Home Fires – Chapter Thirty-Four: Countdown
Chapter Selection
Intro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Epilogue
Antonius fought for hours.
The citizens of Altea, though brave, were no match for the invaders. Orks had broken out in multiple places along the line. Antonius and the surviving Azure Flames regrouped, attempting to contain the Orks. They fought for every inch of ground.
It wasn’t enough.
The Gargant laid waste to the Imperial Guard reinforcements that Antonius had called up, but their sacrifice was not in vain. Smoking holes now decorated the Gargant’s chest. Its fields had finally died. That did not reduce its lethality by a hair, though. It rampaged through the city, completely unchecked.
Antonius initiated Contingency Obsidian.
This was a final order, in case of a total failure of the defensive line. All forces were to fall back toward the spaceport. Refugees were roused from their shelters and herded towards the port. The last defenders of Altea would make a desperate defense of the port while as many civilians as possible evacuated. Most would be shot down before they broke orbit. But a few could be rescued by Kolten’s fleet. If they were lucky.
“Antonius to Obscurus Task Force. I have initiated Contingency Obsidian. Prepare for instructions to co-ordinate the rescue of the civilian population.”
An eternity seemed to pass.
“Kolten here. That contingency may be a bit premature. We just received a signal from the outer reaches of the system. Patching you in now.” Kolten said in an inappropriately sing-song tone. How was she in such good humor?
Static dominated the vox until a familiar scratchy voice filled Antomius’ ears.
“His Hammer II to Azure Flames 4th Company.” Chapter Master Liam Perseus said with warmth.
“My Lord!” Antonius shouted. He opened the channel to all surviving Azure Flames. “Your timing is impeccable.”
Perseus’ laugh was like the grating of stone on stone. “And here I thought we were late.”
“We?”
“The fleet.”
Antonius made an involuntary choking noise. “The entire fleet?”
“Captain Piers demanded it. He said he was tired of piecemeal task forces and yearned to command our whole fleet once again.”
The familiar nasal accent of Piers, Captain of the 7th Company broke in. “Indeed. Our estimated time to orbit is seven hours fourteen minutes, possibly more due to enemy activity.”
“I’ll keep the Ork fleet off your ass, Azure Flames.” Kolten chimed.
A stream of muttered gibberish was audible for a brief moment. “In that case…” Piers continued, “…we should be there in five hours, fifty minutes. Excellent to be flying with you again, Admiral Kolten.”
“You’ve never met.” Antonius said just as Kolten said “We’ve never met.”
Perseus chuckled over an audible sniff from Piers.
“Hold the line. We’re on our way, Antonius.” Perseus ordered.
“Yes, my Lord!” Antonius shouted. He re-tuned the vox to only planetside forces. “You all heard him! Victory is at hand! Hold the line!”