Roger attempts to smooth over the shock of his newest recruit while planning an ambush that will use all of the Leopards resources. Just when it seems that the plan has hit a permanent snag, a fortunate accident puts new life into the operation...
Roger cursed as the line in the sand, representing one of the roads the Leopards were preparing to launch an ambush on, was brushed over by his sword. Having been unable to find a stick or similar object, he had taken his weapon and used it in an entirely un-warlike fashion.
"Well, I think we all agree that this line is still the second highway into Kaol-Daissar. Now, the reason I have gathered all of you-"
He looked around at the thirty Eldar around him, all watching him attentively.
"Is because we need to figure out how to hit these two roads and wipe a convoy on each one. I have requested enough explosives to blow a chunk of the roads out, and maybe take one or two of the trucks out in one strike. What we need to do now, is to figure out how to hold up one convoy long enough to attack two in one go."
Roger saw a Ranger raise his hand, which Roger nodded at.
"The convoys run so that one is delayed by thirty of your minutes. How do we get them to be in the same place at the same time?"
"A good question. And this is one of the many, as we call them, X-Factors. We are relying on the idea that our plan will work as intended, but we have to plan for every eventuality. Our hope is that we can find a way to delay one convoy until we can get them close to each other. However, here's our X-factor: the convoy commander could simply continue moving and we can hit them both, or will wait until the other convoy moves and stay out of range. As I'm sure you've all noticed, humans are not exactly the most single-minded and plan-centric people."
"So we are relying on luck?" one of the Avengers asked.
"Unfortunately, yes."
A few murmurs and frowns followed this, but Roger continued.
"Now, we need to figure out how to get thirty Eldar and two humans to wipe out twenty trucks quick enough to not get ourselves killed. Kallen, Moire, Cruniach, I need you to discuss with all your troops how we can make this work. We have gotten a good enough idea of our area of operations to find good points of ambush and attack. So we aren't going in blind, but we need every warriors opinion and thoughts on how to make this work. You all have been in the sand, patrolled, and watched these roads. If you have ideas or suggestions, let us know. We need a plan, and you have the knowledge. As of right now, we stand-by until we get one, and then we'll go from there. Until then, stay ready, stay prepared. Any questions?"
At first, there was no response, but one of the Rangers, Alax, raised his hand.
"How is the Cadian?"
Roger chuckled a bit before answering.
"She seems to have calmed down a bit. Me talking to her has convinced her she hasn't died and gone to hell, so it's a start. She did ask why any human would be allied with Eldar, considering they eat human flesh. I hadn't heard that one before. I guess I need to ask if that's true."
Once again silence, but Kallen spoke up.
"Do not worry serjeant, you are too scrawny for us to think about."
"Comforting. No further questions? Dismissed!"
The Eldar moved back to their guard posts or personal belongings to relax. Kallen chuckled and leaned into Roger.
"If I guess correctly, I can think of two in this camp who would not mind having a mouthful of you."
Roger twitched and stared at the Scorpion with suspicion.
"What the hell do you mean by that?
"I heard that when you returned from your patrol with Morgyn, and Anya, quite unexpectedly, the two had cuts and wounds that they refused to explain, and ever since, they seem to have been quietly at each other's throats. Bad form to go after subordinates, Roger."
"For your information," Roger said in exasperation, "Whatever their issues are between one another, it's solely their problem until it becomes a danger to our mission. Additionally, what ever you are implying-"
"It is a joke Roger. I notice things, but I know humans and women of my kind better than most, so I can make inferences."
"Very well, but don't make assumptions that you can't back up. At the very least Anya has stopped constantly watching me, so whatever happened has been a win in my book."
"I would prefer you stay away from Morgyn."
"Why's that?"
Kallens face turned grim.
"I have feelings toward her and have designs of my own. I would prefer you not affect those plans."
"I'll try. I'm going to check on our new Vox operator. I'll tell her you won't eat her."
As Roger walked away, he heard Kallen call after him.
"I said you were too scrawny for us, I never said anything about her!"
Roger rolled his eyes and waved him off.
XXXXXX
Holding a mug of recaf and under a blanket, Guardswoman Helene Parell sat on a fallen palm tree and stared blankly into the pool of the oasis. It had taken an hour for the serjeant to calm her down, and only with a promise she would not have to be anywhere near the Eldar. After that, he simply told her to stay put and think things over for a bit. And so she had, having made and drank three full cups of the caffeinated sludge the Guard issued, somehow ineffective in steeling her nerves. Hearing footsteps behind her, she quickly stood up and whirled around to face the aggressor, hand on her issued laspistol, unable to carry a lasgun given her duty as a Vox operator. Seeing it was serjeant Wessyng, she snapped to parade rest, her arms crossed behind her back.
"Sergeant."
"Parell. Or if you don't mind, I can just call you Helene and let you call me Roger. Guard ranks mean little in our unit."
She dropped her posture and nodded after a moment.
"Got it Roger."
She looked to the ground and scratched her cheek.
"Mind if I call you Rog?"
"That's fine, I haven't been called that in years. Mind if I sit next to you?"
She nodded and sat back down, letting the blanket slide off her back and rest on the oasis floor. She had taken her flak armor off, but was still wearing the khaki uniform of her home planet. Taking a seat next to her, Roger looked out into the pool as well, watching the gentle movements along the water.
"So they didn't tell you anything before they sent you here?"
The Cadian shook her head and sighed.
"I was in the brig, one of your people asked if I wanted to stay alive, I said yes, next thing I know, I'm in the back of a vehicle on my way to join you."
"Let me guess, a fellow with black hair, had a coat with a gold cross on black?"
"You know him?"
"Sir Robert D'Uxford, Lord of Clavham and friend of Prince Edmund."
She spat out some recaf and coughed, nearly choking on her drink.
"Fuck me, that was Black Bob?"
"Black Bob?"
"Edmunds spymaster, the hidden hand of the Third Corps, Emperor knows what else. That was him? And how do you know him?"
"He's my boss. And I guess yours now. Congratulations."
Pouring the half full mug out into the grass, she shook her head and rubbed her eyes.
"What the hell did I get myself into?"
"A bit of a mess, but I don't think we've been properly introduced. Not in names and all that, but why are you here?"
"As I said, I got told if I wanted to stay alive-"
"Why were you going to be executed, I mean."
She turned her head to Roger, slightly looking down at him. Cadians were on average about six feet or so tall, and Helene was no exception, about half a head taller than her new commander.
"It's a long story."
"I'm not busy."
She sighed and relented, taking a lho stick and lighting it up before offering one to Roger, who politely declined. He hated the taste and despised the smell, but he was in no mood to make an issue out of it. She took a deep drag and let out a cloud of smoke, closed her eyes, and spoke.
"I'm sure you know that the Cadians in Third Corps are your artillery regiment. My job was to be attached to units moving forward, call back to the gunners, confirm, let Basilisks, Colossus', Medusas, all them, rain unholy fuckin' fire on the enemy."
"I've seen more than a few barrages. Your work was always appreciated."
"Well I'm glad the Anglois did, but the regiment I was with at the time had a different view of things."
"Oh Throne don't tell me."
"Yeah. Fucking Kriegers."
Roger patted her shoulder.
"Been there, done that. The less I was around them, the better."
"I didn't have much of a choice. Anyway, the Kriegers were doing a training exercise about a week ago. Wanted to show cross-regiment combat effectiveness. Prove they could work with artillery on a trench attack. So we go through the exercise and we're doing good, hitting targets on point and all that. Then…"
She took another drag of the stick and paused for a decent amount of time.
"Their colonel, Hass, gives me new firing coordinates. I look at the grid, get ready to read it off, and realize that's right where a group of his men are. Mind you, we're using live ammo on this, and after achieving their objective, their commander, that cock-sucker, he orders me to tell my regiment to fire on our own people. I disagreed, and said his troops were right there. We were already goddamn danger close, and now we were literally firing on our own fucking people. He says to fire anyway. I refuse and repeat what I said. He then turns to me and through that gas mask screams at me "We can replace them, and the survivors won't flinch at another barrage. Now you have command approval, do it!" I-"
She took another drag and smiled at the memory of what happened next.
"I took my handset, didn't turn it on, and told them to fire. When nothing happened, he realized what I did and started telling his officers to detain me. So I did what I could to defend myself after being given an unreasonable order."
"What you should have done is say why and refuse to be detained or call your officer."
"Yeah, I should have."
"What did you do?"
"I brained the fuck with my handset."
Roger tried to suppress a smile and groaned.
"How did you not get killed right then and there?"
"One of your knights was there, watching the exercises. Big fella with a bear on his coat."
"Sir Charles Guincamp. He's one of the higher ups in the Eighth Regiment. Sounds like him."
"Pulled out the biggest goddamn sword I'd ever seen and punched a Krieger off his feet."
"Aye, that's Bucky alright."
Helene laughed.
"His nicknames Bucky?"
"Punches from him are like a horse bucking his hooves into ya. I saw him kill a man with a punch at the battle of Quavir. Crushed his chest in with a blow, the poor bastard stood there, gasped and fell over dead. You were lucky to have him nearby."
"Agreed. Well, after I did that, Colonel Alera couldn't save my ass, had me dead to rights. Put in the execution order and sent me to the Cathedral to be imprisoned. I guess Bucky put in a good word for me, because I got… saved and sent here."
Roger frowned at the implication.
"The Eldar under my command are fair and noble fighters. I trust my life with them, and they trust me with theirs. You'll learn to like them too."
"How can you not feel like you're betraying the Emperor and his teachings by allying with Xeno's?"
"Because they saved my life."
"Really?"
Roger nodded and took a swig of water from his canteen.
"I was about to be executed when I get saved by Edmund and-"
He saw her face light up and open her mouth in shock.
"Holy shit, I know you!"
"You…do?"
"You were that guy that Lucan was trying to kill for associating with Xenos!"
"Correct! For your information, I wasn't associated before that. This came afterwards."
"Wow. So you went moments away from death to lead Xenos?"
"Luckiest man on Haikk Four, Helene. That's who I am."
Helene shook her head and tossed the lho sticks butt into the grass, her face stuck in thought.
"So how did you get in charge of these guys?"
Roger stretched his legs and cracked his neck.
"Alright, you told your story. Now it's my turn. It starts at the Cathedral…"
XXXXXX
As the suns lowered from the sky to dip over the horizon, Roger, Kallen, Moire and Cruniach were huddled around one of the Eldar heating units, continuing to finalize an attack plan.
"So we can attack with just fifteen on each road?"
"One Eldar is worth ten Mon-Keigh in a fight. No disrespect Roger," Moire said coolly.
"Five of each warrior aspect in such a small group would be an effective use of our limited resources. My warriors could take down targets from a distance, maybe a driver of any vehicles attempting to escape."
Roger nodded at Cruniach and turned to Kallen.
"That would mean you, my friend, would have to rush forward and make sure they don't try to escape. Or at the very least scare them paralyzed."
"It is doable. And our Avenger brethren could provide fire support and assist us in getting up close and personal."
"Which we would be more than happy to do."
Roger seemed satisfied with the answers but quickly frowned.
"Remember that X-factor I talked about? There's another. What if a Valkyrie comes swooping down and tries to deploy a QRF?"
Moire looked at him in confusion.
"Quick Reaction Force. Standard convoy protocol. They send in a group to assist an ambushed force as soon as possible."
"We will engage the craft first," Cruniach answered, confidence in his voice. "If it does deploy infantry, we engage them before they can attack."
Moire cleared her throat.
"Our shurikens have proven to be effective against vehicles as well. We will attempt to engage their engines. If it loses just one of them, it will be useless."
"You speak from experience?" Roger asked.
"Yes. A story for another time."
"Very well. Kallen, if a QRF does arrive by air, you and your Scorpions ignore and continue whatever engagement you find yourself in."
Kallen nodded.
"Are we not to kill any of these vehicle drivers?"
Roger opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. Attacking unarmed civilians was hardly a prospect he enjoyed the thought of, but this was their first move, and needed to make an impression.
"I don't care if they're unarmed. If they're human, and they aren't me or Helene, take them out. I know attacking unarmed innocents is unpalatable, but if word of their deaths spread, it could mean even more disruption to supplies. After all, who would want to drive a supply truck out here if they get killed doing so?"
"Morally disagreeable, but I see the logical reason behind it. My warriors will not argue," Moire acceded.
"Neither will mine," Kallen added.
Roger looked to Cruniach, who merely nodded.
"Well, I think we're almost ready. We just want to set up a good position and hope luck or fate is on our side that day."
"Where do all the trucks go when they reach Kaol-Daissar?" Kallen suddenly asked.
"D'Uxford tells me that they load the entire truck on large ships, move them out to the Hives, then return the empty trucks to a port on the other side of the continent."
"That seems hardly efficient."
"If my travels across the Imperium taught me anything, doing what works forever is preferable to many people high on the food chain than changing it for the better. Even the AdMech has that mindset."
"Roger," Moire quickly said, "Is the other Mon-Keigh trustworthy?"
"She doesn't think we'll eat her, so it's a start. We'll have to see when we do this raid."
"We have our own comms net. Why would she come on the raid? We do not have anyone guarding the camp, so we can just-"
"I want her to join us and see how we fight. If she stays, she needs to know how to move with us and not get in the way of things. I understand it's a big ask of you, but all of you need to build a bridge with her, not a wall."
"Isha's tears, not another one of those awful quotes-"
"Look, I try to make sense of-"
"Serjeant!"
The four snapped around to see a Ranger sprinting towards them, weapon slung over his shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
"Me and Alax were on patrol, watching the road close to the oasis," he said breathlessly.
"All of a sudden one of those light patrol vehicles drove past us and spotted him. It opened fire on us-"
Cruniach let loose a whirl of Eldari, which received a quick answer.
"Well?"
"He says that Alax is fine, a graze or two, but they killed the driver and the gunner. The vehicle is stuck on the road, and they don't know what to do with it."
"Dammit, that'd give us away."
Roger looked at the panting Ranger and took a deep breath.
"Take me to it. Now."
He stood and jogged behind the Ranger before stopping and turning around.
"Kallen, get Helene and tell her to come with me. I have an idea."
XXXXXX
As bad of a time as Roger had with the dunes the night before, the Cadian had it even worse. Every step seemed a battle, and the amount of times she fell head over heels was more than enough to be embarrassing.
"Fucking son of a-" she spluttered as her boot sank into another soft spot.
"No sand on Cadia, I take it?"
"Snow. Lot of goddamn snow. And rocks. Big rocks."
"I heard it has all sorts of geography on it."
"Yeah. Certainly doesn't have some giant, sandy hellhole. Are we almost there?"
"Hell if I know. Galin?"
"Right over this dune serjeant."
"And Alax is with the vehicle?"
"That is where I left him."
"Good man."
Crossing the lip, true to his word, Roger saw a Ranger standing next to a motionless Tauros. He could see a silhouetted figure dangling like a broken doll at the rear, the stubber he formerly commanded pointing into the dark sky. As Helene cursed again, tumbling down the side of the lip, Roger briskly walked over to the injured Ranger.
"You all right Alax?"
"Yes serjeant, just a minor graze," he said, showing a red patch on his uniform, what looked like a slice sticking out from his flesh.
"What happened?"
"Bad luck. We were following an animal, of all things. We were curious how something could live this far in the desert. So we followed it to the road, and then we heard the vehicle screaming down upon us. We thought we had hidden ourselves adequately. We did, but our weapons-" he pointed to the long rifle he cradled. "Not as much. Moon light must have glinted off it and caught the gunner's interest. Vehicle came to a quick stop, and then the gunner opened fire on me. For a primitive weapon, it certainly is fearsome."
"Stubbers have a tendency to throw a lot of lead in a short time. Not very accurate however, thankfully for you."
"Agreed. Galin took the gunner out, the driver tried to make an escape, I… dashed his plan."
Roger walked to the front of the Tauros and whistled.
"Dashed his skull and brains all over the dashboard. Nice shot."
"It is what we are trained for serjeant."
"Helene! Come over here quick!"
The Cadian did so dutifully, standing beside Roger in a few moments from tumbling over the dune.
"What do you need serj-"
She stopped after looking at the unfortunate driver of the Tauros, turning pale and silent.
"What, you've never seen a dead man before?"
"Ar-artillery rarely sees the results of their-"
She shuddered and turned away.
"What do you need?"
"I want to know what comms this vehicle has. I need to know if they contacted anyone before we took them down, and tell me if we can hear what they're saying over their Voxnet."
Helene looked around the Tauros, moving towards the rear and stopped at the dead gunner hanging over the side of his mount. She promptly stepped back, turned around, and vomited on the road. Alax moved close to Roger as she voided her stomach.
"Is she alright?"
"I guess spending your time behind the lines makes you a bit softer."
"I have heard of this Cadia she is from. It is supposed to be a fortress constantly at war, yes?"
"Correct."
"Maybe she is… what do you say? A fluke?"
"I guess when you have a planet full of steel bollocked troops, some weaker ones get through."
Alax nodded and went back to watching the road, Roger seeing Helene wiping her mouth and coming back towards him.
"That antenna is a standard vehicle set. We could break into their comms, but we'd have to take the full set with us."
"Can we carry it?"
The Cadians twisted face answered that.
"Well, I guess we'll have to take it."
The two Rangers and Helene looked at him in surprise.
"What?" she asked.
Roger shrugged.
"We get a vehicle that we can use and not raise too much suspicion, a Vox we can listen in on, and for our ambush, we can use it as either a roadblock or as part of the attack. Do you want to drive or ride in the back?"
Alax and Galin moved in, awaiting further orders. Galin then asked the obvious.
"Where do we sit?"
"Well there's that seat up there, mind the blood, and one of you can hang off the side."
"I do not think this is wise serjeant."
"You want to walk all the way back to base again Galin?"
The Ranger rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"Fine. What do we do with the bodies?
"See that shovel on the back? We'll throw them in the back and get over the dune, bury them halfway, and then get back to the oasis."
Helene spoke next.
"Could I drive? I would prefer to-"
"Yes. I'll take the gunner seat. Mount up lads, we're going for a ride."
XXXXXX
Shortly after their uneventful return, the commander of the Eldari vehicle contingent attached to the Leopards, Wynoc, inspected the new arrival with increasing disdain.
"Primitive. Simplistic. Does it even have any comfort for the operator?"
"As in?" Roger asked.
"Climate control?"
"These things are pieces of shit meant to be beaten to hell and back, of course it has no fucking AC," Helene answered for him, still in the front of it as she fiddled with the Vox.
Wynoc sniffed dismissively.
"Well, for its purpose, I guess it is not a bad option. At least it does not use tracks like every other damn Mon-Keigh vehicle."
"And, very fortuitously, it has a full tank of Promethium. So it's fully loaded, ready to go anywhere, and will be more than useful."
"Except for the fact it will leave tracks with those tires in the middle of the desert. Have you Mon-Keigh ever heard of anti-grav thrusters?"
"We have, and we do have vehicles with it. They're just… all with the Astartes. We're hardly important or trustworthy enough to be given that kind of tech."
"Interesting. Well, I have no qualms about using it."
"Good," Roger said as he lifted himself up on his toes to pat the Wave Serpent pilot on the shoulder. "Because I never asked for your opinion."
Wynoc prepared a reply, but Roger had already moved back to Helene and his gathered lieutenants. The three Eldar greeted him before turning their attention back to the Cadian, hard at work on the Voxset.
"At least she has some use," Moire whispered to Roger.
"We all have a part in the universe, the Emperor says. Or the priests that interpret his words say. Don't tell the Archbishop I said that."
"Who?"
"Never mind. Helene, what do you have for us?"
The Cadian turned to him, one piece of the headset pressed to her ear.
"Who trained these goddamn retards? No codes, no changing frequencies at set intervals, Throne's sake, it's fucking amateur hour over here."
"Most of these troops are PDF trainees. Poor bastards who would either have stayed and defended here, or had their actual decent recruits sent off in the Guard. They also aren't expecting any hostiles this far from the front."
"No excuse for being sloppy."
Roger shrugged.
"I wasn't defending them. Have you gotten anything out of them so far?"
"Well, it's only been an hour, but I can tell you that these guys aren't exactly the smartest."
"Do tell."
Helene sighed and put the headset down.
"Well, as I said, no codes. They just say "Did the convoy arrive on time?" or "Patrol returned yet?" I would be worried about them wondering where this patrol went, considering they aren't reporting back anytime soon, but I haven't heard anything yet."
"Any more info on the convoy movements?"
"Not really. As I said, these guys are incompetent or complacent, maybe both. I can tell their commanders only want the roads safe and the convoys on time."
"Well that's a point in our favor," Roger said looking back at the Eldar.
"So our X-factor may not matter if they desperately want those supplies," Kallen said.
Helene nodded and for the first time since her arrival, looked the Scorpion in the eyes.
"Judging by their commander's tone on the Vox, all they care about is getting there on time. I'd guess Golgotha is falling apart thanks to those raids the Prince is doing, so as much food as possible needs to get through. They've even been arguing with their truck drivers over it. And those boys aren't happy driving through that sandstorm rolling towards here in a few days."
Roger turned to Cruniach and smiled.
"Sounds like our plan is going to work better than-"
He stopped and stared at the three, who realized what Helene had said the same moment he did.
"Sandstorm?" he said.
Helene nodded.
"Apparently a sandstorm is going to head through here, stretching most of the area around the port. Going to put visibility down and cause more issues with their equipment, but their commanders are saying that they have to go through. Why?"
Moire, Kallen, and Cruniach turned to Roger, who had started biting his thumb.
"Bloody hell," he whispered. "That's it! We got our way in!"
"Serjeant?"
"We've been trying to figure out when we can ambush a convoy, and now we got our chance! Get your warriors and tell them we're doing a briefing now!"
The Eldari rushed away, and Roger grabbed Helene and embraced her.
"First day on the job and you've proven yourself worth taking on! Good work!"
Rogers' face was buried in his shoulder, laughing all the while. The Cadian was frozen in surprise, slowly and uncomfortably wrapping her arms around him in response.
"Thanks, serjeant?" she said in confusion.
Letting go, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes before speaking again.
"When is this sandstorm?"
"Two days from now, judging by what I've heard. I want to listen in on their comms tomorrow just to confirm."
"Alright, but we know a sandstorm is coming?"
"I found a frequency that did weather reports, and they said it was high likely."
"Marvelous. Just marvelous."
XXXXXX
Having summoned his forces, Roger once again stood over his makeshift diorama, his lieutenants and Helene, much to her disapproval, standing beside him.
"We have recently gleaned intelligence that has pushed our ambush plans ahead of schedule. While not entirely confirmed, in two days, there's a good chance a sandstorm will come through. I understand some of you will not immediately see the importance of this, so let me and Helene explain."
The Cadian gave him a glare of anger before he waved it off.
"With your equipment, you will have no ill-effects from a sandstorm, which you will greatly appreciate, given being stuck in one, from my experience, is like being in a sandblaster. I understand few of you have fought in such conditions, but your helmets and armor will protect you. Worst case scenario, we will have our more experienced comrades instruct you on how to deal with it."
A few nods and calming posture went through the crowd. As much as Roger did not understand Aeldari language, their movements and physical communication was more readable and important. And from what he could tell, the Leopards were still on-board with the plan.
"Now, first off, visibility. These drivers have little to no assistance like you all do. No visors, no screens, just a windshield and maybe a position cogitator. So they already could barely see us, and now it'll be impossible. Even better, given the size of these trucks, and their distance between one another, we could hit the one in front, and the ones to the back wouldn't know until it was too late. Additionally-"
He picked up a feather.
"One of our X-factors will be taken out of the equation. No pilot in his right mind would fly in sandstorm conditions. So we can now rely on low visibility, basically get away with anything, and not face any forces that would give us issues. As if that wasn't enough, I'll let Helene explain another part in our favor. If you would please, Guardsman."
She moved nervously in front of him, obviously terrified of having to stand in front of a group of Xenos she had only just met.
"Uh-we, erm, during a sandstorm, communications are affected. Especially on this planet. The atmosphere is difficult enough for communications unless you have specific equipment, and even then during weather like this, it would negatively affect it. If they are using standard civilian comms equipment, we could possibly be dealing with a complete comms blackout during the storm."
She nervously looked to Roger, waiting for approval for her brief. He nodded and she quickly stepped back, trying to hide.
"So our enemy will be blind, deaf, and helpless. In other words, it makes a decent plan for an ambush we already had now fool-proof. But we need to wait on further confirmation for our timeframe. We do know a sandstorm is coming soon, so we need to get our act together. We know the area, we know their schedule, and we know our basic plan. We're a go on our ambush. So get ready, and take any advice from your more experienced brothers and sisters in arms. Any questions?"
As usual, no one raised a hand or their voice.
"Alright. Hopefully by this time in a few days, we'll have wreaked hell on our enemies and prove spending all this time out here was not a total waste. Dismissed!"
As the Leopards melted away, Roger moved alongside Helene, who was fidgeting and tapping her foot in nervous response.
"You did fine. I understand that briefing them is not the easiest thing to do. I've only done it a few times and I still thought I buggered it up."
"Thank you, serjeant."
Moire, Cruniach and Kallen approached them, making Helene stiffen a bit.
"Your work is much appreciated, Helene," Moire said politely. "I had my doubts, but you have already proven yourself useful to our group."
"Thank you… ma'am."
Helen giggled at this attempt at decorum while Cruniach merely lowered his head in appreciation.
"Nod back, Eldar use physical movements to converse as much as words," Roger quickly whispered.
Helene replied in kind, Cruniach not showing any emotion or appreciation to the move. Roger knew that he accepted it, having spent long enough time with him.
Kallen smiled and stuck his hand out, which the Cadian stared at in disbelief before cautiously grabbing it and firmly shaking.
"The Leopards are happy to have you Guardswoman. And it's not just because of your looks."
She looked at him in shock, but seemed, in as good of a way as one Imperial could accept a compliment from a Xeno, satisfied with his statement. Roger smiled at first, but knowing Kallen, he would quickly add on something in poor taste.
"And don't worry, me and my Scorpions have decided you're too useful to eat."
Helene went pale and shuddered in terror, before snapping her eyes towards Roger in a desperate plea for help. He looked back at her in defeat before rubbing his temples.
