Trooper Tatsu VII allowed his consciousness to slowly rise from the deep meditative state he'd been in for the last several hours. The gong had been sounded and throughout the ship his fellow marines were stirring to action.
"One hour to contact. Please armor yourselves and congregate in the staging area for final blessing and briefings." came the voice of Captain Kato-San over the ship's speakers.
Tatsu gripped the handle of his ritual Katana. He had been staring at his own eyes reflected on the surface of the highly polished blade for the last three hours, meditating on his transitory existence as a mere weapon of the Great Emperor. A sword to be forged, cared for, used, and if broken cast aside for a new weapon. He sheathed the Katana and returned it reverently to its rack, the cutting edge upwards. "The swords must never smile!" his sword instructor had told them on his creche-batch's first day of Kendo class at age 4.
Tatsu pulled a fresh sheet of vellum from the stack, wetted his inkstone and took brush in hand.
Abominations,
I meet the merciless foe,
Witness my triumph!
Not the best death poem he'd ever written, but hopefully this one, like so many others would be ritually burned upon his safe return, and not added to the yellowing strips hanging in the Chapter's Temple. "Fallen petals from long ago hero blossoms," Chaplain Nakamura called them.
Tatsu left his tiny cubicle and joined his brothers as they made their way to the armorium.
The bulkhead door slid aside revealing the Tactical Dreadnought Armor standing in the bays hooked to the charging units like great beetles on life support. The overhead lights reflected off of the bright red lacquered surfaces, each suit decorated with symbols and honors won by the present operator. At the very end stood an Okegawa-do, a replica of a suit of samurai armor from the ancient and nigh-unto mythical homeworld of Earth. The lacquered plates, red and black lacing, and the graceful curving horns rising from the butt still made Tatsu's heart race. What had it been like, in the days before starships, bolters, and teleporters, to put on such armor, and ride out to face a foe, clutching your lance, and shouting out your challenge? To see your opponent's eyes and feel your sword bite deep into your foe's flesh. But those days were gone, but Tatsu was still Samurai, loyal to the undying Emperor thousands of light years away.
It was heresy to think that the Emperor did not know they existed, but it had been almost fifteen years since the last supply armada had brought new weapons and equipment.
Chaplain Nakamura said it was because the Emperor knew that they were self- sufficient that he directed supplies to the weaker and more dependant chapters. Of course this also meant that the Techmarines of The Legion of the Rising Sun had become adept at jury rigging and modifying designs. Many of their heavy weapons were scratch-built. Their vehicles made from locally available materials often bore little resemblance to those relics, which still survived in usable condition. Of course the robotic workshop had been experimenting since their inception and many of the designs that ambled out through their doors might be considered abominable to those who clung fervently to the Codex Imperialis. Chaplain Nakamura also said that desperate times required new tactics and strategies, and that the Codex was a just a guidebook. He believed the Emperor wanted the Rising Suns to survive to serve him rather than perish clinging to ideas that their chapter did not have the resources to implement.
Every year they received the Robotic Warp Packet, filled with the "Thought for Today" litany for the coming year, and holo-cassettes of great victories being won by the Emperor's faithful servants across the galaxy. Every year the officers returned the small ship with samples of their genetic materials, a complete report of activities, and a fervent request for certain materials not available on planets in this quadrant.
Tatsu stopped before bay 13. Inside was his suit. Many years of training and valor in several engagements had won him the right to wear this venerated "Terminator Armor". Inside was the list of those who had gone before. Yamoto, Mori, Tembo, Yoshi II, Kusunoki, who had went on to become a famed captain, Takeda IV, and now the name of Tatsu VII was at the bottom of that list. He turned his back on the immense suit and leapt up to catch hold of the bar that ran across the Bay. Pulling his legs up close to his body, Tatsu swung backwards and extended his legs into the suit. Letting go of the bar he dropped down into the cool metal, ceramic, and plasteel skin. Sliding his right arm into its proper place triggered the suit to life. The torso closed, the jacks meshing into his carapace implant. The suit "recognized" him and began its ritual of diagnostics. The helmet dropped down on its hydraulic column, the retaining locks snapping into place. Enhanced vision was activated, the Sensorium c ame on line and Tatsu was suddenly aware of all life forms in 360 degree circle around him. Words appeared in the upper left corner of his visual field. "Power 100%, Life support Full go. All systems functioning within proscribed parameters. He who hesitates brings disgrace on his fellows."
Tatsu flexed the power glove and activated its field, satisfied at the crackling violet glow that surrounded the oversized gauntlet. He stepped forward, gyros whirring, servos flexing; a resounding clang of steel on steel as the deck was assaulted by his heavy tread. He reached into the armament bay and pulled out his storm bolter. A quick compulsory check of the read-out showed it was fully functional and armed with dual clips of the special "Stealer-Buster" ammunition the Tech-marines and engineers had developed. Normal bolter ammo explodes upon being surrounded by flesh. The hard exo-skeletons of the Genestealers deflect many of the shots. This ammunition would explode on contact with anything, thus hopefully wearing away the genestealer's carapace to reveal vital targets. Unfortunately it would do damage to the ship's interior, but that could be repaired. It was also good for opening doors. He raised the weapon and called the targeter to life. On the wall across the bay, a pale blue dragon appea red, marking the spot where his bolts would strike if he stroked the firing stud.
Orks, Eldar raiders, Pirates, and their arch enemies the traitorous marine chapter called the Spirit Warriors, had provided the Rising Sun with foes aplenty over the years. Throughout all of their training, they had been drilled on the Genestealers. "The most dire threat to our race in all it's history", Nakamura had said the Emperor called them. Over and over again they had reviewed the tapes taken from the Helm-cams of those who had fought these interstellar abominations. The Blood-angels, Ultramarines, Space-wolves, and other chapters had shared their experiences to edify the brothers of the Legiones Astartes in the battling of this menace. Tech Hitachi had programmed holograms of the six-limbed monsters, and every battle-brother had put in many hours in the combat simulator defending themselves against Stealers. Unfortunately, the program being based on outcomes of former battles, one usually was "killed" before completing the simulation. If you could kill five or more before dying it was considered a good score. Better to die cleanly than have the horrid beasts implant you with their tainted genetic material.
Tatsu headed towards the staging area of the small intersystem transport. The Takeda Maru was actually a fairly tiny vessel, unable to transport more than fifty marines and their support, but it was the fastest vessel The Rising Suns had on hand.
Speed was important. Two days ago word had come from the Imperial Guard unit based on Napoleon's World that an abandoned vessel had appeared out of Warp near the outer planet of the Crassus system. There were no discernable markings, although the design looked to have originated from Imperial Space. Attempts to hail the vessel were met with silence, and initial scans showed minimal life support and artificial gravity systems as the only things operating.
The patrol boat that made the discovery had sent a boarding party aboard the seemingly empty ship. At first it seemed to be a derelict several centuries old. Suddenly the party's transmission was scrambled, but not before a garbled video image was received that definitely showed the grotesque blue and purple form of a first generation genestealer. The shuttle was given immediate lift-off orders. The party had since been transmitting SOS messages and begging to be recovered from the hulk. The guard unit had wisely declined to recover their comrades, assuming them to be tainted by the stealers.
Tatsu entered the staging area followed by several of his brothers clumping along in their Terminator suits. His stomach heaved and there was a pressure behind his eyes. The Takeda Maru had just dropped out of Warp.
Captain Kato-San stood on the speaking dais resplendent in his gilded terminator armor, the ancient and much revered power sword hanging from his belt. The Librarian, Hashiba, stood to his left the great Naginata Force Halberd in his hand. Lieutenant Nobunaga was talking to the tech marines, all the men wearing the lighter mark VI power armor decorated with the crimson rising sun on the shoulder pad. Sweat on Nobunaga's shaved pate reflected the overhead lights and Tatsu thought the unpleasant and coarse officer looked worried.
The screen behind the speaking dais flickered to life, showing the starfield and two brighter points of light that would be the hulk and the Guard patrol ship.
The troopers were all here and the Captain commenced the briefing.
"There has been no change in the status since our last briefing. The distress calls from the boarding party have become less frequent but more agitated. The boarding party is assumed to have been compromised and are therefore considered casualties. Upon locating the boarding party you are charged with making sure their status is accurate."
No one needed further explanation of that order.
"Because of the vessel's small size, we will insert only three units. First unit will scout and dispose of any resistance. They will appear to be heading for the engine and warp field generators in the ship's stern. Hopefully this will draw the bulk of the Genestealers aft. The second unit, led by our Librarian will be 'ported over a few minutes later will locate and secure the ship's control area to prevent the Genestealers escaping back into Warp. The third unit, comprised of Tech-Brother Sakamoto and his robots will set up defensive parameters in cleared areas. I do not need to remind you of the value of this vessel in the service of the Emperor.
A schematic replaced the star-field on the view screen. Tatsu felt warmed with pride, for he had drawn this representation. Each Marine in the Chapter, besides dedicating his life to becoming an ultimate instrument of war, was charged with cultivating other interests in the tradition of their Samurai ancestors. Every Marine was drilled in Kendo from age four up, and had to learn and master at least one other martial art. Many chose to learn gardening, flower arranging, calligraphy, or the tea ceremony. There were potters, ivory carvers, and sword smiths as well.
Tatsu had become fascinated early on with star-ships. The grace and beauty of the Imperial designs had enthralled him, and he had built many models and memorized deck-plans and carrying capacities for the major fleet vessels by age twelve. Had the Emperor not seen fit to craft his soul as a Marine, Tatsu had hoped that he would have been in the Navy instead, living aboard one of the great cruisers or battleships all his life.
"The vessel in question," the captain said, " is a transport ship built by one of the squat homeworlds. Its main function was to carry raw ore, supplies, and mining crews."
And that it did very well thought Tatsu. The "Braggi" class freighters had been in production for centuries, their designs varying only slightly from shipyard to shipyard.
"The control area and the engine section is shielded with Obtucite webbing." Kato continued. "Teleporters won't get near the stuff. First squad will be 'ported into the main airlock amidships. This should give access to the upper cargo deck, and to the high walkway which connects the control center in the bow to the engine section. The robots will be sent next, stationed at strategic junctions with snap-fire orders at anything that moves. First squad you will have with you a Tracked Surveillance Robot as well as an experimental Hover-Scout. This should alert you to any Stealers who may be hiding ahead of you."
"Upon cleansing this vessel, it shall become property of the Rising Suns. All cargo carried will be given as spoils to the Guard Unit from Napoleon's World. May the Emperor's Grace be with you."
At this point Chaplain Nakamura, dressed in full Shinto regalia cleansed each brother with salt and reminded them that the All-Knowing Emperor would surely be watching, along with their venerated ancestors. They must not bring shame on those brothers who had passed before. With a final salute to the Chapter flag, the Red sun surrounded by rays on a white field, First Squad headed for the teleportation chamber.
The squad lined up on the platform. Sergeant Hosokawa, flanked by Brother Oda with his flamer, and Brother Maeda with the terrible assault cannon. Strange, reclusive Chaya fitted with the lightening claws, then three troopers consisting of Tatsu, Fudo III, and the always laughing Sagami. The tracked robot rolled next to Chaya, and a huge silver egg sprouting antennae and camera lenses hovered through the door way, then settled to the teleporting platform. Tatsu began chanting a mantra to clear his mind of thoughts of failure and images of teleporter malfunctions.
A hum filled the room. Tatsu's skin felt cold and without warning all his senses went dead. Time lost meaning and the mantra seemed to slow beyond recognition. Then, just as suddenly Tatsu could feel his body, hear, see, and sense again. He felt rather heavy and walking took more effort than it should have. Perhaps a malfunction?Fudo spoke though the comlink, "My condition shows green but my suit feels a bit sluggish."Sagami chimed in, "Mine too, very hard to move. Like I'm standing in syrup."
Lt. Nobunaga replied from the marine ship. "First squad report."
Sergeant Hosokawa sighed, his disdain for the Lieutenant barely disguised. "First squad teleportation complete. All crew and support accounted for. Possible malfunctions on three suits including my own Nobunaga-San.
Tatsu and Oda opened a comlink at the same time reporting sluggishness, followed by the other marines in turn. The Hover- bot hummed loudly and rose two feet off the deck.
Chaya spoke," I have accessed my suit's conditional status. We are presently experiencing gravity twice Earth Normal. It will take a few moments for the suits to adjust."
Oda raised his Heavy Flamer experimentally. "I hope that the suspensors hold out. Maeda and I will be of little use otherwise." he said referring to the anti-gravity units attached to the heavy weapons to offset their prodigious weight.
Sergeant Hosokawa addressed the ship, "We've got two G's here. Please inform second wave to adjust as necessary.
"Acknowledged." came the answer followed by a high-pitched squeal.
"Ship-to-ship is being jammed. Hopefully they aren't very good at it, I would hate to lose the auspicious guidance of our benevolent Lieutenant." Hosokawa quipped. A ripple of nervous laughter and the squad moved forward, Hosokawa hitting the release button on the airlock door, the rest of the squad training weapons on the opening. The corridor beyond was empty. No "Blips" in the immediate area betrayed lurking Stealers.
"Hello, we've come to claim our ship. You could save us much trouble by hurling yourself out of the nearest airlock." Sagami jested through his external com-speaker. Sergeant Hosokawa ig-nored the joke and led the squad through the portal, the Surveillance robot following on rubber treads and the hover bot wobbling while trying to resist gravity twice what it was designed for.
"Hallway secure, airlock vacated." the Sergeant reported.
A few seconds later the airlock was filled with a dim violet glow and Tech-brother Sakamoto and six battle bots appeared. One in the center promptly fell forward with a loud clatter, and lay feebly scrabbling at the deck, servo-motors whining shamelessly.
Sakamoto, dressed only in power armor drug himself towards the Terminators, opening his comlink. "Bots may not be able to handle this. I know I barely can. Power armor doesn't adjust for gravity. The guardsmen didn't report anything about a gravity discrepancy."
Tatsu spoke," This is a Squat-built vessel. Squats come from high gravity worlds. Artificial Gravity Units aboard these vessels are able to simulate at least 4-g's."
"My thanks to you, `Shipmaster' Tatsu," Hosokawa snarled, "How can that possibly help us ?"
"My apologies, Hosokawa-San," Tatsu replied, "I was merely offering information. Gravity and life support are managed from the bridge. Besides destroying the gravity generator located below us, there is nothing we can do."
"Sergeant. Read out shows 2.25 G's." Chaya reported.
"Looks like the bastards know we're here and are preparing a welcome for us. The half-witted scum are probably too stupid to realize they'll slow themselves down, and they can't make adjust-ments." Hosokawa remarked.
Tatsu knew that the main control board would have shown the opening of the airlock door, and would track the squad by any other doors that were triggered, but thought better of sharing that bit of trivia with the peevish squad leader.
The corridor stretched 50 feet to the left and ended in a door. Twenty feet to the right were stairs leading up. Hosokawa stated the obvious and said, "This way," proceeding towards the stairs.
The metal treads groaned ominously beneath the now double- weight Terminator. Each trooper waited until the one proceeding him had reached the landing before adding to the stairs burden. The Tracked Robot extended a limb from beneath its body and raised itself up to the first step. The hover-bot strained and began levitating to the landing. A beep and a pop emitted from it and the experimental scout plummeted like a stone to the deck flying into multiple pieces.
"Gravity now at 2.87 G's." Chaya glumly reported. A crash was heard from the airlock followed by violent cursing from Sakamoto.
Hosokawa positioned himself in front of the next door while Fudo pressed the opening stud with his storm bolter. A few overhead lights illuminated the vast chamber on the door's other side. Hexagonal-sided storage containers with their contents stenciled on the side were stacked up to four meters high. Minerals and raw ore worth fortunes. No wonder they had been in such a rush to take this vessel. Its contents were easily worth the ship's value. Both the guards and marines would profit from this expedition.
"We're showing blips ahead and to the right. Large mass. at least three." Hosokawa reported.
"Squeal...cede and Terminate..Squeeeal" came the ship's reply.
"You want me at point, Hosokawa-San?" asked Maeda spinning the multiple barrels of his terrible assault cannon.
"I shall have the honor of first blood on this mission. Watch me and learn." the sergeant said as he advanced. "I have scored a twelve-to-one kill ratio in the simulation with this tactic. Stealer's bodies are armored, only their heads and joints are vulnerable. I put my bolter at head level and begin firing as I turn the corner." He drew his sword with his power-glove, "Just in case one gets lucky."
The squad watched as Hosokawa put his plan into action, each member switching over to the sergeant's point of view. Hosokawa turned the corner his bolter leaping to life. The auto dampers in the terminator suits kicked in, softening the cacophony of weapon fire to a gentle thrum. Spent casings flew, but something was not right!
A blur of motion and the Sergeant could feel that both legs had been grabbed. Not a single shot had hit. The six limbed stealers normally ran hunched over, but these had been practically hugging the ground. One leapt and impaled itself on the sword, its foreclaws tearing at the shoulder pad of the suit. Hosokawa stumbled back spitting out a curse, dragging one of the creatures on each leg, one on his power sword, and another still knocking the bolter aside to tear at his helmet. Regulations prevented the squad from firing on their companion, so they watched in rising horror as the genestealer transfixed by the sword ripped the armor and the sergeant's arm from their respective sockets. Hosokawa continued firing his bolter trying to bring it close enough to wound the alien clawing at his face. A "kerchunk" was heard and the weapon jammed.
A few seconds and it was all over. The three remaining creatures dismembered the cocky sergeant like slovenly diners eating a lobster. The light which represented Hosokawa's Brain- wave in the squad's information display quadrant went out. At that point Oda triggered his flamer and a ball of ignited chemical hell went soaring down the corridor, incinerating the aliens and their squad-leader's remains. With some work, the Armor could be salvaged, and another poem would be added to the Chapel Reclusium.
"First Squad. We have audio but no visual, please report." Nobunaga demanded.
Tatsu was second in command by seniority and opened his outside comlink. "Tatsu reporting. Four enemy confirmed dead. Sergeant Hosokawa is a casualty. Proceeding with assignment."
"Carry on Tatsu. The techs are trying to get around the jamming fields. Also the ship has activated its maneuvering rockets. Scanners show energy increase in the Warp-field generator. They can make it into warp in as little as thirty minutes. We will fire upon the vessel if that appears imminent. They must not be allowed to escape with human captives that can be used to seed another world."
"Acknowledged." Tatsu replied. Over sixty years of active service was behind him, first in the scouts, then the third company, first tactical squad. Tatsu made it to second in command and could have been sergeant if old Musashi hadn't been so blessed tough and lucky. Then the tech marines tested him. Even most altered humans were unable to deal with the special implants that allowed the Sensorium to work. Many marines went mad after the operation. Tatsu was given a high probability to adjust. After the implant he was transferred to First Company and years of training began. To be a Terminator carried as much honor as being a sergeant in the other companies. Now he was leading a squad against the Empires most feared enemies. Either a chance for great glory, or ineffable dishonor. No time to think. Tatsu muttered "karma" and ordered Maeda and his assault cannon to point and sent the surveillance robot ahead to scout.
The dauntless little droid scuttled forward into the cargo area. Its holocam linked directly into the heads-up display in the marines' helmets. They saw towers of cargo-storage units in various colors. The meter-high twelve sided containers were stacked up to four high. They leaned precariously, and long range view showed many had toppled to block the way ahead. This was puzzling, as the C.S.U.'s were usually very stable. Tatsu wondered, had they been purposely knocked over to impede travel?
Brother Maeda stepped forward his assault cannon sweeping the space in front of him. Tatsu, then the others followed.
Oda spoke," We have blips below near the airlock."
Tatsu mentally acknowledged this fact while looking upwards. These vessels were designed to be as flexible as possible when it came to cargo. The entire cargo area could be sealed off from the rest of the vessel. The top panels of the ship could be removed to load items in space that were too large to fit through the oversized cargo doors on each side. The cargo bay itself was about 14 meters high. It was built completely open, but optional temporary decks could be inserted on detachable supports to split the bay into two or three stories. Squats often used the Braggi to transport troops and could stack up to five layers of hastily constructed cabin units in this area. It was not uncommon to capture asteroids of pure metals and load them into the wide open cargo bay in deep space to be taken to a orbiting smelter.
The ship was designed with a catwalk that ran from the fore section to aft suspended from the ceiling. Regardless of the number of floors or how cargo was stored this would be the quickest way from the bridge to the engine room.
"Misfortune be cursed!" Tatsu snarled. The catwalk was missing a ten meter section, then five meters further along, another 3 meters was absent.
The tracked robot sent a beep over the comlink. It had reached a dead end amid a veritable mountain of toppled C.S.U.s.
Tatsu ordered it to return then scanned the area. Something was amiss, out of alignment. Then it dawned on him. The C.S.U.'s were leaning because the floor was not level. He switched over to the robot's view and saw it climbing discrepancies in the pre-fab floor paneling of several centimeters.
The extra heavy gravity had tripled the weight of the cargo. Usually one did not store such heavy items on the second deck, and often when in flight the cargo bay would be left in free fall to decrease the burden. Adding several tons of Terminator Armor to the decks already Herculean stress load may prove disastrous. A shift in the flooring may cause thousands of kilos of C.S.U.s to bury the unwary squad. The outer hallways consisted of berths and storage areas and were a maze built for the more compact squats that would foil the bulky Terminators.
"We go back down. Quickly!"
The ship's silence erupted with heavy bolter fire from below. Tatsu moved to the stairs to see two of the robots returning their smoking weapons to guard position. The opposing wall was a riddled gore spattered mess. The remains of three or four stealers were scattered across the floor.
The robots, sensing movement, trained their formidable weapons on the marines. In microseconds the profile of the terminator suits were identified, and the robots registered the code-signal applied with infrared paint. The programs, satisfied that the intruders were friendly, put the huge war machines back on guard, ignoring First Squad.
The tech marine, now slouched against the wall raised a weary hand in salute.
Tatsu went down the groaning stairs followed by Maeda, Oda, Fudo, and then Chaya. Finally came the tracked surveillance bot and Sagami. Halfway down, the tortured stairs decided they could take no more, and with a screech of agony collapsed. Sagami lay flat on his back in the twisted wreckage. His life signs were still within normal parameters but he was not moving.
Chaya approached him and bent over the prone marine.
"Aiyee! I have died and descended into hell. Disgusting demons hover over me!" Sagami squealed in mock terror.
Chaya turned away, shaking his head.
Tatsu, although usually amused at Sagami's jests, especially when they had riled their former sergeant, now felt his patience growing thin. "Up Marine!" he roared.
Sagami groaned along with the servos in his suit as he pulled himself from the debris. "Thank you for your concern, brother Chaya. Don't bother giving me a hand, I can manage fine by myself."
By this time Maeda had opened the door and was scanning beyond.
"First SQUEEEAL..port. Do you read? " Nobunaga's voice came over the ship to ship channel.
"Tatsu here. We read with minimum interference. Upper cargo level unsafe. Catwalk destroyed. We are approaching engine section through lower cargo hold. Over."
"You must proceed to secure engine area at all costs. The hour of redemption is nigh." Nobunaga replied.
"Acknowledged honorable Lieutenant. I will keep you informed of our progress. Over." Tatsu said. The coded message indicated that Second Squad, code-named Redemption, was ready to teleport as soon as possible.
The door opened into a tool room. The cubicle had two doors. Tatsu pointed with his bolter to one. "That should lead to the cargo hold."
Fudo triggered the opening mechanism while Maeda trained his assault cannon on the doorway. The door slid aside to reveal a wall of orange.
"Someone has parked a very large vehicle in front of the door." Sagami stated the obvious.
Without needing orders Chaya was through the other door.
"Life signs ahead, in a chamber to the right." He reported.
"Oda take point."
First squad approached the door leading to the unknown blips. Oda covered while Tatsu stood close by. Fudo triggered the door.
As the panel hissed open Tatsu quickly assessed the situation. No slavering genestealers leapt from the portal. Only seven unshaven exhausted looking Imperial Guards lying on the floor. One raised himself onto one elbow, struggling against the artificial gravity.
"Marines." He croaked, "Are you here to save us?" "How many genestealers aboard this vessel?" Tatsu asked. "We only saw two. Killed one with a laser cannon, the other ran off after taking the sarge and two others down. Are you going to take us back?" the desperate guardsman queried. "Oda, Grant them the Emperor's mercy." Oda triggered his weapon and the guardsmen's chamber was filled with liquid fire. They waited only for the smoke to clear so that they could be sure of their orders being fulfilled before moving on, the tracked robot in the lead. "There's another larger door into the cargo bay about forty meters ahead. That one may be blocked as well, but it will get us closer to the engines faster without having to squeeze through the crew area," Tatsu instructed. "Blip ahead!" Chaya ejaculated.
From a side corridor appeared a figure. Only a little over a meter tall it was dressed in red flak armor and carried an imperial issue laser cannon over it's shoulder. A black beard framed it's lantern jawed face. Tatsu would have sworn it was a squat, one of the Abhuman mutants bred before the Fall to mine on high density planets. Except that no squat he had heard of had mauve skin, or yellow eyes, or a smile bearing needle-like teeth. Nor did most squats posses an extra upper appendage that ended in three huge white talons. This was a third generation hybrid, combining traits of the genestealers as well as the squat parent.
The hybrid was leveling the laser cannon even as Maeda pulled the trigger on his assault cannon. The five ceramite barrels whirled and the stealer-squat's midsection was vaporized.
The las-cannon fell backwards with the hybrid's hand still attached and pulling the trigger, slicing a hole through the ceiling above the squad's heads.
"Area clear." Fudo reported.
Tatsu looked up to see a 20 centimeter channel cut into the overhead panel. Conduits and fiberoptics were exposed like vessels protruding from an amputated limb. The laser cannon at this range might well have done such a thing to Maeda's suit had he not been quicker.
The marines quickly located the door to the cargo area, which was fortunate, for the passage beyond into the crew area had been welded shut and would take some time to smash through with power gloves.
The lower cargo bay was filled with heavy mining and transport equipment. Moles and sonic tunnelers, 'dozers and ore trucks, some whose wheels were twice a marine's height.
The clearance here was ten meters, and dim lights glowed every ten meters or so from overhead panels. The vehicles were parked very close together in some places, and spaced far apart in others. Here and there CPUs blocked access. The tracked robot ran ahead like an overanxious hound, sniffing out a clear path. Oda and Maeda were in the center, with Tatsu and Chaya on the right, and Fudo and the wisecracking Sagami on the opposite flank.
Ahead ghostly images of light danced across vehicles and support beams. A red chrysanthemum, a green diamond, a silver crane, an orange tiger, three green balls, and a blue dragon could be seen. This was the Anti Redundancy Targeting System, or ARTS. Each targeter projected an image invisible to normal vision, but discernable to the Terminator's enhanced visual input. Thus, as Tatsu aimed his bolter, everyone in the squad would see his blue dragon appear on the intended target. This allowed everyone to choose different opponents, rather than wasting precious firepower over-killing a single target.
"SQUEEEAL'banaga here. The hour of CRACKLE 'rived. Hulk has activated defense lasers and is firing on Takeda Maru and Guard vessel. We are retreating beyond range. Teleport will be impossible unless lasers are deactivated. SQUEEAL 'cure engines at all costs. I CRACKLE CRACKLE SQUEEEEEEEALLLLL"
Tatsu switched off the ship-to-ship communications.
"Brothers we are on our own now. The lieutenant will no longer be there to give us sage advice. Second Squad should be on board and heading for the control center." Tatsu informed his squad.
"Yee!" Sagami said. "I have become lost with all these twists and turns. It is like a maze in here."
"I fear you are right, Brother Sagami." Tatsu replied," And I think that it is not by accident. This path has been engineered to slow us."
"You mean you think the stealers planned this?" Fudo asked incredulously. "They are but stupid savage beasts who -"
"That is where we are all mistaken, Brothers." Tatsu broke in. "Just because the stealers are not human does not make them animals. They may not think the same way we do, but they are highly intelligent none the less."
"Bah, Tatsu! They cannot build ships. They must rely on stowing away aboard other's vessels. They cannot even make or use crude weapons." Sagami retorted.
"Why should they? Could a better weapon be forged than the claws of a stealer? You saw them rip through the sergeant's armor. We have been bred as the ultimate warriors, so too have they."
Tatsu tapped his breast plate," They have superior armor, and deadly weaponry. They can survive extreme temperatures and even live a short while in the vacuum of space. When no food is available they can hibernate indefinitely. They reproduce by using any living carbon-based creature as a host who then gives birth to another stealer, identical to the one who infected its parent. The parent, if an intelligent race will be enthralled by the young and do anything to protect it, even though it looks nothing like them."
Tatsu tapped his helmet, "We rely on radio and visuals to communicate. The tapes tell us that these creatures are linked psychically. Just as we can see through the eyes of anyone else in the squad, so they have already seen us through those who we have killed. They know how many of us there are, how we are armed, and what our location is. The hybrids will have retained their squat minds as well as the partial appearance of the host race. They will have some of the squat knack for technology that explains why the ship is in so much better repair than other hulks that have been encountered. It only appears like a wounded duck. I would dare to guess that this vessel is almost as space worthy as the Takeda"
The squad was silently considering this when they all heard the hum of a reactor plant coming to life and the grind of gears from somewhere behind them. Metal scraped metal, gears disengaged, and the power plant went silent.
"And now should we retrace our steps we would find our way very efficiently blocked." Chaya muttered.
"By `stupid savage beasts' no doubt." Tatsu added. "They have been in control of this mission all along. We must find a way to take that control away from them."
Fudo began, "The simulations would advise..."
"Forget the simulations! Is playing Go against a computer the same as defending against a real opponent? That is what killed our over confident sergeant. The computer simply replayed information gathered from other battles. Once you discovered what reaction was likely to occur from your actions, you could repeat the strategy over and over again. The computer was not programmed to allow the stealers to learn from their mistakes, it utilized strategies from battles long forgotten. Sergeant Hosokawa was not victorious against Genestealers; he was victorious against the Combat Simulation Computer. The computer never configured for Genestealer-squat half-breeds. That's why the Emperor doesn't have an army of computerized battle robots. They're effective in the right situation, but we've got to be more than simple killing machines, we must use our creativity, our ingenuity, or we will all die !"
There were a few moments of silence, then Sagami quipped. "You missed your calling, Tatsu. You should have been a chaplain. Nakamura makes me fall asleep, but who could sleep through such shouting as yours? Lead on, mighty dragon, let us destroy the enemy with our deadly gray matter!"
Maeda spoke next. "What Tatsu says is true. If we continue to think incorrectly, those thoughts will be our undoing. Does not the Sword Saint chastise us for underestimating our foes? Today we must not do as those who have gone before. Today we must create tradition."
"Squad One. This is Redemption. Please respond. Over."
"Redemption, this is Tatsu, Squad One. What is your status? Over."
"Have met only token resistance. Two pure-strains and a mongrel half-sized Hybrid. We are outside the doors to the Control Center. They have been reinforced, but we're preparing to bash our way through. We expect heavy fighting and several hybrids, perhaps heavily armed. You must keep reinforcements from joining for as long as possible. We will need at least ten minutes to secure this area. Over."
"It shall be done, Redemption. Good Fortune. Squad One Over."
The tracked robot sent a beep to call attention to itself. The squad switched over to its channel and was overwhelmed by the vision of a blue and purple hoard swarming down a corridor made of C.S.U.s and mining trucks.
"How far?" Fudo asked.
"The 'bot has been traveling while we were talking. It is at least two minutes away." Oda said.
"I count at least twelve purestrains and four hybrids. One is definitely carrying a plasma gun." Chaya rung in.
"There are more behind them." Maeda added.
Chaya's talent was for numbers. His brain was a natural computer that juggled figures with consummate ease. "Given our present strength and based on previous Kill ratios of Marines against Stealers we could defeat the identified foes losing fifty percent. Assuming there are more behind them..."
At this point the corridor widened and the mob spread out revealing at least a score more purestrains.
"We will kill approximately 13.5 purestrains and 5 of the hybrids before being decimated ourselves. A three to one over-all Kill ratio is considered honorable."
"That still leaves about twenty purestrains alive and able to attack Redemption Squad from the rear." Maeda said.
"The actual combat will take under one minute. The survivors will no doubt be upon Redemption before they break through into the command center. Given that we have destroyed the guardsmen hosts, it is likely that several of us will be spared to continue their breeding program." Chaya remarked glumly.
"That's their version of the game. We won't play that way!" Tatsu declared.
At this point, one of the stealers noticed the little robot. A hail of weapon fire was released. The camera showed incoming laser blasts, bolter fire, and even a frag grenade before the plasma gun rained super heated pellets on the scout-droid and its vision was blinded forever.
"Pull back. About 40 meters behind us is an open area with several corridors leading off. Move it." Tatsu ordered.
The Marines moved as fast as their overloaded servos would carry them, Luckily, these stealers, although adapted for high G, were not as fast as the normal variety and were probably suffering somewhat from the 3.5 times normal earth gravity.
As they entered the chamber, Tatsu spied a hybrid sitting in the cab of a giant earth mover. It had been this vehicle that had been used to block the retreat.
The hybrid, not expecting the Marines to return so quickly, seemed surprised and scrambled with clawed limbs, unsuited for the task, to raise a bolt gun into firing position. Tatsu, Fudo, and Sagami all three targeted the misshapen creature. Three bolters coughed and the cab interior was painted with the hybrid's entrails and vital fluids.
"No other blips behind us. I think they were expecting to hit us in mass by the engine room. No doubt they were going to send a few round back and pin us down. When Redemption showed up, they decided to come looking for us. That's to our advantage." Tatsu commented."Begging your pardon, honorable Tatsu, but I do not see that we have gained any time for Redemption by retreating here, although they will have to get another hybrid to drive the truck or simply scramble over. Maybe another forty-five seconds, but this position will not gain us a more favorable Kill ratio than before." Chaya said.
"That's if we simply open fire on them. If we do that, they will kill us. Remember how Chaplain Nakamura always says `Desperate times require new tactics and strategies'? I was thinking of my Aikido class. We were taught to turn the opponent's force back against him. Obviously the suits will not allow us to use Aikido on them, but how may we turn one of their weapons against them?" "Besides the hybrids, they use no weapons, I don't see how-"
Tatsu stopped the doubting Fudo," That's because you don't see! Look up!"
The squad did as commanded and saw the sagging plates of the pre-fab floor panels.
"They are using the gravity generator as a weapon. That same generator has increased the load to a dangerous level above us. Oda, you will use your flamer when they round the corridor. That will not allow them to see us and should keep the faster ones from breaking through. Keep firing, try to keep them in that large open area."
"Maeda," Tatsu instructed raising his bolter so that the blue dragon rested on the top of a strained support beam, "Open fire here on my command."
Maeda raised the barrels of the assault cannon until his crane symbol overlapped the dragon.
"That's the sturdiest support, the rest are weaker. Fudo, you shoot here, Sagami here, I shall take this one."
"And me, Tatsu-San?" Chaya asked, and Tatsu did not fail to notice the suffix of respect the marine added.
"A few might make it through the wall of fire, you will be our only defense against those."
Fudo asked," What if it doesn't work? Then all of them will hit us."
"Does it matter if Redemption Squad is outflanked by twenty or by thirty? Either way they will be dead." Tatsu answered.
"What if the ceiling falls on us as well, Tatsu?" Sagami queried.
"Better to be crushed along with our enemy than die at the claws of the stealers. Either way we will be dead. At least it would be a cleaner fate than those horrors have planned for us."
Chaya spoke calmly, "They are here."
The blue and purple hoard stopped for a few seconds as they rounded the corner. Yellow eyes blazing, the obscene tongues they used to implant their victims writhing from their toothsome mouths like horrid albino worms. The hybrids got into place and opened fire. Laser shots and bolter shells rang off of the near impermeable armor. The purestrains lunged forward, their claws scrabbling on plasteel as they ran on all four, their middle limbs held out to the side like stabilizing fins.
"Now, Oda!" Tatsu ordered.
A ball of fire erupted from the flamer exploding into a great orange flower, blistering the paint on the floor. He had enough fuel for three more shots.
The auto cannon whirled and the ceramite barrels began to heat up as shells flew at an alarming rate, ablating the pillar's top and eroding the surrounding panels.
Oda's second shot came as Maeda slapped a second canister into the cannons ammunition port. Fudo's bolter jammed and he was furiously working the lever to clear the errant shell.
A single stealer cleared the flames and ran towards Oda who was preparing to release his third volley.
Like quick-silver Chaya moved to intercept, the golden claws sheathed in crackling blue fire. The stealer turned to meet the new threat. Both the marine and stealer opened their arms wide and it appeared they were about to hug one another. Chaya made his move his right hand dipped and rose up, seeking the soft belly opening. His left swung straight across attempting a quick decapitation.
The stealer blocked with both its right limbs, but the lightening claws cut cleanly through both arms and buried themselves in the creature's fleshy head. Chaya continued his movements lifting the abomination up and flinging it several meters away. The smoke and flame cleared and more stealers were charging forward. Chaya hastened to clear himself from Oda's line of sight.
Oda raised his flamer and was thrown backwards by a hail of plasma pellets engulfing him in
raw energy. A hybrid squealed a victory cry, and the mob surged forward. One stealer was larger than the rest and it led the attack. Surely this was the Old One. The Patriarch. The purestrain who had engendered all those on board this vessel.Closer he came, rising up to full height and opening his horrid mouth to reveal rows of shark-like teeth. Terror emanated from him in nauseating waves. His armor was bleached white with age, his flesh squeezed out between the plates in lavender globs. A terrible wail came from deep within his throat then like an avenging angel, a sound like a great tearing was heard as plasteel gave way and several tons of ore in Cargo Storage Units came down upon the Old One's head. So great was the gravity that the containers did not even bounce, but broke open spraying their contents across the scorched deck. So forceful was the crushing that First squad found itself splattered with the Stealer's gore.
The other genestealers hesitated, feeling the pain of their patriarch's death, the psychic void left by his death. In that instant the assault cannon, using the last canister of ammo, did its duty. The support gave way, and the deck above deposited its cargo on the deck below, destroying several mining vehicles and turning the stealer hoard into a mauve paste. The deck above the marines held. A few minor dents were experienced from flying debris and Sagami was almost crushed by a C.S.U. that rolled too close.
The marines waited. Dust settles quickly in such heavy gravity. A piece of rubble moved and three bolters responded.
Chaya checked on Oda. Although severely wounded, his suit's integral medical unit had released stasis drugs. The medic could probably pull him through, unfortunately his armor had taken heavy damage.
They waited several more minutes. Another ceiling panel collapsed adding more C.S.U.s to the artificial mountain.
"The guards will be unhappy that we ruined several of their vehicles." Sagami noted.
Quite suddenly Maeda's assault cannon and the arm holding it rose into the air. A groan was heard that seemed to come from deep within the ship.
Chaya checked his readout. "Normal earth gravity has been restored."
"First squad, this is Redemption. Control Center is secure. They were putting up a hell of a fight and then just rolled over. Most unusual." Came the Librarians voice over the com-unit.
"Redemption, we read you. We have one badly wounded. Thirty plus enemy dead. Once our wounded has been teleported back to the mother ship, will continue with detailed search in case of isolated survivors. Over."
"First Squad, please confirm. Thirty Plus? Over."
"Confirmed. Thirty plus. Over."
"I'd love to see Lieutenant No-Bangy's face when he hears that!" Sagami laughed.
Tatsu sighed. This squad would need a new sergeant, and unless he was brought up on charges of heresy against the Codex, Tatsu felt that he had a good shot at the position. Chaya would make an excellent second.
They would search the ship for an identity, trace it back to its place of origin. There they would undoubtedly find a squat mining planet teeming with stealers. High density bombing would do little good against the tunnels that stretched for miles beneath the planet's surface. It would mean corridor to corridor fighting. The Emperor would hopefully reward the Rising Suns by assigning them to purge the Hell Hole. Perhaps this very vessel would carry the Terminator squads. Tatsu would be there. Surely his ancestors would be proud.
By Ghargh