//------------------------------// // Part 8 'Fighting Withdrawal' // Story: Warhammer 40k: The Mission // by 40kponyguy1 //------------------------------// Outside the cathedral, the allies did not have long to wait for the other enemy forces to turn up. A pair of marines in crimson armour with brass decoration appeared in the cathedral doorway, chain axes revving hungrily and bolt pistols clenched in their left hands. These individuals were nearly identical in appearance to the marine the ponies had been confronted with back in the trenches. They stalked out down the cathedral steps, quickly disappearing behind the blazing wreck of the thunderhawk. Next came a cloaked figure loosely holding a power sword in his right hand, it's energy field crackling faintly. This marine went without a helmet, his blonde hair whipping out in the faint breeze. Little detail could be made out at this distance, but to the Imperial sergeant it was clear this marine was of the Emperor's Children legion. He still wore the purple armour with golden trim that his legion had worn proudly before the Heresy. He certainly struck an imposing profile as he stood atop the steps looking carefully around the courtyard, his deep red cloak billowing out behind him. Right behind him was another marine. A sharp contrast to the aloof swordsman, this marine wore the silver-grey armor of the Iron Warriors, a thunder hammer slung across his shoulders. He walked out to stand beside his ally at the top of the steps, also looking out around the courtyard. Lastly, a huge winged form appeared. Almost as wide as the doorway, and standing nearly double the height of the other marines. This monster bore little resemblance to the proud warrior it once was; a huge red-stained beast with long sharp claws on it's fingertips clearly capable of tearing any adversary to shreds. The fact this beast stayed behind the two other marines on the steps suggested that it was not in command here, but more a terror weapon. The ponies, upon seeing these warriors appear, began to back up as one, wide-eyed, and with their ears flat against their heads in fear. The guardsmen just held their places, hidden from view behind the ruined walls on the far side of the plaza from the Chaos forces. "Hold your places!", hissed Vorenze to the ponies ,"if they see us too soon we're done for!" He then saw something move off to the right of the cathedral. Two of the ponies were making their way carefully back through the ruins, trying to stay hidden. That grey one... Octavia wasn't it?... she was doing an admirable job of keeping hidden, her dark colors making her near impossible to see against the shadowed ruins. The other one, Rainbow Dash, seemed to be carrying something, and her colors made her easy to spot. So where was the third pony? Luckily for Rainbow, the Chaos forces were distracted for the moment by the blazing wreck of their transport and the berzerkers were happily carving up the prone cultists with their chain axes in revenge for their failure. As Vorenze watched, the Iron Warrior on the steps tapped an armored finger on the side of his helmet, clearly some short ranged communicator. Moments later, something appeared which made the sergeant's heart sink. A predator tank, followed by a rhino transport. Both bore the iconography of a legion he had hoped never to see again. The Thousand Sons legion. The enemy must have had a thunderhawk transporter nearby, so they were not stranded as Vorenze had hoped. The fact the Chaos predator tank had only one weapon, a turret mounted auto cannon, made little difference. The sergeant's morale was plummeting. They were now out-classed, out-gunned, and out numbered if he didn't count the terrified xenos ponies. Somehow, he doubted they would be much help against these marines. Still, he had to show strength. If it was clear that he was worried, it would deal a crippling blow to the morale of those under his command. It was at this time that another bit of bad news reached him. Octavia and Rainbow Dash had made it back to the other ponies unseen, despite Dash's bright colors and haphazard flying whilst carrying the heavy staff. "T...Twilight's still back there!" gasped the pegasus, her worried expression evident ,"she stopped to keep their leader occupied while we got away. She was supposed to be right behind us!" "Their leader?", asked Vorenze. "Big guy, cloak, fancy armor, had horns on his helmet and a staff with an eye and two horns". Rainbow had to stop there to catch her breath. "Ahriman", breathed the sergeant. "You know who that is?" asked Octavia. "Ahriman was a primary target for our forces here, to be taken out if possible, regardless of cost". "I'll take it he's dangerous then", continued Lyra. "That'd be an understatement", answered Vorenze, "Ahriman is a formidable sorcerer". "So is Twilight", perked up Fluttershy with an air of hopefulness. "If any pony's going to kick his butt, it's Twilight", laughed Dash ,"unless I got to him first of course!" "I'll head back for her", stated Octavia ,"I'm much harder to spot than any of you lot". "Five minutes", stated Vorenze, "we're no match for these guys. If we have to make a fight of it we're in big trouble". Octavia nodded, then disappeared back the way she came in a blur of black and grey. Unseen by the others, Lyra sidestepped behind a wall, and was gone. The sergeant looked back to what was happening in the courtyard. One of the berzerkers was holding a terrified cultist by his shirt a good two feet off the ground. The cultist pointed a quaking hand straight at the hidden guardsmen and squeaked out "Xenos! Pony things! Psyker!" The berzerker threw the wretched man aside, and began stomping directly towards them, his world eaters companion falling in to step beside him. The cultist scurried off towards the edge of the courtyard. The berzerker drew his pistol, and shot the man in the back without even turning around to aim. "Looks like our luck has run out", stated Vorenze with an air of resignation. ***************************************************************************** Lyra picked her way across the broken landscape on the opposite side of the plaza to the route taken by Octavia. Her friends needed a distraction to buy them some time, and she had a plan which, whilst very risky (more so than she realized), would certainly help. It involved one of the enemy vehicles. Whilst clearly far more advanced than anything in Equestria, Lyra could see that these probably worked in a similar way to the train back home. All she needed to do was get to it without being noticed, and.. how do you say... throw a spanner in the works? Scurrying low behind the broken buildings, she made it to the back of the vehicle with the big gun. It's dark blue color seemed to be filled with changing hues at this range. The unicorn climbed up the back of the far track from the enemy forces so she wouldn't be seen, using her levitation spell to help her make the climb. ******************************************************************************* A clatter sounded on the roof of the tank. Thinking little of it, the Iron Warriors gunner turned the turret slowly around, using the scanners to pick out any movement. Not for the first time, he cursed that the tank's infra red and heat sensors no longer functioned, unsurprising given the fact the vehicle was close to ten millennia old, and hadn't seen any repair work in over three hundred years. It was a miracle anything worked after so long. A moment later, however, he began to notice a strange smell, like burnt metal. This piqued his interest, and so he began to reach up for the hatch to get a look around. The hatch wouldn't budge. Even with his enhanced strength, the marine couldn't force the doors to open. He looked back at the sensor screen, just in time to see what looked like a horse's hoof crack the lenze. A second kick, and the screen became laced with static. "What the hell's going on?!" ********************************************************************************** Lyra, having welded the hatch shut with a spell, began tearing at the engine compartment grill with her telekinesis. Something in there was making a noise, so it was probably something important. The grills over the engine compartment slowly gave way, although it was a tremendous strain on the unicorn. With the covers removed, Lyra could see lots of moving things in there. "Hmmm.." mused the unicorn "Now, maybe if I put this.." She jammed the warped engine grill straight in to the moving pistons of the engine, binding up gears and causing several things to begin to smoke. "Erm... Time to leave!" she squeaked, leaping behind the tank and running back around the back of the ruins the way she had come. As she began her trek back to her friends, the whole building behind her crumbled inwards with a series of crashing booms. "I hope Twilight made it out okay", she whispered to herself. *********************************************************************************** Octavia scurried low behind the broken walls, keeping well away from the sight of the soldiers in the courtyard. She alone among the ponies had seen first-hand what these monsters were capable of, and wasn't about to be on the receiving end. A shot rang out, followed by a cut-off shriek of pain. A quick glimpse over the wall confirmed the warriors with the axes had shot one of the weaker men. Octavia broke in to a panicked run, then remembered where she was, and skidded to a halt just soon enough to avoid running out in to plain sight of the soldiers on the steps. She peered around the edge of the wrecked wall. The soldiers were still looking around the courtyard, but seemed more intent on the far side where her friends were. Then she spotted Lyra, perched on one of the tanks. "What is she doing?" muttered Octavia to herself. The tank shuddered, followed by a tortured wail which could only signify something mechanical had been jammed up. Smoke began pouring from the back of the enemy vehicle. The mint-green unicorn beat a hasty retreat. This turn of events gave Octavia the opportunity to get around the side of the cathedral unseen. And not a moment too soon. She turned the corner just in time to see Twilight skid sideways across the patch of grass outside the vestibule door. Resisting the urge to call out, the grey mare hastily made her way to her fallen comrade, wary that whatever had knocked out the alicorn could certainly do the same to her. Then the upper parts of the cathedral walls collapsed inwards, causing the ground to shudder. It took Octavia a few moments to realize what was causing the tremors, but quickly guessed this meant whatever threat had been in there was no doubt buried. She reached Twilight's position at a trot. "T-Twilight?" She nudged the lavender mare's muzzle with her hoof, and was answered with a groan. Octavia sighed with relief. "Come on Twilight, we can't stop here". Octavia picked up the dazed alicorn on her back, and began to make her way back to her companions. ************************************************************************** As Lyra scurried back behind the broken walls, retracing the route she had taken to get to the enemy tank, a sound behind her caught her attention. She looked back briefly, then broke in to a panicked gallop. How could something that big, and that heavily armoured have moved so quickly and so quietly?! "That's right little pony", laughed the huge soldier in the purple and gold armour, "keep running, and lead me straight back to your friends!" Lyra realised he was right, and quickly changed direction, ducking through a broken doorway. There, she cowered in a corner, building up a spell of protection. Her pursuer came in to view, sword drawn, the blade crackling faintly with power. He raised his blade in a quick over-arm sweep, and brought the blow down squarely at Lyra's horn. There was a bright flash, and the Emperor's Children marine was thrown on to his back by the discharge of energy. Whilst the protective spell deflected the physical blow, the power field from the blade sent a powerful shock down Lyra's horn, hurling the mint green unicorn back against the wall. Lyra looked up groggily as the huge soldier hoisted himself back on to his feet. Her vision kept swimming in and out of focus. As she became more alert, the marine loomed over her. "You will not catch me out like that again!" he growled, drawing his blade, now devoid of it's energy field, back to skewer the helpless pony. The blade plunged towards her. She closed her eyes, unable to summon the magic needed to deflect the blow. "WHANG!!" The mint green unicorn opened her eyes in shock to see a second sword crossed with the marine's. "So, you finally show your face!", laughed the marine,"you look like you'll be more fun to play with!" "This one's under my protection", growled Vorenze,"why don't you pick on someone nearer your own size!" "And what do you think your superiors would think of you helping a xenos?", smirked Lukion, circling the commander and looking for an opening. "I think any means of preventing the likes of Ahriman getting his hands on powerful artefacts is justifiable" he replied. Lyra watched the two circling each other. Vorenze was at a clear disadvantage in size and armour, although the marine's power sword generator had been overloaded when she blocked his blow. The commander had helped her. Time to return the favour. Lukion swung his sword back ready to slice across Vorenze's waist. Instinctively, the commander leapt back, but the blow wouldn't have connected anyway. The Emperor's Children marine's hands were empty. The marine turned to find out why, only to get thumped solidly on the forehead with the hilt of his own weapon. He staggered, such a blow not enough to fell a post-human warrior. Lyra quickly jabbed the stolen weapon's pommel in to the marine's head again. This time he went down, knocked out by the unexpected blow. "Let's move!" called Vorenze, "he won't stay down long". "Thank you" replied Lyra, trotting over to the commander ,"how did you know he was following me?" "I saw what you did to that tank", answered Vorenze "that distracted the two soldiers heading our way, but that marine spotted you and followed you". "But.... What about your own soldiers?" "Maverick and Bateman just got here, so I came to help you", came the response ,"what you did back there helped our morale a lot, so I wasn't about to abandon you". ************************************************** Back at the main group's current location, Fenrick took careful aim from his vantage point in a corner of the ruined building they were hiding in. The wall here was around 2 stories high, and still had a single window frame, which he was currently crouched behind. His target was one of the two berzerkers. The crippled tank hadn't distracted them long, and they were closing the gap fast. He squeezed his trigger gently, feeling the bite. Made a couple of minor corrections, and fired. The shot ricocheted off the side of the Chaos marine's helmet, not even slowing his pace. "Damn it!" snapped Fenrick, hastily ejecting the spent shell and banging a new round in to the breach. As the ratling lifted his rifle to take the shot, the last thing he saw was the blood-slick edge of his intended target's chain axe blade. The berzerker stood in the window and howled his praise to the god of slaughter. Then flew backwards out of the window courtesy of a blast from Maverick's multi laser, to be left sprawling in the dust of the courtyard. The other berzerker, his eyes fixed on the terrified ponies, failed to notice Natalia and Leroy crouched behind the wall. Hit by both a laser cannon and a melta gun at point-blank range, the Chaos marine didn't so much die, as simply cease to exist. At this moment, Vorenze returned with Lyra. At almost that exact moment, Octavia rounded the corner where Fenrick's mangled remains lay slumped over his rifle. Fortunately for the grey mare, she didn't see this as she was looking in the direction of the other ponies. Across her back lay a dazed Twilight Sparkle. The ponies hurried over to help their friend, all other concerns momentarily forgotten. "She's fine", stated Octavia, "just stunned". "Get to the transport!" shouted Vorenze at them, sprinting that way himself. The second berzerker sprang back to his feet again, only to get planted back in the dust by another hit from Maverick's multi laser. The sentinel clanked forwards, and stomped on the prone marine, his chest plate crumpling under the walker's steel foot. "AND STAY DOWN!!" spat the pilot. The sentinel rocked back from a pair of detonating shells. Moving out of cover had exposed the walker to the chaos rhino on the other side of the plaza. The first shot did little more than scorch the paintwork on the front of the cockpit. The other shot, however, blasted a chunk from the left leg, locking up one of the joints. Maverick spat a curse, turning the cockpit from it's waist joint to return fire. His salvo stitched a pattern of scorch marks across the side of the transport, ineffective, save for the last round. This tore the anti-personnel weapon clean off the vehicle. "We're all in Maverick!", shouted Vorenze,"time to go!" "You go sir", came the reply "I never agreed to help these xenos, but as long as I am fighting the enemies of the Emperor, he protects". "The Emperor protects!", called the commander, saluting his soldier's loyalty to humanity, "good hunting". "Let's move Bateman!" he shouted towards the front of the vehicle. The Chimera coughed in to life and set off in a cloud of dust. ***************************************************************************** The Iron Warrior's marine Balthius, and Voldarius, the half-daemon monster had let their allies go to deal with the Imperials, whilst they went to help their lord. Finally, they found the sorcerer after shifting several large blocks of stone. Ahriman nodded to them in thanks. "I can take it from here", he stated, "Go get that staff!" "By your command", rumbled the red mountain of muscle that was Voldarius. He unfurled his wings and took to the air. The Iron Warrior merely hefted his thunder hammer over his shoulder and set off in the direction of the immobilised Imperial walker. Ahriman lay back with a heavy sigh. "I'm having a bad day..." he grumbled to himself, before hauling himself to his feet. He looked off at the receding column of dust left by the Chimera transport, beginning the rites for a teleportation spell. ******************************************************************** Maverick was doing his best to keep these Chaos marines from reaching him, but the power pack for his multi laser was running very low. The last hit he'd scored against the Emperor's Children marine had done little save knock the soldier on his back. The Berzerker under the Sentinel's foot was trying to get a grip on the foot to free himself, but between coughing up thick wads of blood through his mouth grille and short periods of inactivity, it was clear this warrior had fought his last battle. A dark shape swept over the sentinel, gone almost as soon as he noticed it. Then a third marine came in to view, his grey armour adorned with black and yellow chevrons. He carried a thunder hammer over his shoulder. Maverick let out a heavy sigh, reached in to his pocket, and pulled out his one remaining smoke. A slight smile crossed his lips, as he lit it, saying one last prayer to the Emperor in thanks for the minor distraction. He then reached back to the controls, and pulled the trigger. The Emperor's Children marine went sprawling backwards from the impact, coming to rest close to the advancing Iron Warrior. "GET UP!" snapped the grey armoured marine, hauling his ally to his feet with his right hand. Maverick took aim at the Iron Warrior, and fired. The beam hit the warrior square in the chest, but didn't even topple the soldier. Maverick looked down at his readouts, and his fears were confirmed. The power packs were dry. Moments later, a sound like a thunderclap rang out across the landscape, and Balthius walked away from the smoking ruin of the Imperial walker. "Now, why did you have so much trouble?" he stated to Lukion. "Gimme a break!" came the retort, "he was out of ammo when you got here!" "Excuses, excuses...." laughed the Iron Warrior. ***************************************************************** The back of the chimera transport was fairly quiet, save for the engine noise. The ponies were numb with shock. Such violence was an unwelcome experience for them. The first to come to enough to speak was the least expected of them all. "Do you think she'll be okay?" asked Fluttershy, standing over Twilight who was still not fully concious. "I..... I think she'll be fine" replied Lyra. Octavia stood next to her. "I'm sure she'll be fine soon", stated the grey mare ,"she's just stunned". "I think we're all feelin' a bit the worse fer wear after that", retorted Applejack from the other side of the compartment. "At least we've got away", added Dash, also snapping out of her shocked state,"but what about that guy with the walking thing?" "Maverick was not happy about helping you ponies", answered Vorenze ,"however, he had no qualms about fighting the Chaos forces. So he followed his heart and stayed behind to give us a chance to escape". "But.... That's suicidal against those soldiers!", replied Rainbow. "Yes", was all Vorenze could manage. "Wh.... What happened?", groaned Twilight. "We got the staff, and we're on our way back home", answered Fluttershy, "you rest now". All of a sudden, a huge crash sounded on the top of the vehicle, and everyone got thrown to the cab-end of the compartment as something sharp, red, and worryingly organic looking tore the whole front off the Chimera transport. Moments later, the roof of the compartment was torn clean off, revealing a huge red beast straight out of someone's nightmares. It tossed aside the ragged ruin which had once been the driver, and looked in to the compartment as it's occupants piled out of the back in a blind panic. Natalia and Leroy both fired at the monster, but did not manage to bring it down. It merely staggered back and sat down, stunned. As the guardsmen pulled together to get a bead on the daemon prince, a bright flash stunned them for a moment. Within the swirling light, a figure emerged which made them panic. Ahriman. Luckily for the group, another powerful spell caster had been hard at work too. As Ahriman walked forwards, the whole group of ponies and Imperial guardsmen vanished in a flash of light. The Chaos sorcerer fell to his knees and howled his frustration in to the air. ************************************************************************** As the light from her teleportation faded, Twilight tried to shake the images of screaming faces and half glimpsed things she'd rather not remember from her mind. "Teleporting when there's been so much bloodshed on this world!", shouted Vorenze ,"are you insane?! You're lucky we're all here!" "I.... I didn't know... it would be like that", replied the alicorn ,"it's never been like that before". All the group, whilst physically fine, seemed similarly traumatised by the visions they had seen during their short trip through warp space. All seemed to recover fairly quickly though, realising they were safe. Back in the trenches. Just a short distance away lay the wrecked tank. On the other side of them, the slumped armour of the berzerker that Fenrick had decapitated the day before. "Princess Twilight!" came an unexpected voice from the other side of the tank. "Isn't that...." started Lyra, trotting over to the tank for a clearer look. Just beside where the portal was, there stood two royal guards in their usual golden armour. Between them, looking a little out of place, was a pale blue unicorn with a dark blue and white mane. "Minuette?!" called Lyra, "what in the world are you doing here?!" "Princess Celestia called for me to join you, but some pony (she gritted her teeth and glared at Twilight) had the train leave early!!" Twilight looked away sheepishly. "So she asked me to guard the way home instead," finished the new arrival. "Well, we were successful", stated Twilight ,"we got the staff, and a few new friends too". "What are they?" asked Minuette, looking up at the four remaining human soldiers. "Human soldiers", replied Twilight, "they have helped us to get the staff, at great personal risk. We owe them a great deal". "Are you intending that they should come back to Equestria with us?" asked Minuette, a little shocked at the prospect. The fact that not only Twilight, but all eight ponies shouted "yes" back at her left little room to argue. "They have nothing here", added Twilight ,"their homes have been destroyed, all they have left is what they carry". "That's what I'm worried about!" retorted Minuette, pointing a hoof at the human's weapons. "If they meant us any harm, I'm sure we'd know about it by now", stated the alicorn ,"now, we must return to Equestria. I am sure that Princess Celestia has been worried about us". "More so than you can possibly imagine" answered the pale blue unicorn, turning back to the portal. And with that, the ponies, and their human allies, stepped through the portal to return to Equestria.