<Astrotechnicus: Workshop Shenanigans>

"I am deeply grateful for the privilege, sir," says Vitaly softly, eyes wide at the unprecedented opportunity extended to him, "I will not disappoint."

As he bends to his work, donning a pair of imagifer goggles, the more sober, considerably less starry-eyed part of him reflects also on how this - like much else that goes on in the Legion - is a test, and, like all tests, comes with consequences for both failure and success.

Not so different from life in the wastes, then.

Activating a Diagnosticator-Auspex and placing it in its stand at the workbench, Vitaly begins analysing the Dark Lance for active energy signatures, knowing full that to attempt to open the casing before deactivating and earthing energy is to ask for a nasty accident, at the very best...

...seventy-two hours later, a wild-eyed Vitaly paces up and down inside the workshop tent. The Dark Lance lies upon the workbench, neatly disassembled and laid out in its components. Only the central core remains sacrosanct, unbreached. Vitaly stops his pacing to direct a fevered stare of frustrated inquisitiveness and a sense of mounting deadlines at the heart of the weapon, where he is certain the accursed thing's final mysteries lie.

This is what I get for trying to impress the Astrotechnicus...and now, I'm going to have to go to him with my tail between my legs, reporting failure. By the Throne, I've put my foot in it now!

Running a hand through his short-cropped hair, Vitaly leans over the workbench for yet another try. The Diagnosticator-Auspex returns the same result as always - not a seam, seal or rivet anywhere in the smooth, egg-like shell of the weapon core, not even at the highest resolution. Had he not known any better, he would have thought it nothing more than a particularly symmetrical-looking pebble, or possibly the egg of some alien fauna. But he knows something resides in there - even with its outer capacitors drained and isolated of all other conducting components, the core scintillates with what appear to be running lights, and registers potential energy returns off the charts for anything of comparable size, or even several sizes larger...now, if only he could just get the damn thing open!

...actually, scratch that. What he would give simply to get it to respond to stimuli in any way, shape or form. At first, he had thought the pathway simple enough - simply replicate the trigger stimulus, and all should fall into place. As it turned out, things hadn't been so simple. Reassembled, the weapon worked just fine, but disassembled, none of the ostensible activation pathways could be successfully replicated. Whether this was inherent to the design principles, or a deliberate failsafe, was both unknown and irrelevant to his predicament. He had already learned all there was to learn from analysis while plinking away at targets with the weapon - any more would simply waste his extremely valuable and even more finite supply of Dark Matter ammunition. Now, he needed to get inside the casing to determine exactly what energies it generated and manipulated to project its lethal streams of armour-piercing particles. Without an understanding of how the weapon controlled and projected its ammunition, Vitaly was well and truly stuck.

"Blasted xenos tech!"

Incensed and frustrated beyond mere words, Vitaly flings the glowing core at a test target - a Legion Class 5 Heavy Target. The resultant shockwave of invisible energy that warps the very air hurls Vitaly through the air and out of the tent, whose contents are thrown into utter disarray. The wave radiates out through the camp to a considerable distance, raising startled oaths and curses as Legionnaires and other staff are thrown off their feet. The slumbering jungle is thrown into cacophony, birds bursting into startled flight and the local primates setting up a right hue and cry at the unaccustomed shock.

"Um...Attention guardhouse - Legionnaire Vitaly here. False alarm - slight accident in Workshop Three. All contained now, no need for worry. Very sorry - send, over," comes Vitaly's sheepish vox on the watch channel as he creep back into the tent to tidy up.

"You have no idea just now how much I hate you," he mutters to the weapon core as he picks it up to place back on the workbench.

His sour expression changes, however, as he picks up the Diagnosticator-Auspex. The sturdy, ruggedised instrument has survived the sudden wave of force, and more. Its screen shows a detailed analysis of the unexpected minor cataclysm of a few minutes ago.

"Throne of Earth...no way," breathes Vitaly, his eyes growing wide at the data on the screen.

Turning towards the weapon core, he glances between it and the auspex. He is ready to seize at any leads like a thirsting man does to water in a desert. However, at the same time, he is well cautious of the first rule of high-energy engineering - hitting anything volatile with a hammer is asking for trouble. Even so, he has promised results, and so he is determined to deliver, whatever the cost.

"I hope augmetics are in good supply this time of year," he mutters, raising a medium-sized hammer just enough to give the core a tap, auspex held between the alien component and his face almost like a talisman.

<Astrotechnicus: Vitaly's Report>

+++++Date: XXX.XXX.M30
++++++To: Techmarine Thales
++++From: Candidate Vitaly
++++++Re: Dark Matter Weapon Testing & Analysis

Sir,

Regarding the above-mentioned matter, I am pleased to present my initial report of significant findings. Please find attached the report in full <see: Attachment_1> while I attempt to present my findings in abstract here.

Xenos weapon was disassembled to central core, which resisted further attempts at disassembly. Attempts to trigger inner workings by replicating trigger mechanism failed at rate of 100%. Weapon will apparently only work when fully assembled. Despite drainage of outer energy capacitors and isolation from other weapon parts, central core still displayed significant energetic activity, with readings of extreme levels of latent energy within. Accidental impact triggered gravitational wave event of magnitude approximately n x 10^6N. Further - controlled - impact analysis indicated core shell has piezoelectric properties. When subjected to controlled impact, core shell produces electricity and a variety of other energies <see: Appendix_2> which in turn trigger a release of gravitons.

Conclusion 1: Alien weapon relies on gravitational manipulation for control and projection of ammunition. This is consistent with existing known facts about Dark Matter, it being mostly found in and around astrographical phenomena of severe disruptive influence to space-time.

Tests on shots delivered from a second specimen of the same model of Dark Matter weapon were performed as proof of concept. Gravitational waves from core of first weapon were shown to degrade energy beams to varying degrees of significance. However, control tests with Mechanicum-model Graviton weapons showed significantly less beam degradation per level of output. Further analysis indicated the gravitons emitted by xenos weapon core differ from Mechanicum grav weapon output in spin - spin 5 versus spin 2 <see: Appendix_3>.

Conclusion 2: Dark Matter is optimally manipulated by exotic spin 5 gravitons. It can still be affected by spin 2 gravitons, but to a lesser degree.

Currently, we lack the ability to readily change the spin of gravitons. As there has been neither the time nor the opportunity to forward queries to the Mechanicum contingent accompanying the Legion over such a matter of high-level particle physics, the following solutions have been improvised.

Solution #1: Mechanicum-model graviton gun was cannibalised for its parts and jury-rigged to a force field generator. Linkage to the xenos weapon core via superconducting cables and contact adhesive (duct tape) induced a synchrony between the two graviton generators, causing the production of exclusively spin 5 gravitons. Projected in a radial fashion via the field generator vanes, this was shown to significantly degrade the energy and coherency of Dark Matter shots by an average of 90%, with a standard deviation of 10%. Energy expenditure was approximately twice that of standard operation of a force field of its class.

Solution #2: The above setup was replicated with Mechanicum-only parts. Shot degradation was achieved, but at significantly lower levels, averaging 30%, standard deviation 15%, at equivalent power levels. Achieving similar results to Solution #1 required untenable amounts of energy - averaging 1000% the energy expended in Solution #1.

<see: Appendix_4>

I hope you find the results satisfactory.

Regards

V. Sokolovsky

<Briefing>

Listening to the briefing, the strategically sound course of action is immediately apparent to Vitaly, based on what he has learned of the Dark Eldar from experience, collated strategium reports, and Biologis studies. Their incredible senses, tripwire reflexes, and horrid agility would enable them to make a mockery of any frontal heavy assault. As if that had not been tried a thousand times already! To be fair, close-quarters precision actions would not necessarily fare any better. Be it in agility, marksmanship, or stealth, the Dark Eldar had already proven themselves the equal of anything the Legion had to throw at them, and very often superior. The best a Legionnaire could hope to do in close combat with one of these fiends was to grab one by sheer luck and wring the life from it.

However, where the Legion could truly contend with the alien monsters was in discipline and the fine strategic coordination that enabled. Either a heavy armour advance or a commando raid might be foiled by the admittedly-superior prowess of the alien degenerates. However, executing both in mutually supporting fashion just might be the key to putting enough pressure on the xenos war machine to cause it to crumble. From what he has learned of the Dark Eldar, they are lethal and exceedingly intelligent, but also jaded, impulsive, and ill-disciplined. Killing machines with the maturity of spoilt children. Eager to chase bragging rights or simple gratification, quick to grow bored or demoralised and break ranks, reluctant to expend the effort to analyse and pre-empt an inferior foe...which was how they viewed pretty much any foe. In the end, it was the superior focus and determination of the Legion, its warrior ethos and commitment to excellence, that would win the day.

All these thoughts pass through Vitaly's mind in a flash as he casts his vote.

"Sergeant - I will go where you lead, but I personally favour the commando raid. Focused application of force to the enemy's weak point will act as a force-multiplier to the armoured assault."

<Aerial Assault>

As the squad speeds towards the Black Ark, Vitaly takes up position on Sidon's rear right flank.

"Roger that, Sergeant. Vitaly, on your four o'clock, high."

A quick glance over the target-rich battlefield, and Vitaly makes his decision. Following Extrovious' example, he primes a Frag and Krak missile. The former, he sends streaking towards the flock of filthy, squawking avians, hoping to clean up one enemy formation as soon as possible. The latter is launched at the first enemy interceptor he can bracket in his sights.

"Engaging targets. Emperor speed you, brothers."

OOC

Action summary

- Frag missile @ Razorwing flock

- Krak missile @ closest Venom

Missiles

Frag: 1
Krak: 1

Ride of the emporers Children-
Jendon had gotten onto his jetbike as his brothers all wayed in there thoughts and their orders given, another mission of importance to the campaign. Riding through the storm he kept up with Aleph and Vitaly, Heading up the rear with his brothers. Hearing orders Jendon cracked his neck as he saw the oncoming foes.

"Ordes heard and acknowledge Sir. Going to reduce the chance of these buzzards running into our engines on our way in." Jendon said seeing through his hud he lined up a path for his frag missle and fired it at the oncoming flock of razorwings that were getting in there way before pulling his the triggers on his bikes twin-linked bolter causing twin linked bolter to begin barking out sounds of thunder adding to the storm and battle. Jendon would fire in bursts until they were through the screen and heading for a position to land with the rest of the squad.

OOC One frag missile towards razor wing swarm, one twin linked bolter attack on razor wing swarm, one free boarding action nearby rest of the team.

"Martyn, remember that the Martian Mechanicum are our allies," Aleph said, "don't go making the cogboys cry."

"Also who could sacrifice a machine as fine as this?" He felt the surge of power as the jetbike leaped forward, truly as if it were as eager to get to the foe as him. A moment to check the position of his brothers on his helmet display and he edged ahead just a little, nodding to Extrovious.

"Sword, Shield and Herald," he said. "What do you think, Martyn? The Peacock Herald, how's that suit?"

Matching the Dark Eldar speed with their own, the Emperor's Children advanced straight into the xenos jaws, guns blazing. "Waste not the equipment our Legion sorely needs Martyn, or else you might end up on the wrong side of a Chaplain's punishment squad," Sidon replied as he sailed through the hail of splinter fire, riding the bike in a way even a White Scar would envy him, expertly dodging the incoming shards and getting in position to open fire on the Black Arc, "Also I'd expect more imagination from my men. The correct answer as to what would be the best possible missile is - that fortress hitting the alien base from above while we are manning the guns and we have all the aliens tied back in the cargo hold acting as additional weight so we could get this rock falling down faster. That's what I call science - so let's make me proud and make that happen."

Elymas would be the first to follow Sergeant's example, opening fire with the krak missiles straight at the carrier's superstructure. Thankfully Sidon hit both of his shots because the young Librarian missed all of his, the rockets flying all around the craft and while that kind of an outcome would be good if they were simply trying to destroy it with sheer firepower, this maneuver required focused firing which Elymas lacked the aiming skills, at the moment at least.

At least the razorwings didn't get to him due to the fact Pholax kept on providing covering fire, brother coming from the left and slicing down dozen angry birds to nothing more than feather scrap. It would have to be enough from him because the Devastator had to go into evasive maneuvers due to the fact he caught attention of the flying fortress itself and its defensive batteries. More than a dozen of splinter shards impacted on the hull of his vehicle and while most of it was absorbed by the jetbike, some of them found purchase in his leg armor, rewarding him with a stab of pain and perhaps an angry thought because he just got that leg "fixed" from earlier clash with the aliens.

Pholax also saw more and more disc-riding aliens coming in hot, one of them, a female with purple-dyed dreads tried to slash him in the passing with some kind of a double-edged polearm but thankfully he managed to duck at the last possible moment and evade decapitation. Thankfully, it would seem that his covering fire was successful as both Sidon and Elymas managed to enter the hole in the flying ship free of any damage.

Sidon was first, before landing he spent another mag of bolts to clear the zone, hopping from the jetbike and pulling out his power mace at the same time. Insides of the fortress were not as crowded as he might've perceived from the outside, strange Dark Eldar machinery was all around and as Elymas landed behind him, both of them could spot the first signs of opposition. A group of aliens, looking a bit more devious than the other specimen 4th Squad had the chance to fight barreled forward, kicking poor human slaves out of the wave and brandishing their weapons - mix of short crooked sabers and splinter pistols. Somewhat behind them, on a podium located around what seemed to be racks that held the skyboards those aliens on the outside used to ride stood a lithe female Dark Eldar, shouting orders to the rest of her crew.

"These xenos always like to show off their superiority. Damned vainglorious creatures," a statement that will later on undoubtedly come back around to bite Sidon in his backside, the Sergeant oblivious to any other fact as he pointed his mace at the alien in charge. "Target located. Boarding part of the 4th squad, move to engage." Easier said then done, but who said being a member of the Third Legion was supposed to be easy? Thankfully, Jendon arrived shortly, landing in the hole created by Elymas and Sidon, all covered in feathers. Assault legionary was diligent enough to fire on the razorwing flock and thus prevent the pesky birds to hinder their boarding action and his plan worked perfectly, the cloud of razor-sharp beaks that surrounded him protected him from the turrets firing on the rest of the Legion's force. "Elymas, use your powers but try not to blow up something that's not supposed to be blown up, at least while we're aboard. Jendon, keep their leader occupied, I'll attack the fodder."

While Sergeant barked orders and moved to engage the incoming Corsairs, back outside things were heating up. The fact that Sidon, Elymas and Jendon moved through the battle without any real serious injury would be attributed to the rest of their brothers, some of them paying dearly for this. Extrovious was one of them, the young marine taking the lion's share of enemy's attacks upon himself to protect the rest of his brothers and made the boarding action possible. The art that he created was the one of sheer destruction as the frag explosives detonated in the middle of the incoming flock, destroying those creatures both Pholax and Jendon failed to kill. For a second there was nothing in their immediate vicinity and Extrovious could turn his attention on one of the Venoms - and that is when the dark lance struck him.

Slashing through the back of his jetbike, the energy obliterated its engine in an instant. If Vitaly and Thales had more time to implement young tinker's discovery into some kind of a shield then this thing would probably be averted (and who says it won't be the case in the future) but at the moment, that was not much of an assurance for Extrovious as he was sent plummeting to the flying fortress. Losing his ride in an explosion that would make Martyn proud, the young Assault legionary landed hard on the deck, his armor saving him from most of the injuries but he still felt quite dazed that he almost failed to notice the huge shape rising in front of him. Between now-empty cages came a giant monster, its hide toughened and its blood-covered beak long as the legionary was tall. Spreading its wings, their span larger than the one of a Thunderhawk gunship, the monster ushered a loud screech that hurt the ears even through the helm's suppression systems. "I see you made a new friend," Extrovious heard Camille's voice, his brother managing to land next to him, his jetbike in slightly better shape but not by much, as its engine was smoking and its entire left side was covered in sharp shards.

Two of them were not the only ones who had to make an emergency landing on the carrier's platform. Keeping up with his earlier "explosive" tendencies, Martyn got around to blow some stuff up once again. Finding himself clear of the razorwing flock due to the support fire from Vitaly, Line Brother had the open shot on one of the towers and he took it. Krak missiles flew true, exploding close to the tower's base and the structure toppled to the side, falling over from the Black Arc and towards the jungle below, if anyone survived the initial ammo detonations inside of it they surely wouldn't the 5.000 feet long drop, be they Dark Eldar or not.

Success was, as always, the hardest thing to forgive and Martyn found himself attacked from three sides, guns fixed to one of the remaining towers turned towards him and him alone, while two Venoms closed in from above, forcing the Child of the Emperor to weather the storm. Splinter shards of all shapes and sizes smashed into him, his leg armor pierced on many places and flesh below ruined while his ride began yanking around too much, proving to be increasingly difficult to properly drive it. More and more shots came and he was forced to make an emergency landing onto the carrier's top, seeing that a bunch of leather-clad Dark Eldar carrying whips of all things jumped out of the hole he created by the destruction of the tower and he also saw both Extrovious and Camille turning their backs to these would-be assassins due to the fact they were facing a monstrous bird, probably the matriarch of the entire flock that just came at them from the Black Arc.

In the end, Martyn would be rewarded with enough time to think where he wanted to land his jetbike and doesn't endanger himself even more with crashing onto the deck due to the fact Vitaly saving his life. After dealing with the Razorwings coming after both him and Martyn, would-be Techmarine saw that his brother was not out of the danger yet and that the devious aliens were hunting him still, this time riding an advanced form of a skimmer, bigger than regular jetbike but smaller than the Raiders they already fought. Whatever niche this Venom plays in would be of no concern to krak missiles Vitaly fired at it, the aliens riding it too engaged in trying to kill Martyn that they saw the danger too late. Both the aliens and their vehicle went up in flames, a fitting fate for their misbegotten kind.

Second Venom's crew however looped around and came at Vitaly, for a second it looking as if the craft flickered in and out of place, confusing jetbike's targeting sensors until it was too late. Whatever advanced piece of tech these aliens had Vitaly would have to pry from their dead hands as they were on top of him. He weaved through the initial attack, splinter shards fired from both the weapon mount below the craft and the one on top manned by one of the aliens missed Vitaly, but he wasn't so lucky once second and third alien came at him. Second one hefted long-barreled rifle, its ammo akin to needle weaponry some branches within the Imperium used, only these needles were much longer, sharper and had the poisonous attributes the Mankind's scientists could only dream of implementing. Punching through the protective plasteel glass the projectile smashed into Vitaly's arm right above his left hand, sticking inside and breaking into half a dozen shards that made mess of his muscle and bone, making that hand numb and almost impossible to use for the moment. Somewhat hard to maneuver, Vitaly had to suffer another blow as the Venom came close, the third alien throwing a spear (the simple fact probably impossible for anyone except these Eldar to do) at him and it impaling him on the side of his leg, going straight through the power armor and into the jetbike below. They felt the pain they caused, closing in on the young tinker like true predators, feeding off his suffering (@Draconion you can destroy this Venom and its crew with your next post).

While some of his brothers boarded the flying fortress through the hole in the side they created while others crash landed onto it out of necessity and Dark Eldar fire, Aleph was there to sum it all in. Whether it was his heritage or simple affinity for speed, the young Assault legionary maneuvered the jetbike like a true professional, his skills showing much promise as he weaved through the fire coming from one of the towers, dark matter and splinter shards not even grazing him. Razorwings tried to do it next, flock of black-feathered devils coming at him from below but the simple animals couldn't hope to match the flying skill of one of the Third. Those that came at him were blown to bits and the sky was at the moment, a bit clearer. Then the hellions came.

Wild anarchists and rebellious gangers all, they saw Aleph's skill and took it as a challenge in its own, wanting to test themselves against him and prove who is the greatest sky-rider here. Perhaps a bit of the similar feeling every son of Fulgrim had, but the one Aleph would also use against the aliens as the first two came at him almost haphazardly, riding their skyboards too slow, too predictable. Both of them he killed from afar, the frag missile doing its job as the primary explosion killed the first alien on the spot and the second lost control of his skyboard due to the shrapnel making mockery of its leg interface, throwing him in a skydive towards the jungle below.

From the explosion another Hellion came, this one riding his boards with exponentially greater skill than the rest of the gangers. His armor was better, his skyboard painted in strange symbols, the skulls he carried on the rack on his back more numerous than anyone else had. His face was hidden by a leather mask, but Aleph could feel the murderous intent radiating from his form as he swooped at him, the remaining Hellions spreading out as their leader came down to claim the legionary's skull for himself. He had a pair of daggers on his hip but his main weapon was an unwieldy-looking claw located at the end of a long chain, which apparently only seemed like unwieldy at first glance due to the fact how the Dark Eldar swung it around. Coming in from the side, Heliarch struck and stunclaw went straight at Aleph, him unable to maneuver the jetbike enough and evade the blow. The weapon hit the jetbike in its front but it didn't stop, cleaving through the adamantium plating as if it was nothing and punching through it, going straight at Aleph's face. He managed to move just in time to evade decapitation, but the sharp edges took part of his face, claiming better part of his right cheek and ear with it.

While the 4th Squad fought their own battle, the rest of the Emperor's Children suffered similar fate. Couple of legionaries died as they were torn to shreds by a mix of ranged fire from the remaining towers and blades of the Hellion gangers, but the majority held. Those that weren't engaged in air duels focused on firing on the Black Arc and numerous gun emplacements were blown up, although not a single legionary repeated Martyn's success and the rest of the towers held, although wounded. Captain Minteril himself said nothing in the force's vox, being a man of few words he kept to himself and fought on, managing to destroy another of the Venom crafts by getting close to them and hurling a krak grenade onto the deck. Overall fighting was pretty even and it would take an extra push in any direction to break the stalemate.



Flying Corsairs:

Black Flying Arc: [7/8/5], Crew (inside the fortress): Captain of the Arc: 10 Scallywags: 14
(on the landing deck): Razorwing Matriarch: 22 Beastmasters:5

Hellions: 20 Heliarch:10 Razorwing flock: 45 Venoms: 4/4

Emperor's Children jetbikers:

Captain Minteril, 17 Legionaries

Camille:10 [3] Martyn:9 [1] Jendon:12 [6] Pholax:10 [4] Vitaly:8 [4] Elymas:12 [6] Aleph:9 [4] Extrovious:9 Sidon:18 [6]

Combat advantage: Neutral.

Each jetbike has twin-linked bolter that you can fire indefinitely and 2x2 sets of missiles (2 frag and 2 krak) that you can also fire but once you use them that's it. Black Arc has four towers each with Dark Lance and Splinter weapons that will fire on your force each turn. To board it you'll need to pass a successful flying test and then I'll write down the opponents there, but those who board it will be unable to be targeted by Arc's guns. Razorwings are a horde and will make one attack against each airborne char each turn, attacking the flock can prevent this, however since they are reduced to less than a half of their original size, their damage output is reduced significantly. Heliarch is currently engaged in duel with Aleph and neither the razorwings nor other Hellions will interfere with it as long as nobody else does. Forces inside the Black Arc are unable to be targeted by forces on the outside.


@Jorimel @WanderingJester @dx144 @DeranVendar @Draconion @Vulpas @Uriel1339

"If by friend you mean trophy, you are correct Camille." Extrovious rose with the surety of a warrior destined for perfection, one that held himself to standards beyond even those of the legion. They had killed his steed, an unforgivable slight, but they had failed to slay him, an undeniable mistake. "Camille, let me distract this creature. Help clear out the chaff with the Sergeant." Extrovious brandishes chainsword and bolt pistol at the beast, admittedly finding himself understanding Aleph's eagerness for new equipment. Extrovious yearned for the weight of even their sparring weapons compared to his current kit; but the Lord Command himself had deemed their equipment suitable to the task, for their bodies and minds were ultimately the deadliest weapons as their disposal.

Jump pack fires up with a roar, boots rocketing off the Ark's floor. Extrovious turns himself into a living missile, intent on bullying the Matriarch in the same way he'd treated Aleph during their spar: overwhelming use of physical force and sheer presence. Avian beast dwarfed him, that wasn't in doubt, but a fully armored trans-human fired up at ones torso was nothing to scoff at. Chainsword is kept close to breast, marine ready to turn aside beak, talon or wing with the adamantium teeth.

OOC: Attack action with a body slam against the Matriarch, Defense on self with chainsword.

Jendon came in touching down and covered in feathers, beaks, and gore of razor wings,Jendon grabbed several beaks feathers and put it into one of his empty belt pouches for later the creatures had been quite an easy task on taking on, but now it was for the big game. Hearing sidions orders he acknowledged.

"Yes sir I shall properly Ruff her up." Jendon said as he made his way forward activating his jump pack he soared forward towards the Arc Captain with Chain sword and bolt pistol in hand, Eggbert intended to dual her in the ways of Chemosian swordsmen and an assault marine of the emporers children, with bolter and chainsword. "En garde, you rapscallion," Jendon said towards the Dark eldar captain going for the first attack on the captain.

OOC all-out attack on Dark eldar captain with chainsword and bolt pistol.

Elymas hated himself for missing such an obviously and ridiculously easy target. Nonetheless, the Sergeant carried the action out flawlessly. Flying was just not his forte, and there were too many other things to study in the Librarium and the endless flood of texts rather than worry about flight training. It would be a weakness, but luckily he was not a line brother and could probably get away with it. Not that it made him any happier.

His hearts raced and beat like war drums of a barbarian herd from the incoming fire, but somehow managed to dodge and survive through without even a grazing hit. It was miraculous in a way. With adrenaline rushing through his system, various senses doubled in sharpness. After making the boarding on the enemy ship, he jumped off with staff in hand, removing it from the mag-lock from the Jetbike.

It was too early for his song to be heard. He knew that it would carry much power. But a crescendo could not come before the song started. Maybe it was time to plant the seed of his plan. "As you wish, Sergeant." Librarian Velodonus replied prompt when instructed to unleash his power. His hand swiftly went across the staff-instrument, letting the strings carry sound waves seeking attention out.

"Aliens! You believe to be superior. But we shall dance and sing onto your death." He shouted with the vox-casters on maximum outside volume, furious in tone. One hand pointing, while the other played a couple of notes. But all the while, he channeled his psychic powers, boot stomping to act as drums. The tune was a song unknown to Sidon and anyone else but himself.

"Here our legionnaires stand!"
"From Chemos and Terra!"
"We alone are the children of the Emperor!"
"Death to his!"
"FOOEES!"

As he finished the spontaneously changed first verse of the song to fit the purpose, he took a stomp forward, thrusting his staff-guitar forwards into the biggest group of aliens and unleash his powers in full potency. Elymas had to prove his worth. If not to Sidon and the rest of his childlike squad, then to redeem himself in the eyes of his fellow librarians. Although that might take decades to repair that damage. And with that desire and eagerness, he put an extra burst of psychic energy in each of his bolts of raw psychic energy, desiring to see the Xenos burn.


OOC: Casting Loyalist Doombolt vs. Eldar Group
(Bolts made of raw warp energy are launched by the psyker against his enemies. Made from warp energy of the coalesced spite and loathing of the psyker.)

His nerves burning with toxic fire, left leg pinned to his smoking bike, Vitaly looks to be in bad shape to any outside observer. A fact he is well aware of, and plans to take full advantage of. A quick glance at his helm HUD shows his bike has sustained superficial damage at most - looking far worse than it actually is, and impeding performance not at all. However, conscious as he is of the slavering Eldar closing in on his left flank, looking to finish the job very, very slowly, he decides to play to their expectations. Slouching over his handlebars as though critically wounded, he begins to let the bike drift erratically to and fro, as though its rider is wavering in and out of consciousness. As the alien degenerates close almost to arm's length, whooping and hollering with evil glee, Vitaly cracks a thin, mirthless smile beneath his helmet.

And so goes nature. A predator stumbles, over-eager in the chase, and becomes prey.

Tracking their movement on his auspex scope and out of the corner of his eye, he waits for the crew of the Venom to level their weapons at him before suddenly hitting the airbrakes and cutting the lift controls to drop to their low five o'clock. As the jetbike plummets, Vitaly feathers the grav-rudders and lift vectoring to drift into the surprised Eldars' six o'clock, nose up. The same nose where the twin bolters are mounted.

A long burst of bolter rounds rakes the belly of the nimble but fragile alien craft, cracking it apart from stem to stern. Screaming aliens tumble through the air, and Vitaly notes with interest the largest chunk of wreckage as it comes to a relatively soft landing - ploughing a deep trough through thick mud on the ground below.

Must make a note of crash site. I'm going to crack open that optical disruption system if it's the last thing I do.

In the meantime, however, he has bigger fish - or birds - to fry. Pulling the Eldar spear out of his leg, he regards the weapon with interest before clamping it to his armour pack. It might come in handy later, during the boarding operation. For now, though, his brothers need air support, and air support he shall give. Revving the engines hard, he accelerates into a blazing run on the Razorwing flock. Just as he appears about to plough straight through the heart of the filthy, squawking mass, he breaks into a face-stretching, gut-wrenching turn, triggering the bolters to strafe the flock enfilade at practically point-blank range, racing within touching distance of the closest avians. Gunning the engines mercilessly, he aims to shoot almost vertically up through the formation of Venoms, spraying them also with a rain of bolts, metaphorically inscribed with, "To Whom It May Concern."

OOC

Action Summary

- 1 Attack @ Razorwing Flock w/Twin-linked Bolters

- 1 Attack @ Venoms in general w/Twin-linked Bolters

Missiles

Frag: 1
Krak: 1

"Chaplains? Did I dream of our father being Fulgrim and we're actually sons of the Urizen? Emperor forbid!" Martyn laughed as they charged into combat. "Tell you what Sarge, I'll meet you in the middle: we pile the dead to weight down the thing before we crash it down on their allies' heads and reunite them in oblivion." Seeing the first three of their squad, including their leader, charge into the interior of the flying fortress, he would attempt to follow, after loosing his krak missiles at the hardpoints of the vessel.

Of course, this automatically caught the attention of the enemy as the hardpoints went down. Jostled around and feeling the pain from his leg, Martyn attempted to rein in the increasingly damaged vehicle, before seeing Vitaly take the rest of his attacks for him through the devastator's cover. "My thanks, brother. Make these xenos pay out here; I intend to do the same in the interior." With that, he zoomed towards the massive bird thing facing Camille and Extrovious.

"Heads up Extro, sending a few ordinances your way," Martyn would relay to his melee proficiency brother, before attempting to land the bike facing the bird monster. He tapped the activation runes for the frag missiles and sent them at the large target, aiming over the melee legionnaire's head. "Good thing I didn't ride shotgun behind you, huh?" the young space marine grinned, before getting off the jetbike and into a defensive position, readying his boltgun to assist his brother in the fight ahead.


@Draconion
@DeranVendar

OOC: sent frag missiles at the Matriarch, defense on self.

Pholax wondered if there was something about that leg that drew the attention of these Xenos...

His thoughts were interrupted as another Xeno attempted to take his head from his shoulders, he'd have to play this a bit more carefully, as usual they were outnumbered. Better er on the side of caution again and take them down inch by inch.

Sighting more of the Xenos surrounding them, Pholax knew he had to cull them faster or be overwhelmed.

Sighting a Hellion on their exit from a strafe at a Legion force, Pholax had a clear strike on the Xeno flyer, they'd never see him coming.

Pushing his jet bike into a faster speed, waiting till he was ready... Almost there, feeling the waves of force pushing him back, the thrill, the exhilaration of allowing ones self to be taken by Human emotions in the heat of battle, glorious. With a single breath, Pholax opened fire with a short burst watching the Hellion break and shatter in a hail of bolt rounds.

Swinging around to see a Hellion hot on his tail, Pholax smiled beneath his helmet, Time to play a game, Pholax mused to himself as he charged straight at the Xeno flyer as it did likewise. Opening fire, and corkscrewing beneath it, looking back to see it falling, Pholax laughed. These might be able to beat the reaction times of a mortal but Astartes were on a whole other level and they'd soon learn to fear the coming of the Imperium's banner.

Taking a moment to compose himself and look upon the skies, seeing that Vitaly was in a spot of bother, Pholax took it upon himself to provide cover for him as they were no doubt going to be coming after him again.

OOC

Defensive action on Vitaly and myself with Heavy Bolters