Vasyl realised that he'd be left wide open if he didn't go full pelt. So went for it and ran forward.
Praetus moved into position, blocking the ladder. It was hard to tell if the creatures who had been setting the traps could be surprised...but watching someone run up to the ladder covered in detpacks and cord certainly seemed to startle them.
Still, not enough to stop them draw there side arms and begin firing. There laspistols didn't look any better than the guns did, but they didn't seem like they wouldn't
-
Vasyl keeps moving, narrowly avoiding the las bolt.
Keep moving forward. Start slashing straight away.
Praetus attempts to spin out of the path of the corrupt weapon.
He uses the momentum to slash "Oblivion" into the Heritic.
Seeing them heretics raise their pistols, Heironymous continues advancing onto them and returns fire.
- Miss
BS40-20=20
Aenarius, unable to reach combat, took careful aim with his laspistol. By fate or fortune, the shot landed cleanly through the combat.
Erkan's furious run evolves into a charge, with Mendanion's Confession swinging down viciously at the first traitor he reaches. "You have fallen from the path of the righteous and have been judged by the God-Emperor for your heresy, now you will be purged!"
Vasyl charges at the nearest traitor, bolo knife in a vicious sweep.
The heat from the neat miss is unlike the light cuts Auntie use to give him in training.
But that does not keep the blade from slicing deep into the Heretic's[T1] right thigh.
Lothar slows his pace and brings his sword up. Damned leg wound. He was no green recruit, you had to measure the last gap of your assault on the foe, if he charged in their recklessly he'd just leave his defenses wide open.
Seeing the charge towards the traitors, Lug rushes forward as well.
Heironymous keeps back, knowing that he would just clog up the already congested melee and keeps one eye on his auspex and another on the corridor behind them.
Knives, swords and laspistols all find there mark, wounding the traitor soldiers with minor wounds. The remnants of there flak armour offered some protection, and there unusually dense flesh helped too, mono-blades were designed to carve through the armour if not ensorceled flesh.
Still, it was clear that the traitors were not going down simply, and if the wounds pained them they gave no sign of it, nor any attempted to dodge the incoming attacks. Their own laspistols snapped out, ionizing the air with a crackle.
Now close enough, Aenarius charged in with sword in hand. He wasn’t going to risk shooting into combat again now that his comrades were all stuck in.
Moving forward adrenaline took over for the last few steps and Lothar thrust his blade into the the thigh of the traitor when he saw an opening. There'd be no escape for these traitors.
Moritat swordsmanship is constant motion, Praetus was trained to never be in the same space longer than necessary.
Hit 8 Damage -3 Armor -3 Toughness 2 Wounds
But even a Moritat is not faster than light, at least not a Moritat aspirant. The pain does not register and "Oblivion" flashes out again.
Look to your battle-gear and it will protect you We guard it with out lives Your armour is your Soul, and...
Most Volgites would at least wince at that. These are tough customers. But they still bleed.
Vasyl aims low to smash past the traitor's guard.
Heironymous closes in on the fight and maintains his vigilance.
Praetus feints a thrust hoping to get the traitor to commit, followed by a deft slash.
The heretic moves to the right as "Oblivion" turns and slashes across his chest.
Damage 9
a deft twist of the wrist turning what would have been a glancing blow into a deeper cut.
...and your souls dedication it's armour The soul of a warrior is the shield of humanity, Honour the craft of death...
Caught offguard from the close range lasblast, Erkan throws himself against the wall of the tunnel as the condensed energy singes his hair, barely missing him.
Taking a cue from the traitors themselves, Erkan switches his sword to his offhand and draws his own pistol, a heavy model based on a naval pattern, and cracks off a shot.
As he got closer to the ladder, Hierynmous' readings began to pick up the devices the traitors had put on the ladder - mostly they were simple tripwire primed explosives, but at least one infrared trip wire was present as well - a trap for those thinking to simply cut the wires on the explosives.
Between them Vasyl and Praetus managed to cut down the Traitor between them with surprisingly little blood.
With a grunt the second traitor suddenly moved towards Praetus, clearly trying to shove the Moritat into the web of explosives behind him...and kill as many of you as he could.
The other attempted to shoot Lothar.
No way am I dying to a tripwire.
Vasyl steps forward to assist Praetus.
Lothar tries to knock the barrel of the pistol away from him but is just a little too late. The lasbolt sears his flesh despite his flak armour but the Imperial Guardsman yet stands.
In retribution Lothar lines up another attack with his sword but his new injury throws him off.
Praetus avoids his instinct to let the man step past him and strike at his back, and instead attempts to bring the traitor to a halt.
His internal intonation of prayer to the God Emperor skips a beat.
The traitor's sudden movement caught even the assassin completely off guard - who could predict such a sudden, suicidal rush? Without time to block the attack Praetus was forced backwards...and suddenly found himself lfying sideways as Lug lept, using his bulk to knock him out of the way.
The Traitor looked surprised, too, but it was too late to check his movement. Both men went into the rigged ladder with a heavy clang, followed by a loud click and a sickening thud! as the demo pack went off. The charge was shaped, and the two big mens bodies absorbed the blast that went into the corridor...with obvious results.
As the blast cleared there was very little left of Lug or the Traitor, and the last one standing stared in muted surprise at where the ladder had once been.
Huh. Brave of him. I'd better finish the job.
Vasyl uses the confusion to slip up next to the last traitor, fully intent on hacking them up.
Lothar didn't have time to deal with the sight before him, he had an enemy to put down or the sacrifice would mean little. A soldier could not win a way alone but give his all seeing the borders of the Imperium ever solid and expanding.
Heironymous pushes further up, looking to deal with the remaining explosives as soon as possible before more of the meat-shields were lost.
Something in Brother Erkan's heart broke when Corporal Laetus sacrificed his life to save his comrades. He'd been a noble soldier, young and full of promise. He'd given his life in service to the Emperor. May the Golden Throne remember him always.
He turned his pistol toward the last traitor. He uttered a solemn condemnation, "You have been marked a heretic, by the wrath of the Emperor you are condemned." His index finger twitched, unleashing 3 rounds at the last of the nurgle-infested horrors.
Preatus thrusts Oblivion into the carnage that had become of the traitor.
The blade strikes true.
Damage 11
The final traitor dissolved under the weight of attacks, making a mess where he had once been.
Silence reigned, except for the low groan of settling masonry.
Of course, a new problem had arisen - the explosion had taken the ladder with it.
Vasyl turns to the others, bits of Lug and traitor alike splattered on his front. He wipes his bolo knife with a rag before chucking away the rag and stowing the blade in the folds of his rugged overalls.
"Does anyone have a grapplehook and cable? Otherwise we need to get climbing fast."
Lothar makes the sign of the Aquila for Lug's soul before he takes his backpack off and after removing a few other items produces a grapnel. "It might take us a little while for each of us to get up but the Emperor provides."
Vasyl nods slightly in approval.
"Good. First up can help pull up the others."
Praetus pulls out his own grapnel.
"We can ascend in pairs"
He checks the device and cable as if be rote, steps to look up the vertical shaft.
"It looks safe"
That guy is going to get himself killed, running into danger headlong. But I won't complain.
"Sure thing!"
Vasyl grabs onto Praetus' cable and begins to ascend.
With the grapples it took a little time, but party was able to get up to the top.
The cover, a heavy grate, allowed a limited view of the courtyard beyond without raising it. Thankfully the explosion below seems to have gone unnoticed, as the sounds of fighting continue outside. The defenders at the Cathedral seem to be mounting a stiff resitance, and most of the attention is there.
The huge dropship is about 50 meters away. Without raising the grate it's difficult to see, but it's hard to imagine the ship is unguarded.
Praetus waits for Lothar,
"Lets try and move this grate without drawing too much attention"
Maybe we can get close before the shooting starts. Maybe not. Little matter.
Vasyl stands ready to sneak out into the courtyard once Praetus and Lothar open the grate.
As the first pair begin their ascent to the top of the shaft, Erkan makes the sign of the Aquila and offers a simple prayer. "Never forget you were the wall of steel and iron, between Mankind and a thousand horrors too unspeakable to name. You were the walls holding in Hell, and your sacrifice today will lead you to the holy first light as you stand in honored judgement before the Golden Throne. May the Emperor embrace you for your sacrifice." As he finishes the prayer, Erkan notices a single, black-scorched dog tag. It was Corporal Laetus' is. He slipped it in his pocket for safe keeping.
When he finally reaches the top of the shaft, Erkan looks at Praetus and Von Bismarck. "The Emperor provides. Will no porter or dock hand, I am capable enough. Corporal Von Bismarck, you be ready with that longlas, let me try and get it started."
Heironymous puts away his Auspex and laspistol and readies is las-carbine, content to let the grunts do the heavy lifting.
He does however take some time to examine the bodies of the heretics, searching for any corrupted technology in an attempt to put any suffering machine spirits out of their misery.
Lothar gets into a good firing position with cover to protect him to watch the back of the potential assault, he silently says a prayer to the God Emperor to guide his aim. The vile defenders of this place would raise their heads soon it would be up to to smite them.
The grate slide to one side without any problems - or any further traps detonating. Perhaps they hadn't gotten around to it yet.
As the grate was raised, it became obvious that the ramp was down and, indeed, a pair of guards stood at the end. Thankfully they were looking towards the Cathedral, there eyes locked on the fight over there, otherwise you'd have been spotted instantly.
A side door, complete with ramp, is closed but seems to be unguarded. There is probably another on the opposite side.
Vasyl begins to move towards the nearest side door, as swiftly and quietly as he can.
Is that side door really unguarded? Maybe. But given the gawkers passing for guards up on the ramp, likelier than not.