"So…this is kinda like Yomi?"
"Not really. Because back at Yomi we were inside a gigantic Japanese castle built into the very mountain, with well-made battlement to support the defenders. Currently, we've locked ourselves inside a vast subterranean mine with barely functional electricity, surrounded by a fuckton of orks that had somehow managed to weaponize kaijus, said kaijus are being used as battering ram to breakdown the one and only blast door separating us from a horde of bloodthirsty greenskin. Thankfully, said blast door is thick as fuck so it'll be a while before the orks break it down, giving us enough time to think of a plan to get out of this mess."
"Hmm, you're right, this is nothing like Yomi."
Tangmo and Laura traded nods and made quick sweep of the vast cavernous interior and the bustle of soldiery. The chaos tempered by the battlegroup's galaxy famous discipline and unshakable spirit, no panic or missteps can be seen.
"At least we can contact the people outside," Tangmo, with Laura at his side, strode over to an ancient and very large communication console. Thanks to Meko and his tech savvy buddies, they've managed to turn the decrepit machine into a functioning radio that can reach the Immortal Spirit fleet in orbit. Yuki, Nikki and the main characters were currently gathered around the huge retro device. "Hey guys, what's the situation outside?"
"Unchanging, but at least it's not deteriorating," Galatea grunted, like her canoness buddies she was not wearing her helm, messy blonde hair flowing down to frame her grim, but pretty visage. Yep, things were looking brighter already. "From the radio chatter, most of our armored units managed to withdraw in good order and had set up a new line of contact fifty kilometers south of our position. Heavy artilleries are being deployed along this new front, hopefully they'll be able to stop and push back the orks."
"An optimistic outlook, but one that should not be entertained," Zolwyken of the Aeldari Winged Hussar shook his head, earning a sideway glance from Galatea, but the Martyred Lady canoness did not present a rebuttal. "I've fought orks on multiple occasions, and by the time a counterattack can commence they would've already breach the blast door."
"That is if the kaijus doesn't bring the whole mine down on our heads first," Legatus Victrix of the Eternal Legion stared at the pitch black ceiling, shower of dusts rained down between great quaking intervals. "At least one of the beasts is dead. We can give thanks to the air force for that."
"Oh yeah, Ae-Shin saved our asses again," Yuki nodded, the kaiju that got blown to bits was the four-legged saurian thing studded with hundreds of artillery pieces. The high altitude bombers got lucky and detonated a large munitions magazine on the beast's back, killing it and a fuck load of orks. Unfortunately three more kaijus remained, the quill covered twins and the white King Kong, and those fuckers had been beating and stomping the underground complex for a while now. "But Victrix is right, if this keeps up there's gonna be a cave in."
"You said this had happened before," Evangeline turned expectantly to Lakshmi, "how did you managed to repel the kaiju last time?"
"We didn't," Lakshmi said. "The last time the orks utilize this tactic they haven't perfected it yet. Whatever heretical technology they used was flawed and the kaijus ended up killing each other. It seems they've managed to overcome this shortcoming."
"The orks are not working alone either," Rani added. "Many times I saw a large contingent of…rat men fighting alongside them, and not in some servile capacity either, but allies, a tenuous union but an alliance nonetheless."
"We noticed the skavens, yes," Tangmo said. "That might explain how the orks were able to domesticate the kaiju, the skavens are wizards when it comes to chemistry and biology. I wonder how they ended up working for Kim Jor Urrk?"
"A conundrum better left for better times," Lingxin and the main characters cringed when another tremor rippled through the mine, this time accompanied by a very audible metallic groan. The echoing timbre was not reassuring in the least. "We need to do something."
"What was the condition of the mine when you first made planet fall?" Nikki asked Lakshmi. "I mean, were the facilities overrun by kaijus? Because considering how the Consortium Praetorian restarted the entire operation immediately, I would assume things were pretty much intact."
"Indeed lady exarch, the machines at the mines were old but completely functional and there were no sign of the kaijus anywhere. We only learned about them several months later," Lakshmi said. "Only the local faunas occupied the area, and they were quickly dealt with."
"So the kaijus never venture into the vicinity of the mine?" Nikki pressed on. "There were no footprints or anything like that?"
"We found nothing of the sort, and we combed the area multiple times," Lakshmi turned to her cohorts and they all shook their heads. "I'm sorry lady exarch, but where are you going with this?"
"The kaijus had obviously avoided this place since the Mechanicus arrived five thousand years ago," Nikki stroke her chin thoughtfully. "I'm willing to bet that something is keeping them away from this place."
"Like what exactly?" Leilatha now inquired. "A machine of some sort? Or a weapon perhaps?"
"That's what I'm thinking," Nikki nodded then turned to the Lohid guardsmen. "Was there anything like that in this place?"
"There is, lady exarch," it wasn't Lakshmi or Rani who had spoken, it was Meko, the radio captain were trading quick words with his engineer friends as they quickly gathered data from the communication console. "It's buried deep under mountain of files, dating back to the genesis of the entire enterprise. The moment you mentioned the possibility of a tool that could help us we dive deep, and thanks to sister Vivian's expertise we were able to find it."
"Thank you captain, but it was a collective effort, you were also of great help," sister Vivian, the Cyborg Sororitas of the Avenging Knight, smiled prettily at Meko, earning immediate rancor from Krix and Luva. "The device the lady exarch alluded to does indeed exist, it is called the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor, a massive machine that the Magos Biologis had installed across the continent."
"Are the devices still operational?" Lakshmi put forward the question. "You must forgive me, we were only ordered to fix the machines responsible for the mining operation. None of us have any idea that a weapon against the kaiju exist."
"It's not your fault dude, don't worry about it," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap at Lakshmi, the colonel reciprocated with a relieved nod. "So is the thing still working?"
"It is offline lord commissar. Which explains why the kaiju managed to breach the perimeter without a problem," Meko narrowed his eyes on the lines of data, "unfortunately, we don't know the condition of the machine."
"But from initial scan, the connecting power cables appears to be intact," Vivian typed swiftly across the console. "The place is without power though. I cannot detect any electrical output being sent in that direction."
"That's all fine and dandy ladies and gentlemen," Laura folded her arms across her chest, "but before we get ahead of ourselves, let me address the kaiju in the room first. Where is the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor supposed to be?"
"It is inside a refinement facility five kilometer west of our position, built into the very mountain," chaplain Rama answered Laura's quandary. "Within the first week of our arrival, myself and the reconnaissance squads found the device you've mentioned."
"Why was I not made aware of this?" Lakshmi rounded on Rama, the chaplain didn't so much as flinch when his commanding officer fixed a scary glare on him.
"I told major Rani, I had assumed you knew already," Rama said calmly but the major went a few shades paler when Lakshmi gifted her with an undivided, blistering attention. "Now, as I was saying, after I reported this finding to major Rani I went to the Praetorian and their cabal, it was only courteous to let them know. However, due to the fact that the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor was not important to the mining operation, I was reprimanded for wasting their time."
"Can the device be activated remotely?" Yuki asked Vivian and Meko.
"No, the machine's restart protocol must be fed directly in the local terminal," Vivian answered. "Simply put, we need to be there in person to jumpstart it again."
"Okay, so how do we get to the machine?" Yuki went on, more than eager to get moving now that a solution to their current predicament had emerged. "Please tell me we can reach the damn thing from here."
"You're in luck lady exarch, because there is a large underground highway connecting the mine to the refinery," Meko was starting to smile but his lips thinned a moment later. "Damn it all, a section of the highway had suffered a cave in, the path is block."
"We demolished the connecting routes when we retreated into the mine, because the orks were pouring in from every crack and crevices," lieutenant Sahnan spoke up. "Fortunately for us, it is a partial collapse, because the explosives in storage were not military grade. I oversaw the demolition, the result leaves a lot to be desire but besides probing the place a bit the orks never came at us from that direction."
"If that's the case, then the Castigators should be able to clear us a path," Galatea tapped her earbud, "sisters, I'm sending you a coordinate of a collapse subterranean highway. The path is block by fallen masonry, kindly clear it please."
"But wouldn't that cause further damage to the entire structure?" Sahnan voiced his concern as three Castigator tanks rolled down a wide hallway on the far-right side of the chamber.
"Use the melta-blasters sisters, a taskforce will be heading out in that direction soon, the highway must remain intact," Galatea made the amendment and nodded at Sahnan. "Thank you for the advice lieutenant."
"Let's not waste any more time then," Tangmo turned to the assembled colonels and captains, "anybody up for a little stroll with yours truly?"
"We should be able to spare a few people," Krillen grinned and the guardsmen within earshot snickered. The Cadian colonel then tapped his earbud. "Orhul, assemble an assault team for the lord commissar, you'll be heading out soon."
"How many troops do you need, lord commissar?" Akecheta asked. "Hundreds? Thousands?"
"A hundred, maybe a bit more, we need to be quick and mobile," Nikki answered and Tangmo nodded his confirmation. "I'm bringing the Guardians along too."
"That's very agreeable dude, thank you," Tangmo held out his fist, Nikki bump it with heart, then turned to Leilatha. "I need you to stay here and lead the defenses. Stay safe Leila, I'll be back soon."
"I know you will," Leilatha nodded, her lips tugged upward in a grin that could only be described as sly. After everything they went through together, Leilatha was starting to catch on that he had a protagonist plot armor. "And don't worry, the orks will not be able to breach the mine."
"Leave some for us when we get back," Tangmo smiled then waved at the guardsmen main characters, "and good luck to all of you too. Don't think I've forgotten about you beautiful people!"
"Of course lord commissar," Evangeline rolled her eyes good-naturedly and nudged her head to the side. "The troops have been assembled. They're awaiting you and the lady exarch."
"Good luck and give them hell my dude, for the Emperor!" Tangmo raised his fist in goodbye and with Nikki at his side sprinted for the large corridor the Castigators had disappeared into. By the time they reached the mouth of the highway tunnel, where a large contingent of guardsmen and eldars were waiting, the Castigators were already letting loose their melta weaponries. The backblast turned the already stuffy interior into a freaking microwave.
"All is ready lord commissar, lady exarch," Orhul saluted Tangmo and Nikki, his MG-3 rapid-las held at the ready. "Pray tell, where are we going this time? Krillen was rather vague on the detail when he called for the team to be assembled."
"We're gonna go turn on a machine that will get the fucking kaijus off our asses," Tangmo said and the soldiers murmured very pleased tunes. The Thai commissar grinned at the hundred or so troopers arrayed before him. "Now this is a handsome looking group."
"Why, thank you kindly lord commissar," captain Anabelle of the Cobalt Star, colonel Joanna besties, made a playful curtsy in greeting. Her spunkiness and bright smile can make even a Krieg grin, if the rumors were true. The cuteness was ruined a bit by the AA-12 bolter she carried though. "A compliment always brightens the day, that's what I say!"
"Right you are, Anabelle," Tangmo took in the captain's handpicked troops, like her they were black men and women, all fifteen of them. "Hellkillers? I thought you guys are more adept at fighting daemons and heretics."
"We have a very storied repertoire," Anabelle held her AA-12 bolter at the ready, "besides, our auto Trench Guns work best in confine place."
"Yeah, yeah, but nothing beats a quick jab to the guts," captain Kana of the Dawn Blade secured a bayonet to the lug of her lasgun. "When are we moving out sir?"
"Now would be good," Tangmo slung the lasgun over his shoulder and drew his twin laspistols, giving them a few showy twirls. "Form up behind me and Nikki."
"It appears more are joining us, lord commissar," a Biel-Tan Guardian, the insignia on his breastplate identifying him as a lieutenant, pointed over Tangmo's shoulder. The Thai commissar turned around and quirked a brow when he saw Lakshmi and Rani approaching them with a platoon of Lohid Chakram guardsmen. "Better late than never I suppose."
"Lendor, it's been a while man, good to see you again," Nikki shook hand vigorously with the eldar lieutenant and waved Tangmo over to make the proper introduction. "This is lieutenant Lendor of the Biel-Tan, one of the most distinguished officer in the battlegroup."
"You led a contingent of Guardians and Aspect Warriors in a rearguard action when we withdrew from Thima-Chantra," Tangmo shook hand with Lendor. "That was one hell of a fight lieutenant, you gave Azarvhin's Khornate horde one hell of a beating, it's an honor to meet you in person."
"Thank you lord commissar, you are too kind," Lendor nodded sharply when Lakshmi and Rani, both breathing heavily, slid to a stop beside them.
"Oh hey Lakshmi, Rani, I didn't think you guys would be joining us," Nikki greeted the two Lohid officers.
"Seem like the right thing to do, after our kerfuffle with the intels earlier," Lakshmi shot Rani a look, who only muttered some rude sounding words in response. "We've rested enough, and the battlegroup has provided us with these new lasguns and data-slates, we're ready to fight."
"It's call a data-pad actually, a thousand times better than those old ass relics," Tangmo corrected Lakshmi then rolled his shoulders, bracing and hyping himself for the fight to come. "Alrighty then people, time to go…"
"More people approaches."
"Oh come the fuck on!" Tangmo stomped the ground petulantly and followed captain Galloway grinning face to where Laura and Yuki were approaching them with a column of Celestian Battle Sisters and the Howling Banshees. "Okay, fine, more women is always good. Especially ones that can kick ass and looks super-hot while doing it."
"A very chivalrous point of view lord commissar," Miriya deadpanned, not at all genuine with her comment. The nuns and elves were all wearing their helmets. "Time is of the essence, why have you not moved out yet?"
"I was being gentlemanly and waiting for the ladies to arrive," Tangmo made an obnoxious Victorian bow, the men laughed but the fairer sex was more than annoyed, and then took off down the corridor, the combined attack force thundering close at his heels. "We can run and talk. So, how are we supposed to activate the kaiju repellant?"
"I've already downloaded the necessary code needed for the reboot protocol," Tangmo was very relieved to see Vivian with them, the Cyborg Sororitas had brought along Lily, the Wolverine Sororitas, and a contingent of Avenging Knight Celestians who specialized in close quarter combat. "Once we reach the main console, I'll input the code and bring the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor back online."
"Aren't you glad you waited for us?" Laura and Yuki slipped in beside Tangmo and Nikki, the British inquisitor fluttered her lashes prettily before spinning around to face the troops. "Compact formation my lovelies, guardsmen and eldars in the middle, Sisters to the flanks!"
"Lakshmi, Rani, what are we walking into?" Yuki asked the Lohid officers. "Orks, skavens, nasty indigenous lifeforms?"
"Opposition should be light, lady exarch," Rani nodded with authority. "I was in charge of the defenses in this area, and this particular corridor had zero activity attributed to it. The orks made no attempt to use it as an avenue of attack. After a week or so I order the troops manning this tunnel to be transfer to more volatile front."
"I hope you're right dude, because it's a running theme for the Immortal Spirit battlegroup to never get it easy," Tangmo chuckled and the guardsmen and eldars joined in with heart, even if Rani and Lakshmi didn't look too thrill about the prospect. "Hey, don't worry about it, we're more than ready to kick some ass."
Rani grunted her acknowledgement when they reached the spot where the Lohid Chakram had partially blown up the tunnel, and holy shit the place was freaking hot. The heat from the heavy meltas had effectively turned this section of the highway into a steaming oven, the air so superheated that it hurts to breathe. But the byproduct was satisfying though, because the debris were completed cleared away. Holding his thumb up at the three Castigators, Tangmo, homies and the main characters quickly jogged through the tunnel. It wasn't until about five minutes later that the temperature normalized and they can breathe properly again, gasps and heaves abound.
"Holy crap, that was intense," Yuki wiped a thick sheen of sweat from her face, glanced at Tangmo, and smiled brightly. "Ha! You're finally sweating!"
"Shit dude, anybody gonna break a sweat after stepping into Satan's sauna like that," Tangmo wiped his face with the sleeve of his awesome commissar coat. "And no naked ladies to make the experience more bearable too, damn shame that."
"I know, but hey, we can't always get everything we want," Yuki and Tangmo shared a grin. The Japanese exarch then shouldered her eldar P90 and fixed her gaze forward. "Heads up people, the highway's widening and I can see a wall of buildings directly ahead. Safeties off!"
Rolling his shoulders, the kinks in his muscles loosened for the fight to come, Tangmo was raising his twin laspistols when he baulked at the dark shape looming before him, the guttering emergency lights bathing the structure in bleak, forlorn motif. Tangmo remembered when he had traveled to Hong Kong in his youth with his family, and one of the landmark they visited by accident, thanks to their lack of proficiency in Cantonese, was the Kowloon Walled City, aka the slum city, aka the closest thing to a real life Hive City. The massive singular structure took up the entirety of the cliff face the battlegroup was approaching, a good forty meter in height and hollowed out from the very heart of the mountain. The façade was of windows and doors, cramped and uncountable in number, the pattern chaotic and haphazard, a maddened attempt at habitation in a place mankind were never meant to dwell. Each dark, empty portal were bisected by bulging, rusted beams of neglected metal, while what little space remained was covered in an entangling mess of wires and cables.
"This reminds me of home, more specifically the slums in the lower cities," major Chen of the Buxiunese Dragon Blood took off his glasses, wiped the lenses, put it back on, and frowned. "Yes, this reminds me of home, and not in a good way."
"Too poor for your taste, eh Chen?" Kana chided him with a grin as the battlegroup swiftly formed a perimeter around the refinement facility, every gun aimed unwavering at the silent edifice. No muzzle flashes, no bangs, no pops of ionized air, so far so good.
"Oh of course, me and my friend only ventures down there when we require entertainments of the more clandestine nature," Chen grinned toothily and Kana winked knowingly, both of them were cut from the same noble cloth after all. "But the one quality I recall most vividly about the slum is the labyrinthine interior, a few of my friends were lost in that maze of darkness and misery, and I personally have a few close calls myself."
"I'm plotting the most optimal route from the map I downloaded, you won't get lost in there major," Vivian tapped the data-pad built into her mechanical right arm and started off to the left, the Avenging Knights falling in behind her. "But before we go in, we need to turn on the power first. No need to fret lady inquisitor, the generators are just over here."
"Stay close people, we all know dark scary places are never empty," Tangmo slid into Vivian's flank, his laspistols sweeping the shadow as the troops, moving with cautious, unified steps, quickly made their way to the rows of large rectangular shapes boxed inside a flimsy wire fence. It didn't escape Tangmo's noticed that the gate was lying on the ground, the hinges ripped apart. "Well shit. Hey Vivian, you see anything with your cyborg eye? Because someone totally kicked the fucking door down."
"Nothing but dusts and…shit," Vivian skidded to a stop beside a large power junction and knelt down to inspect it. The Thai commissar was about to ask what's up when a bright light shot out of her shoulder, followed by a breath of relief. "Oh, thank the Golden Throne. We're in luck lord commissar, the damage to the central transformer is superficial and the cables can be easily mended. This should take ten minutes, even sooner if we have some engineers in our ranks."
"Get some people up here, move it," Laura summoned several guardsmen and eldars who quickly huddled around Vivian, and after a bout of hissing and pointing every man and women went about repairing the transformer, sparks flew as cables and metals were fused back together. Leaning down, Laura grunted when she saw what the light revealed. "Nasty cuts, real messy shite, fucking orks made a mess out of this place."
"Are you sure the orks did this?" Lily asked, arms folded across her chest as she nudged her head at the damaged transformers, the repair was almost done. "I've seen vandalism done by greenskin scums, and if they were indeed responsible for this then nothing would be left standing. If I was to make a guess, the skavens did this. Crude and inaccurate though they maybe, compare to orks they're practically surgeon."
"And those rat fuckers could still be lurking close by," Yuki swept her P90 across the dark landscape. "If only we have some light – ahhh!"
Sparks and coils of blue electrical bolts erupted from the transformer, but instead of everything bursting into flames the generator hummed to life and the guttering light around them flare to maximum brightness, some bulbs bursting from the sudden influx of electricity. Blinking from the intense glare, Tangmo waited until his eyes adjusted to the illumination and turned to the walled city, and whoa, the place actually looks welcoming now that the power was back on. What had been stygian portals were now squares and rectangles of brilliant spectrum, red, green, blue, magenta and white, each windows and doors becoming pieces of a grand, dizzy mosaic, a crystalized tapestry of magnanimous grandeur amidst the darkness of the mountain.
"Alright then, that's enough gawking out of the lots of you, we're still in warzone," being the hardened military man that he was, captain Adrian marched across the ranks of awestruck troopers and snapped them out of their collective stupor. "Come on then ladies and gentlemen, look alive and keep your eyes peel."
"Right, sorry about that captain," Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap at Adrian, who reciprocated by tilting his pith helmet down respectfully. The Thai commissar turned to Vivian, the Sororitas's right arm had since morphed into a plasma cannon. "You got the place mapped out?"
"It looks simple enough, the command module is situated two kilometers directly ahead of us," Vivian and the Avenging Knights took their places at the front of the reformed column, her voice could only be described as guarded. "This look too easy, and when skavens are concern they're a lot more tactical than the orks. I want to suggest that we move cautiously, but…what's the situation at the front?"
"The orks haven't broken through yet, but they're getting more violent with the attempt," Nikki was listening intently to her earbud. "More explosives are being used and the kaijus had increased their stomping. We're battling against time here, but I say we go in carefully. We won't be doing anyone any good if we rush in and get our stupid asses killed."
"Moderate pace then," Tangmo turned to the humans and eldars, "quick jog people, watch the walls, ceilings and floor and get the motion sensors ready, it's a fucking maze in there. Safeties off and keep each other in sight, no hero bullshit, only me and my homies are allowed to do that. Let's fucking go!"
Taking the lead, Tangmo, Laura, Yuki and Nikki were the first to enter the walled city. Although they were thankful for the light, the illuminated interior wasn't appealing to behold in the least. The corridor was spacious enough to accommodate the battlegroup, with room aplenty for the troops to maneuver without issue. The path they now tread upon was littered with garbage, fallen bricks and steels, small automobiles, and dead bodies, lots and lots of dead bodies. Personally, Tangmo was glad it wasn't the same old Chaos shit like skinned crucified corpses, altars made of skulls, or pool of knee deep blood and viscera, no, the deceased the battlegroup encountered were piles of bleached bones. Picked completely clean, all that remained were stacks of calcium studded with metallic implants. It was a peaceful kind of desolation, almost making Tangmo forgets that they were in the danger zone.
"Heads up, there's a large communal area five hundred meter ahead of us," Vivian took her eye off the data-pad and held her plasma cannon arm up at the ready. "Sensors are green, but be ready for anything."
"We'll set up a defensive line. Have the heavy troops fall in behind our shields," princeps Agrippina of the Eternal Legion and her cohort swiftly formed up behind Tangmo and his homies. The blonde Roman Sororitas then waved her bolter in the air. "Astrid, Zola, we can really use the Frost Bringer and the Golden Pride to support us, your shields will greatly compliment ours."
"We're right behind you Agrippina," Zola, with Astrid in tow, slipped in beside the princeps, Nguni and Viking shield brandished at the ready. The Golden Pride ingonyama politely tapped Tangmo on the shoulder when they drew near a low archway. "With your permission lord commissar, we would like the honor of breaching the chamber."
"Ladies first," Tangmo winked and stepped aside for the Celestians to sprint passed him. Agrippina, Astrid and Zola giggled friendlily and bowed at him. "Give me a holler if you need anything."
"Look at you being all popular with the sisters," Nikki quirked her brow suggestively as she nudged Tangmo in the rib with her elbow.
"Alas, the young hardly knows any better," Miriya commented as hers and Firnera's squad took their places beside Orhul's team. Tangmo gave Miriya an annoyed look and she shrugged in response. "Then again, you're more preferable than the lady inquisitor and the lady exarch."
"Oi, that's very hurtful Miriya!" Laura glared at the Martyred Lady while Yuki's lips trembled in the fakest display of sadness Tangmo had ever seen in his life. "Me and Yuki are friendly, it's not our fault you misconstrue our companionable intention, for shame!"
"You know if you perverts didn't go full Happosai every time y'all got inside the lady's locker rooms, then you two might be a bit more popular with the women of the battlegroup, and I don't have to sign off on hundreds of fucking restraining orders against you jackasses every fucking month. Watch yourselves Verity, you too Annelle, I've read your complaints," Laura and Yuki narrowed their eyes murderously on Tangmo, while Verity and Annelle scooted closer to Miriya and Firnera. Before the British inquisitor and the Japanese exarch can make an impolite retort, the Thai commissar held up a fist, shushing them. "Well shit…all eyes open people, be ready for anything."
The awning hall they entered was vast, even when littered with rubbishes left behind by the previous, unfortunate residents. Some of those residents were visible in heaps and mounds of dusty skeletons. This deep inside the mountain, under trillions of tones of rocks and devoid of sunlight, mankind had tried and failed to tame the planet. Stalls, tables, cars, trucks, cargo containers, and miscellaneous machines, all of them sporting blackish decay and so frail in appearance that Tangmo feared to touch, were scattered across the flat space the battlegroup now tread upon. The place looks large enough to fit several football stadiums.
"At least we have some cover," Nikki swept her helmed gaze across the chamber, obviously scanning it through several spectrum filters. The bright white neon clashed jarringly with the muted emptiness. "I'm not picking up anything so far."
"All for the best," Vivian nodded and glanced at the data-pad on her arm. "The Molecular Kinetic Disruptor is just down that corridor over there. Come on, we're almost home free, let's go."
"Wait!" Zola hissed from the shield wall, drawing sharp looks from Astrid and Agrippina as she went prone on the floor, took off her lion helm, and pressed her ear flat against the surface. "…We're no longer alone, prepare for contact."
"You can tell by listening to the ground?" Astrid asked, genuinely curious as she removed her winged helm, lie next to Zola, and mimicked her Golden Pride counterpart, face scrunched in concentration. Curious, Tangmo went to one knee and knocked the slab at his feet, concrete, pretty thick too judging by the muted echo. "Besides the lord commissar's little knock there, I'm not hearing anything."
"I had a lot of practice on my homeworld," Zola sprang back to her feet and put her helm back on, Astrid following suit with equal speed. "And from what I can tell, the ruin is inhabited but a great mass of arms."
"From which direction are they coming?" Agrippina made quick hand signal to her fellow princeps and stabbed her scutum shield to the ground, around her the Sisters of Battle, guardsmen and Aeldari swiftly slipped behind any cover they can find. The only two morons still standing in the open was Tangmo and Yuki. The two Asians striking badass samurai pose as they took in the pillars, ceiling, walls, doors and windows. "Forgive me, but I am not hearing anything."
"Not from below, thank the God Emperor for that little luck," Vivian looked to Zola for confirmation and the ingonyama nodded. "My reading is telling me they're coming from the walls and ceilings."
"There are a lot of bloody walls and ceilings mate," Laura stared unblinking down the barrel of her hellgun. "Can you maybe narrow down the direction please?"
"They're…!"
Tangmo and Yuki opened fire, lasbolts and shurikens tearing into a rusty ventilation duct, the rectangular metal pathway screamed shrilly as black and red ichor poured through simmering bullet holes. The Thai commissar and the Japanese exarch continued firing their sidearms until a wide section of the ventilation duct fall from the ceiling, sending splatters of blood everywhere as a dozen skaven warriors shoved and pushed each other in a mad attempt to escape the claustrophobic confines, made more cramp by the corpses of their comrade. The squirming rats were cut to pieces by Orhul's rapid-las full-auto salvo.
"That's some nice shooting," Annabel commented from behind an upturned… Tuk-Tuk? Holy shit, that's a 40k Tuk-Tuk, complete with skulls and rosaries and everything. "How did you know they were in there?"
"The noise," Yuki tapped her ear and Tangmo nodded in agreement. "We're Asians dude, me and Tangmo are super tuned in to this ninja bullshit."
Welp, things might have started out with shinobi maneuvering, but the skavens, who unfortunately possessed more brain cells than the average ork, quickly shifted tactic with loud bangs of kinetic weaponries. See, Tangmo and Yuki would've wanted nothing more than to stand their ground, back to back, and unleash an epic gunfight with the ratmen, but the motherfuckers can aim, better than the run of the mill Chaos cultists even. Therefore, after an embarrassing bout of squealing and jumping, the Thai commissar and the Japanese exarch leapt behind a long tractor with eight wheels where several dozen guardsmen were currently hunkered down and trading fire with the skavens.
"Not the most heroic display, lord commissar, lady exarch," captain Adrian chided them with clear parental endearment, popped his head above cover, and emptied his bolt pistol at a stack of crates. Splinters and viscera flew as surviving skaven warriors scrambled behind a sturdy looking pillar where a team of slave rats were setting up a Gatling gun. "Look alive ladies and gentlemen, they're bringing up the heavy weapons. Kindly cut them down please."
"Shit, I forgot those fucks knew how to aim," Tangmo traded goofy laugh with Yuki and joined Adrian and the guardsmen in gunning down the skavens, a task proved annoyingly difficult because the rats were actually competent when the exchanging of bullets were concern, "motherfuck, when did the fucking rats learn how to shoot this good?!"
"Above us! Look out!" Yuki trained her eldar P90 up and went full auto on the wires and walkways dangling from the ceiling, managing to kill several skavens before a suppressing barrage forced her back into cover. The hail of bullets was so encompassing that a few guardsmen were cut down. "Son of a bitch! We can't fucking stay here, we need to keep moving or we're all dead! Firnera! You and the Banshees are with me!" Putting away the P90 and drawing her twin eldar katanas, Yuki turned to Tangmo. "Can you give me covering fire?"
"No problem dude," Tangmo tapped Adrian on the shoulder, the Praetorian captain nodded sharply and swiftly flashed hand signals to every guardsman in sight, prompting them stop firing as Yuki bent her knees. The skavens started pressing forward, believing that the battlegroup had lost the will to fight, when Tangmo popped up above the tractor, laspistols in both hands. "Covering fire!"
The execution was close to flawless, Tangmo grinning brightly as the barrage of white hot las scythed into the stunned skavens. Misty streaks of steaming blood and twirling fleshy viscera cascaded skyward in a brilliant spectacle of gore, but the skavens didn't break. Sure, they retreated back to their original defensive position, even dragging a few injured comrades back too, but it wasn't the complete rout Tangmo was used to seeing, especially when fighting shmucks like Chaos cultists and Chaos related soldiers. And here he thought the rats were supposed to be cowards. The skavens were just about to return fire when Yuki and the Howling Banshees, with lithe gracefulness of ballerinas, leapt over the battlegroup's covers in a soundless, elegant leap and sprinted straight for the rats. Seeing what was about to happen, Tangmo slammed his palms over his ears the same moment Yuki and the Howling Banshees unleashed their ultra-sonic scream. The bombastic acoustic assault ragdolled several skavens across the air while many more lost their heads, skulls bursting in a halo of red. Across the hall, specifically everything in front of the Banshees, the skavens were shrieking in pain, crawling pitifully on hands and knees and clawing at bleeding ears and eyes.
"We got a path through!" Yuki waved the katana fiercely above her head. "Follow me, for life and for light! Let's fucking go!"
"Go, go, go!" Fun as it was to dual wield laspistols, Tangmo knew the situation called for a more tactical approach. So he holstered the two weapons and unslung his lasgun. Taking his place at the front, Tangmo waved the guardsmen and the eldars to follow and sprinted after Yuki and the Banshees. "Keep moving, the skavens are down for the count, come on!"
They made good progress, fifty yards by Tangmo's estimation, easily overrunning the skaven's impromptu barricades, las and shurikens and bayonets flashed murderously as the surviving rats were dealt with. But they soon came upon another line of defense, this one stretched across the entrance to the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor's chamber. Shit, the rats had obviously used the forward elements as a delaying tactic, because these lots were ready for them. Big ass Gatling heavy machine guns and green plasma cannons were primed and ready and pointed directly at the battlegroup.
"Motherfuck – take cover, take fucking cover!" Tangmo dashed behind a long single story building, the shape not dissimilar to a cargo container, the same moment the skavens opened fire. Although nowhere near as disciplined or accurate as the battlegroup, the skaven proved to be extremely serviceable when handling range weapons. The hellish barrage cut down a few guardsmen and eldars and forced the rest into cover. It was nothing short of luck that the battlegroup had stumbled into what was essentially the slum section of the giant communal chamber. The hodgepodge buildings were sturdy but wouldn't last long against concentrated fire, "pin down by the fucking rats, un-fucking believable! I'm gonna fucking skin the motherfuckers…wait, where's Yuki? Yuki?! Yuki where the fuck are you?!"
"I'm here, calm down dude!" Tangmo sighed in relief when Yuki, along with Firnera and her squad, slipped into cover where he and the other guardsmen and eldars were hunkered down. "Thanks for the concern man, really appreciate it. Are you hurt?"
"No, you?" Yuki shook her head. "Good, because if anything happens to you Laura's gonna blame me, and then she's gonna hurt me."
"Yeah, I know," Yuki snickered, glanced down at her two katanas, and groaned agitatedly. "Goddamn fucking rat shits I was gonna charge gloriously like Uesugi Kenshin at Kawanakajima, but the fuckers shot us instead of engaging in glorious close quarter combat! Shameful display!"
"Hey, you should be happy this didn't turn into Nagashino," Tangmo shrugged and turned to Adrian. "Casualty report captain, and please be honest."
"Low lord commissar, thank the God Emperor because that was a very nasty volley," Adrian tapped his earbud then nodded. "Eleven killed and twenty injured, guardsmen and eldars both, no Sororitas death so far."
"How far away are the skavens?" Rani asked then flashed a quick sequence of hand signal, prompting Lakshmi and the Chakram guardsmen to fall in behind her.
"Not sure, but we can find out," Tangmo slammed his fist on the building's rickety door immediately to his left, sending the flimsy portal slamming inward, the interior was bathed in kaleidoscopic flashes of unleashed weaponries. Peering inside and concluding that it was empty, Tangmo tapped his earbud. "Laura, Nikki, you two alive?"
"Just peachy, thank you very much," Nikki replied through clenched teeth. "You two okay?"
"Yeah, we're cool for the moment," Tangmo nudged his head and led Yuki and the main characters inside the blocky residential unit. The place was littered with bottles, syringes, discarded food wrappings and dirty ass furniture, black filths covered the floors and walls and ceiling. Basically every slum in every universe, but hey, they've fought in dirtier places than this. Thanks to the skavens relentless barrage, Tangmo, Yuki and the main characters easily, stealthily, traversed the messy interior and arrayed themselves along the grated windows, weapons held at the ready as they peered over the rim. The rats were a measly sixty yards away, and holy shit them rodents were ugly as fuck. "Okay, so, me and Yuki and our team are super close to the skavens. We're fixing bayonets yo, I need the Sororitas to provide covering fire and distract them."
"I got a better idea, how about you all maintain your position?" Laura was totally smiling on the other end. Beyond the murky window Tangmo can see the skavens waving urgently to the left, every word coming in panicky screeches. "Oh, and do cover your eyes, this is going to be bright."
Trading looks with Yuki, Tangmo conveyed Laura's order to the troops and ducked down, his back pressed against the wall as they waited for the Sororitas to unleash their flashbangs. There were no booms, but the light flaring through the windows was uniform and tangible and terribly bright. Blinking quickly, his eyes watering from the painful glare, Tangmo silently thanked the God Emperor he wasn't outside.
"Jesus fucking Christ, that's fucking bright!" Hand raised to shield her eyes, Yuki was about to say more when the light dimmed to a bearable degree. Beyond the windows the skavens howled in unbridled agony. "Looks like something bad just happened to the skavens. Wanna take a peek?"
"If they're dying, then it's good for us," Tangmo snickered and slowly, with Yuki, rose up to peer through the unwashed window. "Holy shit…yo, everyone, get up and take a look at this, it's freaking awesome."
The main characters, seeing that no sniper bullets or rockets had decapitated the grinning Tangmo and Yuki, joined the Thai commissar and the Japanese exarch around the windows. Smiles broke out on the guardsmen and eldars' faces, prayers to the God Emperor and Isha abound as they beheld the Sororitas glorious assault on the skavens. But this was no ordinary charge. Instead of brandished melee weapons, roaring bolters and walls of inferno, the tip of the spear was comprised of psyker sisters, holy women who had been sanctified and trained to harness the power of the Warp against all enemies of mankind. The Sororitas will never said that out loud though, because the official wording the nuns published to the public stated that the magic used were faith of the God Emperor made manifest, which wasn't wrong per say. This was later legitimized when Celestine gave her blessing to this new art of destruction.
"Holy shit, when did the nuns got so good with magic?" A smile split Yuki's face in two when Himinn of the Frost Bringer, with a dainty flick of the hand, send spikes of ice shooting out of the ground, impaling a score of fleeing skavens and turning the twitchy motherfuckers into popsicles. "Okay, that was fucking cool, no pun intended."
"I thought the Sisters of Battle spurn such heretical practice?" Lakshmi asked, her eyes widening with awe. Oh right, the Lohid Chakram were new to the Immortal Spirit's many lore breaking quirks. "The rumors regarding the battlegroup were no exaggeration it seems."
"Trust me dude, this is just the tip of the iceberg when rumors are concern. Your mind will most likely be blown in the coming days, not figuratively of course," Tangmo winked the same moment bright white flare enveloped several machine gun nests, the beatific ray burning the skavens to crisp. "There goes that light again. Who the hell is causing that?"
"Her," Yuki pointed at the woman standing beside Himinn, one of the twelve Sororitas psykers currently waltzing across the carnage of unleashed, Imperium approved, sorcery. She was of the Eternal Legion, orbs of white energy orbiting her dark auburn hair. Aristocratic in bearing, the woman nudged a disdainful chin at the scurrying skavens and an orb shot across the air on streamer of hazy heat, landing amongst the rats to explode in a brilliant dome of prismatic inferno that melts rather than burn. "Her name is Minerva, a bit of a prima donna from what I heard, but she can be as bitchy as she wants with those kinds of power, damn."
"And here I thought Mbhali was the only one who uses fire," Tangmo pointed at the aforementioned Golden Pride Sororitas, an Nguni shield in her left hand, roots and vines of roiling flame on her right. Spitting a slew of curses in her native tongue at a group of warrior rats who were attempting a countercharge, Mbhali stabbed her arm of fire at them. The tendrils of flame impaled then wrapped the screaming skavens up in a burning embrace. It was not a pretty way to die. Gotta give it to the skavens though, despite being obliterated by the Sororitas the rat fuckers refused to give up and were actually trying to stem the nun's advance. A salvo from several Gatling guns poured on Mbhali, forcing the Zulu Sororitas behind her shield. The skavens were starting to laugh loudly when a hail of needle sharp ice scythed into them, sending mist of blood fountaining into the air. Himinn skidded to a stop beside Mbhali and extended her hand downward, the Golden Pride taking the offered help and allowed the Frost Bringer to hurl her up. They traded friendly nod and together unleashed their respective powers on the skavens. "Yo, dude, check it out, a legit song of ice and fire."
"Hot damn dude, you're right, that's super cool," Yuki grinned, went over to the backdoor, and waved over Firnera and the Banshees. "But things are about to get a lot more frosty in the awesome department. Let's go ladies, we're not letting the Sororitas have all the fun!"
Yuki had successfully roused the Banshee into a spirited frenzy, and before Tangmo can suggest a more tactical approach the Japanese exarch had kicked down the door and charged outside with her squad of screaming elf women. Great timing too, because an ass load of skavens warriors, accompanied by a dozen giant feral rats the size of Irish Wolfhounds, were careening for the Sororitas flank. The rats saw the Banshees too late and got themselves sandwiched between two groups of armored women, which sounded super hot on paper but the actually execution proved to be extremely fatal for the recipients.
"Okay, those fuckers are running away for real this time – whoa!" Tangmo had taken three steps outside when a rope intestine flew his way, causing him to jump out of the way with a squawk. Celestian Jenatea of the Bloody Rose gave him an apologetic shrug before sprinting after a fleeing skaven, the poor bastard didn't make it far before getting gored by a revving chainsword. "…Right, uh, give them covering fire and haul ass to the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor, let's go!"
Tangmo led the guardsmen and Guardians outside at a speedy dash, head low and barrel trained forward, and groaned when it became apparent that no covering fire was needed. The only target available to them were dying skavens crawling miserably across the viscera slicked floor, most were missing limbs, the killing that followed were extremely unsatisfying. It almost felt like they were helping the rats by putting them out of their misery.
"I would advise that we stop letting the Sororitas tag along with us," major Kana huffed as she sawed open the neck of a gurgling warrior rat with her bayonet. "They rob all the fun from the fight."
"Always savor the easy bout Kana," Adrian said after crushing a skaven's head with his boot. "A breather is nice now and then."
"Not that I don't disagree Adrian, but I don't think the fight is over," captain Galloway pointed at the corridor in front of them, where flashes and booms of weaponries were rising to a violent octave. "Things are getting really loud."
"Move!" Tangmo bounded for the corridor, sending wet crimson splashing, and within moment he'd reached the rear of the Sororitas's column. Verity and Alnelle were patching up injured nuns and elves, their patients looking mightily impatient that the two medics were not fixing the cuts and scratches faster. Thankfully, the wounded were low in number and the injuries themselves were superficial, "what's happening Verity?"
"Orks, lord commissar," Verity ignored the hissing Valorous Heart as she applied the healing gel. "A dozen orks accompanied by twice that many skavens are currently inside the chamber where the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor is situated. Miriya's preparing to attack them."
"Oh hell no!" Tangmo shouldered his way through the Sororitas, earning extremely impolite words in the process, and just as he'd feared Miriya had positioned all the big gunners at the front. Heavy bolters, heavy meltas and heavy plasmas were trained on the orks and skavens scattered about the fuck huge chamber. One wrong shot and the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor is fucked. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
"Thank the God Emperor," not the most common phrase the Adepta Sororitas bestowed upon Tangmo, but here was Vivian, who appeared to be arguing with Miriya, turning to the Thai commissar with clear relief. "Please tell them we can't just bombard the orks and skavens with overwhelming firepower."
"Do not bombard the orks and skavens with overwhelming firepower," Tangmo slid in between the two Sororitas. Like the hunkered greenskins and rats the battlegroup were now arrayed across fallen masonries, toppled beams of steel and a few rusty trucks already riddled with sizzling bullet holes. Bracing his back against the waist high slab of concrete, the dimension long and horizontal, Tangmo waved at Laura, Yuki and Nikki, his three homies were squeezed tight between the Sisters of Battle and the Howling Banshees. "How are you guys doing?"
"Just trying to convince the nice ladies not to cause too much collateral damage," Laura shrugged good-naturedly and the Sororitas rewarded her with red slit glares. "Because we kinda need those computers running if we're gonna turn the kaiju repellant on."
"The machines were manufactured by the mechanicus," Celestian Emmanis of the Ebon Chalice said, "it is sturdy, it can more than likely withstand a suppressing barrage."
"A thousand years ago maybe, look at the damn thing now!" At Nikki gesturing Tangmo peeked above the rim. Before a wild salvo of bolts and bullets forced him back down, Tangmo came to conclusion that the Sororitas's arsenals would more than likely destroy every piece of machinery between them and the orks. "Everything's rusted to shit!"
"The console can still withstand las, lord commissar," Rani was peppering a group of rats with bursts of strobing white light, the laser dealing superficial damage to the derelict metal. She ducked a barrage of returning fire and beamed at the Immortal Spirit homemade weapon. "Holy Throne, this thing is amazing!"
"I know, right?! I love it too!" Tangmo grinned, took one more look at the orks and skavens, then tapped his earbud. "All guards and Guardians, on my mark unleash a suppressing volley, force those fuckers behind cover and advance on their positions. And fix bayonets too, things are gonna get bloody real quick."
"And what exactly are we supposed to do in the mean time?" Miriya asked, her tone clipped, totally not liking the fact that the infantries were about to steal her thunder.
"Gee, I don't know, maybe use your freaking melee weapons?!" Tangmo stated the obvious and the Sisters of Battle vocalized their understanding, some were already switching gears. "I mean, dude, seriously, we're literally creating a corridor for you and your friends to go full Repentia on them. Sounds a lot better than turning the entire place to smithereens, don't you think?"
"You make a very good point, lord commissar," there was clear humor in Miriya's tone as she drew her chainsword, thumbed the switch, and nodded respectfully at Tangmo, "when you're ready."
"Make ready!" Tangmo shouted down the line and the guardsmen and Guardians braced their lasguns and shuriken catapults, unblinking eyes honed on the orks and skavens. They waited until the greenskins and rats ran out of bullets, and the moment they fumbled to reload Tangmo emerged from cover and flipped his lasgun to full-auto. "In the name of the God Emperor, let none survive!"
The skavens reloaded faster than the orks, but that didn't save their asses when the fusillade of lasers and shurikens crashed into them. Red misted the air as Tangmo, with Nikki at his side, charged head first at the enemy, roaring guardsmen and Guardians thundering behind. They cleared the empty ground a split second before the orks raised their guns and Tangmo leapt over the rows of metallic consoles to plunge his gleaming bayonet into the eyeball of a very startled greenskin. The screaming fucker didn't die immediately though, so Tangmo atomized his cranium with a ten second uninterrupted application of las. Wrenching the blade free from the pulping mess of flesh, Tangmo was training his lasgun on an ork wielding a double barrel shoota when one, then two, then three, and finally four lasbolts punched into four different spots on his head. The terminally rigid ork collapsed brokenly to the ground the same moment colonel Lakshmi appeared beside Tangmo, a smoking Zetton lasgun braced to her shoulder.
"Rani, was right," Lakshmi grinned. "This is one of the best weapons I've ever wielded."
"Nice shooting Lakshmi, thank you," Tangmo quirked a brow at the dead ork, bubbling brain matter was leaking out from eyes, nose, mouth and ears in carmine torrent. "Holy fucking shit, what did you do exactly? The ork looked…lobotomized?"
"I targeted the greenskin's chakras, thereby advancing his demise. It's one of the reasons why we were such a bane to the orks, we know exactly where to hit for maximum damage," Lakshmi started off toward the blacken obelisk at the center of the cavernous chamber, the tip lost within the lightless, unreachable ceiling. Countless man-size cables dangled from the forlorn structure, sprouting from the four sides to connect with the walls, like branches of a decaying tree drooping from the sickness coursing through its veins. Sliding in beside Lakshmi, and joined by Nikki and more guardsmen and Guardians, Tangmo saw that a group of orks were gathered on the other side of the machine, barking and arguing with each other but not fighting, "seems like they're busying doing something."
"Can't be anything good," Nikki flinched and spun around when violent roars erupted behind her. The Ukrainian exarch exhaled in relief when she saw the Sororitas and the Banshees, Laura and Yuki amongst them, careened into the orks and skavens in a thunderous surf of gleaming steel and cascading red. The orks might be no slouch when it comes to melee fighting, but before the titanic wrath and immaculate grace of the nuns and elves, powered by a single-minded zealous hatred for the greenskins, the poor fungal bastards were quickly overwhelmed. They howled in hapless anger as revving chainswords opened up guts, power halberds skewering them to the ground as axes, swords and assegai spears tore them apart, and gladius and katana and jian send limbs flying in fountains of blood. And amidst the bloodletting Lily, the Wolverine Sororitas of the Avenging Knights, leapt from one ork to another, her sparking power claws leaving behind ruins of charcoal, mutilate gibs. "Damn, got a little scare for a moment there, I thought the orks were chasing after us."
"Now we only have to worry about these assholes," Tangmo rounded the obelisk and found the orks and skavens huddled over a large, haphazardly made box of some kind, which was being busied over be a dozen gretchins. A skaven with big goggles was the first to notice Tangmo, and got a lasbolt between the eyes for his trouble. "Open fire! Kill them all!"
"Blast them humies and pointy ear gits! But don't shoot that one! I want his shiny pointy hat!" The ork leading this particular group, a fuck huge Nob boyz about the size of Damien, hefted up his gigantic shitty made power axe and made a beeline for the individual who was wearing said shiny pointy hat. That individual was Tangmo. "Mine!"
"Come and pry it off my cold dead head!" In hindsight, that wasn't the smartest thing to say, but Tangmo was caught in the moment and, in another display of ill-advised heroism, drew his bolt pistol and an unloaded the clip on the Nob. All eight depleted uranium bullets found their mark, exploding the Nob's torso spectacularly. The bastard however refused to die or even acknowledge his injuries. Unhindered in speed and boisterous in mirth he pressed onward. Truly, this was a cause for concern, but Tangmo remained cool and reloaded his bolt pistol. "That's the best you can do, you green motherfucker?! Come on! Fucking bring it bitch!"
By the time he raise his bolt pistol again it was already too late. The Nob leapt off the ground, flaming battle axe raise high above his head, but before the bisecting swoop can turn Tangmo into a past tense the orkish melee weapon exploded in a brilliant ball of fire, spraying the Thai commissar with soot and sparks. His savior was none other than Nikki, her Aeldari rifle trained unwavering forward as she send three more shurikens at the Nob, tearing apart his right arm until only a bleeding stump remained. Of course, it would take more than a missing limb to stop an enrage ork, nope, what finally decommissioned the tenacious Nob was the combine might of Orhul's rapid las, Alistair's bolt pistol, Anabelle's AA-12 bolter, Lendor's shurikens, and Kana's full auto lasbolts.
"Thanks for the assists my guys and gals, really appreciate it," Tangmo holstered his bolt pistol and wiped his sweaty brow. "But seriously, holy fuck that was some close call shit right there dude, fucking hell."
"I agree, even more dicey than that time you and me went up against that fucking tank back on Kolasi," Orhul adjusted the grip of his white hot rapid-las and looked Tangmo up and down. "That was very impressive, you holding your ground like that. Did you piss yourself?"
"Came this fucking close," Tangmo held up his pinched thumb and forefinger and the battlegroup laughed heartily. "But yeah, tragedy has been avoided and we're once again…!"
"I got it! I got it! HAHAHAHA! I told you I'll get this done!"
Tangmo hates being interrupted, and he hate it even more when the interruption was made by a skinny gretchin, the laughing green fucker had emerged from the large box that was being fussed over earlier. Wiping his sooty goggle, the gretchin's mirth crumbled into shuddering fear when he saw the guardsmen and Guardians now glaring at him. Being the wretched coward that he was, the gretchin squealed loudly and dashed out of the box, and straight into Galloway. The giant Sleaghadharian stomped the gretchin in the head, blood, brain and skull flying, making a mess of the place.
"Fuck! This is going be a pain to wash off," Galloway was wiping at his boot across the ground when he stopped suddenly, stared at the open box, and pointed at the interior, which was blinking a very ominous red. "That looks like a bomb."
"It is a bomb," Nikki deadpanned, peered inside, and turned to Tangmo with wide bulging eyes. "Yep, that's a bomb."
"Lord commissar, the orks and skavens have been vanquish and our heavy troops have formed a perimeter around the tunnel they had emerged from. We can begin the activation sequence of…" Vivian, along with Laura and Yuki, skidded to a stop beside the unmoving guardsmen and eldars, and found their latest quandary. "That's a bomb."
"Yes, you're the third person who said that," Tangmo, along with Laura and Yuki, joined Nikki in staring at the misshapen square riveted with a mess of snaking wires, the stuttering digital display counting down from 9:30. 9:20 now, damn the clock is ticking fast. "So, the solution seems pretty straight forward. What was the last movie y'all watched that involves bomb disposal?"
"Does Armageddon count?" Laura piped up. "Because me and Yuki watched that before we entered Darwin IX's orbit."
"That'll have to do, I suppose," Tangmo knelt down beside the box. "Okay, the first thing we need to do, like in all the movies, is remove the front panel. Help me out guys."
"Are you fucking serious right now?!" Nikki blurted as Tangmo and Yuki, moving swiftly against the ticking clock, carefully ran their hands over the box, trying and failing to find any opening on the graffiti covered surface. Laura helped by turning on the data-pad high power light and pointing it at the bomb. "You're using Michael Bay's movie as the groundwork for disarming a bomb?! In case you've forgotten bombs always go off in his film, that's the dude's entire shtick!"
"Dude, I know," Tangmo exhaled sharply and found the screw nuts holding the front plate intact. "And unless you want Laura and Yuki's last cinematic experience to be fucking Armageddon, can you kindly lend a helping hand?!"
"That is a lot of explosive, lord commissar," Orhul whistled loudly and leaned over Tangmo's shoulder, the Thai commissar can't tell whether the heavy weapon captain's enunciation leaned toward the impressed or the dire. "Thermonuclear warhead, several warheads too, oh, and that cylinder over there is a plasma munitions, usually used for void battles, more specifically boarding action."
"Bro, I said help, not stress me the fuck out!" Tangmo had taken out his combat knife, a tanto for Yuki, and together started unscrewing the nuts. "Do you want to contribute? Because I know you and Krix are experts on things that goes boom."
"Sadly, my area of expertise doesn't lie with the diffusion of such devices sir," Orhul shook his head. "But I know how they work. I'll help guide you through the process."
"Very much obliged Orhul," Yuki sheathed her tanto once the last nut falls away and started lifting the plate with Tangmo's help. "If you want, you can take my place."
"No thank you lady exarch," Orhul waved her off. "I rather not be blame if thing goes wrong."
"I shall bear all of your sin then," Laura rolled her eyes at Tangmo's quasi-religious declaration. He then turned to Vivian. "Sister Vivian, I need you to power up the Molecular Kinetic Disruptor while me and my homies defuses the bomb."
"Good luck," Vivian nodded and started off toward the right side of the chamber, waving for the engineers to join her. "Move it!"
"Okay, now back to the…" Tangmo froze mid-sentence, the combat knife held aloft over the jumble of wires snaking out from under the display. "Umm…did Minerva's spell made me color blind or is every fucking wire red?"
"The latter," Miriya deadpanned and the main characters drew closer, the rapt attention did absolutely fuck all for Tangmo's nerve besides ripping it to pieces. "That's a lot of wire to cut."
"And a lot of chance to cut the wrong one," this latest unhelpful comment came from Astrid of the Frost Bringer.
"Holy fucking shit, can you maybe stop?! I can barely keep my hand from shaking as it is!" Tangmo snapped and the Celestian Sororitas groaned in annoyance. "Shouldn't all of you be, I don't know, getting the hell away from this place in case this shit blows up?"
"Fleeing would be moot I'm afraid, none of us can escape a blast radius that big," Adrian said nonchalantly and went about adjusting his uniform. "Therefore, we have elected to remain with you, emotional support can go a long way."
"When can I get some of those?!" Tangmo grunted and twirled the combat knife around his fingers in a contemplative motion. "Welp, guess I'm gonna start cutting then!"
"Oi! How about you fucking don't you daft cunt!" Laura raised her voice.
"You got a better idea?" Tangmo grabbed several wires, held it taut, and pressed the sharp as fuck combat knife to the red, rubbery length. Laura, Yuki and Nikki started spluttering, but nothing coherent came. "No?! Okay then! I'm die, thank you forever!"
"Sir, I may have found a way to safely deactivate the bomb," Lendor tapped the side of his Aeldari helm before giving an affirmative grunt. "Lord commissar, each individual wires have differing quantity of power surges and flows, I believe the ones with the stronger output is feeding the timer and the detonator."
"You need to – wait, wait, wait! Don't cut it yet!" Orhul held up a stopping hand when Tangmo started angling the combat knife. "We need to make sure there are no power spikes, this will happen when you cut a wrong wire and send a burst of electricity into the detonator. The wires need to be cut in sequence, so that the input is regulated, until a single flow exists for us to sever and hopefully deactivate the bomb."
"This has to be done with the quickest speed, lord commissar," Lendor added. "Because for every wire you cut, the increase electrical input will hasten the timer."
"Let's not waste any more time then," Tangmo stopped the trembling in his hands with herculean effort, let out a long calming breath, and shuffled his feet until he was comfortable. With that done, Tangmo tightened his grip on the combat knife and nodded at Lendor. "Take the lead, I'll cut where you say cut."
Tangmo had fought a lot of crazy terrifying shit in his life, and was proud to say that every single time he had remained cool under pressure, kept his bowel unmoved, and even managed to be dashingly awesome when dispatching the foes of the battlegroup. But right now, snipping red wires at Lendor's instruction, Tangmo felt crushed by the weight of his task, his stomach making more flips and somersaults and moonsaults than the entire cruiserweight roaster of WWE and AEW combined. Compound to all of that was a waterfall worth of sweat pouring down his face. Muttering a slew of Thai curses under his breath, Tangmo narrowed his focus until nothing remained but the combat knife and the wires and the serene motion of his hands. People depended on him and he won't fuck this up. Nikki reached over and dabbed his brow with a piece of cloth, just in time before a rivulet ran into his eyes, and Tangmo nodded his thanks. He cut, and cut, and cut, growing more confident when the bomb didn't blow up. It must've been after the thirtieth snip when Tangmo glanced up at the timer - what the fuck, 2:30 minutes left?! Had he taken that long? Whoa, the clock is going way faster than normal!
"Two wires remain that is feeding the timer lord commissar," Lendor announced hurriedly and pointed at the cables. "They must be cut simultaneously, a second too slow and the power surge will activate the bomb."
"I got your back," Yuki seated herself down beside Tangmo and, tanto in hand, grab the other wire Lendor had indicated. "On three?"
"On three…one, two, three…!" The synchronicity matching down to the nanosecond, Tangmo and Yuki severed the wires together and held their breath. There was no indication that the task was successful, but when Tangmo glanced up at the digital display no numbers danced on it, all was blessedly black. "…I'm afraid to say anything."
"No words are needed lord commissar, you have successfully defused the bomb, see?" Before he can even react to this revelation, Vivian reappeared beside him, grabbed a fistful of wires at random, and pulled a thicket of the damn thing free. Curses and shouts erupted amongst the main characters, but beside rude words the nukes didn't go off. Vivian snorted then pointed at the obelisk, cables still dangling from her fingers. "The Molecular Kinetic Disruptor is operational by the way, I turned it on a few minutes ago."
"For real?" Sliding the combat knife into the sheath at his boot, Tangmo and Yuki got up and glanced at the obelisk. The black surface was now adorned with great colorful neon, each illuminating lines moving in sharp symmetrical patterns. "Holy goddamn, that's pretty." Tangmo tilted his head then turned to Yuki. "You're hearing the low hum, right?"
"Yeah, kinda like when a big truck drive nears your house," Yuki took a few moments more to gander at the obelisk before turning to Vivian. "So this thing is working? I mean, the machine is obviously functioning but how do we know it's doing anything?"
"Tangmo, do you read me?" Leilatha's voice blared across the intercom. "Come in Tangmo."
"Go ahead Leila," Tangmo tapped his earbud, judging by the tone his girlfriend doesn't seem to be in any distress. "What's happening on your end?"
"The orks had broken off the siege," Leilatha told him, "and the kaijus, judging by the manic footfalls, appear to have gone insane. They're no longing concentrating their effort on a single spot but running all over the place. I don't know what's going on but the battlegroup is no longer their priority."
"Excellent fucking news dude!" Tangmo threw his fist in the air and his homies and the main characters cheered rapturously. He then tapped his earbud to change frequency. "Ae-Shin, you got visual on what is happening at the mine?"
"The kaijus are killing each other," Ae-Shin was grinning on the other end, "which mean they're also killing the orks around them, by the Throne it's beautiful to behold. The air force will maintain their position lord commissar, we'll swoop in and kill the kaiju that survives the fight. In the meantime, I recommend you remain underground until everything settles down."
"Will do," Tangmo tapped his earbud, terminating the transmission, and held his hand out toward Galloway. "I know you got a flask of whiskey hidden in that sporran dude, give it to me."
"Of course lord commissar," Galloway pulled out said flask and handed it to Tangmo, "a nice vintage to celebrate another victory."
"Yeah, but something tells me the campaign is far from over," Tangmo grunted and drained the flask.
