A brother lost, a brother found

Mission: Retrieval

Forces: 50PL Swords of Dawn vs Night Lords 

Mission Parameters: 4 objectives within the Night Lords deployment zone, 1 of which is the missing Chief Librarian. Searching an objective is an action that takes all your turn. On a roll of 6+ the search is successful. Add 1 to the roll for each previous unsuccessful search.

Victory Conditions: Victory points. 10 points are awarded for each search performed, and another 10 for successfully finding the Librarian. 20 points are awarded for controlling the Librarian at the start of each players Command Phase.

The Swords of Dawn made planetfall in search of Garrandol Pallas, their missing Chief Librarian who had disappeared during the initial clashes between the Night Lords and the Swords of Dawn on Khymara. Squad Medusa had been one of the Intercessors Squads assigned to search this region and they had recorded positive returns on their auspex scanners indicating that a lone figure was in the vicinity, though the signal was sporadic, as if it were being interfered with. Soon, it became clear why that was the case, as a much larger return set off the detectors, the internal cogitators of the device reading the force as showing Astartes elements, Night Lords Astartes. 

Sergeant Verano wasted no time in reporting back the readings to his Captain at the landing site, and received order to hold their position until a retrieval force could reach them.

Medusa Squad did not have long to wait, though any retrieval was going to be tight as the Night Lords forces closed in, a vanguard rabble of chaos worshiping cultists driven before them combing the ruined buildings, whilst the Night Lords themselves showed how capable they were at stealth operations as Verano was unable to fully estimate their numbers or position, the Auspex now virtually useless as the heretics scramblers came ever closer. 

With a throaty roar of revving engines, Squad Cyclops burst past Medusa's position, twin bolt rifles mounted on their outrider bikes blazing away at the cultists infesting the streets and cutting down the pathetic whelps in short order. Verano could hear a second squad of outriders further to the east, the distinctive crack of bolt rounds echoing through the streets. Below him, part of the ruined building in which his squad were taking shelter suddenly blew out, as the distinctive shape of an Impulsor grav tank crashed into the street. The vox was alive with chatter now, the outriders of Squad Cyclops requesting assistance as they were ambushed by the leader of the enemy warband. Verano grinned a wry smile, Amos Karsten was a capable warrior and a good friend, but he had always been a hothead and was always the first into any trouble. He had no doubt his fellow sergeant would find a way out in one piece however, he always did.

Verano saw movement in the corner of his eye, away in the distance on top of a ruined building. 

"Squad Medusa, covering fire" he calmly purred into the vox link in his helmet as he brought his own bolt rifle to bear on a target. "North West quadrant, roof top level."

Squeezing the trigger, he sent several bolt rounds across the battlefield, cracking into the armour of his target, a brutish looking warrior in midnight blue armour and hefting an ancient, baroque looking autocannon onto his shoulder. The shots didn't penetrate, but sent the autocannon rounds wide, crashing into the ferrocrete roadway.

Several figures vaulted from the rear of the Impulsor as it advanced up the street, one breaking off into the building where Squad Cyclops had disappeared while the rest made for the building where Verano's target had been. Verano recognised the lone figure instantly, the blood-ruby red sword in his hand. Captain Janus Darke. Tucking his signature Relic Shield tight against his left side, Darke entered the building. Mere seconds later, Verano watched on as five heretic Astartes burst from the ground floor heading away from the building, and making for their Rhino transport that was located a little way to the north east. Verano smiled again, as they would find little respite there, from his vantage point he could see the tell-tale blue glow of plasma weaponry discharging and knew that Squad Jackal were holding down that sector of the battle-grid. Another volley of fire from his squad saw the Astartes giving covering fire from the building to the north cut down, the chattering guns of the Impulsor, Scirocco also joining the fight and cutting down the last man. Turning his attention back to the main fight, he could see Captain Darke had exited the ruined building in pursuit of the smaller squad and was busy cutting them down as they fled the field. In the street in front of him, he could see the ominous black helmets of the Obsidian Sentinels, flanking the Chaplain, Xander Grell as he bellowed a challenge to a figure not yet visible to Verano. The Sentinels were going about their work with grim efficiency, hacking into a squad of heretic Astartes when a flash of purple lightning struck the building. Grell was thrown back and Verano could hear his howl of rage as his quarry escaped the battlefield through some kind of foul warp magicks.

Then the vox link crackled in his helm.

"This is Sergeant Rodius of Jackal Squad. We have secured the Chief Librarian, let's get him out of here."