Ch.4 Treasure, Power, and Sgt.Barktooth
-"Serve the emperor today, for tomorrow you may be dead!"
The hall was a basically hollow place. Its run down walls, holed ceiling, and damp atmosphere were all that Corax noticed as they rushed through the front gates. There were pieces of dark brown wood used for supports and empty ammo cartridges laid out on the floor. Masonry dust made the air hard to breathe. The place looked like it was set up in about five minutes, ready to hold the place building together if an artillery strike would occur.
The fight inside was about of fun as the color of the walls. The buildings supports shook as grenades flew threw the air. The Guardsman pouring through the front gate met the pirates inside with Lasguns blaring and blind fury. The two battle lines crashed together and a huge melee erupted in the hall. Beck misfired and shot a hole right through the wall, gaining Corax's squad entry to the power room.
The power room was small, well lit, and empty. It had a number of panels covering the walls, all blinking different color lights. Each light had a button next to it that detailed a diffrent part of the base. Corax peeked his head back out of the hole Beck made, and serached for squad one. He saw there demolitions man, Mckiney, running twords the battleline and ran out the hole to get him. His squad was out of Melta Charges.
Squad one's demolition man was about to enter the melee when Corax grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.
"Whats your problem?" He yelled at Corax. "Oh, i'm sorry sir, what do you need." His voice changed as he saw the stripes on Corax's arm.
Corax ignored the demolition mans response and pulled back away from the combat.
"I need you in the power room now, were out of melta charges."
"Alright, show me the way", he said as Corax turned and started running to the room.
"Where do you need me to place the charge?", McKiney said to Corax.
"Right here",He replied, pointing at the main generator.
The demolitions man got the charges out of a large pack he was wearing. The charges were wrapped in layers of protective foam to keep the explosives from blowing up in the middle of a fight. He unwrapped the charge and laid it next to the generator.
"Get out of here!" He yelled at Corax. "I'll be alright, dont worry."
McKiney evacuated everyone out of the room, and grabbed a remote detonator from his bag. Then he ran behind the entrance hole and pushed the button. Smoke was blown out of the hole, a heavenly smoke screening the people in the fight below, giving the Gaurds troops an advantage to strike back unoticed. Then all the lights went out.
"Good job Mckiney" Kez yelled as he smiled. "Next time I have a rat problem i'm calling you!"
Corax grabbed his Vox-Caster and screamed over the blasts that the power was down. The next phase of the mission was for the infantry to hold them off, so squads 1,2,3, and 5 could sneak into the weapons room(Even though squad 5 was dead). Squad 4 stayed back and helped distract the pirates.
"Squad Five, check in," He yelled.
"Your not going to get them," said a voice over the Vox-Caster.
"Why?" Corax wispered back. "Where are they Sgt. Barktooth?"
Sargent Barktooth was a quiet man who liked his beer. He had seen combat in the Ultramar system, and a good amount of death during the later Tyranid wars. He had actually just made it out of Medusa V a few weeks before the Warp Storm hit it. Right now he was sneaking squad two through the inner pipelines on the base.
"They were ripped apart by an artillery shot and a few hundred Autoturrent bullets" He replied silently over his Vox-Caster.
"I knew a lot of those men..." Corax wispered back."I won't forget them. They were all first-rate men, all of them".
"Stop crying Corax, first and second squad are still alive and going to the power room." he said."Just hope that squad four makes it out alive. Now maintain radio silence, over and out".
As the radio went off, Corax spotted a small light coming out of the ground infront of him. The pipe was craked open, and according to the map, the weapons room was only a few halls away. Corax stopped infront of the light, and beckoned Kez foreward.
"Kez, shoot this pipe and get down there. Then peek around the corner and see if were safe to leave our position".
"Yes sir!" Kez said as he grabbed for his Lasgun.
Kez grabbed for his rifle and shot several holes around the exposed area of pipe. Then he kicked the patch of pipe and jumped through the hole. Kez looked around the corner only to find a grenade launcher aimed right at him.
The hall exploded in fire as the corner Kez was leaning on was totaly gone. All hell broke loose when the first shot fired, and in the first moments he was killed. Both Matthew brothers were dead now.
Corax jumped out of the pipe to see the bottom half of Kes's body in the hall. He peaked his head around the corner, only to jerk it back to avoid a shell speeding twords his head.
Then he did something very stupid. He jumped into the hall and grabbed Kez's body, as the smoke from the launcher covered the air. Then he flew down as the roof above them exploded and collapsed in on them. After a second, smoke and masonite covered Corax as he flung his friends remains behind the corner. Then he jumped through, as a final grenade came roaring down the hall.
A few loud yells told Corax that the gun had finally been silenced. He looked around the corner again and saw that Kren had sucsessfully flanked and beaten the pirates to death. He saw three heavily brusied bodies scattered around the area.
"Good job Kren!" Corax yelled out as he came into the hallway.
"And you said they were deadly in close combat! I expected a bit more of a fight..." He said through a smile.
"Alright, one more hall and were in the weapons room, squads 1&2 havent reported in so, lets make it quick and beat them there!"
With no resistance in the next hall Corax 's squad continued through a door to the weapons room. Barktooth was standing inside. His squads bodies were scattered around the room in difgfrent stages of dismemberment, along with a horde of Black Legion bodies. The one keeping Barktooths limp body, was Xan.