+++ VOX INTERCEPT: C7:L5-0051
+++ VOX NODE: 430.823.715.9
+++ BATTLE PROTOCOL: VERMILLION
SOURCE 1: There is something wrong. They are toying with us.
SOURCE 2: M'Lord, the barrage has interdicted a majority of their attack vectors.
SOURCE 1: Fool! This battle is not about what we do. The outcome will be determined by what they do.
+++ VOX INTERCEPT: C7:L5-0051
+++ VOX NODE: 430.823.715.9
+++ BATTLE PROTOCOL: VERMILLION
+++ VOX NODE: 430.823.715.9
+++ BATTLE PROTOCOL: VERMILLION
SOURCE 1: There is something wrong. They are toying with us.
SOURCE 2: M'Lord, the barrage has interdicted a majority of their attack vectors.
SOURCE 1: Fool! This battle is not about what we do. The outcome will be determined by what they do.
+++ VOX INTERCEPT: C7:L5-0051
+++ VOX NODE: 430.823.715.9
+++ BATTLE PROTOCOL: VERMILLION
There is something reassuring in the heavy thunder of your guns firing. Our support sections have laid an immense line of ink black smoke across our front, as if to dare the Eldar to cross it.
Several of the Astartes scout skimmers accelerate into the clouds on our left, wary raptors in search of their elusive prey. Those manning the air defense sections continued to sweep the skies, searching for something that they might pour out all their hidden anger and fear upon. Yet nothing could be seen in the skies, save for the angry streamers of some distant weather system, heralds of an atmospheric violence yet to come.
If it was to come, then we were anxious for the lull to end. Those at the front who had replaced the casualties from the earlier engagement, mocked the absence of their opponent in loud displays of bravado...displays quickly cut short by those who had already experienced the sudden and graceful violence delivered by the enigmatic hosts of the Eldar kin.
And so we waited, for there was nothing before us.
Could it be, were the rumors true? Had they abandoned the field of battle to us? Had we inflicted enough pain upon them that the continuance of this mad folly was no longer worth the cost?
No.
Suddenly a large flock of unusually shaped avians began to settle behind our smoke barrage on the right flank. There was something distinctly odd about their appearance as they swooped out of the clouds and quickly dropped out of sight.
Shortly thereafter, giant constructs emerged from the hazy distance, leaping unnaturally great distances with practiced strides. If not for the scale of the constructs, one could almost imagine a trio of dancers gracefully leaping across a scarcely lit stage.
Somewhere near their advance, the sound of rushing wind indicated an approach of other, yet unseen forces.
Still, despite the lack of a clear line of sight to the enemy, we looked to the left and right at our comrades, bolstering our resolve and prepared to advance and deliver their doom.
It was then that our hubris revealed the depth of our fall.
They had been playing with us all along.
Several of the Astartes scout skimmers accelerate into the clouds on our left, wary raptors in search of their elusive prey. Those manning the air defense sections continued to sweep the skies, searching for something that they might pour out all their hidden anger and fear upon. Yet nothing could be seen in the skies, save for the angry streamers of some distant weather system, heralds of an atmospheric violence yet to come.
If it was to come, then we were anxious for the lull to end. Those at the front who had replaced the casualties from the earlier engagement, mocked the absence of their opponent in loud displays of bravado...displays quickly cut short by those who had already experienced the sudden and graceful violence delivered by the enigmatic hosts of the Eldar kin.
And so we waited, for there was nothing before us.
Could it be, were the rumors true? Had they abandoned the field of battle to us? Had we inflicted enough pain upon them that the continuance of this mad folly was no longer worth the cost?
No.
Suddenly a large flock of unusually shaped avians began to settle behind our smoke barrage on the right flank. There was something distinctly odd about their appearance as they swooped out of the clouds and quickly dropped out of sight.
Shortly thereafter, giant constructs emerged from the hazy distance, leaping unnaturally great distances with practiced strides. If not for the scale of the constructs, one could almost imagine a trio of dancers gracefully leaping across a scarcely lit stage.
Somewhere near their advance, the sound of rushing wind indicated an approach of other, yet unseen forces.
Still, despite the lack of a clear line of sight to the enemy, we looked to the left and right at our comrades, bolstering our resolve and prepared to advance and deliver their doom.
It was then that our hubris revealed the depth of our fall.
They had been playing with us all along.
Behind us, out of the shadows surrounding our command centers strode five more of the towering monstrosities. Their flashing cannon singled out our super heavy support and began rending its golden armor as if our mighty fortress were clothed in fabric. The violence visited upon that ancient monolith drove those nearby to their knees in agony, clutching their heads and ears.
Our giant was nearly slain in the flash of a moment.
As they moved deeper into our lines, their casual indifference to what they had just wrought angered me to my core. Surely this injustice must be righted?
And then the great beast we represented, gathered its various part and began react as would a wounded animal, with violence and rage. A great machine from Titan shifted out of this realspace and materialized deep within the lines of the Eldar. The silence of his passage, later marked by an actinic flash down the field near where the birds had landed.
I took comfort in the arrival of those great aerial hunters of the Astartes and Titan as they swooped down to corral the Eldar breakthrough from our rear lines.
But there was more, for we have our monsters too.
As if to ensure that the initial penetration by the host of giants remained marginalized, the great knight, Victa Vult closed in to ensure their demise, it's hulking cannon beginning to flare a horrible heat like a malign sun.
Additional squads from Titan advanced to surround the Artifact and its associated spears of dark stone. Those closest to the Artifact appeared to be implementing a ritual, their members lightly washed with a flickering pale bluish flame. To what purpose it was impossible to guess.
We were shaken, but our training quickly took over and held us firm.
They would get nothing from us but our undying wrath.
TURN 1 VICTORY POINTS: Imperial 5, Eldar kin 1
Our giant was nearly slain in the flash of a moment.
As they moved deeper into our lines, their casual indifference to what they had just wrought angered me to my core. Surely this injustice must be righted?
And then the great beast we represented, gathered its various part and began react as would a wounded animal, with violence and rage. A great machine from Titan shifted out of this realspace and materialized deep within the lines of the Eldar. The silence of his passage, later marked by an actinic flash down the field near where the birds had landed.
I took comfort in the arrival of those great aerial hunters of the Astartes and Titan as they swooped down to corral the Eldar breakthrough from our rear lines.
But there was more, for we have our monsters too.
As if to ensure that the initial penetration by the host of giants remained marginalized, the great knight, Victa Vult closed in to ensure their demise, it's hulking cannon beginning to flare a horrible heat like a malign sun.
Additional squads from Titan advanced to surround the Artifact and its associated spears of dark stone. Those closest to the Artifact appeared to be implementing a ritual, their members lightly washed with a flickering pale bluish flame. To what purpose it was impossible to guess.
We were shaken, but our training quickly took over and held us firm.
They would get nothing from us but our undying wrath.
TURN 1 VICTORY POINTS: Imperial 5, Eldar kin 1
To be continued...
