Marsh Silas II: Bloody Platoon

Chapter 26

Bloody Platoon dashed down the snowy roads, racing between the rugged, interlocking Aegis Defense Lines. Guardsmen from the 1333rd and other regiments poured out of every building, creating a torrent flowing towards Fort Mollitiam. The surge parted only to allow vehicles to pass through. Leman Russ Main Battle Tanks escorted Chimera APCs towards the outer defenses, their troop bays packed with soldiers. Hydra Flak Tanks followed, their barrels trained skywards. Commissars leaped onto barricades, barked orders and directed troop movements with their swords. Preachers appeared to espouse incantations, recite prayers of protection and strength, and sprinkling sacred oils onto the helmets of passing Cadians. So many individuals shouted it was nearly impossible to make out an order.

Aerial bombs fell from bellowing enemy fliers, creating deep, thunderous explosions. Dodging flak, these vicious aircraft stormed through Kasr Sonnen's Void Shield barrier to drop their ordinance. They were slim, possessed extended prows, and ably flew above the streets and between spires. They were Hell Blades, nimbler interceptors and attack craft. Autocannon shells ripped into buildings and tore up the streets. Swathes of troops fell, dead or wounded. Men without arms or legs staggered and screamed. Blood saturated the snow.

Hell Talons, heavier ground attack variants, followed in their wake. Missiles swarmed through the air, striking Bastion towers, bunkers, and convoys. Chimera engines burst, turrets tore off, and entire platoons disappeared. Huge chunks of rockcrete sheared from the faces of buildings and crashed the ground in great clouds of gray dust. Many unfortunate souls were crushed beneath them.

Hydra platforms across the kasr flooded the air with flak and searchlights lit up the night in great white streaks. Red and yellow tracers tore into the streams of Talons and Blades. Some lost control and spiraled into the kasr below. Others exploded in midair and soon the sky filled with blossoms of orange fire. The quad-batteries of Icarus-pattern lascannons, mounted atop Firestorm Redoubts, trained their barrels skywards. Soon, massive streaks of red, blue, and golden lasers joined the dazzling display of tracers, lights, and shells shining against rising black columns of smoke.

Suddenly, there were the familiar engines of Imperial aircraft! Formations of Lightnings and Thunderbolts rose to meet the enemy. After the initial salvo, hundreds of individual duels began. Planes twirled and spun around one another, each locked in a brutal dance with his opponent.

It seemed as though Imperial forces were going to carry the fight. The bombardment fro so many enemy aircraft subsided. Like swarms of flies, the warriors of the Aeronautica Imperialis filled the sky with their attack craft. Their forms fell upon the Talons and Blades from both sides, above, and below, sweeping gracefully along. When they missed, the Hydras targeted; their autocannons belched and bellowed hundreds of shells skywards. Lasers sliced aircraft apart, the pieces tumbling almost lazily through the air.

Marsh Silas's M36's strap tightened over his shoulder. His left hand tightened around the carry handle of his pack and he clutched his helmet in his right. Everyone in the regiment pounded along. Leather boots thudded on the pavement in their thousands. Even though they could not distinguish the orders hollered at them, they knew what to do. So, they ran onward, their head hunched low against the bombardment as if it were a rainstorm.

Bloody Platoon surged through bailey gate but were stopped by Captain Giles. He put out his hands to catch Hyram and Marsh Silas.

"Lieutenants, I need your men on the ramparts! We need more guns and more bodies!"

"Weapons, let's go!" hollered Hyram.

"You heard the Captain, Bloody Platoon!" Marsh yelled. "Up top!

The men stampeded up the stairs. When Marsh hit the landing, he turned around and waved his arm. "Move it, move it, get your asses up there!" He clapped each man on the back as they passed him. "Come on, come on, there are Cadians dying!" The last two men up the stairs were Drummer Boy and Valens. Marsh stamped his hand on the regimental-picter's chestplate. "I pray you're not going up there to record it all!"