The Imperial world of Terrisax was on the verge of complete and utter annihilation. A Chaos portal had been opened on the surface of the planet, pouring forth Daemons and the dark armies of the Death guard. Only one thing stood between the doomed planet and the warp-spawned horror threatening to engulf it, the Hells Liberators, a regiment of the Imperial Guard trained in fighting the abominations of the warp and other blasphemies against the God-Emperor of Mankind.
The commanding officer of the Hells Liberators, Force Commander Drias Anderhail, had hatched a plan. A last ditch effort assault led by Drias himself would deep strike into the nearby peninsula and set up defenses, establish a foothold and then move up to take nearby shrines to Chaos. The next step from there would be to assault the Chaos torture chambers and sacrificial shrines, freeing the people held captive there, arm those able to join the fight, and evacuate those who can't before destroying the mass shrine there. It would be easier said than done.
The final move would be to attack the main Chaos camp, aiming to kill the Chaos Sorcerer powering the portal. If the portal fell then the Terrisaxians would be able to mount a counter attack and reclaim their home world, but if the assault failed and portal remained open, then all hope was truly lost.
Desech was the First Captain of the Hell's liberators and leader of Ferrus squad. Desech felt the pride swell in his heart. As he stood to face each member of Ferrus, they were brothers of battle and each-others closest friends, they had been through hell together before, and would do it again, for they were Guardsmen, it was their duty to the God-Emperor, to fight until the last breath and die defiant in the face of the enemy.
Stansfield, was Desech's closest friend among the liberators, he was an idiot, but a lucky idiot seeing as he was still breathing, Stansfield was of average height with short brown hair and a blank look that seemed to never leave his face, and a smile in the face of certain death.
Then there was Lanerus the sniper support of the team, who could hit a target from a mile away and nothing meant more to him than the life's of those who served under him. In this case it was a young conscript named Oplios, who was small compared to the other men but a good fighter none the less, and happy to be going on his first mission outside of training, and was eager to prove himself as part of the team.
Carberus was the biggest in the group and heavy weapons support, who took satisfaction in killing every one who opposed them. In battle Carberus resembled a wild dog with his brutality, but Desech made sure he was kept on a short leash. Carberus carried all the ammo, and any heavy fire power the team might need at any given time. The last member of Ferrus was Amulius, the best in the regiment with a pistol and sword, Amulius was always one to be up close in front leading by example, he had killed men for acknowledging the emperor as anything less than a god, his faith concerned Desech. It was nothing less than fanaticism, Desech was as loyal as any guardsmen, but there was something not right about it.
Drias cast his gaze upon all the Guardsmen in the space port, thinking how much pride there was to be had, the great battles they had all fought together, the many victories they had accomplished, but they had never been faced with a task this big, this...monumental, a whole planet at stake.
''Soldiers of the brave Hells Liberators'' Drias bellowed ''we face the horrors of chaos today, but this is nothing new, it is nothing we have not done before. We have looked into the heart of the warp together, and did we falter?! No, did we fall to our knees and sob?! No, for we know the truth, in death comes redemption, so when the time comes to face your bloody foe, do not be afraid, do not fear, instead drive your blade through the enemies of the imperium knowing the emperor protects !'' Drias had the speaking ability of an iterator. He waited for the cheering to die down and then began again ''We do not go to battle alone today, the Hells Liberator makes up the bulk of our force, and we counted on the 653rd prometheans to make up the difference i see they have not disappointed us today'' another cheer exploded from the audience.
A deafening roar came from the drop pod, as it plummeted towards terrisax. Flames engulfing it from the friction on their decent, but the drop pods were built for such things as intense heat or cold.They would look like falling stars to the enemy thought Desech.
''10 SECONDS !'' screamed lanerus at the top of his lungs, but it was useless, no one could hear him over the blaring sound of the drop pod, this is it Desech thought to himself looking at the soldiers before him wondering, what was in store for them, on the planet below.
:
A thunderous crash sounded, as the drop pod landed the doors opened, the landscape had been morphed by chaos everything they touched died, all that was left was barren rock and rubble of a once lush jungle, Ferrus squad exited the drop pod, they watched as a Promethean drop pod hit the ground at the edge of the cliff, the side started to give way and the drop pod began to fall towards the lava and flames below, the doors opened and a guardsmen jumped for the side of the cliff catching on just barely, the others in the drop pod weren't so lucky, falling to their deaths below.
''Help him'' barked Desech as members of Ferrus squad pulled him up. ''Are you okay'' Desech asked
''yeah yeah'' the guardsmen responded clearly out of breath
''whats your name'' asked Desech eying the guardsmen
''my name is Heinrich'' he said sitting up
''well Heinrich it looks like you will be with Ferrus squad for the rest of the mission'' said Desech
''Fine with me'' he replied looking over at the melting drop pod mourning his lost squad. Suddenly a screeching was heard over the the hill, as large groups of cultist charged down to meet them.Desech revved up his chain sword
''REDEMPTION !'' Yelled Desech as he charged
''REDEMPTION !'' Echoed the Hells Liberators.
Desech kneed a cultist in the face knocking him onto ground, the cultist had begun to rise blood running from his nose as Desech ripped the chain sword through his neck killing the cultist. Desech turned to see Amulius in a dance with three heretics surrounding him, one from behind slashed at him he ducked as the blade soared over his head lunging forward stabbing a traitor in the stomach, then turning to behead a different one, the third cultist ran knowing he was no match for the swordsman, Amulius just laughed as he pulled his laspistol and blasted the fleeing heretic in the back of the head. Amulius was taking a lot more joy in this than others in the regiment were, although deep down they all got solace in killing the enemy's of the imperium.
the heretics made a retreat knowing they had no chance. The guardsmen set up a foothold there with heavy bolter units set up in case of up coming attacks, and hoisted their flag the colors were red and black, and had the imprint of the imperial eagle swallowing a daemon. it gave all the men hope for the days to come, they might actually stand a chance on Terrisax.