The Fall of Canaris Prime 3

 4

The guardsman crept around the corner leading with his rifle barrel, his steps light, despite his heavy combat boots, the ruined storefront was deserted its window smashed and displays broken and scattered about, he slowly stepped inside panning his rifle left to right, assuring himself that the place was quiet and dead he lowered himself to the ground against the counter facing the window setting his rifle down next to him he grabbed a ration tin from his pack pulled the top and with a spoon from his mess kit started eating what seemed to be beans. 

        The xeno watched as the human soldier cautiously entered the storefront he waited, slowly and quietly stowing his rifle and with his other hand carefully, taking care not to make a sound, drew his pistol from his belt holster, as the human pulled a ration tin from his belt pouch he crept ever so slowly into the room. 

       The guardsman ate another spoonfull of beans, then suddenly looked up in suprise to see a xeno standing over him with a strange looking pistol, before he even had a chance to move a finger the xeno's helmet was yanked back and a large combat knife was drawn across the suddenly exposed throat, the soldier behind shoved the corpse of the xeno to the side and crouched stowing their combat knife and pulling a las carbine from behind her 

   "Thanks, didn't know you were out there" the guardsman said as he spooned another load of beans into his mouth. As she checked the charge level on her pulse carbine she spoke

  "Sort of the point. Stealth, you may have heard of it" 

"Don't think they covered that in basic" he replied, she frowned and looked back towards the door at the back of the store then the window, he watched and with a sigh "It won't happen again"

She turned back to look at him and the cold look in her eyes sent a chill down his spine "If it does, I'm just gonna watch"

He ate a few more beans 

"Anything intresting out there, if you don't mind my asking?"

"About 30 troops back of these buildings, drones but no suits yet guess they are waiting for a bigger target" 

He glanced toward the doorway she and the xeno had come through before she spoke again "they had two scouts sniffing, I took them out"

The guardsman huffed a quiet laugh 

"Wow I didn't hear a single thing"

"First rule of battle, don't ever let them know where you are"

The sudden sound of a heavy stubber barking its roar and a man yelling snapped both of there attention to the shattered front window 

"Whee-hee!! I'm right here! Right here I tell ya!! You want some of me?! Yeah come on get me!!" The yelling guy dived in through the window as a grenade detonated in the street practically where he was standing, he landed flat on the ground infront of the guardsman and the corporal "Whoo-hoo!" He said checking his mag as the debris rained down 

The corporal turned to the guardsman rolled her eyes and gave a wry smile "Of course there are other schools of thought"

The third soldier, pulled himself upto a sitting position against a partially collapsed display "They don't like it when you shoot at them, worked that out myself"

The corporal looked out the window again "Did you find Marks?" 

"Marks is gone, whole unit fled when that cruiser dropped from the heavens, can you imagine such a cowardly creature?"

The guardsman piped up then 

"So guess the south corridor's open then?"

"Tracey, ain't you dead yet?"

"Not yet it seems"

"I really wanted your beans"

The sergeant, according to his patch, got up into a crouch and took a position covering the window, the guardsman, Tracey, after finishing his beans picked up his rifle then got to his feet 

"Just the three of us here, we need to join up with the twenty-second, if we try to hold here they going to roll over us"

The corporal suddenly jumped to her feet as a humming began to build she yelled "drone!!" As she raised her carbine and started shooting through the door, Tracey and the sergeant both started toward the window "This way!!!" The sergeant yelled but both were blown back into the store as a massive burned blue object slammed into the street right outside with a detonation the sides dropped open like flower petals opening and massive blue armoured figures with the inverted omega symbols stepped from each opened hatch there bolters already roaring as they fired down the street, one of the behemoth figures turned it's helmet on the storefront the eye lenses of the warriors helmet glowing green, before a pulse rifle shot hit the trooper on the pouldron and he turned raising his huge rifle and resumed firing down the street.