Tuesday 21 February 2012

War of Fire and Blood (412.M36)

A good example of small scale Red Talons warring tactics was War of Red Fire during 412.M36 on Lethe. The former Flame Falcons had their last stand on Lethe in their capital Purios. The Grey Knight (at least it was assumed it was them) scourged the planet surface of any living soul. During that time it was thought that the whole chapter was cleansed.

The Inquisitor Lafme d’Shon ordered a strike on the planet since a strike cruiser had been spotted in vicinity of Lethe bearing Flame Falcon insignia. It was said that Third Company (and possibly portions of 7th company) was had been stranded in the Warp and it couldn’t join the defenses. Later investigation show that Imperial Navigators were butchered, and it was mere luck that the ship managed to break out of the Warp.

The Strike Force “Red Sky” was ordered to support a Lamenter war host in their mission to extinguish the remains of Flame Falcons. The Lamenters took the lead in boarding action and the 1st company of Red Talons led the strike into ground bases. It is known that the boarding action was huge success with no casualties to Lamenters. The strike cruiser was exploded in the atmosphere of Lethe and was allowed to crash into polar area away from the capital. Red Talons made a single swift assault containing 2 Tactical Dreadnought squads delivered to the city via Thunderhawks and 3 Veteran Squads with 3 Dreadnoughts via Stormravens. The attack was lead by Executioner Valdis accompanied by High-Judge Remorios the Blind. The attack was joined by four Lamenters squadrons including jump-pack-equipped squadron, a small Death Company detachment and a Death Company Dreadnought.

The Tactical Dreadnoughts attacked the defenses under support of Thunderhawks fire. The enemy in the outer reaches was few but well fortified. The Thunderhawk earned its name “Fiery Death” when it burst an entire detachment of Devastor marines into flames with its Flamestorm Cannons. The Terminators effectively destroyed the initial defense line and enabled the Stormraven ships to deliver death into the enemy. The Lamenters used their jump-packs to assault the city power station. After a bloody battle only two of the 12 assault marines remained and over 80 Flame Falcons lay dead. The Death Company was left a bloody trail as they went into the inner region of the city resulting in close to two hundred kills. They were however stranded and killed to a man including their Dreadnought support.

The Red Talon forces advanced block after block until they reached Administorum and Reclusiarch. The central square was covered with Lamenter corpses but Red Talons faced only minor resistance from the buildings. The city was cleansed within a day and all Flame Flame Falcons were finally executed. It is said that the last Flame Falcon was their third company captain Persival who organized the resistance. He swore in the name of Emperor’s Grace until the last minutes. He was executed by Judge Techus and after which the captain burst into flames and Flame Falcons were no more.

It is disputed however that one Strike Ship never arrived from the Warp and speculated that some Flame Falcons still exist.

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