Burgos hears Cerelia's warning.
"Cerelia, how are the hostiles armed?"
He then draws his sword and pistol.
"Thou shall break with a rod of iron, thou shall dash them in pieces."
The sudden words in the microbead that Havelock had put to one side at the reading table surprises him at first, until he registered exactly what is being said.
Oh dear...just as I feared...
Like a lot of people who might at first be seen as cowards, Havelock has a deep reserve of self-preservation instincts, and this combined with the combat training of the Schola means that he suddenly finds himself strangely calm.
Quickly slotting the bead in his ear, he draws the only weapon he possessed and hurries after Cerelia.
Not wanting to bunch up and give the possible hostiles a tempting target, he takes a position at the other window, hiding behind the wall, only just looking out of the window to observe.
I could take aim...but there is a small chance these are not enemies, and if they see someone aiming a weapon their way they might attack even if they are on our side.
Over the microbead, Cerelia says "Correction. Eight unknowns may not be hostile, but appear to be very professional, armed and armored."
over the microbead Sister Vesta will whisperI believe I am in close proximity to unknowns. Will attempt to order them to halt, if they engage I will return fire. Sister Vesta remains in position waiting until the unknown men come her way. When in view she will yell By the Emperor halt and declare yourself or feel the wraith of his holy fire!
I wonder...
Turning towards Cerelia, Havelock whispers in a tight voice, "Do you think it is possible they may be monitoring our frequency? It seems remarkable that an attack would come EXACTLY when we arrive.
It also seems unlikely that they are security, responding so rapidly to what we INSIDE the house only now detected."
Pausing for a moment, Havelock displays a small smile.
"Purely speculation of course, I'll follow the lead of the more experienced, so...lead away."
As you move to your positions, from the second story windows and through the windows beside the door, you can see the eight men stacking up on the door. It is at this point that those of you on the second floor notice a man in simple yet refined clothes with a rifle in hand come sprinting down the hall. Quickly taking cover behind a thick wooden post at the top of the stairs, he aims the rifle down towards the door. You very quickly realise the man is Gunther.
"It is my recommendation you ready yourselves for battle my lords, these men do not seem to have any inclination to negotiate."
Oh for a frag grenade right about now...I wish the Arbitator was up here, he looks the sort to have one.
From her vantage point a the library window, Cerelia tries to identify one of the eight men that is a leader.
She then, grasping her psy-focus, focusses her Will inward , to the connection she has with the Warp; preparing herself to unleash its power.
Invocation (Will:46)
Cerelia curses, the armed men arrived too soon for her mediation to alievate the effects of the shuttle descent.
When the door opens, Torald yelles: Freeze, Adeptus Arbites
If the attackers further move, he will fire at the first one.
Eight armed unknowns?
Hostiles. Likely killed the guard at the gate.
Julius pulls out his hunting rifle, swiftly sliding in a magazine before chambering a round. He ascends the stairs, taking cover opposite of Gunther and flicking off the safety.
"Right behind you."
Vesta's Mercs Init:
Front Mercs Init:
His attempt ends up wide however, and standing in the way of his partner, the other man is unable to shoot. They are currently 20 meters from you on open ground. They are running along a brick wall covered in windows, and the only piece of cover for them is around the corner from which they came.
Tense moments pass as the silence befalls those at the front entrance. It is shattered however, when the doors suddenly explode inward in a spray of debree and smoke.
Initiative:
Initiative
Initiative Order: Front of House
14=Torald
11=Uriel
10=Gunther
8 =Julius
8 =Havelock
7 =Burgos
6 =Mercs
5 =Cerelia
Initiative Order: Back of House
11=Shotgunner
6 =Vesta
5 =Rifleman
On her turn Sister Vesta will fire at the one holding the Shot Gun, then duck back around the corner for cover.
Agility 30; Untrained Dodge = 15
Your shot strikes true, hitting the man squarely in the left shoulder. He stumbles as he runs, a grimace twisting across his exposed face. He is still upright however, and he does not look happy.
The man running behind him stops in his tracks and raises his rifle to bare. With a long squeeze of the trigger he lays down a deadly barrage into your position.
BS 30; -20
Though not a single bullet touches you, the onslaught compels you to take cover.
Sister Vesta calls on the microbead I am pinned down in the back of the house, 2 hostiles one wounded.
Uriel will either fire at the nearest enemy with her las carbine.
To hit
Successful body shot!
Damage
Righteous fury check! . . . fail :-(
Looking out of the window, trying to keep as much of himself hidden as he can, Havelock focuses his attention at one of the mercenaries in the back, slowly he points his gun at him, taking steady aim.
Uriel's shot lands itself nicely across the shoulder of one of the men below her. He lets out a loud yelp, and is obviously fairly badly wounded, but he isn't quite down yet.
Gunther sits quietly, rifle aimed into the cloud of smoke.
Unable to see through the smoke, Julius bites down on the urge to fire randomly into the cloud and remains still.
Gazing down at the soldiers, Cerelia gathers her will and reaches "between" to her connection with the warp. Pulling its virulence to her, she "reaches" out to one of the soldiers and pours the warp energy into him.
Inflict Pain (Threshold:8)
Burgos, taking cover behind the pillar opposite of Torald, sprays a flurry of bullets into the entrance in an attempt to stall their charge.
BS=39-20
Merc Willpower: 25
Resist power Roll:
His attempt works wonderfully, as although his burst hits none of the intended targets, nearly all the mercs reel back as hot lead tears past. Two of them possess brave enough souls to wade through regardless and charge through the smoke and debree. Advancing into the room, one takes aim at Burgos while the other takes aim at Torald, both with some variant of autogun.
Gunther takes this opportunity to fire upon the men emerging from the cloud of pulverised door and explosive residue.
Gunther BS=45
DMG=
Additionally, one of the mercenaries begins screaming in agony for reasons the vast majority of you are unaware of.
Deciding that it would be prudent to act, Julius fires his rifle at the merc to his left.
Now that he sees the first mercs, Torald shots his second shell and returns behind the pillar to reload in the next round.
On her hands and knees, Uriel crawls away from the balcony to the door, hoping not to get shot. When she considers herself safe, she stands, hitches her skirts, and runs as fast as she can towards the rear of the building to support Sister Vesta.
On my way, Vesta," she calls into her microbead.
The two mercs first to enter are immediately greeted with a quick volley of gunfire. They take hits, but remain standing.
The man with the shotgun takes a step to the side and unleashes another blast.
His shot misses however, peppering the door frame about a foot from you with buckshot but doing little else.
Gunther takes aim with his rifle at the man on the left that Julius shot and fires.
BS=45+10+10
DMG=
The shot plants itself squarely in his abdomen. He still manages to stay up however, if a little worse for ware.
Sister Vesta takes a shot at the man with the shotgun as she attempts to fall back
Having aimed steadily, Havelock gently squeezes the trigger of his revolver, sending a bullet hurling towards the rearmost mercenary.
Taking his time to aim, Julius fires a shot at the merc Gunther shot.
Drawing her laspistol, Cerelia takes aim at one of the soldiers still outside. As she does so, she draws upon the Warp, it's chaotic nature tamed by her talent, her sight narrowing down upon the soldier, the clarity of his presense palpable within her mind.
Unnatural Aim (Threshold:8)
Las Pistol (BS:36+30=66)
Cerelia cursed, even with the advantage of her connection with the Warp, she was unlucky and the soldier moved at the right moment, avoiding her shot.
Burgos continues laying on the trigger, suppressing the men outside.
BS=39-20
And once again, his actions successfully pin the vast majority of men outside. One manages to slip by however, and with his own rifles lays down suppressing fire on the two snipers in the stairwell.
He hits as much as Burgos, but the effect is all the same. Meanwhile, of the two men first to enter, only one remains, the other the victim of concentrated fire and now little more than a corpse in a pool of blood. The other remains alive and very much a threat however, and autogun in hand he opens fire at point blank range on Burgos.
The Emperor's light shines well on the cleric however, as pulling the trigger only results in the dull click of firing pin striking faulty ammunition.
After Sister Vesta falls back she will seek some furniture or pillar in the hall to provide some level of cover and assume an overwatch position, ready to fire on anyone that follows.
I need to aim better...
Realizing that they need to try and down some of the men before they enter the house, Havelock takes steady aim once more.
Uriel bustles her way through the corridors of the building as quickly as she can, one hand on the grip of her las carbine as the other holds up the hem of her gown.
Torald ducks behind his pillar and begins to reload his shotgun.