With back against bulkhead wall, attempt to clear weapon jam.
.
Aetheros quickly begins seeing to the wounded brothers in his squad.
Thank you brother apothecary. "Shall we make the Tau pay for their sins"
"Thank you brother. How is everyone else?"
"Yes, but we need to tread cautiously to avoid further ambushes."
Seeing the alien flee Elyas prepares himself for a chase. As the apothecary begins his duties doubt creeps into his determined mind. "Brother Magnus, do you want me to pursue?" As a reflex he fires the chambered round at the fleeing enemy, missing them by a large margin hitting the spacecraft instead.
"Give chase, the wounded will hold back until tended to. But do not advance too far and with caution, it may be another ambush."
"I recommend our first response to any future ambush be a grenade or 3."
Next turn, reload bolter pistol.
If there no further excitement, the following round I sheath my chain-sword and again pull out the auspex-scanner.
Following Magnus' instructions, Nikeides walks cautiously to the doorway, listening to the sound of gunfire, trying to understand what is happening.
Adalricus also approaches the door, listening intently with bolter at the ready.
awareness
Attempting a scan using the auspex scanner.
The Kill-Team split up with the wounded, and their apothecary giving chase to the Fire Caste survivors, while the wounded remained close to the door they had just conquered.
The Fire-Warriors were swift in their relatively light armor, and had made good on their escape plan. The skan of Brother Vrusk could only just make them out - they were moving at full speed, and scattering.
Inside the room, something strange was happening - Nikeidas could make out the characteristic high-pitched whines of pulse weapon discharges - but that was not the only sound. There was the characteristic low grumble of a solid projectile weapon - a heavy thud punctuating each discharge. Whoever the lone shooter was, it was unlikely to be a Tau weapon being discharged
"Non-Tau engaging multiple pulse-weapon wielders. We should recon at the least."
Adalricus takes up his rear-guard spot, bolter at the ready and awaits further orders.
.
Camael stacks up beside the door with his bolter out.
"I can think of only 2 kind of people who would use a solid projectile weapon : Imperium or Renegade. Traitors are unlikely that doesn't sound like a bolt weapon. We go there, kill the Xenos and see what is the other ?"
"Agreed, Brother Nikeides. I stand ready. "
The gunfire behind the door turned more one-sided, with only the occasional heavy thud breaking the barrage of pulse-fire.
With their leader in pursuit of the Tau survivors, the five marines left opened the door to quickly discern the tactical situation. It turned out to be complicated. They saw some kind of engineering center before themselves, cogitation engines with complicated, indecipherable displays and purposes beyond comprehension. A small band of Tau civilians had begun to circle a particular waist-high console, keeping a single human woman suppressed with pulse-pistol fire. Four more air-caste lay hunched over consoles or slayed on the floor.
The surviving Tau did not adequately defend against attackers from the sole door to their room, fully focused on that single target.
The woman wore a grey uniform, much like the uniform on the three auxiliaries the marines ahd encountered just after the breach. She had short, cropped hair and wielded a pistol of sleek, fragile design. Its seemingly makeshift nature suggested the weapon could be folded together and disguised as some ornament or article of clothing.
Three other humans, dressed much like the gun-wielder huddled in a corner.
"Drop your weapons and identify yours elves. Failure to comply will result in your deaths. This is your only warning"
Adalricus levels his bolter at the grey uniformed woman, clicking the fire selector back to standard rounds and semi-auto fire.
"Would that I could, Mylords" the woman replied, still not poking a head out of cover. "These pulse pistols are... annoying. If you would...?"
The fire of the air caste was ebbing away as they gradually became aware of the Space Marine presence.
Camael moves forward and reaches out with the power of his mind unleashing the avenging spirits of his chapter at the tau. Unfettered power level to manifest Avenger, WP test .
Camaels power swept away the Tau crewmen like a tidal wave washes over a sandcastle. They did not stand a ghost of a chance.
The woman placed her gun on the floor, slowly and carefully, and stood with her hands raised to be easily visible. "My name is Anatasha Valkry Josmakon, Acolyte to Inquisitor Helzkann." She kicked the gun away from herself, letting the contraption clatter along the floor. Upon closer examination, the weapon turned out to be a folding construction, very fragile but almost impossible to detect.
"May i infer by your presence that you have come to put a stop to this insanity?" She asked, her high gothic rolling of her tongue better with every passing word, as if she had to get back to the language with some effort.
I take it that you have spent some time secreted within the Gue'vesa ranks?
"Five full years, Mylord." The acolyte replied, while already looking over the console she had recently taken cover behind. "I infiltrated Kal'shorna'pai, or more properly Vardina III, with the express purpose on gathering information about the "Diplomacy" going on here. You are my first imperial contact since landfall."
Having missed the brief exchange with the tau while being healed, Magnus moves into the room behind Camael and addressing the acolyte, "What can you tell us of this ship and the situation on planet?"
What are the other points of egress/entrance into this chamber?
Elyas had almost given the command for his mighty armour to carry him forward as the last word of their squad leader stopped him. He bowed his head slightly recognizing the authority, while every fiber in his body screamed for him to pursue. Being the last tended by the apothecary he kept watch over the other wounded, bolt pistol drawn ready for action. Once Brother Aetheros was finished with administrating the rites of healing, he said: "Thank you brother." Looking at the remaining squad members he asked over the radio: "Ready to proceed?"
The room, stuffed with exotic technical equipment as it was, did not have much to hide in the way of secrets. It was a simple hollow, again without decorations. The only visible point of entry was the door the kill-team had entered through.
Anatasha replied to Magnus' question without obvious fear, but displaying proper respect for the emperors chosen. "The situation is bad. This ship has just short of 3 thousand Tau aboard, with just above five hundred belonging to the Fire Caste. Their stasis-cycles ending only now. We have been in the system for three weeks, which means the thawing cycle is just reaching its maximum rate. Planetside, from what I could gather we are looking at a classic stalmate. The rebels have the majority of the populace behind them, as well at least two cadres of fallen arbites. The PDF is split right down the middle. The governor has an edge in his personal guard, though. They are ruthless, and their notoriously unrelenting approach is enough to cause the rebels to plan around them."
She pushed some highlighted areas on her panel, and added "This ship needs to be removed from the board. My master's orders were originally ... different, but given the circumstances, I will aid you as best I can." With a dry smile, she added. "Reserving an escape pod for me would be appreciated, my Lords."
"Can you guide us to the central reactor, acolyte?"
Deciding that the three wounded marines and the apothecary is done, Elyas hails his squad leader. "Brother Magnus, this is brother Elyas. The apothecary has done his duty and we are ready for your orders."
"Understood acolyte. I stand ready to proceed, Brothers."
"Agreed, we must make all haste to the reactor or whatever these xenos use to power their systems and destroy this ship. If you know the way guide us but stay back. Brother Vrusk keep our 'guest' out of harms way."
Nikeides takes his position just near the team leader.
Aetheros finishes his ministrations and follows the marines into the room where the firefight ended. As the group begins to move toward the reactor room, Aetheros takes up a position near the rear and activates his internal com channel, "I suggest we try to get her off the ship as soon as possible after reaching the reactor. If we are forced to evacuate before retrieval, she will not survive the vacuum exposure."
Give the acolyte the data-slate with our schematic of the Tau Vessel, so that she can plot a course to the vessel's reactor.
The Acolyte nodded, and swiftly brought up the Schematics Vrusk was already familar with again. With a few more taps, a green line appeared on the display. "This is the route I would suggest. It evades most of the major thoroughfares, and is hard to close down. Your power armor should protect you from low-pressure atmospheres and ionizing radiation."
Another schematic appeared, as she created a hololithic display of the route. "This is the reactor room. The two major pillars provide energy by a plasma conversion reaction. Pretty similar to what our ships would use, but using cursed xeno principles. Still, melta charges should disable the plasma seals, here. You will likely have about two minutes before the ship desintigrates. The closest escape pods will be here." She displayed a path, about 200 metres in length."
scrutiny
I don't suppose that there's a route by which we can get to the reactor core by way of the pods; that is, secure the pods, jettison the acolyte; and then make our way to the core.
Leading the small patrol of marines Elyas begins to head out towards the rest of the squad, watchful of alien ambushes he slowly examines the ship as they make their way.
When they join up with the rest of the squad he looks in disbelieve on the acolyte. "Who is she?" he inquires over the radio.
The Acolyte let the awkward pause pass, then returned her attention to the plan the marines were developing. "I will prepare the route for your tactical displays, mylords. In essence it means breaking into an engineering tunnel here. It will be a tight fit, with just 6 feet of ceiling space, but you will be able to breach the ancilliary plasma conduits here. While you make your way, I will rig this control room to interfere with ship sensors, so you should be safe. You follow the conduit for half a kilometer, then open a hatch to one of the main maintenance corridors, here. That opens directly into the reactor chamber."
"I will make my own way through the ship. I should be able to use the main corridors unmolested. I do not possess a combead, though - so unless you have something portable and unobtrusive, I will not be able to assist."
She slowly moved to recover her weapon. "Now, all that remains before we can get going is cleaning up the witnesses." She remarked, motioning to the last remaining human crewmen.
Casually dispatching one of the crew members with his combat blade, Adalricus asks, "What witnesses?"
"Review the route, identify any flaws. We have no reason to believe that this woman is who she says she is, she may be trying to lead us Ino further ambushes."
"Let us waste no more time on this ship than we must. You will lead acolyte.' "Let the "acolyte" lead us, if it is an ambush she leads us to, her death will be long and painful. I will see to it that the avenging spirits of my ancestors cleanse her soul in death if it is so."