Phalona Station D2

 After the Ultramarines picked up some strange signals coming from a supposedly abandoned space station. They were shocked to discover another chapter of space marines on their. What were they doing ? Who are they?

We decided to fight this battle a lot more different that usual. Using Aliens boardgames  tiles for a space station we then gave the units a bit more freedom to stray from unit coherency.  Like a muppet i didn't take any photos. It was a 500pt game. Ultramamrines vs Lion Warriors

Repel Boarders

2pts - Killing a unit

3pts - killing a character

The game started with my Lion Warriors getting the first turn and just a small amount of movement. The Stern Guard stood fast to hold the main hallway of the space station as the Ultramarines approached.  Some Infernus marines were watching a second corridor. 

Chief Librarian Tigurius  lead the assault with a squad of Infernus marines with heavy intercessors and  terminators behind. 

The ensuing battle was swift and bloody. The Ultramarine Infernus marines took heavy casualties but with help from Tigurius they overcame the Stern Guard. My intercessors unleashed a hail of fire  hurting the Infernusu marines.  From a separate corridor my Judicar charged leading assault intercessors.  The Infernus marines and Chief Librarian were cut down! 

My Infernus marines flamed the approaching terminators  killing one but were soon charges and destroyed.  

Ultramarine heavy intercessors blasted my assault intercessors and then charged them. They were also destroyed thanks to the ultramarines having Lt Titus. 

I only had intercessors with my lt Titus (Lt Terion in the story sextions) left!!  They poured fore at the heavy intercessors  ut the Gravis armour shrugged off many shots.  Combat was joined and just my Lt was left standing but he eventually succumbed also.

Victory for the Ultramarines!

Phalona Reach VP total for Victory: 1000

Phalona Reach Defence Forces: 79

Ultramarines :145

Phalona Stataion D2

Bolter shells exploded off bulk heads sending shrapnel everywhere, the glow of the red emergency lighting cast ominous shadows throughout the space station. Yellow armoured corpses lay with blue armoured corpses. Flames licked the air, the smell of promethium hung heavy. A yellow power armoured figure crashed into a room dragging another figure scattering desks and data slates.  

“Emperor damn you Tolerex! Leave me to fight. “ A coarse, pained voice shouted. 

Tolerex pulled the other space marine up onto his feet. The face of Lt Terion was ashen grey. Holes rent in his armour showed the damage he had sustained. 

“No Lieutenant. You get back to the Captain and report what happened here! There is no shame we faced Lord Tigurius and terminators! We stood and fought but Captain Kyriel must know the Ultramarines are aware of our presence “

With that he shoved Lt Terion through an airlock door. 

Lt Terion fell backwards before hands grabbed him and dragged him backwards to the Thunderhawk that was waiting in a small extra hanger bay on one side of the station they had discovered . 

The airlock door closed and Terion saw Tolerex turned and away and the light flashes indicated he was making his stand there. 

The Thunderhawk blasted away from the station and quickly manoeuvred into the asteroid field to avoid detection. Lt Terion sat motionless darkness hanging heavy on his soul as the loss of his men.  

Phalona Station D2

The apothecary looked up from the yellow armoured corpse he was working on and nodded to Captain Vorenous as he strode past the captain nodded back then after a glance at the corpse he continued into the control room of the station, Titus stood at the main station, Vorenous noted the supply boxes, some full, some empty but all marked with the lion's head on black same as the symbol on the warriors in yellow. Titus turned and saluted Vorenous with fist to his heart "Sir" Vorenous nodded with a little chuckle "No need to salute me Demetrian we have been friends for 300 years" Titus lowered his fist and nodded with a small grin of his own, he gestured to the ancient control station "The Chief Librarian?" He questioned, Vorenous gave out a hearty laugh "You really need to ask? That old stick will outlive the stars" Titus let out a startled laugh. The laughter died away as they both turned there attention back to the control console, Titus spoke "You better hope his sense of humour has improved since I last saw him Lucius, these space marines we fought they were using the stations sensors to monitor the planet and our task force" Vorenous looked at the images on the screens one of which showed a Guard column camped in a valley, the image was so wide that at the far edge was the shattered ruins of the Sisters monestary at the head of the valley, another image displayed a collection of ruined Guard vehicles he recognised, a third screen displayed a silo of large missiles white vapour bled from vents in the missiles and the tanks around the room Vorenous pointed at the image of the missiles "Where is this?" Titus grinned "You'll like this Lucius....." and Titus explained

Phalona Station D2 (Abandoned)

 

Phelona High Orbit

The Thunderhawk gunship roared from the flight deck of the Strike Cruiser Sword Of Truth despite it's obvious wear it's ornate markings still showed, flowing scroll work and ornate embelishments around the armourglass viewports and weapon mounts showing more than anything that this gunship carried more than just battle brothers, as the gunship swung onto the course to it's target two more gunships formed up beside it. Within the troop compartment Sergeant Chronos ran through the briefing again on his helmet display, reading carefully trying to glean some hint as to what they might find when they land, there target was a seemingly abandoned orbital station with an attached orbital dock the facility had been dark and cold when the Resilient arrived but that changed during a recent auspex sweep, the ancient warships cogitators had detected a heat bloom within the platform indicating a shielded power source in use and so his squad had been assigned to a task force to check and clear the platform, he just hoped it was a false alarm fighting in high orbit really limited what for could be bought along, he clicked off the briefing and leaned back in his acceleration harness and waited for landing.....

Phalona Station D2 (Abandoned) 

In the dim light of the space station control room 2 space marines clad in yellow power armour stood over a bank of auspexs and cogitators. “The Phalonians are brave brother” the one said. 

“Indeed, I fear the odds are against them though Tolerex. But the human spirit knows no bounds. I think they will be either victorious or fight to the last man. “ 

Tolerex turned to face his companion. “ Do we know what the chapter master wants with this world? “ before he got a reply a new beeping sound drew their attention.

“I think they know we are here lieutenant, “ Tolerex said, watching the Auspex. The Space marine watched several blips on the screen set a course towards the abandoned space station, which they had been using as an observation post to monitor the conflict on Phalona Reach. Lt Terion sighed, 

“I was hoping for a bit more time but no one ever said the Ultramarines were sloppy. Update Captain Kyriel, I'll prepare to repel boarders or pull back whatever the captain wishes “ Tolerex nodded and started to activate the master vox system. Lt Terion strode off to gather his men. 

The cathedral of Death Battle report

The Monastery 

Canoness Angelica stood atop the battlements, the ugly gun shields hastily grafted over the crumbling ancient carvings a brutal testament to the ravages of war her gaze swept across the abandoned barricades spread across the churned over lawns and and ruined gardens dotted about in places were the unrecovered remains of fallen sisters and traitor guardsmen, her lips moved silently in a prayer to the Emperor for the souls fallen on this blighted world, just as she finished, a rising scream in the air announced the resumption of the guard bombardment, the shells landing with heavy crashes further churning the courtyard, her gaze snapped left as a shell carved through the middle of a spire, as the debris rained down to the ground the spire collapsed in a cloud of pulverised rockreate and plasteel.
               Sister Superior Khalan finished her prayers and raised the Imperial Aquila with the attached prayer scroll and affixed it to her chest plate, lifted her bolter and rose to her feet her actions copied by the squad behind her, she raised a fist over her heart and spoke "For the Emperor!" Her squad copied her action and invocation before the squad marched out to take there place on the barricades. Outside the monastery looked like a kicked anthill sisters and intitates running to and fro, servitors and tech adepts moving gear and supplies from the storehouses to the landing area, as they turned to climb the steps to the battlements a castigator main battle tank covered in oath papers and prayer scrolls fluttering in the wind moved up to block the main doors, its tracks ripping up the ancient marble of the destroyed foyer. Angelica raised her gauntleted hand and pointed, Khalan's eyes narrowed as she looked in the direction indicated, dark green and grey tanks appearing at the entrances to the passes "So they are coming again, the transport better get here soon" 

On the plains outside the monastery

"From High Command, the Ultramarines have found out about the besieged Sisters. They may send help." A Comms officer from inside the command Chimera said to Marshall Dreval. She nodded,

"It is to be expected. Such a force would be hard to hide from their prying eyes. " 

She turned to face the array of vehicles and men preparing for battle. 

"We have the area well locked down so if they come it will be by air and I think just to evacuate the sisters. That's if they want to go, they may insist of dying for their so called cause" 

Marshall Dreval turned to her body guards, grim determination was etched across their faces. 

"You have seen the truth that Supreme commander Snarpe shared. We all still love the emperor but to worship him as a god is false. He was just a man. A remarkable man, a titan of a man but just a man. I don't understand why your sisters won't see that. Are you ready to face them?"

The red armoured sisters of battle remained silent. The sister superior stepped forward,

"We wish our sisters had listened to us but they are stubborn and trapped in rhetoric. We must free them"

Hold Until Evac - 2000pts

2pts - Killing a unit

3pts - killing a character

5pts to Defender -  For every defender unit that makes it to transport

5pts to Attacker - For every defender left at the end of the game

The battle for Phalona Reach wages on. Word has got to the Ultramarines that an Adeptus Sororitas monastery was under siege. A transport was despatched to rescue what forces remained!

A 2000pt game I got to bring all my favourite things...….tanks! I had a heavy force of plenty of armour and Ogryns and Bulgryns. There was some infantry as well. All lead by Marshall Dreval (Using Inquisitor Coteaz rules) and her entourage of a squad of Adeptus Sororitas. 

The Sisters held the monastery with infantry, tanks and walkers.

The Phalonian forces await the order to charge 

The Adeptus Sororitas hold the perimeter

The battle started with the sisters infantry holding the perimeter, 2 armoured vehicles advanced containing Arco flagellant's and Sister Repentia along with Penitant engines.

On the right flank a Callidus assassin broke cover and surged forward. She was charged by Phalonian infantry

but she slaughtered them all without remorse. This left her exposed to a lot of tank guns though. The Phalonian tanks let moved forward and brought such a weight of fire down on the advancing forces. 

My Hellhound was destroyed by a Castigator but both of the Sororitas advancing tanks were destroyed, their occupants survived and pushed forward. Brutal hand to hand combat erupted on the front lines. The Bulgryns took casualties but held firm and the Ogryns charged in to clean up the fight with brutal efficiency

Under an assault of mauls and rifle buts a Sister superior falls

 The Phalonian advance was slowed by this sally from the Monastery, so the surviving sisters held firm behind the walls. One unit was getting smashed by a basilisk but they held. 

Paragon War suits came forward to engage the tanks and the holy Saint Celestine descended with a squad of Seraphim's. 

The Paragon War suits fell from the sheer weight of tank fire. Saint Celestine charged at the Phalonians and slaughtered a squad. Unfortunately this left the Saint exposed. Marshall Dreval and her squad brought down most of the Seraphim's with bolter fire.  

With a roar and a sonic boom the Ultramarine transport appeared  landing in the monastery square.

Clearly the Ultramarines did not have a Vertibird. Thank you to Dave for the proxy

The Sisters started to fall back, the Phalonians realised they had been to slow at the advance and hurried firing what they can at the retreating Adeptus Sororitas. The demolisher tank unloaded everything it had at the Living Saint and she finally succumbed crashing to the ground. 

Fire poured down on the retreating sisters but a few units made it to the transport.

A draw Guard 20 VPs to Sisters 20 VPs

Phalona Reach VP total for Victory: 1000

Phalona Reach Defence Forces: 72

Ultramarines :131

Ultramarine Transport 

Sister Superior Khalan sat on the deck of the transport her shoulders slumped, her long white hair dishevelled by the run from the monastery, her one hand still gripped her bolter in a death grip while her other hand gently stroked the hair of Canoness Angelica whose limp and bloodied body she had carried aboard the transport herself, a quiet sob came from the cluster of her sisters scattered through the hold, she looked up as Sister Berdine kneeled on the other side of the fallen form of the Canoness "Is she?" She muttered in a breathy whisper, Khalan met her gaze "She lives, her armour took most of the round" Sister Berdine looked relieved and muttered a quiet prayer of thanks to the Emperor, Khalan instinctively followed in reciting the prayer.
The intercom crackled and the deep voice of the pilot echoed around the cabin "we are approaching the Resilient, prepare for docking" When the intercom went quiet, Berdine locked eyes with Khalan again, her right hand clutched an Aquilla necklace hanging between her breasts "What became of the Saint? Did you see her escape?" The desperate hope in Berdine's eyes triggered a stab of grief in Khalan's heart "She fell" Khalan's voice was choked with unshed tears, her hand again stroked Angelica's hair, Berdine gripped her Aquilla tighter and her voice became heated "Did you actually see her die?" Khalan took a deep breath and admitted "No she was still fighting when we were falling back, but she was surrounded and heavy armoured units were closing on her"
The transport then set down on the landing deck of the Ultramarines warship with a heavy bang of metal on metal, the ramps dropped, immediately a white armoured apothecary and two medicae servitors boarded and began working on the limp form of the Canoness, Khalan and Berdine rose providing space so the medical crew could begin to work, Berdine took Khalan's arm as they walked down the ramp "She will return" when Khalan didn't reply Berdine repeated the statement more forcefully, Khalan finally replied "Yes, she will, praise the Emperor" Berdine nodded both there eyes drawn to an approaching figure in blue power armour, Khalan looked over the warrior, his confident stride, thoughtful gaze and the service studs a strange counterpoint to his lieutenant rank markings, as he reached them, he looked over at the apothecary working on the canoness then back to Khalan before he raised his fist to his chest in salute and spoke "Welcome to the Resilient, I am Lt Titus, I'm sorry we could not extract you sooner, the rebels worked hard to stop us learning of your struggle, we will provide as much aid as we can for you"
Khalan nodded "Thank you Lt, we will need a little time to recover and give thanks to the Emperor but we will be ready for action again soon"
Titus nodded and just said "Good" 

The Monastery 

Marshall Dreval watched the Space Marine transport fly high into the sky, a trail of ineffectual tracer fire chasing after it.  

She scanned the burning cathedral,  Phalonian soldiers searched through the ruins while a green Rogal Dorn slowly traversed its turret watching for any last resistance. Some sisters had gotten away but that was to be expected. The cathedral was taken now and no longer could be used to preach falsehoods. 

Tanks still burned their  ammunition cooking off making sharp cracks and pops.  She turned to her body guards 

“Where is the Saint? “

The sisters stood unmoving, the sister superior stepped forward, 

“There is no body Marshall”

Dreval was confused,  she pointed at the winged corpses and snapped,

“Did we not see the Saint crumple under fire and fall? “

“Yes Marshall, a tank round brought her down but there is no body. Maybe it was vaporised?” The sister superior said visibly annoyed that this could not be explained.  Dreval so her head “This won't be the last we see of her” 

She strode back in the direction of her transport.  As she passed a demolisher tank she snorted a laugh as she spotted a crew member painting what looked like a fairy next to their other kill markers on the turret next to the demolisher cannon. 

She rolled her eyes

“Men”

 

The Catherdral of Death

 Battle Barge Resilient 

Titus stood in the stratageum of the Resilient watching the holo image of the Phalona system projected above the table, with a quiet hum of his armours servos he reached out and entered a series of commands and the image zoomed in on the outskirts of the system, his eyes narrowed at a glowing blip beyond the outermost gas giant, his mouth tightened, the Resilient had received no astropathic communication since arriving in the system and they were not expecting reinforcements. His pondering was interrupted by the thundering of heavy footsteps approching he turned, the silver chain clinking "his blood thundered in his viens, his chest heaving the chainsword seemed to weigh nothing as he swung a heavy blow at the carnifex, the xeno's beast leaned back his sword roaring as the swing passed by withing inches of the beasts gut, the missed blow left him open and the scything claw came down piercing his chesplate and into his chest, blood coughed from his mouth as he fell as the carnifex withdrew its claw" He pushed the sudden memory back with a breath and he focused on the approching figure, the aged white haired face a vivid counterpoint to the dark green of the terminator plate the warrior was wearing, the warrior came to a halt and held out an old rugged pdf dataslate to Titus "We paid a heavy price in blood for this intel, however it confirms the romours we have heard, the Order of the Bloody Rose have not fallen to the same rot that has claimed the rest of this world, they are besiged in the order monestery in the tempest mountain range" 

Titus looked at the dataslate his eyes narrowed "No chance of an approch from the ground going to have to be an air extraction" he turned to one of the chapter serf's manning the stratageum "drop a comm's drone to the monestery lets get some intel from the ground"

Somewhere on Phalona Reach

Boots echoed along the empty corridor of the command bunker. The aide pulled his cloak around him as the draughts from the vents chilled his bones. He clutched a data slate right to his chest. He pushed hard against the gold patterned door. A wash of warm air hit him, then the sweat of too many bodies being in one place for too long. 

Xavier Snarpe turned from the planetary display. His face was lined with stress and worry. 

"Yes?" He snapped at the interruption.

The aide jumped, "Supreme commander our intelligence has found out the Ultramarines have discovered Marshall Dreval's force and his intentions." 

He bowed low and held out the data slate.

Xavier Snape took the data slate and read the contents. 

"Send Marshall Dreval an update. There is nothing more we can do. By the Emperor and his true ways, why does the Imperium not leave us alone. It is a sad day to end such a holy order but we can not let them spout their heresy to the masses now we have committed to this action." 

The aide nodded and headed back the way he came. 

Xavier Snarpe turned back to the planetary display. The forces of Phalona Reach were being hard pressed by the Ultramarines. Freedom for Phalona Reach would not be cheap and the price paid in blood. 

Painting!

 I did some painting! 

Finished uo a squad of Rebel troopers, Tauntaun riders and an AT-RT .

Really happy with these!

Recon (Phalona Reach Campaign)

Vox incoming.......Vox incoming....... origin battlebarge Resilient, Phalona system, Ultima segmentum, set recorders

He woke with a start, squinting his eyes against the bright light, the harsh medicinal smell of antiseptics clashing with the metallic tang of blood. Gently he rose from the bed the sharp stab of pain from his chest made him wince, he looked down at the ugly red scar that ran down his chest just slightly offset to the right, he pondered, was it deliberate by that sarcastic cigar chomping 

Ignoramus, his head snapped to the right at the musical voice "You have a nearly identical scar on your back" he grunted in response admiring the full red lips and shining blue eyes of the woman leaning her shapely hip on the astartes sized medicae bed next to him, he swung his legs off the bed as he sat up "He caught me by surprise, next time he won't walk away" he growled 

Vanessa uncrossed her arms withdrawing her silvered right hand from under her cloak and with a slightly saddend look on her face held a datapad out to him "Captain Vorenous led the Ultramarines 1st against a fully assembled armoured company, the report says Chaplain Andronicus struck down a special forces operative that matches the one that nearly killed you, sorry"

Carlos grabbed the pad, read the entry Vanessa had highlighted and turned and lay the datapad on the bed, his other hand traced the scar on his chest 

"There is no way he is dead"

Somewhere on Phalona Reach

The night was quiet, the only sounds were the distant thump of explosions which was the new norm on Phalona Reach and the crackling of flames from the once proud tanks of the Phalona Reach Defence force. A sharp intake of breath broke the quiet, a shadowy figure moved on the ground, a bloodied hand gripped the wire fence tight and then heaved it's body up to lean against the fence. A flame flickered like a firefly and  a cigar was lit. The figure drew a deep pained breath , a cloud of cigar smoke filled the air around the figure,

"Guess these guys are serious then"

Recon - 1000pts

2pts - Killing a unit

3pts - killing a character

3 Objectives - 5pts if an action taken, extra 5pts if that unit makes it off the board.

Last nights game was another in the Phalona Reach campaign. A smaller game 1000pts, I went full theme and brought what I thought would be a good recon force. Infantry, chimeras and sentinel's.  My opponent thought the same with transports and outriders. 

I advanced my force and got one one objective but the kasrkin could not hold on to complete their action and were killed. 

White feather the assassin and Dutch battled again, Dutch using his speed hit the sniper but didn't take him out and had to hide from the sights of the deadly assassin.

The recon forces advance towards each other

Outriders and a Razorback surged onto the one flank, while my units pushed forward. Another chimera emptied infantry out who made another attempt at capturing the centre objective.

Outriders surge forward towards the Guard lines

Eventually my chimeras were destroyed, intercessors jumped out of a razorback and secured the flank objective covered by the outriders. In the centre a squad of intercessors fell to a hail of fire. Dutch (Sly Marbo) moved in and killed a space marine Librarian

Dutch charges in with his envenomed blade

Space marine terminators teleported onto the last unsecured objective, I did not have the fire power to shift them and despite my best efforts they made it off the board. Under a weight of fire the remaining intercessors boarded a besieged (Ogryns banging on the doors!) Razorback and with the valuable intel they retreated off the board. With the Razorback retreating the Ogryns turned their anger towards the sniper White Feather. Surviving a flurry of blows the sniper wisely put some distance between him and the angry giants. The battle was done the space marine forces taking 2 objectives and the guard 1. 

Space Marine Win 28 VP to Guard 14 VP

Phalona Reach VP total for Victory: 1000

Phalona Reach Defence Forces: 52

Ultramarines :111

This is going to be a hard battle for the guard to hold onto this planet but that fits canonically. The imperium does not take kindly to planets wanting freedom.  

Armoured Clash (Phalona Reach Campaign)

 Phalona Reach's horizon was changed by war, flashes of light, plumes of smoke and explosions were a permanent fixture now. Phalona Reach defence forces and Ultramarines clashed  in  the cities and the open land. the battle for the planet had truly begun.

The second battle of my little of campaign was rolled up and it was Pitched battle 

Pitched battle

10VP for killing a character

5VP for killing a unit

No objectives just a straight fight 

This game was 2000pts, so another large battle. As it was a battle for kills I brought as much armour as i can. Infantry would grant easy kills. My opponent bought an entire terminator list! (It was a joke we had talked about in the day as he was counting the terminators he owned.) so i was glad of all the tanks.

The battle started with guard searching for targets, only 2 squads of terminators and a Land raider to be seen the Guard commanders knew there were more forces waiting to teleport in.  Bulgryns on the left flank advanced to protect the artillery. The artillery pounded targets and slowed their advance. The tanks that could poured fire into the Land Raider and destroying it. Dutch (Sly Marbo) was on the scene and shadowing a squad of terminators and a captain. His attempts to shoot the captain down failed. 

The terminators slow deliberate advance carried on. The tanks poured fired into them and some terminators fell but the ancient armour carried many space marines through shots that would have ended even marines in Primaris armour. The Guard held the line well forcing the teleporting Ultramarines to stay in front of the lines. Dutch found himself fighting a squad of terminators and was struck down by a Chaplain....Will we see Dutch again?  

The Ultramarine advance was inevitable, as soon as they closed into close combat the tanks fell one by one. Valiantly fighting but unable to give themselves enough space to bring their full force to bear.

Smoke filled the air, the crew of the Rogal Dorn Phalona's Fury loaded and fired, loaded and fired. Commander Laricon searched for new threats. the slow advance of the heavily armoured Ultramarine's was unnerving. Even when some fell the others carried on regardless. The battle had started well but the closer the Ultramarines got the more tanks were pulled apart by their ancient weapons. The company vox screeched into life,

"This is the 1st company of the Ultramarines! there is no shame in retreating to fight another day. We stood against the best and showed them what simple men can do. Commander Laricon retreat with what ever forces are left." Colonel Dubri's  voice echoed around the tank.

Laricon rubbed his cordite stained eyes and looked towards Dubri's Leman Russ tank. Terminator chain fists ripped holes into the thick armour, fire and smoke poured from the rents made. Laricon saw Dubri  leaning out of his hatch firing a bolt pistol and cursing the Ultramarines. His tank fired one last volley before succumbing to the damage caused. Commander Laricon led the small band of survivors clear of the battle field, a sombre mood hanging over the Phalona Reach defenders.

The Ultramarines took a huge win here Ultramarines 54 VP to Phalona reach guard 6VP

Phalona Reach VP total for Victory: 1000

Phalona Reach Defence Forces: 38

Ultramarines :83

From the Imperium 

Chaplain Andronicus removed his helmet and took a deep breath of the smoke filled air watching the the traitor guard tanks retreat in disarry, he remained still and silent as Captain Vorenous stepped up beside him, the crackling buzz of his power sword dying away as he thumbed the power switch 

"Well we killed Colonel Dubri instead of capturing him and Commander Laricon's armoured unit is still a going concern though it has took casualties, command should be pleased"

     The chaplain's eyes narrowed and he let out a grunt before speaking his voice low "An expensive victory many of our brothers have fallen to help return The Emperor's light to this blighted world"

The Chaplain turned, the servo's in his armour whining, his eyes seeming to bore into Vorenous soul "We must continue our service" he raised his arm pointing his Crozious in the direction of the fleeing tanks "These heretic's have dared to raise arms against the Master of Mankind, our Primarch has tasked us to bring them to heel, it is our duty and our purpose" 

Vorenous nodded in response, before turning and marching back toward his men, Chaplain Andronicus lowered the Crozious glanced once more toward the dust clouds on the horizon before replacing his helmet and marching back toward the men.......