001: Battle for Honduran Tertiary M41.090213

Battle for Honduran Tertiary

The battle for Honduran Tertiary was the opening conflict in the campaign for Farpeak's End, and ended in a tactical draw (Imperial forces 1–0 ahead on the Epic tournament scenario objectives). 

The Antine Front was stabilised, with Imperial forces digging in to the suburbs of Honduran Tertiary as the Tau withdrew in good order back out of the city itself.

Fetter ducked involuntarily as another whistling explosion erupted from the commercial district. The fighting over there was intensifying, and the pall of yellowish dust the Chimeras had kicked up was now thicker, blacker, and lit from within. Fifteen minutes of escalating fighting had seen the mounted infantry reserve drive into the low cover of the bazaar in support of Harrow company. The vox was alive with confused voices yelling for clarification amongst the bazaar's maze-like streets when the Tau infantry began to fall back in disciplined firing lines. Fetter rose to a crouch to peek over the cover of the wall when he saw a series of flat, ugly explosions ripple along the line of Chimeras, reducing them to hulks as their disembarked troops threw themselves flat.

The distinct, bubble-turretted Hammerheads had moved up to cover their infantry's retreat, and somehow some heavy infantry had emerged to flank the dug-in Guardsmen. He dropped back behind the wall, looked both ways and sprinted towards the squad's autocannon operator, Crenshaw. Crenshaw's face was pulled into a snarl as he unloaded another heavy, burping burst of fire across the street, dropping one of the shimmering-armoured Tau infantry in a messy sprawl. Fetter saw aerosolised cyan blood drift along with the smoke before he slammed his back to an overturned market stall nearby.

'Buckle up, lads!' cried a nearby officer, hoving into view. 'Covering fire for Scythe!' Fetter's heart sank as he realised the reinforcements were falling back already. His mouth was full of ash. He closed his pink-rimmed eyes and calmed his breathing, nervously twitching the safety on his lasrifle. A few streets over, between the skyscraping hab-blocks, he caught a glimpse of airborne Stormtroopers racing back past an intersection, closely followed by some sort of Tau scout vehicles, jinking past the smouldering remains of Valkyrie assault carriers. Green laser-lines eerily strobed through the dust and smoke, heralding another punishing series of missile strikes at some luckless guard armour. Fetter hoped that wasn't the Hydra air defences going up...

Suddenly, everything went dark, and the firefight seemed to quiet down. Looking up, Fetter saw a huge alien shuttle – the size of three battle tanks laid end-to-end – drift overhead, untroubled by Harrow company's optimistic tracer rounds and lasrifle fire that chased it half-heartedly. The immense ship cast a pall over the infantry as they began to dig in, simultaneously relieved by the slackening firepower from the Tau infantry and terrified by the emergence of the alien tanks and shuttle. The shadow blotted out the sun, and Fetter felt his stomach flutter.

He was still looking up, mouth agape, when the officer hit him at the waist and bore him to the floor. 'Lackwit! The blueskin's aren't going to ...' the Lief's voice was drowned out entirely as all the air around them suddenly stilled. The smoke and ash hung motionless.
 

Everything seemed to be still, the air hot and heavy, sound muffled. Fetter wondered if he had been shot. He was still wondering when the distant Shadowsword's immense Volcano Cannons finally finished their firing cycle and spoke, immense laser energy travelling down the charged path and hitting the city like a corpse hitting a slab.

Moment's later, his vision still sliced with afterimages of the ignited laser streaks, he saw the officer rise to his feet and sweep his chainsword forward. 'Stand to! Stand to! Prepare to engage!' The officer's voice was muffled in his shocked ears, but Fetter stood up and began to jog forward as the rest of his ragged company mates emerged from cover to drive forward and retake the civilian district. Glory and death!