Chapter 2.1: Re-Engage the Fear Machine (IC)

High Tower's eyes snap open. He felt pain in his head and face, but that was nothing compared to the horror of realizing what put him out was now surrounding him. The smell of them filled his un-helmeted senses and he screamed. He didn't know where his carbine was, but instinct threw him into action. He pulled his sidearm and fired at the closest one to his front. The round burned through the abdomen, but he knew immediately it wasn't a kill shot. "They're on me. Bastards are on me!" He hollared.

Kanna knew he was in a bad position, and HT was in an even worse position-one he would soon be in himself unless he did something. "Shoot us. I don't care if you hit me. Just knock these guys out." he tells the others in no uncertain terms. He had no choice but to keep trying to break free, his cybernetic helped, but not nearly enough. Instead, he used the Shadda'no vor, or 'the small one.' First, he grabs the arms that kept him in a choke-hold to gain leverage, then he snapped his head back into his opponent's, catching him off guard and weakening his grasp. Then came the 'small one'; he uses his hips and started to stand lower, changing his center of gravity, with the center of balance shifted, he flipped the enemy over his shoulder. Remarkably, he remains standing, but Kanna had the upper hand now.

His eyes met the psychopath's, and he saw madness in those pits of rage. "Lur'ta'mont." he identifes.

Knowing there would be no quarter from these....things, he pulls a photon grenade from his belt. "No hesitation!" he tells reaper four as he prepares to flash-bomb everyone, himself included.

The three remaining gue'la on High Tower go into a fury as he wakes up and shoots one of them. They stab over and over, but his armor and the body-glove underneath ensure his safety.

The melee moves back against Kanna. The enemy he just tossed turns and attempts to take control of him again through sheer force and with the aid of his comrade, does just that. The wounded gue'la that Arlene had shot ignored the pain in her leg - perhaps she didn't even feel it - and once again attempted to pull Kanna's pistol from its holster on his thigh. Kanna is caught off guard and manages to lose his pistol as well as his helmet.

+++
Arlene kept her sights on the same target, not moving her body at all. Another breath in. Half out. Squeeze. The pulse blast blew the creature attacking Kanna into pieces. A mess was all that remained of the torso.

Taro continued the assault on those that wished to harm his brother. He knew that Kanna was doing all he could to keep the enemies at bay. But he still needed some help. The Tau was inspired by his brother's courage, telling them all to fire even if they risked hitting him. It was something Taro himself wasn't sure he could say if he were put in the same situation. He breathes in and out once again, letting his muscles do all the work. He fires again, hoping he'd end another one of them. His patience is rewarded. His shot hits Kanna's assailant in the knee cap, completely demolishing it. He falls screaming to the ground, blood pouring out from the wound and he dies writhing.

Kor'arx doesn't revel in the kill. Not yet. He turns toward the continuing melee around High Tower and takes two bounding steps forward before throwing a javelin. It bursts through the backs of one the attackers who slumps over, meekly kicking at the air and twitching.

Harriet stays still, making sure nothing nasty comes her way from the other side.

+++
High Tower 14 [PC: 23/24] - in melee w/3 enemy (1 has taken 7 dmg); 25-35m away from team; shaken -10. No one save Kanna can see HT; 9/17 wounds
Kanna 10 [PC: 23/24] - 5m away from High Tower; LoS on all of them; no helmet, no pulse pistol; in control of grapple, photon flash readied.
Psychopaths 9 - (2/8 remain) 3 in melee w/HT, 1 in melee w/Kanna.
Arlene 7 [LS: 9/12] - 20m from enemy; LoS on enemy.
Ta'ro 6a [PR: 33/36] - 20m from enemy; No LoS on enemy.
Kor'arx 6b [--] - 2m from enemies/HT; LoS on enemy.
Harriet 5 - w/Kor'arx; 30m from enemy; No LoS on enemy; Defensive Stance (-20 WS vs her).

High Tower wastes no time even attempting to get up. He simply shifts his angle and fires again. The shot is true, and at such close range it blasts a hole straight out of the unarmored back of the crazed human.

Kanna was a mess, in the tumlt he had lost his pulse pistol and dropped his carbine, not to mention losing his helmet. Something had knicked him and his forehead was bleeding down his face, not bad, just enough to notice. He had no time to fix any of that, however, HT was still on the ground and being laid low by the sickened. He only had one option. He tossed his photon grenade at the pair, then takes a step back as the grenade would disorient himself, HT and the sickened.

The photon erupts in a huge boom blinding Kor'arx, Kanna, and High Tower the worst. The last remaining enemy sees that she is alone and uses the opportunity to flee through a door on the far end of the room.


+++
High Tower 14 [PC: 23/24] - in melee w/3 enemy (1 has taken 7 dmg); 25-35m away from team; shaken -10. No one save Kanna can see HT; 9/17 wounds
Kanna 10 [PC: 23/24] - 5m away from High Tower; LoS on all of them; no helmet, no pulse pistol; in control of grapple, photon flash readied.
Psychopaths 9 - (1/8 remain) 1 in melee w/HT..
Arlene 7 [LS: 9/12] - 20m from enemy; LoS on enemy.
Ta'ro 6a [PR: 33/36] - 20m from enemy; No LoS on enemy.
Kor'arx 6b [--] - 2m from enemies/HT; LoS on enemy.
Harriet 5 - w/Kor'arx; 30m from enemy; No LoS on enemy; Defensive Stance (-20 WS vs her).

A few tense moment pass, then a loud bang resonates from beyond the door the last enemy went through.

Arlene checks her clip, still good. she thinks, moving to HT. "Good strategy Sabu'ro, you really kept them off us. Ta'ro can look you over if you're about to die. Can you keep moving?"

She looks back at the rest of the squad for a split second before snapping her head to the door the enemy fled through. "Are those our guys?" She asks to no one in particular, while checking her wrist comm for the ping of a nearby reaper.

Taro keeps his pulse rifle raised for a few moments longer, sure that something would jump out at them once again and start tearing people apart. He calms down for a second before hearing the loud bang and bringing his rifle back up quickly. When the silence settles again, he lowers it, heading over to HT's position as quickly as possible. He immediately begins to inspect the wounds of their fellow team member.

He knew he had to be fast...they sure as hell weren't out of the shit yet.

Arlene's wrist comm sends back no ping of friendlies other than her team in the area.

High Tower picks himself up to one knee, his head down into his hands as he rubs at his eyes. The photon grenade was still causing him to see nothing but white and he knew standing might get him more injured than he already was.

After a while, it starts to dissipate. He retrieved his carbine first and brushed it off. With it secure he picked his battle helmet off the ground and set it on a table. There were some pieces of cloth laying about, and he picked one up and wiped his face. The cloth came away coated in purple.

"Bastard got me good. Tried to make this sabu'ro's face into B'nim." With the majority of the blood wiped away, he spit and awaited Ta'ro. "Much better. Kanna, you good?"

He took a knee again, this time cover the entrance to the kitchen, as well as the rear exit, with his weapon.

+++

Kor'arx bent down and picked up his javelin. The dead human was still attached to it when he stood it upright. It slid down the length of the weapon slowly as the tall avian predator surveyed the scene.

"These were good kills. But," he sniffed at the lanky dead human as it slid past. "This is not good meat. Corrupted." He pulled the javelin free, putting it back in the quiver on his back, and moved on without another word.

The door bursts open, a flash of dark armour sprinting into the room. The figure dives behind behind an upturned table, before calling out;

"Reaper four?"

Kanna stumbled back, he had prepared for the photon burst, but even prepared, they were hard to avoid. When His vision begins to come back, he moves and retrieves his carbine, his pistol, and his helmet, which he quickly reattaches into place.

Stowing his pistol, he resumes holding the carbine in a two handed grip.

"Apologies. Bad aim on my part made that much worse then it should have been."

Taro immediately goes back into combat mode with the introduction of something or someone coming into the room. He raises his pulse rifle in the vicinity of the figure and is about to fire off an auto burst when it speaks out their team callsign.

"Identify yourself immediately."

Kanna does an abrupt about face and brings his sights to bear on the figure that just dived behind the table.

"Show yourself. No funny moves."

Ur'Na scrunched her face up behind her helmet, before re-opening the Reaper two comn channel. With the crackle, the panicked voice of the other member of Reaper two became audible.

"-dangerous and needlessly risky! Why are you -"
"Su'Saum! Do your job, I need eyes!"
"Impatient, Balai, -"
"Su'Saum, now! Their attention is on me!"

An audible sigh came across the comns, and Ur'Na noticed the quick flicker of the pathfinder's recon helmet peering from the doorwway that she just entered from.

"Looks like a Reaper team. Two Tau, Kroot, a bounded human, and ... something that looks half eaten."

"Copy that."

Ur'Na raised one armoured arm above the lip of the table, before calling out.
"We don't have time for this! Are you Reaper four or not?"

Taro keeps the pulse rifle raised and at the ready, keeping himself at the ready. It seemed like all parties involved were on edge and that this could easily turn into a situation that might end badly. Without moving, he replies to whoever was behind the table.

"Affirmative, you have found Reaper 4. Now, if it is so urgent, quit playing hide and seek and come out."

"That is all you needed to say."

Ur'Na stood quickly, and stepped out from behind the table. The members of Reaper Four can now see her clearly. Short, even by Tau standards, and dressed in the regulation black Reaper armour, Ur'Na somehow manages to give the impression of barely contained energy, tinged, in this case, with more than a hint of panic. She carries a veritable armoury, Pulse Blaster cradled in her arms, Carbine strapped to her back, and a pistol holstered for easy access on her leg. Perhaps surprisingly, a knife, looking to be of imperial manufacture, rests on the opposite hip.

Ur'Na takes the opportunity to look at the members of Reaper Four, taking note of both the bound human, and the clearly wounded Demiurg. It seems like she's about to ask about their situation, before abruptly changing topics.

"Why are you pointing your weapons at me? We need to secure this location, or move elsewhere." She offers, before turning to the doorway.

"Get in here, Su'Saum, don't get separated now."

High Tower jerked his weapon up in tandem with Ta'ro as the newcomer announced itself. When he realized it was another Reaper, he lowered it again.

"Fates combined, you about had me jump out of my boots."

It wasn't clear when or how he had moved, but Kor'arx was already flanking the newcomer. He stood up against one of the far walls, head and shoulders and head again above the Tau breacher. His javelin came down slowly, silently, as the friendly came into view.

Kanna relaxes, and lowers his carbine.
"Reaper two?""

Ur'Na turned to look at the Tau who about Reaper two.

"Who else could it be? We're what's left. Myself, Ur'Na, and Su'Saum."She gestured to herself, and the the figure entering the door. Another Tau, dressed in Reaper Black recon armour typical to pathfinders, leading with his carbine. A thin line of light cuts through the dust and gloom of the room, leading from the markerlight attached to the pathfinder's carbine, directly to the chest of Kor'ax.

"You reckless idiot. This wasn't necessary, Ur'Na. You didn't even notice the Kroot." Su'Saum calls out, frustration evident. Ur'Na turns and appraises the Kroot standing in her blind spot.

"That's why you stayed out there, Su'Saum, by the Path, we talked about this. I'm sure the Kroot wouldn't have killed me." Ur'Na replied. Su'Saum, lowering his weapon and flicking off the markerlight, gestured towards Ur'Na, as if to ask Reaper Four to save him from this madman.

"You're sure?" Kor'arx hadn't taken his eyes off of the breacher. When he finally did, it was only to look down at the markerlight on his chest and then back at the pathfinder with a cold gaze until he averted the weapon.

"I'm sure, Kroot. Now, we need to secure this location, or move on." Ur'Na gestured towards the Demiurg, "You've been wounded. What is these guys or something else?" She asks, kicking one of the human corpses on the ground.

Taro lowered his weapon and listened to the pride of the others for a bit. It was quite amusing at how much the newcomer didn't know about Kor. Kor, if the stories were true, had killed a lot more for a lot less than someone aiming a weapon at him. Taro lets his mind wander for those brief few moments before coming back to the reality of the situation.

"We should get moving. The other team seemed to need aid as well."

Arlene hadn't lowered her weapon until the short Tau showed herself. Even so, she was still uneasy.

"Glad we made it in time. Are you injured? We should move to Reaper One as quickly as possible." She said, motioning for the team to get ready.

Arlene checked her pulse rifle and looked back at her wrist comm to make surethe two were still absent before asking a second question. "What happened to your comms? You're not on my map." She said, tapping her wrist comm as she asked.

Kanna stayed silent as he let the rest of the reaper members aquaint themselves.

"Yeah, I am glad too." Ur'Na agreed sombrely, almost to herself. With a shake of her head, however, she shrugs. "Not injured, don't know about the comms. It works between us, so something on your end? Either way, where are we headed?"

As the team prepares to move out, Ur'Na moves next to the tall Tau member of Reaper Four.

"Question, is the human leading Reaper Four?

Taro brings his weapon back up and takes up position where he was before they entered the mess hall area. He lets the new one talk a little bit before interjecting.

"You mentioned your name was Ur'Na... that must be short for something...I am Shas'ui Tash'var Ta'ro'cha. But you can call me Taro. It is a pleasure."

Arlene sighed before repeating herself. " Kor', stop fighting everything that you don't like, half of them are your allies. Right then, we're heading to Reaper One. They sent a ping a little while ago and asked for help. Have you completed your task aboard the vessel? If not, we should ensure it is finished."

When Ta'ro introduces himself, Arlene shakes her head and adds "Sorry, all this chaos stuff is making me skeptical. I am Gue'vesa'ui T'ros Arlene Cunningham, formerly of the Tarosian PDF. I'm not sure which of you is the squad leader, but I would appreciate a breakdown of your skills if we are to be a fluid La'rua."

As she speaks, she moves into position and motions for the team to move out.

Ur'Na turned to the shorter Tau as he introduces himself. Taro. The human soon followed. Ur'Na nodded to both of them.

"Greetings, Taro and Gue'vesa'ui T'ros Arlene Cunningham. I am Shas’Ui Fi’Rios Lu’Ur’Na, but I would prefer you refer to me as Ur'Na. I am trained as a Breacher. My companion is Shas'Ui Ksi'm'yen Su'Saum, pathfinder. Reaper two lead is dead. Are you leading Reaper four? I was not expecting a human to lead, especially not in here."

Ur'Na then sighed. "Regardless, I suggest you do not go into the bowels of the ship. I have only seen such horror once before. Suffice to say that this ship is a Da'erra. That knowledge will have to suffice for our task."

Arlene looked a little flustered when the Tau responded with her full name, but her expression quickly changed when Ur'Na continued. "Do we have Shadow Wolves that are more qualified to lead than others? If you think so, why don't you bring that up with our commanding officer after the mission. I'm sure El'Eio'Kio would be more than happy to hear why I'm not qualified to lead a team after I saved his life. Will there be anything else you'd like to add?"

She watched the Tau for a moment before turning to leave. It was then that she saw the body they had forgotten in the heat of the fight. Pointing at it, she addresses the less insubordinate member of Reaper Two, "Su'Saum, do you know this Tau? I assume they were in your squad. We should ID them before we leave, Tau'va." She says before realizing it didn't hold the same honor as 'Emperor Provides' for the newly departed.

Kanna listened to the interchange while he took up a position. He wasn't familiar with either member of squad 2. He had an inkling that Ur'na did not like the idea of the guevesa taking the lead, that was his problem.
The greater good was for all-or it was for none.

"Ta,ro, how far away do you think we are from Squad 1's location? Id rather avoid any more chance encounters with lur'ta'mont."

"You misunderstand Gue'vesa'ui Arlene Cunningham. I make no claims on your ability to lead. I am glad you are leading. I am simply unsure why you would lead. Particularly here. This ship is designed for the suffering of your kind. And as Aun'vre Oi'kak said, 'Don't build a house in a storm and hope it stands when a neighbour lives underground.'"

Ur'Na seemed unperturbed by the human taking offense to her words.

Su'saum looked to Ur'na just a for a split second. Apparently the pathfinder had become so keen on working with his fellow Reaper 2 breacher that an order from another caused hesitation. But he quickly acknowledged Reaper 4's team leader and moved on.

He took a moment to look down at the corpse. He stopped and quickly turned to the side and ripped off his sleek helmet, the contents of his lunch splashing the floor. To his credit, he said nothing. He simply wiped his mouth and placed his helmet back on his head.

A quick glance from anyone else revealed the true extent of the horror. The corpse on the floor was a Reaper, and it was clear it was a tau, but one whose face had been almost completely removed. His tongue had been ripped through a massive hole in its cheek before being chewed on. The eyes were gone as was large pieces of the flesh around the head, neck, and chest. The stomach had been completely torn open and innards were splayed around like a macabre painting.

"I don't know who this... wait."

The hand. Su'saum lifted the poor being's hand, noting a birth-mark.

"He was Reaper 2. This was Da'ty. We lost him some time ago. But..."

He trailed off, saying nothing more. Anyone else who checks the body sees that while his combat vest remains on, all of his ammunition, including grenades, has been spent. His weapons are nowhere to be found. Perhaps most curiously, there is no blood trail leading into the room at all.

Ur'Na moved quickly to Sa'Saum's side. With the birth-mark exposed, Ur'Na turned swifty away and paced.

"Da'ty? I thought... He didn't... they couldn't have... but that door?" Ur'Na shuddered, and sat down on the floor with a hard thump. She slumped back against a table, head held in her hands.

"Sa'Saum... what's going on? What is this place?" She whispered.

Taro looked around at the others, remembering what had happened to them only a few moments before. They needed to get moving and it was likely that Reaper 1 needed their help. It was time to stop talking and time to start moving along. There was nothing that could be done for this Reaper.

"I am sorry for your loss, but there is nothing we can do for him now. We must get moving, lest we get trapped in here again. I doubt that was the only remnants of the crew of this vessel. While I don't know what is going on, I know Reaper 1 needs our help or at least we need to rendezvous with them to figure out what is happening. Sitting tight will do us no good. Arlene?"

Taro wouldn't admit it but he was on edge. Fear. Fear was good sometimes, it kept you moving forward. Alert. But fear could take hold at any moment and rip the will from him. He steadies himself, breathing slowly.

Just as Ta'ro calls out the team leader's name, a crash of steel pots and pans resounds from the far kitchen area.

Nothing in the blackness.

Her emotions, already heightened by her awful stint in the bowels of the ship, lashed out at the the clatter of pans. Her fears, stoked by the disappearance of her team, gave nefarious intent to the sound. Her hands, led by instinct, grabbed her carbine and swung it towards the sound.

"No, NO MORE" Ur'Na cried, and fired in the direction of the sounds.

Taro had flinched at the sound and might well have done the same if Ur'Na hadn't beaten him to it. Of course, no one had to know that. He brought his rifle up slightly at the noise, but that was all. The breacher had done the rest.

"Cease fire! Cease fire! Make yourself Doran! Doran, Ur'Na. Once we begin to crack, we will surely crumble in the face of this adversity. We must remain lynu...do not go off again like a tak."

Taro says these words to Ur'Na, but they are partly for himself.

The spread of the pulse blaster decimates the counter tops leading into the kitchen area. The pieces that are left glow momentarily in the black, then slowly die down.

Still, nothing stirs.

Arlene nodded and sighed. "Da'Ty. Thank you." She checks her gun again, more as a fidget than out of worry. She listened to her comrades worries and Ta'ro's consolation with a small smirk.

Instinct took over when the kitchen came to life. Arlene dropped under the table and raised her rifle as the sounds of Pulse fire echoed through the room. "Ur'na what the hell was that? Don't you have trigger training?" She said with a glare before pointing to Kor'Arx and motioning for him to check it out quietly. She started talking through her external speaker to mask any sounds of his movement.

"Floor plan doesn't make sense? Kitchenware that moves on its own? I'm not surprised. Most of what the Imperium tells you about the warp is ghost stories, but in our current situation, I'd say there's a lot more to be worried about than floors and pots. Harriet, is there any possibility your people survived this mess? We can collect those prisoners too. Reaper two, can I trust you to you run point? Korst'la Neg* needs all the help it can get. Our point man is a worn out. HT, you'll run mid-line with me and Ta'ro from now on. As soon We're all cleared we head to Reaper One. Copy?"

*Korst'la Neg - Reaper One

Harriet is peering around the room cautiously. When the pots and pans crash through the relative silence and Ur'na opens fire, she dips down and duck under a table.

"Possibility? Yes. The possibility exists, though it isn't plausible." Hands behind her back still, she was very limited in what she could actually accomplish int he event of an attack on her.

High Tower gives an affirmative and is staring into the darkness of the kitchen area. He murmurs a few things in Demiurg as Ur'na opens fire. "Breacher, do you have a target??"

Kor'arx acknowledges Arlene only with a glance and disappears into the shadows again. Even with your blacksun filters it was hard to track him, but you make out his outline as he disappears into the shadows and then behind the walls of the kitchen entrance. He had traded out his javelin for his Kroot rifle, holding it in two hands. If something came at him, it would not find itself welcome.

Seconds pass. Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

There is no sound from within the kitchen, and Kor'arx still hasn't returned.

Taro didn't feel like anything was wrong. It seemed some pots and pans had simply come loose and fell from their original position. That was how he felt. At least until Kor hadn't made it back. No communication, no return. Nothing. Taro brings his pulse rifle to the ready position once again. He speaks into the comms of his helmet.

"Kor, how do you copy?"

The fear began to creep back in. It began to settle in the Tau's stomach. Fear he wished he didn't have, but fear that was there nonetheless.

"Calm? Trigger training? We've lost good Tau, like the one dead on the floor, to little more than a whisper! We survived! Always alert, assume everything is here to kill you!" Ur'Na whispered forcefully over the comns, panic threatening to break her voice. Taking audible deep breaths, Ur'Na forces herself to calm down before replying properly.

"We can take point. Just... don't die while we're up front."

After Kor'ax doesn't respond, Ur'Na sends a meaningful look towards Su'Saum, and started moving carefully and silently towards her teammate.

Arlene rose carefully, then spoke to her comrades quietly "Surround it. Quick as you can. Ta'ro, Kau'yon. Bait them out. Don't scare yourselves, whatever it is breathes and bleeds, we can handle it professionally."

Ur'Na looked a Sa'Saum, and motioned for him to cover her approach to the kitchen. Taking extreme care, Ur'Na dashed silently behind cover. As she neared the kitchen, Ur'Na waited for the click over the comns that indicated the all clear before moving closer.

As Ur'na approaches the kitchen, she is hit with the utter silence of it all. How had it continuously got the better of them? How had it been so silent. Silent until the breathing... then someone was gone.

She heard no breathing. Clicks came through. High Tower was on her left and Su'saum on her right. Ta'ro no doubt was still moving into position.

When she moves closer with an expert stealthiness she can see the kitchen is in disarray. Utensils, pots, and pans were strewn about everywhere. Gue'la foodstuffs were spread around, some just starting to sprout the fungus of rot. It had taken ten local cycles of travel to reach the bloated ship undetected.

As the breacher scanned the room, she saw no sign of Kor'arx or anything else.

"Eyes up. Got something." High Tower was pointing his pulse carbine at the ceiling. There was a hole there, bigger than a Tau.

Nothing else stirred.

Taro moved into position behind Ur'Na, taking care to keep an eye out for anything that may have been creeping around the walls or potentially even at other points of the room. He does his best to approach silently and fluidly.

When the message comes in about the ceiling, he looks up to see the hole there. A shudder of fear passes through him. Kor was gone and more than likely through that hole. What in the name of all that was good and holy took him?

"Keep your eyes peeled. If it got the better of Kor, it can get the better of any of us."

As soon as the words leave Ta'ro's mouth, he sees the briefest flicker of movement.

Ur'Na looked up and winced at the hole in the ceiling.

"We should leave. Get Reaper 1, and anyone else who survives, and just leave. There is nothing to be gained from this ship. Gue'vesa'ui Arlene Cunningham, do you have a location for Reaper 1?"

Taro brought his pulse rifle up a split second after he sees the flicker.

"I've got eyes on something. Everyone stay alert. It must be in the ceiling."

The movement flickers. Even with the blacksun it was hard to tell what was what in that double darkness. Finally, Kor'arx's face appears.

"Something was watching us from the food preparation area." He whispered into the microbead at his throat. The kroot whisper came through like rocks rubbing against one another.

"Retreated up here. It-"

The quills on his head rose slightly and shook. He slowly let out a breath he had been holding and then locked eyes with Ta'ro. Ta'ro could now see his eyes widen.

All of those looking at the Kroot chymist could see his face contort only seconds before he jerked away entirely as though a cable had been wrapped around him and pulled by an immense force. It was so sudden and violent that there wasn't even a sound. Kor'arx was there one moment and then gone the next.


In the ducts above a melee took place. Thumps, grunts, and mass crashing through whatever internal structure existed up there broke the silence. Ten meters away the ceiling buckled as something was smashed upon it once, then twice. The third smash cracked the ceiling through and Kor'arx's body came flying through, thumping solidly into the ground below.

Her boot was slick with blood, likely a combination of both cultist and Tau. As she lifted her feet, moving slowly around the bodies, they seemed to stick slightly to the metal floor, long gore spittle’s following her heels. She had been curious to check if the cultists had looked the same as the ones she had infiltrated earlier. Once she had been sure of this, she bent low to consider the Tau body. It  was the first time she had ever seen one in the flesh. The nature of the injuries, were making her stomach turn, an uncomfortable experience, but her curiosity was greater. If only she had the use of her hands.... A thought struck her though and she uncomfortably stood up, almost falling forward and eyed the rest of the Tau. It was probable that her new owners wouldn't approve of any further investigations on their own kin. Most races tended to be against it.
She guessed that they were all talking, but now the others had replaced their helmets she was in the dark again. It was hard to judge with everyone armoured but there seemed to be some tension between these two new arrivals and the rest of the team. At the very least agitation. She wondered if they had served together for a while, or like her former team, had just been brought together for this mission. If the former it was perhaps characteristic of a deeper rooted problem, if the latter- fairly likely in a difficult situation. Her former team had been pretty dysfunctional for the most part.
She curved her spine, leaning back with her head, trying to take some of the strain from her shoulders. They were starting to pound with a dull ache, unused to their position, manacled behind her. She tried her best to ignore it. It wasn’t likely that her situation would change soon, so it wasn’t worth thinking about.
At this point Arlene called and she moved over, before taking cover.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She stared along with the others on the hole above where the Kroot was investigating. She was suddenly reminded of the hole Eliza had disappeared down. Kor'arx seemed as confident in his skills as her former leader. Both treated her in a similarly strange fashion. She was more used to being ignored. And then he too was snatched.
The unexpected explosion of violence above her was shocking in its noise and ferocity. Harriet took an unconscious step backwards before the ceiling split and the Kroot shot to the ground somewhere behind her. Ignoring the two holes in the ceiling, she instead stared to either side. On paper the cultists shouldn’t be a match for either her former team or the Tau. For the most part they were unarmoured and had no range. And yet their knowledge of the ship and their skill in ambush was serving them well. When she had time, she would have to compare the skills of this team to her former colleagues.
She spoke quietly in Tau, sounding blank and calm, save for a tiny catch in her voice at the end of her sentence.
“As you can see- their ambush skills on this ship are very well defined. I wouldn’t advise anyone going through the hole.”

As she surveyed the area, there was a quick movement at the edge of her vision. She turned her head sharply and for a brief moment she saw a shape peering down from the hole in the ceiling that the Kroot had just been thrown from. And then it was gone.

"Something just looked at us from that hole above" she continued in Tau, nodding up with her head.
"Whatever it is, I'm certain it wasn't human."

Kanna had stood by, at the ready. He had silently followed them into the kitchen and watched and listened.

Kor'arx had been taken, and it seemed like the human-spawned warp nonsense that always destroyed whatever it touched.

He moves back into the kitchen with the sounds of fighting in the ceiling, knowing that it was Kor'arx and a hidden assailant.
"Pech'vesa down!" he says, as if it wasnt obvious enough.

He moves next to the kroot's body and fires some shots into the ceiling, hoping that he would hit something or at least scare it off.
Three bright blue pulses of energy slam into the ceiling and easily burn through the tiles.

Three black holes with rapidly cooling edges remain, Weather he had hit something was anybody's guess.