Scene #5244: Secrets and Sands

Owner	Pose
Karian Icefang	Ankaris. A quiet planet amongst the Imperium's farming world belt. Normally, there would be people out tending to their crops, preparing them for transport to the Imperium as a whole. Today, as it had been for the past few days, the streets and fields were empty. Even the local PDF had been strangely missing. Though they were about, they didn't leave the main city for fear of attack. It was in a small village near the main city that the Space Wolves set up their camp and awaited the aid of the Multiverse's Elites. "Bjerg, I don't like this. It's too quiet. Beyond that, I know the Death Korp. They'd sooner walk into the warp with a knife then betray. Something feels wrong." Karian says to the wolfguard closest to him. Bjerg nods, but doesn't say anything. All of the Sons of Russ were on edge. They didn't like walking into a situation blind.
Dorian Pavus	And along the way to their objective, the Space Wolf chapter had picked up one Tevinter Altus by the name of Dorian Pavus. Considering Karian a friend, Dorian had agreed to come along. Because, he had said teasingly, ''"Someone's got to keep an eye out for things lower-down. You Space Wolves are so big you might miss a fireball aimed at you if it was at three feet rather than fifteen."'' However, all that teasing is gone when he exits the craft with the rest of the Space Wolves. Dorian's wearing his usual this time, the light-colored leather armor and white cloak, and carrying the dragon-headed staff. Hardly the most inconspicuous thing ever, but he's human; as far as he knows, humans are pretty ubiquitous throughout the Multiverse. A flashy one shouldn't draw too much attention. However... Karian's right, he realizes. Things are far too quiet for the apparent urgency of this call. "Well," he states. "I don't know about the Death Korp. All I know is, given how urgent this sounded, it's far too bloody quiet here. My advice? Expect a trap. It's always easider to hide your evil-doing underneath a veneer of quiet and calm. People won't come investigate if they don't see a problem."
Elise Leroy	"Big Sky to Chaplain, I am inbound at bearing 214 from rendesvous point. Please provide signal flare for LZ." comes a familiar, deep voice over the local comm channels. The hulking form of the XCOM Dropship lumbers over the horizon, stubby swept wings shifting out wider as the inset hover engines spring to life, slowing the vehicle into a slow holding pattern, awaiting the all clear. Aboard the dropship, a MEC carrying a railgun, two Assaults, one armed with a standard shotgun, the other toting a laser rifle, along with a Heavy sporting an LMG, a Sniper with a .30cal bolt action, and a nervous looking Support, laser pistol in hand, and laser rifle slung across his back. <You're there to support the Space Wolves in this mission. Make sure you follow local orders. We don't have any satellite coverage for you, so stay sharp.> briefs Bradford over the internal comm. Elise speaks up too. <You are the best XCOM has to offer. You'll make us proud, I trust in each one of you. Good Hunting.>
Leyanne	Leyanne Mace is also hanging with the Wolves. She's along because she's heard they're pretty hardcore - no doubt weathering suspicious looks. Even with her armour and respirator helmet on, she's very clearly inhuman. She listens to Karian and Dorian, nodding quietly. "You guys know more about this than me." She admits. "So I'll follow your lead. Do you have any heavy guns you need lugging around?"
Karian Icefang	The Space Wolves pop a flare for Big Sky, and the one's closest to Dorian actually crack a few grins and laughs at his joke. Say what you will of other chapters, but the wolves pride themselves on being more 'human' then others. Leyanne would find herself being pointed in the direction of a Heavy Bolter that was a bit hastily set up. "Aye...I suppose we have no choice but to move forward once Big Sky sets down. But keep alert...I can't help but feel either there is something out there waiting, or our local forces have sent us into a setup." He says. A few miles away, looking through a pair of binoculars, a Commisar-Lord watched the group of Elites. "Good...They've arrived. Notify the ground forces to expect hostile contact in a few moments. Pass along the camp coordinates to the Basilisks and prepare for shelling." He ordered. A quick salute and the guardsmen had taken off to spread the word. "Let's put your hunting skills to test, Space Wolves." The commisar-lord said low, a dark grin emerging on his face.
Leyanne	Leyanne Mace grins and picks up the heavy bolter, examining the ammunition feed. After a moment, she straps the ammunition box to her backpack, letting the chain dangle free. "Now this is nice. Very nice." She's slowed by the big gun, but no more than a Marine in power-armour might be. In her bright red armour, however, she's not exactly subtle. "Just tell me where you ned me."
Elise Leroy	"Strike Team, prepare for drop. Ramp down in three zero. Dust off in four five. Get off the boat once that ramp's down." says Big Sky, as the dropship comes around, and begins to descend. Landing Gear unfolds, the ramp begins to descend as the hulking thing sets down. The Strike Team is already moving as the ramp lowers. The Assaults scrambling over the edge before the craft is even landed, hopping off and rolling out into ready positions. The Sniper and Heavy are down the ramp once it's lowered, and the Support and MEC follow behind. No sooner has the dropship landed, are it's engines spooling back up to take off again. "Big Sky to all points. I'm not sticking around, but if you need medevac, I'll be taking up a holding pattern three clicks back toward the Gate." comes the pilot's voice once more, the dropship pivoting, and taking off back the way it came.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian nods. "Expecting a trap is the first step in turning it to your advantage," he notes. "So take heart in that. Whichever is the case, since you're expecting treachery, you'll be less surprised when it happens." A pause then, as he makes a mental note of the Elites that came to help. "And you've got plenty of help. So if worst comes to worst, we escape and kill everyone. I'm sre most of us can handle that." He smiles. TOh, he's not as confident as he sounds. But a he'd told Jonathan last night, half the trick was to PRETEND you know what you're talking about!
Karian Icefang	Karian starts out into the fields near the camp, eye scanning the horizon. But he wouldn't have to look far. A whistling echoes in the air, one he was quite familiar with. "Morkai's Arse! ARTILLARY! MOVE!!!" He calls out. Basilisk shells rain down, missing the elites but carving out holes in the camp and the ground nearby. From a nearby hill came peppering fire from Lasrifles. If one looked over, they would see guardsmen dressed in the classic uniforms of the Death Korp. "So...it's true." Karian says, sadness in his voice. He snaps off return fire, as does his wolfguard. His fear was at last confirmed. Or was it? From the same hill as before, the Commisar-Lord watched this with a grin. "Excellent. Our decoy forces should, by now, have utterly convinced the Wolf Lord that the Korp is filled with traitors." He says into a vox. "Indeed, very good work, Commisar. That will make our job that much easier. The Wolves will root out our Guardsmen problem, and then we can complete our given tasks." a voice replied. "With your permission, I'll start returning to base...Governer."
Dorian Pavus	Dorian heard two things -- mention of an arse, and the order to move. And consideration of the former must take a backseat to the latter. Because ARTILLERY! Dorian's body dissolves into blue-white smoke, and the smoke zips quickly back, out of the artillery's splatter pattern. When he reforms out of that smoke he notes, "Well, this isn't entirely unexpected." Though without wasting more breath, he starts casting Barriers over the ally forces. They're short-lived things, but it should at least give everyone enough time to get within firing distance. The others have the high ground, after all; his Barriers might just even out that disadvantage just a little.
Elise Leroy	The Strike Team don't need to be told twice. They're moving up away from the camp as fast as they can go, ducking into cover at the incoming lasgun fire. "Entrenched position, ahead on the left, about three hundred yards!" shouts the Heavy with a thick british accent as she hunkers down behind a rock. "Jackhammer, nail it!" The MEC grins behind his full helmet. "Target acquired." Braces spike into the ground from the feet, and that railgun is brought up. "Full barrage. Targetes locked." The Railgun opens fire, spraying hypersonic slugs across the lasgun line to either keep them pinned, or take them out. The Assaults, meanwhile, are moving further forward, creeping from cover to cover. The Sniper lines up from a bit further back, wedged between two bits of cover. "Comrade Chaplain... are zhez your Deth Korp troops?" she asks, transmitting the SCOPE feed from her optics as she lines up on one of those atop the hill.
Tomoe	Tomoe was abit late to the party but there she was in teh skies she was being a bit more cautious for the moment she'll be moving in to join the strike team and the rest landing and moving to pull her Naginata as she moves forward but she will make use of magic before she can closed. She's not as bad as Kirito is about magic, it has it's place for when she is closing or can not close to melee. "Let's move."
Leyanne	Leyanne Mace hefs up her heavy bolter as the shells whistle down, ducking slightly as a shell showers her with dirt and debris. "Bugger!" she mutters, looking around for something to shoot. A sandbag position grabs the mouse's attention and she sets her feet solidly, hosing it down with high-velocity explosive rounds, shredding away the sandbags and shortly afterwards, those within the emplacement. She lumbers her way towards Karian and co, suspecting that near them is probably the best place for that big gun
Karian Icefang	Karian curses softly as he see's the faces of the Death Korp firing on him. But what he hears over the radio bolsters his heart some. "Forward brothers. Until we know just who we fight, we can not kill them. For the cost if they are loyal soldiers is too great." He instructs his wolfguard. They, in turn, nod and lay down suppressive fire. The roar of bolters, both light and heavy echo out their call of contempt. "Leyanne, setup the heavy bolter there, and lay down suppression." Over the radio, he instucts his allies on how to fight, and push forward. Dorian would get a nod of thanks from the Wolves nearest to him. "My thanks. Stay behind me and close. These traitors won't get close." The wolfguard says, flashing his fangs in an all too snarly smile. On the other side, the 'Death Korp' were assaulted hard. Yet, living up to their infamous reputation, they did not run. Rather, they continued to try and push forward. It was known that the Korp had commissars not to tell them to fight, but to tell them to /retreat/. "Continue the assault! Feed our artillary the new coordinates!" Called the commissar. At the front lines, the guardsmen fired on by the MEC quickly hit the deck, taking many nasty wounds. "H-heh...killing me does nothing. A thousand more will take my place..." The wounded soldier says. Moments later, more artillary falls to the ground, exloding closer to the elites. All the while, a strange dust cloud could be seen off in the distance, behind the traitors.
Kirito	Kirito swoops in along with Tomoe, maintaining tight formation. he has a pretty good idea of what she's going to do and fully intends to make good on this approach. He's briefed on the situation: apparent traitorous troops, now attacking the Space Wolves. A suspicious situation indeed... "The fact that they went missing means someone could've killed them and taken their gear, mind controlled, them, anything. Or they might really have just cut off comms and went traitor." The dark-garbed Spriggan's expression sours as he ponders the situation and the huge display of power laid out before them. He does NOT want to engage these guys if he can avoid it. It's way too risky. Way too painful! But he can't exactly leave Karian and Tomoe to this without help.... "Heading for the artillery!" With a snap-WHOOSH Kirito increases flight power. He's quite the flier when he wants to be, with only a rare few individuals proving to be faster or more agile when airborn. ... His sister among them. The rush of movement's accompanied by RIPPLING SHOCKWAVES through the air and a flash of light from his wings. Kirito comes in like a speeding meteor, aiming to SLAM down in the middle of all the artillery with his blades drawn.... Ready to disable as much of the enemy's ability to fight as possible.
Leyanne	Leyanne Mace looks over to the spot she's been sent. She plants her feet firmly on the ground, hefting the big gun in both hands, with the majority of the weight taken on her cyberentic. "Supressive fire, minimal casualties." She confirms, switching her cybernetic arm into thermal vision mode. Then she opens fire, raking over the Death Korps positions, aiming more at their cover than the men themselves. But then her fire falters a little, her attention drawn by that distant cloud. She frowns, zooming in. "That's... problematic. I have multiple new thermal signatures in that dustcloud."
Dorian Pavus	The wolf's fangy grin doesn't put Dorian off, no. He does stick close to the Wolves, mainly because he doesn't have the sort of amror plating, or just plain natural armor, that they do. Meatshields! He is, however, not going to stay back there idle. The Death Korps are fighting them, and dying. There's no reason Dorian shouldn't ensure those fellows die for THEM. The eyes of the three dragon heads begin to glow with a dark, purplish-black light. Dorian makes an underhanded 'toss' gesture, almost like lightly tossing a lacrosse ball from a mallet, in the direction of the Death Korps. In response, a wispy 'ball' of vague dark blue energy speeds in the direction of the firing Korps. It doesn't look all that threatening. But... should it hit one of the Korps, it will begin draining life. The worst thing of all, though, will happen if the Death Korps member happens to die while it's still active...
Elise Leroy	Strike Three are a pretty solid group. The MEC hunkers down, turning the armoured backplate to face the incoming fire, while the broad arms wrap around the Support and Heavy to help shield them from harm. "One for all." The MEC using the sheer bulk of his exoframe as mobile cover. The Heavy nods after the shockwaves die down a bit, then unshoulders a four-shot rocket pod. The individual rockets are smaller than the standard issue, but they're built with fragmentation warheads instead of dual purpose. She takes aim to where movement seems thickets. "Firing. Weasel One!" The rocket shrieks as it launches clear of the tube, hurtling towards the position. It doesn't impact, but detonates mid-air, raining down shrapnel in the area, hopefully enough to disable those caught in the blast zone. The Assaults continue to move up, trying to stay unseen until they can get up to that position and get their hands on one of the Korp troopers. <<Grimm and Pedigree, we're closing in on hostile position. Check fire.>> they radio in, before moving to a new position. The Sniper frowns a bit, tracking targets, but not taking the shot... and then she spots the dust cloud. <Comrade Chaplain... are you seeing zhis?> she radios, sharing her SCOPE feed again.
Karian Icefang	The effects of the elites are taking their toll on the guardsmen in front of them. Many start to find their lasrifles starting to run dry. Others go as far as to start a tactical withdrawal. But as they do, one poor soul manages to get caught by Dorian's magic. The man promptly /FREAKS/ out. "AHH! DAMN PSYKER! GET IT OFF!!!" He screams out, and makes the /BIGGEST/ mistake of his life. He rips off his own gasmask in panic. Karian catches full view of this and his jaw promptly falls to the ground. "They....are not the Korp! ALL FORCES, they are NOT THE DEATH KORP! ENGAGE WITH ALL FURY!" Karian bellows out. A powerful echo rips out, his men hearing orders they liked. While they would take at least some to find out what was going on, the rest were about to learn why you don't impersonate Space Wolf allies. Meanwhile, the ominous cloud draws closer, and carries with it the sound of mechanized vehicles. But as it came closer, something seemed strange. The cloud hung almost like a shroud or cloak. Even stranger was the fact an explosion came out. From the right a fair distance off, the True Death Korp emerged. "Forward! For The Emperor!" They scream out, running and firing at their imposters and this new force. "My lord! We've been trying to contact someone for relief. Things are not good here....this planet is filled with heretics!"
Tomoe	Tomoe is pressing on as Kirito as she moves in after him they are going for the artillery. She';s going to try to take them out as soon as she can she doesn't wn to think about chaos in this world. The multiverse is out there if someone wanted to get out of the Imperium now? They could flee from the madness rather than fall prey to the ruinous powers or whatever lead them along. She keeps going she'l be fast and moves light lighting as she goes in.
Leyanne	Leyanne Mace listens to Karian and the chatter over the comms. She readjusts her aim now as she swings the heavy bolter back and forth over the lines. Where before she was letting the rounds patter around gun openings and windows, now she directs them into the openings. However before too long the belt runs dry. She looks around for a spare, and when she doesn't find one, she throws the big gun down and draws her rifle instead. It's one of the G36s she picked up when helping Wilhelm, and it looks somewhat undersized in her hands. "Big gun's dry! I'm now with the assault"
Dorian Pavus	"Ha!" The laugh is a short bark of sound, in response to the Death Korps member taking his mask off. "You did say they couldn't breathe without their masks, didn't you?" he confirms to Karian. "If it was that important, it's doubtful pulling the mask off would even enter their minds." For being a good guy, Dorian's smirks can be horrible things on the face of an otherwise reasonably attractive man. "Well then, if that's the case..." His voice drops to a low, dangerous hiss. "I won't feel bad about killing them." What can he think to do that causes the most damage? A wall of fire would probably damage the REAL Death Korps that have just entered the scene. But they're generally sticking to an area. Which means Dorian can probably get a bunch of them in one go. Fire seems to burn in the air around him for a moment, and he makes a dismissive sort of wave with his left hand, as he 'marks' an area underneath the bulk of the false Korps with a Fire Mine. The only thing that could alert the false Korps to this is an odd ''clink!'' sound in their location. A few seconds later, should someone step on that area just right... BOOM!
Elise Leroy	The truth revealed. And the Sniper, finally starts to take down targets. The .30cal rifle isn't the biggest caliber on the field, but it's used with extreme precsion. A steady tempo of gunshot, and the subtle chkclk of the bolt being cycled strikes up, as the Heavy fires another of those frag rockets, this one aimed for more ground-up burst. "Weasel Two!" The Assaults, now in a better position, and with some of the enemy routing charge in. The shotgunner charges forwards with a burst of adrenaline speed, shouting a warcry, "Für das Vaterland!" While the rifleman just watches curiously for a moment. "Aww hell, he just ran in!" before following after, opening up with his laser rifle, aiming for legs to cripple some for interrogation. "C'MON YA PANSY ASS LITTLE SHITS! STAND AND FIGHT!" he bellows. The Support finds his nerve, and with a pat on the MEC's chassis to tell him to start moving, rounds the bulk of the cyborg and starts across the field toward the traitor position. The MEC unlocks his joints, and stands up once more, hefting the railgun and turning to give chase as well.
Kirito	Kirito is not here to kill... but the masqueraders who draw weapons on him will regret doing so. He reacts with all due fury and panic, whipping around at tremendous speed and thrusting his blades into the gaps between armor, clobbering warriors with the pommels and even a few elbow strikes. He's dislodging armor and helmets left and right... And when he nears some of the tanks... "Now you're fighting face to face...!" His blades ignite with the Light and Darkness elements and he dices into barrels with Excalibur and Elucidator, bending them far too out of shape to fire! But he spins around after disabling a few tanks this way only to BARELY catch another warrior's weapon on his. Kirito staggers... looses his battle fury as a SCREAM and kicks the attacker back... only to catch a glimpse of something when his armor dislodges... "... Don't tell me...?!"
Karian Icefang	Karian watches on as Fake Korpsmen go flying from Dorian's mine. Leyanne is welcomed in the assault party, and they all move to join the Assaults from XCOM. Karian was busy subdueing a renegade to extract when he heard the horror from Kirito. Immidiately things made sense for him, and he quickly gave the call to evacuate. While he didn't mind going out fighting traitors, he had to think about his allies, and the real Korp. With that in mind, he called in for both Big Sky and his thunderhawk to assist in extraction. That plague cloud slowly drew closer, seemingly in no real hurry to catch up with the Elites or the true Korp. But over a vox, a voice taunted. One heavily filtered and altered by a rebreather, and what sounded like vocal chord surgery. "Leaving so soon, brothers? We were just coming to welcome you. But that's allright. We will soon be coming to visit you and all of your friends. If we are successful, maybe Mortarion himself will join us." At that name, Karian visibly blanched. He began to understand the stakes. As soon as the last member of the true Korp boarded the thunderhawk, it roared off. It was tight quarters, but it beat the alternative.
Leyanne	Leyanne Mace boards the thunderhawk with the Assault Team, looking at the others as she watches the mayhem. "This doesn't sound like a good thing, man... who's this Mortarian dude anyway?"
Dorian Pavus	And suddenly things get worse. Oh so much worse. "...Sod's law, I suppose," Dorian observes. He doesn't even bother replying to that voice. There's a time and a place for trash-talk, and this is neither. Instead, he heads for their pickup point, but he doesn't get in the vehicle yet. He stays outside, making certain that anyone heading for the Thunderhawk got in, before he does as well. He needs to make it quick, since the pilot wants OUT of here. And quite rightly so, if he's heard right. He might end up sitting on someone's lap, but HEY, it's better than ending up plague'd! "A good question," he notes to Leyanne's words. "An explanation of... well, everything that just happened would probably be a good idea..."
Elise Leroy	Big Sky swoops back in, dropping the ramp and dropping the big fat brick of a Dropship down as fast as safely possible. "Move it or lose it kiddies. We're LEAVING!" The Strike Team pull back, turning full tail and showing a clean pair of heels to the approaching Plague Cloud and the Traitor Legion within. The Heavy turns before boarding, opening up with the remaining two rockets in the quad launcher, tossing the spent device aside, then pounding up the ramp. Anyone that wants to hitch a ride with the Skyranger is given enough time to board, but then the hulking dropship is lurching skybound again, turning towards the nearest Warpgate to evac.