Not all Genestealer Infections are based around the infected person having slightly more 'Nid-like children, some are that the infected persons mutates into a Genestealer themselves.
Acolyte (40k)
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
It's not just the reproduction aspect, the infection process turns the unwilling into a slave for any genestealer present.
They'd be completely willing to do it's bidding and protect them from all harm.
The Eldar didn't create this situation, not unless they're capable of controlling genestealer cults. They're simply taking advantage of a situation the Tyranids created. True, the Eldar probably didn't intend to save human lives, but compared to a situation with just 'Nids, the situation with the Eldar meddling is definitely going to kill fewer humans.
32
For the next couple of weeks it was pretty much impossible to tell the difference between my life and the life of a random programming or computer geek.
While the Inquisitor and his more capable field agents did leave the safehouse, I had a different task. Assisting Imago in interrogating the shunts inserted in the Houses' data networks.
My part in this was mostly doing the small parts of it Imago passed over while he did the real work. Still, it was fun, digging into the data and writing scripts and searches to dig through it for relevant data.
How much of it turned out to be useful would be up to history, but I did find some correlation in the shipping manifests between ships that had gone boom and some of the Administratum personnel assigning shipments. If it was because they were in the cult or because they worked with the pointy-ears, I couldn't tell, but it wasn't my department.
I could only assume the Inquisitor would figure it out.
"What was that?" I asked, looking up from my screen and back to the left.
Imago didn't bother looking up, "Air circulation activation from high humidity. It is normal," he said before one of his optical sensor mechadendrites turned in my direction, "I am detecting high levels of dopamine, epinephrine as well as several other chemical signatures of similar functions. You are stressed."
"There is an army of tyranids beneath our feet with possibly a hive fleet on its way and we are in a system that's under siege by Eldar raiders. Oh, and from what we found out so far, not only is the planetary government most likely infected by said tyranids up to their literal gills, but so is everybody else on this miserable little ball of pollution and misery. So what do I have to be stressed about?!"
"You should rest," he answered, "You have been working for the better part of eighteen hours. Your cerebral cortex efficiency has been steadily lowering for the last six hours."
"I'm fine."
"With a small augment it would be possible to suppress your rest requirements to two hours a day without further augmentation."
With a groan, I shook my head and got up, picking up my empty cup of recaf as I rubbed my eyes, "...Thanks, but I'll skip any augments right now. You know what, some rest does sound nice."
"Enjoy your resting period."
"Thanks. You too," I said and wandered over to drop the cup off in the sink before heading for my bunk. I wasn't actually sure when I fell asleep, but I do know that when I woke up, the first thing I saw was a thin bald man in a robe leaning down, staring at me.
He was damn lucky I didn't have my laspistol in easy reach or I would have shot him.
"G-fucking damn it, Rasek!" I yelled and scrambled up to sit, "What the fuck!?"
The Psyker stood up again, his eyes seemingly focused on something behind my right ear, "Your dreams stirred the currents."
"...Is a demon going to burst out of my ear in the next five minutes?"
"Possibly not."
I stared at the pale psyker as he stared at the wall behind me.
"The stars are nice tonight," he commented.
I had a lot of answers to that but instead I nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Let's go with that. I take it Aurelius is back then?"
"The currents are clear and steady, there is no whispering in the void. Only the claws below."
"Okay," I agreed, "yeah, okay. I'm going to… get some breakfast."
Getting out of bed, I strapped my laspistol back on and headed out. Breakfast and a lock for that door. I had only met the psyker a couple of times and after that avoided him if I could, because not only was he a psyker which was bad in and of itself, but he was also completely fucking bonkers which didn't exactly make me trust him more.
But Aurelius had hired him for a reason, so he had to be good for something.
"On your feet, Soldiers!" Teres yelled before I was able to reach the recaf and he exited one of the other rooms, still putting on his carapace armor, "We have work to do!"
The five guys sleeping or resting around the room burst into action gathering their gear and I blinked at him, still trying to get my brain moving in the right direction, "What's going on?"
"The Inquisitor's team is pinned down," he said as he made his way over to shoulder the pack of his Hellcarbine, "We're getting them out."
"Can I help?"
He glanced at me for a second, "Get your gear, we're lifting off in two minutes."
I nodded and ran to get my carapace armour, strapping it on followed by my cogitator. My helmet and breather came next before I ran out of the room again, heading for the landing platform outside.
But not before I stopped by the weapon rack for a second, grabbing the first lasgun I saw and two spare power cells. While it wasn't like using one had been a priority in my training, I still had been taught how to use it and I'd be damned if I go somewhere crawling with gene-stealer hybrids armed with only a laspistol.
I reached the transport with just enough time to throw myself in through the open door before it lifted into the air, thrusters burning hot.
One of the soldiers grabbed me by the collar and tugged me up and into one of the free seats. Scrambling to get strapped in, I put the lasgun across my lap before reaching into one of the equipment pouches and pulling out my combead and slipping it into my ear just in time.
"Here's the situation," Teres said though the combead, "The Inquisitor and his team are pinned down at a hab tower belonging to House Raltor. We're to land and cover them on their approach to the transport. Any questions?"
That last one seemed to be directed at me.
I shook my head, "Shoot anything not human, got it. That I can do."
He gave me a nod, "Good enough."
While the Inquisitor and his more capable field agents did leave the safehouse, I had a different task. Assisting Imago in interrogating the shunts inserted in the Houses' data networks.
My part in this was mostly doing the small parts of it Imago passed over while he did the real work. Still, it was fun, digging into the data and writing scripts and searches to dig through it for relevant data.
How much of it turned out to be useful would be up to history, but I did find some correlation in the shipping manifests between ships that had gone boom and some of the Administratum personnel assigning shipments. If it was because they were in the cult or because they worked with the pointy-ears, I couldn't tell, but it wasn't my department.
I could only assume the Inquisitor would figure it out.
"What was that?" I asked, looking up from my screen and back to the left.
Imago didn't bother looking up, "Air circulation activation from high humidity. It is normal," he said before one of his optical sensor mechadendrites turned in my direction, "I am detecting high levels of dopamine, epinephrine as well as several other chemical signatures of similar functions. You are stressed."
"There is an army of tyranids beneath our feet with possibly a hive fleet on its way and we are in a system that's under siege by Eldar raiders. Oh, and from what we found out so far, not only is the planetary government most likely infected by said tyranids up to their literal gills, but so is everybody else on this miserable little ball of pollution and misery. So what do I have to be stressed about?!"
"You should rest," he answered, "You have been working for the better part of eighteen hours. Your cerebral cortex efficiency has been steadily lowering for the last six hours."
"I'm fine."
"With a small augment it would be possible to suppress your rest requirements to two hours a day without further augmentation."
With a groan, I shook my head and got up, picking up my empty cup of recaf as I rubbed my eyes, "...Thanks, but I'll skip any augments right now. You know what, some rest does sound nice."
"Enjoy your resting period."
"Thanks. You too," I said and wandered over to drop the cup off in the sink before heading for my bunk. I wasn't actually sure when I fell asleep, but I do know that when I woke up, the first thing I saw was a thin bald man in a robe leaning down, staring at me.
He was damn lucky I didn't have my laspistol in easy reach or I would have shot him.
"G-fucking damn it, Rasek!" I yelled and scrambled up to sit, "What the fuck!?"
The Psyker stood up again, his eyes seemingly focused on something behind my right ear, "Your dreams stirred the currents."
"...Is a demon going to burst out of my ear in the next five minutes?"
"Possibly not."
I stared at the pale psyker as he stared at the wall behind me.
"The stars are nice tonight," he commented.
I had a lot of answers to that but instead I nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Let's go with that. I take it Aurelius is back then?"
"The currents are clear and steady, there is no whispering in the void. Only the claws below."
"Okay," I agreed, "yeah, okay. I'm going to… get some breakfast."
Getting out of bed, I strapped my laspistol back on and headed out. Breakfast and a lock for that door. I had only met the psyker a couple of times and after that avoided him if I could, because not only was he a psyker which was bad in and of itself, but he was also completely fucking bonkers which didn't exactly make me trust him more.
But Aurelius had hired him for a reason, so he had to be good for something.
"On your feet, Soldiers!" Teres yelled before I was able to reach the recaf and he exited one of the other rooms, still putting on his carapace armor, "We have work to do!"
The five guys sleeping or resting around the room burst into action gathering their gear and I blinked at him, still trying to get my brain moving in the right direction, "What's going on?"
"The Inquisitor's team is pinned down," he said as he made his way over to shoulder the pack of his Hellcarbine, "We're getting them out."
"Can I help?"
He glanced at me for a second, "Get your gear, we're lifting off in two minutes."
I nodded and ran to get my carapace armour, strapping it on followed by my cogitator. My helmet and breather came next before I ran out of the room again, heading for the landing platform outside.
But not before I stopped by the weapon rack for a second, grabbing the first lasgun I saw and two spare power cells. While it wasn't like using one had been a priority in my training, I still had been taught how to use it and I'd be damned if I go somewhere crawling with gene-stealer hybrids armed with only a laspistol.
I reached the transport with just enough time to throw myself in through the open door before it lifted into the air, thrusters burning hot.
One of the soldiers grabbed me by the collar and tugged me up and into one of the free seats. Scrambling to get strapped in, I put the lasgun across my lap before reaching into one of the equipment pouches and pulling out my combead and slipping it into my ear just in time.
"Here's the situation," Teres said though the combead, "The Inquisitor and his team are pinned down at a hab tower belonging to House Raltor. We're to land and cover them on their approach to the transport. Any questions?"
That last one seemed to be directed at me.
I shook my head, "Shoot anything not human, got it. That I can do."
He gave me a nod, "Good enough."
33
The side doors of the landing craft opened and I moved to take a position towards the rear of the door closest to the building as I brought my lasgun up and took aim, flicking the safety off.
Nothing happened. We had landed in what looked like a square next to a large habtower. Nobody was around, tyranid or otherwise. The sun filtered in dimly through the thick yellow clouds ahead and fog drifted across the compound, temporarily pushed away from the whining atmospheric engines of our transport.
I was glad for it as I wasn't wearing a full gasmask, just a breather.
Fuck this place was a hellhole.
The faint thud of weapons fire erupted from somewhere inside the habtower and Teres yelled, "Get ready!" just seconds before the door to the structure exploded outwards.
Inquisitor Aurelius strode outside. He was wearing a full set of gold and silver power armour, in one hand he carried a heavy two handed warhammer, in the other he carried a bolt pistol.
Cariel was with him, wearing a half breathing mask, same as I was.
Three soldiers ran out along with them and Aurelius kept running towards the transport, firing a couple of shots back through the open door.
Something moved behind the doorway and then a mob of… things poured out of it behind him. Half human, half...gene-stealer. Half fucking twisted monstrosities. Elongated faces, extra limbs, twisted bodies of non-human proportions.
What's worse, they were armed.
"Cover the Inquisitor!" Teres yelled. The soldiers opened fire and I quickly joined them, taking aim through the iron sights before I started to squeeze the trigger.
I kept my aim well away from anyone in the friendly group running towards us. Leave the tricky shots to the actual experts.
Small arms fire hit the side of the transport and I ducked back slightly, but I kept firing. But even as I did, even as everything went on, even as the horrible twisted xenos charged towards us, firing at us, it struck me… they were silent. No yelling, no screaming.
As I blew the third arm off one of them, she didn't scream. She barely reacted and kept charging, what looked like a homemade sword in one hand.
The voice of Inquisitor Aurelius crackled through my combead out of nowhere, "INCOMING! TAKE COVER!" and I didn't ask any questions.
I threw myself out of the transport and booked it towards the left and away from it, towards the edge of the landing pad.
After that, I'm not entirely sure what happened but the next thing I knew, I was laying down with my back against something hard with my head ringing.
A racking cough went through my chest and I gasped, the inside of my mouth felt like it was burning and I felt around before crawling over to grasp my breathing mask, pulling it back on.
What the fuck happened?
Where was I?
I looked around and found myself in what seemed to be on the side and slightly beneath the landing pad. It had a ditch on the sides for water runoff.
Coughing again, I pulled my laspistol and struggled onto my knees, my head feeling woozy for a second before I poked my head up to peer over the top of the landing platform.
The sight that met me explained what had happened. The transport was a burning wreck, a heavy air transport, basically an air truck seemed to be twisted in among the remains.
Somebody… something… had pulled a kamikaze. If I had been even two seconds slower…
"Tezzeret!"
A voice called out and I looked over just in time to see Teres picking himself off the ground with his left arm, his right kept close to his body and his forearm at a decidedly unhealthy angle.
I struggled up, climbing back onto the platform before holstering my laspistol and picking up a fallen lasgun, quickly checking it. It was intact.
Imperial Tech was nothing if not durable.
"You unhurt?" Teres asked as he picked up his hellcarbine in his left hand.
"Relatively. But you're not."
"If we don't move, I'll have worse," He said, "We need to form up with the Inquisitor."
I was hardly going to argue with that and I quickly moved to following him towards the edge of the landing pad just in time for Aurelius and his retinue to reach us.
He looked at us briefly before he simply motioned toward across the landing pad towards the path in between the next to the landing pad, "Keep going!"
He didn't need to tell us twice and we broke into a run as they didn't even slow down. A glance over my shoulder revealed that the explosion had not slowed the horde of mutants down either.
I'm going to have to thank Taraniel. If I ever see the Space Marine again, I have to remember to thank him for getting me used to running like this.
From time to time, Aurelius fired a shot behind us with his bolt pistol to keep them guessing, but we mostly just ran.
And hoped they didn't get a lucky shot in.
Nothing happened. We had landed in what looked like a square next to a large habtower. Nobody was around, tyranid or otherwise. The sun filtered in dimly through the thick yellow clouds ahead and fog drifted across the compound, temporarily pushed away from the whining atmospheric engines of our transport.
I was glad for it as I wasn't wearing a full gasmask, just a breather.
Fuck this place was a hellhole.
The faint thud of weapons fire erupted from somewhere inside the habtower and Teres yelled, "Get ready!" just seconds before the door to the structure exploded outwards.
Inquisitor Aurelius strode outside. He was wearing a full set of gold and silver power armour, in one hand he carried a heavy two handed warhammer, in the other he carried a bolt pistol.
Cariel was with him, wearing a half breathing mask, same as I was.
Three soldiers ran out along with them and Aurelius kept running towards the transport, firing a couple of shots back through the open door.
Something moved behind the doorway and then a mob of… things poured out of it behind him. Half human, half...gene-stealer. Half fucking twisted monstrosities. Elongated faces, extra limbs, twisted bodies of non-human proportions.
What's worse, they were armed.
"Cover the Inquisitor!" Teres yelled. The soldiers opened fire and I quickly joined them, taking aim through the iron sights before I started to squeeze the trigger.
I kept my aim well away from anyone in the friendly group running towards us. Leave the tricky shots to the actual experts.
Small arms fire hit the side of the transport and I ducked back slightly, but I kept firing. But even as I did, even as everything went on, even as the horrible twisted xenos charged towards us, firing at us, it struck me… they were silent. No yelling, no screaming.
As I blew the third arm off one of them, she didn't scream. She barely reacted and kept charging, what looked like a homemade sword in one hand.
The voice of Inquisitor Aurelius crackled through my combead out of nowhere, "INCOMING! TAKE COVER!" and I didn't ask any questions.
I threw myself out of the transport and booked it towards the left and away from it, towards the edge of the landing pad.
After that, I'm not entirely sure what happened but the next thing I knew, I was laying down with my back against something hard with my head ringing.
A racking cough went through my chest and I gasped, the inside of my mouth felt like it was burning and I felt around before crawling over to grasp my breathing mask, pulling it back on.
What the fuck happened?
Where was I?
I looked around and found myself in what seemed to be on the side and slightly beneath the landing pad. It had a ditch on the sides for water runoff.
Coughing again, I pulled my laspistol and struggled onto my knees, my head feeling woozy for a second before I poked my head up to peer over the top of the landing platform.
The sight that met me explained what had happened. The transport was a burning wreck, a heavy air transport, basically an air truck seemed to be twisted in among the remains.
Somebody… something… had pulled a kamikaze. If I had been even two seconds slower…
"Tezzeret!"
A voice called out and I looked over just in time to see Teres picking himself off the ground with his left arm, his right kept close to his body and his forearm at a decidedly unhealthy angle.
I struggled up, climbing back onto the platform before holstering my laspistol and picking up a fallen lasgun, quickly checking it. It was intact.
Imperial Tech was nothing if not durable.
"You unhurt?" Teres asked as he picked up his hellcarbine in his left hand.
"Relatively. But you're not."
"If we don't move, I'll have worse," He said, "We need to form up with the Inquisitor."
I was hardly going to argue with that and I quickly moved to following him towards the edge of the landing pad just in time for Aurelius and his retinue to reach us.
He looked at us briefly before he simply motioned toward across the landing pad towards the path in between the next to the landing pad, "Keep going!"
He didn't need to tell us twice and we broke into a run as they didn't even slow down. A glance over my shoulder revealed that the explosion had not slowed the horde of mutants down either.
I'm going to have to thank Taraniel. If I ever see the Space Marine again, I have to remember to thank him for getting me used to running like this.
From time to time, Aurelius fired a shot behind us with his bolt pistol to keep them guessing, but we mostly just ran.
And hoped they didn't get a lucky shot in.
Worry not, for the Emperor protects!
This is a fun fic,thanks for writing.
34
"Left!" Cariel yelled as we reached a crossroads, "There is an Arbites station!"
Aurelius stopped and fired twice towards the following mob of xenos hybrids chasing us before he nodded, "Agreed! Go!"
Arbites. Police. Kinda.
Sounded good to me! I didn't even stop, I just broke left and kept running. There was a loud krackwosh behind us and I glanced back to see flickering flames licking out from the passage between the buildings we came from.
Somebody had tossed a thermal grenade of some sort.
"That should slow them down a bit," Aurelius said and started to move again, easily catching up to me and the rest using his powered armour.
"Why… not… use… it… earlier?" I panted as I kept running, trying to suck enough air through my breather.
"Only had two, used one earlier," he answered, not even sounding strained.
The Bastard. Then again, he was in powerarmour.
Luckily, we didn't need to run that much further, out path blocked by a massive and very armoured looking gate with a golden and somewhat tarnished Imperial Aquila across it.
"Incoming!" one of the troopers yelled and dropped to one knee as he started firing.
I glanced back. Sure enough, the gene-stealer hybrids had made their way past the thermal weapon and now they had us cornered. Something exploded off the rockcrete about two inches from my head and I dove to the side towards the side of the gate, taking cover.
Shit! Shit!
I was not the only one that had dived into cover. Even Aurelius had ducked back slightly as he returned fire with his boltpistol.
He dropped his heavy hammer and reached to pull his Inquisitorial Rosette from the pauldron of his power armour with his free hand, not stopping his firing, "Tezzeret!" he yelled and tossed it over to me, "Get that gate open!"
I dropped my lasgun and managed not to drop the item before looking towards the control panel next to the heavy armoured gate.
Across the way from me. Lasbolts and stubber rounds were peppering the gate between me and it.
Aw, fuck.
Stay here, get shot or worse by hybrids. Run across, get shot by hybrids.
Getting shot was better than getting maybe worse.
Not like coverfire would help much, the hybrids didn't care if you shot back.
I let out a warcry of "FUUUUUUUUUUCK!" and then I just booked it across, keeping my head down low. I made it… almost.
Less than a meter left, just when I thought I was going to make it, it felt like somebody stabbed me in the leg with a burning hot lance and I stumbled, pure momentum carrying me forward into mostly cover.
I clung to the console, slamming my hand down on the screen and it blinked active, asking for an authorization code. I glanced down at my leg. Despite the pain, it seemed to still be attached and it wasn't even bleeding overly much.
Which meant one of two things. Lasbolt or grazing hit. One and my leg was fucked, one I'd be fine. Either way, it hurt like a motherfucker and if I didn't get this working, it was the least of my problems.
Adrenaline was a wonderful thing, so I just gritted my teeth and plugged the Inquisitorial Rosette into the dataport of the console.
It clicked and whirred, barely audible over the weapons fire before the screen flickered and the image on the screen was replaced by the Inquisitorial 'I' and a simple question 'Activate gate? Y/N'.
I tapped Y and the gate slowly started to grind open. Yes!
"Gate's opening!" I yelled and tugged the Inquisitorial Rosette free from the console.
"Everyone! Fall back inside!" Aurelius yelled, his voice amplified by his suit. Not something anybody was going to argue about and I started towards the gate only for my leg to fold beneath me the moment I set any sort of weight on it.
But I didn't fall.
One of the troopers ducked in and grabbed me in time, supporting me by the arm and dragged me inside more than helped me walk.
We made it inside and Teres slapped the 'close door' button, causing the heavy gate to quickly close behind us, leaving us in a pitch black bay.
I slowly sat down in the dark, the trooper helping me down to sit with my back to the gate and I slowly let out a deep breath.
Alive. Again. How many close calls can somebody manage before statistics catch up with them?
Suddenly the bay exploded into bright lights, showing a big area with armored air and ground transports. What's more, the lights revealed a lot of guns and their owners stepping out from behind the transports and on catwalks above.
"Freeze! Imperial Arbites!"
Aurelius holstered his boltpistol and stepped forward while he glanced back to me. I tossed his mark of Office in his general direction.
He caught it easily and held it up high, "I am Inquisitor Aurelius of the Ordo Xenos. Stand down and get me your commanding officer!"
Silence. Nobody moved for a long second before they started to lower their guns.
I sighed and closed my eyes, letting my hand drop from my holstered laspistol as I reached up and pulled my breather off.
Aurelius stopped and fired twice towards the following mob of xenos hybrids chasing us before he nodded, "Agreed! Go!"
Arbites. Police. Kinda.
Sounded good to me! I didn't even stop, I just broke left and kept running. There was a loud krackwosh behind us and I glanced back to see flickering flames licking out from the passage between the buildings we came from.
Somebody had tossed a thermal grenade of some sort.
"That should slow them down a bit," Aurelius said and started to move again, easily catching up to me and the rest using his powered armour.
"Why… not… use… it… earlier?" I panted as I kept running, trying to suck enough air through my breather.
"Only had two, used one earlier," he answered, not even sounding strained.
The Bastard. Then again, he was in powerarmour.
Luckily, we didn't need to run that much further, out path blocked by a massive and very armoured looking gate with a golden and somewhat tarnished Imperial Aquila across it.
"Incoming!" one of the troopers yelled and dropped to one knee as he started firing.
I glanced back. Sure enough, the gene-stealer hybrids had made their way past the thermal weapon and now they had us cornered. Something exploded off the rockcrete about two inches from my head and I dove to the side towards the side of the gate, taking cover.
Shit! Shit!
I was not the only one that had dived into cover. Even Aurelius had ducked back slightly as he returned fire with his boltpistol.
He dropped his heavy hammer and reached to pull his Inquisitorial Rosette from the pauldron of his power armour with his free hand, not stopping his firing, "Tezzeret!" he yelled and tossed it over to me, "Get that gate open!"
I dropped my lasgun and managed not to drop the item before looking towards the control panel next to the heavy armoured gate.
Across the way from me. Lasbolts and stubber rounds were peppering the gate between me and it.
Aw, fuck.
Stay here, get shot or worse by hybrids. Run across, get shot by hybrids.
Getting shot was better than getting maybe worse.
Not like coverfire would help much, the hybrids didn't care if you shot back.
I let out a warcry of "FUUUUUUUUUUCK!" and then I just booked it across, keeping my head down low. I made it… almost.
Less than a meter left, just when I thought I was going to make it, it felt like somebody stabbed me in the leg with a burning hot lance and I stumbled, pure momentum carrying me forward into mostly cover.
I clung to the console, slamming my hand down on the screen and it blinked active, asking for an authorization code. I glanced down at my leg. Despite the pain, it seemed to still be attached and it wasn't even bleeding overly much.
Which meant one of two things. Lasbolt or grazing hit. One and my leg was fucked, one I'd be fine. Either way, it hurt like a motherfucker and if I didn't get this working, it was the least of my problems.
Adrenaline was a wonderful thing, so I just gritted my teeth and plugged the Inquisitorial Rosette into the dataport of the console.
It clicked and whirred, barely audible over the weapons fire before the screen flickered and the image on the screen was replaced by the Inquisitorial 'I' and a simple question 'Activate gate? Y/N'.
I tapped Y and the gate slowly started to grind open. Yes!
"Gate's opening!" I yelled and tugged the Inquisitorial Rosette free from the console.
"Everyone! Fall back inside!" Aurelius yelled, his voice amplified by his suit. Not something anybody was going to argue about and I started towards the gate only for my leg to fold beneath me the moment I set any sort of weight on it.
But I didn't fall.
One of the troopers ducked in and grabbed me in time, supporting me by the arm and dragged me inside more than helped me walk.
We made it inside and Teres slapped the 'close door' button, causing the heavy gate to quickly close behind us, leaving us in a pitch black bay.
I slowly sat down in the dark, the trooper helping me down to sit with my back to the gate and I slowly let out a deep breath.
Alive. Again. How many close calls can somebody manage before statistics catch up with them?
Suddenly the bay exploded into bright lights, showing a big area with armored air and ground transports. What's more, the lights revealed a lot of guns and their owners stepping out from behind the transports and on catwalks above.
"Freeze! Imperial Arbites!"
Aurelius holstered his boltpistol and stepped forward while he glanced back to me. I tossed his mark of Office in his general direction.
He caught it easily and held it up high, "I am Inquisitor Aurelius of the Ordo Xenos. Stand down and get me your commanding officer!"
Silence. Nobody moved for a long second before they started to lower their guns.
I sighed and closed my eyes, letting my hand drop from my holstered laspistol as I reached up and pulled my breather off.
- Location
- Ireland
Umm...Didnt they say alot of the planets main groups, like the Arbites, were infiltrated already? Might not be as safe as they think
- Location
- Canada
Arbites are extraplanetary, The go on rotation from the scholas.
It's be the PDF and local police that you'd have to worry about.
- Location
- Somewhere North of south
Aurelius just used the "no u" card on the arbites and I love it
Doesn't mean they aren't compromised, maybe they've spread the infiltration to other worlds
- Location
- Canada
If they were compromised the Eldar would have already been hitting them whenever they rotated out, which would have both raised alarm bells super quickly, and made it very obvious that they were compromised.
If the Eldar have been letting them rotate normally, then most likely they are quite safe, presuming the Eldar have been effective in their purging, which we have no reason to believe that they have not.
- Location
- Somewhere North of south
I think I'm missing something?
I thought the Eldar where infecting humans with the genestealers to draw a hive fleet away from Eldar space (or to draw the imperium's attention elsewhere) in which case the Arbities getting infested would be beyond their will?
Nah, the genestealers was already infesting the world. The Eldar just subtly made the Imperium aware of them before the genestealers were ready.
It's just extremely unlikely the Adeptus Arbites would be infected since they are offworld police and would get medical and health checks on a regular basis.
- Location
- Canada
The Eldar are keeping the Genestealers on one specific planet so that the Imperium will be forced to crush the hive fleet when it shows up, rather than lettinf the hive fleet threaten the Eldar. They have been shooting down all the ships that try to leave with genestealer cultists on them.
Thus, we can tell that if the Arbites are rotating normally, and that the Eldar are doing their jobs, the Arbites are unlikely to be infected.
Also they're generally pretty competent on the whole, and would likely discover and terminate any infection within their own ranks, seeing as they are a small army of space judge Dredds.
35
My leg still ached as I limped into the main command center of the Arbites station. As it turned out, I had not actually gotten shot, at least not directly.
It had been a ricochet from a stubber round. It still hurt, but after getting it checked by the medicea and having it taken care of, and some painkiller in my system, I could walk again.
Aurelius was standing by the situation map, his helmet resting on the table but he still wore his armour. Next to him stood what I could only assume was the Arbites in charge of this station if there even was a member of the actual Arbites here and not just a local branch. This wasn't the main planetary headquarters after all.
I didn't do anything to bother them, instead I made my way to sit down on one of the chairs closest to the door by one of the unoccupied consoles.
Aurelius finished speaking quietly with him and glanced back before he motioned for me, "Tezzeret, join us."
Getting back up, I crossed the mildly busy room over to the map, "Inquisitor."
"This is Lieutenant Sommersby of the Arbites," Aurelius said, introducing the short but wide man next to him. He was bald and in his forties and looked like he had at one point been two hundred kilos of muscle. Now half of it was fat.
"Lieutenant, this is Tezzeret, one of my acolytes," he continued, "Look at this map. What do you see?"
"...That we're fucked," I said after a moment of studying it, "They're massing around us. They are still gathering? Can we send for reinforcement?"
"Yes," Sommersby answered with a nod, "To both. But they are rising up and attacking all across the planet, half the PDF has turned on the rest. Everybody has their own troubles to deal with. No help is coming."
Fuck indeed. If the infestation was that deep...
"I saw air transports on the way inside. Armoured as well. Could we reach the perimeter to join with loyalist forces?" I asked as I looked at the map.
"Might be possible," Aurelius agreed, "What do you think, Lieutenant?"
Sommersby shook his head, "I considered it. We might be able to breach the perimeter, but between us and loyalist forces lay several traitor PDF regiments. They have Hydras."
"And those would swat us from the skies," I agreed and shook my head before looking to the Inquisitor, "Dig in and hope that the reinforcements we called for arrive in time?"
Aurelius nodded, "That was my conclusion as well. Unless we would be able to break out through the undercity, but considering the enemy, that would be heavily defended as well."
To say the least.
I nodded as well, "So… we dig in?" I asked.
"We dig in," Aurelius agreed, "Go down to the engineering section, see what you can get from the enginseers."
I nodded, "Yes, sir."
I left the room and left them to it, heading down through the building. Not directly to the engineering and workshop section, I stopped by the medical bay and picked up my Lasgun as well which I had stupidly left behind.
When I finally entered the engineering section, I found it busy with enginseers working on what looked like a reactor and several vehicles, one of them in parts. A land transport, some model of Chimera troop transport.
I slipped the shoulder strap of my lasgun over my shoulder, "Who's in charge here?"
Everybody ignored me and went on with their work.
Very well then.
I pulled my laspistol, took aim at the closest tool locker and pulled the trigger. The metal exploded in small molten spray across an unoccupied workbench with the sound of a small superheated explosion following the crackhiss of the lasbolt.
"Who is in charge here?" I asked again as I looked around. This time, they took notice. They also took cover but that was irrelevant as one of them still stepped forward. She was wearing a heavy red robe with white lining and from what little I could see, looked like she was in her early thirties, several mechadendrites hovering over her shoulders, her left eye replaced by an augmetic.
"I am Enginseer Adept Felicia Grey. Who are you and why are you shooting up my workshop!?"
"I am Tezzeret. Inquisitor Aurelius tasked me with getting you and your people moving in the right direction, " I told her, "If you haven't noticed, we're under siege. Whatever you are doing here, it can wait. I need you to reinforce all entrances as well as run a full diagnostic on the defense and alert systems."
Her visible eye narrowed slightly and her mechadendrites waved slightly above her shoulders, "I think you should leave theological matters to us."
"That's not going to work," I said and crossed my arms, "The transport and whatever else you guys are doing right now can wait. Unless we get this place completely locked down, in about two hours we're going to be up to our necks in tyranids."
She crossed her arms and scowled at me, "This is an Arbites station. Fifteen stories of armored and reinforced rockcrete with blast shields and automated defense systems. It is made to handle a siege."
"By gene-stealers and the PDF?" I asked her with a scowl of my own, "Actually, forget the fucking hybrids with rocket launchers, satchel charges and heavy armour. How about the pure strains with claws capable of ripping apart Astartes Terminator armour with the ease of a guardsman ripping open a meal pack? Would you bet your life on those doors holding against that? Because you can bet your augmented tits that I'm not."
She stared at me for several seconds, her mechandrites slowly drifting above her shoulders before she answered, "...Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to reinforce them a little."
I nodded to her, "Thank you. One more thing, I want genescans of everybody in the building. We have enough enemies outside without having some inside as well."
"This is an Arbites installation," she countered, "Everybody here is scanned for mutations before they are allowed to join the organization."
"Good for you. Everybody in the building is getting genescanned by somebody not usually assigned to it. Just to make sure."
She took a deep breath, seeming annoyed before she nodded, "Very well. We will encourage the machine-spirits of the alarm systems and defenses as well."
"Sounds good to me."
It had been a ricochet from a stubber round. It still hurt, but after getting it checked by the medicea and having it taken care of, and some painkiller in my system, I could walk again.
Aurelius was standing by the situation map, his helmet resting on the table but he still wore his armour. Next to him stood what I could only assume was the Arbites in charge of this station if there even was a member of the actual Arbites here and not just a local branch. This wasn't the main planetary headquarters after all.
I didn't do anything to bother them, instead I made my way to sit down on one of the chairs closest to the door by one of the unoccupied consoles.
Aurelius finished speaking quietly with him and glanced back before he motioned for me, "Tezzeret, join us."
Getting back up, I crossed the mildly busy room over to the map, "Inquisitor."
"This is Lieutenant Sommersby of the Arbites," Aurelius said, introducing the short but wide man next to him. He was bald and in his forties and looked like he had at one point been two hundred kilos of muscle. Now half of it was fat.
"Lieutenant, this is Tezzeret, one of my acolytes," he continued, "Look at this map. What do you see?"
"...That we're fucked," I said after a moment of studying it, "They're massing around us. They are still gathering? Can we send for reinforcement?"
"Yes," Sommersby answered with a nod, "To both. But they are rising up and attacking all across the planet, half the PDF has turned on the rest. Everybody has their own troubles to deal with. No help is coming."
Fuck indeed. If the infestation was that deep...
"I saw air transports on the way inside. Armoured as well. Could we reach the perimeter to join with loyalist forces?" I asked as I looked at the map.
"Might be possible," Aurelius agreed, "What do you think, Lieutenant?"
Sommersby shook his head, "I considered it. We might be able to breach the perimeter, but between us and loyalist forces lay several traitor PDF regiments. They have Hydras."
"And those would swat us from the skies," I agreed and shook my head before looking to the Inquisitor, "Dig in and hope that the reinforcements we called for arrive in time?"
Aurelius nodded, "That was my conclusion as well. Unless we would be able to break out through the undercity, but considering the enemy, that would be heavily defended as well."
To say the least.
I nodded as well, "So… we dig in?" I asked.
"We dig in," Aurelius agreed, "Go down to the engineering section, see what you can get from the enginseers."
I nodded, "Yes, sir."
I left the room and left them to it, heading down through the building. Not directly to the engineering and workshop section, I stopped by the medical bay and picked up my Lasgun as well which I had stupidly left behind.
When I finally entered the engineering section, I found it busy with enginseers working on what looked like a reactor and several vehicles, one of them in parts. A land transport, some model of Chimera troop transport.
I slipped the shoulder strap of my lasgun over my shoulder, "Who's in charge here?"
Everybody ignored me and went on with their work.
Very well then.
I pulled my laspistol, took aim at the closest tool locker and pulled the trigger. The metal exploded in small molten spray across an unoccupied workbench with the sound of a small superheated explosion following the crackhiss of the lasbolt.
"Who is in charge here?" I asked again as I looked around. This time, they took notice. They also took cover but that was irrelevant as one of them still stepped forward. She was wearing a heavy red robe with white lining and from what little I could see, looked like she was in her early thirties, several mechadendrites hovering over her shoulders, her left eye replaced by an augmetic.
"I am Enginseer Adept Felicia Grey. Who are you and why are you shooting up my workshop!?"
"I am Tezzeret. Inquisitor Aurelius tasked me with getting you and your people moving in the right direction, " I told her, "If you haven't noticed, we're under siege. Whatever you are doing here, it can wait. I need you to reinforce all entrances as well as run a full diagnostic on the defense and alert systems."
Her visible eye narrowed slightly and her mechadendrites waved slightly above her shoulders, "I think you should leave theological matters to us."
"That's not going to work," I said and crossed my arms, "The transport and whatever else you guys are doing right now can wait. Unless we get this place completely locked down, in about two hours we're going to be up to our necks in tyranids."
She crossed her arms and scowled at me, "This is an Arbites station. Fifteen stories of armored and reinforced rockcrete with blast shields and automated defense systems. It is made to handle a siege."
"By gene-stealers and the PDF?" I asked her with a scowl of my own, "Actually, forget the fucking hybrids with rocket launchers, satchel charges and heavy armour. How about the pure strains with claws capable of ripping apart Astartes Terminator armour with the ease of a guardsman ripping open a meal pack? Would you bet your life on those doors holding against that? Because you can bet your augmented tits that I'm not."
She stared at me for several seconds, her mechandrites slowly drifting above her shoulders before she answered, "...Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to reinforce them a little."
I nodded to her, "Thank you. One more thing, I want genescans of everybody in the building. We have enough enemies outside without having some inside as well."
"This is an Arbites installation," she countered, "Everybody here is scanned for mutations before they are allowed to join the organization."
"Good for you. Everybody in the building is getting genescanned by somebody not usually assigned to it. Just to make sure."
She took a deep breath, seeming annoyed before she nodded, "Very well. We will encourage the machine-spirits of the alarm systems and defenses as well."
"Sounds good to me."
This. This is the proper level of paranoia for an Inquisitorial agent.
Not quite. Everyone needs to be genescaned by two different people not normally assigned to it. And one of those people needs to be from the Inquisitor's retinue.
36
"How's the arm?" I asked Teres as he entered the small guardpost overlooking the outside of the Arbites station's small courtyard. There were sounds of explosions and the thunder of guns far in the distance, fire lit up the horizon slightly through the yellow haze of smog.
He glanced down at his arm, the sleeve of his uniform ripped off, the arm covered from elbow to wrist with a plastic material, "Working. Your leg?"
"Just a scratch," I said and raised my binoculars again, looking out over the wall of the compound. Not that the lines of sight were overly good with buildings fucking everywhere.
"See anyone?" he asked and picked up a Long-Las leaned against the wall, lifting it and taking a look through the sight.
Shifting with my free hand to adjust my breathing mask, I peered through the binoculars, "Glimpses. They're smarter than walking around in the open."
"Tell me when you find one."
I kept scanning, "...There. Second building, third floor above the wall, second window. Something moving behind it. Three arms."
"Got it…"
There was a crack of lasfire and the shape went down in a lance of heat.
"That'll make them keep their heads down a bit until they're ready," Teres commented and lowered the Long-Las again, "Say what you want about this particular breed of xeno scum, but they learn quickly."
"Yep," I said as I lowered my binoculars and backed away, "But they might not care. Am I wrong expecting return fire?"
"No. We should move before one of them gets wise and puts a krack round here," Teres agreed and turned to walk back out. I grabbed my pack and followed him, hooking the binoculars to my belt on the way.
"So, any word yet on reinforcement?" I asked as I shouldered my pack, loosening the breathing mask and letting it hang on a strap around my neck as the door closed behind us.
Teres shook his head, "Everybody is busy."
"...How bad?"
"Full planetary uprising."
"Well… shit," I breathed and rubbed my face with my free hand, "I take it we are in the quiet part?"
"They do seem content on keeping us contained for now," he agreed, "Which unfortunately isn't a dumb idea on their part. If we're stuck in here, there isn't much we can do."
"...Nothing or little?" I asked him, "So is there anything we can do?"
"Attempt to assist in coordination of the PDF," he answered, "But not much else."
"Fuck."
"Go get some rest. They'll come sooner or later, you want to be rested then."
I nodded, "Tried. Couldn't sleep."
"Try again. Who knows when you'll get the chance next?" he told me as he turned to look towards me, "Get some rest."
I nodded again, "Yeah."
I made my way towards the barracks. I ignored the Arbites sleeping or playing cards or praying as I made my way over to a free cot. I dropped my bag and then simply crawled onto the narrow bed and closed my eyes.
But sleep didn't come. Not really. I dozed off, but I didn't really sleep. I didn't dream either. It was that stage of half sleep you sometimes drift off to.
But I remembered blood. Claws. Scratching. Things in the darkness and the horrible, horrible terror of being hunted by something you couldn't fight.
They were out there. Just outside the walls, beneath the floor. They were… killing. Eating.
"...ey."
I opened my eyes, seeing one of the troopers standing a meter or so away. He had his helmet and mask off so I recognized him.
Jonas Richter. He had short dark hair and almost as dark skin with a blue feather tattoo along his right cheek.
"Yeah?" I asked as I sat up, rubbing my eyes for a second.
"Movement," he said and rested his lasgun idly across his chest, "The Inquisitor think they'll move soon. Told me to wake you."
"Thanks," I said and got up, rubbing my eyes again to find the room mostly empty. Everybody was already away and at their stations, "Where is he?"
"South wall, by the gate," Jonas said, "The Inquisitor requested you'd join him. That's predicted to be the heaviest fighting there."
"Oh, goody," I said as I pulled a mealbar from my bag and took a bite of the completely tasteless substance, "...Fuck, you guys eat these," I commented as I glanced down at it.
"Guard issue," he agreed, flashing a quick grin, "I think there is a contest to see who can make the dullest food, the Munitorum or the Mechanicus."
"Well, remind me to bring some spices or something next time," I said and chowed down the last of it.
"You think there'll be a next time, Tezzeret?" he asked as he motioned towards the door, leaving me to follow him.
I nodded and scowled, "Yes, because that sure as fuck isn't going to be my last meal."
The trooper laughed.
He glanced down at his arm, the sleeve of his uniform ripped off, the arm covered from elbow to wrist with a plastic material, "Working. Your leg?"
"Just a scratch," I said and raised my binoculars again, looking out over the wall of the compound. Not that the lines of sight were overly good with buildings fucking everywhere.
"See anyone?" he asked and picked up a Long-Las leaned against the wall, lifting it and taking a look through the sight.
Shifting with my free hand to adjust my breathing mask, I peered through the binoculars, "Glimpses. They're smarter than walking around in the open."
"Tell me when you find one."
I kept scanning, "...There. Second building, third floor above the wall, second window. Something moving behind it. Three arms."
"Got it…"
There was a crack of lasfire and the shape went down in a lance of heat.
"That'll make them keep their heads down a bit until they're ready," Teres commented and lowered the Long-Las again, "Say what you want about this particular breed of xeno scum, but they learn quickly."
"Yep," I said as I lowered my binoculars and backed away, "But they might not care. Am I wrong expecting return fire?"
"No. We should move before one of them gets wise and puts a krack round here," Teres agreed and turned to walk back out. I grabbed my pack and followed him, hooking the binoculars to my belt on the way.
"So, any word yet on reinforcement?" I asked as I shouldered my pack, loosening the breathing mask and letting it hang on a strap around my neck as the door closed behind us.
Teres shook his head, "Everybody is busy."
"...How bad?"
"Full planetary uprising."
"Well… shit," I breathed and rubbed my face with my free hand, "I take it we are in the quiet part?"
"They do seem content on keeping us contained for now," he agreed, "Which unfortunately isn't a dumb idea on their part. If we're stuck in here, there isn't much we can do."
"...Nothing or little?" I asked him, "So is there anything we can do?"
"Attempt to assist in coordination of the PDF," he answered, "But not much else."
"Fuck."
"Go get some rest. They'll come sooner or later, you want to be rested then."
I nodded, "Tried. Couldn't sleep."
"Try again. Who knows when you'll get the chance next?" he told me as he turned to look towards me, "Get some rest."
I nodded again, "Yeah."
I made my way towards the barracks. I ignored the Arbites sleeping or playing cards or praying as I made my way over to a free cot. I dropped my bag and then simply crawled onto the narrow bed and closed my eyes.
But sleep didn't come. Not really. I dozed off, but I didn't really sleep. I didn't dream either. It was that stage of half sleep you sometimes drift off to.
But I remembered blood. Claws. Scratching. Things in the darkness and the horrible, horrible terror of being hunted by something you couldn't fight.
They were out there. Just outside the walls, beneath the floor. They were… killing. Eating.
"...ey."
I opened my eyes, seeing one of the troopers standing a meter or so away. He had his helmet and mask off so I recognized him.
Jonas Richter. He had short dark hair and almost as dark skin with a blue feather tattoo along his right cheek.
"Yeah?" I asked as I sat up, rubbing my eyes for a second.
"Movement," he said and rested his lasgun idly across his chest, "The Inquisitor think they'll move soon. Told me to wake you."
"Thanks," I said and got up, rubbing my eyes again to find the room mostly empty. Everybody was already away and at their stations, "Where is he?"
"South wall, by the gate," Jonas said, "The Inquisitor requested you'd join him. That's predicted to be the heaviest fighting there."
"Oh, goody," I said as I pulled a mealbar from my bag and took a bite of the completely tasteless substance, "...Fuck, you guys eat these," I commented as I glanced down at it.
"Guard issue," he agreed, flashing a quick grin, "I think there is a contest to see who can make the dullest food, the Munitorum or the Mechanicus."
"Well, remind me to bring some spices or something next time," I said and chowed down the last of it.
"You think there'll be a next time, Tezzeret?" he asked as he motioned towards the door, leaving me to follow him.
I nodded and scowled, "Yes, because that sure as fuck isn't going to be my last meal."
The trooper laughed.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
I'm now picturing Tzeench yelling at Khorne for stealing his shtick with an intricate and convoluted plot to make the Guard more willing to fight so he can get power from it.
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
And what better reason to live than that? Thanks for sharing this rather entertaining story.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
didn't Tezzeret get told this by the Inquisitor last chapter?
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
Nope. The uprising hadn't quite gotten started yet at the end of last chapter.
- Location
- Somewhere North of south
Quoting Inquisitor Amberly I see