Крип / Kryp: Отряд_5.27

Chapter 27

Camrad_RIP 04.12.21 в 11:37

The steam locomotive, freed from the bonds of the multi-ton train, rushed forward like a heavy bird that rushes off a cliff to gain speed and catch the wind with its wings. Human language is too poor to describe the range of emotions that the machine spirit experienced in its last moments of existence... or life. And even though - again, from a human point of view - it was more an emulation of the feelings in the self-generated construct - they were real, with an inexpressible tension and exhilaration. The mechanism, born in fire and for war - in the middle of a battle - left in the fire, suddenly and brightly serving its deity, its memory, its long-standing glory.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.21 в 14:28

When the 'Twelfth' and the locomotive were separated by a hundred yards or so, the Materium finally lost power over the locomotive, and the singular point of energy that had replaced the boiler exploded. To the great good fortune of those around, the blast was directed at itself, or the effect would have been greater than a nuclear 'tactic'.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.21 в 15:15

Luckily, having disconnected the coupler, Luct turned his back to the locomotive, waiting for orders - whether by vox from the tech-priestess or words from Kryptman - so when the mechanical beast headed for Omnissia, the servitor didn't burn out his optics with a flash. The shockwave hurled the Inquisitor's servitor right through the vestibule hatch, puncturing a centimeter-long sheet of metal with his body, then rolled through the 'Twelfth' as it had in the collision a few minutes before, but in the opposite direction.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.21 в 15:36

The steam locomotive itself literally evaporated, disintegrating into atoms, or perhaps leaving Materium. No one could know that. The snow and ice within a half-kilometer radius were blown away, the rails under the tractor survived, but melted. The decoupled Twelfth and Sixty-fourth flew at over two hundred kilometers through a protuberance of blindingly yellow, furious flame. Thank the Emperor, the catastrophe happened on a straight stretch, or the long track would have gone off the rails at the weakest corner.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.21 в 20:37

Luct stood up, clutching at the walls with his hands. A self-diagnosis showed multiple, but not critical damage, with a loss of about thirty percent of its overall combat effectiveness. Staggering because of the malfunctioning gyroscopes, the servitor staggered back to the HQ wagon, wobbling his feet.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.21 в 20:40

"This is too much," muttered Bertha, licking the blood from her lips.

Camrad_RIP 04.12.21 в 20:59

The second jolt finally broke and ripped off everything loose in the headquarters, fortunately, there weren't many of those things. It was worse for the men, and Wretched Man broke a couple more ribs and couldn't walk properly.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:31

"The Emperor protects," the Priest tried to shout, but his voice came out as a croak, and the monk was also hurt.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:32

"We're on fire," Jennifer informed her dryly. The bruised head gurgled with a damaged loudspeaker, but the words were quite intelligible.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:33

Kryptman again looked at the periscope and predictably found nothing good there. The aft wagons were burning, and the 'head' of the train was smoking. The Inquisitor quickly considered the prospect of burning and assessed it as rather low. The oncoming wind was certainly fanning the flames, but there wasn't much combustible material left in the armored wagons. These were not passenger wagons, which were full of flammable plastic and burned up in twenty minutes on the move.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:35

Fidus stepped to the row of intercom tubes, jerked the bell just in case - in vain, the shock skewed the system permanently.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:36

"Well," said the Priest. "It's about time for the Implicator. And let everyone do what they have to do."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:37

The purificators shot at the heretics with excitement, but not with the cheerful glee of the victors, but rather with the grim determination of the doomed. Set on fire one by one - as the enemies advanced - the four tail wagons gave a good barrier and took quite a few enemy lives, but the flames were beginning to subside. The fire no longer roared in a solid wall, but burned quietly and evenly, weakening as the fuel burned out. The Inquisitor's trick bought the squad some valuable minutes, but there was no light in the hopeless situation; the 'Twelfth' was still pushing by the enemy train forward, which had no intention of slowing down or retreating.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:40

Behind the curtain of fire loomed distorted figures, very similar to the ghosts of the 'pocket' from which the purificators had miraculously escaped by the grace of the Emperor and the sacred flamethrowers. Only these creatures were quite material, and their outlines fluctuated due to the flow of hot air-mostly. The first wave of attackers was stopped by the flames, but time after time one or another heretic, or maybe already an unholy mutant tried his fate, trying to run through the fire on the roof or climb over the sides. Holy Man and Sinner poked out of the hatch above, Crybaby and Savlar took up positions near the sides, securing themselves with slings and a carbine so that another gust of evil wind wouldn't pull them out into the half-darkness.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:41

The bright flashes of laser beams alternated with the angry yapping of machine guns. Nearly every second, another dark figure broke off and fell, disappearing into the half-light with a wild, inhuman screech. The Holy Man exclaimed "Emperor, fuck!" at every hit, Crybaby and the Sinner worked silently, Savlar fired mostly 'somewhere,' but then the Wretched Man joined him. Though the Wretched Man squinted, writhing in pain, he shot much better than the convict, and things began to go well. The enemy fought back, but sluggishly, as if they'd suddenly forgotten how to use a human weapon, or at least how to reload it. It was as if those who had some kind of weapon in their hands at the time of the disaster were trying to use it according to the orcish principle of 'point about there and pull the trigger all the way'.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:58

In the meantime, dawn was creeping steadily over the horizon. The surrounding tundra appeared in gray and white from the darkness, with industrial buildings, cranes, and warehouses on either side of it. Many were burning, and in some places there was fighting. In the distance a glow pulsed, like the northern lights, only low and scarlet and scarlet, like an incessant bombardment. The Purificators had seen something like this before, and that's when the Squad came into its sad state of disastrous incompleteness.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 05:01

They'll get through," the Holy Man said through gritted teeth as he inserted the last clip. The metal clanked audibly, confidently, as if to say: It's all right, master, as long as I don't run out of ammo, you're safe. Alas, it was the last clip. Two of the wagons were almost burnt out, the third and fourth were smokier, though they still served as a barrier.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 05:02

"What's in there?! What is it!!!" Savlar howled, shouting out even the noise of the trains, the roaring sound of the flames, and the howl of the cold wind.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 05:08

The Holy One didn't know what he was talking about at first, but then he squinted and saw. Among the wavering figures of the heretics, two shadows were sneaking around. Or rather, not sneaking, but walking quite openly, but their movements were both light, cautious, and impetuous, like those of predators. That gave the impression of cautiously hiding their prey. Features of creatures were lost, blurred in the shadows and shivering hot air, but it was clear that their height is more than a human half and a half, knees curved backward, like birds, and this further strengthened the impression of a dangerous impetuosity. And their fingers, supple as tentacles, ended in no ordinary fingernails. The other enemies fled in a hasty retreat as if startled by the approach of the creatures. The heretics screamed in thin, chirping voices, pushing each other overboard to avoid the half-birds' path.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 05:10

"Eh, we would like to have more ammunition, promethium, and everything else," the Holy One whispered wistfully and thought that in the bad hour the leadership decided to disarm the armored trains...

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 05:11

Both figures halted before the fading veil of fire, bright purple perfectly round eyes glinting in the midst of their horned heads. Savlar shrieked like a man whose mind had been blown away by animal terror. The Sinner shook his head with sullen determination as if that would help him take better aim. The badly healed holes in his pierced lips were bleeding again, and the mute purificator looked like a ghoul with his mouth sewn shut.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 05:13

The Holy One took a gulp, feeling his throat thirsty to the point of pain, and aimed at one of the figures, somehow confident that ordinary bullets wouldn't hurt it. The demon on the left crouched on trembling legs, clearly preparing to leap through the fire. The right one retreated a few paces as if it were taking a run-up. A sluggish heretic appeared in his path, and the dark, bright-eyed figure waved his octopus-shaped limb carelessly. The heretic's head flew off with surprising ease, like a ball, demonstrating the terrifying strength of a seemingly thin-skinned creature.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:39

The Holy One exhaled through his mouth, not feeling his numb lips, his fingers trembling on the stock, stubbornly refusing to squeeze the trigger. At that moment there was a bang, loud and dry as if a thick, dried-out, frozen-through branch had snapped behind me. A lone tracer whistled over their heads. The Sinner ducked and pinned the Holy One's helmet, and right after that, a fiery knife swept over the roof.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:43

It wasn't easy to get the machine gun upstairs, but Fidus and Bertha managed it. The Inquisitor pulled the belt so it wouldn't jam, and the commandant jerked the bolt and slammed it down the barrel, which was hand-signed in stubby but carefully written letters: 'The Implicator'.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:44

"Fire," the mentor whispered to herself and pulled the trigger.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:44

The first, single shot was a warning shot, for friends, not enemies. The friends understood instantly and ducked their heads in their yellow helmets, so Bertha immediately opened fire to kill.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:46

Most of the weapons in the Squad were good old-fashioned firearms. Energy weapons were thought to be less reliable in an Immaterium breach, even though they were more powerful. But now, looking at the performance of a heavy machine gun, hardly anyone could say it was 'ineffective'. Bertha concentrated on the crouched creature, firing short - three to five rounds each so the barrel wouldn't be driven away by the recoil - but frequent bursts. The mentor rarely missed. The hits weren't as bad as they should have been, the 11-millimeter bullets producing bright purple flashes instead of fountains of blood as if they were drowning in a lean body. But the monster was visibly and palpably bad anyway, and it retreated staggering under the hail of projectiles, losing its shape like a plasticine toy blown by a hot hairdryer.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:51

At last, apparently desperate, the monster jumped awkwardly, without the grace and plasticity, and collapsed heavily onto the roof of the burning wagon. Tearing through the scorched metal with its tentacles, it plummeted down, hissing and hissing. Heaving through the wreckage of scorching metal, burning and splattering drops of ichor, which evaporated in the heat, the demon made its way to the vestibule. And clutching at the suction cups on his flexible 'fingers', he tore open the solid door, opening the way to 'Radial-12'.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:54

"Śubha dina!" greeted him the Priest in his native language. With a smirk on his bloody lips, he pulled the trigger of the acid cannon. Behind the monk stood Servitor Luсt with a sledgehammer at the ready.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 11:57

The Priest reasoned that one way or another it would come hand-to-hand and, while the Inquisitor and the Commandant were setting up a machine gun, ran across the train to the 'tail' to cover the gunners on the front line. And, by the Emperor's grace, he guessed, just like a real prophet.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:01

The screeching that erupted from beneath the armored walls was another cruel test for the fighters, who had already partially lost their hearing for the most part. You didn't have to look to know - the creature was finished. Fire, of course, is gracious and cleansing, but true liberation from the bonds of defiled flesh can only be granted by holy acid blessed by a holy father and seasoned in a temple for at least five days. Only the howl of a dying demon could compete in volume with the war-cry of the Priest, who felt that the Emperor himself was now leading him with his hands and giving the acid the power to destroy even the partially ghostly.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:06

The second beast clearly felt insecure and yet retreated a few more steps, preparing to rush in.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:07

"Ai-yi-yi-yi!!!" The Holy Man shouted, expressing all at once in a simple way: ecstasy at having defeated the spawn of Evil, bitterness at having probably run out of bullets in the machine gun, and the realization that the Priest would not have time to get to the roof and stop the other one.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:08

The sinner, sniffing through his sewn-up mouth, pulled himself up on his hands in one fell swoop, climbing out of the hatch, probably to fight the demon chest-to-chest and, no doubt, to die. But at least with honor and without shame before the All-Seeing One. Bertha, swearing, reloaded 'The Implicator', Kryptman helped, but frozen, despite the gloves, palms slid on the icy metal like unfeeling wood. The machine gunners couldn't keep up.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:12

The demon swiftly flicked its multi-jawed paws and leaped much farther than its predecessor in a short burst, leaping across the fire at once. The second leap took the creature halfway across the long wagon, and a tall figure darted toward the vicious creature. The Sinner charged at the enemy like a living battering ram, shoulder outstretched. The man weighed considerably less than the demon but caught the moment when the landed creature was balancing, not yet stable. Both hovered on the edge of the wagon.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:21

"Brother," the Holy Man whispered, already realizing what the comrade was up to

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:31

The Sinner silently wrapped his arms around the demon and pushed off, dragging his foe with him. Overboard, into the half-darkness, where the snow swirls howled. Only for an instant did the Holy One see the pale blur of the second flamethrower's face, but he could have sworn that the Sinner was smiling with unearthly happiness, like a man who had done something wicked, but who suddenly had hope of sincere forgiveness.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:32

"Brother," the Saint repeated with cold, disobedient lips, feeling a frantic joy that his comrade had succeeded and at the same time a burning shame that he had not done it.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:34

"Brother, farewell, meet me at His Throne."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:34

"We're going to die," Bertha stated as she finally slammed the shutter lid shut and pulled the lever. "Half a cartridge. That won't be enough. But even if by some miracle we make it, we'll crash at the station."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:37

She looked at the Squad' s banner, which the wind was stubbornly and unsuccessfully trying to tear from the flagpole.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:38

"Yes," Fidus agreed, struggling to pronounce the words with frozen lips. "But at least we'll die fighting, and the souls won't go to Evil."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:39

"That's right," Bertha hesitated for a moment and then clapped the inquisitor on the shoulder in a way that looked almost friendly. "You're insolent, but you're brave."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:46

"Brave," Fidus grinned wryly in agreement and finished to himself. / 'Only not too clever. Rejoice, Schmettau, now your dreams will come true.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:47

The red sun was already a quarter of the way over the horizon, and the tundra was painted in watercolor blurred shades of white and pink. It would have been beautiful without the black columns of numerous smoke rising into the sky. Judging by them, the fires in the area numbered in the dozens.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:48

"Then we finish the cartridge and..." Bertha hesitated.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:51

"Yes," Fidus repeated. "The banner must be taken down while they wait."

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:51

The enemies were indeed hesitant, not hurrying to run through the fire, though the fire was, in truth, more symbolic. But most likely, the spectacular deaths of the two leaders had tempered the offensive impulse. Not for long, though.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 12:52

"Do you think so?" Bertha asked as an equal.

Camrad_RIP 05.12.21 в 04:59