With a hail of laspistol fire having just injured Jax, the pysker Tybalt tapped into the Immaterium. Barely able to cast his power, but, his success was met with the silence of enemy las fire. "Stupid gun's jammed!" one of the dregs cried out. Everyone else threw their laspistols off the side of the alcove to the distant floor below.With a great yell, they charged at the group. Jax dropped to the ground as the others into postion to take aim. They put up enough fire to slow the dregs down, but hardly of the shots were hitting them. Sounds of a turbines reverberated across the expanse as Garvel noticed the approach of two Valkyrie gunships.
He shoved Wolfe and Tybalt down as the guns started firing at the position. Any remaining dregs were torn apart by the machine gun fire. Jax spotted a black figure on a glider toss a grenade into the back hatch of one of the gunships. The thing followed the resulting explosion by chucking another grenade up the engine of the same Valkyrie. A bigger explosion tore the wing right off, and caused the gunship to smash into the other one sending them both crashing to the floor below.
The glider swooped towards the alcove as the figure checked to see if any were still alive. Jax unleashed a full-auto burst at the entity, but failed to hit anything. With a smile on its mutilated ashen face, it threw another grenade. Everyone jumped up and bolted across the narrow walkaway of someone's former home. The creature laughed the entire time as he flew after them.
Garvel was the first to reach the elevator, but had to wait for the others to show up to get it open. They rushed inside, Wolfe providing covering fire. But, he got riddled with splinter shards. Jax pulled his brother in as the enemy stepped off his glider.
Doors closed and the elevator headed up. "What was that filthy xeno?" Tybalt asked.
"Dark Eldar," the reply came from Garvel.
An explosion sounded above and violently shook the elevator. It was soon followed by the sounds of snapping wires and the box plummeted down the shaft. After everyone recovered from the impact, the group found out that doors couldn't be opened. "How are we supposed to get out?" Garvel asked.
"We're just going to have to wait here for someone to spring us out," Jax answered.
Wolfe was patched up as best as they could manage during the five hour internment in the elevator. Finally, the sounds of footsteps came nearby. Jax instinctively started tapping a call for help in guard battlecode.
"Who's in there?"
"General Jax Arkana of the Vatarian 3rd Regiment. We're trapped in this Emperor-forsaken place. Now. GET. US. OUT OF HERE!"
"Jax! What are you doing?" Garvel whispered.
"Trust me. I've got a plan," Jax whispered back.
"Hang on while we find a way to get these doors open."
While the unknown people worked to get them out, Jax had Garvel carve a general's insignia into Jax's chest plate.
After a laborous effort, the doors were pryed apart. Jax stepped out and was met with a laspistol aimed at his face. "I think you're lying to my men about you are," the sergeant said.
Jax straightened up his armor and stood tall before yelling, "How dare you threaten an appointed General of His Holy-Emperor's Imperial Guard. Are you going to allow your sergeant to commit such an atrocious act of heresy?"
The kill-team troopers look around at each other before firing on their sergeant.
One stepped forth and saluted. "Sorry for the sarge's over-zealousness."
"You're all forgiven, now get me and my men out of here."
"Right away, sir." Jax walked by the kill-team as their new leader saluted him again. The rest of the group was helped out of the elevator, except for Tybalt who had to struggle to climb out. "If you'll follow us General, we'll escort you out of this dump."
The kill-team led the group through a winding trail amongst the vast amount of rubble and ruins. Jax learned from them that they were sent by the Hive Governor to purify the lower levels of all life, stating that everyone down there to all be considered heretics.
A quarter-hour of walking time ended in a clearing beyond the wreckage of a couple of Valkyries. A big carriage with sturdy cables lead to a hole in the ceiling. "Right this way, sir."
The group was about to step into the carriage as shots rang out from behind them. Dark Eldar emerged from the rubble and killed the troopers. They approached with splinter rifles leveled.
Suddenly, another drop pod crashed through the ceiling and onto the lid of one of the nearby cauldrons. It tore most of cables for the carriage apart on its way down. Everyone ducked as the cable dropped down upon them.
The hatches for the drop pod popped open, but only three of the occupants were on the side facing away from the molten metal. The three survivors hit a pile of rubble on the side and rolled down to the floor.
But, the group was too preoccupied battling the Dark Eldar to notice. Shots zipped between the two sides with hardly any shots connecting. One of the eldar was repeated hit in her left shoulder. She was the first to go down. Jax and Wolfe were growing increasingly frustrated as their guns jammed one after another.
Blasts of las energy barreled past the group. The rest of the Dark Eldar quickly died; one of them lost its head while the rest of its body was set on fire.
"Looks like I needed to save both of you; yet again," the fresh-faced kid behind them said.
"Millard!" Wolfe exclaimed. He ran up and hugged his kid brother. The other two people started to stir. "Where the bloody-warp are we?" the Arbite asked.
"Planet Vatar, Hive Edgeer, dreg quarters," Garvel answered.
"Why am I down here? This place is completely beneath my station."
The other, a tech-priest, introduced himself as "Grim" Gulliman. But, nobody seemed to pay attention as the Arbite got into a heated argument with Wolfe. Guns were swiftly drawn, and the Arbite found an autogun and a lascannon aimed at his head from the other two Arkana brothers.
A screeching noise blared in their ears; immediately ending their squabble. "I don't need anymore of my recruits to pointlessly die in this mission," the cold feminine voice stated in their ears.
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