best of the best

[Yresk]

here are a few pages of one of my books currently entitled Best of the Best. this is a book about a number of Neophytes. people that are about to become space marines. it is a long and hard road with many dangers i hope you will enjoy.

(btw im sorry to say im dyslectic so sorry for any bad spelling, but i think i got all the problems out of there)

Best of the best


Craith severed the head of his opponent with his sword. Behind him from the stairwell, Gussin fired a silenced shot from his boltgun that took out the other sentry on the top floor. They moved up to the second floor of the ruined building, their grey and black armour blending in very well with their surroundings. They wore heavy armour, protecting their chest, body and arms. It was late day, the smog of the hive city was thick and dry.

Craith carefully moved up to the window the sentry had guarded. Looking carefully out through the window.
The square below them was filled with chaos soldiers, there was at least a hundred of them here. They where talking about new orders and tactics it was a small rumble of voices but that was drowned out by the sound of the tanks.
A number of wounded was present and a high ranking priest tending to their injuries.
The tanks where full of ammunition that was being distributed to the weary soldiers.
The soldiers of chaos where part of the 35th Rumasi. Followers of the great hound. They where all clad in a dark red outfit. Uniform was simple but as the conflict had proved. They worked very well in combat. None of the soldiers wore body armour or helmets but they had a studded bronze necklace around their necks.
The priest was a raving madman, he carried a severed head in his hand, spilling blood over the wounded to bless them and heal them. In his other hand he had three mutated dogs with jaws the size of an arm.
Craith had carefully signed for Fillum and Xuri with their rocket launchers. Liberated from an imperial guard munitions dump.
Targeting the very explosive munitions loaded tanks, Xuri and Fillum caused havoc on the camp and two very big explosions.
Now running like their lives depended on it. The squad tried to hide themselves in the devastated ruined landscape. They where still under the shadow of the higher buildings of the hive spine.
Three blocks to the east, the rest of the squad lay waiting. Liam, Bolodam and Tukkar had set up their weapons and waited for any targets they could find. As the four came running they remained perfectly still and hidden. When the squad had ran past them they started moving, leap-frogging though the city to a safe distance and until they where sure they where not followed.
Gussin loaded his boltgun with real ammunition and took a long gaze in all directions.
“Okay, I think we are clear… regroup and rearm”

Craith, Gussin, Xuri and Tukkar loaded their boltguns and got ready. Fillum armed his sniper rifle and checked his bolt pistol. Bolodam and Liam had bolt pistols like him but they also had very heavy, triple barrelled lasguns. All of them had several pouches with extra ammunition and grenades, night sights and personal comm.-links. All of them where very well trained so they did not cringe nor break under the weight of all this equipment.

Fillum ran up the rubble of the building and scanned in all directions with his power full scope. He informed that there was enemy contacts in all directions. Tanks to the north, infantry fighting in a pumping station to the south. Guards trying to find them where on their way from the west. To the east retreating Rusami where heading towards them through burnt out buildings.

They shifted their position north so that the retreating Rusami would meet up with their shook up friends and then the group would strike at them both from a flanking position.

As they dug in among the positions, adapting to the colour of their surroundings with soot and rubble.
It was a heart tearing wait for the retreating party to meet up with the advance patrol. But they waited. Soon the two groups met up where Craiths group had been standing.
Boltguns where a heavy and large weapon that fired rocket propelled grenades at the target. If one could manage the weight and the furious recoil of the weapon they would have a huge advantage over the enemy. With four of these mighty weapons the flank attack was a huge success. The enemy where blasted to pieced in a hail of shrapnel and glowing hot balls of fire. Fillum got a shot of with his rifle, blowing the head of one of the mutated hounds.

Bolodam and Liam was fiercely putting up long and extended waves of fire with their lasguns, they kept the enemy down in cover or cut down in droves. From this point the others could take their time and pick of the stragglers. When both of the Rumasi platoons broke of and retreated they where shown no mercy. The sound of tanks was hard to miss, the Rumasi was bringing in their heavy support. Two minuets later the Rumasi renewed there attack in a huge wave attack supported by a dozen tanks. But there was no sign the stealthy attackers.

Knee deep in stagnant water and in oppressive darkness Xuri and Tukkar led the way though the damaged and badly dilapidated sewer. Their rugged shapes could barely move in this confined space but they made it work. Better this than being run over by tanks. Xuri made a venomous comment at the stench, the others didn’t laugh as much as they grunted in approval.
Fillum had his rifle on his back and the pistol in his hands. He took a look back, the tanks made the ground shake and it was like rain. The sewer water was bouncing and shaking around in the confined space. When a tank fired they where all soaked by the splash of water.
Moving for more than a kilometre underground took its sweet time, but when they reached a water treatment plant they breathed a sigh of relief because they could leave the tunnels. Tukkar took a last look down in the tunnel they just had left. Not a sound, a clean getaway.

They had emerged in a neutral zone between the two fighting fractions. This was a good thing. From here they could meet up with friendly units and get into contact with their command, also a good thing. The thought of a calm nights sleep, warm food, new equipment and confessing ones sins to a priest. A very good thing.

The large building had been fought over many times, corpses where abundant. Both imperial and chaos forces. They all took what equipment they could carry, it was a survival instinct, getting everything they could use against the enemy was paramount.
Gussin took the first look outside of the building, something broke under his foot and suddenly he was thrown up into the air by an explosion.
The explosion kicked of the proverbial sh*t storm, Rumasi troopers homed in on the sound of their booby trap and stormed the building from all angles. Xuri was dragging Gussin into cover when he was shot twice in the chest.
Bolodam had taken position on the second floor and he spewed laser fire down on the Rumasi.
Craith fired his gun one handed and pulled in Gussin with the help of Xuri.
Tukkar took aim at another door and killed seven Rumasi soldiers in an instant. Fillum used his pistol and emptied his clip at the approaching targets.
Xuri was in pain from the shots but his armour had saved him. Gussin shouted in pain but fired his gun at the enemy.

Liam fired his gun when the wall came down as a tank crashed into the building. Liam was stuck under the vehicle, he fired his gun one handed on his right side and his pistol on the right side. It was a desperate struggle against the charging soldiers.
Craith emptied his clip and threw a grenade out of the building to cover him while he was reloading.
“I can hold this corner help Liam” Shouted Gussin as he loaded a fresh magazine into his boltgun and fired. Xuri was first over to help Liam, as he got closer he threw a grenade over the tank. The grenade exploded and shifted the weight of the tank and Liam cursed in pain. Reloading his pistol his head shifted back and forth between the entrances he could see.

Bolodam was relieved when he saw that the Rumasi where bugging out, they ran outside and looked for cover. He convened this to the squad but then they heard the barking. A large pack of mutated monsters came running at them. Huge beasts entirely built around a overly sized jaw and head, they didn’t bark as much as snarl when they moved closer to the building the squad was using for cover. Fillum got of a good three shots and blew the head of two beasts. Gussin was in the middle of reloading when he was pounced on.
Liam was not in a good position to move or fight, Xuri tried to pull him up but was torn of by the monsters. Craith and Tukkar set up back to back and killed the pack as they got close. From his elevated position Bolodam took aim at the handlers and wiped them out in a long blast.
Gussin pulled a concealed knife from his belt and stabbed the dog climbing on him. Liam shifted his weight under the tank and fired at the beast climbing on Xuri.
Fillum knew his squad was taking damage but if the Rumasi assaulted again now it could finish them of so he targeted what looked like an officer with his rifle and gave him a deterrent to charging in again.
Tukkar helped Xuri, a large section of his neck was torn of and he could see Xuri’s spine.
Bolodam looked to the south, where the tank had rammed the building. He took a few shots at the enemy to keep them down.
Craith pulled the dead beast of Gussin, he was covered in blood, hopefully most of it was the monsters and not his. He was panting and loaded a fresh magazine into his gun. Then he took a look at his foot, the landmine had blown of the front of the foot and the rest was a burned and sooty mess. Craith poured on anti septic and removed the remains of the boot and strapped on bandages, quick and functional. Then he moved on while Gussin watched the door.

Tukkar had applied bandages and anti septic to Xuri’s neck after stapling his wound shut.
Liam had been bitten over the head, he had teeth marks from his crown down to his jaw. Now when they where not concerned with getting shot Liam could dig his way out from under the tank. He was bruised and beaten but alive, three centimetres to the left and he would have had the tanks tracks over his face.
“Damn close call! Fillum are they still considering another attack?”
“No Craith, they seem to be bugging out. We have a clear path to our lines from the look of things”
“then lets use that opening and get back to our own lines”
Everyone nodded in approval and they started moving, Gussin needed help to move with his busted foot and everyone had a close eye on Xuri.
They entered another blown out building, from here they could see the imperial lines. Gussin got on the radio and the others covered their rear. Gussin let out a servo skull from his webbing, the arcane device looked at the lines of guardsmen and soon found what it was looking for, the radio frequency. Then the little device used its stored data to confirm the location of the squad and what guardsmen where supposed to be at this location. It took some time but they were able to establish contact with the platoon of dug in guardsmen and they could pass in safety.
As soon as they got into the designated safe zone they moved somewhat faster and without checking every hole and angle for enemy activity. They passed guardsmen that looked at them with staring eyes. The number of refugees in this sector was astounding, this city had a population of several hundred millions. Now half of them or more where dead, and the survivors holed up in a place where not a third of them could fit or live comfortably.
They moved though the city with speed and soon they got to the spaceport where they had their base in an abandoned hanger building. Cubb was guarding the northern approach with a heavy bolter and sandbag entrenchment. He was missing most of his leg and his left eye but still stayed in action.
Inside the rest of the Neophytes where working their craft, war.