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[Passionario]

"The building's too solid to breach anywhere but at the door, unless any of you know where to get a 'Russ Demolisher on short notice."

Upon hearing these words, the psyker's eyes go completely blank for several seconds.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

She stand in the ruins of a military base. The air is filled with acrid smoke and the not-so-distant sounds of combat still going on. The ground is strewn with corpses wearing the uniform of the Imperial Guard. She looks at herself and sees that she, too, is wearing the same uniform.

A wounded soldier stumbles through the smoke towards her, using his lasgun as a makeshift crutch. When he catches sight of her, he calls out:

"We've been betrayed! The rotten bastard has sold us out! Contact the high command, tell them that..."

A deafening, earthshaking explosion cuts him off in mid-speech, transforming his body into a fine red mist and knocking Pass off her feet. As she lifts her still-ringing head, she sees the silhouette of a Leman Russ Demolisher tank driving over the rubble that used to be a defensive wall. The tank's turret begins to swivel in her direction...

At this moment, Pass abruptly snaps out of her trance, hoping that her companions were too preoccupied with their battle plans to notice this episode - or her still-shaking hands.

[Malek Deneith]

- Hey Tobias, mind switching your lasrifle for my carabine for now? I suppose bringing that sniper down will fall on me, and if so I'm going to need all the range I can get - Laz asked while waiting for Silhar to end looking through magnoculars.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Once magnoculars are passed, Laz will take a quick glance around the field before concentrating on sniper and looking for a best path to get within sensible fireing range of the him without getting outright killed.

[Xander Morhaime]

Tobias sighed quietly, unslinging his lasrifle and passing it over to Laz in exchange for the carbine. "Try not to break it. There's no telling if and when we might be able to get a replacement. And even with that, it's going to be a long shot," the guardsman explained. "Though if you could somehow shoot him so he'd fall to the ground outside, he might make for a very handy distraction..."

[Silhar]

"Much too long, I am afraid. If only we found some way to his position (or cause enough distraction for one of us to get in there), we would gain some strong advantage..."

Thus saying, The Eldar finally passed magnoculars to Lazerus.

[Marcus Constantine]

"I do not know. Even if we manage to take all those guardsmen outside, without notice, what is waiting for us inside? Not only that, I do not think they could be distracted. Anyone who would try to talk to them would be at least stunned and interrogated. If the rest of us would attack, they would quickly connect (the attack) with the recent "visitor" and shoot him immediately... Or use him as a hostage."

"I could go there, actually run and pretend I am being chased. You could even make some cuts on my face, so it will be covered in blood. That would be more... realistic. That would probably distract the two guards at the entrance. And one of the three "four-man" patrol. There are four of *You*. In that time you would have to take out the sniper. I assume you lady, I do not know if you have such powers, could take control one of those guards so they will start shooting each other. I could help a little so your "zombie" could survive. Let us say that deals with one of the patrols and the two guards at the entry. That still leaves us..."

"You know what brothers? Let us forget about it. To me it sounds like a bad, how were they called... Aaah, yes, western movie. I do not think we stand much chance here, unless some of you got a real plan!"

[Xander Morhaime]

Halsted quickly shook his head. "Considering that the distraction I was intending was supposed to draw them in so we could get a couple of *grenades* in, I don't think any of us qualify. Unless you're particularly eager for martyrdom, Priest," the guardsman replied, grinning under his gas mask.

"Updated idea, then... there's two ways we could try, either sneak up close, take advantage of the lack of light and the abundant cover... or sneak slightly less close, drop the sniper, take advantage of darkness and cover to play squig and gretchin with the patrols. Three of us have decent firepower on hand, and there's three patrols, plus the two guards by the entrance. We can either try dividing their attention, then, or keep together and pick off the patrols one by one. This does mean we'll be announcing our arrival, but at this point, well... that's really a given anyway.  Besides, once I can get my hands on one of their stubbers I think I could even the odds a little."

[Marcus Constantine]

"To me, it will be a martyrdom. I do not think that these people there will gather in a group like sheep to slaughter (when they get distracted) so you could throw a grenade. Besides, I think you know how much noise such act will make. You can forget about the silent entry, they will alarm everybody."

"This reminds me of an ancient strategist. He said: <<Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered.>>. What do we know besides that there are 15 people on patrol there, auto-guns and so on? What is inside? Who is inside? What weaponry are they carrying? Who do they know? Who can come to aid them?"

"I suggest we wait and observe. If we do not need to attack immediately, then that would be the best solution. Doing so, we will have to option when to attack. If we decide to storm right now, we might not have an another chance to do so... ever..."

[Passionario]

"I assume you lady, I do not know if you have such powers, could take control one of those guards so they will start shooting each other. I could help a little so your "zombie" could survive."

Pass rolls her eyes:

"Yeah, sure, I can enslave them and force them to do my bidding. And while I'm at it, I'll call forth a rain of fire from the sky, and summon a chapter of Astartes to back us up. After all, I'm an alpha-level psyker with a full Inquisitorial mandate, and this acolyte stuff is merely a cover..."

Seeing the expression on Marcus's face, she realizes that her sarcasm doesn't translate all that well via whispers in the darkness, and sighs:

"...Just kidding. Truth is, my abilities either don't work well over long distance or require our enemies to be able to clearly see me. Against a sniper, it's a lose-lose choice.

Oh, and remember what I've said about warpcraft being risky, unpredictable and dangerous? It's still true. Think of it as a weapon of the last resort, rather than an opening distraction."

She lowers her voice to a barely audible whisper:

"And please stop addressing me as 'lady'. We've all seen what a *real* lady is like, back in Carnelia. Since I don't live in a high tower, surround myself with xeno servants, or send my minions into a deathtrap, just call me 'Pass'.

Unless, of course, I get eaten alive by demons. In which case, feel free to call me 'Fail'".

[Marcus Constantine]

"Then your explanation my la... Pass, just ensures me this is a suicide, or as Halsted said, a martyrdom mission..."

[Xander Morhaime]

"Just don't go out of your way trying to get martyred. If you're going to be suicidal, you'll be a liability more than any sort of asset," Halsted said bitterly, then pointed off to the building where the sniper was holed up. "You know, priest, if my old commissar was here, he'd probably shoot you on the spot for being a defeatist whiner. If you'd be so kind as to stop trying to kill our morale... we could try sneaking over to where their sniper is sitting, force entry and deal with him. Afterwards, Laz could provide long-range support while we move in to deal with the guards."

"And as I said, at this point we can pretty much forget about a silent entry. Whether we set off a grenade or they see us coming and start shooting... someone WILL make enough noise to raise an alarm. Our saving grace is that they're too spread out to provide fire support to other groups. Emperor willing, we can take them on piece-meal. If we can acquire one of their heavy stubbers and get close enough to the door, we can also make life interesting for anyone coming out to lend support. So, unless anyone else has any insight or advice, I suggest we move to deal with the sniper first."

[Passionario]

"Then your explanation my la... Pass, just ensures me this is a suicide, or as Halsted said, a martyrdom mission..."

"Of course it bloody is. Frak, I told you that this was a suicide mission right at the very beginning, and you all said that I was just overreacting, that this was merely an apprenticeship of sorts. Well, guess what: I was right after all.

And yes, I still think that our best chance to survive this mess is to act like frakking Heroes of the Imperium: put our trust in the Emperor and charge in against the impossible odds, creating as much noise and confusion as we can.

You say that we don't know how many of them are there, or what weapons they have. I say that the opposite is also true: they don't know how numerous we are, or what kind of firepower we can bring. If anything, their defenses seem to indicate that they're expecting a much bigger assault force. All we need to do is take advantage of their fear, and convince them that they're under attack by an enemy that outnumbers and outguns them.

And if worst comes to worst, a quick death from a stubber is still better than whatever agonies Lady Sophia has in store for those who fail her."

[Marcus Constantine]

"Halsted: there is no problem in getting ripped into pieces. The problem is what will Emperor benefit from that. Unless you are sure, that *He* will gain something from this act then this is pointless. Whatever you say, I am with you my brothers, but remember and think what will Emperor gain from our deaths."

"However if you think that in those people there a fear can be risen in their hearts and minds, then there is chance..."

"So what are *exactly* our plans?"

[Silhar]

"We are all alone here, but do not forget that we, men of the Inquisition, have some... Privileges, have we not ? How about if we got some Skitarii to distract them with a general rumble, then silently picked off those more dangerous targets ?", proposed the Eldar after a while of silent pondering.

"Those are experienced and pretty well-equipped, so that they shall not get eliminated... too quickly. You said it, Father Constantine, why must we become martyrs without a point ? Also, what would wake more fear in their hearts than Cult Mechanicus' men, here on a Forge ?"

[Malek Deneith]

- The Skitarii were purposefuly ignoring the gunfight that caught my attention earlier today. Which means that there is some sort of... agreement... between Du Pont and either Skitarii or one of their leaders. Either way we have no way of judging how far this connection goes so that rules out other forces that we could try to get to help here on planet. And I sincerly don't think this is enough to call help from our Inquisitorial employer. As much as I'd prefer to go inside with a hefty support I'm afraid we're on our own for time beeing.

[Xander Morhaime]

"So. Move on the sniper first, then deal with the guards as we are able, preferably taking the patrols down one at a time?" Halsted asked, rubbing his hands together.