Conquest of Gog

[Catachan Colonel]

Conquest of Gog

(League Group Fiction)
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Gog was a semi industrialized world out near the eastern fringe that fell from Imperial to Ork dominance in the 35th millennium. The orks there renamed the world Gog from its imperial designation. The remains of the original Space hulk which brought the orks to Gog still orbits the planet as a second moon having been abandoned by the orks.

There were areas still were inhabited by various chaos worshiping cults who were being rooted out of the area when the orks came. For the most part the orks have finished off the remaining cultists over the following millennia and have taken residence around their crumbling buildings and blasphemous icons. Daemon spawned powers still find it easy to manifest in these areas.

There are three major ork civilizations/warbands on Gog. They have continued to war against each other as well as repel various imperial attempts to retake the planet.

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The Essex 5th Company had been deployed to the Ork world Gog when a combined force of six space marine chapters launched a combined attack on that world. The Essex 5th Company had been deployed to man supply lines and do initial preparation work for the eventual arrival of further imperial forces. The large force of imperial guard truggingly went to their duty building roads, air strips, solar power stations and all the other back bones to a proper landing of the Imperial Guard companies that would hold Gog once the space marines had removed the orks.

The Essex 5th Company was commanded by a Lieutenant Greyburn. Once the lord general of the planet Nissin 3 he had suffered demotion and humiliating assignments since taking the blame for the fall of that world to traitor marines. Although he nominally still commanded a large force of imperial guard. He was watched by a deployment of Adepta Sororitas. He was far from his glory days commanding Nissin 3’s air calvary. Here he was low commander on the food chain and had more than once been reminded that he was only serving until a replacement could be found.

That was his status a month ago. Now things were very bad. The orks of Gog had been a much larger threat than had been initially planned for. Worse the orks had been in the middle of vicious fighting with forces from renegade traitor marines and their warp manifested allies. Neither ork Imperial or chaos marines had been able to create lasting defensive positions. Supply routes were almost impossible to hold and fighting was deadly every day. Lieutenant Greyburn as well as the space marine commanders had been forced to split their commands into multiple small forces.

Lieutenant Greyburn scanned the tree line from the top hatch of his chimera transport. His force was to take a missile command station hidden in a tall cliff face not far from his position. He was in a heavily wooded area and traveling along a shallow river. The water couldn’t be more than a few feet deep. His Chimera was fully amphibian so he didn’t worry about his journey. The river was a guide to the missile command station because it flowed as a waterfall over top of the hidden entrance. He could see the looming cliffs far ahead but not in enough detail to see the waterfall yet.

“See anything out there yet?” asked Commissar Zielinski from the chimeras transport seats.

“Just the trees and the god awful squawking of some sort of loud birds,” Lieutenant Greyburn replied.

“Good, hopefully we wont see ork or traitor on our trip.” The commissar said with a doubting voice.

Lieutenant Greyburn looked back on his troops coming up in a column behind him He had a full platoon of men as well as a Chimera APC full of Highly trained Grenadiers. Best yet he had two Leman Russ battle tanks. He looked from one to the next as they slowly clanked away at the side of the river. Lieutenant Greyburn squinted at the second Russ. There was something odd on its side armor. Perhaps a trick of the Gog’s sun but he could swear there was a bright red bug or something crawling along the side.

Greyburn barely had time to react as he realized what that the red spot was no bug. He dove into his chimera APC slamming the door shut behind him. For only seconds the exhaust of a rocket motor could be heard before the sound of the Leman Russ exploding. Hot metal fragments hit infantry marching beside the tank and bounced off the armored side of Greyburn’s Chimera APC.

Lieutenant Greyburn quickly jumped up and raced for the tanks periscope. Spinning it side to side he could see his men diving for cover outside. Charged rounds from distant xenos weaponry killed scattered men across various squads causing a short panic before their sergeants could restore order. Sergeant Ford ordered his men across the river just before he was hit by a projectile moving many times the speed of sound. The spray of Sergeant Fords brain matter across the chimera’s periscope obstructed Greyburn’s view of the fiery trails of the rail rifle rounds.

Screams outside yelling “Get Out!” alerted Lieutenant Greyburn just in time to punch the rear door button. He and his command team raced out the access ramp diving for cover as the Chimera exploded. It was a casualty of another of those deadly tau missiles. Lieutenant Greyburn grabbed his las pistol and raced for the nearby trees. Any cover was good cover from the Tau snipers where ever they were. In the trees with those stupid still noisy birds he could stop to call reinforcements. Ahead he could see what was left of sergeant Fords squad racing for the same trees.

The Grenadier’s Chimera APC raced down the river past the burning hulks of the two tanks. Hopefully they had found the snipers position. The Grenadiers were his best men better equipped and armored than a regular infantry. He could see pulse rounds bouncing harmlessly off the front armor of their tank as the Grenadier’s Chimera kept its strongest armor forward.
Lieutenant Greyburn smiled as the chimera raced by, it provided cover for his command team as they crossed the shallow river.

The Command squad climbed up the far bank and ran after sergeant Fords squad toward the these and sounds of the squawking birds. Lieutenant Greyburn’s standard bearer stumbled as he climbed up from the river forcing the command team to stop and help. Getting the man to his feet they prepared to race for the trees again when the woods ahead were filled with the death cries of his men.

The sounds of the birds squawking ahead was replaced with a wet crunching sound that Greyburn had only heard from the large predator chewing meat. Commissar Zielinski forcibly stopped Greyburn from taking a single step more toward the trees. “STOP! Those are no birds!”

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To Be Continued

[Lord Dacius]

You always make my army seem more badass then it is! I like it but there is one thing that needs changing, Greyburn carries a Plasma pistol, unless he is going to earn that back??

[Catachan Colonel]

Shas’el Leahcar was more commonly know as commander Shas’el Brightfire. She wore a XV8bbc Crisis suit painted in the colors of her sept. She stood surrounded by a Fire warrior unit advancing on the Gue’la positions. Her forces had already destroyed one of their lumbering yet powerful battle tanks. Enhanced sensory devices in her suit could detect the Gue’la as his fellow officers stopped him from rushing headlong into the Kroot auxiliary forces.

The scouting Tau forces had located the missile command station near here and has addressed it strategically defensible. It had been the the command and control post of the tau scouts while they assessed the forces of orks, Gue’la, and their corrupted Gue’la counterparts. Tau artificial intelligence had already subverted the Gue’la computers and begun to reprogram the missile complex’s payloads.

Shas’el Brightfire ahd already had to clear out the local Goff clan orks from the area twice. Each time with only minor casualties compared to overwhelming ork losses. These Gue’la were the first to come to the tau’s command center in an effort to reclaim it.

Shas’el Brightfire communication system received a distress tone designated from the scouting force’s sniper team. A Gue’la force had advanced on them past tolerable ranges. The sniper team’s weaponry had proven ineffective on the forward armor of the Gue’la transport tank. Efforts to call down seeker missile assistance had been unanswered. Most likely the seeker missiles available had been used to dispatch the Gue’la’s main battle tanks. Shas’el Brightfire signaled the fire warriors around here that they would need to redeploy to reinforce the sniper team.

Shas’el Brightfire engaged the jet thrusters on her crisis suit speeding her way back toward the sniper team. The fire warriors that had been guarding her made the best speed they could through the dense terrain. Shas’el Brightfire landed at the sniper team’s location to see three drones hovering inertly while the team’s spotter lay dead. She spun around to face the rear of the Gue’la transport tank. Its rear door exit still laying open on the ground awaiting reentry from its strike force.

Shas’el Brightfire activated the firing mechanism of the twin mounted burst cannons that were mounted on each of her crisis suit’s shoulders. The eight barrels began rotating at high speeds while hundreds of rounds of charged particles fired off into the interior of the Gue’la vehicle. Within moments there was nothing more than a smoking wreck left behind.

The tau commander checked her sensor display taking inventory of her weapons ammunition reserves and jet fuel. All ere still in sufficient quantities for further service. Ther Sensors picked up no trace of the Gue’la who had taken out the tau sniper team. That left only one possible location. They had broken into the tau’s command center. Shas’el Brightfire scanned the rest of the battlefield. The Gue’la commander had ordered a retreat of his remaining men. They were covered by still one of the heavy tanks.

There was more to worry about from sabotage inside the control center than from the retreating Gue’la. Shas’el Brightfire ordered her fire warriors to not follow the retreating Gue’la. She then ordered all available fire warriors to assist in a cleans of the command center while the Kroot auxilleries covered their location outside. She was sure that the Gue’la commander would be back but this time she had to let him go.