[IC] Warhammer 40k: The Chaos Incursion

[Rithy]

"I think you just need to appreciate the luxury of life, Ansgar."

Adrianne replied with a slight chuckle.

"With stormbolter, it doesn't matter much whether the target is a naked little gretchin or a hulking space marine. The result is a target thorn to shreds before you can even sing the first verse of the emperor's litany!"

...

"Come to think of it, you can decimate a small building in the blink of an eye with that thing... "

The Psyker paused as she thought of the awesome destructive potential of the Stormbolter. A normal bolter was already comparable to a fully automatic grenade launcher with great penetrative force. A stormbolter was often just a bunch of bolters smashed together, for even more destructive powers!
She had seen a line of heavily armored Ork nobz turned into red paste by a stormbolter years ago, before the front part of the bunker behind them had then caved out from the missed bolter rounds.

To her, the Stormbolter was amongst the epitome of the Astarte's fetish for anything overkill!

And she didn't mind...

"Just bear in mind that; just as the star that burns twice as bright, it will only burn half as long. Once you press the trigger, the fun is over as soon as it starts." Adrianne commented with a toyful tone as she cast a sly smirk over at the arbites at the end of her sentence.

"Stars go supernova when they burn out, mistress." Suddenly sounded the stoic, robotic voice of her servitor.
"Such may be a poor analogy, unless you expect the weapon to explode in the guardman's face."

...

There was a pause, before Adrianne turned around to look at the servitor with one glaring, purple eye.

[Eisenhorn]

Ansgar patiently heard out the psyker as she drooled, figuratively he assumed, over the Storm Bolter and its impressive capacity for destruction. Yes, the weapon could rip anything caught in its burst to shreds, but as she pointed out, the weapon chewed through ammo at an alarmingly fast pace. Ansgar's opinion on the storm bolter, as such, was rather mixed, knowing how much of a nightmare the things tended to be from a logistics stand point. Space Marines tended to not care for such things, they had rarer issues with supplies due to being as favored as they were. A Guardsman could ill afford to be wasteful with supplies, even the routine mishaps in supply shipping. He had seen a Trooper, upon receiving barrels of industrial strength acid instead of promethium, modify his heavy flamer to accept the acid and utilized it to alarming efficiency against the Tyranid forces. Emperor provided providence, or a happy accident, Ansgar cared little in regards to that acid thrower that had been cobbled together. The fact it worked better than Promethium was good enough for the Krieger.

The comment of stars going supernova brought a quiet snort from the Krieger. What, did the servitor mix up plasma weapons for bolter weapons? Guardsmen issued plasma weapons had the dubious honor of maintaining and firing the damned things, and if Grenadiers thought their Hellguns were unreliable, than Emperor help the poor special weapon bastards carrying plasma weapons. Even properly maintained, he'd seen the things overheat and damn near kill the trooper holding it. Then again, a trick that most didn't think about was that lasguns could indeed take out armor, not in the way one might expect. Overloading the power cell into the lasgun without giving it a discharge path turned the rifle into a bomb, though the obvious problems were a lack of consistent timing, the loss of said weapon, the fact it was barely as strong as a krak grenade, and so on and so on. Truly a desperation move indeed. "If this storm bolter has had so little maintenance it resembles a plasma weapon, I believe our concerns are greater than a storm bolter detonating..."

However, he highly doubted the Sisters would leave one of their transports so ill maintained. Still though, his Engineer habits had him constantly checking and rechecking the equipment. Ansgar knew that things only would break in a significant manner when it mattered that they did not, if one left the possibility to chance. He had no intention of letting it go to chance. Beyond this, however, Ansgar was simply keeping his mind from wandering, something that was an eternal battle for a sentry. Remaining focused and alert was far more difficult, in ways that one might not think. Sure, sleep deprivation or a wandering mind might be a problem, but a lack of attention to subtle details and subtler changes to a familiar environment could be the only warnings one would get. And considering the lack of familiarity with this environment? He had a difficult task indeed, considering he could not risk missing a cue that might save or damn the lot of them.

[rivaan]

“Doesn't matter...” Vala replied to Adrianne with displeased expression.” I got tricked, should have stayed back at base. I hoped for nice dinner out and it turns out we are simply going on a raid.” The former merc stated with sad voice, regretting her decision. She could have stayed at base and tinker her newest invention... weapon. A weapon perfect for dealing with specific high armored targets. Targets like power armor or warp shielding.” I just want now to get this over with and return back...”

She heard one of the new face say something and then looked up at him. Just the usual poor sod roped into inquisition duties. Vala herself was not given much of a choice in the matter so she at least tried to make the best of it by tinkering like mad on invention she before had not the resources to make. She now wondered what was his story... was he forced.. did he volunteer or something or was he requested specifically...

“As long as the ammunition isn't defective and the bolter doesn't heat up to a point it causes the bullets to ignite before fired, you should be fine.” Vala stated to Ansgar and threw a look at Adrianne.

“I'm personally fan of heavier hitting weapons... Shotguns... cannons... the higher impact and damage ones that take are focused on high range, velocity and damage instead of speed.” She said with a sigh.” In fact I'm in the middle of finishing a laser cannon that should be powerful enough to pierce through space marine power armor in a single shot. Granted it's very slow rate of fire, but in return it should be good to go from mile and something. Basically it's an sniper cannon... You'll like the results it gives.“

[Rithy]

The Servitor's vox box would automatically crackle into life, using its same, monotone voice to answer the Krieger's comment.

"Clarification: I was suggesting that the analogy used by my mistress may,-"

"Mute!"

Suddenly sounded Adrianne's voice as the Psyker had leaned over to stretch out one arm to press a hidden button on the servitor's back, as its vox box suddenly grew silent. It moved about, shuffling slightly, but not a single sound came from it aside from the occasional whirring sound of gizmos and hydraulics from its body.

Leaning back into her chair, now with a much more satisfied look on her face, Adrianne would turn to look back over at Vala with a smile.

"Heavy hitting? Shotguns? Sweetie, you do realize what a bolter is?!" Adrianne quipped with a mischievous smile!
"It is essentially a direct grenade launcher. And a stormbolter is just two bolters latched together. If you like heavy hitting options, you'd fall in love with it if you tried!"

The Psyker commented with a sly grin.

"And don't you worry about food. House raids are actually quite lucrative on a rich world. Even the heretics around here are bound to be well off! Imagine the foodstuffs we'll be able to find in their larder!" Adrianne said with a glint in her eye! For it had been a thought that had just struck her too!

It had taken a while for her to realize that the average citizen on this planet was actually quite well off compared to other areas of the Imperium. Which meant that when they invariable kicked in the door and the Sister of Battle did her thing and burnt the owner on charges of heresy, that meant they retained the right to confiscate all their stuff! Foodstuff included!
While Adrianne did not consider herself a burglar, it was technically alright in her mind if she confiscated the stuff under imperial or inquisitorial decree! It would technically not be stealing then!

... in theory.

[Eisenhorn]

"I would not be so quick to dismiss a shotgun as not heavy hitting, ma'am. I've seen ammo that the Arbites should know, such as rounds designed to home in on targets. Coupled with slug, various explosive rounds, gas rounds, and stranger that I've seen used, a shotgun can hit well above its weight." Ansgar was rather fond of shotguns, specifically the Krieger favored Lucius Pattern Mark 22c semi-automatic shotgun. Engineers were fond of the revolver style magazine the weapon employed, one could very much treat the things with impromptu grenade launchers, just lower velocity than the common method of likening bolters to high velocity grenade launchers. Engineers loved the Mark 22c, the thing could sweep trenches and tunnels clear in a few blasts, the weapon's lack of range and ferocious kick mattered little to the Kriegers born with a natural talent for combat engineering. And Ansgar was no exception to this, he still missed his shotgun over the hellgun he lugged about still.

Ansgar patiently listened to the merc woman talk to great length about her current project, an amalgamation of las tech that would probably get her strung up by the cogboys if they caught her with the thing. But, thankfully for her, they had no cogboys with them. "That sounds like an attempt to make a single man portable las cannon. Just more unreliable and jury rigged. Why not strip down a lascannon and bulk up a bit, or use a suspender rig to aid in carrying it?" Ansgar was seriously questioning how useful this sniper cannon would be, considering it really sounded like a jury rigged las cannon. The Krieger had seem some strange combinations by desperate soldiers, but this hardly seemed to be a situation fitting for such a jury rigging. Not when, as he pointed out, either stripping down a las cannon, bulking up, or using mechanical assistance could accomplish the same with a far more tried and true method of armor hunting than some amalgamation of parts and circuits.

Ansgar wouldn't be so crass as to go I told you so, when the thing blew up on her, but he would certainly not be within the blast radius when it went critical. He had to admit, it seemed the group had a fetish for heavy firepower, something that, while he could respect and find it useful, he did not share. Each weapon and piece of equipment was a tool, nothing more. If a knife could get job done as serviceably as a heavy bolter, why waste the time, resources, and manpower to use a heavy bolter when the knife would suffice? Perhaps he was being unreasonable, sticking too closely to the common supply problems of siege warfare, and never having the luxury of getting to have such a fetish for heavy firepower. Then again, perhaps it was unhealthy for their focus on such things. But then again, this was a psyker and mercenary he was dealing with, there was never any promises they would be reasonable, sensible, or otherwise sane! With that though, Ansgar maintained his silence, despite the plethora of further commentary he could make on the situaiton.

[POOHEAD189]

As the Krieger spoke of Shotguns, the Arbites was just cleaning his own. Herold did it more out of habit and for something to do than boredom. All of this talk of heavy firepower made him have the...suspicion that it would be needed at some point. He had to agree with the Death Korp Trooper that if you didn't have the strength to hold a bolter (or the money) a Combat Shotgun in close quarters would solve whatever problem you had very quickly.

He had not realized that the Inquisition had gathered so many weapon enthusiasts. A sniper lascanon? He'd used a 'Longlas' in training, but never imagined why something such as that would be needed in a much bigger variant. Perhaps if some Xenos or Rebel had a particularly large organic unit far away, or he supposed a mechanical one that could have it's cockpit/power supply damaged. Herold let out a grunt, what he considered a small snort of laughter, at the fact had forgotten what it was like to be surrounded by anyone other than citizens begging for mercy or innocence.

He finished cleaning his Combat Shotgun, and began reloading it. "Are we expecting a house raid?" he asked grimly. He wasn't one to question an Inquisitor, but so far he had not seen evidence of this Inquisitor and he would like to know the reason they were to break down someone's door. Not that he had any qualms about it, but he was here to uphold the law, not abuse it, unless needed to uphold a higher Imperial truth. He finished reloaded and closed the chamber of his Combat Shotgun with an audible and intimidating 'snap.'

[WardenCelestine]

Glancing over her left should at the retinue that sat in the back of the Rhino, Solares listened to their conversation about imperial grade weapons and their effects upon targets. Turning back to facing forward in the Rhino, Solares pulled the data-pad from the small compartment on her armor and quickly turned it on. "Do they always converse so much? You have a...unique retinue, Celestian Andromedai."
Solares glanced at Andromedai for a moment before returning her attention to the road ahead.

"You become use to it and it turns into background noise that can be easily ignored, if you choose to." Andromedai shrugged lightly before the Rhino took a sharp turn. "You are aware of the situation at hand, aren't you Solares?" asked Andromedai as their first destination came up on the Rhinos GPS.

"What kind of question is that, of course I am fully aware of the situation at hand and am fully prepared for whatever may come next." Solares motioned at the GPS and made it known to the whole retinue that they were almost at their first stop. "Listen up, we are almost at our first stop, once we pick up some additional equipment we will head to where food is currently being prepared for our arrival."

Once the Rhino came to a stop in front of the large depot, Andromedai was the first one to leave the vehicle, followed by Solares. "Take what you need from the equipment crates but don't overburden yourself." said Andromedai as she walked through the front doors.

Oddly enough, none of the guards gave the group any trouble or even made eye contact. "They must recognize our rank." thought Solares to herself as she watched them closely.

The interior of the depot was set up like a massive showroom of sorts, everywhere one looked they could find rows of armor, weapons and equipment that ranged from common to extremely rare. "I forgot how much I enjoy being here." said Andromedai in a much more light hearted tone than she usually spoke in.

"Adrianne, follow me and get that machine of yours to do the same, I will need its help carrying equipment. The rest of you follow Solares, we will all meet back up shortly."

Andromedai turned to go down the left isle while Solares went down the right, both of them expecting orders to be followed swiftly and to the letter.

(Andromedai's group.)
Once Adrianne and her machine had broken from the group, Andromedai glanced at her then returned her gaze into the distance. "Notice those Guardsmen and how they avoided us? That's abnormal, usually I get a salute and they offer to help but not this time. Odd, should question them later and find out why." The three of them were nearing the equipment Andromedai was looking for. "My rifle should be here somewhere, a modified Spectre class sniper rifle. Ah I see, up there, section C-32A, the unnamed box with the Sister of Battle crest on it, that's what I want. Would you be so kind to retrieve it for me please?"

(Solares's group.)
"Row A-54F, where are you my wonderful automatic weapons, I require your assistance once more." said Solares under her breath as the group walked. "Ah! There!" Solares exclaimed before rushing forward and grabbing onto a crate in front of her and prying it open. Carefully she pulled out two custom designed auto-pistols and examined them before attaching them to either side of her armor. "Anyone looking for some extra gear or equipment?" she asked.

Suddenly from outside of the warehouse, commotion could be heard in the distance. Gunfire erupted and the sounds of chaos followed in suite. "What is happening out there?" asked Solares followed by Andromedai. Both of them readied their weapons and quickly headed back to the front of the warehouse.

[Rithy]

To call it a depot would be a very, very humble way of describing the... thing, that was the bizarre storage-slash-museum-maze that they were in.

As she walked with Andromedai, she could see to every direction stacks upon stacks upon stacks of crates of every design, ranging from heavy metal cases to old, half-rotted through wooden crates that seemed as if they had been lying there for a millennia or two. The gothic structure had the shelves be divided under sections beneath arched roofs that stretched more than two hundred feet up into the air, the topmost shelves being barely visible through the gloom and dim illumination of burning chandeliers and flickering bio lights that had long since been due replacement.

"If just one of these shelves fall, it'll unleash a domino effect resulting in a supply avalanche like never before seen!"

Adrianne thought to herself as she noted some ramshackle wooden plates latched onto a rusted metal stilt supporting a massive shelf filled to the brim with a dazzling array of crates and what could only seem like dust covered junk... or just dust upon dust that now looked like junk!

"My rifle should be here somewhere, a modified Spectre class sniper rifle. Ah I see, up there, section C-32A, the unnamed box with the Sister of Battle crest on it, that's what I want. Would you be so kind to retrieve it for me please?"

"Where?"

...

"Oh... "

Adrianne finally noticed the box that Andromedai had pointed out. One of the newer, non-corroded metal boxes sitting on its shelf some 102ft above the ground floor, dangling precarious halfway off the platform as it was wedged between a large piano and an old imperial guard container.

Her eyes scanned to the left and to the right, spotting a cranky, thin old wooden ladder to her left, and a rusted, mobile lift that seemed it had been abandoned for the last five centuries in the corner to her right.

"Yeeeaaaaahhhh... I think I'll take the easy option." Adrianne muttered, as she raised a plated glove to reach out towards the box. Suddenly, as if being brought by its own will, the box would pull itself out from the dangerous shelf - fortunately without causing any junk avalanches - before slowly but surely drifting down towards where Adrianne and Celestian Andromedai stood, gently manipulated by the psychic powers of the psyker as she guided it down.

"There you gooo,-!"

*BOOM*
*Crack-cack-bang!*
*Trata-tatatatata!*

Suddenly the distant sound of explosions and gunfire could be heard echoing through the forlorn halls of the ancient supply depot, as Adrianne momentarily lost focus on her kinetic control, causing the box to suddenly begin in a freefall 10 ft above them to slam with a heavy thud into the cold, stone floor, shooting dust up into the ground!

"Oooohh shi,-" Adrianne's face suddenly froze in an expression that could only be described as immediate regret, before she glanced up at Andromedai to point at the box.

"That, wasn't me! I mean... " She then pointed at the direction of the sound of gunfire.
"I mean, I didn't start that fight, which I didn't expect and... "

...

"Why is there fighting outside?"

[Eisenhorn]

Ansgar noted the fact they were in a storage facility for munitions and arms, of some sort or another, and that there was a vast stockpile here. Curious, for such a world to have such a stockpile. And so poorly guarded too. However, Ansgar had rather wished someone had stayed to guard the Rhino, since it had two key things that most of the retinue did not. Durability, versus small arms at least, and speed. He highly doubted anyone in the group could outrun a Rhino. And if they could, he had to seriously question what was going on in the galaxy that a perfectly serviceable Rhino was being outpaced by someone on foot. Barring psychic interference, of course. Orders were issued, and Ansgar found himself falling in step with the second Sister that had joined them. Solares, her name was? Regardless, she seemed to be looking for something rather specific, while his gaze swept the cargo containers as they walked by. However, unfortunately for anyone behind him, he stopped hard, staring at the markings on one of the containers. Without a word, he broke out his entrenching tool, a shovel to most people, and used it as an impromptu crow bar just as the Sister Solares asked about needing extra gear. Need? No. It didn't hurt to have though.

Sure enough, he had recognized the markings on the container as originally destined for a siege regiment, maybe Death Korp, maybe one of the countless others. Regardless, considering how much dust was on the thing? It was certainly not going anywhere anytime soon. Sure enough, inside the box was quite a few of a model of grenade launcher that was foreign to the Krieger, who was used to seeing single shot launchers amongst the Krieg rank and file troopers. However, this was a larger launcher that utilized a revolving magazine. Fascinating, he thought to himself, slinging the hellgun onto its sling as he pulled out the grenade launcher, spinning the chamber. Smooth rotation, pump action weapon, lugs for both bayonet and sling. He liked it. And there was plenty of ammo, which he took the time to first load the launcher, using frag of course, and stuffed his explosives satchel with as much extra munitions as would fit. One might be concerned about his ability to carry all of that, but considering he used to carry an entire sapper's kit, on top of weapon and backup? This was light in comparison, doubly so since all unnecessary gear was back in his quarters.

Mentally inventorying the munitions he had for the launcher, he slung the launcher and resumed carrying the hellgun properly, the sounds of conflict causing him to glance in the direction of the noise and commotion. What had he said to the arbites? Right, he smirked under his helmet and gasmask knowingly. He wouldn't go saying that he had told him so, but breaking off into a run to follow the sister Solares in meeting up with Andromedai, most likely, and investigating. He caught the question Solares posed and, in the usual grim tone that Kriegers kept, responded plainly. "Likely an uprising ma'am. Armories are the first thing to be stormed, the munitions can play a key role in following conflict during a revolt. Whether in favor of loyalists or rebels, depends on who wins the contest for the armory. I would recommend using spare munitions here to rig the place, as to deny them the resources if we cannot hold them." History repeated itself indeed, the Krieger considered bitterly, making himself ready to kill anyone that aimed to do the Imperium harm. And, the increasingly familiar weight of the launcher on his back being a reminder of, he need not have line of sight to bring them ruination.

[POOHEAD189]

His footsteps thudded as he strode into the armory, full face helm still upon his grim visage. Herold was still unused to such talkative companions, but he guessed he was getting more used to it as time went on. At least they had good tastes in weapons, and a knowledge of them from what he heard.

Speaking of weapons...He was very much impressed with the stockpile of munition platforms here, not to mention equipment and sheer ammo this facility held. It unnerved him, to say the least. He'd been on this planet for only a few years, but he had no idea such a place existed. He lifted up what he knew to be a Power Sword, and examined the blade. He was sorely tempted to take it, but in the end he shook his head. He'd keep to his trusty Shock Maul. All he'd need to do would be to turn up the power in it and he could blow off limbs if need be. The Power Sword was simply overkill.

However, his Combat Shotgun was notoriously short ranged. Not as short of a range as many thought, but firing over 30 meters was sometimes needed. He doubted his Autopistol could fire further. His eyes next fell onto a Mark II Ragefire Pattern Plasma Gun, and picked it up. He let out a grunt as he held it in his hands, feeling its weight.

"Not bad..." he breathed. It was at that moment the sound of fire outside reached his ears, just as the tall Psycher and the Guardsmen were walking by him. He eyed the Grenade Launcher on Ansgar's back, then looked to his Plasma gun, and then to the Grenade Launcher... He'd rather hold a weapon he was familiar with, and decided to go with the Guardsmen's choice. He grabbed more than a few Frag and Krak Grenades, loading his own Grenade Launcher as he hustled to catch up.

'Likely an uprising ma'am' he heard Ansgar say as Herold fell in line with them. "It's bad luck for them we're here," he muttered as the Guardsmen continued to speak. To emphasize his point, his weapon 'snapped' as soon as he put all 6 Grenades in place. Frags this time.

[rivaan]

Vala's skills as an engeneer seemed to be in question by the Krieger, but she chose to not say anything. 'Unreliable? Jury rigged!? You are a god damned brainwashed moron...' Were her thoughts underneath her helmet though. Her skills at assembly and crafting electronics and machinery were far superior to anything she's seen on the average within the Imperium... especially within the guard where everything was made in huge mass to be easily distributed, but tended to malfunction. Her gear only malfunctioned in case of critical damage! They'd see eventually, for now it was best to not get into annoying stuff.

Finally after some more events they were led by Solaris to a armory of sorts and as luck would have it fighting erupted outside not too long after." Yep... there we go." She mumbled, pulling her rifle and releasing the safety. The rifle came to life with a low hum as a light ammo indicator on the side flashed. Her rifle hit like a truck considering the standard rifles, but it had a low ammo capacity in magazines. Still it was a solid slug projectile weapon that basically ran on energy since it was a gaus rifle more or less. It could fire perfectly underwater, in vacuum and pretty much everywhere without a single spark! Hell she could fire it in a room filled with explosive gasses and it won't go off. She wanted to see some of the imperium jury rigged weapons do that... while retaining the penetrative&raw kinetic power, silence and reliability. Ohh yeah since it worked without any explosions or ignitions of any time, this thing could outlast a whole shipment of Imperium standard rifles combined....

[WardenCelestine]

(Andromedai's Squad)

Celestian Andromedai motioned with her left hand for Adrianne to continue lowering the large crate from the upper row of the racks they stood next to, and onto the ground. "Be careful Adrianne, that weapon was given to me from a friend who is no longer with us. A weapon of such craftsmanship is very rarely seen these days." Andromedai felt her muscles tense as the box suddenly plummeted to the ground, hitting the ground with a loud thud, followed by a cloud of dust rising into the air around it. With a sudden movement, Andromedai would smack Adrianne on the back of the head. "Get ahold of yourself Adrianne, what if that had been an explosive? This warehouse would have gone up and killed us all."

Andromedai sighed while kneeling down, opening the box. What she pulled out was an advanced sniper rifle that looked like nothing Adrianne had seen before. The rifle could be disassembled and reassembled very quickly for quick use and transport. "Alright, let's get out of here and find out what is causing the civilians to be so rowdy." Quickly, they moved to the front of the warehouse and met up with Solares and the rest of the retinue.

(Solares's Squad)

Solares nodded her head at Ansgar, "These civilians sure are feisty, wonder if they are our cultists or just the common people needing to be taught a lesson." Turning around, Solares gave Ansgar a thumbs up at his new weapon. "Nice find, watch where you use those though, CQC with impact frags could be messy." From behind them, Celestian Andromedai appeared with Adrianne by her side. "Shall we?" asked Andromedai as she walked towards the main door of the warehouse which was open just enough for someone to slip through.

Outside, a large group of civilians had gathered, and they were armed. The guardsmen that had been keeping watch around the warehouse had been killed, their bodies now being trampled by the mob. "I count at least thirty armed civilians, they are trying to get into our Rhino and are clearly armed." About half of the civilians broke off from the main group and were now heading towards the warehouse. "They are heading this way, shall we greet them when they open the doors or flank them from behind?" asked Andromedai. By now, Solares had vanished, climbing up a ladder to the top of the warehouse and exiting through the roof. Clearly she had her own plans and were about to put them into motion, "Ambush it is I guess, take your positions and get ready to fire as soon as the doors open." said Andromedai.

[Rithy]

"Ambush it is I guess, take your positions and get ready to fire as soon as the doo,-"

"I GOT THIS!"

Adrianne would suddenly interrupt as the Psyker came marching past both Solares and Andromedai as she put on her helmet, stopping in front of the old iron door to raise one leg and kick it open with a loud bang!

*Crash*

"STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!"

The tall Psyker would shout out through her voice box as she marched out of the door and onto the large, open pavement area outside of the warehouse. Her metal boots clanked against the cement below her feet, and her ragged cloak flowed out behind her freely as she took ten more steps towards the mob that was gathering outside. High above in the sky, the light of day had grown dim as ominous clouds were gathering above, an unusual quiet felt on the wind as if heralding a coming storm...

Adrianne eyed the situation from behind her mask.

A mob, about thirty or so individuals in civilian attire, most of them wielding a wide variety of weapons, from simple stub guns to las guns in both rifle and pistol variety. Some looked like simple thugs or runaway factory workers, whilst others wore decent but tarnished clothes as if they came from the lower middle class. They were all clustered relatively closer together, around the Rhino vehicle positioned outside. An ideal position... for a Vortex of Doom!

Stopping, and slamming the bottom of her staff into the pavement in front of her as if you make a point, Adrianne would point out towards the mob.

"Hear me you filthy, ignorant masses!" She called out!
"You are trespassing on Sanctified Imperial Property, a heinous crime against the Emperor of Man! Throw down your arms and yield, or be torn apart by the violent powers of the warp itself!"

Adrianne called out through the mechanical crackling of her voice box, forming her left glove to make an arcane, alien gesture as suddenly the air around the loading area outside of the warehouse grew unnatural still, a strange sense of static energy filling it! It was an unnatural sensation that could be sensed by every living creature around, even all the way back to the door to the warehouse where the rest of the group stood, as a mysterious sense of weightlessness temporarily flowed past them, and even made breathing unusual as occasional breaths didn't seem to inhale any air at all!

[Eisenhorn]

Ansgar had not a chance to act on the actual orders that the Sister gave, watching with a rather even expression, hidden as it was beneath the gasmask, as the warping psyker kicked the doors open and stormed out. Considering those had been cargo doors, that was a kind of impressive feat of strength. Watching her march out, he felt that familiar stillness of air that made him scowl. Great, more warp trickery, the Grenadier thought to himself, glancing at the others of the group, and to the ladder that the one Sister, Solares, was taking towards the roof. So be it, it would likely be best to provide explosive support from the roof. Short of using one of the anti armor rounds, he would do little to no damage to the Rhino outside the paint job and decorative bits. He never understood decorative bits, it just made the things bigger targets really. However, he had to act now, since the psyker was sitting out there, yelling and proclaiming doom on the civilians. He frankly was surprised they hadn't already opened fire. They likely had nothing to lose, so why not try their luck? It made digging survivors out of strong points such a high cost operation, they had nothing to lose, and nowhere to run. She might scare them off now, but it would be a problem later.

"Heading for the roof, providing covering fire from there, ma'am." With that, he made a hard sprint for the ladder, hauling himself up several rungs at a time, showing off the conditioning needed to haul all his gear around when on the march. Or when acting as engineering support for his Grenadier comrades. However, as he hauled himself upwards, he had to consider the situation at hand. Raining grenades down on the hostiles would do nicely, but if he weren't with the Inquisition, well, it would be far less pleasant answering to why he had slaughtered civilians. Sure, once it was proven that they were revolting, it wouldn't be a problem, but until then, it would be irritating. Inquisitorial authority might make things easier, sure as sure. Once he hauled himself onto the roof, he scanned briefly to see if he spotted Solares before moving into position and overwatching the courtyard, barely able to see the psyker, and trained the grenade launcher on the mob. They make a hostile move, and several impact frags would make things a rather messy situation for them.

[rivaan]

'God damned braindead moron...' Vala thought as Adrianne stormed outside in the loudest and most showly manner possible. That woman was a complete pest... believing herself to be indestructible just cause she wielded parts of the warp. That just made her even more of an annoyance really, besides there was just as good chance she'd make a mistake on day and self destruct, a feat that Vala would actually pay to see.

Without losing any more time, Vala rushed to the 'opened' door and took a look outside only to witness even more of the psyker's nonsense. Now she was sure. SOMEONE HAD TO BEAT THIS MORON SENSLESS TO BRING SOME LOGIC AND THOUGHTS INTO HER BLOODY EMPTY HEAD! For now the mercenary took a position by the door on the inside, making herself easily able to look and shoot outside while using the wall for cover. She knew they'd have support from the above which basically meant they didn't really have to bother with this fight as much, but she didn't want a single mistake to be her end...

[POOHEAD189]

Herold ignored the fact Solares gave a thumbs up to Angsar and not him, despite having the same weapon. It was the Trooper's idea after all. Being an Arbites was nothing if not a thankless job, and it seemed he'd need to perform that job again just now. Armed Civilians were the most basic thing he needed to handle on a planet, and he had dealt with such problems many times before.

The Arbites watched as Adrianne kicked the Cargo doors open, and knew she had to have used some of her Psyker abilities to help, which helped him see the use of using such energy. Still, her semi-heretical powers and obvious lunacy had him nearly wanting to aim at her back just as much as the crowd of rioters. He decided against it though, not wishing to harm an ally of the Imperial Inquisition.

Briefly, he overviewed the tactical layout of where they were. The Trooper had gone up top, and the two women were down below with him. With the Grenade Launcher above, and both ground companions having formidable weapons, and one was clearly a competent Psyker, he doubted that there would be many civilian's left if Herold's companions open fired. So he decided to strap the Grenade Launcher to his back and retrieve his Shock Maul and Hydraphur Pattern Suppression Shield. He would take out any rioters that made it close, while simultaneously being near impervious to the wild, panicked shots that would soon follow when this crowd lost control of themselves.

His face grim and hard set, the Arbites planted himself to the right of the Psyker, shield and Maul hefted. "Cease and desist citizens." He said, his gravelly voice as intimidating as his visage.

[WardenCelestine]

The loud crack of the two warehouse doors being kicked open drew the rioter’s attention away from the Rhino they were trying to break into and onto the man and woman that now appeared before them. It was clear that they were quite well armed and one of them even appeared to be a psyker. There was a short moment of discontent among the mob once both Adrianne and Herold had issued their warnings, but men are not easily swayed from a goal they believe in, or what they are told is a righteous cause.

One of the rioters yelled out in defiance to both of them, mocking their foolishness to follow the false emperor. “We have been gifted the strength to fight against the heretics of the false emperor, not even your guardsmen posed a threat to us. You two are the ones that should be laying down your weapons and handing yourself over to us. Our new Emperor will welcome you with open arms, he shall lead us through the stars on a glorious conquest to wipe out all those unworthy. Give in to chaos and be reborn anew!” Something pushed back against Adrainnes own powers, an uncomfortable wave of energy and presence that made all besides the rioters feel disturbed.

On top of the warehouse where both Solares and Ansgar were observing the rioters below, a low rumble could be heard. Solares glanced over at Ansgar and nodded her head at him once, “I’ve heard enough of this heresy.” Stepping forward and off of the top of the warehouse, she used her jump-pack to slam herself into the ground feet first, creating a shockwave and a large cloud of debris that formed around the area. She had aimed to land on top of the most condensed area of the rioters, resulting in a grotesque shower of viscera and a cloud of crimson mist. There was no time to waste, as soon as she hit the ground, Solares had opened fire with both of her heavily modified auto pistols.

If anyone could have seen Solares’s facial expression under her helmet, they would have seen joy mixed with the fury she unleashed upon the heretics around her. Through the clouds of smoke, bright flashes of light could be seen as loud gunfire echoed through the streets.

“Engage at will!” Celestian Andromedai yelled into her microphone over the pandemonium that erupted outside of the warehouse. She quickly made her way into the street and opened fire upon the rioters, it was clear though that these were the cultists they were looking for. Aiming down her sight, the heavily modified bolter that she used fired over and over again, hitting her targets dead center or in a critical area.

“Psyker Adrainne, do not use any area of effect abilities that could put us in danger, be wise with your attacks.” Celestian Andromedai was concerned about a repeat of what happened with Adrianne in a museum upon a pleasure world many years ago. The thoughts of that day had stayed with her, teaching her many valuable lessons.

[Rithy]

“Psyker Adrainne, do not use any area of effect abilities that could put us in danger, be wise with your attacks.”

"Ohhh, I WILL CHOOSE MY ATTACKS WISELY ALRIGHT?! ... "

*BANG**BANG**BANG*
*CRACK-A-BOOM*
*BAM*

"Right... "

For a moment, Adrianne had taken a step forward, extending her hand as she prepared to unleash her own powers. However, that was a course of action she had promptly left on pause as she was left to watch the carnage that was unfolding directly in front of her.

As it would turn out, unarmored and 'mere' normal humans clustered together in a tight mob in a completely open area were NOT very resistant to high-powered military grade weapons, bolters and grenades. This was a fact that was made abundantly clear as Adrianne stared forward in front of her and Herold, as the heretics in front of them were torn apart in a sudden flurry of shots coming from the rest of the group.

What had been a mob had been quickly turned into a pile of bodies, the luxurious paintjob of the Rhino covered in blood and dents!

Adrianne merely watched as some of the cultists tried to fire frantically back, before they got gunned down; the only apparent survivors seeming to be the ones who had bolted it immediately, and were running desperately away!

"I don't think you're needed here... " Adrianne whispered to Herold after she leaned sideways in towards the Arbites, all the while making an offhand finger-pistol gesture towards one of the heretical stragglers, just before his head was suddenly vaporized by an off-camera shot from Andromedai's new rifle!

" ... unless you are going to arrest the dead, that is."

[Eisenhorn]

The moment Solares touched down, Ansgar knew where the safe areas to fire were. Mainly, those trying to so rudely steal their vehicle transportation. Hefting the grenade launcher, he used the short pump on the launcher, one more reason the thing was not a model he was used to, and proceeded to send several fragmentation grenades hurtling through the air, slamming in a neat cluster around the Rhino. Frag wouldn't damage the vehicle, but the heretics that just so happened to be surrounding it? The limbs and blood flying about, coupled with the rather potent shock and awe approach that Solares took in jump packing in, and hosing down everyone in front of her with automatic fire, seemed to clean things up rather nicely. But he still arced grenades high to hit the heretics trying to flee, shattering any intent that they might dare have to approach. If there was one thing that a Krieger knew, it was putting effective fire on a target. Just because an enemy started running did not mean they would keep running. However, as he sent the last of the current load of grenades into the enemy forces, the ones that wouldn't subject the others on the ground to undue shrapnel hazard, two things concerned him.

One, despite the psyker not using her powers, there was a strange feel in the air. Something had come with the cultists, and he scowled under his helmet despite the premature comments that Adrianne was no doubt making to the Arbites. Two, it wasn't going away despite the general running away from the sudden alpha strike of munitions, armored Sister, and more munitions. As such, he quietly reloaded his launcher with Krak rounds, scanning for anything out of the ordinary and, most certainly of all, not relaxing at all. "This is not done yet, ma'am. That oppressive air, something is still here, or coming through. Psyker, can you...never mind, it will happen either way..." Ansgar was speaking from years of experience during the campaigns that preceeded his arrival into Inquisitorial service. That feeling in the air always foreshadowed either a direct daemonic incursion or a sudden explosion of raw warp powers. Neither of which were terribly good things. Considering cultists were openly attacking an armory? It could very well be an actual daemon coming through from the Warp just to make their lives difficult. And as such, the krak grenades. Frag tended to not do too much to the warp infused flesh of a daemon, but a round designed to bust tanks? Not perfect, but it sufficed more often than not. He might ask the sisters later about sanctifying some rounds for him. That had worked for the Grey Knights, their fancy equipment, at any rate...

[POOHEAD189]

The Abrites' expression went from Grim to Grimdark when the rioters expressed their belief that the emperor was a false one. "Cultists, then," he spat. So angry was he that he hardly backed off when he felt a strange pressure emanating from the crowd. It must have been psychic energy. Somehow, he doubted it was the same energy that this woman could wield. It felt...sourced there. He gritted through his paranoia and stood resolute.

It seemed he was not needed much other than the intimidation factor, which he was used to, granted. Explosions and bullets ripped through most of the rioters, igniting their flesh and sending crimson mist spewing outwards. They screamed and begged for their heathen gods to save them. Of course, there was no answer.

When Adrianne said he wasn't needed, he shrugged. "My job is to enforce the law. When it enforces itself..." His voice trailed off as one of the cultists broke free, flailing wildly as he tried to run. So mad was the cultist that he hardly noticed who he tried to attack next. Unfortunately for him, it was Herold. The Arbites merely shoved his shield forward, not only intercepting a club, but knocking the assailant back. His shockmaul swiped, breaking both of the man's legs before he even hit the ground.

The cultists spasmed, blood pooling around his legs, eyes, and ears. Herold stepped forward, and caved in his skull. There would be no mercy for the enemies of the Imperium.