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W&G: The Inquisitor's Speartip

He turned his head to regard the brawny human female, cocking it slightly in mild surprise at her agreement with his suggestion. Humans usually either agreed out of fear, simply not wanting to disagree with him openly, or found that his methods and ideals were too... brutal. In any case, he didn't linger on this thought for long as he considered her additional suggestion. "I am not certain this... gate can strike from such distance as to threaten our throws, though I have little issue with igniting it all the same." Indeed his strength was such that he could likely throw the explosives just as far as his heavy flamer could spout promethium, though he supposed the others weren't quite so powerful.
 
Flagg was about to speak up at the plan the xenos had, perhaps a bit reflexively wanting to argue. However her fellow human chimed in with support and with a sage quote that undercut the argument. The trooper sighed and rubbed her temple, though the dull grind of leather on metal did little to satisfy her headache. Perhaps her time as a Scion had taught her to be a bit more conservative with resources like this. So rather than speak, she stepped back into the Rhino.

A few moments later she came out, carefully cradling three of the bombs while a fourth was strapped to her belt. She handed them off, one to the serpentine xenos while the last two went to her fellow human, seeing as the Drukhari had no interest in their weaponry. She eyed the Ssylth and carefully gestured to a red button near the top of the black oblong that was the bomb. "I've set them to a ten second timer, that should be enough to get out of the blast if you drop the thing." It seemed like she didn't really trust him to handle the bomb correctly. "I think this will be a little wasteful, but who knows, maybe these gates are tougher than a standard tank." With the explosives handed off she retrieved and fully hooked up her primary weapon, a hefty Volleygun that she handled with relative ease. "After the rest of you, if you please."


As the group proceeds forward, the scions and Rhino following slowly behind, they'd see the carnage in closer detail. Destroyed bunkers, charred chimeras and bodies, loyalist and foul heretics alike. All is quiet now, just their marching feet and the eerie creaking of the gibots swinging from rusted chains.

The souls inside were pitiful things, wasted, diseased and starved with only a few more recent bodies looking like battlefield captives. Almost each and every one has a clean hole where a certain Commissr efficiently executed each and every one, regardless of original origin. Well, all except one apparently.

Looking pathetic and extra wretched, skeletal hands spring to life and reach down towards the group, the gibot swinging slightly towards them. At once maybe a dozen hellguns all point up and towards the sudden movement. "Lords! Thank the Emperor, you're here to save me, save us from the army behind those gates! Yes thank the Emperor!"
 
Talshi squinted a bit at Flagg's insulting insinuation, clearly not approving of her belief that he would be so incompetent, but he examined the switches all the same to ensure he understood how to arm it; he'd never used one of these explosives before after all. "Would that I be so clumsy to drop it by your feet." He stated coldly, though the words were little more than just that as he took it with one hand and hung it upon his belt for the time being.

He moved forward with the others, not shy about being closer to the action, and examined the carnage closely but was otherwise unperturbed by the grizzly display. If anything it was pleasant, comforting to be around violence once again. Still, at the sudden movement and spoken words he too reacted, though not as harshly as the soldiers. He readied to defend himself instinctively but didn't level his flamer towards the wretched figure once his eyes took in the sight, instead he relaxed in the acknowledgement that there was no immediate danger.

It was not his place to judge the figure as sane or sound mind, nor to tell if they were corrupted, but the idea of an army inside the palace was interesting nonetheless. "What have you seen within?" Extra information couldn't hurt, even if it was potentially insane ramblings of a weak-willed fool; at least in that case it might be amusing.
 
Flagg seemed to hold Talshi's gaze, though the stylized helm hid her features. it certainly hid the slight smile she had as the xenos threatened her back, though she continued to resist the urge to try shooting the thing. She had her orders, and she was nothing if not a good soldier. A shame really, it would have been so easy to set those timers to 1 second...

The prisoner seemed to be a woman on closer inspection, though her hoarse voice had made it hard to tell. She nodded enthusiastically, as if happy that someone was questioning her, the fact it was a xenos didn't seem to register, perhaps her eyes or mind just weren't working right at the moment? "A company of motivated light infantry! Prepared emplacements with remote detonating mines! Static layered positions for mutual support!" Each statement spouted off quickly, leaving her mouth almost as fast as she could bring them to mind.
 
The Drukari was glad they had not tried to insist on her taking a bomb. She was very skilled with her weapon. Using strange primitive tech filled with explosives was not something she was keen on trying. Even if she had a back up plan in Commoragh. The pparoached and as they did they were stopped by what appeared to be a survivor or something. A skeletal hand was all she saw at first yet her Klaive was in hand ready to go immediately.

"Bloody Mon-keigh." she muttered to herself inside her helmet. The information was good though it did little for them at the moment. "Or perhaps this one is thoroughly insane or touched by the powers of the warp to relay false information." The Drukhari said lazily as if the situation did not concern her.
 
The woman though clearly in a bad way, seems at least coherent and doesn't have the feel of someone reading from a script for false information. As far as anyone in the group can tell she seems to believe what she is saying here. Flagg for her part shrugs and glances to the rest of her companions. "Sounds plausible, the rebellion here has been very well organized. Won't know for sure until we get through those gates."
 
As far as he was concerned, Talshi didn't really care what happened in regards to the fate of this confined woman and would leave it up to the humans to make that choice. His focus shifted back towards the gate, not really thinking she'd be of much more use to them. Her information seemed genuine as best he could tell but it didn't really give much benefit; they were already expecting a fight. "We should continue. I'd rather not delay so long that the inquisitor decides to level the place with us inside." He paused for a moment before adding a little more. "And a good fight sounds plenty appealing anyway."
 
Flagg hesitantly glanced up at the gibbet then back to some of the Scions, she gave a gesture, signaling for a couple of the troopers to cut down the prisoner and keep an eye on them. She was willing to show some mercy, though wasn't naive enough to leave this apparent harmless prisoner unguarded. With that sorted the group could move on, continuing the steady path towards the gate.

Passing over the final bodies of the defenders, the group would at last get a good look at these gates. Six meters wide, four meters tall, it did not appear to be metal anymore, the mottled black 'skin' glistened with moisture and its surface was not uniform. It rippled and pulsed and in the center where there would be a seam between the two halves of the gate was instead a long pair of lips, vertical in alignment. Though there were no eyes, the gates seemed to shudder and a long sinuous tongue slivered out and licked along those full blackened lips.

Flagg shuddered at the sight of it, shaking her head. "Disgusting..."

Meanwhile a certain cursed sword-bearer would hear a whisper in her mind. "Oh Anna, don't you think that tongue would be an interesting experience? It coiling and wrapping around your skin all the way up to your," once more the voice cutting away as Anna's hand came away from the sword at her hip.
 
Anna for her part heard the woman's words though she couldn't help but think it was a bit suspicious that literally everyone in the gibbets was dead except her. Half turning towards the scions she tilted her head, making the servos around the joint whine to get the Commissars attention, while flagg directed some troopers to get her down. "Watch her please, very closely."

Otherwise she let the others handle it while she kept her attention on their destination. They where a ways off, enough that she couldn't get a good look and yet... something about it was bothering her.

Once they got closer though, oh God Emperor it was so much worse than she had imagined. Oily black flesh and split by lips. Her unwelcome guest spoke up and Anna snatched her hand away like she'd been burned, thankfully before it could complete whatever deviant thought had entered its misbegotten mind.

"Upon close inspection," she noted, her tone wry, "I would like to note my continued support of plan 'set it on fire and blow it up' with extreme prejudice." Producing both melta charges she had been entrusted with, she turned her helmet towards Flagg, "What do you think?"
 
Khanzhar regarded the gate with a mix of disgust and amusement. "By the bloody hand of Khaine you Mon-keigh are truly easy to fall." she remarked resting the back of her klaive on her shoulder. "As much fun as it would be to simply destroy such a thing. I have a worry." she said and then gestured to the gate with a thumb. "That thing is keeping us out but it might as well be keeping things in. And should that pathetic mon-keigh's warnings be accurate. Using all of our assets here would be a foolish maneuver."

The Drukhari did not like dealing with Chaos. Humans were foolish, predictable for the most part. Their technology primitive but instincts understandable. Hide in the largest fortified buildings. Try to keep a distance from scary things. Tau were much the same way. The Orks....leaving the Orks aside. Chaos did not have logic, or plans, or predictability. It was wild, and Khanzhar hated fighting wild opponents.
 
"I do not know how strong these bombs are..." Talshi replied to the small protest from the drukhari. "... use too few and we may not get through the gate at all." Indeed he had no clue if using four melta bombs was overkill or absolutely necessary, though it seemed none of them had any clue as to the durability of this living gate. "If you fear for what might be held within then perhaps your mettle is lacking?" He figured the slight might be enough to replace Khanzhar's concern with anger, a much more valuable emotion for battle, but ultimately he would agree with whatever sentiment the group as a whole settled on in regards to the utilization of the bombs.
 
Flagg shook herself and forced herself to look away from the unsettling sight. Turning her focus to Sister Anna as the woman spoke, the woman took resolve in her fellow human... even if she is one step away from being a possessed heretic. "If the gate was normal one bomb would be plenty. I'm unfortunately unsure just how resilient that  thing is. So despite my earlier protests the Ss-" she forced herself to be a tad more polite to those watching her back. "Talshi might have a point. Though it is risky throwing four bombs wildly at a target, even one so large and stationary."

Flagg lowered her gun, holding the heavy weapon by a handle running across the top with one hand. The she unhooked her melta bomb with the other. "Depending on how far that tongue reaches, might be safest to do this one at a time and see results. But even if Khanzar is wrong and heretic forces aren't waiting on the other side of the gate, the explosions are sure to draw them in."
 
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Many of the others seemed visibly disturbed by the presence of the gate this up close but Talshi didn't understand what their problem was; he had seen more troubling things crawl out of haemonculi laboratories. Shrugging off the visual, he slithered forward without delay to enact the first part of their roughshod plan and slid to a stop just within the range of his weapon. His lower two arms leveled the heavy flamer towards the living gate, angling upward to account for the distance, and a gurgling roar emanated from the device as he pulled the trigger and loosed two streams of promethium from the twin barrels. The pilot burner ignited the fuel as it left the barrels and the searing heat roiled the air in a pleasant fashion by his tastes though certainly not to anything on the receiving end.

Corruption Test DN 4: [_4d6s4]=(4, 6, 2, 6)=3=3
5 successes

Ballistic Skill Test: [_6d6s4]=(4, 6, 2, 5, 5, 6)=5=5
7 successes. Going to shift the two 6's into 1 Glory and 1 Extra Damage.

12 damage + [_3d6s4]=(3, 5, 4)=2=2 for a total of 14 damage with AP -1. If any wounds are inflicted, target is On Fire.
 
The sight of the gates had perhaps disturbed Anna more than she was willing to admit and her burden assuredly didn't help any... but the sight of the gates burning and screaming was a balm to her soul, the simple rightness of it unshaded by compromise and moral costs. Part of her wanted to take her helmet off so she could smell it burning, hear its shrieking with her own ears but that would be pointless self indulgence... and a trap.

So instead she found herself gently stroking one of her melta charges, ready to play her part in the destruction to come. Erasing this blight on the God Emperor's galaxy would be a pleasure. The helmet also stopped Flagg from seeing the kicked-puppy look on Anna's face when she suggested using them one at a time instead of all at once but Anna begrudgingly admitted that it wasn't a terrible idea.

She considered the situation for a moment. "Shall I go first and last?" she offered, since she was carrying two of them.
 
The flames washed over the 'creature' spraying up its front and splashing its surface with burning promethium. The reaction was instant, screaming writhing pain as it's tongue lashed from side to side, uselessly trying to put out the flames. It didn't quite sound human, just a bestial guttural thing that let out feral screams and lashed out wildly, unsettling the group of Scions who watched the abomination burn. Fortunately Talshi was far enough away to avoid retribution and nobody else had yet tried going closer. So for now it continued to burn in agony.

Flagg shuddered and seemed about ready to throw, only to pause and stop as Anna spoke up. The trooper turned to the sister and nodded, taking a step back. "By all means." Easy enough to judge if it would need more explosives after Anna threw her ordinance. She leveled her Volleygun, not firing but just taking a position to support Anna should something unexpected happen. Given that a living gate was not something Flagg had exactly planned on, unexpected was a low bar right now.

The gate technically gets a turn after Talshi and suffers
[1d3]=3 mortal wounds.
 
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