Keshariel nodded. He was interested in bettering his lot, yes, but there was a time and a place for such things and arguing with a perfectly good plan - just because one hadn't made it oneself - well, that was the action of a fool. "A sound approach," he said, the jetbike hovering with a slight bob, as if it was as eager as he was to spill blood. The journey into realspace had heightened his anticipation. The Wych was young enough not to feel a great pull on his soul, not yet, and he was enjoying the adrenalised sensations of both the racing speed to the objective and the mild buzz of the unknown territory. Jungle fauna fled far from the Dark Eldar warband, but the exotic blooms and colourful insects probably held some enticing surprises. Still, time for that after the victory. He sharpened his senses to a more alert focus. "We shall be the splinter aimed at the heart." He paused, for a fraction of a second, a pause only a true Eldar would pick up on. "Will you take the lead, or shall I?"
Armory @Colapse Kadara equipped herself with three haywire grenades, and nothing else of note. With their mode of transportation decided by their Wych leader, she had no further decisions to make during the preparations. Secondary Team @Maleth @Vulpas @bossaroo @Jorimel Unlike the young wych, the elder kabalite carried herself with a languid, catlike mannerism. She lay against the body of her jetbike while they hovered in place, arms crossed under her chin, the red glare of her helmet flitting between the two wyches as they prepared their battle plan. She took the word after. "I suggest we crack that gate," she said, indicating the entrance of the compound with a stab of her index finger. "Set this girl," she clapped her hull, "To ram. You swoop in just after, before they realize what's happened. I bring up the rear with covering fire." She sat up in her seat, reaching for the splinter rifle slung over her shoulder and setting the butt against her jetbike.
Kaesar kept to the plan, he moved slowly and out of sight. Mind salivating at the chance to be let loose. He got as close as he could, careful not to get seen or caught in the killzone. Now all that was left was to wait the moment to strike. Kaesar hummed to himself silently a melody, almost purring eagerly to what was to come, not loud enough to give himself away.
<Secondary Team> @Maleth @Vulpas @Jorimel @bossaroo @Kalle + 5 Enforcers Keeping themselves on the edges of the compound, the group of jetbike-mounted Dark Eldar finally got a good look on the defenders awaiting on them. If they go with the direct approach, this is what they would be dealing with: two patrols of five Fire Warriors were moving up and about outside the complex, completely unaware of the dark treat spying on them from the forest while on top of each watchtower there were 2 sentries (8 in total). Gates were wide open (but they might close them automatically, if any Tau survives the initial assault to press the button) and within the compound they could see at least two dozen Tau workers going about their business and further in the back, next to the building built partially on the side of the hill, there was a Devilfish with couple of drones buzzing around it in idle mode. All in all, the Tau were ripe for the taking and as it usually is the case, the first attack was given to the Dark Eldar. OOC All of your Jetbikes are equipped with mounted splinter rifle and bladevanes. Venom has twin-linked splinter rifles and flickerfield. Tau have no idea that you are here so you'll have +1 on all of your rolls due to the surprise factor. Since you are all riding atop vehicles, and due to the nature of such vehicles, you are free to attack whoever you wish - you can even write that you flew over the walls and attacked Devilfish, due to your speed. First attack is for you and the Tau will become aware of you once you attack (Tau civilians are just fodder, they won't put any significat resistance at your actions, so you are free to emote couple of kills\captures on them if you so desire). If you manage to kill every soldier in your first roll, nobody will come from the inside of the center as a reinforcements, but if not, expect more troops coming your way with my next post (ofc I'm talking troops from the center, because the jammer you received will prevent any long-range communication\alarm). Friendly: Heltherith: 11HP, Yrara: 11HP, Keshariel: 11HP, Ave'ras: 11HP, Kadara:11HP, Enforcers: 5HP(Venom) Enemy: - 10 Fire Warriors (outside) - 8 Sentries (Pathfinders) on towers - Devilfish (veteran) - 4 gun drones - 25 Earth Caste civilians
<Tertiary Team> @kanila @Draconion @Grall_Stonefist @Wata "Oh, don't you worry about that, Beastmaster," Aerith grinned back and relaxed, doing final preparations alongside his squad mates, leaving Aesra to do his business. Moving through the foliage alongside his new friends, Thû soon reached the conclusion that it would be quite time-wasting to go and try to circle around the defensive line as every now and then another bunker rared its ugly head up, barging their way forward. Of course, it's not like he couldn't find a proper path eventually but it would take much longer for he to do it, probably missing the 1 hour window they had once the attack starts. Then again, he was certain he could pass through the row undetected, as most of the current defensive force was consisted of various drones and a Fire Warrior here and there, patrolling the line, and whatever sensors they had were no match for Mandrake's stealth skills although the same couldn't be said for his "retinue". In the end, the choice on how to proceed was his and his alone. On the other hand, his scouting mission was a success and from atop one of the higher trees, he could send proper info back to the rest of the force, describing what he saw (OOC I'll just describe the enemies we have to deal with currently, won't include the entire line which stretches for many kilometers). There were dozen of Pathfinders supported by gun drones filling the rows between bunkers and anti-air platforms, the lightly-armored Tau acting as the first line of defense. Behind them the Mandrake could spot squad of Fire Warriors sitting in a small cleared area, while close to the Generator building he spotted two Piranha skimmers, probably acting as some sort of a fast response unit. While he was reporting that back, Hetax and Kaesar jumped down from the Raider and crept closer to the rows, keeping out of sight. They spotted blue heads of the Tau defenders just within their reach however it was the Bounty Hunter who heard, or rather sensed, something else, coming from the side (from their part of the jungle). Only a wrack with his experience and upgraded "systems" could hear muffled footsteps belonging to a pack of Kroot warriors patrolling the jungle which would be on them at any second now. However these primitive aliens were unaware of the danger in front of them, not to mention Aerith's kabalites who were still hanging in the back and awaiting command to attack, but would become any moment now. Away from all of this was Aesra, who started searching the jungle alongside the squad of Hellions, who actually acted quite cool, keeping their minds on the job ahead and not fooling around or doing anything that could compromise their position. At first, the Beastmaster couldn't find much traces of larger animals as most of those were apparently either killed or driven off by the Kroot patrolling the area and thus keeping their line safe, however eventually Aesra came across tracks of something bigger, leading up to a great cave surrounded by bones of all kinds of creatures. The Beastmaster sensed the power emanating from within, but also honor and sheer primal strength hidden within the animal's spirit. But before he could decide on how to approach the situation, the situation approached him. As if sensing their presence, the creature slowly began moving and emerged from the cave - it was big, bigger than their Raider transports, and it was avian. Wide wings, long beak filled with sharp teeth, this thing looked like some long lost cousin of pterodactyl creatures some of Aesra's colleagues use in Commorragh's arenas. All of them were fast, powerful and quite dangerous, this creature in front of him being no different. However instead of attacking, it looked at the Beastmaster with tiny yellow eyes, as if sensing something familiar within this Dark Eldar's soul... Friendly: Aesra: 11HP (Razorwings:2HP Helspider:2HP), Thû: 11HP, Hetax:11 HP, Kaesar: 9HP (due to earlier fight, he didn't fully recover and is starting with bit of less HP) - Eetlis - 5 Enforcers: 5HP - 5 Hellions (veterans) - Helliarch (Boss) - 1 Raider with 10 Kabalite Warriors & Sybarite Aerith(Boss) - 1 idle Raider + Venom Enemy: - 15 Pathfinders inside the rows and 3 bunkers (bunkers have mounted blaster cannons, facing only outward towards the jungle) + 2 anti-air missile pods - 10 gun drones alongside Pathfinders - 10 Fire Warriors (behind the line) - 2 Piranhas (behind the line) (veterans) - 6 Kroot Warriors (on this side of the line)
"Ready your weapons, kroot patrol will be upon us any moment, if we Can't deal with them silently we will have to rapid attack" Hetax whispered into his vox, as his grip on his hook and shotgun tightened and his claw flexed its fingers, as he huddled down real low while turning towards the position the Kroon where coming from.
Aesra motioned with one hand for the hellions to stay back while never removing his eyes from the massive beast. The beauty and majesty of such an awesome predator was awe inspiring. He could barely contain his excitement at such a lucky find! He made sure to set himself apart from the rest of the group to show he was the 'pack leader'. The next few moments would be crucial if he was going to bend this beast to his will, but even a moments hesitation could spell his own death! In a low voice he spoke to the helliarch, "If the beast does not accept me, head for the Tau lines. The beast will follow and distract the defenders. When they fire upon the beast it will attack the defenders so we can make our attack relatively unchallenged. Just watch for my signal." With his instructions put out just in case, he decided to make his move. He slowly popped a vial of pheromones that he hoped would entice the beast. Slowly advancing on the beast, he would mount the beast and claim it for his own. If everything didn't work as planned they would be forced to launch the attack on the Tau lines early. Now for the moment of truth.....
<Thû> Thû verbally reports back to the rest of the team on the dispositions of the Tau forces as he can see them. Signalling to his men to cover and conceal in place for the moment, he scouts forward to the bunker line a little off centre to the left flank, investigating the one bunker sandwiched obliquely between two of the AA platforms. Creeping as close as he can, he listens and watches for activity within, taking note especially of routine check-in intervals, if any. @kanila "Thû to Aesra - investigating the bunker line on the left flank. Depending on how this pans out, I could try poking a hole in the ground defences here as part of a two-pronged approach. We will need a diversionary attack on the right flank to begin with, and marshall the greater strength of our ground forces to move on the left flank. Once their troops divert to secure that flank, I'll post a poison grenade into this bunker and we can pour our reserves through the hole and into their rear lines. Moving ahead to scout the outpost in detail. Take the time to think about the plan. Thû out." With that, Thû makes his patient, steady way forward, skirting enemy concentrations to get as close to the outpost building as he can. In addition to the usual search for hidden dangers, he seeks points of ingress to the main target, as well as command and control targets - commanders, communications hubs, drone controllers and the like - and other targets of opportunity.
Kaesar, acknowledging Hetax's warning, turned to face the kroot and wielded his klaive. He was ready now to meet the kroot if they were spotted, just in case he shifted his position very slowly and quietly in an attempt to avoid unnecessary confrontation. The thrill of the moment gave Kaesar a savage smile, blood pumping and tension rising, he felt like a bloodthirsty predator.
"Hmmmm Quite a good plan, Ms. Heltherith simple but effective." Yrara said, he moved his neck to the sides cracking his neck as he did, Yrara could feel the familiar pull of real space on his soul, taxing to him but not enough to keep the Hamonculus out of real space. The world itself interested Yrara a bit wondering a bit to himself if he could plant a few seeds and unleash a few new terrifying breeds of animal here while on the raid gave him quite a sadistic idea in mind. But for now was the raid, Yrara knew it was best to keep ones attention on the prey and task at hand, lest one ends up with a missing limb or dead. Yrara readied to hear the final word to move with Heltherith as one force, he eyed that Tau vehicle wondering if they would have there venom focus on it while they charged in and took out the fleshy tau troops.
