heavy machine gun fire raking the walls and watchtowers, a pair of missiles launched from cover soared overhead, striking the broadcasting stations; they were obliterated in an instant. At the same time each member of Insidiae depressed the triggers on their detonators, the main gate shattered and blew into the compound, shredding anyone unfortunate enough to be on the other side, in a hail of shrapnel.

Then two things happened at once, a noise like thunder rumbled overhead and the clouds above the compound glowed orange as if they were on fire. Meteors punched through the cloud line and struck the open ground in front of the storage depot. The ground shook, if Misfit had not braced himself he would have been thrown off his feet. Invictus had arrived.

The drop pod hatches burst open, a storm of bullets cut down those enemy soldiers stunned by the impact of their arrival. In the blink of an eye they sprang from their pods and began securing the immediate area. Several members of Saevitas used jetpacks to sail over the top of the wall and land next to the barracks. They worked in two man teams to clear the barrack rooms with grenade and flamethrower. Occasionally an assault rifle would bark amongst the sounds of carnage coming from the barracks, but mostly they let their enemies’ burn to death. Insidiae and Praescius flooded through the smoking remains of the gates, Misfit smiled as one of Praescius squad boost packed forward and with a wrist blade took the head clean off a rebel with a heavy machine gun, he didn’t even break his stride.

Behind them the barracks and supply depot were ablaze, incendiary mortars from Evalidus had seen to the warehouse. As all squads converged on the command post, some of the enemy tried to slip out of the compound and save their own skins. They let them go, the heavy weapons specialists had set up overlapping kill zones around the walls, they wouldn’t go far. Their orders had been clear, no survivors. They were here to deliver a clear message to all who might think about sedition against the Imperator.

As Invictus and Saevitas moved to clear the upper level of the building, Insidiae and Praescius swept the ground floor, looking for the entrances to the bunker network. There was very little resistance on the lower level, it was unnaturally quiet; perhaps the enemy was hunkered down in the underground bunkers, which would make for a hellish assault. As they approached a junction in the main corridor of the building; they could hear their fellow Alpha squads clearing the remaining resistance on the floors above; the fighting sounded brutal, which seemed odd given the lack of contacts on this level.

The Numerii in front of Misfit stepped out into the junction, Misfit leaned forward to pull him back just as a heavy machine gun opened fire, two shots struck the soldier in the shoulder, blood spattered Misfit’s cheek, but it could have been a lot worse, a medic from Praescius pulled the Numerii back to apply field dressings and arrange for a medevac, thank the Imperator the enemy were not professional soldiers. Misfit and two others tossed frag grenades in the direction of the machine gun fire, they counted down the seconds, when the explosions sounded and men screamed in pain, they dive-rolled into the corridor, bringing their guns up, quickly dispatching any dazed survivors. To the left of the machine gun position, was a heavy iron door, Misfit fixed timed explosives to the locking mechanism and hinges. A few moments later and a loud bang, the iron door fell to the ground, they found the entrance to the bunker complex. For the first time since they arrived a message was relayed over the comm “Underground entrance identified, all squads converge on my locator beacon.”

A rear guard was posted and the rest of the squad descended into the hot, stale air of the tunnels. There were trails of blood along the floor; those who survived the initial assault must’ve sought refuge down here. The air smelled of sweat, blood, gun oil and urine. It was a blessing their helmets and rebreathers filtered out much of the stench. They could hear running footsteps in the distance; the enemy knew they were in the tunnels. A ‘clunk, clunk, clunk’ drew their attention to the explosive rolling at their feet, someone yelled “Grenade!” Instinct kicked in and a Succenturio from Invictus kicked the grenade back down the tunnel, it exploded and a man cried out. They spread out through the tunnels clearing rooms with flamethrower, shotgun and grenade. The insurgents were no match for the tactics and training of the Alpha squads, but someone had given these foresters some training and armed them with decent guns. They picked off the enemy one by one, cleared room after room until blood streamed along corridors and pooled in passageways.

They found the last remnants of the enemy in a central bunker trying to form a last ditch defense around an officer who clearly wasn’t some common woodsman, he was issuing urgent orders as they approached among the shadows of a damaged corridor. By the look of the man, he was an ‘off-worlder’ and was clearly military trained to a high degree.

Each member of an Alpha squad took aim at a guardsman surrounding the officer. They stood stock-still, their guns perfectly sighted. At a hand gesture from the Praepositus who had taken point they each pulled their triggers. There was one uniform bark of gunfire and the enemy guards fell in unison, like a flower shedding its petals. The officer stared wide-eyed at his dead men; he spun wildly, pointing a pistol at each and every shadow.

One by one they emerged from the shadows, their guns sighted on the officer’s head. Misfit had to use all his self control not to pull the trigger then and there, but there was something odd about this rebel, something that did not fit. He may have been able to organise a loose defense of this compound on his own, but he didn’t strike Misfit as the sort of man who could turn the foresters they’d killed away from the Imperium.

They closed the circle around the rebel officer, keeping their guns trained on him, the Praepositus stepped forward and knocked the pistol from his hand, with a swift kick he brought the man to his knees and placed the barrel of his gun against the man’s temple “In the name of the Imperator you are guilty of treason, you are sentenced to death here and now. Ave imperator!”

“Ave Imperator!” they all repeated.

The rebel straightened his back and let a think smile curl on his lips, Misfit wasn’t sure if the man was brave or had lost his senses. The Praepositus growled and began to squeeze his trigger.

“Hold your fire in the Imperator’s name!” a voice boomed from along the corridor. The hulking outline of a man could be seen in gloom of the corridor, the shape was moving with pace along the passageway, as it stepped into the pale light of the scene of execution all Alpha Squad members could see the billowing tabard and hood of the Praetorian Guard.

The Praepositus saluted “We were ordered to leave no survivors sir.”

The Praetorian Guard just looked at him; no features could be discerned beneath the hood. “Things have changed; as of 0800 hours Central Titan Time several large bombs exploded in Titan's Capitol. There is mass panic and chaos. This world, my Brothers, has merely been a distraction. We have been deceived.” He let the gravity of his words set in, at the same time the kneeling enemy officer began to laugh, the Praetorian back-handed him knocking him flat against the floor. “We are currently at DEFCON 1, all personnel not engaged in operations against hostile forces are to return to Titan immediately.” He gestured to the rebel who was rubbing his cheek.”Bring him, we leave immediately, my fellow Guard want to ask him a few questions. Right now there will be several high profile individuals drawing lots to see who will welcome him to Titan.”

Two members of Praescius stepped forward, slinging their guns. They checked the rebel for more weapons, finding none; they took ties from a pouch and bound his wrists. They marched him out of the bunker complex at gun point, following the Praetorian Guard as the rest of the squad filled out. As they emerged into the sunlight Liberator drop ships were waiting for them, Evalidus had already loaded their equipment and were waiting for them. The captured rebel was led into the Praetorian drop ship and one by one they began taking off to join the rest of the fleet. As the Liberators took off four Malice gunships descended, the Astra pilots sent several volleys of missiles into the compound, turning it into smoking ruin. It would never be used by rebels again.

As they left the planet’s atmosphere Misfit looked out of a view port to the Navis fleet, he let his thoughts stray to Titan and what they would find there when they arrived, this would be a long and uncertain journey.....

Edited September 25, 2011 by Temian Nightfire

[Agares Tretiak]

I like this. Which Capitol? The Regional one? :D?

There is no "Inquisition" in the Ordo, per se. But Inquisitors are special investigative aids fro the Frumentarii and AiR. In this case, the guy in question would likely be handed over to the Praetorian Guard (if it was the Imperial Throne World that was bombed) or to the AiR (if it was a regional capital).

Titan is a frontline Imperial world, and serves as the primary mustering point for the Northern front. The Colonial expanse is in the south. It would take 3-4 weeks for a fleet in the Colonial expanse to make a go for Titan. :D

[Huttser]

Damn good read!

[Temian Nightfire]

Edited for Agares =D

[Agares Tretiak]

:D

[Guest Ruin Nefarious]

Very awesome. Good read!