ONLY WAR

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The guns fall silent.

I stare across the treeline now strewn with the corpses of the enemy squad; they look small now, shrunken in death, twisted faces and scorch-marks where they were clipped by lasfire, or else chunks of armour and flesh blasted away by Vesperin's heavy stubber. In the immediate aftermath of the firefight's din, the silence that hangs of this stretch of forest is all-encompassing. Every sound can be heard, from the thumping of my heart in my chest to Private Aiar's breathing nearby.

Rising back to my feet, I lower my lasgun back into a ready position.
“All clear, hold fire,” I communicate to my team via mirco-bead, advancing forwards slowly towards the bodies of the fallen. The enhanced lighting of my visor has picked up something slung across the chest of one of the secessionists, something that gives me the beginnings of a plan if it turns out to be what I think it is.

The body is an older man, weathered and scarred face. Career soldier, probably been at this a long time. For a moment my mind ponders what battles he's seen, the friends he's lost, the death traps he's somehow managed to walk away from... all for him to wind up here, dead in the underbrush with a hole in his chest from one of our lasguns. Quickly I shake such thoughts out of my head and pull at the bandoleer he wears, tugging it free.

Three Krak Grenades hang in pouches on it, cylindrical metal devices still bearing the insignia of the Imperium. “Janna? Think I may have just found what we're gonna be improvising with.” I'm about to sling the bandoleer over my chest, but suddenly I find myself staring down into the dead man's gaze, into his face that remains locked mid-shout. An order? A cry for help? Perhaps a call for a retreat?

With a sigh, I reach down and close his eyes one final time.

Only in death does duty end.

“Team, form up on me,” I order via mirco-bead, “check your equipment, make sure your weapons are reloaded, grab any spare ammo you can find from the dead and then get ready to move out. We've no time to waste.”
 


All clear, but to let their guard down would be stupid. Janna rose and stepped towards the bodies, picking over one of the first to die to her and Kores' combined fire. She found nothing other than a couple of charge packs and quickly pocketed them before she moved on, repeating the process with the next body before she climbed over the fallen log to find the body of the traitor who had died mid-vault... or been his at least.

The body in the undergrowth was shaking, hands desperately trying to stem the tide of blood flowing from their abdomen. As Janna approached they looked up. Even in the grainy image of her visor she could see the fear in his face and with a deft kick she sent the traitor's gun skittering through the undergrowth, out of reach before e could even reach for it.

Her first though was to call the sergeant but the bloody foam around the wound and the blood running down his chin told her it was too late to press the man... no, he couldn't have been older then twelve, the boy for information. Kneeling she quickly inspected the wound, while with her other hand she drew the knife from her boot. They couldn't do anything for the boy but she couldn't leave him to choke on his own blood.

"This soul, I ask that the emperor judges fairly by his own merit and not by the men he followed."

She knife entered the boy's neck from the side and slipped between the vertebrae to sever nerve and cartilage before being pulled beck out through the throat.

After wiping the blood off on the boy's sleeve she stood, a slightly sick feeling in the pit of her stomach mixing with the relief that they had survived. She didn't want to search any more bodies, see any more faces, she was ready to move on.
 

Straun studied the emplacement. It was going to be a bitch to say the least to storm. "Aperion, if you want to grenade that stubber nest with your new toy it'd be good while everyone else chucked what grenades we have up there." Straun said studying it. The big problem with a Melta was it's limited range, he needed to be close to get the best results. "If you've got no problem with that Corporal, if we can keep em suppressed me and Aperion can then get up closer under suppressing fire, I melta the defence gun and any traitors in the way."

The heady scent of loam filled his nostrils as he shouldered his Lasgun and drew his Meltagun to the ready. They were no Tanith, but the job had to be done and they were in place to get it done.​
 
And there it was. Their objective. With the enemy packed up tighter than a crab's anus. Perfect for blowing up with his new toys. He will be damned if Boom Stick wasn't going to help clear the way. As Straun started to talk, he liked the idea of blowing up their way to the gun. He nodded to him and looked at all of the extra explosives and smiles. But he wanted to add to it the plan brought up.

"I think if we all throw some explosives, I can take care of the nest, and some smoke grenade to cover the advance inside. If we stay out here, in this line of fire that they will tear us a new one. Not to mention those damn crews are probably hot on our tail. We need some shock and awe. At the very least, it might get enough people off of the gun to keep some of our boys and girl alive."

He double checked his new gun and made sure it was in tip top shape and aimed it towards the nest.

"Yeah, they will be fucked alright. Just give me the word."
 

When the fire fight went silent, the stubber coming to a halt and the microbead buzzing with Sgt. Kores voice, Peter finally noticed how heavy he was breathing. He sounded as if he just ran several miles without a break and finally took a moment to calm down. His hands were shaking as he looked down, he needed to reload and scavenge ammo from the dead soldiers across the field. They needed to keep moving, and destroy the guns tearing the Valkyries apart. Somehow he survived, somehow he wasn't one of the poor saps laying on the ground, dead with holes riddled in their bodies.

He caught up with the rest of the squad, checking behind him to see if Vesperin was still alive and following. Peter glanced down to look at a dead soldier, grimacing as he crouched down and rolled him over. He began to check his pockets, searching for any extra magazines for his Lasgun. "Still alive and kicking..." He muttered, not looking up to look at any of his Squadmates. He didn't think he could at the moment, a knot was forming in his stomach.
 

Deimos was doing her best to keep up with the rest of the team, her muscles starting to settle into that familiar ache. Push past it. Now they had come across their next trial, and she set her jaw at an angle while taking in every thing she could of what she was looking at. More men to take down, more lives to spill out onto the soil while trying to keep their own lives.

There was only one entrance? Great. Fantastic. What did they have to work with? What could they do? They couldn't just charge in guns blazing...

The light and noise was enough to make gather her wits against a headache. Don't think on that. Focus on the eventual drink- that would happen at some point. Hopefully soon, but damned if she didn't realize how damned she'd be if she even came close to sniffing the stuff while within any sort of situation that could end up in work or battle. No, save it for later.

Straun was talking and what he was suggesting sounded feasible. She'd follow that plan if that was all they had, though there had to be other ideas. Aperion seemed fine with Straun's plan, and she considered it further. They did need shock and awe again, that was true. But the two transport vehicles she saw were obviously just left as defensive cover... Nothing to shoot out. Nothing to really draw attention, unless they got creative and sacrificed one of the fuel cans. Though with the talk of grenades it seemed unnecessary and wasteful.

"I'll go along with whatever plan keeps us alive and leaves them dead." She stated finally, a small shrug given.
 


They have come to what they were initially asked to do. In front of them was the flak cannon that was taking down the Valkyries meant to bring reinforcements and air support. It was the first important task they had to go with. Kross assessed the situation as best as he could, although this one seemed suicidal. They couldn’t just charge in, they’d be ripped to pieces. This would require perfect timing and excellent marksmanship… The sniper wasn’t there, nor was the heavy weapon’s specialist. Great.

Kross looked at what they had for numbers… which were much greater than their little team of five. They had one thing; the element of surprise. They could strike before they knew what was happening… It wouldn’t be enough. They had to dispose of imminent threats first, being the flamers and the Stubber nest. Kross listened to his comrades about what needed to be done. Grenades would be a must, although their placement is key. He turned to his Corproral, starting to take grenades out of his belt and pack.


Sir, we’ll have to use any explosives we have in hand. Here’s what I suggest. Have Aperion put in one of two grenades from the launcher into the stubber nest. We will all throw a frag in the various positions, trying to go for any flamers we see first. We immediately follow up with a line of smokes on the trenches and barricades. We crawl all the way to the lines, trying to stay in the smoke. If we are willing to use more explosives, throw another wave of frags. We’ll have to be careful about them throwing a wave of frags back. So we’ll keep each other in two rows, spaced out to make sure they have the least possible targets for frags.

He reached for the two Stun grenades he has brought with him.

Once at the smoke, I’ll throw these. It will blind them and disorient them in a small area. Their chances to get us once the smoke clears is limited. I know. It’s a long stretch, but with our options, it’s the best.
 
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