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The War of Shadows

Started by Necris, March 01, 2010, 10:16:24 AM

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MarcoSkoll

Lyra put three rounds into a cultist, before moving around the back of a damaged Chimera. As she slowly crept forwards, she could hear a soft rushing sound increasingly close behind her. She twisted around, instantly firing at the cultist that was all too apparent as she did so.

The first two shots went wide, and with an ominous click of the bolt catch, her autogun stopped, locked open waiting for the next magazine. It was only then she realised what the sound had been - the pilot light of a flamer.

   "Oh shaft me."

The cultist pulled the trigger, flames washing out from the nozzle. But they stopped in midair, almost as if there were an invisible wall. Lyra smirked. It wasn't her energy field - it was far more powerful. Something - or rather, someone - with control of fire and flame. The voice that spoke next came as no surprise to her.

   "Put. Your. Weapon. Down."

Maya's voice carried incredible force, and the psyker had obviously reinforced the command with powerful telepathic suggestions. The cultist practically dropped the flamer, his own will overridden.
She relaxed the stiffness of her outstretched arm - for some reason that Lyra had never completely understood, gestures were very powerful to many psykers, reinforcing their control. The splayed palm Maya had used was a focus for her pyrokinetic "shield".

She didn't bother to lower the arm though, gesturing at the cultist.

   "Good. Come here."

As he drew close enough, she placed her open hand upon his forehead. Her eyes flared briefly, then the cultist collapsed, completely lifeless.

   "What in the Emperor's true name did you do that for?", Lyra exclaimed.
   "He was useless.", Maya said with a matter-of-fact tone, "If you were hoping to interrogate him, it would have been a waste of your time. His mind had been wiped so clean that everything in there gleamed."
   "He still could have known some..."
   "I'm not an idiot, Lyra. He had no long term memory at all. Everything, right down to his name - gone. He knew only what he had just done and a desire to kill."
   "Then that means..."

She was interrupted, Ottakar Grant cutting in. To tell the truth, she wasn't even sure when he had arrived.
   "A powerful telepath. And a skilled one, to strip a mind clean."

With a small puff of smoke, he pulled the lit lho stick from his mouth and looked down at the body.
   "With that kind of talent at their disposal, they probably grabbed a civilian, wiped his mind and gave him a weapon."

Hearing this, several particularly vulgar swearwords ran through Lyra's brain. Seeing the psyker tense, she went for the first thing that came to mind.
   "Maya, would you go and find Kai? I'm going to need to speak to him.", she started softly, but her tone harshened slightly at Maya's hesitation, "Now, please."

She waited for the psyker to leave before turning to the power armoured Inquisitor, speaking in a low voice.
   "Ottakar, a word, if I may?"
   "Of course."
   "It'd be best not to say things like that around Maya. She's still very young - and rather idealistic. It's not a good idea to tell her she's just killed an innocent. If you're right, you and I know his death was necessary, perhaps even a mercy. He wasn't a 'person' any more. But she won't see it that way."
   "I see. One of that sort. I'll try to keep it in mind. But she should grow out of it eventually."
   "I'll hate to be there on that day."
   "Excuse me?"
   "I think it could break her. But forget I said it - it's not important right now. What is important is that we don't want to be telling one of our most powerful assets they could be killing innocents."
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Necris

Jeremiah walked up to Ottakar and Lyra speaking as he moved towards them.

"Inquisitor Grant, can I ask your opinion on this."

He offered the ruined MIU weapon to the Inquisitor, the weapon was beyond repair but it was obviously of high quality, the weapon casing was stamped with something that had been obscured by the round which had destroyed it, no one beyond the Inquisition or Adeptus Mechanicus could have possessed a weapon of such fine quality.

Jeremiah watched as Ottakar turned the weapon over in his hands his attention split between that and the pair of Salamanders Bernard and his people were manoeuvring into the courtyard, they'd need to be giving chase soon he looked from Ottakar to Silv who knelt beside one of the dead cultists examining the body, her eyes snapped up locking with his own and she nodded picking herself up she removed herself from view.

Hidden behind the Shell of a Leman Russ she knelt and closed her eyes focussing first on Gerhan but she came up with nothing, was he psychically shielded now she couldn't locate him so focussed on something else, racking her mind she thought of the beacon and smiled as the image of it came to her mind she'd be able to follow it and let out a long breath as she opened her eyes, she needed a map and she needed one quickly before she lost the link, her eyes shifted to the dead cultist again as her mind focussed on something new.

This here is my very favourite gun...I call her rita.

The Order of the Iron Rose - Necris' Inq28 Plog

Zephon

As he rolled the Salamander up the ramp, Bernard reminded himself it had been some years since he had last driven a tank. The old motions, first learned on Kavin, seemed to be coming back. Perhaps it hadn't been so long after all. Still, it would be best to find a dedicated driver, for he had more important things to do. He left the engine idling and reached for the vehicle's comm equipment.

"Captain Henroth, this is Inquisitor Wyebold, report status."

He listened to the artillery officer with growing irritation. The loss of the command centre had thrown the defenders into chaos.  Henroth had been receiving a constant flow of requests for artillery support from units on the northern perimeter. The mechanised reserve force seemed to have scattered itself to respond to immediate threats. The cultist snipers seemed to be gone, but their place had been taken by random daemon attacks. The only hopeful piece of news was that the enemy seemed even less coordinated than the Imperial forces. Bernard bit at his knuckle as he thought. Turning back to vox, he asked for any mechanised units in the vicinity of the command centre.

Kallidor

Under the circumstances there was very little that could be done to perform the appropriate rites for the fallen Techpriest and the other faithful. Whilst he had been ordained into the Mysteries of the Cult Mechanicus even now he considered Adepts who had spent all of their lives as Priests of the Machine God as somehow, more, than himself. Molovich was a warrior first, a holyman second. Unable to retrieve the data wafers or appease the grieving implants of the dead Techpriest he ordered Adepta Reiss to remain with the bodies and pray for them.

With that done he had one more duty to attend to. Jerimiah still held the power axe he had retrieved but it was now time for him to give it up. Molovich could well understand why his fellow Inquisitor would want the weapon but that was beside the point.

Unable to use the bio-unit to communicate Molovich was forced to use hs own flesh voice and rather than tax himself with a long sentence he merely held out his hand, drawing himself up to his full and not inconsiderable height, speaking only one word.

"Give." With heavy footfalls the Praetorians lumbered forward to stand behind their master and behind them the Skitarius, his weapon held loosely but ready.
Be Pure!
Be Vigilant!
BEHAVE!

Necris

Jeremiah sighed as he turned to the hulking figure of Czernarvok looking at the out stretched hand, his eyes travelled up the arm to the metal grill of the face.

"You know it would be better served in enacting revenge for the poor soul who'd wielded it."

He relinquished the weapon placing it into Czernarvok hand as his eyes turned to his body guard, the gesture was a futile waste on him, two Praetorians and a gaggle of Skitarius were little threat to him he'd be able to kill them and seriously injure Czernarvok with but a thought, however with the other two inquisitors stood to his rear he doubted he could turn and deal with them before one of them put a bullet him in and especially with Lyra being one of them, he took a long calming breath longing for his own armour that waited for him high above.

"Maybe you can shed some light on the weapon Ottakar has."

He bowed his head and stepped past Czernarvok going to one of the dead cultist he relieved him of a long combat dagger an the strode off towards one of the waiting Salamanders Silv following she had a sheet of map paper in her hand. They climbed in beside Bernard.

"Silv take the controls, we're going after them."

She slid into the drivers chair looking over the controls for a moment she gripped them tight then forced the light tanks forward while he checked the autocannon mounted on the top of the tank, a full load of shells that would have to be enough. Bernard looked at him in protest but he spoke drowning out the other mans words

"Get on the heavy bolter, I intend to stop that trojan, Silv push the engines hard."

She nodded as she gunned the throttle pushing the tank forward at a rapid increase of speed.
This here is my very favourite gun...I call her rita.

The Order of the Iron Rose - Necris' Inq28 Plog

Zephon

In Bernard's opinion, Crowe's acolyte drove quite badly. He was certain the experience would have been truly gut-wrenching if he'd eaten. Instead, he endured the jolting of the vehicle and dismissed the gnawing sensation of hunger. Checking the heavy bolter, he discovered barely a third of the standard ammunition was present. Still, it would be enough for the weak armour of a Trojan, even discounting the autocannon. As the overpowered engines of the Salamander roared in the background, Bernard turned to shout a question at Inquisitor Crowe:

"How many rounds for the 'cannon?"

"Twenty!" Crowe yelled back

"Out here, we're in danger from the hell-fiends! Save your shells for the traitors!"

Necris

He hung from the auto cannon shouting over the roaring engine.

"Dammit Silv, you used drive these things for a living get it together!"

She shouted back half lucking over his shoulder as she cleared some rubble.

"Oh I'm sorry Inquisitor! I'm still recovering from having my ear drums ruptured!"

He sighed as he swung back up to the gun priming it he looked round at the cabin stooping he picked up a stubber and turned it in his hand before tucking it into his belt.

"Oh for my own dammed armour."

He sighted down the heavy weapon and looked down from the weapon as Bernard opened up on a gaggle of daemons as they tore into cultists their need for slaughter over taking any logic of allies and servitude. He looked to the sky free of the confines of the command centre he could feel his surroundings again without the flood of emotion washing over him his eyes looked to the fading swirling myriad of colour, he could see stars and the planets luna satellite.

"The warp is waning!"

"What?"

He gestured at the sky.

"The warp storm is growing weaker, the death of the daemon prince must have weakened the storms effects."

He pointed out over the top of the tank forcing Bernard to move and follow his gesture, he pointed at a collection of lesser daemons as they thrashed and wailed their bodies melting and disintegrating into nothingness.

"See the weaker daemons can not remain on this plane of existence, vox back to the command centre and tell them to pull back and prepare to defend themselves the daemons will give a new push to try and claim this world they need the deaths of the strongest to reopen the link, Lyra's psyker will be one of their targets."

"What about you?"

"I've been suppressing my powers since we left the walls of the compound, hopefully we'll remain under their radar for a while longer as Maya and the other psykers draw them in."

"You'd sacrifice the others just like that."

"Don't be stupid, I don't want any more deaths today, but if that is his will then they will give us the time we need to end this once and for all."

He looked up as the Trojan came into view taking the auto cannon he fired three shots the cannons boom echoing through the ruins around them, the first shot went wide the second did no damage but the third scored a glancing hit buckling the outer hull around one of the treads the support tank screamed in protest as it swerved out of sight.

"Dammit!"

This here is my very favourite gun...I call her rita.

The Order of the Iron Rose - Necris' Inq28 Plog

Zephon

Bernard didn't bother Crowe with the details of the loss of the command centre's master-vox, but set the Salamander's comm to the general channel.

"This is Inquisitor Wyebold. Relay this message. All units are to pull back to the perimeter. Prepare for a final attack. The foe is all but defeated, Warriors of the Imperium! A final stalwart defence will see them crushed! Fear is naught while faith is strong! For the Emperor!"

Resetting the transmitter to a specific frequency, Bernard quietly sent another message.

"This is Wyebold. Oliver, Inquisitor Rhodes has a psyker. If the defences fall, terminate it and any others."

If the death of psykers at the hands of the daemons could reinvigorate the walking blasphemies to further pollute this world, then it must not come to pass. Should the situation turn against them out here, he hoped Inquisitor Crowe would understand his reasoning.

Banishing such dark thoughts from his mind as the Salamander screeched about a corner, Bernard reached for the heavy bolter.

Necris

The auto cannon fired again and once again he scored only glancing hits on the Trojan as it sped round the ruined terrain, he clenched his teeth as he fired again almost letting out a cry of triumph as black smoke started to pour from the tank ahead, despite the pumping smoke it hardly slowed as it turned and crashed through a wall bringing it down behind it, Silv dragged the open topped tank to a skidding halt and turned looking at him questioningly.

He looked up from the gun looking out before them at the shattered remains of the Imperial Palace.

"Head for the palace."

Bernard turned looking at him.

"What?"

"If the device is a beacon they'll need space to await what ever comes to get them."

Silv nodded gunning the engine she turned towards the palace
This here is my very favourite gun...I call her rita.

The Order of the Iron Rose - Necris' Inq28 Plog