GSS: - Chapter 30: Reversal
Author Notes:
The next GSS chapter is up! And apologies for the delay, as my keyboard is not feeling very great right now. Apparently, it's falling apart after ten years of abuse. I guess I should start planning for a replacement soon, annoyingly enough. So, any suggestion for a good keyboard for typing, my pals?
Now then, salutation to Private Mamothdinolover 112! He's the newest member to join in the name of the Belkan Reich and the Imperium. We also bid goodbye and thank you to Corporal malaiensis who is retiring. See ya around, good sir!
Ok, now come the real question:
WHAT SORT OF REWARDS DO YOU WANT EIN TO HAVE NEXT?
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"That was smart of them to use noise as a lure." Tu'shan comments while replaying the scene where Kharak Squad intruded upon the booby-trapped warehouse. "In some cases, our enhanced hearing is a curse. It causes us to be attracted to the slightest hint of suspicious audio."
"And now," Elyzabeth adds. "3rd Platoon is actively using your gift against you. They have some vehicles lying about with their engines running still. The noise pollution will aid in masking some of their presence."
"But it won't be enough." Tu'shan says as the leaders of the JTF see how the remaining members of Kharak Squad start throwing caution to the wind.
After Tu'rok's unfortunate elimination, the four remaining Salamander Astartes perform suppressive fire on the floor where the sniper shot came from. How do they know where Ein's position was? Heat sensors. While the sensors couldn't detect Ein tucking herself behind a glass panel, they could see the line of dissipating heat and scorched marks. It's why Ein is forced to relocate immediately after scoring another 'kill', leaving behind an empty room for the Salamanders to waste their bolt rounds on.
Seeing the futility in their action, the Salamanders rally themselves with a battle cry before two of them charge forward. Under the covering fire of their brothers who are using the nearby residential building as cover, Valmar and the point man blitz the distance that's between them and the tower. It's a simple, straight run down what used to be the city's six-lane paved road. Now, the simulated highway is sparsely populated by destroyed vehicles, trash, and shell craters,... A perfect environment for traps to be hidden. Indeed, the two sprinting Salamanders do come across some traps, cleverly hidden between cracks in the tarmac or buried beneath a pile of opened suitcases and civilian clothing. To deal with this, Valmar follows right behind the point man, letting him pick the safest path forward. Fortunately for Valmar, the point man is quite adept at steering clear of suspicious locations. That said, there are still explosives going off around them as they run in a blur. The explosions are either remotely triggered or because the two Salamanders have no other choice but to step on them. Thankfully, it pays to have a power armor that boosts their already impressive agility. While it doesn't mean that they can outrun the blasts, it does mean they are able to escape most of the highly damaging bits.
It still causes Velmar and the rest of Kharak Squad to have cold sweat, however, when they see just how many traps 3rd Platoon has hidden. They all will have nightmares for sure with how many close calls the two brave Salamanders have made with the buried explosively formed penetrators. Valmar's and the point man's path forward is made all the more perilous when the Cadians finally intercept them with heavy firepower.
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Having situated myself in another hidey-hole up high, I brace my Long-las on a half-broken pillar while making sure that I am, once again, hidden behind a piece of glass. It's quite a cheesy way of hiding myself as an urban sniper, yes, but it's effective as even 40K sensor technologies can be quite ineffective in certain environments. Urban settings like this simulated city are quite capable of overloading the Astartes' built-in helmet scanners with clutter information. In circumstances like this, they are better off locating me visually, which is quite hard to do as I am not stupid enough to not camouflage myself appropriately for urban combat. My small stature helps too as I am quite adept at squeezing into small corners to attain a good overwatch position. From my spot currently, I can see nearly everything from where the Salamanders are approaching.
They're brave and with a battered pride... The Salamanders have turned into very mean and green machines, having run the mile-long distance without stopping even once to deal with the mines we placed. I think I read somewhere in the Kasr's Grand Archive that you really shouldn't piss off a Space Marine, now I can see why. Then come the heavy bolters from Scorpin's Special Weapon Squad, with one firing from the tower itself while another stationed on a mobile platform, which is an unarmed but armored up Centaur. Unlike the buried IEDs, the Heavy Bolters pose a more serious threat to the Astartes as a withering hail of bolt rounds is many times more deadly than some steel fragments trying to get into the gaps of their armor. While the distance is shortened to less than 500 meters between the two frontal Salamanders and us, a knife-fighting distance for them really, the two Astartes are still forced to seek cover immediately. Lo and behold, the two Astartes take cover behind a quite humongous dump truck. It is big and thick enough that our Heavy Bolters can't penetrate through the thing all the way.
Before we can do anything else though, the crews manning the Heavy Bolters are besetted with return fire. The two Astartes way in the back are suppressing the hell out of their positions, forcing the crews to hunker down as they relocate. From my position, I can see our Centaur reversing out of harm's way with the Heavy Bolter team safely tucked behind its armor. As for the other team, I am not capable of seeing directly through the floors below me. However, given that Johnson is barking an order on vox for them to discard the weapon and the injured, it's safe to say that we lost someone and a gun emplacement. The Astartes might have missed our Heavy Bolters because we had them hidden, but once they spotted them, they sure hit hard and fast with nearly no delay. Losing one Heavy Bolter means a good chunk of our firepower is now missing, but that Bolter served its purpose in helping to delay the two Salamanders near us.
Before the two Astartes can resume their neck-breaking sprint, a Melta charge hidden in the dump truck explodes.
In our effort to set up both fake and actual traps all around the tower, the dump truck was accounted for. Rather than using a Centaur to push it away and preventing the Salamanders from potentially using it as a durable cover, we left it there for them and booby-trapped it, with the detonator resting in the hand of Weiss. The Heavy Bolters were to lure the Astartes into hiding behind that very truck, while Weiss detonated the charge, eliminating both the cover and the two Astartes around it.
The explosion is big and colorful, but obviously not enough to take the two Salamanders out. The durable nature of the dump truck, with its walls thickened to shield the driver's cabin from CBRN waste, works against us as the walls also tank most of the blast. We couldn't bring along an unlimited number of Melta charges, so the one tucked inside the truck was a small one. The best it could do is knock the Astartes on their feet. What the explosion does do is generate way too much smoke that blocks my vision temporarily. I can't confirm anything about the Salamanders' status, but I do notice the whistling sound of mortar shells coming down.
Weiss, Emperor bless her, is the one to call in a mortar strike from our nearby mobile mortar teams on the back of a large truck. She probably has worked the fire support call-in while simultaneously timing the detonation of the dump truck. It's a light bit of multi-tasking, but still a cookie where it's due. Suffice to say, that stretch of highway is promptly carpeted by multiple high explosive shells. I can count ten rounds in total landing in close proximity to the now obliterated dump truck. Once again, there's no way to tell how effective the mortar strike is with all the things the explosions kicked up in the air.
And while it's fortunate that none of 3rd Platoon, or what's remaining of us after two brief gunfights, have said the accursed sentence of: Did we get them? It's unfortunate that two Salamanders dash through the blackened smoke screen, their armor battered but seemingly in working condition. There's no announcement, so it's made painfully clear that the trap and mortar barrage did nothing to eliminate another Astartes. However, I do see that one of the Salamander has discarded his primary weapon, opting to hold up a bolt pistol instead. My guess is either the Melta charge or the mortar barrage damaged his bolt rifle. Does this matter, however?
Quite frankly, it doesn't. A bolt pistol is less than 500 meters and shortening is no different than a bolt rifle to we Canadians. It will still knock us out in one shot just the same. In CQC, however, the bolt pistol is arguably a better choice for the Salamanders to be brought against us. Now then, why oh why haven't I taken a shot yet, one may wonder. Well, there's no need for me to uncover myself just yet. To parrot Johnson's words:
"Only take a shot that stands the best chance at eliminating or handicapping the Salamanders."
And right now, with each of them raising a hand to block their heads from my sniper fire, the two running Salamanders present me with no proper opening. As for their weapons, those are held aloft one-handed and are aimed everywhere to shoot at the silhouette of Johnson's and Scorpin's Squads on the ground floor and lower floors. To stop their charges, my fellow Platoon mates peek their weapons out in pairs. The pairs brace their lasrifles and constantly unleash a shower of supercharged laser beams at the Astartes before scurrying away, letting the other take their chances and pop up. The hails of red laser beams pepper the armor of the two bull-rushing Astartes, with some glancing at their shoulder pads but most tend to hit center mass and the armored arms protecting their heads. They do stumble quite a bit at the constant intensity of the laser beam but are still rapidly closing the distance. In retaliation, the four Astartes unleash more bolt rounds at the disappearing and reappearing Imperial Guards, playing one big game of whack-a-mole with us. They successfully claim some kills as well, judging from the painful shouts I hear from below.
To cover us, the Heavy Bolter Centaur rushes out of its hiding corner, allowing the gunnery crew to turn and fire at the far-distance Astartes that are supporting the two charging ones. Not stopping there, Weiss is also calling down a mortar barrage on their location. Those two far-off ones will be forced to relocate soon enough. That leaves the nearest two for Scorpin and her two plasma guns to contend with.
Speaking of Scorpin... Two Astartes bulldoze the defensive barricade on the ground floor with ease, their rifle and pistol roaring retribution on us Cadians, having annoyed them so much. Casualties are quickly mounting as we seem to have lost eight of us already. I am contemplating engaging the two Salamanders below us as the other pair seems to have retreated under intense mortar bombardment when I see a ball of blueish energy slamming the ground near one of the Astartes. It doesn't take a genius to know that it's Scorpin and what remains of her Squad that just intervened. They probably aimed for the center mass of the Astartes with a bolt pistol but he saw and jumped out of the way before deciding to retaliate by raising his sidearm.
Welp, it's now or never.
Since the Astartes are still protecting their heads, I aim for the extended bolt pistol instead. I pull the trigger, and a beam of invisible laser swiftly renders the sidearm useless before it can be used to eliminate our Plasma Gun. Swiftly discarding the now useless pistol in his hand, the Astartes swiftly turn around, running right behind his battle brother before extending a hand under his firedrake coat and drawing out his brother's sidearm. The decisive maneuver is completed in less than three seconds before the pistol is pointed to where I am, roaring with fury. I crouch down and kick back at the broken pillar I am using as a cover, allowing me to slide on my back backward as bolt rounds slam into the once ornated structural support harmlessly with me now out of sight.
At the very least, that's one less bolt pistol to be afraid of. But then again, it's 16 of us versus 4 Astartes now, a stark decline from moments before. Worse, the tower only has 12 defenders left, with the remaining four being our mortar crews running around on their separate Centaur for mobile fire support. Being this close to the Astartes, I guess Johnson will call in Broken Arrow soon enough.
If less than 500 meters is the knife-fighting range for the Astartes, then what about less than 300?