[ IP ] Upside-down Forest

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 The thunder of the artillery guns echoed off the cavernous walls like the terrible drums of some titan-god, reverberating through the air and through the stone like a cataclysmic storm. Gunships and skimmers whirred and danced overhead, streaking in to deliver death from above with roaring guns and screaming missiles before burning away to reload and refuel. The God-machines of war, the titans and imperial knights battled their alien counterparts in duels which eclipsed the struggles of those cowering at their feet. Each step destroyed buildings older than mankind, each blast of their dreadful weapons annihilated scores of those unfortunate enough to be caught in their way. The tanks at their feet seemed almost beetle-size in comparison, tossed aside like playthings in explosions of plasma and more arcane weapons. 
 
 Amongst it all the guardsmen of the Mortanis 9th ( Light ) fought, almost an afterthought amid the fury of titans looming above them. Task with advancing through the ruins of the vast underground city, their objective was simple and brutal: kill all who opposed them. 
 
 Already they had liberated a third of the massive cavern, an achievement hard won through blood and sacrifice. The Mortanis 9th had not been among the first assault; those who first breached the cave entrance and died to establish a toehold in the city. They had seen the rows of dead, the ranks of graves being dug in the grey soil. And now they fought and died to join them. 
 
 -- - 
 
 Corporal Willem Locke slid behind cover right as the enemy opened up with a heavy weapon platform. The Eldar Guardians, clad in the grey and red of their Craftworld unleashed a lethal storm of razor sharp shuriken rounds. The mono-molecular blades hissed through the air and embedded themselves deep into whatever they hit be it stone or flesh. Locke heard a scream and he glanced back, watching as Private Raglen was sliced apart in a mist of blood and flickering blades. He fell lifeless, his carapace armor of little use against the rending shuriken blades of their foes. 
 
 Locke swore and fired blind around the corner of his column, not caring if he hit anything or not. The rest of his platoon were scrambling for cover of their own, lascarbines firing in an effort to pin down the Eldar. The grey armored Guardians only increased their fire, each with decades or even centuries of experience behind each shot. Lieutenant Holt, crouched behind a weathered stature was busy shouting into the vox, clamoring for support even as another one of his soldiers was hit, a razor-thin shuriken blade sunk between his surprised eyes. 
 
 *'' This is Kilo-Alpha Six, requesting support in Grid three-three-sigma-two. We got Eldar dug in tight. Requesting armor support, over. `` * 
 
 Locke was too far away to hear the reply, but considered how the lieutenant slammed the vox onto its cradle it's likely the news was n't good. 
 
 *'' Slag it... listen up, guards! Sergeant Rutger! Take your squad and try to flank these sons of bitches. The rest of you, advance by section.'' 
 
 Rutger, his jaw replaced with a bionic enhancement after an unlucky meeting with a heretic's shotgun nodded and half-rose, careful to keep himself out of the line of fire. 
 
 `` Alright, boys, you heard the Ell-Tee's orders. Up and at'em!'' 
 
 Locke, promoted to Corporal after Harlan's untimely demise during the Battle of the Red River Gorge, obeyed despite whir of fire buzzing like angry hornets above his head. 
 
 `` My fireteam, with me!'' 
 
 The other three soldiers next to him nodded and followed, using every piece of scant cover to hide themselves as they worked their way to the left side of the battle. Overhead a flight of Vulture gunships blazed in, rockets streaking out of their underslung pods at some unseen target a klick behind the front line. Locke took that as a bad sign. 
 
 Locke wore the same dark blue coveralls and black light carapace of the rest of the Mortanis 9th, a black balaclava hiding most of his features. He and two others of his fireteam carried modified Holt Model 6 Lascarbines, the already light-weight weapons shrunk so as to make them more compact and easier to wield in the tight confines of the Ninth's favorite environment. The fourth, Private Lynch, carried the team's flamer, a weapon perfect for this war of rats. 
 
 The four of them slipped into a deserted building, its once proud staircase and hallway little more than a deserted tomb, the bones of its previous inhabitants strewn across the marble floor. A few banners, leeched of color and design hung like moss overhead, swaying every so often with another nearby shock blast. Locke motioned for Venton and Fuller to take point, the pair covering each other as they advanced through the abandoned hallway. The entire city was one massive construct, each building linked to the ones next to it through a series of tunnels and bridges, each block a fortified castle in its own right. 
 
 A hole in the building's face brought the noise and sights of battle to their attention, their platoon slowly but surely making their way up through the barrage of fire. A Chimera IFV had joined the fight, its autocannon firing as Sergeant Veer's squad marched behind it. Locke and his team sprinted across the gulf that was the opening in the wall, praying that they had n't been spotted as they dashed between cover. No fire came their way, no Guardians shifted to block them. A small piece of luck. 
 
 A query over his micro-bead told him where the other fireteam of their squad was; directly overhead with the squad's heavy bolter. Locke made his way closer to the Eldar line, crawling into a small shell-hole made in the wall by an artillery round. He was close, able to hear the aliens chatter through the artificial static of their helms. Fuller and Venton were next, peeking over the rim of the shell-hole in wary eagerness. Flame-trooper Lynch was last, the tanks mounted on his back gurgling full. 
 
 `` Any last words?'' Locke asked. Fuller raised a hand. 
 
 `` Yeah, why the slag does it have to be us?''
