[Swarbie]

Artos suddenly realised that it was time to leave for the briefing. He quickly gathered his weapons and small brass grail and headed to the armoury.

[Heroka Vendile]

The last of the Deathwatch to arrive for the briefing, Hunrik spotted Demos in conversation with a serf as he entered the armoury. Unlike the others he had not had a chance to visit his allotted private room yet, having opted to oversee the unloading of his personal Land Speeder Tempest. As one of the last links to his chapter that he had, it was of utmost importance to him that it was well cared for, he had spent some time talking to the techpriests about the machine spirits individual quirks.

In the meantime he had had his crate of personal equipment taken to the armoury by serfs, where it now awaited him as he approached the workbench upon which a wax seal branded with the Inquisition held a parchment declaring the bench as being for the sole usage of "Deathwatch Veteran Hunrik of the most honourable Knights Pacificus, by order of the Inquisition". Similar seals were attached to the other workbenches each Deathwatch present.

He felt the familiar pang of regret and sorrow on seeing his chapters name, but he pushed it aside, he needed to focus on the briefing, as he took position at his bench he saw all the others expectantly watching as Captain Demos approached the tacticum and announced, "Scarre."

[Necris]

As Demos stood before the tacticum a figure slid into the armoury masked in shadows they stood in silence as Demos spoke repeating the name of the world again for those who had missed it.

“Scarre, twenty five days ago the Imperial Guard senior commanders were ambushed and captured by Tau forces, in disarray the guard have fallen back to their one last stronghold, they are besieged on all sides by superior forces of both Tau and PDF troops who have submitted to the Tau command. Our task is to rescue the Guard commanders and recover them to an extraction point.”

Brother Artos interrupted.

“This seems over kill for a rescue mission, surely there are stormtroopers that can do this.”

He gestured at the gathered marines and the towering figure of the Dreadnaught Sirus Gale standing to one side of the armoury. The Inquisitor stepped forward his black power armour clanking across the grilled floor.

“Indeed I could send my Inquisitorial forces were it not for the Imperial Commander, the man in charge of this campaign is Lord Inquisitor Borurke, the knowledge he has about the military front against the tau in this sector could tip the balance in their favour and result in an all out Imperial route, a dozen systems would fall and to this Xenos’ fledgling Empire something we cannot allow to happen.”

Demos stepped forward reclaiming his briefing.

“That being said it falls to the best the Imperium has to offer and we will not shy from this duty. Thankfully the Inquisitor had a psyker within his staff her last known location was here.”

The world that had been rotating zoomed into the largest of the continents a target marker flashing on an open plane.

“The largest enemy strong point is located two hundred clicks south of that location, intelligence provided by the guard on world suggests that this is the enemy headquarters and theory suggests this is correct from orbital scans this is the largest concentration of their forces heavy deployment patters indicate this is the primary staging ground for all tau activity, we anticipate heavy enemy numbers present so an standard attack plan is out of the question we cannot afford to assault this stronghold. The stronghold is made up of outer and inner defensive walls, the outer wall consists of four gates protected by heavily defended gatehouses, the inner wall however possess one gatehouse with a possible second smaller gate. Suggestions?”

 “A drop pod insertion?”

It was Martell who spoke and Demos smiled flashing his fangs at the marine in a hungry manner.

“Very good brother drop pods it is, three wave strike, first wave will be us spread across three pods each marine will be armed with a heavy weapon upon crashdown, once your ammunition is spent discard and switch to your primary weapons, second wave will be a deathwind of pods equipped with assault cannons and launchers to rain chaos and confusion throughout the stronghold the last wave will be a single pod containing brother Sirus, His is the simple task of laying waste to the enemy.”

He looked round the room.

“Our objectives are to recover the Inquisitor and the senior staff act as protection until they can be lifted to safety by the waiting Thunderhawks, and the elimination of the Tau elite once their leadership caste is dead the Tau become disarrayed and disorganised. Once the head is removed the guard holed up on world up launch a counter attack securing a beach head from relief forces led by Inquisitor Hex to land our task beyond the rescue is to take and hold the enemy headquarters against retreating forces, any comments? ”

[Simeon Blackstar]

"Yes sir," Martell speaks up again.  "Do we have a multimelta?  The Tau are likely to have tanks and battle suits guarding their Ethereal, and it has been a while since I last had the chance to hunt heavy armour.  Besides, we need to bring down any railguns before the Ancient One lands or he could be in grave danger."

[Necris]

"The armoury is fully stocked with heavy weapons, I am sure Matthias will be able to acquire the weapons you require."

He gestured at his serf as he returned placing a heavy flamer in Demos' bay, the scout turned and nodded heading off into the armoury.

[Koval]

"Explain, Commander," Rant began, "deliberate risk of friendly fire. Tactical nonsense."

The hall went silent as Rant delivered his short, but decidedly damning, criticism. Demos stared at the Iron Hand, nonplussed by Rant's dissent.

"Brother Rant, for how long have you served in the Deathwatch?" Demos queried, as if talking to a neophyte.

"Fifteen years. Began in 994."

Demos paused, the thought occurring to him that Rant was in a league of his own, having stayed on beyond the standard decade of duty to the Ordo Xenos. His service records were not especially fresh in Demos' memory, and the length of service had been somewhat unexpected.

"Then, pray tell, brother, exactly what do you mean by tactical nonsense?"

"Three stages in drop pod assault. Good. But flawed order. Not logical to send down Deathstorm after kill team. Deathstorm generally indiscriminate upon landing, so kill team loss possible. Sending Deathstorm first, better, weaken enemy defenses, then send kill team. Otherwise, nonsense, risk losing kill team, risk failure."

[Inquisitor Ranovack]

Peleus had stood unmoving after Demos had mantioned the Tau, In his mind he replayed the breif seconds when he tore through the White clad xenos finnally coming into the view of their commander. their breif encounter left the xenos dead and Peleus permanently scarred and with the bionincs. he Was relishing the chance to rend the foul blue skinned filth again.
He Walked over to the rack of heavy weapons  looked along them for a few seconds then chose a plasma cannon. He then went back over to the rest of his new brothers just in time to agree with brother Rant

[Simeon Blackstar]

Martell's satisfied smile at the prospect of blowing things up evaporated at Rant's comment.  He had supposed that the Deathwind pods would be in other areas of the stronghold to pin down and distract potential reinforcements, not in an area the Deathwatch would be actively moving through.  Trusting Captain Demos to sort things out, he following Peleus' lead, moved to the armoury as Matthias struggled into view.  He relieved him of the burden of the multimelta he carried with a nod of thanks.  Initiate though he may be, the weapon was one of the heaviest pieces of kit a Space Marine could carry, and power armour certainly made it easier to handle.

[Necris]

He smiled that predatory smile of his as he disengaged the tacticum and strode in amongst them he looked around them.

"Do I detect fear in you Brother Rant?"

He was jesting his voice jovial and teasing as he strode to his personal bay his true effects of war decorating it, drawing a power sword from it he examined the blade.

"I have trust in the weapons I wield Brother, trust that their machine spirits will guide them against the enemy and away from our allies and friends, I find it worrying that an Iron Hand would question the machine spirit of an instrument of war."

He had been serious with that last statement as he ignited the blade spiralling it round his body as he walked between them flashing the crimson blade close to his brothers as he walked back to the tacticum he stopped tossing the weapon towards Corvin who caught it deftly and deactivated the blade.

"Trust in your weapons and your equipment and it will not fail you, the deathwinds will be targeted beyond our active engagement zone to sow confusion and chaos upon our enemy, it is a tactic I have used many times to great effects and as of yet I have not lost a brother in arms."

Corvin offered him his blade as he stepped up to him and turned upon them resting it between his feet.

"Any other questions?"

[Koval]

"You have not met many Iron Hands," Rant chuckled, standing up. "I am Techmarine. Machine spirit, thing of perfection and clarity. But, in fairness, easier to trust in clearer tactical breakdown."

Vaulting over the thankfully empty pews, Rant judged the swiftest and most efficient path to the heavy weapons, and seized the opportunity eagerly.

"One more question. Drop pods, large capacity. Possible to fill extra space with combat servitors?"

The question hung in the air for a brief second as Rant dodged around Matthias and lifted the nearest available lascannon.

"An interesting proposal, brother," Demos conceded. "What is your motive? Do you feel more at home with something as mechanical as you?"

"Saturation," Rant replied simply, ignoring the jibe. "Deploy more heavy weapons, cover larger fire zone, eliminate enemy. More targets for enemy, divide incoming fire, easier to complete mission."

"I hope you're not proposing using combat servitors as human shields, brother," Demos stated flatly. "We Shall Know No Fear."

"Not fear. Drop pods, operating at under 40% transport capacity if split across three. Can fill space with servitors and boost to 60-85% with extra fire support. And better to lose servitor than to lose Deathwatch veteran."

Rant hefted the lascannon over his shoulders, supporting it with one hand, and lifted its matching backpack unit in the other. Eight canister-shaped cells were slotted into the backpack, four on the left and four on the right, each one the size of a man's fist. With the proper rituals, the cells could power the lascannon for twelve shots with ease, possibly more, before running out of charge.

"Is just thought."

[Inquisitor Ranovack]

'When do we get to kill the scum' asked Peleus still in the grips of the anger at all tau

as he said this he made sure his plasma cannons ammo counter was reading full so he would be able  to smash the xenos quickly

[Necris]

He'd grown tired of Rant now he turned his attention to Peleus as he made his way to he bay to return the power sword

"The Pods are waiting for us, as we speak we are entering the Scarre system and will be in orbit within the turn of the day."

He turned upon them and waited for a moment.

"Brothers prepare yourselves for battle."

Then he moved like quicksilver crossing the room he came up close to Rant's face his voice a low growl.

"I would respect your fellow brothers more Brother Rant, come the time of battle they will be your rock with which you shall steady yourself against the enemies of the Emperor, if you do not have their trust or show them your trust in them the rock will crumble and we will all fall."

He stalked from them turning to Sirus.

"What say you revered lord of war?"

++Sirus cares little for the danger the deathwinds pose, Sirus is a warrior and longs for battle.++

"Fine words."

He turned and strode from the armoury leaving his brothers to prepare themselves he walked the corridors of the ship considering his command Rant could cause a problem if not reigned in, he would leave it for this mission the risk was minimal but in their primary mission he would stamp out the defiance, he would need to or their lives would be forfeit

[Inquisitor Ranovack]

Peleus noted demos  walk up to Rant and chose not to overhear what was said between them.

He did one last check on his equipment then put on his ammo pack and hurried to his pod where he prepared himsef for th coming battle

He nodded to his brothers as they went past him to their pods and started to recite the rites of war as tourght to him in the den.

[Kallidor]

Laran, like all Prophets of Hatred, had experience with any weapon available to his Chapter but he had always preferred to meet his enemies close-to rather than at a distance. He went directly to the nearest weapon, unconcerned with what it was. He picked up a heavy bolter and lifted it onto his shoulder. He flipped a switch on the side and felt the mag-clamps engage locking the weapon into place on his pauldron. He ejected the magazine and worked the action making sure the machine spirit still responded. He snatched up a few more magazines loading them quickly and loading a last entirely with hellfire bolts. He was confident that the weapon would easily punch through Tau armour and the hellfire would make short work of any Kroot.

He knew that he had fought the Tau in the Damocles Gulf Crusade, he had vivid memories of their warriors and attack vehicles, he knew their tactics and hierarchy and he had clear images in his mind of running battles, almost as if he were viewing a recording of the battle. He knew so much and recalled it all very clearly but he could not remember how the battles had made him feel. Always he recalled his memories of battle and could feel his hatred it was like a sledgehammer blow to the face, numbing yet acute and it sat like a heavy weight in his mind, as if all his blood were made of lead. It was an emotion that made him feel invincible but his recollections of the Crusade were hollow, so many flickering photographs and vid-reels. He dismissed his thoughts and disengaged the mag-clamps heading to the nearest drop-pod.

[Hedgewise]

During the briefing Kraven had found his workstation and prepped his weapons for combat, mainly adding a M40 targeting scope and a shot selector to his bolter, before moving over to the weapon racks and retrieving a heavy bolter from its mooring and picking up an ammo pack marked as loaded with Kraken Pattern Penetrator Rounds and prepping the heavy weapon as well.

Once he was sure of his selection and readiness he headed to the door heading to the drop bay and knelt by one of the many drop pods awaiting their deadly cargo.

“Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light
Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith
Where there is shame, I shall point atonement
Where there is rage, I shall show its course
My word in the soul shall be as my bolter in the field.”