Liberation of Nova Spera Session 14

	Cawkles_Gm	It is the 41st milennium...
	Cawkles_Gm	And Snow Squad has broken the Divine Cohort line, sundering the defenses of these Imperial backed religious zealots after a brief but violent skirmish. They are exhausted, they are spent, they have looked death in the face...but their fight is far from over. In the skies above them, the battle still rages, the duelling imperial and tau fighter craft murdering each other after a gracefully
	Cawkles_Gm	dancing in the sky. Before you, al-tapir stretches into the interior of the city, a cobbled together ruin of primitive housing and abandoned fortifacations. The grafitii strewn expanse looks unwelcoming to the say least; evidence of Divine Cohort domination is evident in many forms. Devotional script scrawled over walls, primitive shrines piled into alleways...charred bodies, the remnants
	Cawkles_Gm	of heretics, guilty or otherwise. Up and down your flanks, you hear and see the advance of House Rook forces. The disciplined legion is steadily pushing back the cohort horde, their advance quickening as drop ships start to deposit rumbling columns of tanks and artillery guns onto the dusty plain surrounding the city. As the chaos continues to swirl, Snow squad must figure out what to do
	Cawkles_Gm	next...
	Cawkles_Gm	Kahina is still at Izem's side, tending to the horrific wounds he took last battle. Her beautiful face is twisted in anguish, despairing at the abuse visited upon her comrade. She looks withdrawn, ashen, distant...quite unlike Jurdik. Jurdik, though heaving around that heavy voxpack, is still animated by the adrenaline of battle. Stomping forward, he moves up the corpse choked firing lane
	Cawkles_Gm	and further into the city. "What the hell are you guys even doin'?" He barks, shouldering his lasgun so that he might scan the surrounding area. "We can't stay here! We need to move!"
	Cawkles_Gm	Abbass taps Roland on the shoulder, indicating that he too is moving up. "We are a little exposed out here, yes..."
	Roland	"Yea, we should try to move into some better cover." Roland says to Abbass.
	Rajh_Tara	"So let's move it."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	is just now feeling the woozy effects of his own painkillers. He shakes his head. "We're to deliver the message, so we need to find the nearest way into BT lines." He almost slurs.
	Rajh_Tara	"You alright there, Doc? Aside from the bullet wounds."
	Cawkles_Gm	Muffin and Ace seem to be milling about ahead as well, sticky with gore and smelling of violence. They join the two onrushing comrades, ducking near the ruins of the leman russ. Kahina nods sagely, trying to help Izem to her feet. She motions for Rajh to shoulder him along with her.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Let's stick to," he catches his breath, "to the side-streets and alleys. Keep off the main roads, and keep our eyes and ears open." He turns wearily to Rajh, "I'm blasted out of my mind on painkillers, buddy, otherwise I wouldn't be walking right now."
	Rajh_Tara	assists Kahina and Izem.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	nods his thanks. He then gives Kahina an affection squeeze of the shoulder as they presson.
	Rajh_Tara	"We should also find a place to hold out, Doctor. You are not in any shape to fight."
	Cawkles_Gm	But then... something in the air changes. Like a spike of copper signed the nose and parched the tongue. The Great Palace of Ashes, that ill-starred structure looming in the disatnce, shudders visibly. Like the expanding sound wave of an explosion, something seems to be emanating from it...
	Roland	gets up from his position and follows the other, his Triplex lasgun at the ready.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"The place to hold out will be the Argo if we can get to it." His head droops for a moment as his vision becomes blurry.
	Roland	moves up to the ruins of the Leman Russ and pulls out his Magnoculars.
	Rajh_Tara	+Well, shit. Roland?+
	Roland	+What is it Rajh?+
	Cawkles_Gm	"Guys, I hate to interrupt your conversation but...what the hell is tha-" The invisible wall of force brushes by; like an earthquake in a bottle, it shakes ever molecule for a micro instant, slamming into reality like a charging grox. The rumble deafens not just the ears, but the soul. For a moment, it's like every part of Snow Squad is swallowed by the great roar of some awful beast. Most
	Cawkles_Gm	of Snow Squad cannot take it, and tumble to their feet, their breath robbed from them. Off in the distance, a buidling buckles and is swallowed up by a yawning sinkhole. But that's not the queerest thing this earthquake brought. Oh no. That distinction goes to red deluge currently rushing towards Snow squad
	Cawkles_Gm	The rushing red tide smells of rot and pain, swirling around objects in great sanguine eddies as it marches out towards the very edge of the city. How and why it got there is a mystery, perhaps one that is better left unsolved.
	Cawkles_Gm	Kahina, Abbass, and the rest of the comrades scramble to their feet, only to see this unholy sight rush their way. Their screams are muffled, their fear is overpowering; they scramble, the trip, but they manage to clamber atop the wrecked leman russ. But they must fight the urge to gag as the foul smelling soup flows by them like an inching cheet of corruption.
	Rajh_Tara	feels increasingly uncomfortable at the sight of blood.
	Cawkles_Gm	"What. The. Hell." Jurdik says, his disbelief evident. Abbass' shock is mostly reserved for his boots, which now have a slight patina of red about them.
	Rajh_Tara	"I... I don't want to be here anymore."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	clings to the deformed barrel of the Leman Russ, his eyes tightly clenched, mouthing mantras to himself to stem his hysteria.
	Roland	sees the red tide coming and quickly gets on to the top of the Leman Russ as well. "Fucking Shit!"
	Cawkles_Gm	A cry goes up over the various squabbling infantry lines as the tide of blood reaches them. The ground is now sticky with flecks and globules of the red substance. Muffin, still hanging onto the leman russ, pinches her nose in disgust. "Fukky meh, weh gon' 'ave tah wok inna tis eh?"
	Roland	"How the fuck is there this much blood?" Roland's somewhat loses his nerves seeing the river of blood flow around them.
	Rajh_Tara	with heavy foot steps, he tries to move forward while trying not to panic.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"It is something unnatural." Izem says to no one in particular as he gingerly peels himself from the leman russ barrlel. He then goes to soothe his wife, in the best way his drug-addled mind can.
	Cawkles_Gm	Just as she said that, Jurdik's vox crackles, sending a comm signal to each of your commbeads. +Oi, gents, you there?+ It's Mr. Rose. He doesn't sound particularly ebuillent at the moment. +Our astropath is telling me that there was a spike in psychic energy just now. Anything weird going on on the ground? We're getting conflicting reports and, to be honest, I think you people are the only reliable intelligence I have right now.+
	Cawkles_Gm	Kahina shrinks his embrace, her boots making wet sloshing sounds with each shift of her feet.
	Cawkles_Gm	The deluge of blood has left a sickly red patina to the surrounding area, staining it with the smell of rot.
	Roland	+Well there was a river of blood coming at us,+ he says to Mr. Rose.
	Cawkles_Gm	+A river of...what now? Throne's teeth, is Qalyat on the rag? What the hell do you mean by a 'river of blood'. Like, a literal river of blood?+
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	+Rivers of blood are flowing through the streets, Rose, it is unnatural. Tell Lillian to remember the day I came seeking guidance in the temple, it's frighteningly similar to what I have seen.+
	Roland	+It also seems like the river of blood came from the direction of the temple.+
	Rajh_Tara	"So much blood... so much blood... so much blood...." His words progressively getting quieter and quieter.
	Roland	takes his magnoculars and looks toward the palace,.
	Cawkles_Gm	There is a disquieting silence on Mr. Rose's end. +...Get to your people as soon as you can, gentlemen. Our timetable just shifted. For the love of the God-Emperor, do not, DO NOT look at or go near the temple. I mean it. Hurry along now.+
	Cawkles_Gm	Abbass cranes his neck towards Roland, and sees him peering through his magnoculars. "That didn't take long."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Don't have to tell us twice." Izem shakes his head to clear his mind, definitely too big of a dose. "Let's move guys, faster we get to the Argo faster we can get off these Ashura-forsaken streets."
	Cawkles_Gm	Jurdik hops from the little island and starts to make his way forward once again. His eyes looks hallow, his grip unsure...but still he marches. "I'm not staying here to die," he mutters, wandering around. Muffin goes off after him, her gear rattling as she plaintively remonstrates against his hasty actions.
	Roland	is startled by Abbass, "Shit Abbass don't do that." He takes a moment to calm down before reporting what he saw. "Well looks like the Palace isn't in control by the Tau anymore."
	Roland	hoped down from the Leman Russ to join the others.
	Rajh_Tara	is humming some Mahdian hymns slowly and off key.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"As it is, we don't care who controls it, we need to get out of here."
	Roland	thinks about what he just saw at the Palace, all the blood that covers it walls, along the with dead and living victims pined to the walls as well.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	directs everyone forward, while he injects himself with a stimulant to help with his wooziness.
	Cawkles_Gm	Advancing past the battle line, things become quiet...too quiet. Almost unnaturally so. WHere are the divine cohort? Have they fled? Certainly something must have happened; Snow squad's steady advance bring thems into contact with the shredded remains of a Divine Cohort convoy. 3 dozen bodies, all savaged and mangled. Their bones have been crushed, their ribcages torn open, their limbs hacked
	Cawkles_Gm	off; the two leman russes attending are gutted ruins, vast internal explosions turning them into blackened husks. Judging by where the bodies lay, they seem to have been en route to the position you attacked. Reinforcments, perhaps?
	Cawkles_Gm	Muffin runs a hand over the clammy hull of the leman russ, her eyes scanning the nearby buildings for any people waiting in ambush. "Fokken 'ell...Nuttin' aboot tissa attic feel roight. No siree..." Despite her fear, she wastes no time to rummage through the gore, no doubt on a quest for baubles.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	frowns at the sight of the ambushed convoy.
	Roland	nerves start acting up and begins looking around, the quiet starts getting to him.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Let's not tarry here." He looks around, on edge.
	Cawkles_Gm	The air battle above seems to be rapidly tapering off, the duelling clouds of aircraft taking their fight higher and higher into the atmosphere, until they are mere gnats hovering on the shimmering surface of the upper atmosphere. Roland's nervous appraisal spots a lone figure standing in the shadow of a destroyed building, leaning nonchalantly against the crumbling masonry. His expressionless
	Cawkles_Gm	helmet glides over the assembled squad, and you can almost hear laughter rumble from the vox grills. "A wise decision, Izem abn Anaruz. A wise decision indeed. But I wouldn't recommend advanving over yon. Not at the present moment, no. "
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	spins around, flipping his BR out of it's holster, pointing it towards the voice. He'd almost be impressed with himself if he wasn't twitching in fear.
	Cawkles_Gm	Brother Borys moves with the grave of a serpent, effortlessly rising from his recumbent position, his saber rattling at his hip. In his fist, a bolt pistol of peerless make sits, its barrel still hot from some encounter recently settled.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	The medic slowly lowers his weapon but doesn't holster it.
	Roland	begins to clam down a bit at the sound of Borys voice, "Good to see you Lord Borys."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	Despite frayed nerves, Izem manages a small smile. "Count us lucky to have an Angel of Death watching over us. Pray then, Lord Astartes, where do we proceed then? Or are we to wait?"
	Cawkles_Gm	Each footfall of his power armored boot crushes the dirt beneath it, as if the entire world was some unruly heretic only deserving death. THe handsome red sash around his waist is not stained with dirt, blood, and gore; how much of this came from the blood deluge, and how much of it came from the dead men and women lying all around his hard to say. Nodding towards Roland, his head swivels
	Cawkles_Gm	towards Izem. "We wait. We wait for the seeds of subterfuge to blossom."
	Cawkles_Gm	The giant space marine marches over to the pile of gore. Looking at the broken faces and snapped limbs. "Infelixitas decepti stult." Turning to the squad, he approaches slowly, as if some great weight was resting on his power armored shoulders. Muffin and Abbass shrink away from his approach, but Kahina and Jurdik look at the man dead in his eyes. "Do you know the mistake these men and women
	Cawkles_Gm	made, ye of lowly birth? Do you know why these people had to die?"
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"I can only guess, Lord Borys, perhaps you'd care to illuminate us?"
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	nearly bites his tongue, it's the stimulant and this whole mess. He thinks to himself. Careful where you tread talking to this war god.
	Rajh_Tara	remembers his Red Guard training and stands at attention.
	Cawkles_Gm	The space marine places his gauntlet on Izem's shoulder, squeezing it as gently as a space marine can. That is to say, with force just under bone crushing. "They are much like the first estate they have surrendered so much to. They think a man to be God. And in their delusion, they have forgotten the low path...the path of discord, the path of deception. THe path that puts the mission above
	Cawkles_Gm	all."
	Cawkles_Gm	"The coming days will be see the seed of ageless acrimony reveal its sickly blossom. You will have to sidle the line, between darkness," Brother Borys takes his free hand, and flips it over. "...and damnation. You will have to sacrifice everything. You will heed the lesson of Corax, and forge your future in the blood of your friends. This is will be your way now. Do you understand?"
	Cawkles_Gm	Kahina looks askew at the Astartes...as does the rest of the squad. The faithful Al-Isman nearly tears away from  her husband's grasp, to refute this man's heretical claim that the Emperor is not God...but his voice, the weight of his presence, it cows mere mortals like her.
	Roland	nods in agreement with Lord Borys.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"I would be lying to you if I fully grasped what you present before me....but yes, I see the path before me." He looks up towards the eye-slits of the space marine's helm and nods.
	Cawkles_Gm	"Good. I-" The space marine suddenly stumbled forward a little, a sizzling scorch mark marring the small of his black. The sound of the plasma bolt impacting seems lost in the haze of confusion and fear. Soon enough, that bolt is joined by more and more, the little blue suns joining together into an uneding torrent of focused fire. Brother Borys chuckles darkly as the fire pciks up, his
	Cawkles_Gm	power armored form effortlessly carrying him into a nearby alley faster than the eye can follow.
	Cawkles_Gm	Scrambling for cover, Snow Squad scatter to the wind. "We're taking fire!" Abbass screams, his body diving underneath the wrecked tank.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"SPREAD OUT! SPREAD OUT!"
	Roland	scrambles for cover inside one of the building.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	gets into cover behind one of the Leman Russ tanks.
	Rajh_Tara	ducks behind one of the destroyed Leman Russ tanks.
	Cawkles_Gm	As Snow Squad disappears from sight, the unseen assailants can be heard clambering from their positions. A faint voice can be heard bellowing orders...in gothic.
	Cawkles_Gm	"Get that MG up on the street! Whoever these fucks are, they ain't leaving with our girl!"
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Gotchic?" It takes Izem a mere moment to realize what's going on.
	Cawkles_Gm	"Samsara, 'round the side! Go around the side! I saw one duck into that building!"
	Roland	holds his position from inside the building he ducked into.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	switches his comm-bead to a BT channel. +This is Izem of Snow Squad, who's shooting at us, over?+
	Rajh_Tara	prepares his hotshot las gun.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	+Whoever it is, you're shooting at friendlies!+
	Cawkles_Gm	The rippling fire begins anew, shooting down the corridor of the street, bouncing up and down the earthen buildlings. +Clear comms! Clear comms! Looks like we have some cohort with a sense of humor!+ The voice...catty, shrill, and bossy. Is it...?
	Ace_Facefucker_Nerat	shrinks himself down into nearby rubble, almost disappearing completely
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	+Sergeant Ziida! This is Medicae Specialist Izem_abn_Anaruz, will you please hold your fucking fire!+
	Ace_Nerat	jumps up "Who else has such a handsome face!?" he yells out at the soldiers.
	Rajh_Tara	equips his chameleoline cloak and hides behind the tank.
	Cawkles_Gm	One of the women pivot towards Ace, letting off a single shot from her angular alien rifle. The man jumps out of the way, however; Muffin still shrieks in terror however. The whole affair gives everyone pause. The figures lingering on the street keep their rifles trained, but at least they are not firing anymore.
	Roland	"Ace, Shut up and stay down for the moment ok." Roland shots at Ace from the building.
	Ace_Nerat	"Emperor dammit! You don't even know how much this mug is worth!"
	Cawkles_Gm	A figure covered head to toe in red and orange rags calls out down the street: "Stay steady, girls! First we see a river of blood, now we're seeing ghosts!"
	Ace_Nerat	"Soon you're gonna feel a ghost too!" he says, waving his fist around.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	breathes calmly for a moment, and gets out of cover, he heads towards the figure, holding his BR, by it's enmorous barrel, up in signal. "Hold your fire they're friendlies."
	Rajh_Tara	takes a brief peak around the corner.
	Roland	peaking out slightly from the building he is in.
	Ace_Nerat	"Or maybe I should of said feel a ghosts fist." he says to Muffin
	Cawkles_Gm	"By the Trail..." The figure mutters. Her jewel clad hand tears away the scarfs covering up her face, revealing the face of Sergeant Ziida. She wasn't the prettiest woman around when you all first met her, but clearly the events that transpired after your leaving have not been kind. Her brown face and hooked nose is pock marked with little wounds, scars, and wrinkles brought on by excessive
	Cawkles_Gm	stress. Her curly black hair is clearly greasy and unwashed, clumping together as it stretches down to her neck. more strikingly, her right eye is no longer there, replaced by a ratty leather eye patch. The rest of her squad seems to compromise of unfamiliar faces; the Boog machine gunner and Samsara look familiar, but everybody else...
	Cawkles_Gm	Motioning her squad to step back, Ziida lowers her pulse carbine and begins to move towards Izem's position. "Drop your weapon, whoever you are. Drop it."
	Cawkles_Gm	Samsarra, still girlish and fresh even after alll of thi schaos, runs up to her sergean't side. "Don't you recognize them, Ziida?!"
	Ace_Nerat	"Listen missy, we ain't got time for this shit, We are on a mission!"
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Lord Borys, if you'd be so kind. Ziida and her squad will be able to help us in completing our mission."
	Cawkles_Gm	The sergeant forcefully pushes the girl off, thrwoing her to the ground. Turnin to Ace, she barks out her own reply.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	[Redact]
	Cawkles_Gm	"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"
	Ace_Nerat	"WELL THAT'S A SHAME BECAUSE I'M STILL FUCKIN' HERE."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Some of us were very close to being dead, but here we stand."
	Roland	moves out from the building slowly, with his weapon pointing down.
	Cawkles_Gm	Ziida throws her carbine down in frustration. "FUCK! THIS F U C K I N G DAY! IMPERIALS DROP OUT OF THE SKY, THE BITERS ARE OUT IN FORCE, AND NOW DEAD MEN ARE HOPPING OUT OF THEIR GRAVES! WE'LL NEVER FIND HER AT THIS RATE!"
	Cawkles_Gm	Samsara shrinks back, her sergeants wroth being a terrible thing to witness. "I'm sure Jain is fine, Ziida.."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Jain? Jain's missing?"
	Ace_Nerat	"Biters?"
	Cawkles_Gm	"Really? Do you relaly believe that? She's off the minaret now, Samsara. We might not get her back this time. We might-"
	Cawkles_Gm	Ziida turns to Ace, her confusion writ all over her weathered features. "...Do you not know?"
	Ace_Nerat	"Been away for a while, we just got back and had a pissing match with a tank."
	Cawkles_Gm	"Okay, this is officially not making any sense. Ruby, Darla, confiscate their weapons. We're going to let the LT fuss this out. Get Issam on the horn too. Tell him...tell him that his Squad is still alive."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Whoa whoa whoa, confiscate? The hell are you on about, sergeant?"
	Ace_Nerat	"Confiscate?"
	Ace_Nerat	"Yeah fuckin' right."
	Rajh_Tara	lowers his weapon and comes out from behind the Tank.
	Cawkles_Gm	The women of Ziida's cunts nod, approaching with measured steps. One of them, a swarthy young girl no older than sixteen. Shoves her rifle in Ace's face. "You heard the lady. Everything. Right now." Muffin, lurking nearby, hisses at the girl. "Ovver meh ded fokken boddeh ya slunt!"
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Ziida is this really necessary?"
	Ace_Nerat	"You know where i'm gonna shove that...?"
	Cawkles_Gm	Ziida wipes down her face, her frustration mounting. "IF you are who you say you are, you better comply. Right now."
	Cawkles_Gm	"I'll shove this up your ass you meat head. Cough up your guns!" The tiny woman seems insistent now, prodding his chest with the barrel of her gun before dancing back a bit.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	sighs. "Ace, we should do as she says, we have a mission remember?"
	Ace_Nerat	"I...." he syas, bullheadedly stubborn, Before angrily tossing his gear to the floor, staring down the girl
	Rajh_Tara	takes off his hotshot lasgun and the rest of his equipment and neatly places it down on the floor.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	unholsters his weapons and hands them to the nearest cunt. [Qom] "Come my star, we must cooperate with our dear old comrades." He motions to Kahina.
	Ace_Nerat	continues to rant about all the obscene, violent things he is going to do to the cunts after this is over
	Roland	puts his equipment down on the ground, though he doesn't like the idea of not having his weapons at the moment.
	Ace_Nerat	continues to rant about all the obscene, violent things he is going to do to the cunts after this is over
	Roland	puts his equipment down on the ground, though he doesn't like the idea of not having his weapons at the moment.
	Cawkles_Gm	The two girls begin to gather up the assembled weapons. The comrades glare as they do so, feeling justifiably betrayed as these strangers take away t heir means of defense. With a sharp whistle from Ziida, the squad forms a cirlce around the disarmed Snow Squad and begins to surreptiously escort back to their lines. As they move in the shadows, the ruins, and the great piles of human remains,
	Cawkles_Gm	the sound of battle begins to fade from deafening to loud. Why you have met no resistance is a bit of a mystery; perhaps the battles erupting on the periphery of the great city have drawn away most of the foot troops. Nevertheless, the approaching calm gives Ziida an opportunity to ask one really pointed question to the squad:
	Cawkles_Gm	"Have you seen Jain?"
	Cawkles_Gm	The comrades all grumble at the mention of her name. They all remember what she did. Muffin in particular is not at all enthused
	Roland	"No, not for like two and a half months since we left." Roland responds to Ziida.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Last we saw of her was with you, during that big push months ago."
	Cawkles_Gm	"I 'ope tat cunt issa fukken ded. Wot a cactus." Ziida spits, ignoring the comment. The sound of her marching boots become more insistent, and much more forceful. "She disappeared this morning. That's why you found us. WE pushed up so far, I really thought we'd find her. Throne dammit...She was my comrade. Abandoning her is not our way, not the way of the trail. Fuck!" It's not really clear
	Cawkles_Gm	with whom Ziida is conversing; she might just be speaking aloud.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"And you have no clues as to why she disappeared?"
	Cawkles_Gm	Ziida looks at IZem, a hard stare on her face. She looks like she's about to open her mouth, but says nothing. After a beat, she dismissively says "No, not at all."
	Cawkles_Gm	And it is right then that Samsara speaks up. "Ziida! Come on! We all know, we ALL know what happened!"
	Cawkles_Gm	"Shut your mouth, girl. I said shut up, RIGHT NOW!"
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	quirks an eyebrow.
	Ace_Nerat	"Going off your rockers Ziida?"
	Cawkles_Gm	"Just because you're living in denial doesn't mean the rest of us are going to bury our heads in the sand too! I might not be sharp...or smart...or anything like that and stuff, but I'm not going to let you lie!"
	Cawkles_Gm	The procession halts as Ziida whips around, grabbing Ace by the collar in a sudden explosion of violence. "STOP. TALKING."
	Roland	look at Samsara.
	Ace_Nerat	"Seems to me that you can't handle what's going on."
	Roland	elbows ace in the rib to shut the fuck up.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	pinches the bridge of his nose. Typical Ace.
	Rajh_Tara	[Mahdi] "It's like everyone has a death wish today."
	Ace_Nerat	"Jain finally fucked off, and you can't handle that she is gone? Is that what ahppened?" he says, egging her on in his attempt to get an answer
	Cawkles_Gm	"Oh? And you can? Tell me, ace, where were you for the past two months?! HOw do you know what's going on here, and whether or not I can't handle it?! You better shut up, right now, or so help me I'll leave you in a fuckin' dtich...!" Ziida rips a sidearm from her holster, jamming the gun underneath his ribs. "Try it, Ace. Try and ask me what happened. I dare you, I DARE YOU!"
	Cawkles_Gm	Samsara stamps her little feet, her impeccably coiffured hair swinging about. "ZIIDA, STOP! YOU'RE SUCH A CUNT!"
	Cawkles_Gm	Tearing away from Ace, Ziida surges ahead of the group, marching away her grief and anger.
	Cawkles_Gm	Abbass clicks her tongue. "Smooth, Ace. Smooth."
	Ace_Nerat	"It's my natural charm."
	Ace_Nerat	"And stunning good looks." he says, Winking to Samsara
	Rajh_Tara	rubs his temple and says [Mahdi] "Idiots."
	Cawkles_Gm	"I wouldn't call it that..." Kahina growls, raising her eyebrow towards their ever redoutable muscle.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	shakes his head in annoyance, and continues to follow along.
	Cawkles_Gm	Samsara's eyes glaze over as her brain processes Ace's words. "It was the biters," She blurts out.
	Cawkles_Gm	"She ran off to join them."
	Ace_Nerat	"bITERS?"
	Roland	keeps quiet for the moment.
	Cawkles_Gm	Ziida, despite being at the head of the pack, freezes. Her body shakes with silent rage. "Samsara..."
	Cawkles_Gm	"They deserve to know! They deserve to know that the girl they saved is now a devotee of he-who-shan't-be-named, a cannibal, and a fiend!"
	Cawkles_Gm	"YOU'RE WRONG! SHE'S JUST...SHE'S JUST CONFUSED!"
	Ace_Nerat	"That's one way to put it."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"If some of those stories of the Niassi are true, you would be doing her a mercy by putting her to death."
	Rajh_Tara	"Cannibals". He shudders at the thought.
	Roland	"Hey, I don't want to barge in on this whole situation, but can we take this somewhere indoors instead of yelling and bickering out in the open."
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	rests his arms in the straps of his webbing. "He has a point."
	Cawkles_Gm	The sergeant looks like she's about to fire back...but Roland's sage words still her tongue. "Roland's right. Our safehouse is up ahead, and the LT should be there waiting for us. Come on."
	Ace_Nerat	"Like I have a choice?"
	Rajh_Tara	"Let's just go."
	Ace_Nerat	"I could think of a hundred things I'd rather be doing than following around a madwoman." he mutters
	Roland	"Unless you want to stay here and get shot, be my guess Ace." Roland says and he follows Ziida.
	Rajh_Tara	"Most of those things would probably get us killed."
	Cawkles_Gm	The rest of the trek is one of brooding silence. Eventually, the squad ambles up to a pre fab building ten stories high. You must have trekked a fair distance, because from the looks of it you have all made it to the edge of the Ashuran district. The ground floor is abuzz with life, its perimeter surroudned by makeshift barricades and patrolling BT soldiers. When the sentry calls out that
	Cawkles_Gm	Ziida has retunred, a lone figure is already on the move towards her and her group.
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	"Deal with it, just like you told her to."
	Ace_Nerat	"I thought you guys were my friends." he says grumpily
	Cawkles_Gm	This lone figure is a squat little creature, his face a sunbeaten white. His features evoke the countenance of a rat, shifty, shrewd, ugly, and untrustworthy. Atop his shaved head is an impressive set of liberty spikes, each prong being dyed a different, offensive color. On his body is a pristine BT uniform that incorporates scavenged Tau armor. In fact, a tau sidearm rattles at hip. As soon
	Cawkles_Gm	as she sees snow squad, his mouth erupts in shrill laughter. "Oh boy oh boy oh boy...today just keeps gettin' weirder, eh? Welcome back to the land of the livin', boyos."
	Rajh_Tara	"I'd rather not die because of our 'work relations'."
	Cawkles_Gm	Sergeatn Ziida and her squad snap to attention. "Snow Squad, Lieutenant Bartleby. Lieutenant Bartleby...Snow Squad."
	Cawkles_Gm	Bartleby guffaws. "Welcome to the outfit, boyos."
	Ace_Nerat	gags openly
	Izem_abn_Anaruz	[Bazir] "Emperor preserve us! How!?"
	Rajh_Tara	"How fucked are we in this war?"