Adversor et Admorsus: The Darkstormers
May 16, 2014 6:46:12 GMT
Darko, admiral9, and 7 more like this
Post by Warork on May 16, 2014 6:46:12 GMT
Prologue: To Face the Bite
Lieutenant Lesec watched from beyond the yard line as the Sergeant Major lead his company around the parade ground in a formation exercise. Each step that the company took was in perfect sync causing the yard to be filled with the distinct sound of boots stomping every other second.
"Left, left, left, right, left!" The Sergeant Major bellowed as they went from one end to the other. Each soldier was fully dressed in their battle gear; clothed in flak armor painted a dull tan color with mat black lasguns slung over shoulders. On the right shoulder pad of each soldier was a curious symbol for humans in this galaxy to bear; a black circle with white outlines drawing strange shapes within that circle. It was a symbol that they should all be proud to wear, Lesec thought. A symbol for their comrades, for their homes, their families...for the greater good.
"Company...About...Face! Left, left, left, right, left! Pick it up!" The Sergeant Major bellowed again as the company turned its formation to come back down the yard. This one was just one of three in this camp where three companies of the Besh'Tor home guard were garrisoned. Tents and pre fab buildings stretched out in all directions. Lesec had his back to the biggest one; a large bunker with a communication array atop it that served as the camp's headquarters. Even as he thought about it, Lesec heard the doors behind him open. He did not turn, knowing that the intruders were coming to speak to him. Two of them walked off a little way to give Lesec and their leader some space to talk. The last came to stand next to him. Lesec let his eyes go to the figure for a moment; he was shorter than Lesec and not at all human being blue skinned and having no visible nose as well as red eyes. He wore tan colored armor as well although it was made in slightly different shapes to better support his unique xenos shape. Under his right arm he held his white helmet which marked him out of his comrades as a veteran officer. This closely Lesec could see the scar along the alien's right cheek that had won him that promotion.
"They look ready." The fire caste warrior said simply in a thick accent as he indicated the company that was still marching in formation in front of him. At least he was speaking Gothic, Lesec thought.
"They are as ready as any soldiers I have seen, Shas'ui." He said. The alien seemed to give a snort.
"We shall see. You are being given your first orders, Lesec." The lieutenant brightened at this.
"Where to sir?" He asked eagerly.
"To a town east of here, near the Corridor Valley."
"The Corridor Valley?" Lesec returned. "Sir, that's near--"
"The Deadzone I know." The Tau returned sternly. "Shas'O Vek has gotten reports that...strange things are happening in that area. He believes if it goes on for much longer the place may be gripped with anti peace sentiments. You are to go there and meet with the town leaders to see what can be done to stop this."
Lesec nodded, a bored look in his eyes. Great, he thought, a month of waiting for some real action and he got to babysit frontiersmen from grox disputes and bandit raids.
"I understand." He responded in complete opposition to his thoughts.
"Good." The Shas'ui said. "When can you move out?"
"Immediately, sir."
"Then get moving, Lesec, Shas' Koom has the details." He said indicating one of his Tau comrades still standing off to one side. "And may the Greater Good guide you."
"And you, sir." Lesec said, giving his commander a salute that was returned before stepping forwards to address his men.
"Company front and center!" He shouted.
An hour later the company was moving out of the camp in a line of Chimeras that were also painted tan and had the Sept's sigil emblazoned on their right flanks. Lesec sat in the commander's seat of his command Chimera. He had opened the hatch to sit in the cupola and get some fresh air while he could. Riding in a fully loaded Chimera was like leaving a loaf of bread in a bathroom; it was going to get stale sooner rather than later.
"The Corridor eh?" He heard one man say over his squad's vox relay. "When's the last time anyone from the home guard has been there?"
"We're not going in the Corridor, you dolt." Said another man. "If you'd been listening you'd know we're going near it."
"Near it or in it what does it matter?" The first man said. "That place is haunted, has been for a century. This mission is ill omened or I'm a fraking Shaper."
"Alright, enough chatter." Lesec interrupted. "I'll have no talk of ill omens. Our orders are clear and if we follow them we should go nowhere near the deadzone."
"Begging your pardon sir." The soldier continued. "But have you heard any of the stories that come out of that place?"
"Hearing and believing are two different things, trooper. We do this for the Greater Good and we'll let no one stop us, least of all some stupid wives tales or superstitions. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir!" The two men responded in kind as the line went silent again and Lesec returned to his thoughts.
The first sign of what the Shas'ui had described as "strangeness" was apparent before they had even gotten as far as the town proper. The farmsteads that lined the road were empty. This was highly unusual as it would be harvest time soon and normally this far out in the country one would see teams of farm hands preparing to haul in the fruits of the earth by the bushel. Looking about with his magnoculars, however, Lesec saw not a soul in sight.
"Scouts, report." He said keying his vox to the scout's channel. A few seconds later a slightly grainy response came through.
"Nothing on the North flank, sir." Said one.
"Same for the South, sir. Its like they all disappeared."
"What did I say? Fraking bad news." The soldier from earlier said from below Lesec. Apparently the man had gotten some gist of what was going on by observing what the Lieutenant had been doing and saying.
"Shut the frak up, trooper." He barked sternly. "Next quip I hear out of you and its latrine duty for a month when we get back to camp."
"Anyone heard from team three?" A scout asked over the vox. Lesec suddenly became alarmed. He hadn't heard from his last team that he had sent to check out the town border.
"Negative." Came another voice.
"Keep trying to hail them. " Lesec ordered. "The company will follow the road until we're within sight of the townstead, I'll split us up by platoon then and we'll see if we can't find team three. Probably just another vox bug." He said, not believing himself as he said it. Something felt wrong here but he had nothing to act on, no evidence of hostility or time to stop and investigate every farmstead. His mind continued to attempt to solve this puzzle as the minutes passed and the convoy of Chimeras closed on the town border.
"I can see the town ahead." The lead chimera commander said into his vox. They had passed several rolling hills of golden grasses and wheat to get here. And now they had to go over one last hill to and they were in the open once more until they got to the town where they would be surrounded by buildings and habs.
"Good." Lesec said. "Platoon one, I want you to meet up with scout team one and take the left flank. Platoon two--"
"Hold on, sir." The forward chimera driver interrupted. "There seems to be an obstruction in the road."
Already the column was slowing to a stop as the forward chimera did so. Lesec was in the third Chimera in the line. Looking ahead, he could just see the back of the lead Chimera over the blind drop of the hill upon the road they were taking.
"An obstruction?" He asked.
"Someone has pulled two tractors onto the road and left them here sir." For a few moments there was no response. "Sir?" The driver asked again. Lesec didn't hear him, he was too busy giving in to the sudden effects of panic.
The lieutenant frantically looked around him. His company was traveling single file over a slow sloping hill in the middle of two larger hills; a large wheat field to his left that concealed everything upon the hill from view, it had a farmhouse upon it which provided a good field of view upon the main road with its windows. On the right was a low hedgerow that cordoned off one piece of land from another and it stretched as far back as the column went at least. He watched as small shadows jumped around on the corners of his vision as he looked about himself, silhouetted phantoms behind windows, in vines and bushes and hidden by plumes of wheat growing in the fields above him...
He had ordered them all into the perfect trap.
"Ambush!" He shouted. But his last syllable was drowned out by the sudden whoosh of a missile being fired from one of the ridges. The forward Chimera exploded brilliantly, showering metallic debris on the vehicles behind it. The vox exploded with the shouts of disbelieving and surprised men. Lesec was nearly thrown back into the turret of his Chimera with the force of the explosion
"Back up! Back up!" Lesec shouted frantically into the vox as another whoosh signaled the end of the rear Chimera. They were trapped now.
Men continued to scream on the vox as stubbers and bolters opened up from either side of them, their reports mere flashes of light along the ridges. Any man caught leaving his vehicle or picking himself after being thrown from an exploding one was cut down in bloody swathes by the unseen assailants.
"Covering fire!" Lesec shouted, desperately trying to gain control of the situation. "Driver, turn us around and get us out of here!"
"Going as fast as I can sir!" The driver responded. Lesec ducked into his turret as the driver madly turned the vehicle around, swinging wide and throttling the engine at the same time.
"Get on those flank guns!" Lesec shouted to his squad inside the Chimera. "We'll have to fight our way out!"
"Sir! I cant get past the other Chimeras!" The driver shouted as bullets pinged off the side of the vehicle and more explosions sounded from outside.
"Take us into the ditch! We have to get out of here!" He shouted as he sat up in the turret's control array, taking the reigns and depressing the firing studs into anything in front of his display that looked like it might be shooting at them. Red multilaser fire arced out of his weapon as he fired it.
"This is Lesec to all platoons! I'm calling for a general retreat! I repeat, get out--"
The lieutenant was not able to finish his order as being unconscious was preoccupying him. As the Chimera rolled into a ditch, it hit an anti tank mine placed by the ambushers for just this purpose. The results were spectacular as the Chimera flipped harshly onto its side. Lesec awoke mere seconds later finding he had been thrown halfway out of his commander's hatch which was now laying sideways on the road.
The ringing in his ears made the battle around him seem far away. Or was it his heart beating in his ears? Or the ragged breath in his lungs. He gasped. His eyes were wide in shock...everything around him seemed to be going slower than it should be. He was lightheaded as he attempted to stand, stumbling first, but then taking a few steps, passing a dead member of his squad lying on the ground, his blank eyes lifted to the sky as he did so. He took a breath, another few steps, then stumbled again. It was so hard for him to breath. It was then that he noticed that he was holding his side.
His hand came away red and wet. A large piece of metal was lodged in his side, it had passed clean through his flack armor and was sticking out of his ribs. He coughed a wet, rasping cough as he shuddered, sliding down the side of his overturned Chimera which was now missing its right half or most of it anyway. He sat there trying to breathe as his limp head sagged towards the rear of his company's lines. He saw the men, his men, scattered over the road, some in pieces, his Chimeras now burning husks...his company...in seconds...gone.
As he sat there unable to move, Lesec watched the distance as the remainder of his men ran for their lives the way they had come, some were shot in the back as they fled, others seemed to make it as far as the top of the hill until a large black shape came trundling over it. Lesec beheld a huge black tank crest the hill with a stark figure standing atop it. A black stormcoat swirled in the wind about its legs and in one hand it held a bolt pistol which it leveled at the running soldiers of his company. The tank canon, however, was much more impressive in its report. In a mere moment, its main barrel, made up of several clustered smaller barrels revved up and spat out more bullets than Lesec had ever seen a gun do in his life. His men were torn to bloody shreds as the bullets kicked up dirt and blood in their ranks, not one escaping.
He took another gasping breath and the greyness around the corners of his vision closed in again.
He awoke seconds, minutes, hours later...he couldn't really tell. It was quiet now, only the occasional gunshot being fired. He felt a presence near him as it made noise. He looked up with as much strength as he could muster seeing a figure in a sort of black paramilitary set of fatigues and armor came up to him and sat his gun next to Lesec as he unceremoniously went through the Lieutenant's pockets.
Lesec's hand very slowly went to his side where his side arm was as he tried to make the movement unseen. He was unsuccessful, as when he got the strap unclasped, the man in black started.
"What the...Hey! We got a live one here!" the man called to his comrades as he brushed away Lesec's hand and took away his side arm.
"What?!" Another voice called as bootfalls came closer.
"I said we've got a live one! I...I think he's their officer!"
Another man came into his Lesec's field of vision, he was too weak to turn his head at this point. The man was short but wide. He wore some sort of combat vest that was roughly the same color as the other man's but it had no sleeves. The new man had large arms that held a large weapon; a heavy stubber and its belt of rounds. A red bandanna was tied around his right arm.
"Shit Neptus," the new man said as he looked down at Lesec. "Can't you humor me once in your damn life and off the ones you find that are still kickin like everyone else so we can tell Darko we got em all?"
"Darko gave us orders to capture the high rankers." the first man persisted. Lesec saw that he was swarthier of skin than the other one. A bit taller and certainly more lanky too. The man had a large curved knife sheathed on his belt too.
"Does he have any pins on him?" The large armed man said.
"Don't you remember? They don't do pins like the guard, see his right shoulder pad? He's a lieutenant of the home guard."
The large armed man gave Lesec a kick in the side. Lesec groaned and held his side.
"Well shit, he is alive ain't he? Not for long with that shard in him though." The man began looking around for someone. "Klimins! Get your scrawny ass over here! Get me Halon on the line! We've got a live one he needs to make sure stays live!"
"We can't move him until Halon gets here." The man the large armed one had identified as "Neptus" said.
"Well he better get here soon, Coolman's already confirmed there aren't any more coming, Aegis has finished his sweep, and Commissar Harrab wants us back to Corridor before nightfall."
"Always worried about that damn tank of hers." Neptus retorted.
"Where's Ty?"
"Last I saw he was trying to make one of their heads into a sock puppet."
The large armed man sighed. "Figures. Stay with this one until Halon gets here. I'll round everyone up and we'll get back to the trucks when he's okay to move and not a second later, got it?"
"Sure, just make sure Ty isn't trying to make a necklace out of their fingers again."
"No promises." Said the stubber toting man as he walked off. Neptus came down to Lesec's side as he was fading out again.
"Hey man." He heard Neptus say.
"You okay?"
The lights went out again, this time everything melting into the sweet blackness of oblivion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So returns the acclaimed "Darkstorm Regiment" in its new incarnation, this one I hope to update more often and just have generally be better. Hope you guys enjoy reading it.
Lieutenant Lesec watched from beyond the yard line as the Sergeant Major lead his company around the parade ground in a formation exercise. Each step that the company took was in perfect sync causing the yard to be filled with the distinct sound of boots stomping every other second.
"Left, left, left, right, left!" The Sergeant Major bellowed as they went from one end to the other. Each soldier was fully dressed in their battle gear; clothed in flak armor painted a dull tan color with mat black lasguns slung over shoulders. On the right shoulder pad of each soldier was a curious symbol for humans in this galaxy to bear; a black circle with white outlines drawing strange shapes within that circle. It was a symbol that they should all be proud to wear, Lesec thought. A symbol for their comrades, for their homes, their families...for the greater good.
"Company...About...Face! Left, left, left, right, left! Pick it up!" The Sergeant Major bellowed again as the company turned its formation to come back down the yard. This one was just one of three in this camp where three companies of the Besh'Tor home guard were garrisoned. Tents and pre fab buildings stretched out in all directions. Lesec had his back to the biggest one; a large bunker with a communication array atop it that served as the camp's headquarters. Even as he thought about it, Lesec heard the doors behind him open. He did not turn, knowing that the intruders were coming to speak to him. Two of them walked off a little way to give Lesec and their leader some space to talk. The last came to stand next to him. Lesec let his eyes go to the figure for a moment; he was shorter than Lesec and not at all human being blue skinned and having no visible nose as well as red eyes. He wore tan colored armor as well although it was made in slightly different shapes to better support his unique xenos shape. Under his right arm he held his white helmet which marked him out of his comrades as a veteran officer. This closely Lesec could see the scar along the alien's right cheek that had won him that promotion.
"They look ready." The fire caste warrior said simply in a thick accent as he indicated the company that was still marching in formation in front of him. At least he was speaking Gothic, Lesec thought.
"They are as ready as any soldiers I have seen, Shas'ui." He said. The alien seemed to give a snort.
"We shall see. You are being given your first orders, Lesec." The lieutenant brightened at this.
"Where to sir?" He asked eagerly.
"To a town east of here, near the Corridor Valley."
"The Corridor Valley?" Lesec returned. "Sir, that's near--"
"The Deadzone I know." The Tau returned sternly. "Shas'O Vek has gotten reports that...strange things are happening in that area. He believes if it goes on for much longer the place may be gripped with anti peace sentiments. You are to go there and meet with the town leaders to see what can be done to stop this."
Lesec nodded, a bored look in his eyes. Great, he thought, a month of waiting for some real action and he got to babysit frontiersmen from grox disputes and bandit raids.
"I understand." He responded in complete opposition to his thoughts.
"Good." The Shas'ui said. "When can you move out?"
"Immediately, sir."
"Then get moving, Lesec, Shas' Koom has the details." He said indicating one of his Tau comrades still standing off to one side. "And may the Greater Good guide you."
"And you, sir." Lesec said, giving his commander a salute that was returned before stepping forwards to address his men.
"Company front and center!" He shouted.
An hour later the company was moving out of the camp in a line of Chimeras that were also painted tan and had the Sept's sigil emblazoned on their right flanks. Lesec sat in the commander's seat of his command Chimera. He had opened the hatch to sit in the cupola and get some fresh air while he could. Riding in a fully loaded Chimera was like leaving a loaf of bread in a bathroom; it was going to get stale sooner rather than later.
"The Corridor eh?" He heard one man say over his squad's vox relay. "When's the last time anyone from the home guard has been there?"
"We're not going in the Corridor, you dolt." Said another man. "If you'd been listening you'd know we're going near it."
"Near it or in it what does it matter?" The first man said. "That place is haunted, has been for a century. This mission is ill omened or I'm a fraking Shaper."
"Alright, enough chatter." Lesec interrupted. "I'll have no talk of ill omens. Our orders are clear and if we follow them we should go nowhere near the deadzone."
"Begging your pardon sir." The soldier continued. "But have you heard any of the stories that come out of that place?"
"Hearing and believing are two different things, trooper. We do this for the Greater Good and we'll let no one stop us, least of all some stupid wives tales or superstitions. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir!" The two men responded in kind as the line went silent again and Lesec returned to his thoughts.
The first sign of what the Shas'ui had described as "strangeness" was apparent before they had even gotten as far as the town proper. The farmsteads that lined the road were empty. This was highly unusual as it would be harvest time soon and normally this far out in the country one would see teams of farm hands preparing to haul in the fruits of the earth by the bushel. Looking about with his magnoculars, however, Lesec saw not a soul in sight.
"Scouts, report." He said keying his vox to the scout's channel. A few seconds later a slightly grainy response came through.
"Nothing on the North flank, sir." Said one.
"Same for the South, sir. Its like they all disappeared."
"What did I say? Fraking bad news." The soldier from earlier said from below Lesec. Apparently the man had gotten some gist of what was going on by observing what the Lieutenant had been doing and saying.
"Shut the frak up, trooper." He barked sternly. "Next quip I hear out of you and its latrine duty for a month when we get back to camp."
"Anyone heard from team three?" A scout asked over the vox. Lesec suddenly became alarmed. He hadn't heard from his last team that he had sent to check out the town border.
"Negative." Came another voice.
"Keep trying to hail them. " Lesec ordered. "The company will follow the road until we're within sight of the townstead, I'll split us up by platoon then and we'll see if we can't find team three. Probably just another vox bug." He said, not believing himself as he said it. Something felt wrong here but he had nothing to act on, no evidence of hostility or time to stop and investigate every farmstead. His mind continued to attempt to solve this puzzle as the minutes passed and the convoy of Chimeras closed on the town border.
"I can see the town ahead." The lead chimera commander said into his vox. They had passed several rolling hills of golden grasses and wheat to get here. And now they had to go over one last hill to and they were in the open once more until they got to the town where they would be surrounded by buildings and habs.
"Good." Lesec said. "Platoon one, I want you to meet up with scout team one and take the left flank. Platoon two--"
"Hold on, sir." The forward chimera driver interrupted. "There seems to be an obstruction in the road."
Already the column was slowing to a stop as the forward chimera did so. Lesec was in the third Chimera in the line. Looking ahead, he could just see the back of the lead Chimera over the blind drop of the hill upon the road they were taking.
"An obstruction?" He asked.
"Someone has pulled two tractors onto the road and left them here sir." For a few moments there was no response. "Sir?" The driver asked again. Lesec didn't hear him, he was too busy giving in to the sudden effects of panic.
The lieutenant frantically looked around him. His company was traveling single file over a slow sloping hill in the middle of two larger hills; a large wheat field to his left that concealed everything upon the hill from view, it had a farmhouse upon it which provided a good field of view upon the main road with its windows. On the right was a low hedgerow that cordoned off one piece of land from another and it stretched as far back as the column went at least. He watched as small shadows jumped around on the corners of his vision as he looked about himself, silhouetted phantoms behind windows, in vines and bushes and hidden by plumes of wheat growing in the fields above him...
He had ordered them all into the perfect trap.
"Ambush!" He shouted. But his last syllable was drowned out by the sudden whoosh of a missile being fired from one of the ridges. The forward Chimera exploded brilliantly, showering metallic debris on the vehicles behind it. The vox exploded with the shouts of disbelieving and surprised men. Lesec was nearly thrown back into the turret of his Chimera with the force of the explosion
"Back up! Back up!" Lesec shouted frantically into the vox as another whoosh signaled the end of the rear Chimera. They were trapped now.
Men continued to scream on the vox as stubbers and bolters opened up from either side of them, their reports mere flashes of light along the ridges. Any man caught leaving his vehicle or picking himself after being thrown from an exploding one was cut down in bloody swathes by the unseen assailants.
"Covering fire!" Lesec shouted, desperately trying to gain control of the situation. "Driver, turn us around and get us out of here!"
"Going as fast as I can sir!" The driver responded. Lesec ducked into his turret as the driver madly turned the vehicle around, swinging wide and throttling the engine at the same time.
"Get on those flank guns!" Lesec shouted to his squad inside the Chimera. "We'll have to fight our way out!"
"Sir! I cant get past the other Chimeras!" The driver shouted as bullets pinged off the side of the vehicle and more explosions sounded from outside.
"Take us into the ditch! We have to get out of here!" He shouted as he sat up in the turret's control array, taking the reigns and depressing the firing studs into anything in front of his display that looked like it might be shooting at them. Red multilaser fire arced out of his weapon as he fired it.
"This is Lesec to all platoons! I'm calling for a general retreat! I repeat, get out--"
The lieutenant was not able to finish his order as being unconscious was preoccupying him. As the Chimera rolled into a ditch, it hit an anti tank mine placed by the ambushers for just this purpose. The results were spectacular as the Chimera flipped harshly onto its side. Lesec awoke mere seconds later finding he had been thrown halfway out of his commander's hatch which was now laying sideways on the road.
The ringing in his ears made the battle around him seem far away. Or was it his heart beating in his ears? Or the ragged breath in his lungs. He gasped. His eyes were wide in shock...everything around him seemed to be going slower than it should be. He was lightheaded as he attempted to stand, stumbling first, but then taking a few steps, passing a dead member of his squad lying on the ground, his blank eyes lifted to the sky as he did so. He took a breath, another few steps, then stumbled again. It was so hard for him to breath. It was then that he noticed that he was holding his side.
His hand came away red and wet. A large piece of metal was lodged in his side, it had passed clean through his flack armor and was sticking out of his ribs. He coughed a wet, rasping cough as he shuddered, sliding down the side of his overturned Chimera which was now missing its right half or most of it anyway. He sat there trying to breathe as his limp head sagged towards the rear of his company's lines. He saw the men, his men, scattered over the road, some in pieces, his Chimeras now burning husks...his company...in seconds...gone.
As he sat there unable to move, Lesec watched the distance as the remainder of his men ran for their lives the way they had come, some were shot in the back as they fled, others seemed to make it as far as the top of the hill until a large black shape came trundling over it. Lesec beheld a huge black tank crest the hill with a stark figure standing atop it. A black stormcoat swirled in the wind about its legs and in one hand it held a bolt pistol which it leveled at the running soldiers of his company. The tank canon, however, was much more impressive in its report. In a mere moment, its main barrel, made up of several clustered smaller barrels revved up and spat out more bullets than Lesec had ever seen a gun do in his life. His men were torn to bloody shreds as the bullets kicked up dirt and blood in their ranks, not one escaping.
He took another gasping breath and the greyness around the corners of his vision closed in again.
He awoke seconds, minutes, hours later...he couldn't really tell. It was quiet now, only the occasional gunshot being fired. He felt a presence near him as it made noise. He looked up with as much strength as he could muster seeing a figure in a sort of black paramilitary set of fatigues and armor came up to him and sat his gun next to Lesec as he unceremoniously went through the Lieutenant's pockets.
Lesec's hand very slowly went to his side where his side arm was as he tried to make the movement unseen. He was unsuccessful, as when he got the strap unclasped, the man in black started.
"What the...Hey! We got a live one here!" the man called to his comrades as he brushed away Lesec's hand and took away his side arm.
"What?!" Another voice called as bootfalls came closer.
"I said we've got a live one! I...I think he's their officer!"
Another man came into his Lesec's field of vision, he was too weak to turn his head at this point. The man was short but wide. He wore some sort of combat vest that was roughly the same color as the other man's but it had no sleeves. The new man had large arms that held a large weapon; a heavy stubber and its belt of rounds. A red bandanna was tied around his right arm.
"Shit Neptus," the new man said as he looked down at Lesec. "Can't you humor me once in your damn life and off the ones you find that are still kickin like everyone else so we can tell Darko we got em all?"
"Darko gave us orders to capture the high rankers." the first man persisted. Lesec saw that he was swarthier of skin than the other one. A bit taller and certainly more lanky too. The man had a large curved knife sheathed on his belt too.
"Does he have any pins on him?" The large armed man said.
"Don't you remember? They don't do pins like the guard, see his right shoulder pad? He's a lieutenant of the home guard."
The large armed man gave Lesec a kick in the side. Lesec groaned and held his side.
"Well shit, he is alive ain't he? Not for long with that shard in him though." The man began looking around for someone. "Klimins! Get your scrawny ass over here! Get me Halon on the line! We've got a live one he needs to make sure stays live!"
"We can't move him until Halon gets here." The man the large armed one had identified as "Neptus" said.
"Well he better get here soon, Coolman's already confirmed there aren't any more coming, Aegis has finished his sweep, and Commissar Harrab wants us back to Corridor before nightfall."
"Always worried about that damn tank of hers." Neptus retorted.
"Where's Ty?"
"Last I saw he was trying to make one of their heads into a sock puppet."
The large armed man sighed. "Figures. Stay with this one until Halon gets here. I'll round everyone up and we'll get back to the trucks when he's okay to move and not a second later, got it?"
"Sure, just make sure Ty isn't trying to make a necklace out of their fingers again."
"No promises." Said the stubber toting man as he walked off. Neptus came down to Lesec's side as he was fading out again.
"Hey man." He heard Neptus say.
"You okay?"
The lights went out again, this time everything melting into the sweet blackness of oblivion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So returns the acclaimed "Darkstorm Regiment" in its new incarnation, this one I hope to update more often and just have generally be better. Hope you guys enjoy reading it.