Proud Triarch Praetorian
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OOC
Character: Tocus Rahl, Techmarine
Location: Read the post
Situation: Every thing that has happend since my first in-character post
After watching Lucius assassinate the govenor, Rahl had seen a group leaving the city in a very unorderly manner, looking as though it was running from something; two Leman Russes flanking five Chimeras, then another Russ leading them. He had followed them for about fifty miles, then saw them stopping to make camp in a wide area that was surrounded, almost completely, by trees and overlooked by a small hill. Driving to the top of the hill, Rahl then became aware that the convoy was actually transporting some serious firepower; all manner of shells and warheads were being unloaded and categoised. Rahl decided that he had to destroy this ammo, as it might help his brothers win the fight back at the city, then find what the ammo was intended for. The Techmarine got the shock of his life when two of the traitor Guardsmen exited a nearby Chimera carrying a Baneblade shell. If these traitors have a Baneblade in their armoured forces, I have to stop the production of munitions for it thought the Predator captain to himself.
Without furthur thought, Rahl fired his Lascannon from where he was on the hilltop, scoring a direct hit on the Baneblade shell. The resulting explosion killed the two people carrying the shell, set the Chimera that the shell came out of ablaze, and set the entire camp into a frenzy; Guardsmen attempting to put out fires and the Leman Russes scanning the surrounding area for the threat. Luckily, Rahl's cloaking system was a very good one. One of the Techmarine's own designs, it set the side of the tank to match the background, effectively turning the tank into a weapon-toting Chameleon. Under the cover of this state-of-the-art camoflage system, Rahl moved to the right, towards the trees. Once within the shadows of the canopy, Rahl noticed that one of the Chimeras had a small pile of luminous shells in it. The shells appeared no different than an Old Terran Rocket Propelled Grenade, but much larger, save the fact that they were bright green with small lightning patterns zig-zaging across their surface. Rahl fired both of his Plasma Cannon sponsons, the projectiles soaring gracefully into the back of the Chimera. Rahl didn't actually see the shells detonate, but the Chimera was reduced to molten green slag with lightning running through it. The lightning lept from the pool of metal and on to one of the Leman Russes, burning a hole in the side of the behemoth. A massive internal explosion ripped the battle tank apart, showing Rahl the lightning had detonated the battle cannon shells inside the tank. Rahl realised this planet must have an unofficial weapons factory in order to develop WMDs like that. The Night Lord shuddered at the thought of what that stuff could do to a city. Leaving the piles of ammo to be consumed by the blaze, the two Leman Russes and three Chimeras fled, the Techmarine giving chase. Careering across the barren wasteland, the traitor Russes swung thier turrets around so they could fire at the Night Lords Predator whilst runing to wherever they were going. Rahl energised the MultiMelta turret and deactivated the cloaking system so he had power for both the long range and the high speed optic systems. Locking onto the rear of one of the Leman Russes, Rahl prepared to fire the Lascannon turret into the engine. A Battle Cannon shell detonated in front of the Predator, breaking the lock shortly after the Predator had fired. Rahl then realised that the Leman Russ' main gun was a lot more reliable at long range even though the Russ was slowing down quickly due to a melted engine, so he disengaged the Long Range optics, and used the now-spare power to boost the engine's maximum output. Racing past the immobilised Russ, the Predator's auto-Melta carved a massive gouge in the side of the tank, removing the turret and exposing the crew and energy converter for the Lascannon. One of the Plasma sponsons quickly finished the threat completely. Rahl pushed his Predator to the limit, closing the gap between him and the fleeing traitors. Once the convoy, or what was left of it, came into effective range, he gave the machine spirit full control of the weapons, only outlineing the targets. Two of the three Chimeras were wrecked within seconds, the occupants either left for dead or crushed below the treads of the Predator as they tried to escape the wreckages. The Predator took a direct hit from the final Leman Russ, the hit disabling all the systems including the drive systems. The two tanks raced away and turned left, following the road down a gorge.
A few moments later, the Predator roared to life. Rahl rounded the corner cautiously, expecting the Leman Russ to be waiting for him. Instead he saw a massive set of doors slide shut, sealing with a hiss. The doors were set into a cliff face at the end of the gorge. The Night Lord knew there was no way he will be able to get the doors to open from the inside, so he scanned the doors with the targeting system. Rahl was pleasantly surprised when it turned out the door was of poor quality. Firing the MultiMelta turret manually, the Techmarine slowly but surely cut a square out of the door, big enough to accomodate the Predator. The task took about five minutes. When the square was complete, it stayed upright, held in place by the rest of the door. Rahl simply drove forwards, hitting the door like a hammer, which dislodged the square. It collapsed inwards with a screech of metal, and the Predator driving on top of it. Several unfortunate Guardsmen were caught underneath the several-dozen ton pile of door, tank and weaponry, and were crushed into pulp immediately. About fifteen or so Guardsmen were mecilessly run over as the Astares tank pushed forward into the factory, as Rahl sweeping the Lascannon and MultiMelta, both firing continuous beams, in large circles around the tank, cutting traitor troops in to pieces without any difficulty at all, and the Plasma Cannons firing at whatever they could make explode. The Night Lords Predator made a path of dead Guardsman, Plasma blasts, deep gouges in the walls from the Lascannon and destroyed ammo dumps about fifty metres into the factory, before his rampage was ended by a well-placed Leman Russ shell blowing the turret clean off, removing the Lascannon and MultiMelta. Rahl knew right then that he was going to die the second that Leman Russ, which he recognised as the one he was chasing because of the Lascannon scar that was down one side, fired again.
Grabbing a belt of Krak grenades, Rahl opened the hatch and clambered out, the stench of used munitions and fresh blood hitting him in the face like a brick. Running towards the Leman Russ, and ducking under a Lascannon beam that cut one of the sides of his Predator, Rahl climbed on to the top of the tank, using the viewing slit as a foot hold and grabbing the main gun with a servo arm. Determined to get the marine off the roof, the tank commander opened the hatch with a power sword in his hand. Rahl had no time for this, so he crushed the traitor's head with a servo before he had time to strike, the limp body falling back into the tank. Then Rahl activated the grenades and dropped them inside the tank as well. The Night Lord jumped off the tank and ran, the Russ detonating behind him. Drawing his two Bolt Pistols, Rahl entered a corridoor at the far side of the room. Walking around in the dark, the Techmarine's autosenseskicked in. The corridoor lit up as a cold, dismal, area that went straight, with doors at irregular intervals along each wall. The corridoor split in a T-shaped junction at the far end. As he walked toward the end, the sound of a door opening came fron the other end of the hallway, followed by the lights coming on. The autosenses deactivated, as they were no longer needed, and Rahl readied himself to fight. A group of six Guardsmen with overcharged Lasguns walked in, weapons raised."Come with us" said one if them; the sergeant, judging by the Bolt Pistol and Power Sword. Rahl laughed, and opened fire. Three of the Guardsmen were gunned down before they could even raise their weapons, the exploding rounds knocking the other two, and the sergeant, to the floor. Both of the Bolt Pistols had only fired three rounds, so Rahl walked briskly down the hall, the Guardsmen struggling to get up, as the floor was slick with blood. The Night Lord reached the Guardsmen just as the sergeant managed to get up. Rahl blocked the Power Sword by grabbing the sergeant's wrist, then punched a servo arm straight through him. The Techmarine threw the body of the sergeant upwards, disrupting the power lines of the lights. The corridoor was plunged into darkness, causing Rahl's autosenses to again go into night vision mode. The other two guardsmen now managed to get on thier feet, and a fusilade of Lasgun fire sprayed in the general direction of the Night Lords Techmarine. Rahl laughed at how bad their aim was, even though they were effectively blind. He strode forward and picked up one of the guardsmen, ripping him apart with two of his servos. The other guardsman turned and ran, dropping his weapon for more speed. Rahl raised one of his Pistols and fired. The bolt ripped out of the pistol, and went corkscrewing through the air. It made its landing in the recess between the Guardsman's skull and spine, sending the upper half of the guardsman's skull flying skyward. Exactly like a Commissar would have done. At that moment, an announcement came over the speakers telling all personnell except the Techmarines to fall back and guard the experimental munitions. Rahl assumed they ment the luminous warheads from the convoy camp.
Rahl went to the end of the corridoor, stepping around the bodies, and through the same door the guardsmen came through. The Techmarine almost lost control of the fury that erupted within him, as he had entered a room full of mutilated vehicles. There was numerous Super Heavy tank pieces everywhere he looked. Setting his helmet the scan for machine spirits, he found only one that could still be saved and kept to serve the Emperor. He rushed to the tank, finding it a Baneblade without a turret, two sets of holes where two sets of sponsons should be, and no front plate on the main chassis, where the demolisher cannon should be. Three Techmarines bearing a sepentine tattoo around thier right eye were walking slowly towards the sorry-looking, barely servicable tank. The tattoo was supposed to show loyalty to some so-called good of emotions that went by the name of Slaanesh, and Rahl would not have this tank fall to him/her/it as the rest of those in the room had. Three bolt rounds, three Techmarines on the floor missing half a leg. Rahl contacted the machine spirit of the Baneblade and told it to use the Techmarines on the floor as conduits to the other Super Heavies in the room, and to leech the power from those systems in to it's own. The Techmarines' faces soon contorted on pain as the massive spirit of the Baneblade pushed down on their conciences. Half an hour later, the room was full of short-circuited or wrecked Super Heavies bar one fully functional and furious Baneblade, and three dead Techmarines. Two of the had been slaughtered by the Baneblade itself, slowly tortured by having a tank's worth of power and energy wrenched through you mind, and their heads had exploded. The third had survived being used as a conduit, so Rahl had executed him. Rahl established a mental link to the Baneblade, and asked what kind of weapons it would like to be rebuilt with. Surprised it was getting a choice, the Baneblade had asked Rahl to bring a list of what was there, besides it's own weapons. A quarter of an hour and several more announcements saying protect the munitions later, the Baneblade had been informed of the weaponry in the room, even those already installed on the now-dead tanks, and had made its choice. Three days after, only one minor incursion of three Guardsmen that took thirty seconds for the Space Marine to win, the Baneblade was hardly recognisable as a Baneblade. Rahl had found two Titan class weapons: a Turbo Laser with which he replaced the main gun and a Reaver Titan missile launcher, which he had installed on top of the turret, so it pointed where the turret pointed. Both sets of sponsons had been re-installed, but instead of a twin linked Heavy Bolter, it was a single Vulcan Mega Bolter. Rahl had noticed two Stormlords among the tainted tanks, so he had removed both of the main arnament and made them both into two single Vulcans. The sponsons had had to be modified slightly, which incuded making the full 180, but the Vulcans fitted in quite perfectly, and the loading belts for the Heavy Bolters were replaced with the massive ammo drums that kept the ammo-hungry Mega Bolters firing with a steady supply of shells. Instead of the usual Heavy Bolter and Demolisher Cannon on the front of the tank, Rahl devised a turret, with only 45 degrees arc of fire, but it housed two Demolisher Cannons side by side. Halfway through the reattaching of the sponson-topping Lascannons, towards the end of the third day, a change came over the Baneblade's machine spirit. It had developed what can only be described as a personality, at much the same time as Rahl started having 'visions'. The visioms were not long, mostly depicting things that Rahl had seen before, such as the targetting screens in tanks. The Techmarine was exauhsted, so he wondered if these visions were dreams. Even as this thought occured to Rahl, who was fine tuning the focusing array on the Turbo Laser, another of these visions struck. This time it was another targetting screen, but this time he swore he could see himself through the screen. The Techmarine was a little unnerved by that, but seeing as though he was absolutely knackered he put that to the back of his mind. Finishing what he was doing, Rahl clambered into the Baneblade and, sealing the hatch behind him, sat down to sleep. He was close to dropping off when another of the occasional announcements telling everyone to defend the munitions brought him back to alertness. Rahl donned his helmet, which had been sitting beside him, and activated the sound seal he had installed himself. Within minutes the techmarine dozed off, no amount of noose could disturb him now.
His mind began to wander into the realm of dreams, but was wrenched back to reality by an unpleasant falling sensation. Opening his eyes, the Techmarine noticed he had not powered the Baneblade down, evn though he could of sworn he did. Its engines were fired up, the targetting screens were flashing, and the support systems (invisibility, optics, booster, etc. that Rahl had installed on the Baneblade just as he had on the Predator) all read ok. Wearily, the Techmarine turned his head to the right, going to hit the power switch. The view through the targetting screen went right as well, as if the turret was turning right. Rahl thought that was strange, and then realised he felt wide awake. Rahl closed his eyes for a moment, and when he reopened them the view on the screen had changed. Before he had blinked, the targetting screen had been on the Turbo Laser and the Rocket Launcher, now it was on the twin Demolisher Cannon turret. It then dawned on the Night Lord that all he could see of the internal systems on the Baneblade was what was on that targetting screen. He tried to walk away from the screen backwards, even though he did not recall getting to his feet, and the Baneblade trundled backwards. All of these occurances pointed to one inescapable conclusion; the Baneblade's machine spirit had binded itself to his mind. With a horibble sinking feeling, Rahl realised the probability was he would be stuck as the tank until he died. The Techmarine closed his eyes and tried to retreat to his own body. A strange, weightless, rising feeling tricked his mind into thinking it was flying. When the Night Lord opened his eyes again, he was back to being human, lying on the floor of the Baneblade cabin. He must've fallen from his chair when the tank had moved backwards. An idea presented itself to the exauhsted Techmarine, an idea he would have to try out. Climbing out of the Baneblade, Rahl ran to the far end of the room. Closing his eyes, the marine tried to reconnect to the Super Heavy. A moment, and a self induced headache, proved it could be done even from outside the tank. He drove the tank over to himself.
I can get used to this, a remote control tank he thought. Driving the tank normaly, Rahl drove through the plant to the munition storage zone, and burst through the blast doors with two Demolisher shells at once. Not wanting to ignite the RPG-esque warheads, Rahl cleaned the room of all traitors with a 10 second burst, hosed from side to side, from the two front sponson Mega Bolters at once. Once the traitors were dead, Rahl assumed the factory was empty. Using the Baneblade's Turbo Laser to cut through the wall, Rahl made a straight path out of the factory. Once he was clear, he sent a Rocket back through the trail, straight at the piles of glowing munitions. The bang rivaled that of a Deathstrike going off. Thirteen seconds was all it took for the emerald lightning to consume the plant and then die out. Rahl went to sleep, being the tank as opposed to driving it so that the Techmarine body could get some rest. As he went, it occured to him that the machine spirit had not joined his mind, it had augmented itself with his mind. This was what enabled him to "posses" the Baneblade, and effectively drive it remotely. The tank-marine turned nothwest, angled toward the rest of his company and, undoubtably, a battle.
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