I rubbed my forehead vigorously as I approached the 2 and it struck me that they couldn't be more different, both in looks and in belief, yet they worked together to further the Emperor's will and my agenda, whatever it may be at the time. Within reason, of course. They both stepped forward at the same time, only to stop and turn towards each other. I had to intervene before they started arguing.
"Confessor, is there a problem?" I turned my attention to him and he seemed rather pleased to be the one to go first.
"No problem, Lord Captain, But only about half of the group that went with you came back. I wanted to hold a ceremony, to recite the prayers of absolution for the dead and absolution of the redeemed. They were given a task which they saw to completion, and as such they should be freed from the charge of your safe return." I could tell there was more he wanted to say, but maybe he was accepting that long-winded speeches with endless praises to both me and the Emperor, were not the way to communicate with me.
"Of course, If you gather them after their wounds are tended to and they have had a chance to rest up a bit, as I plan to do as well, we shall hold a proper ceremony. I leave you in charge of the finer details." I sent him away with a hand wave, but he was in an excellent mood as he hurried away to plan what I could only assume would be a marvelous sermon in the Emperor's name.
"Lord Captain, you really must let me study that digital weapon. Such unstudied objects could potentially unlock the secrets held within them." Archimedes said without prompt to speak. I should have expected as much, the Mechanicus never cared much for Imperial grand-standing and preferred to get things resolved as quickly as possible.
"As much as I would love to grant your request, I must demand your patience. I need sustenance, I need recuperation, I need to address the troops that returned me from the sabotage mission, and only then can you and I start looking into the nifty little thing. You must forgive me, but given your organisations' reputation around such technology, I would much prefer to be present for any interaction you have with my personal belongings." I rubbed my thumb against the ring I carried on my right index finger, and I could feel his annoyance with my needs.
"The flesh is weak." That was all he said before he turned and left.
"In case you didn't notice, I'm currently fighting a war against the enemies of mankind!" I called out after him, but he didn't answer. I spent the next half hour grumbling and calming down before I could fall asleep, but I slept well. I had eaten a small meal before I went to sleep, and another quick one once I woke up. It was a short nap, maybe a few hours, but it did wonders for my well-being. I also drank generously from our water supply, one of the benefits of my status—unfettered access to supplies. My tent guard had a report waiting for me when I left the tent, informing me that the psykers had reached the front and been put to good use, both with protecting against the ranged and psychic attacks, and quelling the spread of the chaos worshippers influence. It spread like a sickly vapor that hung around the area under their firm control, followed them when they moved, and enveloped their warriors when they attacked. More foul sorcery to deal with, and more trouble when it came to assaulting the Skaven. As much as I hated to admit it, they were quite creative when it came to working around every setback I inflicted upon them.
I was slightly disheartened after reading the report, but with the addition of psykers to my own ranks, it should at the very least even each other out in the long run. I put on my now-cleaned armor and gathered the weapons and equipment I would need on the frontline. With the psykers there, it was time to make a push forward, preferably to within 50 meters of the nearest standing structures, where we would create a new defensive line and start the bombardment once more. Rinse and repeat until the leaders tried to intervene, at which point I would have to wing it once more unless an opportunity to plan their demise presented itself along the way.
As I began my trek back to the frontline, I noticed the increase in runners carrying supplies and munitions to the fight. It had only been a few at a time when we first started our attack on the city, but at this point, it was more like a train of people doing the best imitation of a pendulum. Back and forth they went, bringing with them endless amounts of gear, charge packs, medical supplies, heavy bolter ammunition, building materials, heavy weapons, and more. I could hear the cacophony of noise the constant discharging of weapons produced, blended with the *whoosh* of missiles, screams of Skavens and heretics, and muffled *thumps* of impacting grenades. Nobody paid me much attention in the beginning, but as I got close to the open fighting, people started kneeling and presenting the Aquila as a sign of respect. I casually waved off their displays of loyalty, and in truth, they annoyed me. I would have to address this horrendous compulsive action during fighting. I did not need my men to stop their attacks just to show signs of respect.
Walking around the final corner, I saw the devastation before me. A large dent had been made in the Skaven undercity, the rubble, and broken corpses littering the gargantuan cave it inhabited. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, the damage to the undercity was insignificant and barely noticeable, but it was a hell of a good start and gave my troops something tangible to point to for the efforts so far. A massive group of combat engineers were gathered up, tools ready in hand and a small mountain of building supplies next to them. Their commander was giving a briefing and I slid closer to listen in.
They were tasked with moving the frontline forward, building defensive earthworks and barricades closer to the city, and they would have to do so while our regular troops kept the enemy at bay with mass fire. A fairly standard tactic within the Imperium, but not one I wanted to lean on, as the large loss of life would be a blow to my forces, at least until reinforcements arrived with the Inquisition. Sure, they were coming for the artifact, but once they saw the state of affairs and the war I had embroiled the planet in, they would be unable to stop themselves. Their bloodlust towards heretics and mutants would, hopefully, see me gain control of the forces needed to see this campaign through to a very swift end.
"Commander!" My yelling made her snap around and immediately bow low. She had to be from Idris's ships if that was her standard response.
"Yes, Lord Captain, how may I be of service?" Her voice was controlled and respectful, but also a little bit impatient. I guess I disturbed her at the height of her bravado.
"Change of plans. You will hold these fine engineers in reserve until I give the signal. I see no reason to throw their lives away so carelessly, in a futile effort to construct siege-grade defenses while engaged in melee fighting with mutants. You will wait for your signal, and when it comes, you will move them to their positions as quickly as possible, at which point you will abandon their command and assume command of a frontline group that will be tasked with keeping the engineers safe while they work.." I could see her disbelief grow while I spoke, but I didn't care.
"My Lord, that is not an approved battle doctrine! The Logis Stratego has clearly outlined the best way to perform these kinds of assaults!" Her protest would have been enough for almost anyone else in the Imperium, but not for me.
"Are you defying me?" My voice was low, but the tone was unmistakable. I would demote her to the lowest rank possible and send her into the bowels of my ship to assist the mechanicus as a menial laborer if she said anything other than no.
"No, my Lord, I would never, but I worry about the deviation from standard Imperial battle doctrine." Her face, which had been confident and strong a second ago, was now deathly pale, and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. The implied threat of my question had scared her to her very core.
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"Good. Now, stay here while I get the combat group together for you. Unless there are specific troops you would prefer to have under your command, in which case you need just make a list of names and I shall see to it they are released from their current duties." I glanced over at the combat engineers and to say they looked relieved was an understatement. I made my way to the arch-militant, and of course, the man was t the frontline, busying himself with raining death and destruction on the enemies of mankind.
"Lord Captain, what an unexpected but welcome surprise to see you back at the frontline." He said while reloading the rocket launcher he was currently wielding. "Are we finally ready to make the next push?"
His eagerness to take the fight to the enemy was infectious, and the men around us murmured in agreement. "Very soon. I need you to gather up some heavy weapons squads, heavy bolters only. They, along with a contingent of regular troops, will create a firing line in front of the combat engineers while they build the first defenses. As soon as that is finished, you will take that position and allow them time to build a full command bunker. We are kicking this fight into the next stage and getting ready for reinforcements, so I need the next large attack to be either ready or underway when they arrive."
"Reinforcements? I didn't think that would be needed, we have more than enough troops and weapons to see this through to the end. Not that I'm complaining though, more guns pointed at the enemy is always a good thing." It was not a critique of the things to come, merely an observation from one of the most expert baseline human soldiers the Imperium was able to field.
"It is not that we need the reinforcements, but the Inquisition is on its way, and we all know how they react to the presence of mutants and heretics. I predict they will unload as many troops as they can fit into the mountain and try to sweep over the mutants the same way they tried to sweep over us. Speaking of, is the enemy still attacking mindlessly?" I needed an update on how things were going, and his answer did not please me.
"No, Lord Captain, they have stopped their wave attacks in favor of attempts at infiltration and limited long-range attacks. Their mutant monsters are being held back, as are the heretics. All in all, they are being worryingly quiet, my Lord" He looked displeased at his own words, and I didn't blame him. The Skaven not mounting attack after attack on an invading enemy did not bode well, and a terrible thought popped into my head. I had my master vox, and I called our base camp in a near panic.
"Triple the guards, increase and expand patrol patterns, and have combat engineers go over every single nook and cranny once more, looking for structural weaknesses that were not there before, and signs of digging. Use Auspex equipment to look for gatherings of enemies inside the walls, and set up ambushes if any are discovered. And put my Ogrns on guard duty at the shack the psykers stay close to!" I spat my orders through the vox like gunfire, and I could hear desperate scrambling in the background as runners and petty officers hastened to make my orders a reality.
"At once, Lord Cap-" I cut the vox off, formalities could wait.
"You suspect the enemy might be trying to flank us by opening a new tunnel into the cave we inhabit?" The arch-militant looked at me with a new look of respect.
"I do, and to think otherwise would be stupidity. We are dealing with an enemy that thrives on deception and I will not give them the chance to pull their dirty tricks on us. Should they successfully pull off a sneak attack at our base camp, we would be trapped between them and the city in front of us, while losing at least half our troops. These mutants are efficient killers once they get into close range. And considering the abnormally large mutations they seem to control, I am not willing to take even the slightest risk if I can avoid it." My tone was grim and I had a feeling my facial expression mirrored it because the arch-militant simply nodded and started walking with a purpose, no doubt to acquire the troops I wanted him to gather.
It took him a surprisingly short time to gather almost 200 troops that had already survived several close calls when the Skaven had pressed close to our defenses. Some of them had even tangled with the Skaven in melee and come out on top. They were a good pick, and I ordered them all to equip shotcannons and las pistols instead of their regular las rifles. They all knew what they were going to do, and no one complained about my orders. I expected as much, being able to turn a foe into mist, or a group of foes into dead foes, with a single pull of the trigger, was always a reassuring thought.
"COMMANDER!!" I called out, and she appeared almost instantly.
"Yes, Lord Captain." She seemed both annoyed and relieved as she appeared, most likely because we deviated from standard Imperial battle doctrine, but in a way that was meant to spare the lives of as many troops as possible. This was new for her, a leader who cared more about the men under him than the objective at hand.
"We will move out soon. You and your engineers will follow 50 meters behind and start setting up a simple defensive barricade large enough for the troops to occupy as a temporary strongpoint, after which you are going to construct a proper bastion. I am aware this will take time, but once the first barricade is in place, I will move more troops forward to support you during your construction efforts. There will also be heavy weapon squads ready to take up defensive positions on our flanks to keep you safe. Get ready to move out." I didn't bother to acknowledge whether or not she understood, the Imperium trained attentive and obedient commanders. The troops had changed their equipment and lined up for the charge toward the Skaven city, at least a few hundred meters of ground that needed to be covered. With the lack of constant attack, we didn't have to wait for a perfect opportunity to make a fighting advance, the few Skaven that could be seen in the distance were hopping around the debris, looting whatever they could get their hands on.
I nodded to the arch-militant who blew a whistle, the signal to charge forward, and with a collective roar, the troops emerged from the bunker defenses and surged forward. As we ran, I heard a second whistle behind us, letting me know the engineers were starting to move. We made it almost all the way to our designated area before the looting Skaven reacted. They squealed and ran away the moment they saw us charging toward them, and I could almost see the cloud of pheromones around them as they secreted their musk of fear, letting any Skaven out of sight know that danger was approaching. Setting up a half circle surrounding the area where the engineers would start building their defenses, the heavy weapons squads took their position on the flank, 2 heavy bolters on each side, and a single one in the middle of our formation. For the moment, they were mounted on tripods and had an additional trooper assigned to them, who could function as an ammunition runner until some proper defenses had been built and could store the spare ammunition.
I noticed that almost all the troops held the shotcannon in the left hand, halfway up the barrel, while keeping their las pistol ready to fire with the right hand. A good tactic that allowed them to fire precision shots until the enemy got too close and they would have to create some breathing room, at which point, the shotcannon merely needed to be turned toward the enemy and the trigger pulled.
The engineers arrived shortly after, hauling loads of materials and tools, and they wasted no time in getting to work. They knew as well as us that every second counted, and the sooner they got the first barricade up, they could relax in the knowledge that I would summon more troops and begin work on the bastion. It would take days to complete, but once the lower floor was done, I could fill it up with more heavy weapons while the engineers continued building.
The first hour passed rather peacefully, the occasional Skaven or heretic wandered within range of my troops, and with a zeal that would have made any commissar proud, they were promptly gunned down under a hail of lasfire. For a short while, I thought we would be lucky enough to finish our work in peace. But as with all things 40k, it was never that easy. It started as barely audible noise but quickly grew into a cacophony of skittering feet. My savant ability gave me the sense that a massive wave was approaching us.
"BRACE FOR CONTACT!!" I yelled out, and I sensed everyone tense up. The engineers started working faster, glancing back over their shoulders every once in a while. Then one of the heavy bolters on our left flank started barking, followed by the other one a second later. I followed the line of tracers to find the origin of the enemy, but all the shots disappeared down a long tunnel on our far left flank.
It was impossible to shout over the noise of the heavy bolters, but the roar that shook the cave grabbed everyone's attention, and it came from the same cave the heavy bolters were firing toward. A large shadow moved around in the dark of the cave with a blob of small shadows seemingly dancing around it. What emerged was worse than I could have ever imagined.