[IC] Warhammer 40,000: Tales of the Inquisition

[mattmanganon]

Mary had slipped silently away whilst the Inquisitor was answering questions, she was finding out her own answers over Vox frequency. "Father..." she said as the static-ridden face of an old man with cybornetic eyes and a long, white, scraggly beard appeared on her remote Vox Caster that she had managed to hook into the comm-system of the base.

"Lassie, that you?" replied the old, grizzled voice. "Ah thought the Inquisition had-" she cut him off as she was in a hurry.

"43 seconds till they find out what i'm doing, I need to know about a Psyker that House Mercator is hiding. Possibly aligned with Chaos." she said.

"Alrighty, Lass, i'll pull what ah can and send it to an old buddy in Mercator." he said. "He'll be easy to spot, call him Longhorn." he said, she immediately shut off the transmission as the timer reached 5 seconds. She let out a deep sigh before slipping back into the room, un-noticed and nodded to Yoheved. The pair then followed the Inquisitor to his Chimera and sat with him as the Chimera set off down the tunnel.

"My lord, I am afraid that I have been a little naughty and did a little digging of my own on the hive towers around this area with out last contacts on Necromunda." Mary said "We... Have managed to find a gang that is still loyal in their faith to the Immortal God Emperor that they are willing to sell information to his fist." she said. "If I may, when we arrive, I will head off to meet them, alone, and take the information. Do I reward their loyalty with their lives? Or should I end their pathetic existance for defying the laws of the holiest?" she asked with a sinister smile, hoping he said the latter.

[Crazy Guy]

When Interrogator Cassius followed the Inquisitor, Edwin followed right after her from what he assumed was a respectable distance. He had nothing left to say or ask his master, and now was not the time to get acquainted with his teammates. They would have plenty of time after the battles to come.

She really is beautiful. He thought as he walked behind Cassius. If only it weren't borderline illegal to reveal myself to her. But then again, we are in an Inquisitorial group. Doesn't Xersus define what legal is with his existence? N-no, I can't think that way. Xersus and Cassius have their duties to the Imperium, and I'm supposed to be nothing more than their humble medicator. Alright? Fine.

Edwin hated these little battles with himself every day. He hated his bouts where he questioned his duty. He hated how unprofessional he felt he was concerning his attraction to the Inquisitor's apprentice. For a job that left him satisfied with his role in life, the medic-torturer sure hated plenty about it. Such was his lot as a citizen of the Emperor's Holy Imperium.

Upon entering the Chimera, Edwin seated himself opposite of Cassius so that he could glance at her while he inspected his paraphernalia. Suddenly he had a feeling in his chest, and it told him to watch the sanctioned psyker who Xersus had also employed relatively recently. He didn't recognize his suspicion towards the psyker's sudden considerations toward Cassius as jealousy, but Edwin did regard Sten warily for a moment before returning to his inspection.

In a few minutes, we'll be in battle and we can forget about this. He reminded himself. It will just be me, them, and my work. Focus, Edwin. You can do this. Focus.

[Honored Brother]

"We must be weary of this tunnels if you do not mind me saying Inquisitor Xerxus sir. Even though we are blessed in traveling in such a sturdy machine, we must always keep a weary eye for the unclean." Father Christus warned. He knew that the inquisitor had every faith and confidence that they would make it through but the priest knew it was better to be prepared. Tunnels had always unnerved Father Christus. Not enough to pose hindrance to his missions to the Emperor but enough that he always felt uneasy inside them. Tunnels were always an excellent place to get ambushed by the enemy. The shadows always held one evil or another. He made a sign of the aquila over his chest, directly over his heart. "Emperor deliver us from harm." He whispered to himself. He then took a seat near the back, almost next to the door.

As he sat down, he rummaged through his bag of belongings to find his Imperial Canon. He took out a large book with a symbol of the Adeptus Ministurom on it's side. The Imperial Canon held all of the prayers inside the Imperial Infantrymen's Uplifting Primer and even more. Prayers used in masses, prayers for the protection of the faithful, prayers for blessings of the home and so much more. It also held "gospels", chronicles of the God Emperor and his deeds. They were usually told in masses to the faithful flock to remind them of the Emperor's deeds and to keep them faithful to the savoir of mankind. The priest held the book and placed it on his lap when he noticed Mary and Yehoved. The priest looked at Yehoved as her sister was asking the inquisitor a question. "Sister Yehoved." Father Christus called her attention. "Might you want to lead this prayer with me?" The priest asked.

[Mortarion]

It was only a second latter after he had spoken that Constantine realized his mistake, something which was confirmed by the less than friendly smile the Inquisitor gave him before showing him the section of the hive that they were heading to and clarifying that this area was also the last known location of the rogue Navigator "Pardon m'lord, it was a poor choice of words on my part" Said the magos, standing to attention like he used to do in his time back in the Imperial Guard when the regiment was chastised by a mistake. He then followed Inquisitor Xersus to the tunnels, after he had finished delivering the information of the battlefield, which eventually leaded to a hangar bay where a Chimera was stationed, he had the feeling that the workmanship of the tunnels was that of the people of Krieg but Constantine couldn't be certain for he hadn't worked with them too many times on his time in the Guard due to their reputation.

He shook his head back to the present and looked at the Chimera once more, noticing that the psyker known as Sten was running his hand over the Chimera, maybe like the Tech-Priest he had been part of the Imperial Guard for he too seemed to feel a similar melancholy to the one that swelled in the chest of Omicron-Sigma at that moment though his melancholy also was born from remembering his times as an apprentice in the Explorator fleet of Epsilon-Zeta 656. Once more, he shacked his head slightly to dispel such irrational thoughts and entered the armored vehicle and sat next to the psyker and took out his book and began reading The Sixteen Universal Laws in a low voice; however his prayer was interrupted when Sister Mary mentioned rewarding the loyalty of a gang by killing them, which caused his mechadendrites to twitch slightly, and knowing he could not keep reading in peace he tucked his book back with the rest of his belongings and turned to look at the psyker, who was finishing an Iho-stick "Pardon my intrusion, but were you in the Guard before joining the retinue?" He asked him in the friendliest tone, which was not what most would consider very friendly, possible to the psyker after he had finished reassembling his las pistol, trying to direct his thought's away from the Repentia Sisters.

[Pyro V]

After Archimedes was done having its little staring contest with Sten - resounding in a resounding victory for the bird, since the psyker had turned away - it hopped up onto Anna's shoulder, and began muttering quietly. Mostly, it just muttered indistinctly. Anna couldn't make out half the words it said. Though, she did hear it say that Sten had been looking at her. Probably out of contempt, she figured. Or regarding her as an actual person, now that she was grating on his soul and his nerves just by being there. Either way, it wasn't exactly important. He could think whatever he wanted about her, wouldn't change a thing.

While she made no move, her ears perked as one of the sister's spoke up, while Archimedes rose its head and glared at her. Ignoring the fact that Mary had addressed the elder Inquisitor, Anna still had an opinion, and while she may not have been a full fledged Inquisitor, she still had enough rank to say whatever she wanted to the sister. Archimedes flapped his wings, knocking Anna on the side of the head, as if trying to warn her to keep her mouth shut. She ignored it, and spoke up. "Sister, those men out there are doing the Holy One's work, helping us out. Killing them would be unjust, unfair, and not the righteous thing to do. If you do go to meet them, you should let them go. You might think them scum, but they are just doing what they have to to survive." She left out the part about her once being part of a gang and having sympathies with them, and just hunched back over, folding her arms across her knees. Any response the Sister would give was ignored, as well as any comments from Xersus.

Meanwhile, Archimedes muttered something about the medic in her ear, but she ignored it in lieu of the conversation the Tech Priest was trying to strike up. Talking about the Guard. Yes, that was right, he'd been in the Guard, hadn't he? As well as the psyker. At least they had one thing in common with her. Rather than speak up again, she whispered something to Archimedes, who turned and stared at the psyker and Tech Priest with rapt attention. A small click came from it, and it went rigid, watching them carefully.

[Dragonruby]

Atellus tilted his head somewhat as they approached the Chimera. He knew what it was, and he'd seen them enough times to recognize one, but... He'd never actually been in one before. He clambered in, taking a seat by a corner near the door with his lasrifle set besides him, and surveyed his new surroundings. It was cramped, he decided. He had always been more used to wide and open spaces, grand halls, filled with flamboyant decorations. The captain always did have a taste for the more extravagant things in life, and any shuttle he'd been in was much roomier than this, unless they were filled to the brim for some emergency action of course, but that was something that seemed to rarely happen.

He turned his head down, hiding the fact that he was glancing at everyone from under the visor of his helmet as he quietly listened along to the conversation, noting the subtle. glances to and fro by the other members of the Inquisitor's retinue. It seemed quite a number of looks were being thrown the Interrogator's way, but he supposed that wasn't too strange. She was a member of the Inquisition, though Atellus wondered why the same wasn't done towards Inquisitor Xersus. Possibly because of his higher rank? People were afraid to even catch his eye perhaps?

Several conversations seemed to be starting up at the moment. Christus seemed to be starting up some sort of group prayer, as the Magos started a conversation with the Psyker about his experience in the Guard. Meanwhile, another conversation had started up on the subject of a some hive gang who might have some information on the Navigator that they were currently seeking. Atellus supposed he should be unsurprised that crime was an issue here... He'd dealt with his own fair share of gangs before too. He kept his thoughts to himself though, staying silent, largely unwilling to speak with so many other strangers who were already talking amongst each other.

In order to quietly pass the time, Atellus drew his knife and glanced over the designs on both sides of the blade. The blade itself was pitch black, dark as the night, with a number of small, silver, engravings littering both sides of the blade... Stars. He ran a finger over the flat of it, feeling the tiny dips in the metal from the engravings.

[Eisenhorn]

The Inquisitor kept his silence while the trip went on, the various retinue members interacting with each other to some small degree or another, while he took the time to rest and meditate, since the opportunity for such moments of peaceful clarity would be unavailable for some time to come. Of course, while Sister Mary's interruption was a slight annoyance, he still resumed a feint smile as he listened to her words and suggestions, the smile fading into thought while the Interrogator responded in her own special way, and after a few moments, nodded in agreement. "Interrogator Cassius is correct, our job is not to slaughter those still loyal to the Emperor, even in the dens of Chaos corruption such as this. If sincere, it is a testament to their willpower. You may go and collect this information, but leave them alive. If we come back this way again, having underworld contacts will be useful." Xersus was not one to disregard information, and he had indeed taken into account the misgivings and comments given by the others prior to their embarkment, but the tunnels were the fastest option available to them at the moment.

With the surface of the world being fought over by Imperial and Chaos fighters, the ground forces stuck in trench warfare in many places, sieges being waged both directions, the surface and air were far more dangerous than the underground was, as risky as it was. As if the thoughts triggered it, the tunnel shook, the thunder of tanks moving across the field of battle, the distinct rumble of Battle Cannons indicating the likely hood of Lemen Russ Battle Tanks having been deployed was apparent to those familiar with the sound. The noise of dirt and stone falling on the roof of the Chimera, in small amounts, was unnerving but the tunnels had sustained far worse in the field of punishment, and held up readily enough despite this. A feint, reassuring smile was directed at the retinue by the Inquisitor, who rose to a half standing, half crouching posture, instinctively knowing through his senses that they were approaching their drop off point. "The Chimera can't safely take us much farther, we will be walking into a warzone, and the Chimera's are needed to move troops around the tunnels more than ferry us an extra five minutes walking into the fray. Make sure you have your gear, odds are you won't be seeing this Chimera again."

Sure enough, the Chimera halted, and the hatch dropped down, disgorging the Inquisitor and his retinue, while he dispatched orders, sending his senses out to detect the situation, while patching the Retinue, and himself, into the Guard communication network. Motioning for them not to broadcast, he spoke orders directly into their minds, all except the Interrogator's, for obvious reasons. "Alright, Atellus, Sten, Constantine, you are going to take the left flank, the Guardsmen there sound like they need some help. Sisters, Mary you do what you need to, Yoheved will go with Cassius and take the right flank." Turning to the Interrogator, he spoke her orders directly to her, making sure he wasn't broadcasting on the Guard channels, just listening. "Interrogator, take the Medicae and head to the center of the Guard positions, there are wounded that need his aid, and you will be free to disable your limiter at that point and clean up as you see fit. All of you, be wary for lesser Daemons that might have manifested, this raiding band bears the markings of Khorne specifically, from the Guard chatter, but anything is possible. Emperor Protect all of you. Regroup on me at the command squad's location, once I find them."

The Inquisitor drew his force blade, the masterfully built weapon glowing with the power of the Immaterium, channeled through the will of the Inquisitor's own powers, and he turned and led them towards the tunnel exit, the glow of the blade casting away the shadows that normally lurked outside the spotlights of the Guard vehicles. The Guard chatter was not good, to say the least, they had been pushed back to the tunnel entrance, and were in danger of being pushed back into the tunnels, which was not going to help the Inquisitor's goals in the slightest. So it was in his interest to save this Guard vanguard, and he broke into a jog as the dirty light of the hive broke ahead of them, the sounds of battle clear, moving steadily faster, power armor enhancing his speed, and he hadn't even tapped into the warp yet, and gave one last order before they reached the Guard position. "Other than avoiding friendly fire, do what you see fit in securing this beachhead." And not a word was spoken, but he gave a very specific order to the Callidus assassin alone through a mental thought. "Follow Sister Mary, and ensure that she follows my orders. Inform me if she doesn't, if you would be so kind."

The tunnel gave way to a courtyard, littered with smoking and ruined vehicles, both Imperial Guard and Chaos marked, several toppled Sentinels and blasted Chimeras providing cover for the Guardsmen. To the right was a host of chaos cultists trying to get close enough to slaughter the Guard in hand to hand, barely held back by flamers and heavy bolter fire, while the right flank bore hostile heavy weapons firing down on the Guardsmen there, who were attempting to hold back that assault. The battlelines to the front were the most severe, several Khornate Bloodletters were present amidst the more experienced traitors amongst them, although none would be ready for the assault from a Blank. A rise in the center of the Guard position was the Command Post for the Hive operations, a battle worn banner still flying proud in the fight, weapons firing down from this position as well while the surviving Captain dispatched orders and desperate requests for aid.

Inquisitor Xersus stormed up the rise, raising a barrier of energy in time to absorb several missile strikes, the weapons detonating several feet from the command post. The sudden intervention shocked them, only to see a fully Armored Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus stride past them, eyes literally ablaze with fury, and with a gesture of his force blade, sent several blasts of raw power into the enemy ranks, lashing through their armor and blasting them alive, a demonstration of what the Inquisitor was indeed capable of when roused to war. He did not descend into the melee, standing atop the hill, lashing out with psychic lashes of power against targets of note, leaving the Daemons to the Interrogator, while trusting his retinue to act as needed while executing their orders.

[Pyro V]

Anna couldn't help but smirk beneath her helmet as the Inquisitor took her side. Damn, it always felt good to give orders to a Sister. Made her feel like she was knocking them a few pegs down off of their high horses. Got to enjoy the little things in life. Even the raven seemed to be amused, and let out a small chuckle, just audible enough for the rest to hear. Another click came from it, and she straightened up in her seat. She figured it was nearly time to depart. They'd been riding for several minutes, and from what she knew it shouldn't have taken long to get to the area that was being devastated.

When they finally did exit, Anna was the second out, following right behind the Inquisitor. When he stopped, she waited impatiently, the silence annoying her. Finally, she was given an order. She figured that Xersus had been giving them orders telepathically. A small huff came from her, and then she ordered Archimedes to fly ahead to the right flank. He did so immediately, and soon she followed after, not waiting to see if the Sister and the Medicae followed. She knew they would. Well, she knew the Medicae would. It was actually a surprise - and not exactly the pleasant kind - when the woman followed as well. She could have done without the feeling of getting a sword in the back.

"Of course it had to be Khorne," she muttered under her breath, unsheathing her blade. The daemonblade looked the part, a twisted, perverted version of a once pristine blade, if the beautiful adornments on the hilt were anything to go by. Corrupt energy writhed around it, the air warping around it. The blade began to change shape, switching between being a sword, an axe, even a thorned whip at one point. It always gave her a bit of a rush when she unleashed its full power like this, when the Lord of Change within struggled against the fabric of reality to shape its prison. With a squeeze of her hand, it swapped back into its natural sword form - or, at least, she assumed that was the original form - and remained that way. Didn't need the guardsmen shooting at her when they saw a transforming blade.

As she neared the area she was designated to, she unlatched her collar, and let out a sigh of relief. Her aura engulfed both of her companions, which she had no doubt bothered them to no end, but made her feel safer. She paused for a moment, as the psyber-raven flew down and perched on her shoulder. After a few seconds of it muttering into her ear, she turned to the two behind her. "Alright, listen up. We'll be going up against Bloodletters, lesser daemons of Khorne. Fast, strong, and tough. Not very durable, though. One good hit from you, sister, and they'll go down. If you can hit them. I'll be invisible to them, so I'll have little problem. Too bad we aren't going against Tzeentch or Nurgle, else my aura would protect you both from them. You'll just have to be careful. As for you, Venator, do as Xersus says and help the guard as you see fit. If that includes shooting some cultists, feel free to do so."

"So, go out and make some noise," the Interrogator finished, turning and running off to join the guardsmen. In a stark contrast to the Inquisitor, Anna wasn't watched with awe. That evil sword raised above her head, the red and gold armor that was a reminder of the enemies they fought, in combination with her aura, was enough for those not in combat to make room for her. When she reached the lines of fighting, she still found enough room to make it through. What she found was a hell that she'd encountered several times back with the Guard. Daemons and cultists sprinted forward, meeting gunfire and dying by the droves, but making their way into the lines of the defenders anyways.

As one such Bloodletter did, it dashed right past the Interrogator and rammed into a guardsmen, who was ripped to bits. Before it could reach another, a thorned whip writhing with the energies of the warp wrapped around its neck, and flung it back to the ground, where it was gunned down. While the whip untangled itself from its victem, Anna unholstered her Inferno pistol and fired at a cultist charging her, sending a melting carcass back to his comrades. They continued to charge, undaunted, though the Bloodletters seemed more cautious than before.

Her sword flashed around, changing form each time a new enemy came towards her. The full power of a Greater Daemon hit them, leaving no survivors. The Bloodletters, seeing their enemies fall from an invisible assailant, went into a rampage, becoming more violent, but more predictable. The ease of which she dispatched the daemons, and the numbers that fell at her feet alone, was enough to earn her the awe that the Inquisitor had earned on his side of the battle, but there were still scores of enemies coming at them. She only hoped the others were doing as well as she was.

[Fallen Muse]

The twin assassins had remained silent and unnoticed within the transport, remaining seated opposing each other while the chatter and interactions of the others mattered little to either of them currently. They were both prepared for the warzone already, then again, to find these Assassins unprepared for war was a rarity, to say the least. The Callidus had her blade and Nueral Shredder ready the moment they disembarked, naturally fading into the shadows despite the blue glow cast by the Inquisitor's blade. The Vindicare was also sticking to the shadows, Exitus rifle ready for trouble of any sort, should it show up in the tunnel well before they were expecting it. The Calldius responded to her orders, replying to the Inquisitor's mental orders with a reply on a private channel, no sound emitting from her mask. [b ]"Permission to terminate the Sister should she disobey orders, rather than report, or terminate should she show signs of heretical behavior."[/b ] Regardless of the Inquisitor's response, she would become a shadow unseen, fading into the surroundings as easily as one would vanish into a crowd on a busy hive street.

When the band reached the fighting, multiple actions took place between the two assassins. The Callidus was not to be seen by anyone or anything, the chaos of the fighting swallowing up any actions that she herself could not hide, which were few and far in between, and followed her orders to the letter, being no more than a shadow that followed Mary wherever her path may take her, sticking to the ruined buildings and other such things to avoid detection, while the few cultists within these buildings would never know what happened, their ends being met on silent blades, the Ctan Phase Blade making short work of any rudimentary armor they might have worn, while the Neural Shredder was as lethal as always, turning the cultists that met its sting into little more than seizing husks on the ground, or outright dead from the overload of their nervous systems, although none of this would be audible under normal circumstances, let alone those of a war torn Hive. She was well experienced in her work, and discovery would not be due to any action of her own.

The Vindicare, knowing she was lacking explicit orders for a good reason, took to her own path, vanishing from the planes of reality like the slain daemon corpses were at the feet of the Interrogator. In addition, sharp eyed observers would see Chaos leaders and archons that attempted to rally the heretic forces fall again, dead from a round that took them at the base of the neck, instantly silencing and slaying them before they could affect any sort of battle order to respond to the new threat. Meanwhile, she was moving from ruined building to building, using new vantage points to pick off high value targets, her Exitus rifle hitting and slaying each foe that danced into the scope in one round, and several heavy weapon teams would also fall silent thanks to her Rifle, spitting death into the enemies of the Imperium from hidden places, safe from retribution for now, picking off high value targets that were otherwise inconvenient to be eliminated by more traditional tactics, freeing the Inquisitor's psychic assaults for more enticing targets that were reachable by his powers, without undue strain.

[Grothnor]

"Pardon my intrusion, but were you in the Guard before joining the retinue?"

Sten kept his eyes glued to his laspistol, almost fully absorbed. “Yeah, I was a Gunnery Sargent in 27th Kaviskr Shock Troopers.” He continued to reassemble his weapon, trying to ignore the distracting attempts at conversation. In his experience, Guardsmen, or anyone experienced in going into bad situations, had different ways of coping. Sten's was to light a lho and disassemble and reassemble his weapon until the weapons parts and the stick's flavor were all he thought about.

The chimera arrived on the front lines soon afterwards. Sten closed the weapon housing and re-checked the battery nodes for the umpteenth time before piling out of the Chimera and into the trenches of the front line. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Guard ID tags swinging from the Magos' neck. Sten was immediately surprised that a Cogboy would wear such a piece of sentimentalism, then felt rather badly for snubbing another ex-Guardsman, possibly hindering his own coping mechanism. He made a mental note to apologize, though after the mission. The Inquisitor gave his orders telepathically, and Sten gave a telepathic bow of acknowledgment before running off towards the left flank.

The left flank was a maze of trenches and no-man's land, filled with vicious close-quarters fighting. He attached himself to a guard squad and led the push into the enemy's lines. Pyrokinesis, when performed correctly, was much like building a fire. He started with the small things like causing heads to spontaneously combust. Then the real trick was to let his hatred swell so he could control the more powerful techniques. A squad of cultists tried to ambush the squad around a corner, but Sten knew of their presence and heated their weapons in their hands until they dropped them or they jammed. The cultists were quickly mowed down, but one managed to leap forward and strike Sten with a knife. Sten blasted him away with a blow from his force staff, then inspected the wound.

It was a shallow cut, and didn't immediately require medical attention. Ray pressed his hand into the wound and cauterized it, feeding off his self-inflicted pain to reach forth into the ether. The trench ahead of them erupted in a great gout of fire and screams. The guardsmen held him in fear and awe as his face began to curl into a scowl. He marched onward through the trench he just cleared to find a reinforced steel door, leading to an underground enemy stronghold. The squad leader awkwardly tried telling him that they would have to wait until breaching explosives were brought up when Sten began pounding on the door with his bare hands. Sten let his hate build as he slammed upon the door. He pooled it in his hands and they began to glow like hot metal. He slammed his hands into the door and began tearing a hole into the heated metal. Spotting cultists on the other side, terrified and preparing to fire, he inhaled deeply and spewed a gout of flame-breath into the room. With a grunt of exertion, Sten ripped the door apart and collapsed against the trench wall, his hands returned to normal. He needed to catch his breath after such a powerful exertion. He tried to use a more powerful technique without building up enough fury to fuel it, and so exerted himself more than he intended. He let the squad proceed into the stronghold while he rested for a moment.

[mattmanganon]

Mary nodded a little annoyed at her orders from the Inquisitor. Then again, maybe it wasn't the best idea to kill her fathers men... The Gangs already hated the Inquisitor enough without going Scorpions Tail on them. After the Chimera parked and they disembarked, Mary and Yoheved kissed each other on the cheek, as they had always done before separating. Mary ran off with great speed for a human, running into a large pipeline. This was the main way of commuting for hive gangs. She drew her pistols as she ran, using the fuel cell of the Plasma Pistol as her means of lighting her way. As she ran, she heard the sound of gunfire up ahead, as well as seeing flashes. She ran to see a pair of wrecked trucks, with Gangers in a fire-fight with someone that she couldn't see, but the cries demanding blood for their false gods gave her a good idea of who it was. The Gangers holding their own, only due to a man in a funny-shaped hat with horns coming out the top of it, he wore makeshift power armour and stood atop with a makeshift baricade with a Heavy-bolter. How he had got ahold of it, she would never know... She then noticed that the wrecked truck had the Van Saar symbol on it. At least they were loyal to the same gang as her father. She ran towards the barricade and vaulted over it, spraying bolts wildly with her Bolt-pistol, whilst taking well-placed, calculated shots with her Plasma Pistol, cutting down the Cultists with daring accuracy. She suspcted that these were just Gangers that had just been corrupted, their equipment and training seemed... Pathetic... She holstered her weapons mid-air and drew her Evicerator, swinging it and decapitating another of the cultists that ran towards her, screaming, a maul clutched in his hand. She then saw one of the trucks they had baught begin to drive away. She planted her Chainsword in the floor before drawing her Plasma pistol, it charged for a few seconds, before sending a large glob of plasma down the tunnel after them, a large explosion engulfed the truck... Too large... She felt a hand grab her and yank her off her feet, backwards as they vaulted behind the barricades with her. flames shot over the top of them, befor subsiding. She quickly checked the pistol to make sure it wasn't going to overload, but the heat-sink seamed to be working. She then turned to her saviour, and looked at him, honestly considering cutting his head off for no other reason than because he had bruised her ego. He then pulled his hat off and the temptation to kill him blasted through the roof. His face was that of a goat. "MUTANT!!!" he yelled, pointing the Plasma Pistol at his face. "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT!?!?!?" she roared. The only thing keeping her itchy trigger finger in check was the fact that she had been ordered not to kill him, but she really, REALLY wanted to. "Explain yourself, monstrosity!" she said as the rest of the gang filed in, they were all humans. She quickly regained her composure. "I..." she nearly gagged on the next words "Apologize..." she coughed. "I was merely... Caught in the heat of battle." she cooed, slipping into her seductress personality. "I was just passing through when-" he cut her off as he put his finger to her lips, the temptation to bite it off was immediate, but she saw that it was metalic, so she would only succeed in breaking her teeth on it.

"You were followed..." he whispered, Beastmen were nocturnal creatures, so the dark of the tunnel was no hiding spot for the assassin that had been ordered to tail her. He then looked at her. "I know exactly who you are and what you're doing. We were on our way to the Imperium Staging area when those heretics ambushed us." he said. "Your father told me to give you this." he said, handing over a data-card. "He said you should give it to your leader."

"Anything else?" she asked. taking it and slotting the card into the only pocket that she had on her attire... her cleavage...

"Yes, he said don't look at it. Bosses tend to kill off their gangers if they know too much." He then smiled at her. "So the pic your father sent wasn't an exaduration." he said, staring down at her, clearly staring at her breasts. She smiled a friendly smile ((Authors Note: This is the time when she is at her most dangerous)) She then seemed to skip forwards a little and rubbed his muzzle before leaning into his ear.

"Don't look..." she whispered before he screamed as she lodged a sharp piece of metal in his gut and began skipping away, his men raised their weapons, but he yelled for them to stop. He looked down at his blood.

"She had no plans on killing me..." he said. "Gut Thunderwarrior for her parts, see if we can get Dusk Raider up and running." he ordered as his medic began seeing to his wound. She finished her skipping as she reached the dark part of the pipe and was far enough away from him.

"Come on out, assassin." she called. "The mutants eyes are good. And I didn't kill him." she said as she waited for her tail to reveal himself.

****

Yoheved watched her sister run off, she drew her own Psycannon and began following Cassius and the men down the Right Flank. Firing off a shot every so often, each shot sounding like the battle-cry of an Astartes Chapter. The Guardsmen lay down covering fire to ensure that the two of them got where they needed. Ducking behind a wrecked Leman Russ, she laughed with glee, this was how she enjoyed fighting, pinned down and no hope of escape. The Emperor tested her and she would answer. She rose up and blasted away with the Psycannon, smashing a sand-bag emplacement of Chaos, leaving their gunners exposed for the stumpy Ratling Snipers that were high above them, in the vast buildings. Their diminutive covering fire made short work of the exposed Damned Guardsman at the trigger. she put her Psycannon across her back and drew her Evicerator. "I suppose it is up to the only one of us with balls to lead this charge." she laughed to Cassius, before taking a Melta Bomb from her belt, pulling the pin and throwing it over the top of the wrecked Tank, hoping that it would slag something important to the Chaos forces.

[Honored Brother]

"Aymen." Father Christus finished his prayers as the Chimera came to a halt. He stuffed his Imperial Canon inside his bag and prepared himself for the mayhem that awaited him. He stretched his legs forward to ease him when he stood up. "Emperor grant us guidance and grace. Emperor grant of salvation and solitude in your eternal paradise." Father Christus said as he made a sign of the Aquila on his head.

As they walked through the tunnel, the confessor noticed the force sword the inquisitor was wielding. He found himself mesmerized for a few minutes by the blade. He wasn't a psyker so he could only imagine the power the object had. It resonated with the power of the warp. Only few have the will, capability and knowledge to use such weapons and only fewer can actually grasp and control their tremendous power. The confessor felt a shiver down his spine as he looked at the sword. He got those thoughts out of his head and focused at the job at hand. He heard the orchestra of the battlefield. It had been some time since he had last stepped into a war zone. As he walked into the light and onto a courtyard, he was filled with the excitement and anxiety of war. Back withe the Carthaginians, they were always inspired by their commander to fight for the Emperor and to bring the Imperium glory in his name. He always spoke of how their names would be sung by their children and spouses when they arrived home. Most of the soldiers knew how wrong he was but they had to believe. Giving up hope was not an option. You needed every fiber in your body ready to fight to the last breathe.

The confessor conjured up his courage for the Guardsmen. He saw a group hiding behind cover and seemed ready to retreat at any moment. He dropped his bag on a flat surface that he knew he could go back too. He got out his chainsword then and switched it on. The distinct hum of the blade was like an old friend's greeting. He smiled and looked at the battle ahead. The agents of Khorne, the God of blood. The righteous anger of the Emperor and his servants would prevail although.
"Guardsmen!" He called out their attention. "Follow me to glorious victory." He said to rally the men. He then began reciting litanies at the top of his lung. Now was th hour of glory or death.