Caffran slid down to cover his head with his arms.
This was hell and there was no way out of it. Curse this, in the name of Feth!
He looked up and grabbed his pistol as something fell into the shell-hole next to him. It was one of the glass-clad soldiers he had seen from a distance, presumably one who had fled in search of cover. The man held up his hands to avoid Caffran’s potential wrath.
‘Guard! I’m Guard, like you!’ the man said hastily, pulling off his dark-lensed full-face helmet to reveal an attractive face with skin that was almost as dark and glossy as polished ebonwood. ‘Trooper Zogat of the Vitrian Regiment. We were called in to support you and half our number were in the open when the artillery cranked up.’
‘My sympathies,’ Trooper Caffran said humourlessly, holstering his pistol. He held out a pale hand to shake and was aware of the way the man in the articulated metallic armour regarded the blue dragon tattoo over his right eye with disdain.
‘Trooper Caffran, Tanith First,’ he said. After a moment the Vitrian shook his hand.
A shell fell close and showered them in mud. Getting up from their knees they turned and looked out at the apocalyptic vista all around.
‘Well, friend,’ Caffran said, ‘I think we’re here for the duration.’
Eleven
T O THE WEST , the Jantine Patricians moved in under the command of Colonel Flense. They rode on Chimera personnel carriers that lurched and reeled across the slick and miry landscape. The Patricians were noble soldiers, tall men in deep purple uniforms dressed with chrome. Flense had been honoured when, six years before, he had become their commanding officer. They were haughty and resolute, and had won for him a great deal of praise. They had a regimental history that dated back fifteen generations to their first Founding in the castellated garrisons of Jant Normanidus Prime, generations of notable triumphs, and associations with illustrious generals and campaigns. There was just the one blemish on their honour roll, just the one, and it nagged at Flense day and night. He would rectify that. Here, on Fortis Binary.
He took his scope and looked at the battlefield ahead. He had two columns of vehicles with upwards of ten thousand men scissoring in to cut into the flank of the Shriven as the Tanith and the Vitrians drove them back. Both those regiments were fully deployed into the Shriven lines. But Flense had not counted on this bombardment from the Shriven artillery in the hills.
Two kilometres ahead the ground was volcanic with the pounding of the macro-shells and a drizzle of mud fogged back to splatter their vehicles. There was no way of going round and Flense didn’t even wish to consider the chances of driving his column through the barrage. Lord General Dravere believed in acceptable losses, and had demonstrated this practicality on a fair few number of occasions without compunction, but Flense wasn’t about to commit suicide. His scar twitched. He cursed. For all his manoeuvring with Dravere, this wasn’t the way it was meant to go. He had been cheated of his victory.
‘Pull back!’ he ordered into the vox handset and felt the gears of his vehicle grind into reverse as the carrier pulled around.
His second officer, a big, older man called Brochuss, glared at him under the low brim of his helmet. ‘We are to pull out, colonel?’ he asked, as if obliteration by artillery shell was something he craved.
‘Shut up!’ spat Flense and repeated the order into the vox-caster.
‘What about Gaunt?’ Brochuss asked.
‘What do you think?’ Flense sneered, gesturing out of the Chimera’s vision slit at the inferno that raged along the deadland. ‘We may not get glory today, but at least we can content ourselves in the knowledge that the bastard is dead.’
Brochuss nodded, and a slow smile of consolation spread across his grizzled features. None of the veterans had forgotten Khedd 1173.
The Patrician armoured convoy snaked back
This was hell and there was no way out of it. Curse this, in the name of Feth!
He looked up and grabbed his pistol as something fell into the shell-hole next to him. It was one of the glass-clad soldiers he had seen from a distance, presumably one who had fled in search of cover. The man held up his hands to avoid Caffran’s potential wrath.
‘Guard! I’m Guard, like you!’ the man said hastily, pulling off his dark-lensed full-face helmet to reveal an attractive face with skin that was almost as dark and glossy as polished ebonwood. ‘Trooper Zogat of the Vitrian Regiment. We were called in to support you and half our number were in the open when the artillery cranked up.’
‘My sympathies,’ Trooper Caffran said humourlessly, holstering his pistol. He held out a pale hand to shake and was aware of the way the man in the articulated metallic armour regarded the blue dragon tattoo over his right eye with disdain.
‘Trooper Caffran, Tanith First,’ he said. After a moment the Vitrian shook his hand.
A shell fell close and showered them in mud. Getting up from their knees they turned and looked out at the apocalyptic vista all around.
‘Well, friend,’ Caffran said, ‘I think we’re here for the duration.’
Eleven
T O THE WEST , the Jantine Patricians moved in under the command of Colonel Flense. They rode on Chimera personnel carriers that lurched and reeled across the slick and miry landscape. The Patricians were noble soldiers, tall men in deep purple uniforms dressed with chrome. Flense had been honoured when, six years before, he had become their commanding officer. They were haughty and resolute, and had won for him a great deal of praise. They had a regimental history that dated back fifteen generations to their first Founding in the castellated garrisons of Jant Normanidus Prime, generations of notable triumphs, and associations with illustrious generals and campaigns. There was just the one blemish on their honour roll, just the one, and it nagged at Flense day and night. He would rectify that. Here, on Fortis Binary.
He took his scope and looked at the battlefield ahead. He had two columns of vehicles with upwards of ten thousand men scissoring in to cut into the flank of the Shriven as the Tanith and the Vitrians drove them back. Both those regiments were fully deployed into the Shriven lines. But Flense had not counted on this bombardment from the Shriven artillery in the hills.
Two kilometres ahead the ground was volcanic with the pounding of the macro-shells and a drizzle of mud fogged back to splatter their vehicles. There was no way of going round and Flense didn’t even wish to consider the chances of driving his column through the barrage. Lord General Dravere believed in acceptable losses, and had demonstrated this practicality on a fair few number of occasions without compunction, but Flense wasn’t about to commit suicide. His scar twitched. He cursed. For all his manoeuvring with Dravere, this wasn’t the way it was meant to go. He had been cheated of his victory.
‘Pull back!’ he ordered into the vox handset and felt the gears of his vehicle grind into reverse as the carrier pulled around.
His second officer, a big, older man called Brochuss, glared at him under the low brim of his helmet. ‘We are to pull out, colonel?’ he asked, as if obliteration by artillery shell was something he craved.
‘Shut up!’ spat Flense and repeated the order into the vox-caster.
‘What about Gaunt?’ Brochuss asked.
‘What do you think?’ Flense sneered, gesturing out of the Chimera’s vision slit at the inferno that raged along the deadland. ‘We may not get glory today, but at least we can content ourselves in the knowledge that the bastard is dead.’
Brochuss nodded, and a slow smile of consolation spread across his grizzled features. None of the veterans had forgotten Khedd 1173.
The Patrician armoured convoy snaked back
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