Author Notes:
Emperor on a bike, the new GSS chapter, or chapters, took me some bloody brain cells lol. Way too many things have to be choreographed, more so than RM in some instances as we follow Ein's POV, who is still just a Corporal. Things are more hands-on with a Corporal... Yay?
Anyway, it's fun writing GSS, so I hope you all have fun reading GSS as well. Any support you can send out way is appreciated, and not just monetarily, we take comments and reviews too~!
Oh, and the next Monthly Recruitment Drive is on the 1st of next month, just sayin :D
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After a brief moment of confusion caused by me blowing up an AA gun, Phoenix element and Roughneck 1-2 gain a bit of altitude before unleash
After a brief moment of confusion caused by me blowing up an AA gun, Phoenix element and Roughneck 1-2 gain a bit of altitude before unleashing a barrage at the heretics' firebase. Yang's Valkyrie transport proceeds to dump a brief but numerous hail of her Frag Rockets, ensuring a vast majority of the firebase's rooftop area is saturated with furious shockwaves and kinetic fragments. The blonde pilot also holds down the trigger that is connected to the Heavy Bolters, which remain affixed in a frontal firing arc now that no one is manning the gunnery stations. In combination with the earlier rocket shelling, Yang sweeps her VTOL sideways to suppress the upper floors of the heretics' firebase. Following right after Roughneck 1-2's suppressive fire are the two Vultures of Phoenix element. One of them joins in unleashing long bursts from their Twin-linked Multi-Lasers while the other sends out a singular Hellfury missile, aiming for a hole in the roof of the firebase that is created by Yang's early bombardment. Both Vultures also put their nose-mounted Heavy Bolter turrets to good and deliberate use. On her part, Blake controls our Valkyrie to fly slightly behind the three VTOLs that are dishing out the pain, thus giving Weiss and me a wonderful vista.
It takes less than ten seconds for this section of the battlefield to be dominated by the feel, the firepower unleashed by Cadian air superiority. When the Hellfury missile finally impacts whatever's inside the firebase, it detonates on something that causes a massive, multicolored explosion. Ain't nothing gonna survive that, at least not normally.
"Holy Terra!" I reach out a hand to steady a Weiss that is stumbling slightly, the aerial shockwave having caught her off guard. My feet planted on the floor, and my other hand clamped steadily around the pistol grip of my Lasrifle.
Peering through the scope, I come to see multiple munitions being launched high into the air like fireworks.
"Munition cook-off. This wasn't just a firebase." I comment through Vox. "Seems like you boys and girls struck an ammo dump."
"That does seem to be the case. This will help our troops on the ground, no doubt about it." Blake acknowledges the result. "Roughneck 1-2 and Phoenix element, let's resume our recon. We need to make sure nothing is left of that firebase."
"Roger that."
"Copy, reforming formation."
After making sure that Weiss is ok, I give her shoulder a couple of pats. Dear Rookie was looking down at her dataslate a bit too much, resulting in her slightly less than stable posture earlier, I guess.
"Thanks." Weiss says, giving me a grateful nod before updating everyone on our current Vox link. "Be advised, High Command just highlighted the firebase as a key Area of Interest, and the upcoming information comes straight from one of our Marauder Vigilants. There's an extensive, subterranean complex beneath the firebase, and we're tasked with getting a closer look at it. So it's still recon, but a bit more up close and personal. We can't exactly fly too high, right?"
"That's an affirmative." The Vox link crackles with Blake's reply. "Any higher than we risk being painted by any cultist with a launcher."
"Like I said, methodical elimination then." Yang chimes, seemingly with a shrug on the other end. "We go low and fast so they can't react and cave their heads in."
"Doesn't sound that methodical to me, more like a blitz." Phoenix 1-1 interjects with an audible smirk. "But I like it."
Yang snickers while Blake adds.
"Judging from the battlefield data, we will be skimming by the areas with the most enemy activities. Going by Yang's idea may actually work wonderfully in these particular circumstances."
"Less time being exposed, am I right?" Phoenix 1-1 asks.
"At the very least, they won't shoot at us all that much..." Blake says before addressing her peer. "Yang, this is your plan, so pick a route and lead us in. Phoenix 1-1, Phoenix 1-2, form up on our flanks."
"Roger."
"Wilco."
The Vox comes to life with the sound of Yang cracking her knuckles and her refreshing comment. "Alright people, hang onto your teeth and keep your feet planted. Oh, and be careful of the dust and whatever craps I'll be kicking up."
"Well, here goes nothing." Instead of saying that on the Vox-link of this temporary Flight, Blake makes it so that only Weiss and I can hear her wry comment.
Both Weiss and I share a look before I gesture with my head for her to man the left side Heavy Bolter station. Weiss nods and unhooks the weapon for her use just in time for when the Valkyrie we're on to take a sudden nose dive and accelerate. I don't even need to take a look at the front to see that we're following quite closely behind Yang's Valkyrie, and at a high speed at that. Behind us are the pair of Valkyrie gunships, tasked with guarding our rear, and to some extent, our left and right flanks. However, given that we are now flying near street level and with buildings fading in and out of view, tasking Weiss with manning the left side door gun is nothing but a sensible choice. This way, we can cover all of our angles. As for why I don't use the right side door-mounted Heavy Bolter like Weiss...
Firepower is great at all, but I am more comfortable with my Lasrifle.
At first, barely any cultist, blue beaks and all else offer a meaningful reaction to us zooming past their eyesight. But such a case doesn't last long, and lo and behold, we start hearing the tell-tale sound of a Lascannon discharge, carried to us by the screaming winds. Weiss and I all tense up on reflex, our eyes scan the passing buildings cautiously. Moments later, our Valkyrie flies above a recently destroyed Testudo APC, its hull half melted and splayed outward. Near immediately, we are immediately beset with small arms fire, bullets and lasers at various settings alike. However, thanks to the dependable armor platings of the Valkyrie assault carrier, none of the hits faze our dear pilot, Blake, in any way. Blake tries her best to keep the VTOL steady, allowing Weiss and me to have an easier time picking off hostile targets in conjunction with the Valkyrie's Multi-Laser. Nonetheless, there come moments when sudden turns, deceleration, and acceleration are required. Weiss and I just have to roll along with it, rather than fighting against the motion and risk falling off the sides and hanging limply on the harnesses.
Yang, flying her Valkyrie upfront, earns herself the most heat. However, the threat posed by her Lascannon and Multiple Rocket Pods proved overwhelming for most cultists. Yang trailblazes a path of explosions and burning traitors, leaving us with those lucky enough to survive her drive-by or those who were out of her targeting scope. Blake then uses the Multi-Laser on her Valkyrie to finish off or suppress the survivors that are inside her firing arc. Those she can't hit are left to Weiss and me to deal with.
At the speed we're flying, most people don't have the time to process which target is alive or isn't, and which target is to be prioritized. To them, things come by so fast that it may as well be a blur. However, thanks to our wonderful kinetic vision, Weiss and I have no trouble at all in target selection and engagement. The Rookie swivels her Heavy Bolter left and right, up and down, spitting flames and tracers with each alignment of her sight and barrel. The intense vibration of the heavy weapon can be felt on my side of the aircraft, but that's no concern to me when there are heretics for me to banish off the face of Cadia.
Queue The Gospel of Bullets... If I had a built-in music player for my System, that is.
In between the frantic, mostly ineffective hail of return fire, many of the cultists reveal their ugly faces and wild decorations, things that not even an Ork would find tasteful. I don't focus on them, but instead home in on what they're wielding and whether or not it's pointed at us or themselves in a hazardous manner. Light stubber? Low threat if they can't even hold the thing properly. Lasrifle? Deadly if they can aim and are targets to be prioritized. Heavy Stubber, Multi-Laser, Plasma Gun, or Missile Launcher? All of these are Priority One for elimination if I come across them in my sight picture. Unlike Weiss, who has a plethora of bolt rounds to work through, I take my shot carefully on semi-auto. I either shoot to kill or to disable the enemy's weapon. I take no pride in turning the cultists' heads into bloody mist, but I do mentally chuckle whenever my trigger pull results in the traitors flipping me the bird. That's just so fitting of a Tzeentch cultist that I have no doubt Sergeant Johnson would love to hear about.
Normal human handheld weapons are extremely easy to disable, even with my Lasrifle set at a lower power setting. I also don't have to comment much about the fleshy human anatomy, as it is even easier to dissect than some metal blocks that make a firearm. Before the Chaos cultists can even register, invisible laser beams have already stripped them of their weapons and their lives. It's the heavier weapon types that force me to be creative in my engagement, however.
Being carried past what seems to be a barrack or assembly area of sorts, judging from how teeming that place is with Chaos presence, I lay my sight down on a spot between a hastily fortified sandbag position. That zone exists a fair bit of a distance away from our current flight trajectory, yet it is not just a mortar pit, but also an anti-air crew trying to set up their missile launcher. The weapon is deployed in a crew-served configuration, with the cultist wielding the launcher aiming at us on one knee while the other loads the weapon with a missile from his ammo backpack. They're still in the loading process when I cancel it out with a pull of the trigger, easily detonating one of the Flak missiles in the backpack of the munition carrier. One missile goes boom, and the rest go kaboom as well. A chain reaction is caused when the explosions reach the mortar pit's ammo crates, causing yet another localized 1-ton of TNT blast that destroys the two dozen cultists around that pit. Whatever stragglers are left are being preyed upon by the two Vultures of Phoenix element, who are more than happy to gobble them all up with their own Heavy Bolters and Multi-Lasers.
All that's left after our passing is a ruined assembly area, cratered and caked in blood and charred body parts. Not even I, with my impressive eyesight, can tell how many cultists we eliminated from that singular pass. All I can say is, it was a lot.
The moment when VTOL starts banking left before picking some altitude and maintaining a clockwise position is the moment when I know that we are done with our impromptu trench run. It's also the time when Yang calls us through Vox, asking for a sound off from everyone. The heat around ground zero is somewhat nonexistent, allowing us a brief respite from being shot at. I give Weiss a thumbs up before exchanging the power pack on my Lasrifle. It's not yet depleted, merely at 20% charge, but it's still a good idea to use the lull to give my gun a top-up. As Weiss reports the all-green on my behalf, I take a glimpse of the firebase we previously plateaued in a blast of brimstone. There's indeed what seems to be a slope leading underground, and at the very end of that slope, a large, heavy-duty gate.
After Blake moves on to ask for an ammo check on everyone, I interject.
"I don't want to alarm you all, but I think that gate down there is moving."
With a metallic groan that is audible to us, the charred metal blast door opens, kicking up a cloud of dust and embers that momentarily blocks visual scanning.
"Report this to High Command, we've got movements in our Area of Interest." Blake warns.
"You may need to call in some big guns as well." I add. "I have a feeling that whatever's going to happen next will be a doozy."
On the earlier trench run, my instinct didn't give me as much of a warning bell, but this? A low, creeping siren can be felt coming to the forefront of my mind. I trust my instinct long enough to know that I may not have enough firepower on hand to deal with what's about to come out of that hole in the ground.
Hearing the severity in my voice, Weiss swiftly sends a report up the chain of command. Instinct alone usually won't warrant any immediate action from your bosses, but this is the JTF of the Warhammer 40K universe we're talking about. They understand my professionalism well enough to take my warning seriously, and they also know about my heightened instinct to know that my instinct being triggered is actionable intelligence by itself. Whether or not that help will come in a reasonable timeframe is in flux, however.
Beneath the ashen sky of Cadia, the rumble from beneath seems to promise an even darker time ahead for the brave warriors of the Imperium. Such is the nature of this grimdark universe, huh?