Battle of Parramas III

Overview
The Battle of Parramas III was a short bloody conflict in the history of both the 1st Company of the Iron Fangs Space Marine Chapter and the Vostroyan Firstborn CXVII Regiment known as the Scarlet Wolves, in 996.M41. The unknown Hive Fleet known as 'Manticore' had been moving into the Imperium under the cover of Hive Fleet Kraken. Following the subsequent destruction and splintering of the Kraken Fleet, a smaller Hive Fleet followed while being fairly covered by the Larger Fleet.



The Discovery
In pursuit of the Kraken Splinter Fleets, the Iron Fang Space Marines happened across a distress call from a system close to the route they were taking. In answer to the distress call an advance party was dispatched to check on the threat. It may have been a part of the Splinter Fleet that had missed their notice, and if so it needed to be exterminated. It would be a matter of days for the party to to reach their objective and return and so the remainder of the Company continued on their hunt for the Splinter Fleets. As they went a different scene of carnage emerged. There was wreckage of Tyranid Hiveships and Hive cruisers mixed amongst Cruisers and Battleships of Imperial Navy class. There was a distinction between the colour and design of these Tyranid craft, they had a more metallic quality to them, but in the words of Captain Adarus Fel,

"It does not matter whether the 'nids are green or red, as small as a child or as tall as a Titan, all will meet their end in the Fangs of Iron."

And so the company continued on their path towards what they hoped was another Kraken Splinter Fleet. When the advance party returned they bore news of a Tyranid infestation. it didnt appear to be that of Kraken, nevertheless Captain Adarus ordered his Battle barge to change course towards the system designated Parramas.

Parramas System
Upon enetering the system, the Battle Barge 'Fist of Hellfire' and supporting cruiser 'Vanguard Fang' were immediately engaged by a variety of Tyranid Hiveships of the same colour and design as the Company previously encountered amidst the wreckage. Like the Astartes war vessels they were, the Iron Fang warships carved a path through the Hive Fleet towards the third planet in the system, as that was where the distress call was coming from. Off to the Starboard side of the Iron Fangs, a group of battered Imperial Ships charged to join. As a single unit the Warships charged towards the planet and set up a defensive perimeter in orbit. Immediately the Astartes loaded into their drop pods and launched into the atmosphere, directly towards the distress beacon.

On landing and exiting from their pods, Captain Adarus Fel formed up at the head of his forces and from there witnessed an unbelievable sight. A force of no more than eight or nine hundred Vostroyan Firstborn Guardsmen were holding back a tide of hundreds of thousands of Tyranids that were assailing the last city and Starport on the planet not overrun by the infestation. These Tyranids looked different to many others, and judging from the difficulty the Guards were having bringing them down, seemed to have some sort of metallic alloy in their genetic structure. Without hesitation, the company of one hundred Space Marines charged into the mass of claws and talons, cutting down anything that got in their way as they headed towards the defending Imperial Forces. On reaching the Battlements, the Vostroyan regiment greeted the Astartes with grim looks but a look of hope that they might succeed in saving the populace.



The Battlements
The leader of the defensive effort was a man with an obvious air of leadership by the name of Colonel Kurkis Grasilav and was leader of the Vostroyan Firstborn CXVII known also as the Scarlet Wolves. The Colonel was found not in the command tents as many Imperial Guard leaders may have been but at a breach in the Battlements, single-handedly holding the Vostroyan defense together as he rallied his forces time and again to push back the waves of monsters, preferring to leave the evacuation to his aides. Adarus Fel himself stepped to the fore and slew dozens of Tyranids to give the Vostroyans a breif respite, before his personal Honour Guard stepped in to hold the gap.

As the Astartes took up positions around the Battlements, more Vostroyans were spared to assist in the evacuation and in a matter of hours all civilians were airlifted to the Imperial Battleships and Cruisers in orbit. Finally it was time for the Defending forces to fall back themselves, side by side Vostroyan and Iron Fang fought a tactical retreat in an organised fashion till the only area of the city not overrun was the Starport itself. The Captain and the Colonel clasped arms in a show of respect to each other before entering seperate craft and ascending to their ships in orbit. With the sternguard being the last of the Iron Fangs on the planet, reaching the Battle Barge, the Astartes launched their payload of Cyclonic Torpedoes towards Parramas III and wiping all life from the planet, as they deemed the planet lost to Tyranid Infestation.

Reinforcements
It wasnt long after this task was performed that a full armada of Imperial Class ships dropped out of the Warp to deal with the messy clean up work. The distress call had evidently reached forces other than the Iron Fang First Company and they had answered in time. It was a matter of months later before that arm of Hive Fleet Manticore, as it had been designated by Terra, was eradicated from the system. Another arm of that same Hive Fleet was spotted several systems away, the Vostroyan Firstborn CXVII who had been reinforced by the Vostroyan Firstborn CXXV regiment, set off to deal with the threat, as they had already proved themselves. The Iron Fang First Company set off on their original route, once again in pursuit of the Kraken Splinter Fleet.