Iron Father Ferrum Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Hey guys, I was feeling the writing bug again in a fairly long time, so I decided to post up a quick short that's been rolling around in the back of my mind for a while. I'm going to continue throwing in little stories like this as the muse sends (mostly Fire Angels stuff as Ilove those guys), and I figured I'd invite other interested parties to contribute as well if they so feel the need... PREDATORS Administratum Warehouse District XXVIII-Chi-AlphaSagan, Badab Sector “Armand?” the vox crackled in his ear. “Hurry up.”Armand de Bertholet rose from his crouch, taking in one last long look at the burned-out shell before him. It used to be a Razorback, and patches of dull silver and crimson were still visible around the huge patches of fire-blackened soot and gaping holes that had beenripped in its skin. The squad and company markings had been obliterated by the battle-damage, but it was clearly wargear of the Fire Angels Chapter. His Chapter. Armand turned from the ruined personnel carrier, drinking in the sight around him as he clambered up the side of his Predator battle tank, the Perdition's Flame.Sagan's skies were choked with black smoke from a thousand fires; the closest pillar of smog rose from a towering hive-stack less than a kilometer distant. He'd seen that firestorm start as the Fire of Heaven dropped lance-strikes on the hive from low orbit. The Tyrant's Legion had been using the tower as a defensive bastion, and reducing it by fire or assault from the ground would have taken far too long to achieve. The battle barge had torn it apart in less than five minutes, and now the great bastion had collapsed in upon itself and was slowly smoldering into a veritable mountain of ashes.Armand slipped down into the commander's hatch of the Predator and dropped down into his throne next to the gunner in the turret. His driver, Hyrcon, spoke up. “Was it him?”Armand frowned, though no one could see it behind his grilled helmet. “I spotted at least five high-temperature burns and two hard-round penetration craters.” “Lascannons and a battle cannon, then?” “Yes,” Armand snapped. “Looked like Vanquisher shells, too -- the penetration craters were too small for a standard Russ cannon. And it was recent, too, no more than an hour.”At that, Clovis, his taciturn gunner, perked up, and immediately put his eye to the gunner's scope. “He's nearby, then. Traitor bastard.”Armand tapped Hyrcon's shoulder with his armored foot. “Take us down the street, brother. Slowly. Clovis? Watch the side-streets with the turret, I'm taking direct control of the sponsons.”“Roger.” The turret began to slew to the right as the Predator grumbled into motion, its heavy treads grinding the rubble-strewn rockcrete street surface into dust. The Perdition's Flame rolled forward, the long-barreled lascannons fronting the blocky armored turret swinging slowly side-to-side. The effect was not unlike a panther, stalking its prey in a low crouch, head swiveling side to side as it sniffed the air.Out there, somewhere, was the Black Baron.The Black Baron was a Leman Russ Vanquisher. It lacked the bright silver and blue heraldry of the Astral Claws and their vassals, instead sporting a coal-black scheme. No one knew why its heraldry was different. No one knew if its crew was human or Astartes. No one knew what unit it belonged to, or where its base was. All the Loyalist forces on Sagan knew was that the Black Baron had scored over a hundred armor kills, striking from ambush and then falling back before it could be pinned down or destroyed. The Salamanders hadonce thought they'd had it cornered in a munitions warehouse and had bombed the building via Thunderhawk. Captain Vale's Third Company had claimed to have destroyed it while overrunning a Legion position two days ago, only for it to appear and put a Vanquisher shell through the glacis plate of Vale's personal Land Raider. Just yesterday, Master Kelleran had ordered a teleport strike on what they had thought was its position hidden in the East Prime manufactorum park. Of the ten precious Terminator-clad veterans committed to the strike, only six had walked away.And now the Baron was here, in XXVIII-Chi-Alpha, with them.Hyrcon slowed as they approached an interchange onto the city-planet's massive elevated highway system. “Take the ramp?” he asked as he steered the tank towards the arcing on-ramp. “We'll get better visuals up there.”Armand shook his head. “No, stay on the ground. Hyrcon jerked the controls, steering away from the ramp at the last moment. We'd be too exposed up there, no where to maneu—“A blur of supersonic movement shot across the front of the Predator, followed by an explosion as whatever was fired at them detonated against the on-ramp's safety wall.“Back, Hyrcon! Back!” Armand roared as Clovis swung the turret back to the front. The driver gunned the engine, and the tankshot backwards, spitting rooster tails of dust and loose gravel to the front as the armored vehicle reversed at full power. “Next side-street, take a left. We'll get behind him.”The Perdition's Flame turned in place and shot down a side street barely wide enough for its armored bulk. Armand didn't like being off of the main arterial -- the close confines meant there wasn't any space to move -- but if it wasn't for Hyrcon's sudden direction change, that Vanquisher shell would have struck them squad in the front.The Black Baron was out there, somewhere on the other side of this warehouse block. The Predator nosed out of the end of the alley, emerging onto another arterial, though smaller than the one they'd been on. They turned the corner, turret tracking across their route, but the enemy still wasn't in sight.Hyrcon started to push them up the arterial, but Armand stopped him. “Hyrcon, back down the alley -- in reverse. Clovis, flip the turret. There was no hesitation by the others to his orders, but the lack of verbal responses as they complied spoke of a touch of confusion on their parts. He usually didn't feel the need to explain his orders, but he did so anyway.“No competent commander would have gone straight back up that arterial. They'd have tried to flank its position, so that's exactly what they'll be expecting. I just needed the timing to be right.”The Flame re-emerged from the mouth of alley and onto the main thoroughfare. It swung back to its original heading, all guns front, and began creeping up to the corner of the Administratum warehouse.“Hyrcon. . .”“Sir. . . ?”“Punch it!”The Flame tore around the corner, all four lascannons tracking, to find itself face to face with an empty street and an intact warehouse wall.Hyrcon slowed the tank. Armand bit his lip for a moment, mind racing. Why would it have fled? Where did it go? It'd still have to be nearby. . . out of sight. . . laying in wait. . . It clicked.“Target right!” he called a split-second before the dark form of the massive Leman Russ crashed through the wall to their right. Theguns were still panning when the Baron's main gun boomed. It was obvious though that the Baron's crew, while they'd known the Flame was there, had expected them to come from the other direction; the shell missed by thirty meters.Hyrcon immediately threw the Predator into reverse again and powered away from the hulking behemoth. The Baron's long-barreled Vanquisher turret had a slower traverse speed than the Predator's Annihilator-pattern turret; while the Russ had gotten the first shot, Clovis got the second. The paired lascannons burst to life, casting twin spears of brilliant blue light into the Baron's glacis plate. Smoke belched from the holes, but the damage obviously wasn't catastrophic as the Leman Russ pulled back into the hole in the wall.“Don't let him get away, Hyrcon!” The driver turned the Predator and drove headlong into the wall in an explosion of dust and bricks. As they burst into the warehouse interior, Armand triggered the sponson lascannons, firing blindly in the hopes of covering their approach.The interior of the warehouse was filled with metal shelving containing pallets and crates of various sizes and shapes; the contents were unimportant to Armand and his crew. All they knew was the palleted goods blocked line of sight and clogged their firing lane, so the lascannon shots failed to strike the enemy. The Flame kept pushing forward, plowing through the racking until it emerged from the clutternear a set of loading bays on the backside of the warehouse.The Leman Russ and the Predator were studies in contrast. The Russ, the armored hammer of the Imperial Guard, was slow and cumbersome but heavily armored. The Predator was more lightly armored, but was faster and more agile. As a result, the Perdition's Flame was able to leap through the building interior quicker than the Russ could bull its way backwards. . . which placed the Predator behind the Leman Russ.Clovis slewed the turret around as the Predator emerged from a pile of plywood crates, and brought the lascannons to bear on the rear of the larger vehicle. Despite being stabilized, Hyrcon was driving the tank at full throttle, so it was a snap shot, but it still connected. The high-powered beams slashed into the Russ' weakest armor. They ignited something important inside, and a dull whump soundedthat even Armand could hear. The Baron's turret ring blew out and the tank slewed to a halt. Smoke poured from every hatch and gap in the outer plate.Armand's hands unclenched from his sponson gunnery controls and let out a deep breath. They'd killed it. Finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Foes Remain Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Ok, this is very bloody good and you have my interest. Also, if you don't mind, when I get some tanks for my Tyrant's Legion I will make one the Black Baron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Very interesting, brother. More please. :D Just one little error - The Perdition's Flame turned in place and shot down a side street barely wide enough for its armored bulk. Armand didn't like being off of the main arterial -- the close confines meant there wasn't any space to move -- but if it wasn't for Hyrcon's sudden direction change, that Vanquisher shell would have struck them squad in the front. I believe you meant to say 'square', right? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Father Ferrum Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Thanks guys. I'll fix that, Oli, good catch. But. . . uhhhh. . . all I did was try to edit in the rest of the story and all sorts of crazy code inserted itself. How do I fix it? Line by line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Thanks guys. I'll fix that, Oli, good catch. But. . . uhhhh. . . all I did was try to edit in the rest of the story and all sorts of crazy code inserted itself. How do I fix it? Line by line? Holy crap. Erm... that happens from time to time. So far the only solution I've come across is line by line manual post-reconstruction, I'm afraid. I suggest, should you have a backup copy in a text file (which I always do), to replace the meat of the post wholesale. Perhaps that might save you some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Father Ferrum Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Well, I fixed it, and finished the story (I was, sadly, interrupted by the need to go to my Stat class). More will be forthcoming as the muse sends, but again, I encourage any and all to contribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Foes Remain Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 More please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Contribute, eh? You mean scribble up something and post it here? I'm tempted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Foes Remain Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Contribute, eh? You mean scribble up something and post it here? I'm tempted... You're not the only one, Oli. Maybe I will as well, though I doubt anyone would be able to guess what Chapter.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welcheren Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Very good. At the risk of sounding like a parrot... more please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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