Post by commisarblur on May 22, 2013 18:07:26 GMT -5
The scene was gruesome; dozens of stormtroopers were sprawled across the jungle carpet impaled with spear and slashed open by wicked blade. They dying twitched like cockroaches as acidic foam bubbled forth from mouth and nostrils. Of the thirty brave souls from Zion only six remained standing.
The silverbacks kept vigil as the elites tried to save their dying. Each man was studying the trail left by the carnage. They looked for blood spots, footprints, disturbances upon the grass that revealed how these mysterious hunters managed to lighting strike and disappear into a forest filled with deathtraps.
When the inquisitor and catachan sergeant approached the aftermath, All but Omar stopped their actions and buzzed to the CO.
"Hit us like a blur, couldn't tell them from the trees till they whacked us." reported Blacktooth as he rubbed his burning hands together.
"And they disappeared all the same. We can't so much as find a smudge of them outside of five meters." Added Vinny.
"What's the tally?" Grum didn't bother with the stern routine, he was too winded from the fight.
"Twenty dead and rising. It's like their insides are turning to soup," Tali took a breath before saying the next part. "Sonny got knicked."
"How bad?" Grum asked.
"I-I don't know. I saw him fall and he just...laid there..."
"Vork and the Cadian girl are with him now; Three meters east of here," Blacktooth grunted at the growing burning from his palms.
"Did you handle any tools of the enemy during this encounter?" Puzzled the Inquisitor.
"Yeah one of those spears, Bolter's too hulky to wipe around in a fist fight-" Before another word was spoken a mechadendrite took hold of Blacktooth's left wrist as another servo began assessing the chemical residue. "HEY! What the *^#&!!"
"Stay calm, I'm analyzing the acidic enzymes and protein signature of the poison," Pawn looked to the other members of the Silverbacks. "Bring me to your comrade quickly. There's little time."
***
He shook violently as he tried to breath through his inflamed throat. It felt like his stomach was turning inside outward. Death was coming for him as he blinked at the dark canopy above. The Cadian leaned over and put pressure to his wound. She kept focused as his life was in her hands. Vork was hidden mostly by the corner of Sonny's eyes. There were sounds but building pressure in the blood vessels of his ear drum muffled all but the strongest of sound waves.
The Cadian mouthed something. What was it she was saying. Everything felt aflame under his skin. Was it poison? The last time that happened was when he was nine and stung by a few heretic ants. The Sage was quick in administering an anti-venom but for three days and nights young Sonny was bedridden with sharp pains and buckets filled with vomit. Since then he was always careful when putting on boots with a few pokes of his machete on the inside of the soles. Throne how he wished it was just another heretic bite.
She was scared. She didn't look it except for her eyes. Those were eyes that witness death on a massive scale. Harden by the sight of corpses young and old, male and woman. Faceless ghosts. But she knew Sonny and that started to shake her up. He wanted to shout to her. Tell her its just a scratch. Been bitten by bigger things on Cat he would say in typical bravo of his upbringing.
Or was it his own fear of dying, projected? Into those brown eyes.
Suddenly, a long robotic arm clasped down upon his chest. He felt something sharp bite through the skin. Painful as it was, there was this soothing relief spreading across his body now. Everything was going dark. If this was death, then it was about damn time it granted him some mercy...
***
Pawn check the veteran's pulse before raising to meet eye level with the rest of the silverbacks. "It's working. The cocktail will counter the effects of the poison for the time being but due address his gash."
Grum nodded at Vork to finish the stitch job on Sonny's torso. He kept his hands in his coat pockets as he went to state the obvious. "Your friend aint' among the dead..."
"As I expected him not to be; They want him alive as a much sweeter prize for their insane lust of torture and cruelty," replied Pawn as he shifted his attention toward one of the fallen xeno. It's body riddled with bullets along its chest, neck and shoulder. The inquisitor began marking down notes on the creature's pale skin, obsidian scaled armor, and deceptive muscular mass. "They seemed to tired of ork souls as of late; Inquisitor Hodar's powers must have seen like a candlemas feast to their eyes."
"Just who the hell are 'They'? spoke out Vinny who was a little ticked at the situation. "looks nothing more then some scrawny night worlder who was asking for an @$$ kicking."
"Open up your eyes you moron, He's talking about the Eldar. That thing is an filthy xenos!" answered Tali in emotional outburst.
"But Eldar don't use poisons; least none that we've encountered," Blacktooth would occasionally glance to the dark corners of the jungle, keeping watch for another attack. "And why use spears when they got guns that shoot metal discs that shreds armor?"
"The moisture?" Straight-laced added over her shoulder as she kept pressure on Sonny. "It affected our lasguns and we've seen the orks use none of their energy weapons. Why wouldn't it affect them?"
"Because these fellas are hear to prove something," Grum walked to face the back of the inquisitor to confront him. "They could of killed us on our first step out here. But we're just humans. These critters need sport. So they wait till we out in the thick of it, surrounded by orks and deathtraps. Add some nightfall and leave some old trophies hanging about for us to find. You don't leave bodies around unless you want people to see them!
" Demoralize us. Then they put on a show; rush us from outta the darkness, dance around our feeble attacks, capture our witch and dart back out so that we would chase after him only to get picked off one by one. Course you've seen this well ahead of time. Kept to yourself not because it was need to know or that we're just grunts..."
"There wasn't enough hard data on file to point out this threat!" answered Pawn with slight agitation to his voice. "I've had... suspicions."
"And you'd let get ambushed like that?! You son of a-" barked Tali as she quick drew her knife to rush at Pawn had Blacktooh not intervened.
"Because the reward outweighed the risk!" Pawn roused and spun to face his accusers. "And yes, your are grunts! Grunts that I picked for this mission because you all the highest chance of making this successful with a high survival rating! For all in involved! I didn't want to be here either but I backed Hodar's play! I wanted to help the 'glorious' imperium by unearthing a potential weapon. All of our lives are at stake everyday and not just here."
For the first time, Pawn unbutton the top part of his collar. The raw emotion made the piece of cloth feel uncomfortable. "This is a dark age; Take my word on that. What I say or don't say may save your life or those you care for. Now, if you tempers are soothed enough to listen, I need you find us a shelter for the wounded. Your right that we can't proceed without being picked off. These Eldar are far better hunters and killers then all of us and will be waiting. And yes these are not the kind you've faced in the past. So what say you all?"
The silence was deep enough to hear Sonny's heavy breathing.
Grum shrugged and looked over his shoulder. "Ya'll heard his lordship. Blacktooth, find Omar and seek out our lost Sevitors. Tali, Vinny, locate a defensible position, Vork, Cadian, meet with the stormtroopers and gathered the wounded. I'll take sniper roost and watch for movement. Do not venture any further then visible range and use comms in short bursts. Lets move."
In silent unison, the silverbacks parted to carry out orders guardsmen always should.
"Why the sudden change in stance?" inquired Pawn.
"Don't get me wrong, I still want to kick your arse but we got to bunker down and plan a means of finding your friend and then deliver payback. Just give me the scope on these eldar flith and I'll figure a plan."
"Hmm, you smarter then your profile made you out." jested Pawn as he went to help with the wounded.
The silverbacks kept vigil as the elites tried to save their dying. Each man was studying the trail left by the carnage. They looked for blood spots, footprints, disturbances upon the grass that revealed how these mysterious hunters managed to lighting strike and disappear into a forest filled with deathtraps.
When the inquisitor and catachan sergeant approached the aftermath, All but Omar stopped their actions and buzzed to the CO.
"Hit us like a blur, couldn't tell them from the trees till they whacked us." reported Blacktooth as he rubbed his burning hands together.
"And they disappeared all the same. We can't so much as find a smudge of them outside of five meters." Added Vinny.
"What's the tally?" Grum didn't bother with the stern routine, he was too winded from the fight.
"Twenty dead and rising. It's like their insides are turning to soup," Tali took a breath before saying the next part. "Sonny got knicked."
"How bad?" Grum asked.
"I-I don't know. I saw him fall and he just...laid there..."
"Vork and the Cadian girl are with him now; Three meters east of here," Blacktooth grunted at the growing burning from his palms.
"Did you handle any tools of the enemy during this encounter?" Puzzled the Inquisitor.
"Yeah one of those spears, Bolter's too hulky to wipe around in a fist fight-" Before another word was spoken a mechadendrite took hold of Blacktooth's left wrist as another servo began assessing the chemical residue. "HEY! What the *^#&!!"
"Stay calm, I'm analyzing the acidic enzymes and protein signature of the poison," Pawn looked to the other members of the Silverbacks. "Bring me to your comrade quickly. There's little time."
***
He shook violently as he tried to breath through his inflamed throat. It felt like his stomach was turning inside outward. Death was coming for him as he blinked at the dark canopy above. The Cadian leaned over and put pressure to his wound. She kept focused as his life was in her hands. Vork was hidden mostly by the corner of Sonny's eyes. There were sounds but building pressure in the blood vessels of his ear drum muffled all but the strongest of sound waves.
The Cadian mouthed something. What was it she was saying. Everything felt aflame under his skin. Was it poison? The last time that happened was when he was nine and stung by a few heretic ants. The Sage was quick in administering an anti-venom but for three days and nights young Sonny was bedridden with sharp pains and buckets filled with vomit. Since then he was always careful when putting on boots with a few pokes of his machete on the inside of the soles. Throne how he wished it was just another heretic bite.
She was scared. She didn't look it except for her eyes. Those were eyes that witness death on a massive scale. Harden by the sight of corpses young and old, male and woman. Faceless ghosts. But she knew Sonny and that started to shake her up. He wanted to shout to her. Tell her its just a scratch. Been bitten by bigger things on Cat he would say in typical bravo of his upbringing.
Or was it his own fear of dying, projected? Into those brown eyes.
Suddenly, a long robotic arm clasped down upon his chest. He felt something sharp bite through the skin. Painful as it was, there was this soothing relief spreading across his body now. Everything was going dark. If this was death, then it was about damn time it granted him some mercy...
***
Pawn check the veteran's pulse before raising to meet eye level with the rest of the silverbacks. "It's working. The cocktail will counter the effects of the poison for the time being but due address his gash."
Grum nodded at Vork to finish the stitch job on Sonny's torso. He kept his hands in his coat pockets as he went to state the obvious. "Your friend aint' among the dead..."
"As I expected him not to be; They want him alive as a much sweeter prize for their insane lust of torture and cruelty," replied Pawn as he shifted his attention toward one of the fallen xeno. It's body riddled with bullets along its chest, neck and shoulder. The inquisitor began marking down notes on the creature's pale skin, obsidian scaled armor, and deceptive muscular mass. "They seemed to tired of ork souls as of late; Inquisitor Hodar's powers must have seen like a candlemas feast to their eyes."
"Just who the hell are 'They'? spoke out Vinny who was a little ticked at the situation. "looks nothing more then some scrawny night worlder who was asking for an @$$ kicking."
"Open up your eyes you moron, He's talking about the Eldar. That thing is an filthy xenos!" answered Tali in emotional outburst.
"But Eldar don't use poisons; least none that we've encountered," Blacktooth would occasionally glance to the dark corners of the jungle, keeping watch for another attack. "And why use spears when they got guns that shoot metal discs that shreds armor?"
"The moisture?" Straight-laced added over her shoulder as she kept pressure on Sonny. "It affected our lasguns and we've seen the orks use none of their energy weapons. Why wouldn't it affect them?"
"Because these fellas are hear to prove something," Grum walked to face the back of the inquisitor to confront him. "They could of killed us on our first step out here. But we're just humans. These critters need sport. So they wait till we out in the thick of it, surrounded by orks and deathtraps. Add some nightfall and leave some old trophies hanging about for us to find. You don't leave bodies around unless you want people to see them!
" Demoralize us. Then they put on a show; rush us from outta the darkness, dance around our feeble attacks, capture our witch and dart back out so that we would chase after him only to get picked off one by one. Course you've seen this well ahead of time. Kept to yourself not because it was need to know or that we're just grunts..."
"There wasn't enough hard data on file to point out this threat!" answered Pawn with slight agitation to his voice. "I've had... suspicions."
"And you'd let get ambushed like that?! You son of a-" barked Tali as she quick drew her knife to rush at Pawn had Blacktooh not intervened.
"Because the reward outweighed the risk!" Pawn roused and spun to face his accusers. "And yes, your are grunts! Grunts that I picked for this mission because you all the highest chance of making this successful with a high survival rating! For all in involved! I didn't want to be here either but I backed Hodar's play! I wanted to help the 'glorious' imperium by unearthing a potential weapon. All of our lives are at stake everyday and not just here."
For the first time, Pawn unbutton the top part of his collar. The raw emotion made the piece of cloth feel uncomfortable. "This is a dark age; Take my word on that. What I say or don't say may save your life or those you care for. Now, if you tempers are soothed enough to listen, I need you find us a shelter for the wounded. Your right that we can't proceed without being picked off. These Eldar are far better hunters and killers then all of us and will be waiting. And yes these are not the kind you've faced in the past. So what say you all?"
The silence was deep enough to hear Sonny's heavy breathing.
Grum shrugged and looked over his shoulder. "Ya'll heard his lordship. Blacktooth, find Omar and seek out our lost Sevitors. Tali, Vinny, locate a defensible position, Vork, Cadian, meet with the stormtroopers and gathered the wounded. I'll take sniper roost and watch for movement. Do not venture any further then visible range and use comms in short bursts. Lets move."
In silent unison, the silverbacks parted to carry out orders guardsmen always should.
"Why the sudden change in stance?" inquired Pawn.
"Don't get me wrong, I still want to kick your arse but we got to bunker down and plan a means of finding your friend and then deliver payback. Just give me the scope on these eldar flith and I'll figure a plan."
"Hmm, you smarter then your profile made you out." jested Pawn as he went to help with the wounded.