Operation Thunderhead

+++ Sigma 13, repeat, sigma one-three requesting immediate su---- +++
Three seconds of silence follow.
+++ Send blood. +++ Vox signal ends.

Imperial flyby captures a pict. Sigma 13 is entrenched, located at the river's bend, and swarming with chaos marines. No sign of the PDF remain, save bodies further downriver.

Squad Alfa hits the raptor squad before they can become a problem. Deep in hostile territory, they don't last long.

Squad Beta drops on the bunker, targeting the havocs in order to shut down heavy fire. Casualties begin to trickle in.

Mr. Huggy repels the Imperials with his fist. The stormtroopers are scattered.

The surviving havoc fires at the retreating sergeant. The first Imperial assault does nothing more than make some room in the chaos line.

Imperial reserves roll on seeking targets with long-range weaponry. The berserkers' rhino is destroyed, while nearby, a valkyrie immobilizes itself in some trees. The Wolf Pack prepare for the inevitable assault.

The other aircraft fares better, flying in low and firing missiles on the final approach.

The chaos marines summon their daemonic allies to fill the spaces made by the stormtroopers earlier.

Having dealt with the Wolf Pack, the berserkers are rewarded by Imperial guns. The leman russes move in to secure the bridge as the sentinels sweep and clear.

The airborne disembark to find the remains of the third stormtrooper squad outside the bunker. Meltas and a demo-charge blow the bunker, engulfing the marines inside.

Once taken, the bunker's ruin becomes the attention of a large portion of the chaos force. The valkyrie flies over to the second objective.

Daemonic forces overrun the airborne squad, the bunker is in chaos control.

The daemon prince reaches the bridge wounded and enraged. He tears apart one battle tank and rips the weapons off the other. With only a stormbolter (and backed up by a trio of sentinels,) the bridge is disputed.

It was an Imperial victory of the narrowest margins...