@Draconion @kanila Kaesar grinned at Thû's words. He inspected his blade for dents by running a finger along its razor sharp edge. "I do intend to have fun." Kaesar's voice was a sinister tone, dripping with sadistic tendencies. He turned to Aesra and nodded. "I like that plan. Let's make the most of it. Just let me get up close and personal." He sheathed his klaive in one smooth stylish motion and picked 1 smoke grenade and 2 stun grenades. Then he addressed Kouron. "My humble request is some kabalites to go on."
Having been givin his location, Hetax had no more to add for now, as they now where alowed to stock up, he wanted no personal assistence, he neither wanted nor needed bodyguards right now and surely they would ruin his way of doing things, instead he looked over the grenades and combat drugs, though they where only allowed one shot it seemed, though it dident matter that much, his blood allready so toxic many drugs where useless in upsetting his *balance* though he still took a shot of andrenalight, he hadent tried that since before his alteration, and grenade whise he took 1 stun and 2 poisen grenades witch he hanged to his metal midriff, it would be good to feel the touch of realspace upon him once more, he had been so long in the darkness of Commoragh, and a trip riding with a raider into raiding once more dident sound too bad.
With the choices laid before her, Heltherith headed to the armoury to make up her mind.... And considering the odds of having any 'requests' of her being flat out denied if it wasn't essential, she decided not to ask for anything more than she needed: Herself, and everyone else that had volunteered to go and attack the Tau's communications. After all, she did need to make some good impressions if she wanted to try gaining power among her peers, and that was best done by not having to ask for much to get a job done. So the Wych helped herself to two plasma and a haywire grenade (ignoring the combat drugs), and said to Dracon Kouron "I don't see myself needing anyone more than those that volunteered to come with me considering the need to avoid wasting manpower, but would you mind making sure that the people coming with have a jetbike each?"
<Armory> @kanila "Alright, I'll see what I can do about it," Kouron shrugged, by the looks on his face Aesra knew that the Dracon won't be that cooperative but he also won't give him nothing. "Also, I forgot to mention - there's a group of kabalites who expressed their wish to join you so you definitely won't be going in alone." @Draconion The shady characters he ended up with merely nodded in understanding, their faces hidden behind their cowls but if anything, they looked capable to follow and do their task. @Wata "Like I mentioned to the Beastmaster, you will get some kabalites so you need not worry." @Maleth "So you wish to go alone? A courageous feat if there ever was any," the Dracon replied with his eyebrow raised. "In fact, when the things sound to be more than good, there is usually a hidden agenda behind it. I'll send five additional kabalites to follow you, just in case. You'll have your jetbikes ready." OOC 5 kabalites are those who are going with @bossaroo Will wait a bit longer until everyone picks their stuff before I update
Keshariel took a dose of the Serpentin but tucked it away for later use. If he had it, he could use it, but if he didn't take it then it was always there for a later opportunity. Of course he had yet to assess the grade of the dose, but he was reasonably confident that the Archon wouldn't waste his time offering his new recruits something too badly cut. "Jetbikes", he said, coming to stand next to Heltherith, but not too close, "should give us an edge on speed and the firepower is sure to be useful." "I've spent some time in the arena races. It will be good to be back in the saddle." He reached forward and took a couple of plasma grenades himself. It was a shame he wouldn't have time to personalise them, but such are the demands of a Wych's life. "Tell me, are you a proponent of the inverted bladevane decapitation, or do you prefer a splinter strike?" he asked, raising a eyebrow with a slight smile as he spoke. The first conversations with a fellow Wych were akin to the first few steps one took in an arena fight, or a courtship. They didn't have to end in bloodshed, but they were always a way of getting the measure of the other Ynneas Eladrith. [OOC: Two plasma grenades and a dose of Serpentin please.]
<Raid is a go!> @Grall_Stonefist @Wata @kanila @Draconion @bossaroo @Kalle @Maleth @Jorimel @Vulpas Secondary objective - Communications center: 1. Heltherith 2. Yrara 3. Keshariel 4. Ave'ras 5. Kadara Tertiary objective - Generator: 1. Aesra 2. Thû 3. Hetax 4. Kaesar 5. Eetlis (I'll bot him) OOC From now on, I'll call team going for the Communications Secondary Team and team going for the Generator Tertiary Team. Also, like @Draconion suggested, 5 of those kabalites going with both Ave'ras & Thû that were given to them secretly by the Dracon I'll call "Enforcers" for greater clarity. Once everyone was set and done with the armory part, they left the spire and headed over towards the outlying hangars where their designated transports awaited them alongside the troops going with them. For Heltherith and her part, she saw that five jetbikes alongside five kabalite warriors aboard a Venom were waiting on them, just like Kouron promised. As for Aesra's part, he saw five of those kabalites who were going with Thû already there and sitting atop a Venom, but not much of the entire list he asked for. All he saw were six Hellions joking nearby and two Raider transports - one was empty except for the pilot (the one they would use) and the other one was filled with ten Kabalites in total, led by none other than a Sybarite Aesra knew from before. Aerith was there and he waved at the Beastmaster, smiling deviously. If there was any positive thing, it was that Hellions were led by the Heliarch they met before, the one leading Zalaya's forces from their earlier mission and who seemed to have survived the entire ordeal, making him a new member of the Crimson Hope (this was a positive thing because they already knew he was quite a capable warrior but then again, hopefully his allegiances were now to Zar'uil and Zar'uil only). In any event, there was not much to talk about nor complain since the Archon climbed his own personalized Ravager and gave the signal to move. Every pilot knew the location of the Webway gate leading them towards their destination - thankfully the gate they'll be using was close to their own tier so they won't cross too much enemy territory to get there - so the team had some free time on their hands until they reach the planet. Twenty minutes later and they were in the Webway. The journey through this dimension didn't take long and for the most part, the path was safe. Only on some intersections did they felt the closer pull of She Who Thirsts due to the parts of the way being damaged. Most of them saw (usual) strange things, ranging from leering faces to skull-faced angel hefting a big black axe, while some like Thû or Hetax saw images of draconic beast with eyes of cerulean blue and giant wolf-like thing howling in the distance (OOC dem references ). In the end, the entire trip was over quickly and soon, the first member of the Crimson Moon Kabal placed foot on the soil of Icirius. <Planetside> After activating the dormant gate and using it to barge forward into realspace, the first thing that welcomed the Dark Eldar was humid air and buzzing of thousands of insects. The gate's surroundings, pretty much like the entire planet itself, was covered in thick and inhospitable jungle. Of course, this might be a problem for some of the lesser races but for the Dark Eldar, it was only a tiny inconvenience, a trifle, nothing more. Soon after their "landing" the entire Kabal split into several smaller parts. First part, under the lead of Archon himself, headed towards the deep jungle and Kroot breeding grounds beyond. Second part, way smaller, went towards the distant mountainous region sprawling above the greenery in the west, and the Communications center beyond. Third part went deeper into the jungle, towards the unsuspecting Tau defense line and the generator powering it. Fourth and final part, if we don't count dozen scouts sent ahead to make sure the aliens remain ignorant of the Kabal's presence, under the lead of their Seneschal, Dracon Kouron, remained in the proximity of the gate making sure that their way out once everything was done, was safe. What was also important is that each of the teams was given a small communications device that worked two-ways: it allowed them to stay in touch with other parts of the force while also scrambling any nearby communication from other sources for a short period of time (around a single hour), giving each part of the force plenty of time to attack and prevent their prey for raising any sort of a long-range alarm. <Secondary Team> @Maleth @Vulpas @Jorimel @bossaroo @Kalle + 5 Enforcers An hour later, five jetbikes and one Venom reached the slopes of the mountain and the edge of the jungle around it. Their objective was straight ahead: following a small path which Tau built to carry their supplies, a set of buildings was raised inside a small walled area, behind which lied the very rock of the mountain. If their intel was good, the Communications center lied somewhere inside the mountain itself, the entrance probably inside of one of these buildings. As for the enemies, they saw multiple squads of Fire Warriors patrolling the area and couple of small watch towers, but nothing special really. On the other side, they could see Tau workers going around the place, going about their normal business. They were obviously unprepared for an attack and despite the Fire Warriors on the ground and those sentries in the watchtowers, the walls of this compound could easily be scaled and their defenders killed in quite a short notice. As to what exact troops, or if any, they had in reserve inside the compound, they couldn't say but there was only one way to find that out. <Tertiary Team> @kanila @Draconion @Grall_Stonefist @Wata + Eetlis, Enforcers, 6 Helions, 1 Raider & 10 kabalites On the other side of Icirius, the third part of the force, after moving through the deep jungle with the swiftness only their race was capable of, reached the outskirts of the Tau main defensive line. A series of bunkers and anti-air emplacements were built all around the jungle, their location somewhat hidden, or at least that's what the builders hoped for. Maybe if some Mon'keigh lackey came here he would be unable to spot anything out of the ordinary but keen eyes of the Dark Eldar raiders were not possible to be fooled with such parlor tricks. What's more important is that they could spot the location of their objective further in the back, just like Archon promised. The building containing the generator itself was built somewhat behind the lines, made to look like an ordinary hangar or some depot within a small walled area, but there were clear readings of energy coming from both its interior and below it. As for the enemy presence, each bunker and anti-air emplacement was connected by a single concrete row while each bunker was equipped with a burst cannon or some other type of a nasty weapon (and manned by several Fire Warriors) while the anti-air replacements were actually portable turrets equipped with missile pod systems, so thankfully there were no classic Sky Ray Gunships present (or at least if there were, they were well hidden). There were also multiple tracks in the ground left by Kroot aliens, although they pointed towards the Tau defense line the actual aliens were nowhere to be seen at this moment. Final important thing to note is that the jungle was cut around a hundred meters in front of each bunker, creating a perfect kill zone for the gunner inside, but that was only in front of bunkers - on some places jungle crept close to the interlocking rows so if they wanted, they could try and sneak up to one such row and then work their (bloody) way from that point onward.
@Draconion @Grall_Stonefist @Wata <Tertiary Team> Setting down within the confines of the jungle was a simple enough matter but finding a weakness in the defenses AND watching Aerith would probably be the most challenging part of this mission. Approaching Thû, "Whenever you are ready to make your approach my Razorwing here will provide you the necessary shadows." Turning to the others he addressed them about their parts they were about to play. "Thû will be scouting our attack point, the rest will watch for patrols. Capture any you find, if they are Tau torture/kill them. But if they are kroot we want them alive." Aesra began to head into the jungle to look for animals he could turn to his will before he stopped and motioned for the hellions to go with him. "I'll see what local wildlife we can use as a distraction. Oh and it's good to see you Aerith, no funny business until we get back to Crimson Moon Territory." With that he headed into the jungle to search for beasts.
<Thû> All the way to Incirius, Thû had been silently observing the smug sneers and venomous grins passing between Aesra and Aerith. Though he gives no sign of having even noticed, he wonders what history could exist between them that could prompt such open enmity, and the timing and nature of how it will impact the mission - that it will impact the mission somehow being a given. As the raiding force explodes from the Webway gate planetside, Thû shows no outward sign of discomfiture as the late afternoon sun falls upon his flesh - through no small expenditure of willpower to keep from shifting and growling like a beast with a thorn in its paw. He finds no small relief as his prong of the force leaves the open ground to fly nap-of-the-earth through the jungle, under the shadows of the canopy, and ceases to grip the handlebars of his jetbike quite so tightly. As the force puts down within its AoE and Aesra approaches him to indicate readiness to begin, Thû stares hard towards the Tau base. @kanila "Go gather your beasts, Beastmaster. I will take my men in to reconnoitre in detail up to the perimeter. Once we are ready, I will signal." With that, he raises a fist in the air to signal his men to form up on him. Moving off into the dappled light and shadows of the jungle floor, his chameleonic skin shifts in hue to match the environment, causing him to fade to nothing more than a momentary ripple to the eye as he flows with predatory smoothness, following the jungle trails where possible and taking to the trees where not as he probes up and down the length of the Tau defensive perimeter, seeking traps, hidden defences, secret troop reserves, enemy scouts and so forth. He leads his men after him in half-bounds - advancing ten to twenty metres at a time, then signalling them to close on his location after first ensuring it is secure. So they move, up and down the Tau line, looking for a way to flank it and advance on the base from the rear.
Hetax form was not one ideally for sneaking, though he could still do it, just not as well as those unaltered, he would need to get back under the scalpels for something like that to be likely. keeping with what the others where doing, this was indeed what Hetax did, as he slowly moved towards the defensive line hiding in the foliage, his blood began pumping quicker as he mentally prepared for the combat soon to come, he would need to be mentally ready to notice details and things far away, his shotgun loaded and his arms ready for when things would oh so suddenly start going fast, but it was without a doubt that the Tau would not be ready for this.
With her forces as it stood, Heltherith looked at what she could see of the Tau's forces: With multiple squads of Fire Warriors, there was the issue that she may not have enough firepower to secure the place from reinforcements and end the operations of the communications center, at least in terms of people. However, considering she could have an hour's worth of communication's blackout from the communication device, along with having the firepower of some vehicles... As it looked like the only way forwards was a direct strike, Thexia said to the members of her team ( @Jorimel , @Vulpas , @bossaroo , @Kalle ) "Alright, the plan of action is simple: We go in hard and fast with a single strike to eliminate as many defenders as we can. Then, the Kabalite (@bossaroo ) and the five warriors can act to secure the perimeter, as well as working with our other Wych (@Jorimel ) who shall be on hand to help hunt down any stragglers and make sure they don't try to raise the alarm by some other method." The Wych paused, then continued "Meanwhile, myself, our Haemonculus (@Vulpas ) and our other Kabalite (@Kalle ) shall be the ones to breach into the communications center and ensure that it stays silent. We all clear on the plan?" Needless to say, she hoped her plan worked considering she didn't exactly have the luxury of having a large number of troops and so being able to take a few losses from her plan not being 100% perfect.
