Chapter 4
"Well that doesn't surprise me nobody saw you coming"
Ursus was thankful Bors and put the command post in the tower at the side of the bridge, it provided him with a line of sight over all of the bridge and out to the landing zone. It was also keeping the rain off him that had been falling for the past couple of hours. Most of the guardsmen had sought shelter in the buildings and fortifications dotted around the bridge, no doubt erected when the heretic rebellion started. It was as he stared out through the rain and ever greying sky that he started to notice a deep, low murmur seeming to come from all around him. Usrsus looked at Guardsman Siimo, the sniper perched next to him.
"Do you here that"? Asked Ursus.
"Mmm," nodded Siimo, "I can't tell where it's coming from though"
"What's that racket asked?" grunted the smaller Graff brother as he descended the stairs from the roof, water dripping from his sodden cloak. "Sounds like a ..."
"Shh!" snapped Siimo, tilting his head to one side.
Merlyn Graff knew better than to ignore Jadek Siimo, his skills were legendary in the ranks of the Truskans, more akin to a hunter than a soldier he had even earned the respect of the Catachans on their last deployment. Acquiring a nickname none of the others understood, the jungle fighters referred to him as Small Sly.
"Its voices, chatting by the sound, I can't tell what they are saying but it's no language I've heard before" whispered Siimo."It's coming from all around us though, we appear to be surrounded."
Ursus wasted no time, he scrambled to his vox caster, immediately calling for air support to try and get a look at the enemy. As he waited for the Pilots to check in to his area, Krychec walked in, immediately looking at Siimo. After hearing the snipers take on the situation, he ordered him and a squad from the 6th platoon to head out on a scouting mission and find the enemy.
"Negative Truskan 0-4" crackled the reply. "No enemy movement on our radar or that we can see from up here"
It was hard to hear the Pilot over the chatting that had grown louder and louder. "Thanks Vulture 9-9, stay on station as long you can and keep flying recon for us, Truskan 0-4 out," answered Ursus. He was baffled how such noise could be being made and yet no trace of the enemy could be seen. He shrugged and looked at Krychec, hoping the Captain had a plan for this. Suddenly a cry went up from the far side barricades; they rushed to the window Ursus and Krychec practically knocking over Dix in their haste. Through the drizzle, the scout patrol could be seen returning, one Guardsmen being carried by 2 others, the lower half of his leg a jagged mess, ending just after the knee.
When they reached the front barricade, the Command squad found Malone and another medic tending to the Guardsmen with the leg wound. The other two sat slumped against the sandbags. Krychec knelt next to the guardsmen and pulled his canteen from his belt. Know as tough and demanding leader, Krychec also cared for the men under his command. As he offered the canteen to the first Guardsman, Siimo leapt gracefully over the sandbag wall and landed on one knee next to the Captain,
"Well that doesn't surprise me nobody saw you coming Jadek" said Krychec with a half smile. "What's going off out there?"
"Can't explain it Cayn, we saw nothing" said Siimo, looking almost bewildered. A sight which left Krychec uneasy.
"Didn't matter where we went out there, the mist and the rain kept visibility low and the chatting was always, always around us. It's like they were following us but leaving no trace. I even tried going solo, found nothing. When I got back they were all that was left of the squad."
Krychec turned to the two Guardsmen, both sat with hugging their knees, eyes wide and staring. Before he could ask any more questions, a deafening silence erupted. Dix stood. Raising his helmet on his head to rub his brow.
"It's stopped" said Dix "But wh..."
Dix's last words were swallowed as las round slammed into his face, punching clean through his skull, splattering those near him with blood and grey matter. Before the voxman's body had hit the floor, several more guardsmen fell to las rounds zipping out of the fog. As everybody dove for cover, all hell broke loose as the heavy bolter gunners opend up in retaliation. As the other troopers joined in firing, Ursus poked his head up over the sandbag. He could see shadows forming in the fog, he quickly ducked again as round slammed into the sandbag next to his head.
"Truskan 0-4! Truskan 0-4! You've got enemy converging on your position, they appeared out of nowhere. Theres hundreds of them" crackled Ursus's vox.