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

of Hydra flak tanks.
Though one transport was engaged as it plummeted through the atmosphere and shot
down with the loss of a dozen tanks and several hundred lives, the remainder
were able to deploy successfully. Within three hours the landing zone was
covered by an air defence umbrella that made it impossible for the tau to harass
subsequent waves. With the immediate airspace secured, infantry companies from
the Rakarshan Rifles and the Brimlock Dragoons pressed outwards to secure the
ground in all directions. The bulk of their number headed west to establish
dominance over the road network leading to the coastal cities.
    At the last, satisfied that the landing zone was secure, General Gauge
ordered the deployment of the crusade’s heaviest units, the vast landers from
which the mighty engines of the Legio Thanataris would walk. With the
Deathbringers’ fastest moving machines, their Warhound Titans, pressing
forwards, the ground war could truly begin.
     
    The view from the flat top of the rocky mesa was quite stunning, allowing
Sergeant Sarik to take in the awe-inspiring scale of the landing operation.
Several kilometres behind Sarik, the sensor pylon still burned, its once
pristine white form reduced to a twisted, blackened mass as a column of choking
smoke rose high in the atmosphere. The landings were well and truly under way,
the white sun of Dal’yth setting in the rapidly darkening jade sky.
    Having destroyed the sensor pylon and ordered the tending of his dead and
injured battle-brothers, Sarik had linked his force up with the other Space
Marine contingents to assist in the securing of the landing zone. The tau units
in the area had swiftly disengaged, however, and mounted an impressively
coordinated withdrawal before the Space Marines could engage them effectively.
Sarik was forced to admit that the tau warriors were worthy opponents, and that
they fought with honour. The aliens’ fast-moving tactics reminded Sarik of those
employed by the nomads of his home world of Chogoris, whose use of swift mounts
allowed them to launch lightning raids before withdrawing in the face of enemy
counter-attack. Already, Sarik had disseminated this point to the other Space
Marine units of the crusade, and advised them how such tactics might be met, and
countered.
    The flat desert below the tall mesa was now swarming with troops and armoured
vehicles. The first Imperial soldiers Sarik’s White Scars had linked up with
were the veteran light infantrymen of the Rakarshan Rifles. They moved quickly
to press into the surrounding desert, and had begun aggressive patrolling in
order to repel any enemy that sought to observe or interfere with the operation.
The Rakarshans were followed by the crusade’s more heavily armed and equipped
units, whose tanks, mobile artillery and armoured carriers were even now filling
the air with the roar of their engines, the grinding of tracks and the smoke of
their exhausts. As more and more heavy landers touched down, the first streams
of men and vehicles swelled to become rivers, until thousands of Imperial
Guardsmen and hundreds of tanks were pressing outwards.
    All the while, the tau flyers continued to contest the landings, and though
few had penetrated the air defence umbrella the Hydra flak tanks had
established, those that had been able to slew scores of men with each strafing
run. Fortunately for the operation, only a handful of the flyers were equipped
with the stealth field Sarik had faced on the pylon. The Departmento Tacticae
advisors surmised that these were an elite wing of the tau air force. The
Imperium would be ready for them next time.
    Sarik’s chain of thought was interrupted as he became aware of a deep,
rumbling drone sounding from above. The heaviest lander yet was descending upon
a column of fire and smoke. The vessel came ponderously in to land, and another
three followed in its wake. The roar of the vessel’s landing jets was