A crack of thunder rolled across the desolate city, it’s buildings in ruins. The bombardment that had been brought down upon it was the result of a tragic situation comprised of two deathsrike missiles, fully loaded with incinerator-warheads, that had been unnaccounted for in the rush to evacuate Corola City. Knowing fullwell of the history regarding the usage of deathstrikes by orks, the PDF command needed to have them eradicated as quickly as possible, &, not trusting the task upon weak, morale-deficient troops, had not choice but to initaiate a total-coverage artillery strike upon the area.

Five days later, the missiles were found in storage three miles away from the site at which the artillery had carried its bombardment out from. They had never been sent to Corola City in the first place. Naturally, the officers of the artillery were immediately executed, along with the crew of the missiles’ transport convoy & the members of the PDF who had overseen the evacuation. These executions were primarily delivered by Commissar Lanje, who had alerted the PDF command of the “missing” deathstrikes in the first place.

The irony of the situation was not lost on Jidus Ender, who smirked to himself as the lightning cast a ghoulish appearance upon his face. This storm had been brewing for the past week now, &, like all of Fuscha VII’s storms, would let it all loose in a matter of minutes. The pelting rain had already created a waterline up to his ankles, & this was quickly rising.

“Spread out,” he said to the other two members of his team – undoubtedly that bounty hunter brute would find nothing but trouble, but he needed to find him. The broadcast, which had been sent along the planet’s vox network once – & only once, as it had wiped the entire system – had dictated that the faithful assemble here. He was surprised at how few there were – in fact, he was the only one present (the other two weren’t even followers, just hired by promises of bloodshed & an effectively unlimited amount of money). Perhaps those who were worshippers didn’t have access to a vox, or possibly didn’t even understand the aetheric tongue of the Warp. If not, then they didn’t deserve to be here anyway.

Callahan didn’t know who he was supposed to be looking for. He had expected that; Ender never gave away specifics on anything, making it impossible to try & form small-talk with him without talking about himself constantly, which was something Callahan couldn’t bring himself to do. He had enough issues thinking about it.

Still, it seemed clear to him that Ender wanted this man dead, & his eyes twitched in anticipation of the blood he would shed. It shrank almost immediately when a giant in thick-plated armour rounded the corner of the building. Callahan considered himself quite tall, almost matching the height of the bounty hunter Swazzerkrigger, but he was utterly dwarfed by this hulking behemoth. All sense of bloodlust left his body & he stiffened, pretending not to notice the Astartes walking directly past him, so close that he could see the dangling head of a PDF member hanging from its belt, the thouroughly dead man’s face stuck in a perpetual scream. Callahan quickly shifted his eyes forwards, feigning total ignorance as badly as a blind man could pretend that he could see.

The marine passed him, genuinely ignoring him, & Callahan let out a sigh of relief. But he didn’t look back. Instead, he focused on the idle pile of rubble in front of him & continued power walking.

There was a splash, mixed in with a deep *thunk*.

There-

Again.

-he is.

Champion Xeros of the Alpha Legion stepped into view. His footfalls resounding against the ground. His voice resounded even more when he spoke to Ender.

“Is this all this filthy planet can muster? I expected more from a world so torn with war.”

Ender’s words caught in his mouth. Heck, his thoughts caught in his brain, he was that nonplussed that he would be greeted in this way. He had ravaged his way through the authorities & unfaithful cults for every scrap of information he could get relating to the Alpha Legion inspecting this planet, & this was the result of his efforts? A lone marine – clearly the only one on the planet, Ender could read that much from him – who dismissed him as unworthy. He could not find a single response to come out with, so he simply sank to his knees & hoped that would be enough for the Chaos marine.

The helmet stared at him for what seemed like hours. The water level gradually rose to the giant’s waist height. Ender realised that it was getting alarmingly close to his own head. Why wasn’t the automated flood management system cutting in? At last, the Marine spoke again.

“Come, we have much to discuss, Jidus.” And with that, the hulk of power armour & genetically-engineered muscle began to wade towards a bunker. Ender stood & followed suit.

Viktoria Antheusien hurried down the street. After weeks of searching, they had found him. He was here – somewhere. It had taken many sources & a reasonable chunk of her inheritance to do it, but now they had him.

She gestured to Zeke & Kara to ascend the building, & they quickly complied. She glanced around, just in case he was here, but found nothing, then began to climb the half of the structure than hadn’t caved in herself.

Through the thick sheet of rain, she saw a figure. Was that him? Then, for a brief moment, the sky cleared & the figure became visble.

“No…”

There, 50 yards away from her perch, was an Astartes. In front of it was Ender. How could that snake associate with the likes of a space marine?

Then, she remembered. There were tales her brother had told her when she was young, about marines that were against everything in the Imperium, & wanted nothing more than to see it wiped from existence. At first she had thought them just to be stories meant to scare her, but with all the things she had seen in this galaxy, maybe…

A single word uttered itself from her lips; “Chaos”.

Nails continued wading down the remains of a street. There was a crossroad at the end of the graveyard, &, attempting to consider the next direction to take, he glanced along the road. There, he saw three people standing in a building, surveying the high street in which Ender had walked down. He looked at the closest one, & knew he’d seen her before – it was the woman that Ender had kicked out of his stolen Rhino the day that Nails had been busted out of prison. One by one, they clambered down the building & began to head towards Ender’s position. He knew something wasn’t right, & climbed through the window of the closest building.

The previous owner had evidently been a heavy drug user, as there were used hypoderms discarded all across the floor. He crunched one under his boot & took up a position overlooking the bunker. Ender was expertly rewiring the doors lock mechanism, & he saw a large, armoured foot just leave his vision as the owner pulled themself up onto the roof of the building. The intruders would have to pass in front of his position to get to his employer, & when they did, he would have them.

Viktoria grasped a ledge that wouldn’t have been there if the building was still fully intact, & nimbly leapt into the building. Stepping carefully to avoid the hypoderms strewn across the floor, she moved into what would have been the inhabitant’s bedroom, though the bed had departed with the majority of the room. A figure was crouched in the corner, oblivious to her over the battering rain & cracking lightning. Even from the back of his head, she recognised him as one of the men Ender had got to assault her, & the memory made her gorge rise. She drew her power sword – not daring to ignite it after getting it drenched in the water – & ran at him. He turned at the last moment & thrust the shotgun he was carrying in the way of her strike. She dodged back as he drew a combat knife, & renewed the fight.

Callahan finally reached the top of the hab he had clambered up to escape the floods. Of course, as soon as he had done that, the sky cleared with the suddenness of a departing train, it’s clouds expended (the automated flood management system had also finally kicked in). There, a few buildings away from him, the bounty hunter & a woman were duelling. He couldn’t just sit & watch it carry out, & so he levelled his splinter rifle, taking careful aim so not to hit his hired muscle.

Pain tore through Nails as shards imbedded themselves down his side. They didn’t feel quite like flechette rounds – he’d had enough of those shot into his body to know what those were like -, much more like large splinters of a shattered bullet. He knew of only one type of weapon that could fire those, & of only one person who carried such a weapon.

“CALLAHAN YOU FRAKHEAD!” he yelled. Another storm of splinters ripped into him & he lost consciousness.

Viktoria flinched as a single, small shard stuck itself into her leg, though the brute she was fighting with took more than his fair share of them, & toppled over. Behind him she could see a figure perched on a hab roof – another of Ender’s men. Quickly switching to her naval pistol, she fired three succesive shots at him.

Ender was surprised as to how well the meeting had gone – Xeros knew far more about him than he would have liked, but he did not want to kill him upon his recieval of Ender’s information, nor did he object to his requests. There had to be a catch, but there would be nothing he could do about it if it turned up, especially if Xeros did end up wanting him dead.

He saw Callahan upon a nearby roof, & called out for him. The rogue trader was incapable of hearing him, however, his mind too focused on death. Three shots then rang out, & he cried out in pain, toppling off the roof & hitting the ground before passing out.

“Yours?” Xeros asked. He didn’t wait for a reply, instead making off at a brisk jog towards a hatch leading to the city’s sewage system.

Ender didn’t even look at the trader who had been with him for the past eight months, instead glaring up at the figure who had shot him.

Her.

He briefly considered taking her out to proove himself to Xeros, but realised it would be a pointless exercise – the marine wouldn’t trust him any more than he did now because of it, & the woman with the heavy stubber would make short work of him before he’d even got more than ten paces. He too ran to the sewer entrance, & leapt into the darkness.

She didn’t have to wait long before she realised he had gone. Just to check, she jumped out of the waster’s room & went behind the building she’d last seen him near.

No one.

There was a splattering of blood from where the man she’d shot had fallen – though the frakker had survived & managed to escape – & a trail of footprints from where Ender & the marine had stepped in the blood. It lead directly to an entrance to the sewers.

Zeke appeared behind her, dragging the man they’d taken hostage – though it’d be easier for her to have just killed him.

“Take it that’s where we’re going then?”

Jailbreak

I don’t know why but the sheer incompetence of Imperial Arbitrators still amazes me, I can’t believe they actually released every prisoner just so I wouldn’t put a bullet through their colleague’s temple, I think he was dead already anyway. I confess it wasn’t the best plan but I was desperate, the strange man had abandoned me and the men he’d recruited were all dead or dying. I had no idea if Zeke or Kara were still alive but I had to hope that the chaos I had created would allow them to escape the facility if they were.

Maybe I should step back and tell you why I am crouched in the corner of cemetery with a mouthful of my own blood, fighting for breath thanks to an indeterminate number of broken ribs, watching all manner of dangerous criminals and lunatics stampede out of a burning Imperial Incarceration Facility, praying my friends will make it out alive and wondering just how many Imperial laws I violated this evening?

- – - – -

The light was beginning to fade when I met the strange man near the Arbites Incarceration Facility, he smiled, well I believe it was what passes for a smile in his case, and pointed out the 6 shapes moving in the shadows near the facility wall. Accompanied by 3 cyber-mastiffs were the 3 heavily armed men I saw during the previous fiasco with the Arbitors. Their body language, the way they moved and spoke to each other made it clear they weren’t planning on this being a stealthy endeavour, they were here to fight!

I didn’t trust the strange man, in fact being this close to him made me feel almost nauseous, it wasn’t anything tangible, just an aura. I had experienced something similar before when the pirates killed my Father, their leader had the same sort of presence. I felt sure if he didn’t consider my being here was furthering his aims he would’ve have killed me where I stood but if Kara and Zeke were still alive then this was my best chance to free them. Throne! He was unarmed and walked away from a fight with at least 5 Arbitors; he must be gifted in some way I don’t yet comprehend.

The facility seemed far too quiet, we checked but there didn’t seem to be any patrols so we approached the door, it was locked but I punched in a standard override code and to my amazement the lock disengaged. The door slid open and one of the heavily armed men, who I’d, heard the others call Smith, ordered the cyber-mastiffs to wait and led the way into the facility. I let the others follow him in and looked at the strange man

“Remember the arrangement my dear” he said “bring my people out and I’ll make sure you’re adequately compensated for your trouble, oh and do try not to get yourself killed.”

By the time I reached the turned the first corner inside the facility it was sheer bedlam, the alarm was blaring and bullets were flying. I hung back and tried to see if there was a way around the Arbitors rather than through them, it wasn’t like I could help much anyway, the corridor was tight and the growing mounds of dead and dying men only made it tighter. The fire fight was swift and brutal, I think I killed a pair of Arbitrators with pistol shots but it was difficult to tell. It seemed neither side was gaining any ground then Smith fell to the ground clutching his shoulder and I suddenly found myself staring at 4 Arbitrators, all of whom had shotguns trained on me, a quick glance around and I realised I was the only one left standing. I grabbed the nearest body, luckily it was an arbitrator, pressed my pistol into his temple and shouted to them

“Shut the alarm down and release the cell doors now! Do it or I’ll blow his head off!”

One of the arbitrators stepped back into the room behind him and turned to the bank of screens on his left. I was stunned, he actually did it, this wasn’t just a bluff in so I’d drop my guard, he actually shut off the alarm. Then I heard shouts from an adjacent corridor, he had released the locks on the cell doors too and the inmates were loose. The shouting became louder and more intense then there were people everywhere, guards trying to establish what was happening, Arbitrators trying to restore order and prisoners trying to decide if they should take a measure of revenge against their captors or just run. I threw myself into an alcove to avoid a group of prisoners rushing along the corridor, a shot rang out and one of the prisoners in front of me fell to the ground. I turned and ran towards the exit.  I was bundled out of the exit by another group of prisoners and as I was pushed to the ground I saw the  strange man was stood in front of a Rhino APC with it’s engine running, there were 2 other men with him, I guessed these were the people he wanted liberating from the facility.

“Get in” he said gesturing towards the Rhino

“We need to wait” I replied “My friends are still inside”

“I am not here to help your friends, you seem to misunderstand our arrangement, you are here to help me”

I squared up to him

“HELP? HELP YOU? Where were you whilst I was doing all the dirty work? The others got killed in there and what were you doing to help?

He didn’t shout back, he just stared into my eyes and I made the mistake of meeting his gaze. I felt him looking directly into my soul, I could feel the pain of the thousands he had killed and the fear of those he would kill in the future. I was totally paralysed by sheer agony and abject terror, it was as if I was a prisoner in my own body. Then he spoke, not in a raised tone but a whisper that felt like a thousand needles boring into my brain.

“You petulant little girl, I could end your pathetic existence with the merest thought and yet you dare to question me. I have looked into the very fabric of your being, I know your fears, and I know your dreams. I know you are on this planet to retrieve an artefact for a servant of your corpse god but you must now know you can’t succeed. The artefact you seek will make a fine weapon in the hands of a truly enlightened being such as me; I must thank you for telling me it is here.”

He closed his eyes and I simply crumpled, every muscle in my body felt like jelly and I couldn’t move, he stood over me and the 2 men with him walked over. He nodded to them and walked away round to the side of the Rhino. A boot struck me in the side, followed by another and another. Something, a rifle butt I think, caught me in the temple and everything started to look fuzzy, the 2 men were kicking and beating me, I was powerless to defend myself and could feel myself drifting into unconsciousness. I fought against it and tried to focus on moving my arms and felt a little strength return, I was able to get my arms up to protect my head just as one of them stamped down with a blow that probably would’ve crushed my skull. They didn’t let up in their assault and I felt several of my ribs snap under another kick. Just as I began to believe I was going to die here I heard the sound of several shotguns firing at once. The men stopped kicking me and looked at the building, a group of Arbitrators had emerged intent on recapturing as many escapees as possible.

“Jidus, you want me to finish her off?” shouted the one man

“No time for that, get in here, we’re leaving” came a reply from the Rhino

The 2 men disappeared from view and I heard the Rhino’s hatch slam shut. The engine revved and I realised I was directly in front of the tracks. Summoning every ounce of energy I could I just manage to roll to my left in time and the tracks barely missed my shoulder  as the Rhino raced away. The arbitrators were currently engaged in a running battle with several groups of escapees so I was able to crawl unnoticed into the nearby cemetery and prop myself up on a gravestone.

- – - – -

I think that brings us back to the situation I currently find myself in. I can see Kara and Zeke outside the building now. I think they have seen me as they’re heading this way.  I know need to find Inquisitor Tarthus’ artefact before the strange man, who I now believe is called Jidus. More so I know I must stop Jidus, I am certain he has murdered hundreds and will kill thousands, maybe millions more.

Every breath hurts, I can feel my ribs grinding against each other and I think I just spat out a tooth. Zeke is kneeling next to me

“Frak me Vik! You look like hell”

“Jidus…”

I pause to spit out another mouthful of blood, I am aware of someone lifting me onto their shoulder and as the I slip out of consciousness I manage to finish

”he…must…be…stopped”

- – - – -

]]> http://www.diceanddecks.com/2010/04/inquisitor-campaign-chapter-3-jailbreak/feed/ 0 http://www.diceanddecks.com/2010/02/inquisitor-campaign-prelude-landings-at-corola-city/ http://www.diceanddecks.com/2010/02/inquisitor-campaign-prelude-landings-at-corola-city/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:00:27 +0000 Robbie http://www.diceanddecks.com/?p=14 A write up of the action from the prelude to the Inquisitor Campaign by Martin Hogg

“Forward, on me,” sergeant Ross (though they all called him “Rosie”) moved up the street – or what remained of it. The bombardment had reduce half the city to rubble.

As him & the rest of Delta 208 stepped forward, one of the more intact buildings let out a long groan. The structure had already been cleaved in two by a shell, & Rosie knew that it was on the verge of collapsing completely, much like the morale of his men. He wasn’t surprised, he was still shaken by the ruthlessness in which the shells had fallen upon their ranks & even now couldn’t believe his team hadn’t suffered any casualties.

Though that wasn’t what really unnerved him. He hoped that the rest of the squad hadn’t noticed, but looking up to the sky he had observed with horror the direction in which the shells were falling from – their own lines. He knew not why command had betrayed them, but he knew they could not stay. With their ranks shattered, the path was now clear for the invaders.

Then, about 50 metres down the street, he saw it. It wasn’t hard to miss, really; the green of its skin & the way the creature moved easily stood out against the drab, grey background.

“Ork,” he spat.

“For the glory of the God-Emperor!” And with that he charged forwards, revving up his chainsword to prepare it for the grisly feast it would soon experience. He shot his laspistol once, twice, with private Jason joining in, bright red beams cracking from his lasgun.

The beast barely even flinched.

*

Organ followed his sergeant, keeping a perfect 20 paces behind. Side-by-side with Aston, they moved forwards, sweeping their lasguns through the air, keeping a look out for any more of the beasts.

And then he heard it. A low, rumbling chug coming from near the river – no, wait; IN the river! As they past an open alley, it was visible plain as day. A boat, ferrying two Orks across the water, both of them jeering & brandishing their ramshackle weapons at them. The front of the boat was taken up by a large object appearing to depict some form of head, from the top of this it spouted another Ork, appearing to be the pilot. He & Aston opened fire on it, but their shots simply bounced off the metal he was sitting in. Out the corner of his eye, he could see Boric running through the graveyard – ironically the only thing they found unscathed – & also taking pot-shots at the pilot, though he fared no better. Where was Maxtor?

*

Gripping his grenade launcher to his chest, Maxtor followed Boric through the graveyard. Suddenly, his ankle caught on something & the world spun, before turning brown. He lifted his head, shook away the dirt, & clambered out of the empty grave, continuing forwards.

*

Sampson could hear the gunfire erupting around him, & he knew they were doomed. He had hear stories of these things overrunning whole cities – Terra, even worlds. He stood still, frantically debating with himself. Should he run now, & betray his squadmates & his sergeant? Or should he stay & fight to the bitter end? He felt warm, moist air pant over his shoulder, then a cold, sharp pain erupted down his back, & he knew his decision had been made for him. He turned to block the next blow, survival instinct & training kicking in, shoving his lasgun two-handed into the path of the of the huge pickaxe the Ork was wielding. Then he backed off & let loose a shot into the beast’s arm. It then collapsed from a torrent of fire from Jason, Boric & another – what was the new guy’s name again? He couldn’t remember, though he was whole-heartedly grateful for his intervention.

Even if it was just postponing the inevitable.

*

Maxtor finally reached the top of the graveyard’s hill, after tripping over a gravestone eroded by the centuries it had stood & clambering over a brambles bush (only afterwards realising there was a simple path around it). He had a perfect viewpoint of the boat from here, & let off a shot at the greenskin he assumed was piloting the thing.

*

A blast of heat & shrapnel enveloped Kaptin’ Barak o’ “The Mighty Barma”. He loved his ship – he’d built it himself without even needing any help from the Mek -, but he would go with a brawl any day.

“Cam on boyz! We gotz sum fightin’ to do!” Leaping off the boat & into the water, he swam ashore. Instantly he saw one of the ‘umies. The man was as spindly as all of their race, but what struck him was the beard the man brandished. He doubted he could grow anything like that with the hair squigs back at the settlement. He decided that he’d loot this man’s hair squigs after the fight, & with that thought in mind he fired his slugga pistol twice in succession.

*

Organ stared in horror as blood spurted from Jim’s chest & his right leg completely blew off. Jim fell backwards, & his eyes stared at Organ for a brief moment before he blacked out.

He opened fire on the Ork who’d shot, glancing down every few seconds at the unconscious form of Jim. Emperor, that man had a nice beard.

*

Maxtor had seen the Orks swim ashore, & although he fired two shots off at them, he did look for a brief moment at the boat that was continuing to float downstream. With that he considered; aren’t we all just boats that are steered down the course of life? And even when left unguided, will still move forwards. Never going back, never looking back.

With that he turned his head forwards again to observe the carnage he had wrought. There wasn’t much to see. Green obscured his vision as one of the brutes was charging directly up the stairs at him, waving his axe in the air & bellowing contempt.

“Oh shi-” he was cut of by the distinctive crack emitted by a lasgun set to full power. The Ork promptly fell to the ground mere inches from Maxtor, his chest cavity blown out.

Stepping gingerly over the body, prodding at it with the tip of his boot as he moved, Maxtor ran over to Aston, who was sheltering with Jacoby behind a broken wall, firing their lasguns at the remaining two Orks by the river.

“Get out of here!” Aston shouted over the noise emitted by the firefight he & Jacoby were establishing. Maxton didn’t need much encouraging, he could see another craft coming into view. This time it spouted a massive missile launcher from its prow.

*

Organ didn’t even see it coming. He was too busy to notice the second boat turning the corner. Too busy providing support for Aston. Too busy worrying about the sergeant, about the state of the war itself. He had seen where the bombardment was being initiated from, he wasn‘t an idiot. He wandered what would happen when they made it back to HQ – would the Commissar execute them anyway for diligence of service? Would their tale spoil the trust the population placed in its ruling power? He didn’t want to know. He almost wished he would simply die here so he didn’t have to worry about it.

And with that thought, he exploded.

*

Sampson had had enough. Jim’s injuries were gruesome, but when the gory remains of Organ splattered him in the face, he knew it was time to leave. He sprinted down the street, pushing the redshirt out of the way, directly past Jason, & practically skimmed the dual between sergeant Rosie & the first Ork they’d spotted. He knew he could have helped. He knew he was a coward.

But he also knew he didn’t care.

*

Boric saw everything. He had the high ground, & was above Jim when he was shot down. He could see the Orks charge up the alley at his comrades. He watched as Organ was obliterated by the boat’s missile, the killer then moving onto the shore & unloading yet more Orks. And then he saw Sampson run.

Coward. Deserter. Betrayer.

He would catch that frak-head. Forget the Commissar or the Orks, he’d kill him himself. He leapt over the graveyard wall, landed in the growing pool of blood pouring from Jim’s lack of a leg, slipped, & knocked himself out on the pavement.

*

Rosie wasn’t doing very well. He’d expected this Ork to go down immediately. But it blocked every swipe he made at it, sticking its massive knife in the way. By all rights the thing should have shattered, but it held intact in a way only Ork weaponry could.

He made a thrust at it, parried a jab from the blade, & swept at its legs. Again it blocked him!

Then the worst happened. The blade jammed itself between the teeth of his chainsword, shattering one & sending the rest flying everywhere. Several flew into Rosie, biting deep into his flesh, whilst the rest bounced harmlessly off the Ork’s thick hide. The pain wasn’t so bad, what hit him hardest was the fact he was now unarmed. He’d holstered his pistol when the combat began, allowing him to perform two-handed manoeuvres which he thought would be successful.

The greenskin tore the knife free, & raised it, bellowing victory.

“Saaaaarge!” Jason ran into his field of vision – which was considerably narrowed by the bits of his life flashing before his eyes – & rammed the barrel of his lasgun into the Ork’s abdomen. The beast’s stomach ruptured, & it’s torso folded over as it crashed to the ground.

“How the frak…?!” he asked. He could hear the sounds of battle continuing behind him. He turned in time to see Aston & Jacoby receive a thorough peppering of fist-sized bullets through their bodies. Jim was lying on the ground missing a limb – what a waste of a good beard, he thought – & Boric was now righting himself, the entire front of his body caked in blood. Maxtor ran up to him.

“Come on, sir, it’s time to move,” the grenadier said. He was right, they’d wasted far too much time here. The four of them fled down the street, shoulder-to-shoulder, no longer bothering to check corners or keep an eye out for threats. Rosie knew they’d be dead soon, but why hurry it?

*

In the midst of the carnage, one Guardsman stood still, considering his options. He knew he wasn’t appreciated by the rest of the team, but that changed nothing. Not his attitude, not his performance, & certainly not his loyalty. He slowly walked over to the body of Jim, threw it over his shoulder, &, hunching his back, set off at a jog. Such a beard couldn’t be wasted.

***