Chapter 21: Chapter: 4.2
Chapter: Zeta-IX
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Part: 2
Hangar Bay - Inside Space Station Zeta-IX
Greybrand glared at the misleading holographic display, annoyance evident on her face at the failure of her plans. The Auspex Station was compromised which meant that the 'Gauntlet' could have snuck up the floating junk pile and flooded the station with troopers.
But now they would have to sweep hallway by hallway and chamber by chamber. Which meant a lot of bullets, a lot of gore, and a jolly lot more blood.
She transmitted the updated instructions to the team through their Vox channels instead of shouting, which would have been slightly less civilized and discrete.
"Situation update: Multiple targets compromised and inaccessible. Team Alpha, priority shift: Emergency Generator. The Emperor Protects."
Team Alpha compromised of the two squads from the 332nd and 541st. Their original objective was to split into two teams, Alpha A and Alpha B, and simultaneously strike the two Generators.
"Understood, Inquisitor."
Sergeant Krandido acknowledged her order over the encrypted Vox channel. The Guardsmen and Guardswomen formed a line, with two Catachan women taking the point, followed by three drug-hazed Chem-dogs, and finally by a group of five Randahardians. The second wave was made up of three Valhallans, a pair of Dhonovars in bare minimum clothes and scars that would have done an Ork proud, and the five Randahardians in the rear.
{Randahard was the name of the system from which the 541st originates.}
Team Alpha swiftly adjusted their priorities and began to file out of the hangar, making their way through the corridors of the space station.
"Team Beta, maintain current priority. Lock onto the Station's command center. Ave Imperator, execute with authority, over."
The squad of Adeptus Sororitas gave no sign of acknowledgment except for falling into a straight line with the Sister Superior making up the rear. Their failure to comply with her orders, an Inquisitor's order, matters not if Psyker or not, could warrant execution on charges of insubordination.
Greybrand suppressed a sigh of frustration as she observed the Sororitas charge out of the Hangar door, unfortunately, now wasn't the time for disciplinary action. She would see to it that the Bolter-Hag won't be getting enough time to sit down and bother the Emperor once they make landfall.
"Team Gamma, with me. We'll secure the Lance Battery Control and assess the situation."
She didn't bother with the religious pleasantries, after all, these were her Honor Guard which meant they wouldn't bother with asking for the Big E's favor. Still, they followed after her nonetheless, moving steadily with their weapons at the ready.
'Better get ready.'
With a reluctant sigh, Greybrand opened her mind to the currents of the warp, drawing a trickle of tainted energy that slowly widened into a steady stream. The touch was as nasty as ever, but she didn't flinch. Well, didn't flinch visibly at least.
A shiver of discomfort crept up her spine as the tainted energy coursed through her nerves, fortifying and amplifying her physical abilities. Fortunately, her senses were heightened alongside her physical attributes. Just in the nick of time, she barely had the time to halt before a barrage of bullets tore through the upcoming bend in the corridor passage.
"Holy Frak!"
The resounding roar of the Heavy Stubber echoed through the air as rounds ricocheted off the reinforced metal wall, sending molten shards hurtling dangerously close to her head. The Inquisitor had grounded to a sudden halt mere inches from the opening, buying her just enough time to instinctively roll back before her face got shredded to pieces.
The Honor guards, of course, were unperturbed by how dangerously close the person they were supposed to guard was to death and waited for an opportunity to retaliate. Which came mere moments later.
A loud crash signaled the fall of the ammunition drum as the stubber finally ran dry and before the gun's operator could reload one of the SPARTANs, Ariadne, turned around the bend and let loose an intense beam of heat from her weapon.
The thunderous roar of the meltagun reverberated through the corridor as the operator of the Heavy Stubber was engulfed in a searing torrent of superheated energy. The poor bastard let out a blood-curdling scream before being reduced to a charred husk, his weapon rendered useless.
Several others, the ODSTs, moved in behind her, letting loose a volley of lasbolts at the barricade, not that there was much left of the defenders save for a puddle of molten metal.
There were six men posted on the junction to maybe intercept or slow down their advance. Three of them never got so much as a peep out before the melta round boiled them into a puddle of human-metal stew. Which meant the shriek was from the corpse missing half his chest.
As for the remaining two, they were not faring much better, and after a couple of lasbolts through their torsos and skulls, their condition couldn't get any worse.
A pair of the Honor Guards advanced slowly, watching out for any unpleasant surprise, and after a couple more lasbolts through the two somewhat whole corpses' heads, they beckoned the rest of the squad forward,
"Clear."
A moment later, Greybrand was on her feet, once again leading the group as they rapidly made their way through the dimly lit corridor. They reached the defensive barricade, some sort of metal barricade upon which the defenders had mounted a Single Barrel Heavy Stubber, now all that remained was a pungent smell of burning flesh and metal.
Enyo kicked over the corpse, revealing a gaping hole where a better part of his rebreather might have been, and shrugged as if saying 'There's nothing to see here.'
Greybrand sighed before removing the headgear, revealing a head full of dirt brown hair and a fist-sized hole punched through his skull, and was forced to agree with Enyo's observations. Indeed, there was little left to see.
With a heavy sigh, not because of the death mind you, her master had already seen to it that Greybrand was properly bloodied. The reason for her frustrated sigh was that the people they just ki... purged, yes, purged had their brains melted one way or the other. But she needed an intact one to gather more information from, preferably alive but dead would do, it was purely optional.
"Continue."
She commanded and allowed Athena to take the point with her flamer, no, 'The Heavy Flamer Margareta' if the name on its stock was anything to go by. No doubt a guardsman or a guardswoman will be missing their trusty partner next time they are deployed.
Their advance had gone unchallenged for a couple more floors and corridors when Greybrand suddenly gave the order to halt. The corridors had just become quite a bit more treacherous with branches splitting away from the main hallway, an ideal location for mounting a defense or launching an ambush.
Fortunately, her warp senses had just picked up a score of murky presence, roughly twenty-five or something.
Pirates or Heretics most definitely!
Only the humans who turn away from the light of his holy Majesty the Emperor would have a soul this dirty!
"Ambush ahead."
She informed the rest of the Honor Guard over their team's Vox Channel.
"On it!"
Voxed back Athena as she effortlessly lumbered ahead of the formation, the fuel canisters magnetically attached to her back, it was as if the considerable weight posed no difficulty for her. As she rounded the bend ahead, her finger squeezed around the Flamer's trigger, resulting in a wide gout of burning Promethium being sprayed at the lurking pirates.
Several of them managed to let loose a bolt or two, but they dissipated harmlessly upon hitting her armor.
Instead,
"""AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHH!!!"""
The corridor resounded with anguished cries and frantic pleas as the raiders nearest to the entrance sought to flee. Their voices, a cacophony of pain and terror, echoed off the walls as holy flames engulfed them, mercilessly devouring flesh and bone. Despite their desperate attempts to escape the inexorable judgment descending upon them/
Those fortunate enough to escape the flamer tried to fire back but were soon overwhelmed by a flurry of lasbolts as the overwhelming firepower of the Honor Guard ripped through them like a hot knife through butter. Bodies were torn asunder by the relentless barrage of hellgun fire and the pirates fled down the corridors.
Even Greybrand took a couple of potshots with her bolt pistol, popping off a head or two whenever she saw someone lucky enough to survive the hail of lasbolts. A bolter round impacted the back of a fleeing heretic's head, spraying their escape route crimson and an odd shade of pinkish grey.
"Advance!"
Athena advanced, her flamer continuously spewing out promethium, incinerating every raider in her path. The corridor ignited, sending up a plume of fiery smoke followed by brief flashes of red as hellguns opened fire on any that still survived.
Some attempted to take cover behind the crates and debris, firing back at the Inquisitor and her entourage.
"Keep a couple of their head intact!"
Commanded Greybrand as she saw one of them shoot a twitching pirate in the head just to make sure he was dead. Well, in her defense he was twitching a little but those were probably his death throes.
The Honor Guard continued their relentless push, cutting down, or rather burning down, any resistance in their path. Within seconds, all resistances were eliminated and the path forward was clear... if by clear one meant lathered with charred bodies, molten skin, and boiling blood.
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