Futuristic Only War: The Shining 1st

[Bones Johnson]

"Aye-aye, Sarge." Ojhmar replied, hefting his Eviscerater from its proper resting place- not yet whirring its engines to life, not wanting to draw any unneeded attention. He dipped his cloak around himself and then lowered down to a semi-crouching, his hand brushing upon the dirt and marking a line beneath his eyes- helping to mask the glare from them as he began approaching with the group. "Permission ta' be on the front, Sergeant?" The Feral asked in a low hushed tone.

 

[Crocodile]

"Granted, you'll be of help if we stumble on an enemy formation in close quarters that way," Yorke said as he pulled his own cloak around himself more. Checking his laspistol and chainsword before looking around at the others.


[dice]3432[/dice]

 

[Kallateral]

Aleksandr: His Holy Armament is a double-edged sword; remarkably robust, the heavy bolter does not give in to your assault, and remains intact.


Yorke: While you have a map, the area is unfamiliar and the map is outdated. It will require a Difficult (-10) Navigate Test to determine the best course to the rendezvous point (this roll includes both planning the journey and actual execution - choices made to avoid obstacles and staying on track).


Zacharias and Ojhmar (and other scouts): When you decide to begin your advance and attempt to limit the sound of your movements, you roll a (+10) Ordinary Stealth Test.

 

[VisionImp]

He nodded at the orders and allowed the burly Feral to take point, him and Lucian following behind, weapons leveled and scanning about for any type of hostile movement.


[dice]3431[/dice]

 

[Unlucky Fellow]

Zharkov checks his bolt pistol one more time, tapping his side to make sure his magazines are stowed properly before buttoning up his coat a bit more. "We won't be that far behind you, if you're discovered by anything don't hesitate to yell and we'll come running." He started to stride towards the old hab building. "Remember folks, eyes and ears open."

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar nodded and began advancing ahead slowly, keeping to the flanks of the party and moving in a slow sweeping motion- trying to remain undetected by any possible onlookers as he scouted ahead, moving close to the ground swiftly. "I'll let ma' weapon yell for me."


[dice]3430[/dice]

 

[Random Word]

"Ah, she just wasn't that into you, Aleksandr. You'll get lucky next time," replies Helly, consoling. She collapses her parasol, packs it away, wraps her cloak around her, and advances quickly between cover, motioning for Killy to follow. Killy puts out her half finished Lho stick dejectedly and follows.


[dice]3433[/dice]

 

[Kallateral]

You move quietly, unseen. Except for the sniper, of course. Zach stumbles and sends a small stone flying with his foot. It crashes against a nearby wall, then falls clattering in the street.

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar immediately freezes. His eyes dart to the sound- deciphering its source. He says nothing, remaining low and still, to try and remain undetected should that have attracted unwanted attention.

 

[VisionImp]

Zach freezes as well and Lucian gives him a disapproving shake of his head. The sniper mutters a swear under his breath.. He just HAD to be that guy..

 

[Kallateral]

Nothings happens, thankfully. It appears your accident didn't cause any lasting damage. Moving onwards, you reach the intact building without further complications.


You decide upon a course and set off. You quickly discover that the cityscape is difficult to move through, given the rubble and the generally chaotic state of the city. It is entirely unfamiliar and you find yourselves slowed down to a crawl. The horrible layout is almost maze-like, and the tower disappears from view from time to time.


If one were to check a chrono, one would quickly realize that the airdropped package must've been delivered by now. Lieutenant Steiner and his squad is probably waiting for you...


After an hour, you have reached your destination, but you cannot see anyone from your platoon. What you do see, however, is a large depression in the ground – probably left by the airdrop – and the ground is dark-flecked. Even to the untrained eye, the nature of the stains is obvious: it is blood, and it looks like it has had time to dry. You also discover tracks from big feet, though they have faded somewhat because of the elements.

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar traveled in silence- usually keeping to the forefront. However, he slowed to reach with the whole party to the drop-sight, before his brow dipped down and his eyes widen. Ibrahm by him intakes a sharp breath, marking the Aquila over his chest. The feral in the meantime squat down, balancing himself on the pillows of his feet as he brushed a hand delicately over the blood, scowling and narrowing his eyes, his teeth bore in anger. "There is blood to be repaid."

 

[Hellkite]

Malakai had made the journey alongside the Sergeant and the Commissar, but once the absence of the platoon had become painfully apparent, he moved to stand in the middle of the rendezvous. Dropping to a crouch, Malakai studied the ground without much hope. When he'd served in the Penal Legion there had been a surplus of death and feral-worlders who could track, so many that Malakai had never seen the need to learn how it was done. He regretted his laziness now. Without much hope, the Medic dropped to a crouch like Ojhmar, and cast his eyes over the surroundings.


[dice]3435[/dice]


To Malakai, the ground seemed to be simply a mass of blood spattered mud and erratic boot-prints, leading nowhere, saying nothing.


I should just stick to medicine. He thought. With a sigh he stood and threw a glance back to his squad-mates.


"Any of you guys see anything in this?" He gestured vaguely around himself. "I'm thinking the rest of the platoon were attacked, but that's only a hunch."

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar looked over to the Medic, then back to the blood. "There is one thing that is obvious." He says- ever accented. "With this much blood? I doubt that there any left." He said. "Emperor preserve them and bring them unto his fold." He muttered, withdrawing his knife from his boot and scraping at the blood, narrowing his eyes in thought.

 

[VisionImp]

Zacharias was mostly quiet.. Which wasn't really unusual. The entire walk, he was angry at himself for being such a klutz, his weapon still raised.


As the group entered the clearing for the dropsite, his eyes widened with horror for a brief moment before he was immediately crouching down and surveying the area. He looked around, trying to figure out what happened and watching the surrounding area.


[dice]3464[/dice]

 

[Kallateral]

Zacharias notices that the tracks, leading off deeper into the city, are accompanied by dragging marks in the ground - those big-footed men probably dragged the Lieutenant and his squad with them. This sliver of hope is best shared with the squad.

 

[Random Word]

Helly whistles softly from the shadows, "Poor bastards. Whichever way whoever did this went, we should probably go the other. I wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley," she adds, shaken. Though she can't be seen, Killy's voice can be faintly heard singing a Tarsian funerary dirge in high gothic, echoing eerily in the ruins, seemingly without source. Helly sits amidst the shell of some ruined structure and hugs her missile launcher close, struggling to suppress memories of singing lessons with her mother. "I don't want to be reunited in anyone's fold, Emperor or otherwise," she mutters, darkly.

 

[Unlucky Fellow]

Zharkov's eyes narrow at the whole scene, something in his bones didn't feel right about the whole thing. There wasn't enough blood for all of them to be dead but not enough to even look like they put up a decent fight. All of it suggested an ambush and the lack of bodies seemed to hint that they'd all been taken prisoner rather than dispatched. He knelt down in the dirt and looked at the tracks, measuring it with his hand. His scowl only deepened as he stood, certain now of what had happened here. It seemed like his first encounter with them had been only yesterday but in reality it was almost two decades ago.


"It seems that we've gained a secondary objective. Most of our comrades should still be alive...but this wasn't the work of rebel forces. Everyone be on your guard, we're dealing with a pack of orks." The commissar pulled back the slide of his pistol to make sure a shell was loaded. "Can't say how many so our assumption should be many."

 

[VisionImp]

Zacharias was already uneasy about the situation and hearing the Commissar's words caused a grimace and shudder of worry. "Orks..?" He muttered to himself as he debated whether it was worth it to speak up.. summary execution or orks.. lose-lose situation.


With a sigh, the man spoke up, "They seem to have been taken that way, sir." And he would motion in the direction of the dragging.. And then took the time to check and recheck his gear.. long-las, lascarbine, shotgun.. all loaded. Grenades in reach.. as good to go as he ever would be.

 

[Hellkite]

Malakai flipped the fire setting on his Lasgun to full-auto at the Commissar's words. Orks were tough and always plentiful, so the Medic reckoned that being able to unload as much ammunition as possible in their direction would be more important than fire discipline. Standing, he wandered over to stand beside Yorke before addressing the squad in general.


"If these are Orks, then they're acting strangely, don't you think? I'd have thought that they would have been..."


Malakai searched for words.


"Messier." He eyed the crater where the supply drop had landed.


"Maybe these ones were Kommandos? I haven't been deployed against Orks before," he admitted, "But from what I've read and heard I'd be expecting more blood, more signs of violence. But maybe that's just me."


Malakai shrugged and flipped the laser-sight on his Lasgun on, before glancing between Yorke and the Commissar.


"Anyways, I'm ready to go when you give the order, sirs."

 

[Kallateral]

You may be able to follow the tracks with a successful Difficult (-10) Survival Test.


As before, you can appoint one squad member to handle this roll. Keep in mind that you can re-roll failed Survival Tests in urban environments.

 

[Bones Johnson]

Ojhmar snarled, continuing to crouch low by the blood. He looked back at his group- knowing well from experience that it was better to have a single tracker, as various ones could create contradictions and needless feuding that'd be more of an offset in comparison to finding no trail. "Let me track them down, Sergeant." The beastly brute huffed an angered sound. "Orkz or Traitors, they are all prey."

 

[VisionImp]

Zacharias was about to speak up in a heavily reluctant voice but was cut off by the angry Feral worlder. He raised an eyebrow but kept quiet, "More power to ya." He muttered, getting ready to follow whenever they would head out, ready to fall to the rear guard.

 

[Crocodile]

"Alright, we're following those tracks and recovering our men and the drop. Ojhmar, you take lead on the tracking. Zacharias you keep up with him and watch his back. We'll continue our scouted advance. Whoever this is their big and hopefully not too sneaky... but then again they must have ambushed the Lieutenant which sort of makes me think otherwise," Sergeant Yorke noted with a slight frown. Sneaky Orks? What that even possible?


"And just in case... be careful even if you see Guard uniforms or something else seeming friendly. Whoever did this either snuck up on them... or worse were looking like brothers in arms," Yorke noted sourly and was angry with himself for taking so long to get here. If that damn Munitorum would be bothered to keep better maps this wouldn't have happened!

 

[Bones Johnson]

At the Sergeant's orders, Ojhmar nodded. He dipped down to almost all fours, one hand constantly keeping his Eviscerator aloft his shoulder, as he began trying to formulate the tracks- to see where they led, and if possible, decipher more hints.


[dice]3498[/dice]


[dice]3499[/dice]