Blood in the jungle
Having received word from brother captain Michelangelo, stationed at the forward base on Pythos, that a force of Chaos daemons had emerged from the warp and made planetfall near them, captain Nufarius decided to lead his troops away from their patrol through the Pythos jungle and return to base to assist his fellow Blood Angels. Surely, the vile scum of Chaos were here to attack them and seek glory for their infernal deity.
However, during the first night on their way back, they were suddenly attacked by this aforementioned band of daemons, soon to be identified as Khornites, led by the great and terrible Daemon Prince Hasdrubal Barcca. Nufarius considered a tactical withdrawal but unfortunately, his raving mad wardens would not have it, and fiercely charged into battle.
While Nufarius' force was probably too small to handle a threat like this, he quickly called out to captain Michelangelo to send supporting troops before deploying his troops onto the battlefield. His scout snipers set up in a hidden position inside some ancient ruins, where they had an outlook of the field where blood would be shed. They quickly identified hordes of Bloodletter daemons, as well as a gigantic beast the codex identified as a Maulerfiend, 2 giant eightlegged monstrosities, several warp spawns and a band of disgusting Chosen. Last but not least, they also spotted the dreaded commander of this warband, the Daemon Prince Hasdrubal himself, a huge, winged abomination.
Nufarius called on his mad brothers, all members of the infamous Death Company, to fire up their jetpacks and follow him into glorious battle in an attempt to destroy this evil.
As they arrived halfway the field, drop pods rained from the sky and crashed down in between his force and the enemy position. Out came squad Meridius, tactical marines of the 3rd Company, led by Sergeant Tirael. The second drop pod made its landing to the side, unloading Brother Martyr, an ancient yet deranged Death Company Dreadnought. Who immediately moved toward the Maulerfiend.
Breaking up into fire teams, squad Meridius took up firing positions around the pod and, seeing a target of opportunity, opened fire upon the great Hasdrubal, wounding the beast, but failing to put it down.
As soon they landed, one of the monstrous defilers took an interest in squad Meridius and charged them. The squad remained valiant, even though their odds looked very grim. They would prove even more dark when suddenly, to the side, the Maulerfiend also charged into them.
The fight was over in moments. Terrible screams from the dying made Sergeant Tirael break and run for cover, while 2 marines held the defiler at bay.
Across the field, where Nufarius had landed his band next to an old ruin, they were charged by two ugly Spawns who came rushing from behind several old barricades. Another defiler rounded the corner of the ruin and for a moment it looked like Nufarius and his men were in for a grand fight, except, the beast suddenly came stuck in the muddy terrain and failed to reach them. The spawns hit their ranks, but, being faster, Nufarius men made short work of the fiends and slew both.
All the while, remaining steady in the back, scouts sniped the Bloodletters, killing several on their charge.
Brother Martyr, seeing his brother marines torn to pieces, flew into a rage and charged into the side of the Maulerfiend, scoring multiple wounds, while the Mauler's tendrils only caused minor damage.
Meanwhile, captain Nufarius turned his men onto the stuck Defiler, charging the beast head on, utterly destroying it. The great beast exploded, slaying 2 of his mad brethren.
As Tirael rallied, his two remaining squadmates were torn apart by the great Defiler they were still engaging. In the sight of the advancing Chosen, he remained stalwart.
Planning to attack Hasdrubal, Nufarius failed to notice that the Daemon had summoned more vile creatures from the Warp. A band of Bloodcrushers had appeared behind them. And while great Daemon Prince cowardly ran away to hide, Nufarius and his men were suddenly charged by a band of Bloodletters from the front. They would have to deal with these first before getting to Hasdrubal. They slew several more of the daemonkin, leaving only one standing while losing 2 brothers themselves and leaving Nufarius gravely wounded from their poisonous blades.
The Maulerfiend tried unsuccesfully to destroy brother Martyr who, in his rage, utterly destroyed the beast and then turned his attention to the second defiler who had completely destroyed squad Meridius' drop pod. Revenge for the fallen would be his! In the meantime, Sergeant Tirael was attacked and slain by the Chosen Champion who had challenged him to single combat.
Martyr charged the defiler and again, completely ripped it to shreds. In the meantime, a band of Bloodletters fell upon him, trying to subdue the ancient dreadnought, but they also proved no match for his might. All were slain. The Chosen, seeing this, ran away, in the direct of the scouts' position, who kept firing their sniper rifles and missile launcher at the beasts, but failed to kill any. The heavy jungle terrain made it hard to get a good lock.
As Nufarius slew 3 more Bloodletters, they were charged in the back by the Bloodcrushers, and behold, the Daemon Prince himself as well. The great monstrosity uttered a challenge to Nufarius, who could not decline and charged headlong into the great beast. Alas, the Daemon proved too formidable for Nufarius. Weakened from earlier wounds, bleeding from a dozen slashes, he was knocked down by the monster. Upon seeing this, his squad lost their wits and were quickly dispatched by the remaining attackers.
A glimmer of hope arrived in the form of another drop pod, unloading squad Amaris, another Death Company tactical squad, looking for glorious demise. As they landed, they immediately opened fire upon Hasdrubal, but failed to wound the beast. Hasdrubal in the meantime summoned another horde of Chaos Hounds from the Warp and quickly set them upon squad Amaris. While they were busy fending of the beasts, they were attacked in the rear by the Bloodcrushers. Squad Amaris was immediately reduced to a single man. While he would have quickly died as well, all of a sudden Brother Martyr crashed through the brush, throwing himself upon the crushers, slashing from left to right, slaying all three in as many blows from his blood talons. While Martyr prepared to face the pursuing hounds head on, the lone marine was ordered to run towards the comm relay, to call up more reinforcements. As the marine reached the position, he could see that scouts were being killed by the Chosen who had reached them. Seeing his brothers die there, and another band of Bloodletters appearing from the Warp some distance away, he started up the comm relay to request aid.
"Pythos firebase, come in! This is brother Achaeron of squad Amaris requesting..."
Suddenly, he heard a shriek. Startled, he looked up, and saw the great Hasdrubal descend upon him from the skies.
"Brother Achaeron, this is Pythos firebase. Repeat your vox! Brother Achaeron? Come in!"
Nothing but static......
No message was sent.
Brother Martyr's sensors, closing in on Nufarius' last position, detected the warlord from still alive, but only faintly. Forsaking glorious death, he scooped up the limp body of the chaplain and carried him off the field. There would be revenge another day...
