We got a jamming signal of our own yeah? Maybe we can lock those evil servos down? Simmins says. We rockcrete this position to make a stronghold... then one of you comes with me and leads me to the back and I can hit 'em from the back with the stubber.
Nah. Sorry, I had to set that up right under the knight to get it to work properly. My bag of tricks is just about empty. But if I can find the source of their signal I might be able to hijack it.
Sgt. Scorch-Seth nods a thankful nod towards no one in particular, as if thanking everyone present for not killing each other.
"The Enginseer is working on the vox problem - praise be the Omnissiah.
Let us focus on keeping the enemy at bay for now, Troopers.
I am not fond of the idea of our only real anti-tank weapon traversing a possibly caved-in tunnel system out of effective support range.
If you can navigate the broken grounds down there, go for the servitors and take MacGyver with you.
Otherwise, Simmins, you're with me.
Good call on that rockrete spray. Use when needed to set up fire positions."
He turns towards the center of the feeble defense line, then thinks about it and turns back to the ratlings.
"Do you have a command structure?"
The rats blink in not understanding.
He tries again.
"Where is your leader? Commander? ... Chieftain?"
The ratlings shake their heads.
"We not know, no-no.
We fight from shadows, then big bang, everything crumbles, then new cave and enemy coming!"
As if to emphasize, a serious sweeping salvo of gunfire is rattling over everyone's head and a distant chorus of debased warcries can be heard over the dim of battle.
From your vantage point, you can see the enemy infantry in the "open" suddenly rising from their covers in pairs of twos and threes and cover-hopping forward with warcries and under cover fire from the servitors.
"We're going to have to ignore the fighting down below for now. Our job is to take out the top layer of this s@@@ cake.
So we can't reveal our hand until we got the right opening.
I'll keep a lookout here, you keep looking down below and tell me if things turn out for the worse."
Think I need to get close to the pipe opening anway to get the first Servitor Sarge, cover me and I'll get to it use it for cover and Melta the closest one. One of you tunnel rats come with me!
MacGuyver joins Simmons as ordered. I'll have your back out there. Let's do this quick.
Kenneth flinches just a little at the missfire - but that's what the robes are for. They hide little movement like that very well.
He listens as the Sergeant asks about the command structure and nods, as he had imagined it being like that.
"Then we must create one as best as we can. Do you have any means of communicating with eachother?"
The ratlings exchange glances before answering.
"Gutter runners have signs, yesyes.
We watch for signs and react.
Rust powder dust to flee-scatter.
Yellow powder to converge-meet.
Burning-vial to mark important-dangerous targets."
Another one chimes in:
"After the boom, we saw yellow-dust down there."
He (or she?) points at a collection of big, piled-up roof-floor sections roughly in the.middle of the open ground.
"We tried to converge-meet but foe strong-many. We hold and support. But range is far for our boomsticks. Bad spot for kill-fight."
Hey you guys are good at the tunnels, we'll distract for you so you can go under and jump them from behind. Yeah?
Simmins says right before dashing for the center to meet the first servitor head on.
Hmmph, well, sooner or later they will give us an opening up here and then we'll have to take it."
Liam keeps watching for said opening.
We are about to get their attention... MacGuyver comments darkly.
"See there? Those two are our main target.
But I think there is one up there as well...
Higher than us and well hidden, not good...
We can't risk him seeing us by climbing higher, but it might be hard to take him out from here.
We MAY have to be ready to move from where we are as soon as those two are taken down."
"Well, this at least resembles a command structure. But that means we must try to reach where the meeting took place."
Kenneth takes a look towards the indicated position and tries to gauge if it is possible to get there if they use one or two rockrete covers in between
Cecil nods.
"I got those two as well. Pretty stupid to stay put for so long.
Better not do the same, right?
I've got a smoke left, Li.
We pop those two, then smoke up and relocate?
I'll take the left one.
Left is my lucky side you know..."
You are on her left right now.
The ratlings look at each other at Simmins idea, obviously contemplating it.
Then, Sgt. Scorch-Seth chimes in:
"Good thinking, Corporal.
We know your color code now, irregulars.
Go with the Emperor and surprise the enemy from below.
Pop a yellow one if you managed to circle and surprise the enemy successfully.
Mark you retreat as usual if you are discovered early."
He then turns to the assembled troopers.
"Alright, then. Simmins, MacGyver: get going on my mark.
Everyone else: take over the local's position, pick your targets and make ready to make our arrival known..."
While everyone settles into cover (or search for a "safe" route down the slope and into the contested rubble land), the three ratlings vanish down through the half-collapsed roof of the level below.
MacGuyver proceeds to the Elevator shaft as ordered.
[ooc]we should go to yellow smoke I think |/ooc]
As MacGuyver and Simmins creep forward, they encounter a three man squad of what looks to be Chaos infiltrators. Their uniforms are dark and a bit heavier than his own and their helmets bear the chaos mark MacGuyver saw on the Knight and the Heretek. MacGuyver hides Simmins and himself behind a large chunk of ruined building until they pass, then waves Simmins forward and signals to stay quiet. He raises his pistol and fires on the last of the three when he's no more than three meters behind the disgusting heretic.
If Simmins is able to he switches to his shotgun and does the same to the second target.
"Time to let loose the anger of the faithful then."
Liam, having taken the time to line up a good shot and then fires a short controlled burst against his target.
Kenneth gives everyone one more pep talk before the firefight is taken over.
"Let them hear the emperors voice through your weapons! You all have served him well this day already, but there is yet more to do"
"Sergeant. I believe Anatoly could help us amplify our voices to make it be heard among the battlefield. This could be a great boon to inspire the local population and to give emergency commands."
This is the real game.
Sneaking up an ambushing the enemy scout force who are trying to do the very same thing.
MacGyver's sharp ears have picked up the sound of the approaching enemy early, so he was able to hide-away not only himself but also Simmins.
The closest of the three enemies pass by your hideout less than three meters away.
Close enough that you can hear the forced-muffled panting of the trooper.
Also close enough for the sickly sweet smell of lingering corruption to nestle its way into your nostrils and for the chaos sigil on the trooper's visor to make your stomachs turn in protest.
Your cover is good and the enemy is eager to press forward and flank the dug-in defenders.
So they pass you by heedlessly.
MacGyver silently leaves the cover and shadows the rearmost target with barely three steps in between.
A truly chilling thought for Simmins: getting followed that close by an enemy without noticing. Makes you involuntarily glance over your shoulders...
Then, the trap springs.
MacGyver picks a soft-seal in the neck of his target and raises his heavily modified auto pistol and fires a quick, silenced burst over less than three meters range.
*pop-pop-pop*
The impacts are in fact louder than the gun report.
The first round misses because the target just happens to begin to duck low under an overhead obstacle, making the solid slug hit the rockrete boulder instead with a distinct sound.
But before the trooper has time to react, MacGyver has followed the man's movement and placed his second and third shot on target.
The soft seal provides little resistance and the man collapses noisily, blood gurgling from his ripped-open neck. He is going into asphyxiated spasms with no intentional movement noticeable.
Following MacGyver's lead, Simmins open up on the middle-man, a bulky enemy of nearly square build.
The eerily silent shotgun is miraculously even more silent than the silenced pistol of the scout and fires three shots in quick succession.
The bulky man is hit by all three shots in the back and is blown apart despite the heavy armor he wears. The cruel sound of the impacts is quickly followed by the sound of a falling body.
The last remaining enemy cannot but hear the ruffle behind him, but does not seem sure what to make of it.
He half turns with his head tilted as if questioning, then flinches in surprise and maybe terror at the sight of his two fellows being cut down so suddenly.
You line up your shot, shortly considering to just let loose and trust the heavy bolts to punch through (or simply destroy) the enemy gunner's cover, but then think better of it and go for a decisive headshot instead.
The double bang of the heavy bolter is deafening in the tight room.
The third bang (that of an exploding head), you cannot hear because of the distance.
Nevertheless, you can be pretty certain that your target is down for good.
Beside you, Cecil fires two shot, spitting a single, clipped curse in between.
"Crap!
Darn it.
Clipped him.
But I don't think he's down for good.
And that's why I want a longlas!
Do we move? And where to?"
Sgt. Scorch-Seth nods, then quickly sends Zulu to fetch the Enginseer, who remained back on top.
"We won't miss Zulu in this anyway. He's the worst shot I've ever seen - including Ogryns. But by the Emperor, his knifework is truly blessed."
Right as the fire assault is at its fiercest, Zulu and Anatoly arrive, the Enginseer is casually flinging bright energy beams from his weapon mechadendrite over the cover and at the enemy.
"I have arrived as commanded.
Trooper Zuchlurian has informed me that you have a pending request for this loyal subject of the Omnissiah, Preacher?"
"Welcome back Enginseer. I have two things I would ask you to do if it is possible without hindering you too much from clearing the vox.
First, can your augmentations relay our voices over the noise of the battlefield? I would wish to preach to the troops and the locals to inspire them and it would be great for the sergeant to have a way to give emergency orders."
Kenneth picks the rosarius from his robes
"The second is reactivating this rosarius. It seems to have deactivated after the dark magos' blast earlier."
Anatoly extends his utility mechadendrite and starts fuzzing with the offered device, while talking in his "flesh voice" - which seems to turn a couple notches more monotone.
A by-product of his multi-tasking?
"Regarding Query-One: my vocal emitter can be overloaded for a short duration with acceptable risks. It will override any noise up to an ambient noise level of 204.93 decentibelis. The augment will require intermittent shut-downs after usage in such a way on a one-to-two ratio."
He stops for a second before continuing.
"This is a most sacred and complex device and it burnt out due to overuse.
I can attempt a field repair on it, but I estimate a 17.876 percent chance of worsening the damage without following the proper and lengthy protocols, prayers and rituals. Additionally, I cannot counter the jamming of our vox system while working on the repairs.
Command-Query: are the repairs more important than countering the vox jamming?"
The last part is directed at the Sergeant, who is currently busy ducking under the first counter fire coming your way.
"But relaying my preaching will not stop you from countering the vox jamming correct?
Then please only do that. It would strike more heart into our troops to preach out in the open but we're trying to improve coordination, not worsen it.
How will this be done? I just preach to you and you take care of relaying it?"
"No worries, we've done enough. That team is down to one wounded member.
We'll sprint into cover and climb up another level, there has got to be an area we can do that without being in the firing line.
And if they try to shoot at us anyway, we'll know where they are.
And don't worry about cover once we're up, I got rockcrete spray to fix that."
Liam glances over the cover quickly and then ducks down again.
"I'll go first, cover me."
Liam will find a good place to climb and then make a break for it.
But looking directly at a chaos sigil is something not lightly done and it's malevolent effects throw off his aim significantly.
Actually, the side wall of the room is pretty damaged, missing a good part of its lower part.
With some wiggling and straining, you could probably fit through, Cecil would find it pretty easy.
Continuing from here would either require you to backtrack away from the crater and into the city to find a way up, or climb up the rather exposed outside.
"Correct. I can work on the enemy jammer while relaying your sermon.
Talk to this."
Another mechadendrite unfolds from the tech priest's robe, which looks a lot like a servo skull - but attached to a flexible mechadendrite rather than hovering freely like most of its kind do.
A small red light is blinking at slow intervals from its left eye socket.
"It is voice activated. The activation phrase is: < Begin Record >.
When the light goes off, you must pause and wait for the augment to replay and then cool down.
Note: nearby unaugmented humans should wear ear protection gear, as there is a 73.013 percent chance of temporary and a 14.7001 percent chance for permanent auditive damage from the volume created by overloading my vocal caster."
Simmins hands shake at the sight of the unholy sigils too, but not with fear... but rage.. throwing his aim off too.
"Go Cecil!"
Liam waits until Cecil leaves her post before sending another swarm of bolter shells at the spotted foe.
As Cecil hurries through the tight, half collapsed wall, you send a long stream of bolter fire up against the gun nest of Cecil's target.
Without a proper target in sight (the man rolled with the impact or otherwise gone down), you simple saturate the general area with exploding bolts.
The already damaged, unstable building reacts ill to such an onslaught. The ceiling collapses in a slide of rockrete, dust and pipework.
If the gunner survived that, he surely will need digging out and finding a new position before rejoining the fight...
A long burst of solid-round gunfire splatters and planks all around you, but your cover (and luck) keeps you safe.
The remaining enemy scout makes for a surprisingly difficult target, being covered in mind hurting sigils as he is.
Simmins shotgun blast catching him at the shoulder anan spins him around, blood spraying from a fist-sized hole in the carapace armor plate.
MacGyver's double-tab misses altogether.
The chaos trooper rolls with the force of the shot and drops into a man-sized metal tube produding from the ground, while firing his short, blocky autogun on full auto.
One round hits MacGyver square against the chest with breathtaking force.
The shot, though small, still sends the wiry scout sprawling and coughing. He groans as the wound starts bleeding and pulls out his kit.
but his hands shake as he looses even more blood then he already has. My Emperor for a visit from Mama Leni! He groans.
"Scrag! Emperor dammit, they are cooking now!"
Well, this was no good, staying here would probably be quite painful if they kept this up for long.
That cover wouldn't last much longer.
Time to boogie!
Liam grabs his big gun and makes haste to Join Cecil somewhere much safer than the hole o' death.
Kenneth nods and thinks for a moment about what he is going to say. Then grabs the vox stealer but before talking into it says:
"Well then Sergeant, I believe you should put your fingers into your ears. Possibly permanent hearing damage sounds unpleasant"
He waits to give the sergeant time to do so, then lets go of the vox stealer and does the same. Only then does he start preaching.
"Hear me enemies of his majesty! His trusted servants have come for you to deliver your long awaited retribution! Loyal subjects of his majesty, hear me. His will has brought us here to guide you to freedom from this taint! Fight with us as it is fighting besides his majesty!"
Simmins growls in frustration as five shots only wound the bastard, unaware yet that Mac needs help Simmins tracks the fleeing cultist into the pipe and a half smile forms as he realizes that he's made himself into a fish in a barrel. He fires three times anyway to be sure.
Then he looks around and with wide eyes looks at Mac, Emperor damn it, what do you need Mac?
He also voxes back to the main group Infiltrators coming in, we ambushed and took out one group, don't know if there's others.
A new abdomen. he manages to joke in store of the clearly bleeding wound. Here, this bandage. His hands shake as he haha over the white cloth.
The bleeding stops slowly and the bandage is clearly a bit red even before it's fully secured. MacGuyver stands with a wince and groan.
Ok. Let's get this over with. I'm not sure I can take another shot like that
With a deep intake of breath, you heft the heavy bolter and bodily throw yourself over the short distance to the half collapsed wall section.
The hole turns out nastily tight and ragged, requiring some wriggling and a couple 'improvised renovations' using your boots and weapon stock to widen it to your dimensions. All while under (indirect) fire.
But you make it nice and fast.
You find yourself in a tiny kitchen, a cooking stove, a fridgerator unit, half of a locker filled with tinned food supply and pressed ration bars. The only door leading out of the room, now leads to a sheer drop down.
But the Emperor is showing mercy on you, just as a distant but audible sermon of the priest promises.
For you, this means a collapsed ceiling with dangling pipes and wires, a climbable path to the next higher level!
Simmins shooting into the pipe sounds like ... several crates of nails falling down an iron ladder combined with a bunch of Ogryns testing their shields sturdiness with their meaty fists.
There is no more return fire coming from that direction.
Quickly you hurry on, with MacGyver scouting ahead, now with a little less grace and ease.
Soon enough, you squeezed through a half burried sewer pipe and scrambled over a loose heap of rockrete slabs and are now into view of your destination.
Its a twisted mess of metal walkways, chest-sized pipework and iron bulwarks, roughtly ten meters on each dimension. All of it merged into a surreal amalgam that could have passed for a work of inspired art on some worlds.
Right here, right now, it just gives you a headache trying to figure out its geometry and whether there is someone under arms inside, ready to kill you once you leave the relative cover of the rubble heap you lie pressed against.
In between your first and second sermon, you can hear a distant but distinct clerical song being sung...
... to be more precise, the refrain of "In HIS name we fight and die."
It seems to come from somewhere to your left . And can't be too far out considering the general auditorial overflow.
"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"
Liam contemplates the possible ascent for a moment before moving over and testing a pipes and wires for a secure handhold.
"Looks like this is our way further up.
Let's move, we've got heretics to kill."
I must be part Jokeero...
You easily make it up another level, coming up in the middle of a hallway, running more or less parallel to the collapse. There is.no immediate line of sight to the ccrater but in both directions many intersections and doors.
There is also the slumber form of a ratlings in a black linen coat slumbed on the ground a couple steps away, directly under a dangling metal pipe still slightly swinging back and forth. In yhe glimmer of damaged lumen globes, you can see a small pool of blood reflecting on the ground.
Cecil struggles and strains but once again needs another strong hand to get up to your aide.
"Huff, I *pant* need more exercise to keep up with y", she stops as she notices the slumbed form on the ground.
"Oh. Well, that explains the helms we all have to endure I guess..."
"Still alive...one more body to throw in the grinder, and maybe some intel as well.
...
And I AM a medic after all."
He reloads the shotgun, and if there's a way up he starts picking his way to get up there.
Kenneth keeps an eye on the battlefield while thinking about his next short sermon to come