Greaves View: Operation Eclipse

==Operation Eclipse==
<Damos Crusade Campaign
*Sigh* Today is certainly going to be quite an experience. I tried to go into the mess hall only to find my way blocked by construction cones, and several explorators moving to and back from it. Apparently some crazy new guy decided that the gruel being served here was atrocious, and decided to reconstruct the entire kitchen. (Not that the food couldn't be just a little better, but still.) Don't these idiots know that we are in the middle of preparing for our next mission? I need all the energy I can get!
One of them offers me a cup of coffee. Grrrrrrr. I make my displeasure known to the explorator and leave to get the mission overview.
I meet Vandal, Kalei, Zickel, and Wilhelm back on the bridge. Vandal tells us that we are going planet-side to assist our forces on the ground. After sabotaging the enemy's asteroid stronghold, we are now advancing to the battlefield. The Imperium is fighting agents of Chaos on and around this world and it is now up to us to become reinforcements.
This is what I've been wanting to hear for a very long time. Finally, I'll be one step closer to finding the monsters who invaded my home world. Maybe they're already here...
After being debriefed, we get inside our dropship, and make landfall. The scene that awaits us as we step outside is horrific yet breathtaking. Enormous craters are scattered throughout the land from where shots had landed. There is little vegetation at all. In front of us some yards away, is a ginormous statue of the God Emperor. At it's base, the Imperium army awaits our arrival.
We are greeted by the many leaders that occupy the base. All of them are highly ranked, and are true veterans, except for one that seems to be too short for his armor. Although I could be mistaken about him. The General in charge tells us about the situation at hand.
The chaos worshipers are putting up one hell of a fight. They seem to use walkers and have been increasing their war efforts daily. From what they can tell, the enemy combatants are comprised of several different factions, and are all humans. So far there has not been a demon summoning in this war. (Odd) Still they are not to be underestimated. They lost one of their best commanders in a recent battle, the blow has cost them dearly. (Which explains the short one.)
Vandal tells them of his last mission in taking out the before mentioned enemy stronghold in space. (The crew did this mission without me, believing only a few members where necessary for the task.) The general is genuinely shocked when he hears that the chaos forces had over twenty ships in their number.
Thinking back to my days back home, I remember something. The loose lipped worshippers often discussed getting aid from other chaos factions to assist them in their goals. Although they may differ in religious views, the heretical forces can put their differences aside to destroy a common enemy. I let Vandal know that this could be happening here.
We are all led inside the statue to discuss the plan at hand. The general tells us that the mission planned for us is in fact, an assassination. We are to infiltrate the enemy's main stronghold, find the leaders of the madmen, kill them, and make our escape."Will you accept this mission?" He asks us. (Like we are going to say no?) We accept it.
As soon as the words leave Vandal's mouth, the whole room shifts. Instead of the commanders quarters we were in, we are now in the middle of the desert in a bunker. I should've known, a holographic projector. We hear the general speaks to us through an intercom, "Sorry about the deception. We needed to know that you were on our side. One spy got into our quarters already and made quite a mess of things. Ever since, we've taken every precaution to ensure it doesn't happen again. And as for you, drop that, we need it." I look over to see a disapointed Kalei and Zickle drop a projector.
Good news about this mission, we do get a transport, an aircraft to be precise. The bad news, *sigh*, we have to jump out of it. I admit that I always hated para dropping. Sure you get a nice adrenaline rush, and it is an incredible thing to experience, but I don't like the idea that my entire life depends on a string functioning correctly. If it does, you get to coast lazily to the ground, hopefully without getting shot at. If it doesn't, then you best hope is to die a quick and painless death. Pull the string too late, and you're bound to break a few bones. Pull it too early, and not only do you remain in the air longer than you have too, but you might end up further from where you need to be.
That being said, we did manage to reach our destination without any real problem. We landed a few clicks away from the enemy stronghold, just enough to avoid detection. We begin to skulk towards the target building. A few moments later, we're stopped by a figure who was waving his hands around. Kalei tells the group to stop. "He's signaling us about a minefield up ahead." After Kalei and Zickle disarm the bombs, we meet with the person who warned us about the bomb. He was an Imperium soldier that had scouted the land before us.
He tells us that there is an enemy camp just a few yards away, and that we need to get rid of it in order to advance. Seeing as we had no other choice, we sneak towards the camp. To the side four enemies huddle around a fire. Zickle, Kalei, and Vandal, furtively advance upon them, leaving me to search the rest of the area.
Kalei bashed the heads of two of the heretics together. Vandal impaled a third with his sword, causing him to burst into flames. His screams alerting the camp, causing chaos worshippers to stir and gather their gear set at an edge of the camp. I take out my improved mono sword and move up to the nearest two and I knockout one of them by bashing in the back of the head. I turn on the electricity on my blade and stab the other worshipper with it. The shock causes some of his flesh to burst.
With our initial attack over, the worshippers start making carvings in their flesh. "They're... They're MONSTERS!! SAVE US!!" They scream. (Crap) They're trying to summon demons. A moment later lightning strikes in the distance. It seems they were somewhat successful.
Everyone catches up and continues the assault. Kalei once again executes his famous face explosion punch on one of the cowards, covering some with the victim's blood. Vandal stabs another one, setting him on fire. I see Zickle also strikes one with his sword. I try to cut into one of the blood soaked worshippers, but I just missed him, and end up barely tearing his shirt. Kalei and Zickel move up and finish the job.
With the enemies slaughtered we start disposing the bodies. Kalei examines the markings on their skin and tells us that they're worshippers of Korn and Slaneesh. This picks my interest, not the demons that these guys zealots praised, but the fact he could tell who served whom. Vandal throws some of the bodies into the fire, and we move to do the same. Before we leave, I pull Kalei to the side, and ask him a question. "You can tell which demons these heretics follow just by examining the marks?" He replies enthusiastically, "Yeah! Plain as day!" With this in mind I tell him, "If you ever spot a worshipper of Tzeentch, tell me." Without asking why or inquiring further, he merely says "sure".
We can see the enemy stronghold now. It is quite the fortress. Looking through my Laz-sniper scope, I spot several macro cannons, an Icaris cannon aray, and at the top, a sensor tower. The place is definitely well guarded. The Imperium scout tells us that the fortress had an adamantium gate and is well guarded by several enemy troops. We begin to debate how we were to get inside...
To Be Continued.