As the mist swirled up from the emerald streams flowing through the ruins it parted to reveal glimpses of red armoured warriors moving through the mud and rubble.
A long range firefight was impossible, the air practically glowed with the warp energy suffused into the water, making auspexes and targeters useless.
The Thousand Sons reveled in it as they moved closer. They strode with purpose, they would sweep the Blood Angels from the ground here and search it at their leisure.
The Blood Angels were less sure of themselves and advanced slowly, uncharacteristically their assault squad remained in the rear and the advance was lead by dreadnoughts, terminators and followed up by their veteran squads.
The Terminators strode through the steam waist deep in the iridescent water, a tactical support squad marched behind them.
The power armoured marines saw the mist thicken in front of them and they felt momentarily drowsy. Several members of the squad shook their heads to rid themselves of the feeling.
Suddenly the mist parted and the support squad could see the Thousand Sons captain standing in the open, they fired just as the Terminators were emerging from the stream, their plasma rounds striking their own comrades in the back.
Then the line of red in front of them erupted in gunfire. The Terminator assault squad moving straight towards the Thousand Sons line took the brunt of the fire and members were dropping with injuries as bolter rounds struck in such volume that they were bound to find weak spots in the nigh-invulnerable armour.
On their far left ancient Randoril advanced. The Thousand Sons before him fell back drawing him on further and further. Randoril's meltagun fired at them and one of the dark red suits of armour collapsed smoke pouring out of the hole the weapon had made as the Astartes inside burned.
Bolter rounds pinged off of the dreadnought as the Thousand Sons continued to back out of its path.
Without warning the Thousand Sons sprang forward, a meltagun firing at close range but the eldritch mist obscured the war machine and the shot hissed, boiling the water behind it.
The dreadnought barreled into their ranks bringing his two power fists down and smashing two of the arcane warriors to the ground, their armour smashed around the ruined marines inside.
The squad's sergeant moved to the side, deftly avoiding the grasping weapon before bringing his own power fist to bear. He struck the dreadnought twice, his first blow denting the armoured sarcophagus, the second landing in exactly the same spot and smashing through the armour plating to pulp the crippled Blood Angel therein.
They moved towards the center of their battleline again just in time to see bolter and heavy weapons fire cut their captain down, round after round exploding against his finely crafted armour. He stood against it for longer than it seemed possible before the first piece of him was blown off, his left arm came off at the elbow.
A leg went next but two more pieces went flying in opposite directions before the body hit the marshy ground.
The Thousand Sons dreadnought advanced up the center firing as it went. The multimelta burned several of the Blood Angel veterans before a simultaneous strike was launched by the Blood Angel landspeeder and their remaining dreadnought.
The two simultaneous multi melta blasts fused the right leg of the contemptor dreadnought. The Astartes behind the dreadnought opened up with everything they had at the land speeder and the flying machine crashed into the soft ground. The Contemptor fired his multimelta at the dreadnought opposite him melting a hole dead center and the ancient Blood Angel moved no more.
Opposing Terminator squads advanced towards each other backed up by fire from space marine veterans on each side. The fire from the Thousand Sons seemed preternaturally accurate as it struck weak places in the Blood Angel armour, bringing many of the warriors down in the slime and rubble.
Three of the Terminators approaching the now immobile dreadnought suddenly cried out over the open Blood Angel vox, their screams audible over the omnipresent static, and then sank down to their knees before collapsing.
With both dreadnoughts destroyed, the Terminator squads wiped out, one veteran squad smashed, the land speeder sinking into the muck and the tactical support squad retreating the Blood Angel Warden decided to withdraw to save the lives of the men that were left.
replaces his mysteriously missing frigates.
