Friday, January 09, 2009

Part 5 - Falling

"I'm down to my 2nd last clip!" Librarian Yonq fried another 4 Orks with an electric blast, even as he reloaded his bolter. His powers were weakening as they had been fighting intensely for more than an hour, although to the squad, it seemed like eternity.

"Same here, we better fall back to the line!" Grifter sliced 2 Orks diagonally across and emptied his clip into 3 more Orks. He knew they would have to hold the line no matter what the cost. He shouted to his troops "Fall back to the line! Now! Covering fire!!"

Sharlyntte ran backwards and fired her sonic blasters, while Destiny and Reid blasted on full auto, giving some breathing space for the Marines to run back to the defensive line. It was no easy task, hundreds of bodies lay everywhere, and the Marines had to trudge through the blood and flesh to reach the defensive position.

When they reached, they saw Shona tending to the arm of Yuri. The plasma gun had overheated and exploded, his left hand was a bloody mess, but he still fired his bolt gun with his right hand. "Fit a power gauntlet over my arm! I'll fight on even without my hand!" Yuri bellowed, obviously frustrated at the loss of his favourite weapon more than his own hand.

Grifter shouted, "Form the line! When you use up all your ammo, grab your shield and halberds!" He paused to throw a couple of frag grenades, and then voxed, "Where the heck is Rallen? I told everyone to fall back!"

Sharlyntte shouted back, "Rallen's down! I saw him get dragged down into a mob over there!" Her sonic blasters were turning red hot with heat, and she knew they would breakdown any moment.

"What?! Sharlyntte, Yonq, Destiny, to me, now! Form a wedge and cut through to Rallen! We're not leaving anyone behind!!" Grifter yelled in anger. "Use your remaining grenades at the count of 3!"

When the grenades exploded and cleared a small area, the four of them formed a triangle, with Destiny in the middle, firing over the shoulders of Grifter as he grabbed his halberd to form the tip of the group. Yonq and Sharlyntte flanked him, and the four of them cut their way through the lumbering Orks to reach the pile of dead Orks where Sharlyntte thought Rallen was buried under.

But in the meantime, Reid, Shona and an injured Yuri tried their best to hold the Orks from reaching their position, but with each second, the Orks were moving closer, until they were less than a stone's throw away. Suddenly a huge fire ball crashed down right next to Reid and he yelled in pain and surprise, his left leg crushed by the weight, even as the flames singed his armour and his power suit injected painkillers into his body. Barely a moment later, Shona's heavy bolter clicked on empty and she was back using the flame thrower, its fuel supply nearing zero as well. They could not hold the Orks off much longer.

Grifter thought to himself, I hope the infiltrating force has more success than us!

***

"Two more Warbosses down!" Chrawkate's sword sputtered with Ork flesh and he lost his combat knife, stuffing it down the throat of the monster that tried to take a bite out of him. The second Warboss crashed to the ground as VC Ian cut a large "X" shaped wound into its back with his power sword and chain sword.

"And 15 more to go eh! Let's hope the other 3 were killed when the roof collapsed on them!" Jennifurious shouted as she sliced another 2 Orks into 2. "Then that'll actually be just 12 left!"

"Time to bail out and move to the next room!" Millenia was holding off several Orks with her two bolt guns, firing only at heads, maximising the limited bullets she had left. She had dumped her expanded flame thrower in a corner of the room, as hole in it cause the promethium fuel to leak out dangerously.

Suddenly, the 3 Warbosses with the chain mail appeared and roared viciously, looking very very pissed off, with iron rods sticking onto their backs and dust all over them. They actually survived the collapse of the roof and were here presumably to exact revenage for their fallen buddy.

"Fall back! We can't take on those 3 like this!" VC Ian threw a flash grenade which stunned a few Orks momentarily, giving them a road of escape. They fired and backed away toward the corridor.

Suddenly Millenia stopped and reloaded her bolt guns, kneeled down and aimed. VC Ian grabbed her arm and said "There's no time! Those peashooters don't work against those mon"…

KABOOM!! The room exploded in a blaze of white and yellow heat, the fire spilling out into the corridor and incinerating the 3 Warbosses along with dozens of other Orks. Millenia had shot the fuel tanks of her spent flame thrower to cause the explosion, taking out the 3 Warbosses at once!

She grinned at Ian who could not believe his eyes. His skills, his rage, his experience.. all bested by a young Sister who had thought to use her brain to set a trap. "That one's for Charles." She managed to whisper. "We've still got 12 more to kill. Let's go!"

But as the four of them regrouped and leapt down the stairs to the second floor of the hideous building, a sudden deafeningly loud explosion rocked the entire building, causing Jennifurious to actually lose her footing and trip slightly. Pieces of the wall were destroyed and several Orks lay dead along the corridor. VC Ian wondered what had happened, when gun fire from outside the building drew his attention.

Rohan and Neophiri were atop a Leman Russ tank, and they had blown a hole in the wall. Orks were surrounding the vehicle even as the machine guns and mounted heavy bolters spat death all around the tank.

"Come on! We need you guys to help!" Millenia yelled, as she noticed they were soon about to be overrun.

Neophiri jumped onto the ledge and Chrawkate caught his arm and pulled him to safety, and Rohan prepared to jump, but first, threw a grenade into the hull of the tank - which was filled with explosives. "Guys, run for cover!!" he yelled and laughed insanely as he joined the group. They ran down the hallway for 4 seconds before another tremendous explosion rocked the building, as the tank was blown apart in a huge fire ball, killing scores of Orks which were surrounding it.

"Oww.. my ear drums are still ringing!" Complained Chrawkate as he picked himself off the floor, as the group shook hands with the newly arrived Marines, more than glad to see them add firepower to their squad.

"Eh guys.. you might want to take a look at that.." Rohan pointed toward the big hole in the wall where the tank had blasted. 10,000 angry Orks had heard the blast and has come running to the scene of battle. Ten huge and ugly Warbosses, some of them carrying rocket launchers and meat cleavers, were at the fore front of the mob.

"Well," VC Ian said to this squad. "Looks like we don't have to hunt for our targets any longer.. Since we're about to become the hunted." There was no way they were getting out of this mess alive. They needed a miracle to get through this.

***

"Rallen! Rallen!! Get up man!!" Librarian Yonq grabbed Rallen and hauled him up from under the pile of dead Orks. His chest armour was broken and his left arm was cracked at a very painful angle, but thank the Emperor, he was still alive and breathing. At least he would still be able to walk back to the defensive line.. If it was still there.

"Its.. no use.. leave me.. leave me!" Rallen gasped and coughed out blood. His visor was removed and he had the look of defeat on him. "My legs.. I can't feel my legs!"

Chaplain Grifter slapped his face. "You are not dying on me now Marine! You get back up on your ass and finish this! You are part of the Strikeforce!!"

Suddenly they heard a scream and a shout of despair, and they turned to see the 3 warriors being overwhelmed by a tide of green monsters. Only Reid was still standing, his left arm punching away at Orks furiously, while his right hand held onto Shona, who was firing weakly into the horde. The desperate look in his eyes was as piercing as the look of fear on Shona's face. Yuri could not be seen, probably on the ground being trampled upon. Grifter felt numb in his heart.. He had led his squad not only to their death, but also to their defeat.

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