Final Battle for ES-THEA

In the pre-dawn hours the remnants of the Blood Angels 8th Company and their
Ultramarines 3rd Company allies completed preparations for the return to the
surface of ES-THEA. The Blood Angels Chaplain completed the rites of battle and
looked for any evidence of the red thirst. Although grim and determined, none
of the marines under his charge showed any signs of the rage and descent to
darkness. The Ultramarines Librarian and his battlegroup also completed
preparations, but their focus seemed more concerning checking the sights on
their bolters and power levels of their lascannons.

Planetfall was fairly uneventful, but the combined force chose to land some
distance from the Necron pyramid. None of the bright energy lances greeted the
blue and red colored marines as they landed off in the desert. However, some
distance from the pyramid, evidence of a new threat emerged. The remains of
several Eldar vehicles were found, but scorchmarks were indicative of other
Eldar weaponry, not Necron Gausfire.

The battleforce moved on, and towards dusk the pyramid was reached. As the
Battleforce arrayed itself overlooking the field below, it was observed that
Eldar units were seemingly interacting with the Necrons. The Chaplain and
Librarian communicated over the comm-net. It was likely that the Necrons were
controlling the Eldar. Almost as soon as that communication was held, the
Necrons and Eldar began mobilizing and heading towards their forms of vehicles.
It was going to be an armored clash in the waning daylight. Ultramarine and
Blood Angel units mounted up, leaving two Ultramarine squads on overwatch while
the tanks of the battleforce moved in on the center and right of the Necron
line.

The Blood Angel chaplain headed directly towards the Necron center while the
Librarian headed to hook around to the right. The real reason for this was
clear – the Necron Overlord needed to be drawn away from the battle, while the
Blood Angels attacked the center to do what they did best. The Chaplain would
assault with his ultramarine-equipped assault terminators. The Librarian was
accompanied by thunderhammer assault terminators as well. Both commanders rode
in Landraiders to the assault.

As the clash began with both sides firing lances and multi-meltas and
lascannons, it was clear that the fight would be grim and fierce. But as the
Tarot had predicted to the Librarian, the Necron Overlord soon determined to
take his chariot to the Imperial right. What the Marines did not count on
though was the tremendous firepower that a combined Necron army would have with
the addition of the firepower of the Eldar and their shackled warlock.

Soon the battlefield was full of haze and flames from exploding and damaged
imperial vehicles, and shimmering dust from Necron and Eldar skimmers. The
battle was not going well for the Imperium. Time and again the Librarian
reached out with his mind to try and aid the Marines, but he was thwarted time
and again by the Warlock. And then out of the dust advanced the Necron
Overlord, riding on his metallic chariot of death. The Landraider servitors
targeted the chariot and brought it down. But the grim overlord rose from its
debris and advanced on the landraider. Thunderhammer-armed assault marines
charged down the ramp to meet their foe – the Librarian stayed behind full
knowing he was the target and he had no desire to find himself shackled like the
hapless Eldar Warlock.

Soon the air outside the landraider was humming with scything green energies and
swinging hammers. More than once the Overlord was brought low, but he self
repaired and battled anew. Ultramarine terminators were turned on each other by
the Necon’s shackling mind control abilities, and the battle continued.
Eventually a combat squad of additional marines arrived and the squad’s added
assault power phased the Necron Overlord from the field of battle.

On the center of the battlefield wreckage was everywhere. Vehicle crews on both
sided fired until their weapons systems were down or the vehicles wrecked. The
Chaplain and terminators fought grimly on foot, spending time between assaults
hiding behind vehicle wreckage. Their Landraider had been exploded earlier by
combined fire from Stalkers and Wave Serpents, even after a damaged Ultramarine
Razorback, its weapons gone and marines dismounted has zoomed to the front to
try and shield the Landraider from the tremendous fire. The Chaplain and
entourage now crouched behind the remains of the Razorback.

On the Marine left, the Necrons and Eldar forces also attacked, tring to
outflank the marine’s overwatch units, but their assault was repelled with heavy
losses on both sides.

Now, as the sun set, the Necrons focused their energies on the marine center,
sending forward their Stalkers, a Monolith, and Eldar slaves to try and
overpower the marines. Marine fire and meltagun toting Blood Angel assault
teams thwarted this assault but again with losses. Just as the Marine line
began to bend, the Librarian and his terminators arrived, sweeping in from the
right to recover the line and break the back of the Necron assault.

As the night deepened, the Blood Angels Chaplain and Ultramarines Librarian met
on the battlefield, their armor lit from the fires of burning vehicles. The
Eldar warlock and units were nowhere to be seen – apparently sometime after the
Overlord was dispatched, the mindlock on the Eldar was broken and they fled.
Messages were already sent by fleet communications to call forward techmagos and
others with greater expertise in handling Necron tomb-worlds. Servitors were
already working to recover and repair vehicles, while apothecaries recovered
geneseed from the fallen. The Necontyr of course, had also disappeared, having
been phased away from the field of battle, leaving behind little more than
scorched sand and their warm, humming pyramid.

The plans for the next day were for the two Chapters to get together, honor the
fallen, and make arrangements for return of the Terminator Armor once the Blood
Angel force reached their armories at Baal. Soon 8th Company Blood Angels and
3rd Company Ultramarines would part, knowing that they shared more in common
than the red that decorated their armor.

Slaughter on ES-THEA

A small group from the 8th company of Blood Angels had been assigned to monitor the activity on the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy. They had been sent to scout out planets and monitor nearby TAU activity in the sector. Three months went by without any activity and with nothing to do the group from 8th company went to explore a nearby planet ES-THEA.

The planet looked similar to Baal mostly baron but not polluted by the hands of man. A few oasis full of vegetation were scattered across the planet. One in particular had no visible water present but was by far the biggest. They set out to take some readings and look for life. However none was to be found, there was only lush vegetation. When one of the sargents took a soil sample the ground began to tremble. The shaking continued to increase and the center of the oasis began to rise from the ground.

A large metal structure lifted from the ground and reached for the sky. It looked like a large metal pyramid. Some of the older marines realized what this was...It was a Necron tomb. A large crystal at the top began to glow and it shot a beam of light at the few storm ravens sitting on the ground. All of their transports were melted in an instant. The few squads formed up and prepared for a fight. The chaplain in charge of the mission called up to his cruiser and beacon for assistance.

Tomb spiders began to pour out of the tomb. A firefight erupted and the battle had begun. The Blood Angels had to hold out until a rescue transport could pick them up. The men fought valiantly but there were too many. Just as they were getting down to their few remaining men the familiar sound of a Storm Raven could be heard. The remaining men of the 8th company ran for the transport and got on board. As the ships landing ramp began to close the pyramid shot again. The chaplain sacrificing himself to absorb the brunt of the blast got in the way. His relic armor given to him from Dante himself melted instantly. He was thrown back into the cargo bay of the Storm Raven.

The ship took off and raced for the cruiser. The chaplain had suffered major injuries but was still alive. The remaining Blood Angels that survived were a mix of vets and sargents and one priest. The priest stabilized the chaplain on the way up to their ship.

Back on board it was decided they they would stay and monitor the pyramid's activity while awaiting for back up. A transmission was received shortly there after. A group of Ultra Marines were close and would like to assist in neutralizing the threat.

They arrived within a day, it was a small group from the 3rd company. They were lead by a librarian and were heavily armed. The Blood Angels had suffered major casualties and a lot of damage to their armor from scarabs. The Ultras seeing the damage that had been done loaned 5 terminator suits to the Blood Angels all equipped with lightning claws. The Chaplain received some armor as well and he quickly painted most of it black. They were ready to make planet fall and destroy the necron menace!