Professor took a last sip of his whiskey and picked up the knife, it had a finger hanging from it and a heretical symbol carved into the wooden grip. The man was dazed but started to mutter something in an unknown tongue. "Look at his boots, you couldn't get boots that good round here not even if you were in the Guard like us," Professor commented.
It was true, his boots were polished to perfection with metal toes and engraved patterns on the leather. "Offworlder then?" Said the barman, who, like everyone else in the bar, was riveted by what had just occured. The poorly lit wood panelled bar didn't seem the place for fights to break out. No one could afford enough alchohol.
"Small ship landed couple days ago," a woman noted. Like most of the bar's inhabitants she was wearing thick clothing and snow goggles on her head. The man started struggling and Skyke Pulled out his service laspistol and smacked the man over the head until he fell unconcious.
"We'd better get the word out, could have been a whole ship full of heretics, let's go fellers," Bulldog said and left a bit more credits than necessary on the bar counter for their drinks. Chukk and Skyke grabbed the man's arms and Professor grabbed his legs and they manhandled him towards the bar door.
A worker opened the door for them and they carried the man outside. A small blizzard had set it after the sun went down and they could barely see. They put the man face down in the snow and pulled their goggles down from their helmets to protect against the wind. "The ess-dee is just down the street, let's take him there," Bulldog called over the blizzard. As the squad leader it was his job to say what happens, even if it's blatently obvious.
They trudged through the snow to the Security Department, only pausing to knock the man out again a few times. "We've probably given this guy brain damage already, I hope he can still answer quesions," Skyke shouted above the increasing gale. The lights of the Security Department loomed through the heavy snowfall and a moment later they were inside.
The officer at the front desk looked up from his newspaper as Professor placed the knife on the table, "we have a problem," the officer picked up the knife while knocking on the window to the office behind him. Two more officers came out in their black stab vests and helmets over a mixture of thick clothing.
"This symbol..." The officer said then suddenly looked away from it, "oh Throne! Chaos!"
"Apparently a ship came in," Bulldog started, but one of the other officers cut him off.
"Seven occupents, six men and one woman, according to the ships sky-side that let them through, you think this is one of them?" All three of the officers crouched down to look at the man, "shit, you did a number on his face, how can we identify him?"
"The boots feller, look at the boots, he can't be one of us," Skyke said and the officer unlocked one of the cells in the wall, "better get the word out, eh?" The officers dragged the man into the cell and searched his pockets before locking him in.
The officers put what they found on the table next to the knife. A piece of blank parchment, a ruby, a few credits and a small statue that seemed to writhe before their eyes until one of the officers smashed it with his autopistol. The pieces lay still.
"We'll get the word out to our boys," one of the officers said, "how many of you are in town?" The officers looked at the four troopers expectedly.
"Just us and a couple of our ogryns," Bulldog said with a sigh, "most of the regiment is in the nearby ogryn settlement training ogryn recruits, but they won't be able to get out here if this blizzard keeps up."
"It's only going to get worse through the night and we need to find these guys fast," Professor put in, "Krogg and Cid took an early night, we should get them first. Guess it was a good idea to come in full kit, eh feller?"
"We'll put the word out but we don't have a lot of people, best we could do is safeguard anything valuable like the generator buildings on south side. The ship is landed at the edge of town to the north-north west if you want to check it out." The desk officer said and one of the others went into the office and got on the radio.
"We'll head over there as soon as we have Krogg and Cid. Let's move out troopers." Bulldog led the other Guardsmen back out into the blizzard and they replaced their goggles, making their way down a side street and along another road. The going was slow and they almost went straight past the hotel before Skyke got their attention and pointed up to the barely percievable glow of the hotel sign.
Inside the hotel the front desk was unattended and they stood impatiently until a teenager in what passes off for a smart suit came out from a back room with a mug of caffeine. Seeing them, he put down the mug and hurried up to the desk, "what can I do for you fine servents of the Emperor?"
"Couple ogryns should have come in here not long ago, can you tell us their room?" Bulldog asked, "we're kind of in a hurry."
"I wasn't on shift earlier, but let me check," he put a large book on the counter and started flipping through to the current page, "what were their names?"
"Krogg and Cid," Bulldog said and the teenager ran a finger down the column of names.
"Room 7, up the stairs on the right."
"Thank you, you guys wait here I'll go get them," Bulldog said and made his way up the stairs, his inherited plasma pistols clanking at his hips. Up the stairs on the right was room 8. On the left was room 7 so he knocked on the door. After a few minutes of waiting he banged on the door and it opened shortly after.
Krogg's massive face appeared round the edge of the door. He was in a constant crouch to fit in under the ceiling. He was still dressed but had dried drool across his cheek that suggested he'd been sleeping. "'ey Bulldug," he said, "what happen?"
"We are to do the Emperor's work Krogg, is Cid up as well?"
"He sleep, want wake him?" Krogg said, scratching his nose.
"Yes, and hurry, thank you Krogg," Bulldog said and waited while Krogg woke Cid then led them downstairs. Slowly, as they shuffled sideways until they reached the large entrance hall. They huddled together away from the clerk and he filled the ogryns in on what was happening.
"Enemies of Emperuh," Cid said quietly, hefting his bulky ripper gun, "we beat them?" He asked.
"Yes, first step is we check out their ship, see if there's anything useful, try to figure out where they might have gone." Bulldog led them outside and they made their way to where the security officers had described and had to search a bit for the ship, never getting out of sight of a building for fear of getting lost.
The ogryns were only wearing heavy trousers and vests with their equipment but didn't seem to notice the cold. While the troopers in thick winter kit and carapace armour were freezing. It was a relief to finally spot the ship anticipating the shelter it would provide.
The ship was similar to an Imperial Arvus Lighter. Only big enough to carry a dozen people but this one looked like it was modified for long distance travel. The snow had already built up on it's roof and wings. Professor bypassed the lock and opened the rear door.
A stench hit them like a physical wave of uncleanliness, like rotting meat. The inside was littered with empty bottles and food wrappers. Bulldog and Chukk looked around inside while the others stood watch in the increasing blizzard reluctantly. Unholy symbols had been inscribed on every available surface and made their eyes water to look at them too long. There was a long range radio but it appeared to be broken, a journal with indecipherable writing but nothing else of use.
Sliding the journal behind his chest armour plate Bulldog took one last look around, pushing the bottles and wrappers around with his feet, Bulldog led Chukk back outside upon which Chukk started vomiting into the snow.
"You alright feller?" Skyke asked and recieved a thumbs up in reply.
"They seem to like their drink," Bulldog shouted over the blizzard, "so I suggest we check the bars, and see if the sec guys have got anything out of our prisoner." Everyone agreed and they made their way back into town.
No one knew the town very well so they took a few random turns looking for bars and clubs and as they trudged forth a figure loomed out of the haze. As they got closer it seemed to be two people embracing. One of their heads looked round and let go of the other, who dropped straight onto the ground in a mess.
"Hey!" Professor called out and the remaining figure turned to run. Bulldog called for them to open fire and the figure was cut down by shotgun blasts and the similar, but more devestating, ripper shells.
They checked on the figure on the ground first, it was a elderly woman, barely alive with a deep stab wound in her gut. Professor opened his field aid pouch while Skyke cut back her padded coat to expose the wound.
The woman was saying something, too quiet for them to hear, Bulldog put his ear close to her mouth. "He came asking for directions," she said, "the... the food stores..." Professor was taping a bandage in place while Skyke was putting pressure on top of it.
Bulldog looked at the woman, her head was lolled back, he put his head to her mouth again and didn't feel her breathing. He started to tug a glove off to feel for a pulse but realised his fingers would be too numb.
"Chukk, get over here and start doing compressions, she's stopped breathing!" Chukk got down and started doing chest compressions and Bulldog breathed into her mouth every eight seconds. Professor and Skyke kept pressure on the wound and the ogryns stood watching helplessly.
Ten minutes passed before Bulldog said to stop and closed her lifeless eyes. Everyone moved towards the figure they shot except Chukk that stayed kneeling by the woman. Bulldog turned the figure over, it was a man wearing an expensive looking fur coat, the knife still clutched in his hand. It also had a finger hanging off the hilt.
Upon searching through his pockets the same items were discovered, minus the ruby, but plus a frag grenade. They promptly destroyed the small statue and pocketed the parchment, grenade and credits. "Food stores, next priority, we just need to find out where they are."
Chukk said something but it was lost in the gale. "Speak up feller," Professor called out.
"I said we can't just leave her here," Chukk shouted back, "what do we do? It's not like we can collect dog tags..."
"We leave both the bodies for now, we can find them again once this is all over. We just don't have time to carry them with us right now," Bulldog said. Chukk remained on his knees looking at the woman, the blood that had soaked her coat partially frozen into red ice.
Bulldog grabbed Chukk and pulled him to his feet, "we have to move, come on," Chukk stared for a moment then nodded and they continued down the street. Ironically they came across a bar and Bulldog led them inside. Some of the patrons glanced around when the troopers entered but everyone looked round when they ogryns came in which made their armed group look bigger than it was.
The bearded barman's eyes were wide and he was frozen half way through pouring a drink from the tap, which promptly overflowed. Bulldog said quietly to the others, "look out for anyone that's not from around here and I'll ask the barman. Krogg, Cid, make sure no one leaves."
Krogg and Cid stayed by the door eying the patrons while Skyke, Chukk and Professor tried to subtly inspect everyone. Bulldog walked casually up to the bar where the patrons parted for him, leaving their drinks where they were and the barman finally realised the drink was overflowing and nervously turned off the tap. "I-I don't want no trouble," he stammered.
"No trouble at all, but we've got a bit of a security situation," Bulldog said as quietly as he could, but in the bar you could have heard a pin drop. "Can you tell me where the food stores are?"
"J-just near here, go out the door and right, first left, there's always a tracked truck right outside the building. A-about halfway down that street." The barman looked terrified. Bulldog didn't really know what to do to calm everyone down so he looked over at the others. Skyke gave a thumbs down then moved his hand side to side with a flat palm, meaning no hostiles.
"Let's head out fellers," Bulldog said and they started towards the front door when the door to the restroom opened and a woman came out. She was wearing knee high boots with fur around the top and a luxurious fur coat hanging open to reveal a black corset.
She barely saw them when her face contorted and she reached inside her coat, a laspistol barely out in the open when three ripper shells pulped her entire upper body, splattering part of the bar with gore.
Suddenly people were screaming, diving to the floor, the barman himself was cowering behind the bar and Bulldog tried to be heard above shouts and cries, "everyone stay calm! Everything's under control! Skyke, check the body."
"What for, it's pulped!" Was Skyke's response.
"See if anything useful survived," Bulldog countered. The patrons were starting to calm down now, a few were muttering prayers to the Emperor and some were covered with gore. Skyke stood over the remains of the body, probing with his boots. The laspistol she was holding had been completely shattered, as had anything that would have been in her pockets.
"Doesn't look like it Sarge," Skyke said, looking slightly queezy.
Bulldog tried to think of what to say and said the best he could think of, "we have done the Emperor's work, that woman was a heratic and we have stopped her in the name of the Emperor. Have faith and you will find strength, go home and be safe with your families." Some of the patrons seemed to feel better at the mention of the Emperor, but the barman didn't appear from behind the counter. Bulldog indicated that they should leave and they went back outside.
Chukk touched Bulldog's arm to get his attention, "shouldn't we have... done something about the body..."
"Nothing we could do," Bulldog responded, "even if we could clean it up, we don't have the time. Let's get moving," and started leading them off to the right like the barman had said before Chukk could say anything more.
They moved down the road and across at the same time to follow the buildings along the opposite side until the turning. The blizzard seemed to only be getting worse, visibility had dropped to a few metres and Bulldog ordered them all to hold hands so they wouldn't get seperated.
Eventually a shape loomed out of the darkness and it wasn't until he was right up against it that Bulldog realised it was the truck they were looking for. He couldn't even see the building to the left but led them to where it should have been. When they reached the building the door had been smashed open and Bulldog let go of Professor's hand and went in with his shotgun ready.
The inside was dark and everyone kept quiet as they spread out in the entrance hall. Bulldog found the lightswitch and was debating whether he should turn it on and lose the element of surprise when there was a loud crash and a shout. He flipped the switch and the fluorescent light strips throughout the building flickered to life.
The light revealed the source of the crash and shout, Krogg had walked into a desk and sent it crashing over, a work terminal now smashed on the floor. Otherwise the room was untouched save for a track of snowy footprints leading through a main arch into the rest of the building.
Krogg was just starting to get up when a volley of shots came out of the archway. One shot hit Cid in the shoulder and he howled with pain and rage and unloaded on fully automatic with his ripper gun back at the assailants. Two more shots hit him in the gut and the thigh before they stopped completely. Cid kept firing until his ripper gun clicked dry and the drum magazine detached automatically.
"Krogg, up front, now! Prof, Skyke, back him up! Chukk, stay here with Cid and make sure none of them slip back past us!" Everyone called acknowledgements and Krogg thundered forwards through the archway with Professor and Skyke right behind him. Cid looked down at the drum on the floor for a moment before realising he needed to reload and took another drum off his belt, seemingly oblivious to his wounds.
"You alright Cid?" Bulldog asked, genuinely concerned.
Cid didn't even look up until he was sure the drum mag wasn't going to fall out then looked up and went, "huh?"
"Cid, you've been shot!" Chukk said, pointing especially at the bleeding gut wound.
Cid just scratched his head then touched the wound, not even wincing with pain. A volley of shots rang out from the next room and Bulldog headed towards the arch, "Chukk, make sure he doesn't make those wounds worse alright?"
The next room was square with a door in each wall except for the arch they'd come through. The door opposite the arch was open with a man slumped against the wall, his left arm completely gone and his torso fairly mashed.
Professor was checking the other two doors, "they're both still locked, that one's had the lock shot so they could get inside," he said and fell in behind Bulldog as he went through the open door.
Inside were crates of various foods, some contained fruits from the jungle belt, but the majority contained a less nutritious and more flavourful version of the troopers' own ration packs. One of these was open, with sack next to it.
Another of the heretics was dead, his head and upper torso completely gone, one of them was slumped against a crate, with multiple wounds but still conscious. The last was being beaten to a pulp by Krogg with his ripper gun, the drum mag laying on the floor.
"Krogg... Krogg!" Bulldog called and Krogg stopped his violent attack, the body was mashed beyond recognition. A knife was stuck in Krogg's chest and he pulled it out and looked at it, as though just noticing it for the first time.
Bulldog turned his attention to the conscious heretic, who was now being covered by Skyke and Professor's shotguns. "Why are you here, what was your plan? What were you doing with the food supplies?" The heretic spat at him and Bulldog punched him with his brass knuckles and asked again, "what were you doing with the food supplies?"
The heretic had blood running out of his mouth now and tried to spit again, but he was too weak. Bulldog took out his bayonet and stabbed the heretic, again and again and again, then wiped the blade on his sleeve and slid it back into it's scabbard.
Bulldog opened the sack, it was made from simple canvas with a drawstring top. Inside were food packs, identical to the ones in the crate, right down to the writing printed on the side, and unique serial numbers.
"Professor, you come with me back to the ess-dee, Skyke, Krogg, make sure no one comes in here, absolutely no one. This all has to be burned, there's no telling which of these crates has been tainted or what might happen to those that eat the tainted food. It could be a plague or worse." Everyone nodded their acknowledgements, "I'm going to tell Chukk to take Cid to the local medicae, it looks like our work is done. The Emperor protects."