“RRRAAARGHH!” Oxnard's blood was singing, as the fury of battle flooded his mind. Gone were the Servy-Doors. Blood had spilled. The Bad Man was staggering towards the guys that had shot at him earlier. He couldn't understand why they were chained up, but he was happy that he wouldn't have to chase them down after he was done with the Bad Man. Time seemed to slow, as he brought his Rippa to bear on the Bad Man.
Acer was shouting at him, “Leave him alive, for the love of the Emperor! I want him ALIVE!” [ Keep him alive order: Success! ]
Oxnard slowed, and brought his fist up in a halting gesture and bellowed his frustration. He shot what would normally be considered a murderous glare at Acer. His clansmen pulled up, clearly confused. Oxnard threw his Rippa to the ground, hard enough to spark on a chunk of the broken building.
“I'll take him alive, Colonel, but I don't like it!” He shouted. Oxnard cracked his knuckles, as he advanced on the Bad Man.
Suddenly, a blaze of heat and light incinerated the Commandant. Lugg shielded his eyes, stepping between Acer and the attack just as Padia did the same. They would have been standing shoulder to shoulder, if his shoulder was about a foot lower. Instead, her bony shoulder was pressing into his ribs.
He gave her a gentle press with his ribs, and she poked him in the stomach. No way she'd let me be the only one in the way. Lugg smiled to himself, as he scanned the area for further threats.
She didn't have nearly enough meat on her bones, for his taste, but he doubted that any woman born off world [Catachan] would meet his tastes. Not that he'd ever see that again. Regardless, she was more than capable as a bodyguard for his friend. An absolutely wicked sense of humour. If she put on about 30 or 40 lbs, he'd be right jealous of Acer...
The poking repeated, and he looked down at Padia's horrified face. She pointed at the Commandant's body, and Lugg realized that he wasn't looking at a corpse, but at a smoking and charred person that was rolling to put out the flames that were consuming him. Lugg's jaw dropped open. It wasn't often that Guardsmen saw something that fazed them, but watching a man calmly put himself out, without screaming or hysterics, after being hit with a Melta Cannon !?! He heard more than one of the crew lose their breakfast on the grass. Lugg could only shake his head and blink his eyes.
“Uhhh, Ace?” Lugg put his big, meaty hand on Acer's bionic shoulder. “That crazy bastard may just be the toughest mother beslubberer I've ever met, and I know a guy that once shot his own arm off. I... uh... I don't think you need to worry about taking him alive.”
The Commandant finished putting out the flames, and then he dragged himself to his knees.
The pain was like a living thing that inhabited his body. It moved around, seeming to focus on one place before moving to another, while somehow leaving searing suffering everywhere. Even when he had overcome himself, he had not known such agony as he did now. He had thought he had known his limit, but now he found that he was so much more than he'd once thought.
The Mutant was dumbstruck. It could have crushed him like an insect, but instead it's feeble mind could not understand the majesty of his presence.
“The Will is the truth, the way, and the life! Look upon me, and fear! Fear, for you know not the power within yourself, that exists within all men!” The Commandant made his way, shakily, to his feet. The Guardsmen in front of him raised their weapons, and The Colonel put his hand out, halting them, as he tried in vain to come to grips with what he was seeing.
“You can be as I am. You can overcome yourself! Your limitations, your fear, everything that binds you to a lesser life!” The Commandant stumbled slightly, as he pressed towards The Sheep. He was fairly sure that his left heel bone was scraping through the dirt, since he couldn't lift his foot off the ground.
“A building dropped around me! I've been shot, and suffered the searing kiss of a dying sun. Still I seek to be your benefactor! You need only submit to The Will, so that you might be reborn, and overcome your own weakness...”
The heretic's incessant spouting of filth finally roused Acer from his stunned silence. “Your blasphemy ends, traitor! Your army is broken, and you teeter on the verge of death. Recant your false ways, provide us information, and then pray to the Emperor for forgiveness. If you do this, I'll ensure you are given a quick, clean death. Deny this demand, and you'll be handed to the Commissariat, and you'll never know death so long as they think you have information. While they don't often show it, they have incredible imaginations when it comes to believing you have information.” Acer let that hang in the air for a moment, hoping the madman would see reason. “They're rather inventive when it comes to extracting that information, I've seen. Save your soul. Recant! and seek salvation in the true savior of humanity, the Holy Emperor!”
The heretic began laughing derisively, ending in a hacking cough. Acer thought he could see pieces of the Commandant flying from his mouth as he did so. The Commandant began shaking his head no, his face showing sadness...
“Save my soul? My soul is my own. It belongs to no other. I shall enter the afterlife, and together with the faithful we shall continue to survive. Someday, The Will will join us, and shelter us as the Emperor once did for his faithful.” The Commandant was truly saddened that the willful Colonel would not see reason. “I offer you this last chance. Join us! Learn to live without fear, knowing that you are your own master. Or suffer the same fate as The Sheep."
The Commandant slipped his bolt pistol from it's holster, and began firing into the screaming mass of The Sheep. Maybe a demonstration will convince them. It was a slim hope, but The Commandant did not wish to have to kill the Ambrasians...
As the Bad Man suddenly raised a pistol and began firing, Oxnard surged forward, to protect the Colonel and the soldiers with him. He tackled the Bad Man, and some of his skin peeled off as they wrestled to the ground. The Bad Man tried to pull his sword from it's sheath, but it slipped from his hand, taking a layer of skin with it.
Another of his clansmen helped Oxnard form a cage of sorts, around the Bad Man's body. The Bad Man was screaming nonsense about someone named Will and how Will was going to make things better for everyone. That didn't make any sense to Oxnard. If Will could make things so great, why didn't he just kill the Bad Man and tell everyone else to do what the Comzar said? That always seemed to make Oxnard happy.
“We got him, Sir!” Oxnard smiled, while the Bad Man pounded his fists into Oxnard. He sure seemed pointy! Oxnard giggled a little bit. “Can we let him up now, Colonel? He's starting to tickle me!” His clansman was already laughing at the wee one.
Mission debriefing to follow...
Post Merge: December 4, 2013, 07:09:22 PM
In the future, please use the modify button. Double posting is against the forum rules, and for that reason, the system merged your posts.
Mission Debriefing
Primary Objective – Secure the Bunkers: Failed
Failure to secure the Bunkers will mean that the Ambrasians will not benefit from a 25% increase to their army size, as the additional resources are required to secure the area from counter attack.
Secondary Objective – Route All Enemy Forces: Success!
Routing the enemy forces grants a 10% bonus to the Ambrasians in the next mission. Hunter teams that would have been needed to hunt down the remnants can instead be dedicated to battle!
Tertiary Objective – Destroy the Bunkers: Success!
If we can't have it, neither can they! Had the bunkers survived, but remained unoccupied by the Ambrasians, the enemy would have enjoyed a 10% bonus to their army size in the next battle. Unsecured bunkers would have allowed the Ivalyan infiltrators to gain valuable intel on the Ambrasian movements, allowing greater coordination of their forces.
Secret Objective: We, The People... - Success!
Enslaved soldier units survive at half strength or more. Score of 2 / 3.
The good will of the populace means that Gorilla forces will support the actions of the Ambrasians. Enemy reserves suffer -1 to arrival rolls. In the 3rd mission, Guerilla forces may join the Ambrasians on the field of battle.
Secret Objective: I Want Him Alive!
Capture The Commandant alive: Score 1/1.
The location of a “secret” objective in Mission 3 will be known on a certain roll... as yet unknown factors may make that roll easier or more difficult... it's a super-secret objective!