Warhammer 40,000: Stavrakis- The Hunt For Valakt

Discord

It did. It took the better part of seventy minutes for us to coast around the edge of the hive to the bright side. In the end, I did voice my plans with my companions. The mercs we had hired stood up as one and began a synchronised gear check. They had bulky full frontal armour suits on, matte black, and exposed at the rear. While any enemy behind them could massacre them in moments, the armour was also easily shed, granting them surprising mobility at a moments notice. The exceptional frontal armour was bolstered by the specialised rifles they carried. 

They carried a double-barreled lasrifle variant, which boasted increased power-per-shot, accuracy and clip size. He hoped that they wouldn't need to use them. I looked at the Shaper, and he had his Tau Pulse Carbine primed and ready, his frankly terrifying Kroot Warscythe fixed onto the top of the barrel. The two Psykers we had aboard were drugged into a semi-comatose state. I did not want them getting involved in a potential combat zone, and definitely not where the enemies of Man are involved.

Dirjean would be a non-combatant. He was too valuable to risk getting hit by a stray shot. If this is a hostile scenario, I reminded myself. If. The flier had reached a point where we could communicate with the main communications mast. A flurry of data beamed back and forth until a landing solution was reached.

"Approaching landing bay 2." The pilot servitor droned on.

I drew my laspistol out of my holster and made a last minute inspection.

The flier ghosted in through the docking bay doors. I was surprised the rooftop defenses had not shot us down. Tower control was supposed to ID incoming/outgoing aircraft with an ident marker, and any that did not display the correct marker would be shot down. So someone wanted us, or me, to reach the inside of Seranet Spire. Well here I am. Now what?

"Ok gentlemen, disembark." I called out to the mercs. "Assume danger at all time."

They saluted in unison before their CO punched the door controls. The dark metal creaked and groaned as the clamps released them. Hissing air condensed on the inside of the compartment, flowing out through the widening crack of the rear loading ramp. The Hasskar fireteam stood still as a mountain, waiting for the ramp to descend fully.

I admired their form and their training, fully wishing that they were under the Imperiums direct employ, rather than for hire to the goon with the most money. I'm glad that today, that goon was me. 

As the loading ramp clanked onto the bay floors, I blinked. That frame of reality was burned into my mind: The red warning lights were bright and flashing, flooding the bay. It seemed like the walls were spray-coated with blood. I knew the walls were a matt black, bordering on blue, but my mind wouldnt shake the comparison, something I found worrying. The warning lighting only kicked in when the hives primary systems suffered a total failure to power generation, the environmental controls and communications. That means the emergency protocols were active.

I then picked up the clutter on the floor. Nothing like vehicle debris, or structural wreckage. Nothing like household litter or items either. There were exposed cables and underfloor wiring, engineering tools and boxes strewn about, crumpled uniforms...

Uniforms?

Then the Hasskar fireteam picked out the final detail that took too long for me to comprehend. The barricade erected at the far end of the bay, leading into the hive. Where we had landed to the entryway was a total distance of 300 meters, and in the bad lighting, it could have been anything. But they recognized it, as did I. Anyone who has seen a barricade meant to keep anything or anyone out could not mistake it for anything else.

The moment passed and the fireteam rapidly disembarked. Two to the left, two to the right, sweeping their unique rifles from their respective facing.