A humanoid figure drifted between the two ships. He wore a space suit of surveyor fooling material the colour of the void. His heat exchangers were shut down and the suit was as well insulated as one would expect a space suit to be.
Corpses from shattered boarding pods drifted past him. He passed through an expanding haze of frozen blood particles. The hull of the Iron Claw loomed ahead. He had timed his leap correctly and did not need to trigger maneuvering jets again. He bent his knees and prepaired for impact.
A shudder ran up his body as he hit hull. The magnetic boots prevented him from bouncing away. Keyes began to walk. He had some distance to travel before he reentered the ship and wrecked havoc.
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A las beam flashed through the air and the grenade launcher in Jolan Gix's hands exploded into molten fragments. The inquisitor didn't waste breath cursing. He dropped the remnants of the weapon as bullets bounced off his armour and drew his bolt pistol.
A large pool of flame was burning beneath them and the screams of the damned were rising from the floor. Domina had burned dozens before spraying the catwalks with clinging, hell hot flames. She had redirected her flamer back down to the lower levels, burning up another cluster of pirates. Trickles of liquid fire leaked down from the grating to the floor, creating new puddles of flame.
Smoke was filling the air, which was shimmering from the heat, but those were not obstacles to those who were wearing power armour. Gix put two bolts into the chest of the nearest pirate, causing his ribcage to explode in a shower blood and gore. The inquisitor made a sweeping motion and the power of the warp knocked a dozen pirates off the catwalks down the lake of fire filling half the floor eight meters below. They screamed briefly on the way down.
With the catwalks cleared Gix shifted his attention to the floor. Domina had set down her empty flamer and was in the process of detaching her empty fuel packs. Jolan opened a replacement drum for the grenade launcher that was attached to the side of his armour.
Grenades flew out of the drum, saturating the remaing parts of the floor not covered in flame. A long and loud string of cracks filled the air with shrapnel and blood. Domina's bolt pistol barked and a wounded man fell to the deck that was now lined with the maimed and the dead. "I think that is enough," said Gix. "We have bigger fish to fry."
"Yes Inquisitor," she replied steadily. Jolan headed towards the bow. The schematics that Gard had given him based on the Eternal Will's surveyor scans indicated there was another boarding section in the next bay.
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There were few men aboard the Iron Claw more violent and cruel than Sevestios N'rake. When he and his two cronies shouldered their way to the front of the boarding corridor, no one opposed them with anything more serious than curses and grumblings. The trio were deadly, well armed, and foul tempered. They were also widely known to be almost supernaturally tough. That was because they were no longer merely men.
N'rake had an erratic psychic gift and that had caught up with him after a particularily heavy drinking bout portside. A daemon of the warp had managed to slip in and make its way home. N'rake had become more volatile and powerful after that. He had also covertly overpowered his friends and drawn runes on their flesh with his knife, bringing two more daemons over.
They were not mighty daemons, but already they were beginning to warp their host bodies. The human vessels, which only contained a flicker of their original occupants within, were beginning to fail under the strain of hosting even comparatively minor warp entities. They intended to use their time well. They would rape, torture, kill, maim, and torment where they could and before they were finished they would lay claim to new bodies so they continue their revels in the world of flesh. Such exquisite delights awaited them within the Eternal Will. They could scarcely contain themselves.
The cutting lasers switched off and the hydraulic rams smashed the cut away chunk of the hull into the ship. The daemons lead the pirates into the Eternal Will, howling with glee. The orgy of slaughter was about to begin again.
In Memoria (40K)
Moderator: LadyTevar
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
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- Location: The Tower at Charm
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 11978
- Joined: 2004-08-19 04:30am
- Location: The Tower at Charm
Danell Keys opened the panel, grabbed the manual control and twisted. Nothing. The pirates either failed to go through the usual maintenance rituals or had deliberately disabled it. The assassin opened his tool pouch and withdrew a scapel-like power blade. He sliced through the metal around the manual override handle to expose the circuitry behind it. Now it was just a matter of . . . ah. The gloves made his hands clumsy, but he managed to splice the wires together. The door cycled open. He hit the close button once inside. It locked behind him.
The inner airlock door was massive and armoured. Nothing short of a purestrain genestealer would have a chance of penetrating that door. At most, the door could slow Danell Keys. It cycled open. Two men were there with bell mouthed flechette launchers. Everything seemed so slow.
Keys shot them both in the face with his hellpistol. Eye searing scarlet beams bored through their faces and blew their brains out the back of their skulls in a jet of reddish steam and bone chips. Grenades bounched from the assassin's hand to either side of the corridor. The door finished opening. Razor edged shrapnel filled the hall.
Keys unsealed his helmet and tossed it aside. He pulled his hood over his head and his visor of black armourplast locked into place. Choke gas from one of his grenades filled the corridor and trickled into the airlock as the assassin ditched the last of his space suit and resecured his weapons to his suit. Keys stepped over the bodies and began to go hunting.
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Shala Nofield's vox spoke. "Forced entry in Deck Three, Section Kappa," said a bland voice of a servitor.
"Move!" she shouted to the men and servitors behind her. To be fair, the commissar had long legs and was wearing less armour and carrying less gear than the stormtroopers. A breastplate protected her torso and flak armoured uniform and storm coat made up the rest of her protection along with photoblock contacts and filter plugs. She raised her bolt pistol. "For the Emperor!"
"The Emperor!" the half dozen human troops following her roared back. The combat servitors said nothing, having had even the capacity for faith stripped from their brains. Batista Vonnil trailed behind them, robes flapping around his stick like form.
"Intruders moving to Deck Three, Section Zeta."
They were close now. "Bioscanner!" she barked.
"Boarders closing commissar," said the trooper with the bioscanner. His voice was cllipped and cold. "Estimate two score."
"Set up in that cross junction ahead. Servitors in the center, everyone else hug wall." The armoured flesh of the combat servitors clanked ahead as the humans hurriedly took cover.
"Distance?"
"Thirty meters and closing commissar."
"Servitors alpha-sigma-gamma," she ordered. Scanning beams tied into targetting systems were activated and ammo loaders cycled. She had four servitors with her, two armed with heavy stubbers and flamers, and two armed with doubled barrelled, rapid fire assault lases mounted on crushing hands and chain blades in their other arms. Both were heavily armoured.
"Commissar!" screamed Batista. He had fallen well behind the running soldiers. "Commissar there is-"
The entity that had once been Sevestios N'rake came around the corner with his possessee comrades just behind. "Fire!" she yelled. Hellbeams and 13mm slugs filed the corridor. Several struck the possessees. Flesh was blasted away and holes blown completely through their bodies. Then came the wind of fire as the flamers opened up.
The daemon flame died inches from N'rake. His eyes glowed with emerald light. The other pirates hesitated to follow in their wake, as terrorfied of their 'comrades' as the Imperials were. Bleeding from a half dozen fatal wounds each, the daemons closed.
Nofield's bolt pistol barked in the pale woman's hand. N'rake fell in a spray of blood, bone, and flesh, his right thigh blown apart by the bolt impact. "The Golden Throne!" Nofield shouted as she touched the activation rune on her chainsword and trained her bolt pistol on the next possessee. "The Emperor protects!" The bolter barked in her hand. Meaty chunks of the possessee's ribcage flew through the air as bolter shells tore its chest apart and staggered it. It still came. Hell beams blasted craters in its limbs and torso. It did not fall.
Nofield brought the chain blade down on its skull. It parried with its left hand. It should have barely slowed the descent of the blade. Instead a few strips of flesh went flying off as it deflected the blade. "Your Corpse God is not here," it said. "I am." Bayonets punctured its belly and left thigh. They broke off as forced itself foreward and seized the commissar's wrists. "Shall I share pleasure or pain with you before you die?"
The inner airlock door was massive and armoured. Nothing short of a purestrain genestealer would have a chance of penetrating that door. At most, the door could slow Danell Keys. It cycled open. Two men were there with bell mouthed flechette launchers. Everything seemed so slow.
Keys shot them both in the face with his hellpistol. Eye searing scarlet beams bored through their faces and blew their brains out the back of their skulls in a jet of reddish steam and bone chips. Grenades bounched from the assassin's hand to either side of the corridor. The door finished opening. Razor edged shrapnel filled the hall.
Keys unsealed his helmet and tossed it aside. He pulled his hood over his head and his visor of black armourplast locked into place. Choke gas from one of his grenades filled the corridor and trickled into the airlock as the assassin ditched the last of his space suit and resecured his weapons to his suit. Keys stepped over the bodies and began to go hunting.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shala Nofield's vox spoke. "Forced entry in Deck Three, Section Kappa," said a bland voice of a servitor.
"Move!" she shouted to the men and servitors behind her. To be fair, the commissar had long legs and was wearing less armour and carrying less gear than the stormtroopers. A breastplate protected her torso and flak armoured uniform and storm coat made up the rest of her protection along with photoblock contacts and filter plugs. She raised her bolt pistol. "For the Emperor!"
"The Emperor!" the half dozen human troops following her roared back. The combat servitors said nothing, having had even the capacity for faith stripped from their brains. Batista Vonnil trailed behind them, robes flapping around his stick like form.
"Intruders moving to Deck Three, Section Zeta."
They were close now. "Bioscanner!" she barked.
"Boarders closing commissar," said the trooper with the bioscanner. His voice was cllipped and cold. "Estimate two score."
"Set up in that cross junction ahead. Servitors in the center, everyone else hug wall." The armoured flesh of the combat servitors clanked ahead as the humans hurriedly took cover.
"Distance?"
"Thirty meters and closing commissar."
"Servitors alpha-sigma-gamma," she ordered. Scanning beams tied into targetting systems were activated and ammo loaders cycled. She had four servitors with her, two armed with heavy stubbers and flamers, and two armed with doubled barrelled, rapid fire assault lases mounted on crushing hands and chain blades in their other arms. Both were heavily armoured.
"Commissar!" screamed Batista. He had fallen well behind the running soldiers. "Commissar there is-"
The entity that had once been Sevestios N'rake came around the corner with his possessee comrades just behind. "Fire!" she yelled. Hellbeams and 13mm slugs filed the corridor. Several struck the possessees. Flesh was blasted away and holes blown completely through their bodies. Then came the wind of fire as the flamers opened up.
The daemon flame died inches from N'rake. His eyes glowed with emerald light. The other pirates hesitated to follow in their wake, as terrorfied of their 'comrades' as the Imperials were. Bleeding from a half dozen fatal wounds each, the daemons closed.
Nofield's bolt pistol barked in the pale woman's hand. N'rake fell in a spray of blood, bone, and flesh, his right thigh blown apart by the bolt impact. "The Golden Throne!" Nofield shouted as she touched the activation rune on her chainsword and trained her bolt pistol on the next possessee. "The Emperor protects!" The bolter barked in her hand. Meaty chunks of the possessee's ribcage flew through the air as bolter shells tore its chest apart and staggered it. It still came. Hell beams blasted craters in its limbs and torso. It did not fall.
Nofield brought the chain blade down on its skull. It parried with its left hand. It should have barely slowed the descent of the blade. Instead a few strips of flesh went flying off as it deflected the blade. "Your Corpse God is not here," it said. "I am." Bayonets punctured its belly and left thigh. They broke off as forced itself foreward and seized the commissar's wrists. "Shall I share pleasure or pain with you before you die?"
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Imperial Overlord
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"Captain Steel!" came the shout from an operator wired into the ship's internal communication system. His jaw and ears had been replaced with interface units and a voicoder. Cables connected him to the bank of machines he attended. "We have been boarded!"
"Where?!" Jengal Steel roared.
"Section nine, port docking corridors. Our boarding force has been destroyed."
"I had more than a hundred men there! How the hells- teleporter!" he snarled. "What hit us?"
"Reports indicate it was a squad of Space Marines!"
Jengal Steel's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in panic. "Marines?! Get every man and every heavy weapon down there and kill them! Every available man! Now!"
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A score of pirates ran down the corridor, driven by fear. They wore makeshift armour and carried a multitude of different weapons. They had been told they had been boarded, but not by what. There captain had sent them to die and buy time for the rest of the defences to be set up, so that his crew would have a chance against the terrible Astartes he believed coming and to save his miserable lifte. They were tough, hard men, survivors all, steeped in bloodshed and violence. Their souls were stained by rapes, thefts, murder, and countless cruelties great and small.
Jolan Gix felt them come, saw the glitter of their tainted souls through the warp as his armour's autosenses registered the stink of their bodies and the sound of their footfalls. Domina switched the clip of her bolt pistol, loading Metal Storm rounds to shred closely packed flesh in tight quarters.
A pipe was dripping overhead. A bead of water froze as it fell, shattering on the deck. Domina felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and a tingle pass through her fingers. Jolan Gix stepped ahead of her, heading towards the next corridor intersection.
His conversion field flashed as las beams and bullets struck him. The front ranks of the pirates had opened up and many of those killers possessed enviable reflexes. Several of them dived for the deck, getting out of the line of fire and opening fire lanes for their comrades behind them.
Jolan unleashed the power he had gathered. A wave of green fire rushed down the corridor. Flesh was blackened and bodies were lifted up and thrown backwards and against the walls, ceiling, and floor with enough force to break bones. The mass of burning, tumbling pirates were able to scream as their blood boiled, their flesh charred, and their organs ruptured. And then it was over. The bodies of burned pirates carpeted part of the hallway.
"They are organizing resistance," Domina said, crushing a ribcage under her boot.
"Yes," said Gix. "Their attention is focused on us, as I wished."
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The daemon holding Nofield spasmed and released her wrists as it released a high, keening screech as it tumbled back. "I will place fire worms in your living brain!" it cursed. Batista Vonnil struck it again with another lance of telepathic force.
Another daemon ripped claws through the armour of a servitor, tearing out synthetic guts and oil power cables. The servitor sagged as oil and slime coated the possessed warriors hand and sprayed over its body. Another servitor reached out and clenched the daemon's arm with bone crushing force. It withstood that. Then the servitor brought the chain blade that made up its other arm down. Strips of flesh and bone chips flew a mono edged adamantine blades ripped through even warp toughened flesh.
N'rake lashed out blindly, clipping the helmet of a stormtrooper who had moved up to assist Nofield. His hand tore through the trooper's visor, missing his eyes by centimeters. The stormtrooper didn't flinch, instead putting three bolts into the daemon's right shoulder, blasting the arm out of the shocket in a spray of bloody mist.
The third daemon knocked N'rake out of the way and slashed open stormtrooper's throat with a huge knife. Nofield swung her chainsword and dissembowled the possessee. She retreated as the daemon came at her and then tripped, getting tangled up in its own entrails.
Nofield fired her bolt pistol into its face. The first round destroyed its cheeks and jaw bones, splattering her in gore. The next blew open the front of its skull, the third destroyed what remained of its brain, and the fourth blew out the back of its skull.
Her troopers tossed choke and frag grenades into the midst of the charging pirates, but that wasn't going to stop them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the remaining daemon get blasted in two by a krak grenade from a grenade launcher. A bolt from her pistol turned the inside of the closest pirate's chest to pulp. He fell, but they kept coming and then her world vanished into a haze of pain.
"Where?!" Jengal Steel roared.
"Section nine, port docking corridors. Our boarding force has been destroyed."
"I had more than a hundred men there! How the hells- teleporter!" he snarled. "What hit us?"
"Reports indicate it was a squad of Space Marines!"
Jengal Steel's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in panic. "Marines?! Get every man and every heavy weapon down there and kill them! Every available man! Now!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A score of pirates ran down the corridor, driven by fear. They wore makeshift armour and carried a multitude of different weapons. They had been told they had been boarded, but not by what. There captain had sent them to die and buy time for the rest of the defences to be set up, so that his crew would have a chance against the terrible Astartes he believed coming and to save his miserable lifte. They were tough, hard men, survivors all, steeped in bloodshed and violence. Their souls were stained by rapes, thefts, murder, and countless cruelties great and small.
Jolan Gix felt them come, saw the glitter of their tainted souls through the warp as his armour's autosenses registered the stink of their bodies and the sound of their footfalls. Domina switched the clip of her bolt pistol, loading Metal Storm rounds to shred closely packed flesh in tight quarters.
A pipe was dripping overhead. A bead of water froze as it fell, shattering on the deck. Domina felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and a tingle pass through her fingers. Jolan Gix stepped ahead of her, heading towards the next corridor intersection.
His conversion field flashed as las beams and bullets struck him. The front ranks of the pirates had opened up and many of those killers possessed enviable reflexes. Several of them dived for the deck, getting out of the line of fire and opening fire lanes for their comrades behind them.
Jolan unleashed the power he had gathered. A wave of green fire rushed down the corridor. Flesh was blackened and bodies were lifted up and thrown backwards and against the walls, ceiling, and floor with enough force to break bones. The mass of burning, tumbling pirates were able to scream as their blood boiled, their flesh charred, and their organs ruptured. And then it was over. The bodies of burned pirates carpeted part of the hallway.
"They are organizing resistance," Domina said, crushing a ribcage under her boot.
"Yes," said Gix. "Their attention is focused on us, as I wished."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The daemon holding Nofield spasmed and released her wrists as it released a high, keening screech as it tumbled back. "I will place fire worms in your living brain!" it cursed. Batista Vonnil struck it again with another lance of telepathic force.
Another daemon ripped claws through the armour of a servitor, tearing out synthetic guts and oil power cables. The servitor sagged as oil and slime coated the possessed warriors hand and sprayed over its body. Another servitor reached out and clenched the daemon's arm with bone crushing force. It withstood that. Then the servitor brought the chain blade that made up its other arm down. Strips of flesh and bone chips flew a mono edged adamantine blades ripped through even warp toughened flesh.
N'rake lashed out blindly, clipping the helmet of a stormtrooper who had moved up to assist Nofield. His hand tore through the trooper's visor, missing his eyes by centimeters. The stormtrooper didn't flinch, instead putting three bolts into the daemon's right shoulder, blasting the arm out of the shocket in a spray of bloody mist.
The third daemon knocked N'rake out of the way and slashed open stormtrooper's throat with a huge knife. Nofield swung her chainsword and dissembowled the possessee. She retreated as the daemon came at her and then tripped, getting tangled up in its own entrails.
Nofield fired her bolt pistol into its face. The first round destroyed its cheeks and jaw bones, splattering her in gore. The next blew open the front of its skull, the third destroyed what remained of its brain, and the fourth blew out the back of its skull.
Her troopers tossed choke and frag grenades into the midst of the charging pirates, but that wasn't going to stop them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the remaining daemon get blasted in two by a krak grenade from a grenade launcher. A bolt from her pistol turned the inside of the closest pirate's chest to pulp. He fell, but they kept coming and then her world vanished into a haze of pain.
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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GeneralTacticus
- Jedi Knight
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
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- Location: The Tower at Charm
Batista's psychic blast knocked half the stormtroopers in hand to hand combat unconcious. The daemons and the pirates who were the target of the blast took it harder. Three died on the spot from bursting arteries and half dozen more fell twitching to the deck. The wounded daemon occupying the mangled body of N'rake stood still as a statue. Other pirates clutched their heads and groaned.
The stormtroopers didn't have to be told twice to take advantage of the situation. They cut loose with hellguns, flamers, and grenades launchers. Concussive blasts ruptured organs, shrapnel ripped open veins and atreties, fire burned skin and flesh, and hellbeams snuffed lives. For a full thirty seconds there was intensive firing. Then there was silence.
The stormtroopers advanced with hot gun barrels to where their comrades lay. They double tapped pirates in the head and carried their comrades free. "She's alive," said the vox altered voice of Sergeant Kisbad. "Commissar, can you hear me?" He gave her a shake.
Shala's eyes fluttered open. "Waaa." She looked blankly, her eyes swimming and trying to focus. They she gazed into the sergeant's visor. "Report," she croaked.
"Enemy boarding party accounted for," said Kisbad.
"Good. Status of other boarders?"
"Dead commissar."
"Good. Vox the report to Sergeant D'eckor."
"Yes ma'am." He switched over to the vox channel as Nofield shackily got to her feat. Stormtroopers handed her her weapons. She checked them and reloaded as Kisbad made his report. "Ma'am."
"Yes?"
"Sergeant D'eckor is ceding command of the ship's defences to you."
"What in the name of the warp?"
"He says he's acting as per Inquisitor Gix's instructions."
"Very well. Get me a report of ship's status and enemy activity immediately."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gard Vikal looked up from the instrument panel. "I don't think this is what the inquisitor had in mind."
"That's true," said Hethor. "Your point?"
"That just perhaps we should obey the inquisitor's orders?"
"We are. I'm in charge. I see an opportunity and I'm taking it. The inquisitor left me in charge because he knows to let me make these kind of decisions. So warm up the teleporter. Me and the boys are going to do some damage."
"As you wish sergeant." The big veteran left the control room and joined his men in the teleporter room. One heavily reinforced squad of some of the toughest men the Imperial Guard produced, armed to the teeth and carrying more than their share of high explosives.
"Hurry up and zap us," Gard growled over the vox. There was a flash and then sixteen men were hurled through the nightmare of the warp, encased in a protective bubble. Their journey lasted only a moment.
The Imperial soldiers materialized in a vast gallery. It was deserted, except for a few servitors servicing machinery. Huge elevators served to carry ammunition to the breaches of enormous guns on the upper levels. Stacks of shells were piled on the lower levels.
The gun crews had been stripped for boarding parties, damage control, and to stop Gix. "Demo, set up the meltas. Make sure to give us enough time. Lets end this thing winner and alive, eh?"
His soldiers laughed and went to work. Gix might be able to win through or not. If he did then everything was fine. If not, Hethor was going to take the opportunity to blow every gun deck, power line, and shield generator he could get to while the pirates were bleeding themselves white against Gix. If it came down to another ship duel, Hethor was sure as hell going to stack the odds now while he could do something about it.
The stormtroopers didn't have to be told twice to take advantage of the situation. They cut loose with hellguns, flamers, and grenades launchers. Concussive blasts ruptured organs, shrapnel ripped open veins and atreties, fire burned skin and flesh, and hellbeams snuffed lives. For a full thirty seconds there was intensive firing. Then there was silence.
The stormtroopers advanced with hot gun barrels to where their comrades lay. They double tapped pirates in the head and carried their comrades free. "She's alive," said the vox altered voice of Sergeant Kisbad. "Commissar, can you hear me?" He gave her a shake.
Shala's eyes fluttered open. "Waaa." She looked blankly, her eyes swimming and trying to focus. They she gazed into the sergeant's visor. "Report," she croaked.
"Enemy boarding party accounted for," said Kisbad.
"Good. Status of other boarders?"
"Dead commissar."
"Good. Vox the report to Sergeant D'eckor."
"Yes ma'am." He switched over to the vox channel as Nofield shackily got to her feat. Stormtroopers handed her her weapons. She checked them and reloaded as Kisbad made his report. "Ma'am."
"Yes?"
"Sergeant D'eckor is ceding command of the ship's defences to you."
"What in the name of the warp?"
"He says he's acting as per Inquisitor Gix's instructions."
"Very well. Get me a report of ship's status and enemy activity immediately."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gard Vikal looked up from the instrument panel. "I don't think this is what the inquisitor had in mind."
"That's true," said Hethor. "Your point?"
"That just perhaps we should obey the inquisitor's orders?"
"We are. I'm in charge. I see an opportunity and I'm taking it. The inquisitor left me in charge because he knows to let me make these kind of decisions. So warm up the teleporter. Me and the boys are going to do some damage."
"As you wish sergeant." The big veteran left the control room and joined his men in the teleporter room. One heavily reinforced squad of some of the toughest men the Imperial Guard produced, armed to the teeth and carrying more than their share of high explosives.
"Hurry up and zap us," Gard growled over the vox. There was a flash and then sixteen men were hurled through the nightmare of the warp, encased in a protective bubble. Their journey lasted only a moment.
The Imperial soldiers materialized in a vast gallery. It was deserted, except for a few servitors servicing machinery. Huge elevators served to carry ammunition to the breaches of enormous guns on the upper levels. Stacks of shells were piled on the lower levels.
The gun crews had been stripped for boarding parties, damage control, and to stop Gix. "Demo, set up the meltas. Make sure to give us enough time. Lets end this thing winner and alive, eh?"
His soldiers laughed and went to work. Gix might be able to win through or not. If he did then everything was fine. If not, Hethor was going to take the opportunity to blow every gun deck, power line, and shield generator he could get to while the pirates were bleeding themselves white against Gix. If it came down to another ship duel, Hethor was sure as hell going to stack the odds now while he could do something about it.
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
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- Location: The Tower at Charm
A loud crack resounded down the long hallway, followed quickly be two more. The bolter shells raced through the air at supersonic speed before striking their targets clustered behind bulwarks of thick steel plate. The first shell struck a pirate wearing a steel breastplate over leather. The shell punched through and blew his intestines, spleen, and stomach into paste. Blood blasted out the wound and the pirate toppled.
The second shell passed through the first rank and struck a scrawny killer with filed teeth in the right arm, just below the shoulder. The limb was severed in a spray of blood. The third shell shredded a huge marauder's heart and lungs. Las beams and bullets flashed through the air in retaliation.
Domina ducked back around the corner, a bullet ringing off her shoulder plate. "I believe they intend to defend the lift junction vigorously inquisitor."
"I concur," said Jolan. "How are you for ammunition?"
"A little under half," she replied. "One clip Kraken, the others a mix of standard and Metal Storm."
Jolan passed her one of his magazines. "Standard," he said.
"Thank you inquisitor."
"You're welcome sister." Jolan checked the data from Domina's autosenses to double check range and then tossed three frag grenades looted from pirate bodies. His telekinesis picked them up and sent them over the improvised barricades to detonate with a series of loud bangs. Screams echoed down the hall.
"We need to move quicky inquisitor or more will move up and trap us in between them."
"Go to fast and we find ourselves on the recieving end of a melta or an autocannon," Jolan replied. "Timing is everything."
He peaked around the corner. Las beams and heavy slugs flew his way. His converstion field flashed as it converted the impact energy into light. The first barricade was splattered with blood and strewn with bodies. The second barricade was firing and some big guns were being brought his way.
Psychic frost formed on the metal a moment before the slabs of armour thrust themselves back ten meters without regard for the men hiding behind them. Bone was smashed into splinters and flesh became hamburger as unfeeling steel was propelled towards the lifts at high velocity.
A few pirates had managed to get partially out of the way. The stunned lay panting on the deck next to the moaning wounded. The struggled to regain their bearings and their feet. A pair of bolt pistols barked out rounds for several moments as the wounded were finished off.
Gix's vox channel crackled on. "D'eckor here. We have boarded the pirate vessel and met minimal resistance." The crack and hiss of rapid firing hellguns was clearly audible. "We're conductin' demo operations on enemy batteries. And killin' the dead."
Jolan smiled. "Continue. Gix out." He addressed Domina. "Time to find another way."
"What?"
"The lift shafts are booby trapped, or will be. These men were just cannon fodder. We find a different route." Not that that was important. Jolan and Domina were really here to kill the enemy and act as a distraction of Danell Keys. So far everything was going according to plan. Not bad for a three minutes special.
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"Commissar Nofield," hissed her vox, "please come in."
"Nofield here," Shala replied. She was half soaked in gore and bruised in more places than she cared to think about. "What is going on captain?"
"I regret to inform that another wave of enemy boarders is on its way. Two boarding pods and approximately forty men in vac suits with reaction packs."
"Alert all crew to stand by to repell boarders. Keep a data feed active to me. I need to know where those boarding parties land."
"Yes commissar."
Shala turned to her men. "The Emperor has sent us more heretics to kill. Shall we thank him for that?"
"Yes commissar!" came the answering shout.
"For the Emperor!" she yelled.
"The Emperor!" her men roared back. With such lions as these with her, what could stand against them?
The second shell passed through the first rank and struck a scrawny killer with filed teeth in the right arm, just below the shoulder. The limb was severed in a spray of blood. The third shell shredded a huge marauder's heart and lungs. Las beams and bullets flashed through the air in retaliation.
Domina ducked back around the corner, a bullet ringing off her shoulder plate. "I believe they intend to defend the lift junction vigorously inquisitor."
"I concur," said Jolan. "How are you for ammunition?"
"A little under half," she replied. "One clip Kraken, the others a mix of standard and Metal Storm."
Jolan passed her one of his magazines. "Standard," he said.
"Thank you inquisitor."
"You're welcome sister." Jolan checked the data from Domina's autosenses to double check range and then tossed three frag grenades looted from pirate bodies. His telekinesis picked them up and sent them over the improvised barricades to detonate with a series of loud bangs. Screams echoed down the hall.
"We need to move quicky inquisitor or more will move up and trap us in between them."
"Go to fast and we find ourselves on the recieving end of a melta or an autocannon," Jolan replied. "Timing is everything."
He peaked around the corner. Las beams and heavy slugs flew his way. His converstion field flashed as it converted the impact energy into light. The first barricade was splattered with blood and strewn with bodies. The second barricade was firing and some big guns were being brought his way.
Psychic frost formed on the metal a moment before the slabs of armour thrust themselves back ten meters without regard for the men hiding behind them. Bone was smashed into splinters and flesh became hamburger as unfeeling steel was propelled towards the lifts at high velocity.
A few pirates had managed to get partially out of the way. The stunned lay panting on the deck next to the moaning wounded. The struggled to regain their bearings and their feet. A pair of bolt pistols barked out rounds for several moments as the wounded were finished off.
Gix's vox channel crackled on. "D'eckor here. We have boarded the pirate vessel and met minimal resistance." The crack and hiss of rapid firing hellguns was clearly audible. "We're conductin' demo operations on enemy batteries. And killin' the dead."
Jolan smiled. "Continue. Gix out." He addressed Domina. "Time to find another way."
"What?"
"The lift shafts are booby trapped, or will be. These men were just cannon fodder. We find a different route." Not that that was important. Jolan and Domina were really here to kill the enemy and act as a distraction of Danell Keys. So far everything was going according to plan. Not bad for a three minutes special.
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"Commissar Nofield," hissed her vox, "please come in."
"Nofield here," Shala replied. She was half soaked in gore and bruised in more places than she cared to think about. "What is going on captain?"
"I regret to inform that another wave of enemy boarders is on its way. Two boarding pods and approximately forty men in vac suits with reaction packs."
"Alert all crew to stand by to repell boarders. Keep a data feed active to me. I need to know where those boarding parties land."
"Yes commissar."
Shala turned to her men. "The Emperor has sent us more heretics to kill. Shall we thank him for that?"
"Yes commissar!" came the answering shout.
"For the Emperor!" she yelled.
"The Emperor!" her men roared back. With such lions as these with her, what could stand against them?
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
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Jolan raised the autogun to his shoulder and fired rapid single shots down the corridor. The pirate who had originally possessed the weapon had owned a good weapon. The magazine held a twenty four ten milimeter bullets double stacked. The recoil supressors were probably pretty good, but superflous. Jolan's power armour gave him more than enough strength and mass to control the weapon's recoil.
Gix hit one pirate in the shoulder and drove several others back into cover. Jolan fired off the rest of the clip before reloading. "They're tenacious," Jolan said. "You would think after so many dead they would have lost some of their enthusiasm."
"They fear their lord," said Domina. "They tremble but still fight. If they fought for love of the Emperor, then we would be hard pressed. But we are the righteous," she intoned. "Cover me inquisitor," she said, hefting her captured flamer.
Jolan went back around the corner. He fired at the pirates where they huddled in cover in adjoinging corridors. Laser and bullets whizzed back. The conversion field flashed blindingly bright as it absorbed hits. Lasers pitted his armour and bullets bounced off. The yawning maw of a melta gun was pointed at him.
The gunner screamed and dropped the weapon as fire consumed him and the pirate next to him. Slugs flattened themselves on Domina's armour as the Sister of Battle sent bursts of flames at the pirates. Jolan advanced with her, putting bullets into any pirate that moved. Hopefully, Danell was making good use of the distraction.
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The assassin checked his auspex, confirming the absent of nearby pirates, and slid ahead. Jolan and Domina had left a bloody trail through the ship, which served to clear his path. He walked around the pools of sticky blood and into the lift junction chamber. Here lifts went up into the command and communication towers of the ship.
They had been locked down and trapped, of course. Keys climbed the wall, placed a melta bomb, and retreated. He triggered the bomb. Ravening white hot heat ate a hole more than two meters wide in the lift shaft.
Keys waited a minute before advancing the heat hit him like a hammer, even in his armoured suit. He gingerly avoided the still red hot edged and entered the shaft, the adhesive pads on his gloves and feet. There was some risk of being crushed by a moving lift, of course, but such an occurence would only happen if the lifts started moving towards him and Danell was both quite unlucky. Not a likely occurence. Soon, this would be over.
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A chief ran past Gard, directing a handful of crewmen forward. He stopped for a moment. "We need you! Come on!"
Gard sputtered. "You can't be serious."
The chief gestured with the pump shotgun in his hands. "No armsmen to block this bunch. We need every hand to prevent from being overrun. Which means you."
Gard looked at the wiry man. "I suppose I can't man the teleporter if I'm being garrotted by some microcephalic corsair." The scientist opened a case a retrieved a weapon that was unmistakably some kind of rifle, albeit one of xenos design. Instead of a barrel, a cluster of sinister looking rods protruded from the main body of the weapon.
The chief looked uneasily at the weapon. "Shall we proceed?" asked Gard.
Gix hit one pirate in the shoulder and drove several others back into cover. Jolan fired off the rest of the clip before reloading. "They're tenacious," Jolan said. "You would think after so many dead they would have lost some of their enthusiasm."
"They fear their lord," said Domina. "They tremble but still fight. If they fought for love of the Emperor, then we would be hard pressed. But we are the righteous," she intoned. "Cover me inquisitor," she said, hefting her captured flamer.
Jolan went back around the corner. He fired at the pirates where they huddled in cover in adjoinging corridors. Laser and bullets whizzed back. The conversion field flashed blindingly bright as it absorbed hits. Lasers pitted his armour and bullets bounced off. The yawning maw of a melta gun was pointed at him.
The gunner screamed and dropped the weapon as fire consumed him and the pirate next to him. Slugs flattened themselves on Domina's armour as the Sister of Battle sent bursts of flames at the pirates. Jolan advanced with her, putting bullets into any pirate that moved. Hopefully, Danell was making good use of the distraction.
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The assassin checked his auspex, confirming the absent of nearby pirates, and slid ahead. Jolan and Domina had left a bloody trail through the ship, which served to clear his path. He walked around the pools of sticky blood and into the lift junction chamber. Here lifts went up into the command and communication towers of the ship.
They had been locked down and trapped, of course. Keys climbed the wall, placed a melta bomb, and retreated. He triggered the bomb. Ravening white hot heat ate a hole more than two meters wide in the lift shaft.
Keys waited a minute before advancing the heat hit him like a hammer, even in his armoured suit. He gingerly avoided the still red hot edged and entered the shaft, the adhesive pads on his gloves and feet. There was some risk of being crushed by a moving lift, of course, but such an occurence would only happen if the lifts started moving towards him and Danell was both quite unlucky. Not a likely occurence. Soon, this would be over.
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A chief ran past Gard, directing a handful of crewmen forward. He stopped for a moment. "We need you! Come on!"
Gard sputtered. "You can't be serious."
The chief gestured with the pump shotgun in his hands. "No armsmen to block this bunch. We need every hand to prevent from being overrun. Which means you."
Gard looked at the wiry man. "I suppose I can't man the teleporter if I'm being garrotted by some microcephalic corsair." The scientist opened a case a retrieved a weapon that was unmistakably some kind of rifle, albeit one of xenos design. Instead of a barrel, a cluster of sinister looking rods protruded from the main body of the weapon.
The chief looked uneasily at the weapon. "Shall we proceed?" asked Gard.
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Imperial Overlord
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Chris OFarrell
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
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- Joined: 2004-08-19 04:30am
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It's a little wierd. This is the most widely read of all my fics, but it is also the one that gets the least feedback. Just so you know, the storyline involving the Gamesman is going to a long one, so you've got a lot of material yet to come on this story.Chris OFarrell wrote:Just have to say although I don't post much, I AM very much reading this fanfic and keeping up with the events as each mini chapter is posted. I can't wait to see the end of this
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
Perhaps it's because the 'chapters' you post are so very short. Each individual update carries with it no significant change in the plot; characters do familiar things in familiar settings, advancing the plot steadily, not in jumps and leaps. And those things that normally provoke comments--the death of a liked character, or the conclusion of a particularly cool battle-scene, or a cliffhanger--have their provocative nature weakened because we almost never find out how a given situation will end in the same update in which we learn of the situation.Imperial Overlord wrote:It's a little wierd. This is the most widely read of all my fics, but it is also the one that gets the least feedback. Just so you know, the storyline involving the Gamesman is going to a long one, so you've got a lot of material yet to come on this story.Chris OFarrell wrote:Just have to say although I don't post much, I AM very much reading this fanfic and keeping up with the events as each mini chapter is posted. I can't wait to see the end of this
It's a tradeoff, I suppose. Posting short updates often makes it easier to write (I presume), and by keeping In Memoria always on the top of the forum, it makes the story is read by many--but it also makes replies rather less common.
You do have your loyal readers, IO. Some of us, for whatever reason (myself included) just don't post comments as often as we'd like. I neverthelesss read every chapter without fail, and am earnestly looking forward to the Gamesman's annihilation. Please tell me that he dies horribly, with the tip of a power sword thrust into his black, Chaos-cavorting heart.Imperial Overlord wrote:It's a little wierd. This is the most widely read of all my fics, but it is also the one that gets the least feedback. Just so you know, the storyline involving the Gamesman is going to a long one, so you've got a lot of material yet to come on this story.
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Academia Nut
- Sith Devotee
- Posts: 2598
- Joined: 2005-08-23 10:44pm
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Nah, the Gamesman can't die via powersword, this has to be done Jolan Gix style, which means that the Gamesman will perish in one of two ways.
A.) After Jolan has utterly trounced the bastard and left him broke and a mockery of his former self, all his former self-importance and reduced to ashes and slag, Jolan tosses a laspistol at the Gamesman's knees and walks off, letting humiliation and shame take its course. This of course requires a tremendous amount of ownage to break someone this powerful and intelligence so badly, so it will be sweet.
B.) "In the end, everything burns" ~ Jolan Gix
Of course, I'm probably way off, but either way would be awesome, although the second one has been done before.
Oh, and IO, while I must say that everything you produce is awesome, I must say that I am saddened by the death of Sarcophagus. I wanted to see more of the rebel Necrontyr
A.) After Jolan has utterly trounced the bastard and left him broke and a mockery of his former self, all his former self-importance and reduced to ashes and slag, Jolan tosses a laspistol at the Gamesman's knees and walks off, letting humiliation and shame take its course. This of course requires a tremendous amount of ownage to break someone this powerful and intelligence so badly, so it will be sweet.
B.) "In the end, everything burns" ~ Jolan Gix
Of course, I'm probably way off, but either way would be awesome, although the second one has been done before.
Oh, and IO, while I must say that everything you produce is awesome, I must say that I am saddened by the death of Sarcophagus. I wanted to see more of the rebel Necrontyr
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
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It isn't dead. I'm nearing the end of "With Justice For None" and when that is done, I'm going to finish up a number of hanging fics, including Sarcophagus.Academia Nut wrote: Oh, and IO, while I must say that everything you produce is awesome, I must say that I am saddened by the death of Sarcophagus. I wanted to see more of the rebel Necrontyr
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Imperial Overlord
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Hellgun fire from the gallery peppered the corridor, blasting holes in two pirates and forcing the rest back. Hethor D'eckor looked up from his position hiding behind the breach of a colossal macro-cannon. "How much longer?!" he yelled.
"Minute, maybe two!" was the response of one of the demo troopers. Hethor's aggressive assault had taken them into a weapons bay containing the bases of four macro cannons. Unfortunately this time the pirates had managed to muster resistance that his troops couldn't simply cut through like red hot wires through soft cheese. Hethor fired a grenade into the corridor that the pirate reinforcements were attempting to emerge from. "Hurry the fuck up," he yelled eloquently. "Everyone, teleport homers active! If those goat fuckin' sister rapers want this so badly, they can have it. All of it!"
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The roar of guns game from just ahead. Gard Vikal gripped his death arc tighter as he kept pace with the crewmen around him. He had been operating in the Imperium's occassionally violent underbelly long before he had met Jolan Gix and was no stranger to it, although he prefered to avoid it. Now it didn't look like he would have that option.
Four members of the Eternal Will's crew was blasting away with shotguns and autoguns, trying to hold the corridor junction ahead against an enemy that was filling the air with las fire. Gard knew intellectually that his mesh armour and light drinker fabrics provided him with quite good protection against such weapons, but that didn't alleviate his fear.
One of the defenders fell, struck several times by las fire, and then the other three were struck by a fusillade of scarlet las beams. Oh Emperor, Gard thought. He could here the sounds of men charging forward. The two groups almost collided at the intersection.
Gard had a brief moment with which to recognize the attackers as Cruz, a savage species that was scattered over a handful of worlds. They produced no technology of note but were well known as fierce raiders and mercenaires. The squat and powerful xenos were wearing heavy armour plate and carried a variety of viscious weapons.
Gard pulled the trigger on the Xenarch death arc and swept the emitter across the corridor. The invisible ionizations beams blazed a track through the atmosphere that the massive charge stored in the weapons capacitors eagerly followed. The weapon emitted a brilliant blue-white beam that seared flesh and armour alike. Four Cruz were reduced to smoking corpses almost instantly. Unfortunately, that left nearly a dozen of them alive and Gard only a few meters from them holding a weapon which had just discharged its capacitors. The closest Cruz, ropes of saliva hanging off of its jaws, shot him twice with its las carbine and then smashed him in the chest with its mace.
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A shout from behind him and the crackle of las weapon fire alerted Captain Jengal Steel to the fact that something was very wrong on his bridge. The fearsome pirate swivvled his command throne around as several of his crew clawed for nearby weapons.
The attacker was a lone man who was firing a single pistol. He was inhumanely fast, trained and conditioned flesh augmented with combat drugs or the like. He was a black clad blur shrouded by the haze of a refractor field, almost impossible to target. The assassin fired twice blazing white beams burned down two more of Steel's crew.
Steel reached for his bolt pistol as he lunged out of the command throne. The assassin burned down another crewman and turned toward him. Steel's gun cleared the holster and he brought his arm up. The assassin was a spectacularily good shot, to score so many hits while moving, but Steel wore gilded carapace armour. A hit wouldn't put him down. The bolt pistol barked.
The shot went wide. The assassin pointed his gun, but nothing came out. The sound of minor impacts plinking off the top of his breastplate distracted Steel for a second and then there was a brief needle of pain in his throat and the world spun. The captain sank to his knees as the paralytic toxin from the needle went to work almost immediately.
Keys switched the combipistol back to hellgun mode to finish the rest of the bridge crew with the hellgun tube mounted above the needler barrel. A few of their shots even managed to hit him, but the refractor field took care of those. He shot the last two in the head and activated his com and teleport homer.
"This is Knife. Target is secured and neutralized. Proceeding to disengage grapple systems from master gunner's panel." He walked passed two servitors still going about their assigned duties to disengage the grapples. He flipped several switches with lit lights. "Grapples disengaged."
"The is Eternal Will," came the reply. "Disengagement confirmed. Stand by."
"Minute, maybe two!" was the response of one of the demo troopers. Hethor's aggressive assault had taken them into a weapons bay containing the bases of four macro cannons. Unfortunately this time the pirates had managed to muster resistance that his troops couldn't simply cut through like red hot wires through soft cheese. Hethor fired a grenade into the corridor that the pirate reinforcements were attempting to emerge from. "Hurry the fuck up," he yelled eloquently. "Everyone, teleport homers active! If those goat fuckin' sister rapers want this so badly, they can have it. All of it!"
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The roar of guns game from just ahead. Gard Vikal gripped his death arc tighter as he kept pace with the crewmen around him. He had been operating in the Imperium's occassionally violent underbelly long before he had met Jolan Gix and was no stranger to it, although he prefered to avoid it. Now it didn't look like he would have that option.
Four members of the Eternal Will's crew was blasting away with shotguns and autoguns, trying to hold the corridor junction ahead against an enemy that was filling the air with las fire. Gard knew intellectually that his mesh armour and light drinker fabrics provided him with quite good protection against such weapons, but that didn't alleviate his fear.
One of the defenders fell, struck several times by las fire, and then the other three were struck by a fusillade of scarlet las beams. Oh Emperor, Gard thought. He could here the sounds of men charging forward. The two groups almost collided at the intersection.
Gard had a brief moment with which to recognize the attackers as Cruz, a savage species that was scattered over a handful of worlds. They produced no technology of note but were well known as fierce raiders and mercenaires. The squat and powerful xenos were wearing heavy armour plate and carried a variety of viscious weapons.
Gard pulled the trigger on the Xenarch death arc and swept the emitter across the corridor. The invisible ionizations beams blazed a track through the atmosphere that the massive charge stored in the weapons capacitors eagerly followed. The weapon emitted a brilliant blue-white beam that seared flesh and armour alike. Four Cruz were reduced to smoking corpses almost instantly. Unfortunately, that left nearly a dozen of them alive and Gard only a few meters from them holding a weapon which had just discharged its capacitors. The closest Cruz, ropes of saliva hanging off of its jaws, shot him twice with its las carbine and then smashed him in the chest with its mace.
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A shout from behind him and the crackle of las weapon fire alerted Captain Jengal Steel to the fact that something was very wrong on his bridge. The fearsome pirate swivvled his command throne around as several of his crew clawed for nearby weapons.
The attacker was a lone man who was firing a single pistol. He was inhumanely fast, trained and conditioned flesh augmented with combat drugs or the like. He was a black clad blur shrouded by the haze of a refractor field, almost impossible to target. The assassin fired twice blazing white beams burned down two more of Steel's crew.
Steel reached for his bolt pistol as he lunged out of the command throne. The assassin burned down another crewman and turned toward him. Steel's gun cleared the holster and he brought his arm up. The assassin was a spectacularily good shot, to score so many hits while moving, but Steel wore gilded carapace armour. A hit wouldn't put him down. The bolt pistol barked.
The shot went wide. The assassin pointed his gun, but nothing came out. The sound of minor impacts plinking off the top of his breastplate distracted Steel for a second and then there was a brief needle of pain in his throat and the world spun. The captain sank to his knees as the paralytic toxin from the needle went to work almost immediately.
Keys switched the combipistol back to hellgun mode to finish the rest of the bridge crew with the hellgun tube mounted above the needler barrel. A few of their shots even managed to hit him, but the refractor field took care of those. He shot the last two in the head and activated his com and teleport homer.
"This is Knife. Target is secured and neutralized. Proceeding to disengage grapple systems from master gunner's panel." He walked passed two servitors still going about their assigned duties to disengage the grapples. He flipped several switches with lit lights. "Grapples disengaged."
"The is Eternal Will," came the reply. "Disengagement confirmed. Stand by."
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Imperial Overlord
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"Inform the teleport room to prepare to retrieve personnel from the pirate vessel," Selanon Kay ordered.
"Yes captain," said a young officer. "Signaling teleporter room now." There was a long pause. "No answer sir."
Kay's head snapped around. "What?"
"No answer sir. Internal schematics do show fighting occuring nearby."
"Throne of Earth," Kay swore. "Get reinforcement there. Now."
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Gard Vikal struck the deck hard. The las blasts had been powerful enough to give him serious burns despite his mesh armour and the spiked mace had cracked ribs. His whole body was swimming with pain. Drug injectors kicked in, flooding his system with endorphins and adrenalin. Move or die! part of his brain shrieked at him.
He scrambled back, the next mace blow catching him on the meat of his left thigh. The mesh armour went rigid to absorb as much of the impact as possible, but it hurt. Emperor above, it hurt. His hand freed the pistol holstered about his waist.
Gard raised the sinister pistol and pulled the trigger. A stream of high velocity crystal splinters erupted from the gun. The first shots smacked into armour plate but the barrel rose. Several struck the Cruz in the thigh, boring through tough hide and bone as if wasn't there. The ammunition was impregnated with a powerful paralytic, but not one tailored to the Cruz's biology. It fell, not because the toxin was working, but because its left was chewed up.
The Cruz snarled and grabbed Gard's leg and bit. The xeno's fang were unable to penetrate the mesh armour, but the pressure was intolerable. Gard screamed and fired into its head. Spinters bounced off or lodged in the plates covering the alien's head, but one pierced its left eye and into its brain. The Cruz convulsed, shaking Gard, and let go as it spasmed.
The scientists scrambled back and raked fire across the legs of another Cruz, tearing up flesh and bone and sending the alien to the deck in a spray of blood. The crewmen were fighting a viscious, close quarters battle. Shotguns boomed at point blank range and las carbines sent lethal beams of light into all to frail human bodies. Warblades pierced flesh and maces cracked bone. The humans fell back as the Cruz's ferocity and heavy armour allowed them to push forward through the hellish melee. Blood covered the deck and the wounded and the dying lay groaning upon it.
Gard scrambled back on his hands as the Cruz came forward. A stream of bullets and lasbeams flashed over his head, tearing up the closest Cruz's armour and then punching several bullets into the alien's torso. Blood jetted out and the Cruz fell. The other Cruz opened up with their carbines and Gard rolled and wrapped himself in his las resistant coat. The snarl of high powered las weapons filled the air and so did Cruz screams.
Gard looked up to see black armoured troopers blasting the rear of the remainder of the Cruz war pack at point blank range. Blazing hellguns beams sliced through armour and exploded flesh as the stormtroopers slaughtered the survivors. The boom of a bolter signified the death of the last one.
Mikal Camron walked towards him, a smoking bolter held in one hand as the stormtroopers put double taps into the skulls of the downed Cruz. The young lieutenant extended his hand. Gard took it and the Imperial officer pulled the scientist to his feet. "You alright?" Camron asked.
"No," said Gard wincing. "I'll live."
"Good. You're needed in the teleporter chamber. Leave playing hero to the professionals."
"Gladly."
"Yes captain," said a young officer. "Signaling teleporter room now." There was a long pause. "No answer sir."
Kay's head snapped around. "What?"
"No answer sir. Internal schematics do show fighting occuring nearby."
"Throne of Earth," Kay swore. "Get reinforcement there. Now."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gard Vikal struck the deck hard. The las blasts had been powerful enough to give him serious burns despite his mesh armour and the spiked mace had cracked ribs. His whole body was swimming with pain. Drug injectors kicked in, flooding his system with endorphins and adrenalin. Move or die! part of his brain shrieked at him.
He scrambled back, the next mace blow catching him on the meat of his left thigh. The mesh armour went rigid to absorb as much of the impact as possible, but it hurt. Emperor above, it hurt. His hand freed the pistol holstered about his waist.
Gard raised the sinister pistol and pulled the trigger. A stream of high velocity crystal splinters erupted from the gun. The first shots smacked into armour plate but the barrel rose. Several struck the Cruz in the thigh, boring through tough hide and bone as if wasn't there. The ammunition was impregnated with a powerful paralytic, but not one tailored to the Cruz's biology. It fell, not because the toxin was working, but because its left was chewed up.
The Cruz snarled and grabbed Gard's leg and bit. The xeno's fang were unable to penetrate the mesh armour, but the pressure was intolerable. Gard screamed and fired into its head. Spinters bounced off or lodged in the plates covering the alien's head, but one pierced its left eye and into its brain. The Cruz convulsed, shaking Gard, and let go as it spasmed.
The scientists scrambled back and raked fire across the legs of another Cruz, tearing up flesh and bone and sending the alien to the deck in a spray of blood. The crewmen were fighting a viscious, close quarters battle. Shotguns boomed at point blank range and las carbines sent lethal beams of light into all to frail human bodies. Warblades pierced flesh and maces cracked bone. The humans fell back as the Cruz's ferocity and heavy armour allowed them to push forward through the hellish melee. Blood covered the deck and the wounded and the dying lay groaning upon it.
Gard scrambled back on his hands as the Cruz came forward. A stream of bullets and lasbeams flashed over his head, tearing up the closest Cruz's armour and then punching several bullets into the alien's torso. Blood jetted out and the Cruz fell. The other Cruz opened up with their carbines and Gard rolled and wrapped himself in his las resistant coat. The snarl of high powered las weapons filled the air and so did Cruz screams.
Gard looked up to see black armoured troopers blasting the rear of the remainder of the Cruz war pack at point blank range. Blazing hellguns beams sliced through armour and exploded flesh as the stormtroopers slaughtered the survivors. The boom of a bolter signified the death of the last one.
Mikal Camron walked towards him, a smoking bolter held in one hand as the stormtroopers put double taps into the skulls of the downed Cruz. The young lieutenant extended his hand. Gard took it and the Imperial officer pulled the scientist to his feet. "You alright?" Camron asked.
"No," said Gard wincing. "I'll live."
"Good. You're needed in the teleporter chamber. Leave playing hero to the professionals."
"Gladly."
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Imperial Overlord
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- Location: The Tower at Charm
Explosions ripped across the starboard side of the Iron Claw as Hethor's explosives set off a chain reaction among the capacitors and shells feeding the guns on her flanks. Blast doors slammed down, preventing the ship's air from escaping to the void. The Eternal Will, the connecting grapples severed by Keys's actions in the command room, fired maneuvering thrusters and drifted away.
The Inquisitional starship had retrieved her crew. The ship's machine spirit powered the guns in obediance to her captain's commands. The Iron Claw's gun crews had been pulled from their stations to assist in damage control or fight in the boarding actions. The survivors of those brutal actions would need time to reach their stations and make their weapons operational, even if their had been a captain to order it.
Void shields sprung up around the Eternal Will at full power. "Inquisitor," signaled Selanon Kay, "we have cleared the pirate ship. Void shields operational, weapons are powered."
Jolan Gix stepped out of the teleportation chamber. His armour was scarred and pitted, but unbreached. "Captain, target the vessel's plasma reactor."
"Inquisitor," said Kay, "Plasma reactors will survive a breach, but they explode if they suffer catastrophic decontainment."
"Exactly," said Jolan Gix. "As valuable a prize at is it is, it is of more use to the Imperium destroyed without a trace that captured intact."
"As you wish Inquisitor." Kay turned off the vox link. "Helm, get us another five thousand kilometers away from that beast and then lock on to engineering with all weapons that can be brought to bear. Master Gunner, charge all batteries to maximum power."
His crew chorused obediance and manuevering thrusters fired again. The ship's machine spirit had no trouble calculating the necessary fire control solutions. The massive dorsal fusion batteries and the starboard las cannons swivvled into position and locked in as their power systems rose to maximum charge.
The range ticked away as the enemy ship fell away. "In position," said the Master Gunner.
"Fire." Ravening beams of energy lashed out and tore through the Iron Claw's hull, Keys having deactivated the void shields during his stint on the bridge. Steel and ceramite were instantly blasted into gas and a fraction of a second latter a new star erupted in the Iron Claw's guts. The blue-white explosion swelled and devoured the ship in an expanding plasma shockwave that tore through space. Lightning played over the Eternal Will's void shields as the blast passed over her.
Jolan Gix strode onto the bridge. The inquisitor had shed the bulky power armour and wore a loose white shirt over dark pants. A laspistol was holstered on his belt and the conversion field generator hung as a pectoral plate inside his shirt. "Status?" he asked.
"Ship destroyed inquisitor."
"Good. The ship is to proceed stealthed to a safe spot to reenter the Immaterium. Avoid contact and identification at all costs."
"Sir?" said Kay. "Have our plans changed?"
"Yes," said Gix. "And captain, you are hereby ordered to use all means, including the silencing of loyal Imperial subjects through death, to avoid this ship being positively identified."
"Understood inquisitor. Our destination?"
"CMX-997."
"A barren system?"
"Almost barren," said Jolan Gix with a smile. He turned and walked from the bridge as Selanon Kay began to issue orders. Keys was waiting for him.
"The prisoner is secure inquisitor. Gard verified him to be in good health before retiring."
Jolan nodded and headed down the corridors of the ship. Kill teams of stormtroopers were running patrols with auspexes, hunting for any pirate survivors who may have crawled into hiding. On many vessels such a strategy could be successful. Not on the Eternal Will. Jolan reached a thick blast door that sealed off the corridor. His codes opened it and they stepped inside.
A line of featureless rooms lined the corridor. Here was where Jolan's secret work was done, where the breaking of truly valuable prisoners and the practice of warpcraft and occult technosorcery was perfected. Jolan stopped in front of door and entered a code.
The mighty form of Jengal Steel was inside. A baroque frame of cold chromed steel and polished brass held his body helpless while monitors recorded his vital functions. Armatures holding needles, probes, and various terrible instruments of Jolan's office were folded against the frame. Tubes of useful chemicals were connected by tubes to the armature and its needles. A holographic display stripped Jengal Steel naked in a far more profound way than nudity.
"Captain," said Jolan Gix, one eye flickering to note the display revealing heightened anxiety levels. "We have much to discuss."
The Inquisitional starship had retrieved her crew. The ship's machine spirit powered the guns in obediance to her captain's commands. The Iron Claw's gun crews had been pulled from their stations to assist in damage control or fight in the boarding actions. The survivors of those brutal actions would need time to reach their stations and make their weapons operational, even if their had been a captain to order it.
Void shields sprung up around the Eternal Will at full power. "Inquisitor," signaled Selanon Kay, "we have cleared the pirate ship. Void shields operational, weapons are powered."
Jolan Gix stepped out of the teleportation chamber. His armour was scarred and pitted, but unbreached. "Captain, target the vessel's plasma reactor."
"Inquisitor," said Kay, "Plasma reactors will survive a breach, but they explode if they suffer catastrophic decontainment."
"Exactly," said Jolan Gix. "As valuable a prize at is it is, it is of more use to the Imperium destroyed without a trace that captured intact."
"As you wish Inquisitor." Kay turned off the vox link. "Helm, get us another five thousand kilometers away from that beast and then lock on to engineering with all weapons that can be brought to bear. Master Gunner, charge all batteries to maximum power."
His crew chorused obediance and manuevering thrusters fired again. The ship's machine spirit had no trouble calculating the necessary fire control solutions. The massive dorsal fusion batteries and the starboard las cannons swivvled into position and locked in as their power systems rose to maximum charge.
The range ticked away as the enemy ship fell away. "In position," said the Master Gunner.
"Fire." Ravening beams of energy lashed out and tore through the Iron Claw's hull, Keys having deactivated the void shields during his stint on the bridge. Steel and ceramite were instantly blasted into gas and a fraction of a second latter a new star erupted in the Iron Claw's guts. The blue-white explosion swelled and devoured the ship in an expanding plasma shockwave that tore through space. Lightning played over the Eternal Will's void shields as the blast passed over her.
Jolan Gix strode onto the bridge. The inquisitor had shed the bulky power armour and wore a loose white shirt over dark pants. A laspistol was holstered on his belt and the conversion field generator hung as a pectoral plate inside his shirt. "Status?" he asked.
"Ship destroyed inquisitor."
"Good. The ship is to proceed stealthed to a safe spot to reenter the Immaterium. Avoid contact and identification at all costs."
"Sir?" said Kay. "Have our plans changed?"
"Yes," said Gix. "And captain, you are hereby ordered to use all means, including the silencing of loyal Imperial subjects through death, to avoid this ship being positively identified."
"Understood inquisitor. Our destination?"
"CMX-997."
"A barren system?"
"Almost barren," said Jolan Gix with a smile. He turned and walked from the bridge as Selanon Kay began to issue orders. Keys was waiting for him.
"The prisoner is secure inquisitor. Gard verified him to be in good health before retiring."
Jolan nodded and headed down the corridors of the ship. Kill teams of stormtroopers were running patrols with auspexes, hunting for any pirate survivors who may have crawled into hiding. On many vessels such a strategy could be successful. Not on the Eternal Will. Jolan reached a thick blast door that sealed off the corridor. His codes opened it and they stepped inside.
A line of featureless rooms lined the corridor. Here was where Jolan's secret work was done, where the breaking of truly valuable prisoners and the practice of warpcraft and occult technosorcery was perfected. Jolan stopped in front of door and entered a code.
The mighty form of Jengal Steel was inside. A baroque frame of cold chromed steel and polished brass held his body helpless while monitors recorded his vital functions. Armatures holding needles, probes, and various terrible instruments of Jolan's office were folded against the frame. Tubes of useful chemicals were connected by tubes to the armature and its needles. A holographic display stripped Jengal Steel naked in a far more profound way than nudity.
"Captain," said Jolan Gix, one eye flickering to note the display revealing heightened anxiety levels. "We have much to discuss."
Last edited by Imperial Overlord on 2006-07-18 02:54pm, edited 1 time in total.
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
Clunkyness of the phrase 'to a safe spot' aside, I believe you wish to refer to the Empyrean, not the Imperium. Rather a big difference between those...Imperial Overlord wrote:The ship is to proceed stealthed to a safe spot to reenter the Imperium.
Overall, I found the impact of the end of the battle to be rather low; the battle ends, then we spend a scene cleaning up the mess, and then the enemy warship is destroyed as an afterthought. It's as though Luke Skywalker fires his torpedos--then Han and Luke spend ninety seconds finishing off the TIE Fighters before finally flying away as the Death Star explodes.
I would reccomend editing the second-to-latest segment and the one prior to allow them to be switched, one for the other. Perhaps something like the following:
Third to last post proceeds as written until the swich to Keys. In stead of the scene on the enemy bridge, Keys notifies the Eternal Will to prepare for telaport so that he could quickly clear the bridge after he finishes the attack. Insert the short scene with Selanon Kay and follow with the rest of the second-to-last post (Gard's reinforcements arrive). After that, Keys completes his mission, is teleported home with his prise, and the Iron Claw is destroyed with lots of pyrotechnic goodness.
This way, the battle ends at its apex with the capture of the enemy leader, and is closed with giant explosions (as all good battles should be).
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 11978
- Joined: 2004-08-19 04:30am
- Location: The Tower at Charm
Actually, I meant the Immaterium (because we can't have enough terms to refer to the warp). Thanks for catching that.Feil wrote:Clunkyness of the phrase 'to a safe spot' aside, I believe you wish to refer to the Empyrean, not the Imperium. Rather a big difference between those...Imperial Overlord wrote:The ship is to proceed stealthed to a safe spot to reenter the Imperium.
And as for the battle ending the way it did, the pirate ship is definitely destroyed as in that manner. The destruction is not part of the battle, which has been won by that point. Instead it is part of the aftermath and it is an action that is uncharacteristic for Gix, who would normally try to have the ship salvaged and returned to Imperial service.
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
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Comosicus
- Keeper of the Lore
- Posts: 1991
- Joined: 2003-11-23 06:33pm
- Location: on the battlements of Sarmizegetusa
- Contact:
THis is my first post on this fic, but I must admit that I have really devoured the story over the last days. I just got "infected" with the 40K virus and it's nice to have such a good work to indulge myself with.
As a funny thing related to you last update. Till that very moment I had the impression that the ship where the boarding took place was the one that got disabled in the first fire exchange. So when Gix orderd re-entering warp, I had that look of "WTF? what about the bigger ship that was chasing?". I actually had to flip through the last two pages and track the names of the ships.
As a funny thing related to you last update. Till that very moment I had the impression that the ship where the boarding took place was the one that got disabled in the first fire exchange. So when Gix orderd re-entering warp, I had that look of "WTF? what about the bigger ship that was chasing?". I actually had to flip through the last two pages and track the names of the ships.
Not all Dacians died at Sarmizegetusa
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Imperial Overlord
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 11978
- Joined: 2004-08-19 04:30am
- Location: The Tower at Charm
Selanon Kay entered the conference room. Jolan Gix was there along with the senior members of his retinue. Hethor was looking like he wanted to take a nap and Domina had her eyes closed in prayer. Keys was as immobile as a statue and the Guard officer and the commissar were clearly nervous. Gard Vikal was reading a pad. "We have entered the Immaterium and are on course Inquisitor."
"Please have seat captain. We have important matters to discuss."
Kay nodded and sat stiffly in an unoccupied chair as far away from Gix as possible. He was pretty sure this "conference" would consist of orders coming from the inquisitor and "yes sir" coming from everyone else.
"The situation is worse than I thought," said Jolan. "The Rising Phoenix has been able to access some of the most heavily secured files, hunt down and ambush inquisitors, plant false communications, and arrange ambushes in deep space. The resources and information at the disposal of the Illuminated Masters is, quite frankly, terrifying.
"My usual procedures are unlikely to succeed. In fact, not Inquisitional investigation of the Rising Phoenix has done more than scratch the surface in the last two hundred years that we have known of its existence. Therefore, I have decided that extraordinary measures need to be taken. The first is to fake all of our deaths."
"That's why you ordered the destruction of the pirate vessel instead of taking it as a prize," said Kay.
"Yes," said Jolan. "As far as anyone is concerned a battle of some kind occurred, but either we were destroyed in it or lost in the warp."
"That won't be convincing," said Keys. "They will keep looking."
"I know," said Jolan. "That's why we won't resurface."
"Special Condition," said Hethor. "I take it we'll be under a long time?"
"Yes," said Jolan. "And the Inquisition will believe us dead as well."
"I take it CMX-997 is in some way related to this venture?" asked Kay.
"Correct. There is a stealthed satellite in system which acts as message drop for . . . . certain associates of mine. They'll take the necessary actions and keep them secret."
"What's our role boss?" said Hethor.
"Danell, Camron, and Gard will be coming with me. The rest of you will be meeting up with Melina and assisting her."
"Boss," said Hethor, "I should go with you in-"
"No," said Jolan firmly. "Our enemy is far too familiar with your appearance. They will expect you to be near me."
"Boss, they know what you look like and they will be looking for you."
"Gard will be attending to that detail," said Jolan.
"Lord," said Domina speaking for the first time, "I should remain with you."
"No," said Jolan. "Absolutely not."
"Lord, how can I convey the messages of Nathan to you? My duty demands-"
"You duty demands that you follow my orders," said Jolan with iron in his voice. "Means of communication will be established. Any of Nathan's messages can be conveyed but I cannot bring you into the places I must go."
"Where is that inquisitor?" Mikal asked.
"Into the darkness," said Jolan Gix. "Deep into the darkness."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five weeks latter the free trader Via Astria appeared in the Vola system, in the Teraborn subsector, nine thousand light years from where the Eternal Will had disappeared. Thousands of ships visited the world every year, carrying goods from every corner of the Imperium to the wealthy world and carrying the products of her factories and the warrior sons and daughters of Vola to wherever they were needed.
A shuttle dropped from the Via Astria towards Helopolis, one of Vola's many starports. The shuttle descended to the sprawling city of shining steel and glass towers. The spaceport was a vast expanse of reinforced rockcrete, steel, and armourplast ill that was as much monument as institution of commerce.
Customs officers waited as the shuttle connected to a boarding passage. A dark skinned man wearing flowing silks of cobalt and ebony stepped out to meet them with a sheaf of papers. Mechodendrites replaced the man's hair and photoblock lenses with holo displays covered his eyes. "I am medicae Carl Shraef. These papers are for the transfer of my patient and my equipment."
The senior custom officer, a blonde man wearing the navy blue uniform and scarlett shoulder boards of Vola Customs looked over the documentation. "This appears to be in order," he said. "We will need to perform an inspection."
"Of course," said Shraef. "I should warn you that my patient has severe burns and at the moment is completely dependent upon life support machines."
"Lead the way," said the senior agent. The doctor lead them into the shuttle towards its cargo hold.
"This has been converted into a recovery chamber," said Shraef. Vats and a variety of arcane machines lined the room, some of them connected to the bed being watched by two robed and masked attendants. "This is as close as I can permit you without gowns and masks. TThe patient is very vulnerable to infection."
"This is good enough," said the senior agent. "Purpose of your journey to Helopolis?"
"To arrange for further care for my patient and allow him to convalesce properly afterwords."
"He must have money?"
"His family is not without resources."
"Ahh. Well, everything appears in order. Carry on."
"Thank you," said Gard Vikal.
"Please have seat captain. We have important matters to discuss."
Kay nodded and sat stiffly in an unoccupied chair as far away from Gix as possible. He was pretty sure this "conference" would consist of orders coming from the inquisitor and "yes sir" coming from everyone else.
"The situation is worse than I thought," said Jolan. "The Rising Phoenix has been able to access some of the most heavily secured files, hunt down and ambush inquisitors, plant false communications, and arrange ambushes in deep space. The resources and information at the disposal of the Illuminated Masters is, quite frankly, terrifying.
"My usual procedures are unlikely to succeed. In fact, not Inquisitional investigation of the Rising Phoenix has done more than scratch the surface in the last two hundred years that we have known of its existence. Therefore, I have decided that extraordinary measures need to be taken. The first is to fake all of our deaths."
"That's why you ordered the destruction of the pirate vessel instead of taking it as a prize," said Kay.
"Yes," said Jolan. "As far as anyone is concerned a battle of some kind occurred, but either we were destroyed in it or lost in the warp."
"That won't be convincing," said Keys. "They will keep looking."
"I know," said Jolan. "That's why we won't resurface."
"Special Condition," said Hethor. "I take it we'll be under a long time?"
"Yes," said Jolan. "And the Inquisition will believe us dead as well."
"I take it CMX-997 is in some way related to this venture?" asked Kay.
"Correct. There is a stealthed satellite in system which acts as message drop for . . . . certain associates of mine. They'll take the necessary actions and keep them secret."
"What's our role boss?" said Hethor.
"Danell, Camron, and Gard will be coming with me. The rest of you will be meeting up with Melina and assisting her."
"Boss," said Hethor, "I should go with you in-"
"No," said Jolan firmly. "Our enemy is far too familiar with your appearance. They will expect you to be near me."
"Boss, they know what you look like and they will be looking for you."
"Gard will be attending to that detail," said Jolan.
"Lord," said Domina speaking for the first time, "I should remain with you."
"No," said Jolan. "Absolutely not."
"Lord, how can I convey the messages of Nathan to you? My duty demands-"
"You duty demands that you follow my orders," said Jolan with iron in his voice. "Means of communication will be established. Any of Nathan's messages can be conveyed but I cannot bring you into the places I must go."
"Where is that inquisitor?" Mikal asked.
"Into the darkness," said Jolan Gix. "Deep into the darkness."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five weeks latter the free trader Via Astria appeared in the Vola system, in the Teraborn subsector, nine thousand light years from where the Eternal Will had disappeared. Thousands of ships visited the world every year, carrying goods from every corner of the Imperium to the wealthy world and carrying the products of her factories and the warrior sons and daughters of Vola to wherever they were needed.
A shuttle dropped from the Via Astria towards Helopolis, one of Vola's many starports. The shuttle descended to the sprawling city of shining steel and glass towers. The spaceport was a vast expanse of reinforced rockcrete, steel, and armourplast ill that was as much monument as institution of commerce.
Customs officers waited as the shuttle connected to a boarding passage. A dark skinned man wearing flowing silks of cobalt and ebony stepped out to meet them with a sheaf of papers. Mechodendrites replaced the man's hair and photoblock lenses with holo displays covered his eyes. "I am medicae Carl Shraef. These papers are for the transfer of my patient and my equipment."
The senior custom officer, a blonde man wearing the navy blue uniform and scarlett shoulder boards of Vola Customs looked over the documentation. "This appears to be in order," he said. "We will need to perform an inspection."
"Of course," said Shraef. "I should warn you that my patient has severe burns and at the moment is completely dependent upon life support machines."
"Lead the way," said the senior agent. The doctor lead them into the shuttle towards its cargo hold.
"This has been converted into a recovery chamber," said Shraef. Vats and a variety of arcane machines lined the room, some of them connected to the bed being watched by two robed and masked attendants. "This is as close as I can permit you without gowns and masks. TThe patient is very vulnerable to infection."
"This is good enough," said the senior agent. "Purpose of your journey to Helopolis?"
"To arrange for further care for my patient and allow him to convalesce properly afterwords."
"He must have money?"
"His family is not without resources."
"Ahh. Well, everything appears in order. Carry on."
"Thank you," said Gard Vikal.
The Excellent Prismatic Spray. For when you absolutely, positively must kill a motherfucker. Accept no substitutions. Contact a magician of the later Aeons for details. Some conditions may apply.
Most interesting. I like how it has the feel of things not so much building up as they are almost sneaking up.
Just how does one outwit a Tzeentchian cult imbedded so deep in Imperial society? One would think that such a cancer would be nearly impossible to excise, given its virtual immunity from Inquisitorial investigation and the very fact that the runaway emotional echo that those blighted fools so blithely worship is supposedly omnipotent.
Special Condition, hmm? An overture towards the recent Ravenor Returns, perhaps ...?
Just how does one outwit a Tzeentchian cult imbedded so deep in Imperial society? One would think that such a cancer would be nearly impossible to excise, given its virtual immunity from Inquisitorial investigation and the very fact that the runaway emotional echo that those blighted fools so blithely worship is supposedly omnipotent.
Special Condition, hmm? An overture towards the recent Ravenor Returns, perhaps ...?
"There is a high statistical probability of death by gunshot. A punch to the face is also likely." - Legion
"The machine is strong. We must purge the weak, hated flesh and replace it with the blessed purity of metal. Only through permanence can we truly triumph, only though the Machine can we find victory. Punish the flesh. Iron in mind and body. Hail the machine!" - Paullian Blantar, Iron Father of the Kaargul Clan, Iron Hands Chapter
"The machine is strong. We must purge the weak, hated flesh and replace it with the blessed purity of metal. Only through permanence can we truly triumph, only though the Machine can we find victory. Punish the flesh. Iron in mind and body. Hail the machine!" - Paullian Blantar, Iron Father of the Kaargul Clan, Iron Hands Chapter