Bayonet-charging up the fortress,
Hjallaheim, Helgard
Redemption. I held the banner myself; a deadly polearm in the right hands. Redemption. For I had lost it at the gates of Fortress Carnifex during the reclamation of Bastion. Redemption. For all the brothers and sisters who fell following the banner to impending doom into the heart of darkness. Redemption. For those not among us - Belisarius, Agrippa, Krayt, Bingo, Hooks, Hawkeye, Faceless. Redemption. For those among us - Espada, Rebel, Bigfoot, Dumdum, Widow; who soon would not be as we charged at the Sith's executioner sword upon this deathly slope.
Spattered with blood, the Company stabbed and skewered onward. No orders, no formation, each trooper strove to be ahead of the rest; chests exposed defiantly at Death. A tempest swept up the slope; unrelenting, unforgiving. No Helgardi, No Sith was spared. All came under the blade.
Company troopers fell around me, one by one - Imperial sons and daughters mowed by the repulsive fire of a repeating blaster in a foxhole. I refused to close my eyes at the inevitable end of the road for me and if Fortuna, herself, graced me for my boldness with the appearance of the black-and-red Demons forming an escort around me. Tulan Kor's machine gun shattering the foxhole bringing it down on the Sith. Yet, where one fox hole collapsed, another three propped up out of nowhere. Death's cackled in the horizon.
A thunderous blitz cracked Her face to pieces. A hail of shells pierced the sky silencing Sith minds and hearts.
The Galidraanis had arrived.
"URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
The Company roared to life as the Galidraani armor brigade rolled through our executioners-to-be. Our tattered banner waved in the air with replenished vigor and lion hearts flocked forward to the fortress.
<"The Imperator's flag - look!"> Dumdum called through the comms.
<"ONWARD!">
We crashed into the opening provided by Doom Division and the Thyrsians, what resistance we faced we sent to the Gods. Our reunion with our brothers-in-arms of the rest of the 501st was met with a roar of jubilation and bayonets into Sith skulls. As the Galidranis locked out and secured the deathly slope we all prayed to forever forget, we quickly set to forming defensive positions within the fortress overlooking the bulk of the city nestled between peaks below; as fast as possible, while our adrenaline still surged coursed strongly through our veins.
As the Imperator's own unit mopped up the rest of the fortress, I found myself staring through binoculars down at the city from our vantage point on the eastern side of the fortress - the same side through which he had stormed through. Our previous location down the slope was cleared of resistance by the ruthless Galidraanis, while those who were able to retreat had hurried down back in the midst of the city below. Casualty reports rolled through my HUD providing me with a grim outlook of the situation.
We were less than half the strength with which we had arrived.
"...that's carnage." Bigfoot pointed out, shaking his head. He'd lost the most, Rebel had lost the least.
"Well, what else you've got in mind, huh?!" Espada grumbled.
All my sergeants looked battered, even if they still showed unending strength to shout each other to death.
"Bigfoot's right, Espada." Rebel agreed solemnly. "This slope is barely anything compared to the descent into the capital city." he gestured at the sprawling mixture of defensive emplacements leading down into the capital city.
" 'ave the Galidraanis barrage 'em all day, all night?" Dumdum suggested.
Widow shook her head curtly, "That'd take weeks for a city that size. The Imperator wants Helgard on a plate
now. Timing is paramount if we are to launch a siege on Kaas from here."
"Well, the Imperator can suc-" Rebel began but his voice disappeared as the Imperator himself passed by, going further into the fortress with a polearm in hand.
"Yeah, I thought so, too, Rebel." Espada snickered mocking her comrade.
A private interrupted us, an exchange of salutes, then, "Captain, Brigadier General Tal of the Galidraani Armor Brigade is looking for you."
"Yeah? Get 'im over."
The private nodded and hurried away. In his stead, the tall man with a fancy mustache and a fancier military outfit arrived. While the Company's sergeants were slow to salute, something they actually often forgot due to most's mercenary backgrounds, I went for a forearm handshake.
"Appreciate the blitz. We would've been strewn all across the slope now, otherwise."
Rebel grumbled something about timely arrival but Espada shoved him hard in the ribs and all of my sergeants drifted away from the two of us.
Except Tulan Kor who remained in our presence.
"Take a look for yourself, General." I gave him the macro binoculars to see the predicament in which found ourself in. An unconquerable capital city surrounded by more defensive emplacements that I had ever seen before. "The Imperator wants this
now. Hate to admit it but it's damn impossible.
"