Danicus looked around. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere, the rebel militia torn apart by bolter and las fire, hacked with combat blades. Two crumpled heaps of power armor showed the bodies of the heretic astartes. Alpha Squad, bruised and bloodied, limped into view. Danicus scanned the hallways one final time for any threats, then holstered his weapons. He nodded towards the scouts, showing more appreciation and gratitude than other men with a thousand words. And then he started barking orders again. The halls needed to be cleansed of the filth. The loyal palace guard, few as they were remaining, had to rally. Beta and Gamma squads were just returning from a mission. They would lead a sweep of the palace, rooting out remaining armed resistance. Alpha Squad could recuperate.
And then the vox chimed.
'Sir!... Lord... Sergeant Danicus, Sir!' - came the frantic voice of the vox operator.
'Calm. Down.' - growled Danicus into the vox. 'What is it?'
'Lord! Sir! Planetfall!'
'Speak sense, man.'
'Yes Sir. Sorry Sir. Multiple ships entering the outer planetary atmosphere. Auspex scans detect multiple gunships and bulk landers out of range of the palace defense batteries. Or... uh, well, we detected that. Before the jamming began. Since Janus started bleeding from his eyes and nose, Sir, we, uh... we don't look at the auspex anymore.'
'Ship patterns?'
'Too ancient to identify, Sir.'
'Pull yourself together, soldier. Send any updates to me directly. The Emperor protects.'
The Veteran Sergeant switched to an Imperial Fists-assigned vox channel, connecting to Alpha Squad as well as the now-landing Lux Imperatoris.
'This is Danicus. Heretic Astartes are making planetfall. They will be here soon. We can expect the rebel militia to mass for an assault as well. Chances of success are slim, but if we beat them here, we are done with this war. May the Emperor's light shine upon us... brothers!'
The scouts looked up, surprised. They were not full battle-brothers, not yet. Being called as such was an honor beyond reckoning. Danicus suppressed a smile, and went about structuring their defenses.
***
The enemy void ships stayed clear of the palace's orbital defense batteries, although the installations everywhere else were silent, and the enemy made planetfall undisturbed. Air attacks soon began, and the palace shook continuously to the whoosh of enemy fighters and gunships passing overhead, and the ceaseless rattling of flak batteries and cracking of air defense missiles.
The scouts worked tirelessly amid the chaos and confusion, shoring up defenses, preparing weapons. As the enemy ground forces began their approach, Danicus analyzed their patterns and divided the areas. Alpha Squad - most distinguished during the campaign - got the hardest part: the main thoroughfare to the gates of the palace. Beta and Gamma squads manned secondary and tertiary approach routes. Not to say that their job would be easier... the rebels and heretics were massing for a concerted assault everywhere. Danicus himself joined Alpha Squad. The time of orders and coordination had ended. The time of bolter and blade was upon them.
***
Six hours into the siege, the defenders were already exhausted. The rebel militia, gathered in force from all over the planet, broke itself in wave after wave on the fortified palace. The palace guard, depleted and bloodied, had held. The loyalty and courage inspired by the Imperial Fists kept them steadfast. The scouts themselves were in the thick of things, having gone through the contents of a small armory already, spending bolt shells and sniper rounds on the advancing enemy.
The defense was not hopeless.
But then, on the horizon, new smoke columns appeared, belched into the air. The heretic astartes ground force had arrived, and their heavy weapons started pounding the palace walls anew.
Desperate defenders everywhere made the sign of the aquila.
The vox link chimed in Danicus' ear.
'Sir? Lord Danicus?'
Danicus loosed a plasma shot at a nearby rebel transport. The superheated projectile went right through the armor plating, detonating the fuel tank. The tank exploded, showering the infantry cowering behind it in shrapnel.
'This is Danicus. What is it?'
'Sir... there is somebody looking for you...'
Danicus switched to bolt rounds, pumping shots into a charging mutant rabble.
'I'm busy, guardsman.'
'Sir, it seems rather urgent. I tried to take the message for you, but this Captain Lexandro seems adamant to talk to you directly -'
'By the Emperor! Patch him through!'
For long moments the vox link filled with static. Danicus directed his snipers towards an enemy field officer hiding in the back, vaporized a charging monstrosity in a hail of plasma fire, then joined his bolter to the scouts' in gunning down rebel infantry.
Laden with heavy interference, the vox crackled to life once more.
'... Danicus? ... that you ...?'
'Brother-Captain!'
'... to hear you, Sergeant. ... broken through. Expect ... resistance. Rapid insertion elements ... in ... minutes.'
As the vox link cut, Danicus grinned savagely. He did not remember the last time he had done that. Not in years. Perhaps decades. But the Emperor protects. He always does.
Danicus thumbed the activation rune of his power sword, lifting the crackling, shining blade into the air as a signal beacon to his scouts. He switched to his helm's external vocalizer, and pointed the sword towards a horde of enemy infantry, almost upon them.
'In the name of the Emperor, brothers... charge!'
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