Hi guys,
I just finished an Epic short story that I hope you guys will enjoy. It's
quite epic actually. You can read it here:
http://www.concentric.net/~Los/40k/Gowda/gowdaix.htm
Here's a tease:
The sound of firing erupted outside. The men instinctively hunkered down and
made their weapons ready. In a few seconds the firing stopped. Over the radio
they were informed that another Lictor had probed into their perimeter and
been killed. Two more soldiers and three civilians lay dead. The rest of the
civilians were nearing panic. The small group went to restore order.
As they headed over to the communications tent, a distant sound of engines
could be heard and a moment later two Imperial Thunderhawk Gunships crested
the hill, and maneuvered to a landing on the LZ. This generated much
excitement and a mad rush by the civilians for the ships, but they were held
back by Riccio and his men. After landing, both transports began disgorging
troops in similar armor to Scipio. They were Space Marines. Their armor was
brick red. On their left should plate was a circle with a black fist
clutching crossed bones. Riccio and Lyons observed the marines in awe. They
were huge. One marine spied Scipio in his Ultramarine armor and walked over.
He came to a stop facing Scipio and removed his helmet. The man's hair was
gray and very close cropped, his face scarred, his scowl powerful. He looked
Scipio up and down.
"Aren't you a little off the beaten path, Ultramarine?"
"Far enough off the path that I'm glad to see your ilk here."
The marine's looked hardened for a moment, then he broke into a broad grin and
clasped Scipio on the arm. "Hah! Sergeant Graccus Muldoon, Second Company,
Emperor's Hand Space Marine Chapter, at your service."
"Sergeant Miles Dixon Scipio, Second Company, Ultramarines."
"I bring you a gift from the Emperor, young man. One Company of Space Marines
from the Emperor's Hand."
"A find gift in deed brother Sergeant. Surely you don't have them crammed all
in there?"
"Negative, just my detachment. The rest are a few minutes behind on the road.
Two tactical detachments, a support detachment with some whirlwinds and a
small bike scout force. Our orders are to hold this town until all these
civilians can be evacuated. And that is what we intend to do."
The two Thunderhawks offloaded quickly and then took on nearly 120 civilians.
Riccio personally supervised the loading and squeezed in as many as he could.
No sooner had they lifted off then four Space Marine bikes and two land
speeders arrived. One of the bikes peeled off and pulled up to the small
command group.
"Ah, here comes Force Harley," remarked Graccus. The bike sergeant nodded
greetings to Scipio and got down to business. "Are we still sticking to plan?"
"Yes, Brother Max. Take your detachment out on that extreme left flank and
occupy the small hill in front of our proposed positions. You'll be our
screen. Scipio and these troops will run the PZ. I'll leave a squad of marines
here to help with security and move the rest of the detachment over to the
commo site and form a reserve to the main line."
"So be it, brother." The sergeant looked around as if sensing the air. I smell
a battle brewing. A hard day's work ahead of us. Thank the Emperor for the
opportunity to bring glory to our company."
Received on Wed Mar 11 1998 - 08:04:40 UTC