A Knights Crusade

[Jaminos]

The earth shook gently beneath the feet of Sevros as he walked through the maze like corridors of the underground bunker. The shelling was as he understood, like clockwork. The base would be shelled every four hours or so. The damage was usually minor as much of the base was heavily fortified and the crews of artillery emplacement would meet a violent end from air support. However then enemy always managed to recover with frightening speed. The enemy had resources and time on their side.

 

The final corridor lead Sevros to the command center, or what was left. The guard regiment that had once held this base was now nearly depleted. Only a couple hundred guardsmen remained and even with the strong defenses, they had lost this battle. But humanity had not given up on this planet, not yet. The mighty first legion had been ordered to assist their brothers of the Black Templars in taking this world back. Heretics had infiltrated much of the planet. The Guard had done their best to hold but attrition had whittled their numbers down. The room opened up to reveal three genetically superior men standing around a command table with various holographic displays of different locations of various importance as well as recent scouting information that was annotated to the side. The first man was Master Lazarus of the fifth company, of the Dark Angels and Sevros's direct superior in this campaign. The second was a Dark Templar high Marshall who was also tasked with this fight, High Marshall Viktor. The third Space Marine was another Black Templar that Sevros was unfamiliar with. Sevros was slightly taller than a typical Primaris space Marine. However he stood a head taller than everyone in the room, that is to say, those who were genetically superior. The room was more populated with far less genetically superior, run-of -the-mill human Gaurdsmen. Most were at comms stations or working on other important equipment for the war effort.

 

One man lounged on a couch, a bulbous creature Sevros was reluctant to even refer to as a man. His head was shaved close to the point where it reflected the light, beads of sweat trickling down. Tubes came out of both his nostrils and disappeared under the many folds of his neck. He looked as if he had eaten the entire platoons rations and despite the advanced air filtration of his helmet, Sevros could smell this vile creatures odor. It wore the stained uniform of a planetary governor. However much of his gut spill out and it was opened at the chest, revealing a hairy, greasy mass. How this thing was allowed to be in charge of an entire planet was beyond Sevros. The Governor was attended by a man who was his opposite. He was thin for a commissar. Gaunt in his cheeks but otherwise a model soldier. Crisp uniform with each medal polished carefully with a well maintained sidearm. Sevros silently mused to himself that perhaps the Govenor had simply eaten the commisaurs portion instead of the entire platoon. They were speaking about military matters, the Governor hardly taking notice Sevros's arrival. Lazarus however nodded his head at the Primarus Chaplain and motioned for him to join. Sevros silently approached the small group of super warriors. He pointedly made a show of taking off his skull plated black helmet before holding it in the crook of his arm. A procedure that the Templars had insisted the Dark Angels do. Sevros didn't question it.

 

"As you can see here and here." Pointed the Templar Marshal with a gauntleted finger. "The enemy heretics have stored a large cache of weapons. Its too far behind enemy lines for air support to take out. However, an armored assault coming from the east and a combined troop assault from the west should be enough to take out both objectives though with more casualties. Frankly, we can't risk what little we have of our air support. Our fleets in space are already spread thin so that means no orbital support either. The large Templar next to Marshal Viktor spoke up. The man had a jaw so square it almost looked comical. But the steely gaze he gave left little hint of humor. "My men and I can handle this Marshall. Im sure these..." he looked like he was searching for the right word. "Primarus sub men, somewhere more effective." Sevros was used to the scorn by now. Many chapters didn't trust the Primarus when they arrived to the battlefield. Tge Dark Angels especially took a long time to warm up to the new untested soldiers. Many in the rock still spoke in hushed tones when he was about on his duties. It was thanks to Master Lazarus that his Primarus brothers had started to be trusted with major conflicts. The war on this planet was one such test. A majority of the Unforgiven marines in this battle would be Primarus.

 

The Marshal looked pointedly at the larger Templar, not the least bit intimidated by his nearly inhuman hight. "You will do as commanded, initiate." The words were simple but left no room for argument. It was a command worthy of a chaplain Sevros mused. The larger Templar stiffened but nodded. The Marshal went on for several more minutes about the details of the operation before they concluded. Sevros would take two squads with him and so would his large companion, Gendriel. Sevros was told to refer to him as Sergeant as it was considered offensive to fefer to him by his Templar rank. Though it also could have been because there had been some friction between the chapters in the past to they settled on petty rules when interacting with each other.

 

Sevros was considered the task force leader while Gendriel relayed the orders to his own squads. Though honestly, Severos knew better than to get in the way of how the Templars fought. Just as the Templar knew how methodical the Dark Angels were. Sevros had never worked with another chapter besides his own but he had trained extensively on war doctrine between other chapters. At least the doctrines they knew about. Sevros was a man who liked to keep cool head and fight smarter, not braver. There were only so many of his Primarus brothers available to the chapter and he had to always consider how to effectively use his men. Often he was sent on mission where stealth was important because of his eye for detail. Some would say it was thanks to the Lion's gene seed that gave his chapter a proclivity to strategy and secrecy. Sevros argued that he had always been mistrusting of others, hence why he thought ahead and avoided unnecessary fighting until it was time to strike. They were to set out in two days. It would be a armored column provided by the Templars consisting of a whirlwind, two predator tanks and a three razorbacks that were loaded with extra ammo in exchange for limited transportation. The Templar ground units consisted of a tactical squad and a scout squad. The Dark Angels brought two intercessor squads. Both of those squads boasting an impressive array of firepower. Sevros saw little of his Templar companion. They both had their duties. Litanies to prepare...

 

The day finally came to move out. The first day the two forces would move together. They would have to split off the next day to get in place for their attack. Sevros patted his plasma pistol affectionately. It was a fine companion and had never failed him once. Gendriel looked skeptically at the weapon as they began to march. The armored column providing them some privacy as they walked. "Tell me, chaplain" he said the title with just the barest hint of disgust "what is it you seek in this crusade?" Sevros thought long on the question, ignoring the slight. "To murder heretics." It was a short and direct answer. It was a Sevros kind of answer. The Templar looked blankly for a moment before letting out a loud, belly laugh that had him taking a moment to compose himself. "Praise be to the Emperor! Fine answer." He pulled a massive chainsword from his back and gave it a squeeze the let out a roar that could even be heard over the noise of the tanks. "Lets go kill some heretics then!"

 

 

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Thanks for reading! I plan on writing more. I apologize for some rough parts. I am a little rusty. If you enjoyed it, feel free to pm me! If you didn't then I apologize for taking up your time!