Crow Wing revisited

[Loken86]

Hi folks

 

im a novice at story writting and this is my first real attempt its nearly complete and will post the rest after i get some sleep but id really like your opinions

 

Crow wing: Before the betrayal

 

Cheruat

Campaign calendar seven months

 

+ + + +

 

The smoke was thick and choking, seven months the Astartes had been fighting here.

They had come to bring these people into the fold of the imperium. But like fools they fought against its truth and its protection.

For this there could only be one punishment. Death.

At least that’s what it should have been.

 

However under overall command of Rogal Dorn, the Imperial Fists, Emperors Children and the Night Lord's they began to enlighten the populace to their error.

 

Aurelius trimmed back the port thrusters and the land-speeder banked left and came to a stop two meters above the rubble strewn ground.

He checked the land-speeders auspex but of his prey there was no sign.

‘Damn it’

His Primarch had ordered him to take his Crow’s and hunt down the mechanical beast which had destroyed several armoured vehicles including two Fellblades.

Punching both thrusters to full Aurelius headed north deeper into the ruined city.

“Crow two report”

The com remained silent.

“Crow three report”

Static answered for a few seconds then Corran answered

“Crow three here we’ve found some resistance but…”

The hard bangs of a Heavy Bolter drowned out the rest of his report.

Aurelius turned his land-speeder onto the city’s main boulevard.

 

It was a broad space, broad enough to fit two Fellblades side by side.

Before the coming of the Imperium this road had been as smooth as glass and had stretched from one boarder to the other. It had been lined with statues of warriors armed with an array of weapons from swords, spears and crude style of bolters that the mechanicum had express some interest in. Now however the surface was scared and pitted with craters caused by heavy missile impacts from Whirlwinds, Thudd guns or maybe an Air strike by the Imperial army. Of the statues very little remained untouched.

“Crow four report Thaddeus”

“All quiet on the western front” Thaddeus’s hard growl sounded in Aureliuses helmet “no sign of the mechanical beast”

“Roger that four head to sector five”

“Understood Crow master”

Aurelius pulled of the main street and headed west skimming through the ruins of what had once been a grand city.

 

+ + + +

 

The ground was littered with the remains of their enemy but for every ten dead Cheruatians there lay two dead Astarte’s.

The bright yellow of the Imperial Fist’s, the vivid purples and gold’s of the Emperors Children even the dark blue armoured forms of his beloved Night Lords. In the future lord Dorn will retell that the war on Cheruat was hard fought he would not be lying.

 

Like a dark blue arrow the Crow master’s land-speeder shot into sector three know by the local populace as fountain square. This is where crow two should have been patrolling, hunting for the machine beast.

Coming to a halt he was about to try the com again when Drake the Multi-melta specialist sat next to him pointed and said over the helmet vox “wreckage by the centre fountain look”

Aurelius flew the skimmer forward and even as they approached, he knew that this was Crow 2.

As Aurelius made a slow circle of the wreckage his choler rose.

 

The front of Crow two’s land-speeder had not been crushed by the crash landing it had been melted away like a wax seal when touched to a flame.

The two dead Astarte’s were indistinguishable from the melted wreckage “Be at peace brothers” Drake said making the sign of the Aquila as he did so.

 

Aurelius could not repeat the prayer or make the sign as at that moment the auspex chimed a warning as a blue, white crashed past the land-speeder and into the fountain. The heat was intense it turned the fountain into a molten slag heap and evaporated the water.

‘At last’ Aurelius thought punching the thrusters to full power and using the steam as cover he began to avenge his fallen brothers.

 

+ + + +

 

Aurelius punched the thrusters to full easily bringing his landspeeder around the ruins of Crow two and that of the fountain he released the safety off the landspeeders under slung heavy Bolter. As he did so Drake next to him did the same with his Multi-melta and began to track the target.

Aurelius now got to see his prey.

 

It was as huge as a Land-raider made taller as it drew to its full height on its eight mechanical legs. Its front ended with four green gem like eyes and two giant mandibles that it open and closed in a gesture of challenge. Between these sat the devastating Melta cannon that had obliterated Crow two and the ornamental fountain.

It also had two auto cannons which were slung under its enormous belly. It looked like an Arachnid.

 

Aurelius had the smile of a hunter finding his prey upon his face which was hidden within his skull face helmet.

Without a seconds hesitation he depressed the heavy bolters firing rune and a torrent of heavy shells thundered towards the Spider walker, Drake followed the Crow masters lead and a stream of bright blue white light of his own streamed from his Multimelta impacting just in front of its face.

Something was wrong very wrong…

 

+ + + +

 

The heavy shells and melta blasts never touched the walker

‘NO’

Aurelius’s smile faded and confusion settled on him like a heavy shroud.

The body of the walker began to bob up and down giving the face a chuckling, mocking appearance.

Thick black smoke belched from its exhaust stacks and it fired its melta cannon again.

Yanking the controls to the right the landspeeder just avoided the beam of destructive energy as he did so Aurelius barked a command to his armours machine spirit

“Prey sight”

He also fired a short burst and saw to his dismay blooms of energy where the shells bounced harmlessly off.

“Oh terra its void protected” Drake disbelief was mirrored by the Crow master.

 

Banking the land-speeder to starboard Drake began to unleash the fury of his Multi-melta.

 

Aurelius switched his vox bead to that of the Imperial Command Centre.

“Report Crow master” that low sullen haunted voice could only be one person the Night Haunter.

“My lord I have located my target however to destroy it I need more fire power than I have.”

Drakes Multi-melta continued to stream its raw destructive energy into the machines void shields, but now a warning light showed telling both Drake and Aurelius that the gun was overheating.

“What’s the situation speak quickly”

“Lord this machine is void shield protected I cannot bring it down alone”

“Understood Crow master keep it there”

“Aye my Lord”

Switching the vox back to the squad’s battle frequency he triggered the call, The Crow’s cry.

No matter where he was the surviving members of the wing would flock to him.

‘We’ve come for you’ thought Aurelius.

“That’s it my melta is out I’ve cooked the cooling system.”

Drake pressed the rune under the flashing warning light and the Multimelta tumble from its position detonating harmlessly on the cobble ground.

Aurelius kept the speeder circling the walker.

 

It would try to run, and then it would fire its melta cannon. Cooking the air and turning nearby buildings into more flaming ruins.

When this failed to dislodge the Crow master it would lunge forward snapping its mandibles at the landspeeder.

Still circling the walker Drake opened the spare weapon cache under his seat.

It contained a standard issue Bolter with four extra clips as well as an Auxiliary Grenade launcher with six Krak grenades. He took the launcher and slid a round into the chamber, aimed, fire and reloaded.

+ + + +

The grenades would not be enough to bring the shield down nor would the heavy bolter rounds.

Checking the ammo counter for his heavy bolter Aurelius took stock of his situation.

He had just five thousand rounds left in the reserve magazine, Drake had four Krak grenades left, there was the bolter but that was as useless as a mortal man trying to beat a space marine in hand to hand combat.

He was out of time and running out of ammo.

His options were he could turn back, head home to command, reload and start the hunt again. He remembered what the Primarch had told him ‘keep it there’ and he could not stand the shame of returning back home without completing his mission.

He, Aurelius would not run home, would not except failure. Pitching the nose of the land speeder down Aurelius began shooting up the cobbled, still circling the walker as he did so trying to force it to lose its footing.

Drake followed suite blowing larger craters in the ground and send debris everywhere causing the void shields to crackle.

 

Checking the ammo counter two-thousand, five hundred rounds left.

Time for a new plan breaking the speeder left Aurelius threw the speeder towards the other fountains. The walker began to pursue him firing its Auto cannons obliterating the robed figure fountain before Aurelius even got there.

Flying through scattered stone the speeder kept swaying and bucking in the air and still more melta blasts and shells streamed by so close that both marines could feel the heat.

Its aim was getting better.

+ + + +

Heading towards the squares northern entrance Aurelius slammed the speeder onto its port wing as two missiles flashed by missing the Crow master by a hair’s breathe. These missiles impacted on the walkers void shield causing it to stumbling. The air was ripped apart by the cries of crows with the arrival of Corran and Thaddeus.

Thaddeus again triggered another two missiles from his Typhoon weapon system as his gunner poured on heat with his own Heavy bolter and Corran and his gunner did likewise.

The walker now caught between, Three Land Speeder now began to try swatting them from the air with its legs and mandibles but to no avail.

But amid the distraction the walker failed to notice the boxy yellow rhino transport bearing the closed fist sidual of the Imperial Fist as it slewed into fountain square from the south entrance.

It pulled up in front of a ruined building allowing a 5 man devastator squad to disembark. As the squad moved into ruins for cover the rhino’s driver let lose a flurry of missile from the roof mounted havoc launcher.

These did succeed in getting the arachnids attention.

 

Facing the rhino it unleashed its melta cannon again the blast pieced straight through the drivers compartment. Vaporising the crew instantly a second later the fuel reserves ignited. The resulting explosion threw shrapnel in all directions and severing one of the devastators in half. As the blast wave past the remaining devastators stepped from their cover with their heavy weapons raised and fired.

 

Four red beams stretched from the devastator’s Lascannons crashing into the walkers shields, under their impacts the shield began to flicker, it flicked a bright red then popped out of existence.

This was it Aurelius could smell the sweet scent of victory within his grasp the deaths of his brothers and comrades from the other legions were about to be avenged.

+ + + +

As its shield collapsed the walker turned to flee its programmed orders commanding it to return to base for repairs.

It tore Thaddeus out of the air and stamped over his speeder as it fled Aurelius and Corran gave chase as Thaddeus and his gunner pulled themselves from the twisted wreck of Crow four.

The Imperial Fist devastators continued to fire after the walker one shot impacted on one of its eight legs severing it at the first joint think red hydraulic fluid squirting everywhere.

The arachnid flattens more of the fountains as it stumbled with the loss of a limb.

The punishing sound of heavy bolter rounds suddenly stopped and a string of Nostromian curses filled the vox as both Corran’s and Aureliuses heavy bolters ran dry.

They had to do something the walker was nearly at the entrance to fountain square if it escaped now the hunt would have to start over

‘How many more of our brothers will be lost if that happens’

Thought the Crow master.

“Aurelius”

Drake was handing him the grenade launcher. ”one shot left brother”

He took the weapon and slammed the throttles to full gaining then sweeping around to the front of the Arachnid. He aimed the launcher straight between the mandibles right into the barrel of its melta cannon.

He pulled the trigger and time seemed to slow the krak grenade passed between the mandibles and detonated. It destroyed three of the four green gems like eyes and the left mandible hung limply held on by a few cables the rest of its face armour had been stripped off in the blast exposing its inner working. White smoke poured out of the damaged sections the melta cannon never fired after that but the Auto cannons opened up shells impacting and passing through the Crow masters landspeeder Aurelius swung to the right to avoid the fire amazingly both drake and Aurelius wasn’t hit but a shell had struck the port engine which was now smoking.

++++

“Brothers pull back we’ll finish this bastard”

The voice sounded far away Aurelius and Drake sat there even as eight streams of white smoke dropped from the sky and crashed into the Arachnid.

The force of the eight Hell strike missiles impacts tore massive craters in the cobbled ground throwing chunks of stone everywhere. The blast buffeting the anti grav units of the Crow masters speeder causing it to stale and drop the two meters to the ground.

As the thick black smoke rose into the air it was cut through by the bulky box shaped form of a Thunderhawk gunship in the vivid purple and gold colours of the Emperors Children.

 

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