Home Fires – Chapter Nineteen: Perspective
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Antonius entered the Theater of War.
This was, in fact, just a fancy term for a meditative state during which all of the information before him coalesced into a hallucinatory dream, simulating the planet of Altea and all of the armed forces on its surface and in orbit. In reality, he was interfacing with a cogitator and listening to reports given by his staff and the commanders of the Altean PDF. But in the Theater of War, he held Altea in his hands, spinning it carefully, then diving into the atmosphere to see neatly arranged standards representing military formations. He then fell to just a few hundred meters above the surface, seeing the arrayed units as miniatures to push around a scale battlefield. He ascended and dove, seeing the whole conflict as a greater pattern.
An unwise person, able to see the conflict as Antonius did, would liken it to a wargame. Selecting units and ordering them to attack, building defenses, and hoarding resources. Antonius would never make such a mistake. Games are for fun. This was for the life or death of a world.
Antonius controlled the forces on the planet as a conductor controlled a symphony. The span of days was, in Antonius’ mind, simulated in a few minutes. Grand sweeping gestures in his mind translated to tiny clicks in a cogitator interface, or orders to subordinates.
And so, PDF forces fell back to the city. Some advanced, delaying Ork movements and buying time with their lives. Food and construction supplies were moved to defensible depots. Key buildings were demolished to create obstacles, fire lanes, and killing zones.
And through it all, the green wave surged.
Despite the effort of Antonius and all involved, the Orks took ground. The plains to the south were overrun immediately. Pockets of resistance fought guerilla style skirmishes through the northern mountains against vanguard units of Orks. To the west, desperate holding actions allowed entire herds of cattle to migrate towards the city as living rations to be expended, and to deny those rations to the invaders.
There. The east.
For some reason, a sizeable chunk of the Orks to the south had gone to the east, into the abandoned Tabantha farming province. As much of the food as could be spared had already been procured, and the citizens had fled. Why would this contingent of Orks conquer an empty territory?
No matter. They had created a gap in the Ork’s lines. There was an avenue to the ammo dumps, landing grounds, and staging areas. A tempting target.
Antonius briefly considered that this was a trap; meant to lure defenders into an easy victory and then be surrounded and cut down by the advancing forces to the sides of the gap. To compensate for this, he ordered PDF formations forward, pinning the Ork units to either side. Further, the entire airwing of Lightning Fighters flew a giant Combat Air Patrol above this gap to sweep the skies of Ork fighta-bommaz marauding ahead of the main ork advance.
His last order, before his mind left the Theater of War, was for the entire Azure Flames 4th Company to prepare for battle, and to mount up in vehicles. Atrus’ Light, the venerable Land Raider Redeemer, was fueled, as were a host of Thunderhawk Transporters and Landing Craft. The entire company was kitted with weaponry capable of devastating enemies on the go, with no time for stealth. Phobos suits were abandoned for Gravis and Tacticus patterns. Suits with antigrav capabilities were ordered to hold on to the exteriors of Gladiator and Repulsor tanks to be towed into battle.
The mission: plow through the gap, destroy as much as possible, and then fly back to the city before the Orks could respond. The Thunderhawk Transporters and Landing Craft would bomb enemy positions, scoop up the troops and tanks, and then be escorted on the way back by the Imperial Navy aircraft. If successful, it would not only delay the Ork’s advance, but it would also be a huge boon to morale in the city.
If it failed, the entire 4th Company would be behind enemy lines and almost certainly wiped out.
As he came back to being fully aware of his body, Antonius thrust himself out of the command chair he had been occupying for days and rushed to prepare for war. Less than an hour later, vids were broadcast all over the city: an imposing column of tanks in the deep blue of the Azure Flames rode down Highway Primus at breakneck speeds. Cheers followed behind them. Word spread as fast as a burgeoning sense of hope.
Captain Antonius was riding out to meet the Orks head on.
***
Aboard Atrus’ Light, Antonius tuned out the low roar of the venerable Land Raider’s engines, and once again entered the Theater of War. The Azure Flames 4th Company became a red arrow, striking through the gap between several green boxes of Ork forces. To the southwest, boxes with bullet icons and crude depictions of shuttlecraft represented the staging areas for the invading forces and the ammo dumps set up to feed the frontline Orks.
Above all of this, zooming like gnats, Imperial Navy fighter wings and the entire Azure Flames air force swarmed over the engagement zone. Unprepared wings of Ork fighta-bommaz were swept aside or slaughtered by the sudden concentration of air power.
This was not without consequence. Further to the east and northwest along the line, fighta-bommaz who had been kept in check by Navy airwings now found themselves unfettered. They gleefully punished PDF positions along the line. The only reason the line held was that the Orks were reacting to Antonius’ strike rather than pressing their attack on the weakened line.
The red arrow of his advance rapidly approached the target zone. Satisfied that he had not doomed the entire planet with an insane gamble, Antonius’ mind once again fully engaged his surroundings, seeing Ory-Hara staring at him intensely while Lieutenant Sandeep and the 8th Squad Hellblasters sat in silence, awaiting the orders to enter the fray.
“Ready for the battlecry, Old Friend?” Antonius said with a smile.
Ory-Hara, surprisingly, shook his head no. Antonius could not help but stare with widened eyes.
“No? Why not?”
Antonius felt Ory-Hara enter his mind. A short image of Atrus, as a man before his interment within a sarcophagus, was followed by an image of presumably Ory-Hara’s point of view holding a length of chain and breaking it.
Antonius puzzled over the images, then looked to Ory-Hara as he motioned to the members of the 8th squad who were the new recruits. He made the same motion with his hands, breaking a chain.
“Of course.” Antonius said with a sense of realization. “The new brothers have no connection to Atrus.”
Ory-Hara nodded with a look of pride in his eyes.
“Then, instead of ‘For the Emperor and Atrus,’ what do you recommend?”
Once again Ory-Hara entered Antonius’ mind. He felt the uncomfortable sensation of Ory-Hara rifling through his memories like an Administratum acolyte shuffling through parchment. Then, a memory of his replayed itself in his mind. The kind face of Captain Daniel, Master of Recruits, smiling down at him. In this vision, Daniel still had his jet-black crop topped hair, which had long since abandoned him.
“Remember, lad,” Daniel said in his comforting brogue, “when you don’t know what to do, just keep things simple. There’s less to go wrong that way.”
Antonius came back to his senses and thought for a short time before cracking a huge grin.
“How about an old classic?” he said. Ory-Hara touched his mind briefly, and then nodded enthusiastically.
The action alarm sounded. 8th squad readied their Plasma Rifles. Sandeep drew his sword. Petrus extended the collapsible staff of the 4th company battle standard. Ory-Hara’s eyes glowed as shimmering runes drifted up the length of his Force Sword. Antonius hefted the Relic Shield he had created with Atrus’ sarcophagus cover and ignited the flaming surface of his hand crafted sword.
Atrus’ Light ground to a halt and the Assault Ramp opened, showing a narrow view of primitive Ork aircraft on the ground with assorted greenskins milling about. Antonius charged out, followed by the rest of the Azure Flames aboard. All around, Astartes in deep blue disgorged from Impulsors and Repulsors. Inceptors and Suppressors swooped to the flanks.
Antonius opened a channel to all vox-links and shouted a battlecry to be heard along the entire battlefield:
“SPACE MARINES! ATTACK!”
The Azure Flames fell on the unprepared Orks like an avalanche. They left no survivors.
Less than thirty minutes after Antonius had given his battlecry, Thunderhawk Transporters and Landing Craft swooped in. Tanks and troops were scooped up with incredible precision. The aircraft dusted off leaving only spent shells, the impressions of power armoured boot prints, and a field of ruined hulks and dead greenskins.