Typical..." Zimm comments as she discards the other coveralls. At least her and Yelisaveta can somewhat blend in...
One last check of her gear and she sets off after the noblewoman...
Zimm and Yelisaveta hurry down the hall and out the door of the hab block's upper level. Taking two steps at a time, the pair bounce down the stairs, making their way to the courtyard outside the block.
The blow barely broke Naltos's skin but it had harmed him. Rather than strike out in reprisal against his attacker he focused on finishing off the barman.
Naltos' blow would've gone wide of a target with some ability to defend himself, but the barkeep is slow to avoid the blow, and Naltos' blade lands in a sickening crunch, caving in his chest and dropping his lifeless form to the ground.
Two of the miners land glancing blows on Caius and Naltos , though Havelock's attacker seems ill for the fight as his swing barely nears the man. Overwhelmed by pain, Balthasar's opponent is unable to act. Several more of the men watching the pit fight turn to see the action occurring behind them at the bar.
Several workers glance over curiously as Zimm and Yelisaveta come bursting out of the Hab Unit and down the stairs.
Julien unleashes another torrid blast of autogun fire at one of the hunkered down enforcers.
= 17
= 7
The bullets shred through the side pannel of the supply cart he was hiding behind, including a vicious wound puncturing his lung, while several more bullets strike his exposed arm and head, throwing his riddled body back across the stone.
Consolidated Initiative -
Zimm - 14
Julien - 12
Yelisaveta - 11
Naltos - 8
Miners - 7
Caius - 7
Balthasar - 7
Havelock - 6
Enforcers - 5
Ptah -4
Balthasar looks down at the wounded man before him, a scowl on his face. "You have strayed from the Emperor's Light. Now, you are condemned by it." His stub pistol bursts forth with three more rounds, shattering what remained of defiant corrupted miner.
= 15
Seeing the dangerously evolving scenario, Caius curses over the microbead, "Damnit, we've trouble. We need to get out of this building. Fall back toward the door." Swinging his shock maul at his aggressor, he strikes him hard in the ribs, as crackling energy leaps from the weapon into the man's body and he drops to the ground, convulsing from the electric charge.
Scenarios quickly runs through Havelock's mind, only to be quickly discarded as less than ideal.
Two remains, but only one seems very logical at the moment.
Having made sure to stick as close to the door, he briefly wonders if just rushing past his opponent might be best, but dislike the idea of allowing an enemy to strike at his back.
Best to put this enemy down...
Havelock's second shot blast more than finishes off the already wounded miner. With only one left currently engaged with Naltos, your company begin to withdraw toward the door of the bar as more of the patron's turn to investigate the scuffle.
With their sergeant and one of their number cut down fast, the two remaining enforcers split their chances - one of them snaps off return shots at Julien while the other runs to his fallen sergeant's body and tries to call for backup on the vox, though neither seems to have much luck.
Yelisaveta continues running, her feet carrying her across the courtyard and into the tunnel that leads to the core market area.
Consolidated Initiative -
Ptah -4
Zimm - 14
Julien - 12
Yelisaveta - 11
Naltos - 8
Miners - 7
Caius - 7
Balthasar - 7
Havelock - 6
Enforcers - 5
Zimm runs alongside Yeli, pulling her bow from her battle harness as she goes, keeping an eye out for any hostiles
Nalthos gives one last swing but at best wards away the minner before backing away after the others.
Ptah says to Julien, "Stall them. I will try to jam their comms again."
With that, he tries again to sabotage their comms, dumping raw data in hopes of jamming their systems.
As Caius and Havelock push out onto the street, with Naltos close behind, you watch Brother Balthasar reach into his robes and pull forth a ceramic bottle, marked with holy sigils. Offering a blessing, he tugs on the ritualistic knots at the top, which cause the rope they are tied from to burst into bright orange flames. Dropping it in the doorway as he walks out, the ceramic shatters, the blessed oils within erupting in fiery salvation as the flames flick along their edge. "That should slow the heathen's pursuit. The Emperor protects."
-----------
Yelisaveta and Zimm have been running for a while when they hear the fiery explosion and see several of their companions come hustling out of the bar, with flames licking at their heels. In the distance beyond the building, the staccato of automatic gunfire can be heard, over blasts of electronic shrieks and singular gun shots.
Caius looks to those exiting the bar, then to the pair of women running up to them clad in worker's coveralls, and calls out. "We need to fall back. There's too many here and we are out in the open. Back to the truck."
------------
In the truck yard, Ptah's digital efforts continue to jam the enforcer's comms, preventing them from reaching reinforcements at the station. Julien continues to pour round after round at them, but his shots find little purchase, scattering across the sides of one of the trucks.
Having failed to reach his allies, the enforcer beside his dead sergeant calls out to the other. "Comms are down, something's causing interference. We need to go for reinforcements!" He darts away from the corpse, reaching his ally behind the truck. His ally in turn snaps off a single shot at Julien before the pair begin falling back through the buildings, likely planning to head for the enforcer station to the south of the district.
The parting bullet slams into the truck door Julien had been using for cover, tearing a whole in the metal, and passing through into his shoulder. His body armour absorbs much of the blow, but Ptah hears the unmistakable cry that comes when a mortal's flesh is wounded.
Nalthos looks around to see if there is a way to bar or barricade the door they just left, perhaps a waste refuge container.
"Slow, but not completely stop.
Some form of explosive aimed through the flames at the back of the bar could create a massive blaze inside, powered by the alcohol."
For a moment, Havelock fingers his improvised fire bomb, but decides it is unlikely to be able to reach far enough to do the job.
Naltos spots a hefty refuse cart tucked just around the corner from the door upon exiting. A smaller man wouldn't be able to move it, but putting your shoulder behind it you begin pushing it up. Caius and Balthasar lend their not insignificant might and it crashes across the opening as the flames from Balthasar's firebomb continue to build.
In the distance, an off tone alarm begins to sound, signalling the likely coming of more trouble.
Ptah sends in his comm bead, "Enforcers making to call for reinforcements. Stopping them would be prudent."
He leans out from his cover and takes a shot at the fleeing enforcer that looks to be in the worst shape. His aim is off, as a result of his poor combat training in the past.
Zimm runs up to the others, and looks at the burning building for a moment, then back to Havelock and the others, "Subtle...." is all she says.
If she sees a target of opportunity ( such as fleeing enforcer ) she will aim and loose and arrow before retreating with the others...
Half action: Aim, Half-Action:Shoot
"No doubt efficacious, if not exactly what originally intended.
Most of the inhabitants would most likely have been consigned to the pyre regardless of our intervention."
With the others around him, Havelock feels more secure in that the enemy will not be able to reach him easily, thus he switches back to the long las and begins to scan the surroundings.
"Time to put our proper gear back on..." Nalthos shuffles towards their vehicle.
Ptah's errant shot strikes the stonework above the enforcer as he flees for reinforcements. Julien's magazine empty, he dumps it, pulling another from his belt and slamming it home. Hearing Caius' call over the microbead, Julien throws open the door of the truck and climbs into the cab. Looking to Ptah, he beckons, "Get on!"
----
The pair of women catch up to the four men exiting the bar, with smoke beginning to billow out from the door. Naltos and Balthasar step back from the waste receptacle wedged into the doorway, and the priest throws in one more fire bomb for good measure.
As they do, the two enforcers fleeing from the truck yard round the corner, coming directly into plain view 10 meters in front of the group. Zimm quickly hits one in the shoulder with an arrow .
At Ptah's direction via comms, Caius raises his heavy autopistol and snaps a trio of rounds at the other. With a thunderous blast, two of the rounds punch through the man's chest armor, throwing his body against the wall, where he stumbles, but manages to maintain his footing
hit, with 3 DoS
Ptah runs for the truck, clambering in next to Julien. "Let us move then. The Machine God often recommends swift action in perilous situations."
Caught between two aggressive forces, the pair of wounded enforcers level their stub pistols, each taking aim for the person who had only moments before wounded them.
The trio of bullets launched at Zimm go wide of the naturally agile assassin.
Grinning over the vicious gunshot he had just leveled, Caius is caught offguard, and lacking both his armor and shield. The countering enforcer snaps of a blast of fire, and the bullets strike multiple times against his chest. One of the bullets resounds a sickening crunch as his shatters through ribs, and the former arbite is thrown backward through the air, his vitals spewing our both his mouth and the vicious wound. His body lands in a crumple on the ground, most certainly dead.
Only a moment later, the truck driven by Julien and Ptah screeches around the corner of the building. Havelock, Zimm, Naltos, Balthasar, and Yelisaveta now find themselves standing with a pair of enforcers and the torched bar in front of them, and the truck with their allies only a few meters to their right.
Havelock, having seen Caiuses fate, and not wishing to share it, leg it over to the truck, dashing into cover there.
Zimm rolls to the side to avoid the enforcer's volley, then is on her feet in an instant, charging forward, her mono-bastard sword in hand...
Unaccustomed to the martial prowess of a skilled swordswoman, the enforcer is ill prepared for Zimm's sudden charge. The brutal swing of her blade takes off much of the man's nose before shattering his cheekbone, sending him to the group in a broken heap.
Nalthos shuffles forward his abnormal gait slowing his advance.
Ptah calls out to the newly located allies, "Into the vehicle, as soon as you're able."
He then takes a shot at the nearest enforcer. Again, he misses.
Despite his cruel execution of your arbite moments before, witnessinf his last colleague be brutally cut down by your feral swordswoman causes the final enforcer turns abruptly to flee with all haste. Only inches from both Zimm and the now closed Naltos, he leaves his guard down, putting all his attention to his speed, and in doing so draws blows from both men.
Seeing the lone enforcer in the hands of his allies, Brother Balthasar offers a brief blessing over his fallen comrade. Taking the ident tag from around the arbite's neck, he hurries over to the truck. Moving with him, Yelisaveta turns and bolts for the truck, leaping up into the bed before turning her pistol back in the direction of potential danger. Julien hollers out the window, "Come on, let's go!"
Zimm smiles as the man attempts to flee, but the desperation of his flight takes her by surprise, her sword whistling by the back of his head by inches...
Leaning out from behind the truck, Havelock frowns, not caring to allow an enemy to fall back like that.
Taking steady aim, he sights down the barrel of his long las and squeezes the trigger.
The fleeing enforcer, already suffering from two gunshot wounds that were Caius' last act as a servant of the Emperor, struggles to hurry down the street away from your company. As Havelock lowers his compact long-las and takes aim, his calculating mind draws in the details. The energy pulse that leaps from his barrel covers the distance in less than a heartbeat and burns through the tattered remains of the enforcer's armor, just below his left shoulder blade. The man takes two more steps in stride before crashing to the stone ground, never to move again.
Zimm and Naltos stand before the bar with it's door barricaded, flames and screams leaping out through the small ventilation windows. At their feet are the corpses of the other enforcer, and their fallen ally, the arbite Caius. Julien and Ptah occupy the front cab of the truck, with Havelock and Brother Balthasar in the truck's bed.
In the distance a siren sounds, and other miners are exiting buildings, trying to find the source of the commotion. From the back of the truck, Brother Balthasar calls to Zimm and Naltos, "The Emperor has gifted us this brief break, we need to move from this place and regroup. Come brethren."
"The proverbial hornets nest has been stirred.
However, it is unlikely that anyone who have seen us will survive.
We still have a certain element of anonymity in play.
Assuming of course that we can disappear for the time being."
Nalthhos picks up Caius' body taking about as much effort as a normal man would use to pick up a sleeping child. He would not allow them any opportunity to defile or profane his corpse. He then lurches with renewed speed towards the vehicle.
Zimm seems to be caught in a moment of reflection, looking down at the body before her feet. Touching the blood escaping the corpse, she traces the sign of the Aquila on the dead enforcer's face. Rising, she darts toward the truck and leaps into the bed alongside her companions. Brother Balthasar bangs on the back rail of the cab and shouts,"Let's go!"
Julien guns the engine and cuts the wheel, causing the tires to briefly spin before catching traction. The cargo vehicle rumbles across the chamber and makes its way toward the exit. Crossing into the tunnel, Julien hollers back, "Seems like that did not go as planned. Have to imagine they will be on to us momentarily, eh? Perhaps we should think about getting out of here?"
Havelock begins to go through what he knows about the installation, trying to figure out where safest place to retreat to could be.
"I have analyzed the situation.
It is my recommendation that we retreat fully, as we have little chance of sustaining an internal retreat for long.
We would thus need to find a way to contact the pilot in orbit.
We would also require sufficient gathering of evidence to prove a chaos incursion.
The recording of the chaos tattoo on the foreman is insufficient evidence."
"We would need to enter the communications central as well as the administratum hub near the entrance we arrived at.
We could split some people of at the hangar to the communications array, however while it could speed up toe process, it would also be hazardous."
"I am not a leader, nor do I aspire to such a position, someone else will have to make the decision based on the fact presented."
"It is likely that we may be able to gather evidence to facilitate a further investigation somewhere else, which we would likely be put in charge of as well."
"Fortunately, this very tunnel will take us to the hangar, where both the administratum hub and the array can be found."
"Understood. The far-speaking spirits should prove easy to return to the path of the Machine God's infinite logic, corrupted by traitors as they may be. I can accomplish that task, if some with more muscle can accompany me."
Yelisaveta slaps Ptah on the shoulder, "Getting the comms up, if they're out at all, should be easy. I mean, they clearly deliver their mined goods to someone, so I doubt that they would eliminate their method of communication. Now, the security protocols in their adminstrative chambers? That's something more suitable for your expert skills. Balthy, Jules, would you two be dolls and escort me to the comms hub?" Balthasar slaps a fresh magazine into his armageddon autogun, drawing back the action to cycle a round into the chamber. "Consider it done, Lady. I am happy to serve His justice down up them.,"
It occurs to Havelock that if something were to happen at the communications array, the people going there would be cut off from the hangar, whereas the people in the administratum hub might be able to retreat to the hangar.
Again, as he did not aspire to a leadership position, he wondered what someone else might say if it came down to a choice between atempting to extract the array team, or to retreat and fulfill the mission, even with 50% causalities.
Causalities were already at 12.5% which he suspected would be considered..."acceptable" by their handlers.
50%? Possibly less so, but if the mission was done, possibly not.
In the end, throne agents were...expendable.
Nalthos Don's his armour once more. "I imagine the machine spirits of the microbead will not be able to carry our voices that far? I would suggest a full group of us going to the array lest we get sumped down for lack of firepower."
"The downside being that if we focus on only that, we risk being unable to secure enough evidence in the meantime to succeed in our mission.
We are...expendable, the mission is not."
"Very well, I will go wherever is deemed most dangerous if no other factor determines my location."
Yelisaveta looks coyly at Naltos. "Hey, big lad. Don't you worry about little old me. I am more than capable of working the vox system to reach our pilot, and I am sure that our clergyman can keep an eye on my backside-" she gestures to Brother Balthasar.
Julien pulls the truck up short, slamming on the breaks. As the truck shrieks to a halt, Julien swings his legs to the side and jumps down out of the driver's seat. "Well then lords and ladies, we'll be up off this tunnel to the lift to the comms array. We'll meet you at the gates to the landing pad." Brother Balthasar and Yelisaveta both descend off the back of the truck, following Julien into the side tunnel to the aforementioned lift.
Havelock, Naltos, Ptah, and Zimm, you find yourselves sitting in the idling truck, a short distance up tunnel from an emergence into the large cargo hangar that leads to both the landing pad and administrative offices.