Chapter 8 : Warhammer 40000: Dawn Of War 2

The fate of the Blood Raven Chapter is in my hands.
The handful of elite troops I have is all that stands between glory and oblivion.

No Ork Nob can stand between us and everlasting glory in the name of the Chapter and the Emperor. The Techmarines have briefed us on the drop we are about to make. Untold billions of Tyranids are turning our recruitment worlds in biological hells. This cannot be allowed. Through the infernal hordes of the Orks, passed the cunning ambushes of the Eldars, the Space Marines will prevail once again.

The drop has been successful, the corpses of the first guards of the Hive lay crushed by our pods and the perimeter has been secured. The tactical Marines Tarkus leads have assured me our position is solid and Thaddeus's assault squad is ripping the residual Tyranid scouts to pieces. I have sent Cyrus in recon and his radio sounds from time to time with the reassuring sound of a single rifle shot, he never needs more than one. Avitus heavy duty squad is ready to defend the perimeter. It is time we start to administrate the toxin we have engineered and clean the infection the Xenos have started here.

As I am busy exterminating the enemy from within his system, the voice of Cyrus erupts from my radio. "We are compromised, my scouts are pulling out and we are falling back to your position, a huge wave of the swarm is on route to your position, I think they have detected our attack!

-Very well Cyrus, fall back here, I thank the Emperor for the opportunity to turn this coward poisoning mission into a glorious battle.

-Will the toxin work Commander?

-Yes, it will, our world is saved, even if we should fall.

-Perfect, we will hold them off as long as we can until the extraction is possible. Cyrus out."

Grinning wildly, I signal the squads that our position had been found and to get ready for our last stand. Avitus is exulting at the idea and Tarkus, true to himself, makes sure his men are in line. We do not have to wait for the enemy as a seemingly never ending flow of the repulsive monster starts to pour on our position. Avitus' fire tears through them like fire through ice. A couple of well placed grenades from Tarkus' men finishes to contain the first wave of Xenos but it is far from over. We barely have the time to reload before the Tyranids show us what they really have to throw at us.

A Carnifex and Warriors are rushing towards us and we can only slow them down. I have to engage them myself, my power glove tearing them apart one Warrior at a time, but nothing can deal with that Carnifex effectively. It has reached me and I know I cannot win this battle. I need to activate the orbital shield and call for a bombardment. The monster is turned to dust as our brother bomb the site from space. We are alive, but it is not over, the Tyranids are already ready to assault us once more. I face the enemy and call out for my brothers' strength. Their fire answers my voice and we fend off the next wave, waiting for the real threat to reveal itself. As the swarm slowly makes its way through our lead wind. We cannot increase our defense, we are about to fall. I take point, ready to take as many Tyranids as I can before I fall in the name of the emperor.

As I engage the enemy in close combat I realise they are stopping. "Commander, we have managed to kill all the synapse creatures in the area at once, you should have a few seconds to clean the area before the Xenos can regroup" The voice of Cyrus is strained but can not hide the pride he must feel. "Very good Cyrus." I give the order, tactical space marines clean the area in the few seconds needed for the hive to resume control over its troupes. We are not out of the woods yet, but Cyrus still managed to by us quite some time. The element of surprise is certainly the last thing I though we could use in our situation.

Cyrus comes out of the cover of darkness where he can be so deadly and takes position behind Tarkus' tactical Marines, ready to take out key targets. This time, we stand strong or we fall into oblivion. The extraction ship is arriving but the Tyranids are not going to stop the assault until we are all dead or off-world. The men are ready. The swarm is pouring onto us once more, Thaddeus' assault squad jumps in and out of the fray, disrupting the flow enough for us to put the monsters down. Cyrus manages to hit every Synapses they spot and I crush enough Tyranids to start to stand on a hill of corpses. Avitus is letting the fire of hell scream through the lines of Xenos and Tarkus surgically launches explosives where they can do the most damage. Nothing we can do seems to be able to stop them though and slowly but surely, the swarm gets closer to our position with every passing moments. We are going to fall, nothing can change that fact. My skills and powers cannot stop the endless swarm forever.

It might not be the end yet. The sound of the extraction ship is now audible, and even if it is clearly minutes away, we can already see it in the distance. It will probably be to late though as we are starting to be overwhelmed. Thaddeus has lost one of his men in his last assault and is now engaged in close combat, unable to break away and regroup. Tarkus and Cyrus keep the Tyranids at bay for now but the Warriors closing on them fall too slowly to be stopped. Avitus cannot guard our flank anymore than he already does but the monster are fast and a few always manage to dodge his fire. I manage to kill those isolated monsters and offer my support to my fellow marines but I cannot plug all the leaks that erupt in our defense and I don't see how we can make it out this time.

The deafening whistle of a pod. The loud crash of the landing. The cloud of dust from the drop. "Commander, Brother Thule reporting for duty. The Dreadnought's strength is at your command.

-Thule! Emperor be praised, we are not dead yet brothers! Rally to my voice, the power of a Dreadnought will buy us the time we need to get off this green hell."

Standing our ground together around the might of Thule, our renewed zeal pushes the enemy back, allowing the extraction ship to reach us. We board it satisfied by what will surely be a glorious page in the archives of our Chapter.

The Blood Raven will live to fight another battle. For the Chapter, for the Space Marines, for the Emperor.