There's a backwash from the Melta Simmins warns. So you'll get burned. I'll give a 3 sec warning before I fire. Simmins positions himself 10 M away from the approrpriate Servitor with Melta at the ready
Liam, mindful of his role as giving covering fire in ALL directions looks up.
Emperors saggy ballsack!
Deciding that a swarm like that needs to be thinned out, Liam switches to full on auto fire and let rip.
Brace +15
Erratic movement and size -40
Range +10
Liam let's fly with the tell-tale sound of a heavy bolter on full auto - which, believe it or not, he is used freehanded!
Most of a fusillade is going astray and pockmarks the ceiling and causing small stones fall like hail.
Two of the hailstorm find their marks though and cause surprisingly powerful explosions, well beyond the scope of what a bolt shell should be capable of.
So strong in fact, that a third target blows up as well after being caught in the blast of the first.
Your comrades add to the fire but only Cecil scores a hit, blasting one wing from a target, which starts falling all the more rapid and erratic trailing a sickly green-yellow vapor.
Ah warp...
"They are flying bombs! Don't let them get closer!"
Biting back a swear, Simmins kneels to place the Melta on the ground and whips his Stubber out, aiming it an angle above him to try and hit the free falling target.
MacGuyver hears the fire start around him and he focuses on his job even harder. The sooner this was done the better!
Kenneth looks up and makes a grim face. He had planned to greet the flitty buggers with a wave of flame but if they are indeed bombs then they need to go before they are that close. So he switches to his laspistol once more and shouts: "More targets to prove worthy to him on earth! He has seen our worth and provides more opportunity to fullfil our duty!"
With an incredible smooth, singular motion, Simmins swaps to his stunner and shoots the sprialling, falling thing center mass!
The target scatters from the impact and a cloud of sickly-colored vapor erupts from it and wavers around in place, barely a dozen meters above ground.
Ulric, in the process of switching from flamer to his sidearm much like Kenneth, voices his disghust at that sight.
"Uargh, now what is that?!"
As the targets get ever closer to the ground, you are starting to make out details - only to wish you wouldn't ...
The targets turn out to be half-decomposed heads with bat-like wings sprouting horribly from where their ears should have been.
The eye sockets empty and the mouth wide open as if screaming - only to allow some of the green-yellow-brownish vapor to escape them...
Whatever it is that has got the others spooked isn't something Liam himself manages to pick up.
Instead he let loose a salvo of shots at the annoying pests.
MacGuyver shudders and shouts a warning for all to hear, GAS!. He pulls out his own mask and quickly fits it over his head.
Liam sends another voley up and causes another direct hit, which causes another hefty detonation catching an adjacent thing and blowing it right up as well.
That's eight things left drifting down at something like one meter per second .
The remainder of the squad is either busy switching weapons or pulling on gas masks and the few shots fired while doing so go astray.
Oblivious, the things drop further down, now barely 15m above your heads.
A gasping voice is calling over coms, with audible gun shots in the background and loud breathing sounds from someone running.
"Probe comes in fast and hot - ETA in 20 ticks.
Check your targets, Four!"
Realizing that he is unlikely to be able to take all of the remaining drones out, and that they won't necessarily need to get much lower to detonate and spread gas all over, Liam stops shooting long enough to put on his own mask, before hefting the bolter again.
MacGuyver keeps working. Everything in him was urging him to disappear, but he keeps to his post. Uhh, we need to work faster, Anatoly!
Simmins with unerring speed grabs his gas mask and puts it on before firing another shot.
It was a good shot but it missed.
We don't need to be in here yeah? Get that last one fixed up and we can retreat to the corridor? He says to the techies desperately. Are those things just falling or they coming at us?
The gas is spreading very slowly once its initial spread, about 5 cubic meter, as if too heavy to move any faster.
It is slowly drifting down and towards the closest side corridor, probably following the slight air current within this strange room.
The spiraling path of the things does seem random and erratic at first but with a bit of observation you notice that they each follow a helix-like fall pattern that is getting wider with each completed turn.
Assuming they don't change this pattern at the last couple turns, only two of the remaining ones will land close enough to immediately endanger the.main group and one would fall close to Anatoly and MacGyver.
Your new insights also make it easier to adjust yyou aim to their flight paths.
Penalty ddrops tto -20.
Close to panicking Simmin's senses focus on the falling skulls like a hawk and the adrenalin of the moment causes his brain to go into overdrive.
They're goin in a pattern! He shouts Like a spiral rose. Two of 'em will land on the main group. One on the techs!
That insight allows him to aim his one good shot at one of the ones heading towards the main group.
MacGuyver finally realizes what's going on. It's a relief that they weren't homing, but that one was going to have to stop approaching... maybe he can get his hands off these wires for a second. Anatoly! That one's headed for us! Am I free to take a shot?
"What seemed ungraspable becomes clear through his guidance! I too see the pattern, Simmins is correct! Take heart and aim true!"
The father raises his las pistol as he talks fire into everyones hearts - and hits one of the flitting things! Or does he? It is unclear to see whether the lasbolt detonated against it or brushed by it by milimeters
Let's just hope this doesn't take too long. If they send countermeasures against us, they might know where we are. And we have to get the data back, or people will have died for nothing...
Lima is smart enough to keep his musings to himself, he didn't want to risk being labeled as a defeatist.
Anatoly's voice is calm as he continues his work sparing only a brief glance upwards, "If you feel the need, by all means, Trooper MacGuyver, defend us. We must remain here until the bugs finish their work." Without the time to aim or to understand the pattern, anatoly knows his chances of hitting the madly gyrating targets are precisely zero and he turns his attention to finishing the first servitor.
The Phage finds itself trapped within a self-contained virtual battlefield and surrounded on all sides by its enemies. It is deceived, for its 'enemies' are simply other parts of itself and even as it registers damage to itself, it attacks all the harder. In seven heartbeats, an eternmity at the speed of the machine, it is over. At the end of it only a single seed code exists, and Anatoly protects himself from infection by the Phage as he stamps out this last scrapcode fragment.
MacGuyver quickly lets go of the wires he was holding, spins and brings his weapon up, aiming at the one that would land by him and Anatoly. He squeezes off a shot as adrenaline pounds in his ears. The shot hits home center mass!
He turns quickly back to assisting Anatoly, Immediate threat neutralized. Two less immediate threats incoming. Your work is not directly threatened.
With a new focus, the squad opens fire together, bringing down the dangerous three gas-skulls.
Simmins pops one with a good git from his stubber, the other one close to the main group is hit by a crossfire from Cecil, Henner and Kenneth.
That one detonates as the micro explosions of lasbolts trigger the compressed gases - lighting up the spreading cloud of Simmins target as well.
They have already come so close, that you can feel the heatwave wash over you and your ears protest painfully with a warning ringing - but not close enough to deal serious injury to anyone.
The one close to MacGaver and Anatoly drops, wings folded like a wounded bird, after being hit in the empty eye by MacGyver.
As it crashes to the ground, onlookers hold their breath instinctively but it somehow does not pop and spread its vile contents.
The remaining seven things drop another handful of meters than crack in unison and cover a sizeable area of the control room with their slowly drifting gas clouds.
The immediate threat being handled, everyone is throwing a gaze at the trio of men standing around the second servitor in the southern half of the room, where Anatoly seems to have found a worthy enemy and an epic battle of will and intellect is happening.
From time to time you can see the Enginseer twitch or one of his mechadendrites twitch in involuntary neuro-feedback.
Then your awareness is pulled away from the sight.
Simmins and his melta are there to deal with a problematic outcome and there is the sound of running and gunfire echoing down the main corridor.
Retaking your positions at the gate, you note two troopers in the yellow-black of the Serenus 1st running down the corridor towards you at full sprint.
They have even discarded their helmets and backpacks. Their guns are strapped to their backs and each is carrying something with their arms folded around it, pressed to the chest. Further down the corridor, line of sight is suddenly blocked by thick black smoke that can only be the result of several smoke bombs. It flashes up from within from muzzle flashes and explosions, but over a distance of nearly a hundred meter even your goggles are no help.
The newcomers are halfway there, when one of them suddenly cries out and falls to the ground.
His comrade is cursing but keeps on running towards you.
MacGuyver knows what he's doing now is no longer of help. Whatever Anatoly is facing is his alone. Sir, permission to retrieve that trooper! He asks the Sargent.
He nods and darts out into the hall to fulfill what seems to be the Emperor's ambition for his life: running up and down that shooting gallery as many times as possible.
With no further targets, Liam lowers the heavy bolter back on the floor and braces to fire down the corridor.
"Be wary, He calls down the corridor at the approaching runners, there is toxic gas here!"
C'mon C'mon, there's a lot of noise comin' our way Simmins mutters as he returns to training his melta on the last servitor.
Kenneth swaps back to his beloved hand flamer and bellows "One more step towards glory!"
Sgt. Henner seems surprised at MacGyver's initiative (and willingness to get shot to pieces), but quickly nods.
"The Emperor protects!"
As MacGyver reaches the bottom of the stairs, the first trooper already got close.
Clearly out of breath, he is clutching two bugs to his heaving chest.
The trooper stares at MacGyver with wide eyes, then gasps his way up the stairs.
While the scout continues down the hallway, the other man reaches the top of the stairs and stops dead as he is practically face-to-face with lots of guns an a combat servitor.
His mouth drop open and his knee go wobbly as he stares at the servitor.
"Frag."
Meanwhile, MacVyger rushes down the corridor - once again - towards the fallen trooper.
The flashing and detonations from within the smoke cover seem to lessen noticeably as he reaches the man.
A pool of blood is starting to build under him. A brief once-over turns up a solid-round bullet hole in the upper chest area.
Scattered before him on the ground lie two bugs.
One seems to have taken a bit of damage from the harsh and unintentional treatment. Three of its legs look twisted and one is broken off completely.
The man is alive - yet - but unconscious, Probably due to shock.
The wound is dangerous and he may be going to bleed out soon.
Inside the control room, Anatoly suddenly breaks free of the Servitor, staggers a bit then straightens up and give Simmins a nod.
"Objective: accomplished."
It is difficult to tell with the mechanic voice pattern, but in that simple two-word is-it-really-a-sentence, you think to detect a small undercurrent of unrest.
Like you would expect from someone exiting a car crash. Thinking that all is right, without actually knowing whether that's actually true...
Great Simmins says turning towards the main corridor. Send em at whatever the hell is chasing these guys
Upper chest wound. Bleeding badly. MacGuyver acts fast. He shoves the bugs in his pack. They don't fit perfectly, but at least they're secured. He then drags the trooper to the side behind the cover of one of the pillars and throws his cameoline cloak over them both as he attempts to stop the bleeding.
MacGuyver hits the guy with a dose of blood clot and quickly pulls out a bandage to secure the site. He's going to have to carry the man, so he does his best to make sure he gets back still carrying a trooper and not a corpse.
As Anatoly takes a step back from the second servitor, the usual machine-like precision of his movements seems to be a little off as if he is just a bit dizzy. There is a sizzling sound and three of the smaller dendrites that Anatoly used to interface with the servitors are abruptly jettisoned from his sleeve to land upon the floor smoking slightly. A faint purple glow quickly fades from the ejected pieces.
The servitor standing in front of Anatoly suddenly begins powering back up to its normal condition of readiness and, sith both servitors now online and under his control, Anatoly turns to the entrance to the cogitator shrine and addresses the two servitors, "IFF Parameter Update: Clear prior IFF parameters, authorization <binaric cant>. IFF Parameter update: Serenus 1st forces designate: Friend. Record: Serenus 1st identification insignia." Anatoly holds up a badge of the Serenus 1st for both servitors to identify, "Mission Parameter Update: Defend Serenus 1st from any aggression. Assume defense posture Twelve-Gamma-Seven. Execute."
The servitors both emit a very short burst of binaric cant and start plodding toward the entrance to the room, their weapons coming up and online as they move.
Anatoly turns to the newcomer and, though his voice is not harsh, it does carry a distinct note of urgency, "Trooper, you have done well in delivering your charges. If you are not injured then bring those devices to me. Time escapes us all."
*** The Control Room ***
The trooper finally snaps back in place and enters - without letting the either servitor out of his eyes, even as he hands over the BUGs to the enginseer and drops to the ground and behind cover to gasp for air, then produces his canteen and empties it in one long go.
Sgt. Henner hurries over and asks the blond, dark skinned man for a sitrep.
"We -huff- got between hammer -cough- and anvil, Sir.
We took the scheduled route -huff- and encountered what looked like a routine patrol of enslaved mutants, servitors and highly augmented overseer type.
Lost the majority of Probe-1 in that fight -cough- including Lil'Joe - he carried their BUGs.
Incinerated by some kind of acid or weird plasma weapon the overseer used.
We staged a fighting forward withdrawal towards this position as more and more slaves and servitors appeared.
Then we ran into the anvil.
They have a solid barricade at the end of the corridor.
We would have been fragged if not for some freak accident that cased one of the massive statues to topple right on top of it.
That leveled the situation and took some of them out of the fight.
Sgt. Frederick and all of Probe-2 attacked the barricade while Sgt. Zeff and Probe-3 tried to hold off our rear-side attackers.
Ryan and I were given orders to take all the BUGs left, circumvent the barricade and make all speed to-"
*** Saving Pvt. Ryan ***
Having stabilized the wounded trooper, MacGyver now faces the task of getting the two of them (and the cargo) back to the control room without getting killed in the crossfire that is soon to start.
Throwing the body over his shoulder and the camo-cloak above both of them, he starts making his way back, half crouched and hushing from cover to cover.
It is a lot harder to pull off than doing it alone of course and slower to boot.
But for now there are is at least no immediate threa-
*** NOW ***
An ear-splitting sound like a thunderclap.
A nearly overpowering feeling of getting your guts pulled out of the naval.
The feeling of breaking and falling-out teeth.
Your vision going all blurry and badwrongohfriggnoooo for a single, endless heartbeat.
Then it all is over and two things have changed for the worse.
The smoke screen is gone and allow sight of the desperate fighting withdrawal being fought further down the corridor - where all too few yellow points try to hold off a wave of blood-red and black figures.
But much worse and close:
An assortment of figures standing barely 30m before the gat, within a pentagram of smoking and glowing violet runes etched - no molten into the solid plasteel floor.
In the middle of the pentagram stands a nightmarish figure that looks simply terrifying.
An amalgan of flesh, tbes, wire, bone, metal plating, limbs and mechadendrites.
The towering figure that can only be a dark magos is surrounded on all sides by much smaller but equally disturbing quadruped creatures, resembling giant, cybernetical modified rats.
They sprout a whicked tail, talons and a protruding transparent tank from where their backs ought to be, filled with a liquid you instinctively know you want nothing to do with.
A red, broad beam of light emits from one if the mechadendrites of the dark magistrate and plays over the gate and everyone in its cover.
With a voice of steel that is intermixed with the sizzling of fat in the fire and the bubbling of acids, it speaks up moments later:
"I am Flesh-Smith Hurazin Cellflayer.
You have intruded into what is mine.
Surrender and I shall let you return to the misguided narrownindeds that send you to this place with an impossible mission.
Resist and I shall torture your body and mind for aeons to come and change you into something a trillion yimes worse than your worst nightmare.
Desist.
NOW!!!
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The horrific amalgamation of flesh and metal rips into Kenneth thoughts like a vision of all the evil incarnations he has ever read about and he starts to tremble. No! His majesty the emperor protects! He sent us here because we are his chosen instruments and he knows we will succeed! concentrating on his faith in the emperor allows him to calm down somewhat but as the rending voice starts booming the shaking starts once more.
Well why not? We never had a chance at this to begin with... If we return then we can come back and try again... but as those dark thoughts are about to overwhelm him memories start to stir. Memories of a happier time but of grimmer tidings.
He is a bookworm through and through and thus has no own history with the traitors but he has lived through thousands of livetimes through his books and as he immersed himself into them he could feel the wrath of betrayal of each and every one. And he remembers that NONE of them ever had a happy outcome from accepting the enemies "grace" no matter how good and generous it sounded at the time.
And thus the old feeling stirs, a feeling he thought would only existed for him in the realm of stories - the hatred of all the traitors that ruined his majesties original plan and even now try to impede him on guiding humanity to its manifest destiny.
Keneth stands up, the feeling up hatred burning in his chest as he proclaims:
"Traitor! Your promises are as empty as the vows you once swore to his majesty! We are here in his majesties name to purge your filthy existence and we shall not waver in it!
Take heart! His majesty is with us this day and this moment!"
The way of the fallen magos' arrival.
The entire atmosphere of this place.
Your mission and current situation.
The threat spoken in calm finality.
It all comes together to form a horrifying sense of doom.
Which as all but impossible to break free of.
A few curses can be heard.
Heads are shaken in despair.
Someone is muttering: "No, please no, not again..."
The squad is terror struck.
The entire squad?
No.
Not everyone.
Kenneth Medland, the priest you know as a bookworm and rather quiet and calm fellow, is not giving in.
His face is strained with effort.
Sweat is running down his brow.
But this only makes his words more impressive and convincing.
And right into his last sentence, a snap-crack of a lasgun discharge echoes.
Cecil has raised her gun and fired a single shot, right at the towering tech abomination.
The lasbolt flies true and hits the magos center (disgusting) mass, where it leaves a small smoking impact crater in its mutated flesh.
It does not seem to face the Magos overly much, despite what could be an expression of surprise at actually being attacked.
She throws a gaze back over her shoulders and calls out a challenge.
"You heard the priest.
Time to do our jobs:
"
With that, the curse is broken. The terror lifted (to a bearable level).
Guns are raised again.
Heads pop up from full cover in search of targets.
But this takes time and the challenging speech of the priest and finally Cecil's attack must have triggered something in the beast accompanying the Magos.
The rat-things surge forward as one.
Two step in front of their master and raise up to their hind legs - covering the Magos with their sheer bodies.
The other three cross nearly the entirety of the distance to the gate in long leaps.
Two are actually run-climbing along the walls, while the third has come to the bottom of the stairs already.
Well, most get over it.
Sgt. Henner is still cowering, laspistol grasped in shaking, bone-white hands rocking back and forth, stuttering:
"No, please no, not again..."
Even though Simmins was one of the farthest from the action, the terrifying words turned his bowels to jelly.. until Kenneth and Cecil snaps him out of the terror.
He rushes to the barricade swapping his melta for his combat shotgun and aims at the rat at the bottom of the stairs with a full auto burst, seeking to take it out of the fight.
Scatter 1st range increment +2 Pen, +2 Dmg, +10 BS
Secretive 1st round +1 pen, +1 dmg, +3 BS
BS 48
First Range +10
High Ground? +X
I need a distraction to get close Sarge.. Sarge?
I'm gonna charge in next... cover me... he just says in general when he doesn't get a response.
Liam frowns, he had expected that, since he had observed the signs before.
He has cracked...
Normally, Liam would have gone to the Sergeants help, but this REALLY wasn't the time to break off the attack.
Liam shrugs, this wasn't a good time all over.
Angling his big gun, he lets loose with a press of the trigger.
He aims a burst towards the Magos and his "body guards".
Anatoly looks out over the approaching foes, sensors and eyes alike fixed forward toward the Heretek Magos and his abominations. Luckily, for the sake of appearances, this is nothing out of the ordinary for Anatoly when faced with a new foe. Behind the safety of his armor's blank faceplate, Anatoly's face registers a profound dread at the possibility of being captured and corrupted by this horrific perversion of the Omnissiah's sacred Will.
He is incapable, however, of neglecting his duties for something so minor as existential dread. Anatoly recovers the two bugs from the exhausted trooper and activates them with a short binaric cant as the four before and they scuttle off toward the data vaults.
The sound of a lasgun firing draws his attention back to the barricade just in time to see the rush of the three rat-like abominations. Another short burst of binaric cant assigns targets for the two servitors. The thunder of four heavy stubbers fills the air as they both turn and fire at the left of the approaching rat-creature-machines in eerily synchornized unison.
The disgusting mecharats are horrifyingly fast and change direction with virtually ever step, making them infuriatingly hard targets.
Despite using a shotgun at short range and being blessed with a remarkable marksmanship, Simmins only barely manages a glancing hit on the middle one.
In quieter times he would have had to admit it was more luck (or divine guidance) than skill.
But a glancing hit is not enough to put down this kind of abomination.
One of the many tubes criss-crossing all over its body ruptures under the impact and vents high-pressure gas - that is all.
The two combat servitors throw several kilos worth of shells down range at the rapidly climbing mecharat.
The salvo of one is fully dodged by a sudden fall-jump maneuver of the rat, but the second one catches it mid-flight!
It must have taken at least half a dozen hits center mass - but keeps on coming despite!
Trailing yellow-brown gases from several rents and cracks and maybe a little bit slower than before, but it keeps on coming!
Liam's heavy Bolter thunders and actually manages to be heard of the absurd noise of four heavy stubbers rattling away slightly behind him.
His burst is on target and the first two bolts fly straight past the bodyguards and hit the Magos in what seems to be his head - the third seems to melt a few inches before him and the remaining three hit the body-rats, blasting craters into their armor.
With a sickening, hacking breath-laughter hybrid, the Dark Magos answers the attack on his person.
"A priest?
They send a seven-time cursed, Corpse-God licking priest into MY city?!"
And with that, he sets himself into motion as well, not as blindingly fast as his creations but still faster than such a horrifyingly huge amount of metal and flesh has any rights to do.
The metal censor dangling from one of his appendages is emitting a green-yellow hue, banishing the organic-red that was everywhere moments before.
Kenneth stands tall with shaking legs but did you ever wonder why priests wear those loosely fitting robes? To hide those shaking legs is why! And so instead of giving in to the fear gnawing at his mind he instead throws himself into the seething lake of rage, fanning the flame of hatred until it boils over and leaves no room for the fear to overwhelm him.
"I have been brought here by his majesties guiding light to ignite the flame of his holyness in all those loyal subjects! Come for me you rusted piece of spoiled meat and broken oaths, I do not stand alone and today we shall be the retribution for all your crimes!"
MacGuyver's head spins with options and quickly discards most of them. He gives getting to the Heretek with a bomb about 50-50, but getting away was unlikely at best. He could run up beside them and plant a bomb to hit them with shrapnel from the side. He'd have to run though. He starts moving forward, keeping behind the pillars, and at the same time starts pulling out det-packs and taping his grenades around them along with several shapers to make sure the blast went the right way.
Last, he attaches a dead man's switch. One way or another, this thing is going off.
He uses gunshots to cover the sound of duct tape and the priests own screaming to cover the sound of pins pulling and levers being set. He moves up as far as he can and looks for an opening to plant his Improvised bomb.
Having returned to the firing lines, the remainder of the squad opens up on the servitorat at the bottom of the stairs with all they got - which includes a flamer.
Lasbolts fill the air around it and the sheer volume of fire means that it is hit at least twice, despite its unnatural speed and twisting.
One of the hits causes another spiked gas vent to jet up.
And then Ulric brings his flamer to bear and sends a long ray of burning promethium down at the thing, catching its rear half mid-dodge.
It immediately starts burning violently as if covered from disgusting snout to horrifying tail in oil.
The burning creature takes another trio of steps, up the first stair, then shutters and stops.
Vile tanks scatter under the head, sending plumes of exploding gases out and then.... KAWOOM.
It detonates with the force of a mortar grenade, sending bits of metal everywhere.
Liam is taking a hit on his helmet, causing his head to spin.
Right through the mayhem the destruction of their kin caused, the left and right rats move in at speed.
The left one, completely unharmed up until now, attempts a looong jump from the wall right into the midst of the defenders... but crashes against the door frame and falls to the ground at the uppermost stair!
The right one, somewhat limping from the stupid amount of hits it took, is nevertheless fast enough to cover most of the distance (still wallrunning).
It is at the height of the second-highest stair and out of sight for half the squad and one of the servitors.
Pen.2
Pen.2
R, Pen:0, Bleed(1)
=> no bleed
Liam's head jerks back as it's hit with shrapnel, but he quickly shakes it it off, his vision clearing.
Liam has singled out the heretek as the thign to take down, and since he was the one with the second most effective weapon he kept up his assault further.