Mire

Christina:

Christina reveled in the awe of her quarry. She deserved nothing less, after all. As she prepared to strike, she heard the bolts of the reinforced door to the cell-block disengage. She was incensed; here, for the briefest moment, she had to opportunity to savor every little emotion these wretches would experience as she took them apart. But yet again, the pathetic followers of the plague-lord insisted on interrupting her. The serfs' demise would have to wait, it seemed. Her cackle escalated into a howl of frustration. "SUCH IMPUDENCE", she screamed, swiveling around and drawing her hand flamer in one smooth motion. Whatever the guards had expected, they instead would find that they were about to get exactly what they deserved.

COMBAT:

[Going to follow the rule of cool here and not even let the guards dodge the flamer attack.]

The rage of Christina runs its way down through the gout of flame as it climbs it way around the armored door and spills onto the guards. There were no screams at first but eventually the flames took hold and the screams started to radiate out from around the door. The stench of burning flesh clogged her nostrils.

Behind her the two serfs break out into their own screams as the Kabalite Warriors have caught up to Christina. They are ripped limb from limb until nothing is left to pull off.

Her attention swing back to the door which has carried on opening under its own momentum. Christina can now see her handiwork. All the guards were caught by the hand flamer and they all desperately tried to extinguish themselves. One of them seemed to keep his faculties and ripped down on a lever. Alarms, probably the most modern things in this palace, squealed to life.

Christina could feel the presence of the Dark Eldar behind her.

One of the Kabalite Warriors spoke, "Lead the way, human."

[All the guards are to busy trying to put themselves out to be much of a problem. However, one of them did activate the alarm. Christina has at her back all the remaining Dark Eldar crew and a sizable group of Kabalite Warriors.]

Christina strode out of the prison block purposefully, a sadistic smile plastered to her face as she took in the destruction her hand flamer had unleashed upon the unit of guards. One of less fortunate wretches had dropped to his knees directly in her path, clawing at the charred remnants of his face. She swatted him aside with the flat of her power sword, before terminating his struggles with a firmly planted boot. She had to act quickly - the hallways were still clear but it would be but a moment before the halls were crawling with guards and the Keisari's retinue. She noticed the shoddy gun the guard had dropped in his efforts to extinguish himself and came to a decision.

"Quickly," she barked, "take their weapons and follow me."

She took off at a brisk job down the back hall. She hadn't taken the time to check for a back way out through the deck plating but she hoped her instincts about the nature of security in the fortress were correct; no ruler would leave himself with nowhere to run if cornered. If she were wrong? So be it; they would ascend the stairwell at the end of the hall to the second floor, then make their way to the front of the complex. She knew their best bet would be to exit along the walls of the palace grounds; the grounds themselves would be an abattoir for unarmed escapees, gunned down by entrenched guards as they fled the palace. The walls, while high, were not particularly precarious to leap from for the agile Dark Eldar, nor herself; the soft earth would do much to ease their escape. Any too weak or clumsy to escape by such means would deserve to die and serve to distract any pursuers.

[Christina is leading the crew and warriors along the back hallway of the palace keeping an eye out for any evidence of a rear exit through the plating. If none exists, she'll head up to the second floor and make for the front of the palace, seeking a way onto the walls.]

Awareness:

The Dark Eldar followed Christina as she moved to the back of the palace. She knew what she wanted to find but there was no rear door to this place... as least that she could see. She was about to go with her second option when one of the Dark Eldar in the rear yelled out.

She looked back and saw a panel of wall shift and slide to the side. In came El'Ru and Zigg.

"Boz, heard them alarms and thought we'd come and give you a hand!" Zigg barked out.

El'Ru commanded his Dark Eldar in their own tongue and they began to filter out of the palace. It was slow going though.

"Christina, take some of my Kablalites and hold down the halls! We need to buy time!" El'Ru yelled.

The time would need to be bought as the heavy footfall of palace guards was getting closer.

[Time to do some leading, captain. Give me a Common Lore (War) +10 roll and a Command -20 roll.]

Rolls:

Christina bristled at being ordered around by El'ru. Rearguard orders especially; such actions were usually suicide operations reserved for unfavorable crewmen... such as herself, in this case. She paused, commands dying before they could reach her lips: what was she to do? She had never commanded a defensive operation - everything she had ever done aboard the Endless Pain had been entirely offensive in nature.

She bit down on her tongue, the pain bringing her back into focus. It did not matter; she would lead from the front, and trust in the ferocity of her warriors to do most of the work for her.

"Those with long-range weapons, form up and keep watch that way," she barked, gesturing back the way they had come, "Zigg, you're with me and the less well-armed. We'll be fighting them up-close and personal near the corner of the hall. They've had this coming; make sure they know it. Now, snap to it, there's foul-blood to be spilled!"


[Christina is hoping to embroil the near end of the back hall in melee to jam-up incoming reinforcements. Any Kabalites that stopped to acquire guns from the guards will be covering the escaping crew from the other direction.]

Christina is able to get the Kabalites into position but only just barely before the first guards arrive. Gun fire is being traded down the opposite hall but from the sounds of it the Kabalites have the upper hand even with inferior numbers.

Christina and Zigg's band of Kabalites sit and wait for the guards to make their move around the corner. Eventually they spilled around and into their waiting hands.

[This will be a surprise round for Christina's horde.]

Kabalite Warriors:

The Kabalites moved with blinding speed that the guards could not counter. However, they did not attack... instead with expert agility they stripped part of the mobs weapons for themselves.

[Christina's Kabalite horde is no longer unarmed.]

"Waaagh!" Is all Zigg yelled before he plunged head first into the guards with his chain axe.

Zigg:

He hit the guards like one would expect an ork would... with reckless abandon. His axe carved out a descent chunk in their lines.

Guard Horde:

With Christina out of her disguise her full appearance was bared for all to see. To the guards she was something to be feared as anyone that caught a glimpse of her desperately fled for their lives... with some even killing their compatriots to get away.

As the heard thins the sight of something bigger, meaner, and more disciplined is coming up behind the guards...

[Guard Horde is down to a magnitude of 18 (started at 40). Christina's is still at 30. For initiative here Christina's will represent that of her horde's.]

Guard Horde:

Initiative:

Christina cackled maniacally as she saw the terror in the guards eyes; the vicious assault of the Kabalites paired with her unearthly splendor had broken their spirits. And now, for those who had steeled themselves to continue, she would break them.

Surprise Round Combat:

Christina leapt into the fray, skewering one of the guards with lightning-quick thrust of her power sword, then slicing it free to behead a second. She let out a shriek of exaltation; pleasing as it was to set such scum ablaze, it could not compare to the visceral thrill of swordplay.

Round 1:

Before the first two had hit the ground, Christina had already moved further into the mob, a pair of elegant slashes felling another duo of guards. It was time to press the advantage; the next level of resistance would be far greater and it would best to ensure there was no pause in the bloodshed. She could not risk the chance that her newly recruited crewmen would waver.

"LET NONE ESCAPE," she screamed, her voice piercing the clamor of combat, "GO FORTH - DRINK DEEP FROM THEIR FEAR!"

[[Christina is commanding the the Kabalites to press the attack (if they break the horde), hoping to use the fleeing guards as cover for the melee to shift into the reinforcements.]]

[One needs to cause 15 points of damage to reduce a horde's magnitude by 1. I'll roll Christina's damage.]

Christina:

Kabalite Warriors:

The Kabalites open up point blank with their newly acquired assault shotguns. Rounds punch into the guards ranks but they don't do enough damage to thin them out.

Zigg:

Zigg continues his one ork path of destruction. Wide swings with his chain axe cut guards down like wheat on harvesting day.

Guard Horde:

Even though the next attack cause much damage the loss of their men and with Zigg chewing through them the guards break formation and flee down the hall. Christina and her followers ride their retreat into the next oncoming group. However, bodies start getting denser and more compact down the hall and Christina can see why. The next group is a phalanx of shields and power mauls. More worrisome is she sees the banner of the black tree in their center. The fort dwellers are leading this new group.

The fleeing guards find themselves caught in between the groups. Someone barks an order from the phalanx. The front ranks power mauls pounded into the guards. Slowly the two groups inched their way closer to one another.

[Guard Horde is down. Fort Dweller Horde is a magnitude of 25 but it's packed with shields, better trained guards, and is being lead by that fort contingent Christina saw before.]

Initiative :

[Christina and her horde still get to go first.]

Christina grimaced at the site of the banner; that thrice-damned contingent from the fortress had joined in the effort to stop their prison break. This complicated matters greatly; these foes would not break as easily and were well-equipped. In short, everything had gone thoroughly ploin-shaped. She now had a difficult decision to make: did she take her chances by pressing the assault? Or begin falling back to escape?

She hesitated for but moment before drawing her hand flamer and flourishing he sword outward, signaling her crewmen to hold. She was no fool; deadly though her cohort was, they would crash against the shield-wall and then be crushed by the counter-attack. Such a suicidal charge, fitting for the foolish worshipers of Khorne, was hardly appropriate. Armed as they were, the guards would annihilate them in melee... but they could be outmaneuvered. Especially while occupied with the less-fanatical guards.

"HOLD," she cried, "DO NOT GIVE THEM THE PLEASURE OF OUR BLADES!" She leveled the primed-nozzle of her flamer at the phalanx, and briefly savored the fittingness of her next command: " SUPPRESSING FIRE!"

[[Christina knows better than to engage a horde of melee-dedicated guards on their own terms. She's commanding her horde to back off from their overrun and, instead, retreat while firing on the advancing horde.]]

Rolls:

Christina's flamer washed over a few remaining guards and into the front rank of the new guards. The whole front rank went up in a flames and so do a few second liners. The damage was minimal as those spots were quickly filled in by an able body.

[Fort Dweller Horde magnitude is now 23.]

The Kabalites heeded Christina's order to halt and let out a well coordinated wall of scattershot.

Kabalite Warriors:

Fort Dwellers Horde:

The fort dwellers group halted. Even with their fort dweller leaders standing tall among the incoming fire the guards were having none of it.

"Boz, pointy ears only have enough shots for one more attack before they're stuck reloading." Zigg yelled out showing his surprising knowledge of firearms.

Christina scowled. The suppressing fire had been somewhat erratic and only slowed the horde down, barely scratching them. It seemed she had been right to perform a tactical retreat; the horde's armor was holding up as well as anticipated. She chuckled inwardly at Zigg's observation - the Ork still surprised her after all these years with his combat acumen. While normally as thick as one would expect from the green-skinned Xenos, the thrill of combat brought out some deep-seated military prowess that she had, as of yet, been unable to anticipate or explain. She supposed it was why she kept him around.

The defensive stance the horde had taken up would hopefully grant them the time they needed. "FRONT RANK, AGAIN!" she shouted, "THE REST RELOAD AND FALL BACK TO THE BREACH"

[[Christina is ordering the forward-most members of the horde to keep up the supressing fire to keep the horde pinned while the remainder continue to the escape route while reloading. It's clear the shotguns can hardly dent the oncoming fort-dwellers, but the psychological damage will have to do.]]

Command:

[It's not that the hordes armor is holding up its that suppressing fire is more about causing heads to duck down instead of causing damage. It's a -20 BS to see if any rounds hit but the test always succeeds causing a willpower roll.]

The Kabalites followed Christina's orders to a T. The front rank let lose scattershot as the rest moved and reloaded. As Christina moved back she saw El'Ru moving towards her.

"The crew is out! My other Kabalites are falling back now. Time to leave this place for good!"

Christina doesn't need any more encouragement. The fort dwellers horde continued to hunker down instead of advancing which her group the window they needed to pull out.


It was a mad race through the internals of the voidships bulkhead and then through the streets of Virilous. Nothing stood in the way of the fleeing Dark Eldar though. Christina and Zigg struggled to keep up with El'Ru and his crew but the Dark Eldar captain made sure to slow down so they weren't left behind.

Taking back the vessel was trivial as the Dark Eldar danced around and slaughtered the guards with sick glee.

El'Ru made sure all were aboard before he embarked and ordered the ship to power up.

The inside of the ship was alien to Christina. Everything took a more biological shape and feel compared to the rigid and manufactured feel of a human ship. He admiration of the ship was cut short though when a large team of Kabalites surrounded her and Zigg with splinter rifles.

El'Ru stood behind one of them. "Your assistance in helping to free my crew and getting us off this world isn't going unwarranted, Christina. However, I think as you green friend put it... I don't trust you two as far as I can throw you. Especially one who follows the Lord of Dark Delights. I will get you to were we're going safely and nothing of ill will is going to happen to you once we get there. You will just have to enjoy the comforts of a slave pen until we get there though. If you reject... I can easily make sure you stay here on Mire."

The engines of the ship start to purr to life.

Zigg grumbles and grips his chain axe with deadly intent. "I could take this whole ship by myself from you pointy eared bastards. I wouldn't even break a sweat."

[[Oh, the statement about armor was more fluff than substance. No worries; I know what I can get out of supression and it was definitely the objective here to pin them down rather than hurt them.]]

Christina kept her face impassive as El'ru addressed her. She was hardly paying attention to the actual words being spoken; she knew the nature of his little speech and was busy assessing her options. She knew her luck had already been stretched to the limit. The prison break had gone too well; experience and paranoia had taught her that fate was a fickle mistress that rarely gave plentiful gifts free of cost. Her initial confidence in being able to take the ship for her own had waned slightly in the face of massed splinter rifles, replaced by contempt and disgust. How could the crew be so blind to her majesty? That the crew would remain loyal to a captain that had failed them was incomprehensible to her. Alas, she could not have accounted for their foolishness. It was their loss. More pressing than the doubtful success of the mutiny, however, was El'ru's belief that a slave pen would be suitable lodging for the trip.

She smiled humorlessly. "Of course, El'ru. One cannot captain such a ship without taking such perfectly reasonable precautions." She shot a glare at Zigg. "You wouldn't break a sweat because that would entail you surviving long enough to break one. Stand. Down. Or I'll save them the trouble." She signed in frustration; the Orc's bloodlust was excellent in the heat of combat but did little to benefit diplomatic tensions.

"Your warriors are exceptional, El'ru, there is no doubt of that. It was a pleasure to command them during our escape. Seeing as how some of your crew is no longer with us, however, there must be some manner of crew quarters that are now unspoken for. I would hope that a fellow captain, having recently restored ownership of your ship, would at least deserve slightly better lodging than the brig." She waved dismissively in Zigg's direction. "If it soothes your concerns somewhat, he can stay in the pen. And I have no objection to guards posted at my door, of course. Though, I must admit, it wounds me to know you think I would be foolish enough to disabuse the hospitality of the one providing me safe passage. If you trust nothing else, trust that I would look for a far better opportunity than this to stab an ally in the back, as you yourself would in my situation."

Zigg grumbles more excessively then usually but he slowly secures his chain axe.

El'Ru's face resumes a look that Christina remembers when he first found them. One of disappointment.

"Even the more "open-minded" ones of humanity are still ignorant. I am Drukhari. From where I come the ways of espionage, court intrigue, and back stabbing is a way of life. I'm not blind to what you are capable of Slaaneshi. You are charismatic and lead with conviction and strength. The true mark of a good captain... also the telling sign that you can win the hearts and minds of many with ease. You can use that else where but not here on my ship."

El'Ru snaps his fingers and the Kabalites move in forcing Christina and Zigg down into the bowls of the ship. The engines are now at a constant low grumble and Christina can feel the ship leave the surface.

Christina nor Zigg will be able to enjoy the trip much are they are locked into a pitch black slave pen.

"Could of gone worse." Zigg quipped.

[1000 XP. +15 Corruption. +15 Infamy.]

Christina stared into the darkness. Zigg's quip had triggered a confusing cascade of emotions that she wasn't quite certain how to sort out. While he was - for once - correct, the situation was certainly on the low end of her expectations. This was hardly the triumphant escape from Mire she had fantasized about; it said quite a bit about the planet that she preferred the slave pen of a Drukhari raider to the surface. But the fact that El'ru was sufficiently concerned about her capabilities to imprison her was, in a way, the highest form of compliment the xenos could have given her. He feared her - that would have to be a sufficiently satisfying takeaway.

"Yes," she began slowly, "it could have." She said nothing further. Instead, she unsheathed her sword and began to run through a series of training exercises she had been neglecting to perform while planet-side. If she was to be imprisoned in the darkness, she would use the conditions to her advantage; it would be easier to perfect her form and footwork when deprived of her other senses. She was almost disappointed in herself: why hadn't she thought to combine sensory deprivation and swordplay before now? She smiled to herself in the gloom. Someday, she would thank El'ru for the inspiration. She would be sure to kill him in a way his kind would find most pleasing.

[[I'll take this opportunity to spend some of that experience as fittingly as possible, given the circumstances.]]

Time had slipped away from Christina as she practiced and perfected other skills in the confines of the cell.

Zigg also seemed inspired by his Captain's training routine, at least what he could hear and question about, where he set about practicing himself.

[Zigg will get some new skills and upgraded stats. I'll add those to your sheet.]

What was odd about the journey was the lack of warp... anything. Even the most simple trips across the Vortex took one into it and an incursion or odd phenomenon would take place. The Dark Eldar ship didn't experience any of this. It was quite puzzling to Christina.

Some unknown time later the cell doors opened and the light from outside of it was blinding and the Kabalite Warriors took full advantage of that disorientation as they lead Christina and Zigg through the ship and then eventually out of it.

[Continued in Nexus of Shadows.]