DoW:Battle for Culpa's Soul

The Thunderbird slowly burned and dropped from the clear night sky, landing within the twinkling lights of the Imperial Landing Zone. Three weeks of orbital bombardment had smashed any resistance on the ground, allowing the Hammer Falcons Legion to land with few casualties. Drawn from the gene-seed of the Ultramarines, they were bred from close and ranged combat, using bolters and rockets to hold back assaulters, allowing Dreadnoughts, Whirlwinds, and Predators to knock them back with overwhelming fire power. Then close in with chain swords and pistol bolters.
Landing with a smooth grace, the rear door flew open, revealing the Primarch of the Hammer Falcons, Gilbert Haaken. A tall Astartes, he wore the greenish-blue armor of the Falcons, and strapped to his side was a pistol bolter.
Approaching, a Guardsman General, Daavd Yiu, General of the 54th Guards. A Chinese man, his thin moustache and pale face hid the years of Chaos, Ork, Eldar, and Tau battles.
"General, how are your troops?"
"Ah, Primarch, my pickets have encountered several Ork tribes."
Walking from the Thunderbird, Gilbert marched to the command center located across the LZ.
"Orks? The locals reported taints, undead... things."
"Yes Primarch, we encountered some of them as well. The Orks were drawn by the idea of fresh blood."
"Damned lizards. I want a detachment of Guardsmen for my Legion. We will be striking the Orks at dawn. Where are the Ork tribes?"
"There is a large one to the north of the LZ. A couple swamps seperate us, but the Orks have gotten bolder. The smaller ones are gravitating northward, drawn by the slaughter of Hugandiaria, a city that was defended by three thousand Guardsmen. Never stood a chance."
"Guardsmen are taught to die." Primarch Gilbert spoke solemnly, watching the General nod.
Klaxons then broke loose, calling out across the LZ. A few miles wide, the circular laager of men and material had been sited in a crater of land, with ridges stretching around the rim. Hundreds of buttes dotted the evening skyline, sites for Guard Basilisk and Legion Whirlwinds.
Thunder and fire rippled across the north, lighting up the evening sky. Tracers arched into the sky and sped across the ridges and buttes.
The Primarch's earpiece crackled as the captain reported in.
"Primarch, a thousand or more Orks are hitting the northern flank. We can hold them, no doubt sir. A couple Predators could deal them a serious blow. Can I release them from the motor pool?"
"Of course. Take ten, drive the lizards back. For the Emperor!" Primarch Gilbert cried the last, watching as General Daavd called in a ride. Jumping in, the bulky armor shined on the Primarch.
"I want three thousand men in reserve on the northern end of the LZ. What defenses do you have there, to the north?" Primarch spat out the orders quickly, the vehicle speeding to the north.
Saluting, the General sent out the orders and replied to the question.
"We have three rings of defenses, all equipped for battle. Heavy Bolters, mine-fields, Basilisks, and your legion along with maybe ten thousand Guardsmen."
"Good, lets take a look at the battle."

WAAAGH! Came the cry from the swamp beyond. A thousand or more littered the northern banks of the river, the southern bank sloping upwards to a line of trenches. Bunkers stuck out, marked black by the flamers, demolitions, and artillery. Behind the first line was a flat plain, buttes thrusting upwards. Two of them, called Twins were loaded with troops and equipment, preparing for a siege. More trenches stretched back behind the first line.
Aarkus Muurkus stood at the rampart edge, yelling "IMPERIUM!" as he fired his bolter. Servitors had brought forward more ammunition, casing littering the ground, records of his previous shots. His brothers stood beside him, using rockets, plasma guns, rifles, and flamers to kills Orks by the tens of hundreds. Predators had driven by at crucial points, taking out the Ork behemoths and vehicles with their weapons. Several Dreadnoughts had appeared intermittenly, using Hellfire rockets to clear the north bank, and rotor guns to deal with flesh. Aarkus only awaited the Orks to charge.
Then a thunderous volley came from the darkness. Rockets, bolter shots, lasguns, and even stones cascaded upon the ramparts. Ducking swiftly, explosions shook the ground beneath him, as the Orks tried to obliterate the defenses of the Legion and the Guardsmen.
Then a maginificent mushroom of fire thundered to his right. A bunker hurtled upwards, thundering and sparkling like a comet. Pouring through the fresh gap was a heaving mass of green and red. Orks.
"Ten brothers, join me. Move to the right, and let's stem these lizards and their bloody paganism. For the Imperium!" Aarkus roared, pulling off his helmet. Charging to the gap, he was joined by more legion troops. Rushing to the battle site, another thunderous crash sounded as the bunker fell back into place. Skewed into the ground, blood and guts splattered everywhere as Orks were crushed. They still poured through.
Opening up, tracers filled the gaps, as bolters clattered away. Rockets left swirling tails of smoke as they flew into the heaving mass. Dreadnoughts appeared, gunning and moving like gods of war. Orks threw mines, blowing these gods apart, sending shrapnel flying through flesh.

Firing away, Aarkus felt a sudden rush of air, and above him two Stormbirds swooped down, using hypersonic rounds to punch through ranks of orks, and HE to split the Orks apart. Artillery had started to thunder behind the trenches, and shells appeared amongst the hundreds of Orks. Body parts were thrown into the air, and blood flew across the entire battlefield.
Hellfire rockets threw more blood and gore across the trenches and embankments. Aarkus hadn't seen so much blood in one place.
"Ahhh, for the Emperor!" Aarkus cried as his bolter bore grew red from the fire. Then, five Predators drove from the flanks, and crushed the bodies of the Orks beneath their treads. A group of Space Marines followed int their treaded wake, using the buzz-swords to cut through the flesh of their lizard foes.
Using pistols and swords, the Space Marines cleared the crater and rubble. Jumping down, Aarkus dropped his bolter and drew his buzz-sword, adding to the carnage.

After a few minutes, Aarkus heard the call back, the voice of Primarch in his ear.
"Brothers in arms, you victory can be achieved but you must restrain yourself from moving to far ahead of your brothers."
Nodding, Aarkus fell back to his position, and even farther back to the secondary trenches where his brothers and Imperial Guardsmen were awaiting the second Ork attack.

Primarch Gilbert watched several Thunderbirds swoop over the northern flats, barren, red soil. Riding in one of the seven Thunderbirds, Primarch Gilbert knew the Orks were assembling. After the breaches in the northern defenses, the Orks were licking their wounds. Primarch Gilbert knew that they were primal lizards, hellish beings who used scrap to save themselves from elimination.
Now, they were being driven into the northern end of the line.
"Holy Banner, I want orbital bombardment in sector A-343, A-344, A-345, and A-346. Fire for full effect." Gilbert spoke into his vox, the transmission going straight to the gunner positions on the Holy Banner. A bolt of fire hit the first spot, followed by a massive volley of fire that spread across the entire sector area. Dust was thrown up, circling the four sectors.

Aarkus smacked the bolter clip in, pulling the lever and loading the clip of ammunition. A battle was about to begin.

Ahh, Orks and Space Marines...I remember the Horus Heresy, that brilliant original Space Marine V.1 with it's nice rulebook full of great little stories and amazing illustrations...and loads of tiny little men and tanks. Amazing. I ended up with five full companies of Dark Angels ready to rock'n'roll in 6mm scale...
Anyway, nice story, good descriptions of confusing battle, very visceral...been meaning to comment for a while but never got round to it.

Pro Imperium Humanus! Give them Ork scum a kicking...:rifle:

OT:Thank you, just finished 'False Gods' and are currently trying to purchase Horus Rising and Galaxy in Flames.

The thunderous explosion that filled the land before him was amazing to watch. The sky seemed to suddenly light up as bolts of fire blasted apart the sectors before his eyes. The battle had shifted far from the LZ, into the northern, barren lands. Buttes of weathered stone became citadels, demolished by the Thunderbirds, Whirlwinds, and Guard Basilisks. If some fell into Imperial hands, they were held to the bitter end, the artillery punishing everything for miles. The Orks had little air support, giving the Imperial ground forces overwhelming superiority.

Aarkus watched from his bunker, built on a low, red tinged butte, about a mile round. Trenches had been dug the day before, reinforced with concrete bunkers and strongpoints. Artillery had arrive that day, along with a hundred Astartes Hammer Falcon legion troops, Aarkus one of their number, and three thousand Imperial Guardsmen. Leman Russ tanks were dropped in, set up as mobile reinforcements. Devestators were placed around the perimeter. This was the leading edge of the Imperial forces, the rising butte to their front the only landmark for miles, and held by the Orks. Thunderbirds had swept in before, and the Holy Banner fire had shattered much of the red face. The lizards were still there.
Every hour they reminded the Imperial troops of their presence, letting a volley of rocketry and shells thunder into the butte. This time, the volley contiuned beyond a couple seconds.
"Imperium defenders, stand before these tainted Orks, and drive them back to the hell from whence they came. Legio Falcon!" Primarch Gilbert's strong voice broke through the radio chatter. Another blast of space-craft shells rocked the butte, the Holy Banner launching another salvo of fire from her ports.

The Orks appeared from the surrounding desert. Thousands of red and green warriors. Walking hulks of Orks appeared amongst the grunts. Several assaulter groups lit their rockets, going skyward, and then plummeting inside the butte.
"Die Lizard!" Aarkus cried from his bunker, letting loose a stream of bolter fire that cut through a wave of Orks with rocket packs. Grenades crumped and crashed, blowing bodies apart. Packs of red light glowed as the Guardsmen opened with their laz-guns. The first wave was cut down almost immediately. Then the Whirlwinds and Basilisks opened fire. The ground rumbled and shook as they dropped shells like rain, breaking apart the Ork horde. The lizards yelled their rage, and stampeded to the low butte. Only ten feet of compacted dirt seperated the Orks from the top of the butte. As they rushed forward, the sound of rockets filled the air. More Ork shells crashed in, blowing apart the rim of the butte and some of the trench.
Aarkus waited for the Orks to scamper forward, over the ledge. They had disappeared under the horizon of the butte as the rockets thundered in.
Then the Waaagh cry lifted from a thousand scaly throats, and a wave of the suicidal Orks appeared. They carried grenades and charges, bolters and knives. Charging at break-neck speed, they hurled the grenades and shield shaped charges everywhere. Then as bolter and las-gun fire cut through their bodies, the charges detonated. Bunkers and trenches exploded, dirt was hurled into the air.
As hell broke loose, the Orks of general stature appeared. Grunts, armed with meltas, flammas, and gunnas, they rushed the defenses. Aarkus tossed the last of his grenades, and opened fire. Heavy bolters thundered away, and brass casings spontaneously appeared on the floor. Flamers let loose, torching the ground before the Orks. Shells cut through the Orks, and they still charged.
Then the Devestators clomped forward. They fired their chain-guns, their Hellfire rockets, and flame units. Some Ork companies disappeared under the onslaught.
Aarkus felt his clip go dry, hundreds of Orks scattered before his bunker slit. Heavy bolters still fired, and even the rockets crashed and thundered, blowing the earth from the Orks. Pulling another clip, Aarkus slammed it in and loaded his chamber.
The Orks brought forward their tanks. Clattering mechanical giants, their treads crushed the Ork bodies below, the gunners letting loose hell. The rocketeers switched their aim, Hellfire missles drawn to the tanks. They contiuned on, despite the punishment. Some were stopped by the resistance, but they contiuned to fire, blowing bunkers apart.

One rolled by the bunker, charging onward. Following like ants, thousands of Orks poured into the gap. Aarkus opened fire again, taking them down with half-aimed bolter shots. Then the grenades crashed against the bunker doors.
"Out Guardsmen, lets give them cold steel!" Aarkus cried, holstering his bolter and drawing his chainsword.