Day 130
Ship arrived just as dawn broke.
The story is that we are tourists from the planet Beowulf (the furthest planet out). The people from Beowulf are extreme isolationists. They are also very large. Stereotypically they also tie their hair into strings and tattoo their skin with blue spirals. Current fashion on Beowulf is chain mail
Sarge took his selection of needles onto the ship. And some blue ink.
I hate needles.
Day 131
We all look the part now. Sort of.
I have no hair. At one point or another I have lost every part of my skin; I've been scalped by Gene-stealers, lacerated by Dark Eldar, lost my eyebrows to a faulty plasma gun, set on fire by traitor marines with flamers and sliced by Necrons with knives in the place of good honest fingers. But I draw the line at wearing a bloody wig.
The story is that I worked in a munitions factory and one of the melta-bombs blew up when I was holding it.
We can't take any heavy weapons with us to this. We might just be able to get away with pretending to be Wulfites but the sniper rifles will cause comment. I dislike not carrying a weapon; it feels like being only half dressed.
Can see Bragii out the window. Big yellow marble. Looks about the same size as my fist at arms length.
Day 132
Bragii is looking much closer now. For one thing it takes up a big fraction of the visible universe. The moon we are aiming for is a depressing little brown looking thing.
The moon has an atmosphere is largely composed of ammonia derivatives, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide. And is cold enough to freeze a Marine solid.
We went to see Yveld as soon as we landed. He don't half look like a Necron. Most tech priests look clunky, he looks streamlined. Still goes clank-clank when he walks and clunk when he sits down. He looks to be working on repairing a dead Dread we salvaged from a space hulk a couple of years back.
Got told that people have gone missing near the entrance of the lift shaft that goes to the geothermal plant, there has been a slight increase in the number and severity of mutation birth statistics and the astropaths are complaining of a slight static coming from the world (as opposed to outer-warp static). Also the people who work in the geo-plant complain of nightmares of hideous things coming to get them.
All the typical subtle signs of a stealer cult.
Day 133
We went to the lift that Yveld described. Its deep.
All worlds in the Kargotha system have to be self-sustaining by law. It's in case of siege. Most environmentally hostile worlds are extremely easy to conquer by siege because they all require imported food. Food on Skagii is grown in huge caverns with the roof painted blue and white and the lights powered by the only eternal power source. Geo-thermal. All you need is a planet with enough gravity for it to get hot in the middle and you have eternal safe power if you can be bothered to dig down far enough to get it.
Regrettably this also means that you have a labyrinth of tunnels for people and things to hide in. It is rumoured that there are a dozen tribes of Hrud on every planet of this system.
Can smell something suspicious near this tunnel entrance.
Rest of squad want to go back and report it. Told them that we would be better finding something more than a smell to report. Got told to follow procedure. Told them No. Got told to stay here and monitor the cave. Waited till they had gone and ten went to look through the cave.
Following the smell. It is a not-quite-human smell. Don't get me wrong I have smelt lots of humans and most follow a few basic shapes and colours of smell. Even ogyrn smell human and they are massive. Ratlings smell human, even the mutant beastmen smell human (they just produce enough smell for about 40 regular humans). Space Marines smell different, thus further removing us from humanity, and tech-priests tend to smell mechanical/human intertwined. I can tell people apart from smell alone and what ever this smell was made by was not entirely human and was not one of the sub-species that I have ever met before.
The air moves very little in these not-quite-abandoned tunnels, the smell could be weeks old.
It's very dark. Using a bottle of phosphorescent rot as a torch. It contains the crusts from my pack lunch so it should be good for a couple of days
Day 134
I am not lost. No, really I mean it this time; all tunnels are quiet close to the lift shaft. I have seen it go up and down a number of times now as it transports people from the geo-plant miles below.
If I take this cult out single-handedly I will be a hero, if I die no one will know. And is it not written in the chapter approved book of proverbs; If failure is inevitable, fail spectacularly. Besides I am 1200 years old, I've already outlived everybody.
Can hear some shuffling coming from far below.
A ladder. I do not wish to climb down it. So far the downwardsness has been made by the tunnels sloping downwards. A ladder leads to severe vulnerabilities.
Ended up going down head first. I may only have a combat knife and two hellsream pistols I nicked from Yveld but I can drop a carnifex if I hit it in the nadgers.
No one there.
Despite the danger I am getting board.
Day 135
I have just remembered a joke:
How many kegs of fenrisian ale does it take to knock out a Space Wolf?
It depends on how hard you throw it.
That's what you get listening to Dread jokes all day.
Not that I have anything against Space Wolves mind you. It's just that they have no excuse for looking like a carpet in power armour in this age of readily available scissors. A quick trim does no one any harm.
Day 136
Can hear sounds of lots of shuffling from down stairs.
Lift went past. The updraft caused a gust of not-quite-human smell to waft upwards.
Smell getting more intense.
Even a normal man could hear them now. I think they are chanting. It certainly sounds like it. Sort of clicky and rythemy and hissy. There seem to be a large number of them, about 40 – 45.
Found another ladder. I think it must drop right into their nest/temple.
Looked down the hole in the floor. The ladder seems to turn into a rope ladder and descend 40 foot through open air. Anyone climbing down through that will get swissed by bullets.
And now the biggest problem. How to make sure they are all in.
Its one of the unfortunate things of the Gene-stealers. The patriarch infects a regular human by clonking them round the head and placing a small scale looking thing under the skin. The offspring are then tainted at a genetic level. The offspring are born grotesque and a travesty and crime against the purity of human flesh. Many have 4 arms and two layers of teeth. But the human instinct is to love your offspring so the parents look after it and it abandons them at the earliest opportunity and joins its true 'father'. The wretched things progressively degenerate back into pure-strains with each passing generation and its damn hard to get all of them because if one of the original unknowing parents is left untreated or one of them escapes to spawn more of its foul kind. It may take a couple of centuries but they pop up again like they were never gone.
You see why I hate them now?
Day 137
I have a plan.
Went back to the lift and dropped a big rock on it as it went past. The shock made the safety's kick in. Gave the lift guard strict instructions to give this note to the 'metal man' as Yveld is known here. It contains a password and a radio broad cast and a set of directions. The idea is the rest of the squad get here and cover all the exits. I will give them 10 hours. I am going to look for a safe place to hide in.
Decided to drop a load of melts-bombs and a plasma-cell (sarge talked with Yveld for a long time and I have deep pockets) all tied together.
After they hit the floor and detonate they should all come swarming in to see what the fuss is about.
This just leaves the problem of the exposed rope ladder. I now wonder if it can take the weight of a Space Marine wearing chain mail. Don't want this one to go wrong because of a rope snapping, the 50 foot drop is survivable if I land on my feet but broken legs are less than fun.
It's been about 10 hours by my watch. Pulled the ladder up, wrapping it round my waist. This way I still go down quick enough but hit the floor a less than neck breaking speed. The Larymans Ear implant should take care of the dizziness.
This has got to be the stupidest plan I have ever thought of, and I've come up with some real whoppers before now.
Day 138
The plan went reasonably well. Everyone was waiting at the exits. The exits were strung with fibre wire that shredded a few of them. Plus they had the sense to go to raid the police station for heavy weapons before they got here.
The spinning rope thing worked. Sort of. I hit the ground spinning and side on and my shoulder came out of the socket. I also landed on a patch of ground that was glowing red-hot from the bomb I dropped down their first so now I have all one side of my face all bacon looking.
Patriarch was carrying a heavy bolter. Where does a Xeno get a heavy bolter from? Only the Interior Guard and us are allowed to carry them. Got hit in the upper thighs with the big bolter. Now have broken two legs. OOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!
Just glad I managed to jump in time. Otherwise I would be in infinitely more pain.
On the positive side we get to take some serious weapons home as trophies. The Coppers are coming to look for clues as to where the came from, if any escaped and who they were. After that the place gets the promethium treatment.
Day 139
Got shouted at by Sarge for, and I quote, 'acting like an irresponsible Space Wolf'. Apparently they all got angry with me running off.
Got dragged to the Cog-head. Yveld shouted at me for nicking half a dozen melta-bombs and a full plasma core.
Got dragged to a cave owned by the 'Order of the Cleansing Water' of the Orders Hospitaller. They might not be members of the Orders Militant but they all carry weapons. Got the holes in my legs stitched up by a very comely looking young lady. Asked her if her guns were real or not. Got a slap in the face. Hey, its still body contact so I'm not complaining.
Got given a wheelchair. Space Marines and wheelchairs just should not go together.
There is not a ship going from the star-port to Kargotha until just after dinner tomorrow. Going to go and do the tourist thing.
Nicked a camera of Yveld.
Day 140
It's nice. Went for a walk (roll) in the countryside. The caves here are massive. The roof is painted blue and white and if it were not for the uniformity of the sun-mimicking lights you would not know you were acutely in a cave.
Got some fridge magnets, for the dreads. They like sticking them on their casings. Dread Waylum has one from every world in the system.
I am also taking as much cheap booze as I can hide in this chair. Thinking of getting a blanket 'to keep warm' and hiding a couple of bottles under that.
Met up with the rest of the squad. They have all purchased backpacks that make suspicious sloshing sounds when they move. Hope the customs inspectors don't look too closely.
Had a small meal at the star-port. Some sort of sliced vegetable on rye bread. That stuff is heavy as lead. I swear they bulk it out with concrete.
The ship arrived on time. It's a home built one. You can always tell the home built ones. They are well armed. Its a way of getting around imperial legislation and law. Since the Hourus Heresy no PDF or Imperial Guard can order a ship about. The navy and the IG split down the middle so that if one goes traitor not all is lost. However in the time of immediate threat the IG can commandeer any ship they need for the duration of the emergency. So King Smithy XIX passed a law saying all ships built had to be armed 'to deter pirates'. We essentially have our own Navy.
We can't commandeer anything officially because the Chapters are technically a separate entity to the Imperium. That's why we have just one too small ship.
Day 141
Can feel the bones in my leg rubbing together. It is extremely painful. On the positive side I may end up with legs the same length after this, which will be an improvement.
Playing cards with everyone else. We are playing 'three and four' then we shall play 'knock out whist' then we may be reduced to playing '21'. But no matter how board we get we will not get board enough to play 'snap'.
I seem to be winning at a ratio of 1:60 games. Drell said I am going senile in my old age. Told him he is not getting any of my booze.
They all saw what drinks I managed to acquire whilst I was out. Its all single malt 8 year old authentic Skagii whisky. The good stuff. Much better than the stuff they went for.
Sarge went for the cider and the applejack. That's nasty stuff that applejack. It dissolves your teeth and leaves them coated to the back of your throat. And the hangover... it should be impossible for a Marine to get a proper hangover but that stuff, that stuff makes it feel like the inside of your eye-sockets are full of needles and the inside of you skull is covered in curry powder. I can't begin to think what they put in it.
Sarge says he's going to give it to the neophytes to see how hardy they are to toxins. Sounds like dropping someone in the sea to see if they can swim to me.
Day 142
I can see Kargotha. Looks like a big petty blue and green marble.
Back for dinner. Dinner was some sort of vegetable stew.
Gave the Dreads the fridge magnets.
Have managed to acquire enough alcohol, combined with what is already in the cellar, to get the entire company drunk.
Day 143... probably
I have woken up next to a traffic cone and I am wearing an Arbiters helmet. I think I am missing a big piece of last night.
That was fun. Everyone joined in. Even the captain. We thought that that would be good because then he could not get us in trouble. Regrettably 100 Marines singing dubious songs about various questionable activities at the tops of their voices tends to get you noticed by everybody else. Chapter Master played hell at all of us. Think he was just angry because we didn't save him any.
The neophytes have the predictable curry and needles hangover. Poor sods.
Going to see the Apocathery.
Apocathery did several painful twisty stretchy painful things to my legs and then stuck a metal wire thing on them to hold everything still. It was nearly as bad as having them broken in the first place. Hopefully they won't heal crooked.
Every other company got pork chops and spuds. Ours got some sort of tuba root looking thing. I got some-sort of mineral enriched goop with crunchy things floating in it. Marine bones are more a sort of calcium-based ceramite than normal bone. If left on its own the severed bones would just calcify together naturally and be a point of relative weakness. Which means I get stuck with the goop until they knit back together again.
Day 144
Just received word over the astropath (who found the message very painful with the hangover he has) that slaaneshii cultists are taking over a world to the galactic south west of us. It's called Sreeb.
We set of in about two days. The 'Sharp Blade' is currently on its way back from Cadia with the 10th company.
2nd, 5th, 1st and 8th companies will be going. I'm going also. It will take at least 3 days, probably 4, to get there and by then my legs will be fairly good. Not great, but I will be able to run if I have to. That's one of the good things about being a sniper. You may still end up being mutilated but at least you don't have to run around a lot getting tired before hand.
Rolled over to the dreads after having some goop for dinner. Played some cards.
Rolled over to the marksman's range to practice with the sniper rifle. Have found an unforeseen problem. If I do not put the breaks on I go back very quickly and if I do put them on I flip onto my back.
I give up. I'm going to look for what we have in the library on Sreeb.
Day 145
Nice planet. Mostly water with lots of long island chains. Plant life seems to have blue chlorophyll.
All of the plants are extremely poisonous and the animals venomous and the islands are over run with bloody Spikers. Every one lives along the bottom of the shallow sea in bubbles and farms seaweed or on boats and follows shoals of fish.
Looked for pictures of what it looks like on the seabed. Everyone is now painting their armour blues and browns. Dreads are not coming with us on this one because the salt water would make them rust.
Got the serfs to fill the big 30ft deep baths in the cellar with salt water. We are all taking it in turns to wear lead boots and drop in to accustom the lungs and eyes to salt water.
Day 145
The Dreads are telling Slaanesh jokes now.
What is the favourite hymn of the Slaaneshii cultist?
Oh, come all ye faithful.
What do you get if you cross an eldar farseer an ork, 3 deamonette's, lots of alcohol and Slaanesh?
Who knows, but the Emperor still can not walk.
Two deamonette's in the service of Slaanesh and a happy guardsman. What did the first deamonette in the service of Slaanesh say to the second?
Do not play with your food.
After about 30 jokes of this abysmal type I was beginning to feel sick. Plus I was losing at cards again.
Went to practice sniper training at the bottom of the lake.
Contrary to popular belief Space Marines can swim. Just. And not if we are in power armour.
The ship should be here by now.
Day 146
Got told that we will all be wearing power armour. With an osmotic gill thingy as well. Its in case we fall down a deep trench and the pressure crushes us. It takes a lot of weight to crack open power armour.
We are still waiting for the ship.
Just found a reasonably up to date atlas. Found where our squad will splash down. Typical, in the deep bits.
Started painting armour much darker blue.
Found a book on the local animal life. It's my sort of book, lots of pictures. Pygmy chameleon sharks and giant trilobites and shoals of rainbow fish. The people of this world have lived in total harmony with their world since before the great crusade. We could all learn from their example.
Just heard that the Space Sharks are coming along for this one. Never met them before. Found nothing on them in the library except a couple of battle reports from the Badab wars. Grey armour with a shark emblem is all it says.
Day 147
Ship arrived. About time. All ran on. Much colliding and swear words with the 10th coming off.
We set of immediately. No time for breakfast.
Just found a problem. Bolters do not work under water. Pointed this out to Captain Zakaris. I am glad I was carrying the camera I nicked of Yveld. Never want to forget that expression.
Looks like we are going to spend the trip making harpoon guns out of what ever we can find.