Futuristic Only War: The Shining 1st

[Kallateral]

Chapter I: Ere the Storm

​

It is easy to lose track of time inside a dimly lit chimera. The droning engine and the ceaseless crackling of gravel against the treads drowns all conversation, only interrupted by the occasional bump in the road – a large rock standing defiant against the treads’ onslaught – followed by a drop as the obstacle is crushed by the chimera’s weight. Even with the top hatch open, the air is damp and sweaty like an ogryn’s smallclothes.


The unpleasant monotony is suddenly broken by a burst of static from the Vox. “Second squad, this is Steiner,” the Vox growls. Lieutenant Steiner is the commanding officer of your platoon – big as a beast and equally mean, and the Captain’s pet to boot. “These orders come from Captain Gaul himself, so listen up and listen well! You will rendezvous with my squad at the location marked on your map. Once on-site, you will wait for an airdrop to deliver mission-critical equipment. Don’t be late, or else---” the lieutenant is interrupted by an ear-splitting ‘BOOM’ before he can finish the threat, and you are struck by the distinct feeling of your stomach doing a painfully slow backflip. The already unpleasant sensation is complete with the subconscious awareness that right now, the only thing holding you up is your safety harness. Looking up, you realize you are looking down at the ground through the top hatch. Your chimera is on its head, and you are dangling upside down from your seat.


You manage to crawl out of the chimera, where you are greeted by the dull daylight of an overcast sky. A cool breeze is blowing. From the outside, you can see that the chimera’s front has taken a nasty blast to the front. The vehicle is blown to smithereens (and your driver more literally so).


There is no hope of salvaging the vehicle and you are 3 kilometres south-east of your position. You will have to walk on foot. Looking around, you see that you have entered what looks like a ghost town. Fortunately, your sergeant has a data-slate with a map of the area in his possession.

 

[VisionImp]

It was easy to tell from the get-go that Zacharias was not very happy with their current situation. In fact, he would have much preferred walking to being stuck in a vehicle.. On Tarsis, closed spaces generally meant mass casualties. At least, in his experience. A hand rested on his cloak, holding it a bit closer to him with every bump and thud, like a security blanket. He had taken to occasionally checking and securing his weapons to pass time, an idle way to keep his mind off the worry.


With a wince, he listened to the Vox communicate their orders.. and then that loud bang. The slightly twitchy paranoid soldier immediately braced, gripping his weapons and gear close as the chimera flipped upside-down. He carefully let himself down and would try to help out any others if the help was needed, but it was quite clear he wanted nothing to do with this vehicle. Crawling out of the wrecked transport, he immediately took cover against it and rose his long-las, scanning the buildings around them and awaiting orders. Beside him, Lucian was also out with lascarbine raised.


"Just like home." The man said.. Which did nothing to make him feel better.. In fact, it just made Zach cringe.


As the rest of the squad slipped out of the wreckage, Zacharias kept his weapon raised, as did his comrade.


"Still breathing, good to go." He was a soft spoken man, speaking just loud enough to be heard by those around him.

 

[Unlucky Fellow]

Zharkov had rolled his eyes as Steiner started going on about how urgent the mission was. He didn't really care for the man's arrogance attached with a high and mighty attitude...Alas his job was to inspire while the IG chain of command designated targets. The trip via Chimera hadn't exactly been pleasant, the roads were so badly damaged from all the shelling that anything aside from sitting down would cause your head to fly into the roof. It was set to be a fairly standard mission too, nothing that thousands of squads hadn't done before somewhere across the galaxy. That was the moment Zharkov learned that he should stop tempting the Emperor.


The blast felt like it came more from an anti-vehicle mine than some sort of shoulder-fired missile so for the moment they were fine. Aside from the ringing and vertigo they all seemed to be alright...aside from the poor bastard that had been driving this giant moving target. When his ears had stopped ringing and it could be determined that they were indeed upside down, the commissar placed a hand on the now floor and unbuckled himself from the seat, to cushion the blow of toppling over. His weapons were ready the moment he crawled out of the wreck in case this had been an ambush rather than a mine of some sort.


Feeling satisfied that they were in no immediate danger, he clapped his gloved hands together a couple of times to get the dust off. "Alright, gear and weapon check. Say so if you're still breathing."

 

[Hellkite]

As the Chimera juddered and rattled along the road, Malakai rested his chin on his chest, eyes closed, swaying in his seat with the movement of the vehicle. He might have been asleep, if it wasn't for his left hand which toyed with a leather charm-bracelet clasped around his opposite wrist. Malakai's Triplex Lasgun rested in the footwell, butt first, held steady from the rocking of the Chimera's treads by his knees. The weapon was in a fairly good state. Clearly not the subject of religious maintenance, but equally not of total neglect either. Malakai fiddled with his bracelet. He'd always placed more faith in luck and trinkets than his Lasgun, attached to it as he was. A perfectly cleaned weapon wouldn't save him from artillery, or a rogue Space Marine, or Emperor forbid an overzealous officer.


He listened as the voice crackled over the Vox. Orders were for the Commisar and the Sergeant to worry about, but it always helped to be in the loop on any plans. If anything else, so you knew when it was time to start praying for deliverance and salvation in the form of air support.


Malakai swore loudly as the Chimera was flipped by the explosion, his rifle tumbling past his head to clatter against what had been the roof as the APC landed on its back. Malakai unclipped his harness, ears ringing from the explosion, and followed his rifle in crashing gracelessly to the floor. Snatching up the weapon he checked for his assistant, Mord. The burly man had already released his harness, kicked open the Chimera's troop hatch and taken up position outside, grinning from ear to ear. Malakai scowled and followed, crawling through the hatch to emerge beside Mord. The medic was somewhat reassured not to be met by a volley of enemy fire, and to find Zacharias and the Commissar already outside.


"Alright, gear and weapon check. Say so if your still breathing." The Commissar ordered, dusting off his gloves. Malakai leant against the side of the chimera, weapon up and scanning the hollow buildings that surrounded them.


"Still breathing, if a touch winded." He replied, before calling back into the wrecked Chimera.


"You lot okay? I don't hear any screaming, so I'll assume no-one will be having painkillers."


As he spoke, Malakai thanked his charm-bracelet. He'd always thought the trinket was good luck, but the fact that the worst the blast had given him was a bruise, only confirmed it.

 

[Random Word]

Helly stared with resignation at the ceiling of the Chimera, dangling from her crash harness. She glanced smugly at her sister hanging in the harness beside her, whispering, "[High Gothic] I am vindicated! It is as I foretold. Deathtraps, all of them." She quietly checked to see if her equipment was all present, especially the pack of Lho sticks in her pocket.


Killy rolled her eyes. "[HG] Even mother's Tarot-Seer was bound to be right in her doomsaying eventually," she whispered back, disdainfully.


"Alright, gear and weapon check. Say so if you're still breathing," the Commissar ordered.


Helly made a sour face and looked surreptitiously around the Chimera. "[HG] If I pretend to be dead, do you think perhaps they'll let me stay here instead of walking the rest of the way?"she whispered, hopeful.


"[HG] Possibly, until the enemy found you."


"You lot okay? I don't hear any screaming, so I'll assume no-one will be having painkillers," inquired the medic. Helly's eyes immediately lit up. Painkillers could buy a lot of Lho sticks. Immediately she closed her eyes and began cursing loudly, hanging limply in her harness.


"I think I broke *hiss* something important, 'kai. It hurts to breathe," she called out plaintively.

 

[Bones Johnson]

There was little done within the Chimera. The abnormally large man was quietly reading from the instructional manual clad in his thick calloused palm, his thick brow dipped in the furrowing effort of reading. The savage dressed in his neatly kept uniform licked quietly through his yellow teeth as the vehicle rattled every forward, the scent bringing his nose to wrinkle and tinge ever so lightly. By him was Ibrahm, the unlucky fellow set to instruct the feral man in the proper worship of the Emperor. It was most unsettling for the great blast to suddenly rattle the Chimera, and all the more so when the vehicle found itself flipped, alongside all its passengers. In that moment, the savage's eyes widened- and before he could even gather his bearings, he found himself hanging upside down from the strap, bearing his teeth in a savage snarl, eyes alight with fury as he rose up his knife, strapped to his boot and cut himself loose as the hatch was flung open, and sought outside the vehicle, eyes in constant search for whatever was to blame for their crash. "Ah' will rip his throat wit' my TEETH." He said, through grit bloodied teeth as he withdrew the hefty mass of now-stationary ripping teeth and iron that was the enormous two handed chainsword he bore so fondly. However, at the Commisar's orders, the savage soon answered.


"I'm good ta' go." He plainly said in confirmation, most of his gear indeed well strapped upon him.


Ibrahm nod his head, frowning and swallowing nervously. "Emperor preserve us." A thing which earned him a firm smack on the back from Ojhmar, who bore his bestial grin.


"Emperor help what we might stumble upon."


Ibrham did not seem amused.

 

[Crocodile]

Sergeant Yorke swore quietly as he hung upside and looks at the new floor. The experience had not been pleasant at all admittedly but then again they were all mostly in one piece. He sighs and looks around to asses the situation before starting to open his restraints, rolling just enough to not leave him aching as he drops. He watches they others get out first before Helly started making a scene about pain... after the medic spoke up about pain meds. He walks over and puts his hand on Helly's shoulder.


"We're caught out in the field. That better be real need or your getting lookout duty until we get to HQ. Clear?" He glares at Helly before stepping on out to the rest of his squad.


"Looks like we're all accounted for so far," Yorke notes as Macharius comes out behind him grumbling about owing someone a few lho sticks for getting ambushed mid-route. "And the drivers gone. We're in a bad spot here, folks. We need to get to the rendezvous point but this smells like an ambush. I want the best eyes looking around for snipers while I get our bearings. Gut what you can in supplies from the Chimera, we're gonna need them and it won't."


Yorke had given his first orders now, starting to look for a building to get cover in. He wouldn't check the map until he felt more secure. With that thought in mind he checks his helmet.


"Eyes up, people. That explosion was likely a mine but could have been a lucky missile shot. I want confirmation and a spot for us to get cover in as well while some of you are salvaging."

 

[Kallateral]

A minute ticks by without ceremony, then another; it becomes clear that if there was an attack, it would have come by now. It appears that Commissar Zharkov's instincts were right.


Many of the buildings surrounding you are collapsed - in some only the top floors, while others are simply piles of rubble, and others still are barricaded. What is safe to assume is that none of the buildings that remain standing are tall enough to give a sniper a comfortable shot. But Sergeant Yorke is nonetheless able to spot a building on the left side of the street that appears to be solid enough to take cover in. The windows are shattered and flakes of the wall have cracked off, but the structure remains intact.

 

[Hellkite]

Malakai raised an eyebrow at the interior of the Chimera, where he could hear Helly cursing.


"Maybe it's the Lho sticks that are making your chest hurt?" Malakai leant down to look at the woman through the Chimera's hatch, grinning slightly. "You should smoke less, Helly. The only way you're getting a shot of drugs is if your missing a limb. I don't have an unlimited supply of painkillers, y'know."


Malakai straightened up again as Yorke gave his orders, and once he'd finished Malakai tapped Mord on the shoulder. As the man turned and gave him a questioning look, Malakai pointed silently at his eyes, and then at the buildings to the left of the Chimera's transport hatch. Mord understood. He crouched to the left of the hatch, rifle raised and scanning the derelict buildings for silhouettes. Malakai did the same on the other side, switching his Lasgun to single-shot and dropping to a kneeling position.


"Got it boss." Malakai said to Yorke as he peered down the rifle sight. "Mord and I have this side covered."

 

[VisionImp]

Looking over towards the medic, he followed their eyes, and guns, to the broken down building. With a nod, Zacharias nudged his companion and their weapons turned to face the building as well. Zach would peek around once more, watching closely for any movement in the surrounding areas.. All while also making sure his cloak was covering his body and doing his best to remain motionless. He sure as hell wasn't being the first man in, though..


"Ojhmar can probably take point on this one.." Zach said quietly, eyes still darting about.

 

[Unlucky Fellow]

Zharkov keeps his pistol at a low ready while he trots over to a half-blasted wall about 20 meters from where their Chimera blew up, chuckling as he does so. "Well I'd say that was pretty significant motivation, wouldn't you lot? The bastards think a little vehicle detonation will dissuade us!" He makes sure to scan his area for any immediate threats that might be waiting for them to group up. Now that he's actually got just a minute to plan, he yells back to Yorke without looking away from his area. "Sergeant, anything marked on that map that's close and seems particularly hazardous?"

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar bore his beastly grin as ever- though his back stiffened at the Sergeant's orders. "Aye-aye, Sarge." He said in his brutish accent, peering about. Once more , the feral soldier inhaled deeply of the air and grunted out a sound that resembled a gurgling growl, but soon subsided in the back of his throat. "The air smells of hunt." He said in his slightly broken Low Gothic, before withdrawing the hefty Eviscerater in his calloused grip. He followed the sights of the snipers to the building- and to him the message was clear enough. He strapped the Chameleoline cloak around himself, finding some relief in the warm it offered- as was evident in the ever slight narrowing from the flaring of his nose. "Bah. I don't like us standing here in the open, like prey." He said, ducking a touch low and prowling by the road, digging through the mechanic mess that was once their ride, keeping his eyes and ears open and constantly looking.


At Zacharias' remark, the savage glanced over to the Marksman- before his gaze shifted to the Sergeant. Awaiting his command, obedient as ever.

 

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksandr had been strapped into a harness, and sat there in an almost stupefied state, seeming more than happy to remain silent or command his Servitor that he had nicknamed Hewbert Strudel. He looked between each member of the squad with an almost disgusted visage, as if belittling them for their organic appearance.


When the squad was being informed he listened in half-heartedly. With a jerk and a buzz the Chimera flipped, but the Servitor had held him up while using its bionic arm to stabilize itself. A mechadendrite moved from under his robes to cut the harness as the Servitor let him down with a buzz. He ignored the Commisar and the medic as he set to his own rituals and prayers, to mourn the passing of the Chimera.


A loud cracking could be heard from the inside of the chimera and the smell of burning incense would fill the air for a moment. A low 'buzzing' eminates as the Enginseer preforms his ritual of mourning to the Chimera's machine spirit. After a few minutes he, and his Servitor with a large bionic-arm step out. The strange buzzing noise resonates from his covered mouth as the Servitor moves close to the Chimera to salvage anything essential or useful. He watches over before stepping away to look at the others with a cold, almost tired, gaze. He doesn't confirm his status as he doesn't need to. His censer makes another loud pop as more incense fills the air once more.


[dice]3421[/dice]

 

[Kallateral]

The Enginseer may be able to salvage some of the heavy weapons mounted on the vehicle. A Difficult (-10) Tech-Use Test will allow him to safely and, more importantly, properly remove one of the weapons from the vehicle.


 
The Enginseer deduces that there is no way, not one that he is aware of, to remove the weapon without rendering it unusable.

 

[Random Word]

"Yes, sir," replies Helly dejectedly. She scowls at Sarge and sticks her tongue out at his back as he exits the Chimera. "This bucket of bolts explodes and your diagnosis is Lho sticks?" she grumbles. She chokes on the heavy incense and amidst her coughing fit. "I'll tell you what's going to destroy my lungs," she exclaims as she cuts her way out of her tangled harness and falls to the floor. Killy releases the clasps of her harness before landing, brushing her longer-than-regulation hair out of her eyes, and sweeping up her munitions pack in one graceful motion. Helly picks herself up, briefly pats herself down to make sure nothing is missing, then bolts out of the Chimera to escape the smoke, scowling at the Techpriest and Malakai as she passes, before sliding into cover behind a large fragment of fallen ferrocrete.


Killy follows, smiling and winking at Malakai as she nonchalantly lights a Lho stick drawn from her pocket on a flaming fragment of the transport, her cloak shimmering in a futile attempt to match the flickering flames. "Ah, Home, sweet home," she sighs contentedly following her first smoky exhale as she surveys the ruined skyline. She draws another from her pocket and proffers it to Ojhmar, "Care for a smoke, big guy? You look like your nerves could use it." She watches, amused, as Helly draws her tattered parasol out of her pack and sets it up against the ferrocrete, lovingly examining her missile launcher under her makeshift shelter. "[HG] Never have I witnessed such a redoubtable bastion of the Emperor's will."


Helly smiles sweetly back at her from under her parasol, "Please, stay right there. When the contents of your head are decorating half the squad I'll know which way the sniper is situated."

 

[Cartoonkarl]

"No study has indicated a connection between the ritual incense and any form of respiratory system damage. Your complaints are unfounded. If you are searching for a way to destroy your lungs however I could open the engine compartment and allow you to breath in the fumes of the now deceased machine." He says almost matter-of-factly. The low buzzing could be heard as the large servitor moves away from the wreckage and stand next to the Enginseer, dropping a piece of metal it was tearing at. "I could also suggest increasing the amount of 'Lho-sticks' consumed. There are also numerous extra ways to ruin ones lungs. I can administer a single Imperium-Grade 'bullet' into your chest. Do take note that the Astra Militarum are unlikely to replace any damaged lungs unless you are one of higher rank or sufficient background."

 

[Crocodile]

"Give me a moment to get my bearings," Yorke replied to the Commissar politely but pointedly trying to keep his focus on their surroundings. Satisfied they weren't about to be shot to pieces, he starts to check what maps he had to get their location better.


"We'll move to the structure shortly. From there once I can get some idea of our bearings we'll need to find a suitable route to still get to the meeting point in time. So keep your eyes peeled for alternative routes or maybe a leftover vehicle we can put into the service of the Emperor. Likely nothing here and honestly I want us to keep moving as best as possible," Yorke noted now as he started to fully work on the map while looking around for landmarks and recalling their initial route. He wasn't happy about this, but his squad would make due and thankfully they were still in terrain they knew how to operate in.

 

[Kallateral]

It is possible to deduce by your point of entry and your nearest landmark - a domed, palace-like building of unknown - that you are standing in one of many streets that cross the city diagonally. The drop site is marked a couple of hundred metres from what you believe from the map to be a large, square plaza. To get there, you would have to cross several of the long, city-spanning streets. There appears to be a few ways to cross from one of the great streets into the next, either by similarly long, opposing streets or by alleyways connecting two together. It looks like it is impossible to draw a straight line, however. It will take some zigzagging to reach your destination.

 

[Random Word]

"Would you?" implored Helly of the Techpriest. "I'd be ever so grateful, but such generosity would demand a suitable favour in kind. Whatever shall I give you?" She thoughtfully stroked her chin as she paused, artfully composed so as to appear deep in thought. "Oh, of course! An intimate Chimera-lit rendezvous with the machine spirit of a frag missile!" she cries triumphantly as she completes the final power on test ritual for the launchers optics and brings the sight to her eye to confirm the results. "I'm certain you two would hit it off with a bang, you sly dog."

 

[Hellkite]

"This bucket of bolts explodes and your diagnosis is Lho Sticks?"


Malakai grinned at Helly's grumbling.


"What can I say?" He replied, still squinting down his rifle sight and scanning for movement. "Smoking kills, Helly. Back when I was with the Penal's, I swear we almost lost more people to Lho sticks than we did to the Commissars."


Malakai threw a nervous glance at Commissar Zharkov's back, still stood by a wall a short distance away.


"Don't tell the Commissar I said that."


At that moment Aleksandr chimed in.


"I could also suggest increasing the number of Lho Sticks consumed."


"See?" Malakai shot Helly a triumphant look. "The robot agrees."


The Malakai's triumphant expression quickly shifted to one of serious concern as Aleksandr suggested a bullet to the lung.


"And that's why I'm squad Medic, and not this guy. For the record though, being shot in the chest isn't fun. Try to avoid it guys, saves me a lot of trouble."


As Helly retorted to Aleksandr, Malakai turned his attention to Sarge, who seemed to be deciding on the squad's course of action. Listening to the man's words, Malakai nodded, and then shrugged his shoulders.


"Ready to go when you are, Boss."


As Helly finished her come-back, Malakai interjected.


"I'd be careful Helly, you don't want the guy to blow a fuse with all that excitement, do you?"


He grinned again, casting a glance at the Tech-Priest. It was all just squad banter, an ingrained instinct in any Guardsman to relieve the tension after near death experiences. In the guard, those experiences occurred almost every day.

 

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksandr just keeps his expression as he watches Helly. She is using the weapon properly so he doesn't chime in and only slouches slightly. The same buzzing could be heard as Strudel begins to lumber in front of the Enginseer slowly. Aleksandr doesn't believe they would fire the weapon, but he doesn't know Helly. Plus they consume Lho-sticks, he can only guess at how much wisdom she really has. "That would not be wise, I, an important member of the squad, would no longer function and you might face execution. I would recommend prudence and additional forethought before such an action to occur."

 

[Unlucky Fellow]

Zharkov trots back over so that he can actually get a look at the map of their area. He doesn't see any need to intervene in the argument going on unless it brings an unaware enemy down on top of them. "We're all going to die some day, might as well live a little. They'll take a lot longer to kill you than most of the shit we'll have to deal with will." Looking over the map, it occurs to him that the only person here that deserves a bolt to the head would be the architect of this city. There was very little reason to it and any path would be taking them through all sorts of alleyway, any one of them could be a horrible killzone.


"We'll not that far off our objective but it'll take a while to get there thanks to the awful layout of the city. We'll move on the Sergeant's orders. Aleksandr, make sure our Chimera's weaponry will be just as useless to the enemy as it is to us, I don't want to turn a corner and see it mounted on the back of a truck."

 

[Cartoonkarl]

Aleksandr looks to the Commisar, as if examining him before give a solemn nod. He steps over to the Chimera and gives it a once over. He speaks Lingua-Technis which spurs the Servitor into action, to smash, bash, or break anything he could while Aleksandr was spending is time dealing with the tasks that require a bit more finesse, trying to make the weapons on the Chimera unusable by anyone.


[dice]3429[/dice]

 

[Crocodile]

Yorke marks a few points on the map now and nods, satisfied he'd picked a route with several alternatives should they run into trouble.


"Alright, we're going to continue along this route for the moment. We'll make a point of staying off the main avenue just to avoid any more of those damn mines. Someone's mined some of these roads either us or the enemy and didn't bother to mark the damn things if its our side. So we're going to do a scouted advance. Those of you who can move a bit more quietly are going to move ahead of us first and keep en eye out for trouble. We'll follow up behind that way so we can maintain covering fire for the scouting party to get back to us easily. Let's get to it, folks. We've a war to fight," Yorke said as he start towards the intact building, planning to use that as the starting point for their route.


The made it far more likely to get them there in good time and the option to flee into the alleys where they could make someone's life hell.

 

[VisionImp]

Zacharias kept to himself, really not wanting to get involved in their juvenile bickering on the battlefield. The paranoid sniper just continuously swept and scanned the area, refusing to give anyone the chance to get the jump on them. "Awaitin' orders.." He said quietly, groaning as he listened to the Servitor do its 'work'.


At hearing the orders finally, he nodded, "That'd be me, I think." And he would then move forward towards where ever Sarge pointed them, using as much cover as possible and definitely keeping his eyes on the ground for any other unmarked mines..