The deep thud of a heavy bolter sounded off in the distance, accompanied by a few shotgun blasts. The battle was already quieting down and Major Steele, commander of 3rd platoon, 52nd Cadian assault engineer regiment was already contemplating his next move. The grizzled veteran walked around a wrecked Chaos war-engine that his men were rigging with explosives. More Cadians were busy dispatching the enemy wounded and dragging the fallen of both sides to massive heaps. Everything that had been tainted by Chaos would be incinerated or blown up, just in case. The several Leman Russ wrecks of Cadian 6th armoured would be salvaged and, if possible, repaired by the regiments enginseers.
The task force's mission had been a success, but its implications worried the Major. The platoon of assault engineers, supported by a squadron of Leman Russ battle tanks, had been tasked with investigating what had happened at Joyle's Depot. The little village, which had acted as one of the regiment's supply dumps, had gone awfully quiet a few days ago. Upon arrival, the Cadians found the village littered with bodies and reeking of intoxicating scents. Chaos!
Cultists were busy organising some form of ritual in nearby woods and unnatural daemons lurked in the shadows. Major Steele immediately ordered an attack, which had gone well. Advancing on a broad front, the Imperial tanks had laid down a withering fire, which cut down many of the smaller daemons that were gathered in some kind of vile celebration.
The surprised Slaanesh forces counter-attacked with all sorts of daemonic war engines and Chaos monstrosities, which materialized behind the guardsmen and on their flanks. Several Leman Russ tanks were destroyed by the massive claws of the Chaos monsters while the rest lumbered forward. Unperturbed, Major Steele had ordered his assault engineers to press on with the attack and the mobile veterans obliterated each threat before it got out of hand.
The battle was short and brutal. Imperial losses were light while virtually the entire Chaos host was cut down. Only the leader of the cultists managed to escape, while the daemons disappeared into the Warp whence they had come from. Major Steele knew from experience though, that the fight was not over. Every last one of those cultists would have to be hunted down and the village would have to be purified. This was only the beginning.
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| Cadian armour rolls into the village |
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| Enemy sighted, fire at will! |
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| The daemonic horde is caught off-guard |
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| Major Steele's HQ races to secure an objective |
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| A Chaos monster races forward at unnatural speed and rips a Leman Russ in two with its claws |
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| Cadian infantry counter-attacks and destroys the monstrosity with well-aimed melta shots |
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| Chaos Spawn and the vile warlord of the Chaos host arrive from outflank... |
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| Cadian veterans redeploy and take down the Chaos outflankers with well-placed shotgun blasts |
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| A daemonic sorcer lands in a deadly cross-fire and is eventually destroyed |
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| Forward for Cadia! |
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| Chaos forces are in a tight spot as the Imperial tanks lumber on |
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| Major Steele is victorious! |
