Boarding of the "Bale Eye" Zaragosan War

 

Carnage class cruiser "Bale Eye" in high orbit over Zaragoza.   Socratis brought the "Bale Eye" through the fire of the Watch Knight strike cruiser to line up an attack run on the orbital defense gun construction sites on the world below.  The ship shook as the voids absorbed impacts.  Suddenly alarms began to sound and a mutant crewman screamed that they had boarders.  Socratis looked at a hololithic projection of the ship.  They were going after the secondary fire control stations for the plasma gun batteries.  The secondary controls regulated the venting and cooling systems for the plasma cannon batteries.  If they were to take them all out it would turn his batteries into potential massive bombs within his ship if he fired them.

     "Repel boarders!" Socratis ordered as he began walking off the bridge to help deal with the threat.

Librarian Fabian and chaplain Janus led the Watch Knights strike teams off the Thunderhawk that had just breached the hull of the chaos cruiser.  They spread out racing for their objectives, the secondary fire controls for the plasma cannon batteries.  They would pull the fangs out of the enemy before they could strike.

Socratis and his ships defenders also surged to cut off and block the Imperials advance.  Harkon led a group of marines down a corridor.  Ahead he could see Watch Knights racing up the corridor to meet them.  Bolters opened up and rounds detonated on the Imperial marines armor but still they advanced.

The blade guard forced open a hatch to one of the secondary fire control stations.  Socratis and a group of chosen were suddenly assaulted by a Watch Knights assault squad.   Chainswords butchered one chosen.  While a thunder hammer pulped another.  The chosen viciously cut down two of the marines with thier accursed blades.  Socratis slammed his staff into a third and unleashed his warp energy into it.  The Watch Knight was immollated by dark flames.

     Chaplain Janus in the center of the three wronged assault cleaved a bloody path through the black legionnaires before him while shouting litanies of hate to inspire his brothers.  Only a lone champion stood before him, and he suddenly backed away.

     Harkon backed away and motioned the cultists forward to halt the space marines.   It was not his ship and if the cultists failed to stop the space marines they would flank and fall upon Socratis.  A fitting punishment for the sorcerer manipulating his plasma gun to fail in a previous battle.

The beastmen under the shaman Moloch ran into the secondary fire control station.  Seeing the blade guard at the hatch they charged howling with fury and fervour.  They blocked the hatchway.  The bodies of two beastmen cut down by the blade of one of the blade guard choked the hatch.  Keeping both sides from pouring their full might upon one another.

Librarian Fabian and his squad opened up with their pyreblasters as a squad of legionnaires ran towards them bathing them in flames and dropping two of the traitors before they slammed into them.  Chainswords met combat blades as a vicious hand to hand battle erupted.

A mass of cultists charged Chaplain Janus and his assault squad.  The cultist fell screaming as chainswords carved them apart.  In seconds nothing remained before Janus and his marines.

     Socratis cut down one of the assault marines facing him but the lone veteran sergeant smashed apart a chosen with his thunderhammer.

The blade guard continued to hack at the beastmen.  Slicing a few of them apart but still unable to secure the hatch.

    Fabian lashed out with his staff wreathed in psi lightning.  As it struck the Black legionnaires the lightning discharged into them, frying them.  In seconds the chamber was clear with the Watch Knights standing victorious.

     Chaplain Janus led his squad into the rear of Socratis and the chosen.  Janus called for no quarter and the Watch Knights hacked apart the traitors.  Socratis backed away from the carnage barely avoiding a blow from a thunderhammer.  Drawing on the warp he warp walked in a step from the chamber to back upon the bridge.

Fabian and Janus had each of their squads disable the plasma cannon safety protocols and them destroyed the consoles.  They had effectively disabled two batteries but now their time on target was up and they retreated back to the Thunderhawk for extraction.  The blade guard slammed the hatch shut and sith a small demo charge fused it shut before falling back for extraction.  The beastmen howled in triumph, they had saved the thid battery.

    On the bridge Socratis fumed.  He suspected that Harkon had set him up and a number of batteries were out of commission just as they arrived over their targets.  Still with the batteries he had left he would destroy one of the orbital defense construction sites.   The "Bale Eye" poured fire down and the site dissapeared in a near nuclear firestorm of plasma.  That act would see at least one of the sites delayed for months if not years.  With the Watch Knights strike cruiser closing Socratis ordered evasive maneuvers and all power to engines to make good his escape.