Free 03 - Savage Scars by Andy Hoare - (ebook by Undead)

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leading an army of ten thousand followers against the orks that had enslaved the
entire Scallarn Cluster.
    At that moment, Lucian realised that above all else, he desired to be a part
of such battles, to earn such glories for the Arcadius clan as had his
predecessors. As much as he tried to dismiss the notion, his mind raced as he
considered the possibilities. To join the crusade on the ground, to take part in
its battles, would have both the immediate effect of elevating his position on
the council, and of further securing the clan’s long-term fortunes. Maybe
someday someone would sculpt a holochrome of him, side by side with Sergeant
Sarik as they conquered tau space…
    As the landing operation began in earnest, Lucian marvelled at the sheer
spectacle of the event. Dozens of screens showed fleet assets moving into
position as lumbering troop transports prepared to disgorge hundreds upon
hundreds of drop-vessels. These ranged in size from ships ferrying a single
squad or platoon to the surface, to those carrying entire companies of armoured
vehicles. The greatest and most impressive were those of the Adeptus Mechanicus,
by which the mighty god-machines of the Titanicus would be deployed to the
surface. For each man that would land on the surface, another hundred at least
supported the action, each forming a vital link in the chain. In truth, the
Damocles Gulf Crusade was a relatively minor undertaking in the grand scheme of
the Imperium’s wars, yet here and now, at the heart of the command centre, it
had all the grandeur of any of the great battles of the last ten thousand years.
    General Gauge stood at his command postern, surrounded by his cadre of staff
officers, listening to a constant stream of reports and status updates. The
central pict screen now showed the view over the landing zone as seen by a
sub-orbital spy-drone a dozen kilometres overhead. Reams of data scrolled across
a dozen smaller screens, each contributing to the general’s picture of the grand
invasion.
    A winged death’s head icon appeared in the centre of the main screen,
indicating the successful landing of the first wave. That force was made up of a
composite company of Space Marines drawn from several different Chapters. A
second such company landed, via two-dozen drop-pods, five kilometres to the west
of the first. It immediately deployed as a blocking force to intercept any tau
ground forces that attempted to counter-attack along the road network that led
to the western cities.
    The operation unfolded over the following hours, General Gauge scarcely
needing to issue any further orders, for the landings had been planned in
meticulous detail. Regiment after regiment made the drop. While the elite Space
Marines landed in small, five-man drop-pods, the Imperial Guard deployed in far
larger drop-ships, each capable of ferrying an entire infantry company and its
equipment, a troop of Leman Russ tanks, or an armoured infantry platoon mounted
in Chimera carriers. The landings were not unopposed, however, for while the tau
pulled back what ground units were near the landing zone, they committed large
numbers of flyers to contest the landings, which General Gauge’s force was
hard-pressed to counter.
    The tau air force launched sortie after sortie against the landing forces.
The initial attacks were directed against the two composite companies of Space
Marines, but that allowed the first wave of the larger transports to land
largely without incident. The Space Marines withstood dozens of attacks by enemy
flyers so fast that they stood little chance of engaging them. Nonetheless, the
Space Marines did manage to shoot down a handful of aircraft using their missile
launchers, each successful engagement being met with a hearty cheer from the
staff of the command centre.
    With the tau flyers concentrating on the Space Marines, the Imperial Guard
were able to land several mobile air defence companies