Updates from the Front: Vana Tallinn
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| [//Disciplined and sombre Tactical Squads of the Marines Saturnine were apparently ill-placed to resist a Death Eagle advance into the centre of Vana Linn, home to the planet's principal storage and distribution centres – though this was to prove a ruse. At a signal, running skirmishes erupted all along the Halvasti ehitatud tee, the artery road into the city.+] [//tom_k/@ghostys_neon_rust+] |
Part of the Red Fish's protectorate, the Delphurnean League, the agriworld of Vana Tallinn quietly paid its Tithe, raised occasional unremarkable Imperial Guard regiments alongside its military commitments to the League, and for many decades had been a sleepy backwater. Prior to the War of the False Primarch, it was a broadly prosperous locale that was little more than an historical footnote in the Annals of the Marines Orcinus.
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| [//identgrade: Agriworld – nom. Tallinn, Vana. tithegrade=Exactis Median+] |
Within striking distance of a little-used warp corridor to Sector Heliopolis, it became a secondary objective for the Pentarchy Forces – a staging post for further territorial gains within Sector Morqub. Offering the twin advantages of victualling friendly forces and denying them to the foe, Chapter Master Gorn of the Charnel Guard regarded its capture as important in order to put supply pressure on the primary-grade target of nearby Urdesh, itself under blockade by Master Enoch's Extinction Armada. Elements of the Death Eagles' Seventh Company and elements of Gorn's First Company headed the assault, accompanied by two regiments of the Dardanan Mechanised and a Skitarii Legion from Neo Jove.
In opposition were the dug-in local Commonwealth Defence Militia, including a substantial and impressive force of the roving Vana Tallinn Rough Riders, whose Kazahri ancestors had claimed settlement rights. At the heart of the defence were a company of the Marines Saturnine and their Esoterist support, and an Armoured Spearhead of ten Silver Stars Predators; diverted from the Partisan forces gathering at Strabo's Star.
Of particular note is that three Vigilant Kill Teams – coincidentally including a Team with three of the notable Ultramarines' successors, the Doom Eagles – were deployed alongside the High Lords' primary forces; a surprisingly high density given the world's secondary strategic value. None of these Ordo Astartes specialists would return – as the campaign also marked the first appearance of the Marines Mendicant.
***
His mind no longer felt right, as if a blanket of cloud was beginning to cover the edges. No doubt he was bleeding out despite his Larraman's Organ working in override. He dimly recalled he had been streaking across the sky in great leaps when he had been struck by a blinding white bolt of energy, snatching him from the sky and casting him to the ground. Presently, he became aware that he was not alone. Whilst unable to turn his head to look, the dim glyphs within his visor indicated a fellow Astartes was watching him from about twenty-five yards away. Approaching furtively, the Astartes came into the Doom Eagle’s view.
Clad in alabaster armour, the motif of the Caputmori on his greave denoted him as a Partisan, and the hourglass on his shoulder denoted him as one of the Marines Saturnine, a brother by geneseed. Cradled in the warrior's arms was the object of his fall, a plasma weapon of esoteric design.
***
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| [//Casualties of the ambush proved light, with the Death Eagles able to extract in good order, and the Marines Saturnine opting not to pursue. Unwilling to risk damage to the grain silos, the belligerents settled in for an extended hit-and-run campaign on the broader plains, while the Partisans held the bulk of the urban areas.+] [//tom_k/@ghostys_neon_rust+] |
***
“Hail, Brother.” The Saturnine said, half-heartedly making the sign of the Aquila with his free hand. He crouched down by the Doom Eagles body, and removed his helm. His face was weather-beaten and deeply creased, scarred from war and tattooed with peculiar cuneiform writing down one side. His eyes were small, dark, and heavily bagged. There seemed to be a weight to his stare, and, far from gloating, he seemed sombre. There was no pleasure being derived from the violence he had done to the Doom Eagle, and was there even a trace of… regret? Their eyes met, and the Saturnine began to speak.
“I am sorry this happened to you. There are a great many things about this wretched war that I regret, but that two sons of Guilliman – two brothers – find themselves opposed to one another in the field of battle… it is unforgivable. I will shoulder this sorrow until my time comes, although I do not think that it will be long now. I…”
The Marines Saturnine seemed to be struggling to articulate, and he trailed off into a brooding silence. The Doom Eagle, broken and bleeding, simply lay there. Partisan and Pentarch shared one another’s company for a peaceful moment. An outbreak of small arms fire in the distance broke the reverie, and the Saturnine, suddenly alert, looked in the direction of its source. No longer was his face melancholic, but hardened into something like resolution. He replaced his helmet upon his head, then turned back to the Doom Eagle.
“I would have waited until you had passed, Brother, before I took my tithe from you. I would have held vigil at your side until you breathed your last, truly. But it seems this is no place to tarry. I hope you can forgive what I am about to do.”
The Marines Saturnine reached for the curved chain akinaka on his belt, then reached for the Doom Eagle’s hands.
***
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| [//identquery=[...]MASULAMMASULAMMASULAMMASULAMMASU[...]: val-query=scrapshunterroabort+] [//The Hall of Rigel was visited by the False Primarch himself, prior to the war. An Honour Guard of two Silver Stars continued to attend the Planetary Governor until the conclusion of the war.+] [//tom_k/@ghostys_neon_rust+] *** |