I Blame You, Too

by Whitestrake

I will not make another rash or premature decision - Horus Lupercal, Primarch of the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus

@#@#@# Amos's POV @#@#@#

I'm not sure what came over me during that assault, charging the smoking wreckage that, mere moments before, had been a platform for our enemies to rain fire upon us. Taylor, Jay, and the others from Equus had at least two men in front of them, meant to filter fire and prevent their premature deaths. They were, without a doubt, our the only men we had who were worth a damn against Space Marines in close combat, and the PDF troopers who would surely die before we reached them would be a necessary sacrifice.

We crossed half the distance before one of the traitors steadied himself, opening fire with his heavy bolter. Immediately, four troopers were hit, splattering bits of their armor and innards over the men next to them. Jacques shoved one of the dying men away, taking the front just as the other Chaos Marines leveled their guns and followed their brother's lead. Our massed lasfire did little at first, but now visible rents in their ceramite, glowing hot under the concentrated thermal onslaught as we drained our power cells and raised our bayonets.

Jacques and Steel Tart were the very first to make contact, hacking and slashing into the Marines as they held their weapons to defend themselves from their power-wreathed blades. Tart focused on a quick, graceful style of combat while her counterpart threw himself at the stunned Havoc, ripping into him with his four clawed limbs. Taylor chose to engage their leader, a tall Marine who had a number of horns growing from his bruised scalp, slicing through his heavy bolter and thrusting into his chest. Or initial rush slowed as the first three were slain, giving the heretics enough time to draws their combat knives, which were more like small swords when compared to their normal equivalent.

I shoved my bayonet between the join in one's armor as he busied himself with gutting a PDF trooper, only to realize I hadn't put enough force behind it. Just as he was about to kill me, a black knife was stabbed into his neck, held by a black rubber glove. Jay, the crazy bastard, had jumped on his back, and used Marine's impressive pauldrons against their own, relying on his reduced range of movement to sever key arteries with impunity. There was a sharp crack as Taylor's pistol fired into the skull of another helmetless Chaos Marine, whom he and Cain had kneeling before them. The explosive round had blown out the back of his skull, and drew the attentions of the remaining heretics.

Inspired, the troopers threw caution to the wind, and attacked their foes as though the fate of the Imperium itself rested upon their shoulders. We entered the fray with seventy-five troopers, not counting a dozen or so wounded, and left with fifty-eight. We lost a total of seventeen men to the assault, thirteen of whom died in the melee, but we slayed ten Chaos Space Marines. Even as some of the stronger men placed the the dead heretics in a small heap, I felt the rush of the charge pumping in my veins. “Inquisitor Till,” Cain began, extending a hand for me to shake.

“Commissar?” I asked, understanding that he would only speak to me if there was something for him to gain in doing so. There was a flash as Jurgen destroyed the tainted corpses with his melta, and Jacques swore as the foul smell hit his nose.

“I felt it important to inform you that we have yet to find whatever is jamming our vox,” he held up a small, hand-held vox-castor that blared static when he released the trigger. “Captain Harkness and his squad cannot teleport until they get a confirmation signal from the area surrounded the objective.” I noticed that he avoided saying precisely what we were expecting, all due to the strict censorship regarding anything relating to the Ruinous Powers. “Inquisitor Vail believes we need to press on, but she needs a majority agreement, and with you being the only other inquisitor, the decision rests on you.”

@#@#@#@#@#@#

Lord Inquisitor Dorosa sneered at the dataslate in her hand, bearing a blurry image of a Chaos Marine who could only belong to the blasphemous Word Bearers. She and her colleagues in the Ordo Malleus, as well as Justicar Auros of the Grey Knights, were piled into the back of a Repressor, courtesy of the local Arbites. They thundered along the same path Vail and Till followed to smash a hole into what was first thought to be ork lines, but now revealed itself to be a pocket of heretical dissent. To top it off, something was blocking vox communication, leaving dozens of inquisitors, their retinues, and thousands upon thousands of PDF troopers without support or the possibility of reinforcement.

The driver, a recently-inducted acolyte, said the road was blocked ahead, claiming there were numerous Chimera transports that were destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable. From gunports, Dorosa noted a number of bodies, all covered in white sheets with bloodstains of various sizes soaking through. Every one of them appeared to belong to a slain trooper, which meant Till and Vail were still alive, and had moved on to set the teleportation beacon. That, of course, meant they would be dealing with whatever device the Word Bearers and their cohorts were using to block comms.

Pushing the Repressor into overdrive, the acolyte slammed through a gap between two Chimeras, halting shortly thereafter to inform the Ordo Malleus detachment that they way was still blocked, this time by smoldering wreckage that was far to heavy for the small vehicle to overcome. “It appears we have little time to lose,” Justicar Auros said, his voice taking on an electronic tone from his armor's vox-castor. He was the first man out, pointing his wrist-mounted storm bolter everywhere he looked. “The path is clear.”

Dorosa sneered as she stepped foot on the ruined street, and only partly from the smell of orks slain hours before the troopers arrived and met a similar fate. From the charred, half-melted corpses she found piled atop one another, she estimate there had been two squads of Chaos Marine Havocs, the accursed counterpart to loyalist Devastator squads. However, she noted only nine corpses, where there should have been ten.

“My lord, there appears to be a letter addressed to you,” Inquisitor Macabee called from atop the wreckage, guarded by two other inquisitors and their entourages of Imperial Guard veterans. Dorosa, curious, quickly climbed the destroyed ork vehicles, and saw the only intact Word Bearer corpse. A small note was speared on one a horn sprouting from his forehead, which bore a verys imple message.

We're moving up – Inquisitor Vail

PS – try to keep the necessary civilian death to a minimum, even though that isn't exactly your Ordo's style – The Burned Man

@#@#@# Taylor's POV @#@#@#

Or mass of troops split into smaller squads in order to better navigate the underhive, and as usual, my armor allowed me to be at the very front. The squad nearest to me included Amberley and Cain, ostensibly to allow Cain to lead from the front, befitting his reputation. Truthfully, they wanted to keep an eye on me, as usual. Still, a little friend by the name of active camouflage kept me hidden from sight as I crept around cultists and their Marine leaders. This Host, as I'd learned Word Bearers called their warbands, was about three-hundred strong, counting only the Marines, which meant we were facing roughly three full companies, something usually used to take over a star system.

The sound of lasfire hit my ears as another squad ran into a group of heretics, though with the absence of bolters, it was safe to say they would live. I pulled myself up to a small outcropping of pipes as two heavily armored men strolled past me. One of them was the Host's Dark Apostle, judging by the giant-ass mace with a three-dimensional star of Chaos Undivided as the head. The other, I figured by his lack of weaponry, was possessed, and would assume his twisted form as soon as combat came this far into their territory. I didn't understand a damn thing they said, as they kept to the language of Lorgar's homeworld, but I knew enough to see they were planning something.

I leaped down as soon as they were out of earshot, and continued along my pre-planned route. I still had four Doorframe parts on me, and I planned to use them as effectively as I could before the Word Bearers found me. It was risky, borderline suicidal, and the Inquisition would probably kill me for tech-heresy if it failed, but the benefit of success far outweighed the cost. If the Holy Ordos were to find me a heretic, then I would be a heretic they needed.

The area I was in was large enough, and had so little traffic that it seemed safe. I would need a large portion of the wall for my plan; I was linking directly with the Canterlot Temple's garage.

Comments

[Word Bearer]

what no epic mono e mono fight just win by using a deus ex machina via a warmahine. not cool bro

[Advent Link]

Hmmm, three companies worth of chaos vs a baneblade (maybe?), it would be interesting to see. It's a shame there's no way to revive the emperor I bet he could whip the human race back into shape.

[Cheshire]

3672588 But you can never say no to the appearance of an Imperial Baneblade on the battlefield... Unless its guns are drawing a bead on your position...

[Dubious]

>> chapter_traveler *Coughs politely* There's probably some magical artifact in Equestria that can heal any and all wounds, no matter how old or severe, that they could use to revive the Emperor, either that or some alien medical nanobots. Also good chapter, I expect more out of you soon, otherwise those carnivorous roses I've been designing will start popping yo in your yard.

P.S They're also self-mobile plants.
P.P.S Have a merry Christmas you <Insert Country of Origin Here> bastard.

[Nightmare Wolf]

[Rhulain]

LEVIATHAN!
LEVIATHAN!

BORN FROM THE FEAR AND TERROR OF HUMANITY!

LEVIATHAN!
LEVIATHAN!

[Mad Pancake]

Toll the Great Bell Once!
Pull the Lever forward to engage the
Piston and Pump...
Toll the Great Bell Twice!
With push of Button fire the Engine
And spark Turbine into life...
Toll the Great Bell Thrice!
Sing Praise to the
God of All Machines

[Razzy]

Welp, Leviathan's gonna eat some blood.