Having trudged her way to the Hill, Valeforia looked upon the others that had evidently come to the Hill (for what she presumed was the same reason as her), ranging from ... And the three Marines, one of Plague, one from the Alpha Legion and a World Bearer that stood in their way.
Having already dodged a few more Imperial patrols, she was not in the mood for taking another sneaky way around an issue, mostly because she didn't want to land face down in dirt.

Given the position of the Marines and that a Marine Psyker had stepped in by throwing lighting at the evidently Nurglite lot, going from green fluid (and someone she’d presume Khornate jumping into the fray, as she would expect given the blazing Multilaser) , that didn’t seem to be an option anyways.
Speaking of Marines, there seemed to be quite a few, ranging from the three in her way, to a Plague Marine, a Night Lord, one rather patchwork marine, as well as the one that was with her in the trenches. Needless to say, she was certainly feeling the need for more powerful armaments,

So the Techpriestess readied her Lasgun, flicking the weapon onto the high power setting as she replied to the other voice on the Vox ( @Vulpas ) “Well, sharing the same goal of getting off this forsaken world puts you as my ally for now, and if you were to think that I was an Imperial.... Well, I would have met considerably stupider people than you.”
She then levelled her weapon at the Marine with the Flamer, and took aim for the parts of the Marine's Power armour that she thought could be weak enough for a lasgun to punch through, based on her experience on repairing power armour (for the Red Corsairs, obviously) and so reapplying her knowledge to the situation at hand.

OOC: All Out Attack on the Word Bearer, trying to shoot at armour weak points.

Fera have a acknowledgement from her vox a simple acknolwedge signal, Glad that there was some success, to see that they would at least for now not attack them or each other. Moving the Chimera, to the side she gave Value a good opportunity for a good shot and position the chimera in a position to be used for cover, Either while exiting or for others to use as cover when firing for more infantry elements.

Getting out of her chair on that she used for the command cognitor, She swept up her heavy bolter and took cover near the back of the chimera, Using the side of it for cover as she began picking her target. Spotting those already taking shots at the Nurglite and Word bearer she decided to give additional fire from her heavy bolter to rain down death. Taking aim at the word bearers flamers fuel canisters and his chest she decided to try to send the word bearer up in a fireball if he had other flamer fuel canisters on him.

OOC ALL OUT ATTACK on word bearer one at his flamer and flamer fuel canisters and one for his chest center of mass.

Attelus had made the journey in silence, saying little and planting one boot in front of the other. His auto-senses had monitored his mortal comrades as he reflected on his newly regained sanity. Was this an opportunity to hold what little sanity he had left to spite the Changer of Ways? The lies had torn his mind asunder with time, as was the destiny of every member of his former Chapter. Had it been worth the knowledge? Or would one particular grain of truth proven enough to break the Seekers free from Inquisitorial servitude for eternity? The sundered sky and the shattered earth were familiar scenes from his days as a loyalist, his entire Chapter having been the punitive attack dogs for the most violent of Inquisitors. Their pious nature had been pushed to the side in the face of duty, despite the erosion of faith over time..

Now here he was, standing amidst actual traitors and not the innocents that had ended up impaled on his blades all those years ago. Yet they were the only ones he could possibly trust.

Lightning flew, combat began.. And there was even the tentative and thoughtful blast of las from his side. His helmet turned to both of his companions, still unable to determine just what to do with them beyond making it off-world. But battle called and pragmatic decisions had to be made. From his helmet came a snort, his ceramite plates creaking as he rolled out his shoulders, detaching one long blade and the bolt pistol from his hip. "I will protect you, should the others prove disloyal or dishonest. We will find the truth of it, eventually."

Then his feet began to move as the blade flipped into a defensive reverse grip, the weight of the weapon proving inconsequential in his well practiced hands, even as the bolt pistol shot up and began to bark shells at the one individual that stoked his ire in all of this. Alpha Legion.. "Cover me if you wish, as I pierce the throat of the serpent among us."

OoC:
Offensive action, against the Alpha Legionnaire, bolt pistol and close the distance.
Defensive action, keeping blade in reserve in case anyone gets close.

<Brainzzz> @WanderingJester @DeranVendar @Uriel1339 @High_Adept_Zeth @Jorimel @Maleth @Kalle @Vulpas @Vlayden @Skarboy

Sorcerer's fingers crackled and lighting escaped them, flying towards the Plaguebringer himself. But instead of reaching the actual target, the energy smashed into the barricade and took out couple of sandbags, nothing more. Ausarius felt the move draining him, it obviously lacked the necessary punch which could be attributed to his own weakness at this moment, but in the end it didn't matter a lot as return fire caught him nonetheless. Like a clockwork soldier the Alpha Legionary returned fire at the upstart who targeted his lord, bolts exploding on Ausarius' left shoulder and riddling his helmet with shrapnel before he managed to get in cover.

Valu, being the diligent soldier began with his supportive fire, multilaser turret spinning and sending high energy shots into the Nurgle's servant. His flesh and armor burned, blisters popped and boiled, but the Marine didn't move an inch. Similarly like before, the Alpha Legionary fought instead of Ukris, sending another salvo at the Chimera's turret which forced Valu to drop back into it but the explosion that engulfed the top of the vehicle after the Chaos Marine blew up the turret spread to inside as well, burning Lacrymole's back. Chimera was already quite damaged and its inside didn't provide much of a protection really but no more bolts came flying towards it, the Nurglites already switching targets.

Alpha Legionary indeed had to attack someone else, someone in a form of Attelus charging at him, pistol blazing. His firing was quite precise, the bolts exploding all around his enemy's chest and face, giving him enough time to close the distance and swing his sword, looping off Marine's head. But instead of toppling over the Alpha Legionary just swung a bit on his feet before firing point blank and clipping Attelus' left leg.

As the firefight started Orghast moved casually towards the barricade and like he guessed, not a single projectile came his way. When he was only couple of feet away from Ukris did the former Apothecary spoke, his tone same like before. "Orghast. I'm not surprised you survived the bombardment, you were always one of the most gifted of us. But I don't see any Grandfather's presents on you now. Why should I listen to you when now it is I who is more favored. Observe."

The skull he held in his normal hand began to glow sickly green, its tendrils slowly spreading out from it into the earth below. Every psyker on the field felt the sickening aura of Nurgle's sorcery getting stronger by the second and soon covering every bit of surrounding area. Corpses littering the ground at first started twitching, then their eyes opened, sockets filled with sweet corruption. What was at first three Nurglites versus eleven survivors turned the other way around.

Both Valeforia and Fera fired at the same time, mix of heavy bolts and las-shots enough to force Word Bearer on one knee. His fuel canister blew up and took out half of his hip with it, but the Marine didn't seem to care one bit. Additional fire came his way and he served like some kind of a "tank", soaking damage and not doing anything in return. That is when the dead came. Valeforia felt a sharp pain coming from her foot and looked down to see a cultist stabbing her with a crooked knife. Then another one jumped at her from behind, squeezing her neck as his teeth came down and took a bite of Priestess' flesh. Fera on the other hand ate couple of blows to her head, getting attacked by three club-carrying zombies that wanted to smash her to death didn't help her health. Her armor twisted and cracked, not offering much of a protection to her at the moment. They kept on coming and there was even more of them rising all around the Sister, intent on ganging up on her and eating her alive.

Xaviera on the other hand felt the disturbance and before the dead began getting up she took cover near one of the buildings a bit behind everyone, popping shots at the creatures from a distance but even then they didn't seem to care much about her as they focused their effort on another target altogether. "Ahh...didn't see that one coming," Nero told Corbulus as the dead started rising, the mound in front of them suddenly became active as the mix of fallen guardsmen and cultists got back on their feet and surged towards their cover, with various melee weapons in their hands they could do serious damage due to the broken armor of both Wolves of Horus. Behind them Corbulus spotted the fallen form of Black Legionary, who despite the injuries that brought him low now got up as if it was nothing, took hold of his bolt pistol and chainsword and lumbered towards the duo, intent on exacting his revenge even in death.

Similar thing happened to the Chimera where Satharn and Valu were located, Night Lord having to fend off an attack coming from five different directions as he stood atop the vehicle, his chainglaive slashing through reanimated flesh. He suffered couple of blows, Guard-issue chainswords and bayonets hacking at his boots as the dead tried to knock him down but he held his ground even as more of them came. Valu on the other hand had to evade getting grabbed by multiple bony limbs or get stabbed by same things which threatened Satharn. There were many holes on the Chimera's plating and while the dead tried to get to the medic inside, some of them also began trying to squeeze in through the holes, not caring too much about whether they got stuck or if they fit at all.

While all of this was happening, Sobek observed it from his seat in the Land Speeder. It turned out that it was indeed a smart decision to hang back away from everyone, saving him from the initial onslaught. But as the tendrils of Plaguebringer's sorcery spread, the Mystic saw how some of the fallen guardsmen in a bunker near his position began twitching as well, undoubtedly they will get up on their feet in no time and possibly come after him as well. The stench of death was strong here, the miasma surrounding the hill spreading alongside the reanimated bodies as if the mist itself gave the Plaguebringer power.



Time stands still at the plague hill:

Plaguebringer Ukris:13, Zombie Word Bearer (F&CS):5 Zombie Alpha Legionary (B):7 Zombie Black Legionary:5 The restless dead:85

Sobek:3 (Land Speeder:2) Corbulus:9 Nero:8 (Rhino:2) Ausarius:5 Attelus:6 Valeforia:5 Xaviera:4 Valu:5 Fera:5 Satharn:8 (Chimera:1) Orghast:8 Friendly Puppy:3

Conditions: Chimera and Rhino are surrounded. Each turn the restless dead will make 2 attacks against each of you. Attacking them can lower the attack number to 0. As long as Ukris is alive (or as long as he decides to), the dead will keep on attacking.

Before Plague Hill @Maleth @Skarboy

Xaviera had felt like she was gazing upon the silent statue before her for hours by the time a flicker of red caught the corner of her eye and she turned her gaze to spot the emerging heretek. The psyker watched her warily on her approach, but she seemed to have no ill intent. The injured half-machine shambled towards them with damaged augmentations. The sight would almost inspire pity in the psyker, if not for their collective, dreadful condition.

"Yes, I'm the person who stepped in with that Autocannon, and yes getting off the world is a priority, given all that's going on. Even if I'm very much of the opinion that the Gods aren't in the mood for blessings," said the heretek. It is a poor shepherd that chastises her flock for fearing in this moment. She will know the Gods' providence again. We all will, the psyker thought to herself. "So, I'd presume that we follow the message on the channel I hope we all heard, the one about the hill, because so far, that seems to be our only even remotely realistic hope of getting off world."

Xaviera turned her eyes to the marine amongst them, looking to him for guidance now. While she considered herself something of an authority on matters of faith, the marine's presence was overbearing once it came to matters of tactical wisdom. She hoped he could provide. "I agree with her assessment, my lord," she intoned softly. Some reverence still lingered in her tone. In very practical terms, the marine was her savior now. "What say you?" she asked, but the lumbering creature offered no answer. The Scourged had already started his trek towards the hill.

The journey had been made in relative silence. Xaviera assumed that lingering resentment towards the Gods must remain following the sudden abandonment, and elected to remain quiet on the issue until it seemed that her newfound comrades were ready to express their frustrations. For now, more practical concerns dominated their journey. They had to reach the hill to see who else might have crawled out from the battlefield after the dust settled.

"I will protect you, should the others prove disloyal or dishonest. We will find the truth of it, eventually." The marine broke the silence first. His words, his promise, struck Xaviera, a sudden thankfulness welling up in her chest. "We will, my lord," she agreed, uncertain as to which particular truth he sought, but then... he seemed the sort who needed to hear the Truth, moreso than most. "... Thank you."

Plague Hill

As they approached the hill, the Vox came alive with crackling voices. A commanding woman's voice, a booming voice she could only assume to be a marine's, several others', all mingling in the Vox static. Their heretek companion replied to the Voxed request to identify themselves. They climbed the slope and arrived to an... unusual scene. A small force had gathered, encircling three Nurglites. One of the Death Guard, but two others... One Alpha Legionnaire, one Word Bearer of her own Legion! How he had cast aside the Truth of Lorgar for Nurgle unnerved her. She feared the Plaguebringer's influence... and intent.

Before many more words could be exchanged, it seemed the gathered had heard enough of his preachings, for a firefight broke out between the two parties. Over the din, she heard their marine companion starting to move. "Cover me if you wish, as I pierce the throat of the serpent among us." He charged, the flare of his bolt pistol lighting his way and smiting his chosen enemy. The heretek at their side opened fire on the Word Bearer. Xaviera felt a pang of regret for allowing this, but in the commotion, she feared her lord's loyalty had been swayed by the Plaguebringer. She withdrew from the heat of the firefight and stepped into the shade of a building, drawing her laspistol and firing after the charge, hoping to provide cover for her companions.

Suddenly, whatever she had felt as the Scourged marine had promised to protect her plummeted into her gut, this sinking feeling of dread and nausea as the corpses of the battlefield started to shift... and move... and rise. The shamblers seemed to ignore her, however, even as she fired on them. They gathered around the rhino some distance away, for which Xaviera felt no great concern. Electing to seize her fortune and capitalize on the rhino's misfortune, the psyker instead directed her attention to the Plaguebringer. His skull was a prized artifact, but it was also the source of their predicament.

... She raised her laspistol and fired all she had on the skull.

OOC:

All Out Attack: Laspistol fire on the skull in the Plaguebringer's hand.

Corbulus watched as the newcomers launched their attacks against the Nurglites, whether through words, warp magic or good old bolt and blade. Just as the impacts occur with the trio, their leader, the plague marine, gripped the gift of the decay god tighter with his hand. The skull began to glow, and the glow spread to the ground, and a few seconds later, to the corpses laying around the area. Of course, other's foolish actions would have unfortunate consequences for the Alpha Wolf and his pack. It was not the first time that day, and he didn't think it would be the last.

As the others fought towards the decaying trio, Corbulus caught a more sweeping movement from the corner of his eyes. A larger shape than those of pitiful guardsmen, cultists and other insects appeared. It seemed that Nurgle had not only favored this Ukris after all. Now, the Lord of Decay had gifted him with another chance at vengeance, by reanimating the corpse of this fool who had thought to escape him before. Just as the Alpha Wolf readied himself, he saw the headless Alpha Legionnaire continuing the fight some distance away. Taking note, he vox Nero. "I have business to settle with this one. Keep the small others away from our position. Take them apart."

Then Corbulus rushed the rotting Black Legionnaire with his weapons, firing his bolt pistols before launching a furious attack with his chainaxe. Khorne had granted particular favor to the weapon type, if his followers' fondness of it had been any indication, for its offensive capabilities. Thus he would push forward with a massive offensive, aiming to overwhelm the undead astartes with his fury before the corpse could gain a well enough footing to properly register its surroundings. "Nurgle have been generous this day! You thought to escape the consequences of your insults back at the motor pool, but now, even in death, I shall have my vengeance, fool!"

At the same time, the young wolf raised his bolter and began blasting at the undead approaching them, starting with the closest target. "Yes m'lord" was the simple response to Corbulus' orders, as the chaos space marine methodically aimed his fire, focused on not only inflicting mortal wounds into the approaching corpses, as he might with living opponents but rather taking apart every bit of the bodies around them, so that none might be intact enough to make much trouble for himself, or his chaos lord.


OOC: Corbulus launching double attack on Undead Black Legionnaire. Nero's defensive fire against restless dead to secure the area.

Satharn had been meaning to use the artillery himself, but in reflection it was a better use of the smaller man's time. He was Astartes; he might not be one to charge into a fight in broad daylight ordinarily, but he was certainly capable. Ironically for Satharn, the fight came to him.

Rotting corpses flared into life, stumbling, groaning, lurching. They surrounded the vehicle, trying to get inside. He stood atop the battered hull, chainglaive roaring in his hand, slashing down and around him in mechanical efficiency. He growled out a battlecry, but kept most of his breath for fighting. It wasn't as if the bastards felt pain. That was, in itself, a bit of a travesty for one of the Eighth Legion. He snorted. It was a matter of disassembling the facsimile of motor functions. Going for the head, or severing the spinal column. So he hacked, and cut, and carved.

"Keep your head in and keep shooting," he advised the medic, not wanting Valu to end up another reanimated corpse. That wouldn't be any help at all.

"Corpse-Emperor or actual corpse, I'll bring you all down," he promised, chainglaive whirring, spraying clotted blood and fluids across the hull.



Attacking zombies, trying to keep them off Valu so he can keep using that gun. (Attack on zombies, defence on Valu.)

Fera let out grunts of pain as she was surrounded and attacked by the undead,, her helmet denting and feeling already several bruises caused her to drop her heavy bolter and her right arm go to her cainsword the other mag bolting the heavy bolter by her side as she grabbed her bolt pistol. as she began firing and moving back to the inside of the chimera the doors open she aimed to try and filter them through and try to guard the inside of the chimera from them getting swarmed on the inside with Valu.

"Damn these dead men for coming back," Fera said trying to defend herself and Valu from the undead from swarm that was now assailing there entire vehicle. @Uriel1339 "Valu you know how to treat a concusion? becuse by the end of this I may need to have my head checked." Fera said her bolt pistol letting of several shots as her chain sword roared her heavy bolter now at her feet behind her on the Chimera moved backwards by Fera not intending to leave her heavy bolter.

OOC All out defence One On Value one on Fera

@Vulpas
"I did work on brains before!" Valu answered in a rush, shooting wildly at various targets, trying to aim for heads, but his aim was frantic if anything, and so he would not be surprised if in fact he was missing every single shot. His head kept on spinning, trying to identify the closest threat every other moment. Luckily he was not bound by the eyes of a human but could take far more in with his facet eyes he truly possessed as a Lacrymolian. Which might appear as if he had super-human reflexes or vision.

@Jorimel
"I doubt that it is safer in here, Lord Satharn!" Valu yelled up, making his way slowly to the ladder, walking backwards to it while keeping his shots maintained. He would empty his battery before making his way out through the turret. The worst case that could happen right now was this metal box becoming his grave. He was going to die one day, for sure. But he would die against those that brought death, no genocide to his people. He had a mission and a bunch of undead resurrected by the magicks of the warp would not stop him. Not today.

@Colapse
OOC: All-Out Attack vs. Zombie Horde (because panicking; hurray for immersive RP even tho it could kill me); Also readying to escape via ladder next turn.

@Uriel1339 @Jorimel
"Satharn can you give us a quick lift up onto the top of the Chimera things are getting hairy down here." Fera said firing and using her chainsword to help defend herself she noticing Value head towards the ladder she help aid there medic in getting up there if she could. but a quick lfit up by the astarte may make the situation quicker.