Tor stood sentinel atop a ruined tower, with the Long Fang
at his side, as the Wolves advanced into the wreckage of the hive. It had been
several days since their victory over the Necrons and the beginning of their
trek to the Dorvious Rift and the passage had gone far too easily for Tor’s
liking. Ferrus had taken the peaceful period to outline his plan of attack for
the Rift, but had otherwise become somewhat complacent, such complacency often
lead to mistakes.
The rhinos rumbled forward crushing the debris in their
path, as the third grey hunter squad scrambled over the wreck of a defence
emplacement, Ferrus watched warily as they did. The passage has become easy,
far too easy. He paused and glanced over at Tor’s position, then to Jaegor
and his wolves. Since his return to the pack Jaegor had remained distant,
choosing to forgo the company of his fellow wolves barring a few until he had
fulfilled his oath to avenge his fallen packmates. As much as it frustrated
Ferrus from a tactical stand point, as a warrior he respected Jaegor’s oath, it
provided the pack with an excellent example of a true warrior, indomitable and
fearless. Ferrus smiled at the thought briefly before all hell broke loose.
From the west two black speeders appeared firing into the
Long Fangs, at the same time a bright blue light flared up several meters from
the Rhinos and several bone coloured Terminators appeared, followed by several
bolter rounds and a green bolt of plasma flew into the Long Fangs position. The
rounds impacted into the tower blowing a chunk of the wall, sending some of the
Long Fangs sprawling, the plasma bolt impacted right on top of the squad,
taking all of the squad barring Tor and a Lascannon wielding Long Fang. Tor
shook himself, turning to the remaining Long Fang.
“You shall be the one to take those fools down.” Pointing
his staff towards the newly arrived terminators as he spoke. “Show them the Sun
Wolf’s fury.”
From Ferrus’ position he saw the attack as it was unleashed,
he moved to rally the Thunderwolves in a counter attack, but before he could
several black bikes appeared before them, firing round after round of bolts and
plasma into the squad, at first both armour and storm shields held, but after
several withering volleys the pack thinned out. Ferrus raised Rök before
pointing it towards the nearest bike squad. “Forward, we shall crush these
cowards and teach them to fight like true warriors.”
Skarvald watched as the ambush unfolded on the rhino’s
viewscreen. Turning to a Grey Hunter he released the lock on top hatch.
“Come brother, let us show our enemy the price of attempting
to corner the wolves of Fenris.” With a nod they pushed the top hatch open and
opened fire on the terminator squad. “The jaws of Morkai await you!” Skarvald
yelled over the sound of the gun fire. While mostly ineffectual, some of the shots hit home, causing one
Terminator to fall to his knees, only to rise once more to his feet. “Russ’
beard, they truly are relentless.” Skarvald chuckled.
“Aye, but they shall still fall like every other foe, by
bolter and by the fang of our blades.” A resounding cheer rang out from the
rhino, as the gunfire continued.
Ferrus rushed headlong into the bike squad, slashing with
his axe as he went. Pointing his axe at the power fist wielding squad leader he
roared.
“I challenge you to single combat, or do you wish to run like
a whipped dog?” The reply came in the form of a cold stare, causing Ferrus to
grin. “Words mean little anyway.” Raising Rök high over his head he charged
towards the oncoming bike, bringing it down just behind the front wheel,
cutting through the steering veins, then forcing the axe in to an upwards
motion cutting through the engine block sending the rider flying high into the
air coming down with a bone shattering crack. Looking over his shoulder Ferrus
saw that the rest of the Thunderwolf pack had dispatched the remaining bikes
and were circling around to form up on Ferrus. Turning back to face the
oncoming foe Ferrus stared hard in to the eyes of his next target, Tyr pawing
at the ground in anticipation. This
battle shall be glorious vengeance for our previous encounter he thought as
he continued the deadlock stare.
Skarvald watched developments on the view screen. Panning
across the field he spotted the two landspeeders backing up relatively fast
firing as they went at a red armoured figure. Pressing a button on the wall a
buzz of static filled the cabin, Skarvald leant over to the vox mounted on the
wall, keying in the frequency for the second rhino he then spoke.
“Jaegor needs some assistance with some elusive quarry, go
see if you can cut the legs out from under them.” A pause echoed back then the
reply followed.
“Help Jaegor? Surely that is encroaching on his oath, which
surely will not be something he will appreciate.” Skarvald growled.
“Help him, else you’ll be explaining to Ferrus why his
company is only able to mobilise on foot!” An affirmative came back in reply
and on the view screen the red figure was joined by a red rhino charging
forward guns blazing at the two black land speeders.
Atop of the ruined defence platform the third Grey Hunter squad
stood, firing volley after volley into the terminators as they marched across
the field. Bolter shells impacted on armour,
explosions and shells bounced off, some impacting on the the
terminator’s shields, creating a bluey flickering across the surface as they
did. Beren ejected the empty clip, pushing the ejection button the empty clip
fell to the floor with a metallic clunk and he replaced a fresh clip in the
feed with a satisfying clack as the bolter’s hammer clicked back into place.
“Russ’ beard I’ve not seen a fight this fierce since we
fought against the Thousand suns back on Fenris” He spat as he uttered that
legions name, his fellow Grey Hunter turned to him.
“Maybe so, but fiercer fights make fiercer warriors and even
better sagas to tell in the great halls.”
Beren laughed softly, the laughter was swiftly swallowed up
in his throat when to the East he spotted a bone coloured Land Raider as it’s
fore doors opened, disgorging lightning claw armed terminators right into the
Thunderwolves. At the same time the other squad of terminators picked up the
pace and charged into Thunderwolf pack. The combined force of both units took
out the Thunderwolves to a man, leaving Ferrus stood alone and encircled.
Ferrus pointed his axe at the lead robed terminator.
“My name is Ferrus Stormwolf, of the Space Wolf Chapter,
scion of the All father and you have just made your biggest mistake. I
challenge you to single combat.” The warrior stepped forward bringing his
shield forward, his hammer back ready to swing. Then it began, time after time,
Ferrus and the terminator charged headlong into each other, neither making a
definitive blow, either glancing off shield or being parried away . Sparks flew
as hammer and Axe met over and over until a swing from the terminator’s hammer
slipped through Ferrus’ defences catching his right arm. Knowing this was not a
fight he could win at this time Ferrus turned Tyr, who leapt over the heads of
the terminators encircling them and retreated a safe distance, still coming
under fire from the remaining bikes. Loosening his grip on Tyr’s pelt, Ferrus
steered towards the next bike and charged into it. Having dispatched it he then
noticed the Land Raider bearing down upon him. It stopped in it’s tracks almost
seeming to eye Ferrus down then it opened fire on him.
Beren watched on as the events unfolded. From his vantage
point he saw the two Terminator squads split off again, one heading towards
Jaegor and the second rhino, still currently pursuing the errant land speeders
in a deadly game of cat and mouse. The second squad however, had not let
Beren’s squad go unnoticed, they now advanced towards their position, somewhat
ponderously, but relentlessly all the same. Beren’s squad opened up on the oncoming terminators
with little effect, only a shot from the lone long fang’s lascannon dealt any
hurt to them, as it boiled through the armour’s shielding before obliterating
the torso and right arm of the terminator hit. It was not long before the squad
were upon them, scrambling over the debris in a clunky manner, some stumbling
on the loose rocks.
“Aim for the rubble brothers, let the ground beneath their
feet be their end.” The cry rang out across the Grey Hunter squad. At first
there was little effect as the sense of urgency rose, given the proximity of
the terminators. Then two bolter shells impacted at the very same time as a
terminator’s foot came down on the already rickety rubble, the force of this
caused the debris to give way, sending
the terminator falling to the ground only stopping as he landed in a nest of
structural support beams, piercing his armour. A second fell as bolter shells
connected with the servos on the armour’s knees, leaving the terminator an easy
target as the entire squad lay their punishing barrage down. The remainder of
the squad reached the Grey Hunters relatively quickly, only to find themselves
on the receiving end of their counter charge, catching another terminator by
surprise, sending them flying down towards the same fate as the others. The last terminator stood and in a whirling
dervish of fury cut into the squad with his lightning claws. Beren parried blow
after blow, only to fall as well parrying an overhead blow, only to be stabbed
in the chest by an unseen jab. Falling to his knees, Beren saw the world go
black and in his last moments spat a globule of blood at the terminator before
uttering.
“I’ll see you at the jaws of Morkai.” The terminator stepped
forward, and sliced with both claws and Beren fell silent for the final time.
Jaegor chased across the field, still pursuing the land
speeders furiously. He noticed the rhino that had joined his pursuit and while
ordinarily he would be furious at such dereliction of his oath on a day like
today he recognised the need for cooperation over isolation, oaths aside.
Leaping to once side he narrowly dodged an incoming barrage of missiles and
super heated melta shots. A grim smile broke across his face, he enjoyed the
hunt, all space wolves did and the longer it went on the more satisfying the
conclusion. A loud explosion broke his train of though and glancing to his
right he saw as missiles impacted into the rhino, stopping it in it’s tracks.
The Grey Hunter squad inside bailed out only to be met by further barrages of
missiles and bolts of plasma from the second terminator squad as they closed on
the hunting wolves. Jaegor sprinted towards the Landspeeders using the rhino as
cover, over his shoulder he saw as a lone robed terminator charged into the
Grey Hunter squad only to be cut down by chain swords, then disappeared in a
blue flash of light. Jaegor growled at this, once more their foe was eluding
them. Another day for them to fall to our
might, he thought as he sprinted towards the land speeders.
Ferrus cut through the last bike, his axe arm aching from
the amount of fighting he’d gone through
in such a short period. Glancing about he saw the Land Raider sitting
watching over the rubble where the third Grey Hunter squad had deployed, he saw
as Beren fell to the floor and as the high pitched whine of a lascannon sounded
off in response killing the last terminator stood atop the ruin. Further afield
Ferrus watched as the remaining terminators moved back towards their lines, for
Ferrus it was too easy a target to pass up. Tyr launched into the air breaking
from cover, dodging left and right as the land raider’s weapons came online and
opened up on them, avoiding the barrage, they leapt into combat, Ferrus taking
two terminators with one fell swing, turning to the last terminator he paused
for breath for a second before charging in, as he did he raised his shield and
his axe, bringing his axe down in a low swing only to connect with a power fist
hitting him full force in the upper right of his torso, causing him to lose his
balance briefly as Tyr spun around and ran back towards the safety of their
lines.
Skarvald leapt from the top hatch of the rhino on to the top
of the rubble pile, now covered by bodies of friend and foe alike.
“Cover Ferrus, keep their heads down.” He yelled over the
sound of the rest of his squad following in his wake. In short order a volley
of bolter fire roared across the field forcing the remaining terminator to take
cover behind a dilapidated bastion. Further away Skarvald watched as the second
Grey hunter pack was hit by a barrage of missiles and melta fire, when the
smoke cleared none remained standing. Uttering
a Fenrisian curse Skarvald spat at the ground in disgust at his brothers being
laid low. Looking about the battlefield Skarvald saw the a bright blue flash as
the remaining terminator left the field. Similarly, the land raider and land
speeders were moving away from the wolves. Taking the opportunity, Skarvald
activated his vox link. “All space wolves, converge on my position and await
further orders.” A flurry of affirmatives rang in his ear, then switching the
link to Ferrus’s he asked. “What are your orders my lord?” A brief silence hung
in the air before a short reply came back.
“Repair any damage, see that the wounded are combat ready,
then we move out to Dorvious Rift.”
“It shall be done.” Skarvald clicked the link off, then
turned back to the battlefield. The judgement of the enemy had cost them
dearly, but the wolves had weathered the storm, barely. Now they would move to
Dorvious Rift and hopefully uncover some answers.
Hi everyone, first proper post in a bit, not counting the fluff as that's been written in advance, except 
