The hunt for the Fallen

The call came in through the vox to prepare; they were nearly at the walls.

Rising from the murk in front of them were towering facades of crumbling rockcrete - all that was left of the once-magnificent Cathedral of Solsta. War had robbed the building of its awe, its grandeur and its purpose. 

The ruins of smaller buildings, most likely administratum offices, lay between the Dark Angels and their prize. Brother Captain Zaphkiel had heard whispers that a Fallen was being harboured in these ruins, and it was his job to hunt them down and bring them back for questioning. He had chosen to remain onboard the strike cruiser, Angels Claw, with his retinue of specialise Jump Pack Intercessors whilst Chaplain Timmius led the initial charge. 

The Chaplain, straddling the Outrider that was his personal bike, raced to the right flank with his couterie of Outriders, their engines roaring as they saught initial cover. They were joined by an Invader ATV, armed with a multi-melta incase they needed to breach any walls...or came across any armoured opposition.

To Timmius' left, a squad of Heavy Intercessors held the central ground, their Gravis armour whining softly. Next to them stood the imposing form of an Invictor Tactical Warsuit, its flamer purring with prometheum rage. 

Further along the line a Gladiator Lancer tank took position, its laser destroyer ready to punish anything that came out onto the streets ahead of it. 

FInally, a squad of Eradicators held the right flank, fingers resting on their triggers.

A second order came over the vox. This time, it was the order to attack.

The Dark Angels did not know what awaited them in the ruins of the Cathedral, but they could sense some sort of power armour.

Suddenly, the Gladiator Lancer spotted a Nemesis Dreadknight at the top of one of the ruined buildings. It shouted down the challenge that they were to come no closer, and that this holy site, as well as those who may or may not be within it, were under the protection of the Grey Knights. 

Brother Captain Zaphkiel heard this from over his comms and gave his order.

With an electric scream, the Gladiator Lancer fired its laser destroyer which smashed into the Dreadknight. Reeling from the blow, and with a smoking hole punched through the right hand side of its torso, the Dreadknight shouted something which was unheard, then disappeared in a haze of ozone.

Undaunted by this, Chaplain Timmius ordered the troops on the ground to advance. 

Suddenly, just as the Gladiator Lancer was pulling alongside a crumbling wall which had once been part of a hab block, the Dreadknight reappeared. It doused the tank with flames, which served only to cause paintwork to peel back off its hull. The crew, feeling undaunted by this, were not prepared for the psychic blast which pummelled into the side of the vehicle. Sparks flew from electrical panels, half the crew inside were dead, and still the worst was to come. Striding forward, holding its greatsword aloft, the Dreadknight charged into the wounded tank. It plunged the sword hilt-deep through the turret and into the main chassis, where its power-field caused the Lancer's internal systems to explode. Luckily for the Dreadknight,the internal combustion was contained within the tank, and it gave one last mechanical shudder as the Grey Knight walker removed its weapon from the deceased vehicle.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, more Grey Knights had teleported behind the lines of the Dark Angels. Castellan Crowe and a Strike Squad appeared next to the Dark Angels' Heavy Intercessors. The two squads exchanged shots, the Intercessors taking out 2 of the Strike Squad, whose punishing return salvo slew 2 of the Space Marines in return. Then, with a bellow, Crowe led his squad into melee with the ranged specialists. The fight was short but bloody, and the Dark Angels' rearguard unit was gone.

However, the Dark Angels, with their renowned grim fortitude, did not balk at this. The Eradicator squad stepped forward towards the Dreadknight, the 2 melta rifles and the multimelta dripping with burning pryrum-petroleum mix. The Dreadknight did not have time to activiate his teleport beacon before four beams of devastating heat slammed into it, turning it to a molten mass of metal slag and deformed human remains.

Meanwhile, Chaplain Timmius pressed forward, holding the throttle on his bike open as he and his squad roared through the rubble in the streets. Their sensor equipment picked up armour readings within the cathedral ruins ahead of them, and they urged their motorised steeds on, placating the machine spirits inside. Cresting a heap of fallen masonry, Timmius slammed his Ourtider bike into the enemy they had marked for death. 

The bikes slammed into a squad of Grey Knight Paladins led by Grand Master Voldus. The Paladins' terminator armour absorbed not only the shock of the impact from the Outriders, but also the swinging strikes of the Dark Angels' chainswords; even Timmius' Crozius Arcanum failed to do any damage. 

Voldus was enraged. Leading the fight back, he and his Paladin terminators hacked and smashed into the Space Marines with their Nemesis force weapons. When they had eliminated all the marines and left Timmius injured, Voldus calmly strode forward to deliver the final blow. His Nemesis Daemon Hammer - the Malleus Argyrum- fell, and the Dark Angels Chaplain had fought his last.

The Space Marine brother in the Invictor Warsuit advanced forward, seeing a gap in the ruins which it could vault through. 

Brother Captain Zaphkiel was appalled at the losses his forces had taken, so summoned his squad and sought the external doors of his strike cruiser. Igniting their jump packs, he and his squad leapt.

Just before impact with the ground, the marines pushed the burners on their packs to full and controlled their descent. Still, the ground shattered beneath their ceramite boots.

They had landed behind enemy lines and immediately spotted a Grey Knight Librarian in Terminator armour. Hoisting his power fist in the air, Captain Zaphkiel charged. The impact of 11 space marine bodies smashing into the librarian caused his spine to snap, and he fell lifeless to the floor. 

It was nearly over. 

Forces were hugely depleted on both sides.

The Invictor Warsuit vaulted over a low wall into the ruins of the central cloister. Seeing something which may lead to their quarry, it charged forward, only to be stopped in its tracks by Castellan Crowe and his squad. 

Blows were traded back and forth, the Invictor wiping out the strike squad Grey Knights, but both it and Crowe unable to deal much damage to each other. 

The Dark Angels held two objectives on the left flank. The Grey Knights held one in the central cloister and one on the right flank.

In the end, Brother Captain Zaphkiel realised that the crucial piece of information that he needed to hunt down his fallen brother was with Grand Master Voldus, on the other side of the Cathedral ruins.

Voldus caught the eye of the Dark Angels captain. He let out a wry smile as the air flashed around him, and the Grey Knights teleported off the battlefield. 

Zaphkiel cursed, then called for extraction.