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(where is the ooc thread?) (sorry guys)

((On the survivor games &Online RPGs forum, a few down, still on page 1))

" sire, we are picking up a weak vox signal coming from the imperial chapel located to the west of here"
" good. We will not be able to escape to our ship without aid. Can you confirm chapter?"

"no sire, but he is not one of ours."
" very well, let us go. "
*the small group begin to walk*

V'sari sighed and did her best to ignore the rumbling in her stomach. How long had it been since there had been any real food to eat. Even with the combined efforts of the survivors the sub-commander had been able to find, they had run out of food a day ago. Their little sanctuary had ben successful at keeping the smaller tyranids out, without attracting anything large enough that could crack it open. "A'kali, take point," she ordered. "Fi'lin, cover the rear. Shas'la," V'sari said, turning to face the only survivor unfortunate enough to not have a battlesuit to protectively cover them. "Stay close to me.". The ragged band of Tau, emerged from the cellar, the stealth suit in the lead seeming to vanish only a few steps ahead. V'sari still wasn't sure if it was the suits invisibility, or just plain skill, but this terrain was going to be highly favorable for the stealth suit either way. She wasn't bad off herself, having been able to try to regroup her forces trying to get them out of the way before the Tyranids had fallen upon the planet. The three Tau left were all the results she had to show for it. The outside of the scorched and battered red hull remained impassive as always, but inside V'sari's hands clenched tightly. She had failed her forces miserably. The Shas'el felt she could never make up for it, but the only way she could start to make amends for her fallen bretheren was to make sure that all of them got out of this wasteland of a planet, and back in one piece to the Enclaves.

The rotted voice of Marus is heard over the Plague Marine communications channel.

'Champion... Unidientified vox signals incoming... Encryption patterns suggest loyalist origin...'

'Loyalist scum!... Brothers, ready your weapons, we have foolish slaves of the false Emperor to kill...'

The squad immediately splits into two and leaves the area in opposite directions, trying to triangulate the position of the detected vox.

The city likely hadn't been a green and lush place to begin with, but the Tyranids' stripping of the planet left even the drab wreckage seemingly devoid of color. With a crunch of rubble, the sub-commander held out an arm and came to a stop. A report was coming in from the stealth suit. It wasn't the first time that V'sari had been on the same battlefield as the shas'ui. She didn't even know if A'kali was male or female, but battlefield injuries had taken their voice. Ironic that it was likely quite handy a trait to have in their duties.

"Astartes ahead, moving towards a ruined building. There's a signal as well, Imperial in origin." V'sari turned her head, the lens impersonal as it gazed on the other two survivors. A fight would be inadvisable against space marines right now. Fi'lin had no fuel left in his jetpack and had to be sparing with his flamers as well. They would be much more effective against any swarms of Tyranids they might still encounter. The fire warrior, Lu'kii, was too fragile, and too important to risk in combat against that kind of foe. A warrior had managed to sink its claws through her positioning relay, but the shas'la could possibly fix it with some parts, and from there if any Enclave ships were still in the system, they might pick up on the signal. A long shot, but still a possibility for rescue.

"Fi'lin, Lu'kii, hold up in that building there, I'll attempt contact. A'kali keep watch and do not engage." The stealth suit pilot clicked once in acknowledgement before transmitting the cathedral's location. Moving the XV8 as deftly as possibe through wreckage and ruins, it wasn't long before both the cathedral and the approaching space marines were in sight, the cathedral easily the largest building - or what was left of one - in at least a kilometer. "Hail, Astartes," V'sari said cautiosly, the translation software in her suit's speakers converting her native tongue to perfect - if toneless - Low Gothic.

(With Koth)

''A little singed, nothing a good slaughter won't fix'' Koth said as he drove his Klaive through the head of a wiggling hormagaunt with it's left side badly burned. ''But these bugs seem to be little int he way of sustenance. I need something real to kill otherwise, as my like are tend to do, we get...cranky.'' Koth cocked his head at the Tau, with what could only be described as hunger, before thinking better of himself and turned to finish the remaining Hormagaunts that writhed on the floor.

''Well, good Tau, if that suit was what we came here for, then it seems we have lost our objective and the 'supplies' you promised us, My Archon will be most displeased if we return empty handed. I suggest we look for something of worth to bring back to her for the sake of both of our hides, i am picking up slight Vox chatter. A few live captives might not go amiss?'' Koth reasoned.

(With Xilian)

''Hmmp! Astartes and their rivalries, rotters and oafs all to leave me in this predicament!'' Xilian exclaimed in a haggered but hushed tone as lashed her blade across a cultists throat, silencing him.

Lith had finished with her Cultists for several seconds now, got bored, and had already began playing with them. She had removed the bottom part of a mutants jaw to stop the screaming as she merrily cut him apart slowly, relishing each cut.

''Lith, there will be time for that later. I will get to the weaponry deposit, you are to meet me there. But first, go see if the Tau we were entrusted with still lives and bring him to, if he dies it could spoil 'negotiations' later.'' Xilian chimed as she set off, quiet as a cat, towards the small ware house that contained the PDF's weaponry reserves. Lith skipped off, her girlish smile contrasting with the stains of blood that ran awash of her half naked body.

*merric kicks open the door to the chaplaincy and avicus dives into the sermon hall, his lightning claws out-stretched)
"clear."
" Avicus, with me. Sergeant, defend thenentrance. "

*With Ry'leth*

The suit... Was simply a bonus... The supplies are above...

*HE begins to ascend the stairs of the store, and is met by crackle on his coms. (His coms are still tau after all) "Astartes ahead... ruined building...Imperial..." *

A message... Koth... There are more on this world... More of my species... and *With INTENSE malice* Imperials....

*Back at the path finder*

*one cultist attempted to hide behind the chimera, he is quickly spotted by the tau.*

Hey there buddy... DO you have time to hear the message of the prince of pleasure slaanesh?

*He grins beneath his mask, and produces some cables from a bag on his person.*

Hey guys! I captured a prisoner!

The two squads manage to triangulate the rough direction of the loyalists. They gather up quickly and, in practiced fashion, form a coherent squad and advance against the signal.

As a seemingly abandoned chapel comes into sight, they guess that here is where the loyalists might be, and slow down their pace, ready for battle...

V'sari cursed to herself, the translator remaining mercifully silent. With the Astartes ahead of her barging into the cathedral for cover, it was doubtful they would spend much time listening to her. Another text report from A'kali. There were more marines coming, and not terribly subtly at that. "This is V'sari. We're going to press on. I'll regroup with you two, A'kali keep an eye out and stick close." For now that was all the shas'el was going to risk over open comms.

It didn't take long for her to rejoin the other survivors, and Fi'lin raised one of his XV8's arms. "Shas'el, I think I found something."

"Walk and talk Fi'lin."

The shas'ui nodded, the coast relatively free of marauding Tyranids and the Enclave survivors trying to put as much distance between themselves and the possible firefight that might break out around the cathedral. "Its from the mission briefing. While most of the city's infrastructure has collapsed, that tower," Fi'lin pointed at a spire perhaps halfway between them and the distant bulk of the space port. "It was a communicatins relay for the guardsmen. Even if we can't cobble our relay back together, we might be able to find some intact gear there, or even be able to get an idea of what else is going on in the city."

V'sari nodded, the head of her own XV8 following suit. "Alright thats the plan then. A'kali take point, I'll take the rearguard this time. Lu'kii stay close to Fi'lin. Move out!"

(( added in a gargoyle-infested com tower? xD ))

*Ry'leth mini event*

*Ry'leth whispers into his coms. Speaking with the new blue arrivals*

Hello there... My brothers and sisters... This is Commander Ry'leth... Formerly... Commander Long-Reach... I would like to open communications...

(ok, screw differentcoloured words, I'm just gonna Mark who's talking)
{space marine}
"HOLD! stand down!"
*merric deactivates his lightning claws and looks at the space marine before him. Although his armour Is dented, merric recognises him as one of the forsaken knights chapter.*
{merric}"brother, we cole bearing the emperor's name"
As the three cautiously walk the aisle toward the space marine, the tactical sergeant suddenly falls forward , a hole in the back of his head.*
{ merric} "TAKE COVER!"
* the three terminator armoured astartes leap behind marble pillars either side of the aisle, and the half crazed space marine realises that these two white armoured astarted are his brothers as he sees the disgusting mockery of a space marine that stands in the chaplain's door way.*

'Loyalist scum!'

The Plague Marines spot the Loyalists in the distance and open fire, a storm of blighted Bolter shells flying in their direction and pounding the cover of the enemy Astartes. The diseased behemoths enter the chapel- while small by Imperial standards, it is still more than big enough to accomodate a firefight between two squads- and move into shelter themselves, taking up positions to cover each other.

Karnus crouches next to Marus, the two quickly discussing how to proceed.

'Our bolters will be unable to kill them before they reach us should they charge...'

'They wear Terminator armour... Melee is inadvisable, and our blessed hides can't match their plate for toughness.'

'Do we have support available?...'

'No, Champion. The fleet is still out of reach.'

Karnus interrupts the discussion by throwing a frag grenade at the enemy Astartes. While he knows a single grenade would hardly be able to kill any of them, it would at least contribute to keeping them suppressed.

'Then we hold them here... Contact the Xenos, if we are to overpower these dogs we need support...'

Marus simply nods and opens his HUD voxlink, searching a way to signal any of the Chaos Tau and inform them of the presence of the Emperor's servants.

{merric} "AVICUS! They may have supporting units in the area! Prepare for more enemy astartes!
(to space marine) name! Now!"
{space marine} "my name is lukas the once-eaten, don't ask."
{merric} " well lukas, welcome to squad Avicus, my guard. As you can see, only me and himself still live.
Avicus, offensive, take the one on the right, don't let that knife puncture your joint-armour!"
*Avicus, ever one for silence, nodds*
{lukas} "my thunder hammer shall be the instrument of their destruction!"
*the three terminators charge through the rows of chairs, the traitors' bolt rounds bouncing off. A single round reaches Avicus' elbow joint, opening the soft armour beneath.*

*With the path finder*

*The tau sees the SOS message on his coms*

The Plague marines are in danger. I'm moving to support.

*He opens his coms again*

Ry'leth! Send the drone to these coordinates! I need support!

Very well.... It will meet you there....

*The pathfinder begins running off in the direction of the chapel, he shouts to the eldar as he leaves.*

Loyalist marines! I'm going to help our allies! Don't kill my cultist while Im gone!

'Brothers! They charge!...'

'Pull out!'

The Plague Marines are not swift, but they are still able to- barely- outpace the ponderous Terminator armoured Marines. They throw several frags in the path of the power-armoured one and rush out of the chapel. They continue running, their massive bulks smashing through cover in their path.

They eventually reach a ruined building and attempt to climb it, knowing that Terminators are too heavy to climb, and once they are up they should be able to pick off the Terminators with sustained fire... Hopefully.

(With Xilian)

The ware house was empty, abandoned and ransacked when she arrived, he senses assaulted by the smell of leaking promethium and ancient machinery. Xilian sighed, she was unlikely to find anything of use here, she thought. Then she heard it. A tiny, almost inaudible whining, but it was there. Amidst the raided and empty shelves that lined each wall where many things left in the ransacking of people trying to escape the Tyranids, Las-Charges, Ration Packs, Medi-Kits but something stood out. A small, stylized 'I' insignia adorn the wood work of a shelf, Xilian searched the shelf on impulse. She found a small latch in the woodwork and as it flipped a strangled screeching rang across the warehouse.

The shelves parted and swiveled, being replaced by burnished steel wargear trays laiden with heavy carapace armour, primitive gas masks, Hellguns and other specialist weaponary all adorn with this 'I' insignia.

''Well, this will do nicely!''

(With Lith)

Xilian waved the pathfinder off, looked at the cultist, then away again as if he was taunting her to end him, slowly and painfully. Maybe he was, of course he was, who wouldn't want to be killed by someone as beautiful as she, she thought. But no, stealing anothers slave without good cause is considered the epitome of rudeness in the city of slaves as well as the Archon had instructed her to look after this Tau. So, she waited, amused her self by flaying one of the Cultists hands (8 seconds, a personal best!) before slowly standing and swirling on the spot.

The Tau was already out of sight, rounding a corner with, what to a Tau would be a sprint. Lith leisurely jogged, springing over crates and outcropes in her bare feet, leaping onto a burnt out ground car and up onto the roof of a row of buildings with a flip. She tailed the Pathfinder from above, leaping silently from building to building, watching for danger in the streets around him. Maybe he would like her more if she dropped in at just the right time, she thought selfishly to her self, she had never had a Tau before...well. Not willingly.

V'sari held up an armored hand to halt the group as R'leth's voice crackled through their comms. While she didn't enjoy making her group stationary targets like this, she wasn't entirely certain what to do.

She could just press on with the remnants of her forces. After all she knew no commander with the name Long-Reach, or R'leth. Perhaps it was some Tau that hadn't turned their back on 'the greater good' like the Enclaves. They might be able to get more resources and man power.

The sub-commander could also ignore the other Tau, and continue to press on. They might miss out on the possibility of getting more hands and eyes, important things against Tyranids. There was also no guarentee they wouldn't be taken advantage of. They were rebels after all.

Like she had throughout her career, she picked a third option. It was one of the reasons she'd reached this rank after all. [i]"This is sub-comander Vasari of the Enclaves. What is your current status, Commander?" There was at least no harm in seeing if they could get any information from her counterpart. Hearing the distinct sounds of bolter fire back from the chapel, she motioned her forces into the shadow of a nearby husk of a building before making another signal for A'kali to keep patrolling in their stealth suit. V'sari didn'tknow if they had seen it or not, but the silent watcher probably had.

{merric} "COWARDS! COWARDOUS WRETCHES! I SHALL RIP YOUR BODIES TO PEICES! FOR ISTVAAN!" *merric yells obscenities at the retreating plague marines.*
" Avicus, If there are more of the pestilent, I will need you to remain. I'l not have the leader of my honour guard layed low by a knife."
*Avicus nods in reply*
"brother lukas, we will move out, shall to accompany us?"
{lukas}" of course, my captain."
*they begin to walk down the derelict street, intent on finding ((brotherheraldus')) plague marines.*
{Avicus}" what was that?"
{merric} "what?"
*Avicus stares at the high window where he could swear he saw a glimmer, a vibratIon in the air like heat-distortion*
{Avicus} "nothing."

*With the pathfinder*
Ya.... Absolutely nothing at all...
*He lay prone on a roof-top, The marker light has been set on the loyalist squad, all he needed to do was pull the trigger, he didn't even hear the footsteps behind him when....

*With Ry'leth*
Hello sister.... I have one pathfinder in my service, he is currently being assisted by a drone in a battle with loyalist marines. I had a firewarriro with me... but he has been slain a warrior-class tyranid... For myself... I am currently being assisted by a group of eldar I have allied with... And I have in my possession and extremely powerful custom crisis suit.... Sadly without any fuel.... What is your status? I could use some... Assistance....

'Brothers! The loyalist scum cannot follow us up here!'

'We need different weapons for this task... Our bolters can't damage their armour.'

'Maybe the xenos can provide that?...'

'No... By the time their weapons manage to do the loyalists any real harm, they will be embroiled in the melee and cut down... We need support. Do we have an orbital link?...'

'Not currently...'

'Vox the Master Sorcerer, have him send it through the warp. Tell him to send us... Anything, really... A Dreadnought, a supply drop with weapons, or even bikes... Anything...'

Marus points ahead. The ruined buildings have created a path, many walls collapsing between the structures and allowing them to proceed with the high ground.

'Brothers... Forward... The next time we find those dogs, we shall do like Horus did at Istvaan, and let nothing survive.

* Avicus crushes a tyranid head underfoot,
And glares suspiciously at lukas*
{Avicus} "lukas. How is it you came to be in that chapel?"
*the three stopped walking, merric turning to face Avicus*
{lukas} "we were deployed to investigate tyranid presence, we quickly discovered multiple xenos in the area and retreated. I was the only survivor."
{Avicus} "and you made no attempt to contact what ever strike cruiser sent you here?"
{lukas} "correct. My VOX is damaged and the only reasonably accessible station is kilometres away."
*Avicus nods*
*merric looks up at the roof tops*
{merric} "Avicus, is your auspex active?"
*another nod*
{merric} "good. Scan for any way for us to get up there. I want those bastards dead."

(Lith)

Lith stalked behind the Pathfinder, bare feet fleeting the ground soundlessly. She padded closer, until she was leaning directly behind his ear.

''Boo''

The Pathfinder swirled on his heels, his powerful rifle inches from her face as he held up a single figure against the barrel in a mocking motion. The Pathfinder looked as if he would pull the trigger simply on principle.

''Now, now Tau. Swinging your weapon in a girls face is extremely rude! Oh, i see you have found some interesting specimens here. Astartes do make a name for themselves in the arena. Xilian would be most please to bring one home...'' She mentioned as she pointed over to the heavy footfalls of the Astartes.

(Xilian)

She raided the left over Inquisition Depo, finding several interesting things but little of use. At least she found a suitable use for the powerpacks as her sentient shadowfield absorbed their energy. Then she saw something that piqued her interest. An ornate ring, emblazoned with shining gold and ruby gems with an onyx 'I' as the center piece. The Dark Eldar had items like these, obviously far more advanced, but similar none the less. The displacer ring slipped unto her grieved fingure before automatically adjusting to size. After a quick look over the rest of the now, probably, deceased inquisitor she decided she had found all she could.

She was a street away when it happened. The hair on the back of her neck stood on edge a second before the massive detonation rocked the foundations of the city as the entire weapons depo exploded spectacularly as the prmothium reserves she rent open caught fire, raining flaming piles of debris across the city.

''Now, where have my allies got off to?'' She thought as she walked pointedly but quickly in the vague direction of the previous gun fire, ears still ringing with the sound of the explosion.

{Avicus} "captain, we are being followed. Two targets, roof top to the left."
*Avicus had known he had seen something, and while scanning for a route to the traitors, had replayed his vox-cam footage. The motion he had seen, it was one of the tau xenos.*
"what shall we do?" Avicus asked, showing no sign he had noticed the xeno presence. The tau had assumed himself invisible, but the wisp of movement had caught avicus' eyes.
{merric}"tag the bastards. We will find them later."
Three ticks resounded as the three terminators tagged their enemy.
{merric} "continue walking. We need to get to a stronger vox point, in the mean time, I want 30% armour power on finding the traitors, 30% on hydraulics, and 40% on VOX bursts, if you identify friendly signals, notify me."
*BOOM!*
The terminators barely flinched at massive exPlosion in the distance.
{lukas} "sire, do we investigate? Could it be the traitors?"
{merric} "negative. Continue on pre set parameters."
*merric and Avicus both set their armour to the aforesaid parameters.
Lukas however set just 20% to VOX bursts. Disobeying a direct order.*
{merric} " the armoury, there is an astartes grade armoury half a kilometre east. Re-deploy there."
*the three terminators continue.*

The Plague Marines halt on the roof of a reasonably tall but otherwise not very large building. They take a brief pause to evaluate the situation.

'No sign of either of the Xenos parties...'

'The Warp is slow... The message has not yet reached Sharikh.'

'We should guide them into the aliens... If nothing else they should be able to slow down our heavily armoured brethren.'

'Marus, lock onto their signals... Head for the Tau or the Eldar, whoever are closest...'

"Tell them ruin has come to their world, death, despair and red war...
Tell them their hopes and pride have come to nothing.
Tell them their empty whispers fall upon deaf ears - their gods are dead, human logic has killed them.
Tell them the Angels of Death have come.
Tell them that nothing can save them now."
~ Perturabo, Primarch of Legio IV, the Iron Warriors

Iron Warriors Chaos Lord Gavriel Vrakul, the Unbroken
Arbitus Strongpoint B-74

The roar of a gene-enhanced warrior echoed through the cramped, metal hallway of Arbitus Strongpoint B-74. The massive chainaxe met the black carapace armor, which shattered under the pressure of the warrior wielding the weapon, and ravaged the flesh underneath it. The last of the Arbites fell dead on the floor with a "thunk", and the roaring of the brutal chainweapons ended. While among others the end of battle would be met by cheers of victory, the sharing of stories, or argueing about who had the most kills, the Iron Warriors simply continued their path. One of them pressed his armoured fingers on some buttons that were quite large for normal men, but small compared to the warriors of the Space Marine Legions. "It's dead. All power seems to have gone with those damned Tyranids. Damn them! If only we could contact the fleet, we could -"
"We can not, however, Legionaire Rorke, so there is no point in discussing it. The only way off-world appears to be through a spaceport several 7.3 miles away from here. The main Tyranid nest appears to be located there, and while we are undoubtedly stronger then them, it would be best to link up with others, despite their flaws. I recall other forces of Chaos having been sighted. For now it would be best to link up with them. Move."
The Iron Warriors moved out of the Arbites Strongpoint at their Captain's command, and walked outside, walking into a massive square, surrounded by ruins. There was no sound of significance they heard, and they could spot nothing that still lived. Something, or someone, had made sure of that. One of them stopped, examing the dead body of some Tyranid form. "When I said move, brother Torador, I meant that we move. Northwards."

"Sergeant, come in. It would seem the intell we got out of that heretic was right. There is a city still standing", a voice crackled over the vox network. Far away from the city, hiding among the rocks like insects, were four heavily armed and armored humans. One of their number was sitting down on a boulder trying to unjam her weapon. Another was taking a few sips of the very little precious drinkable water that was left on this world. Every drop was his tongue tasted was better than the last. He was so thirsty he felt at times he could drink a planet dry. They were all thirsty. And hungry. But not low enough on ammo. No, there were enough bullets to kill every last heretic in the world. Just not a drop to drink. Scavenging what they could off of their slaughtered comrades saw to that.

The Sergeant, whose armor was even more battered than the rest, answered the vox transmission when he managed to get the button on his 'caster to depress. The thing wasn't working right ever since that fight with the Genestealers. "Thank the Emperor. I thought this whole planet was a never ending wasteland. How does it look? Any food? Water?", he asked. Sergeant Joen Tross didn't like sounding so desperate but that is what their situation was. "I can't say for certain. What should we do, Sergeant?", the voice asked. "See what the Tyranids left behind. Return to base camp, Obershutze".

Nearly half a day later they were in the city proper. Sgt. Tross felt a little despair at the situation they were in. The city was just as much a field of rocks as the place they had just left. Only the occasional piece of flak armor or corroded bolt shell broke up the destitution of it all. Tross sunk those feelings into the deepest depths of his mind. He needed to be strong. Not only to see his squad live but to accomplish the task the Inquisition had given him. On his belt there was a small black box stamped with the seal of the Inquisition. The box has no obvious opening or hinges. Instead, there is a small finger sized hole at the front of it. Perhaps a DNA scanner? These Stormtroopers carefully crept through the city in case of any Tyranid abominations were left. They checked every shadow, kept to the previous checked shadows and kept their rifles at the ready.

With a voice like a bubbling, infested fissure, the sound of brother Samuas' words spreads through the night air. He speaks without the armour vox as to avoid others listening in on their private channel.

'Champion... The vox detector and long range auspex has detected multiple additional units...'

'Give me a run-down...'

'Our loyal brothers are a moderate distance somewhere to the southeast... I have lost trail of the Tau and Eldar but there's vox chatters using Guard and Iron Warrior encryptions...'

'Iron Warriors?... Here?... Interesting... Marus, head in their direction... With luck, they have appropriate armaments for dealing with the loyalists... The rest, come with me. Keep vox to a minimum, use battle-sign and only vox if it is important...'

Karnus points at a massive tower a fair distance away, rising far above the surrounding cityscape. He walks against it with Samuas and Dorax following him. Marus instead runs of in a different direction with surprising speed for a Plague Marine, moving directly against the source of the Iron Warrior signal...

A few minutes later a masculine voice crackled over the remnants of the Vox Network. "This is Jaeger Klipp of the Visigian 98th, Astra Militarium. If there are any friendly Imperials out there please respond. We are low on food, water and ammunition. We also have some grievously wounded amongst us so time is of the essence. Jaeger Klipp out".


The squad of Storm Troopers was now inside of storage faciility searching through what unbroken crates there were. One of their heavy gunners stood at the window as a look out. This particular Storm Trooper's armor was the most battered of them all with deep scratches covering almost every armor plate. One of his eye lenses was cracked and his chest eagle was nearly gone. Jaeger Klipp, after finishing the transmission, looked over at Feldwebel Tross. Tross picked up one of the crates, broke off the lid and dumped out it's contents. It was boot polish. Over 200 bottles of boot polish.Tross looked over at the blood stains on the walls and discarded lasgun packs. Guardsmen died defending this building. Guardsmen died over boot polish.

"Sir, this is more boot polish", Jaeger Susa reported taking a bottle out. Grigi looked from the street and towards his squad mates. "Water... I've found water!", Susa exclaimed with glee. Indeed, there were many cannisters of fresh, clean water that had been spared from the thirst of fighting men. They nearly tripped over each other to get some of the water. Susa threw off her helmet, opened one of the cannisters and dumped the water onto her face drinking as much as she could. It was heaven. For weeks they had marched on this hellhole with only a sip or two a day to sustain them. Grigi drank a cannister and a half. "Enough! We must be wise with this gift from the Emperor. Fill your canteens and take as many cannisters as you can", Tross ordered. The thirsty no more Scions took as much water as they could even if it was uncomfortable to carry so much. What the Scions didn't see was a warning label on the back of the crate: "Warning, Planetary Governor's Private Stock! Looters will be executed!".
Susa redonned her helmet and the soldiers resumed their search. If not interrupted they would leave within a few short minutes in search of food.