Deathwatch Reborn:- Georme Operation

[Necris]

++StormHawk Rogal's Might++
++Deathwatch Task Force Demos En-route to Georme System++
++System in grips of Tyranid Infestation++

Demos had read the orders several times stripped of his armour his wounds hand been tended during his battle meditation in preparation for the coming mission, a mission so soon after their last that none of the marines had truly had time to unwind and rededicate themselves to this mission.

He sighed as he stood his joints creaking from the long stint in the same pose and he stretched as he headed from the sanctum, none had dared bother him during their three day transit to Georme, none had come to check on his condition or the mission, his orders had been that clear.

Striding from the chamber he pulled about his shoulders a long bark blue robe of his chapter fastening it armour his form he sent one of the ships serfs to summon the rest to the armoury like always he would conduct his briefing there.

Striding in he went to the tacticum uploading the mission briefing he watched as each of his task force entered giving each one of them a greeting be it a simple nod of the head or their name uttered, Kurtis was the last to arrive making his apologies he was carrying a long blade his torso soaked with blood, when questioned further Kurtis revealed that he had been in a training session against combat servitors to better hone his skills, Demos nodded his approval as they all took their designated seats and looked in his direction.

"Ok, first up good work on Scarre thanks to our actions the Inquisition will be able to take the fight to the tau and cleanse that system of their filth, Inquisitors Hexx and Borurke convey their thanks."

He let the praise sink in for a moment then continued as a fresh world appeared a sphere of grey blemished by lighter shades of greys and off whites.

"Georme, desert world, Imperial records state that it is home to nine point four billion citizens of the Imperium, current population is zero, seven days ago the world was subject to Exterminatus by Virus Bomb after an unsuccesful defence by the planets PDF forces against a Tyranid incursion."

"If the world was subject to Exterminatus what are we needed for?"

"Good question Peleus, it appears from orbital observation that the virus bomb designed to wipe out all organic life on the world hasn't worked as planned, the Tyranid forces still remain active, the smaller drone caste of the species eventually perished four days after contact. Imperial intelligence require us to make planet fall and secure specimens for study so the Tech Adepts can develop a new virus to eliminate this threat. I need no say this but if the Hive Ships arrive and absorb these Tyranids into them then this resistance to our virus bombs will spread."

He flicked up a orbital capture of the world showing a hive structure ruined by battle strange clusters of growth surrounded the city.

"This is point one primary infestation, Tyranid central if you will our touch down will be here five hundred klicks west of the hive, one of the Imperial extraction bases for the populace, from where we are to strike out and capture and return samples of the synapse creatures for study by the Imperial forces in orbit, sounds simple enough, save for the environment the virus is still in the heights of activity any prolonged exposure to the air will result in death even to us despite our certain advantages over mere humans.

That being said we are better equipped to do this than any other, as such I want us all carrying additional sealant in case of any incidents.

Now the truly tricky part, Imperial Command want these samples alive, as such our orders stand that live fire be used only as a last resort, web and tranq rounds are being issued to us as standard, and several web cannons have been secured for our use they await us on world, also combat weapons are to be use only as a last resort Hexx has supplied bludgeoning weapons to replace those who will loose out. Imperial command needs at least one of each synapse, that's a total of four known but they also want samples of the Guard type, Lictors, Raveners and Carnifexes so that makes 8 samples we need to capture plus any other type that may still be alive. Once sedated and secured we affix teleport homers so the guard remain safe from the planets enviroment.

One more thing, Imperial estimations give us thrity six hours before our suits are compromised so remember to check our suits status regularly and to keep an eye on one another in case of any areas effected that we cannot see out selves."

He looked round the room at the faces then continued.

"For this mission we have been equipped with a Crusader Land Raider and three standard and one Damocles  Rhinos, Bikes are also open four our use and I am informed we have five with us, A trio of Predator Destructors will remain stationary at our base of operations to act as a defensive point in support of the Damocles, our tanks are the only safe place for us the filtration systems built within are capable of cleaning the air making it safe for us to breath, if one of us becomes injured we withdraw to the safety of the tanks for treatment."

He fell silent opening the briefing to questions.

[Koval]

"Unwise to give Tyranids ideas, Commander," Rant grunted from Demos' left, shaking his head in disapproval. "Should execute idiot that authorised virus bombs."

"You're really not afraid to speak your mind, Sergeant," Demos sighed. "An open mind is a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded."

Rant shrugged. "Assume Tyranids assimilated life-eater. So, assimilated fire-gas too, and no easy combustion of atmosphere. Fighting own most powerful weapon, and Command wants webbers and tranquilisers?"

"I admit I baulked at the orders myself, at first, but--"

"No kill shots, Commander, no survival. Can isolate scout organisms but hive beasts well-protected by entire swarm. Suicidal in itself, but with only webbers? Warn us against life-eater, but tyranids kill us first."

[Necris]

"As far as Intel suggests from orbital sweeps and altitude flights only the larger of the beasts have survived the virus bombing suggesting that they possess some evolutionary step their small swarms do not, something that we do not wish to pass onto the rest of the swarm."

He sighed again.

"While I agree Virus bombing the world might not have been the right course, Georme is a world rich in resources that are critical to the Imperial Guards activities in this sector, it was hoped that once the virus had died out the world could be repopulated with the original refugees, fire-gas was deemed too damaging to the world."

He strode out into the centre of the room.

"I want you know that I am not happy with this at all, to limit us in our duty is to put us in great danger, but we are the Emperor's finest and it falls to us to take this task in our stead and carry it out to the fullest of our ability, that we die our duty undone is our greatest shame, but we are deathwatch and we do not fail.

I understand some of your reservations but rest assured should there be risk of life I will authorise live fire without hesitation. I would not dream of entering a war zone without live ammunition but we are expected to use minimum force before resorting to violence." 

[Heroka Vendile]

Hunrik raised his hand to get Demos' attention. He was still under strict instructions not to talk while his now scar-tissue covered throat was still healing, so had been communicating solely in the Index Astartes hand signals, which were taught by most chapters. As a system more intended for battle it was cumbersome for casual conversation, however Hunrik had spent most of the three days meditating and tending to his badly damaged armour.

"Brother Hunrik?" Demos nodded to him to indicate he had his attention.

Hunrik Land Speeder Tempest on board. Can be fitted with Webcannon. Snare-net missiles too if available when arrive. Close air support hold advantage?

The veteran clasped his hands behind his back to indicate he was finished.

[Swarbie]

Artos stood. "You want to catch a lictor and a broodlord, Captain?" he asked.

"That is correct, brother," replied Demos.
Artos froze. Everyone there could see tension building in his frame.

Finally, he relaxed.

"Very well," he said. "Imperial Command is filled with idiots. I should have known."

He turned to face his assembled brothers. "I do not want to see any of you killed. So I will give you a special training session before we deploy. If that is alright with you captain?"

"Very well," said Demos. "But make it quick."

"Thank you. Rant, you've faced these monsters before. Will you help me tell them what to do? I know how to deal with lictors, genestealers and raveners, but you know how to fight the larger beasts."

[Simeon Blackstar]

Martell smiles bleakly at Artos.  "Well, brother, if we must catch a Lictor alive you will have ample opportunity to demonstrate your stealth."

He turns to Demos, the smile fading.  "Captain, I appreciate that these creatures must be taken alive, but it seems to me that trying to use web and tranq weaponry on the larger beasts may... not have been adequately thought through by the Imperial Commanders.  Given the resilience of the larger warriors, raveners and especially carnifexes, might it not be more prudent to simply disable them by blowing off their limbs?  A carnifex can easily plough through a battle tank, so I cannot see webbers doing more than slow it slightly.  And, like brother Rant says, far from using minimal force we will likely need as much firepower as against the Tau to cut down all the swarm organisms that protect our targets.  Do you have authority to alter the prosecution of this mission as you judge most likely to succeed, or must we carry out these orders as they have been delivered to you?"

[Necris]

He rubbed his brow as he turned to regard Martell,

"It seems some of you have missed something in the briefing I have already mentioned twice that the smaller organisms have succumbed to the virus, were that not the case I would be using full force to carry out this mission with more than just ourselves."

He keyed in some data into the tacticum, a holo projection illuminated before them.

The scene shown before them was the ground before the main gate to Hive Primus before the gate was a host of Tyranid creatures of all shapes and designations, they moved feeding on the matter around them.

"This is the Hive Primus one hour post evacuation, the Tyranid host has yet to begin it's process of devouring the world, the Imperial commanders are about the launch the exterminates Virus Bomb."

He started the vid capture, the Tyranid host swept across the screen like a tidal forces swarms of gaunts, and genestealers washing around the massive forms of Warriors, Tyrants and Carnifexes. A series of flashes whited out the pict recording for a few seconds signalling the detonations of the Atmospheric bombs which drew the attention of some of the largest Tyranids but went more or less unnoticed by the host as it swept into the Hive, it paused.

"I'm going to speed this up, to show you the effects of the virus."

The recording continued at three times speed, the hours ticked past every ten seconds at thrity seconds the first signs of the virus could be seen the Tyranids as a whole became sluggish moving slowly despite the speed of the recordings playback, the recording went on for another minute at forty seconds the entire host appeared to have expired the field before the camera was littered with the dead thousands upon thousands of them lay unmoving a further twenty seconds later saw the largest of the creatures picking themselves up and sluggishly moving off some fought amongst one another. Demos stopped the vid feed.

"As you can see for some reason the larger creatures appear to have been affected by the virus but have recovered, that is what Imperial command want answered. Watch this I need you to understand just how dangerous this virus is."

He pulled up a new vid capture this one was of a lab, a teragaunt was held within a plasglass containment cell, it thrashed and crashed against the surface trying to escape following some basic instinct to feed and kill, a gas was released after a few minutes the frantic attempt to escape subsided and the gaunt became docile slapping weakly against the glass wall, the surface of it's skin started to come away in bloody chunks exposing raw bloody flesh beneath, after twenty minutes the gaunt collapsed its breathing strained and weak a few minutes later it's chest collapsed in on it's self and blood oozed from it's mouth as it expired after that the skull collapsed and eventually the body wasted away.

"With a direct exposure the effects are increased ten fold, but the effects are the same when the virus is dilute in an atmosphere. The larger tyranids only showed signs of first state infection clearly they possess some evolutionary advantage in their immune system that the lesser swarms do not, command needs to isolate this trait and remove its effectiveness."

He turned of the tacticum and turned to Hunrik.

"Close field air support is a fine idea brother, replace your heavy bolter with the web cannon I'd rather keep the assault cannon active if possible. Select a gunner to accompany you."

He strode to his allotted place in the armoury taking a seat.

"Once we set foot on the Georme the mission is ours, I am in command, my decision is final should I chose it the mission parameters will change, but understand this until we get a clear understanding of the situation and for as long as we are able to do our mission as requested of us by Imperial Command and the Ordo Xenos we will carry our those orders."

[Kallidor]

"Kah'Brosh will aid in taking down these vermin, well, it worked when I fought Behemoth, but these creatures may be more resistant, either way, we won't know until I'm close enough. I heard the Ultramarines fought with the Mechanicum to capture Synapse creatures although it could have been just a story. They used stasis grenades so they say, each one a world's ransom but, get in close, and you've captured yourself a bug. Quick, clean, easy.

"Failing that perhaps a more simplistic approach might be better. Harpoons. Brother Rant must have the expertise to construct such a primitive device, we could use the tempest. Cripple any long range weapon symbiotes first and then fire harpoons attached with heavy chain into the creatures limbs, slow it down, tire it out, eventually it will have to stop and then we can capture the thing at our leisure."

[Necris]

"That is a good idea, Rant post briefing head down to the hangar and speak with Brother Cabel regarding fashioning us some form of harpoon to use against the Tyranids, also see if he can come up with a use for all the caballing he has lying around down there."

He looked around

"Anything else anyone can think of?"

[Inquisitor Ranovack]

'How long untill we get there?' Asked Peleus, 'and what support elements will we have at our disposal?'Anxious to fight the Xenos again.

[Necris]

Demos' smile was dead there was no emotion behind it as he spoke.

"Fifteen hours, and none."

He looked around the gathered brothers and continued

"Taskforce G'Huk is operational in the southern hemisphere carrying out the same operation as us at Hive Secondus, other than that there will be no other humans on the world, any support we can expect in rapid orbital or aerial bombarddment."

He stood and paced down the length of the armoury

"Fifteen hours brothers, should any of you wish to voice your conrcens with me privatly I will be in the starboard hangar calibrating my bike."

He strode from the armoury and headed down to the hangar as he's said he located his bike a bone white customised vehicle, he checked the twin mounted bolters carefully removing them he checked the feeds of the weapons before putting them to one side, his fingers worked through the bike checking every aspect f the workings within before he returned to the bolters beside the bike all the while had sat a adeptus machanicus lock box, he turned his attention to this opening it he drew the magazines from the bike and started to load the ammunition contained within into them, the rounds were unlike standard bolt rounds the tips were hardened glass vials filled with a pearl coloured liquid, he knew that within was the web fluid that they'd be using against the tyranids he knelt looking at one of these vials wondering himself if this truely would be enough, he resigned himself to test the theory behind the round putting five to one side for other use he continued to load the magazines of his bike.

[Swarbie]

Artos stood. 

"Any who wish me to teach them how to protect themselves against genestealers, lictors and raveners should meet me back here in two hours. Rant, do you wish to teach them how to deal with the larger assault organisms? I can teach them if you are unwilling, but I believe you will have a greater depth of experience to draw upon."

[Koval]

Rant nodded, standing.

"Is simple matter. Can create holo slides in time. Easier to discuss than vanguard beasts. Will attend your discussion myself, then present own sub-briefing."

With a salute, Rant turned and left.

[Swarbie]

Artos sat cross-legged on the star map in the center of his cell. To teach his brothers, he would have to remember that which part of him had actively tried to forget.

He called forth his memories.

The hive sewers, lit only by their special issue optics and the pilot-light on his squads flamer. Shadows lurking around every corner.

The attack had happened without warning. One of his brothers, Varnst, had been pulled into the air. They had all seen the writhing tendrils and dead, soulless eyes.

Part of Artos quailed at these memories, but he grinned nonetheless.

He could still fight them. 

[Necris]

Satisfied with his bike he returned to the armory and dressed for battle, slowly and carefully he slid each piece of his prized armor on checking each part carefully, for this mission he'd chosen not to equip his powerfist and instead took up his power sword hanging it from his waist a pair of bolt pistols followed and finally a bolter, checking his armor one last time he sat in his bay and quietly watched Artos and Rant give their tutorial.

Twelve hours later he stood with the brothers of his task force as the Stormhawk made it's final decent, thirty minuets and counting, he looked down the line of them as they prepared, a vox link from the bridge crackled to life.

"Captain, a message is coming through for you."

"Origin?"

"Captain G'Huk, the feed is vid."

"Put it up on the hangar display."

The main display came to life and he gathered the marines around him framed in the screen was a marine surrounded by deathwatch their helms in place G'Huk stood in the center his face exposed skin as dark as onyx and eyes burning red.

"Captain Demos, an honor to serve alongside you again."

"You've risen in the ranks G'Huk last time we met you were but a brother marine fresh from the scout companies of your Chapter."

G'Huk laughed the serious look on his face never changing.

"What say we make some sport out of this, I propose a wager."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Who ever finishes first has pick of the other task forces weapons, I know you have some unique equipment on your Stormhawk."

"Likewise."

"I've pledged to have this task done in twenty four hours, what about you?"

"I set no time limit other than the one imposed on us."

Again he laughed.

"I see, do we have an accord?"

"We do."

The pair nodded to one another.

"Good hunting Demos."

"It's what my chapter does best."

The link went dead, he turned to look at the stunned marines behind him.

"I have no intention of losing this wager, G'Huk is as rash as he always has been..."

He was interrupted as the inner atmosphere warning alarm signaled.

"Besides we have one advantage he does not, Hunrik?"

Hunrik nodded and left the group within moments he was in his landspeeder and ready.

"Helms on, Hunrik carry out a sweep report on locals of our target tyranid monsters and report back, the rest of you in position for immediate deployment."

He strode over to his bike sliding his helm on when it had locked he looked around to check everyone else was sealed and sent the signal to open the hangar bays, Hunrik shot from the descending ship in a trail of fire before the hangar was sealed again, he checked his internal clock.

++Mission Time 00:00++

"Lets hunt boys, once we hit the ground Rant, Kurtis, Martell set to equipping the webber cannons the the rhinos' Peleus, Simion, Laran with me, we perform a perimeter sweep before Hunrik gives us our bearings, Korvin and the rest equip with the webbers and prepare to follow in the crusader."