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Zavodila (PoisonousIvee/Mr.Aznable)

She didn't utter a word, though she was bubbling with questions. Where were they going? What exactly was the purpose of this raid? Would she be able to pick apart a cultist? Would they have the time? It was all so exciting; far better than standing around in a laboratory.
 
He kept his eyes peeled as they got closer. She could see the debased scrawlings of the cultists over hab-blocks, the semi-circular symbol of the genestealer. Edric tapped his vox bead. "Vox check, vox check. Eyes up boys, stealers and cultists are active in the area. Guns hot, weapons free."
 
She wanted to see more, wanted to watch. How did they behave? Did they look more human or Tyranid? Were there actual Genestealers? So many more questions threatened to burst from her, but she took the moment to dig into her pack and pull her ceremite chest plate over her robes, patting it to make sure it fit and was secure. It was very simple, small and light with the Mechanicus sigil emblazoned on the center. She fixed her hood, which had fallen a bit to reveal curly strawberry blonde hair tied back tightly to keep out of her face, and she waited with raw excitement and fascination.
 
Small, quick, repetitive, deadly. A hail of stubber rounds began to spank off the armored side of the Salamander. "Shit!" He cried. "Left, left, hab building, top floor, Chatterbox, let em have it!" He spat into his vox, and she could see the chimera behind them spinning its turret, and the multilaser began hosing the hab building with pulsing las bolts. She could catch small glimpses of the attackers as they ducked from window to window. Abhorrents, awful hybrids. Massive fangs, multiple limbs.
 
"By the Omnissiah..." She muttered, trying to peek more to look at them better, but she didn't want to get in the way. "Are those the cultists?" She asked.
 
A rocket streaked overhead, going wide and blowing a hole into the rockcrete road. "Yes, Magos, those would be our neighbors." He said. "Chatterbox, covering fire, pull around the building. Nest is probably below. Remember lads, high power on the las guns, one shot, one kill." The convoy began to turn towards the building, and the vehicles formed a defensive circle before the troops disembarked and began to enter the building.
 
She clammered out after him, the arm of her pack handing her her gamma pistol. She wanted to take back so many specimens, bring home so much tissue to study. What an achievement that would be; the newly appointed Biologis Magos came back to Holy Mars with Genestealer samples. She could pat herself on the back right now were there the time.
 
Edric led the way in, sweeping right and left, the luminator on the end of his shotgun casting uneasy shadows against the dingy walls.
 
She kept her pistol at the ready, her mechanical eye scanning for any biological signs besides Edric and his men.
 
It was all but silent now. Edric came over the vox, "They're luring us in. They want us to get into the nest. That means that they have something they think can turn us. Eyes up. Scan your corners." He said.
 
Turn them? What did that mean? She continued to scan the area, looking for anything. She could kind of see them, hiding, waiting, watching, but they didn't do much else.
"They're just...waiting.." She muttered.
 
"I know." He said. He crouched at the entry to a massive metal door. In better times, the Munitorum would have used this as an access way to the underhive for routine maintenance. Now, it was like some great set of jaws, ominous and wide. He motioned for one of his men to come forward. The man was covered in various forms of explosive devices. Most, Munitorum issue, some, home made. "Sparks, crack a few down and we'll move in when the smoke clears." He said to the man. The man nodded, and armed a few improvised devices before hurling them through the doorway. "If you have a mask or a rebreather, wear it now. Unless your lungs are also augmetic?" He said, the grin evident behind his own rebreather.
 
She couldn't help her own smile, "Sadly, not yet. Still working out the kinks in the filtration." She remarked jokingly as her pack arm handed her a rebreather from the pack on her back.
 
The man nodded and gave a joyous thumbs up as the devices detonated, resulting in horrible, inhuman screams. Edric pat her on the back and went in, sweeping left and right, instructing troopers behind him to dead check the charred and smouldering corpses.
 
Her survey pack sprung to life - literally. A small servo skull with eight mechanical legs jumped from her pack and scuttled through the charred bodies, taking skin and blood samples hurriedly. Her mechanical eye kept a keen look out, her gamma pistol still ready with a discipline he hadn't seen in a cogboy before.
 
He made a noise, ignoring the little servitor as it went about its grim workings. He waved the squads forward as he stayed back to keep an eye on her
 
Once the servo skull was finished, it crawled its way up her robes and back into her pack. She made sure it was secure and glanced back at him, giving a nod.
 
He nodded and continued down the hallway, his pulse picking up. There were screams and screeches, awful noises now filling the hallway. There was an all-pervasive stench, inhuman snd foul, that managed to filter in past the masks.
 
The smell didn't seem to bother her too much, she seemed more concerned with the screams.
"Are those your neighbors as well?"
 
"Some used to be." He responded. The hallway filled out into an expanse, horrendous abhorrents, some dragging weapons around, others forming into squads and heading out into vehicles to be shipped out. "Bastards.." he said lowly, gripping his gun tighter. She could see where his eyes were going, some of the hybrids were wearing military uniforms. Not Edric's, but obviously some local uniform. "All units into position. Grenades first, fire in the confusion."
 
She wanted to call out to him, wanted to know if he was ok. Humans were so blissfully perfect and complex, Edric seemed to be an ideal study. But she promised he wouldn't have to worry about her here, so she stayed quiet. She just followed and waited for her chance to help.
 
He grabbed a belt of grenades from Sparks, and pulled the linked pin for all of them before waiting a few painfully long seconds, and hurling the strip of explosives into the center of the group, where they exploded right before they hit the ground.
 
The screams were unholy and they sent a chill down her spine, before she could act, there were more explosions that went off; Edric's men had set off grenades further in, as ordered, and before long the sound of laz fire filled her ears. She moved and waited, watched, firing at the cultists who were more out from the center. When her rounds hit them, they disintegrated; leaving nothing more than a scorch shadow in their wake. She watched Edric, for the most part, not wanting him to be ambushed.
 
Most of the larger abhorrents had been taken down, and now it was down to a few cultists engaging in a firefight. When she looked again, Edric was sprinting down the stairs towards the cultists. "Check fire, check fire, close quarters." He said, before taking aim at a cultist and letting off a phosphex round at it, causing it to fly out of cover in a shrieking, smouldering mess.
 
She moved after him, shooting anything that tried to come near him. She still didn't know what this thing was that he mentioned might "turn" them, but she didn't want anything to get close enough to try.
 
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