"We shall not go quietly. We shall not die softly. We shall rage into the empty night, and we will burn our hatred into the stars on the backs of their pitiful kind. Do not fret over survival and glory, brothers. Our endurance will be victory enough." -Chaplain Kairos (Deceased), the War for Baal
----
The holds and chambers of the Carmine Dream tremble with anticipation and preparation, rumbling with the clomping footsteps and hushed shouts of thousands upon thousands of serfs preparing for a battle older than the stars themselves. Weapons are handed out, stations are manned by every rating, servitor, and serf alive. They know that the war that comes to them will be swift and apoplectic, and the deaths that come to them will be much the same.
But they have faith. In the Emperor. In the Great Angel. And in the Angels that walk amongst them, the fierce giants of burning wings and flaming swords. A single Space Marine can turn the tide of a war. A century of them is surely more than enough for the terrors that shall soon overrun them.
----
It is not the first time he has said this prayer, and it will not be the last. Chaplain Emmerick refuses to die here, with their Chapter Master so close.
"Father, you who soar in Heaven,"
"Hallowed be your final sacrifice."
He feels it in all his brothers, sees it as clearly as the electrical lights that illuminate this ship. The dread, the worry. The possibility that they will fail their Chapter Master, that the xenos have already broken him.
"The Imperium calls,"
"To do your will,"
"On its million worlds."
Fie, he says. Their Chapter Master is a man without faith, a man who defies convention. But Aurelius Asterion knows resolve and duty like none other, and burns with fire enough to stand proof against the predations of Chaos. The Armor of Contempt girds his soul against daemonic corruption, and it will gird his mind against the Dark Eldar and their torture. He will live. And they will save him.
"Give me this day your strength,"
"And forgive me my mortal weakness,"
"As I stand with my Brothers."
So let them come. Let the xenos wage war against them. Let them test their resolve against their bulwark of Crimson. There isn't a Company but the 4th in the Crusaders that could last as long as the 6th. They fought on Baal. They fought on Sortiarius. And they fought on Stonehaven, some for longer than a man's lifetime.
"Let your spirit lead me into Battle,"
"But deliver me from Rage."
This day, there will be no glory or death. As a great man once said, it will be glory for the Space Marines, and death for the Enemies of Man.
----
"Squad Walken, standing by in the Forward Armory."
"Squad Damius, ready in the Aft Armory."
"Squads Cardmire and Fax, holding position at the Enginarium."
"Squad Plantius, ready on the Hydroponia."
"Squad Dromen, defending the Cogitatorii."
"Squads Noph, Sallas and Zegas, defending the Main Hangar."
"Squad Lanos, defending the Sanguinary."
"Lanius. Klevis, Rosdin and I are defending the bridge. Ashra and Huras are guarding the Navigator."
"All squads accounted for. Ready for siege."
His olfactories flush with incense and oils, Captain Pathor nods and transmits a green rune to all his Sergeants. His Company is ready now, the anvil for the enemy to blunt their swords against. The tech-priests busy themselves around him and across the bridge, rousing the ancient Dream to full wakefulness. They need her ancient systems and defenses active now, more than ever.
No Space Marine lives ever dreading for battle. Pathor is no exception. He lost his doubt when he took on the Captaincy, and lost his dread with the arrival of the Cure. There is simply a path forward: through the necks of the Dark Eldar.
As an Angel Resplendent before and as a Crimson Crusader now, he shall show these xenos the folly of their existence.
----
He should have known to commit more. A company and a half was not enough. He should have sent more. He should have sent Lord Rios with them. Cato would not have made the same mistake. He would have known the Dark Eldar would be there. He proved himself on Javerè, and he would have proved himself now.
"Peace, brother," Rios says beside him, a hand on his shoulder. "They shall endure. They all will."
"They will," Quarto responds evenly. "The 6th Company is more stubborn than all but the 4th. But I have seen enough angel blood spilled for this century."
----
"These Angels are accustomed to the ways of the Anvil," the Techmarine of Kill-Team Domino says, as he contemplates his helmet. Kashas, of the Salamanders, polishes the red lenses of his visor, mechadendrites clacking idly. "They are forced within narrow confines, robbed of the skies and of their speed. Yet, they do not yield. Interesting, is it not?" He glances at the marine beside him, wearing Mark IV plate instead of the Mark VIII the rest of them wear. "Any thoughts, Flesh Tearer?"
Scout Dexius growls as he sheathes one of his combat knives and pulls the hammer of his boltgun back. "My apologies. I don't have the leisure to think idly on the battle philosophy of my gene-kin. I have a battle to prepare for." He is a Flesh Tearer, a son of the Angel, and melee combat is his birthright. The close confines of a starship are ideal for him. But he is a Scout, not an Assault Marine. His specialty is alone, hidden, and unknown by the enemy. If he is to do his duty, he must dedicate all of himself to the task.
"Hm, gruff as always." Kashas looks to the other marine beside him, replacing the cell in his power sword. "And you, Black Templar?"
"I would praise them for being fearless, but then I would be patronising." Siegfried, Sword Brethren of the Second Crusade Fleet, ignites his blade, with a winged hilt and prayers engraved on its blade, and wreaths it in cold lightning. "If they emerge with less than thirty dead, I will be impressed."
"They will succeed," Devastator Torvas of the Raven Guard promises, and hefts his Multi-Melta. In the close confines, range is no concern. Against the Dark Eldar, power is no concern. But a Multi-Melta has a wide setting. "The Crusaders understand the importance of versatility, and thought. They are true to the Codex and the ideals of their Primarch in understanding that they must bend them. They will succeed."
"I do not doubt their success. I doubt they will survive to celebrate it."
"Focus," their Watch-Captain says. Heavy and gruff as Chogorians are, Captain Hui Gu draws all eyes to his place in the Thunderhawk. By the front, arms crossed, a power lance across his lap. "The Crimson Crusaders will do their duty. We shall do ours. When they board the Carmine Dream, we shall board their vessels and liberate Aurelius Asterion."
"Were it that any of their 6th Company would be around when he is free," Siegfried says sardonically.
"Were it that you would be quiet about my kin," Dexius growls at him.
"Ho, so the Flesh Tearer finally speaks up for the mewling quims of his Legion."
"Unlike the Sons of Dorn, the Sons of Sanguinius stand as one."
Microvibrations rock their Thunderhawk, and Hui Gu raps his armored knuckles against the hull of their transport. "The bickering ends now. Prepare for boarding action."
The five of them don their helmets, and the White Scar begins their battle rites.
For they are of different Chapters, of different Primarchs. But they are all of the Deathwatch.
And they will finish their duty.
----
She is the Carmine Dream, and she is an unfortunate ship. That is what her Legion, her Chapter, her Imperium see of her. Unfortunate. Unlucky. Cursed. Over the millennia in undying service to the Emperor, she has had a dozen complete overhauls, necessitated by overwhelming battle damage.
Torn open by Eldar pulsar lances, ripped asunder by the chaotic energies of the warp, and split apart from stem to stern by an Ork ramming strike. These are just some of the injuries she has taken in her long loyal existence to the Emperor, and the Great Angel that all things adore. She is not a ship with honors, none that anyone remembers. She is the ship that is hurt, the ship that is crippled. A cursed ship, doomed to kill all who crew it, for it will always be heavily damaged.
But Aurelius Asterion saw her differently. Her new Forgemaster, Osiron Orthos, saw her differently. The Crimson Crusaders see her differently. She is not a cursed ship to them, but more fortunate than the rest. The ship that survives. The ship that endures where others falter. The ship that will pull through and complete her mission, no matter how many ships stand in her way.
They believe this, even after she was lost in the warp with the 9th Company on board, on their very first mission. The Crimson Crusaders still believe in her, despite the beating she took on Sortiarius, the long decades she took to be repaired to a usable state. The new armor plate grafted onto her prow, and her reinforced superstructure are all proof of this. In terms of endurance, she is peer to even her mighty sisters, the Battle Barges of the Blood Angels Legion… or so Osiron proudly claims. So Aurelius Asterion claims.
And who is she to refute the words of her Forgemaster, her Chapter Master? The two who believe in her? Two Angels who refuse her moniker of unfortunate? Especially now, with her Chapter Master's life in the balance?
No Space Marine deserves to be captured by the Dark Eldar, foul beasts who feast on suffering and torment and torture. She will not allow it. She will not permit their foul existence.
The tech-priests on her attempt to rouse her to wakefulness, to bring her to bear against the enemies of man. And she shall abide, for she is a loyal Strike Cruiser of the Emperor, the Omnissiah, and the Great Angel.
Three of them approach now, a fleet of Torture Cruisers and their accompanying Corsair Escorts. Her own Escorts interface with her, their crews coordinating with her own for a strategem. They are to hold position, evasive action only. They are to draw the enemy here, become the Anvil of War.
The Dark Eldar strike craft come, carrying dense payloads. Intent on ripping her apart. Split her hull open and leave entry points for boarding action and exploitation. Her own strike craft launch to intercept, and her point defenses spring to life. She shall guide their hand with the experience of ages. She shall not permit their success.
Their bombers come, and the void becomes a wall of chaff and death.
Fleet Action, Phase One
Dark Eldar Bombing Run
56 vs 60, Bare Failure
Void Shields Holding, Carmine Dream at Full Integrity
3 Escorts Still Active
Barely any of the bombers make their bombing run. More than a dozen are shredded by her interceptors, and the rest warded by her escorts and her own point defense systems. They return, bomb bays still full and heavy with ordnance, having failed to pass through her impenetrable bulwark.
The first wave has been repelled, but now the Torture Cruisers approach. Wicked curves ending with thorns, promising of pain and unending torture. Cruel ships, unfit to exist in the cold void of space. She will not tolerate their existence. She will not tolerate their victory, either.
Her shipmaster orders evasive action, and she obliges.
Ship Combat
Torture Cruiser 1: Targeting Carmine Dream
25 vs 40, 1 Degree of Failure
Torture Cruiser 2: Targeting Carmine Dream
8 vs 40, 3 Degrees of Failure
Torture Cruiser 3: Targeting Carmine Dream
38 vs 50, 1 Degree of Failure
They open fire, phantom lances nearly impossible to see against the backdrop of space but for the absence of light, and graze her barely. Her void shields flicker and waver against their impact, but maintain their cohesion. The lances flash, again and again, but fail to strike her. The Dark Eldar, in their greed, have entangled themselves in their formation, blocking their shots - and shielding her with their own bulk.
Foolish. Greedy. Opportunity.
Carmine Dreams, Void Shields Intact
Her Captain, Pathor, targets the nearest cruiser and demands targeting solution. She provides. Her shipmaster pulls her into a broadside, and she lights up with enough firepower to end a continent.
Carmine Dream: Targeting Torture Cruiser 3
96 vs 40, 5 Degrees of Success
Her macrobatteries strike true, and crash into the hull of the cruiser with ease, splitting armor and shattering its structure. Weapons are taken offline, engines are torn open. No doubt that dozens of decks are now exposed to the void of space, venting atmosphere. And crew.
Then her bombardment shells impact, and detonate. There are three flashes of light, each blinding bright, and then the hateful xenos ship is no more. A Dark Eldar Torture Cruiser, destroyed outright.
Torture Cruiser 3, Destroyed
Her crew whoops and cheers at their victory in the void, but their fight has not ended yet. Their escorts enter range, and her own stand to shield her from their assault.
Corsair Escorts: Targeting Gladius Frigates
94 vs 40, 5 Degrees of Success
They attack with precise fire, and strike true with wolfpack tactics. Lances whip out and shred shields, easily destroyed by follow up battery fire. Her escorts die screaming her name, failed in their duty to defend her to the death.
All Escorts Destroyed
She whispers them an eulogy, more comrades lost to the void. Her systems engage new targets, but ammunition is still cycling. She cannot engage, not yet.
And in the time it takes for her to reload, the Torture Cruisers have already arrived, and locked in formation above and below her.
There is no recourse for her now. She can only trust in her Space Marines, her Crimson Crusaders. They will have to do the rest.
----
Boarding Assault
70 vs 60, 1 Degree of Success
The assault on the Carmine Dream was all but perfect despite the heavy walls of interdiction thrown up by the Carmine Dream's point defenses. Assault boats and boarding pods were shredded and split open, but the majority of them made it through. For better or for worse, the Dark Eldar had successfully deployed a host of cabalite warriors onto their ship, per ship. Two great forces, enough to reave worlds of life, on their Strike Cruiser.
2 Boarding Parties Deployed
Party 1: Rolled 90
Location: Bridge
Party 2: Rolled 1
Location: Get Fucked
But where one of them lands perfectly at the top of the ship, near the bridge and the navigators that let them ply the void, the other makes a severe miscalculation.
The assumption for most Imperial ships would be to attack the main cargo bay. There, heavy with supplies and lootable items, the defenders would not dare risk their own sustenance and be forced to weaken their defense there, lest their precious cargo is lost. It is, by necessity, not as heavily defended as the rest of the ship.
That is, unless you are crew on a Space Marine Strike Cruiser. Where your ships are bristling with defenses, inside and out. Where your primary cargo is Space Marines and their wargear. Where, due to the vehicles located there and the heavy firepower available to the nearby Aft Armory, the cargo bay is amongst the most heavily defended of sites.
The Dark Eldar Come, and the Dark Eldar die.
For a full fifty Space Marines and their armsmen lay a devastating hail of fire that destroys their ships before the first of them can even lay a foot on their ship.
Counter-Boarding Permitted
And now, with their folly, a new opportunity presents itself. While the Space Marines redistribute their forces to respond to the boarders at the bridge while maintaining a presence everywhere on their ship, a number of them see an opportunity. All of them do. For they are Crimson Crusaders, and are always eager to bring the fight to their enemies.
And so thirty Space Marines and four hundred armsmen, seething with vengeance and high on victory, board the Thunderhawks available to them and do something utterly audacious in a void battle. Something absurd, and insane, and wholly in line with the Codex Astartes.
Counter-Boarding
61 vs 50, 1 Degree of Success
Arrival on Torture Cruiser 2
They arrive, cutting through the void and the weapon fire between the cruisers, and land on the Torture Cruiser beneath the Carmine Dream. They arrive, cut through the hull with magna-melta warheads, and leap into the ship.
The battle begins on the Carmine Dream, just as it begins elsewhere. For even in space, isolated within starships, only Angels may fly.
And sometimes, they fly onto your starship, with chainsword and boarding shield, to do their duty.
----
"Do you have identification?" Watch-Captain Hui Gu asks.
Kashas inspects the comm-traffic between the cruisers and nods. "The Torture Cruiser, above the Carmine Dream. That is our target."
The White Scar nods. "Then we go. Drift, minimal impulse. Our mission begins."
Deathwatch Counter-Boarding
15 80 vs 50, 3 Degrees of Success
Successful Identification
----
But where the attack on the main cargo bay ends ignominiously, the attack on the bridge of the Carmine Dream ends in tragedy.
The Dark Eldar take them by storm, and puts their vaunted agility and speed and preternatural reflexes on display. Given the opportunity to step off their boarding vessels, they prove to be dangerous, even by Space Marine Standards. Squad Walken stands guard in the Forward Armory, the First Squad of the 6th Company, lead by the Veteran Sergeant and composed of their finest. Assisted by three of the Sternguard, and a whole host of armsmen.
They have faith, and resolve, and the home advantage.
Dark Eldar: Assault On the Bridge
94 vs 40, 5 Degrees of Success
But the Dark Eldar have initiative, and they have speed.
The Dark Eldar attack the forward armory, and the battle ends in minutes. Devastating, bloody on both sides, but it ends in minutes. A dozen armsmen die in the first moments of the battle, blown apart by breaching charges. Rosdin and two of Squad Walken are disabled in the first two minutes, their armor penetrated by Dark Eldar weaponry. They are wounded, but still alive. Treatment by Sanguinary Priest Arcadia, or simple time, will give them the recovery they need.
But time is not something they have. Penned on all sides, their cover options rapidly diminishing, surrounded by the corpses of unfortunate armsmen, and lacking the numbers or the cohesion for a countercharge, Veteran Sergeant Walken is forced to call a general retreat from the forward armory.
The Armsmen retreat first, their mortal forms vulnerable to weapons fire. Even so, dozens more of them die on the retreat. Three more of Squad Walken fall, and have to be dragged back through the bulkheads, as they open fire on the ground with their boltguns and pistols and anything laying around.
Veteran Sergeant Lanius, of the Sternguard, is the last out the room. And he is the last wounded, shot multiple times in the arms. He stumbles out of it, and forces the bulkhead close with his weight and the help of Sergeant Walken.
The battle ends in five minutes. The Dark Eldar have the forward armory. And they still have the initiative.
The Sternguard and Squad Walken, wounded as they are, will have to repel another assault just like that, closer to the bridge and lacking easy access to their munitions.
2 Sternguard Casualties, 4 Space Marine Casualties, Heavy Armsmen Fatalities, Dark Eldar Seize the Forward Armory
----
But for one thing.
Crimson Crusaders: Pathor's Charge
64 43 vs 40, 2 Degree of Success
They called it Pathor's Charge
When the Dark Eldar tear through the bulkheads and cackle with cruel menace on their minds, a hail of bolts meet them - and are swiftly disregarded.
But underneath the bolts, through the fire, one man charges outward. He charges, faster than any man has a right to be, faster than even the Space Marines beside him, brandishing boltgun and boarding shield.
His armor systems are taxed to the limit. The machine spirit of his artificer plate, roused to full wakefulness, strains his power systems to their fullest. Warning runes flash all over his auto-senses concerning armor strain, integrity, and his blood pressure. All of them, disregarded. All of them, meaningless in the moment.
He is in the now, defending his vessel. He is Idris Pathor, and he will not allow these xenos on his ship.
For he charges at them, boltgun barking as fast as his finger can pull, twice or even three times as fast as the already-fast Crimson Crusaders. The active remnants of Squad Walken, and Veteran Klevis, all following in his wake in the charge. Even some Armsmen, swept up by fervor and his example, join the charge.
Five Dark Eldar fall before Pathor approaches melee range. His boarding shield rattles with shot impacts as the Dark Eldar open fire on him. He feels glancing blows all over his armor, around his pauldrons, off the top of his helmet, all of which are surely poisoned and all of which would kill a man. He ignores them, and plows into them like a train.
His pistol is spent. His charge has sent many of them flying, but many continue standing with weapons ready, melee or otherwise. All of them are in range.
"GLORY OR DEATH!" He bellows, and draws his power sword. It crackles with lightning, and nothing can stop its passage.
"GLORY OR DEATH!" The Space Marines behind him bellow, just seconds before they arrive in range as well.
His blade sweeps the space before him, and the Dark Eldar part like armor before a lascannon.
His sword is proof against evil. His shield, the shroud against the night. He is champion of the forsaken, and instrument of retribution.
He is Idris Pathor, once of the Angels Resplendent. Once of Squad Quantum. Once fearful. Once doubtful.
Now, none of those.
He is Idris Pathor, Captain of the Crimson Crusaders 6th Company. His blade is true. His shield is whole. Nothing can end him but the gods themselves.
And almost single-handed, before the rest of Squad Walken arrive to assist him, the Dark Eldar flee before him, back into the Forward Armory. The bridge is safe.
Dark Eldar Advance Halted
Now, they have only to retake the armory, and put all their heads on a course into the nearby sun.
----
Counterboarding
90 vs 30, 6 Degrees of Success
Torture Cruiser 2 Disabled, Weapons and Engines Offline
Torture Cruiser 2 Will Not Commit Additional Boarders
5 Casualties, 0 Deaths
"Squad Noph. We have disabled their weapons. These xenos cannot retaliate against the Carmine Dream now. 0 Casualties."
"Squad Sallas. We have their engines. Charges set, ready to -- and there they go, courtesy of Brother Exodius. 1 Casualty."
"Squad Zegas, currently engaged. We have opened the slave pens. Let them try to stop us, for we are righteous before the Emperor. 4 Casualties."
"Squads, regroup on your Sergeants. We will have to redeploy throughout this vessel soon."
----
Occupied by the ruckus aboard the Carmine Dream and on their other vessel, the Dark Eldar are in a panic. How dare these prey interrupt them, and put up such a resistance? They will be destroyed, all of them. All of them will be slaves, and all of them will be broken and submit.
But so occupied, by the situation or by their own ego, the Dark Eldar have missed a spot.
Their own ship, and the Deathwatch currently on it.
Deathwatch Rescue Mission - Infiltration
38 vs 40, Bare Failure
Cautious, Difficulty Increased on Next Roll
"They have suspicions," Torvas says as he inspects the charge on his Multi-Melta, given the opportunity and time right now. The Raven Guard replaces the cells and the stellarator quickly - they will need a fresh one, although this one still works well. He cannot tolerate a malfunctioning weapon. "The Dark Eldar suspect that we are on their ship."
"Let them suspect," Dexius growls. "It does not matter if they don't find us." He tosses the Dark Eldar body aside, headless and useless, into the dark crevice beside them. He strips the head quickly, and partakes of its grey matter. His Chapter's Sanguinary Priests often teach against using the Omophagea often, but the information they require will not be given up quickly, and they have not the time. He closes his eyes, and sorts through the memories of the Dark Eldar.
Hui Gu cleans the head of his power spear, bloodied as it is. "Siegfried, watch the corridor. Kashas, what can you do to stave off suspicion?"
"Nothing," the Salamander responds bluntly. "I can, however, draw their attention away. Most crew would be distressed about their engines detonating all of a sudden."
The White Scar smirks. "A most distressing thought, isn't it?"
"Perhaps if you are a mortal," Kashas responds. He shrugs with a mechadendrite. "Or a filthy xeno."
Deathwatch Rescue Mission - Search
49 vs 50, Bare Failure
Progress, Difficulty Reduced on Next Roll
"Mmph." Dexius stands, and tosses the head aside with the rest of its body. "I have his location: Near the bridge, by the Archon's ring. His domain, separate from the rest of the ship."
"Through heavy resistance, I expect?"
"Nothing we cannot handle," the Flesh Tearer says with feral glee. "But it will slow us, and they might kill him out of spite. A frontal assault is not recommended."
Hui Gu looks at his Scout, blank eyes of his helmet hiding his thoughtful expression. "Do you know where the slave pens are?"
"Yes. There are a few, not far from here." Anticipating the Watch-Captain's next words, Dexius continues speaking. "There is a comms station within reach. We will have five minutes between patrols if we move now."
"Mm." The White Scar nods. "We have options."
----
Casualties Thus Far:
Space Marines: 10
Sternguard: 2
Armsmen: Lots
Deaths Thus Far:
Space Marines: None
Sternguard: None
Armsmen: Lots
ETA Until Crimson Crusaders Reinforcements Arrive: UNKNOWN
The Battle on the Carmine Dream
There are Dark Eldar holed up in the Forward Armory, near the bridge. The forces there, Squad Walken and three Sternguard, have taken casualties. Half of Squad Walken and two of the three Sternguard are wounded, and have problems in combat. However, Pathor has successfully halted the enemy attack, and now they have the initiative. In addition, reinforcements from elsewhere on the Carmine Dream are approaching, two Squads worth. They will take time to arrive, time that they may not have. But an attack now will be risky.
[] Hold position and await the reinforcements. This will allow the Dark Eldar to launch another boarding party onto the Carmine Dream, but will allow Pathor to pen the Dark Eldar in the Forward Armory and break it wide open with reinforcements. This will also let the Dark Eldar consolidate themselves.
[] Attack the Forward Armory immediately. The Dark Eldar are reeling from Pathor's Charge, and are currently off guard. Capitalise on their weakness. Force them out of the ship. Risky, and available only with the people on hand. But this is fast, and allows the entire ship to prepare for the next attack.
The Counter-Boarding
Squads Noph, Sallas and Zegas have successfully boarded one of the Dark Eldar ships, the second one. They have disabled its weapons, its engines, and started a slave revolt. The ship is in turmoil, but the Dark Eldar still control the bridge. They may attempt a self-destruct out of spite to kill them all, and they have no assurance about the time they have left.
[] Call their bluff. Storm the bridge immediately. Seize control of it and jettison the Dark Eldar into the cold void. However, if they aren't fast enough, it is almost certain they will all die.
[] Retreat from the Torture Cruiser with all Marines and as many slaves as possible. If the Cruiser isn't self-destructing, however, another boarding assault will be difficult.
The Deathwatch - Kill-Team Domino
They have the location of Aurelius Asterion - within the upper ring of this Torture Cruiser, the Hand of Malekith, and right by the quarters of Archon Kadmirax. A frontal assault will be successful, but they will almost certainly have casualties and will risk Aurelius Asterion's life. However, time is of the essence. The moment the effort to take the Carmine Dream outweighs the benefits, the Dark Eldar will flee - and the rescue operation will fail.
[] Attack now, all-out assault. Free the slaves, and use the commotion to make best speed to Aurelius Asterion. Loud, fast, and extremely obvious. And slave outbreaks are very common on Dark Eldar ships.
[] Head to the comms station, and request Crimson Crusaders to board the vessel and assist. Outbound communications will most certainly be detected, but the Dark Eldar are hubristic if nothing else.
[] Hold position, and await a better opportunity. The Dark Eldar are suspicious of their presence, but the Deathwatch know the importance of secrecy and stealth. They will bide their time until a better opportunity presents itself - like a boarding party leaves, or the Crimson Crusaders attack of their own volition.
