CHAPTER THIRTEEN
'We have identified the location from which the enemy has chosen to face us, brigadier-general,' said Colonel Laron.
'Show me,' said Havorn. The large table between the pair lit up at Havorn's word, thousands of twisting green lines of light springing up to show a detailed schematic map of the surrounding area. At Havorn's instruction, the crouching servitor built into the table's base manipulated the rendered image, scrolling it across the surface of the table and zooming in on valleys and ravines. At another word, the densely packed lines began to rise above the table, giving a three dimensional view of the mountains.
Taking a moment to study the detailed map, Laron pointed.
'As you have read in my reports, our attacks to take the high lands up to here,' he said, indicating, 'have been fierce, but a success.'
'The enemy has defended them half-heartedly,' said Havorn. 'Your men took them too easily, and I mean no slur upon them. When they choose their place to stand and fight, then they will face far stiffer competition.'
'My sentiment exactly, brigadier-general, and I believe we have found that place. Early forays to take these points here,' he said, indicating the ridges some ten kilometres into a particularly thin stretch of the valley, 'show high concentrations of the enemy. Our attacks have been rebuffed.'
'And with high casualties, I see,' growled Havorn.
'Indeed, the enemy will not budge. That is where they will make their stand.'
'It is a good place for it. The twisting valley is at its narrowest there. There is not a straight line of fire longer than a kilometre, rendering our ordnance of limited use, but their warriors will excel. It means that the
'I have, brigadier-general. The valley thins some ten kilometres further up, here. It shrinks to a width of less than a hundred metres at several points; that's a tight fit for the Imperator. That would be the place to launch an ambush, but there are more than forty places where the valley contracts in such a way.'
The brigadier-general grunted.
'Any sign of enemy movement? If we walked into that valley and the enemy had control of those ridges, we would suffer heavy casualties.'
'None, sir. I have sentinels scouring the region, but they have engaged nothing more than cultist outrider vermin that were skulking parallel to the valley. They were all slain.'
'The enemy commander is no fool. If I were him, I would plan something here,' said Havorn, pointing towards one of the narrower areas of the valley. 'The minesweepers have found nothing as yet?'
'No dedicated minefield, only mines scattered every hundred metres or so.'
The Imperial forces had been slowed to a crawl behind the sweeper units. Though no further minefields had been discovered, the traitors had placed sporadic patches of mines down, just enough to force the Imperials into scanning their entire advance.
A series of cracks riddles the cliff faces all along this stretch. 'I have ordered flame units to advance along the cliff walls and cleanse any cave systems. Scanner teams are accompanying the flame units, sweeping the area for life-signs and power outputs.'
'Order demolition teams to cave in the larger crevices,' said Havorn.
'Yes, sir.'
'They will wish to wipe the history books clear of the shame they were dealt at the hands of the
Keen auto-sensors alerted Kol Badar to the questing machine-spirit of an enemy auspex, and the last systems of his Terminator armour were automatically shut down. He was barely breathing, and his twin hearts beat but once per minute. He had long ago shut off his air-recycling units, and the massive weight of his armour hung upon him as the last of the servos were deactivated.
Dully he heard the muffled thump of detonations, and dust and rock crumbled down upon him as the ground beneath his feet rumbled. Heavier chunks of salt stone broke upon him, but still he stood immobile in his state of semi-suspended animation. It was not the deep slumber that the Legion was capable of, for that would require the attentions of the chirurgeons to reawaken him, and would not allow him to remain at least partially alert for the signal that his prey was near. It was however a deep enough state that any auspex sweep of the enemy should not detect his life signals, particularly while he was shielded behind the thick, insulating plates of his sacred armour.
An indeterminable amount of time passed, and flames washed over him. His heartbeat increased as he registered the brightness of the promethium-based conflagration lapping over him and the sharp rise in temperature. The heat was almost unbearable, the inbuilt heat regulators of the suit having been shut down along with all its other functions, so as not to give off any tell-tale signs of radiation.
The flames lit up the narrow cavern brightly. He could see other members of the cult of the Anointed, immobile as he was, flames licking at them. He saw the external ribbed piping of one warrior-brother's early mark Terminator suit flare brightly as it melted, and the warrior pitched backwards to the cavern floor, his lungs undoubtedly on fire. Kol Badar was pleased to see that he did not cry out as he perished.
As his breathing became more regular in conjunction with the quickening beat of his heart, he began to use too much oxygen, and there was not a lot of that remaining in his suit. He settled his breathing and his heart slowed until once again it almost stopped.
'What was that? You picking something up?' asked the weary Elysian trooper, looking back at his companion. The half-sphere of the heavy auspex disc was a weight in his arms. Trust him to get stuck doing the lifting rather than the easy job of keeping an eye on the data-screen on the attached feedback unit.
'I thought there was something for a second, but its gone now. Must have been a glitch.'
'Time for us to swap, eh?' he said hopefully. His team member laughed out loud.
'Not a chance. You lost, fair and square. Come on, let's move on. There's nothing here.'
Kol Badar's consciousness was roused as the cavern shook and crumbling salt dust dropped down upon him. There was a pause of almost thirty seconds before there was another booming sound like thunder, closer than the first, and more dust rained down. His yellow eyes flickered and he powered up his suit's basic functions. He reasoned that after the enemy had swept the area and declared it clear there would be little in the way of further scans, so powering up his Terminator armour was but a slight risk. Air began to circulate once more, stale and dry, and he breathed in deeply flooding his oxygen starved body. His senses came instantly to their full capacity.
His prey was near.
He took in his surroundings, turning his head from side to side as he familiarised himself once more with his situation as his suit's diagnostics ran. The cavern was cramped and demolitions had caused cave-ins in several places, where chunks of rock lay strewn across the uneven floor. Massive blocks leant against several of the Anointed and parts of their blessed ceramite were chipped and dented. Many of his brethren were half-buried beneath the collapse, but it mattered not.
The cavern branched off a deep chasm that split the cliff face of the main valley. He had seen the narrowing of the valley and noted its suitability as a place to face the enemy, but he would never have discovered this cave system in the limited time that he had to prepare the ambush. One of the cultists had brought it to the attention of the Chaos Marines, one of the wretched dogs that doted on the First Acolyte.
Branching off the sheer-faced chasm, the entrance to the cave system was hidden from view, and unless
